University of Westminster

About: University of Westminster is a education organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 2944 authors who have published 8426 publications receiving 200236 citations. The organization is also known as: Westminster University & Royal Polytechnic Institution.

Body dissatisfaction assessed by the Photographic Figure Rating Scale is associated with sociocultural, personality, and media influences.

Abstract: Body dissatisfaction assessed by the Photographic Figure Rating Scale is associated with sociocultural, personality, and media influences. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 52, 57-53. This study sought to investigate the convergent validity of a new measure of body dissatisfaction, namely the Photographic Figure Rating Scale (PFRS), in relation to media influence, celebrity worship, the Big Five personality factors, and respondent weight status. A total of 401 female undergraduates completed a battery of scales consisting of the PFRS, the third revision of the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Scale (SATAQ-3), a measure of celebrity worship, a measure of the Big Five personality factors, and provided their demographic details. Results of a multiple regression showed that body dissatisfaction was most strongly predicted by two of the SATAQ-3 subscales and participant body mass index, although celebrity worship and Emotional Stability added incremental variance. Limitations of the current study are discussed in conclusion.

The determinants of university dropout in Italy: a bivariate probability model with sample selection

Abstract: This study analyses the determinants of university dropouts in Italy using a bivariate probit model with sample selection. The empirical findings provide some support for the appropriateness of this technique and hence suggest that the estimates obtained from a univariate decision framework are likely to be inefficient.

A review of the success and failure of tram systems to carry urban freight : the implications for a low emission intermodal solution using electric vehicles on trams

Abstract: This paper considers the potential use of trams and Electric Distribution Vehicles (EDVs) as cargo carriers in intermodal urban freight distribution. Distribution activities are vital for society but are also the cause of environmental and social problems. Transporting goods in urban areas, where most logistics chains start or end, is an activity that increasingly generates severe problems for all stakeholders, for instance, local authorities, the logistic industry, customers and society in general. New transport solutions are necessary in order to decrease traffic congestion, noise and traffic pollution, e.g., emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants in urban areas. A possible solution to these problems is to transform the current freight distribution system within cities, for example by favouring the enhancement of intermodal transport alternatives, i.e. combining road and rail transport. Information has been collected through a literature review and interviews in Amsterdam and from these results a conceptual model is presented, as well as a low emission concept using electric vehicles on trams in Gothenburg. The concept utilizes techniques from the shipping industry, train industry, and the car industry.

Target animacy influences chimpanzee handedness

Abstract: We employed a bottom-up, quantitative method to investigate great ape handedness. Our previous investigation of gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) demonstrated that contextual information influenced an individual’s handedness toward target objects. Specifically, we found a significant right-hand bias for unimanual actions directed toward inanimate target objects but not for actions directed to animate target objects (Forrester et al. in Anim Cogn 14(6):903–907, 2011). Using the identical methodological technique, we investigated the spontaneous hand actions of nine captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) during naturalistic, spontaneous behavior. We assessed both the frequencies and proportions of lateralized hand actions directed toward animate and inanimate targets employing focal follow video sampling. Like the gorillas, the chimpanzees demonstrated a right-handed bias for actions directed toward inanimate targets, but not toward animate targets. This pattern was evident at the group level and for the majority of subjects at the individual level. We postulate that a right-hand bias for only inanimate targets reflects the left hemisphere’s dominant neural processing capabilities for objects that have functional properties (inanimate objects). We further speculate that a population-level right-hand bias is not a human-unique characteristic, but one that was inherited from a common human-ape ancestor.