Challenges of Organoid Research

Organoids are 3D cell culture systems derived from human pluripotent stem cells that contain tissue resident cell types and reflect features of early tissue organization. Neural organoids are a particularly innovative scientific advance given the lack of accessibility of developing human brain tissue and intractability of neurological diseases. Neural organoids have become an invaluable approach to model features of human brain development that are not well reflected in animal models. Organoids also hold promise for the study of atypical cellular, molecular, and genetic features that underscore neurological diseases. Additionally, organoids may provide a platform for testing therapeutics in human cells and are a potential source for cell replacement approaches to brain injury or disease. Despite the promising features of organoids, their broad utility is hampered by a variety of limitations, including lack of high-fidelity cell types, limited maturation, atypical physiology, and lack of arealization, features that may limit their reliability for certain applications. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Volume 45 is July 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

A Response to Ernest Hook

Does the stifling of dissent impede scientific advance? Berkeley public health professor emeritus Ernest Hook and former dean of Virginia Polytechnic Institute Henry Bauer disagree.

Experimental realization of a 3D random hopping model

Scientific advance is often driven by identifying conceptually simple models underlying complex phenomena. This process commonly ignores imperfections which, however, might give rise to non-trivial collective behavior. For example, already a small amount of disorder can dramatically change the transport properties of a system compared to the underlying simple model. While systems with disordered potentials were already studied in detail, experimental investigations on systems with disordered hopping are still in its infancy. To this end, we experimentally study a dipole–dipole-interacting three-dimensional Rydberg system and map it onto a simple XY model with random couplings by spectroscopic evidence. We discuss the localization–delocalization crossover emerging in the model and present experimental signatures of it. Our results demonstrate that Rydberg systems are a useful platform to study random hopping models with the ability to access the microscopic degrees of freedom. This will allow to study transport processes and localization phenomena in random hopping models with a high level of control.

In memory of the honorary founding editors behind the FCAA success story

In this editorial paper, we start by surveying of the main milestones in the organization, foundation, and development of the journal Fractional Calculus and Applied Analysis (FCAA). The main potential of FCAA is in its readers, authors, and editors who contribute to the scientific advance and promote the progress of the journal. Among the editors, a special role of the honorary editors who contributed significantly to the foundation of the journal should be highlighted. These are prominent scientists, lecturers, and disseminators of FC and related topics. Unfortunately, some of them have already passed away, but they remain our living and lasting memory. In the main part of this survey, we remind the readers some biographical data and achievements related to FCAA topics of these Honorary Founding Editors: Professors Eric Love, Ian Sneddon, Bogoljub Stanković, Rudolf Gorenflo, Danuta Przeworska-Rolewicz, Gary Roach, Anatoly Kilbas, and Wen Chen. In eight sections, each devoted to one of the honorary editors, their ways in science and in FC, as well as their main results and publications are shortly described. Special attention is given to their role in foundation of FCAA and to their contributions to its success story.

Perinatal Inflammation: Could Partial Blocking of Cell Adhesion Molecule Function Be a Solution?

In spite of the great advances made in recent years in prenatal and perinatal medicine, inflammation can still frequently result in injury to vital organs and often constitutes a major cause of morbidity. It is today well established that in neonates—though vulnerability to infection among neonates is triggered by functional impairments in leukocyte adhesion—the decreased expression of cell adhesion molecules also decreases the inflammatory response. It is also clear that the cell adhesion molecules, namely, the integrins, selectins, and the immunoglobulin (Ig) gene super family, all play a crucial role in the inflammatory cascade. Thus, by consolidating our knowledge concerning the actions of these vital cell adhesion molecules during the prenatal period as well as regarding the genetic deficiencies of these molecules, notably leukocyte adhesion deficiency (LAD) I, II, and III, which can provoke severe clinical symptoms throughout the first year of life, it is anticipated that intervention involving blocking the function of cell adhesion molecules in neonatal leukocytes has the potential to constitute an effective therapeutic approach for inflammation. A promising perspective is the potential use of antibody therapy in preterm and term infants with perinatal inflammation and infection focusing on cases in which LAD is involved, while a further important scientific advance related to this issue could be the combination of small peptides aimed at the inhibition of cellular adhesion.

The Misuse of Pedigree Analysis in the Eugenics Movement

Pedigree analysis has long been an essential tool in human genetics as well as a staple of genetics education. Students of genetics might be surprised to learn that human pedigrees were first popularized in the United States by proponents of eugenics, the pseudoscientific social movement aimed at improving the genetic quality of the human race. Notably, the influential eugenicist Charles B. Davenport employed pedigree charts to support his belief that not only were such medical conditions as Huntington disease and albinism inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion, but so too were such characteristics as alcoholism, criminality, and “feeblemindedness.” We now see the flaws in Davenport’s pedigree analysis, but at the time, it was the latest scientific advance. The misuse of pedigree analysis during the eugenics era may serve as a cautionary tale for those who are now harnessing the latest genetic technologies to solve complex problems.

STATE INSTITUTION «NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTER FOR RADIATION MEDICINE OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES OF UKRAINE» – RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AND SCIENTIFIC ADVANCE IN 2020

Research activities and scientific advance achieved in 2020 at the State Institution «National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine» (NRCRM) concerning medical problems of the Chornobyl disaster, radiation medicine, radiobiology, radiation hygiene and epidemiology in collaboration with the WHO network of medical preparedness and assistance in radiation accidents are outlined in the annual report. The report presents the results of fundamental and applied research works of the study of radiation effects and health effects of the Chornobyl accident. The report also shows the results of scientific-organizational and health care work, staff training. The Scientific Council meeting of NAMS approved the NRCRM Annual Report. Key words: NRCRM, Chornobyl, radiation effects, epidemiology, radiation hygiene, treatment of victims, international cooperation, personnel.

The Emerging Research Field of Sustainability Transitions: An Evolutionist Perspective on Scientific Advance

The main goal of this article is to understand the process of formation of the sustainability transitions (ST) research field. The working hypothesis of this article states that the field arises through a process of speciation: gradual differentiation, from an older and already established research field (innovation studies). This exercise is useful both as a first approximation into the history of ST thought and as a means to assess the explanatory potential of different approaches towards scientific advance (epistemological discussion). Our proxy to investigate the evolution of the field is the ST language or scientific lexicus (concepts, terms and vocabulary) and how it came to be. The methodology to assess the evolution of this object is threefold: documental analysis (epistemic communities’ newsletters); critical review of the literature (retrofitted concepts and proto-ideas) and bibliometric analysis (Scopus/Vantage Point). The documental analysis provides evidence that ST is, indeed, an emergent scientific field. A critical review of the literature points to connections and redetermination of pre-existent concepts and terms from the innovation studies area; bibliometric evidence points to a movement of distancing: after building its own lexicon coherent to its problem framing, ST research area is gradually leaving innovation studies terms and concepts behind. General results point to a process of speciation, reinforcing the explanatory potential of epistemological evolutionism.

Immunopathogenesis of Coronavirus-Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS): Potential Infection-Associated Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis

SUMMARY The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, introduced the third highly pathogenic coronavirus into humans in the 21st century. Scientific advance after the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) epidemic and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) emergence enabled clinicians to understand the epidemiology and pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2. In this review, we summarize and discuss the epidemiology, clinical features, and virology of and host immune responses to SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 and the pathogenesis of coronavirus-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We especially highlight that highly pathogenic coronaviruses might cause infection-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, which is involved in the immunopathogenesis of human coronavirus-induced ARDS, and also discuss the potential implication of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis therapeutics for combating severe coronavirus infection.

Marketing the Prosthesis: Supercrip and Superhuman Narratives in Contemporary Cultural Representations

This paper examines prosthetic technology in the context of posthumanism and disability studies. The following research discusses the posthuman subject in contemporary times, focusing on prosthetic applications to deliberate how the disabled body is empowered through prosthetic enhancement and cultural representations. The disability market both intersects and transcends race, religion, and gender; the promise of technology bettering the human condition is its ultimate product. Bionic technology, in particular, is a burgeoning field; our engineering skills already show promise of a future where physical impediment will be almost obsolete. I aim to cross-examine empowering marketing images and phrases embedded in cinema and media that emphasize how disability becomes super-ability with prosthetic enhancement. Though the benefits of biotechnology are most empowering to the disabled population, further scrutiny raises a number of paradoxical questions exposed by the market’s advance. With all these tools at our disposal, why is it that the disabled have yet to reap the rewards? How are disabled bodies, biotechnology, and posthuman possibilities commodified and commercialized? Most importantly, what impact will this have on our society? This paper exemplifies empowering and inclusive messages emphasized in disabled representation, as well as raising bioethical concerns that fuel the ongoing debate of the technological haves and have-nots. Furthermore, this paper challenges the ideals of normative bodies while depicting the disabled as an open, embodied site where technology, corporeality, and sociology interact. To conclude, I believe that an interdisciplinary approach that balances the debate between scientific advance, capital gain, and social equality is essential to embracing diverse forms of embodiment.