Delayed intracerebral abscess due to retained bike wheel valve cap

We present a case of delayed intracerebral abscess due to retained bike wheel valve cap after head trauma.

E-bike injuries: experience from an urban emergency department-a retrospective study from Switzerland.

Background. Between 2005 and 2012, annual sales of E-bikes in Switzerland increased from 1,792 to 52,941. This continuous and rapid transition from human-powered bicycles to an electric bicycle technology may indicate the increasing demand for low-cost transportation technology in combination with a healthy lifestyle. Material and Methods. In the present study, from April 2012 to September 2013, we retrospectively analysed E-bike accidents treated in the Emergency Department of our hospital by focusing on the following parameters: age, gender, time, period, and cause of the accident, as well as injury and outcome. Results. Patients were predominantly male. The mean age of injured E-cyclists was 47.5 years. The main causes of injury were self-accident. Most injuries were to the head/neck. The mean ISS was 8.48. The outcome showed that 9 patients were treated as outpatients, 9 were inpatients, and 5 patients were kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Only six patients underwent surgery (S). Discussion. This is the first attempt to evaluate E-bike injuries in Switzerland in an acute hospital setting. Since there is increasing popular preference for E-bikes as means of transportation and injuries to the head or neck are prevalent among E-cyclists, the hazard should not to be underestimated.

Capability of E-Bike Tourism in Switzerland

AIM OF PAPER AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS The primary aim of this investigation was to examine, if tourism in Switzerland can be stimulated by focusing on e-bike offers. Switzerland is an attractive and manifold country for bike tourism. However, there are plenty of hilly and steep areas, where the topography is quite demanding and cycling is predestined to ambitious sportsperson. Less performance-oriented bike tourists are possibly discouraged by the challenges of the landscape. E-bikes seem to be a reasonable alterna-tive to enable less trained person to attend bike tours in steeper regions as well as to keep heterogeneous groups together. E-bikes are already popular in Switzerland for daily routes as the journey to work, but they are not very common in the tour-istic context. The presented investigation evaluates the current standing of supply and demand for e-bike tourism and asks for opportunities and threats in the future development. LITERTURE REVIEW The existing frameworks to analyse capability in the field of sport tourism are limited, because of the broad variation of sports and tourism types. Still several conceptions are valuable to evaluate the opportunities of e-bike tourism in Switzer-land. According to Higham and Hinch (2009) the potential of touristic products and destinations always depends on the interaction among the factors place, people and activity. Standeven and de Knop (1999) support this position by identify-ing the experience of place as a key component of the sport tourism experience. Bull (2005) assumes that place not only affects experience. In his opinion, the specific spatially located resources are even crucial for the existence of nature sports. He identifies four factors determining the attraction of touristic products or destination, as physical characteristics, accessibility and infrastructural arrangements, political and economic resources as well as cultural and perceptual aspects. Concerning the demand side (people) the contemporary research is guided by an individual psychological focus delivering mainly results about motives and the decision making process (e.g. Görtz & Hürten, 2011). RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA ANALYSIS The presented study is based on a between method triangulation, consisting of qualitative interviews with important stake-holders on the supply side and a cross sectional survey on the demand side. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the first provider of touristic e-bike routes and with the manager of the leading e-bike rental company in Switzerland. The interviews were evaluated by qualitative content analysis according to Mayring (2008). The survey covered a randomized sample of 748 adult persons and focused on interests and needs of potential consumers. The concluding potentials analy-sis combined the results of the interviews and the survey with the findings of literature research. As central outcome the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were evaluated and presented by SWOT-analysis. RESULTS Results showed that the development of e-bike tourism in Switzerland was not initiated by tourism promoter, but by an innovative e-bike producer. However, also for the manufacturer the fit between landscape (place), product (activity) and visitors (people) was the crucial criterion. The first e-bike tours were offered in a demanding and rural region, in order that the experience of place was able to promote a positive overall experience. Due to the success of the first touristic e-bike products, several tourism regions started to extend their portfolio with e-bike offers. To date a nationwide network for signalised e-bike tours, rental stations and changing stations for rechargeable batteries is established. Despite the attractive offer, the demand is only moderate. The obtained results of the consumer survey pointed at a certain barrier to use e-bikes for tourism activities. The most substantial barrier is the missing affinity for bike tourism in general. Another notable group considering themselves as “fit enough for normal bike tourism”. Nevertheless 55% of the respondent are interested in tour-istic e-bike products. Looking only at people with e-bike tourism experience, even 92% are interested in further activities. DISCUSSION AN CONCLUSION The current study findings are encouraging because they suggest a superior suitability and an attractive level of e-bike tourism products in Switzerland. The results of the consumer survey indicate an increasing demand for e-bike tourism. The investigation also points at some risks, as the rivalry for bike tourism or the raised safety hazard because of the increased driving speed. Summing up, the results support the conclusion, that e-bike tourism will become more important in the com-ing years. However, to reach the goal relevant trends as the requirement for customised offers must be considered and marketing activities are supposed to be extended. REFERENCES Bull, C. (2005). Sport tourism resource analysis. In J. Higham (Ed.), Sport tourism destination: Issues, opportunities and analysis (pp. 25-38). Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Görtz, M., & D. Hürten (2011). Motive der Radurlauber, psychografische Merkmale und Reiseverhalten. In A. Dreyer, E. Miglbauer & R. Mühlnickel (Hrsg.), Radtourismus. Entwicklungen, Potenziale, Perspektiven (S. 36-43). München: Olden-bourg. Higham, J., & Hinch, T. (2009). Sport and Tourism. Globalization, Mobility and Identity. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. Mayring, P. (2008). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen und Techniken (10. Aufl.). Weinheim: Beltz Verlag. Standeven, J., & De Knop, P. (1999). Sport Tourism. Campaign: Human Kinetics.

Understanding E-Bike Users' Behaviour, Motives, and Barriers to the Use - An Empirical Study with high Potential for Mobility Management

A representative study among e-bike owners and tenants in Switzerland (n = 1652) provides a deeper understanding of e-bike users characteristics, motives, values, usage behavior, and barriers to the use. In a micro simulation the implications of the findings for the energy demand and CO2 emissions are estimated.

Individual group efficacy beliefs and performance motivation: A mediational approach

Introduction: According to the theoretical model of Cranach, Ochsenbein, and Valach (1986) understanding group actions needs consideration of aspects at both the group level and the level of individual members. For example individual action units constituting group actions are motivated at the individual level while potentially being affected by characteristics of the group. Theoretically, group efficacy beliefs could be a part of this motivational process as they are an individual’s cognitive contents about group-level abilities to perform well in a specific task. Positive relations between group level efficacy-beliefs and group performance have been reported and Bandura and Locke (2003) argue that this relationship is being mediated by motivational processes and goal setting. The aims of this study were a) to examine the effects of group characteristics on individual performance motivation and b) to test if those are mediated by individual group efficacy beliefs. Methods: Forty-seven students (M=22.83 years, SD=2.83, 34% women) of the university of Berne participated in this scenario based experiment. Data were collected on two collection points. Subjects were provided information about fictive team members with whom they had to perform a group triathlon. Three values (low, medium, high) of the other team members’ abilities to perform in their parts of the triathlon (swimming and biking respectively) were combined in a 3x3 full factorial design (Anderson, 1982) yielding nine groups. Subjects were asked how confident they were that the teams would perform well in the task (individual group efficacy beliefs), and to provide information about their motivation to perform at their best in the respective group contexts (performance motivation). Multilevel modeling (Mplus) was used to estimate the effects of the factors swim and bike, and the context-varying covariate individual group efficacy beliefs on performance motivation. Further analyses were undertaken to test if the effects of group contexts on performance motivation are mediated by individual group efficacy beliefs. Results: Significant effects were reported for both the group characteristics (βswim = 7.86; βbike = 8.57; both p < .001) and the individual group efficacy beliefs (βigeb; .40, p < .001) on performance motivation. The subsequent mediation model indicated that the effects of group characteristics on performance motivation were partly mediated by the individual group efficacy beliefs of the subjects with significant mediation effects for both factors swim and bike. Discussion/Conclusion: The results of the study provide further support for the motivational character of efficacy beliefs and point out a mechanism by which team characteristics influence performance relevant factors at the level of individual team members. The study indicates that high team abilities lead to augmented performance motivation, adding a psychological advantage to teams already high on task relevant abilities. Future investigations will be aiming at possibilities to keep individual performance motivation high in groups with low task relevant abilities. One possibility could be the formulation of individual task goals. References: Anderson, N. H. (1982). Methods of information integration theory. New York: Academic Press. Bandura, A. & Locke, E. A. (2003). Negative self-efficacy and goal effects revisited. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 87-99. Cranach, M. von, Ochsenbein, G. & Valach, L. (1986). The group as a self-active system: Outline of a theory of group action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 16, 193-229.