مطالب

Smart packaging plays a pivotal role in food distribution by integrating innovative technologies to enhance product safety, quality, and efficiency throughout the supply chain. Leveraging smart packaging minimizes waste, reduces spoilage, and enables real-time monitoring. However, producers face a few challenges with smart packaging, including high initial investment costs, compatibility issues with existing infrastructure, and regulatory hurdles concerning data privacy and safety standards. Additionally, ensuring widespread adoption and addressing consumer acceptance pose significant challenges and the need for continuous innovation to keep pace with evolving market demands and technological advancements. Therefore, this study aims to identify the current landscape of smart packaging within food distribution, outline the main themes within this field, highlight potential areas for further study, and provide a roadmap for future research endeavors. To fulfill this aim, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis was undertaken, utilizing data extracted from the Scopus database. A total of 1,094 documents relevant to the chosen keywords were successfully gathered for analysis. Frequency analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel, while citation metrics and further analysis were performed utilizing R package software. The outcomes of this investigation are presented using standard bibliometric metrics, encompassing publication year, authorship, subject area, document type, source title, citation analysis, keyword analysis, active institutional participation, geographic distribution, and language. The analysis revealed a significant increase in publications concerning smart packaging within food distribution since 1990. This upward trend underlines the crucial role of technology in the food industry, potentially impacting the environment, economy, and societal dynamics.

The aim of this research was to compare the effectiveness of an aerobic exercise program, a mindfulness training program, and a integration of aerobic exercise and mindfulness training on the academic performance of fourth-grade female students. The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design including a control group. The statistical population consisted of all fourth-grade female students from public elementary schools in Amol city during the academic year 2020-2021, from which 90 students were selected through convenience sampling and assigned to four groups: aerobic exercise program, mindfulness training, integration of aerobic exercise and mindfulness, and a control group (each experimental group consisting of 23 participants and the control group consisting of 21 participants). Subsequently, 18 sessions of 30-minute training were designed and conducted every other day. To collect data in the pre-test and post-test, the Academic Performance Questionnaire by Fam and Taylor (EPT) was used. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance and SPSS22 software. The results indicated a significant difference in the academic performance of participants in all three groups: aerobic exercise program (Eta=0.59), mindfulness training (Eta=0.49), and the integration of aerobic exercise and mindfulness (Eta=0.56) compared to the control group (P≤0.05). However, participants in the integration group of aerobic exercise and mindfulness performed better than the other two training groups. These results suggest that integrating mindfulness training and aerobic exercise can be an effective strategy for improving the academic performance of fourth-grade female students.

The intergroup bias makes us to place a greater value on our group members than other group members. In society, people sort themselves into groups and sometimes they label other groups as weak and incompetent. In some situations, minority groups are viewed as threats by majority groups when they differ too much from them. The effects of such attitudes and behaviors can be profound on society and communications, and lead to discrimination against outgroups and a social division. In this study, we review literature in this area in order to find practical ways to reduce prejudice and in-group bias. We discuss related influencing factors such as intergroup contact, intergroup acceptance, intergroup similarities, social norms, status of a group, and size. This study provides some significant takeaways include the relationship between anxiety and in-group bias and our tendency to behave less prejudiced in times of confidence and less stress; as well as the effect of revealing intergroup similarities through education and social media. Other procedures are also listed that can be used by everyone especially policymakers and researchers to find and develop effective approaches to improve societies by overcoming in-group bias. Other methods are also listed that can be used by everyone especially policymakers and researchers to find and develop effective approaches to improve societies by overcoming in-group bias.

Previous research has identified correlations between individual differences, such as age, and perceptual processes. However, the specific roles of these factors in face and house detection and the categorization of ambiguous stimuli remain inadequately understood. To address this issue, we employed a face/house categorization task to investigate how participants of different ages perceive human agents versus non-natural objects amidst varying levels of visual noise (40%, 50%, 60%, and 70%). Our results revealed that older participants exhibit longer reaction times (RT) in face detection under low-noise, ambiguous conditions (40% noise)—pointing toward a selective effect of age on face processing rather than on other object categories, such as houses.

Sociocultural Theory (SCT) of second language learning puts the emphasis on social interaction and regards it as a pre-requisite for cognitive development (Vygotsky, 1978). Drawing on the SCT, the present study aimed to delve into the possible effect of ZPD-based teacher and peer feedback on reading comprehension and reading strategy use of EFL learners. In so doing, 75 Iranian EFL learners, who were randomly assigned into two experimental and one comparison groups, participated in a quasi-experimental study. The data were collected through Oxford Placement Test (OPT), reading comprehension test and reading strategy questionnaire. One of the experimental groups received teacher feedback based on Aljaafreh and Lantolf's (1994) regulatory scale while the other experimental group accomplished the reading task using the feedback provided by the peers. Results obtained from the one–way ANOVA and Tukey test demonstrated that both experimental groups, teacher and peer, gained significantly more and performed better than the comparison group in reading comprehension while there was no significant difference between teacher and peer feedback groups in reading comprehension. The findings of the strategy questionnaire indicated no statistically significant difference between experimental and control groups, leading to the conclusion that students’ grouping did not influence their use of reading strategy. Therefore, it is concluded that peer feedback can be as effective as teacher feedback, aiding teachers to have a learner–centered classroom by implementing peer feedback rather than teacher feedback.