Reproductive biology of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) in the western Pacific Ocean

The reproductive biology of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) was assessed from 1001 fish (ranging from 121 to 275 cm in eye-to-fork length; EFL) caught by Taiwanese offshore longliners in the western Pacific Ocean from September 2000 to December 2001 and from 843 gonad samples from these fish, The overall sex ratio of the catch was approximately 1:1 dur ing the sampling period, but blue marlin are sexually dimorphic; females are larger than males. Reproductive activity (assessed by histology), a gonadosomatic index, and the distribution of oocyte diameters, indicated that spawning occurred predominantly from May to September. The estimated sizes-at-maturity (EFL50) were 179.76 ±1.01 cm (mean ±standard error) for females and 130 ±1 cm EFL for males. Blue marlin are multiple spawners and oocytes develop asynchronously. The proportion of mature females with ovaries containing postovulatory follicles (0.41) and hydrated oocytes (0.34) indicated that the blue marlin spawned once every 2–3 days on average. Batch fecundity (BF) for 26 females with the most advanced oocytes (≥1000 μm), but without postovulatory follicles, ranged from 2.11 to 13.50 million eggs (6.94 ± 0.54 million eggs). The relationships between batch fecundity (BF, in millions of eggs) and EFL and round weight (RW, kg) were BF = 3.29 × 10 –12 EFL5.31 (r2 = 0.70) and BF = 1.59 × 10–3 RW 1.73 (r2= 0.67), respectively. The parameters estimated in this study are key information for stock assessments of blue marlin in the western Pacific Ocean and will contribute to the conservation and sustainable yield o

THE UPPER LIMB EMG ACTIVITY COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT TABLE TENNIS FOREHAND DRIVES

The purpose of this study was to combine dynamics and surface EMG methods to analyze the movements of table tennis forehand drives by Taiwan elite table tennis players performing straight and cross court forehand drives from topspin and backspin serves. The kinematical data were collected by 10 Vicon MX13+ high-speed cameras and one Biovision system was used to record the EMG signal of seven muscles groups on the dominate hand. The results showed that there were significant differences among the four table tennis drives. The players exerted greater muscular activity in the wrist extensors, the biceps and the triceps for the backspin serve forehand drive than when returning the topspin serve forehand drive, not only on the straight but also on the cross court strokes

SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE (SAAS) INNOVATION IN THE CONTEXT OF SOFTWARE INDUSTRY: A RESOURCE ORCHESTRATION PERSPECTIVE

Cloud computing brings a paradigm shift in the software industry and changes the business model of software vendors (SV). Software as a service (SaaS), the most popular form of cloud computing, has been recognized as the fundamental change in the delivery, utilization, and management of software. While the transformation to SaaS requires changes within the organization, SVs must actively take action to attract customers to accept the SaaS business model, the so-called pull strategy. Drawing on the resource orchestration view, we propose that the antecedents (i.e., structuring cloud resources, developing service bundling capability, and leveraging cloud ecosystem) are related to the likelihood of an innovative SaaS, which, in turn, is associated with SaaS attractiveness to users. Our proposed research framework provides a guideline for SV to attract and persuade customers to adopt SaaS solutions actively

SWITCHING THE HORIZONTAL GRF TO THE PATH OF PROGRESSION IN THE TABLE TENNIS FOREHAND DRIVE

Knowing the kinetic strategies of the lower limbs is a crucial factor to investigate the forehand drive which comprises the changes of the foot placement. It is difficult to directly evaluate the movement of feet with the data of ground reaction force (GRF) and impulse (GRI).This study tried to analyze table tennis forehand drives via the GRF and GRI data based upon the anatomical perspective. The motion and the GRF data were collected from eight right-handed Taiwanese elite table tennis players. The horizontal GRF data were transformed to a reference frame and then integrated with time to get the GRI. During the forehand drive shot, the participants performed a greater lateral impulse to cause the trunk rotation and decelerated their body from initial to mid-phase and then accelerated the body to perform a forehand drive shot

DEVELOPING SUPPLY CHAIN DYNAMIC CAPABILITY TO REALIZE THE VALUE OF INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS

In face of increasingly complex supply chain, firms are taking steps to develop different kinds of inter-organizational systems (IOS) to facilitate information sharing and sustain competitive competency. These systems are expected to provide great business value, however many of them do not fulfill the expected promise as these systems are relatively more complicated and the usage is across supply chains. Built upon process theory and the view of dynamic capability, this study has defined two supply chain dynamic capabilities (SDC) -- supply chain integration capability and supply chain cooperation capability and proposed that they might significantly moderate IOS performance. A general survey is conducted in Taiwan PC industry to validate the research model. A linear regression is used to testify the hypotheses. The results show that improving SDC can create greater IOS performance. Furthermore, supply chain integration capability has stronger moderating effect of IOS performance than supply chain cooperation capability. These findings contribute to the literature by confirming the influence of SDC on IOS performance and also by showing which SDC is of primary importance to firms

HOP llMlNG OF SPLlT STEP AND KINETICS ANALYSIS OF LOWER EXTREMITIES IN BADMINTON START FOOTWORK

The purpose of this study was to compare the split timing, and lower extremity kinetics of badminton players during push-off steps in six directions. Eight collegiate elite male badminton players received the random shot from an opponent in one of six directions. Result: Hop timing was 0.014-0.037 sec after the opponent struck the shuttlecock. The leg that was opposite the movement direction showed significantly greater tower extremity horizontal push-off force than the other leg did. Conclusion: The hop timing of split step simultaneous with the opponent striking the shuttlecock. The leg opposite the movement direction was the main push leg. When lower extremities exhibit the correct pushing direction and reach the peak push off force within 0.3 sec after the opponent strikes the shuttlecock, players should have more effective return in badminton

STEP HEIGHT EFFECTS ON LOWER LIMB BIOMECHANICS AND BODY CENTRE OF MASS MOTION DURING ELLIPTICAL EXERCISE

Elliptical exercise (EE) has been shown to be beneficial for the development and maintenance of cardiorespiratory fitness. Despite these benefits, the feet are constrained by pedals to follow an elliptical trajectory, with the possibility of producing disadvantageous joint loads, body instability and potential musculoskeletal overuse injuries (Lu et al., 2007). Proper selection of step height during EE may help reduce these disadvantageous joint loads and instability. The purpose of the study was to study the effects of step height on the lower limb biomechanics and associated body center of mass (COM) motion during EE

EFFECTS OF STEP LENGTH ON THE BIOMECHANICS OF LOWER LIMBS DURING ELLIPTICAL EXERCISE

Elliptical exercise (EE) has been developed as a low-impact aerobic exercise modality with increased popularity in fitness training and clinical applications over the last decade. During EE, the feet are constrained by pedals to follow an elliptical trajectory, with the possibility of producing disadvantageous joint loads and potential musculoskeletal overuse injuries (Lu et al., 2007). Therefore, proper selection of step length during EE may be helpful for the reduction of these disadvantageous joint loads. The purpose of the study was to study the effects of three different step lengths on biomechanics of the lower limbs during EE