Maggots on BBC Casualty: Evaluating the impact of a Television storyline on awareness and public perceptions of Maggot Therapy

Maggot Therapy is an established, effective treatment for chronic infected wounds. Despite its worldwide success, it suffers from poor public regard and acceptance. In 2019, the primetime BBC Medical Drama, Casualty, decided to run a Maggot Therapy storyline over four episodes of its recent series (series 33). Our study focusses on an evaluation of the impact of this storyline on changes in public awareness and acceptability of Maggot Therapy. The evaluation comprised an online questionnaire (administered through an independent private research company). Our results showed that exposure to the BBC Casualty maggot storyline was associated with a significant increased awareness of Maggot Therapy. Additionally, this resulted in a more positive perception and general acceptability of the treatment, and a decrease in negative responses towards it. Post-wave participants were also more likely to find Maggot Therapy acceptable for their own wound. Our findings suggest that television storylines and narratives are a useful route to raise awareness, inform and educate viewers about important health-related issues. Our study supports the notion that for effective treatments like Maggot Therapy, which often evoke feelings of disgust and reluctance, the persuasive effects of entertainment education could help to transform perception and acceptability.

Global and national dimensions of the socio-economic inequality problem

The article is devoted to the study of socio-economic inequality as one of the key problems of the modern economic system. The author analyzes the evolution, scale and specificity of the manifestation of the phenomenon of inequality in the context of the intensification of economic globalization and the post-Fordist / neoliberal regime of capital accumulation in the global dimension. The national context of inequality is investigated on the example of Ukraine, as one of the post-Soviet countries, consistently implementing the principles of neoliberalism in practice throughout the post-Soviet period. The author pays attention to the study of the social consequences and changes in inequality in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that the intensification of negative trends in the development of society in the context of the corona-crisis is a natural consequence of the policy of the pre-pandemic period. The growth of poverty and inequality, as well as the generally negative consequences of the pandemic for the majority of the population, were largely the result of the depletion of state and public institutions in the context of neoliberalism. The way out of the current crisis lies in the implementation in practice of the public demand for building a more “equal” and just society in the interests of the majority of the population. The author bases her conclusions on a large array of domestic and foreign sources on this issue, as well as the results of public opinion polls. In particular, the article uses the data of sociological measurements of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the sociological company Research & BrandingGroup, as well as the international research company Ipsos, conducted in 2020-2021.

Characterizing Pet Acquisition and Retention During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In March 2020, Americans began experiencing numerous lifestyle changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some reports have suggested that pet acquisition and ownership increased during this period, and some have suggested shelters and rescues will be overwhelmed once pandemic-related restrictions are lifted and lifestyles shift yet again. In May 2021, the ASPCA hired the global market research company Ipsos to conduct a general population survey that would provide a more comprehensive picture of pet ownership and acquisition during the pandemic. Although pet owners care for a number of species, the term pet owner in this study specifically refers to those who had dogs and/or cats. One goal of the survey was to determine whether data from a sample of adults residing in the United States would corroborate findings from national shelter databases indicating that animals were not being surrendered to shelters in large numbers. Furthermore, this survey gauged individuals' concerns related to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, and analyses examined factors associated with pet owners indicating they were considering rehoming an animal within the next 3 months. The data showed that pet ownership did not increase during the pandemic and that pets may have been rehomed in greater numbers than occurs during more stable times. Importantly, rehomed animals were placed with friends, family members, and neighbors more frequently than they were relinquished to animal shelters and rescues. Findings associated with those who rehomed an animal during the pandemic, or were considering rehoming, suggest that animal welfare organizations have opportunities to increase pet retention by providing resources regarding pet-friendly housing and affordable veterinary options and by helping pet owners strategize how to incorporate their animals into their post-pandemic lifestyles.

Age and Cultural Differences in Recognitions of Emotions from Masked Faces among Koreans and Americans

This study investigates age and cultural differences in the negative effects of senders’ wearing masks on receivers’ readabilities of senders’ facially expressed emotions in interpersonal interactions. An online experiment was thus conducted with Koreans and Americans aged over 20 years. Based on sampling quotas by nationality, age group and gender, Korean (n = 240) and American (n = 273) participants were recruited from panel members of a Korean research company and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk via email and the website, respectively. The participants played receiver roles to infer senders’ facially expressed emotions presented in photos in the experiment. They judged emotions facially expressed by the senders without masks and with masks are shown in photos. The results revealed that the senders’ wearing masks reduced the readabilities of the senders’ facially expressed anger among participants aged 30–49 years more than among participants aged 20–29 years. The senders’ wearing masks decreased the readabilities of the senders’ facially expressed fear for participants in their 50’s more than for participants in their 20’s. When the senders wore masks, the readabilities of the senders’ facially expressed happiness dropped among participants aged over 60 years more than among participants aged 20–49 years. When senders wore masks, American participants’ readabilities of disgust, fear, sadness and happiness expressed in the senders’ faces declined more than Korean participants’ readabilities of those emotions. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.

The Influence of Financial Ratio to Profit Growth

The purpose of this study was determining the effect of financial ratios consisting of company size,current ratio, debt to equity ratio, and total assets turnover on profit growth in Property, RealEstate and Building Construction Service Sector Companies listed on the Indonesia StockExchange in 2015-2018. Sampling technique employed in this study is purposive samplingtechnique. There have been 13 companies sampled within 4 years, in order that 52 samples wereobtained. The analysis technique utilized in this study used panel data regression analysis. Theresults of the research company size variables, current ratio, debt to equity ratio, and total assetsturnover have an impact on profit growth by 32.7%, and therefore the remaining 67.3% isinfluenced by other factors outside the research variable. Partially, the variable Company Sizeand Total Assets Turnover incorporates a significant positive effect on Profit Growth, whileCurrent Ratio and Debt to Equity Ratio don’t have any significant effect on Profit Growth

Associations between health literacy and information-evaluation and decision-making skills in Japanese adults

Background Health literacy in Japanese people is often low because people find it difficult to evaluate health information and make informed decisions. Clarifying the association between health literacy and the skills to evaluate information and make appropriate decisions (not necessarily limited to health information) would inform efforts to improve health literacy. Therefore, the study objectives were to investigate the following issues using a nationwide survey in Japan: 1) When obtaining information, to what extent do people appropriately evaluate whether the information is reliable, and when making decisions, to what extent do they seek out available options and compare pros and cons based on their own values? 2) How strongly are these skills associated with health literacy and demographic characteristics? 3) What opportunities are available to learn these skills? Methods An online questionnaire survey was conducted using a Japanese Internet research company; 3,914 valid responses were received. The measures comprised health literacy (European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire), five items on information evaluation, four items on the decision-making process, and items on the availability and location of learning opportunities. Pearson correlations were calculated to explore the association of health literacy with information-evaluation and decision-making skills. Multivariate analyses were also conducted using these factors as dependent variables. Results Less than half of respondents always or often evaluated information and engaged in the decision-making process. Health literacy was significantly correlated with information evaluation and the decision-making process (.26 and .30, respectively). More than 40% of respondents had no learning opportunities. Respondents who did have learning opportunities learned on their own, rather than at school or work, using sources such as the Internet and television. Conclusions Both information-evaluation and decision-making skills were associated with health literacy. However, these skills are not sufficiently widespread in Japan, because there are few opportunities to learn them. More research is needed to raise awareness of the importance of these skills for improving health literacy, and to provide appropriate learning opportunities. Additionally, an environment must be created in which all individuals can easily receive support at any time, so that they can make appropriate decisions based on reliable information.

Autonomous Subsea Field Development - Value Proposition, Technology Needs and Gaps for Future Advancement

With increasing demand of subsea processing and surveillance goals Best-in-Class Operators are developing advanced subsea instrumentation and controls to challenge in the next decade: i) a cost-effective way to inspect and repair subsea complex facilities and ii) to reduce the downtime, possibly increase the production performance while preserving the integrity and maintenance of the assets. The so called "Autonomous Subsea Field Development" is a study triggered by an ExxonMobil URC (Upstream Research Company) initiative aimed to explore possible improvements and re-designs of subsea equipment considering the advancing capabilities of ROVs and new generation of Subsea Drones, and driven by the following questions: with the advancements in AUVs and ROVs, can subsea equipment be re-designed to take full advantage of the new capabilities? Can this re-design improve from different perspectives (Availability, Costs, Operations, etc.) a subsea field development? A dedicated study was conducted by SAIPEM to identify the value proposition, technology needs and gaps for future advancement by leveraging on the technological "building blocks" that could be integrated in a subsea field development scheme and on a field operational procedure. Within the study, seven different cases, distinguished by their status of advancement (from Brown to Green Fields) and by the level of penetration of Subsea Drones in the architecture, have been analyzed. A conceptual engineering process, based on the tenets of value engineering was conducted in a holistic fashion covering the full field development facilities during the life cycle in order to steer the conceptual engineering choices that could maximize the project value. Using a systemic Value Engineering approach based on the NPV equation, the study identified the main technological and economic impacts coming from the adoption of Subsea Drones on a current and future Digital Subsea Field exploring the following pillars: i) CAPEX, ii) OPEX, iii) AVAILABILITY, and iv) RISK. In the sequence of six cases investigated, it has been identified how these incoming "subsea capabilities" will be gradually implemented into redesigned subsea architecture and serviced in view of a new Life of Field concept.

Exploratory study on the perceptions of event gamification on positive behavioral outcomes

PurposeThe value of the events industry is increasing worldwide. An essential component for successful events is creating a unique experience by offering gamification. A conceptual model is proposed, exploring pre-event game communication and its effect on attendees' value perceptions, willingness to participate, word of mouth intentions and emotional commitment during gameplay at conference events.Design/methodology/approachAnalysis of variance and structural equation modeling were employed to test the model using data collected from 177 attendees recruited from hospitality and tourism association network listservs and online research company.FindingsResults reveal that perceptions of event gamification increase word of mouth intentions, willingness to participate and emotional commitment.Practical implicationsThe study contributes to the knowledge of conference events with recommendations for incorporation of game elements for meeting planners to enhance attendee behaviors at the event.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to examine positive behavioral outcomes of using games at conference events.

Use of heated tobacco products where their use is prohibited

IntroductionStealth use implies using tobacco products where their use is prohibited. This paper aimed to investigate stealth use of heated tobacco products (HTPs) in terms of its prevalence and associated factors.MethodsAn online survey was conducted to investigate the use of HTPs in 7000 randomly selected participants (2300 men and 4700 women, aged 20–69 years) from the database registered with an online-research company; we used a sex ratio of 1:2, considering a low female prevalence of tobacco use in Korea. Of total participants, 574 (8.2%) were current HTP users. Among them, we identified the participants who had practised HTPs stealth use, and evaluated associated factors using multivariable Poisson regression.ResultsA total of 574 participants were identified as current HTP users, and 455 (79.2%) reported stealth use of HTPs during the month before the survey. Stealth use was more frequent in dual cigarette users (HTPs and electronic cigarettes (ECs); adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) 1.33, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.52) and triple users (HTPs, ECs and combustible cigarettes; aPR 1.18, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.33), as compared with single-HTP users. Stealth use was more prevalent among participants who agreed with allowing indoor HTP use (aPR 1.18, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.26).ConclusionStealth use was prevalent among current HTP users, especially among the poly-users of tobacco products. Considering the positive relationship between an agreement with allowing indoor use of HTPs and stealth use, a campaign to promote change in attitudes of HTP users about their indoor use may be warranted to protect non-users.