Immobilization technology for enhancing bio-products industry

Immobilization is the limitation of movement of biocatalysts according to chemical or physical  treatment. Immobilized molecules technique using biomaterials and nano-biotechnology is a very  interesting topic that is touching almost all aspects of our life. Immobilized enzymes, molecules, and  cells have been used in a variety of scientific and industrial applications. Cell immobilization  biotechnology is a multidisciplinary area shown to have an important impact on many scientific  sub-disciplines, including biomedicine, pharmacology, cosmetology, food and agricultural sciences. Many  molecules have been immobilized and the majority of them are bio-molecules due to their biological and biomedical applications. Immobilization of enzymes has made them highly applicable to range of evolving biotechnologies. Immobilized enzymes have proven valuable for many medical applications including drug delivery systems, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, as well as in sensors for the  management of weight and diabetes. Enzyme immobilization is applied in textile industry. The  immobilized microorganism technology offers a multitude of advantages in wastewater treatment. The  immobilized cell systems were applied for the production of many organic compounds such as organic  acid and ethanol. The immobilization of tissue sections, cells and tissue components for histological and  immunohistochemical staining or detection systems is applicable nowadays. Cell immobilization could  potentially benefit food industry.Key words: Immobilized, bio-product, immobilization

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Entrepreneurial failure: a review and agenda for future research

International audienc

The many faces of entrepreneurial failure: Insights from an empirical taxonomy

International audienceResearch on entrepreneurial failure has primarily addressed two issues: the causes and potential consequences of business failure for entrepreneurs. However, few studies are devoted to rethinking the concept of entrepreneurial failure as a multiform phenomenon that involves various configurations. This article extends the understanding of entrepreneurial failure by examining the different configurations that can occur and the associated profiles of failing entrepreneurs. To that end, two major approaches to configuration—theoretically derived typology and empirically grounded taxonomy—have been used to offer a more nuanced view of entrepreneurial failure. This study's findings provide a starting point for a stronger theoretical grounding of research that goes beyond the traditional interpretation of entrepreneurial failure and opens new avenues of research opportunities to explore and compare the different configurations that have emerged and identify the possible dynamism and trajectories among these configurations

Thinking about future research on entrepreneurial failure: An interview with Dean Andrew Shepherd

International audienc

Thinking about future research on entrepreneurial failure: An interview with Dean Andrew Shepherd

International audienc

Entrepreneurial failure: a review and agenda for future research

International audienc

Causal cognitive mapping in the entrepreneurial cognition field: A comparison of two alternative methods

International audienceDespite the growing prevalence of causal mapping procedures in the organizational strategy field and the growing body of research on entrepreneurial cognition, there have been surprisingly few investigations on how scholars might use causal cognitive mapping to elicit entrepreneurs’ cognition. Based on the complementarity between the visual graph method and the matrix-multiplication method, this article outlines an integrative method that both overcomes the methodological issues of causal cognitive mapping and expands the qualitative methods used in the field of entrepreneurial cognition. By performing an empirical comparison, this article provides step-by-step guidance to empower scholars who either choose between these two methods or seek to use these methods in a complementary manner. Particular emphasis is placed on the methodological contributions that expand the entrepreneurial cognition toolbox. The methodological limits and potential improvements of these two methods regarding causal mapping are discussed