A longitudinal cross-country study of entrepreneurial orientation

As recent research documents, there has been an impressive effort of studying the entrepreneurial orientation construct and its nomological role. However, most research has been very context specific and based on the analyses of cross-sectional information. We study causal performance effects from entrepreneurial orientation and its key dimensions in two economic contexts–developed and emerging markets. Gathering data on a sample of 94 firms in developed market context and 108 in emerging market context at two time-points we explore our hypotheses. The results suggest that in a developed economy entrepreneurial orientation has a positive impact on firm performance, whereas in the emerging market context this effect is negative. Furthermore, we assess the contribution of each dimension to the aggregate construct and reveal the importance of risk-taking in both contexts. Finally, we highlight the role of environmental dynamism and explain its varying effect

Sex differences in heart rate variability: a longitudinal study in international elite cross-country skiers

PURPOSE: Exercise-related sudden cardiac deaths (SCD) occur with a striking male predominance. A higher sympathetic tone in men has been suggested as risk factor for SCD. Elite athletes have the highest risk for exercise-related SCD. We aimed to analyze the autonomic nervous system of elite cross-country skiers from Norway, Russia and Switzerland in supine position and after orthostatic challenge in various training periods (TP). METHOD: Measurements of heart rate variability (HRV) were performed on a weekly basis over 1 year using an orthostatic challenge test with controlled breathing. Main outcome parameters were the high-frequency power in supine position (HFsupine) as marker of cardiac parasympathetic activity and the low-frequency/high-frequency power ratio after orthostatic challenge (LF/HFstand) as marker of cardiac sympathetic activation. Training intensity and duration were recorded daily and expressed as training strain. The training year was divided into three TPs. An average of weekly HRV measurements was calculated for each TP. RESULT: Female (n = 19, VO2max 62.0 +/- 4.6 ml kg(-1) min(-1), age 25.8 +/- 4.3 years) and male (n = 16, VO2max 74.3 +/- 6.3 ml kg(-1) min(-1), age 24.4 +/- 4.2 years) athletes were included. Training strain was comparable between sexes (all p > 0.05) and changed between TPs (all p < 0.05) while no HRV parameters changed over time. There were no sex differences in HFsupine while the LF/HFstand was significantly higher in male athletes in all TPs. CONCLUSION: For a comparable amount of training, male athletes showed constantly higher markers of sympathetic activity after a provocation maneuver. This may explain part of the male predominance in sports-related SCD.

Effect of acute hypoxia on maximal oxygen uptake and maximal performance during leg and upper-body exercise in Nordic combined skiers

We examined the effect of normobaric hypoxia (3200 m) on maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and maximal power output (Pmax) during leg and upper-body exercise to identify functional and structural correlates of the variability in the decrement of VO2max (DeltaVO2max) and of maximal power output (DeltaPmax). Seven well trained male Nordic combined skiers performed incremental exercise tests to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer (leg exercise) and on a custom built doublepoling ergometer for cross-country skiing (upper-body exercise). Tests were carried out in normoxia (560 m) and normobaric hypoxia (3200 m); biopsies were taken from m. deltoideus. DeltaVO2max was not significantly different between leg (-9.1+/-4.9%) and upper-body exercise (-7.9+/-5.8%). By contrast, Pmax was significantly more reduced during leg exercise (-17.3+/-3.3%) than during upper-body exercise (-9.6+/-6.4%, p<0.05). Correlation analysis did not reveal any significant relationship between leg and upper-body exercise neither for DeltaVO2max nor for DeltaPmax. Furthermore, no relationship was observed between individual DeltaVO2max and DeltaPmax. Analysis of structural data of m. deltoideus revealed a significant correlation between capillary density and DeltaPmax (R=-0.80, p=0.03), as well as between volume density of mitochondria and DeltaPmax (R=-0.75, p=0.05). In conclusion, it seems that VO2max and Pmax are differently affected by hypoxia. The ability to tolerate hypoxia is a characteristic of the individual depending in part on the exercise mode. We present evidence that athletes with a high capillarity and a high muscular oxidative capacity are more sensitive to hypoxia.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo in mountain bikers

We evaluated 4 men who had benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) that occured several hours after intensive mountain biking but without head trauma. The positional maneuvers in the planes of the posterior and horizontal canals elicited BPPV, as well as transitory nystagmus. This was attributed to both the posterior and horizontal semicircular canals (SCCs) on the left side in 1 patient, in these 2 SCCs on the right side in another patient, and to the right posterior SCC in the other 2 patients. The symptoms disappeared after physiotherapeutic maneuvers in 2 patients and spontaneously in the other 2 patients. Cross-country or downhill mountain biking generates frequent vibratory impacts, which are only partially filtered through the suspension fork and the upper parts of the body. Biomechanically, during a moderate jump, before landing, the head is subjected to an acceleration close to negative 1 g, and during impact it is subjected to an upward acceleration of more than 2g. Repeated acceleration-deceleration events during intensive off-road biking might generate displacement and/or dislocation of otoconia from the otolithic organs, inducing the typical symptoms of BPPV. This new cause of posttraumatic BPPV should be considered as an injury of minor severity attributed to the practice of mountain biking.

[Prevalence of Lyme borreliosis in a Swiss population at risk]

The epidemiology of "Lyme borreliosis" in Europe and the significance of positive antibody titers against Borrelia burgdorferi is not well known. Since "orienteering", a competitive cross country sport with a map and a compass, usually in forests, elevates the risk of being bitten by ticks and infected by B. burgdorferi, nearly 1000 orienteerers were included in a prospective study. - In this population the prevalence of positive IgG-antibodies (immunofluorescence technique) was almost 20% and of IgM-antibodies 4%. However, the frequency of associated symptoms in the clinical history of the probands was very low, even in individuals with highly positive titers. - We conclude that the rate of asymptomatic Borrelia infections is high in this special group, and probably also in the general population, and that one has therefore to be cautious in interpreting an isolated positive "Lyme titer". Further investigations are needed, and, in particular, follow-up of the many "positive" subjects without clinical symptoms may be helpful in understanding this fascinating disease better.

Representation Matters: The Impact of Descriptive Women's Representation on the Political Involvement of Women

In a cross-country comparison of 33 European countries, we tested whether a high degree of female representation attenuates the assumed negative impact of gender on political involvement. Our multilevel analyses show positive interactive effects of female representation: the degree to which the representation of women in a given country's national parliament was descriptively adequate was positively related to women's ratings of the importance of politics and self-reported political interest. With respect to political participation, the findings are mixed.

A survey on the feeding of eventing horses during competition

This study aims at the comparison of the actual feeding of horses with the recommendations from the literature, and it studies the effects of feeding and exercise on several blood metabolic parameters before and after exercise. Blood samples were collected from 25 horses during one-star eventing competitions and evaluated for blood glucose, insulin, lactate, free fatty acids and triglyceride levels. Questionnaires on the feeding practices of the horses were evaluated. The questionnaires revealed that during training, and on tournament days, horses received on average 4.3 kg of concentrate per day (min. 1.54 kg, max. 8 kg). The statistical analysis showed no significant effect of the amount of concentrate fed before exercise on the measured blood values. Oil was supplied as a supplementary energy source to 30% of the horses, but most of them only received very small quantities (0.02–0.4 l/day). Five horses (20%) had no access to salt supplements at all, and eleven horses (45%) had no access to salt on tournament days. Fifteen horses (60%) were supplied with mineral feed. Twenty-one horses (84%) had daily access to pasture during the training period. During competition, 55% of the horses received roughage ad libitum, compared with 37% during training. The majority of the horses received less roughage on days before the cross-country competition. It could not be ascertained whether feeding a large amounts of roughage had a beneficial effect on performance, because only a few horses in this study were fed with very restrictive roughage. Feeding of most of the horses was in agreement with the recommendations from the literature, except the need for sodium and chloride. The sodium and chloride need for sport horses may be overestimated in literature and needs to be re-evaluated.

Chlamydia control activities in Europe: cross-sectional survey

Background: Chlamydia is the most commonly reported bacterial sexually transmitted infection in Europe. The objective of the Screening for Chlamydia in Europe (SCREen) project was to describe current and planned chlamydia control activities in Europe. Methods: The authors sent a questionnaire asking about different aspects of chlamydia epidemiology and control to public health and clinical experts in each country in 2007. The principles of sexually transmitted infection control were used to develop a typology comprising five categories of chlamydia control activities. Each country was assigned to a category, based on responses to the questionnaire. Results: Experts in 29 of 33 (88%) invited countries responded. Thirteen of 29 countries (45%) had no current chlamydia control activities. Six countries in this group stated that there were plans to introduce chlamydia screening programmes. There were five countries (17%) with case management guidelines only. Three countries (10%) also recommended case finding amongst partners of diagnosed chlamydia cases or people with another sexually transmitted infection. Six countries (21%) further specified groups of asymptomatic people eligible for opportunistic chlamydia testing. Two countries (7%) reported a chlamydia screening programme. There was no consistent association between the per capita gross domestic product of a country and the intensity of chlamydia control activities (P = 0.816). Conclusion: A newly developed classification system allowed the breadth of ongoing national chlamydia control activities to be described and categorized. Chlamydia control strategies should ensure that clinical guidelines to optimize chlamydia diagnosis and case management have been implemented before considering the appropriateness of screening programmes.

Prevalence and associated factors of viral hepatitis and transferrin elevations in 5036 patients admitted to the emergency room of a Swiss university hospital: cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: The epidemiology of liver disease in patients admitted to emergency rooms is largely unknown. The current study aimed to measure the prevalence of viral hepatitis B and C infection and pathological laboratory values of liver disease in such a population, and to study factors associated with these measurements. METHODS: Cross-sectional study in patients admitted to the emergency room of a university hospital. No formal exclusion criteria. Determination of anti-HBs, anti-HCV, transferrin saturation, alanine aminotransferase, and obtaining answers from a study-specific questionnaire. RESULTS: The study included 5'036 patients, representing a 14.9% sample of the target population during the study period. Prevalence of anti-HBc and anti-HCV was 6.7% (95%CI 6.0% to 7.4%) and 2.7% (2.3% to 3.2%), respectively. Factors independently associated with positive anti-HBc were intravenous drug abuse (OR 18.3; 11.3 to 29.7), foreign country of birth (3.4; 2.6 to 4.4), non-white ethnicity (2.7; 1.9 to 3.8) and age > or =60 (2.0; 1.5 to 2.8). Positive anti-HCV was associated with intravenous drug abuse (78.9; 43.4 to 143.6), blood transfusion (1.7; 1.1 to 2.8) and abdominal pain (2.7; 1.5 to 4.8). 75% of all participants were not vaccinated against hepatitis B or did not know their vaccination status. Among anti-HCV positive patients only 49% knew about their infection and 51% reported regular alcohol consumption. Transferrin saturation was elevated in 3.3% and was associated with fatigue (prevalence ratio 1.9; 1.2 to 2.8). CONCLUSION: Emergency rooms should be considered as targets for public health programs that encourage vaccination, patient education and screening of high-risk patients for liver disease with subsequent referral for treatment if indicated.

Decreasing risk of hepatitis a infection in león, nicaragua: evidence from cross-sectional and longitudinal seroepidemiology studies

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Nicaragua is highly endemic for hepatitis A. We aimed to provide an estimate of the change in the age-specific risk of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection based on serological data from cross-sectional and longitudinal samples collected in León, Nicaragua, in 1995/96 (n = 979) and 2003 (n = 494). METHODS The observed age-specific prevalence of anti-HAV antibodies was correlated to the age-specific risk of infection by calculating the probability of freedom from infection at a specific age. RESULTS The proportion of seropositive children aged 1.5 to 6 years was 42% in 2003 compared to 67% in 1995/96. Estimated annual risk of infection for a 3-year old child was 30% (95% CI: 27.0%, 33.1%) in 1995 and 15.5% (95% CI: 12.4%, 19.0%) in 2003. There was good agreement between estimates based on cross-sectional and longitudinal data. The age-specific geometric mean of the quantified anti-HAV antibody levels assessed in 2003 was highest at age 4 and decreased steadily up to age 40. CONCLUSIONS The substantially lower risk of HAV infection in 2003 than in 1995 for young children indicates a beginning transition from high to intermediate endemicity in León, Nicaragua. Consecutive age-stratified serosurveys are useful to assess changes in risk of infection following public health interventions. The decreasing age-specific GMC of anti-HAV antibodies during adulthood in a country with endemic HAV indirectly suggests that ongoing HAV exposure in the community has marginal boosting effect on antibody levels once protective immunity has been established by natural infection.

Sport clubs in Europe. A cross-national comparative perspective

​This book presents an up-to-date portrait of the characteristics of sport clubs in various European countries and their role in society and the national sport system. Furthermore, it offers a cross-national comparative perspective of sport clubs in twenty European countries. Containing both empirical data and information on the political and historical backgrounds of sport clubs, the book is organized in three parts. First, the authors provide an overview of the theoretical approach of the book and a description of the framework used for the country chapters. Second, the country chapters, written by experts within the field, provide a systematic overview of the available information on sport clubs in each country. These chapters are structured to answer the following questions: (1) What is the position of sport clubs within the national sport structure? (2) Which role do they fulfil in policy and society? (3) What are their basic characteristics and what factors influence the development of sport clubs? The book is concluded with a systematic comparison of the participating countries with the purpose of forging a clear link between the functioning of policy systems, observed problems, and possible solutions, and with a future research agenda on sport clubs. In an era of increased collaboration between European states, sport provides a natural vehicle through which to compare changes in culture, economics, and policy across nations. Sport Clubs in Europe will appeal to scholars of nonprofit management, sports management and sports sociology as well as administrators and policy makers in the international sports community.