PurposeThis study aims to facilitate the understanding of brand building among owners/managers of SMEs by highlighting the relationships among the multidimensionality of brand orientation, brand-building behavior and brand identity.Design/methodology/approachIn addressing the research issue, the study uses responses from 158 domesticated SMEs in North Macedonia, afterwards relying on structural equation modeling to test the research propositions.FindingsThis study validates brand orientation as a multidimensional term that is underlined by brand artefacts, norms and values. This study also validates the assumptions that brand orientation, brand-building behavior and brand identity are significantly related.Research limitations/implicationsWhile it is possible that our evidence base is limited to the context studied, the research findings nevertheless contribute primarily to the emergent scholarship on SMEs' brand building.Practical implicationsThis study has practical consequences for SMEs' brand building. More specifically, it enriches the understanding of the interrelationships between brand orientation, brand-building behavior and brand identity.Originality/valueThis study provides an advanced perspective of brand orientation as a complex phenomenon and further provides understanding of its relations to brand-building behavior and brand identity of the domesticated SMEs.
This paper reports three exploratory empirical studies with older adults that had little or no prior experience with interactive technologies. The participants were introduced to interactive technology by playing games on touchscreens, playing in pairs with the assistance of a mentor. We focus on two principle aspects, the peer-to-peer interaction during these sessions, and the role of the mentor in progressing the sessions. In the case of peer-to-peer interaction we looked for ways in which players supported each other during interaction to assess the role of peer interaction in this context. In the case of mentoring, we examined the efficacy of a minimalist approach where verbal encouragement, suggestions or (in the last resort) intervention are used to provide support to learners. The sessions showed that learners typically could play and learn basic manipulations independently after initial help and guidance from mentors. We also found that peer interaction, both in verbal and non-verbal communication and cooperative action was broadly a positive influence within sessions, suggesting that there is a significant value in building confidence as well as in learning.
Habitat for the Elderly, and CA19121 Network on Privacy-Aware Audio-and Video-Based Applications for Active and Assisted Living, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. Our Actions help connect research initiatives across Europe and enable scientists to grow their ideas by sharing them with their peers. This boosts their research, career and innovation. www.cost.eu.
Smartphone sensors have often been proposed as pervasive measurement systems to assess mobility in older adults due to their ease of use and low-cost. This study analyzes a smartphone-based application’s validity and reliability to quantify temporal variables during the single sit-to-stand test with institutionalized older adults. Forty older adults (20 women and 20 men; 78.9 ± 8.6 years) volunteered to participate in this study. All participants performed the single sit-to-stand test. Each sit-to-stand repetition was performed after an acoustic signal was emitted by the smartphone app. All data were acquired simultaneously with a smartphone and a digital video camera. The measured temporal variables were stand-up time and total time. The relative reliability and systematic bias inter-device were assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots. In contrast, absolute reliability was assessed using the standard error of measurement and coefficient of variation (CV). Inter-device concurrent validity was assessed through correlation analysis. The absolute percent error (APE) and the accuracy were also calculated. The results showed excellent reliability (ICC = 0.92–0.97; CV = 1.85–3.03) and very strong relationships inter-devices for the stand-up time (r = 0.94) and the total time (r = 0.98). The APE was lower than 6%, and the accuracy was higher than 94%. Based on our data, the findings suggest that the smartphone application is valid and reliable to collect the stand-up time and total time during the single sit-to-stand test with older adults.
Healthcare treatments might benefit from advances in artificial intelligence and technological equipment such as smartphones and smartwatches. The presence of cameras in these devices with increasingly robust and precise pattern recognition techniques can facilitate the estimation of the wound area and other telemedicine measurements. Currently, telemedicine is vital to the maintenance of the quality of the treatments remotely. This study proposes a method for measuring the wound area with mobile devices. The proposed approach relies on a multi-step process consisting of image capture, conversion to grayscale, blurring, application of a threshold with segmentation, identification of the wound part, dilation and erosion of the detected wound section, identification of accurate data related to the image, and measurement of the wound area. The proposed method was implemented with the OpenCV framework. Thus, it is a solution for healthcare systems by which to investigate and treat people with skin-related diseases. The proof-of-concept was performed with a static dataset of camera images on a desktop computer. After we validated the approach’s feasibility, we implemented the method in a mobile application that allows for communication between patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.
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