Search Results (8)

The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a fundamental international agreement that plays a crucial role in the protection and equitable utilization of plant genetic resources. While this agreement is essential for conservation and sustainable use, it presents specific challenges to coffee research and industry. One major issue is the requirement to obtain prior informed consent (PIC) from the source country or community, which can be a complex and time-consuming process, especially in regions with limited governance capacity. Additionally, the mandates of this agreement necessitate benefit-sharing with the source community, a requirement that poses implementation challenges, particularly for small businesses or individual researchers. Despite these challenges, the importance of the Nagoya Protocol in the coffee sector cannot be overstated. It contributes significantly to the conservation of coffee genetic resources and the sustainable utilization of these resources, ensuring fair distribution of benefits. To address the complexities presented by this international framework, coffee researchers and industry need to engage proactively with source countries and communities. This includes developing clear and equitable benefit-sharing and implementing strategies for compliance. This article explores the impact of the Nagoya Protocol on the coffee industry, particularly emphasizing the need for balancing scientific investigation with the ethical considerations of resource sharing. It also discusses practical strategies for navigating the complexities of this agreement, including research focused on authenticity control and the challenges in conducting large-scale coffee studies. The conclusion underscores the potential for international collaboration, particularly through platforms like the International Coffee Organization (ICO), to harmonize research activities with the ethical imperatives of the Nagoya Protocol. Full article

The cultivation of college students’ intercultural communication competence (ICC) for sustainable development is a hot research topic in English foreign language (EFL) education. What competencies are they required to have, and how to cultivate them in EFL education? The study is based on Byram’s model of ICC for cultivating students’ ICC for their sustainable development. To this end, an empirical study was conducted by constructing an intercultural comparative teaching mode called Input-Comparison-Output (ICO) in the research by integrating Chinese culture into EFL education for cultivating students’ ICC among Chinese college students. The study emphasizes the importance of the Chinese culture as the native culture by comparing similarities and differences with the targeted culture in EFL education. There are some existing research works on English and its culture, but few of them focus on the role and integration of Chinese culture in China’s EFL teaching. In order to seek some evidence of the function of the Chinese culture as the first culture in EFL education, the authors constructed the ICO intercultural mode, and 58 participants were recruited and divided into two groups randomly as the controlled group and experimental group in the empirical study. Some research methods were used in the study, such as questionnaires, term papers, statistical analyses and interviews. The data were collected through the Star of Questionnaire, the automatic assessing system of the I-write Platform, Excel and WeChat videos. Quantitative and qualitative statistics were adopted to assess the students’ changes of attitudes towards the integration of the Chinese culture into the course and academic development in the research. The ICO intercultural mode creates a novel teaching mode of cultural comparison between first culture and targeted culture, breaking down the traditional monocultural teaching one in the EFL teaching. The results of the research show that the integration of the Chinese culture into the EFL course is important, which can promote the students’ ICC thanks to the application of the ICO intercultural mode in the course. The initiative findings can be used as references for further intercultural teaching in EFL education. Full article

Advances in biomaterials, particularly in combination with encapsulation strategies, have provided excellent opportunities to increase reproducibility and standardization for cell culture applications. Herein, hybrid microcapsules are produced in a flow-focusing microfluidic droplet generator combined with enzymatic outside-in crosslinking of dextran-tyramine, enriched with human liver extracellular matrix (ECM). The microcapsules provide a physiologically relevant microenvironment for the culture of intrahepatic cholangiocyte organoids (ICO) and patient-derived cholangiocarcinoma organoids (CCAO). Micro-encapsulation allowed for the scalable and size-standardized production of organoids with sustained proliferation for at least 21 days in vitro. Healthy ICO (n = 5) expressed cholangiocyte markers, including KRT7 and KRT19, similar to standard basement membrane extract cultures. The CCAO microcapsules (n = 3) showed retention of stem cell phenotype and expressed LGR5 and PROM1. Furthermore, ITGB1 was upregulated, indicative of increased cell adhesion to ECM in microcapsules. Encapsulated CCAO were amendable to drug screening assays, showing a dose-response response to the clinically relevant anti-cancer drugs gemcitabine and cisplatin. High-throughput drug testing identified both pan-effective drugs as well as patient-specific resistance patterns. The results described herein show the feasibility of this one-step encapsulation approach to create size-standardized organoids for scalable production. The liver extracellular matrix-containing microcapsules can provide a powerful platform to build mini healthy and tumor tissues for potential future transplantation or personalized medicine applications. Full article

This paper analyzes a financing problem for an innovative firm that is considering launching a web-based platform. The model developed in the paper is the first one that analyzes an entrepreneur’s choice between initial exchange offering (IEO) and initial coin offering (ICO). Compared to ICO, under IEO the firm is subject to screening by an exchange that reduces the risk of investment in tokens; also the firm receives access to a larger set of potential investors; finally tokens become listed on an exchange faster. The paper argues that IEO is a better option for the firm if: (1) the investment size is relatively large; (2) the extent of moral hazard problems faced by the firm is relatively large; (3) the degree of investors’ impatience is relatively small. Furthermore, a non-linear relationship between firm quality and its financing choice is found. Most of these predictions are new and have not been tested so far. Full article

ICOs are very attractive for investors and issuers. ICOs allow funding raising in exchange for cryptographically secure tokens, which are a means of paying for future projects or services. However, there is insignificant regulation of this process all over the world. Some countries have banned crypto assets; others have allowed the free use of tokens but do not give them official status. In this paper, the authors present an overview of the legal regulation of ICOs in different countries, dividing them into three groups: in the first group are the countries with developed legal norms and rules for conducting ICO, they have the subsequent circulation of tokens on their territory; in the second group are the countries that are most friendly to ICOs; the third group of countries has a wait-and-see attitude. The author connect the insufficient law regulation and risks of ICOs in different countries. The types of ICO risks are divided into three main categories: financial, technical, and analytical. The main ways to reduce these risks, depending on their types, are highlighted in this study. They are connected with the improvement of the legal regulation of the publication of a White Paper, the KYC procedure, and the involvement of escrow agents. Full article

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) takes the promise of blockchain a step further and aims to transform traditional financial products into trustless and transparent protocols that run without involving intermediaries. Similar to how 2017 was the year of ICOs, 2020 was the year of DeFi, with more than fifteen billion dollars of total investments. The decentralized platforms utilize oracles to retrieve asset data from the external world, but their choice and management criteria are often unknown to the end-users. If oracles are poorly selected or managed, the funds of a rising number of investors are inevitably in danger. The issue, known as “the oracle problem”, which makes real-world applications controversial and debated due to the loss of decentralization, had recently drawn attention to DeFi, given the crescent number of related hacks that caused the loss of millions of dollars held in DeFi projects. Through a multivocal approach that considers academic papers, whitepapers, preprints, and opinion posts, this study aims to shed light on the pattern that identifies the oracle problem in DeFi and outline the most promising ways to overcome the related weaknesses. This research supports the view that the oracle problem in decentralized finance bears specific characteristics which require standardization and appropriate economic incentives to be addressed. Full article

We present a concept of the Martian multichannel diode laser spectrometer (M-DLS) instrument, a part of the science payload onboard Kazachok landing platform in the framework of the ExoMars mission second stage. The instrument, a laser spectrometer operating in the mid-IR spectral range, is aimed at long-term monitoring of isotopic ratios in main Martian volatiles—carbon dioxide and water vapor—in the near-surface atmosphere. The M-DLS spectrometer utilizes the integrated cavity output spectroscopy (ICOS) technique to enhance an effective optical path length and combines high sensitivity and measurement accuracy with relatively simple and robust design. Provided proper compensation of systematic errors by data post-processing, retrievals of main isotopic ratios with relative accuracy of 1% to 3% are expected during at least one Martian year. Full article

Profiling the tumour microenvironment (TME) has been informative in understanding the underlying tumour–immune interactions. Multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) coupled with molecular barcoding technologies have revealed greater insights into the TME. In this study, we utilised the Nanostring GeoMX Digital Spatial Profiler (DSP) platform to profile a non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissue microarray for protein markers across immune cell profiling, immuno-oncology (IO) drug targets, immune activation status, immune cell typing, and pan-tumour protein modules. Regions of interest (ROIs) were selected that described tumour, TME, and normal adjacent tissue (NAT) compartments. Our data revealed that paired analysis (n = 18) of matched patient compartments indicate that the TME was significantly enriched in CD27, CD3, CD4, CD44, CD45, CD45RO, CD68, CD163, and VISTA relative to the tumour. Unmatched analysis indicated that the NAT (n = 19) was significantly enriched in CD34, fibronectin, IDO1, LAG3, ARG1, and PTEN when compared to the TME (n = 32). Univariate Cox proportional hazards indicated that the presence of cells expressing CD3 (hazard ratio (HR): 0.5, p = 0.018), CD34 (HR: 0.53, p = 0.004), and ICOS (HR: 0.6, p = 0.047) in tumour compartments were significantly associated with improved overall survival (OS). We implemented both high-plex and high-throughput methodologies to the discovery of protein biomarkers and molecular phenotypes within biopsy samples, and demonstrate the power of such tools for a new generation of pathology research. Full article