This ebook addresses the impact of prenatal exposure to alcohol, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). It presents a compilation of current research by leading experts in the field and serves as a guide to future directions in FASD research, interventions and treatment. The book includes a comprehensive compendium of our knowledge of the dangers of prenatal alcohol exposure and covers ways to screen and intervene with pregnant women, diagnosis and treatment to ameliorate the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (through the lifespan), and other related issues, such as building a state infrastructure of health services and legislation. The ebook is intended as a textbook for graduate courses relevant to FASD.

Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the most frequent malformation in the human fetus and are the leading cause of mortality due to malformations in the first year of life. Despite its clinical importance screening performed by ultrasonographic examination during the second trimester of pregnancy has shown disappointingly low detection rates mainly due to the difficulties in obtaining an adequate examination of the fetal heart. Four-dimensional (4D) ultrasound of the fetal heart has been recently suggested as a tool to improve the detection rate of CHD by decreasing the dependency on operator skills required in two-dimensional ultrasound scans but up to now no practical manuals are available in describing its application in clinical practice for the study of fetal heart. The objective of this Ebook is to explain the role of 4D during second trimester examination and in fetuses with CHD. T

The WHO report estimates that 12 million people will be diagnosed with some form of cancer this year. In addition, the report predicts that more than 7 million people will die early from the disease. Together, the number of cancer cases and deaths from cancer are expected to increase by one percent each year. Cancer research has seen remarkable advancements, including the multi-step carcinogenesis theory and the identification of a cancer stem cell. These advancements are being applied to clinical therapies targeting the oncogene. In addition, the function of the gene product is becoming clear through analysis of the intracellular signaling of the oncogene. As a result, it has become clear that the morphologies of the cancers depend on the kind of the abnormal gene. Of course, these differences would influence patient’s life and death and is summarized by specialists in this area. This theme includes the full range of human diseases regarding medical genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, immunology, anatomy, pathology, structural biology, molecular cell biology, neuroscience and developmental biology. The eBook contains articles written by specialists in this area. It should prove to be of great use to clinicians and scientists in all medical fields.

Infectious diseases represent an important group of medical disorder. This is still a public health problem for all countries around the world and the leading course of death. There are many epidemics of new emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases at present and this warrants the necessity to update our knowledge on infectious diseases. This requires fighting infectious diseases with new and more powerful and safer drugs as well as collaboration between health care workers and non-health care workers are required. The construction of the knowledge exchange via the Ebook series can be useful. The series of Ebooks in this area can be an invaluable integrated source of knowledge for experts and workers on several facets of infectious diseases.

Historically, patients with advanced structural heart disease have required major surgery to correct the defect. This includes, for example, patients with atrial septal defect, aortic valve disease and mitral valve disease. In recent years there have been major advances in the treatment of patients with structural heart disease using minimally invasive, percutaneous treatments. This field continues to evolve quite quickly. This e-book outlines the current situation with respect to minimally invasive treatment of a wide range of structural cardiac defects. Each chapter covers details of a structural defect and outlines various technologies available for treating the condition. Indications for procedures as well as details of the procedures are also provided wherever possible. This e-book should be a useful reference for readers interested in minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of current knowledge about research in oral infections and their association with cardiovascular diseases. Several epidemiological, clinical and other scientific aspects are covered in this book through the work of medical experts. The detailed accounts in this book are of great value to readers in the scientific community, practitioners, teachers and students in relevant fields, and health-care planners.

In recent decades, the prevalence of heart failure has steadily increased and can be considered a contemporary cardiovascular epidemic. Therefore, treatment of heart failure is a primary focus of cardiovascular disease management strategies. Cardiac resynchronization therapy: an established pacing therapy for heart failure and mechanical dyssynchrony provides basic knowledge about congestive heart failure and also covers the evolution of cardiac resynchronization therapy. State-of-the-art information and future directions of this therapeutic tool are explained. As cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a new therapy which still undergoes rapid advancement, it is imperative to provide updates on key issues. These include technological advances, the unique role of imaging to assess mechanical dyssynchrony, troubleshooting, recent key clinical trials, and the incorporation of monitoring capabilities into CRT or CRT plus defibrillation devices. Cardiac resynchronization therapy is an exciting new option for a growing number of heart failure patients, but CRT systems present special challenges to clinicians, even those accustomed to working with pacemakers.

Neurodegenerative diseases are a complex heterogeneous group of diseases associated with site-specific premature and slow death of certain neuronal populations in brain and spinal cord tissues. For example, in Alzheimer disease, neuronal degeneration occurs in the nucleus basalis, whereas in Parkinson disease, neurons in the substantia nigra die. The most severely affected neurons in Huntington disease are striatal medium spiny neurons. The neuronal populations that are lost in neurodegenerative diseases modulate functions such as controlling movements, processing sensory information, memory, and making decisions. Although, the molecular mechanism of neurodegeneration remains unknown, but excitotoxicity, inflammation, and oxidative stress may contribute to neural cell demise independently or synergistically. The purpose of this E-book is to present readers with cutting edge and comprehensive information on molecular aspects of neurodegenerative diseases and neuroprotection in a manner that is useful not only to students and teachers, but also to researchers and physicians.

This anthology of articles on causal inference and scientific paradigms in epidemiology covers several important topics including the search for causal explanations, the strengths and limitations of causal criteria, quantitative approaches for assessing causal relationships that are relevant to epidemiology and emerging paradigms in epidemiologic research. In order to provide historical context, an overview of philosophical and historical developments relevant to causal inference in epidemiology and public health is also provided. Several theoretical and applied aspects of causal inference are dealt with. The aim of this Ebook is not only to summarize important developments in causal inference in epidemiology but also to identify possible ways to enhance the search for causal explanations for diseases and injuries. Examples are provided from such fields as chronic disease epidemiology, Veterans health, and environmental epidemiology. A particular goal of the Ebook is to provide ideas for strengthening causal inference in epidemiology in the context of refined research paradigms. These topics are important because the results of epidemiologic studies contribute to generalizable knowledge by clarifying the causes of diseases, by combining epidemiologic data with information from other disciplines (for example, psychology and industrial hygiene), by evaluating the consistency of epidemiologic data with etiological hypotheses about causation, and by providing the basis for evaluating procedures for health promotion and prevention and public health practices.

Over the past several decades the incidence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has increased dramatically. The etiology of ASD remains an unsolved puzzle to scientists, physicians, pediatricians, psychiatrists, and pharmacologists. Our E-book will address what is presently known concerning the pathophysiology of ASD from a cellular and molecular perspective. Our explanation is based on the interaction between repetitive systemic immune stimulation with concomitant chronic brain activation of microglia, which leads to overstimulation of glutamate receptors and inflammatory cytokine receptors. Our E-book will explain, for the first time, the effects of immunoexcitotoxicity on the brain development, neurophysiology, and pathology. Our book will not only attempt to explain the finding in ASD, but will offer treatment proposals that address each of these mechanisms. It will also explain how previous, often successful treatment methods, may indeed operate through the immunoexcitotoxic mechanism.