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This paper aims to detect abnormal energy uses which relate to undetected consumption, thefts, measurement errors, etc. The detection of irregular power consumption, with variation in irregularities, helps the electric utilities in planning and making strategies to transfer reliable and efficient electricity from generators to the end-users. Abnormal peak load demand is a kind of aberration that needs to be detected.

This paper proposes a Density-Based Micro Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBMSCAN) clustering algorithm, which is implemented for identification of ranked irregular electricity consumption and occurrence of peak and valley loads. In the proposed algorithm, two parameters, a and ß, are introduced, and, on tuning of these parameters, after setting of global parameters, a varied number of micro-clusters and ranked irregular consumptions, respectively, are obtained. An approach is incorporated with the introduction of a new term Irregularity Variance in the suggested algorithm to find variation in the irregular consumptions according to anomalous behaviors.

No set of global parameters in DBSCAN is found in clustering of load pattern data of a practical system as the data. The proposed DBMSCAN approach finds clustering results and ranked irregular consumption such as different types of abnormal peak demands, sudden change in the demand, nearly zero demand, etc. with computational ease without any iterative control method.

The DBMSCAN can be applied on any data set to find ranked outliers. It is an unsupervised approach of clustering technique to find the clustering results and ranked irregular consumptions while focusing on the analysis of and variations in anomalous behaviors in electricity consumption.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate different profiles of honey consumers in Slovakia and Romania by using a segmentation approach, thus supporting honey producers from both countries and promoting the consumption of honey for both food and health benefits.

A paper and online survey was conducted in two representative regions of Slovakia (n=2,138) and Romania (n=1,100), between November 2017 and February 2018. By carrying out a two-step cluster analysis, several segments of honey consumers based on consumption patterns, demographic profile, purchasing behaviour and honey preferences were defined.

In both countries, honey is mostly consumed as food product and medicine and the majority of consumers think honey has healing effects. Based on the data, the authors identified similar segments in Slovakia and Romania, in terms of frequency and annual consumption (“maniacs” or “loyal consumers”, “regular consumers”, “occasional consumers” or “sporadic consumers” and “irregular consumers”), but, at the same time, those segments are different in terms of the way in which honey is consumed (multipurpose or direct consumption, spreads, beverages and ingredients for cooking).

The findings provide honey producers–beekeepers a wider information base, which can increase effectiveness of price, distribution and marketing communication strategies. Furthermore, knowledge from results will allow producers to specialise and place the production by designing different marketing strategies in different segments.

Taguchi’s quality loss function is here proposed as a tool to evaluate costs connected to non conformity in manufacturing industries. First of all, Taguchi’s quadratic cost function is compared with the traditionally adopted zero defects cost function, and the differential effects of either function are analysed. Conceptual issues as well as practical ones are considered in this analysis. Results provided match in suggesting that the quadratic cost function, as compared with zero defects, is conceptually more consistent with the most advanced definitions of industrial quality and practically more suitable to support continuous improvement processes with a long‐term, customer‐oriented and profit‐oriented perspective. Yet, in order to provide for a full utilisation of this tool inside quality costs reporting systems, a number of problems have still to be resolved. These problems too are highlighted and brought to the attention of researchers of this field.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common nutritional anemia in the world and a pervasive health problem, especially in developing countries. Children under two years of age are more prone to be affected by IDA. The best strategy to prevent and treat IDA is to use iron supplements. This study aims to examine the factors associated with noncompliance (such as non-utilization or inconsistent usage) of iron drop supplementation among infants between 6 and 24 months old.

Online databases (PubMed, Scopus and SID) were searched to retrieve relevant articles published from inception up to July 2023. Among the 2,177 articles detected, after removing duplicate and irrelevant titles, 21 cross-sectional studies that met the authors’ inclusion criteria were included. Screening for articles and data extraction were conducted separately by two researchers.

The findings suggest that some factors related to mothers, such as education, knowledge, attitude and performance; some factors associated with child such as child’s gastrointestinal and dental complications; taste and smell of iron drops; and birth order and gender are the main determinants of adherence to iron supplementation.

It can be proposed that the most significant factors affecting the feeding of iron drops to children under the age of two include: the level of mother’s awareness, socio-economic status of the household and the occurrence of digestive complications following the supplementation. Given these observations, adopting proper policies toward improving the nutritional awareness of mothers and producing iron supplements with minimal side effects seems crucial.

On the one hand, this paper is to further understand the residents' differentiated power consumption behaviors and tap the residential family characteristics labels from the perspective of electricity stability. On the other hand, this paper is to address the problem of lack of causal relationship in the existing research on the association analysis of residential electricity consumption behavior and basic information data.

First, the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise method is used to extract the typical daily load curve of residents. Second, the degree of electricity consumption stability is described from three perspectives: daily minimum load rate, daily load rate and daily load fluctuation rate, and is evaluated comprehensively using the entropy weight method. Finally, residential customer labels are constructed from sociological characteristics, residential characteristics and energy use attitudes, and the enhanced FP-growth algorithm is employed to investigate any potential links between each factor and the stability of electricity consumption.

Compared with the original FP-growth algorithm, the improved algorithm can realize the excavation of rules containing specific attribute labels, which improves the excavation efficiency. In terms of factors influencing electricity stability, characteristics such as a large number of family members, being well employed, having children in the household and newer dwelling labels may all lead to poorer electricity stability, but residents' attitudes toward energy use and dwelling type are not significantly associated with electricity stability.

This paper aims to uncover household socioeconomic traits that influence the stability of home electricity use and to shed light on the intricate connections between them. Firstly, in this article, from the perspective of electricity stability, the characteristics of the power consumption of residents' users are refined. And the authors use the entropy weight method to comprehensively evaluate the stability of electricity usage. Secondly, the labels of residential users' household characteristics are screened and organized. Finally, the improved FP-growth algorithm is used to mine the residential household characteristic labels that are strongly associated with electricity consumption stability.

1. The stability of electricity consumption is important to the stable operation of the grid.

2. An improved FP-growth algorithm is employed to explore the influencing factors.

3. The improved algorithm enables the mining of rules containing specific attribute labels.

4. Residents' attitudes toward energy use are largely unrelated to the stability of electricity use.

The stability of electricity consumption is important to the stable operation of the grid.

An improved FP-growth algorithm is employed to explore the influencing factors.

The improved algorithm enables the mining of rules containing specific attribute labels.

Residents' attitudes toward energy use are largely unrelated to the stability of electricity use.

Childhood obesity is a major global health concern. Understanding children's and adolescent’s eating behaviours and promoting healthier behaviours is key for reducing the negative health outcomes associated with obesity. The current study explored the perceptions of healthy eating behaviours and the influences on eating behaviours amongst 11-to-13-year-old secondary school students.

Nine semi-structured same-sex focus group discussions were conducted in schools located in deprived areas of England, with the discussions subjected to a thematic framework analysis.

Three main constructs were identified in the analysis as follows: (1) eating patterns and lifestyle, (2) social influences and (3) environmental influences. Participants understood what healthy eating behaviours are and the benefits of eating healthy; yet, they reported irregular mealtimes and consuming unhealthy snacks. Students reported that their parents and fellow student peers were strong influences on their own eating behaviours, with girls subjected to being teased by male students for attempting to eat healthily. Finally, students perceived that unhealthy foods were cheaper, tasted better and were readily available in their social environments compared to healthier options, making healthier behaviours less likely to occur.

Findings indicate that students had a good understanding of healthy eating behaviours but did not always practise them and are seemingly influenced by their social and environmental context. The promotion of healthier eating in this age group needs to challenge the misperceptions associated with the accessibility and social acceptability of unhealthy food items.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe adolescents’ health-related behaviours from a socio-ecological perspective. Socio-ecological factors have been widely shown to be related to health behaviours (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and diet) in adolescence and to affect health. The review integrates evidence with socio-ecological factors (social relationships, family, peers, schooling and environment).

The data were collected from electronic databases and by manual search consisting of articles (n=90) published during 2002-2014. The selected articles were analysed using inductive content analysis and narrative synthesis.

The findings suggest that there was a complex set of relations connected to adolescent health behaviours, also encompassing socio-ecological factors. The authors tentatively conclude that socio-ecological circumstances influence adolescents’ health-related behaviour, but that this review does not provide the full picture. There seemed to be certain key factors with a relation to behavioural outcomes that might increase health inequality among adolescents.

School health education is an important pathway for interventions to reduce unhealthy behaviours among adolescents including those related to socio-ecological factors.

Some socio-ecological factors were strongly related to health behaviours in adolescence, which may indicate an important pathway to current and future health. This paper may help schoolteachers, nurses and other school staff to understand the relationships between socio-ecological factors and health-related behaviours, which may be useful in developing health education to reduce health disparities during adolescence.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute understanding tendencies of the Italian demand for craft beer. More in details, it seeks at exploring consumers’ awareness about craft beer, their attitudes, habits and behaviors. It also aims at assessing the impact of each and all these features on consumers’ choice. At last, the paper frames different consumers’ profiles.

The analysis is based on an online survey associated with a choice experiment designed for assessing willingness to buy (WTB) and willingness to pay (WTP) for craft vs industrial beer. Factors influencing consumers’ expenditure for craft beer are explored via an OLS estimation of a simple regression model. Afterwards, different consumers’ profiles are depicted via cluster analysis.

The survey shows that, overall, Italian consumers appreciate craft beers and are interested in this market. Socio-demographic characteristics impact this inclination but have no significant influence on the results of the choice experiment. Market knowledge, preferences and consumption habits influence consumer spending. Five different consumer profiles emerge.

The research proposes a combined original methodology for assessing beer consumers’ features and their impacts on beer WTB and WTP. The complementary perspectives adopted provide new insights on craft beer demand. Results are of interest for craft brewery managers and for the design of policies aimed at promoting and expanding the sector. Enlarging the sample and improving its representativeness would allow for more general results.