A study on psychological training of eSports using digital games: Focusing on rhythm game

Incidentally, several studies have mentioned that digital games or video games have a positive impact on psychological skills (Green, et al., 2003; Pessoa, 2009; Anguera, et al., 2013). Thus, this study aimed to examine the psychological skills focusing on selective attention by comparing the power change in the beta wave band of the EEG during game play and the results of the trail making test (TMT) conducted before and after. Participants were ten male college students who usually play game for at least one hour per day, five days per week (age: M = 21.90 ± 1.96). This study adopted “Osu!” that is a free online rhythm game as an experimental task, because several articles mentioned that professional gamers usually use "Osu!" as a warming up or practice before gaming (Webb, 2019; Carpenter, 2019). Thus, “Osu!” is assumed to have the effect of enhancing the players’ psychological skills. In addition, the TMT part B is adopted to measure attention to speed, motor speed, visual screening, mental flexibility, perseverance, interference affinity and reaction inhibition. As a result of comparing change in biological attention extracted from the EEG during game play or baseline measurement, there is a significant difference in selective attentional state between baseline and while game play. In comparison of TMT indicated that processing speed in after rhythm game was tended to be faster than before play. Thus, this study might be indicated that rhythm game would be the one of the psychological or cognitive training tool for eSports

Examining effectiveness of e-sports activity in Japan

Digital games or video games have a positive impact on cognitive function. However, there is no study examining the positive effects of e-sports in Japan. Thus, we conducted two studies. Study 1 examined the relationship between e-sports and cognitive function using the Stroop and reverse-Stroop Color and Word Test. Additionally, study 2 examined the psychological statement while playing e-sports using biological evaluation. Study 1 included six male collegiate students who could play e-sports (three in the e-sports group, three in the control group), while study 2 involved two male Japanese collegiate e-sports players. The e-sports group played e-sports for 10 minutes and their cognitive function and psychological statement were evaluated during play. EEG was employed to evaluate the psychological statement of the e-sport players in study 2. Emotional condition (concentration) was analysed from the combination of the extracted raw EEG data using KANSEI Module Logger. Results of study 1 indicated that 10 minutes of e-sports activity significantly improved cognitive function, especially interference and concentration, in the e-sports group. Study 2 concluded that the average concentration value at play time was significantly higher than that during the resting period. Therefore, this study indicated that e-sports activity might have positive effects when played for a brief time

Explicitly Multi-Modal Benchmarks for Multi-Objective Optimization

In multi-objective optimization, designing good benchmark problems is an important issue for improving solvers. Although many benchmark problems have been proposed and some of them became de facto standards, designing multimodal problems that have a controllable landscape is still an open problem especially for high-dimensional cases. We thus propose the Benchmark with Explicit Multimodality (BEM), which lets the benchmark designer specify the basins of attraction using a graph structure known as the reachability graph. In this article, we focus on the mathematical formulation of the BEM. We will see that the BEM has preferable characteristics such as (i) realizing user-specified local Pareto set, (ii) allowing high-dimensional design spaces and (iii) possessing nonseparability

Effectiveness of motivational videos for elite swimmers: Subjective and biological evaluations

Motivational videos (MVs) are used in Japan in many competitive sports, both professional and amateur. However, several researchers have stated that the effectiveness of MVs has not been scientifically verified, and only subjective evaluations have been conducted in previous studies (Yamazaki & Sugiyama, 2009). This study examined the psychological effectiveness of MVs using both subjective and biological evaluations. The subjects were six elite Japanese collegiate swimmers participating in the FINA Swimming World Cup (age: 21.33 ± 0.51, four males and two females). We employed subjective and biological evaluations to examine these elite swimmers’ psychological motivation while watching an MV as part of their practice. We adopted subjective and self-report Psychological Condition Inventory (Yamazaki et al., 2008) to measure the athletes’ level of vigor while watching the MV. An electroencephalogram (EEG) was employed to evaluate the emotions of the swimmers. The emotional condition (vigor) was analysed by combining the extracted raw EEG data using a KANSEI module logger (Littlesoftware, 2018). A subjective evaluation showed that the score for vigor significantly improved after watching the MV (t = 2.33, p < 0.05), which was also indicated by the results of the biological evaluation (t = 5.69, p < 0.01). There was also a significant correlation between subjective and biological vigor after watching the MV (r = 0.77, p < 0.01). The results of this study, therefore, indicated that biological evaluation can be employed anew to verify the effectiveness of MVs

B^0_{d,s} - \bar{B}^0_{d,s} mass-differences from QCD spectral sum rules

We present the first QCD spectral sum rules analysis of the SU(3) breaking parameter \xi and an improved estimate of the renormalization group invariant (RGI) bag constant \hat{B}_{B_q} both entering into the B^0_{d,s} - \bar{B}^0_{d,s} mass-differences. The averages of the results from the Laplace and moment sum rules to order \alpha_s are f_B\sqrt{\hat B_B} \simeq (247 \pm 59) MeV and \xi \equiv f_{B_s} \sqrt{\hat B_{B_s}} / f_{B} \sqrt{\hat B_{B}} \simeq (1.18\pm 0.03), in units where f_\pi=130.7 MeV. Combined with the experimental data on the mass-differences \Delta M_{d,s}, one obtains the constraint on the CKM weak mixing angle |V_{ts}/V_{td}|^2 > 20.0 (1.1). Alternatively, using the weak mixing angle from the analysis of the unitarity triangle and the data on \Delta M_d, one predicts \Delta M_s=18.6 (2.2) ps^{-1} in agreement with the present experimental lower bound and within the reach of Tevatron 2.Comment: 7 pages with 2 figures, uses espcrc2.sty. Version to appear in Phys. Lett.

The Cell Wall Integrity Pathway Contributes to the Early Stages of Aspergillus Fumigatus Asexual Development

Aspergillus fumigatus is a major cause of human disease. The survival of this fungus is dependent on the cell wall organization and function of its components. The cell wall integrity pathway (CWIP) is the primary signaling cascade that controls de novo synthesis of the cell wall in fungi. Abundant conidiation is a hallmark in A. fumigatus, and uptake of conidia by a susceptible host is usually the initial event in infection. The formation of conidia is mediated by the development of fungus-specific specialized structures, conidiophores, which are accompanied by cell wall remodeling. The molecular regulation of these changes in cell wall composition required for the rise of conidiophore from the solid surface and to disperse the conidia into the air is currently unknown. Here, we investigated the role of CWIP in conidiation. We show that CWIP pkcAG579R, ΔmpkA, and ΔrlmA mutants displayed reduced conidiation during synchronized asexual differentiation. The transcription factor RlmA directly regulated the expression of regulators of conidiation, including flbB, flbC, brlA, abaA, and rasB, as well as genes involved in cell wall synthesis and remodeling, and this affected the chitin content in aerial hyphae. Phosphorylation of RlmA and MpkA was increased during asexual differentiation. We also observed that MpkA physically associated with the proteins FlbB, FlbC, BrlA, and RasB during this process, suggesting another level of cross talk between the CWIP and asexual development pathways. In summary, our results support the conclusion that one function of the CWIP is the regulation of asexual development in filamentous fungi. IMPORTANCE A remarkable feature of the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus is its ability to produce impressive amounts of infectious propagules known as conidia. These particles reach immunocompromised patients and may initiate a life-threatening mycosis. The conidiation process in Aspergillus is governed by a sequence of proteins that coordinate the development of conidiophores. This process requires the remodeling of the cell wall so that the conidiophores can rise and withstand the chains of conidia. The events regulating cell wall remodeling during conidiation are currently unknown. Here, we show that the cell wall integrity pathway (CWIP) components RlmA and MpkA directly contribute to the activation of the conidiation cascade by enabling transcription or phosphorylation of critical proteins involved in asexual development. This study points to an essential role for the CWIP during conidiation and provides further insights into the complex regulation of asexual development in filamentous fungi.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo 2015/17541-0, 2016/07870-9, 2017/19694-3Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico 462383/2014-

Improved predictions for g-2 of the muon and \alpha_{\rm QED}(M_Z^2)

We update the Standard Model predictions of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, a_\mu = (g-2)/2, and the value of the QED coupling at the Z-boson mass, incorporating the new e^+e^- \to \pi\pi data obtained by CMD-2 and KLOE, as well as the corrected SND data, and other improvements. The prediction for a_\mu=11659180.4 (5.1) \times 10^{-10} is about 3 \times 10^{-10} lower than before, and has a smaller uncertainty, which corresponds to a 3.4\sigma deviation from the measured value. The prediction for the QED coupling is \alpha(M_Z^2)^{-1}= 128.937 \pm 0.030.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Version to be published in Phys. Lett.

Degradation of Mutant Protein Aggregates within the Endoplasmic Reticulum of Vasopressin Neurons

Misfolded or unfolded proteins in the ER are said to be degraded only after translocation or isolation from the ER. Here, we describe a mechanism by which mutant proteins are degraded within the ER. Aggregates of mutant arginine vasopressin (AVP) precursor were confined to ER-associated compartments (ERACs) connected to the ER in AVP neurons of a mouse model of familial neurohypophysial diabetes insipidus. The ERACs were enclosed by membranes, an ER chaperone and marker protein of phagophores and autophagosomes were expressed around the aggregates, and lysosomes fused with the ERACs. Moreover, lysosome-related molecules were present within the ERACs, and aggregate degradation within the ERACs was dependent on autophagic-lysosomal activity. Thus, we demonstrate that protein aggregates can be degraded by autophagic-lysosomal machinery within specialized compartments of the ER

Update of g-2 of the muon and Delta alpha

We update our Standard Model predictions for g-2 of the muon and for the hadronic contributions to the running of the QED coupling, Delta alpha^5_had(M_Z^2). Particular emphasis is put on recent changes in the hadronic contributions from new data in the 2pi channel and from the energy region just below 2 GeV.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figures, proceedings of the PhiPsi09 conference, 13-16 Oct. 2009, Beijing, Chin