Narrow Results

This was the first study to determine the effect of tanshinone IIA (an active ingredient in herb Danshen) on fetuses in utero under unstressed condition. Tanshinone IIA or 0.9% NaCl as control was intravenously (i.v.) administrated into pregnant ewes. Both maternal and fetal blood were analyzed for PO₂, PCO₂, SO₂%, hemoglobin, hemotecrit, glucose, lactic acid, Na⁺, K⁺, and Cl^- concentrations. Maternal and fetal heart functions were assessed by examining cardiac enzymes and cardiovascular responses. The results showed that tanshinone IIA did not alter the blood values in ewes and fetuses. Cardiac enzyme activities related to the heart remained unchanged. In cardiovascular experiments, no alternation in maternal blood pressure by tanshinone IIA was observed. However, fetal systolic pressure was slightly and significantly increased following i.v. tanshinone IIA into the mothers, while fetal diastolic pressure, mean arterial pressure, and heart rate were not changed. The results demonstrated that tanshinone IIA used during the last third of gestation did not cause the biochemical changes related to cardiac functions in both maternal and fetal sheep. Fetal oxygen metabolism remained stable in utero, providing new information for clinical use of the herb in pregnancy. That tanshinone IIA increased fetal systolic pressure may open new opportunities to study the herb in fetal medicine.

Cinnamon is one of the world’s oldest and most popular spices, and is derived from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus Cinnamomum. During the last two decades, cinnamon has demonstrated beneficial metabolic effects not only in animal experiments but also in clinical trials. Even recent meta-analyses have shown the protective effects of cinnamon on different components of metabolic syndrome and their complications. In the last 5 years, several experimental studies have unraveled the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying the antihypertensive, antihyperglycemic, lipid-lowering, weight-lowering, and cardioprotective properties of cinnamon. This review paper will discuss how cinnamon and its active components, particularly cinnamaldehyde, suppress inflammation and oxidative stress, modulate mitochondrial dysfunction, and regulate glucose uptake, insulin resistance, lipogenesis, beta-oxidation, Ca2+ signaling, and other cellar events at the molecular level. Specifically, we will delve into the molecular mechanisms involved in the metabolic effects of cinnamon to provide a deeper insight into how cinnamon can bring such beneficial effects. This review hopes to encourage the use of cinnamon in clinical settings, guide the combination of cinnamon with other drugs used to treat different components of metabolic syndrome based on their mechanism of action, and support the concept of complementary medicine for metabolic diseases.

NCCS doctor wins recognition in the prestigious Singapore Youth Awards 2014

Singapore - Republic of Korea collaboration on biomedical technology shows results

International Stem Cell Corporation signs agreement with Rohto Pharmaceutical of Japan

AstraZeneca and Max Planck Institute enter research agreement to create satellite chemistry unit for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases

Reaction Biology receives NIH grant award for epigenetic database

New Zealand and Singapore to collaborate on food and nutrition research

5th Biomass Pellets Trade & Power spotlights on Asia's unprecedented biomass industry growth and mega opportunities

'Sustainability' issues take center-stage when 6th Palm Oil Asia Summit returns to Jakarta this August

Asia's supremacy in oleochemicals market takes center stage at 2nd Olechemicals Outlook Summit in Jakarta, this August

SINGAPORE – Singapore eHealth Innovations Summit Announces the First EMRAM Stage 7 Hospital in Singapore and Emphasized Technology as Transformative Agent in Specialty Functions.

TAIWAN – Health2Sync Strategically Partners with Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare in Asia's First Government Supported Online Diabetes Care Program.

UNITED STATES – Scientists Identify Protein Involved in Restoring Effectiveness of Common Treatment for Breast Cancer.

UNITED STATES – Scientists Reveal How Signals from Pathogenic Bacteria Reach Danger Sensors of Cells.

UNITED STATES – Scientists Find New Path in Brain to Ease Depression.

UNITED STATES – Tips for Living a Heart Healthy Lifestyle.

CANADA – Review Suggests Eating Oats Can Lower Cholesterol as Measured by a Variety of Markers.

SOUTH KOREA – CSA Group Opens Highly Advanced Electro - Medical Laboratory in Seoul.

AUSTRALIA – Cynata’s Technology Significant Efficacy in Preclinical Asthma Study.

INDIA – Essilor Launches ‘Love to See Change’ Campaign to Educate People about Need to Preserve Visual Health.

Regional Experts Urging Stakeholder Collaboration to Address Burden of Osteoporosis at IOF 6th Asia-Pacific Meeting

Cardinal Health Announces New Strategic Distribution Agreements to Expand Cordis’ Cardiovascular Product Offerings in Asia Pacific

Exco InTouch Granted US Patent for Its Ground-breaking Mobile Health Solutions

GE Healthcare and Valneva Collaboration Delivers Optimized Cell Culture Medium for Vaccine Production

Singapore's Restalyst Develops More Effective Test Kit for Liver Cancer

Bayer Collaborates with Singapore National Eye Centre to Take the Lead in Professional Development of Ophthalmologists Across Asia

Partnerships and Innovation: Shaping the Future of Healthcare in Asia Pacific

Chugai's Novel Antibody Technologies Put Singapore at the Centre of Fight Against Disease

NCCS AND SGH Conducts Systematic Molecular Profiling of Lung Cancers to Identify New Treatment Opportunities

Ventricular interdependence is an important part of heart function, and hence a key mediator of most pathological consequences of its impairment. It can only be explained by accounting for overall chamber deformation as well as cardiac dimensions and nonlinear material properties. Further, clinically useful interpretation of imaging data about pathological alterations in chamber geometry is hampered by lack of understanding of its significance in cardiac function. A model has been developed which describes the ventricles and septum as portions of ellipsoid shells, allowing structural characterization of diastolic ventricular interaction over arbitrary ranges of chamber pressures and volumes as well as intrathoracic pressures. Chamber configuration is derived as a function of pressure gradients by combining shell element equilibrium equations through static boundary conditions applied at the sulcus. Coupling coefficients between state variables are then calculated by letting the system evolve quasistatically through the solution space. The model is used to simulate a number of cardiac pathologies (constrictive pericarditis, restrictive myocarditis, left/right free wall and septal hypertrophy, left dilatative cardiomyopathy) and quantify their effect on ventricular pressure–pressure coupling as well as diastolic pressure–volume relationships. Results match experimental observations where available. The model can aid in interpreting diagnostic data about chamber geometry in a quantitative manner, and the differential effect of cardiac pathologies with otherwise similar phenomenology on ventricular interaction can serve as a discriminating diagnostic criterion.

The last century has witnessed groundbreaking advances in clinical medicine across the entire diagnostic and therapeutic range, but inequities in access to these advances and innovations continue to be a major challenge to our societies.

Innovations are often initiated by "eureka" moments of discovery, but realising their full potential depend on a process of continuous incremental innovation and interaction involving complex networks. When developing systems that reward, encourage, and sustain medical advances, policy makers must recognise four important factors. First, "incremental" and "continuous" innovation is as important as "breakthrough" innovation. Second, investment across the entire innovation process is needed. Third, the ability of physicians to work across a wide range of scientific fields at "the bench and bedside" is critical to continuous innovation. And fourth, final medical advance that can result from an initial discovery may not be obvious and only occur following interaction with experts and innovations in other fields.

All organisms on earth have evolved at unit gravity and thus are probably adapted to function optimally at 1 g. However, with the advent of space exploration, it has been shown that organisms are capable of surviving at much less than 1 g, as well as at greater than 1 g. Organisms subjected to increased g levels exhibit alterations in physiological processes that compensate for novel environmental stresses, such as increased weight and density-driven sedimentation. Weight drives many chemical, biological, and ecological processes on earth. Altering weight changes these processes. The most important physiological changes caused by microgravity include bone demineralization, skeletal muscle atrophy, vestibular problems causing space motion sickness, cardiovascular deconditioning, etc. Manned missions into space and significant concerns in developmental and evolutionary biology in zero and low gravity conditions demand a concentrated research effort in space-medicine, physiology and on a larger scale — gravitational biophysics. Space exploration is a new frontier with long-term missions to the moon and Mars not far away. Research in these areas would also provide us with fascinating insights into how gravity has shaped our evolution on this planet and how it still governs some of the basic life processes. Understanding the physiological changes caused by long-duration microgravity remains a daunting challenge. The present concise review deals with the effects of altered gravity on the biological processes at the cellular, organic and systemic level which will be helpful for the researchers aspiring to venture in this area. The effects observed in plants and animals are presented under the classifications such as cells, plants, invertebrates, vertebrates and humans.

Using realistic benchtop models in early stages of device development can reduce time and efforts necessary to move the device to further testing. In this study, we propose several patient specific vascular benchtop models for the development and validation of a robotic catheter for transcatheter aortic valve implantation. The design and manufacturing of these models, and their properties are presented. Additionally, it is demonstrated that the described design process provides virtual models that are accurately linked to the physical models.

The last century has witnessed groundbreaking advances in clinical medicine across the entire diagnostic and therapeutic range, but inequities in access to these advances and innovations continue to be a major challenge to our societies.

Innovations are often initiated by “eureka” moments of discovery, but realising their full potential depend on a process of continuous incremental innovation and interaction involving complex networks. When developing systems that reward, encourage, and sustain medical advances, policy makers must recognise four important factors. First, “incremental” and “continuous” innovation is as important as “breakthrough” innovation. Second, investment across the entire innovation process is needed. Third, the ability of physicians to work across a wide range of scientific fields at “the bench and bedside” is critical to continuous innovation. And fourth, final medical advance that can result from an initial discovery may not be obvious and only occur following interaction with experts and innovations in other fields.

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in Western society. Complications arise throughout the cardiovascular system with the arterial sub-system being prone to atherosclerosis and aneurysm formation. Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized by the deposition of lipoproteins in the arterial wall while an aneurysm is characterized by an abnormal swelling of the wall itself. Medical therapy, comprising life-style changes and drug administration is the mainstay of treatment for the majority of people with arterial vascular disease. However, a variety of surgical interventions are available to treat diseases associated with the arterial system and the primary objective of such interventions is to restore normal arterial function. These treatments may be performed using open surgery or minimally invasive techniques and are biomechanical in nature.

A range of numerical and experimental techniques has been developed to quantify and qualify disease-influencing biomechanical factors in the arterial system. These techniques may be used to perform basic research on disease forming mechanisms, to diagnose disease in vivo and to assess or develop new biomedical treatments. The techniques presented in this chapter are applied for various purposes at different locations in the arterial system using an integrated research and development approach. The chapter concludes with a discussion on new medical devices currently under development in order to demonstrate how numerical and experimental methods may be applied in the search for new and improved treatments for arterial disease.

Heart failure (HF) is one of the most common, complex, heterogeneous diseases in the world, with over 1-3% of the global population living with the condition. Progression of HF can be tracked via MRI measures of structural and functional changes to the heart, namely left ventricle (LV), including ejection fraction, mass, end-diastolic volume, and LV end-systolic volume. Moreover, while genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been a useful tool to identify candidate variants involved in HF risk, they lack crucial tissue-specific and mechanistic information which can be gained from incorporating additional data modalities. This study addresses this gap by incorporating transcriptome-wide and proteome-wide association studies (TWAS and PWAS) to gain insights into genetically-regulated changes in gene expression and protein abundance in precursors to HF measured using MRI-derived cardiac measures as well as full-stage all-cause HF. We identified several gene and protein overlaps between LV ejection fraction and end-systolic volume measures. Many of the overlaps identified in MRI-derived measurements through TWAS and PWAS appear to be shared with all-cause HF. We implicate many putative pathways relevant in HF associated with these genes and proteins via gene-set enrichment and protein-protein interaction network approaches. The results of this study (1) highlight the benefit of using multi-omics to better understand genetics and (2) provide novel insights as to how changes in heart structure and function may relate to HF.