Internal Organization Research Articles

Human muscle stem cell responses to mechanical stress into tunable 3D alginate matrices

Preclinical data acquired for human muscle stem (hMuStem) cells indicate their great repair capacity in the context of muscle injury. However, their clinical potential is limited by their moderate ability to survive after transplantation. To overcome these limitations, their encapsulation within protective environment would be beneficial. In this study, tunable calcium-alginate hydrogels obtained through molding method using external or internal gelation were investigated as a new strategy for hMuStem cell encapsulation. The mechanical properties of these hydrogels were characterized in their fully hydrated state by compression experiments using Atomic Force Microscopy. Measured elastic moduli strongly depended on the gelation mode and calcium/alginate concentrations. Values ranged from 1 to 12.5 kPa and 3.9 to 25 kPa were obtained for hydrogels prepared following internal and external gelation, respectively. Also, differences in mechanical properties of hydrogels resulted from their internal organization, with an isotropic structure for internal gelation, while external mode led to anisotropic one. It was further shown that viability, morphological and myogenic differentiation characteristics of hMuStem cells incorporated within alginate hydrogels were preserved after their release. These results highlight that hMuStem cells encapsulated in calcium-alginate hydrogels maintain their functionality, thus allowing to develop muscle regeneration protocols to improve their therapeutic efficacy.

Five major themes in legislative committees' research between 2010 and 2023: A review

AbstractLegislative committees have recently received inadequate attention in the available interjurisdictional literature. This article in the 2024 Policy Studies Yearbook, published by Politics & Policy, reviews legislative committee data categories, methods, and the distribution of authorship to explore how legislative committee research has fared between 2010 and 2023. This review article establishes that since 2010, research on committee structure has been dominated by U.S. congressional theories and how to test them in noncongressional settings. The dominant aspect of legislative organization across the five reviewed themes is the selection of committee members, an essential aspect of understanding power dynamics in modern legislatures. As survey methods and case studies have increased, the archival analysis methods have decreased, indicating an increasing turn to first‐hand primary data in analyzing the internal organization of committees. There is also a growing trend toward greater collaboration among scholars.Related ArticlesJeong, Gyung‐Ho. 2016. “Electoral Rules and Bureaucratic Effectiveness.” Politics & Policy 44(6): 1089–115. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12184.Jones, Kate, and Kerry, Jacobs. 2009. “Public Accounts Committees, New Public Management, and Institutionalism: A Case Study.” Politics & Policy 39(5): 1023–46. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2009.00209.x/abstract.Pelizzo, Riccardo and Abel Kinyondo. 2014. “Public Accounts Committees in Eastern and Southern Africa: A Comparative Analysis.” Politics & Policy 42(1), 77–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12062.

Insulin Conformation Changes in Hybrid Alginate-Gelatin Hydrogel Particles.

There is a strong need to develop an insulin delivery system suitable for oral administration and preserving natural (α-helix) insulin conformation. In this work, we fabricated alginate-gelatin hydrogel beads for insulin encapsulation. Altering matrix composition and crosslinking agents has resulted in various surface morphologies and internal spatial organization. The structures of the insulin-loaded matrices were studied using optical and field emission electronic microscopy. We use FTIR spectroscopy to identify insulin conformation changes as affected by the hydrogel matrices. It was found that blended alginate-gelatin matrices demonstrate better encapsulation efficiency and stronger swelling resistance to a simulated gastric environment than sodium alginate beads crosslinked with the CaCl2. FTIR measurements reveal conformation changes in insulin. It is also confirmed that in the presence of gelatin, the process of insulin fibrinogenesis ceases due to intermolecular interaction with the gelatin. Performed molecular modeling shows that dipole-dipole interactions are the dominating mechanism that determines insulin behavior within the fabricated matrix.

Dynamically reconfigurable complex liquid crystal emulsions

ABSTRACT Complex emulsions, containing liquid crystals (LCs) and immiscible oils such as fluorocarbon or silicone oils, present innovative functionalities in soft materials. These emulsions exhibit dynamic reconfiguration in droplet morphology and internal LC organisation, expanding applications in optics, sensing, and active matter. This review highlights the evolution and potential of LC-containing complex emulsions. Emphasis is placed on emulsions featuring dynamic and reversible morphological transformations and LC reorganisation, underpinning their suitability for tunable micro-lenses, chemical sensing, and biosensing. Nematic LCs within complex emulsions allow for topological defect-driven functionalization, attaching antibodies to induce substantial changes in the LC director field upon interfacial recognition events. This feature may facilitate the development of ultrasensitive chemical and biological sensors. Moreover, cholesteric LCs, through their selective reflection, enable the rapid and sensitive detection of foodborne pathogens. The controlled assembly of magnetic nanoparticles at interfaces illustrates advancements towards magnetic field-responsive and active colloids. Future perspectives include exploiting these properties for intelligent colloidal systems capable of autonomous behaviour, and furthering applications in dynamic photonic devices, high-security identification tags, and responsive lens systems.

Authoritarianism and civil society in Central Asia: Shifting boundaries

ABSTRACT The traditional narrative on state-civil society relations in the consolidated authoritarian regimes of Central Asia is one of coercion with little room for independent NGOs which challenge the states’ discourse. There is however emerging evidence of a gradual shift in relationships. First, the distinction between independent organizations (NGOs) and government organized bodies (GONGOs) is becoming blurred as the former struggle to remain financially buoyant and the latter find (limited) opportunities to influence the state. Second, the role played by international donors in authoritarian regimes is fraught with obstacles/resistance making internal civil society organizations more self-reliant and the state grants’ application process more competitive. Third, the context is changing with a younger more assertive generation willing to challenge the vestiges of the Soviet era. Using Kazakhstan as a Central Asian case study, this article finds there is an increasing role for civil society along an NGO-GONGO continuum aimed at ‘challenging existing realities’ even within the parameters of authoritarian states.

Painting the town in SDGs colors. A citywide dissemination catalyzed by the organizational evolution in a large European philanthropic foundation. A case study on the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo of Turin

AbstractThe Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo of Turin is not only one of the largest philanthropic institutions in Europe (the first in Italy and in the top 10 of the continent) but also one of the longest‐lived. In its more than 450 years of history the Foundation has distinguished itself for its ability to deal with several moments of radical change (the progressive secularization, the development of a financial dimension that eventually resulted in the largest Italian banking institution, the return to the separation between banking and philanthropic activity): none of which, however, is comparable—for a number of factors—with the transformation that took place in 2020, when the Foundation adopted the United Nations 2030 Agenda and, in particular, the Sustainable Development Goals as its primary key reference. A rare case regarding for a brand highly consolidated in its recognizability—at least in its main territory of reference—the change embraced by the Foundation and inspired by the SDGs involved the institution at every level, from the most immediate of visual and multimedia communication (the iconography of the Goals has even become part of the Foundation's own logo) to the most radical and decisive aspect of internal organization and finalization of the objectives. With a significant revision of the institutional organizational structures, in a short time the SDGs were in fact adopted as a main reference paradigm of the organization for the objectives of the Foundation, acting at the same time as a macro‐level of alignment regarding the operational purposes of the institution and as a quantitative measure of evaluation of the results obtained by the various projects developed. In this contribution we will describe in a more detailed way the case study of the Compagnia di San Paolo and the complexity faced during this rapid and deep process of change, by observing the first results of the transition and by underlining the problems positively solved through the new identity. All this without deviating from but rather enhancing the effectiveness of the philanthropic action of the Compagnia di San Paolo.

Interrelatedness of thermodynamics and information: transformation of heat as a measurable information process and quantity, an overview

AbstractNo one has yet investigated the information reach and influence of thermal analysis. Even so the heat and entropy are bound closely. The very problem of the term entropy is that it was defined specifically within the classical, equilibrium Thermodynamics like Clausius entropy, while its meaning is more general. It is usable in all areas of physics, in the communication theory and technology, and also, in social sciences, just as an universal quantitative model. The bridge to this wider world is in Boltzmann’s statistical point of view used in the Shannon’s information point of view. The difference is that the Shannon entropy is defined more generally, both for the uniform and for the not uniform probability distributions. But with renormalization and with the Boltzmann constant we can speak, using the Clausius entropy, about a certain thermodynamic system considered as a heat model of the area of our wider interests. So we will to deal with the heat and its entropy embodied to a wider consideration. In addition to the standard physical meaning, another thermodynamic realization in the form of a message is derived from Shannon’s information theory, where the sample carries a measure of Shannon’s information given by its structure or internal organization. This is also a contribution to improving the approach to thinking about the importance of observation and measurement, reflecting at the same time the costs and influence of the measurement itself and its organization on the measured object or, on its environment or, even on the environment of the measuring itself generally. Statistical sorting also carries with it the internal movement of individual elementary particles, the value of which indicates the resulting state of heat transfer and dissipation to and from the system providing a state of called equilibrium. It is statistically described by a weighted quantity called temperature, the changes of which via momentum alteration satisfy Newton’s laws of inertia allowing enumeration of the related heat information processing. The terminology used is still non-institutional.

Anatomical organization of the cerebrum of the praying mantis Hierodula membranacea.

Many predatory animals, such as the praying mantis, use vision for prey detection and capture. Mantises are known in particular for their capability to estimate distances to prey by stereoscopic vision. While the initial visual processing centers have been extensively documented, we lack knowledge on the architecture of central brain regions, pivotal for sensory motor transformation and higher brain functions. To close this gap, we provide a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the central brain of the Asian mantis, Hierodula membranacea. The atlas facilitates in-depth analysis of neuron ramification regions and aides in elucidating potential neuronal pathways. We integrated seven 3D-reconstructed visual interneurons into the atlas. In total, 42 distinct neuropils of the cerebrum were reconstructed based on synapsin-immunolabeled whole-mount brains. Backfills from the antenna and maxillary palps, as well as immunolabeling of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), further substantiate the identification and boundaries of brain areas. The composition and internal organization of the neuropils were compared to the anatomical organization of the brain of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and the two available brain atlases of Polyneoptera-the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) and the Madeira cockroach (Rhyparobia maderae). This study paves the way for detailed analyses of neuronal circuitry and promotes cross-species brain comparisons. We discuss differences in brain organization between holometabolous and polyneopteran insects. Identification of ramification sites of the visual neurons integrated into the atlas supports previous claims about homologous structures in the optic lobes of flies and mantises.

Putting the Associative Actor to the test in Tourism: Comparative Study of two Rural Communes, Asrir in the Province of Guelmim and Tighdouine within the Western High Atlas of Marrakech- Kingdom of Morocco

We seek to justify the importance of the association’s internal and external organization and the territory dynamics in the new development challenges for tourism promotion. The study field is made up of two sites: the Southern Oasis Tourist Association in the rural commune of Asir-Guelmim and six associations in the rural commune of Tighdouine-Province of Tahnaoute-Al Haouz, Marrakech. The qualitative analysis of the comments collected from interviewed actors involving the members of the associations and local institutional actors aims to understand more the aspects of the internal and external management of the targeted associations. Apart from their divergent experiences and territories, this article emphasizes the importance of management carried out by the association.

Turnaround, Decline, and Strategic Posture of SME: Empirical Evidence

AbstractThis study evaluates how the environment, the strategic posture, and the organizational structure contribute to the decline and performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Based on a sample of SME and through recourse to Altman’s Z-score model, we evaluate the situation of companies that declare they are facing difficulties in conjunction with their financial performance. The results demonstrate that a strategic entrepreneurial posture and an organic organizational structure, characterized by dynamism, decentralization, and control over the objectives, positively contribute to the performance of companies and prevent their bankruptcy. Our study findings contribute to a better understanding of the factors that lead to SME decline and failure while highlighting the factors that improve their performance levels. The study also reflects on the turnaround process and the redefinition of strategies, new ways of planning, internal organization, and management control.

Beyond Nation and Empire? Questioning the Role of Religious Missions under Portuguese Colonial Rule at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

From the beginning of European overseas expansion in the fifteenth century, religious missions occupied an important place in the internal organisation of colonial empires. Their contribution to the ideological structuring of imperialism and the interaction with local populations is undeniable. With the emergence of the new imperialism and the scramble for Africa (after the 1870s), the missions, often anticipating the colonial political and administrative presence, enhanced their role as advocates of Europe’s “civilising mission”, above all through the education of the colonised peoples. For Portuguese decision-makers, the religious missions, with a multi-century tradition, had an important role in defending territorial claims overseas and promoting the empire’s nationalisation. However, the lack of national missionaries, Christianity’s inter-confessional competition in the nineteenth century and the emergence of international legal rules protecting missionary activities hindered Portugal’s strategies. Using sources from several archives (in Lisbon, the Vatican, and elsewhere) to emphasise the role of a transnational missionary staff and the international law of missions, this text intersects these aspects, examining their convergence in the controversial case of the exit and replacement of Jesuit missionaries in Mozambique in 1910–1911, to demonstrate the need to look at the missionary issues in the Portuguese overseas domains from perspectives that go beyond nation and empire.

Experience of an Italian Pediatric Third Level Emergency Department during the 2022-2023 Bronchiolitis Epidemic: A Focus on Discharged Patients and Revisits.

The aim of this study was to describe the 2022-2023 bronchiolitis epidemic season (the second after COVID-19 pandemic and the first without social restriction), focusing on patients discharged home from a pediatric emergency department (PED) and on those revisited within 72 h. We performed a retrospective observational study in an Italian tertiary care children's hospital, reviewing PED accesses from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. The number of hospitalizations for bronchiolitis was extracted from hospital discharge forms. A total of 512 patients diagnosed with bronchiolitis were admitted to PED (2.8% of total admissions). Accesses increased sharply from November to January, with a peak in December, in both admissions and hospitalizations. More than half of the patients (55.5%) were safely discharged home, while 38 (13.4%) came back to PED for a revisit. Overall PED accesses and hospitalizations for bronchiolitis increased since the previous epidemic season, and particularly compared to the pandemic and pre-pandemic eras. Empowering the collaboration between all healthcare provisioners is fundamental to suitable management of patients. Monitoring the epidemiology and seasonality of bronchiolitis is a starting point for an effective internal organization of pediatric departments and to further evaluate its socio-economic burden.

Asymmetric oligomerization state and sequence patterning can tune multiphase condensate miscibility

Endogenous biomolecular condensates, composed of a multitude of proteins and RNAs, can organize into multiphasic structures with compositionally distinct phases. This multiphasic organization is generally understood to be critical for facilitating their proper biological function. However, the biophysical principles driving multiphase formation are not completely understood. Here we use in vivo condensate reconstitution experiments and coarse-grained molecular simulations to investigate how oligomerization and sequence interactions modulate multiphase organization in biomolecular condensates. We demonstrate that increasing the oligomerization state of an intrinsically disordered protein results in enhanced immiscibility and multiphase formation. Interestingly, we find that oligomerization tunes the miscibility of intrinsically disordered proteins in an asymmetric manner, with the effect being more pronounced when the intrinsically disordered protein, exhibiting stronger homotypic interactions, is oligomerized. Our findings suggest that oligomerization is a flexible biophysical mechanism that cells can exploit to tune the internal organization of biomolecular condensates and their associated biological functions.

Collaboration training: Composting organic waste with Karang Taruna and Kanreapia Youth Organization

Globally, waste production continues to increase along with population growth and consumption. This has caused serious problems related to waste management in many areas. Including in Halahalaya Hamlet, Kanreapia Village where waste that is not managed properly can threaten human health, the environment and the sustainability of natural resources. To reduce the accumulation of waste, the community needs to be empowered and equipped with waste processing methods with the younger generation as their representatives. So that this is the goal to be achieved in this activity. The methods used in this program are counselling and demonstration. All training participants are members of two internal organizations, namely Karang Taruna and IPMAH Kanreapia Organization who live in Halahalaya Hamlet, Kanreapia Village, Tombolo Pao District, Gowa Regency, with a total of 9 people. Data analysis was carried out descriptively by looking at the average pre and post test scores. From the results of the analysis, it was concluded that there was an increase in knowledge before counselling was given and after counselling, where before counselling with an average value of 47.78 then after counselling became 62.22, this showed the success of counselling on the use of organic waste carried out.

Propuesta de ecosistema de innovación parala cadena láctea en américa latina

The objective of this paper is to propose an innovation ecosystem, in accordance with the characteristics of the dairy chain in the Latin American context. This research is based on a descriptive study through the analysis of literature on research trends in the dairy chain, the analysis of some sources and barriers to innovation, and the identification of the activities, indicators and agents that support the ecosystem proposal. As a result, an innovation ecosystem is presented for the dairy chain that contemplates the interaction between different internal and external organizations, and that facilitates the diffusion and adoption of innovations throughout the chain.

The Complexity of the Intersectionality of Domestic and International Non-Governmental Peacebuilding Organisations in South Sudan

As peace operations and peacebuilding develop, recent discussions have centred on the growth of peacebuilding literature on inclusivity, bottom-up and local approaches. Given that a substantial number of peacebuilding is conducted by Non-governmental organisations, which occupy a middle level to governments and community levels, the paper unpacks the complexity of the interaction of the international and domestic middle-level organisations. The paper presents a case study of South Sudan’s experience, which proves difficult to operationalize the critical inclusivity debates in their operations. The article argues that although there is more participation of local organizations in peacebuilding, the internal and external organizations are still riddled with complex intersections that still maintain the liberal (international) order of peace constituted by a specific form of external governance.

2019 ОНЫ МОНГОЛ УЛСЫН ҮНДСЭН ХУУЛИЙН НЭМЭЛТ, ӨӨРЧЛӨЛТ: ТӨРИЙН САНХҮҮЖИЛТИЙН ЗОХИЦУУЛАЛТ, ОНОЛ

Amendments to the Constitution of Mongolia were approved by the Great Khural of Mongolia on November 14, 2019, and ratified by the President of Mongolia on November 26, 2019. The amendment added the Nineteenth Article 1 to the Constitution. It includes: 1. The Party shall be established as set out in the paragraph 10 of the Article Sixteen of the Constitution, and shall formulate and conduct nation-wide policy. 2. The Party shall be formed by associatinguniting at least one percent of Mongolian citizens, eligible to vote in the election. 3. Internal organization of the party shall be in compliance with the democratic principles, and its capital and revenue sources and spending shall be transparent to public. The Party's organization, operational procedure, funding, and the terms of state funding support shall be determined by law. In the third part of the provisions of this amendment “Internal organization of the party shall be in compliance with the democratic principles, and its capital and revenue sources and spending shall be transparent to public. The Party's organization, operational procedure, funding, and the terms of state funding support shall be determined by law” the lawmaker explains that the provision was approved to make the financing transparent, improve the party's internal democracy, propose policies at the national level, shape the parties, and improve accountability. While the provision was divided into two parts, with some parts supported and others not supported by political parties, politicians, academics, and public opinion, the regulations related to financial support from the state to political parties are governed in the fifth chapter of the revised Political Parties Act. This article will explain the theoretical foundations of state funding as approved in the revised Political Parties Act within the context of Clause 3 of Article Nineteen 1 of the 2019 Constitutional Amendment, examining the regulation of state-provided financial support, the required legal framework, and its significance in comparison to the existing system.

CLASSIFICATION FEATURES OF ENGLISH COMPLEX SENTENCES BASED ON SYNCRETISM AND A FUNCTIONAL-SEMANTIC FIELD

Modern English is characterized by a desire to integrate various syntactic means. Syncretism is the main tool that helps neutralize asymmetric language relationships and the limited functional nature of the units. In the English language the growth of a large number of syncretic complex sentences is connected, first of all, with the desire of the speaker to convey complicated semantic meanings with the help of polyfunctional constructions where subordinate clauses function both as carriers of a single meaning and convey additional information. The development of an additional meaning occurs as a result of the semantic mobility of subordinate parts. That is, the intermediate character of the models indicates a high degree of complexity of the semantic structure and a considerable potential of semantic meaning. The purpose of the work is to investigate the internal organization of English complex sentences taking into account their structural and semantic features; to analyze the role of the influence of relevant words and connecting elements at the sentence level in order to clarify the content and linguistic aspects of complex sentences. The reliability of the analysis results is ensured by the use of various research methods and techniques. The leading methods in the work are general scientific methods (the method of observation, the method of analysis and synthesis), special methods (the comparative method, the method of component analysis, the descriptive method, the method of component and oppositional analyzes with the techniques of grouping complex sentences, the comparative method, the modeling method, functional-semantic analysis) The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the paper attempts to analyze syncretic English complex sentences based on the semantic field and to describe the semantic potential of complex constructions taking into account the functional-semantic field in the English language. Conclusions. When analyzing and studying complex sentences in view of the influence of functional -semantic field and syncretism, the fact is established that the functionalsemantic fields are interconnected and realize their most significant shades of meaning precisely in the peripheral zones that testifies to the flexibility of the hypotaxis system and its dynamic nature.

RECURRENT EXPENDITURE ON INTERNAL SECURITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

It is the responsibility of the government to ensure the internal safety of those living in the country. This is because it (the government) has the resources needed to deploy and ensure that the country is safe. To achieve internal safety, the federal government of Nigeria has continued to increase expenditure on internal security with a view of securing all those living in the country for investment and innovation. Thus, this paper investigated the relationship between government recurrent expenditure on internal security and economic growth in Nigeria from 1980 to 2022. The data for the study were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria statistical bulletin. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was employed as the main analytical tool. The results of the analyses revealed the presence of a long-run association among the variables. The results also showed that in the long run, government recurrent expenditure on internal security has a positive and insignificant relationship with economic growth in Nigeria. At the same time, exchange rate has a positive and significant relationship with economic growth in Nigeria. Also, interest rate has a negative and significant relationship with economic growth in Nigeria. In the short run, government recurrent expenditure on internal security has a negative and significant relationship with economic growth in Nigeria. The exchange rate and interest rate have a positive and significant relationship with economic growth in Nigeria. The study concluded that the relationship between government recurrent expenditure on internal security and economic growth in Nigeria varies, as it could be positive (in the long run) or negative (in the short run). Therefore, the study recommended that recurrent expenditure on internal security which includes pay to officers, salaries to specialists within internal security forces or connected to internal security organizations, pensions of internal security personnel; and social services for personnel and their families; maintenance and operations; internal security research and development, medical services, etc. should be increased because in the long run it will provide a spin-off effect on the national economy and increase economic growth.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0014/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Study protocol: Local labour market programs-institutional structures, organizational forms and lived experiences.

In this programme, we map and examine local labour market programmes (LLMPs) at the municipal level in Sweden. This includes their institutional structure and organisation, as well as the experiences of participants in the programmes, using a longitudinal approach with the aim to improve LLMPs. The long-term goal is to increasing the inclusion of LLMP participants in working life. To answer the programme's questions, data will be collected and analysed within the four work packages. In each work package, a mixed-method approach is applied with a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The programme is informed by three overarching general theoretical approached, tying together institutional ethnography, intersectional studies of structural inequalities on different levels, and the role of emotions in everyday work. At the organisational level (WP 1), we will investigate the circumstances under which LLMPs are performed and negotiated by those involved. Here, the internal organisation, activities and methods are the focus. This approach will result in knowledge about the characteristics of these organisations and the factors promoting the inclusion of underrepresented groups in working life. By examining the activities in LLMPs (WP 2), we will be able to determine how their institutional structure differs between regions in Sweden, how the different municipalities work with labour market policy, how they translate national policy into the local context, how they organise their work and which initiatives they choose to adopt. By examining the individual experiences of those who are directly affected by such incentives (WP 3), knowledge and understanding will be obtained of the connections between experiences and labour market policies. This will give important insights into the functioning of local programmes and of the opportunities to create entry into the labour market. Furthermore, in WP4 we will develop and test an effect evaluation of work methods used in LLMPs and their effect on clients' progress over time.