The effect of time manipulation on immersion in digital games

Many empirical studies look into identifying factors that influence the quality of experience in video games. In this paper, we present research into the effect of playing time and players’ perception of the time on their immersion in the game. We invited 20 participants to play a puzzle game Bejeweled 2 for 7 min. They played the game in two conditions, namely, correct time (timer was programmed to be exactly 7 min) and wrong time (the countdown was set to be for 6 min, but was presented as a 7 min timer to the player). Players’ immersion scores were measured after the game using the IEQ. The results show no significant difference in immersion scores between the two conditions and participants’ comments also revealed that they perceived no difference in playing time between the conditions. This suggests that there is a dissociation between gaming time and subjective experience of gaming. Further research is required to investigate the relationship between playing time and positive gaming experiences

Pembinaan konstruk instrumen penilaian pasca penghunian untuk perumahan bertingkat yang dibina menggunakan kaedah Sistem Binaan Berindustri (IBS)

Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is an activity of the building evaluation process with a focus on quality, operational performance and satisfaction of the occupants. The POE is important to evaluate completed and occupied buildings to identify weaknesses and potential for future improvement. To date, there have been various variations of POE instruments and tools to evaluate occupied buildings. However, the POE instrument for assessing high-rise housing constructed using the industrialized building system (IBS) method has not been developed specifically. In this regard, this study aims to discuss the construction of an effective POE instrument to measure the quality and performance of high-rise housing built using the IBS method. For this purpose, the 3 round Delphi method was adapted by involving 15 experts selected based on their background and experience related to IBS. The results of a three-round Delphi study found that 33 out of all sub-constructs were dropped because of low mean scores (<4.2 in two rounds) while 75 sub-constructs were identified as final items. The results of the Delphi study also found that all 10 constructs were 1) Spatial; 2) Design and aesthetics; 3) Physical; 4) Building materials; 5) Quality of work; 6) Comfort and well-being; 7) Environment and health; 8) Maintenance; 9) Value and 10) Cost is the most significant construct for developing PPP instruments. Accordingly, an effective Post-Occupancy Assessment Instrument for measuring the quality, performance and value of a home built using the IBS method should include all of these constructs

Pulse-induced acoustoelectric vibrations in surface-gated GaAs-based quantum devices

We present the results of a numerical investigation which show the excitation of acoustoelectric modes of vibration in GaAs-based heterostructures due to sharp nano-second electric-field pulses applied across surface gates. In particular, we show that the pulses applied in quantum information processing applications are capable of exciting acoustoelectric modes of vibration including surface acoustic modes which propagate for distances greater than conventional device dimensions. We show that the pulse-induced acoustoelectric vibrations are capable of inducing significant undesired perturbations to the evolution of quantum systems.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev.

Hypoxic Culture Conditions as a Solution for Mesenchymal Stem Cell Based Regenerative Therapy

Cell-based regenerative therapies, based on in vitro propagation of stem cells, offer tremendous hope to many individuals suffering from degenerative diseases that were previously deemed untreatable. Due to the self-renewal capacity, multilineage potential, and immunosuppressive property, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are considered as an attractive source of stem cells for regenerative therapies. However, poor growth kinetics, early senescence, and genetic instability during in vitro expansion and poor engraftment after transplantation are considered to be among the major disadvantages of MSC-based regenerative therapies. A number of complex inter-and intracellular interactive signaling systems control growth, multiplication, and differentiation of MSCs in their niche. Common laboratory conditions for stem cell culture involve ambient O-2 concentration (20%) in contrast to their niche where they usually reside in 2-9% O-2. Notably, O-2 plays an important role in maintaining stem cell fate in terms of proliferation and differentiation, by regulating hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) mediated expression of different genes. This paper aims to describe and compare the role of normoxia (20% O-2) and hypoxia (2-9% O-2) on the biology of MSCs. Finally it is concluded that a hypoxic environment can greatly improve growth kinetics, genetic stability, and expression of chemokine receptors during in vitro expansion and eventually can increase efficiency of MSC-based regenerative therapies.Article Link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2013/632972

Metal-Coated Defect-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber for THz Propagation

Modal solutions for metal-coated defect-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a central air-hole have been obtained by using a full-vectorial finite element method to model the guidance of THz waves. It has been shown that the surface plasmon modes can couple with the defect-core PCF mode to form supermodes, with potential for sensing applications