Examining student-designed games through Suits’ theory of games

This paper documents how a unit of student-designed games can create a more meaningful version of physical education (PE) for disengaged students, a version that enhances the educational legitimacy of the subject matter by affording it worth in and of itself rather than being justified for other, extrinsic or instrumental reasons. Furthermore, it seeks to develop new knowledge relating to the conduct of game instruction within PE, by using Suits’ theory of games. Drawing on Suits’ theory, we develop a conceptual model that is intended to represent the hierarchical processes that occur in gameplay through student-designed games. This model is then tested via examination of the experiences of a cohort of teachers and their year 10 students from a mixed secondary school in the greater London area. From our discussions with the students, it is argued that the key focus of the games that these students were used to playing was the need to ‘play the game well’. By contrast, we suggest that it is possible to provide more meaningful experiences to students if a more philosophically driven and less efficiency-driven approach to games is taken, following Suits’ lead more closely. By exploring the loop between and around lusory means, lusory goals and constitutive rules (the aspects of Suits’ theory that have been shown to represent student-designed games), students engage with a more meaningful games experience than simply playing the game well. This ‘new’ approach to games may offer counterbalance to the ideological tendencies now emphasized in countries and contexts that celebrate instrumental outcomes of performative PE and sport rather than affording worth in and of itself to the curriculum’s subject matter

Genome-Wide Association Study in BRCA1 Mutation Carriers Identifies Novel Loci Associated with Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk

BRCA1-associated breast and ovarian cancer risks can be modified by common genetic variants. To identify further cancer risk-modifying loci, we performed a multi-stage GWAS of 11,705 BRCA1 carriers (of whom 5,920 were diagnosed with breast and 1,839 were diagnosed with ovarian cancer), with a further replication in an additional sample of 2,646 BRCA1 carriers. We identified a novel breast cancer risk modifier locus at 1q32 for BRCA1 carriers (rs2290854, P = 2.7×10-8, HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.09-1.20). In addition, we identified two novel ovarian cancer risk modifier loci: 17q21.31 (rs17631303, P = 1.4×10-8, HR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.17-1.38) and 4q32.3 (rs4691139, P = 3.4×10-8, HR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.17-1.38). The 4q32.3 locus was not associated with ovarian cancer risk in the general population or BRCA2 carriers, suggesting a BRCA1-specific associat

Seleção de fungos entomopatogênicos nativos contra Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) em laboratório

The objective of this study was to select native isolates of entomopathogenic fungi against adult Cosmopolites sordidus in laboratory conditions. Four isolates of Beauveria bassiana, two isolates of Metarhizium anisopliae, and two isolates of Paecilomyces lilacinus were tested against C. sordidus. The entomopathogenic fungi that resulted in mortality rates over 50% were M. anisopliae (MA-CsCha and MA-Carabid) and B. bassiana (BB-CsCha and BB-CsLp). The most virulent isolates were MA-CsCha, BB-CsCha, and MA-Carabid with median lethal times (LT50) of 4.82, 5.4, and 5.79 days, respectively. In conclusion, the MA-CsCha, BB-CsCha, MA-Carabid, and BB-CsLp isolates are viable candidates to be tested in banana fields.Este estudo teve como objetivo selecionar isolados de fungos entomopatogênicos contra adultos de Cosmopolites sordidus em condições de laboratório. Quatro isolados de Beauveria bassiana, dois isolados de Metarhizium anisopliae e dois isolados de Paecilomyces lilacinus foram testados contra C. sordidus. Os fungos entomopatogênicos que resultaram em mais de 50% da mortalidade de adultos de C. sordidus foram M. anisopliae (MA-CsCha e MA-Carabid) e B. bassiana (BB-CsCha e BB-CsLp). Os isolados mais virulentos foram MA-CsCha, BB-CsCha e MA-Carabid com um tempo letal médio (TL50) de 4,82, 5,4 e 5,79 dias, respectivamente. Em conclusão, os isolados MA-CsCha, BB-CsCha, MA-Carabid e BB-CsLp são candidatos para serem testados em plantações de banana

Examining student-designed games through Suits' theory of games

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Sport, Education and Society on 02/01/2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13573322.2014.994174.This paper documents how a unit of student-designed games can create a more meaningful version of physical education (PE) for disengaged students, a version that enhances the educational legitimacy of the subject matter by affording it worth in and of itself rather than being justified for other, extrinsic or instrumental reasons. Furthermore, it seeks to develop new knowledge relating to the conduct of game instruction within PE, by using Suits’ theory of games. Drawing on Suits’ theory, we develop a conceptual model that is intended to represent the hierarchical processes that occur in gameplay through student-designed games. This model is then tested via examination of the experiences of a cohort of teachers and their year 10 students from a mixed secondary school in the greater London area. From our discussions with the students, it is argued that the key focus of the games that these students were used to playing was the need to ‘play the game well’. By contrast, we suggest that it is possible to provide more meaningful experiences to students if a more philosophically driven and less efficiency-driven approach to games is taken, following Suits’ lead more closely. By exploring the loop between and around lusory means, lusory goals and constitutive rules (the aspects of Suits’ theory that have been shown to represent student-designed games), students engage with a more meaningful games experience than simply playing the game well. This ‘new’ approach to games may offer counterbalance to the ideological tendencies now emphasized in countries and contexts that celebrate instrumental outcomes of performative PE and sport rather than affording worth in and of itself to the curriculum’s subject matter

Predicted breast and ovarian cancer absolute risks for <i>BRCA1</i> mutation carriers at the 5^th, 10^th, 90^th, and 95^th percentiles of the combined SNP profile distributions.

<p>The minimum, maximum and average risks are also shown. Predicted cancer risks are based on the associations of known breast or ovarian cancer susceptibility loci (identified through GWAS) with cancer risk for <i>BRCA1</i> mutation carriers and loci identified through the present study. Breast cancer risks based on the associations with: 1q32, 10q25.3, 19p13, 6q25.1, 12p11, <i>TOX3</i>, 2q35, <i>LSP1</i>, <i>RAD51L1</i> (based on HR and minor allele frequency estimates from <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003212#pgen-1003212-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>, <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003212#pgen-1003212-t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a>, and <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003212#pgen.1003212.s016" target="_blank">Table S4</a>) and <i>TERT </i><a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003212#pgen.1003212-Bojesen1" target="_blank">[31]</a>. Ovarian cancer risks based on the associations with: 9p22, 8q24, 3q25, 17q21, 19p13 (<a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003212#pgen-1003212-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>) and 17q21.31, 4q32.3 (<a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003212#pgen-1003212-t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a>). Only the top SNP from each region was chosen. Average breast and ovarian cancer risks were obtained from published data <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003212#pgen.1003212-Antoniou10" target="_blank">[25]</a>. The methods for calculating the predicted risks have been described previously <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003212#pgen.1003212-Antoniou11" target="_blank">[28]</a>.</p

Mapping of the 17q21 locus.

<p><i>Top 3 panels:</i> P-values of association (−log₁₀ scale) with ovarian cancer risk for genotyped and imputed SNPs (1000 Genomes Project CEU), by chromosome position (b.37) at the 17q21 region, for <i>BRCA1</i>, <i>BRCA2</i> mutation carriers and combined. Results based on the kinship-adjusted score test statistic (1 d.f.). <i>Fourth panel:</i> Genes in the region spanning (43.4–44.9 Mb, b.37) and the location of the most significant genotyped SNPs (in red font) and imputed SNPs (in black font). <i>Bottom panel:</i> Pairwise r² values for genotyped SNPs on iCOG array in the 17q21 region covering positions (43.4–44.9 Mb, b.37).</p

Study design for selection of the SNPs and genotyping of <i>BRCA1</i> samples.

<p>GWAS data from 2,727 <i>BRCA1</i> mutation carriers were analysed for associations with breast and ovarian cancer risk and 32,557 SNPs were selected for inclusion on the iCOGS array. A total of 11,705 <i>BRCA1</i> samples (after quality control (QC) checks) were genotyped on the 31,812 <i>BRCA1</i>-GWAS SNPs from the iCOGS array that passed QC. Of these samples, 2,387 had been genotyped at the SNP selection stage and are referred to as “stage 1” samples, whereas 9,318 samples were unique to the iCOGS study (“Stage 2” samples). Next, 17 SNPs that exhibited the most significant associations with breast and ovarian cancer were selected for genotyping in a third stage involving an additional 2,646 <i>BRCA1</i> samples (after QC).</p

Associations with SNPs at the novel 17q21 region with ovarian cancer risk for <i>BRCA1</i> and <i>BRCA2</i> mutation carriers.

*<p>HRs estimated under the single disease risk model.</p