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

Developmental changes in the histological structure of the testes, and testosterone profiles in male guinea fowls (Numida meleagris)

Owing to the paucity of information on the reproductive biology of guinea fowls, a study involving a total of 66 males was conducted, and documented the developmental changes in histological structure of the testes of guinea cocks from hatching until adulthood. Changes in testosterone synthesis during sexual development were also determined. Age-related changes were analysed using univariate analysis for completely randomised design and means separated using Tukey's test/Kruskal-Wallis test and medians separated by Mann-Whitney U test. Total germ cell population per testis and testicular histological morphometric parameters increased significantly (p < 0.0001) from 12 weeks of age (WOA), and stabilized between 20 and 24 WOA. Peripheral testosterone concentrations increased gradually from 4 WOA, and peaked at 20 WOA. Correlations among all the testicular morphometric parameters were positive and highly significant (p < 0.01). Similarly, significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations existed between testicular weight and testicular sperm production, tubular diameter, Sertoli cell population, tubular length and peripheral testosterone concentration. Testicular sperm production was positively correlated with meiotic index (p < 0.01) and round spermatids population (p < 0.05). The correlations between peripheral testosterone concentrations, tubular diameter and Sertoli efficiency were also significant (p < 0.05) and positive. Testicular morphometric parameters stabilized between 20 and 24 WOA, while peripheral testosterone concentrations showed two patterns of secretion, initial and final phases of increasing and decreasing testosterone secretions, respectively, and may be implicated in the development of histological structures of the testes and spermatogenesis. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Monthly and Diurnal Variability of Rain Rate and Rain Attenuation during the Monsoon Period in Malaysia

Rain is the major source of attenuation for microwave propagation above 10 GHz. In tropical and equatorial regions where the rain intensity is higher, designing a terrestrial and earth-to-satellite microwave links is very critical and challenging at these frequencies. This paper presents the preliminary results of rain effects in a 23 GHz terrestrial point-to-point communication link 1.3km long. The experimental test bed had been set up at Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. In this area, a monsoon equatorial climate prevails and the rainfall rate can reach values well above 100mm/h with significant monthly and diurnal variability. Hence, it is necessary to implement a mitigation technique for maintaining an adequate radio link performance for the action of very heavy rain. Since we now know that the ULPC (Up Link Power Control) cannot guarantee the desired performance, a solution based on frequency band diversity is proposed in this paper. Here, a secondary radio link operating in a frequency not affected by rain (C band for instance) is placed parallel with the main link. Under no rain or light rain conditions, the secondary link carries without priority radio signals. When there is an outage of the main link due to rain, the secondary link assumes the priority traffic. The outcome of the research shows a solution for higher operating frequencies during rainy events

On entropy, specific heat, susceptibility and Rushbrooke inequality in percolation

We investigate percolation, a probabilistic model for continuous phase transition (CPT), on square and weighted planar stochastic lattices. In its thermal counterpart, entropy is minimally low where order parameter (OP) is maximally high and vice versa. Besides, specific heat, OP and susceptibility exhibit power-law when approaching the critical point and the corresponding critical exponents $\alpha, \beta, \gamma$ respectably obey the Rushbrooke inequality (RI) $\alpha+2\beta+\gamma\geq 2$. Their analogues in percolation, however, remain elusive. We define entropy, specific heat and redefine susceptibility for percolation and show that they behave exactly in the same way as their thermal counterpart. We also show that RI holds for both the lattices albeit they belong to different universality classes.Comment: 5 pages, 3 captioned figures, to appear as a Rapid Communication in Physical Review E, 201

High-Dimensional Stochastic Design Optimization by Adaptive-Sparse Polynomial Dimensional Decomposition

This paper presents a novel adaptive-sparse polynomial dimensional decomposition (PDD) method for stochastic design optimization of complex systems. The method entails an adaptive-sparse PDD approximation of a high-dimensional stochastic response for statistical moment and reliability analyses; a novel integration of the adaptive-sparse PDD approximation and score functions for estimating the first-order design sensitivities of the statistical moments and failure probability; and standard gradient-based optimization algorithms. New analytical formulae are presented for the design sensitivities that are simultaneously determined along with the moments or the failure probability. Numerical results stemming from mathematical functions indicate that the new method provides more computationally efficient design solutions than the existing methods. Finally, stochastic shape optimization of a jet engine bracket with 79 variables was performed, demonstrating the power of the new method to tackle practical engineering problems.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Sparse Grids and Applications--Stuttgart 2014, Lecture Notes in Computational Science and Engineering 109, edited by J. Garcke and D. Pfl\"{u}ger, Springer International Publishing, 201

Analisis Pasal 59 Ayat (1) Undang-undang Nomor 48 Tahun 2009 Tentang Kekuasaan Kehakiman di Bidang Arbitrase Syariah

Kemajuan ekonomi syariah yang positif khususnya perbankan syariah sehingga proses pertumbuhan sangat potensial munculnya sengketa. Penyelesaian sengketa tersebut para pihak dapat menyelesaikan melalui peradilan dan diluar peradilan. Munculnya UU No. 3 Tahun 2006 tentang Peradilan Agama yang mengakomodir sengketa ekonomi syariah, sengketa ekonomi syariah tersebut diselesaikan oleh Badan Arbitrase Syariah Nasional (Basyarnas). Perkembangan eksistensi Basyarnas belum sesuai harapan ketika eksekusi putusan Basyarnas tersebut tidak dilaksanakan, sebagaimana kasus putusan Basyarnas atas sengketa antara PT Bank Syariah Mandiri melawan Termohon PT Atriumasta Sakti. Hadirnya Undang-undang Nomor 48 Tahun 2009 Kekuasaan Kehakiman yang memunculkan permasalahan hukum baru dan berakibat kaburnya atas kewenangan absolut peradilan agama khususnya berkaitan dengan ekonomi syariah dan tarik menarik kewenangan antara peradilan agama dengan peradilan negeri dalam hal eksekusi putusan arbitrase syariah. Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode yuridis normatif. Hasil penelitian menyimpulkan bahwa UU Nomor 48 Tahun 2009 Tentang Kekuasaan Kehakiman belum konsisten terhadap pasal 49 UU Nomor 3 Tahun 2006 tentang Perubahan UU Peradilan Agama dan pasal 55 UU Nomor 21 Tahun 2008 tentang Perbankan Syariah. Pasal 59 ayat (1) UU Nomor 48 Tahun 2009 Tentang Kekuasaan Kehakiman belum memenuhi unsur kepastian hukum karena tidak memenuhi unsur-unsur kepastian hukum sebagaimana teori Jan Michiel Otto. Kata Kunci: Kekuasaan Kehakiman, Badan Arbitrase Syariah Nasional, kepastian huku

Norms and Values in Japanese Democracy Assistance Towards Southeast Asia Countries, 2008 – 2013

Japan has a unique way in interpreting its involvement in global movement of democratization. Although Japan boosts an adequate experience in transition to democracy after World War II as well as the economic prowess, Japan\u27s participation in democratization Internationally has been very low for more than 50 years. The Japanese involvement in democracy assistance around the world can be considered minor compared to other donor countries, especially among the OECD DAC members. In relation with regional priority, Japanese ODA consistently place Southeast Asia as the main target for development assistance but with lesser compliance with supporting governance and civil society known as the core component of democracy assistance. While Japan has adopted new foreign policy strategy known as the “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity”, including Southeast Asia region, there still remains a need and opportunity to increase Japan\u27s engagement in democratization process, either by promoting or protecting democracy

Pencarian Informasi Skripsi Pada Pustaka Fakultas Ilmu Komputer Universitas Lancang Kuning

In recent years, growth-up amount document collection which comprising electronic data information increasingly, requirement to find relevant information data digital progressively to be important. One of way popular to find the information is using boolean basic operator, that is AND, OR and NOT. Standard mechanism to support boolean basic query is using inverted index file. For the extract document and make the tables of term inverted index is grouping term value in hexa decimal, used by parsing step, remove stopword, stemming and weighting.Applying basic boolean for the seeking Skripsi in Computer Science in Lancang Kuning University, conducting seeking of query string which is input from user to term inverted data. Then give respon to user in the form of title, brief description and document address as according to wanted seeking logic, and also sort the relevant document pursuant to ranking from itself term