Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Green logistics adoption and operational performance within the road freight sector: The moderating role of management commitment

The road freight sector plays a pivotal role in economic development as it facilitates the movement of physical ﬂows in both domestic and international supply chains. However, its signiﬁcant contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has made it a major contributor to climate change. Despite urgent calls for green logistics initiatives to mitigate these effects, adoption rates remain low, especially in developing countries. This study investigates how the adoption of green logistics practices can inﬂuence the operational performance of ﬁrms in the Zimbabwean Road freight sector. This study also explores the moderating role of management commitment in the relationship between the adoption of green logistics practices and operational performance. To achieve this, an explanatory survey was conducted with 184 employees from randomly selected companies in the road freight sector. The ﬁndings reveal that the adoption of green logistics practices positively inﬂuences operational performance. In addition, this study found that management commitment moderated this relationship. It is worth noting that this study represents the ﬁrst study that examines the effect of adopting green logistics on operational performance in Zimbabwe, thus providing a novel contribution to the logistics literature. Additionally, it extends the knowledge on green logistics adoption within the sub-Saharan region and other developing parts of the world. Furthermore, this study recommends that policymakers collaborate with key stakeholders to accelerate the adoption of green logistics practices and
Precision nitrogen fertigation and irrigation management for improved apple quality

Nitrogen (N) management is a balance to meet tree demands for current seasons’ crop as well as for internal storage for the subsequent season whilst reducing N loss via runoff and deep drainage. Whilst fertigation is commonly practised by apple growers in Australia, research into tree nutrient requirements and therefore fertigation management strategies are limited. In the Huon valley of southern Tasmania, we applied N (Ca(NO3)2) treatments pre- and post-harvest combined with high (4 L/hr), medium (2.3 L/hr) and low (1.6 L/hr) irrigation treatments to 10 year-old ‘Galaxy’ trees grafted on M26 rootstocks. We measured yield, fruit quality attributes and fruit N content. Data from the second season revealed fruit in the low irrigation treatments were significantly smaller (152 g) but firmer, with higher total soluble solids (11.80 Brix). Irrigation treatment had no effect on fruit colour, however fruit background colour decreased significantly with increased current season N application. Fruit N content was not significantly influenced by N application. This study demonstrates the strong linkage between N and irrigation management on the above ground components of orchard production and urges caution for growers implementing pre-harvest fertigation.
The predictive power of track recommendations in Dutch secondary education

In the transition from Dutch primary to secondary education, two indicators are used to place students in the right track: primary school teachers’ track recommendations (TTR) and standardized achievement tests (SATs) at the end of primary school. Which indicator is better for placing students is a long-standing issue among educational researchers and professionals. Since 2015, the SAT is administered after the TTR has been given; previously, SAT was administered first. In the current study, it was investigated to what extent TTR and a commonly used SAT predict students’ educational attainment after three years of secondary education for multiple cohorts before and after 2015. The results were compared for educational tracks and for different socio-economic status (SES) groups, using multiple samples approaching population data. For all educational tracks and SES groups the results show that TTR is a better predictor of educational attainment than SAT. Furthermore, large differential effects for SES were found. The change of administrative sequence in 2015 had no effect on the overall predictive accuracy: TTR remained the better predictor. The results give new insights into the predictive value of both TTR and SAT before and after the change in administration sequence.
Intergenerational Transmission of Laterals in Punjabi-English Heritage Bilinguals

This chapter tracks the development of laterals across three generations of Punjabi-English bilinguals living in England. These speakers are hypothesized to speak a Punjabi-influenced contact variety of English that is typically called ‘British Asian English. ’ In this study, we aim to understand the processes of phonetic and phonological transfer that led to the formation of British Asian English, and how phonetic variation is subsequently adapted and modified by a community. Our study finds that first-generation (Gen1) speakers produce phonetically similar laterals across languages and word positions, suggesting that they have a single cross-linguistic category. In contrast, second-(Gen2) and third-(Gen3) generation speakers show clear acquisition of allophony in English, yet these patterns do not resemble the system reported for the local monolingual accent. Gen3 speakers further show the greatest phonetic distinctions between their English and Punjabi. The results suggest that the English of younger speakers is developing into a distinctive accent that bears similarity to that produced by other British Asian speakers across the UK.
StressID: a Multimodal Dataset for Stress Identiﬁcation

StressID is a new dataset speciﬁcally designed for stress identiﬁcation from unimodal and multimodal data. It contains videos of facial expressions, audio recordings, and physiological signals. The video and audio recordings are acquired using an RGB camera with an integrated microphone. The physiological data is composed of electrocardiography (ECG), electrodermal activity (EDA), and respiration signals that are recorded and monitored using a wearable device. This experimental setup ensures a synchronized and high-quality multimodal data collection. Different stress-inducing stimuli, such as emotional video clips, cognitive tasks including mathematical or comprehension exercises, and public speaking scenarios, are designed to trigger a diverse range of emotional responses. The ﬁnal dataset consists of recordings from 65 participants who performed 11 tasks, as well as their ratings of perceived relaxation, stress, arousal, and valence levels. StressID is one of the largest datasets for stress identiﬁcation that features three different sources of data and varied classes of stimuli, representing more than 39 hours of annotated data in total. StressID offers baseline models for stress classiﬁcation including a cleaning, feature extraction, and classiﬁcation
Per se Performance of Hybrids and Parents for Yield and Quality in Brinjal ( Solanum melongena L.,)

A field experiment at Horticulture College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University was conducted to study the mean performance of parents and hybrids through diallel analysis for genetic improvement in Brinjal suitable for Theni district of Tamil Nadu. The resultant thirty crosses along with six parents were evaluated for twenty three quantitative, yield, yield attributing and qualitative characters. The replication mean sum of squares due to parents and hybrids were non-significant for all the characters studied that reveals that there is no environmental error in controlling these characters. The treatment sum of squares due to parents and hybrids for all the characters studied were highly significant indicating the presence of significant variation among the characters. Based on the mean performance of thirty hybrids studied four hybrids viz., P3 x P4 (1.90 kg), P4 x P6 (1.60 kg), P5 x P6 (1.54 kg), P6 x P4 (1.70 kg) were identified as promising cross combination for recording high per se performance for most of the yield attributing traits including fruit yield per plant. These hybrids may be subjected to further trials across the district for crop improvement.
exhib-Feeding fat from distillers dried grains with solubles to dairy heifers: I. Effects on growth performance and total-tract digestibility of nutrients

The objective of this study was to determine if increased dietary fat from dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) in diets of growing heifers affected dry matter intake, average daily gain (ADG), growth performance, and nutrient digestibility. Thirty-three Holstein heifers (133 ± 18 d old) were used in a 24-wk randomized complete block design. Treatments were (1) control (CON) containing ground corn and soybean products, (2) low-fat (LFDG) containing low-fat, high-protein DDGS and ground corn, and (3) high-fat (HFDG) with traditional DDGS. All diets contained 39.8% grass hay, 24.8% corn silage, and 1.5% vitamins and minerals. The HFDG diet was formulated to contain 4.8% fat compared with 2.8% in the CON and LFDG diets, which were greater in nonfibrous carbohydrate. Diets had a net energy gain of 1.0 Mcal/ kg of dry matter and were limit-fed at 2.45% of body weight. Heifers were weighed every 2 wk and rations were adjusted accordingly. Heart girth, hip and wither heights, body length, and body condition score were recorded every 2 wk. Total-tract digestion of nutrients was evaluated during wk 16 using fecal grab sampling and an external marker. No treatments by time interactions were found. Dry matter intakes, body weights, ADG, and gain-to-feed ratio were similar among treatments; however, ADG averaged 0.96 kg/d among treatments, which is greater than recommended. All body frame measurements and body condition scores were similar among treatments. Total-tract digestibilities of dry matter and organic matter were not different among treatments. However, crude protein and neutral detergent fiber digestibility were increased in the HFDG diet compared with the CON and LFDG diets. These results demonstrate that using DDGS or low-fat DDGS with corn in growing heifer rations can maintain performance. Utilizing the fat in DDGS as a dietary energy source in replacement of starch from corn did not influence growth performance or negatively affect nutrient digestion.
Longitudinal associations between mild behavioral impairment, sleep disturbance, and progression to dementia

Background: Clinical guidelines recommend incorporating non-cognitive markers like mild behavioral impairment (MBI) and sleep disturbance (SD) into dementia screening to improve detection. Objective: We investigated the longitudinal associations between MBI, SD, and incident dementia. Methods: Participant data were from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center in the United States. MBI was derived from the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) using a published algorithm. SD was determined using the NPI-Q nighttime behaviors item. Cox proportional hazard regressions with time-dependant variables for MBI, SD, and cognitive diagnosis were used to model associations between baseline 1) MBI and incident SD (n=11277); 2) SD and incident MBI (n=10535); 3) MBI with concurrent SD and incident dementia (n=13544); and 4) MBI without concurrent SD and incident dementia (n=11921). Models were adjusted for first-visit age, sex, education, cognitive diagnosis, race, and for multiple comparisons using the Benjamini-Hochberg method. Results: The rate of developing SD was 3.1-fold higher in older adults with MBI at baseline compared to those without MBI (95%CI: 2.8-3.3). The rate of developing MBI was 1.5-fold higher in older adults with baseline SD than those without SD (95%CI: 1.3-1.8). The rate of developing dementia was 2.2-fold greater in older adults with both MBI and SD, as opposed to SD alone (95%CI:1.9-2.6). Conclusions: There is a bidirectional relationship between MBI and SD. Older adults with SD develop dementia at higher rates when co-occurring with MBI. Future studies should explore the mechanisms underlying these relationships, and dementia screening may be improved by assessing for both MBI and SD.
Tumor-tropic Trojan horses: Using mesenchymal stem cells as cellular nanotheranostics

Various classes of nanotheranostics have been developed for enhanced tumor imaging and therapy. However, key limitations for a successful use of nanotheranostics include their targeting specificity with limited off-site tissue accumulation as well as their distribution and prolonged retention throughout the entire tumor. Due to their inherent tumor-tropic properties, the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as a “Trojan horse” has recently been proposed to deliver nanotheranostics more effectively. This review discusses the current status of “cellular nanotheranostics” for combined (multimodal) imaging and therapy in preclinical cancer models. Emphasis is placed on the limited knowledge of the signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms of MSC tumor-tropism, and how such information may be exploited to engineer MSCs in order to further improve tumor homing and nanotheranostic delivery using image-guided procedures.
Merger Induced Volatility changes: Evidence from the Indian Banking Sector

Indian Banking Sector is undergoing stress lately, with shortfalls in capital adequacy ratios and a steep rise in stressed assets. This led to mergers of various banks, either through private interventions or government interventions. This research aims to study the effect of these mergers on the volatilities of the acquiring firms. This study is essential as volatility affects valuation. The study aims to use panel data with 4 mergers. The study uses DCC-GARCH and modifications of GJR-GARCH to assess the volatility changes pre and post the merger. Cross-sectional techniques of abnormal volatilities show a significant increase in post-merger returns as compared to pre-merger returns.
The Correlation between Business English Freshmen's Learning Motivation and Self-efficacy

: Researchers have conducted numerous studies on the phenomenon of learners' motivation in foreign language acquisition; however, there is a paucity of research examining the relationship between English learning motivation and self-efficacy among Business English freshmen. This study aims to address three key questions to explore the correlation between English learning motivation and self-efficacy among Business English majors: (1) What is the level of English learning motivation among first-year business English majors? (2) What is the overall status of self-efficacy in English learning among first-year business English majors? (3) What is the association between English learning motivation and self-efficacy among first-year business English majors? Subsequently, employing SPSS data analysis, this research yields several noteworthy findings: firstly, the level of English learning motivation among first-year business English majors is significantly high; secondly, their perceived self-efficacy in mastering the language falls within a moderate range; finally, the relationship between English learning motivation and self-efficacy demonstrates a positive correlation (R=.595*).
Psychometric Properties of the Slovenian Version of Brief Sensation Seeking Scale

Sensation seeking (SS) is a psychobiological personality trait characterized by an individual’s propensity to engage in various forms of risk-taking behavior. The Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS-8) is a widely used instrument for assessing SS that has been translated into several languages. However, only outdated and non-validated questionnaires have been used to measure SS in the Slovenian population. The aim of this study was to translate and psychometrically validate the Slovenian version of the BSSS-8. A total of 363 participants aged between 14 and 65 years completed the translated BSSS-8 and the questionnaire on drug abuse. The scale demonstrated good reliability (Cronbach’s α=0.81) and a unidimensional factorial structure as revealed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The multigroup CFA showed gender-specific measurement invariance. In the nomological network, SS was positively associated with drug-related variables. The Slovenian version of the BSSS-8 scale is a short and simple instrument to assess SS for research and epidemiological purposes.
3 CHAP T ER Dynamics of Chikungunya Virus Cell Entry Unraveled by Single-Virus Tracking in Living Cells

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a rapidly emerging mosquito-borne human pathogen causing major outbreaks in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The cell entry pathway hijacked by CHIKV to infect a cell has been studied previously using inhibitory compounds. There has been some debate on the mechanism by which CHIKV enters the cell: several studies suggest that CHIKV enters via clathrin-mediated endocytosis, while others show that it enters independently of clathrin. Here we applied live-cell microscopy and monitored the cell entry behavior of single CHIKV particles in living cells transfected with fluorescent marker proteins. This approach allowed us to obtain detailed insight into the dynamic events that occur during CHIKV entry. We observed that almost all particles fused within 20 min after addition to the cells. Of the particles that fused, the vast majority first colocalized with clathrin. The average time from initial colocalization with clathrin to the moment of membrane fusion was 1.7 min, highlighting the rapidity of the cell entry process of CHIKV. Furthermore, these results show that the virus spends a relatively long time searching for a receptor. Membrane fusion was observed predominantly from within Rab5-positive endosomes and often occurred within 40 s after delivery to endosomes. Furthermore, we confirmed that a valine at position 226 of the E1 protein enhances the cholesterol-dependent membrane fusion properties of CHIKV. To conclude, our work confirms that CHIKV enters cells via clathrin-mediated endocytosis and shows that fusion occurs from within acidic early endosomes.
Probing Reluctance to Green Consumerism in an Emerging Economy: An Empirical Evidence

Purpose: The paper aims to understand how eco labels influence attitude towards green product purchases. The study progresses to analyze why attitude does not translate to actual purchase behavior even when eco labels transpire green information to customers'. This is done using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) Design/methodology/approach: The study used partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS SEM) to analyze the statistical data. The TPB was used as the root model to understand the green purchase behavior and how eco labels with product attributes influence attitude towards green products. The variables of TPB namely attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control contributed to the constellation of green product behavior. The questionnaire was distributed using convenience sampling method to 241 youths (university students). Findings: Firstly, the study successfully established the validity of TPB in the Indian context towards green products. It classifies the model on product, perception and actual level which adds to the better rendition for consumers' green behavior. Secondly, with the addition of eco labels and product attributes of green products improved the prediction power of TPB from 53.1% to 58.5%. Thirdly, eco labels and product attributes came out to be cardinal antecedents to harbor favorable attitude towards green products. The study also found the attitude was not translating to green purchase behavior and mandated further inquiry to the concern. Finally, the study vouches for gender neutrality while promoting green products. Research implications: Firstly, the study adds to the mounting evidences towards the applicability of TPB towards green product purchase in India. Secondly, the study addresses the importance of ecol labels and product attributes towards harboring favorable attitude towards green products. Finally, unfolds the nuances for the inability to translate attitude towards green purchase behavior. Managerial implications: Firstly, the study advances the indispensability of eco labels to promote green products. Firms can materialize on this dynamics of information dissemination through eco labels and promote sustainable attitude among consumers'. Secondly, the firms can understand the dynamics of consumer behavior and work accordingly to frame policies conducive towards translating attitude into green purchase behavior. Thirdly, the study strongly documents the need to market green products in a gender neutral manner. Originality: The study draws novelty on two prospects. Firstly, the study uses eco labels and product attributes as antecedents towards attitude. Secondly, the study also aims to determine the actual green purchase behavior using the TPB model. Thirdly, the study investigates the moderating role of gender towards green product behavior.
Changes in Early T-Cell Subsets and Their Impact on Prognosis in Patients with Sepsis: A Single-Center Retrospective Study

Objective To analyze the early changes in CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+T-cell subset counts in patients with sepsis and their correlation with prognosis to provide a feasible basis for clinical immunomodulation in sepsis. Methods This is a single-center retrospective study. The study enrolled sepsis patients (meeting SEPSIS 3.0 definition) who were admitted to the Department of Intensive Care Unit at the First Hospital of Jilin University from July 5th, 2018 to December 5th, 2019 and were aged 18 years or above. In addition, these patients underwent cellular immune testing (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ T lymphocyte counts, and CD4+/CD8+ ratio) within 24 hours of ICU admission. Patient's clinical data including age, gender, infection site, APACHE II score, SOFA score, length of ICU stay, mechanical ventilation time, ICU mortality, 28-day mortality, and 3-year survival status were collected. The prognostic indicators and survival of the decreased and nondecreased groups of different subsets of T lymphocyte counts and CD4+/CD8+ ratio were compared. Results A total of 206 patients were enrolled, with 76.7% having a decrease in CD3+ T lymphocyte count, 76.7% having a decrease in CD4+ T lymphocyte count, and 63.6% having a decrease in CD8+ T lymphocyte count. Furthermore, 21.8% had a lower CD4+/CD8+ ratio. Analysis showed that the CD3+ T lymphocyte count decreased group had a longer length of ICU stay [11 d (4, 21) vs. 7 d (4, 17), P=0.03], increased percentage of mechanical ventilation (67.5% vs. 51.0%, P=0.04), and extended mechanical ventilation time [144 h (48, 360) vs. 96 h (48, 144), P=0.04] compared to the nondecreased group. The 28-day mortality was higher in the decreased group of CD4+/CD8+ ratio compared to the nondecreased group (33.3% vs. 25.5%, P=0.29); however, the difference did not reach statistical significance. Logistic regression analysis revealed no significant correlation between the decrease in CD4+/CD8+ ratio and 28-day mortality (P=0.11). The 3-year follow-up revealed that the CD4+/CD8+ decreased group had a lower survival rate than the nondecreased group (33.3% vs. 53.4%, P=0.01). Conclusions In the early stage of sepsis, most patients showed a decrease in CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+T-cell subsets, as well as in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio. The decrease in CD3+ and CD4+/CD8+ was related to some poor prognosis.