Search

The purpose of this study is to verify how online reviews can become a useful tool for the improvement of hotel businesses through an in-depth analysis of selected scientific papers. This systematic literature review analyses refereed journals in English, Spanish and Portuguese, published worldwide between January 2008 and January 2020 and containing the keywords: online reviews, hotel improvement, hotel performance and hotel development, in 11 different databases. After examining 59 relevant papers, a range of approaches showing how online reviews support hotel business development are uncovered. Besides contributing to the existing literature by extending the current research on the use of online reviews, the findings of this study also provide hoteliers with insights on how to take advantage of online reviews. Although several studies approach hotel business development using online reviews, only a few studies have gathered these papers to verify their applications and managerial implications. Thus, this paper aims to fill this research gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to verify whether strength training designed to improve explosive and maximal strength would influence rate of force development (RFD). Nine men participated in a 6-week knee extensors resistance training program and 9 matched subjects participated as controls. Throughout the training sessions, subjects were instructed to perform isometric knee extension as fast and forcefully as possible, achieving at least 90% maximal voluntary contraction as quickly as possible, hold it for 5 s, and relax. Fifteen seconds separated each repetition (6-10), and 2 min separated each set (3). Pre- and post-training measurements were maximal isometric knee extensor (MVC), RFD, and RFD relative to MVC (i.e., %MVC·s-1) in different time-epochs varying from 10 to 250 ms from the contraction onset. The MVC (Nm) increased by 19% (275.8 ± 64.9 vs. 329.8 ± 60.4, p < 0.001) after training. In addition, RFD (Nm·s-1) increased by 22-28% at time epochs up to 20 ms from the contraction onset (0-10 ms = 1679.1 ± 597.1 vs. 2159.2 ± 475.2, p < 0.001; 0-20 ms = 1958.79 ± 640.3 vs. 2398.4 ± 479.6, p < 0.01), with no changes verified in later time epochs. However, no training effects on RFD were found for the training group when RFD was normalized to MVC. No changes were found in the control group. In conclusion, very early and late RFD responded differently to a short period of resistance training for explosive and maximal strength. This time-specific RFD adaptation highlighted that resistance training programs should consider the specific neuromuscular demands of each sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Isokinetic tests are often applied to assess muscular strength and EMG activity, however the specific ranges of motion used in testing (fully flexed or extended positions) might be constrictive and/or be painful for patients with injuries or undergoing rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of different ranges of motion (ROM) when determining maximal EMG during isokinetic knee flexion and extension with different types of contractions and velocities. Methods. Eighteen males had EMG activity recorded on the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, semitendinosus and biceps femoris muscles during five maximal isokinetic concentric and eccentric contractions for the knee flexors and extensors at 600 s-1 and 180° s-1. The root mean square of EMG was calculated at three different ranges of motion: (1) a full range of motion (90°-20° [0° = full knee extensionl); (2) a range of motion of 20° (between 60°-80° and 40°-60° for knee extension and flexion, respectively) and (3) at a 10° interval around the angle where peak torque is produced. EMG measurements were statistically analyzed (ANOVA) to test for the range of motion, contraction velocity and contraction speed effects. Coefficients of variation and Pearson's correlation coefficients were also calculated among the ranges of motion. Results. Predominantly similar (p > 0.05) and well-correlated EMG results (r> 0.7, p ⩽ 0.001) were found among the ranges of motion. However, a lower coefficient of variation was found for the full range of motion, while the 100 interval around peak torque at 180° . s-1 had the highest coefficient, regardless of the type of contraction. Conclusions. Shorter ranges of motion at around the peak torque angle provides a reliable indicator when recording EMG activity during maximal. isokinetic parameters. It may provide a safer alternative when testing patients with injuries or undergoing rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractWearable technologies such as inertial measurement units (IMUs) can be used to evaluate human gait and improve mobility, but sensor fixation is still a limitation that needs to be addressed. Therefore, aim of this study was to create a machine learning algorithm to predict gait events using a single IMU mimicking the carrying of a smartphone. Fifty-two healthy adults (35 males/17 females) walked on a treadmill at various speeds while carrying a surrogate smartphone in the right hand, front right trouser pocket, and right jacket pocket. Ground-truth gait events (e.g. heel strikes and toe-offs) were determined bilaterally using a gold standard optical motion capture system. The tri-dimensional accelerometer and gyroscope data were segmented in 20-ms windows, which were labelled as containing or not the gait events. A long-short term memory neural network (LSTM-NN) was used to classify the 20-ms windows as containing the heel strike or toe-off for the right or left legs, using 80% of the data for training and 20% of the data for testing. The results demonstrated an overall accuracy of 92% across all phone positions and walking speeds, with a slightly higher accuracy for the right-side predictions (∼94%) when compared to the left side (∼91%). Moreover, we found a median time error <3% of the gait cycle duration across all speeds and positions (∼77 ms). Our results represent a promising first step towards using smartphones for remote gait analysis without requiring IMU fixation, but further research is needed to enhance generalizability and explore real-world deployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint compressive forces have been identified as a risk factor for osteoarthritis disease progression. Therefore, unloader braces are a common treatment with the aim of relieving pain, but their effects are not clearly documented in the literature. A knee brace concept was tested with the aim of reducing joint loads and pain in knee osteoarthritis patients by applying an extension moment exclusively during the stance phase. The ideal effects were evaluated during gait based on musculoskeletal modeling of six patients, and experimental tests with a prototype brace were conducted on one patient. The effects were evaluated using electromyography measurements and musculoskeletal models to evaluate the muscle activation and knee compressive forces, respectively. The ideal brace simulations revealed a varying reduction of the first peak knee force between 3.5% and 33.8% across six patients whereas the second peak was unaffected. The prototype reduced the peak vasti muscle activation with 7.9% and musculoskeletal models showed a reduction of the first peak knee compressive force of up to 26.3%. However, the prototype brace increased the knee joint force impulse of up to 17.1% and no immediate pain reduction was observed. The reduction of the first peak knee compressive force, using a prototype on a single patient, indicates a promising effect from an applied knee extension moment for reducing knee joint loads during normal gait. However, further clinical experiments with this brace method are required to evaluate the long-term effects on both pain and disease progression in knee osteoarthritis patients., (Copyright © 2024 by ASME.)

This paper presents a knee brace design that applies an extension moment to unload the muscles in stance phase during gait, and thereby the knee, as alternative to conventional valgus braces for knee osteoarthritis patients. The concept was tested on one healthy subject during normal gait with a prototype, which was designed to activate and deactivate in order to apply the extension moment in the stance phase only and hereby avoid any interference during the swing phase. Electromyography measurements and musculoskeletal models were used to evaluate the brace effects on muscle activation and knee compressive forces, respectively. Simulations predicted an ideal reduction of up to 36%, whereas experimental tests revealed a reduction of up to 24% with the current prototype. The prototype brace also reduced the knee joint force impulse up to 9% and electromyography (EMG) peak signal of the vasti muscles with up to 19%. Due to these reductions on a healthy subject, this bracing approach seems promising for reducing knee loads during normal gait. However, further clinical experiments on knee osteoarthritis patients are required to evaluate the effect on both pain and disease progression., (Copyright © 2022 by ASME.)