Contemporary Perspective on Supply Chain Management Regarding Drug Sourcing Shortages

Safeguarding the supply of drugs and satisfying the needs of patients is a strategic priority of any healthcare system especially in these pandemic times. The pharmaceutical supply chain is subject to many pressures including non-availability and shortage of requisite drugs. A drug shortage is a deficiency in the supply of medicines or products that affects the ability of a patient to get the required treatment in due time. The roots of drug shortages are multifaceted, varied, and the issue can be due to supply or demand. However, the situation affects almost every stakeholder in the healthcare system, which is why collaboration is a must to deal with drug shortages. Hence, adopting an exploratory and single-case approach of the largest public hospital in the context of Namibia, the objective of this chapter is to provide a contemporary perspective of supply chain management re drug sourcing shortages, analyze the causes of drug shortages, recommend measures to minimize the crisis, and suggest strategies for enhanced efficiency in drug supply.

Clonal Evolution of High-Risk Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Contemporary Perspective

Clonal evolution represents the natural process through which cancer cells continuously search for phenotypic advantages that enable them to develop and expand within microenvironmental constraints. In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), clonal evolution underpins leukemic progression and therapeutic resistance, with differences in clonal evolutionary dynamics accounting for its characteristically diverse clinical course. The past few years have witnessed profound changes in our understanding of CLL clonal evolution, facilitated by a maturing definition of high-risk CLL and an increasing sophistication of next-generation sequencing technology. In this review, we offer a modern perspective on clonal evolution of high-risk CLL, highlighting recent discoveries, paradigm shifts and unresolved questions. We appraise recent advances in our understanding of the molecular basis of CLL clonal evolution, focusing on the genetic and non-genetic sources of intratumoral heterogeneity, as well as tumor-immune dynamics. We review the technological innovations, particularly in single-cell technology, which have fostered these advances and represent essential tools for future discoveries. In addition, we discuss clonal evolution within several contexts of particular relevance to contemporary clinical practice, including the settings of therapeutic resistance to CLL targeted therapy and immunotherapy, as well as Richter transformation of CLL to high-grade lymphoma.

Classroom Assessment as Co-Regulated Learning: A Systematic Review

Current conceptions of assessment describe interactive, reciprocal processes of co-regulation of learning from multiple sources, including students, their teachers and peers, and technological tools. In this systematic review, we examine the research literature for support for the view of classroom assessment as a mechanism of the co-regulation of learning and motivation. Using an expanded framework of self-regulated learning to categorize 94 studies, we observe that there is support for most but not all elements of the framework but little research that represents the reciprocal nature of co-regulation. We highlight studies that enable students and teachers to use assessment to scaffold co-regulation. Concluding that the contemporary perspective on assessment as the co-regulation of learning is a useful development, we consider future directions for research that can address the limitations of the collection reviewed.

Manezinho who makes good food: Restaurante do Costinha

PurposeThe aim is to enable debates about the need for changes in the restaurant's management posture regarding food waste.Design/methodology/approachThis study is a teaching case about a restaurant and was prepared based on information collected from the authors' experiences in teaching, consulting, and academic research. The plot, company name, and characters are fictitious.FindingsThe results are related to the classroom application to promote discussion and knowledge of topics such as finance, costs, sustainability, food waste, and the Demonstration of Results for the Exercise.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation is that it is a fictitious study, but it allows applied research based on the authors' scientific knowledge and professional practice.Practical implicationsThe theme contributes to anchoring decision-making by managers in the face of day-to-day business challenges. Furthermore, in a contemporary perspective, it involves a small establishment concerning the possibilities of contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, due to the richness of details, the case constitutes an intriguing teaching tool to be applied in the classroom.Social implicationsIt impacts social actions, according to the examples found in the narrative used in the teaching case.Originality/valueIts originality is related to its interdisciplinarity and how it involves the themes of finance and sustainability applied in business practice.

Efektifitas Supervisi Pengawas Madrasah di Kementerian Agama Provinsi Kepri Perspektif Kontemporer

This paper discusses the effectiveness of supervision carried out by madrasa supervisors in the Ministry of Religion of the Kepulauan Riau Province from a contemporary perspective. The problem is that in the Kepulauan Riau Province there is an imbalance between the number of madrasas and the number of supervisors needed. One thing that is interesting is how the management of educational supervision is carried out while the number of supervisors has not been reached. This research is categorized as field research with qualitative research methods. The data were taken from direct observations at the research location, namely at the Ministry of Religion of the Kepulauan Riau Province and in madrasas. The nature of this research is descriptive-analytical research which aims to accurately describe and analyze the supervision carried out by madrasa supervisors at the Ministry of Religion of the Kepulauan Riau Province. From the data collected, it was found that those who act as madrasa supervisors within the Ministry of Religion of the Kepulauan Riau Province are mostly madrasa heads. Therefore, in addition to serving as a leader in his madrasa, the madrasa principal is also expected to be able to understand and be able to carry out supervision properly. With such conditions, adequate competence is needed that must be possessed by a madrasa supervisor who doubles as the head of the madrasa. So that the supervision carried out can run effectively.

Neurorights in History: A Contemporary Review of José M. R. Delgado’s “Physical Control of the Mind” (1969) and Elliot S. Valenstein’s “Brain Control” (1973)

Scholars from various disciplines discuss the ethical, legal, and social implications of neurotechnology. Some have proposed four concrete “neurorights”. This review presents the research of two pioneers in brain stimulation from the 1950s to 1970s, José M. R. Delgado and Elliot S. Valenstein, who also reflected upon the ethical, legal, and social aspects of their and other scientists’ related research. Delgado even formulated the vision “toward a psychocivilized society” where brain stimulation is used to control, in particular, citizens’ aggressive and violent behavior. Valenstein, by contrast, believed that the brain is not organized in such a way to allow the control or even removal of only negative processes without at the same time diminishing desirable ones. The paper also describes how animal and human experimentation on brain stimulation was carried out in that time period. It concludes with a contemporary perspective on the relevance of neurotechnology for neuroethics, neurolaw, and neurorights, including two recent examples for brain-computer interfaces.

The Utility of Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging in Cancer Patients—When, Why, How, and the Latest Developments

Cardio-oncology encompasses the risk stratification, prognostication, identification and management of cancer therapeutics related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD). Cardiovascular imaging (CVI) plays a significant role in each of these scenarios and has broadened from predominantly quantifying left ventricular function (specifically ejection fraction) to the identification of earlier bio-signatures of CTRCD. Recent data also demonstrate the impact of chemotherapy on the right ventricle, left atrium and pericardium and highlight a possible role for CVI in the identification of CTRCD through tissue characterization and assessment of these cardiac chambers. This review aims to provide a contemporary perspective on the role of multi-modal advanced cardiac imaging in cardio-oncology.