PURPOSE:Lifting straps (LS) are popular tools used by resistance-training (RT) practitioners with the intention of improving exercise performance. This tool is worn around the wrist to enhance grip on the barbell or other RT equipment and potentially decrease grip limitation throughout the exercise-a limitation that is usually reported by practitioners, especially during deadlifts, weightlifting movements, and pulling exercises. However, this knowledge remains mostly based on common experiential beliefs. Thus, this narrative review aims to highlight the current knowledge on the impact of LS in RT, focusing on physiological and biomechanical effects, exercise performance, chronic training adaptations, and safety concerns, and also to expose the existing literature gaps and distinguish between evidence-based findings and empirical assumptions. CONCLUSION:Evidence suggests that LS can enhance maximal strength and grip perception. However, for pulling/back exercises, no consistent effects have been observed. In addition, LS may increase mechanical work in the deadlift, but contrary to common belief, they appear not to contribute to increased muscle recruitment. Furthermore, no scientific evidence supports the chronic effects of LS usage in training; it is still a hypothesis. Finally, this review offers future research insights to assist sport scientists in designing and conducting more comprehensive investigations on this topic, ultimately enhancing the understanding and application of LS in RT.
Personal training has gained increasing relevance in the fitness sector, with service quality playing a key role in customer satisfaction, loyalty, and recommendation. This study aimed to: (i) characterize and compare clients’ perceived quality of different personal trainers (PT); and (ii) analyze perceived overall quality, intention to remain, and intention to recommend among clients supervised by different PT. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted, including 22 personal training clients from a Portuguese gym (convenience sample), supervised by three different PT. Data were collected using an adapted version of the “Fitness Instructor Quality – Group Activities” questionnaire, adjusted to the personal training context. Results showed very high levels of perceived quality across all indicators, with no significant differences between PT in most items. Technical-pedagogical indicators reached maximum values, while relational indicators showed greater variability. Significant differences were found in recommendation intention between two PT (p = 0.027). These findings suggest that technical competence represents a fundamental requirement of personal training services, whereas relational skills play a decisive role in differentiating user experience and fostering loyalty and recommendation behaviors.
Performance evaluation constitutes an institutional mechanism for analysing professional performance and productivity within healthcare organisations. When adequately designed and implemented, it may contribute to the alignment between individual practices and organisational objectives. This study aims to examine healthcare professionals' perceptions of the performance evaluation instruments applied in their professional context. A quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive, inferential, and correlational methodology was employed. Data were collected through a questionnaire administered to healthcare professionals working in Portugal. Overall perceptions of performance evaluation instruments are predominantly negative being these perceptions associated with increased demotivation, dissatisfaction, and perceived lack of recognition.These findings suggest that current performance evaluation practices may negatively influence healthcare professionals' well-being and organisational commitment.
The exponential growth of semi-structured data from IoT devices and modern applications has challenged traditional relational databases, driving interest in hybrid storage solutions that combine relational reliability with NoSQL flexibility. This study systematically evaluates the performance implications of JSON and JSONB storage formats in PostgreSQL compared to traditional relational storage, using the standardized TPC-H benchmark across datasets of 1 GB, 5 GB, and 10 GB. The evaluation encompasses import efficiency, storage requirements, query performance with and without indexing, and concurrent load resilience. Results demonstrate that while JSONB incurs 2.7 × storage overhead and 2.7 × longer import times, it significantly outperforms plain JSON in query execution, achieving 23 × slower performance than relational storage without indexes, which improves to 6.6 × slower with combined BTREE and GIN indexing. Under concurrent workloads, JSONB maintains stable throughput and low latency comparable to relational storage, while plain JSON exhibits rapid performance degradation. The findings indicate that JSONB represents a viable hybrid solution for organizations requiring schema flexibility without severely compromising analytical performance, positioning PostgreSQL as a competitive alternative to pure NoSQL systems in semi-structured data environments. The study concludes that storage format selection should align with specific workload characteristics, with JSONB offering an optimal balance for applications demanding both flexibility and performance.
This research aimed to explore the influence of color saturation on brainwave patterns in both colorblind and non-colorblind individuals. Using electroencephalography (EEG) signals and the MUSE brain-computer interface (BCI), we investigated how different color saturation levels and intermittent gray stimuli affected physiological responses and perceptions. The overarching goal was to reveal the subtle yet significant role of color in human perception, preferences, and psychology, irrespective of individual awareness. We recruited 35 individuals, with 15 identified as colorblind and 20 as non-colorblind, aged between 18 and 60 years, with an average age of 32 years (SD=12.3). Participants were presented with 10 colors on a computer screen, occasionally supplemented with gray stimuli. Initially, colors were displayed at 50
