1,720,961 research outputs found
The Evolution of E-Bikes: Health and Environmental Advantages, Adoption Challenges, and the Emerging Technological Innovations
Full text linkAir pollution and physical inactivity are major concerns of the 21st century. Active commuting provides a solution to these interrelated issues although several barriers prevent widespread adoption. In this context, e-bikes present a promising choice due to their potential to minimize physical effort while maintaining the advantages of physical activity. Despite their increasing popularity in other European countries, adherence in Italy is limited, indicating the need for further investigation. This thesis broadly explores active commuting and worker health, with particular attention to factors that may hinder its adoption. Among these factors, low back pain (LBP)—a common musculoskeletal disorder affecting both workers and athletes—may affect physical activity engagement because of its symptomatology. In our study, we observed an altered recruitment strategy of the erector spinae muscles in cyclists with LBP that may elevate the risk of injury. To further explore commuting behaviors, we conducted an observational study in the Veneto region (Italy) and we observed that workers rely on cars for commuting, while active commuters reported higher satisfaction with their travel mode compared to passive commuters. Despite this, companies inadequately promote active commuting, and workers often remain unaware of such initiatives. Perceived commuting stress was linked to distance, travel time, and traffic congestion, emphasizing the need for alternatives to motorized vehicles that pollute and occupy space on the roads. As e-bikes are not widespread in the territory, we used an extended theory of planned behavior to identify the factors related to the intention to use e-bikes for commuting. The analysis revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, and financial incentives are significant predictors of e-bike commuting intentions, and passive commuters showed greater interest than active commuters. Finally, we designed E.P.H.E.S.U.S., a smart e-bike integrating advanced sensors and gamification elements to improve commuting experiences and comfort. Despite being simply conceptual, the design offers practical insights into addressing physical strain and air pollution inhalation when pedaling. This thesis provides significant contributions to active commuting research, with implications for occupational health, urban planning, and green technology
Development and validation of a phase-sensitive bioelectrical equation for estimating skeletal muscle mass using DXA as reference
Full text linkBackground and aim: The development of appropriate bioimpedance-based equations for assessing body composition requires high-standard reference methods. Conversion factors have been proposed to derive skeletal muscle mass (SMM) from dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) outputs. The objective of this study was to present a predictive equation for estimating SMM starting from bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and using DXA as criterion. Methods and results: A total of 228 men and 125 women, aged 18–82 years underwent foot-to-hand BIA at a single frequency, alongside DXA scanning. To develop the new equation, bioelectrical parameters were recorded for 2/3 of the total sample and computed in a stepwise regression analysis. Agreement analyses were conducted on the remaining 1/3 of the sample assessing the performance of the new and a previously published equation (Janssen). The best developed model was: SMM (kg) = −17.612 + (sex × 3.397) + (stature2/reactance × 0.037) + (phase angle × 3.509) – (age × 0.052) with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.88 and standard error of estimation of 2.25 kg, where sex is 0 for women and 1 for men. Agreement analysis revealed no significant mean bias (−0.01) for the new model, whereas the Janssen equation overestimated SMM (+3.65 kg), with 95 % limits of agreement of −4.2 to 4.2 and −0.1 to 8.0, respectively. Lin's concordance correlation coefficient indicated higher accuracy for the new equations compared to the Janssen equation. Conclusions: This study presents a novel BIA-based predictive equation for assessing SMM in male and female individuals, based on sex, reactance, phase angle, and age
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Author-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.
No full textAuthor-wise bibliometric analysis based on entropy.</p
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