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Influences of atmospherics on customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions in the restaurant industry: Evidence from an emerging economy
The emergence of the food service industry is among the most promising sectors that open many great opportunities for its development. Restaurants are also a part of the world’s economy. This is reflected in the increasing demand for high-quality, upscale dining experiences. The restaurant industry is well-positioned for future growth. However, few researchers have explored the impact of restaurant attributes on overall customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions in the context of fine dining restaurants. This study investigates how restaurant attributes influence overall satisfaction and behavioural intentions in an emerging economy such as India. To explore this relationship, we adopted the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) theory proposed by Mehrabian and Russell (1974) [1]. The results show that restaurant attributes can lead to higher customer satisfaction rates, benefiting the industry. Restaurant attributes also play an essential role in creating a positive customer dining experience. Restaurant attributes help provide thoughtful customer service, such as assisting with menu items, remembering customers’ names, or providing helpful suggestions, which can also show customers that they are valued.
A secure and efficient encryption system based on adaptive and machine learning for securing data in fog computing
Correction: Integrating intuitionistic fuzzy and MCDM methods for sustainable energy management in smart factories
Oral microbiome dysbiosis in cryptogenic ischemic stroke patients with high-risk patent foramen ovale
Abstract Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is the most common congenital heart abnormality of foetal origin and has been associated with cryptogenic ischemic stroke (CIS) through several mechanisms, with most theories supporting paradoxical embolism. Other possible but unknown contributing factors, such as the role of the microbiome in PFO-associated strokes, remain unclear. We analysed saliva metagenomes to study the differences in the oral microbiome between young-onset CIS patients with clinically relevant high-risk PFO (n = 52) and those without PFO (n = 52). Age- and sex-matched stroke-free controls (n = 16) with high-risk PFO were included for the comparison. Beta diversity was significantly different between patients and controls with high-risk PFO, but not between patients with and without high-risk PFO. The phylum Ascomycota and class Saccharomycetes were significantly more abundant in patients with high-risk PFO than in those without high-risk PFO. Additionally, the abundance of Lactococcus, including Lactococcus raffinolactis and L. cremoris, was higher in controls with high-risk PFO than in patients with high-risk PFO. These findings highlight that oral dysbiosis and high-risk PFO may form a critical but under-recognized combination in the aetiology of CIS. Future research should focus on elucidating the precise mechanisms of these interactions and developing targeted interventions.
Preparing medical students to incorporate scientific evidence into patient care: A cross-sectional study
Objective To explore teaching- and assessment-related factors that predict medical students’ perceived attainment of sufficient skills to incorporate scientific evidence into patient care. Methods An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to final-semester students in six medical programs in Sweden. The students were asked to rate statements concerning the extent to which 11 national degree outcomes related to the scientific basis of medicine (scholarly degree outcomes) had been adequately assessed during the program; their perceived preparedness for evidence-based patient care; and training during the program regarding the components of a systematic review/health technology assessment (HTA). Results In total, 433 students (median age: 25 years [interquartile range: 24‒28], 59% female) participated in the study (response rate: 68%). A multivariate analysis indicated that experienced adequate assessment on a single scholarly degree outcome (i.e., “Demonstrate knowledge of the scientific foundation of medicine and insight into current research as well as knowledge of the link between science and proven experience”) predicted the students’ perception of having developed sufficient skills in incorporating scientific evidence into patient care (odds ratio: 6.17 [95% confidence interval: 3.10; 12.3]). The educational content predictors of this perception included the teaching of HTA (11.3 [1.44; 89.5]) and training regarding two components of a systematic review/HTA: appraising scientific articles using checklists (2.46 [1.23; 4.90]) and assessing organizational aspects related to the introduction/withdrawal of a health technology (2.65 [1.05; 6.67]). The presence of hands-on, credit-bearing, evidence-based medicine (EBM)-related learning activities during clinical courses was also predictive (4.68 [1.69; 13.0]). Conclusions This study highlights important educational activities that prepare medical students to incorporate scientific evidence into patient care: (i) adequate assessment of key content regarding scholarly outcomes, including the scientific foundation of medicine; (ii) learning activities about HTA and the systematic review process; and (iii) hands-on application of EBM-related learning activities integrated into clinical courses.
High-efficiency water use and process performance for bioproduction of trans-cinnamic acid
Growth faltering or deceleration toward target height: Linear growth interpretation using WHO growth standard 2006 for Indonesian children
Objective When referred to the WHO Growth Standards 2006, children in many developing countries showed growth faltering in childhood. A previous study showed that the faltering affected the whole population, not only the disadvantaged ones. We aimed to look for an alternative explanation for this universal decline in length or height-for-age z-scores (HAZ), as lengths/ heights of Indonesian children were compared to the WHO growth standard 2006: Is it a faltering of growth or is it a deceleration toward target height. Methods We used data on age, gender, height, BMI, parental height and education, household socioeconomic status, and place of residence of children < 5 years old collected by the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) in 1993, 2000, 2007, and 2014. HAZ was calculated according to the WHO 2006 growth standard. Target heights were calculated from parental heights and converted to target height z-scores (THz). Discrepancies between the two values were used to show the children’s growth patterns in relation to their target heights across ages. Results The study included 11,241 parent-child pairs from four surveys. At birth, infants were around 1.50 z-scores longer than their THz. However, at two years of age, the discrepancies were almost zero. At 2–5 years old, the discrepancies stayed at the same level. The patterns were similar regardless of the position of the target heights among the height distribution, at the upper or the lower part. Conclusion We observed a deceleration toward target height, not growth faltering, in the first two years of life of Indonesian children when the WHO Growth Standard 2006 was used as the reference.
Metagenomic evaluation, antimicrobial activities, and immune stimulation of probiotics from dietary supplements and dairy products
Abstract Probiotics are widely marketed as dietary supplements and dairy products for their purported antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities, often with limited supporting evidence. We identified and isolated probiotics from commercial dietary supplements and dairy products using metagenomics and cultured-based methods. We assessed their anti-bacterial activity against diverse pathogens and investigated their immunomodulatory effects on phagocytes and natural killer (NK) cells. Metagenomic analysis revealed that Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium were the predominant genera in dietary supplements, while Streptococcus spp. was dominated in dairy products. However, only 37% of the predominant microorganisms identified by metagenomics were accurately listed on product labels. Among 70 representative probiotic strains, 4.3–17.1% probiotic strains demonstrated strong antibacterial-effects against pathogenic bacteria. Notably, specific strains of Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus plantarum exhibited strong antagonistic activity against extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing and carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli. Some strains of Lactobacillus spp. significantly enhanced phagocytic activity in monocytes and increased IFN-γ production in NK cells, while members of Lactobacillus rhamnosus significantly suppressed TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8 production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages. In contrast, Bifidobacterium animalis stimulated the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines. This study highlights discrepancies in probiotic labeling and demonstrates the antimicrobial and immunomodulatory potential of specific probiotic strains, suggesting their utility in enhancing health and wellness.
Domain generalization for image classification based on simplified self ensemble learning
Domain generalization seeks to acquire knowledge from limited source data and apply it to an unknown target domain. Current approaches primarily tackle this challenge by attempting to eliminate the differences between domains. However, as cross-domain data evolves, the discrepancies between domains grow increasingly intricate and difficult to manage, rendering effective knowledge transfer across multiple domains a persistent challenge. While existing methods concentrate on minimizing domain discrepancies, they frequently encounter difficulties in maintaining effectiveness when confronted with high data complexity. In this paper, we present an approach that transcends merely eliminating domain discrepancies by enhancing the model’s adaptability to improve its performance in unseen domains. Specifically, we frame the problem as an optimization process with the objective of minimizing a weighted loss function that balances cross-domain discrepancies and sample complexity. Our proposed self-ensemble learning framework, which utilizes a single feature extractor, simplifies this process by alternately training multiple classifiers with shared feature extractors. The introduction of focal loss and complex sample loss weight further fine-tunes the model’s sensitivity to hard-to-learn instances, enhancing generalization to difficult samples. Finally, a dynamic loss adaptive weighted voting strategy ensures more accurate predictions across diverse domains. Experimental results on three public benchmark datasets (OfficeHome, PACS, and VLCS) demonstrate that our proposed algorithm achieves an improvement of up to 3 . 38% over existing methods in terms of generalization performance, particularly in complex and diverse real-world scenarios, such as autonomous driving and medical image analysis. These results highlight the practical utility of our approach in environments where cross-domain generalization is crucial for system reliability and safety.
A performance-driven hybrid text-image classification model for multimodal data
Correction: Feeling connected but dissimilar to one’s future self reduces the intention-behavior gap
Enamel carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotopes reveal limited mobility in an extinct rhinoceros at Ashfall Fossil Beds, Nebraska, USA
Experimental evidence demonstrating how freeze-thaw patterns affect spoilage of perishable cached food
For the small number of temperate and boreal species that cache perishable food, previous research suggests that increasing freeze-thaw events can have a negative impact on fitness by degrading the quality of cached food. However, there is no experimental evidence that directly links freeze-thaw events to cache quality. To examine how the timing, frequency, duration, and intensity of freeze-thaw events influenced cached food mass loss, a proxy for caloric content, we conducted a series of month-long laboratory experiments by placing simulated caches (raw chicken placed between two pieces of black spruce Picea mariana bark) in programmable freezers. Freeze-thaw treatments were modelled after weather data from Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, where a population of Canada jays (Perisoreus canadensis), a species that caches perishable food for overwinter survival and to support late-winter breeding, has declined by > 70% since the 1980s. First, we found no evidence that an increased frequency of freeze-thaw events influenced mass loss, suggesting that microstructural damage caused by crystal reformation does not significantly influence cache quality. Instead, our experimental results demonstrated that mass loss was positively influenced by longer individual thaws, which likely reflects increased microbial growth, oxidation, and progressive drip loss. We also found that caches lost more weight when subjected to early freeze-thaw events compared to late freeze-thaw events. Finally, we show that milder freezes led to less mass loss and, unexpectedly, warmer than average thaws post-freeze also led to less mass loss. Our results suggest that longer thaw periods post-freezing and milder freezes cause or lead to significantly increased spoilage of perishable cached food. All of these temperature-related conditions are closely associated with long-term changes in climate and, thus, the effects on cache degradation reported in these experiments should be applicable to species caching perishable food in the wild.
Tunnel face rock mass class rapid identification based on TBM cutterhead vibration monitoring and deep learning model
Prevalence of HTN and its risk factors among tribal population in Chhattisgarh (India) as per the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey
Background The so-called protected tribal population also faces the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The high-altitude tribes are thought to be genetically and environmentally protected from hypertension-like diseases. Methods Survey of the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-2022) employs a two-stage sampling method (PSU). The total population of 72010, aged 15 years and above, were included from Chhattisgarh, India, out of which 27760 belong to tribes. Pre-hypertension (pre-HTN) and hypertension (HTN) were measured using standard procedures. Results Overall prevalence of pre-HTN and HTN (42.7% and 26%) in tribes was comparable to the general population (43.14% and 25.48%). The prevalence of pre-HTN was higher than HTN in tribes. We observed a positive association between increasing age and prevalence of HTN in males and females. aOR ratio (12.58; 9.72 -16.28) among the females aged 65-74 years was the highest, and the aOR (9.63; 6.89 -13.44) ratio among the males was recorded highest at 75 years and above. Odds of developing HTN increased with higher education (aOR 1.24; 1 -1.53 and 0.69; 0.5 -0.94), highest wealth index (aOR 1.38; 1.04 -1.83 and 1.35; 1.01 -1.8) in male and females respectively. Conclusion The elevated frequencies of HTN among tribes against their background condition confirm that their epidemiological transition is loaded with significant HTN. We recommend sharing this initiative with our primary healthcare providers and to the policymakers to take corrective measures because they serve as the first point of contact for early screening to reduce the burden of illness.
The analysis of optimization in music aesthetic education under artificial intelligence
Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) peptide-positive neuron populations in the enteric nervous system of the porcine descending colon depend on age and gender
The enteric nervous system (ENS) is a complex structure located in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. One of the less-known active substances found in the ENS is cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide (CART). It is known that CART-positive enteric neurons take part in the reactions to pathological stimuli, but knowledge of physiological stimuli-dependent changes in their population is extremely limited. The aim of the present study was to investigate the age- and gender-dependent diversities in the distribution of CART-positive neurons in the porcine colonic ENS using the double immunofluorescence technique. The obtained results have shown that age affects the number of CART-positive neurons in the colonic ENS and the character and intensity of age-caused changes depend on the type of the enteric plexus, and the most visible changes have been noted in the myenteric plexus in which the percentage of CART-positive neurons amounted to 22.3 ± 0.2% in young females, 20.7 ± 0.4% in young males, 23.7 ± 0.2% in adult females and 25.8 ± 01% in adult males. Moreover, during the present study, sex-dependent diversities in the percentage of CART-positive neurons were found, especially in adult animals. The obtained results suggest that CART in the ENS takes part in neuroplasticity processes occurring during the development, maturation and/or aging of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as that the number of CART-positive neurons is controlled by sex hormones and depends on the gender. However, the elucidation of all aspects connected with the influence of age and gender on the population of CART-positive neurons in the ENS requires further comprehensive studies.