Search results

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights for flower retailers, horticultural practitioners and marketing managers into the prioritisation of cut flower attributes by German residents.

Applying a best–worst scaling approach, this analysis identified the relative ranking of importance amongst product attributes relevant to German consumers when buying fresh cut flowers. A latent class analysis determined four flower consumer segments for further study. The study builds on a sample of 978 consumers and is consistent with the most recent German census in terms of age, gender, income and federal state.

The best-worst analysis showed that intrinsic flower attributes, in particular appearance, freshness and scent were found to be more important to German consumers than the extrinsic attributes studied, namely, price, country of origin and a certification indicating fair trade. The latent class analysis determined four consumer segments that desire either budget, luxury or ethical flowers or more information about flowers. For all identified consumer segments, appearance was the attribute of greatest importance. The segments that desired luxury or ethical flowers, as well as the segment that desires more information were interested in appearance, but also had relatively large shares of preferences dedicated to flower freshness guarantees. The preference for freshness guarantees in addition to appearance may be interpreted jointly as a desire for not only beautiful and aesthetically pleasing flowers, but for sustained beauty.

Internationally, the study fills a research gap by exploring consumer’s relative preference for cut flower attributes. In contrast to existing studies on consumer preferences for flowers in Germany, the present study builds on a sample that was targeted in terms of age, gender, net household income and federal state to the most recent German census.

Organisations and systems of care working within both specific and non-specific trauma-informed approaches must adapt a multicultural lens, in design, delivery and evaluation of services and interventions. Cultural and social factors can directly influence the exposure of individuals to traumatic events (Roberts, Austin, Corliss, Vandermorris, & Koenen, 2010). At the same time, social and cultural identities influence the development and experience of trauma and symptoms, including treatment outcomes (Marsella, 2010; Wilson, 2007). In this chapter, Ravind Jeawon and I provide some of the essential factors that trauma-responsive systems may wish to consider. The first part of this chapter deals with the idea of multicultural identities and practices and highlights some of the outcomes associated with accessing behavioural healthcare. The impact of intersectionality and microaggression on those from diverse backgrounds is also considered. Finally, a guiding framework is provided that examines what needs to be implemented across organisations in order to provide the system with a multicultural lens in which to view and deliver appropriate services. Crucially, multicultural responsiveness will not come from tick box training regimes, it is something that needs to be kept on the agenda and is a lifelong trajectory.

This article concerns the use of an instrument which has proved to be a valuable tool in the search for decorative nickel/chromium coatings having greater corrosion resistance. Although the instrument is designed to measure stress in electrodeposits its inclusion in an article on corrosion behaviour can be justified since it enables one factor affecting this behaviour to be investigated in greater detail. While stress has some influence on the corrosion resistance of most electrodeposited coatings it has even greater significance in the case of chromium deposits. As is well known, three types of bright chromium are now being deposited for decorative purposes; conventional, crack‐free and micro‐cracked. Stress is a particularly important factor when investigating the thickness at which micro‐cracking occurs and the type of cracking that takes place.

Purpose – This chapter investigates how being Māori influences the sport experiences of Māori participants, and offers a critical Māori perspective on mainstream New Zealand sport. It argues for the value of moving towards a culturally competent approach that embraces, rather than resists, Māori tikanga and practices.

Design/methodology/approach – The research is driven by an Indigenous kaupapa Māori research methodology that privileges research by Māori, about Māori, being Māori. Ten highly experienced Māori participants were interviewed. The cultural competence continuum was employed to assess New Zealand sport’s ability to meet the needs of its indigenous peoples.

Findings – For the Māori participants, mainstream sport reflects the echoes of colonial ways of thinking that frequently ignore or devalue Māori values or interpret assertions of self-determination as separatist and divisive. Using examples from the participants’ experiences, we argue that cultural competence is something that could benefit all in New Zealand sport.

Research limitations/implications – The limitations of a small sample are addressed by triangulating the participants’ perspectives with other sources of information about Maori sporting experience.

Originality/value – The chapter privileges a Māori critique of existing structures and suggests a way forward that could positively influence sport delivery for Māori and people of all ethnicities.

The paper presents the numerical performance of the preconditioned generalized conjugate gradient (PGCG) methods in solving non‐linear convection — diffusion equations. Three non‐linear systems which describe a non‐isothermal chemical reactor, the chemically driven convection in a porous medium and the incompressible steady flow past a sphere are the test problems. The standard second order accurate centred finite difference scheme is used to discretize the models equations. The discrete approximations are solved with a double iterative process using the Newton method as outer iteration and the PGCG algorithm as inner iteration. Three PGCG techniques, which emerge to be the best performing, are tested. Laplace‐type operators are employed for preconditioning. The results show that the convergence of the PGCG methods depends strongly on the convection—diffusion ratio. The most robust algorithm is GMRES. But even with GMRES non‐convergence occurs when the convection—diffusion ratio exceeds a limit value. This value seems to be influenced by the non‐linearity type.

Recent publications, including Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2009) and A New Biology for the 21st Century (National Research Council, 2009), highlight needed changes for undergraduate science education. These include a shift away from traditionally structured lab courses toward more authentic scientific inquiry experiences in undergraduate science laboratories. The aim of these reform initiatives is for students to develop not only conceptual understanding of the big ideas of science but also the skills required to conduct an investigation and an understanding of science as a human process of constructing scientific knowledge (National Research Council, 2011). The work that we describe here examines the challenges and successes of engaging nonscience majors in a large introductory university-level science course in conducting scientific inquiry. To understand the course structure and the nature of the laboratory experiences, we describe two different lab experiences. In both cases, students engaged in guided inquiry and then were asked to engage in a more open-ended inquiry experience. Our findings suggest that students need significant scaffolding to make the transition from more guided inquiry to more open-ended inquiry.