Search results for: pattern media

Authors: Laurie Dempsey

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Relationships are considered to be beneficial for emotional wellbeing, happiness and physical health. However, they are also complicated: individuals engage in a multitude of complex and volatile relationships during their lifetime, where the change to or ending of these dynamics can be deeply disruptive. As the internet is further integrated into everyday life and relationships are increasingly mediated, Media Studies’ and Sociology’s research interests intersect and converge. This study longitudinally explores how relationship change over time corresponds with the developing UK technological landscape between 2005-2018. Since the early 2000s, the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the UK has dramatically reshaped interaction. Its use has compelled individuals to renegotiate how they consider their relationships: some argue it has allowed for vast networks to be accumulated and strengthened; others contend that it has eradicated the core values and norms associated with communication, damaging relationships. This research collaborated with UK media regulator Ofcom, utilising the longitudinal dataset from their Adult Media Lives study to explore how relationships and CMC use developed over time. This is a unique qualitative dataset covering 2005-2018, where the same 18 participants partook in annual in-home filmed depth interviews. The interviews’ raw video footage was examined year-on-year to consider how the same people changed their reported behaviour and outlooks towards their relationships, and how this coincided with CMC featuring more prominently in their everyday lives. Each interview was transcribed, thematically analysed and coded using NVivo 11 software. This study allowed for a comprehensive exploration into these individuals’ changing relationships over time, as participants grew older, experienced marriages or divorces, conceived and raised children, or lost loved ones. It found that as technology developed between 2005-2018, everyday CMC use was increasingly normalised and incorporated into relationship maintenance. It played a crucial role in altering relationship dynamics, even factoring in the breakdown of several ties. Three key relationships were identified as being shaped by CMC use: parent-child; extended family; and friendships. Over the years there were substantial instances of relationship conflict: for parents renegotiating their dynamic with their child as they tried to both restrict and encourage their child’s technology use; for estranged family members ‘forced’ together in the online sphere; and for friendships compelled to publicly display their relationship on social media, for fear of social exclusion. However, it was also evident that CMC acted as a crucial lifeline for these participants, providing opportunities to strengthen and maintain their bonds via previously unachievable means, both over time and distance. A longitudinal study of this length and nature utilising the same participants does not currently exist, thus provides crucial insight into how and why relationship dynamics alter over time. This unique and topical piece of research draws together Sociology and Media Studies, illustrating how the UK’s changing technological landscape can reshape one of the most basic human compulsions. This collaboration with Ofcom allows for insight that can be utilised in both academia and policymaking alike, making this research relevant and impactful across a range of academic fields and industries.

Keywords: computer mediated communication, longitudinal research, personal relationships, qualitative data

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Authors: Remon Karam Zakry Kelada

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This survey research ambitions to examine the usual of carrier quality of meals and beverage provider staffs in lodge business by way of studying the carrier fashionable of 3 pattern inns, Siam Kempinski lodge Bangkok, four Seasons lodge Chiang Mai, and Banyan Tree Phuket. as a way to locate the international provider general of food and beverage provider, triangular research, i.e. quantitative, qualitative, and survey were hired. on this research, questionnaires and in-depth interview have been used for getting the statistics on the sequences and method of services. There had been three components of modified questionnaires to degree carrier pleasant and visitor’s satisfaction inclusive of carrier facilities, attentiveness, obligation, reliability, and circumspection. This observe used pattern random sampling to derive topics with the go back fee of the questionnaires changed into 70% or 280. information have been analyzed via SPSS to find mathematics mean, SD, percent, and comparison by using t-take a look at and One-manner ANOVA. The outcomes revealed that the service first-rate of the three lodges have been in the worldwide stage that could create excessive pride to the international clients. hints for studies implementations have been to hold the area of precise carrier satisfactory, and to enhance some dimensions of service fine together with reliability. training in service fashionable, product expertise, and new generation for employees must be provided. furthermore, for you to develop the provider pleasant of the enterprise, training collaboration among inn corporation and academic institutions in food and beverage carrier should be considered.

Keywords: food and beverage staff, food poisoning, food production, hygiene knowledge BPA, health, regulations, toxicity service standard, food and beverage department, sequence of service, service method

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Authors: Mayank, Navneet Kaur, Narinder Singh

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The V599 mutations in the BRAF protein are extremely oncogenic, responsible for countless of malignant conditions. Along with wild type, V599E, V599D, and V599R are the important mutated variants of the BRAF proteins. The BRAF inhibitory anticancer agents are continuously developing, and sorafenib is a BRAF inhibitor that is under clinical use. The crystal structure of sorafenib bounded to wild type, and V599 is known, showing a similar interaction pattern in both the case. The mutated 599th residue, in both the case, is also found not interacting directly with the co-crystallized sorafenib molecule. However, the IC50 value of sorafenib was found extremely different in both the case, i.e., 22 nmol/L for wild and 38 nmol/L for V599E protein. Molecular docking study and MMGBSA binding energy results also revealed a significant difference in the binding pattern of sorafenib in both the case. Therefore, to explore the role of distinctively situated 599th residue, we have further conducted comprehensive computational studies. The molecular dynamics simulation, residue interaction network (RIN) analysis, and residue correlation study results revealed the importance of the 599th residue on the therapeutic outcome and overall dynamic of the BRAF protein. Therefore, although the position of 599th residue is very much distinctive from the ligand-binding cavity of BRAF, still it has exceptional control over the overall functional outcome of the protein. The insight obtained here may seem extremely important and guide us while designing ideal BRAF inhibitory anticancer molecules.

Keywords: BRAF, oncogenic, sorafenib, computational studies

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Authors: Adeoti Adebowale, Abduljaleel, Ejiogu Fidelis Onyekwo

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Form and image development are fundamental to creative expression in visual arts. The form is an element that distinguishes the difference between two-dimension and three-dimension among the branches of visual arts. Particularly, the sculpture is a three-dimensional form, while the textile design is a two-dimensional form of its visual appearance. The visual expression of each of them is embedded in the creative practice of the artist, which is easily understood and interpreted by the viewer. In this research, an attempt is made to explore and analyse sculptural forms adopted as a motif for wax print in textile design, aiming at breeding yet another pattern and motif suitable for various design uses. For instance, the dynamics of sculptural form adaptation into other areas of creativity, such as architecture, pictorial arts and pottery, as well as automobile bodies, is a discernible image everywhere. The research is studio exploratory, while a camera and descriptive analysis were used to process the data. Two sculptural forms were adopted from the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Federal Capital Territory College of Education Zuba-Abuja, in this study due to the uniqueness of their technique of execution. The findings resulted in ten (10) paper designs showing the dexterity of studio practice in the development of design for various fashion and textile uses. However, the paper concludes that sculptural form is a source of inspiration for generating design concepts for a textile designer.

Keywords: exploration, design, motifs, sculptural forms, wax print

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Authors: Rabia Aslam

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Overwhelming evidence from all around the world suggests that high-quality teacher professional development facilitates the improvement of teaching practices which in turn could improve student learning outcomes. The new Continuous Professional Development (CPD) model for primary school teachers in Punjab uses a blended approach in which pedagogical content knowledge is delivered through technology (high-quality instructional videos and lesson plans delivered to school tablets or mobile phones) with face-to-face support by Assistant Education Officers (AEOs). The model also develops Communities of Practice operationalized through formal meetings led by the AEOs and informal interactions through social media groups to provide opportunities for teachers to engage with each other and share their ideas, reflect on learning, and come up with solutions to issues they experience. Using Kirkpatrick’s 4 levels of the learning evaluation model, this paper investigates how school tablets and teacher mobile phones may act as transformational cultural tools to potentially expand perceptions and access to teaching and learning resources and explore some of the affordances of social media (Facebook, WhatsApp groups) in learning in an informal context. The results will be used to inform policy-level decisions on what shape could CPD of all teachers take in the context of a developing country like Pakistan.

Keywords: CPD, teaching & learning, blended learning, learning technologies

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Authors: Yu-Hsi Huang, Ying-Der Tsai

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Piezoelectric circular plates can provide out-of-plane vibrational displacements on low frequency and in-plane vibrational displacements on high frequency. Piezoelectric semi-spherical shell, which is double-curvature structure, can induce three-dimensional vibrational displacements over a large frequency range. In this study, three-dimensional vibrational characteristics of piezoelectric semi-spherical shells with free boundary conditions are investigated using three experimental methods and finite element numerical modeling. For the experimental measurements, amplitude-fluctuation electronic speckle pattern interferometry (AF-ESPI) is used to obtain resonant frequencies and radial and azimuthal mode shapes. This optical technique utilizes a full-field and non-contact optical system that measures both the natural frequency and corresponding vibration mode shape simultaneously in real time. The second experimental technique used, laser displacement meter is a point-wise displacement measurement method that determines the resonant frequencies of the piezoelectric shell. An impedance analyzer is used to determine the in-plane resonant frequencies of the piezoelectric semi-spherical shell. The experimental results of the resonant frequencies and mode shapes for the piezoelectric shell are verified with the result from finite element analysis. Excellent agreement between the experimental measurements and numerical calculation is presented on the three-dimensional vibrational characteristics of the piezoelectric semi-spherical shell.

Keywords: piezoelectric semi-spherical shell, mode shape, resonant frequency, electronic speckle pattern interferometry, radial vibration, azimuthal vibration

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Authors: W. Ling, Mohamed Saufi Bin Awang

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Introduction: Mycobacterium tuberculosis post a major health problem worldwide. Central nervous system (CNS) infection by mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the most devastating complications of tuberculosis. Although with advancement in medical fields, we are yet to understand the pathophysiology of how mycobacterium tuberculosis was able to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and infect the CNS. CNS TB may present with nonspecific clinical symptoms which can mimic other diseases/conditions; this is what makes the diagnosis relatively difficult and challenging. Public health has to be informed and educated about the spread of TB, and early identification of TB is important as it is a curable disease. Case Report: A young 21-year-old Malay gentleman was initially presented to us with symptoms of ear discharge, tinnitus, and right-sided headache for the past one year. Further history reveals that the symptoms have been mismanaged and neglected over the period of 1 year. Initial investigation reveals features of inflammation of the ear. Further imaging showed the feature of chronic inflammation of the otitis media and atypical right cerebral abscess, which has the same characteristic features and consistency. He further underwent a biopsy, and results reveal positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis of the otitis media. With the results and the available imaging, we were certain that this is likely a case of disseminated tuberculosis causing CNS TB. Conclusion: We aim to highlight the challenge and difficult face in our health care system and public health in early identification and treatment.

Keywords: central nervous system tuberculosis, intracranial tuberculosis, tuberculous encephalopathy, tuberculous meningitis

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Authors: Abigail Qian Zhou

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Since China has entered an era of mass tourism, there has been a fundamental change in the way Chinese people approach and perceive the image of other countries. With the advent of the new media era, social networking sites such as Sina Weibo have become a tool for many foreign governmental organizations to spread and promote their national image. Among them, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) was one of the first foreign official tourism agencies to register with Sina Weibo and actively implement communication activities. Due to historical and political reasons, cognition of Japan's national image by the Chinese has always been complicated and contradictory. However, since 2015, China has become the largest source of tourists visiting Japan. This clearly indicates that the broadening of Japan's national image in China has been effective and has value worthy of reference in promoting a positive Chinese perception of Japan and encouraging Japanese tourism. Within this context and using the method of content analysis in media studies through content mining software, this study analyzed how JNTO’s Sina Weibo accounts have constructed and spread Japan's national image. This study also summarized the characteristics of its content and form, and finally revealed the strategy of JNTO in building its international image. The findings of this study not only add a tourism-based perspective to traditional national image communications research, but also provide some reference for the effective international dissemination of national image in the future.

Keywords: national image, international communication, tourism, Japan, China

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Authors: Xiaoxin Zhao

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Because of the long-time dual structure development in urban and rural areas, the rapid urbanization in China devours the rural resources and causes the unbalanced development of cities and the countryside. On one side, the urban sprawl is swallowing the villages in the peripheral area of cities and forms the ‘urban village’. On the other side, people from traditional and vernacular villages immigrate to the metropolis that their homeland becomes the ‘hollowed village’. In 2005, the national state council noticed the significance of rural development and promoted the ‘beautiful countryside’ project when Minsu was rising. In the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (2017), president Xi Jinping announces the importance of ‘rural revitalization’ and states that the relationship between urban and rural areas should be an integrated development model. However, most Minsu projects in China was invested and managed by individual or group investors and focused on the profits but not the vernacular culture and rural development, and enhanced the urban-rural distinction. This paper introduces two Minsu projects in China designed by star-architects and advertised by social network media as case studies through photos and public comments collections. Architects as the servant to the investors, designed fancy houses, brings the urban life mode but expelled the real vernacular lifestyle as a cultural experience in rural areas. Moreover, to advertise the Minsu hotel, the social media propagates a distorted value that ‘luxury is good taste’ and motivates the vanity of people. Lastly, to maximize the profits, the investors set a high price that caused another unbalanced development in rural area since the price for one night in the Minsu hotel may exceed the monthly income of a local inhabitant. With these material, the author discusses the problems in Chinese Minsu industry and argues that the media, architects and investors play the negative role in the separation between Minsu cultural tourism and rural population. As a result, the author points out the significance of rural population participation that sharing the profits with them if we take Minsu industry as a method for rural revitalization in China.

Keywords: Minsu, vernacular, rural development, rural population participation

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Authors: Oluwaseun Amusa

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The online space has continued to be a platform for not only private and mundane discussions but also a tribune for voicing critical political and national opinions. Nigerians and the international community have employed the online media, as well as other media platforms to articulate their thoughts on the claims which favour possibilities of the demise of the incumbent president of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, after a prolonged illness in year 2007 and the ploy of a Jubril of Sudan clone in his place. This study thus examines the pragmatic strategies employed in the online articles on the national dilemma caused by the Buhari/Jubril claims and refutals, in response to the lacuna in the literature on such analytical investigations on the subject. Two online articles titled, 'Buhari: The real, the fake and the dead' and 'Taking the Buhari/Jubril story seriously', authored by two Nigerian writers, Tunde Odesola and Abimbola Adelakun, respectively and retrieved online from 360nobs.com and Nairaland blogs, on December 3, 2018, and December 7, 2018, respectively, served as data for the study. The data were analysed using the Stance Theory and the Pragmatic Act Theory. Findings showed that the writers employed stance acts, rhetorical questions, metaphors, histo-political allusions, name-calling, and derogatives, in achieving the pragmeme of disabusing. This results in a pragmatic reconstruction of readers' views on the issue.

Keywords: Buhari/Jubril claims, online articles, pragmatic strategies, stance theory

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Authors: Selam Mulugeta, Barkot Milkias, Mesfin Araya, Abel Worku, Eyasu Mulugeta

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In Ethiopia, there is inadequate information on non-adherence to antidepressant treatment in patients with depressive disorders. Having awareness of the pattern of adherence is important in future prognosis, quality of life, and functionality in these patients. This hospital-based cross-sectional quantitative study was done on a sample of 216 consecutive outpatients with depressive disorders. Data were collected using questionnaires through in-person and phone call interviews. The 8-item Morisky scale was used to assess the pattern of medication adherence. Other specially developed tools were used to obtain sociodemographic and clinical information from electronic medical records and patient interviews. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version - 25. Univariate and multivariable analyses were carried out to assess factors associated with non-adherence. 90% of the participants had a primary diagnosis of major depressive disorder. Based on the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, the prevalence of non-adherence was found to be 84.7%. Living distance between 11 to 50 km from the hospital (AOR= 11, 95% CI (29,46.6)), post-secondary level of education (AOR= 8.3, 95% CI (1, 64.4)) and taking multiple medications (AOR= 6.1, 95% CI (1, 34.9)) were found to have significantly increased odds of non-adherence. Non-adherence was significantly associated with factors such as increased living distance from the hospital, relatively higher educational level, and polypharmacy. Proper and patient-centered psychoeducation, addressing the communication gap between patients and doctors, adherence to prescribing guidelines, avoiding polypharmacy unless indicated & working on accessibility of treatment is essential to decrease non-adherence.

Keywords: depressive disorders, Ethiopia, medication adherence, Addis Ababa

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Authors: Radwa Mabrook

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Virtual Reality (VR) content creation is a complex and an expensive process, which requires multi-disciplinary teams of content creators. Grant schemes from technology companies help media organisations to explore the VR potential in journalism and factual storytelling. Media organisations try to do as much as they can in-house, but they may outsource due to time constraints and skill availability. Journalists, game developers, sound designers and creative artists work together and bring in new cultures of work. This study explores the collaborative experimental nature of VR content creation, through tracing every actor involved in the process and examining their perceptions of the VR work. The study builds on Actor Network Theory (ANT), which decomposes phenomena into their basic elements and traces the interrelations among them. Therefore, the researcher conducted 22 semi-structured interviews with VR content creators between November 2017 and April 2018. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques allowed the researcher to recruit fact-based VR content creators from production studios and media organisations, as well as freelancers. Interviews lasted up to three hours, and they were a mix of Skype calls and in-person interviews. Participants consented for their interviews to be recorded, and for their names to be revealed in the study. The researcher coded interviews’ transcripts in Nvivo software, looking for key themes that correspond with the research questions. The study revealed that VR content creators must be adaptive to change, open to learn and comfortable with mistakes. The VR content creation process is very iterative because VR has no established work flow or visual grammar. Multi-disciplinary VR team members often speak different languages making it hard to communicate. However, adaptive content creators perceive VR work as a fun experience and an opportunity to learn. The traditional sense of competition and the strive for information exclusivity are now replaced by a strong drive for knowledge sharing. VR content creators are open to share their methods of work and their experiences. They target to build a collaborative network that aims to harness VR technology for journalism and factual storytelling. Indeed, VR is instilling collaborative and experimental cultures in journalism.

Keywords: collaborative culture, content creation, experimental culture, virtual reality

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Authors: Jin-Hui Lee, Myung-Min Oh

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The application of temporary abiotic stresses before crop harvest is a potential strategy to enhance phytochemical content. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of various UV-A LED lights on the growth and content of bioactive compounds in kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala). Fourteen-day-old kale seedlings were cultivated in a plant factory with artificial lighting (air temperature of 20℃, relative humidity of 60%, photosynthesis photon flux density (PPFD) of 125 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹) for 3 weeks. Kale plants were irradiated by four types of UV-A LEDs (peak wavelength; 365, 375, 385, and 395 nm) with 30 W/m² for 7 days. As a result, image chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) value of kale leaves was lower as the UV-A LEDs peak wavelength was shorter. Fresh and dry weights of shoots and roots of kale plants were significantly higher in the plants under UV-A than the control at 7 days of treatment. In particular, the growth was significantly increased with a longer peak wavelength of the UV-A LEDs. The results of leaf area and specific leaf weight showed a similar pattern with those of growth characteristics. Chlorophyll content was highest in kale leaves subjected to UV-A LEDs with the peak wavelength of 395 nm at 3 days of treatment compared with the control. Total phenolic contents of UV-A LEDs with the peak wavelength of 395 nm at 5 and 6 days of treatment were 44% and 47% higher than those of the control, respectively. Antioxidant capacity showed almost the same pattern as the results of total phenol content. The activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase was approximately 11% and 8% higher in the UV-A LEDs with the peak wavelength of 395 nm compared to the control at 5 and 6 days of treatment, respectively. Our results imply that the UV-A LEDs with relative longer peak wavelength were effective to improve growth as well as the content of bioactive compounds of kale plants.

Keywords: bioactive compounds, growth, Kale, UV-A LEDs

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Authors: Ilaria Manca, Ilaria Manca, Francesca Pettinau, Ignazia Mocci, Elisabetta M. Usai, Barbara Pittau

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Lamotrigine is a phenyltriazine used in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder type I. The purpose of this study was to test and compare various solid forms of immediate release (IR) lamotrigine products, at different strenghts, in order to study their disaggregation and dissolution behavior. IR products are designed to release their active substance promptly after administration. Concentration of hydrochloric acid in gastric juice is about 0.1-0.001 M, so FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recommends, for lamotrigine regular tablets, dissolution tests in HCl 0.1 M.Toinvestigate the pH dependency of drug release in the entire gastrointestinal tract, we worked at two additional media with different pH values (4.5 and 6.8), that reflect conditions in it. To afford acceptable dissolution rates, tablets must disintegrate. Disaggregation of constituent particles increases the surface area and substantially increases the dissolution rate. For this reason availability of an active substance from tablets depends on its ability to disintegrate fast in dissolution media. pH of gastrointestinal fluid affects drug absorption by conditioning its solubility and dissolution, but also tablet disintegration may be influenced by it. To obtain information about the quantitative relationship between different mixture components, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used. We also investigate tablet hardness. The investigation carried out confirms pH 1.2 as the ideal environment for the immediate availability of the active substance.

Keywords: dissolution, disaggregation, Lamotrigine, bioequivalence

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Authors: Cheng-Yu Tsai, Wen-Te Liu, Yin-Tzu Lin, Chen-Chen Lo, Kang Lo

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Background: Driving drowsiness related to inadequate or disordered sleep accounts for a major percentage of traffic accidents. Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) syndrome is a common respiratory disorder during sleep. However, the effects of SDB syndrome on driving fatigue remain unclear. Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between SDB pattern and driving drowsiness. Methodologies: The physical condition while driving was obtained from the questionnaires to classify the state of driving fatigue. SDB syndrome was quantified as the polysomnography, and the air flow pattern was collected by the thermistor and nasal pressure cannula. To evaluate the desaturation, the mean hourly number of greater than 3% dips in oxygen saturation was sentenced by reregistered technologist during examination in a hospital in New Taipei City (Taiwan). The independent T-test was used to investigate the correlations between sleep disorders related index and driving drowsiness. Results: There were 880 subjects recruited in this study, who had been done polysomnography for evaluating severity for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) as well as completed the driver condition questionnaire. Four-hundred-eighty-four subjects (55%) were classified as fatigue group, and 396 subjects (45%) were served as the control group. Significantly higher values of snoring index (242.14 ± 205.51 /hours) were observed in the fatigue group (p < 0.01). The value of respiratory disturbance index (RDI) (31.82 ± 19.34 /hours) in fatigue group were significantly higher than the control group (p < 0.01). Conclusion: We observe the considerable association between SDB syndrome and driving drowsiness. To promote traffic safety, SDB syndrome should be controlled and alleviated.

Keywords: driving drowsiness, sleep-disordered breathing syndrome, snoring index, respiratory disturbance index.

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Authors: Georgina Cherry, Taranpreet Rai, Luke Boyden, Sitira Williams, Andrea Wright, Richard Brown, Viva Chu, Alasdair Cook, Kevin Wells

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Estimating population-level burden, abilities of pet-parents to identify disease and demand for veterinary services worldwide is challenging. The purpose of this study is to compare a feline pruritus survey with social media listening (SML) data discussing this condition. Surveys are expensive and labour intensive to analyse, but SML data is freeform and requires careful filtering for relevancy. This study considers data from a survey of owner-observed symptoms of 156 pruritic cats conducted using Pet Parade® and SML posts collected through web-scraping to gain insights into the characterisation and management of feline pruritus. SML posts meeting a feline body area, behaviour and symptom were captured and reviewed for relevance representing 1299 public posts collected from 2021 to 2023. The survey involved 1067 pet-parents who reported on pruritic symptoms in their cats. Among the observed cats, approximately 18.37% (n=196) exhibited at least one symptom. The most frequently reported symptoms were hair loss (9.2%), bald spots (7.3%) and infection, crusting, scaling, redness, scabbing, scaling, or bumpy skin (8.2%). Notably, bald spots were the primary symptom reported for short-haired cats, while other symptoms were more prevalent in medium and long-haired cats. Affected body areas, according to pet-parents, were primarily the head, face, chin, neck (27%), and the top of the body, along the spine (22%). 35% of all cats displayed excessive behaviours consistent with pruritic skin disease. Interestingly, 27% of these cats were perceived as non-symptomatic by their owners, suggesting an under-identification of itch-related signs. Furthermore, a significant proportion of symptomatic cats did not receive any skin disease medication, whether prescribed or over the counter (n=41). These findings indicate a higher incidence of pruritic skin disease in cats than recognized by pet owners, potentially leading to a lack of medical intervention for clinically symptomatic cases. The comparison between the survey and social media listening data revealed bald spots were reported in similar proportions in both datasets (25% in the survey and 28% in SML). Infection, crusting, scaling, redness, scabbing, scaling, or bumpy skin accounted for 31% of symptoms in the survey, whereas it represented 53% of relevant SML posts (excluding bumpy skin). Abnormal licking or chewing behaviours were mentioned by pet-parents in 40% of SML posts compared to 38% in the survey. The consistency in the findings of these two disparate data sources, including a complete overlap in affected body areas for the top 80% of social media listening posts, indicates minimal biases in each method, as significant biases would likely yield divergent results. Therefore, the strong agreement across pruritic symptoms, affected body areas, and reported behaviours enhances our confidence in the reliability of the findings. Moreover, the small differences identified between the datasets underscore the valuable insights that arise from utilising multiple data sources. These variations provide additional depth in characterising and managing feline pruritus, allowing for more comprehensive understanding of the condition. By combining survey data and social media listening, researchers can obtain a nuanced perspective and capture a wider range of experiences and perspectives, supporting informed decision-making in veterinary practice.

Keywords: social media listening, feline pruritus, surveys, felines, cats, pet owners

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Authors: Shanhua Hu

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Social media as a critical propagandizing form of film, video games, and digital products has received substantial research attention, but there exists several critical barriers such as: (1) few studies exploring the internal and external connections of a product as part of the multimodal context that gives rise to readability and commercial return; (2) the lack of study of multimodal analysis in product’s official account of game publishers and its impact on users’ behaviors including purchase intention, social media engagement, and playing time; (3) no standardized ecologically-valid, game type-varying data can be used to study the complexity of official account’s postings within a time period. This proposed research helps to tackle these limitations in order to develop a model of readability study that is more ecologically valid, robust, and thorough. To accomplish this objective, this paper provides a more diverse dataset comprising different visual elements and messages collected from the official Twitter accounts of the Top 20 best-selling games of 2021. Video game companies target potential users through social media, a popular approach is to set up an official account to maintain exposure. Typically, major game publishers would create an official account on Twitter months before the game's release date to update on the game's development, announce collaborations, and reveal spoilers. Analyses of tweets from those official Twitter accounts would assist publishers and marketers in identifying how to efficiently and precisely deploy advertising to increase game sales. The purpose of this research is to determine how official game accounts use Twitter to attract new customers, specifically which types of messages are most effective at increasing sales. The dataset includes the number of days until the actual release date on Twitter posts, the readability of the post (Flesch Reading Ease Score, FRES), the number of emojis used, the number of hashtags, the number of followers of the mentioned users, the categorization of the posts (i.e., spoilers, collaborations, promotions), and the number of video views. The timeline of Twitter postings from official accounts will be compared to the history of pre-orders and sales figures to determine the potential impact of social media posts. This study aims to determine how the above-mentioned characteristics of official accounts' Twitter postings influence the sales of the game and to examine the possible causes of this influence. The outcome will provide researchers with a list of potential aspects that could influence people's judgments in limited-word posts. With the increased average online time, users would adapt more quickly than before in online information exchange and readings, such as the word to use sentence length, and the use of emojis or hashtags. The study on the promotion of official game accounts will not only enable publishers to create more effective promotion techniques in the future but also provide ideas for future research on the influence of social media posts with a limited number of words on consumers' purchasing decisions. Future research can focus on more specific linguistic aspects, such as precise word choice in advertising.

Keywords: engagement, official account, promotion, twitter, video game

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Authors: Carolina Gheller Miguens

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Feeding is, and should be, pleasurable for living beings so they desire to nourish themselves while preserving the continuity of the species. Social rites usually revolve around the table and are closely linked to the cultural traditions of each region and social group. Since the beginning, food has been closely linked with the products each region provides, and, also, related to the respective seasons of production. With the globalization and facilities of modern life we are able to find an ever increasing variety of products at any time of the year on supermarket shelves. These lifestyle changes end up directly influencing food traditions. With the era of uncontrolled obesity caused by the dazzle with the large and varied supply of low-priced to ultra-processed industrial products now in the past, today we are living a time when people are putting aside the pleasure of eating to exclusively eat food dictated by the media as healthy. Recently the medicalization of food in our society has become so present in daily life that almost without realizing we make food choices conditioned to the studies of the properties of these foods. The fact that people are more attentive to their health is interesting. However, when this care becomes an obsessive disorder, which imposes itself on the pleasure of eating and extinguishes traditional customs, it becomes dangerous for our recognition as citizens belonging to a culture and society. This new way of living generates a rupture with the social environment of origin, possibly exposing old traditions to oblivion after two or three generations. Based on these facts, the presented study analyzes these social transformations that occur in our society that triggered the current medicalization of food. In order to clarify what is actually a healthy diet, this research proposes a critical analysis on the subject aiming to understand nutritional rationality and relate how it acts in the medicalization of food. A wide bibliographic review on the subject was carried out followed by an exploratory research in online (especially social) media, a relevant source in this context due to the perceived influence of such media in contemporary eating habits. Finally, this data was crossed, critically analyzing the current situation of the concept of healthy eating and medicalization of food. Throughout this research, it was noticed that people are increasingly seeking information about the nutritional properties of food, but instead of seeking the benefits of products that traditionally eat in their social environment, they incorporate external elements that often bring benefits similar to the food already consumed. This is because the access to information is directed by the media and exalts the exotic, since this arouses more interest of the population in general. Efforts must be made to clarify that traditional products are also healthy foods, rich in history, memory and tradition and cannot be replaced by a standardized diet little concerned with the construction of taste and pleasure, having a relationship with food as if it were a Medicinal product.

Keywords: food traditions, food transformations, healthy eating, medicalization of food

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Authors: Anas Alsuhaibani

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Observing debate and discussion over social media has been found to be a promising tool to investigate different types of opinion. On 23 June 2016, Brexit voters in the UK decided to depart from the EU, with 51.9% voting to leave. On Twitter, there had been a massive debate in this context, and the hashtag Brexit was allocated as number six of the most tweeted hashtags across the globe in 2016. The study aimed to investigate the sentiment and themes expressed in a sample of tweets during a political event (Brexit) in 2016. A sentiment and thematic analysis was conducted on 1304 randomly selected tweets tagged with the hashtag Brexit in Twitter for the period from 10 June 2016 to 7 July 2016. The data were coded manually into two code frames, sentiment and thematic, and the reliability of coding was assessed for both codes. The sentiment analysis of the selected sample found that 45.63% of tweets conveyed negative emotions while there were only 10.43% conveyed positive emotions. It also surprisingly resulted that 29.37% were factual tweets, where the tweeter expressed no sentiment and the tweet conveyed a fact. For the thematic analysis, the economic theme dominated by 23.41%, and almost half of its discussion was related to business within the UK and the UK and global stock markets. The study reported that the current UK government and relation to campaign themes were the most negative themes. Both sentiment and thematic analyses found that tweets with more than one opinion or theme were rare, 8.29% and 6.13%, respectively.

Keywords: Brexit, political opinion mining, social media, twitter

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Authors: Mark Williams

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The digital revolution has radically transformed our social environment creating vast opportunities for interconnectivity and social interaction. This revolution, however, has also changed the reach and impact of hate crime, with social media providing a new platform to victimize and harass users in their homes. In this way, developments in the information and communication technologies have exacerbated and facilitated the commission of hate crime, increasing its prevalence and impact. Unfortunately, legislators, policymakers and criminal justice professionals have struggled to keep pace with these technological developments, reducing their ability to intervene in, regulate and govern the commission of hate crimes online. This work is further complicated by the global nature of this crime due to the tendency for offenders and victims to reside in multiple different jurisdictions, as well as the need for criminal justice professionals to obtain the cooperation of private companies to access information required for prosecution. Drawing on in-depth interviews with key criminal justice professionals and policymakers with detailed knowledge in this area, this paper examines the specific challenges the police and prosecution services face as they attempt to intervene in and prosecute the commission of hate crimes online. It is argued that any attempt to reduce online othering, such as the commission of hate crimes online, must be multifaceted, collaborative and involve both innovative technological solutions as well as internationally agreed ethical and legal frameworks.

Keywords: cybercrime, digital policing, hate crime, social media

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Authors: Aikaterini Tavoulari, Mike Richardson

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Objective: This abstract presents a multisensory participatory design project, inspired by a deafblind PhD student's ambition to climb Mount Everest. The project aims to explore accessible routes for filmmaking and video content creation, catering to the needs of individuals with hearing and sight loss. By engaging participants from the Southwest area of England, recruited through multiple networks, the project seeks to gather qualitative data and insights to inform the development of inclusive media practices. Design: It will be a community-based participatory research design. The workshop will feature various stations that stimulate different senses, such as scent, touch, sight, hearing as well as movement. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with these multisensory experiences, providing valuable feedback on their effectiveness and potential for enhancing accessibility in filmmaking and video content. Methods: Brief semi-structured interviews will be conducted to collect qualitative data, allowing participants to share their perspectives, challenges, and suggestions for improvement. The participatory design approach emphasizes the importance of involving the target audience in the creative process. By actively engaging individuals with hearing and sight loss, the project aims to ensure that their needs and preferences are central to the development of accessible filmmaking techniques and video content. This collaborative effort seeks to bridge the gap between content creators and diverse audiences, fostering a more inclusive media landscape. Results: The findings from this study will contribute to the growing body of research on accessible filmmaking and video content creation. Via inductive thematic analysis of the qualitative data collected through interviews and observations, the researchers aim to identify key themes, challenges, and opportunities for creating engaging and inclusive media experiences for deafblind audiences. The insights will inform the development of best practices and guidelines for accessible filmmaking, empowering content creators to produce more inclusive and immersive video content. Conclusion: The abstract targets the hybrid International Conference for Disability and Diversity in Canada (January 2025), as this platform provides an excellent opportunity to share the outcomes of the project with a global audience of researchers, practitioners, and advocates working towards inclusivity and accessibility in various disability domains. By presenting this research at the conference in person, the authors aim to contribute to the ongoing discourse on disability and diversity, highlighting the importance of multisensory experiences and participatory design in creating accessible media content for the deafblind community and the community with sensory impairments more broadly.

Keywords: vision impairment, hearing impairment, deafblindness, accessibility, filmmaking

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Authors: Ina Filkobski, Eran Shor

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This article explores how newspapers cover murder of women by family members and intimate partners. Three major Israeli newspapers were compared in order to analyse the coverage of Jewish and Arab victims and culprits and to examine whether and in what ways the media contribute to the construction of symbolic boundaries between minority and dominant social groups. A sample of some 459 articles that were published between 2013 and 2015 was studied using a systematic qualitative content analysis. Our findings suggest that the treatment of murder cases by the media varies according to the ethnicity of both victims and culprits. The murder of Jews by family members or intimate partners was framed as a shocking and unusual event, a result of the individual personality or pathology of the culprit. Conversely, when Arabs were the killers, murders were often explained by focusing on the culture of the ethnic group, described as traditional, violent, and patriarchal. In two-thirds of the cases in which Arabs were involved, so-called ‘honor killing’ or other cultural explanations were proposed as the motive for the murder. This was often the case even before a suspect was detected, while police investigation was at its very early stages, and often despite forceful denials from victims’ families. In case of Jewish culprits, more than half of the articles in our sample suggested mental disorder to explain the acts and cultural explanations were almost entirely absent. Beyond the emphasis on psychological vs. cultural explanations, newspaper articles also tend to provide much more detail about Jewish culprits than about Arabs. Such detailed examinations convey a desire to make sense of the event by understanding the supposedly unique and unorthodox nature of the killer. The detailed accounts were usually absent from the reports on Arab killers. Thus, even if reports do not explicitly offer cultural motivations for the murder, the fact that reports often remain laconic leaves people to draw their own conclusions, which would then be likely based on existing cognitive scripts and previous reports on family murders among Arabs. Such treatment contributes to the notion that Arab and Muslim cultures, religions, and nationalities are essentially misogynistic and adhere to norms of honor and shame that are radically different from those of modern societies, such as the Jewish-Israeli one. Murder within the family is one of the most dramatic occurrences in the social world, and in societies that see themselves as modern it is a taboo; an ultimate signifier of danger. We suggest that representations of murder provide a valuable prism for examining the construction of group boundaries. Our analysis, therefore, contributes to the scholarly effort to understand the creation and reinforcement of symbolic boundaries between ‘society’ and its ‘others’ by systematically tracing the media constructions of ‘otherness’. While our analysis focuses on Israel, studies on the United States, Canada, and various European countries with ethnically and racially heterogeneous populations, make it clear that the stigmatisation and exclusion of visible, religious, and language minorities are not unique to the Israeli case.

Keywords: comparative study of media coverege of minority and majority groups, construction of symbolic group boundaries, murder of women by family members and intimate partners, Israel, Jews, Arabs

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Authors: Carrollyne Aasen, Laverne Seales

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With increased Latinx communities within the United States, specifically in California, and more universities receiving designations of Hispanic-Serving institutions, Spanish programs have evolved to include more targeted and applicable practical skills. The Spanish program in the Languages and Cultures Department at California Lutheran University incorporated an interdisciplinary project with the Communication Department to create student-generated Spanish-language news inserts, which serve as a sister publication to the English-language student newspaper, The Echo. California Lutheran University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution, meaning it is an accredited undergraduate institution with full-time Hispanic/Latinx students equivalent to at least 25 percent of the total students enrolled. As a Hispanic Serving Institution with growing numbers of bilingual students, faculty, staff, and community members, the need for more information aimed at Hispanic/Latinx communities increased, resulting in the opportunity to reflect topics of interest by community members. This project was developed to fulfill the Spanish program's goals for proficiency by using the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages guidelines and the university's need to support students and the community's voices. This article describes the stages from inception to production and the incorporation of journalism principles into the Spanish curriculum.

Keywords: interdisciplinary, media, foreign languages, HSI

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Authors: Achmad Muchadam Fahham, Sony Hendra Permana

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Millennial Muslims are a generation of young people between 20-30 years. They will play an important role in various aspects of life for the next 10 to 20 years. In Indonesia, the population of this generation is quite large and in the next ten to twenty years they will occupy strategic position in various fields of social, economic and political life. One of the characteristics of the millenials generation are always connected to the internet and independence to learn anything from the internet. In terms of religion, the majority of millennial are Muslim. In digital era, the generation of millenial Muslim is vulnerable to the influence of radical Islamic thinking because of their easy access to that thought on social media, new media, and the books they read. This study seeks to examine the religious views of millennial Muslim women in four main focuses, namely religious identity, religious leaders, the role of the state on religious issues, and religious radicalism. This study was conducted with a qualitative approach, the data collection was carried out by the interview method. The study was conducted in Jakarta, mainly in religious study groups located in several mosques and shopping center in Jakarta. This study is expected to portray the religious views of millennial Muslim women, especially their commitment to Islamic identity, their views on the authority of religious leaders, the role of the state in various religious problems, and religious radicalism.

Keywords: millenial Muslims, radicalism, muslim mowen, religious identity

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Authors: Umair Nadeem, Sidra Umair

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Political behavior of voters and democratic values have been observed an emerging phenomenon in recent years in Pakistan. Privatized TV news channels are taking one sided position on the political issues, corresponding with respective political parties. Since last decade, TV News Channels have undermined this monopoly. Elections 2013 were unique in Pakistan with reference to political behavior and democratic values. Partisan narratives and counter narratives have been witnessed on different TV channels, in last few years. These mediated events seem very important to study the political behavior and democratic values as the country is approaching towards elections 2018. This endeavor is an attempt to capture the framing of the parties, issues in the partisan media culture and framing effects on political behavior of voters. Data for this research come from two data set. Content analysis of selected representative talks shows broadcast on mainstream news channels provide an assessment of the framing while quantitative survey of the discussion program’s viewers from Lahore city provide an evidence of framing effects on political behavior on voters and on democratic values. Regression results help us to argue that the highly partisan shows are strong predictors of polarized views among the audience. Study also grasp the attention of scholars towards the implications of this phenomenon.

Keywords: democratic values, partisan media, polarized views, political behavior

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Authors: Gyula I. Tóth, Shaho Abdalla

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Even though numerical simulations indeed have a significant precursory/supportive role in exploring the disordered phase displaying no long-range order in pattern formation models, studying the stability properties of this phase and determining the order of the ordered-disordered phase transition in these models necessitate an analytical description of the disordered phase. First, we will present the results of a comprehensive statistical analysis of a large number (1,000-10,000) of numerical simulations in the Swift-Hohenberg model, where the bulk disordered (or amorphous) phase is stable. We will show that the average free energy density (over configurations) converges, while the variance of the energy density vanishes with increasing system size in numerical simulations, which suggest that the disordered phase is a thermodynamic phase (i.e., its properties are independent of the configuration in the macroscopic limit). Furthermore, the structural analysis of this phase in the Fourier space suggests that the phase can be modeled by a colored isotropic Gaussian noise, where any instant of the noise describes a possible configuration. Based on these results, we developed the general mathematical framework of finding a pool of solutions to partial differential equations in the sense of continuous probability measure, which we will present briefly. Applying the general idea to the Swift-Hohenberg model we show, that the amorphous phase can be found, and its properties can be determined analytically. As the general mathematical framework is not restricted to continuum theories, we hope that the proposed methodology will open a new chapter in studying disordered phases.

Keywords: fundamental theory, mathematical physics, continuum models, analytical description

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Authors: Alireza Monzavi Chaleshtari, Mahnaz Aliakbari Dehkordi, Afsaneh Bayat, Amin Asadi Hieh

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The purpose of this research was to investigate the pattern of structural relationships of quality of life based on anxiety and rumination with the mediation of personality types in psoriasis patients. Methods: The community of this research is made up of the members of Psoriasis Society of Iran - Sadafak. In the sample size of 2266 people, according to Morgan's table, 327 people will be considered as a statistical sample. To assess the quality of life, the 26-item questionnaire of the World Health Organization, anxiety with software SPSS and appropriate to the conditions were used to test the hypotheses, correlation matrix tests and factor analysis. Results: There is a relationship between quality of life with anxiety and rumination in psoriasis patients. The mediating role of personality types showed Psychotic annoyance has a significant relationship with anxiety (physical and emotional symptoms). Extraversion, agreeing and being conscientious play a mediating role in a significant relationship between quality of life in psoriasis patients. Also, irritability plays a mediating role in a meaningful relationship between rumination in psoriasis patients. Conclusion: According to the obtained results, it can be said that psoriasis patients with physical and emotional symptoms of anxiety and rumination have a low quality of life. Also, negative personality types (perfectionism and neuroticism) can cause or aggravate skin disorders in these patients. In other words, psychological factors are considered predisposing, accelerating and perpetuating factors in psoriasis skin disorders, so it is suggested to pay attention to these variables in the success of treating patients with psoriasis.

Keywords: quality of life, anxiety, rumination, personality types, psoriasis.

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Authors: Yasin Ghasemi-Zadeh, Yousef Kavian

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Wireless body area networks (WBANs) technology has achieved lots of popularity over the last decade with a wide range of medical applications. This paper presents an asynchronous media access control (MAC) protocol based on B-MAC protocol by giving an application for medical issues. In WBAN applications, there are some serious problems such as energy, latency, link reliability (quality of wireless link) and throughput which are mainly due to size of sensor networks and human body specifications. To overcome these problems and improving link reliability, we concentrated on MAC layer that supports mobility models for medical applications. In the presented protocol, preamble frames are divided into some sub-frames considering the threshold level. Actually, the main reason for creating shorter preambles is the link reliability where due to some reasons such as water, the body signals are affected on some frequency bands and causes fading and shadowing on signals, therefore by increasing the link reliability, these effects are reduced. In case of mobility model, we use MoBAN model and modify that for some more areas. The presented asynchronous MAC protocol is modeled by OMNeT++ simulator. The results demonstrate increasing the link reliability comparing to B-MAC protocol where the packet reception ratio (PRR) is 92% also covers more mobility areas than MoBAN protocol.

Keywords: wireless body area networks (WBANs), MAC protocol, link reliability, mobility, biomedical

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Authors: Edward Y. W. Chu

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This paper exemplifies how the political and educational considerations have shaped the heavy-handed MOI policy in Hong Kong after its handover to China in 1997. Its result, a significant degeneration of English standard among the non-elite students, will be reported based on a detailed analysis of the public exam statistics available and other empirical studies. The remedial action taken by the Education Bureau out of the economic and educational considerations will be reported with reference to the official documents. The political, economic and educational considerations exemplified in different stages of Mother-tongue MOI policy in Hong Kong are found to be influential in the MOI policy in other Asian countries as well. For example, out of rapid internationalization and marketization, there has been increasing adoption of English as the MOI in post-secondary institutions in China, Japan & South Korea. On the other hand, while colonial languages were firmly made as the MOI in former colonies such as Vietnam and India, they were greatly retrieved upon independence for political and educational reasons. Malaysia also followed the same pattern upon independence but re-introduced partial English MOI policy in late 90s hoping to capitalize favourable globalization benefits. The short-lived policy was abandoned in 2009 because of the perceived political threat of national identity as well as the lack of educational effectiveness. Based on the great majority of Asian countries studied, this paper argues that MOI policy in Asia is much more than an educational issue, and that there is a clear pattern of how decisions of MOI matters are made. Studying the history and development of MOI in Hong Kong and other Asian countries provides a unique angle to view of how Asian countries prepare for the political, economic and educational challenges nowadays.

Keywords: economics, Hong Kong, medium of instruction, politics

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Authors: Arjun Chatterjee

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The India-China border clash in Galwan valley in June 2020, the first deadly skirmish between the two Asian giants in the Himalayan border area in over four decades, highlighted the need to examine the notion of ‘authenticity’ in journalistic practices. Information emanating from such remotely located, sparsely populated, and not well-demarcated international land borders have limited sources, restricted to official sources, which have their own narrative. Geopolitical goals and ambitions embolden narratives of nationalism in the media, and these often challenge the notion and understanding of authenticity in journalism. The Indian press, contrary to the Chinese press, which is state-owned, is diverse and also confrontational, where narratives of nationalism are differentially interpreted, embedded, and realised. This paper examines how authenticity has become a variable, rather than a constant, in conflict reporting of the Sino-Indian border clash and how authenticity is interpreted similarly or differently in conflict journalism. The paper reports qualitative textual analysis of two leading English language newspapers – The Times of India and The Hindu, and two mainstream regional language newspapers, Amar Ujala (Hindi) and Ananda Bazar Patrika (Bengali), to evaluate the ways in which representations of information function in conflict reporting and to recontextualize (and thus change or modify the meaning of) that which they represent, and with what political and cultural implications.

Keywords: India-China, framing, conflict, media narratives, border dispute

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