The implications of non-fungible tokens in video games from the perspective of the stakeholder capitalism theory

Abstract. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) make it possible for companies to give consumers a unique piece of digital data that is represented on a blockchain. Where traditionally, an item in a game was just some code that could technically easily be copied, NFTs can make this game item truly unique and scarce. In this research, the impact of NFTs on stakeholders in a gaming ecosystem is explored. The developments within the gaming sector regarding NFTs are looked at from the perspective of three principles of the stakeholder capitalism theory, which are the principles of cooperation, engagement, and responsibility. The impact of the implementation of NFTs in games on stakeholders is evaluated from the perspective of these three principles to better understand how NFTs impact the different stakeholder groups in a gaming ecosystem. For this study, information was gathered by means of semi-structured interviews with five respondents. These respondents are all active in the NFT gaming industry, including CEOs of game development companies, researchers, and game designers. The findings show several themes that currently play in the NFT gaming scene. Gamers can be engaged with NFTs while also investors and smaller game developers may be engaged more effectively. Also, the cooperation between stakeholders may be improved with NFTs. Though, there are concerns regarding the use of NFTs in games with regard to the responsibilities of the different stakeholder groups. One of the contributions of this study is the identification of the different stakeholder groups that are part of an NFT gaming ecosystem and their relations with each other. Furthermore, several managerial implications are presented for game developers based on the conclusions. Game developers should take into account the impact NFTs may have on their game design. For example, the fact that NFTs can have a monetary value means that the in-game economics may become more complex. Also, in certain situations, a game may be developed via a Decentralized Autonomous Organisation (DAO), meaning NFT and token holders can vote on development proposals. This may change the role a game developer has compared to traditional game development. Expanding the knowledge of NFTs in games is necessary as, for some, Play-to-Earn has become a source of income. If this trend continues, the field of NFTs and Play-to-Earn may play an important role in the future economy

Geschikte eulitorale gebieden in de Nederlandse Waddenzee voor het voorkomen van meerjarige natuurlijke mosselbanken : samenvatting

In het rapport wordt een habitatgeschiktheidskaart voor mosselbanken in de Nederlandse Waddenzee gepresenteerd; de kaart geeft aan welke delen van het waddengebied het meest geschikt zijn voor het voorkomen van natuurlijke mosselbanken. De basis voor de kaart bestaat uit allerlei omgevingskenmerken; in het rapport wordt uitgebreid ingegaan op de analysemethode en de betekenis van de resultate

Cancer Biology Data Curation at the Mouse Tumor Biology Database (MTB)

Many advances in the field of cancer biology have been made using mouse models of human cancer. The Mouse Tumor Biology (MTB, "http://tumor.informatics.jax.org":http://tumor.informatics.jax.org) database provides web-based access to data on spontaneous and induced tumors from genetically defined mice (inbred, hybrid, mutant, and genetically engineered strains of mice). These data include standardized tumor names and classifications, pathology reports and images, mouse genetics, genomic and cytogenetic changes occurring in the tumor, strain names, tumor frequency and latency, and literature citations.

Although primary source for the data represented in MTB is peer-reviewed scientific literature an increasing amount of data is derived from disparate sources. MTB includes annotated histopathology images and cytogenetic assay images for mouse tumors where these data are available from The Jackson Laboratory’s mouse colonies and from outside contributors. MTB encourages direct submission of mouse tumor data and images from the cancer research community and provides investigators with a web-accessible tool for image submission and annotation. 

Integrated searches of the data in MTB are facilitated by the use of several controlled vocabularies and by adherence to standard nomenclature. MTB also provides links to other related online resources such as the Mouse Genome Database, Mouse Phenome Database, the Biology of the Mammary Gland Web Site, Festing's Listing of Inbred Strains of Mice, the JAX® Mice Web Site, and the Mouse Models of Human Cancers Consortium's Mouse Repository. 

MTB provides access to data on mouse models of cancer via the internet and has been designed to facilitate the selection of experimental models for cancer research, the evaluation of mouse genetic models of human cancer, the review of patterns of mutations in specific cancers, and the identification of genes that are commonly mutated across a spectrum of cancers.

MTB is supported by NCI grant CA089713

Genetic enclosures in agriculture: Are farmers becoming propertied workers?

This thesis examines the political economy of genetically modified (GM) crops. Its empirical focus is their impact on farmers in Australia. It also considers and compares the experiences of Canada and the United States where GM crops are more prevalent but which have comparable legal, political and agrarian economies to that in Australia. Investigating the question of whether farmers are being proletarianised due to the proliferation of GM crops, the thesis engages with the concept of enclosures and how enclosures are mobilised, through the prevailing corporate food regime, to respond to the various crises and contradictions of capitalism. GM crops are conceptualised here as a genetic enclosure that create market imperatives for farmers to buy seeds, establishing new sources of capital, while also being posited as a response to various social and ecological crises facing contemporary, industrialised agriculture. The thesis finds that a confluence of legal, economic, technological and public policy developments contribute to the concentration of economic and political power in agriculture. This has tangible impacts on the lives of farmers creating a tendency for them to become propertied workers or contractors for major seed companies. Farmers’ labour and the natural world are simultaneously subsumed by circuits of capital accumulation in this process, which forges an increasingly industrialised future for agriculture

The Mouse Genome Database (MGD): from genes to mice—a community resource for mouse biology

The Mouse Genome Database (MGD) forms the core of the Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) system (http://www.informatics.jax.org), a model organism database resource for the laboratory mouse. MGD provides essential integration of experimental knowledge for the mouse system with information annotated from both literature and online sources. MGD curates and presents consensus and experimental data representations of genotype (sequence) through phenotype information, including highly detailed reports about genes and gene products. Primary foci of integration are through representations of relationships among genes, sequences and phenotypes. MGD collaborates with other bioinformatics groups to curate a definitive set of information about the laboratory mouse and to build and implement the data and semantic standards that are essential for comparative genome analysis. Recent improvements in MGD discussed here include the enhancement of phenotype resources, the re-development of the International Mouse Strain Resource, IMSR, the update of mammalian orthology datasets and the electronic publication of classic books in mouse genetics

The mouse genome database (MGD): new features facilitating a model system

The mouse genome database (MGD, ), the international community database for mouse, provides access to extensive integrated data on the genetics, genomics and biology of the laboratory mouse. The mouse is an excellent and unique animal surrogate for studying normal development and disease processes in humans. Thus, MGD's primary goals are to facilitate the use of mouse models for studying human disease and enable the development of translational research hypotheses based on comparative genotype, phenotype and functional analyses. Core MGD data content includes gene characterization and functions, phenotype and disease model descriptions, DNA and protein sequence data, polymorphisms, gene mapping data and genome coordinates, and comparative gene data focused on mammals. Data are integrated from diverse sources, ranging from major resource centers to individual investigator laboratories and the scientific literature, using a combination of automated processes and expert human curation. MGD collaborates with the bioinformatics community on the development of data and semantic standards, and it incorporates key ontologies into the MGD annotation system, including the Gene Ontology (GO), the Mammalian Phenotype Ontology, and the Anatomical Dictionary for Mouse Development and the Adult Anatomy. MGD is the authoritative source for mouse nomenclature for genes, alleles, and mouse strains, and for GO annotations to mouse genes. MGD provides a unique platform for data mining and hypothesis generation where one can express complex queries simultaneously addressing phenotypic effects, biochemical function and process, sub-cellular location, expression, sequence, polymorphism and mapping data. Both web-based querying and computational access to data are provided. Recent improvements in MGD described here include the incorporation of single nucleotide polymorphism data and search tools, the addition of PIR gene superfamily classifications, phenotype data for NIH-acquired knockout mice, images for mouse phenotypic genotypes, new functional graph displays of GO annotations, and new orthology displays including sequence information and graphic displays

Dupilumab responder types and predicting factors in patients with type 2 severe asthma:A real-world cohort study

Background: Severe asthma (SA) presents a considerable healthcare challenge despite optimal standard treatment. Dupilumab, which is effective in type 2 (T2) SA patients, demonstrates variable responses, categorizing patients as non-responders, partial responders, or those achieving clinical remission. However, real-world response rates remain underexplored. Additionally, understanding the characteristics of patients achieving clinical remission is crucial for predicting favourable responses to dupilumab.Objective: To investigate responder types and identify predictors of clinical remission and non-response induced by dupilumab in a real-world cohort of SA patients.Methods: We analyzed retrospective data from SA patients undergoing dupilumab treatment in a study conducted at Franciscus Gasthuis &amp; Vlietland hospital. Data were collected at baseline and at a 12 to 24-months follow-up (T = 12). Response rates were evaluated at T = 12. Predictors of non-response and clinical remission were investigated using multivariate logistic regression analysis with a stepwise forward variable selection approach. Results: Among the 175 patients screened, 136 met the inclusion criteria. At T = 12, 31.6 % achieved clinical remission, 47.1 % were partial responders and 21.3 % were non-responders. Predictors associated with clinical remission included high baseline blood eosinophil counts (BEC) and male sex. Conversely, younger age at baseline, low baseline total immunoglobin E (IgE) and low baseline fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) levels were identified as predictors of non-response. Conclusions: Dupilumab results in clinical disease remission in one-third of the treated patients. Clinical remission is predicted by high BEC and male sex, whereas low total IgE, low FeNO and younger age indicate a lower likelihood of response.</p

Properties of generalized univariate hypergeometric functions

Based on Spiridonov's analysis of elliptic generalizations of the Gauss hypergeometric function, we develop a common framework for 7-parameter families of generalized elliptic, hyperbolic and trigonometric univariate hypergeometric functions. In each case we derive the symmetries of the generalized hypergeometric function under the Weyl group of type E_7 (elliptic, hyperbolic) and of type E_6 (trigonometric) using the appropriate versions of the Nassrallah-Rahman beta integral, and we derive contiguous relations using fundamental addition formulas for theta and sine functions. The top level degenerations of the hyperbolic and trigonometric hypergeometric functions are identified with Ruijsenaars' relativistic hypergeometric function and the Askey-Wilson function, respectively. We show that the degeneration process yields various new and known identities for hyperbolic and trigonometric special functions. We also describe an intimate connection between the hyperbolic and trigonometric theory, which yields an expression of the hyperbolic hypergeometric function as an explicit bilinear sum in trigonometric hypergeometric functions.Comment: 46 page

Mouse Phenome Database

The Mouse Phenome Database (MPD; http://www.jax.org/phenome) is an open source, web-based repository of phenotypic and genotypic data on commonly used and genetically diverse inbred strains of mice and their derivatives. MPD is also a facility for query, analysis and in silico hypothesis testing. Currently MPD contains about 1400 phenotypic measurements contributed by research teams worldwide, including phenotypes relevant to human health such as cancer susceptibility, aging, obesity, susceptibility to infectious diseases, atherosclerosis, blood disorders and neurosensory disorders. Electronic access to centralized strain data enables investigators to select optimal strains for many systems-based research applications, including physiological studies, drug and toxicology testing, modeling disease processes and complex trait analysis. The ability to select strains for specific research applications by accessing existing phenotype data can bypass the need to (re)characterize strains, precluding major investments of time and resources. This functionality, in turn, accelerates research and leverages existing community resources. Since our last NAR reporting in 2007, MPD has added more community-contributed data covering more phenotypic domains and implemented several new tools and features, including a new interactive Tool Demo available through the MPD homepage (quick link: http://phenome.jax.org/phenome/trytools)

Woe from stones: commemoration, identity politics and Estonia's 'War of Monuments'

No abstract available