Quality Review Articles Research Articles

Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Curcumin: From Chemistry and Mechanistic Insight to Nanoformulations

Background: Curcumin is a natural compound obtained from Curcuma longa that possesses a vast therapeutic potential for disease treatment. It is a potent anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-aging phytochemical as evident from numerous studies. Curcumin's anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties are thought to be more potent than its other biological actions. Curcumin's anti-inflammatory properties can lead to an improvement in symptoms and make it a viable candidate for the treatment and prevention of pro-inflammatory disorders. Objective: The goal of this review is to analyse curcumin's anti-inflammatory properties and mechanisms in the treatment of various disorders. The effect of different curcumin-based nanoformulations on anti-inflammatory potential is also reviewed, as the therapeutic use of curcumin is influenced by its solubility, bioavailability, and pharmacokinetic profile. Methodology: The literature searched during the last ten years using keywords such as curcumin, anti-inflammatory mechanisms, cytokines, and nanoformulations from multiple databases, such as PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and others. The quality research and review articles containing the aforementioned keywords were chosen for this review article. Conclusion: This review focuses on the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin against a variety of inflammatory disorders that arise over the course of various illnesses. It also emphasises the importance of developing alternative nanoformulations to address the limitations of curcumin usage. Further, it will aid the scientific community's understanding of curcumin and its anti-inflammatory mechanisms, prompting them to devise innovative treatment options.

Bioanalysis - Method Development, Validation, Sample Preparation, its Detection Techniques and its Application

Quantitatively measurements of chemical and biological drugs and their metabolites in the biological sample. This used in clinical and non-clinical studies. Non clinical including Pharmacokinetic and Toxic kinetic study, and clinical including Bioavailability, Bioequivalence study. This are play significant role and help in improvement in technology and analytical methods. Recent years have witnessed the introduction of several high- quality review articles into the literature covering various scientific and technical aspects of bioanalysis. Method validation and development use for the purpose of suitability of method for their intended purpose, this are important in Drug Discovery and Development. It including a validation parameters are Accuracy, Precision, Range, Calibration Curve, Recovery, Limit of Detection, Limit of Quantitation, Specificity, Selectivity and Stability, Ruggedness. This applicable in bio analysis, FDA and EMA guidelines. There are 3 main Extraction techniques used in sample preparation in bioanalysis is precipitation, liquid –liquid extraction, solid phase extraction. Detection of analyte by using hyphenated and chromatographic techniques like LC-MS/MS, HPLC, GC-MS. This LC-MS/MS is commonly used in a bioanalysis. This bio analysis study used in Pharmaceutical, Biomedical research purpose. Many challenges in pharmaceutical industry that fulfill by the utilization of analytical technologies and high-throughput automated platforms has been employed; in order to perform more experiments in a shorter time frame with increased data quality.

TEACH - JCS Policy

TEACH - Journal of Christian Studies (JCS) is an international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing high quality reports, studies, and review articles covering all aspects of Christian Heritage and Sciences. The journal commissions high quality review articles and editorials from distinguished authors and also welcomes full length original research and review articles, concise reports and letters to the editor. Additionally, JCS aims at publishing well searched controversial issues, with academically balanced evidence-based opinion, consequently establishing a platform for international researchers and scientists to meet and exchange findings, opinions and ideas.

Coronavirus Pandemic: Role of Bats And Zoonotic Transmission in Humans

Background:: In the past two decades, the human coronavirus (HCoV) outbreaks have gripped the international communities almost six times in different forms [HCoV-OC43 (2001); HCoV-NL63 (2004); SARS-CoV (2003); HCoV HKU1 (2005); MERS- CoV (2012); SARS-CoV- -2 (2019)]. These emerging pathogens have been proven very challenging from medical perspectives, economic conditions, and psychological impact on human society. Introduction:: SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus, has evidenced a historic yet troublesome pandemic across the globe. In humans, its clinical manifestations may range from asymptomatic, severe pneumonia to mortality. Bats are the natural reservoirs of a variety of viruses belonging to the family Coronaviridae. Most of the bats harboring coronaviruses mainly reside in Asian and African regions. Objective:: The objective was to describe the various characteristic features of all coronaviruses, clinical manifestations, and complications associated with SARS-CoV-2. The major goal was to highlight the involvement of the strong immune system of bats in the cross-species transmission of coronaviruses in intermediate hosts and, finally, zoonotic transmission in humans. Methodology:: A systematic literature search was conducted for high quality research and review articles. We searched the databases for articles published between the year 1972 to 2020 with search terms zoonosis, coronaviruses, zoonotic transmissions, clinical manifestations, and the immune system of bats. Conclusion:: The domestic and non-domestic animals come in closer contact with humans. Some requisite measures should be taken to decrease the contact with livestock to prevent further threatening viral transmissions. Furthermore, the remarkable immune system of bats is required to inquire thoroughly to develop novel therapeutics to conquer the evolving coronaviruses in the future.

Indicators of nutritional risk in hospital inpatients: a narrative review

Malnutrition is common in the acute care setting. Despite the existence of a plethora of screening tools, many malnourished patients remain undiagnosed and untreated, in part due to competing responsibilities for screening staff, under- or over-referral to dietetics services, and inadequate dietetics resources. Better identification of patients at risk of malnutrition would enable optimised care provision and streamlined care pathways. This narrative review of reviews aimed to collate and synthesise literature documenting nutritional risk factors in adult hospital inpatients, to generate a comprehensive list of nutritional risk indicators from high methodological quality review articles. Six electronic databases were searched (Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Joanna Briggs Institute Database, Embase and Scopus) using a systematic search strategy. Three researchers screened the resulting 5889 citations, identifying 59 reviews summarising original studies that investigated associations between indicators and measures of malnutrition, undernutrition or nutritional risk. After quality appraisal by two researchers, using the American Dietetic Association Quality Criteria Checklist for Review Articles, seven reviews were classified as high quality, identifying fifty-seven unique indicators of nutritional risk (disease status/condition – twenty-three; eating/appetite/digestion – twelve; type of diet – five; cognition/psychology/social factors – five; medication-related – two; miscellaneous – ten). This is the first comprehensive list of nutritional risk factors in adult hospital inpatients, derived from only the highest methodological quality reviews. This list contributes to the development of practice and evidence-informed systems-level approaches to the identification of nutritional risk in the acute care setting.

Annual Reviews of Biochemistry, 2019

The Annual Review of Biochemistry is a popular and well accepted science publication on Biochemistry since its inception. It has already played a pivotal role in modern biochemistry and it publishes quality review articles in biological chemistry and molecular biology. Even after 88 years of its initiation, this publication is serving as an indispensable resource for both the practising biochemists as well as elementary students of biochemistry. Every year, the Annual Review of Biochemistry contains many important review articles on advanced aspects of modern biochemistry and serves as an important source of classical and canonical knowledge.

Developing Ideas for Publication: Strategies for Nurse Authors

Developing Ideas for Publication: Strategies for Nurse Authors

Trend Direction Assessment for Water Quality

When scientists present information to stakeholders—farmers, land managers, policymakers, or the public—they sometimes lose their audience mid-explanation. Graham McBride, a Principal Scientist focused on water quality at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, has been there. It often happens when scientists get into the details of statistical tests regarding their research. They describe findings in terms of p-values and significance. This is notoriously confusing for those who do not use those tests frequently. For situations where stakeholder groups and scientists are working to improve something, like water quality or air quality, there may be a better way to analyze and present data that improves both the reporting of the science and how it is communicated to stakeholder groups. McBride recently published an article in the Journal of Environmental Quality (https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2018.03.0101) describing the use of trend direction assessment (TDA) rather than hypothesis testing. He is advocating for trend assessors to use TDA to provide information that is easier to interpret and communicate when determining if a situation is improving or in decline. He explains the development of this assessment procedure was inspired by a little-known paper in Psychological Methods, by Jones and Tukey. It was the last paper authored by Tukey, who many will recognize as one of the 20th century's most influential statisticians. McBride uses the question, “Has water quality improved?” to demonstrate the use of TDA. The article gives a detailed description of the steps with the first being identifying the direction of change. For water quality, not all improving variables will have the same direction; some variables may increase (e.g., clarity) while others will decrease (e.g., dissolved P). One thing that will resonate with those who have struggled to explain results to broad stakeholder groups is that the language used to describe the results changes. Instead of talking about significance and rejection of hypotheses, results are based on the likelihood of a given outcome as a percentage. So, a 1 to 5% likelihood can be categorized as an “extremely unlikely outcome” while a 95 to 99% likelihood is an “extremely likely outcome.” “My experience is that such probabilities are readily understood by policymakers and public groups, and they are seen to be useful,” McBride says. “But tests of nil hypotheses are not readily understood.” The language used to describe TDA results is closer to what we use day to day. Imagine that your friend is getting over a cold. You ask them if they are feeling better, and they respond with “After considering how often I've coughed today vs. two days ago, I cannot reject the hypothesis that I am getting better.” It takes a minute to wrap your brain around that, right? It would make more sense for them to say, “I'm coughing a lot less than I was the other day, so it's likely I'm on the mend.” Similarly, being able to tell stakeholders, “It is very likely that we are observing a decrease in dissolved P” or “It is unlikely water clarity has improved in the past six months” will be easier for everyone to interpret. To show how the TDA approach works, McBride includes three example data sets: two small data sets (one with high confidence and the other low confidence) and a large data set with variable confidence. These examples also demonstrate how uncertainty in the results can indicate a need for additional data, rather than simply being considered not significant. McBride does not suggest that hypothesis testing has no place in science, but questions the practice of testing hypotheses that postulate exact equality between different populations, such as “The trend slope is exactly zero.” This new approach, focusing on assessing trend direction, should be useful for many researchers working with policymakers and other stakeholder groups. It can be used on existing monitoring data to view it through a new lens and improve how the results are communicated in the future. Additionally, the TDA approach is useful for anyone trying to determine if conditions are being maintained. Agronomists and soil scientists may use this approach to ask, “Is soil health improving?” Conservation and restoration professionals could ask, “Are we increasing biodiversity?” or “Are we maintaining this critical habitat?” View the Journal of Environmental Quality review article, “Has Water Quality Improved or Been Maintained?” at: https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2018.03.0101.

Fuel Cells in a Changing Energy World

AbstractNo abstract.

A Systematic Review of Reviews Evaluating Technology-Enabled Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support.

Since the introduction of mobile phones, technology has been increasingly used to enable diabetes self-management education and support. This timely systematic review summarizes how currently available technology impacts outcomes for people living with diabetes. A systematic review of high quality review articles and meta analyses focused on utilizing technology in diabetes self-management education and support services was conducted. Articles were included if published between January 2013 and January 2017. Twenty-five studies were included for analysis. The majority evaluated the use of mobile phones and secure messaging. Most studies described healthy eating, being active and metabolic monitoring as the predominant self-care behaviors evaluated. Eighteen of 25 reviews reported significant reduction in A1c as an outcome measure. Four key elements emerged as essential for improved A1c: (1) communication, (2) patient-generated health data, (3) education, and (4) feedback. Technology-enabled diabetes self-management solutions significantly improve A1c. The most effective interventions incorporated all the components of a technology-enabled self-management feedback loop that connected people with diabetes and their health care team using 2-way communication, analyzed patient-generated health data, tailored education, and individualized feedback. The evidence from this systematic review indicates that organizations, policy makers and payers should consider integrating these solutions in the design of diabetes self-management education and support services for population health and value-based care models. With the widespread adoption of mobile phones, digital health solutions that incorporate evidence-based, behaviorally designed interventions can improve the reach and access to diabetes self-management education and ongoing support.

New year's greetings

To make a relevant decision of acceptance or rejection, we regularly hold a committee meeting and discuss matters thoroughly. All the associate editors and reviewers are making efforts to improve the quality of this journal every day. In order to improve the journal, it is important to publish good quality review articles. Therefore, we constantly ask opinion leaders to submit review articles. From the Urological Association of Asia, 16 editorial board members were recommended. I believe all these members make a valuable contribution to IJU. Each issue contains special papers for free, which are carefully selected at the committee meeting as very informative papers. There are now 10 categories for submission including case reports. The number of journals publishing case reports is decreasing. However, our committee recognizes that this category is important for sharing practical information relating to actual cases. We, the editorial staff, welcome more and more submissions to IJU. I hope the impact factor raises more in the future with great help from the dedicated editorial staff. We plan to hold an advisory board meeting at the annual meeting of the Japanese Urological Association, as in the past. We would like to welcome board members to attend this meeting and to keep a close relationship. Finally, please note that as of this year, IJU will be delivered to readers as an online journal only, except for just a few subscribers who wish to receive the printed form. I wish everyone a Happy New Year. None declared.

EURAPA moves to open access: Research trends and challenges in physical activity in old age.

The rise of the Internet has radically changed scholarly communication. It is now widely recognized that having an open access to research results contributes to better and more efficient science, and to innovation in the public and private sectors [1]. The global trend towards offering free online (open) access to the results of publicly-funded research (publications and data) has been a core strategy in the European Commission to accelerate the circulation of knowledge and thus innovation [1]. In accordance of this trend, the European Union (EU) is striving to improve access to scientific information and to boost the benefits of public investment in the research funded under the EU framework [2] so that everyone with access to the Internet can benefit from the latest scientific insights. As Editors-in-Chief of EURAPA, we very much look forward to the changes entailed in the journal’s transition to BioMed Central. Thanks to the open access format, the quality research and review articles that appear in our journal will be available to a much larger audience with an interest in aging and physical activity than was possible until now. EURAPA is the official publication of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity (EGREPA). EGREPA fills an important niche in the study of physical activity for the elderly. The first volume of EURAPA, as the official journal of EGREPA, was issued on the occasion of the 6th World Congress on Aging and Physical Activity in London, Ontario, Canada in 2004. The first volumes were published without a publisher. The decision to publish EURAPA with Springer Publishers was taken in 2005. The first issue with Springer, Volume 3, Number 1, appeared in May 2006. EURAPA has meanwhile become a well-established and accepted peer-reviewed journal. With Volume 8, Number 1, 2011, EURAPA became an electronic-only version. The year 2011 also marked the introduction of new publication formats so that EURAPA began to accept papers in categories such as: original research, theoretical and methodological articles, brief reports, guest editors and guest editorials [3]. In January 2015 the journal began publishing with BMC with the intention of further expanding its role as an interdisciplinary platform for the development and dissemination of scientific research relating to physical activity and aging. A new editorial board, comprised of new scientists in all relevant areas was created. This is a great opportunity to express our appreciation and thanks to the founders of the journal – Prof. Michael Sagiv and Prof. Heinz Mechling. Prof. Sagiv was the Co-Editor-in-Chief for life and medical sciences and Prof. Mechling for behavioral sciences. Both of them were pioneers in research on physical activity and aging and contributed greatly to the success of the journal. We also extend our thanks to Dr. Michael Brach, who has served as an associate editor and continues to contribute in making the journal an important voice for research in our field. We would also like to extend sincere thanks to three academic institutes that have provided essential resources and necessary operational support to both EGREPA and EURAPA: The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the Wingate Institute; The Institute of Movement and Sport Gerontology at the German Sport University, Cologne (former at University of Bonn); and the Institute of Sport at the Westfalische Wilhelms-University, Munster. We hope these institutes continue to provide their support. We also take the opportunity to thank all of our past reviewers for their service to the journal, the authors for their willingness to publish their work in EURAPA, and the readers, who have accepted EURAPA as a part of the scholarly literature.

Hospital readmissions in frail older people

SummaryThe majority of hospital in-patients are older people, and many of these are at increased risk of readmission, which can be an adverse outcome for the patient. Currently there is poor understanding as to how best to reduce the risk of readmission. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane library for high quality review articles about readmissions. Each review was quality assessed by two reviewers. Grouped data and evidence from original papers is cited with 95% confidence intervals when possible. Nine review studies of sufficient quality were included. Two addressed risk factors for readmission, which included: age, poor functional status prior to admission, length of stay during the index admission, depression, cognitive impairment, malnutrition, social support and social networks/support. The seven other reviews addressed interventions to reduce readmission, which included: discharge planning, post-discharge support, post-discharge case management, and nutritional supplementation. It is possible to identify older people at risk of readmission using well-established risk factors; discharge planning, post-discharge support and nutritional interventions appear to be effective in reducing readmission. Combined interventions appear to be more effective than isolated interventions.

Review of the treatment of liver hydatid cysts.

A review was carried out in Medline, LILACS and the Cochrane Library. Our database search strategy included the following terms: "hydatid cyst", "liver", "management", "meta-analysis" and "randomized controlled trial". No language limits were used in the literature search. The latest electronic search date was the 7(th) of January 2014. all relevant studies on the assessment of therapeutic methods for hydatid cysts of the liver were considered for analysis. Information from editorials, letters to publishers, low quality review articles and studies done on animals were excluded from analysis. Additionally, well-structured abstracts from relevant articles were selected and accepted for analysis. Standardized forms were designed for data extraction; two investigators entered the data on patient demographics, methodology, recurrence of HC, mean cyst size and number of cysts per group. Four hundred and fourteen articles were identified using the previously described search strategy. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria detailed above, 57 articles were selected for final analysis: one meta-analysis, 9 randomized clinical trials, 5 non-randomized comparative prospective studies, 7 non-comparative prospective studies, and 34 retrospective studies (12 comparative and 22 non-comparative). Our results indicate that antihelminthic treatment alone is not the ideal treatment for liver hydatid cysts. More studies in the literature support the effectiveness of radical treatment compared with conservative treatment. Conservative surgery with omentoplasty is effective in preventing postoperative complications. A laparoscopic approach is safe in some situations. Percutaneous drainage with albendazole therapy is a safe and effective alternative treatment for hydatid cysts of the liver. Radical surgery with pre- and post-operative administration of albendazole is the best treatment option for liver hydatid cysts due to low recurrence and complication rates.

New year's greetings: International Journal of Urology enters its third decade

I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to the International Journal of Urology (IJU). I thank the authors who send high quality Review and Original Articles. We started a new multileveled review process in March 2013. The process has worked smoothly, providing balanced and consistent decisions of acceptance. Furthermore, it has shortened latency to a decision on acceptance, eventually to publication. The reviewers deserve special thanks for their prompt and precise evaluation of the manuscripts. I believe that IJU is improving in quality through the efforts of the Editorial Board. I also thank the members for their commitment. Urology has progressed in terms of surgical and medical treatment strategies. I would like to ask authors to provide novel insight into future general treatments by publishing articles in IJU. Basic translational research papers that have the possibility to change future urological practices are welcomed. I would also like to encourage physicians and researchers, as well as young urologists, to submit your research work to IJU. We are ready to raise the quality of the paper through the review process. We classify our articles into 10 categories: oncology, benign prostatic hyperplasia/voiding dysfunction, incontinence/female urology, transplantation/nephrology, erectile dysfunction/sexual function, endocrinology, trauma/infection, urinary stones, pediatric, and others. Thanks to this new system, we are now able to select reviewers efficiently. We are now inviting new young researchers and physicians who are interested in reviewing papers. We would appreciate recommendations for anyone who is capable of reviewing papers correctly with passion. We have been asking those with leading opinions from all over the world to write review papers. Despite their busy schedules, they have written up-to-date review articles that have helped readers to make the right decisions in ordinary practice. IJU is the official journal of the Urological Association of Asia (UAA). Articles from Asian countries are welcomed. At UAA youth educational meetings, the IJU Editorial Board members are planning seminars on how to brush up original papers. We hold an advisory board every year at the annual meeting of the Japanese Urological Association. We would like to welcome board members to attend the meeting and to advise us on matters relating to IJU. This year, the meeting will be held on 26 April from 16:00 to 17:30. We look forward to your participation. I wish you a pleasant 2014! None declared.

Preanalytical Phase – an updated review of the current evidence

European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) Working group for preanalytical phase (WG-PRE) has recently launched a series of conferences on preanalytical phase. First such meeting was held in Parma (Italy) in the spring of 2011 and the second one took place in Zagreb (Croatia) during 1–2 March 2013. The Zagreb audience had the opportunity to enjoy a focused and challenging scientific program as well as to participate actively in interactive e-voting sessions. Speakers of the conference have kindly accepted the invitation to submit their review articles covering topics presented during the meeting. This Journal issue comprises a number of high quality review articles providing an updated overview of the current evidence on the various preanalytical issues. The first article in this series is presented by prof. Walter G. Guder who has prepared a historical overview of the milestones in the development of the key concepts in the field of preanalytical phase (1). Bowen and Remaley in their article provide an excellent update on the most important blood collection tube additives and their components which may affect laboratory test results (2). De Carli and her colleagues have compiled the existing evidence of healthcare workers risk of sharps injuries and subsequent infections and review respective prevention strategies (3). Several subsequent articles are dedicated to some preanalytical sources of interferences such as lipemia (4), physical activity (5) and medical contrast media (6). Delanghe and Speeckaert have reviewed current pre-analytical problems and requirements for the most common urinary analytes, with a special highlight of the importance of the preanalytical phase in urine toxicology and metabolomics (7). Last, but not the least, this article series also covers the recent advances in the harmonization of preanalytical quality indicators (8) and External Quality Assessment Schemes for the pre-analytical phase (9). We hope that this series shall contribute to the better understanding and recognition of various important preanalytical phase variables. As this body of evidence grows, we will keep you updated by providing high quality reviews and original research addressing the current and future preanalytical challenges.

Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology Review - Onwards and Upwards.

It was an honour to accept Dr Demosthenes Katritsis’ invitation to supply the foreword to the August 2014 edition of Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology Review (AER), following my appointment as Section Editor – Clinical Electrophysiology and Ablation for the journal. AER, with its editorial mission of providing concise, practical reviews on heart rhythm disorders for the education of both arrhythmologists and general cardiologists, continues to grow as an invaluable resource of quality review articles for the cardiology community, which is testament to the editorship of Dr Katritsis, the editorial board, and the contributing authors and reviewers. This issue covers a range of topics of real interest with a number of articles focused on inherited arrhythmias and genetics, ablation techniques and implantable cardiac device issues, written by a panel of experienced and respected cardiologists. I trust that you will find this edition of AER an enjoyable contribution to your continued educational development on heart rhythm disorders. Professor Karl-Heinz Kuck, Section Editor – Clinical Electrophysiology and Ablation

Editorial [Hot Topic: Comparative Genomics and Genome Evolution (Guest Editors: Sabyasachi Das and Masayuki Hirano)

It has become a fundamental need to have genome sequence data due to the fact that the basic process of evolution is the change in DNA sequence and genome size. Recent advances in DNA sequencing technology have facilitated the availability of quite a large number of complete genome sequences from simplest prokaryotes to higher eukaryotes. The availability of whole genome sequence data at our fingertips can provide critical insight into how various genomic compositions have contributed to a contemporary understanding of molecular evolution. For this reason, comparative evolutionary genomics has become one of the most rapidly advancing disciplines in the biological sciences. The new generation of comparative genomics offers a powerful aid to studying evolutionary changes among organisms and identifying the genes that are conserved among species, and also the genes that give each organism its own specific characteristics. Informatics related to structural and functional genomics is potentially important in understanding the emergence of new phenotypic characters necessary for the adaptation of organisms. In addition, the evolutionary perspective of genes and genomes is also helpful in understanding disease susceptibility. A large number of scientists from all over the world are involved in determining the genomic underpinnings of morphological, physiological, and behavioral changes. A lot of research has been done to find selection signals on a genome-wide scale, and also focusing on specific gene families to learn more about evolutionary mechanisms. Therefore, it is necessary to compile various current aspects of genomic and evolutionary research at some point. This prompts us to devote a special issue we have named “Comparative Genomics and Genome Evolution”. The series of review articles in this issue of Current Genomics present current advances in multiple areas of comparative genomics and molecular evolutionary studies. This special issue is comprised of eight high quality articles which have been selected through a rigorous reviewing process. Several years ago, with the ground-breaking work of Max D. Cooper and colleagues, an adaptive immune system was discovered in a representative jawless vertebrate (lamprey). The first review article describes concordance and divergence in the immunogenetic architecture between two alternative adaptive immune systems of jawed and jawless vertebrates, and discusses in detail the evolution of the jawless vertebrate immune system on the basis of currently available lamprey genomic resources. In the second review paper, Nikolas Nikolaidis and colleagues discuss the current knowledge on the genomics and evolution of the immunoglobulin mulitigene family in vertebrates. To provide further coverage and discussion of the evolutionary dynamics of multigene families, we commissioned Yoshihito Niimura to review the evolutionary genomics of the olfactory receptor multigene family on a genome-wide scale. The fourth review article presents the interesting scenario of the evolution of mammalian sex chromosomes. Yoko Satta and colleagues reviewed evolutionary aspects related to genomic rearrangements and structures of the sex chromosomes. The next review article, by Arnab Gupta and Svetlana Lutsenko, focuses on the origin and evolution of copper transporting ATPases in eukaryotic organisms. In the sixth article, Mariko Kondo and Koji Akasaka highlight the phylogenetic relationships among echinoderms and the current status of echinoderm genome analysis. The seventh article is related to the evolution of microRNAs. In this article, Zhumur Ghosh and Bibekanand Mallick describe advances of genomics, evolution, and biogenesis of microRNAs. Finally, we conclude with an interesting review article by Chitra Dutta and Sandip Paul on microbial genome signature related to different lifestyles. The authors describe how closely related microbial species are diverged on the basis of the genomic signature of ecological kinship throughout microbial evolution. Recognizing the growing interest in evolutionary genomics, we are happy to present this collection of high quality review articles for this special issue. We would like to thank all of the reviewers for their valuable comments meant to improve the quality of articles. In addition, we offer special thanks to the Editor-in-Chief, and the Current Genomics editorial/production staff, who have contributed invaluably to this project. We hope you find the issue timely, scholarly, and interesting.

Changes in dietary habits after migration and consequences for health: a focus on South Asians in Europe

Background: Immigrants from low-income countries comprise an increasing proportion of the population in Europe. Higher prevalence of obesity and nutrition related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is found in some immigrant groups, especially in South Asians.Aim: To review dietary changes after migration and discuss the implication for health and prevention among immigrants from low-income countries to Europe, with a special focus on South Asians.Method: Systematic searches in PubMed were performed to identify relevant high quality review articles and primary research papers. The searches were limited to major immigrant groups in Europe, including those from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka). Articles in English from 1990 and onwards from Europe were included. For health implications, recent review articles and studies of particular relevance to dietary changes among South Asian migrants in Europe were chosen.Results: Most studies report on dietary changes and health consequences in South Asians. The picture of dietary change is complex, depending on a variety of factors related to country of origin, urban/rural residence, socio-economic and cultural factors and situation in host country. However, the main dietary trend after migration is a substantial increase in energy and fat intake, a reduction in carbohydrates and a switch from whole grains and pulses to more refined sources of carbohydrates, resulting in a low intake of fiber. The data also indicate an increase in intake of meat and dairy foods. Some groups have also reduced their vegetable intake. The findings suggest that these dietary changes may all have contributed to higher risk of obesity, T2D and CVD.Implications for prevention: A first priority in prevention should be adoption of a low-energy density – high fiber diet, rich in whole grains and grain products, as well as fruits, vegetables and pulses. Furthermore, avoidance of energy dense and hyperprocessed foods is an important preventive measure.

A thank you note from the Editor‐in‐Chief

The most important factor contributing to a top-class biomedical journal is the quality of the articles it publishes, their contributions to new knowledge, better understanding of disease and its treatment, and their relevance to the improved standards of patient care that we all seek to promulgate. Attracting those articles from authors, selecting the best and editing them for further improvement is the painstaking task of reviewers and editors. It is a time-consuming task that relies on the experience, fairness, expertise and creativity of those involved, and also their generosity and belief in the peer-review system that underpins academic excellence, our science and profession. While JGH no longer lists reviewers each year, your contribution is noted and greatly appreciated. What may be less well-known is that our hardest-working reviewers, those who consistently review 5 or more manuscripts every year as well as writing for us frequently, are all members of the Editorial Board. Your names are clearly printed inside the front cover of each issue, and your sterling (in some cases, stellar!) contribution is hugely valued. Ably supported by our reviewers and Editorial Board members, the Editors of JGH need to apply the same qualities to building a great journal, and also additional ones – like wisdom and judgment! Each Editor needs to tackle a constant stream of manuscripts to make timely decisions; each handles about 100 manuscripts a year. They are therefore conducting JGH business multiple times every week of the year. Indeed, it is evident to me that some of them conduct JGH business virtually every day of the year! Selecting which manuscripts should be sent out to our hardworking reviewers and Editorial Board members, nominating and inviting appropriate reviewers, occasionally chasing up those who are incommunicado or tardy, making judgments on discrepant reviewer reports or borderline articles (we only accept ∼12% of articles submitted to us), then finally improving the wording of titles, imperfections of English expression, unwieldy figures and tables all takes time as well as expertise. Editors also contribute substantially to the selection and writing of editorials and high quality review articles, attracting the best original articles for JGH (including some of their own), and developing and promulgating high ethical standards in research and publishing as required by this Journal. The effort of the team of JGH Editors over the last 5 years or so has been outstanding. In my view, it is the main reason why JGH has grown into the top Asia-Pacific biomedical journal for Gastroenterology and Hepatology, now striving for a more leading role on the world stage. At the beginning of 2012, I want to particularly thank and acknowledge two senior editors who have made singular contributions to JGH. Professor Paul Desmond is a highly experienced hepatologist from Melbourne, whose hard work, great experience, wisdom and judgment have been very helpful to me as Editor-in-Chief and to newer editors – he will be hard to replace. Professor Ki-Baik Hahm from Soeul has been our first Editor from Korea. His legacy will be the greatly improved connection of JGH to our good Korean colleagues, both in the quantity and relevance of articles on topics of mutual interest. As the JGH team farewells these two Editors and thanks them for their sterling service, we welcome aboard several new members: Professor Justin Wu (Hong Kong), Man-Fung Yuen (Hong Kong), Min-Hu Chen (Guangzhou), Peter Gibson (Melbourne) and Shiv Chitturi (Canberra). The present expanding team of 19 editors is energetic, efficient, talented and fair. As I work with them in my sixth year as Editor-in-Chief, I know the future of the Journal is in excellent hands.