Potential Stumbling Block Research Articles

Nature's Needles: Adapting Bacterial “Syringes” into Programmable Protein Delivery Devices

Nature's Needles: Adapting Bacterial “Syringes” into Programmable Protein Delivery Devices

The challenges of B2B innovation: using marketing analytics to plan and implement a successful digital catalog adoption

PurposeThis study aims to demonstrate how marketing analytics can be used to identify the challenges a B2B company faced in the conversion from a hard-copy print catalog to a digital ordering system. Specifically, an empirical research approach identified the potential issues the company was likely to face in the digitalization of the company’s catalog.Design/methodology/approachUsing the Qualtrics survey platform, a questionnaire was used to obtain a final sample of 332 customers (a 14.02% response rate) on a variety of issues related to the transition from the company’s current printed catalog to a digital catalog ordering system. A variety of data analysis procedures were used to gain insight and highlight potential issues in the move to a digital format.FindingsA variety of potential stumbling blocks were identified that suggest the company should move forward with caution. The data analysis was used to suggest areas that needed to be emphasized in the rollout of the new digital ordering system.Research limitations/implicationsLike all marketing research, this application is limited by the methods used and the data generated by this study. Its implications suggest the potential use of marketing research before an important change in a B2B company’s marketing approach.Practical implicationsThis paper provides an approach that can be used by firms considering a change to digitize key components of their marketing assets.Originality/valueThe research contributes to the B2B marketing literature by demonstrating how data-driven marketing analytics can be used to identify potential issues prior to the development of a new digital marketing approach used by B2B firms.

Climate Adaptation Planning for Resilient and Sustainable Cities: Perspectives from the City of Rotterdam (Netherlands) and the City of Antwerp (Belgium)

AbstractClimate adaptation planning in pursuit of resilient and sustainable societies has become a focal point in urban policy. Climate adaptation planning is generally regarded as separate from traditional urban planning practices. Globally and in Europe, however, cities are increasingly integrating climate adaptation planning into their traditional urban planning instruments and processes. Recent research indicates that the scope of such integration is at varying stages. The City of Rotterdam (Netherlands) and the City of Antwerp (Belgium) have been identified as two European cities that face similar climate impacts and risks given their proximity to a large river delta. Both cities aim to integrate climate adaptation into their respective urban planning policies, but the scope of their integration differs. This paper critically analyses the urban planning policies of these two cities to distil key lessons learnt that cities with similar climate impacts and approaches to urban planning may potentially face in integrating climate adaptation planning into urban planning policies. The paper finds that identifying and evaluating the synergies, co-benefits or trade-offs of adaptation measures is a key challenge to integrating climate adaptation into urban planning policy. It is a potential stumbling block for long-term sustainable development and climate resilience.

Passive Inter-modulation Sources and Cancellation Methods

When two or more signals of different frequencies pass through a nonlinear system, intermodulation distortion (IMD) occurs, resulting in the formation of spurious distortion signals. IMD is most commonly found in active circuits of a radio system, but it can also be found in passive wireless components such as lters, transmission lines, connectors, antennas, attenuators, and so on, especially when transmit power is quite high. Passive intermodulation (PIM) distortion is the name given to the IMD in the latter scenario. With the evolution of radio systems and the scarcity of radio spectrum, PIM interference is being recognized as a potential stumbling block to a radio network's maximum capacity.
 This article classifies the PIM sources in BS radio systems into two categories, internal and external sources. Internal sources are the radio's passive components such transmission lines, connections, antennas, and so on. External sources, on the other hand, are passive items that are located outside of the BS antenna but inside the RF signal path, such as metallic and rusted objects in the antenna near eld. The high power current flowing through such passive devices can cause nonlinear behavior, resulting in IMD for both types of sources. Also, a review of PIM mitigation techniques is presented in the article.

Diet Recommendation System based on Different Machine Learners

In today's culture, many people suffer from a range of ailments and illnesses. It's not always simple to recommend a diet right away. The majority of individuals are frantically trying to reduce weight, gain weight, or keep their health in check. Time has also become a potential stumbling block. The study relies on a database that has the exact amounts of a variety of nutrients. As a result of the circumstance, we set out to create a program that would encourage individuals to eat healthier. Only three sorts of goods are recommended: weight loss, weight gain, and staying healthy. The Diet Recommendation System leverages user inputs such as medical data and the option of vegetarian or non-vegetarian meals from the two categories above to predict food items. We'll discuss about food classification, parameters, and machine learning in this post. This research includes different machine learner K-nearest neighbor, Support vector machine, Decision Tree, Navier buyers, Random Forest and Extra tree classifier comparative analysis for future diet plan prediction.

Building trust when using artificial intelligence

In the XXI century, “trust” becomes a category that manifests itself in a variety of ways and affects many areas of human activity, including the economy and business. With the development of information and communication technologies and end-to-end technologies, this influence is becoming more and more noticeable. A special place in digital technologies is occupied by human trust when interacting with artificial intelligence and machine learning systems. In this case, trust becomes a potential stumbling block in the field of further development of interaction between artificial intelligence and humans. Trust plays a key role in ensuring recognition in society, continuous progress and development of artificial intelligence.The article considers human trust in artificial intelligence and machine learning systems from different sides. The main objectives of the research paper are to structure existing research on this subject and identify the most important ways to create trust among potential consumers of artificial intelligence products. The article investigates the attitude to artificial intelligence in different countries, as well as the need for trust among users of artificial intelligence systems and analyses the impact of distrust on business. The authors identified the factors that are crucial in the formation of the initial level of trust and the development of continuous trust in artificial intelligence.

Decoding the crisis of the legitimate circle of coalition building in Israel: a critical analysis of the puzzling election trio of 2019–20

Israel has been governed by coalitions since its independence. The act of coalition building not only forms governments but also serves as reaffirming the ideological and societal bounds of the state as well as reflecting implicit consensus on the identity of the state. The governance and institutionalization of ethnic and religious cleavages in either form of exclusion or accommodation have historically constructed particular coalition patterns, which this paper critically coins as the ‘legitimate circle of coalition building’. The functionality of this circle has declined to the point of being narrowed and destabilised in recent decades and it has become a potential stumbling block to the formation of consistent governments. This article claims that Israel’s recent political deadlock is the latest indicator of such dysfunctionality. To support this claim, this article first provides an historical account of governing contending variants of non-Zionism by putting Arab and Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties in its centre to decode the traditional limitations and Achilles heel of the coalition building activity. Second, the puzzling election trio of 2019-20 is analysed as an affirmative case by examining the campaign discourse of the political parties, the election results and the allocation of parliamentary seats, as well as inconclusive negotiation talks.

When the Conditions Are the Confinement: Eighth Amendment Habeas Claims During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic cast into harsher relief much that was already true about mass incarceration in the United States. It also cast into harsher relief much that was already true about the legal barriers confronting people seeking to make its conditions more humane. This Article offers a brief overview of the legal landscape as the COVID-19 crisis arose and then surveys eight prominent federal cases involving Eighth Amendment claims related to COVID-19 outbreaks at carceral facilities, most of which included significant litigation over whether they could secure release through habeas corpus. The Article then distills six key tensions from these cases—each a potential stumbling block for courts and litigants—and discusses their implications for future litigation and doctrine. Specifically, the Article addresses the following: (A) the relationship between habeas corpus and classic “conditions of confinement” cases; (B) the nature of Eighth Amendment “deliberate indifference” in this context; (C) the efficacy and availability of class-wide procedures for adjudicating these kinds of claims; (D) issues involving federalism and comity and how such concerns may motivate stricter enforcement of exhaustion requirements; (E) whether temporary release in the Eighth Amendment habeas context is better conceived of as preliminary or final relief; and (F) the fraught interplay between rights and remedies. The Article concludes by suggesting potential solutions for courts and legislatures.

Universal health coverage financing in South Africa: wishes vs reality

Background In 2011, the South African health minister, proposed a national health insurance (NHI) for South Africa with the aim to deliver universal health access and care to all South African residential citizens, with a single fund to cover all people, no matter their income. The first five years were reached at the end of year 2017-2018. In order to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), primary health care (PHC) re-engineering and NHI have been chosen as key strategic interventions to be implemented. These reforms are currently being piloted in 11 selected districts in South Africa since 2011. Methods The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the proposed South African NHI financing reforms (wishes) versus what has been implemented to date (current financing and service delivery reality on the ground) highlighting potential stumbling blocks. A review of both published and grey literature mainly sourced from the departments of health South Africa, statistics South Africa, world health organisation and world bank reports was carried out. Key documents reviewed included the South African national health insurance whitepaper, South African governmental financial reports, health systems trust reviews, mid-term report on universal health coverage and World Bank report on appropriate universal health coverage financing, progress reports on UHC and published research from leading health economists. Results Independent medical schemes, people as taxpayers and as consumers, rampant unemployment, lack of trust in public institutions and regressive aspects of value added tax, budgets, fickle political will, corruption, drivers of private health costs, provincialization as opposed to district health authorities, incompetent leadership and a cocktail of epidemics were revealed as potential stumbling blocks. Conclusions As international support for UHC grows pace, the issue of how to finance improved financial protection and access to needed health services becomes ever more urgent. Exploring how the proposed South Africa national health insurance UHC financing reforms compare and contrast with the situation on the ground, helps highlight potential stumbling blocks that need addressing as SA moves towards UHC. The paper concludes by calling for innovative, inclusive and sustainable UHC financing and service delivery solutions and the upholding of political will and commitments made, if South Africa is to achieve UHC by 2026.

High prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and C viral infections among people who inject drugs: a potential stumbling block in the control of HIV and viral hepatitis in Tanzania

BackgroundTanzania has witnessed a significant decrease in the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and viral hepatitis in the general population attributed to several interventional measures. It is uncertain whether this decline has also occurred among people who inject drugs (PWID). This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HIV, Hepatitis B and C viruses infection among PWID recruited from their hotspot sites in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.MethodsA cross-sectional study conducted between June and September 2017 recruited PWID from pre-identified hotspot sites using a snowball referral sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding socio-demographic characteristics, behaviour and drug use. Blood was tested for the presence of IgG antibodies against HIV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Data were entered in the computer using excel software and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.ResultsA total of 219 PWID were recruited, the majority of whom were males (74.9%), unmarried (60.7%), had low education (62.6%) and low income (57.1%). The median age was 39 years, with an inter-quartile range of 35–43. Approximately 32.0% had a history of drug injection for more than 3 years, 79.9% were injecting drugs more than 3 times per day and 47.5% were sharing needles. The overall prevalence of HIV, HBsAg, and HCV was 33.8, 7.8, and 50.2%, respectively. There was serologic evidence of at least one infection for 68.9%, while 22.4% had two or more infections. HIV infection was independently associated with being married, while HCV was associated with injecting drugs for more than 3 years and unprotected sex.ConclusionOver two-third of PWID had serologic evidence of infection with at least one virus while 22.4% having at least two infections. The high prevalence of HIV and viral hepatitis infections among PWID may hamper initiatives of ending HIV and viral hepatitis epidemics in Tanzania.

What are the Stumbling Blocks to Making Product Lifecycle Management Routine in Organizations?

Product lifecycle management (PLM) systems are increasingly expansive enterprise systems manufacturing firms used to help build their capabilities and competitive advantages. Adoption and implementation of an enterprise system does not ensure its organizational acceptance and routinization. We identify the bottlenecks for PLM institutionalization; these systems are becoming the norm for organizational operations and routines. We surveyed 207 executives to determine some critical barriers, potential stumbling blocks, to PLM routinization in daily organizational practices. We found that lack of information technology (IT) infrastructure, integration, and interoperability of PLM systems to be major stumbling blocks for PLM postimplementation routinization.

Breaking boundaries: optimizing reconsolidation-based interventions for strong and old memories.

Recent research has demonstrated that consolidated memories can enter a temporary labile state after reactivation, requiring restabilization in order to persist. This process, known as reconsolidation, potentially allows for the modification and disruption of memory. Much interest in reconsolidation stems from the possibility that maladaptive memory traces—a core feature of several psychiatric conditions—could be tackled by disrupting their reconsolidation. However, research has indicated a range of supposed boundary conditions on the induction of reconsolidation. Stronger memories, often resulting from exposure to stressful conditions, or older memories, appear to be relatively resistant to undergoing reconsolidation. This may be taken as a potential stumbling block for reconsolidation-based interventions: in clinical practice, old and strong maladaptive memories are the norm rather than the exception. Yet, boundary conditions have been derived from limited experimental evidence, are not unique to reconsolidation-based interventions, and do not seem to be absolute. In this paper, we review a range of experimental studies that have aimed to disrupt old memories, or memories that were strengthened by stress manipulations, through reconsolidation. Such research highlights several techniques that could be used to optimize reconsolidation-based approaches and overcome putative boundary conditions. We supplement this review of experimental literature with a case study of a reconsolidation-based treatment of a strong and decades-old phobia for mice, further suggesting that age and strength of memory may not be insurmountable barriers. Translating findings from basic science, to human experiments, to clinical applications and back again, can potentially unlock powerful new treatments for the many people who suffer daily from anxiety disorders.

A SURVEY OF SECURITY VULNERABILITIES IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

Sensor networks offer a powerful combination of distributed sensing, computing and communications. They lend themselves to countless applications and at the same time offer numerous challenges due to their peculiar nature which primarily are their stringent energy constraints to which sensing nodes typify and security vulnerabilities. Security concerns constitute a potential stumbling block to the impending wide deployment of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Current developments in WSN protocols have not taken security into consideration. On the other hand, the salient features of WSNs make it very challenging to design strong security protocols while still maintaining low overheads. In this paper we provide a survey of typical attack scenarios on WSNs and provide some viable solutions while also elaborating on a number of important security issues. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v35i2.21

Histone deacetylases in monocyte/macrophage development, activation and metabolism: refining HDAC targets for inflammatory and infectious diseases.

Macrophages have central roles in danger detection, inflammation and host defense, and consequently, these cells are intimately linked to most disease processes. Major advances in our understanding of the development and function of macrophages have recently come to light. For example, it is now clear that tissue-resident macrophages can be derived from either blood monocytes or through local proliferation of phagocytes that are originally seeded during embryonic development. Metabolic state has also emerged as a major control point for macrophage activation phenotypes. Herein, we review recent literature linking the histone deacetylase (HDAC) family of enzymes to macrophage development and activation, particularly in relation to these recent developments. There has been considerable interest in potential therapeutic applications for small molecule inhibitors of HDACs (HDACi), not only for cancer, but also for inflammatory and infectious diseases. However, the enormous range of molecular and cellular processes that are controlled by different HDAC enzymes presents a potential stumbling block to clinical development. We therefore present examples of how classical HDACs control macrophage functions, roles of specific HDACs in these processes and approaches for selective targeting of drugs, such as HDACi, to macrophages. Development of selective inhibitors of macrophage-expressed HDACs and/or selective delivery of pan HDACi to macrophages may provide avenues for enhancing efficacy of HDACi in therapeutic applications, while limiting unwanted side effects.

Research and Development of Antibiotics: The Next Battleground.

Antibiotic research has been hindered by a perfect storm consisting of scientific challenges, regulatory uncertainties, difficult markets, and industrial consolidation. At the same time, antibiotic resistance is making the medical need for a robust antibiotic pipeline ever more urgent. The Food and Drug Administration in the United States, following their European colleagues, has made important progress in correcting its position as part of this perfect storm and in providing less expensive and streamlined pathways for antibiotic development. But the economics of antibiotic development and marketing remains a potential stumbling block to reinvigorating antibiotic research within the pharmaceutical industry. The current situation is reviewed in this viewpoint article.

Lightweight secure group communications for resource constrained devices

Providing source authentication service in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is still a potential stumbling block to the wide deployment of these resource constrained devices. In this paper, we present several broadcast authentication solutions that have been developed for secure group communications in WSNs, and we come up with two novel symmetric-key-based authentication schemes. Our protocols are built upon the integration of a reputation generator on each node, a key binary tree for the efficient distribution and updating of the authentication group keys. Moreover, we refer to a Bloom filter data structure to reduce the communication overhead. We assess the feasibility of our two proposed schemes with a thorough mathematical study, estimating the average number of concatenated message authentication code, the energy consumption overhead, and the probability of detection of two state-of-the-art attacks.

When Midlife Therapists Treat Midlife Patients

Empathic attunement is the bedrock of self psychological treatment. In the treatment of midlifers who show underlying narcissistic vulnerability, achieving such empathy is sometimes more difficult that one might imagine, particularly since therapists, who are midlifers themselves, are often vulnerable to the impact of midlife stresses. Potential stumbling blocks may arise that stem from therapists' identification with and anxiety about patients' struggles that are similar to their own; difficulties relating to patients' problems that seem unfamiliar or alien; and assaults to therapists' own sense of self or selfobject needs.

In Immunization with Plasmodium falciparum Apical Membrane Antigen 1, the Specificity of Antibodies Depends on the Species Immunized

At least a million people, mainly African children under 5 years old, still die yearly from malaria, and the burden of disease and death has increased. Plasmodium falciparum apical membrane antigen 1 (PfAMA1) is one of the most promising blood-stage malarial vaccine candidates. However, the allelic polymorphism observed in this protein is a potential stumbling block for vaccine development. To overcome the polymorphism- and strain-specific growth inhibition in vitro, we previously showed in a rabbit model that vaccination with a mixture of two allelic forms of PfAMA1 induced parasite growth-inhibitory antisera against both strains of P. falciparum parasites in vitro. In the present study, we have established that, in contrast to a single-allele protein, the antigen mixture elicits primarily antibodies recognizing antigenic determinants common to the two antigens, as judged by an antigen reversal growth inhibition assay (GIA). We also show that a similar reactivity pattern occurs after immunization of mice. By contrast, sera from rhesus monkeys do not distinguish the two alleles when tested by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or by GIA, regardless of whether the immunogen is a single AMA1 protein or the mixture. This is the first report that a malarial vaccine candidate induced different specificities of functional antibodies depending on the animal species immunized. These observations, as well as data available on human immune responses in areas of endemicity, suggest that polymorphism in the AMA1 protein may not be as formidable a problem for vaccine development as anticipated from studies with rabbits and mice.

Determinants of High Titer in Recombinant Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses

Porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) pose a potential stumbling block for therapeutic xenotransplantation, with the greatest threat coming from viruses generated by recombination between members of the PERV subgroup A (PERV-A) and PERV-C families (PERV-A/C recombinants). PERV-A and PERV-B have been shown to infect human cells in culture, albeit with low titers. PERV-C has a more restricted host range and cannot infect human cells. A recombinant PERV-A/C virus (PERV-A14/220) contains the PERV-A sequence between the end of pol and the middle of the SU region in env. The remaining sequence is derived from PERV-C. PERV-A14/220 is approximately 500-fold more infectious than PERV-A. To determine the molecular basis for the increased infectivity of PERV-A14/220, we have made a series of vector constructs. The primary determinant for the enhanced replicative potential of the recombinant virus appeared to be the env gene. Using a series of chimeric env genes, we could identify two determinants of high infectivity; one was an isoleucine to valine substitution at position 140 between variable regions A and B, and the other lies within the proline rich region. Taken together, these results show that the novel juxtaposition of env gene sequences enhanced the infectivity of PERV-A14/220 for human cells, perhaps by stabilization of the envelope glycoprotein or increased receptor binding.

Cooperativity, Partially Bound States, and Enthalpy-Entropy Compensation

Efforts to develop a quantitative understanding of molecular recognition rely on the additivity of individual intermolecular interactions, and cooperativity represents one of the major potential stumbling blocks. A chemical double-mutant cycle has been used to experimentally measure cooperativity between functional group interactions within a complex framework. The interaction between two aromatic groups varies by 0.2 ± 0.4 kJ mol −1 in synthetic H-bonded complexes that differ by 8–13 kJ mol −1 in overall stability. In these systems, the free energies associated with individual intermolecular interactions can therefore be reliably treated in an additive fashion. The results suggest that alternative explanations should be considered for cooperative phenomena observed in other systems, and a rationale based on the population of partially bound states in flexible molecules is proposed to account for the enthalpic chelate effect and enthalpy-entropy compensation.