Medium Theory Research Articles

Establishing a transient model of double-layer porous media interfacial evaporation system to reveal the relationship between porous media parameters and evaporation performance

The solar interfacial evaporation system can generate steam efficiently by localizing solar thermal energy to heat air–water interface, which has great application potential in seawater desalination, sewage treatment, and other fields. At present, the solar absorption layer and substrate of the interfacial evaporation system are mainly made of carbon materials, sponges, foams, and other porous media materials. However, the transient interfacial evaporation heat and mass transfer model and the influence of the physical parameters of porous media on evaporation performance have rarely been investigated. Based on heat and mass transfer theory of porous media, a transient theoretical model of porous media interfacial evaporation system is established in this paper. Moreover, the effects of physical parameters such as the porosity and thermal conductivity of porous media on evaporation performance are analyzed, and the accuracy of the model is verified through outdoor experiments. Based on the model calculation, as the porosity of the substrate increases, the evaporation rate and efficiency of the evaporator first increase and then decrease. The lower the thermal conductivity of the substrate and the higher the porosity and thermal conductivity of the solar absorption layer are, the better the evaporation performance is, but the growth rate gradually decreases. Therefore, the relationship between the improvement of evaporation performance and the increased cost caused by the improvement of material properties needs to be considered. The model and related theoretical analysis results can provide a theoretical basis for system structure optimization, material selection and other aspects of future research on double-layer porous media interfacial evaporation system.

Understanding unsaturated sulfate saline soil in cold regions: A comprehensive hydraulic–thermal–air–salt–mechanical model with experimental research

The destruction of infrastructure built on saline soil in cold regions is closely related to water and salt migration, and soil deformation in foundations. Consequently, it is imperative to understand the mechanisms of heat and mass transfer, along with deformation in saline soil. Based on the unsaturated soil mechanics and porous media theory, a hydraulic–thermal–air–salt–mechanical (HTASM) coupled mathematical model for frozen unsaturated sulfate saline soil is proposed. The model incorporates the impact of ice-water phase change, sodium sulfate crystallization, and vapor flow on heat and mass transfer during the freezing process. Two parameters—salt crystallization pressure, and ice pressure—are introduced into the mechanical control equation to capture the effects of phase change on deformation. In addition, the relationship between the density of soil particles, water, ice and gas, and temperature and pressure is considered to reflect the dynamic change of density during freezing. Finally, the numerical simulation using the HTASM model is conducted and its efficacy is validated by comparing the numerical results with those obtained from indoor unidirectional freezing tests. The coupling effect of the HTASM model is revealed by analyzing the dynamic changes of temperature, water content, salt content, vapor flux and crystallization pressure in the soil column during freezing. The results show that the proposed HTASM model can well simulate the heat and mass transfer behavior in freezing unsaturated sulfate saline soil.

Secularism and Ethical Issues in Media Practice as a Bane for National Development

This paper addresses secularism and ethical issues in media practice as a bane for national development. In communication studies, ethics is central and critical to the overall process of journalistic engagement, especially to the credibility in the gathering, processing, and delivery of information for believability. Every profession has acts, codes, ethics, or laws guiding its activities. Whether these codes are backed by effective sanctions is also another issue. Media as a very vital sector of the society guided by certain fundamental law and ethics, which guides every action of journalists. While the laws are no doubt legal issues, which can lead to litigation and subsequent prosecution, many have argued that ethics are moral standards whose violations are not backed by sanctions. Within this context, this paper examined secularism in the Nigerian context, the forces that threaten the growth of secularism in Nigeria, ethical issues in Nigerian media and how it affects national development, and factors affecting ethical media practice and how it halted development in Nigeria. Development Media Theory serves the goal of the paper. The paper is predominantly based on information derived from the qualitative data using secondary sources such as relevant texts, journals, official publications, historical documents, and the Internet, which served as tangible sources of insight into the analysis. The paper argued that the media are very important subsystem in the social system that helps cajole and coordinate the other subsystems in the social system to enhance effective development. While the media cannot work independently to bring about development, other institutions also need the media for information dissemination, and sensitization via various mediums to actualize developmental objectives.

The New Virtuality: A Video Essay on the Disappearing Differences Between Real and Unreal

This video essay explores the implications of highly realistic images that appear, interact and socialise with human users, often seemingly “live” in real-time. Through readings of film and media theory, archival research, textual readings (across paintings, digital art, cinema, performance, VR, apps and architecture) and media archaeology, the essay argues for virtuality as a multi-paradoxical and discombobulating vacillation: believed yet disbelieved; manipulated yet recognisable; realistic yet fake. This renewed understanding of the virtual also signals the pliability of post-truth and its concomitant challenges to frameworks of disbelief, reliability and certainty. It constitutes the new battleground for understanding the politics of current and future realities and histories.

AI public relations: the early rise of Kizuna AI

AI has assumed a dominant role in society, leveraging various tools to extend its influence beyond digital marketing and content creation. In the year 2023, AI's industry role has witnessed significant expansion. An illustrative example of this is the emergence of Kizuna AI, which serves as a testament to the fact that AI is not confined solely to scientific rigour but also encompasses creative endeavours akin to those undertaken by humans. In light of these developments, the New Media Theory prompts us to reconsider the discourse surrounding AI, recognising that it manifests differently in certain respects and has the potential to behave unpredictably as it becomes increasingly integrated into society. For this study, the Media Analysis model proposed by Neuman was employed to gain valuable insights. This research underscores the importance of fostering greater collaboration between humanity and scientific disciplines to gain a comprehensive understanding of how AI operates. By bridging these domains, researchers can unlock more profound insights into the workings of AI and its implications for society.

A non-isothermal phase-field hydraulic fracture modeling in saturated porous media with convection-dominated heat transport

This research aims to extend the isothermal continuum mechanical modeling framework of hydraulic fracturing in porous materials to account for the non-isothermal processes. Whereas the theory of porous media is used for the macroscopic material description, the phase-field method is utilized for modeling the crack initiation and propagation. We proceed in this study from a two-phase porous material consisting of thermomechanically interacting pore fluid and solid matrix. The heat exchange between the fluid in the crack and the surrounding porous environment through the diffusive fracture edges is carefully studied, and new formulations here are proposed. Besides, temperature-dependent solid and fluid material parameters are taken into account, which is of particular importance in connection with fluid viscosity and its effect on post-cracking pressure behavior. This continuum mechanical treatment results in strongly coupled partial differential equations of the mass, the momentum, and the energy balance of the thermally non-equilibrated constituents. Using the finite element method, two-dimensional initial-boundary-value problems are presented to show, on the one hand, the stability and robustness of the applied numerical algorithm in solving the emerged strongly coupled problem in the convection-dominated heat transport state. On the other hand, they show the capability of the modeling scheme in predicting important instances related to hydraulic fracturing and the role of the temperature field in this process. Additionally, they show the importance of using stabilization techniques, such as adding an artificial thermo-diffusivity term, to mitigate temperature fluctuations at high flow velocity.

Modelling the Influence of Erosive Fluidization on the Morphology of Fluid Flow and Escape Structures

Focused fluid flow through sub-seafloor pipes and chimneys, and their seafloor manifestations as pockmarks, are ubiquitous. However, the dynamics of flow localization and evolution of fluid escape structures remain poorly understood. Models based on geomechanical mechanisms like hydro-fracturing and porosity wave propagation offer some useful insights into fluid flow and escape dynamics, but face limitations in capturing features like mobilized granular matter, especially in the upper sediment layers where the link between fracture and pockmark is not always clear. Here, we propose a mathematical model based on the multiphase theory of porous media, where changes in subsurface and seafloor morphology are resolved through seepage-induced erosion, fluidization, transport, and re-deposition of granular material. Through simulation of an idealized scenario of gas escape from overpressured shallow gas reservoir, we demonstrate that our model can capture flow localization and formation of pipes, chimneys, and pockmarks. Our simulations show (1) formation of conical focused-flow conduits with a brecciated core and annular gas channels; (2) pockmarks of W and ring shapes; and (3) pulsed release of gas. Sediment erodibility and flow anisotropy control the morphology of focused fluid flow and escape structures, while permeability shows negligible impact. While the geological setting for this study is theoretical, we show that our results have real-world analogs.

Prospect of Threads in Contrast to Twitter as an Online Social Network Tool for Conflict Resolution

A new online social network service – Threads – was recently created and launched by Mark Zuckerberg to compete with Twitter. The rate at which people throughout the world accepted and created accounts on this new social network within hours of its creation and launching was prodigious. Conflicts have been inevitable in the world. As one of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs) (Goal 16) has to do with peaceful coexistence by the year 2030, this paper aims at comparing the features of Twitter that can be used for conflict resolution to the emerging features of Threads. The paper gives the origin and acceptance of Threads. The discussion in the paper is based on the review of some selected literature, Public Sphere as a Theory of social media, an empirical review of a previous study, and comparisons of some features of Twitter with those of Threads. The paper concluded by giving a recommendation that while Twitter as a social network should not be jettisoned especially in resolving conflicts, the new social network – Threads – should be studied more to discover how it can be used better to resolve conflicts and promote peaceful coexistence in society thereby achieving Goal 16 of the SDGs by the year 2030.

Analisis Komunikasi Virtual Dalam Dunia Roleplayer Grup RP Palembang Platform Telegram

With the title "Analysis of Virtual Communication on the Palembang World RP Group Roleplayer Telegram Platform". This study describes how virtual communication in roleplayer games among teenagers, especially teenagers in the city of Palembang. This study aims to find out how the process of roleplayer users form virtual communication and analyze virtual communication in the telegram platform roleplayer world towards members of the RP Palembang group. The theory used in this research is social science theory and new media theory. The research method used in this study is a qualitative research method. The approach used by researchers in this study is through observation obtained by conducting observations and structured interviews to become a reference for researchers to understand in depth about virtual communication in telegram platform roleplayer games. From the research results that have been obtained from the observation and documentation of researchers, the author can explain the process of forming virtual communication between roleplayer players, the types of virtual communication that occur in roleplayer games, supporting factors and inhibiting factors for virtual communication for roleplayer players and the advantages of the telegram platform in forming virtual communication in the roleplayer world of RP Group Palembang members.

Daten, Atmosphären, Texte – Künstlerische Erfahrungsräume und Virtualisierungen des Literarischen

Daten, Atmosphären, Texte<b> – Künstlerische Erfahrungsräume und Virtualisierungen des Literarischen</b>

Virtual element method for the modified transmission eigenvalue problem in inverse scattering theory

In this paper, we present the virtual element approximation for the modified transmission eigenvalue problem. The eigenvalue problem arises in inverse scattering theory for artificial inhomogeneous media characterized as a metamaterial. By the shifting argument and spectral approximation theory of compact operators, we prove the correct spectral approximation of the virtual element scheme, and derive the optimal order error estimates for the eigenfunctions and the double order for the eigenvalues. Finally, we implement numerical experiments to illustrate behaviors of the standard and serendipity virtual element schemes, and the finite element scheme.

Cute or creepy, that is the question of liveness: can artificial actors perform live?

This paper examines the liveness of the performative acts of technologically simulated or synthesized agents in interaction with humans. It questions the ability of artificial performers to construct a sense of live presence on stage and in other daily performative scenarios and evaluates our perception of liveness in those contexts. In this critical and comparative analysis, I study the live quality of Hatsune Miku’s live musical performances – a computer-generated cyber celebrity with a three-dimensional holographic body and an artificially synthesized singing voice – and the stimulating interactions of PARO, the seal – an adorable therapeutic cuddle-robot utilized as an emotional companion in nursing homes and hospitals. Using performance and media theories, I examine the audience/users’ affective responses and engagement quality with the holographic singer and the robotic pet, directly leading to the acceptance or rejection of the claim to the liveness of these techno-actors. This research also evaluates the impact of the application of cuteness (or kawaii) in designing non-human agents versus the emergence of creepiness in interactions with their incorporeal bodies on our emotive response. The objective is to study the difference between the liveness and aliveness of non-human, non-living performing agents and the impact of evoking the sense of “cute” versus “creepy” on warping the Uncanny Valley Curve.

Theory of porous media with the advection term and mass exchange between phases

Earlier modeling approaches in the field of mixtures assumed the solid phase of the mixture was the predominant constituent and simplified the constitutive laws for the fluid phase. In the field of mixtures, it has been argued that methods such as the theory of poroelasticity are incapable of accurately capturing mass exchange between phases and stress and strain fields. Mass exchange between phases and accurate stress and strain variations of each phase are indispensable to many fields of study, such as bone remodeling, fault movement in rocks, and shock waves in soils. This study presents an alternative method for capturing the stress and strain fields of mixtures, focusing on the advection term in the balance of linear momentum and mass exchange for each phase. In addition, this extended theory has the potential for measuring the shear stress field of a viscous fluid component, considering complex boundary conditions, and modeling chemical reactions between mixture phases. The capability of the model has been evaluated by analyzing 2D and 3D examples, including a realistic bone remodeling scenario. Calculations have shown a maximum difference of 20% in the displacement fields. Thus, results clearly demonstrate the importance of considering the advection term and mass exchange between phases, as its application causes significant variations in the displacement and stress fields of the mixture. The developed model of this study can be considered as a general theory, which yields the classic poroelastic model with certain manipulations.

Escape from the Digital Infosphere! Mutation and Disentanglement in Franco Berardi’s Critical Media Theory

The purpose of this essay is to provide an interpretive and evaluative introduction to Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi’s critical media theory and to situate it with a view to understanding but also thinking beyond the limitations of an aesthetic practice rooted almost exclusively in conscious, language-based thought. It begins by examining the way in which Berardi conceptualizes the techno-social paradigm emerging in the passage from late industrial society to semiocapitalism (a form of capitalism based on immaterial labour and the explosion of the infosphere), connecting this to the ecological-aesthetic concerns of Félix Guattari. It concludes by questioning the prospects of poetry to forge lines of escape from the determinism of techno-linguistic governance, suggesting, by way of N. Katherine Hayles and Donna Haraway, that extra-linguistic, nonconscious resources may provide a broader and more viable theoretical palette for conceiving of indeterminability beyond, behind, and in the interstices of a complex digital ecology.

Effective operators and their variational principles for discrete electrical network problems

Using a Hilbert space framework inspired by the methods of orthogonal projections and Hodge decompositions, we study a general class of problems (called Z-problems) that arise in effective media theory, especially within the theory of composites, for defining the effective operator. A new and unified approach is developed, based on block operator methods, for obtaining solutions of the Z-problem, formulas for the effective operator in terms of the Schur complement, and associated variational principles (e.g., the Dirichlet and Thomson minimization principles) that lead to upper and lower bounds on the effective operator. In the case of finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces, this allows for a relaxation of the standard hypotheses on positivity and invertibility for the classes of operators usually considered in such problems by replacing inverses with the Moore–Penrose pseudoinverse. As we develop the theory, we show how it applies to the classical example from the theory of composites on the effective conductivity in the periodic conductivity problem in the continuum (2d and 3d) under the standard hypotheses. After that, we consider the following three important and diverse examples (increasing in complexity) of discrete electrical network problems in which our theory applies under the relaxed hypotheses. First, an operator-theoretic reformulation of the discrete Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) map for an electrical network on a finite linear graph is given and used to relate the DtN map to the effective operator of an associated Z-problem. Second, we show how the classical effective conductivity of an electrical network on a finite linear graph is essentially the effective operator of an associated Z-problem. Finally, we consider electrical networks on periodic linear graphs and develop a discrete analog to the classical example of the periodic conductivity equation and effective conductivity in the continuum.

Assessing thermophysical properties of parameterized woven composite models using image-based simulations

Mesoscale simulations of woven composites using parameterized analytical geometries offer a way to connect constituent material properties and their geometric arrangement to effective composite properties and performance. However, the reality of as-manufactured materials often differs from the ideal, both in terms of tow geometry and manufacturing heterogeneity. As such, resultant composite properties may differ from analytical predictions and exhibit significant local variations within a material.We employ mesoscale finite element method simulations to compare idealized analytical and as-manufactured woven composite materials and study the sensitivity of their effective properties to the mesoscale geometry. Three-dimensional geometries are reconstructed from X-ray computed tomography, image segmentation is performed using deep learning methods, and local fiber orientation is obtained using the structure tensor calculated from image scans. Suitable approximations to composite properties, using analytical unit cell calculations and effective media theory, are assessed. Our findings show that an analytical geometry and sub-unit cell geometry provide reasonable approximations of the full-scale predictions for the effective thermal properties of a multi-layer production composite.

Automated Symbolic Upscaling: 1. Model Generation for Extended Applicability Regimes

AbstractIn porous media theory, upscaling techniques are fundamental to deriving rigorous Darcy‐scale models for flow and reactive transport in subsurface systems. Due to limitations in classical techniques, a number of ad hoc approaches have been proposed to address physical regimes in which reactive time scales are similar to, or faster than, diffusive time scales. In Part 1 of this two part series, we present a strategy for expanding the applicability of classical homogenization theory by generalizing the assumed closure form. We detail the implementation of this strategy on two reactive mass transport problems with moderately reactive physics. The strategy produces nontrivial homogenized models with emergent terms and effective parameters that couple reactive, diffusive, and advective transport. The differences in equation forms between the macroscopic and pore‐scale descriptions advise caution to further studies where the forms of macroscopic equations are assumed, as opposed to rigorously derived. Numerical validation is provided for each problem to show that the error estimates of homogenization theory are satisfied, and to justify the implemented strategy. In Part 2, the presented strategy is automated using symbolic computing to expedite its implementation.

The Unwritten History of the Woman of Genius (Austen, Staël, Siddons): What She Says, Goes

Jane Austen, Clifford Siskin once proposed, was for a long time the sole exception to the ‘Great Forgetting’: the only female author from a period when women in fact dominated the literary marketplace whom English-language readers still remembered a century later. The better to recover Austen’s own thinking about the memorability and durability of female achievement, this article puts Austen’s third novel, Mansfield Park (1814) into conversation with the Swiss-French novelist Germaine de Staël’s Corinne, or Italy (1807). It traces Austen’s response to Stael’s influential storyline of female genius, as well as the allusions to the English tragedienne Sarah Siddons that form another link between the two novels. In Staël’s story of a brilliant but doomed improvisatrice, the glamour of the female genius is associated, poignantly, with a vocality that eludes archiving in written marks or signs. Yet the premise that what the woman of genius says, goes, and that her words are fated to vanish into thin air, also becomes within Corinne the foundation for Stael’s investigation of cultural transmission and of the limitations of written forms as archives of transient aural experiences. With its commentaries on performance, memory, and ephemerality, Mansfield Park continues this project of media theory.

The conventional media's political economy practices in the media convergence era: Case study of labor commodification in TV industry

Technological developments provide benefits for the society in receiving information and entertainment. This has resulted many innovations made by the communication media industry players, one of which is NET. TV by conducting media convergence. Media convergence is a consequence caused by technological developments, which then affects competition in the media industry. Media convergence is gaining momentum in the communications industry, where digital technology is being used more than conventional one. Under the auspices of PT Net Visi Media, NET. TV has now looked at YouTube and over-the-top digital platforms. By looking at the transitions, this research was conducted with a critical paradigm by mapping the problems that occur related to vertical power relations, based on political economy theory of communication media by Vincent Mosco. Interview with NET. TV production team became the primary data, which was then analyzed descriptively. According to the characteristics coined by Vincent Mosco as an analytical tool, the result is NET. TV performs absolute and relative labor commodification during media convergence. Where the Tonight Show Premiere and Match Island production teams are required to be multitasking and work overtime without being paid.

ABOUT PHILOSOPHICAL AND IDEOLOGICAL TRAINING OF MEDIA JOURNALISTS: Review of textbooks: Sanzhar N., Ruzanova N. Introduction to the theory of cinema media: textbook for universities; Sanzhar N., Rushanova N. Editor of film media: textbook for universities

Textbooks Sanzhar N., Rushanova N. "Introduction to the theory of cinema-media" and "Editor of cinema-media" are prepared for students and undergraduates of creative faculties of universities in the system of higher education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Both manuals were published in 2022 and have a close correlation between them. In the first book, the forms of influence of the "culture industry", modern information and communication technologies on people's worldview are shown in a theoretical perspective on a large historical and cultural material, the features of social and communicative strategies in television dramaturgy are considered. In the second book, the authors of the textbook, who have extensive experience working on TV and in film production, share with students practical skills in preparing dramatic products, in particular scripts for mass media, introduce them to the methods and techniques of the editor's work with authors and directors.