scholarly journals The Effect of Mandatory Play Breaks on Subsequent Gambling Behavior Among Norwegian Online Sports Betting, Slots and Bingo Players: A Large-scale Real World Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Hopfgartner ◽  
Michael Auer ◽  
Tiago Santos ◽  
Denis Helic ◽  
Mark D. Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Responsible Gambling ◽  
Gambling Behavior ◽  
Sports Betting ◽  
Forced Termination ◽  
Personalized Feedback ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Gambling Expenditure ◽  
Gambling Operators

AbstractIn order to protect gamblers, gambling operators have introduced a wide range of responsible gambling (RG) tools. Mandatory play breaks (i.e., forced termination of a gambling session) and personalized feedback about the gambling expenditure are two RG tools that are frequently used. While the motivation behind mandatory play breaks is simple (i.e., gambling operators expect gamblers to reduce their gambling significantly as a result of an enforced break in play), empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of the mandatory breaks is still limited. The present study comprised a real-world experiment with the clientele of Norwegian gambling operator Norsk Tipping. On the Norsk Tipping gambling website, which offers slots, bingo and sports-betting, forced termination occurs if gamblers have played continuously for a one-hour period. The study tested the effect of different lengths of mandatory play breaks (90 s, 5 min, 15 min) on subsequent gambling behavior, as well as the effect of combined personalized feedback concerning money wagered, won, and net win/loss. In total 21,129 online players (61% male; mean age = 47.4 years) experienced at least one play break between April 17 and May 21 (2020) with 156,989 mandatory play breaks in total. Results indicated that a 15-min mandatory play break led to a disproportionately longer voluntary play pause compared to 5-min and 90-s mandatory play breaks. Personalized feedback appeared to have no additional effect on subsequent gambling and none of the mandatory play breaks appeared to affect the increase or decrease in money wagered once players started to gamble again.

scholarly journals Testing a gambling warning label’s effect on behavior

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Warren Stirling Newall ◽  
Lukasz Walasek ◽  
Henrik Singmann ◽  
Elliot Andrew Ludvig
Keyword(s):  
Responsible Gambling ◽  
Gambling Behavior ◽  
Sports Betting ◽  
Online Gambling ◽  
Warning Label ◽  
Premier League ◽  
Independent Test ◽  
Gambling Operators ◽  
Soccer Fans ◽  
Online Sports Betting

Responsible gambling campaigns are one measure enacted by a number of statutory bodies and gambling operators in response to concerns about gambling marketing and the accessibility of modern gambling products. For example, since 2015 a number of the UK‘s largest gambling operators have attached the following warning label to TV and shop window adverts: "when the FUN stops, stop" (where the word "fun" is printed in noticeably larger font than any other word). Here we present an initial independent test of this warning label‘s effect on contemporaneous gambling behavior. A short incentivized survey was conducted to mimic the scenario of online gambling advertising, with warning label presence manipulated between-participants. Participants were given a sequence of nine £0.10 bonuses, and on each trial were presented with the possibility to gamble this bonus on a soccer bet, with bet details and payoffs taken from a major gambling operator‘s website. There were 506 unique participants who had all previously indicated that they were Premier League soccer fans and had experience in online sports betting. Overall, participants decided to bet on 41.3% of trials when a warning label was shown, compared to 37.8% when no warning label shown (i.e., descriptively the label increases the probability of gambling). According to the preregistered analysis plan, this difference was not significant, (χ^2 (1)=2.10, p=.15) The "when the FUN stops, stop" gambling warning label did not achieve its aim of prompting more responsible gambling behavior in the experiment.

scholarly journals An information theoretic approach to link prediction in multiplex networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyed Hossein Jafari ◽  
Amir Mahdi Abdolhosseini-Qomi ◽  
Masoud Asadpour ◽  
Maseud Rahgozar ◽  
Naser Yazdani
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Link Prediction ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Similarity Measures ◽  
Prediction Method ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Fast Method ◽  
Theoretic Approach ◽  
Multiplex Networks ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractThe entities of real-world networks are connected via different types of connections (i.e., layers). The task of link prediction in multiplex networks is about finding missing connections based on both intra-layer and inter-layer correlations. Our observations confirm that in a wide range of real-world multiplex networks, from social to biological and technological, a positive correlation exists between connection probability in one layer and similarity in other layers. Accordingly, a similarity-based automatic general-purpose multiplex link prediction method—SimBins—is devised that quantifies the amount of connection uncertainty based on observed inter-layer correlations in a multiplex network. Moreover, SimBins enhances the prediction quality in the target layer by incorporating the effect of link overlap across layers. Applying SimBins to various datasets from diverse domains, our findings indicate that SimBins outperforms the compared methods (both baseline and state-of-the-art methods) in most instances when predicting links. Furthermore, it is discussed that SimBins imposes minor computational overhead to the base similarity measures making it a potentially fast method, suitable for large-scale multiplex networks.

scholarly journals The Effects of Responsible Gambling Pop-Up Messages on Gambling Behaviors and Cognitions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Bjørseth ◽  
Josefine Oudmayer Simensen ◽  
Aina Bjørnethun ◽  
Mark D. Griffiths ◽  
Eilin K. Erevik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Responsible Gambling ◽  
Gambling Behavior ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Gambling Cognitions ◽  
Study Heterogeneity ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Gambling Operators ◽  
The Cochrane Library

Pop-up messages utilized by gambling operators are normally presented to gamblers during gambling sessions in order to prevent excessive gambling and/or to help in the appraisal of maladaptive gambling cognitions. However, the effect of such messages on gambling behavior and gambling cognitions has not previously been synthesized quantitatively. Consequently, a meta-analysis estimating the efficacy of pop-up messages on gambling behavior and cognitions was conducted. A systematic literature search with no time constraints was performed on Web of Science, PsychInfo, Medline, PsychNET, and the Cochrane Library. Search terms included “gambling,” “pop-up,” “reminder,” “warning message,” and “dynamic message.” Studies based on randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental designs and pre-post studies reporting both pre- and post-pop-up data were included. Two authors independently extracted data using pre-defined fields including quality assessment. A total of 18 studies were included and data were synthesized using a random effects model estimating Hedges' g. The effects of pop-ups were g = 0.413 for cognitive measures (95% CI = 0.115–0.707) and g = 0.505 for behavioral measures (95% CI = 0.256–0.746). For both outcomes there was significant between-study heterogeneity which could not be explained by setting (laboratory vs. naturalistic) or sample (gambler vs. non-gamblers). It is concluded that pop-up messages provide moderate effects on gambling behavior and cognitions in the short-term and that such messages play an important role in the gambling operators' portfolio of responsible gambling tools.

scholarly journals HyP-ABC: A Novel Automated Hyper-Parameter Tuning Algorithm Using Evolutionary Optimization

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Zahedi ◽  
Farid Ghareh Mohammadi ◽  
M. Hadi Amini
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Convergence Rates ◽  
Parameter Tuning ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Machine Learning Techniques ◽  
Gradient Boosting ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Extreme Gradient Boosting

<p>Machine learning techniques lend themselves as promising decision-making and analytic tools in a wide range of applications. Different ML algorithms have various hyper-parameters. In order to tailor an ML model towards a specific application working at its best, its hyper-parameters should be tuned. Tuning the hyper-parameters directly affects the performance. However, for large-scale search spaces, efficiently exploring the ample number of combinations of hyper-parameters is computationally expensive. Many of the automated hyper-parameter tuning techniques suffer from low convergence rates and high experimental time complexities. In this paper, we propose HyP-ABC, an automatic innovative hybrid hyper-parameter optimization algorithm using the modified artificial bee colony approach, to measure the classification accuracy of three ML algorithms: random forest, extreme gradient boosting, and support vector machine. In order to ensure the robustness of the proposed method, the algorithm takes a wide range of feasible hyper-parameter values and is tested using a real-world educational dataset. Experimental results show that HyP-ABC is competitive with state-of-the-art techniques. Also, it has fewer hyper-parameters to be tuned than other population-based algorithms, making it worthwhile for real-world HPO problems.</p>

scholarly journals Impact of Warning Pop-Up Messages on the Gambling Behavior, Craving, and Cognitions of Online Gamblers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Caillon ◽  
Marie Grall-Bronnec ◽  
Anaïs Saillard ◽  
Juliette Leboucher ◽  
Morgane Péré ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Distortions ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Responsible Gambling ◽  
Gambling Behavior ◽  
Sports Betting ◽  
Experimental Session ◽  
Limited Impact ◽  
Warning Messages ◽  
The Impact

Background: Many features of Internet gambling may impact problem severity, particularly for vulnerable populations (availability, anonymity, a convenience and ease of play, digital forms of payment, and a higher level of immersion). To prevent the risks associated with excessive gambling and to inform gamblers, we need responsible gambling strategies. Gambling-related warning messages are one possible strategy that can help minimizing gambling-related harm.Methods: Our experimental study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of self-appraisal and informative pop-up messages compared to a control condition (blank pop-up messages), for both at-risk (ARG) and low risk/non-problem Internet gamblers (LR/NPG) according to their favorite type of game, in a semi naturalistic setting and with a 15-day follow-up. During the experimental session, participants were invited to gamble on their favorite website with their own money in the laboratory. Effectiveness was investigated through the impact of pop-ups on gambling behavior (money wagered and time spent), craving, cognitive distortions, and gambling experience, taking into account message recall. We analyzed data from 58 participants, playing preferentially either to skill and chance bank games (sports betting, horse race betting) and skill and chance social games (poker).Results: We observed a significant decrease in the illusion of control for ARG in the informative pop-up condition at the 15-day follow-up. A significant effect of self-appraisal pop-ups compared to blank pop-up messages was also demonstrated only for sport and horse bettors, with a decrease on time spent gambling and an increase of gambling-related expectancies at the follow-up. Finally, we also observed that a majority of the participants were disturbed and irritated by pop-ups during their gambling session.Conclusions: The results of our study demonstrated the limited impact of pop-up warning messages on gambling behavior and cognition in Internet gamblers according to the type of game and the status of gamblers. The limited impact of warning messages on gambling behavior and the inconvenience of the pop-ups for Internet gamblers lead us to only consider warning messages as one piece of a larger responsible gambling strategy.Trial Registration Number: NCT01789580 on February 12, 2013.

scholarly journals Use cases for COVID-19 screening and surveillance with rapid antigen-detecting tests: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Apoorva Anand ◽  
Jacob Bigio ◽  
Emily MacLean ◽  
Talya Underwood ◽  
Nitika Pant Pai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Real World ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Risk Of Bias ◽  
Use Cases ◽  
Global Alliance ◽  
Prevalence Survey ◽  
Screening And Surveillance ◽  
Wide Range

Introduction: Testing is critical to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) that can be used at the point of care have the potential to increase access to COVID 19 testing, particularly in settings with limited laboratory capacity. This systematic review synthesized literature on specific use cases and performance of Ag RDTs for detecting SARS-CoV-2, for the first comprehensive assessment of Ag RDT use in real-world settings. Methods: We searched three databases (PubMed, EMBASE and medRxiv) up to 12 April 2021 for publications on Ag-RDT use for large-scale screening, irrespective of symptoms, and surveillance of COVID-19, excluding studies of only presumptive COVID-19 patients. We tabulated data on the study setting, populations, type of test, diagnostic performance and operational findings. We assessed risk of bias using QUADAS-2 and an adapted tool for prevalence studies. Results: From 4313 citations, 39 studies conducted in asymptomatic and symptomatic adults were included. Study sample sizes varied from 40 to >5 million. Of 39 studies, 37 (94.9%) investigated lateral flow Ag-RDTs and two (5.1%) investigated multiplex sandwich chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay Ag-RDTs. Six categories of testing (screening/surveillance) initiatives were identified: mass screening (n=13), targeted screening (n=11), healthcare entry testing (n=6), at-home testing (n=4), surveillance (n=4) and prevalence survey (n=1). Across studies, Ag-RDT sensitivity varied from 40% to 100%. Ag-RDTs were noted as convenient, easy-to-use and low cost, with a rapid turnaround time and high user acceptability. Risk of bias was generally low or unclear across the studies. Conclusion: This systematic review demonstrates the use of Ag-RDTs across a wide range of real-world settings for screening and surveillance of COVID-19 in both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Ag-RDTs were overall found to be easy-to-use, low cost and rapid tools, when consideration is given to their implementation and interpretation. The review was funded by FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics.

scholarly journals Responsible Gambling Strategies for Internet Gambling: An Empirical Investigation into the Italian Gambling Market

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Calvosa
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Responsible Gambling ◽  
Internet Gambling ◽  
Sports Betting ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
On Line ◽  
Gambling Operators ◽  
Gambling Market ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this study is to analyse, in the Italian sports betting sector, the impact of Internet gambling on the level of consumption of gambling products and the responsible gambling strategies adopted by the on line gambling operators. From the methodological viewpoint the research work has been organised into two phases. In the first phase, an empirical investigation has been carried out on a sample of Italian consumers directed towards measuring the impact that the use of the Internet has on the volume of bets made on sports events. In the second phase, an analytical work has been performed on the on line gambling websites of the main operators of the Italian sports betting market, directed towards examining the measures adopted for promoting responsible gambling. The results of the empirical research indicate, on the one hand, that in the Italian market, as has happened in other national gambling markets, the legalization of on line sports betting may determine an increase in the level of consumption of gambling products and, thus, in the potential risks of excessive gambling; and, on the other hand, that the normative approach adopted in the Italian gambling market, based on a ‘concession model’ which provides for a strong public control of the gambling operators, has favoured a widespread adoption by the on line betting companies of an articulated series of measures aimed towards harm minimisation in Internet gambling. Thus, the findings of this study contribute towards the economic-managerial literature on the theme of firms’ social responsibility by providing important insights for gambling firms and public policy makers regarding the responsible gambling strategies for Internet gambling adoptable in the markets, such as the Italian one, in which on line gambling is fully regulated.

scholarly journals Large-Scale Simultaneous Inference with Hypothesis Testing: Multiple Testing Procedures in Practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 653-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Emmert-Streib ◽  
Matthias Dehmer
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Multiple Testing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Hypothesis Test ◽  
Statistical Hypothesis ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Testing Procedures ◽  
Multiple Testing Procedures ◽  
Wide Range

A statistical hypothesis test is one of the most eminent methods in statistics. Its pivotal role comes from the wide range of practical problems it can be applied to and the sparsity of data requirements. Being an unsupervised method makes it very flexible in adapting to real-world situations. The availability of high-dimensional data makes it necessary to apply such statistical hypothesis tests simultaneously to the test statistics of the underlying covariates. However, if applied without correction this leads to an inevitable increase in Type 1 errors. To counteract this effect, multiple testing procedures have been introduced to control various types of errors, most notably the Type 1 error. In this paper, we review modern multiple testing procedures for controlling either the family-wise error (FWER) or the false-discovery rate (FDR). We emphasize their principal approach allowing categorization of them as (1) single-step vs. stepwise approaches, (2) adaptive vs. non-adaptive approaches, and (3) marginal vs. joint multiple testing procedures. We place a particular focus on procedures that can deal with data with a (strong) correlation structure because real-world data are rarely uncorrelated. Furthermore, we also provide background information making the often technically intricate methods accessible for interdisciplinary data scientists.

Electron microscopy study of reactively sputter-deposited Ti/N films on silicon

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 1362-1363
Author(s):  
V. C. Kannan ◽  
A. K. Singh ◽  
R. B. Irwin ◽  
S. Chittipeddi ◽  
F. D. Nkansah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Circuits ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Hexagonal Phase ◽  
Microscopy Study ◽  
Electron Microscopy Study ◽  
Process Conditions ◽  
Tin Films ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Fcc Phase ◽  
Circuits Vlsi

Titanium nitride (TiN) films have historically been used as diffusion barrier between silicon and aluminum, as an adhesion layer for tungsten deposition and as an interconnect material etc. Recently, the role of TiN films as contact barriers in very large scale silicon integrated circuits (VLSI) has been extensively studied. TiN films have resistivities on the order of 20μ Ω-cm which is much lower than that of titanium (nearly 66μ Ω-cm). Deposited TiN films show resistivities which vary from 20 to 100μ Ω-cm depending upon the type of deposition and process conditions. TiNx is known to have a NaCl type crystal structure for a wide range of compositions. Change in color from metallic luster to gold reflects the stabilization of the TiNx (FCC) phase over the close packed Ti(N) hexagonal phase. It was found that TiN (1:1) ideal composition with the FCC (NaCl-type) structure gives the best electrical property.

Responsible gambling:The need for collaborative government, industry, community and consumer involvement

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 307-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Blaszczynski
Keyword(s):  
Responsible Gambling ◽  
Consumer Involvement ◽  
Harm Minimization ◽  
Harm Minimisation ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
The Social ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Gambling Expenditure ◽  
Innovative Products ◽  
Industry Community

Abstract. Background: Tensions exist with various stakeholders facing competing interests in providing legal land-based and online regulated gambling products. Threats to revenue/taxation occur in response to harm minimisation and responsible gambling policies. Setting aside the concept of total prohibition, the objectives of responsible gambling are to encourage and/or restrict an individual’s gambling expenditure in terms of money and time to personally affordable limits. Stakeholder responsibilities: Governments craft the gambling environment through legislation, monitor compliance with regulatory requirements, and receive taxation revenue as a proportion of expenditure. Industry operators on the other hand, compete across market sectors through marketing and advertising, and through the development of commercially innovative products, reaping substantial financial rewards. Concurrently, governments are driven to respond to community pressures to minimize the range of negative gambling-related social, personal and economic harms and costs. Industry operators are exposed to the same pressures but additionally overlaid with the self-interest of avoiding the imposition of more stringent restrictive policies. Cooperation of stakeholders: The resulting tension between taxation revenue and profit making, harm minimization, and social impacts creates a climate of conflict between all involved parties. Data-driven policies become compromised by unsubstantiated claims of, and counter claims against, the nature and extent of gambling-related harms, effectiveness of policy strategies, with allegations of bias and influence associated with researchers supported by industry and government research funding sources. Conclusion: To effectively advance policies, it is argued that it is imperative that all parties collaborate in a cooperative manner to achieve the objectives of responsible gambling and harm minimization. This extends to and includes more transparent funding for researchers from both government and industry. Continued reliance on data collected from analogue populations or volunteers participating in simulated gambling tasks will not provide data capable of valid and reliable extrapolation to real gamblers in real venues risking their own funds. Failure to adhere to principles of corporate responsibility and consumer protection by both governments and industry will challenge the social licence to offer gambling products. Appropriate and transparent safeguards learnt from the tobacco and alcohol field, it is argued, can guide the conduct of gambling research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document