Just-In-Time Measures for Fashion Brand Management

This case study analyzes the impacts of the Just-In-Time (JIT) Knowledge Brand Model (Rosa, 2017) - an interactive device for brand management applied to GUESS fashion brand management. The research uses JIT Knowledge Brand Model as a conceptual framework in a mixed methodology approach through qualitative and quantitative measurements. Thus, the research process is divided into two phases: 1st phase exploratory (qualitative) and 2nd confirmatory (quantitative). The 1st phase involves 42 in-depth Face-To-Face interviews with Guess clients and stakeholders, while the 2nd phase includes data collected through a self-administered online questionnaire sent by email to a database of 50.000 clients which resulted in 584 valid responses. The main findings indicate that an interactive omnichannel device, operationally tested and supported by JIT Knowledge Brand Model, has a significant impact on measuring emotional attachment (customer satisfaction, loyalty and recommendation) and gathering co-creative innovation inputs for performance sustainability and continuous improvement, thus confirming the operationality of the conceptual model for knowledge management and interaction with the client base. Furthermore, it was found in latent data that the emotional attachment is strongly dependent and predicted by two factors: F1. Makes me feel good and represented, and F2. Price and variety of products and quality of services.Este estudo de caso analisa os impactos do JIT (Just-In-Time) modelo de marca de conhecimento (Rosa, 2017) - um dispositivo interactivo para gerenciamento de marca aplicado à GUESS gestão de marca de moda. A pesquisa usa o JIT Modelo de marca de conhecimento como uma estrutura conceptual numa abordagem de metodologia mista através de medições qualitativas e quantitativas. Assim, o processo de pesquisa é dividido em duas fases: 1ª fase exploratória (qualitativa) e a 2ª confirmatória (quantitativa). A 1ª fase envolve 42 entrevistas em profundidade cara à cara com os clientes Guess e accionistas, enquanto a 2ª fase inclui a recolha de dados através de um questionário on-line auto-administrado enviado por email a uma base de dados de 50 mil clientes que resultaram em 584 respostas validas. Os principais resultados indicam que um dispositivo comunicação linear interactivo, testado operacionalmente e apoiado pelo JIT Modelo de marca de conhecimento, tem um impacto significativo na medição da ligação emocional (satisfação, lealdade e recomendação do cliente) e reunindo inputs de inovação co-criativa para sustentabilidade de desempenho e melhoria contínua, confirmando assim a operacionalidade do modelo conceptual para a gestão do conhecimento e interacção com uma base de clientes. Além disso, foi encontrado em dados latentes que a ligação emocional é fortemente dependente e previsto por dois factores: F1. Faz-me sentir bem e representado. F2. Preço e variedade de produtos e qualidade de serviços

Histological and Morphometric Examination of the Testes of Boars and Male Pigs Immunocastrated with Improvac®

Background: Surgical castration of male piglets is frequently performed to prevent development of an unpleasant taste and flavor in meat of mature males, called boar taint. Disadvantages of this method are primarily related to the lower feed efficiency of surgically castrated male pigs, production of less lean meat and more fat on the carcasses than boars, as well as ethical issues associated with the procedure itself. Immunocastration is a method of immunization against gonadotropinreleasing hormone (GnRH) and represents an alternative to avoid boar taint. This study aimed to examine the influence of immunocastration on histological and morphometric parameters of male pig testes.Materials, Methods & Results: A total of 60 crossbred male pigs selected from 30 litters were assigned to two experimental groups: boars (n = 30) and immunocastrated males (n = 30). Two doses (2 mL per dose) of the Improvac® vaccine were given to pigs scheduled for immunocastration. The first injection was given at 10 weeks of age, and the second injection at 20 weeks of age. All pigs were fed the same commercial diet ad libitum, group-housed (15 pigs/pen) and slaughtered at 25 weeks of age. After slaughter, testicle weights were measured and samples of testicular tissue were taken for histological examination. Immunocastrated males had lower testicle weights than boars (P < 0.01). Furthermore, structural damage to the germinal epithelium was visible in the seminiferous tubules of vaccinated pigs. In the testicular interstitium of these animals, the number of Leydig cells were reduced; almost all of these cells exhibited different degrees of abnormality. Moreover, the diameter of the seminiferous tubules and thickness of the germinal epithelium were greater (P < 0.01), and the percentage of germinal epithelium in the seminiferous tubules as well as percentage of blood vessels in the interstitium were higher in boars as compared to immunocastrated males (P < 0.01). Seminiferous tubule lumen diameter was greater (P < 0.01), and percentage of lumen in the seminiferous tubules as well as percentage of non-blood vessel tissue in the interstitium were higher in immunocastrated males than boars (P < 0.01).Discussion: Vaccination against GnRH, as used in this study, reduced the synthesis of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), which led to decreased spermatogenesis and androgen production. The smaller diameter of the seminiferous tubules as well as germinal epithelium thickness, and lower percentage of germinal epithelium in the seminiferous tubules in immunocastrated males could be explained by reduced FSH synthesis, and subsequent reduced spermatogenesis. The described testicular malformations in immunocastrated animals caused their lower weight, and greater diameter of the lumen as well as a higher lumen percentage of the seminiferous tubules. The vaccine reduced LH synthesis, so the Leydig cells of immunocastrated animals had lower activity than the same cells in boars. The percentage of blood vessels in the interstitium of boar testes was higher, which was related to the blood supply required for normal function of Leydig cells. It was concluded that differences existed in the structure of the seminiferous tubules and interstitium between boars and immunocastrated males , which were reflected in values of the examined histological and morphometric parameters. The development of these differences was related to the inhibition of GnRH synthesis and secretion

An In-Depth Review of ChatGPT’s Pros and Cons for Learning and Teaching in Education

As technology progresses, there has been an increasing interest in using Chatbot GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) in education. Chatbot GPT, or ChatGPT, gained one million users within the first week of launching in November 2022 and had amassed over 100 million active users by February 2023. This type of artificial intelligence uses natural language processing to convert it into a user. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis and review of 34 articles published on ChatGPT and its potential impact on education by utilizing the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology. This review analyzed various studies and articles to examine the strengths and limitations of GPT language models in education from 2018 to the present. The advantages of ChatGPT include its capacity to provide personalized and adaptive learning, instant feedback, and improved accessibility. However, there are potential drawbacks, such as the lack of emotional intelligence, the risk of overreliance on technology, and privacy concerns. This review suggests that ChatGPT has significant promise for education yet reinforces the necessity for further research and careful consideration of possible risks and limitations. Specifically, it pointed out potential invisible manipulations by instructing ChatGPT to answer educationrelated topics. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of ChatGPT for the future of education and emphasizing the need for further research in this field

Effect of Litter Treatment on the Occurrence of Foot Pad Lesions

Pododermatitis (foot pad lesions) is one of the main welfare problems in modern broiler production in countries with developed poultry farming. Factors contributing to the occurrence of these lesions are nutrition, stocking density and material used for litter. There are a number of different procedures that can be applied in order to prevent and reduce the number of lesions with the most pronounced defects. The experiment was conducted on broiler chickens grown in 10 buildings of 240 m2 each. The stocking density was 35 kg/m2. The experiment was set up in five treatments with two replicates. Treatment one (T1) - control with a straw litter, treatment two (T2) - litter treated with microbial preparation Micropan®, treatment three (T3) – litter with addition of lignin, treatment four (T4) – litter with addition of lignin and Micropan® and treatment five (T5) - chopped straw without supplements. At the end of the experiment, on day 42 the intensity of the lesions was scored on the slaughter line. The presence of lesions was scored using scale from 0 (no lesions) to 3 (plantar pads with more than 50% damage). Based on the results of the trial it can be concluded that litter has a significant impact on the presence and the degree of foot pad lesions. The lowest score of foot pad lesions was observed in the treatment T5 (chopped straw). Different treatments of litters may also contribute to the solution of the problem of pododermatitis since the results in all treated groups (T2, T3, T4 and T5) were better when compared to the control

Morphological Characteristics of Breast and Thigh Muscles of Autochthonous Breeds of Chickens

Morphological characteristics of skeletal muscles of autochthonous breeds of chickens are very important for meat quality and comparison with current hybrids for intensive production. The autochthonous breeds used in the experiment were Sombor crested and Banat naked neck, both sexes. For the purposes of morphological examination, tissue samples were taken from the thigh muscle (m. biceps femoris) and muscles of the breast (m. pectoralis profundus) of 5 male and female animals of each breed. After a standard histological procedure for conventional light microscopy, samples were stained with hematoxylin - eosin. After the processing of the samples for the histochemical analysis, samples were stained with the enzyme succinate - dehydrogenase (SDH) with the aim of determining the presence of different muscle cell types (red, white and intermediate). Morphological parameters, in this study, were diameter of muscle cells, nucleocytoplasmic ratio of muscle cells, volume density of connective tissue within the muscle and the presence of red, white and intermediate muscle cell types. Comparison of diameters of muscle cells thigh and breast muscles between Sombor crested and Banat naked neck have showed that kind of muscle, race or gender have no significant effect on the differences in this parameter. There were no statistically significant differences in the nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio of the volume density of the connective tissue of muscles. Red muscle cells were, in both autochthonous breeds, significantly more represented in m. biceps femoris than m. pectoralis profundus. The results of this study indicate that no differences were observed between autochthonous breeds in morphological parameters for examined breast and thigh muscle

Atlas encoding by randomized forests for efficient label propagation

Abstract We propose a method for multi-atlas label propagation based on encoding the individual atlases by randomized classification forests. Most current approaches perform a non-linear registration between all atlases and the target image, followed by a sophisticated fusion scheme. While these approaches can achieve high accuracy, in general they do so at high computational cost. This negatively affects the scalability to large databases and experimentation. To tackle this issue, we propose to use a small and deep classification forest to encode each atlas individually in reference to an aligned probabilistic atlas, resulting in an Atlas Forest (AF). At test time, each AF yields a probabilistic label estimate, and fusion is done by averaging. Our scheme performs only one registration per target image, achieves good results with a simple fusion scheme, and allows for efficient experimentation. In contrast to standard forest schemes, incorporation of new scans is possible without retraining, and target-specific selection of atlases remains possible. The evaluation on three different databases shows accuracy at the level of the state of the art, at a significantly lower runtime

Efikasnost kumafosa protiv varoe i njegov uticaj na oksidativni stres i preživljavanje medonosne pčele

Apart from the efficiency of coumaphos against Varroa mites, its impact on the oxidative status and survival of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) was assessed. The research was conducted on hives from the same apiary, equalised regarding the number of bees, brood area and food storage. Based on Varroa infestation the hives were allotted to two groups: Non-infested (N) and infested (I). Both groups were either treated (T)-NT and IT, or untreated (U)-NU and IU. The treatment of infested bees was controlled with a follow-up treatment with amitraz. The efficiency of coumaphos was 96-97%. This organophosphate had a negligible effect on bee survival, but it significantly affected their oxidative status: Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities, and the concentrations of malonyl dialdehyde (MDA). Coumaphos significantly (pË 0.0001) decreased SOD activity in non-infested bees, but increased it in those infested. By contrast, both CAT and GST activities, as well as MDA concentrations significantly increased (from pË 0.05 to pË 0.0001) after treatment in all groups, with the exception of IT, where it declined. Coumaphos in non-infested hives caused oxidative stress per se, not unlike varroa in infested colonies. However, in infested colonies it decreased oxidative stress, owing to its efficacy against Varroa mites and contributed to the recovery of bee colonies. In spite of its certain downsides, coumaphos remains an effective anti-varroa substance, but should be used with precaution, not to add to the effects of environmental factors which may cause red-ox misbalance.Procenjivana je efikasnost kumafosa protiv varoe, kao i njegov uticaj na oksidativni status i preživljavanje medonosne pčele (Apis mellifera). Ispitivanje je obavljeno na košnicama iz istog pčelinjaka, ujednačenim po broju pčela, površini legla i količini uskladištene hrane. Na osnovu infestacije varoom, košnice su podeljene u dve grupe: neinfestirane (N) i infestirane (I). Obe grupe su bile ili tretirane (T) – NT i IT, ili netretirane (U) – NU i IU. Tretman infestiranih društava je kontrolisan naknadnom primenom amitraza. Efikasnost kumafosa iznosila je 96-97%. Ovaj organofosfat imao Zikic et al.: Anti-varroa efficiency of coumaphos and its influence on oxidative stress and survival of honey bees 373 je zanemarljiv efekat na preživljavanje pčela, ali je značajno uticao na njihov oksidativni status: aktivnosti superoksid-dismutaze (SOD), katalaze (CAT) i glutation Stransferaze (GST), i koncentracije malonil-dialdehida (MDA). Kumafos je značajno (p˂0,0001) smanjio aktivnost SOD kod neinfestiranih pčela, ali ju je povećao kod infestiranih. Za razliku od toga, aktivnosti CAT i GST, kao i koncentracije MDA značajno su se povećale (od p˂0,05 do p˂0,0001) posle tretmana u svim grupama, sa izuzetkom IT, u kojoj su opale. Kumafos je sam po sebi u neinfestiranim društvima prouzrokovao oksidativni stres kod pčela, slično kao Varroa u infestiranim. Međutim, u infestiranim košnicama on je smanjio oksidativni stress zahvaljujući efikasnosti protiv varoe, čime je doprineo oporavku društava. Uprkos određenim nedostacima, kumafos ostaje efikasna supstanca u borbi protiv varoe, ali ga treba koristiti sa oprezom, da bi se izbeglo dodatno opterećenje pčela prouzrokovano faktorima sredine koji mogu da izazovu red-oks neravnotežu