Search Results (11,664)

Alternative forages, such as plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and chicory (Cichorium intybus), show potential to improve ruminant nutrition while reducing environmental impacts; however, their influence on rumen function remains insufficiently defined. Using eight RUSITEC fermenters (two vessels per treatment per run, across two independent runs; n = 4 fermenter replicates per treatment overall), plantain (PL), chicory (CHI), a plantain–chicory mixture (PCH), and a grass-based sward (GBS) were incubated for a 10-day adaptation period followed by a 5-day sampling period to assess nutrient digestibility, fermentation, methane (CH₄) production, and microbial composition. PL resulted in the lowest CH₄ emissions (4.13%) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₃–N; 5.92 mg/day), whereas CHI achieved the highest dry matter digestibility (77.2%) but also the highest CH₄ emissions (5.55%). PCH presented intermediate CH₄ levels (4.52%), showing efficient nutrient use, while GBS and CHI achieved the highest NDF disappearance (NDFomd: 49.0% and 50.9%, respectively). Bacterial diversity (Shannon index) was lower in PL (1.71) than in CHI (4.25) and GBS (4.23), with PCH being intermediate (3.47). These findings support PL and PCH as promising dietary options to enhance rumen efficiency and reduce methane and nitrogen emissions. In vivo validation is recommended. Full article

Wine-processed Scutellaria baicalensis is a processed Chinese herbal product obtained by wine-processing of raw S. baicalensis. Flavonoids are its core pharmacodynamic constituents with heat-clearing, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective and other bioactivities. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) remains the reference for their quantification but is slow and solvent-intensive. This study proposes a chromatography-free alternative that fuses near-infrared (NIR) and ultraviolet (UV) spectra through low- and mid-level data fusion, coupled with interval partial least squares (iPLS) variable screening, to quantify the four flavonoids simultaneously across five processing degrees (raw plus four stir-frying durations, n = 90). HPLC values served as reference and the set was split by the Kennard–Stone algorithm. Against single-spectroscopy models, data fusion improved prediction for all four analytes: low-level fusion benefited the aglycones baicalein and wogonin (e.g., wogonin: Rc² = 0.973, Rp² = 0.979), whereas mid-level fusion raised the glycosides baicalin and wogonoside to satisfactory accuracy. Across all analytes, calibration R² > 0.93, prediction R² > 0.90, and RPD > 2.5. The method supports rapid, non-destructive evaluation of wine-processed S. baicalensis and is extensible to other processed herbal medicines. Full article

This study investigates how traditional web advertising dimensions and social media influencer attributes drive purchase intention on short-form video platforms, specifically Douyin. Grounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework and Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), the research examines the direct and mediating mechanisms of influencer marketing. Data from 719 Douyin users in Mainland China were collected using a quota-guided non-probability technique. The data were analysed using SPSS 26.0 and SmartPLS 4.1. Results confirm that informativeness, entertainment, credibility, parasocial interaction, attractiveness, and interaction incentives positively influence perceived advertising value (PAV), whereas irritation negatively impacts it. The findings indicate that PAV transmits the effects of these stimuli to brand attitude and purchase intention, and that brand attitude partially mediates the effect of PAV on purchase intention. Furthermore, product involvement significantly moderates all seven stimulus–PAV relationships, strengthening the effects of the positive stimuli and attenuating the negative effect of irritation. This pattern supports the hypothesised moderation for informativeness and credibility but runs contrary to the hypothesised direction for entertainment, irritation, parasocial interaction, attractiveness, and interaction incentives. At low product involvement, none of the positive stimuli significantly affected PAV. These findings show that influencer-specific cues add to, rather than replace, traditional drivers of advertising value, and that product involvement amplifies the value consumers derive from short-form video advertisements, offering theoretical and managerial implications for academics and practitioners. Full article

Background: Wild-growing Cannabis sativa L. represents an underexplored source of hemp-type plant material, but its value for future selection depends on standardized morphological and phytochemical characterization. This study evaluated cultivated Macedonian Cannabis sativa plants of wild-origin (CsW) in comparison with selected commercial cultivars and literature-reported European hemp varieties, based on the assessment of phenotypic differentiation and cannabinoid diversity. Methods: Seeds from five wild-growing plant groups from two N. Macedonian regions, Kočani (W1, W2, W6) and Strumica (W3 and W4), were planted outdoors together with four commercial cultivars with differing cannabinoid composition. Morphological traits were assessed using selected UPOV descriptors and multivariate analysis. Cannabinoids were determined by HPLC-DAD. Results: UPOV-based PCA clearly differentiated CsW from the commercial cultivars (R²X = 0.92, Q² = 0.86), while the expanded comparative UPOV analysis indicated phenotypic affinity with registered hemp-type material, particularly Kompolti, supporting its potential relevance as a phenotypic reference in future DUS-oriented evaluation. Among the cultivated wild-origin groups, W1 from the Kočani region showed the highest proportion of female plants (10:1), representing a favorable agronomic characteristic for flower-oriented production. All CsW were CBD-predominant chemotype III class, with total CBD of 5.14–7.61%, while total Δ9-THC did not exceed 0.20%. This CBD/THC balance positioned the CsW within the higher-CBD range reported for selected European hemp cultivars, while maintaining a favorable low-THC profile. Conclusions: CsW represent morphologically distinct, CBD-rich and low-THC plant material displaying characteristics consistent with a hemp-type profile. The combined UPOV and cannabinoid data support its relevance as a promising resource for further agronomic evaluation, phytochemical selection and future registration-oriented hemp research. Full article

Ziziphi Spinosae Semen (ZSS) is a traditional Chinese medicinal material used for both medicinal and dietary purposes, but substitution and adulteration can compromise its authenticity and quality. Ten batches of authentic ZSS and one source batch of each of five adulterant materials were used to prepare 325 laboratory samples. This study aimed to develop a rapid method for ZSS identification and adulteration quantification using Fourier transform near-infrared spectroscopy (FT-NIR). Spectral distributions of six sample classes were analyzed using PCA-X, PLS-DA, and OPLS-DA, and the classification performance of SVM, DA, ANN, and KNN was compared. DD-SIMCA was used for one-class authentication, while PLSR was applied to quantify five adulterants using 15 spectral processing approaches. In the internal test set, SVM achieved 98.0% accuracy and 98.4% balanced accuracy. Within the laboratory samples studied, DD-SIMCA achieved 100% accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. Across the five selected PLSR models, prediction-set R² ranged from 0.9272 to 0.9940 and RMSEP from 1.36 to 4.33 percentage points of adulterant mass fraction. These results demonstrate the feasibility of combining FT-NIR with chemometric methods for rapid ZSS classification, authenticity assessment, and adulteration-level prediction. Independent validation with additional source batches is required before practical application. Full article

Near-infrared spectroscopy supports rapid quantification of moisture, oil, protein, and starch in corn. Their prediction models may require different spectral inputs, complicating shared-variable selection. We developed the multicomponent shared wavelength selection (MCSWS) algorithm to select one fixed-size subset for all four constituents. It combines a scale-normalized objective with five adaptively fused descriptors. Evaluation used 80 corn samples originally measured at Cargill and distributed by Eigenvector Research, with 700 wavelengths from the m5 instrument. Eight repeated four-way splits assessed held-out prediction (outer cross-validation). Selection and calibration tuning used training-only five-way splits (inner cross-validation). MCSWS retained 38 variables, a 94.6% reduction, and achieved a joint normalized root-mean-square error of prediction (JNRMSEP) of 0.35 ± 0.03. Rounded results were 0.34 ± 0.02 for full-spectrum partial least squares (PLS) regression and competitive adaptive reweighted sampling coupled with PLS (CARS-PLS). Values are means ± sample standard deviations across eight repeat means. After exploratory corn calibration development, the frozen workflow yielded JNRMSEP = 0.049 using six variables on the official casein–glucose–lactate (CGL) test split versus 0.047 for CARS-PLS and 0.016 for full-spectrum PLS. These results characterize an accuracy–dimensionality trade-off. Variable reduction concerns regression inputs after full-spectrum preprocessing, not demonstrated reductions in physical measurements. Full article

Authentication of edible bird’s nest (EBN) in heterogeneous matrices is challenging because whole-region spectral averaging may obscure localized variation. This study developed a block-based near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (NIR-HSI) framework integrating complementary classifiers and spatial multi-model agreement mapping. The development dataset comprised 90 independently prepared physical samples, each with four independently sampled and repacked scans; external validation used 21 additional physical samples (84 scans). Spectra (900–1700 nm) were represented by mean-spectrum or block-based approaches and classified using partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), random forest (RF), and Multiple Instance Adaptive Cosine Estimator (MI-ACE). Model development used leave-one-physical-sample-out cross-validation. In external validation, mean-spectrum PLS-DA achieved accuracies of 0.7143–0.8571, whereas mean-spectrum RF correctly classified all 21 samples. For 9 × 9 blocks, PLS-DA achieved accuracies of 1.0000, 0.9048, and 1.0000 across the three preprocessing conditions, while RF and MI-ACE correctly classified all 21 samples under all conditions. All-ROI analysis identified a significant second-derivative difference at approximately 1505.65 nm between EBN-positive and EBN-free classes (U = 0, p < 0.001). This region is potentially informative but should not be considered EBN-specific. Overall, the framework provided proof-of-concept evidence of strong physical-sample-level classification while preserving spatial information. Full article

Background and Objectives: The main objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a French adaptation of the Physical Literacy in Children Questionnaire (PL-C Quest). Methods: A sample of 196 French-speaking Canadian and French children (aged 5 to 12 years) participated in this study. Results: Matching the results from several previous studies, our results failed to support the adequacy of the a priori four-factor and hierarchical structure of the PL-C Quest. However, results from an exploratory factor analytic solution supported a 3-factor, 13-item solution of the PL-C Quest measuring (a) Physical Competencies; (b) Motivation and Enjoyment to be Physically Active; and (c) Self-Regulation, Risk, and Safety. Subsequent analyses revealed a lack of differential item functioning (DIF) as function of countries and children’s time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activities (MVPA) providing preliminary support for the comparability of scores across these groups. However, some limited evidence of DIF was found as function of children’s age (on one item), body mass-index (on two items) and sex (on one item). Furthermore, latent mean differences (favoring younger children and boys) were identified in (a) Self-Regulation, Risk, and Safety and (b) Physical Competencies as function of children’s age and sex, respectively. These findings should be interpreted cautiously and warrant replication in independent samples. Finally, results provided preliminary evidence for the convergent validity of the 13-item French version of the PL-C Quest in relation to parental ratings of children’s overall, cognitive, and motor physical literacy. Conclusions: Scores on the new 13-item French version of the PL-C Quest present acceptable psychometric properties in terms of composite reliability, factor validity, and minimal DIF, alongside preliminary support for convergent validity. Full article

Migration is an inevitable aspect of human existence, but youth attitudes toward irregular migration have recently become a growing concern among policymakers, researchers, and government officials in developing countries like Nigeria, where challenging living conditions and lack of opportunities to achieve an individual’s potential often influence migration-related attitudes. While previous studies have largely focused on economic and structural factors, limited research attention has been given to the psychological determinants of irregular migration attitudes. Hence, this study examined life satisfaction and hopelessness as predictors of attitudes toward irregular migration among Nigerian young adults, with risk-taking propensity as a moderator. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 564 undergraduates from federal, state, and private universities in Nigeria, and four standardized psychological instruments, which include the Satisfaction With Life Scale, Attitudes Toward Unauthorized Migration Scale, General Risk-Taking Propensity Scale (GRiPS), and Hopelessness Scale, were used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM, version 3.0). The results showed that life satisfaction had a significant negative influence on irregular migration attitudes and also indicated that hopelessness had a significant positive influence on attitudes toward irregular migration. Again, risk-taking propensity had a positive influence on migration attitudes and also served as a positive moderator in the relationship between hopelessness and irregular migration attitudes among young adults. Therefore, these findings indicate that hopelessness alone may not be sufficient to explain why some Nigerian young adults develop favourable attitudes toward irregular migration. Rather, the influence of hopelessness appears to depend on the individual’s propensity to engage in or tolerate risk. In conclusion, findings of this study suggest that practical interventions aimed at addressing irregular migration among young Nigerians should extend beyond economic and structural measures to incorporate psychological and behavioural components, particularly programmes that enhance life satisfaction, reduce hopelessness, and promote safer decision-making among risk-prone young adults. Full article

Breast cancer remains a major cause of cancer-related mortality, highlighting the need for improved molecular characterization of breast pathologies. Raman spectroscopy (RS) provides a label-free, non-destructive approach for probing tissue biochemical composition. This study investigated Raman spectral alterations across five human breast histopathological categories and explored their potential for machine learning-assisted classification. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens were obtained from five patients, with one patient representing each category: normal breast tissue, intraductal papilloma, high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). A total of 100 Raman spectra (20 per patient) were acquired using 785 nm excitation over the fingerprint region (500–2000 cm⁻¹). Spectral preprocessing involved Savitzky–Golay smoothing, asymmetrically reweighted penalized least-squares (arPLS) baseline correction, and vector normalization. The investigated spectra exhibited reduced relative lipid-associated contributions near 1063, 1300, and 1445 cm⁻¹, accompanied by increased relative protein- and nucleic-acid-associated features near 1003, 1420, and 1600–1650 cm⁻¹. The phenylalanine-to-lipid intensity ratio (I₁₀₀₃/I₁₄₄₅) increased from ≤0.2 in normal tissue to ≥1.5 in invasive lesions, suggesting a potential spectroscopic descriptor of biochemical remodeling. Exploratory subtype-associated differences were also observed, including a prominent aromatic C=C-associated feature near 1618 cm⁻¹ in IDC and an enhanced carbohydrate-associated contribution near 890 cm⁻¹ in ILC. A support vector machine (SVM) classifier was evaluated using patient-independent leave-one-patient-out (LOPO) cross-validation. Across the five held-out patients, the model correctly classified 89 of 100 spectra, achieving an overall spectrum-level accuracy of 89.0%, sensitivity of 90.0%, specificity of 87.5%, and F1-score of 90.8%. Although these findings demonstrate encouraging discrimination within the investigated cohort, the limited number of biologically independent patients and the representation of each histopathological category by a single patient restrict the generalizability of the results. This study provides preliminary proof-of-concept evidence supporting the integration of Raman-derived biochemical features with machine learning for breast pathology characterization, warranting further validation in larger, multi-patient and multicenter cohorts. Full article

Background: Missed nursing care remains an important patient safety concern in geographically isolated and culturally diverse healthcare settings. Evidence remains limited on how cognitive safety capabilities, interprofessional coordination, and intercultural communication are associated with missed nursing care in remote multicultural settings. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 312 nurses from four hospitals in Merauke Regency, South Papua, Indonesia. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results: Risk pattern recognition, safety sensemaking, and learning from events orientation were positively associated with nurse moral resilience. Risk pattern recognition, safety sensemaking, and nurse moral resilience were also positively associated with interprofessional adaptive coordination, whereas learning from events orientation was not statistically associated with it. Interprofessional adaptive coordination was negatively associated with perceived missed nursing care, while nurse moral resilience showed no significant direct association. Nurse moral resilience also showed a significant indirect association with missed nursing care through interprofessional adaptive coordination. Intercultural communication competence moderated the association between interprofessional adaptive coordination and perceived missed nursing care, with a more negative association at higher levels of intercultural communication competence. Conclusions: The findings position interprofessional adaptive coordination as a distinctive relational component of the pattern surrounding perceived missed nursing care, with intercultural communication competence representing a pathway-specific contextual condition. The study provides an explanatory perspective on missed nursing care in a remote, culturally diverse healthcare setting. Full article

Counterfeit goods create economic, security, and sustainability risks for supply chains, yet blockchain, radio-frequency identification (RFID), and artificial intelligence (AI) have mostly been studied as separate technologies. This study conceptualises their joint adoption as Logistics Anti-Counterfeiting Digital Technology (LACD) adoption, a converged capability combining identification, traceability, and analytical detection. Drawing on Rational Choice Theory and Deterrence Theory within a perspective informed by the Technology-Organisation-Environment framework, it examines the antecedents and outcomes of LACD adoption and the moderating role of government regulation. Survey data from 232 medium and large third-party logistics (3PL) firms in China were analysed with partial least squares structural equation modelling. Perceived benefit, deterrent severity, and deterrent certainty were positively associated with LACD adoption, whereas perceived complexity and cost were negatively associated with it; sanction celerity was not significantly associated with adoption. LACD adoption was positively associated with logistics security effectiveness and supply chain resilience. Government regulation strengthened the effects of perceived benefit, deterrent severity, and deterrent certainty and weakened the negative effect of perceived cost, but did not moderate the effects of perceived complexity or sanction celerity. The study also proposes, as an untested proposition, that LACD may provide traceability infrastructure for circular supply chain practices. Full article

The biological mechanisms through which faba bean–oat intercropping coordinates interspecific competition, belowground responses, and system productivity remain poorly understood in alpine environments. A field experiment was conducted in the alpine region surrounding Qinghai Lake, with six treatments comprising faba bean monoculture (F), oat monoculture (O), and four faba bean–oat intercropping patterns with row ratios of 1:1 (FO), 2:1 (F2O), 2:2 (F2O2), and 1:2 (FO2). Agronomic traits, root morphology, soil physicochemical properties, and rhizosphere bacterial communities were measured to clarify above- and below-ground coordinated responses of the two crops to varying row ratios. The 2:1 faba bean–oat intercropping yielded the optimal performance, with a land equivalent ratio of 1.479 and a 29.3% higher dry matter yield (6795.4 kg ha⁻¹) than faba bean monoculture, as well as the highest system crude protein production. Dominant oat compensatory growth primarily boosted system productivity. Compared with the corresponding monocultures, the 2:1 intercropping treatment increased the total root length, root surface area, and root tip number of faba bean by 23.9%, 33.9%, and 54.3%, respectively, while increasing the total root length of oat by 110.3%. Under this treatment, soil alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen reached 167.17 mg kg⁻¹, 39.9% higher than that under oat monoculture, whereas soil available phosphorus and catalase activity increased by 13.2% and 54.4%, respectively. Rhizosphere bacterial communities exhibited host-specific responses, with stronger treatment-associated differentiation in the oat rhizosphere and enrichment of Bacteroidia, Chitinophagales, and Chitinophagaceae under F2O. Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) further revealed crop-specific pathways linking row configuration, belowground properties, bacterial α-diversity, and crop performance. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that the productivity advantage of faba bean–oat intercropping at a 2:1 row ratio is jointly mediated by competitive compensation of oat, enhanced root proliferation, improved soil nitrogen and phosphorus availability, and restructuring of rhizosphere bacterial communities. Full article

Water scarcity and plastic film pollution increasingly threaten the sustainable production of Indigowoad Root (Isatis tinctoria L.) in semi-arid regions. However, the mechanisms by which different mulching practices under flat planting regulate soil hydrothermal conditions, nutrient availability, and yield remain poorly understood. The study aimed to provide theoretical and technical support for water-saving and high-yield production of Indigowoad Root in oasis areas. Bare soil without mulching was used as the control (CK), and five mulching treatments were established: biodegradable white plastic film mulching (DW), biodegradable black plastic film mulching (DB), white polyethylene film mulching (PW), black polyethylene film mulching (PB), and straw mulching (SM). The effects of these treatments on soil water storage, soil temperature, soil organic matter, soil nutrient status, leaf area index, dry matter accumulation, and yield of Indigowoad Root were evaluated. The mulching treatments improved soil hydrothermal conditions and nutrient status and promoted plant growth and yield formation in Indigowoad Root. Compared with CK, DB significantly increased soil water storage and soil temperature. It also increased the contents of ammonium nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium, thereby promoting dry matter accumulation and yield formation. The PLS-PM results indicated that improved soil hydrothermal conditions enhanced soil nutrient availability, thereby promoting plant growth and driving yield formation (increased by 25%). Biodegradable black film mulching (DB) increased Indigowoad Root yield by improving soil hydrothermal conditions, enhancing soil nutrient availability, and promoting plant growth, thereby providing a promising water-saving and yield-enhancing mulching strategy for Indigowoad Root production in the semi-arid Hexi Oasis. Full article

Maternal circulating angiogenic factors are established biomarkers in preeclampsia, but their early profiles in fetal growth impairment without preeclampsia remain unclear. We quantitatively synthesized data from observational studies measuring maternal serum placental growth factor (PlGF), soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), or their ratio before 29 weeks and before clinical recognition of growth impairment in singleton pregnancies without preeclampsia, subsequently classified as fetal growth restriction (FGR), small for gestational age (SGA), or unaffected. PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched through April 2026; 22 studies were included. In random-effects meta-analysis, PlGF was lower in affected pregnancies (standardized mean difference [SMD] −0.38; 95% CI −0.63 to −0.13; I² = 92.0%; 19 studies), whereas sFlt-1 did not differ (SMD 0.03; 95% CI −0.27 to 0.34; I² = 79.5%; 12 studies) and the ratio was higher in the primary analysis (SMD 0.39; 95% CI 0.08 to 0.70; I² = 80.0%; seven studies). This pattern suggests that the ratio signal was influenced largely by lower PlGF. Bivariate analysis of five PlGF accuracy studies yielded a summary sensitivity of 0.29 and specificity of 0.86. Despite substantial heterogeneity, reduced PlGF was the most consistent early angiogenic feature in pregnancies subsequently classified as FGR/SGA without preeclampsia. Its low sensitivity does not support its use as a stand-alone screening test, but these findings warrant further evaluation of PlGF within multimarker prediction models. Full article