Search Results (76)

Background: Research on what promotes agility and resilience in the supply chain from an organizational strategy perspective is limited. This paper profiles the factors that can enable supply chain agility and resilience, with a special emphasis on organizational strategy. Method: Using an exploratory approach, the study first identifies the enablers of supply chain agility and resilience and then applies Fuzzy Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (Fuzzy TISM) to rank them. Data were collected from experts using a literature-derived knowledge base. Results: The findings reveal key resource and knowledge-based enablers (Integration, both internal and external; Knowledge Management; Culture for Flexibility, Risk Management, Innovation, Organizational Ambidexterity, Absorptive Capacity, and Collaborative Communication) that strengthen resilience and agility, offering insights into mitigating disruptions caused by macro- and micro-level factors and global interdependencies. Conclusions: The study contributes by exploring the enablers of supply chain agility and resilience through an organizational strategy lens. By applying a rent-yielding mechanism grounded in resource and dynamic capability theories, the study advances theoretical maturity in this domain from an emerging-country context. Full article

Background/Objectives: The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) within a One Health framework highlights the role of wildlife as environmental reservoirs. Because wild game is an increasingly important meat source, hygienic handling during evisceration is critical to prevent carcass contamination from internal tissues such as mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs). This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and antibiotic resistance (AR) profiles of Escherichia coli isolated from the MLNs of hunted wild ungulates in western Romania to better understand microbiological hazards along the game meat supply chain. Methods: MLN samples were aseptically collected from 103 legally hunted wild boars (Sus scrofa, n = 78) and cervids (Capreolus capreolus and Cervus elaphus, n = 25) across two hunting grounds. E. coli isolation was performed utilizing selective Tryptone Bile X-Glucuronide agar. Subsequent biochemical identification and phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing were conducted using the automated VITEK^® 2 system. Results: The overall E. coli isolation rate was 72.8% (75/103). Analyzed by host species, the bacterium was recovered from 79.4% of the sampled wild boars (62/78) and 52.0% of the cervids (13/25). Phenotypic resistance to at least one antibiotic agent was observed in 25.3% (19/75) of the isolates, most frequently against cephalosporins (cefalexin, 21.3%) and penicillins (ampicillin, 24.0%). Multidrug resistance (MDR) was identified in 20.0% (15/75) of the isolates. Conclusions: The detection of MDR E. coli phenotypes within the MLNs of free-ranging game indicates the penetration of clinically relevant resistance mechanisms into sylvatic environments. These findings underscore the potential risk of internal carcass contamination during field evisceration, highlighting the critical need for strict hygiene practices to ensure game meat safety. Full article

Public enterprises operate under a dual mandate: optimizing internal workflows while delivering reliable services and demonstrable public value. This study develops and tests a governance-enabled capability framework linking Process Optimization (PRO) to Service Quality (SQ) and Public Value (PV) in a public enterprise in Ecuador. Using an employee survey instrument (7-point Likert; N = 300) covering leadership and governance (LGO), digitalization and automation (DGA), standardization and BPM (STB), human capability (HCC), performance and data management (PDM), budget/line-item management (BLM), interunit coordination (IAC), PRO, SQ, and PV, we combine capability profiling (PCA + k-means) with PLS-SEM. PCA shows a dominant maturity gradient (PC1 = 87.17%). In the baseline model, PRO is most strongly associated with DGA (β = 0.242), BLM (β = 0.230), and IAC (β = 0.132), with very high explained variance (R²(PRO) = 0.976). The outcome chain is strong (PRO → SQ β = 0.964; SQ → PV β = 0.964). A second-order “Capability Maturity” robustness model preserves downstream performance (R²(SQ) = 0.929; R²(PV) = 0.930) while sharply reducing structural collinearity (max inner VIF for PRO predictors: 25.246 → 1.515). Results are interpreted as associations consistent with a capability–maturity mechanism. Full article

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been associated with alterations in the gut microbiota and its metabolites, particularly short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and microbiota-derived tryptophan catabolites, which may influence neurodevelopment through immune and epigenetic mechanisms. We investigated whether stool SCFAs and tryptophan-pathway metabolites differ between children with ASD and typically developing controls, and whether these metabolites associate with ASD severity and systemic biochemical signatures. In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed stool samples from 229 children (160 with ASD, 69 controls) with complete SCFA and tryptophan-metabolite data, while urine metabolomics data were available for a subset and were used for exploratory stool–urine integration analyses. Children with ASD and controls were similar in age, but the ASD group had a higher proportion of males. Absolute concentrations of individual SCFAs, total SCFAs, and derived indices were broadly comparable between groups; nominal differences in propionate/acetate ratio and caproate did not remain significant after false discovery rate correction. Similarly, stool tryptophan-pathway metabolites reported as ng/a.u. based on the NanoDrop-derived proxy (tryptophan, kynurenine, indole-3-acetic, indole-3-lactic, indole-3-propionic, indole-3-aldehyde, N-acetyl-tryptophan, serotonin, melatonin, tryptamine) and functional ratios (kynurenine/tryptophan, indole-derived/tryptophan, serotonin/tryptophan) showed no robust ASD–control differences; N-acetyl-tryptophan was nominally higher in ASD but did not survive multiple-testing correction. In the ASD subgroup with available Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) data (n = 34), SCFA and tryptophan indices showed only weak, non-significant correlations with global ASD severity. In contrast, correlation analyses revealed two coherent metabolic modules, i.e., an SCFA block with very strong internal correlations among individual SCFAs and total SCFAs and a tryptophan block with strong correlations between metabolites and their normalized ratios, while cross-module correlations were modest. These results indicate that stool SCFA and microbiota-derived tryptophan profiles do not robustly distinguish ASD from controls in this cohort, but they form stable metabolic modules compatible with microbiome–epigenome frameworks. Full article

This study characterizes the structure and variability of baroclinic semidiurnal tidal currents at the head of the Biobio Submarine Canyon (BbC), off central Chile, based on Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and moored thermistor-chain observations from two deployments conducted in 2013 and 2014 under contrasting stratification conditions. The results show that the head of the BbC is a dynamically active site of semidiurnal variability, with markedly stronger and more coherent baroclinic motions during the more stratified winter–spring 2014 period. During that deployment, semidiurnal baroclinic current amplitudes reached up to 17 cm s⁻¹, and the associated energy was concentrated near the surface and bottom. Rotary spectral analysis indicated that these semidiurnal baroclinic currents rotated anticyclonically and were closely aligned with the canyon axis. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis further showed that their vertical structure was dominated by a first baroclinic mode, which explained more than 70% of the semidiurnal baroclinic variance in 2014. In contrast, the 2013 deployment exhibited weaker and less coherent semidiurnal baroclinic variability. Taken together, these results indicate that stronger stratification favored the development of semidiurnal internal-tide-related motions over the canyon head and that the BbC provides a dynamically favorable setting for enhanced semidiurnal internal-tide activity and potentially elevated mixing, although direct turbulence or dissipation measurements were not available in this study. These findings have potential implications for local water-column structure, nutrient supply, and primary productivity in this highly productive coastal region. Full article

Background/Objectives: Serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) is a widely used laboratory test for the detection and monitoring of monoclonal gammopathies, including multiple myeloma (MM). Although SPE is usually recommended in the presence of specific clinical or laboratory abnormalities, monoclonal gammopathies may occasionally develop rapidly and without typical symptoms. This case report aims to emphasize the diagnostic value of SPE in identifying an unexpected and fast-evolving monoclonal gammopathy. Methods: We report the clinical and laboratory eight-month follow-up of a 58-year-old male who initially underwent SPE for unrelated clinical conditions. Serial SPE analyses were performed using capillary zone electrophoresis. When abnormalities emerged, immunotyping and serum free light chain (FLC) assays were conducted. The diagnostic workup was completed with bone marrow aspiration, flow cytometry, and imaging studies according to current international diagnostic criteria. Results: The initial SPE (November 2023) showed a normal protein profile. After eight months, follow-up SPE revealed a prominent monoclonal spike in the gamma region (2.9 g/dL), associated with increased total serum proteins (91 g/L; range 64–82 g/L), elevated IgA levels (20.0 g/L; range 0.4–3.5 g/L), and a markedly abnormal κ/λ FLC ratio (54.00; range 0.31–1.56). Bone marrow analysis demonstrated >18% plasma cell infiltration, confirming the diagnosis of IgA-κ MM. The patient underwent standard therapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation, achieving disease remission. Conclusions: This case highlights that clinically relevant monoclonal gammopathies may arise rapidly in the absence of classical diagnostic features. Routine SPE represents a cost-effective and accessible screening tool that can identify subtle protein abnormalities, prompting the timely use of more specific and invasive diagnostic procedures for aggressive plasma cell disorders. Full article

Time-series machine learning models represented by long short-term memory (LSTM) networks provide an effective way to obtain high-precision sound speed profiles (SSPs) quickly and at low cost, which can meet the practical application requirements of underwater sonar systems. However, in sea areas with frequent strong internal solitary waves, the large-amplitude sound speed anomalies caused by them will seriously interfere with model learning in the form of strong outlier features, resulting in a sharp drop in SSP prediction accuracy and significant degradation of the generalization stability and robustness of the model. To address this problem, this paper proposes a time-series SSP prediction method based on a bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) network. First, Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) decomposition is used to realize the low-dimensional feature representation of SSPs, and then the bidirectional time-series feature capture capability of Bi-LSTM is used to predict the SSP sequence with large disturbances caused by strong internal solitary waves. Multiple groups of comparative experiments based on the measured temperature chain data in the continental slope area of the South China Sea show that the Bi-LSTM model has a significant improvement in prediction accuracy and robustness compared with the classical LSTM model. Among them, the Bi-LSTM model with EOF decomposition achieves a correlation coefficient of 0.995 and an average Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) as low as 0.387 m/s. Under the condition of internal solitary wave disturbance, the classical LSTM is difficult to effectively capture the large abrupt change in sound speed, while the proposed Bi-LSTM model can still achieve accurate prediction of the SSP in the disturbance section, and has both the feature recognition and evolution prediction capabilities for the strongly nonlinear internal solitary wave process. This method provides effective technical support for the rapid and large-scale reconstruction of the sound speed field under the disturbance of strong internal solitary waves. Full article

Background/Objectives: Gut microbiota (GM) dysbiosis has been implicated in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis, influencing inflammation and neurodegeneration, but findings remain inconsistent due to environmental and methodological variability. This study aimed to identify possible microbial biomarkers of MS status and disease severity by profiling gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) patterns in people with relapsing–remitting MS (pwRRMS), using household-matched healthy controls (HC) to minimize environmental variability. Methods: Twenty-four pwRRMS and their respective household-matched healthy controls (HC) were enrolled, with dietary and lifestyle habits monitored. GM composition was assessed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and fecal SCFAs were quantified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. PwRRMS were stratified by Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS). Results: β-diversity did not differ between groups. However, α-diversity was significantly reduced in pwRRMS, particularly in those with greater disability. Reduced diversity was associated with lower abundance of butyrate-producing genera (Roseburia, Faecalibacterium, Coprococcus) and enrichment of Oscillibacter and UBA1819, alongside a downward trend in fecal butyrate and propionate levels. Conclusions: RRMS and greater disease severity are associated with gut microbial alterations characterized by reduced SCFA-producing bacteria. Despite limitations including small sample size and sex imbalance, the household-matched design strengthens internal validity. Our findings highlight the potential of targeting the gut microbiota, an accessible compartment within the gut–brain axis, for MS management. Full article

The unsaturated long-chain fatty acid amide derivatives in Sichuan pepper are the components responsible for its characteristic numbing sensation. Due to the susceptibility to oxidation of these compounds, it is difficult to maintain a consistent numbing taste in pepper products, and a significant challenge is faced in the quantitative analysis of these components because the reference standards required for such analysis are very expensive, owing to the difficulty in their isolation and purification. More critically, the accuracy of determination results is always influenced by the oxidation reaction during their storage in the air. In this study, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled with the Quantitative Analysis of Multi-components by a Single Marker (QAMS) method was employed to quantitatively analyze four main alkylamides in 28 batches of Sichuan pepper samples. The analysis revealed differences in the compositional profiles of Green Sichuan Pepper from various sources. The results obtained from both the external standard method (ESM) and the QAMS method were consistent, with standardized mean differences (SMDs) below 5.0%. Furthermore, within the QAMS method, two different internal standards, hydroxyl-α-sanshool and Nonivamide, were used. The SMD between the results obtained using these two different internal standards, respectively, was also within 5%. In conclusion, the stable and cost-effective Nonivamide can serve as a viable alternative reference standard for the HPLC-based determination of the major numbing components in Sichuan pepper. Full article

Background and Objectives: Serum biomarker discovery in resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a critical unmet need, as over 80% of patients present with unresectable disease. Serum proteomics offers a promising approach for identifying circulating biomarkers associated with early-stage disease; however, clinical translation has been limited by inconsistent validation and the absence of clinically relevant comparator populations. Materials and Methods: We performed a discovery-phase study using data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry-based serum proteomics in 35 patients with resectable, non-metastatic PDAC and 34 non-cancer controls without hepato-biliary-pancreatic disease. Following quality filtering (≥80% detection threshold), 407 proteins were retained for analysis. Differential abundance was assessed using Welch’s t-test with Benjamini–Hochberg correction (FDR < 0.01, |FC| ≥ 1.5). Diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and logistic regression with repeated stratified 5-fold cross-validation (100 repetitions) and bootstrap resampling (1000 iterations). Functional enrichment analysis was performed using g:Profiler. Results: Ninety proteins were significantly altered in PDAC (50 increased, 40 decreased). Inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain H3 (ITIH3) demonstrated the highest individual diagnostic performance (AUC = 0.90), followed by coagulation factor XIII A chain (F13A1; AUC = 0.89) and ferritin light chain (FTL; AUC = 0.86). Functional enrichment revealed significant overrepresentation of secretory granule lumen components (adjusted p = 0.001) and complement/coagulation pathways (adjusted p < 0.001). An enrichment-guided three-protein panel (ITIH3, F13A1, and FTL) achieved an AUC of 0.98 (95% CI: 0.95–1.00), with a cross-validated mean AUC of 0.96, sensitivity of 83% (95% CI: 66.4–93.4%), and specificity of 100% (95% CI: 89.7–100%) within the discovery cohort. Conclusions: This discovery-phase study identifies a biologically coherent serum protein signature enriched for secretory granule lumen components in resectable PDAC. The three-protein panel demonstrates strong internal validation performance; however, these estimates may be optimistic due to feature selection performed prior to cross-validation. External validation in independent cohorts—including chronic pancreatitis controls and parallel CA19-9 assessment—will be essential to determine clinical applicability. Full article

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a severe neuropathic pain disorder primarily diagnosed on clinical grounds, and objective molecular biomarkers that could support diagnosis remain limited. Increasing evidence suggests that inflammation–apoptosis interactions contribute to TN pathophysiology. Methods: In this exploratory prospective case–control study, circulating apoptosis-related microRNAs (miRNAs) were analyzed in 30 patients with idiopathic TN and 20 healthy controls. Plasma miRNA expression levels were quantified using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Diagnostic performance of individual miRNAs was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. A multivariable logistic regression model integrating multiple miRNAs was constructed to evaluate combined diagnostic performance, with internal validation performed using five-fold cross-validation. Results: Circulating miRNA expression profiles differed between TN patients and controls. Among individual markers, hsa-miR-183-5p demonstrated the highest diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.72), followed by hsa-miR-23a-3p (AUC = 0.65). hsa-miR-223-3p showed reversed directionality (AUC = 0.28), consistent with lower expression in TN and high specificity but low sensitivity at the optimal threshold. The combined miRNA panel achieved an apparent AUC of 0.86, with a mean cross-validated AUC of 0.84 ± 0.12, suggesting improved discrimination over single miRNAs but with variability consistent with the limited sample size. Conclusions: Apoptosis-related circulating miRNAs exhibit distinct expression patterns in idiopathic TN. While individual miRNAs show modest diagnostic performance, integration into a multi-miRNA panel improved discrimination between TN patients and healthy controls in this pilot dataset. These findings support the potential of apoptosis-based miRNA signatures as candidate minimally invasive biomarkers for TN, warranting further validation in larger, independent cohorts, ideally including clinically relevant disease-control facial pain conditions. Full article

Background and Aims: Injectable lipid emulsions are an integral component of parenteral nutrition, providing energy as well as essential fatty acids. However, conventional soybean oil–based emulsions, which are rich in omega-6 fatty acids, are associated with a risk of exacerbating pro-inflammatory responses and immunosuppression, which is of particular importance in critically ill patients. The aim of this review is to present the significance of the composition of modern injectable lipid emulsions, with particular emphasis on emulsions containing fish oil as a source of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA), and to discuss their potential clinical benefits in selected critical conditions. Methods: This narrative review discusses the rationale for modern mixed-oil ILE, with a focus on fish oil as a source of EPA and DHA, and summarizes potential clinical benefits in selected critical care settings. Results: Modern injectable lipid emulsions combine long-chain triglycerides derived from soybean oil (omega-6), MCTs, olive oil (omega-9), and fish oil (omega-3). Adjusting the supply of individual fractions affects cell membrane structure, signaling pathways, gene expression, and the profile of lipid mediators produced, including specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs). ESPEN guidelines and international recommendations emphasize the need to use lipids in parenteral nutrition, preferring mixed-oil ILE supplemented with fish oil. The cited meta-analyses and clinical studies indicate that omega-3-containing emulsions may reduce the risk of infections and sepsis; shorten hospital stay, ICU length of stay, and duration of mechanical ventilation in patients with sepsis; as well as improve outcomes in acute pancreatitis; lower the risk of delirium; and reduce the incidence of delayed gastric emptying. Conclusions: Available data support the use of mixed-oil ILE supplemented with fish oil in the parenteral nutrition of critically ill patients as a strategy with immunomodulatory and pro-resolving potential that may translate into improved clinical outcomes. However, further well-designed randomized trials are needed to optimize dosing and administration regimens. Full article

The milk metabolite profiles of dairy cows during the dry-off and peripartum periods were investigated using ¹H NMR combined with chemometric analysis to evaluate the effects of different dry-off management strategies. Milk samples were collected 14 days before dry-off (T0) and 28 days after calving (T1) from cows receiving an internal teat sealant combined with intramammary antibiotics (CTR), an internal teat sealant alone (SIG), or an internal teat sealant associated with dietary supplementation of lyophilized Aloe arborescens (ASIG). Analysis of both aqueous and organic milk extracts revealed no significant metabolite differences among treatment groups. In contrast, a clear discrimination was detected between samples collected at T0 and T1. Aqueous extracts at T0 were characterized by higher levels of choline, butyrate, branched-chain amino acids, and N-acetylated compounds, whereas T1 samples exhibited higher levels of saccharides, citrate, phosphorylcholine, and galactose-1-phosphate. Organic extracts at T0 showed higher concentrations of conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) and caproleic acid. These findings indicated that the physiological stage of the cows had a more pronounced impact on milk metabolite composition than the dry-off treatments, with no detrimental effects on milk composition or overall metabolite balance. Full article

Honey fraud represents a persistent and analytically challenging form of food adulteration, driven by globalised supply chains, strong economic incentives and asymmetries in regulatory oversight and analytical capacity. Conventional physicochemical, spectroscopic and isotopic methods provide legally robust tools for routine control, yet increasingly struggle to detect sophisticated adulteration strategies that are compositionally optimised to mimic authentic honey profiles. These challenges are amplified in a global context, where heterogeneous enforcement landscapes and fragmented analytical infrastructures create exploitable vulnerabilities across international trade networks. This narrative review synthesises current knowledge on honey fraud typologies and critically evaluates established analytical approaches alongside emerging omics-based authentication strategies, including genomics, metabolomics, proteomics and microbiome profiling. Omics-based approaches extend authenticity assessment beyond single-marker paradigms by capturing multidimensional biological and compositional signatures, thereby improving sensitivity to subtle and system-aware fraud (i.e., adulteration strategies that adapt to prevailing analytical detection methods and regulatory thresholds) strategies. To maintain evidentiary clarity, this review explicitly distinguishes between analytically demonstrated vulnerabilities, technically feasible adulteration scenarios and fraud practices documented in regulatory or enforcement contexts. Advanced technology-driven strategies are therefore discussed as potential system-level risks rather than confirmed large-scale honey fraud cases. This differentiation not only safeguards evidentiary precision but also highlights the structural limits of purely analytical solutions. Beyond analytical performance, honey authentication is framed as a systemic challenge embedded in global food systems. This review highlights the need for integrated, data-driven and scalable authentication frameworks that align analytical innovation with reference harmonisation, governance structures and international regulatory cooperation to support resilient and globally robust honey authenticity control. Full article

Trade competitiveness can coexist with structurally fragile value chains. When chain feasibility fractures from trade competitiveness, competitiveness without coherence becomes sustainability’s opposite. This paper proposes revisiting the concept of sustainability in agri-food systems, through the lens of structural coherence, understood as the alignment between trade competitiveness, export-destination diversification, and value chain capacity. The research goal is to design and operationalize a diagnostic instrument for structural coherence testing through the triangulation of constant market share analysis (CMSA), the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI), and physical structural input–output analysis (I-OA). CMSA measures two elements: demand- and competitiveness-driven export dynamics. Export patterns are further explored to verify if there are any destination-market concentration risks (HHI). I-OA closes the loop by linking trade outcomes to internal value chain capacity and efficiency. With clear upstream–downstream segmentation, the sunflower oilseed value chain of the European Union (EU) represents an empirically fertile ground, relevant in the context of the geopolitical disruptions of Black Sea trade corridors and double-cropping dynamics with food-fuel and land-use trade-offs. Focusing on Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Romania, and Spain, which collectively account for more than 85% of EU sunflower seed production, this paper benchmarks post-2013 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) programming effects, utilized as a proxy for a period of stability, against the post-2020 window, marked by a sequence of crises. Diagnosis is facilitated through findings triangulation, enabling deriving CAP-relevant policy recommendations, aligned with country-specific binding constraints. Results show heterogeneous structurally incoherent profiles: Bulgaria suffers from growth-induced stress, France’s chain efficiency is eroded, the Hungarian chain lacks competitiveness, Romania is raw-export dependent with value-added leakage, and Spain is structurally constrained by physical limits. Policy recommendations target reorienting market-driven low value-added trade behaviors toward structurally sustainable value chain trajectories. Full article