Abstract
This is the second of our two special issues of Nonlinearity. The five peer-reviewed articles in this issue, like the six in the first issue, are based on presentations made by their authors at the International BELLE Conference on Non-Linear Dose-Response Relationships in Biology, Toxicology and Medicine, held May 28–30, 2003 at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. The conference theme, “Scientific Foundations, Implications for Pharmaceuticals and Environmental Risk Assessment,” consisted of over 30 presentations and a poster session. Major topics in the seven sessions focused on aspects of low-level radiation, chemical carcinogenesis, clinical implications of bi-phasic dose responses, high-profile toxic substances and their nonlinear relationships and regulatory implications.
The Samueli Institute, one of the sponsors of the nonlinearity conference, also supported the publication of these two special issues for which Wayne B. Jonas and John A. Ives of the Samueli Institute served as guest editors. These two special issues were compiled by inviting presenters at the conference to submit papers for peer review. All papers were reviewed by at least two peer reviewers, and decisions regarding the publication of the revised manuscripts were based on the final recommendations of the reviewers.
For this second special issue, we invited submissions from researchers with a focus on human pathology and aging, and then end with a mystery. Mamber et al. describe experiments in which they modulate collagen levels in a murine model of scleroderma, a collagen-related disorder, using the bacterial toxin streptolysin O. Cai investigates the importance of metallothionein as an adaptive protein in diabetes and its concomitant pathogenic injury. He reports a significant decrease in endotoxin- and cisplatin-induced toxicity of liver and kidney, respectively, with metallothioneins. Rattan, Eskildsen-Helmond, and Beedholm have studied the anti-aging effects of mild heat stress on tissue culture cells. In this issue they review the available data on possible mechanisms underlying this effect. Shukla, Vacek, and Mossman present dose-response data for different types of asbestos in both in vitro and in vivo models for malignant mesothelioma. Their studies point to a threshold for effects with chrysotile asbestos. We end with a paper from Poland by Malarczyk, Kochmanska-Rdest, and Pazdzioch-Czochra, who study the impact of very high dilutions of phenolic compounds on the activity of horseradish peroxidase. The dose-response sinusoidal curves observed, and underlying mechanism, remain a mystery.