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During a fall, a significant part of the major forces is absorbed by the dorsolumbar column area. When the applied stresses exceed the yield strength of the bone tissue, fractures can occur in the vertebrae. Vertebral fractures constitute one of the leading causes of trauma-related hospitalizations, accounting for 15% of all admissions. Posterior pedicle screw fixation has become a common method for treating burst fractures. However, physicians remain divided on the number of fixed segments that are needed to improve clinical outcomes. The present work aims to understand the biomechanical impact of different fixation methods, improving surgical treatments.

A finite element model of the dorsolumbar spine (T11–L3) section, including cartilages, discs and ligaments, was created. The dorsolumbar stability was tested by comparing two different surgical orthopedic treatments for a fractured first lumbar vertebra on the L1 vertebra: the posterior short segment fixation with intermediate screws (PSS) and the posterior long segment fixation (PL). Distinct loads were applied to represent daily activities.

Results show that both procedures provide acceptable segment fixation, with the PL offering less freedom of movement, making it more stable than the PSS. The PL approach can be the best choice for an unstable fracture as it leads to a stiffer spine segment.

This study introduces a novel computational model designed for the biomechanical analysis of dorsolumbar injuries, aiming to identify the optimal treatment approaches within both clinical and surgical contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to uncover the customers’ concerns with the information disclosed in water services invoices and to analyse them with reference to the data quality dimensions usually proposed in the literature. In the context of services of general interest invoices are particularly relevant as a vehicle to convey information to all consumers.

Based on the principles of quality planning, the research uses a qualitative approach to identify the data quality requirements of water invoices. Customer voices were collected by means of focus groups and their meanings analysed using an affinity diagram.

Findings show that plain language efforts and strategies to enhance trust on the service provided need to be further reinforced. Consumers’ requirements together with the regulator recommendations also confirm the data quality dimensions identified in the literature.

This research highlights that avoiding technical language and making visible the consequences of different consumption levels on the amounts to be paid is essential when designing water invoices. Moreover, it emphasises that there is still room for improvement in the way the economic regulator performs its role in ensuring the provision of sound information.

This research addresses a literature gap by conducting a study on data quality requirements outside the context of information systems for organisations. The study is original because it looks at water invoices as a “product” that can be designed to meet the needs of their users.

The purpose is to assess the patient safety culture perceived by healthcare and administrative staff in a Brazilian hospital and examine whether education and experience are related to positive perceptions.

A descriptive–analytical case study was carried out at Ernesto Dornelles Hospital, a private Brazilian institution. The Brazilian version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture was used to assess the perceptions of 618 participants, of whom 315 worked in healthcare assistance and 303 in administrative services. The main outcome was the percentage of positive responses, and the independent variables included the type of work, schooling and length of experience.

None of the twelve dimensions was strengthened. The percentage of positive responses was the highest for “Hospital management support for patient safety” (67.5%), and the lowest was for “Nonpunitive response to error” (29%). The healthcare staff had a slightly higher average than the administrative staff. The percentage of positive responses from professionals with undergraduate or graduate degrees was higher for the eight dimensions of safety culture. The length of hospital experience was not associated with any dimensions.

This study explored the influence of education and professional experience on the perception of patient safety in healthcare and administrative staff from a private institution. These approaches allow to know with greater depth and clarity factors that are related to the patient safety culture and, thus, have more consistent evidence to support interventions in specific needs.

The effects of customer satisfaction on loyalty have been widely discussed by the academic community. Although the results of the studies reported in the literature are often contradictory, the existence of a relationship between satisfaction and loyalty is acknowledged, despite the influence of moderators and constraints of various kinds. The purpose of this paper is to discuss this relationship in the specific context of the retail sector, since this sector presents major challenges in terms of competition, and efforts placed on customer satisfaction and loyalty are more evident.

A survey based on the European Customer Satisfaction Index (ECSI) model was applied to a retail store in Portugal. This model has its roots in Switzerland, where in 1989, Claes Fornell developed a new complementary method for measuring the overall quality of companies’ output, through the calculation of an aggregated customer satisfaction index. The proposed model is based on a set of causal relationships established between a set of constructs. The ultimate goal is to calculate both satisfaction and loyalty indexes as well as to estimate the relationship between both constructs. Structural equation modelling, based on a partial least squares (PLS) estimation methodology, is the statistical technique used to estimate the model parameters, as well as to compare the aggregated indexes. PLS is based on the principles of linear regression and combines multiple regression aspects with factor analysis, in order to estimate a series of interrelated relationships.

The results confirm a positive influence of satisfaction on customers’ loyalty to the retail store. The study also shows the importance of the image construct, due to its strong direct effects on satisfaction, which makes it essential for influencing the loyalty index, both directly and indirectly. The impact of the image construct is also evident on the expectations, as the latter has shown a considerable direct effect on perceived quality.

The study is based on a single case study of a Portuguese sports retail store. In future it would be interesting to study a representative sample of the whole retail sector.

The study is useful for the specific retail store where it was undertaken to help it devise better customer service, in order to increase satisfaction and loyalty. It is also useful for the entire network of stores for that retailer and other retail chains.

The systematic application of customer surveys to whole sectors of the economy would improve competition, customer service and, ultimately, contribute to development and economic growth.

The ECSI has been applied to various industry sectors in different countries, including Portugal. It has never been used in the context of the Portuguese retail sector and it adds to the discussion on the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty, which is a pertinent topic of interest for researchers in quality management.

The purpose of this paper was to study responses to traditional food of a country, focusing on emotion-motivational responses by locals and foreigners.

Through an experimental design study, Portuguese and Foreign participants were exposed to both traditional and nontraditional food pictures of a country and asked to evaluate their emotional and motivational responses while physiological responses of electrodermal activity were being continuously recorded. Predisposition factors of body dissatisfaction, food neophobia and food involvement were also evaluated given their potential role in predicting the responses to the visualization of the food pictures.

This study found that local traditional food received a higher positive evaluation than nontraditional food with locals evaluating it even higher than foreigners. Higher feelings of arousal and desire as well as willingness to try in response to traditional food were also found as well as higher feelings of pleasure by locals. However, interestingly, and contrary to expectations derived from previous literature, emotion-motivational responses were not significantly different between locals and foreigners.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research addressed an identified research gap in the literature, being the first one evaluating the autonomic responses of consumers to traditional food by exploring how local and foreign consumers respond to traditional food versus nontraditional food using psychophysiological measures of emotion.

El objetivo principal de esta investigación fue estudiar las respuestas a la comida tradicional de un país, centrándose en las respuestas emoción-motivación de los locales y los extranjeros.

A través de un estudio de diseño experimental, los participantes portugueses y extranjeros fueron expuestos a imágenes de comida tradicional y no tradicional de un país y se les pidió que evaluaran sus respuestas emocionales y motivacionales mientras se registraban continuamente las respuestas fisiológicas de la actividad electrodérmica. También se evaluaron los factores de predisposición de la insatisfacción corporal, la neofobia a la comida y la implicación en la comida, dado su papel potencial en la predicción de las respuestas a la visualización de las imágenes de comida.

Encontramos que la comida tradicional local recibió una evaluación positiva más alta que la comida no tradicional, con los locales evaluándola incluso más alto que los extranjeros. También se encontraron mayores sentimientos de excitación y deseo, así como la voluntad de probar en respuesta a la comida tradicional, así como mayores sentimientos de placer por parte de los locales. Sin embargo, curiosamente, y en contra de las expectativas derivadas de la literatura anterior, las respuestas emocionales-motivacionales no fueron significativamente diferentes entre los locales y los extranjeros.

Esta investigación abordó una brecha de investigación identificada en la literatura, siendo la primera que evalúa las respuestas autonómicas de los consumidores a la comida tradicional al explorar cómo los consumidores locales y extranjeros responden a la comida tradicional frente a la no tradicional utilizando medidas psicofisiológicas de emoción.

本研究的主要目的是研究本地人和外国人对一个国家的传统食物的情感动机反应。

通过实验设计研究, 葡萄牙人和外国参与者会看到一个国家的传统和非传统食物图片, 并被要求评估他们的情绪和动机反应, 同时连续记录皮肤电活动的生理反应。考虑到其他变量在预测对食物图片可视化的反应方面的潜在作用, 还评估了身体不满、食物恐惧症和食物参与的易感因素的影响。

研究结果发现, 当地的传统食物比非传统食物得到了更高的积极评价, 且当地人对它的评价甚至比外国人更高。当地人对传统食物的表现出更高的唤醒, 欲望和尝试意愿, 以及更高的愉悦感。然而, 有趣的是, 与以往文献的预期相反, 当地人和外国人之间的情绪动机反应并没有呈现出明显差异。

这项研究填补了现有文献中的研究空白, 它是第一个通过使用心理生理学的情绪测量方法来探索本地和外国消费者对传统食物与非传统食物的反应, 从而评估消费者对传统食物自主反应的研究。

This study explores the relations between home and family in times of a pandemic, transporting the family away from the family home and, apparently, from the family itself. Specifically, it focuses art, culture, and society by shedding light on the enduring role of family rituals in creating and sustaining family identity while affirming the role of information and communication technology (ICT), in both the construction and reproduction of the family dynamics amid pandemic times. Reflection is taken upon a live-by-Zoom art exhibition opening. Family photo albums and several artifacts are used to show the family history, and, at the same time, the installed objects and surrounding narratives invite others to imagine the artist’s family as well as each audience member’s own family. The opening took place in March 2021, during the second lockdown in Portugal. Methodologically, the chapter draws on data collected through direct observation and autoethnography. Inspired by an arts-based approach, narrative is built on storytelling sociology, while using writing as a method of inquiry and reflexive composition to overcome the limits of the personal narrative. By the end, it is argued that as families “live” at Zoom, family rituals too. Zoom platform reproduces the family atmosphere, opportunities, and constraints. Looking at the art exhibit opening as a family ritual allows one to think about how individuals experienced family gatherings during the pandemic, but also how art might generate such familial intimacies in such exceptional times.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate beet and orange mixed juices added with lyophilized Lactobacillus acidophilus probiotic culture.

Two formulations of probiotic beet and orange mixed juices (1:1 e 1:2 v/v) were prepared, stored at 4°C for 28 days and were evaluated for probiotic survival, physicochemical stability, antioxidant activity and sensory acceptance. The probiotic culture was added in a lyophilized form and was not propagated in culture media or juice.

Physicochemical characteristics (pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids and color) and antioxidant activity showed no undesirable alterations during storage. The number of probiotics followed established minimum requirement for probiotic foods (10⁹ CFU/200mL) during the 28 days of storage. The juices showed good sensory acceptance and purchase intention, especially regarding the color of the product.

The beet and orange mixed juices are suitable carriers for L. acidophilus with a shelf life of at least 28 days at 4°C.

Direct addition of the probiotic culture could result in high probiotic survival in mixed juices, dispensing the propagation step.

The study aims to investigate the relationship between chief executive officers' (CEOs') prenatal testosterone exposure, absorptive capacity and e-commerce adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Based on a study of 1,519 SMEs led by a male CEO in China, the impact of entrepreneur's digital ratio on e-commerce adoption is empirically analyzed through a multivariate logistic model.

The results show that the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), a reverse measurement of prenatal testosterone exposure, is negatively correlated with the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs. This evidence suggests that CEOs with high prenatal testosterone exposure have a higher probability of adopting e-commerce. In addition, this research indicates a positive correlation between absorptive capacity, which is defined by market innovation, process innovation and marketing innovation, and the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs.

This research can contribute to the discussion by providing new insights into the antecedents of the adoption of e-commerce in SMEs.

The terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 were a very traumatic event for the entire nation. This was especially true for law enforcement. Many law enforcement officers and other first responders lost their lives in the initial response to the attack while attempting to save the lives of the citizens they were sworn to protect. As a result of the 9/11 attacks, many changes have occurred in the missions, operations and tactics of local law enforcement agencies in the United States.

This chapter attempts to examine the changes that were forced upon law enforcement by the events of 9/11 and to look at what the future might hold for law enforcement in an enhanced homeland security environment.

Terrorism presents additional duties for law enforcement. Traditional police missions have not been lessened, but new threats to the public have arisen.