Branded lives:the production and consumption of meaning at work

'Branded Lives explodes the myth that a brand must, or even can stand for one unified, easily communicated message. While warning of the dangers of managing to preserve this myth, the book also celebrates the plurality of brand meanings generated by those employed to serve both the brand and the customer. I recommend reading this book in its entirety. If you are like me, your reading will bring a refreshing fullness to the experience of brands and branding and many new insights.' - Mary Jo Hatch, University of Virginia, US. © Matthew J. Brannan, Elizabeth Parsons and Vincenza Priola 2011. All rights reserved.

An analysis of factors influencing the consumption of aluminum in the UK

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'Why don't you try it again?' A comparison of parent led, home based interventions aimed at increasing children's consumption of a disliked vegetable

Previous research suggests that the use of modelling and non-food rewards may be effective at increasing tasting, and consequential liking and acceptance, of a previously disliked food. Although successful school-based interventions have been developed, there is a lack of research into home-based interventions using these methods. This study aimed to develop and investigate the efficacy of a parent led home-based intervention for increasing children's acceptance of a disliked vegetable. A total of 115 children aged 2-4 years were allocated to one of four intervention groups or to a no-treatment control. The four intervention conditions were: repeated exposure; modelling and repeated exposure; rewards and repeated exposure; or modelling, rewards and repeated exposure. Children in all of the intervention conditions were exposed by a parent to daily offerings of a disliked vegetable for 14 days. Liking and consumption of the vegetable were measured pre and post-intervention. Significant increases in post-intervention consumption were seen in the modelling, rewards and repeated exposure condition and the rewards and repeated exposure condition, compared to the control group. Significant post-intervention differences in liking were also found between the experimental groups. Liking was highest (>60%) in the modelling, rewards and repeated exposure group and the rewards and repeated exposure group, intermediate (>26%) in the modelling and repeated exposure and repeated exposure groups, and lowest in the control group (10%). Parent led interventions based around modelling and offering incentives may present cost efficient ways to increase children's vegetable consumption.

Consumption of bilberries controls gingival inflammation

Bioactive molecules in berries may be helpful in reducing the risk of oral diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of bilberry consumption on the outcome of a routine dental clinical parameter of inflammation, bleeding on probing (BOP), as well as the impact on selected biomarkers of inflammation, such as cytokines, in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) in individuals with gingivitis. Study individuals who did not receive standard of care treatment were allocated to either a placebo group or to groups that consumed either 250 or 500 g bilberries daily over seven days. The placebo group consumed an inactive product (starch). A study group, receiving standard of care (debridement only) was also included to provide a reference to standard of care treatment outcome. Cytokine levels were assayed using the Luminex MagPix system. The mean reduction in BOP before and after consumption of test product over 1 week was 41% and 59% in the groups that consumed either 250 or 500 g of bilberries/day respectively, and was 31% in the placebo group, and 58% in the standard of care reference group. The analysis only showed a significantreduction in cytokine levels in the group that consumed 500 g of bilberries/day. A statistically significant reduction was observed for IL-1β (p = 0.025), IL-6 (p = 0.012) and VEGF (p = 0.017) in GCF samples in the group that consumed 500 g of bilberries daily. It appears that berry intake has an ameliorating effect on some markers of gingival inflammation reducing gingivitis to a similar extent compared to standard of care.

Influencing water consumption at South Staffordshire Water PLC : a disaggregated behavioural analysis of contributory factors

This research identifies factors which influence the consumption of potable water supplied to customers' property. A complete spectrum of the customer base is examined including household, commercial and industrial properties. The research considers information from around the world, particularly demand management and tariff related projects from North America. A device termed the Flow Moderator was developed and proven, with extensive trials, to conserve water at a rate equivalent to 40 litres/property/day whilst maintaining standards-of-service considerably in excess of Regulatory requirements. A detailed appraisal of the Moderator underlines the costs and benefits available to the industry through deliberate application of even mild demand management. More radically the concept of a charging policy utilising the Moderator is developed and appraised. Advantages include the lower costs of conventional fixed-price charging systems coupled with the conservation and equitability aspects associated with metering. Explanatory models were developed linking consumption to a range of variables demonstrated that households served by a communal water service-pipe (known in the UK as a shared supply) are subject to associated restrictions equivalent to -180 litres/property/day. The research confirmed that occupancy levels were a significant predictive element for household, commercial and industrial customers. The occurrence of on-property leakage was also demonstrated to be a significant factor recorded as an event which offers considerable scope for demand management in its own right.

Effect of the base station antenna beam tilting on energy consumption in cellular networks

The objective of this paper is to combine the antenna downtilt selection with the cell size selection in order to reduce the overall radio frequency (RF) transmission power in the homogeneous High-Speed Packet Downlink (HSDPA) cellular radio access network (RAN). The analysis is based on the concept of small cells deployment. The energy consumption ratio (ECR) and the energy reduction gain (ERG) of the cellular RAN are calculated for different antenna tilts when the cell size is being reduced for a given user density and service area. The results have shown that a suitable antenna tilt and the RF power setting can achieve an overall energy reduction of up to 82.56%. Equally, our results demonstrate that a small cell deployment can considerably reduce the overall energy consumption of a cellular network.

Vulnerability of exporting nations to the development of a carbon label in the United Kingdom

Carbon labels inform consumers about the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) released during the production and consumption of goods, including food. In the future consumer and legislative responses to carbon labels may favour goods with lower emissions, and thereby change established supply chains. This may have unintended consequences. We present the carbon footprint of three horticultural goods of different origins supplied to the United Kingdom market: lettuce, broccoli and green beans. Analysis of these footprints enables the characterisation of three different classes of vulnerability which are related to: transport, national economy and supply chain specifics. There is no simple relationship between the characteristics of an exporting country and its vulnerability to the introduction of a carbon label. Geographically distant developing countries with a high level of substitutable exports to the UK are most vulnerable. However, many developing countries have low vulnerability as their main exports are tropical crops which would be hard to substitute with local produce. In the short term it is unlikely that consumers will respond to carbon labels in such a way that will have major impacts in the horticultural sector. Labels which require contractual reductions in GHG emissions may have greater impacts in the short term.

Prevalence of alcohol consumption and pattern of use among the elderly in the WHO European Region

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Alcohol-related problems are relevant in the elderly, particularly in developed countries, but there is a lack of cross-country comparisons. The present work aims to examine the frequency and patterns of alcohol consumption in older adults across different European countries, and to analyze the relationship between socioeconomic status and gender with alcohol consumption. METHODS: General population-based household surveys of randomly selected adults over 60 years of age in 14 European countries. PARTICIPANTS: 10,119 subjects [mean age: 70.4 (SD = 7.1)], 61.9% women. RESULTS: There are marked differences in alcohol consumption across countries. Except for three countries from eastern regions, most people in all countries present moderate consumption regarding the amount of alcohol and pattern of use. However, there are marked gender differences, with a higher intake in men (effect sizes ranging from 0.57 to 1.27), although these differences are relatively proportional across countries. Finally, a higher socioeconomic status is positively related (B = 0.845, 95% CI: 0.30/1.40) with alcohol consumption after controlling for gender, age, health-functioning status and the country's development level. CONCLUSIONS: There are marked differences in consumption of alcohol in the elderly between the different countries, and male gender, as well as a higher SES, were associated with higher alcohol consumption.