Oral administration of antineoplastic agents: the challenges for healthcare professionals

Recent progress in cancer treatmen

Financial anxiety and saving intentions during the Covid-19 crisis : A comparison between Sweden and Serbia

The Covid-19 crisis disrupted consumer behaviour in many ways and created financial challenges for the majority of people. This led to increased levels of financial anxiety, especially among young adults. The purpose of this study was to explain the influence of Covid-19 induced financial anxiety on the saving intentions of millennials. This study was based on the Theory of PlannedBehaviour, which we extended with an additional variable – financial anxiety. Additionally, the aim was to compare how this financial anxiety manifests in terms of saving intention in two different countries, Sweden and Serbia. A quantitative study was conducted, using an online survey. Data collection was carried out between April and May 2021. The non-probabilistic, snowball sampling method was utilized together with posting the survey on different Facebook groups, which resulted in 150 usable responses in Serbia and 131 in Sweden. The findings of this study suggest that financial anxiety negatively influences saving intentions in both countries. Moreover, financial anxiety had a negative impact on three out of four components (attitude to saving, perceived behavioural control to saving, personal saving intention) of the Theory of planned Behavior. Attitude towards saving is found to be the strongest predictor for the intention to save followed by perceived behavioural control. Subjective norms had the least predictive power, especially in Serbia where they failed to predict personal saving intention.

Supercritical CO2-assisted processes for development of added-value materials: Optimization of starch aerogels preparation and hemp seed extracts impregnation

The aim of the present study was the utilization of supercritical CO2 as a green medium in various processes: starch gel drying, supercritical extraction from hemp seed flour (SCE process), hemp seed oil (HSO) impregnation (SCI process), as well as integrated process of hemp seed flour (HSF) extraction and starch gels impregnation (SCE-SCI process) for development of added-value materials that can be used as phytopharmaceuticals. Optimization of starch aerogels was performed by variation of temperature (35 and 45 °C) and pressure (8, 10, and 20 MPa) in order to obtain materials with high porosity, which will enable maximal loading capacity for hemp seed extracts. Proposed scCO2-assisted processes of SCE from HSF, SCI and SCE-SCI were performed at pressure of 30 MPa and temperature of 60 °C. It was shown that conditions of starch gel drying significantly influenced material morphology (porosity was in a range of 48-82%, and specific surface area of 71-208 m2/g), which consequently determined aerogel loading capacity. FTIR analysis confirmed that scCO2 did not have effect on polymer composition nor it remained in polymer after drying process. The highest loading of both HSO and HSF extract (24.9% and 29.78%, respectively) was achieved when aerogel obtained at 10 MPa and 45 °C was tested as a carrier. Furthermore, chemical analysis showed that both HSO and HSF extract are rich in unsaturated fatty acids especially linoleic acid (54-59%) and α-linolenic acid (15-18%). These essential fatty acids have well-established health benefits including protection against cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases

Clinical and Economic Outcomes of New Oral Anticoagulants in Orthopaedics

Venous thromboembolism, including pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, is a significant factor in morbidity and mortality of patients. New oral anticoagulants, such as apixaban, dabigatran, and rivaroxaban, have recently demonstrated their safety and efficacy in patients undergoing major orthopaedic surgery. Selection of the appropriate drug should be adjusted according to patient needs. Major bleeding is rare with new oral anticoagulants and is comparable with the bleeding rate associated with low-molecular-weight heparins. Clinical data indicate that therapy with apixaban and rivaroxaban was more effective compared to enoxaparin, while dabigatran has a similar efficacy to enoxaparin. Cost-effectiveness studies of new oral anticoagulants showed that these medicines offer higher efficacy with acceptable costs for the healthcare system, even saving costs in certain cases. Clinical practice in Serbia reflects considerably more frequent use of traditional anticoagulant medication therapy compared to new oral anticoagulants

Recognition and measurement of human capital expenditures – impacts on company's performance measurement

Both internal and external users of financial statements use ratio analysis as a main tool in decision-making processes. Great numbers of financial ratios are based on 'ideal' balance sheet structure. Thus, growing companies with great proportion of unrecorded intellectual capital raises this kind of analysis as doubtful. The aim of this article is to provide empirical evidence concerning impacts of different ways in recognising and measuring human capital expenditures on financial statements analysis as company's performance measure. Research hypothesis implies that in high-tech industry, financial performance depends on human capital investments, so companies investing in human resources will obtain greater financial results. Consequently, financial statement analysis will provide truer and fairer view of company's performance if human capital expenditures are capitalised in balance sheet rather than recognised as expenses in profit and loss account. Verification of empirical evidence will be provided through the sample of Croatian large high-tech companies.accounting recognition; financial statements analysis; human resources management; HRM; intellectual capital; performance measurement; human capital expenditures; Croatia; high-tech firms; high technology.

Enhanced Skin Performance of Emulgel vs. Cream as Systems for Topical Delivery of Herbal Actives (Immortelle Extract and Hemp Oil)

Immortelle, as rich source of chlorogenic acid and the phloroglucinol alpha-pyrone compound arzanol, possesses anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, affects cell regeneration, and has positive effect on many skin conditions. Hemp oil, characterized by a favorable omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, as well as an abundance of essential fatty acids and vitamin E, participates in immunoregulation and also act as an anti-inflammatory. In the present study, we examined the effect on the skin of creams and emulgels with immortelle extract and hemp oil, by comparing them to placebo samples and a non-treated control. A long-term in vivo study of biophysical skin characteristics, which lasted for 30 days, was conducted on 25 healthy human volunteers. Measured parameters were electrical capacitance of the stratum corneum, trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), and skin pH and erythema index. Further, a sensory study was carried out in which the panelists had to choose descriptive terms for sensory attributes in questionnaire. The results showed that application of all preparations led to increase of skin hydration and TEWL reduction, while the skin was not irritated, and its normal pH was not disrupted. This study also showed importance of the carrier. Not only were emulgels described by panelists as preparations with better sensory properties, there was a significant difference between the skin hydration effect of emulgel with immortelle extract and hemp oil compared to the placebo emulgel, which was not the case with creams. Such findings indicated enhanced delivery of herbal active substances from emulgel compared to the cream

Old Plant, New Possibilities: Wild Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L., Ericaceae) in Topical Skin Preparation

Bilberry represents a valuable source of antioxidant substances responsible for its application for the treatment of different conditions (such as inflammation, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and different age-related diseases) associated with increased oxidative stress. As oxidative stress might cause skin impairments, we aim to evaluate a topical preparation containing bilberry leaves extract and bilberry seeds oil, obtained as a byproduct of the food industry. To obtain the extracts, the conventional maceration technique for leaves, and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction for seeds were employed. The chemical profile of both actives was achieved by HPLC and GC methods, revealing the presence of phenolic acids (chlorogenic being the most abundant), flavonoids (isoquercetin in the highest amount), and resveratrol in leaves extract, while in seeds oil the essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids were determined in favorable ratio, almost being 1. Antioxidant potential of the wild bilberry extract and seed oil was evaluated using in vitro DPPH and FRAP assays. Finally, effects of the oil-in-water creams with mentioned wild bilberry isolates on the skin were investigated in an in vivo study conducted on healthy human volunteers, revealing the significant beneficial effects when topically applied