Relative Age Effect in Elite German Soccer: Influence of Gender and Competition Level

The relative age effect (RAE) is associated with (dis)advantages in competitive sports. While the RAE in elite male soccer reveals a skewed birthdate distribution in relation to a certain cut-off date, research of RAE in elite female soccer is affected by small number of samples and conflicting results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the RAE in elite adult German soccer regarding gender and competition level. The sample comprised 680 female and 1,083 male players of the two top German leagues during the 2019/20 season and German national teams (A-Team to Under 19). Differences between the observed and expected birthdate distributions were analyzed using chisquare statistics and effect sizes followed by calculating odds ratios. Results showed a statistically significant RAE with small effect size across all players included for both genders (female players: P < 0.001, W = 0.16, male players: P < 0.001, W = 0.23). The identified RAE was based on an over-representation of players born at the beginning of the year. According to gender and competition level, RAEs were more pronounced in German male soccer. While significant RAEs were found among males in the first two leagues (first league: P < 0.001, W = 0.19, second league: P < 0.001, W = 0.26), the RAE of females was more pronounced in the second league (first league: P = 0.080, W = 0.16, second league: P = 0.002, W = 0.20). The analysis of RAE regarding the national teams revealed a statistically significant RAE with large effect size for only the youngest investigated age group of male players (Under 19: P = 0.022, W = 0.52). Our data show an RAE in female and male German adult soccer, which could be accompanied by a loss of valuable elite players during the youth phase of the career. Consequently, the pool of talented players at the adult level would be limited

Exploring the design space of programming by demonstration with context aware assistive systems

Due to the recent development in head-mounted displays, projection systems, rising capabilities of Augmented Reality and availability of Kinect for depth images, the advance of assistive systems in industrial context began. We propose a system that not only provides methods to assist industrial workers in their everyday tasks by assisting and providing instructions and giving feedback about the executed tasks. But although present a system that provides the capability to record and therefore create instructions by demonstration. This tackles the problem of current assistive systems and the complexity editors that are used for creating these instructions. We conducted a study that involved the creating of instruction via different conditions that were performed by experts in the field of manual assembly. Furthermore we verified these instruction with 51 industrial workers that completed assembly tasks guided by the instruction. Our results indicated that interactive instructions created through Programming by Demonstration are equal to existing approaches. Additional qualitative feedback showed that instructions through Programming by Demonstration are generally well perceived.Durch die jüngsten Entwicklungen im Feld der Head-Mounted Displays, Projektions Systeme, wachsende Möglichkeiten bezüglich augmentierter Realität und der Verfügbarkeit von Tiefendaten durch die Kinect Kamera, finden Assistenzsysteme immer mehr Anwendung in industriellen Bereichen. In dieser Arbeit wird ein System vorgestellt, welches nicht nur die Möglichkeit bietet, Arbeiter in der Industrie bei ihrer täglichen Arbeit, durch Anzeigen von Anleitungen und Feedback über ausgeführte Arbeitsschritte, zu unterstützen. Des Weiteren wird ein System vorgestellt das ermöglicht, Arbeitsanleitungen durch Demonstration zu erstellen. Hierdurch wird das Problem aktueller Assistenzsysteme beseitigt, Anleitungen mit komplizierten Editoren erstellen zu müssen. Mit einer Studie wurde das Erstellen von Anleitungen über verschiedene Ansätze überprüft. Die Studie wurde mit Experten der manuellen Montage durchgeführt. Weiterhin wurden die erstellten Anleitungen von 51 Arbeitern aus der Industrie getestet, welche die Anleitungen zum erfüllen eines Arbeitsvorganges genutzt haben. Die Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass interaktive Anleitungen, die per Programmierung durch Demonstration erstellt wurden, gleichwertig gegenüber herkömmlichen Anleitungen sind. Die Auswertung des qualitatives Feedbacks der Studie hat zusätzlich gezeigt, dass Anleitungen die per Programmierung durch Demonstration erstellt wurden, generell als positiv wahrgenommen werden

Validity of a Local Positioning System during Outdoor and Indoor Conditions for Team Sports

This study aimed to compare the validity of a local positioning system (LPS) during outdoor and indoor conditions for team sports. The impact of different filtering techniques was also investigated. Five male team sport athletes (age: 27 ± 2 years; maximum oxygen uptake: 48.4 ± 5.1 mL/min/kg) performed 10 trials on a team sport-specific circuit on an artificial turf and in a sports hall. During the circuit, athletes wore two devices of a recent 20-Hz LPS. From the reported raw and differently filtered velocity data, distances covered during different walking, jogging, and sprinting sections within the circuit were computed for which the circuit was equipped with double-light timing gates as criterion measures. The validity was determined by comparing the known and measured distances via the relative typical error of estimate (TEE). The LPS validity for measuring distances covered was good to moderate during both environments (TEE: 0.9–7.1%), whereby the outdoor validity (TEE: 0.9–6.4%) was superior than indoor validity (TEE: 1.2–7.1%). During both environments, validity outcomes of an unknown manufacturer filter were superior (TEE: 0.9–6.2%) compared to those of a standard Butterworth filter (TEE: 0.9–6.4%) and to unprocessed raw data (TEE: 1.0–7.1%). Our findings show that the evaluated LPS can be considered as a good to moderately valid tracking technology to assess running-based movement patterns in team sports during outdoor and indoor conditions. However, outdoor was superior to indoor validity, and also impacted by the applied filtering technique. Our outcomes should be considered for practical purposes like match and training analyses in team sport environments

VR-Hiking: Physical Exertion Benefits Mindfulness and Positive Emotions in Virtual Reality

Exploring the great outdoors offers physical and mental health benefits. Hiking is healthy, provides a sense of accomplishment, and offers an opportunity to relax. However, a nature trip is not always possible, and there is a lack of evidence showing how these beneficial experiences can be replicated in Virtual Reality (VR). In response, we recruited (N=24) participants to explore a virtual mountain landscape in a within-subjects study with different levels of exertion: walking, using a chairlift, and teleporting. We found that physical exertion when walking produced significantly more positive emotions and mindfulness than other conditions. Our research shows that physically demanding outdoor activities in VR can be beneficial for the user and that the achievement of hiking up a virtual mountain on a treadmill positively impacts wellbeing. We demonstrate how physical exertion can be used to add mindfulness and positive affect to VR experiences and discuss consequences for VR designers

Sodium Solid Electrolytes: NaxAlOy Bilayer-System Based on Macroporous Bulk Material and Dense Thin-Film

A new preparation concept of a partially porous solid-state bilayer electrolyte (BE) for high-temperature sodium-ion batteries has been developed. The porous layer provides mechanical strength and is infiltrated with liquid and highly conductive NaAlCl4 salt, while the dense layer prevents short circuits. Both layers consist, at least partially, of Na-β-alumina. The BEs are synthesized by a three-step procedure, including a sol-gel synthesis, the preparation of porous, calcined bulk material, and spin coating to deposit a dense layer. A detailed study is carried out to investigate the effect of polyethylene oxide (PEO) concentration on pore size and crystallization of the bulk material. The microstructure and crystallographic composition are verified for all steps via mercury intrusion, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The porous bulk material exhibits an unprecedented open porosity for a NaxAlOy bilayer-system of ≤57% with a pore size of ≈200–300 nm and pore volume of ≤0.3 cm3∙g−1. It contains high shares of crystalline α-Al2O3 and Na-β-alumina. The BEs are characterized by impedance spectroscopy, which proved an increase of ionic conductivity with increasing porosity and increasing Na-β-alumina phase content in the bulk material. Ion conductivity of up to 0.10 S∙cm−1 at 300 °C is achieved

TIB-arXiv: Ein alternatives Suchportal für den arXiv Preprint Server

Es ist entscheidend für Wissenschaftler in ihrem Gebiet den aktuellen Stand der Forschung zu kennen. Doch diese Aufgabe wird immer schwieriger: Einerseits werden jeden Tag mehr neue Artikel veröffentlicht; andererseits gibt es immer mehr mögliche Publikationsforen und -formen -- das Publikationssystem wird immer heterogener. . Daher müssen sich Wissenschaftler immer mehr Zeit nehmen, um die für ihre Forschung relevanten Artikel zu finden. Ein guter Indikator für diesen Trend ist der beliebte Preprint-Server arXiv. Die Anzahl der Artikel im Repository ist in den letzten 25 Jahren linear gestiegen, 2017 waren es mehr als 10.000 Artikel pro Monat. Der Fokus der arXiv-Plattform liegt auf einfachen Publishing-Diensten und daher bietet arxiv keine erweiterte Suchfunktionalität oder hilfreiche Visualisierungen. ArXiv bietet hingegen Programmierschnittstellen, die es externen Entwicklern erlauben, verschiedenste Zusatzdienste hinzuzufügen. Die meisten der existierenden Werkzeuge konzentrieren sich hierbei auf eine bestimmte Community und zeigen nur einen Bruchteil der arXiv-Daten. Andere Anwendungen bieten eine erweiterte Visualisierung, um die arXiv-Bibliothek zu erkunden.Dieser Beitrag präsentiert TIB-arXiv, ein webbasiertes Werkzeug für die Suche und Exploration von Publikationen in arXiv. Die Plattform bietet Zugang zur gesamten arXiv-Bibliothek und vereinfacht den Zugang mithilfe einer intuitiven Nutzeroberfläche. Der integrierte PDF-Reader ermöglicht es dem Nutzer, Artikel direkt auf der Webseite zu konsultieren während er den Datenbestand erkundet. Durch die Verlinkung der Publikationen mit externen Ressourcen und sozialen Medien, können dem Nutzer komplexere Retrieval- und Ranking-Methoden geboten werden. Dies ermöglicht es Wissenschaftlern, die aktuelle Entwicklung in ihrem Forschungsgebiet durch soziale und kollaborative Funktionalitäten schneller auf Aktualität und Relevanz überprüfen

Epileptic monocular nystagmus and ictal diplopia as cortical and subcortical dysfunction

AbstractWe present the case of a patient with ictal monocular nystagmus and ictal diplopia who became seizure-free after resection of a right frontal focal cortical dysplasia (FCD), type 2B. Interictal neuroophthalmological examination showed several beats of a monocular nystagmus and a spasm of the contralateral eye. An exclusively ictal monocular epileptic nystagmus could be an argument for an exclusively cortical involvement in monocular eye movement control. The interictal findings in our patient, however, argue for an irregular ictal activation of both the cortical frontal eye field and the brainstem

Логіка

Зміст видання відповідає освітньо-професійній програмі бакалаврів напрямів підготовки «Право», «Філософія» та інших напрямів. Розглянуто матеріал дисципліни «Логіка», зокрема такі теми: «Основні закони формальної логіки», «Поняття», «Судження», «Умовиводи», «Доведення і спростування», «Гіпотеза і теорія». Сформульовано навчальні цілі змістових модулів дисципліни, що окреслюють компетентності, навички й уміння бакалавра гуманітарних та інших спеціальностей

Intelligent Music Interfaces: When Interactive Assistance and Augmentation Meet Musical Instruments

The interactive augmentation of musical instruments to foster self-expressiveness and learning has a rich history. Over the past decades, the incorporation of interactive technologies into musical instruments emerged into a new research field requiring strong collaboration between different disciplines. The workshop "Intelligent Music Interfaces"consequently covers a wide range of musical research subjects and directions, including (a) current challenges in musical learning, (b) prototyping for improvements, (c) new means of musical expression, and (d) evaluation of the solutions