Research Excellence Research Articles

Abstract A083: Personalized targeted circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and T-cell responses after combined neoantigen vaccine and immune checkpoint blockade in ovarian cancer

Abstract A083: Personalized targeted circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and T-cell responses after combined neoantigen vaccine and immune checkpoint blockade in ovarian cancer

What impact has the Centre of Research Excellence in Digestive Health made in the field of gastrointestinal health in Australia and internationally? Study protocol for impact evaluation using the FAIT framework

IntroductionThe need for public research funding to be more accountable and demonstrate impact beyond typical academic outputs is increasing. This is particularly challenging and the science behind this form of...

Assessment of the methodological, recommendation and reporting quality of global guidelines for neck pain and synthesis of evidence and recommendations: a systematic review protocol

IntroductionNeck pain is a global health problem that can cause severe disability and a huge medical burden. Clinical practice guideline (CPG) is an important basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment....

Fostering research excellence among Ayurveda postgraduate scholars: The PG-STAR initiative

Fostering research excellence among Ayurveda postgraduate scholars: The PG-STAR initiative

Preliminary checklist on species composition of small mammals and birds in Marine Research Excellence Centre (MAREC), Pulau Tuba.

Located in Langkawi archipelago, Andaman Sea, Pulau Tuba is one of the islands that is densely protected as a forest reserve. We investigated and documented the species composition of small mammals and birds at two different sites in the forest of UiTM Marine Research Excellence Centre (MAREC). Wire cage traps were used to capture non-volant small mammals while mist nets were used to capture bats and understorey birds. A total of 35 individuals were captured consisting of four species of small mammals and four species of birds. Among the most abundant species captured were Rattus tiomanicus, Leopoldamys sabanus and Cynopterus brachyotis. The calculated Shannon diversity index was 1.58 indicating a low diversity of small mammals and birds within the area. Our current study stipulated that few individuals were caught due to the rainy season affecting Pulau Tuba during the study period. Further surveys and studies should be conducted for a longer period in different seasons so that more species of fauna can be documented.

Welcome to ChemSci Advances

Welcome to the inaugural issue of ChemSci Advances, a pioneering journal at the forefront of advancing the chemical sciences. We are thrilled to introduce this platform dedicated to fostering innovation, collaboration, and excellence in the field of chemistry. ChemSci Advances aims to provide a dynamic forum for researchers, scholars, and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to share their groundbreaking research, insightful perspectives, and innovative methodologies. Our interdisciplinary approach encompasses all areas of chemistry, from fundamental principles to applied technologies, with a focus on addressing pressing societal issues and driving sustainable development. ChemSci Advances stands as a beacon of interdisciplinary collaboration, bridging various disciplines within chemistry and related fields. In this inaugural edition, we present a diverse array of high-quality articles, including original research, comprehensive reviews, and insightful communications. These contributions exemplify the breadth and depth of research excellence within the chemical sciences, covering a wide range of topics and methodologies. Each article represents a significant step forward in advancing our understanding of the chemical sciences and unlocking new possibilities for innovation and discovery. We invite researchers and scholars from around the world to join us in shaping the future of chemical sciences by submitting their groundbreaking research to ChemSci Advances. Together, we can catalyze innovation and progress in chemical sciences, addressing global challenges and driving technological advancements.

On the elements of an excellent research paper

Journal publications play a key role in the dissemination of research findings in the biomedical acoustics community. However, authors are often unsure of how to write a paper that will be considered as excellent by their peers, because the notion of excellence is arguably subjective and ill-defined. To demystify such an issue, this presentation will discuss four major elements (novelty, significance, rigor, writing quality) that are often found in excellent journal papers in biomedical ultrasound. Since 2022, these four elements have been adopted as the peer review criteria by the flagship ultrasonics journal of the IEEE press. Multi-day writing workshops with interactive, hands-on tutorials have been designed to engage prospective authors on how to plan and prepare journal manuscripts with the four elements of excellence. Reviewer training workshops have also been offered to inform journal reviewers about these evaluation criteria and expectations. Through these initiatives, we aim to establish a quality-driven publishing emphasis within the biomedical acoustics community. Achieving so will have long-term benefits on the reputation and growth of this research field.

Implications of graphene-based materials in dentistry: present and future.

Since the advent of nanoscience, nanobiomaterials have been applied in the dental industry. Graphene and its derivatives have attracted the most interest of all of them due to their exceptional look, biocompatibility, multiplication differential, and antibacterial capabilities. We outlined the most recent developments about their applications to dentistry in our review. There is discussion of the synthesis processes, architectures, and characteristics of materials based on graphene. The implications of graphene and its counterparts are then meticulously gathered and described. Finally, in an effort to inspire more excellent research, this paper explores the obstacles and potential of graphene-based nanomaterials for dental aspects.

Defining the Balearic Islands’ Tourism Data Space: An Approach to Functional and Data Requirements

The definition of a tourism data space (TDS) in the Balearic Islands is a complex process that involves identifying the types of questions to be addressed, including analytical tools, and determining the type of information to be incorporated. This study delves into the functional requirements of a Balearic Islands’ TDS based on the study of scientific research carried out in the field of tourism in the Balearic Islands and drawing comparisons with international scientific research in the field of tourism information. Utilizing a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature, this study identifies the scientific requirements that should be met for the development of a robust, rigorous, and efficient TDS. The goal is to support excellent scientific research in tourism and facilitate the transfer of research results to the productive sector to maintain and improve the competitiveness of the Balearic Islands as a tourist destination. The results of the analysis provide a structured framework for the construction of the Balearic Islands’ TDS, outlining objectives, methods to be implemented, and information to be considered.

Graduate prospects explain undergraduate program standing in university league sports science tables.

UK university undergraduate programs are compared by independent subject-specific rankings (Complete, Guardian, and Times), based on data from the National Student Survey, Higher Education Statistics Agency, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, Research Excellence Framework, and the universities. The sports and exercise science program at the University of Glasgow has steadily risen to currently rank as the top UK program. This investigation aimed to identify the underlying factors that explain this. Therefore, we obtained underlying scores for entry standard, student satisfaction, research foundation, graduate prospects, staff-to-student ratio, expenditure/student, continuation, program support to students, and teaching quality from the ranking providers for years 2010-2024, and statistically modeled which factors significantly affected the rankings. We found that entry standards and graduate prospects strongly correlated significantly with ranking results. Principal component analysis indicated that a model of graduate prospects and entry standards explained 66.2% of the variance in ranking results. Multiple linear regression with all underlying factors included in the model indicated they explained 78% (R2 = 0.78) of the total variance, while stepwise elimination of insignificant factors identified graduate prospects as the sole factor that significantly affected outcome by explaining 71% (R2 = 0.71) of the variance. Therefore, the primary predictor of ranking success in UK university league tables for sports science is graduates' professional success (graduate prospects).NEW & NOTEWORTHY University rankings are used by applicants and stakeholders to judge programs, including undergraduate studies. In the rankings, undergraduate UK programs are compared and contrasted against each other based on how they score for criteria that affect student life and future prospects. Here, we determined the relative influence of those criteria and found that graduate prospects, how students professionally benefit from their study after graduation, is the factor that matters most for the ranking results.

Bibliometric Exploration of Publication Development in Entrepreneurship Education

This research presents a bibliometric exploration of publication development in entrepreneurship education, aiming to elucidate trends, research focuses, and emerging opportunities within the field. Entrepreneurship education has gained prominence as a crucial discipline in academia and practice, reflecting the growing recognition of entrepreneurship's role in economic and societal advancement. Through bibliometric analysis techniques, including citation analysis, keyword analysis, and visualization methods, a comprehensive examination of scholarly publications related to entrepreneurship education from 1977 to 2023 was conducted. The findings offer insights into publication metrics, such as citation counts, author productivity, and impact indices, providing a nuanced understanding of the scholarly landscape. Visualization of term networks and trends revealed dominant research themes, evolving concepts, and potential research directions within entrepreneurship education. Practical implications derived from this study inform educators, policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders about curriculum design, policy formulation, and program implementation strategies to foster collaboration, innovation, and excellence in entrepreneurship education research and practice.

Bone health in women with premature ovarian insufficiency/early menopause: a 23-year longitudinal analysis.

Bone health in women with premature ovarian insufficiency/early menopause: a 23-year longitudinal analysis.

What is a high-quality research environment? Evidence from the UK’s research excellence framework

Abstract As part of the UK university sector’s performance-related research funding model, the ‘REF’ (Research Excellence Framework), each discipline-derived ‘Unit of Assessment’ must submit a statement to provide information about their environment, culture, and strategy for enabling research and impact. Our aim in this paper is to identify the topics on which these statements focus, and how topic variation predicts funding-relevant research environment quality profiles. Using latent Dirichlet allocation topic modelling, we analysed all 1888 disciplinary ‘unit-level’ environment statements from REF2021. Our model identified eight topics which collectively predicted a surprisingly large proportion—58.9%—of the variance in units’ environment scores, indicating that the way in which statements were written contributed substantially to the perceived quality of a unit’s research environment. Assessing research environments will increase in importance in the next REF exercise and the insights found through our analysis may support reflection and discussion about what it means to have a high-quality research environment.

Radically Embodied Compassion Training: Cultivating Psychotherapist Courage, Distress Tolerance and Compassionate Responsiveness via Traditional Martial Arts

Psychotherapeutic encounters inevitably entail moments and episodes of disaffiliation, ruptures and conflict. These events can pose significant challenges and threats to both client and therapist. Resolving and repairing such ruptures requires therapists to tolerate not only their clients' but also their own distress, to better afford the courage and wisdom to respond compassionately. Whilst there is plenty of excellent research and guidance on how to respond to and repair alliance ruptures, few approaches explicitly focus on the development of the underlying (neuro)physiological capacities, embodied motivational switching abilities and somatic resources to be able to do so in situations of high relational threat. Traditional martial arts provide a powerful and fruitful means to entrain these competencies and processes, which can feasibly be transferred to psychotherapeutic encounters. This paper outlines the development of training workshops for therapists/clinicians based on traditional martial arts principles and practices, embodied neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology. This overview will thus help illuminate how such training may afford therapists/clinicians greater distress tolerance and compassionate responsiveness, otherwise termed Radically Embodied Compassion (Clapton & Hiskey, 2020), in difficult therapeutic encounters such as alliance ruptures.

Black hole shadows in Einstein-Bel-Robinson gravity* *Supported by the Internal Project (2023/2211) of Excellent Research of the Faculty of Science of Hradec Králové University

Gravity models given by higher-order scalar curvature corrections are believed to bear important consequences. Einstein-Bel-Robinson (EBR) gravity with quartic curvature modification motivated Sajadi et al. to explore static spherically symmetric black hole solutions using perturbative methods. In this study, inspired by their work, we investigate AdS black hole shadows in EBR gravity and demonstrate how the gravity parameter alters the energy emission rate. Finally, we address the same problem in the presence of plasma, because the black holes are thought to be surrounded by a medium that changes the geodesic of photons.

War, image, art: From vision to judgement

There are excellent research papers in the field of visual studies that examine the relationship between war and images. This paper has other and additional aims. The first is to examine not so much how war is transferred from the ground to image production, but how war, as intrusion of the real, forces a general reflection on image techniques. The second is to examine whether there is an instance of art that is somehow different from the instance of the mere image, which is always related to something that manifests itself in war, and which, especially on the occasion of a war, invites a broader reflection on existence, judgement and the world. The paths taken for these investigations are rooted in the idea that a (political) theory of art cannot be reduced to an internal classification of image theory, since it investigates aspects that go beyond the definition of the image itself.

Seeing with Different Eyes. The Module Life & Science of the Elite-Master Program Biomedical Neuroscience

AbstractFrom its beginnings in 2018, the international elite-master program Biomedical Neuroscience of TUM School of Medicine and Health at Technical University of Munich was guided by two convictions: First, excellent research depends not only on the mediation of scientific knowledge and skills, but also on a multifaceted understanding of science itself. Second, teaching must recognize and support not only student’s growing expertise but also their personal and professional development. To this end, the module Life & Science was designed. It gives students the opportunity to explore neuroscience from different angles to deepen the epistemological, sociological, and cultural understanding of their chosen profession.

Global Financial Cycle, Household Credit, and Macroprudential Policies

We show that macroprudential policies dampen the impact of global financial conditions on local bank credit cycles. For identification, we exploit variation in the U.S. volatility index (VIX) and household and business credit registers in an emerging market economy in which banks depend on foreign funding and macroprudential measures vary over the full cycle. Our results suggest that when the VIX is low, tighter macroprudential policies reduce household lending, notably for riskier (foreign currency (FX) and high debt-service-to-income) loans and by banks dependent on foreign funding. Moreover, they increase (less regulated) local currency lending to real estate firms. Such periods are associated with less subsequent total lending to households and firms and with a lower share of FX loans at the local level. Consistently, when the VIX is low, tighter macroprudential policies dampen house prices and economic activity. This paper was accepted by Victoria Ivashina, finance. Funding: M. Epure acknowledges support from the Serra Húnter program. This project received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program [Grant 648398], from the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion [Grants PID2020-115660GB-I00 and PGC2018-102133-B-I00], and the Severo Ochoa Program for Centers of Excellence in Research and Development [Grant CEX2019-000915-S]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.4981 .

Determinants affecting trust, satisfaction, and loyalty: A case study of low-cost airlines in Indonesia

A low-cost carrier is an airline that offers lower rates but at a lesser cost, sacrificing some convenience. This study aims to determine the effect of service quality and brand image on trust, satisfaction, and passenger loyalty to low-cost airlines in Indonesia. Primary data were collected through Google Forms and submitted via WhatsApp with the criteria of having previously used the services of Indonesian low-cost airlines. Of the 300 respondents who received the questionnaire, only 242 filled it out accurately. The data were analyzed with the help of the SmartPLS program and structural equation modeling. The findings show that service quality and brand image positively and significantly affect passenger trust, satisfaction, and loyalty (p < 0.05). Trust positively and significantly affects satisfaction (p < 0.05). Trust and satisfaction positively and significantly affect loyalty (p < 0.05). Service quality and brand image affect satisfaction through trust (p < 0.05). Service quality and brand image affect loyalty through satisfaction (p < 0.05), and trust affects loyalty through satisfaction (p < 0.05). AcknowledgmentsThe research funding for this study was provided by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia under the Basic Research for Higher Education Excellence (PDUPT) category in 2022. Additionally, gratitude is extended to the various levels of leadership at Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara, including the leadership of the Faculty of Economics and Business and the personnel of the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) at Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara.

The Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation: supporting excellence in simulation education and research

The Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation (CAN-Sim) aims to connect nurse educators and allied health partners from across Canada and internationally to share knowledge, resources and expertise in areas of simulation research and education. This paper will describe the creation, evolution and core values of CAN-Sim. Our success is founded on a shared vision for improving simulation-based education. CAN-Sim values and promotes collaboration, mentorship, innovation and scholarship as it advances excellence in simulation education and research through networking. Sharing our experience and processes can encourage nurse educators and allied health partners within other geographical locations to develop their own collaborations or join us in impacting the future of simulation.