Accountability in pan-European borrowing: mind the gap

The European Union (EU) is now borrowing on the scale of a large state to address challenges ranging from COVID-19 to the war in Ukraine. However, there has been limited comparative research on how pan-European borrowers can and should be held to account. This article offers a normative justification for why such borrowing should be accountable before showing how accountability practices diverge from a set of accountability expectations derived from three baseline theories: liberal intergovernmentalism, sociological institutionalism and historical institutionalism. Through elite interviews and online archival analysis, we show that the vertical accountability of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank and the European Stability Mechanism to national parliaments in six EU member states varies. Our findings also show that horizonal accountability has been constrained by the European Parliament's limited involvement in borrowing decisions until recently and that patchy interest from national auditors has undermined diagonal accountability. As EU borrowing increases in importance, these accountability gaps urgently need to be filled.</p

Warp knitting and custom chip design for breathing guidance apparels

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024) Endurance running's appeal lies in accessibility, but some avoid it due to breathing difficulties. Real-time respiratory guidance with wearable sensors may alleviate this concern. Meeting consumers’ perceptions of apparel’s quality and comfort are essential for developing wearables and sports clothing. Comfort, fit (tight/loose) and pricing are the three most important attributes in the purchase of sports garments. Moreover, technical attributes should meet the use-case requirements. To meet all the named requirements, low-cost production is as important as the quality of the sports garment. The aim is to pilot evaluate warp knitting, miniaturized chip design, and commercial smart textile connectors as technologies for automating smart textiles fabrication and electronic components miniaturization without losing signal quality and user comfort demands. </p

Acoustic analysis of racket-ball impact in Padel

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024) Due to economic, health, and environmental reasons, it is important to know when to change racket but no method existsto assist players. Acoustic analysis of racket-ball impact could help us to detect a critical wear index and deserves to be proved. Indeed, we hypothesise that mechanical alterationsto the racket could change its acoustic behaviour and these differences could be perceived by the players. That’s why we search for a possible relationship between the physical and perceptual features of the racket-ball interaction. Physical measurements and perceptual descriptions for golf clubs (decay rate, sound pressure level, spectral centroid) and table tennis rackets (modal frequency) have been found to correlate. To our knowledge, such studies do not yet exist in padel. However, informal discussion with players and the influence of racket composition on its acoustics tend to show that such a link could also exist in padel. In order to provide a first proof of principle for assessing racket wear using their acoustics, the current study set out to determine the acoustic differences between two rackets.  </p

Named after Nelson: Tracing the threads of graphic heritage in Gauteng, South Africa

Places named after prominent figures like Nelson Mandela symbolise their legacies and shared values, offering an opportunity to learn about their lives and impact on society. This article explores the concept of 'graphic heritage' – a term that extends beyond physical markers to include theoretical understandings that enhance our knowledge of and experience with these places. Employing a 'constructionist' perspective, it views the meanings associated with these places as constructed through individual interpretations. Working alongside the Nelson Mandela Foundation, this research focuses on six locations named after Nelson Mandela in Gauteng, South Africa. These sites are part of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s mission to promote a just society by preserving Mandela's legacy and fostering dialogue on social issues. Using photographic documentation inspired by Zeisel's 'Design by Inquiry ' framework, the article examines the dynamic interplay between graphic heritage, toponymy (the study of place names), and topophilia (the emotional bond between people and places). The narrative weaves through the historical contexts and temporal dimensions of these places, enriching our understanding of Mandela's extensive influence. It identifies thematic threads that link graphic heritage with place names and emotional connections to places, concluding that an in-depth study of graphic heritage illuminates what is present and absent, revealing the profound layers of storytelling in design.</p

Strengthening sports engineering education through the introduction of transformative student conferences

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024) In sports engineering, education is essential to meet the evolving demands of the field. Traditional educational methods often fall short, failing to provide experiential learning and encourage global collaboration. The interdisciplinary nature of sports engineering requires an approach that goes beyond the confines of face-to-face teaching to realise the full potential of the field. As sports technology continues to evolve, it is becoming increasingly clear that emerging researchers must not only have a deep technical expertise, but also the ability to conduct rigorous research, engage in interdisciplinary collaboration, and have a practical understanding of applications in order to effectively apply their knowledge to real-world sports contexts. The gap between traditional education and the diverse demands of modern sports engineering underlines the need for transformative approaches. </p

Vibrations in cycling, state of the art and future outlook

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024) Road cycling is an endurance sport that requires athletes and enthusiasts to cycle for long time. Thus, comfort plays an important role in the design of bicycles and cycling garments. Vibrations represent one of the most common cause of discomfort. Famous cycling competitions, such as the Paris-Roubaix, are characterized by uneven road surface that induces vibrations, thus increasing the difficulty of the race. On a physiological level, Sperlich et al., demonstrated that the presence of vibrations in cycling lead to an increased oxygen uptake at higher loads. Besides downgrading performances, long-term exposure to vibrations can lead to disorders. Therefore, it is of fundamental importance to investigate vibration and their transmission to the bicycle and the cyclist. This work aims to review the state of the art in the field of cycling vibration and identify the need for future studies. </p

Maximizing the public relations agency—client relationship in the sports industry

Despite the undoubted importance of Public Relations (PR) in the sport industry and the increasing reliance on external PR agencies, the study of the PR agency – client relationship within this context remains in its infancy. In this study, we focus on the question, how can PR agencies develop and maintain strong relationships with their sport clients for the benefit to both parties? Qualitative data generated through semi-structured interviews with twenty “business elite informants” comprising senior PR agency executives reveal a new multi-layered conceptualization of the PR agency – client organization relationship. The findings uncover a “surface” layer to the relationship captured by a client satisfaction – dissatisfaction continuum, a core layer of relationship management and trust, to the deepest layer characterized by power (im)balance between the two parties. Uncovering the complex, nuanced and multi-layered dynamics of the relationship highlights effective PR outsourcing practices to be utilized for future value maximization.</p

The Song Of The Whole Wide World On Motherhood, Grief, and Poetry

An extraordinary memoir of anticipatory grief, seventy-two minutes of life and a silent maternity leave, from artist and academic Tamarin Norwood. A few months into pregnancy, Tamarin Norwood learned that the baby she was carrying would not live. Over the sleepless weeks that followed, Tamarin, her husband and their three-year-old son tried to navigate the unfamiliar waters of anticipatory sorrow and to prepare for what was to come. Written partly during pregnancy and partly during the silent maternity leave that followed, The Song of the Whole Wide World is an emergency response to grief held somewhere between the womb, the grave and the many stories that bind them: stories drawn from medical science, poetry, liturgy, vivid waking dreams of underwater life, and knowledge held deep within the body. This profoundly moving and intimate account offers a lyrical and fearless meditation on birth, death, and the possibilities of consolation.</p

Adjustment of football exit velocities between turfgrass species

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024) Football is one of few sports that is played with continual contact between the ball and the playing surface. Turfgrass species, irrigation, and mowing height, can influence how a football performs on a given surface. Yet, these findings have been based on static measurements such as vertical ball rebound and ball roll, whereas angled ball rebound may provide a more realistic depiction of soccer ball movement during competition as it is a more dynamic test to assess playing surface influence on soccer ball performance. Thus, the objective of this study is to determine the effects of irrigation practices, mowing height, and turfgrass species on soccer ball performance using angled ball rebound. </p

A holistic approach for multi-objective design of experiment, model discrimination, and self-optimization of batch and continuous crystallization processes [Abstract]

A holistic approach for multi-objective design of experiment, model discrimination, and self-optimization of batch and continuous crystallization processes [Abstract]</p