A Video Game for Entrepreneurship Learning in Ecuador: Development Study

BACKGROUND

Games have been a part of human life since ancient times and are taught to children and adults who want to simultaneously have fun and learn. Nevertheless, in the third decade of this century, technology invites us to consider using video games to learn topics such as entrepreneurship. However, developing a serious game (SG) is difficult because everyone who forms part of the game development team requires adequate learning resources to acquire the necessary information and improve their game development skills.

OBJECTIVE

This work aimed to detail the experience gained in developing ATIC (Aprende, Trabaja, Innova, Conquista [learn, work, innovate, conquer]), an SG proposed for teaching and learning entrepreneurship.

METHODS

To develop a videogame, first, we established a game development team formed by professors, professionals, and students who have different roles in this project. Scrum was adopted as a project management method. To create concept art for the video game, designers collected ideas from various games, known as "getting references." In contrast, narratology considers the life of a recent university graduate immersed in real life, considering locations, characteristics, and representative characters from an essential city of Ecuador.

RESULTS

In a Unity 3D video game in ATIC, the life of a university student who graduates and ventures into a world full of opportunities, barriers, and risks, where the player needs to make decisions, is simulated. The art of this video game, including sounds and music, is based on the landscape and characteristics of and characters from Cuenca, Ecuador. The game aims to teach entrepreneurs the mechanisms and processes to form their businesses. Thus, we developed the following elements of an SG: (1) world, (2) objects, (3) agents, and (4) events.

CONCLUSIONS

The narrative, mechanics, and art of video games are relevant. However, project management tools such as leaderboards and appointments are crucial to influencing individuals' decision to continue to play, or not play, an SG. Developing a serious video game is not an easy task. It was essential to consider many factors, such as the video game audience, needs of learning, context, similarities with the real world, narrative, game mechanics, game art, and game sounds. However, overall, the primary purpose of a serious video game is to transmit knowledge in a fun way and to give adequate and timely feedback to the gamer. Finally, nothing is possible if the members of game development team are not satisfied with the project and not clear about their roles.

Ternary diagrams as a tool for developing ceramic materials from waste: relationship between technological properties and microstructure

The present work proposes the manufacture of ceramic construction materials using raw materials which are only industrial wastes from different production processes (electric arc furnace steel slag, coal bottom ash, carbon fly ash, and oil-filtering diatomaceous-earth). From them, the SiO₂-Al₂O₃-CaO equilibrium phase diagram has been used to formulate two materials compositions with the objective of obtaining ceramics whose chemical composition is located in the same area as a traditional clay-based material, but with two different technological behaviors: refractoriness due to calcium phase's development and densification due to a greater melting capacity. The waste-based pieces have been sintered at three firing temperatures (1000 °C, 1050 °C, and 1100 °C) and the mineralogical composition has been quantified by Rietveld refinement-XRD in order to establish the agreement between the phases foreseen by the formulations in the diagrams and the mineralogical compositions actually developed after the sintering treatment. In addition, fired materials have been subjected to a complete microstructural characterization by means of SEM-EDX and the pore size distribution has been determined by means of mercury intrusion porosimetry and helium pycnometry. In general, all obtained materials display adequate technological properties for their use as building materials so this characterization has allowed to show the suitability of the ternary diagram SiO₂-Al₂O₃-CaO for the design of ceramic compositions from industrial wastes. Therefore, extending the use of phase diagrams as a design tool is still little explored for waste-based ceramics, and those that have been mainly used for studying Mg-based phases can have an important contribution to a more sustainable construction sector.

Optimizing a low added value bentonite as adsorbent material to remove pesticides from water

A local low value bentonite from Southern Spain (Raw Bentonite), previously decarbonated (Bent), was modified to improve its pesticide adsorption capacity with Fe³⁺, hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) and the biopolymer chitosan (CH). Adsorption of pesticides on powdered samples showed that Fe³⁺ and HDTMA were appropriate modifiers for this purpose. The modification was optimized by saturation with Fe³⁺ (Bent-Fe) and hexadecyltrimethylammonium (Bent-HDTMA) and the obtained adsorbents were characterized by several physicochemical techniques (X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray fluorescence, physisorption of N₂). Their adsorption capacity to remove three widely used pesticides in Andalusian crops (terbuthylazine, tebuconazole and MCPA) from water was assessed and compared with the commercial organoclay Cloisite® 10A (Clo10). The modified bentonites adsorbed the selected pesticides in a percentage ranging from 30 to 100%, whereas sorption on Clo10 ranged from 30 to 90%. For their possible use as filtering beds, Bent-HDTMA, Bent-Fe and Clo10 were granulated by using three different binders (colophony resin and carnauba and bee waxes) at three different mixing ratios and the water resistance and pesticide adsorption of the granules were measured. Results showed that the granulation process did not alter the pesticide adsorption capacity of the powdered modified bentonites, and both waxes granules (carnauba and bee wax) showed better behavior than resin granules. In this work, we succeeded in the preparation of granulated adsorbents derived from a low cost material with similar behavior against a high purity smectite (precursor of Cloisite® 10A). This raises an alternative for this waste material to be used in filter systems for removing pesticides from contaminated water.

Coworking spaces: a new way of achieving productivity

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationship between coworking spaces and productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

A research model was designed to carry out the analysis. Specifically, this model attempts to reveal the influence of social interactions and the coworking environment on productivity. Furthermore, three moderated variables were incorporated into the model: gender, age and level of education. A Web-based survey was conducted.

Findings

The findings confirm the positive influence of social interactions and coworking environment on productivity.

Research limitations/implications

There are two limitations. First, it is based on the perception of coworkers. It would be interesting to add the perception of coworking space managers to provide more solid findings. The second limitation is that it has not suggested any additional potential factors which could affect productivity.

Practical implications

Implications of this study are grouped into two categories. First, from an academic perspective, it contributes to the development of knowledge about the increasing use of coworking spaces. Second, from a managerial perspective, this paper highlights how environmental factors and the facilities of a workplace can help to achieve better conditions for productivity, in particular in coworking spaces.

Social implications

Furthermore, the use of social interactions in professional relationships can be understood as an alternative way to carry out new ways of doing business.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the enrichment of knowledge-concerning coworking spaces developed a pioneering study.

SOS1 over-expression in genital skin fibroblasts from hirsute women: a putative role of the SOS1/RAS pathway in the pathogenesis of hirsutism

Hirsutism is the development of androgen-dependent terminal body hair in women in places in which terminal hair are normally not found. It is often associated with hyperandrogenemia and/or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but the existence of uncommom hirsutism forms that are not related to altered androgen plasma levels lead also to the definition of - idiopathic hirsutism. Although the pathophysiology of hirsutism has been linked to increasing 5-alpha reductase (SRD5A) activity and to an alteration of the androgen receptor (AR) transcriptional machinery, many aspects remain unclear. In particular, the relationships between androgens and local factors are poorly understood. In the present paper, we selected for a genital skin biopsy, 8 women affected with severe hirsutism (Ferriman-Gallway score greater than 25) but with normal plasma androgen levels, with the exception of slightly higher serum 3alpha-diol-glucuronide levels, and 6 healthy controls and analyzed their androgen- and insulin-specific transcriptional profile using a specific custom low density microarray (AndroChip 2, GPL9164). We identified the over-expression of the Son of Sevenless-1 (SOS1) gene in all of the hirsute skin fibroblast primary cell cultures compared to control healthy women. Since SOS1 is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor that couples receptor tyrosine kinases to the RAS signaling pathway that controls cell proliferation and differentiation, we further analyzed SOS1 expression, protein level and RAS signaling activation pathway in an in vitro model (NHDF, normal human dermal fibroblast cell line). NHDF treated for 24 h with different concentrations of DHT and T showed an increase in SOS1 levels (both mRNA and protein) and also an activation of the RAS pathway. Our in vivo and in vitro data represent a novel preliminary observation that factors activating SOS1 could act as local proliferative modulators linked to the androgen pathway in the pilosebaceous unit. SOS1 over-expression may play a role in the regulation of the RAS/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in the skin, in the hair follicle proliferation and cell cycle, suggesting new perspectives in understanding the pathogenesis of idiopathic hirsutism.

Gene expression profile study in CFTR mutated bronchial cell lines

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the cystic fibrosis conductance transmembrane regulator (CFTR). Symptoms are pancreatic insufficiency, chronic obstructive lung disease, liver disease, chronic sinusitis and infertility in male patients. The phenotypic variability may be explained only in part by the more than 1200 CFTR mutations, which are grouped into six different classes, according to their effect on the protein ranging from a severe (no synthesis or blocked processing) to mild mutation (altered conductance or reduced synthesis). However, it is now accepted that other genes (CF modifiers) influence the phenotypic spectrum of the disease. In order to identify CF modifier genes, we built a low-density home-made oligoarray containing 144 genes selected according to biochemical criteria and evaluated their expression in two CF bronchial epithelial cell lines (CuFi1 F508del/F508del; CuFi3 F508del/R553X). If we consider both cell lines, 38 genes (26.3%) show an altered expression pattern with a threshold > +/-1.5. Of these 38 genes, 12 are altered in CuFi1, and 26 in CuFi3. Some of these genes share the same expression pattern in both cell lines, while others have a different behaviour. These results were validated by a QRT-PCR assay (R2 CuFi1 = 0.81 and R2 CuFi3 = 0.91). These data could suggest that the presence of a class I allele (R553X) determines a more profound alteration of gene expression pattern than the presence of a class II allele (F508del). The identification of the genes altered by a specific CF mutation could lead to the development of a pharmacological approach specific for different CFTR genotypes.

IST1 insertional inactivation of the resB gene: implications for phenotypic switching in Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

Thiobacillus ferroxidans ATCC 19859 undergoes rapid phenotypic switching between a wild-type state characterized by the ability to oxidize ferrous iron (FeII) and reduced sulfur compounds and a mutant state where it has lost the capacity to oxidize FeII but retains the ability to oxidize sulfur. The mutant has also gained the capacity to swarm. It is proposed that loss of FeII oxidation is due to the reversible transposition of the insertion sequence IST1 into resB encoding a putative cytochrome c-type biogenesis protein. Downstream from resB and co-transcribed with it is resC, encoding another putative cytochrome biogenesis protein. IST1 insertional inactivation of resB could result in the loss of activity of its target c-type cytochrome(s). This putative target cytochrome(s) is proposed to be essential for FeII oxidation but not for sulfur oxidation. Curiously, resB and resC pertain to the proposed system II cytochrome biogenesis pathway whereas gamma Proteobacteria, of which T. ferrooxidans is a member, normally use system I. This could represent an example of lateral gene transfer.

Semantic features and semantic categories: differences in rapid activation of the lexicon

Robust priming was shown in a semantic categorization task for prime-target pairs which shared semantic features (e.g., pumpkin-squash). Priming facilitation for these pairs was demonstrated at extremely rapid prime exposures (28 and 43 ms) and increased with prime duration. The onset and amount of facilitation differed significantly for these semantic, nonassociative pairs and for associative-semantic prime-target pairs (e.g., cow-bull). The latter pairs produced facilitation, but later (at prime-target SOAs of 70 and 200 ms) and of lesser magnitude. These results are discussed in relation to three current models of semantic memory: spreading activation, compound cue, and distributed models.