This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Individuals with metabolic syndrome have a 2-fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but few strategies provide adequate cardiovascular risk reduction for this group. One option to lower this risk is to reduce atherogenic lipids, particularly low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Statins are a recommended first-line therapy for this purpose, but this approach doesn’t always provide sufficient LDL-C lowering to optimally reduce cardiovascular risk. Now, researchers have shown that alirocumab, a proprotein converstase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor, or PCSK9 inhibitor, approved for LDL-C reduction, may address this need. Pooled clinical trial data from ten phase 3 clinical trials from the ODYSSEY clinical development program showed alirocumab significantly lowered LDL-C in individuals both with and without metabolic syndrome..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"A recent analysis suggests that ixazomib, an oral proteasome inhibitor (or PI), is tolerable and enhances therapeutic responses in patients with multiple myeloma. Ixazomib is approved for use in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for patients who have already received 1 or more prior therapy. The promising results obtained for non-transplant patients taking ixazomib alone, if their disease has responded to primary induction therapy, point to a new possible treatment option for multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is a form of cancer that develops in bone marrow. Here, the body normally generates white blood cells that help fight off infection. But in multiple myeloma, malignant cells gradually crowd out these disease-fighting cells, compromising the body’s immune response, while also damaging the bones. The malignant cells also secrete large amounts of a non-functional protein which leads to kidney failure and other harms..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe how changes to gene expression can cause cancerExplain how changes to gene expression at different levels can disrupt the cell cycleDiscuss how understanding regulation of gene expression can lead to better drug design

This course teaches the design of contemporary information systems for biological and medical data. Examples are chosen from biology and medicine to illustrate complete life cycle information systems, beginning with data acquisition, following to data storage and finally to retrieval and analysis. Design of appropriate databases, client-server strategies, data interchange protocols, and computational modeling architectures. Students are expected to have some familiarity with scientific application software and a basic understanding of at least one contemporary programming language (e.g. C, C++, Java, Lisp, Perl, Python). A major term project is required of all students. This subject is open to motivated seniors having a strong interest in biomedical engineering and information system design with the ability to carry out a significant independent project.
This course was offered as part of the Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA) program as course number SMA 5304.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"People can learn a lot from clinical trials -- like whether a new treatment works, whether it has serious side effects, or whether it would be cost-effective. How much a trial tells us, though, depends on what the researchers looked for and how they measured those outcomes. Unfortunately, people doing trials often don’t consult with patients -- or even with other researchers -- about what outcomes to focus on. With each researcher choosing their own outcomes to measure, comparisons between trials are difficult, and without input from patients, the most relevant ones are sometimes missed. It’s increasingly clear that selecting relevant outcomes is an important part of trial design, and that standardization could get more out of each trial, reduce waste in research, and move science and health care forward faster. To help, the COMET Initiative has written a new handbook on how to choose the most important outcomes..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Glioblastoma is a highly malignant and frequently occurring tumor of the central nervous system. Recurrences are extremely common and often resist chemotherapy and radiotherapy, so new treatment options are needed. Immune checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies successful in treating other types of cancer have been tried, but glioblastoma has resisted them. An effective therapeutic strategy must account for 3 things: glioblastoma's ability to evade immune system surveillance; its location behind the blood-brain barrier, which generally shields it from chemical compounds; and its inherent resistance due to its mutations and the variety of cells it contains. A tumor vaccination approach, which targets innate features of glioblastoma cells, has shown some promise. Vaccines based on peptides, cells, DNA, and mRNA have been developed. Unfortunately, few trials have reached phase III, because most patients with recurrent glioblastoma are very ill..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"A new clinical trial suggests levosimendan could improve respiratory function in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS is an adult-onset neurodegenerative disease that results in progressive weakness. Those affected by the disease typically die within three to four years of diagnosis due to respiratory failure commonly resulting from weakening of the diaphragm. Prior studies indicate that levosimendan – a calcium sensitizer on the market since 2000 for the treatment of acute worsening of severe heart failure – can also boost the force and efficiency with which the diaphragm contracts. This prompted researchers to investigate whether levosimendan is clinically beneficial to those with ALS. The phase 2 trial used a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral levosimendan in 66 patients with ALS..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Anticoagulation is the cornerstone of therapy for venous thromboembolism, or VTE, in cancer patients, but it may also cause bleeding. Recent studies examining the frequency of these events have primarily focused on the elderly population. A new report in the American Journal of Hematology aimed to take a closer look at the effects of the drugs in younger patients. The work specifically focused on cancer patients who were predominantly under 65 years of age. Researchers evaluated the recurrence of VTE and major bleeding following treatment of a first episode of VTE. Using a retrospective cohort study design, they assessed the outcomes of nearly 14,000 commercially-insured patients initiated on rivaroxaban, warfarin, or low-molecular-weight heparin. Only data from patients with lower extremity deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism were included. Patients were required to have initiated anticoagulation within 7 days of their VTE..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"A recent report in the journal Cancer Science adds to the growing body of evidence demonstrating that prexasertib is a promising option for several types of cancer. Two prior clinical trials conducted in the United States showed prexasertib has both antitumor activity and an acceptable safety profile. A new clinical trial extends these findings by looking at how the drug performs in a new demographic of patients – namely, Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors. Prexasertib is a novel inhibitor of the protein checkpoint kinase 1 – a serine/threonine kinase that promotes DNA repair, controls initiation of DNA replication, and coordinates mitosis. Blocking the protein’s activity prevents cells from resolving replication stress and/or repairing DNA double-strand breaks, which leads to apoptosis. Inhibitors of checkpoint kinase 1 can augment the efficacy of DNA‐damaging chemotherapeutics, but they’re also being evaluated as single-agent therapies..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Kidney transplant patients currently require life-long treatment with immunosuppressive drugs to prevent their body from rejecting the transplanted organ. Immunosuppression can have side effects such as an increased risk of infections or developing comorbidities such as new onset diabetes or certain malignancies. Other side effects are related to the drugs’ toxicity, such as kidney damage, ultimately leading to a return to dialysis or need for re-transplant. A clinical trial, TRANSFORM, was carried out to test a new immunosuppressive regimen consisting of everolimus plus low-dose CNI, versus the current standard-of-care regimen: mycophenolic acid plus the standard, higher dose of CNI. The two-year results of this trial showed that the combination of everolimus plus low CNI had a similar ability to prevent kidney rejection or severe kidney impairment as the current standard-of-care regimen..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"A new clinical trial has shown promising results for those trying to shed excess pounds: researchers have zeroed in on a combination of herbal extracts that can significantly increase weight loss under the right circumstances. The news could mean better health for the more than 1 billion people who are overweight or obese worldwide. Traditional pharmaceutical and surgical options for weight management are expensive and often associated with adverse effects. The herbal formulation – composed of extracts from three common culinary spices used in Indian cooking – was developed as a high-quality natural alternative. The combination tackles excess body weight through a multi-layered approach, by both preventing fat cells from maturing and boosting existing fat break down. To determine the safety and efficacy of the extracts, researchers performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with healthy overweight adults..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Live donation of a kidney transplant carries various risks One concern is opioid exposure The use of narcotic pain medications in conjunction with general anesthesia can delay a donor’s return to normal daily function....."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.