Search Results (8)

Complementors are the source of complementary goods. Increased participation by complementors fosters innovation in complementary goods, contributing to the sustainability of the ecosystem. This study examines how complementors’ experiential knowledge and their engagement with the community as an external knowledge source are correlated with the degree of innovation in complementary goods. A multiple regression analysis was conducted using data from the game mod platform Nexus Mods. Prior evidence indicates an inverted U-shaped relationship between experiential knowledge and the degree of innovation. It is suggested that when experiential knowledge accumulation exceeds an optimal level, further accumulation may lead to a decline in the degree of innovation. This study reveals that when complementors possess a high level of experiential knowledge, the positive relationship between their engagement with the community and the degree of innovation in complementary goods is strengthened. Complementors with abundant experience, who actively engage with the community as an external knowledge source, are more likely to drive innovation. Consequently, they play a crucial role in supporting the sustainable development of the ecosystem. Full article

Background/Objectives: Despite being widely promoted, protein supplementation’s overall effectiveness during demanding basketball schedules remains unclear. This study investigated whether increased protein intake can accelerate recovery of muscle function during a 6-day congested basketball microcycle consisting of three consecutive games while accounting for the impact of playing time. Methods: In a randomized, two-trial, cross-over, double-blind repeated measures design, eighteen male basketball players were assigned to a high (High PT) or a moderate (Mod PT) playing time group and participated in two trials, receiving daily either milk protein (PRO trial) or an isoenergetic amount of carbohydrates. Each trial included three consecutive games (days 1–3) and a 72 h recovery period following Game 3 (days 4–6), during which players participated in low-load practice sessions. Isometric and isokinetic peak torque of knee extensors and flexors in the dominant limb, serum creatine kinase (CK) concentration, and erythrocyte glutathione (GSH) levels were assessed prior to each game and practice session. Results: CK increased (p < 0.01) on game days in both groups but recovered earlier in Mod PT compared to High PT. Both eccentric and concentric peak torque was impaired (p < 0.01) up to 24–48 h post-G3 in a velocity-dependent manner. Eccentric peak torque of knee flexors at 60°/s declined to a greater extent in High PT compared to Mod PT (p < 0.01). Protein supplementation resulted in higher erythrocyte GSH concentration at pre-G2 (p < 0.05) and pre-G3 (p < 0.05) compared to placebo in both groups but did not affect any of the study outcomes. Conclusions: Increased protein intake during a congested basketball schedule increases erythrocyte GSH concentration but does not accelerate recovery of muscle function. Full article

This paper discusses the ways in which digitally enabled transformation in mathematics education could envisage a role for rationality in post-normal science and wicked problems. The scene is set firstly by reviewing the ways in which digital media have been designed and used in transformative mathematics education as a rationale for thinking about such media for wicked problem education. The problem is set in epistemological terms: can normal science approaches contribute to post-normal science? By considering the basic arguments regarding wicked problem education, I focus on the discussion of a specific constructionist digital tool called ‘ChoiCo: Choices with Consequences’, designed to embed mathematical ideas and facilitate mathematical reasoning, yet be about grappling with wicked problems. The final section discusses student discourse to set the scene for what such reasoning might look like in the context of grappling with wicked problems. Full article

This study aimed to understand how the design of decision-making tasks affects youth football players’ ball control, passing performance, and external load. A total of 16 male youth football players (age: 12.94 ± 0.25 years) competed in various tasks based on the following levels of decision-making: (i) low decision-making (Low DM), which consisted of a predefined ball control and passing sequence; (ii) moderate decision-making (Mod DM), which consisted of maintaining possession in a square with four players and two balls while maintaining the same position; and (iii) high decision-making (High DM), which consisted of a 3 vs. 3 + 2 neutral players ball possession game. The study design consisted of a pre–post design (a 6 min pre-test game, a 6 min intervention, and a 6 min post-test game). The players’ ball control and passing performance were measured using the game performance evaluation tool and notational analysis, while GPS data were used to determine their physical performance. The pre–post test analysis revealed decrements in players’ ability to identify more offensive players after the Mod DM task (W = 9.50, p = 0.016), while there was an increase in their ability to receive the ball towards the space following the High DM task (t = −2.40, p = 0.016). Analysis between groups showed lower values in most ball control variables for the Low DM task compared to the Mod DM task (ball control execution, p = 0.030; appropriateness, p = 0.031; motor space, p = 0.025), while there were also lower values in the distance covered while sprinting (p = 0.042). Overall, prescriptive tasks (Low DM) that are repetitive in nature may affect players’ perceptual attunement, whereas static tasks (e.g., Mod DM) may limit their ability to locate players in more offensive positions. Moreover, game-based situations (High DM) seem to acutely enhance players’ performance, possibly due to contextual dependency. Overall, coaches should carefully consider the type of practice structure when designing tasks that aim to improve players’ technical skills in youth football. Full article

A spiking interest in customer’s value co-creation may be observed lately, especially in the gaming industry. The general purpose of this study is to identify the customers’ inclination to perform game modding as a manner of value co-creation which benefits both companies and other game users. The current knowledge regarding the factors determining this behaviour is, relatively speaking, weak. The authors conducted qualitative research in the forms of in-depth interviews and focus groups with Polish game players (including mod users and mod creators). This study provides evidence for the peculiar motives of the customers performing different levels of engagement: mod users are driven by game enjoyment, focusing on the motives and social affiliation of multiplayer groups, while mod creators are mainly motivated by the enjoyment of creation, pride, creativity, and epistemic curiosity; engagement and social affiliation are received by mod creators with unique talents. The paper provides tentative evidence for specific customers’ motivations to co-create, which benefits both companies (game developers) and other game users. The players are perceived as an inseparable part of the gaming industry, who deliver extra value to the market through game modding activities. The paper provides useful, executable guidance on how to encourage and support players to engage in value co-creation in virtual words. The study may enrich our understanding of customers’ inclinations on both theoretical and empirical levels, showing some of the motivations both to use and create mods. In comparison to previous research, mod creators and mod users were researched separately in this study, and thus a distinction of their different sets of motives was enabled. Both practitioners and researchers may find what is uncovered in the paper engrossing. Full article

Deforestation and biodiversity loss in agroecosystems are generally the result of rational choices, not of a lack of awareness or knowledge. Despite both scientific evidence and traditional knowledge that supports the value of diverse production systems for ecosystem services and resilience, a trend of agroecosystem intensification is apparent across tropical regions. These transitions happen in spite of policies that prohibit such transformations. We present a participatory modelling study run to (1) understand the drivers of landscape transition and (2) explore the livelihood and environmental impacts of tenure changes in the coffee agroforestry systems of Kodagu (India). The components of the system, key actors and resources, and their interactions were defined with stakeholders, following the companion modelling (ComMod) approach. The underlying ecological processes driving the system were validated through expert knowledge and scientific literature. The conceptual model was transformed into a role-playing game and validated by eight workshops with a total of 57 participants. Two scenarios were explored, a No Policy Change as baseline, and a Restitution of Rights where rights to cut the native trees are handed over to farmers. Our results suggest that the landscape transition is likely to continue unabated unless there is a change to the current policy framework. However, the Restitution of Rights risks speeding up the process rather than reversing it, as inter alia, the differential growth rate between exotic and native tree species, kick in. Full article

The city-building game Cities: Skylines simulates urban-related processes in a visually appealing 3D environment and thus offers interesting possibilities for visualizations of real-world places. Such visualizations could be used for presentation, participation, or education projects. However, the creation process of the game model from geographical data is inaccurate, complicated, and time consuming, thus preventing the wider use of this game for non-entertainment purposes. This paper presents the automatic methods scripted in the Cities: Skylines application programming interface (API) and bundled into a game modification (commonly referred to as a game mod) named GeoSkylines, to create a geographically accurate visualization of real-world places in Cities: Skylines. Based on various geographical data, the presented methods create road and rail networks, tree coverage, water basins, planning zones, buildings, and services. Using these methods, playable models of the cities of Svit (Slovakia) and Olomouc (Czech Republic) were created in the game. The game mod GeoSkylines also provides methods for exporting game objects such as roads, buildings, and zones into a Geographic Information System (GIS) data format that can be processed further. This feature enables the game Cities: Skylines to be utilized as a data collection tool that could be used in redevelopment design projects. Full article

This paper is a reflexive analysis of a three-year participatory water research project conducted in the Upper East Region (UER) of Ghana, whose explicit objective was to initiate a multi-level dialogue to support the national Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) policy framework. The transdisciplinary team adopted the Companion Modeling approach (ComMod), using role-playing games and a computerized agent-based model to support the identification of a problemshed centered on issues of river bank cultivation, erosion, and flooding, and initiate a multi-level dialogue on ways that this problemshed could be tackled. On the basis of this experience, we identify three key criteria for transdisciplinary research to support innovative water governance: (1) the iterative adaptation of tools and facilitation techniques based on feedback from participants; (2) a common understanding of the objectives pursued and the approach used among researchers, who need to explicit their posture, and crucially; (3) the co-identification of a problemshed that diverse stakeholders are interested in tackling. Finally, we argue that the context in which research is funded and conducted in the development sector constitutes a challenge for researchers to be “participants like any other” in the projects they coordinate, which constitutes a barrier to true transdisciplinarity. Full article