This book surveys healthy and diseased vascular systems in a multitude of model organisms and systems. It explores a plethora of functions, characteristics, and pathologies of the vascular system such as angiogenesis, fibroblast growth factor signaling, lymphangiogenesis, junctional signaling, the extracellular matrix, vascular permeability, leukocyte extravasation, axon guidance factors, the angiopoietin system, and chronic obstructive lung disease. Following a preface from leading researcher Dr. Holger Gerhardt, the text is divided into three sections- the first examining the development of the vascular system in a variety of contexts, the second delving into its homeostatic characteristics, and the third discussing its pathophysiologies. The sixteen chapters, which represent international clinical and research perspectives, highlight the importance of molecular and signaling pathways for translational basic science and clinical medicine. Additionally, the text explores new and exciting fields in vascular biology research. Comprehensive in both content and approach, Vascular Signaling in Health and Disease is ideal for graduate students, researchers, and clinicians interested in vascular biology, pneumology, and molecular biology.

With its innovative topical approach, bestselling COMPARATIVE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS, 5e offers a comprehensive analysis as it compares the various criminal justice systems throughout the world using six model countries: China, England, France, Germany, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. The text illustrates the different types of law and justice systems while exploring the historical, political, economic, social, and cultural influences on each system. This unique approach examines important aspects of each type of justice system--common law, civil law, socialist law, and sacred (Islamic) law--to give students a thorough understanding of the similarities and differences of each system without overloading them with too much information. Completely up to date, the Fifth Edition includes the latest trends and issues in international juvenile justice, policing, and terrorism, including expanded coverage of such high- profile topics as human trafficking, Internet pornography, identity theft, transnational policing, and more.

The vascular endothelium lining the inner surface of blood vessels serves as the first interface for circulating blood components to interact with cells of the vascular wall and surrounding extravascular tissues. In addition to regulating blood delivery and perfusion, a major function of vascular endothelia, especially those in exchange microvessels (capillaries and postcapillary venules), is to provide a semipermeable barrier that controls blood-tissue exchange of fluids, nutrients, and metabolic wastes while preventing pathogens or harmful materials in the circulation from entering into tissues. During host defense against infection or tissue injury, endothelial barrier dysfunction occurs as a consequence as well as cause of inflammatory responses. Plasma leakage disturbs fluid homeostasis and impairs tissue oxygenation, a pathophysiological process contributing to multiple organ dysfunction associated with trauma, infection, metabolic disorder, and other forms of disease. In this book, we provide an updated overview of microvascular endothelial barrier structure and function in health and disease. The discussion is initiated with the basic physiological principles of fluid and solute transport across microvascular endothelium, followed by detailed information on endothelial cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions and the experimental techniques that are employed to measure endothelial permeability. Further discussion focuses on the signaling and molecular mechanisms of endothelial barrier responses to various stimulations or drugs, as well as their relevance to several common clinical conditions. Taken together, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of microvascular endothelial cell and molecular pathophysiology. Such information will assist scientists and clinicians in advanced basic and clinical research for improved health care. Table of Contents: Acknowledgments / Introduction / Structure and Function of Exchange Microvessels / Methods for Measuring Permeability / The Endothelial Barrier / Signaling Mechanisms in the Regulation of Endothelial Permeability / Endothelial Barrier Protectors / Pathophysiology and Clinical Relevance / Conclusion / References

The field of genetics is rapidly evolving, and new medical breakthroughs are occurring as a result of advances in our knowledge of genetics. This series continually publishes important reviews of the broadest interest to geneticists and their colleagues in affiliated disciplines. This thematic volume reviews the latest research findings in the area of vascular proteomics related to the receptors of the vascular endothelium, and expands insights into diseases that exhibit distinct vascular characteristics, including cancer, obesity, and inflammation. Provides contrasting roles of VEGF, giving researchers a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of VEGF Includes chapters that review research employing a variety of organisms, allowing researchers to compare and contrast Focuses on material that translates basic research to real-life treatment applications, showing primary researchers how the basic science is being used in the clinical setting

Endothelial Signaling in Vascular Dysfunction and Disease: From Bench to Bedside provides a detailed understanding of the endothelium, its activation and their link to some common clinical disorders. In addition, the book covers earlier discoveries, including those from the last and 19th centuries. It is split into five sections that cover the vascular tree as an integrative structure, the endothelium in inflammation, endothelial signaling, activation and toxicity with chemotherapy, radiation induced endothelial dysfunction and vascular disease, and therapies in combating vascular diseases. Each section is discussed with a translational approach in order to make the content truly applicable. This book is a valuable source for basic researchers, clinicians in the fields of Oncology, Cardiovascular Medicine and Radiology, and members of the biomedical field who are conducting studies related to the endothelium and vascular disease. Discusses the most relevant discoveries in endothelial biology and their link to manifestations of clinical disease Presents history and diagrams in each section to highlight the original biological discovery and its link of clinical manifestations of vascular disease Includes recent findings on the relationship between endothelial signaling, chemotherapy and radiation induced endothelial dysfunction

The participation of endothelial cells in various physiologic and pathologic processes has been hypothesized since before the turn of the century. However, until recently, direct evidence for endothelial involvement in these processes has been extremely difficult to obtain due to the inability to study endothelial cell function in vitro. Though the possibility of using cultured endothelial cells to study endothelial cell function in vitro was recognized many years ago, the inability to culture unambiguously identifiable endothelial cells limited investigators in their studies of endothelial function. As a result, the field of endothelial cell biology lay relatively fallow for many years. The development in the early 1970's of routine and easily implemented methods for culturing human endothelial cells and the demonstration that cultured endothelial cells synthesized a physiologically relevant protein, Factor VIII/von Willebrand Factor, quickly changed this state of affairs. Over the following decade the scope of endothelial cell research rapidly widened, spreading in a number of directions. First, methods were developed to culture endothelial cells from a variety of species. Second, methods were developed to culture endothelial cells from different organs and types of blood vessels (arteries, veins, and capillaries) within a single species. Third, and most important, investigators began using cultured endothelial cells as tools to study the potential involvement of endothelial cells in a wide assortment of biologically interesting processes. The net result has been a tremendous increase in our understanding of endothelial cell function.