Critical Ingredient Research Articles

Research Progress of Hyaluronic Acid-Coated Nanocarriers in Targeted Cancer Therapy.

Background: Hyaluronic acid (HA), as a critical ingredient of extracellular matrix (ECM) and synovial fluid, has attracted extensive attention in targeted tumor thearpy. The superiority of HA is reflected as its great biocompatibility, biodegradability and special binding ability to CD44 receptor. Moreover, CD44 receptor proteins are overexpressed in many kinds of tumor cells and cancer stem cells (CSCs). Therefore, HA is commonly used as ligands for the surface modification of versatile nanocarriers applied in various tumor therapy approaches. Methods: We reviewed a large amount of literature and summarized the unique properties of HA, the rationale for the use of HA as tumor-specific carrier for drug delivery, catabolism of HA coated nanocarriers and research achievements of frequently-used HA-modified organic and inorganic nanocarries. Results: We concluded the significant applications of HA coated nanocarriers in tumor Chemotherapy and chemoresistance, Combination therapy and Cancer theranostics. Conclusion: The application prospect of HA-coated nanocarriers will be more extensive for various targeting combination therapy and theranostics. was concluded so as to provide some potential thoughts for targeted tumor thearpy and even diagnosis.

University Management System

University Management System (UMS) is designed to automate the everyday operations of administrative, academic functions in higher degree education institutions. UMS are using integrated features like online registration for students, administration file maintenance of colleges faculty details course scheduling fee transactions academic performance monitoring in simple manner. We have seen an incredible change in thesesystems over the years, largely due to increased demands for digital transformation from schools. Today, there are cloud-based access to modern UMS solutions in place which allows institutions manage their data efficiently while retaining it on secure physical storage. These systems also come with mobile capabilities that are very useful in allowing students and faculty to remain up-to-date on the latest information. Advanced data analytics has become a critical ingredient as well, enabling administrators to balance the scales through academic planning, resource allocation and performance measurement. Education institutions are increasingly using digital ways of working and UMS have enabled these organizations to streamline processes, strengthen communication channels thus making the educational journey better for all stakeholders. Keywords— University Management System (UMS), higher education, administrative automation, academic processes, cloud-based access, mobile-friendly interface, data analytics, student registration.

Invention and characterization of a systemically administered, attenuated and killed bacteria-based multiple immune receptor agonist for anti-tumor immunotherapy.

Activation of immune receptors, such as Toll-like (TLR), NOD-like (NLR) and Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) is critical for efficient innate and adaptive immunity. Gram-negative bacteria (G-NB) contain multiple TLR, NOD and STING agonists. Potential utility of G-NB for cancer immunotherapy is supported by observations of tumor regression in the setting of infection and Coley's Toxins. Coley reported that intravenous (i.v.) administration was likely most effective but produced uncontrollable toxicity. The discovery of TLRs and their agonists, particularly the potent TLR4 agonist lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-endotoxin, comprising ~75% of the outer membrane of G-NB, suggests that LPS may be both a critical active ingredient and responsible for dose-limiting i.v. toxicity of G-NB. This communication reports the production of killed, stabilized, intact bacteria products from non-pathogenic G-NB with ~96% reduction of LPS-endotoxin activity. One resulting product candidate, Decoy10, was resistant to standard methods of cell disruption and contained TLR2,4,8,9, NOD2 and STING agonist activity. Decoy10 also exhibited reduced i.v. toxicity in mice and rabbits, and a largely uncompromised ability to induce cytokine and chemokine secretion by human immune cells in vitro, all relative to unprocessed, parental bacterial cells. Decoy10 and a closely related product, Decoy20, produced single agent anti-tumor activity or combination-mediated durable regression of established subcutaneous, metastatic or orthotopic colorectal, hepatocellular (HCC), pancreatic, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) tumors in mice, with induction of both innate and adaptive immunological memory (syngeneic and human tumor xenograft models). Decoy bacteria combination-mediated regressions were observed with a low-dose, oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), anti-PD-1 checkpoint therapy, low-dose cyclophosphamide (LDC), and/or a targeted antibody (rituximab). Efficient tumor eradication was associated with plasma expression of 15-23 cytokines and chemokines, broad induction of cytokine, chemokine, innate and adaptive immune pathway genes in tumors, cold to hot tumor inflammation signature transition, and required NK, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, collectively demonstrating a role for both innate and adaptive immune activation in the anti-tumor immune response.

Extent of Locally Sourced Feed Ingredients and Performance of Feed Mill Entreprises in Southwest, Nigeria

Promoting local sourcing of raw materials for firms in Nigeria has become one of the critical areas of government policies. In achieving this, the government introduced a ban on the importation of grains/cereals, which are critical ingredients in feed production for the feed mill industry. Hence, this study examines the extent (share) of locally sourced feed ingredients and its implications on the performance of feed mills in Southwest, Nigeria. Primary data used for this study was analysed using descriptive statistics and fractional probit regression. Firm’s age, quantity of feed produced and location of the feed mills significantly determined the share of locally sourced feed ingredients in feed production of feed mills in the region while level of education of feed mill operators, firm’s age, quantity of feed produced and proportion of locally sourced feed ingredients had significant effect on the performance (profitability) of feed mill entreprises in the area. It was therefore recommended that policies on improving infrastructure, production of feed ingredients, and addressing insecurity should be prioritised rather than promoting a ban on the importation of critical feed ingredients for the feed mill industry in Nigeria.

Determinants and strategies for successful scale-up of health interventions in the Netherlands

Abstract Background Although many evidence-based health interventions are proven effective, the process of scaling up is often complex and challenging. Yet, some interventions have managed to achieve successful scale-up. This provides a window of opportunity to learn from those experiences to inform future scale up processes. Objectives This mixed-methods study aimed to assess determinants and scale-up strategies contributing to successful scale-up of health promotion interventions in the Netherlands. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with intervention owners (i.e. the individual or team taking the responsible for several aspects related to implementation and scale-up) (N = 25) of successfully scaled interventions (implemented across various health behaviours and different settings), and other relevant stakeholders (N = 10) involved in scaling up. Additionally, a survey was distributed among interventions (N = 306) registered in a national intervention database to assess scale-up experiences. Results Scale-up is often the result of a combination of determinants, such as persistent commitment of intervention owners and stakeholders, new funding opportunities, and accreditation by institutions. Several scale-up strategies were identified related to funding (e.g. reducing costs by setting up collaborations), organizational processes (e.g. infrastructure to support implementation), monitoring and evaluation, and dissemination and advocacy. Conclusions Achieving successful scale-up does not happen automatically and continuous effort of the intervention owner is crucial. There is no such thing as one successful scaling strategy which succeeds across all contexts. The intervention owner typically takes the lead in diverse scaling pathways, where sufficient time, funding, the right moment and added value form the critical ingredients for success. Funding: This study was funded by ZonMw. Key messages • Crucial elements of achieving scale-up are the continuous effort of the intervention owner, sufficient time, funding, the right moment and added value of the intervention. • Funding should not me allocated for new initiatives but also for continuous development of interventions, ongoing evaluation and covering overhead costs.

Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Conceivable Compounds from Glehnia littoralis Leaf Extract on RAW264.7 Cells.

Glehnia littoralis is a medicinal plant, but the scientific basis is still unclear. This study thoroughly investigated phenols from Glehnia littoralis extract (GLE) to determine their potential as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS) were used to analyze the compounds in GLE. In addition, we performed GLE in vitro in macrophages after lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation. The extract contained eight peaks representing phenolic compounds and one peak representing riboflavin, with the corresponding mass spectrometry data documented. These biologically active compounds were purified by ultrafiltration using LC to determine their ability to target cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). The results showed that significant compounds were identified, demonstrating a binding affinity for both COX-2 and DPPH. This suggests that the compounds showing excellent binding affinity for COX-2 and DPPH may be the main active ingredients. Vital inflammatory cytokines, including COX-2, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), were found to be down-regulated during the treatment. In addition, we revealed that the selected drugs exhibited potent binding capacity to inflammatory factors through molecular docking studies. In addition, we confirmed the presence of phenolic components in GLE extract and verified their possible anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This study provided evidence for an efficient strategy to identify critical active ingredients from various medicinal plants. These data may serve as a baseline for further investigations of applying GLE in the pharmaceutical industry.

The Alchemy of Leadership: Crafting a Symphony of Workplace Happiness

In today’s fast-evolving business world, workplace happiness is no longer seen as a mere bonus—it’s recognized as a cornerstone of success. Companies are beginning to understand that happy employees aren’t just more productive; they are more creative, engaged, and loyal. Central to this realization is the role that leadership plays. Leaders are not just tasked with driving results, but also with fostering a culture where happiness is prioritized as much as performance. This paper explores the profound connection between leadership and workplace happiness. It dives deep into how different leadership styles can either nurture or hinder employee well-being. By examining real-world examples from organizations like Google, Zappos, Patagonia, and Southwest Airlines—companies renowned for their positive work cultures—we can see how the right kind of leadership can create environments where happiness flourishes. These companies show us that when leaders truly value the happiness of their teams, the result isn’t just happier employees; teams are more engaged, innovative, and ultimately, more successful. The discussion doesn’t stop at the surface-level practices of these companies. It goes further to highlight the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership. Leaders who are emotionally aware and empathetic are better equipped to understand their employees' needs and create a supportive, positive atmosphere. This emotional intelligence is a critical ingredient in building a workplace where happiness isn’t just a goal but a driving force for both personal and organizational growth. Ultimately, this paper underscores that leadership and workplace happiness are deeply intertwined. When leaders create a space where people feel valued and fulfilled, it improves individual well-being and drives the entire organization toward greater success.

A Systematic Literature Review on Alternative Options For Halal Critical Ingredients In Halal Pharmaceutical and Cosmetics

A Systematic Literature Review on Alternative Options For Halal Critical Ingredients In Halal Pharmaceutical and Cosmetics

Workplace resilience and compassionate care among Jordanian private sector nurses

BackgroundCompassionate care is a hallmark of the nursing profession. Yet, nursing is beset by perennial problems, not the least of which is nursing shortage and increased workload. As such, resilience becomes a critical ingredient that nurses must possess to overcome such challenges. However, there needs to be more evidence of the relationship between compassionate care and resilience within the Jordanian nursing context.AimTo explore the relationship between workplace resilience and compassionate care among Jordanian nurses working in the private sector.MethodsThe study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional correlational design. Convenience sampling with inclusion-exclusion criteria was used to select participants from three private hospitals in Jordan. The Compassionate Care Questionnaire was used to measure levels of compassionate care, and the Resilience at Work Scale was used to measure workplace resilience. Ethical approval was obtained before data collection.ResultsA total of 161 nurses participated in the study. Participants had high levels of compassionate care and workplace resilience. Male nurses and nurses with lower workloads had significantly higher levels of compassionate care. Likewise, older nurses, nurses with postgraduate degrees, and nurses with experience of less than 5 years in the current area had significantly higher levels of workplace resilience. Compassionate care had a mordantly solid and significant positive relationship with workplace resilience and all its seven dimensions (living authentically, finding one’s calling, maintaining perspective, managing stress, interacting cooperatively, staying healthy, and building networks.ConclusionDeveloping workplace resilience can support nurses in implementing compassionate care. Nurse Managers and hospital administrators must consider the effects of compassionate care and workplace resilience on nurses and patients. Future research can include a longitudinal exploration of compassionate care and workplace resilience and an investigation of the levels of these variables outside a hospital setting.

Dialogue agents 101: a beginner’s guide to critical ingredients for designing effective conversational systems

Abstract Sharing ideas through communication with peers is the primary mode of human interaction. Consequently, extensive research has been conducted in the area of conversational AI, leading to an increase in the availability and diversity of conversational tasks, datasets, and methods. However, with numerous tasks being explored simultaneously, the current landscape of conversational AI has become fragmented. Consequently, initiating a well-thought-out model for a dialogue agent can pose significant challenges for a practitioner. Toward highlighting the critical ingredients needed for a practitioner to design a dialogue agent from scratch, the current study provides a comprehensive overview of the primary characteristics of a dialogue agent, the supporting tasks, their corresponding open-domain datasets, and the methods used to benchmark these datasets. We observe that different methods have been used to tackle distinct dialogue tasks. However, building separate models for each task is costly and does not leverage the correlation among the several tasks of a dialogue agent. As a result, recent trends suggest a shift toward building unified foundation models. To this end, we propose Unit, a Unified dialogue dataset constructed from conversations of varying datasets for different dialogue tasks capturing the nuances for each of them. We then train a Unified dialogue foundation model, GPT-2 $^{\textrm{U}}$ and present a concise comparative performance of GPT-2 $^{\textrm{U}}$ against existing large language models. We also examine the evaluation strategies used to measure the performance of dialogue agents and highlight the scope for future research in the area of conversational AI with a thorough discussion of popular models such as ChatGPT.

Applying Communication Science to Substance Use Prevention Messaging.

Despite a wealth of evidence-based messaging on youth alcohol and drug prevention, there remains a dearth of research on how to construct and deliver these messages effectively. Communication science is useful for increasing the efficacy of these messages in reducing substance use risk among youth. This study explores the perspectives of youth and youth-serving providers to identify theory-informed substance use prevention messages and strategies and how the content and delivery of prevention messages evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a secondary analysis of qualitative data derived from focus groups with 53 youth ages 13 to 18 years and 18 youth-serving providers conducted in the USA between 2021 and 2022. The results describe theory-informed strategies that are important to consider when constructing effective substance use prevention messaging for youth, including preferences around key communication framework constructs, including sources, content, channels, and context. An element that emerged across the communication constructs was the saliency of "connection" in youth substance use prevention messaging content. Findings point to the need to further explore connection related to having shared experiences and the extent to which these dimensions are critical ingredients to effective substance use prevention.

Facing the Unprecedented: Event Centers' Challenges and Interventions Amid COVID-19

The research investigates the complex issues and strategic interventions an event center has to deal with during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the study identified significant challenges, such as a vast decline in profitability, transport-related problems, the loss of clientele, and acute liquidity problems. Safety and security concerns and the inability to maintain the operation cost contributed to and complicated the center's struggles. Challenges were met at the center by cutting utility and operating costs, revising marketing strategies, giving incentives to customers, and embracing technology. The lesson learned is that adaptability, innovation, and strategic planning are critical ingredients in managing crises. The management deftly rode out the unprecedented disruptions by keeping the business plan updated, carrying out market research, and creating a sense of commitment. The recommendations at the end of the study were focused on cost efficiency, marketing, the infusion of technology, and building resilient organizations for long-term growth.

An offline data-driven dual-surrogate framework considering prediction error for history matching

High computer power has long been a critical ingredient that affects the effectiveness and efficiency of history matching. Data-driven surrogate modeling as an efficient strategy can accelerate the history-matching process by constructing machine learning-based models with high computing speed but reduced accuracy. However, the applicability of surrogate models for different history-matching problems is uncertain due to the influence of data quality and quantity, model architectures, and hyperparameters. To overcome this issue, an offline data-driven dual-surrogate framework (ODDF) that considers the prediction error of surrogate models for history matching is proposed, where one surrogate model predicts the production data of reservoirs and the other one learns the prediction error of the former surrogate. The first surrogate model considers the time-series characteristics of production data using a recurrent neural network, while the second surrogate model regards the two-dimensional spatial correlation characteristics of multivariate prediction error using a fully convolutional neural network. Furthermore, an enhanced error model is applied to incorporate the prediction error into the objective function to reduce the influence of the prediction error on inversion results. Based on this hybrid framework, one can improve the prediction accuracy of surrogate models in history matching when the architectures or hyperparameters of surrogate models are not optimal. Additionally, one can obtain satisfactory results for history matching and uncertainty quantification based on surrogate modeling. The proposed framework is validated on the history matching of two- and three-dimensional reservoir models. The results show that the proposed method is robust in constructing the surrogate models and predicting the production data of reservoirs, which improves the efficiency and reliability of history matching.

Persistence of Correlations in Neurotransmitter Transport through the Synaptic Cleft.

The "quantum brain" proposal can revolutionize our understanding of cognition if proven valid. The core of the most common "quantum brain" mechanism is the appearance of correlated neuron triggering induced by quantum correlations between ions. In this work, we examine the preservation of the correlations created in the pre-synaptic neurons through the transfer of neurotransmitters across the synaptic cleft, a critical ingredient for the validity of the "quantum brain" hypothesis. We simulated the transport of two neurotransmitters at two different clefts, with the only assumption that they start simultaneously, and determined the difference in their first passage times. We show that in physiological conditions, the correlations are persistent even if the parameters of the two neurons are different.

Friends, experts or witches: doing feminist research in challenging political contexts

The article explores methodological and ethical tensions arising from positionality and reflexivity while doing feminist research in a challenging parliamentary setting, specifically one that includes radical-right populist actors that use anti-gender rhetoric. Reflecting upon positionality is vital for qualitative researchers, especially those engaged in critical feminist research, where gendered power hierarchies between researchers and their environment demand daily manoeuvring and subsequent analytical concern. We explore how the gender of the researchers, gender equality as a research topic, our feminist positionalities, and intersectional aspects shaped the research process in the context of the European Parliament. The article contributes to the literature on feminist positionalities and reflexivity by discussing not only the ambiguities emerging from our empirical research choices, such as engaging with radical-right actors, but also the other ‘critical ingredients’ that feminism handles, such as identities, relationships, power and affects, reflecting how they are interwoven with relationships and interactions in the field.

Mixed finite elements for Kirchhoff–Love plate bending

We present a mixed finite element method with triangular and parallelogram meshes for the Kirchhoff–Love plate bending model. Critical ingredient is the construction of low-dimensional local spaces and appropriate degrees of freedom that provide conformity in terms of a sufficiently large tensor space and that allow for any kind of physically relevant Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. For Dirichlet boundary conditions and polygonal plates, we prove quasi-optimal convergence of the mixed scheme. An a posteriori error estimator is derived for the special case of the biharmonic problem. Numerical results for regular and singular examples illustrate our findings. They confirm expected convergence rates and exemplify the performance of an adaptive algorithm steered by our error estimator.

Comparison of qualitative and quantitative performance of two portable near-infrared spectrometers for intact Rehmanniae Radix and calibration transfer

As a Chinese herbal medicine with high medical value, Rehmanniae Radix (RR) has a wide variety of geographical origins leading to distinctly diverse quality, and moisture content during storage affects the critical active ingredient content. In this work, two portable near-infrared (NIR) spectrometers, DLP NIRscan Nano (DLP) and VIAVI MicroNIR 1700 (M1700) were used for in-situ spectral acquisition from intact RR. The partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was employed for three geographical sources (Shandong, Shanxi, Henan). After multiple pre-processing and wavelength selection, the M1700-based PLS-DA model, accuracy (Acc), sensitivity (Sen), and specificity (Spe), achieved 100 % accuracy. In contrast, model predictions using the low-cost instrument (DLP) was not satisfactory. The partial least squares regression (PLSR) was applied to predict the moisture content of RR. The best correlation coefficients in the prediction set (R2p), Root Mean Square Error of Prediction (RMSEP), and residual prediction deviation (RPD) values (0.98, 0.98, 4.98) were obtained by DLP and were also employed for comparison with the M1700 model (0.99, 0.70, 7.00). Therefore, to further improve the model prediction effect of the low-cost DLP, we employed the improved principal component analysis (IPCA), direct standardization (DS), and piecewise direct standardization (PDS) calibration transfer techniques. Unequivocally, IPCA optimized the origin identification model (Acc, Sen, and Spe were all 1.00), the moisture content prediction model RPD was increased by 23 %, and its RMSEP was reduced by 18 %, leading to the improvement in prediction accuracy of the DLP model. This study provides a portable and low-cost detection method for the in-situ evaluation of the quality of RR quality and a feasible solution for the NIR techniques to be used in the rapid and accurate in-situ analysis of RR.

The teaching of the Art and Science of Medicine

Teaching of medicine hails back to the age of Hippocrates; in the “Oath” he considers his teachers equal to his parents. Teaching, clinical practice and research constitute the three pillars of medicine, and they are interconnected. The methods of teaching medicine are very important. Auditorium lectures are being replaced by teaching in small groups and problem-oriented teaching. Still the enthusiasm of the teacher who can also become a mentor is a critical ingredient. The teacher should not just transmit but also create knowledge. The advent of artificial intelligence provides new auxiliary tools but also poses new challenges. We must not forget that we are shaping the future of tomorrow.

ENHANCING STUNTING REDUCTION THROUGH COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE: CONCEPTS AND IMPLEMENTATION IN BREBES REGENCY

The issue of stunting is a severe hindrance to the next generation and poses serious challenges for upgrading human resources in low-income states. Brebes Regency in Central Java successfully halved malnutrition due to the right strategy. This paper examines the methods used by Brebes to achieve this decrease, employing a descriptive qualitative research method through observations, literature reviews, and interviews. The research results show that Brebes implemented collaborative governance using two theories: collaborative governance and the Penta Helix cooperation paradigm. This approach integrated resources, revitalized community empowerment, and improved coordination and communication among stakeholders. To conceptually develop some critical requisite ingredients for institutionalizing collaboration, the thesis derives a conceptual framework and proposes ways to fill these gaps. Although impressive improvements have been made in reducing stunting rates, further refinements in collaborative governance practices are required for continued effectiveness. These lessons provide a template for potential strategies that may need to be implemented in other regions, emphasizing the necessity of cross-sector cooperation and holistic governance approaches.

Doing process research in international business

Process research develops our understanding of the emergence, flow, and evolution of phenomena over time through ongoing activities and events. The field of international business has long been concerned with developing an understanding of various kinds of processes over time. Yet, several international business scholars have called for more studies that recognize the process-based nature of international business phenomena. This paper therefore discusses the challenges of process research in international business and offers insight into how they may be addressed. We draw on the broader methodological literature and on exemplar process studies in international business to explore and illustrate a repertoire of methodological tools that may be useful in assembling the three critical ingredients of high-quality process research: rich process data, insightful process theory, and credible but creative coupling between the two.