The Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games : what does it mean for the local property market?

In 2006 Melbourne will host the 18th Commonwealth Games with Brisbane being the last Australian city to host this event over two decades ago in 1982. Melbourne has not held a major global sporting event since the 1956 Olympic Games, although the 2006 Commonwealth Games follows on from the successful 2000 Sydney Olympics. These sporting events have continued to grow from strength to strength, and have been assisted by Australia's close affiliation with sport and the widespread global media coverage. In a similar manner to other sporting events that Melbourne hosts, including the Australian Tennis Open, Formula One Grand Prix, Motorcycle Grand Prix, Melbourne Cup and Australian Football League, the city and its inhabitants are consumed by these events. The 2006 Commonwealth Games is certain to follow this trend.
The task of hosting the Commonwealth Games is enormous, although actively pursued in a fierce bidding process by competing cities. The benefits are undisputed and include an influx of visitors to the host city, an opportunity to enhance or rebuild infrastructure such as transport, plus the worldwide focus on the host city before and during the event. A high level of planning is undertaken for years well in advance of the event, and this may have an effect on the surrounding property market. Through the media both buyers and sellers are constantly reminded of the upcoming Games, the venues and the increased demand that will occur. Accordingly, this research investigates the task of hosting a major global sporting event such as the Commonwealth Games, and importantly how affects infrastructure in a host city. Attention is placed on the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the Melbourne property market. Whilst every host city differs in characteristics such as size, location and timing of the event, the findings of this study will assist a future host city to plan for the highly irregular circumstances that accompany a high profile one-off major sporting event.

Reactive ball milling to produce nanocrystalline ZnO

Ball milling of zinc powders in oxygen atmosphere leads to nanocrystalline ZnO. The average grain size has a value of 9 nm. The zinc oxidation proceeds gradually. It is compared with the combustion oxidation reactions of metals (Zr, Ti, Fe and Sn) reported previously. We propose a new parameter ΔH/C_p(metal) instead of simplified adiabatic temperature to judge if the mechanochemical oxidation of a particular metal happens via gradual or combustion reaction.

Economic impact of 2003 South Pacific Games on Fiji

Analyzes the economic impact of the 2003 South Pacific Games (SPG) hosted by the Fiji Islands. Sources of income that can be generated from the SPG events; Overview of the economic impact studies; Theoretical structure of the Fiji computable general equilibrium model.

The impact of violent video-games on cognition, affect and personality

This research investigated the impact of playing violent videogames. Aggressive or anxious responses were most likely: when the player perceived the violence in the games to be extreme, when the player experienced a heightened sense of becoming 'absorbed' into the game, and during a relatively brief exposure to the game. The portfolio explores the use of manualised interventions in psychology research and practice. Four illustrative case studies regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of adapting manualised interventions for clients with chronic health conditions are presented.

All the animals are gone? The politics of contemporary hunter arcade games.

Recent proliferation and popularity of personal computer and console games has meant that scholarship around video arcade games has been largely ignored. Arcade games had their halcyon days during the 1970s and 1980s when 'Space Invaders', 'Pong' and 'Donkey Kong' were household names. The inception of scholarship into games occurred in the 1990s; a time when arcade games were writ small in the cultural imagination, at least compared to the newer home computer and video games. Thus in games theory they are typically discussed only in terms of their role as antecedents to their more popular kin. Moreover, they seem innocuous because they are so publicly accessible. Against this assumption, and lack of scholarship, this paper explores a selection of contemporary arcade games which we describe as 'hunting' games. Arcade hunting games are first-person shooter (FPS) involving one or more players shooting simulated wild animals. They are commonly situated in cinema foyers, hotels, and family entertainment centres. However, despite a presumption of institutional moderation afforded by the public accessibility of these spaces, this paper argues that this genre works through a range of political modalities that require more scholarly consideration than currently given.

Strategy games for gifted students

Numero is a card game popular with people of all ages. It is engaging, challenging and a whole lot of fun. The mental strategies underlying Numero make it a wonderful game for the classroom. Come along to this hands-on workshop to learn the basics of Numero and tips on how to increase the challenge for your secondary students. Play it once and you'll be hooked.

Gifted are lifted higher : an exploration of the development of higher order thinking skills of gifted students playing strategy games

Strategy games can provide an opportunity to develop higher order thinking skills in students gifted in mathematics. Extending and engaging gifted students is a demanding task. This paper reports on a twelve-week project undertaken with a group of nine gifted lower secondary school students. These students played and analysed five traditional strategy games. Following this experience, they were asked to create a challenging strategy game of their own. This paper discusses the rationale for the use of traditional strategy games, outlines the methodology employed, explains the selection of specific games and describes the observed improvement in students' higher order thinking skills.

A grounded theory for teaching entrepreneurship using simulation games

A practical teaching difficulty provided the opportunity to turn a problem into a useful case study with generic implications for the pedagogical effectiveness of simulation games in teaching entrepreneurship. Students playing the simulation game submitted written assessments that became the units of analysis for a single-case research project. Analysis produced a grounded theory consisting of four attribute categories and associated properties required of a simulation game to make it an effective teaching device in entrepreneurship contexts. The theory provides at the very least a useful checklist for teachers of entrepreneurship and, potentially, a basis for developing a quality standard for educational simulation games.

Crash landing at INSEAD : initiating a grounded theory of the pedagogical effectiveness of simulation games for teaching aspects of entrepreneurship

A practical teaching difficulty arising in a conducive environment provided opportunity to turn the particular problem into a case study with generic implications. Little research has been conducted on the use or effectiveness of simulation games for teaching entrepreneurship. In the context of established literature critiquing the effectiveness of simulation games as teaching devices in managerial contexts and at a point where problems in using a simulation game as part of entrepreneurship course became evident, the authors designed and executed a single-case research project to generate initial theoretical propositions about the pedagogical effectiveness of simulation games for teaching various concepts and aspects of entrepreneurship. The case analysed the perceived learning environment created when the Sky-High simulation was played by 41 MBA students taking an elective entrepreneurship course at INSEAD. The research design embodied the established methodological principles specified by Yin (1989), for effective case research. Theory building was based upon the grounded-theorizing procedures articulated by Glaser and Strauss (1967). Analysis and synthesis produced a grounded theory, in the form of a normative argument, containing four attribute categories and associated properties required of a simulation game to make it an efficacious teaching device in entrepreneurship contexts. The establishment of this grounded theory has made it both desirable and feasible to contemplate creation of an ISO quality standard for educational simulation games.

Energy expenditure in adolescents playing new generation computer games

Objective: To compare the energy expenditure of adolescents when playing sedentary and new generation active computer games.

Design: Cross sectional comparison of four computer games. Setting Research laboratories.

Participants: Six boys and five girls aged 13–15 years.

Procedure: Participants were fitted with a monitoring device validated to predict energy expenditure. They played four computer games for 15 minutes each. One of the games was sedentary (XBOX 360) and the other three were active (Wii Sports).

Main outcome measure: Predicted energy expenditure, compared using repeated measures analysis of variance.

Results: Mean (standard deviation) predicted energy expenditure when playing Wii Sports bowling (190.6 (22.2) kl/kg/min), tennis (202.5 (31.5) kl/kg/min), and boxing (198.1 (33.9) kl/kg/min) was significantly greater than when playing sedentary games (125.5 (13.7) kl/kg/min) (P<0.001). Predicted energy expenditure was at least 65.1 (95% confidence interval 47.3 to 82.9) kl/kg/min greater when playing active rather than sedentary games.

Conclusions: Playing new generation active computer games uses significantly more energy than playing sedentary computer games but not as much energy as playing the sport itself. The energy used when playing active Wii Sports games was not of high enough intensity to contribute towards the recommended daily amount of exercise in children.

Comparison of energy expenditure in adolescents when playing new generation and sedentary computer games: cross sectional study

Objective : To compare the energy expenditure of adolescents when playing sedentary and new generation active computer games.

Design : Cross sectional comparison of four computer games.

Setting : Research laboratories.

Participants : Six boys and five girls aged 13-15 years.

Procedure : Participants were fitted with a monitoring device validated to predict energy expenditure. They played four computer games for 15 minutes each. One of the games was sedentary (XBOX 360) and the other three were active (Wii Sports).

Main outcome measure : Predicted energy expenditure, compared using repeated measures analysis of variance.

Results : Mean (standard deviation) predicted energy expenditure when playing Wii Sports bowling (190.6 (22.2) kJ/kg/min), tennis (202.5 (31.5) kJ/kg/min), and boxing (198.1 (33.9) kJ/kg/min) was significantly greater than when playing sedentary games (125.5 (13.7) kJ/kg/min) (P<0.001). Predicted energy expenditure was at least 65.1 (95% confidence interval 47.3 to 82.9) kJ/kg/min greater when playing active rather than sedentary games.

Conclusions : Playing new generation active computer games uses significantly more energy than playing sedentary computer games but not as much energy as playing the sport itself. The energy used when playing active Wii Sports games was not of high enough intensity to contribute towards the recommended daily amount of exercise in children.