The effect of electrode dislocation on lower back surface electromyography amplitude

Surface Electromyography (SEMG) plays an important role in the understanding of trunk muscle activity during various postures and movements. The Root Mean Square (RMS) is used to quantify the muscle activation amplitude and was shown to be a valuable parameter in research focusing on the etiology and maintenance of chronic lower back pain.\ud The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of electrode dislocation on the RMS of the low back muscles

The IOC and Olympic bids from democracies and authoritarian regimes – A socioeconomic analysis and strategic insights

In this socio-economic study, the bidding processes for the Winter Olympic Games in 2022 and the Summer Games in 2024 and 2028 serve as case studies to scrutinize the decisions linked to the bidding process in democratic countries and authoritarian states. Transaction cost economics is employed as a lens to outline the problems that the findings pose for the IOC and to understand why the organization has to keep a certain proximity to authoritarian states for strategic reasons. This measure can be considered an insurance policy because of the high and likely sunk ex ante transaction costs that characterize bids from democratic countries. It will become apparent that keeping good working relations with authoritarian governments helps the IOC to secure the future of its main revenue driver, the Olympic Games, thus providing for its own future. Furthermore, the IOC’s decision to include the Summer Olympic Games in 2028 in the bidding process originally geared towards the Games in 2024 will be outlined as a logical consequence of the developments that are analysed in this study. This strategic move will turn out to be a logical consequence of the developments that are analysed in this paper

The development of renewable energies and supply security: A trade-off analysis

This paper analyzes the effects of the green transformation on the German electricity sector with respect to the energy political triangle. It focuses on how the development of renewable energies will affect security of electricity supply. In a cost-benefit analysis, the value of supply security is compared with its costs of provision. More specifically, the benefits of maintaining the present quality of electricity supply are the avoided social damages from electricity outages and are compared with the respective investment costs in the low- and medium-voltage distribution grid. It is shown that the transformation process towards a green and decentralized production structure will be costly for society, even though the costs can be reduced by different measures