"Company Strategies and Sport Models"

The comparison in this article between companies in Japan and Sweden shows that although there are obvious historical and cultures differences between the countries different routes towards becoming modern democratic welfare states, differences in the industrialization and in modernization; differences in how sport were introduced and how it was shaped, there are similarities in how companies used sport in company strategies.

"Industrial Paternalistic Corporate Company Strategies in Theory and Practice in Nordic Countries and Japan from 1900s to 1960s"

In this article I discuss and compare how the concept of paternalism in the Nordic contries and Japan emerge, developed and changed, in theory and practice, from the late 19th century to the 1960s.The comparison showes important cultures and historical differences in how the patriarchal system was shaped in practice as well as in rhetoric but similarities in the endeavour for hegemony.

"Company Strategies and Sport Models"

The comparison in this article between companies in Japan and Sweden showes that although there are obvious historical and cultures differences between companies in the two countrys; differences in the industrialization and in modernization; differences in how sport were introduced and how it was shaped; there are similarities in how companies used sport in company strategies.

"Globalised sports in a historical perspective"

The great interest in Asia for European, male football is an expression of globalised sports. Here globalisation and processes of globalisation stands for the economical, social and cultural processes, which link and affect globally. Global capitalism created a world hegemony. As a consequence the hegemonic power of the western world (including Japan) until now will be the norm of interpretation. A precondition for the development of globalised sports as an industry of entertainment is the developing of a global infrastructure - especially in the shape of cable and satellite television. This infra structure, developed in the 80s and 90s, made it possible to worldwide watching of Olympic games, European Championships and World Championships in male football. The expansion of media played an important role for especially European football being global. The heavy interest was capitalized in the rights of broadcasting, which rapidly became substantial costly as the requests on the market grew. Global attention made well-known athletics as the British footballer David Beckham becoming symbols of public relations twinning sports, entertainment and advertising in their brand names. Also the leading football clubs (or entertainment enterprises) as Manchester United and Barcelona became actors on a global commercial market. The season 1992/93 the Champions League became a formidable success. On the expanding broadcasting market the prime European football soon became a global matter. The combination of TV-rights and the logic of competition and success resulted in strengthening of the already economically strong clubs, which made them even more successful both sporting and economically. The broadcasting rights play an important role in the formation of the leading clubs as profitdriven companies. Financially strong interests of owners now compete of purchasing clubs in the British Premier League. Another consequence of the global infra structure were the effects on the conditions of the labour market of sports. The new economical preconditions created assumptions for them to buy the best players on the market. The direction of the mobility from the economical periphery to the economical centre implies that the players move to Western Europe and the leading leagues there. The processes of globalisation got many cultural consequences. Traditionalistic reactions in the Western World resulted in growing national and specific local identities. Sports are important fields for the interpretation of these identities. The use of national symbols connected to sports has been more common. Firsthand supporting the national team has become more common. The interest from media has increast distinctly. The national celebration of the successes has increased - especially in the form of celebrating the heroes in a carnivalesque way. The local identities are mostly expressed as the cultures of supporters. Hooliganism is an extreme form of this, which heavily has affected European male football. Hooliganism is a social problem, but when comes to the audience's behaviour it is a relative marginal phenomenon. Historically the male football interpreted class and local identities. As a result of this processes the audience was considered as an uncontrolled mass, which express community, carnival and ritual with tifon's, supporting chants and songs. Hooliganism has existed all through the football's history, as one undercurrent. It got increased attention after England's victory in the World Championships of 1966. As a consequence of the mediated interest modern British style of football hooliganism in 1971 came to Sweden. In the 90s the problem grew, when the hooligan firms expanded. But, the historical perspective shows that the western problem with hooliganism is old and cannot be distinguished from the practice of football. The violent European fans treat the British hooligans as role-models, which inspired them and told them how to develop their own culture. The hooligans also are inspired by the increasing media coverage of football related violence.

"The Middle Class Patriarch in the Bourgeois Public"

During the second parts of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth century the middle class patriarch played an important role in the formation and transformation of the bourgeoisie in Sweden - especially in the upper middle class dominated by industrialists, wholesalers and owners of "bruk". According to the comic press in the early twentieth century appearance was characteristic. Obviously he was a man. In the caricatures he often carried a high cylinder, wore a sturdy moustache a' la Bismarck, was evidently thick and because of that a back leaned posture, and had a authoritative appearance. Often he smoked a fat cigar. Here we will discuss his world view. First of all we discuss him on the basis of the changes in the bourgeois public and its patriarchal relations. Then we consider important parts of the world view and lastly we discuss the middle class patriarch as an industrialist.

Influence of Course Type on Upper Body Muscle Activity in Elite Cross-Country and Downhill Mountain Bikers During Off Road Downhill Cycling

This study aimed to investigate upper body muscle activity using surface electromyography (sEMG) in elite cross-country (XCO) and downhill (DH) cyclists during off road descending and the influence of man-made (MM) and natural terrain (NT) descents on muscle activity. Twelve male elite mountain bikers (n=6 XCO; age 23 ± 4 yrs; stature 180.5 ± 5.6 cm; body mass 70.0 ± 6.4 kg and n=6 DH; age 20 ± 2 yrs; stature 178.8 ± 3.1 cm; body mass 75.0 ± 3.0 kg) took part in this study. sEMG were recorded from the left biceps brachii, triceps brachii, latissimus dorsi and brachioradialis muscles and expressed as a percentage of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (% MVIC). Both groups performed single runs on different MM and NT courses specific to their cycling modality. Significant differences in mean % MVIC were found between biceps brachii and triceps brachii (p=.016) and triceps brachii and latissimus dorsi (p=.046) during MM descents and between biceps brachii and triceps brachii (p=.008) and triceps brachii and latissimus dorsi (p=.031) during NT descents within the DH group. Significant differences in mean % MVIC were found between biceps brachii and brachioradialis (p=.022) for MM runs and between biceps brachii and brachioradialis (p=.013) for NT runs within the XCO group. Upper body muscle activity differs according to the type of downhill terrain, and appears to be specific to DH and XCO riders. Therefore, the discipline specific impact on muscle activation and the type of course terrain ridden should be considered when mountain bikers engage in upper body conditioning programmes

GPS-Based Evaluation of Activity Profiles in Elite Downhill Mountain Biking and the Influence of Course Type

Abstract This study aimed to profile the activity patterns of elite downhill (DH) mountain bikers during off-road descending, and to determine the influence of course types on activity patterns. Six male elite DH mountain bikers (age 20 ± 2 yrs; stature 178.8 ± 3.1 cm; body mass 75.0 ± 3.0 kg) performed single runs on one man-made (MM) and one natural terrain (NT) DH courses under race conditions. A 5 Hz global positioning systems (GPS) unit, including a 100 Hz triaxial accelerometer, was positioned in a neoprene harness between the C7 and T2 vertebrae on each rider. GPS was used to determine the temporal characteristics of each run for velocity, run time, distance, effort, heart rate (HR), rider load (RLd) which reflects instantaneous rate of change in acceleration, and accumulated rider load (RLdAcc), which reflects change in acceleration over the event duration. Significant differences were found between NT and MM courses for mean velocity (p<.001), peak velocity (p=.014), mean RLd (p=.001) and peak RLd (p=.002). Significant differences were also found both within and between courses for all velocity parameters, when analysed by intensity zone (p<.05). No significant differences were found between courses for HR parameters by zone, though significant differences were revealed between HR zones within courses (p<.05). This study indicates that course terrain has a significant impact on the activity profiles of DH and that GPS can provide a practical means of monitoring these differences in activity

Activation of Neural and Pluripotent Stem Cell Signatures Correlates with Increased Malignancy in Human Glioma

The presence of stem cell characteristics in glioma cells raises the possibility that mechanisms promoting the maintenance and self-renewal of tissue specific stem cells have a similar function in tumor cells. Here we characterized human gliomas of various malignancy grades for the expression of stem cell regulatory proteins. We show that cells in high grade glioma co-express an array of markers defining neural stem cells (NSCs) and that these proteins can fulfill similar functions in tumor cells as in NSCs. However, in contrast to NSCs glioma cells co-express neural proteins together with pluripotent stem cell markers, including the transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, Nanog and Klf4. In line with this finding, in high grade gliomas mesodermal- and endodermal-specific transcription factors were detected together with neural proteins, a combination of lineage markers not normally present in the central nervous system. Persistent presence of pluripotent stem cell traits could only be detected in solid tumors, and observations based on in vitro studies and xenograft transplantations in mice imply that this presence is dependent on the combined activity of intrinsic and extrinsic regulatory cues. Together these results demonstrate a general deregulated expression of neural and pluripotent stem cell traits in malignant human gliomas, and indicate that stem cell regulatory factors may provide significant targets for therapeutic strategies