Choice Of Medium Research Articles

Walled cosmopolitanization: how China’s Great Firewall mediates young urban gay men’s lives

Abstract This article explores the role of censorship as a communication technology in shaping experiences of cosmopolitanization. Drawing on interviews with urban Chinese gay men who circumvent the country’s Great Firewall, the article studies how censorship shapes people’s media choices, practices, and social outlooks. It presents three findings. First, censorship produces a domesticated media ecology characterized by controlled exchanges with the outside world, constructing the perceived “localness” and “foreignness” of media artifacts. Second, censorship creates an exclusive “cosmopolitan digital class” that establishes a hierarchy of desirability based on people’s media practices. Third, censorship promotes a paradoxical intertwining of cosmopolitanization and encapsulation, popularizing a mindset that is at once open—willing to move across the Wall and access alternative information—and closed: subscribing to territorial understandings of selfhood. Based on these findings, the article proposes the concept of “walled cosmopolitanization” to describe the vulnerability of the cosmopolitan self in censored environments.

Intraoperative findings during Open mastoido-epitympanectomy at a tertiary center

Introduction: Chronic otitis media is a common entity in our country. Surgical eradication of disease is the treatment of choice for squamous chronic otitis media. The objective of this study was to assess the pathology, its extent and associated complications in patients who underwent open mastoido-epitympanectomy for chronic otitis media squamous at a tertiary care center (Dhulikhel Hospital) in Nepal. Materials and methods: Medical records of 111 patients who underwent OMET at our center from June 2017 to June 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. Demographic parameters, clinical presentation, audiometric data, intraoperative pathology and their distribution, involvement of bony landmarks and ossicular chain status were recorded and analyzed. Results: There were 64 male and 47 female patients included in our study. Their age ranged from 6 to 69 years. The commonest finding during examination under microscopy was posterosuperior retraction pocket (42.3%). Cholesteatoma was the commonest intraoperative pathology (86.5%), majority with cholesteatoma widespread involving both tympanic and mastoid cavities. Ossicular chain erosion was reported in 96.4% patients. Conclusion: Squamosal otitis media is common in our setup, with extensive distribution of pathology in middle ear cleft, and possible bony landmarks erosion.

Review: Selling Black Brazil: Race, Nation, and Visual Culture in Salvador, Bahia, by Anadelia A. Romo, and Modernity in Black and White: Art and Image, Race and Identity in Brazil, 1890–1945, by Rafael Cardoso

Review: <i>Selling Black Brazil: Race, Nation, and Visual Culture in Salvador, Bahia</i>, by Anadelia A. Romo, and <i>Modernity in Black and White: Art and Image, Race and Identity in Brazil, 1890–1945</i>, by Rafael Cardoso

Customer responses to advertising social media choices when choosing an airline: a case study of low-cost airlines in Thailand

This study examines customer responses to advertising media choices when choosing an airline. The authors employed quantitative research that obtained the basic information about passengers' choices of airlines via an online Google form and in-person questionnaire distribution at the airports. As a result, this study's number of valid responses was 209, with a 50.20% age range between 18-30 years old. The results found that passengers tend to watch social media, use the web rather than offline media, and consume online application platforms on mobile applications, e.g., Facebook, YouTube Channel, Line application, and Instagram. Online advertising and social media are closely associated with consumer lifestyles. The most important social media that customers respond to when choosing an airline ticket is Facebook, followed by Instagram and Line application because it connects customers to the airline website conveniently and creates better interaction with customers. At the same time, Offline media is considered a minor virtual channel that affects customer response.

Partisanship and Media Choice on Political Information and Issue Diversity in the Unites States

Partisanship and Media Choice on Political Information and Issue Diversity in the Unites States

Effect of different washing conditions on the removal efficiency of selected compounds in biopolymers

&lt;abstract&gt; &lt;p&gt;Recycling of plastic materials is a key sustainability topic. Hence, the scope of this study is to evaluate the potential of this purification step for achieving high-purity recyclates via mechanical recycling. In this study, the focus is set on the revalorization of poly(3-hydroxy butyrate) and poly(3-hydroxy butyrate-co-3-hydroxy valerate)—two biobased and biodegradable polymers that have properties similar to those of polyolefins and are therefore possible eco-friendly alternatives. Specifically, the washing process as an important part of polymer recycling processes is evaluated regarding different washing conditions on a laboratory scale. For this purpose, several virgin polymers were contaminated with volatile organic compounds that differed in functionality and molecular weight. Regarding contamination, concentration correlates with contamination time. Moreover, the contamination degree was found to be higher for polar contaminants since polar compounds show higher compatibility with the polymer. General beneficial effects of higher temperatures and longer washing times were observed. The choice of washing medium was relevant for different polarities of the contaminants. At higher process temperatures, material degradation occurred. Hence, recyclers have to pay attention to the difference in the interaction between impurities and the polymer and to the degradation of the polymer during recycling and the subsequent formation of degradation products. Since these biopolymers display comparable properties to polyolefins, great potential in packaging applications is apparent. Moreover, the method of analyzing the removal efficiency of volatile organic compounds via washing can be applied to all recyclable polymers.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/abstract&gt;

Identity Groups, Susceptibility to Political Fake News and Social Media Choice

Identity Groups, Susceptibility to Political Fake News and Social Media Choice

Data Driven Model to Investigate Political Bias in Mainstream Media

Media bias refers to the tendency of mainstream media outlets to report news in a way that reflects their own political, social, or ideological beliefs or preferences. Such bias may obfuscate facts, manipulate public beliefs, misinform readers, narrow perspectives and viewpoints, and result in greater polarization and division. To counter this issue, this study presents a model for quantifying media bias, aimed at enabling individuals to make more informed media choices. The proposed media analysis model includes a pipeline that gathers articles from three distinct sources: mainstream media news outlets, known conservative outlets, and known liberal media outlets. The collected articles were subjected to a range of text pre-processing operations and subsequently, curated n-gram and topic lists were generated. Several classification models including BERT, logistic regression, random forest, multinomial, and long short-term memory (LSTM) were created and fine-tuned on polarized news sources and used for analyzing news articles from the mainstream media. Among the various classification models that we investigated in this study, BERT achieved overall higher accuracy across the majority of topics. The analysis of mainstream media on various topics yielded different results, with some being balanced and others leaning left or right, depending on the topic. The research also suggests the effectiveness of using highly polarized news sources for developing models to predict media bias.

Change or Destroy: The Digital Transformation of Indonesian MSMES towards Achieving a Sustainable Econom

The development of digital technology brings changes in every aspect of human life, including MSMEs, which are the main actors in the world economy. In Indonesia, 99.9% of the economic sector is run by MSMEs. The midst of all the limitations of MSMEs in carrying out digital transformation exposes MSMEs to the choice to be able to transform and accelerate technology as a strategy to be able to maintain their business or fail in their business. One form of digital transformation in MSMEs is through the use of online media as a means of supporting their business. Human behavior has changed into the Era of Society 5.0, making social media and technology a human need. This study aims to examine: (1) the level of acceptance of MSMEs towards online media, (2) the use of online media by MSMEs, (3) the choice of online media used by MSMEs, and (4) the impact of using online media on MSMEs. This research was conducted descriptively-quantitatively through the distribution of questionnaires to MSME actors in several cities in Indonesia. The data obtained were analyzed using the scoring method. The results of the study show that: (1) MSME actors are very receptive to the use of online media as a means of digital transformation, (2) the majority of MSME actors choose to use online media in running their business, (3) WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram are the most popular online media used by Indonesian MSME actors, and (5) the use of online media makes MSMEs able to maintain their business in the midst pandemic. Keywords: Digital Transformation, Msmes, Social Media, Post-Pandemic, Sustainable Economic

Research on Exploding Video Creation Strategy based on Visual Communication

With the rapid development of digital media technology, the form of information dissemination is constantly updated, reflecting the development and progress of the times. Facing the new situation and task, the analysis of the new strategy of visual communication design of communication content is an extremely important link. As a new way of communication, short video has changed the way people get information and socialize. The rise of short video makes the audience gradually develop fragmented audio-visual habits, which in turn affects and changes the production and communication mode of traditional media. Using the theory of communication to analyze, it is not difficult to see the characteristics of communication methods. The era of big data enables communicators to grasp the needs of audiences more accurately and optimize communication methods. More and more mainstream news media have entered the field of short video creation. Creating explosions and detonating traffic is the only way to expand the media's influence, seize the right to speak online and guide public opinion. From the perspective of visual communication, this paper analyzes the audience's media choice and the change of visual center, and gives some suggestions on the creation strategy of explosive short videos.

Instagram Social Media as an Effort to Increase Dental Health Knowledge

Background: The high prevalence of dental and oral disease is greatly influenced by several factors, one of which is the behavior of people who are not aware of the importance of maintaining oral and dental health, this is based on a lack of knowledge of the importance of maintaining dental and oral health. Efforts to increase knowledge, namely through online media. The choice of Instagram social media is due to the high number of Instagram users in Indonesia and the tendency of Indonesian people to prefer seeing pictures rather than writing. Purpose: This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of dental and oral health knowledge before and after being given education through Instagram social media. Method: The design of this research is quasi-experimental, conducted on 37 respondents obtained by using total sampling technique. The instruments used in this study were Instagram media and questionnaires in the form of a Google form regarding dental and oral health maintenance. Analysis of the data used is a paired sample test. Results: Knowledge before and after being given education about maintaining dental and oral health through Instagram social media results in the good category (59.5%) to (86.5%), in the sufficient category (37.8%) to (13.5%), and in the less category (2.7%) to no (0%) respondents with less knowledge category. The results of the paired sample test obtained p value = 0.000, meaning that there is a difference in knowledge before and after dental health education with Instagram. Conclusion: dental health education with Instagram social media is effective in increasing dental and oral health knowledge.

Characterization of Seed Mycobiota Using Culture-Dependent and Culture-Independent Approaches.

Seed fungi are potentially important for their roles in seedling microbiome assembly and seedling health, but surveys of full seed fungal communities remain limited. While culture-dependent methods have been used to characterize some members of the seed mycobiota, recent culture-independent studies have improved the ease in identifying and characterizing full seed fungal communities. In this chapter, we describe how to survey seed fungi using both traditional culture-based methods and culture-free metabarcoding. We first describe protocols for the isolation and long-term preservation of fungal strains from individual seeds and for the extraction and amplification of DNA from such fungal isolates for identification with Sanger sequencing. We also detail how to extract, amplify, and sequence fungal DNA directly from individual seeds. Finally, we provide suggestions for troubleshooting media choices, PCR inhibition by isolates and plant tissue, and PCR limitation by low fungal DNA.

Gender Differences in Online Identity: A Linguistic Contrastive Study of Arabic and English Screen Names in the Saudi Context

The considerations behind choosing pseudonyms over the real name may be varied depending upon extraneous or intrinsic circumstances including the need to circumvent social norms, taboos, and practices. However, one that transcends these bounds is the affordance of freedom to act natural that comes with adopting a pseudonym which masks one’s true identity. The vast choice of media for social expression in the age of technology has added a new dimension to the practice of adopting pseudonyms. Accordingly, this study investigates whether patterns of screen name choice and typology are discernible among Saudi male and female students. The study created a database of two hundred screen names selected from the forums of foundation year at two Saudi universities (male =100 and female =100). The screen names gained are classified and examined based on the attraction theories’ framework. As far as findings are concerned, the choice and typology of screen names according to the type of gender are significant. The screen names are varied whether the gender is male or female. Findings also show that the "real names" category is applied by female students in screen names more than male students whereas "unreal names" category is applied more by male students than the females. For fictional names, both male and female students prefer to use romantic names and neglected names which show wealth or looks. Three new categories in pseudonyms are found and established in the study i.e., popular, romantic, and real names due to the Saudi contextual variation. A significant effect of choosing the screen names on the names of their devices is also found in the study.

Optimizing Somatic Embryogenesis Initiation, Maturation and Preculturing for Cryopreservation in Picea pungens

Picea pungens (Engelm.), known for its blue-green needles, has become a likable ornamental species in northeast China since 2000. Nonetheless, a lack of propagation methods that can maintain genetic fidelity and develop seedlings at a large scale prevents the further expansion of the species. Somatic embryogenesis (SE), paired with cryopreservation technologies, may provide a valid alternative. Picea pungens SE is not new, but its practical application has been limited due to low efficiencies in SE initiation and maturation as well as a lack of effective cryopreservation technology. In this study, experiments were carried out to overcome the limitations by modifying culture media. For initiation, the efficiency was enhanced by adjusting concentrations of 2.4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), 6-benzyl amino–purine (6-BA) or sucrose supplemented to the induction medium. The concentrations of 4.0 mg/L 2,4-D, 2 mg/L 6-BA, and 5 to 10 g/L sucrose were found optimal in maximizing initiation efficiency. For maturation, the efficiency, expressed as the number of mature somatic embryos per gram of fresh mass cultured (E/gFM), varied greatly with the choices of the basal medium and concentration of abscisic acid (ABA) of the maturation medium. Based on our results, the judicial choices were using the DCR medium as the basal medium and 10 mg/L ABA. The maturation efficiency could also be improved by adjusting the maturation medium’s osmotic pressure by manipulating the concentrations of carbohydrate and Gelrite and culture density. While the maturation medium, using sucrose as carbohydrate source or supplemented with a low (&lt;8 g/L) Gelrite concentration, facilitated maturation, optimal selections were truly genotype-dependent. Our results also suggest that, while the optimal culture density varied with genotype, in general it is needless to culture more than 100 mg embryogenesis tissues per dish (size: 10 × 1.5 cm). Based on this study, the optimum pretreatment for embryogenesis tissue cryopreservation was culturing the tissues on the proliferation medium with 0.4 mol/L sorbitol for 24 h, followed by treatment with 5% Dimethyl sulfoxide. This study significantly improved the initiation (achieved a frequency of 0.56) and embryo maturation efficiencies (achieved 1030 E/gFM) and established an effective preculturing protocol for cryopreservation (recovered 1354 E/gFM) for the species. The protocols developed here, paired with the available ones for other SE steps in the literature, form a well-refined SE technology intended for commercial application to Picea pungens.

The Glass Figure

In this article, I propose to examine how prosopopoeia might be identified in some of André Kertész’s final photographic works, not only in the recourse of a glass figurine, that stood-in for his late-wife, Elizabeth, but also through the analysis of his choice of medium, the Polaroid: an image that holds a distinct material existence, small enough to share, and captivating in its instant development before one’s eyes. Additionally, I will consider the association of prosopopoeia and death, as a literary figure that gives voice to those that have lost it, but also in the very mourning process for Kertész.

Fragmented and Yet Influential: MPs’ Perceptions on the Media in Latvia

Abstract More than 30 years have passed since Latvia gained its independence, however, systematic studies of present‐day relationship between media and politics are still missing. Latvia is a country where choice of media is largely determined by ethnicity. Representatives from ethnic groups acquire their daily information from different news sources, as the result the trust levels in media depend on the media format and the language of choice. This study adds to the literature by studying the perceptions of Latvian Members of Parliament on media agenda‐setting power. Drawing on surveys of Latvian parliamentarians, the agenda‐setting power of media is assessed and compared to the survey results in Finland. The results reveal that politicians in Latvia and in Finland think that, in general, media have a massive influence on politics, but the power of written press in Latvia is less evident. And although MPs acknowledge that media can have a significant influence on how decisions are made, the greatest impact will be observed during political debates that can be covered by the media. This study also demonstrates that even though Latvia scores high in the world press freedom ranks, MPs do not trust the media to a large extent and that can be a dangerous signal for the functioning of democracy. The results offer valuable information about the influence of media in countries outside Western Europe and provide a basis for further discussions on surveys as a method for studying the power of media agenda‐setting.

Cinemagraph: Effectiveness in Delivering Content Through Moving Image Cinemagraph: Effectiveness in Delivering Content Through Moving Image

Moving elements is a part of interactive approaches that attract our view to discover more. Different approaches result in a variety of results in delivering information, for example, still image is used for poster campaigns and video is used for television commercial ads. Currently, still images and motion images (video) are the major media widely used especially in social media like in Instagram and Facebook. Cinemagraph technique is a new photography technique that combines two media which is video and still image to become a moving image, used to attract viewers at their first impressions. This study focuses on the introduction of cinemagraph technique to be part of the new approaches especially in social media together with the other two media choices. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of these three media in delivering the content and see how far viewers react to the content presented. Results from this study are expected to help in gaining data to enhance the next future research, specializing in content study and the technique itself. As for the conclusions, this study only discusses the surface since the main objective is to introduce the technique and identify the effectiveness of the media.

Rapid Review: I-Voting for the 2024 General Election in Indonesia

Industry 4.0 has brought technological advances in making more contributions to human life. This progress has an impact on every aspect of human life, especially information and communication technology. The Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) is the basis for increasing the number of participation in the general election system that meets the needs of voters. This research was conducted using a rapid review with the aim of producing policy-making recommendations to the government quickly with a limited time. The method used in the search for coherent research is PRISMA, to find media choices that are most widely used by Indonesians and find opportunities including the threat of i-voting in the 2024 simultaneous General Elections in Indonesia. The findings show the many advantages of the i-voting system because there are more benefits large compared to conventional systems, especially i-voting is an efficient system compared to previous general election systems. The main threat to the i-voting system lies in network security, this condition already has a solution, namely the blockchain. Changes in the general election system cannot be restrained because of technology, currently changes in the general election system are still stagnant due to political interests. The development of a relevant system to implement is a combination of i-voting and e-voting, this system is able to provide solutions for voters who have resource constraints with e-voting and time constraints with i-voting

Research on News Use of Social Media in The Context of New Media

The understanding of social media is to look at "social" and "media" both separately and in combination, to look at the characteristics and ways of social interaction, to look at the characteristics and forms of media, and to study the close relationship between the two. Social communication in the form of media or the choice of media in the form of social communication, and different discussion pointcuts have different understandings of social media.In the history of the development of human communication, human communication activities and the development of media technology have always been accompanied and closely related, and every progress of media technology always gives birth to and reconstructs the new communication ecology of human beings. Social media is a new media rooted in the Internet environment, which rises rapidly.News and communication workers or learners should not only adapt to the communication influence and changes brought by social media, but also adhere to the classic forms and methods of the original news media. Tradition and the emerging are never opposites, but complement and complement each other.

Indexing the ‘included’ migrant? Social categorization and interpersonal digital interaction between labor migrants, teachers and employers in Norway

This paper investigates the co-construction of identities of inclusion and exclusion in digitally mediated migrant-host community interaction. Through both interview and digital interactional data, we look at the discursive social categorization of and by Lithuanian labour migrants and their majority population interlocutors and analyze the semiotic practices by which identity categories are talked and written into being in home-school collaboration and workplace interaction. To capture the negotiation of power, (in)equality and authority, we apply the concepts orders of indexicality (Blommaert, 2007), and adequation and distinction (Bucholtz & Hall 2005). Our analysis shows how participants draw on various semiotic resources to interactionally construct identities as included, such as media choice, punctuation, text composition and multimodality.