Cloud for Gaming

Cloud for Gaming refers to the use of cloud computing technologies to build large-scale gaming infrastructures, with the goal of improving scalability and responsiveness, improve the user's experience and enable new business models.Comment: Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games. Newton Lee (Editor). Springer International Publishing, 2015, ISBN 978-3-319-08234-

Online gaming addiction: the role of sensation seeking, self-control, neuroticism, aggression, state anxiety and trait anxiety

Research into online gaming has steadily increased over the last decade, although relatively little research has examined the relationship between online gaming addiction and personality factors. This study examined the relationship between a number of personality traits (sensation seeking, self-control, aggression, neuroticism, state anxiety, and trait anxiety) and online gaming addiction. Data were collected over a 1-month period using an opportunity sample of 123 university students at an East Midlands university in the United Kingdom. Gamers completed all the online questionnaires. Results of a multiple linear regression indicated that five traits (neuroticism, sensation seeking, trait anxiety, state anxiety, and aggression) displayed significant associations with online gaming addiction. The study suggests that certain personality traits may be important in the acquisition, development, and maintenance of online gaming addiction, although further research is needed to replicate the findings of the present study

Construction of the Hill48 and Yld89 for Auto-body Steel Sheets considering the Strain Rate

This paper deals with the anisotropic material properties and the initial yield locus considering the strain rate. Uni-axial tensile tests are performed with variation of the strain rate in order to obtain flow stress curves and the tensile properties. The R-values have been measured with a high speed camera by analyzing the deformation history during the tensile test. Anisotropy of auto-body steel sheets have been described by using Hill48 and Yld89 (Barlat89) yield functions according to the strain rate ranged from 0.001/sec to 100/sec. Hill48 and Yld89 yield loci of auto-body steel sheets at various strain rates have been constructed in order to visualize the initial yield state. The performance of two yield criteria is evaluated by comparing yield loci constructed in the principal stress plane. The initial yield locus becomes different from the static one when the strain rate is considered to describe the anisotropy of the steel sheets

Endogenous circatidal rhythm in the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum (Bivalvia: Veneridae)

Manila clams, Ruditapes philippinarum, removed from their natural environment and maintained for 9 weeks in continuously immersed conditions exhibited a clear endogenous circatidal rhythm in oxygen consumption. The clams exhibited a semidiurnal rhythmicity in oxygen consumption after showing a diurnal pattern in the first few days (5 to 7 d) of the experiment. The results of the present study indicate that activity rhythms of clams are controlled not only by exogenous factors, but also by an endogenous circatidal periodicity

Likelihood Geometry

We study the critical points of monomial functions over an algebraic subset of the probability simplex. The number of critical points on the Zariski closure is a topological invariant of that embedded projective variety, known as its maximum likelihood degree. We present an introduction to this theory and its statistical motivations. Many favorite objects from combinatorial algebraic geometry are featured: toric varieties, A-discriminants, hyperplane arrangements, Grassmannians, and determinantal varieties. Several new results are included, especially on the likelihood correspondence and its bidegree. These notes were written for the second author's lectures at the CIME-CIRM summer course on Combinatorial Algebraic Geometry at Levico Terme in June 2013.Comment: 45 pages; minor changes and addition

A novel phenoxy thiophene sulphonamide molecule protects against glutamate evoked oxidative injury in a neuronal cell model

Background: Glutamate is one of the major neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. It is a potent neurotoxin capable of neuronal destruction through numerous signal pathways when present in high concentration. Glutamate-evoked excitotoxicity has been implicated in the etiology of many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and ischemic stroke. Increasing evidence has shown that reactive oxygen species (ROS) provoked by glutamate-linked oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of these disorders. We previously reported the discovery of an aryl thiophene compound, 4-chloro-N- (naphthalen-1-ylmethyl)-5-(3-(piperazin-1-yl)phenoxy)thiophene-2-sulfonamide (B355252) from a proprietary library of small molecules. We showed that this compound was capable of potentiating nerve growth factor (NGF)-primed neurite outgrowth in neuronal cell models in a low NGF environment. In the present study we investigated the neuroprotective effects and signaling pathways of B355252 on glutamate-evoked excitotoxicity in HT-22, a murine hippocampal neuronal cell line. Results: Glutamate significantly decreased HT-22 neuronal cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner as measured by the MTT assay. Co-treatment with 2, 4, and 8 μM B355252 protected against cell death caused by glutamate-induced toxicity by 9.1% (p<0.01), 26.0% (p<0.001), and 61.9% (p<0.001) respectively, compared to glutamate-treated control group. B355252 at a concentration of 8 μM fully rescued HT-22 from the neurototoxic effects of glutamate, and by itself increased cell viability by 16% (p<0.001) above untreated control. Glutamate enhanced reduction in glutathione (GSH) synthesis was reversed by 15% (p<0.01) in the presence of B355252. B355252 reduced the expression of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) by 27%, while the proapoptotic Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax) was strongly attenuated 3-fold. Glutamate-evoked increase in intracellular calcium (Ca2+) load and subsequent ROS production was inhibited by 71% (p<0.001) and 40% (p<0.001) respectively, to comparable level as untreated control in the presence of B355252. Glutamate significantly upregulated the phosphorylation of extracellular signal regulated kinase Erk1/2 (pERK1/2), while decreasing Erk3. In contrast, B355252 potently attenuated the glutamate-dependent activation of Erk1/2 and robustly increased the level of ERK3 in HT-22. Conclusions: A novel phenoxy thiophene small molecule, B355252, suppresses glutamate-evoked oxidative stress in HT-22 neurons by blocking Ca2+ and ROS production, and altering the expression or phosphorylation states of Erk kinases. This molecule previously reported to enhance neurite outgrowth in the presence of sub-physiological concentrations of NGF appears to be a promising drug candidate for development as a potential therapeutic and neuroprotective agent for various neurodegenerative disorders

Development of a novel 3D culture system for screening features of a complex implantable device for CNS repair

Tubular scaffolds which incorporate a variety of micro- and nanotopographies have a wide application potential in tissue engineering especially for the repair of spinal cord injury (SCI). We aim to produce metabolically active differentiated tissues within such tubes, as it is crucially important to evaluate the biological performance of the three-dimensional (3D) scaffold and optimize the bioprocesses for tissue culture. Because of the complex 3D configuration and the presence of various topographies, it is rarely possible to observe and analyze cells within such scaffolds in situ. Thus, we aim to develop scaled down mini-chambers as simplified in vitro simulation systems, to bridge the gap between two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures on structured substrates and three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture. The mini-chambers were manipulated to systematically simulate and evaluate the influences of gravity, topography, fluid flow, and scaffold dimension on three exemplary cell models that play a role in CNS repair (i.e., cortical astrocytes, fibroblasts, and myelinating cultures) within a tubular scaffold created by rolling up a microstructured membrane. Since we use CNS myelinating cultures, we can confirm that the scaffold does not affect neural cell differentiation. It was found that heterogeneous cell distribution within the tubular constructs was caused by a combination of gravity, fluid flow, topography, and scaffold configuration, while cell survival was influenced by scaffold length, porosity, and thickness. This research demonstrates that the mini-chambers represent a viable, novel, scale down approach for the evaluation of complex 3D scaffolds as well as providing a microbioprocessing strategy for tissue engineering and the potential repair of SCI

On the Interface Formation Model for Dynamic Triple Lines

This paper revisits the theory of Y. Shikhmurzaev on forming interfaces as a continuum thermodynamical model for dynamic triple lines. We start with the derivation of the balances for mass, momentum, energy and entropy in a three-phase fluid system with full interfacial physics, including a brief review of the relevant transport theorems on interfaces and triple lines. Employing the entropy principle in the form given in [Bothe & Dreyer, Acta Mechanica, doi:10.1007/s00707-014-1275-1] but extended to this more general case, we arrive at the entropy production and perform a linear closure, except for a nonlinear closure for the sorption processes. Specialized to the isothermal case, we obtain a thermodynamically consistent mathematical model for dynamic triple lines and show that the total available energy is a strict Lyapunov function for this system