Kindness is contagious : Exploring engagement in a gamified persuasive intervention for wellbeing

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank all the volunteers who participated in this pilot study and provided helpful comments. The first author is funded by an EPSRC doctoral training grant.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Persuasive technology design for children : Changing behaviours, improving knowledge, and encouraging positive attitudes towards drinking water

Publisher Copyright: 2023 Copyright for this paper by its authors.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Chemical Profile and Bioactivity Evaluation of <i>Salvia</i> Species from Eastern Europe

The Salvia genus comprises about 1000 species endowed with medicinal, aromatic, cosmetic, and ornamental applications. Even though the genus is one of the most-studied taxa of the Lamiaceae family, data on the chemical composition and biological properties of certain locally used Salvia species are still scarce. The present work aimed to evaluate the phytochemical profile and antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic potential of ten Salvia species that grow in Eastern Europe (e.g., the Republic of Moldova). LC-HRMS/MS metabolite profiling allowed for the annotation of 15 phenolic and organic acids, 18 flavonoids, 19 diterpenes, 5 sesterpenes, and 2 triterpenes. Multivariate analysis (e.g., principal component analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis) revealed that S. austriaca, S. nutans, and S. officinalis formed individual clusters, whereas the remaining species had a similar composition. S. officinalis showed the highest activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae (MIC = 0.625 mg/mL). As evaluated in DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays, S. officinalis was one of the most potent radical scavenging and metal-reducing agents (CE50 values of 25.33, 8.13, and 21.01 μg/mL, respectively), followed by S. verticillata, S. sclarea, S. kopetdaghensis, S. aethiopis, and S. tesquicola. Pearson correlation analysis revealed strong correlations with rosmarinic acid, luteolin-O-glucuronide, and hydroxybenzoic acid. When the cytotoxic activity was evaluated in human breast carcinoma MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, no significant reduction in cell viability was observed over the concentrations ranging from 25 and 100 μg/mL. The results confirm the potential use of understudied Salvia species as promising sources of antioxidant compounds for developing novel pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, or cosmeceutical products

Actual persuasiveness: Impact of personality, age and gender on message type susceptibility

Persuasive technologies use a variety of strategies and principles to encourage people to adopt and maintain beneficial behaviours and attitudes. In this paper we investigate the influence of Cialdini’s seven persuasive principles on people’s choices, actions and behaviour. In contrast to related work investigating perceived persusaion, this study analyses actual persuasion. We also investigate the impact of personality, age and gender on people’s susceptibility to different message types. Furthermore, we investigate if people’s susceptibility to different persuasive messages is consistent over time. The findings suggest that certain persuasive principles have a greater influence on a person’s actions than others, with Reciprocity and Liking being the most effective. Our results differ from work investigating perceived persuasiveness, suggesting that what people perceive to be more persuasive is not necessarily what will persuade them to perform an action. Moreover, the study showed that people’s susceptibility to different principles is dependent on their personality traits, and it remains constant with time. The findings from this study have implications for future work on personalising persuasive strategies and designing digital behaviour change interventions