In recent years, whole-body vibration (WBV) training has been used as a training method in health promotion. This study attempted to use WBV at three different frequencies (20, 30, and 40 Hz) with subjects from different age groups to analyze the activation of the rectus femoris muscle. The subjects included 47 females and 51 males with an average age of 45.1 ± 15.2 years. Results indicated significant differences in subjects from different age groups at 20 Hz WBV. Muscle contraction was greater in the subjects who were older (F_(4,93) = 82.448, p < 0.001). However, at 30 Hz WBV, the difference was not significant (F_(4,93) = 2.373, p = 0.058). At 40 Hz WBV, muscle contraction was less in the older subjects than in the younger subjects (F_(4,93) = 18.025, p < 0.001). The spectrum analysis also indicated that at 40 Hz there was less muscle activity during WBV in the older subjects than in the younger ones. Therefore, age was found to have a significant effect on muscle activation during WBV at different frequencies. If the training is offered to elderly subjects, their neuromuscular responses to 20 Hz WBV will be more suitable than to 40 Hz WBV.

Whole-body vibration (WBV) is a novel exercise training measure that promotes the muscle strength, flexibility, and balance abilities of elderly groups. The feasibility and applicability of 20–30 min (lowering a heat pack at 73 °C by wrapping it in multiple layers of towels to 40–43 °C before it touched the skin) thermotherapy are increasingly being demonstrated by applications and clinical trials. Studies show that it increases the flexibility of macules and ligament. However, no studies have examined the interactions between the pre-exercise and post-exercise application of heat therapy (duration a training course). Therefore, this study investigates the effects of WBV and heat therapy on the muscle strength, flexibility, and balance abilities of elderly groups. Eighty middle-age and elderly participants with no regular exercise habits were enrolled in this study. They were randomly assigned to a WBV group, a WBV plus heat therapy group, a heat therapy alone group, and a control group. The WBV groups underwent 5-min, fixed-amplitude (4 mm), thrice-weekly WBV training sessions for 3 consecutive months on a WBV training machine. Participants’ balance was measured using the limits of stability (LOS) test on a balance system. The pretest and posttest knee extensor and flexor strength were tested using an isokinetic lower extremity dynamometer. Pretest and posttest flexibility changes were measured using the sit-and-reach test. Significantly larger pretest and posttest differences in flexibility and muscle strength were observed in the WBV and WBV plus heat therapy groups. The addition of heat therapy to WBV resulted in the largest flexibility improvements.

In this study, we introduce a novel design of a remote edge-lit backlight structure featuring blue laser diodes (LDs). These LDs were integrated into a remote yellow phosphor layer on a light guide plate (LGP). Blue light emitted by the LDs passes through the LGP and spreads to the remote phosphor layer, generating white light output. Owing to the incorporation of a scattering layer between sequential LGPs, the remote edge-lit backlight structure facilitates the expansion of the output surface of the LGP by combining multiple individual LGPs. Two- and three-LGP remote edge-lit backlight structures demonstrated acceptable white illuminance uniformity. The proposed architecture serves as a viable solution for achieving uniform illumination in planar lighting systems using blue LDs; thus, this structure is particularly suitable for linear lighting or slender backlighting instead of display stand applications.

Background and Objectives: Comparisons between individual and multiplayer gaming can reflect social context, but in a fixed-order design condition cannot be separated from order-related effects. This exploratory study therefore focused on group-level Group Cohesiveness Scale (GCS) ratings across a sequential paradigm in which individual play always preceded multiplayer play. A study-specific OpenPose posture-consistency metric and a device/software-derived beta-band output from a small EEG subsample were retained only as ancillary exploratory observations. Methods: Sixty healthy young adults (mean age, 21.21 ± 3.07 years) completed the individual condition first and the multiplayer condition second in 10 assigned groups of six, separated by a one-hour break. GCS scores were averaged within each group, yielding 10 paired group-level means. OpenPose recordings from all 60 participants were summarized descriptively because participant-level paired values required for inferential reanalysis were unavailable. One randomly selected participant per group wore a NeuroSky MindWave Mobile 2 device (n = 10); because the exact eegID processing pipeline and artifact-control procedures were not retained, this output was treated only as a device/software-specific ancillary metric. Results: Mean group-level GCS ratings were 18.13 ± 0.55 after the first, individual condition and 23.55 ± 4.17 after the second, multiplayer condition (mean difference, +5.42). The retained statistical summary reported p < 0.0043; because the original SPSS output is unavailable, 0.0043 is treated as an upper bound rather than an exact recoverable p-value. Using the arithmetic mean of the two condition SDs as the standardizer, Cohen’s d_av was 2.30. Mean OpenPose posture-consistency scores were 97.13 ± 2.90 and 93.25 ± 6.24, respectively; this comparison is descriptive only. In the ancillary EEG subsample, the retained software-derived beta-band values were 34.55 ± 12.92 and 47.56 ± 15.33 a.u. (p = 0.022; Cohen’s d_av = 0.92), but the physiological source of this difference cannot be determined from the available methodology. Conclusions: Within this fixed sequential paradigm, the second, multiplayer condition was accompanied by higher group-level GCS ratings, but the difference cannot be attributed specifically to multiplayer interaction because condition was completely confounded with order, time, familiarization, anticipation, fatigue, and repeated-task effects. The OpenPose and EEG observations remain ancillary and hypothesis-generating and do not support causal, attentional, engagement, or cortical interpretations.