New ecological trends and changes in consumer behavior are known to favor biofilm formation in household appliances, increasing the need for new antimicrobial materials and surfaces. Their development requires laboratory-cultivated biofilms, or biofilm model systems (BMS), which allow for accelerated growth and offer better understanding of the underlying formation mechanisms. Here, we identified bacterial strains in wildtype biofilms from a variety of materials from domestic appliances using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF-MS). Staphylococci and pseudomonads were identified by MALDI-TOF-MS as the main genera in the habitats and were analyzed for biofilm formation using various in vitro methods. Standard quantitative biofilm assays were combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to characterize biofilm formation. While Pseudomonas putida, a published lead germ, was not identified in any of the collected samples, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was found to be the most dominant biofilm producer. Water-born Pseudomonads were dominantly found in compartments with water contact only, such as in detergent compartment and detergent enemata. Furthermore, materials in contact with the washing load are predominantly colonized with bacteria from the human.

Based on a field study in a village in the northern plain of China, this paper reviews three different types in how Han-Chinese rural people have coped with domestic electrical appliances during the last 40-odd years of electrification. The aim of this paper is to offer an ethnographic study of the complex relations between technology and social life in a Chinese rural setting and to explore the logic and dynamics whereby rural populations confront and integrate new technical products into their everyday life. This paper is divided into three main parts: following the introduction on the \"everyday technology approach\" and background information about the field site, the author next gives a brief historical description of the electrification process in rural China. The third part is dedicated to the ethnographic data concerning five appliances: electric light, water pump, TV, washing machine and water boiler-cooler. The paper concludes with a discussion of issues concerning appropriation of new technology in the wider background of society/economy/state and everyday habitus, questioning how well conventional oppositional dichotomies like female/male, masculinity/feminity serve as analytical frameworks.
—一项关于中国农村家用电器使用方式的研究本文的写作基础是作者对中国北方一个汉族村落的社会人类学田野考察。由于中国农村的电器化过程长达四十年之久, 农村人群购买和使用家用电器的条件和方式呈现出非常多元的状态。作者选择考察日常生活五种电器—电灯、水泵、电视机、洗衣机、饮水机—来分析三种不同类型的购买和使用方式。本文的目的在于为研究中国农村社会环境下技术与社会生活的复杂关系提供民族志层面上的实证材料, 并探讨农村人群在日常生活中面对和接受新技术产品时所遵循的逻辑及其动力。全文由三个主要部分组成 : 一、本文的理论背景即“日用技术研究方法”以及与田野调查相关的背景信息二、农村电气化的历史过程 ; 三、对农村人群购买和使用五种家用电器方式的民族志描写。作者认为, 在研究新技术产品如何被接受的过程时, 有必要将其置于社会/经济/国家这些大背景之下, 同时也必须注意到这一过程与日常惯习之间的内在关联。作者发现, 在家用电器进入农村家庭的过程中, 男女性别二元对立出现缓解, 农村家庭中夫妻之间的合作互助关系得以加强, 尽管男性与女性在购买和使用这些电器产品上各自有不同的想法和做法。关键词 : 社会性别, 家用电器, 电气化, 中国农村.