Dr D G James FRCP and the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine.
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Dr D G James recently retired as Vice President of the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine. The following article is based on a speech given at a dinner at the Athenaeum Club on 10 October 2002 to thank Dr James for his contributions to the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine over 50 years. (+info)
Cancer immunotherapy: the past, the present and the future.
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One of the most controversial issues in immunology for over a century has been whether an effective immune response can be elicited against malignant tumours. Whether the immunology community has believed cancer immunotherapy is feasible or impossible has been largely determined by the prevailing immunological paradigms at that time. In fact, during the last 110 years it is possible to trace at least five dramatic fluctuations in attitude towards cancer immunotherapy. It now appears, however, that overwhelming evidence is available to support the view that both the innate and adaptive immune responses can recognize and eliminate tumours. On the other hand, it remains to be seen if these immune responses can be harnessed to control cancer as, at the time of diagnosis, many tumours have already been immunoselected to be highly resistant to immune elimination. Based on these observations it is argued that immunotherapy approaches, other than the generation of tumour-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes, must be explored. Alternative strategies include recruiting tumouricidal myeloid cells into tumours, generating antiangiogenic immune responses and directing innate immunity to hypoxia-induced ligands on tumour cells. (+info)
Windows into development: historic, current, and future perspectives on transgenic zebrafish.
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The recent explosion of transgenic zebrafish lines in the literature demonstrates the value of this model system for detailed in vivo analysis of gene regulation and morphogenetic movements. The optical clarity and rapid early development of zebrafish provides the ability to follow these events as they occur in live, developing embryos. This article will review the development of transgenic technology in zebrafish as well as the current and future uses of transgenic zebrafish to explore the dynamic environment of the developing vertebrate embryo. (+info)
Development of liposomal polyene antibiotics: an historical perspective.
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PURPOSE: The purpose of this review article is to review the development of a number of liposomal polyene antibiotics. BACKGROUND: In the past thirty years, the increase in life-threatening pre-systemic and systemic fungal infections within cancer, diabetic and AIDS patients have reached alarming proportions. A number of antifungal agents have been developed to combat this problem. In particular, polyene antibiotics such as Amphotericin B (AmB) and Nystatin (Nys) have remained the most effective and widely used agents in the treatment of these infections. However, their administration is limited by dose-dependent toxicities. One such dose-limiting toxicity is renal toxicity. Polyene antibiotic-induced renal toxicity is believed to be mediated by the drug anchoring to cholesterol within the mammalian cell membrane, resulting in pore formation, abnormal electrolyte flux, decrease in adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and eventually a loss of cell viability. CONCLUSION: In the 1980s and 90s a number of promising lipid-based AmB and Nys formulations were developed to overcome these toxicities. This article will review the development of these liposomal polyene antibiotics. (+info)
West Nile fever: lessons from the 2002 season.
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West Nile fever has now spread to much of the United States. This disease can be diagnosed using one of several laboratory tests, notably an immunoglobulin M enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. It can cause devastating neurologic damage, including an unusual polio-like syndrome. Magnetic resonance imaging is an important imaging tool in such patients. Treatment is largely supportive, although antiviral agents are under investigation. (+info)
Ira.
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For a quarter of a century in genetics if you said Ira the chances were you meant Ira Herskowitz. When he died, on April 28 this year, it left a hole in the fields of genetics and genomics the size of the Grand Canyon. (+info)
Founding editorial--forensics and TheScientificWorld.
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At the beginning of a new millennium it seems a good idea to stop for a moment and take stock of the current state of forensic science. As a field of scientific research and scientific application, forensic science is a little more than a century old. Forensic science may be said to have begun in 1887 with the simultaneous publication of A. Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet and Hans Gross's Handbuch f1/4r Untersuchungsrichter. Conan Doyle's novel introduced to the world the character of Sherlock Holmes, whose literary career would popularize the use of physical evidence in criminal investigations. Gross's manual for examining magistrates suggests ways in which the expertise of chemists, biologists, geologists, and other natural scientists could contribute to investigations. Gross's book was translated into a number of languages and went through various updated editions during the course of the century. The intervening century saw the development and application of fingerprinting, firearm and tool mark identification, forensic chemistry, forensic biology, forensic toxicology, forensic odontology, forensic pathology, and forensic engineering. Increasingly, the judicial systems of the industrial nations of the world have come to rely upon the expertise of scientists in a variety of disciplines. In most advanced countries, virtually all criminal prosecutions now involve the presentation of scientific testimony. This has had the beneficial effect of diminishing the reliance of courts on eyewitness testimony and defendant confessions. (+info)
The color of hamburger: slow steps toward the development of a science-based food safety system in the United States.
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Concerns about food safety have played a key role in the emergence of the public health system in the United States. Unfortunately, the food safety regulatory system that was established in the early part of the 20th century in response to these concerns has not kept pace with our advancing scientific knowledge. In 1995, basic changes were made in the structure of the U.S. food safety regulatory structure, including implementation by USDA of the Pathogen Reduction: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems; Final Rule for Meat and Poultry, from USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS); this was accompanied by creation of FoodNet, a sentinel surveillance system for active collection of foodborne disease surveillance data. The most recent FoodNet data show a 21% decline in the incidence of major bacterial foodborne diseases since implementation of the new regulations, a decrease paralleled by reductions in the frequency of contamination of meat and poultry with Salmonella. These data strongly support the public health importance of these regulatory changes. However, questions remain about the relative degree of responsibility of industry vs. the consumer in assuring safe food; the appropriateness of microbial standards for raw food products; and the directions that should be taken in the development of the "next generation" of food safety regulations. (+info)