Research Advances in Multi-Omics on the Traditional Chinese Herb Dendrobium officinale

Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo is an important epiphytic plant, belonging to the Orchidaceae family. There are various bioactive components in D. officinale plants, mainly including polysaccharides, alkaloids, and phenolic compounds. These compounds have been demonstrated to possess multiple functions, such as anti-oxidation, immune regulation, and anti-cancer. Due to serious shortages of wild resources, deterioration of cultivated germplasm and the unstable quality of D. officinale, the study has been focused on the biosynthetic pathway and regulation mechanisms of bioactive compounds. In recent years, with rapid developments in detection technologies and analysis tools, omics research including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics have all been widely applied in various medicinal plants, including D. officinale. Many important advances have been achieved in D. officinale research, such as chromosome-level reference genome assembly and the identification of key genes involved in the biosynthesis of active components. In this review, we summarize the latest research advances in D. officinale based on multiple omics studies. At the same time, we discuss limitations of the current research. Finally, we put forward prospective topics in need of further study on D. officinale.

A case of early thrombosis following a percutaneous tricuspid valve in valve implantation managed by thrombolysis

Bioprosthetic valve thrombosis is a growing recognized entity, especially with the increasing use of the valve in vale procedures and the advent of new detection technologies (e.g., 4D CT and 4D echocardiography). However, the optimal management strategy in the acute context is not established. This paper presents a case of early thrombosis following the percutaneous tricuspid valve in vale procedure that was successfully managed with thrombolysis.

Plasmonic Metasurfaces for Medical Diagnosis Applications: A Review

Plasmonic metasurfaces have been widely used in biosensing to improve the interaction between light and biomolecules through the effects of near-field confinement. When paired with biofunctionalization, plasmonic metasurface sensing is considered as a viable strategy for improving biomarker detection technologies. In this review, we enumerate the fundamental mechanism of plasmonic metasurfaces sensing and present their detection in human tumors and COVID-19. The advantages of rapid sampling, streamlined processes, high sensitivity, and easy accessibility are highlighted compared with traditional detection techniques. This review is looking forward to assisting scientists in advancing research and developing a new generation of multifunctional biosensors.

Deepfakes, misinformation and disinformation and authenticity infrastructure responses: Impacts on frontline witnessing, distant witnessing, and civic journalism

Frontline witnessing and civic journalism are impacted by the rhetoric and the reality of misinformation and disinformation. This essay highlights key insights from activities of the human rights and civic journalism network WITNESS, as they seek to prepare for new forms of media manipulation, such as deepfakes, and to ensure that an emergent “authenticity infrastructure” is in place to respond to global needs for reliable information without creating additional harms. Based on global consultations on perceived threats and prioritized solutions, their efforts are primarily targeted towards synthetic media and deepfakes, which not only facilitate audiovisual falsification (including non-consensual sexual images) but also, by being embedded in societal dynamics of surveillance and civil society suppression, they challenge real footage and so undermine the credibility of civic media and frontline witnessing (also known as “liar’s dividend”). They do this within a global context where journalists and some distant witness investigators self-identify as lacking relevant skills and capacity, and face inequity in access to detection technologies. Within this context, “authenticity infrastructure” tracks media provenance, integrity, and manipulation from camera to edit to distribution, and so comes to provide “verification subsidies” that enable distant witnesses to properly interpret eye-witness footage. This “authenticity infrastructure” and related tools are rapidly moving from niche to mainstream in the form of initiatives the Content Authenticity Initiative and Coalition for Content Authenticity and Provenance, raising key questions about who participates in the production and dissemination of audiovisual information, under what circumstances and to which effect for whom. Provenance risks being weaponized unless key concerns are integrated into infrastructure proposals and implementation. Data may be used against vulnerable witnesses, or the absence of a trail, for legitimate privacy and technological access reasons, used to undermine credibility. Regulatory and extra-legal co-option are also a fear as securitized “fake news” laws proliferate. The investigation of both phenomena, deepfakes and emergent authenticity infrastructure(s), this paper argues, is important as it highlights the risks related both to the “information disorder” of deepfakes as they challenge the credibility and safety of frontline witnesses and to responses to such “disorder,” as they risk worsening inequities in access to tools for mitigation or increasing exposure to harms from technology infrastructure.

Technological innovation in policing and crime prevention: Practitioner perspectives from London

Digital technology now plays a critical role in policing and security management, with policing apps, drones and body-worn cameras potentially being game-changers. Adoption of such technologies is, however, not straightforward and depends upon the buy-in of senior management teams and users. This study examines what obstacles practitioners face in the procurement, deployment and use of crime prevention and detection technologies. The issue is explored through a number of expert interviews conducted with practitioners in London between August 2019 and March 2020. This work expands previous, more theoretical, literature on the topic by adding a practical perspective and advances the understanding of issues faced in innovation processes and their management. We identified a variety of issues and obstacles to technological innovation for policing. These include the deployment of new systems at the cost of old ones, lack of financial and political support, issues in public–private partnerships, and public acceptability. Although individual practitioners may have the expertise and willingness to unleash the full potential of surveillance and crime-reduction technologies, they are usually restrained by institutional rules or, in some cases, inefficiencies. In terms of the latter, this study especially highlights the negative impact of a lack of technical interoperability of different systems, missing inter- and intra-agency communication, and unclear guidelines and procedures.

Smartphone-Based Device for Colorimetric Detection of MicroRNA Biomarkers Using Nanoparticle-Based Assay

The detection of microRNAs (miRNAs) is emerging as a clinically important tool for the non-invasive detection of a wide variety of diseases ranging from cancers and cardiovascular illnesses to infectious diseases. Over the years, miRNA detection schemes have become accessible to clinicians, but they still require sophisticated and bulky laboratory equipment and trained personnel to operate. The exceptional computing ability and ease of use of modern smartphones coupled with fieldable optical detection technologies can provide a useful and portable alternative to these laboratory systems. Herein, we present the development of a smartphone-based device called Krometriks, which is capable of simple and rapid colorimetric detection of microRNA (miRNAs) using a nanoparticle-based assay. The device consists of a smartphone, a 3D printed accessory, and a custom-built dedicated mobile app. We illustrate the utility of Krometriks for the detection of an important miRNA disease biomarker, miR-21, using a nanoplasmonics-based assay developed by our group. We show that Krometriks can detect miRNA down to nanomolar concentrations with detection results comparable to a laboratory-based benchtop spectrophotometer. With slight changes to the accessory design, Krometriks can be made compatible with different types of smartphone models and specifications. Thus, the Krometriks device offers a practical colorimetric platform that has the potential to provide accessible and affordable miRNA diagnostics for point-of-care and field applications in low-resource settings.

Neutrino physics with an opaque detector

In 1956 Reines & Cowan discovered the neutrino using a liquid scintillator detector. The neutrinos interacted with the scintillator, producing light that propagated across transparent volumes to surrounding photo-sensors. This approach has remained one of the most widespread and successful neutrino detection technologies used since. This article introduces a concept that breaks with the conventional paradigm of transparency by confining and collecting light near its creation point with an opaque scintillator and a dense array of optical fibres. This technique, called LiquidO, can provide high-resolution imaging to enable efficient identification of individual particles event-by-event. A natural affinity for adding dopants at high concentrations is provided by the use of an opaque medium. With these and other capabilities, the potential of our detector concept to unlock opportunities in neutrino physics is presented here, alongside the results of the first experimental validation.