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Topic Review
Biography
Topic Review
Task-specific Focal Dystonia
Task-specific focal dystonia is a movement disorder that interferes with the performance of particular tasks, such as writing, playing a musical instrument, or participating in a sport. Dystonias are a group of movement problems characterized by involuntary, sustained muscle contractions, tremors, and other uncontrolled movements. The term "focal" refers to a type of dystonia that affects a single part of the body, such as the hand or jaw.
552
23 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Task Allocation and Partitioning of Social Insects
Task allocation and partitioning is the way that tasks are chosen, assigned, subdivided, and coordinated within a colony of social insects. Task allocation and partitioning gives rise to the division of labor often observed in social insect colonies, whereby individuals specialize on different tasks within the colony (e.g., "foragers", "nurses"). Communication is closely related to the ability to allocate tasks among individuals within a group. This entry focuses exclusively on social insects. For information on human task allocation and partitioning, see division of labour, task analysis, and workflow.
239
20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Tarsal-carpal Coalition Syndrome
Tarsal-carpal coalition syndrome is a rare, inherited bone disorder that affects primarily the hands and feet.
520
23 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Taro Mucilage
Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is an important source of carbohydrates as an energy source and is used as a staple food throughout the world. It is rich in mucilage and starch granules, making it a highly digestible ingredient. Mucilage can act as a matrix and a thickening, binding, emulsifying, or foaming agent in food, pharmaceutical, and several other fields of research. Moreover, mucilage can be extracted from several living organisms and has excellent functional properties, such as water-holding, oil-holding, and swelling capacities. Therefore, these remarkable functional properties make mucilage a promising ingredient with possible industrial applications. Furthermore, several extraction techniques, including enzyme-assisted, ultrasonication, microwave-assisted, aquatic, and solvent extraction methods, are used to obtain quantitative amounts of taro mucilage. Coldwater extraction with ethanol precipitation can be considered an effective and cost-effective technique to obtain high-quality mucilage with suitable industrial applications, whereas the ultrasonication method is more expensive but results in a higher amount of mucilage than other emerging techniques. Mucilage can also be used as a fat replacer or reducer, dye remover, coating agent, and antioxidating agent
1.6K
25 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Taro in West Africa
Taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] is the most commonly cultivated species in genus Colocasia and is the fourth most consumed tuber crop globally. It is a member of family Araceae, sub-family Aroideae, and is a tropical monocotyledonous, vegetatively propagated, perennial crop grown primarily for its starchy corm or underground stem. Taro is one of the world’s oldest food crops, with its domestication dating back over 9000 years. It was probably first domesticated in Southeast Asia and thereafter spread across the world, to become one of the most important staple food crops in the Pacific Islands. It is widely distributed across Africa, Oceania, Asia, and the Americas. The crop has been largely maintained by smallholder farmers, and the species’ genetic resources have remained largely within local communities. In many societies, taro is considered a sacred plant of strong cultural importance and is used in religious festivals, domestic and agricultural rituals, and as bride price.
3.0K
19 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Targets on Astrocytes for the Treatment of ALS
Astrocytes, the most numerous and giant glial cells in the central nervous system (CNS), possess the unique ability to divide and proliferate throughout life. The cytosol of astrocytes exhibits a distinctive star-shaped morphology, housing a critical structural component known as the glial filament. Comprised of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), this intermediate filament is essential to the cytoskeleton and serves as a standard marker for astrocytes. Importantly, it is not entirely exclusive to astrocytes but also labels neural stem cells. Apart from organizing the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and supporting, sequestering, and isolating neurons, these cells perform a multitude of vital biological functions. These include the metabolism, synthesis, and secretion of neurotrophic factors, regulation of neurotransmitters and calcium homeostasis, maintenance of mitochondrial function, participation in nervous system and circuit development, and regulation of the immune status of the CNS. However, these functions are partially or wholly lost in reactive astrocytes. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal illness characterized by the degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons (MNs), with an average survival of 3–5 years.
262
18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Targets of Toxicity in Environmental Exposure to Cadmium
Dietary assessment reports and population surveillance programs show that chronic exposure to low levels of environmental cadmium (Cd) is inevitable for most people, and adversely impacts the health of children and adults.
666
01 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Targets for Therapeutic Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an adult-onset dementia characterised by progressive neurodegeneration and widespread brain damage, leading to long-term functional and cognitive impairment and greatly reduced life expectancy. While early genetic studies uncovered several polymorphisms associated with AD, more recently genome-wide association analyses and massive sequencing techniques have revealed numerous novel susceptibility genes, differentially expressed genes, and disease traits. Nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying disease onset are still not fully understood and, as with other complex human diseases, the causes of low heritability are unclear. Epigenetic mechanisms, in which changes in gene expression do not depend on changes in genotype, have been postulated as key factors in understanding the development of AD and the processes that influence age-related changes and various neurological diseases. Research on specific mutations in risk genes and epigenetic markers is increasing, enabling the development of therapeutic treatments that target the neuropathological changes associated with AD and, in many cases, are expected to reverse at least some of the cognitive impairment associated with the disease. The application of effective therapies therefore requires a growing understanding of the genetic risk factors and underlying epigenetic mechanisms involved in AD.
420
23 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Targeting Tyrosine Kinases in ccRCC
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the seventh most frequently diagnosed tumor in adults in Europe and represents approximately 2.5% of cancer deaths. Currently, there are multiple therapeutic drugs available for advanced disease, including therapies against VEGFR with successful results in patients´ survival. Other tyrosine kinases’ pathways, including PDGFR, Axl or MET have emerged as key signaling pathways involved in RCC biology.
724
08 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Targeting Tumor-Associated Macrophages
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) represent a promising therapeutic intervention for a variety of advanced/metastatic solid tumors, including melanoma, but in a large number of cases, patients fail to establish a sustained anti-tumor immunity and to achieve a long-lasting clinical benefit. Cells of the tumor micro-environment such as tumor-associated M2 macrophages (M2-TAMs) have been reported to limit the efficacy of immunotherapy, promoting tumor immune evasion and progression.
1.2K
06 May 2021
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