INTI International University

Peptic ulcer disease remains clinically important despite effective Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication and acid-suppressive therapy. Gastric injury reflects an imbalance between aggressive factors, including acid-pepsin activity, H. pylori, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), ethanol, oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and microvascular disturbance and protective mechanisms such as mucus-bicarbonate secretion, prostaglandin signaling, nitric oxide-regulated blood flow, epithelial restitution, and endogenous antioxidant defenses. Bixa orellana L. (annatto or achiote) is a tropical medicinal plant whose seed arils are rich in the apocarotenoids bixin and norbixin, whereas its leaves contain variable phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, and other constituents depending on geography, maturity, and extraction method. This critical narrative review uses a structured search and qualitative evidence-appraisal framework to evaluate extract-specific phytochemistry, direct gastric evidence, indirectly relevant gastrointestinal and vascular evidence, mechanistic plausibility, safety, quality control, and translational readiness. The available literature supports B. orellana as a biologically plausible preclinical mucosal-protective candidate, particularly for prevention of acute chemical injury; however, it does not establish clinical efficacy or chronic ulcer-healing activity. Confidence is limited by the small number of direct gastric studies, incomplete chemical characterization, inconsistent separation of leaf and seed evidence, limited dose-response testing, narrow model selection, and insufficient mechanistic and histological endpoints. Future studies should use authenticated plant material, voucher specimens, chromatographic fingerprints, quantitative markers, complementary prevention and healing models, acute and repeated-dose toxicology, mucus and prostaglandin measurements, oxidative and inflammatory biomarkers, and blinded histological scoring before human investigation is justified.

This paper presents a robust co-design framework for differential spiral electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) biosensors, developed as an in silico methodological study for urine-sensing applications in bladder cancer surveillance. The objective is to improve parameter identifiability in label-free differential urine sensing when nuisance effects, fabrication tolerances, and reference mismatch reduce estimation reliability. The framework combines differential sensing to suppress shared common-mode nuisance with joint optimization of sensor geometry and frequency selection. The design is formulated as a minimax Fisher-information problem to improve worst-case identifiability.The primary co-design evaluation uses an application-motivated synthetic protocol with matched budgets and multiple baselines. The proposed method improves worst-case identifiability and Cramér–Rao lower-bound proxy metrics at the same frequency budget, with consistent gains under budget variation, uncertainty amplification, and reference mismatch. To examine transfer beyond the synthetic model family at component level, we additionally analyzed an independent measured EIS dataset using grouped hold-out validation and training-only empirical minimax frequency selection. At a four-frequency budget, the measured-data analysis achieved a balanced accuracy of 79.6%±11.6%, compared with 70.4%±14.0% for log-uniform selection and 74.1%±8.5% for the full 101-frequency spectrum. This independent analysis supports the differential sparse-frequency design principle outside the synthetic generator, but it does not validate the optimized spiral geometry, urine sensing, bladder-cancer diagnosis, or clinical readiness.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) comprises a cluster of interrelated metabolic abnormalities, including obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and hypertension, mainly driven by chronic low-grade inflammation. Among innate immune pathways, the Nod-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome has emerged as a critical molecular link between metabolic stress and inflammatory signalling, promoting caspase-1 activation, interleukin (IL)-1β/IL-18 maturation and pyroptosis across metabolically active organs such as adipose tissue, liver and pancreas. Persistent NLRP3 activation, triggered by mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, ionic imbalance and impaired autophagy, contributes directly to insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis, β-cell dysfunction and cardiometabolic complications, highlighting natural products as promising multi-target modulators capable of attenuating NLRP3-driven metabolic inflammation. The literature search was conducted in PubMed and Scopus to identify recent studies investigating phytochemical-mediated modulation of NLRP3 inflammasome signalling in MetS from 2020 to December 2025. Eligible studies were screened for mechanistic relevance, with particular emphasis on NLRP3-centred pathways. The consolidated evidence demonstrates that diverse classes of natural products, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, terpenoids and other bioactive compounds, effectively attenuate NLRP3 activation by suppressing NF-κB-dependent priming, limiting mitochondrial ROS generation, stabilising lysosomal integrity, enhancing AMPK-SIRT signalling and promoting autophagy. Several plant extracts and complex formulations exhibit coordinated metabolic and anti-inflammatory benefits across adipose, hepatic, vascular, neural and renal models of MetS. In addition to summarising their regulatory effects on key inflammatory and metabolic pathways, the review also addresses available toxicity and safety data, thereby providing a more comprehensive perspective on their therapeutic relevance. Overall, this review presents an integrated synthesis of mechanistic and preclinical evidence highlighting natural products as multi-target modulators of NLRP3-mediated metabolic inflammation.

Although life satisfaction is a core construct within positive psychology and a widely used indicator of human well-being, research in this area has expanded rapidly and become increasingly fragmented across theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and application domains. Despite this growth, no dedicated bibliometric study has systematically mapped the intellectual structure and emerging research directions of life satisfaction research explicitly situated within positive psychology. To address this gap, the present study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to identify current research trends, foundational knowledge structures, and future thematic trajectories. A total of 968 English-language publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection from 2000 to December 31, 2025, were analyzed using a science-mapping approach. Two complementary bibliometric techniques were employed: bibliographic coupling to examine the field’s contemporary intellectual structure, and co-word analysis to identify emerging themes and future research directions. Descriptive bibliometric indicators were first used to characterize publication growth and citation patterns, followed by network-based analyses calibrated through threshold testing to ensure robust and interpretable results. The bibliographic coupling analysis revealed four major intellectual clusters: (1) positive psychological interventions and psychosocial resources, (2) conceptual foundations and multidimensional models of well-being, (3) life satisfaction and well-being in children and adolescents, and (4) societal, organizational, and critical perspectives on subjective well-being. The co-word analysis identified four forward-looking thematic clusters: integrative foundations of psychological functioning; psychosocial resources and stress regulation; measurement and validation in youth mental health and education; and intervention-based approaches targeting both well-being enhancement and symptom reduction. Overall, the findings indicate a shift from static, outcome-oriented conceptualizations of life satisfaction toward dynamic, multilevel, and mechanism-focused models embedded within broader psychological, developmental, and contextual systems. By clarifying the intellectual organization and emerging directions of life satisfaction research within positive psychology, this study provides a structured foundation for future theory development, methodological refinement, and evidence-based intervention and policy design.

As the world has started to worry about global warming and sustainable business practices, manufacturers are under pressure to become environmentally friendly without sacrificing productivity and profits. This study seeks to analyse the impact of green logistics and green technology on economic performance via green operational performance among International Organization for Standardization ISO 14,001-certified manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Drawing data from a sample of 128 enterprises and applying partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the results demonstrate that the adoption of green logistics and green technologies greatly improves operational performance, which in turn improves economic performance. However, their direct effects on financial performance are low, and operational performance is an important intermediary. The results indicate the strategic nature of the environmental program, beyond compliance, for performance. This study adds to the knowledge of performance management by providing empirical research from a developing country and practical considerations for managers who seek to balance sustainability and profitability.