Repeated movement (RM) lunge that frequently executed in badminton might be used for footwear evaluation. This study examined the influence of single movement (SM) and RM lunges on the ground reaction forces (GRFs) and knee kinetics during the braking phase of a badminton lunge step. Thirteen male university badminton players performed left-forward lunges in both SM and RM sessions. Force platform and motion capturing system were used to measure GRFs and knee kinetics variables. Paired t-test was performed to determine any significant differences between SM and RM lunges regarding mean and coefficient of variation (CV) in each variable. The kinetics results indicated that compared to SM lunges, the RM lunges had shorter contact time and generated smaller maximum loading rate of impact force, peak knee anterior-posterior force, and peak knee sagittal moment but generated larger peak horizontal resultant forces (Ps < 0.05). Additionally, the RM lunges had lower CV for peak knee medial-lateral and vertical forces (Ps < 0.05). These results suggested that the RM testing protocols had a distinct loading response and adaptation pattern during lunge and that the RM protocol showed higher within-trial reliability, which may be beneficial for the knee joint loading evaluation under different interventions.

Purpose: Running shoe cushioning research has focused widely on rearfoot (RF) characteristics, whereas forefoot (FF) characteristics have been rather neglected. However, altered cushioning may affect running biomechanics and respective subjective perception at RF and FF. Thus, this research compared the effect of running shoes with different midsole hardnesses at RF and FF. Methods: Twenty-eight heel-toe runners were tested in five experimental shoe conditions that featured three segmented EVA midsoles (RF, midfoot (MF), FF). Three conditions had the same midsole hardness at RF and FF (soft (SS), medium (MM), hard (HH)). Two conditions had different RF and FF midsole hardness (soft-RF/hard-FF (SH), hard-RF/soft-FF (HS)). All midsoles featured the same MF segment of medium hardness. Vertical ground reaction forces and lower extremity kinematics during stance, subjective cushioning of the heel-toe transition and the overall comfort were quantified. Data were analysed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, repeated measures ANOVA, Bonferroni post-hoc tests (p < 0.05), and effect size analyses ( p h 2 ). Results: The consistent midsole shoe conditions showed increased maximum loading rates of impact and propulsion peaks from SS to HH. Respective maximum loading rates of SH were similarly to SS, and respective maximum loading rates for HS were similar to HH. Subjectively, the consistent midsole conditions were rated according to their mechanical properties and softer shoes were preferred over harder shoes. In the varied midsole shoe conditions, SH was perceived similar to SS, whereas HS was perceived similar to MM. Conclusion: The examined biomechanical variables were influenced almost entirely by respective RF cushioning properties. The hard FF did not negatively affect cushioning perception as long as the RF was soft. Combining a soft FF with a hard RF improved inferior cushioning perception associated with shoes being hard at RF and FF.

Delta activity on electroencephalogram (EEG) is considered a biomarker of homeostatic sleep drive. Delta power is often associated with sleep duration and intensity. Here, we reviewed the literature to explore how sleep quality was influenced by changes in delta power. However, we found that both the decrease and increase in delta power could indicate a higher sleep quality due to the various factors below. First, the differences in changes in delta power in patients whose sleep quality is lower than that of the healthy controls may be related to the different diseases they suffered from. We found that the patients mainly suffered from borderline personality disorder, and Rett syndrome may have a higher delta power than healthy individuals. Meanwhile, patients who are affected by Asperger syndrome, respiratory failure, chronic fatigue, and post-traumatic stress disorder have lower delta power. Second, if the insomnia patients received the therapy, the difference may be caused by the treatment method. Cognitive or music therapy shows that a better therapeutic effect is associated with decreased delta power, whereas in drug treatment, there is an opposite change in delta power. Last, for healthy people, the difference in delta change may be related to sleep stages. The higher sleep quality is associated with increased delta power during the NREM period, whereas a deceased delta change accompanies higher sleep quality during the REM period. Our work summarizes the effect of changes in delta power on sleep quality and may positively impact the monitoring and intervention of sleep quality.

Emotions important for survival and social interaction have received wide and deep investigations. The application of the fMRI technique into emotion processing has obtained overwhelming achievements with respect to the localization of emotion processes. The ERP method, which possesses highly temporal resolution compared to fMRI, can be employed to investigate the time course of emotion processing. The emotional modulation of the ERP component has been verified across numerous researches. Emotions, described as dynamically developing along with the growing age, have the possibility to be enhanced through learning (or training) or to be damaged due to disturbances in growth, which is underlain by the neural plasticity of emotion-relevant nervous systems. And mood disorders with typical symptoms of emotion discordance probably have been caused by the dysfunctional neural plasticity.

No abstract