Journal articles on the topic 'Peak-game characteristics'

The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptual, heart rate and technical-tactical characteristics of elite male and female 3 × 3 basketball games. Eleven male and twenty-two female elite basketball players were monitored using heart rate telemetry, Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and video analysis across three 3 × 3 basketball tournaments. Linear mixed models were performed to determine the influence of round (pool game, quarter-final, semi-final, final, classification game) and sex on all dependent variables (alpha = 0.05). There was no difference between sexes for heart rate variables (p = 0.53 - 0.85). The greatest percentage (56.9 ± 20.1%) of game time was spent in heart rate zone 5 (90-100% peak heart rate). Overall RPE was higher in semi-finals (7.2 ± 1.5, p ≤ 0.001, ES: 1.27) and finals (7.7 ± 1.6 p ≤ 0.001, ES: 1.67) compared to pool games (5.1 ± 1.5). An analysis of the technical-tactical actions revealed that there were less steals in semi-finals (p = 0.01, ES = 0.56) and finals (p = 0.01, ES = 0.71) compared to pool games, with no sex-related differences present (p = 0.06 - 0.97). Players generally spent one minute on the bench for every three minutes on the court, creating a 3:1 work to rest ratio. Physical preparation programs for elite 3 × 3 basketball athletes should include exposure to high-intensity activity in which heart rates ≥80% of peak heart rate are reached for periods of time similar to that experienced during gameplay. A 3:1 work-to-rest ratio may be beneficial during conditioning training for this population.

Purpose: To determine the changes in game performance during tournament play of elite 3×3 basketball. Methods: A total of 361 men and 208 women competing in selected international tournaments had game demands assessed by wearable technology (global positioning system, inertial sensor, and heart rate) along with postgame blood lactate and perceived responses. Differences in the means for selected variables between games were compared using magnitude-based inferences and reported with effect size and associated confidence limits (CL), along with the percentage difference (ES; ±90% CL, %difference) of log-transformed data. Results: No clear differences were seen over a tournament period in PlayerLoad™ or PlayerLoad·minute−1. Tournament competition elicits variable changes between games for all inertial measures. Average peak heart rate was 198 (10) and 198 (9) beats·min−1, and average game heart rate was 164 (12) and 165 (18) beats·min−1 for men and women, respectively, with no change between games. Average game lactate was 6.3 (2.4) and 6.1 (2.2) mmol·L−1 for men and women, respectively. Average game ratings of perceived exertion were 5.7 (2.1) and 5.4 (2.0) AU for men and women, respectively. Although lactate and ratings of perceived exertion were variable between games, there was no difference over a tournament. Conclusions: The physical and physiological demands of elite 3×3 games over the duration of a tournament are similar regardless of pool or championship rounds. This may imply that maintaining technical and strategic aspects leads to success rather than minimizing fatigue through superior physical preparation. However, the physiological responses are high; caution is warranted in being underprepared for these demands in tournament play.

After the cast ban on bike-sharing was lifted, bike-sharing entered the quota period. This notion means that the management of bike-sharing began to change from the unified to the diversified government governance, including all sectors of society. This work creates a dynamic game model based on the tripartite interest relationship among the government, bike-sharing enterprises, and consumers, and introduces the government quota policy and seasonal characteristics of bike-sharing into the game model. This model explores the multi-stage dynamic game process among the government, bike-sharing enterprises, and consumers. We draw the following conclusions. The government’s quota policy was effective during peak demand for bike-sharing, but not before the off-peak season. Through the case studies, we verify the feasibility of the government to relax the regulation appropriately in the peak season. We also changed the punishment and reward intensity of bike-sharing enterprises to consumers in the case studies and analyzed the influence of regulation intensity of bike-sharing enterprises on consumer behaviors. The final suggestion is that the government should appropriately relax regulation during peak demand season to reduce costs and strengthen regulation before the off-season of bike-sharing demand. Bike-sharing enterprises should maintain a high level of regulation on consumers, and a low level of regulation has no constraint on consumer behaviors.

This paper proposes a new financial market model based on the analysis of the minority game model. The agent in this model forms a network through information sharing, and the agent uses the minority game model to realize the evolution of the system. To better describe the financial market, we also adopt a prior connection strategy for the model. The network formed by the agent has the characteristics of a scale-free network, and as the initial network connection probability increases, the growth rate of the corresponding agent’s average connection degree increases and then decreases after reaching the peak.

With the transformation of the energy market from the traditional vertical integrated structure to the interactive competitive structure, the distributed characteristics of the energy system become more and more obvious, and the traditional centralized optimization method is difficult to reveal the interaction between the multi-agent. In this paper, a method based on master-slave game is proposed to optimize the operation of park integrated energy system. Firstly, user load model, user benefit model, operator revenue and cost model are established for park integrated energy system. Secondly, the Stackelberg master-slave game model of interactive optimization operation is established, and the peak cutting compensation price is adjusted. Both of them aim at maximizing their own interests until the game equilibrium is achieved. A distributed cooperative optimization model with one master and many slaves is established and solved by the combination of genetic algorithm and quadratic programming. Finally, an example is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Background: Girls’ lacrosse headgear that met the ASTM International performance standard (ASTM F3137) became available in 2017. However, the effects of headgear use on impact forces during game play are unknown. Purpose: To evaluate potential differences in rates, magnitudes, and game-play characteristics associated with verified impacts among players with and without headgear during competition. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A total of 49 female high school participants (mean age, 16.2 ± 1.2 years; mean height, 1.66 ± 0.05 m; mean weight, 61.2 ± 6.4 kg) volunteered for this study, which took place during the 2016 (no headgear; 18 games) and 2017 (headgear; 15 games) seasons. Wearable sensors synchronized with video verification were used. Descriptive statistics, impact rates, and chi-square analyses described impacts and game-play characteristics among players with and without headgear. Differences in mean peak linear acceleration (PLA) and peak rotational velocity (PRV) between the no headgear and headgear conditions were evaluated using a linear generalized estimating equation regression model to control for repeated within-player measurements. Results: Overall, 649 sensor-instrumented player-games were recorded. A total of 204 impacts ≥20 g recorded by the wearable sensors were verified with video analysis (102 no headgear; 102 headgear). Most impacts were imparted to the player’s body (n = 152; 74.5%) rather than to the player’s head (n = 52; 25.5%). Impact rates per player-game did not vary between the no headgear and headgear conditions (0.30 vs 0.34, respectively; impact rate ratio, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.37-2.08]). There was no association between impact frequency by mechanism or penalties administered between the no headgear and headgear conditions for overall or direct head impacts. The generalized estimating equation model estimated a significant reduction in mean impact magnitudes overall (PLA: –7.9 g [95% CI, –13.3 to –2.5]; PRV: –212 deg/s [95% CI, –359 to –64]) with headgear relative to no headgear. No game-related concussions were reported during this study. Conclusion: Lacrosse headgear use was associated with a reduction in the magnitude of overall impacts but not a significant change in the rate of impacts, how they occur, or how penalties were administered for impacts sustained during competition. Further research is needed with a larger sample and different levels of play to evaluate the consequences of headgear use in girls’ lacrosse.

In the electricity market environment, thermal power units have changed from the executors of power production under the monopoly mechanism to the decision-makers of production and operation under the competitive environment. The merits and demerits of bidding schemes for thermal power units are directly related to self-interest of themselves. The bidding decisions of power plants are not only affected by economic factors, but also by technical factors peculiar to the power system and the electric generator. In recent years, research on bidding strategies of thermal power units based on the power market environment has been paid more and more attention in the field of electric market. This paper first introduces the basic peak regulation and frequency modulation technical characteristics of thermal power units and cost calculation. Then, from the angle of quotation, paper analyzes characteristics of quotation mechanism of units in Fujian Electric Power day-ahead, real-time and peak regulation auxiliary service market. Furthermore, the research status of bidding strategies of thermal power units participating in electricity market at home and abroad in cost analysis, market clearing price prediction, game theory and so on are summarized. Finally, the bidding strategy for units in Fujian Spot Market is put forward.

Background: Men’s university ice hockey has received little scientific attention over the past 30 years, a time in which the traits of the players and the demands of the game have evolved. Objectives: This study compared the physiological characteristics of university ice hockey players and examined the frequency and duration of the different movement patterns and heart rate (HR) responses during competition. Methods: Twenty male ice hockey players from the same team ( age ± SD = 22±2 years) underwent a fitness evaluation and were filmed and HR monitored during regular season games. Results: Forwards and defense had similar fitness and only differed on % fatigue index and peak heart during on-ice sprinting (P<0.05). Defense stood, glided and skated backwards more than forwards and forwards skated at a moderate intensity and glided forward more than defense (P<0.05). All players spent the majority of game time gliding forward (60% of the time) followed by skating forward at a moderate intensity (17%) and standing with little movement (9%). Average HR during the game reached 96 and 92 % and peak HR was 100 and 96 % of maximum in forwards and defense, respectively. Conclusions: Male university hockey players present with a high level of physical fitness in a variety of categories with few differences between forwards and defense. Movement patterns during games suggest that players are performing low to moderate intensity on-ice activities the majority of the time. Paradoxically, HR continues to climb to near maximum during on ice shifts.

IntroductionTrauma related neuropathologies including recent reports involving chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in 8 soccer players have been concerning. Purposeful sub-concussive head impacts, known as headers, are an integral part of the game. The purpose of this study was to describe dynamic head response and brain tissue strains for front ball-to-head impacts in elite soccer.MethodsVideo analysis thirteen (13) Champion's League soccer footage was completed to establish reconstruction parameters of head impact events. Analysis of 5 (5) front ball-to-head events were reconstructed using a Hybrid III 50th percentile headform and a pneumatic linear impactor. The University College Dublin Brain Trauma Model was used to calculate maximum principal strain (MPS).Results and discussionRecorded head impact velocities during elite soccer game play were 3.5–23.0 m/s. Most purposeful head-to-ball impacts occurred on the front-temporal region of the head (66.4%) at 0–15 degrees of cervical flexion. There was an average of 1.5 unintentional head impacts and 62.2 headers per game; 49.6% of headers occurred at an inbound velocity below 10 m/s. The lowest velocity reconstructed was 4.7 m/s, yielding 12.8 g and 604 rad/s2 for peak resultant linear and rotational accelerations, respectively; the MPS for this impact was 0.09. Neurophysiologic changes and functional impairment have been reported in past research on sub-concussive impacts with 5%–15% strain. The mean 0.11 MPS yielded in this study reflects a potential for these changes in elite soccer athletes.ConclusionThe main objective of this analysis was to identify impact characteristics and quantify dynamic cerebral response and brain tissue deformation in elite soccer game play. Further research must include cervical muscle activation, the level of play and player position, inbound ball-to-head velocities during different game play events and appropriate impact characteristics to appropriately characterize risk of injury in the attempts of mitigating risk of head injury during soccer game play.

Abstract Basketball players usually score points during the game using the jump shot. For this reason, the jump shot is considered to be the most important element of technique in basketball and requires a high level of performance. The aim of this study was to compare the biomechanical characteristics of the lower limbs during a jump shot without the ball and a countermovement jump without an arm swing. The differences between variables provide information about the potential that an athlete can utilise during a game when performing a jump shot. The study was conducted among 20 second-league basketball players by means of a Kistler force plate and the BTS SMART system for motion analysis. The variables measured included the take-off time, mean power, peak power, relative mean power, jump height, maximum landing force and calculated impact ratio. Surprisingly, more advantageous variables were found for the jump shot. This finding suggests a very high performance level in the jump shot in the studied group and a maximum utilisation of their motor abilities. Both types of jumps were characterised by high mean and peak power values and average heights. The high forces at landing, which result in considerable impact ratios, may have prompted the studied group to land softly. Use of the countermovement jump without an arm swing is recommended to assess and predict the progression of player’s jumping ability

This study compared performance parameters of two wheelchair basketball games under hot (30.3 °C, 52% relative humidity) and temperate (21.6 °C, 30% relative humidity) environmental conditions and described the characteristics of wheelchair basketball. Eight wheelchair basketball players from two teams were monitored during two games using an indoor position tracking system. Total distance, mean- and peak-speed, playing-time, number of sprints, sprints per minute, heart rate and rate of perceived exertion were recorded. Additionally, athletes with a lesion level above and below T6 were compared. No measured parameter differed between the games. Across quarters (Q) mean velocity (m/s) (Q1: 1.01; Q2: 1.10; Q3: 1.18; Q4: 1.06; p < 0.001) and sprints per minute (Q1: 16; Q2: 14; Q3: 23; Q4: 14; p = 0.033) differed significantly, independent of the conditions. Descriptive statistics did not reveal differences between the groups with a lesion level below or above T6. In the present study, hot environmental conditions seemed not to have an impact on activity parameters of wheelchair basketball players. It was speculated that the game intensity and therefore metabolic heat production was too low; consequently, the athletes had a sufficient heat loss to prevent a decrease in performance during the play in hot conditions.

While being an integral part of both the offensive and defensive segments of the game, the biomechanical parameters of setting motions remain understudied in the scientific literature. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine differences in kinetic and kinematic characteristics between: (a) three types of setting motions (i.e., front, middle, back); (b) two types of setting approaches (i.e., stationary, step-in); and (c) proficient (PRO) and non-proficient (N-PRO) volleyball players. Twenty recreationally active females performed five stationary and five step-in setting approaches to Zone 4–2 in a randomized order. Uni-dimensional force plate sampling at 1000 Hz and high-definition camera recording at 30 fps were used to obtain kinetic and kinematic variables of interest. The total number of setting attempts performed by each subject was 30, accounting for a grand total of 600 attempts. PRO setters had less knee flexion, shoulder flexion, and ankle dorsiflexion at the initial concentric phase of the volleyball setting motion when compared to the N-PRO setters. Moreover, significantly greater peak concentric and landing forces, impulse, rate of force development, and vertical jump height were observed for PRO setters compared to N-PRO setters, while no significant differences were found between different setting targets and approaches.

In the context of the rapid development of new media such as network citizen journalism, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to use the online public opinion to supervise sewage discharge enterprises’ emission governance behaviors and improve the social opinion supervision mechanism. This paper considers the dynamic characteristics of the spread process of public opinion and the game process of social supervision on corporate pollution control; constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model of the local government, sewage discharge enterprises, and the public by coupling the susceptible–exposed–infected–removed (SEIR) model and the evolutionary game model; and discusses the influence laws of public opinion spread on the tripartite evolutionary game. The results show that (1) the public with higher influence or authority has a more significant restraint effect to restrain the pollution control behavior of the local government and pollutant companies by using online public opinion supervision. (2) Increasing the probability of transforming a latent person into a supervisor and the topic derivative rate or reducing the probability of a supervisor’s self-healing can increase the peak value of supervisors, expand the scope of social public opinion, and improve the effectiveness of public opinion supervision. (3) The relatively high authenticity of public opinion supervision makes public opinion supervision a substitute for local government supervision, but it has a relatively strong inhibitory effect on the over-standard pollutant discharge behavior of sewage discharge enterprises. These conclusions can provide a reference for improving the social supervision mechanism of pollution control in the era of network citizen journalism.

At present, a significant amount of research has been performed to study the motor activity of football players in the conditions of competitions, as a result of which data on the nature and scope of players' actions both with and without the ball have been obtained. The article considers the structure of technical and tactical actions of qualified football players in competitive activities at the stage of preparation for higher achievements, taking into account the role of the game. The technical and tactical actions of football players in competitive activities are analyzed, taking into account the game role. The results of the study of the structure of technical and tactical actions of qualified football players at the stage of preparation for higher achievements in competitive activities, taking into account the role of the game allowed to establish a high level of performance of almost all techniques, largely due to team functions. It is determined that the maximum possible indicators at the stage of preparation for higher achievements are largely due to the course of natural age development. In the process of attacking actions, players use from 2 to 14 passes. Tactical combinations in 2-4 passes more often lead to taking the goal. As the number of passes increases, the effectiveness of the attacks decreases. Work on improving the relevant physical qualities can be effective only if the time coincides with purposeful intense training with the peak of age development of a certain quality. It is proved that at this stage it is necessary to gradually increase the level of general and special physical training of football players aged 19-20, taking into account individual characteristics and game role.

The aim of this study was to quantify the physical demands of female beach volleyball competition with reference to player position, set, and match outcome. Twelve professional players were equipped with a 10 Hz GPS device (Minimax S4, Catapult Sports, Australia). Data collection occurred over 30 official matches, with a total of 50 sets. GPS output variables were related to position (e.g., Defenders and Blockers). Differences between players’ positions were found in Peak Player Load, the distance covered at different intensities, and acceleration and deceleration. Variations during the match were more pronounced for Defenders than for Blockers, with the former increasing the intensity of acceleration and deceleration, and decreasing the velocity of displacements and lower jumps. For Blockers, main variations occurred between the first and second set, with a reduction in velocity displacements and an increase in the intensity of jumps. Defender variables that contributed to victory were high deceleration, velocity, acceleration, and Peak Player Load. The characteristics of Blockers that contributed to victory were maximum velocity and high jumps. Female beach volleyball players seem to have different physiological requirements according to their position. The analysis of these variations throughout the game suggests that a specific player’s position output may be determined by proper and/or opponent tactical schemes.

The traditional traffic flow prediction method is based on data modeling, when emergencies occur, it is impossible to accurately analyze the changes in traffic characteristics. This paper proposes a traffic flow prediction model (BAT-GCN) which is based on drivers’ cognition of the road network. Firstly, drivers can judge the capacity of different paths by analyzing the travel time in the road network, which bases on the drivers’ cognition of road network space. Secondly, under the condition that the known road information is obtained, people through game decision-making for different road sections to establish the probability model of path selection; Finally, drivers obtain the probability distribution of different paths in the regional road network and build the prediction model by combining the spatiotemporal directed graph convolution neural network. The experimental results show that the BAT-GCN model reduces the prediction error compared with other baseline models in the peak period.

Poaching is commonly portrayed as the archetypal nineteenth-century ‘rural’ crime, particularly associated with agricultural districts of southern and eastern England. This study argues that this interpretation is misleading. Judicial statistics collected from the mid-nineteenth century suggest that poaching was much more widespread in the North and Midlands than has previously been acknowledged. These industrialising regions largely determined the national trends in poaching in the second half of the century which have usually been considered to be characteristics of rural society in the South. The South shared neither the national peak in prosecutions of the mid-1870s nor the dramatic decline in prosecutions thereafter. It considers a range of possible explanations for these different regional trends. These include a discussion of the potential motivation of so-called ‘steam age poachers’ but also the growing regional specialisation in game preservation during the period and the different opportunities, and obstacles, this presented for poaching.

BackgroundBall velocity, accuracy and game statistics represent three methods used to measure pitching performance. However, individual determinants of pitching performance are more elusive.ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to classify the performance factors associated with baseball pitchers, to identify the methods used to quantify their abilities through all features of the game and to document relationships between performance factors and indicators.DesignScoping review.Data sourcesElectronic searches of MEDLINE, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, SportDiscus, PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane and of grey literature were undertaken from inception to January 2019.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesCross-sectional studies that investigated the relationship between performance indicators and individual performance factors in healthy baseball pitchers were selected.ResultsThirty-four cross-sectional studies investigating individual potential factors of pitching performance met the inclusion criteria. The primary performance factors investigated were kinematic, kinetic, timing outcomes, personal characteristics, physical tests and range of motion. Shoulder horizontal adduction (SHA), upper torso forward flexion, maximal shoulder external rotation, upper torso rotation angle, upper torso lateral flexion, lead knee flexion (LKF) and forward trunk tilt (FTT) were identified as key kinematic features associated with increased ball velocity. Shoulder proximal force and peak elbow proximal forces were associated with greater ball velocity. Individual performances in jumping tests and body weight (BW) are also associated with pitching performance.Summary/conclusionBased on studies presenting low and moderate risk of bias, we conclude that BW, age and kinematics, such as FTT, LKF, SHA and lateral trunk tilt, are associated with pitching performance.

The disordered access of massively distributed energy resources (DERs) brings great challenges to the operation stability of the power grid. This paper puts forward the concept of a cluster, which gathers DERs in large quantities, small capacities, dispersion and disorder to form a large, centralized and orderly whole, namely cluster, with certain incentive measures. In this paper, a multi-timescale optimization method of day-ahead planning and intra-day rolling optimization is proposed according to the characteristics of aggregated clusters and the requirements of China’s power grid architecture. Specifically, the day ahead model is proposed in two steps: the first step is to establish an optimization model with the goal of optimal fitting the target load curve and maximizing the utilization of DERs; The second step is to establish a potential game model considering the reasonable distribution of cluster benefits. Taking the minimum percentage of output correction of each cluster as the objective, considering the deviation of load forecasting and the deviation of day ahead instruction execution, an intra-day rolling optimization model is established. Finally, the application scenario of cluster participation in power grid auxiliary peak shaving is simulated and verified. The simulation results show that the cluster collaborative optimization method proposed in this paper can effectively reduce the load peak valley difference and maximize the use of cluster resources. The optimization tasks can be reasonably allocated while ensuring the stable and reliable operation of the power grid.

Purpose: Biological differences between men and women are well known; however, literature addressing knowledge about the influence of sex on specific and general performance in team handball is almost nonexistent. Consequently, the aim of the study was to assess and compare specific and general physical performance in male and female elite team-handball players, to determine if the differences are consequential for general compared with specific physical performance characteristics and the relationship between general and specific physical performance. Methods: Twelve male and 10 female elite team-handball players performed a game-based performance test, upper- and lower-body strength and power tests, a sprinting test, and an incremental treadmill running test. Results: Significant differences (P < .05) between male and female players were found for peak oxygen uptake and total running time during the treadmill test, 30-m sprinting time, leg-extension strength, trunk- and shoulder-rotation torque, and countermovement-jump height, as well as offense and defense time, ball velocity, and jump height in the game-based performance test. An interaction (sex × test) was found for time and oxygen uptake, and except shoulder-rotation torque and ball velocity in women, the authors found only a low relationship between specific and general physical performance. Conclusion: The results of the study revealed that male players are heavier, taller, faster, and stronger; jump higher; and have better aerobic performance. However, female players performed relatively better in the team-handball-specific tests than in the general tests. The findings also suggest that female players should focus more on strength training.

In a complex team sport setting, such as during a football game, the match’s outcome is determined by numerous factors, such as the technical, tactical, physical and psychological preparedness of all the players, who have to act like a unit. This study aimed to identify anthropometric characteristics and motor and functional abilities that affect the competitive efficiency of U-15 football players. A total of 20 football players, classified either as starters (N=10) or non-starters (N=10), underwent morphologic measurements comprising body height and body weight and motoric assessments and testing of functional capacity: 5-meter sprint, 10-meter sprint, 20-meter sprint, broad jump, medicine ball throw, and triple jump on the left and right legs. Additionally, the age of peak height velocity (APHV) was calculated for each participant. The results showed that the body weight (OR:0.86; 95%CI:0.75-0.99) and medicine ball throw (t=2.24; p=0.02) were significant predictors of one’s competitive efficiency in the observed sample of young football players. Since upper body power is highly influenced by anthropometric characteristics at this age, starters will most likely receive more playing time and have superiority over their peers due to morphologic advantages. This study once again confirmed that early maturing players have an advantage over others because of their body size, which seems to be a significant determinant of success at that age.

In this paper, we not only develop a Stackelberg game to capture the unique characteristics of the ocean freight transportation, but also employ a screening model to address the contracting issue between one carrier and one freight forwarder under asymmetric information. The freight forwarder faces random demand from multiple shippers. In our framework, the spot price is positively correlated with the shippers’ demand. We first derive the forwarder’s optimal strategy, and then formulate the carrier’s contract design problem under symmetric and asymmetric information. Subsequently, we fully characterize the equilibrium parameters for a two-part tariff contract. The numerical experiments conducted thereafter reveal that (i) under a higher correlation between the shippers’ demand and the spot price, the carrier prefers a lower purchase price and the forwarder orders more through a contract in the peak seasons; (ii) when the market demand is extremely volatile, the carrier should raise the purchase price and the forwarder should order more through a contract; and (iii) with a higher degree of information asymmetry, the carrier prefers a higher purchase price while the forwarder relies more on the spot market than the contract market.

To cope with the high proportion of renewable energy connected to the grid under the carbon peak and neutrality goal, the investment in distribution network construction will account for more than 50% of the power grid companies’ investment direction in distribution networks in China. According to the characteristics of distribution network investment under the high proportion of renewable energy, a new evaluation index system of distribution network investment efficiency is constructed from the three dimensions of power supply guarantee capacity, total carrying capacity and value creation capacity. Besides, it put forward the game theory combined weighting method based on fuzzy BWM (F-BWM) method and anti-entropy weight method (a-EWM) and the multi-attribute decision-making method of MARCOS based on Pearson coefficient instead of the covariance matrix and improved weighted Mahalanobis distance (I-M-MARCOS). Finally, eight typical distribution network projects in a province of China are selected for empirical analysis. The results show that the model has good applicability in the evaluation of distribution network investment efficiency, and expanding the scale of distribution network and flexibly adjusting resources are the key ways to improve the investment efficiency of distribution networks.

Objective Impacts to the head are the primary cause of concussive injuries in sport and can occur in a multitude of different environments. Each event is composed of combinations of impact characteristics (striking velocity, impact mass, and surface compliance) that present unique loading conditions on the head and brain. The purpose of this study was to compare falls, collisions, and punches from accident reconstructions of sports-related head impacts using linear, rotational accelerations and maximal principal strain of brain tissue from finite element simulation. Methods This study compared four types of head impact events through reconstruction. Seventy-two head impacts were taken from medical reports of accidental falls and game video of ice hockey, American football, and mixed-martial arts. These were reconstructed using physical impact systems to represent helmeted and unhelmeted falls, player-to-player collisions, and punches to the head. Head accelerations were collected using a Hybrid III headform and were input into a finite element brain model used to approximate strain in the cerebrum associated with the external loading conditions. Results Significant differences ( p < 0.01) were found for peak linear and rotational accelerations magnitudes (30–300 g and 3.2–7.8 krad/s2) and pulse durations between all impact event types characterized by unique impact parameters. The only exception was found where punch impacts and helmeted falls had similar rotational durations. Regression analysis demonstrated that increases to strain from unhelmeted falls were significantly influenced by both linear and rotational accelerations, meanwhile helmeted falls, punches, and collisions were influenced by rotational accelerations alone. Conclusion This report illustrates that the four distinct impact events created unique peak head kinematics and brain tissue strain values. These distinct patterns of head acceleration characteristics suggest that it is important to keep in mind that head injury can occur from a range of low to high acceleration magnitudes and that impact parameters (surface compliance, striking velocity, and impact mass) play an important role on the duration-dependent tolerance to impact loading.

Human motion capturing techniques are used in various fields such as surveillance, healthcare, and sports to analyze, understand, and synthesize kinematic and kinetic data. Among the mentioned application areas of motion recognition techniques, sport is an essential sector in which it is extensively used. The dynamic and kinematic performance of the three joints of the lower limbs in lunge movement is the main factor affecting the lunge speed of the fencers. Fencing is an open-skill combat sport in which complicated body movements and effective game techniques are required. The extremely nonlinear human movements, muscle dynamics, and foot-ground contact make athletic gait analysis a difficult topic in biomechanics. At present, there are no comprehensive and systematic research results on the impact of the dynamic and kinematic performance of the ankle, knee, and hip joints of lower limbs on the lunge speed. Based on the gait tracking algorithm, this study compares and analyzes the dynamic and kinematic performance of lower limbs ankle, knee, and hip joints in the lunge of fencing athletes at different levels and discusses the influence of the dynamic and kinematic performance of the three lower limbs joints of fencing athletes on the lunge speed. This study mainly focuses on, (1) exploring the dynamic and kinematic influencing factors of the peak horizontal speed of the center of gravity of fencing athletes’ lunge movement, (2) to verify whether there is a difference in the lunge speed of fencing athletes at different levels and analyzes the reasons for the differences, (3) to explore the ankle, knee, and the differences of hip joint dynamics and kinematics, the causes of the differences, and to analyze the influence of the differences on the lunge speed. In this paper, we have used a gait tracking algorithm that evaluates the fencing athletes’ strength distribution characteristics. With the help of gait recognition algorithm based on artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the movement posture and gait of fencers can be recognized automatically in real time which is helpful to realize the automatic evaluation of power distribution. The experimental results prove the significance of the proposed model.

The Brussels-based civil society organizations (CSOs) have been conceived by the EU to act as a bridge between the bureaucratic elites and the citizens of Europe. The institutionalized presence of the major EU-based CSOs has, however, called their legitimacy into question, as exemplified by notions such as ‘revolving doors’ implying homogeneous social, educational, and professional backgrounds shared by both EU officials and CSO leaders. This article therefore asks the following questions: To what extent do the leaders of EU-based CSOs merely reproduce the types of capital that mirror those of the political elites in the so-called ‘Brussels bubble’? To what extent do the CSO leaders bring in other sets of capital and forms of recognition that are independent of the Brussels game? How can we explain differences in the salience of EU capital found across policy areas, types of leadership positions, and types of organizations? Empirically, this article qualitatively analyzes the career trajectories of 17 leaders of EU-based peak CSOs that are active in social and environmental policy areas. Despite the highly integrated and institutionalized characteristics shared by all organizations, we find diversity in the composition of the leaders in terms of the extent to which their career trajectories are embedded in the EU arena.

Problem definition: We study a ridesharing platform’s optimal bonus-setting decisions for capacity and profit maximization problems in which drivers set daily income targets. Academic and Practical Relevance: Sharing-economy companies have been providing monetary rewards to incentivize self-scheduled drivers to work longer. We study the effectiveness of the monetary bonus scheme in the context of the ridesharing industry, where the drivers are highly heterogeneous and set income targets. Methodology: We model a driver’s decision-making processes and the platform’s optimization problem as a Stackelberg game. Then, utilizing comprehensive datasets obtained from a leading ridesharing platform, we develop a novel empirical strategy to provide evidence on the existence of drivers’ income-targeting behavior through a reduced-form and structural analysis. Furthermore, we perform a counterfactual analysis to calculate the optimal bonus rates for different scenarios by using the characteristics of heterogeneous drivers derived from the estimation outcomes. Results: Our theoretical model suggests that the drivers’ working hours do not increase monotonically with the bonus rate under the target effect and that the platform may not use all its budget on bonuses to maximize capacity or profit. We empirically demonstrate that the drivers engage in income-targeting behavior, and furthermore, we estimate the income targets for heterogeneous drivers. Through counterfactual analysis, we illustrate how the optimal bonus scheme varies when the platform faces different driver compositions and market conditions. We also find that, compared with the platform’s previous bonus setting, the optimal bonus strategy improves the capacity level during peak hours by as much as 26%, boosting the total profit by $4.3 million per month. Managerial implications: It is challenging to develop a flexible self-scheduled supply of drivers that can match the ever-changing demand and maintain the market share of the ridesharing platform. When offering monetary bonuses to incentivize drivers to work longer, the drivers’ income-targeting behavior can undermine the effectiveness of such bonus schemes. The platform needs to understand the heterogeneity of drivers’ behavioral preferences regarding monetary rewards to design an effective bonus strategy.

Head injuries are a major health concern for sport participants as 90% of emergency department visits for sport-related brain injuries are concussion related.1 Recently, reports have shown a higher incidence of sport-related concussion in female athletes compared to males.3 Few studies have described the events by which concussions occur in women's hockey,2,7,8 however a biomechanical analysis of the risk of concussion has not yet been conducted. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the highest risk concussive events in elite women's hockey and characterize these events through reconstructions to identify the associated levels of peak linear and angular acceleration and strain from finite element analysis. 44 head impact events were gathered from elite women's hockey game video and analyzed for impact event, location and velocity. In total, 27 distinct events based on impact event, location and velocity were reconstructed using a hybrid III headform and various testing setups to obtain dynamic response and brain tissue response. A three-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine the influence of event, location and velocity. The results of this study show that head- to-ice impacts resulted in significantly higher responses compared to shoulder-to- head collisions and head-to boards impacts however, shoulder and boards impacts were more frequent. All events produced responses comparable to proposed concussion threshold values.21 This research demonstrates the importance of considering the event, the impact characteristics, the magnitude of response, and the frequency of these impacts when attempting to capture the short and long term risks of brain trauma in women's hockey.

According to China’s 14th Five-Year Development Plan, China aims to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutral by 2060, which will be a major strategy for China to implement in the coming period of time. All kinds of industries need to take the industry characteristics into account and gradually form relative carbon reduction targets according to the National Carbon Summit Action Program. Under the constraints of carbon emission reduction, enterprises face trade-off when making emission reduction decisions. How to systematically optimize the profitable and environmentally friendly decisions, under the consideration of carbon emission production, is gradually becoming a main concern of regulated enterprises. In this paper, a Cournot game model is constructed to explore optimal production carbon abatement decisions for two oligopolistic firms, under the governance of a cap-and-trade mechanism. Real case data collected from China’s airlines is an example to test the validity of our model. The qualitative analysis shows that, through a reasonable output and emission reduction investment, companies are capable of efficiently minimizing the negative impact brought about by the carbon trading system. A numerical experiment indicates that the companies on one side can reach a decision equilibrium in some circumstances, but on the other side, there exists a lack of incentive to reduce their emissions. Additional government incentives or increased investment in technological improvements will be needed to encourage companies to further reduce carbon emissions. In this paper, while analyzing the choice of emission reduction strategy for enterprises under the carbon trading system, it also provides effective emission reduction approaches for the government and industry managers, hoping to provide some references for the establishment of emission reduction system and policy formulation.

Background: The aims of our study were to investigate the changes in anthropometric and physical parameters and fasting hormonal levels among pre-pubertal female handball players (n = 14, age: 11.53 ± 0.58 yrs, height: 153.36 ± 5.12 cm, body mass: 43.59 ± 6.14 kg) in the pre-season period following 8 weeks of handball training, and to analyze the contribution of hormones, physical performance and anthropometric parameters. Methods: Prior to and immediately following the training period, several anthropometric, strength, and cardiorespiratory variables, including fasting hormonal concentrations (plasma cortisol, estradiol, testosterone and growth hormones) were measured. Athletes performed concurrent resistance and aerobic exercises, including game-based trainings during the 8-week training period. Results: Significant elevations were found in all strength parameters (maximal handgrip strength dominant (D): 16.40%, p < 0.01; non-dominant (ND): 25.15%, p < 0.05; maximal concentric (MVC) torque of quadriceps D: 13.82%, p < 0.05; ND: 12.61%, p < 0.05; MVC torque of hamstring D: 12.14%, p < 0.01; ND: 12.44%, p < 0.01), including plasma cortisol levels (C, 34.30%, p < 0.05) and peak respiratory quotient (5.24%, p < 0.05). Body composition and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) remained unchanged. Percentage changes in thigh (r = 0.316, p < 0.05), hand (r = 0.361, p < 0.05), and hip circumference (r = 0.297, p < 0.05) correlated with C changes. Percentage changes in plasma growth hormone levels (GH) contributed to the magnitude of gains in handgrip strength (r = 0.553, p < 0.05). Percentage changes in maximal exercise pulmonary ventilation (MVE) correlated with elevated C (r = −0.592, p < 0.05). Discussion: Changes in anthropometric variables and fasting hormone levels (estradiol, testosterone and cortisol) were poor indicators of developing VO2max and strength during pre-pubertal years. Physical adaptation may not be explained in consideration of the athletes’ hormonal or anthropometric characteristics. Conclusion: Gradually increased training volume followed by a summer break should be applied to youth handball, considering the anti-hypertrophic responses and the inhibitory effect of elevating C on pre-pubertal maturation.

Objectives: Overuse injuries in overhead athletes are becoming more prevalent, with an unclear relationship between shoulder biomechanics and medial elbow symptoms and injury. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of shoulder range of motion to torque across the medial elbow in college pitchers using a validated MOTUS sensor baseball sleeve. Methods: Pitchers were recruited from three local university baseball teams. Exclusion criteria included injury or restricted activity due to pain. They were evaluated in the preseason, within two weeks before their first game of the season. Pitchers completed workload questionnaires and patient reported outcome measurement information system (PROMIS) pain interference (PI), physical function (PF), and upper extremity (UE) surveys. Shoulder range of motion and upper extremity lengths were measured bilaterally. After adequate warm-up, pitchers were fitted with a MOTUS sensor baseball sleeve (Motus Global, Massapequa, NY) and instructed to throw 5 fastballs in a standardized manner off the mound at game-speed effort. The sensor placed at the medial elbow reported elbow torque, arm speed, arm slot, and shoulder rotation for each pitch, while a radar gun measured peak ball velocity. The primary outcome was to evaluate the relationship between shoulder range of motion and increased stress across the medial elbow. Additional outcomes evaluated pitcher characteristics, demographics, and outcome scores. Outcomes were assessed via a multivariable model, which controlled for possible covariates. Results: Twenty-eight pitchers were included in the preseason analysis with an average (SD) age of 20.1 (1.3) years and playing experience of 15.3 (1.8) years, 2.5 (1.2) of those years at collegiate level. The dominant shoulder demonstrated decreased internal rotation (54.5+/-10.6 vs 65.8+/-9.1) and increased external rotation (ER, 94.1+/-10.4 vs 88.4+/-9.2) relative to the non-dominant side (p < 0.001), while total rotational range of motion (TRROM) was significantly decreased in the dominant arm (148.6+/-12.4 vs 154.1+/-10.6, p < 0.001). The average glenohumeral internal rotation deficiency (GIRD) was 11.3 (9.87) and average external rotation gain (ERG) was 5.71 (8.8). External rotation was found to be a predictor of arm stress, with an increase in 0.35 Nm of elbow torque for every degree increase in ER (beta = 0.35+/-0.06, p = 0.003); there was moderate correlation between ER and arm stress (r = .45, P<.001). Pitchers demonstrated significantly greater arm stress with the following shoulder ROM measurements: GIRD < 20 as compared to greater than 20 degrees (46.6 +/- 0.5 versus 43.5 +/- 1.1, P=.011), ERG greater than 5 as compared to < 5 degrees (47.4 +/- 0.7 versus 45.1 +/- 0.6, P=.014), and loss of total rotational ROM less than 5 as compared to > 5 degrees (46.6 +/- 0.5 versus 43.6 +/- 1.1, P=.013). Multivariate analysis demonstrated significant predictors of PROMIS PF and UE scores were arm stress, ERG, and GIRD (p<0.05), while increased PROMIS PI scores were predicted by increased ERG and GIRD (p<0.05). Conclusion: We found medial elbow stress, arm speed, arm slot, and shoulder rotation as measured by the MOTUS baseball sensor sleeve were influenced by rotational adaptations of the pitching shoulder in collegiate throwing athletes prior to their season. Likewise, arm stress and shoulder rotational adaptations were reflected as predictors of PROMIS PF, UE, and PI scores.

Purpose:To determine the discriminators as variables to select the under-16 national-team players and to examine the influence of biological age on physical/technical parameters among young basketball players.Methods:Thirty-four under-15 male basketball players performed several anthropometrical (height, wingspan, body mass, and fingers length) and physical (jumping, sprinting, throwing, flexibility, change-of-direction speed, and aerobic fitness) tests during the under-15 male national-team training camp. Maturity offset, lower-limb asymmetry index, and power outputs for jumping and sprinting were also computed. In addition, game performance was taken into consideration using game-related statistics (assists, turnovers, steals, rebounds, blocks, and points) of 5 games of during the previous regional tournament (April 2016). Cluster analysis was used to analyze the between-maturation status (prepubertal, pubertal, and postpubertal) differences in physical parameters.Results:The postpubertals showed a significantly better performance in power outputs (jumping and sprinting), throwing abilities, and blocks, whereas prepubertal performed significantly better in aerobic fitness and assists. Receiver-operating-characteristic curve confirmed maturational status (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.804;P < .05) and training experience (AUC = 0.789;P < .05) as the most important attributes in predicting under-16 national-team selection. Players with more than 5.5 years of training experience and less than 1.4 y to the age at peak height velocity were most likely to be selected.Conclusion:Maturational status seems to be a key variable that increases the probability of selection for the Portuguese under-16 national team.

The article discusses the non-standard use of the endings of nouns for feminine and neuter words (продавать рыбов), which became popular in the Runet language in 2021. The competition of the zero ending with -ов in the genitive and animate accusative, arising in the Old Russian language as a result of mixing two declensions, in the modern language led to the victory of -ов (нет столов, домов), while maintaining the zero ending for some groups (нет англичан, мальчишек) and variation in colloquial speech for a number of words (нет помидоров/помидор), meanwhile the zero option in the XXI century is clearly less common than the “ов-forms”. Under the influence of a “viral” meme about a conversation between cats and a seller, since the summer of 2021, a language game has become widespread, consisting in intentionally joining of -ов to the “unsuitable” stem: рыбов, книгов, деньгов, etc. Such a language game has existed for a long time (for example, the traditional ironic imitation of the colloquial делов-то), but as rare individual jokes, and in 2021 it became frequent, popular, used in a variety of memes and in advertising, associated with the theme of “kittens” and a certain worldview. The “Language of kittens” began to turn into a new linguoculturological phenomenon, comparable in degree of recognition to the Olbanian, or the Padonkaffsky jargon, the peak of popularity of which occurred in the mid-2000s. Now, instead of the misrepresentation of the orthographic appearance of the word (аффтар), which is characteristic of the Olbanian, referring to the idea of protest, the grammatical form is changing, referring to the idea of quiet touching humility before the injustice of life.

The characteristic of badminton game is a sport with high intensity and intermitten actions. It takes the ability of a high level of physical condition, especially the level of VO2max to reach peak performance. There are many kinds of training method to increase VO2max, one of them is continuous circuit training and competitive circuit training. The purpose of this study is to discover the effect of continuous circuit training and competitive circuit training and to determine a more effective method to increase VO2max. This study is pre-experimental study with pre-test and post-test group design. The sample consisted of 60 badminton athletes in range of 9 – 12 years old and all of them were male. The instrument used to measure VO2max level was Multistage Fitness Test (MFT). VO2max data before and after treatement were analyzed with descriptive statistic and t-test on 5% significancy standard. Based on the data analysis, the following results were obtained: (1) There was a significant effect on the level of VO2max in the continuous circuit training group with sig 0.000 values; (2) There was a significant effect on the level of VO2max in the competitive circuit training group with values sig 0.000; and (3) There was no significant difference between the continuous circuit training group and the competitive circuit training group. So it can be concluded that continuous and competitive circuit training can increase the VO2max of young badminton players.

The year 2020 will be recorded in world history as one of the most challenging periods. With the benefit of hindsight from previous crises, humanity will eventually (and this time hopefully) prevail. Covid-19 pandemic which has been around for a full calendar year sets a reminder and a call for us to adapt with a new mindset to embrace the new normal in our life. Not many countries can strike a delicate balance between saving lives and protecting livelihoods during this difficult time. Obviously, most developing countries have been struggling to control this seemingly intractable calamity from the first day of the outbreak. Covid-19 pandemic has sent the world one strong message, it is that we are only as safe as the most vulnerable among us. This indicates the central place of solidarity in our life. While we are predicting the emergency-authorized vaccine as the “game-changer”, estimating the outcome in the following years leads us to numerous possibilities and scenarios. Questions surrounding vaccine distribution, efficacy rate, and unintended consequences will still linger. Narrowing down the probabilities will lead us to two contrasting scenarios either growth will be propelled immediately or growth will not be accelerated due to various factors. Echoing previous editorial notes, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on SDGs targets (also to other global and national development plans) can be mixed. The quintessential question is on how we maintain positive outcomes when the pandemic is over and how to get back on the right track. Apparently, many development targets need to be revised and some if not most of them might not be easy to catch up with. This situation arguably sets a backdrop for “the great reset” where all development strategies need to be restarted, policies have to be scrutinized, and targets must be re-calibrated. Undoubtedly, making predictions these days is not an easy job indeed. Too many variables and events need to be taken into account so as to reflect the complex world we live in. Sophisticated statistical methods and state-of-the-art computation technology do not really guarantee accuracy. It only needs a shock which makes our prediction becomes irrelevant. Many these days acknowledge VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) as inherent characteristics of modern development. This poses serious challenges for those who work as planners in various contexts. Revising our projection might increase credibility but nobody knows for how long the revised targets will remain in a dynamic setting like nowadays. The year 2020 gives a lesson that we seemingly learn the hard way. One important lesson is on finding the correct perspective in viewing government spending. For many years we have seen the dominant role of government spending in development and it becomes more prominent when the economy stagnates. However, we have also been constantly looking for a better way to increase the quality of spending and more importantly: the way we measure it. Apparently, it seems, current measurement is inextricably linked with rigid public accounting standard which does not allow much flexibility and largely fulfills an administrative purpose. Sadly, it tends to normalize the “gold standard” of government spending: “the more we spend, the better” which unfortunately reveals the downside of such a spending pattern. That explains the acceleration of absorption rate at the end of the fiscal year, anecdotes on a spending frenzy, and whimsical disbursement for the sake of spending. Alternative measurement like efficiency score needs to be introduced immediately as a replacement of current performance indicators which is merely based on the monetary-based absorption rate of the annual budget. A simplistic method of budget absorption rate might still be relevant with tangible projects like infrastructure but it might be barely sensible within the context of intangible activities such as research, studies, advisory, and other knowledge sector-related projects. In order to reduce the Covid-19 contagion, governments opt for mobility restriction which consequently causes almost entirely business activities into the hold. Travelling and MICE industries—which arguably predominates government spending on knowledge-sector as well as one of the most prioritized sectors in the economy—have been hit the hardest during the pandemic. The inefficiency problem has been rising to the surface and this time should attract more attention to policymakers and scholars. This sends an urgent call for those who are competent to develop a correct alternative to measure one’s performance. Indeed, government spending is considered as the prime mover during difficult times and plays a pivotal role to accelerate economic recovery. However, the quality of spending will determine policy effectiveness. Mobility restriction brings a corollary that practices like working from home, digital economy, and assistive technology become a new normal. Numerous companies in developed countries pledged to resume this highly efficient and environment-friendly practice even after the pandemic. Yet, we have to ponder upon this shift into the context of developing countries where the informal economy is still rampant with the labor force population entering its peak. Probably unbeknownst to many, this “inefficiency” and negative externality (air pollution, road congestion, disposed waste) somehow correlates with employment creation and significantly acts as an economic multiplier. Finding the balance between “multiplier” and “efficiency” on government spending is therefore another issue that should be on the problem-solving bucket list. With quality spending, the policy effectiveness will lead to better outcomes which hopefully will bring rapid recovery. Not only have the Covid-19 crisis taken a heavy toll on people’s lives, but it also made a dent in the global economy. Its adverse impact on jobs, livelihoods, poverty, and inequality has been reversing some of the gains that countries had made over the past few decades. To contain the damage, countries the world over have been adopting and adapting various policies to protect their populations and stabilize the economy. Problems and challenges that remain unsolved before the pandemic have been looking for solutions. Therefore, in this issue, we invite authors from diverse academic backgrounds to present their works not exclusively revolving around topics on Covid-19 pandemic but also to other important themes such as poverty (Nuryitmawan), urban planning (Sari et al), public finance (Putri), disaster mitigation (Erlinna), environment (Yazawa and Shimizu), well-being measurement (Suriadi and Kususanto), middle class (Pratomo et al), and tourism (Warganegara). We invite the readership to give us feedback on these articles and we surely welcome submissions on other topics from all fields of science in the upcoming issue.

The main goal of this study was to identify the performance parameters and blood profile found among female soccer players. The second aim was to examine if there were any systematic differences between players assigned to different playing positions. Thirty-six players (age: 23.7 ± 3.5 y; weight: 61.9 ± 5.7 kg; height: 165.7± 6.2 cm) underwent a set of laboratory tests (cardiopulmonary exercise test, skinfold measurements, Wingate test, sit-and-reach test, and blood biochemical tests). The following results were verified: maximal oxygen uptake (53±3.9 mL.kg-1.min-1), second ventilatory threshold (11.5 ± 0.8 km.h-1), body fat (14.1 ± 2.9%), Wingate anaerobic test (peak power: 9.5 ± 0.8 w.kg-1; mean power: 7.3 ± 0.4 w.kg-1 and fatigue index: 55.5 ± 4.9%), flexibility test [sit-and-reach] (18.1 ± 2.9 cm) and biochemical parameters of blood (Hb:13.9 ± 0.3 g.dL-1; iron: 85.2 ± 12.6 µ.dL-1; calcium: 9.2±0.5 mg.dL-1; total cholesterol: 204.7 ± 34.7 mg.dL-1; HDL-c: 50.7± 3.6 mg.dL-1; LDL-c: 125.8± 23.3 mg.dL-1; triglycerides: 96.8±18.5 mg.dL-1). In conclusion, the current results indicate that present elite players' physiological characteristics are similar to those previously shown, despite the rapid changes of the female soccer game worldwide. However, data showed that different playing positions had different physiological and anthropometrics differences.

The goal of the study was to evaluate how repetitive head traumas sustained by athletes in contact sports depend on sport and level of play. A total of 16 middle school football players, 107 high school football players, and 65 high school female soccer players participated. Players were separated into levels of play: middle school (MS), freshman (FR), junior varsity (JV), junior varsity-varsity (JV-V), and varsity (V). xPatch sensors were used to measure peak translational and angular accelerations (PTA and PAA, respectively) for each head acceleration event (HAE) during practice and game sessions. Data were analyzed using a custom MATLAB program to compare metrics that have been correlated with functional neurological changes: session metrics (median HAEs per contact session), season metrics (total HAEs, cumulative PTA/PAA), and regressions (cumulative PTA/PAA versus total HAEs, total HAEs versus median HAEs per contact session). Football players had greater session ( p<.001) and season ( p<.001) metrics than soccer players, but soccer players had a significantly greater player average PAA per HAE than football players ( p<.001). Middle school football players had similar session and season metrics to high school level athletes. In conclusion, sport has a greater influence on HAE characteristics than level of play.

Our species’ long childhood is hypothesized to have evolved as a period for learning complex foraging skills. Researchers studying the development of foraging proficiency have focused on assessing this hypothesis, yet studies present inconsistent conclusions regarding the connection between foraging skill development and niche complexity. Here, we leverage published records of child and adolescent foragers from 28 societies to (i) quantify how skill-intensive different resources are and (ii) assess whether children’s proficiency increases more slowly for more skill-intensive resources. We find that foraging returns increase slowly for more skill-intensive, difficult-to-extract resources (tubers and game), consistent with peak productivity attained in adulthood. Foraging returns for easier-to-extract resources (fruit and fish/shellfish) increase rapidly during childhood, with adult levels of productivity reached by adolescence. Our findings support the view that long childhoods evolved as an extended period for learning to extract complex resources characteristic of the human foraging niche.

While slowness of movement is an obligatory characteristic of Parkinson’s disease (PD), there are conditions in which patients move uncharacteristically fast, attributed to deficient motor inhibition. Here we investigate deficient inhibition in an optimal sensory-motor integration framework, using a game in which subjects used a paddle to catch a virtual ball. Display of the ball was extinguished as soon as the catching movement started, segregating the task into a sensing and acting phase. We analyzed the behavior of 9 PD patients (ON medication) and 10 age-matched controls (HC). The switching times (between sensing and acting phase) were compared to the predicted optimal switching time, based on the individual estimates of sensory and motor uncertainties. The comparison showed that deviation from predicted optimal switching times were similar between groups. However, PD patients showed a weaker correlation between variability in switching time and sensory-motor uncertainty, indicating a reduced propensity to generate exploratory behavior for optimizing goal-directed movements. Analysis of the movement kinematics revealed that PD patients, compared to controls, used a lower peak velocity of the paddle and intercepted the ball with greater velocity. Adjusting the trial duration to the time for the paddle to stop moving, we found that PD patients spent a smaller proportion of the trial duration for observing the ball. Altogether, the results do not show the premature movement initiation and truncated sensory processing that we predicted to ensue from deficient inhibition in PD.

Pterocarpus mildbreadii leaves and stem bark have been exploited in Nigeria, in the area of alternative medicine, due to their numerous biological properties. The upsurge in the search for new chemical agents to replace conventional drugs, prompted this study. The study was carried out for the first time, in the area of isolation and structural elucidation of bioactive compounds, from the ethanolic extracts of the stem bark of Pterocarpus mildbreadii. The ethanol extract of the stem bark was separated using column chromatographic technique. The fractions obtained were screened for antioxidant activity in a DPPH assay. The active fraction was further purified and the structure elucidated by subjecting it to a number of identification instruments, such as FTIR, MS and 1D &2D NMR spectroscopy. The FTIR analysis of isolated bioactive compound gave the following λ max: 3400-2500 cm-1 a broad band characteristic of a carboxylic acid functional group and 1740 cm-1 carbonyl stretch. The mass spectrum game a molecular ion peak at m/z 282 consistent with the molecular formula C18H34O2. The proton NMR showed a doublet of doublet of doublet at 4.9, 5.3 and 5.8 ppm attributed to vinyl protons, two proton multiplets at 1.6,1.3, and 1.2 ppm; and a three proton triplet at 0.9 ppm. The HMBC and 13C NMR showed the presence of a carboxylic carbon at 176 ppm and vinylic carbons at 135 and 143 ppm respectively; the methyl carbon was observed at 14.12 ppm. On the basis of spectral analysis, results obtained suggested compound was cis-vaccenic acid and was confirmed by comparison with literature data. Isolated compound has antioxidant activity, with a maximum percentage scavenging activity of 89.66. The present study lends credence to the use of the plant in traditional medicine and posits pterocarpus mildbreadii as a rich source of secondary metabolites which can find application in the pharmaceutical industries.

Introduction Japan has long been cited as a major source of cute (kawaii) culture as it has spread around the world, as encapsulated in Christine R. Yano’s phrase ‘Pink Globalization’. This essay charts recent developments in Japanese society through the cute character Rilakkuma, a character produced by San-X (a competitor to Sanrio, which produces the famed Hello Kitty). His name means ‘relaxed bear’, and Rilakkuma and friends are featured in comics, games and other products, called kyarakutā shōhin (also kyarakutā guzzu, which both mean ‘character goods’). Rilakkuma is pictured relaxing, sleeping, eating sweets, and listening to music; he is not only lazy, but he is also unproductive in socio-economic terms. Yet, he is never censured for this lifestyle. He provides visual pleasure to those who buy these goods, but more importantly, Rilakkuma’s story charitably portrays a lifestyle that is fully consumptive with very little, if any, productivity. Rilakkuma’s reified consumption is certainly in line with many earlier analyses of shōjo (young girl) culture in Japan, where consumerism is considered ‘detached from the productive economy of heterosexual reproduction’ (Treat, 281) and valued as an end in itself. Young girl culture in Japan has been both critiqued and celebrated in in opposition to the economic productivity as well as the emotional emptiness and weakening social prestige of the salaried man (Roberson and Suzuki, 9-10). In recent years, ideal masculinity has been further critiqued with the rise of the sōshokukei danshi (‘grass-eating men’) image: today’s Japanese male youth appear to have no appetite for the ‘meat’ associated with heteronormative, competitively capitalistic male roles (Steger 2013). That is not to say all gender roles have vanished; instead, social and economic precarity has created a space for young people to subvert them. Whether by design or by accident, Rilakkuma has come to represent a Japanese consumer maintaining some standard of emotional equilibrium in the face of the instability that followed the Tōhoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in early 2011. A Relaxed Bear in a Precarious Japan Certainly much has been written about the ‘lost decade(s)’ in Japan, or the unraveling of the Japanese postwar miracle since the early 1990s in a variety of unsettling ways. The burst of the ‘bubble economy’ in 1991 led to a period of low or no economic growth, uncertain employment conditions and deflation. Because of Japan’s relative wealth and mature economic system, this was seen a gradual process that Mark Driscoll calls a shift from the ‘so-called Japan Inc. of the 1980s’ to ‘“Japan Shrink” of the 2010s and 2020s’ (165). The Japanese economy was further troubled by the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, and then the Tōhoku disasters. These events have contributed to Japan’s state of ambivalence, as viewed by both its citizens and by external observers. Despite its relative wealth, the nation continues to struggle with deflation (and its corresponding stagnation of wages), a deepening chasm between the two-tier employment system of permanent and casual work, and a deepening public mistrust of corporate and governing authorities. Some of this story is not ‘new’; dual employment practices have existed throughout Japan’s postwar history. What has changed, however, is the attitudes of casual workers; it is now thought to be much more difficult, if not impossible, to shift from low paid, insecure casual labour to permanent, secure positions. The overall unemployment rate remains low precisely because the number of temporary and part time workers has increased, as much as one third of all workers in 2012 (The Japan Times). The Japanese government now concedes that ‘the balance of working conditions between regular and non-regular workers have therefore become important issues’ (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare); many see this is not only a distinction between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, but also of a generational shift of those who achieved secure positions before the ‘lost decade’, and those who came after. Economic, political, environmental and social insecurity have given rise to a certain level public malaise, not conducive to a robust consumer culture. Enter Rilakkuma: he, like many other cute characters in Japan, entices the consumer to feel good about spending – or perhaps, to feel okay about spending? – in this precarious time of underemployment and uncertainty about the future. ‘Cute’ Characters: Attracting as Well as Attractive Cute (‘kawaii’) culture in Japan is not just aesthetic; it includes ‘a turn to emotion and even sentimentality, in some of the least likely places’ (Yano, 7). Cute kyarakutā are not just sentimentally attractive; they are more precisely attracting images which are used to sell these character goods: toys, household objects, clothing and stationery. Occhi writes that many kyarakutā are the result of an ‘anthropomorphization’ of objects or creatures which ‘guide the user towards specific [consumer] behaviors’ (78). While kyarakutā would be created first to sell a product, in the end, the character’s popularity at times can eclipse the product’s value, and the character thus becomes ‘pure product’, as in the case of Hello Kitty (Yano, 10). Most characters, however, merely function as ‘specific representatives of a product or service rendered mentally “sticky” through narratives, wordplay and other specialized aspects of their design’ (Occhi, 86). Miller refers to this phenomenon as ‘Japan’s zoomorphic urge’, and argues that etiquette guides and public service posters, which frequently use cute and cuddly animals in the place of humans, is done to ‘render […] potentially dangerous or sensitive topics as safe and acceptable’ (69). Cuteness instrumentally turns away from negative aspects of society, whether it is the demonstration of etiquette rules in public, or the portrayal of an underemployed or unemployed person watching TV at home, as in Rilakkuma. Thus we see a revitalization of the cute zeitgeist in Japanese consumerism in products such as the Rilakkuma franchise, produced by San-X, a company that produces and distributes ‘stationary [sic], sundry goods, merchandises [sic], and paper products with original design.’ (San-X Net). Who Is Rilakkuma? According to the company’s ‘fan’ books, written in response to the popularity of Rilakkuma’s character goods (Nakazawa), the background story of Rilakkuma is as follows: one day, a smallish bear found its way unexplained into the apartment of a Japanese OL (office lady) named Kaoru. He spends his time ‘being of no use to Kaoru, and is actually a pest by lying around all day doing nothing… his main concerns are meals and snacks. He seems to hate the summer [heat].’ Other activities include watching television, listening to music, taking long baths, and tossing balls of paper into the rubbish bin (Nakazawa, 4). His comrades are Korilakkuma (loosely translated as ‘Little Rilakkuma’) and Kiiroitori (simply, ‘Yellow Bird’). Korilakkuma is a smaller and paler version of Rilakkuma; like her friend, she appears in Kaoru’s apartment for no reason. She is described as liking to pull pranks (itazuradaisuki) and is comparatively more energetic (genki) than Rilakkuma; her main activities are imitating Rilakkuma and looking for someone with whom to play (6). Lastly, Kiiroitori is a small yellow bird resembling a chick, and seems to be the only character of the three who has any ‘right’ to reside in Kaoru’s apartment. Kiiroitori was a pet bird residing in cage before the appearance of these two bears, but after Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma set themselves up in her small apartment, Kiiroitori was liberated from his cage and flies in the faces of lazy Rilakkuma and mischievous Korilakkuma (7). Kiiroitori likes tidiness, and is frequently cleaning up after the lazy bears, and he can be short tempered about this (ibid). Kiiroitori’s interests include the charming but rather thrifty ‘finding spare change while cleaning up’ and ‘bear climbing’, which is enjoyed primarily for its annoyance to the bears (ibid). Fig. 1: Korilakkuma, Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori, in 10-year anniversary attire (photo by author). This narrative behind these character goods is yet another aspect of their commodification (in other words, their management, distribution and copyright protection). The information presented ­– the minute details of the characters’ existence, illustrated with cute drawings and calligraphy – enriches the consumer process by deepening the consumers’ interaction with the product. How does the story become as attractive as the cute character? One of the striking characteristics of the ‘official’ Rilakkuma discourse is the sense of ‘ikinari yattekita’ (things happening ‘out of the blue’; Nakazawa 22), or ‘naru yō ni narimasu’ (‘whatever will be will be’; 23) reasoning behind the narrative. Buyers want to know how and why these cute characters come into being, but there is no answer. To some extent, this vagueness reflects the reality of authorship: the characters were first conceptualized by a designer at San-X named Kondō Aki, who left the company soon after Rilakkuma’s debut in 2003 (Akibako). But this ‘out of the blue’ quality of the characters strikes a chord in many consumers’ view of their own lives: why are we here? what are we doing, and why do we do it? The existence of these characters and the reasons for their traits and preferences are inexplicable. There is no reason why or how Rilakkuma came to be – instead, readers are told that to just relax, ‘go with the flow’, and ‘what can be done today can always be done tomorrow’. Procrastination would normally be considered meiwaku, or bothersome to others who depend on you. In Productive Japan, this behavior is not valued. In Precarious Japan, however, underemployment and nonproductivity takes the pressure away from individuals to judge this behavior as negative. Procrastination shifts from meiwaku to normality, and to be transformed into kawaii culture, accepted and even celebrated as such. Rilakkuma is not the first Japanese pop cultural character to rub up against the hyper productive, gambaru (fight!) attitude associated with previous generations, with their associated tropes of the juken jikoku (exam preparation hell) for students, or the karōshi (death from overwork) salaried worker. An early example of this would be Chibi Marukochan (‘Little Maruko’), a comic character created in 1986 but whose popularity peaked in the 1990s. Maruko is an endearing but flawed primary school student who is cute and amusing, but also annoying and short tempered (Sakura). Flawed characters were frequently featured in Japanese popular culture, but Maruko was one of the first featured as heroine, not a jester-like sidekick. As an early example of Japanese cute, subversive characters, Maruko was often annoying and lazy, but she at least aspired to traits such as doing well in school and being a good daughter in her extended family. Rilakkuma, perhaps, demonstrates the extension of this cute but subversive hero/ine: when the stakes are lower (or at their lowest), so is the need for stress and anxiety. Taking it easy is the best option. Rilakkuma’s ‘charm point’ (chāmu pointo, which describes one’s personal appeal), is his transgressive cuteness, and this has paid off for San-X over the years in successful sales of his comic books as well as a variety of products (see fig. 2). Fig. 2: An example of some of the goods for sale in early 2014: a fleecy blanket, a 3d puzzle, note pads and stickers, decorative toggles for a school bag or purse, comic and ‘fan’ books, and a toy car (photo by the author). Over the decade between 2003 and 2013, San X has produced 51 volumes of Rilakkuma comics (Tonozuka, 37 – 42) and over 20 different series of stuffed animals (43 – 45); plus cushions, tote bags, tableware, stationery, and variety goods such as toilet paper holders, umbrellas and contact lens cases (46 – 52). While visiting the Rilakkuma themed shop in Tokyo Station in October 2013, a newly featured and popular product was the Rilakkuma ‘onesie’, a unisex and multipurpose outfit for adults. These products’ diversity are created to meet the consumer desires of Rilakkuma’s significant following in Japan; in a small-scale study of Japanese university students, researchers found that Rilakkuma was the number one nominated ‘favorite character’ (Nosu and Tanaka, 535). Furthermore, students claimed that the attractiveness of favorite characters were judged not just on their appearance, but also due to specific characteristics: ‘characters that are always idle, relaxed, stress-free’ and those ‘that have unusual behavior or stray from the right path’ (ibid) were cited as especially attractive/attracting. Just like Rilakkuma, these researchers found that young Japanese people – the demographic perhaps most troubled by an insecure economic future – are attracted to ‘characters that have flaws in some ways and are not merely cute’ (536). Where to, Rilakkuma? Miller, in her discussion of Japanese animal characters in a variety of cute cultural settings writes Non-human animals emerge as useful metaphors for humans, yet […] it is this aesthetic load rather than the lesson or the ideology behind the image that often becomes the center of our attention. […] However, I think it is useful to separate our analysis of zoomorphic images as vehicles for cuteness from their other possible uses and possible utility in many areas of culture (70). Similarly, we need to look beyond cute, and see what Miller terms as ‘the lesson’ behind the ‘aesthetic load’: here, how cuteness disguises social malaise and eases the shift from ‘Japan Inc.’ to ‘Japan Shrink’. When particular goods are ‘tied’ to other products, the message behind the ‘aesthetic load’ are complicated and deepened. Rilakkuma’s recent commercial (in)activity has been characterized by a variety of ‘tai uppu’ (tie ups), or promotional links between the Rilakkuma image and other similarly aligned products. Traditionally, tie ups in Japan have been most successful when formed between products that were associated with similar audiences and similar aesthetic preferences. We have seen tie ups, for example, between Hello Kitty and McDonald’s (targeting youthful fast food customers) since 1999 (Yano, 129). In ‘Japan Shrink’s’ competitive consumer market, tie ups are becoming more strategic, and all the more interesting. One of the troubled markets in Japan, as elsewhere, is the music industry. Shrinking expendable income coupled with a variety of downloading practices means the traditional popular music industry (primarily in the form of CDs) is in decline. In 2009, Rilakkuma began a co-badged campaign with Tower Records Japan – after all, listening to music is one of Rilakkuma’s listed favourite past times. TRJ was then independent from its failed US counterpart, and a major figure in the music retail scene despite disappointing CD sales since the late 1990s (Stevens, 85). To stir up consumer interest, TRJ offered objects, such as small dolls, towels and shopping bags, festooned with Rilakkuma images and phrases such as ‘Rilakkuma loves Tower Records’ and ‘Relaxed Tour 2012’ (Tonozuka, 72 – 73). Rilakkuma, in a familiar pose lying back with his arms crossed behind his head, but surrounded by musical notes and the phrase ‘No Music, No Life’ (72), presents compact image of the consumer zeitgeist of the day: one’s ikigai (reason for living) is clearly contingent on personal enjoyment, despite Japan’s music industry woes. Rilakkuma also enjoys a close relationship with the ubiquitous convenience store Lawson, which has over 11,000 individual stores throughout Japan and hundreds more overseas (Lawson, Corporate Information). Japanese konbini (the Japanese term for convenience stores), unlike their North American or Australian counterparts, enjoy a higher consumer image in terms of the quality and variety of their products, thus symbolize a certain relaxed lifestyle, as per Merry I. White’s description of the ‘no hands housewife’ breezing through the evening meal preparations thanks to ready made dishes purchased at konbini (72). Japanese convenience stores sell a variety of products, but sweets (Rilakkuma’s favourite) take up a large proportion of shelf space in many stores. The most current ‘Rilakkuma x Lawson campaign’ was undertaken between September and November 2013. During this period, customers earned points to receive a free teacup; certainly Rilakkuma’s cuteness motivated consumers to visit the store to get the prize. All was not well with this tie up, however; complaints about cracked teacups resulted in an external investigation. Finding no causal relationship between construction and fault, Lawson still apologized and offered to exchange any of the approximately 1.73 million cups with an alternate prize for any consumers who so wished (Lawson, An Apology). The alternate prize was still cute in its pink colouring and kawaii character pattern, but it was a larger and much sturdier commuter type mug. Here we see that while Rilakkuma is relaxed, he is still aware of corporate Japan’s increasing sense of corporate accountability and public health. One last tie up demonstrates an unusual alliance between the Rilakkuma franchise and other cultural icons. 2013 marked the ten-year anniversary of Rilakkuma and friends, and this was marked by several prominent campaigns. In Kyoto, we saw Rilakkuma and friends adorning o-mamori (religious amulets) at the famed Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), a major temple in Kyoto (see fig. 3a). The ‘languid dream’ of the lazy bear is a double-edged symbol, contrasting with the disciplined practice of Buddhism and complying with a Zen-like dream state of the beauty of the grounds. Another ten-year anniversary campaign was the tie up between Rilakkuma and the 50 year anniversary of JR’s Yamanote Line, the ‘city loop’ in Tokyo. Fig. 3a: Kiiroitori sits atop Rilakkuma with Korilakkuma by their side at the Golden Pavillion, Kyoto. The top caption reads: ‘Relaxed bear, Languid at the Golden Pavilion; Languid Dream Travelogue’Fig. 3b: a key chain made to celebrate Rilakkuma’s appointment to the JR Line; still lazy, Rilakkuma lies on his side but wears a conductor’s cap. This tie up was certainly a coup, for the Yamanote Line is a significant part of 13 million Tokyo residents’ lives, as well as a visible fixture in the cultural landscape since the early postwar period. The Yamanote, with its distinctive light green coloring (uguisuiro, which translates literally to ‘nightingale [bird] colour’) has its own aesthetic: as one of the first modern train lines in the capital, it runs through all the major leisure districts and is featured in many popular songs and even has its own drinking game. This nostalgia for the past, coupled with the masculine, super-efficient former national railway’s system is thus juxtaposed with the lazy, feminized teddy bear (Rilakkuma is male, but his domain is feminine), linking a longing for the past with gendered images of production and consumption in the present. In figure 3b, we see Rilakkuma riding the Yamanote on his own terms (lying on his side, propped up by one elbow – a pose we would never see a JR employee take in public). This cheeky cuteness increases the iconic train’s appeal to its everyday consumers, for despite its efficiency, this line is severely overcrowded during peak hours and suffers from user malaise with respect to etiquette and safety issues. Life in contemporary Japan is no longer the bright, shiny ‘bubble’ of the 1980s. Japan is wrestling with internal and external demons: the nuclear crisis, the lagging economy, deteriorating relations with China, and a generation of young people who have never experienced the optimism of their parents’ generation. Dreamlike, Japan’s denizens move through the contours of their daily lives much as they have in the past, for major social structures remain for the most part in tact; instead, it is the vision of the future that has altered. In this environment, we can argue that kawaii aesthetics are all the more important, for if we are uncomfortable thinking about negative or depressing topics such as industries in decline, questionable consumer safety standards, and overcrowded trains, a cute bear can make it much more ‘bear’-able.ReferencesDriscoll, Mark. “Debt and Denunciation in Post-Bubble Japan: On the Two Freeters.” Cultural Critique 65 (2007): 164-187. Kondō Aki - akibako. “Profile [of Designer Aki Kondō].” 6 Feb. 2014 ‹http://www.akibako.jp/profile/›. Lawson. “Kigyō Jōhō: Kaisha Gaiyō [Corporate Information: Company Overview].” Feb. 2013. 10 Feb. 2014 ‹http://www.lawson.co.jp/company/corporate/about.html/›. Lawson. “Owabi to Oshirase: Rōson aki no rilakkuma fea keihin ‘rilakkuma tei magu’ hason no osore [An Apology and Announcement: Lawson’s Autumn Rilakkuma Fair Giveaway ‘Rilakkuma Tea Mug’ Concern for Damage.” 2 Dec. 2013. 10 Feb. 2014 ‹http://www.lawson.co.jp/emergency/detail/detail_84331.html›. 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