Great Scientific Advances Research Articles

Introducing Bioethics

The announcement of world’s first genome-edited babies using CRISPR/Cas 9 has provoked shock around the world. The popular technique has allowed great scientific and medical advances, but it also raises scientific ethical issues. Therefore, we attempted to design a new pattern of class to help students understand both the technical principles of this cutting-edge genome-editing technique and to explore key controversies in its use, so as to cultivate students’ concept of scientific ethics. The students’ feedback showed that the organization of the class and resulting discussion were very successful. This class session helped students understand both the abstract technical concepts involved in CRISPR-Cas 9 gene editing and about the scientific and medical ethics of its use. Our experiences show a helpful way for the teacher to improve students’ interest, namely by connecting new scientific/technical breakthroughs to cultural events and scientific ethics.

Anammox with alternative electron acceptors: perspectives for nitrogen removal from wastewaters.

In the context of the anaerobic ammonium oxidation process (anammox), great scientific advances have been made over the past two decades, making anammox a consolidated technology widely used worldwide for nitrogen removal from wastewaters. This review provides a detailed and comprehensive description of the anammox process, the microorganisms involved and their metabolism. In addition, recent research on the application of the anammox process with alternative electron acceptors is described, highlighting the biochemical reactions involved, its advantages and potential applications for specific wastewaters. An updated description is also given of studies reporting the ability of microorganisms to couple the anammox process to extracellular electron transfer to insoluble electron acceptors; particularly iron, carbon-based materials and electrodes in bioelectrochemical systems (BES). The latter, also referred to as anodic anammox, is a promising strategy to combine the ammonium removal from wastewater with bioelectricity production, which is discussed here in terms of its efficiency, economic feasibility, and energetic aspects. Therefore, the information provided in this review is relevant for future applications.

Applications of Smart Material to Enhance Daylighting as a tool to Improve Sustainability of Atriums

Applications for smart building materials include making them more environmentally friendly, better able to suit user needs, and less likely to cause environmental issues. This kind of material has been suggested recently, following great scientific advancements and novel sustainable architecture techniques, as smart materials that allow controlled transmission of light and heat into the building and remove some of the traditional limitations in window application, smart material technologies are key feature competitiveness of the twenty-first century. Modern construction materials are capable of achieving great levels of utility, “Smart materials” will play a crucial role in building technology development; These materials that are part of an intelligent structural system, have the ability to sense its environment, so smart materials can function like living systems, An important element of an architectural design strategy that is environmentally sustainable is the use of daylight as part of an integrated, controlled lighting strategy. For well-designed structures, the atrium could be a significant source of daylight. It also offers other environmental advantages such as solar energy gain, reduced energy loss, and natural ventilation. The major elements of the atrium for the daylight design are a system of skylights and windows to provide daylight levels in the spaces adjacent to the atrium.

Recent advance in nanostructured materials innovation towards photocatalytic CO2 reduction

Biomimicking natural processes such as plant photosynthesis require in-depth understanding of molecular building blocks enabling these reactions. As such, artificial photosynthesis using bulk photocatalytic materials limits the CO2 conversion efficiency and yield due to both limited surface area and active sites for the reactions. However, with the advent of nanotechnology, nanostructured photocatalysts offer much hope for improved efficiencies of artificial photosynthetic reactions well above that of green plants. In this regard, anthropogenic CO2 conversion to solar fuels and value-added chemicals has emerged as one of the great scientific advances for sustainability in the 21st century. To drive this endeavour, fabrication of novel nanostructured photocatalysts for CO2 reduction to value-added products is of paramount importance. Among the tailorable nanostructured materials include nanoparticles (NPs), nanofibers (NFs), nanotubes (NTs), nanobelts and nanoflowers, over which efficient photocatalysis has been realized progressively. Therefore, this review elucidates the neoteric nanostructures and photocatalysts recently developed for enabling efficient and rapid CO2 reduction in energy and environmental photocatalysis. Finally, future perspectives in terms of scientific opportunities in the field of photocatalytic conversion of CO2 is also covered.

INFERTILITY AND USE OF MODERN REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES: ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

The Islamic concept of birth and death is very clear and make the foundation of Islamic society along with the Quran also provides concept about infertility. It is permitted to seek medication for infertility. Islamic law permits the use of all assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) as long as the sperm, egg, and uterus are derived from a legally married couple during their marriage. The current study aims at reviewing the concept of infertility and Modern Reproductive Technologies as a treatment in Muslim society. The concept of children bearing a trial for believers is further expanded with the concept of infertility in Quran. Infertility is regarded as a test for believers. We have examples of Prophets such as Ibrahim and Zachariya (A.S) who bore children in old age. We also have examples of many companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and even among Ummahat-ul-Momineen who faced fertility issues. 20th century was the century of great scientific advancements. Now it is possible to treat infertility in many ways. Assisted reproductive technology is a group of infertility treatments. All modern reproductive technologies are acceptable in Islamic law, as long as the sperm, ovum, and uterus come from a legally and currently married couple. Surrogacy in any form is forbidden. Donation of sperm, ovum and uterus from a third party is not allowed. Islamic law makers have provided ways for the cure of infertility keeping in lawful bounds of Islamic jurisprudence. Many Muslim countries including Pakistan lack the advanced IVF technologies. Where available these facilities are very expensive. Moreover, there is a great misconception about the legality and religious stance on various ART techniques. For this purpose, religious beliefs, knowledge and attitudes of Pakistani population regarding Modern Reproductive Technologies and infertility should be assessed. Islamic religious scholars need to play their part in this regard through their expertise, assessment of religious beliefs, knowledge and attitude would be a first step towards process of law making or ruling out fatwa regarding Modern Reproductive Technologies. Keywords: Islamic Law, infertility, Modern Reproductive Technologies, Pakistan, Scientific advancements.

The Immune System of Marine Organisms as Source for Drugs against Infectious Diseases.

The high proliferation of microorganisms in aquatic environments has allowed their coevolution for billions of years with other living beings that also inhabit these niches. Among the different existing types of interaction, the eternal competition for supremacy between the susceptible species and their pathogens has selected, as part of the effector division of the immune system of the former ones, a vast and varied arsenal of efficient antimicrobial molecules, which is highly amplified by the broad biodiversity radiated, above any others, at the marine habitats. At present, the great recent scientific and technological advances already allow the massive discovery and exploitation of these defense compounds for therapeutic purposes against infectious diseases of our interest. Among them, antimicrobial peptides and antimicrobial metabolites stand out because of the wide dimensions of their structural diversities, mechanisms of action, and target pathogen ranges. This revision work contextualizes the research in this field and serves as a presentation and scope identification of the Special Issue from Marine Drugs journal “The Immune System of Marine Organisms as Source for Drugs against Infectious Diseases”.

Selección de lo mejor del año 2021 en cardiología clínica y COVID-19

The pandemic caused by the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus type 2) has been the protagonist last year. This pandemic has caused great mortality throughout the planet. In this article we review the highlights of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for the clinical cardiologist, such as cardiovascular disease, long-COVID, treatment with renin-angiotensin system blocking drugs, thrombosis, the antithrombotic therapy, statins and their anti-inflammatory role in infection, and vaccines to achieve the immunity of the population. During this year, telemedicine has helped doctors to remotely attend their patients, but it has also meant a change in clinical practices. clinical cardiologists have seen great scientific advances in the knowledge of COVID-19 and have had to adapt to this new situation, modifying their clinical practice. We address these aspects in this selection of the best topics of 2021 in clinical cardiology and COVID.

The synthesis of consciousness and the latent life of the mind: Philosophy, psychopathology, and ‘cryptopsychism’ in fin-de-siècle France

In fin-de-siècle France, we witness a strange circulation of concepts between philosophy, theoretical and experimental psychology, and the borderline realm of what we would now call meta- or parapsychology. This was a time characterized by a complex process of redefinition of the disciplinary frontiers between philosophy and psychology, which favoured the birth of hybrid conceptualities and stark oppositions as well. Furthermore, the great scientific advances in physics, physiology, and psychology fostered hope for a full rational explanation of reality, even of its most unfathomable layers and seemingly bizarre phenomena. Focusing on the case of Émile Boirac’s research on what he termed ‘cryptopsychism’, notably in his book Our Hidden Forces, this article aims to show how Kantian notions and models of consciousness belonging to the canon of French spiritualist philosophical psychology were taken up by scientists such as Pierre Janet and ended up being assimilated and discussed in the more obscure and precarious realm of scientific inquiry into metapsychical phenomena. Far from being a mere historical curiosity, this quest for a scientific account of the latent and subconscious life of the mind sheds light on the intricate relationship between philosophy and the human sciences between the 19th and 20th centuries.

Bubble Inflation Using Phase-Change Perfluorocarbon Nanodroplets as a Strategy for Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy.

Phase-change perfluorocarbon microdroplets were introduced over 2 decades ago to occlude downstream vessels in vivo. Interest in perfluorocarbon nanodroplets has recently increased to enable extravascular targeting, to rescue the weak ultrasound signal of perfluorocarbon droplets by converting them to microbubbles and to improve ultrasound-based therapy. Despite great scientific interest and advances, applications of phase-change perfluorocarbon agents have not reached clinical testing because of efficacy and safety concerns, some of which remain unexplained. Here, we report that the coexistence of perfluorocarbon droplets and microbubbles in blood, which is inevitable when droplets spontaneously or intentionally vaporize to form microbubbles, is a major contributor to the observed side effects. We develop the theory to explain why the coexistence of droplets and microbubbles results in microbubble inflation induced by perfluorocarbon transfer from droplets to adjacent microbubbles. We also present the experimental data showing up to 6 orders of magnitude microbubble volume expansion, which occludes a 200 μm tubing in the presence of perfluorocarbon nanodroplets. More importantly, we demonstrate that the rate of microbubble inflation and ultimate size can be controlled by manipulating formulation parameters to tailor the agent's design for the potential theranostic application while minimizing the risk to benefit ratio.

Changing Spiritual Paradigm- Why It Matters Even More Today

In this era of technological breakthroughs, increasing uncertainties and great scientific advances, where workers are compelled to work in their job whether they like it or not, there is a paradigm in the spiritual believes of the employees at the workplace as their values and attitudes have been taken over by their temptations to measure their worth in terms of their income and possessions. Today employees feel more pressured, demotivated, frustrated in comparison to the times earlier. Thus, there is an even more need for integration of workplace spirituality within an organization now than earlier. This paper focuses on the changing spiritual trend in the present competitive environment imposed by organizations due to its changing career aspirations, vision and mission and means to overcome these lofty objectives in line with people’s deepest spiritual beliefs and values. The capitalism concept that has degraded the cultural values, religious beliefs and traditions, should be aligned with the human-being’s virtues, strengths and goodness. The purpose of this research paper is to explore the current scenario of workplace spirituality in the 21st century in the Indian context, and is intended to develop and implement a framework for successful implementation of spirituality at work. It also stresses on the need to bring humanism back in the workplace that was overthrown by the corporate greed for profit.

Cold numbers: Superconducting supercomputers and presumptive anomaly

AbstractIn February 2014 Time magazine announced to the world that the first quantum computer had been put in use. One key component of this computer is the “Josephson-junction,” a superconducting device, based on completely different scientific and technological principles with respect to semiconductors. The origin of superconductors dates back to the 1960s, to a large-scale 20-year long IBM project aimed at building ultrafast computers. We present a detailed study of the relationship between Science and Technology making use of the theoretical tools of presumptive anomaly and technological paradigms: superconductors were developed while the semiconductors revolution was in full swing. We adopt a historiographical approach—using a snowballing technique to sift through the relevant literature from various epistemological domains and technical publications—to extract theoretically robust insights from a narrative which concerns great scientific advancements, technological leaps forward and business-driven innovation. The study we present shows how technological advancements, business dynamics, and policy intertwine.

Transcultural Diabetes Care: A Call for Addressing the Patient as a Whole

We are currently enjoying the benefits of great scientific advances in diabetes care. Never have we had such a deep understanding of the pathophysiology of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and their potential complications, nor had access to as many new technologies and effective therapeutic options for our patients with these conditions as we do today. In addition, effective lifestyle modification and patient education strategies have been identified and validated for the prevention and adequate management of the disease. Precision medicine is guiding us to an era when the implementation of therapy using patient-level genetic and biomarker data may become a routine strategy in clinical practice. We are truly at an unprecedented stage when research has led us to envision the availability of functional beta cells, which would constitute an unparalleled break-through in the battle against diabetes.

Zhuangzi in the Classroom: A Teacher Diary Study

Zhuangzi in the ClassroomA Teacher Diary Study David McLachlan Jeffrey (bio) Teacher diary studies are written first-person interpretations of experiences both inside and outside the classroom, which are examined for recurring patterns of insights that facilitate awareness. Many linguists have recognized the benefits of teacher diary studies through their wide-ranging uses for the development of insights and self-awareness based on frank and authentic written self-reflection.1 For teachers who embrace Daoism, writing down thoughts in a diary offers a meditative sense of tapping into deeper states of consciousness that tend to be smothered by ever excessive thinking intensified by the hectic pace of day-to-day activities. Such states of consciousness can even be awareness of simple things, such as the smiles on the students' faces or the little flower on the side of the path to the classroom, that tend to be overlooked in the rush toward academic achievement. Diary studies for teachers thus offer an alternative approach that opens a peaceful and creative space between the relentless push-pull dimensions in modern education. They are also a catalyst of a new awareness that brings a positive change in personal-professional development. [End Page 211] My Background My interest in Daoism began by reading the writings of Alan Watts, such as Dao: The Watercourse Way that he wrote with Chung-Liang Huang (1975) and Daoism: Way beyond Seeking (1997). These, among others, led me to read the stories in Burton Watson's translation of the Zhuangzi (1968), which illuminated Zhuang Zhou's "free and easy wandering" and "perfect happiness," the sense of spontaneously going with the flows of situations. All this made me realize the benefit of infusing his ancient philosophy into my teaching experience. Zhuang Zhou was a Daoist philosopher who lived toward the end of the Warring States period, a tumultuous time rife with warfare. His teachings are collected in the Zhuangzi, a key text of the Daoist tradition. It often relates philosophical perspectives in the form of humorous, metaphorical stories, based in ordinary society and everyday life, almost as though Zhuang Zhou, too, had been keeping a diary. This made the Zhuangzi especially inspirational to my Daoist-inspired intentions of bringing my classroom into "an integral part of nature and the greater universe, which functions in perfect harmony and is fundamentally good" (Kohn 2009, 365). In addition, I benefited from Livia Kohn's study which relates Zhuang Zhou's philosophy to modern science, notably physics, biology, environmentalism, philosophy, and psychology. In synthesizing the philosophy of the Zhuangzi text and its modern-day contexts both in China and in the West, she demonstrates its universal applicability over the past 2000 years (Kohn 2014). Despite the rapidity of great technological and scientific advancements of our time, it is clear that the path of free and easy wandering toward a state of perfect happiness remains for the most part just as applicable, yet equally as elusive as it was in Zhuang Zhou's time, and hence the applicability of Kohn's understanding of both the universal and practical applications of Zhuangzi's philosophy. Therefore, if this philosophy is equally elusive in contemporary education, then perhaps a diary study based on the Zhuangzi can form an applicable approach to bring it into the contemporary classroom, especially given the high levels of stress shared between teachers and students. Another important resource for me was Robert Santee's work, which applies the wisdom of the Zhuangzi to the psychological needs of [End Page 212] stress management, healthcare, and well-being (2011). He notes that the prevalence of chronic stress in modern society, together with the associated fight-or-flight response that accrues from primal thinking—incompatible viewpoints for black or white—lead to detrimental health consequences and offers a Zhuangzi-inspired solution of becoming an authentic person based on a meditative mindset. These contemporary applications helped me to realize that applying the ancient wisdom of the Zhuangzi might offer a solution to the many dysfunctional stresses and strains, not only in my classroom environment, but in classroom situations globally. The Zhuangzi's appreciation of the innate uniqueness within everyone and its acceptance of differences of opinions and...

Bacteria inactivation by atmospheric pressure plasma jet treatment

Atmospheric pressure plasmas have achieved great scientific and technological advances for a wide range of applications including the field of antimicrobial treatment. In this paper, a home-made atmospheric pressure plasma jet device was built and the effects of air plasma treatments on the inactivation of pure bacterial culture (Escherichia coli ATCC 8739) deposited onto the surface of agar plates were investigated. Plasmas were generated using high voltage discharge for 30, 60 and 90 s. The number of viable microorganisms was determined using a plate count method. Microbial Log10 reduction depended on the time of exposure and feed gas flow. A significant reduction of about 2.5 Log10 for E. coli was achieved within 60 s of plasma treatment. This result can be related to the presence of reactive species in the plasma volume, in particular, O radicals.

UCA1 involved in the metformin-regulated bladder cancer cell proliferation and glycolysis.

Despite great scientific advances have been achieved in cancer treatment in recent years, the death rate of bladder cancer has been staying at a high level. Metformin, a widely-used and low-cost diabetes medicine, might have the potential of anticancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of metformin on bladder cancer cells and to identify potential molecular targets and signaling pathways. Bladder cancer 5637 cells transfected with either pcDNA/UCA1 vector or pcDNA3.1 empty vector were treated with various doses of metformin for different periods of time, and then cell proliferation and glycolysis were assessed. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were applied to examine the expression of long non-coding RNA UCA1 and mammalian target of rapamycin-signal transducer and activator of transcription pathway molecules. We found metformin inhibited bladder cancer cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. UCA1-overexpressed 5637 cells showed increased proliferation and glycolysis compared with control cells. Metformin downregulated both endogenous and exogenous UCA1 expression, leading to the inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3-hexokinase 2 signaling pathway. Our study provided the first evidence that metformin inhibited proliferation and glycolysis in cancer cells through regulation of long non-coding RNA UCA1. The discovery also suggested the important roles of long non-coding RNA in chemoprevention, which is a property of metformin.

P2X7 Receptor in Bone Marrow-Derived Cells Aggravates Tuberculosis Caused by Hypervirulent Mycobacterium bovis

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a serious public health problem despite the great scientific advances in the recent decades. We have previously shown that aggressive forms of TB caused by hypervirulent strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis are attenuated in mice lacking the P2X7 receptor, an ion channel activated by extracellular ATP. Therefore, P2X7 receptor is a potential target for therapeutic intervention. In vitro, hypervirulent mycobacteria cause macrophage death by a P2X7-dependent mechanism that facilitates bacillus dissemination. However, as P2X7 receptor is expressed in both bone marrow (BM)-derived cells and lung structural cells, several cellular mechanisms can operate in vivo. To investigate whether the presence of P2X7 receptor in BM-derived cells contributes to TB severity, we generated chimeric mice by adoptive transfer of hematopoietic cells from C57BL/6 or P2X7−/− mice into CD45.1 irradiated mice. After infection with hypervirulent mycobacteria (MP287/03 strain of M. bovis), P2X7−/−>CD45.1 mice recapitulated the TB resistance observed in P2X7−/− mice. These chimeric mice showed lower lung bacterial load and attenuated pneumonia compared to C57BL/6>CD45.1 mice. Lung necrosis and bacterial dissemination to the spleen and liver were also reduced in P2X7−/−>CD45.1 mice compared to C57BL/6>CD45.1 mice. Furthermore, an immature-like myeloid cell population showing a Ly6Gint phenotype was observed in the lungs of infected C57BL/6 and C57BL/6>CD45.1 mice, whereas P2X7−/− and P2X7−/−>CD45.1 mice showed a typical neutrophil (Ly6Ghi) population. This study clearly demonstrates that P2X7 receptor in BM-derived cells plays a critical role in the progression of severe TB.

Guest Editorial: Toward Commercial Applications of Affective Computing

The papers in this special section focus on commercial applications for affective computing. One of the main goals of affective computing is to create machines which can adapt to users’ emotions in order to produce more natural and efficient interaction. Emotion recognition is thus a central component of the field, and is based on a variety of measurements (facial expressions, speech, gait patterns, physiology, eye tracking, etc.) that are analyzed using advanced pattern recognition techniques. Furthermore, researchers and entrepreneurs have identified countless possible applications of affect-aware technology, from health and driver monitoring to exercise [6] and computer game adaptation. However, although great scientific advances have been made and many applications have been proposed, only few robust implementations have been presented or validated, and commercial adoption of affect-aware technology has been marginal. One rare example of a successful application is the smile detector used in digital cameras to automatically take pictures when the subject is smiling. This weak adoption of the technology can be attributed to several unsolved challenges in the domain of affective computing.

Domesticated Animal Biobanking: Land of Opportunity

In the past decade, biobanking has fuelled great scientific advances in the human medical sector. Well-established domesticated animal biobanks and integrated networks likewise harbour immense potential for great scientific advances with broad societal impacts, which are currently not being fully realised. Political and scientific leaders as well as journals and ethics committees should help to ensure that we are well equipped to meet future demands in livestock production, animal models, and veterinary care of companion animals.

MTOR inhibitors in urinary bladder cancer.

Despite the great scientific advances that have been made in cancer treatment, there is still much to do, particularly with regard to urinary bladder cancer. Some of the drugs used in urinary bladder cancer treatment have been in use for more than 30years and show reduced effectiveness and high recurrence rates. There have been several attempts to find new and more effective drugs, to be used alone or in combination with the drugs already in use, in order to overcome this situation.The biologically important mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is altered in cancer and mTOR inhibitors have raised many expectations as potentially important anticancer drugs. In this article, the authors will review the mTOR pathway and present their experiences of the use of some mTOR inhibitors, sirolimus, everolimus and temsirolimus, in isolation and in conjunction with non-mTOR inhibitors cisplatin and gemcitabine, on urinary bladder tumour cell lines. The non-muscle-invasive cell line, 5637, is the only one that exhibits a small alteration in the mTOR and AKT phosphorylation after rapalogs exposure. Also, there was a small inhibition of cell proliferation. With gemcitabine plus everolimus or temsirolimus, the results were encouraging as a more effective response was noticed with both combinations, especially in the 5637 and T24 cell lines. Cisplatin associated with everolimus or temsirolimus also gave promising results, as an antiproliferative effect was observed when the drugs were associated, in particular on the 5637 and HT1376 cell lines. Everolimus or temsirolimus in conjunction with gemcitabine or cisplatin could have an important role to play in urinary bladder cancer treatment, depending on the tumour grading.

Recreational fisheries in the UK: natural capital, ecosystem services, threats, and management

The island nature of the UK has led to its long history of commercial marine fisheries, with associated recreational fisheries along and near to its extensive shoreline. In addition, an abundance of fresh waters provides extensive recreational fisheries, but few commercial fisheries, on rivers and lakes where catch-and-release is prevalent. Here, an overview is presented of these fisheries by describing their main features using the concepts of natural capital and ecosystem services and then considering the threats that they face and the management that has been developed in response. In the marine environment, a wide range of fish species is targeted, but the Orders Gadiformes, Perciformes, and Pleuronectiformes are particularly important. Far fewer species are available for exploitation in fresh waters, but the Orders Cypriniformes, Perciformes, and Salmoniformes are fished extensively. In total, the UK has in excess of three million recreational anglers in a population of approximately 65 million people. Threats to UK recreational fisheries include overfishing, physical habitat modification, acidification, chemical pollution, eutrophication, endocrine disrupters, nanoparticles, species introductions, and climate change. Great scientific and management advances have been made such that most of the required aquatic biological management activities are now based on mature science and are in many cases now largely operational matters. In addition, the work of the UK statutory bodies for fisheries is increasingly supplemented by the efforts of more independent groups, including through citizen science. Ecosystem-based management is now commonplace and activities have expanded above and away from the water to include the management of anglers and other members of society. The UK’s recreational fisheries continue to face substantial challenges, but there are also substantial grounds for great optimism for their future.