Vitex negundo Linn.: A decade of advances in phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, and biotechnological interventions (2015-2025) - A comprehensive review.

A single-step cultivation approach for lipid production by Nannochloropsis using a carboxymethyl cellulose‑bonded anaerobic digestate tablet

BackgroundIn the last 20 years, cognitive-behavioral units (CBUs) have been opened in various countries to provide care for patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias who experience severe behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD).ObjectiveThis study examines the perspectives of relatives and healthcare professionals caring for patients in three CBUs in France and highlights key issues in clinical ethics.MethodsUsing the commitment model (a qualitative methodology in clinical ethics), we conducted 154 semi-structured interviews between March 2019 and March 2020, which were subsequently analyzed thematically. The study focused on three CBUs: one in a public hospital and another in a private hospital in the Paris region, and one in a public hospital in the Hauts-de-France region. We interviewed 62 individuals, including 25 relatives and 37 healthcare professionals. Some of the professionals were interviewed several times about their experience with the 30 patients included in the study (18 men and 12 women, average age 79 years).ResultsThree key themes emerged from the interviews: 1) general appreciation for the relational approach adopted in the CBUs, 2) concerns regarding the limitations of care, and 3) distress regarding restrictions to patients' personal freedom.ConclusionsCBUs are a promising and welcome initiatives but would benefit from a reconsideration of cultural approaches to care for older people with BPSD. End-of-life care, interprofessional collaboration and respect for autonomy need to be more thoroughly discussed. In doing so, CBUs could act as catalysts for public debate on the accommodation of people with BPSD.

Flow is an affective and cognitive psychological state characterized by complete absorption, intrinsic enjoyment and enhanced performance. Although flow experience in educational contexts-often termed learning flow-has attracted considerable research attention, empirical findings remain fragmented across studies and theoretical perspectives. This meta-analysis aimed to synthesize existing empirical evidence and systematically examine the antecedents and outcomes of learning flow in academic contexts. Drawing on flow theory and integrating motivational and affective frameworks, the study sought to clarify the nomological network surrounding learning flow. A meta-analysis was conducted based on 108 independent studies comprising a total sample of 42,952 participants. Effect sizes were synthesized to examine associations between learning flow and four conceptual domains: (a) learning task and learning environment characteristics, (b) individual characteristics, (c) individual attitudes and behaviours and (d) interpersonal exchange characteristics. Moderator analyses were performed to assess the potential influence of cultural context and flow measurement approaches. The results indicated that learning flow was positively associated with optimal learning tasks, supportive learning environments, adaptive learner characteristics and high-quality interpersonal interactions. Furthermore, learning flow demonstrated positive associations with key educational outcomes, including academic performance, learning attitudes and psychological well-being. Moderator analyses showed that neither cultural context nor measurement approaches significantly influenced the observed effect sizes. The findings suggest that learning flow emerges from the dynamic interplay of individual, interpersonal and contextual factors within educational environments. Given that most primary studies relied on correlational designs, the results delineate a comprehensive nomological network rather than establishing causal relationships. Overall, the meta-analysis highlights the importance of adopting multilevel perspectives when studying learning flow in educational settings. Future research should further investigate causal mechanisms and longitudinal dynamics to better understand how learning flow develops and influences academic outcomes.

Oligo-cyanobacterial microalgae-bacteria granular sludge for mitigating cyanotoxin risk: Cultivation, characteristics, and formation mechanism.

The aim of this article is to provide a balanced assessment of the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi and his work within the socio-cultural context of Italy during the Mussolini regime, and to determine how the artist's apolitical stance made him a hostage to circumstances under the fascist dictatorship. The research methodology is based on a combination of the principles of historicism, cultural and systemic approaches, general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization), and musicological tools (holistic and comparative analysis). The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that, drawing on foreign sources regarding cultural history and Italian music, as well as the results of a comprehensive comparative analysis of Respighi's musical heritage, the composer's creative biography and music are analyzed for the first time in domestic musicology within the socio-cultural context of 1920s and 1930s Italy. The article reveals how the artistic content of Respighi's music was manipulated by the leaders of the fascist dictatorship, leading to its integration into the process of myth-making and the reinforcement of the cult of personality. Conclusions. Respighi's reliance on national tradition exemplified the centripetal forces in the development of European music in the first half of the 20th century. The cultivation of the national spirit, the inherent decorativeness of the composer's music, and Benito Mussolini's admiration for it led to accusations of «grand nationalism». However, the composer's focus on early Italian music was directed toward genre, style, and content rather than the pursuit of nationalist ideologies. The tragedy of Ottorino Respighi's persona and his music lies in the fact that his traditionalist style and references to Roman history resonated with fascist ideals. It was precisely this resonance that for a long time prevented a balanced assessment of the composer and his creative legacy.

Kampung Sawah is known as one of the multicultural areas in Indonesia, where religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity coexist harmoniously. In this context, Islamic da'wah serves not only as a means of conveying religious teachings but also as a medium of intercultural communication that demands sensitivity, tolerance, and adaptive communication strategies. This study aims to analyze the practice of intercultural communication in Islamic da'wah in the multicultural community of Kampung Sawah, with an emphasis on the communication patterns of da'wah preachers, the da'wah approaches used, and the responses of cross-cultural and interfaith communities to these da'wah activities. This study uses a qualitative approach with descriptive-analytical methods, because it aims to understand in depth the phenomenon of intercultural communication in the practice of Islamic da'wah in the multicultural community of Kampung Sawah. The qualitative approach was chosen to explore the meaning, values, and socio-cultural dynamics that underlie the da'wah process, both from the perspective of the da'wah preacher and the recipient community. The results show that Islamic da'wah in Kampung Sawah tends to use a cultural and dialogical approach, prioritizing universal values ​​such as tolerance, brotherhood, justice, and peace. The preachers not only convey Islamic messages in a normative manner but also accommodate local wisdom, everyday language, and local traditions. This inclusive communication approach has proven effective in building harmonious social relations and minimizing the potential for interfaith conflict. Thus, intercultural communication in Islamic preaching in Kampung Sawah serves as a model of moderate preaching relevant to Indonesia's multicultural society.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is deeply reshaping how culture is communicated, creating both chances to improve efficiency and reach a global audience, but also raising concerns about the loss of authentic culture and biased algorithms. This work builds a three-part structure—technology support-culture fit-system regulation—combining Hofstede's cultural dimensions and new institutionalism to study how generative AI performs in understanding cultural symbols and in cross-cultural storytelling. An examination of how the ChatGPT model series interprets Chinese traditional symbols shows that current AI systems have limits, like oversimplifying culture (for example, linking the dragon symbol too closely with royal power) and creating logical conflicts (the differing Western and Chinese views of the phoenix). It also shows that the cultural alignment of GPT-4 in Chinese (68%) is much better than GPT-3.5 (42%). This research suggests a cultural digital governance approach: creating diverse cultural knowledge banks, creating cultural sensitivity assessment measurements, and applying graded cooperation between people and machines. This provides a source for balancing tech progress and cultural heritage.

Ectoine is a valuable active compound produced by halophilic bacteria with broad applications in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The increasing industrial demand underscores the need for enhanced production capacity and drives the discovery of effective and efficient ectoine-producing bacteria strains. Although Indonesia possesses numerous high-salinity habitats, such as traditional salt ponds, the potential for novel ectoine-producing strains remains underexplored. Therefore, this study aims to isolate ectoine-producing bacteria from traditional salt ponds in Buleleng Regency and optimize the yield of potential isolates. Halophilic bacteria were initially cultivated from saltwater and soil samples on MM63 medium. The ectoine-producing capability of these isolates was then evaluated using a batch culture approach incorporating an osmotic shock step. Ectoine quantification was performed through reversed-phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography using a mobile phase of water/acetonitrile (95/5). To maximize production, a series of optimization experiments determined the ideal media composition, initial pH, incubation temperature, and incubation time. The results showed that seven ectoine-producing halophilic bacteria were successfully isolated, with one of the best isolates being Halomonas huangheensis LES5 AG4. The application of osmotic shock increased ectoine production by up to 3.6-fold, specifically from 94 mg/L to 335 mg/L. Furthermore, ectoine production was significantly increased to 646 mg/L after optimizing several key factors, including ammonium chloride (0.47% w/v), glycerol (1.42% w/v), NaCl (11.67% w/v), Initial pH (7.1), incubation temperature (30 °C), and incubation time (16 hours). These results show that Halomonas huangheensis LES5 AG4 holds significant potential for development as an industrial-scale ectoine producer.

Abstract. The objective need to strengthen the value of the Russian school actualizes the problem of developing the axiological competence of teachers. The purpose of the study: based on the analysis of the deficiencies of the axiological competence of teachers, to determine the current directions for the development of the content of additional professional education. Methodology and methods of research. The methodological basis of the study is the axiological, cultural, competence, activity and personality-oriented approaches. The article reflects the results of an empirical study conducted in the form of a questionnaire among school teachers (2147 participants), other surveys conducted in 17 regions of the Russian Federation in 2025 (more than 5 thousand participants) and the experience of implementing additional professional programs by the Institute of Content and Methods of Teaching named after V. S. Lednev were also taken into account. The results of the study showed that most teachers consider the problem of forming values in schoolchildren as relevant; only a quarter of teachers are confident in their own axiological competence, the majority feel the need for new experience in transmitting values to schoolchildren. Surveys showed the presence of contradictions in the process of developing axiological competence of teachers, which can be resolved in the process of additional professional education. Conclusion. In modern conditions, the axiological competence of teachers is intensively transformed for objective reasons, the emphasis is shifting to the values transmitted by teachers, axiological competence should be considered today as a basic component of the professional competence of teachers, and its new content should be determined by the value core of additional professional education.

Abstract Despite decades of documented ethnic inequalities in Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), the well‐established role of social determinants of health and growing awareness of cultural safety and trauma‐informed practices in supporting children's mental health, their integration into England's SEND policy remains unclear. This study, co‐produced with peer researchers and community stakeholders, examined national and local SEND policy and guidelines in England across three domains: justice and equity; content related to mental health, cultural safety and trauma‐informed practice; and effective implementation. Systematic searches of national documents ( n = 129) and Local Authority websites ( n = 152) identified eligible content analysed using a co‐developed coding framework. We calculated the frequency of content meeting baseline criteria and examined patterns and implications. Findings revealed current policy does not align with aspects of equitable and effective policy. Inequalities are superficially acknowledged with little recognition of social determinants of health. Although SEND provision, particularly for mental health, sits at the crossroads of education and health/healthcare rights, this connection is rarely addressed and requirements for children's participation are inconsistently exemplified. The SEND system lacks clarity in supporting mental health, cultural safety approaches are absent, and clear direction on trauma‐informed practices is missing. Accountability mechanisms are insufficient with poorly defined roles, lack of transparency in complaints processes, inadequate monitoring of inequalities and missing enforcement mechanisms. There is an urgent need to establish a unified rights‐based vision with tangible accountability measures and explicit equity‐orientation to achieve an inclusive and equitable system.

Although accessibility is increasingly understood as socially and relationally shaped, discussions still tend to emphasize structural, institutional, or individually-oriented approaches. This paper extends these conversations by adopting a micro-relational perspective that foregrounds how accessibility is enacted through the sensory, ethical, and interactional work that unfolds between people in everyday life. The paper uses embodied spatial exploration to elicit tacit, relational knowledge often inaccessible through conventional interviews. Drawing on participatory sessions and group discussion with nineteen older adults aged 70-85, the study examines how participants' so-called "complaints" about pace, sound, and interaction function as situated critiques that reveal the hidden cultural and sensory infrastructures of public space. The analysis advances three interrelated concepts. Relational accessibility captures how access to participation is co-produced through reciprocal adjustment rather than determined by individual capacity or spatial design. Embodied mediation highlights how perception, gesture, and affect operate as channels through which people and environments co-create legibility, safety, and comfort. Cultural press describes the moral and social expectations that act as environmental demands shaping participation and belonging. These three concepts reveal accessibility as a situational and ethical process enacted through the interplay of etiquette, perception, and mutual care. By tracing older adults' strategies of slowing, signaling, resisting, and recalibrating, the paper extends environmental perspectives beyond structural fit and cultural approaches beyond representation. It concludes that accessibility in later life depends not only on built environments but on the ethics of coexistence and the collective capacity to notice, adjust, and care within shared spaces.

Over the past decade, there has been a robust increase in the number of Physician Assistant/Associate (PA) Programs operating in the United States. Curriculum design and construction remains a major activity and strategic priority for our profession as PA education faculty. However, our curriculum design, redesign, and renewal initiatives are often focused on unique and idiosyncratic changes or "tinkering" that can lead to curriculum dilution and drift. An alternative approach to curriculum design is to view the curriculum as a culture. Through this lens, curriculum design becomes a reculturing that provides programs with opportunities to embed curricular values into the learning environment, curricular decision making, and learner-centered educational experiences. This article reflects on a decade of curricular reculturing in our program including how we designed and built the Colorado Curriculum using a curricular culture approach, the pressures it encountered, and the intersections at which we find ourselves as we identify current opportunities for re-engagement. Most importantly we identify and share our major lessons learned including the profound cultural shift activated by such a cultural approach; the substantial time investment required; and the critical commitments to conscious and consistent communication and onboarding needed to hold the program and change initiative together.

Forced displacement has reached unprecedented levels, with over 120 million people uprooted globally and more than 100,000 refugees resettled in the United States in 2024. Refugees arrive with diverse cultural identities, prior professional roles, and experiences of trauma, yet often face systemic barriers, clinician bias, and unmet health needs. This article offers a practical framework grounded in holistic, person-centered values for delivering palliative nursing care to refugee communities. It outlines the complex resettlement journey and highlights how structural inequities, institutional racism, and communication barriers can undermine trust and care delivery. Cultural humility is defined and proposed as a guiding principle. Through real-world examples, communication strategies, and evidence-based insights, the authors demonstrate how care grounded in this principle can promote dignity, build trust, and improve outcomes. Special attention is given to interpreter use, social integration, and the importance of recognizing both cultural differences and individual strengths. When combined with the interdisciplinary, person-centered principles of palliative care-such as symptom management, effective communication, and cultural and spiritual respect-a strengths-based approach can enhance how care is delivered to displaced populations. By understanding the sociocultural and systemic factors that shape the refugee experience, nurses can better meet the complex needs of these patients and their families.

Noroviruses (NoVs) are a leading cause of foodborne diseases (FBDs). Detecting infectious NoV in food is not possible because cell culture approaches are not sensitive enough and compatible with such complex matrices. For this reason, the available standard methods that can be used in routine screening only enable the detection of NoV genome in food, without distinguishing between infectious and non-infectious viruses. Moreover, NoV FBDs commonly involve other microorganisms (viruses, bacteria), which complicates diagnosis and investigation, hence the advantage of using sensitive multiplex PCR-based methods. The BioFire® FilmArray® Gastrointestinal Panel (BF-GIP) was evaluated as an alternative method for detecting NoV genome in food, compared to the ISO 15216-2 standard method and in compliance with ISO standard 16140-2. A total of 60 vegetable-based food samples were tested. BF-GIP sensitivity (62.7%) was close to that of the standard method (64.4%). BF-GIP generated a false positive rate of 10%. For the overall level of detection, no significant difference was shown between BF-GIP and the standard method. Food sample processing methods that generate high virus recovery rates are essential to improving NoV detection with BF-GIP.

Distinct anti-inflammatory activities of bioavailable forms of cinnamaldehyde and cinnamon polyphenols: Insight from serum-based, ex vivo, and in vivo analyses.

Abstract Yeast complementation assays provide a robust in vivo platform for characterizing the permeability and pH gating of transmembrane channels. This article details a liquid culture approach to quantify urea and ammonia transport using Saccharomyces cerevisiae deletion strains. Functional complementation, evidenced by cell growth in selective medium with urea or ammonia as the sole nitrogen source, directly reports on channel activity, generating solute‐specific permeability and pH‐dependency profiles. We present step‐by‐step procedures using the bacterial urea channel Hp UreI of Helicobacter pylori , including two variants (A57C and L134C) for urea permeability and Hp UreI, Hp UreI E177Q, and human h AQP8 for ammonia transport. By monitoring growth across a pH range, this method enables semi‐quantitative comparison of channel function. The assay is cost effective, scalable to high‐throughput formats, and adaptable for studying diverse solutes, protein homologs, or mutants. It also serves as an efficient pre‐screening tool for affinity tag placement before in vitro characterization. Unlike in vitro reconstitution, this approach preserves native protein‐lipid interactions and avoids purification artifacts, allowing direct comparison to wild‐type proteins. Though less quantitatively precise than in vitro methods, it offers higher throughput and solute flexibility compared to oocyte expression systems. © 2026 The Author(s). Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol : Quantifying urea permeability and pH gating using a yeast complementation growth assay Alternate Protocol : Adapting the yeast complementation assay to assess ammonia permeability and pH dependency

Introduction. The problem associated with the expansion of the methodological tools of teaching in the higher education system determines the purpose of this article - to identify the specifics and trends of updating the Russian system of higher education based on a review and evaluation of the cultural and value-based content of modern challenges. Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the study is the cultural approach, as a scholarly basis for identifying the specifics of updating the Russian system of higher education and the systems approach as a methodology for selecting research investigations to identify trends, as well as general logical methods of scientific knowledge: analysis, synthesis, generalization, induction, deduction, and systematization. Results. Modern research investigations have identified five key vectors for transforming the higher education system: a focus on achieving sustainable development goals, a focus on the widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI), a focus on humanization, a focus on developing personal qualities and soft skills, and a focus on developing intercultural competence and cultural intelligence. Conclusions. Based on a review and evaluation of the cultural and value-based content of modern challenges, the specific features and trends of the renewal of the Russian higher education system have been identified: total digitalization of the higher education system, based on the widespread use of artificial intelligence; axiologization of teaching and learning in higher education, implying the enrichment of the educational content with personal and professional value meanings; expansion of the methodological basis for designing teaching and learning in higher education; reconceptualization of the educational outcomes: from a competence-based model of a graduate to a model of their personal and professional development, one of the substantive elements of which is the socio-humanitarian culture of the individual, understood as a holistic dynamic formation, a multifaceted structure in which values shape a worldview, intelligence ensures awareness, and activities enhance the implementation of cultural meanings in practice.

ABSTRACT This paper advances a decolonial critique of artistic gymnastics by examining how ideals of the ‘perfect’ gymnastic body are historically produced and policed through Eurocentric aesthetic regimes. Focusing on Daiane dos Santos and Rebeca Andrade (Brazil) and Alexa Moreno (Mexico), it argues that Latin American gymnasts expand the sport’s symbolic boundaries by legitimizing Afro-diasporic and Global South cultural repertoires and challenging body-based stereotypes. Using a historical–cultural approach informed by Vygotsky, Freire, Bourdieu and Djamila Ribeiro, the analysis interprets these performances as embodied interventions in disputes over value, legitimacy and voice. The paper contributes to the philosophy of sport and decolonial sport studies by reframing gymnastics aesthetics as a site of epistemic injustice.

This paper focuses on a handful of films made between Italy and Algeria in the late 1960s. I analyse the trajectory from political and militant interactions—Ennio Lorenzini’s Le Mains libres and Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers, La Battaglia di Algeri, both produced in Algeria by the Casbah film—to more strictly industrial and financial preoccupations which we can trace in a heterogenous group of films: Luchino Visconti’s The Stranger (Lo straniero, 1967), an adaptation of Camus’s book of the same title; Sergio Spina’s The Golden Donkey (L’asino d'oro: processo per fatti strani contro Lucius Apuleius cittadino romano, 1970), based on Apuleius’ Metamorphoses; Mario Monicelli’s comedy Brancaleone at the Crusades (Brancaleone alle crociate, 1970), and Enzo Peri’s Spaghetti Western Death Walks in Laredo (Tre pistole contro Cesare, 1967). Combining an archival, historical, and cultural approach with a consideration of the business models involved, I discuss why these Italian directors and producers went to Algeria, what kind of collaborations were in place, and what were the long-lasting effects of these productions.