Effect of lifetime endurance training on left atrial mechanical function and on the risk of atrial fibrillation

Background Left atrium (LA) dilation and P-wave duration are linked to the amount of endurance training and are risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of LA anatomical and electrical remodeling on its conduit and pump function measured by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (STE). Method Amateur male runners > 30 years were recruited. Study participants (n = 95) were stratified in 3 groups according to lifetime training hours: low (< 1500 h, n = 33), intermediate (1500 to 4500 h, n = 32) and high training group (> 4500 h, n = 30). Results No differences were found, between the groups, in terms of age, blood pressure, and diastolic function. LA maximal volume (30 ± 5, 33 ± 5 vs. 37 ± 6 ml/m2, p < 0.001), and conduit volume index (9 ± 3, 11 ± 3 vs. 12 ± 3 ml/m2, p < 0.001) increased significantly from the low to the high training group, unlike the STE parameters: pump strain − 15.0 ± 2.8, − 14.7 ± 2.7 vs. − 14.9 ± 2.6%, p = 0.927; conduit strain 23.3 ± 3.9, 22.1 ± 5.3 vs. 23.7 ± 5.7%, p = 0.455. Independent predictors of LA strain conduit function were age, maximal early diastolic velocity of the mitral annulus, heart rate and peak early diastolic filling velocity. The signal-averaged P-wave (135 ± 11, 139 ± 10 vs. 148 ± 14 ms, p < 0.001) increased from the low to the high training group. Four episodes of non-sustained AF were recorded in one runner of the high training group. Conclusion The LA anatomical and electrical remodeling does not have a negative impact on atrial mechanical function. Hence, a possible link between these risk factors for AF and its actual, rare occurrence in this athlete population, could not be uncovered in the present study.

"Coaching soccer is a man’s job!" – The influence of gender stereotypes on structures for recruiting female coaches in soccer clubs

Statistics published by the German Football Association indicate that women are significantly under-represented amongst soccer coaches, especially in the amateur leagues. In this paper we analyse how gender stereotypes influence the structural conditions surrounding the recruitment of coaches to soccer clubs that contribute to the exclusion of women from coaching positions. A qualitative study of five selected soccer clubs which are members of a German regional soccer association reveals that informal and personal decision-making practices still play a fundamental role in the recruitment of coaches. These practices undermine formal guidelines and give disproportionate weight to stereotyped preferences in the recruitment of soccer coaches. In this context, decision-makers' (functionaries') professed support of women largely serves a symbolic purpose and creates an illusion of equality concerning decisions that have already been taken at an informal level.

Fit between situational and dispositional goal orientation, and its effects on flow experience and affective well-being during sports.

Flow represents an optimal psychological state that is intrinsically rewarding. However, to date only a few studies have investigated the conditions for flow in sports. The present research aims to expand our understanding of the psychological factors that promote the flow experience in sports, focusing on the person-goal fit, or more precisely on the athletes’ situational and dispositional goal orientations. We hypothesize that a fit between an athlete’s situational and dispositional approach versus avoidance goal orientation should promote flow, whereas a non-fit will hinder flow during sports. In addition to the flow experience, we hypothesize that an athlete’s affective well-being is also affected by the person-goal fit. Here our assumptions are theoretically rooted in research on person-environment fit. An experimental study in an ecologically valid sport setting was conducted in order to draw causal conclusions and derive useful strategies for the practice of sports. Specifically, we investigated 67 male soccer players from a regional amateur league during a regular training session. They were randomly assigned to an approach or avoidance goal group and asked to take five penalty shots. Immediately afterwards, their flow experience and affective well-being during the penalty shootout were measured. As predicted, soccer players with a strong dispositional approach goal orientation experienced more flow and reported higher affective well-being when they were assigned to the approach goal. In contrast, soccer players with a strong dispositional avoidance goal orientation benefited from being assigned an avoidance goal in terms of their flow experience and affective well-being. The results are discussed critically with respect to their theoretical and practical implications.

Misunderstanding Creativity : User Created Content in Virtual Worlds and its Constraints by Code and Law

Virtual worlds have moved from being a geek topic to one of mainstream academic interest. This transition is contingent not only on the augmented economic, societal and cultural value of these virtual realities and their effect upon real life but also on their convenience as fields for experimentation, for testing models and paradigms. User creation is however not something that has been transplanted from the real to the virtual world but a phenomenon and a dynamic process that happens from within and is defined through complex relationships between commercial and non-commercial, commodified and not commodified, individual and of the community, amateur and professional, art and not art. Accounting for this complex environment, the present paper explores user created content in virtual worlds, its dimensions and value and above all, its constraints by code and law. It puts forward suggestions for better understanding and harnessing this creativity.

Professional musicians listen differently to music

INTRODUCTION: Experience-based adaptation of emotional responses is an important faculty for cognitive and emotional functioning. Professional musicians represent an ideal model in which to elicit experience-driven changes in the emotional processing domain. The changes of the central representation of emotional arousal due to musical expertise are still largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the electroencephalogram (EEG) correlates of experience-driven changes in the domain of emotional arousal. Therefore, the differences in perceived (subjective arousal via ratings) and physiologically measured (EEG) arousal between amateur and professional musicians were examined. PROCEDURE: A total of 15 professional and 19 amateur musicians listened to the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's 5th symphony (duration=∼7.4min), during which a continuous 76-channel EEG was recorded. In a second session, the participants evaluated their emotional arousal during listening. In a tonic analysis, we examined the average EEG data over the time course of the music piece. For a phasic analysis, a fast Fourier transform was performed and covariance maps of spectral power were computed in association with the subjective arousal ratings. RESULTS: The subjective arousal ratings of the professional musicians were more consistent than those of the amateur musicians. In the tonic EEG analysis, a mid-frontal theta activity was observed in the professionals. In the phasic EEG, the professionals exhibited an increase of posterior alpha, central delta, and beta rhythm during high arousal. DISCUSSION: Professionals exhibited different and/or more intense patterns of emotional activation when they listened to the music. The results of the present study underscore the impact of music experience on emotional reactions.

Development and voluntarism in football clubs

Volunteers are still the most important resource for amateur football clubs. However, stable voluntary engagement can no longer be granted. This difficulty is confirmed by existing research across various European countries. From a club management point of view, a detailed understanding of how to attract volunteers and retain them is becoming a high priority. The purpose of this study is (1) to analyse the influence of individual characteristics and corresponding organisational conditions on volunteering and (2) to examine the decision-making processes in relation to implement effective strategies for recruiting volunteers. To answer these questions, the current state of research is summarised and then a multi-level-framework is developed which is based on the structural-individualistic social theory. The individual and context factors for volunteering are estimated in different multi-level models based on a sample of n=1,434 sport club members from 36 sport clubs in Switzerland. Results indicate that volunteering is not just an outcome of individual characteristics such as lower workloads, higher income, children belonging to the sport club, longer club membership, or a strong commitment to the club. It is also influenced by club-specific structural conditions. Concerning decision-making processes an in-depth analysis of recruitment practices for volunteers was conducted in selected clubs (case study design). based on the garbage can model. The results show that systematically designed decision-making processes with a clear regulation of responsibilities seem to solve personnel problems more purposefully and more quickly. Based on the findings some recommendations for volunteer management in football clubs are worked out.

Ausst. 87 - Ars moriendi : Blockbuch

Vorbesitzer: Zacharias Konrad von Uffenbach;

Ausst. 86 - Apokalypse : Blockbuch

Vorbesitzer: Zacharias Konrad von Uffenbach;

Del Mp3 al Fan Shot Multicam, génesis de nuevos lenguajes multimedia

Esta ponencia analiza la usabilidad, mutación y dominio de una interfaz multimedia determinada con un enfoque tecnológico sociocultural, económico y productivo; partiendo de la utilización, masificación, mercantilización y difusión de contenidos electrónicos que culminan en procesos de domesticación de los mismos para su posterior remediación. La construcción de lenguajes en tanto actividades concretas dentro de interfases de uso común, están presentes en el marco de practicas culturales que sectores de la población mantienen al seno de sus vidas cotidianas. Así, el usuario apropia, consume y reinterpreta lenguajes impuestos mediante la creación de otros nuevos, que destaquen/condicionen la utilización de dispositivos e interfases dadas. Reflexionando entonces, sobre el affordance entre el usuario y la máquina en tanto intercambio comunicativo; esta ponencia toma como ejemplo el registro 'amateur' de la gira Lights In The Sky de la agrupación Nine Inch Nails en 2007 entendiendo que, a partir de la estandarización de formatos de transmisión de datos, particularmente de tecnologías aplicadas a la difusión e intercambio de contenidos musicales, nos ubicamos al frente de un nuevo punto de partida, condicionado y potenciado por un ciclo de experiencias y desarrollo lingüístico que ha corrido de la mano del ciclo tecnológico de la ultima década

El deporte en la Comunidad Japonesa de Colonia Urquiza : Béisbol

Este trabajo es parte de un seguimiento de la cultura y la actividad de la comunidad japonesa de Colonia Urquiza. Se han explorado temas relacionados con lo económico, cultural y social , y de estos últimos, haremos mención, de cómo el deporte tiene una importancia muy especial desde varios aspectos: como actividad física, sociabilidad, disciplina, solidaridad, trabajo en equipo, cooperación, etc. En la Argentina, el deporte más popular es el fútbol, practicado por todas las generaciones, en forma profesional o amateur, siendo común hacerlo como pasatiempo de una reunión o encuentro entre amigos. ;En Colonia Urquiza, los alumnos de la escuela japonesa, practican diversas actividades físicas como parte de la currícula y esparcimiento, lo que los lleva en algunos casos, a ver el deporte en forma profesional, como ocurre con el ping pong y el béisbol. El fútbol y el vóley, convocan a los adolescentes, mientras que el golf, park golf y pesca deportiva a los adultos. ;Focalizaremos nuestra atención en el béisbol (baseball), deporte que en esta comunidad, instalada en un mundo rural, a 20 km de la capital de la provincia de Bs. As., comenzó a tener impulso en la década del ´90, logrando conformar delegaciones nikkei de infantiles en Argentina, para medirse con sus pares en Japón. Cabe mencionar que en Argentina este deporte fue encausándose, logrando conformar la Liga Metropolitana de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, donde hay equipos formados solo por descendientes de japoneses y otros equipos mixtos, y se confrontan en torneos infantiles, prejunior, junior y adultos, con las ligas de las provincias a nivel nacional e internacional. Por lo tanto, pretendemos estudiar la relación de la comunidad con el ambiente y el deporte, los que consideramos vitales en el imaginario de la sociedad nipona

Escuela de aficionados. Lectores y letras de molde en la cultura emergente de 1900

Desde comienzos del siglo XX se hace evidente el interés por la cultura artística en el público masivo, lo que origina aspiraciones contrastantes con la escasez de capital simbólico de la que partían. La revista rioplatense Caras y Caretas alimentó ese interés, poniendo en circulación multitud de textos e imágenes y dio lugar a un imaginario de visibilidad en el cual era posible pasar del consumo a la producción cultural. El artículo analiza ese fenómeno a partir de textos y dibujos de colaboradores inexpertos.

Pasiones del riesgo y contacto con la naturaleza

Muchos deportistas aficionados en occidente, están emprendiendo hoy en día, largas e intensas ordalías donde la capacidad personal de resistir al sufrimiento en aumento constituye el objetivo principal. La carrera, el footing, el triatlón, el trekking, etc., son tipos de ordalías en las que la gente, sin apoyarse en una habilidad específica, no compite contra otros, sino que somete a prueba su propia capacidad para soportar el dolor creciente. El individuo se evalúa constantemente a sí mismo en una sociedad donde los puntos de referencia son incontables y contradictorios, donde los valores están en crisis, y busca entonces una relación cercana con significados profundos, probando su fuerza de carácter, su coraje y sus recursos personales. Seguir adelante hasta final de las ordalías autoimpuestas da una legitimidad a la vida y provee un umbral simbólico en el cual apoyarse. El funcionamiento en sí mismo tiene una importancia secundaria; sólo cuenta para el individuo. No se trata de luchar contra un tercero, es sólo un método para reforzar la voluntad personal y vencer el sufrimiento, justo al límite de una demanda personalmente impuesta. El límite físico ha venido a sustituir el límite moral que la sociedad actual no logra proporcionar. Sobreponiéndose al sufrimiento se templa el carácter del individuo, proporcionando así una importancia renovada y valiosa a su vida

Escuela de aficionados. Lectores y letras de molde en la cultura emergente de 1900

Desde comienzos del siglo XX se hace evidente el interés por la cultura artística en el público masivo, lo que origina aspiraciones contrastantes con la escasez de capital simbólico de la que partían. La revista rioplatense Caras y Caretas alimentó ese interés, poniendo en circulación multitud de textos e imágenes y dio lugar a un imaginario de visibilidad en el cual era posible pasar del consumo a la producción cultural. El artículo analiza ese fenómeno a partir de textos y dibujos de colaboradores inexpertos.

Pasiones del riesgo y contacto con la naturaleza

Muchos deportistas aficionados en occidente, están emprendiendo hoy en día, largas e intensas ordalías donde la capacidad personal de resistir al sufrimiento en aumento constituye el objetivo principal. La carrera, el footing, el triatlón, el trekking, etc., son tipos de ordalías en las que la gente, sin apoyarse en una habilidad específica, no compite contra otros, sino que somete a prueba su propia capacidad para soportar el dolor creciente. El individuo se evalúa constantemente a sí mismo en una sociedad donde los puntos de referencia son incontables y contradictorios, donde los valores están en crisis, y busca entonces una relación cercana con significados profundos, probando su fuerza de carácter, su coraje y sus recursos personales. Seguir adelante hasta final de las ordalías autoimpuestas da una legitimidad a la vida y provee un umbral simbólico en el cual apoyarse. El funcionamiento en sí mismo tiene una importancia secundaria; sólo cuenta para el individuo. No se trata de luchar contra un tercero, es sólo un método para reforzar la voluntad personal y vencer el sufrimiento, justo al límite de una demanda personalmente impuesta. El límite físico ha venido a sustituir el límite moral que la sociedad actual no logra proporcionar. Sobreponiéndose al sufrimiento se templa el carácter del individuo, proporcionando así una importancia renovada y valiosa a su vida