Kinematical analysis of the V2 ski skating technique: A longitudinal study

To characterise timing of movements and evaluate performance effects of technique alterations in V2 ski skating, 13 elite male cross-country skiers (age, 23 ± 2 years; stature, 182 ± 6 cm; body mass, 76 ± 8 kg; V2 V?O_2max, 79.3 ± 4.4 mL · kg^?1 · min^?1) were tested four times during the preparation and competition phase on a roller ski treadmill. Each test consisted of submaximal intensities of exercise for determination of oxygen cost followed by one 1000-m performance test. Hip movement (from accelerometer data) and joint angles (2D video) were determined for high-intensity exercise (6° and 3.5 m · s^?1; ~ 97–100% of V?O_2peak). Each ski thrust consisted of three phases: gliding phase (18–50% of cycle time), poling phase (50–70% of cycle time), and kick phase (70–78% of cycle time). Flexion/extension of the hip initiated all phases, followed by the respective joints in legs and arms. Mixed-model analysis, adjusting for systematic time-point effects, identified that both reduced vertical hip acceleration and increased cycle time gave a small likely reduction in oxygen cost and 1000-m time. In conclusion, well-developed hip movement is a key characteristic of the V2 technique for elite-standard skiers’ long-term performance development.     

Validity and reliability of a low-cost digital dynamometer for measuring isometric strength of lower limb

Lower limb isometric strength is a key parameter to monitor the training process or recognise muscle weakness and injury risk. However, valid and reliable methods to evaluate it often require high-cost tools. The aim of this study was to analyse the concurrent validity and reliability of a low-cost digital dynamometer for measuring isometric strength in lower limb. Eleven physically active and healthy participants performed maximal isometric strength for: flexion and extension of ankle, flexion and extension of knee, flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, internal and external rotation of hip. Data obtained by the digital dynamometer were compared with the isokinetic dynamometer to examine its concurrent validity. Data obtained by the digital dynamometer from 2 different evaluators and 2 different sessions were compared to examine its inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. Intra-class correlation (ICC) for validity was excellent in every movement (ICC > 0.9). Intra and inter-tester reliability was excellent for all the movements assessed (ICC > 0.75). The low-cost digital dynamometer demonstrated strong concurrent validity and excellent intra and inter-tester reliability for assessing isometric strength in the main lower limb movements.     

Fútbol para Todos (Soccer for All): Democratization,Populist Legitimization or Quasi-Authoritarianism?

Abstract

In 2009 the Argentine government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner created Fútbol para Todos (Soccer for All), a programme that led to a policy of direct state intervention in the acquisition of government television rights for the transmission of soccer matches throughout Argentina. Does Fútbol para Todos serve as a tool for the democratization of Argentinean society, a strategy for populist legitimization, or as an embodiment of quasi-authoritarianism? Successive Argentine governments have politicized soccer. Fútbol para Todos has served as a tool for populist legitimization, but also as a strategy designed to legitimize state interference in a historically private domain, promote government propaganda through a new state monopoly, and strengthen governance processes through popular approval under the ambit of the ‘democratization’ slogan. Fútbol para Todos thus aims to use the state as an agent in the construction of better governance processes for all, but it also reinforces the historical union between soccer and establishment political power in Argentina. Fútbol para Todos is populist in tone and appears democratic, but also masks a darker undercurrent of quasi-authoritarian tendencies in Argentina.     

Support or Control -- or Both? The Role of a National Agency

The article aims at critically discussing the role and position of a buffer agency from the point of view of some of its different tasks, viz. accreditation, quality audit, support of academic leadership and internal quality enhancement. The contribution seeks to illuminate the conflicting roles of a buffer organisation in the light of these tasks and pressures from the government and higher education institutions. It concludes that the different roles can support and complement each other, and that change is best accomplished by emphasising support in the early stages of the establishment of a national quality assurance system.     

The belief revision model: asymmetrical effects of noncontingency on human covariation learning

A noncontingent experience affects the subsequent detection of positive and negative contingencies between the same events. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that such preexposure can produce both an impairment in the detection of subsequent positive contingency and a facilitation of a negative one, independent of the level of contingency during the contingent phase. Experiment 3 raised difficulties for a model that assumes that associations to the context can explain this asymmetrical effect. Experiment 4 suggested that the different weights usually assigned to the different types of trials when computing the contingency between events can change as a result of a noncontingent experience with the same events. This change supports an account of the asymmetrical effect by a belief revision model based on a mechanism that updates the weights of the different trial types as a function of previous experience. More generally, the belief revision model is a statistical (i.e., nonassociative) model of learning that is capable of accounting for trial-order effects, which have long posed problems for statistical models.     

The Responses of Higher Education Institutions to Global Challenge: Innovative Universities and Human Resources Development

Before a higher education institution can develop international impact and reputation, it must first have developed its regional impact and reputation. Universities can contribute to the creation of wealth in given regions in a number of ways, not the least of which is technology transfer, the creation of firms and other spin‐off activities, and the furtherance of the their reputations for excellence. Staff and students spend a good deal of money in such regions, thus increasing regional wealth, and if given institutions pursue entrepreneurial policies in regard to the course programmes that they offer, their graduates will not only find nearby employment but will create employment for others. The “Innova” Project of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia is an illustration of how a major regional university is attempting to apply new teaching models to enhance entrepreneurial culture in the Barcelona area of Spain and thereby to increase regional human capital.     

On passion and sports fans: a look at football

The purpose of the present research was to test the applicability of the Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) to being a sport (football) fan. Three studies provided support for this dualistic conceptualization of passion. Study 1 showed that harmonious passion was positively associated with adaptive behaviours (e.g. celebrate the team's victory), whereas obsessive passion was positively associated with maladaptive behaviours (e.g. risking losing one's job to go to a game). Study 2 used a short Passion Scale and showed that harmonious passion was positively related to the positive affective life of fans during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, psychological health (self-esteem and life satisfaction), and public displays of adaptive behaviours (e.g. celebrate the team's victory into the streets), whereas obsessive passion was predictive of maladaptive affective life (e.g. hating opposing teams' fans) and behaviours (e.g. mocking opposing teams' fans). Finally, Study 3 examined the role of obsessive passion as a predictor of partner's conflict that in turn undermined partner's relationship satisfaction. Overall, the present results provided support for the Dualistic Model of Passion. The conceptual and applied implications of the findings are discussed.