Quality of functional movement patterns and injury examination in elite-level male professional football players

The purpose of this study is to examine the quality of functional movement patterns among one of Hungary’s first league soccer clubs, where the elite male football players (N = 20) utilize the well-established Functional Movement Screen™ (FMS) system; a comprehensive functional program designed to determine and identify the quality of movement and the greatest risk factors for non-contact injuries. Furthermore, an additional purpose of this program is to examine injuries over the course of 6 competitive months. Focusing on the mechanisms of injuries and their causes in the lower extremities during this period is one of the key objectives. Over the course of 6 months we found significant differences between ankle injuries and the FMS Hurdle Step exercise (p < 0.05), and the FMS Deep Squat exercise and knee and hip injuries (p < 0.05). The FMS pre-screening system found lower limb asymmetry present in 40% of the participants. The authors believe that the importance of preventative measures and structural sport specific pre-screening cannot be overemphasized, and that there is a growing need for further transparent research in this field in order to be more effective with regard to programs dedicated to injury prevention and the enhancement players’ physical performance

LAGOVirtual: A Collaborative Environment for the Large Aperture GRB Observatory

We present the LAGOVirtual Project: an ongoing project to develop platform to collaborate in the Large Aperture GRB Observatory (LAGO). This continental-wide observatory is devised to detect high energy (around 100 GeV) component of Gamma Ray Bursts, by using the single particle technique in arrays of Water Cherenkov Detectors (WCD) at high mountain sites (Chacaltaya, Bolivia, 5300 m a.s.l., Pico Espejo, Venezuela, 4750 m a.s.l., Sierra Negra, Mexico, 4650 m a.s.l). This platform will allow LAGO collaboration to share data, and computer resources through its different sites. This environment has the possibility to generate synthetic data by simulating the showers through AIRES application and to store/preserve distributed data files collected by the WCD at the LAGO sites. The present article concerns the implementation of a prototype of LAGO-DR adapting DSpace, with a hierarchical structure (i.e. country, institution, followed by collections that contain the metadata and data files), for the captured/simulated data. This structure was generated by using the community, sub-community, collection, item model; available at the DSpace software. Each member institution-country of the project has the appropriate permissions on the system to publish information (descriptive metadata and associated data files). The platform can also associate multiple files to each item of data (data from the instruments, graphics, postprocessed-data, etc.).Comment: Second EELA-2 Conference Choroni, Venezuela, November 25th to 27th 200

Production Technology and Competitiveness In the Hungarian Manufacturing Industry

Following the big transformations of the 1990s, enterprise structure and technological level seem to have become stabilised in Hungary. Under these circumstances it is especially interesting to identify the elements responsible for competitiveness in general, and the role technology plays in development in particular, according to managers experienced in production and marketing. This empirical study – based on in-depth interviews and field research – summarises characteristics of the technological level in the sectors examined, role of technology and labour in production, effects of foreign direct investment, relations between competition and firm-level factors determining competitiveness, and concludes by summing up those most frequently mentioned proposals that should be incorporated into economic policy according to managers. Main findings indicate that more qualified, more intensive and cheaper labour can be substituted for high technology. The competitiveness of an enterprise is not determined by technology alone, but rather by a combination of technology, the parameters of available labour and the costs of investment increasing productivity. The insufficiency of inter-company relations, together with a shortage of available assets necessary for investment constitute the major threat undermining the competitiveness of enterprises in present-day Hungary

Examine the species and beam-energy dependence of particle spectra using Tsallis Statistics

Tsallis Statistics was used to investigate the non-Boltzmann distribution of particle spectra and their dependence on particle species and beam energy in the relativistic heavy-ion collisions at SPS and RHIC. Produced particles are assumed to acquire radial flow and be of non-extensive statistics at freeze-out. J/psi and the particles containing strangeness were examined separately to study their radial flow and freeze-out. We found that the strange hadrons approach equilibrium quickly from peripheral to central A+A collisions and they tend to decouple earlier from the system than the light hadrons but with the same final radial flow. These results provide an alternative picture of freeze-outs: a thermalized system is produced at partonic phase; the hadronic scattering at later stage is not enough to maintain the system in equilibrium and does not increase the radial flow of the copiously produced light hadrons. The J/psi in Pb+Pb collisions at SPS is consistent with early decoupling and obtains little radial flow. The J/psi spectra at RHIC are also inconsistent with the bulk flow profile.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, added several references and some clarifications et

CCC-based muon telescope for examination of natural caves

A portable cosmic muon detector has been developed for geophysical applications: searching for large scale underground rock/soil inhomogeneities and underground cavities. The designed muon telescope called a muon tomograph is based on the recently developed closed cathode chamber (CCC) technology, which provides a cheap, easy handling, portable, and power efficient detector system able to work even in extreme conditions (e.g. high humidity, low/high temperature). The muon telescope has a detection surface of approximately 0.1 m2 with a 10 mrad angular resolution. Tests have been performed in natural caves and artificial tunnel systems as well. In this paper a summary of the first results on tomographic cavities are presented and the geophysical and possible industrial use of the cosmic muon tomographic technology is indicated

VHMPID: a new detector for the ALICE experiment at LHC

This article presents the basic idea of VHMPID, an upgrade detector for the ALICE experiment at LHC, CERN. The main goal of this detector is to extend the particle identification capabilities of ALICE to give more insight into the evolution of the hot and dense matter created in Pb-Pb collisions. Starting from the physics motivations and working principles the challenges and current status of development is detailed.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures. To be published in EPJ Web of Conference