Detectings low introgression of invasive alleles in an extensively restocked game bird

Interbreeding of two species in the wild implies introgression of alleles from one species into the other only when admixed individuals survive and successfully backcross with the parental species. Consequently, estimating the proportion of first generation hybrids in a population may not inform about the evolutionary impact of hybridization. Samples obtained over a long time span may offer a more accurate view of the spreading of introgressed alleles in a species" gene pool. Common quail (Coturnix coturnix) populations in Europe have been restocked extensively with farm quails of hybrid origin (crosses with Japanese quails, C. japonica). We genetically monitored a common quail population over 15 years to investigate whether genetic introgression is occurring and used simulations to investigate our power to detect it. Our results revealed that some introgression has occurred, but we did not observe a significant increase over time in the proportion of admixed individuals. However, simulations showed that the degree of admixture may be larger than anticipated due to the limited power of analyses over a short time span, and that observed data was compatible with a low rate of introgression, probably resulting from reduced fitness of admixed individuals. Simulations predicted this could result in extensive admixture in the near future.

American Indians of the Southwest

Recorded in Indian communities by Willard Rhodes, with the cooperation of the United States Office of Indian Affairs.

Effects of punishment in a mobile population playing the prisoner’s dilemma game

We deal with a system of prisoner’s dilemma players undergoing continuous motion in a two-dimensional plane. In contrast to previous work, we introduce altruistic punishment after the game. We find punishing only a few of the cooperator-defector interactions is enough to lead the system to a cooperative state in environments where otherwise defection would take over the population. This happens even with soft nonsocial punishment (where both cooperators and defectors punish other players, a behavior observed in many human populations). For high enough mobilities or temptations to defect, low rates of social punishment can no longer avoid the breakdown of cooperation

On the structure of cooperative and competitive solutions for a generalized assignment game

We study cooperative and competitive solutions for a many- to-many generalization of Shapley and Shubik (1972)'s assignment game. We consider the Core, three other notions of group stability and two al- ternative definitions of competitive equilibrium. We show that (i) each group stable set is closely related with the Core of certain games defined using a proper notion of blocking and (ii) each group stable set contains the set of payoff vectors associated to the two definitions of competitive equilibrium. We also show that all six solutions maintain a strictly nested structure. Moreover, each solution can be identified with a set of ma- trices of (discriminated) prices which indicate how gains from trade are distributed among buyers and sellers. In all cases such matrices arise as solutions of a system of linear inequalities. Hence, all six solutions have the same properties from a structural and computational point of view.

Serious games baseados em realidade virtual para educação médica

A evolução tecnológica tem permitido utilizar novas abordagens no processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Os serious games se relacionam com uma categoria especial de jogos, voltados a conteúdos e finalidades específicos, nos quais o jogador utiliza seus conhecimentos para resolver problemas, conhecer novas problemáticas e treinar tarefas. Uma das tecnologias propícias à construção de serious games é a Realidade Virtual, que oferece ambientes computacionais tridimensionais com formas avançadas de interação capazes de prover maior motivação ao processo de aprendizagem. No contexto da educação médica, tais aplicações apresentam um nicho ainda pouco explorado, se observados sua relevância e impactos na sociedade. Este artigo apresenta os serious games baseados em Realidade Virtual como uma proposta para o ensino de conteúdos específicos da área médica. Para isso, categoriza-os e apresenta o que tem sido desenvolvido nos últimos anos, seus componentes, características de desenvolvimento e suas potencialidades como oportunidades de pesquisa, desenvolvimento e negócios.

Análise do sistema prognóstico de mortalidade apache II em pacientes cirúrgicos de unidade de terapia intensiva

O presente trabalho foi realizado na Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI) do Hospital Regional de São José Dr. Homero de Miranda Gomes (HRSJHMG) com o objetivo de observar a aplicabilidade e a exatidão do sistema preditivo Acute Phisiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) nos pacientes cirúrgicos desta unidade, comparar os resultados obtidos com aqueles observados em outros centros, e, talvez, como principal objetivo, servir como um parâmetro basal para a performance desta UTI, no que refere à abordagem/tratamento do paciente cirúrgico. Trata-se de um estudo clínico pros- pectivo, não controlado, realizado na UTI do HRSJHMG. Foram estudados consecutivamente todos os pacientes cirúrgicos que necessitaram de cuidados intensivos por um período superior a 24 horas no período de janeiro a julho de 1996. Os principais resultados obtidos demonstraram haver uma boa correlação entre a mortalidade real (38,09%) e a prevista pelo sistema APACHE II (24,57%), apresentando uma relação entre a mortalidade real e a prevista (SRM) de 1,55.

O sistema Apache II e o prognóstico de pacientes submetidos às operações de grande e pequeno porte

OBJETIVO: Geral: avaliar o desempenho do sistema APACHE II no pré-operatório de operações de grande e pequeno porte como indicador prognóstico. Os objetivos secundários são: (a) avaliar o sistema no pré-operatório para predizer morbidade; (b) comparar resultados entre os dois grupos e; (c) comparar a mortalidade observada com a esperada, calculada pela Equação de Knaus. MÉTODO: Estudo de coorte prospectivo, por 30 meses. No Grupo 1, correspondente à operação de pequeno porte, incluídos 30 pacientes submetidos a herniorrafia inguinal. No Grupo 2, correspondente à operação de grande porte, incluídos 50 casos, sendo: 20 submetidos à esofagectomia, 20 à gastrectomia e 10 à duodenopancreatectomia cefálica. RESULTADOS: A média do APACHE II no Grupo 1 foi de 2,5 pontos (0 a 8 pontos).No Grupo 2 teve média de 3,9 pontos (0 a 12 pontos). A morbidez tanto geral quando calculada de acordo com índice de pontos baixo, moderado e alto, apresentaram significância na comparação de ambos grupos pelo teste quiquadrado (p<0,00001). A mortalidade geral e o índice alto de pontos, no cálculo quiquadrado corrigido Yates, apresentaram diferença entre os grupos (p<0,001 e p<0,0005). Estratificada a mortalidade por classe de pontos, esta não foi diferente nas classes de baixa e moderada pontuação. CONCLUSÕES: O sistema demonstrou tendência para predizer desfecho a pacientes submetidos à operação de grande porte. Pacientes apresentando, no pré-operatório de operações de grande porte, APACHE II acima de oito apresentam índice elevado de morbidez e mortalidade.

Managerial decision-making style : India, Bangladesh, and Finland : cultural side of the game

Julkaisumaa Intia 356 IN IND

Mobiilipelit oppimisen tukena

Mobiililaitteet ovat yleistyneet merkittävästi viime vuosina ja etenkin nuoret käyttävät niitä yhä enemmän pelaamiseen. Opetuksessa tarvitaan keinoja, joilla oppilaita voidaan motivoida omaksumaan uusia asioita. Tämän projektin tavoitteena oli selvittää miten nämä kaksi asiaa voidaan yhdistää eli miten mobiilipelejä voidaan hyödyntää opetuksessa. Asian selvittämiseksi työssä määriteltiin ja toteutettiin mobiilipeli, jota lopulta testattiin opetusympäristössä. Testien myötä havaittiin, että mobiilipelit lisäävät oppilaiden innostusta opeteltavaan aihepiiriin ja voivat olla todella hyödyllinen apuväline opetuksessa.

Finnish game developers’ perception on public and private funding sources: a survey analysis

The aim of this study is to find out how game companies perceive the three traditional funding sources and how well their opinions and needs are reflected on the choices they make. To accomplish this, 20 game companies were questioned about multiple topics with the help of Tekes and Neogames. The results of this study show that game developers clearly differentiate the three major funding sources and the public sector ends up being the most significant source of external funding. This study also points out that most game companies are indeed facing issues in acquiring funding as well as various other resources.

Stock Price Reactions on M&A, Dividends and Game Releases. Evidence from Gaming Industry.

A rapidly growing gaming industry, which specializes on PC, console, online and other games, attracts attention of investors and analysts, who try to understand what drives changes of the gaming industry companies’ stock prices. This master thesis shows the evidence that, besides long-established types of events (M&A and dividend payments), the companies’ stock price changes depend on industry-specific events. I analyzed specific for gaming industry events - game releases with respect to its subdivisions: new games-sequels, games ratings and subdivision according to a developer of a game (self-developed by publisher or outsourced). The master thesis analyzes stock prices of 55 companies from gaming industry from all over the world. The research period covers 5 year, spreading from April 2008 to April 2013. Executed with an event study method, results of the research show that all the analyzed events types have significant influence on the stock prices of the gaming industry companies. The current master thesis suggests that acquisitions in the industry affect positively bidders’ and targets’ stock prices. Mergers events cause positive stock price reactions as well. But dividends payments and game releases events influence negatively on the stock prices. Game releases’ effect is up to -2.2% of cumulative average abnormal return (CAAR) drop during the first ten days after the game releases. Having researched different kinds of events and identified the direction of their impact, the current paper can be of high value for investors, seeking profits in the gaming industry, and other interested parties.

Motivointi pelillistämisen avulla

Työ käsittelee ihmisten motivointia hyödyntäen pelillistämistä. Työhön kuuluu myös mobiilisovelluksen toteutus, jolla pyritään vaikuttamaan julkisen liikenteen käytön kavattamiseen. Pelillistämisen käyttäminen sovelluksissa on kasvanut huimasti varsinkin mobiililaitteiden yleistymisen myötä. Pelillistämisellä pyritään vaikuttamaan ihmisten käyttäytymiseen pelielementtien avulla. Eli pelielementit, kuten pisteet ja saavutukset, tuodaan reaalimaailmaan ja käyttäjä palkitaan suorituksesta välittömästi. Työssä käydään läpi kaksi pelillistämistutkimusesimerkkiä, EcoIsland ja Orientation Passport, ja niiden havainnot. Pelillistämisen tehokkuuden tutkiminen on vaikeata, mutta yleisesti sitä pidetään toimivana. Kuitenkaan mikään taianomainen työkalu se ei ole.

Designing a user interface for game developers to enter game specific information

Designing user interfaces for novel software systems can be challenging since the usability preferences of the users are not well known. This thesis presents a usability study conducted for the development of a user interface for game developers to enter game specific information. By conducting usability testing, the usability preferences of game developers were explored and the design was shaped according to their needs. An assessment of the overall usability of the final design is provided together with the main findings that include the usability preferences and design recommendations. The results showed that the most valuable usability preferences are quickness, error tolerance and the ability to constantly inspect the entered information.