Speed and spin differences between the old celluloid versus new plastic table tennis balls and the effect on the kinematic responses of elite versus sub-elite players

This study measured 1) the speed and spin differences between the old celluloid versus new plastic table tennis balls at pre ball-table impact and post ball-table impact when projected with topspin at 7.56 m.s-1, and investigated 2) the effect this has on the kinematic responses of 5 elite versus 5 sub-elite players’ forehand topspin in response to topspin and backspin. Plastic balls were lower in both speed and spin at pre and post ball-table impact compared with celluloid balls but the magnitude of change in speed and spin for each ball material differed. During flight before impact, plastic balls lost 3.98% more speed and 1.24% more spin than celluloid balls. Post ball-table impact, plastic balls showed a greater speed increment (0.69%) and smaller spin decrement (0.19%) than celluloid balls. Differences in players’ kinematic responses to the different ball materials were found only when players returned backspin shots. Players supinated their rackets more by 2.23% at ball-racket contact and produced 3.37% less ball spin when returning plastic compared with celluloid balls; an indication of an early adaptation to the lower spin rate of plastic balls. The lack of differences in kinematic response to topspin may be due to the similar changes in speed and spin of both types of balls at ball-table impact. It is not known if a higher initial ball projection velocity would evoke differences in movement responses from the players post ball-table impact but could be explored in future studies

Online visual search behaviour of elite and sub-elite bowlers across varying anxiety and challenge levels

Current visual search literature has predominantly investigated gaze behaviour in a pre-movement programming role. However, different visual search behavior (VS) may be present in sports that involve a long movement execution such as the 5-step approach in bowling. Thus, the VS of 12 elite and 12 sub-elite bowlers during movement execution (online-VS) were analysed across four conditions of varying anxiety and challenge levels. Ten shots were bowled in each condition, whereby the percentage duration of online phase (%online), mean number of fixations (NR) and percentage duration of fixation (%D) to each area of interest (AOI) were measured. Expertise differences lie in NR and %D whereby the elite bowlers had fewer fixations of longer durations (p < .05). While executing the bowl, all bowlers tend to fixate on the right and middle dots and arrows; locations that are closer to the foul line. Aiming at nearer targets, compared to locations further down the lane may increase the chances of releasing the ball at the optimal location for the best trajectory. With anxiety, bowlers rushed their approach (p < .05), but increased their %D to the right dots and peripheral left arrows (p < .01). The results reflect an increased effort to focus their aim, but with the propensity to be more distracted. Overall, online-VS do differentiate between levels of expertise and anxiety, though no significant interaction was observed. Analysing the sequence of fixation and movement together may provide greater resolution into the online-VS phenomenon.Bachelor of Science (Sport Science and Management

Tertiary students' insights towards Singapore's tertiary education system and entrepreneurship.

This study seeks to undestand the mindest of tertiary students with regards to the current tertiary education and entrepreneurship courses as well as to uncover what tertiary students deem neccessary and important for a well-designed entrepreneurship course

Effectiveness of on-court resistive warm-ups on change of direction speed and smash velocity during a simulated badminton match play in well-trained players

10.3390/jfmk6040081Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology648

A systematic scoping review of teaching and evaluating communications in the intensive care unit

Introduction: Whilst the importance of effective communications in facilitating good clinical decision-making and ensuring effective patient and family-centred outcomes in Intensive Care Units (ICU)s has been underscored amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, training and assessment of communication skills for healthcare professionals (HCPs) in ICUs remain unstructured Methods: To enhance the transparency and reproducibility, Krishna’s Systematic Evidenced Based Approach (SEBA) guided Systematic Scoping Review (SSR), is employed to scrutinise what is known about teaching and evaluating communication training programmes for HCPs in the ICU setting. SEBA sees use of a structured search strategy involving eight bibliographic databases, the employ of a team of researchers to tabulate and summarise the included articles and two other teams to carry out content and thematic analysis the included articles and comparison of these independent findings and construction of a framework for the discussion that is overseen by the independent expert team. Results: 9532 abstracts were identified, 239 articles were reviewed, and 63 articles were included and analysed. Four similar themes and categories were identified. These were strategies employed to teach communication, factors affecting communication training, strategies employed to evaluate communication and outcomes of communication training. Conclusion: This SEBA guided SSR suggests that ICU communications training must involve a structured, multimodal approach to training. This must be accompanied by robust methods of assessment and personalised timely feedback and support for the trainees. Such an approach will equip HCPs with greater confidence and prepare them for a variety of settings, including that of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.</jats:p

Regulatory crosstalk between lineage-survival oncogenes KLF5, GATA4 and GATA6 cooperatively promotes gastric cancer development

10.1007/978-1-60327-492-0_23Gut645707-71