How are falls and fear of falling associated with objectively measured physical activity in a cohort of community-dwelling older men?

BACKGROUND: Falls affect approximately one third of community-dwelling older adults each year and have serious health and social consequences. Fear of falling (FOF) (lack of confidence in maintaining balance during normal activities) affects many older adults, irrespective of whether they have actually experienced falls. Both falls and fear of falls may result in restrictions of physical activity, which in turn have health consequences. To date the relation between (i) falls and (ii) fear of falling with physical activity have not been investigated using objectively measured activity data which permits examination of different intensities of activity and sedentary behaviour. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 1680 men aged 71-92 years recruited from primary care practices who were part of an on-going population-based cohort. Men reported falls history in previous 12 months, FOF, health status and demographic characteristics. Men wore a GT3x accelerometer over the hip for 7 days. RESULTS: Among the 12% of men who had recurrent falls, daily activity levels were lower than among non-fallers; 942 (95% CI 503, 1381) fewer steps/day, 12(95% CI 2, 22) minutes less in light activity, 10(95% CI 5, 15) minutes less in moderate to vigorous PA [MVPA] and 22(95% CI 9, 35) minutes more in sedentary behaviour. 16% (n = 254) of men reported FOF, of whom 52% (n = 133) had fallen in the past year. Physical activity deficits were even greater in the men who reported that they were fearful of falling than in men who had fallen. Men who were fearful of falling took 1766(95% CI 1391, 2142) fewer steps/day than men who were not fearful, and spent 27(95% CI 18, 36) minutes less in light PA, 18(95% CI 13, 22) minutes less in MVPA, and 45(95% CI 34, 56) minutes more in sedentary behaviour. The significant differences in activity levels between (i) fallers and non-fallers and (ii) men who were fearful of falling or not fearful, were mediated by similar variables; lower exercise self-efficacy, fewer excursions from home and more mobility difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: Falls and in particular fear of falling are important barriers to older people gaining health benefits of walking and MVPA. Future studies should assess the longitudinal associations between falls and physical activity

Social media marketing strategy: definition, conceptualization, taxonomy, validation, and future agenda

Although social media use is gaining increasing importance as a component of firms’ portfolio of strategies, scant research has systematically consolidated and extended knowledge on social media marketing strategies (SMMSs). To fill this research gap, we first define SMMS, using social media and marketing strategy dimensions. This is followed by a conceptualization of the developmental process of SMMSs, which comprises four major components, namely drivers, inputs, throughputs, and outputs. Next, we propose a taxonomy that classifies SMMSs into four types according to their strategic maturity level: social commerce strategy, social content strategy, social monitoring strategy, and social CRM strategy. We subsequently validate this taxonomy of SMMSs using information derived from prior empirical studies, as well with data collected from in-depth interviews and a quantitive survey among social media marketing managers. Finally, we suggest fruitful directions for future research based on input received from scholars specializing in the field

Frictional properties of woven fabrics

251-256<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:="" "times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;="" color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:="" ar-sa"="">An attachment for Instron tensile tester has been fabricated to evaluate the frictional properties of fabr<span style="font-size:11.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;="" mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;="" mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;color:#040404;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">i<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;="" mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;="" mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">cs against different friction surfaces like fabric, leather and metal. The designed attachment can be used to evaluate both the static and kinetic frictional forces. The effect of change in normal pressure, fabric tension and type of friction surface on the frictional properties of fabrics has been studied and it is observed th<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;="" mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;="" mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;color:#040404;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">a<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;="" mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;="" mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">t normal pressure and type of friction surface have major effect on the measured values of the static and kinetic friction ratios, while the fabric tension plays only a minor role<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:="" minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:="" minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:calibri;="" mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;color:#040404;mso-ansi-language:en-us;="" mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">. Fabrics of five different pick densities have been evaluated to see the effect of fabric structure on the frictional properties of woven fabrics. The role of scouring and bleaching treatments on the frictional properties of these fabrics has also been studied<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;="" mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;="" mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;color:#040404;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">.</span

Performance Properties of Terry Towels Made from Open-end and Ring-spun Yarns

90-94<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:="" "times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-us;="" mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">There is no difference in the water absorption rate of ring-spun and open-end (OE) terry towels but the maximum absorption for OE towels is better than for-ring-spun towels at lower fabric density and for comparable fabric weight. Higher pile length and fabric weight favour greater water absorption but only high pile density increases the water absorption rate. The abrasion resistance of ring towels is better than that of OE towels in both dry and wet states. The abrasion resistance of fabrics is significantly lowered on wetting. Longer pile length and moderate pile density contribute to imparting maximum abrasion resistance.</span

The Business-to-Business Customer Experience : an Aggregated Company Experience Based on Multiple Department and Employee Journeys

In recent years, customer experience has been viewed as a main driver of business success and competitive advantage. A positive customer experience can elicit strong effects on marketing variables, such as customer satisfaction, loyalty or word-of-mouth. Although originally, customer experiences were thought to exist only in immersive contexts, such as amusement parks or leisure activities, everyday services such as retail, banking and telecommunications later came to be viewed as driven by active management of customer experiences as well. However, most customer experience approaches in research focussed on consumer experiences, while a business-customer perspective rarely was taken into account. Against this background this article offers insights on how existing knowledge on respective B2B characteristics can be translated into a customer experience context. In addition, this article investigates whether B2C customer experience knowledge can inspire new B2B insights