Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

HCI and Usability Principles and Guidelines in the Website Development Process: An International Perspective

This chapter provides an answer to the question “Do industry practitioners consider that human computer interaction (HCI) and usability principles and guidelines are essential in the website development process?” The answer was sought by means of an online survey (N = 126), of Information Systems(IS)/Information Technology (IT) personnel in Australia and Portugal, that allowed the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. Explanatory analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, including frequencies and an independent sample T-test. The study findings suggest that both HCI and Usability were significant aspects of the website development process especially in the marketing websites, as their inclusion will encourage users to revisit these websites and thereby increase businesses’ profits. Usability and HCI features are especially important in the design stage to improve the structure and functionality of a website. The conclusions drawn in this chapter will assist IS/IT industry practitioners in Australia and Portugal to implement HCI and usability approaches by means of a New Participative Methodology for Marketing Websites (NPMMW)