Top Research Priorities Research Articles

Delphi consensus on research priorities in tobacco use and substance abuse in Saudi Arabia

This is the first study to develop research priorities in tobacco use and substance abuse in Saudi Arabia. Health personnel and community volunteers participated in a national internet survey using the Delphi method. In Round 1, 75 experts identified 33 research priorities. In Round 2, 47 experts divided those research priorities into five primary research categories. The panelists then scored both the categories and priorities. Preventive services received the highest priority in research categories. Smoking relapse and its determinants were ranked the top research priorities. Future research should focus on cigarette smoking relapse and factors associated with long-term smoking cessation.

Capturing Marketing Information to Fuel Growth

Marketing is the functional area primarily responsible for driving the organic growth of a firm. In the age of digital marketing and big data, marketers are inundated with increasingly rich data from an ever-expanding array of sources. Such data may help marketers generate insights about customers and competitors. One fundamental question remains: How can marketers wrestle massive flows of existing and nascent data resources into coherent, effective growth strategies? Against such a backdrop, the Marketing Science Institute has made “capturing information to fuel growth” a top research priority. The authors begin by discussing the streetlight effect—an overreliance on readily available data due to ease of measurement and application—as contributing to the disconnect between marketing data growth and firm growth. They then use the customer equity framework to structure the discussion of six areas where they see substantial undertapped opportunities: incorporating social network and biometric data in customer acquisition, trend and competitive interaction data in customer development, and unstructured and causal data in customer retention. The authors highlight challenges that obstruct firms from realizing such data-driven growth opportunities and how future research may help overcome those challenges.

Small-molecule inhibitors of breast cancer-related targets: Potential therapeutic agents for breast cancer.

Despite dramatic advances in cancer research and therapy, breast cancer remains a tricky health problem and represents a top biomedical research priority. Nowadays, breast cancer is still the leading cause of malignancy-related deaths in women, and incidence and mortality rates of it are expected to increase significantly the next years. Currently more and more researchers are interested in the study of breast cancer by its arising in young women. The common treatment options of breast cancer are chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, surgery, and radiotherapy. Most of them require chemical agents, such as PARP inhibitors, CDK4/6 inhibitors, and HER2 inhibitors. Recent studies suggest that some targets or pathways, including BRD4, PLK1, PD-L1, HDAC, and PI3K/AKT/mTOR, are tightly related to the occurrence and development of breast cancer. This article reviews the interplay between these targets and breast cancer and summarizes the progress of current research on small molecule inhibitors of these anti-breast cancer targets. The review aims to provide structural and theoretical basis for designing novel anti-breast cancer agents.

Development of risk mitigation guidance for sensor placement inside mechanically ventilated enclosures – Phase 1

Guidance on Sensor Placement was identified as the top research priority for hydrogen sensors at the 2018 HySafe Research Priority Workshop on hydrogen safety in the category Mitigation, Sensors, Hazard Prevention, and Risk Reduction. This paper discusses the initial steps (Phase 1) to develop such guidance for mechanically ventilated enclosures. This work was initiated as an international collaborative effort to respond to emerging market needs related to the design and deployment equipment for hydrogen infrastructure that is often installed in individual equipment cabinets or ventilated enclosures. The ultimate objective of this effort is to develop guidance for an optimal sensor placement such that, when integrated into a facility design and operation, will allow earlier detection at lower levels of incipient leaks, leading to significant hazard reduction. Reliable and consistent early warning of hydrogen leaks will allow for the risk mitigation by reducing or even eliminating the probability of escalation of small leaks into large and uncontrolled events. To address this issue, a study of a real-world mechanically ventilated enclosure containing GH2 equipment was conducted, where CFD modeling of the hydrogen dispersion (performed by AVT and UQTR, and independently by the JRC) was validated by the NREL Sensor laboratory using a Hydrogen Wide Area Monitor (HyWAM) consisting of a 10-point gas and temperature measurement analyzer. In the release test, helium was used as a hydrogen surrogate. Expansion of indoor releases to other larger facilities (including parking structures, vehicle maintenance facilities and potentially tunnels) and incorporation into QRA tools, such as HyRAM is planned for Phase 2. It is anticipated that results of this work will be used to inform national and international standards such as NFPA 2 Hydrogen Technologies Code, Canadian Hydrogen Installation Code (CHIC) and relevant ISO/TC 197 and CEN documents.

Research Questions that Matter to Us: priorities of young people with chronic illnesses and their caregivers.

The rising number of children carrying chronic disease with them into adulthood presents the research community with an obligation to address their unique needs. Authentic involvement of individuals and communities directly affected by the condition being studied ensures that research answers the questions of those most affected. Our aim was to identify the highest priority research questions of young people living with chronic illness and their caregivers. We conducted a qualitative study using the Research Prioritization by Affected Communities (RPAC) method. Participants were recruited from two hospitals and two community organizations to participate in focus groups. Twenty three participants developed and prioritized 300 potentially researchable questions. Thematic analysis of the priority research topics revealed three health dimensions of chronic illness (physical health, social-emotional health and navigating the health care system) and two cross-cutting dimensions (living with a chronic illness and future with a chronic illness). Young people experiencing different chronic conditions were able to achieve consensus on the same set of condition-agnostic research priorities, age and role influenced research priorities. We report these research priorities to inform and influence local and national research agendas and funding priorities. Patients and caregivers affected by different chronic illnesses were able to achieve consensus on condition-agnostic research priorities. Age and role influenced research priorities. Questions posed by young people experiencing different chronic conditions fell under three themes (physical, social-emotional and health care system) and two cross-cutting dimensions (living with a chronic illness and future with a chronic illness). Use of the Research Prioritization byAffected Communities (RPAC) method, which begins with the patient's lived experiences, provided nuanced insights into the complexity of living with a chronic illness and surfaced under-studied research topics to guide future research investment.

Copy Number of an Integron-Encoded Antibiotic Resistance Locus Regulates a Virulence and Opacity Switch in Acinetobacter baumannii AB5075

We describe a novel genetic mechanism in which tandem amplification of a plasmid-borne integron regulates virulence, opacity variation, and global gene expression by altering levels of a putative small RNA (sRNA) in Acinetobacter baumannii AB5075. Copy number of this amplified locus correlated with the rate of switching between virulent opaque (VIR-O) and avirulent translucent (AV-T) cells. We found that prototypical VIR-O colonies, which exhibit high levels of switching and visible sectoring with AV-T cells by 24 h of growth, harbor two copies of this locus. However, a subset of opaque colonies that did not form AV-T sectors within 24 h were found to harbor only one copy. The colonies with decreased sectoring to AV-T were designated low-switching opaque (LSO) variants and were found to exhibit a 3-log decrease in switching relative to that of the VIR-O. Overexpression studies revealed that the element regulating switching was localized to the 5' end of the aadB gene within the amplified locus. Northern blotting indicated that an sRNA of approximately 300 nucleotides (nt) is encoded in this region and is likely responsible for regulating switching to AV-T. Copy number of the ∼300-nt sRNA was also found to affect virulence, as the LSO variant exhibited decreased virulence during murine lung infections. Global transcriptional profiling revealed that >100 genes were differentially expressed between VIR-O and LSO variants, suggesting that the ∼300-nt sRNA may act as a global regulator. Several virulence genes exhibited decreased expression in LSO cells, potentially explaining their decreased virulence.IMPORTANCE Acinetobacter baumannii remains a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. Widespread multidrug resistance in this species has prompted the WHO to name carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii as its top priority for research and development of new antibiotics. Many strains of A. baumannii undergo a high-frequency virulence switch, which is an attractive target for new therapeutics targeting this pathogen. This study reports a novel mechanism controlling the frequency of switching in strain AB5075. The rate of switching from the virulent opaque (VIR-O) to the avirulent translucent (AV-T) variant is positively influenced by the copy number of an antibiotic resistance locus encoded on a plasmid-borne composite integron. Our data suggest that this locus encodes a small RNA that regulates opacity switching. Low-switching opaque variants, which harbor a single copy of this locus, also exhibit decreased virulence. This study increases our understanding of this critical phenotypic switch, while also identifying potential targets for virulence-based A. baumannii treatments.

Research priorities in cardiovascular imaging

AimA modified Delphi approach was used to develop consensus opinion among British Society for Cardiac Imaging/British Society of Cardiac CT (BSCI/BSCCT) members in order to prioritise research questions in cardiovascular...

Antimicrobial Peptides: An Approach to Combat Resilient Infections.

It was apparent by the end of 1980s that the success against the threats of bacterial pathogens on public health was an illusion, with the rapid development of resistant strains more than the discovery of new drugs. As a consequence, the remedial services were in the backfoot position of being on the losing side of this never-ending evolutionary war. The quest for new antibiotics to overcome resistance problems has long been a top research priority for the researchers and the pharmaceutical industry. However, the resistance problems remain unresolved due to the abrupt misuse of antibiotics by common people, which has immensely worsened the scenario by disseminating antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains around the world. Thus, immediate action is needed to measure emerging and re-emerging microbial diseases having new resistance mechanisms and to manage their rapid spread among the common public by means of novel alternative metabolites. Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) are short, cationic peptides evolved in a wide range of living organisms and serve as the essential part of the host innate immunity. For humans, these effector molecules either can directly kill the foreign microbes or modulate the host immune systems so that the human body could develop some resistance against the microbial infections. In this review, we discuss their history, structural classifications, modes of action, and explain their biological roles as anti-infective agents. We also scrutinize their clinical potentiality, current limitations in various developmental stages and strategies to overcome for their successful clinical applications.

Evaluation of the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Group\u2019s systematic review priority-setting project

ABSTRACTBackgroundHealth researchers and funders are increasingly consulting with stakeholders to set their research agendas but these activities are rarely evaluated. The Cochrane Consumers and Communication Group (CCCG) conducted a priority-setting project for systematic reviews in partnership with stakeholders (consumers/patients, health professionals, policy-makers and others). In this paper, we aim to describe our evaluation of the project’s processes and outcomes.MethodsWe used a 10-element conceptual framework designed to evaluate processes (e.g. stakeholder engagement, use of explicit process) and outcomes (e.g. improved decision-making quality, stakeholder acceptance and understanding) of health priority-setting. Data sources included empirical data (feedback surveys, project documents and CCCG editorial policies) and CCCG staff reflections. Data were analysed using content analysis.ResultsThe project met three and partially met two of the process elements, for example, by engaging key stakeholders throughout the project and using pre-determined and transparent methods that offered multiple and meaningful ways to contribute. The project met three and partially met two of the outcome elements. Stakeholders were satisfied with and accepted the process and an additional six Cochrane Review titles aligned with stakeholder priorities are now being conducted in partnership with stakeholders. The project has also directly influenced the editorial work of CCCG, for example, by shifting its organisational focus towards coproduction, and indirectly influenced the work of Cochrane’s prioritisation and coproduction activities. Some areas were identified as having room for improvement, for example, there was low participation by people from diverse backgrounds, stakeholders could contribute to most but not all project stages, and there was no formal way for stakeholders to appeal decisions at project end. In the 3 years since its completion, the Cochrane Reviews are nearing completion but none of the reviews have been published.ConclusionWe demonstrated that our priority-setting methods were broadly in line with best practice and the project resulted in many positive outcomes beyond just identifying the top priorities for research. Our evaluation framework and recommendations for future evaluations may be of use to priority-setting researchers planning similar activities.

A consensus building exercise to determine research priorities for silver trauma

BackgroundEmergency care research into ‘Silver Trauma’, which is simply defined as major trauma consequent upon relatively minor injury mechanisms, is facing many challenges including that at present, there is no clear prioritisation of the issues. This study aimed to determine the top research priorities to guide future research.MethodsThis consensus-based prioritization exercise used a three-stage modified Delphi technique. The study consisted of an idea generating (divergent) first round, a ranking evaluation in the second round, and a (convergent) consensus meeting in the third round.ResultsA total of 20 research questions advanced to the final round of this study. After discussing the importance and clinical significance of each research question, five research questions were prioritised by the experts; the top three research priorities were:What are older people’s preferred goals of trauma care?Beyond the Emergency Department (ED), what is the appropriate combined geriatric and trauma care?Do older adults benefit from access to trauma centres? If so, do older trauma patients have equitable access to trauma centre compared to younger adults?ConclusionThe results of this study will assist clinicians, researchers, and organisations that are interested in silver trauma in guiding their future efforts and funding toward addressing the identified research priorities.

Index for the Consistent Measurement of Spatial Heterogeneity for Large-Scale Land Cover Datasets

Recognizing land cover heterogeneity is essential for the assessment of spatial patterns to guide conservation planning. One of the top research priorities is the quantification of land cover heterogeneity using effective landscape metrics. However, due to the diversity of land cover types and their varied distribution, a consistent, larger-scale, and standardized framework for heterogeneity information extraction from this complex perspective is still lacking. Consequently, we developed a new Land Cover Complexity Index (LCCI), which is based on information-theory. The LCCI contains two foundational aspects of heterogeneity, composition and configuration, thereby capturing more comprehensive information on land cover patterns than any single metric approach. In this study, we compare the performance of the LCCI with that of other landscape metrics at two different scales, and the results show that our newly developed indicator more accurately characterizes and distinguishes different land cover patterns. LCCI provides an alternative way to measure the spatial variation of land cover distribution. Classification maps of land cover heterogeneity generated using the LCCI provide valuable insights and implications for regional conservation planning. Thus, the LCCI is shown to be a consistent indicator for the quantification of land cover heterogeneity that functions in an adaptive way by simultaneously considering both composition and configuration.

Priority Research themes in the fight Against the COVID-19 with particular reference to Cameroon

The ongoing SARS CoV-2 pandemic also known as COVID-19 is a highly infectious and deadly disease that has disrupted socio- economic activities and killed over 500 000 people worldwide during the past six months since it first erupted in Wuhan China in December 2019.While intensive efforts are under way in the developed countries to find a vaccine and cure for the disease, Cameroon and other African countries should not fold their hands and wait , but join the search for new remedies including from cures from traditional herbs while rigorously applying barrier and social distancing measures that have proven effective in in curbing the spread of the disease. Herein we enumerate a short list of research priorities that are feasible in our milieu and that could improve on diagnostics, treatment and prevention of the disease in the short and medium terms.
 Key Words: SARS CoV-2, COVID-19, research, diagnostics, medicinal plants, traditional medicine, pandemic, Cameroon.

A Single Immunization with Nucleoside-Modified mRNA Vaccines Elicits Strong Cellular and Humoral Immune Responses against SARS-CoV-2 in Mice

SARS-CoV-2 infection has emerged as a serious global pandemic. Because of the high transmissibility of the virus and the high rate of morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19, developing effective and safe vaccines is a top research priority. Here, we provide a detailed evaluation of the immunogenicity of lipid nanoparticle-encapsulated, nucleoside-modified mRNA (mRNA-LNP) vaccines encoding the full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike protein or the spike receptor binding domain in mice. We demonstrate that a single dose of these vaccines induces strong type 1 CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, as well as long-lived plasma and memory B cell responses. Additionally, we detect robust and sustained neutralizing antibody responses and the antibodies elicited by nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccines do not show antibody-dependent enhancement of infection in vitro. Our findings suggest that the nucleoside-modified mRNA-LNP vaccine platform can induce robust immune responses and is a promising candidate to combat COVID-19.

Recent advances in the treatment of uremic pruritus.

This article provides a focused update on uremic pruritus, highlighting the latest evidence concerning the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment options for this common and bothersome condition. Half of dialysis patients and a quarter of those with nondialysis chronic kidney disease experience bothersome itch that reduces quality of life and is increasingly recognized to be associated with poor outcomes including mortality. The KALM-1 trial, which reported effective symptomatic relief with difelikefalin, has bolstered support for the role of an imbalance of μ and κ-opioid receptor activity in pruritogenesis. The role of a chronic inflammatory state, increased cytokine levels and altered immune signaling in pruritogenic nerve activation continues to be elucidated with basic science, which paves the wave for future novel therapeutics. In the meantime, gabapentin appears to be the most evidence-based widely available uremic pruritus treatment, as long as care is taken with dosing and monitoring of side-effects. Uremic pruritus remains a top research priority. Patients with uremic pruritus may be able to look forward to a new decade of understanding, knowledge, and novel treatment options for this burdensome condition. As difelikefalin and other potential agents come to market, cost-effectiveness assessments of these interventions will help determine if the widespread use of them is feasible amongst renal programs.

What happens after James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships? A qualitative study of contexts, processes and impacts

BackgroundThe James Lind Alliance (JLA) supports priority setting partnerships (PSPs) in which patients, carers and health professionals collaborate to identify a Top 10 list of research priorities. Few studies have examined how partnerships plan for the post-prioritisation phase, or how context and post-PSP processes influence the fortunes of priorities. This evaluation aimed to explore these questions.MethodsWe selected a diverse sample of 20 interviewees who had knowledge of 25 PSPs. Thirteen interviewees had led a PSP, either from a university, patient organisation or charity. Three were patients who had taken part in a PSP workshop. Four others, three researchers and one funder, had worked with JLA PSP priorities to develop research proposals. We analysed the data thematically, exploring how success was understood and achieved.ResultsThe JLA PSPs had different histories, funding sources, goals and stakeholders. Whilst their focus was on generating priority research topics, PSPs’ wider impacts included enhanced status and greater confidence for individuals, as well as relationship-building and network strengthening for the organisations involved. To follow through on a Top 10, additional work was needed to refine broad priority topics into research questions and match them with appropriate funding sources. Commitment to post-PSP action from partners appeared to increase the chance that priority topics would be followed through to funded studies. Academic publications could alert researchers to a PSP’s outputs, but not all PSPs had the capacity to produce them. A Top 10 list potentially influences funding decisions through direct funding, themed calls or as a prompt in open calls. Influence on funders appears to depend on alignment between a priority and the funder’s remit, culture and values.ConclusionThe history and context of a JLA PSP have a major influence on its impact. Our findings suggest that there is no universal formula for success, but that greater resource and attention should be given to what happens after prioritisation. Further research is needed on what works best in what circumstances. Overall, we conclude that a wider cultural change in the research world is needed for JLA PSPs to achieve their goal of shaping the research agenda.

Spondyloarthritis evolution: what is in your history?

This review encompasses a detailed history of spondyloarthritis (SpA) evolution as early as the 17th century, continues on to the current concept of SpA, and ends with current gaps in our understandings of SpA. Until the early 1960s, ankylosing spondylitis and other SpA family members were considered to be variants of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The formal medical community separated them from RA at that time, and shortly thereafter they were recognized to be inter-connected based on shared clinical, laboratory, and imaging features. The last two decades have witnessed the formal distinction between axial and peripheral SpA and the connections that exist between nonradiographic and radiographic axial SpA. Recent studies have revealed different microbial compositions among patients with SpA and healthy controls and also between HLA-B27 positive and negative healthy individuals. Further investigation of the roles of intestinal microbiome and physical force transduction toward SpA pathogenesis, strategies to improve delay in SpA diagnosis, biomarkers to better predict radiographic progression, and modification of current classification criteria to better address the axial and peripheral groups are gaps in our understandings that pose top priorities for SpA research.

Single atom alloy: An emerging atomic site material for catalytic applications

Abstract The development of low-cost, high-performance catalysts at the atomic level has become a challenging issue for large-scale applications of renewable clean energy technologies. Atomic sites catalysts, such as single atoms catalysts (SAC), single clusters catalysts (SCC), single-atom alloys (SAA), have proved their performance in various catalytic reactions due to their extremely high atom utilization efficiency, unique structure, and exceptional catalytic selectivity. A deep understanding and design of the active center of the catalyst at the atomic level has become a top priority for current research. Compared with SAC and SCC, SAA has its own uniqueness. In this review, we focused on the recent progress on the preparation methods of SAA and discussed the key factors controlling the structure of SAA. In addition, several important catalytic reactions performed over well-defined SAA are analyzed. Finally, the challenges and the perspectives of this cutting-edge field are suggested. We believe that this critical review provides a guidance for the rational design of SAA for catalytic applications.

Economic Recovery: Enabling Comparative Research on COVID-19 CONVERGE COVID-19 Working Groups for Public Health and Social Science Research: Research Agenda-Setting Paper

This Working Group focuses on the economic recovery of businesses and economies from the COVID-19 pandemic. With communities around the world experiencing severe economic impacts, we anticipate a proliferation of efforts to track, assess, explain, and improve economic recovery. We have discussed key concepts, resources, and priority research topics to enable comparable data collection and mutual learning in this pandemic, as summarized below.

Performance Evaluation of Machine Learning Methods for Forest Fire Modeling and Prediction

Predicting and mapping fire susceptibility is a top research priority in fire-prone forests worldwide. This study evaluates the abilities of the Bayes Network (BN), Naïve Bayes (NB), Decision Tree (DT), and Multivariate Logistic Regression (MLP) machine learning methods for the prediction and mapping fire susceptibility across the Pu Mat National Park, Nghe An Province, Vietnam. The modeling methodology was formulated based on processing the information from the 57 historical fires and a set of nine spatially explicit explanatory variables, namely elevation, slope degree, aspect, average annual temperate, drought index, river density, land cover, and distance from roads and residential areas. Using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and seven other performance metrics, the models were validated in terms of their abilities to elucidate the general fire behaviors in the Pu Mat National Park and to predict future fires. Despite a few differences between the AUC values, the BN model with an AUC value of 0.96 was dominant over the other models in predicting future fires. The second best was the DT model (AUC = 0.94), followed by the NB (AUC = 0.939), and MLR (AUC = 0.937) models. Our robust analysis demonstrated that these models are sufficiently robust in response to the training and validation datasets change. Further, the results revealed that moderate to high levels of fire susceptibilities are associated with ~19% of the Pu Mat National Park where human activities are numerous. This study and the resultant susceptibility maps provide a basis for developing more efficient fire-fighting strategies and reorganizing policies in favor of sustainable management of forest resources.

Western bumble bee: declines in the continental United States and range‐wide information gaps

AbstractIn recent decades, many bumble bee species have declined due to changes in habitat, climate, and pressures from pathogens, pesticides, and introduced species. The western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis), once common throughout western North America, is a species of concern and will be considered for listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We attempt to improve alignment of data collection and research with USFWS needs to consider redundancy, resiliency, and representation in the upcoming species status assessment. We reviewed existing data and literature on B. occidentalis, highlighting information gaps and priority topics for research. Priorities include increased knowledge of trends, basic information on several life‐history stages, and improved understanding of the relative and interacting effects of stressors on population trends, especially the effects of pathogens, pesticides, climate change, and habitat loss. An understanding of how and where geographic range extent has changed for the two subspecies of B. occidentalis is also needed. We outline data that could be easily collected in other research projects that would increase their utility for understanding range‐wide trends of bumble bees. We modeled the overall trend in occupancy from 1998 to 2018 of Bombus occidentalis within the continental United States using existing data. The probability of local occupancy declined by 93% over 21 yr from 0.81 (95% CRI = 0.43, 0.98) in 1998 to 0.06 (95% CRI = 0.02, 0.16) in 2018. The decline in occupancy varied spatially by landcover and other environmental factors. Detection rates vary in both space and time, but peak detection across the continental United States occurs in mid‐July. We found considerable spatial gaps in recent sampling, with limited sampling in many regions, including most of Alaska, northwestern Canada, and the southwestern United States. We therefore propose a sampling design to address these gaps to best inform the ESA species status assessment through improved assessment of how the spatial distribution of stressors influences occupancy changes. Finally, we request involvement via data sharing, participation in occupancy sampling with repeated visits to distributed survey sites, and complementary research to address priorities outlined in this paper.