A cross-genre study of online gaming: player demographics, motivation for play, and social interactions among players

One key limitation with the contemporary online gaming research literature is that much of the published research has tended to examine only one genre of games (i.e., Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). Three relatively little studied online games are First Person Shooter (FPS) Games, Role Play Games (RPG) and Real Time Strategy (RTS) Games. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine player behaviour and characteristics in these three different online gaming genres. More specifically, the study examined the differences between the three different game genres in terms of: (i) the demographic profile, (ii) the social interactions of players including the number and quality of friends, and how gaming related to real life friendship, and (iii) motivations to play games. The sample comprised 353 self-selected players (156 who played FPS, 119 who played RPG and 78 who played RTS). The RPG genre had the highest percentage of female players. The number of hours played per week varied significantly between the genres. RPG players played significantly longer hours than FPS or RTS players. In relation to playing motivation, achievement levels were highest for the FPS genre with RPG genre having the lowest achievement levels RPG players had the highest immersion levels. RTS players were significantly less likely to report having made friends than players of the other two genres

From Humayun Khan to Kamala Khan : ambivalence towards the Muslim super hero

English honors thesisThe 2016 Democratic National Convention saw the emergence of an unlikely national hero: Humayun Khan. Khan had passed away long before the Democratic National Convention while on duty as an American soldier in Iraq, but his parents brought him back to life as they stood on the DNC stage and his father, Kazir Khan, delivered a speech about his bravery as a soldier. Kazir Khan described how a suicide bomber drove a taxi through his son's base, how Humayun shouted for everyone to take safety, and how he ran towards the car to prevent it from getting any further before it exploded and killed him (Hirsh). In the wake of anti-Muslim sentiments being released by then presidential candidate Donald Trump, this speech did something important: it allowed Muslim Americans to be viewed as heroes. Yet, the amazement and surprise elicited by Kazir Khan's speech about his son reveals that many Americans were conditioned to think that a Muslim-American could not be a hero. In a society where 40% of Americans believe in reinstating a Muslim registry to prevent terrorism, the shock of most people over Humayun Khan's story was not because of his bravery in the face of danger, but was because a Muslim-American showed bravery, heroism, and proved their biases incorrect (Gallup). While Kazir Khan's speech was a rebuttal to Trump's Islamophobia, these discriminatory sentiments are not new and many Americans have been conditioned to view Muslim Americans as the enemy in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 (also referred to as the 9/11 terrorist attacks throughout the paper)

Community Energy Planning in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor

The purpose of this major paper is to explore the possibility of developing a community energy project in rural Costa Rica. Two case communities were selected in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor: Santa Elena and Quizarra. The paper assessed the current energy policy framework in Costa Rica, and determined whether community energy planning could be a viable option for the communities. An energy assessment of the communities was performed through qualitative and quantitative research methods. Various energy actors in Costa Rica were also interviewed in determining the future of distributed energy generation in the country. The paper used RETScreen as a tool to analyze the financial viability of a solar PV project in the communities. Following the policy and financial assessment, the paper identified the following barriers to the success of community energy in the ASCBC as: the lack of a supporting Feed in Tariff (FIT) policy and incentives for renewable energy development in the country, financial barriers such as limited access to funding and high interest rates on loans, and a lack of institutional support. The paper provides recommendations for advancing community energy in Cost Rica, and alternative methods for lowering electricity consumption, such as energy efficiency and demand management strategies. The paper contributes to an understanding of the energy policy framework in Costa Rica, and the role that distributed energy generation can play. It also provides insight into energy usage and the needs of the ASCBC communities, and highlights the importance of energy education and community engagement

Changing Character of Rural Economy and Migrant Labour in Punjab

Rural economy of Punjab has been undergoing structural transformation. But the dependence of rural population in general and rural labour in particular for earning livelihood from the rural economy continues. This process of rural transformation has perpetuated the distress among the rural workforce. It is strange phenomenon that migrant labour continues to pour into the rural areas. The rural economy of Punjab, due to wage gap, continues to attract huge amount of inflow of people from other poorer states of India. Rural-rural migration, which is largely seasonal and stay of workers in most cases, is less than six months. Therefore, the official statistics on migration grossly under record the rural-rural migration. Attempt has been made in this paper to fill this gap. Despite the fact that rural real wage rate has declined between the period 1990 and 2000, however, rural-rural migration has increased during the same period. The majority of the migrants (more than 90 per cent) are able to find work in agriculture up to 50 days in a year. It has wide ranging implications for the rural-rural migration and level of living of the families of the migrants.Rural-rural migration, Punjab, Rural economy, migrant labour

Intracerebral Implantation of ECM Hydrogel for the Treatment of Stroke

Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability affecting nearly 15 million people worldwide each year. After stroke, the hypoxic death of cells results in liquefactive necrosis of the damaged tissue. One of the key challenges in treating chronic stroke is the dramatic loss of brain tissue, and the formation of a cavity filled with extracellular fluid (ECF). Physical therapy and intracerebral implantation of cells has shown limited success in improving motor dysfunction, however there is no replacement of the lost tissue and hence a large tissue cavity remains in the brains of stroke survivors. Extracellular matrix (ECM), which fills the space between the cells, makes up 20% of the whole brain tissue volume and contains proteins such as laminin, fibronectin, myelin and growth factors. The objectives of this work were to determine if hydrogels composed of decellularized mammalian ECM implanted in a stroke cavity promotes cellular infiltration and constructive tissue remodeling, as well as optimization of 19F MR imaging to visualize the peripheral macrophages invading the lesion cavity. At ECM concentrations that have similar rheological properties as brain tissue, the ECM exists in fluid phase at room temperature, while forming hydrogels at body temperature. However, large volumes of hydrogel injection into the lesion cavity will increase the intracerebral pressure and further damage brain tissue. Using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guidance, the hydrogel can be reliably delivered to the lesion cavity, while draining the ECF through another cannula. We evaluated histologically 0, 3, 4 and 8 mg/mL of porcine-derived urinary bladder matrix (UBM)-ECM hydrogel concentrations implanted in a 14-day old stroke cavity. Less concentrated hydrogels (3 and 4 mg/mL) were efficiently degraded with a 95% decrease in volume by 90 days, whereas only 32% of the more concentrated and stiffer hydrogel (8 mg/mL) was resorbed. The less concentrated hydrogels showed a robust invasion of endothelial cells that supported neovascularization. No neovascularization occurred with the stiffer hydrogel. Invasion of neural cells increased with time in all hydrogel concentrations. Differentiation of neural progenitors into mature neurons with axonal projections was evident, as well as a robust invasion of oligodendrocytes. Macrophage infiltration and density within the bioscaffold affected the hydrogel biodegradation and progressively increased in the less concentrated hydrogels and decreased in the 8 mg/mL hydrogels. Optimization of 19F imaging parameters revealed fast imaging with steady state precession (FISP) sequence being the most efficient for the detection of perfluorocarbons (PFCs). In vivo 19F MRI shows robust visualization of peripheral macrophages invading the lesion cavity implanted with 4 mg/mL ECM hydrogel. Intravenous administration of PFCs results in accumulation of 19F labeled cells within the ECM hydrogel and in the peri-infarct tissue. Histological analysis at 1 day post-injection revealed all infiltrating Iba1+ cells to also be 19F labeled, indicating that these are peripheral macrophages rather than brain derived microglia. This body of work demonstrates that implantation of an ECM hydrogel induced neural tissue regeneration, but a more complete understanding is required to evaluate its potential therapeutic application

Studies on the toxic elements and organic degradation products in aquatic bodies and sediments around Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Haulover Canal and Mosquito Lagoon

The work during the first year ending September, 1975, is reported. Indian River, Haulover Canal, Mosquito Lagoon, and other aquatic areas of discharge around Kennedy Space Center (KSC) were studied. The presentation and interpretation of data on water and sediment samples collected from Haulover Canal and Mosquito Lagoon are included. The field and laboratory data are presented and tentative conclusions were drawn in the various aspects of the study. An attempt was made to correlate the physical, chemical, and biological parameters