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Social media engagement style may be linked with perceived social connectedness – new research
A novel experimental task measuring behaviour on a social networking site identifies key differences between passive, reactive and interactive usage 526 users were observed on the mock platform to monitor usage according to frequency of likes, shares, and scrolling More interactive users reported greater social connectedness and social capital Researchers at Aston University have developed a new experimental task, involving a mock social networking site, which grouped people into three distinct styles of social media use—passive, reactive and interactive. Led by Dr Daniel Shaw and Dr Charlotte Pennington in the School of Psychology, at Aston University, the new findings also suggest that interactive users reported greater feelings of social connectedness than passive or reactive users. Despite the wealth of research into the psychological impact of social networking site (SNS) usage, inconsistent findings have prevented any firm conclusions from being drawn. While some studies have concluded that social media usage was associated with increased social connectedness and reduced loneliness, others reported detriments to loneliness and wellbeing with greater use of such platforms. In their new work, published in the journal PLOS ONE, the researchers administered the Social Networking SiteBehavior Task (SNSBT) online to 526 individuals, who also completed questionnaires on their levels of loneliness, sense of belonging, social connectedness, online social capital and answered questions about their Facebook usage and friendship network. The SNSBT grouped users into three discrete groups depending on how often they clicked “Next,” “Like,” or “Share” on 90 images presented to them on the mock SNS. On average, passive users, about 39% of those in the study, clicked “Next” most often (on 85% of images). Reactive users, 35.4% of the study, most often clicked either “Next” (59% of the time) or “Like” (36% of the time). Interactive users, 25.7% of participants, mostly clicked “Like” (51% of the time) or “Share” (20% of the time). Analysis of the data revealed that interactive users had, on average, more Facebook friends, spent more time on Facebook, and reported greater feelings of social connectedness and social capital than passive or reactive SNS users. However, this study could not determine if any causal or directional link between these factors exists. The researchers are planning to carry outfurther work in this area. The authors concluded that the simple SNSBT tool they developed, now publicly available, could help researchers quantitatively differentiate between different SNS usage styles and overcome the limitations of self-report data, enhancing future research in the field of cyberpsychology. Dr Daniel Shaw said: “This study introduces a new tool with which researchers can measure different styles of engagement on social networking platforms and indicates that our style of engagement can be more important for our psychological wellbeing than the amount of time we spend on social media.” Dr Charlotte Pennington added: “Individuals displaying more interactive styles of usage on our platform reported stronger feelings of social connectedness and social capital compared with those who showed more reactive or passive behaviour. Our team has developed the first mock social networking site that can be used to measure natural styles of usage, free from the ethical concerns that arise when people log into their own phones.”
Brexit changes caused 22.9% slump in UK-EU exports into Q1 2022 - research
Researchers at Aston assessed the impact of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK UK exports fell by an average of 22.9% in the first 15 months following the deal Variety of UK products exported to EU down by 42% Research by the Centre for Business Prosperity at Aston University has shown that UK exports to the EU fell by an average of 22.9% in the first 15 months after the introduction of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, highlighting the continuing challenges that UK firms are facing. Building on earlier work funded through Aston University’s Enterprise Research Centre, the researchers found that a negative effect on UK exports persisted and deepened from January 2021-March 2022. According to the research, the UK has also experienced a significant contraction in the variety of goods being exported to the EU, with an estimated loss of 42% of product varieties. The researchers say this, combined with an increased concentration of export values to fewer products, has serious implications for the UK’s future exporting and productivity. The authors are calling for an urgent national debate from politicians about the UK’s post-Brexit trade arrangements. The researchers assessed the impact of the TCA, which allows goods to continue to be bought and sold between the UK and EU without tariffs in the wake of Brexit, by creating an ‘alternative UK economy’ model, based on the case that the UK had remained within the European Union. By comparing the model UK’s exports and imports with actual figures for the UK, they could accurately isolate the impact which the new trade rules were having. “What we are seeing is the effect of Brexit on exports; and that is persisting. It’s not diminishing, and exports have yet to show signs of recovering,” says Professor Jun Du of Aston University. “Until this serious problem with exports is openly acknowledged and discussed, we won’t see any necessary actions being taken.” Unlike exports, an initially significant drop on EU imports to Britain has recovered during the same period, suggesting that UK businesses and consumers have quickly adjusted to new rules. This stands in contrast to the persistent decline in UK exports, which the researchers believe is caused by more fundamental factors. Professor Du said: “It seems that the UK can buy, but it can’t sell – and that’s reinforcing the problem of Brexit. A reduction in import bottlenecks might help exports to rebound, but this recovery is likely to be offset by the rising costs of imports.” Researchers found that as many as 42% of the product varieties previously exported to the EU have disappeared during the 15 months after January 2021. This, they say, is principally caused by a large number of exporters simply ceasing to export to the EU, while the remaining exporters are streamlining their product ranges. Co-author, Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo, says: “The product varieties that have disappeared are mostly those with low export value – we know this because the average export value increased as the number of varieties declined. These products are the ones typically exported by small firms or new exporters, or are exported to new markets. And It’s those smaller businesses that would normally export much more in future, as they grow their volumes and products – so that’s the UK’s future export pipeline being affected, which has bleak implications.” Professor Du says: “The evidence we present here shows the real loss of Brexit, the overall competitiveness of the UK as a global trader. The considerable contraction of the UK trade capacity, combined with an increased concentration of export values to fewer products, signify some serious long-term concerns about the UK’s future exporting and productivity. Debate is essential so that the UK can start to address its current challenges. Of course, no one is suggesting going back into the EU, but there are collaborations, conversations and discussions that must be had. If the UK’s political leaders don’t acknowledge the facts, they are setting the course towards even longer-term problems.”
Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics (AIFL) is part of the project to infer authorship of uncredited documents based on writing style AIFL’s Professor Tim Grant and Dr Krzysztof Kredens are experts in authorship analysis Applications may include identifying counterintelligence risks, combating misinformation online, fighting human trafficking and even deciphering authorship of ancient religious texts. Aston University’s Institute for Forensic Linguistics (AIFL) is part of the AUTHOR research consortium which has won an $11.3 million contract to infer authorship of uncredited documents based on the writing style. The acronym stands for ‘Attribution, and Undermining the Attribution, of Text while providing Human-Oriented Rationales’. Worth $1.3 million, the Aston University part of the project is being led by Professor Tim Grant and Dr Krzysztof Kredens, who both are recognised internationally as experts in authorship analysis and who both engage in forensic linguistic casework as expert witnesses. In addition to their recognised general expertise and experience in this area, Professor Grant has specific expertise in using linguistic analysis to enhance online undercover policing and Dr Kredens has led projects to develop authorship identification techniques involving very large numbers of potential authors. The AUTHOR team is led by Charles River Analytics and is one of six teams of researchers that won The Human Interpretable Attribution of Text Using Underlying Structure (HIATUS) programme sponsored by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). The programme uses natural language processing techniques and machine learning to create stylistic fingerprints that capture the writing style of specific authors. On the flip side is authorship privacy - mechanisms that can anonymize identities of authors, especially when their lives are in danger. Pitting the attribution and privacy teams against each other will hopefully motivate each, says Dr Terry Patten, principal scientist at Charles River Analytics and principal investigator of the AUTHOR consortium. “One of the big challenges for the programme and for authorship attribution in general is that the document you’re looking at may not be in the same genre or on the same topic as the sample documents you have for a particular author,” Patten says. The same applies to languages: We might have example articles for an author in English but need to match the style even if the document at hand is in French. Authorship privacy too has its challenges: users must obfuscate the style without changing the meaning, which can be difficult to execute.” In the area of authorship attribution, the research and casework experience from Aston University will assist the team in identifying and using a broad spectrum of authorship markers. Authorship attribution research has more typically looked for words and their frequencies as identifying characteristics. However, Professor Grant’s previous work on online undercover policing has shown that higher-level discourse features - how authors structure their interactions - can be important ‘tells’ in authorship analysis. The growth of natural language processing (NLP) and one of its underlying techniques, machine learning, is motivating researchers to harness these new technologies in solving the classic problem of authorship attribution. The challenge, Patten says, is that while machine learning is very effective at authorship attribution, “deep learning systems that use neural networks can’t explain why they arrived at the answers they did.” Evidence in criminal trials can’t afford to hinge on such black-box systems. It’s why the core condition of AUTHOR is that it be “human-interpretable.” Dr Kredens has developed research and insights where explanations can be drawn out of black box authorship attribution systems, so that the findings of such systems can be integrated into linguistic theory as to who we are as linguistic individuals. Initially, the project is expected to focus on feature discovery: beyond words, what features can we discover to increase the accuracy of authorship attribution? The project has a range of promising applications – identifying counterintelligence risks, combating misinformation online, fighting human trafficking, and even figuring out the authorship of ancient religious texts. Professor Grant said: “We were really excited to be part of this project both as an opportunity to develop new findings and techniques in one of our core research areas, and also because it provides further recognition of AIFL’s international reputation in the field. Dr Kredens added: “This is a great opportunity to take our cutting-edge research in this area to a new level”. Professor Simon Green, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, commented: “I am delighted that the international consortium bid involving AIFL has been successful. As one of Aston University’s four research institutes, AIFL is a genuine world-leader in its field, and this award demonstrates its reputation globally. This project is a prime example of our capacities and expertise in the area of technology, and we are proud to be a partner.” Patten is excited about the promise of AUTHOR as it is poised to make fundamental contributions to the field of NLP. “It’s really forcing us to address an issue that’s been central to natural language processing,” Patten says. “In NLP and artificial intelligence in general, we need to find a way to build hybrid systems that can incorporate both deep learning and human-interpretable representations. The field needs to find ways to make neural networks and linguistic representations work together.” “We need to get the best of both worlds,” Patten says. The team includes some of the world’s foremost researchers in authorship analysis, computational linguistics, and machine learning from Illinois Institute of Technology, Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Howard Brain Sciences Foundation.
Podcast: UK’s first non-white prime minister is ‘big moment’ – but can Rishi Sunak survive?
Academic focuses on importance of UK having its first prime minister of Indian descent Rishi Sunak’s personal family history could be seen as a testament to the ‘British dream’, as he is also ‘richest man’ ever to sit in the House of Commons But his ability at restoring economic stability and tackling cost-of-living crisis will decide his fate at the polls Having the first non-white leader of the UK is undoubtedly a “big moment” in the history of British politics, according to an academic at Aston University. But, although he may be able to count on the British Asian vote at the next general election, Rishi Sunak faces a major challenge to remain in No 10 due, in part, to the growing number of Conservative MPs intending to stand down. Mr Sunak’s rise to become Britain’s first Asian and first Hindu leader has been discussed by Dr Parveen Akhtar, a senior lecturer and deputy head of politics, history and international relations at Aston University. Dr Akhtar, who has studied across Europe and authored a book on British Muslim politics, was speaking as part of the latest episode in the 'Society matters' podcast series, presented by journalist Steve Dyson. She said Rishi Sunak benefitted from a “privileged upbringing”, but also married into wealth in the form of the daughter of Indian billionaire N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of information technology company Infosys. With the couple having a combined wealth of £730 million, Parveen said Rishi Sunak can “allegedly lay claim to another title – the richest man to ever sit in the House of Commons”. A “scandal” over his wife’s non-domiciled tax status had even threatened to end Sunak’s career less than a year ago. But she added: “Whatever the mixed feelings are around his personal fortune, this is nevertheless a big moment. Becoming the first non-white leader of the UK is important. It’s important for the country and it’s important for the UK’s ethic minority communities too.” Dr Akhtar, who is currently writing a new book on the politics of Pakistan and Pakistanis abroad, said Rishi Sunak’s paternal grandparents were from Gujranwala, which is in present-day Pakistan. Sunak, himself, was born in Southampton, but his father Yashvir, a family doctor, and mother, Usha, a pharmacist who studied at Aston University, were born and brought up in present-day Kenya and Tanzania respectively.However, they joined an exodus of Asians from East Africa in the second half of the last century, fuelled by Idi Amin’s wholesale expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972. Sunak’s “cultural affinity” lies with his Indian roots, Dr Akhtar said, including being a practising Hindu, and he himself had said that ‘British Indian’ is what he ticks on the census. She added: “The Sunaks’ personal family history could be read as a testament to the British dream: the idea that the UK is a land of opportunity where, no matter who you are, if you work hard, you can make it right to the top. The formula for success is simple: head down, hard work perseverance.” While Sunak was privately educated at Winchester, and went on to study at both Oxford University in England and Stanford University in the US, he has spoken about various jobs, including being a waiter in an Indian restaurant. Dr Akhtar said that, in some ways, the Conservative Party has a “lot to be proud of” when it comes to promoting ethnic minority colleagues, as reflected by three key posts in Liz Truss’s short-lived administration, and Suella Braverman as the current Home Secretary. Sunak’s own heritage could prove to be an asset in strengthening ties and negotiating trade deals with other countries, with India’s Prime Minister referring to him as the ‘living bridge’ of UK Indians, and US President Joe Biden describing his success as a ‘ground-breaking milestone’. But can an unelected Sunak win the next election amidst soaring inflation and the cost-of-living crisis? Dr Akhtar replied: “These are challenging times to be at the helm of the ship, a ship which many in his party appear to be jumping off, given the number of Conservative MPs who have announced their intention not to stand at the next general election. “If, in the coming months, people feel further fiscal pain, if there are prolonged strikes by teachers and nurses, firefighters and railway workers, if the NHS is overwhelmed this winter, then no matter how slick Sunak’s PR messaging, he will not be elected come election time.”
Aston University partners with paediatric pharmaceutical company to facilitate student research
• Aston University MSc Pharmaceutical Sciences, Drug Delivery and MPharm students work with industry professionals on research projects • Proveca pharmaceutical specialises in the development and licensing of medicines for children • Students will attend workshops led by Proveca and receive coaching on their research proposals. Aston University has partnered with pharmaceutical company Proveca to help support and facilitate final research projects being undertaken by its MSc Pharmaceutical Sciences, Drug Delivery and MPharm students. The partnership between the College of Health and Life Sciences at Aston University and Proveca began with a contract research project during which Professor Afzal Mohammed worked with Proveca to explore the development of drug formulation. Proveca is a pharmaceutical company specialising in the development and licensing of medicines for children. The company has now come on board to support and supervise at least five final year research projects and will help steer the students in the next steps in their lab research. The company will also support a wider number of students by running workshops, educating them on the current challenges of drug formulation development and providing coaching on how to write a research proposal. Professor Afzal Mohammed, associate head of pharmacy at Aston University, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to enhance the student experience and build on our excellent industry focused teaching and research”. The projects are due to start in January 2023 and Proveca has agreed to sponsor the final project prize open to all of our MSc Pharmaceutical Sciences, Drug Delivery and final year MPharm students. Dr Simon Bryson, CEO and founder of Proveca Ltd, said: “We are delighted to be building on our relationship with Aston University, having collaborated over several years on a range of successful projects including PhD sponsorship and supervision, visiting lecturing and MPharm research awards. “The partnership brings together the academic excellence of Aston University with the paediatric pharmaceutical expertise of Proveca which will ultimately drive innovation in paediatric medicines to improve child health.” For more information about the School of Pharmacy at Aston University please visit our website.
Interested in the true pursuit of greatness? Take a look at what Florida Tech has to offer
If you are up for the challenge and want to begin your own relentless pursuit of greatness, let us help. The Florida Tech campus is located in the heart of Florida’s Space Coast. That means proximity to key agencies and operations, such as NASA-Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX, Embraer, L3Harris Corporation, Northrop Grumman and more. Oh, and did we mention there are miles and miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches just moments away? Learn more about all Florida Tech has to offer. Get in touch today! Simply contact: Adam Lowenstein Director of Media Communications (321) 674-8964 adam@fit.edu
Expert Opinion: Real Fur? It’s Just Not in Vogue Anymore!
Back in 1994, animal rights organization PETA launched what would become one of the most iconic campaigns of the decade – and beyond. “I’d rather go naked than wear fur,” sparked a slew of headlines internationally and won support from celebrities such as Naomi Campbell, Gillian Anderson, Pamela Anderson, and others; many of whom agreed to pose nude or semi-naked in support of the anti-fur movement. Three decades on, in February 2020, PETA announced it was retiring the campaign, saying it was “no longer necessary” and citing the “demise of the trade.” Evidence suggests they are right. Since the early noughties, the use of fur among the world’s foremost luxury fashion houses has steadily declined. The production of mink and other pelts–an industry valued at $1.8 billion in the late 80s–has declined in America by around 45 percent in the last 20 years, according to the Department of Agriculture. Meanwhile, high-end fashion brands like Gucci, Vivienne Westwood, and Stella McCartney have pledged to go fur-free, with Fendi, Saint Laurent, and others set to follow suit in 2022. Fur has never been less fashionable. But can activism alone claim victory in the fight for more ethical fashion practices? Emory’s Giacomo Negro, professor of Organization & Management and professor of sociology (by courtesy), has released new research that suggests another major factor played a key role in the process that led to the abandonment of fur; and it’s none other than perennial style bible, Vogue. When Vogue Speaks, People Listen We know that the use of fur has been dropping off steadily on the supply side, on the part of producers and manufacturers themselves, in the last two decades. What we didn’t know was how much of this was down to pressure from PETA and other highly-visible activism. Or whether there might be other forces at play–industry intermediaries that have a gatekeeping function, such as the fashion press, exerting a more subtle but just as powerful influence on the producers of fur. - Giacomo Negro, professor of Organization & Management Hypothesizing this to be the case, Negro teamed up with INSEAD’s Frederic Godart and Greta Hsu of the University of California. First off, they had to determine the most important and global of fashion’s gatekeepers. “There are other publications, but Vogue is undoubtedly a significant force in fashion. The magazine has long occupied a unique position that is neither an insider nor an outsider in the sense that its editors are intimately connected to the top designers and decision-makers in the industry; simultaneously, it’s an external, independent publication with global reach and singularly powerful influence on fashion’s views and tastes.” If Vogue were to take a certain view of the use of fur in clothing over time, would fashion houses take note and follow suit, the researchers wondered? To test this, Negro et al put together a largescale dataset integrating data from more than 18 years of Vogue’s runway reports: features covering fashion shows in Paris, Milan, London, and New York between Spring 2000 and Fall 2018. The set included 670 fashion houses hosting at least two runway shows in this period, focusing on women’s prêt-à-porter designs. Next, the researchers ran an analysis across the texts published by Vogue after each show. They coded words relating to the moral and ethical dimensions of fur use. “When Vogue publishes a report, you don’t just get a review of the collections,” says Negro. “You also get the magazine’s opinion and appraisal of the clothing.” Fur Ethics and the Decline of a Centuries-Old Industry Parsing the attention to fur ethics expressed in these reports and looking at the frequency of the appearance of fur on runways over time, he and his colleagues found something striking: a clear, quantitative correlation between the magazine’s coverage of fur ethics and a drop off in its use by fashion houses, starting in 2011. “From around 2009, Vogue starts referencing the ethical and social concerns around fur and this continues through to 2014. In 2011, you begin to see a steady decline that follows in the use and appearance of fur on catwalks in the major fashion capitals of the world.” But could this simply be credited to an increase in activism at the same time? Unlikely, says Negro. He and his colleagues also looked at data on media coverage of anti-fur events in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. and failed to establish any meaningful correlation with Vogue’s editorial position over the same period. “What seems most plausible is that as an influential industry gatekeeper, Vogue was driving a change in views on fur ethics and fur use, alongside its own changing position on the ethics of fur,” says Negro. And it’s interesting to remember that fashion, like other creative industries, tends to operate in accordance with its own set of rules and its ‘artistic freedom.’ When activists targeted Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fall Show of 2009, he simply announced that he loved fur and would continue using it. However, when Vogue starts weighing in with an opinion, that’s when designers start following suit. - Giacomo Negro, professor of Organization & Management Which isn’t to say that activism did not have a critical role, he adds. In leading and reshaping the conversation around fur over the last three decades, PETA and others have brought the key issues to the attention of the world’s media like no other, says Godart: “Our findings also suggest that specific forms of anti-fur activism such as advertising campaigns, and legal maneuvers, became effective in influencing fashion houses’ decisions to move away from fur when amplified by Vogue’s references to moral concerns around fur use.” For any business or industry looking to navigate changing perceptions, tastes, or sentiments, gatekeeper entities–intermediaries like experts, media publications, and others–can provide useful signals that can help strategic decision-making, say Negro, Godart, and Hsu. Though in the age of social media, it may become that much more difficult to distinguish signals from noise. Proactive organizations might do well to identify and engage with social movements and gatekeepers ahead of change, they say, rather than bide their time until pressure forces their hand. Interested in learning more? Then let us help with your questions or coverage. Giacomo Negro is a professor of Organization & Management and Professor of Sociology at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. Simply click on his icon now to connect and arrange an interview.
Permanent magnets play an indispensable role in renewable energy technologies, including wind turbines, hydroelectric power generators and electric vehicles. Ironically, the magnets used in these “clean energy” technologies are made from rare earth elements such as neodymium, dysprosium and samarium that entail environmentally hazardous mining practices and energy-intensive manufacturing processes, according to Radhika Barua, Ph.D., mechanical and nuclear engineering assistant professor. Access to these rare earth magnets is also heavily reliant on China and demand for them is expected to grow as the U.S. seeks to meet net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. “That anticipated demand poses a challenge to U.S. decarbonization goals as the rare earth elements are characterized by substantial market volatility and geopolitical sensitivity,” Barua says. “This is where our project comes in.” Barua and fellow VCU professors Afroditi Filippas, Ph.D., and Everett Carpenter, Ph.D., are part of a team of VCU researchers working to create new types of magnets. By using additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, they hope to create replacements for those permanent magnets composed of rare earth elements that are made from materials readily available in the U.S. China mines 58 percent of the global supply of rare earth elements used to make neodymium magnets that are widely used in consumer and industrial electronics, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) noted in a February 2022 report. That dominance grows throughout the manufacturing process with China accounting for 92 percent of global magnet production, the DOE estimates. “It would be ideal if we could manufacture the same magnets with the same characteristics without using rare earth elements,” says Filippas, who teaches electromagnetics at VCU. “It would be even better if we could make these magnets using additive manufacturing techniques.” VCU researchers are trying to do that in collaboration with the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM), which brings university, industry and government officials together to tackle manufacturing challenges. The professors are conducting much of their work at CCAM’s lab in Disputanta, Virginia. “We have access to equipment that we would not have access to at VCU,” Filippas says of the benefits of the CCAM partnership. “They provide that level of expertise using the equipment and understanding the process.” The project is funded by the VCU Breakthroughs Fund and CCAM. Barua is working with Carpenter, a chemistry professor, on the materials science part of the project. Filippas is focusing on data analytics and is helping develop a monitoring process to ensure the newly-crafted replacement magnets are viable. In addition to providing a more stable source of supply, Barua says the replacement magnets could also bring environmental benefits. Providing an alternative to rare earth magnets would involve less hazardous mining techniques while also reducing emissions and energy consumption. The replacement magnets are made by filtering particles of iron, cobalt, nickel and manganese through a nozzle where a laser fuses them together through a process known as direct energy deposition. That metal 3D printing approach can make complex shapes while minimizing raw material use and manufacturing costs, Barua says. “Right now, we’re printing straight lines just to see what we’re going to get and see if we can even print them,” Filippas says. “Are we getting the composition of the materials that we want? It’s a slow painstaking process towards freedom from reliance on rare earth materials.” Barua says using additive manufacturing allows researchers to create a unique microstructure layer-by-layer instead of simply making magnets from a cast. Researchers do not expect their replacements to mimic the full strength of rare earth magnets, but they hope to produce mid-tier magnets that are as close as possible to current magnets. Carpenter adds their new magnets could potentially be smaller and weigh less than rare earth magnets, which could lead to numerous benefits. “This reduction would be a big savings to the automobile manufacturing industry, for example, where every ounce matters,” Carpenter says. “In an S-Class Mercedes, there are over 130 magnets used in sensors, actuators or motors. This approach could save pounds of weight which translates into fuel efficiency.” Barua says the team is working to establish the feasibility of their new magnet-making process. They are trying to get the microstructure of the new magnets just right and are using additive manufacturing to fine-tune their magnetic properties, Barua says. “When artificial diamonds, cubic zirconia, was synthetically produced in the lab, it changed the entire diamond industry,” Barua says. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to make synthetic magnets.”
Expert Podcasts: In Corporate Valuation, Customers are King
From investors to managers, business leaders need to understand the true value of companies, but many of the traditional methods are outdated and incomplete. Emory University Goizueta Business School's Professor Dan McCarthy joins to discuss customer-based corporate valuation, including the critical role customer lifetime value plays in driving a company’s success. For more insight and if you're interested in knowing more, then check out Dan's conversation that includes why customer data points are most important to monitor and how investors and managers stand to benefit from this approach. It's right here on the Goizueta Effect podcast. Dan is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Goizueta Business School. His research centers on customer lifetime value, limited data problems, data privacy, and the marketing-finance interface. He is regularly featured as a key expert, with recent coverage in the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The Economist, and CNBC. If you're looking to connect or arrange an interview – simply click on his icon now to book a time today.
Deprivation in childhood linked to impulsive behaviour in adulthood – research
Researchers found a link between childhood deprivation, impulsive behaviour and addictions later in life Behaviours include overeating, taking drugs, smoking cigarettes and gambling A second study found adults living in deprived areas displayed similar impulsive traits Children who have experienced deprivation are more likely to make more impulsive choices than those who don’t and can lead to addictions in later life - research has shown. ‘Trait impulsivity’, the preference for immediate gratification, has been linked to spending more on food, especially unhealthy, highly calorific food. Studies have shown that children who experience poverty and food insecurity tend to have a higher body-mass index as adults than those who do not. Researchers from the School of Psychology at Aston University found a link between deprivation in childhood and impulsive behaviour – leading to addictions later in life. The findings, which are a culmination of six years of research, also found a further link between impulsivity, obesity and the cost of living crisis. Professor Richard Tunney, head of the School of Psychology at Aston University, published a study in Scientific Reports earlier this year where he showed that children who experience deprivation make more impulsive choices than children who don’t. The research team studied 146 children, with an average age of eight, living in some of the most deprived areas of England and compared them with children living in some of the most affluent neighbourhoods. Children were given a choice between taking home a small amount of money (for example, £1) or getting £10 a week, or even more a year later. How long a person is willing to wait for the larger amount of money can be used to calculate a ‘discount rate’ that shows how much the waiting time reduces the value of the money. An impulsive person might prefer £1 now because the value of £10 in six months is ‘discounted’ to less than £1 right now. This means that, for them, the £10, is discounted by £9 over the six-month wait. A less impulsive person might be willing to wait six months for £10, but not wait for a whole year for £15. This means that, for them, the value of the £15 is discounted by £5 over the additional six-month wait. This discount rate is a measure of how impulsive someone is. Commenting on the findings, Professor Tunney said: “The results showed that children living in the most deprived areas had significantly higher discount rates than children living in the least deprived areas, regardless of age or intelligence, indicating that deprivation was the causal factor in the children’s choice. “This preference for immediate outcomes is a stable personality trait that remains constant throughout a person’s life.” However, in the research team’s most recent study published by the Royal Society, they investigated impulsivity in over 1,000 older adults aged between 50 and 90. The study found that older adults living in the most deprived areas showed the same preference for smaller-sooner financial outcomes as the children in the first study. It also found that a person’s job predicted the choices they made. Adults working in technical or routine occupations, such as mechanics or cleaners, chose to receive smaller amounts of money than wait for larger amounts compared with people in professional occupations, such as engineers or scientists. Professor Tunney added: “These findings are concerning because impulsivity doesn’t just predict obesity. These findings tell us a lot about why people living in poorer areas tend to be unhealthier than people living in wealthy areas. “People who experience deprivation as children are more likely to choose to do things that, although they might be pleasurable in the short term, are unhealthy in the long run. This includes overeating, taking drugs, smoking cigarettes and gambling. “We know too, that impulsivity can help to explain why some people go on to become addicts, while other people can avoid some of the more harmful effects of drugs and alcohol. “Deprivation is one of many factors that can lead to impulsive behaviour throughout a person’s lifetime. Genetics also plays a role in impulsivity. Policymakers can’t do anything about a person’s genes but they can influence the nation’s long-term mental and physical health by minimising child poverty. Failing to do so will have long-term implications for the children living through today’s cost of living crisis.” For more information about the School of Psychology at Aston University, please visit our website.
