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The Journal of Construction in Developing Countries (JCDC) is an open-access journal indexed in Scopus that specialises in Building and Construction and Civil Engineering. This article proposes an analysis of the history of publications in the journal that has not been done so far. In this document, we seek to contribute to the knowledge by answering the question: What is the journal's most influential countries, authors and institutions? A bibliometric analysis is carried out through bibliographic information obtained from Scopus and scientometric tools, which includes annual productivity, authors, countries and the most relevant institutions. The mapping of scientific production visualises the networks of co-occurrence and co-authorship, thus identifying the collaboration networks between authors, countries and institutions. The growth in the number of publications and citations was evidenced over time, which has allowed the journal to be among the best engineering journals in Malaysia and ranked 117 in the Building and Construction area worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of soft skills on employability in large companies in the processing industry, specifically from a management perspective. The study conducted interviews with owners or managers of 117 companies in the transformation sector in the state of Hidalgo. The findings revealed that managers perceive two types of soft skills related to employability: analytical ability and reasoning, and intuition and experience. The study confirms the influence of soft skills on employability and provides a statistical model that benefits both employers and professionals seeking professional development. [Extracted from the article]

Transition metal carbides have emerged as an attractive alternative to conventional catalysts in hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reactions due to surface reactivity, catalytic activity, and thermodynamic stability similar to those of noble metals. In this study, the impact of varying Mo concentration in carbon nanofiber-supported catalysts for the supercritical ethanol-assisted HDO of bio-oils in an autoclave batch reactor is discussed. Raw bio-oils derived from agave bagasse and corncob through solar hydrothermal liquefaction were treated at 350 °C. Our findings indicate that the presence of Mo has a strong impact on both product yield and chemical properties. Thus, a Mo concentration of 10 wt.% is enough to obtain high deoxygenation values (69–72%), resulting in a yield of upgraded bio-oil ranging between 49.9 and 60.4%, depending on the feedstock used, with an energy content of around 35 MJ/kg. A further increase in the Mo loadings (20 and 30 wt.%) reduced the loss of carbon due to gasification and improved the bio-oil yields up to 62.6 and 67.4%, without compromising the product quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Microbiota and tight junction proteins (TJPs) are components of the gut barrier, and are considered stress targets that have deleterious effects on intestinal homeostasis. Objectives. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of chronic immobilization stress on selected small intestine homeostasis parameters. Materials and methods. Female BALB/c mice were divided into a stress group that underwent short-term immobilization for 2 h per day for 4 consecutive days, and a non-stressed control group (n = 6 per group). Proximal and distal small intestine samples were excised to assess colony-forming units per gram (CFU/g) of total bifidobacteria in selective agar plates, luminal albumin was assessed using immune-enzymatic assay, pro-inflammatory cytokines were evaluated using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and TJPs (pore-forming, claudin (Cld)-2; pore-sealing, Cld-4; ambiguous, Cld-7, -12 and -15) were assessed with RT-qPCR and western blotting. Results. Compared with the control group, the stress group had lower body weight and energy intake. In the distal region, the stressed mice had lower bifidobacteria count and messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression of Cld-2, Cld-4 and Cld-12, though they had more albumin and higher interleukin (IL)-6 mRNA expression. Within the proximal region, the stressed mice had higher mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), IL-6, Cld-7, Cld-12, and Cld-15, along with lower levels of IL-10 and Cld-4. However, mRNA and protein expression of TJPs were discordant. Conclusions. These findings indicate divergent stress-induced outcomes in the small intestine, evidenced by the elicitation of a pro-inflammatory response and decreased anti-inflammatory response in the duodenum, and by increased albumin transudation and decreased bifidobacterial growth in the distal region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]