Search Results (1,106)

Poly(lactic acid-lactic acid) (PLGA) has demonstrated significant application potential in tumor-targeted drug delivery systems due to its excellent biocompatibility, degradability, and multifunctionality for loading various therapeutic agents. PLGA nanoparticles (NPs) can achieve targeted delivery to tumor cells through specific surface modifications and stimulus-responsive release mechanisms, significantly enhancing drug accumulation efficiency at tumor sites while reducing toxic side effects on normal tissues. This review systematically summarizes the fundamental physicochemical properties of PLGA materials and recent advances in tumor-targeting strategies for PLGA NPs. It comprehensively elucidates research breakthroughs in PLGA-based delivery systems regarding stimulus-response mechanisms, passive targeting, active targeting, and tumor combination immunotherapy, while revealing the intrinsic logic of synergistic strategies for enhancing targeting efficiency. Finally, from the perspective of clinical translation and individualized oncology, this review conducts an in-depth assessment of the current challenges and looks forward to future research directions, aiming to provide forward-looking guidance for the development of precision nanomedicine. Full article

AI-driven personalization (AIP) has become a core mechanism of digital commerce platforms, yet its psychological consequences remain theoretically fragmented. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework and Psychological Reactance Theory (PRT), this study proposes a Threat-Substitution Mechanism (TSM) to explain how AIP shapes continuance intention in high-involvement online travel decisions. Using survey data from 488 Generation Y and Z users of Chinese online travel agencies and analyzing the model via PLS-SEM, results show that AIP significantly increases usage intention (UI) and reduces psychological reactance. Psychological reactance partially mediates the relationship between AIP and UI, indicating the presence of underlying psychological friction alongside dominant utilitarian benefits. Furthermore, privacy concerns amplify the negative relationship between AIP and reactance, suggesting that privacy-sensitive users exhibit heightened appraisal sensitivity rather than uniform resistance to personalization. By reconceptualizing the personalization paradox as a context-contingent threat appraisal process, this study advances electronic commerce research beyond parallel dual-effect models and clarifies the boundary conditions under which AIP enhances or constrains user continuance. Practical implications highlight the importance of algorithmic precision and autonomy-supportive design in AI-enabled commerce platforms. Full article

Four-dimensional (4D) printing integrates additive manufacturing with stimuli-responsive materials to fabricate biomedical implants and functional healthcare devices that undergo programmed, time-dependent changes in shape or function. Unlike static 3D-printed constructs, 4D-printed systems can respond to clinically relevant stimuli such as temperature, hydration, pH, light (including near-infrared), magnetic fields, or electrical inputs. These triggers drive defined actuation mechanisms, most commonly thermomechanical shape-memory recovery, swelling-induced morphing, and magnetothermal activation. This review synthesizes the principal material platforms used for biomedical 4D printing, including shape-memory polymers and alloys, hydrogels, liquid-crystal elastomers, and responsive composites, and links material choice to device behavior and translational feasibility. Applications are discussed across self-expanding stents, cardiac occluders, tissue-engineered constructs, implantable drug delivery systems, and adaptive wearables. Key translational challenges include sterilization compatibility, manufacturing reproducibility and quality control, safe stimulus delivery, predictable biodegradation and long-term biocompatibility, and regulatory pathway definition. Full article

Modular living walls (MLWs) are increasingly adopted as biophilic façade interventions in high-end commercial environments, yet their behavioural effects at luxury retail entrances remain underexplored. Grounded in the stimulus–organism–response framework, this study investigates how MLWs integrated into luxury retail façades influence visitors’ perceptual, emotional, and behavioural responses at the Beauty Galleria of The Exchange TRX, Kuala Lumpur. Using a field-based survey and structural equation modelling with 400 visitors, the study examines the relationships among MLW presence, perceived naturalness, pleasure, arousal, perceived restorativeness, façade attractiveness, and behavioural intentions. The results show that MLWs significantly enhance perceived naturalness, pleasure, arousal, and perceived restorativeness. These organismic responses positively influence perceived façade attractiveness, which in turn strongly predicts both approach intention and photo-taking intention. Façade attractiveness emerged as a central mediating mechanism, while the indirect effect of MLWs on behavioural intentions was significant. The model explained a substantial proportion of variance in façade attractiveness and confirmed that consumer responses to biophilic façades are primarily shaped through sequential perceptual and affective processes rather than direct stimulus effects. This study extends the application of the S–O–R framework to façade-level biophilic design and provides practical evidence that MLWs can enhance first impressions and consumer engagement in luxury retail environments. Full article

This study investigates the mechanism of cell death associated with discharge plasma treatment from the perspective of electrical energy injection, using equivalent circuit network analysis to represent cells, buffer solutions, and well plates as electrical components. Our analysis demonstrated that the observed cell death cannot be adequately explained by a One-Step Model, which assumes that cell death occurs when the total injected electrical energy simply reaches a specific threshold. Accordingly, we proposed a Two-Step Model that explicitly incorporates biological tolerance to external stimuli. In this model, a stimulus accumulates only when the instantaneous power exceeds a primary threshold, and cell death is induced only when this accumulated stimulus surpasses a secondary threshold of energy. The proposed Two-Step Model successfully reproduced the experimental cell death data. These findings suggest that plasma-induced cell death is not a simple physical destruction process governed solely by cumulative energy, but instead reflects a biologically regulated response characterized by a specific power-dependent tolerance. Consequently, this Two-Step Model could provide a theoretical foundation for future optimization of delivery conditions for macromolecules such as messenger RNA (mRNA). Full article

Background/Objectives: Steady-State Visual Evoked Potential-based Brain–Computer Interfaces face a critical trade-off between system accuracy and user visual fatigue. To address this challenge, the objective of this study was to determine how the spatial manipulation of stimulus size modulates the full spectral dynamics of the Electroencephalogram, encompassing both the periodic oscillatory response and the aperiodic (1/f) background noise. Methods: Twenty-two healthy subjects completed a sustained visual attention task using a competitive stimulus paradigm (20 Hz and 30 Hz) presented in three spatial dimensions (Small, Medium, and Big). Parieto-occipital brain signals were decomposed using the spectral parameterization algorithm (SpecParam) to extract frequency-specific visually evoked response power and the aperiodic slope, while visual fixation was continuously monitored via eyetracking. Results: Increasing stimulus size induced a statistically significant gain in the power of the attended signal (Target) without increasing the response of the peripheral distractor. Simultaneously, larger stimuli produced a significant increase in the aperiodic slope during 20 Hz attention and visual rest, suggesting increased cortical inhibition and a reduction in broadband neural activity. This aperiodic modulation was not observed at 30 Hz. Conclusions: The improvement in Signal-to-Noise Ratio with increasing stimulus size arises from a dual neurophysiological mechanism: enhancement of the periodic evoked response together with a reduction in background neural noise. Full article

Influencer marketing research has shown that source-related evaluations matter, yet less is known about how specific influencer cues are translated into consumer responses through differentiated internal psychological states. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) framework, this study examines how influencer attractiveness and expertise shape consumer responses through parasocial interaction and trust. Attractiveness is conceptualized as a social-affective cue, whereas expertise is conceptualized as a competence-based cue. Parasocial interaction is modeled as a relational organismic state, and trust is modeled as a reliance-oriented organismic state. Survey data were collected from 532 Taiwanese social media users with prior experience following influencers and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that attractiveness positively predicts parasocial interaction, expertise positively predicts trust, and parasocial interaction further contributes to trust. Trust, in turn, positively influences loyalty, purchase intention, and recommendation intention, with the strongest effect observed for recommendation intention. These findings suggest that influencer effectiveness is better understood as a differentiated cue–mechanism–response process rather than as a generalized source-evaluation effect. By distinguishing attractiveness from expertise and by modeling parasocial interaction and trust as conceptually distinct but sequentially connected organismic states, this study provides a more precise S-O-R account of how influencer evaluations are translated into relational, transactional, and advocacy-oriented consumer responses. Full article

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and stimuli-responsive hydrogels are advanced functional materials whose hybridization yields CQD-enhanced stimuli-sensitive hydrogels, opening new interdisciplinary avenues for smart material applications. This review systematically summarizes the latest advances in these composites, focusing on synthetic strategies, structure–property modulation mechanisms, and practical applications. Distinct from existing reviews that either investigate CQDs or hydrogels independently or discuss their composites in a single research field, this work features core novelties in integration strategy, application scope and critical analysis: it systematically compares the advantages, limitations and applicable scenarios of three typical CQD–hydrogel integration approaches (physical entrapment, in situ synthesis, covalent conjugation), comprehensively covers the multi-field application progress of the composites and conducts in-depth cross-field analysis of their common scientific issues and technical bottlenecks. By incorporating CQDs, the composites achieve remarkable performance optimizations: 40% improved mechanical toughness, sub-ppm-level heavy metal-sensing sensitivity, and over 80% organic dye photocatalytic degradation efficiency, addressing pure hydrogels’ inherent limitations of insufficient strength and single functionality. These enhancements enable sophisticated applications in biomedical field (real-time biosensing, controlled drug delivery), environmental remediation (pollutant detection/degradation), energy storage, and flexible electronics. The synergistic interplay between CQDs and hydrogels facilitates precise single/multi-stimulus responsiveness (pH, temperature, light), a pivotal advance for precision medicine and intelligent environmental monitoring. Despite promising progress, the large-scale practical application of CQD–hydrogel composites still faces prominent challenges: the difficulty in scalable fabrication with the uniform dispersion of CQDs in hydrogel matrices, poor long-term stability of most composites under physiological cyclic stress (service life < 6 months in practical tests), and low accuracy in discriminating multi-stimuli in complex real-world matrices. Future research should prioritize biomass-based eco-friendly CQD synthesis, machine learning-aided multimodal responsive systems, and 3D bioprinting for scalable manufacturing. Full article

Background: Immediate loading of dental implants shortens treatment time and improves early function, but it also exposes the healing peri-implant tissue to a critical mechanical environment. This study compared the biomechanical and mechanobiological response of a conventional threaded implant and a porous scaffold-based implant under immediate and delayed loading conditions. Methods: A three-dimensional finite element model of a bone block with a 0.2 mm peri-implant callus was developed in ABAQUS/Standard. Model A was a threaded Ti-6Al-4V implant, while Model B was a porous implant with 64.26% porosity. Bone tissues were modeled as poroelastic materials. Immediate and delayed loading were simulated through frictional and tied bone-implant interfaces, respectively. Mechanobiological predictions were performed using the Prendergast-Huiskes stimulus. Results: Under immediate loading, the porous implant reduced cortical bone stress (32.5 MPa vs. 88 MPa) and markedly increased callus stimulation (20.5–31.6 MPa vs. about 2.5 MPa) compared with the threaded implant. Mechanobiological analysis showed that Model B promoted higher fractions of immature and mature bone and lower fractions of cartilage and fibrous tissue. In all cases, implant stresses remained below the yield strength of the corresponding materials. Conclusions: The porous implant provided a more favorable mechanical environment for early peri-implant healing, particularly under immediate loading, and may be a promising strategy to enhance callus maturation and reduce stress shielding. Full article

Reducing food waste and promoting green consumption have emerged as critical priorities in the transition toward a more sustainable food system. Purchasing near-expired food (NEF) offers a pathway to address both issues simultaneously, yet the mechanisms underlying consumers’ intentions toward such products remain underexplored. This research investigates these mechanisms through two complementary studies conducted in China, focusing on near-expired bread as a representative product category. Study 1 (N = 1154) draws on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework to examine how key factors shape consumers’ purchase intentions toward near-expired bread. The results show that price discounts and longer remaining shelf life increase purchase intentions by enhancing perceived value and reducing perceived risk. Moreover, consumers’ normative beliefs with regard to food waste avoidance positively predict purchase intentions through heightened moral satisfaction. Study 2 (N = 746) employs a 2 × 3 between-subjects factorial experiment to test two types of retail interventions for near-expired bread: discount messages (50% vs. 10% off) and information framing (gain-framed vs. loss-framed). Extending Study 1, this experiment introduces two additional dependent variables—product attitudes and perceived environmental external benefits—to capture a broader range of consumer responses. ANCOVA results reveal that consumers with higher environmental concern exhibit stronger purchase intentions, more favorable product attitudes, and greater perceived environmental external benefits. Price discount messages significantly influence purchase intentions and product attitudes, whereas information framing affects purchase intentions and environmental external benefits. Notably, the two interventions interact to shape consumers’ perceptions of environmental external benefits. Together, these studies advance a comprehensive understanding of near-expired bread purchases and offer empirical guidance for designing effective retail communication strategies to promote green consumption and reduce food waste. Full article

Based on the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework, this study explored the psychological spillover mechanism through which tourism experiences in Museum Agglomeration Areas (MAAs) enhance city image and influence behavioral intentions. Structural equation modeling (SEM) based on survey data yielded several key findings. First, information visibility, content visibility, and the quality of amenities and the operational environment played critical roles in shaping tourists’ internal states, including perceived experiential value, affective response, immersion, and satisfaction. In addition, the social atmosphere emerged as an important factor in enriching these evaluations. Second, accessibility and connectivity were identified as factors that reduce friction along the visitor journey, thereby enhancing experiential continuity and immersion. Third, experiential value and immersion were found to be the primary mediators among the internal-state variables, transmitting the effects of environmental stimuli to city-level perceptions and behavioral intentions, such as revisit and recommendation intentions. These findings suggest that the competitiveness of MAAs lies not merely in spatial agglomeration itself but also in their ability to provide engaging and meaningful content, maintain safe and enjoyable operational environments, and develop integrated circulation and information systems. By conceptualizing MAAs as sites of district-scale tourism experiences, this study extends the application of the S–O–R framework to a multi-site urban cultural context and clarifies how differentiated internal states mediate the spillover from district experience to city-level perceptions and behavioral intentions. Rather than proposing a fundamentally new theoretical framework, the study offers a context-specific refinement of the organism layer and provides empirically grounded implications for design and operational strategies in culturally clustered urban districts. Full article

The rapid adoption of immersive and adaptive digital technologies is redefining sustainability education, but the mechanisms by which these technologies support perceived sustainability outcomes remain unclear. This paper models the Digital Experiential Learning Ecosystem (DELE), including simulation, AR/VR, gamification, AI personalization, and collaborative digital platforms, as a higher-order construct. It discusses its role in Perceived Sustainability Outcomes through learning engagement. Basing the study on the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, the study hypothesizes that the digital ecosystem design can be viewed as an environmental stimulus, engagement as the organismic processing state, and Perceived Sustainability Outcomes as the developmental response. The results, obtained using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), indicate that DELE is positively associated with learning engagement and Perceived Sustainability Outcomes. Learning engagement is found to be the leading mechanism through which digital experiential environments are converted into perceived sustainability outcomes, but a smaller yet significant direct structural relationship also remains. These findings indicate that digital transformation within the education sector creates sustainable value not only through technological sophistication but also through carefully planned engagement-based learning environments that support systems thinking, applied problem-solving, and adaptive readiness to work in multifaceted environments. The research also advances the body of research on sustainability education by developing a model of digital learning as an integrated ecosystem and by explaining the psychological and structural processes of perceived sustainability outcomes. Full article

In an era marked by rising stress-related disorders and cardiovascular morbidity, understanding how the brain and heart adapt to environmental, physiological, and social stressors has become an urgent biomedical priority. This review advances an integrative framework centered on sociostasis, defined as the dynamic regulation of physiological state through social interaction, and its intersection with hormesis, a biphasic adaptive response to controlled stress that enhances resilience. We focus on four evolutionarily conserved neuropeptides, vasopressin, oxytocin, corticotropin-releasing hormone, and the urocortins, which serve as molecular bridges linking social behavior, neuroendocrine signaling, autonomic regulation, and cardiovascular function. Operating within an organized autonomic architecture, these systems calibrate responses to acute and chronic stress. Their context-dependent synergy enables adaptive flexibility under manageable challenge but may promote maladaptive cardiovascular remodeling when chronically dysregulated. Genetic vulnerability, developmental adversity, and persistent psychosocial stress can shift neuroendocrine–autonomic set points, increasing susceptibility to hypertension, endothelial dysfunction, and stress-induced cardiomyopathy. Conditioning and preconditioning paradigms illustrate how repeated exposure to subthreshold stressors primes cardiovascular tissues for future insults, enhancing ischemic tolerance and adaptive gene expression. We propose that cardiovascular hormesis depends not only on stimulus intensity but also on the integrity of neuroautonomic regulatory mechanisms that support recovery and flexibility. Vagal efficiency, a dynamic index of cardioinhibitory regulation, is discussed as a potential translational metric of adaptive capacity. By integrating molecular, physiological, and psychosocial perspectives, this framework conceptualizes cardiovascular resilience as an emergent property of coordinated hormetic signaling, neuropeptidergic modulation, autonomic regulation, and social buffering. Translational implications include peptide-based therapies, autonomic biofeedback, and behavioral interventions designed to enhance stress adaptability. Full article

This study investigates how social networking service (SNS) tourism information characteristics influence destination image and behavioral intentions in digital tourism communication. Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) framework, SNS information characteristics are conceptualized as vividness, convenience, interactivity, and reliability, and their effects on affective image, cognitive image, and SNS behavioral intentions are examined. Data were collected from 273 Chinese tourists who used SNS platforms to obtain information about Jeju Island, and structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrapping was employed to test direct and mediating effects. Results indicate that convenience significantly influences cognitive image; vividness, convenience, and interactivity significantly affect affective image; and reliability shows no significant effect. Affective image positively influences behavioral intentions, whereas cognitive image does not. In addition, vividness, interactivity, and reliability directly influence behavioral intentions, while convenience has no direct effect. Mediation analysis shows that affective image partially mediates the effects of vividness and interactivity and fully mediates the effect of convenience, whereas cognitive image does not exhibit a significant mediating role. These findings highlight the importance of affective mechanisms in digital tourism communication and provide practical implications for sustainable destination marketing and digital tourism management. Full article

This study examines how firms’ financial heterogeneity shapes the transmission of monetary policy to investment in Latin American economies. It develops an extended theoretical model with heterogeneous firms, calibrated for Latin American economies, and validates it empirically through local projection models. These projections are applied to both a dataset of 72 of the most representative firms from the six analyzed Latin American economies and simulated data from the theoretical model, enabling direct comparison of the results. The research yields three main findings. First, it shows that financial heterogeneity is crucial and determines how firms respond to a monetary shock. Firms with fragile structures or high levels of indebtedness tend to restrict investment following monetary expansions, whereas firms with stronger financial positions or greater distance to default tend to increase it. The aggregate effect depends on the distribution of financial structures in the economy and which group dominates. Second, a transmission mechanism is identified via a financial channel based on a price–quantity sequence. The drop in the real rate compresses spreads and raises the price of capital; if financial constraints are active, the monetary relief is used to repair balance sheets rather than to invest; otherwise, the stimulus quickly translates into investment. Finally, the study shows that ignoring heterogeneity—as in representative–agent models—leads to a significant overestimation of both the magnitude and persistence of investment responses to monetary policy shocks. Full article