Appropriating Information Technology Artefacts through Trial and Error: The Case of the Tablet.

The concept of appropriation is of paramount importance for the lasting use of an Information Technology (IT) artefact following its initial adoption, and therefore its success. However, quite often, users' original expectations are negatively disconfirmed, and instead of appropriating the IT artefact, they discontinue its use. In this study we examine the use of IT artefacts following negative disconfirmation and use Grounded Theory Method techniques to analyse 136 blogposts, collected between March 2011 - July 2017, to investigate how users appropriate or reject the tablet when technology falls short of users' expectations. Our findings show that users overcome negative disconfirmation through a trial and error process. In doing so, we identify that users appropriate the tablet when the attained benefits significantly outweigh the risks or sacrifices stemming out of its use. We discuss our contribution within the context of the appropriation literature, and highlight that the success of IT lies with the user's success in identifying personal use scenarios within and across diverse contexts of use.

The supratrochlear foramen of the humerus and its relation to the medullary canal: a potential surgical application.

BACKGROUND: The supratrochlear foramen of the humerus is located at the septum separating the coronoid from the olecranon fossa. Beyond its anthropologic interest, that trait seems to have clinical significance as well. MATERIAL/METHODS: The supratrochlear foramen was studied in 240 macerated adult humeri. The foramen was recorded in each sex and each side. We attempted to enlighten the likely relation of the foramen with the inferior edge of the medullary canal, as well as that of the dimensions of that canal of humerus and compare it to contralateral humeri without foramen. RESULTS: The medullary canal width at the entry point of a retrograde intramedullary nail was statistically smaller in humeri with foramen than in humeri without it. Furthermore, the medullary canal of the humeri with foramen ends more proximally than the canal of nonforamen humeri. CONCLUSIONS: In cases of humeral fractures of the supratrochlear foramen, the surgeon must keep in mind that it is better to perform an antegrade medullary nailing than a retrograde one; as there is higher chance of a secondary fracture, due to the extreme narrowness of the canal at the distal portion of humeri with the supratrochlear foramen.

Verbal fluency in institutionalized patients with schizophrenia: age-related performance decline.

Several studies have reported a relatively stable level of cognitive deficits among patients with schizophrenia regardless of age, while others have suggested continued deterioration with age. We compared the performance of 42 institutionalized patients with schizophrenia and 42 age- and education-matched healthy controls on a semantic and phonemic verbal fluency test. Each group was divided into young participants (<65 years old) and elderly participants (> or =65 years old). We found a fluency condition x diagnostic group x age group interaction on total words produced, a fluency condition x diagnostic group interaction on the number of cluster-related words, and a fluency condition x age group interaction on the number of switches. Patients with schizophrenia generally used similar strategies (i.e., semantic or phonemic cluster-related words and switches) as healthy individuals when generating words, but to a lesser degree. We found a disproportionate decline in the elderly schizophrenic patients relative to that of healthy controls only on the phonemic, relative to the semantic test. This decline in performance appears related to the effects of aging rather than severity or chronicity of illness, duration of institutionalization, or a progressive degenerative process associated with the disorder.