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Background: Several studies have shown that foot posture is related to the incidence of ankle sprains in athletes and in nonathletic populations, but this association has not previously been considered in basketball players. This study investigates the relationship between foot posture and lower limb injuries in elite basketball players. Design and Method: Two hundred twenty participants were recruited as a convenience sample. The players had a mean age of 22.51 ± 3.88 years and a body mass index of 23.98 ± 1.80. The players' medical records were accessed from the preceding 10 years, and injuries were recorded according to their location (knee, foot, and/or ankle). In addition, the Foot Posture Index (FPI) was scored for each player, and their playing positions were noted. Results: An average FPI score of 2.66 was obtained across all players, with guards presenting a significantly lower average FPI of 20.48 (P < 0.001) compared with the rest of playing positions, indicating a more supinated foot. However, center players presented an average FPI of 5.15 (P < 0.001), indicating a more pronated foot. The most common injuries observed were lateral ankle sprain (n = 214) and patellar tendinopathy (n = 126). Patellar tendinopathy was more common in supinated feet (30.08%) compared with 20.7% and 19.8% in pronated and neutral feet, respectively. Conclusions: The most common lower limb injuries observed in basketball players were lateral ankle sprain and patellar tendinopathy. Patellar tendinopathy was more commonly associated with the supinated feet. Guard players tended to have a more supinated foot, whereas centers presented a more pronated foot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the phenomenon of meaningful experiences within digital games. To this end, rather than game studies, we propose 'Gameworld Studies' as better articulating both the goal of certain theorists and theoretical approaches, and the player experience. In explicating meaning, the authors utilize and link two frameworks: hermeneutic phenomenology and self-determination theory. This interdisciplinary perspective is applied to two data sets, one quantitative, one qualitative, regarding players' experiences of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Fallout 4. The responses illuminate how certain design decisions have substantial impacts upon both how, and why, particular meanings manifest within the player experience. The article concludes with recommendations for both the design and study of digital games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper set out to investigate the critical environment of videogames not merely as technology but also as art. Departing from the premise that functionalist readings of videogames say little about the evolution of the technology in its critical environment, it applied a de Certeaurian critical paradigm and came up with certain findings. As a digital technology, the videogame has been subject to new definitional considerations; it is a new agency of production, consumption and distribution of digital goods and services, sharing, communication, interaction, and socialization. Beyond technology, the videogame has become a new experience of artistic consumption that prioritizes not only individual participation, but also posting of video comments, blog responses, video postings as well as conversations and texts. The videogame is an artistic way of finding new identities and freedoms that strengthens the concept of consumption not as the active use of a product, service or brand, but as the individualization, passivity and alienation of experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characterization of the in-game actions with the strongest influence on victory in football might be useful for designing playing styles that enhance teams' performance. The aim of this study was to analyze in-game match statistics on the top-3 and bottom-3 teams ranked in LaLiga. Accumulated offensive and defensive match statistics when playing at home and away were obtained from LaLiga for 8 consecutive seasons. Data extraction was performed by computerized video-analysis. The top-3 and bottom-3 teams were compared using independent t -test analysis and the magnitude of the difference was cataloged with effect sizes. Overall, the offensive variable with the greatest magnitude of difference in the top-3 vs. bottom-3 comparison was shooting accuracy (ES ± 90% confidence interval = 4.15 ± 0.52) followed by the number of offsides (2.25 ± 0.60) and corners (2.14 ± 0.61). However, when playing away, the offensive variable with the greatest magnitude of difference in the top-3 vs bottom-3 comparison was the number of shots (3.30 ± 0.44). The defensive variables that best differentiated top 3 - bottom 3 teams were the number of corners (2.16 ± 0.43) and shots conceded (2.04 ± 0.39). In conclusion, the match statistics that best discriminated successful from unsuccessful football teams were shooting accuracy while attacking and the number of shots conceded while defending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Quaestio Iuris (QI) is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The authors consider the problem of multi‐player evolutionary game with two strategies and an arbitrary number of players. A randomised probabilistic access model is considered where the users randomly select the strategies. The strategies are a selection between two radio access technologies to receive service from. For a fair resource allocation between a number of users, the payoff function of each player is considered to be inversely proportional to the number of players choosing a strategy. It is valid for the radio access technology selection problem where resources are divided fairly between the users. The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of a mixed Nash equilibrium point of the game is provided. In addition, it is proved that the mixed Nash equilibrium point of the game is globally asymptotically stable and also evolutionarily stable strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concerns the continously actual issue of deeming student-athletes in United States of America employees of their universities, where they study and which they represent in various sports competitions. This text is not an attempt to take a stand on an aforementioned issue, however it does present the most important factors creating that dispute. Moreover it adduces the most representative and significant judicial cases and other from federal level which are connected with this issue, i.e.: the Northwestern University petition, the Ed O’Bannon’s lawsuit or the lawsuit of Samantha Sackos. What is more, the author tries to identify the essential frames where bylaws sholud be altered in order to improve the situation of student-athletes, which does not necessarily result in granting them an employee status on the other hand.The author based his characteristic and analysis of this issue on a representative collection of publications by american authors, various documents and other materials issued by organizations which function in the American sports environment (e.g. NCAA) and the most significant rulings connected with academic sport. In order to exemplify the above-mantioned issues, the author used several times chosen press materials.This article presents major features of the American academic sport. It brings closer the most important matters linked with practinig sport by students at universities in the United States and relationships between student-athletes, univesities, agents, different types of organizations and professional leagues. Description of the system established in academic sport in the United States gives also the opportunity to identify and evaluate its advantages and disadvantages.

Streszczenie Artykuł dotyczy aktualnego wciąż problemu uznania sportowców akademickich w Stanach Zjednoczonych za pracowników uczelni wyższych, na których odbywają oni studia, i które reprezentują w różnorodnych zmaganiach sportowych. Praca nie jest próbą zajęcia stanowiska w tejże sprawie, ale prezentuje ona najważniejsze czynniki powodujące ów spór oraz przytacza najważniejsze sprawy sądowe i szczebla federalnego związane z tym zagadnieniem, tj. petycję studentów Northwestern University, powództwo Eda O’Bannona czy też powództwo Samanthy Sackos. Autor podejmuje również próbę zidentyfikowania najważniejszych płaszczyzn, w których należałoby wprowadzić zmiany, w celu poprawy sytuacji sportowców akademickich, co z kolei niekoniecznie musi wiązać się z nadaniem ich statusu pracownika. Autor oparł charakterystykę i analizę zagadnienia na reprezentatywnym zbiorze publikacji autorów amerykańskich, różnorodnych dokumentów i materiałów wydanych przez organizacje funkcjonujące w amerykańskim środowisku sportowym (np. przez NCAA) oraz doniosłych rozstrzygnięciach sądowych, związanych z akademicką aktywnością sportową. W celu egzemplifikacji omawianych zagadnień autor odwołał się również niejednokrotnie do wybranych materiałów prasowych. Artykuł prezentuje główne cechy amerykańskiego sportu akademickiego. Przybliża on najważniejsze kwestie związane z uprawianiem sportu przez studentów uczelni w USA oraz relacje panujące pomiędzy: studentami-zawodnikami, uczelniami, agentami, organizacjami różnego typu oraz ligami zawodowymi. Opis systemu przyjętego w sporcie akademickim w USA daje także sposobność do identyfikacji i oceny mocnych, jak również słabych jego stron. Abstract This article concerns the continously actual issue of deeming student-athletes in United States of America employees of their universities, where they study and which they represent in various sports competitions. This text is not an attempt to take a stand on an aforementioned issue, however it does present the most important factors creating that dispute. Moreover it adduces the most representative and significant judicial cases and other from federal level which are connected with this issue, i.e.: the Northwestern University petition, the Ed O’Bannon’s lawsuit or the lawsuit of Samantha Sackos. What is more, the author tries to identify the essential frames where bylaws sholud be altered in order to improve the situation of student-athletes, which does not necessarily result in granting them an employee status on the other hand. The author based his characteristic and analysis of this issue on a representative collection of publications by american authors, various documents and other materials issued by organizations which function in the American sports environment (e.g. NCAA) and the most significant rulings connected with academic sport. In order to exemplify the above-mantioned issues, the author used several times chosen press materials. This article presents major features of the American academic sport. It brings closer the most important matters linked with practinig sport by students at universities in the United States and relationships between student-athletes, univesities, agents, different types of organizations and professional leagues. Description of the system established in academic sport in the United States gives also the opportunity to identify and evaluate its advantages and disadvantages.

This study proposes a mathematical model of an intelligent multi-objective home energy management (HEM) scheme with the integration of small-scale renewable energy sources. The main aim of the proposed model is to handle the residential load demand in a smart way to minimise both the consumer's energy bill and the system peak demand simultaneously. To generate the best compromise solution of the proposed multi-objective problem, a cooperative game theory approach is used in this study on the basis of super-criterion and a Pareto optimal solution concept. In the cooperative game process, each HEM objective is assigned as a player and every player tries to maximise their own payoff. Bargaining model in the form of super criterion is considered in this game approach. Finally, all players can get win–win nature with collective negotiations. Generally, HEM method deals with various controllable devices having distinct operating characteristics. Because of this, the proposed HEM problem is modelled as a mixed-integer problem. Consequently, a mixed-integer non-linear programming is applied in this game process to maximise the super-criterion. To show the effectiveness of the proposed model, different case studies and various scenarios are carried out.

This article aims to identify and to interpret a recurring topos regarding the relationships between the video game player and the screen : screen crossing. By “screen crossing” I mean representations which feature screens crossed in one way or the other, by the player or by the game’s diegetic figures. The identification of this topos first goes with the tracking of its appearances as well as its variations as soon as the early 1980’s, within the illustrations in video game press, in advertisements, in movies, or in cartoon books. Regarding its interpretation, the works of Scott Bukatman and Vivian Sobchack about science-fiction allow us to think of the screen crossing in the terms of a decentered subjectivity, of a subject projected into the machine. Then the mistreated body of the player, as represented in many ads and cartoons, appears to be the correlate of the individual caught into the lines of the program, submitted to the visual and attentional logics of the machine. In this way, as depicted in numerous ads, the gaming situation is explicitly labeled as “action” and the player is thus often commanded to react. The video game player appears in close proximity with what Georges Vigarello has called an “informational body”, that is, the individual’s capacity to react and to adapt to the screen’s flow of information. The screen crossing topos betrays a confused situation, one of a body which is neither truly in front of the screen nor truly within it. From the representations and the discourses, such a situation is inherent to transformations regarding the screen, and leads us to think in a different way about the notions of immersion and interactivity.

Even though legal perception with regard to transfer of football players evolved throughout the years, shifting the point of time where player could leave the club from the period after the contract has been expired to the period before the expiration, transfer issue is still not governed by the legal rules. It is a complex contractual relationship, which is preceded by the pre-contractual phase, while its final effect may depend on the realization of suspensive contract conditions. When the transfer takes place, club-buyer pays a fee to the club-seller for the acquired right. The transfer fee is attributed to the assets of the club-seller.

Games happen to be a part of our contemporary culture and way of life. Often mathe- matical models of con ict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers are studied in these games. Example is the African board game 'Zaminamina draft' which is often guided by combinatorial strategies and techniques for winning. In this paper we deduce an intelligent mathematical technique for playing a winning game. Two different starting strategies were formu- lated; center starting and edge or vertex starting. The results were distorted into a 3x3 matrix and elementary row operations were performed to establish all possible wins. MatLab was used to distort the matrix to determine the diagonal wins. A program was written using python in artificial intelligence (AI) to help in playing optimally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to verify the importance of communication styles in the casino industry. More specifically, it was proposed that nine types of casino dealer communication styles affect player satisfaction. In addition, it was hypothesized that player satisfaction plays an important role in the formation of trust, commitment, and loyalty. A conceptual model was developed and tested using the empirical data collected from 414 table game players in Korea. The results indicated that six dimensions of communication styles (i.e. attentive, open, friendly, relaxed, animated, and contentious) positively affect player satisfaction, which in turn has a positive influence on trust, commitment, and loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Capital Institute of Physical Education is the property of Shoudu Tiyu Xueyuan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Online competitive gaming has become one of the largest collective human activities globally and understanding motivations and social interaction is still not fully achieved. The aim of this study is to develop a basis for a systematic classification of player-centric networks in competitive online games based on structural network criteria. Using data extracted from League of Legends players, their matches and machine learning techniques, a classification of personal player networks in League of Legends is proposed. Results show the resulting egonets can be potentially grouped in four clusters related to their egos playing habits, ranging from solo to team players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Injuries are a common problem in football. To improve prevention strategies, the players' (p) and coaches' (c) views need to be disclosed as they have a strong impact on return to play decisions. The aim of this study is to reveal current opinions with regard to injury prevention and return to play strategies to introduce new strategies in elite football.Materials and Methods: In a retrospective data analysis of elite salaried football players (n = 486) and team coaches (n = 88), a detailed investigation by means of a standardized questionnaire was carried out. In a preseason period of the 2015/16 season and as part of a large interventional research project in elite salaried German football, a request about players' and team coaches' knowledge and opinions was performed. Topics such as injury prevention, return to play after injuries, the importance of screening tests, general problems of injuries in football, or the decision-making in terms of prevention and return to play in elite football were investigated.Results: The study revealed a high interest in injury prevention and screening tests among players and coaches (p 82.5%; c 99.1%). The participants of the study reported warm-up exercises (p 76.4%; c 74.7%), regeneration training (p 54.1%; c 56.3%), and core stability (p 53.8; c 70.1%) as the most important prevention methods, but the additional investigation of the teams' current daily training routine showed that the transfer is incomplete. Coaches are more familiar with scientific published warm-up programs like FIFA 11 + than players (42.5 vs. 12.6; p < 0.001). Knee injuries (p 90.7%; c 93.1%) and ACL injuries in particular were reported as the most severe and common problem in elite football. Players and coaches expressed different attitudes concerning return to play decisions. While players want to decide themselves (81.4%), team coaches consult medical advice ahead of the decision of return to play after injuries (83.5%; p < 0.001). Decisions against the doctor's recommendation are often made by both groups (p 64.4% vs. c 87.1%; p < 0.001).Conclusion: The basic knowledge of prevention and injuries is sufficient in elite football, but the transfer from theoretical knowledge to practical routine is suboptimal. The study also shows possibilities to improve the prevention process and communication between players, coaches, doctors, and physiotherapists, while there is no consent between players and coaches regarding return to play decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have investigated the association between strength and speed, showing that stronger athletes perform better during sprint performances (Baker & Nance, 1999). Moreover, the aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between sprint performance and anthropometric parameters. Subjects were 32 youth soccer players. The age of participants was 15.1±0.3 years. Speed time (50 m sprint) was evaluated during sprint test, and anthropometric parameters were measured (weight, height, percent body fat). Correlation analysis (Pearson test) was performed to evaluate the correlation between speed and anthropometrics. Results showed correlation between body weight and speed (r=-0.041 Sig=0.834); BMI values and speed (r=0.231; Sig=0.236), body height and speed (r=-0.384; Sig=0.044); percent body fat and speed (r=0.440; Sig=0.019).In conclusion, the results of this study show no significance association between body weight and BMI with sprint performance and significance correlation between body height (negative correlation) and percent body fat (positive correlation) with speed.

Hypervideos and interactive multimedia presentations allow the creation of fully interactive and enriched video. It is possible to organize video scenes in a nonlinear way. Additional information can be added to the video ranging from short descriptions to images and more videos. Hypervideos are video-based but also provide navigation between video scenes and additional multimedia elements. Interactive multimedia presentations consist of different media with a temporal and spatial synchronization that can be navigated via hyperlinks. Their creation and description requires description formats,multimediamodels, and standards-- as well as players. Specialized authoring tools with advanced editing functions allow authors to manage all media files, link and arrange them to an overall presentation, and keep an overview during the whole process. They considerably simplify the creation process compared to writing and editing description documents in simple text editors. Data formats need features that describe interactivity and nonlinear navigation while maintaining temporal and spatial synchronization. Players should be easy to use with extended feature sets keeping elements synchronized. In this article, we analyzed more than 400 papers for relevant work in this field. From the findings we discovered a set of trends and unsolved problems, and propose directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anuario Musical is the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The objective of the current study was to measure and compare the Canadian and Hungarian ice hockey players' concussion recognition skills. A total of 128 Canadian and Hungarian ice hockey players were evaluated for the purposes of this study using the Concussion Recognition Questionnaire. At the moment of the evaluation, all participants were 16 years old and members of their national team. Our findings showed that the Canadian players identified more real symptoms and signs of concussion compared to Hungarian players, while the Hungarian players were significantly more accurate in terms of recognizing which were the fake symptoms. Importantly, previous experience concerning concussion did not influence the players' ability to recognize correct concussion-related symptoms. This research has crucial practical implications, as they highlight the importance of developing players' knowledge and skills of concussion recognition for preventing negative physical health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Timisoara Physical Education & Rehabilitation Journal is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)