Individual Categories Research Articles

Two-step model based on XGBoost for predicting artwork prices in auction markets

Art markets globally have grown, making artwork an investment of note. Precise valuation is pivotal for optimal returns. We introduce a two-step model with a two-level regressor, utilizing extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) for accurate artwork price prediction. The model encompasses a price-class classifier and regressors for individual categories. This captures diverse factor influences, combining predictions to reduce misclassification risks. Visual features further enhance accuracy through the second-step two-level regressor. Experiments on Korean art auction data demonstrate the superiority of our two-step model with the two-level regressor over one-step and two-step alternatives, as well as the hedonic pricing model. While visual features affected one- and two-step models’ training, they boosted performance when integrated into the second-level decision tree, reducing first-level residuals. This emphasizes the two-level regressor’s efficacy in incorporating visual elements for artwork valuation. Our study highlights the potential of our approach in the field of artwork valuation.

‘‘If You don’t Feel Empowered, Then How are You Going to Empower Someone else?” Perspectives of Executive Directors and Supervisors on Community Health Worker Workforce Development

ABSTRACT Expansion of the Community Health Worker (CHW) workforce has become a national priority. It is critical to understand CHW strengths and individual challenges, associated professional development needs, and specific strategies that may meet needs from the perspectives of those who employ, manage, and supervise this growing workforce. Through a community-partnership with eight member organizations of the Association of Perinatal Networks of New York, we conducted two focus groups with 7 Executive Directors and 6 CHW Supervisors. Data were analyzed according to the six steps of thematic analysis. Analyses revealed seven salient themes across three superordinate categories of strengths, individual challenges, and mechanisms of support. CHWs are a critical component of the US health workforce. Challenges related to navigating boundaries, use of empowerment-focused approaches and effective documentation require skills-based training and trauma-informed workplace-based supports. Supervision is an effective mechanism through which CHWs receive support needed to optimize job performance.

Interobserver agreement in the interpretation of anal cytology.

Anal cytology represents a tool for anal cancer screening in high-risk populations. In addition to accuracy, the reproducibility of the interpretation is of key importance. The authors evaluated the agreement of anal cytologic interpretation between two cytopathologists. Liquid-based cytologic slides from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative men who have sex with men (MSM) were evaluated by two readers with at least 10 years of expertise in cervical cytology. Cases with a discordant interpretation were reviewed, and a consensus was reached. Human papillomavirus (HPV) genotyping was performed using a proprietary HPV genotyping test. Unweighted and weighted Cohen kappa and 95% confidence interval (CI) values were calculated. Overall, 713 slides that were adequate for interpretation were evaluated (MSM: median age, 33 years). An HPV test was performed on 620 samples (87.0%). Considering a dichotomous interpretation (negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy vs. atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance or worse), the crude agreement between the two readers was 93.3% (kappa=0.82; 95% CI, 0.77-0.87). Once a consensus for discordant cases was reached, the best agreement was found for the negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy category (511 of 528 samples; 96.8%), whereas the atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance category showed the lowest agreement (90 of 117 samples, 76.9%). Considering the individual cytologic categories, overall agreement was 92.1% (kappa=0.85; 95% CI, 0.81-0.89). The discordant interpretations were not associated with high-risk HPV infection, HPV16 infection, or MSM age. The results indicating excellent interobserver agreement in this study substantiate the use of anal cytology in the setting of human immunodeficiency virus-negative MSM.

IClassifier: A digital research tool for corpus-based classifier networks in complex writing systems

This article presents the method applied by the iClassifier (©Goldwasser/Harel/Nikolaev) digital research tool for the study of the linguistic phenomenon of classifiers. The tool was created in 2019 with the objective of curating corpus-based and data-driven documentation of classifier systems. The record of classifiers comprises millions of tokens worth of “big data” analysis. By tagging classifiers in various corpora, a topography of categories emerges, visualized as complex, multilayered networks. This article offers an overview of how classifier-based networks are created and how network analysis methods can be applied to analyze knowledge organization. We present the data structure and annotation scheme of the iClassifier research tool, demonstrating how one can plot classifier networks and generate reports of lemma and classifier repertoires in each corpus. The iClassifier tool provides quantitative reports, including classifier frequency, variation and co-occurrence statistics. Each data subset, such as a certain part of speech, timespan, geographical location or textual genre, can be queried and visualized. The tool is meant to allow browsing between a macro-overview of all categories in a corpus and zooming in into micro-analysis of the individual categories and lemmas that built up a corpus. Each classifier is seen as a category head, and the categories are drawn in their multilayered and multidimensional relationships. The potency of this tool is in documenting the phenomenon in large corpora of texts and expanding our knowledge about the rules and functions of classifier systems, leading us to a more refined mind-mapping of ancient cultures. Currently, very little systematic analysis has been done on this ancient record of emic information.

Significance assessment of the main risk factors of landing accidents based on the results of the survey of civil aviation pilots

To study the problem of rough landings and aircraft runway excursions, a 22-item questionnaire, related to the subject under consideration, was drawn up for pilots. The questionnaire mainly focused on aircraft veering off. The range of issues covered different aspects of the problem, including: pilots' perception and a comparative evaluation of various risk factors; personal experience of landings with prerequisites for a runway excursion; decision-making for the go-around procedure; attitude to the airline policy regarding the landing quality assessment; reliability of information reported to the crew about weather and runway conditions; quality of simulator training for flights in terms of crosswind and slippery runways; modern aircraft systems to prevent a runway excursion, etc. More than 50 civil aviation pilots of different age, experience, including aircraft captains and co-pilots were interviewed. The survey was conducted remotely and anonymously. The processing of the questionnaires included a detailed analysis of the answers to each question. If a question was not answered or if there was some reasonable doubt as to its correctness, the questionnaire was excluded from consideration. The results of questionnaire processing for the entire group and for individual categories (young/experienced, captains/co-pilots, turboprop/turbojet aircraft) were presented and analyzed in this paper.

Early visual cortices reveal interrelated item and category representations in aging.

Neural dedifferentiation, the finding that neural representations tend to be less distinct in older adults compared with younger adults, has been associated with age-related declines in memory performance. Most studies assessing the relation between memory and neural dedifferentiation have evaluated how age impacts the distinctiveness of neural representations for different visual categories (e.g., scenes and objects). However, how age impacts the quality of neural representations at the level of individual items is still an open question. Here, we present data from an age-comparative fMRI study that aimed to understand how the distinctiveness of neural representations for individual stimuli differs between younger and older adults and relates to memory outcomes. Pattern similarity searchlight analyses yielded indicators of neural dedifferentiation at the level of individual items as well as at the category level in posterior occipital cortices. We asked whether age differences in neural distinctiveness at each representational level were associated with inter- and/or intraindividual variability in memory performance. While age-related dedifferentiation at both the item and category level related to between-person differences in memory, neural distinctiveness at the category level also tracked within-person variability in memory performance. Concurrently, neural distinctiveness at the item level was strongly associated with neural distinctiveness at the category level both within and across participants, elucidating a potential representational mechanism linking item- and category-level distinctiveness. In sum, we provide evidence that age-related neural dedifferentiation co-exists across multiple representational levels and is related to memory performance.Significance Statement Age-related memory decline has been associated with neural dedifferentiation, the finding that older adults have less distinctive neural representations than younger adults. This has been mostly shown for category information, while evidence for age differences in the specificity of item representations is meager. We used pattern similarity searchlight analyses to find indicators of neural dedifferentiation at both levels of representation (category and item) and linked distinctiveness to memory performance. Both item- and category-level dedifferentiation in the calcarine cortex were related to interindividual differences in memory performance, while category-level distinctiveness further tracked intraindividual variability. Crucially, neural distinctiveness was strongly tied between the item and category levels, indicating that intersecting representational properties of posterior occipital cortices reflect both individual exemplars and categories.

The Business Environment in Slovakia from the Point of View of the Death of Enterprises

Creating favorable conditions in the business sphere is one of the main priorities of the European Union, while each member country implements the objectives of the EU strategy in its national strategic documents. The goal of this paper is modeling respectively quantifying the effect of the death of business entities in Slovakia in 2019 and 2020 from selected factors using logistic regression. We decided to find out which of the selected factors (legal form of the enterprise; size group according to the average registered number of employees; region; economic activity performed by the enterprise) most influenced the death of enterprises in the period before and during the pandemic, which will allow us to determine the most and the least threatened categories of enterprises. The analysis was based on the business demography database, while the processing itself was carried out using the statistical tool SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1. The results of the analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic showed a significant impact of the factor legal form of the enterprise - mainly in the group of enterprises owned by natural persons, then a statistically significant impact of the factor size group of enterprise with an average registered number of employees 0-1 and finally a significant impact of the factor economic activity of the enterprise, mainly in the field of services. The smallest but statistically significant effect was manifested in the region factor, while the region in the east of Slovakia can be considered the most threatened from the point of view of the demise of enterprises. An interesting fact is that the influence of individual categories of factors on the closure of a enterprises in the case of micro-enterprises with one employee is very similar to the situation throughout Slovakia.

Clean, but not green: Emission assessment, forecast modelling and policy solutions for plastic microbeads from personal care products in India

Intentionally added plastic microbeads in personal care products (PCP) are an underestimated source of microplastics. These microbeads are added as fillers, to increase product volume or aesthetics and allegedly have the purpose of cleansing and exfoliation. To assess and forecast microbead emissions in India, this study analysed 45 items from four different categories of personal care products: face wash, face scrub, shower gel and body scrub available in the Indian market and determined microbead abundance, size, colour, shape and polymer composition. Also, an emission estimation and time-series-based forecast for 2030 was done using ARIMA (0,2,0) for individual categories and overall. The results indicate that 45.00 % of the products contained irregular or smooth microplastics, with Polyethylene being the dominant polymer, followed by Polypropylene, Polystyrene, Polyurethane and Polycaprolactone. A significant number of products (23.33%) contained cellulose microbeads, with ambiguity regarding their biodegradability. The identified microbeads were mainly irregular in shape and granular in texture, especially scrubs. White/transparent colour dominated the identified microbeads, followed by blue, pink, yellow, red and green. Approximately 1.34% of the total product contained plastic microbeads, with 5.04% and 0.04% being the highest and lowest percentages quantified. The average size of microbeads was found to be 640.74 μm, 452.45 μm, 556.66 μm and 606.30 μm in different categories. The overall annual emission estimation was 3.51 × 1019(highest), 2.14 × 1018(lowest) and 1.37 × 1019(average) in 2021 and forecasted to be 4.12 × 1019(highest), 2.52 × 1018(lowest) and 1.61 × 1019(average)in 2030. This exorbitantly high value is due to India's significant population, globalisation, inefficient wastewater efficiency, growing economy and disposable income. A lack of policies and adequate regulations further add to this. This study emphasises and recommends the development of stringent policies and other well-tailored mitigation measures for intentionally added microbeads in PCP in India. The study recommends some policy measures to curb this threat.

Neurosurgical literature classification – Evaluation of three automated methods and time trend analysis of the literature

BackgroundAutomated supervised text classification methods require preclassified training data. Their application in scenarios that a large amount of preclassified data is not accessible is challenging. Neurosurgical literature classification into subspecialties is an example of this situation. We have introduced an automated similarity-based text classification method, evaluated it along with two other automated methods and applied the introduced method in neurosurgical literature classification. MethodsPerformance of an introduced similarity-based text classification method along with two other automated methods (Lbl2Vec and keyword counting-based methods) was compared with performance of two senior neurosurgery registrars in classification of neurosurgical literature to 5 subspecialties. The Kappa-statistic measure of interrater agreement, overall marginal homogeneity using the Stuart-Maxwell test, marginal homogeneity relative to individual categories using McNemar tests and the sensitivity and specificity of each of the three methods were calculated.The introduced method was used to classify 211617 neurosurgical publications indexed in Pubmed to different subspecialties based on keywords extracted from subspecialty sections of a neurosurgery textbook. ResultsThe introduced similarity-based method showed the highest agreement with the registrars (raw agreement and Kappa value) followed by the Lbl2Vec and the counting-based method. Classifications of the English neurosurgical publications indexed in Pubmed into categories of Oncology, Vascular, Spine and functional using the introduced similarity-based method were more reliable (closer to the registrars’ classifications) than Cranial trauma. The classifications and future forecast showed highest publications in Oncology, followed by Cranial trauma, Vascular, spine and functional neurosurgery. ConclusionThe classification of the English neurosurgical publications indexed in Pubmed to different subspecialties, using the introduced method, shows that Oncology and tumour has been the main battleground for the neurosurgeons over years and probably in the near future. The performance of the introduced classification method in comparison with the human performance shows its potential application in the situations that enough preclassified data are not accessible for automated text classification.

Psychosocial outcomes of children born via embryo donation.

What are parents' perceptions of their relationships with and the psychosocial adjustments of their children who are born via embryo donation? Families created through embryo donation have well-adjusted parent-child relationships and reassuring child psychosocial outcomes. Embryo donation is an effective and growing form of third-party reproduction, but there is limited research in this field. Prior studies suggest that families created through gamete donation function well regarding parent-child relationship quality and child behavioral and socioemotional adjustment. This is a cross-sectional survey study with 187 total participants. Parents of children born via embryo donation were recruited nationally by contacting all embryo donation programs registered with the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome Reporting System (SART CORS) as well as medically directed embryo donation or 'embryo adoption' centers. Participants completed three online Qualtrics questionnaires. The first was a survey including 33 questions on demographics, the procurement process, and self-reported obstetric outcomes. Participants also completed two standardized measures assessing children's behavior and parents' adjustment to parenthood: the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ). Scoring of the SDQ and PARQ was totaled and compared to standardized values (SDQ) or previously published results on other forms of gamete donation (PARQ), such as oocyte donation and sperm donation. On the SDQ (n = 46), the average total difficulties scores by age were: 8.2 ± 0.98 for ages 2-4, 7.6 ± 0.93 for ages 5-10, and 3.5 ± 0.77 for ages 11-17; this is compared to the normal reported range of 0-13, which indicates that clinically significant psychosocial problems are unlikely. Across all ages and individual categories (emotional symptoms, conduct problem, hyperactivity, peer problem, prosocial), scores on the SDQ were within the normal ranges. The average PARQ score (n = 70) for all respondents was 27.5 ± 1.18 (range: 24-96), suggesting perceived parental acceptance. Because this study was cross-sectional, it could not capture familial relationships over time. This survey-based study design allows for potential selection bias (parents of well-adjusted children may be more likely to participate). Additionally, the overall sample size is relatively small; however, it remains one of the largest published to date. Another significant limitation to this study is the lack of generalizability: most participants were recruited from private, faith-based, embryo donation programs who are demographically similar. Though embryo donation is an established form of third-party reproduction, it is significantly less robustly studied compared to other forms of gamete donation (oocyte or sperm donation). This study provides a larger data set with a more expanded age range of children compared to the limited number of previously published studies. Furthermore, these findings indicate a high parental disclosure rate with respect to the use of embryo donation which contrasts previous findings. No external funding source was utilized for the completion of this study. No conflicts are disclosed. N/A.

Comparison of Hyaluronidase-Mediated Degradation Kinetics of Commercially Available Hyaluronic Acid Fillers In Vitro.

The ability to degrade hyaluronic acid (HA)-based fillers with hyaluronidase allows for better management of adverse effects and reversal of suboptimal treatment outcomes. The aim of this study was to compare the enzymatic degradation kinetics of 16 commercially available HA-based fillers, representing 6 manufacturing technologies. In this nonclinical study, a recently developed in vitro multidose hyaluronidase administration protocol was used to induce degradation of HA-based fillers, enabling real-time evaluation of viscoelastic properties under near-static conditions. Each filler was exposed to repeated doses of hyaluronidase at intervals of 5 minutes to reach the degradation threshold of G' ≤ 30 Pa. Noticeable differences in degradation characteristics were observed based on the design and technology of different filler classes. Vycross fillers were the most difficult to degrade and the Cohesive Polydensified Matrix filler was the least difficult to degrade. Preserved Network Technology products demonstrated proportional increases in gel degradation time and enzyme volume required for degradation across the individual resilient hyaluronic acid (RHA) products and indication categories. No obvious relationship was observed between gel degradation characteristics and the individual parameters of HA concentration, HA chain length, or the degree of modification of each filler when analyzed separately; however, a general correlation was identified with certain physicochemical properties. Manufacturing technology was the most important factor influencing the reversibility of an HA product. An understanding of the differential degradation profiles of commercially available fillers will allow clinicians to select products that offer a higher margin of safety due to their preferential reversibility.

A machine learning framework for predicting weather impact on retail sales

The weather affects the sales of many retail products worldwide. As the weather becomes more erratic due to climate change, retail organizations must respond by incorporating weather information into their sales forecasting models. This study proposes a modeling framework for identifying, quantifying, and evaluating the use of weather information in forecasting models. The models are developed using several time-shifted weather features and machine-learning techniques. Our method is applied to a dataset encompassing individual products and product categories obtained from a large Canadian retail organization. We find that using weather information improves the accuracy of sales forecasts significantly, explaining up to an additional 47% of the variance for the individual products and up to an additional 56% for the product categories, on top of the variance explained by a baseline model. By analyzing the parameters of the trained models, we can also determine the importance and influence of each weather feature, including time-shifted features. Our research findings contribute to both the literature on forecasting in the retail sector and the decision-making of retail organizations. By comparing a model developed with and without weather information, the organization can better determine the value of weather in its planning. Customer expectations of future weather significantly influence sales and should be considered for future studies. Our work provides a basis for researchers and retail organizations to forecast sales of individual products using weather information.

Effectiveness of universal Social-Emotional Learning programs for Japanese higher education students: A meta-analytic review

Background Japanese higher education institutions are increasingly embracing Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs to enhance students' mental health. Nevertheless, there is currently a lack of meta-analyses examining the efficacy of these programs in Japan. Methods A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Dissertation Abstracts, CiNii Articles, and J-STAGE. Studies meeting the following criteria were included: (a) published; (b) written in Japanese or English; (c) targeted higher education students; (d) designed to enhance one or more social-emotional skills; (e) included a control group; (f) conducted within a higher education setting; and (g) provided sufficient data for effect size calculation. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of universal SEL programs for Japanese higher education students and examine potential moderators. The Evidence Project risk of bias tool was utilized for risk assessment. Results The meta-analysis of 32 studies revealed that universal SEL programs demonstrated a small to medium overall effect (ES = .34) and small to medium effects in enhancing social-emotional skills (ES = .33) and attitudes towards the self and others (ES = .37), addressing conduct problems (ES = .37), and mitigating emotional problems (ES = .41) at post-intervention. Moderator analysis indicated a decrease in the overall effect of SEL programs when they were delivered to larger groups of higher education students. However, the present meta-analysis could not conduct moderator analysis for individual outcome categories, except for emotional problems, due to the limited number of eligible studies. Conclusions Future research should investigate enhanced delivery methods for SEL programs, particularly in larger groups, possibly by integrating digital technologies. As the pool of eligible studies expands, future research should conduct meta-analyses with more extensive moderating analyses.

Methodology for forming target project teams to solve creative economic problems in the food industry

A methodology for forming target project teams consisting of trained experts to conduct a heuristic examination of strategic planning objects is proposed. A list of gradations of objects of such planning is proposed. The requirements for the training and qualifi cation level of experts are outlined. An approximate list of categories of professional competencies of experts, as well as a rough list of descriptors within individual categories have been developed. It is proposed to use the PATTERN technique for conducting the examination.

Barriers to Enrollment in a Post-Stroke Neuromodulation and Walking Study: Implications for Recruiting Women

Background Women have a higher risk of stroke and related disability than men but are underrepresented in stroke clinical trials. Identifying modifiable recruitment and enrollment barriers for women can improve study generalizability, statistical power, and resource utilization. Objective In a post-stroke neuromodulation study, we determined the impact of sex on the occurrence of exclusion criteria and compared the sex distribution of screened and enrolled individuals with a broader stroke-affected population. Methods A total of 335 individuals with chronic stroke were screened for a study examining how neuromodulation and high-intensity treadmill training affect walking speed and corticomotor excitability. Demographics and exclusions were retrospectively gathered as a secondary dataset. Exclusion criteria consisted of 6 categories (not target population, unable to do treadmill protocol, unable to do non-invasive brain stimulation, insufficient ankle motion and disinterest, and cognitive impairment). Incidence of each exclusion criterion was compared between women and men. The sex distribution was compared to a dataset from Chicago primary stroke centers. Results A total of 81 individuals were enrolled and 254 were not. The percentage of women excluded was significantly greater than that of men (P = .04). No individual exclusion criterion or categories excluded women more frequently than men. Screened and enrolled individuals had a lower proportion of women and younger age than a representative stroke population (P < .001). Conclusions We identified exclusion criteria (ie, headaches, cognitive scores, and age) that are modifiable barriers to enrollment of women in this post-stroke neuromodulation study. Addressing underrepresentation of women in stroke research is pivotal for enhancing generalizability, achieving statistical power, and optimizing resources.

Hypertension treatment for patients receiving ibrutinib: a multicenter retrospective study

AbstractAlthough Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKis) are generally well tolerated and less toxic than chemotherapy alternatives used to treat lymphoid malignancies, BTKis like ibrutinib have the potential to cause new or worsening hypertension (HTN). Little is known about the optimal treatment of BTKi-associated HTN. Randomly selected patients with lymphoid malignancies on a BTKi and antihypertensive drug(s) and with at least 3 months of follow-up data were sorted into 2 groups: those diagnosed with HTN before BTKi initiation (prior-HTN), and those diagnosed with HTN after BTKi initiation (de novo HTN). Generalized estimating equations assessed associations between time varying mean arterial pressures (MAPs) and individual anti-HTN drug categories. Of 196 patients included in the study, 118 had prior-HTN, and 78 developed de novo HTN. Statistically significant mean MAP reductions were observed in patients with prior-HTN who took β blockers (BBs) with hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), (−5.05 mmHg; 95% confidence interval [CI], 10.0 to −0.0596; P = .047), and patients diagnosed with de novo HTN who took either an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi) or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) with HCTZ (−5.47 mmHg; 95% CI, 10.9 to −0.001; P = .05). These regimens also correlated with the greatest percentages of normotensive MAPs. Treatment of HTN in patients taking a BTKi is challenging and may require multiple antihypertensives. Patients with prior-HTN appear to benefit from combination regimens with BBs and HCTZ, whereas patients with de novo HTN appear to benefit from ACEi/ARBs with HCTZ. These results should be confirmed in prospective studies.

A systematic review of neurological airway respiratory cardiovascular other-surgical severity (NARCO-SS) score as a pediatric perioperative scoring system.

To systematically identify and synthesize the available evidence of the neurological airway respiratory cardiovascular other-surgical severity (NARCO-SS) score as compared to other pediatric specific perioperative scoring systems. This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. All studies in all languages comparing NARCO-SS with pediatric perioperative scoring systems against outcomes were included. Records were screened and data were extracted by three independent reviewers into standardized pilot-tested extraction templates. Electronic searches were performed in MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and CINAHL (from inception to February 2023). The references were uploaded to a validated software for systematic reviews (Rayyan) and screened against the inclusion criteria. Full text of included studies were reviewed and the available data were tabulated. We conducted Risk of Bias analysis on the included studies using the Prediction model Risk Of Bias ASsessment Tool (PROBAST). A meta-analysis could not be performed due to differences in outcome definitions across the included studies. Correlations between NARCO-SS scores, ASA-PS scores and the predefined outcomes of each study were presented as a narrative synthesis. The included studies were determined to have a high risk of bias using the PROBAST. This review has identified a need for high-quality studies assessing NARCO-SS before recommendations for clinical practice can be made. Addressing its limitations and enhancing the NARCO-SS through targeted refinements of its individual descriptive categories could potentially lead to improvement in its overall predictive accuracy and facilitate wider adoption into clinical practice.

Research on Profit Maximization Model for Automatic Pricing and Replenishment Decision of Vegetable and Plant Commodities

The strategy of automatic pricing and replenishment of fresh commodity sales statistics is a long-standing challenge. Accurate pricing is of great significance for commodity sales, loss reduction and economic benefit improvement. The automatic pricing and replenishment strategy for fresh product sales statistics is a long-standing challenge, and accurate pricing is of great significance for product sales, reducing losses, and improving economic benefits. In order to investigate the pricing relationship between the sales of vegetables within a certain time range and the cost of individual products or categories, as well as the replenishment plan and pricing strategy for the next week, based on the Adaptive Differential Evolution Algorithm theory, the analysis is conducted with individual products and categories as units to achieve the goal function of maximum revenue, and a dynamic programming model is constructed, Obtain the specific replenishment total amount and pricing strategy for each vegetable category in the next week and per day. The results have been tested to have good applicability.

Research on Vegetable Pricing and Replenishment Strategies Based on ARMA Models

This paper explores the importance of pricing and replenishment issues of vegetable items for merchant operations. First, data related to vegetable stocking were systematically collected to assess the correlation between different categories. Through Q-Q plot analysis, it was determined that the data did not conform to a normal distribution, so the Spearman correlation coefficient was chosen for further quantitative analysis. Considering the large number of individual vegetable categories, in order to deal with the correlation between different individual items, a hierarchical clustering method was introduced in this paper, which classified them into three categories: low volume, medium volume and high volume. In order to predict the future vegetable intake, this study adopted the seasonal ARMA model and applied the Pearson's correlation coefficient for correlation analysis by combining the cost utilization rate as well as the total sales volume. In addition, the relationship between sales and cost margin was fitted with the help of support vector machine. Finally, this study constructs a single optimization model with the objective of maximizing the revenue of the superstore. The innovation of this paper is the combination of various statistical and machine learning methods in order to solve the pricing and replenishment problem of vegetable items, aiming to improve the efficiency of merchant operations.

Feed materials – Levels and characteristic profiles of dioxins and PCBs

Dioxins (PCDD/PCDF) are toxic compounds that are ubiquitous in the environment; although present in low concentrations, they are persistent and highly toxic and they bioaccumulate in food chains. Therefore, it is very important that feed is free of these types of contaminants, because otherwise they can become a source that can negatively affect animal health and the safety of food of animal origin. The aim of the study was to comprehensively assess the concentrations of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in a variety of feed materials available on the Polish market. In addition, characteristic profiles of congeners for given categories of feeds were investigated and defined. Approximately 95 % of the 523 samples of various feed materials tested over seven years (2013–2018 and 2022) met the requirements of European Union feed law (Commission Regulation 277/2012/EU).The highest average PCDD/PCDF/dl-PCB concentrations were found in fish oils and meal and were respectively 1.17 ± 0.78 and 5.51 ± 4.51 ng WHO-TEQ/kg of feed at 12 % moisture. Median and background level concentrations of PCDD/PCDFs, dl-PCBs, PCDD/PCDF/dl-PCBs, and ndl-PCBs were significantly lower than their average concentrations for each individual feed material category. The WHO-TEQ profiles enabled the identification of three different characteristic profiles in feed materials.