Factors Influencing Student-athlete Choice of Institution

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influenced prospective student-athletes to attend East Tennessee State University. Using a qualitative research design, interviews were conducted with 36 freshman scholarship student-athletes. Participants represented student-athletes from each sport. A literature review covered the history of intercollegiate athletics, the history of recruiting student-athletes, the process of recruiting student-athletes, and the decline of public perception towards intercollegiate athletics. Results from the interviews were analyzed using inductive analysis. Patterns, themes, and categories of analysis emerged from the data. The data from the interviews were then unitized and categorized. The categorized units were used to formulate grounded theory. The computer software package QSR NUD.IST 4.0 was used for analyzing the data. Results showed that the ETSU campus personnel were the most influential to prospective student-athletes in deciding to attend East Tennessee State University. The coaching staff at ETSU was mentioned by 27 (75%) of the interviewees. Other ETSU campus personnel were mentioned by 18 (50%) of the interviewees. Finally, current team members were mentioned by 16 (44%) of the interviewees. Facilities located at ETSU were also influential to prospective student-athletes. The dormitories were mentioned by 16 (44%) interviewees. The recently renovated athletics weight room was mentioned by 12 (33%) interviewees. Finally, the Memorial Center was mentioned by 10 (28%) of the interviewees as being influential in the decision-making process. Lastly, 15 (42%) of the interviewees mentioned their academic interests were best served by attending East Tennessee State University. The Quillen College of Medicine was a big factor to several interviewees. The reputation of the College of Business was important to a couple of prospective student-athletes. Also, many interviewees mentioned that the size of the university was influential to them academically. There were eight recommendations that emerged from the study. The first is that the ETSU coaching staff should continue to be heavily involved in the recruiting process. Secondly, the coaching staff should recognize that prospective student-athletes find the people at ETSU very helpful and friendly. Prospects should meet as many people on campus as possible. The third involves the information sent to prospects in the form of letters. A series of letters should be developed to highlight the strengths of ETSU, to include: the academic strengths of ETSU, the dormitories, the coaching staff, the athletic facilities, the newly constructed library, the Trip-Cities area, the Southern Conference, the recent success of the individual athletic programs, and the strength of schedule. The fourth is scheduling official visits during times the current team members are on campus. The fifth includes scheduling tours of the athletics facilities, to include a visit to the weight room. The sixth is athletic programs that have experienced recent success should highlight this success as much as possible to prospective student-athletes. The seventh is for the coaching staffs to determine the academic interests of the prospects early in the recruiting process. The last recommendation is that all female prospects tour Luntsford Apartments during the official visits

Freshwater flux to Sermilik Fjord, SE Greenland

Terrestrial inputs of freshwater flux to Sermilik Fjord, SE Greenland, were estimated, indicating ice discharge to be the dominant source of freshwater. A freshwater flux of 40.4 ± 4.9×10<sup>9</sup> m<sup>3</sup> y<sup>−1</sup> was found (1999–2008), with an 85% contribution originated from ice discharge (65% alone from Helheim Glacier), 11% from terrestrial surface runoff (from melt water and rain), 3% from precipitation at the fjord surface area, and 1% from subglacial geothermal and frictional melting due to basal ice motion. The results demonstrate the dominance of ice discharge as a primary mechanism for delivering freshwater to Sermilik Fjord. Time series of ice discharge for Helheim Glacier, Midgård Glacier, and Fenris Glacier were calculated from satellite-derived average surface velocity, glacier width, and estimated ice thickness, and fluctuations in terrestrial surface freshwater runoff were simulated based on observed meteorological data. These simulations were compared and bias corrected against independent glacier catchment runoff observations. Modeled runoff to Sermilik Fjord was variable, ranging from 2.9 ± 0.4×10<sup>9</sup> m<sup>3</sup> y<sup>−1</sup> in 1999 to 5.9 ± 0.9×10<sup>9</sup> m<sup>3</sup> y<sup>−1</sup> in 2005. The sub-catchment runoff of the Helheim Glacier region accounted for 25% of the total runoff to Sermilik Fjord. The runoff distribution from the different sub-catchments suggested a strong influence from the spatial variation in glacier coverage, indicating high runoff volumes, where glacier cover was present at low elevations

Extracting actionable knowledge to increase business utility in sport services

The increase in retention of customer in gyms and health clubs is nowadays a challenge that requires concrete and personalized actions. Traditional data mining studies focused essentially on predictive analytics, neglecting the business domain. This work presents an actionable knowledge discovery system which uses the following pipeline (data collection, predictive model, loyalty actions). In the first step, it extracts and transforms existing real data from databases of the sports facilities. In a second step, predictive models are applied to identify user profiles more susceptible to dropout. Actionable rules are generated based on actionable attributes that should be avoided, in order to increase retention. Finally, in the third step, based on the previous actionable knowledge, experimental planning is carried out, with test and control groups, in order to find the best loyalty actions for customer retention. This document presents a simulation and the measure of the business utility of an actions sequence to avoid dropout.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An actionable knowledge discovery system in regular sports services

This work presents an actionable knowledge discovery system for real user needs with three steps. In the first step, it extracts and transforms existing data in the databases of the ERP and CRM systems of the sports facilities and loads them into a Data Warehouse. In a second phase, predictive models are applied to identify profiles more susceptible to abandonment. Finally, in the third phase, based on the previous models, experimental planning is carried out, with test and control groups, in order to find concrete actions for customer retention.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A tipping point in refreezing accelerates mass loss of Greenland’s glaciers and ice caps

Melting of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) and its peripheral glaciers and ice caps (GICs) contributes about 43% to contemporary sea level rise. While patterns of GrIS mass loss are well studied, the spatial and temporal evolution of GICs mass loss and the acting processes have remained unclear. Here we use a novel, 1 km surface mass balance product, evaluated against in situ and remote sensing data, to identify 1997 (±5 years) as a tipping point for GICs mass balance. That year marks the onset of a rapid deterioration in the capacity of the GICs firn to refreeze meltwater. Consequently, GICs runoff increases 65% faster than meltwater production, tripling the post-1997 mass loss to 36±16 Gt−1, or ∼14% of the Greenland total. In sharp contrast, the extensive inland firn of the GrIS retains most of its refreezing capacity for now, buffering 22% of the increased meltwater production. This underlines the very different response of the GICs and GrIS to atmospheric warming

Winter mass balance of Drangajökull ice cap (NW Iceland) derived from satellite sub-meter stereo images

Sub-meter resolution, stereoscopic satellite images allow for the generation of accurate and high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) over glaciers and ice caps. Here, repeated stereo images of Drangajökull ice cap (NW Iceland) from Pléiades and WorldView2 (WV2) are combined with in situ estimates of snow density and densification of firn and fresh snow to provide the first estimates of the glacier-wide geodetic winter mass balance obtained from satellite imagery. Statistics in snow- and ice-free areas reveal similar vertical relative accuracy (<  0.5 m) with and without ground control points (GCPs), demonstrating the capability for measuring seasonal snow accumulation. The calculated winter (14 October 2014 to 22 May 2015) mass balance of Drangajökull was 3.33 ± 0.23 m w.e. (meter water equivalent), with ∼ 60 % of the accumulation occurring by February, which is in good agreement with nearby ground observations. On average, the repeated DEMs yield 22 % less elevation change than the length of eight winter snow cores due to (1) the time difference between in situ and satellite observations, (2) firn densification and (3) elevation changes due to ice dynamics. The contributions of these three factors were of similar magnitude. This study demonstrates that seasonal geodetic mass balance can, in many areas, be estimated from sub-meter resolution satellite stereo images.This study was funded by the University of Iceland (UI) Research Fund. Pleiades images were acquired at research price thanks to the CNES ISIS program (http://www.isis-cnes.fr). The WV2 DEM was obtained through the ArcticDEM project. This work is a contribution to the Rannis grant of excellence project, ANATILS. Collaboration and travels between IES and LEGOS were funded by the Jules Verne research fund and the TOSCA program from the French Space Agency, CNES. This study used the recent lidar mapping of the glaciers in Iceland that was funded by the Icelandic Research Fund, the Landsvirkjun research fund, the Icelandic Road Administration, the Reykjavik Energy Environmental and Energy Research Fund, the Klima-og Luftgruppen (KoL) research fund of the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Vatnajokull National Park, the organization Friends of Vatnajokull, the National Land Survey of Iceland, the Icelandic Meteorological Office and the UI research fund. The ground-based mass balance measurements on Drangajokull have been jointly funded by Orkubu Vestfjarda (Westfjord Power Company), the National Energy Authority (2004-2009) and the Icelandic Meteorological Office (2009-2015).Peer Reviewe