Search

In this paper, Plotkin's construction is employed to buildup longer length polar codes with the help of shorter length polar codes. Firstly, we present the multi-level code construction steps for non-cooperative communication schemes. Secondly, we extend the proposed multi-level polar code construction to coded-cooperative scenarios due to the parallel split in the proposed encoding scheme. Since, relay plays a pivotal role in the overall bit error rate (BER) performance of the coded-cooperative schemes, therefore, an efficient criteria of information bit selection at the relay is also presented. Furthermore, we propose a novel joint successive cancellation decoding scheme, which is employed at the destination and provides significant coding gains. Various numerical simulations show that the proposed polar coded-cooperative scheme (PCCS) scheme not only outperforms non-cooperative polar coded scheme but also the existing cooperative schemes for polar codes under identical conditions over an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and quasi-static Rayleigh fading channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the role of women in communication research. It does so by studying their presence/absence in the bibliographies of the syllabus of 108 theoretical courses of journalism degrees taught in 36 colleges in Spain during the 2020-2021 academic year. The work investigates the roles and presences of women in the field of communication, measuring the degree of visibility of women scientists and their contributions in a statistical and comparative way to that of male researchers, quantifying the citation patterns according to the gender of the authors. The data were analyzed with the free statistical software R (version 4.0.3) and a descriptive and inferential analysis was performed. The main results regarding the citation patterns of the research are: 1) an under-citation of publications written by female scientists; 2) an over-citation of publications by male researchers; and 3) the nonexistence of gender homophily (researchers do not tend to cite more authors of their same gender), since female authors are little cited and this low visibility is due to both female and male faculty members. The most referenced author is Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann, one of the few "classics" present, indicating a Matilda effect regarding the historical erasure of female contributions. In conclusion, the paper argues for the need to transform not only citation practices, but an entire scientific culture that denies women as a source of reference and authority from the early stages of university education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses communication as a community of feedback systems. Arguing that meaningful communication between human and non-human species is contingent upon first reconsidering human understandings of human consciousness and cognition, the author identifies axes of communication as perceiving-sensing, adjusting-processing, and responding-exchanging, beyond language. Drawing upon theories of enactivism and her work teaching media to neurodivergent students, the author proposes experimental time-based media as a useful model for communication between humans and the not-quite-fixed world of all things that exist, with or without categorization, and between those things themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Technisches Messen is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we develop a 3-D geometrical channel model for mobile-to-mobile (M2M) communication environment. The proposed model combines most of the existing 2-D and 3-D geometrical channel models for M2M and fixed-to-mobile (F2M) communication channels into one generalized model. Using the proposed model, closed-form expressions for the joint probability density function of angle-of-arrival and time-of-arrival in azimuth and elevation planes are derived. These results are then verified by simulations and available field measurements. Furthermore, comprehensive comparisons of the proposed channel model are carried out with the existing 2-D and 3-D channel models in the literature, which show that many notable geometrical channel models in M2M and F2M communication environments become the special cases of our proposed generalized 3-D geometrical channel model by adjusting corresponding channel parameters. Consequently, the proposed 3-D channel model can be taken as a useful tool for modeling mobile ad hoc networks , vehicular ad hoc networks, and intelligent transportation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reliable communication is a challenging problem when planning and designing large-scale LAN. It is also a key issue in network planning and the designing of courses. In this paper, we propose a network communication model in a large-scale LAN based reliable technology, which is efficient from simulation point of view. First, a HCL simulator is adopted to design a network model with a three-layer architecture using switches as the key components. Second, network reliability technology is applied to configure all devices, e.g. link aggregation and virtual router redundancy protocol (VRRP), together with Virtual Local Area Networks (VLAN), multiple spanning tree protocol (MSTP) and OSPF protocols. Finally, the communication reliability is verified and the result is analyzed, the result shows that this model can provide reliable communication and also be helpful for students to understand and apply such technologies, i.e., VLAN and VRRP technology and the knowledge of routing protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delusional talk may pose predictable challenges to the hearer in identifying what the speaker intended to communicate, particularly if the speaker presumes the hearer to have access to assumptions based on delusional content. This paper explores delusional talk between participants with schizophrenia and an interlocutor, analysing how meaning is negotiated through achieving access to assumptions that are not initially manifest to the conversation partner. A Relevance Theory approach is taken to the analysis of the data revealing two strategies used by the interlocutor to negotiate meaning. The Relevance Theory notion of mutual manifestness emerges as a powerful explanatory factor. The pursuit of mutual manifestness and a mutual cognitive environment explains the interlocutor's meaning negotiation attempts, allowing the communicators to 'align' and engage in conversation. The interlocutor is also exposed as seeking to exit the delusional talk by moving towards topics which are based on assumptions which are clearly mutually manifest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a 6 Gb/s transmitter with data-dependent jitter (DDJ) reduction technique for DisplayPort physical layer is presented. We propose a novel technique to minimize DDJ introduced while the output driver is operating with pre-emphasis mode, which is called DDJ reduction technique. The output driver circuit is designed in 0.13 μm 1P6 M CMOS process and fully compliant to the DisplayPort standard. With the proposed technique, observed DDJ at the output of the driver is reduced from 10 ps to under 1 ps while the output driver producing 400 mV output swing with 6 dB pre-emphasis. The output driver consumes minimum 66 mW and adopts 1.2 V supply voltage for core and 3.3 V supply voltage for I/O including pre-drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusion is a topic of interest to many organizational communication scholars and is often implicit in research, but not fully articulated. In this paper, we review the published English-language organizational communication literature on inclusion. The major themes in the literature are inclusion as a discourse of difference, inclusion as voice and participation, inclusion-exclusion as tension, inclusion as communicative practices, and inclusion as a call to action. To begin to address the lack of explicit theorization of inclusion in organizational communication, we foreground a series of working principles derived from extant scholarship to guide future research and practice on critical inclusion. We suggest several areas for future research based on these principles and conclude with practical suggestions for communication scholars to practice inclusivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important component of fluent linguistic production and a key distinguishing feature of particular modes, registers and genres is the multi-word expressions referred to as 'lexical bundles'. These are extended collocations which appear more frequently than expected by chance, helping to shape meanings and contributing to our sense of coherence and distinctiveness in a text. These strings have been studied extensively, particularly in academic writing in English, but little is known about how they may have changed over time. In this paper we explore changes in their use and frequency over the past 50 years, drawing on a corpus of 2.2 million words taken from top research journals in four disciplines. We find that bundles are not static and invariant markers of research writing but change in response to new conditions and contexts, with the most interesting changes within disciplines. The paper also discusses methodological approaches to studying bundles diachronically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista FAMECOS - Mídia, Cultura e Tecnologia is the property of EDIPUCRS - Editora Universitaria da PUCRS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The concept of visibility has become a problematic one as hypervisibility gave rise to new forms of opacity that are formed not through secrecy but by its opposite, pan-visibility. Paradoxically, by amplifying visibility, media create new forms of invisibility. An analysis of visibility will provide us with a precise perspective how these processes occur. In this paper, we suggest three lines of empirical and theoretical investigation in the topic of visibility: a sociological (symbolic) axis; a collective (publicness) axis; and a technological (media) axis. Since the social category of visibility is a central aspect of communication and media studies, we will be interrogating it through three distinct ways: visibility as a field whose symbolic determination results in the constitution of different regimes of visibility; visibility as a pivot-concept of publicness since it is this public quality that transforms proto-visibility into a full accomplished visibility; and, third, the transmutations and dangers stemmed from media's production of visibility. Each one of these principles highlights different concepts: in the field of visibility we need to address inter-visibilities; in public visibilities we need to address proto-visibilities in verge of becoming full-visibilities through the synchrony of collective attention; and in mediated visibility it is imperative to deal with super-visibility as an extreme effect of an intense modulation perpetrated by communication technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the media agendas on the vaccination process against Covid-19 in the main digital media in Argentina and the consumption of these news on Facebook, the main world´s social network. From a content analysis on the most relevant news in digital media on the subject and on those with the highest level of engagement, it was intended to determine: 1) the thematic composition of both agendas; 2) the differential presence of actors and points of view in the news; 3) the predominant affective attributes in the media treatment and in the public agenda; and 4) the frames that shaped the information in each of the platforms. The results show the existence of news gaps in terms of topics and frames, in a context of a heavily concentrated media environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the individual conditions of journalistic production in two independent medias of the media-partisan structure in Cuba. These can be considered among the most internationally recognized Cuban media. In the research, in-depth interviews with 40 journalists. It was found that these conditions are marked, fundamentally, by the confluence in the two media organizations of young graduates of journalism courses in the country with a multiple spatial location, and different referents and professional trajectories. A professional identification with the functions of journalism to inform, monitor power, participate in social debate and show society in its diversity, among others, was also detected. In addition, personal concerns were found about the violence against independent journalism on the island. It was concluded that these conditions materialize in terms of an anti-authoritarian professional discursiveness (and representation) shared by journalists. A comparison with the findings of inquiries located in other national spaces is proposed in the conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introductory article to the special issue provides a brief theoretical introduction to pragmatic research on the communication and dissemination of domain-specific knowledge across new media, discussing some of the central problems, such as the impact of digital technologies on understanding and learning, the changes in the participation framework, their impact on the construction of credibility and identity. We also call attention to the need for multimodal and hypermodal analysis of the processes of recontextualisation in selected genres. In this context, the papers in the special issue converge in presenting a nuanced view of a broad range of phenomena. Our goal is to encourage research on digital discourse to keep up with the present technological developments and the increasing complexity emerging from the ensuing interaction of knowledge transmission and knowledge circulation practices. • Communication and dissemination of domain-specific knowledge in a digital world need attention in pragmatic research. • Digital technologies have an impact on understanding, knowing and learning. • Intersubjective positioning can be explored as a concomitant of relevant high-quality information. • Methods can be devised to address credibility construction. • Multiple perspectives can be combined to assess communication strategies in (hyper-)multimodal environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to interact with a robot or make wise decisions about where and how to deploy it in the real world, humans need to have an accurate mental model of how the robot acts in different situations. We propose to improve users' mental model of a robot by showing them examples of how the robot behaves in informative scenarios. We explore this in two settings. First, we show that when there are many possible environment states, users can more quickly understand the robot's policy if they are shown critical states where taking a particular action is important. Second, we show that when there is a distribution shift between training and test environment distributions, then it is more effective to show exploratory states that the robot does not visit naturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modernization theory was a prominent interdisciplinary effort during the 1950's, 60's, and 70's that aimed to analyze the transformation of low-income traditional societies into economically growing, democratic, modern nations. Communication processes were among the key social variables studied. Over subsequent decades this classical modernization "paradigm" declined in influence and is largely discredited today. However, no new paradigm has emerged to replace the paradigm of classical modernization theory. This paper explores the potential of Jurgen Habermas's theory of communicative action to serve as an integrative East-West paradigm for communication research on the subject of modernization. The first part of the paper reviews the large scale historical and sociological elements of Habermas's theory, especially his analyses of social structural and cultural change. A second part of the paper makes this analysis more concrete by reviewing Tong's Shijun's application of Habermas's theory to the study of modernization in China. A third part of the paper defends some of Habermas's universalistic claims. The paper concludes that there is a compelling argument for the general applicability of Habermas's theory to the Chinese context. It is argued that if the theory is suitable for analyzing China, in addition to Western societies, then it can also serve as an integrative East-West paradigm for communication research on modernization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication in the doctor-patient relationship is vital to today's globalized world where health professionals and patients constitute a very diverse socio-demographic and socio-cultural composition, and, thus, have different expectations and assumptions of how such communication should develop. In this light, the aim of this paper was to conduct a systematic and critical review of studies that examine intercultural communication in the doctor-patient relationship, with the purpose of synthesizing its findings, assessing its limitations and proposing future lines of research that move this field of studies forward. To that end, a set of advanced searches was performed in the Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Scielo. The use of the PRISMA methodology in the systematic review allowed the identification of 27 articles that 1) had the main purpose of investigating communication in the intercultural interaction between doctors and patients, 2) involved graduate doctors who were active medical professionals, and 3) collected empirical data regarding the role of intercultural communication in the doctor-patient relationship. We analyzed the articles' aims, variables, methodology, context of study, main findings, and publishing journals and their impact factors to draw conclusions from studies in international contexts, with a particular focus on studies conducted in Latin America. In general terms, our analysis showed that in most of the articles reviewed, interculturality is insufficiently theorized, variables or categories are not specified and communication is examined very superficially. Furthermore, interculturality is approached almost exclusively in terms of the national origin of the participants. Although a very balanced distribution between quantitative studies and qualitative studies is observed, only a few studies draw on natural data collected from video-recordings of medical consultations. To conclude, the paper offers an intercultural communication research agenda that includes recommendations on research topics and variables, theoretical perspectives and methodological contributions to conduct future investigations on the matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tackling societal challenges relating to sustainability requires both an understanding of the underlying complex socio-ecological systems and participation of scientists as well as relevant stakeholders, such as practice experts, decision makers, and citizens. This paper introduces the Decision Theatre Triangle, a method which combines empirical information, mathematical modelling and simulation, and a format for dialogue between scientists and stakeholders. While it builds on previous Decision Theatre work, the new structuring into these three elements emphasizes what is needed for setting up a Decision Theatre for a given challenge. Based on experience with a specific example – sustainable mobility in Germany – it is argued that agent-based models are particularly suitable for Decision Theatres and that the method is useful not only for decision support but also for science communication and co-creation of a deeper knowledge of the system under discussion. As a step towards facilitating a broader use of the Decision Theatre Triangle method, the paper then sketches research needs for each of its three elements, with a focus on mathematical modelling and simulation. [Display omitted] • The Decision Theatre Triangle combines data, models, and stakeholder dialogues. • It enables decision support, science communication and co-production of research. • Agent-based modelling shows benefits in the Decision Theatre Triangle method. • Setting up Decision Theatre Triangles for societal challenges needs model structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to explore and analyze the mediatization of companies, and argues that companies are entering a new phase of mediatization that is no longer evident as an adaptation to the logic of mass media but now involves the incorporation of media logic into the company’s own media practices and communication structure. Companies are (i) transforming into producers of owned media and media content, and (ii) through their owned media, managing communication with stakeholders, which is (iii) significantly altering the role of corporate public relations. In the context of a case study of a company from the financial sector, the paper brings together three concepts – communication power, mediatization, and strategic communication – toward a new conceptual framework for assessing the characteristics of the communication dimension of modern companies. Such an analytical position enables the phenomenon of mediatization to be analyzed both in its historical dimension and structural dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: An estimated 1 billion people with disabilities live in low and middle income countries, a population that includes people with communication disabilities (PwCD). PwCD are a heterogenous group with a wide range of abilities who may be underrepresented in research due to the communication demands involved in research participation. Methods: A critical analysis of 145 studies from a previously published systematic review was undertaken with the aim of documenting the opportunities for direct participation of PwCD in research on poverty and disability in low- and middle- income countries. Results: The key finding was the high risk of underrepresentation of PwCD in research on poverty and disability in LMICs, despite low rates of explicit exclusion (n = 8; 5.5%). A total of 366 uses of data collection tools were analysed (255 unique tools). The majority of data collection tools had high communication demands (92.9%), including those measuring disability (88.6%) and those assessing poverty (100%). Only 22 studies (15.2%) specifically included PwCD. A subset of these studies (n = 14) presented disaggregated data in a way that allowed for analysis of outcomes for PwCD, suggesting a clear intersection between poverty and communication disability, with findings related to general poverty indicators, reduced access to education, low levels of employment, and additional expenditure. Conclusions: The findings suggest a systematic underrepresentation of PwCD in research on poverty and disability with substantial implications for future policy and program planning, directly affecting the availability and provision of services and resources for this population. A failure to provide adequate opportunity for participation of PwCD in research risks leaving those with communication disabilities behind in the pursuit of global poverty eradication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many disciplines have been debating and enacting a range of policies, procedures, and practices that fall under the umbrella term "open research" or "open science." Following the publication of "An Agenda for Open Science in Communication", we invited communication scholars to continue the conversation on what open research practices broadly might mean for our diverse field. Specifically, we sought work that: looked empirically at the need for and impact of open research practices; considered the unintended consequences of calls for open research practices broadly; and that reflected on what such a move would mean for qualitative and humanistic communication research. We hope the collection of articles in this special issue motivates and facilitates an ongoing conversation on open research practices in the field of communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the assessment of quality of quantitative communication research in light of the so-called 'replicability crisis' that has affected neighboring disciplines. For social scientific research, it is useful to think of research results as estimates which include error. I propose a framework suited to a variable field like communication, factoring in all sources of error, for assessing the quality of research. In communication research, greater consideration of generalizability is essential, which is at once both a higher standard than replicability but also a goal that should increase it. Furthermore, more explicit discussion of generalizability may help to further internationalize the discipline by clarifying the limitations of the large portion of research conducted within a narrow subset of world cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation – the topic of communication in project teams, especially those virtual ones, has been studied by many researchers and it would be valuable to know which research areas have been already explored and which need more attention. It would be also worth analyzing which countries and authors have been mainly contributing to the topic, and what publication types are mostly used to convey research in that area. Even though there are numerous literature reviews regarding project communication issues and different aspects of virtual teams, there is no one dedicated specifically to the topic of communication in virtual project teams. Aim – the paper aims to identify the scientific output in the area of communication in virtual project teams from the last 20 years (2001-2020) and analyze it for its volume, geographic distribution, publication types, areas and types of research and contributing authors. Method – a bibliometric approach has been applied to answer the research questions regarding the number of publications in the studied period, most contributing countries and most prolific authors, prevailing publication types and research topics addressed in the studied literature. Three databases – Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar were used to search for publications about communication in virtual project teams and the refined results from these databases were combined into the final dataset which was then analyzed to provide answers to the research questions. Contribution – the results of the bibliometric review of research on communication in virtual teams show that the most frequently undertaken topics concern methods and tools for communication in virtual teams, while issues linking communication with trust or leadership are the least explored areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eristic has been studied more and more intensively in recent years in philosophy, law, communication theory, logic, proof theory, and A.I. Nevertheless, the modern origins of eristic, which almost all current researchers see in the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, are considered to be a theory of the illegitimate use of logical and rhetorical devices. Thus, eristic seems to violate the norms of discourse ethics. In this paper, I argue that this interpretation of eristic is based on prejudices that contradict the original intention of modern eristic. Eristic is not an art of being right or winning an argument, but an art of protecting oneself from the one who deliberately violates norms of discourse ethics to gain argumentative acceptance. For this reason, eristic must be seen as a discipline of Enlightenment philosophy and a correlate of discourse ethics. Especially in the age of alternative facts and post-factual politics, this makes eristic a valuable discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, design has increasingly entered the realm of health, thanks to the connection with other disciplines, such as science and medicine. Information design, due to its ability to translate complex and invisible data into visible and understandable ones, can put the interpretative filter of contemporary scientific research over product, services and communicative artifacts, useful to transmit to people knowledge related to psycho-physical well-being. In addition to being associated with more conscious choices and activities, information design and, as well, design, through the connection with medicine, can help in the communication of diseases, both for treatment and preservation. The aim of the paper is to introduce the methodology and, as well, the firsts results of an ongoing research which focus is the divulgation of medical-scientific knowledge on Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (nfi) and epigenetic factors, which technical data have been translated into different kind of devices able to relate people everyday life with the managing and prevention of this pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives a theoretical introduction to the pragmatic research on the communication of public humour in traditional and new media, notably on social media. It discusses some of the central problems relevant to humour research and media communication. It describes, among other things, how the technological affordances of traditional and new media affect the underlying participation frameworks and how audience involvement affects humour as an interactional process, in both unscripted and scripted (sometimes also fictional) mediatised discourses. This introductory article to the special issue on the creation and sharing of humour across the media also calls attention to the need for multimodal analysis of media humour, which ranges from memes to broadcasts and films, as well as to the processes of decontextualisation and recontextualisation, which are germane to the production and reception of humour in various traditional and new media contexts. • Pragmatics of media humour emerges as a focus of consistent research. • Traditional and new media humour is characterised by multimodality. • Participant frameworks are crucial in humorous communication in/across the media. • Users share and recontextualise mediatised humour in novel ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are frequently excluded from research, yet their voices can significantly enhance the applicability, acceptability, and translation of qualitative research findings. Accessible and adapted research methods welcome and empower participants who use AAC, and enable meaningful involvement. In this article, we describe the collaborative development of a framework to conceptualise inclusive research and aspects of an accompanying inclusive research toolkit. The framework identifies balancing power as a critical factor, primarily achieved by ensuring that research methods and materials are accessible to people who use AAC. We propose that this is achieved through three interacting elements: collaboration with AAC users, skills and knowledge to achieve accessibility, and ensuring adequate time is available to achieve involvement. We identify five areas where applying these elements has impact for AAC users: recruiting AAC users, working with communication supporters, adapting research methods, securing ethics approval, and consent. In presenting the framework, we demonstrate how qualitative researchers can foster a research environment that values and actively includes AAC users, ultimately advancing the field towards more comprehensive and inclusive research practices. While our work is situated in the cerebral palsy and AAC communities, our proposed framework and toolkit can be applied by researchers seeking perspectives from individuals with communication disabilities more broadly. We have created a corresponding plain language video of this article as an additional means of optimising accessibility of the content. See supplemental material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have brought a rapid growth of scientific output in the area of gamification in education. In this paper, we try to identify its main characteristics using a bibliometric approach. Our preliminary analysis uses Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science as data sources, whereas the main analysis is performed on 2517 records retrieved from Scopus. The results comprise the cross-coverage of databases, geographic distribution of research, forms of publication, addressed research areas and topics, preferred publishing venues, the most involved scientific institutions and researchers, collaboration among researchers, and research impact. The main conclusions underline the sustained growth of the research output in the area for at least seven years, the widespread interest in the area across countries and branches of science, and an effective research communication in the area documented by the number of citations and the map of co-citations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the 22nd Nordic Conference on Media and Communication Research held in Denmark on August 13-15, 2015 on the changing conditions of human interaction and presence in the modern mediatised world is presented. Topics discussed include the uses of media for democratic, artistic, and innovative social purposes, the term metacommunication and the social media revolution. The event featured Associate Professor Lee Humphreys and Professor Klaus Bruhn Jensen.

In times when universities are becoming less self-evident, these organisations may be confounded in terms of which aspects of their activities and performances they should communicate with their stakeholders. A related question – central to our study – is how they communicate. This paper analyses the style of one particular type of communication: welcome addresses of key spokespersons of UK universities. Building on the pertinent image and identity literature and using Speech Act Theory, we expected to find differences between universities by prestige and age and over time. We found that older universities use different styles compared to younger universities, and that there were also differences by prestige. We also found considerable changes over time. The findings suggest we should not see these welcome addresses as purely ceremonial, but as intentional messages with communication styles that reflect the organisational attributes of the university. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The ICT technology expansion and rapid penetration supported by extensive research and innovations has started to change the users' requirements for novel services and applications. Up to now, the evolution of wireless communication systems only focused on improving the way the information is exchanged between two or a group of communication entities. However, emerging user expectations for novel personalized scenarios have driven the requirement for revolutionary and divergent approaches that will foster the virtualization of human emotions, senses, and thoughts. Human Bond Communication reflects this communications paradigm shift. It represents a holistic approach capable of describing and transmitting the features of an object in the way a human perceives it. Human Bond Communication incorporates all human senses for modeling a physical object into an information-digital domain. It also focuses on actuating and transmitting the data of the physical object through an underlying communication platform. This paper elaborates on the Human Bond Communication related topics, providing a comprehensive classification and survey of the current research works, as well as identifying the key challenges for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaining insights from domain experts into how they view communication in real world settings is recognized as an important authenticity consideration in the development of criteria to assess language proficiency for specific academic or occupational purposes. These “indigenous” criteria represent an articulation of the test construct and should therefore reflect what is germane to the particular domain of language use rather than general language-focused criteria familiar from other language tests. The methodological question of how to elicit such insights is, however, complex and has been addressed by various researchers using different methodological and theoretical frameworks.The paper draws on data from a larger research project to explore the affordances and constraints of more or less direct approaches to eliciting domain experts’ perspectives on what matters for effective communication in the workplace. The domain experts in this case were physiotherapy educators and supervisors. The study offers a qualitative comparison of expert feedback gathered from three different sites. Two were in the workplace where the communication skills of physiotherapy students in training were assessed routinely and the feedback given to them was naturally occurring rather than elicited. The third was a more artificial workshop setting in which video-recorded interactions between student and patients or simulated patients (i.e., actors role-playing a patient) were shown to two groups of expert informants who were then asked by the researcher to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of each performance.A qualitative analysis revealed that the nature of expert feedback differed significantly at each site, with the routinely occurring feedback containing scant and vague reference to language and communication aspects. The workshop setting, although it was less authentic, yielded much richer insights into the physiotherapists’ views about workplace communication. The implications of our findings for the development of relevant language test criteria are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to enhance the knowledge of how leadership concepts are embraced by leadership actors and perceived to influence relationships between leaders and co-workers. Specifically, the authors aim to investigate how leaders and co-workers discursively construct the concept of “communicative leadership” and its practices and perceive that communicative leadership influences relationships, work processes, and agency. Design/methodology/approach – The authors analyzed interviews with leaders and co-workers in two Swedish business organizations about their understandings and experiences of leadership. Findings – Communicative processes that enhance co-worker agency, defined as a capacity to act; include: facilitating autonomy, sharing responsibility, and mutual participation. Relational and discursive leadership processes such as responsiveness and dialogue were seen to enhance mutual participation in both organizations. Broader Swedish cultural macro discourses shaped the leader/co-worker relationship, making agency a relational accomplishment rather than an individual phenomenon. Research limitations/implications – This study relies on data from individual and focus group interviews, rather than direct observation of leadership processes. Practical implications – Findings suggest that organizations would benefit from making explicit their goals and expectations for communicative leadership in their respective social and cultural contexts. Originality/value – The authors provide new theoretical and empirical knowledge of leaders’ and co-workers’ discursive construction of a leadership concept; leadership communication research in the Swedish context; empirical research on communicative leadership as an empowering form of leadership communication; and how leadership communication discourse on a micro level is connected to organizational and macro-social cultural levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using theNew Africanmagazine and theAfrican Businessmagazine as its case study, this paper examines the coverage of the Sino–African relationship in the pan-African news magazines of the African diaspora. The objectives of the study are twofold. The first objective is to provide insights on the level of coverage of Sino–African relationship by the diasporic African media. The second objective is to understand how the presence of China in the socioeconomic and political spheres of many African countries is portrayed. The findings show that theAfrican Businessprovides extensive coverage of the multidimensional complexity of China's presence in Africa, as opposed to the episodic-oriented coverage that Sino–African relationships get in theNew Africanmagazine. While the thematic framing of the Sino–African relationships are similar in both magazines, theNew Africanmagazine takes a dogmatic approach in its portrayal of the relationship in an overly positive manner in comparison to theAfrican Business's more contextual and nuanced coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most studies on the uses and effects of media and communication by parents and children have focused on how parents influence their children. Socialization theory generally describes how children internalize the rules and norms from their parents, teachers, siblings, media, and others. Socialization is, however, a bidirectional process in which children socialize their parents as well. This “child-effect” is a perspective that has been largely ignored in the social science literature in general, and in media research, in particular. Given recent changes in the media landscape (such as the introduction of smartphones and tablets), we argue that this needs to be investigated now more than ever. In this paper, we aim (1) to give a brief theoretical overview of the “child-effect hypothesis” and (2) to discuss its challenges and opportunities for future research of the relationship between parents and children in media and communication research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The majority of health IT adoption research focuses on the later stages of the IT adoption process: namely on the implementation phase. The first stage, however, which is defined as the knowledge-stage, remains widely unobserved. Following Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI) this paper presents a research framework to examine the possible lack of shared IT awareness-knowledge, i.e. an information gradient, of two crucial stakeholders, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the Director of Nursing (DoN). This study shall answer the following research questions: (1.) Does this gradient exist? (2.) Which direction does it have? (3.) Are certain health IT (HIT) attributes associated with a potential gradient? (4.) Which determinants of diffusion go along with this gradient?Method: Results of two surveys that focused on the topic "IT support of clinical workflows" from the viewpoint of CIOs and DoNs with corresponding datasets from 75 hospitals were used in a secondary data analysis. The gradient was operationalised by measuring the disagreement of CIOs and DoNs on the availability and implementation status of 29 IT functions. HIT attributes tested were relevance and market penetration of the IT functions, determinants of diffusion were inter-professional leadership and IT service density.Results: The analysis revealed a significant disagreement on the availability of 9 out of 29 HIT functions. In 23 HIT functions, the CIOs reported a higher implementation status than the DoNs, which pointed to a trend for a unidirectional gradient. The disagreement was significantly lower when the relevance of the IT function was high. Both determinants of diffusion correlated significantly negative with the degree of disagreement.Conclusion: This is the first study to empirically examine shared awareness-knowledge of two IT-stakeholders that are crucial for triggering IT adoption on the frontline level in hospitals. It could be shown that a gradient and thus a lack of shared awareness-knowledge existed and was associated with certain factors. In conclusion, hospitals should implement improved cooperation between IT staff and clinicians and IT service density when establishing the prerequisites for successful IT adoption processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New media and connected new publication types emerging in the late 19th and the 20th century (film, television, internet) have raised new questions regarding the role of typography in publishing. Clearly, works of typography and publishing have always served a wide dissemination of ideas to reach a larger audience, and it was evident that the use of typographic conventions was part of the message itself even if these conventions were used by professionals such as printers or typeseters who were clearly distinct from the author. Typography is separated from the social communication context of publication, while it is also separated from the paper-based medium and typographic works. The following paper aims at analyzing the types of typography and the way it is influenced by the new media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Lengua para Fines Específicos is the property of Revista de Lengua para Fines Especificos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The mainstay of the paper is formed by an analysis of the character and effectiveness of links and the communication flows in which people and organizations are entrenched, the significance of social relations in organizational contexts, the circumstances in which social capital can thrive in organizations, and social media's role in improving organizational knowledge. The theory that I shall seek to elaborate here puts considerable emphasis on the antecedents and mutual results of organizational social capital, social capital as an intra-organizational event, the impact of the entire social relationships on worker's mutual approach towards the organization, and the decisive socialization practices of new employees in entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is widely acknowledged that gestures are complex functional elements of human communication, many current functional classification systems are rather rigid, implicitly assuming gestures to perform only one function at any given time. In this paper, we present a theoretical view on the inherent multifunctionality of speakers' gestures, inspired by frameworks in structuralfunctional linguistics (Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar and Hengeveld & Mackenzie's Functional Discourse Grammar). Building upon this view, we report on a large-scale internet-based gesture perception study, designed in a way open to the potential for complex multifunctionality of gestural expression. The results provide quantitative support for the view that speakers' gestures typically contribute to multiple semantic and meta-communicative functions of the ongoing discourse simultaneously. Furthermore, we identify clusters of functions that tend to be combined, as well as correlations between pairs of them. As a whole, this paper achieves some degree of convergence between ecological and experimental views on gesture functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]