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Topic Review
Genetics of Primary Aldosteronism
Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most common form of secondary hypertension, with a prevalence of 5–10% among patients with hypertension. PA is mainly classified into two subtypes: aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) and bilateral idiopathic hyperaldosteronism. Recent developments in genetic analysis have facilitated the discovery of mutations in KCNJ5, ATP1A1, ATP2B3, CACNA1D, CACNA1H, CLCN2, and CTNNB1 in sporadic or familial forms of PA in the last decade. These findings have greatly advanced our understanding of the mechanism of excess aldosterone synthesis, particularly in APA. Most of the causative genes encode ion channels or pumps, and their mutations lead to depolarization of the cell membrane due to impairment of ion transport. Depolarization activates voltage-gated Ca2+ channels and intracellular calcium signaling and promotes the transcription of aldosterone synthase, resulting in overproduction of aldosterone. 
  • 1.8K
  • 07 May 2021
Topic Review
Model-Based Enterprise Approach in the Product Lifecycle Management
Innovations in product development and process technologies represent a promising strategy to face the increasing competitiveness of modern markets in the global economy. Also, customer requirements become more and more specific and the complexity of products is still increasing. Industries need to adopt effective solutions during the product development process and to support, for sustainable purposes, all the phases of the product lifecycle. Advanced model-based solutions emerge for digitally supporting these industrial needs. In this context, a Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) represents an organization that adopts modeling technologies, such as Model-Based Definition (MBD) solutions, to integrate and manage both technical and business processes related to product design, production, support, and retirement. Past research discusses the model-based approaches focusing on technical product development, mainly referring to the design and the manufacturing phases.
  • 1.8K
  • 08 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Anticancer effects of Coumarin Sulfonamides
Coumarin is an important six-membered aromatic heterocyclic pharmacophore, widely distributed in natural products and synthetic molecules. The versatile and unique features of coumarin nucleus, in combination with privileged sulfonamide moiety, have enhanced the broad spectrum of biological activities. The research and development of coumarin, sulfonamide-based pharmacology, and medicinal chemistry have become active topics, and attracted the attention of medicinal chemists, pharmacists, and synthetic chemists. Coumarin sulfonamide compounds and analogs as clinical drugs have been used to cure various diseases with high therapeutic potency, which have shown their enormous development value. The diversified and wide array of biological activities such as anticancer, antibacterial, anti-fungal, antioxidant and anti-viral, etc. were displayed by diversified coumarin sulfonamides.
  • 1.8K
  • 22 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Distinguish Functionally Different Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts
The tumor microenvironment (TME) is comprised of different cellular components, such as immune and stromal cells, which co-operate in unison to promote tumor progression and metastasis. In the last decade, there has been an increasing focus on one specific component of the TME, the stromal component, often referred to as Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAF). CAF modulate the immune response and alter the composition of the extracellular matrix with a decisive impact on the response to immunotherapies and conventional chemotherapy. The most recent publications based on single-cell analysis have underlined CAF heterogeneity and the unique plasticity that strongly impact the TME. 
  • 1.8K
  • 03 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Chromatographic-Based Platforms
Chromatography, which means to show with colors, is certainly among the most important analytical procedures supporting science and human development in the last century. Chromatography is present in the most diverse fields of human activity, spanning from science to the pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries and the areas of health and the environment. According to the IUPAC definition, chromatography is a physical method of separation in which the components to be separated are distributed between two phases, one of which is stationary (stationary phase) while the other (the mobile phase) moves in a definite direction. In scientific terms, chromatography is not one, but several related techniques able to separate mixtures and it is so powerful that it can be used to separate proteins differing in a single amino acid, compounds differing only in the spatial orientation of a functional group or a volatile compound in a mixture.
  • 1.8K
  • 25 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Assessment in Higher Education
Assessment is a systemic process in higher education that uses empirical data on student learning to refine programs and improve student learning. As a continuous process, assessment establishes measurable and clear student learning outcomes for learning, provisioning a sufficient amount of learning opportunities to achieve these outcomes, implementing a systematic way of gathering, analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well student learning matches expectations, and using the collected information to inform improvement in student learning. Assessment functions as part of a continuous process whereby the parts of the cycle are revised and monitored. The term “assessment” is defined broadly in that any outcome or goal in any activity or discipline can be a part of this process.
  • 1.8K
  • 28 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Animal Behaviorist
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective study of animal behaviour, usually referring to measured responses to stimuli or to trained behavioural responses in a laboratory context, without a particular emphasis on evolutionary adaptivity. Throughout history, different naturalists have studied aspects of animal behaviour. Ethology has its scientific roots in the work of Charles Darwin and of American and German ornithologists of the late 19th and early 20th century, including Charles O. Whitman, Oskar Heinroth, and Wallace Craig. The modern discipline of ethology is generally considered to have begun during the 1930s with the work of Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen and Austrian biologists Konrad Lorenz and Karl von Frisch, the three recipients of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Ethology combines laboratory and field science, with a strong relation to some other disciplines such as neuroanatomy, ecology, and evolutionary biology. Ethologists typically show interest in a behavioural process rather than in a particular animal group, and often study one type of behaviour, such as aggression, in a number of unrelated species. Ethology is a rapidly growing field. Since the dawn of the 21st century researchers have re-examined and reached new conclusions in many aspects of animal communication, emotions, culture, learning and sexuality that the scientific community long thought it understood. New fields, such as neuroethology, have developed. Understanding ethology or animal behaviour can be important in animal training. Considering the natural behaviours of different species or breeds enables trainers to select the individuals best suited to perform the required task. It also enables trainers to encourage the performance of naturally occurring behaviours and the discontinuance of undesirable behaviours.
  • 1.8K
  • 02 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Desiccant Technologies: An Overview of the Brazilian Scenario
This research assessed alternatives for air Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems to minimize Sick Building Syndrome and improve air quality while considering international programs/standards. For this purpose, an alternative technology known as desiccant wheels was studied by analyzing their principles and types when the existing selection software for these types of equipment was performed. In addition, energy-efficiency programs worldwide and in the Brazilian context were analyzed while aiming at implementing strategies in which desiccant wheels are appropriate. Finally, some examples of commercial software for desiccant wheels were compared to identify the different tools available in the air conditioning market.
  • 1.8K
  • 17 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Anatomy of the Human Nose
The visible part of the human nose is the protruding part of the face that bears the nostrils. The shape of the nose is determined by the ethmoid bone and the nasal septum, which consists mostly of cartilage and which separates the nostrils. On average the nose of a male is larger than that of a female. The nasal root is the top of the nose, forming an indentation at the suture where the nasal bones meet the nasal part of the frontal bone. The anterior nasal spine is the thin projection of bone at the midline on the lower nasal margin, holding the cartilaginous center of the nose. Adult humans have nasal hair in the nostrils.
  • 1.8K
  • 01 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are among the leading nosocomial infections in the world and have led to the extensive study of various strategies to prevent infection. However, despite an abundance of anti-infection materials having been studied over the last forty-five years, only a few types have come into clinical use, providing an insignificant reduction in CAUTIs. Marine resources have emerged as an unexplored area of opportunity offering huge potential in discovering novel bioactive materials to combat human diseases. To date, some marine microbial-derived materials have exhibited potent antimicrobial, antiadhesive and antibiofilm activity against a broad spectrum of uropathogens (including multidrug-resistant pathogens) that could be potentially used in urinary catheters to eradicate CAUTIs.
  • 1.8K
  • 14 May 2021
Topic Review
Endoglin
Endoglin is a class I, single-membrane spanning receptor with an apparent molecular weight of 95 kDa containing a short cytoplasmic and a modular extracellular domain. This domain contains attachment sites for N- and O-dependent glycosylation and ligand binding residues.
  • 1.8K
  • 16 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Iron Homeostasis in Plants
Plants are able to synthesize all essential metabolites from minerals, water, and light to complete their life cycle. This plasticity comes at a high energy cost, therefore plants need to tightly allocate resources in order to control their economy. Being sessile, plants can only adapt to fluctuating environmental conditions, relying on quality control mechanisms. Remodeling of cellular components plays a crucial role, not only in response to stress, but also in normal plant development. Dynamic protein turnover is ensured through regulated protein synthesis and degradation processes. To effectively target a wide range of proteins for degradation, plants utilize ubiquitination as an essential signal of substrate recognition for the 26S proteasome. Recent progress has been made in understanding the cellular homeostasis of iron. In this review, we highlight the latest publications elucidating the role of Ubiquitin-Proteasome System (UPS) in control of iron metabolism during plant development, as well as environmental stresses.
  • 1.8K
  • 06 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Nanomedicine in NSCLC
The hard diagnosis and treatment of NSCLC, together with its late diagnosis and lack of therapies during the early stages of the disease,  so far explain its high mortality rate. The reformulation of conventional therapies as nanomedicines, has led to a new generation of treatments for NSCLC. However, the deepening of the relationship between the tumor and the patient's immune system encompasses the most promising strategies today. From immune checkpoint inhibitors, identified in 2018, to the development of vaccines based on genetic material, immunotherapies represent the best of options. The use of nanometric vehicles for the release of genetic material, protein or drug allows reducing doses and increasing efficiency. These, together with delivery systems based on nanomedicines, promise to increase the specificity and efficacy of treatments, reducing the extremely harmful side effects of conventional therapies. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains the most common cause of cancer-related mortality. The heterogeneous nature of this disease hinders its diagnosis and treatment, requiring continuous advances in research aiming to understand its intricate nature. Consequently, the retrospective analysis of conventional therapies has allowed the introduction of novel tools provided by nanotechnology, leading to considerable improvements in clinical outcomes. Furthermore, the development of novel immunotherapies based on the recently understood interaction of the immune system with the tumor highlights the real possibility of definitively treating NSCLC from its early stages. Novel engineering approaches in nanomedicine will enable to overcome the intrinsic limits of conventional and emerging therapies regarding off-site cytotoxicity, specificity, resistance mechanisms, and administration issues. The convergence point of these therapies with nanotechnology lays the foundation for achieving currently unmet needs.
  • 1.8K
  • 17 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Lonidamine
 Lonidamine (LND) is an indazole derivative that was first introduced in 1979 as an anti-spermatogenic agent. Later, LND was found to have antitumor activity by interfering with the energy metabolism, especially its action on tumor mitochondria.  Furthermore, some studies also indicated that LND inhibited hexokinase II (HK-II), followed by the inhibition of glycolytic pathway, as well as pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), leading to the reduction of NADPH and GSH levels. Thus, it was usually used as a glycolytic inhibitor for antitumor research.
  • 1.8K
  • 20 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Mobile Learning for Refugees
The mass influx of refugees into Europe since 2013 and their educational challenges have increased the need for high-quality refugee education. One proposal for addressing these challenges was to leverage mobile devices for educational purposes (mobile learning). .By surveying the literature, the present paper concludes that mobile learning seems beneficial for refugees in two ways: providing refugees access to education and improving the quality of the provided refugee education. However, it is not a one-solution-fits-all regarding their education. 
  • 1.8K
  • 25 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Bifacial Photovoltaics
In 2016 the first >2 MWp fixed tilt bifacial PV system (“La Hormiga”) was built by MegaCell in San Felipe, located in the region of Valparaiso in Chile, using nPERT BiSoN modules. The innovations in this system were the adapted mounting structures (which were not covering the rear side of the modules), as well as the enhancement of albedo using white quartz stones below them. The bifacial gain was about 15% with the natural albedo of ca. 28%, whereas the albedo enhancement to 75% provided by the white stones led to a bifacial gain of about 25%. After that, Sunpreme installed their SHJ (Silicon HeteroJunction) modules in a 10 MWp bifacial system on a US industrial rooftop, and large bifacial systems were installed in China in the TopRunner program, where the Chinese Government was supporting innovations to be introduced into the market. Yingli installed a fixed tilt 50 MWp system with bifacial nPERT Panda modules, followed by a 100 MWp “Panda PV system” in 2018. Since then large bifacial PV systems are entering the PV market. In 2021 bifacial PV became bankable and will become main-stream in the coming 5 years.
  • 1.8K
  • 08 May 2021
Topic Review
Food Loss in Meat Sector
Food losses and wastage are one of the most important problems of the modern world. The scale of this phenomenon is so large that it should be treated as a global problem. Food losses occur at every stage of the agri-food chain, from primary production (ag-riculture), through storage, processing, transport, distribution and consumption.
  • 1.8K
  • 25 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Fertilization and Soil Microbial Community
Crop production is currently expanding globally due to an increased demand for food, animal feed and biofuels; the latter has been stimulated by the increase in oil prices making bioenergy crops more competitive and profitable compared to fossil fuels. Chemical fertilizers (also termed mineral, inorganic or synthetic fertilizers) contain a high concentration of a primary nutrient (nitrogen, N; potassium, K; phosphorous, P) as inorganic salts. Secondary elements (calcium, magnesium and sulfur) can also be added to soil by chemical fertilizers. Micronutrients (boron, manganese, iron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, cobalt and chlorine) are in general absent in NPK chemical fertilizers and can be supplied by specific synthetic and expensive plant nutrients with soil or foliar applications. Soil microbes have different responses to fertilization based on differences in the total carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents in the soil, along with soil moisture and the presence of plant species.
  • 1.8K
  • 11 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Optical Components Used to Implement Optical Functions
Deep learning has an unquenchable thirst for processing resources. Classical deep learning has silently developed a bottleneck due to the interference of electrical impulses, energy usage, and physical constraints, even though electronic parts established on silicon can still sustain it presently. Academic and corporate circles are attempting to find new approaches for resolving electrical flaws that are less computationally intensive. It has huge benefits in information transmission and OC due to its high speed of 300,000 km per second, which is 300 times faster than that of an electron, and its data-carrying capacity and variety, which is 2 × 104 times greater than that of electric channels, as well as high parallelism and strong anti-interference. Switching electricity with light has emerged as a viable and sustainable work style, following the current trend.
  • 1.8K
  • 30 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Participatory Budgeting
Participatory budgeting (PB) is a process of democratic deliberation and decision-making, in which ordinary people decide how to allocate part of a municipal or public budget. Participatory budgeting allows citizens to identify, discuss, and prioritize public spending projects, and gives them the power to make real decisions about how money is spent. PB processes are typically designed to involve those left out of traditional methods of public engagement, such as low-income residents, non-citizens, and youth. A comprehensive case study of eight municipalities in Brazil analyzing the successes and failures of participatory budgeting has suggested that it often results in more equitable public spending, greater government transparency and accountability, increased levels of public participation (especially by marginalized or poorer residents), and democratic and citizenship learning. The frameworks of PB differentiate variously throughout the globe in terms of scale, procedure, and objective. PB, in its conception, is often contextualized to suit a region's particular conditions and needs. Thus, the magnitudes of PB vary depending on whether it is carried out at a municipal, regional, or provincial level. In many cases, PB has been legally enforced and regulated; however, some are internally arranged and promoted. Since the original invention in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1988, PB has manifested itself in a myriad of designs, with variations in methodology, form, and technology. PB stands as one of several democratic innovations such as British Columbia's Citizens' Assembly, encompassing the ideals of a participatory democracy. Today, PB has been implemented in nearly 1,500 municipalities and institutions around the world.
  • 1.8K
  • 09 Oct 2022
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