Wearable fitness technology: A structural investigation into acceptance and perceived fitness outcomes

Wearable fitness technologies (WFT) track physical activity, such as steps taken, calories burned and workout intensity, through a device that is typically worn at all times. While the market for WFT devices continues to grow, current theoretical understanding of adoption is lacking. Thus, in an attempt to extend the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the current study employs a structural equation model to increase current understanding of wearable technology use. Further, to better understand the outcome of WFT use, the current study examines the relationship among health related outcomes of WFT use such as overall exercise behavior and perceptions of health. Results support the TAM and WFT use was significantly related to perceived health outcomes.     

Demographic and Economic Changes in Small Towns in South Africa’s Karoo: Looking from the Inside Out

This article seeks to situate the experience of demographic and economic change in South African small towns within a broader context. Drawing on international literature detailing demographic, economic and racial changes within small towns, the paper relates these trends to the Karoo region in South Africa. The research findings reveal that small towns in the Karoo are experiencing selective demographic and economic growth, which particularly favours the larger small towns. There is clear racial differentiation in the growth which is taking place and, contrary to predictions made in the 1970s, small towns in South Africa are not all experiencing absolute decline.     

Rethinking Patterns of South African Urban Growth: 1911–2001

This article discusses how South Africa’s population has shifted from being predominantly rural to predominantly urban since 1911. Using nearly 100 years of census data, urbanization trends are discussed and the relative percentage levels of the urban population living in the various settlement categories is examined. The nine largest centres are home to a disproportionately large share of the national urban population, relative to international norms, and have held this position for nearly 100 years. Despite this, it is noteworthy that population growth is taking place in absolute terms in all settlement categories and in rural areas. These growth patterns need to be seen within the context of national spatial development and urban development priorities.     

Relevant and rich interactivity under uncertainty: Guest reviews,host responses,and guest purchase intention on Airbnb

Online commerce, increasingly running on digital platforms, is subject to higher uncertainty and risk in transactions (e.g., fraud, opportunism) than offline commerce. To cope with this challenge, online commerce companies often use information systems to promote interactive communication between sellers and buyers. This study examines how such seller-buyer interactivity affects buyers’ purchase intention in an online commerce context of accommodation sharing. In particular, we use text mining techniques to analyze guest reviews and host responses on Airbnb. Our analysis suggests that not only the quantity but also the quality of the response messages matter: potential guests’ purchase intention increases with the relevance and richness of the host’s responses as well as their volume. Further, we find a notable nonlinearity in the quantity effect that the volume of host responses significantly affects guest purchase intention only when it is large enough. Making sufficient responses, the hosts could enjoy complementarity between the quantity and quality effects of their responses; otherwise, the relative richness of their responses becomes more important.     

泥鳅蛋白多肽的抗氧化活性

为进一步促进泥鳅蛋白及其加工食品的开发,通过体内以及体外抗氧化实验,对泥鳅蛋白多肽抗氧化能力进行了研究.实验表明,泥鳅蛋白多肽在体外具有一定的抗氧化能力.体内抗氧化实验中,多肽高剂量组中血清、肝脏、心脏的SOD活性与模型对照组相比分别提升36.6％、28.1％、22.3％,GSH-Px活性分别提升43.2％、132.2...     

Novel non-thermal food processing techniques and their mechanism of action in mycotoxins decontamination of foods

This review describes the major food and feed contaminating mycotoxins and provides a thorough insight about non-thermal food processing techniques and their mycotoxin detoxification mechanisms. Cold plasma, pulsed light, pulsed electric field, high pressure processing, and electron beam irradiation are among the techniques discussed. Mycotoxins decontamination is usually achieved through the release of reactive species and inactivation of toxin-producing microorganisms through alteration of cell membrane integrity and genetic makeup. Destruction of the molecular structure of mycotoxins responsible for toxicity also occurs during these processes. These non-thermal methods are effective in decontaminating mycotoxins with varying degrees of efficiency, and some of the methods do complete decontamination of mycotoxins with minimal processing. Despite their promising efficacy in decontaminating mycotoxins, the feasibility of most of these methods requires scale-up with future potential for commercialization and acceptance. Efforts should be made to increase the scalability and adoption of the technologies, especially in low-income countries where mycotoxin contamination is prevalent.