Future user research for exertion games

Exertion is gaining currency in digital game design. Exertion games promise increased athletic performance and hence health benefits. They also offer enhanced engagement due to the coupling of physical engagement with digital gameplay. Addressing these converging perspectives is one of the challenges currently faced by researchers. To illustrate the implications for game user research and provoke reflection about future challenges, we describe our current research on Joggobot, a flying robot companion for joggers. We present a set of questions from our work that we believe represent some of the key challenges researchers will face when considering robots in exertion games. Through these questions, we aim to support research into the future of exertion games and develop guidance for designers to create better game experiences that leverage the many benefits of exertion for player

Hanging off a bar

Exertion Games involve physical effort and as a result can facilitate physical health benefits. We present Hanging off a Bar, an action hero-inspired Exertion Game in which players hang off an exercise bar over a virtual river for as long as possible. Initial observations from three events with audiences ranging from the general public to expert game designers suggest that Hanging off a Bar can be engaging for players and facilitate intense exertion within seconds. Furthermore, we collected suggestions for what game elements players believe could entice them to increase their physical effort investment. These suggestions, combined with Hanging off a Bar as research vehicle due to the easy measurement of exertion through hanging time, enable future explorations into the relationship between digital game elements and physical exertion, guiding designers on how to support exertion in digital game

Export of functional Streptomyces coelicolor alditol oxidase to the periplasm or cell surface of Escherichia coli and its application in whole-cell biocatalysis

Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) alditol oxidase (AldO) is a soluble monomeric flavoprotein in which the flavin cofactor is covalently linked to the polypeptide chain. AldO displays high reactivity towards different polyols such as xylitol and sorbitol. These characteristics make AldO industrially relevant, but full biotechnological exploitation of this enzyme is at present restricted by laborious and costly purification steps. To eliminate the need for enzyme purification, this study describes a whole-cell AldO biocatalyst system. To this end, we have directed AldO to the periplasm or cell surface of Escherichia coli. For periplasmic export, AldO was fused to endogenous E. coli signal sequences known to direct their passenger proteins into the SecB, signal recognition particle (SRP), or Twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway. In addition, AldO was fused to an ice nucleation protein (INP)-based anchoring motif for surface display. The results show that Tat-exported AldO and INP-surface-displayed AldO are active. The Tat-based system was successfully employed in converting xylitol by whole cells, whereas the use of the INP-based system was most likely restricted by lipopolysaccharide LPS in wild-type cells. It is anticipated that these whole-cell systems will be a valuable tool for further biological and industrial exploitation of AldO and other cofactor-containing enzymes.

Genetic diversity at the Dhn3 locus in Turkish Hordeum spontaneum populations with comparative structural analyses

We analysed Hordeum spontaneum accessions from 21 different locations to understand the genetic diversity of HsDhn3 alleles and effects of single base mutations on the intrinsically disordered structure of the resulting polypeptide (HsDHN3). HsDHN3 was found to be YSK2-type with a low-frequency 6-aa deletion in the beginning of Exon 1. There is relatively high diversity in the intron region of HsDhn3 compared to the two exon regions. We have found subtle differences in K segments led to changes in amino acids chemical properties. Predictions for protein interaction profiles suggest the presence of a protein-binding site in HsDHN3 that coincides with the K1 segment. Comparison of DHN3 to closely related cereals showed that all of them contain a nuclear localization signal sequence flanking to the K1 segment and a novel conserved region located between the S and K1 segments [E(D/T)DGMGGR]. We found that H. vulgare, H. spontaneum, and Triticum urartu DHN3s have a greater number of phosphorylation sites for protein kinase C than other cereal species, which may be related to stress adaptation. Our results show that the nature and extent of mutations in the conserved segments of K1 and K2 are likely to be key factors in protection of cells

Phosphoproteomic Analysis Reveals that Dehydrins ERD10 and ERD14 are Phosphorylated by SNF1-related Protein Kinase 2.10 in Response to Osmotic Stress

SNF1-related protein kinases 2 (SnRK2s) regulate the plant responses to abiotic stresses, especially water deficits. They are activated in plants subjected to osmotic stress, and some of them are additionally activated in response to enhanced concentrations of abscisic acid (ABA) in plant cells. The SnRK2s that are activated in response to ABA are key elements of ABA signaling that regulate plant acclimation to environmental stresses and ABA-dependent development. Much less is known about the SnRK2s that are not activated by ABA, albeit several studies have shown that these kinases are also involved in response to osmotic stress. Here, we show that one of the Arabidopsis thaliana ABA-non-activated SnRK2s, SnRK2.10, regulates not only the response to salinity but also the plant sensitivity to dehydration. Several potential SnRK2.10 targets phosphorylated in response to stress were identified by a phosphoproteomic approach, including the dehydrins ERD10 and ERD14. Their phosphorylation by SnRK2.10 was confirmed in vitro. Our data suggest that the phosphorylation of ERD14 within the S-segment is involved in the regulation of dehydrin subcellular localization in response to stress

Joggobot: a flying robot as jogging companion

Exertion activities, such as jogging, provide many health benefits, but exercising on your own can be considered disengaging. We present our system 'Joggobot', a flying robot accompanying joggers. Our design process revealed preliminary insights into how to design robots for exertion and how to address emerging design challenges. We summarize these insights into the four themes: 'embodiment', 'control', 'personality' and 'communication', which mark initial starting points towards understanding how to design robots for exertion activities. We hope our work guides and inspires designers when facilitating the benefits of exertion through robot