52 Results Found

High load quasi stress-strain (qSS) properties of professionally maintained natural turf (N-pro) was compared with eight natural, hybrid or artificial turfs: one professionally maintained natural turf in a sub field and one grown in a test field with...

Various artificial materials and facilities are sources of microplastics, including artificial turf sports fields. In artificial turf fields, polyethylene fibers are attached to a basal cloth with adhesives. In the present study, we investigated whet...

The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of natural turf, artificial turf, and sand on sprint performance in different sports and to determine how the sport surface affects sprint performance. A systematic search was conducted in Pubmed, We...

While natural grass has been a reliable recreational surface for decades, artificial turf has gained popularity due to its durability, supposed ability to save water, and lower associated costs for municipalities and schools. Growing environmental an...

The worldwide adoption of artificial turf in sports facilities and urban landscapes, alongside the systematic transition from natural grass and soil-based grounds, has raised growing concerns about its contribution to the significant source of nano-...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a bespoke spatial measurement methodology using Hall Effect Sensors (HES), i.e., utilizing inductance between a permanent magnet and sensor to indirectly measure the magnet position. The aim is to embed the m...

Properties of conventional playing surfaces have been investigated for many years and the stiffness of the surface has potential to influence athletic performance. However, despite the proliferation of different infilled artificial turfs with varying...

This paper compares four sport surface hardness impact test devices, for use on artificial turf (AT) surfaces to control safety. Sports governing bodies require sport surfaces to be assessed with the “Advanced Artificial Athlete” (AAA) mechanical tes...

Background: Artificial turf (AT) has been related to increased injury rates when compared to natural grass (NG). One potential reason for the differences in injury rates is the difference in mechanical characteristics of the surfaces. Over the course...

Third generation (3G) artificial turf systems use in sporting applications is increasingly prolific. These multi-component systems are comprised of a range of polymeric and elastomeric materials that exhibit non-linear and strain rate dependent behav...

Background: There are growing health concerns about exposure to toxicants released from recycled tire rubber, which is commonly used in synthetic turf and playground mats. To better estimate children’s exposure and risk from recycled tire rubbe...

Long-term and extensive mineral mining in the Kuermutu mine section of the Two Rivers Nature Reserve in the Altai region has disrupted the ecological balance between soil and vegetation. To assess the effectiveness of various restoration measures in...

Background/Objectives: Lower extremity non-contact injuries (LE-NCIs) pose a significant burden on the National Football League (NFL), with ongoing debates regarding playing surface safety. The stressful college-to-professional transition period for...

High surface temperatures are often recorded on or close to the surface of an artificial turf pitch (ATP). Many literature sources from different countries have reported surface temperatures on artificial pitches rising up to 90–95 °C on hot days, wh...

Third generation artificial turf systems are comprised of a range of polymeric and elastomeric materials that exhibit non-linear and strain rate dependent behaviours under the complex loads applied from players and equipment. An elastomeric shockpad...

This study aimed to identify differences in match running performance (MRP) on artificial turf (AT) and natural grass (NG) among female football players. The players’ MRPs (AT; 96 observations, NG; 80 observations) were obtained from all matche...

Small-sided-games (SSGs) seem to be a useful tool for replicating most types of scenarios found in sport competitions, but it is not that clear in female soccer. Game surface and pitch size seem to affect the intensity of SSGs, but no one has yet ana...

Injuries to racehorses and their jockeys are not limited to the racetrack and high-speed work. To optimise racehorse-jockey dyads’ health, well-being, and safety, it is important to understand their kinematics under the various exercise conditi...

This paper describes the development of a new artificial turf surrogate surface (ATSS) sampler for use in the measurement of mercury (Hg) dry deposition. In contrast to many existing surrogate surface designs, the ATSS utilizes a three-dimensional de...

End-of-life tyre (ELT) management is still a hot topic due to implications for sustainability and human health. This review aims to summarise the findings concerning the chemicals’ bio-accessibility/availability from the granular tyre-derived i...

Synthetic turf has become a popular alternative to natural grass due to low upkeep costs; however, its health impacts have not been clearly elucidated. This review examines and consolidates the existing literature on rubber crumb in infill in synthet...

This study aimed to quantify the influence of the playing surface on workload-related variables (i.e., external load, Rate of perceived exertion (RPE), and mental load) in training sessions with a Spanish professional soccer team. Twenty professional...

The mechanical properties of the surfaces used for exercising can affect sports performance and injury risk. However, the mechanical properties of treadmill surfaces remain largely unknown. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess the shock ab...

Precision spraying can significantly reduce herbicide input for turf weed management. A major challenge for autonomous precision herbicide spraying is to accurately and reliably detect weeds growing in turf. Deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs)...

This research developed a new approach for calculating the area over which water spreads after being released from a confined conduit onto a sloped planar surface with defined roughness. In particular, the goal was to predict how stormwater would spr...

Soccer is a sport with a high incidence of injuries. The most common injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee has undergone a sprain, strain, or partial or total rupture. Besides fitness factors (e.g., proprioception, balance and...

Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L.) is a warm-season grass species of significant ecological and economic importance. It is widely utilized in turf management and forage production due to its resilience to drought, salt, and other environmental stress...

In recent times, the construction industry has been handling circular economy strategies in order to face the most important challenges in the sector, namely the lack of raw materials and the environmental impacts derived from all the processes linke...

Autonomous mowers are battery-powered machines designed for lawn mowing that require very low human labour. Autonomous mowers can increase turf quality and reduce local noise and pollution compared with gasoline-powered rotary mowers. However, very l...

Spillways can present a way to control the overflowing of water during flood events and prevent damage from levee breaches. With increasing interest in nature-based solutions, the interaction between flow and vegetation parameters has to be understoo...

Many athletic governing bodies are adopting on-site measurement of the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) as part of their heat safety policies. It is well known, however, that microclimatic conditions can vary over different surface types and a quest...

(1) Background: Soccer accounts for 30% of all sports injuries. Muscle injuries in soccer, not caused by trauma or contact, are the most common. The objective was to assess the risk of injury based on the footwear used by soccer players and the playi...

To mitigate flood damage caused by overflow from a levee, it is essential to prevent the levee failure or extend the time to breaching. Although turfgrass on a levee slope is effective in suppressing erosion, insufficient maintenance can reduce its c...

Assessing and keeping control of the mechanical properties of sport surfaces is a relevant task in sports since it enables athletes to train and compete safely and under equal conditions. Currently, different tests are used for assessing athlete- and...

Millions of adults, children and teenagers use artificial sports pitches and playgrounds globally. Pitches are artificial grass and bases may be made up of crumb rubber from recycled tires or new rubber and sand. Player injury on pitches was a major...

Artificial turf provides a consistent and durable surface; however, it has historically been associated with a high skin injury risk, or a ‘friction burn’, when a player falls or slides. Second-generation surfaces feature a short carpet p...

Understanding the effect of horseshoe–surface combinations on hoof kinematics at gallop is relevant for optimising performance and minimising injury in racehorse–jockey dyads. This intervention study assessed hoof breakover duration in Thoroughbred e...

The athletic performance and safety of racehorses is influenced by hoof–surface interactions. This intervention study assessed the effect of eight horseshoe–surface combinations on hoof acceleration patterns at impact and foot-off in 13 g...

The urgency of addressing the climate crisis has heightened the need to make sustainable decisions. Universities and research institutions are uniquely able to help develop and disseminate useful information for industry, specifically small and mediu...

Light and temperature are the driving forces in plant development and growth. Specific photoreceptors provide the ability to sense and interpret light and temperature to regulate growth. Under the limited light conditions in most sports stadiums, nat...

Recently, the European Commission announced their intention to restrict intentionally added microplastics to reduce the amount emitted by 0.5 million tons per year. Findings on microplastics indicate toxic behavior for biota, yet many mechanisms rema...

Knowledge regarding training, competition, and management routines of agility dogs is lacking. Through a retrospective online questionnaire, Finnish owners and handlers of 745 competition-level agility dogs provided information on training routines a...

Worldwide, COVID-19 is a highly contagious epidemic that has affected various fields. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and particular feature selection approaches, this study evaluates the aspects affecting the health of students throughout the COV...

Microplastics (MP) are plastic particles less than 5 mm in size. There are two categories of MP: primary and secondary. Primary or microscopic-sized MP are intentionally produced material. Fragmentation of large plastic debris through physical, chemi...

Wear and tear from tyres significantly contributes to the flow of (micro-)plastics into the environment. This paper compiles the fragmented knowledge on tyre wear and tear characteristics, amounts of particles emitted, pathways in the environment, an...

Microplastic pollution in freshwater systems represents a growing environmental concern, yet the dynamics of microplastic distributions in smaller tributaries like canals/creeks remain understudied. This case study presents an investigation of microp...

This study aimed to compare the validity of a local positioning system (LPS) during outdoor and indoor conditions for team sports. The impact of different filtering techniques was also investigated. Five male team sport athletes (age: 27 ± 2 y...

Background: Elevated global temperatures increase the risk of heat-stroke among athletes exercising in hot conditions. Japanese high school baseball tournaments occur during peak summer, raising concerns regarding heat-related health issues. We exami...

Due to continuing city growth and global warming over the past decades, urban heat island (UHI) effects, referring to the phenomena wherein the ambient air temperatures in cities are higher than those in rural areas, have become a serious threat to u...

To investigate how contextual or environmental factors may influence the athletic performance of female soccer players during competitions, this study aimed to assess the impact of match-related variables (playing surface; opponent levels; opponent r...