Abertay University

Language control is an essential cognitive process that allows bilinguals to fluently produce language by reducing cross-language interference. Yet, it remains unclear whether the control processes implemented when reducing cross-language interference are similar to those when reducing within-language interference. Since prior research has shown contradictory results, we set out to investigate this issue further based on a combination of language switch costs, as a measure of control processes resolving cross-language interference, and Stroop incongruency, as a measure of control processes resolving within-language interference. Relying on a range of statistical techniques, the results across three experiments, including a replication of Experiment 1 of Liu et al. (2019), testing three different groups of bilinguals (i.e., Dutch-English, Arabic-English, and Chinese-English) showed no clear interaction between language switch costs and Stroop incongruency, and neither was this pattern influenced by language dominance. These results are more in line with the claim that control processes implemented to reduce cross- and within-language interference are separate or occur in separate stages of processing.

Interdisciplinary discussions around the concept of luxury have been ongoing for centuries and is reflected in the history of many of the great civilizations. While definitions and experiences of luxury vary according to writer and individual, the discussion of luxury brands and their management have also been explored in depth. This chapter explores the management of luxury brands in dynamic times such as the changing times of the past few years which included a global pandemic, outbreaks of war in various countries, cost of living crisis and turbulent political conditions. We start by bringing the definitions of luxury together, exploring the drivers of luxury consumption and discussing the impact of dynamic times on luxury consumption behaviour. The aim of exploring the various socio-economic, technological and consumer-based changes on luxury brands is to determine the methods of being proactive in managing luxury brands. Proactivity is essential in these times for luxury brands to maintain their viability, profitability and timelessness by embracing the dynamics of contemporary society.

Carbohydrate is an important fuel during moderate‐ to high‐intensity exercise. We hypothesised that pre‐exercise carbohydrate ingestion would improve resistance training (RT) volume performance. In a crossover design, sixteen resistance‐trained participants (male = 13 and female = 3) performed 3 sets of back squats, bench press, prone row, and shoulder press to repetition fatigue at 80% of 1‐repetition maximum (∼90 min). Two hours prior, in randomised order, participants ingested high carbohydrate (HCHO; 1.2 g/kg body mass), low carbohydrate (LCHO; 0.3 g/kg body mass), or a low‐calorie placebo (PLA), taste‐ and texture‐matched liquid breakfasts. Linear mixed models were used to analyse volume performance, subjective appetite ratings, and blood glucose and lactate. There were no significant differences between conditions for repetitions completed per session (p = 0.318) or exercise (p = 0.973). Pre‐exercise and postexercise hunger was similar between conditions (p = 0.155). Satiation was greater in HCHO and LCHO versus PLA postbreakfast (p = 0.007 and p = 0.002, respectively) and pre‐exercise (p = 0.001 and p = 0.002). Fullness was greater in HCHO and LCHO versus PLA postbreakfast (p = 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively) and pre‐exercise (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001). Blood lactate was greater mid‐ (p < 0.001) and postexercise (p < 0.0001) and was similar between conditions (p = 0.897). Blood glucose significantly increased 30 min after breakfast in HCHO versus LCHO and PLA (p < 0.001) and was similar between conditions postexercise (p = 1.000). The macronutrient or energy composition of a pre‐exercise meal does not enhance upper‐body‐dominant RT volume.

From attentional prioritization to enhanced memory, self‐cues trigger a variety of effects within human cognition. Recent work suggests that self‐reference may also enhance working memory, possibly via attentional prioritization. However, there is no direct evidence that self‐cues enhance working memory capacity, or that such boosts covary with individuals' attentional function. Here, we provide the first direct evidence of enhanced working memory capacity for self‐referential cues, independent of attentional processing. We adapted a verbal working memory complex span to create a ‘Self’ condition (featuring the participant's own name), ‘Other’ condition (featuring a non‐self‐name), and Control condition (with no name), in 7–9‐year‐old children (Exp.1, N = 71) and adults (Exp.2, N = 52). In both experiments, the Self condition elicited significantly higher spans than the other conditions (Exp 1: p < .001, η p ² = .32; Exp 2: p < .001, η p ² = .25), but this increase in capacity was unrelated to measures of attentional processing or backward digit span. Moreover, equivalent boosts were observed in children and adults, despite adults' significantly higher underlying capacity. We propose a chunking interpretation based on enhanced binding of self‐associated items, directly benefiting individual's working memory capacity regardless of their current attentional competence or ‘baseline’ capacity.

Disadvantaged young people face disproportionate challenges in accessing education and employment. Higher education serves as an aspirational destination and recommended route to entry for certain industries, yet young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to apply and enrol in higher education programmes. Disadvantaged young people may also be underrepresented within the workforce of certain sectors, compounding barriers to entering desired industries. Solutions to reduce barriers into education and employment are required. The paper presents a postmortem from a collaborative game development project with aims of addressing social inequalities and positive destinations towards the games industry. The project involved a third sector social enterprise delivering economic regeneration and community-based support, an eight-person interdisciplinary team of game development students, and a practice-based research group exploring multiple themes of game-based research practice. The paper captures the experiences of student developers, young people, and engagement officers in reviewing the value and impact of the project. The intention of this paper is to present a case study of collaborative practice which shows positive impact on addressing community support outcomes for young adults within its service, with the potential to apply similar practices to wider initiatives related to outreach, engagement, and employability pathways.

Interest has grown in recycled cement powder waste’s application in building projects as a workable, long-term solution to environmental issues. This work presents experimental results investigating the behaviour of plain and fibre-reinforced waste cement paste with different volume fraction percentages of micro steel fibres (1% and 2%), where densified micro silica partially replaces 10% of the waste cement. For each mix, the superplasticiser and water-cement ratios were maintained constant. The study involved a number of studies, including flow table inspections, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) tests, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM–EDX) testing, compressive and flexural strength assessments, dry density measurements, and ultrasonic tests. These evaluations aimed to analyse the specimens’ mechanical and physical characteristics thoroughly. The results showed that substituting densified micro fume and micro steel fibres (SF) for a certain amount of cement could improve waste cement’s properties. Using 2% of the micro-steel fibres significantly affected the cement paste’s compressive and flexural strengths. Nevertheless, an investigation revealed that the inclusion of fibres resulted in a reduction in the amplitude of the sound waves and a decrease in the stagnation flow. The SEM–EDX tests revealed satisfactory adherence between the cement paste and SF. This clarifies why adding SF causes the compressive strength to increase.

BACKGROUND This study investigated the effect of sulfur nutrition, basalt rock aggregate (BA) application, with a carbon capture function, and speed breeding under light‐emitting diode (LED) light, on the nutritional profile of potatoes and acrylamide formation in crisp production. RESULTS Taurus potatoes grown with sulfur showed reduced glucose, sucrose, and total amino acids, and increased asparagine. No difference in acrylamide content was observed in crisps from Taurus and Lady Claire cultivars, with either sulfur or BA application. Speed breeding under LED light reduced plant height in all cultivars (50–60 cm) in comparison with controls (80–90 cm). Tubers grown under LED light exhibited higher levels of glucose and fructose, and increased formation of acrylamide in crisps (78.90% for Lady Claire, 592.58% for Taurus, and 70.25% for Desiree). CONCLUSIONS Sulfur fertilization could benefit certain potato cultivars by lowering sugar levels in the tubers. Basal rock aggregate can be applied safely during the growth of potatoes as an innovative tool for sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, with no negative effect on tubers’ nutritional profile and no influence on acrylamide formation in crisps. The LED light conditions proved to be unsuitable for potato growth, especially if the potatoes were destined for the frying industry, increasing both sugars and acrylamide content. © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

This paper reports on a case study of police management in Scotland and its focus on orientating the service toward community policing and away from a target-driven approach. Contemporary police report and planning documents are analyzed to chart this shift in orientation towards what is referred to as New Public Governance (NPG) This involves a focus on the public good and represents moving beyond the previous target-driven approach of New Public Management (NPM). New Public Governance stresses community involvement and the co-creation of objectives between professionals and the public they serve. The study examines the extent to which the police service in Scotland is, through formal reporting structures, seeking to align with NPG and if there are vestiges of the NMP approach. A discourse analytic methodology is adopted which examines the rhetorical nature of the documents. The focus of the analysis is the extent to which these public-facing documents represent an attempt to convey police acceptance and enthusiasm for NPG, or if they can be considered as attempts to bolster public confidence and police legitimacy. The ambivalent nature of the discourse in the documents is examined in terms of the adoption of both NPG and NPM through references to key aspects of these managerial approaches, including a focus on the setting of policing objectives through community co-creation in the case of the latter, and stress upon outcomes and measurable outcomes about the former.

Purpose Standard heat acclimation (HA) protocols (low-moderate intensity over a continuous 7–14 days) restore performance and thermoregulation but lack specificity and practicality for intermittent sports athletes. This study compared different pedal resistances in a 3-week intermittent sprint-based HA protocol. Methods Fourteen physically active adults were assigned to a sprint pedal resistance training group (TG): 0.075 kg/kg (7.5TG, 6 males, 1 female) or 0.085 kg/kg (8.5TG, 5 males, 2 females). Participants completed baseline incremental time to exhaustion test (TTE), continued with own training for 3 weeks before post-control TTE, then carried out 6 × 15 s cycle sprints with 30 s recovery followed by 30 min low intensity cycling thrice weekly for 3 weeks before completing post-HA TTE test. Testing and HA were completed at 38 °C and 30% relative humidity. Results Both groups improved TTE from baseline to post-HA (7.5TG: 9.6% ± 10.8%, 8.5TG: 7.4% ± 3.1%) and post-control to post-HA (7.5TG: 11.0% ± 11.7%, 8.5TG: 6.7% ± 3.9%). Maximal power improved from baseline to post-HA (7.5TG: 293 ± 40 W vs. 321 ± 46 W, 8.5TG: 318 ± 90 W vs. 339 ± 96 W), while only 7.5TG improved maximal power from post-control to post-HA (289 ± 42 W vs. 321 ± 46 W). From baseline to post-HA and post-control to post-HA, only 7.5TG increased time till maximum skin temperature (460 ± 76 s vs. 509 ± 75 s, 461 ± 72 s vs. 509 ± 75 s, respectively) and minimum core-skin gradient (461 ± 71 s vs. 510 ± 74 s, 455 ± 75 s vs. 510 ± 74 s, respectively), while exercising core temperature remained unchanged in both groups. Both groups increased sweat rate (7.5TG: 7.0 ± 3.4 mg/cm ² /min vs. 9.6 ± 4.1 mg/cm ² /min, 8.5TG: 5.7 ± 3.6 mg/cm ² /min vs. 8.3 ± 4.3 mg/cm ² /min). Only 7.5TG delayed the onset of blood lactate accumulation from baseline to post-HA (259 ± 126 s vs. 354 ± 86 s). Conclusion Intermittent sprint-based HA improves TTE performance and sweat rate while a lighter sprint pedal resistance offers, greater thermal adaptation and fatigue tolerance.

This study investigates the effects of three brown seaweed species (Alaria esculenta, Saccharina latissima, and Laminaria digitata), their pre‐processing treatments, and incorporation percentages on the physical and sensory properties of crackers. Significant (p ≤ 0.001) two‐way and three‐way interactions were observed for moisture content, with seaweed addition generally resulting in drier crackers. Shrinkage was primarily influenced by sample thermal treatment, while hardness was significantly affected by seaweed species, treatment, and their interactions. The freeze–thaw treatment produced harder crackers compared to other treatments. Sensory analysis using temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) revealed variations in dominant attributes across different seaweed species and treatments, with retorted and freeze–thaw treatments enhancing crunchiness and reducing fishy flavors. The study demonstrates the potential of seaweed as a functional ingredient in cracker formulations, affecting both textural properties and sensory experiences. It also highlights the importance of pre‐processing treatments in modulating these effects, providing valuable insights for the development of seaweed‐fortified food products with enhanced nutritional value and consumer acceptability.

Association rule mining is an established machine learning tool for finding patterns (‘rules’) in big datasets. The algorithm can easily produce a large number of ‘rules’ of how items in a dataset are related to one another. This can pose a significant challenge to the interpretability and usefulness of the results obtained. In this paper, we present how to support decision making through ‘playable mechanics’ powered by a video games engine. The premise is to create aesthetic and informative experiences through a visual and interactive representation of a problem space such as the association rules mined from a health and social care dataset. The Unity game engine is used to create a force-directed graph to be rendered and explored in real-time using the Barnes-Hut method to accelerate computations. A Boolean AND/OR/NOT selection function was implemented, enabling the graph to be explored and pruned to the data points specified by the search query. As a result, users can obtain an overview of the large-scale structure of the dataset, with the option of performing targeted explorations around points of interest. To evaluate the effectiveness of the application, a series of online user testing workshops were conducted. The resultant thematic analysis found the incorporated features to be well-integrated, but a difference was found between the responses of users with high or low technical proficiency within the commissioning organization. The technical users were able to quickly grasp the operation of the system but were unclear about its purpose or practical application. Conversely, the health and social care professionals saw the potential value of the tool but were unsure of their personal ability to use it effectively. Finally, System Usability Scale (SUS) scores were obtained from participants in a final in-person workshop, with excellent results overall (mean 84, top quartile).

The reuse of electro-coagulated sludge as an adsorbent for Cr(VI) ion reduction was investigated in this study. Electro-coagulated sludge was obtained during the removal of citric acid wastewater by the electrocoagulation process. The following parameters were optimized for Cr(VI) reduction: pH (5–7), initial Cr(VI) concentration (10–50 mg/L), contact time (10–45 min), and adsorbent dosage (0.5–1.5 g/L). Cr(VI) reduction optimization reduction experimental sets were designed using response surface design. Cr(VI) reduction optimization results 97.0% removal efficiency and 15.1 mg/g adsorption capacity were obtained at pH 5.0, 1.5 g/L electro-coagulated Fe3O4 sludge, 10 mg/L initial Cr(VI) concentration and 45 min reaction time. According to the isotherm results, the experimental data are compatible with the Freundlich isotherm model, and since it is defined by the pseudo-second order model emphasizes that the driving forces of the Cr(VI) reduction process are rapid transfer of Cr(VI) to the adsorbent surface. The reusability of the adsorbent was investigated and Cr(VI) reduction was achieved at a high rate even in the 5th cycle. All these results clearly show that electro-coagulated Fe3O4 sludge is an effective, inexpensive adsorbent for Cr(VI) removal from wastewater.

Calorie‐restricted diets cause weight loss and can drive type 2 diabetes remission. However, many patients struggle to achieve clinically relevant weight loss, and the reasons are not well understood. Chemical exposure is associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes development, and some evidence from preclinical experiments suggests it can limit the clinical benefits of calorie restriction. We systematically reviewed the evidence for the effects of environmental chemical exposure on mass loss and glycemic control during diet‐induced weight management in humans (PROSPERO: CRD42022339993). Of 222 unique citations, only six papers directly examined this question. Only one targeted people with type 2 diabetes. One linked phthalates and parabens, but not bisphenols, with slower fat loss. Two showed per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances were not associated with mass loss, but with faster subsequent mass regain. One linked impaired adiposity improvements with air pollutants. Two papers reported weight loss‐induced elevation in plasma organochlorines associated with altered glycemic control. The risk of bias largely arose from the potential for deviation from the intended diet, and statistics and reporting. The role of chemical exposure in impeding the effectiveness of weight management programs needs to be better understood to provide suitable support to people living with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Symptoms are a common reason for contact with primary care. This study investigated associations between symptom-related, demographic, social, and economic factors on general practice (GP) help-seeking. Secondary analysis of responses to a 25-symptom questionnaire, from 10 904 adults aged ≥50 years reporting at least one symptom in the preceding year. Cluster analysis and univariable and multivariable logistic regressions explored associations between self-reported GP help-seeking, symptom-related factors, and respondent characteristics. Most respondents, 7638 (70%), reported more than one symptom in the preceding year. Ten symptom clusters were identified. Most included common symptoms like headache and back or joint pain. There were increased odds of help-seeking in females, those with poorer health status and those unable to work due to illness/disability when multiple symptoms were reported, but not when single symptoms were reported. Age and sex had variable effects on help-seeking, depending on the symptom. Reporting poorer health status, more comorbidities, and being unable to work due to illness or disability increased odds of help-seeking across a diverse variety of symptoms. Single people and those reporting lower social contact had lower odds of help-seeking for some symptoms. Being a current smoker reduced odds of help-seeking for persistent indigestion/heartburn, persistent cough, coughing up phlegm, and shortness of breath. Factors associated with self-reported help-seeking vary for different symptoms. Poorer health and adverse economic and social factors are associated with increased GP help-seeking. These wider determinants of health interact with symptom experiences and will influence GP workload.

Zoomorphic robots have the potential to offer companionship and well-being as accessible, low-maintenance alternatives to pet ownership. Many such robots, however, feature limited emotional expression , restricting their potential for rich affective relationships with everyday domestic users. Additionally, exploring this design space using hardware prototyping is obstructed by physical and lo-gistical constraints. We leveraged virtual reality rapid prototyping with passive haptic interaction to conduct a broad mixed-methods evaluation of emotion expression modalities and participatory pro-totyping of multimodal expressions. We found differences in recog-nisability, effectiveness and user empathy between modalities while highlighting the importance of facial expressions and the benefits of combining animal-like and unambiguous modalities. We use our findings to inform promising directions for the affective zoomor-phic robot design and potential implementations via hardware modification or augmented reality, then discuss how VR prototyping makes this field more accessible to designers and researchers.

During WWI, ships were painted in high-contrast 'dazzle' patterns believed to distort, among other things, submariners' perceptions of direction when aiming their torpedoes, but was this strategy effective? Here, we investigated the effects of different camouflage patterns, including versions used in the war, on the perceived direction of travel for a three-dimensional computer model of the RMS Mauretania. The results of this study showed that texture gradients ‘twisted’ the perceived direction of the ship, the effect being ~10° for a regular pattern of circles. We also found a second, larger effect, 'hysteresis', that biased perceived target directions to parallel the horizon for directions of travel within approximately ±30° of 90° (left–right). Hysteresis persisted outside this central plateau, causing perceived directions to be offset from veridical. The twist and hysteresis effects combined linearly and were constructive (enhancing protection) or destructive (diminishing protection) depending on the directions of (i) travel and (ii) the 'twisting' texture gradients. However, the strength of hysteresis reduced as a function of experience. Our simulated torpedo attacks suggest that systematic perceptual distortion of direction by dazzle might have been effective only where submariners had low hysteresis and ships were fast enough to benefit from the perceptual error imposed by twist.

Objectives: Golf participation numbers have increased in recent years within the UK and globally. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of injuries in amateur and professional golfers showed over half of golfers sustain an injury during their lifetime. This review recommended that future research should utilize the recent international consensus on reporting of injury in golf. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and severity of injuries sustained by UK-based golfers in the previous year. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional online survey consisting of 35 questions was disseminated to UK-based golfers. Non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals (CI) were utilized to indicate significant differences. Results: There were 303 participants included for analysis. The overall injury incidence was 41.26 injuries per 1000 hours (CI 35.96-47.33). Consistent with the wider literature, the lower back at 9.94 injuries per 1000 hours (CI 7.48-13.22) is the most frequent injury site. The lower back had a mean time loss of 54 ± 89 days before full recovery. Repetitive movement injuries were noted to have a higher incidence (22.00 per 1000 hours, CI 18.19-26.61) in comparison to acute injuries (10.79 per 1000 hours, CI 8.21 to 14.18). Conclusion: Anatomically, the proportion of injuries observed was comparable to previous epidemiology studies, with the lower back and elbow having the highest incidences in this largely amateur group of golfers. Most injuries were identified to be a muscle strain, joint sprain, or tendinopathy; however, no single identifiable mechanism of injury was identified.

Imaging technology in vehicular communications has advanced in the consumer industry. Owing to its ability of sensing ambient environment, decision control, and actuating the vehicle, the technology is able to enhance vision, improve traffic management, and offer convenience to the consumer autonomous vehicles. These vehicles in green computing environments require accurate obstacle detection (OD) and real-time video analytics to enhance on-road perception for forewarned accidents and pollution-free navigation. However, unforeseen obstacles in high vehicle speeds, adverse environments, etc., cause accidents leading to pollution. In this paper, we propose a Green-EMulTO, an Edge-assisted Multilevel Traffic Orchestrator that recognizes obstacles in low latency. It employs a priority queue for the traffic imaging streams, a bandwidth manager for V2X services, and a lightweight DNN model for fast on-device OD. We also introduce a Synergistic service placement and cost minimization algorithm (SSPCM) based on Lyapunov optimization and Markov approximation. It reduces the response latency by addressing the intrusive dynamics of video and unknown network fluctuations in the autonomous driving environment. This orchestrator is designed to provide a pollution-free environment by reducing road accidents thereby satisfying the green vehicular environmental goals. In addition, we develop an autonomous driving platform using NVIDIA JetRacer AI Pro Kit and Jetson Nano for system-level verification. We have also compared it with the benchmark lightweight models (YOLOV5-nano, YOLOv6-nano, YOLOV7-tiny, YOLOv5-small, YOLOv6-small) on such commercial devices. Green-EMulTO witnessed an improvement of up to 20% in accuracy and the training time was reduced to less than 60%. Hence, this orchestrator improved the real-time inference speed over different autonomous driving environments.