scholarly journals Organoids: life in three dimensions- a review

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Akhila CNV ◽  
Ravi Prakash A ◽  
Rajini Kanth M ◽  
Sreenath G ◽  
Sowmya K ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Drug Testing ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Vaccine Production ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Open The Doors ◽  
Dimensional Cell

Most of the diseases in humans are as a result of complex interactions occurring at cellular and molecular level. Research today has been focused in an attempt to reveal precisely the cellular evolution into pathogenesis. There are vast array of research fields, which include molecular biology, imaging techniques, etc. One of such field recently advancing worldwide is “Organotyping”. It is the successor of two dimensional cell cultures. Miniature organs and disease models can be produced from cells having the ability to proliferate and differentiate, by adopting definite protocols. Organoids are the potential tools to probe human biology and diseases; thereby they may change the approach to study diseases and provide treatment, in a more beneficiary way to the patient. Also organoids are used in vaccine production, cancer research, microbiology, tissue regeneration, drug testing, etc. Clinical trials are more devastating and may cost life of patients included in study. As such, organoids can be included in the protocols of clinical trials, through which the outcome of the study can be estimated. They open the doors for newer research methods and innovations, which are in peak requirement of present day scenario where new diseases are emerging and the diseases already existing are not yet cured.   

scholarly journals Tackling SARS-CoV-2: proposed targets and repurposed drugs

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 1579-1601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siddhi Joshi ◽  
Maithili Joshi ◽  
Mariam S Degani
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Therapeutic Options ◽  
Drug Candidates ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Repurposed Drugs ◽  
Druggable Targets

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, declared as a global health emergency by the WHO in February 2020, has currently infected more than 6 million people with fatalities near 371,000 and increasing exponentially, in absence of vaccines and drugs. The pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 is still being elucidated. Identifying potential targets and repurposing drugs as therapeutic options is the need of the hour. In this review, we focus on potential druggable targets and suitable therapeutics, currently being explored in clinical trials, to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection. A brief understanding of the complex interactions of both viral as well as host targets, and the possible repurposed drug candidates are described with an emphasis on understanding the mechanisms at the molecular level.

Testing Meldonium: Assessing Soviet pragmatic alternatives to the randomized controlled trial

2021 ◽  
pp. 174077452110085
Author(s):  
Anastasiya Chirkova ◽  
Alexander Petrenko ◽  
Pavel Vasilyev
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Drug Testing ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Experimental Drugs ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Experimental Drug ◽  
Second World

Background/aims Current research largely tends to ignore the drug-testing model that was developed in the “Second World” as an explicit alternative to the randomized controlled trial. This system can be described as “socialist pharmapolitics,” accounting for the specific features of state socialism that influenced the development and testing of experimental drugs. The clinical trials model employed in the “Second World” was heavily influenced by the Soviet Union, which was by far the most influential player in the socialist bloc during the Cold War. Based on extensive archival research, this article presents an empirical case of a late Soviet clinical trial as a pragmatic alternative to the randomized controlled trial model. It accounts for the divergences between the official model prescribed by the Soviet authorities and the messy realities of healthcare practice. It further outlines different factors that ultimately shaped how clinical trials were organized in Soviet institutions “on the ground.” Accordingly, this article presents a “real-life” history of “socialist pharmapolitics” and outlines the problems that this system faced in practice. Methods Archival research was conducted at the Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation in Moscow. Archival files include scientific, technical, and registration documentation such as biochemical, pharmacological, and clinical descriptions of the experimental drug Meldonium, letters between various hospitals, research institutes and the Soviet regulatory body, as well as 26 reports of completed clinical trials. Manual content analysis was used for the interpretation of results. Results This article presents an empirical case of a late Soviet clinical trial as a pragmatic alternative to the randomized controlled trial model. It demonstrates some key differences from the randomized controlled trial model. This article also highlights some of the discrepancies between the model that was officially prescribed by the Soviet authorities and the realities of experimental drug testing in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In particular, it notes some elements of randomization, double-blinding, and the use of placebo that were present in Meldonium trials despite being formally denounced by Soviet bioethics. Conclusion The Soviet model for testing experimental drugs differed from the Western one substantially in a number of respects. This difference was not only proclaimed officially by the Soviet authorities, but was for the most part enforced in clinical trials in practice. At the same time, our research demonstrates that there were important differences between the official model and the clinical realities on the ground.

Abstract P391: Marine N-3 Fatty Acids Reduce Atherosclerosis Cardiovascular Disease: A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis of Clinical Trials

Circulation ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 127 (suppl_12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Sekikawa ◽  
Nobutake Hirooka ◽  
Abhishek Vishnu ◽  
Vashudha Ahuja ◽  
Emmanuel Sampene ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Randomized Clinical Trials ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Systemic Review ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Cardiac Imaging Techniques

Introduction: Although marine n-3 fatty acids are believed to be cardioprotective through their anti-arrhythmic, anti-thrombotic, anti-atherogenic and other effects, results from recent meta-analyses of marine n-3 fatty acids on cardiovascular disease (CVD) are controversial. We performed a meta-analysis of marine n-3 fatty acids on CVD outcomes in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to test the hypothesis that marine n-3 fatty acids are anti-atherogenic. We also tested the hypothesis that such benefit is dose-dependent. Methods: A systematic review of English language articles using PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library through Aug 2012 was performed selecting RCTs evaluating the effect of marine n-3 fatty acids intake for 2 years or more on cardiovascular diseases, coronary disease, arteriosclerosis, cardiac imaging techniques, and carotid artery ultrasound. Descriptive and quantitative information was extracted. Odds ratios were calculated for cardiac event outcome. Correlation coefficients were obtained from studies of which outcome is intima-media thickness (IMT) and coronary lumen diameter (CD). We converted the estimates into a single effect size; the log odds ratio and its corresponding standard error. Results: Of 14,236 citations retrieved, 13 studies were selected, including studies reporting IMT (n=3) and CD (n=2) and major CVD events (n=8). Overall, marine n-3 fatty acids significantly reduced atherosclerotic CVD (RR 0.94: 95%CI 0.90 to 0.99, p<0.05). There was no evidence of heterogeneity (p=0.65) or publication bias (p=0.37, Begg’s test). A sub-analysis among 8 studies of major CVD events showed the similar results (RR 0.94: 95% CI 0.89 to 0.99, p<0.05). Another sub-analysis among 4 studies excluding sudden cardiac death as an outcome showed RR of 0.91 (95% CI 0.82 to 1.02, p=0.097). A meta-regression analysis shows that dose of marine n-3 fatty acids was inversely associated with CVD outcome, although the association was not statistically significant (p=0.06). Conclusions: The result of our meta-analysis supports a modest anti-atherogenic effect of marine n-3 fatty acids. This benefit may be proportional to the amount of marine n-3 fatty acids consumed.

scholarly journals Fast Objective Coupled Planar Illumination Microscopy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cody Greer ◽  
Timothy E. Holy
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Light Sheet ◽  
Frame Rate ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Two Photon Microscopy ◽  
Image Sharing ◽  
Scanning Rate ◽  
Fast Light

Among optical imaging techniques light sheet fluorescence microscopy stands out as one of the most attractive for capturing high-speed biological dynamics unfolding in three dimensions. The technique is potentially millions of times faster than point-scanning techniques such as two-photon microscopy. However current-generation light sheet microscopes are limited by volume scanning rate and/or camera frame rate. We present speed-optimized Objective Coupled Planar Illumination (OCPI) microscopy, a fast light sheet technique that avoids compromising image quality or photon efficiency. We increase volume scanning rate to 40 Hz for volumes up to 700 µm thick and introduce Multi-Camera Image Sharing (MCIS), a technique to scale imaging rate by parallelizing acquisition across cameras. Finally, we demonstrate fast calcium imaging of the larval zebrafish brain and find a heartbeat-induced artifact that can be removed by filtering when the imaging rate exceeds 15 Hz. These advances extend the reach of fluorescence microscopy for monitoring fast processes in large volumes.

Imaging Criteria in Neuro-oncology

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (01) ◽  
pp. 024-031 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Nowosielski ◽  
Patrick Wen
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Brain Tumors ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Response Assessment ◽  
Pediatric Brain Tumors ◽  
Macdonald Criteria ◽  
Collective Work ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Oncology Clinical Trials ◽  
Group A

The identification of more effective therapies for brain tumors has been limited in part by the lack of reliable criteria for determining response and progression. Since its introduction in 1990, the MacDonald criteria have been used in neuro-oncology clinical trials to determine response, but they fail to address issues such as pseudoprogression, pseudoresponse, and nonenhancing tumor progression that have arisen with more recent therapies. The Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) working group, a multidisciplinary international group consisting of neuro-oncologists, medical oncologists, neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, and neuropsychologists, was formed to improve response assessment and clinical trial endpoints in neuro-oncology. Although it was initially focused on response assessment for gliomas, the scope of the RANO group has been broadened to include brain metastases, leptomeningeal metastases, spine tumors, pediatric brain tumors, and meningiomas. In addition, subgroups have focused on response assessment during immunotherapy and use of positron emission tomography, as well as determination of neurologic function, clinical outcomes assessment, and seizures. The RANO criteria are currently a collective work in progress, and refinements will be needed in the future based on data from clinical trials and improved imaging techniques.

The Use and Refinement of Neutron Imaging Techniques for Archaeological Artifacts

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-103
Author(s):  
Krysta Ryzewski ◽  
Hassina Z. Bilheux ◽  
Susan N. Herringer ◽  
Jean-Christophe Bilheux ◽  
Lakeisha Walker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Materials Science ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Neutron Imaging ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
Dual Objectives ◽  
Archaeological Objects

AbstractNeutron imaging is a nondestructive application capable of producing two- and three-dimensional maps of archaeological objects’ external and internal structure, properties, and composition. This report presents the recent development of neutron imaging data collection and processing methods at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), which have been advanced, in part, by information gathered from the experimental imaging of 25 archaeological objects over the past three years. The dual objectives of these imaging experiments included (1) establishing the first methodological procedures for the neutron imaging of archaeomaterials involving the CG-1D beamline and (2) further illustrating the potential of neutron imaging for archaeologists to use in the reverse engineering of ancient and historical objects. Examples of objects imaged in two and three dimensions are provided to highlight the application’s strengths and limitations for archaeological investigations, especially those that address ancient and historic technologies, materials science, and conservation issues.

Contribution of high-resolution correlative imaging techniques in the study of the liver sieve in three-dimensions

2007 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 230-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Braet ◽  
Eddie Wisse ◽  
Paul Bomans ◽  
Peter Frederik ◽  
Willie Geerts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Correlative Imaging

scholarly journals A new magnetic resonance-based technique for high-resolution quantification of amorphous and quasi-amorphous structures

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (123) ◽  
pp. 20160589
Author(s):  
James Rafferty ◽  
Lance Farr ◽  
Tim James ◽  
David Chase ◽  
John Heinrich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Micro Computed Tomography ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Biological Structures ◽  
The One

We present a novel, high-resolution magnetic resonance technique, fine structure analysis (FSA) for the quantification and analysis of amorphous and quasi-amorphous biological structures. The one-dimensional technique is introduced mathematically and then applied to one simulated phantom, two physical phantoms and a set of ex vivo biological samples, scanned with interpoint spacings of 0.0038–0.195 mm and cross-sectional sizes of 3 × 3 or 5 × 5 mm. The simulated phantom and one of the physical phantoms consists of randomly arranged beads of known size in two and three dimensions, respectively. The second physical phantom was constructed by etching lines on Perspex. The ex vivo samples are human bone specimens. We show that for all three phantoms, the FSA technique is able to elucidate the average spacing of the structures present within each sample using structural spectroscopy, the smallest of which was 180 µm in size. We further show that in samples of trabecular bone, FSA is able to produce comparable results to micro-computed tomography, the current gold standard for measuring bone microstructure, but without the need for ionizing radiation. Many biological structures are too small to be captured by conventional, clinically deployed medical imaging techniques. FSA has the potential for use in the analysis of pathologies where such small-scale repeating structures are disrupted or their size, and spacing is otherwise altered.

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