RANDOM REWARD MECHANISM IN VIDEO GAMES, IN THE SCOPE OF EUROPEAN GAMBLING REGULATIONS AND CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW, WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON LOOT BOX MECHANISM

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (XXI) ◽  
pp. 219-229
Author(s):  
Jakub Zieliński
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Technological Progress ◽  
Online Games ◽  
Excellent Starting Point ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Reward Mechanism

This article focuses on the issue of Random Rewards Mechanisms, in particular loot box mechanism, being implemented in modern video games. Nowadays, in the era of progressive technological progress, the borders between gambling and gaming have blurred as never before. More and more countries came to the conclusion, that different features of video games are problematically similar to classically-understood gambling. The report titled „Loot boxes in online games and their effect on consumers, in particular young consumers” provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the request of the committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection has accurately defined the problem, as simultaneously concerning both gambling regulations, as well as consumer protection laws. The report constitutes excellent starting point for a further discussion about loot boxes in UE and in Poland. The article provides detailed analysis of the issue, beginning with defining the term “loot box”, followed by scrutiny of both domestic and Union regulations. Relying on the distinction of loot-boxes provided by R. K. L. Nielsen and P. Grabarczyk author have analysed the regulations in order to present different approaches to the issue and their consequences. In the final part of the article author comments on Polish regulations and triers to predict the future development of law concerning loot boxes. The paper refers to multiple reports, laws and rulings regarding discussed matter.

scholarly journals Thermal Physics and Glaucoma II: Preliminary Evidences for a Thermophysical Design of a Possible Visible-Light-Photons Therapy

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6301
Author(s):  
Giulia Grisolia ◽  
Mariarosa Astori ◽  
Antonio Ponzetto ◽  
Antonio Vercesi ◽  
Umberto Lucia
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Thermodynamic Approach ◽  
Equilibrium Thermodynamic ◽  
Pharmacological Treatments ◽  
Light Stimulation ◽  
Cell Behaviour ◽  
Thermal Physics ◽  
Starting Point

Recently, a non-equilibrium thermodynamic approach has been developed in order to model the fundamental role of the membrane electric potential in the cell behaviour. A related new viewpoint is introduced, with a design of a photobiomodulation treatment in order to restore part of the visual field. Here, a first step in experimental evidence of the validity of the thermodynamic approach is developed. This result represents the starting point for future experimental improvements for light stimulation in order to improve the quality of life of the patients. The future possible therapy will be in addition to the pharmacological treatments.

Who is a “Senior”? Looking for a definition in the healthcare system

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Consolandi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Health Care System ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Core ◽  
Starting Point

Purpose Seniors are nowadays at the core of important reflections to understand both how to ensure them a proper quality of life and better recognize their social role, providing them services and proper health care to value them as persons and resources. This paper aims to find a through definition about who is a senior, in the author’s opinion the starting point to help them flourishing. Design/methodology/approach As an example of definitions, an online dictionary and two geriatric text-books are quoted, highlighting qualities and rights referred to seniors especially in the delicate context of the health-care system. Findings The lack of a commonly shared perspective on this delicate kind of patient entails the difficulty to reach a coherent and satisfying definition about who a senior is. Originality/value The lack of a commonly shared definition leads to inevitable misunderstandings and could explain the arduousness of considering seniors in all their aspects. Further investigations are suggested.

scholarly journals Public Spaces Protection Orders: a critical policy analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 182-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicky Heap ◽  
Jill Dickinson
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Council ◽  
Protection Orders ◽  
Starting Point

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically appraise the Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) policy that was introduced by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act (2014). Within a designated area assigned by the local council, PSPOs can prohibit or require specific behaviours to improve the quality of life for people inhabiting that space. Those who do not comply face a fixed penalty notice of £100 or a fine of £1,000 on summary conviction. However, the practical and theoretical impact associated with the development of these powers has yet to be fully explored. Design/methodology/approach Using Bannister and O’Sullivan’s (2013) discussion of civility and anti-social behaviour policy as a starting point, the authors show how PSPOs could create new frontiers in exclusion, intolerance and criminalisation, as PSPOs enable the prohibition of any type of behaviour perceived to negatively affect the quality of life. Findings Local councils in England and Wales now have unlimited and unregulated powers to control public spaces. The authors suggest that this has the potential to produce localised tolerance thresholds and civility agendas that currently target and further marginalise vulnerable people, and the authors highlight street sleeping homeless people as one such group. Originality/value There has been little academic debate on this topic. This paper raises a number of original, conceptual questions that provide an analytical framework for future empirical research. The authors also use original data from Freedom of Information requests to contextualise the discussions.

scholarly journals How to evaluate Quality of Life

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Porcu ◽  
Antonella Mandas
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Heart Failure ◽  
Technological Progress ◽  
Objective Evaluation ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Clinical Parameters ◽  
Medical Terminology ◽  
High Prevalence

In medical terminology, it has become more and more common the use of the expression “Quality of Life” (QoL) to define a series of aspects that go beyond the traditional, clinical and “objective” evaluation of the medical intervention. The attention to QoL comes from the need to find tools that are able to reveal important aspects of the life of the patient that cannot be measured by a laboratory exam and/or a radiological procedure. The QoL is measured through multidimensional questionnaires on, at the very least, the domains of physical, psychological and social health. The improvement of the health care standards and the technological progress in medical matters have brought about an increase in the average age of the population, and as a consequence, an increase of the chronic and degenerative disease, which can negatively influence the patient’s quality of life. Amongst these pathologies, heart failure (HF) has a high prevalence in patients who are at least 70 years old, and it’s the cause of frequent and repeated hospitalizations. The estimate of the QoL becomes then a very important piece of the puzzle to figure out, as important as the clinical parameters, to allow the patient to become an integral part of the physician’s decisions and to reach more quickly and with better results the therapeutic objectives.

Do higher levels of uncertainty in illness reduce the perceived health related quality of life of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients?

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 543
Author(s):  
Lara Gitto ◽  
Maria Daniela Giammanco
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Uncertainty In Illness ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Impact

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) represents one of the most common causes of neurological disability and the unpredictability and severity of its manifestations determine uncertainty in illness. While MS patients’ Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) has been frequently assessed, the impact of uncertainty on HRQoL has not been adequately considered to date. The objective of the study was to reduce this gap in the literature.Design: One hundred and twenty patients with relapsing-remittingMS were interviewed in order to gather information about their assessment of HRQoL, measured with the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and their perceptions of uncertainty in illness assessed through the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale (MUIS). The relationship between HRQoL and two dimensions of uncertainty, namely “ambiguity” and “inconsistency”, have been tested with diverse Tobit and Probit specifications.Results: Inconsistency exhibited a negative and significant correlation in all the specifications of the model. Marginal effects suggested how a unit change in the total score of the inconsistency scale determined an increase of 6.2% in the probability to report a VAS score higher than 60 (median score in the sample). Ambiguity and inconsistency, jointly considered, had a marginal effect of 2.1%.Conclusions: This study contributes to the assessment of the patient’s general status over the standard parameters for quality of life. It  may represent the starting point for further analyses on the impact of separate facets of the Uncertainty in Illness on HRQoL, experienced not only by MS patients, but also by other patients suffering from chronic conditions.

scholarly journals Effects of Video-Game Based Therapy on Balance, Postural Control, Functionality, and Quality of Life of Patients with Subacute Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
María José Cano-Mañas ◽  
Susana Collado-Vázquez ◽  
Javier Rodríguez Hernández ◽  
Antonio Jesús Muñoz Villena ◽  
Roberto Cano-de-la-Cuerda
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Functional Reach ◽  
Subacute Stroke ◽  
Functional Reach Test

Purpose. To determine the effects of a structured protocol using commercial video games on balance, postural control, functionality, quality of life, and level of motivation in patients with subacute stroke. Methods. A randomized controlled trial was conducted. A control group (n = 25) received eight weeks of conventional rehabilitation consisting of five weekly sessions based on an approach for task-oriented motor training. The experimental group (n = 23) received conventional rehabilitation + video-game based therapy for eight weeks with commercial video games using the Xbox 360° video games console and the Kinect® device with the same total treatment time for both groups. The Modified Rankin Scale, Barthel Index, Tinetti scale, Functional Reach test, Get Up and Go test, Baropodometry, EuroQoL 5D (EQ-5D), satisfaction, adherence, and motivation were used as outcome measures. Results. In the between-group comparison, statistically significant differences were observed in the Modified Rankin scores (p<0.01), the Barthel Index (p=0.05), the Tinetti gait assessment (p=0.02), the Functional Reach test (p<0.01), the Get Up and Go test (p=0.05), the pain/discomfort dimension (p<0.01), and anxiety/depression dimension (p<0.01) of the EQ-5D and the VAS (visual analog scale) (p<0.01) on the perceived health status based on the EQ-5D questionnaire. Regarding the scale of motivation, self-esteem, and adherence, statistically significant differences were achieved in motivation (p<0.01), self-esteem (p<0.01), and adherence (p<0.01) variables. Conclusion. A protocol of semi-immersive video-game based therapy, combined with conventional therapy, may be effective for improving balance, functionality, quality of life, and motivation in patients with subacute stroke. This trial is registered with NCT03528395.

Timing Space and Spacing Time

1975 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 651-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
D N Parkes ◽  
N Thrift
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Similar Consideration ◽  
Accordion Effect ◽  
Urban Behaviour ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Selection Of

A plea is made for a chronosophical approach to the selection of dimensions of time which might be relevant to the description and explanation of urban processes. Following the definition of some basic terms and concepts which might be used in the future development of a notational schema, the paper considers some possibilities which are inherent in the idea of timing space. This is followed by similar consideration of the idea of spacing time. These themes are compounded in a simple example which suggests that fundamental ongoing processes in daily urban behaviour are usefully summarised by what we call the accordion effect. The final section proposes that new insights into the problem of evaluating the quality of life of urban residents are obtained when such an approach is taken.

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