Who is interested in retail education?:The (mis)match between the leading universities’ offerings and job demand in UK

Purpose. Retail management have acquired the attention of scholars and practitioners, with many international and prestigious journals specifically relating to the topic. Also, top-tier journals in other disciplines have proposed special issues on the new advances in retailing, with emphasis on the role of new and smart technologies. On the one hand, the research in retailing seems to be prolific, on the other hand, the interest in retail education (from a research and university perspective) seems to be more limited. The aim of this paper is to capture the (mis) match between the leading universities’ offerings and job demand in UK. In this way, the paper identifies opportunities for educators and researchers in order to educate future career-ready professionals in retailing, and improve research in retail education. Design/Methodology/Approach. The research evaluates the offer of UK retail education in terms of programmes/courses, focusing on the Russell Group universities for the academic year 2020/2021 (September starts), and the demand of certain skills and competences by the largest retailers in UK. The study utilizes secondary data based on the courses/programmes specifically related to the retail sector, and on the job opportunities through the leading UK grocery retailers. Findings. Findings reveal the extent of the gap between the university educational offerings and the requirements from retailers. Originality/value. To the best of our knowledge this research is the first attempt to capture and compare multiple evidence bases related to academic curriculums and employers’ requirements for specific retail competencies

Competing during a pandemic? Retailers’ ups and downs during the COVID-19 outbreak

The COVID-19 pandemic (that started in early 2020) is causing several disruptions in the short- and mid-term, to which businesses have to adapt. Some retailers have reacted to the emergency immediately, displaying a plethora of different intervention types. The authors aim to synthesize the challenges that retailers are facing during the COVID-19 emergency. We do this from the perspective of both consumers and managers, with the goal of providing guidelines on and examples of how retailers can handle this unprecedented situation

Senescent adipocytes as potential effectors of muscle cells dysfunction: An in vitro model

Recently, there has been a growing body of evidence showing a negative effect of the white adipose tissue (WAT) dysfunction on the skeletal muscle function and quality. However, little is known about the effects of senescent adipocytes on muscle cells. Therefore, to explore potential mechanisms involved in age-related loss of muscle mass and function, we performed an in vitro experiment using conditioned medium obtained from cultures of mature and aged 3 T3-L1 adipocytes, as well as from cultures of dysfunctional adipocytes exposed to oxidative stress or high insulin doses, to treat C2C12 myocytes. The results from morphological measures indicated a significant decrease in diameter and fusion index of myotubes after treatment with medium of aged or stressed adipocytes. Aged and stressed adipocytes presented different morphological characteristics as well as a different gene expression profile of proinflammatory cytokines and ROS production. In myocytes treated with different adipocytes' conditioned media, we demonstrated a significant reduction of gene expression of myogenic differentiation markers as well as a significant increase of genes involved in atrophy. Finally, a significant reduction in protein synthesis as well as a significant increase of myostatin was found in muscle cells treated with medium of aged or stressed adipocytes compared to controls. In conclusion, these preliminary results suggest that aged adipocytes could influence negatively trophism, function and regenerative capacity of myocytes by a paracrine network of signaling

Early-life respiratory tract infections and the risk of school-age lower lung function and asthma: A meta-analysis of 150 000 European children

BACKGROUND: Early-life respiratory tract infections might affect chronic obstructive respiratory diseases, but conclusive studies from general populations are lacking. Our objective was to examine if children with early-life respiratory tract infections had increased risks of lower lung function and asthma at school age. METHODS: We used individual participant data of 150 090 children primarily from the EU Child Cohort Network to examine the associations of upper and lower respiratory tract infections from age 6 months to 5 years with forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC, forced expiratory flow at 75% of FVC (FEF75%) and asthma at a median (range) age of 7 (4-15) years. RESULTS: Children with early-life lower, not upper, respiratory tract infections had a lower school-age FEV1, FEV1/FVC and FEF75% (z-score range: -0.09 (95% CI -0.14- -0.04) to -0.30 (95% CI -0.36- -0.24)). Children with early-life lower respiratory tract infections had a higher increased risk of school-age asthma than those with upper respiratory tract infections (OR range: 2.10 (95% CI 1.98-2.22) to 6.30 (95% CI 5.64-7.04) and 1.25 (95% CI 1.18-1.32) to 1.55 (95% CI 1.47-1.65), respectively). Adjustment for preceding respiratory tract infections slightly decreased the strength of the effects. Observed associations were similar for those with and without early-life wheezing as a proxy for early-life asthma. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that early-life respiratory tract infections affect development of chronic obstructive respiratory diseases in later life, with the strongest effects for lower respiratory tract infections

is it enough to put yourself in another s shoes reflections about the relationship between empathy and prosocial behaviour

Empathy is the ability to understand another one's mental states in terms of emotions and thoughts. In the pubblic mind, often, this skill is directly related to the ability to act in a prosocial, or moral, way. Clinical literature shows us that some neural deficits and psychological disorders can actually cause a significant lack of empathic ability and therefore the implementation of socially maladaptive behaviours, even criminal. However, there are also some diagnostic categories characterised by failure to "put yourself in another's shoes", but patients don't usually act in an antisocial way; then, not all the criminals meet the criteria for psychiatric diagnosis. So, the question is: only low levels of empathy leads to antisocial behaviours? And if so, does therapeutic interventions for empathic skill entail moral enhancement? The present work aim to answer to all those issues through a multilevel and cross-discilplinary analysis of psychology, neurosciences and philosophy literature

Is it enough to put yourself in another’s shoes? Reflections about the relationship between empathy and prosocial behaviour

Empathy is the ability to understand another one's mental states in terms of emotions and thoughts. In the pubblic mind, often, this skill is directly related to the ability to act in a prosocial, or moral, way. Clinical literature shows us that some neural deficits and psychological disorders can actually cause a significant lack of empathic ability and therefore the implementation of socially maladaptive behaviours, even criminal. However, there are also some diagnostic categories characterised by failure to "put yourself in another's shoes", but patients don't usually act in an antisocial way; then, not all the criminals meet the criteria for psychiatric diagnosis. So, the question is: only low levels of empathy leads to antisocial behaviours? And if so, does therapeutic interventions for empathic skill entail moral enhancement? The present work aim to answer to all those issues through a multilevel and cross-discilplinary analysis of psychology, neurosciences and philosophy literature

Forecasting artificial intelligence on online customer assistance:evidence from chatbot patents analysis

none2siThe main goal of this research is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the actual progresses in artificial intelligence, with emphasis on chatbots as emerging forms of customer assistance in online retailing. Drawing upon an analysis of the chatbot patents in the past 20 years, our findings show the increasing technology push towards the adoption of new conversational agents based on natural language. Findings also highlight the extent to which the research and development efforts are attempting to improve artificial intelligence systems that characterize chatbots. To this end, technology advancements are mainly focusing on: (i) improving chatbot ability to automatically draw inferences on users starting from multiple data sources, and (ii) using consumers’ knowledge adaptively to provide more customized solutions. Finally, results show the tight relationship between the digital assistants’ analytical skills and their ability to automatically interact with the users.mixedPantano, Eleonora; Pizzi, GabrielePantano, Eleonora; Pizzi, Gabriel

Shopping with(out) distancing:modelling the personal space to limit the spread of contagious disease among con- sumers in retail stores

This research aims at providing a new model of consumers’ perso- nal space to limit the spread of contagious disease while shopping in person. To this end, it adopts an agents-based simulation approach to model consumers’ movements in the store during COVID-19 pandemic. Findings show the extent to which consumers’ contacts with others increase the risk of contagion, due to the occurrence of social gatherings in certain areas. Specifically, there is a linear correlation between the number of consumers in the store and the number of consumers susceptible to contract the disease. Thus, the personal space from a psychological perception becomes an individual and compulsory boundary to protect con- sumers from contagious disease. Finally, our results extend the concept of social distance and personal space while shopping, and support retailers to provide safer shopping experiences

Enhancing store layout decision with agent-based simulations of consumers’ density

Customer concentration inside a store is of pivotal importance for retail management, acquiring controversial contributions about the best number of consumers in the floor space to ensure an enjoyable and pleasant experience. Indeed, the excessive concentration of people (crowd) might discourage from shopping in that location, while on the other hand, a certain traffic to the store generates profit for retailers. The aim of this paper is to support retailers’ informed decisions by refining our understanding of the extent to which store layouts influences consumer density. To this end, we conduct a large field study using a unique dataset covering customers in a real grocery store with agent-based simulations. Results clearly show the extent to which this kind of simulations help predicting the changes in store layout able to affect customer density in the areas, while ensuring the same number of individuals