Search Results (2,615)

Entrepreneurship is recognised globally as the vehicle for economic development and poverty eradication, yet in developing economies, it is not receiving the support it deserves. Based on the institutional framework, this study explores its role in fostering the development of an entrepreneurial mindset in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe. Being grounded in the interpretivist research philosophy and following an inductive qualitative research design, the study adopted a case study strategy. Data were collected through in- depth interviews with 12 participants, purposively selected from industry leaders and entrepreneurs. Thematic analysis was used to inductively generate contextual insights from the interaction between the regulatory, socio-economic, and cultural pillars of the institutional framework and individual capabilities. The findings show that entrepreneurship development in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe, is influenced to a greater extent by the institutional framework, which is characterised by economic volatility, infrastructure gaps, and evolving regulatory demands. The formal institutional framework was noted to confer legitimacy while, at the same time, imposing obligations on institutions; informal institutional frameworks rooted in communal values, social capital, and professional bodies helped fill gaps in the formal framework. The study also demonstrates that entrepreneurial mindset development is an integrated output of continuous learning, strategic networking, and individual capability. In reinforcing the normative dimensions of institutional theory, it was noted that entrepreneurs do not only have profit-maximisation goals but also long-term sustainability and survival targets. The study contributes to scarce empirical research on the nexus between institutional framework and entrepreneurship development in emerging economies. The findings reinforce the need for an integrated approach that streamlines the regulatory process, strengthens infrastructure, supports capacity building, and recognises the role of the informal institutional network in enhancing entrepreneurship development. Even though the qualitative, cross-sectional design limits the generalizability of the study’s findings, the study offers insights into fostering entrepreneurship development in emerging markets. Full article

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and despite major advances in surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, important therapeutic limitations persist, including systemic toxicity, therapeutic resistance, and poor drug penetration into hypoxic tumor regions. These challenges have renewed interest in alternative biological strategies, particularly the use of bacteria and bacterial toxins as antitumor agents. Certain bacterial species possess intrinsic tumor-targeting properties, including the ability to selectively colonize hypoxic and necrotic regions of solid tumors that are poorly accessible to conventional therapies. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms underlying bacteria-mediated anticancer activity, including selective tumor colonization, direct oncolysis, immune activation, and toxin-mediated cytotoxicity. Both obligate anaerobes (e.g., Clostridium and Bifidobacterium) and facultative anaerobes (e.g., Salmonella, Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes) are examined for their tumor-targeting potential. In addition, we discuss the oncological applications of several bacterial toxins and toxin-derived therapeutic constructs, including Cytolysin A (ClyA), Clostridium difficile toxin B (TcdB), diphtheria toxin, Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A, and Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE). Emerging strategies such as recombinant immunotoxins and bacterial-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (BDEPT) are also reviewed. Finally, current translational challenges, including pharmacokinetic limitations, immune clearance, and biosafety considerations, are analyzed, highlighting future directions for integrating bacteria-based platforms into next-generation cancer therapies. This approach reflects the growing interest in microbial strategies for oncology and underscores the potential of bacteria and their toxins as innovative tools in the development of targeted anticancer therapies. Full article

In light of China’s mandatory garbage sorting policy, residents’ engagement in waste sorting tends to be short-term. To address this issue, this study proposes a conceptual framework to examine the relationships among motivation, green self-perception, and proactive garbage sorting behavior (PGSB). A total of 1550 questionnaires were collected across 31 provinces in China. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess measurement quality, and hierarchical regression combined with bootstrapping was employed to test the parallel mediating effects of green self-perception and its three dimensions (green self-identity, green self-efficacy, and green self-connection). The results indicate that both obligation-based and enjoyment-based intrinsic motivations are positively associated with PGSB and its sub-dimensions. Green self-perception shows a statistical indirect effect in the relationship between intrinsic motivation and behavior. Specifically, green self-identity and green self-efficacy serve as consistent and significant mediators across all behavioral outcomes. In contrast, the mediating role of green self-connection varies across behavioral types. For obligation-based motivation, it only acts as a significant negative mediator for constrained proactive garbage sorting, with no significant effect on other behaviors. For enjoyment-based motivation, it exerts a positive mediating effect on self-development PGSB but suppresses participatory and constrained PGSBs. These findings suggest that fostering green self-perception may be an important pathway associated with PGSB. The study provides policy-relevant insights for shifting residents from compliance-driven to more self-initiated participation in waste sorting. Full article

The obligate mutualism between Ficus and its pollinating wasps provides a suitable system to investigate these dynamics because it encompasses two contrasting pollination modes: active and passive. Here we compared pollen traits in an actively pollinated fig tree, Ficus citrifolia, and a passively pollinated species, F. obtusiuscula, examining pollen both at anther presentation and after deposition on the bodies of their pollinating wasps. Pollen morphology, hydration-related behavior, cytology, and reserve composition were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (conventional and modified), light and transmission electron microscopy, histochemical assays, and viability tests. Across species, pollen traits at anthesis showed broad overlap in morphology, viability and major reserve classes, indicating that these characteristics are not consistently predicted by pollination mode alone. In both species, pollen was bicellular, harmomegathic and highly viable at presentation, consistent with resilience during transport. The main divergence emerged after pollen transfer to the pollinator. In the actively pollinated species, pollen recovered from wasp thoracic pockets exhibited pronounced intracellular remodeling, including vacuolization, starch depletion, lipid redistribution and localized cytoplasmic degradation. By contrast, pollen of the passively pollinated species retained a comparatively stable cytological organization after transport despite changes in reserve distribution. These results suggest that the more pronounced cytoplasmic reorganization observed in the pollen of the actively pollinated species after deposition on the wasp body may represent a preparatory phase for rapid germination following pollination, reflecting the stronger dependence of larval development on successful flower fertilization in actively pollinated figs. More broadly, our study provides the first comparative account of pollen structural and cytophysiological dynamics on fig-wasp bodies, linking pollen cell biology to pollinator-mediated dispersal and highlighting how different pollination strategies may impose distinct selective pressures on male gametophytes. Full article

This article examines how the discourse of “for your own good” functions as a moral framework through which parental violence is reinterpreted as care in Sinophone family cinema. Focusing on family-centered films as a key site of representation, we analyze how reconciliation is constructed not merely as a narrative resolution but as an ethical expectation. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from Michel Foucault and Louis Althusser, we develop the concept of “moralized parental violence” to describe how authority, discipline, and emotional control are legitimized through moral discourse. Through a typological analysis, identify three recurring models of reconciliation: deathbed reconciliation, retrospective understanding, and silent reconciliation. The study further explores works that resist reconciliation, arguing that such narratives suspend ethical closure and challenge normative expectations of forgiveness. By examining narrative structure, visual emphasis, and affective strategies, we demonstrate how cultural texts guide audience responses and shape moral interpretation. Rather than rejecting family values, this study reconsiders how ethics, power, and care are intertwined in cultural narratives and how the refusal of reconciliation opens a critical space for rethinking the limits of moral obligation. Full article

Industrial development is commonly described as a sequence of technological stages, from automation to artificial intelligence. This study examines whether successive industrial paradigms—from Industry 3.0 to the emerging Industry 6.0—can be more adequately understood as transformations in technological rationality rather than merely technological upgrades. The analysis adopts a conceptual–philosophical methodology informed by targeted review of peer-reviewed literature indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, integrating Kuhn’s notion of paradigms with Peircean inferential logic. Through systematic comparison of technological configurations, problem-framing practices, and epistemic assumptions, the study maps each paradigm onto a dominant mode of inference. The findings indicate that Industry 3.0 privileges deductive rule-based control, Industry 4.0 relies on inductive data-driven optimization, Industry 5.0 foregrounds hermeneutic interpretation and normative judgment, and prospective Industry 6.0 can be coherently interpreted as oriented toward abductive hypothesis generation within human–AI systems. Industrial change thus emerges as a reconfiguration of epistemic limits rather than a linear trajectory of technical improvement. The analysis concludes that expanding machine intelligence does not eliminate human authority but intensifies epistemic responsibility, understood as the obligation to determine relevance, value, and legitimacy in socio-technical systems. Full article

Soot and black carbon (BC) are typically regarded as troublesome products of incomplete combustion; however, growing interest in circular economy strategies and sustainable manufacturing highlights their potential as secondary functional carbon materials, including additive manufacturing (AM). This review synthesises the recovery, upgrading, and valorization pathways for soot/BC and recovered carbon black (rCB), with a particular focus on streams captured by mandatory emission-control systems (e.g., diesel/gasoline particulate filters, electrostatic precipitators, baghouse filters, and chimney soot) and the requirements for transforming these heterogeneous residues into reproducible AM feedstocks. A two-stage approach was applied, combining (i) an analysis of the European Union regulatory context (waste classification, end-of-waste routes, and chemical safety obligations, including REACH) with (ii) a structured literature review of studies published in 2017–2026 indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus, culminating in a qualitative synthesis of 152 papers. Evidence indicates that scale-up is primarily constrained by strong compositional variability and contaminant burdens (ash, metals, and PAHs), which affect dispersion, rheology, and property reproducibility, necessitating robust standardisation and risk assessment. This review maps key preparation and upgrading strategies (e.g., classification, ash/metal reduction, and control of organic fractions) and discusses their relevance across AM routes such as FDM/FFF, SLS, DLP, and DIW. Overall, realising credible waste-to-value pathways requires aligning technical performance targets with regulatory compliance and developing consistent characterisation protocols to enable the safe and predictable use of soot/rCB-derived fillers in AM. Full article

C. burnetii (Cb) is an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen that replicates within alveolar macrophages following aerosol infection. Unlike most intracellular bacteria, Cb establishes a lysosome-derived replicative niche (Coxiella-containing vacuole or CCV) through the action of its Type IVB secretion system (T4BSS). This system translocates a large repertoire of effector proteins into the host cytoplasm after phagosome acidification. These effectors interfere with diverse signaling pathways to co-opt host processes, such as vesicle trafficking, ubiquitylation, gene expression and lipid metabolism, promoting pathogen survival without triggering robust proinflammatory signaling or host cell death pathways. This effector-triggered immune silencing is particularly unique given the central role of macrophages as innate immune sentinels. In this review, we examine Cb T4BSS effectors that have been characterized as central determinants of innate immunity modulation. We discuss innate immune sensing pathways potentially engaged during infection, including Toll-like receptors, NOD-like receptors, RIG-I-like receptors, inflammasomes, and interferon signaling pathways, and highlight evidence indicating that these pathways are actively suppressed. Emphasis is placed on effector-mediated regulation of NF-κB signaling, type I interferon responses, and inflammasome activation. Finally, we address unresolved questions related to effector-triggered immunity, redundancy in immune suppression, and discrepancies between in vitro and in vivo infection models. Full article

Since his inception, Luke Cage’s superhero mission has explored themes related to justice, interpersonal relations, and institutional integrity. This paper draws on examples from comics and his television series to explicate these themes through the lens of social and moral development. In doing so, it suggests lessons for improving the recent landscape of American civil discourse. The Overview introduces the character against the backdrop of the social role of superheroes, moral development scholarship, and recent polling data related to civil discourse. The Heroic Journey examines his superhero mission further, highlighting his attempts to promote a sense of mutual trust and shared obligations across varied social interactions. Lastly, the Super Takeaway discusses the potential of Luke Cage narratives to keep disagreeing persons “at the table” long enough to come to some (civil) agreement. Full article

This study examines how Vietnam regulates overseas study and how this regulatory structure shapes international student mobility to South Korea. Through a qualitative analysis of key legal and policy instruments, especially Decree No. 86/2021/ND-CP, it finds that Vietnam governs overseas study through a centralized legal-administrative system that structures eligibility, student management, intermediary oversight, and return obligations. It also finds that important implementation gaps persist, particularly in relation to private intermediaries, monitoring capacity, and the gap between formal regulation and students’ actual mobility trajectories. These findings suggest that receiving countries such as South Korea should pay closer attention to the pre-departure institutional conditions that influence student mobility before arrival. The study contributes by providing a legally grounded account of how sending-state regulation operates in the Vietnamese case and why pre-departure institutional conditions matter for receiving-country contexts such as South Korea. Full article

Leaf senescence in perennial species constitutes a highly orchestrated developmental phase that differs fundamentally from the obligate monocarpic senescence of annual plants. While individual organs undergo programmed senescence, prerennial organisms maintain longevity across multiple growing seasons through a sophisticated interplay between endogenous programs and exogenous cues. This review provides a systematic synthesis of the regulatory mechanisms governing leaf senescence in herbaceous perennials (Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea) and woody perennials (Populus, Pinus, and Agave). We highlight a multi-layered regulatory landscape, encompassing divergent and conserved pathways in transcriptional orchestration, hormonal crosstalk, metabolic reprogramming, and telomere maintenance. Specific emphasis is placed on how these mechanisms allow for tissue-specific and seasonal adaptation, such as the integration of dormancy signals in woody taxa versus stress-plasticity in perennial grasses. By elucidating these complex frameworks, this review not only advances our fundamental understanding of plant life-span regulation but also provides a theoretical foundation for the molecular breeding of delayed senescence germplasm, offering transformative potential for enhancing agricultural productivity and ecological resilience. Full article

Global environmental norms increasingly shape commodity governance in the Global South, with the EU Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR) representing a prominent attempt to govern land-based products through extraterritorial sustainability criteria. This study examines how such norms are received, reinterpreted, negotiated, and resisted in Indonesia’s palm oil sector, focusing on smallholder-dominated value chains in Serdang Bedagai and Simalungun, North Sumatra. Centered on everyday resistance and policy decoupling as its core interpretive lenses, and drawing on habitus as a supporting concept, the study employs qualitative fieldwork, in-depth interviews, field observations, and critical discourse analysis to investigate tensions between deforestation-free supply chain expectations and local realities marked by fragmented landholdings, informal tenure, intermediary dependence, and cashflow-oriented livelihood strategies. The findings show that the EUDR is widely perceived not as a sustainability opportunity, but as an externally imposed regulatory pressure that threatens income stability and market access. Local actors respond through discursive reframing, continued reliance on informal trading practices, and partial or symbolic implementation of legality and traceability requirements. The study argues that inclusive deforestation-free governance requires differentiated obligations, transitional legality pathways, and cooperative-based traceability mechanisms that better align global norms with local institutional capacity and livelihood structures. Full article

In veterinary education, many exercises are performed on animals. Palpating the mucosa of the Ruminoreticulum in ruminants is a necessary preparatory exercise for future surgery. However, there are legal and ethical obligations to reduce the use of animals and improve animal welfare. This can be achieved using 3D models and simulators. To allow students to practice palpating the goat’s forestomach, a simulator is being developed. The aim of the present study was to produce replicas of the mucosal surface of the Ruminoreticulum for the inner lining of this simulator. Two methods were applied and compared: 3D printing and surface casting. For 3D printing, computed tomography-based virtual templates were created and printed after appropriate post-processing. For the surface cast, a negative mold of the mucosal surfaces was created using epoxy resin. The positive mucosal cast was then created using silicone. The results showed a clear advantage of surface casting compared to 3D printing. The virtual templates and 3D prints lacked fine anatomical structures. In contrast, the surface casting method yielded detailed replicas of the mucosal surfaces of Rumen and Reticulum, including even finer anatomical structures. Since the silicone casts also allowed for haptic differentiation of mucosal formations, they can be considered a suitable inner lining for the planned simulator. Full article

Organizations are increasingly required to promote a culture of sustainability among their employees. Accordingly, a growing number of organizations have implemented work practices centered on pro-environmental behaviors. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying these behaviors in the workplace remain insufficiently explored. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory and normative frameworks, the present study proposes a moderated mediation model examining the relationship between collective efficacy and employees’ pro-environmental behaviors, the mediating role of personal norm, and the moderating role of injunctive norm. Data were collected from 906 Italian employees who completed an online questionnaire, and the hypothesized model was tested using moderated mediation analyses. The results showed that collective efficacy was positively associated with personal norm, which in turn was positively related to pro-environmental behaviors, indicating an indirect association pattern consistent with the hypothesized mediating role of personal norm. Moreover, injunctive norm strengthened the relationship between collective efficacy and pro-environmental behaviors. These findings highlight the central role of moral obligation in translating collective beliefs into sustainable action and underscore the importance of normative organizational climates. This study contributes to the organizational sustainability literature by integrating collective efficacy and normative processes as key drivers of everyday pro-environmental behavior at work. Full article

Those who serve in the armed forces are shaped not only by incentives and opportunity structures but also by institutions that cultivate norms of duty, authority, and collective obligation. This study argues that religious institutions function as such socializing agents and play a measurable role in military enlistment in the United States. Complementing existing research that focuses on denomination or belief as key indicators, we introduce an institutional framework that emphasizes participation in religious communities. The focus is not on the affiliation but instead on the socialization offered and conducted in those institutions. Religious communities cultivate behavioral dispositions, such as discipline, hierarchy, and collective orientation, that align with the demands of military service. As such, they are associated with an increased likelihood of enlistment. Using data from the 2024 Cooperative Election Study (CES), we employ logistic regression models to distinguish between religious identity, institutional engagement, and individual religiosity. The results show that, per our sample, religious identity and evangelical affiliation are not significant predictors of enlistment. Instead, regular participation in religious institutions is strongly and consistently associated with a higher likelihood of military service. These findings suggest that institutional socialization can be an important factor in explaining the relationship between religion and military service. Full article