International Game Research Articles

<b>清朝後期から中華民国期（ 1890s‐1937） の中国の高等教育機関におけるスポーツ</b>

This paper references literature to focus on three aspects: the origins, the expression of sport, and the problems faced by sport in China’s universities and colleges from the Late Qing Dynasty to the era of the Republic of China. In China’s traditional cultural system, physical culture did not develop into something similar to sport as it had developed in Western cultures. This Western sport was introduced into China, where it emerged and developed in Christian and government-run higher education institutions in the period from the 1890s to the early 20th century. Competitive sporting events became the expression of university and college sport from the Late Qing Dynasty to the era of the Republic of China, including collegiate, national and international games. These games were advocated and organized by Chinese-based offices of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and higher education institutions, and the athletes who participated were mainly students enrolled in universities and colleges. One of the problems faced by university and college sport in the period was the contestants system. The paper’s conclusions are as follows: 1) the origins of university and college sport in China can be identified in the period from the 1890s to the early 20th century; 2) university and college sport in China represented the pinnacle of sport at that time and athletes who were training in higher education institutions made up the majority of athletes participating in competitive sporting events; 3) the contestants system had a significant impact on sport popularization in higher education institutions in the 1920s and 1930s.

Supervised Learning in Imperfect Information Game

Bridge is an international imperfect information game played with similar rules all over the world and it is played by millions of players. It is an intelligent game, which increases the creativity with multiple skills and knowledge of human mind. Because no player knows exactly what moves other players are capable of making. It is viewed as an imperfect information game. It is well defined in particular; the scoring system gives a way of assessing the strength of any resulting program. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) is trained on sample deals without any idea of game and used to the estimate the number of tricks to be taken by one pair of bridge players in the so-called Double Dummy Bridge Problem (DDBP). Supervised learning was used in Back-propagation neural network to take best tricks in Double Dummy Bridge Problem. The target data was trained and tested using Log Sigmoidal transfer function and Hyperbolic Tangent Sigmoid functions, in the intermediate layer of the network. The results of both the functions seem to be more convincing regarding the results of the game. In summary, the study described in this paper provides a detailed comparison between Log Sigmoid transfer function and Hyperbolic Tangent Sigmoid functions which were used to train and test the data Keywords: Double Dummy Bridge problem, BPN, Supervised learning, Log Sigmoid transfer function, Hyperbolic Tangent Sigmoid function.

Patterns in the distribution of digital games via BitTorrent

The distribution of illegal copies of computer games via digital networks forms the centre in one of the most heated debates in the international games environment, but there is minimal objective information available. Here the results of a large-scale, open-method analysis of the distribution of computer games via BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol is presented. 173 games were included, tracked over a period of three months from 2010 to 2011. A total of 12.6 million unique peers were identified across over 200 countries. Analysis indicates that the distribution of illegal copies of games follows distinct pattern, e.g., that a few game titles drive the traffic - the 10 most accessed games encompassed 42.7% of the number of peers tracked. The traffic is geographically localised - 20 countries encompassed 76.7% of the total. Geographic patterns in the distribution of BitTorrent peers are presented, as well as time-frequency distributions of torrents, and additional results.

Drug Abuse in Sports: An Overview

ABSTRACT The use of drugs to enhance performance in sports is termed as doping and is prevalent since ancient times. In India, the trigger to setup facility for the testing of banned substances was the first positive of an Indian weight lifter in 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games. The Indian laboratory got ISO/IEC 17025: 1999 accreditation in 2003 and WADA accreditation in 2008. It accomplished testing for the two major international games (1st Singapore Youth Olympics and 19th Commonwealth Games) in 2010 successfully. The evaluation of statistics of sample testing in India revealed the maximum number of positives in bodybuilding, athletics, kabbadi, weightlifting and powerlifting. The most prevalent group of drugs in the banned category was anabolic steroids followed by stimulants and diuretics. The implementation of highest standard of quality control is essential for the doping laboratories to ensure best laboratory practices along with the ongoing research to keep up with the advancements in detection of new substances. The sports persons also need to be more vigilant about the prevalent antidoping rules and regulations. How to cite this article Beotra A. Drug Abuse in Sports: An Overview. J Postgrad Med Edu Res 2013;47(2):94-98.

XXXth IUGB Congress and Perdix XIII

XXXth IUGB Congress and Perdix XIII

Recreational Physical Activity of International Sports Events Fans

Abstract Introduction . There are currently no studies published on the relationship between participation in international sports events and physical activity of the fans. This inspired the authors to examine this subject. The aim of the study was to estimate the level of physical activity of Polish national teams' supporters of selected sports disciplines. Material and methods . The study was conducted on randomly selected group of fans during the Polish national level football, basketball and volleyball games. The study used the diagnostic survey method with a questionnaire of the authors' own design. In this report there were questions concerning physical activity modelled on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results . Physical activity is usually practised by fans of basketball and football who are 19-35 years old. Fans who are not physically active are mainly the fans of volleyball and football who are 36-55 years old. A significant correlation was noted between fans' sex and the willingness to practice sport (p=0.016). 58% of women and 72% of men declared that they practice some recreational physical activities. The most active were the basketball fans; the least active were the volleyball fans. The greatest diversity in terms of physical activity depending on participants' sex was revealed among the fans at international football games. Additionally, a significant correlation was noted between fans' age and their willingness to practice sports in their free time (p<0.001). Conclusions . The majority of fans at international sports events are physically active. In the research groups analysed the weekly volume of physical activity varied significantly. The basketball fans spent the greatest amount of time on physical activity and the volleyball fans the lowest. The average frequency of physical activity was the same in all groups.

Learning International Trade by Game in Maritime Business Schools

Business trade is a very complex process and maritime students should acknowledge this complexity and understand various different components of the process and the interactions among them. Considering this complexity, teaching college students about the international trade can be a demanding and expansive process within the traditional learning context. Developments in instructional strategies helped educators to enhance learning environments with games and simulations providing students with enduring and in-depth learning experiences. The learning experiences included realistic trade scenario allowing students to simulate the process and explore possible results of their actions during the game. The conversations used during the game were derived from real business environment helping students to realize how their classroom learning was connected to actual international trade environment during this activity. The purpose of this research was to observe the effects of business simulation game on maritime business students’ understanding of international trade process. The study design was a single group experimental and participants were consisted of 59 undergraduate maritime business school students studying in two Turkish universities. The data was collected through a Business Trade Simulation scale designed for this study. The results of the study illustrated that international trade game enhanced participants’ knowledge and skills about international trade and students’ motivation toward the game as well.

The Czech and Slovak Legion in Siberia, 1917-1922

During World War I, a specialized Russian battalion comprised of ethnic Czechs and Czech and Slovak prisoners of war--the Legion--became a pawn in an international game of power and deceit. The Legion's detour through Siberia became the greatest human interest story of the war, chronicled weekly in the New York Times and New York Herald. Over half of the Legion's troops lost their lives as the evacuation of Czech and Slovak POWs through Vladivostok precipitated the murder of the Russian Royal family and forced the Legion to act as protectors of the Russian Treasury and the Trans-Siberian Railway while the White and Red armies battled. For political purposes, tales of the Legion's odyssey have been buried or expunged. This revealing volume offers the first account of this hidden yet epic journey, shedding light on a fascinating but forgotten facet of World War I.

Participation games and international environmental agreements: A non-parametric model

We examine the size of stable coalitions in a participation game that has been used to model international environmental agreements, cartel formation, R&D spillovers, and monetary policy. The literature to date has relied on parametric examples; based on these examples, a consensus has emerged that in this kind of game, the equilibrium coalition size is small, except possibly when the potential benefits of cooperation are also small. In this paper, we develop a non-parametric approach to the problem, and demonstrate that the conventional wisdom is not robust. In a general setting, we identify conditions under which the equilibrium coalition size can be large even when potential gains are large. Contrary to previously examined leading special cases, we show that reductions in marginal abatement costs in an international environmental game can increase equilibrium membership, and we provide a measure of the smallest reduction in costs needed to support a coalition of arbitrary size.

Match Play Intensity Distribution in Youth Soccer

The purpose of this study was to quantify match play intensity distribution in young soccer players in relation to age, playing position and physical fitness. Distance covered and heart rate were measured (global positioning system) on 103, highly-trained young players (Under13 to Under 18) during 42 international club games. Maximal sprinting speed (MSS), estimated maximal aerobic speed (MAS) and maximal heart rate (HRmax) were assessed via field test measures. Distance covered and heart rate (HR) were categorized into 5 intensity zones relative to MSS and MAS and HR(max), respectively. Intensity distribution was significantly influenced by both age and playing position with younger groups, wide-midfielders and strikers covering the greatest distance above the MAS. There was a significant, negative, large-to-very large correlation (r= -0.52-0.74) between MAS and the distance run at speeds above MAS for all positions except strikers. HR responses were not different across age groups and playing positions. Distance covered below MAS were lower in the second half for all positions (P<0.05; 0.08<η(2)<0.20), while distance covered at intensities above MAS were maintained (P>0.1; 0.00<η(2)<0.03). This reduction in distance covered below MAS was not related to a player's physical capacity. Except for strikers, a superior aerobic fitness level was unlikely to affect total distance covered but was associated with a reduced individual running demand during the game.

Repeated High-Speed Activities during Youth Soccer Games in Relation to Changes in Maximal Sprinting and Aerobic Speeds

The aim of this study was to examine in highly-trained young soccer players whether substantial changes in either maximal sprinting speed (MSS) or maximal aerobic speed (as inferred from peak incremental test speed, V(Vam-Eval)) can affect repeated high-intensity running during games. Data from 33 players (14.5±1.3 years), who presented substantial changes in either MSS or V(Vam-Eval) throughout 2 consecutive testing periods (~3 months) were included in the final analysis. For each player, time-motion analyses were performed using a global positioning system (1-Hz) during 2-10 international club games played within 1-2 months from/to each testing period of interest (n for game analyzed=109, player-games=393, games per player per period=4±2). Sprint activities were defined as at least a 1-s run at intensities higher than 61% of individual MSS. Repeated-sprint sequences (RSS) were defined as a minimum of 2 consecutive sprints interspersed with a maximum of 60 s of recovery. Improvements in both MSS and V(Vam-Eval) were likely associated with a decreased RSS occurrence, but in some positions only (e. g., - 24% vs. - 3% for improvements in MSS in strikers vs. midfielders, respectively). The changes in the number of sprints per RSS were less clear but also position-dependent, e. g., +7 to +12% for full-backs and wingers, - 5 to - 7% for centre-backs and midfielders. In developing soccer players, changes in repeated-sprint activity during games do not necessarily match those in physical fitness. Game tactical and strategic requirements are likely to modulate on-field players' activity patterns independently (at least partially) of players' physical capacities.

Grey theory analysis of online population and online game industry revenue in Taiwan

This study examines the relationship between the number of Internet users and the amount of online game revenues in Taiwan. We collected the number of Internet users, online game players, and revenues of Taiwan's online game industry during the period of 2003–2010 for analysis. The grey forecasting GM(1,1) model, a simple analysis method, was used to predict the growth trend of these three values, and to examine the relationships among them. The results indicate that there is still room for Taiwan's online game industry to expand its customer base and thus increase future revenues. The findings can help to understand supply and demand in Taiwan's online games market, and provide a reference for both academics and practitioners. Since the Greater China area, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China, has a similar culture and also a huge potential market, the research results in this paper may be helpful for international game companies interested in entering or expanding in this market.

Effect of positioning on the accuracy of decision making of association football top-class referees and assistant referees during competitive matches

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of positioning on the correctness of decision making of top-class referees and assistant referees during international games. Match analyses were carried out during the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Confederations Cup 2009 and 380 foul play incidents and 165 offside situations were examined. The error percentage for the referees when indicating the incidents averaged 14%. The lowest error percentage occurred in the central area of the field, where the collaboration of the assistant referee is limited, and was achieved when indicating the incidents from a distance of 11–15 m, whereas this percentage peaked (23%) in the last 15-min match period. The error rate for the assistant referees was 13%. Distance of the assistant referee to the offside line did not have an impact on the quality of the offside decision. The risk of making incorrect decisions was reduced when the assistant referees viewed the offside situations from an angle between 46 and 60°. Incorrect offside decisions occurred twice as often in the second as in the first half of the games. Perceptual-cognitive training sessions specific to the requirements of the game should be implemented in the weekly schedule of football officials to reduce the overall error rate.

Fluid Balance of Elite Female Basketball Players Before and During Game Play

This study determined the fluid balance of elite female basketball players before and during competition. Before and during 2 international games, 17 national-level players (age 24.2 ± 3 yr, height 180.5 ± 6 cm, mass 78.8 ± 8 kg) were assessed. Fluid-balance assessment included pregame hydration level as determined by urine specific gravity (USG), change in body mass during the game, ad libitum intake of water or sports drink, and estimated sweat losses. Mean (± SD) USG before Game 1 was 1.005 ± 0.002 and before Game 2 USG equaled 1.010 ± 0.005. Players lost an average of 0.7% ± 0.8% and 0.6% ± 0.6% of their body mass during Games 1 and 2, respectively. In each game, 3 players experienced a fluid deficit >1% of body mass, and 1 other, a fluid deficit >2%. Sweat losses in both games, from the beginning of the warm-up to the conclusion of the game (~125 min with average playing time 16-17 min), were approximately 1.99 ± 0.75 L. Fluid intake in Game 1 and Game 2 equaled 77.8% ± 32% and 78.0% ± 21% of sweat losses, respectively. Most players were hydrated before each game and did not become meaningfully dehydrated during the game. It is possible that the players who experienced the highest levels of dehydration also experienced some degree of playing impairment, and the negative relationship between change in body mass and shooting percentage in Game 2 provides some support for this notion.

Signaling in international environmental agreements: the case of early and delayed action

This paper presents a stylized international environmental agreements game with two regions differing in their preference for environmental quality. If side payments are allowed, cooperation can increase the payoffs accruing to both regions. However, cooperation can be impeded by asymmetric information about the regions’ types and only become feasible once a region has credibly revealed its type. We show how in a two-stage game early (delayed) action can act as a credible signal to reveal private information on high (low) benefits. Yet, the cooperative solution with asymmetric information is Pareto-dominated by the outcome with perfect information.

On Finiteness in the Card Game of War

The game of war is a popular international children's card game. In the beginning of the game, the deck is split into two parts, then each player reveals their top card. The player having the highest card collects both and returns them to the bottom of their hand. The player left with no cards loses. It is often wrongly assumed that this game is deterministic and the result is set once the cards have been dealt. However, this is not so; the rules of the game do not prescribe the order in which the winning player will place their cards on the bottom of the hand. First, we provide an example of a cycling game with fixed rules and then assume that each player can seldom but regularly change the returning order. We have proved that in this case the mathematical expectation of the length of the game is finite. In principle it is equivalent to the graph of the game, which has edges corresponding to all acceptable transitions, having the following property: from each initial configuration there is at least one path to the end of the game.

Global Climate Games: How Pricing and a Green Fund Foster Cooperation

The international game of cap and trade begins when countries choose their quantity targets, which are largely selected according to self interest. The analogous public-goods game, in which countries choose their abatement levels, has an uncooperative outcome. Compared to that, the Nash equilibrium of the cap-and-trade game shows that abatement can increase but that trade provides opportunities for uncooperative behavior. By contrast, a game in which all countries vote for a global quantity target or a global price target can lead to a highly cooperative choice of target. However, the assignment of responsibilities for a global quantity target stymies implementation of a global cap. The global-price-target game largely overcomes this barrier because a uniform global price provides a focal point for cooperation. However low-emission countries apparently prefer a much lower global-price than more prosperous countries unless a Green Fund is implemented. A game that couples such a fund to the global price target can largely overcome this barrier to cooperation. We describe such a game along with its equilibrium outcome, which promises to be inexpensive and cooperative.

Des sports toujours discriminants pour les personnes vivant avec un handicap aujourd’hui ?

Sports and physical activities do not spontaneously offer the view of particularly discriminatory spheres. It is however worth reflecting on the discrimination issue and how people living with disabilities take part in sports and physical activities and certain recreational and entertainment activities. The issue is examined through an analysis of the regulations which were established during the 1990s “dwarf tossing competitions” controversy. Then the analysis focuses on the sports practice settings intended for people with disabilities which have gradually been put in place during the 20th century: the “Silent International Games” for the deaf and hard-of-hearing since 1924, and since the 1960s the “Paralympic Games” and the “Special Olympics Games” intended for “mentally challenged athletes”. These Olympics continue to be the poor relations to the sports movements in terms of budget, of coaching and administration, and of media coverage. The concept of “ableism” used in the Anglo-Saxon analyses indicates a bias in the programs that are precisely supposed to integrate people living with disabilities. The relevance of the concept allows sociological analyses to take account, beyond physical pain, of the suffering of ostracized people who continue individually and collectively to face barriers, injustice and humiliation in their sporting life.

Impacts of Florida Coastal Protected Areas on Recreational World Records for Spotted Seatrout, Red Drum, Black Drum, and Common Snook

The present study examines the influence of coastal marine protected areas (mpas) and statewide fishing regulations on recreational trophy fisheries for four important estuarine game fishes in florida, where -59% of the mainland coast consists of mpas. The distribution of International Game fish association (IGfa) recreational world records achieved over 70 years (1939-2009) were correlated with the strength and duration of fishery restrictions in mpas. no difference in record density was detected between coastal areas inside and outside of mpas where fishing was managed by statewide regulations. However, 74% (n = 143) of all records for three species were concentrated near the two mpas that had additional fishery restrictions. The highest concentration was along -11% of the mainland coast at cape canaveral (can) near mpas closed to all fishing since 1962. It included 42% of spotted seatrout [Cynoscion nebulosus (cuvier in cuvier and Valenciennes, 1830)], 55% of red drum [Sciaenops ocellatus (linnaeus, 1766)], and 69% of black drum [Pogonias cromis (linnaeus, 1766)] florida records. everglades national park (enp) had the second highest concentration with 7% of spotted seatrout, 32% of red drum, and 24% of black drum records caught along -9% of the mainland coast. enp partially limited fishing starting in 1980 by establishing a closed area, daily bag limits, and eliminating commercial fishing. common snook [Centropomus undecimalis (Bloch, 1792)] records did not increase significantly at can or enp. recreational fishery statistics corroborated IGfa record patterns. total recreational catch and catch per trip (cpue) increased significantly for spotted seatrout, red drum, and black drum in northeast and southwest florida, the two regions with the most protective mpas, and either declined or were unchanged in the northeast and southeast, which did not have mpas with fishing restrictions. Both datasets supported predictions of marine reserve theory that mpas can benefit fisheries by increasing the abundance and size of exploited species. data did not support other alternative hypotheses proposed to explain record patterns. In conclusion, evidence indicates that florida coastal estuarine mpas with fishery restrictions allowed recreational anglers to increase their total catch and cpue, and achieve more game fish world records than would have occurred if all coastal areas had been regulated by existing statewide fishing regulations.

Ending Economic Coercion: Domestic Politics and International Bargaining

Research on when economic sanctions end has emphasized either the international bargaining game played by the sender and the target or the redistributive politics and ruling coalition changes in each state. We contend that neither approach offers a fully satisfactory explanation for economic coercion termination. Bargaining is inconsistent with long coercion episodes while ruling coalition changes cannot inform our understanding of very short episodes. We argue that both bargaining factors and domestic realignments matter, but the influence of bargaining factors declines as a sanctions episode continues while the relevance of domestic realignments increases over time. Our empirical tests, which utilize the new Threat and Imposition of Economic Sanctions data set, provide support for both the bargaining and domestic realignment approaches, suggesting that unifying them is beneficial.