The ethnography of BoardGameGeek

Abstract. This thesis produces an ethnographic description of BoardGameGeek (BGG). BGG is a website for board game information as well as a community for its users. The thesis aims to locate signs of a community on the website to form an understanding of an existing virtual community and its practices. Previous research on computer-mediated communication and virtual communities form the theoretical framework for the thesis. The methodology in this qualitative study is virtual ethnography where the author sets themselves in the community as a member to collect experiences and observations through participant observation. Data for the study is the website itself and the author’s field notes. The website data includes an array of discussion forums, the existing structural elements and affordances offered to the users on the site. Elements for a virtual community and methods on locating them were established based on earlier literature and those criteria were shown to exist on BGG through ethnographical analysis. Based on the analysis, BGG has several elements of a virtual community, including different levels of membership and participation, shared values and norms, support and reciprocity as well as conflicts. Analysis shows the existence of many asynchronous, textual discussions on a variety of topics and the existence of several different modes of discussion. Users’ feelings of a sense of community through different interactions can be noticed from the discussion. BGG users participate in building the site by providing and editing information, including texts, images, and videos in the board game database. Additionally, users are tasked with moderating other users’ contributions. Politeness and respecting others are guidelines that users are encouraged to adhere to by BGG and by each other. These elements point to the existence of a virtual community. The ethnography can be extended by in-depth user interviews and studying the discussions and interactions of users in them.BoardGameGeekin etnografia . Tiivistelmä. Tämä tutkielma tuottaa etnografisen kuvauksen BoardGameGeekistä (BGG). BGG on nettisivusto lautapeleistä sekä yhteisö sen käyttäjille. Tutkielman tavoitteena on paikantaa sivustolta yhteisön ominaispiirteitä, jotta voidaan muodostaa kuva virtuaalisesta yhteisöstä ja sen käytänteistä. Aiempi tietokonevälitteiseen viestintään ja virtuaalisiin yhteisöihin liittyvä tutkimus muodostaa tutkimuksen teoreettisen viitekehyksen. Tämän kvalitatiivisen tutkimuksen metodologia on virtuaalinen etnografia, jossa tutkija asettuu mukaan tutkittavan yhteisön jäseneksi kerätäkseen kokemuksia ja huomioita osallistuvan havainnoinnin avulla. Tutkimuksen aineistoa on itse sivusto sekä tutkijan kenttämuistiinpanot. Nettisivuston aineistoon kuuluvat keskustelufoorumit, olemassa olevat sivuston rakenteet sekä käyttömahdollisuudet, joita sivusto tarjoaa käyttäjille. Pohjaten aiempaan tutkimustietoon, tutkimus määritteli virtuaalisen yhteisön ominaispiirteet sekä tavat paikantaa niitä. Näitä piirteitä todettiin olevan BGG:ssä etnografisen analyysin avulla. Analyysin perusteella BGG:ssä on useita virtuaalisen yhteisön ominaispiirteitä: mm. eritasoisia jäseniä sekä eritasoista osallistumista, jaetut yhteiset arvot ja normit, tukea ja vastavuoroisuutta sekä ristiriitoja. Sivustolla on paljon pitkän ajan kuluessa tapahtuvaa, eri tavoin käytävää, tekstimuotoista keskustelua eri aihepiireistä. Keskustelupalstoilta on havaittavissa käyttäjien kokema yhteisöllisyyden tunne. BGG:n käyttäjät osallistuvat sivuston rakentamiseen lisäämällä ja editoimalla tietoa lautapeleistä tekstinä, kuvina ja videoina sivuston tietokantaan. Käyttäjien vastuulla on myös toisten käyttäjien tiettyjen kontribuutioiden tarkastaminen. BGG ja sen käyttäjät rohkaisevat toisiaan kohtelemaan toisia kohteliaasti ja toisia kunnioittavalla tavalla. Nämä kaikki piirteet osoittavat virtuaalisen yhteisön olemassaolon. Etnografista kuvausta on mahdollista laajentaa tekemällä tutkimushaastatteluja ja tutkimalla tarkemmin keskusteluja ja käyttäjien vuorovaikutusta niissä

Robust T cell immunity in convalescent individuals with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2-specific memory T cells will likely prove critical for long-term immune protection against COVID-19. Here, we systematically mapped the functional and phenotypic landscape of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses in unexposed individuals, exposed family members, and individuals with acute or convalescent COVID-19. Acute-phase SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells displayed a highly activated cytotoxic phenotype that correlated with various clinical markers of disease severity, whereas convalescent-phase SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells were polyfunctional and displayed a stem-like memory phenotype. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells were detectable in antibody-seronegative exposed family members and convalescent individuals with a history of asymptomatic and mild COVID-19. Our collective dataset shows that SARS-CoV-2 elicits broadly directed and functionally replete memory T cell responses, suggesting that natural exposure or infection may prevent recurrent episodes of severe COVID-19

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Abstract In order to assess the role of parasitoids in the regulation of non-outbreaking populations of Epirrita autumnata, a geometrid lepidopteran with outbreaking populations in northern Europe, we examined the temporal and spatial variation of larval parasitism in southwestern Finland during 6 successive years. The study was carried out on two spatial scales, among trees within sites of about 1 ha and among sites separated by distances of 2-10 km, using experimental and observational approaches respectively. The overall percent parasitism was independent of host density on both spatial scales, while temporally it fluctuated only little. Of the two main parasitoids, the commoner one, Protapanteles immunis, showed a variable response to host density on the larger spatial scale and negative density dependence on the smaller scale. Temporally, parasitism caused by this species was independent of host density. Another parasitoid, Phobocampe bicingulata, showed positive density dependence on the smaller spatial scale and had a variable response on the larger scale, but exhibited negative density dependence over time. The results of this study caution against drawing conclusions concerning population regulation on the grounds of spatial density dependence alone. Larval parasitoids apparently do not maintain low densities in the E. autumnata populations studied. However, they may suppress E. autumnata densities to a level low enough for density-dependent mortality factor(s) to become regulating. Among other mortality factors of E. autumnata, pupal predation has been found to be temporally positively density-dependent

Solid state nanofibers based on self-assemblies: from cleaving from self-assemblies to multilevel hierarchical constructs

Self-assemblies and their hierarchies are useful to construct soft materials with structures at different length scales and to tune the materials properties for various functions. Here we address routes for solid nanofibers based on different forms of self-assemblies. On the other hand, we discuss rational "bottom-up'' routes for multi-level hierarchical self-assembled constructs, with the aim of learning more about design principles for competing interactions and packing frustrations. Here we use the triblock copolypeptide poly(L-lysine)-b-poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate)-b-poly(L-lysine) complexed with 2'-deoxyguanosine 5'-monophosphate. Supramolecular disks (G-quartets) stabilized by metal cations are formed and their columnar assembly leads to a packing frustration with the cylindrical packing of helical poly(gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate), which we suggest is important in controlling the lateral dimensions of the nanofibers. We foresee routes for functionalities by selecting different metal cations within the G-quartets. On the other hand, we discuss nanofibers that are cleaved from bulk self-assemblies in a "top-down'' manner. After a short introduction based on cleaving nanofibers from diblock copolymeric self-assemblies, we focus on native cellulose nanofibers, as cleaved from plant cell wall fibers, which are expected to have feasible mechanical properties and to be templates for functional nanomaterials. Long nanofibers with 5-20 nm lateral dimensions can be cleaved within an aqueous medium to allow hydrogels and water can be removed to allow highly porous, lightweight, and flexible aerogels. We further describe inorganic/organic hybrids as prepared by chemical vapour deposition and atomic layer deposition of the different nanofibers. We foresee functional materials by selecting inorganic coatings. Finally we briefly discuss how the organic template can be removed e. g., by thermal treatments to allow completely inorganic hollow nanofibrillar structures