The purpose of this study is to examine the match-related performance (scores and penalties) of the athletes in the Junior EJC (European Judo Championship) and U23 EJC categories before and immediately after the Covid-19 quarantine, according to gender and weight category groups. Our sample was based on the junior and U23, male and females, 2019-2020 Junior European Judo Championships and 2019-2020 U23 European Judo Championships. A total of 1431 matches in these tournaments were analyzed: male (n=812) and female (n=619). The main findings of this study showed that most matches in both the male and female categories resulted in ippon (2019-2020 average: 64,35% for Junior male, 70,55% for U23 male and 69,3% for Junior female, 64,4% for U23 female). No significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed between gender and age groups concerning the match scores. In the formation phase of the technique, considerations of high- and low-intensity actions, and analysis of the speed of athletes during matches in official competitions can help to better understand the dynamics of the variability of movements in judo matches. In addition, suggestions are presented to be applied to athletes in different age categories who are on the way to become Olympic athletes.

In this follow-up study, we aimed to assess the effectiveness of the “I do not smoke, I exercise”, anti-smoking preventive health education program. The program was based on the Theory of Planned Behavior supplemented with life-skills teaching and targeted at high school students. The intervention comprised ten one-hour online sessions, administered by physical education instructors. The study cohort comprised 222 students (109 boys, 113 girls) from 11 secondary schools, with an average age of 16.42 ± 1.36 years. Data collection involved pre- and post-intervention self-assessment questionnaires. The examined variables included attitudes towards smoking, intention to smoke, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control (PBC), knowledge about smoking, smoking behavior, exercise behavior, attitudes toward the program's implementation, and satisfaction with the program. Separate paired samples t-test revealed a significant improvement in students' knowledge about smoking, perceived behavioral control, and overall program satisfaction following the intervention. However, no significant changes were observed in the remaining variables. These findings suggest that the health education smoking prevention intervention incorporates techniques and strategies that influence the Perceived Behavioral Control variable, emphasizing students' strong interest in educationally theorized programs integrating technology into their design. Future studies should consider further examination of tobacco control strategies within the high school context.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Blazepod technology when incorporated with various training regimens on the essential elements of physical fitness in volleyball, such as agility, speed, visual response time, and vertical leap. Thirty-six participants (age :17.33±0.48 y, height: 183.78±6.34 cm, weight: 77.14±5.16 kg) were in-volved in this study. In randomized design, three equal groups with two experimental groups and one control group were involved in the study over a period of six weeks: (GE1) used Blazepod technology to workout at a low level; (GE2) used Blazepod technology to workout at a higher intensity; (CG) did not employ Blazepod technology, but it adhered to the same fundamental training curriculum. We conducted agility, speed, reaction time, and vertical jump tests before, midway and after the study to determine optimal training volume, intensity, and frequency. A significant main effect of time (P0.01), and time×group interaction (P>0.001) were found for all tests. Post hoc test showed that the two experimental groups gadget significantly improved in all performance variables (P

Lean body mass (LBM) is correlated with powerlifting performance in athletes competing in different bodyweight classes. However, it remains unknown whether changes in LBM are correlated with performance changes in powerlifters preparing for a competition. Aim of the study was to investigate the changes in LBM and performance in powerlifters preparing for a competition. Eight male powerlifters (age 31.7±9.8years, height 1.77±0.06m, weight 99.2±14.6kg) and three female powerlifters (age 32.7±16.3years, height 1.54±0.06m, weight 66.6±20.9kg), participated in the study. Athletes followed individualized periodized training programs for 12 weeks aiming to maximize their performance for the national championship. Maximum strength (1-RM) in squat, bench press, and deadlift, body composition, grip strength, anaerobic power, quadriceps’ cross sectional area and vastus lateralis muscle architecture were measured before and after the training period. Significant increases were found after the training period in squat (5.8±7.0%, P

The literature offers limited information on the effect of obesity on the rate of force development, a critical parameter for mobility in older adults. The objectives of this study were; to explore the influence of obesity on RFD in older adults and to examine the association between this neuromuscular parameter and walking speed. 42 older adults were classified into two groups: the control group (CG, n=22; age=81.13±4.02 years; Body mass index (BMI)=25.13±3.35 kg/m²), and the obese group (OG, n=20; age=77.71±2.95 years; BMI=34.46±3.25 kg/m²). Walking speed (m/s) was measured using the 10-meter walking test. Neuromuscular parameters of the plantar flexors were evaluated during a maximal voluntary contraction test using a dynamometer. The RFD was calculated from the linear slop of the force – time curve in two phases: from the onset of the contraction to 50 ms (RFD50-100) and from 100 to 200 ms (RFD100-200). The gait speed was lower in the OG compared to the CG (p

Abstract: Understanding the reliability and sensitivity of jump testing is essential to determine the neuromuscular progress of athletes and make informed decisions. This study aimed to assess the reliability and sensitivity of countermovement jump (CMJ) and drop jump (DJ) tests metrics in female volleyball players. Sixteen semi-professional female volleyball players participated in the study. Intrasession and intersession reliability of CMJ and DJ metrics were evaluated using a randomized cross-over design. Dual force platform was used to collect data, and several dependent variables were calculated using forward dynamics. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), coefficients of variation (CV) and minimum difference (MD) were calculated. The third attempt presented the highest values for both test, and changes in jump strategy in DJ. CMJ is consistent across sessions, while DJ also shows intersession differences (p<0.05) in 11 out of 15 variables. Most CMJ variables exhibit excellent reliability while DJ variables have lower reliability and higher variability. Concentric and eccentric impulses for DJ showed excellent reliability. Most CMJ variables showed excellent reliability and variability, DJ had lower reliability, higher variability, and lower sensitivity. These findings provide valuable information when assessing athletes' performance and highlight the reliability, sensitivity, and variability in jump performance for CMJ and DJ tests.

As companies increasingly undergo digital transformation, the role of talent management pro-cesses becomes pivotal in enhancing overall organizational performance. The research addresses the significance of talent management in corporate digital transformation, examining whether variations in the digitalization of these processes can be attributed to company size. A qualitative approach was employed, utilizing a questionnaire, collecting responses from 202 organizations across diverse sectors. Findings reveal disparities in digitalization throughout the talent man-agement process, with pronounced presence in the attracting, selecting, and rewarding phases, but diminishing in deployment and development, further declining in planning. A positive cor-relation between company size and adoption of specific digital platforms was observed. Larger enterprises exhibit greater utilization of digital platforms in talent deployment and development. Moreover, corporate communication tools are consistently utilized in the rewarding phase, irre-spective of company size. These findings offer practical insights for organizations to optimize their digitalization strategies based on their scale, thereby contributing to more effective and tailored digitalization endeavors. The uniqueness of this research lies in its exploration of the in-fluence of company size on the digitalization of talent management processes and its potential to explain variations across different stages of these processes.

Despite the recognized influence of maximum or acceleration strength on combat techniques and countermovement jump (CMJ) performance, the relationship between body segment weights and combat techniques remains unexplored. This study aimed to examine the impact of body segment weights, including striking arm weight (SAW), kicking leg weight (KLW), and trunk weight (TW), on the dynamics of direct punches (DP), palm strikes (PS), elbow strikes (ES), front kicks (FK), and CMJ performance. Sixteen male military cadets (22.3±1.8 years, 181.4±7.0 cm, 83.0±8.1 kg) performed combat techniques, with performance measured by using a force plate and body segment weights assessed by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Spearman's correlation analysis was applied. Results indicated a strong correlation between KLW and FK impulse (r = 0.64, p ≤ 0.01) and CMJ impact force (r = 0.80, p ≤ 0.01). SAW showed moderate correlations with DP impulse (r = 0.53, p ≤ 0.05) and ES impulse (r = 0.54, p ≤ 0.05). Additionally, FK peak and impact forces were strongly correlated with CMJ jump height (r = 0.74, p ≤ 0.01; r = 0.77, p ≤ 0.01), and FK peak force moderately correlated with CMJ peak velocity (r = 0.63, p ≤ 0.05). These findings suggest targeted arm strength training could enhance striking abilities, while improvements in leg acceleration strength may directly boost kicking performance and vertical jump capabilities, which are crucial in combat scenarios.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate if tests used to assess core stability could be used to determine success in physiological tests applied to assess dynamic balance and agility for a young active population. Methods: Pearson's r correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between the core stability tests and the dynamic balance and agility tests. Evaluation of the tests was established using Cronbach's coefficient of variance as part of intra-rater reliability tests. An analysis of 18 active college aged students was conducted (males: n= 13, females: n= 5). The mean ± SD age for males was 19.2 years ± 3.22 years and for females was 19.4 years ± 1.14 years. Conclusion: The results indicate that there is no significant relationship between tests that assess core stability and tests conducted to assess dynamic balance in active young adults. With the exception of the abdominal flexion test, no significant relationship exists between the remaining core stability tests and agility T-Test. Core stability is not a determinant of balance and agility.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between bat swing speed (BSS) and muscle thickness and lateral asymmetry of the trunk and limbs in collegiate baseball players. Twenty-four collegiate baseball players participated in this study. The maximum BSS in hitting a teed ball was measured using a motion capture system. The muscle thicknesses of the trunk (upper abdominal rectus, central abdominal rectus, lower abdominal rectus, abdominal wall, and multifidus lumborum), upper limb, and lower limb were measured using a B-mode ultrasonography. Lateral asymmetry between each pair of muscles was determined as the ratio of the thickness of the dominant side to that of the non-dominant side. Significant positive correlations were observed between BSS and muscle thicknesses of the abdominal wall and multifidus lumborum on the dominant side (r = 0.426 and 0.431, respectively; p < 0.05), while nearly significant positive correlations were observed between BSS and muscle thicknesses on the non-dominant side. No significant correlations were found between BSS and lateral asymmetry of all muscles. These findings indicate the importance of the trunk muscles for bat swing, and the lack of association between BSS and lateral asymmetry of muscle size.

This study examined how practice distribution schedules influenced accuracy and efficacy in the tennis serve. 24 recreational players were randomized into two experimental groups. Both groups carried out 4 series of 10 services per session during 12 sessions. Massed practice group did not rested between services and rested 10 seconds between series. Distributed practice group rested 10 seconds between services and 30 seconds between series. The accuracy and efficacy were registered and computed based on the 2D digitalization. The learning and retention were tested in a post-test and retention test. The learning program increased the efficacy in the post-test in both groups (p =.001 massed group; p =.015 distributed group). On the retest, the group of massed practice decreased efficacy (p =.021). In accuracy, the group of massed practice reduced its performance in the post-test (p =.015). The effects of the program on the accuracy in the retention test were not observed. It is concluded that this type of sports learning programs, applied at a recreational level, can provide a rigorous approach that contributes with guarantees to the learning of tennis.

(1) Background: The aim of the research was to present and emphasize the importance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosing Achilles tendon (AT) ruptures by presenting case reports. (2) Materials and Methods: The sample of respondents included 7 patients (4 males and 3 females, 2 athletes and 5 non-athletes), aged 25 to 58 years, with AT injuries, who were examined and treated at the Institute for Treatment and Rehabilitation "Niška Banja", Niš, Serbia. Ankle examinations with MRI were conducted using the Esaote O-scan 0.3 T machine. The examinations were performed without the application of a paramagnetic contrast agent and without the use of anesthesia. Results: The MRI method's sensitivity and overall diagnostic accuracy were excellent, with 100% true positives. In our study, the method accurately detected the presence, location, and severity of AT injuries in all cases. MRI is an important and reliable method for detecting AT injuries, classifying them, monitoring the course of recovery, and assessing the effects of therapy. Conclusions: An unrecognized or delayed diagnosis of an AT injury can lead to chronic changes. Timely diagnosis (clinical examination, ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging) and appropriate treatment (conservative or operative) enable patients to return to normal activities, including sports. Unfortunately, the use of MRI is limited by restricted access and the cost of the examination.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of trainer behaviors on the anger and aggression levels of athletes. This study was conducted with 748 athletes with an active license who are over 18 years of age and participate in individual and team sports branches. In this study, the "Coaching Behavior Assessment Questionnaire" and the “Competitive Aggressiveness and Anger Scale" were used as data collection tools. The study results showed that athletes’ levels of evaluation of the trainers' behaviors were high, while the levels of aggressiveness and anger in sports were low. It was determined that there is a negative low-level relationship between the athletes’ evaluation levels of the trainers' behaviors and the aggressiveness and anger levels in sports and that the trainer's behaviors predict the anger and aggressiveness levels of the athletes by 9% and 6%, respectively. The results of this study show that the attitudes and behaviors of trainers can affect the emotional states of athletes and have the potential to increase or decrease their anger and aggressiveness levels. Trainers who exhibit positive, supportive, and modeling behaviors help create a healthy sports environment and help athletes maintain emotional balance.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine the effects of a rowing training program on physical fitness and body composition in female breast cancer survivors (56.78 ± 6.38 years). Over six months, the participants (n=40) performed two training sessions per week for an average of 75 minutes, combining resistance and muscle strength exercises with rowing. To evaluate the impact of the program, physical fitness tests and anthropometric measurements were carried out before and after the training protocol. The results show statistically significant improvements in measures such as weight (-1.84 kg), BMI (-0.7 kg/m2), hip (-3.24 cm) and waist circumference (-2.45 cm). In addition, variables associated with physical fitness also improved including leg strength (3.04 cm), dominant handgrip strength (4.24 kgf), non-dominant handgrip strength (3.49 kgf), aerobic endurance (78.35 m) and muscle flexibility (3.96 cm). We can therefore conclude that a rowing-based exercise program is an effective strategy to improve physical fitness in this type of population, yielding improvements in both anthropometric measurements and basic physical capacity variables, essential factors for better health and quality of life.

Abstract: MicroRNAs can interfere with a protein function by suppressing their messenger RNA translation or the synthesis of its related factors. The function of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is essential to the proper formation and function of the nervous system and is seen to be regulated by many microRNAs. However, understanding how microRNAs influence BDNF actions within cells requires a wider comprehension of their integrative regulatory mechanisms. Aim: In this literature review, we have synthesized the evidence of microRNA regulation on BDNF in cells and tissues, and provided an analytical discussion about direct and indirect mechanisms that appeared involved in BDNF regulation by microRNAs. Methods: Searches were conducted on PubMed.gov using the terms “BDNF” AND “MicroRNA” and “brain-derived neurotrophic factor” AND “MicroRNA”, updated on September 1st, 2023. Papers without open access were requested from the authors. One hundred and seventy-one papers were included for review and discussion. Results and Discussion: The local regulation of BDNF by microRNAs involves a complex interaction between a series of microRNAs with target proteins that can either inhibit or enhance BDNF expression, at the core of cell metabolism. Therefore, understanding this homeostatic balance provides resources for the future development of vector-delivery-based therapies for the neuroprotective effects of BDNF.

Adipose tissue undergoes changes with aging, leading to increased adiposity, inflammatory cell infiltration, reduced angiogenesis, heightened oxidative stress, and alterations in its metabolic function. Regular exercise has been recognized as a powerful intervention that can positively influence adipose tissue health and mitigate the effects of aging. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the benefits of regular exercise on aging adipose tissue function remain poorly understood. Adipokines released through regular exercise play a potential role in mitigating adipose tissue aging, enhancing the metabolism of glucose and lipids, reducing inflammation and fibrosis, and promoting fat browning and thermogenesis. The goal of this review is to offer a comprehensive overview of the benefits of regular exercise in addressing the age-related decline in adipose tissue function. The significance of regular exercise in mitigating metabolic disorders associated with aged adipose tissue will be discussed.

The main purpose of the study was to study the effects of a specific rowing ergometer training program on the athletic performance of young adolescents (n=56; 11.73 ± 1.4 years old) com-pared to a workout based on general strength training. Eight-week training program was im-plemented, with four sessions per week and two-hours per session. Sample was divided in two groups: a control group (CG) that performed circuit training with exercises aimed at building general strength and an experimental group (EG) who focused on specifically training on a rowing ergometer (rowing machine). The data obtained in a rowing meter test over the compe-tition distance were analyzed to obtain the average power attained (W) at the beginning of the training, at the middle (4 weeks), at the end of the training (8 weeks) and one year after the ex-perimentation. The results show that, although both forms of training improve the average W obtained in both categories, the EG subjects (+29.94W) obtained better averages in all phases of the study compared to the CG (+5.88W). Furthermore, this increase was greater in male rowers (+ 34.06W) than in female rowers (+24.54W). These results reveal that a specific rower rowing ergometer training program has a significant effect than a general strength program and these effects can even be observed a year after the intervention.

Simulated (sim) racing is an emerging esport that has garnered much interest in recent years and has been a relatively under-researched field in terms of expertise and performance. When examining expertise, visual attention has been of particular interest to researchers, with eye tracking technology commonly used to assess visual attention. In this study, we examined the visual attention allocation of high and low skilled sim racers during a time trial task using Tobii 3 glasses. Participants were allocated to either group according to their fastest lap times. Our results indicate that when eye tracking metrics were normalised to lap time, there was no difference in the relative length of attention allocation (fixation behaviour), although lower skilled racers did have significantly greater fixation counts and durations across laps overall. Interestingly, high and low skilled sim racers differed in where they allocated their attention during the task, with high skilled sim racers allocating significantly less attention to the track relative to other areas of the display. This would allow higher skilled racers to obtain relatively more information from heads-up display elements in-game, all whilst driving at faster speeds. This study provides evidence that high and low skilled sim racers show similar lap time-corrected fixation behaviour, but how they allocate attention while driving differs.

(1) The purpose of this study was to compare the percentages of quarterly change for each of the variables analysed (height, weight, body fat percentage and muscle mass) as a function of the quarter in a sample of adolescent football players. (2) The sample consisted of young male football players of different categories belonging to a high-performance football academy, (more than 5 years in football and have spent 1 full year at the academy). (3) Two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed for the anthropometric variable, P_value

Australia and New Zealand have the highest incidence of skin cancer. Sport is a fundamental part of Australasian culture, beginning in childhood, often with life-long participation. Participating in outdoor sports can contribute significantly to the lifetime ultraviolet radiation (UVR) dose individuals receive and their risk of developing skin cancer. This systematic scoping review explores the use of sun-protection by outdoor sporting participants in Australasia and considers how sun-protection practices may be better evaluated and improved in the community. A search of electronic databases using the search strategy “sun protection” AND “sport” AND “Australia” yielded 17 studies published in English from January 1992 to August 2021. Study methods included using UV-dosimeters to measure individual UVR-exposure; remote estimates of clothing-adjusted UVR-exposure; direct observation of sun-protection practices; and self-reported sun-exposure and sun-protection. Despite 40-years of ‘Slip Slop Slap’ campaigns in Australia, the use of sun-protection in most outdoor sports is inadequate. The paucity of comparable data limited our analyses, demonstrating a need for standardized, objective evaluation tools. Such tools, if used across a range of sports, should inform the development of workable recommendations that sporting clubs could implement and adopt into policy, thus empowering them to better protect the health of their participants.

The study is devoted to the issues of mathematical modeling and simulating the sport differential mechanism (DM) with controllable torque redistribution. The issue is caused by the elaboration of ADAS systems with the automated torque vectoring for transmissions of all-wheel-drive (AWD) vehicles and the inclusion of such devices in the combined autonomous vehicle trajectory control scheme. At the article's beginning, the use of devices for redistributing traction forces is reasoned by analyzing the curvilinear vehicle motion, where they could ensure the accuracy of vehicle steerability. The literature review highlights modern developments in the field of modeling and researching such DMs. Considering the vehicle turn with a minimum radius, the conditions corresponding to passing greater torque over the outrunning rear axle are determined. All the mechanism's components and loads acting between them are described in detail. To form an original method of mathematical description of the mechanism functioning, the system of differential equations, systems of kinematic and force connections are considered separately. The article details the mathematical approach to generalize the way for automating the equation compilation for rotational mechanical systems such as vehicle transmissions. In the simulation section, a Simulink model reflecting the functional components and calculation procedures is presented. A series of testing and simulations on the DM operation with forcible torque distribution is carried out. Modeling data are presented, and the analysis of simulation results is performed. In the completion, conclusions are made regarding the scope and use of this model and the prospects for further developing the method proposed to automate the formation of equation systems.

Background: Educating college students about the importance of good sleep habits could lead to the adoption of healthier sleep routines, including sufficient sleep duration and sleep quality. The current pre-post study examines the impact of completing a sleep education program called “Sleep 101” on (1) sleep hygiene practices, (2) sleep quality, and (3) weekday and weekend sleep behaviors among college students. “Sleep 101” is an interactive online course developed to educate college students about the importance of sleep by addressing basic sleep physiology, the impact of sleep on mood, academic and physical performance, the interactions between sleep and various substances, and common sleep disorders. Methods: 338 college students were recruited from a midsized public university in the US and invited to participate in “Sleep 101”, of which 25 participants completed the baseline and post-intervention questionnaire. The Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) was utilized to evaluate sleep hygiene practices, while standard questions were employed to assess weekday and weekend sleep behaviors and overall sleep quality. Results: Those who completed the study demonstrated a significant increase in weekday sleep duration and were less likely to engage in negative prior bedtime activities. In addition, 40% of those who completed baseline and post-intervention assessments noticed improvements in their sleep quality. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a brief online program is beneficial in improving sleep behaviors among college and could be a scalable approach to addressing current sleep issues and preventing future sleep problems in college students.

This longitudinal study examined the development of executive function and calibration accuracy in pre-adolescents. Two hundred sixty two students(127 females) from grades 4 (n = 91), 5 (n = 89) and 6 (n = 82) took measures of executive function and performance calibration in a sport task, three times within a period of 20 months. A latent growth curve modeling analysis showed a significant relation between the rates of change of executive function and calibration. Further, the results showed a dynamic interplay in the development of executive function and calibration. There were significant inter-individual differences in the estimated population means both in executive function and calibration and in the rate of change of executive function, but not in the rate of change for calibration. The age of the participants had a positive effect only on the estimated population mean of executive function.

This study explores the Experience Economy dimensions within fishing tourism, adopting a data science perspective by employing web crawling for extensive data gathering on reviewer profiles from TripAdvisor. Utilizing Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, it scrutinizes the relationship between Experience Economy dimensions and user profiling aspects. Findings reveal "Entertainment" as the predominant dimension in tourist reviews, followed by "Aesthetic," "Educational," and "Escapist." Particularly notable are the frequent co-occurrences of "Entertainment"-"Aesthetic" and "Educational"-"Entertainment" pairs. The practical implications underscore the potential socioeconomic benefits of fishing tourism for local communities and fishermen, emphasizing the necessity for governmental support in terms of infrastructure, leadership, legislation, and financial backing to foster sustainable development in this sector. Notably, this research stands as a pioneering effort in its focus on Experience Economy dimensions and user profiling within the context of fishing tourism, drawing data from business pages and user profiles.

Local food has continued to become more popular in both the home and as featured ingredients in all segments of food service. Numerous studies have explored the motivating factors for consumer purchasing motivators. However, no known study has explored if there is a correlation between ego and intent to buy local foods. This study adopted a modified version of the Theory of Trying and surveyed a sample of 237 food service buying agents in South Carolina to examine their perceptions of buying local. Results suggest that ego is a predictor of trying to purchase local foods for restaurants. It was also found that the modified model is an acceptable model for predicting buyer intent. These findings support the majority of the studies looking at ego-centric behaviors with green purchases and could potentially help local food suppliers to better market their products to foodservice establishments. This study could also act as the foundation for future studies to explore the full extent of ego’s motivational effect on purchasing intentions in the food service industry.

Sport centers are significant energy consumers. This article outlines the engineering design for a comprehensive energy performance upgrade of the indoor sport hall in Arkalochori, Greece, and presents the projected results. The indoor sport hall constitutes a major sport facility in the mainland of Crete, hosting a broad cluster of sport municipal activities and the official basketball games of the local team in the 2nd national category. Having being constructed in the mid ‘90s, the facility exhibits very low thermal performance, with considerably high U-factors for all constructive elements (from 4 to 5 W/m2∙K), still use of diesel oil for indoor space heating and domestic heat water production and ineffective, old lamps and luminaries covering the lighting needs of the facility. The energy performance upgrade of the indoor sport hall was holistically approached, through all possibly applicable passive and active measures: insulation of opaque surfaces and replacement of openings, installation of new stone wool panels, installation of heat pumps for indoor space conditioning, elimination of diesel oil for any final energy use, installation of a solar-combi system for domestic hot water production, upgrade of all indoor and outdoor lighting equipment, installation of solar tubes on the main sport hall roof for natural lighting and installation of a photovoltaic plant on the same roof for the compensation of the remaining electricity consumption. With the proposed measures, the indoor sport hall is upgraded to zero energy facility. The payback period of the investment was calculated at 26 years, on basis of the avoided energy resources procurement cost. This work has been funded by the Horizon 2020 project with the acronym “NESOI” and was awarded with the public award of the “Islands Gamechanger” competition of the NESOI project and the Clean Energy for EU Islands initiative.

The article reviews Iranian sports in three periods: prehistoric, ancient, and modern. In prehistoric times, remaining cases have shown the existence of movement activities based on recreational and religious ceremonies. In the period of ancient history, documents such as Hasanlu Golden Cup and Arjan Cup, and in the continuation of architectures leftover from different eras, refer to the prosperity of sports activities with different approaches. Among all kinds of activities, Iranian zoorkhaneh sport has a significant cultural background and effect. Modern sports entered Iran through embassies, oil contractors, Western-educated students, and military representatives in other countries (in the modern era). Iran became a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1947 and won its first Olympic medal in 1948. Entering the 21st century, the sports industry in Iran began to grow and the number of clubs, sports careers, and sports science students in universities increased significantly. The growing dimension of attention and interest in sports among Iranians shows that sports will be one of the main areas in Iran's development in the future.

Athletes living with and beyond cancer can continue to train and, in some cases, compete during treatment. Following cancer treatment, athletes can return to competitive sport but need to learn to adapt their physical strength and training to lingering effects of cancer. It is critical for oncology healthcare providers to use the principles of assess, refer and advise to exercise oncology programs that are appropriate for the individual. Managing side effects of treatment is key to being able to train during and immediately following cancer treatment. Keen attention to fatigue is important at any point in the cancer spectrum to avoid overtraining and optimize the effects of training.

Taking into account Bar-On’s postulations about social-emotional intelligence, the aim of the current work is to find out the differences in the five dimensions of this intelligence between children that practice organized sport and those children that do not practice it at elementary school level, to show that an increasing in the number of hours per day performing this activity causes differences in some of these dimensions. Hence, a sample of 940 children from elementary schools, ranging in age from 6 to 12 years old, attending different schools from the Autonomous Community of Extremadura (Spain), was used. Results showed that children who practiced organized sport had better coping abilities for stress, adaptability, and mood states, and that they are more emotionally intelligent than those who did not. Moreover, children who practiced for fewer hours daily (up to 2 hours) had better stress coping than those who practiced more. To conclude, it is important to promote the sport federative practice in elementary education, in order to ensure that children learn to better regulate and manage their emotions, without increasing it to an excessive number of hours per day, which may generate greater stress that might be difficult to control.

Regular assessment of mood is used in Brazil for a wide variety of purposes, including screening athletes to provide an indicator of psychological wellbeing and risk of mental health issues. The present study tested the psychometric characteristics of the Brazil Mood Scale (BRAMS) using both “right now” and “past week” response time frames and investigated between-group differences in mood based on athlete sex, age, and social vulnerability. Participants were 898 athletes (511 male, 387 female, age range: 12–44 years) from eight sports. Structural equation modelling supported the BRAMS measurement model using both response time frames independently and in a multi-sample analysis. Subscale reliability was supported for both time frames. Fatigue, depression, and tension scores were higher using the past week time frame than the right now time frame. Males reported higher vigor scores than females, and younger participants (&lt;18 years) reported lower scores for anger and depression than older participants (18+ years). No significant between-group differences emerged for social vulnerability. Findings supported the psychometric integrity of the BRAMS and its use as a screening measure for psychological wellbeing among youth and elite athletes in Brazil.

Background: 3D virtual reality (VR) Motionless Imagery Exercise through Avatar (MIEA) was developed to improve elderly’s psychological (cognitive and emotional) and physical health. This study observed the impact of this program on the cognitive functions and emotional well-being and the electrophysiological changes in older adults. Methods: This study was conducted using a randomized controlled trial design. The participants included 38 adults, 65 to 84 years of age, who were physically mobile and neurologically healthy. Among them, 19 participants were assigned to the experimental group, who underwent exercises using elderly avatars in a VR virtual exercise program. The other 19 participants were assigned to the control group who underwent the VR program. Both groups engaged in the VR intervention for 20 minutes three times a week, over six weeks. Results: The cognitive functions, including attention restraint, working memory, and phonemic fluency, of the experimental group showed significant improvements compared to the control group. Regarding emotional well-being, the experimental group showed greater self-efficacy. The electrophysiological changes revealed similar patterns to exercise-induced reactions in electromyography of the experimental group after intervention. Conclusions: These findings confirm that participation in 3D VR MIEA enhances cognitive functions and physical self-efficacy among the elderly. Therefore, 3D VR MIEA can be utilized in the rehabilitation therapy of patients or elderly with limited physical activity.

This paper reviews the appearance of joint lesions during arthroscopic surgery of inter-est to the arthroscopic surgeon and their interpretation within the continuum of joint disease. It also points out the relevance of surgical findings as well as giving directions to the surgeon as to how to approach an appropriate decision-making process during an arthroscopic procedure and what therapeutic options are optimal.

Initiatives to safeguard athletes from interpersonal violence (IV) are rapidly growing. In Belgium, the knowledge on the magnitude of IV in sport is based on one retrospective prevalence study from 2016 (n=2.043 adults), who participated in organized sport before 18 years. Data on victimization rates in current youth sport populations are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the magnitude of IV in a sample of 769 athletes (13-21 years old), using the Violence Towards Athletes Questionnaire (VTAQ). All types of IV are prevalent in this sample, ranging from 27% (sexual violence) to 79% (psychological violence and neglect). Boys reported significantly more physical violence, while girls reported significantly more sexual violence. IV perpetrated by peer athletes was reported to the same degree as IV perpetrated by a coach (70%), while IV perpetrated by a parent in the context of sport was somewhat less common, but still prevalent (48%). These findings, including factors associated with elevated exposure rates, can serve as a baseline measurement to monitor and evaluate current and future safeguarding interventions in Belgian sport.

This paper presents a study on the idle vibration reduction of a diesel sport utility vehicle (SUV). To reduce idle vibration, the transmission paths of vibration from the engine to the driver seat floor were investigated with the vehicle components related to idle vibration. Furthermore, operational deflection shape (ODS) tests were conducted to visualize the vibration shapes during engine idling. Experimental modal analyses were performed to obtain the natural frequencies and mode shapes. Through the ODS and modal tests, the vibration characteristics of the diesel SUV during idling were identified. Considering these vibration characteristics, a multi-body dynamic model for the diesel SUV described by differential equations of motion was established to evaluate the idle vibration. To implement the dynamic model effectively, the equivalent stiffnesses and damping coefficients included in the model were determined experimentally or analytically. The established dynamic model was verified by comparing the natural frequencies and idle vibration levels between simulations. Using this dynamic model, we analyzed the effects of various design variables on idle vibration and obtained an optimal design for reducing the idle vibration level. Finally, we present a design guide to reduce the idle vibration for diesel SUVs.

Abstract: The concept of sustainability applied to sports activities means ensuring that the economic benefits brought about by their development are not obtained at the expense of causing ecological damage or interference in local cultural habits. A cable-ski is a nautical ski system whereby a motorboat is substituted by a cable traction system powered by an electric motor. The effect on the quality of the water in those places that can boast cable-ski facilities has been described in cold freshwater lakes. Objective: Our purpose was to study the evolution of water quality in a ten-year period after the installation of a cable-ski facility in a warm, salted, semi-stagnant pond. Material and Method: Review of the data gathered from the routine test carried out by the Laboratory of the Council of Alcúdia from 2010 to 2019 Results: The levels of dissolved oxygen have increased, being significantly higher in the period 2016 – 2019 than in that of 2010 – 2015. The turbidity of the water has also seen a reduction in the second period with respect to the first. Conclusion: It seems that cable-ski improves the quality of water even warm, high-conductivity, semi-stagnant conditions

Dietary supplements are commonly used among athletes. The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) groups supplements into 4 categories, being group D considered by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as prohibited supplements. The online availability of four doping substances: oxandrolone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), androstenedione and Tribulus terrestris, purchased from Spain, Puerto Rico, Canada, USA, Ukraine and Russia was evaluated. The characteristics of the websites, the countries the webs sold to, the pharmaceutical forms offered and the recommendations for its use were analyzed by using a computer tool designed ad hoc. There were significant differences between countries in the number of webpages that sold the products (Chi-square test, p<0.05). Oxandrolone was available for purchase mainly in Spain (27.12%) and Ukraine (26.58%), coming from websites dedicated to sports (77.26%). For DHEA, most of the pages were located in Canada (23.34%) and Russia (21.44%). Tribulus terrestris was the compound with the highest number of web pages. In the case of androstenedione, none of the pages for its sale requested prescription. Products such as androstenedione or DHEA are claimed to enhance sports performance or for sports use without providing details. The results showed that a limited number of Internet sites request prescriptions. Most of the doping substances are purchased from the country where they are requested. Athletes should be encouraged to consult health professionals about which supplements are suitable for their type of training and sports objectives.

The aim of the research was getting to know the risk of dependency on physical exercising in individual sportspeople and the relationship with body dissatisfaction and motivation. 225 triathletes, swimmers, cyclists and athletes- with ages going from 18 to 63 years old took part in the research, of which 145 were men (M = 35.57 ±10.46 years) and 80 women (M = 32.83 ±10.31 years). The EDS-R was used to study the dependency on exercising, BSQ to study body dissatisfaction, BREQ-3 to know the motivation of participants and BIAQ to analyse conducts of avoidance to body image. The obtained results show that 8.5% of the subjects had risk of dependency on exercising and that 18.2% tend to have corporal dissatisfaction, without meaningful differences in the kind of sport they practiced. However, there were important differences concerning the dependency on physical exercise (15% vs 4.8%) and body dissatisfaction (31.1% vs 11%) in relation to sex, being the higher percentage referring to women. The introjected regulation and the conduct of food restriction were the predictor variables of the dependency on exercising and corporal dissatisfaction.

The present study has been done using the Survey Research. The research sample scale equals 400 people, besides its statistical population is included the 15-year population and most of the city of Kerman in 2020. The method of multistage-cluster-stratified sampling was used in five districts of the city of Kerman, moreover the results have been analyzed by SPSS and AMOSS16 software, and only is one model fitted with reality among five models of designed path. The results of analysis of path diagram indicate that other coefficients of the path all of them are significant except the direct impact of one's image of the body on sport-based cultural capital and social class on the tendency toward the public sport. Other results of the study suggest that sport-based socio-economic capital leaves an indirect effect on sport-based cultural capital by which the tendency of citizens toward the sport grows up. At that showing athletic advertisements in the media are effective on the tendency of citizens to public sport.

This study investigated the accuracy and precision of a commercially available PNT solution that uses DGNSS-SBAS technology. Time and position data were sampled at a frequency of 20Hz during both short and long trajectory of a simulated controlled dry-land slalom, as well as during a real-world on-water slalom exercise. The primary objective was to assess the positional accuracy, availability, integrity, and service continuity of the PNT solution while evaluating its ability to differentiate between trajectories. Additionally, the simulated results were compared with an on-water real-world slalom test to validate the findings. The results of the controlled dry-land slalom test indicate that the PNT solution provided accurate measurements with an overall mean±SD Hrms of 0.20±0.02m. The integrity measures, HDOD and PDOP were found to be ideal to excellent, with values of 0.68±0.03, and 1.36±0.07, respectively. The PNT solution utilised an average of 20±1 satellites from the constellation, resulting in an accuracy of

Squash is a sport where referee decisions are essential to the game. However, referee decisions in squash are very subjective in nature. Disputes, both from the players and the audience, regularly happen because the referee made a controversial call. In this study ,we proposed to automate the referee decision process through machine learning. We trained neural networks to predict squash referee decisions using data from 400 referee decisions acquired through extensive video footage reviewing and labeling. Six positional values were extracted, including the attacking player’s position, the retreating player’s position, the ball’s position in the frame, the ball’s projected first bounce, the ball’s projected second bounce, and the attacking player’s racket head position. We calculated nine additional distance values, such as the distance between players and the distance from the attacking player's racket head to the ball's path. Models were trained on Wolfram Mathematica and Python using these values. The best Wolfram Mathematica model achieved an 86% ± 3.03% accuracy, while the best Python model performed a 0.852 ± 0.051 accuracy (85.2% ± 5.1%). These accuracies surpass 85%, demonstrating near-human performances. Our model has great potential for improvement as it's currently trained with limited data (400 referee decisions) and lacks crucial data points such as time and speed. The performance of our model is almost surely going to improve significantly with a larger training data set. Unlike human referees, machine learning models follow a consistent standard, have unlimited attention spans, and make decisions instantly. If the accuracy is improved in the future, the model can potentially serve as an extra refereeing official for both professional and amateur squash matches. Both the analysis of referee decisions in squash and proposal to automate the process using machine learning is unique to this study.

Taekwondo masters and coaches believe that they have a kind of “eagle eye” and that is why they feel comfortable to analyze athletes’ skills without using essential tools. The aim of this study was to analyze the athletes’ technical indicators during performance of the Miluh-chagi kick. To analyze the reliability and precision of the cycle of ten kicks (n = 120), performed by 5 women and 7 men senior athletes, we used an expert panel and a previously published observational tool. The coefficient of variation was calculated to verify precision. The intraclass correlation coefficient was calculated to confirm the reliability among the evaluators. Student’s t-test was used for group-to-group analysis. Correlation analyses were accessed using Spearman’s rho. The data quality sample reliability results, for group, intra- and inter-rater were excellent and good re-spectively. Statistically significant differences, with a large effect size, were found in the foot take-off, knee up and start leg flexion observational moments. The values showed a small and negative to moderate correlation between the conducts and aggregates criteria. Perfect correlation values were found between support leg foot and contact leg position. These findings meet the measurement requirements of athletes’ technical indicators to analyze motor behavior, develop-ment and performance of this technique.

An integration between the principles in supply change management in sport tourism and sustainability balanced scorecard leads to development of guidance and assessment criteria for a city to be a sustainable sport tourist destination. This paper aims to present a sport tourism sustainability management model (STSM), consisting of 5 perspectives, namely financial perspective, customer perspective, internal process perspective, learning and growth perspective and sustainability perspective. By using Delphi technique to obtain a consensus from experts, university lecturers, independent organization/association and business entities in relation to sport tourism management, the researcher defines elements to assess complex perspective for sustainable development of sport tourism. The result shows that there are 5 perspectives and 18 elements in relation to sustainable development of sport tourism. All perspectives and elements have high consensus as measured by Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance (W) of .488. To validate the model, the researcher examines correlation among the five perspectives with structural equation model and finds that the absolute fit is satisfactory, with the value of CMIN/DF at 1.830, RMSEA at .046, GFI at .951, AGFI at .919 and RMR at .038. In addition, the incremental fit also demonstrates positive result with the value of NFI at .962, CFI at .982, TLI at .973 and IFI at .982. As the model aligns and explains empirical data, it can support decision making for management team, effective and efficient strategy drafting for sustainable development in sport tourism and improving livelihoods of residents.

Background: Scientific literature on COVID-19 is still limited about long-term impacts on the all-body systems and they treatments. The aim of the study was to create a safe protocol-based in-tervention to improve functional and equilibrium abilities in older adults impacted by COVID-19. Methods: The study completed 46 people (intervention group: n=26; control group: n=20). Re-sistance training (RT) was held twice a week, 60 min per session for 8 weeks. The postural stability and quality of life questionnaire (WHQOOL) were conducted during pre- and post-testing. Results: Results indicated significant differences in overall stability index (OSI) with eyes open (EO), ante-rior-posterior stability index (APSI) EO, fall risk index 6-2 (FRI6-2) values in males (p

The effectiveness of combining strength-specific training with endurance training to enhance the performance of endurance runners remains uncertain. This study aimed to analyze effect of practising maximum-strength (MAX), explosive strength (EXP) or both combined (COMB) on seven runners’ performance-indicators: vertical jump (VJ), one-repetition-maximum-squat (1RM), peak-velocity/peak-running-speed (PV), lactate-threshold (over incremental-test-protocols, LT), middle-distance-time-trial (TT), maximum-oxygen-consumption (VO2max), running-economy (RE). Systematic-review (Scopus, Wed of Science, Sports Discuss, PubMed) with meta-analysis was conducted following PRISMA standards. Inclusion-criteria (PICOS) were: recreational or well-trained athletes aged 18-45 performing concurrent-training ≥five-week. Used search-terms were related to different types of strength/endurance, participants’ age, sport-modality. 20 manuscripts were selected, quality-assessed with PEDro. MAX training is more effective than EXP, COMB in improving VJ, 1RM, PV, while COMB is more effective than MAX, EXP to enhance TT. MAX is more effective than EXP in improving LT. Concurrent-workouts do not provide additional benefits to VO2max. It is unknown which strength-modality (MAX, EXP or COMB) is more effective in improving RE. Concurrent-training is more effective than single-mode-endurance-training for enhancing specific performance-variables in adult-endurance-runners. Middle-, long-distance-runners may consider incorporating MAX-training to target specific goals, e.g., improving VJ, 1RM, LT, PV while utilizing COMB-training to enhance TT. Certain variables may benefit from EXP. New randomized-controlled-trials are required to confirm these findings.

This study explores the complexities of sport manager selection, investigating the impact of affirmative action, recruitment strategies, organizational culture, diversity initiatives in board selection, and career advancement insights from coaches' perspectives. To conduct this investigation, a purposive sampling technique was employed, selecting 65 prominent sports managers and coaches from Romania. Participants, aged between 35 to 58 years old, boasted an average of 10 to 20 years of sports experience and were chosen based on specific criteria, including academic qualifications. Data collection occurred over an extended period, spanning from fall 2022 to spring 2024, through semi-structured interviews with sport managers and coaches. The findings unveiled persistent challenges in effectively implementing affirmative action measures, as sport managers grapple with balancing the promotion of deserving candidates while maintaining continuity in board culture. Achieving meaningful diversity necessitates nuanced approaches that consider both candidate quality and cultural compatibility. Moreover, the study sheds light on coaches' perspectives when considering executive council positions, highlighting various pathways to career advancement. Recruitment practices prioritized informal methods, emphasizing board cohesion. Despite the recognized importance of diversity, challenges persist in selecting candidates solely based on demographic representation. The study provides valuable insights into promoting diversity and inclusivity within sports organizations' executive councils. Future research directions may include exploring longitudinal trends and delving into the qualitative experiences of underrepresented groups, with the aim of advancing understanding and promoting equity within sports organizations.

The paper analyses the unused urban spaces in concert with the creative city idea. The research issues are developed as follows. 1. The unused urban places express the city's unsustainability since every urban space has the potential to become such a dead zone. 2. The concept of the creative city covers different creative activities in concert with sustainable development. 3. The unusable urban places result from a modernistic approach that neglects the cultural context, of the city's division into functional zones ignoring integral living intentions and industrial exploitation in the previous city's rims. 4. The Vilnius Sport Palace is an unused space not so much due to the lack of interest, but due to a knot of interests, which politicians cannot cut. The research raises the question of whether the problem of the VSP can be solved by using the idea of the creative city. In terms of the theoretical approach, a comparative analysis is used. Besides literature analyses, the case study is applied. Additionally, the semiotic approach is used. For this purpose, two of Greimas' traditional semiotic squares in combination with Ricoeur's idea of the interpretation's conflict are applied.

The satisfaction of basic psychological needs leads students to engage in a sport modality on their own initiative. In the Spanish public educational system, mixed and heterogeneous, the gender and sport experience of students influence the teaching and motivation of invasion sports. This study investigated whether students' gender and sport experience, and method influence the psychological variables (basic psychological needs and sport adherence) when teaching school soccer and basketball. Furthermore, correlations were calculated between these psychological variables. The study involved 165 fifth and sixth grade students (age, 11.27 ± 0.68 years old) from several Spanish state schools in the same autonomous community. A non-random convenience sample was used. The needs for autonomy, perceived competence and social relationships were measured using the Basic Psychological Needs in Physical Exercise Scale. Sport adherence was measured using the Measure of Intentionality to be Physically Active. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Cronbach's alpha were used to analyze the psychometric properties of the scales. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed with the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests. There were significant differences in the needs for autonomy and perceived competence according to the students’ gender (boys &gt; girls). Attending to sport adherence, there were also significant differences according to the students’ gender (boys &gt; girls) and sport experience (experienced students &gt; inexperienced students). Likewise, a regression analysis (structural equation model) revealed that the autonomy need showed low association with sport adherence. Higher perceived competence (β = 0.52) and social relationships (β = 0.36) were associated with greater adherence to sport (R2 = 0.65). Increased sport adherence will have health benefits.

Regular physical activity is considered one of the most valid tools able to reduce the risk of on-set of many diseases in humans. However, it is known that intense physical activity is able to induce high levels of genomic damage, while a moderate exercise was found to induce a favora-ble adaptive response by the organism. We evaluated, in a sample of amateur athletes practicing different disciplines, the level of genomic damage by means of the buccal micronuclei assay, comparing obtained data with those of subjects who practiced sport occasionally or that do not practiced any sport. The aim was to evaluate whether physical activity affects background levels of genomic damage and whether the different sports disciplines, as well as some genes poly-morphisms, differentially affect these levels. A total of 206 subjects, 125 athletes and 81 controls, were recruited. Athletes showed significantly lower values of micronuclei, nuclear buds and bi-nucleated cells with respect to controls. Sprinters and martial arts athletes showed significantly higher frequencies of micronuclei than other categories of athletes. Finally, neither sex nor gene polymorphisms seem to influence the levels of genomic damage, confirming that the observed genomic damage is probably due to the type of the sport activity.

The work shows a single case intervention based on the motivational coaching model the “Cantón’s Giraffe”, theoretically and experimentally proven in a 20-years-old dancesport practitioner, who considered improving her execution with her dance partner. Methodological triangulation was used [34], combining a test-retest quantitative measure (Using Ryff Psychological Wellbeing Scales; the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Questionnaire and an ad-hoc instrument for the motivational force assessment) and subjective analysis of the responses from the interviews conducted. A three-phase intervention protocol was used [33]: identification, intervention, and follow-up. The results show an improvement in reevaluation scores, an increase in the subjective evaluation, and participant satisfaction and perceived resources raised at the end of the intervention. These results are in line with previous similar studies.

Background: In South Africa, a relatively small number of children and adolescents belong to sports clubs, and adolescent participation in organised sport has steadily declined, especially in recent years. Participation levels in organised sport has decreased during late childhood and, more increasingly, as adolescents grow older. Aim: Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the participation of secondary school learners aged 14 to 16 years in organised sport. Methods: The study was a quantitative and descriptive, cross-sectional design. The study sample was 329 conveniently sampled secondary school learners, males, and females, aged 14 to 16 years from three state schools in Cape Town, Western Cape Province. A researcher-generated, self-administered questionnaire on organised sport participation was developed, piloted, and validated among 44 learners of similar background, who did not participate in the main study. The statistical software, SPSS version 27, was used to capture and analyse the research data. The level of statistical significance for the study was set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 66.9% of participants in the study sample participated in organised sport. Low but significant correlations were reported between gender and participation in organised sport (r = 0.22; p < 0.001), gender and friend participation in organised sport (r = 0.24; p < 0.001), participants participation and sibling participation in organised sport (r = 0.23; p < 0.001), participants participation and friend participation in organised sport (r = 0.36; p < 0.001), and between participant participation and parental participation in organised sport (r = 0.17; p = 0.003). Conclusion: Adolescent participation in organised sport was lower in the present circumstances compared to participation in the past three years. Adolescent males had higher participation levels in organised sport compared to adolescent females. There is an urgent need for solutions to counteract the low levels of adolescent participation in organised sport, especially in adolescent females.

(1) Background: Children who are physically active and involved in organized sport report having the unhealthiest diets. Research suggests excessive calories may be attributed to the prevalence of fast food and candy which are often provided as rewards in sport. This study explored the use of food as a reward in youth sport and the perceived impact it has on children’s motivation to participate in recreational soccer and ice hockey; (2) Methods: A multiple instrumental case study approach was utilized. Children aged 4-12 (n = 64), parents (n = 30), and coaches (n = 18) were recruited within central and northeastern Ontario, Canada to participate in focus groups and individual interviews. Transcribed audio recordings underwent inductive thematic analysis; (3) Results: Key themes included: Fun and fast: The culture of food in youth soccer and hockey; (Un)importance of food rewards: The how and why of motivating children in sport; and Youth sport is expensive: Gratitude for sponsorship in youth sport; (4) Children’s participation and effort would continue without food rewards; however, they continue to be offered food to motivate and celebrate performance in youth sport. Findings highlight the need to increase knowledge and awareness among parents and coaches on what truly motivates children to help foster healthier strategies for celebrating success and supporting lifelong physical activity.

Food exchange lists have been widely used in dietary practice in health and disease situations, but there are still no exchange lists for sports foods. The aim of this study was to develop a sports foods exchange list based on previously published statistical criteria. A cross-sectional study of the nutritional composition of sports foods, regarding macronutrients and energy, was carried out. A total of 323 sports foods from 18 companies were selected and divided into seven groups: sports drinks; sports gels; sports bars; sports confectionery; protein powders; protein bars; and liquid meals. A sports foods composition database based on portion size was created. Food exchange groups, with the definition of the amounts - in grams - of each sports foods within each group, were designed using the same methodology and statistical criteria as previously published. The nutritional composition of the portions usually consumed by athletes and/or recommended in commercial packaging was used to calculate the mean energy and macronutrient values for each group. Within each sports foods group, different subgroups were defined due to differences in the main and/or secondary macronutrient. The mean nutrient values of each exchange group and the subgroups were determined according to previously established rounding criteria. This sports foods exchange list, made up of commercial sports products, is a novel tool for dietetic practice. Its management will allow dietitians to adapt dietary plans more precisely to the training and/or competition of the athlete.

This investigation aimed to explore the impact of acute and regular physical exercise on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) levels in individuals with obesity. Using the Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome, and Study design (PICOS) approach, the inclusion criteria were defined as follows: i) population - individuals with overweight or obesity of any age or gender; ii) intervention - acute or chronic interventions involving aerobic or anaerobic methodologies; iii) comparator - for acute effect studies, pre- and post-evaluations served as comparators, while interventions included at least one experimental group or the inclusion of a control group; iv) outcome - BDNF variability concerning the applied methodology; v) study design - restricted to experimental studies exclusively. Conducted in August 2022, the searches were carried out on PubMed, Academic Search Complete, and Web of Science. The risk of bias was assessed using the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies (RoBANS) tool. Out of 98 potentially relevant articles, 16 met the eligibility criteria, encompassing 23 trials. Substantial heterogeneity was observed for both acute (I2 = 80.4%) and long-term effects (I2 = 88.7%). Additionally, RoBANS analysis indicated a low risk of bias for the included studies. The study's findings revealed a significant increase in the concentration of circulating BDNF in individuals with obesity compared to the control group following acute exercise. However, such an effect was not evident in the context of long-term physical exercise, with a small effect size (ES = 0.49) recorded in the latter scenario. The observed significant increase in BDNF levels post-acute exercise suggests a potential acute response mechanism contributing to the intricate interplay between exercise and neurotrophic factors in this population. Nevertheless, the absence of a similar effect in the context of long-term physical exercise implies a potential adaptation or ceiling effect. These findings underscore the importance of considering both the duration and nature of exercise interventions when exploring the neurobiological responses associated with obesity and exercise. The study provides valuable insights for future research and clinical implications in understanding the nuanced relationship between exercise, neurotrophic factors, and obesity.

Sport nutrition knowledge has been shown to influence dietary habits of athletes. The purpose of the current study was to examine relationships between sport nutrition knowledge and body composition and examine potential predictors of body weight goal in collegiate athletes. Participants included National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III women (n=42, height: 169.9 ± 6.9 cm; body mass: 67.1 ± 8.6 kg; fat-free mass: 51.3 ± 6.6 kg; body fat %: 24.2 ± 5.3%) and men (n=25, height: 180.8 ± 7.2 cm; body mass: 89.2 ± 20.5 kg; fat-free mass: 75.9 ± 12.2 kg; body fat %: 13.5 ± 8.9%) athletes. Body composition was assessed via air displacement plethysmography. Athletes completed a validated questionnaire designed to assess sport nutrition knowledge and were asked questions about their perceived dietary energy and macronutrient requirements, as well as their body weight goal (i.e. lose, maintain, gain weight). Athletes answered 47.98 ± 11.29 % of questions correctly on the nutrition questionnaire with no differences observed between sexes (men: 49.52 ± 11.76% vs. women: 47.03 ± 11.04%; p=0.40). An inverse relationship between sport nutrition knowledge scores and body fat percentage (r = -0.330; p=0.008), and fat mass (r = -.268; p=0.032) was observed for all athletes. Fat mass (β = 0.224), BF % (β = 0.217), and BMI (β = 0.421) were all significant (p&lt;0.05) predictors of body weight goal in women. All athletes significantly (p&lt;0.001) underestimated daily energy (-1,360 ± 610.2 kcal/d), carbohydrate (-301.6 ± 149.2 g/d), and fat (-41.4 ± 34.5 g/d) requirements. Division III collegiate athletes have a low level of sport nutrition knowledge, which was associated with a higher BF %. Women athletes with a higher body weight, BF % and BMI were more likely to select weight loss as a body weight goal. Athletes also significantly underestimated their energy and carbohydrate requirements based upon the demands of their sport, independent of sex.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-contacting neurons (CSF-N) located in the surface of both brain ventricles and the central canal (cc) in the spinal cord. The cc and CSF maintain a proliferative niche for neural progenitor cells and play a vital role in development of the brain. The CSF circulates in the ventricles and the subarachnoid spaces with the CSF rhythmic flow: cardiac pulsation and respiratory fluctuation. A new concept of CSF motion may be contrary to the classical one that the direction of CSF motion may vary in direction and may be dynamic in its location. The CSF pressure may also depend on the body position. Moderate music-making has been considered a potential approach for rehabilitative and restorative therapy of brain dysfunctions. Recently, we find that the CSF-Ns are present in both the interior CFS in the cc and also exterior CSF around the surface of the spinal cord. We hypothesize that CSF-N as mechanical sensors in the spinal cord could sense motion of the spinal cord. The myodural bridge is a ligament connecting a pair of deep, upper-neck muscles to the dura mater, which envelops the arachnoid mater and contains the CSF surrounding the brain and the spinal cord. We figure out the term “CSF-static compartment” and classify CSF storage location as rostral pool and caudal pool to demonstrate our hypothesis. We presume that the somatic body movement with music-making and rehabilitation-based interventions would orchestrate the CSF motion with head movement, myodural bridge stretching and puling as well as spinal bending.

Evidence suggests that COVID-19 infection can cause lasting health consequences. Multidiscipli-nary rehabilitation services have been recommended to reduce the sequalae. However, the effec-tiveness of physical exercise interventions remains insufficiently documented. The aim of this study was to develop and implement a specific and well tolerated protocol-based, intervention to reduce muscle weakness in older adults impacted by COVID-19. Forty six older adults random-ized into Intervention and Control Groups. Isometric and isokinetic strength assessments were conducted for selected muscle groups using JBA Staniak® torquemeter and Biodex System 3 dy-namometer. Functional abilities were evaluated with the Time Up and Go test and Chair Stand Tests. Men in intervention group demonstrated a significant improvement in static conditions for knee flexors (KF), trunk extensors (TE) and trunk flexors (TF) and in dynamic conditions for knee extensors (KE). Women in intervention group showed significant improvement in static condition for EF, KF, TE and TF and in dynamic for a KE and for a KF. The interaction GROUP x TESTING SESSION was significant for Chair test (s) and Chair test (n). Our results demonstrate the effec-tiveness of a well-tolerated, protocol-based approach that can be used to diminish long lasting functional deficits in post-covid survivors.

Furazolidone (FZD) is a synthetic nitrofuran with the antiprotozoal and antibacterial activity. The proper mechanism of FZD induced toxicity is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of curcumin on FZD induced oxidative stress, DNA injury and apoptosis in human hepatocyte L02 cells. The results showed that curcumin treatment significantly ameliorated FZD induced cytotoxicity, characterized by decreasing the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde, as well as increasing superoxide dismutase, catalase activities and glutathione contents. Moreover, curcumin pretreatment significantly inhibited FZD induced the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, the activation caspase-9 and -3 and apoptosis. Comet assay showed that curcumin attenuated FZD induced DNA injury in a dose-dependent manner. Correspondingly, curcumin markedly reversed the up-regulation of p53, Bax, caspase-9 and -3 mRNA expressions and the down-regulation of Bcl-2 mRNA (all p<0.05 or 0.01). These results reveal that curcumin protects against FZD induced oxidative stress, DNA injury and cell apoptosis via inhibiting oxidative stress and mitochondrial pathway, which may be attributed to ROS scavenging and anti-oxidative ability of curcumin. Importantly, our study highlights that curcumin may be a potential way to prevent FZD-mediated oxidative DNA injury and apoptosis in human or animals.

Public parks are a community resource with an important role in improving liveability, physical, and mental wellbeing. However, exercise facilities that are suitable for people with disabilities typically have been neglected in public park design. As such, people with disabilities often are unable to independently or safely use the park. To address this shortcoming, the objective of this paper was to employ a pragmatic research through designing process in developing the design for an inclusive park. We used a mixed-methods approach in the research that included review of previous studies, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaire surveys with stakeholders were applied as design integration. Persons with disabilities specifically were consulted to express their views on all matters of inclusive park design.

Purpose: To explore the influence of education and other factors on an athlete’s decision to return to sport post-concussion injury, and whether general risk-taking tendencies are related to return to sport post-concussion decisions in these athletes. Participants and Methods: A self-administered electronic survey was designed to examine their decision-making process when faced with scenario-based questions regarding returning to sport post-concussion injury. Students from the Health Sciences and Medicine Faculty at Bond University were invited to participate. Participants were allocated to a concussion education or non-education group prior to commencement of questionnaire via the random generator on Qualtrics software function. The risk propensity scale was used to assess the risk aversion of each participant. Results: Sixteen respondents were randomized evenly to education and non-education groups. Seven (43.8%) had previously received concussion education training prior to completing the questionnaire, with one (14%) choosing to return to sport in the scenario-based questions. The education group reported two (25%) respondents return to sport, while three (75%) respondents out of four returned to sport with no education or previous concussion training. Influential factors that impacted the decision whether to return to sport or not included: game importance, concussion severity and symptoms, and various internal and external factors. Finally, there was a divergence in results from the risk propensity scale when deciding to return to sport and general risk-taking propensities. Conclusion: This study identified several influential factors including game importance, concussion severity and symptoms which play a significant role in the return to sport decisions post-concussion injury.

Sport has the potential to support psychosocial development in young people. However, extant studies have tended to evaluate purpose-built interventions, leaving regular organised sport relatively overlooked. Moreover, previous work has tended to concentrated on a narrow range of outcomes. To address these gaps, we conducted a season-long ethnography of a youth performance sport club based on a novel Realist Evaluation approach [1]. We construed the club as a social intervention within a complex system of agents and structures. In this - Part 1 - account we detail the perceptions of former and current club parents, players and coaches, using them to build a set of programme theories. The resulting network of outcomes (i.e. self, emotional, social, moral and cognitive) and generative mechanisms (i.e., the attention factory, the greenhouse for growth, the personal boost, and the real-life simulator) spanning across multiple contextual layers provides a nuanced understanding of stakeholders’ views and experiences. This textured perspective of the multi-faceted process of development provides new insights for administrators, coaches and parents to maximise the developmental properties of youth sport, and signposts new avenues for research in this area.

Part 1 of this 2-paper series identified a wide and deep network of context, generative mechanisms and outcomes responsible for psychosocial development in a performance basketball club. In this – part 2 – study, the stakeholder’s programme theories were tested during a full-season ethnography of the same club. The findings confirm the highly individualised nature of each young person’s journey. Methodologically, immersion in the day-to-day environment generated a fine-grain analysis of the processes involved, including: i) sustained attentional focus; ii) structured and unstructured skill building activities; iii) deliberate and incidental support; and iv) feelings indicating personal growth. Personal development in and through sport is thus shown to be conditional, multi-faceted, time-sensitive and idiosyncratic. The findings of this two-part study are considered to propose a model of psychosocial development in and through sport. This heuristic tool is presented to support sport psychologists, coaches, club administrators and parents to deliberately create and optimise developmental environments.

Telerehabilitation is an appealing service delivery option for optimising recovering. Internationally, the equity of telerehabilitation services for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds has been questioned. Using a 31-item survey, our study explored the access, readiness, and willingness of 260 patients to use allied health telerehabilitation services for adults receiving interventions from a large tertiary health service located in Sydney, Australia. Overall, 72% patients reported having access to technology, 38% met our readiness criteria, and 53% reported willingness to engage in telerehabilitation. There were no difference in access, readiness and willingness to engage in telerehabilitation between patients from CALD and non-CALD backgrounds. Age was the only factor that influenced access, readiness and willingness to engage in telerehabilitation. Past experience of telerehabilitation was related to willingness, but not access or readiness. Findings highlight the importance of ensuring positive patient experiences to promote ongoing willingness to use telerehabilitation. Efforts are needed to improve patients’ digital health literacy, especially patients from older age groups, to ensure equitable access to telerehabilitation services.

Cyber diplomacy is critical in dealing with evolving cybersecurity dangers and possibilities in the digital era. This article investigates the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchains, and Quantum Computing on cyber diplomacy. AI holds the potential for proactive threat identification and response, while IoT enables international information sharing. Blockchains enable secure data sharing and document verification, but they also pose new threats, such as AI-driven cyber-attacks, IoT privacy breaches, blockchain vulnerabilities, and the potential for quantum computing to break encryption. This article conducts case study reviews, in combination with secondary data analysis, and emphasises the value of international cooperation in developing global norms and frameworks to control responsible technology adoption. Cyber diplomacy can promote cybersecurity, protect national interests, and foster mutual trust among nations in the digital sphere by capitalising on possibilities and reducing threats.

The last few decades have witnessed a surge of interest in adventure sports, and an emerging research focus on these activities. However, recent conceptual analyses and scientific reviews have highlighted a major, fundamental question that remains unresolved: what constitutes an adventure sport (and are they ‘sports’ at all)? Despite several proposals for definitions, the field still seems to lack a shared conceptualization. This deficit may be a serious limitation for research and practice, restricting the development of a more nuanced theoretical explanation of participation and prac-tical implications within and across adventure sports. In this article we address another crucial question, how can adventure sports be better understood for research and practice? We briefly summarize previous definitions to address evident confusion and lack of conceptual clarity in the discourse. Alternatively, we propose how an ecological perspective on human behaviors, as in-teractions with the environment, may provide an appropriate conceptualization to guide and enhance future research and practice, using examples from activities such as freeride skiing / snowboarding, white-water kayaking, climbing, mountaineering and the fields of sport science, psychology and avalanche research and education. We draw on ecological dynamics as a trans-disciplinary approach to discuss how this holistic framework presents a more detailed, nuanced, and precise understanding of adventure sports.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the five grand parks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and provide a geoprocessing approach to different aspects such as sport, health, leisure, recreation, and public wellbeing. The study uses a hybrid of qualitative and quantitative approach as methodology. Sustainability offerings, accessibility for people of determination and special needs, typology and the geolocations of the grand parks plays crucial role in residents’ wellbeing. The paper concludes with recommendations for Dubai government to design new and innovative approaches to manage wellbeing of urban public places into the leisure environment for residents.

This study compares lifestyles behaviour in Italian and Latvian university students, to assess if there are differences for sex, age, university or studies specialties. An online questionnaire investigating 8 lifestyle dimensions has been compiled by 156 (43,6 % females) from Italy and 105 from Latvia (82,9% females). Answers were collected between April and December 2020. Presence of smokers are negligible. The questionnaire showed to have a good internal consistency (Cronbach α =.929). On the total group, significant statistically differences were found for all the dimensions regarding age, sex, study specialty and university. Physical activity was associated with healthier lifestyles choices. Geographical-induced differences were found (eating and sleep behaviours, alcohol awareness) as well as socio-economic differences. Female students shown to be more stressed than males. Occupational wellness increased by age. Sport students shown more health awareness. Many of the differences found in the total group disappeared when comparing only sport students of the two university, showing females increasing their scores. This result can be explained by a masculinization effect of sport.

PcALCL mainly concerns elderly patients. It is a large CD30+ T-cell neoplasm composed of large cells with anaplastic, pleomorphic or immunoblastic morphology, with exclusively cutaneous onset and localization. The clinical course of pcALCL is predominantly indolent. Most elderly patients with lymphoma tend to have a sedentary lifestyle, which has a negative effect on their quality of life (QoL) and on their survival. Several studies indicate that exercise has a positive impact on QoL because it reduces peak oxygen consumption, improves physical capacity, increases self-esteem, reduces accumulated stress and promotes relaxation. Therefore, particularly in indolent lymphomas, it is necessary to indicate a program of physical activity to be practiced systematically. The complete surgical excision and local radiotherapy are the first line gold standard in pcALCL with solitary lesion.

Job characteristics shape organizational sustainability, conferring tangible benefits to employees. Job characteristics shape attitudes toward work, such as satisfaction and engagement, and are related to the well-being and health of employees. The aim of the study was to determine and describe the role of work engagement and support at work in the relation between selected job characteristics (organizational justice, job control, and role clarity) and self-rated health. The study was conducted on a sample of 368 employees representing various industries. The study used: Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Organizational Justice Survey, Coworker Support Scale, Supervisor Support Scale, Role Clarity Scale, Job Control Scale. Cantril ladder was used to measure self-rated health. The presented study established the importance of lower scores on the UWES subscale: dedication as a significant moderator of the examined correlations. In relation to the correlation: justice and its dimensions, and self-rated health, support from supervisors showed a greater effect than that from coworkers. The conducted study expands knowledge on the formation of employees' self-rated health through the sense of justice experienced within the organization. The results obtained are applicable to organizational practice. This finding highlights the importance of supporting organizational justice, which contributes to employee well-being (particularly when combined with high levels of work engagement and supervisor support) and ultimately increases organizational sustainability. Further research can be continued taking into account the limitations of the previous procedure of selecting people for the study and the measurement tools used.

Sex dimorphism starts during early embryogenesis and is further manifested in response to hormones during puberty. As this leads to physical divergence that is measurably different between sexes, males enjoy physical performance advantages over females within competitive sport. While this advantage is the underlying basis of the segregation into male and female sporting categories, these sex-based categories do not account for transgender persons who experience incongruence between their biological sex and their experienced gender identity. Accordingly, the International Olympic Committee determined criteria by which a transgender woman may be eligible to compete in the female category, requiring total serum testosterone levels to be suppressed below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to and during competition. Whether this regulation removes the male performance advantage has not been collectively scrutinized. Here, we aim to review how differences in biological characteristics between biological males and females affect sporting performance and assess whether evidence exists to support the assumption that testosterone suppression in transgender women removes the male performance advantage. In this review, we report that the performance gap between males and females amounts to 10-50% depending on sport. The performance gap is more pronounced in sporting activities relying on muscle mass and strength, particularly in the upper body. Longitudinal studies examining the effects of testosterone suppression on muscle mass and strength in transgender women consistently show very modest changes, where the loss of lean body mass, muscle area and strength typically amounts to approximately 5% after 1 year of treatment. Thus, current evidence shows that the biological advantage enjoyed by transgender women is only minimally reduced when testosterone is suppressed. Sports organizations may therefore be compelled to reassess current policies regarding participation of transgender women in the female category of sport.

Digital health has gained widespread adoption across various disciplines. Within the field of sport science, there is growing interest in digital health, leading to a surge in research activities. The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric and visualization analysis, tracing the evolutionary trajectory, identifying research hotspots, and uncovering emerging trends in digital health within the domain of sport science. By doing so, this research aims to offer scholars a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the dynamic landscape in this field. To achieve this, the Web of Science core collection was chosen as the primary database. A thorough literature search was performed, focusing on digital health and sport science, resulting in the screening of 1870 English-language documents. The findings revealed a consistent upward growth trend in the annual publication count from 2010 to 2023. Notably, the United States, specifically the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania System of Higher Education, and John B. Cronin, emerged as the most prolific contributors in terms of publications. Collaborative efforts among countries, institutions, and authors were also observed. The research hotspots identified encompassed several areas, including the evaluation of digital health technologies' effectiveness, exploration of the relationship between digital health technologies and physical activity/exercise performance, and the use of digital health technologies in assessing and rehabilitating sports injuries. Among the prominent digital health technologies employed in these studies were virtual reality, social media, and wearable devices. The predominant types of studies utilized meta-analysis, randomized controlled trials, and cross-sectional studies. Looking towards the future, the study identified several key research trends. These include the exploration of telemedicine, artificial intelligence-based machine learning, therapeutic interventions, and physical therapy within the realm of digital health. These emerging areas signify promising directions for future investigation and development in the field of digital health within sport science.

The aim of this article has been to evaluate the impact of a physical-sport education programme, based on the pedagogical model of Sport Education within the framework of quality Physical Education and approached from the field of social and emotional learning, on a set of psychological variables: subjective well-being (quality of life related to health, positive affect and negative affect); trait emotional intelligence and social anxiety. A total number of 113 Compulsory Secondary Education students were involved, aged 12 to 15 years old, 44 of whom belonged to the control group (CG) and 69 to the experimental group (EG). A quasiexperimental design of repeated pretest and posttest measures with the CG was used. The results obtained in this investigation revealed that the intervention programme caused significant improvements in the subjective well-being and the trait emotional intelligence for the EG. These findings reinforce the pedagogical efficiency of the programme with regards to the aim that has been set. Likewise, the findings also highlight the suitability and appropriateness in terms of innovative teaching proposals. In the same way, the results showed relevant empirical contributions in this given school context due to its psychological benefits and the encouragement of healthy living.

Background: The control of energy metabolism is fundamental for cell growth and function, and anomalies are implicated in complex diseases and ageing. It is important for cells to carefully tune metabolic pathways to optimize their function in response to different nutrient or physiological conditions. Metabolism in yeast cells can be easily manipulated by supplying different carbon sources: on glucose yeast rapidly proliferates by fermentation, analogous to tumour cells growing by aerobic glycolysis, whereas on non-fermentable carbon sources metabolism shifts towards respiration. Results: We screened deletion libraries of fission yeast to identify over 200 genes required for respiratory growth. The growth medium and auxotrophic mutants strongly influenced respiratory metabolism. Most genes uncovered in the mutant screens have not been implicated in respiration in budding yeast. We applied gene expression profiling approaches to compare steady-state fermentative and respiratory growth and to analyse the dynamic adaptation to respiratory growth. The transcript levels of most genes functioning in key energy metabolism pathways were coherently tuned, reflecting anticipated differences in metabolic flows between fermenting and respiring cells. We show that the acetyl-CoA synthase, rather than the citrate lyase, is essential for acetyl-CoA synthesis in fission yeast. We also investigated the transcriptional response to mitochondrial damage by genetic or chemical perturbations, defining a retrograde response that involves the concerted regulation of distinct groups of nuclear genes that may avert harm from mitochondrial malfunction. Conclusions: These systematic and targeted analyses provide a rich framework of the genetic and regulatory basis of fundamental metabolic states to guide future studies on energy metabolism in fission yeast and beyond. Our study pinpoints weaknesses of commonly used auxotroph mutants for investigating energy metabolism. As a model for cellular energy regulation, fission yeast provides an attractive and complementary system to budding yeast.

Some studies investigated the relationship between frequency domain analysis of heart rate variability and the cognitive performance at the Stroop task. We propose a combined assessment also of trunk mobility in 72 healthy women to investigate the relationship between cognitive, cardiac and motor variables based on a principal component analysis. We also assessed the change on this result after an intervention of two months aiming at improving the perception-action link. At baseline, the PCA correctly identified 3 components: one related to cardiac variables, one to trunk motion and one to the performance of Stroop task. After the intervention, only two components were found with trunk symmetry and range of motion, accuracy and time to complete the Stroop task and low frequency heart rate variability aggregated in a single component by PCA. It suggested that this protocol was effective in investigating the embodied cognition and we defined this approach as “embodimetrics”.

Psychological readiness following Anterior Cruciate ligament Reconstruction (ACLR) correlates with different return to sport outcomes. However, the relationship between strength and power and psychological readiness remains unexplored. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Return to Sport After Injury (ACL-RSI) scores and various hamstrings and quadriceps strength and power variables. Twelve participants (20.7±2.5 years old; 174.2±7.5 cm; 70.2±8.5 kg; 18.2±8.3% of body fat) who had an ACLR nine months or more before the study completed the ACL-RSI questionnaire and isokinetic strength testing of the hamstrings and quadriceps (60°.s-1 and 180°.s-1). Based on ACL-RSI scores, they were divided into “cases” and “controls”, deemed not psychologically ready and psychologically ready to return to previous sport performance (PILOS), respectively. The main findings are that quadriceps’ and hamstrings’ rate of torque development (RTD) and time since surgery were determinants of psychological readiness following ACLR. Furthermore, compared to controls cases showed significantly lower angle-specific quadriceps and hamstrings torque close to extension and lower RTD, but no difference in peak torque. These results suggest that physiotherapists should facilitate athletes’ RTS by focusing on the restoration of RTD and strength at angles close to full knee extension.

We describe an interesting case report about a patient with hemophilia A with severe chronic elbow arthropathy who underwent multiple surgical because of his condition. We collected all the clinical and imaging findings, and we compared the decision-making flow chart and the surgery performed with the most recent indications, treatments and complications reported in the literature. The aim of this case report is to show how usually the hemophilic patient even if young usually comes to our attention from the beginning with complex and advance musculoskeletal disease. Elbow hemophilic arthropathy is a complex disease and the management in these patients could be more difficult than others because of the higher risk of complications rate after all surgical procedures, for this reason it’s very important to treat these patients in hub centers with expertise in well-coordinated multidisciplinary teams. The path from diagnosis to surgical treatment of hemophilic elbow arthropathy can be a risky one, as it happened in this case.

Abstract: Objective: The aim of the study was to identify dietary patterns and its association with socio-economic, dietary and lifestyle practices among adolescents in Malaysia. Methods: A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to assess dietary patterns. Results: Multivariate analyses show that age and physical activity (PA) levels were emerged as positive determinants of healthy-based food pattern in Malay (All, p<0.001), whereas higher consumption of eating-out from home (EatOut) and fast food (All, p<0.05) were negative determinants. High weekly breakfast skipping (p<0.001) and EatOut (p<0.01) were positively associated with a western-based pattern, whereas age (p<0.001) and household income (p<0.05) were negative determinants. Higher frequency of daily snacking (p<0.05) was emerged as positive determinant of local-based food pattern. For Chinese adolescents, age (p<0.001), PA levels (p<0.001) and maternal education level (p<0.05) emerged as positive determinants for the healthy-based pattern, whereas high EatOut and fast food intakes (All, p<0.01) were negative determinants. Higher weekly consumption of EatOut (p<0.01), fast food (p<0.05) and carbonated beverages (p<0.05), and daily snacking practice (p<0.01) were positively associated with higher western-based food pattern, whereas age (p<0.01) was inversely associated. Conclusion: These findings suggest that unhealthy dietary and lifestyle practices could increase the risk of adherence to unhealthy western-based food pattern that is high in fat, sugar and salt contents, and consequently increase the risk of developing obesity and metabolic-related disorders during these critical years of growth.

The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

Glycosidic linkage analysis was conducted on the unfractionated polysaccharides in the alcohol-insoluble residues (AIRs) prepared from six red seaweeds (Gracilariopsis sp., Prionitis sp., Mastocarpus papillatus, Callophyllis sp., Mazzaella splendens, and Palmaria palmata) using GC-MS/FID analysis of partially methylated alditol acetates (PMAAs). The cell walls of P. palmata primarily contained mixed-linkage xylans and small amounts of sulfated galactans and cellulose. In contrast, the unfractionated polysaccharides of the other five species were rich in galactans displaying diverse 3,6-anhydro-galactose and galactose linkages with varied sulfation patterns. Different levels of cellulose were also observed. This glycosidic linkage method offers advantages for cellulose analysis over traditional monosaccharide analysis that is known for underrepresenting glucose in crystalline cellulose. Relative linkage compositions calculated from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements showed that anhydro sugar linkages generated more response in the latter detection method. This improved linkage workflow presents a useful tool for studying polysaccharide structural variations across red seaweed species. Furthermore, for the first time, relative linkage compositions from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements, along with normalized FID and total ion current (TIC) chromatograms without peak assignments, were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technique's potential to differentiate various red seaweed species.

The profile of secondary metabolites occurring in apple cuticular layer is not only characteristic for particular apple cultivar, but also dynamically reflects various external factors in growing environment. In this study, the possibility to authenticate apple samples based on analysis of their cuticular layer extracts was investigated. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) was employed for obtaining metabolomic fingerprints. In total, 274 authentic apple samples, four cultivars harvested within the seasons 2020 to 2022 in the Czech Republic and Poland were analysed. The generated complex data processed by univariate and multivariate statistical methods enabled to build classification models for discrimination of apple cultivars as well as their geographical origin. The models showed very good performance in differentiation of Czech and Polish samples for three of four cultivars: ‘Gala’, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Idared’, moreover, the validity of the models was verified over harvest seasons. The diagnostic markers, besides metabolites of triterpene biosynthetic pathway, mainly represented wax esters. ‘Jonagold’, which is known to be susceptible to mutations, was the only cultivar for which the unambiguous classification of geographical origin was not possible.

Strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora is one of the main diseases of strawberry and significantly impacts the yield and quality of strawberry fruit. There are now no effective control techniques available except for fungicide sprays, which may directly impact consumers. Biological control is becoming an alternative method for the control of plant diseases to replace or decrease the application of traditional synthetic chemical fungicides. Trichoderma is widely used as a biological agent for controlling strawberry root rot. In order to provide resources for screening the highly effective biocontrol fungus for controlling strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora, the biocontrol mechanism,the control effects of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 against strawberry root rot and growth-promoting effects on strawberry seedlings were investigated by plate culture, microscopy observation and root drenching methods.The results showed that CMT10 had obvious competitive, antibiotic and hyperparasitism effects on Neopestalotiopsis clavispora CMGF3. The CMT10 could quickly occupy nutritional space, and the inhibition rates of CMT10 against CMGF3 in confrontation culture on 7 d was 65.49%. The inhibition rates of volatile metabolite and fermentation metabolite produced by CMT10 against CMGF3 were 79.67% and 69.84%, respectively. The mycelium of strain CMT10 can act as hyperparasites by making contacting, winding and penetrating hyphae of CMGF3. Pot experiment showed that the biocontrol efficacy of CMT10 on strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora was 63.00%. CMT10 had obvious promotion effect on strawberry growth, the plant height, root length, total fresh weight, root fresh weight, stem fresh weight and root dry weight, with the promotion rates were 20.09%, 22.39%, 87.11%, 101.58%, 79.82% and 72.33%, respectively. Overall, this study showed the ability of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 to control strawberry root rot and their potential to develop as novel biocontrol agents to replace chemical fungicides for eco-friendly, sustainable agriculture.

Apis mellifera, especially weak ones, are highly vulnerable to Carpoglyphus lactis mites, which can rapidly infest and consume stored pollen, leading to weakened colonies and potentially colony collapse. This study aimed to ascertain and investigate the prevalence of this mite in honeybee colonies across 9 provinces in the Republic of Korea (ROK). A total of 615 honeybee colonies were collected, from 66 apiaries during the spring and 58 apiaries during the summer of 2023. A 1,242 bp segment of the the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction method. The detection levels of C. lactis in the honeybees were compared between winter and summer. Based on the COI sequence analysis, the nucleotide sequence similarity of C. lactis mites isolated in the ROK with those from China (NC048990.1) was found to be 99.5%, and with those from the United Kingdom (KY922482.1) was 99.3%. This study is the first report of C. lactis in Korean apiaries. The findings in this study demonstrate a significantly higher detection rate in winter, which is 4.1 times greater than that in summer (p &lt; 0.001). Furthermore, the results underscore the usefulness of molecular diagnostic techniques for detecting C. lactis mites.

COX II containing a dual core CuA active site is one of the three core subunits of mitochondrial Cco, which plays a significant role in the physiological process. In this report, the full-length cDNA of COXⅡ gene was cloned from Sitophilus zeamais, which had an ORF of 684 bp encoding 227 amino acids residues. The predicted COXⅡ protein had a molecular mass of 26.2 kDa with pI value of 6.37, and multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated that Sitophilus zeamais COXⅡ had high sequence identity 78.51% with the COXⅡ of other insect species, especially similarity to sitophilus oryzae. This gene was subcloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a, and induced by IPTG in E.coli Transetta (DE3) expression system. Finally the COXⅡ with 6-His tag was purified using affinity chromatography with Ni²⁺-NTA agarose. WB showed the recombinant COXⅡ was about 44 kD, and the concentration of fusion protein was 50μg/mL. UV-spectrophotometer and infrared spectrometer analysis showed that recombinant COXⅡ could catalyze the oxidation of substrate Cytc, and influenced by AITC. It was found that AITC could form a hydrophobic region with COXⅡ protein via molecular docking, besides, a sulfur atom of AITC structure could form a length of 2.9 Å hydrogen bond with Leu-31. These results will provide valuable information for elucidating the role of COXⅡ in Sitophilus zeamais responses to AITC, meanwhile, it will helpful to carry out a point mutation in AITC binding sites for the future research.

The properties of the annual, semiannual and triennial oscillations (AO, SAO and TO) in the middle atmosphere have been investigated using the TIMED/SABER temperature data. The Lomb-Scargle and wavelet spectra were used to determine the dominant oscillations in the background temperature field. The AO is prominent at the mid-latitudes. The AO amplitudes present an asymmetry between the two Hemispheres, being larger in the mesosphere than in the stratosphere. The SAO dominates the tropical regions, with three amplitude maxima at altitudes of 45, 75, and 85 km. The SAOs in the upper mesosphere (75 km) are out of phase with those in the mesopause (85 km) in the tropical regions, which can generate an enhancement of 11 K at each equinox, contributing to the lower mesospheric inversion layer. The TO is significant in the tropical region, with amplitude being maximum at 35, 45 and 85 km. Result shows that there may be potential interaction by the TO with SAO at 85km at the equator. The relation between ENSO and TO has also been discussed. The ENSO signal may modulate the amplitude of the TO, mainly in the lower stratosphere. The real origin of the TO may lie in the wave-mean-flow interaction.

This paper is focused on typical rural settlements in the Stara Planina Mountain area in Serbia. They are distinguished by their authenticity, identity and character, and they have still not been destroyed by inappropriate development as is the case in some other mountain areas in Serbia, where the effects of urbanization, globalization and homogenization are obvious. Consequently, there is a need to prevent these effects in mountain areas where there is a threat of disbalance between development and the inherited natural and cultural values. The paper starts from several important concepts that relate contemporary approaches to cultural heritage preservation, place morphology and planning future development. The concept definitions from recent documents from related fields are used. These concepts are then applied to the area of Stara Planina Mountain and its rural settlements. The necessity for an integrative approach to planning this area with significant natural and anthropogenic potential is pointed out, including its integration into international programs of sustainable development.

The research reported on this paper was aimed at improving the overall efficiency of a PDO certified artisanal cheese production process. Being a PDO certified foodstuff by the EU, it is considered to have properties and qualities determined by the geographical environment in which is made, with its production taking place in a specific and determined geographical location, in this case the Serra da Estrela region. In that sense, the authors conducted a mapping according to a systemic perspective of the processes involved in the context of manufacturing and distribution of certified Serra da Estrela cheese. Numerous methods were used throughout the process, such as a systemic design analysis, and techniques derived from ethnographic methods, which led to the collection of data in the field and consequently provided the immersion of the researcher in genuine work situations. Critical points were identified and emphasized in the systemic map with the purpose of encouraging initiatives to address and overcome the gaps and inefficiencies detected. The systemic design analysis triggered the development of design work. Observations following an ethnographic approach identified ergonomic risks in cheese making during the process of cutting excess chips, fostering the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders at the wrist. A tool that fits best to the task at hand was developed. A prototype of the new tool enabled collecting feedback from use in the work context, in order to inform product development. The domains of agricultural production and microbiology, considering the specific microorganisms developed trough the ripening process of the cheese, turned out to be aspects of high importance for the issue under focus, contributing to a broader understanding of the ripening process and its risks, simultaneously improving the efficiency and success of cheese production. If it were not for the systemic analysis, which served as a link between the boundaries of distinct domains such as the risk of microorganism contamination, ergonomics, energy efficiency, legislation and regulation policies, transportation challenges and economic viability, approached throughout the research. Simultaneously creating bridges between them, the various problems might not have been detected in the first place, as they are usually addressed in specialized disciplines, predetermined by the restrictions of each specific area of knowledge. As a consequence of the development of this research, which was based on an analysis that sought to establish possible connections between various disciplines and tried to constantly maintain a holistic perspective, making new connections and observing the issues from a new angle, apart from the already established methodologies. All this allowed to lay out the seeds for the development of a plan to tackle the critical points identified by the systemic analysis reported in this paper.

Promoting green development has become an important way to optimize the ecological and economic structure and promote sustainable development. The Yangtze River Economic Belt is an important economic corridor in China, and it remains to be examined whether the implementation of environmental regulations has enhanced the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of cities. This paper calculates the green total factor productivity of 107 cities within the Yangtze River Economic Belt by using the super-efficient SBM model and the GML index with Chinese city panel data from 2007-2019 and measures the intensity of environmental regulations through textual analysis. The bidirectional fixed-effects model constructed in this paper suggests an inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and GTFP, which is confirmed by a series of robustness tests. Green technology innovation and advanced industrial structure play a mechanism role in this. In regions with lower levels of green technology and industrial structure, the inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and green total factor productivity is more significant. In addition, the phenomenon of GTFP rising and then falling because of environmental regulation is more obvious in cities in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and outside the urban agglomerations. Therefore, when formulating environmental regulation policies, it is necessary to balance the relationship between economic development and environmental protection and harmonize the environment and economic development of the entire Yangtze River Basin.

The wetlands in northeastern Bangladesh are home to some of the most prolific and valuable ecosystems on the planet, offering a wide range of benefits to both the local and wider communities. A limited number of research on this topic have been carried out in various wetlands in coastal hilsa, but none have been located in the northeastern region of Bangladesh. Thus, the goal of this study was to better understand the most commercially relevant species (anadromous hilsa) in northeastern Bangladesh as well as to assess the wetland ecosystem services more thoroughly with the contribution of their fish genetic resources. In addition to laboratory studies, fieldwork was done in the fishing settlements along the Surma River, Hakaluki Haor, and Tanguar Haor. The study classified 77 fish species into 21 subcategories of ecosystem services, of which 56% were not threatened, 17% were vulnerable, and 10% were highly endangered. The species Hilsa was found to be the most economically significant, accounting for 1% of the GDP overall. The study determined if the hilsa stock of the examined wetlands maintains a single or several subpopulations in comparison to other parts of the country when they migrate from saline water to northeastern Bangladesh (freshwater). But when compared to other groups, the FST score was between 0.000 to 0.017, indicating that the populations are identical and that there is genetic material sharing between them. Additionally, these statistics imply that the Sylhet haor and adjacent river systems contain a single stock of Hilsa fish. Nevertheless, a number of stresses and risks, including overexploitation, illicit and destructive fishing, siltation, and natural disasters like flash floods, have been linked to changes in the supply of hilsa and other ecosystem services. This study also emphasizes the necessity of policy attention and research to address the concerns.

In this paper, we introduce a specialized, fully automated experimental arrangement designed for assessing the effectiveness of augmented and virtual reality technologies in healthcare setting and explore its design principles focusing on depth sensor characterization. The main goal of this project is to establish a robust benchtop platform for the quantitative evaluation of extended reality technologies in a controlled environment, emphasizing the practical assessment of augmented reality head-mounted devices. We outline a design concept and considerations for an experimental configuration aimed at creating a realistic testing environment. This apparatus comprises an observation platform mounted on a three-degree-of-freedom motorized system and a test phantom stage. Focusing on real-case scenarios, we utilized a range of sensors, including readily available range-sensing cameras and commercial augmented reality headsets, such as the Intel RealSense L515 LiDAR camera, mounted on the motion control system. The setup enabled automated data collection and facilitates controlled assessments and validation of various facets of augmented reality technologies, including object, hand, and head tracking, as well as static and dynamic image registration. This paper describes the system architecture, the process of automated data collection, and presents several evaluation studies conducted with this setup, providing insights into the quality and temporal noise associated with static or moving objects or observers in augmented reality applications.

To conduct high-precision and high-resolution numerical simulation of complex flow structures in turbomachinery, a high-order finite volume weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the large eddy simulation (LES) is improved and embedded into the three-dimensional viscous unsteady CFD solver NUAA-Turbo. Firstly, the spectral characteristics and unsteady convergence of the improved WENO scheme are studied. Compared with the classical WENO scheme, the improved WENO scheme has better dissipation and dispersion characteristics and faster convergence speed. Then, the coefficient CW of the Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE) model is calibrated by decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence (DHIT) test case. Finally, the scheme is applied to conduct high-precision LES calculations of turbulent boundary layer flow, supersonic compression corner flow, and low-pressure turbine cascade separation flow. The numerical simulation results show that this WENO scheme has excellent shock wave capture ability and turbulence resolution and can capture more flow field details with less mesh size, greatly reducing the computational cost and laying a foundation for large-scale engineering application of LES.

To secure logic circuits against the illegal copying the insertion of the so-called key bit inputs using XOR/XNOR gates has been proposed in . The inserted gates modify (lock) the behavior of the original circuit and only the correct choice of the secret key bits guarantees the equivalent behaviour of the locked circuit to the original circuit. To break this kind of security, i.e. to find the secret key bits, there was a SAT solver based attack proposed in . The aim of this work is to experimentally verify this attack on several locked circuits with various number of primary inputs and outputs and with various number of gates. Except for the random placement of the key gates we evaluate also the positioning with chaining elimination. The obtained and presented results show that we were able to unlock 10 of 11 circuits within few minutes on a common PC.

Intermetallic compounds are increasingly being expected to utilize in tribological environments, but to date the works are hindered by insufficient ductility at low and medium temperature. This paper presents a novel multiphase intermetallic alloy with the chemical composition of Mo-40Ni-13Si (at.%). Microstructure characterization reveals that a certain amount of ductile Mo phases formed during the solidification process of ternary Mo-Ni-Si alloy melt, which is undoubtedly beneficial to the ductility improvement of intermetallic alloy. Tribological properties of the designed alloy, including wear resistance, friction coefficient and metallic tribological compatibility, were evaluated under dry sliding wear test conditions at room temperature. Results suggested that the multiphase alloy possesses an excellent property for room-temperature wear applications, which is attributed to the unique microstructural features and thereby good combination in hardness and ductility. The corresponding wear mechanism is also reported by observing the worn surface, subsurface and wear debris of alloy, which to be found is soft abrasive wear.

With the integrated development of the Internet, wireless sensor technology, cloud computing, and mobile Internet, there has been a lot of attention given to research about and applications of the Internet of Things. A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is one of the important information technologies in the Internet of Things; it integrates multi-technology to detect and gather information in a network environment by mutual cooperation, using a variety of methods to process and analyze data, implement awareness, and perform tests. This paper mainly researches the localization algorithm of sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network. Firstly, a multi-granularity region partition is proposed to divide the location region. In the range-based method, the RSSI (Received Signal Strength indicator, RSSI) is used to estimate distance. The optimal RSSI value is computed by the Gaussian fitting method. Furthermore, a Voronoi diagram is characterized by the use of dividing region. Rach anchor node is regarded as the center of each region; the whole position region is divided into several regions and the sub-region of neighboring nodes is combined into triangles while the unknown node is locked in the ultimate area. Secondly, the multi-granularity regional division and Lagrange multiplier method are used to calculate the final coordinates. Because nodes are influenced by many factors in the practical application, two kinds of positioning methods are designed: the unknown node is in the positioning unit or not. When the unknown node is on the side of the positioning unit, we use the method of vector similarity. Moreover, we use the centroid algorithm to calculate the ultimate coordinates of unknown node. When the unknown node is not on the side of the positioning unit, we establish a Lagrange equation containing the constraint condition to calculate the first coordinates. Furthermore, we use the Taylor expansion formula to correct the coordinates of the unknown node. In addition, this localization method has been validated by establishing the real environment.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a record of brain activity. Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology formed by the EEG signal has become one of the hotspots at present. How to extract the feature signal of EEG is the most basic research of BCI technology. In this paper, A new method of recognizing fatigue, conscious, concentrated state of human brain is proposed by the combination of discrete wavelet transform and the neural network based on EEG signal. First of all, the law signal is preprocessed by the wavelet denoising method because the law EEG signal contains a large number of high frequency noise, which is decomposed into multi-layer high frequency signal and low frequency signal. thus, δ wave, θ wave, α wave, β wave are obtained by the wavelet transform. And then, frequency band energy of the different wave is regards as the feature signal of EEG. In the experiment, the feature signal is classified by radial basic function (RBF) and annealed chaotic competitive learning network (ACCLN). RBF and ACCLN networks are trained with 500 sets of sample data and are tested by 100 sets of samples in different mental states. The experimental results show that the average accuracy of RBF network under three conditions are 88.75%, 88.25%, 88.5%, respectively, and the correct rate of ACCLN network is 97%, 98%, 98%, respectively.

Early discharge after childbirth has led to a rise in neonatal readmission, becoming a major concern in recent decades. Our research aimed to identify the risk factors and incidence of neonatal readmission, as well as explore preventive measures. Our study at the Clinical Hospital of Pediatrics in Ploiești, Romania included 108 neonates admitted during the neonatal period. This accounted for 2.06% of all admissions (5226). The most prevalent cases were malnutrition (25%), fever (20.3%) and bronchiolitis (17.5%). Diarrhea and infectious gastroenteritis were also observed (14.8%), along with acute rhinoconjunctivitis (9.2%) and late onset sepsis (3.7%). No deaths were recorded. The most significant characteristics identified were number of children (p&lt;0.001) and age at maternity discharge (p&lt;0.001). By following the prevention rules, malnutrition, feeding errors, and infections can be avoided. This includes practicing proper hand hygiene for both mothers and medical staff, as well as educating and demonstrating to mothers the benefits of breastfeeding. In addition, all newborns discharged from the maternity ward should benefit from follow-up at 7-10 days of life. Our results confirm the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary team and endorse promoting breastfeeding. Implementing quality control measures and regularly evaluating the surveillance program will help improve its effectiveness.

Wearable technology has been proposed as a potential tool to change the way of human life, such as the smart bracelet and the Google Glass. In the wearable technology, the inertial sensor has great significance in tracking the object movements. The paper focused on detecting the movements of user’s finger based on the inertial sensor to give the control signals. Firstly, the attitude matrix, which represented the transformation relation of carrier coordinate system and the navigation coordinate system, was obtained. Secondly, the attitude matrix was expressed based on the quaternions. Thirdly, the finger gesture was processed by the attitude matrix to get the attitude angle. Finally, the robot was controlled by attitude angle to make the moving action. The experimental results showed the detection of the finger movement is effective.

Two interesting compounds such as quaternary ammonium lignin(QAL) and 2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (P507) were synthesized as ionic liquids(QP-ILs) for the extraction of metal ions. The extraction behavior of Co(II) and Ni(II) from chloride solution was compared between QP-ILs and P507. The results showed that the extraction rates of Co(II) and Ni(II) in the two solutions varied with the extraction conditions, but QP-ILs has stronger extractability for cobalt than P507, while Ni is on the contrary. Under the same conditions, the Co/Ni separation performance(βCo/Ni) in QP-ILs is superior to that in p507. At pH4.0, 55℃, concentration of 20%, extraction time of 10 minutes, the βCo/Ni of QP-ILs reached to 2703, while that of P507 was only 164. In conclusion, QP-ILs was more efficient than P507 for separating Co from mixed solutions.

Brain aging causes a wide variety of changes at molecular and cellular levels, leading to the decline of cognitive functions and increased vulnerability to neurodegenerative disorders. The research aimed at understanding the aging of the brain has made much progress in recent decades. Technological innovations such as single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq), proteomic analyses, and spatial transcriptomic analyses have facilitated the research on the dynamic changes occurring within neurons, glia, and other cells along with their impacts on intercellular communication during aging. In this review, we introduce recent trends of how neurons and glia change during aging and discuss the impact of the brain microenvironment such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

Museums are called to respond to contemporary challenges and contribute to the formation of more progressive societies. One of the major challenges of our time is climate change and museums could construct cocreated narratives around climate and implement targeted actions for the audiences through their sensorial and affective experiences. More specifically, Geology and Palaeontology museums are repositories of knowledge on geoheritage and geoconservation, recognized for their scientific, pedagogical, cultural and recreational values. The educational potential of geological and paleontological exhibits could be used in informal education activities regarding the climate emergency. Taking the above into consideration, this study focuses on both the creation and evaluation of an educational program for the Natural History Museum of Arsakeio Campus at Psychicko.

In this paper, we study the semilinear pseudo-parabolic equations $\displaystyle u_{t} - \triangle_{\mathbb{B}}u - \triangle_{\mathbb{B}}u_{t} = \left|u\right|^{p-1}u$ on a manifold with conical singularity, where $\triangle _{\mathbb{B}}$ is Fuchsian type Laplace operator investigated with totally characteristic degeneracy on the boundary $x_{1} = 0$. Firstly, we discuss the invariant sets and the vacuum isolating behavior of solutions with the help of a family of potential wells. Then, we derive a threshold result of existence and nonexistence of global weak solution: for the low initial energy $J(u_{0})<d$, the solution is global in time with $I(u_{0}) >0$ or $\displaystyle\Vert \nabla_{\mathbb{B}}u_{0}\Vert_{L_{2}^{\frac{n}{2}}(\mathbb{B})} = 0$ and blows up in finite time with $I(u_{0}) < 0$; for the critical initial energy $J(u_{0}) = d$, the solution is global in time with $I(u_{0}) \geq0$ and blows up in finite time with $I(u_{0}) < 0$. The decay estimate of the energy functional for the global solution and the estimates of the lifespan of local solution are also given.

Multimodal remote sensing data classification can enhance the model’s ability to distinguish land features through multimodal data fusion. In this context, how to help models understand the relationship between multimodal data and target tasks is the focus of researchers. Inspired by human feedback learning mechanisms, causal reasoning mechanisms, and knowledge induction mechanisms, this paper integrates causal learning, reinforcement learning, and meta learning into a unified remote sensing data classification framework and proposed the causal meta-reinforcement learning (CMRL). First, based on feedback learning mechanisms, we have overcome the limitations of traditional implicit optimization of fusion features and customized a reinforcement learning environment for multimodal remote sensing data classification tasks. Through feedback interactive learning between agents and the environment, we help them understand the complex relationships between multimodal data and labels, thereby achieving full mining of multimodal complementary information. Second, based on the causal inference mechanism we designed causal distribution prediction action, classification reward, and causal intervention reward, capturing pure causal factors in multimodal data and cutting off false statistical associations between non-causal factors and class labels. Finally, based on the knowledge induction mechanism, we designed a bi-layer optimization mechanism based on meta-learning. By constructing a meta training task and meta validation task simulation model in the generalization scenario of unseen data, we helped the model induce cross-task shared knowledge, thereby improving its generalization ability for unseen multimodal data. The experimental results on multiple sets of multimodal datasets show that the proposed method achieved state-of-the-art performance in multimodal remote sensing data classification tasks.