Topic Review
Dysregulated JNK Signaling Pathway in Human Diseases
JNK is named after c-Jun N-terminal kinase, as it is responsible for phosphorylating c-Jun. As a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, JNK is also known as stress-activated kinase (SAPK) because it can be activated by extracellular stresses including growth factor, UV irradiation, and virus infection. Functionally, JNK regulates various cell behaviors such as cell differentiation, proliferation, survival, and metabolic reprogramming. Dysregulated JNK signaling contributes to several types of human diseases.
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Topic Review
Denoising Techniques for High-Performance MEMS Microphones
The MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) microphone is a representative device among the MEMS family, which has attracted substantial research interest, and those tailored for human voice have earned distinct success in commercialization. With the advancement of microphone technology and the market, microphones have become carriers for various intelligent applications, therefore demanding higher criteria in noise suppression. For instance, a hearing aid should suppress ambient noise while delivering relevant sounds to the user. Additionally, in specific environments, the noise performance of microphones is crucial for communication and intelligent voice-related needs such as voice activation and speech recognition.
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Topic Review
Spodoptera frugiperda and Prostephanus truncatus Biological Invasions' Impacts
Invasive alien species have environmental, economic and social impacts, disproportionally threatening the livelihood and food security of smallholder farmers in low- and medium-income countries. In most cases, farmers and governments often invest huge sums of money towards synthetic pesticides, the major and first control option used against invading pests, seldom trading off other important sectors, e.g., healthcare and education. Given pesticide resistance, many of these insecticides are often ineffectiv. Furthermore, resource-poor farmers in developing countries usually cannot afford personal protective equipment and lack the knowledge and understanding of chemical pesticides and their safe use, which compromises their proper use and risks exposure to toxic substances, resulting in accidental poisonings. Widespread and indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides also undermine environmental quality (biodiversity loss and pollution of air and water) and the pest control services provided by natural enemies. Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and the larger grain borer, Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), two of the most important field and postharvest IAS, respectively, that have invaded Africa. 
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Topic Review
Endoscopic Diagnosis of Early Gastric Cancer
Endoscopy is mandatory to detect early gastric cancer (EGC). When considering the cost-effectiveness of the endoscopic screening of EGC, risk stratification by combining serum pepsinogen values and anti-H. pylori IgG antibody values is very promising. After the detection of suspicious lesions of EGC, a detailed observation using magnifying endoscopy with band-limited light is necessary, which reveals an irregular microsurface and/or an irregular microvascular pattern with demarcation lines in the case of cancerous lesions. Endocytoscopy enables us to make an in vivo histological diagnosis. 
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Topic Review
Drone Photogrammetry for Underwater Cutural Heritage Documentation
Underwater cultural heritage (UCH) is an irreplaceable resource with intrinsic value that requires preservation, documentation, and safeguarding. Documentation is fundamental to increasing UCH resilience, providing a basis for monitoring, conservation, and management. Advanced UCH documentation and virtualization technologies are increasingly important for dissemination and visualization purposes, domain expert study, replica reproduction, degradation monitoring, and all other outcomes after a metric survey of cultural heritage (CH). Among the different metric documentation techniques, underwater photogrammetry is the most widely used for UCH documentation. It is a non-destructive and relatively inexpensive method that can produce high-resolution 3D models and 2D orthomosaics of underwater sites and artifacts. However, underwater photogrammetry is challenged by the different optical properties of water, light penetration, visibility and suspension, radiometric issues, and environmental drawbacks that make underwater documentation difficult. 
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Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Human Resources’ Burnout
The reality of the occurrence of burnout in human resources has been increasingly recognised as a result of today’s transforming and competitive society, which exerts a very high level of stress and anxiety on workers, generating a notorious problem in the field of human resource management. Problems related to symptoms of exhaustion, mental weakness, personal devaluation, inability to solve professional problems, restlessness, and eating disorders. These problems manifest themselves in terms of personality, triggering feelings of threat, panic, nervousness, or suicide. Such disorders pose a threat not only to the person but also to the quality of their professional activities. In this way, burnout syndrome can cause a mental and physical breakdown requiring complex medical assistance. In view of the above, it is imperative that organisations take preventative and corrective measures to tackle this phenomenon. This entry covers topics such as the history of the concept of burnout, the concept, its causes and consequences, and predictive methods. By approaching the aforementioned topics using the existing literature on burnout syndrome, this entry aims to demystify the subject of burnout in human resources.
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Topic Review
Effect of Wettability Parameters on Enhanced OIl Recovery
Modifying reservoir surface wetting properties is an appealing topic to the upstream oil and gas industry for enhancing hydrocarbon recovery, as the shifting of reservoir rock surface wetting from oil-wet to water-wet has enhanced the oil recovery (EOR) by as much as 70–80%. Wettability is defined as the ability of a fluid to stay in contact with a solid surface preferentially to another immiscible fluid present due to intermolecular interactions. The cohesive and adhesive forces describe the intermolecular interaction between solids and liquids. Cohesive force attracts similar molecules; adhesive force attracts different molecules. The balance of adhesive and cohesive forces of the oil–water–rock phase defines the wettability conditions of reservoir rocks. The wettability condition of reservoir rocks is one of the most critical factors influencing fluid flow in porous media, subsequently impacting the overall hydrocarbon recovery efficiency. Based on their wettability characteristics, oil reservoirs are divided into water-wet, oil-wet, mixed-wet, and intermediate-wet. Many experimental studies have contributed to the understanding of the wettability alteration mechanism. Despite the extensive research, concerns about a lack of understanding of the wettability alteration mechanisms in various reservoir conditions still exist. Microfluidic technologies, with microfabrication and reservoir micromodels, revolutionize researchers'  understanding of wettability alteration during enhanced oil recovery, surpassing traditional core-based experiments and offering real-time insights into geochemical changes.
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  • 11 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) Analogs
The extraordinary growth in the global pharmaceutical industry has extended to include peptides, which are amino acids linked together with an amide bond. Due to their well-tolerable safety profile and specificity, therapeutic peptides offer a means to address unmet medical challenges. A well-known example of a commonly administered peptide is insulin. Peptides are considered excellent complements and, in some cases, preferable alternatives to both small molecules such as paracetamol and very large antibodies. Around 100 peptide drugs are available on the global market, with ongoing research yielding over 150 peptides in clinical development and an additional 400–600 peptides undergoing preclinical studies. Peptides play a crucial role in cancer research and treatment, and they can be involved in various aspects of cancer development, detection, and treatment. These medicines demonstrate exceptional efficacy in combating cancer, contributing to improved survival rates for cancer patients.
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Topic Review
Diseases Associated with the Mother’s Curse
The mitochondrion was characterized for years as the energy factory of the cell, but now its role in many more cellular processes is recognized. The mitochondrion and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) also possess a set of distinct properties, including maternal inheritance, that creates the Mother’s Curse phenomenon. As mtDNA is inherited from females to all offspring, mutations that are harmful to males tend to accumulate more easily. The Mother’s Curse is associated with various diseases, and has a significant effect on males, in many cases even affecting their reproductive ability. Sometimes, it even leads to reproductive isolation, as in crosses between different populations, the mitochondrial genome cannot cooperate effectively with the nuclear one resulting in a mito-nuclear incompatibility and reduce the fitness of the hybrids. This phenomenon is observed both in the laboratory and in natural populations, and have the potential to influence their evolution and speciation. Therefore, it turns out that the study of mitochondria is an exciting field that finds many applications, including pest control, and it can shed light on the molecular mechanism of several diseases, improving successful diagnosis and therapeutics. Finally, mito-nuclear co-adaptation, paternal leakage, and kin selection are some mechanisms that can mitigate the impact of the Mother’s Curse. Since mitochondria play an important role in many pathways and cellular processes, they are involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases, and thus, the accumulation of mutations in mtDNA can have a serious impact on health and fitness, especially for males, due to its maternal inheritance. 
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Topic Review
Plastic Pollution
Plastic is a word that initially meant “material that can be easily shaped, formed, molded by providing heat and pressure”. It only recently became a name for a category of materials called synthetic polymers. The polymer means “of many parts” and is a long chain of repeating smaller or larger molecules (monomers) bonded in subunits. Generally, natural polymers and synthetic polymers are used for making plastics. Synthetic polymers differ from natural polymers (such as silk, cellulose, muscle fiber, rubber, hair, and DNA). They are manufactured using raw materials such as oil, coal, and natural gas. There are two other types of plastics that do not fall into the above category of materials (natural or synthetic) and are known as biodegradable plastics and bioplastic materials. Biodegradable plastic is made from petroleum- or biomass-based resources. Bioplastic products are manufactured using biomass-based materials only. Both plastic materials are substitutes for synthetic plastic. 
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