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This study explored the combined administration of docetaxel (DOC) and erlotinib (ERL) using nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), with folic acid (FA) conjugation to enhance their synergistic anticancer efficacy against triple-negative breast cancer. NLCs were developed through hot melt homogenization–ultrasound dispersion, and optimized by a quality-by-design (QbD) approach using Plackett–Burman design and Box–Behnken design. Plots were generated based on maximum desirability. Spherical, nanosized dispersions (<200 nm) with zeta potential ranging from −16.4 to −14.15 mV were observed. These nanoformulations demonstrated ~95% entrapment efficiency with around 5% drug loading. Stability tests revealed that the NLCs remained stable for 6 months under storage conditions at 4 °C. In vitro release studies indicated sustained release over 24 h, following Higuchi and Korsmeyer–Peppas models for NLCs and FA NLCs, respectively. Additionally, an in vitro pH-stat lipolysis model exhibited a nearly fivefold increase in bioaccessibility compared to drug-loaded suspensions. The DOC–ERL-loaded formulations exhibited dose- and time-dependent cytotoxicity, revealing synergism at a 1:3 molar ratio in MDA-MB-231 and 4T1 cells, with combination indices of 0.35 and 0.37, respectively. Co-treatment with DOC–ERL-loaded FA NLCs demonstrated synergistic anticancer effects in various in vitro assays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This work aims to synthesize the gold nanoparticles (GNPs) using a dual extract of tulsi and Vinca (T+V-Gold) for breast cancer tumor regression. Methods: The GNPs were synthesized and characterized for their microscopic, spectroscopic and crystalline properties. Further, the GNPs were investigated for in vitro and in vivo studies for the treatment of the 4T1-induced triple-negative breast cancer murine model. Results: The GNPs for 4T1 tumor-challenged mice resulted in delayed tumor development and lower tumor burden, with T+V-Gold demonstrating the highest prevention of tumor spread. The antitumor effect of T+V-Gold is highly significant in the glutathione family antioxidants glutathione S-transferase and glutathione in tumor tissue samples. Conclusion: The bioefficacy and anticancer outcomes of T+V-Gold nanoformulation can be used as therapeutic agents and drug-delivery vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are one of the most abundant metal oxides nanoparticles. It provides excellent thermal, electrical and chemical stabilities with low biotoxicity; its photo-oxidising and photo-catalytic impact on biological and chemical species is of great importance, thereby making it a promising candidate to be used for in vitro and in vivo studies in biomedical field. Hereby, ZnO NPs were synthesized using precipitation method with zinc acetate and sodium hydroxide as starting materials. This study has characterized the synthesized ZnO NPs using different techniques such as UV-Visible spectroscopy indicating a peak at 365 nm wavelength, size of ZnO NPs was determined to be 286.7 nm by measuring hydrodynamic radii using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) phenomena. Further predominant charge existing at surface of the synthesised ZnO NPs was evaluated to be 31.6 mV. Anti-microbial activity of ZnO NPs was determined by Kirby-Bauer method for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. Anti-microbial activity was determined as Zone of Inhibition that measures both bactericidal and bacteriostatic activity of ZnO NPs and was found to be more potent for Gram-positive (S. aureus) bacteria and its activity increased with increasing concentration of nanoparticles. Growth kinetics was studied to determine percentage growth inhibition, for this optical density was recorded as a function of time in bacterial culture broth with and without treatment. Further DNA fragmentation assay was performed to determine genotoxicity caused by nanoparticles and its effect on genomic DNA of bacteria. Highlighting its potential role as a nano-carrier system for leading antibacterial drugs for enhanced effectiveness of the antibacterial therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supply Chain Collaboration (SCC) has been a topic of great interest among the supply chain researchers for decades now. Collaboration among channel-partners is imperative for successful supply chain management and may be the most critical core competency for enhancing the supply chain performance. This paper examines the various SCC frameworks and their development through a bibliometric analysis of the SCC literature published under the Web of Science (WoS) database in the last twenty years from 2003 to 2022 (including early access for January, 2023) comprising of 4249 research articles. The analysis and graphical visualization of the bibliometric data is presented using measures of descriptive statistics and visualization tools identifying the linkages between the published literature. This study analyses the distribution of the publications based on the research author analysis, most cited publications analysis, publication source analysis, country-wise literature analysis and the keywords co-occurrence analysis. The study also examines the most cited researches on SCC in last two decades and attempts to collate the major developments in the SCC knowledgebase. This research corroborates the enormity of the research conducted in the past and accentuates the ever-growing significance of collaboration in the supply chains for future researchers and businesses worldwide. On an average more than two hundred articles are published every year on SCC and the time-series forecasts reaffirm its progressiveness and relevance as a research domain more than ever engaging researchers and business organisation across the globe. The systematically collated data of top twenty most cited articles, authors, journals, keyword and countries involved in SCC research has been prepared which will provide a source of practical reference for the early supply chain researchers and professionals globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid advancements of the internet of things (IoT), several applications have evolved with completely dissimilar structures and requirements. However, the fifth generation of mobile cellular networks (5G) is unable to successfully support the dissimilar structures and requirements. The sixth generation of mobile cellular networks (6G) is likely to enable new and unidentified applications with varying requirements. Therefore, 6G not only provides 10 to 100 times the speed of 5G, but 6G can also provide dynamic services for advanced IoT applications. However, providing security to 6G networks is still a significant problem. Therefore, in this paper, a hybrid image encryption technique is proposed to secure multimedia data communication over 6G networks. Initially, multimedia data are encrypted by using the proposed model. Thereafter, the encrypted data are then transferred over the 6G networks. Extensive experiments are conducted by using various attacks and security measures. A comparative analysis reveals that the proposed model achieves remarkably good performance as compared to the existing encryption techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the course of the food supply chain, approximately one-quarter of the food produced for human consumption is thrown away. According to the World Food Waste Survey, food waste created at the household level accounts for almost half of the total food waste. A growing number of people are becoming concerned about food security and environmental consequences, such as resource depletion and greenhouse gas emissions associated with food waste. This has heightened public awareness of the issue. Despite the fact that food waste happens at every level of the food supply chain, private households have been recognized as being the primary source of food waste production. However, there is currently a lack of studies about the factors that influence consumer food waste behavior. This paper presents a twofold study. In the first section, this paper maps drivers of food waste at household level along with the remedies backed by extensive literature review. In the second section, this study identifies factors which are responsible for food waste in social gathering with special reference to weddings along with solutions to prevent food waste in the context to social gathering through systematically reviewing empirical studies on food waste practices. The results of the study demonstrate that food waste is a complex and multi-faceted issue that cannot be reduced to a single variable; as a result, a more comprehensive integration of multiple academic viewpoints is required. The mapping of the factors of waste creation allows for a more in-depth knowledge of household habits, party organizers' practices, guest behaviors toward food, and the development of food waste control policies. Finally, we connect the factors that have been found with formulation of policy, business, and social responsibilities. This study will be a value addition in the existing pool of literature concerned with responsible consumption and sustainable practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural, magnetic, and transport properties of Ni52+xMn26-xAl22 (1 ≤ x ≤ 5) melt-spun ribbons have been characterized by a variety of experimental techniques. As the composition changed from x = 1 to x = 5, the martensitic transition temperature T0 [ = (Ms + Af)/2] was found to increase from 277 K to 446 K which was attributed to an increase in the valence electron concentration e/a. In the martensitic state, all the samples demonstrate an anomalous semiconducting behavior of electrical resistivity ρ. This uncommon feature of the transport properties has been ascribed to the existence of a gap (Eg ∼ 0.1 eV) at the Fermi level. A crossover from semiconducting to metallic behavior of ρ observed in the martensitic state of Ni57Mn21Al22 is presumably related to a spin-density wave formation at the Neel temperature TN ≈ 300 K. Analysis of a low-temperature (T < 60 K) part of the resistivity curves and comprehensive magnetic measurements of a Ni57Mn21Al22 (x ≤ 5) sample provide grounds for the conclusion that the splitting of zero-field cooling and field cooling magnetization curves observed at low temperatures is due to a spin-glass state that is formed below the freezing temperature Tf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extensively researched and refined relationship between service quality and customer loyalty has found recognition under a wide variety of colloquiums and contexts. Service quality is conspicuous for its eminence in customer loyalty formulation in marketing literature rich with both relevant theoretical and empirical evidences (Boulding et al., 1993; Parasuraman et al., 1991; Zeithaml et al., 1996). Studies have primarily investigated and established its impact over various dimensions of loyalty manifesting into repurchases, revisits, recommendations, etc. However, investigations into the association of service quality with individual dimensions of customer loyalty and the probable interaction effects affecting the shape or strength of such associations are clearly sparse. The present paper aims at exploring and establishing the link between service quality and a two dimensional model of customer loyalty with reference to the life insurance industry in India. Further, it intends to review the relationship of customer loyalty with its prominent precursors - trust and customer satisfaction with a new perspective. A conceptual research proposition encompassing the effect of service quality on attitudinal and behavioral dimensions of customer loyalty along with the potential interaction effects of trust and customer satisfaction in these relationships has been tested and presented by the study with intent to bring in fresh propositions and perspectives. The findings support the presence of these effects and call for approaching the goal of customer loyalty development with due consideration to the desired outcomes and the conditions required for cultivating them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Magnetocaloric properties of Ni2.29Mn0.89Ga0.82, a Ga deficient and Ni rich composition have been studied. It has been shown that an optimum shape of magnetic entropy change versus temperature curve results in large refrigeration capacity (RC) of 100 J/Kg in an applied field of 5T, around 319 K. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Results of fundamental and third order ac susceptibility measurements in a Ni49Mn29Ga22 single crystal demonstrate that higher harmonics of ac-susceptibility measurement is an excellent tool to identify transitions/anomalies originating from different magnetic substructures that remain undetected by usual dc susceptibility measurements. Anomaly observed at low temperature (∼150 K) has also been explored by differential scanning calorimetry, temperature dependent x-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy measurements. The results demonstrate that the magnetic subsystem in Ni-Mn-Ga is unstable at low temperatures not only for metastable modulated crystal structure but also for very stable nonmodulated tetragonal structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic and structural properties of Ni–Mn–Al thin films are investigated. It is demonstrated that the annealed film shows L21 phase at room temperature. Magnetometry measurements reveal that the annealed film is ferromagnetic and a first order transition in magnetization versus temperature measurement confirms that the martensite to austenite transition occurs around room temperature. Transmission electron microscopy measurements confirm that this structural change occurs just below room temperature. The splitting of Mn 2p3/2 level in x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy core level spectra of the annealed Ni–Mn–Al film, confirms that the origin of magnetism is definitely correlated with the local magnetic moment at the Mn atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the magnetic behavior of YMn 1− x Fe x O 3 ( x =0 and 0.2) nanoparticles synthesized by conventional solid state reaction method. The as-synthesized nanoparticles were found to have hexagonal phase with P6 3 cm space group confirmed by X-Ray diffraction. The particle size was found to be ~70 nm as confirmed by both X-Ray diffraction and Transmission Electron Microscopy. DC magnetization and memory effect measurements imply that the h-YMnO 3 nanoparticles bear a resemblance to super spin-glass state following de Almeida–Thouless like behavior which is being suppressed by Fe-doping. The Fe-doping in YMnO 3 enhances the antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition temperature T N to ~79 K and induces a new magnetic state due to the surface spins which is realized as diluted antiferromagnet in a field (DAFF) as explored by the thermoremanent and isothermoremanent magnetization measured with different applied magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epitaxial thin films of double perovskite Nd 2 NiMnO 6 (NNMO) have been successfully grown on (001) oriented substrates of (LaAlO 3 ) 0.3 -(Sr 2 AlTaO 6 ) 0.7 (LSAT), SrTiO 3 (STO) and LaAlO 3 (LAO) by pulsed laser deposition under optimum growth conditions. X-Ray diffraction and reciprocal space maps of the asymmetric (103) peak reveal that the films deposited on LSAT and STO substrates are fully relaxed, while a large in- plane compressive strain has been observed in film grown on LAO. This results into the coexistence of anti-site disorder and orthorhombic phase in the film deposited on LAO, which is further confirmed from observed shift and broadening in the antisymmetric vibrations in the Raman spectra. The temperature dependent magnetization shows a ferromagnetic transition close to 200 K in all the three samples. However, film grown on LAO substrate shows an additional upturn transition at ~ 96 K ( T ′), which could be ascribed to the formation of antisite disorders further responsible for reduction of saturation magnetization (~ 1.8 × 10 5 A/m) in hysteresis curve of the sample. The ordered structure obtained on LSAT and STO exhibit in-plane easy axis with a large coercivity of ~ 0.2 T, while, the film deposited on LAO does not show any preferred anisotropic direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning has shown its importance in delivering healthcare solutions and revolutionizing the future of filtering huge amountd of textual content. The machine intelligence can adapt semantic relations among text to infer finer contextual information and language processing system can use this information for better decision support and quality of life care. Further, a learnt model can efficiently utilize written healthcare information in knowledgeable patterns. The word-document and document-document linkage can help in gaining better contextual information. We analyzed 124 research articles in text and healthcare domain related to the ML paradigm and showed the mechanism of intelligence to capture hidden insights from document representation where only a term or word is used to explain the phenomenon. Mostly in the research, document-word relations are identified while relations with other documents are ignored. This paper emphasizes text representations and its linage with ML, DL, and RL approaches, which is an important marker for intelligence segregation. Furthermore, we highlighted the advantages of ML and DL methods as powerful tools for automatic text classification tasks.

Isomerism or Heterotaxy syndromes are rare multifaceted congenital anomalies with multi-system involvement. Grouped under the broad category of Situs Ambiguous defects, these often pose diagnostic difficulties due to their varied and confusing anatomy. Since patients rarely survive into adulthood due to cardiovascular complications, the etiology and natural history of such conditions are not fully understood. Imaging provides the most accurate non invasive method for diagnosis and thereby, prognosis in such cases. We present a case of right sided Isomerism with complex cardiac anomalies in a 17 year old adolescent, who presented with dysphagia as one of the main complaints. Multi modality imaging demonstrated the intricate abnormalities in vital systems.