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Drylands are critical in regulating global carbon sequestration, but the resiliency of these semi‐arid shrub, grassland and forest systems is under threat from global warming and intensifying water stress. We used synergistic satellite optical‐Infrared (IR) and microwave remote sensing observations to quantify plant‐to‐stand level vegetation water potentials and seasonal changes in dryland water stress in the southwestern U.S. Machine‐learning was employed to re‐construct global satellite microwave vegetation optical depth (VOD) retrievals to 500‐m resolution. The re‐constructed results were able to delineate diverse vegetation conditions undetectable from the original 25‐km VOD record, and showed overall favorable correspondence with in situ plant water potential measurements (R from 0.60 to 0.78). The VOD water potential estimates effectively tracked plant water storage changes from hydro‐climate variability over diverse sub‐regions. The re‐constructed VOD record improves satellite capabilities for monitoring the storage and movement of water across the soil‐vegetation‐atmosphere continuum in heterogeneous drylands. Plain Language Summary: Drylands provide ecosystem services to more than two billion people but are under threat from global warming and intensifying water stress. We used a machine‐learning method to combine multi‐satellite observations for estimating vegetation water status and seasonal changes over drylands. Our enhanced‐resolution satellite vegetation retrievals (known as vegetation optical depth) were able to delineate diverse vegetation water conditions undetectable from the original 25‐km data record, and showed strong correspondence with in situ plant water measurements. Our approach improves satellite capabilities for monitoring the storage and movement of water across the soil, vegetation, and atmosphere layers in heterogeneous drylands. Key Points: Daily and 500‐m resolution vegetation optical depth (VOD) was derived through multi‐sensor data fusionOptical‐infrared and microwave synergy resolves heterogeneous vegetation water conditions within 25‐km grid cellsRe‐constructed VOD can improve understanding and monitoring of vegetation water potential at plant‐to‐stand scales [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While globally operating SVoDs have discovered identity-based diversity as a branding strategy, diversity has a longer history and broader meaning in public service media (PSM) tied to the foundational ideals of universality and pluralism that oblige PSM to speak to all members of a society and to offer diverse programmes and viewpoints. We investigate: How are these two understandings of 'diversity' expressed 1) in legal and policy requirements to the PSM, 2) in strategy papers and audits issued by PSM, 3) in the presentation and exposure of content in VoD interfaces? And 4) How can PSMs' practice around diversity on VoD be tracked methodologically? The article examines these questions by comparing: BBC iPlayer (UK), DRTV (Denmark) and ARD Mediathek (Germany). A document analysis examines how legal remits and strategies governing these institutions talk about diversity. We analyse the presentation and exposure of 'diversity' in VoD content via longitudinal datasets that document the three VoD landing pages daily between early 2022 and late 2023, recording the position of every programme title at the VoDs' front pages, as well as deck titles. We test four approaches to this dataset: Spotting diversity in deck titles, looking for content tagged as diverse on IMDb and by Chat GPT, calculating diversity of exposed content with the Gini-Simpson-Index and assessing diversity through a manual coding of deck titles and sampling content displayed in selected decks. The article shows how differently diversity can be conceptualised and operationalised in VoD practice and concludes that multi-dimensional methodological approaches are needed. This article is a report on different publishing strategies for 'diversity content' in PSM VoD interfaces; a discussion of the conflicting relation between public service ideals and the notion of identity-based 'branded diversity' of globally operating VoDs; and a contribution to developing methods for monitoring diversity on VoD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Grafica: Journal of Graphic Design / Documents de Disseny Gràfic is the property of Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona 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 year 2022 saw three Scandinavian films – Loving Adults, Black Crab and Troll – place highly on Netflix's lists of the most popular non-English language films on the service globally. These were led by Troll, a Norwegian feature that was fully financed by Netflix itself and branded as an 'original' film, which went on to become the most popular non-English language film ever on the platform. Using the popularity of these films and other Nordic titles on the world's leading subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) platform as a point of departure, this article investigates the changing industrial landscape for film production and distribution in the region in light of the influence that streaming platforms are having therein. The focus is on a detailed case study of the integrated studio SF Studios, which produced two of these three landmark films as well as numerous others that were released as Netflix original movies between 2020 and 2023. In addition to illuminating the business and creative practices of both SF and Netflix, the article argues that deals such as these are fomenting greater artistic diversity in Scandinavia by opening up distribution pathways and production resources for popular genre films from the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mountainous forests are pivotal in the global carbon cycle, serving as substantial reservoirs and sinks of carbon. However, generating a reliable estimate remains a considerable challenge, primarily due to the lack of representative in situ measurements and proper methods capable of addressing their complex spatial variation. Here, we proposed a deep learning-based method that combines Residual convolutional neural networks (ResNet) with in situ measurements, microwave (Sentinel-1 and VOD), and optical data (Sentinel-2 and Landsat) to estimate forest biomass and track its change over the mountainous regions. Our approach, integrating in situ measurements across representative elevations with multi-source remote sensing images, significantly improves the accuracy of biomass estimation in Tibet's complex mountainous forests (R2 = 0.80, root mean squared error = 15.8 MgC ha−1). Moreover, ResNet, which addresses the vanishing gradient problem in deep neural networks by introducing skip connections, enables the extraction of complex spatial patterns from limited datasets, outperforming traditional optical-based or pixel-based methods. The mean value of forest biomass was estimated as 162.8 ± 21.3 MgC ha−1, notably higher than that of forests at comparable latitudes or flat regions in China. Additionally, our findings revealed a substantial forest biomass carbon sink of 3.35 TgC year−1 during 2015–2020, which is largely underestimated by previous estimates, mainly due to the underestimation of mountainous carbon stock. The significant carbon density, combined with the underestimated carbon sink in mountainous regions, emphasizes the urgent need to reassess mountain forests to better approximate the global carbon budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contemporary international landscape is more accurately portrayed in the works of filmmakers who increasingly choose to incorporate multiple languages. However, this diversity introduces additional challenges during the translation process. This research describes the translation strategies employed in dubbing multilingual films and explore the differences in translating third language (L3) in Iranian national and private channels based on the models of Zabalbeascoa and Voellmer (2014) and Sanz Ortega (2011). Three films were selected which were dubbed and broadcast by two national TV studios: the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Company (IRIB) and an online Video on Demand (VOD) service, Filimo. The analysis revealed that the most prevalent verbal technique was neutralization (Ai), which reduced linguistic variety. Non-verbal signs were adapted to adhere to the sociocultural norms of Iranian culture. Filimo, in its dubbing efforts, maintains films closer to their original duration compared to IRIB. Filimo’s commitment to preserving more scenes from the original film without compromising the plot exceeds that of IRIB, providing audiences with a more enriched viewing experience.

The media context is immersed in a process of platformization in which the supply of audiovisual content is highly dynamic. The formulas for acquiring feature films are not always an open process. During the ecam producers' conference, data on acquisition strategies of the main platforms in the Spanish market were collected and processed according to those responsible for acquisitions, and compared with the data obtained in the systematic literature review (slr). There is a trend towards the acquisition of projects with solid financing and relevant trajectories in the festival circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The BitCover algorithm is an adaptation of the popular BitTorrent algorithm for interactive Video-on-Demand (VoD) streaming over 5G cellular networks. This algorithm has already proven to be an effective solution for granting adequate bandwidth utilization within each cell site, which turns out to be essential for unlocking the whole potential of the 5G technology. Despite its attractive performance, we though wonder if there is still space for optimization since four of its configuration parameters are identical to those of the original BitTorrent, being set with the same numerical values. These parameters are dt (unchoking time), Np (number of neighbors a peer has), y (number of data slots a peer's upload capacity is divided into), and z (number of peers randomly selected in optimistic unchoking). To tackle this issue, we therefore carry out simulation experiments to hopefully determine a more adequate configuration setup for the three first parameters just mentioned, leaving the specific analysis of the last parameter (i.e., z) implicit since it is directly related to the third parameter (i.e., y). Among the major findings, we highlight that BitCover's original performance is enhanced at about 16.7% in terms of download rate, and at 50.1% in terms of discontinuity time. To complement this study, we also present a detailed competitive analysis against two other recent literature proposals, mainly to show the overall effectiveness of the optimized version of the BitCover algorithm. Within this context, our pivotal contribution is to offer helpful insights for designing protocols aimed at 5G cellular networks. Finally, this paper ends with general conclusions and outlines future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Film Quarterly / Kwartalnik Filmowy is the property of Kwartalnik Filmowy 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.)

A mathematical model incorporating dynamic parameters is proposed to investigate the overall decarburization process during the vacuum oxygen refining (VOD) process for ultrapure ferritic stainless steel. This paper also conducted a precise theoretical calculation of the C‐Cr equilibrium. Moreover, the top‐blowing oxygen distribution is categorized into six directions: [C] oxidation, alloy component oxidation, CO bubble oxidation above the bath surface, bath surface oxidation (FeO), dissolution in the molten steel ([O]), and escape into the exhausted gas. The FeO and Cr2O3 oxide are intermediate product of oxygen to oxidize [C] remaining in the molten steel during the VCD stage. The modified approach of Gibbs free energies determines the critical carbon concentration by the distribution ratio of carbon to the top‐blowing oxygen. The top‐blowing oxygen primarily consumed by CO‐CO2 bubble (49–55%) and Cr2O3 (26–33%). Additionally, the model considered operational aspects, the system's heat balance, and changes in overall metal‐slag conditions during the refining process. The exhausted gas composition and end‐point carbon concentration align well with industrial data. Within a certain range (approximately up to 0.50%), increasing initial carbon concentration can enhance overall decarburization efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Izgradnju infrastrukturnih objekata velikih Data Centara (DC-a) obično prate i objekti za proizvodnju električne energije. Ove objekte je potrebno povezati na elektroenergetski sistem (EES) radi obezbjeđivanja napajanja DC-a, odnosno plasiranja proizvedene električne energije iz elektrana. U tu svrhu je neophodno planiranje iskorišćenja postojećih i izgradnju novih razvodnih postrojenja (RP-a). Zbog što optimalnije eksploatacije postojećih resursa i planiranja novih, uz očuvanje stabilnosti EES-a, povezivanje se vrši na pogodno odabranim mjestima. Predlog mjesta i načina priključena DC-a na konkretni EES obrađen je u u prvom dijelu rada. Navedeni su postojeći elementi RP-a predviđeni za korišćenje u ovu svrhu, odnosno novi elementi koje je potrebno implementirati, kao i njihov položaj u EES-u. Drugi dio rada odnosi se na način povezivanja izvora električne energije, koji su dio DC-a u širem smislu, na EES. Dat je osvrt na ograničenja kapaciteta postojećih resursa RP-a i predlog izgradnje novih. Prilikom priključenja bilo kog od navedenih objekata neophodno je voditi računa o očuvanju redundanse u napajanju DC-a. Razmjena informacija između komunikacionih sistema DC-a, objekata za proizvodnju električne energije i EES-a omogućava brzu i efikasnu reakciju na moguće poremećaje ili potpunu nefunkcionalnost pojedinačnih objekata DC-a u širem smislu i djelova EES-a, odnosno EES-a u cjelini. Predlog komunikacionog povezivanja DC-a i EES-a obrađen je u trećem dijelu rada. Na kraju rada predstavljen je uopšteni zaključak o načinu realizacije povezivanja DC-a u širem smislu na osnovu konkretnog primjera realizacije koji je prethodno opisan

This articles serves as editorial introduction to the Journal of Digital Media and Policy's Special Issue on 'US-Based SVoD Providers in Europe: Impacts and Challenges'. It starts by a reminder of the importance taken by US-based SVOD in Europe, and their ambiguous impact. On the one hand, they play a key role in terms of audio-visual creativity and innovation. On the other hand, they have been at the centre of many policy debates regarding notably their impact on the production and consumption of European content. The objective of the Special Issue is to analyse such impact using various empirical approaches and comparative analyses. This is done via five articles, two short commentaries and three book reviews, which are briefly presented in the end of this editorial introduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the rules governing the qualification and labelling of online content or other online transmissions. The labelling of these videos is used as a method of protecting minors from content that may endanger their personal well-being. A new legislative amendment in this area was made in 2022 in order to adapt the legal solutions to the current needs. The analysis presented in the article aims to evaluate these changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The platform phenomenon could be apprehended as an evolutionary process, one that re-institutionalises legacy market systems. This article delves into one such site of media platformisation in India that of the Video-on-Demand (VoD) market. I demonstrate this market being curated by "digital dislocations" in the legacy video business, but equally to involve and impart "digital dependencies" of various sorts in the online media economy. Rather than viewing these twin dynamics as organic developments, I explain their particular renditions in India stemming from the state's regulatory composition of the VoD business. Here, I view regulation more broadly in terms of the silences, refractions, and interruptions of the state in the digital economy, or in short, its "digital orchestration." While regulatory omissions testify to the VoD market being grounded in laissez-faire, the interruptions fortify the state's own ideological and mercantile interests in and through the VoD business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the current state of the representation of LGBT+ characters in Spanish original video-on-demand television series. Content analysis was performed of 38 series with a total of 749 characters broadcast in Spain in 2020 and 2021, in order to determine the main traits of LGBT+ characters as opposed to their cisheterosexual peers. The main findings indicate that there is an underrepresentation of cis women, trans men and non-binary people and an overrepresentation of heterosexual characters. Non-heterosexual characters tend to be younger and less educated than heterosexuals, and they are more frequently single. Transgender women are usually portrayed in the narrative background, are less educated, more hypersexualized, of lower socio-economic status and manifest more unhealthy habits. However, no relationship was found between sexual orientation and other variables such as narrative weight, age, nationality and type of job. Neither there was any statistical association between gender identity and nationality or religious practice. The results are consistent with previous literature in what is still a little-explored research field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the rise of video-on-demand (VOD) services, Netflix is a prominent actor, expanding its operations in Latin America while regulators remain evasive. Its power concentration motivated research from different perspectives, while its role as a policy actor remains under-investigated. Therefore, this article engages in the political economy of communication to investigate how Netflix uses power to build an image of an expert able to provide policy recommendations to Latin America. We combine qualitative document analysis, participant observation and semi-structured expert interviews to assess Netflix's strategy to consolidate as a policy actor in Latin America. The findings revealed Netflix's attempts to legitimize itself as a promotor of inclusion and diversity without the need for regulation while connecting with the leading institutions promoting a policy discourse according to its interests. The enlargement of Netflix's agency through knowledge production and connection with policy entrepreneurs raises concerns about power concentration and constraints of cultural policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The migration of audiences to digital environments has motivated the media to develop a content distribution strategy that has a presence in these new spaces. In the case of European public broadcasters, they have strengthened their digital news services and have built video-on-demand platforms where they organise and screen their products. Even so, the overload of information and content reaching users forces corporations to look for new mechanisms to present an adequate, interesting and diverse offering to each of their followers. This research project analyses the use of artificial intelligence in the recommendation systems implemented by 14 European public broadcasters in Germany (ARD and ZDF), Belgium (VRT and RTBF), Denmark (DR), Spain (RTVE), Finland (YLE), France (France TV), Great Britain (BBC), the Netherlands (NPO), Ireland (RTÉ), Italy (RAI), Sweden (SVT) and Switzerland (RTS). The results reveal that there is no unanimity among the corporations with regard to the operation and origin of these systems, which vary between homemade developments, acquired from third parties, or collaborative solutions. Operators differentiate between news recommendation processes and those executed on their VoD platforms and aim to distance their systems from those of commercial media, for which they have already started working on a public service media (PSM) algorithm that includes traditional public media values, avoids filter bubbles, and pays special attention to the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: complex rehabilitations present multiple difficulties, regarding both the planification of the surgery and the design of the prothesis. A digital approach can support the workflow, as well as the degree of intraoperative precision, and improve the long-term prognosis. Methods: A surgical guide was designed for implant placement. An extensive regeneration of the upper jaw was performed with contextual implant insertion, and a delayed load rehabilitation was chosen. After four months, a second surgery and a simultaneous soft tissue augmentation was performed, and a 3D-printed temporary restoration was placed. After another two months, new dental and facial scans, smile design, and facial bite registrations were obtained. Upper and lower dentures were built using an exclusively digital workflow. Both metal substructures were passivated and cemented in one session; in the following appointment, the aesthetic and occlusal checks were carried out. During the third visit, both prostheses were delivered. Results: Careful case planning and the surgical guide made it possible to achieve primary stability and acceptable emergence profiles in an extremely reabsorbed upper jaw. Leukocyte-Platelet Rich Fibrin (L-PRF) made the extensive bone regeneration more approachable and lowered the post-operative pain and swelling, while speeding up the soft tissue healing process. During the re-entry surgery, the volumes of soft tissues were increased to improve aesthetics, and the amount of keratinized gingiva around the six implants was also increased. Smile design and facial scans have provided the means to create acceptable aesthetics and function in a few sessions with minimal patient discomfort. Conclusions: Computer-assisted implantology is a safe and precise method of performing dental implant surgery. Preliminary studies have a high degree of accuracy, but further studies are needed to arrive at a fully digital clinical protocol at all stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The launch of Disney+ in Spain in March 2020 coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic and a period of home confinement for many Spaniards. This study examines the advertising and engagement strategy used by Disney+ on Twitter and Instagram, analyzing 2,268 messages. The platform's social media use is similar to that of its competitors, with Twitter used for user engagement and Instagram used for content promotion. However, the study finds that the platform missed the opportunity to emphasize its unique qualities and appeal to the brand's values. Despite this, Disney+ generated significant engagement during its launch month, reflecting high levels of user anticipation. Popular original productions such as The Mandalorian and Aladdin, as well as acquired content like The Simpsons, indicate the brand's focus on a family or broad-spectrum target audience, in contrast to the younger and niche audiences favored by its competitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns quality evaluation of the telecommunication services: VoIP (representing the RT interactive class) and VoD (representing the MM streaming class). Subjective and objective methods and tools for perceived quality measurement are analyzed and compared. Subjective tests are performed for selected video sequences using the Double-Stimulus Impairment Scale (DSIS) method. Thus the objective algorithms (VQM and VQmon) are calibrated. Speech quality is measured using the objective methods: PESQ and POLQA. Threshold values for network parameters (packet loss rate, delay jitter) are set, that guarantee the acceptable service quality.

Along with other international players such as China, India, or Russia, Turkey decided to increase its economic engagement with Africa starting more than a decade ago, around the time when the current ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power. At the same time, it has been enhancing its soft power by building infrastructure, increasing its military presence, becoming visible in humanitarian aid, and exporting cultural products. This country’s penetration and involvement in local African life have been controversial in terms of international politics, and its media products could be one of the essential strategies to change the dominant Western narratives. This research is based on the assertion that, through Turkish TV series, Turkish soft power creates a perception of Turkey in African countries and argues that those that have been aired on that continent have a political effect on people. To achieve the objectives proposed in this study, an in-depth interview method was used to collect data, taking into consideration information, cultural characteristics, and experiences within an ethnographic approach. In this context, we interviewed people who live in Mozambique, Kenya, and Senegal, where relations with Turkey have especially strengthened in the last 10 years, and who regularly watch Turkish TV series. This study asserts that Turkish TV series play an important role in the way Turkey is perceived in the African countries in which they are consumed but also serve, in a positive way, as a key information source regarding the country’s image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Episodes of forest mortality have been observed worldwide associated with climate change, impacting species composition and ecosystem services such as water resources and carbon sequestration. Yet our ability to predict forest mortality remains limited, especially across large scales. Time series of satellite imagery has been used to document ecosystem resilience globally, but it is not clear how well remotely sensed resilience can inform the prediction of forest mortality across continental, multi-biome scales. Here, we leverage forest inventories across the continental United States to systematically assess the potential of ecosystem resilience derived using different data sets and methods to predict forest mortality. We found high resilience was associated with low mortality in eastern forests but was associated with high mortality in western regions. The unexpected resilience–mortality relation in western United States may be due to several factors including plant trait acclimation, insect population dynamics, or resource competition. Overall, our results not only supported the opportunity to use remotely sensed ecosystem resilience to predict forest mortality but also highlighted that ecological factors may have crucial influences because they can reverse the sign of the resilience–mortality relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Amazon, deforestation and climate change lead to increased vulnerability to forest degradation, threatening its existing carbon stocks and its capacity as a carbon sink. We use satellite L-Band Vegetation Optical Depth (L-VOD) data that provide an integrated (top-down) estimate of biomass carbon to track changes over 2011–2019. Because the spatial resolution of L-VOD is coarse (0.25°), it allows limited attribution of the observed changes. We therefore combined high-resolution annual maps of forest cover and disturbances with biomass maps to model carbon losses (bottom- up) from deforestation and degradation, and gains from regrowing secondary forests. We show an increase of deforestation and associated degradation losses since 2012 which greatly outweigh secondary forest gains. Degradation accounted for 40% of gross losses. After an increase in 2011, old-growth forests show a net loss of above-ground carbon between 2012 and 2019. The sum of component carbon fluxes in our model is consistent with the total biomass change from L-VOD of 1.3 Pg C over 2012-2019. Across nine Amazon countries, we found that while Brazil contains the majority of biomass stocks (64%), its losses from disturbances were disproportionately high (79% of gross losses). Our multi-source analysis provides a pessimistic assessment of the Amazon carbon balance and highlights the urgent need to stop the recent rise of deforestation and degradation, particularly in the Brazilian Amazon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Association of Regional Television (Circom) is an umbrella organization of regional broadcasters in Europe, currently composed of a total of 43 broadcasters from 29 countries. These public service media play a decisive role in information reality owing to their proximity, the cultural development of their communities, and the emotional bond they have with their audiences. This research analyzes the relationship between European regional media, innovation, and digitization processes and the fight against disinformation in the current media context through interviews with Circom network managers. In turn, the resulting sample has been compared with the models of Hallin and Mancini (2004), demonstrating that this classification is not significant in terms of innovation and digitization approaches but is decisive in the analysis of disinformation and the strategies used by the media in each country. Innovation, digitization processes, and business structure have conceptualization problems in solving the pressure that today's convergent environment exerts on linear television. After analyzing the results, it becomes clear that there is a pressing need to renew and redefine professional profiles, adapt content to different formats, and conquer young audiences, although there is no agreement on the best way to face these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, society has been debating the representation of immigrants in the media and how it might affect possible racist behavior in everyday life. This study responds to the need for a better understanding of the representation of immigrants in fiction programs broadcast on platforms, and the shortage of studies that have analyzed fiction broadcast via video-on-demand because of it being such a recent phenomenon. Content analysis was conducted of 749 characters that appeared in 38 Spanish-produced programs. We observed that immigrant characters are not underrepresented, although there are statistically significant differences in terms of nationality, origin, and ethnicity. This suggests that it is not origin that conditions the role of immigrant characters, but skin color and place of birth. Moreover, there continues to be a perverse association between immigrant characters and the use of violence or drugs, thus maintaining the stereotype that links nationality with criminal behavior and substance abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is a life-threatening endotheliopathy that can occur after stem cell transplant (SCT). Numerous risk factors contribute to the development of VOD during SCT, and the role of prophylactic defibrotide (DF) in mitigating these risks remains unclear., Objective: We compare not only the incidence of VOD development, but also the severity of VOD and survival outcomes between patients who did and did not develop VOD and did or did not receive prophylactic DF., Study Design: In this single-center retrospective study of 58 pediatric SCT patients from 2008 to 2022, we compare the demographics, risk profiles, and outcomes within three cohorts: Group 1: prophylactic DF and no VOD (n = 5), Group 2: prophylactic DF and development of VOD (n = 6), and Group 3: treatment DF for patients who developed VOD (n = 47)., Results: Patients with VOD who did not receive prophylactic DF had higher severity classification of disease at onset (very severe 80.9% vs. 66.7%, p = .592) and at maximum severity (very severe 89.4% vs. 83.3%, p = .532), as opposed to mild, moderate, or severe categorization compared to those who did not receive prophylactic DF. Patients who developed VOD and did not receive prophylactic DF had a lower 1-year survival probability compared to those who received prophylactic DF and still developed VOD (51.1% vs. 75% alive at 1 year, excluding the two subjects without adequate follow-up time, p = .266)., Conclusion: Although, not statistically significant in our small retrospective study, there is potential overall survival and decreased VOD severity benefits of prophylactic DF., (© 2024 The Author(s). Pediatric Blood & Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: Due to the increasing share of consumption and watching videos - especially movies and series - in the basket of Iranian households, several systems have been set up to facilitate people's access to these videos. One of the most important types of these systems is the video-on-demand system which has taken unprecedented growth in attracting audiences in recent years. Just as the multiplicity of content in these systems causes users to be diverse and satisfied, this multiplicity can be more confusing for them to find interesting content. Therefore, the need for recommendation systems to further predict user interests and provide consistent content is felt more and more day by day. The purpose of this study is to provide an efficient method of recommending videos based on user viewing data in the video-on-demand system. Methods: In this research, a new bidding algorithm based on users' tastes and video watching data in the video-on-demand system is presented. This algorithm is based on the concepts and indicators of social network analysis. How this algorithm works is that first the similarity of the videos is calculated based on the percentage of movies viewed by the user and based on that the similarity matrix of the movies is formed. In the next step, based on the similarity matrix of the films, the communication graph of the films is formed, and in the next step, while discovering the communities in the graph, the centrality indicators of each film are calculated. Then, based on the viewing data of each user and the history of his favorite and non-favorite movies, the members of the community with the most favorite movies are selected as candidates for the user and after calculating their distance from the user's favorite and non-favorite movies, and if the final index is positive, Bids are offered to the user. Resultds: The performance of the proposed algorithm of this research is evaluated on the data of 50, 100, and 200 users of the CinemaMarket site, the results of which show the better performance of the proposed algorithm of this research in comparison with the algorithms of Naive Bayes, k-nearest neighbors and ID3. Conclusions: Recommendation systems offer content by having a lot of information from users and their behavioral records. The proposed algorithm of this research can perform the task of suggesting the desired content of users with the least possible information, ie information related to users' observations with desirable and acceptable performance.

The mining sector’s sustainability is contingent upon operational efficiency improvements. This has resulted in significant improvements in industrial energy efficiency, resulting in reduced emissions and resource waste. Indian mine ventilation fans were discovered to be energy guzzlers, paving the way for more efficient driving techniques. A thorough investigation of cost savings, energy savings, and pollution reductions associated with different airflow scenarios utilizing Tandsi underground coal mine ventilation networks were conducted. Two applications of ventilation-on-demand were investigated: dynamic and steady-speed reduction. Economic feasibility suggests that variable speed drives operating at medium voltage (3.3 kV) may be utilized in ventilation-on-demand systems. With the adoption of ventilation-on-demand solutions, a total yearly electrical energy savings of 1070618 kWh might be accomplished. The estimated cost savings are 119588 US $\$ $ , with a payback period of seven months on average. Emissions of greenhouse gases have been reduced by around 37% annually. A variable speed drive operating at medium voltage (3.3 kV) may be placed on the Tandsi mine ventilation fan to improve efficiency and decrease emissions. These audits identify underutilized resources that may be used to increase mining sustainability and profitability.

5G communication brings substantial improvements in the quality of service provided to various applications by achieving higher throughput and lower latency. However, interactive multimedia applications (e.g., ultra high definition video conferencing, 3D and multiview video streaming, crowd-sourced video streaming, cloud gaming, virtual and augmented reality) are becoming more ambitious with high volume and low latency video streams putting strict demands on the already congested networks. Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) is an emerging paradigm that extends cloud computing capabilities to the edge of the network i.e., at the base station level. To meet the latency requirements and avoid the end-to-end communication with remote cloud data centers, MEC allows to store and process video content (e.g., caching, transcoding, pre-processing) at the base stations. Both video on demand and live video streaming can utilize MEC to improve existing services and develop novel use cases, such as video analytics, and targeted advertisements. MEC is expected to reshape the future of video streaming by providing ultra-reliable and low latency streaming (e.g., in augmented reality, virtual reality, and autonomous vehicles), pervasive computing (e.g., in real-time video analytics), and blockchain-enabled architecture for secure live streaming. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of recent developments in MEC-enabled video streaming bringing unprecedented improvement to enable novel use cases. A detailed review of the state-of-the-art is presented covering novel caching schemes, optimal computation offloading, cooperative caching and offloading and the use of artificial intelligence (i.e., machine learning, deep learning, and reinforcement learning) in MEC-assisted video streaming services.

Vegetation water content (VWC) is an important parameter when evaluating vegetation growth and climate change. The Global Navigation Satellite System Interferometric Reflectometry (GNSS-IR) technique has provided us with an effective approach for the monitoring of VWC. The normalized microwave reflection index (NMRI) was defined to reflect the change of VWC, based on the fact that the amplitude of the direct and reflected GNSS interferometric signal is related to the variation of VWC. However, the sparse distribution of the ground-site-based observation stations restricts the application of NMRI. Fortunately, microwave vegetation optical depth (VOD) is a dimensionless parameter that describes the rate of attenuation of microwaves as they pass through the vegetation canopy, which can provide spatially continuous vegetation information. In this study, we integrate the GNSS-IR NMRI dataset with Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) VOD datasets by using three machine learning models: the generalized regression neural network (GRNN) model, the back-propagation neural network (BPNN) and multiple linear regression (MLR) models. This method can overcome the drawbacks of sparse distribution and spatial discontinuity of GNSS-IR site data, and obtains spatio-temporally continuous NMRI products that can more intuitively and accurately reflect the variability of VWC in the study area. The results showed that the GRNN model has the best retrieval accuracy, with model fitting and cross-validation R values of 0.76 and 0.74, and root-mean-square error (RMSE) values of 0.034 and 0.035, respectively. Based on the GRNN model, we obtained a spatio-temporally continuous NMRI product to further analyze the changes in VWC from 2007 to 2018. The results indicated that the effects of ENSO events with different intensities on vegetation and precipitation are different, and the response of VWC with different vegetation types to ENSO are also different. The anomalies of VWC show a lag phenomenon and is more stable, not as sensitive as precipitation to the ENSO events.

This article examines the work of intimacy coordinators on television drama and film sets and the rise of this new role in the screen industry from a policy and production studies perspective. Since HBO made the employment of an intimacy coordinator mandatory on all productions with scenes of sex, nudity, and physical intimacy in 2018, intimacy coordination has become an industry standard and expectation. Through interviews and analysis of production practices, this article explores how intimacy coordinators change and challenge established production practices on and off set and interrogates the reasons behind the emergence of this role in the screen industry. It situates intimacy coordination in the context of recent industry policies and initiatives that promote equality and diversity, and counter harassment and abuse in the post-Weinstein era. It analyses this role on relation to changing production and distribution models and regimes in the era of VOD portals. The article argues that intimacy coordination is not only a catalyst for reforming practices on set, but a way for the screen industry to negotiate contemporary and historic concerns about sexual harassment and abuse, comply with recent policy and funding requirements, and a mechanism for mitigating economic and reputational risk to productions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the production practices that underpin the production of portal films in the Nigerian video film industry (Nollywood). Following the recent surge in the number of streaming portals focusing on the distribution of Nollywood films, a nascent video on demand (VOD) market has been created. This new market has given rise to a crop of filmmakers who now produce straight-to-portal films. This article draws on semi-structured interviews with 30 industry stakeholders comprising producers, directors, writers, and streaming executives. Adopting a critical media industry studies approach, I argue that, in the face of pervasive precarity in the Nollywood VOD market, portal filmmakers adopt informal social relations and 'hope labour' in navigating productions and ensuring the market is sustained. The article contributes to extant research on Nollywood's production dynamics and extends existing debates about precarity in cultural industries through a less-studied context like Nollywood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring and providing customers with a satisfying Quality of Experience (QoE) is a crucial business incentive for mobile network operators (MNOs). While the MNO is capable of monitoring a vast amount of network-related key performance indicators (KPIs), it typically does not have access to application-specific performance metrics. Among others, this is due to practical obstacles, such as missing standardized interfaces between the network and the application. Existing QoE models allow to map collected KPIs to the user-perceived quality. However, they are not dynamic, cumbersome to obtain, and often rely on application-level information, such as the stalling duration in the case of video streaming. The 5G networking architecture provides new features which can potentially overcome current limitations of in-network QoE monitoring. More specifically, the Application Function (AF) provides a standardized interface for communicating between 5G systems and third parties, such as application providers. The Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) is capable of collecting a vast number of network statistics from other 5G network functions and is dedicated to training and deploying Machine Learning (ML) models. This opens new possibilities, unimaginable for earlier mobile network generations, to dynamically learn the relationship between network KPIs and QoE by utilizing ML. Besides elaborating on how the new capabilities introduced with 5G can support an ML-based QoE estimation, we perform a simulation-based feasibility study which evaluates the estimation accuracy of different state-of-the-art regression techniques. In addition, we discuss them with respect to various qualitative aspects from an MNO’s point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Netflix tries to attract the public with promotional actions which go beyond conventional advertising. The company opts for branded content, through strategies based on its own catalog. The objective of this research is studying how Netflix promotes itself through a previously unused format, the talk show La Tarotista, produced for YouTube. After a content analysis, a tendency towards the transmission of organizational identity through the aesthetic-visual code is observed, focusing the discourse on the life stories of the guest cast. Thus, Netflix humanizes its catalog, giving as much relevance to fiction as to the context in which it takes place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of different broadcasting and streaming companies have involved the proliferation of new films and series available everytime and everywhere. This supposes a new conception oriented to a new dynamics that converts the audiovisual experiences with a group of people- going to the cinema, watching TV at home- to a one-person experience.- through an electronic device-. The aim is to analyze if this situation is merely circumstantial, or, a new trend that means that we have a new model with customized and one-person audiovisual products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the detonation wave parameters (i.e., the velocity of detonation and the detonation pressure) of aluminized explosives were calculated by the algorithm and computer code (named DETO). DETO is established based on the chemical equilibrium theory of detonation products, the hydrodynamic theory of the detonation process, and the Becker - Kistiakowsky - Wilson (BKW) equation of state. The aluminum content that reacts with detonation products on the detonation wavefront can be customized according to the user’s assumptions. Compared to experimental data for several aluminized explosive types, the results calculated by DETO have the same, even higher accuracy than those calculated by other computer codes previously published. Specifically, the mean absolute deviation from experimental data is about 2 % for the velocity of detonation (VOD) and about 8 % for the pressure on the detonation wavefront. In addition, the study also confirmed that about 50 % of Al powders participate in the reaction on the detonation wavefront. The software can help researchers select the composition of explosives with and without aluminum according to the given detonation characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome (SOS) is a life threatening HSCT complication and it can rapidly evolve in Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome, with a mortality exceeding 80%. Early treatment with defibrotide is the leading factor for efficacy. Its prophylactic use is recommended in the pediatric setting, but its value isn't validated for adults, although factors for individual risk assessment are debated. We here present a real-world experience of Defibrotide prophylaxis in adults at very high risk of SOS. We treated with prophylactic Defibrotide and Ursodeoxycholic Acid seven patients receiving allogeneic HSCT for high risk B-ALL, previously treated with single agent Inotuzomab-Ozogamicin. They all had other high risk factors for SOS such as previous hepatotoxicity, previous allo-HSCT, double alkylating conditioning. All patients received Treosulfan-Fludarabine conditioning, Thiotepa was added in 4 patients and 4GyTBI in 2 patients. GvHD prophylaxis included post-transplant cyclophosphamide, rapamycin and mycophenolate. Donor source was PBSC. Five patients received family MMRD transplant, 1 patient a MRD transplant and 1 patient a MUD transplant. Non-severe gastrointestinal bleeding occurred in two patients requiring defibrotide temporarily discontinuation. SOS occurred in 3/7 cases within 21 days after HSCT and no late-onset SOS were diagnosed. SOS caused death in all cases. All three patients were characterized by a common pattern of very high risk factors by prior HSCT, they all received a myeloablative conditioning with Treosulfan-Thiotepa and a MMRD transplant. Defibrotide prophylaxis apparently failed to protect against the development of SOS in those patients treated with a double alkylator-based conditioning regimen, while a possible efficacy for the other high-risk patients is debatable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is a film originally produced in English and an alleged Kazakh language and is included in the catalog of the video-on-demand Prime Video. This article offers a quantitative analysis of its European Spanish and Latin Spanish subtitles. Prime Video's style guide will be used as the basis for analysis with additional quantitative data on the subtitling action performed. The conclusion notes a remarkable degree of compliance with the Prime Video's guide. Besides, the numerical difference between the characters in the subtitling of the source version and the two translated ones is less than initially suspected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome (SOS) is a life threatening HSCT complication and it can rapidly evolve in Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome, with a mortality exceeding 80%. Early treatment with defibrotide is the leading factor for efficacy. Its prophylactic use is recommended in the pediatric setting, but its value isn’t validated for adults, although factors for individual risk assessment are debated. We here present a real-world experience of Defibrotide prophylaxis in adults at very high risk of SOS. We treated with prophylactic Defibrotide and Ursodeoxycholic Acid seven patients receiving allogeneic HSCT for high risk B-ALL, previously treated with single agent Inotuzomab-Ozogamicin. They all had other high risk factors for SOS such as previous hepatotoxicity, previous allo-HSCT, double alkylating conditioning. All patients received Treosulfan-Fludarabine conditioning, Thiotepa was added in 4 patients and 4GyTBI in 2 patients. GvHD prophylaxis included post-transplant cyclophosphamide, rapamycin and mycophenolate. Donor source was PBSC. Five patients received family MMRD transplant, 1 patient a MRD transplant and 1 patient a MUD transplant. Non-severe gastrointestinal bleeding occurred in two patients requiring defibrotide temporarily discontinuation. SOS occurred in 3/7 cases within 21 days after HSCT and no late-onset SOS were diagnosed. SOS caused death in all cases. All three patients were characterized by a common pattern of very high risk factors by prior HSCT, they all received a myeloablative conditioning with Treosulfan-Thiotepa and a MMRD transplant. Defibrotide prophylaxis apparently failed to protect against the development of SOS in those patients treated with a double alkylator-based conditioning regimen, while a possible efficacy for the other high-risk patients is debatable.