scholarly journals A Machine Learning Approach to Analyze Home Advantage during COVID-19 Pandemic Period with Regards to Margin of Victory and to Different Tournaments in Professional Rugby Union Competitions

Author(s):  
Alexandru Nicolae Ungureanu ◽  
Corrado Lupo ◽  
Paolo Riccardo Brustio

Home advantage (HA) is the tendency for sporting teams to perform better at their home ground than away from home, it is also influenced by the crowd support, and its existence has been well established in a wide range of team sports including rugby union. Among all the HA determinants, the positive contribute of the crowd support on the game outcome can be analyzed in the unique pandemic situation of COVID-19. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the HA of professional high-level rugby club competition from a complex dynamical system perspective before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. HA was analyzed in northern and southern hemisphere rugby tournaments with (2013–2019) and without (2020/21) crowd support by the means of the exhaustive chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID) decision trees (DT). HA was mitigated by the crowd absence especially in closed games, although differences between tournaments emerged. Both for northern and southern hemisphere, the effect of playing without the crowd support had a negative impact on the home team advantage. These findings evidenced that in ghost games, where differences in the final score were less than a converted try (7 points), HA has disappeared.

2020 ◽  
Vol Vol. 36 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 71-77
Author(s):  
Katarina Haviernikova ◽  
Janka Betakova

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developed countries represent an important part of their economic environment. They belong to accelerators of economic development in regions and countries. One of the specifications of SMEs is that they allow people to learn to use their own entrepreneurial skills. Thus, the success of SMEs depends on the skills of the person who is responsible for business management in the enterprise. Without skilled and competent managers no activity will be performed effectively. The development and changes in the economic environment, in which SMEs operate, cause the various reversals connected with uncertainty and the resulting risks. A competent person (owner/manager) in SME will need to anticipate these risks and develop appropriate mitigation and strategies for them. The owner/manager of SME should consider the fact, that there could be deviations in the realization process against the planned goal. This deviation presents the risk and the representative of SME should know, how it is possible to manage this risk. It means to reduce its negative impact. The lack of knowledge is a fundamental problem in the failure of most initiatives in the SMEs and the lack of experience can become a major risk to business survival. The goal of owners/managers in SMEs should be to reduce the possible errors and risks in that way that the SME gets into a situation in which it can anticipate changes, and it is able to respond to them and exploit them to their advantage. Each SME is unique and the risk may occur differently in comparison with other SMEs. Risk management and mitigation of risk are important to ensure the security of the company and its continuous development. The risk management in SMEs is perceived as a means of the improvement of SMEs’ success in their activities, due to the fact, that in most cases the unpredictable situations represent a serious loss-making exposure for the SMEs business sector which leads to the loss. For those SMEs whose capital base is insufficient, they can have catastrophic consequences in the case of realized activities, and they can lead to financial losses and subsequently to possible bankruptcy. For this reason, risk management is a prerequisite for minimization of the negative effects of unexpected situations. Still, a lot of SMEs rarely carry out process-related activities risk management. It is affected by limited resources (financial, human), which SMEs have, and which process risk management. There is a wide range of studies focused on risk management in SMEs, but only several of them are focused currently on the responsibility for risk management. This paper contributes to the dissemination of knowledge about the responsibility for risk management in SMEs and provides wider analysis in ways of responsibility for it. To reach the main of the paper, questionnaire surveys among 1018 Slovak SMEs were conducted. We compared the responsibility for risk management in SMEs between two groups of SMEs – technological and tourism from the point of view of sized category, and regional of SMEs. For the evaluation of differences and dependencies among three groups of respondents’ answers, according to their size category, economic branch in which they operate, and regional location, the Chi-square test was used. The associations among respondents’ answers were evaluated through Cramer’s V. The results showed the differences in responsibility for risk management among Slovak SMEs. The results of this study may provide implications for subsequent research focused on responsibility for risk management in the wider context.


1991 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry S. Courneya ◽  
Albert V. Carron

The present study investigated the effects of season game number, series game number, length of home stand, length of visitor's road trip, home travel, and visitor travel on the home advantage in minor league Double A baseball (N= 1812 games). Initial analysis indicated that the home team won 55.1% of the games (p<.001). Forced-entry multiple regression analyses determined that the combined main and interaction effects of the predictor variables explained less than 1.2% of the variance in win/loss outcome (p>.49). Chi-square analyses revealed that the variable of length of visitor's road trip produced the greatest change in the magnitude of home advantage. When the length of visitor's road trip was cross-tabulated with the length of home stand, me change in home advantage was statistically significant for the home team's later series (p<.05). The implications of these results for the various home advantage explanations are discussed, and future directions for home advantage research are offered.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles S. Areni

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether home advantage (HA), wherein a team is more likely to win, and by a larger margin, when they are playing at home vs away, exists in representative rugby competitions involving teams comprised of “all-star” players from several clubs. It also assesses whether referees are biased in favour of the home team, and whether this is the cause of HA. Design/methodology/approach – A complete consensus of matches from the State of Origin Rugby League and Tri Nations Rugby Union competitions were analysed via hierarchical regression models estimating parameters for favourite/underdog status of teams, general home/away status, team-specific home/away status, and rivalry-specific home/away status. Findings – Significant HA exists in both competitions, and within Tri Nations, the size of the effect varies by team and specific opponent (i.e. rivalry effects). Although there is evidence of referee bias in favour of the home team, the penalty differential between the home and away teams does not mediate HA. Originality/value – This is the first study examining HA in representative rugby league, and shows a statistically significant effect. Further, the results reported here refute an earlier investigation of the Tri Nations competition, which found little or no evidence of HA. By including a complete census of all matches rather than a small sample, this research finds a statistically significant HA effect, which varies by team and by specific rivalry.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Strauss ◽  
Kathrin Staufenbiel ◽  
Edda van Meurs ◽  
Clare MacMahon

Social influence has been summarised as the change in one’s beliefs, behaviour, or attitudes due to external pressure that may be real or imagined (Cialdini, 2001). In this chapter, we focus on the question of how (sports-relevant) behaviour and athletic performances are influenced by others, especially active and passive (sports) spectators. You have probably already experienced giving a presentation in front of a group of people. Were you influenced by the presence of your audience? Was your performance better, worse, or unaffected compared to the rehearsal session, when you practised alone? Is your performance influenced differently when the audience listens attentively as opposed to when they are noisily not paying attention? How does this presence of others impact performances and behaviours in the context of sports? In sports, social influence has already been investigated extensively (cf. Epting, Riggs, Knowles, &amp; Hanky, 2011; cf. Strauss, 2002b). A particular interest within social influence research is the home advantage in team sports (Allen &amp; Jones, 2014; Carron, Loughhead, &amp; Bray, 2005). Research in this field is concerned with understanding whether the performance of the home team is better due to more of their fans being in the stadium.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrien Sedeaud ◽  
Quentin De Larochelambert ◽  
Julien Schipman ◽  
Jean-Francois Toussaint

Objective: To measure the impact of restrictions due to COVID on the proportion of matches won at home, away and draw in professional soccer and rugby union.Materials and Methods: Two samples of professional soccer and rugby union matches were collected from 2012–13 to 2020–21 seasons. For soccer, data involved first and second division matches of the England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Scotland, Greece, Portugal, and Turkey championships. For rugby union, championships concerned are Premiership Rugby, Celtic League, Top 14, and Pro D2. The proportions of home, away wins and draw were calculated and compared. A chi-square test of independence between years and types of result was realized to identify an overall inhomogeneity.Results: The proportion of away matches won between the 2012–13 and 2020–21 seasons increased significantly from 28.5 ± 1.2% to 32.5 ± 1.5% in soccer and from 38.0 ± 3.6% to 42.8 ± 5.0% in rugby union. In Premiership Rugby championship, the victory percentage at home dropped from 55.8 ± 3.1% when tifosi were present to 45.8 ± 12.8% when they were not.Conclusion: The home advantage was drastically reduced in empty stadiums for several European soccer and rugby union professional championships. It vanished in the Premiership Rugby and Celtic League during the 2020–21 season.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 (1) ◽  
pp. 357-367
Author(s):  
Isti Samrotul Hidayati ◽  
I Made Arcana

Metode Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) merupakan metode segmentasi berdasarkan hubungan variabel respon dan penjelas menggunakan uji chi-square, yang dalam penerapannya perlu memperhatikan keseimbangan data untuk meminimalkan kesalahan dalam klasifikasi. Salah satu pendekatan yang dapat digunakan pada data yang tidak seimbang adalah metode Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE). Dalam penelitian ini, metode CHAID dengan pendekatan SMOTE diterapkan pada Angka Kematian Balita (AKBa) di Kawasan Timur Indonesia (KTI). Tujuannya adalah untuk mengetahui variabel-variabel yang mencirikan kematian balita berdasarkan metode analisis CHAID yang diterapkan dan membandingkannya dengan pendekatan SMOTE. Hasil perbandingan menunjukkan bahwa pendekatan SMOTE lebih baik digunakan dengan nilai sensitivitas sebesar 48,3% dan nilai presisi sebesar 75,9%. Variabel yang signifikan mencirikan kematian balita di KTI adalah berat badan saat lahir, jenis kelahiran, status bekerja ibu dan kekayaan rumah tangga, dengan karakteristik utama adalah balita yang memiliki berat badan lahir rendah dan terlahir kembar.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 89-89
Author(s):  
Brigit Lozinski ◽  
Brent Frederick ◽  
Adrienne Hilbrands ◽  
Yuzhi Li ◽  
Milena Saqui-Salces ◽  
...  

Abstract Newly-weaned pigs (n = 450; age = 20 d) were used in a 40-d experiment to determine the effects of water quality on pig performance and health. Pigs were sourced from a single commercial sow farm that was negative for both Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus and Mycoplasma Pneumonia. Pigs were allotted randomly to 45 pens (10 pigs/pen) and pens were assigned to 1 of 3 water treatments that provided water of differing quality. Waters were selected to represent a wide range of perceived water quality. Water quality was determined based on concentration of analytes including sulfates (1,120; 617; 2 ppm), iron (5.4; 5.2; 1.3 ppm), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS; 1,500; 1,050; 348 ppm), hardness (1,410; 909; 235 mg Eq CaCO3/L), magnesium (171; 91; 21 ppm) and sodium (64; 37; 29 ppm) for waters A, B, and C, respectively. Pigs were housed in an environmentally controlled, power ventilated, confinement nursery barn and were allowed ad libitum access to a common three-phase diet and water across all water treatments. Weekly ADG, ADFI, and G:F were measured and subjective scour score (1=solid feces to 4=liquid feces) was recorded daily through day 7. Data for pig growth performance were analyzed using PROC GLIMMIX with water quality as a fixed effect and pen served as the experimental unit. There were no differences among treatments in ADG, ADFI, and G:F (Table 1). Number of pigs treated with antibiotics throughout the experiment did not differ among treatments as determined by Chi-Square analysis. Average subjective scour score on day 7 of the experiment also did not differ among treatments. In conclusion, performance and health of nursery pigs as measured in this experiment were not influenced by the differing water qualities studied.


2021 ◽  
Vol 186 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 142-152
Author(s):  
Justin M Curley ◽  
Katie L Nugent ◽  
Kristina M Clarke-Walper ◽  
Elizabeth A Penix ◽  
James B Macdonald ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Introduction Recent reports have demonstrated behavioral health (BH) system and individual provider challenges to BH readiness success. These pose a risk to winning on the battlefield and present a significant safety issue for the Army. One of the most promising areas for achieving better BH readiness results lies in improving readiness decision-making support for BH providers. The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) has taken the lead in addressing this challenge by developing and empirically testing such tools. The results of the Behavioral Health Readiness Evaluation and Decision-Making Instrument (B-REDI) field study are herein described. Methods The B-REDI study received WRAIR Institutional Review Board approval, and BH providers across five U.S. Army Forces Command installations completed surveys from September 2018 to March 2019. The B-REDI tools/training were disseminated to 307 providers through random clinic assignments. Of these, 250 (81%) providers consented to participate and 149 (60%) completed both initial and 3-month follow-up surveys. Survey items included a wide range of satisfaction, utilization, and proficiency-level outcome measures. Analyses included examinations of descriptive statistics, McNemar’s tests pre-/post-B-REDI exposure, Z-tests with subgroup populations, and chi-square tests with demographic comparisons. Results The B-REDI resulted in broad, statistically significant improvements across the measured range of provider proficiency-level outcomes. Net gains in each domain ranged from 16.5% to 22.9% for knowledge/awareness (P = .000), from 11.1% to 15.8% for personal confidence (P = .001-.000), and from 6.2% to 15.1% for decision-making/documentation (P = .035-.002) 3 months following B-REDI initiation, and only one (knowledge) failed to maintain a statistically significant improvement in all of its subcategories. The B-REDI also received high favorability ratings (79%-97% positive) across a wide array of end-user satisfaction measures. Conclusions The B-REDI directly addresses several critical Army BH readiness challenges by providing tangible decision-making support solutions for BH providers. Providers reported high degrees of end-user B-REDI satisfaction and significant improvements in all measured provider proficiency-level domains. By effectively addressing the readiness decision-making challenges Army BH providers encounter, B-REDI provides the Army BH health care system with a successful blueprint to set the conditions necessary for providers to make more accurate and timely readiness determinations. This may ultimately reduce safety and mission failure risks enterprise-wide, and policymakers should consider formalizing and integrating the B-REDI model into current Army BH practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Verónica Gamón ◽  
Isabel Hurtado ◽  
José Salazar-Fraile ◽  
Gabriel Sanfélix-Gimeno

AbstractSchizophrenia is a chronic mental condition presenting a wide range of symptoms. Although it has a low prevalence compared to other mental conditions, it has a negative impact on social and occupational functions. This study aimed to assess the appropriateness of antipsychotic medications administered to schizophrenic patients and describe current treatment patterns for schizophrenia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted in all patients over the age of 15 with an active diagnosis of schizophrenia and treated with antipsychotics between 2008 and 2013 in the Valencia region. A total of 19,718 patients were eligible for inclusion. The main outcome assessed was inappropriateness of the pharmacotherapeutic management, including polypharmacy use. Altogether, 30.4% of patients received antipsychotic polypharmacy, and 6.8% were prescribed three or more antipsychotics. Overdosage affected 318 individuals (1.6%), and 21.5% used concomitant psychotropics without an associated psychiatric diagnosis. Women and people with a comorbid condition like anxiety or depression were less likely to receive antipsychotic polypharmacy. In contrast, increased polypharmacy was associated with concomitant treatment with other psychoactive drugs, and only in user on maintenance therapy, with more visits to the mental health hospital. Overall, we observed a high level of inappropriateness in antipsychotic prescriptions. Greater adherence to guidelines could maximize the benefits of antipsychotic medications while minimizing risk of adverse effects.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document