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.

Street-Ball: The Myth of the Ghetto Basketball Star

In recent decades, countless scholars have examined the developing trend of African American dominance in United States’ professional sports. Many have hypothesized that this over-representation is caused by the presumed reliance on sports as an avenue out of poverty for the African American youths. This trend, it is believed, has a highly detrimental effect the African American community. In actuality, this argument is flawed because it works under the stereotypical assumption that the overwhelming majority of African Americans come from abject poverty. To dispel this fallacy, the author has analyzed the upbringings of each All-National Basketball League First Team player over the past thirty years. The author discovered that while the majority of the players selected were African American, only a small percentage of these athletes were raised in a poverty-stricken environment. Logically, this would not be the case if poor African Americans relied more heavily on sports than middle-class African Americans. This data proves that stereotypes, not empirical evidence, are the substance of nearly every previous study conducted on the topic.

Elite Soybean Test—North

The purpose of this test was to evaluate the experimental elite soybean lines adapted to northern Iowa. The 2011 Elite Test included commodity–yellow hilum soybeans and large seed and high protein beans, along with commercially grown varieties released by Iowa State University tested for comparison of agronomic traits. These varieties are used in the production of soy foods.

Elite Soybean Test—South

The purpose of this test was to evaluate the experimental elite soybean lines adapted to southern Iowa. The 2011 Elite Test included commodity—yellow hilum soybeans and large seed and high protein beans, along with commercially grown varieties released by Iowa State University tested for comparison of agronomic traits. These varieties are used in the production of soy foods

La conformación de una elite regional en el extremo norte del Altoparaná: La poderosa Compañía Matte Larangeira. En: LaRivada, V. 2, n° 3

Se analizara brevemente la explotación extractiva yerbatera en la región Altoparanaense, del extremo norte al igual que en la vecina área del “Contestado” controladas por Brasil luego del laudo Cleveland. El problema de la ocupación de tierras por pequeños y medianos agricultores en oposición al sistema extractivo de las grandes compañías yerbateras que utilizaban el trabajo a destajo. La utilización de la mano de obra indígena y criolla fue un elemento importante que las grandes empresas intentaron resolver para asegurarse la continuidad del proceso extractivo yerbatero. La Compañía Matte Larangeira fue desde sus comienzos una de las más representativas y poderosas empresas con una “élite regional” que influyó en un amplio espacio geográfico transfronterizo.

Experiencia escolar en escuelas de elite : Un estudio de caso sobre el Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires

La investigación tuvo por objeto al Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires como entorno instituyente de subjetividades y espacio experimentado por sus alumnos, considerado tanto a nivel de la comunidad educativa como por otras investigaciones, una institución de elite. Se caracterizó y analizó las prácticas y representaciones que constituyen la cultura institucional del colegio y el vínculo que los alumnos establecen con ella en su experiencia escolar, que supone diversos procesos de interacción social, cada uno relacionado aquí y ahora con el pasado, bajo la forma de una tradición imbricada profundamente en la constitución de la identidad institucional. El trabajo también profundizó en el concepto de elite. En este sentido, pudimos identificar prácticas y representaciones (estilos de conducción, dinámicas áulicas, discursos, tipos de sanciones y otras formas de disciplinamiento) que legitiman y profundizan la construcción de una identidad de elite en sectores de clase media, favoreciendo la subjetivación de la distinción en un marco de fragmentación educativa y desigualdad social

El descubrimiento del pueblo : Los discursos de la elite porteña frente a los sectores subalternos entre fines del siglo XVIII y los inicios del siglo XIX

Análisis del discurso de la élite porteña, entre finales del siglo XVIII y principios del siglo XIX, en torno a la aparición de los sectores populares, como vehículo de legitimación política