In the highly competitive field of material manufacturing, stakeholders strive for the increased quality of the end products, reduced cost of operation, and the timely completion of their business processes. Digital twin (DT) technologies are considered major enablers that can be deployed to assist the development and effective provision of manufacturing processes. Additionally, knowledge graphs (KG) have emerged as efficient tools in the industrial domain and are able to efficiently represent data from various disciplines in a structured manner while also supporting advanced analytics. This paper proposes a solution that integrates a KG and DTs. Through this synergy, we aimed to develop highly autonomous and flexible DTs that utilize the semantic knowledge stored in the KG to better support advanced functionalities. The developed KG stores information about materials and their properties and details about the processes in which they are involved, following a flexible schema that is not domain specific. The DT comprises smaller Virtual Objects (VOs), each one acting as an abstraction of a single step of the Industrial Business Process (IBP), providing the necessary functionalities that simulate the corresponding real-world process. By executing appropriate queries to the KG, the DT can orchestrate the operation of the VOs and their physical counterparts and configure their parameters accordingly, in this way increasing its self-awareness. In this article, the architecture of such a solution is presented and its application in a real laser glass bending process is showcased.

Background Motivational variables are of critical importance concerning students’ performance. The objective of the present study was to investigate the interrelationships between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, self-regulation, critical thinking, and academic performance among university students. Methods The participants were 250 students enrolled in university programs in education and psychology. The research instrument was a self-report questionnaire designed to assess intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, critical thinking, self-regulation, and academic achievement among university students. A path model analysis was employed to identify the relationships among the investigated variables. Results The results demonstrated that self-efficacy was predicted by intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, critical thinking was predicted by self-efficacy, and self-regulation was predicted by self-efficacy and critical thinking, thereby underscoring the pivotal role of self-efficacy. The findings indicate that academic achievement is predicted by critical thinking, and self-regulation, thereby underscoring the pivotal role of these variables in academic contexts. Conclusions The contributions of the present research are twofold, both theoretical and practical. On the one hand, the findings offer a more nuanced understanding of the interconnections between motivation, self-efficacy, critical thinking, and self-regulation. On the other hand, they provide valuable insights for developing educational strategies that enhance academic achievement by fostering these key factors.

In university settings, a high level of academic engagement and a strong sense of belonging among students are critical factors that significantly influence their well-being. This study aimed to assess the influence of these factors on the subjective happiness and resilience of university students. The sample comprised 503 university students who completed self-report measures assessing subjective happiness, resilience, belongingness, and academic engagement. The findings revealed that students with a stronger sense of belonging and higher academic engagement exhibited significantly greater subjective happiness and resilience than those with lower attributes. In addition, the social match and dedication subscales positively correlated with subjective happiness, while the social match and cultural capital subscales were positively associated with resilience. Finally, the model developed to examine the relationships among the variables indicated that the social match and identification with university subscales were positively associated with subjective happiness and resilience. Academic engagement did not demonstrate a significant association with either happiness or resilience. The results emphasize the importance of a supportive and engaging academic environment in promoting the well-being of university students. They also underscore the significance of implementing strategies to enhance students' sense of belonging and academic dedication to bolster their psychological resilience and happiness.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of agility ladder training combined with plyometric or multidirection speed drills, on performance in young female volleyball players. Methods: Seventy-six young female volleyball players were randomly distributed into 3 maturity-matched groups: (1) the agility ladder + plyometric drills group, (2) the agility ladder + multidirection speed drills group, and (3) the control group. Both experimental groups followed a 6-week training program, twice weekly, in addition to the regular volleyball training sessions, while the control group participated only in the regular volleyball training sessions. Assessments pretraining and posttraining included countermovement jump, 20-m sprint, and agility T test. Results: Both experimental groups improved T-test performance (P < .005) but only agility ladder + multidirection speed drills group outperformed the control group (P < .05). Conclusions: Agility ladder training programs combined with either plyometric or speed drills can improve change of direction performance in young female volleyball players but only the combination of agility ladder with multidirection speed drills is more effective than volleyball training per se. The small effectiveness of these protocols may be attributed to the short training period, or to the fact that training elements were combined in a single session. This hypothesis remains to be further investigated.

Pre-exercise mangiferin–quercetin may enhance athletic performance. This study investigated the effect of mangiferin–quercetin supplementation on high-level male basketball players during a basketball exercise simulation test (BEST) comprising 24 circuits of 30 s activities with various movement distances. The participants were divided into two groups (EXP = 19 and CON = 19) and given a placebo one hour before the BEST (PRE-condition). The following week, the EXP group received mangiferin–quercetin (84 mg/140 mg), while the CON group received a placebo (POST-condition) before the BEST in a double-blind, cross-over design. The mean heart rate (HR) and circuit and sprint times (CT and ST) during the BEST were measured, along with the capillary blood lactate levels (La⁻), the subjective rating of muscle soreness (RPMS), and the perceived exertion (RPE) during a resting state prior to and following the BEST. The results showed significant interactions for the mean CT (p = 0.013) and RPE (p = 0.004); a marginal interaction for La⁻ (p = 0.054); and non-significant interactions for the mean HR, mean ST, and RPMS. Moreover, the EXP group had significantly lower values in the POST condition for the mean CT (18.17 ± 2.08 s) and RPE (12.42 ± 1.02) compared to the PRE condition (20.33 ± 1.96 s and 13.47 ± 1.22, respectively) and the POST condition of the CON group (20.31 ± 2.10 s and 13.32 ± 1.16, respectively) (p < 0.05). These findings highlight the potential of pre-game mangiferin–quercetin supplementation to enhance intermittent high-intensity efforts in sports such as basketball.