The 33rd International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR2023).

The 33rd International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR2023) was held at Makuhari Messe International Conference Hall in Chiba prefecture from June 5 to 9, 2023. This annual conference, which rotates among hosts in North America, Asia-Oceania, and Europe, covers the full range of plant biology research involving Arabidopsis and other plant species. The conference hosted more than 1200 participants, including approximately 800 international attendees from 42 countries (or regions), and featured about 900 oral and poster presentations. Reflecting the conference theme, "Arabidopsis for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," there were numerous exemplary presentations regarding basic plant science using Arabidopsis and translational research conducted to achieve SDGs by exploiting the knowledge gained from Arabidopsis to improve crop production. The conference concluded on a high note, with more than 99% of survey respondents expressing their general satisfaction with ICAR2023. This report aims to summarize the organization, objectives, and outcomes of the conference.

TT2023 meeting report on the 18th Transgenic Technology meeting in Houston, United States.

The 18th Transgenic Technology Meeting, held in Houston, Texas from November 12-15, 2023, was a vibrant international forum. It brought together nearly 400 delegates to discuss advances in transgenic technologies and the science these technologies support. Among them were 329 in-person and 70 remote delegates, representing 26 countries from 5 continents. The event, hosted by the International Society for Transgenic Technologies (ISTT), was set against the backdrop of the Hyatt Regency's panoramic views, reflecting the innovative spirit of the conference. A notable precursor to the main conference was the Allele Design Pre-conference Workshop, which fostered in-depth discussions on state-of-the-art methodologies. The main conference encompassed ten sessions, delving into diverse topics from Precision Animal Models of Human Disease to the use of transgenic animals in Space Biology. Eighty posters provided for a lively exchange of ideas, while the ISTT Prize and other awards highlighted the event's commitment to excellence. Beyond the conference halls, attendees had the opportunity to venture into Houston's Museum District, home to 19 museums in the downtown area, or indulge in unique dining experiences.

The improvement of routine drug quality control analysis of some antihypertensive drugs using high-performance thin-layer chromatography densitometry method with greenness profile evaluation.

The common antihypertensive drugs are B-blockers and diuretics. For the determination of beta-blocker medicines (bisoprolol fumarate and carvedilol) and diuretic drug (Furosemide), new and accurate chromatographic method has been developed. The separation was achieved using a developing system that includes chloroform:methanol:ethyl acetate:ammonia (6:2:2:0.2 by volume) as a mobile phase and the bands were detected at 240 nm. The concentration ranges were 5-25, 1-7, and 1-3.5 µg/band for bisoprolol fumarate, carvedilol, and furosemide, respectively. This chromatographic approach is the first methodology for simultaneously determining bisoprolol fumarate, carvedilol, and furosemide in their pure forms and in their pharmaceutical dosage forms. The advantages of using known analytical procedures are their simplicity, speed, cost effectiveness, lack of laboriousness, and ability to save time as the three tablets are determined in one step and can be used for routine analysis of the investigated combinations in quality control laboratories. According to International Conference of Harmonization guidelines, the established procedures have been validated, and the results were statistically compared to those obtained by the reported reversed-phase-high-performance liquid chromatography methods using Student's t-test and F-test, with no significant difference between them, indicating that the proposed methods can be used for routine drug quality control analysis.

Community Learning Centres (CLCs) for Adult Learning and Education (ALE): development in and by communities.

Institutionalised forms of adult learning and education (ALE) such as community learning centres (CLCs) and related models are found in most parts of the world. These are spaces offering opportunities for literacy and skills training, health and citizenship, general, liberal and vocational education, in line with fuller recognition of the meaning of lifelong learning, and in the context of local communities. Often these institutions form the basis for even more informal and participatory learning, like study circles and community groups. They may share facilities like libraries and museums, clubs and sports centres, which are not within the remit of the Ministry of Education. This article reviews relevant literature and identifies recent studies and experiences with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions, but also considers insights related to interventions at the global level. Findings point to low levels of participation of adults in general, and more specifically so for vulnerable and excluded groups which can hardly cross respective barriers. The authors' discussion is guided by the question What conditions are conducive to having more and better ALE for lifelong learning - and which roles can CLCs and other community-based ALE institutions play? This discussion is timely - the authors argue that CLCs need to be given more attention in international commitments such as those made in the context of the International Conferences of Adult Education (CONFINTEA) and the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). CLCs, they urge, should be part of transformative discourse and recommendations at CONFINTEA VII in 2022.

Les centres d'apprentissage communautaires (CLC) pour l'apprentissage et l'éducation des adultes (AEA) : leur développement dans et par les communautés ­ Des formes institutionnalisées d'apprentissage et d'éducation des adultes (AEA) telles que les centres d'apprentissage communautaires (CLC) et les modèles qui y sont liés se retrouvent dans presque toutes les régions du monde. Ce sont des espaces d'alphabétisation et d'acquisition de compétences, d'instruction en matière de santé et de citoyenneté, et d'éducation générale, libérale et professionnelle, et ce pleinement en accord avec ce que l'on entend par apprentissage tout au long de la vie et avec le contexte des communautés locales. Souvent, ces établissements constituent la base d'un apprentissage encore plus informel et participatif comme dans les cercles d'études et les groupes communautaires. Ils peuvent se partager des locaux avec des bibliothèques et des musées, des clubs et des centres sportifs qui n'entrent pas dans les attributions du ministère de l'Éducation. Cet article passe en revue la littérature pertinente sur ce thème et recense à ce sujet des études et expériences récentes en s'intéressant particulièrement à l'Asie-Pacifique et à l'Afrique, tout en tenant compte également de connaissances liées à des interventions au niveau mondial. Les résultats révèlent de faibles niveaux de participation des adultes en général, et plus particulièrement des groupes vulnérables et exclus, qui peinent à franchir les obstacles auxquels ils se heurtent respectivement. La question dominante dans le débat des auteurs est la suivante : quelles sont les conditions propices à l'intensification et à l'amélioration de l'apprentissage et de l'éducation des adultes dans l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie ­ et quels rôles les centres d'apprentissage communautaires et autres établissements communautaires d'apprentissage et d'éducation des adultes peuvent-ils jouer ? Ce débat tombe à point nommé : les auteurs affirment que les centres d'apprentissage communautaires doivent occuper une place plus importante dans les engagements internationaux comme ceux pris dans le cadre des Conférences internationales sur l'éducation des adultes (CONFINTEA) et dans les 17 Objectifs de développement durable des Nations Unies (ODD). Ils préconisent d'intégrer les centres d'apprentissage communautaires dans le discours transformateur et les recommandations de la CONFINTEA VII en 2022.

Rethinking literacy from a lifelong learning perspective in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and the International Conference on Adult Education.

Despite general agreement that a 21st-century learning society must also be a literate society, there is still a long way to go to achieve a broad consensus on how to achieve this within an explicit lifelong learning vision. The Seventh International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VII - June 2022) is an excellent opportunity to rethink literacy from a lifelong learning perspective in order to fully tap its transformative potential in the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By using a theoretical framework of lifelong literacy, this article analyses the main challenges associated with applying the lifelong learning principle to literacy, in particular in the context of aligning CONFINTEA's review and improvement of adult learning and education (ALE) strategies with SDG processes. The authors demonstrate that a limited understanding of literacy as part of lifelong learning still prevails, and that literacy promotion suffers from ambiguity and dissonances. They also provide analyses of literacy policies, strategies and programmes that have been successful in adopting a lifelong learning approach, drawing out some important lessons on how this can be achieved. In particular, the authors argue, more attention needs to be paid to the demand side of a literate environment and to motivation, enabling continuity of learning by making literacy part of people's broader learning purposes. To contribute to the ongoing discussion on reframing literacy from a lifelong learning perspective in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the potential development of a new "framework for action" during CONFINTEA VII, this article offers three fundamental considerations that should inform policy and strategic planning with regard to conceptual orientation, programmatic responses and institutional connections.

Repenser l'alphabétisation sous l'angle de l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie dans l'optique des Objectifs de développement durable et de la Conférence internationale sur l'éducation des adultes ­ Bien que l'on s'entende globalement sur le fait qu'une société apprenante du 21e siècle doit aussi être une société alphabète, il reste encore beaucoup de chemin à parcourir pour atteindre un large consensus sur la façon d'y parvenir dans l'optique d'une vision explicite de l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie. La septième Conférence internationale sur l'apprentissage des adultes (CONFINTEA VII, en juin 2022) offrira une excellente occasion de repenser l'alphabétisation du point de vue de l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie afin de tirer pleinement profit de son potentiel transformateur pour atteindre les Objectifs de développement durable des Nations Unies (ODD). Se basant sur un cadre théorique de l'alphabétisation tout au long de la vie, cet article analyse les principaux défis qui se présentent lorsque l'on applique le principe de l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie à l'alphabétisation, en particulier lorsque l'on aligne le bilan de la CONFINTEA et l'amélioration des stratégies d'apprentissage et d'éducation des adultes (AEA) sur les processus des ODD. Les auteurs démontrent que la notion limitée d'alphabétisation comme faisant partie de l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie continue de prévaloir et que l'ambigüité et les divergences pèsent sur la promotion de l'alphabétisation. Ils nous livrent aussi des analyses des politiques, stratégies et programmes d'alphabétisation qui ont réussi à adopter une approche de l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie en exploitant un certain nombre de leçons importantes qui nous enseignent comment y parvenir. Les auteurs affirment en particulier qu'il faut accorder davantage d'attention à la demande d'un environnement alphabète et à la motivation, ce qui offre une continuité de l'apprentissage en faisant de l'alphabétisation une partie des objectifs éducatifs plus larges des personnes. Pour contribuer au débat en cours sur la redéfinition de l'alphabétisation sous l'angle de l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie dans le contexte du Programme de développement durable à l'horizon 2030 de l'ONU et au développement potentiel d'un nouveau « cadre d'action ¼ durant la CONFINTEA VII, le présent article envisage trois réflexions fondamentales visant à orienter la planification politique et stratégique en tenant compte de l'orientation conceptuelle, des réponses programmatiques et des liens institutionnels.

The Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE): Strengths, weaknesses and future directions.

One of the core outcomes of the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI) held in 2009 was the Belém Framework for Action (BFA). Its signatories committed to monitoring the most recent development stages of adult learning and education (ALE) worldwide on a regular basis, and to present and assess results in a global report. Coordinated by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, surveys have been conducted and documented in four GRALE reports over the past decade. A fifth report is currently being prepared for CONFINTEA VII, to be held in June 2022. This article critically analyses the project of compiling a Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE) at roughly three-year intervals. Drawing on an evaluative framework for research quality developed by Pär Mårtensson and colleagues, the authors of this article investigate to what extent the GRALE approach to monitoring and reporting on ALE so far has been (1) credible (e.g. based on rigorous research methodologies and methods); (2) contributory (e.g. relevant and applicable to practice, generalisable); (3) communicable (e.g. accessible, understandable and readable in terms of report structure); and (4) conforming (e.g. with ethical standards). The purpose of this evaluation is for it to serve as a contribution to enhancing the quality of monitoring approaches in the field of ALE. This is vital for working towards future directions of ALE which are shaped by a high-quality evidence base. Ultimately, this will not only make ALE more accessible, fair, diverse and effective, but will also add to insights on how to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in a similar way, especially since ALE indirectly but fundamentally affects the success of all 17 goals.

Le Rapport mondial sur l'apprentissage et l'éducation des adultes (GRALE) : points forts, points faibles et orientations futures ­ Le Cadre d'action de Belém est l'un des aboutissements principaux de la sixième Conférence internationale sur l'éducation des adultes (CONFINTEA VI) organisée en 2009. Ses signataires s'étaient engagés à procéder régulièrement au suivi des toutes dernières évolutions de l'apprentissage et de l'éducation des adultes (AEA) dans le monde entier, et à présenter et évaluer les résultats obtenus dans un rapport mondial. Des études, coordonnées par l'Institut de l'UNESCO pour l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie (UIL), ont été menées et présentées dans quatre GRALE ces dix dernières années. Un cinquième rapport est en préparation pour la CONFINTEA VII qui se tiendra en juin 2022. Cet article procède à une analyse critique du projet qui consiste à rédiger un Rapport mondial sur l'apprentissage et l'éducation des adultes (GRALE) environ tous les trois ans. S'appuyant sur un cadre d'évaluation de la qualité de la recherche développé par Pär Mårtensson et collègues, les auteurs du présent article examinent dans quelle mesure, pour procéder au suivi de l'apprentissage et de l'éducation des adultes et à la rédaction de rapports sur ce thème, l'approche du GRALE a été jusqu'à présent (1) crédible (p. ex. en s'appuyant sur des méthodes et procédés de recherche rigoureux) ; (2) contributive (c'est-à-dire qu'elle a joué un rôle, p. ex. en étant pertinente et praticable, généralisable) ; (3) communicable (p. ex. en étant accessible, compréhensible et lisible en tant que rapport) et (4) conforme (p. ex. aux normes éthiques). Cette évaluation a pour objet de contribuer à améliorer la qualité des approches de suivi dans le domaine de l'apprentissage et de l'éducation des adultes, ce qui est crucial pour œuvrer en vue de donner à l'AEA des orientations futures reposant sur un socle de preuves fondées. Enfin, cela rendra non seulement l'apprentissage et l'éducation des adultes plus accessibles, justes, divers et efficaces, mais cela fournira aussi des idées supplémentaires pour atteindre de la même manière les Objectifs de développement durable, du fait notamment que l'apprentissage et l'éducation des adultes influent, certes indirectement mais de façon fondamentale, sur l'atteinte des 17 objectifs.

TT2020 meeting report on the 16th Transgenic Technology Meeting.

The 16th transgenic technology (TT) meeting of the International Society of Transgenic technology (ISTT) took place on October 26-29th 2020 and was quite unique as it was the first-ever virtual meeting in the history of ISTT events. Dr. Rebecca Haffner-Krausz at Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, was the local organizer of the meeting, which attracted 756 registered participants from 32 different countries.

APBioNet's annual International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB) returns to India in 2018.

InCoB, one of the largest annual bioinformatics conferences in the Asia-Pacific region since its launch in 2002, returned to New Delhi, India after 12 years, with a conference attendance of 314 delegates. The 2018 conference had sessions on Big Data and Algorithms, Next Generation Sequencing and Omics Science, Structure, Function and Interactions, Disease and Drug Discovery and Plant and Agricultural Bioinformatics. The conference also featured an industry track as well as panel discussions on Women in Bioinformatics and Democratization vs. Quality control in academic publishing. Asia Pacific Bioinformatics Interaction & Networking Society (APbians) was launched as an APBionet Special Interest Group. Of the 52 oral presentations made, 22 were accepted in supplemental issues of BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Genomics or BMC Medical Genomics and are briefly reviewed here. Next year's InCoB will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia from September 10-12, 2019.

Reflections on the first conference of the International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health convened in India, a middle-income country.

Since its establishment in 1980, all biennial conferences of The International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health had been convened in high-income nations. Relatively little consideration had been given to the experiences and needs of most women who live in the world's low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim is to provide an account of the first conference convened in India, a middle-income country. The Global Experiences, Global Dialogues, Global Responses Biennial Conference of the International Marcé Society for Perinatal Health was convened at the National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) held in Bengaluru 26th-28th September 2018. The conference achieved all its aims of maximizing access for people living and working in LMICs through scaled registration fees, building capacity through a young professionals' program, promoting collaboration through symposia co-convened by South Asian and other international experts, and visits to NIMHANS' clinical services. It made an impact on the agendas of sister expert professional societies, and public policies in India and generated significant public interest. It was appraised as pivotal, transformative and presenting exceptionally high-quality science. It was financially successful in making the largest contribution to date from a biennial conference to the Society's resources. We commend this initiative to other international expert professional societies seeking to benefit from the opportunities for mutual learning that conferences convened in low- and middle-income countries can provide, and to reduce disparities in access to evidence to address health inequalities.

New terminology for adverse events of fetal therapy: Re-evaluation of the thoraco-amniotic shunting in a Japanese study.

AIM: Since fetal therapy has been newly developed, objective evaluation of adverse events (AE), all harmful events that are not always related to the procedures, has not yet been adequately reported. We established new terminology and tried to re-evaluate it based on the Japanese prospective thoraco-amniotic shunting (TAS) study. METHODS: From the literature, all complications that occurred with all fetal therapies were identified as a basis for developing the terminology. Grading was set from 0 to 5. Grade 3 was defined as the need for invasive treatment, such as surgery. Grade 4 was defined as life-threatening, and Grade 5 was defined as death of the mother or fetus. Then, one series of TAS that we had already reported was re-evaluated, including 24 cases with 37 procedures and 200 opportunities those could be evaluated AE after procedures. RESULTS: Grade 4 preterm rupture of the membranes was reported in only 1 of 24 cases. Catheter displacement was reported in 7, 2 and 11 cases, of Grades 1, 2 and 3, respectively. It was found that the double-basket catheter had some association with catheter displacement, but it was clear that there were no life-threatening AE. CONCLUSION: Newly developed AE criteria are now available for fetal therapy. They will contribute to the objective evaluation of AE of new fetal therapies in the future.

Formulation development and accelerated stability testing of a novel sunscreen cream for ultraviolet radiation protection in high altitude areas.

The present study is aimed at the development of a sunscreen cream for use in high altitude areas which have been found to possess superior sun protection factor (SPF) along with remarkable antioxidant activity. The topical formulation is a standard oil-in-water emulsion of a combination of United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) approved ultraviolet filters; along with melatonin and pumpkin seed oil. The in-silico optimized formulation was characterized using established methods and the stability study was carried out as per International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. The formulation was prepared after requisite pre-formulation analysis by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetric and thermogravimetric analyses; followed by characterization based on color, odor, phase separation, spreadability, specific gravity, homogeneicity, centrifugation and sensitivity. For the stability study, a total of three samples from three batches of the finished product were subjected to the stability study. The samples were analyzed for content uniformity, pH, in vitro SPF, rheology, zeta potential, droplet diameter and microbial analysis of the 0th day and also the the end of the storage period. Results obtained from the stability study indicated that the formulation possesses 50+ in vitro SPF value and remained stable for 6 months and 12 months under storage at 40 ± 2 °C and 75 ± 5% relative humidity; and -20 °C ± 5 °C respectively.

Utilization and perception of live-blogging coverage of an international manual physical therapy conference.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the utilization and perception of live blogged sessions of a physical therapy (PT) conference. Methods: Sessions at an international PT conference were covered in real time using a live-blogging platform. Session coverage could be viewed remotely using computers and mobile devices. Viewers could interact with the content by clicking on links and using the comment feature. Sessions could also be replayed following their conclusion. An online survey of user perceptions was made available the week following the conference. Results: Twenty-four sessions were live blogged with an average session length of 67 min (range: 27-120). On average, live sessions received 27 views (range: 2-65), 18 clicks (range: 2-36), and 2 comments (range: 0-10). The average time spent viewing a live session was 28 min (32% of viewers <1 min; 68% >1 min). Following the conference, session replays totaled 7206 views and 2910 clicks. The average survey respondent (n = 17) watched five live sessions (range: 1-17) and found the updates easy to read (4.5 on a scale of 5.0). When asked if they learned something from the coverage, 94% of respondents said yes and 94% said they would view if available for an upcoming conference. Discussion: Live blogging extended the viewing audience and facilitated viewer engagement. Survey respondents found the coverage educational, of high quality, and would participate again in the future.

A bioinformatics potpourri.

The 16th International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB) was held at Tsinghua University, Shenzhen from September 20 to 22, 2017. The annual conference of the Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network featured six keynotes, two invited talks, a panel discussion on big data driven bioinformatics and precision medicine, and 66 oral presentations of accepted research articles or posters. Fifty-seven articles comprising a topic assortment of algorithms, biomolecular networks, cancer and disease informatics, drug-target interactions and drug efficacy, gene regulation and expression, imaging, immunoinformatics, metagenomics, next generation sequencing for genomics and transcriptomics, ontologies, post-translational modification, and structural bioinformatics are the subject of this editorial for the InCoB2017 supplement issues in BMC Genomics, BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Systems Biology and BMC Medical Genomics. New Delhi will be the location of InCoB2018, scheduled for September 26-28, 2018.

Protistology Conferences: The Beginnings. The First International Protozoology Conference (Prague 1961) and the Tribute to Otto Jírovec, its Spiritual Father.

Two events have helped to shape protozoology/protistology as a specific scientific discipline. The first such event was the creation of the Society of Protozoologists in the U.S. in 1947 (and of its Journal of Protozoology, first published in 1954), the second event was the First International Conference on Protozoology, held in 1961 in Prague. The history of the Society of Protozoologists was comprehensively treated by Corliss (1998); the history of the Prague Conference is presented here as reminiscences and personal interpretation of events of the author, who was one of the conference organizers and a member of the organization committee. Special attention is given to the personality and scientific accomplishments of Otto Jírovec, the 1961 conference spiritual father and president. It is concluded that the Prague Conference, while establishing the tradition of protistology meetings, helped protistology to attain its present status as a fundamental science discipline, which discovers and interprets the web of life at one of its, basic, "microbial" levels. Protists literally permeate the earth biosphere and in a way represent the "dark matter" of the living world, still awaiting many discoveries.

Translating research evidence into practice: a report from the 2nd International Conference on Maternal and Newborn Health from KLE University - Belagavi, India.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) Women's and Children's Health Research Unit (WCHRU) of the Karnataka Lingayat Education (KLE) Academy of Higher Education and Research Deemed-to-be-University and its collaborators convened the '2nd International Conference on Maternal and Newborn Health -Translating Research Evidence to Practice' to address the common theme of improving maternal and newborn health in low- and middle- income countries (LMIC). This supplement, including 16 manuscripts, reflects much of the research presented at the conference, including analyses of the state of knowledge, as well as completed, ongoing and planned research in these areas conducted by the WCHRU in India together with many collaborators across high-income and LMIC. The first paper reviews maternal, fetal and neonatal mortality in low-income countries, considers their causes, as well as evidence for potential interventions to reduce mortality. A second paper addresses near miss maternal mortality. Several manuscripts address the research conducted by WCHRU and their colleagues in a multi-center research network. One study examines rates of miscarriage and medically terminated pregnancy in India and the risk factors for these occurrences. Another paper addresses stillbirth and its risk factors, both in India as well as in other LMIC. Haemorrhage and preeclampsia/eclampsia, important causes of maternal mortality, stillbirth and neonatal morbidity in LMIC, are addressed in a series of papers summarizing trials of interventions to reduce improve outcomes associated with these conditions. Poor maternal and infant nutritional status, which contribute to adverse outcomes, are addressed through papers which describe a number of important studies that the WCHRU and their colleagues have conducted to attempt to improve nutritional status. Another paper describes a study to investigate causes of stillbirth and deaths among preterm births, which will utilize new techniques to investigate the infectious causes of these deaths. Finally, the supplement addresses the process for dissemination of research results to inform public policy. Together these manuscripts represent a body of research to inform interventions to reduce maternal, fetal and newborn mortality and illustrates what a dedicated research group together with institutional support can accomplish.

Preface: photosynthesis and hydrogen energy research for sustainability.

Energy supply, climate change, and global food security are among the main chalenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century. Despite global energy demand is continuing to increase, the availability of low cost energy is decreasing. Together with the urgent problem of climate change due to CO2 release from the combustion of fossil fuels, there is a strong requirement of developing the clean and renewable energy system for the hydrogen production. Solar fuel, biofuel, and hydrogen energy production gained unlimited possibility and feasibility due to understanding of the detailed photosynthetic system structures. This special issue contains selected papers on photosynthetic and biomimetic hydrogen production presented at the International Conference "Photosynthesis Research for Sustainability-2016", that was held in Pushchino (Russia), during June 19-25, 2016, with the sponsorship of the International Society of Photosynthesis Research (ISPR) and of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE). This issue is intended to provide recent information on the photosynthetic and biohydrogen production to our readers.

Bioinformatics and systems biology research update from the 15th International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB2016).

The International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB) has been publishing peer-reviewed conference papers in BMC Bioinformatics since 2006. Of the 44 articles accepted for publication in supplement issues of BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Genomics, BMC Medical Genomics and BMC Systems Biology, 24 articles with a bioinformatics or systems biology focus are reviewed in this editorial. InCoB2017 is scheduled to be held in Shenzen, China, September 20-22, 2017.

2016 update on APBioNet's annual international conference on bioinformatics (InCoB).

InCoB became since its inception in 2002 one of the largest annual bioinformatics conferences in the Asia-Pacific region with attendance ranging between 150 and 250 delegates depending on the venue location. InCoB 2016 in Singapore was attended by almost 220 delegates. This year, sessions on structural bioinformatics, sequence and sequencing, and next-generation sequencing fielded the highest number of oral presentation. Forty-four out 96 oral presentations were associated with an accepted manuscript in supplemental issues of BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Genomics, BMC Medical Genomics or BMC Systems Biology. Articles with a genomics focus are reviewed in this editorial. Next year's InCoB will be held in Shenzen, China from September 20 to 22, 2017.

Therapy and clinical trials in frontotemporal dementia: past, present, and future.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a common form of dementia with heterogeneous clinical presentations and distinct clinical syndromes. This article will review currently available therapies for FTD, its related disorders and their clinical evidence. It will also discuss recent advancements in FTD pathophysiology, treatment development, biomarker advancement and their relation to recently completed or currently ongoing clinical trials as well as future implications. Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a type of dementia with distinct clinical syndromes. Current treatments involve off-label use of medications for symptomatic management and cannot modify disease course. Advancements in FTD pathophysiology, genetics, and biomarkers have led to development of small molecules targeting the underlying pathology in hopes of achieving a disease-modifying effect. This article will review current therapies for FTD, discuss advancements in FTD pathophysiology, therapy development, biomarker advancement, their relation to recent clinical trials and future implications. This article is part of the Frontotemporal Dementia special issue.