The Role of the Environmental Sphere in Factors Affecting Performance and in Performance Dimensions in the Utility Sector: A Literature Review

Considering the environmental impacts of utility activities and the lack of literature systematic understanding of the different factors affecting utility performance with a specific consideration of the environmental sphere, this article tries to bridge this gap conducting a literature review on factors affecting utility performance. An aspect of novelty of the paper is represented by the clusterization of literature (also useful for future studies) that considers the environmental sphere both among factors of influence and as performance dimensions. The analysis conducts to conclude that both as influencing factors and as performance dimensions, the environmental role should be more widely and deeply investigated by literature. The research highlights some managerial implications: the appointment of managers should consider their “green skills” as factor influencing performance of the utilities; the need to develop managerial tools to make the decision-making process effective and efficient also in the environmental sphere.

Somatotype Profiles of Montenegrin Karatekas: An Observational Study

Competitive karate activity involves numerous factors affecting performance in sport. Physical structure and somatotype is considered to be one of them. This study aimed to determine whether there are differences between karate athletes in five male and five female official weight categories in different anthropometric measurements and to determine the somatotype profiles of athletes divided by weight categories. This study consisted of a total of 27 male karate athletes (21.88 ± 4.66 years) and 24 female karate athletes (20.29 ± 3.14 years). Measurements were taken in April 2020. Athletes are classified into official weight categories according to World Karate Federation rules. Somatotypes were calculated using anthropometry. One-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s post hoc tests were used for statistical analysis to compare group differences regarding weight categories. Anthropometric parameters were highest in the heaviest categories compared to lighter categories. All male subjects were endomorphic mesomorph, except for category <84 kg, which was endomorphic ectomorphs. Somatotype analysis of male categories found a difference between the <75 kg and <84 kg in endomorphy. In mesomorphy, there is no difference between categories. Perceiving ectomorphy, there is a significant difference between the first category and the >84 kg. Profiling female athletes, three different types of somatotypes were obtained concerning the weight category. The lightest weight category was predominantly endomorphic ectomorphs, and two weight categories were ectomorphic endomorphs (<61 kg and <68 kg), and the other two weight categories were endomorphic mesomorphs (<55 kg and >68 kg). Somatotype differences in the female karate athletes were observed only in the ectomorphy components, between <50 kg and <61 kg. The present study points to how the somatotypes profiles of karate athletes differ between weight categories.

Non-financial factors affecting livestock farm’s performance in meat supply chain

This article investigates non-financial factors affecting performance of livestock farms in the meat supply chain in Albania. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect data in three main regions of Albania (Tirana, Korça and Lushnje). Confirmatory factor analysis is used to develop measures for the non-financial factors (i.e. trust, contracts, opportunistic behavior, information sharing and information quality) and Structural Equation Modelling is employed to test study hypotheses. The result shows that trust is positively associated with farm’s performance. On the other hand, communication (i.e. resulting from the merge of information sharing and information quality) is negatively associated with performance. However, communication appears to have a positive association with farm’s performance indirectly through its effect on trust. Thus, it can be deducted that communication builds trust and trading relationship based on trust show higher levels of farm’s performance. Lastly, contracts and opportunistic behavior do not show any significant association with farm’s performance.

Simulation Study on the Sports Biomechanical Characteristics of Long Jumpers’ Take-off Techniques

Objectives: Based on the principles of sports biomechanics and long jump technical requirements, the technical factors affecting performance are discussed. Provide reference for the teaching, training and scientific research of the long jump project in China, improve and perfect the special sports technology and quality. Methods: In this study, the excellent men’s long jump athletes at home and abroad in recent years are taken as research objects, and the sports biomechanical method is used on the basis of collecting and compiling large amounts of data in previous studies. Results: This paper makes a comparative analysis of the characteristics of run-up and Take-off Techniques of Chinese and foreign elite male long jumpers, in order to find out the advantages and disadvantages of Chinese athletes and provide reference data for the training of Chinese long jumpers. Conclusion: The research shows that the take-off technique is the key in the whole long jump. The take-off angle is an important factor that restricts the performance of long jumpers, and the stability of the brake point when the board is attached is more important.

Numerous Factors Affecting Performance of NOMA for Massive Machine Type Communications in B5G Systems

Massive machine type communications (mMTC) are one of the critical requirements for beyond fifth generation (B5G) communication systems. Services for a huge number of user terminals should be provided simultaneously due to the explosive development of mMTC. It is proved that non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is effective in satisfying such a requirement. In this paper we evaluate the impacts of numerous factors, such as channel encoding, channel decoding, repetition number, multi-user detector, and number of receiver antennas, on the performance of NOMA. It is surprised to find that some conclusions drawn from orthogonal multiple access system may do not hold anymore for NOMA systems. The factors which have significant impact on the performance of NOMA should be paid more attention to in the system design. The analysis and evaluation results shine more light on how to design an effect NOMA scheme by considering both transmitter and receiver to fulfill the requirements of mMTC for B5G systems.