Toys for Boys? Women's Marginalization and Participation As Digital Gamers

This paper develops out of ongoing research into the location and use of digital gaming in practices of everyday life. Specifically this paper draws on a questionnaire based survey of just under four hundred undergraduate students and twenty-three follow up interviews. This paper suggests that the women in this research play digital games significantly less than their male counterparts, and suggests that this is largely due to digital games continuing to be viewed, both culturally and by the gaming industry, as belonging to men. However, this paper suggests that for some women video and computer gaming can be an important social activity, and for others mobile telephone based gaming can offer a less restricted and more accessible leisure activity.Gender, Digital Gaming

Urban poachers : cosplay, playful cultures, and the appropriation of urban space

This article considers cosplayers’ use and transformation of urban space. Cosplay provides an important subcultural embodiment of contemporary popular culture, through which we can learn a great deal about contemporary forms of fandom, participatory culture and (mostly notably here) urban appropriation. This article draws on data gathered from a four-year ethnographic study, but here specifically looks at a small cosplay community that regularly meets in a park in Manchester. The article argues that a useful way of understanding cosplay is to consider the relationship between play and culture. In particular, the article sets out a consideration of how cosplayers transform social spaces through the use of process of synecdoche and asyndeton, which link together and edit out parts of the built environment – or what we term ‘urban poaching’

Introduction to British DiGRA issue

This special issue of ToDiGRA collects some of the best articles presented at the British DiGRA conference which took place at The University of Salford at MediaCityUK in May 2017. For this issue we invited the authors of the full papers presented at the conference to submit a revised document. The manuscripts were then sent to a group of selected peer-reviewers, three for each submission. The reviewers, experts in the field of study of the assigned papers, provided their feedback and evaluation. The five accepted papers were then sent back to their authors who implemented the required changes and re-submitted their final work. Each one of the articles in this issue is the result of a process of research and revision that took almost one year of work from the time of their original presentation at the 2017 British DiGRA conference

Exploring factors that impact the decision to use assistive telecare: perspectives of family care-givers of older people in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom (UK), an ageing population met with the reduction of social care funding has led to reduced support for older people marked with an increased demand on family care-givers. Assistive telecare (AT) devices are viewed as an innovative and effective way to support older people. However, there is limited research which has explored adoption of AT from the perspectives of family care-givers. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 family care-givers of patients who used the Assistive Telehealth and Telecare service in Cambridgeshire, UK. Family care-givers were either the spouse (N = 8) or child of the patient (N = 6). The patients' age ranged from 75 to 98, and either received a telecare standalone device or connected service. Framework analysis was used to analyse the transcripts. This study revealed that family care-givers play a crucial role in supporting the patient's decision to adopt and engage with AT devices. Knowledge and awareness, perceived responsibility, usefulness and usability, alongside functionality of the equipment, were influential factors in the decision-making process. AT devices were viewed positively, considered easy to use, useful and functional, with reassurance of the patient's safety being a core reason for adoption. Efforts to increase adoption and engagement should adapt recruitment strategies and service pathways to support both the patient and their care-giver

Gut inflammation provides a respiratory electron acceptor for Salmonella.

Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) causes acute gut inflammation by using its virulence factors to invade the intestinal epithelium and survive in mucosal macrophages. The inflammatory response enhances the transmission success of S. Typhimurium by promoting its outgrowth in the gut lumen through unknown mechanisms. Here we show that reactive oxygen species generated during inflammation react with endogenous, luminal sulphur compounds (thiosulphate) to form a new respiratory electron acceptor, tetrathionate. The genes conferring the ability to use tetrathionate as an electron acceptor produce a growth advantage for S. Typhimurium over the competing microbiota in the lumen of the inflamed gut. We conclude that S. Typhimurium virulence factors induce host-driven production of a new electron acceptor that allows the pathogen to use respiration to compete with fermenting gut microbes. Thus the ability to trigger intestinal inflammation is crucial for the biology of this diarrhoeal pathogen

Exploring the factors that influence the decision to adopt and engage with an integrated assistive telehealth and telecare service in Cambridgeshire, UK: a nested qualitative study of patient 'users' and 'non-users'.

BACKGROUND: There is a political drive in the UK to use assistive technologies such as telehealth and telecare as an innovative and efficient approach to healthcare delivery. However, the success of implementation of such services remains dependent on the ability to engage the wider population to adopt these services. It has been widely acknowledged that low acceptance of technology, forms a key barrier to adoption although findings been mixed. Further, it remains unclear what, if any barriers exist between patients and how these compare to those who have declined or withdrawn from using these technologies. This research aims to address this gap focusing on the UK based Cambridgeshire Community Services Assistive Telehealth and Telecare service, an integrated model of telehealth and telecare. METHODS: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted between 1st February 2014 and 1st December 2014, to explore the views and experiences of 'users' and 'non-users' using this service. 'Users' were defined as patients who used the service (N = 28) with 'non-users' defined as either referred patients who had declined the service before allocation (N = 3) or had withdrawn after using the ATT service (N = 9). Data were analysed using the Framework Method. RESULTS: This study revealed that there are a range of barriers and facilitators that impact on the decision to adopt and continue to engage with this type of service. Having a positive attitude and a perceived need that could be met by the ATT equipment were influential factors in the decision to adopt and engage in using the service. Engagement of the service centred on 'usability', 'usefulness of equipment', and 'threat to identity and independence'. CONCLUSIONS: The paper described the influential role of referrers in decision-making and the need to engage with such agencies on a strategic level. The findings also revealed that reassurance from the onset was paramount to continued engagement, particularly in older patients who appeared to have more negative feelings towards technology. In addition, there is a clear need for continued product development and innovation to not only increase usability and functionality of equipment but also to motivate other sections of the population who could benefit from such services. Uncovering these factors has important policy implications in how services can improve access and patient support through the application of assistive technology which could in turn reduce unnecessary cost and burden on overstretched health services.National Institute for Health ResearchThis is the final version of the article. It first appeared from BioMed Central via http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12913-016-1379-

“True fan = watch match”? In Search of the ‘Authentic’ Soccer Fan.

Academics have created typologies to divide association football (soccer) fans into categories based upon the assumed ‘authenticity’ of their fandom practices. One of the main requirements of ‘authentic’ fandom has been assumed to be match attendance. The goal of this paper was to critically assess this assumption through considering how fans themselves talk about the significance of match attendance as evidence of ‘authentic’ fandom. In light of the fact that the voices of English non-league fans on the ‘authenticity’ debate have so far been overshadowed by the overbearing focus of much previous research on the upper echelons of English soccer, an e-survey was conducted with 151 members of an online community of fans of English Northern League (NL) clubs (a semi-professional / amateur league based in North East England). Findings revealed that opinion was divided on the constituents of ‘authentic’ fandom and match attendance was not deemed to be the core evidence of support for a club by 42% of the sample. Elias (1978) suggested that dichotomous thinking hinders sociological understanding and it is concluded that fan typologies are not sufficient for assessing the ‘authenticity’ of fan activities

The material role of digital media in connecting with, within, and beyond museums

The connective potentials of digital media have been positioned as a key part of a contemporary museum visitor experience. Using a sociology of translation, we construct a network of visitor experiences using data from a digital media engagement project at a large and multi-sited museum in the United Kingdom. These experiences relate to (dis)connections with the museum, museum objects, and other visitors. Through this analysis we disclose the often contradictory roles of the non-human, including and going beyond the digital, as contributors to the success and failure of attempts to change museum visitor experiences through engagement activities rooted in narratives of participation and connectivity

D'Annunzio sulla scena lirica: libretto o "Poema"?

Australia Direct Action climate change policy relies on purchasing greenhouse gas abatement from projects undertaking approved abatement activities. Management of soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural soils is an approved activity, based on the expectation that land use change can deliver significant changes in SOC. However, there are concerns that climate, topography and soil texture will limit changes in SOC stocks. This work analyses data from 1482 sites surveyed across the major agricultural regions of Eastern Australia to determine the relative importance of land use vs. other drivers of SOC. Variation in land use explained only 1.4% of the total variation in SOC, with aridity and soil texture the main regulators of SOC stock under different land uses. Results suggest the greatest potential for increasing SOC stocks in Eastern Australian agricultural regions lies in converting from cropping to pasture on heavy textured soils in the humid regions