PurposeA sudden shift of work from the office to home amid global lockdown demands exploration of factors that facilitate or obstruct remote working and their impact on practical and psychological outcomes for the employee when individual mandatorily telecommutes full-time with no prior experience of the same. Based on job demands and resources model (JD-R), the present study explores the role of certain job demands and resources on negative and positive outcomes through mediating role of strain and well-being, respectively.Design/methodology/approachA data sample of 371 IT sector employees was collected and confirmatory factor analysis model was run to assess the model fit indices, convergent and divergent validities of the data. While proposed hypotheses of the study were tested using structural equations modeling (SEM) technique.FindingsIt was found that workload pressure, task interdependence, professional isolation and family interference in work lead to exhaustion and further stress, whereas the presence of autonomy and schedule flexibility and sufficient technology resources improve employee work-life balance and further better productivity and performance and job satisfaction. Improved well-being was also found to reduce stress for full-time telecommuters.Practical implicationsThis study provides implications that will help in doing away with exhaustion and stress for employees and ensure business continuity in emergencies like COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/valueThere are no past instances of mandatory full-time telecommuting arrangement by organizations, and researchers never had the opportunity to study it. This research, based on the JD-R model provides for the first time empirical insights into the experiences of mandatory full-time telecommuting during COVID-19 induced lockdown.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial self-efficacy on the entrepreneurial intention of Indian university students. This paper also examines the moderating role of entrepreneurship education and gender on the opportunity recognition–intention and self-efficacy–intention relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected through a comprehensive questionnaire from 334 students having business and management background. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to ensure the reliability and validity of all the constructs, and structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThis study unveils three important findings. First, opportunity recognition and self-efficacy both show a significant positive impact on the entrepreneurial intention of students. Second, education positively moderates “self-efficacy–intention relationship”, and third, gender negatively moderates “opportunity recognition–intention” and “self-efficacy–intention” relationships.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has been carried out using a sample of students from only one university, and the study included only business and management background students. Similar studies can be conducted by adding more motivational and contextual factors with an increased sample size of students having different educational backgrounds.Practical implicationsThis study provides pragmatic support to formulate new educational initiatives that can support students in their present or future entrepreneurial projects.Originality/valueThis study adds to the scarce literature on opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial intention and also highlights the moderating role of entrepreneurship education and gender on opportunity recognition–intention and entrepreneurial self-efficacy–intention relationships.

Understanding the effect of surfactant properties is critical when designing vesicular delivery systems. This review evaluates previous studies to explain the influence of surfactant properties on the behavior of lipid vesicular systems, specifically their size, charge, stability, entrapment efficiency, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics. Generally, the size of vesicles decreases by increasing the surfactant concentration, carbon chain length, the hydrophilicity of the surfactant head group, and the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance. Increasing surfactant concentration can also lead to an increase in charge, which in turn reduces vesicle aggregation and enhances the stability of the system. The vesicles' entrapment efficiency not only depends on the surfactant properties but also on the encapsulated drug. For example, the encapsulation of a lipophilic drug could be enhanced by using a surfactant with a low hydrophilic-lipophilic balance value. Moreover, the membrane permeability of vesicles depends on the surfactant's carbon chain length and transition temperature. In addition, surfactants have a clear influence on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics such as sustaining drug release, enhancing the circulation time of vesicles, improving targeting and cellular uptake.

Introduction: Macromolecules with unique effects and potency are increasingly being considered for application in lung pathologies. Numerous delivery strategies for these macromolecules through the lung have been investigated to improve the targeting and overall efficacy.Areas covered: Targeting approaches from delivery devices, formulation strategies and specific targets are discussed.Expert opinion: Although macromolecules are a heterogeneous group of molecules, a number of strategies have been investigated at the macro, micro, and nanoscopic scale for the delivery of macromolecules to specific sites and cells of lung tissues. Targeted approaches are already in use at the macroscopic scale through inhalation devices and formulations, but targeting strategies at the micro and nanoscopic scale are still in the laboratory stage. The combination of controlling lung deposition and targeting after deposition, through a combination of targeting strategies could be the future direction for the treatment of lung pathologies through the pulmonary route.

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