Search Results (17)

This observational retrospective study aimed to examine the association between team behaviour during periods of one-goal leads and subsequent match outcomes while accounting for team level and match location. All matches (n = 380) of the English Premier League (EPL) during the season 2023/24 were analyzed. Team behaviour was evaluated by shots every 10 min during a one-goal lead (SP10MDOGL), a time-normalized indicator of offensive activity that reflects a team’s strategic orientation while protecting a narrow lead. Mixed effects multinomial logistic regression was used to establish the association between SP10MDOGL and the match outcome. Results indicated that increased SP10MDOGL was strongly associated with a higher likelihood of both drawing (Odds ratio (OR) = 2.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.29–4.33; Cohen’s d (d) = 0.47) and winning (OR = 3.38; 95%CI = 1.93–5.92; d = 0.67) compared to losing. This association remained consistent across high-, intermediate-, and low-level teams regardless of whether they played at home or away. These findings suggest that maintaining an offensive approach through an increased number of shots during a one-goal lead is associated with a higher likelihood of securing positive match outcomes within the elite-level football context, such as the EPL. Soccer coaches should consider implementing proactive offensive strategies when protecting a narrow lead, regardless of their team level and match location. Full article

This article presents an efficient non-isolated DC-DC hybrid converter for direct large-ratio step-down applications such as data centers. The converter topology employs a three-level-assisted Dickson switched capacitor network and interleaved dual inductors, significantly mitigating voltage swings at the switching nodes. As a result, the conduction duration of rectifying switches is substantially extended. This configuration is suitable for both odd- and even-order converters, achieving self-balancing of the flying capacitor voltages and inductor currents. To address uneven interleaved inductor currents, a duty-cycle-matching-based current distribution method is proposed to ensure equal current sharing and facilitate loss transfer between inductors. Additionally, an intrinsic charge-ratio-based method for capacitance optimization is introduced to achieve quasi-complete soft charging of the flying capacitors. This method eliminates surge currents during reconfiguration of the capacitor network, reduces losses, and enhances the capacitor utilization. Operating at 300 kHz, the prototype achieves high-ratio voltage conversion from 48 V to 0.5–2.0 V, with a maximum output current of 30 A. It attains a peak efficiency of 91.96% and a power density of 944.88 W/in³. Quasi-complete soft charging of the flying capacitors results in an approximate 2.94% improvement in the conversion efficiency. Full article

Abbott Elementary, the Emmy-award winning mockumentary-style comedy television show, chronicles the day-to-day efforts of a group of teachers in a Philadelphia public elementary school who, despite the odds stacked against them, are determined to help their students succeed. With humor and heart, the show also uncovers some of the larger policy issues at play in U.S. urban public education, such as teacher shortages, school funding, and school choice. This essay describes the development of an interdisciplinary Honors seminar for undergraduate students at a large, public university in the Midwest U.S. that used episodes of Abbott Elementary as a central curricular text to support students in analyzing current policy issues in urban education. Drawing on Giroux’s concept of media as public pedagogy, this essay details how the course design employed a critical intersectional multiculturalism cultural studies approach to create opportunities for students to engage in a multiperspectival analysis, including (1) an understanding of political culture, (2) textual analysis, and (3) audience reception. Implications and recommendations are made for selecting and integrating popular culture media as curricular text in interdisciplinary coursework. Full article

Background: Quality-of-life metrics are increasingly important for oncological patients alongside traditional endpoints like mortality and disease progression. Statistical tools such as Win Ratio, Win Odds, and Net Benefit prioritize clinically significant outcomes using composite endpoints. In randomized trials, Win Statistics provide fair comparisons between treatment and control groups. However, their use in observational studies is complicated by confounding variables. Propensity score (PS) matching mitigates confounding variables but may reduce the sample size, affecting the power of win statistics analyses. Alternatively, PS matching can stratify samples, preserving the sample size. This study aims to assess the long-term impact of these methods on decision making, particularly in colorectal cancer patients. Methods: A motivating example involves a cohort of patients from the ReSARCh observational study (2016–2021) with locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the rectum, situated up to 12 cm from the anal verge. These patients underwent either a watch-and-wait approach (WW) or trans-anal local excision (LE). Win statistics compared the effects of WW and LE on a composite outcome (overall survival, recurrence, presence of ostomy, and rectum excision). For matched win statistics, we used robust inference techniques proposed by Matsouaka et al. (2022), and for stratified win statistics, we applied the method proposed by Dong et al. (2018). A simulation study assessed the coverage probability of matched and stratified win statistics in balanced and unbalanced groups, calculating how often the confidence intervals included the true values of WR, NB, and WO across 1000 simulations. Results: The results suggest a better efficacy of the LE approach when considering efficacy outcomes alone (WR: 0.47 (0.01 to 1.14); NB: −0.16 (−0.34 to 0.02); and WO: 0.73 (0.5 to 1.05)). However, when QoL outcomes are included in the analyses, the estimates are closer to 1 (WR: 0.87 (0.06 to 2.06); WO: 0.93 (0.61 to 1.4)) and to 0 (NB: −0.04 (−0.25 to 0.17)), indicating a negative impact of the treatment effect of LE regarding the presence of ostomy and the excision of the rectum. Moreover, based on the simulation study, our findings underscore the superior performance of matched compared to stratified win statistics in terms of coverage probability (matched WR: 97% vs. stratified WR: 33.3% in a high-imbalance setting; matched WR: 98% vs. stratified WR: 34.4% in a medium-imbalance setting; and matched WR: 99.2% vs. stratified WR: 37.4% in a low-imbalance setting). Conclusions: In conclusion, our study sheds light on the interpretation of the results of win statistics in terms of statistical significance, providing insights into the application of pairwise comparison in observational settings, promoting its use to improve outcomes for cancer patients. Full article

The article aims to examine the characteristics of mediatized political communication in a hybrid media system, in which the social media accounts of political leaders play an increasingly important role. Firstly, the phenomenon of mediatization and its main aspects in relation to the mass media system are described. Subsequently, the concepts of disintermediation and new forms of mediation specific to social platforms are discussed. The analysis shows that disintermediation does not lead to the end of mediatization, but emphasizes the need to support the mass media logic based on the intertwining of entertainment and a social logic built on online content capable of triggering the creative potential of digital media. In particular, it is highlighted how politicians now prioritize social media over traditional media, assuming the role of social opinion leaders. The analysis of the posts published on the “ellyesse” Instagram account in the period from 4 December 2022, the date of the announced candidacy for the party secretary, to 26 February 2023, the day of the primaries in which he won against all odds, reveals a tendency towards the remediation of traditional content accompanied by innovative use of digital images, aimed at creating a sense of immediacy in interaction with the public. Furthermore, the use of codes typical of mass media mediatization is observed, but in a context where they change their meaning and assume a new communicative function. All these aspects reinforce the idea that social media, in a relationship of complementarity and interdependence with mass media, orient political communication towards the selection and repetition of a coherent set of identity traits. Full article

To analyze multivariate outcomes in clinical trials, several authors have suggested generalizations of the univariate Mann–Whitney test. As the Mann–Whitney statistic compares the subjects’ outcome pairwise, the multivariate generalizations are known as generalized pairwise comparisons (GPC) statistics. For GPC statistics such as the net treatment benefit, the win ratio, and the win odds, asymptotic based or re-sampling tests have been suggested in the literature. However, asymptotic methods require a sufficiently high sample size to be accurate, and re-sampling methods come with a high computational burden. We use graph theory notation to obtain closed-form formulas for the expectation and the variance of the permutation and bootstrap sampling distribution of the GPC statistics, which can be utilized to develop fast and accurate inferential tests for each of the GPC statistics. A simple example and a simulation study demonstrate the accuracy of the exact permutation and bootstrap methods, even in very small samples. As the time complexity is $O\left(N^2\right)$, where N is the total number of patients, the exact methods are fast. In situations where asymptotic methods have been used to obtain these variance matrices, the new methods will be more accurate and equally fast. In situations where bootstrap has been used, the new methods will be both more accurate and much faster. Full article

In 1984, professional wrestler Hulk Hogan defeated the Iron Sheik to win the WWF Heavyweight Title. Thus marked the birth of ‘Hulkamania’, a near-decade-long period when Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Bollea) crossed over into American popular culture. In the following years, Hogan battled a series of proxies for America’s enemies, from the Soviet rival in Nikolai Volkoff, Iranian sympathizer Sergeant Slaughter, and the Japanese sumo wrestler Yokozuna, among other opponents. More importantly, Hogan appeared on American talk shows, the front of magazines, had his own children’s cartoons, and marketed workout devices, toys, food, and a host of other ephemera. Existing in a liminal space between sport and entertainment, professional wrestling allows athletes/performers far more opportunities to cultivate messages and meanings through their bodies. Using film, wrestling magazines, and wrestling broadcasts, this article argues that Hogan’s body and his use of his body were paramount to his success. More than that, the use of his body embodied ideals about American masculinity. It embodied all-American strength, an ability to succeed no matter the odds, and a fierce Christian patriotism. Hogan was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s, inside and outside of sport. His body and its representation are thus worthy of study. Full article

Mothers play a key role in ensuring their children’s healthy life. This study aimed to identify the maternal factors affecting problematic smartphone use in children. We adopted a cross-sectional descriptive design using structured questionnaires. Participants were fourth to sixth grade elementary school students in Korea (n = 184). The following maternal factors were evaluated: maternal mediation, children’s perception of mothers’ smartphone use, mother–child communication, and parenting style. Data regarding maternal factors’ effect on problematic smartphone use were analyzed by computing descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis using SPSS Win 27.0. The results show that the maternal factors that influenced problematic smartphone use in children were maternal control over smartphone usage (odds ratio (OR) = 5.10, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.33–19.60), smartphone usage time for social network service (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.10–2.01), and problematic mother–child communication (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.00–1.14). Therefore, to promote appropriate smartphone use among school children, it is necessary to develop an intervention comprising maternal supervision of their children’s smartphones, guidance provision for social network service usage, and strategies for the reinforcement of positive mother–child communication. Full article

The interdisciplinary nature of sports and the presence of various systemic and non-systemic factors introduce challenges in predicting sports match outcomes using a single disciplinary approach. In contrast to previous studies that use sports performance metrics and statistical models, this study is the first to apply a deep learning approach in financial time series modeling to predict sports match outcomes. The proposed approach has two main components: a convolutional neural network (CNN) classifier for implicit pattern recognition and a logistic regression model for match outcome judgment. First, the raw data used in the prediction are derived from the betting market odds and actual scores of each game, which are transformed into sports candlesticks. Second, CNN is used to classify the candlesticks time series on a graphical basis. To this end, the original 1D time series are encoded into 2D matrix images using Gramian angular field and are then fed into the CNN classifier. In this way, the winning probability of each matchup team can be derived based on historically implied behavioral patterns. Third, to further consider the differences between strong and weak teams, the CNN classifier adjusts the probability of winning the match by using the logistic regression model and then makes a final judgment regarding the match outcome. We empirically test this approach using 18,944 National Football League game data spanning 32 years and find that using the individual historical data of each team in the CNN classifier for pattern recognition is better than using the data of all teams. The CNN in conjunction with the logistic regression judgment model outperforms the CNN in conjunction with SVM, Naïve Bayes, Adaboost, J48, and random forest, and its accuracy surpasses that of betting market prediction. Full article

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a pandemic. We examined the KAP’s relationship with factors associated with practice toward the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. This cross-sectional survey study was conducted between March and April 2020 and included 1033 participants. Knowledge scores of COVID-19 were positively associated with wearing a mask when leaving home (odds ratio (OR): 1.22, p < 0.05). Although men had a lower knowledge score, they were less likely to go to a crowded place compared with women (OR: 0.79, p < 0.05). However, women (OR: 1.25, p < 0.05) were more likely than men to wear a mask when leaving home. Furthermore, men (OR: 3.32, p < 0.05) were more likely than women to have a positive attitude toward COVID-19. Indonesian residents had satisfactory knowledge, demonstrated a positive attitude, and followed appropriate practices toward the pandemic. More educated individuals had a more positive attitude. Men and women differed with respect to their knowledge-based practices. Men were less likely to go to crowded places, and women were more likely to wear a mask when leaving home. Furthermore, men were more likely to wear a mask when leaving home than women when men had the attitude that Indonesia can win against COVID-19. Full article

A large body of literature on the favorite–longshot bias finds that sports bettors in a variety of markets appear to have irrational biases toward either longshots (which offer a small chance of winning a large amount of money) or favorites (which offer a high chance of winning a small amount of money). While early studies in horse racing led to an impression that longshot bias is dominant, favorite bias has also now been found in a variety of sports betting markets. This review proposes that the evidence is consistent with both biases being present in the average sports bettor. Sports betting markets with only two potential outcomes, where the favorite therefore has a probability >0.5 of happening, often produce favorite bias. Sports betting markets with multiple outcomes, where the favorite’s probability is usually <0.5, appear more consistent with longshot bias. The presence of restricted odds ranges within any given betting market provides an explanation for why single studies support, at most, one bias. This literature review highlights how individual sports bettors might possess biases toward both highly likely, and highly unlikely, events, a contradictory view that has not been summarized in detail before. Full article

As it is well acknowledged that the electoral system is one of the fundamental rocks of our modern society, the behavior of electors engaged in a voting system is of the utmost importance. In this context, the goal of the study is to model the behavior of voters in a first-past-the-post system and to analyze its consequences on a party system. Among the assumptions of this study is Duverger’s law, which states that first-past-the-post systems favor a two-party system as the voters engage in tactical voting, choosing to vote in favor of a less preferred candidate who has better odds of winning. In order to test this assumption and to better analyze the occurrence of the strategic behavior, a laboratory experiment was created. A total of 120 persons participated in the study. An asymmetrical payoff function was created to value the voters’ preference intensity. As a result, it was observed that as voters got used to the voting system, they engaged in more tactical voting behavior in order to either maximize the gain or minimize the loss of their choice. Moreover, the iterations where voters started displaying tactical behavior featured a clustering around two main choices. The obtained results are consistent with both the empirical results of real-life elections and Duverger’s law. A further discussion regarding the change in voters’ choice completes the analysis on the strategic behavior. Full article

Point process models have made a significant contribution to the prediction of football association outcomes. It is conventionally the case that defence and attack capabilities have been assumed to be constant during a match and estimated against the average performance of all other teams in history. Drawing upon a Bayesian method, this paper proposes a dynamic strength model which relaxes assumption of the constant teams’ strengths and permits applying in-match performance information to calibrate them. An empirical study demonstrates that although the Bayesian model fails to achieve improvement in goal difference prediction, it registers clear achievements with regard to the prediction of the total number of goals and Win/Draw/Loss outcome prediction. When the Bayesian model bets against the SBOBet bookmaker, one of the most popular gaming companies among Asian handicaps fans, whose odds data were obtained from both the Win/Draw/Loss market and over–under market, it may obtain positive returns; this clearly contrasts with the process model with constant strengths, which fails to win money from the bookmaker. Full article

Bat research networks and viral surveillance are assumed to be at odds due to seemingly conflicting research priorities. Yet human threats that contribute to declines in bat populations globally also lead to increased transmission and spread of bat-associated viruses, which may pose a threat to global health and food security. In this review, we discuss the importance of and opportunities for multidisciplinary collaborations between bat research networks and infectious disease experts to tackle shared threats that jeopardize bat conservation as well as human and animal health. Moreover, we assess research effort on bats and bat-associated viruses globally, and demonstrate that Western Asia has limited published research and represents a gap for coordinated bat research. The lack of bat research in Western Asia severely limits our capacity to identify and mitigate region-specific threats to bat populations and detect interactions between bats and incidental hosts that promote virus spillover. We detail a regional initiative to establish the first bat research network in Western Asia (i.e., the Western Asia Bat Research Network, WAB-Net), with the aim of integrating ecological research on bats with virus surveillance to find “win-win” solutions that promote bat conservation and safeguard public and animal health across the region. Full article

A quantum game is described making use of coins embodied as entangled Fermions in a potential energy well. It is shown that the odds are affected by the Pauli Exclusion Principle. They depend on the elevation in the energy well where the coins are selected, ranging from being a certainty of winning at the bottom of the well to being near classical at the top. These odds differ markedly from those in a classical game in which they are independent of elevation. The thermodynamics counterpart of the quantum game is discussed. It is shown that the temperature of a Maxwellian gas column in a potential energy gradient is independent of elevation. However, the temperature of a Fermion gas is shown to drop with elevation. The game and the gas column utilize the same components. When Fermions are used, a shifting of odds is produced in the game and a shifting of kinetic energy is produced in the thermodynamic experiment, leading to a spontaneous temperature gradient. Full article