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Impact of nanoparticles on immune cells and their potential applications in cancer immunotherapy
Nanoparticles represent a heterogeneous collection of materials, whether natural or synthetic, with dimensions aligning in the nanoscale. Because of their intense manifestation with the immune system, they can be harvested for numerous bio-medical and biotechnological advancements mainly in cancer treatment. This review article aims to scrutinize various types of nanoparticles that interact differently with immune cells like macrophages, dendritic cells, T lymphocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells. It also underscores the importance of knowing how nanoparticles influence immune cell functions, such as the production of cytokines and the presentation of antigens which are crucial for effective cancer immunotherapy. Hence overviews of bio-molecular mechanisms are provided. Nanoparticles can improve antigen presentation, boost T-cell responses, and overcome the immunosuppressive tumor environment. The regulatory mechanisms, signaling pathways, and nanoparticle characteristics are also presented for a comprehensive understanding. We review the nanotechnology platform options and challenges in nanoparticles-based immunotherapy, from an immunotherapy perspective including precise targeting, immune modulation, and potential toxicity, as well as personalized approaches based on individual patient and tumor characteristics. The development of emerging multifunctional nanoparticles and theranostic nanoparticles will provide new solutions for the precision and efficiency of cancer therapies in next-generation practice. Copyright 2024 The Authors. -
Implication of emotional labor, cognitive flexibility, and relational energy among cabin crew: A review
The primary aim of the civil aviation industry is to provide a secured and comfortable service to their customers and clients. This review concentrates on the cabin crew members, who are the frontline employees of the aviation industry and are salaried to smile. The objective of this review article is to analyze the variables of emotional labor, cognitive flexibility, and relational energy using the biopsychosocial model and identify organizational implications among cabin crew. Online databases such as EBSCOhost, JSTOR, Springerlink, and PubMed were used to gather articles for the review. The authors analyzed 17 articles from 2001 to 2016 and presented a comprehensive review. The review presented an integrative approach and suggested a hypothetical model that can prove to be a signitficant contribution to the avaition industry in particular and to research findings of aviation psychology. 2018 Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine | Published by Wolters Kluwer-Medknow. -
Importance of positive emotions in software developers performance: a narrative review
Software development depends heavily on human efforts and collaborations, which are simultaneously influenced by human emotions, and it is considered among the most difficult tasks. Software developers are susceptible to various health concerns such as burnout, anxiety and depression due to the work nature and demands of the software industry, and this may have detrimental effects on their performance. However, evidence portray significant beneficial effects of positive emotions on well-being, growth, and success. Accordingly, this paper investigates the relevance of positive emotions among software developers and strives to understand how positive emotions benefit developers performance. It surveys literature that examine the importance of affect among developers and the benefits of positive emotions on human well-being and employs a narrative style to present these aspects. This review discusses the potential mechanisms that underlie the association between frequent experiences of positive emotions and improved performance and suggests that positive emotions benefit developers performance. This emotional awareness has the potential to enhance the developer efficacy, thus contributing to the discipline of ergonomics. Findings also have positive implications for organisational counsellors as they help in developing and maintaining a positive organisational climate. 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. -
In vitro Analytical Techniques as Screening Tools to investigate the Metal chelate-DNA interactions
Deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) is found to be the most efficient pharmacological target of many synthetic molecules which are deemed as potential drugs with clinical applications. DNA binding agents are known to regulate several cell functions (gene expression and replication) by adopting various protocols which include the annihilation of the cell membrane, interruption in protein synthesis, and irreversible binding to cell receptors. Recently, several studies have explored fundamental aspects of drug-DNA interactions, providing new insights into the driving forces that render the formation of the drug-DNA complex. In order to study and understand these biologically important reaction mechanisms, several screening tools have been devised and the specificity of drug molecules binding to DNA were studied in detail. This review will discuss the utilization of various analytical tools which include UV-vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism, viscosity measurement, Raman spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and DNA fragmentation assay used for studying drug binding mode and the mechanism involved. 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH. -
In-Depth Review of Microeconomic Analysis of Business Tourist Spending
Most prior research used tourist arrivals to examine international tourism demand. However, tourist arrival is not an accurate factor to determine international tourism demand as it does not show the actual spending pattern of tourists which includes goods and services purchased. Literature has proven that business tourists always spend more than leisure tourists; thus, tourist expenditure is an essential measure of international tourism demand. For the current research, we summarised 31 studies to review several variables that could affect tourism demand and expenditure. The current research concludes that microeconomic modelling should be the focus and given priority for studying tourism demand and the factors that affect business tourist expenditure. The Author(s) 2018. -
Influence of career re-entry enablers on job search outcomes: COVID strengthening the disparity virus?
Women in India when faced with the predicament of managing their homes and work, many a times are forced to take a break from their job. On completion of their personal responsibilities when they contemplate re-entering work, they face numerous hindrances. Covid has only raised additional concerns in their career landscape. In this context based on the social cognitive career theory that adopts human agency perspective we theorize that women are not mere bystanders but themselves contribute to their life outcomes through their self-efficacy and resultant job search efforts. Using the components in the SCCT model (Social cognitive career theory) of career self-management (CSM), data from 385 respondents was analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structure Equation Modeling. The study confirmed the direct and indirect relationship between self-efficacy in job search behaviour, outcome expectations, search goals, search actions and the final job search outcome measured through the number of offers received. Implications of this study to the managers, family and society are also discussed. 2021 Ecological Society of India. All rights reserved. -
Influence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on human biological timekeeping
To stay in sync with environmental cues, the body's metabolic activities must be rhythmic, and these rhythmic functions are known as circadian rhythms, which repeat every 24 h. People's sleep-wake and eating patterns were interrupted as a result of house confinement, making them more vulnerable to noncommunicable chronic diseases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) period. During the epidemic, there was a greater degree of misalignment with this synchronization. The effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) on the human circadian clock are studied in depth. The literature review was conducted fully online, with the website utilized to collect all of the papers from PubMed, and duplicates were handled only in the first phase. Researchers found that individuals of all ages who are pushed to adjust their daily routines shift to the later chronotype, resulting in lifestyle modifications and an altered biological timing system that contributes to noncommunicable chronic illnesses. Chronic illnesses have bidirectional conductance, which means they can be caused by both environmental and self-modification in daily activity, as was the case during the COVID-19 outbreak, which forced people to stay at home. This review comes to the conclusion that fighting the pandemic may be best done by changing medications and focusing on immune health. 2023 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved. -
Influence of Mindfulness on Game Addiction-Mediating Role of Emotional Control
In the past few decades, online games have become immensely popular among the younger generation thus leading to online game addiction. Previous researches acknowledge that mindfulness or present-focused awareness may reduce addiction. Moreover, addiction is found to have an impact on the propensity to respond to the situations in the environment in a way that is acceptable to all the people (emotional control). The present study attempts to study the influence of mindfulness and emotional control on game addiction. For this, 187 college students were selected through the Simple Random Sampling method. Personal Profile Sheet, The Online Game Addiction Scale, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and The Emotional Control Questionnaire, with four dimensions of Rehearsal, Emotional Inhibition, Aggression Control and Benign control were used to collect the data. The study found a significant gender difference in the level of game addiction where boys being more addicted to online games than girls. Mindfulness shows a significant negative influence over Game Addiction. Among the four dimensions of emotional control, the two dimensions viz., rehearsal and benign control show mediation effect between mindfulness and game addiction. However, the mediating role of emotional inhibition and aggression control was not significantly demonstrative. The Author(s) 2024. -
Influencer Marketing and Consumer Behaviour: A Systematic Literature Review
Influencer marketing is an emerging area in the field of marketing. Specifically, this topic grabs the attention of several academicians and practitioners because of the key role played by influencers to stimulate consumer behaviour. Significantly, a systematic way of analysing and summarising the works of literature in this nascent area is necessary. A systematic literature review provides a comprehensive overview of the whole literature studied. From this knowledge, a systematic literature review has been undertaken from the period of 2016 to 2021 based on 65 articles from the ABDC journal to fetch relevant research themes, methodology, theories, variables, antecedents and consequences and potential research gaps. From this information, this research proposed an integrative framework which depicts the role of social media influencers in activating consumer behaviour. Future research direction has presented comprising of knowledge gap in the existing literature from key areas such as theory, methodology and settings. This research provides implications for both theories and practice. 2022 Management Development Institute. -
Integrated biorefinery development for pomegranate peel: Prospects for the production of fuel, chemicals and bioactive molecules
Current experimental evidence has revealed that pomegranate peel is a significant source of essential bio compounds, and many of them can be transformed into valorized products. Pomegranate peel can also be used as feedstock to produce fuels and biochemicals. We herein review this pomegranate peel conversion technology and the prospective valorized product that can be synthesized from this frequently disposed fruit waste. The review also discusses its usage as a carbon substrate to synthesize bioactive compounds like phenolics, flavonoids and its use in enzyme biosynthesis. Based on reported experimental evidence, it is apparent that pomegranate peel has a large number of applications, and therefore, the development of an integrated biorefinery concept to use pomegranate peel will aid in effectively utilizing its significant advantages. The biorefinery method displays a promising approach for efficiently using pomegranate peel; nevertheless, further studies should be needed in this area. 2022 Elsevier Ltd -
Integrating dye-sensitized solar cells and supercapacitors: portable powerpacks for future energy applications
Integrating energy storage and harvesting devices have been major challenges and significant needs of the time for upcoming energy applications. Photosupercapacitors are combined solar cell-supercapacitor devices which can provide next-generation portable powerpacks. Owing to advantages like economic and environmental friendliness, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) offer vast potential for being integrated with energy accumulation devices like supercapacitors. Over the past few years, various types of harvesting cum storage power devices combining DSSCs and supercapacitors have been reported. Over time the devices have improved in both performance and stability providing a broad outlook to possible future advancements including commercialization. We still have many challenges that are yet to be resolved in order to take these powerpacks to the next level of applications in portable and wearable electronics and communication devices. In this context, a detailed analysis and comparison of already reported photo-powered integrated supercapacitors based on DSSCs would give further insights into future advancements. In this review, we have discussed the development of photosupercapacitors, their fabrication strategies, and different materials used as counter electrodes, electrolytes, and dye sensitizers. Graphical Abstract: (Figure presented.) The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024. -
Integration of Hyperspectral Imaging and Deep Learning for Sustainable Mangrove Management and Sustainable Development Goals Assessment
Mangrove forests support biodiversity and provide valuable ecosystem services. Their conservation is important for maintaining these benefits. In addition to this, understanding and preserving these forests is important for the assessment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as SDG 1,2,3,6,8,11,12,13,14 and15. This review paper explores how the integration of Hyperspectral Image (HSI) technology and Deep Learning (DL) algorithms is helpful in mangrove conservation and SDGs assessment. HSI in mangrove research allows detailed analysis of tree health, species types and environmental stress factors (includes salinity levels, waterlogging, soil erosion, pollution, habitat fragmentation, disturbances from human activities etc.) with enhanced spectral and spatial resolution. Combining DL algorithms like Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) with HSI data automates mangrove mapping, detects change in mangrove health, estimates carbon sequestration and manages ecological zone. Rich spectral information from HSI empowers DL algorithms to identify patterns and features for accurate and efficient classification tasks in both supervised and unsupervised methods. This review aims to comprehensively summarize the research efforts reported in monitoring mangrove ecosystems through varied remote sensing approaches, algorithms and their support towards SDGs assessment. HSI and DL together offer a powerful approach for researchers, environmentalists and climate activists working towards sustainable development objectives. This paper not only focuses on mangrove conservation but also addresses challenges associated with integrating technologies such as data processing complexities and the need for specialized expertise. This study outlines advancements in HSI technology, DL applications and future directions to drive sustainable management strategies for mangrove ecosystems. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of Wetland Scientists 2025. -
International investments and environmental protection in India - Policy and implementation gaps in mitigating the carbon footprints
Introduction: While India's contribution and progress on environment protection has been applauded by global leaders, India continues to be one of the biggest carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter globally. Major sectors responsible for carbon emissions are also the major sectors attracting international investments. This paper intends review such investments and examine their impact on environment. Methodology: A comprehensive review of the existing literature to identify the prevailing laws and policies that apply to corporations to meeting environmental standards was undertaken. In addition, extensive search was undertaken on the internet for reports and database that monitor corporate behavior and report about their disclosures and efforts on addressing environmental concerns. A review of the investment agreements signed, adopted and in-force in India was also undertaken to understand if they meet the standards of environmental protection. Data collection was done between July 2022 to June 2023. Findings: The Constitution of India stipulates protection and improvement of public and environmental health of the country. Several laws and policies have been adopted to meet this constitutional standard in India, including The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The 17 SDGs have direct and indirect linkages and impact on the environment. It is evident that all international investment agreements up to 2017 have no mention of environment exemption clause nor incorporates the GATT Article XX exceptions. However, the recent IIAs do mention environment as exception to expropriation. It is also seen that investments by big corporations have been responsible for huge deforestation, water pollution, and fossil fuel globally and most of them have their footprints in India and continue to contribute to the countries carbon footprint. India's commitment to renewable and non-conventional energy is the silver lining to meeting the SDG goals and the net zero emission targets. Meeting ESG standards and its disclosures by regulatory body is another positive step towards environmental protection from international investments. Conclusion: The biggest global contributors to GHG and carbon emissions have their presence in India and thus contribute to the overall carbon foot print of India. All international investments must be required to comply with the legal and policy regulations on public health and environment protection. In this regard, corporations should be mandated to follow ESG standards to meet the SDGs objectives. 2023 The Authors -
Interparental Conflict and Young Adult Romantic Relationships: A Systematic Review
In the last two decades, researchers have been progressively investigating the impact of interparental conflict (IPC) on young adults romantic relationships. This systematic review aimed to synthesize literature on IPC and romantic relationship outcomes among young adults and highlight mechanisms found in this link. Following the PRISMA protocol, 3232 studies were identified using Boolean searches on ProQuest, PubMed, EBSCOhost, Jstor, Cochrane, and Google Scholar, and 17 met the eligibility criteria. To be included, in addition to having IPC and romantic relationship outcomes as variables, studies had to be quantitative in design, have a mean sample age of 1825, include only participants in romantic relationships at the time of the study, and be published in English with full text available. The review found that IPC is associated with negative conflict management, both perpetration and victimization of aggression, worse communication, negative conflict behaviors, and poor relationship quality. Other outcomes like relationship satisfaction, commitment, as well as mediator variables in the link between IPC and young adult romantic relationship outcomes, such as attitudes towards marriage and conflict attributions, yielded varied results. Several shortcomings in the methodology of the reviewed articles, such as the research sample and measures, were discovered. To deal with the impact of IPC on offsprings romantic relationships, preventive interventions should be designed and evaluated, and more research with different variables and study designs, with more men, other ethnicities, and more representative sample frames are needed to detect crucial mediators and obtain reliable and generalizable results. The Author(s) 2022. -
Interrogating Populist Tendencies within the Left Rhetoric in Kerala
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there has been an increasing shift from class-based politics to politics based on mobilising "people" within the left-wing political praxis and rhetoric. Such tendencies are visible even within the left rhetoric in Kerala. In the particular context of Kerala, this process is enmeshed with sub-nationalist sentiments and concerns around vikasanam (development). It is possible that this tendency can metamorphose into different directions, depending on the tactical priorities of the left in Kerala. 2022 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved. -
Intrinsic betterness and reason based extrinsic preference towards social shopping: A study among college students in Bangalore
The main purpose of this study is to analyze the Intrinsic and Extrinsic factors and its impact on the social shopping of student community in the city of Bangalore. Bangalore is one of the most popular cities in the down south. This city attracts a mix of various cultures from various countries of the world. Thus, this city and population would be apt to study the social shopping pattern considering the Intrinsic and Extrinsic factors. The data was collected from the student community, perusing their college education in the city of Bangalore. Using convenient sampling method, a sample size of 225 was drawn from educational institutions in the city of Bangalore. The research work makes use of both first hand and second-hand data. The reliability of the data is acceptable as the Cronbach's alphas value is more than. 6. The drafted questionnaire was subjected to expert opinion before the data collection process. The study results make it clear that both intrinsic and extrinsic values motivate the consumers to get involved in the social shopping. But comparatively consumers are more influenced by those factors present in the external environment. It can be concluded by saying that, youngsters are quite smart before putting themselves into the purchase behavior, as they are in a group of friends, they get influenced by various experiences and comments shared by many. In a way social shopping is better, as too many minds generate ideas for a single purchase. 2018 Transilvanian Association for the Literarure and Culture of Romanian People (ASTRA). All rights reserved. -
Is robotics education and training gender dependent? A suggestive robotics syllabus for teacher training
Application of robotics is rapidly increasing in all fields of life. Though robotics education became popular in the 21st century, its teaching and training has not gained much importance across the world, especially in developing and low-income countries. There are various reasons for its neglect and one of them could be gender-science stereotypes. Research studies are yet to explore the reasons for its slow emergence. The present study explores the need and training for educational robotics considering the role of students, teachers, teacher-educators and parents, determining whether it is gender-dependent or not. The study also proposes to come up with a syllabus for robotics training. The study employs exploratory, sequential, qualitative-quantitative mixed-method research design and applies purposive sampling techniques. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews, including five science teacher-educators, five science teachers, and five trainee teachers majoring in sciences to understand the need, scope and benefits of robotics education. They recruited 100 high school students, 50 teacher-educators, and 100 parents to test whether their interest in robotics is gender-dependent through Chi-square analysis. The study revealed the need for robotics education under four themes and seven subthemes. It has been found that the interest of students and parents and the readiness of teacher-educators for robotics education is gender-dependent. The study came up with a suggestive syllabus for robotics training. It recommends that future researchers should focus on the implementation of robotics teaching for teacher and school education. 2021 Authors. -
Job Satisfaction Among Health-Care Practitioners: A Bibliometric Analysis
Purpose: The study aims to throw light on job satisfaction among health-care practitioners based on the metadata of published literature from Scopus database with the help of bibliometric analysis. Design/methodology/approach: Metadata of 6,998 publications from the Scopus database were extracted. Bibliometric analysis was done with country-based co-authorship analysis, all keywords-based co-occurrence analysis, sources-based citation analysis, cited authors-based co-citation analysis, and term co-occurrence based on text data. Findings: It was found that United States had the highest number of publications at 2,037. The Journal Of Nursing Management had the highest number of publications (332). Term co-occurrence based on text data reveals that job satisfaction, turnover intention, work engagement, compassion fatigue, job stress, organizational commitment, job demand, job performance, workplace violence, job burnout, career satisfaction, safety climate, organizational support, transformational leadership, leadership style, discrimination, workplace bullying, and job strain are the most prominent terms. The paper also highlights the factors affecting job satisfaction of employees in the health-care sector. Conclusion: The paper tries to highlight the publication trends on the job satisfaction among health-care practitioners. Since health care is a primary sector, prosperity of other sectors in the society depends on the job satisfaction level of employees in this sector. 2024 Association for Radiologic & Imaging Nursing -
Keratin as a sustainable biopolymer for waste water treatment
Keratin is one of the most abundant natural polymers with potential application in various fields but is usually seen discarded as waste generated from poultry farms along roadsides and landfills. These are indeed the cheapest source of keratin protein which could be used for various applications. Owing to the structural properties, keratinous materials are now being exploited in wastewater treatment systems as adsorbents. The rich amino acid content having hydroxyl, carboxyl and amino groups has been found to be beneficial in removing contaminants from waste waters like heavy metals and dyes. Research based on this idea has received peak attention to a point where formulations of different adsorbent materials like nanofibre, biofilms and biocomposite from keratinous raw materials are now available for commercial use. This review summarises the application of keratin as an efficient adsorbent for waste water treatment providing an insight into its structure, forms of keratin used for treatments and mechanism of adsorption of different components in waste water. 2022 World Research Association. All rights reserved. -
Knots of the umbilical cord: Incidence, diagnosis, and management
Knot(s) of the umbilical cord have received emphasis because the clinical assessments and sonographic literature show a crucial role in fetal outcomes. The true umbilical cord knot could be a knot in a singleton pregnancy or an entanglement of two umbilical cords in monoamniotic twins. Clinical manifestations are almost silent, which can raise clinical challenges. They worsen outcomes, and the pathology can be easily missed during prenatal visits because ultrasonographers do not pay attention to the cord during an obstetric ultrasound scan. However, most medical centers now have ultrasound machines that improve fetal assessment. The umbilical cord should be routinely evaluated during a fetal assessment, and suspicion of an umbilical cord knot can be more frequently diagnosed and is detected only incidentally. Clinical outcome is usually good but depends on the knot's characteristics and if it is tight or loose. In this review, we discuss pathophysiology, the theories on formation, the main risk factors, ultrasound signs and findings, different opinions in the management, and features of pregnancy outcomes feature. 2024 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.