Mediated Communication Research Articles

Disruption of Z-Disc Function Promotes Mechanical Dysfunction in Human Myocardium: Evidence for a Dual Myofilament Modulatory Role by Alpha-Actinin 2.

The ACTN2 gene encodes α-actinin 2, located in the Z-disc of the sarcomeres in striated muscle. In this study, we sought to investigate the effects of an ACTN2 missense variant of unknown significance (p.A868T) on cardiac muscle structure and function. Left ventricular free wall samples were obtained at the time of cardiac transplantation from a heart failure patient with the ACTN2 A868T heterozygous variant. This variant is in the EF 3-4 domain known to interact with titin and α-actinin. At the ultrastructural level, ACTN2 A868T cardiac samples presented small structural changes in cardiomyocytes when compared to healthy donor samples. However, contractile mechanics of permeabilized ACTN2 A868T variant cardiac tissue displayed higher myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity of isometric force, reduced sinusoidal stiffness, and faster rates of tension redevelopment at all Ca2+ levels. Small-angle X-ray diffraction indicated increased separation between thick and thin filaments, possibly contributing to changes in muscle kinetics. Molecular dynamics simulations indicated that while the mutation does not significantly impact the structure of α-actinin on its own, it likely alters the conformation associated with titin binding. Our results can be explained by two Z-disc mediated communication pathways: one pathway that involves α-actinin's interaction with actin, affecting thin filament regulation, and the other pathway that involves α-actinin's interaction with titin, affecting thick filament activation. This work establishes the role of α-actinin 2 in modulating cross-bridge kinetics and force development in the human myocardium as well as how it can be involved in the development of cardiac disease.

Belief maintenance as a media effect: a conceptualization and empirical approach

Abstract While prominent theories of media effects suggest that the maintenance of societal perceptions (and misperceptions) is a critical and distinct outcome of exposure to mediated communication, the “maintenance effect” remains poorly understood. This article provides a theoretical conceptualization and operational approach to the maintenance effect. The first part addresses the distinct properties of the maintenance effect and proposes a conceptualization anchored in theories of cognitive media effects. The second part focuses on the psychological mechanisms behind the maintenance effect, outlining factors operating in the short and long run. Finally, building upon recent statistical developments for longitudinal data analysis, the third part suggests and illustrates a specific empirical approach for analyzing the maintenance effect.

Ja’miezing’s Podcast Persona: Intertextual and Intercommunicative

An online persona is a public presentation of a human or non-human actor such as organisations and locations, digital objects, artificial intelligence, and media texts. This article provides an analysis of the online persona of the Australian satirical comedy podcast, Ja'miezing. Written, directed, performed, and produced by comedian Chris Lilley, Ja'miezing is a narrative podcast series that features the intimate details of the post-high school life of the character Ja’mie. The podcast launched following Lilley’s online cancellation which resulted in his previous mockumentary television shows being removed from Netflix and the Australian Broadcast Corporation’s video-on-demand service, ABC iview. The study builds on the five dimensions of persona – public, mediatised, performative, collective, and value – by drawing on contributions from podcast studies to better understand the unique features and practices of podcast personas. It seeks to untangle the complex interplay between the intertextual and intercommunicative connections of podcast producer, host, character, platform, and audience micropublics as they contribute to the online presentation of the podcast’s persona. The article highlights the potential of podcast personas as a unique form of a non-human online persona that requires further investigation. This approach also has implications for how to consider other forms of mediated communication with online personas.

New insights into the potential effects of PET microplastics on organisms via extracellular vesicle-mediated communication

Plastics have become an integral part of our daily lives. In the environment, plastics break down into small pieces (<5 mm) that are referred to as microplastics. Microplastics are ubiquitous and widespread in the environment, and all living organisms are exposed to their effects. The present study provides new insights into the potential effects of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics on organisms via extracellular vesicle (EV)-mediated communication. The study demonstrated that serum-derived EVs are able to transport plastic particles. In addition, PET microplastics alter the content of miRNA in EVs. The identified differentially regulated miRNAs may target genes associated with lifestyle diseases, such as cardiovascular or metabolic diseases, and carcinogenesis. This work expands our understanding of PET microplastics' effects on organisms via EV-mediated communication and identifies directions for further research and strategies.

Digitalt medierade kommunikationspraktiker hos finlandssvenskar i schweizisk diaspora

Digitally mediated communication practices of Swedish-speaking Finns in Swiss diaspora Digital communication channels make it possible to communicate and maintain social relationships without necessarily sharing the same time and space. In addition, for many who have moved to another country, digital communication channels offer opportuni­ties to maintain not only their native language and culture but also connections to their former home country. There is little qualitative research on Swedish-speaking Finns living abroad, although they represent a relatively large proportion of the total number of Swedish-speaking Finns. This case study investigates the digital communication practices of two Swedish-speaking Finns in a diaspora, with a focus on contact with the former homeland and the use of the Swedish language. The material consists of six semi-structured interviews with two Swedish-speaking Finns in Switzerland and their media diaries, visualised using mediagrams (Lexander &amp; Androutsopoulos 2021). The study highlights the choices and justifications for the different communication channels and modalities used, drawing on and going beyond the theory of polymedia (Madianou &amp; Miller 2012; 2013). The study discusses eight factors – emotional, social, practical, habitual, cultural, linguistic, pedagogical, and historical – that describe how these two individuals in a diaspora navigate the polymedia environment. The findings suggest that digital communication plays an important role for these individuals in facilitating both personal and professional contacts with Finland and provides crucial tools for maintaining and enabling the use of the Swedish language.

Navigating Power Dynamics in Virtual Interviews with Sex Workers during COVID-19: A Researcher-Participant Perspective

Sex workers may show extreme sensitivity to power relations during qualitative research due to the previous experiences of stigmatization and marginalization. The purpose of this article is to analyze how technologically mediated communication between researchers and participants during an interview may influence the scope of control exercised by the interactional partners. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, I conducted 16 qualitative phone and videoconference interviews with female sex workers in Poland discussing the social stigmas they encounter. Each interview was followed up with extensive field notes that were analyzed using the procedures of grounded theory methodology. These very field notes serve as the basis for the paper herein. As a result of the analysis, I distinguished areas of power negotiated by the interviewer and interviewees in successive phases: before, during, and after the interview. The sense of control over the respective aspects of a study may contribute to the establishment of a more democratic power relationship between the researcher and the participants who belong to a population bearing a stigma.

Haunted Houses, Haunted Minds: Psychical Research, Psychoanalysis, and the Philip Experiment

ABSTRACT In the 1970s, the Toronto Society for Psychical Research conducted a series of experiments in which they attempted to prove that the psychokinetic phenomena that were normally described in the context of spirit communication were indicative of a dormant, psychological power within the individual. The group created a fictional character—Philip, the imaginary ghost—and spent several years of regular séances successfully producing table raps and levitations as they attempted to communicate with him. Importantly, the group often compared their experiences with each other and with Philip as a form of “group therapy.” This article examines the collaborative, playful nature of the Philip Experiment in relation to psychoanalytic theories of play, transitional and intersubjective experiences, and the mediated communication of unconscious fantasies in the context of clinical analysis.

Geopolitical values of the mediatic communication

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the particularities of the functioning of the mass media in the context of reflecting the specific issue regarding the current international relations. After all, at the center of research is geopolitics in its close relationship and media interdependence. The history of becoming these relationships is being pursued, certain controversial issues are being discussed, generated by the assertion of geopolitics as a science, on the one hand, and the media, on the other, highlighting their tangency points but also the inherent differences. Attention is drawn to deciphering the observed tendency, manifested by the media, to become a political actor in situations that characterize contemporary international relations. Certain new forms of collaboration in the targeted areas, which are confusing, are also reported. In order to deepen the interpretation of the geo-information paradigm, the elucidation of some essential concepts, such as terrorism, crisis, conflict, is used.

Organ-on-chip models of feto-maternal interface to determine extracellular vesicles mediated communication during pregnancy and parturition

Organ-on-chip models of feto-maternal interface to determine extracellular vesicles mediated communication during pregnancy and parturition

Moroccan Youth and Sexuality: An Empirical Assessment of Visual Media Contribution

Despite the advent of myriads of channels of visual communication, such as social networking sites, the medium of television has managed not only to survive but has rather transcended both time and space to be more readily accessible, be it synchronously or asynchronously and to reach larger audiences in remote and rather disadvantaged areas. However, many critics of televised mediated communication claim that TV offers stereotypical representations of family models gender relations and, at times, inflames racial and ethnic attitudes (Essani, 2007; Makboul, 2007; Marzouk, 2007; &amp; Shalabih, 2007). Many programs aired on Arab satellite television, such as soap operas, sit-coms, and serials, are accused of disseminating illicit practices and allegedly ‘deviant’ sexual orientations. The purpose of this paper, then, is to examine the extent to which heavy viewing of imported television programs lead Moroccan university students to endorse permissive attitudes regarding premarital sex and same-sex sexual practices. One hypothesis was put forth to test these relationships, and a survey was used to collect data from the participants in the study. Results of the statistical analysis moderately corroborate the proposed postulate, and thus the findings generally do lend support to the cultivation theory. The paper closes by outlining key recommendations and suggesting directions for future research.

Negotiating Implicit Meaning on the Internet: A Case Study

Negotiating the meaning of words and sentences is a fundamental part of verbal interactions. This essay aims to examine a particular type of negotiation, that relating to the content of presuppositions, which are placed, together with the implicatures, in the phenomena of implicit communication. The research made use of automatic tools for querying empirical data: a database of lexical presupposition triggers for the Italian language, including approximately 20,000 entries (simple lexemes and multiword expressions) and the corpus of Computer Mediated Communication Web2Corpus_it, specifically in its public chat sections, which contains about 300,000 tokens. Quantitative data are provided in relation to the pragmatic function of negotiation, its initiation stage, and the types of presupposition triggers involved. In the context of the media characteristics of chats, which must be considered to discuss the results, the items of implicit meaning negotiation provide corpus-based evidence of the conditions under which presuppositions are available to the receiver’s monitoring of the meaning and consequent possible reaction.

To Text or Talk in Person? Social Anxiety, Media Affordances, and Preferences for Texting Over Face-To-Face Communication in Dating Relationships

ABSTRACT Collocated dating couples have the choice between interacting in person or via communication media, inviting theorizing about when and why they gravitate toward mediated communication. Drawing on O’Sullivan’s (2000) model, we investigated young adults’ preference for texting over face-to-face (FtF) communication in situations varying in threat (mundane talk vs. difficult conversations vs. breakups), as a function of individuals’ social anxiety and perceptions of media affordances. Results show that higher social anxiety predicted preferences for texting, and this relationship got stronger as relational episodes were more threatening. The perceived importance of editability mediated the relationship between social anxiety and preferences for texting under threatening circumstances. The results shed light on the factors that drive media preferences in relational contexts.

Politeness Strategies in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC): An Issue of University Professors and Students.

This paper examines the politeness theory in the light of Austin &amp; Searle’s speech act theory as reflected in CMC between students and their lecturers or supervisors. Thus politeness aspects were analyzed as enacted in the five categories such as: Assertives, commisives, directives, expressives, and declaratives. The paper also examined politeness in other language aspects that are usually present in any form of communication, such as: Address phrases, meeting requests, request for reply, and adjunct phrases. The objective of this article was to shed light on the politeness strategies employed by the lecturers and students in their e-communication through Whatsapp and SMS (short messages or text messages) platforms. Fifty communications were downloaded from the lecturers’ phones through their permission and the students’, which were used as data for this study. Five lecturers and seven postgraduate students made the population of this study. The findings indicated that students seem to be comfortable using this mode of communication, and it is important to understand how students and lecturers make choices and how these choices affect the perception of the cultural appropriateness of CMCs. The results also revealed that elements of politeness greatly decrease in the follow-up messages, that is, messages that require some kind of response. From the study, lecturers adhered to formal language use as compared to the students in their communication.

Sensors as media and sensor-mediated communication: an introduction to the special issue

Abstract This special issue examines mediated communication through the rise of sensors. Sensors are increasingly in the phones we carry, in the cars we drive, and throughout the homes and communities in which we live. In this introduction to the special issue, we define sensor-mediated communication (SMC) and argue the embedded, automatic, and datafied nature of sensors belie the glitches and biases in sensor mechanisms, networks, and infrastructure. The collection of articles in this issue explores SMC across a variety of contexts and cases, including municipal infrastructure, community, health, industry, and the domestic. They represent studies of voice assistants, self-tracking apps, self-driving cars, fitness games, home health care, as well as municipal sensor networks in urban, indigenous, and rural communities. Across them all we see the different ways through which mediated communication is initiated, transformed, and maintained by sensing technologies. Together they represent an important evolution in the study of computer-mediated communication.

Unilever‘s Practice on AI-based Recruitment

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is shaping the reality of human resource management (HRM). It is ideal for HRM to do predictive decision-making tasks like recruitment and selection. Talent acquisition includes identifying qualified candidates, aligning assessment methods with job or performance-related criteria, and managing administrative discretion in the hiring process. Other threats like high volumes of applications, biases in candidate selection, and a shortage of qualified candidates also bother recruiter teams. While AI-based recruitment supported by the natural language process (NLP) addresses such challenges by automating or augmenting various aspects of recruitment, such as sourcing, screening, and interviewing candidates. Unilever started its partnership with HireVue and Pymetrics to design a system of recruitment, selection and onboarding supported by AI in 2016. This article uses the case analysis method to discuss Unilever’s application of AI in the recruitment and selection process. The analysis will be conducted in the context of social network site (SNS), gamification, and verbal computer mediated communication (VCMC). Unilever saved bunches of time and cost, while improving its HRM performance. Such decision-making tools associated with AI raise concerns of bias and private crisis. This article is also aimed to discuss such a phenomenon in the context of Unilever. Talent acquisition by AI is an inevitable trend. This article is helpful as a benchmark.

Artificial intelligence and human communication: A systematic literature review

The advancement of artificial intelligence has enhanced communication and contributed to the flow of information in recent years. This review attempts to report on the findings of a systematic literature review on artificial intelligence and human communication. The review focused on four databases— Elsevier, Google Scholar, Oxford and Sage. In order to refine the results, inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined with the purpose of eliminating all publications which came across as clearly irrelevant. After applying the protocol and the analysis model, a corpus of 21 papers was obtained between May and June, 2023. The results show that with the increasing availability of monitoring data and the recent advances in computing platforms, artificial intelligence has become a tool for network operators to automate communication. In addition, artificial intelligence-based technologies such as machine learning, human machine communication and computer mediated communication have demonstrated superhuman capabilities in solving some real world problems.

Classroom Discourse Analysis of Computer-Mediated Communication during COVID-19

In March 2020, the Saudi government announced that school and university courses were to be held online to control the COVID-19 outbreak. A sudden yet smooth movement occurred from traditional face-to-face classrooms to online courses. This shift influenced the nature of classes, the nature of the interaction, and the participants’ roles. Interaction in online classes is viewed as a form of computer-mediated communication. This paper explores the nature of computer-mediated communication in online courses at one of the major research universities in Riyadh during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using an in-depth qualitative analysis of Walsh’s (2006) framework of Self-Evaluation of Teacher talk, this study examines the nature of classroom discourse and interactions among level six students who took a content course in English and lectures were transcribed for this study. Results answer questions regarding the common interaction modes and features and how efficient they are to encourage participation during Computerized Mediated Communication. Analysis reveals that using traditional interactional features is not suitable in virtual classes.Teacher dominated classes with excessive IRFs patterns do not cultivate interaction in Computerized Mediated Communication. New modes of communication and discursive features using more interactive tools and engaging features such as referential questions promote interaction. Results provide an insight into the nature of interaction in online university classrooms. It also adds to the current literature on Computerized Mediated Communication interaction to enhance the existing practices done in classrooms.

Communication between grandparents and young grandchildren over distance: Establishing contact with constitutive nonhumans

Physical items are often taken for granted in mediated communication between grandparents (GP) and young grandchildren (GC). This article puts “constitutive nonhumans” at the center of inquiry to understand the potential of physical items and communication technologies to communicate over distance. The notion of phaticity operationalizes the role of constitutive nonhumans to establish and maintain contact over distance, which might have pleasurable or unpleasurable outcomes. A relational view on agency supports the entanglement of humans and nonhumans when they cooperate to communicate over distance. The article reports on a two-phase qualitative study that was conducted in two European countries with 10 GP (aged 60–75 years) and 10 GC (aged 6–11 years). The results identify how the entanglement between constitutive nonhumans conflates emotional connection and contact. Furthermore, the results suggest that the condition of familiarity can direct contact to pleasant or unpleasant outcomes that might differ across mediated and co-located communication.

Adapting Compassionate Conversations for Virtual Mediated Communication

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a shift in communication of difficult, emotionally charged topics from almost entirely in-person to virtual mediated communication (VMC) methods due to restrictions on visitation for safety. The objective was to train residents in VMC and assess performance across multiple specialties and institutions. The authors designed a teaching program including asynchronous preparation with videos, case simulation experiences with standardized patients (SPs), and coaching from a trained faculty member. Three topics were included - breaking bad news (BBN), goals of care / health care decision making (GOC), and disclosure of medical error (DOME). A performance evaluation was created and used by the coaches and standardized patients to assess the learners. Trends in performance between simulations and sessions were assessed. Four academic university hospitals - Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas and The University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio- participated. Learners totaled 34 including 21 emergency medicine interns, 9 general surgery interns and 4 medical students entering surgical training. Learner participation was voluntary. Recruitment was done via emails sent by program directors and study coordinators. A statistically significant improvement in mean performance on the second compared to the first simulation was observed for teaching communication skills for BBN using VMC. There was also a small but statistically significant mean improvement in performance from the first to the second simulation for the training overall. This work suggests that a deliberate practice model can be effective for teaching VMC and that a performance evaluation can be used to measure improvement. Further study is needed to optimize the teaching and evaluation of these skills as well as to define minimal acceptable levels of competency.

SAVREMENE KOMUNIKACIJSKE PRAKSE U OBRAZOVANJU / CONTEMPORARY COMMUNICATION PRACTICES IN EDUCATION

The subject of the analysis are the practices and effects of changed direct, interpersonal communication on teachers – students reality in the form of online consultations, in new communication technologies mediated by patterns. The text analyzes the transformation of traditional, academic communication practices in teaching processes conditioned not primarily by technological but existential reasons, starting from the hypothesis that the effectiveness of consultative, communication forms cannot be achieved exclusively through mediated forms, the absence of interpersonal, social interaction. The purpose of the analysis was related both to recording the real effects of mediated communication patterns of online consultations and to analyzing indicators of improvement and development forms of online teaching. On the selected sample of students and teachers of the Department of Communication and Journalism Studies, Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo, primarily, study-oriented and interested in the field of studying and researching communication processes, the surveys aims to analyze conditionally mediated communication from the aspect of communicators, participants in the communication as well as from the aspect of the content and mediator of the communication process and its effects in comparison with established, traditional academic practices. The results of the examination of attitudes indicate that the mediated patterns of consultative forms optimized the material, technical dimension of transmission and reception, but reduced the qualitative, content aspect of the message in terms of its understanding and the inclusion of sensory inputs in the communication process. Untimeliness in responding to inquiries, different denotative and connotative forms of understanding the message, and the absence of metacommunication are just some of the recorded indicators of the absence of basic conditions for effective communication in forms of mediated consultation.