Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:12:24 GMT

Private Equity Enters Gambling

The Times Online says it's bingo!

Gala Coral, a British gambling operator backed by private equity funds, has managed to get a license to operate a bingo club in Hebei Province in China.



It's the first bingo club in China. But Gala Coral hopes that the Chinese infatuation with numbers and luck will help them open one hundred or so such clubs in Hebei.

Gala Coral has to get a license from the central government in Beijing now. But company official don't think that will be a problem because of the low stakes nature of bingo gambling.

Gala Corals is involved in gambling enterprises in a number of countries and on the Internet. Posted by: Greg Cruey      Read more     Source

December 6, 2007, 8:12 PM CT

Organized high school activities lowers risk of smoking

Scientists from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania reported today that students who participate in high school sports or individual physical activity are less likely to smoke than their classmates. The new study indicates that the protective effect of participation extends at least three years beyond graduation. The Penn team discovered, however, that girls do not derive the same level of protection from school sports as do boys.

Daniel Rodriguez, PhD, Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, reported that an adolescents self-assessment and sense of physical competence was an important aspect in smoking prevention. Students who feel successful continue to participate and are less likely to start negative behaviors. I visualize this as a fork in the road, Rodriguez said. If you are successful, then you continue doing sports. If you are not successful, then you are now in need of other reinforcement and start looking for other things. In that case, things like smoking become open to you.

Given the data, Rodriguez recommends that parents make an effort to get their children involved in organized activities whether it is a physical sport, like track and field, or some other organized activity, like the chess team and that they teach them how to properly evaluate their own skills. It is important that children learn to compare their current skills or performance to their past performance and not to that of their teammates or opponents. That way they can feel good about their skills, even if they are not the best at something......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

November 7, 2007, 9:19 PM CT

Supplements even confuse athletes

As winter approaches a number of of us reach for over-the-counter vitamins and herbal remedies, such as Vitamin C and Echinacea, in a bid to ward off illnesses and improve health. But the vast array of supplements available and lack of industry regulation make it difficult for the average person to make an informed choice about taking supplements. Now a report reported in the online open access publication, Nutrition Journal suggests that even athletes, who should be well informed as to how to stay in peak physical condition, frequently take supplements without realising the potential benefits or side effects.

A research team, led by Andrea Petrczi of the School of Life Sciences at Kingston University, in South West London, UK re-analysed surveys filled in by high performance athletes, representing over thirty different sports, for the 'UK Sport 2005 Drug Free Survey'. Three-fifths of athletes questioned took nutritional supplements, but the reasons given for taking them did not generally match up to the supplements' actual effects. Not surprisingly, given this result, the team also observed that relatively few supplement users appeared to be taking supplements because of medical advice.

The results are worrisome because high doses of some supplements may damage health and contaminated products may even cause athletes to fail drug-screening tests. To help remedy this, the article recommends that education about the use of nutritional supplements should become a mandatory part of the accreditation process for all sport coaches. Indeed, prior research has shown that the more information athletes have on supplements, the less likely they are to take them......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

November 1, 2007, 8:08 PM CT

Robocar named a finalist

Team MIT has made it to the finals of the DARPA Urban Challenge, a competition for cars and trucks that run without human help. The qualification was announced Thursday, Nov. 1, by DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, who is sponsoring the competition with the goal of developing vehicles that can operate on their own in battle and keep humans out of harm's way.

The announcement means the MIT vehicle--a self-piloted Land Rover LR3 dubbed "robocar"--and its team of student and faculty developers will compete in the finals Saturday in Victorville, Calif. DARPA plans to recognize the top three finishers Sunday with awards of $2 million, $1 million, and $500,000.

"Our team is absolutely thrilled to be invited to participate in the race," said team leader John Leonard, professor of mechanical and ocean engineering at MIT. "My co-PI's Jon How, Seth Teller, David Barrett and I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our students and staff, who have done a phenomenal job in creating a highly innovative autonomous vehicle in just 18 months. We also thank our sponsors who helped us to make it this far, and our families who made tremendous sacrifices in supporting us to undertake this project. We look forward to the challenge of trying to finish the 60 mile race course on Saturday"......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

October 31, 2007, 8:03 PM CT

Motivational coaching outscores winning for young athletes

Winning isnt everything, its the only thing. former UCLA and Vanderbilt football coach Red Sanders.

I just want to play and have fun. a typical 10- to 15-year-old athlete.

New research indicates that young athletes find playing for coaches who stress personal improvement, having fun and giving maximum effort is far more important and has a bigger impact on them than a teams won-loss record.

In terms of athletes ratings of how much fun they had and how much they liked playing for their coach, our results showed that a mastery climate was about 10 times more influential than was the teams won-loss record, said Ronald Smith, a University of Washington sport psychology expert and co-author of a study reported in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.

This approach to coaching, known as a mastery motivational climate, contrasts with an ego climate, in which the main goal is winning at all costs and success is defined as being better than other players.

We also observed that a win-at-all-costs ego climate was negatively correlation to enjoyment and liking the coach, said Smith.

Co-author Frank Smoll, also a UW sport psychology expert added, A number of coaches mistakenly think that winning is the most important thing to kids. But our research provides convincing evidence that refutes this myth......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

October 19, 2007, 4:49 AM CT

Lack of athletic skill often means loneliness and peer rejection

In the Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown was never able to kick the football, fly a kite properly or lead a baseball team. He was also sad and often the target of ridicule from his peers. A new Canadian study looking at the connections between athletic skill and social acceptance among school children confirms that Chucks problems were true to life: kids place a great deal of value on athletic ability, and youngsters deemed unskilled by their peers often experience sadness, isolation and social rejection at school.

As per a research findings published in The Journal of Sport Behavior, scientists at the University of Alberta in Edmonton examined the relationships among perceived athletic competence, peer acceptance and loneliness in elementary school children. Their findings will likely confirm the experience of anyone who was picked last for the team in gym class: children seen as athletic by their classmates are also better liked and less likely to feel lonely, while unathletic children experience the opposite.

For both boys and girls, we observed that popular children reported less loneliness and received higher athletic ability ratings from their peers than rejected children, says lead researcher Janice Causgrove Dunn, from the Faculty of Physical & Recreation at the University of Alberta. On the other hand, the kids who reported higher levels of loneliness tended to receive lower athletic ability ratings and lower social acceptance ratings from their peers......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 01:58:02 GMT

8 Non-Athletes Who've Gotta Be On Steroids

From Cracked.com:

A baseball player gets caught using steroids, and suddenly Congress puts the whole government on hold to have hearings about it. But, if a rapper uses steroids, apparently we're supposed to think it's no big deal.

Well, it's a big deal to us, and we're sensing a gross double standard, here. We're going to blow the lid off a steroid scandal that stretches far and wide in the world of non-athletes, and we're not going to let our total lack of evidence slow us down. Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

October 16, 2007, 7:43 PM CT

Some Athletic Men May Risk Low Bone Density

As per the National Osteoporosis Foundation, osteoporosis affects more than 2 million men in the United States and nearly 12 million more have osteopenia-clinically significant low bone density that is less severe than osteoporosis. Now, a new study from the University of Missouri-Columbia has observed that men engaging predominantly in low-impact forms of exercise have an increased occurence rate of osteopenia-a condition resulting in two times the risk of bone fracture.

"Unfortunately, some individuals who believe they are doing everything right in terms of their health might be surprised and upset by our finding," said Pamela Hinton, an associate professor of nutritional sciences in MU's College of Human Environmental Sciences, who co-authored the study. "We believe, however, that these results will ultimately serve as education and motivation for these people".

Hinton said the effects of osteopenia can be mitigated by integration of weight-bearing activities into the lifestyle of active individuals. Studies in pre- and post-menopausal women suggest that bone mineral density will increase 2 percent to 3 percent after six months of resistance training three times per week. Small changes in bone density translate into much larger changes in bone strength-a 1 percent increase in bone density reduces the risk of fracture by up to 5 percent......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

October 10, 2007, 5:51 PM CT

Expensive trainers are a waste of money

Expensive trainers are not worth the money, finds a small study published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Cheap and moderately priced running shoes are just as good, if not better, in terms of cushioning impact and overall comfort, it concludes.

The research findings are based on a comparison of nine pairs of trainers, bought from three different manufacturers, in three different price ranges. The cheapest pairs were priced at 40 to 45, with the moderate range costing 60 to 65. The three most expensive pairs cost 70 to 75.

The 43 participants were not told how much any of the shoes cost.

Plantar pressure - the force produced by the impact of the sole hitting the ground - was recorded in eight different areas of the sole, using a special device (Pedar) attached to the shoes.

Different models performed differently for different areas of the foot. But, overall, there were no major differences among the shoes, irrespective of brand or price.

In fact, plantar pressure was lower in the cheap to moderately priced shoes, eventhough this difference was not statistically significant.

Runners were also asked to rate the comfort of the shoes from least to most comfortable imaginable, using a validated graded scale......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

September 27, 2007, 9:14 PM CT

Catch-and-release in less than 4 minutes

Recreational fishing that involves catch-and-release may seem like just good fun, and that released fish go on to live happily ever after, but a recent study at the University of Illinois shows that improper handling techniques by anglers can increase the likelihood of released fish being caught by predators.

After the stress of the catch and lack of oxygen from being out of water, the fish is in a weakened state. When it eventually gets released back into the water, if fish havent been handled properly, they are more likely to be caught by a predator.

A study on the effects of catch-and-release angling on bonefish which was conducted by a team led by University of Illinois researcher Cory Suski. The article is available online in the journal Comparative Biochemical and Physiology Part A and will be published in an upcoming issue.

"Whenever a fish is caught and reeled in, it expends a lot of energy so that's one stressor," said Suski. Depending upon the skill of the angler, the catching can last a long time and put additional stress on the fish. When the fish is brought up on the deck or in the boat to measure and take a picture, it faces an additional challenge and cannot obtain enough oxygen, and the fish continues to accumulate physiological disturbances. "Our recommendation to catch-and-release sport anglers is that they minimize the time it takes to actually land the fish and take a picture, and then get it back into the water as soon as possible"......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source