Social Inequality in Political Participation: The Dark Sides of Individualisation

Has the participatory gap between social groups widened over the past decades? And if so, how can it be explained? Based on a re-analysis of 94 electoral surveys in eight Western European countries between 1956 and 2009, this article shows that the difference in national election turnout between the half of the population with the lowest level of education and the half with the highest has increased. It shows that individualisation – the decline of social integration and social control – is a major cause of this trend. In their electoral choices, citizens with fewer resources – in terms of education – rely more heavily on cues and social control of the social groups to which they belong. Once the ties to these groups loosen, these cues and mobilising norms are no longer as strong as they once were, resulting in an increasing abstention of the lower classes on Election Day. In contrast, citizens with abundant resources rely much less on cues and social control, and the process of individualisation impacts on their participatory behaviour to a much lesser extent. The article demonstrates this effect based on a re-analysis of five cumulative waves of the European Social Survey.

Block training periodization in alpine skiing: effects of 11-day HIT on VO2max and performance

Attempting to achieve the high diversity of training goals in modern competitive alpine skiing simultaneously can be difficult and may lead to compromised overall adaptation. Therefore, we investigated the effect of block training periodization on maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and parameters of exercise performance in elite junior alpine skiers. Six female and 15 male athletes were assigned to high-intensity interval (IT, N = 13) or control training groups (CT, N = 8). IT performed 15 high-intensity aerobic interval (HIT) sessions in 11 days. Sessions were 4 x 4 min at 90-95% of maximal heart rate separated by 3-min recovery periods. CT continued their conventionally mixed training, containing endurance and strength sessions. Before and 7 days after training, subjects performed a ramp incremental test followed by a high-intensity time-to-exhaustion (tlim) test both on a cycle ergometer, a 90-s high-box jump test as well as countermovement (CMJ) and squat jumps (SJ) on a force plate. IT significantly improved relative VO2max by 6.0% (P < 0.01; male +7.5%, female +2.1%), relative peak power output by 5.5% (P < 0.01) and power output at ventilatory threshold 2 by 9.6% (P < 0.01). No changes occurred for these measures in CT. tlim remained unchanged in both groups. High-box jump performance was significantly improved in males of IT only (4.9%, P < 0.05). Jump peak power (CMJ -4.8%, SJ -4.1%; P < 0.01), but not height decreased in IT only. For competitive alpine skiers, block periodization of HIT offers a promising way to efficiently improve VO2max and performance. Compromised explosive jump performance might be associated with persisting muscle fatigue.

Day/Night rhythm of hemostatic factors in obstructive sleep apnea

To investigate the hypothesis that day/night patterns of prothrombotic activity differ between patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and individuals with no OSA.

Reproducibility and day time bias correction of optoelectronic leg volumetry: a prospective cohort study

Background Leg edema is a common manifestation of various underlying pathologies. Reliable measurement tools are required to quantify edema and monitor therapeutic interventions. Aim of the present work was to investigate the reproducibility of optoelectronic leg volumetry over 3 weeks' time period and to eliminate daytime related within-individual variability. Methods Optoelectronic leg volumetry was performed in 63 hairdressers (mean age 45 ± 16 years, 85.7% female) in standing position twice within a minute for each leg and repeated after 3 weeks. Both lower leg (legBD) and whole limb (limbBF) volumetry were analysed. Reproducibility was expressed as analytical and within-individual coefficients of variance (CVA, CVW), and as intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Results A total of 492 leg volume measurements were analysed. Both legBD and limbBF volumetry were highly reproducible with CVA of 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively. Within-individual reproducibility of legBD and limbBF volumetry over a three weeks' period was high (CVW 1.3% for both; ICC 0.99 for both). At both visits, the second measurement revealed a significantly higher volume compared to the first measurement with a mean increase of 7.3 ml ± 14.1 (0.33% ± 0.58%) for legBD and 30.1 ml ± 48.5 ml (0.52% ± 0.79%) for limbBF volume. A significant linear correlation between absolute and relative leg volume differences and the difference of exact day time of measurement between the two study visits was found (P < .001). A therefore determined time-correction formula permitted further improvement of CVW. Conclusions Leg volume changes can be reliably assessed by optoelectronic leg volumetry at a single time point and over a 3 weeks' time period. However, volumetry results are biased by orthostatic and daytime-related volume changes. The bias for day-time related volume changes can be minimized by a time-correction formula.