Physiological function and neuromuscular recruitment in elite South African distance runners

2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy D Noakes ◽  
Yolande XR Harley ◽  
Andrew N Bosch ◽  
Frank E Marino ◽  
Alan St Clair Gibson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Exercise Physiology ◽  
The Body ◽  
Running Economy ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Black Athletes ◽  
Training Environment ◽  
Complex Biological System ◽  
Black African ◽  
Black South African

AbstractPhysiological studies of elite and sub-elite black South African runners show that these athletes are typically about 10–12 kg lighter than white athletes and that they are able to sustain higher exercise intensities for longer than white runners. Such superior performance is not a result of higher V O2max values and hence cannot be due to superior oxygen delivery to the active muscles during maximal exercise, as is predicted by the traditional cardiovascular/anaerobic/catastrophic models of exercise physiology. A marginally superior running economy is also unlikely to be a crucial determinant in explaining this apparent superiority. However, black athletes are able to sustain lower rectal and thigh, but higher mean skin, temperatures during exercise. Furthermore, when exercising in the heat, lighter black athletes are able to maintain higher running speeds than are larger white runners matched for running performance in cool environmental conditions. According to the contrasting theory that the body acts as a complex system during exercise, the superiority of black African athletes should be sought in an enhanced capacity to maintain homeostasis in all their inter-dependent biological systems despite running at higher relative exercise intensities and metabolic rates. In this case, any explanation for the success of East African runners will be found in the way in which their innate physiology, training, environment, expectations and genes influence the function of those parts of their subconscious (and conscious) brains that appear to regulate the protection of homeostasis during exercise as part of an integrative, complex biological system.

Superior fatigue resistance of elite black South African distance runners

1993 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 1822-1827 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Coetzer ◽  
T. D. Noakes ◽  
B. Sanders ◽  
M. I. Lambert ◽  
A. N. Bosch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Running Economy ◽  
Type I ◽  
Black Athletes ◽  
Distance Running ◽  
Distance Runners ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Long Distance Running ◽  
Type I Fibers

Black athletes currently dominate long-distance running events in South Africa. In an attempt to explain an apparently superior running ability of black South African athletes at distances > 3 km, we compared physiological measurements in the fastest 9 white and 11 black South African middle-to long-distance runners. Whereas both groups ran at a similar percentage of maximal O2 uptake (%VO2max) over 1.65#x2013;5 km, the %VO2max sustained by black athletes was greater than that of white athletes at distances > 5 km (P < 0.001). Although both groups had similar training volumes, black athletes reported that they completed more exercise at > 80% VO2max (36 +/- 18 vs. 14 +/- 7%: P < 0.005). When corrections were made for the black athletes' smaller body mass, their superior ability to sustain a high %VO2max could not be explained by any differences in VO2max, maximal ventilation, or submaximal running economy. Superior distance running performance of the black athletes was not due to a greater (+/- 50%) percentage of type I fibers but was associated with lower blood lactate concentrations during exercise. Time to fatigue during repetitive isometric muscle contractions was also longer in black runners (169 +/- 65 vs. 97 +/- 69 s; P < 0.05), but whether this observation explains the superior endurance or was due to the lower peak muscle strength (46.3 +/- 10.3 vs. 67.5 +/- 18.0 Nm/l lean thigh volume; P < 0.01) remains to be established.

Responsibility in the Face of Adversity

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-307
Author(s):  
Natasha Arndt ◽  
Luzelle Naudé
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
South African ◽  
Peer Relations ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Black African ◽  
Black South African ◽  
The Face ◽  
Responsibility Education

The aim of this study was to explore Black South African adolescents’ sense of self as it emerges through their direct and indirect environments. Black African adolescents ( N = 57; 52.63% male; 47.37% female) participated in eight focus groups, which were analyzed thematically. The emphasis fell on the interconnectedness and interdependency between individuals and social systems. The importance of family and peer relations, as well as the juxtaposed needs of belonging and separation, was also reiterated. This research highlighted adolescents’ awareness regarding the importance of reciprocity and interdependence in relationships. Not only was the need for having role models articulated, but also for being role models. They were acutely aware of the sacrifices made (especially by their parents) investing in their development, and were feeling responsible for “paying back” (to their family and community). Due to bearing this responsibility, education and scholarship were viewed as essential aspects of adolescents’ sense of self.

scholarly journals Disability and masculinity in South African autosomatography

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken J. Lipenga
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Physical Disability ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
The Body ◽  
First Person ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Male Characters ◽  
And Performance

This article examines the representation of disability by disabled black South African men as portrayed in two texts from the autosomatography genre, which encompasses first-person narratives of illness and disability. Drawing on extracts from Musa E. Zulu’s The language of me and William Zulu’s Spring will come, the article argues that physical disability affects heteronormative concepts of masculinity by altering the body, which is the primary referent for the construction and performance of hegemonic masculinity. In ableist contexts, the male disabled body may be accorded labels of asexuality. This article therefore reveals how male characters with disabilities reconstruct the male self by both reintegrating themselves within the dominant grid of masculinity and reformulating some of the tenets of hegemonic masculinity.

scholarly journals From victimhood to hubs of (trans)formation and local agency: Re-imagining poor urban communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasebwe T.L. Kabongo
Keyword(s):  
Urban Communities ◽  
South African ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
The Body ◽  
Good News ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Black African ◽  
Biblical Principles ◽  
The Church

This article was written from the perspective of a black African who has been unfairly subjected to colonialism, apartheid and neo-colonialism. This African is learning to simultaneously blame others for mistakes committed against him and interrogate his own agency in being an answer to his own prayers. He has observed that communities of poverty are usually seen as undesirable. As a consequence of this, most of its residents prefer to move away, if they have the option of doing so. This article explored the concept of thin places as a vehicle to nurture agency amongst people living in communities of poverty such as Soshanguve. It uses the narrative approach of storytelling to recount particular past events and present ones as a tool to cultivate a ‘can-do attitude’ in ordinary people. The goal is to raise agents of hope who will bring good news to their neighbours and anybody else, using biblical principles as a critical tool in their toolkit. Communities of poverty are usually seen as undesirable. As a consequence, most of its residents prefer to move out, if they have the choice to do so. This article reflects on the efforts of a missional team, InnerCHANGE, to help residents of the township of Soshanguve migrate from a victim mentality to become agents of their own hope. It uses a theology of place that alludes to concepts of thin places which challenges ordinary people to become participants in the flourishing of lives around them. A reflection on agency influenced by the Black Consciousness Movement and other African scholars gave context, meaning and relevance to such a theology of place. Stories of agency from Africa are remembered and retold to inspire ordinary people. Some of the latter have taken to heart these inspirational stories and have been transformed into agents. This article calls such people transformation agents. A conclusion was made that the Church needs to continue playing its prophetic role in society. Such a role could entail reminding people of existing assets they may have such as stories told around them of people who defied the normal victim mentality seen in poor communities and actively built thin places around them.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article was based on the field of missiology. It engaged historical facts (history) in a way that could nurture and develop agency in ordinary people. It challenges a general apathy towards community involvement found within the body of Christ located in South African communities of poverty.

scholarly journals Selective Reading and Misconstrued Biblical Text: A Case for the Inclusion of Women in Church Governance Structures in Black South African Churches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zandisile M Dweba ◽  
Nkosinati M. Mbali ◽  
Prof Reuben Z Rashe
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Value Added ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Black South African ◽  
The Bible ◽  
African Churches ◽  
Church Governance

This article is a sequel to our article on the marginalisation and exclusion of women from the church governance structures in the Black South African churches. While numerous stereotypes were discussed in our previous article, that justified the exclusion of women, the authors in this article argue for a theological and Biblical basis for their inclusion in both the ministry and governance positions in Black South African churches. The authors followed a literature review approach in this article. In the literature reviewed, texts were unearthed which support the inclusion of women and the need for the consciousness with which Scripture must be read, understood and applied, to help the reader identify the value added by the discussion of the role of women in church leadership positions and ministry with an open mind. The approach which the authors adopted was to, having cited the texts that support the argument for the inclusion of women, treat the texts justly, perusing the Bible widely instead of selecting verses that seemingly support a favoured argument. Among the compelling findings, which revolved around equality, was that God created both man and woman to share dominion over the earth. All through their baptism, constitute the body of Christ; the Great Commission which Jesus commanded his disciples was an instruction to men and women equally; men and women in the Bible have served God in different capacities; When the Holy Spirit bestowed the spiritual gifts, this was meant for all those who constitute the body of Christ; and while the Old Testament emphasises priesthood for males only, the New Testament presents the priesthood of all believers.

scholarly journals Causal and Putative Pathogenic Mutations Identified in 38.6% of Children with Primary SRNS in South Africa

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louansha Nandlal ◽  
Cheryl A. Winkler ◽  
Rajendra Bhimma ◽  
Sungkweon Cho ◽  
George W. Nelson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Exome Sequencing ◽  
South African ◽  
Pathogenic Mutation ◽  
Black African ◽  
Black South African ◽  
African Children ◽  
Pathogenic Mutations ◽  
Whole Exome ◽  
Novel Variants ◽  
Steroid Sensitive

Abstract The aim was to identify causal mutations in genes implicated in steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) within a South African population. We enrolled 119 children with primary NS; 71 SRNS and 48 steroid-sensitive NS. All children with SRNS underwent kidney biopsy. We first genotyped the NPHS2 gene for the p.V260E variant in all NS cases (n= 119) and controls (n= 219). To further identify additional variants, we performed whole-exome sequencing and interrogated ten genes (NPHS1, NPHS2, WT1, LAMB2, ACTN4, TRPC6, INF2, CD2AP, PLCE1, MYO1E) implicated in SRNS/FSGS in 56 SRNS cases and 29 controls; we also performed exome sequencing on two patients carrying the NPHS2 p.V260E mutation as positive controls. The overall detection rate of pathogenic mutations in children with SRNS was 27/70(38.57%): 15(21.43%) carried the NPHS2 p.V260E mutation and 12(17.14%) carried a pathogenic mutation in the heterozygous state in INF2 (n=8), CD2AP (n=3) or TRPC6 (n=1) genes. NPHS2 p.V260E homozygosity was specifically associated with biopsy-proven FSGS, accounting for 23.81% of Black children (15 of 63) with SR-FSGS. No causal mutations were identified in NPHS1, WT1, LAMB2, PLCE1, MYO1E and ACTN4. We report four novel variants in INF2, PLCE1, ACTN4 and TRPC6.Conclusion: The NPHS2 p.V260E mutation is a prevalent cause of SR-FSGS among Black South African children occurring in 23.81% of children with SRNS. Screening all Black African children presenting with NS for NPHS2 p.V260E will provide a precision diagnosis of SR-FSGS and inform clinical management.

scholarly journals Modifiable Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors Trends in Urban Black South African Females and the Implications for Health Promotion Interventions

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 120
Author(s):  
Jeanne M. Grace
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
South African ◽  
Sedentary Lifestyle ◽  
Risk Profile ◽  
Risk Status ◽  
Black African ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Chd Risk ◽  
Chd Risk Factors

BACKGROUND: Multiple risk factors can contribute to the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) in an individual, yet any change in the modifiable CHD risk status of Black South African females in recent times is unknown.AIM: The researcher aimed to establish the current CHD risk status of urban Black African females and to report on any trends over a 10-year period with the purpose to direct health promotion programs.METHODS: Data from 62 urban Black females (Mean age 32.4 ± 8.5 years) in 2006 was paired for age with that of 67 women (Mean age 32.0 ± 9.0 years) in 2016. The modifiable CHD risk factors assessed were cigarette smoking, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia.RESULTS: Physical inactivity (72.6% of the sample in 2006 vs. 75.8% in 2016) and obesity (42% in 2006 vs. 38.8% in 2016) were the top-ranked risk factors for CHD with the pattern unchanged in 2016. Significantly fewer participants (4.5% vs. 16.6%; p < 0.05) were hypertensive and significantly more women had hypercholesterolemia (5.6% vs. 23.9%; p < 0.05) in 2016. The multiple CHD risk profile showed that 42.4% had at least one CHD risk factor (an increase of 25%) and significantly fewer (27.3% vs. 45.2%; p < 0.05) had two CHD risk factors in 2016.CONCLUSION: A sedentary lifestyle and obesity were the highest CHD risk factors. Also, the multiple CHD risk profile of Black African women changed over a period of 10 years from higher to lower and normal risk. Health promotion strategies must be directed towards weight reduction, increasing physical activity levels and be tailored for the population for which the health promotion programs have been designed.

Queer Visual Activism in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tessa Lewin
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Art Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fine Art ◽  
The Body ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Black South African ◽  
African Context

While the form of visual activism currently being developed in the United States and Western Europe is more commonly linked to street protests or activist campaigning and is often explicitly anti-capitalist, in South Africa visual activism has a different epistemological history and contemporary form. In the South African context, much visual activism is closely linked to the fine art market and its associated institutions. This is exemplified by the queer black South African photographer Zanele Muholi. Going beyond the body of work available on Muholi, however, this chapter uses the works of other South African artists, namely FAKA and Robert Hamblin, a fine art photographer, to explore visual activism and the way in which it complicates/broadens conventional conceptions of activism.

scholarly journals In the shadow of Apartheid: intergenerational transmission of Black parental trauma as it emerges in the analytical space of inter-racial subjectivities

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zelda Gillian Knight
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Therapeutic Process ◽  
Projective Identification ◽  
Intergenerational Trauma ◽  
The Body ◽  
African Woman ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Parental Trauma ◽  
Compulsion To Repeat

Using the construct of projective identification and integrating it with the body of literature on intergenerational transmission of unsymbolized parental trauma, I describe the case of an adult black South African woman called Sibulelo. It is suggested that Sibulelo has unconsciously identified with the disavowed parents and grandparents trauma that they suffered as a result of the system of Apartheid. Such trauma is expressed through her feelings of being dis-located in time and space, as if she is living outside of herself, unplugged from life, and living someone else’s life. The paper details the unfolding therapeutic process in relation to my whiteness in the context of her blackness. This brings into sharp focus an exploration of black-white racialized transference-counter-transference matrix in the context of intergenerational trauma. It is a reflective paper and opens up my own counter-transference, thus foregrounding the notion of therapeutic inter-subjectivity. A further contribution to psychoanalytic theory concerns the role of recognition and being seen as a powerful process in facilitating the symbolization of trauma. In addition, if there is no interruption of the cycles of intergenerational trauma, and therefore no symbolization, it becomes an unconscious familial compulsion to repeat. Moreover, this therapy case highlights the idea that as a traumatised family living within a bruised culture of intergenerational transmission of trauma, such repetition of trauma becomes a cultural compulsion to repeat what has not been spoken or named.

Reframing Xenophobia in South Africa as Colour-Blind: The Limits of the Afro Phobia Thesis

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-444
Author(s):  
Amanuel Isak Tewolde
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Black African ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Online Newspaper ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Realistic Conflict Theory

Many scholars and South African politicians characterize the widespread anti-foreigner sentiment and violence in South Africa as dislike against migrants and refugees of African origin which they named ‘Afro-phobia’. Drawing on online newspaper reports and academic sources, this paper rejects the Afro-phobia thesis and argues that other non-African migrants such as Asians (Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis and Chinese) are also on the receiving end of xenophobia in post-apartheid South Africa. I contend that any ‘outsider’ (White, Asian or Black African) who lives and trades in South African townships and informal settlements is scapegoated and attacked. I term this phenomenon ‘colour-blind xenophobia’. By proposing this analytical framework and integrating two theoretical perspectives — proximity-based ‘Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT)’ and Neocosmos’ exclusivist citizenship model — I contend that xenophobia in South Africa targets those who are in close proximity to disadvantaged Black South Africans and who are deemed outsiders (e.g., Asian, African even White residents and traders) and reject arguments that describe xenophobia in South Africa as targeting Black African refugees and migrants.

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