Scientific Priorities Research Articles

Perceptions of plagiarism among PhDs across the sciences, engineering, humanities, and arts: Results from a national survey in Brazil

ABSTRACT Plagiarism allegations are not rare in the history of science, and credit for prior work was and continues to be a source of disputes, involving notions of priority of discovery and of plagiarism. However, consensus over what constitutes plagiarism among scientists from different fields cannot be taken for granted. We conducted a national survey exploring perceptions of plagiarism among PhD holders registered in the database of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development. This survey was sent to 143,405 PhD holders across the fields, in the sciences, engineering, humanities, and arts, with a response rate of about 20%. The results suggest that core principles about plagiarism are shared among this multidisciplinary community, corroborating Robert K. Merton’s observations that concerns over plagiarism and priority disputes are not field specific. This study offers insight into the way plagiarism is perceived in this community and sheds light on the problem for international collaborative research networks. The data focus on a particular research system in Latin America, but, given the cultural similarities that bind most Latin American nations, these results may be relevant to other PhD populations in the region and should provide an opportunity for comparison with studies from other emerging, non-Anglophone regions.

Freedom All the Way Up: A New Look

ABSTRACT Against scientism, the alleged priority of science over all other forms of knowledge, Christian Barrigar proposes that human beings should enjoy the higher-order freedom to live in accord with God’s own agapic freedom and love to serve others. But thereby what is lost in thus obeying God’s will is the autonomous freedom of human beings to make their own choices and to take responsibility to correct those mistakes through a gradual process of trial-and-error. Scholars in the Aristotelian-Thomistic approach to reality might embrace instead a collective or systems-oriented approach to reality that allows for such autonomous freedom.

Insights Into the Inhibition of MOX-1 β-Lactamase by S02030, a Boronic Acid Transition State Inhibitor.

The rise of multidrug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria has accelerated the development of novel inhibitors of class A and C β-lactamases. Presently, the search for novel compounds with new mechanisms of action is a clinical and scientific priority. To this end, we determined the 2.13-Å resolution crystal structure of S02030, a boronic acid transition state inhibitor (BATSI), bound to MOX-1 β-lactamase, a plasmid-borne, expanded-spectrum AmpC β-lactamase (ESAC) and compared this to the previously reported aztreonam (ATM)-bound MOX-1 structure. Superposition of these two complexes shows that S02030 binds in the active-site cavity more deeply than ATM. In contrast, the SO3 interactions and the positional change of the β-strand amino acids from Lys315 to Asn320 were more prominent in the ATM-bound structure. MICs were performed using a fixed concentration of S02030 (4 μg/ml) as a proof of principle. Microbiological evaluation against a laboratory strain of Escherichia coli expressing MOX-1 revealed that MICs against ceftazidime are reduced from 2.0 to 0.12 μg/ml when S02030 is added at a concentration of 4 μg/ml. The IC50 and Ki of S02030 vs. MOX-1 were 1.25 ± 0.34 and 0.56 ± 0.03 μM, respectively. Monobactams such as ATM can serve as informative templates for design of mechanism-based inhibitors such as S02030 against ESAC β-lactamases.

Cross-Cutting Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic-the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Experience.

ABSTRACTIntroductionAt the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) mobilized to rapidly conduct medical research to detect, prevent, and treat the disease in order to minimize the impact of the pandemic on the health and readiness of U.S. Forces. WRAIR’s major efforts included the development of the Department of Defense (DoD) COVID-19 vaccine candidate, researching novel drug therapies and monoclonal antibodies, refining and scaling-up diagnostic capabilities, evaluating the impact of viral diversity, assessing the behavioral health of Soldiers, supporting U.S. DoD operational forces overseas, and providing myriad assistance to allied nations. WRAIR personnel have also filled key roles within the whole of government response to the pandemic. WRAIR had to overcome major pandemic-related operational challenges in order to quickly execute a multimillion-dollar portfolio of COVID-19 research. Consequently, the organization learned lessons that could benefit other leaders of medical research organizations preparing for the next pandemic.Materials and MethodsWe identified lessons learned using a qualitative thematic analysis of 76 observation/recommendation pairs from across the organization. These lessons learned were organized under the Army’s four pillars of readiness (staffing, training, equipping, and leadership development). To this framework, we added organizing and leading to best capture our experiences within the context of pandemic response.ResultsThe major lessons learned for organizing were: (1) the pandemic created a need to rapidly pivot to new scientific priorities; (2) necessary health and safety precautions disrupted the flow of normal science and put programs at risk of missing milestones; (3) relationships with partners and allies facilitated medical diplomacy and advancement of U.S. national military and economic goals; and (4) a successful response required interoperability within and across multiple organizations. For equipping: (1) existing infrastructure lacked sufficient capacity and technical capability to allow immediate countermeasure development; (2) critical supply chains were strained; and (3) critical information system function and capacity were suddenly insufficient under maximum remote work. For staffing and training: (1) successful telework required rapid shifts in management, engagement, and accountability methods; and (2) organizational policies and processes had to adapt quickly to support remote staffing. For leading and leadership development (1) engaged, hopeful, and empathetic leadership made a difference; and (2) the workforce benefitted from concerted leadership communication that created a shared understanding of shifting priorities as well as new processes and procedures.ConclusionsAn effective pandemic response requires comprehensive institutional preparedness that facilitates flexibility and surge capacity. The single most important action leaders of medical research organizations can take to prepare for the next pandemic is to develop a quick-reaction force that would activate under prespecified criteria to manage reprioritization of all science and support activities to address pandemic response priorities at the velocity of relevance.

Scientific achievements and priority directions of research development in the breeding and seed-growing of fiber flax in the Institute of Bast Crops NAAS

The results of scientific research, the history of the development of breeding and seed-growing of fiber flax at the Institute of Bast Crops NAAS for the period from the beginning of their implementation to the present are given. The results and methods of practical breeding and economically valuable properties of new varieties of fiber flax are presented. Modern problems of breeding and seed-growing work and ways to solve them are highlighted.

Research and resource needs for understanding host immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 vaccines during aging.

On 16 and 17 March 2021, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Institute of Aging convened a virtual workshop to discuss developments in SARS-CoV-2 research pertaining to immune responses in older adults, COVID-19 vaccines in both aged animals and older individuals, and to gain some perspective on the critical knowledge gaps that need addressing to establish scientific priorities for future research studies.

Digital Archiving and Data Stewardship in French Archaeology

In France, the archaeological sector has undergone a major shift in the last 10 years in terms of digital data creation and management. The digital transformation of the profession and its practices is still in progress and is not uniform. If general policies and laws are now clearly adopted at a national level, then institutional or individual situations are more complex. We can clearly separate the development-led and academic sectors, with reference to the volume of data produced and the challenges faced. A critical overview of the barriers highlights the fact that, beyond technical issues, data management (specifically sharing) is a human challenge in terms of scientific priority and in the adoption of new practices. This article gives an overview of the main questions and issues with reference to major nationwide initiatives.

Approaches to Defining Scientific Priorities in Healthcare and Medicine: The Experience of the Soviet Union

Approaches to Defining Scientific Priorities in Healthcare and Medicine: The Experience of the Soviet Union

Approaches to Defining Scientific Priorities in Healthcare and Medicine: The Russian Experience

Approaches to Defining Scientific Priorities in Healthcare and Medicine: The Russian Experience

The Importance of Groundwater in Critical Zone Science.

The critical zone (CZ)-from treetops to groundwater-is an increasingly studied part of the earth system, where scientists study interactions between water, air, rock, soil, and life. Groundwater is both a boundary and an essential store in this integrated system, but is often not well considered in part because of the difficulty in accessing it and its slow movement relative to other parts of the system. Here, we describe some fundamental areas where groundwater hydrology is of fundamental importance to CZ science, including sustaining streamflow and vegetation, reacting with minerals to produce dissolved solutes and regolith, and influencing energy fluxes across the land-atmosphere interface. As the timing and type of precipitation change with climate, groundwater may play an even more important role in CZ processes as a sustainable water source for plants and streamflow. Many open questions also exist about the role of CZ processes on groundwater. Many data streams are needed and important to quantifying the integrated response of the CZ to groundwater and vice versa, but long-term data records are often incomplete or discontinued due to limited funding. We argue that the long timescales of processes that involve groundwater necessitate data collection efforts beyond typical federal funding timespans. Sustaining monitoring networks and developing new ones aimed at testing hypotheses related to slow-moving, groundwater-controlled CZ processes should be a scientific priority, and here we outline some open questions that we hope will motivate groundwater scientists to get involved in CZ science.

Efficient electrolysis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to the biopolymer-precursor furandicarboxylic acid in a zero-gap MEA-type electrolyzer

Replacement of today’s established chemical production processes by “green” sustainable alternatives has become a scientific priority. The oxidative conversion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) to the biopolymer component 2.5-furandicarboxylic acid paired with green electrolytic hydrogen production is a promising emerging green process. Here, we present a family of active selective and stable interlayer anion-tuned NiX (X = Fe, Mn, Co, V) bimetallic-layered, double-hydroxide catalysts for the selective oxidation of 5-HMF to 2.5-furandicarboxylic acid in a zero-gap MEA-type electrolyzer. We report that tuning the structural interlayer distance of the catalyst by anion exchange gives rise to previously unachieved catalytic performance for the anodic production of the biopolymer building block. Operando differential electrochemical mass spectrometry analysis reveals the electrode window for the perfectly selective HMF conversion. The role of the catalyst dopants, their real surface areas, the stability of the catalytic interface, and aspects of its favorable techno-economics are discussed. • Active, selective, and stable interlayer anion-tuned catalyst for biomass oxidation • Operating in a zero-gap MEA-type single electrolyzer cell • Operando analysis revealed the perfectly selective HMF conversion window Strasser et al. present a family of active selective and stable Ni-based catalysts for the selective oxidation of biomass in an electrolyzer. The biomass electrolysis device yields previously unachieved production of a biopolymer precursor and may offer techno-economic cost advantages.

Contributions and future priorities for soil science: Comparing perspectives from scientists and stakeholders

AbstractSoils are a fundamental natural resource but intensifying demands and increasing soil degradation necessitate focussed research into the sustainable use of soils. Since soil functioning is critical for the operations and performance of multiple industries, businesses and municipalities, soil scientists need to actively engage with these bodies to orientate research goals towards stakeholder needs. To achieve this, stakeholder views about the current and potential contributions of soil science to different sectors need to be taken into account when setting the future research agenda. Here, we assessed whether the current and future research priorities of soil science match the needs of four major industrial and environmental sectors: agriculture, ecosystem services and natural resources, waste management, and water management. We used an online questionnaire, distributed to 192 organisations and via social media, to compare stakeholders' and scientists' perceptions of (a) the contributions of soil science to date, (b) the areas not currently served by soil science and (c) future research needs in soil science. Stakeholders generally rated the contributions of soil science to date as ‘great’ or ‘fundamental’, but scientists rated the contributions more highly. Respondents identified numerous areas that soil research has not yet sufficiently addressed, which were mostly sector‐specific and often overlapped with perceived future research needs. Importantly, stakeholders' and scientists' views of future research priorities differed strongly within sectors, with the notable exception of agriculture, where views were generally consistent. We conclude that soil science may hold unexplored potential in several industrial and environmental sectors. We call for improved research communication and greater stakeholder involvement to shape the future soils research agenda and ensure the sustainable use of soils across multiple areas of society.Highlights How soil science has served, and could further serve, four major sectors was investigated. Soil science contributions to agriculture, ecosystem services, waste and water sectors were assessed. Stakeholders' and scientists' views on future contributions of soil science frequently differed. Greater stakeholder engagement could greatly enhance the impact of soil science in the future.

ЎЗБЕКИСТОН РЕСПУБЛИКАСИ ТАДБИРКОРЛИККОДЕКСИ ЛОЙИҲАСИНИНГ ИЛМИЙ-АМАЛИЙ КОНЦЕПЦИЯСИ

This article for the first time analyzes the meaning, necessity, purpose, subject of legal regulation of the Entrepreneurial Code and current legislation in the field of entrepreneurship. It also reveals the essence of some international legal acts and ways of solving systemic problems in the field of entrepreneurship. In addition, on the basis of the study of the scientific foundations and priority areas of norm-setting problem-target issues for the development of the draft Entrepreneurial Code, substantiated conclusions and proposals are justified.Keywords:national legal system, entrepreneurial legislation, unification, systematization, Entrepreneurial code, digital rights, digital business, entrepreneurial activity, digital civil circulation, legal protection, subject of legal regulation, entrepreneurial legal relationship

The case for landed Mercury science

In this White Paper, submitted to ESA in response to the Voyage 2050 Call, we advocate for establishing key scientific priorities for the future of Mercury exploration, including the development of specific science goals for a landed mission. We support the Mercury science community in fostering closer collaboration with ongoing and planned exoplanet investigations. The continued exploration of Mercury should be conceived as a multi-mission, multi-generational effort, and the landed exploration of Mercury should be a high scientific priority in the coming decades.

History of development and results of selection of Solanaceae crops in FSBSI FSVC

The article presents a brief history of the establishment of the Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Seed Production of Solanaceae Crops of FSBSI FSVC. The process of development of tomato, pepper, eggplant and physalis breeding is shown from the beginning of the establishment until the present time. Practical selection of Solanaceae crops in FSBSI FSVC is directly connected with the name of Academician VASKhNIL A.V. Alpatyev, who is the founder of scientific research on thermophilic crops. On the basis of conducted scientific researches the technique of creation of cold-resistant, early-ripening cultivars of tomato was developed, including influence of certain conditions on parental forms and hybrid material from its first generations to increase adaptability to new, not characteristic conditions of selected material. Subsequently, this technique was applied to the breeding of sweet pepper, eggplant and physalis. Interspecific hybridisation was used to enrich the gene pool of Solanaceous crops. As a result of distant hybridization, the following cultivars were created: the original tomato cultivar Severyanin with large parthenocarpic fruits on 1 and 2 racemes; an anadrous mutant for use in breeding; ultra-rapid, short-stage forms for obtaining heterosis effect; the cultivar Vkusny with increased content of dry matter in fruits. On the basis of interspecific hybrid of Ph. ixocarpa x Ph. angulata, the cultivars Dessert and Lakomka, characterized by high yield and resistance to diseases, high content of sugars, pectin and absence of bitterness, are created. Types of pepper Capsicum chinense, C. frutescens and C. annuum were used to create resistant forms to viral diseases. Involvement of wild eggplant species (Solanum aethiopicum, S. macrocarpon) to the breeding process allowed to obtain hybrid combinations with flavonoids content 1,3 times higher and phenolcarboxylic acids 1,6–1,7 times higher than in S. melongena.The development of theoretical bases ofSolanaceae crops breeding for resistance to biotic and abiotic stressors, as well as for high quality production, allowed to create a series of cosmopolitan cultivars, which at present are in demand, both in production and as a source material. The current scientific priorities are to use innovative biotechnology and molecular marking methods to accelerate the breeding process and improve selection efficiency.

Contamination Control for Ultra-Sensitive Life-Detection Missions

A key science priority for planetary exploration is to search for signs of life in our Solar System. Life-detection mission concepts aim to assess whether or not biomolecular signatures of life are present, which requires highly sensitive instrumentation. This introduces greater risk of false positives, and perhaps false negatives. Stringent science-derived contamination requirements for achieving science measurements on life-detection missions necessitate mitigation approaches that minimize, protect from, and prevent science-relevant contamination of critical surfaces of the science payload and provide high confidence to life-detection determinations. To this end, we report on technology advances that focus on understanding contamination transfer from pre-launch processing to end of mission using high-fidelity physics in the form of computational fluid dynamics and sorption physics for monolayer adsorption/desorption, and on developing a new full-spacecraft bio-molecular barrier design that restricts contamination of the spacecraft and instruments by the launch vehicle hardware. The bio-molecular barrier isolates the spacecraft from biological, molecular, and particulate contamination from the external environment. Models were used to evaluate contamination transport for a designs reference mission that utilizes the barrier. Results of the modeling verify the efficacy of the barrier and an in-cruise decontamination activity. Overall mission contamination tracking from launch to science operations demonstrated exceptionally low probability on contamination impacting science measurements, meeting the stringent contamination requirements of femtomolar levels of compounds. These advances will enable planetary missions that aim to detect and identify signatures of life in our Solar System.

The EHA Research Roadmap: Immune-based Therapies for Hematological Malignancies

In 2016, the European Hematology Association (EHA) published the EHA Roadmap for European Hematology Research1 aiming to highlight achievements in the diagnostics and treatment of blood disorders, and to better inform European policy makers and other stakeholders about the urgent clinical and scientific needs and priorities in the field of hematology. Each section was coordinated by 1-2 section editors who were leading international experts in the field. In the 5 years that have followed, advances in the field of hematology have been plentiful. As such, EHA is pleased to present an updated Research Roadmap, now including 11 sections, each of which will be published separately. The updated EHA Research Roadmap identifies the most urgent priorities in hematology research and clinical science, therefore supporting a more informed, focused, and ideally a more funded future for European Hematology Research. the 11 EHA Research Roadmap sections include normal hematopoiesis; malignant lymphoid diseases; malignant myeloid diseases; anemias and related diseases; platelet disorders; blood coagulation and hemostatic disorders; transfusion medicine; infections in hematology; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; CAR-T and Other cell-based immune therapies; and gene therapy.

Revisiting the ‘Darwin–Marx correspondence’: Multiple discovery and the rhetoric of priority

Between the 1930s and the mid 1970s, it was commonly believed that in 1880 Karl Marx had proposed to dedicate to Charles Darwin a volume or translation of Capital but that Darwin had refused. The detail was often interpreted by scholars as having larger significance for the question of the relationship between Darwinian evolutionary biology and Marxist political economy. In 1973–4, two scholars working independently—Lewis Feuer, professor of sociology at Toronto, and Margaret Fay, a graduate student at Berkeley—determined simultaneously that the traditional story of the proposed dedication was untrue, being based on a long-standing misinterpretation of the relevant correspondence. Between the two, and among several other scholars who became their respective allies, there developed a contest of authority and priority over the discovery. From 1975 to 1982, the controversy generated a considerable volume of spilled ink in both scholarly and popular publications. Drawing on previously unexamined archival resources, this article revisits the ‘case’ of the so-called ‘Darwin–Marx correspondence’ as an instance of the phenomenon of ‘multiple discovery’. A familiar occurrence in the natural sciences, multiple discovery is rarer in the humanities and social sciences. The present case of a priority dispute in the history of ideas followed patterns familiar from such disputes in the natural sciences, while also diverging from them in ways that shed light on the significance of disciplinary norms and research infrastructures.

Современные тенденции in vitro фармакологии прототипов противоопухолевых лекарств: библиометрический анализ за 2020–2021 г.

Identification of novel low molecular weight compounds with antitumor activity is the first important step towards the development of candidate drugs and a popular trend in in vitro pharmacology. The aim of the study was to assess the key trends and rank the scientific priorities in anticancer drug design using bibliometric analysis. The protocol involved using the panel of bibliographic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Cortellis) and analytical web-based tools PubChem, FACTA +, ClustVis, Reaxys, PathwayStudio and VOSviewer software to review a sample of 1657 papers issued 2020–2021.The work was also focused on 70 new promising basic structures and derivatives targeted at inhibiting both individual pro-tumor proteins and signaling cascades. It was found that serine-threonine protein kinases, receptor tyrosine kinases, DNA topoisomerases and tubulins as well as signaling pathways PI3K, mTOR, AKT1, STAT3, HIF-1a, and p53 account for up to 60% of the total structure of cellular targets for the design of anticancer drugs. The increasing scientific interest in innovative inhibitors of tumor-associated protein complexes, transcription factors and metabolic enzymes has been found. The compounds, which belong to heterocycles, glycosides, quinones and terpenes, were mentioned in 71% of papers as the basic structures for antitumor derivatives design. Papers, published in 2019, in which the compounds, such as lapachone, luteolin, quercetin, monastrol, and crisosplenol D are studied in the context of the design of new drug prototypes, have the highest citation rate. The systematic bibliometric approach involving the use of a panel of analytical resources makes it possible to assess R&D trends and scientific priorities in anticancer drug design, thus organically complementing the classic reviews in periodicals.

Transplantation of 3D bio-printed cardiac mesh improves cardiac function and vessel formation via ANGPT1/Tie2 pathway in rats with acute myocardial infarction

A novel tissue engineering strategy using 3D bio-print technology has become a promising therapeutic method for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in an animal model. However, the application of 3D bio-printed tissue remains limited due to poor graft survival. Therefore, it is a scientific priority to enhance graft survival by precisely adjusting the 3D environment of encapsulated cells. In this study, novel transplantable 3D cardiac mesh (cMesh) tissue with a porous mesh structure was presented using human cardiomyocytes, human cardiac fibroblasts, and gelatin-methacryloyl–collagen hydrogel. Cardiomyocytes and cardiac fibroblasts were well spreaded. The cardiomyocytes were connected with a gap junction channel in bio-printed cMesh and a 3D cardiac patch with an aggregated structure. Porous cMesh demonstrated structural advantages by increased phosphorylation of mTOR, AKT, and ERK signals associated with cell survival. Transplanted cMesh in rats with AMI improved long-term graft survival, vessel formation, and stabilization, reduced fibrosis, increased left ventricle thickness, and enhanced cardiac function. Our results suggest that porous cMesh provides structural advantages and a positive therapeutic effect in an AMI animal model.