Edinburgh Napier University

About: Edinburgh Napier University is a education organization based out in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 2665 authors who have published 6859 publications receiving 175272 citations.

A serious leisure perspective of culinary tourism co-creation: the influence of prior knowledge, physical environment and service quality

Abstract: Recognising tourists’ increasing desire for authentic destination-specific experiences, the hospitality industry has responded by increasing provision of innovative culinary activities. This study aims to use the concepts of serious leisure and terroir to examine how knowledge, physical environment and service quality influence co-creation within the culinary tourism context.,Following cooking class participation, 575 domestic Iranian tourists were surveyed. These educational classes provide opportunities to learn about local foods alongside peers in an interactive setting. Consistent with the benefits of serious leisure, this consumption context could prove conducive to stimulating co-creation.,Prior knowledge strongly influences tourists’ reflective and recreational motives for participation (i.e. the benefits of serious leisure). This shapes how tourists evaluate physical environments and service quality therein; influencing value co-creation and supporting serious leisure as the conceptual lens through which to understand experiential culinary consumption.,The proposed conceptual model was tested on domestic tourists following class participation. However, in suggesting that visually-stimulating, tactile premises with the olfactory appeal can encourage co-created experiences, the findings are relevant to service touch-point management more generally.,Recognizing the influential role played by the physical and social aspects of experiential consumption, the serious leisure framework improves an extant understanding of value co-creation.

A longitudinal assessment of depression and anxiety in the Republic of Ireland before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract: Few studies have examined changes in mental health before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. We examined changes in the prevalence of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) between February 2019 and March-April 2020; if there were changes in major depression and GAD during six weeks of nationwide lockdown; and we identified factors that predicted major depression and GAD across the six-week lockdown period. Nationally representative samples of Irish adults were gathered using identical methods in February 2019 (N = 1020) and March-April 2020 (N = 1041). The latter was reassessed six weeks later. Significantly more people screened positive for depression in February 2019 (29.8% 95% CI = 27.0, 32.6) than in March-April 2020 (22.8% 95% CI = 20.2, 25.3), and there was no change in GAD. There were no significant changes in depression and GAD during the lockdown. Major depression was predicted by younger age, non-city dwelling, lower resilience, higher loneliness, and higher somatic problems. GAD was predicted by a broader set of variables including several COVID-19 specific variables. These findings indicate that the prevalence of major depression and GAD did not increase as a result of, or during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.

Vascular Ageing and Exercise: Focus on Cellular Reparative Processes

Abstract: Ageing is associated with an increased risk of developing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The increased risk can be attributable to increased prolonged exposure to oxidative stress. Often, CVD is preceded by endothelial dysfunction, which carries with it a proatherothrombotic phenotype. Endothelial senescence and reduced production and release of nitric oxide (NO) are associated with “vascular ageing” and are often accompanied by a reduced ability for the body to repair vascular damage, termed “reendothelialization.” Exercise has been repeatedly shown to confer protection against CVD and diabetes risk and incidence. Regular exercise promotes endothelial function and can prevent endothelial senescence, often through a reduction in oxidative stress. Recently, endothelial precursors, endothelial progenitor cells (EPC), have been shown to repair damaged endothelium, and reduced circulating number and/or function of these cells is associated with ageing. Exercise can modulate both number and function of these cells to promote endothelial homeostasis. In this review we look at the effects of advancing age on the endothelium and these endothelial precursors and how exercise appears to offset this “vascular ageing” process.