Playful Virtual Violence

Violence in video games has been a controversial object of public discourse for several decades. Building upon an extensive ethnographic study of players' emotional practices,this Element provides new insights into the complexity and pleasures of player experiences, contributing to societal and academic debate on a critical aspect of video gaming

Difficult heritage and digital media: ‘selfie culture’ and emotional practices at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

This article sheds light on the entanglements of difficult heritage and digital media through an ethnographic analysis of digital photography and social media practices at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. After a discussion of the project ‘Yolocaust’, through which an artist publicly shamed the ‘selfie culture’ at the memorial, the article argues that the sweeping condemnation of digital self-representations in the context of Holocaust remembrance remains simplistic. Instead, many visitors explore and enact potential emotional relationships to the pasts that sites of difficult heritage represent through digital self-representations. This observation raises critical questions about the role of digital media in current transformations of touristic memory cultures.Peer Reviewe

Computergestützte ethnografische Datenanalyse (CEDA): Potenziale und methodische Affordanzen von QDA-Software in der ethnografischen Forschung

Der Beitrag diskutiert die Potenziale einer ›Computergestützten ethnografischen Datenanalyse‹ (CEDA), insbesondere mit Blick auf die Empirische Kulturwissenschaft / Kulturanthropologie. Er argumentiert, dass aus Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDA-Software) spezifische methodische Affordanzen hervorgehen, die sich auf sowohl produktive als auch problematische Weise in den ethnografischen Forschungsprozess einschreiben können. Neben einer Diskussion verschiedener Dimensionen der computergestützten ethnografischen Datenanalyse spricht sich der Beitrag deshalb für eine breite Methodendebatte in diesem Feld aus, die eine Entwicklung kritisch-reflexiver Kompetenzen für den Umgang mit QDA-Software ermöglicht.This paper elaborates upon the potentials of ›computer-assisted ethnographic data analysis‹ (CEDA), paying particular attention to the discipline of Empirische Kulturwissenschaft / Cultural Anthropology. It argues that specific methodological affordances emerge from Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDA software) that can inscribe themselves into the ethnographic research process in both productive and problematic ways. In addition to a discussion of various dimensions of computer-assisted ethnographic data analysis, the paper therefore argues for a broad methodological debate in the field that allows for the development of critical-reflexive competencies for using QDA software

Computergestützte ethnografische Datenanalyse (CEDA): Potenziale und methodische Affordanzen von QDA-Software in der ethnografischen Forschung

Der Beitrag diskutiert die Potenziale einer ›Computergestützten ethnografischen Datenanalyse‹ (CEDA), insbesondere mit Blick auf die Empirische Kulturwissenschaft / Kulturanthropologie. Er argumentiert, dass aus Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDA-Software) spezifische methodische Affordanzen hervorgehen, die sich auf sowohl produktive als auch problematische Weise in den ethnografischen Forschungsprozess einschreiben können. Neben einer Diskussion verschiedener Dimensionen der computergestützten ethnografischen Datenanalyse spricht sich der Beitrag deshalb für eine breite Methodendebatte in diesem Feld aus, die eine Entwicklung kritisch-reflexiver Kompetenzen für den Umgang mit QDA-Software ermöglicht.This paper elaborates upon the potentials of ›computer-assisted ethnographic data analysis‹ (CEDA), paying particular attention to the discipline of Empirische Kulturwissenschaft / Cultural Anthropology. It argues that specific methodological affordances emerge from Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDA software) that can inscribe themselves into the ethnographic research process in both productive and problematic ways. In addition to a discussion of various dimensions of computer-assisted ethnographic data analysis, the paper therefore argues for a broad methodological debate in the field that allows for the development of critical-reflexive competencies for using QDA software

Digitales Bildkuratieren als Bereicherung des Museumsbesuchs

Das von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) geförderte Forschungsprojekt Curating Digital Images: Ethnographic Perspectives on the Affordances of Digital Images in Museum and Heritage Contexts hat sich im Rahmen des Schwerpunktprogramms Das Digitale Bild mit diesen und anderen Fragen beschäftigt. Die Forscher:innen der Universität Tübingen und der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin möchten mit dieser Handreichung einen Beitrag zur Debatte rund um digitale Bildtechnologien im Museums- und Kunstsektor leisten. Das Projekt umfasst zwei Arbeitsbereiche, die sich diesem Thema aus unterschiedlichen Richtungen annähern

High throughput automated microbial bioreactor system used for clone selection and rapid scale-down process optimization

High throughput automated fermentation systems have become a useful tool in early bioprocess development. In this study, we investigated a 24 x 15 mL single use microbioreactor system, ambr 15f, designed for microbial culture. We compared the fed-batch growth and production capabilities of this system for two Escherichia coli strains, BL21 (DE3) and MC4100, and two industrially relevant molecules, hGH and scFv. In addition, different carbon sources were tested using bolus, linear or exponential feeding strategies, showing the capacity of the ambr 15f system to handle automated feeding. We used power per unit volume (P/V) as a scale criterion to compare the ambr 15f with 1 L stirred bioreactors which were previously scaled-up to 20 L with a different biological system, thus showing a potential 1,300 fold scale comparability in terms of both growth and product yield. By exposing the cells grown in the ambr 15f system to a level of shear expected in an industrial centrifuge, we determined that the cells are as robust as those from a bench scale bioreactor. These results provide evidence that the ambr 15f system is an efficient high throughput microbial system that can be used for strain and molecule selection as well as rapid scale-u

Process development of human multipotent stromal cell microcarrier culture using an automated high-throughput microbioreactor

Microbioreactors play a critical role in process development as they reduce reagent requirements and can facilitate high-throughput screening of process parameters and culture conditions. Here we have demonstrated and explained in detail, for the first time, the amenability of the automated ambr15 cell culture microbioreactor system for the development of scalable adherent human mesenchymal multipotent stromal/stem cell (hMSC) microcarrier culture processes. This was achieved by first improving suspension and mixing of the microcarriers and then improving cell attachment thereby reducing the initial growth lag phase. The latter was achieved by using only 50% of the final working volume of medium for the first 24 h and using an intermittent agitation strategy. These changes resulted in > 150 % increase in viable cell density after 24 h compared to the original process (no agitation for 24 h and 100 % working volume). Using the same methodology as in the ambr15, similar improvements were obtained with larger scale spinner flask studies. Finally, this improved bioprocess methodology based on a serum-based medium was applied to a serum-free process in the ambr15, resulting in > 250% increase in yield compared to the serum-based process. At both scales, the agitation used during culture was the minimum required for microcarrier suspension, NJS. The use of the ambr15, with its improved control compared to the spinner flask, reduced the coefficient of variation on viable cell density in the serum containing medium from 7.65% to 4.08%, and the switch to serum free further reduced these to 1.06% and 0.54% respectively. The combination of both serum-free and automated processing improved the reproducibility more than 10-fold compared to the serum-based, manual spinner flask process. The findings of this study demonstrate that the ambr15 microbioreactor is an effective tool for bioprocess development of hMSC microcarrier cultures and that a combination of serum-free medium, control and automation improves both process yield and consistency