National Elites Research Articles

Fairs and Females: A Socio-cultural Perspective of 19th and 20th Century Bengal

Abstract: Fair or Mela has been an integral part of Bengali culture since time immemorial. A fair is generally a conglomeration of people in a festive arrangement for buying and selling goods centering on religious or other special occasions at a specific time and a place. Fair was an integral part of colonial Bengal’s socio-cultural and economic spheres as well. Numerous fairs used to be held in 19th and 20th century Bengal for various reasons which concerned seasonal harvesting, religious festivals, marketing, occasional cultural events, promoting entertainment including traditional games and sports, arts. In a broader aspect, fairs have played role in shaping colonial Bengal’s society and in several ways helped to develop our rich culture over the decades. Another major yet less valued aspect of these fairs is the involvement of women in these which speak in volumes about the socio-economic participation of different classes of women in colonial Bengal. Women of lower social classes participated in these fairs mostly as sellers or entertainers whereas women of higher social classes were found as occasional visitors. Though, due to ‘purdah’ restrictions the numbers of native elite women visitors were often low, women of British or Anglo-Indian families often visited such fairs in their proximity. A number of British women have written about their splendid experiences at Bengali fairs in their memoirs. This vivid participation of women of all strata in different categories in Bengali fairs has not gained much focus in earlier studies. Not merely in the lens of feminism, the role of the womenfolk in those Bengali fairs to contribute in accelerating their families’ economic standard, deserves historical recognition. This paper attempts to study the roles of such women, played in the fairs in both parts of Bengal in 19th and 20th centuries and its grave significance in revisiting gender roles in colonial Bengal’s society.

PECULIARITIES OF THE LANGUAGE POLICY OF THE SOVIET AUTHORITIES IN THE USSR/USSR IN THE 1930 S.

The article highlights the peculiarities of the implementation of the Soviet language policy in the territory of the Ukrainian SSR in the 1930s. The main methods and means of implementing the process of Russification by the Soviet authorities, which began after the curtailment of Ukrainianization, are considered. A characteristic feature of the Soviet language and cultural policy was the combination offorce and ideological methods.In other words, the process of Russification under Soviet totalitarianism involved the physical destruction of the national intellectual elite, native Ukrainian speakers, the formation of preferences for the Russian-speaking population, interference with spelling, the formation of a list of forbidden words, the spread of Russian equivalents, the glorification of the Russian language as the language of the elite,the spread of the Russian language in education, science, the press and other spheres of society, etc. It is shown that this policy, which was based on mass terror, had a certain effect. It is established that the Soviet language policy in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1930s became the basis for the implementation of assimilation in the 1960s–1980s, which the Soviet authorities characterized as a process of «rapprochement of nations».The process of Russification in the educational, scientific spheres, and the press is highlighted. A detailed analysis of the available sources and materials has shown that the Soviet authorities used comprehensive approaches to Russification of the population of the Ukrainian SSR. In view of this, it was found that Ukrainian identity was significantly damaged, which has negative consequences at the present stage. In the context of this study, the Soviet language policy of the 1930s is characterized as an attempt to rapidly and forcibly assimilate Ukrainians and other ethnic groups. Given the current realities of Ukrainian state-building, the challenges of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the importance of restoring historical memory, the study is of great theoretical and applied importance.

A guess by an expert or a joint accumulation of experience? A study of the admission process in Swedish sport schools: perspectives from school sport teachers

ABSTRACT In this article we use the concept of Communities of Practice (CoP) to understand how Swedish school sport teachers enact the admission process, the identification and selection of student athletes, to Swedish national upper secondary elite sport schools (SNESS). Data were gathered by conducting six focus group interviews involving 18 school sports teachers representing six different sports. The findings indicate that the admission process is influenced by and enacted through sport-specific CoPs and include a strategic identification of athletes, a set of tools – physical aptitude tests, sport-specific training, interviews, social activities – and documents (matrices, forms, interview-guides). While the process constitutes individual subjective assessments of athletes, the findings also imply that the teachers’ common engagement is the central enterprise of their collective actions. The admission is a cooperative process where the teachers expend their collective competence, joint cumulative experience, to identify, assess, and select student athletes.

НАУКОВА СПАДЩИНА ВАСИЛЯ КАРАЗІНА ДЛЯ ВІДНОВЛЕННЯ Й ЗМІЦНЕННЯ ЕКОНОМІКИ УКРАЇНИ (до 250-річчя від дня народження)

Від народження Василя Каразіна (1773–1842) минуло 250 років, але його наукова спадщина зберігає цінність і актуальність для вирішення сучасних завдань. Так, у контексті завдань повоєнної відбудови економіки України є важливими, зокрема, його ідеї зміцнення національного господарства на основі розвитку і технологічної модернізації виробництва, захисту внутрішнього ринку і заохочення промислової переробки аграрної сировини, стимулювання інновацій і вдосконалення освіти для модернізації і підвищення конкурентоспроможності економіки, урахування екологічних параметрів і спрямування господарської діяльності на зменшення негативного впливу кліматичних змін.Розкрито такі основні напрями державної і громадської діяльності В. Каразіна: 1) розроблення реформ державного управління, земельної власності й землекористування, інституційного забезпечення свободи економічної діяльності й розвитку підприємництва, засобів зміцнення курсу національної грошової одиниці й стабілізації грошового обігу; 2) обґрунтування значення освіти, науки та інноваційної діяльності як рушіїв економічного розвитку і суспільного прогресу; розроблення законодавчо-нормативної бази для створення системи народної освіти і забезпечення доступу до знань усіх верств суспільства; ініціювання й організаційне забезпечення створення Харківського університету як осередку підготовки національної науково-технічної еліти; 3) організація і популяризація експериментально-дослідницької діяльності задля технологічної модернізації аграрного виробництва, розвитку місцевої промисловості, підвищення народного добробуту; заснування Філотехнічного товариства; упровадження принципів безвідхідного виробництва в сільському господарстві на основі авторських експериментальних розробок і використання новітніх технологій.Аргументовано, що, розробляючи заходи економічної політики, орієнтованої на збереження, ефективне використання і примноження природно-господарського потенціалу, передбачивши зростаючу роль знань у суспільному розвитку, Василь Каразін став провісником людиноцентричної економічної парадигми. Його новаторська господарська, науково-просвітницька і громадська діяльність мають слугувати орієнтиром для сучасної національної еліти України.

Роль спеціальної дослідницької комісії в повоєнній відбудові Японії

The article explores the institutional and conceptual experience of the initial period of Japan’s post-war economic reconstruction. The prerequisites, institutional mechanisms, and performance results of the Special Survey Committee (SSC) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan are comprehensively analyzed; its impact on the post-war reconstruction and the phenomenally successful modernization of the Japanese economy in the context of Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction tasks is assessed. For this purpose, the abstract-logical, empirical-historical, interdisciplinary methods are used, and the tools of political economy and modernization theory are applied. It is concluded that the SSC has become the intellectual, personnel and program «assembly point» for the entire further process of Japan’s national reconstruction. Thus, the SSC provided the Japanese government with a systemic vision of the country's place in the postwar world, in the latter’s economic and financial system as well as of national landmarks, priorities, and postwar reconstruction mechanisms. Despite the powerful influence of military-security and geopolitical factors, it took a very high level of mobilization, patriotism, and social responsibility of the Japanese national elite to convince the Allied Powers of the need to make heavy industrialization based on advanced technologies the basis of Japan's postwar recovery. The SSC’s experience testifies that in every successful case of national post-war reconstruction, one should find and define the key conceptual and institutional initiative that launched the recovery process – not necessarily materially, but at least in conceptual and political-volitional terms, as every large-scale and successful (re)construction begins with the development and approval of the relevant project. The author concludes that the SSC’s strategic report on the basic problems of Japan's economic reconstruction is a relevant framework model, according to which a strategy of national economic reconstruction, in particular post-war recovery of Ukraine’s economy, may be developed, of course, taking into account national and local characteristics.

Mediated public diplomacy and securitisation theory: the US campaign against Chinese 5G in Brazil and Chile

Amidst the transition to the fifth generation of mobile telecommunications (5G), the US has launched a diplomatic campaign to prevent other states from acquiring such technologies from Chinese providers. In reply, China has launched a similar campaign to rebut being perceived as a security threat. However, the outcomes of such influencing campaigns in other states have been varied. This article argues that mediated public diplomacy and securitisation theory offer complementary ways to research the competition between the US and China in terms of influencing the policies of foreign states. Empirically, it examines the cases of Brazil and Chile, where the US campaign against Chinese 5G suppliers was successful in setting the agenda. However, neither the increased economic interdependence of Brazil and Chile with China nor their close political cultural congruency with the US, though, are enough to explain the different outcomes of the US campaign against Chinese 5G providers in each country. Indeed, Chile rejected the US securitisation move, while in Brazil it was successful, but partial in that it only refers to government 5G, not commercial 5G. The article argues that the degree of consensus among national political elites and other non-state actors to endorse or reject the US narrative explains such differences.

The relationships between relative age effect, personality constructs and achievement level in soccer.

Youth soccer academies are challenged with the constant recruitment process of young talented players to select those who will achieve long-term success as an athlete. Youth soccer academies strive to enhance the physical and technical skill development as well as personality development of talented players because psychological characteristics play a crucial role in players' future success in their transition to professional soccer. The least mature players and relatively young players may have a greater need to possess superior technical/tactical or psycho-behavioral skills than those relatively older counterparts because of the higher selection rates of early maturing players. Due to RAEs, a significant decrease in the overall quality of professional soccer teams might be observed because of the loss of talent of physically smaller, but psychologically stronger and more versatile relatively young players who possess proper technical and tactical attributes at an early age. The first objective of this study was to examine any possible relationship between RAE and personality constructs. A second objective was to identify factors and effects that can help in the further improvement of talent selection and equal opportunities for elite youth soccer players based on their underlying RAE. The third objective was to consider the impact of RAE on long-term career development. In this retrospective observational study, 151 elite youth soccer players between 15 and 18 years of age were first grouped in birth quartiles. Personality constructs were then assessed, using a combination of observations, interviews, and a self-assessment questionnaire. Next competition level after 8 years was evaluated to identify RAEs, differences in personality characteristics and opportunities to reach professional soccer player status between relatively older vs. younger players. A clear significant RAE was observed for the whole database (Q1 = 38.4% vs. Q4 = 13.9%) with OR of 2.61 (χ2 = 19.46, p < 0.01, r = -0.85). Relatively young players had higher median scores on personality constructs such as self-confidence (p = 0.04), while relatively old players had higher median scores on personality constructs such as team orientation (p = 0.03). In the long term, more players of the youngest birth quartile were signed as professional players (76.2%), compared with relatively old players (46.6%). 65.0% of the 20 players had the highest total score on personality constructs developed as a professional soccer player, vs. 35.0% of the 20 players with the lowest scores. In conclusion, this study showed not only further evidence of the RAE but also provided evidence supporting "the underdog hypothesis" in national elite youth teams. Relatively young players were also more likely to get higher value senior professional contracts in the long term. We propose that this may be due to the relatively young players developing superior psychological skills and technical expertise to compensate for their early physical disadvantage. This in turn suggests the need for greater awareness of the importance of personality constructs in the future development of youth elite soccer players. Therefore, the crux of the issue is how youth soccer academies elicit the "best of both worlds" ie. moderating RAE whilst also gaining the benefits of the underdog hypothesis by creating the right environment for every player to develop to their full potential in elite youth soccer academies.

The Conflict of National Elites and Local Elites of PDI-P in the Candidacy Process of Regional Heads Eri Cahyadi and Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the 2020 Pilkada

Studi ini membahas tentang konflik yang terjadi antara Elit Nasional Dan Elit Lokal PDI-P dalam Proses Kandidasi Kepala Daerah Eri Cahyadi Dan Gibran Rakabuming Raka Pada Pilkada Tahun 2020. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengeksplorasi akar konflik yang menjadi penyebab dari konflik tersebut. Studi ini dilakukan di Kota Solo dan Surabaya. Proses pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan wawancara mendalam. Analisis data menggunakan teori konflik diperkuat dengan teori patron-klien, rekrutmen politik dan pragmatism politik. Pencalonan kandidat eksternal sebagai calon kepala daerah di pilkada yang dilakukan oleh partai politik dapat dikatakan merupakan cerminan dari adanya pragmatisme politik yangmembuat konflik kepentingan diantara elit politik pengurus partai. Hal itu dikarenakan partai politik umumnya akan menempuh berbagai upaya atau cara untuk mewujudkan kepentingan-kepentingannya, seperti dalam hal manfaat (utility), kemenangan (glory), hingga kekuasaan (power). Kecenderungan ini yang kemudian terlihat dalam realitas yang berlaku di pilkada kota Surabaya tahun 2020 dan pilkada kota Solo tahun 2020 dimana di saat partai politik telah memiliki kandidat potensial yang dapat dicalonkan dalam pilkada yang berasal dari internalnya, namun justru lebih memilih untuk mendukung kandidat eksternal yang dianggap lebih populer karena dianggap memiliki peluang yang lebih besar untuk memenangkan kontestasi. Hal ini setidaknya terlihat dalam realitas di pilkada Surabaya tahun 2020 dimana kedua paslon yang berkompetisi tercatat merupakan kandidat eksternal non-partai dengan pengecualian pada sosok Armudji. Padahal, sejumlah partai politik tercatat memiliki kandidat-kandidat potensial yang dapat dicalonkan. Sedangkan di pilkada Solo, hal serupa juga terjadi demikian. Meskipun sosok Gibran Rakabuming Raka tercatat telah mendaftarkan diri sebagai kader PDI-P, namun keterpilihannya sebagai calon walikota Solo dari PDI-P justru mencerminkan adanya kecenderungan pragmatisme politik, mengingat DPC PDI-P Kota Solo telah memutuskan untuk mendukung paslon Achmad Purnomo-Teguh Prakosa sebagai calon walikota dan wakil walikota Solo periode 2021-2024. Akan tetapi, sekalipun realitas di kedua pilkada tersebut menunjukkan adanya kecenderungan pragmatisme politik, respon pengurus partai di daerah (DPC Solo dan DPC Surabaya) terhadap keputusan yang telah diambil oleh DPP justru mengalami perbedaan. Hal ini merujuk pada adanya penolakan dari sejumlah kader di lingkup DPC PDI-P Kota Surabayaterhadap keputusan DPP yang merekomendasikan dukungan kepada paslon Eri Cahyadi- Armudji. Sedangkan di sisi lain, sekalipun keputusan yang diambil oleh DPP berbeda dengan yang direkomendasikan oleh DPC PDI-P Kota Solo, para pengurus DPC tersebut nyatanya tetap memilih untuk mendukung paslon yang telah direkomendasikan oleh DPP. Alhasil, hal ini mencerminkan bahwa terdapat perbedaan preferensi politik di kalangan pengurus partai di daerah terhadap keputusan DPP dimana hal itu dapat dikatakan dipengaruhi oleh adanya rasionalisasi politik. Rasionalisasi politik yang dimaksud dalam konteks ini kemudian berkaitan dengan sejauh mana manfaat yang diperoleh dari tindakan politik yang diambil oleh masing-masing elit politik di daerah dalam merespon apa yang telah diputuskan oleh DPP khususnya mengenai dukungan terhadap kandidat eksternal sebagai calon kepala daerah di pemilukada tahun 2020 yang merupakan rekrutment dari kader eksternal. Pasalnya, dalam konteks pilkada Surabaya tahun 2020, beberapa kader partai di daerah merasa bahwa mereka tidak memperoleh manfaat dengan mendukung paslon Eri Cahyadi-Armudji karena sosok Eri Cahyadi yang dianggap sebagai kandidat eksternal (meskipun belakangan Eri Cahyadi telah mendaftarkan diri sebagai kader PDI-P). Sedangkan dalam konteks pilkada Solo tahun 2020, para pengurus partai di daerah tetap mendukung paslon yang direkomendasikan oleh DPP karena melihat masih adanya manfaat yang diperoleh dari tindakan politik tersebut. Apalagi, sosok Gibran Rakabuming Raka sendiri tercatat telah terlebih dahulu mendaftarkan diri sebagai kader PDI-P. Meskipun di sisi lain, hal tersebut juga tidak dapat dipisahkan dari status yang melekat dalam diri Gibran yang merupakan putra dari Presiden Joko Widodo.

Культ святых и паломнические традиции у народов Волго-Уральского региона в досоветское время

The history and culture of the holy sites in the Volga-Ural region remains an underdeveloped topic in ethnological science. The introduction of new written sources into scientific circulation and a secondary analysis of the works of Russian and foreign researchers can help in solving this problem. The article aims to systematise and analyse information about the cult of saints and pilgrimage traditions among the peoples of the Volga-Ural region in the pre-Soviet period. The belonging of holy sites to certain peoples has become the main principle of the distribution of information. Its use showed the need to single out a separate group of data that reveals the syncretism of holy sites among the Volga-Ural peoples. The collected corpus of materials made it possible to identify the main places of worship in the region, pilgrimage traditions, the attitude of national and religious elites towards sacred objects, and the nature of public discussions. The authors believe that when studying the cult of saints, it is important to take into account the essence of "holiness" and the ideas about it among individual peoples, the system of its maintenance – oral and written heritage, ritual and ceremonial culture. The nature of the worship of holy sites in the context of intercultural contacts in the Volga-Ural region is of great importance.

The Berber Question And (Re)Imagining The Nation In Contemporary Morocco

This paper aims to emphasize that the French colonial intervention in Morocco represents a metamorphic historical turning point that should not be bracketed from the general process of revisiting the teleological assumptions about what constitutes the contemporary Moroccan Identity. It sets the challenge of problematizing the Nationalists’ cultural agenda whose insistence on a fetishized continuity with the precolonial history has eclipsed the disruptive effects of the colonial configurations and symbolic struggles of groups who were cast aside though they were at the center of anti-colonial resistance. Telling Morocco’s colonial history from a third perspective would bring hitherto neglected and silenced actors, in our case the Berber tribal groups under the spotlight, and draw together both elite and not elite actors into the scope of analysis. The premise behind analyzing the Berber oral poetry which was composed and sung on the eve of colonial expansion, is to understand the standpoint of these “peripheral groups” over matters of political allegiance and Jihad, away from the totalizing narratives of the official historiography. These artistic outlets are primary sources of a significant importance because they provide unexplored details of how Berber groups endured living at the center of the struggle between the colonial administration and the Arabophone nationalist elite. They demonstrate also the complex adjustments and inter/ intra- tribal negotiations these groups have to go through to reconfigure those mechanisms of power that sought to annihilate their subjectivities as agents of change

Prospective and Retrospective Analysis of the Sporting Success of Elite Spanish High and Long Jumpers.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the sporting progression from U14 to senior categories of elite Spanish high and long jumpers. For prospective analysis, 300 athletes ranked top 20 at U14 were analyzed (153 female and 147 male). For retrospective analysis, 64 athletes ranked in the top 20 in the senior category were included (21 female and 43 male). Ranking positions were registered in each of the seasons where they presented records. Only 6.3% (19) of athletes who reached the top 20 at U14 became successful senior athletes [4.7% (14) of athletes maintained top 20 status throughout their sporting careers from U14 to senior]. The transition rate from U14 to U16 (35.7%) was the most severe drop down in consecutive categories (after this, it ranged from 47.8 to 66.7%). Of the senior top 20 athletes (64), most of them were already ranked top 20 at U16 (59.4%, 38), at U18 (62.5%, 40), at U20 (70.3%, 45) and at U23 (78.1%, 50). Nevertheless, only 34.4% (22) were top 20 when they were U14 athletes. Transition rates in the top 20 senior athletes ranged from 86.7 to 95.5%. Around one out of four (26.6%, 17) of the top 20 senior athletes maintained top 20 status throughout their sporting careers from U14 to the senior category. Although early success is not a good predictor of senior success, successful senior athletes excelled early on and were able to remain in top rankings throughout their sporting careers of national elite jumpers.

‘Time Is Against Us’: Anti-Communism, Decolonisation, and Papua New Guinean Independence

This article traces the importance of anti-communist organisations to the development of early Papua New Guinean political elites. Focusing on Oala Oala-Rarua (1934–80), it shows how his participation in activities organised by the spiritual group Moral Re-Armament and the Australian Association for Cultural Freedom provided avenues and platforms through which to articulate an increasingly nationalist politics. Both groups feared that radical nationalism in the Australian-administered Territory would serve communist purposes, and as such sought to cultivate a liberal political leadership. Following work on non-communist forms of anti-colonial worldmaking, this article shows how Oala-Rarua and his contemporaries saw much of value in the ideas on display and the connections they facilitated. While initially accepting of Australian tutelage, this article shows that, over time, emerging nationalist elites found the realities of slow progress and ongoing racial discrimination in the Territory to be at odds with even the most conservative post-colonial schema.

The Effect of 12-Week Traditional Resistance Training Applied to Elite Curling Athletes on Muscular Endurance

The purpose of this study was to compare effects of 12-weeks tradinational resistance training (TRT) on total work (TW), relative peak work (RPW) and peak power (PP) in elite national curlers. Twenty-four participants were included in the study. Subjects were separated into two gorup, resistance training group (RES) and control group (CON). While RES performed 12-week TRT in addiction to curling training, CON just performed curling training. All twenty-four national elite curling athletes performed a body composition test and isokinetic strength test at 240-1/ms angular speed pre and post TRT. TW and PP values were directly obtained from isokinetic dynamometer and RPW was calculated by dividing the peak work values by the body weight of the person. The differences between RES/CON and pre-post in TW, RPW and PP variables were determined using an analysis of variance with Independent T Test. The data obtained from the research were shown as mean and standard deviation. Higher TW, RPW, and PP outputs were generated in the RES in comparison with the CON exercise (p0.05).

Paved Over: At the Intersection of Urban Mobility, Class Politics, and the Limits of Power in Mexico City, 1920s-1960s

The mid-twentieth-century history of urban modernization and mobility in Mexico City was intertwined with political violence. It ranged from the forceful clearing of a working-class community to make way for a stadium parking lot to the “slow violence” of denying people access to trolleys to transport their goods or weaponizing transit policy to reward friends and punish rivals. This article shows how these activities reflected the increasingly violent decisions of an indifferent national and local elite rooted in Mexico City’s political reorganization, which created a powerful, centralized, and unelected bureaucracy: the Department of the Federal District. Public officials, engineers, business leaders, everyday citizens, and newspapers contested issues related to urban mobility. These engagements shaped how people lived and moved in the district and were affected by class politics. They also provoked new configurations for democratic intervention that led people to organize, protest, and resist state power in Mexico City.

To the Question of the Formation of National Elites in the Kazakh Steppe in the 19th century

To the Question of the Formation of National Elites in the Kazakh Steppe in the 19th century

"Center-region" relations through the prism of interaction of national and regional political elites

The problem of the relationship between the national elite of the Republic of Moldova and the regional elite of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia in the context of the «center – region» concept has important theoretical and practical significance. During the years of its independence, the ruling elites of the Republic of Moldova faced a number of problems in relations with the regional elite of the ATU Gagauzia. Despite the change of elites at the national and regional levels, their representatives have not been able to establish a constructive dialogue for three decades. In order to reach a consensus, the political dialogue between the ruling elite and the regional elite of the autonomy should be aimed at harmonizing the legal framework, clarifying the status of the autonomy, concretizing and distributing powers, as well as broader involvement of the inhabitants of the autonomy in the political and economic life of the Republic of Moldova.

Is Secularization a Pervasive Trend in Europe?

Abstract Between 2002 and 2016, church attendance and self-attributed religiosity declines linearly, if all countries included in the European Social Survey are taken together. This analysis differentiates within Europe between two ideological and three denominational divides. Two questions are examined. First, is secularization pervasive across these groups? Second, how pervasive does secularization remain as a macro-level trend, when cohort membership and other individual-level qualities are controlled for? We find that the trend in secularization is well-explained by cohort succession in Western as well as in Catholic and Protestant countries. In Eastern Orthodox countries, however, an increase in religiosity is observed, which cannot be explained by individual-level properties. We speculate that it is triggered by a coalition of national churches and political elites.

Commentary] Quo Vadis, Man? Common Sense Approach of Human Life Perspectives

As long as man exists, any emitted idea, no matter how valuable or odious, cannot be killed or vanished. Only the man who temporarily lives and owns it can be killed or neutralized. Humans and their society exist on Earth for unknown reasons which nevertheless may be suspected by us if the question “why” is perseverently asked. We have some information about how humans appeared on Earth, but this is, until now, only a rough approximation. Given the evolution of society at up-to-today’s level we realise that our existence at the moment and in the foreseeable future on Earth is strongly connected with factors we do not master at all, such as the evolution of the solar system, climate variations, Earth row materials limits, means to support organic life, etc. There are also factors that we assume to understand while passing through different stages of our evolution and “power”, and that make it possible for us to adapt, answer and survive challenges. This non-scientific booklet shows the point of view of the author about how we should proceed on a long-term perspective to survive as a species stimulating, possibly, discussions and future actions in this respect. I wrote this text during a long-time interval occasioned my professional missions in Europe or abroad, when I was able to seize sometimes striking differences between people, countries, organisation forms of economic and social activities, and national and international elites.

Commentary] Quo Vadis, Man? Common Sense Approach of Human Life Perspectives

As long as man exists, any emitted idea, no matter how valuable or odious, cannot be killed or vanished. Only the man who temporarily lives and owns it can be killed or neutralized. Humans and their society exist on Earth for unknown reasons which nevertheless may be suspected by us if the question “why” is perseverently asked. We have some information about how humans appeared on Earth, but this is, until now, only a rough approximation. Given the evolution of society at up-to-today’s level we realise that our existence at the moment and in the foreseeable future on Earth is strongly connected with factors we do not master at all, such as the evolution of the solar system, climate variations, Earth row materials limits, means to support organic life, etc. There are also factors that we assume to understand while passing through different stages of our evolution and “power”, and that make it possible for us to adapt, answer and survive challenges. This non-scientific booklet shows the point of view of the author about how we should proceed on a long-term perspective to survive as a species stimulating, possibly, discussions and future actions in this respect. I wrote this text during a long-time interval occasioned my professional missions in Europe or abroad, when I was able to seize sometimes striking differences between people, countries, organisation forms of economic and social activities, and national and international elites.

Comparative Risk Analysis of Low Back Pain among Professional Football, Ice Hockey, and Floorball Athletes.

BACKGROUND Low back pain (LBP) is a common concern among professional athletes, potentially hindering performance and career longevity. However, comparative assessments of LBP prevalence and severity across various sports remain scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the factors associated with LBP in 388 professional athletes, including football, ice hockey, and floorball players. MATERIAL AND METHODS Conducted from June 2021 to September 2022, this cross-sectional study incorporated 388 athletes from national elite clubs, including football (n=148), ice hockey (n=179), and floorball (n=61). The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), comprising sections like pain intensity, self-care, lifting, walking, sitting, standing, sleeping, sexual life, social life, and traveling, was employed to evaluate spinal pain and disability. RESULTS The study found no significant disparities in the LBP assessment among the groups. The relative risk (OR) of LBP and disability varied among the sports: football players displayed a lower risk (OR=0.49; 95% CI 0.32-0.74, P≤0.001), while ice hockey players had a higher risk (OR=2.18; 95% CI 1.45-3.29, P≤0.001) compared to the others. In contrast, the risk for floorball players (OR=0.82; 95% CI 0.47-1.41) did not significantly deviate from that of the other two sports. CONCLUSIONS LBP prevalence stood at 42.6% for football players, 60.1% for ice hockey players, and 49.2% for floorball players. Among these, ice hockey players exhibited a 2.18-fold increased risk of developing LBP and associated disability when compared to their football and floorball counterparts.