New Books: Winter 2021

Food security issues and challenges, edited by Adriana Fillol Mazo and Miguel Ángel Martín López. (NYMC Chapter Author: Denise Tahara).

“It is clear that one of the most damaging global problems is hunger. There is still a high proportion of hungry people in the world, the number of human beings in this condition exceeding 690 million, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report (FAO 2020). Consequently, its eradication is extremely urgent. Nevertheless, it does not appear that Sustainable Development Goal number two, i.e. Zero Hunger, will be achieved by 2030. The United Nations itself admits this, stating that “the world is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030. If recent trends continue, the number of people affected by hunger would surpass 840 million by 2030″. The problems facing food in the world today have increased considerably, as well as various factors and phenomena that augment the complexity of the issues or situations that fall within the scope of food security, such as: climate change, land grabbing, use of chemical fertilizers, loss of agrodiversity and other agricultural sustainability issues, obesity problems resulting from unhealthy diets, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the lack of justiciability of the right to food, the use of biotechnology in food, etc. In short, this book is a diverse compilation of the new manifestations of global food security seen from several angles and areas. The book aims to let visualize the main global problems and challenges that have a negative impact on food security, with the underlying objective of highlighting the need for reinforcing its full application in all contexts and countries. To this end, we believe that it is necessary to make its concept operational, and take it into consideration when applying policies and standards, especially in those areas and matters that may undermine said food security. In this sense, it is essential to strengthen its legal protection through a coherent and operational interpretation of the human right to food, so as to broaden its content and make it consistent with its pillars and foundations.” — Amazon.com

The code breaker: Jennifer Doudna, gene editing, and the future of the human race, by Walter Isaacson.

“When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback titled The Double Helix on her bed. She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved. When she read it on a rainy Saturday, she discovered she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama behind the competition to discover the code of life. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn’t become scientists, she decided she would. Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, she would help to make what the book’s author, James Watson, told her was the most important biological advance since his codiscovery of the structure of DNA. She and her collaborators turned a curiosity of nature into an invention that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions. The development of CRISPR and the race to create vaccines for coronavirus will hasten our transition to the next great innovation revolution. The past half-century has been a digital age, based on the microchip, computer, and internet. Now we are entering a life-science revolution. Children who study digital coding will be joined by those who study genetic code.” — Amazon.com

Learning to lead in the academic medical center: a practical guide, by Jeffrey L. Houpt, Roderick W. Gilkey, and Susan H. Ehringhaus.

“This compelling title is a comprehensive, practical guide for current and aspiring leaders in academic medical centers (AMC).  Offering both a broad overview of the dynamics of the AMC and a detailed “how-to” set of instructions for the wide-ranging situations that demand skilled leadership, this expertly designed volume is filled with meaningful examples and insights. Learning to Lead in the Academic Medical Center: A Practical Guide consists of five parts. The first three sections are narrative and intended to help the reader become a better leader. The first section looks at the AMC as a social system and emphasizes an understanding of group dynamics. The second section discusses the critical role of personality, while the third covers all the necessary leadership skill sets such as negotiation, persuasion, conflict resolution, running a meeting, and so on. The fourth section is a fascinating series of case vignettes to solve based on the material that preceded it. The final section provides a set of highly instructional solutions to those cases. An indispensable reference authored by three highly accomplished leaders in the field, Learning to Lead in the Academic Medical Center: A Practical Guide will be of great interest to all physicians and trainees who seek a comprehensive yet handy resource on the need-to-know basics of success in the AMC environment.” — Amazon.com

Yao & Artusio’s anesthesiology: problem-oriented patient management, edited by Fun-Sun F. Yao, Hugh C. Hemmings, Jr., Vinod Malhotra, and Jill Fong.

“Case-based and easy to use, Yao & Artusio’s Anesthesiology: Problem-Oriented Patient Management is the bestselling study and review reference preferred by both residents and practicing anesthesiologists. The revised Ninth Edition prepares you for the oral and written boards with more than 60 real-world cases accompanied by questions that conform to the four areas of questioning on the oral boards, reinforcing step-by-step critical thinking about today’s surgical anesthesia and patient management.

• Fully revised throughout, including new coverage of hypertension geriatric anesthesia, enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS), postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and updated references for further study and clarification.
• A consistent chapter format includes: presentation of a case; questions on medical disease and differential diagnosis, preoperative planning and preparation, intraoperative management, and postoperative management; and complete answers and discussion of the case.
• Problem-based approach emphasizes critical thinking, collaborative decision making, and problem-solving skills.
• Ideal for oral board and continuing education preparation.” — Amazon.com

Joint imaging applications in general neurodegenerative disease: Parkinson’s, frontotemporal, vascular dementia and autism, by Yongxia Zhou.

“Multiple advanced neuroimaging applications in various neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s disease (PD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), vascular dementia (VaD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are covered in this book. Relatively novel techniques such as integrated PET/MRI and independent component analysis (ICA)-based dual regression (DR) methods were developed to capture multi-level molecular/functional and structural/microstructural as well as high-order inter-network coordination abnormalities. For instance, both PET dopamine transporter and striatal binding ratio reductions in the caudate and putamen were found in PD, consistent with the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) fractional anisotropy (FA) reduction and fMRI voxel-mirrored homotopic correlation (VMHC) in the substantia nigra (swallow tail sign signature of PD). Furthermore, dopamine storage and pathway labeled with the vesicular monoamine transporter tracer identified decreased densities in the bilateral mesial temporal cortex, caudate, orbitofrontal cortex, left frontal and occipital cortices, consistent with the morphological atrophy, functional connectivity and conductivity deficits in PD. Similarly in FTD patients, the advanced MRI methods such as ICA-DR, VMHC, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) as well as PET tracer for amyloid accumulation and FDG glucose uptake identified typical brain atrophy, structural dis-connectivity, glucose hypometabolism, higher neuropathological burden, lower interhemispheric correlation as well as disrupted intra- and inter-network modulation in the orbitofrontal and anterior temporal cortices together with insular and frontoparietal networks, with the cerebellum and dorsolateral attentional network as typical compensations. Functional and structural abnormalities had further been elucidated in the VaD dependent participants and autistic children. For instance, both lower FA and VMHC, brain atrophy and functional connectivity deficits, demyelination, axonal degeneration and white matter integrity damage in several white matter tracts were present in the dependent compared to independent participants in VaD data cohort. Increased neuronal activity with higher global fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF) in the conventional and slow-wave sub-band was confirmed with less efficiency of systematic integration in VaD dependent group.”– Provided by publisher.