Faces of Cambodia: Buddhism(s), Portraiture and Images of Kings

In the late twelfth-century the face dominated the visual landscape of the Angkor Empire, appearing at the Mahāyānist Bayon temple in the form of monumental ‘face towers’, a distinctive architectural-cum-sculptural feature of the reign of Jayavarman VII, the first Buddhist king of Cambodia. Together with statues apparently sculpted as a physical likeness of the king, this artistic output probed the conceptual contours of the face and the scope of portraiture. Since the twelfth century the face, primarily in a four-faced configuration, has continued as a uniquely Cambodian trope, cited and revived in changing politico-cultural contexts. The monumental visages of Angkor have been the subject of a wealth of scholarship over the last century and a half, yet there has been a lack of consideration of the Cambodian faces as faces from a phenomenological perspective. Neither has there been a thorough interrogation of the precise mechanisms by which the faces ‘reappeared’ in twentieth-century Cambodia. Therefore, this thesis addresses questions of the face and portraiture within a multi-layered Buddhist-Brahmānic complex, in order to counter hegemonies which persist in art historical scholarship on the Bayon. This examination of the face is primarily formulated on three levels of interrogation: the face as portrait, the face as the locus of personhood or subjectivity, and historiographies associated with the face. Due to the subsequent, and indeed on-going, appropriation of the Bayon faces, the final chapters give critical emphasis to the face of the king in the contemporary visual landscape of Cambodia

Identification of Potential Performance-Related Predictors in Young Competitive Athletes

Introduction: Systematic training is an essential demand for the individual success of an athlete. However, similar training modalities cause individual responses, and finally, decide on athletes' success or failure. To predict performance development, potential influencing parameters should be known. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify performance-related parameters in young competitive athletes. Methods: Individual performance developments of 146 young athletes (m: n = 96, f: n = 50, age V1: 14.7 ± 1.7 years) of four different sports (soccer: n = 45, cycling: n = 48, swimming: n = 18, cross-country skiing: n = 35) were evaluated by analysis of 356 visits in total (exercise intervention periods, 289 ± 112 d). At V1 and V2 several performance parameters were determined. Based on the relative performance progress (Δ), potential influencing predictors were analyzed: training load, health sense, stress level, clinical complaints, hemoglobin, vitamin D, hs-CRP and EBV serostatus. Data were collected within a controlled, prospective study on young athletes, which was conducted between 2010 and 2014. Results: Athletes improved their performance by 4.7 ± 10.7%. In total, 66.3% of all athletes represented a positive performance progress. This group demonstrated, despite similar training loads (p = 0.207), enhanced health senses (p = 0.001) and lower stress levels (p = 0.002). In contrast, compared to athletes with an impaired performance progress, no differences in hemoglobin values (m: p = 0.926, f: p = 0.578), vitamin D levels (0.787) and EBV serostatus (p = 0.842) were found. Performance progress was dependent on extents of health senses (p = 0.040) and stress levels (p = 0.045). Furthermore, the combination of declined health senses and rised stress levels was associated with an impaired performance development (p = 0.018) and higher prevalences of clinical complaints (p < 0.001) above all, in contrast to hs-CRP (p = 0.168). Discussion: Athletes with an improved performance progress reported less pronounced subjective sensations and complaints. In contrast, objective known performance-related indicators, offered no differences. Therefore, subjective self-reported data, reflecting health and stress status, should be additionally considered to regulate training, modify intensities, and finally, predict and ensure an optimal performance advance

Prediction of Relevant Training Control Parameters at Individual Anaerobic Threshold without Blood Lactate Measurement

Background: Active exercise therapy plays an essential role in tackling the global burden of obesity. Optimizing recommendations in individual training therapy requires that the essential parameters heart rate HR(IAT) and work load (W/kg(IAT) at individual anaerobic threshold (IAT) are known. Performance diagnostics with blood lactate is one of the most established methods for these kinds of diagnostics, yet it is also time consuming and expensive. Methods: To establish a regression model which allows HR(IAT) and (W/kg(IAT) to be predicted without measuring blood lactate, a total of 1234 performance protocols with blood lactate in cycle ergometry were analyzed. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to predict the essential parameters (HR(IAT)) (W/kg(IAT)) by using routine parameters for ergometry without blood lactate. Results: HR(IAT) can be predicted with an RMSE of 8.77 bpm (p < 0.001), R2 = 0.799 (|R| = 0.798) without performing blood lactate diagnostics during cycle ergometry. In addition, it is possible to predict W/kg(IAT) with an RMSE (root mean square error) of 0.241 W/kg (p < 0.001), R2 = 0.897 (|R| = 0.897). Conclusions: It is possible to predict essential parameters for training management without measuring blood lactate. This model can easily be used in preventive medicine and results in an inexpensive yet better training management of the general population, which is essential for public health

Apport du TAL à la constitution et l'exploitation d'un corpus scolaire de cours préparatoire

Whereas interest for learner has corpora increased, this research deals with the size of those corpora. Difficulties exist from manual treatments. Therefore we propose to use NLP (Natural Language Processing) methods to help exploit those corpora. This represents a challenge for NLP due to numerous errors from the age level. Our work aims to adapt some verified methods from NLP to build and exploit a first grade elementary school corpus. Our project has two goals in mind. First we hope to construct a framework which can deal with needs in didactic's and linguistic's research. And secondly we aim to model this particular writing type which is far from standard spelling. In this master's thesis we will present a proposition of annotation schema and suggestions for future research.L'intérêt pour l'étude des corpus scolaires, tout en étant grandissant, se heurte à la taille de ces corpus et donc à la difficulté d'une analyse entièrement manuelle. Utiliser des méthodes empruntées au traitement automatique des langues (TAL) pourrait aider à l'exploitation de ces corpus. Cela représente cependant un défi pour le TAL du fait de l'éloignement de ces corpus à la norme. L'objectif de notre travail est d'adapter certaines techniques du TAL, éprouvées par ailleurs, afin de faciliter la constitution et l'exploitation d'un corpus recueilli en classe de CP. L'enjeu est donc double. Il s'agit à la fois de proposer une première définition d'un outil répondant aux besoins de la recherche en linguistique et en didactique. Mais il s'agit également, pour le TAL, de caractériser et de modéliser un type d'écrit distant de la norme. Nous proposerons dans ce mémoire un premier schéma d'annotation d'erreurs et des pistes pour l'analyse automatique de ce type de corpus

Psychological Effects of Whole-body Electromyostimulation Training: a Controlled Pilot Study in Healthy Volunteers

Background: Whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) training is used in popular and health sports to improve muscular performance. Little is known about the possible psychological effects of WB-EMS training. The aim of the study is therefore to investigate the possible psychological effects of WB-EMS training on subjective well-being, relaxation, mood, and perceived stress. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five healthy subjects underwent conventional WB-EMS training and Sham training (without the application of electrical stimulation) as part of a randomized, controlled pilot study in a crossover design. Subjective well-being and subjective relaxation were assessed using visual analog scales, the current state of mood was assessed with Multidimensional Mood State Questionnaires (MDBF), and the current level of stress was assessed with Recovery-Stress Questionnaires/Erholungs-Belastungs-Fragebogen (RESTQEBF) before and after training. Results: WB-EMS training has a statistically significant positive effect on subjective well-being and subjective relaxation, as well as on the awake subscale of the MDBF. No significant main effect of sequence and no interaction effects were found. Also, compared to a Sham training session, a single WB-EMS training session had no significant effect on mood, nervousness, or the current level of stress. Conclusion: Besides physiological effects, WB-EMS might also have a strong psychological impact. WB-EMS could be beneficial for people who, due to their limitations, have problems training on a regular basis and with adequate training intensity

Lutas trabalhistas como lutas minoritárias: a questão da dignidade do trabalhador terceirizado

Este artigo versa sobre a reconfiguração do sentido de justiça das lutas trabalhistas frente à terceirização. Tais reconfigurações foram identificadas por meio da análise de conteúdo de pronunciamentos de representantes do trabalho em uma audiência pública sobre terceirização, promovida pelo Tribunal Superior do Trabalho em 2011. Por meio dessa análise, identificou-se que, além das tradicionais reivindicações por direitos sociais e regulação da economia pelo Estado, de modo a garantir uma redistribuição mais justa de bens e oportunidades nas sociedades capitalistas, face à terceirização, as lutas trabalhistas enfrentam o desafio de articular demandas pelo respeito da dignidade humana dos trabalhadores terceirizados. A denúncia é que a terceirização cria uma subclasse de trabalhadores que são sistematicamente impedidos de acessar seus direitos, estão endemicamente sujeitos a maiores riscos de acidente e morte no trabalho, são discriminados nos ambientes de trabalho e são colocados na posição de mercadoria nos processos de intermediação de mão de obra. Conclui-se que, ao ter que argumentar sobre a igual humanidade entre trabalhadores diretos e terceirizados, as lutas trabalhistas aproximam-se da lógica das lutas minoritárias. Essa aproximação significa uma expansão do conteúdo de justiça das lutas trabalhistas, que ultrapassam as demandas redistributivas e representativas, tradicionalmente atribuídas a elas, trazendo a questão de classes para o domínio simbólico da moral

Effect of Uphill Running on VO2, Heart Rate and Lactate Accumulation on Lower Body Positive Pressure Treadmills

Lower body positive pressure treadmills (LBPPTs) as a strategy to reduce musculoskeletal load are becoming more common as part of sports conditioning, although the requisite physiological parameters are unclear. To elucidate their role, ten well-trained runners (30.2 ± 3.4 years; VO2max: 60.3 ± 4.2 mL kg−1 min−1) ran at 70% of their individual velocity at VO2max (vVO2max) on a LBPPT at 80% body weight support (80% BWSet) and 90% body weight support (90% BWSet), at 0%, 2% and 7% incline. Oxygen consumption (VO2), heart rate (HR) and blood lactate accumulation (LA) were monitored. It was found that an increase in incline led to increased VO2 values of 6.8 ± 0.8 mL kg−1 min−1 (0% vs. 7%, p < 0.001) and 5.4 ± 0.8 mL kg−1 min−1 (2% vs. 7%, p < 0.001). Between 80% BWSet and 90% BWSet, there were VO2 differences of 3.3 ± 0.2 mL kg−1 min−1 (p < 0.001). HR increased with incline by 12 ± 2 bpm (0% vs. 7%, p < 0.05) and 10 ± 2 bpm (2% vs. 7%, p < 0.05). From 80% BWSet to 90% BWSet, HR increases of 6 ± 1 bpm (p < 0.001) were observed. Additionally, LA values showed differences of 0.10 ± 0.02 mmol l−1 between 80% BWSet and 90% BWSet. Those results suggest that on a LBPPT, a 2% incline (at 70% vVO2max) is not yet sufficient to produce significant physiological changes in VO2, HR and LA—as opposed to running on conventional treadmills, where significant changes are measured. However, a 7% incline increases VO2 and HR significantly. Bringing together physiological and biomechanical factors from previous studies into this practical context, it appears that a 7% incline (at 80% BWSet) may be used to keep VO2 and HR load unchanged as compared to unsupported running, while biomechanical stress is substantially reducedPeer Reviewe