Darwin’s ghost : evolutionary psychology and consumer behaviour analysis

The consumer behaviour analysis research programme continues to develop as both anintellectual discipline and an applied area of empirical inquiry, enriching ourunderstanding of consumer responses to the products and services of everyday life, andto the marketing of those products and services. To date, however, the programme hasfunctioned largely at an ontogenetic level, developing proximate‐level accounts ofconsumer choice based upon operant learning at the expense of any meaningfulengagement with the more ultimate‐level accounts of such phenomena offered byadoption of a more phylogenetic perspective. In an attempt to address this potential gapin current knowledge, this paper introduces the central tenets of neo‐Darwinian theoryand their relevance for the consumer behaviour‐analytic programme. More specifically,the paper seeks to apply adaptionist logic to the Behavioural Perspective Model, theprinciple explanatory framework within consumer behaviour analysis, in order todemonstrate how the hypotheses generated by that framework may gain greaterconceptual clarity and empirical precision through accommodation of both ontogenyand phylogeny within its sphere of reference

Concert recording 2021-04-21

[Track 1]. Concerto no. 7 in E minor for flute and piano. I. Allegro / François Devienne -- [Track 2]. Serenade for flute and piano, op. 35 / Howard Hanson -- [Track 3]. Deep blue for flute and piano / Ian Clarke -- [Track 4]. Fantasia in D major for flute solo / Friedrich Kuhlau

From F.O.M.O. to Changxin: A Cross-cultural Exploration of Consumer Response to Newness in the Fast-moving Consumer Goods Industry

The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry is subject to quick and impulsive decision making by consumers. As a result, new products on the market have an opportunity to be purchased but do struggle to remain on the shelves. New products in EU markets are failing, whilst in emerging countries FMCG brand growth and new product success continues to increase. This paper extends the current literature on new product development, product design and line extensions to explore why newness is more attractive in emerging markets compared to EU markets. Data collected from focus groups in the UK, Brazil and China are analysed to develop four main themes for discussion. Hedonic consumption, utilitarian consumption, touchpoints and self-regulation are involved in the consumer purchasing of new FMCG products. An interesting hedonic consideration is the idea of F.O.M.O, (fear of missing out) or Changxin in China, when not purchasing a product would mean missing out on what others are using and a potentially better alternative to the present product. Finally, the identified themes demonstrate cultural differences between the subject countries and recognise why new products are more likely to be purchased in Brazil and China

Using social media big data for tourist demand forecasting: A new machine learning analytical approach

This study explores the possibility of using a machine learning approach to analysing social media big data for tourism demand forecasting. We demonstrate how to extract the main topics discussed on Twitter and calculate the mean sentiment score for each topic as the proxy of the general attitudes towards those topics, which are then used for predicting tourist arrivals. We choose Sydney, Australia as the case for testing the performance and validity of our proposed forecasting framework. The study reveals key topics discussed in social media that can be used to predict tourist arrivals in Sydney. The study has both theoretical implications for tourist behavioural research and practical implications for destination marketing

No association between perfluoroalkyl chemicals and hypertension in children

Background Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are perfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) used in the manufacture of common consumer products and detected in the blood of the majority of Americans. Emerging biological data suggest that PFC exposure may have a role in the development of hypertension. However, the association between PFCs and hypertension has not yet been explored in humans. Therefore, we examined this association in a representative sample of US children. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed on 1,655 children from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999–2000 and 2003–2008. The main outcome of interest was hypertension, defined as age, height, and sex specific systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure level at the 95th percentile. Results We found no association between serum levels of PFOA and PFOS and hypertension in either unadjusted or multivariable-adjusted analyses controlling for age, sex, race-ethnicity, body mass index, annual household income, moderate activity, total serum cholesterol, and serum cotinine. Compared with the lowest quartile, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of hypertension in the highest quartile of exposure was 0.69 (0.41–1.17) for PFOA and 0.77 (0.37–1.61) for PFOS (all P-trend values >0.30). Conclusion Our findings indicate that exposure to PFOA or PFOS is not significantly associated with hypertension in children at the lower PFC exposure levels typical of the general population

Functionalizable molecular tubing synthesis combining self-immolative polymers and rotaxanes

Carbon nanotubes are used daily for many applications such as support for automotive parts, water filtration and energy storage, due to their high tensile strength and lightweight nature. However, a limitation lies in their structure since pure carbon does not allow for easy nor high yielding ways to add functional groups in the molecular structure. A variation of organic molecular tubing with modifiable groups can be constructed from synthesizing polyrotaxanes, which are repeating units of interlocked self-immolative polymers (SIPs) and macrocyclic compounds. SIPs are molecules which are specifically end capped for stability until it encounters a specific environmental condition that causes the polymer to spontaneously degrade. Endcaps can be selectively chosen to destabilize under certain stimuli such as enzymes, UV light and chemical analytes allowing for SIP’s to be used in a variety of functions such as drug delivery. Currently, most research focus on linear SIP’s to form spheres encapsulating drug molecules that deliver into cancer cells. Our work introduces a novel benzimidazole-backbone, resulting in a SIP that includes blocky ends which physically locks functionalized macrocycles in place to allow for cross linkage and any post-modifications. Application of a specific stimulus would allow for the inner bulky groups to degrade and ultimately leave a hollow molecular tube with the specific functionalizations desired

Comparative analysis of remotely-sensed data products via ecological niche modeling of avian influenza case occurrences in Middle Eastern poultry.

Ecological niche modeling integrates known sites of occurrence of species or phenomena with data on environmental variation across landscapes to infer environmental spaces potentially inhabited (i.e., the ecological niche) to generate predictive maps of potential distributions in geographic space. Key inputs to this process include raster data layers characterizing spatial variation in environmental parameters, such as vegetation indices from remotely sensed satellite imagery. The extent to which ecological niche models reflect real-world distributions depends on a number of factors, but an obvious concern is the quality and content of the environmental data layers

Pax3 Stimulates p53 Ubiquitination and Degradation Independent of Transcription

Background: Pax3 is a developmental transcription factor that is required for neural tube and neural crest development. We previously showed that inactivating the p53 tumor suppressor protein prevents neural tube and cardiac neural crest defects in Pax3-mutant mouse embryos. This demonstrates that Pax3 regulates these processes by blocking p53 function. Here we investigated the mechanism by which Pax3 blocks p53 function. Methodology/Principal Findings We employed murine embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived neuronal precursors as a cell culture model of embryonic neuroepithelium or neural crest. Pax3 reduced p53 protein stability, but had no effect on p53 mRNA levels or the rate of p53 synthesis. Full length Pax3 as well as fragments that contained either the DNA-binding paired box or the homeodomain, expressed as GST or FLAG fusion proteins, physically associated with p53 and Mdm2 both in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, Splotch Pax3, which causes neural tube and neural crest defects in homozygous embryos, bound weakly, or not at all, to p53 or Mdm2. The paired domain and homeodomain each stimulated Mdm2-mediated ubiquitination of p53 and p53 degradation in the absence of the Pax3 transcription regulatory domains, whereas Splotch Pax3 did not stimulate p53 ubiquitination or degradation. Conclusions/Significance: Pax3 inactivates p53 function by stimulating its ubiquitination and degradation. This process utilizes the Pax3 paired domain and homeodomain but is independent of DNA-binding and transcription regulation. Because inactivating p53 is the only required Pax3 function during neural tube closure and cardiac neural crest development, and inactivating p53 does not require Pax3-dependent transcription regulation, this indicates that Pax3 is not required to function as a transcription factor during neural tube closure and cardiac neural crest development. These findings further suggest novel explanations for PAX3 functions in human diseases, such as in neural crest-derived cancers and Waardenburg syndrome types 1 and 3

Freeze-cast yttria-stabilized zirconia pore networks: Effects of alcohol additives

Freeze casting yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) can be useful in making electrodes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) by introducing hierarchical porosity to increase triple-phase boundary (TPB) area while maintaining adequate fuel flow. In this study the influence of alcohol additives on pore structure of aqueous YSZ freeze-cast samples was investigated. Slurries with ethanol, iso-propyl alcohol, or methanol as additives were compared to a control sample. Pore characteristics along sample lengths were measured using X-ray computed tomography reconstructions. The control sample showed significant changes in pore size along sample length, whereas pore size of the alcohol additive samples remained similar, indicating that freezing rates of the additive samples remained constant during solidification. Ice lens formation and interactions between alcohols and slurry functional additives (dispersant, surfactant, and binder) resulted in complex pore structures which show promise in increasing SOFC TPB area