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Study aim: As studies from shooting disciplines other than biathlon have observed associations between weapon accelerations and shooting performance, this study investigated whether accelerations of the rifle stock and aiming point (the point on the target where the rifle is aimed at) are associated with shooting performance, and differences in rifle and aiming point accelerations between the most and least accurate shots. Further, associations between rifle and aiming point accelerations were studied.

In this study, we developed a deep learning-based 3D markerless motion capture system for skate skiing on a treadmill and evaluated its accuracy against marker-based motion capture during G1 and G3 skating techniques. Participants performed roller skiing trials on a skiing treadmill. Trials were recorded with two synchronized video cameras (100 Hz). We then trained a custom model using DeepLabCut, and the skiing movements were analyzed using both DeepLabCut-based markerless motion capture and marker-based motion capture systems. We statistically compared joint centers and joint vector angles between the methods. The results demonstrated a high level of agreement for joint vector angles, with mean differences ranging from −2.47° to 3.69°. For joint center positions and toe placements, mean differences ranged from 24.0 to 40.8 mm. This level of accuracy suggests that our markerless approach could be useful as a skiing coaching tool. The method presents interesting opportunities for capturing and extracting value from large amounts of data without the need for markers attached to the skier and expensive cameras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unitary space-time constellation design is considered for noncoherent multiple-antenna communications, where neither the transmitter nor the receiver knows the fading coefficients of the channel. By employing the Clarke's subdifferential theorem of the sum of the [kappa] largest singular values of a unitary matrix, we present a numerical optimization procedure for finding unitary space-time signal constellations of any dimension. The Chernoff bound of the pairwise error probability is used directly as a design criterion. The constellations are found by performing gradient descent search on a family "surrogate" functions that converge to the maximum pairwise error probability. The complexity of the search procedure increases with the dimension and the size of the constellation, but it can be considered to be acceptable for an off-line design procedure. Since the designed constellations are unstructured, and, thus, require an exhaustive search over all codewords in decoding, their main practical value is to serve as constellation design performance benchmarks. We compare the performance of the new constellations to that of some other well-known constellations. Computer simulation results illustrate typically about 0.4-3.5 dB performance gains. Index Terms--Fading channel, multiple antennas, noncoherent communications, unitary constellations.

Pilot symbol assisted modulation and a minimum mean-square error (MMSE) channel predictor are used to employ feedback MMSE power control over a frequency nonselective slow Rayleigh fading channel. Feedback is assumed to be noiseless and delayless. First, the performance of the pilot symbol system using MMSE power control is derived in the case of the frame size of two. Lag error is noticed to cause severe performance degradation, even when the channel is very slowly fading. In order to decrease the lag error and to get a good system performance, the number of estimator coefficients is found to become quite large. Operating strategy of MMSE power control is studied by Monte Carlo simulations and compared to various strategies presented in the literature. Spectral efficiency of the pilot symbol system is increased by transmitting more than one data symbol in a given frame. Finally, the performance of the pilot symbol system using MMSE power control is derived in the case of an optimal frame size. Index Terms--Channel estimation, closed-loop method, feedback communications, pilot symbol assisted modulation, power control.

Unitary space-time constellation design is considered for noncoherent multiple-antenna communications, where neither the transmitter nor the receiver knows the fading coefficients of the channel. By employing the Clarke's subdifferential theorem of the sum of the κ- largest singular values of a unitary matrix, we present a numerical optimization procedure for finding unitary space-time signal constellations of any dimension. The Chernoff bound of the pairwise error probability is used directly as a design criterion. The constellations are found by performing gradient descent search on a family "surrogate" functions that converge to the maximum pairwise error probability. The complexity of the search procedure increases with the dimension and the size of the constellation, but it can be considered to be acceptable for an off-line design procedure. Since the designed constellations are unstructured, and, thus, require an exhaustive search over all codewords in decoding, their main practical value is to serve as constellation design performance benchmarks. We compare the performance of the new constellations to that of some other well-known constellations. Computer simulation results illustrate typically about 0.4-3.5 dB performance gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the most important factors determining biathlon prone shooting performance. Ten female and 16 male biathletes (age 19.9 ± 2.9 years) from the national teams of Finland and Vuokatti-Ruka Sports Academy performed 6 × 5 biathlon prone shooting shots without physical stress under laboratory conditions. Shooting performance and multiple aiming point trajectory variables were measured together with an analysis of triggering force. Based on the aiming point trajectory data principal component analysis, we identified four technical components in biathlon prone shooting: stability of hold, aiming accuracy, cleanness of triggering, and timing of triggering. Multiple regression analysis (MRA) further determined that cleanness of triggering, aiming accuracy, and timing of triggering accounted for 80% of mean shooting performance (p < 0.001). Better stability of hold, aiming accuracy and cleanness of triggering were directly associated with better shooting performance (0.62 ≤ |r| ≥0.79, all p < 0.001). Better stability of hold measures were also associated with better cleanness of triggering, and higher pre-shot trigger force levels were associated with better stability of hold and cleanness of triggering. These results indicate that with both direct and indirect effects on performance, stability of hold seems to be a general prerequisite for successful biathlon shooting. The results also highlight the importance of aiming accuracy, cleanness and timing of triggering, along with a high pre-shot trigger force level. The variables identified in this study could be used to assess biathletes' performance in the most relevant shooting technical aspects to guide the emphasis of their shooting training., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This study focused on investigating differences in shooting performance and performance-related factors between two different aiming strategies (HOLD, low radial velocity during the approach 0.4-0.2 seconds before triggering, and TIMING, high radial velocity) in biathlon standing shooting. A total of 23 biathletes fired 8 × 5 standing shots at rest (REST) and 2 × 5 shots during a race simulation (RACE). Shooting performance (hit point distance from the center of the target), aiming point trajectory and postural balance were measured from each shot. Shooting performance was similar both at REST (HOLD 33 ± 5 mm vs TIMING 38 ± 8 mm, P = .111) and in RACE (40 ± 11 mm vs 47 ± 12 mm, P = .194). Better shooting performance was related to smaller distance of the aiming point mean location (REST r = 0.93, P < .001, RACE r = 0.72, P = .018) and higher time spent within ⅔ of the distance of the hit area edge from the center 0.6-0.0 seconds before triggering (REST r=-0.88, P = .001, RACE r=-0.73, P = .016) in HOLD, and to lower aiming point total velocity 0.6-0.0 seconds before triggering (REST r = 0.77, P = .009, RACE r = 0.88, P = .001) and less aiming point movement 0.2-0.0 seconds before triggering (REST r = 0.82, P = .003, RACE r = 0.72, P = .012) in TIMING. Postural balance was related to shooting performance at REST in both groups and in RACE in TIMING. Biathletes using the hold strategy should focus on stabilizing the aiming point before triggering and aiming at the center, whereas biathletes using the timing strategy benefit of decreasing the total velocity during the final approach as well as minimizing the aiming point movement right before triggering., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)