Shared Value in Emerging Markets: How Multinational Corporations Are Redefining Business Strategies to Reach Poor or Vulnerable Populations

This report illuminates the enormous opportunities in emerging markets for companies to drive competitive advantage and sustainable impact at scale. It identifies how over 30 companies across multiple sectors and geographies design and measure business strategies that also improve the lives of underserved individuals

Collective Impact for Opportunity Youth

This report was designed to highlight the underlying challenges facing Opportunity Youth (i.e., youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market) and offers a framework to help communities come together to address these challenges

Selection of aptamers against triple negative breast cancer cells using high throughput sequencing

Triple-negative breast cancer is the most aggressive subtype of invasive breast cancer with a poor prognosis and no approved targeted therapy. Hence, the identification of new and specific ligands is essential to develop novel targeted therapies. In this study, we aimed to identify new aptamers that bind to highly metastatic breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells using the cell-SELEX technology aided by high throughput sequencing. After 8 cycles of selection, the aptamer pool was sequenced and the 25 most frequent sequences were aligned for homology within their variable core region, plotted according to their free energy and the key nucleotides possibly involved in the target binding site were analyzed. Two aptamer candidates, Apt1 and Apt2, binding specifically to the target cells with Kd values of 44.3 ± 13.3 nM and 17.7 ± 2.7 nM, respectively, were further validated. The binding analysis clearly showed their specificity to MDA-MB-231 cells and suggested the targeting of cell surface receptors. Additionally, Apt2 revealed no toxicity in vitro and showed potential translational application due to its affinity to breast cancer tissue sections. Overall, the results suggest that Apt2 is a promising candidate to be used in triple-negative breast cancer treatment and/or diagnosis. © 2021, The Author(s).Tis study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Débora Ferreira (DF) is the recipient of a fellowship supported by a doctoral advanced training (call NORTE-69-2015-15) funded by the European Social Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Joaquim Barbosa (JB) and Diana A. Sousa (DAS) acknowledge FCT for the Grants SFRH/BD/51109/2010 and PD/BD/139083/2018, respectively.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Endometriosis in Young Women : experiences of school health service

Endometrios, en sjukdom med symtom som smärtor eller blödningar i samband med menstruation, börjar ofta i tonåren men diagnostiseras inte förrän flera år senare. Kvinnorna med denna diagnos beskriver ofta att de inte fått förståelse för sina problem under tonåren. Sjukdomen kan innebära stora besvär för den drabbade och följder på det fysiska, psykiska och sociala planet kan ses. Syftet var att studera hur unga kvinnor med endometriossymtom upplevde skolsköterskans stöd under högstadie- och gymnasietiden, för att kunna påverka deras livskvalitet. Via Svenska endometriosföreningens ungdomssektion i Sverige gjordes en kvantitativ undersökning med kvalitativt inslag. Ett frågeformulär skickades ut till föreningens 59 medlemmar, 24 kvinnor svarade. Resultatet visade att några få kvinnor var nöjda med den hjälp de fått under skoltiden men de flesta kvinnorna uttryckte att de saknade kunskap, stöd och förståelse från skolsköterskan vilket ibland gav ett icke tillfredsställande bemötande. Det framkom även i studien att förståelse och kunskaper saknades i vissa fall även hos ungdomsmottagningar och läkare. Tillgängligheten av skolsköterskan på de olika skolorna varierade. Mer resurser bör läggas på kunskaper både hos skolsköterskor och de unga kvinnorna själva för att förbättra livskvaliteten hos de unga kvinnorna.Endometriosis, a disease that gives symptoms like dysmenorrhea or abnormal bleedings during menstruation, often appears during the early adolescent and several years passes from onset of the symptoms to the point of diagnosis. The women with this diagnose often describes the feeling of not being understood, even during their adolescence. The disease may appear with troubles for the women that gives effects upon physical, mental and social impact which can be seen. The aim was to investigate what kind of support the women had got from there school nurse during junior high school and high school to affect the quality of life. A method of a quantitative study with qualitative influences was used. The respondents were found through the Swedish Endometriosis Associations youth section. A questionnaire was sent out to 59 women and 24 responded. The result showed that few of the women were satisfied with the support they received during their time in school. Almost all the women expressed that there was a lack of knowledge, support and understanding from the school nurse. Consequently, the women were not satisfied with the health care encounter. Lack of understanding and knowledge was found even at social advice and guidance centres for young people and physicians. The availability of the school nurses varied between different schools. The resources should be used to give knowledge to school nurses and the adolescents to improve the adolescents quality of life

Endometriosis in Young Women : experiences of school health service

Endometrios, en sjukdom med symtom som smärtor eller blödningar i samband med menstruation, börjar ofta i tonåren men diagnostiseras inte förrän flera år senare. Kvinnorna med denna diagnos beskriver ofta att de inte fått förståelse för sina problem under tonåren. Sjukdomen kan innebära stora besvär för den drabbade och följder på det fysiska, psykiska och sociala planet kan ses. Syftet var att studera hur unga kvinnor med endometriossymtom upplevde skolsköterskans stöd under högstadie- och gymnasietiden, för att kunna påverka deras livskvalitet. Via Svenska endometriosföreningens ungdomssektion i Sverige gjordes en kvantitativ undersökning med kvalitativt inslag. Ett frågeformulär skickades ut till föreningens 59 medlemmar, 24 kvinnor svarade. Resultatet visade att några få kvinnor var nöjda med den hjälp de fått under skoltiden men de flesta kvinnorna uttryckte att de saknade kunskap, stöd och förståelse från skolsköterskan vilket ibland gav ett icke tillfredsställande bemötande. Det framkom även i studien att förståelse och kunskaper saknades i vissa fall även hos ungdomsmottagningar och läkare. Tillgängligheten av skolsköterskan på de olika skolorna varierade. Mer resurser bör läggas på kunskaper både hos skolsköterskor och de unga kvinnorna själva för att förbättra livskvaliteten hos de unga kvinnorna.Endometriosis, a disease that gives symptoms like dysmenorrhea or abnormal bleedings during menstruation, often appears during the early adolescent and several years passes from onset of the symptoms to the point of diagnosis. The women with this diagnose often describes the feeling of not being understood, even during their adolescence. The disease may appear with troubles for the women that gives effects upon physical, mental and social impact which can be seen. The aim was to investigate what kind of support the women had got from there school nurse during junior high school and high school to affect the quality of life. A method of a quantitative study with qualitative influences was used. The respondents were found through the Swedish Endometriosis Associations youth section. A questionnaire was sent out to 59 women and 24 responded. The result showed that few of the women were satisfied with the support they received during their time in school. Almost all the women expressed that there was a lack of knowledge, support and understanding from the school nurse. Consequently, the women were not satisfied with the health care encounter. Lack of understanding and knowledge was found even at social advice and guidance centres for young people and physicians. The availability of the school nurses varied between different schools. The resources should be used to give knowledge to school nurses and the adolescents to improve the adolescents quality of life

Endometrios hos unga kvinnor : - upplevelser av skolhälsovården

Endometrios,  en  sjukdom  med  symtom  som  smärtor  eller  blödningar  i  samband  med menstruation, börjar ofta i tonåren men diagnostiseras inte förrän flera år senare. Kvinnorna med denna diagnos beskriver ofta att de inte  fått förståelse för sina problem under tonåren. Sjukdomen kan innebära stora besvär  för den drabbade och följder på det fysiska, psykiska och sociala planet kan ses. Syftet var att studera hur unga kvinnor med endometriossymtom upplevde  skolsköterskans  stöd  under  högstadie-  och  gymnasietiden,  för  att  kunna  påverka deras livskvalitet. Via Svenska endometriosföreningens ungdomssektion i Sverige gjordes en kvantitativ   undersökning   med   kvalitativt   inslag.   Ett   frågeformulär   skickades   ut   till föreningens  59  medlemmar,  24  kvinnor  svarade.  Resultatet  visade  att  några  få  kvinnor  var nöjda med den hjälp de fått under skoltiden men de flesta kvinnorna uttryckte att de saknade kunskap,  stöd  och  förståelse  från  skolsköterskan  vilket  ibland  gav  ett  icke  tillfredsställande bemötande. Det framkom även i studien att förståelse och kunskaper saknades i vissa fall även hos  ungdomsmottagningar  och  läkare.  Tillgängligheten  av  skolsköterskan  på  de  olika skolorna  varierade.  Mer  resurser  bör  läggas  på  kunskaper  både  hos  skolsköterskor  och  de unga kvinnorna själva för att förbättra livskvaliteten hos de unga kvinnorna.

How to Lead Collective Impact Working Groups: A Comprehensive Toolkit

Working Group Co-chairs are not simply symbolic leaders; the success of a collective impact initiative hinges on Co-chairs bringing their commitment and leadership to a range of tasks.Built on our experience with numerous Working Groups, this kit provides detailed tools, templates, and tips. From increasing membership and community engagement to planning and running effective meetings, Co-chairs will find strategic and tactical resources to help them contribute to a successful initiative

Hybrid Metrics: Connecting Shared Value to Shareholder Value

Today, investors are able to identify "good" companies and "profitable" companies but not companies doing the most good most profitably which is a missed opportunity for business, investors, and society.In Hybrid Metrics: Connecting Shared Value to Shareholder Value, we introduce a new approach that combines companies' social and environmental impact with standard measures of financial performance, making the connection between the two explicit. Hybrid metrics are still in the nascent stages, but the benefits and potential they hold are promising. We hope this report inspires companies, analysts, and investors to experiment with this concept and bring us closer to demonstrating the causal link between social/ environmental and financial performance — underscoring the importance of creating shared value