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Transparency, authenticity and purchase intentions: Chinese independent restaurants
Get PDFYesPurpose – Drawing on signalling theory and focusing on independent restaurants, this research investigates how business signals (transparency information and exposure) affect business transparency, food authenticity, and ultimately purchase intentions.
Design/methodology/approach – Using a 2x2 between-subject experimental design, Study 1 examines the recipe and an internet-famous restaurant, and Study 2 assesses the food supply chain and a celebrity-owned restaurant. Analysis of covariance and PROCESS is used to analyse the data.
Findings – The results suggest that while revealing information on recipes and food supply chains positively affects business transparency, exposure has no significant impact. Additionally, secret recipes and revealed food supply chains contribute to higher food authenticity whilst being a celebrity owner or internet-famous restaurant negatively affects food authenticity.
Research implications – Restaurant managers must be strategic and selective about the kinds of business signals they wish to reveal to customers. Secret recipes lead to higher food authenticity; whereas the revealed recipes and revealed food supply chains elicit higher business transparency. Independent restaurants should not rely on celebrity owners or seek internet fame, as neither type of exposure contributes to transparency or authenticity.
Originality – This study advances the theoretical understanding of signalling theory relating to the determinants of transparency and food authenticity in a hospitality context. Contrary to previous studies, it reveals that exposure, as a transparency signal, has no impact on either business transparency or food authenticity. It extends knowledge and understanding of different types of independent restaurants, especially internet-famous restaurants
A New Beamforming Approach Using 60 GHz Antenna Arrays for Multi-Beams 5G Applications
Get PDFYesRecent studies and research have centred on new solutions in different elements and stages
to the increasing energy and data rate demands for the fifth generation and beyond (B5G). Based on
a new-efficient digital beamforming approach for 5G wireless communication networks, this work
offers a compact-size circular patch antenna operating at 60 GHz and covering a 4 GHz spectrum
bandwidth. Massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (M-MIMO) and beamforming technology
build and simulate an active multiple beams antenna system. Thirty-two linear and sixty-four
planar antenna array configurations are modelled and constructed to work as base stations for 5G
mobile communication networks. Furthermore, a new beamforming approach called Projection
Noise Correlation Matrix (PNCM) is presented to compute and optimise the fed weights of the array
elements. The key idea of the PNCM method is to sample a portion of the measured noise correlation
matrix uniformly in order to provide the best representation of the entire measured matrix. The
sampled data will then be utilised to build a projected matrix using the pseudoinverse approach in
order to determine the best fit solution for a system and prevent any potential singularities caused
by the matrix inversion process. The PNCM is a low-complexity method since it avoids eigenvalue
decomposition and computing the entire matrix inversion procedure and does not require including
signal and interference correlation matrices in the weight optimisation process. The suggested
approach is compared to three standard beamforming methods based on an intensive Monte Carlo
simulation to demonstrate its advantage. The experiment results reveal that the proposed method
delivers the best Signal to Interference Ratio (SIR) augmentation among the compared beamformer
Effects of social restrictions on people with dementia and carers during the pre-vaccine phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of IDEAL cohort participants
Get PDFYesThis qualitative study was designed to understand the impact of social distancing measures on people with dementia and carers living in the community in England and Wales during a period of social restrictions before the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out. We conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with people with dementia aged 50-88 years, living alone or with a partner, and 10 carers aged 61-78 years, all living with the person with dementia. Three of the interviews were with dyads. Participants were recruited during November and December 2020. We used framework analysis to identify themes and elicit suggestions for potential solutions. We identified three interrelated themes. People with dementia experienced a fear of decline in capabilities or mood and attempted to mitigate this. Carers noticed changes in the person with dementia and increased caring responsibilities, and for some, a change in the relationship. Subsequently, reduced confidence in capabilities to navigate a new and hostile environment created a cyclical dilemma of re-engaging where an inability to access usual activities made things worse. People with dementia and carers experienced neglect and being alone in their struggle, alongside feeling socially excluded during the pandemic, and there was little optimism associated with the upcoming vaccine programme. People found their own solutions to reduce the effects of isolation by keeping busy and being socially active, and practising skills deemed to help reduce the progression of dementia. This and some limited local public initiatives for the general public facilitated feelings of social inclusion. This study adds understanding to existing evidence about the longer-term experience of social isolation several months into the pandemic. It highlights the importance of health and community groups and suggests how services can find ways to support, include, and interact with people with dementia and carers during and after social restrictions.Economic and Social Research Council. Grant Numbers: ES/V004964/1, L001853, V004964. National Institute for Health and Care Research. Grant Number: ES/L001853/2. Department of Health. UK Research and Innovation. Health and Care Research Wale
Identifying factors which enhance the self-management of type 2 diabetes: A systematic review with thematic analysis
Get PDFYesIndividuals with type 2 diabetes play a pivotal role in their health. Enhancing the self-management
of diabetes can improve blood glucose control, and quality of life, and reduce diabetes-related complications. We
have identified factors influencing the self-management of type 2 diabetes to inform strategies that may be applied
in the long-term management of blood glucose control.
Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of recent studies published between January 2010 to
December 2020 to identify the available evidence on effective self-management strategies for type 2 diabetes. The
databases used for the searchers were Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. We
assessed English language publications only. The screening of titles was duplicated by two researchers. We then
conducted a thematic analysis of the key findings from eligible publications to identify reoccurring messages that
may augment or abate self-management strategies.
Results: We identified 49 relevant publications involving 90,857 participants. Four key themes were identified
from these publications: Individual drive, social capital, Knowledge base, and Insufficient health care. High
motivation and self-efficacy enabled greater self-management. The importance of family, friends, and the health
care professional was salient, as were the negative effects of stigma and labelling. Enablers to good self-management were the level of support provided and its affordability. Finally, the accessibility and adequacy of the
health care services emerged as fundamental to permit diabetes self-management.
Conclusions: Self-management of type 2 diabetes is an essential strategy given its global presence and impact,
and the current resource constraints in health care. Individuals with type 2 diabetes should be empowered and
supported to self-manage. This includes awareness raising on their role in self-health, engaging broader support
networks, and the pivotal role of health care professionals to inform and support. Further research is needed into
the capacity assessment of healthcare systems in diabetes medicine, targeted low-cost resources for self-management, and the financial requirements that enable self-management advice to be enacted.While this research did not receive any specific project funding, KRB is funded by a University of Otago Pacific Ph.D. Scholarship. ANR is funded as a Research Fellow by the National Heart Foundation
Computational Techniques for Human Smile Analysis
No full textNoHow many times have you smiled today? How many times have you frowned today? Ever thought of being in a state of self-consciousness to be able to relate your own mood with your facial emotional expressions? Perhaps with our present-day busy lives, we may not consider these as crucial questions. However, as researchers uncover more and more about the human emotional landscape they are learning the importance of understanding our emotions
The biometric characteristics of a smile
No full textNoFacial expressions have been studied looking for its diagnostic capabilities in mental health and clues for longevity, gender and other such personality traits. The use of facial expressions, especially the expression of smile, as a biometric has not been looked into great detail. However, research shows that a person can be identified from their behavioural traits including their emotional expressions. In this Chapter, we discuss a novel computational biometric model which can be derived from the smile expression. We discuss how the temporal components of a smile can be utilised to show that similarities in the smile exist for an individual and it can be enabled to create a tool which can be utilised as a biometric
Partial Differential Equations for Modelling Wound Geometry
No full textNoWounds arising from various conditions are painful, embarrassing and often requires treatment plans which are costly. A crucial task, during the treatment of wounds is the measurement of the size, area and volume of the wounds. This enables to provide appropriate objective means of measuring changes in the size or shape of wounds, in order to evaluate the efficiency of the available therapies in an appropriate fashion. Conventional techniques for measuring physical properties of a wound require making some form of physical contact with it. We present a method to model a wide variety of geometries of wound shapes. The shape modelling is based on formulating mathematical boundary-value problems relating to solutions of Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). In order to model a given geometric shape of the wound a series of boundary functions which correspond to the main features of the wound are selected. These boundary functions are then utilised to solve an elliptic PDE whose solution results in the geometry of the wound shape. Thus, here we show how low order elliptic PDEs, such as the Biharmonic equation subject to suitable boundary conditions can be used to model complex wound geometry. We also utilise the solution of the chosen PDE to automatically compute various physical properties of the wound such as the surface area, volume and mass. To demonstrate the methodology a series of examples are discussed demonstrating the capability of the method to produce good representative shapes of wounds
Preservation of Smooth Muscle Cell Integrity and Function: A Target for Limiting Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Expansion?
Get PDFYes(1) Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a silent, progressive disease with significant mortality from rupture. Whilst screening programmes are now able to detect this pathology early in its development, no therapeutic intervention has yet been identified to halt or retard aortic expansion. The inability to obtain aortic tissue from humans at early stages has created a necessity for laboratory models, yet it is essential to create a timeline of events from EARLY to END stage AAA progression. (2) We used a previously validated ex vivo porcine bioreactor model pre-treated with protease enzyme to create "aneurysm" tissue. Mechanical properties, histological changes in the intact vessel wall, and phenotype/function of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) cultured from the same vessels were investigated. (3) The principal finding was significant hyperproliferation of SMC from EARLY stage vessels, but without obvious histological or SMC aberrancies. END stage tissue exhibited histological loss of α-smooth muscle actin and elastin; mechanical impairment; and, in SMC, multiple indications of senescence. (4) Aortic SMC may offer a therapeutic target for intervention, although detailed studies incorporating intervening time points between EARLY and END stage are required. Such investigations may reveal mechanisms of SMC dysfunction in AAA development and hence a therapeutic window during which SMC differentiation could be preserved or reinstated.This research was funded in part by The Leeds Teaching Hospitals Charitable Foundation (R11/8002). E.R.C. was supported by a PhD studentship from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC; EP/F500513/1). R.J.H. was the recipient of an Intercalated Batchelor of Science Degree in Science award from the Royal College of Surgeons of England. M.A.B.(FS/18/12/33270 and FS/12/54/29671), K.I.B. (FS/12/26/29395), and K.J.G. (FS/11/91/29090) were supported by BHF Clinical Research Training Fellowships
Pottery
Get PDFYesAn interim report on pottery excavated at the Neolithic islet of Loch Bhorgastail, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, in 2021.Leverhume Trust, British Academy, Honor Frost Foundatio
Defective repair of topoisomerase I induced chromosomal damage in Huntington's disease
Get PDFYesTopoisomerase1 (TOP1)-mediated chromosomal breaks are endogenous sources of DNA damage that affect neuronal genome stability. Whether TOP1 DNA breaks are sources of genomic instability in Huntington's disease (HD) is unknown. Here, we report defective 53BP1 recruitment in multiple HD cell models, including striatal neurons derived from HD patients. Defective 53BP1 recruitment is due to reduced H2A ubiquitination caused by the limited RNF168 activity. The reduced availability of RNF168 is caused by an increased interaction with p62, a protein involved in selective autophagy. Depletion of p62 or disruption of the interaction between RNAF168 and p62 was sufficient to restore 53BP1 enrichment and subsequent DNA repair in HD models, providing new opportunities for therapeutic interventions. These findings are reminiscent to what was described for p62 accumulation caused by C9orf72 expansion in ALS/FTD and suggest a common mechanism by which protein aggregation perturb DNA repair signaling.This work is funded by a Welcome Trust Investigator Award (103844), a Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine Fellowship (137661) and a UKIERI grant (DST/INT/UK/P-147/2016) to S.F.E.- K. JG is additionally funded by a Clinical PhD Fellowship from the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Jean Shanks Foundation (JSPS-CPHD-2018-01)