Segmented Forefoot Plate in Basketball Footwear: Does it Influence Performance and Foot Joint Kinematics and Kinetics?

This study examined the effects of shoes' segmented forefoot stiffness on athletic performance and ankle and metatarsophalangeal joint kinematics and kinetics in basketball movements. Seventeen university basketball players performed running vertical jumps and 5-m sprints at maximum effort with 3 basketball shoes of various forefoot plate conditions (medial plate, medial + lateral plates, and no-plate control). One-way repeated measures ANOVAs were used to examine the differences in athletic performance, joint kinematics, and joint kinetics among the 3 footwear conditions (α = .

High-power and high-temperature THz quantum-cascade lasers based on lens-coupled metal-metal waveguides.

A metal-metal waveguide quantum cascade laser with an abutted silicon hyperhemispherical lens is demonstrated at ~4.1 THz. The device produced 145 mW of peak pulsed power at 5 K with a wall-plug power efficiency of 0.