Playing at bullying : the postmodern ethic of Bully (Canis Canem edit)

This essay discusses Bully (Canis Canem Edit), considering the game's antecedents (narratives involving young people in school settings) and the features which set it apart from other teen texts. It discusses the controversy surrounding the game and comes to the conclusion that the principal reason
for unease on the part of parents and educational authorities is that Bully's postmodernist ethic evades the binaries of liberal humanism and calls into question the foundations on which conventional ethical systems are based. Tbe paper considers several episodes from the game to flesh out its arguments about how the game manifests features of postmodernist textuality in its propensity for simultaneously deploying and interrogating references to historical and contemporary cultural practices.

Aggressive tax planning : differentiating those playing the game from those who don't

The study reported in this paper examined a group of Australian taxpayers who have expressed a preference for a creative and aggressive tax agent. The study attempted to understand how high-risk taxpayers and high-risk practitioners form their partnerships by examining aggressive taxpayers' attitudes and perceptions of the Australian tax system. Data were taken from 2040 Australian taxpayers who had responded to a national survey on tax issues. Results from a series of independent sample t-tests revealed that there are a number of important differences between 'aggressive' and 'non-aggressive' taxpayers. Finally, a logistic regression analysis was used to determine which variables most effectively differentiated aggressive taxpayers from non-aggressive taxpayers. The findings are discussed in a regulatory context and possible solutions for how tax authorities might deal with this high-risk group of taxpayer are suggested.

Playing the Agnes : Hester Thrale-Piozzi and Frances Burney

Guided by the feminist intention of reasserting the importance of neglected female writers, I have used this work to re-examine the lives and texts of eighteenth-century diarists Hester Thrale-Piozzi and Frances Burney. Adopting an interdisciplinary methodology, I draw on both literary and non-literary material to examine the effect of familial and social patriarchy in eighteenth-century England. Using the diaries, journals and letters of Hester and Frances, I ask why female conformity to masculine domination was expected, and how violence was used to extract subserviant behaviour from women. Beginning with gossip, and encompassing social, editorial and physical abuse, I use the medical profession's manipulation of female vulnerability to exemplify the way society legitimates violence to ensure female ductility. Moving beyond this physical aspect, I then examine the psychical, and question the existence of a ‘self’ which is vulnerable to external manipulation. By diverging from the influence of Freudian psychology, and developing a form of Jungian feminism, I propose the existence of an essential female Self which transcends the constraints of societal expectations and physical violence. In this work, both Hester and Frances emerge as physically and psychically strong entities who were forced to adopt socially conformist personae to survive.

Playing with reggio spaces in higher education for teacher education

In its attention to how space can be thoughtfully arranged, Reggio Emilia has “reconceptualised space as a key source of educational provocation and insight” (Strong-Wilson & Ellis, 2007, p. 40). Such an approach advocates that educators pay close attention to the myriad of ways that space can be made to speak and invite interaction. Theorists recognise eight key principles (aesthetics, transparency, active learning, flexibility, collaboration, reciprocity, bringing the outdoors in, and relationships) which are considered essential to the notion of environment as third teacher. Drawing upon a successful capital rebuilding grant, this presentation outlines the process of reconceptualising and building a space for flexible research, teaching and learning within higher education. This presentation interrogates the successes and challenges which arise when innovating within a traditional space.

A comparative study of banking in China and India, non-performing loans and the level playing field

It has become common in the literature to compare India and China, two remarkably growing economies, but these comparisons often do not take into account the institutional differences between these two countries. We have in this paper done a comparative analysis of banking institutions in China and India taking into accounts the contentious issue of nonperforming loans along with the issue of use of banks to provide countervailable subsidies to exporting organizations. Our research shows that the efficiency differences between banks in these two countries can be directly related to institutional difference and any comparative study between these countries not taking into consideration these institutional differences may lead to misleading results.

A comparative study of banking in China and India, nonperforming loans and the level playing field

It has become common in literature to compare India and China two remarkably growing economies but these comparisons often do not take into account the institutional differences between two countries. We have in this paper done a comparative analysis of banking institutions in China and India taking into accounts the contentious issue of nonperforming loans along with the issue of use of banks to provide countervailable subsidies to exporting organizations. Our research shows that the efficiency differences between banks in these two countries can be directly related to institutional difference between two countries and any comparative study between two countries not taking into consideration these institutional differences may lead to misleading results.

Gifted are lifted higher : an exploration of the development of higher order thinking skills of gifted students playing strategy games

Strategy games can provide an opportunity to develop higher order thinking skills in students gifted in mathematics. Extending and engaging gifted students is a demanding task. This paper reports on a twelve-week project undertaken with a group of nine gifted lower secondary school students. These students played and analysed five traditional strategy games. Following this experience, they were asked to create a challenging strategy game of their own. This paper discusses the rationale for the use of traditional strategy games, outlines the methodology employed, explains the selection of specific games and describes the observed improvement in students' higher order thinking skills.

The contribution of upper limb and total body movement to adolescents’ energy expenditure whilst playing Nintendo Wii

Little research documents the contribution of upper limb and total body movement to energy expenditure (EE) during active video gaming. To address this, EE, heart rate (HR), and, upper limb and total body movement were assessed in 11- to 17-year-old adolescents whilst playing three active (Nintendo Wii) and one sedentary (XBOX 360) video games. Non-dominant upper limb activity, EE and HR were significantly greater during Wii Sports boxing [mean 267.2 (SD 115.8) J kg−1 min−1; 136.7 (24.5) beats min−1] than tennis or bowling (P ≤ 0.044). For all active games hip activity best predicted EE (R 2 ≥ 0.53), with two-measure models of HR and single-site activity data, and multi-site activity data, similarly explaining the variance in EE (R 2 ≥ 0.64). The physiological cost of upper-body orientated active video games increased when movement of both upper limbs was encouraged. Improvements in EE explanatory power provide support for multi-site activity monitoring during unique, non-ambulatory activities.

Energy expenditure in adolescents playing new generation computer games

Objective: To compare the energy expenditure of adolescents when playing sedentary and new generation active computer games.

Design: Cross sectional comparison of four computer games. Setting Research laboratories.

Participants: Six boys and five girls aged 13–15 years.

Procedure: Participants were fitted with a monitoring device validated to predict energy expenditure. They played four computer games for 15 minutes each. One of the games was sedentary (XBOX 360) and the other three were active (Wii Sports).

Main outcome measure: Predicted energy expenditure, compared using repeated measures analysis of variance.

Results: Mean (standard deviation) predicted energy expenditure when playing Wii Sports bowling (190.6 (22.2) kl/kg/min), tennis (202.5 (31.5) kl/kg/min), and boxing (198.1 (33.9) kl/kg/min) was significantly greater than when playing sedentary games (125.5 (13.7) kl/kg/min) (P<0.001). Predicted energy expenditure was at least 65.1 (95% confidence interval 47.3 to 82.9) kl/kg/min greater when playing active rather than sedentary games.

Conclusions: Playing new generation active computer games uses significantly more energy than playing sedentary computer games but not as much energy as playing the sport itself. The energy used when playing active Wii Sports games was not of high enough intensity to contribute towards the recommended daily amount of exercise in children.

Comparison of energy expenditure in adolescents when playing new generation and sedentary computer games: cross sectional study

Objective : To compare the energy expenditure of adolescents when playing sedentary and new generation active computer games.

Design : Cross sectional comparison of four computer games.

Setting : Research laboratories.

Participants : Six boys and five girls aged 13-15 years.

Procedure : Participants were fitted with a monitoring device validated to predict energy expenditure. They played four computer games for 15 minutes each. One of the games was sedentary (XBOX 360) and the other three were active (Wii Sports).

Main outcome measure : Predicted energy expenditure, compared using repeated measures analysis of variance.

Results : Mean (standard deviation) predicted energy expenditure when playing Wii Sports bowling (190.6 (22.2) kJ/kg/min), tennis (202.5 (31.5) kJ/kg/min), and boxing (198.1 (33.9) kJ/kg/min) was significantly greater than when playing sedentary games (125.5 (13.7) kJ/kg/min) (P<0.001). Predicted energy expenditure was at least 65.1 (95% confidence interval 47.3 to 82.9) kJ/kg/min greater when playing active rather than sedentary games.

Conclusions : Playing new generation active computer games uses significantly more energy than playing sedentary computer games but not as much energy as playing the sport itself. The energy used when playing active Wii Sports games was not of high enough intensity to contribute towards the recommended daily amount of exercise in children.

The effects of playing violent video games on adolescents : should parents be quaking in their boots?

Debate regarding the psychological and behavioural effects of playing violent video games has recently led to claims that violent video games increase aggression effects in adolescents, and that this issue has now been settled. However, other researchers have found either no detrimental effects from game playing or even positive (cathartic) effects. In this research we demonstrate that these different conclusions are not mutually exclusive and can be explained by the method of assessment and analytic techniques utilised. We had adolescents play a violent video game (Quake II) and took measurements of anger both before, during and after game play. The results demonstrated that some people increase, some decrease and the majority show no change in anger ratings. Unlike past research, we also demonstrate that these changes are mediated by the player's feelings immediately prior to game play and a labile temperament - one predisposed to aggression - and that these variables predict people's reactions with an average 73% concordance rate.