Insight: Exploring Hidden Roles in Collaborative Play

This paper looks into interaction modes between players in co-located, collaborative games. In particular, hidden traitor games, in which one or more players is secretly working against the group mission, has the effect of increasing paranoia and distrust between players, so this paper looks into the opposite of a hidden traitor – a hidden benefactor. Rather than sabotaging the group mission, the hidden benefactor would help the group achieve the end goal while still having a reason to stay hidden. The paper explores what games with such a role can look like and how the role changes player interactions. Finally, the paper addresses the divide between video game and board game interaction modes; hidden roles are not common within video games, but they are of growing prevalence in board games. This fact, combined with the exploration of hidden benefactors, reveals that hidden roles is a mechanic that video games should develop into in order to match board games’ complexity of player interaction modes

Analiza porównawcza czynników małżeńskich i rodzinnych w związkach mono- i międzykulturowych w Singapurze

The number of intercultural marriages in Singapore has recently been on the rise and research has found that these mixed marriages and relationships tend to have lower levels of marital satisfaction in comparison to monocultural marriages. To determine whether the level of marital satisfaction will be higher for monocultural couples as compared to intercultural couples, a 40-item questionnaire and an 8-item interview was developed based on 8 different factors of couple dynamics and family factors. 10 monocultural couples and 11 intercultural couples were recruited to complete the questionnaire and five monocultural couples, and five intercultural couples from this participant pool participated in an additional interview. It was hypothesized that the marital satisfaction scores, based on both couple dynamics and family factors, will be higher in monocultural couples as compared to intercultural couples. Contrary to that, results showed that intercultural couples demonstrated higher marital satisfaction scores as compared to monocultural couples. Arguably, it may be possible that Singapore and the other parts of the world might differ by having a strong foundation of interethnic ties, which may have made intercultural marriages more widely accepted.3124926614Studia Edukacyjn

Analiza czynników wpływających na funkcjonowanie związków międzykulturowych w Singapurze

The intercultural marriages in Singapore have been on the rise in recent years and there is a growing need to present an analysis of potentially vital factors, which may play a significant role in couple dynamics from the cross-cultural perspective. The body of research found that mixed marriages and relationships tend to encounter more obstacles affecting the level of marital satisfaction than monocultural marriages. Therefore a deeper understanding of the factors affecting intercultural couples in Singapore seems to be a crucial introduction to the local context due to the paucity of prior research.3026326815Studia Edukacyjn

Evolution of a Bacterial Regulon Controlling Virulence and Mg2+ Homeostasis

Related organisms typically rely on orthologous regulatory proteins to respond to a given signal. However, the extent to which (or even if) the targets of shared regulatory proteins are maintained across species has remained largely unknown. This question is of particular significance in bacteria due to the widespread effects of horizontal gene transfer. Here, we address this question by investigating the regulons controlled by the DNA-binding PhoP protein, which governs virulence and Mg2+ homeostasis in several bacterial species. We establish that the ancestral PhoP protein directs largely different gene sets in ten analyzed species of the family Enterobacteriaceae, reflecting both regulation of species-specific targets and transcriptional rewiring of shared genes. The two targets directly activated by PhoP in all ten species (the most distant of which diverged >200 million years ago), and coding for the most conserved proteins are the phoPQ operon itself and the lipoprotein-encoding slyB gene, which decreases PhoP protein activity. The Mg2+-responsive PhoP protein dictates expression of Mg2+ transporters and of enzymes that modify Mg2+-binding sites in the cell envelope in most analyzed species. In contrast to the core PhoP regulon, which determines the amount of active PhoP and copes with the low Mg2+ stress, the variable members of the regulon contribute species-specific traits, a property shared with regulons controlled by dissimilar regulatory proteins and responding to different signals

Evolution of a Bacterial Regulon Controlling Virulence and Mg2+ Homeostasis

Related organisms typically rely on orthologous regulatory proteins to respond to a given signal. However, the extent to which (or even if) the targets of shared regulatory proteins are maintained across species has remained largely unknown. This question is of particular significance in bacteria due to the widespread effects of horizontal gene transfer. Here, we address this question by investigating the regulons controlled by the DNA-binding PhoP protein, which governs virulence and Mg2+ homeostasis in several bacterial species. We establish that the ancestral PhoP protein directs largely different gene sets in ten analyzed species of the family Enterobacteriaceae, reflecting both regulation of species-specific targets and transcriptional rewiring of shared genes. The two targets directly activated by PhoP in all ten species (the most distant of which diverged >200 million years ago), and coding for the most conserved proteins are the phoPQ operon itself and the lipoprotein-encoding slyB gene, which decreases PhoP protein activity. The Mg2+-responsive PhoP protein dictates expression of Mg2+ transporters and of enzymes that modify Mg2+-binding sites in the cell envelope in most analyzed species. In contrast to the core PhoP regulon, which determines the amount of active PhoP and copes with the low Mg2+ stress, the variable members of the regulon contribute species-specific traits, a property shared with regulons controlled by dissimilar regulatory proteins and responding to different signals

Comparative Linkage Meta-Analysis Reveals Regionally-Distinct, Disparate Genetic Architectures: Application to Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia

New high-throughput, population-based methods and next-generation sequencing capabilities hold great promise in the quest for common and rare variant discovery and in the search for ”missing heritability.” However, the optimal analytic strategies for approaching such data are still actively debated, representing the latest rate-limiting step in genetic progress. Since it is likely a majority of common variants of modest effect have been identified through the application of tagSNP-based microarray platforms (i.e., GWAS), alternative approaches robust to detection of low-frequency (1–5% MAF) and rare (<1%) variants are of great importance. Of direct relevance, we have available an accumulated wealth of linkage data collected through traditional genetic methods over several decades, the full value of which has not been exhausted. To that end, we compare results from two different linkage meta-analysis methods—GSMA and MSP—applied to the same set of 13 bipolar disorder and 16 schizophrenia GWLS datasets. Interestingly, we find that the two methods implicate distinct, largely non-overlapping, genomic regions. Furthermore, based on the statistical methods themselves and our contextualization of these results within the larger genetic literatures, our findings suggest, for each disorder, distinct genetic architectures may reside within disparate genomic regions. Thus, comparative linkage meta-analysis (CLMA) may be used to optimize low-frequency and rare variant discovery in the modern genomic era

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Tool for finding relationships between traits in games

Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2018.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (page 12).In this paper, we introduce a tool to transform tabular data into an interactive network map. Compared to previous visualization tools, ours allows for more customization in terms of datasets, connecting nodes, and appearance. We describe three use scenarios where the tool was effective in helping users accomplish tasks related to activities of an academic working within the field of game studies, such as selecting games based on certain criteria, presenting games and traits, and analyzing a growing dataset of games. STAR (Select Traits and Relationships) has been found to be useful in understanding relational aspects of datasets which are hard to get to without interactive visualizations and extensive customization options.by Tricia A. Shi.M. Eng

Do the drivers of reits performance differ among sectors? An insight into the different markets.

This paper provides an analysis of the performance of Singapore REITs in different sectors. Panel data regression is employed, with dataset consisting of 17 Singapore’s listed REITs, macroeconomic factors, firm-specific factors, and sector-specific factors between the period of 2007 to 2017. REITs are classified according to its underlying property into 4 main sectors namely: retail, office, industrial and health & hospitality sectors. A pooled panel regression consisting of the 3 conventional sectors, retail, office and industrial was constructed with dividend yield to be the dependent variable. Results of Chow Test prompted us to examine each sector separately to identify the true underlying drivers of performance for each of the sector. Hence, 4 fixed effect panel regressions were ran to account for the individual sectors, including the previously excluded H&H sector. Our results suggest that there is an opposite impact of D/E ratio on dividend yields for retail and office sector due to their underlying risk nature. Next, across all 4 models, we found that larger REITs tend to perform worse than smaller REITs and we attribute it to looser cost control. Unlike previous studies, macroeconomic factors like CPI and SIBOR affects the office and healthcare & hospitality sectors. Lastly, for sector-specific factors, vacancy rates, it impacts the REITs performance in office and healthcare and hospitality sector. Whereas the price of transacted property only affects the retail sector, and insignificant for the other sectors. Our study has highlighted that each REIT sector is indeed unique in that their performance is driven by different factors and thus provides a new perspective of the REITs market, especially in the Singapore context.Bachelor of Art

Female representation in Singapore's publicly listed companies

This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the female role model effect on female board directorship and the relationship between female directors and firm’s performance, in the context of Singapore. An analysis is conducted based on two events: the appointment of Ms Ho Ching as the Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings in 2004, and the formation of Singapore government’s Diversity Action Committee in 2013. The results indicate that Ms Ho Ching’s appointment results in a differential increase in female board membership in government linked corporations, relative to non-government linked corporations listed in Singapore. In addition, the proportion of female directors has a positive influence on firm outcomes but not policy decisions.Bachelor of Art