46870 research outputs found
Sort by
A parent-led gamified stability skills intervention enhances stability skill but not general motor competence in children aged 4-5 years
Get PDFThis study examined the effect of a parent-led, gamified stability skills intervention on stability skill and motor competence in 4-5 year olds. Eighty-four children were allocated to intervention (n=49 (17 boys)), or control (n=35 (22 boys)) groups. The intervention group undertook a 12-week parent or caregiver (P/G) led, gamified stability skills programme designed to be performed in a home environment. The control group participated in their usual activities. Stability skill and motor competence were assessed pre and post intervention. A sub sample of P/G’s (n=7) participated in post intervention interviews. A series of ANCOVAs controlling for baseline values demonstrated significantly higher stability skills (P<.001) and higher ball kicking velocity (P=.025) post intervention for the intervention group compared to controls. There were no significant differences in other motor competence tests (all P >.05). There was a significant positive relationship (P<.001) between intervention dose and change in stability skills. Thematic analysis from P/G interviews identified the following as facilitators for intervention engagement: 1) Intervention Format, 2) Autonomy, and 3) Social Support and the following as barriers to uptake: 1) Intervention Format, 2) Logistics & Life Constraints, 3) Parental Perceived Competence, and 4) Links to School
A QoS-driven Fuzzy Logic-based Adaptive MPQUIC Scheduler for Heterogeneous Networks
Get PDFMultipath communication has become a fundamental technique for improving network performance and reliability. However, in heterogeneous and dynamic network environments, conventional scheduling mechanisms often suffer from issues such as head-of-line (HOL) blocking and receiver buffer overflow, leading to suboptimal transmission efficiency. To address the limitations, we propose Stream-Aware Optimal Path First (SA-OPF), a novel adaptive scheduler for Multipath QUIC (MPQUIC) that dynamically selects the optimal path for each packet transmission. Firstly, SA-OPF allocates different transmission resources to different streams based on stream weights to meet quality of service (QoS) requirements, known as stream-aware scheduling. Then, SA-OPF leverages a fuzzy logic system to evaluate the performance of each path in real-time, ensuring that packets are forwarded along the optimal path, known as adaptive scheduling policy. By incorporating stream-aware and adaptive optimal path scheduling, SA-OPF improves QoS for high-priority streams while providing a minimum bandwidth guarantee for low-priority streams. We implement SA-OPF in MPQUIC and evaluate its performance in various heterogeneous network scenarios in both emulated and real-world network environments. Experimental results demonstrate that SA-OPF significantly improves data transmission efficiency and reduces transmission latency compared to existing MPQUIC schedulers
From Headsets to Mindsets:A Taxonomy for Human-centred Extended Reality Experimentations for Cultural Heritage
No full textCultural heritage is undergoing a technological transformation that has an impact on how people experience, act, and relate to cultural heritage found in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. There is a surge in the use of extended reality applications and tools that influence the way people experience virtual artefacts, crafts, traditions, and histori-cal stories. Extended reality is used as an umbrella term incorporating immersive experiences that utilise varying degrees of digital visualisa-tion, encompassing virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reali-ty. Despite the hype around such technologies and the increasingly af-fordable and enhanced visual experiences they afford, there is still ambiguity in terms of the processes, strategies, and human-centred design elements that drive innovation in using extended reality for cul-tural heritage applications. This chapter proposes a taxonomy that acts as a catalyst for designing features, elements, and mechanics reflex-ively and purposefully for constituting the sense and significance of interaction, participation, and meaning-making. The taxonomy could be significant in helping technologists, cultural heritage specialists, and educators harness a culture of change when designing and con-veying cultural heritage experimentations through extended reality
The Impact of Columnar and Equiaxed β -Grain Structures on Mechanical Anisotropy in High-Deposition-Rate Additively Manufactured α + β Titanium Alloys
Get PDFThere is growing interest to produce α + β titanium alloys with high-deposition-rate additive manufacturing (DED-AM) processes for aerospace applications. However, there are still important aspects of their microstructure-mechanical property relationships that are not well understood, which are linked to the macro and microstructure heterogeneities generated by the AM processes and intrinsic titanium metallurgy that produce columnar β-grain structures. Trends in the literature, which are based primarily on Ti-6Al-4V data, have shown mechanical anisotropy is often present when samples exhibit coarse and columnar β-grain structures. This includes yield-stress and elongation anisotropy arising during uniaxial tensile testing, and crack growth rate anisotropy with high scatter recorded during fatigue testing, both of which are generally only tested in orientations parallel and perpendicular to the AM build direction. In this work, this mechanical anisotropy in α + β titanium alloys is investigated in more detail with Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo-0.1Si wire-arc additively manufactured test samples, comparing columnar parent β-grain structures to equiaxed grain structures. In particular, highlighting that the true yield-stress anisotropy in columnar grain samples is only revealed when testing the material at a 45 deg orientation away from the AM build direction. It is also shown that the large grain boundary α colonies that form on parent columnar β-grain boundaries have a significant impact on the fatigue crack growth rate data scatter. Refining the parent β-grain structures is demonstrated to resolve these issues and the related microstructure mechanisms were investigated in detail, using both experimental and crystal plasticity simulation methods. Finally, the formation and three dimensionality of the detrimental grain boundary α colonies that nucleate on columnar β-grain boundaries were investigated for the first time using in-situ SEM heating and 3D-EBSD techniques
Co-creating a digital intervention to address the needs of people providing informal support to survivors of sexual violence and abuse
No full textA Fashion Anthropologist on eBay:Locating, Bidding, Collecting, and Ethnographically Wearing Second-hand Menswear
No full textI have had a long love affair with the online auction website eBay. However, whilst conducting research with bespoke tailors in London and a network of Instagram sartorialists, this love grew into an obsession. Throughout this period of research I amassed a collection of mostly British menswear that resulted from this work, but which frequently languished in wardrobes, unloved and unseen. More recently I have returned to this collection to re-examine it, not merely as the consequence of research, but as a fertile resource in its own right. This article engages with a collection of garments from Joshua Kane, Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen, Anderson and Sheppard, Mark Powell and A Child of the Jago, among others, but primarily examines a process. This ranges from the routine of bidding for specific articles of clothing on online auction sites, to the process by which a collection is subsequently amassed, neglected and rediscovered. By considering the purchasing, collecting and ethnographic wearing of these items as part of a multi-stranded methodological toolkit, questions will be asked as to the role of acquiring and living with garments as a means of understanding the
Do foreign direct investment and trade affect the relationship between temperature and civil conflict?
No full textThis study investigates the role of countries’ outward orientation in the relationship between temperature and civil conflict. We add to existing literature by highlighting the importance of FDI and trade openness as mitigating factors to reduce the risk of temperature-induced conflict. Using data from 62 developing countries covering the period 1990-2022, and incorporating several estimation methods and robustness tests, our results indicate that higher temperature increases conflict risk and onsets, while FDI inflows, particularly non-primary sector FDI, and trade openness, weaken the positive association by virtue of technical innovation and their capacity to stimulate sustainable practices and climate adaptation strategies. Hence, greater trade with developing countries, along with higher foreign investment into their secondary and tertiary sectors, alleviates their trade-off between extreme temperatures and civil conflict. This broader understanding of the macroeconomic factors moderating the temperature-conflict relationship offers another valuable perspective for inter-governmental climate policy-making efforts to reduce civil conflict
Corporate Social Irresponsibility and the Cost of Equity Capital:Evidence from Listed Firms in China
No full textThis paper studies the association between corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and the cost of equity capital in China. Using a sample of 180 firms listed on the main board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange over the period 2013-2018, we identify and measure the extent of corporate misconduct among these firms by creating an index of CSI activity relating to their environmental, social and governance characteristics. We then test the impact of CSI on their cost of equity capital. Our results reveal that higher CSI activities of firms raise their cost of equity financing, although this positive relationship between CSI and the cost of equity capital is shaped by the firms' systematic risks and the institutional environment in which the firms operate
Advertising message design and healthy food purchase intention:the interactive effect of temporal distance and message framing
No full textPurpose In an era of information overload, advertising is an effective mean of influencing consumers’ food preferences. This study focuses on advertising message design and explores how temporal distance and message framing can be effectively combined to promote healthy food consumption. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in construal level theory, this study developed a conceptual model to examine the interactive effect of temporal distance (present vs. future) and message framing (positive vs. negative) on healthy food purchase intentions through three studies. Findings Study 1 found that when the message was negatively framed, the present temporal distance significantly increased purchase intentions for healthy food. In contrast, no significant effect of temporal distance was observed in positive framing. Study 2 discovered that conceptual fluency mediates this interaction effect. Study 3 demonstrated the moderating effect of general health interest (GHI). Specifically, a significant interaction effect between temporal distance and message framing on healthy food purchase intentions was observed only among consumers with low GHI, while those with high GHI were unaffected by message design. Research limitations/implications This study reveals that multidimensional message designs (temporal distance and message framing) in advertising influence consumers’ healthy food purchases through information processing mechanism (conceptual fluency), thereby enriching research related to message design and information processing in persuasive communication and providing valuable theoretical insights into healthy food advertising. Based on the findings of this study, the stakeholders, including managers, marketers and government agencies in the health food and wellness industry, can create more effective advertisements to promote healthy consumption, which enhances both business outcome and overall social benefits. Practical implications Based on the findings of this study, the stakeholders, including managers, marketers and government agencies in the health food and wellness industry, can create more effective advertisements to promote healthy consumption, which enhance both business outcome and overall social benefits. Originality/value In the healthy consumption context, this study elucidates the critical role of message framing in influencing how temporal distance affects consumers’ purchase intention from a persuasive advertising design perspective. Furthermore, it identifies the underlying information processing mechanism underpinning this interactive effect, which enriches the theoretical understanding of the mechanisms driving healthy food advertising effectiveness