The Effect of Management and Marketing on the Dynamics of the Number of Legitimate Athletes from the Romanian Handball and Basketball Federations

The research follows the evolution of the number of legitimate athletes, of the number of coaches and of the number of departments (clubs) within two sports federations: the Romanian Basketball Federation and the Romanian Handball Federation. The statistics show a different dynamic regarding the number of legitimate athletes in the period 1992-2019, the study making a comparison between the two federations in terms of management programmes and the impact thereof on the dynamics of the number of athletes, coaches and number of departments. The research started from the hypothesis that the type of management and marketing applied at the federation level is very important because it directly influenced the existence of the number of clubs, coaches and implicitly the number of legitimate athletes, in the context in which both federations are national structures under the control of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and funded from a single source, to a large extent. The data were collected from the National Institute of Statistics of Romania, from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and from the website of the two Federations. The study refers to certain differences in the application of management and marketing strategies and the evolution of the 2 federations. The research also offers some explanations from a social, economic and political perspective of the dynamics of the compared parameters.

Defect- and H-Free Stoichiometric Silicon Carbide by Thermal CVD from the Single Source Precursor Trisilacyclohexane

Stoichiometric silicon carbide (SiC) thin films were grown using thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) from the single source precursor 1,3,5-trisilacyclohexane (TSCH) on c-Si (100) substrates within an optimized substrate temperature window ranging from 650 to 850 °C. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses revealed that the as-deposited films consisted of a Si-C matrix with a Si:C ratio of ~1:1. FTIR and photoluminescence (PL) spectrometry studies showed that films deposited ≥ 750 °C were defect- and H-free within the detection limit of the techniques used, while ellipsometry measurements yielded an as-grown SiC average refractive index of ~2.7, consistent with the reference value for the 3C-SiC phase. The exceptional quality of the films appears sufficient to overcome limitations associated with structural defects ranging from failure in high voltage, high temperature electronics to 2-D film growth. TSCH, a liquid at room temperature with good structural stability during transport and handling as well as high vapor pressure (~10 torr at 25 °C), provides a viable single source precursor for the growth of stoichiometric SiC without the need for post-deposition thermal treatment.

Acoustic Features Based Emotional Speech Signal Categorization by Advanced Linear Discriminator Analysis

Personal computer-based data collection and analysis systems may now be more resilient due to the recent advances in digital signal processing technology. The signal processing approach known as Speaker Recognition, uses the specific information contained in voice waves to automatically identify the speaker. For a single source, this study examines systems that can recognize a wide range of emotional states in speech. Since it offers insight into human brain states, it's a hot issue in the development during the interface between human and computer arrangement for speech processing. Mostly, it is necessary to recognize the emotional state of people in the arrangement. This research analyses an effort to discern various emotional stages such as anger, joy, neutral, fear and sadness by classification methods. The acoustic feature, a measure of unpredictability, is used in conjunction with a non-linear signal quantification approach to identify emotions. The unpredictability of all the emotional signals is included in a feature vector constructed from the calculated entropy measurements. In the next step, the acoustic features through speech signal are used for the training in the proposed neural network that are given to linear discriminator analysis approach for further greater classification with acoustic feature extraction. Besides, this research article compares the proposed work with various modern classifiers such as K- nearest neighbor, support vector machine and linear discriminator approach. Moreover, this proposed algorithm is based on acoustic features in Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) with acoustic feature extraction machine algorithm. The great advantage of this proposed algorithm is that it separates negative and positive features of emotions and provides good results during classification. According to the results from efficient cross-validation in the proposed framework, accessible sample of dataset of Emotional Speech, a single-source LDA classifier can recognize emotions in speech signals with above 90 percent of accuracy for various emotional stages.

Copper (II) Heterocyclic Thiosemicarbazone Complexes as Single-Source Precursors for the Preparation of Cu9S5 Nanoparticles: Application in Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue

In this study, two copper(II) complexes, [Cu(C6H8N3S2)2]Cl2 (1) and [Cu(C7H10N3S2)2]Cl2·H2O (2), were synthesized from 2-(thiophen-2-ylmethylene)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide (L1H) and 2-(1-(thiophen-2-yl)ethylidene)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide (L2H) respectively and characterized using various spectroscopic techniques and elemental analyses. The as-prepared complexes were used as single-source precursors for the synthesis of oleylamine-capped (OLA@CuxSy), hexadecylamine-capped (HDA@CuxSy), and dodecylamine-capped (DDA@CuxSy) copper sulphide nanoparticles (NPs) via the thermolysis method at 190 °C and 230 °C and then characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD), UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The p-XRD diffraction patterns confirmed the formation of crystalline rhombohedral digenite Cu9S5 with the space group R-3m. The TEM images showed the formation of nanoparticles of various shapes including hexagonal, rectangular, cubic, truncated-triangular, and irregularly shaped Cu9S5 nanomaterials. The SEM results showed aggregates and clusters as well as the presence of pores on the surfaces of nanoparticles synthesized at 190 °C. The UV-visible spectroscopy revealed a general blue shift observed in the absorption band edge of the copper sulphide NPs, as compared to bulk CuxSy, with energy band gaps ranging from 2.52 to 3.00 eV. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) confirmed the elemental composition of the Cu9S5 nanoparticles. The nanoparticles obtained at 190 °C and 230 °C were used as catalysts for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation. Degradation rates varying from 47.1% to 80.0% were obtained after 90 min of exposure time using only 10 mg of the catalyst, indicating that Cu9S5 nanoparticles have potential in the degradation of organic pollutants (dyes).

The current state of uranium legacy sites remediation issues in Uzbekistan

The uranium production legacy sites in Central Asia are a source of high-level radiological risks for the population and the environment. This fact is recognized by the international community, which is taking measures to remediate the sites. A number of international and national projects have been implemented in the Republic of Uzbekistan, but there is no single source that covers their main results. The article provides a brief overview of the main international initiatives, the results obtained and the lessons learned. The list of necessary measures for the nearest future to recover the environment and ensure normal conditions for the local population is given. The obtained material can be used for planning and implementation remediation of other uranium legacy sites in Central Asia, as well as similar objects around the world.

Compositional Engineering of Metal-Xanthate Precursors toward (Bi1-xSbx)2S3 (0≤x≤0.05) Films with Enhanced Room-Temperature Thermoelectric Performance

The preparation of high-performance thermoelectric thin films can be challenging. Herein, we report the preparation, characterization, and thermoelectric performance of morphology-controlled bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3) thin films using a single-source precursor...

Vocal Fold Vibration Characteristics during SOVTE using a Vibration Simulator and Digital Kymography

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of vocal fold vibration during sustained vowel /a/ phonation and various semi-occluded vocal tract exercise (SOVTEs) using a vibration simulator and digital kymography (DKG).Methods: A total of 12 normal young speakers (6 males, 6 females) aged 20-30 years participated in the study. They phonated a sustained /a/ vowel and performed SOVTE. The vocal fold vibration characteristics were measured according to the number of vibration sources (single vs. double), and vocal tract occlusion degree using a vibration simulator and DKG. Glottal gap quotient (GQ, %), speed quotient (SQ, %) and amplitude (pixel) were estimated quantitatively from the DKG image.Results: The results showed that significantly higher GQ (p = .000) and SQ (p = .000) were observed in the humming and bilabial fricative /β/ compared to open vowels. The amplitude was significantly higher in the open vowel /a/ than in humming (p = .018) and bilabial fricative /β/ (p = .003). Also, when comparing the vocal fold vibration parameters according to vibration type (single source: straw phonation vs. double source: straw phonation with water), the double source presented a significantly higher GQ (p = .000) as well as SQ (p = .008) in comparison with a single source.Conclusion: SOVTE showed a glottal gap that is different from the opened vowel /a/. It also had a longer opening of the vocal fold and a smaller amplitude than the vowel. This suggests that SOVTE may be helpful for facilitating vocal fold vibration and good voice quality in clinical practice. The current study can be meaningful in providing theoretical and clinical evidence for SOVTE.