ResearchPod

Higher Education Institutions, or HEIs, have been forced to reconfigure their activities as a result of the pandemic.

Based on new research, Prof Lloyd George Waller argues that the difference between the institutions’ success or otherwise in moving online depends on their digital readiness and resilience, which in turn depends on their digital transformation strategy.

His book, "Digital Transformation for Higher Education Institutions: A Framework for the Future" is available online.

Read more in Research Outreach

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) represent around 90% of businesses and more than 50% of worldwide employment. Despite their economic relevance, most insolvency jurisdictions fail to provide an adequate response for MSMEs in insolvency.  

Professor Gurrea Martínez of Singapore Management University is an expert in insolvency and business restructuring and his recent work looks at international insolvency frameworks.

Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1002/iir.1422

Estuaries are incredibly variable environments, which can make fish monitoring using traditional sampling gear difficult. Dr Joseph Merz has developed a new non-invasive sampling system, The Platform, to monitor fish communities and their habitat interactions with fewer potential impacts to sensitive species.

 Read more in Research Outreach: https://researchoutreach.org/articles/platform-novel-non-invasive-fish-monitoring-method/

Find more from Dr Merz and his team at https://www.fishsciences.net/

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME) is a complex, long-term, and highly debilitating condition whose causes and mechanisms have been poorly understood until now. 

The research of Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik sheds new light on the pathological processes underlying ME/CFS – paving the way for future treatments. 

 Read the original research: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-021-02974-4

 Read more in Research Features

Across history, people have developed multiple ways of occupying their free time through a host of leisure activities. Professor Robert Stebbins at the University of Calgary has provided a seminal framework – called the Serious Leisure Perspective – which synthesises the science of leisure activities, and looks at ways for society to facilitate pursuing optimal lifestyles.

Read more in Research Outreach: https://researchoutreach.org/articles/what-constitutes-optimal-leisure/

 Read more in his book, The Serious Leisure Perspective : https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-48036-3

Proton therapy is an effective technique for fighting cancer. In order to optimise treatment, it is clear that each patient must be carefully assessed each time and radiation plans must be adapted based on the results. 

The daily adaptive proton therapy workflow proposed by the Paul Scherrer Institute is an excellent start on the path to achieving this, and there are many more opportunities to improve efficiency and accuracy for treatment.

 Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/ac2b84

Dr Jan Czyzyk explores the biomolecules serpins, and how serpin activity can affect the inflammation and tissue regeneration of cells in the pancreas. Their research opens the possibility for anti-serpin activity to be used as both a biomarker and an active mechanism of protection for individuals with type 1 diabetes.

Read more in Research Outreach

Read the original article: https://www.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abf1587

The field of psycho-neuroimmunology – the study of relationships between the nervous and immune systems – has pioneered significant discoveries in areas like stress, mindfulness, ancient exercise and dietary interventions.  The Psycho-neuroimmunology Research Society (PNIRS) formed a Chinese branch in 2012, and following its success, expanded to include all of Asia-Oceania.

Keith W. Kelley of the University of Illinois and collaborators review the growth of this endeavour and recent contributions to biomedical research from the countries of Asia-Oceania.

Find more from PNIRS: https://www.pnirs.org/pnirsasia-pacific

Read the original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.026

Breast cancer on the African continent, and in Nigeria especially, is notable for being biologically distinct from those predominantly diagnosed among White populations in the United States and Europe, where most scientific research has occurred to date.  

Dr. Tomi Akinyemiju at Duke University School of Medicine examines the factors that contribute to especially aggressive breast cancers in Nigeria – providing insights that could meaningfully impact disease prevention and treatment.

Read the original paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clbc.2021.11.004.

Before the development of antibiotics, even a small cut could have fatal results if a bacterial infection took hold. Today, the world faces a the return of untreatable diseases due to antibiotic resistance.

 Prof Raymond J. Turner at the University of Calgary is working to solve the problem of bacterial resistance to these medicines through revisiting and developing metal-containing antimicrobials.

Read the original paper here: https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9120853

 Read more in Research Features