H. Ardehali – Manual of Research Techniques in Cardiovascular Medicine

Автор: H. Ardehali
Название книги: Manual of Research Techniques in Cardiovascular Medicine (2014)
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Медицина
Страницы: 473
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

While some research methods or techniques are applicable in several areas of medicine, research in cardiovascular diseases requires knowledge of an increasing array of procedures, techniques and measurements that are highly specialized and unique to this area of investigation. Edited by senior clinical investigators who are recognized leaders in cardiovascular medicine worldwide, this book provides readers with a comprehensive, practical “how-to-do-it” review of best-practice techniques for cardiovascular research.

Cardiovascular disease remains the number one
cause of death in developed countries. Every year,
billions of dollars are spent on cardiovascular
research, and several laboratories around the world
are specialized in conducting experiments related to
cardiovascular biology and physiology. Although
some aspects of research are common among
various fields in medical and biological sciences,
cardiovascular researchers utilize an array of
techniques and procedures that are unique to their
field. Thus, it is important for investigators in this
field to have access to a manual that contains
protocols on cardiovascular research techniques
written by experts, which is currently lacking.
Many of us, when we first started our independent
career or even when our labs were established
and running, have experienced the need for such
a resource. It is common for cardiovascular
investigators to spend hours looking for the details
of a protocol and searching for specific papers where
the procedure is used, only to find out that the
method is referenced to earlier papers, while those
earlier papers refer to yet other papers. It is also
common practice for cardiovascular researchers to
contact others in the field to get a copy of their
protocols when they start a new procedure in their
laboratories.
Because of this lack of a centralized manual of
common cardiovascular techniques, we decided to
put this book together. When we started the process,
the three of us acknowledged the difficulties
associated with this huge project, and realized that
it could be very time consuming. Nevertheless, the
need for such a manual was the driving force behind
our resolve to get this project completed.
The book is organized into seven different
sections: (1) electrophysiology, (2) stem cells, (3)
working with heart and vessels in vivo and ex vivo,
(4) small animal imaging, (5) metabolism,
mitochondria, and cell death, (6) altering gene
expression in vivo and in vitro, and (7) model
systems. We tried to ensure that all of the widely
used cardiovascular techniques are covered in this
book, and sought the opinion of the leaders in
the field to ensure this is the case. The majority of
the chapters contain figures and images and some
are accompanied by videos that are provided online.
We acknowledge that, given the dynamic nature
of cardiovascular research, the book will have to
be updated in the near future. Thus, we would
greatly appreciate any feedback from colleagues.
We would like to thank the section editors, Drs.
Andy Wasserstrom, Marina Bayeva, and Amy Rines,
for their assistance with the editing of the book. This
project would not have been possible without the
great contribution of all of the authors. We would
like to extend our gratitude to the authors for their
excellent contributions to the book and for being on
time with their submissions. Finally, we would like
to thank our families for being patient with us
during the completion of this project