Digital play and the actualisation of the consumer imagination

In this article, the authors consider emerging consumer practices in digital virtual spaces. Building on constructions of consumer behavior as both a sense-making activity and a resource for the construction of daydreams, as well as anthropological readings of performance, the authors speculate that many performances during digital play are products of consumer fantasy. The authors develop an interpretation of the relationship between the real and the virtual that is better equipped to understand the movement between consumer daydreams and those practices actualized in the material and now also in digital virtual reality. The authors argue that digital virtual performances present opportunities for liminoid transformations through inversions, speculations, and playfulness acted out in aesthetic dramas. To illustrate, the authors consider specific examples of the theatrical productions available to consumers in digital spaces, highlighting the consumer imagination that feeds them, the performances they produce, and the potential for transformation in consumer-players

Self-control and early adolescent antisocial behavior: A longitudinal analysis

Contains fulltext : 73179.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)The article discusses a three-wave longitudinal study that investigates the relationship between self-control and aggressive and delinquent behavior of early adolescent boys and girls. The sample consists of 1,012 Dutch adolescents (mean age = 12.3) in their first year of secondary education. Structural equation modeling analyses reveal that high levels of self-control consistently decrease aggressive and delinquent behavior in the subsequent 6 months follow-up intervals. Results for the total sample do not support the hypothesis that self-control is influenced by previous levels of aggression or delinquency. For boys, the partial evidence found indicates reciprocal effects of self-control and delinquency.21 p

A First Search for coincident Gravitational Waves and High Energy Neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007

We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, science summary page at http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5LV_ANTARES/index.php. Public access area to figures, tables at https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p120000

University-industry relationships and open innovation: Towards a research agenda

Accepted versio

E-retailing ethics in Egypt and its effect on customer repurchase intention

The theoretical understanding of online shopping behaviour has received much attention. Less focus has been given to the formation of the ethical issues that result from online shopper interactions with e-retailers. The vast majority of earlier research on this area is conceptual in nature and limited in scope by focusing on consumers’ privacy issues. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical model explaining what factors contribute to online retailing ethics and its effect on customer repurchase intention. The data were analysed using variance-based structural equation modelling, employing partial least squares regression. Findings indicate that the five factors of the online retailing ethics (security, privacy, non- deception, fulfilment/reliability, and corporate social responsibility) are strongly predictive of online consumers’ repurchase intention. The results offer important implications for e-retailers and are likely to stimulate further research in the area of e-ethics from the consumers’ perspective

Effect of compost-, sand-, or gypsum-amended waste foundry sands on turfgrass yield and nutrient content

To prevent the 7 to 11 million metric tons of waste foundry sand (WFS) produced annually in the USA from entering landfi lls, current research is focused on the reuse of WFSs as soil amendments. Th e eff ects of diff erent WFS-containing amendments on turfgrass growth and nutrient content were tested by planting perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and tall fescue (Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub) in diff erent blends containing WFS. Blends of WFS were created with compost or acid-washed sand (AWS) at varying percent by volume with WFS or by amendment with gypsum (9.6 g gypsum kg–1 WFS). Measurements of soil strength, shoot and root dry weight, plant surface coverage, and micronutrients (Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, B, Na) and macronutrients (N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg) were performed for each blend and compared with pure WFS and with a commercial potting media control. Results showed that strength was not a factor for any of the parameters studied, but the K/Na base saturation ratio of WFS:compost mixes was highly correlated with total shoot dry weight for perennial ryegrass (r = 0.995) and tall fescue (r = 0.94). Th is was further substantiated because total shoot dry weight was also correlated with shoot K/Na concentration of perennial ryegrass (r = 0.99) and tall fescue (r = 0.95). A compost blend containing 40% WFS was determined to be the optimal amendment for the reuse of WFS because it incorporated the greatest possible amount of WFS without major reduction in turfgrass growth