The European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions after 15 Years

This data brief describes the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Detailed data on income and taxes are collected, as well as information on material deprivation, labour, housing, childcare, health, access to and use of services, and education. Although primarily a social policy instrument that addresses the information needs of policymakers and is used for social monitoring at the European level, EU-SILC is also closely geared to the needs of researchers and provides an excellent database for evidence-based research on a wide variety of aspects of income, income poverty, material poverty, health, and well-being in Europe. EU-SILC is composed of national probability sample surveys and is conducted annually. The target population comprises private households. Observation units are households and all current household members. EU-SILC provides cross-sectional and longitudinal data. The data are composed of a fixed core module, and annually changing ad-hoc modules. Launched in 2003 and revised with effect from 2021, EU-SILC is currently implemented in all EU Member States and in 11 non-EU countries. During the revision process, many suggestions from the research community were incorporated

COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT STRENGTH TRAININGS METHODS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF POWER

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of three different training methods for increasing power output of the leg extension chain. Therefore three groups had to go through an eight week training program. One of the three groups had to perform counter movement jumps (CMJ) twice a week (group J) while the second group had to do two sessions with parallel squats every week. The third group (J + S) had to do the CMJs as well as the parallel squats twice a week. After the training period SJ and CMJ significantly increased in all experimental groups. No significant changes were found in the control group. Group J received an 8,8% increase in the SJ and an 8,9% increase in the CMJ while group S was able to enhance their jumping performance by 12,6% (SJ) and 11,8% (CMJ). Group J + S showed the biggest improvement by 15,5% in the SJ and 14,7% in the CMJ. The only significant difference between the three groups was found between group J and J + S in both testing conditions

Teacher professionalism in a double field structure

While various forms of teachers' habitus have been described in education studies, little consideration has so far been given to their interaction with fields in schools. This article draws on Bourdieu's theory and related concepts of field, habitus, capital and doxa to explore types of teacher professionalism, especially in Austrian secondary schools where innovative measures and reforms have been introduced. By combining a model of teaching profession with a Bourdieu-based analysis in the interpretation of 70 interviews with secondary school teachers, we show that a double field structure has emerged in some schools, where a field of traditional teaching competes with one of new professional field teaching. We argue that further initiatives will be needed from the field of education policy and other forces in society to stabilise the field of new professional teaching. This article illustrates the dynamic interrelationship between professional habitus and conflicting fields in one particular school

Pathophysiology of skeletal muscle disturbances in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic Encephaloymelitis (ME/CFS) is a frequent debilitating disease with an enigmatic etiology. The finding of autoantibodies against ss2-adrenergic receptors (ss2AdR) prompted us to hypothesize that ss2AdR dysfunction is of critical importance in the pathophysiology of ME/CFS. Our hypothesis published previously considers ME/CFS as a disease caused by a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system (ANS) system: sympathetic overactivity in the presence of vascular dysregulation by ss2AdR dysfunction causes predominance of vasoconstrictor influences in brain and skeletal muscles, which in the latter is opposed by the metabolically stimulated release of endogenous vasodilators (functional sympatholysis). An enigmatic bioenergetic disturbance in skeletal muscle strongly contributes to this release. Excessive generation of these vasodilators with algesic properties and spillover into the systemic circulation could explain hypovolemia, suppression of renin (paradoxon) and the enigmatic symptoms. In this hypothesis paper the mechanisms underlying the energetic disturbance in muscles will be explained and merged with the first hypothesis. The key information is that ss2AdR also stimulates the Na+/K+-ATPase in skeletal muscles. Appropriate muscular perfusion as well as function of the Na+/K+-ATPase determine muscle fatigability. We presume that dysfunction of the ss2AdR also leads to an insufficient stimulation of the Na+/K+-ATPase causing sodium overload which reverses the transport direction of the sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX) to import calcium instead of exporting it as is also known from the ischemia-reperfusion paradigm. The ensuing calcium overload affects the mitochondria, cytoplasmatic metabolism and the endothelium which further worsens the energetic situation (vicious circle) to explain postexertional malaise, exercise intolerance and chronification. Reduced Na+/K+-ATPase activity is not the only cause for cellular sodium loading. In poor energetic situations increased proton production raises intracellular sodium via sodium-proton-exchanger subtype-1 (NHE1), the most important proton-extruder in skeletal muscle. Finally, sodium overload is due to diminished sodium outward transport and enhanced cellular sodium loading. As soon as this disturbance would have occurred in a severe manner the threshold for re-induction would be strongly lowered, mainly due to an upregulated NHE1, so that it could repeat at low levels of exercise, even by activities of everyday life, re-inducing mitochondrial, metabolic and vascular dysfunction to perpetuate the disease

Differences in the performance tests of the fast and slow stretch and shortening cycle among professional, amateur and elite youth soccer players

The purpose of this study was to establish whether physical attributes can differentiate between professional, amateur and elite youth soccer players; such a distinction could aid in the selection process for youth soccer. Therefore, this investigation evaluated a suspected difference in the performance tests of the slow and fast stretch and the shortening cycle (squat jump [SJ], countermovement jump [CMJ], and drop jump from varying heights [DJ]) among professional, amateur and elite youth soccer players. Cross-sectional data were collected. The results indicate that higher performance in the SJ and CMJ seem to depend on the level of player because the mean performance of the PRO was 38.7 ± 4.0 cm in the SJ and 41.2 ± 3.8 in the CMJ, which were significantly (p<0.05) different compared with all other groups. In the DJ, there were significant (p<0.05) differences between the professional players (PRO) and lower-level players as well as between the PRO and youth soccer players. The results suggest that jump performance can differentiate between elite, sub-elite, and youth soccer players and highlights the importance of appropriate conditioning for developing strength and power in youth soccer players

Improvements in flexibility depending on stretching duration

International Journal of Exercise Science 16(4): 83-94, 2023. To improve flexibility, stretching is most commonly used and in training interventions duration-dependent effects are hypothesized. However, there are strong limitations in used stretching protocols in most studies, particularly regarding documentation of intensity and performed procedure. Thus, aim of this study was to compare different stretching durations on flexibility in the plantar flexors and to exclude potential biases. Eighty subjects were divided into four groups performing daily stretching training of 10min (IG10), 30min (IG30) and 1h (IG60) and one control group (CG). Flexibility was measured in bended and extended knee joint. Stretching was performed with a calf muscle stretching orthosis to ensure long-lasting stretching training. Data were analysed with a two-way ANOVA for repeated measures on two variables. Two-way ANOVA showed significant effects for time (ƞ² = 0.557-0.72, p \u3c 0.001) and significant interaction effects for time x group (ƞ² = 0.39-0.47, p \u3c 0.001). Flexibility in the knee to wall stretch improved with 9.89-14.46% d = 0.97-1.49 and 6.07-16.39% with d = 0.38-1.27 when measured via the goniometer of the orthosis. All stretching times led to significant increases in flexibility in both tests. While there were no significant differences measured via the knee to wall stretch between the groups, the range of motion measurement via the goniometer of the orthosis showed significantly higher improvements in flexibility depending on stretching duration with the highest increase in both tests with 60 minutes of stretch per day

Parametrizing Product Shape Manifolds by Composite Networks

Parametrizations of data manifolds in shape spaces can be computed using the rich toolbox of Riemannian geometry. This, however, often comes with high computational costs, which raises the question if one can learn an efficient neural network approximation. We show that this is indeed possible for shape spaces with a special product structure, namely those smoothly approximable by a direct sum of low-dimensional manifolds. Our proposed architecture leverages this structure by separately learning approximations for the low-dimensional factors and a subsequent combination. After developing the approach as a general framework, we apply it to a shape space of triangular surfaces. Here, typical examples of data manifolds are given through datasets of articulated models and can be factorized, for example, by a Sparse Principal Geodesic Analysis (SPGA). We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach with experiments on synthetic data as well as manifolds extracted from data via SPGA