The legitimization and professionalization of esports: an analysis of the 2015 and 2019 Dota 2 Internationals

Abstract. Esports is a phenomenon that has risen to prominence relatively recently, and a phenomenon with some inherent instability to it, with games played as esports rising and falling in prominence quickly. Despite this instability — or perhaps because of it — most of these games seek professionalization and legitimacy, with a few managing to become stable esports events and games, League of Legends, Counter-Strike:Global Offensive and Dota 2 all being examples of successful esports games that are mostly stable. The latter’s annual championship tournament the International held each Autumn since 2011 — with the exception of 2020 where COVID-19 forced mass events to postpone or cancel globally — is an example of a stable esports event, and one that has a predictable pattern of growth from year to year, and has been consistently one of the largest esports events in the world each year it has been held, breaking the record for highest prize pool every year. In this thesis the ways through which the International as a livestreamed event interacts with professionalization and legitimization is examined through looking into two of the Internationals, the fifth from 2015, and the ninth one from 2019 to see how an esports event evolves as it goes through these processes.Tiivistelmä. E-urheilusta on tullut merkittävä ilmiö suhteellisen vähän aikaa sitten, mitä ei ole auttanut ilmiön epävakaus. Yksittäiset pelit ja tapahtumat voivat kaatua todella nopeasti, mutta siitä huolimatta — tai sen takia — nämä pyrkivät käyttämään monenlaisia keinoja sekä ammattimaistuakseen että legitimoidakseen itsensä. On joitakin pelejä ja tapahtumia, jotka ovat tässä myös onnistuneet, League of Legends, Counter-Strike:Global Offensive ja Dota 2 ovat esimerkkejä peleistä joiden asema e-urheilun maailmassa on melko vakaa. Jälkimmäisimmän International-tapahtuma on esimerkki suuresta vuotuisesta tapahtumasta, joka on pysynyt vakaana vuodesta toiseen ensimmäisestä vuonna 2011 pidetystä Internationalista lähtien, lukuun ottamatta vuotta 2020 jolloin Internationalia ei järjestetty koronaviruksen takia. Tapahtuman kasvu vuodesta toiseen on nykyään ennalta-arvattava, mukaan lukien se, että jokainen International on rikkonut e-urheilun suurimpien palkintojen ennätyksen joka vuotena jona se on pidetty. Tämän tutkielman tavoite on tutkia miten ammattimaistuminen ja legitimisoituminen näkyvät vuoden 2015 ja 2019 Internationaleissa, ja miten e-urheilu tapahtuma kehittyy läpikäydessään näitä prosesseja

Factors behind Leisure-Time Physical Activity Behavior Based on Finnish Twin Studies : The Role of Genetic and Environmental Influences and the Role of Motives

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Estimating Operability of Ships in Ridged Ice Fields

A method for estimating ship's resistance caused by sea ice ridge keels is revised and used as a part of a method for predicting performance of ships in ridged ice conditions. The resistance method is based on a continuum plasticity model of ridge rubble and is simple to compute. The performance prediction method combines deterministic simulations of ship motion with probabilistic modelling of ridged ice fields. Performance estimates given by the model are distribution of attainable mean speeds for given ice conditions and probability of the ship being able to operate independently. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis was performed to gain insight into the model and identify possible problematic parameters. The sensitivity analysis covered both the ice conditions and modelling assumptions. Two data-sets were used to test the simulation method. One set included the depth profile of sea ice, machinery data and the speed of a ship operating in ridged ice. The resistance method was able to predict the meanspeed over 3km well. The second data-set consisted of a history of ship's speeds and positions from AIS data and ice conditions estimated by a numerical ice model HELMI, developed in the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Observed mean speeds were mostly well within the distributions of mean speeds simulated by the transit simulation model. Predictions of independent operation were also promising.Peer reviewe

Supporting Worth Mapping with Sentence Completion

Expectations for design and evaluation approaches are set by the development practices within which they are used. Worth Centred Development (WCD) seeks to both shape and fit such practices. We report a study that combined two WCD approaches. Sentence completion gathered credible quantitative data on user values, which were used to identify relevant values and aversions of two player groups for an online gambling site. These values provided human value elements for a complementary WCD approach of worth mapping. Initial worth maps were extended in three workshops, which focused on outcomes and user experiences that could be better addressed in the current product and associated marketing materials. We describe how worth maps were prepared for, and presented in, workshops, and how product owners and associated business roles evaluated the combination of WCD approaches. Based on our experiences, we offer practical advice on this combinination

Mortality and health-related habits in 900 Finnish former elite athletes and their brothers

Background There is conflicting evidence on the associations between participation in vigorous sports, health habits, familial factors and subsequent mortality. We investigated all-cause mortality and health-related behaviour among former elite athletes and their brothers. Methods The mortality of Finnish male former elite athletes, who had represented Finland between 1920 and 1965 (n=900) and their age-matched brothers (n=900), was followed from the time when athlete started an elite athlete career until 31 December 2015. The age-adjusted HRs were calculated by a paired Cox proportional hazards model. In 2001, surviving participants (n=199 athletes and n=199 age-matched brothers) reported their self-rated health (SRH), physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking habits in the questionnaire. Results During the total follow-up period, 1296 deaths (72% of the cohort) occurred. The age-adjusted HRs for all-cause mortality in former athletes was 0.75 (95% CI 0.65 to 0.87, P Conclusions Former elite athletes are more physically active, smoke less, have better self-rated health and live longer than their brothers. Genetic differences between athletes and brothers, aerobic training for endurance elite sports and a healthier lifestyle may all contribute to reduced mortality.Peer reviewe

Involving users in OPAC interface design: Perspective from a UK study

This is the post-print versoin of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2007 SpringerThe purpose of this study was to determine user suggestions for a typical OPAC (Online Public Library Catalogue) application’s functionality and features. An experiment was undertaken to find out the type of interactions features that users prefer to have in an OPAC. The study revealed that regardless of users’ Information Technology (IT) backgrounds, their functionality expectations of OPACs are the same. However, based on users’ previous experiences with OPACs, their requirements with respect to specific features may change. Users should be involved early in the OPAC development cycle process in order to ensure usable and functional interface

Polygenic Score for Physical Activity Is Associated with Multiple Common Diseases

Introduction Genetic pleiotropy, in which the same genes affect two or more traits, may partially explain the frequently observed associations between high physical activity (PA) and later reduced morbidity or mortality. This study investigated associations between PA polygenic risk scores (PRS) and cardiometabolic diseases among the Finnish population. Methods PRS for device-measured overall PA were adapted to a FinnGen study cohort of 218,792 individuals with genomewide genotyping and extensive digital longitudinal health register data. Associations between PA PRS and body mass index, diseases, and mortality were analyzed with linear and logistic regression models. Results A high PA PRS predicted a lower body mass index (beta = -0.025 kg center dot m(-2) per one SD change in PA PRS, SE = 0.013, P = 1.87 x 10(-80)). The PA PRS also predicted a lower risk for diseases that typically develop later in life or not at all among highly active individuals. A lower disease risk was systematically observed for cardiovascular diseases (odds ratio [OR] per 1 SD change in PA PRS = 0.95, P = 9.5 x 10(-19)) and, for example, hypertension [OR = 0.93, P = 2.7 x 10(-44)), type 2 diabetes (OR = 0.91, P = 4.1 x 10(-42)), and coronary heart disease (OR = 0.95, P = 1.2 x 10(-9)). Participants with high PA PRS had also lower mortality risk (OR = 0.97, P = 0.0003). Conclusions Genetically less active persons are at a higher risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases, which may partly explain the previously observed associations between low PA and higher disease and mortality risk. The same inherited physical fitness and metabolism-related mechanisms may be associated both with PA levels and with cardiometabolic disease risk.Peer reviewe

Somatosensory Brain Function and Gray Matter Regional Volumes Differ According to Exercise History : Evidence from Monozygotic Twins

Associations between long-term physical activity and cortical function and brain structure are poorly known. Our aim was to assess whether brain functional and/or structural modulation associated with long-term physical activity is detectable using a discordant monozygotic male twin pair design. Nine monozygotic male twin pairs were carefully selected for an intrapair difference in their leisure-time physical activity of at least three years duration (mean age 34 +/- 1 years). We registered somatosensory mismatch response (SMMR) in EEG to electrical stimulation of fingers and whole brain MR images. We obtained exercise history and measured physical fitness and body composition. Equivalent electrical dipole sources of SMMR as well as gray matter (GM) voxel counts in regions of interest indicated by source analysis were evaluated. SMMR dipolar source strengths differed between active and inactive twins within twin pairs in postcentral gyrus, medial frontal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus and in anterior cingulate (AC) GM voxel counts differed similarly. Compared to active twins, their inactive twin brothers showed greater dipole strengths in short periods of the deviant-elicited SMMR and larger AC GM voxel counts. Stronger activation in early unattended cortical processing of the deviant sensory signals in inactive co-twins may imply less effective gating of somatosensory information in inactive twins compared to their active brothers. Present findings indicate that already in 30's long-term physical activity pattern is linked with specific brain indices, both in functional and structural domains.Peer reviewe

(+)-Dehydroabietic Acid, an Abietane-Type Diterpene, Inhibits Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms in Vitro

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