How Cardiac Mapping Can Enhance CiPA?
by Dr Jay Lu What is CiPA? The Comprehensive In Vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA) initiative is created collectively by an international multidisciplinary team of regulatory, industry, and academic scientists to develop a new paradigm for the cardiac safety evaluation of new drugs that provides a more accurate and comprehensive mechanistic-based assessment of proarrhythmic potential. It is designed to focus on assessing the proarrhythmic risk of drugs, building on the emergence of new technologies, and expanding understanding of torsadogenic mechanisms [...]
An Update on COVID-19 Potential Treatment with HCQ
by Dr Jay Lu Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been touted as a promising and effective treatment for patients with the COVID-19 infection. The drug is often recommended to be used in conjunction with azithromycin, an antibiotic. In this article, we will have a closer look at recent studies on hydroxychloroquine, which may shed light on why the W.H.O. has halted clinical trials of HCQ for COVID-19. While there is some reported beneficial effect with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin (AZM) for [...]
Hydroxychloroquine, to Take or Not to Take?
-The risk of COVID-19 potential treatment By Dr Jay Lu Coronavirus, COVID-19, or simply as the infamous pandemic that plagued the world since late 2019, we have all heard about the virus spreading across the globe. But how many of us understand the real statistics and risks behind COVID 19? In this article, we aim to shed some light on the virus, potential treatments, and the possible risks involved The Deadly Path Of COVID-19 Since its unforeseen [...]
Why iPSC Technology is Vital to Cardiac Research
by Dr Jay Lu According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease, specifically ischemic heart disease, is the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiovascular diseases result in an estimated 17.9 million deaths each year, which is about 31% of all deaths worldwide (1). Medical researchers are continually working on ways to reduce those numbers by developing new technologies that can combat premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases. Although animal models are promising tools in disease modeling, the human heart has [...]
Choosing the best light source for your fluorescence experiment
provided by Scientifica Learning Zone https://www.scientifica.uk.com/learning-zone/choosing-the-best-light-source-for-your-experiment There are a variety of light sources that can be used to illuminate a sample during widefield fluorescence microscopy experiments. Choosing the most suitable one requires evaluating the properties of the light sources and balancing out their pros and cons. Here, we will introduce the three commonly used light sources and discuss their properties as well as their advantages and limitations, to help you make an informed decision of which source [...]
Understanding the cell as an electrical circuit
-provided by Scientifica Learning Zone https://www.scientifica.uk.com/learning-zone/understanding-the-cell-as-an-electrical-circuit Lea Goetz1 and Christian Wilms2 1UCL, London, UK 2Scientifica Ltd, Uckfield, UK Electrophysiologists frequently describe cells as electrical equivalent circuits, i.e. a combination of resistors and capacitances. In the following article, we will look at how resistance and capacitance determine the electrical properties of the cell to understand why this is a useful description. Membrane resistance, RM The cell membrane consists of a double lipid layer that separates [...]