Eliciting Behavior From Interactive Narratives: Isolating the Role of Agency in Connecting With and Modeling Characters

A key component differentiating interactive storytelling from non-interactive media is agency, or control over character choices. A series of experiments show that providing agency over a character increased the user-character connection, which then increased engagement in a character-consistent charitable act. Findings were observed in technologically simple online narratives that controlled for navigation/controller differences, graphics, sounds, lengthy play, and avatar customization. Effects emerged even though users did not practice these acts by making their character behave charitably. Findings were robust across happy and unfortunate endings and across first-, second-, and third-person narrative perspectives. Findings suggest promise for developing inexpensive ‘‘storygames’’ to encourage supportive behaviors

Agricultural Cooperatives and Market Performance in Food Manufacturing

Support for the cooperative yardstick hypothesis was found using a standard structure-performance model that was extended to include a cooperative market share variable and was estimated with a large cross-section of food manufacturing markets. Market concentration and advertising intensity were positively related to price-cost margins. In addition, the aggregate market share of the one hundred largest agricultural marketing cooperatives was inversely related to price-cost margins. The magnitude of the effect was largest in the more concentrated markets. This suggests that. where cooperatives have vertically extended themselves into food processing. more competitive outcomes are found even in highly concentrated markets.Agribusiness, Marketing,

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF 3D TISSUE ENGINEERING SCAFFOLD FABRICATION METHODS

Tissue engineering scaffolds act as a structural template for seeded cells and play a significant role in dictating the performance of the final tissue construct. Scaffold properties are governed by the fabrication method and must be tailored to meet the intended application. In this work, 3D poly(carbonate) urethane (PCU) scaffolds were fabricated by solvent casting/particulate leaching (SCPL) and electrospinning. For SCPL, three different types of porogens, namely, alginate beads, D-fructose particles, and gelatin spheres were used. The effects of porogen type and fabrication method on scaffold morphological characteristics were examined. Highly porous scaffolds with uniform pore morphology were fabricated using all three porogen types, and fibrous scaffolds having an average fiber diameter of -200 nm were fabricated by electrospinning. Preliminary cell culture studies carried out with vascular smooth muscle cells indicated that electrospun scaffolds and scaffolds fabricated by SCPL using alginate beads and D-fructose were not cytotoxic and provided a favorable environment for cell growth

A Literature Review of the Public Stigma of Mental Illness

The public stigma of mental illness refers to an external evaluation that someone is violating the norms of society. The public stigma of mental illness effects those with a mental illness through the experiencing discrimination and micro aggressions, and often is a barrier to seeking help (Overton & Medina, 2008; Maier, Gentile, Vogel, & Kaplan, 2014). The public stigma of mental illness may also exacerbate mental health symptoms in individuals’ who experience it (Kendra, Mohr, & Pollard, 2014). Social contact programs have been found to be the most effective way to combat the public stigma of mental illness. Additionally, mental health counselors also are not immune to the stigma of mental illness, especially when it comes to disorders such as Borderline Personality Disorder and Schizophrenia. Due to this, social contact programs, making efforts to work collaboratively with clients, and advocating for clients may be needed