Biomechanical Effects of the Badminton Split-Step on Forecourt Lunging Footwork.

BACKGROUND: This research investigates the biomechanical impact of the split-step technique on forehand and backhand lunges in badminton, aiming to enhance players' on-court movement efficiency. Despite the importance of agile positioning in badminton, the specific contributions of the split-step to the biomechanical impact of lunging footwork still need to be determined. METHODS: This study examined the lower limb kinematics and ground reaction forces of 18 male badminton players performing forehand and backhand lunges. Data were collected using the VICON motion capture system and Kistler force platforms. Variability in biomechanical characteristics was assessed using paired-sample t-tests and Statistical Parametric Mapping 1D (SPM1D). RESULTS: The study demonstrates that the split-step technique in badminton lunges significantly affects lower limb biomechanics. During forehand lunges, the split-step increases hip abduction and rotation while decreasing knee flexion at foot contact. In backhand lunges, it increases knee rotation and decreases ankle rotation. Additionally, the split-step enhances the loading rate of the initial ground reaction force peak and narrows the time gap between the first two peaks. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the split-step's potential in optimizing lunging techniques, improving performance and reducing injury risks in badminton athletes.

Occurrence, source apportionment and risk assessment of perfluorinated compounds in sediments from the longest river in Asia.

This study investigated the pollution of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in sediments from the main stream of the Yangtze River, the longest river in Asia. Totally, 13 of 15 PFASs were detected in the sediments and the total concentrations ranged from 0.058 ng/g to 0.89 ng/g dry weight (dw), with dominant contaminants by perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Concentrations of PFASs in the downstream were higher than those of upstream and midstream. Four main sources were analysed using the Unmix model, textile treatments and food packaging dominantly accounted for approximately half of the total sources, followed by metal electroplating (26.8%), fluoropolymer products (16.3%) and fluororesin coatings (7.4%). Total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and grain size had significant correlation with the concentration of PFASs in sediments, indicating that the physical and chemical parameters could directly affect the adsorption process of PFASs. In addition, anthropogenic factors such as urbanization rate and per capita GDP also had a direct impact on the distribution of PFASs. Environmental risk assessment showed that PFOS posed low to medium risks to the Yangtze River, indicating that sustained attentions were needed.

Achieving more human brain-like vision via human EEG representational alignment.

Despite advancements in artificial intelligence, object recognition models still lag behind in emulating visual information processing in human brains. Recent studies have highlighted the potential of using neural data to mimic brain processing; however, these often rely on invasive neural recordings from non-human subjects, leaving a critical gap in understanding human visual perception. Addressing this gap, we present, for the first time, 'Re(presentational)Al(ignment)net', a vision model aligned with human brain activity based on non-invasive EEG, demonstrating a significantly higher similarity to human brain representations. Our innovative image-to-brain multi-layer encoding framework advances human neural alignment by optimizing multiple model layers and enabling the model to efficiently learn and mimic human brain's visual representational patterns across object categories and different modalities. Our findings suggest that ReAlnet represents a breakthrough in bridging the gap between artificial and human vision, and paving the way for more brain-like artificial intelligence systems.

Interstitial Boron-Modulated Porous Pd Nanotubes for Ammonia Electrosynthesis.

Electrochemical conversion of nitrogen into ammonia at ambient conditions as a sustainable approach has gained significant attention, but it is still extremely challenging to simultaneously obtain a high faradaic efficiency (FE) and NH3 yield. In this work, the interstitial boron-doped porous Pd nanotubes (B-Pd PNTs) are constructed by combining the self-template reduction method with boron doping. Benefiting from distinctive one-dimensional porous nanotube architectonics and the incorporation of the interstitial B atoms, the resulting B-Pd PNTs exhibit high NH3 yield (18.36 µg h-1 mgcat.-1) and FE (21.95%) in neutral conditions, outperforming the Pd/PdO PNTs (10.4 µg h-1 mgcat.-1 and 8.47%). The present study provides an attractive method to enhance the efficiency of the electroreduction of nitrogen into ammonia by incorporating interstitial boron into porous Pd-based catalysts.

The Influence of Ideological and Political Education on Students' Self-Harvest in Physical Education Courses in Colleges / La influencia de la educación ideológica y política en la autocosecha de los estudiantes en los cursos de educación física en las universidades

To encourage physical education teachers to prioritise students' physical education as the central focus of interaction, foster a shift towards student-centred teaching, enhance enthusiasm for college physical education courses, and integrate moral education principles into the physical education curriculum. This study examined the impact of teacher-student interaction on students' self-cultivation in ideological and political education within the physical education curriculum at the college level through the construction of an equal education model. The data was entered into the system using SPSS 23.0 and Amos 26.0 statistical software to assess the reliability, validity, and research hypothesis of the model. The impact of physical exercise, personal exercise, sports organisations, sports events, and teacher consultation were found to be 0.944%, 0.93%, 0.897%, and 0.935%, respectively. Teacher-student interaction is crucial in physical education (PE) classes, particularly for sports education and promoting growth. The presence of sports facilities and equipment significantly influences teacher-student interaction. Therefore, it is essential to enhance the development of PE courses, improve the availability of physical education resources, update teaching approaches, implement innovative models of PE classes, and enhance students' sense of achievement to facilitate effective teacher-student interaction.(AU)

The impact of sports activities on narrative psychology from the perspective of Caring ethics / El impacto de las actividades deportivas en la psicología narrativa desde la perspectiva de la ética del cuidado

This study uses narrative and positive psychology as its theoretical foundations to investigate the impact of sports activities on young people's mental health. Class 1 and Class 2 students of the Department of Economics and Management in the Modern College of Arts and Sciences of a normal university, as well as some front-line Physical Education (PE) instructors and ideological and political teachers of a normal university, were surveyed. This study utilized a questionnaire to collect information from respondents. Smart PLS 4.0 is used to analyze the data for this study. This study found that, from the perspective of compassionate ethics and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical activity can promote the mental health of adolescents, most notably by reducing anxiety, stress, depression, and feelings of isolation. This study determined that physical activity promotes the healthy growth of adolescent narrative psychology. Furthermore, physical activity significantly impacts adolescents' mental health, which can reduce adolescent ennui, boredom, and the risk of depression. Moreover, it can reduce stress, alleviate anxiety, and enhance adolescents' sleep quality. In addition, it can improve adolescents' mental health, cognitive health, thinking, learning, and general well-being.(AU)

Bridging the gap: unleashing the power of non-core departments through interdepartmental collaboration.

Traditional research on firm performance has predominantly emphasized the role of key departments, often underestimating the potential contributions of non-core departments. This study redresses this oversight by investigating the impact of non-core departments on firm performance. Utilizing a comprehensive 20-year dataset from Chinese A-listed firms and employing the endogenous growth model, we scrutinize the influence of non-core departments on enterprise productivity and organizational growth. Our findings underscore that non-core departments significantly enhance firm performance. Furthermore, we observe a negative coefficient of the interaction term, implying the presence of diminishing returns to scale when amalgamating department diversity with firm knowledge. This suggests that while both department diversity and firm knowledge independently contribute positively to firm performance, their conjoined effect does not necessarily induce a proportionally amplified impact. Moreover, we found that factors such as the company's equity structure, market environment, and the age and education level of executives may moderate the impact of departmental diversity on firm performance. This study enriches the literature by spotlighting the potential of non-core departments in propelling firm success and underlines the imperative for strategies that cultivate interdepartmental collaboration. The implications of these findings propose that firms can leverage the potential of non-core departments for sustainable growth, offering a fresh perspective for future research in organizational development.