#Multi-Factor Model

[radiantglobalfundd]

Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT)

What is Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT)?

Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) is a multi-factor asset pricing model that predicts the return of a financial asset based on various macroeconomic, industry-specific, and company-specific factors. Unlike CAPM, which relies on a single market risk factor (beta), APT considers multiple risk factors that affect asset prices. By incorporating various influences such as inflation rates, GDP growth, and changes in interest rates, APT provides a more dynamic and realistic approach to understanding how assets perform in different economic conditions.

Learn more about investment strategies.

Key Assumptions of Arbitrage Pricing Theory

Multiple Risk Factors: APT assumes that asset returns are influenced by various risk factors, such as inflation, interest rates, GDP growth, and company-specific events.

No Arbitrage Opportunity: Investors cannot generate risk-free profits through arbitrage in an efficient market.

Linear Relationship: The relationship between asset returns and risk factors is linear.

Well-Diversified Portfolio: APT is most effective when applied to well-diversified portfolios where idiosyncratic risks are minimized.

Importance of Multiple Risk Factors

Unlike CAPM, which assumes a single systematic risk factor, APT allows investors to consider multiple economic and financial influences when assessing the expected return on an asset. This means that investors can incorporate factors like political stability, technological advancements, consumer sentiment, and global trade policies into their investment calculations. By doing so, they can create portfolios that are more resistant to market volatility and economic downturns.

Arbitrage Pricing Model vs. Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)

FeatureArbitrage Pricing Theory (APT)Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)Risk FactorsMultiple (e.g., GDP, inflation, interest rates)Single (Market Beta)Return CalculationBased on multiple factorsBased on market risk premiumFlexibilityMore flexibleLess flexibleAssumptionsFewer restrictive assumptionsMore restrictive assumptions

Explore more about our investment philosophy.

Arbitrage Pricing Theory Formula

The APT formula can be expressed as follows:

E(R) = Rf + β1F1 + β2F2 + ... + βnFn

Where:

E(R) = Expected return of the asset

Rf = Risk-free rate

βn = Sensitivity of the asset to factor n

Fn = Risk premium of factor n

This formula allows investors to estimate asset returns by analyzing multiple risk factors. APT is particularly useful in fixed-income securities and derivative pricing, where multiple economic variables significantly impact investment performance.

Applications of Arbitrage Pricing Theory

1. Portfolio Management

APT is used to construct diversified portfolios by considering multiple risk factors. This helps in optimizing returns while minimizing risks. Portfolio managers rely on APT to align their investments with prevailing economic conditions, ensuring stability and growth even in volatile markets.

2. Risk Assessment

By identifying key economic and financial factors that impact returns, APT helps investors measure and manage risk effectively. Understanding how different economic indicators influence asset prices enables investors to hedge against risks and make well-informed decisions.

3. Asset Pricing

APT aids in determining the fair value of stocks, bonds, and derivatives by incorporating different risk factors. It helps analysts and financial planners in assessing whether an asset is overpriced or underpriced relative to its risk-adjusted return expectations.

4. Investment Strategies

Institutional investors and hedge funds leverage APT to design trading strategies that capitalize on market inefficiencies. For example, hedge funds use APT to exploit pricing discrepancies across different markets, maximizing returns through well-calculated arbitrage strategies.

Find out why arbitrage funds are ideal for conservative investors.

Criticism and Limitations of APT

Difficult to Identify Factors: Unlike CAPM, which has a single beta, APT does not specify which factors should be included in the model. Analysts must determine relevant risk factors based on historical data and market trends.

Data Sensitivity: The effectiveness of APT depends on the accuracy of data and the correct identification of risk factors. Minor miscalculations or incorrect assumptions can significantly alter expected returns.

Complexity: Applying APT requires sophisticated statistical models, making it less accessible for retail investors. Unlike CAPM, which offers a straightforward risk-return relationship, APT involves advanced econometric techniques that require expertise.

Market Assumptions: While APT assumes no arbitrage, real-world markets may not always be perfectly efficient. Market anomalies, regulatory changes, and unexpected macroeconomic events can disrupt arbitrage opportunities, making theoretical models less reliable in practical applications.

The Future of Arbitrage Pricing Theory

With advancements in artificial intelligence and big data analytics, APT is becoming more powerful in predicting asset prices and managing risks. Modern financial institutions leverage machine learning algorithms to analyze vast amounts of economic data, identifying patterns and correlations that influence asset returns. As markets become increasingly complex, APT will continue to evolve, integrating new risk factors and improving investment decision-making.

Conclusion

Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) is a powerful and flexible framework for asset pricing that accounts for multiple risk factors. Unlike CAPM, it offers a more comprehensive approach to evaluating investment returns. While APT has limitations, it remains a valuable tool for portfolio management, risk assessment, and investment strategy formulation.

To learn more about investment opportunities and strategies, visit our investor page or explore our administrative body.

By incorporating APT into your investment approach, you can make well-informed decisions that align with market dynamics and risk factors. Stay ahead in the investment world by leveraging the insights offered by Arbitrage Pricing Theory.

FAQs

How the Arbitrage Pricing Theory Works?

APT works by assuming that the return of an asset is influenced by various independent factors, rather than a single market risk. By analyzing how an asset reacts to changes in economic variables, investors can predict future returns more accurately.

How Arbitrage Pricing Theory Is Used?

APT is used in financial modeling, portfolio management, and asset valuation. Investment firms rely on APT to determine expected returns based on market conditions and multiple risk factors.

What Is the Difference Between CAPM and Arbitrage Pricing Theory?

The key difference lies in the number of risk factors considered. CAPM relies on a single risk factor (market risk), while APT considers multiple economic and firm-specific risk factors, offering a more comprehensive view.

What Are the Limitations of APT?

APT's limitations include the difficulty of identifying the correct risk factors, model complexity, and variation of factors across different markets.

What Is the Main Advantage of APT?

The main advantage of APT is its flexibility, allowing for a more realistic and dynamic evaluation of asset pricing by incorporating multiple risk factors.

What Are the Practical Uses of APT?

APT is used in risk management, asset pricing, and portfolio optimization. Investors utilize it to assess the impact of different economic conditions on asset returns.

How Does APT Handle Market Anomalies?

APT helps explain market anomalies by factoring in multiple economic and company-specific risks, which traditional models like CAPM may overlook.

Can APT Predict Market Crashes?

While APT cannot predict market crashes, it provides insights into how various risk factors contribute to market volatility, helping investors hedge against significant losses.

How Is APT Applied in Real Estate Investments?

Real estate investors use APT to assess property values based on macroeconomic indicators such as interest rates, inflation, and GDP growth.

Is APT Suitable for Individual Investors?

Yes, individual investors can use APT to diversify their portfolios by identifying assets that react differently to economic changes, thereby reducing risk exposure.

[anim-ttrpgs]

Why You Should Try Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy Part 10: It Has Intense Action

This is part 10 of a multi-part series of posts about the awesome features of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy, in no particular order.

Find the earlier parts here:

Part 1 Link: We Worked Hard on It!

Part 2 Link: It's Easy to Learn!

Part 3 Link: It's Easy to GM!

Part 4 Link: It's Easy to GM and Supports Narrative and Roleplay!

Part 5 Link: It Revolutionizes Investigation and Mystery Solving in TTRPGs

Part 6 Link: PCs are Not Just Mystery Solving Automatons

Part 7 Link: Excellent Time-Keeping Mechanics Keep the Pressure On

Part 8 Link: Fun and Easy Character Creation

Part 9 Link: Themes of Disability

For a while in its development, Eureka had a section dedicated to combat, but now that section is more broadly called “dangerous situations.” It’s rare, but dangerous situations will inevitably come up. The question is, will the PCs be prepared for them? Eureka has rules to cover everything from gunshot wounds to car crashes, from falling off buildings to drowning. If something bad can happen to a person, there’s probably a section in the rulebook covering how it would affect a Eureka PC mechanically. A lot of the times the answer will be they die, but how fast they die, and what they can do to save themselves in that time, is crucial.

Eureka takes a very “trad RPG” approach to this sort of thing, where violence and other dangers are something highly lethal, and therefore best avoided if the PCs are smart, but that the nature of what they’re doing means that it’s bound to happen eventually, and therefore the game rules need to provide a lot of “tools” and options within those situations, thereby creating agency over whether they live or die. PCs do not necessarily have to have “good” combat stats to survive, as many players so far can attest. It encourages them to be clever and cautious about things, and allows them to exorcise that cleverness and caution, without bogging the game down in too many numbers or charts.

Weapons will usually take any character down in one to two hits, and even when unarmed, characters have a wide variety of techniques that they can attempt, including the world’s first ever TTRPG grappling rules that are actually fun and advantageous!

Guns are as deadly in Eureka as in real life, and the type of gun matters a lot. That isn’t to say the exact model makes a huge difference, that would be too granular for what we’re attempting to do. A Glock 19 and a Beretta 92 would both fall under “Semi-Automatic Pistol” and function identically. Trust us, this all runs smoothly once you read it.

Bullets do 4 Penetrative Damage each, and most firearm categories are capable of firing multiple bullets within a single turn, each rolled separately. Direct hits are usually fight-ending, but that isn’t as easy as it sounds. Even with a high Firearms skill, these shots are being taken under extreme duress, and factors like cover, distance, movement, etc. will affect them too. Most shots fired will miss, and you might think that would be boring, but it’s not because of the next thing I’m going to talk about.

The Woo Roll

Named after director John Woo, the Woo Roll is a mechanic that’s makes it so that bullets don’t just disappear into thin air when they miss.

When any shot misses, a Woo Roll is made, which means something is going to happen that changes the situation as a result of that shot. (That’s one Woo Roll per turn, no matter whether one or thirty shots miss.) This roll determines whether the effect is good or bad for the shooter. A good result might mean that the shot hits a fire extinguisher behind the target, spraying him with foam and gas, disrupting his next shot. A bad result might mean the shot hits a gas line, and now the building is on fire. Usually the rule is that it’s whatever the most obvious and interesting thing within the confines of being good or bad for the shooter, but if there isn’t anything around, then we also have tables you can roll on.

Chase Mechanics

Combat is only likely to last a few rounds, but everything characters do in those rounds is crucial. These situations dynamic and deadly, and evolve rapidly, and if things are going south, run away!

Eureka has rules and incentives that can quickly shift the location of a conflict as one or more parties tries to flee. This works pretty similarly to combat, but, of course, the parties are moving and fighting across larger areas, causing the situation to evolve even more rapidly. Characters will have to overcome obstacles to keep ahead of their pursuers or catch up to their targets. These obstacles are rolled on a table that matches the environment the chase is happening in, heres a few highlights [images of entries]

As you can probably see, some of these obstacles can take a character out as easily as an enemy could. The kind of dynamic, cinematic car and foot chases these rules create are always something special.

[aiweirdness]

AI versus a giraffe with no spots

On July 31, 2023, a giraffe with no spots was born at Brights Zoo in Tennessee.

Image recognition algorithms are trained on a variety of images from around the internet, and/or on a few standard image datasets. But there likely haven't been any spotless giraffes in their training data, since the last one to be born was probably in 1972 in Tokyo. How do they do when faced with photos of the spotless giraffe?

Here's Multi-Modal In-Context Learning:

And InstructBLIP, which was more eloquent but also added lots of spurious detail.

More examples at AiWeirdness.com

Are these crummy image recognition models? Not unusually so. As far as I can tell with a brief poke around, MMICL and InstructBLIP are modern models (as of Aug 2023), fairly high up on the leaderboards of models answering questions about images. Their demonstration pages (and InstructBLIP's paper) are full of examples of the models providing complete and sensible-looking answers about images.

Then why are they so bad at Giraffe With No Spots?

I can think of three main factors here:

AI does best on images it's seen before. We know AI is good at memorizing stuff; it might even be that some of the images in the examples and benchmarks are in the training datasets these algorithms used. Giraffe With No Spots may be especially difficult not only because the giraffe is unusual, but because it's new to the internet.

AI tends to sand away the unusual. It's trained to answer with the most likely answer to your question, which is not necessarily the most correct answer.

The papers and demonstration sites are showcasing their best work. Whereas I am zeroing in on their worst work, because it's entertaining and because it's a cautionary tale about putting too much faith in AI image recognition.

[mythosaursarecool]

Hi, I love Mythos, she’s awesome. Could we get a closer look at her harness, beskar’ta and bes’mabur? I really love the whole design but her straps & pauldron remind me of Kratos (God of War franchise) and that’s just all sorts of extra awesome

My what a lovely excuse to actually sit down and draw a good and proper saddle reference! Thanks for the ask!

Mythos saddle and armor is modeled with flexibility in mind. She has full range of motion with her shoulders for running,climbing, and swimming. The only actual beskar in her armor is her singular shoulder pauldron, given to her by the Armorer of Dins tribe when he was instructed to teach them her history and her kar"ta beskar (iron heart) that little diamond shaped part on her chest, which she has had since birth.

For my lore mythosaurs don’t actually need all the strappy bits to keep the armor on it will just stay in place because ✨mythosaur magic✨ and it being the metal of their people. But the additional add ons of leather and metal makes the pieces much harder to remove from their wearer wile also giving hand holds for a rider to scramble up and hold onto to.

The saddle itself has some inspiration drawn from western and Australian trail riding saddles as I’ve ridden in both and wanted to factor in both the comfort and functionality of those saddles. It sports both a horn and a set of bar like handles and a high back so that a rider can hold on for steep climbs or particularly speedy or bumpy miniver.

The gear can’t be removed without first taking the saddle off, a very multi step presses that requires Mythos to cooperate with you. It can however be removed by Mythos herself when she’s not walking around all big like that (no I will not elaborate I got something in the future to explain that)

Din will tell you the blanket Mythos uses ass a saddle blanket is ugly but she picked it out herself and likes it a lot. It’s a muted orange to nod at the orange paint Mandalorian use to represent "list for life" wile still being my preferred use of more muted tones

[delicateperspective]

So now she wants to be a popstar??!?!

So, theres now a new article from the Sun, and it’s honestly hilarious how bold they’re being. Like, they’re not even trying to sell us a love story any more. No “forever and always,” no “Louis has found The One.” Nope, it’s straight-up, “This is probably good for her career.”

I mean, at least they’re honest?

They’re literally hyping Zara for “dating up” and calling this relationship a “clever move” to help her focus on her “true passion”—music. Because apparently, being linked to Louis gives her a better shot at a chart-topping career than, you know, actual talent. They’re not even hiding that this is a PR chess move.

The funniest part? They’re not even trying to make this seem long-term. It’s all about short-term benefits: getting Zara back into music and boosting her profile. Louis is basically just a stepping stone, and they’re not even sugarcoating it.

Look, we don’t know why Louis agreed to this—maybe it’s tied to contracts, favors, or something bigger we don’t see yet. Remember how wild Holilva seemed until we figured out that A*off had financial stake in DWD and then we got My Policeman which seemed like some sort of tradeoff? Same chaotic vibes here.

So yeah, it’s messy. It’s obvious. But stunts like this are rarely random. Zara’s getting her career boost, the tabloids are eating it up, and Louis? Well, we’ll see what his angle is soon enough. Until then, let’s just laugh at how unsubtle this is and keep the Faith in the Future

OH AND DONT GIVE THE SUN CLICKS.

If you want to read an article, use https://12ft.io/proxy to get around the paywall.

ONE DIRECTION 

The secret reason why Zara McDermott grew close to Louis Tomlinson and the clever way she always ‘dates up’

Zara's true passion has taken a back seat in recent years, insiders say

Dan Cain, Senior Showbiz Reporter

Published: 12:48, 18 Mar 2025

Updated: 12:48, 18 Mar 2025

LUCKY in love Zara McDermott has scored herself a pop prince after she was snapped on a date.

And we can reveal the secret reason she’s growing close to new man Louis Tomlinson, 33.

The Love Island beauty, who split from ex-boyfriend Sam Thompson over Christmas, was pictured with Louis at a hotel in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, just days after One Direction fans began speculating they were an item.

Though it’s still very early days, onlookers said they looked a happy couple as they giggled while drinking cocktails and eating fish and chips.

The pair stayed at the £315-a-night hotel before travelling to London the next day.

The stunning duo have all the attributes to become the new showbiz power couple, thanks to his huge global One Direction fanbase and her ties to the popular Love Island and reality TV market.

And a romance with Louis finally gives Zara, 28 - who has always dreamt of her own chart-topping music career - a firm footing in the music scene. 

Not only that, but some say Zara has seriously upgraded - from love with an E4 reality favourite to a multi-millionaire global superstar.

Finding romance with Louis follows Zara’s pattern of "dating up" - a clever move of falling for ever more successful, high-profile men. 

A source said: “Zara’s undoubtedly hot property in her own right and one of Love Island’s most successful breakout stars.

“She’s always done well to reinvent herself over the years and has been prepared to make the necessary changes to her career and personal life to take things to the next level. 

“But while her modelling and TV work have progressed, her true passion - music - has taken a bit of a back seat.

“A relationship with Louis would allow her to submerge herself into music and let her focus on her passion that she has neglected in recent years.”

The former civil servant regularly showcases her impressive voice on social media, which is no surprise to those who tuned into Celebrity X Factor in 2019 and watched Zara perform as part of No Love Lost.

But she hasn’t been able to replicate the musical success of bandmates Wes Nelson and Samira Mighty, who are now fully focused on careers in the music business.

Wes is a bona fide solo star with a number three hit and a collaboration with Craig David, while Samira has had her music played by Radio 1 and reached the top five of the UK club chart.

Since her X Factor stint, Zara has turned her hand to making serious documentaries such as Uncovering Rape Culture and Inside Ibiza, the latter of which took a look at the dark side of the party island.

Though Louis previously stated that he wasn’t interested in anything to do with Love Island, he seems to have changed his mind after his siblings endorsed Zara.

Fans recently noticed how heartthrob Louis began following Zara - who was already Instagram friends with his twin sisters Daisy and Phoebe, 20, as well as his older sister Lottie who is a makeup artist to the stars. 

There’s even been speculation Zara’s next TV project might involve the siblings and that this is how the pair met. 

But regardless of their professional connection, the Tomlinson girls paved the way for Zara and Louis to begin dating by giving her a glowing review.

An insider said: “Louis is so famous that meeting a girl authentically on a dating app or down the local pub is practically impossible.

“He’s very close to his sisters and knows they have his best interests at heart.

“The fact they have actively given Zara their blessing says a lot about her character.

“It’s been a very difficult past few months following the death of Liam [Payne].

“He realises life is too short and Louis is determined to make 2025 a positive year for himself and live life to the full - and Zara could play a major part in that.”

Despite being worlds apart, it appears opposites do attract as Zara and Louis’ backgrounds couldn’t be more different.

Working class Doncaster lad Louis’ journey to superstardom began in 2010 when he applied to the X Factor as a solo artist.

During the process, show mogul Simon Cowell pieced together rejected hopefuls Louis, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik to create One Direction.

Though they didn’t win the series, they were its breakout stars and went on to become the biggest boyband in the world.

Just five years later, the shock departure of Zayn marked the beginning of the end of the group.

At the same time, Zara was embarking on a promising career in the civil service as Operational Officer and Correspondence Drafter for the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Two years on, as Louis released a top 10 solo track with Bebe Rexha, Zara became a Policy Advisor for the Department for Education, before going on to find her first taste of fame in the Love Island villa the following year.

During her time in Majorca, Zara had a sizzling romance with tall, dark and handsome Adam Collard, widely considered the ultimate Love Island hunk.

The relationship was short-lived in the real world though, with Adam insisting it had naturally run its course while Zara said she would always hold a special place in her heart for him.

It didn’t take long for either to move on and just months later Zara started a relationship with Made In Chelsea’s Sam Thompson, with the pair posing for loved-up selfies on social media.

However, the romance was dealt a huge blow early on after it emerged Zara had cheated on Sam with top music executive Brahim Fouradi - an associate of Simon Cowell’s - while competing on X Factor.

Formerly an International A&R Manager for Cowell’s label Syco, Zara’s ill-judged tryst with Fouradi hinted at her desire to fall for the bright lights and trappings of the music biz.

[ponyregrets]

okay, quick plug time! in preparation for our coming puppy, I was looking into solutions to protect cat food from dogs and found microchip bowls, which I had never heard of, but I now love???? even if we were not getting a puppy I would want them as a multi-cat household, I just had no idea they existed

for the record, we got the surepet microchip feeder, which is pricey! but we wanted a model that would work with wet food and it came highly reviewed and like I said, we love it

the way it works is that there's a hinged plastic cover over the food dish, and an arch with microchip readers in front of the dish. you add pets (it's very easy) and then the feeder will only open for the pets with the corresponding chips. it closes naturally after a few seconds (you can choose from one to three) and also I think closes faster if an unauthorized pet tries to get in there. it also does keep wet food fresher as it's sealed shut, which is a nice bonus.

our cats like to graze, which has always been a problem with meals because we couldn't really regulate how much they ate very well. set feeding times didn't work because Nike especially just wouldn't eat enough, just take two or three bites and wander off. she's always been like this, even before I had Echo, and I struggled for solutions but never found a good one until now. her appetite has actually increased now that she's realized she has her own private bowl, which is amazing and I didn't expect it at all. we're hoping she's going to put on some more weight and Echo will lose some, and it seems more likely now as I see Nike eating all her food before Echo has had all of hers.

we did have to purchase an additional "hood" to protect the sides and top of the bowls, which is an annoying extra cost, but honestly I think wouldn't have been needed if not for the puppy factor. it also does run on batteries, so you have to keep C batteries stocked. but seriously, in only a week I feel so much better about feeding time, and the cats also seem much more secure in having their own, dedicated bowls. highly recommend for multi-cat households!!

(if your cats don't have microchips, as Nike doesn't due to her vet trauma, they also come with collar tags you can use. our cats also hadn't worn collars before due to being strictly indoor cats, but we got some velcro ones recommended for cats who didn't like collars and not only do they not seem to mind them, they somehow look even cuter in their little collars)

[mysticstronomy]

A MISSING PIECE IN THE BIG BANG THEORY HAS SURFACED??

Blog#411

Wednesday, June 19th, 2024.

Welcome back,

Combining different pieces from Big Bang cosmology could help explain an issue we have today.

The Hubble constant, the speed of expansion of our universe, is not observed with consistency.

These scientists suggest that not-well-understood quantum gravity could account for the gap.

In research published earlier this year, physicists from the University of Hyderabad in India say they’re on the path to solving one of the universe’s biggest outstanding problems. Since Edwin Hubble realized the universe is always expanding nearly 100 years ago, scientists have used the “Hubble constant” in calculations on virtually every scale in the universe.

But today, estimates for the Hubble constant don’t always align, with a difference of up to 10 percent between calculations made using different methods. (When someone at NASA mixes up meters and yards and loses an entire spacecraft, that’s not even a full 10 percent deviation.)

The paper appears in the peer reviewed journal Classical and Quantum Gravity. The journal has an ongoing, periodically updated “focus issue” specifically about this measurement tension, and the editors explain the problem there—scientists can’t say for sure that the different Hubble constants measured are actually different, rather than just observation or calibration issues.

But the authors of the new paper, physicist P.K. Suresh and his research fellow (referred to as just Anupama B.) say that most measurements taken now are reliable. Instrumentation only continues to improve—we’ve all seen those generation-defining, poster-quality photos of the far-out planets, for example. If the measurements on the local and faraway levels are indeed sound, then something is missing.

It’s here where they introduce quantum gravity as a possible factor. This variable—which, to be honest, is another enigmatic “placeholder” in some ways—could close the gap in Hubble constant observations. That’s because, as the authors propose, quantum gravity could have affected the rate of change at which the universe expanded itself. When a constant can have a variable rate of change, it’s easy to see why researchers tend to drop the ‘constant’ label and instead call the fatcor simply H0, H1, and so on to designate which version of the measurement is in play.

The researchers explain that during inflation—the rapid growth of the universe immediately following the Big Bang—there may not have been a single, uniform inflation zone. Instead, more and more scientists are theorizing around the idea of “multi field” inflation. The idea originated to explain another measurement discrepancy: the number of particles in particular places or times, compared with the massive speed of inflation overall.

If a theory could help explain one gap in our codified equations for how inflation works, it makes sense to try that theory to find other missing pieces. These researchers used what is called the hybrid inflationary model, which describes two fields: one inflating and one rolling over like a waterfall. By accounting for quantum gravity, they found they were able to reconcile H0—the current Hubble constant—with both H1 (during inflation) and HT (during phase transition). Just one adjusted equation with a parameter for quantum gravity could draw a curve that includes all three data points.

Originally published on www.popularmechanics.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, June 22nd, 2024)

"WHAT IS THE OLDEST BLACK HOLE IN OUR UNIVERSE??"

[catenary-chad]

The SNCF CC 40100 (and its Nez Cassé relatives)

Thought I’d do an info/context post on these engines since a lot of the fandom doesn’t seem to know much about them.  It’s more or less implied canon that this is the engine Electra is, his replica helmet is based on SNCF 40104 specifically, complete with number plate.  Further down I also go into how I like to incorporate/interpret some of the history of these engines with the character.  

For those of you totally new to trains: SNCF is the French nationalized rail system.  The CC 40100 came out in the mid-late 60s as the first of the Nez Cassé line of locomotives, probably the most iconic French trains until the TGVs.�� They were a line of express passenger/fast freight locomotives that came out between the 60s and early 90s that all had a distinct “broken” front silhouette that looks very 80s despite being first designed more than two decades before Stex came out.  

The CC 40100 was a funky, relatively experimental model designed to take four different voltages so it could travel over most of western Europe on the new, high-end Trans Europ Express services.  In both the northeast US and much of Europe, electrification was done piecemeal over several decades by different companies/nations, resulting in a patchwork of AC and DC lines running different voltages and/or frequencies, as well as both third rail and overhead wire.  Dual voltage electric engines have existed since the turn of the century, but demand for triple and even quadruple-voltage electric trains didn’t develop in Europe until the rise of the EU and border-crossing trains like the TEE that would otherwise need an engine change or use diesel power to run on multiple countries’ systems and standards.  There were a number of triple and quadruple-voltage engines and MUs developed in the 60s for this purpose, but the CC 40100 was notably stronger than many of them, to work heavier trains and due to anticipated use on mountainous lines in Switzerland.    

Technologically, the CC 40100 had DC traction motors, technological limits restricted the use of AC ones until the 80s-90s.  They ran at 1500 V DC, could also take 3000 V DC by changing motor connections, and had transformer and rectifier equipment for taking two voltages and frequencies of AC power.  Unusually, they had four pantographs, many multi-voltage engines were built to work on third rail lines and a more common setup was one or two pantographs and a “shoe” collector for third rail.  They also never ended up using their fourth 15kV 16 2/3 Hz AC voltage for German/Swiss running in regular service and it’s a little hard to find out why, I’ve heard both technical concerns with equipment getting hot or political factors. 

It made the CC 40100 relatively complicated, unreliable, and expensive to run (and the weight of the equipment is why it had six axles in a Co-Co arrangement vs the more common four—axle Bo-Bo setup).  There were some interesting features like a gas-filled vs oil-filled transformer to save weight, and corrugated stainless steel body panels like American Budd railcars. They never got used to their full potential for various political/practical reasons and the quad-voltage capability became a delicate overkill, so only ten were made. TEE also fell out of relevance into the 80s as business travelers moved to planes and the market for first-class trains declined.  They had a more limited use and service life than other Nez Cassé engines as a result, though 25-35 years is still a decent run and comparable to other TEE multi-voltage engines of the era.    As a fun bonus, one was restored and runs excursions today (40110) and there’s lots of video on youtube!  Apparently the group that runs it also has a steam engine and I can’t help but wonder how maintenance compares.  

Canon Electra accurately reflects a number of traits of these engines (though I take issue with them being picked as a representative of electric traction because they’re pretty specialized and atypical).  AC and DC are both okay by them, they almost exclusively ran first-class TEE services, and were prone to overheating and catching fire.  Not exploding though, THAT’S almost purely the domain of steam engines.  Bidding the Nationals farewell in “No Comeback” in their various languages and not having a clear country of origin also tie in well to the 40100’s intended use as a pan-European engine.  As a very fun cultural link, the Kraftwerk song “Trans Europ Express��� mentions David Bowie and I can’t help but wonder if that’s why they chose this engine as a basis for Electra.  The song definitely has a similar vibe to the character, though the CC 40100s never ran the exact route mentioned in the song, since they never ran in Germany in general.  As an even more fun cultural link that was probably unintended, this song and Kraftwerk in general were really popular in early hip hop and techno circles…. which also checks out to the direction Electra took in the actual production.  

From the illustrious sources of reddit and translated youtube comments, French railfans really like these engines, even if a lot of the Anglophone internet thinks they look weird.  They have a status akin to the Concorde as a symbol of attempted European collaboration and unity.  They could also be compared to a more modern Santa Fe Super Chief, in terms of being a flashy luxury train that was popular in model/toy form.  The Nez Cassé classes in general seem to have an E/F-unit esque “iconic colorful, glamorous old engine strongly associated with a specific country” reputation on general.  “The TGV is numerically better but these are SHINIER” is a common sentiment.  They were physically loud in service between the motor whine and loud cooling fans, there’s some good cab ride footage on youtube where you can hear it.  “Diva Electra” is a lot closer to their reputation than the eerie lifeless zombie of the workshop.  There are/were eerily silent electric engines, but those with DC motors rarely were, they brake with giant resistors that get hot like a space heater or toaster and need loud, powerful cooling fans. 

So ironically, Electra’s “face” is an engine more akin to an electric, European equivalent of Greaseball culturally.  Actually very dated technologically, if anything most of their problems were because they were designed well before computers.  Hardly threatening and if anything more seen as a symbol of optimism and progress.  Which ends up reflecting a lot when it’s demonized by media from a country with infamously limited electrification progress vs mainland Europe (the more I learn about British train politics then and now the more I can’t take Stex at face value).  

OTHER NEZ CASSÉ CLASSES

These videos give a great overview (in French but have English subs)

Co-Co (larger) models:

Bo-Bo (smaller) models:

First of all, if you ever want a cheap idea for an Electra recolor OC, there was a Belgian equivalent to the CC 40100 that looks just like that.  These ones actually ran services in Germany!

I’ve joked about it before but there was also a very successful diesel Nez Cassé, the CC 72000, which is basically the French equivalent of Greaseball.  Big (by European standards) mixed traffic fast freight/passenger engine that lasted about 50 years, covering the increasingly few non-electrified lines in France.  

There were also a bunch of more typical 1-3 voltage electric Nez Casse types built for use in France and a number of other countries (Portugal, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Korea… and some failed systems in Morocco and Brazil).  Most of these worked notably well and ran for 30+ years, quite a number still run today in Slovenia, Portugal, and on some low-end French trains that haven’t been replaced by EMUs.  I would broadly describe them as very typical European-style mixed traffic engines capable of passenger or faster freight services, their role is comparable to something like a Siemens Eurosprinter or Bombardier TRAXX today.  Ironically NOT a dedicated high speed train power car and a relatively antiquated but durable and versatile style.  Locomotive-hauled trains have become increasingly uncommon in Europe in favor of EMUs with the decline in rail freight, among other factors.  People seem to really like the old loco-hauled French trains still running since they use really comfortable older coaches and are pretty cheap, lower-speed options.  

I’m prone to swapping Electra’s basis a bit to the related CC 6500 and its variants because it opens a lot of interesting history and is a more “typical” electric engine.  These were a beefier, more versatile first-gen Nez Cassé model also used on pre-TGV fast trains and later heavier freight trains.  There’s some amusing youtube videos of them pulling big gritty tanker trains with their pretty flashy looks.  They also weren’t used as long as the later smaller Bo-Bo electric models since they’re a bit overkill for most uses, EMUs have gradually taken over passenger services, freight services declined, and the Co-Co arrangement can be tougher on track.  Their freight-oriented close relatives in Slovenia are still going though!  

But they have the VERY interesting link of one (X996) being trialled by Amtrak in the late 70s as a replacement for the 40+ year old GG1s that were physically falling apart, and the freight-derived GE E60s that couldn’t manage the speeds required on the Northeast Corridor. Sources seem to vary on just how hopeless and ill-advised the endeavor was, but basically, X996 didn’t work well due to the terrible track condition of the Northeast Corridor vs typical French lines.  To summarize a very deep-seated and messy issue: it was cobbled together from several 50+ year old, often poorly maintained mainlines and has been underinvested in since until VERY recently.  They went with the X995 instead, a Swedish Rc model that worked a lot better since Swedish rail conditions are generally closer to the US.  And also a design that dated back to the mid-60s.  The AEM-7s based on them ran until the late 2010s, the last one actually got retired right around the time Electra got de-toothpasted in 2018

This alternate timeline aspect is what got me into Amtrak history and eventually American electrification in general.  I doubt any of the creators were aware of X996, but the context behind a Nez Cassé style engine running in a vaguely US environment changes a lot.  It implies an alternate timeline where the NEC was improved enough for it to actually work practically and opens the door for some tragically attainable sci-fi about “what if neoliberalism hadn’t taken over and the US invested in a passable passenger rail system?”.  It makes me imagine nearly 50-year old funny nosed French trains running  grimy fast freight trains in Pennsylvania or dragging on New Jersey Transit commuter trains in their twilight years.  It feels weirdly natural with just how violently 70s they look with the Amtrak livery, they’d blend right in with how violently 70s many US trains look today, that’s how old they actually are.  

It’s also where my more unhinged and sacrilegious opinions flipping the steam/electric dynamic and rejecting canon’s framing came from.  Because it totally flips the circumstances of rail transport and gives a cohesive explanation for many“stupid and incorrect” aspects of Electra.  Now Electra is more a business-class train at best, running on a notoriously run down and underfunded network in an era where electrification looked like it would finally expand but never did (due to the party and politics of “needn’t ask the world to turn around and help you”).  No Comeback goes from a shitty tantrum to pretty tragic in light of the US resoundingly turning to fossil fuels in the 80s and even steam preservation doing better than electrification did then.  And in the context of a country that’s 99% unelectrified that was running electric trains from the 30s and even as old as the 1910s… suddenly a 60s-70s era engine is actually pretty futuristic and being electric is an important selling point and being proud and defensive of it makes sense.  Electra skewing Grace Jones at times even works out well because being unappreciated and running off to Europe fits the rejection of X996 and expanding electrification in general. I think early Amtrak is a compelling setting for the show in general since there was a chaotic mix of secondhand equipment and trials of foreign engines to explain the races, and basically every character could feasibly coexist besides Rusty (and my fundamental problems with him are their own even longer post).  

Electra as a more “typical” Co-Co Nez Cassé is also why I gravitate towards a lot headcanons/preferences that are far removed from the original or typical character choices.   Tall and thin?  The Northeast Corridor has fairly low clearances, it makes sense to be medium-short, modernish electric engines usually aren’t that big anyways, especially compared to other US rolling stock.  X996 would be a bit smaller and comparable speed-wise but actually stronger than Greaseball.  Internal combustion was still fairly competitive with electric traction speed-wise in the 70s-80s, you still had attempts at high-speed turbine trains and the TGV had originally been planned as one pre-oil crisis.  Ironically, the big advantage pure electric engines had (and still have) IS strength and power (especially per weight) because they don’t have to carry their own fuel source and massive electric motors were established long before effective high-horsepower rail diesel engines were.  I really can’t overstate how weirdly impressive it is that Mykal is the most train-accurate Electra and I love that he ends up being a lot of people’s first exposure to the character due to being in almost all the English legal video.  The hotter/bolder personality vs being delicate and anxious. The jarring mix of being a glamorous diva train but ridiculously beefy physically is so dead-on to how French people describe the 6500s and Co-Co models in general.  Even being unusually old and increasingly visually beat up while slapping a coat of glittery paint on it is so dead on to struggling passenger networks running sometimes absurdly old trains and putting on a sparkly veneer to improve PR.  

Anyways, this has been an exploration of the irl engines behind Electra and their often underappreciated yet widespread significance.  This also explains a lot of the method behind my madness and contrarianism with this character.  Go forth and make an army of funny nose French trains in any color and country you want.  Seriously, this style was so widespread and generally beloved you can justify them almost anywhere and even some of the old diesel units are getting moved to secondary markets today.  

[covid-safer-hotties]

Preserved in our archive

A research letter from 2022 highlighting the effects of even "mild" covid on the brain.

Dear Editor,

A recent study published in Nature by Douaud and colleagues1 shows that SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with longitudinal effects, particularly on brain structures linked to the olfactory cortex, modestly accelerated reduction in global brain volume, and enhanced cognitive decline. Thus, even mild COVID-19 can be associated with long-lasting deleterious effects on brain structure and function.

Loss of smell and taste are amongst the earliest and most common effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In addition, headaches, memory problems, confusion, or loss of speech and motility occur in some individuals.2 While important progress has been made in understanding SARS-CoV-2-associated neurological manifestations, the underlying mechanisms are under debate and most knowledge stems from analyses of hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19.2 Most infected individuals, however, develop mild to moderate disease and recover without hospitalization. Whether or not mild COVID-19 is associated with long-term neurological manifestations and structural changes indicative of brain damage remained largely unknown.

Douaud and co-workers examined 785 participants of the UK Biobank (www.ukbiobank.ac.uk) who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) twice with an average inter-scan interval of 3.2 years, and 401 individuals testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection between MRI acquisitions (Fig. 1a). Strengths of the study are the large number of samples, the availability of scans obtained before and after infection, and the multi-parametric quantitative analyses of serial MRI acquisitions.1 These comprehensive and automated analyses with a non-infected control group allowed the authors to dissect consistent brain changes caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection from pre-existing conditions. Altogether, the MRI scan processing pipeline used extracted more than 2,000 features, named imaging-derived phenotypes (IDPs), from each participant’s imaging data. Initially, the authors focused on IDPs involved in the olfactory system. In agreement with the frequent impairment of smell and taste in COVID-19, they found greater atrophy and indicators of increased tissue damage in the anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and insula, as well as in the ventral striatum, amygdala, hippocampus and para-hippocampal gyrus, which are connected to the primary olfactory cortex (Fig. 1b). Taking advantage of computational models allowing to differentiate changes related to SARS-CoV-2 infection from physiological age-related brain changes (e.g. decreases of brain volume with aging),3 they also explored IDPs covering the entire brain. Although most individuals experienced only mild symptoms of COVID-19, the authors detected an accelerated reduction in whole-brain volume and more pronounced cognitive declines associated with increased atrophy of a cognitive lobule of the cerebellum (crus II) in individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to the control group. These differences remained significant when 15 people who required hospitalization were excluded. Most brain changes for IDPs were moderate (average differences between the two groups of 0.2–2.0%, largest for volume of parahippocampal gyrus and entorhinal cortex) and accelerated brain volume loss was “only” observed in 56–62% of infected participants. Nonetheless, these results strongly suggest that even clinically mild COVID-19 might induce long-term structural alterations of the brain and cognitive impairment.

The study provides unique insights into COVID-19-associated changes in brain structure. The authors took great care in appropriately matching the case and control groups, making it unlikely that observed differences are due to confounding factors, although this possibility can never be entirely excluded. The mechanisms underlying these infection-associated changes, however, remain to be clarified. Viral neurotropism and direct infection of cells of the olfactory system, neuroinflammation and lack of sensory input have been suggested as reasons for the degenerative events in olfactory-related brain structures and neurological complications.4 These mechanisms are not mutually exclusive and may synergize in causing neurodegenerative disorders as consequence of COVID-19.

The study participants became infected between March 2020 and April 2021, before the emergence of the Omicron variant of concern (VOC) that currently dominates the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time period, the Alpha and Beta VOCs dominated in the UK and all results were obtained from individuals between 51 and 81 years of age. It will be of great interest to clarify whether Omicron, that seems to be less pathogenic than other SARS-CoV-2 variants, also causes long-term brain damage. The vaccination status of the participants was not available in the study1 and it will be important to clarify whether long-term changes in brain structure also occur in vaccinated and/or younger individuals. Other important questions are whether these structural changes are reversible or permanent and may even enhance the frequency for neurodegenerative diseases that are usually age-related, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or Huntington’s disease. Previous findings suggest that cognitive disorders improve over time after severe COVID-19;5 yet it remains to be determined whether the described brain changes will translate into symptoms later in life such as dementia. Douaud and colleagues report that none of top 10 IDPs correlated significantly with the time interval between SARS-CoV-2 infection and the 2nd MRI acquisition, suggesting that the observed abnormalities might be very long-lasting.

Currently, many restrictions and protective measures are relaxed because Omicron is highly transmissible but usually causes mild to moderate acute disease. This raises hope that SARS-CoV-2 may evolve towards reduced pathogenicity and become similar to circulating coronaviruses causing mild respiratory infections. More work needs to be done to clarify whether the current Omicron and future variants of SARS-CoV-2 may also cause lasting brain abnormalities and whether these can be prevented by vaccination or therapy. However, the finding by Douaud and colleagues1 that SARS-CoV-2 causes structural changes in the brain that may be permanent and could relate to neurological decline is of concern and illustrates that the pathogenesis of this virus is markedly different from that of circulating human coronaviruses. Further studies, to elucidate the mechanisms underlying COVID-19-associated neurological abnormalities and how to prevent or reverse them are urgently needed.

REFERENCES (Follow link)

[buggibat]

thinking about how video games usually have you buying items at a shop that has a grocery clerk sort of model. or like a merchant’s stall.

no… show me a video game that makes you wander through a life-size supermarket instead. oh you want a health potion? gotta figure out what fuckin aisle it’s in. pharmacy? sports drinks? condiments? walk around and find out. also you have to spend like 5 minutes standing and staring at the dozen or so options. there’s different flavors and some of them might be cheaper but you gotta factor in the quantity…. and multi-packs…….. should you get a 6 pack of blue raspberry +50 or a single espresso full recovery?

and how about fantasy costco? you want 200 shivs???? that’s wholesale babey

[mari-beau]

Hi! Is ellipsus worth using and is it free? I keep seeing it pop up from time to time and I’m curious

I've been using it instead of Google Docs for like six months I think. And I always have it open in my browser, or use it on my phone, daily tbh.

It's built by people who are anti-AI and pro-fandom, with fan writing in mind, actually. It's very much focused on features for collaborative writing, but I don't cowrite and still find that it does everything I need.

Notable features:

Syncing across multiple devices. I had been using Google Docs for years because a major feature I need is to be able to access my writing from multiple different devices and locations. Ellipsus does this. And has gotten better (sometimes had problem of it not syncing on my phone and then when I opened on my laptop, it wouldn't update until I opened on my phone and forced a sync; but this has happened less frequently and it mostly autosyncs)

Drafts feature. My style of writing, I just don't do drafts that need to be separated out (I don't ever change large chunks of a work that I need to save the original). I think this is helpful for collaborative work. I actually use the drafts for my Outlines and Notes, so I have a quick link right there to access them, and they're kept within the document.

Writing Interface. It's pretty simple in style, which is actually good for writing. They do have a tool bar that you can leave up or hidden, with various formatting options, and an "outline" like Google Docs does (just put a header font in there and shows up on the outline and you have a quick link to jump around)

Cafe Mode I think they officially call it "focus mode" or something but it's a little coffee cup symbol so I think of it as that. This will make just the writing interface take up your whole screen for "distraction-free" writing. I don't use this, as I've been writing in word processors forever and it doesn't bother me to have the features/menus visible.

Timer I think it has a timer you can set. Again, I don't use this.

Collaborative Writing. I don't use this feature, but it looks very similar to how Google Docs sharing works with inviting/giving access to others.

Log-In. It will remember and keep you logged in on a device, but apparently only for set amount of time (unsure how long, as it seems to have random variation). But it is annoying that you can't just log-in with a password; it sends a code to your email. (I won't get into how I am so sick of "multi-factor" verification bs).

Reliability. So far it has never been "down". I do download a backup sometimes (they have several options for quickdownload of a document and are working on more) just out of paranoia.

It's free. But I can't say whether the creators will eventually go to a subscription model or something to cover the expense of the servers and other work (could probably check the "Support" section for any discussion of it - which is also pretty active as they look to develop features users are requesting, etc.)

TL;DR It's free and I do recommend it.

[mistressmochalo]

Osomatsu and Big Brother Syndrome (analysis of character)

Perhaps this is the Matsu who is most afraid of growing up, who wants his carefree life with his brothers to never change. In a sense, HE is one of the reasons why NEET boys are still stuck at the bottom of the social hole, because he is the leader followed by his brothers, and it is his position that influences the rest.

Why exactly the brothers became NEET is a multi-faceted topic for analysis that combines several social and psychological factors, and I will focus on Osomatsu in my essay. Here I will touch on the topic of how the role of an older brother affected him.

To complete the research, of course I should watch Osomatsu-kun, but I will go from what I know.

So, the main problem lies in the model of raising sixtuples chosen by the parents. They are all the same age, the difference in the order of their birth is several minutes, from birth they are equal to each other. It was an extremely strange decision to attach importance to their seniority and build their upbringing on this, so a clear hierarchy inevitably formed between them, with Osomatsu at the head.

Many of those who have younger brothers and sisters are familiar with what it's like to suddenly have a responsibility that you didn't want or ask for (I'm one of them too). In the case of Osomatsu, this seems doubly unfair, because they are gearheads, where the division into seniors and juniors is simply ridiculous.

Childhood is that bright time of our life, where we have no worries, there is nothing to worry about, because there are adults who take care of you and solve your problems. The child does not have this burden of adult life and they can enjoy their time without unnecessary worries.

For parents, the eldest child becomes a kind of substitute for their parents, their little “adult” assistant, he has not yet learned to be responsible for himself, but he should already be responsible for someone else, and no one asks his opinion “you are now the eldest ". As a result, we get a person endowed with the responsibility of an adult, but deprived of the privileges inherent in adults; they are still subject to childhood restrictions.

In the case of Osomatsu, he is the eldest by default at the start. He was deprived of the privileges of a child, the right to be carefree and free from the burden of responsibility.

Throughout the series, he asked a reasonable question: “why the hell am I the eldest, we are sextuplets, we are all the same age!” and it’s hard to disagree with this.

He also repeatedly stated his desire to be an only child, because he lived in constant competition with his brothers; if he were the only one, there would be no competition.

Due to early independence and lack of attention to him as a child from his parents, he had problems with self-determination, and as a result, difficulties in finding his place in life.

On the one hand, he takes on the role of an elder, and on the other hand, he wants to escape from this, tightly clinging to his right to remain a child, which they tried to take away from him. As a result, he was mired in lifelong stagnation.

[solatom123]

By Solomon Lartey, Teeside university student, PhD.

The Evolution of Golfing Techniques and Their Impact on the Sport: A Comprehensive Analysis

1. Introduction

Golf, a sport renowned for its precision and skill, has evolved dramatically over the centuries. From its origins in the rolling hills of Scotland to the manicured greens of today’s most prestigious courses, golfing techniques have been shaped by time, culture, and innovation. This analysis will explore the progression of these techniques and their profound impact on the sport, delving into the evolution of equipment, the pivotal role of technology in coaching, and the elevation of professional golfing to an elite industry.

Early golf sought to master a simple set of mechanics, and the dawn of golf videos shifted focus from ball trajectory to player form, highlighting posture and club angle at impact. From the 1970s onwards, advancements in swing analysis used electronics to monitor motion variables, transitioning from early video analysis to formats that monitored forwards yaws, hip and trunk rotation, and shoulder angles. Concurrently, various swing theories and techniques emerged, and educators turned to addressing the psychological nature of golf for performance enhancement. These combined techniques made it possible for experts to implement customized golf swings for increased power and accuracy.

In 1995, the worldwide interest in professional golf was further magnified by the advent of the Tiger Woods era. Golf, long considered an elite game of leisure, became a multi-billion dollar and highly magnified industry, resulting in an unprecedented boom in tourism. The rise in interest has positively impacted various areas linked to golf, ranging from equipment manufacturing to courses and hotels. The golf tourism factor has closely stimulated social needs and encouraging research into enhancing player performance. Attention spans have been decreasing, shifting focus on the macro to the micro. As world championships can be won with a last putt from roughly 60 feet or ca four frozen seconds of the putt rolling over the lips, and as research has shown the game to be played under 5 pars around the world annually, it would appear that impractically larger swings produce a larger chance of desired outcomes than other models.

Despite the financial advancement of the game, player performance has been found stagnant in the years since the mid-1990s, even when adjusting for age as deeper understandings of playing conditions have been implemented. The theory of requirements has recently been complemented by the theory of progression, unveiling golfers to exhibit adaptations to their technique related to different effects of club-ball interactions utilizing under moments during swings. Consequently, contemporary professional male golfers more commonly adopt the hitting technique than a swing technique.

2. Historical Overview of Golfing Techniques

Emerging in the 15th century in Scotland, golf was played on the Town Moor in Edinburgh, using wooden clubs and hand-carved balls. These initial techniques, as demonstrated in illustrations from the 15th and 16th centuries, showed a varied grip and swing, suggesting a natural evolution in golfing play and techniques. With its spread into England, Ireland, and Europe, golf matured as a sport, creating a need for standardized rules and equipment. In 1744, the first known set of golf rules was drafted in Edinburgh, leading to the evolution of golfing techniques. Long-shots, greens, shovels, and the brassie became key components of the game. The 19th century also witnessed the invention of iron clubs and the subsequent emergence of golfing clubs from St. Andrews. (Cousins, 2023)

During the early years of its introduction to America, within two decades, golf was being played at a variety of courses in nearly every densely populated area, notably in New York City. Now rapidly growing in sporting popularity, golf was formally adopted by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 1894. Its increased participation, from the low-income population to upper socio-economic classes, facilitated the establishment of new tournaments with longer prizes. Moreover, women became increasingly involved as a result of the burgeoning interest in golf. Subsequently, the competitive spirit led golf balls to undergo an evolutionary change, advocating for golfing clubs and balls that were closer to the present-day variety. (Austin, 2022)

With the turn of the century, attention was concentrated on the rebirth of golf and its recuperation from its ancillary school of excesses. Gear swept aside knickerbockers, silk knicker trousers, and other somberly colored clothes in favor of a predominating cap and jacket of tweed, medium grey mixed with warm brown and rich yellow. Not only golf but tennis as well had inspired vigorous notice and into it had rushed the whole nation. Taming the wildness of golf, in 1903, Wilding had become the amateur champion of the United States before winning Wimbledon the following year. This period remained otherwise notable because Big Bertha knocked all other golf balls silly and nearly into the junk pile with its huge face of 6.79 inches head attached to a shaft of 47 inches. (Rebanal Martínez, 2021)

3. Key Traditional Golfing Techniques

Golf is a sport that has a long history behind it. Since the sport gained huge fame and number of followers across the globe, several golfing techniques have evolved and altered the playstyle and style of the game. Golfing techniques occurred both naturally and innovatively. The focus of this section is to analyze the most impactful and widespread golfing techniques that have impacted the game most. (Suzuki et al., 2021)

3.1. Grip and Stance

One of the most significant developments in golfing techniques was the discovery of proper grip and stance styles. These two techniques are the most basic in golfing and play a significant role in determining the outcome of the game. The selection of the proper grip is critical to play the game properly. The grip of the driver is one of the major factors in determining the play and path of the ball. Selecting the proper grip technique allows the golfer to strike the ball from all the surfaces of the golf course evenly. Early on, a lot of golfers adopted the splitting of the index finger technique of gripping, either overlapping or interlocking or gripping with all 10 fingers. However, learning to grip it properly takes much more time as the public exposure to it was minimum. Gradually with technological advancement, special caps were developed and ball tracking gadgets were invented. These gadgets and balls provided instant outcome of the game after the impact of the driver. Analyzing the golf ball spin and path, the experts suggested changing the grip technique enabling the golfer to point their thumb at the high left region of the shaft while keeping their hand rotated clockwise by 45 degrees. Using this grip technique, a golfer's club face would start at maximum closed position preventing the draw hook of the ball. (Navarro Lasunción, 2024)

Other widely used grip techniques with curved driver and ridges on the shape of the driver head resulted in an unintended hook path on the right leading to a miss-hit. Matched with the wrong stance, the unintended hook path continued with hands placed in front of the ball leading to an insufficiently closed face preventing the draw path. There were also recommendations from gear effect drives used having a shaft positively tilted towards the right from the vertical being useless for the golf set with driver have a head of a high vertical angled aligned with the fore link tilt. While this tended on increasing miss-hit affecting the distance, this also caused the hit on the optimal impact with the club face not parallel to the path of the driver nearly impeding the general tendency on time delay producing a meanwhile unliking swerve from players. (Trustees)

The stance in core requires power and this golf pose, playing a significant role between address and impact, has received little attention from teaching professionals compared with grip or swing techniques. Golfers with stable stance in general do not raise or lower their heads before or into backswing be likely to achieve more consistence shots. Thus, investigating the effect of stance technique requires assessing its amplitude throughout the whole swing and comparing the address and impact postures.

The head movement produced in the stance would bed a golfer to start the swing along a wrong path in a miss-hit with a hook or slice shot. Additionally, right-players flare to poorly rotate their hips and shoulders producing shoring shots. On the other side, flexibility across the upper body or within the lower body drives somewhat core-level players needing over-rotation of the upper body during the backswing or excessive forward push with the lower body after impact. However, few golfers are properly taught to stretch manually to reach a wider stance before address.

3.2. Swing Mechanics

Another traditional golfing technique is swinging in sync with the body. This technique teaches the players to follow the core rotational swing mechanics and circle the driver around one axis to play the ball instead of swaying axis in a miss-hit forming either slice or hook shots. Using amateurs (body type mass 74.5 kg height 1.75 m ) and ten top professional golfer's (PGA tour average drive distance 288.5±11.5 yards) with club heads sampled by high-speed cameras and various targets, this traditional technique has also been developed. Parameterizing a three-dimensional inverse kinematic model representing overall body and club movement, the effect of the traditional technique and stored parameters is compared through performing a full golf swing, addressing how the differences around the average from the parameters stored within each group affect the likelihood on miss-hit. (Hasley et al.2023)

The method concentrates on the motion aspect, choosing a local coordinate system at ground level with an origin fixed in the position of the golf ball and with axes pointing down the fairway, left and up for distance and vertical movements respectively. With regards to twenty-nine parameters describing the movement of the golf swing covering both body angles, positions and club face positions, the results yield a greater likelihood on miss-hit with amateurs than with top professionals severely indicating that educational systems would greatly enhance the precision of this sport. (ToSell & Saturday)

Modern golf is a sport of precision. Therefore, playing under different configurations on course, club, equipment and environment match with the swing mechanics of players define unique characters influencing the outcome of the play. By controlling for some factors, affecting the probability of miss-hit can be categorized into three parts conventionally referred to as play styles influencing the stance and swing. Enhancing performance comprises techniques altering stroke playstyle to almost systematically inhibit execution with miss-hit or miss-rim.

3.1. Grip and Stance

Central to the essence of golf lies the grip and stance—the foundational techniques upon which every other element of the game rests. Irrespective of the club in hand or the skill level of the golfer, this initial and primal action inevitably shapes the success of every shot played. Despite the subtle variations among golfers, whether leisurely players, seasoned amateurs, or elite professionals, grip and stance exhibit remarkable uniformity and graphical simplicity. Analyzing these two techniques sheds light not only on the sport as a whole but also on the everyday champion or played ball. (Wells, 2022)

Progressing from the outside in, the stance serves as the golfer's base of support throughout the entire swing. Only with solid, equal foundation can the golfer swing the club forwards and backwards around that fixed point. Both feet part distance and angle to the ball relative to the target are memories etched in the minds of most conscientious amateur golfers. Conversely, the grip, a more complex technique, consists of multiple actions made by both hands with the fingers and thumb of each hand against the club at the same time. Upon the grip is built the inadvertent pivot of the swing, the hands on the club controlling the face of the club and thus ultimately influencing the path of the arc. (Yang et al.2021)

While the momentary grip on the club is the fiest action shared by every golfer, uniqueness of the grip lies in regards to the club. Each club is different in form and feel, hence muscle memory is burnt by the unique act repeated with each club, and new twists in hands and wrists are added onto the basic grip. These intricacies are due to the fact that putter, iron, hybrid, wood, and driver all possess different lofts, lengths, and thus unique flex dynamics (whether aiming to keep the ball low, induce a slight loft, or to arc up the drive). Nevertheless, the grip is the only act from which the later swing peace is unwound. (Hocknell et al., 2020)(Holland et al.2020)

3.2. Swing Mechanics

In traditional golfing techniques, swing mechanics play a vital role in imparting the necessary power, accuracy, and consistency to the flight of the ball. The golf swing can be simply visualized as an arc of circular motion around a fixed axis, in which the clubhead moves towards a pivoted point in front of the body. A fundamental postulate of the golf swing is that the club must not be swung across the body during the downswing. It must instead be swung down and out. The path of the clubhead takes a symmetrical arc: down and in during the downswing, and up and out during the follow-through. The path of the golf ball must be compatible with the path of the clubhead at impact. The club must be swung down from a position well above the line of the ball so that the clubhead meets the ball just as the clubhead is on an outward path.

Another key point of traditional golf swing mechanics is that it must conform to ball-centering and impact position requirements, no matter how the club is gripped and so the wrist hinge or how minimized the lateral movement there is of the protruding body parts. The clubhead must be swung similarly around stacked vertical axes on both the back and forward motions. Both the backswing and follow-through must be performed in an arc motion that is of a uniform radius and is centered behind the body's core. In order to square the clubface at impact, the club must be swung reflexively over-restricted through the slot. In an attempt to prevent the ball from going to the right, the club must either re-extend a protruding arm or a wrist has to be unhinged too late.

There are biomechanical adjustments to traditional swing mechanics to create a normal golf swing free from hooked strokes. Adjustment of the arm's length of swing and pivot point is performed, so as to consider the baseball swing mechanics of working in a wider arc while continuing to adhere to the traditional grip. In line with fixed pivoting points of both the anchored legs and a core, the arms must be freed from the body's pivot to control the swing radius of the club circled by the arms. This could in turn free the clubs of being swung excessively within the body. To create an arched swing path, the shoulders and the forearms must be swung downwards by movers in charge of the pulled sides of the torso.

4. Technological Advancements in Golf Equipment

In the intricate tapestry of golf’s storied heritage, it’s frequently the quiet evolution behind the scenes that has had the most lasting consequences. Though it is often easy to recall the flamboyant politicians and pro athletes who have played the game, the focus here is instead on lesser-known figures who have played a crucial part in changing the nature of the sport. Decades before the modern game took hold, innovators tinkering with rudimentary wooden instruments had a profound effect on how golf was played. Given the game’s glacial and genteel pace of life, it is easy to misconstrue golf as a quaint pastime sustained by social and economic traditions. However, golf has never really stopped changing. Indeed, the game is replete with breakthroughs in technique that have irrevocably shaped how the sport is played. Greenkeeping, the ball, and the club have all received attention in this study on the evolution of golf equipment. (Millard, 2023)

In each instance, innovations that worked their way upwards from relatively small roots transformed the fabric of the entire sport. It wasn’t always a linear or easy process. Opposition to rubber balls was widespread, and clubmakers feared what would happen to golf in the transition from wooden to metal-headed clubs. As alternatives have arisen, so too have concerns about their sustainability for the game. But legislation has kept pace with innovation, and throughout golf’s history such changes have had a far-reaching effect on the mechanics of technique and the playing of the game itself. Arguably, the most impactful development has been the introduction of technology. Club-making methods and material sciences have outstripped the skill of the club professional, as has the golfiness of golf course design. At one fell swoop, this has rendered the great par-threes of the craft obsolete. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the world of golf has been left wanting. In some respects, the game’s rich history has underestimated the effect technology would ultimately have on golf. In challenging the adequacy of human endeavour, it is likely to continue reshaping technique and the sport for decades into the future. As golf begins its own paradigm shift, it is likely to usher in a new generation of feral and free-spirited golfers bent on domination.

5. Modern Golfing Techniques

The advent of technological innovation and scientific advancement, primarily identifiable in the last two decades of the twentieth century, prompted a revolution in golfing techniques and methodologies. An emerging industry, golf biomechanics inadvertently fueled this revolution by mechanizing and simplifying golf swings while theoretically minimizing the risk of golf-related injury. By accurately measuring the kinematically remarkable movement of the human body in two and three-dimensional spaces, golf biomechanics began to prompt a re-evaluation of past golfing methods. Meanwhile, an upswing in the use of golf simulators and innovative golfing training was notable. Previous errors in golf swings were corrected or slowed with the incorporation of slow-motion kinetic studies. Resultingly, a revolution similar to the re-evaluation of swinging techniques in golf biomechanics and pseudo golf was prompted within golfing cultures. A list of referential golfing figures of modern golfing techniques and their techniques has become a cultural norm in the global golf culture. An index is commonly referred to for golfing techniques and their analysis, and a checklist could readily and easily find its way into an amateur golfer's golf bag. Most of modern golfing techniques are biomechanical or kinematic by nature and gradually becomes mechanical, offering universally applicable and culturally broad methodologies. With the mechanical nature of golfing, modeling is prominently involved, reducing golf swings and inquiry into a system of modularity on repeatable, testable motion.

Yet, modeling entails a reduction of the complex mixture found in golf swings while representing only the most relevant aspects of motion and, in turn, negating specific conditions. As a result, a model raises the concern of an inevitable cultural appropriation that homogenizes bodily motion, associated consciousness, and adherent verbalizations, other than casting golf swings as “an intuitive game” that renders golf swings and their culture art-like. Therefore, in light of its social frames, paradigmatic and iconic, golf modeling necessitates a comprehensive analysis - understanding both the affordance it bears for concentrated interests in bodily technique, consciousness, and culture, and its subsequent cultural epiphenomena. The inroad for such an analysis is gained via an inquiry into the pioneering models of golf swings by acclaimed golf figures. Similar to today’s golf syllabuses that gather iconic figures’ golf swings and disseminate their mission-statement-like verbalization, prominent golfing figures’ modeling gratifies a prospective golfer desire to enhance golfing techniques, reckoning the cited concern of reproducible golf swings. This takes the next question as to how to improve such reproducible golfing techniques, which barely offers mutual and specific answers, other than modeling without a framework to analyze the social nexus that holds the compliant relationship between bodily technique and consciousness. Therefore, within the modern golfing culture entirely pervaded by golfing modeling, golf figure studies appear necessary. (Yordanov et al., 2022)

5.1. Biomechanics and Kinematics

Biomechanics and Kinematics: Human body and strength have greatly affected how bio-mechanics has emerged in sports. Body types and strengths vary from person to person. Some people have better swing speeds, while others have better swing lines. In Golf, the primary movement is rotation at the shoulders, pelvis, knees, and feet. All these rotational body movements affect club speed and distances. This biomechanical analysis focuses on the golf swing motion with a right-handed player, encompassing positions from the back swing, down swing, and follow through for bio-mechanical explanations. A major intention of this analysis is to determine and discuss some key bio-mechanical aspects of the golf swing in comparison to the golf swings of the rookie and the professional players filmed by the St-2 mini camcorders. In this analysis, the veterans and their swings would be also looked at with respect to biomechanics to check the swings and movements. (Gould et al.2021)

Clubs’ types and specifications are a big part of modern golf. Golf manufacturers spend so much time, money, and effort trying to make golf technology that provides players with better equipment that makes the overall game easier. The main types and specifications in clubs are the loft, lie, length, weight consistency, swing weight, shaft tip age, grooves, and face types. The lifetime of endurance and consistency of clubs is often compared with other sports like tennis or baseball. Weather and play can affect the precision and potential of the equipment and change how they perform. The rules of club types are based upon the USGA rules. The creativity and skills in the play can be lost or changed with overly complex club technology. The point of this analysis is to investigate clubs as modern technology, equipment of golf, history, types, strengths, and rules.

Lastly, putting has been very computerized in recent times, and these systems are mainly found inside the houses of golfers. Systems to putt are hugely mechanical and computerized. To the public, these are regarded as an illegal use of equipment by the USGA rules. The industry of golf is now entering a scientific and mechanical time. Tennis, baseball, basketball, other sports, and their athletes think of ways to get better by using better, smarter technology. Human be-havior, flexibility of the biomechanics of golf is studied more than it ever has been. The general idea of golf has modernized from traditional club use to mechanical bio-mechanical and technological golf ways. The game of golf is still the same as it once was and should feel and sometimes be used that whether the game hasn’t changed much.

5.2. Mental and Psychological Strategies

In addition to physical considerations, the evolution of golfing techniques must involve an overview of the mental and psychological strategies in the game. Golf presents a generally unique sporting challenge, unlike most other popular sports. Golfing matches can last from a short 2 hours to over 4 hours, involving the same (comparative) situation throughout the round, with the main additional variable from a golfing perspective being the course location. The game itself does not have other competitors impeding the performance of other competitors, which is a primary aspect of most competitive sporting events. Such factors mean that these variables need to be dealt with in different ways practically and mentally. As a result, golfers must fine-tune techniques in terms of performance, understanding the zone of control, and preparation before and even during a round. This could best be illustrated by considering the case of one Mexican golfer. (Whitehead & Jackman, 2021)(Oliver et al.2021)

Sometimes the metagame needs to be understood to strategize the techniques further and control each performance based on strategic choices that could depend on the golfing situation, physical environment (ground, wind, and heart rate), and mainly performance and situation statistics. Although similar comparative techniques concerning the hurdles must be used (such as meteorological statistics and ground understanding), the golfer possesses a personal meta-knowledge. Despite winning tournaments against male players, the winning techniques were first based on knowing which holes are best for the average male player and trying to comprehend such stats from a different viewpoint, taking the ESPN Stats and Info team’s possible projections to understand the whole player perspective holistically. One advantage was that overall performances could be compared, but not on a stroke basis. From such differences and distances, possible plays to gain advantage on putting and driving could be analyzed depending on whole distance outputs, grass, topography, and other possible required pitches. Such edge considerations were planned and used progressively throughout rounds.

Another personal understanding of individual techniques based on performance intimate knowledge is how to be in “the zone.” This involves controlling and understanding many thoughts, visualizations, and sensations (mindfulness) concerning positive and negative traits and stimuli that promote or disrupt performance. This level was progressively obtained through rigorous daily effort and analyze of various performances under such conditions. Once trained, it is essential to exercise this state to dispose of it and be ready for use at any point. Such a technique is closely related to breathing and some routine actions before swinging with the putter, shorter clubs, and driver, which help to place the tasks within the best condition zone to control them suitably. Using the context to feel emotions and stimuli clearly is crucial to signal immediately where it is best (and needed) to focus more and not just continue to shake player heads.

Being relaxed is also a constant approached challenge, especially when tied for first or leading. In this state, focus is lost and hence control, and it must be planned before and after the round to either maintain a fluent rhythm when playing or breathe and try to feel relaxed on each action otherwise. On the physiological aspect, alcohol can be exploited to be used and limit to achieve a certain performance point.

6. The Impact of Evolving Techniques on Performance and Strategy

Through analysis of archived materials, the impact of technology and scientific knowledge on golf techniques is assessed. Instructions were initially rudimentary but became more structured and based on anatomical insights and human behavior. A shift from fundamental improvement with awareness to technique refinement for elite players was observed. Changes commonly target styles of movement rather than player individuality and requirement. Analysis of past and current documents reveals the impact and concern regarding the influence of evolving techniques on golf performance and strategy selection. (Wells & Langdown, 2020)

The impact of evolving techniques on performance and strategy selection: An analysis based on archived materials on golf technique instruction spanning more than 120 years emphasizes the influence and concern surrounding technique. This analysis distinguishes four periods in the evolution of instruction and discusses the resulting focus of performance improvement and strategy selection.

With the advent of increasing technology and scientific knowledge, including progress in physical education, structural exploration of the human body, the notion of unconscious motivation, video and computer instruction, and sports psychology, golf techniques recorded between 1869 and 2008 are analyzed to examine the impact of evolving techniques on golf performance and strategy selection. All the documents are archived in England, specifically the British Library of Sports and The Open Championship.

The performance of golf is determined by a sequence of strategy selections and executions, considering two phases of action: strategy consideration, which refers to creating a sequence of actions to execute at a specific time, and strategy evaluation, which refers to checking the overall cost-effectiveness of the selected strategies. With such a historical perspective, the impact of evolving techniques can be evaluated in terms of changes in the focus of performance improvement and strategy selection. Hence, the disposition of past and present golf instruction documents is examined in terms of the focus of evolving coaching knowledge, norm observation, and coaching view of players, all as targets for consideration. (Roberts et al.2021)

7. Conclusion and Future Directions

The game of golf has evolved in multiple ways over the years, with changes in clubs and technology, the construction of courses and walking or buggy riding, the professionalization of the sport, changes in the amateur ethos, and societal perceptions. This review addressed these topics and provided insight into the evolution of golfing techniques and their impact on the sport. In particular, the evolution of golf clubs with historic roots, technological developments, and the golf swing mechanism were elaborately discussed. It is hoped that this review would help in the future understanding of golf and assist in making decisions over the future of golf.

In conclusion, golf is the game of putters and drivers, greens and fairways, wedges, and who knows how many others when it comes to clubs. A golf club in the strictest definition implies a stick with a curved end, or several curved ends that are used to hit the golf ball. Golf clubs comprise of shaft, club head, hosel, grip, and face. There are several types of clubs used in golf, putting clubs, short clubs, mid-range clubs, long clubs, wedges, and drivers. The design and material of clubs can dramatically affect the flight of a golf ball. Using the right type of club can help a player improve their game. This paper presents historical roots of clubs from refashioned farm implements to highly machined titanium heads, discusses the evolution of clubs over the years and ends with future expectations over clubs.

Although golf swings appear to be simple to the untrained eye, close-up viewing demonstrates the remarkable complexity of motions involved. Throughout the golf swing, a complex interplay of biomechanics and motion exists. Golfers generate kinetic energy in a swinging motion and transfer throughout the golfer to the hands that holds the club. This energy is converted into a ball-launching motion powered by a series of motion-to-force conversions acting on the club’s head. The golf swing is a movement skill, involving dynamic coordination of legs, hips, trunk, shoulders, arms, hands, and clubs in a serial way. It’s important in both golf swing analysis and instructional improvement to recognize and understand the biomechanics supporting the golf swing.

References:

Cousins, G., 2023. Golf in Britain: a social history from the beginnings to the present day. [HTML]

Austin, P. C., 2022. “Challenge or Be Challenged”: The Personal and Political Importance of Black Women's Golf Clubs. Modern American History. academia.edu

Rebanal Martínez, G., 2021. Golf in St Andrews, the critical years, c. 1880-1914. Sport in History. [HTML]

Suzuki, T., Sheahan, J. P., Okuda, I., & Ichikawa, D., 2021. Investigating factors that improve golf scores by comparing statistics of amateur golfers in repeat scramble strokes and one-ball conditions. ua.es

Navarro Lasunción, C., 2024. Study of the development of the technology employed in golf equipment and the resulting impact on the professional tour. upc.edu

Trustees, B. E. N., . Fairfield MIRRORV. Mirror. fairfield.edu

Hasley, I.B., Ostby, T.D., Fjosne, C.M. and Jelsing, E.J., 2023. Etiology and Prevention of Common Injuries in Golf. Current sports medicine reports, 22(6), pp.210-216. [HTML]

ToSell, A. & Saturday, P., . Morehead State Baccalaureate Is Sunday; Commencement SpeakerIsCincinnatiPrexy. scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu. moreheadstate.edu

Wells, M., 2022. No One Playing: The Essence of Mindfulness in Golf and in Life. [HTML]

Yang, C.J., Tai, M.L., Hu, C.M., Hamill, J. and Tang, W.T., 2021. Effect of stance width on posture stability of golfers putting under windy conditions. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 16(2), pp.324-333. [HTML]

Hocknell, A., Jones, R., & Rothberg, S., 2020. Engineering 'feel'in the design of golf clubs. The engineering of sport. [HTML]

Holland, S., Dickey, J., Ferreira, L. and Lalone, E., 2020. Investigating the grip forces exerted by individuals with and without hand arthritis while swinging a golf club with the use of a new wearable sensor technology. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology, 234(3), pp.205-216. [HTML]

Millard, D., 2023. How golf can save your life. [HTML]

Yordanov, S., Yordanov, P., & Zdravkov, I., 2022. MODERN PRACTICE AND METHODS FOR INTEGRATION THROUGH GOLF. PROCEEDING BOOK. nsa.bg

Gould, Z.I., Oliver, J.L., Lloyd, R.S., Neil, R. and Bull, M., 2021. The Golf Movement Screen is related to spine control and X-factor of the golf swing in low handicap golfers. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 35(1), pp.240-246. [HTML]

Whitehead, A. E. & Jackman, P. C., 2021. Towards a framework of cognitive processes during competitive golf using the Think Aloud method. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. ljmu.ac.uk

Oliver, A., McCarthy, P.J. and Burns, L., 2021. Using a “think aloud” protocol to understand meta-attention in club-level golfers. International journal of sport and exercise psychology, 19(5), pp.780-793. gcu.ac.uk

Wells, J. E. T. & Langdown, B. L., 2020. Sports science for golf: A survey of high-skilled golfers'“perceptions” and “practices”. Journal of Sports Sciences. [HTML]

Roberts, L.J., Jackson, M.S. and Grundy, I.H., 2021. The effects of cognitive interference during the preparation and execution of the golf swing. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 19(3), pp.413-428. [HTML]

[naniyou]

How often do planes crash, exactly? What’s the most common factor that leads to a straight-up crash?

Two answers to the first question. If we are talking private aviation, small craft, then there is usually one per day, somewhere, worldwide.

Commercial aviation average about 20 per year worldwide. Which may seem like a lot until you realize there are about 16 million flights annually. Also out of those 20, many are not catastrophic as the words imply. This is why commercial airline crashes always become high-profile news stories, since they are so rare.

The most common factor is pilot error at 70% of recorded crashes. However, that itself is multi-factored and strongly depends on circumstances. This is why the “Swiss Cheese model” is regularly referenced when piecing together what exactly happened.

[xairathan]

It's midnight, I'm procrastinating, it's time to put out all the thoughts I've had about Yushura into a place where people who are interested can find them; and if anyone wants to write her but isn't willing to put in the effort then save yourself the trouble and keep my girl's name out of your mouth so you don't show the world your ignorance.

I'm not touching story-specific stuff; we're extrapolating things about Yushura's life and being off of logical deduction, disability consciousness, and the grounding of the great work and thoughts of many crips of color. We begin.

Starting off with something I think I didn't get to do in any of my works and that the setting utterly snubs: if care and disability aren't a focal point of spacian developments, then you know that the disabled spacians have figured out their own remedies and methods of care. The earthians will have as well, but given the resource disparity, I would be surprised if the two were connected. tl;dr - Disabled community almost certainly exists and we saw absolutely none of it in the setting with "unique challenges to the human physique endemic to expansion into space" nice job gwitch

Which leads into the next part: I believe that there's no real-world corollary to whatever Yushura's condition is. That fits in with what Cardo Nabo said in the prologue. From the clues we're given in the light novel, I have taken the stance that it's most likely an issue of the heart; if not the heart, then the lungs. The most likely causes I can envision are likely (a) exposure to low-gravity in the womb, (b) exposure to space radiation in the womb, and/or (c) long-term, multi-generational changes to the human physique due to life in space. There is also likely not one singular cause that is the 'source'; these factors together likely compound potential health issues. Finally, it can be inferred from Miorine's recollection of her and Yushura playing tag that Yushura was fully able-bodied at some point in the past, and her condition onset after they lost contact. This might play into Yushura's severe hangups about luck, especially if both her and her brother are predisposed to her condition, but it presented only in Yushura.

If you intend to take any of the above knowledge and employ it in a medicalist manner, stop while you're ahead, educate yourself on the medical vs. social vs. political-relational models of disability, and then come back.

With all of this taken into consideration, the following is my imagination of Yushura's life. If at any point in reading this you feel pity, check your ableism at the door and go write something more your speed, like suIemio.

Yushura prefers low-gravity environments, and likely lives in a low-gravity section of the Lapis Garden station, or else on a ship that travels at a set speed. My best guess is 0.5G (half of standard Earth gravity) but honestly, does it matter when we have no real way to test it? Due to living in low-gravity most of the time, Yushura has very little muscle mass. While she can (and probably should) exercise, perhaps it isn't necessary or perhaps she doesn't want to. I don't know how physical therapy in low-G works.

Due to working in low-G environments, and due to her weak grip, Yushura likely relies on many specialized tools for her work. I'm thinking custom gloves, magnetic strips on her worktable to hold things, things that make it easier for Yushura to work for long periods of time without straining her body. In the light novel, we see that Yushura is capable of cooking jelly/various gelatinous foods, which is likely her main source of food, as eating messy foods in low-G is asking for trouble. However, this does not mean she is incapable of eating solid food, and I imagine a CTO gets invited to a fair share of lunch and dinner outings for work.

Unfortunately, we do not know whether society in the Ad Stella universe, where the GUND format was originally created to assist with impairments, is ableist. However, given what we know of the setting, I presume that most corporate stations operate at 1G and space travel operates between 0-0.2G, meaning that as per real life, not very much thought is put into accessibility and the comfort of the disabled. Also I couldn’t find anywhere good to put this but my headcanon is that her earrings are secretly blood oximeters.

For further questions, story-related questions and discussions, and additional fawning over Yushura, please find me at Xairathan anywhere.

Also her last name is Mirzakhani (Iranian) and her first name is Yushura (Arabic) you can't tell me she's pasty white you colorist fucks I bet you liked Sumeru too

(in case anyone asks my tl;dr for her personality is we don't really get to see it since the narrative suborns literally everyone, even the main characters, to its runaway plot; however, I too would be tired of everyone's shit if everyone kept coddling me and assuming that they know my body better than myself)

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

By Hugo Francisco de Souza

New research shows that COVID-19 survivors, especially older adults and non-hospitalized patients, are at an increased risk for chronic fatigue syndrome—underscoring the need for comprehensive care for vulnerable populations.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Infection and Public Health, researchers carried out a retrospective cohort study comprising 3,227,281 pairs of patients with and without COVID-19 from a larger dataset of over 115 million patients to investigate the associations between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) infections and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) risk, particularly in the presence of comorbidities.

Cox proportional hazard models revealed that patients with prior SARS‑CoV‑2 infections were at increased risk of contracting CFS (HR = 1.59), with adults above the age of 65, Asians (HR = 1.75), females, and those with comorbidities including diabetes, obesity, hypertensive disease, and hyperlipidemia being identified as the highest risk populations. The omicron variant was associated with slightly higher CFS risk (HR = 1.40) than older SARS‑CoV‑2 strains (alpha HR = 1.33, delta HR = 1.40), with risk levels for Omicron similar to Delta, despite Omicron typically causing milder acute illness.

Furthermore, contrary to previous studies, this research found that non-hospitalized patients had a higher risk of developing CFS (HR = 1.64) compared to those who were hospitalized (HR = 1.22), challenging assumptions that more severe initial infections increase long-term fatigue risk.

Background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic remains one of the worst in human history, infecting more than 700 million humans and claiming more than 7 million lives in only four years. While social distancing measures and vaccination campaigns have substantially curbed disease spread and dampened infection severity, many COVID-19 survivors report persistent or novel symptoms that cause debilitation for months or years following initial infection recovery.

Alarmingly, these conditions, collectively termed “long COVID,” are estimated to plague up to 78% of survivors, leaving them with chronic chest pain, lung diseases, muscle aches, and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). While studies aimed at establishing the association between SARS‑CoV‑2 infection and CFS risk have been carried out, none have evaluated the effects of covariates, particularly comorbidities and other preexisting medical conditions.

A growing body of evidence suggests the positive feedback loop between long COVID and other chronic conditions, observing that the presence of one increases the risk and severity of the other. Furthermore, long COVID is a multi-organ condition, highlighting the need for comprehensive, extensive cohort investigations into the associations between CFS and long COVID risk factors.

The present study uses an extensive cohort (COVID-19 cases; n = 3,227,281 pairs) across a spectrum of infection severity, age, sex, race/ethnicity, vaccination status, and comorbidities to establish the risk associations between prior COVID-19 infections and CFS risk. Study data was obtained from the United States (US) TriNetX database, a collaborative network comprising electronic health records of more than 115 million patients, between January 2020 and December 2023. Participant selection was carried out by first identifying CFS patients from the database (n = 3,227,281) and then 1:1 propensity score-matching (PSM) matching them with CFS-free patients (non-COVID-19 controls).

Relevant data included demographics, infection and comorbidity diagnoses, ongoing medications, procedures, and laboratory test results. Covariates under investigation included age, sex, COVID-19 vaccination status and disease severity, hypertensive diseases, race, ischemic heart diseases, hyperlipidemia, cerebrovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and depression. Patients were further divided into subcohorts based on the wave (alpha, delta, or omicron) of initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. The outcome of interest was medically confirmed CFS diagnoses.

Standardized Mean Differences (SMD) were used to compare covariates across COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 participants, with Kaplan–Meier analysis computing CFS incidence rates and univariate Cox proportional hazard models computing hazard ratios (HRs; CFS risk) in case and control cohorts.

Study findings

Of the 115,675,909 patients represented in the TriNetX database, 3,227,281 were confirmed to have experienced a prior COVID-19 infection and were included as cases. All cases were 1:1 PSM to COVID-free controls, doubling the size of the study dataset. Cases were predominantly female (54.4%), White (58.7%), and had a history of hypertensive disease (17%). Furthermore, obesity (8.1%), type 2 diabetes mellitus (7.8%), hyperlipidemia (14.2%), and depression (5.5%) were frequently observed as COVID-19-associated comorbidities.

SMD analysis and HRs revealed that COVID-19 patients presented both higher incidence (~0.6%) and risk (~59%, HR = 1.59) of CFS compared to non-COVID-19 ones. Notably, significant variable-associated differences in CFS risk were observed, with patients aged 65 and older (HR = 1.74), female sex (HR = 1.62), and Asian (HR = 1.75) patients revealed to be at highest CFS risk. Unvaccinated patients (HR = 1.62) were found to be more likely to contract CFS than vaccinated (HR = 1.25) ones. Contrary to previous research, non-hospitalized patients had a significantly higher risk of developing CFS (HR = 1.64) than those hospitalized (HR = 1.22), which may suggest that early medical care during acute infection mitigates long-term fatigue risk. This is one of the first reports of race/ethnicity altering post-COVID-19 CFS risk.

Omicron and delta variant patients were found to be at slightly higher CFS risk (HR = 1.40, respectively) compared to alpha variant patients (HR = 1.33), with Omicron showing similar risk levels to Delta despite typically causing less severe acute illness. Infection severity outcomes on HR ranged from 1.22 (the most severe infection requiring immediate hospitalization) to 1.64 (no hospitalization required).

Conclusions

The present study uses a cohort of more than 6 million patients to elucidate the risk associations between COVID-19 and its comorbidities and subsequent CFS risk. Supporting previous research, the study established a higher CFS risk (HR = 1.59) in COVID-19 patients compared to their COVID-19-free counterparts. Unlike earlier studies, this research highlighted the significant influence of race, with Asian patients showing the highest CFS risk (HR = 1.75), and emphasized the importance of comorbidities, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) also contributing to increased risk (HR = 1.43), in addition to the known comorbidities of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.

The findings on hospitalization severity were unexpected, as non-hospitalized patients had a significantly higher risk of developing CFS (HR = 1.64) compared to those hospitalized on the same day (HR = 1.22), suggesting that prompt medical care during acute infection may mitigate long-term fatigue risk.

Together, these findings provide a comprehensive evaluation of the landscape of CFS risk, helping clinicians better understand the needs of COVID-19 patients and potentially improving their quality of life.

Study Link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034124002934