Potential Breakthrough Research Articles

A Holistic Review on the Current and Future Status of Biology-Driven and Broad-Spectrum Therapeutic Options for Medulloblastoma.

With a thorough investigation of the etiology of medulloblastomas, a comprehensive review was done to categorize available clinical trials in order to discuss the future potential of breakthroughs in treatment options. The pertinent issues of medulloblastoma therapy with radiation being inapplicable to children under the age of 3, and therapies causing toxicity are detailed and discussed in the context of understanding how the current therapies may address these suboptimal treatment modalities. This study aggregated published studies from the US government clinical trials website and filtered them based on their direct treatment towards medulloblastomas. Thirty-two clinical trials were applicable to be analyzed and the treatment mechanisms were discussed along with the efficacy; molecular groupings of medulloblastomas were also investigated. The investigated therapies tend to target sonic hedgehog (SHH)-subtype medulloblastomas, but there is a necessity for group 3 subtype and group 4 subtype to be targeted as well. Due to the heterogeneous nature of tumor relapse in groups 3 and 4, there are less specified trials towards those molecular groupings, and radiation seems to be the main scope of treatment. Medulloblastomas being primarily a pediatric tumor require treatment options that minimize radiation to increase the quality of living in children and to prevent long-term symptoms of over radiation. Exploring symptomatic treatment with donepezil in children with combination therapies may be a potential route for future trials; immunotherapies seem to hold potential in treating patients reacting adversely to radiation therapy.

Ministry of the Mushroom

Recently there has been a surge of renewed interest in the psychedelic compound psilocybin. In particular, psilocybin is being studied in clinical settings as a potential breakthrough treatment for depression. Alongside this growing therapeutic interest, there has been a rise in the religious use of psilocybin, as evidenced by the creation of a number of psilocybin mushroom churches in the United States. While the dominant popular discourse surrounding psilocybin is currently clinical, psilocybin churches offer an alternative form of meaning making regarding the psychedelic experience. Specifically, this article argues that psilocybin churches enable their followers to participate in a dynamic social process of “sacred sensemaking,” whereby psilocybin mushrooms are considered to be a sacrament, church members follow a ritual-based psychopharmacological practice, and the psychedelic experience is interpreted in terms of a direct encounter with the divine. Different psilocybin churches have unique approaches, ritual practices and cosmologies, nonetheless this article suggests that they may be united by this common process of sacred sensemaking.

MicroRNAs/LncRNAs Modulate MDSCs in Tumor Microenvironment.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogeneous group of immature cells derived from bone marrow that play critical immunosuppressive functions in the tumor microenvironment (TME), promoting cancer progression. According to base length, Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are mainly divided into: microRNAs (miRNAs), lncRNAs, snRNAs and CircRNAs. Both miRNA and lncRNA are transcribed by RNA polymerase II, and they play an important role in gene expression under both physiological and pathological conditions. The increasing data have shown that MiRNAs/LncRNAs regulate MDSCs within TME, becoming one of potential breakthrough points at the investigation and treatment of cancer. Therefore, we summarize how miRNAs/lncRNAs mediate the differentiation, expansion and immunosuppressive function of tumor MDSCs in TME. We will then focus on the regulatory mechanisms of exosomal MicroRNAs/LncRNAs on tumor MDSCs. Finally, we will discuss how the interaction of miRNAs/lncRNAs modulates tumor MDSCs.

Five Open Problems in Quantum Information Theory

We identify five selected open problems in the theory of quantum information, which are rather simple to formulate, are well studied in the literature, but are technically not easy. As these problems enjoy diverse mathematical connections, they offer a huge breakthrough potential. The first four concern existence of certain objects relevant for quantum information, namely a family of symmetric informationally complete generalized measurements in an infinite sequence of dimensions, mutually unbiased bases in dimension six, measurements saturating multiparameter Cramér-Rao bound and bound entangled states with negative partial transpose. The fifth problem requires checking whether a certain state of a two-ququart system is two-copy distillable.Received 21 December 2020Revised 1 December 2021DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PRXQuantum.3.010101Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasQuantum correlations in quantum informationQuantum measurementsQuantum InformationGeneral Physics

Advances in Precise Structure Control and Assembly toward the Carbon Nanotube Industry (Adv. Funct. Mater. 11/2022)

Controlled Synthesis The commercialization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) depends on rapid development in precise structure control and morphological assembly technology. In article number 2109401, Weizhong Qian, Fei Wei, and co-workers summarize the catalytic growth mechanism of defect-free CNTs. The template-assisted morphological assembly is subsequently introduced as an efficient route towards their mass production. Finally, more cutting-edge applications are presented with potential breakthroughs in fibers, energy, and electronics.

Engineering Brain Organoids: Toward Mature Neural Circuitry with an Intact Cytoarchitecture.

The emergence of brain organoids as a model system has been a tremendously exciting development in the field of neuroscience. Brain organoids are a gateway to exploring the intricacies of human-specific neurogenesis that have so far eluded the neuroscience community. Regardless, current culture methods have a long way to go in terms of accuracy and reproducibility. To perfectly mimic the human brain, we need to recapitulate the complex in vivo context of the human fetal brain and achieve mature neural circuitry with an intact cytoarchitecture. In this review, we explore the major challenges facing the current brain organoid systems, potential technical breakthroughs to advance brain organoid techniques up to levels similar to an in vivo human developing brain, and the future prospects of this technology.

Performance research and comparison of integrated passive solar-concentrated stills buried in soil: With/without heat recovery

Although interfacial evaporation based on new materials and configurations has recently attracted great interest, there is still considerable potential for breakthroughs in low-cost, sustainable conventional solar stills. Conventional solar stills have always suffered from low evaporation temperatures, condensation droplets interference to the solar light transmission, and the inconvenience of heat recovery design. This paper addresses these shortcomings by designing an integrated passive solar-concentrated still with an embedded light concentration form, a suitable light transmission and evaporation–condensation structure, and a well-matched heat recovery configuration. The proposed solar still helps achieve better energy transfer and conversion and increase the yield and efficiency. This paper analyses and discusses the solar radiation transmission characteristics inside the proposed solar stills and conducts an experimental study of the solar-thermal-water conversion performance. The results show a maximum solar radiation transmission efficiency of 73.5%, identifying the key factors governing the solar radiation transmission efficiency. The discussion has pointed in the direction where the overall performance of the device can be further improved by refining the surface optical properties. The outdoor experiments show that the total water yield of the solar still with heat recovery could reach 3.67 kg/m2 per unit solar concentrator aperture area. The water production and practical evaporation efficiencies are about 37% and 57.8%, respectively, showing the superior performance of the solar-concentrated device with such an integrated structure. The experimental result comparison indicates that the solar still shows a 16.8% yield increment with the assistance of the heat recovery unit, illustrating the effectiveness of heat recovery configurations at sidewalls. This paper provides meaningful future directions for the development of passive solar stills.

Putting eagle rays on the map by coupling aerial video-surveys and deep learning

Reliable and efficient techniques are urgently needed to monitor elasmobranch populations that face increasing threats worldwide. Aerial video-surveys provide precise and verifiable observations for the rapid assessment of species distribution and abundance in coral reefs, but the manual processing of videos is a major bottleneck for timely conservation applications. In this study, we applied deep learning for the automated detection and mapping of vulnerable eagle rays from aerial videos. A light aircraft dedicated to touristic flights allowed us to collect 42 h of aerial video footage over a shallow coral lagoon in New Caledonia (Southwest Pacific). We extracted the videos at a rate of one image per second before annotating them, yielding 314 images with eagle rays. We then trained a convolutional neural network with 80% of the eagle ray images and evaluated its accuracy on the remaining 20% (independent data sets). Our deep learning model detected 92% of the annotated eagle rays in a diversity of habitats and acquisition conditions across the studied coral lagoon. Our study offers a potential breakthrough for the monitoring of ray populations in coral reef ecosystems by providing a fast and accurate alternative to the manual processing of aerial videos. Our deep learning approach can be extended to the detection of other elasmobranchs and applied to systematic aerial surveys to not only detect individuals but also estimate species density in coral reef habitats.

In-Vivo Induced CAR-T Cell for the Potential Breakthrough to Overcome the Barriers of Current CAR-T Cell Therapy.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T cell) therapy has shown impressive success in the treatment of hematological malignancies, but the systemic toxicity and complex manufacturing process of current autologous CAR-T cell therapy hinder its broader applications. Universal CAR-T cells have been developed to simplify the production process through isolation and editing of allogeneic T cells from healthy persons, but the allogeneic CAR-T cells have recently encountered safety concerns, and clinical trials have been halted by the FDA. Thus, there is an urgent need to seek new ways to overcome the barriers of current CAR-T cell therapy. In-vivo CAR-T cells induced by nanocarriers loaded with CAR-genes and gene-editing tools have shown efficiency for regressing leukemia and reducing systemic toxicity in a mouse model. The in-situ programming of autologous T-cells avoids the safety concerns of allogeneic T cells, and the manufacture of nanocarriers can be easily standardized. Therefore, the in-vivo induced CAR-T cells can potentially overcome the abovementioned limitations of current CAR-T cell therapy. Here, we provide a review on CAR structures, gene-editing tools, and gene delivery techniques applied in immunotherapy to help design and develop new in-vivo induced CAR-T cells.

Technology Focus: Drilling Automation and Innovation (February 2022)

What was impossible a few short years ago is reality today.” This quote, taken from the opening paragraph of featured paper IPTC 19671, is a most relevant statement for the state of drilling technology today. Adverse effects of economic down cycles, commodity fluctuation, geopolitical events, weather patterns, and the pandemic have imposed harsh realities on the energy sector along with almost every aspect of life on Earth as we know it. As these events have continued to unfold in recent years, surprising trends with unexpected outcomes have resulted. For example, demand destruction because of commodity price collapse necessitated increased emphasis on efficiency and productivity. Business as usual was out of the question. Higher productivity, lower cost, environmental stewardship, and increased safety standards have become more critical than ever before. As these forces persist, changes in our industry have accelerated at a dramatic rate in an array of key technologies. Some of these initiatives have been under way for years and are familiar themes to SPE readers: artificial intelligence, automated decision making, data analytics, and visualization, to name a few. Papers selected for this feature were chosen to highlight some of these areas of advancement, with particular emphasis on breakthrough technologies where step changes have been delivered or are seen as imminent. For instance, much has been written about the profound impact of managed-pressure-drilling (MPD) systems with ongoing breakthroughs in areas such as advanced modeling, automation, and analytics. Likewise, automated directional drilling has been established as a pre-eminent technology destined to continue to revolutionize the way in which wells are constructed. While many of the published manuscripts highlight onshore applications, offshore, deep water, and high-pressure/high-temperature operations are being transformed as well. Finally, don’t miss paper IADC/SPE 199573, “World’s First Hybrid Drilling Rig,” a recommended reading paper. Several key opportunities for improvements specific to drilling rig machinery and power are addressed in this manuscript, including reduced fuel consumption, emissions, and well costs, and increased overall generator efficiency. Although hybrid drilling rigs are still in the early stages with regard to practical application within the global fleet of active rigs, it is difficult not to recognize as legitimate the basic ideas and potential breakthroughs being detailed. Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE/IADC 199573 - World’s First Hybrid Drilling Rig by Memet Bilgin, CleanDesign Power Systems, et al. IPTC 19817 - Automated Steering With Real-Time Model-Based Control by Nazli Demirer, Halliburton, et al.

Data-driven and physical-based identification of partial differential equations for multivariable system

Data-driven partial differential equation identification is a potential breakthrough to solve the lack of physical equations in complex dynamic systems. However, existing equation identification methods still cannot effectively identify equations from multivariable complex systems. In this work, we combine physical constraints such as dimension and direction of equation with data-driven method, and successfully identify the Navier-Stocks equations from the flow field data of Karman vortex street. This method provides an effective approach to identify partial differential equations of multivariable complex systems.

Heterogeneous Responses and Isoform Compensation the Dim Therapeutic Window of Hsp90 ATP-Binding Inhibitors in Cancer.

The rare capacity for heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) chaperones to support almost the entire cellular signaling network was viewed as a potential breakthrough to combat tumor resistance to single-oncogene-based therapeutics. Over 2 decades, several generations of Hsp90 ATP binding inhibitors have entered numerous cancer clinical trials, but few have advanced to FDA approval for treatment of human cancers. Herein, we report that Hsp90 expression varies dramatically, especially among different types of noncancer cells and organs. The highly variable levels of Hsp90, from as low as 1.7% to as high as 9% of their total cellular proteins, were responsible for either an extreme sensitivity or an extreme resistance to a classical Hsp90 ATP-binding inhibitor. Among randomly selected cancer cell lines, the same client proteins for regulation of cell growth exhibited unexpectedly heterogenous reactions in response to an Hsp90 ATP-binding inhibitor, inconsistent with the current understanding. Finally, a minimum amount (<10%) of Hsp90β was still required for client protein stability and cell survival even in the presence of full Hsp90α. These new findings of Hsp90 expression in host and isoform compensation in tumor cells could complicate biomarker selection, toxicity readout, and clinical efficacy of Hsp90-ATP-binding inhibitors in cancer clinical trials.

Integration of Genomics with Crop Modeling for Predicting Rice Days to Flowering: A Multi-Model Analysis

The ability of crop models to decompose complex traits and integrate the underlying processes enables them to capture genotype-environment interactions in diverse environments. Integrating genomics with biophysical crop models represents a potential breakthrough technology for improving our understanding of genotype-environment interactions across the biological organization. We present the results of a multi-model analysis on integrating crop modeling with genomic prediction. Seven rice models were evaluated on their ability to predict days to flowering in ten environments from parameters estimated through genome-wide association and genomic prediction, using a 13-fold cross-validation scheme. Phenotypic data were based on a rice diversity panel of 169 accessions with 700k markers. Significant associations with known flowering genes were identified for several model parameters. Although high accuracy was achieved for genomic prediction of model parameters in calibration, prediction accuracy was low for untested genotypes. We observed divergent model performance using genomic-predicted model parameters, which was attributed to photoperiod and temperature response curves, and number of calibrated model parameters. Several areas were identified for further research that could lead to better understanding the genetic control of complex trait formation and improved integration of genomics with crop modeling.

Cranial sonolucent prosthesis: a window of opportunity for neuro-oncology (and neuro-surgery).

Ultrasound (US) is a versatile technology, able to provide a real-time and multiparametric intraoperative imaging, and a promising way to treat neuro-oncological patients outside the operating room. Anyhow, its potential is limited both in imaging and therapeutic purposes by the existence of the bone shielding. To enhance the spectrum of uses, our group has designed a dedicated US-translucent cranial prosthesis. Herein, we provide the proof of concept of a long-term US-based follow-up and a potential bedside therapeutic exploitation of US. The prosthesis was first implanted in a cadaveric specimen to record any issue related to the cranioplasty procedure. Hence, the device was implanted in a patient undergoing surgery for a multi-recurrent anaplastic oligodendroglioma. US multiparametric scans through the device were acquired at 3, 6, 9, and 30months after the procedure. The prosthesis could be modeled and implanted through ordinary instruments, with no concerns over safety and feasibility. Trans-prosthesis multiparametric US imaging was feasible, with image quality comparable to intraoperative US. Long-term follow-up in an outpatient setting was possible with no adverse events. Trans-prosthesis mechanical interaction with microbubbles was also feasible during follow-up. This report provides the first proof of concept for a potential breakthrough in the management of neuro-oncological patients. Indeed, through the implantation of an artificial acoustic window, the road is set to employ US both for a more dynamic long-term follow-up, and for US-guided therapeutic applications.

Design Study of a Novel Positron Emission Tomography System for Plant Imaging.

Positron Emission Tomography is a non-disruptive and high-sensitive digital imaging technique which allows to measure in-vivo and non invasively the changes of metabolic and transport mechanisms in plants. When it comes to the early assessment of stress-induced alterations of plant functions, plant PET has the potential of a major breakthrough. The development of dedicated plant PET systems faces a series of technological and experimental difficulties, which make conventional clinical and preclinical PET systems not fully suitable to agronomy. First, the functional and metabolic mechanisms of plants depend on environmental conditions, which can be controlled during the experiment if the scanner is transported into the growing chamber. Second, plants need to be imaged vertically, thus requiring a proper Field Of View. Third, the transverse Field of View needs to adapt to the different plant shapes, according to the species and the experimental protocols. In this paper, we perform a simulation study, proposing a novel design of dedicated plant PET scanners specifically conceived to address these agronomic issues. We estimate their expected sensitivity, count rate performance and spatial resolution, and we identify these specific features, which need to be investigated when realizing a plant PET scanner. Finally, we propose a novel approach to the measurement and verification of the performance of plant PET systems, including the design of dedicated plant phantoms, in order to provide a standard evaluation procedure for this emerging digital imaging agronomic technology.

A methodology for identifying breakthrough topics using structural entropy

This research uses link prediction and structural-entropy methods to predict scientific breakthrough topics. Temporal changes in the structural entropy of a knowledge network can be used to identify potential breakthrough topics. This has been done by tracking and monitoring a network's critical transition points, also known as tipping points. The moment at which a significant change in the structural entropy of a knowledge network occurs may denote the points in time when breakthrough topics emerge. The method was validated by domain experts and was demonstrated to be a feasible tool for identifying scientific breakthroughs early. This method can play a role in identifying scientific breakthroughs and could aid in realizing forward-looking predictions to provide support for policy formulation and direct scientific research.

Challenges of repurposing tetracyclines for the treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

The novel antibiotic-exploiting strategy in the treatment of Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's (PD) disease has emerged as a potential breakthrough in the field. The research in animal AD/PD models provided evidence on the antiamyloidogenic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiapoptotic activity of tetracyclines, associated with cognitive improvement. The neuroprotective effects of minocycline and doxycycline in animals initiated investigation of their clinical efficacy in AD and PD patients which led to inconclusive results and additionally to insufficient safety data on a long-standing doxycycline and minocycline therapy in these patient populations. The safety issues should be considered in two levels; in AD/PD patients (particularly antibiotic-induced alteration of gut microbiota and its consequences), and as a world-wide threat of development of bacterial resistance to these antibiotics posed by a fact that AD and PD are widespread incurable diseases which require daily administered long-lasting antibiotic therapy. Recently proposed subantimicrobial doxycycline doses should be thoroughly explored for their effectiveness and long-term safety especially in AD/PD populations. Keeping in mind the antibacterial activity-related far-reaching undesirable effects both for the patients and globally, further work on repurposing these drugs for a long-standing therapy of AD/PD should consider the chemically modified tetracycline compounds tailored to lack antimicrobial but retain (or introduce) other activities effective against the AD/PD pathology. This strategy might reduce the risk of long-term therapy-related adverse effects (particularly gut-related ones) and development of bacterial resistance toward the tetracycline antibiotic agents but the therapeutic potential and desirable safety profile of such compounds in AD/PD patients need to be confirmed.

Overview on evaluation of the mechanical, durability properties and microstructure of Nano-Silica assimilated cement composites (Nano-SAC)

The Cement composites (CC) are the ubiquitous material in the world because of nanostructured, multi-phase, composite material that ages over time. CC as a construction material is most heterogeneous and the advent of nanotechnology offers substantial advances in concrete. In this framework, the application of Nanotechnology has its prominence in the construction industry, due to the enhanced characteristics of CC. Several studies have attempted to incorporate a variety of nanomaterials in CC and investigated the enhancement of mechanical and durability properties. Most importantly, the use of Nano-Silica (NS) has high significance in enhancing the mechanical properties, making the composite a durable material due to high pozzolanic behaviour and influence on the microstructure of CC. Hence, this paper reviews the prior development and current findings of Nano-Silica (NS) incorporated CC. The effect of Nano-Silica on mechanical and durability properties of the cement composites by varying microstructural characteristics are discussed. Furthermore, due to compact microstructure and accelerated hydration, and impermeable microstructure and higher strength durability is enhanced. Finally, the paper also describes the limitation that the optimum dose of the Nano-silica varies with its size, type, and dose of admixture, water to binder ratio, which is still contradictory. Additionally, the incorporation of Nano-silica is a potential breakthrough in building materials for a specific application. This article shed light on optimum dose in cement composite for specific types and sizes of Nano-silica particles.

Applications of Drones and Image Analytics in Field Phenotyping: A Potential Breakthrough in Uganda's Agricultural Research

Applications of Drones and Image Analytics in Field Phenotyping: A Potential Breakthrough in Uganda's Agricultural Research

Evolution of Artificial Intelligence-Powered Technologies in Biomedical Research and Healthcare.

Artificial intelligence represents a powerful computational tool to analyze large amounts of data with and without supervision. Such powerful techniques have significantly impacted the advancement of multiple sectors from social media to data security, the automotive industry, gaming, finances, and healthcare. Only recently, however, artificial intelligence has been making significant strides in healthcare and biomedical research. Despite such advancements and the expectation of potential breakthroughs arising from implementing artificial intelligence in these fields, there is limited knowledge transfer and training for most healthcare professionals on using these computational techniques. While there is a wide array of publications on artificial intelligence applied to scientific research, most are too technical (not aimed at the non-initiated), too broad (with an overwhelming amount of data), or too focused on a particular application. This chapter presents an overview of artificial intelligence and its derivatives, giving a historical perspective, a succinct technical explanation of the underlying basis, and some examples of its applications. It finishes with a brief discussion on the challenges for implementing AI to be fully accepted in the scientific community.