A content analysis of interviews with players of massively multiplayer online role-play games (MMORPGs).

This paper explores the intrapersonal and interpersonal motivations involved in the playing of MMORPGs, and the impacts of gaming on online and offline relationships. Twenty-one participants completed an online synchronous interview in which they discussed their personal experiences of playing MMORPGs. An online survey was then developed to further explore the findings of the interviews and this was completed by 52 participants. A content-analysis of the interview transcripts showed that interpersonal factors (such as social communication and group cohesion) were the strongest motivators for game-playing, supporting previous research [1]. The interview data also showed that there tended to be conflict, rather than integration, between online and offline relationships, however the questionnaire data showed the opposite. This was a small-scale pilot study and a further larger study is planned which will investigate whether Social Identity Theory can be used to explain players’ perceptions of group and personal identity

Dark Matter Halos from the Inside Out

The balance of evidence indicates that individual galaxies and groups or clusters of galaxies are embedded in enormous distributions of cold, weakly interacting dark matter. These dark matter 'halos' provide the scaffolding for all luminous structure in the universe, and their properties comprise an essential part of the current cosmological model. I review the internal properties of dark matter halos, focussing on the simple, universal trends predicted by numerical simulations of structure formation. Simulations indicate that halos should all have roughly the same spherically-averaged density profile and kinematic structure, and predict simple distributions of shape, formation history and substructure in density and kinematics, over an enormous range of halo mass and for all common variants of the concordance cosmology. I describe observational progress towards testing these predictions by measuring masses, shapes, profiles and substructure in real halos, using baryonic tracers or gravitational lensing. An important property of simulated halos (possibly the most important property) is their dynamical 'age', or degree of internal relaxation. The age of a halo may have almost as much effect as its mass in determining the state of its baryonic contents, so halo ages are also worth trying to measure observationally. I review recent gravitational lensing studies of galaxy clusters which should measure substructure and relaxation in a large sample of individual cluster halos, producing quantitative measures of age that are well-matched to theoretical predictions. The age distributions inferred from these studies will lead to second-generation tests of the cosmological model, as well as an improved understanding of cluster assembly and the evolution of galaxies within clusters.Comment: v2: additional references and minor corrections to match the published versio

The making of Wallace’s Everything and More: an interview with Erica Neely

Of all the works by celebrated author David Foster Wallace, his ‘popular mathematics’ book on Georg Cantor is by far the most neglected. Everything and More: A compact history of Infinity has proven difficult to reconcile with both Wallace’s fiction and non-fiction alike. This interview article aims to shed some light on the nature and construction of Everything and More. First introducing the book in context by reconstructing from Wallace’s personal letters its production, it then benefits from the unique insight of Wallace’s technical adviser on the project, mathematician-turned-philosopher Erica Neely. Over the course of the interview, Wallace’s motivations as well as his research and compositional strategy are exposed as Neely reflects on her time working with the author. This unique exposition and reflection paves the way for future dialogue about Everything and More that we may fully appreciate and understand this complex ‘oddity’ at the centre Wallace’s oeuvre

Environmental test chamber for the support of learning and teaching in intelligent control

The paper describes the utility of a low cost, 1 m2 by 2 m forced ventilation, micro-climate test chamber, for the support of research and teaching in mechatronics. Initially developed for the evaluation of a new ventilation rate controller, the fully instrumented chamber now provides numerous learning opportunities and individual projects for both undergraduate and postgraduate research students

Using CAViaR models with implied volatility for value-at-risk estimation

This paper proposes VaR estimation methods that are a synthesis of conditional autoregressive value at risk (CAViaR) time series models and implied volatility. The appeal of this proposal is that it merges information from the historical time series and the different information supplied by the market’s expectation of risk. Forecast combining methods, with weights estimated using quantile regression, are considered. We also investigate plugging implied volatility into the CAViaR models, a procedure that has not been considered in the VaR area so far. Results for daily index returns indicate that the newly proposed methods are comparable or superior to individual methods, such as the standard CAViaR models and quantiles constructed from implied volatility and the empirical distribution of standardised residual. We find that the implied volatility has more explanatory power as the focus moves further out into the left tail of the conditional distribution of S&P500 daily returns

Oviposition Decisions by Red Flour Beetle [Tribolium castaneum]

The red flour beetle [Tribolium castaneum] and the confused flour beetle [Tribolium confusum] are very important flour pest. We tested if the red flour beetle can discriminate between flour infested by the same species or congeneric species and lay different number of eggs. Results of the choice tests were inconclusive, because oviposition across all the treatments was very low. Future research will be needed manipulating the female age and the length of time in the arenas to be able to address the proposed question. With this future research, it will hopefully help us better understand how these beetles exploit flour patches and improve management in flour mills

Sparkling & Bright

[First Solo]Sparkling and bright, in liquid light,Does the wine our goblets gleam in,With hue as red, as the rosy bed, Which a bee would choose to dream in. [Refrain-sung twice in a row][Primo, Secondo, Bass]Then drink to the night with hearts as light,To love as gay and fleeting,As bubbles that swim, on the beaker\u27s brim,And break on the lips while meeting. [Second Solo]Oh! if mirth might arrest the flightOf time, through lifes dominions, We here awhile, would now beguileThe grey beard of his pinions.Then drink to night &c. [Refrain] [Third Solo]But since delight can\u27t stop the wight,Nor found regret delay him,Nor love himself, can hold the elfNor sober friendship stay him.Then drink to night &c. [Refrain

Multivariable proportional-integral-plus (PIP) control of the ALSTOM nonlinear gasifier simulation

Multivariable proportional-integral-plus (PIP) control methods are applied to the nonlinear ALSTOM Benchmark Challenge II. The approach utilises a data-based combined model reduction and linearisation step, which plays an essential role in satisfying the design specifications. The discrete-time transfer function models obtained in this manner are represented in a non-minimum state space form suitable for PIP control system design. Here, full state variable feedback control can be implemented directly from the measured input and output signals of the controlled process, without resorting to the design and implementation of a deterministic state reconstructor or a stochastic Kalman filter. Furthermore, the non-minimal formulation provides more design freedom than the equivalent minimal case, a characteristic that proves particularly useful in tuning the algorithm to meet the Benchmark specifications. The latter requirements are comfortably met for all three operating conditions by using a straightforward to implement, fixed gain, linear PIP algorithm