Counterfeit purchase typologies during an economic crisis

Purpose-The economic crisis has become a global phenomenon, although in Europe it mostly affected the Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe. In times of economic stress, counterfeit products increase their market share. In this context this paper aims to explore, and attempt to explain, consumer perspectives on the purchasing of counterfeit brands. Methodology-The study utilized an e-mail based open ended questionnaire as its data collection method. The research used a sample of 83 participants belonging to generation Y (younger and older) and upper medium and high income class brackets. Findings-Purchasing behaviour of counterfeit products during the economic crisis enabled us to identify four types of consumers. Furthermore, the results indicated that some consumers have significant interest in counterfeits while some consumers show apathy or indifference towards counterfeiting. Furthermore, some consumers believe that the government’s economic austerity policies cause high level consumption of counterfeits while others consider the authorities to be responsible for counterfeiting, since they do not adequately tackle it. Research limitations/implications- This research is exploratory in nature and restricted to Greek generation Y consumers. Suggestions are presented regarding future studies and generalization of the findings. Practical implications- Implementation of law, joint communication campaigns and social media usage are the major implications for the stakeholders in the marketplace. Originality/value-This study extends the body of knowledge of purchasing behavior on non-deceptive counterfeit products by offering empirical findings from Greece, a country facing a severe economic crisis. To our knowledge this is the first study that explores counterfeit buying behaviour during an economic crisis perio

Building Community and Collaboration Applications for MMOGs

Supporting collaborative activities among the online players are one of the major challenges in the area of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG), since they increase the richness of gaming experience and create more engaged communities. To this direction, our study has focused on the provision of services supporting and enhancing the players' in-game community and collaboration activities. We have designed and implemented innovative tools exploiting a game adaptation technology, namely, the In-game Graphical Insertion Technology (IGIT), which permits the addition of web-based applications without any need from the game developers to modify the game at all, nor from the game players to change their game installation. The developed tools follow a design adapted to the MMOG players' needs and are based on the latest advances on Web 2.0 technology. Their provision is performed through the core element of our system, which is the so-called Community Network Game (CNG) Server. One of the important features provided by the implemented system's underlying framework is the utilization of enhanced Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology for the distribution of user-generated live video streams. In this paper, we focus on the architecture of the CNG Server as well as on the design and implementation of the online community and collaboration tools

The theory and application of eulerlets

Consider a fixed body in a uniform flow field in the limit as the Reynolds number approaches infinity and the flow field remains steady. Instead of using standard techniques and theory for describing the problem, a new method is employed based upon the concept of matching two different Green’s integral representations over a common boundary, one given by approximations valid in the near-field and the other by approximations in the far-field. Further novelty arises from the choice of a near-field, that is, the Euler flow matched to an Oseen flow far-field. This entails introducing and defining eulerlets that are Green’s functions of the Euler equation. One important consequence of the model is the presence of a new Euler wake velocity not captured in standard models. This has a constant unchanging downstream profile and arises from the matching to the far-field Oseen wake velocity. It is then shown how this representation reduces to classical inviscid ideal flow aerodynamics when applied to flow past aerofoils and wings. It is also shown how it reduces to slender body flow theory. Finally, the formulation is tested on uniform flow past a circular cylinder for mean-steady subcritical laminar flow and turbulent flow. The inviscid impermeability boundary condition is used, the drag coefficient is specified, and a constant distribution of drag eulerlets is modeled. The forward flow separation and pressure drop in the wake are captured and compare favorably with experiment. The future expectation is the modeling of multiple general shaped bodies

Counterfeit purchase typologies during an economic crisis

Purpose-The economic crisis has become a global phenomenon, although in Europe it mostly affected the Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe. In times of economic stress, counterfeit products increase their market share. In this context this paper aims to explore, and attempt to explain, consumer perspectives on the purchasing of counterfeit brands. Methodology-The study utilized an e-mail based open ended questionnaire as its data collection method. The research used a sample of 83 participants belonging to generation Y (younger and older) and upper medium and high income class brackets. Findings-Purchasing behaviour of counterfeit products during the economic crisis enabled us to identify four types of consumers. Furthermore, the results indicated that some consumers have significant interest in counterfeits while some consumers show apathy or indifference towards counterfeiting. Furthermore, some consumers believe that the government’s economic austerity policies cause high level consumption of counterfeits while others consider the authorities to be responsible for counterfeiting, since they do not adequately tackle it. Research limitations/implications- This research is exploratory in nature and restricted to Greek generation Y consumers. Suggestions are presented regarding future studies and generalization of the findings. Practical implications- Implementation of law, joint communication campaigns and social media usage are the major implications for the stakeholders in the marketplace. Originality/value-This study extends the body of knowledge of purchasing behavior on non-deceptive counterfeit products by offering empirical findings from Greece, a country facing a severe economic crisis. To our knowledge this is the first study that explores counterfeit buying behaviour during an economic crisis perio

Η δοκιμασία αναστολής «Go/No-go» σε ψυχιατρικούς ασθενείς σε βάθος χρόνου - συσχέτιση με την κλίμακα PANSS

Υπόβαθρο: Η δοκιμασία «go/no-go» εξετάζει τη δυνατότητα ελέγχου της αναστολής, καθώς και της εστιασμένης προσοχής. Οι παράμετροι που μετρώνται είναι ο χρόνος αντίδρασης, η τυπική απόκλιση και η συχνότητα των λαθών. Με τον τρόπο αυτό η δοκιμασία μπορεί να θεωρηθεί ως ένα αντικειμενικό εργαλείο, ένας βιοδείκτης, της αξιολόγησης και μέτρησης των ανωτέρω νοητικών λειτουργιών. Τα πολλά πλεονεκτήματα της δοκιμασίας την καθιστούν μια προσφιλή μέθοδο μέτρησης και αξιολόγησης των παραπάνω νοητικών παραμέτρων σε πληθώρα νοσολογικών οντοτήτων. Στην παρούσα μελέτη συμμετέχουν ασθενείς με διπολική διαταραχή και σχιζοφρένεια. Με βάση την υπόθεση ότι στην ψύχωση και τη διπολική διαταραχή απαντώνται διαταραχές της προσοχής και της δυνατότητας αναστολής των παρορμήσεων στα πλαίσια της γενικότερης νοητικής έκπτωσης, έχει διερευνηθεί στο παρελθόν η ύπαρξη στατιστικά σημαντικής διαφοράς στις επιδόσεις στη δοκιμασία «go/no-go» μεταξύ φυσιολογικών ατόμων και ασθενών, με τους δεύτερους να έχουν γενικότερα χειρότερες επιδόσεις. Εκείνο που δεν έχει διερευνηθεί είναι η διακύμανση των επιδόσεων σε βάθος χρόνου με τακτικές επαναλαμβανόμενες μετρήσεις. Η παρούσα εργασία εξετάζει το ενδεχόμενο ύπαρξης συσχέτισης μεταξύ της διακύμανσης των επιδόσεων στη δοκιμασία μέσα στο χρόνο με τη διακύμανση της κλινικής εικόνας της ψυχοπαθολογίας, όπως αυτή αξιολογείται με την κλίμακα PANSS, για το ίδιο χρονικό διάστημα, για κάθε άτομο ξεχωριστά, καθώς επίσης και η πιθανότητα πρόβλεψης κάποιας υποτροπής. Μεθοδολογία: Σε δείγμα 38 ασθενών (22 ψυχωτικών και 16 διπολικών) γινόταν δειγματοληψία (κατά κανόνα) κάθε ένα μήνα από το Νοέμβριο του 2019 έως το Σεπτέμβριο του 2020 και έπειτα κάθε δύο μήνες έως τον Μάιο του 2021. Η διαδικασία της δειγματοληψίας περιελάμβανε κλινική αξιολόγηση με την κλίμακα PANSS και τη δοκιμασία αναστολής «go/no-go» (την ίδια ημέρα ή με μία ημέρα διαφορά), με σκοπό να διερευνηθούν πιθανές συσχετίσεις μεταξύ της ψυχοπαθολογίας και της νοητικής λειτουργίας, μέσω των επιδόσεων στη δοκιμασία (χρόνοι αντίδρασης, τυπικές αποκλίσεις, ποσοστό λαθών) για το ίδιο χρονικό διάστημα. Αποτελέσματα: Kαμία από τις ενδοϋποκειμενικές μεταβολές στις παραμέτρους της δοκιμασίας «go/no-go» μέσα στο χρόνο δε φάνηκε να συσχετίζεται ισχυρά με τις ενδοϋποκειμενικές μεταβολές στην ψυχοπαθολογία (όπως αυτή μετράται με την κλίμακα PANSS) για το ίδιο χρονικό διάστημα. Επομένως, η δοκιμασία «go/no-go» δεν αποδείχθηκε ευαίσθητος δείκτης για την αξιολόγηση του βαθμού ψυχοπαθολογίας και κατ’ επέκτασιν την πρόβλεψη κάποιας υποτροπής. Συζήτηση: Το παραπάνω εύρημα συμφωνεί με βιβλιογραφικά δεδομένα που υποστηρίζουν πως η νοητική έκπτωση στην ψύχωση και τη διπολική διαταραχή είναι μεν υπαρκτή, αλλά παραμένει σχετικά σταθερή στο χρόνο και είναι μάλλον ανεξάρτητη από το βαθμό ψυχοπαθολογίας ή/και τη λήψη φαρμακευτικής αγωγής. Προτείνεται πως η νοητική έκπτωση εντείνεται στα τελευταία στάδια της νόσου. Ωστόσο, κανένας από τους ασθενείς του δείγματος δε βρισκόταν σε προχωρημένο στάδιο νόσου και το χρονικό διάστημα της μελέτης ήταν αρκετά μικρό, ώστε να παρατηρηθεί κάποια εξεσημασμένη μεταβολή στις νοητικές λειτουργίες. Συνεπώς, οι τυχόν μεταβολές στις επιδόσεις στη δοκιμασία «go/no-go» δεν μπόρεσαν να συσχετισθούν με τις μεταβολές στην κλινική έκφραση της ψυχοπαθολογίας.Background: Go/no-go task evaluates inhibitory control and focused attention. Reaction time, standard deviation and error rate are the variables measured. In that way, this task can be considered as an objective tool, a biomarker, for the assessment and the measurement of the above cognitive functions. Because of its multiple advantages, the task has become a popular method of evaluating these functions in a variety of diseases. The participants of the present research are patients with bipolar disease and schizophrenia. Supposed that in these psychiatric conditions inhibitory control and attention are affected, in the context of general cognitive decline, the existence of statistically significant discrepancy in the performances between normal subjects and patients has been investigated, with the latter performing generally worse. What it is not yet investigated is the variance in performance over time, through regular repeated measurements. The present assignment explores the possibility of correlation between the variance in performance in the task over time and the variance of clinical picture of psychopathology, assessed via the PANSS scale, for the same period of time, for each separate subject, as well as the probability of predicting any relapse. Method: In a group of 38 subjects (22 psychotic and 16 bipolar), sampling was taking place every month (from November 2019 to September 2020) and then every two months (until May 2021). The procedure included clinical assessment with the PANSS scale and performing the go/no-go task (the same day or one day later), with the intention of exploring the possibility of correlation between psychopathology and cognitive function, through the performance in the task (measuring reaction times, standard deviations and error rate) for the respective period of time. Results: None of the intrasubject variability of the parameters measured by the performance in the go/no-go task across time seems to correlate significantly with the intrasubject variability in psychopathology (estimated through PANSS scale) for the same period of time. Thus, go/no-go task was not proven to be a sensitive marker in evaluating psychopathology and , by extension, in predicting any relapse. Discussion: The above finding is in line with the bibliography, claiming that cognitive deficits in psychosis and bipolar disease are indeed present, but tend to remain rather stable across time and seem to be relatively independent from psychopathology and/or medication. It is suggested that cognitive decline intensifies during the later stages of the illness. However, none of our patients was in such an advanced stage of disease and the time span of the research was not long enough, so that any significant change in cognitive functions could be observed. Therefore, the variations of the performance in go/no-go task could not be correlated with the variations in the clinical picture of psychopathology

Peer-to-peer live video streaming with rateless codes for massively multiplayer online games

International audienc