The effects of green brand image on brand loyalty : The case of mainstream fast food brands

While a number of studies have explored consumer attitudes and behaviors towards green brands, the importance of green brand image for mainstream brands is less well understood. This study seeks to explore if the green image of mainstream fast food brands influences consumer loyalty and how their attitudes towards and knowledge of environmental issues may affect perceptions of the environmental performance of fast food brands. Using data gathered from a convenience sample of 2001 Gen Y and Gen Z consumers in France, our study establishes a critical linkage between consumers' environmental values and brand loyalty by including green brand image as a mediator. Further, by exploring mainstream brands, rather than brands that are positioned primarily on green attributes, we find that the mediating effect of green brand image may be dependent on the brand positioning

Time series analysis of COVID-19's impact on physician and dentist visits in Iran

This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on general practitioner (GP), specialist, and dentist visits among 40 million Iranians covered by the Social Security Organization (SSO). A monthly interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) was conducted over a period of 72 months, including - 47 months before the pandemic and 25 months after its onset. The outcomes variables were monthly number of GP, specialist, and dentist visits per 1,000 SSO-insured individuals. The analysis was performed by total visits, visits to the SSO direct sector, and visits to the indirect sectors. The study found that in the first month of the pandemic, the number of visits per 1,000 insured individuals significantly decreased for visits to GPs (by 51.12, 95% CI: -64.42 to -37.88), visits to specialists (by 39.11, 95% CI: -51.61 to -26.62), and visits to dentists (by 6.67, 95% CI: -8.55 to -4.78). However, during the subsequent months of the pandemic, there was a significant increase in the number of monthly visits for all three categories, with GPs experiencing the highest increase (1.78 visits per 1,000 insured), followed by specialists (1.32 visits per 1,000 insured), and dentists (0.05 visits per 1,000 insured). Furthermore, prior to the pandemic, the number of monthly GP visits per 1,000 insured individuals was statistically significantly lower in the indirect sector compared to the direct sector (45.79, 95% CI: -52.69 to -38.89). Conversely, the direct sector exhibited lower rates of specialist visits (25.84 visits per 1,000 insured individuals, 95% CI: 22.87 to 28.82) and dentist visits (0.75 visits per 1,000 insured individuals, 95% CI: 0.12 to 1.36) compared to the indirect sector. Additionally, the study found that in the first month of the pandemic, the monthly number of GP visits in the indirect sector significantly increased by 34.44 times (95% CI: 24.81 to 44.08) compared to the direct sector. For specialist visits and dentist visits, the increase was 3.41 (95% CI: -5.87 to 12.69) and 5.01 (95% CI: 3.48 to 6.53) per 1,000 insured individuals, respectively. Overall, the findings of this study demonstrate statistically significant disruptions in GP, specialist, and dentist visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, although some recovery was observed. Both the direct and indirect sectors experienced decreased visits

Small dams drive Anopheles abundance during the dry season in a high malaria burden area of Malawi

This study explores the influence of small dams on the exposure to malaria vectors during the dry season in Kasungu district, Malawi, an area recently identified as high priority for malaria interventions by the National Malaria Control Programme. Small dam impoundments provide communities with a continuous supply of water for domestic and agricultural activities across sub‐Saharan Africa and are considered vital to food security and climate change resilience. However, these permanent water bodies also create ideal breeding sites for mosquitoes in typically arid landscapes. The study focuses on a specific dam impoundment and its vicinity, aiming to assess its spatial and temporal influence on indoor vector densities. From May to August 2021, CDC light traps were used to measure indoor mosquito densities for two consecutive nights per month in three communities located at increasing distances from the dam (0, ~1 and ~2 km). Simultaneously, drone imagery was captured for each community, enabling the identification of additional standing water within approximately 400 m of selected households. Larval sampling was carried out within the impoundment periphery and in additional water bodies identified in the drone imagery. Generalised linear mixed models (GLMMs) were employed to analyse the indoor Anopheles abundance data, estimating the effects of household structure (open/closed eaves), month, temperature and water proximity on malaria vector exposure. Throughout 685 trapping nights, a total of 1256 mosquitoes were captured, with 33% (412) being female Anopheles. Among these, 91% were morphologically identified as Anopheles funestus s.l., and 5% as Anopheles gambiae s.l. Catches progressively decline in each consecutive trapping month as the environment became drier. This decline was much slower in Malangano, the community next to the dam, with abundance being notably higher in June and July. Further, the majority of An. gambiae s.l. were caught in May, with none identified in July and August. Anopheles larvae were found both in the impoundment and other smaller water bodies such as irrigation wells in each survey month; however, the presence of these smaller water bodies did not have a significant impact on adult female mosquito catches in the GLMM. The study concludes that proximity to the dam impoundment was the primary driver of differences between survey communities with the abundance in Chikhombwe (~1 km away) and Chiponde (~2 km away) being 0.35 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.19–0.66) and 0.28 (95% CI, 0.16–0.47) lower than Malangano, respectively, after adjusting for other factors. These findings underscore the importance of targeted interventions, such as larval source management or housing improvements, near small dams to mitigate malaria transmission risks during the dry season. Further research is needed to develop cost‐effective strategies for vector control within and around these impoundments

A large-scale and PCR-referenced vocal audio dataset for COVID-19

The UK COVID-19 Vocal Audio Dataset is designed for the training and evaluation of machine learning models that classify SARS-CoV-2 infection status or associated respiratory symptoms using vocal audio. The UK Health Security Agency recruited voluntary participants through the national Test and Trace programme and the REACT-1 survey in England from March 2021 to March 2022, during dominant transmission of the Alpha and Delta SARS-CoV-2 variants and some Omicron variant sublineages. Audio recordings of volitional coughs, exhalations, and speech were collected in the ‘Speak up and help beat coronavirus’ digital survey alongside demographic, symptom and self-reported respiratory condition data. Digital survey submissions were linked to SARS-CoV-2 test results. The UK COVID-19 Vocal Audio Dataset represents the largest collection of SARS-CoV-2 PCR-referenced audio recordings to date. PCR results were linked to 70,565 of 72,999 participants and 24,105 of 25,706 positive cases. Respiratory symptoms were reported by 45.6% of participants. This dataset has additional potential uses for bioacoustics research, with 11.3% participants self-reporting asthma, and 27.2% with linked influenza PCR test results

Palliative care for non-cancer conditions in primary care : A time trend analysis in the UK (2009-2014)

Objectives While guidelines recommend palliative care in non-cancer conditions, this has not been widely implemented. We examined whether the recording of a palliative care approach and the numbers of hospital deaths for deceased patients with heart failure, dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancer have changed since the UK End-of-Life Care Strategy was introduced. Methods We conducted sequential cross-sectional studies of decedents within the UK’s Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics. All adults with a primary care record of COPD (n=5426), dementia (n=7339), heart failure (n=6409) or cancer (n=18 668) who died during three 1 year periods (April 2009 to March 2014) were included. Evidence of a palliative care approach was identified from primary care records, and death in hospital from secondary care data. Results From 2009 to 2014, proportions with a primary care record of palliative care increased for COPD from 13.6% to 21.2%; dementia from 20.9% to 40.7%; and heart failure from 12.6% to 21.2%; but remained substantially lower than for cancer (57.6% to 61.9%). Median days before death of recording improved for COPD (145 to 224) and dementia (44 to 209); but not for heart failure (168.5 to 153) and cancer (123 to 114). Trends in hospital deaths were not consistently downward, although the proportions of patients dying in hospital were lower in the last period compared with the first. Conclusions Recording of a palliative care approach for non-cancer conditions has increased since the introduction of the UK End-of-Life Care Strategy, but remains inadequate

The future as a public good : decolonising the future through anticipatory participatory action research

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to nurture reflections on the colonization of the future in the present with a particular focus on Africa. This paper aims at exploring how participatory research and particularly anticipatory action research can contribute to a decolonising process. Design/methodology/approach: Considering the future as a public good, this paper develops a reflection on the colonization processes that can turn it into a club or a private good. This paper mobilizes the notions of participatory knowledge production and local action research as a way to decolonize the future and empower imagination. This paper revisits the tenets of participatory action research as a means to achieve this objective and discusses the main features of a non-colonial anticipatory action research in the context of African futures. Findings: This paper highlights the challenges associated with connecting anticipatory endeavours focusing on action research, the creation of collective intelligence and co-design, with the intention of encouraging the decolonisation process. It includes design principles and anticipates a possible process of counter-decolonization. Research limitations/implications: This is a conceptual paper, which does not provide field-tested evidence. Yet, the authors hope it serves as an input enabling to design methodologies that will prevent the colonisation of the future when engaging in future-oriented research activities in Africa and elsewhere. Originality/value: This paper provides an integral approach to the colonisation of the future, as a renewed old question. This paper also connects this process with a reflection on the nature of what could be non-colonizing anticipatory action research

Heat-as-a-Service (HaaS) : a Complex Adaptive Systems perspective on servitization

Servitization increases uncertainty and complexity in manufacturing firms by introducing dynamic interdependencies within and between organisations. This study proposes the conceptual lens of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) to frame manufacturers’ service delivery systems and a hybrid simulation approach to explore the dynamic interdependencies of their servitization journeys. The case of a boiler manufacturer transforming to a provider of Heat-as-a-Service (HaaS) is used to examine the dynamic interdependencies between the growth of a service business, digitalisation efforts and operational efficiency as well as the interaction between the emerging service- and existing product business. The findings indicate that the manufacturer will experience an initial ‘cost-shock’ which will significantly decline as service delivery optimises and diagnostic accuracy improves. The study contributes to the servitization literature by introducing CAS as a theoretical perspective and hybrid modelling as a practical approach to explore and reconcile the strategic and operational dimensions of servitization

Farmers' perception of soil health : The use of quality data and its implication for farm management

Preventing and reversing soil degradation is essential to maintaining the ecosystem services provided by soils and guaranteeing food security. In addition to the scientific community, it is critical to engage multiple stakeholders to assess the degree of soil degradation and mitigation strategies' impact and meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, European Union's Common Agricultural Policy, and other national and international goals. A semi‐structured questionnaire was distributed across countries participating in the EU Horizon‐2020 “Transforming Unsustainable management of soils in key agricultural systems in E.U. and China. Developing an integrated platform of alternatives to reverse soil degradation (TUdi).” Using farmers' associations and educational institutions as an intermediate to distribute the questionnaires was an effective strategy for gathering a high number of responses. Results from 456 responses to the questionnaire showed that farm country, size, type of agriculture, and educational level of farm managers were significantly associated with the farmers' perception of soil degradation issues. Farm size and type of agriculture were also correlated with applying a nutrient management plan. The implications of the results for soil conservation measures are discussed. Additionally, we highlight the potential of projects such as TUdi for creating collaboration networks to drive widespread adoption by farmers of technologies to reverse the degradation of agricultural soils