Learning Phenomena of MMORPG PLAYERS: A PROPOSED RESEARCH MODEL

This research in progress aims to contributing to the already existing knowledge on the phenomena of learning existing in the massively multi-players online role-playing games (MMORPG). The objective is to be able to identify social skills (personality) and professional skills (managerial skills) which the players can develop by playing in MMORPG. A better knowledge of the effects of this technology on the players would allow to know better the consequences on the real life of the players as the recruitment by online games. So, by basing us on learning theories then on a previous qualitative study led with players and old players, we propose a model of research illustrating the influence of the practice of the MMORPG on the player

Apprentissage et mobilisation de compétences managériales des joueurs de jeux de rôle en ligne massivement multijoueurs (MMORPG)

Media relate instances where MMORPG players are being recruited to responsibility positions, thanks to their managerial skills, acquired through playing. Do MMORPG players really develop such skills though playing, and if so, under what conditions? To explore these research questions, we're basing our works on the Social Learning Theory as well as the Social Cognitive Theory, both resulting from of Albert Bandura's researches. Literature reviewing as well as an exploratory qualitative study (13 players and older MMORPG players) led us to propose a managerial skill learning structural model of the MMORPG player. Two analyses were realized.The first one, in an exploratory aim, allowing to refine measuring tools, saw 414 questionnaires being validated (on 707 collected). The second one, with a confirmatory aim, allowing to verify hypothesis, saw 2 628 questionnaires being validated (on 3 690 collected). Once we've drawn the MMORPG player's profile, we're showing that there are managerial skill learning phenomena perceived by the players that are developed then mastered in MMORPG, under specific conditions linked to the game's environment, as well as the internal state of the player. The proposed model is thus validated.Conclusions of this research offer possibilities for players as well as organizations in various domains, such as recruitment or training, by benefiting MMORPG's potential. Longitudinal studies would deserve to be done in order to explore the MMORPG's player learning evolution, and confirm our results.Les média relatent des cas de joueurs de MMORPG recrutés sur des postes à responsabilités au regard de leurs compétences managériales acquises en jouant. Les joueurs de MMORPG développent-ils réellement des compétences managériales en jouant, et si oui, dans quelles conditions ? Pour explorer ces questions de recherche, nous fondons nos travaux sur la Théorie de l'Apprentissage Social ainsi que sur la Théorie Sociale Cognitive, toutes deux issues des recherches d'Albert Bandura. La revue de la littérature ainsi qu'une étude qualitative exploratoire (13 joueurs et anciens joueurs de MMORPG) nous amènent à proposer un modèle structurel de l'apprentissage des compétences managériales des joueurs de MMORPG. Ce modèle est testé grâce à une étude quantitative menée auprès de 4.397 individus. Deux analyses ont été réalisées. Pour la première, à visée exploratoire, permettant d'épurer les instruments de mesure, 414 questionnaires ont été validés (sur 707 reçus). Pour la seconde, à visée confirmatoire, permettant de vérifier les hypothèses, 2.628 questionnaires ont été validés (sur 3.690 reçus). Après avoir dessiné le profil des joueurs de MMORPG, nous montrons qu'il existe des phénomènes d'apprentissage de compétences managériales perçues par les joueurs, développées puis mobilisées dans les MMORPG, selon certaines conditions liées à l'environnement du jeu ainsi qu'à l'état intérieur du joueur. Le modèle proposé est ainsi validé. Les conclusions de cette recherche offrent des perspectives pour les joueurs ainsi que les organisations dans divers domaines, tels que le recrutement ou la formation, en tirant profit du potentiel des MMORPG. Des études longitudinales mériteraient d'être menées pour explorer l'évolution de l'apprentissage des joueurs de MMORPG et confirmer nos résultats

Sociologie ou politique de l’accélération ? Entretien avec Antoine Chollet

L’entretien envisage la question de l’accélération dans une perspective politique personnelle, Antoine Chollet étant l’auteur de travaux sur la question de la temporalité démocratique et sur la démocratie directe. Partant du régime d’historicité propre à la démocratie et de son imprévisibilité fondamentale – ce que l’on pourrait appeler le caractère créatif du temps démocratique –, on en vient à l’œuvre d’Hartmut Rosa, discutée et critiquée comme dépolitisante, minimisant la place de changements politiques fondamentaux, en particulier de la révolution. En ces temps de réveil politique, dans une situation déjà en fait assez éloignée de celle de 2005, année de la publication d’Accélération de Rosa, c’est sur le Manifeste accélérationniste que porte ensuite la discussion, et la critique qu’en fait Anatoine Chollet veut faire voir combien la notion d’accélération recèle de tensions.The interview considers the question of acceleration from a personal and political perspective, Antoine Chollet being the author of works on the question of democratic temporality and direct democracy. Beginning with the regime of historicity that is a feature of democracy and of its fundamental unpredictability, what could be called the creative character of democratic time, one arrives at the work of Hartmut Rosa, debated and criticised for being depoliticized, minimizing the position of fundamental political changes, particularly that of revolution. In these times of political awakening, in a situation already quite removed from that of 2005, the publication year of Rosa’s Acceleration, discussion then moves to the Accelerationist Manifesto, and to the critique that Antoine Chollet makes of it wanting us to see how much the idea of acceleration entails tensions

Catalogue of parasites and diseases of the common cockle Cerastoderma edule

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Lateral gene transfer acts as an evolutionary shortcut to efficient C4 biochemistry

The adaptation of proteins for novel functions often requires changes in their kinetics via amino acid replacement. This process can require multiple mutations, and therefore extended periods of selection. The transfer of genes among distinct species might speed up the process, by providing proteins already adapted for the novel function. However, this hypothesis remains untested in multicellular eukaryotes. The grass Alloteropsis is an ideal system to test this hypothesis due to its diversity of genes encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), an enzyme that catalyses one of the key reactions in the C4 pathway. Different accessions of Alloteropsis either use native isoforms relatively recently co-opted from other functions or isoforms that were laterally acquired from distantly related species that evolved the C4 trait much earlier. By comparing the enzyme kinetics we show that native isoforms with few amino acid replacements have substrate KM values similar to the non-C4 ancestral form, but exhibit marked increases in catalytic efficiency. The co-option of native isoforms was therefore followed by rapid catalytic improvements, which appear to rely on standing genetic variation observed within one species. Native C4 isoforms with more amino acid replacements exhibit additional changes in affinities, suggesting that the initial catalytic improvements are followed by gradual modifications. Finally, laterally acquired genes show both strong increases in catalytic efficiency and important changes in substrate handling. We conclude that the transfer of genes among distant species sharing the same physiological novelty creates an evolutionary shortcut toward more efficient enzymes, effectively accelerating evolution

Atlas des parasites et maladies de la coque commune Cerastoderma edule

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Inventario de parasitos e enfermidades do berberecho Cerastoderma edule

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Catálogo de parasitas e patologias do berbigão-vulgar Cerastoderma edule

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The evolutionary ecology of C-4 plants

C4 photosynthesis is a physiological syndrome resulting from multiple anatomical and biochemical components, which function together to increase the CO2 concentration around Rubisco and reduce photorespiration. It evolved independently multiple times and C4 plants now dominate many biomes, especially in the tropics and subtropics. The C4 syndrome comes in many flavours, with numerous phenotypic realizations of C4 physiology and diverse ecological strategies. In this work, we analyse the events that happened in a C3 context and enabled C4 physiology in the descendants, those that generated the C4 physiology, and those that happened in a C4 background and opened novel ecological niches. Throughout the manuscript, we evaluate the biochemical and physiological evidence in a phylogenetic context, which demonstrates the importance of contingency in evolutionary trajectories and shows how these constrained the realized phenotype. We then discuss the physiological innovations that allowed C4 plants to escape these constraints for two important dimensions of the ecological niche – growth rates and distribution along climatic gradients. This review shows that a comprehensive understanding of C4 plant ecology can be achieved by accounting for evolutionary processes spread over millions of years, including the ancestral condition, functional convergence via independent evolutionary trajectories, and physiological diversification