The Impact of Motivational Factors on Daily Fantasy Sports Participation

Since the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (UIGEA) in 2006, the fantasy sports world has had a tumultuous decade. Shortly after the passing of UIGEA, daily fantasy sports became marketable, and saw several years of tremendous growth. However, recent legal issues have clouded the industry, and lawmakers have questioned whether daily fantasy sports indeed fall under the exception granted by UIGEA as a “game of skill”, or whether the games are illegal gambling. This study is meant to look at what motivates fantasy sports participants, especially through this time of turmoil in the industry. It specifically looks at how players’ competitive, knowledge-seeking, or social tendencies affect their participation habits. Additionally, this thesis explores the effect that marketing messaging that portrays a daily fantasy sports website as a perfect place to satisfy these individual traits has on player participation. Finally, this study investigates the role that a sense of fairness plays in shaping players’ perceptions of these websites. To study these things, we began by looking at previous studies that focus on competition, knowledge, and social factors, both in the fantasy sports field and elsewhere, and creating a literature review. Following the literature review, an experiment was created, which tested these three scales as well as the perception of fairness, using a fictitious fantasy sports site, Fantasyland. The results obtained from this experiment indicate that those with competitive or social dispositions are the most likely to try fantasy sports. Additionally, it was found that those who are socially motivated are more likely to recommend a fantasy sports site to friends or strangers. Lastly, the perception of fairness did not have a direct effect of participants, although in one case, it did positively impact an individual’s willingness to try a daily sports website. These results and their implications as well as future research directions are outlined in the concluding discussion section

The Global Health Security Agenda in an Age of Biosecurity

Historically, the Oval Office has been a leader in global health assistance. From the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) under the Bush Administration, to the Global Health Initiative launched by President Obama in 2009. However, unlike PEPFAR and PMI, the Global Health Initiative met an untimely end with the launch of a bold new global health measure by the Obama Administration: the Global Health Security Agenda (GHS Agenda). The GHS Agenda aims to “accelerate progress toward a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats” through a US-led diplomatic collaboration with 30 countries, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and public/private entities. The intertwining of global health and security follows a line of international agreements, including the revised International Health Regulations (2005), aimed at improving surveillance and response to public health emergencies of international concern. By mid-2012 however, only 22% of WHO member states had implemented the required core competencies. The GHS Agenda aims to address these global deficiencies in infectious disease preparedness. In doing so, the United States faces formidable obstacles including America’s lack of legal legitimacy in setting global norms, as well as the same domestic coordination difficulties that resulted in the dissolution of the Global Health Initiative, and the potential impediment of passing the President’s budget through a hostile Congress. While the securitization of global health has its criticisms, it also has the potential to be transformative, succeeding where international organizations have not always been able to, building a safer and healthier world

Virus Sharing, Genetic Sequencing, and Global Health Security

The WHO’s Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework was a milestone global agreement designed to promote the international sharing of biological samples to develop vaccines, while that ensuring poorer countries would have access to those vaccines. Since the PIP Framework was negotiated, scientists have developed the capacity to use genetic sequencing data (GSD) to develop synthetic viruses rapidly for product development of life-saving technologies in a time-sensitive global emergency—threatening to unravel the Framework. Access to GSD may also have major implications for biosecurity, biosafety, and intellectual property (IP). By rendering the physical transfer of viruses antiquated, GSD may also undermine the effectiveness of the PIP Framework itself, with disproportionate impacts on poorer countries. We examine the changes that need to be made to the PIP Framework to address the growing likelihood that GSD might be shared instead of physical virus samples. We also propose that the international community harness this opportunity to expand the scope of the PIP Framework beyond only influenza viruses with pandemic potential. In light of non-influenza pandemic threats such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Ebola, we call for an international agreement on the sharing of the benefits of research – such as vaccines and treatments – for other infectious diseases to ensure not only a more secure and healthy world, but also a more just world, for humanity

The Ebola Epidemic: A Public Health Emergency of International Concern

On August 8, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan declared the West Africa Ebola crises a “public health emergency of international concern,” triggering powers under the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR). The most affected West African states have attempted classic public health measures with varied success, including quarantine and isolation, social distancing, risk communication, and travel restrictions. These have involved a trade off between population health and human rights; sometimes to the disadvantage of both. At the same time, the countries’ health systems and human resources are fragile, impeding an effective response. Beyond the public health and humanitarian implications, this crisis has raised controversial ethical issues concerning the withholding or providing early access to investigational therapies, the preference given to foreign aid workers, and the disproportionate impact of Ebola on domestic health care workers. The WHO director-general’s declaration of a public health emergency of international concern underscores the urgency of a coordinated international response and the imperative of raising the health systems capacity of low-income states. However, the current outbreak demonstrates how global governance has suffered from a lack of binding international commitment to sustainable capacity building and technical assistance in low-income states

"Vínculo Universidad — Empresa: En Relación con el Mundo Globalizado y de Extrema Competencia. Estudio de Caso Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann de Tacna, 2008-2010"

La presente investigación pretende analizar el Vínculo Universidad Empresa y estudiar su perspectiva en el mundo globalizado y de extrema competencia. En este sentido, el basamento teórico de la investigación se apoyó en la vinculación universidad - empresa y en el proceso de globalización y de extrema competencia. El problema de investigación: ¿Cómo es el Vínculo Universidad- Empresa: en perspectiva con en el Mundo Globalizado y de Extrema Competencia, en la Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann?, tuvo su respuesta en la siguiente hipótesis: El Vínculo Universidad, en relación con el Mundo Globalizado y de Extrema Competencia, en la Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann de Tacna, período, es bajo; para la contrastación de la hipótesis se efectuó un estudio de tipo descriptivo, abordado a través de un diseño en el cual se aplicó la recolección de datos relacionados con el tema tratado, utilizando para ello la técnica de la encuesta y como instrumento un cuestionario

Incidencia de la Calidad del Sistema de Formación Profesional en la Satisfacción de los Estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas de la Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann de Tacna, período 2009

El presente trabajo de investigación se llevó a cabo con el propósito de determinar la incidencia de la calidad del sistema de formación profesional en la satisfacción de los estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas de la UNJBG de Tacha, período 2009. Para ello se estableció la siguiente hipótesis: La calidad del Sistema de Formación Profesional incide en el Nivel de Satisfacción de los Estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas de la UNJBG de Tacna, período 2009. El tipo de investigación es básica, porque se realiza principalmente para conocer los fundamentos de los fenómenos sin atender a aplicaciones particulares. Es descriptiva correlacional, puesto que busca medir las variables y recoger información sobre la relación de la Calidad del Sistema de Formación Profesional y la Satisfacción de los Estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas de la UNJBG de Tacna. Los datos obtenidos se tabularon y analizaron mediante cuadros y gráficos. Una vez finalizada la fase de análisis e interpretación de los resultados se determinó que la Calidad del Sistema de Formación Profesional incide en el Nivel de Satisfacción de los Estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias Administrativas de la UNJBG de Tacna, período 2009; habiéndose encontrado que existen indicadores que no cumplen con la satisfacción de necesidades y requerimientos de los estudiantes y futuros profesionales de las carreras de Administración e Ingeniería Comercial

Maintaining the Identity of Dynamically Embodied Agents

Virtual agents are traditionally constrained in their embod- iment, as they are restricted to one form of body. We propose allowing them to change their embodiment in order to expand their capabili- ties. This presents users with a number of di±culties in maintaining the identity of the agents, but these can be overcome by using identity cues, certain features that remain constant across embodiment forms. This pa- per outlines an experiment that examines these identity cues, and shows that they can be used to help address this identity problem

High prevalence of scrapie in a dairy goat herd: tissue distribution of disease-associated PrP and effect of PRNP genotype and age

Following a severe outbreak of clinical scrapie in 2006–2007, a large dairy goat herd was culled and 200 animals were selected for post-mortem examinations in order to ascertain the prevalence of infection, the effect of age, breed and PRNP genotype on the susceptibility to scrapie, the tissue distribution of diseaseassociated PrP (PrP$^{\rm d}$), and the comparative efficiency of different diagnostic methods. As determined by immunohistochemical (IHC) examinations with Bar224 PrP antibody, the prevalence of preclinical infection was very high (72/200; 36.0%), with most infected animals being positive for PrP$^{\rm d}$ in lymphoreticular system (LRS) tissues (68/72; 94.4%) compared to those that were positive in brain samples (38/72; 52.8%). The retropharyngeal lymph node and the palatine tonsil showed the highest frequency of PrP$^{\rm d}$ accumulation (87.3% and 84.5%, respectively), while the recto-anal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (RAMALT) was positive in only 30 (41.7%) of the infected goats. However, the efficiency of rectal and palatine tonsil biopsies taken shortly before necropsy was similar. The probability of brain and RAMALT being positive directly correlated with the spread of PrP$^{\rm d}$ within the LRS. The prevalence of infection was influenced by PRNP genetics at codon 142 and by the age of the goats: methionine carriers older than 60 months showed a much lower prevalence of infection (12/78; 15.4%) than those younger than 60 months (20/42; 47.6%); these last showed prevalence values similar to isoleucine homozygotes of any age (40/80; 50.0%). Two of seven goats with definite signs of scrapie were negative for PrP$^{\rm d}$ in brain but positive in LRS tissues, and one goat showed biochemical and IHC features of PrP$^{\rm d}$ different from all other infected goats. The results of this study have implications for surveillance and control policies for scrapie in goats

Modelling lubricated revolute joints in multibody mechanical systems

This work deals with the modelling of lubricated revolute joints in multibody mechanical systems. In most machines and mechanisms, the joints are designed to operate with some lubricant fluid. The high pressures generated in the lubricant fluid act to keep the journal and the bearing apart. Moreover, the thin film formed by lubricant reduces friction and wear, provides load capacity and adds damping to dissipate undesirable mechanical vibrations. In the dynamic analysis of journal–bearings, the hydrodynamic forces, which include both squeeze and wedge effects, produced by the lubricant fluid oppose the journal motion. These forces are obtained by integrating the pressure distribution evaluated with the aid of Reynolds’ equation written for the dynamic regime. The hydrodynamic forces are nonlinear functions of journal centre position and velocity relative to the bearing centre. In a simple way, the hydrodynamic forces built up by the lubricant fluid are evaluated from the state of variable of the system and included into the equations of motion of the mechanical system. Results for an elementary slider–crank mechanism, in which a lubricated revolute joint connects the connecting rod and slider, are used to discuss the assumptions and procedures adopted.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT