THE INFLUENCE OF THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT ON THE DEFINITION OF PERFORMANCE: THE EXAMPLE OF THE SPORT BETTING AND LOTTERY SECTORS

This thesis examines the interplay between state regulation and the way organisations define performance. Performance is generally understood to be a multidimensional concept, but the extent to which its different facets are shaped by regulation remains an understudied question. This thesis aims to address this question and provide at least a partial answer to it. To do so, it examines whether the level of regulation amplifies or abates the multidimensionality of regulated entities' performance definition, i.e. the way they define the concept of performance. The leading question is whether an organisation's performance definition can be associated with the regulatory intensity its environment confronts it with. Moreover, the study explores whether the type of ownership-public or private-plays a role in regard to how a regulated entity defines performance. In order to undertake this investigation, the thesis focuses on the performance definitions of organisations in six different sport betting and lottery regulations. Qualitative data is gathered from primary and secondary documents as well as through semi-structured interviews with chief executive officers (CEO), members of executive management and gambling experts in each of these countries. The thesis concludes that the performance definitions of the organisations under study are indeed multidimensional, as well as clearly influenced by their respective regulatory environments. However, not all performance dimensions identified in the literature are present, nor can they all be estimated to be part of the performance definition. In addition, the public-private difference in defining performance-as conceptualised in the literature- seems to be abated in a regulated environment. The central role played by regulation in regard to the multidimensionality of the performance definition partially outweighs the effect of the nature of ownership.

On the use of mobile inflatable hypoxic marquees for sport-specific altitude training in team sports.

BACKGROUND/AIM: With the evolving boundaries of sports science and greater understanding of the driving factors in the human performance physiology, one of the limiting factors has now become the technology. The growing scientific interest on the practical application of hypoxic training for intermittent activities such as team and racket sports legitimises the development of innovative technologies serving athletes in a sport-specific setting. METHODS: Description of a new mobile inflatable simulated hypoxic equipment. RESULTS: The system comprises two inflatable units-that is, a tunnel and a rectangular design, each with a 215 m(3) volume and a hypoxic trailer generating over 3000 Lpm of hypoxic air with FiO₂ between 0.21 and 0.10 (a simulated altitude up to 5100 m). The inflatable units offer a 45 m running lane (width=1.8 m and height=2.5 m) as well as a 8 m × 10 m dome tent. FiO₂ is stable within a range of 0.1% in normal conditions inside the tunnel. The air supplied is very dry-typically 10-15% relative humidity. CONCLUSIONS: This mobile inflatable simulated hypoxic equipment is a promising technological advance within sport sciences. It offers an opportunity for team-sport players to train under hypoxic conditions, both for repeating sprints (tunnel configuration) or small-side games (rectangular configuration).

Review: Contact sport-related chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the elderly: clinical expression and structural substrates.

A. Costanza, K. Weber, S. Gandy, C. Bouras, P. R. Hof, P. Giannakopoulos and A. Canuto (2011) Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology37, 570-584 Contact sport-related chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the elderly: clinical expression and structural substrates Professional boxers and other contact sport athletes are exposed to repetitive brain trauma that may affect motor functions, cognitive performance, emotional regulation and social awareness. The term of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was recently introduced to regroup a wide spectrum of symptoms such as cerebellar, pyramidal and extrapyramidal syndromes, impairments in orientation, memory, language, attention, information processing and frontal executive functions, as well as personality changes and behavioural and psychiatric symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging usually reveals hippocampal and vermis atrophy, a cavum septum pellucidum, signs of diffuse axonal injury, pituitary gland atrophy, dilated perivascular spaces and periventricular white matter disease. Given the partial overlapping of the clinical expression, epidemiology and pathogenesis of CTE and Alzheimer's disease (AD), as well as the close association between traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and neurofibrillary tangle formation, a mixed pathology promoted by pathogenetic cascades resulting in either CTE or AD has been postulated. Molecular studies suggested that TBIs increase the neurotoxicity of the TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) that is a key pathological marker of ubiquitin-positive forms of frontotemporal dementia (FTLD-TDP) associated or not with motor neurone disease/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Similar patterns of immunoreactivity for TDP-43 in CTE, FTLD-TDP and ALS as well as epidemiological correlations support the presence of common pathogenetic mechanisms. The present review provides a critical update of the evolution of the concept of CTE with reference to its neuropathological definition together with an in-depth discussion of the differential diagnosis between this entity, AD and frontotemporal dementia.

Sport and alcohol: An emergency department study in Switzerland.

The aim of the present study was to empirically determine whether: (a) sport injuries were associated with alcohol consumption before the injury (acute intake) and with usual consumption patterns (chronic high intake and heavy intake on single occasions); (b) the risk of sport injuries related to alcohol consumption differs from that of other injuries; and (c) there are differences between the sexes and between types of sport. Data from 8694 patients attending the emergency department of Lausanne University Hospital between 1 January 2003 and 30 June 2004 were analysed. Of those patients, 4861 came to the hospital because of an injury and 885 patients were identified as having a sport injury (18.2%). Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios of injury relating to alcohol consumption. With increasingly acute intake, the risk of sport and other injuries increased (sports injury and alcohol use in the 6 h before injury compared with no use: odds ratio=4.29, 7.46, and 14.75 for low, medium, and high alcohol use among women, and 2.81, 3.39, and 1.64 for low, medium, and high alcohol use among men). Alcohol consumption was associated with an increasingly higher risk of sport injuries compared with other injuries among women (consumption 6 h before injury: odds ratio=1.12, 1.23, and 1.56 for low, medium, and high alcohol use), but not men (odds ratio=1.17, 0.83, and 0.23 for low, medium, and high alcohol use). Regarding usual consumption patterns, those men and women injured while exercising were more often at-risk drinkers (men: 44%; women: 25%) compared with those injured during other activities (men: 37%; women: 13%). The results indicate that both men and women, but particularly women, should not practise sports after alcohol ingestion. The study raises questions as to whether sport should be generally promoted as an alternative to alcohol consumption in prevention programmes. Whereas some sports seem to be protective (e.g. endurance and fitness sport) for risky alcohol use, the majority are not. It is important to note, however, that we do not dismiss the beneficial effects of practising for an individual's health. The other positive aspect of practising, namely interacting socially with others, may come at the price of an increased alcohol use, particularly in a wet culture like Switzerland where any social contact is often accompanied by alcohol consumption.

The determinants of sport participation in Switzerland

This paper aims at investigating the socio-cultural factors that affect leisure-time sport participation in Switzerland. Data drawn from 8 waves of the Swiss Household Panel is used to evaluate a probit model with random effects, that takes into account the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the respondents. In line with existing literature, findings from the multivariate analysis show inequalities in sport involvement in Switzerland. These are significantly related to age, income, education, citizenship and cultural aspects. Appropriate and targeted policies promoting participation in sports among the community can be found on the basis of the critical modifiers in the model and their impact.

Tendinopatía rotuliana. Modelo de actuación terapéutico en el deporte. Patellar tendinopathy. Therapetic model in the sport

El dolor tendinoso, conocido como tendinopatía, es muy común en individuos físicamente activos, ya sea a nivel competitivo como recreacional. Sin embargo, se ha demostrado que individuos físicamente inactivos también lo sufren. Por lo tanto, se puede afirmar que la actividad física no se puede asociar directamente a la histopatología, y que el ejercicio físico puede ser más importante en la provocación de los síntomas que en ser el causante de la lesión1 and 2. La sobreutilización induce esta condición, pero la etiología y la patogenia no están científicamente clarificadas...

Challenges and threats to implementing the fight against doping in sport

Prominent doping cases in certain sports have recently raised public awareness of doping and reinforced the perception that doping is widespread. Efforts to deal with doping in sport have intensified in recent years, yet the general public believes that the 'cheaters' are ahead of the testers. Therefore, there is an urgent need to change the antidoping strategy. For example, the increase in the number of individual drug tests conducted between 2005 and 2012 was approximately 90 000 and equivalent to an increase of about 50%, yet the number of adverse analytical findings remained broadly the same. There is also a strikingly different prevalence of doping substances and methods in sports such as a 0.03% prevalence of anabolic steroids in football compared to 0.4% in the overall WADA statistics. Future efforts in the fight against doping should therefore be more heavily based on preventative strategies such as education and on the analysis of data and forensic intelligence and also on the experiences of relevant stakeholders such as the national antidoping organisations, the laboratories, athletes or team physicians and related biomedical support staff. This strategy is essential to instigate the change needed to more effectively fight doping in sport.

Equidad y eficiencia en la Estrategia de Lisboa: un reto estructural en los sistemas de educación básica en Europa

La estrategia de Lisboa de 2000 planteaba la necesidad de alcanzar, en una década, objetivos educativos de equidad y eficacia en los respectivos sistemas nacionales, medidos en términos de resultados académicos y profesionales. Más allá de la coyuntura de crecimiento económico en el que se plantearon aquellos objetivos, en los últimos años hemos asistido a procesos de convergencia, también en el ámbito universitario, que paradójicamente no han afectado a la estructura propia de los sistemas de educación básica, que salvo en los países nórdicos continúan reflejando cierta estratificación social. Precisamente, el modelo integrado de educación básica, ampliamente instalado en esos países, parece situarse como alternativa pedagógica para equilibrar objetivos de inclusión social y éxito académico. En este artículo se desarrollan estas dos ideas y se aboga por una política comunitaria más incisiva en este terreno.

[Sportives portant le maillot de Fémina Sport] : [photographie de presse] / [Agence Rol]

Référence bibliographique : Rol, 59028