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.

Development of measures of online privacy concern and protection for use on the Internet

Abstract: As the Internet grows in importance, concerns about online privacy have arisen. The authors describe the development and validation of three short Internet-administered scales measuring privacy-related attitudes (Privacy Concern) and behaviors (General Caution and Technical Protection). In Study 1, 515 people completed an 82-item questionnaire from which the three scales were derived. In Study 2, scale validity was examined by comparing scores of individuals drawn from groups considered likely to differ in privacy-protective behaviors. In Study 3, correlations between the scores on the current scales and two established measures of privacy concern were examined. The authors conclude that these scales are reliable and valid instruments suitable for administration via the Internet, and present them for use in online privacy research. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Privacy, trust, and self-disclosure online

Abstract: Despite increased concern about the privacy threat posed by new technology and the Internet, there is relatively little evidence that people's privacy concerns translate to privacy-enhancing behaviors while online. In Study 1, measures of privacy concern are collected, followed 6 weeks later by a request for intrusive personal information alongside measures of trust in the requestor and perceived privacy related to the specific request (n = 759). Participants' dispositional privacy concerns, as well as their level of trust in the requestor and perceived privacy during the interaction, predicted whether they acceded to the request for personal information, although the impact of perceived privacy was mediated by trust. In Study 2, privacy and trust were experimentally manipulated and disclosure measured (n = 180). The results indicated that privacy and trust at a situational level interact such that high trust compensates for low privacy, and vice versa. Implications for understanding the links between privacy attitudes, trust, design, and actual behavior are discussed.

Tensional homeostasis in dermal fibroblasts: mechanical responses to mechanical loading in three-dimensional substrates

Abstract: Many soft connective tissues are under endogenous tension, and their resident cells generate considerable contractile forces on the extracellular matrix. The present work was aimed to determine quantitatively how fibroblasts, grown within three-dimensional collagen lattices, respond mechanically to precisely defined tensional loads. Forces generated in response to changes in applied load were measured using a tensional culture force monitor. In a number of variant systems, resident cells consistently reacted to modify the endogenous matrix tension in the opposite direction to externally applied loads. That is, increased external loading was followed immediately by a reduction in cell-mediated contraction whilst decreased external loading elicited increased contraction. Responses were cell-mediated and not a result of material properties of the matrices. This is the first detailed characterisation of a tensional homeostatic response in cells. The maintained force, after 8 h in culture, was typically around 40-60 dynes/million cells). Maintenance of an active tensional homeostasis has widespread implications for cells in culture and for whole tissue function.

Reliability and Comparability of Psychosis Patients’ Retrospective Reports of Childhood Abuse

Abstract: An increasing number of studies are demonstrating an association between childhood abuse and psychosis. However, the majority of these rely on retrospective self-reports in adulthood that may be unduly influenced by current psychopathology. We therefore set out to explore the reliability and comparability of first-presentation psychosis patients’ reports of childhood abuse. Psychosis case subjects were drawn from the Aetiology and Ethnicity of Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses (AESOP) epidemiological study and completed the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire to elicit abusive experiences that occurred prior to 16 years of age. High levels of concurrent validity were demonstrated with the Parental Bonding Instrument (antipathy: rs = 0.350–0.737, P < .001; neglect: rs = 0.688–0.715, P < .001), and good convergent validity was shown with clinical case notes (sexual abuse: κ = 0.526, P < .001; physical abuse: κ = 0.394, P < .001). Psychosis patients’ reports were also reasonably stable over a 7-year period (sexual abuse: κ = 0.590, P < .01; physical abuse: κ = 0.634, P < .001; antipathy: κ = 0.492, P < .01; neglect: κ = 0.432, P < .05). Additionally, their reports of childhood abuse were not associated with current severity of psychotic symptoms (sexual abuse: U = 1768.5, P = .998; physical abuse: U = 2167.5, P = .815; antipathy: U = 2216.5, P = .988; neglect: U = 1906.0, P = .835) or depressed mood (sexual abuse: χ2 = 0.634, P = .277; physical abuse: χ2 = 0.159, P = .419; antipathy: χ2 = 0.868, P = .229; neglect: χ2 = 0.639, P = .274). These findings provide justification for the use in future studies of retrospective reports of childhood abuse obtained from individuals with psychotic disorders.