bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Security Issues in E-Commerce
Authors: Sriram Arram , Rao Adiraju Prashantha
Published: June 2021

E-commerce is selling and buying products in online shopping through the internet. When purchasing the products using internet, many security issues arise. These issues are to be addressed effectively and to be resolved. The security issue is an essential part of any transaction that takes place over the internet. Security becomes paramount not only for retailers but for any business that operates via the internet as the popularity of online shopping grows. This chapter focuses security protocols and their achievements in providing effective communication between end-users and business people.
Development of E-Commerce
Authors: Akram Umair , Khan Muhammad Kaleem , Hui Peng , Tanveer Yasir , Akram Zubair
Published: June 2021

This article describes how in the modern era e-commerce is growing exponentially and the consumers are more likely to shop online. The purpose of this article is to assess the relationship between website quality and the online impulse buying behavior (OIBB). This article further explores the moderating role of sales promotion and online impulse purchasing. Data were collected from 704 online shoppers from two cities, Beijing and Tianjin. Structure equation modeling (SEM), reliability, and validity were employed to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings show that all exogenous factors i.e. website quality, urge to buy, positive effect of emotions, significantly influence online impulse buying; whereas the effects of negative emotions have failed. Sales promotions and the use of credit cards positively moderates the relationship between website quality and online impulse buying. Theoretical and practical implications for managers and academic practitioners are discussed.
Influences and Intention of Consumer's Online Shopping Decision
Authors: Al-Dwairi Radwan Moh'd , Al Azzam Murad
Published: June 2021

Many researchers in Jordan tried to study customers' behavior in the domain of online shopping to understand consumers' attitudes and behaviors towards the adoption process. Still, a lot of work is to be done as customers real usage and adoption level is low which entails more research to be done to investigate the main reasons behind such behavior. In response, this article aims to shed light on consumers' attitudes towards online shopping decisions and extends the technology acceptance model ease of use, perceived usefulness) of the technology acceptance model (TAM) with four factors (trust, security, privacy, and risk). As such, 200 undergraduate and postgraduate students from Yarmouk University formulate the sample of this study. Findings indicate that the six factors are significantly impact consumers' intention to adopt online shopping. Additionally, the F-test of this study indicates that a linear relationship exists between the model's variables and consequently they can be utilized to study this process.
Design Methodology for Effective User Interface Design for E-Commerce Applications
Authors: Birudaraju Namratha , Rao Adiraju Prasanth
Published: June 2021

There are many customers who shop online. Many of these users interact with the system using well-defined user interfaces only. So, there is a need to develop effective user interfaces that are more user friendly, minimize the keyboard operations, and maximize effective interaction with the system. This chapter focuses on designing effective user interfaces by considering human parameters for e-commerce applications.
Creating Utilitarian and Hedonic Value from Website Quality and Online Retail Performance
Authors: Wang Edward Shih-Tse
Published: June 2021

Although consumer-perceived utilitarian value and hedonic value have been considered essential antecedents of consumer behavior, few studies have investigated the effects of both website quality and online retail performance on consumer-perceived utilitarian value and hedonic value, which in turn affect consumers' relationship commitment. This study analyzed data from 394 online shoppers using structural equation modeling. The results revealed that both utilitarian and hedonic value significantly and positively affected relationship commitment. Information quality, system quality, service quality, and price fairness were revealed to significantly and positively affect the perceived utilitarian value of online stores, whereas system and service quality increased perceived hedonic value.
Web Content Analysis of Online Grocery Shopping Web Sites in India
Authors: Banerjee Tanushri , Banerjee Arindam
Published: June 2021

This article evaluates online grocery shopping web sites catering to customers primarily in India. The process of evaluation has been carried out in 3 parts using Rapidminer. In part A, the authors have studied the similarity in content that resides on the grocery shopping web sites. Using unstructured data from homepage of grocery shopping websites and the keywords specified for the web sites, the authors have made an effort to establish a cosine similarity index amongst them. In part B, the authors have analysed the customer reviews from the web sites. Studying the resulting association rules, authors have attempted to identify the attributes that drive customer happiness. In part C, the authors have documented the web traffic metric parameters (attributes) measured by search engine optimization (SEO) tool web sites. Hence, the created a correlation matrix to determine the parameters that are significantly impacting per day revenue for the web sites.
Online Store Attribute Preferences
Authors: Srivastava Praveen Ranjan , Sharma Anand , Yadav Rama Shankar , Sharma Satyendra Kumar , Kaur Inderjeet
Published: June 2021

This article describes how purchasing from an online store depends on various attributes of the online store. The relative importance given to a particular factor may vary across gender. Thus, it generates a scope of inquiry for understanding the consumer behavior while making an online purchase. Hence, this article tries to understand the relative importance of the factors affecting consumers buying behaviors while shopping online. This article utilizes Fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS for finding relative weights of criteria and ranking of the alternatives available respectively. The results were analyzed for finding the relative importance of factors across gender. The article finds that security of transactions is the topmost priority for both males and females, but they put a different level of importance on rest of the factors. The results provide valuable insights which can help the online stores in prioritizing the important factors for future improvements.
Best Customer Experience in E-Retailing
Authors: Iqbal Tahir
Published: June 2021

The main purpose of the research is to empirically test a model for assessing the association between outcomes as well as antecedents of online customer experience (OCE) in e-commerce websites in the case of KSA. The theoretical implications of customer online shopping behaviour have largely been discussed in the previously conducted studies however less consideration has been provided to the antecedents of e-retailing shopping and its effect on customer online shopping experience pertaining to KSA. The study has incorporated a quantitative method under which the data has been collected through primary sources using the survey. The sample of 150 respondents has been incorporated who provided their responses through a survey questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 13 questions and included five-point Likert scale in order to incorporate responses. The technique of analysis incorporated demographic analysis, correlation analysis and SEM model using SPSS and SmartPLS. It was identified that providing efficient online shopping experience through Tele-presence, ease of use and perceived benefit has a significant positive impact on consumer shopping experience pertaining to the shoppers of KSA.
Electronic Commerce and Decision Support Systems
Authors: Kasemsap Kijpokin
Published: June 2021

Electronic Commerce (e-commerce) is an advanced online business tool that allows many companies to launch their websites and helps customers search their specific products shown on the websites. Decision Support Systems (DSSs) are computerized tools designed to facilitate strategic decision making. With the support of data mining and business intelligence methods, DSSs can effectively increase the performance of decision making and can present a sophisticated method of managerial thinking in a timely and effective manner toward gaining competitive advantage. The chapter argues that utilizing e-commerce and DSSs has the potential to enhance business performance and reach strategic goals in modern business.
Resources and Value Co-Creation in Social Commerce
Authors: Entee Edward
Published: June 2021

Social media (SM) is fundamentally changing the way firms conduct business and, in the process, destroying existing business models (BM). Therefore, businesses need to have a BM adaptable to social commerce (SC), which is commerce utilizing social networking services. This viewpoint for future research has questions on the types of SC BM, the value co-created by these models, and the required resources. The study proposes a framework to explore potential BM associated with social media based on their requirements and evaluate the performance of these BM. On the tenets of the study, this viewpoint argues for the need to develop BM for SC and how value is co-created and the resources underpinning this co-creation.
The Use of Written Descriptions and 2D Images as Cues for Tactile Information in Online Shopping
Authors: Morton Flor
Published: June 2021

Despite the steady growth in the use of online platforms for purchasing products in the past few years, e-commerce faces important challenges such as the inability of physically experiencing a product, specifically the inability to obtain tactile information. In this chapter, through a qualitative exploratory study approach, the author explores the possibility of conveying tactile characteristics of a product to consumers in an online shopping environment through product presentation formats such as written descriptions and 2D images. The author highlights the potential for sensory marketing through first reviewing literature on the subject with a special focus on touch and the inability to touch in online commercial channels. The methodology is presented along with the findings of the exploratory study. A concluding discussion of findings is presented and the potential for future research in the area of image processing to enhance 2D images ability to provide tactile information is discussed to conclude the chapter.
Experiencing Commercial Videos for Online Shopping
Authors: Cañas-Bajo Jose , Silvennoinen Johanna
Published: June 2021

Although online shopping has become a popular and convenient instrument for companies to buy and sell products, the design of these web-shops does not always offer the rich multisensory experiences that physical retailing offers. In the chapter, the authors argue that introducing audio-visual contents in the design could provide dynamic multisensory information to offer more engaging experiences to the consumer. Despite existing controversies regarding universalism of the emotional experiences induced by perceptual processes, the authors present evidence that suggests cultural modulations of videos experiences. Spanish and Finnish participants interacted with audiovisual products depicting videos of a culturally loaded brand design. Content analysis of participants' verbalizations helped to identify categories and subcategories that defined the representation of the video elements and their relative weight depending on the cultural background of the viewer. Although results indicate common elements affecting viewers of the two countries, they differ in the relative weight to global aesthetics features.
Determinates of Live Support Chat in Organizational Intranets
Authors: Elmorshidy Ahmed
Published: June 2021

Live support chat (LSC) is a relatively new type of online customer support that is growing significantly in e-commerce websites. LSC bypasses the traditional types of customer support like phone, e-mail and web forms and it provides instant answers to customers' questions and concerns. Few researchers have empirically examined the factors affecting LSC at the individual level, however there is no evidence of research that explored the determinates of LSC in an organizational context and how it affects employees. This study attempts to fill this research gap by empirically examining the factors that affect LSC in the context of the organizational Intranets. Survey data from 389 employees at private and public organizations in Kuwait were collected to test the study hypotheses. The study findings have important implications at both the theoretical and practice levels.
The Role of Reputation on Trust and Loyalty
Authors: Sunday Adewale Olaleye  , Salo Jari , Ukpabi Dandison C.
Published: June 2021

The purpose of this article is to empirically examine the role of online retailer's website reputation on tablet commerce and to compare the trust arbitration between reputation and loyalty in two cultures - Finland and Nigeria. Data was collected from Finland and Nigeria, using purposive and snowball sampling methods. This article uses Structural Equation Modelling and mediation analysis. The results reveal that the reputation of online retailer's website is not a direct determinant of loyalty for online shopping while trust colligates with ease of use. The effect of an online retailer's website reputation is stronger in Nigeria than in Finland and trust is a strong predictor of ease of use in Finland than Nigeria. Furthermore, trust fully mediates the effect of reputation on loyalty in Finland and partially mediates the effect of reputation and loyalty in Nigeria. The implication of the result on existing and future managers were discussed with future direction.
The Effects of Social Commerce Utilization on Business Performance
Authors: Halawani Firas Mohamad , Soh Patrick C.H. , Halawani Yahya Mohamad
Published: June 2021

Social commerce is one of the most relevant technological innovations in recent years. It has strongly benefited many industries, including tourism. While many studies on social commerce have been conducted from the user perspective, less attention has been paid to the organisational perspective, particularly that of hotel organisations. To help understand the key drivers of hotel social commerce usage and their effects on hotel business performance, this study augments the integrated model of e-business usage and impact with hotel social media characteristics. Using stratified random sampling, data from 146 hotels in Lebanon were collected and analysed with the PLS-SEM approach. The model represents a theoretical advancement by offering an organisational perspective to the social commerce literature. It shows there is a significant impact of environmental, organisational, and innovation drivers and social media characteristics. The findings help hotels assess their existing social commerce utilization and identify aspects in need of more attention and improvement.
E-Commerce Security Research in Big Data Environment
Authors: Zhang Mei , Liu Huan , Wen Jinghua
Published: June 2021

Rapid development of e-commerce and mobile communication opens a new era of big data. In this article, the authors put big data and e-commerce security together. They construct electronic commerce security system from these aspects: the creation of database, the security of information storage, the mining of information based on big data environment thoroughly. The second-generation product distributed platform- Apache Hadoop which is more popular and instant has been brought in. what's more, this article expounds the structure and working process. On the base of this platform, this article analyses the certainty and security of e-commerce transactions data developed on the condition of big data. It puts forward a construction view that people should guide and monitor the behavior of e-commerce, and improve the security system of electronic commerce on the base of data.
Consumer Shopping Orientations and Online Purchases of Rural Tourism Services
Authors: Grubor Aleksandar , Djokic Nenad
Published: June 2021

The main goal of the chapter is to find out which consumer shopping orientations can be brought in connection to purchases of the services of rural tourism in online channel. Besides theoretical framework concerning rural tourism services and their relation to sustainable development of rural areas, as well as factors of online purchases, the chapter presents the results of primary research. The research is part of wider research conducted concerning online shopping behavior in Serbia. A total of 300 respondents participated. Convenience sampling was implemented. The results confirm that online sale of rural tourism services can be explained when considering consumer shopping orientations and that these orientations can be connected to demographic characteristics of consumers. Finally, managerial implications are considered.
Uncertainty Avoidance and Consumer Cognitive Innovativeness in E-Commerce
Authors: Sohaib Osama , Kang Kyeong , Miliszewska Iwona
Published: June 2021

This article describes how despite the extensive academic interest in e-commerce, an investigation of consumer cognitive innovativeness towards new product purchase intention has been neglected. Based on the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) model, this study investigates the consumer cognitive innovativeness and the moderating role of the individual consumer-level uncertainty avoidance cultural value towards new product purchase intention in business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce. Structural equation modelling, such as partial least squares (PLS) path modelling was used to test the model, using a sample of 255 participants in Australia who have had prior online shopping experience. The findings show that the online store web atmosphere influences consumers' cognitive innovativeness to purchase new products in countries with diverse degrees of uncertainty avoidance such as Australia. The results provide some guidance for a B2C website design based on how individual's uncertainty avoidance and cognitive innovativeness can aid the online consumer purchasing decision-making process.
The Incongruence of Internationalisation Policy in Japanese Higher Education
Authors: Higgins Robert M.
Published: June 2021

Exploring how policymakers construct policy texts by recontextualising aspects of previous polices can provide evidence of whether a present internationalisation project in Japanese higher education provides a holistic understanding of the importance of deeper critical cultural awareness to support a comprehensive approach to internationalisation agendas. In some respects, these present policies are closely aligned to previous initiatives that were by design limited by narrow culturalist and socioeconomic conceptualisations of internationalisation. Applying the critical tools of discourse analysis will contribute to both a theoretical and practical interpretation of higher educational policy planning. This approach will provide both a historical and contextual relational analysis of policy texts to support a critical problematisation approach for interrogating policy in respects of socioeducational factors that support, or hinder, higher educational approaches to interculturality in Japanese higher education.
Lack of Environmental Policy and Water Governance
Authors: Janjua Laeeq , Razzak Atteeq , Razzak Azeem
Published: June 2021

In Pakistan, water pollution is a cause of numerous health issue and water stress. The aim of writing this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of industrialization, foreign direct investment, and economic growth along with energy consumption on total suspended solids in the Indus River, which is used as a proxy for water pollution. The authors employed ARDL estimation to achieve the research objective. The findings revealed that in long-run economic growth, foreign direct investment inflows and industrialization have a positive influence on water pollution in the Indus River. Still, on the other hand, due to sustainable energy production, water pollution is falling in the Indus River. At the same time, in the short-run, economic growth causes reduction in total suspended solids, whereas industrialization is still a major cause of water pollution in the Indus River.
Addressing the Gender Gap in the Cybersecurity Workforce
Authors: Beveridge Robert
Published: June 2021

Cybercrime has proliferated over the last decade and is increasing in velocity and intensity. The need for employers to find highly skilled technologists to fill the many critical roles is reaching unprecedented levels. Men dominate the information technology fields such as cybersecurity and computer science. However, the need to bring more women into the various fields is necessary and would bring tremendous benefit to any organization. Much work needs to be done to generate interest in secondary schools by training teachers in technology so they can develop effective STEM curricula. Post-secondary schools need to focus on teacher development as well as developing information technology curricula that appeals to women. And once in the workplace, organizations need to develop policies and inclusive environments that do not alienate women.
Learning Management in Massive Open Online Courses
Authors: Basantia Tapan Kumar , Kumar Vishal
Published: June 2021

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are the unconventional and latest means of education in the present society. MOOCs are the strong alternative to traditional education and latest development in the area of open and distance learning. MOOCs are the online courses which are delivered with little rigidity in place of learning, time of learning, pace of learning, etc. Learning management in MOOCs is one of the prime features of MOOCs that helps for the delivery of MOOCs. Learning management in MOOCs plays a vital role for the success of MOOCs. The stakeholders of MOOCs must be well conversant with different aspects of learning management in MOOCs for achieving the success of the MOOCs. Referring to these contexts, in the present paper, thematic discussions have been made on different aspects of learning management in MOOCs. In the paper, special emphasis in discussion is given on different components of learning management in MOOCs, learning management in different platforms of MOOCs, and issues in learning management in MOOCs.
Knowledge Sharing in Catholic Organizations
Authors: Curado Carla , Graça João , Oliveira Mírian , Fernandes Alexandra
Published: June 2021

This study examines knowledge sharing in Catholic organizations. The authors adopt Schein's organizational culture theory that facilitates, or inhibits, knowledge sharing in organizations. Thus, they address the phenomenon at the three levels: the artifacts, the norms and values, and the underlying assumptions. Considering the chosen settings, they study the contributions of individuals having taken vows, the organizational rituals, the significance, and the sense of community perceived by the organizational members. Data were gathered using a survey and were analyzed by using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The study provides the causal configurations of conditions that lead to tacit, explicit, and total knowledge sharing. They also offer the causal configurations of conditions that lead to the absence of each kind of knowledge sharing. Given that the qualitative results cannot be generalized, the study can still be replicated in organizations without restrictions.
Self-Learning and Self-Satisfaction
Authors: Mahajan Vibha , Sharma Jyoti
Published: June 2021

The awareness towards organizational advantage through knowledge sharing among individuals has gained its significance globally. Numerous illustrations in the field of knowledge sharing behaviour indicate that in order to achieve the benefits of sharing knowledge within organizations, it is essential to understand the perceptions of individuals towards knowledge sharing behaviour. For this purpose, the middle management employees of the service sector in J&K region of India were surveyed to elicit the relationship between knowledge-sharing behaviour, self-learning through knowledge sharing, and self-satisfaction with respect to learning through knowledge sharing. The end results of the study indicate a positive relationship between all the variables. Recommendations in the present study have been made to enhance knowledge sharing among individuals of the service sector. This study contributes to the knowledge sharing behaviour literature from the individual perspective.
Why Would I Share?
Authors: Shang Yanyan , Harb Yousra
Published: June 2021

Blogs are known for their information and knowledge sharing capabilities. Several theoretical frameworks have been proposed to study the factors that influence an individual's intention to use blogs for knowledge sharing. However, factors like content familiarity and design familiarity are lacking in the literature. Hence, this paper aims to extend past studies and investigate the influence of familiarity with blogs in knowledge sharing. Particularly, the purpose of this paper is twofold. The first objective is to explore the effect of familiarity in terms of content familiarity and design familiarity on individual intention to use a blog as a knowledge sharing tool. The second objective is to determine whether familiarity factors change with gender, blog experience, and cultural differences. The results show that content familiarity and design familiarity positively influence an individual's knowledge sharing behavior in blogs. In addition, content familiarity and design familiarity differ according to gender, blog experience, and cultural differences.
How Much “Translation” Is in Localization and Global Adaptation?
Authors: Seel Olaf Immanuel
Published: June 2021

The aim of this article is to contribute to the discourse by clarifying the extent to which complex intersemiotic action can still be regarded as translation. This will be shown by two of its major representatives (i.e., localization and [global] adaptation), both of which constitute contested issues in translation studies research with regard to their conceptual belonging. Functional translation theory will be employed to achieve this aim. Employing functional translation theory will show that the decisive criterion for the conceptual affiliation of any intersemiotic action to translation is whether or not it constitutes a predominantly language-based text-to-text transfer. Finally, given its successful implementation, this paper proposes functionalist skopos theory as one possible interdisciplinary methodological tool for intersemiotic action that is not only useful for translation studies but could also be useful, if accordingly adapted, for other neighboring disciplines, such as, for example, adaptation studies.
Decision Making as a Contributor for Women Empowerment
Authors: Misra Richa , Srivastava Shalini , Mahajan Renuka , Thakur Rajiv
Published: June 2021

As per United Nations Development Program's Human Development Report 2016, India ranks 131 out of 188 countries on the gender inequality index, which positions it in the medium category. Women need intervention at various levels and the role of decision making at different spheres is a critical part of it. A major facet of empowerment is equal contribution of women in decision making, irrespective of any constraint of relatives or societal norms. This study measures the status of women's decision-making power in different areas like household, economic freedom, children, society, and awareness of their rights. It includes a survey of 278 women from the lower economic stratum in urban India. It further involves construction of empowerment indices on different decision-making indicators and hypothesis testing using statistical tests like independent sample t-test, ANOVA test. The findings in the Indian context are compared with other parts of the world. The survey results reported are of high social and policy importance for Indian women.
Effect of different levels of Ipomoea batatas flour inclusion on the ruminal pH of sheep in metabolic cages
Authors: Malaguez Edgard Gonçalves , Machado Maurício Cardozo , Cardoso Kauani Borges , Corrêa Marcio Nunes , Brauner Cassio Cassal , Barbosa Antônio Amaral , Kozloski Gilberto Vilmar , Del Pino Francisco Augusto Burkert
Published: June 2021

The accumulation of industrial by-products increases the use of sweet potato waste for ruminants, but ruminal pH characteristics are still not well known. The objective was to assess the fluctuation of ruminal pH in sheep supplemented with different levels of sweet potato flour inclusion in their diet. Four rumen-fistulated sheep were used; they were fed a diet based on ryegrass haylage (Lolium multiflorum) and sweet potato flour (Ipomoea batatas), provided according to the level of inclusion in the total diet (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%). Approximately 80 ml of ruminal fluid was collected for reading on a bench pH meter. Statistical data analysis was run on Statistical Analysis System (SAS Institute INC. Cary, NC, USA), and statistical difference was considered for p < 0.05. The animals that received 1.5% of sweet potato flour in their diet presented acid rumen pH; the 1.0% group presented rumen pH acidification in the first 6 hours after feeding, and the 0.5% level of inclusion did not change the rumen environment. It is concluded that the inclusion of 0.5% sweet potato flour in sheep diet proved to be an efficient energy supplementation strategy.
Recycled Materials for Sound Absorbing Applications
Authors: Ciaburro Giuseppe
Published: June 2021

The use of recycled materials to replace natural and artificial materials represents an interesting and real possibility for all industrial sectors to contribute to the reduction of the amount of waste disposed of and non-renewable resources consumed. This study reports the results of the measurements of the sound absorption coefficient carried out on specimens obtained from the recycling of different materials. A sustainable development of our planet requires us to adopt materials recycling policies to ensure the economical use of resources. Two types of materials have been studied: material obtained from the recycling of plastic bottles, and a material obtained from the recycling of asphalt milled. Both materials showed interesting sound absorption performances covering different frequency ranges.
Effects of Shear Deformation of Struts in Hexagonal Lattices on their Effective In-Plane Material Properties
Authors: Suttakul Pana , Fongsamootr Thongchai , Vo Duy , Nanakorn Pruettha
Published: June 2021

Two-dimensional lattices are widely used in many engineering applications. If 2D lattices have large numbers of unit cells, they can be accurately modeled as 2D homogeneous solids having effective material properties. When the slenderness ratios of struts in these 2D lattices are low, the effects of shear deformation on the values of the effective material properties can be significant. This study aims to investigate the effects of shear deformation on the effective material properties of 2D lattices with hexagonal unit cells, by using the homogenization method based on equivalent strain energy. Several topologies of hexagonal unit cells and several slenderness ratios of struts are considered. The effects of struts’ shear deformation on the effective material properties are examined by comparing the results of the present study, in which shear deformation is neglected, with those from the literature, in which shear deformation is included.
Tensile and Fatigue Properties of Twin-Roll-Cast AZ31 Magnesium Alloy Strips with Different Thicknesses
Authors: Kim Ye Jin , Kim Young Min , Cho Young Rae , Park Sung Hyuk
Published: June 2021

This study investigates the microstructure, tensile properties, and high-cycle fatigue resistance of twin-roll-cast Mg-3Al-1Zn (wt%) alloy strips with thicknesses of 1 mm, 1.5 mm, and 3 mm. The investigation results reveal that the 1-and 1.5-mm-thick strips show a fully dynamically recrystallized (DRXed) microstructure consisting of fine equiaxed DRXed grains, whereas the 3-mm-thick strip shows a partially DRXed microstructure containing very coarse elongated unDRXed grains because of the insufficient strain imposed during twin-roll casting. The inhomogeneous microstructure of the 3-mm-thick strip leads to a large deviation in its tensile elongation. The average grain size of the strips increases with increasing strip thickness, which results in reductions in both their tensile strength and their ductility because of the weakened grain-boundary hardening effect and the promoted formation of undesirable twins, respectively. The high-cycle fatigue resistance in the stress regime with finite fatigue life is similar for all three strips, but the fatigue strength with infinite fatigue life decreases from 175 MPa to 140 MPa as the strip thickness increases from 1 mm to 3 mm. The fatigue strength (FL) increases linearly with increasing yield strength (YS) according to the relationship FL = -199.5 + 2.03·YS.
High-Order Compensator Augmentation of a Baseline Partial Authority Controller for Rotorcraft
Authors: Spires J. Michael , Horn Joseph  F.
Published: June 2021

An architecture and design methodology for high-order compensator (HOC) augmentation of a baseline controller for rotorcraft is presented. With this architecture, the HOC compensator is selectable and can easily be authority limited, which might ease certification. Also, the plant for this augmentative multi-input multioutput compensator design is a stabilized helicopter system, so good flight-test data could be safely gathered for more accurate plant identification. The design methodology is carried out twice on an example helicopter model, once with turbulence rejection as the objective, and once with the additional objective of closely following pilot commands. The turbulence rejection HOC is feedback only (HOC_FB), while the combined objective HOC has both feedback and feedforward elements (HOC_FBFF). The HOC_FB was found to be better at improving turbulence rejection but generally degrades the following of pilot commands. The HOC_FBFF improves turbulence rejection relative to the baseline controller, but not by as much as HOC_FB. However, HOC_FBFF also generally improves the following of pilot commands.
Abstract Book of the 35º Congresso Nazionale SIGOT - Live streaming, 16-18 giugno 2021
Authors: Pilotto Alberto
Published: June 2021

Abstract Book of the 35º Congresso Nazionale SIGOT - Live streaming, 16-18 giugno 2021.
Hazard of Arm Injury in Professional Starting and Relief Pitchers
Authors: Bullock Garrett S. , Thigpen Charles A. , Collins Gary S. , Arden Nigel K. , Noonan Thomas K. , Kissenberth Michael J. , Shanley Ellen
Published: June 2021

Context

How different pitching roles affect the risk of arm injury in professional pitchers is currently unclear.

Objectives

To investigate differences between professional baseball starting and relief pitchers in the hazard of (1) arm injury and (2) elbow and shoulder injury.

Design

Prospective cohort study.

Setting

Minor League Baseball (MiLB) from 2013 to 2019.

Patients or Other Participants

Pitchers in MiLB.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Pitchers were followed for the entire MiLB season, and athlete-exposures and injuries were recorded. Risk ratios and risk difference were calculated between starting and relieving MiLB pitchers. A Cox survival analysis was then performed in relation to time to arm injury between starting and relieving MiLB pitchers. Subgroup analyses were conducted for elbow and shoulder injuries.

Results

A total of 297 pitchers were included, with 85 270 player-days recorded. The incidence of arm injuries was 11.4 per 10 000 athlete-exposures. Starting pitchers demonstrated a greater risk ratio (1.2 [95% CI = 1.1, 1.3]), risk difference (13.6 [95% CI = 5.6, 21.6]), and hazard of arm injury (2.4 [95% CI = 1.5, 4.0]) than relief pitchers. No differences were observed for the hazard of elbow injury between starting and relief pitchers (1.9; 95% CI = 0.8, 4.2). Starting pitchers had a greater hazard of shoulder injury than relief pitchers (3.8 [95% CI = 2.0, 7.1]).

Conclusions

Starting pitchers displayed a 2.4 times greater hazard of arm injury than relief pitchers. Subgroup analyses indicated that starters exhibited a greater hazard of shoulder injury than relievers, but no differences occurred for the hazard of elbow injury. However, due to the wide CIs, these subgroup analyses should be interpreted with caution. Clinicians may need to consider cumulative exposure and fatigue and how these factors relate to different pitching roles when assessing the risk of pitching arm injury.
Predicting Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reinjury From Return-to-Activity Assessments at 6 Months Postsurgery: A Prospective Cohort Study
Authors: Bodkin Stephan G. , Hertel Jay , Diduch David R. , Saliba Susan A. , Novicoff Wendy M. , Brockmeier Stephen F. , Miller Mark D. , Gwathmey F. Winston , Werner Brian C. , Hart Joseph M.
Published: June 2021

Context

Return-to-activity (RTA) assessments are commonly administered after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) to manage the patient's postoperative progressions back to activity. To date, few data are available on the clinical utility of these assessments to predict patient outcomes such as secondary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury once the athlete has returned to activity.

Objective

To identify the measures of patient function at 6 months post-ACLR that best predict RTA and second ACL injury at a minimum of 2 years after ACLR.

Design

Prospective cohort study.

Setting

Laboratory.

Patients or Other Participants

A total of 234 patients with primary, unilateral ACLR completed functional assessments at approximately 6 months post-ACLR. Of these, 192 (82.1%) completed follow-up at ≥2 years post-ACLR.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

The 6-month functional assessments consisted of patient-reported outcomes, isokinetic knee-flexor and -extensor strength, and single-legged hopping. We collected RTA and secondary ACL injury data at ≥2 years after ACLR.

Results

Of the patients who were able to RTA (n = 155), 44 (28.4%) had a subsequent ACL injury, 24 (15.5%) to the ipsilateral graft ACL and 20 (12.9%) to the contralateral ACL. A greater proportion of females had a secondary injury to the contralateral ACL (15/24, 62.5%), whereas a greater proportion of males reinjured the ipsilateral ACL graft (15/20, 75.0%; P = .017). Greater knee-extension symmetry at 6 months increased the probability of reinjury (B = 0.016, P = .048). Among patients with RTA at <8 months, every 1% increase in quadriceps strength symmetry at 6 months increased the risk of reinjury by 2.1% (B = 0.021, P = .05). Among patients with RTA at >8 months, every month that RTA was delayed reduced the risk of reinjury by 28.4% (B = –0.284, P = .042). Descriptive statistics of patient function stratified between the early and delayed RTA groups can be found in the Supplemental Table (available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-0407.20.S1).

Conclusions

Patients with more symmetric quadriceps strength at 6 months post-ACLR were more likely to experience another ACL rupture, especially those who returned to sport at <8 months after the index surgery. Clinicians should be cognizant that returning high-functioning patients to activity at <8 months post-ACLR may place them at an increased risk for reinjury.
Hamstring Strain Injury Rehabilitation
Authors: Hickey Jack T. , Opar David A. , Weiss Leigh J. , Heiderscheit Bryan C.
Published: June 2021

Hamstring strain injuries are common among athletes and often require rehabilitation to prepare players for a timely return to sport performance while also minimizing reinjury risk. Return to sport is typically achieved within weeks of the injury; however, subsequent athlete performance may be impaired, and reinjury rates are high. Improving these outcomes requires rehabilitation practitioners (eg, athletic trainers and physical therapists) to understand the causes and mechanisms of hamstring strain injury, know how to perform a thorough clinical examination, and progress loading to the site of injury safely and effectively. This narrative review discusses current clinical concepts related to these aspects of rehabilitation for hamstring strain injury, with the aim of helping practitioners improve athletes' outcomes. Collectively, this knowledge will inform the implementation of evidence-based rehabilitation interventions.
Detection of mecA and Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec Gene Isolated from Northeast Part of Karnataka Staphylococcus aureus Isolates
Authors: Kulkarni Vivek , Kumbar Vijay M. , Oli Ajay Kumar , Kambar Rahul , Shivannavar Channappa T. , Jayaraj Y. M.
Published: June 2021

Background:

Methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are predominantly significant because they are leading healthcare- associated infections worldwide and even majorly emerged as community associated infections.

Methods:

A total of 40 S. aureus isolates were collected from Navodaya Institute of Medical Sciences, Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences, and Mid Tech Diagnostic Laboratory, Raichur, and analyzed for mecA, Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL), and staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing by gradient and Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results:

Out of 40 S. aureus isolates, 7 (17.8%) were resistant and 33 (82.8%) were sensitive for methicillin antibiotic. The seven isolates showed positive for Vancomycin /cefoxitin Ezy MIC strip and oxacillin antibiotic MIC was ≥ 8μg/ml respectively PCR detection has revealed, seven isolates were positive for mecA and SCCmec typing, but none of the isolates has shown positive for PVL genes. The study shows the presence of SCCmec Type II and III was confirmed by multiplex PCR in hospital-acquired MRSA isolate and mecA gene positive of seven strains of MRSA

Conclusion:

The study demonstrated high specificity and positive prediction of the detection of MRSA from clinical samples.
Detection of Epstein–Barr Virus in Prostate Tissue from Prostatic Cancer Patients in Iraq
Authors: Al-Ramahy Anwar Abd Hashim
Published: June 2021

Introduction:

The prostatic tumor was the third form of cancer in males being more than 55 years of age, after the pulmonary and colon cancer. The prostate infected by many viruses causing repeated or chronic inflammation or enhance carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to determine the presence and prevalence of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) in the prostate tissue of patients with prostate cancer.

Methods:

Prostate tissue samples were collected from paraffin embedding block of 70 patients diagnosed with EBV from archives of AL-Sadder Hospital in AL-Najaf City and some archives of private histopathology laboratories from January 2016 to the December of the same year. We investigated the presence of EBV DNA by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results:

The sample size was 60 patients and 10 as controls. The present study shows that 7/60 prostatic patients have EBV. Five patients of them have a malignancy prostatic tumor and only two with a benign prostatic tumor. On the other hand, there are 53/60 prostatic patients without EBV.

Conclusions:

EBV gene sequences were identified in benign and prostate cancer specimens. These sequences were located in the nuclei of prostate epithelial cells. The presence of EBV gene sequences in some of the benign and malignant prostate specimens is particularly noteworthy because of recent experimental evidence demonstrating that EBV can increase the proliferation of cultured cervical cells.
Antifungal Efficacy of Lauric Acid and Caprylic Acid – Derivatives of Virgin Coconut Oil against Candida Albicans
Authors: Akula Satya Tejaswi , Nagaraja A. , Ravikanth M. , Kumar N. Govind Raj , Kalyan Y. , Divya D.
Published: June 2021

Background:

Candida albicans is the primary causative agent of oral mycotic infections and can be fulminant, especially in immunocompromised individuals, which often necessitates a therapeutic intervention with antifungal drugs. However, with emergence of multidrug-resistant fungi and concomitant intolerance and adverse side effects of antifungal drugs, it is pivotal to find an alternative. One approach is to screen natural compounds which represent a rich source of novel antimicrobial agents.

Aim:

The present study focused on the pharmacological screening of active ingredients of virgin coconut oil, the medium-chain fatty acids – lauric acid and caprylic acid, for antifungal activity on C. albicans comparatively with those of standard antifungal drugs such as fluconazole and clotrimazole.

Methods:

The efficacy of lauric acid and caprylic acid against C. albicans was evaluated by using standard protocol of disc diffusion method. It was assessed by the presence or absence of inhibition zones, diameter of inhibition zones (in cm), and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values.

Results:

Caprylic acid and lauric acid (MCFS) have potential anticandidal activity against C. albicans. Caprylic acid has the highest antifungal potential at MIC of 40μg/ml.

Conclusion:

Both the natural compounds have shown encouraging antifungal activity in the present study. However, further microbiological and clinical evaluation is essential to consider their utilization for therapeutic purposes.
Seasonality in Pediatric and Adolescent Orthopedic Fractures – An Experience from Central India
Authors: Jain Ravi Kant , Shukla Rajeev , Dogne Ram , Champawat Vishal Singh
Published: June 2021

Background:

Incidence of childhood fractures varies from 1.2% to 5%. Very few studies have considered environmental variables which may influence incidence of fractures, that too in pediatric age group. According to literatures incidence of fracture is found to be higher in summers as compared to winters.

Aims and Objectives:

To study the seasonal variation of pediatric and adolescent orthopedic fractures at our institute in Central India.

Materials and Methods:

Data of orthopaedic trauma in patients of age 0-18 years were collected from the institutional database of a tertiary care hospital for the period 2007–2017. Basic demographic characteristics, time and date of injury, nature of injury and outcome data were recorded and tabulated according to age, sex, month/season, part of body injured, and then analyzed for the patterns of injury.

Results:

A total of 3260 pediatric orthopedic trauma cases were included in study. Most of the injuries were seen in 6–15 years' age group (64%), most common mode of injury was fall while playing. There was a male preponderance to fractures (73% males vs. 27% females). Trauma mostly occurred during summers (48%) followed by rainy season (30%) and least during winter season (22%). Injury to spine was seen in 31 (0.95%) patients, upper limb injuries were seen in 1799 (55.18%) patients, and lower limb injuries were seen in 1430 (43.86%) patients.

Conclusion:

This study concludes that there exists vast variation in the incidence of fractures in the pediatric and adolescent fractures with maximum fractures being reported in the summer season, then rainy season, and least in the winter season. Health-care professionals and parents should be educated about injury prevention strategies, and also, there should be commitment for more health-care personnel and resources at trauma centers during the summer season to deal with increased patient load efficiently.