Articoli di riviste sul tema "Audiovisual Uncertainty"

The natural environments in which infants and children learn speech and language are noisy and multimodal. Adults rely on the multimodal nature of speech to compensate for noisy environments during speech communication. Multiple mechanisms underlie mature audiovisual benefit to speech perception, including reduced uncertainty as to when auditory speech will occur, use of correlations between the amplitude envelope of auditory and visual signals in fluent speech, and use of visual phonetic knowledge for lexical access. This paper reviews evidence regarding infants’ and children’s use of temporal and phonetic mechanisms in audiovisual speech perception benefit. The ability to use temporal cues for audiovisual speech perception benefit emerges in infancy. Although infants are sensitive to the correspondence between auditory and visual phonetic cues, the ability to use this correspondence for audiovisual benefit may not emerge until age four. A more cohesive account of the development of audiovisual speech perception may follow from a more thorough understanding of the development of sensitivity to and use of various temporal and phonetic cues.

At present, the analysis of the results of advertising and marketing studies is done qualitatively in terms of the experience of a marketing analyst, thus generating little certainty and uncertainty of the effectiveness of the feelings and the message emitted. Brands are connected with the idea that the sender wants to transmit. For this, the marketing has studied the behavior of the consumer when exposed to different advertising stimuli, in order to understand the behavior at the time of the stimulus and to achieve alignment of the message to be transmitted with what is actually perceived. In this paper we propose a vector model based on computational intelligence and Neuromarketing studies that allows the identification of four basic emotions: joy, fear, anger and sadness from the bioelectric brain activity recorded by a person exposed to a certain audiovisual advertising. The results of the model allowed the identification of emotions in audiovisual advertising, which constitutes a tool that allows companies to create audiovisual advertising that guarantees greater commitment and effectiveness of the advertising segments with which it wants to impact the marketKeywords: Neuromarketing, audiovisual advertising, basic emotions, neural networks, Emotiv-EPOC®, vector support machines

Background Risk information in patient decision aids (PDAs) is often difficult for older patients to process. Providing audiovisual and narrative information may enhance the understanding and use of health-related information. We studied the effects on patients’ information processing and use of audiovisual and narrative information of an early-stage non–small-cell lung cancer treatment decision aid explaining surgery and stereotactic ablative radiotherapy. We further investigated differences between older and younger patients. Methods We conducted a 2 (modality: textual v. audiovisual) × 2 (narration style: factual v. narrative) online experiment among cancer patients and survivors ( N = 305; Mage = 62.42, SD = 11.68 y). Age was included as a potential modifier: younger (<65 y) versus older (≥65 y) age. We assessed 1) perceived cognitive load, 2) satisfaction with information, 3) comprehension, 4) information recall, and 5) decisional conflict. Analysis of variance was used for data analysis. Results Irrespective of patient age, audiovisual information (compared with textual information) led to lower perceived cognitive load, higher satisfaction with information, and lower decisional conflict (subscale Effective Decision). Narrative information (compared with factual information) led to reduced decisional conflict (subscale Uncertainty) but only in younger patients. Combining audiovisual information with factual information also resulted in lower perceived cognitive load in younger patients as compared with older patients. Limitations Patients who actually face the decision, especially older patients, might be more motivated to process our decision-aid information than the present study participants who responded to a hypothetical situation online. Conclusions Providing participants with audiovisual information, irrespective of their age, improved their processing and use of information in a decision aid. Narratives did not clearly benefit information processing.

Quality assessment of audiovisual (AV) signals is important from the perspective of system design, optimization, and management of a modern multimedia communication system. However, automatic prediction of AV quality via the use of computational models remains challenging. In this context, machine learning (ML) appears to be an attractive alternative to the traditional approaches. This is especially when such assessment needs to be made in no-reference (i.e., the original signal is unavailable) fashion. While development of ML-based quality predictors is desirable, we argue that proper assessment and validation of such predictors is also crucial before they can be deployed in practice. To this end, we raise some fundamental questions about the current approach of ML-based model development for AV quality assessment and signal processing for multimedia communication in general. We also identify specific limitations associated with the current validation strategy which have implications on analysis and comparison of ML-based quality predictors. These include a lack of consideration of: (a) data uncertainty, (b) domain knowledge, (c) explicit learning ability of the trained model, and (d) interpretability of the resultant model. Therefore, the primary goal of this article is to shed some light into mentioned factors. Our analysis and proposed recommendations are of particular importance in the light of significant interests in ML methods for multimedia signal processing (specifically in cases where human-labeled data is used), and a lack of discussion of mentioned issues in existing literature.

Perceiving the temporal order of sensory events typically depends on participants' attentional state, thus likely on the endogenous fluctuations of brain activity. Using magnetoencephalography, we sought to determine whether spontaneous brain oscillations could disambiguate the perceived order of auditory and visual events presented in close temporal proximity, that is, at the individual's perceptual order threshold (Point of Subjective Simultaneity [PSS]). Two neural responses were found to index an individual's temporal order perception when contrasting brain activity as a function of perceived order (i.e., perceiving the sound first vs. perceiving the visual event first) given the same physical audiovisual sequence. First, average differences in prestimulus auditory alpha power indicated perceiving the correct ordering of audiovisual events irrespective of which sensory modality came first: a relatively low alpha power indicated perceiving auditory or visual first as a function of the actual sequence order. Additionally, the relative changes in the amplitude of the auditory (but not visual) evoked responses were correlated with participant's correct performance. Crucially, the sign of the magnitude difference in prestimulus alpha power and evoked responses between perceived audiovisual orders correlated with an individual's PSS. Taken together, our results suggest that spontaneous oscillatory activity cannot disambiguate subjective temporal order without prior knowledge of the individual's bias toward perceiving one or the other sensory modality first. Altogether, our results suggest that, under high perceptual uncertainty, the magnitude of prestimulus alpha (de)synchronization indicates the amount of compensation needed to overcome an individual's prior in the serial ordering and temporal sequencing of information.

The situation of uncertainty, which became a consequence of the pandemic, forced the audience to actively interact with the media. This effect is especially noticeable in the field of video information. Because of this, the ability to check the quality of such information and to detect a video fake is especially in high demand. Meanwhile, the researchers' interest is focused primarily on the verbal component of media content. In our study, we are trying to fill this gap and concretize the models of generating video fakes, their types, and reasons for their appearance.Based on the analysis of fake audiovisual content distributed in the media sphere in 2020 we identify two models of its appearance - synchronous and asynchronous. In the first case, fake is a result of distorting the video and audio of the work. In the second case, only one of the rows broadcasts a false idea. The latter case is dangerous in that the series of works that do not contain false information inspires confidence in the audience and makes it accept the media message as a whole.Also, in the study, we single out the most common types of fakes based on such characteristics as the degree of information distortion, the degree of reliability of spatial and temporal characteristics, and the degree of reliability of the source. We determine the most frequent markers of fakes in video works, namely: distortion of the shooting angle, concealment of the staged nature of filming, the use of animation and animation technologies that imitate newsreel footage, placement of inaccurate infographics in video work, fake news announcement, and publication.Among the most common reasons for the formation of video fakes, we note the desire to increase ratings, discriminate against specific individuals or organizations, draw attention to a real problem, and to entertain the audience.In the analysis of fake as a global phenomenon using the example of deepfake technology, we show how it can be used in constructively and destructively and emphasize the importance of developing media education to neutralize the negative consequences of the spread of fakes.

Keywords: video game, intellectual property law, computer program, software, digitalinformation, electronic information, multimedia work, audiovisual work The article is devoted to thestudy of the legal understanding of video games as an object of intellectual propertyrights. The author concludes that video games constitute digital information, whichgreatly facilitates their development, however, complicates the protection of intellectualproperty rights. There is a contradictory connection between the concepts of«electronic (digital) information», «audiovisual work», «computer program» and «literarywork», which establishes some uncertainty in the protection of video games,namely, what should be understood by these concepts in terms of law.The author found that the use of the latest technologies to improve the visual componentbrings the video game even closer to the game audiovisual object, which increasesthe complexity of the process of protection of intellectual property rights. However, thecurrent situation with the use of the term «computer program» in the context of protectionof intellectual property rights to video games does not cover all features of the latter,covering only the main program among the software recording and operation of thegame, such as audiovisual content. Therefore, there is a need to use the generalized conceptof «software» as opposed to the narrower concept of «computer program». In thiscase, in the absence of at least one of the characteristics of the multimedia work, the computerprogram should be referred to the scope of legal regulation of software.The author proposed to understand the video game as object of intellectual propertylaw in the following manner: multimedia work expressed in the form of digital(electronic) information, the principle of which is determined by the algorithms of thesoftware provided for installation in the memory of computer devices.In general, the digital nature of video games presupposes a revision of existing approachesto the protection of intellectual property rights, which may be aimed atweakening the regulatory function of the law where it is possible to regulate the relationshipby more flexible means.

The main purpose of the presented article is to reveal the potential of social psychological knowledge for the analysis of radicalisation of young people. In the introduction, the features of socialisation in the modern world are discussed. Special attention is drawn to the role of the Internet in the socialisation of adolescents and young people. It is noted that the dominance of audiovisual information contributes to the reduction of reflexivity and promotes the so-called clip thinking, which has become an integral characteristic of adolescents and young people. It is emphasized that life in the modern society is associated with a number of changes taking place simultaneously at different levels, and uncertainty has become its important feature. Extremism and radicalisation are considered as a reaction to uncertainty, a way to overcome it. The main part of the article is devoted to the analysis of models of radicalization describes in various works. Finally, perspectives of further investigation into the subject are outlined.

Abstract Spain’s Public National Television (TVE) faces the uncertainty of defining its role as the main public broadcaster at a moment when neither the economic situation of the country nor the waning satisfaction with the citizens with TVE, make things any easier. Furthermore, the government announcement of TVE’s withdrawal of advertising in 2009 was widely commented, as there has never been any license fee in support of Spanish public media. On the other hand, the economic crisis that Spain is going through has posed the issue on the need of cutting down governmental expenditures on the desk of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Will these also include TVE, as it has happened with public regional media? Will Spanish citizens admit the importance of improving TVE now that two gigantic commercial media groups, Mediaset and Planeta, dominate the audiovisual landscape?

This article is dedicated to all my SOAS undergraduate and postgraduate class members of the academic year 2019-2020, Marguerite Culot, Maximilian Frederik, Umloda Emad Ibrahim, Mostafa Khattab, Ewa Kataryna Kiszelka, Alix Lafosse, Peiwen Li, Yuan Liao, Leen M. Fouad, Donovan Mathews, Ying Sang, Clara Katharina Von Harling, Hsueh Liang Wong, Jianbin Zhang, Cameron McGrath, Greta Alexandra Bassett, Harriet Louis Bessant Marsh, Samantha Carrick, Kim Eckersley, Alexander Hall, Christopher Stump, Ha Linh To, Inhe Yang and Jemima Presland. They were part of my first-year experience of implementing video essays as a creative assessment method. I am very grateful for their enthusiastic response to my invitation to create audiovisual criticism, and impressed by the quality of the work they produced. In their uncertainty lies my learning experience, the one that encourages me to keep engaging with this creative assessment method, and to produce them for various purposes. They have been my main partners in this collaborative task of working together towards finding some academic room for audiovisual criticism. They have been active participants in the learning and teaching of the study of film through film. My deepest gratitude also to all those colleagues who have been great sources of inspiration and supportive of my creative initiatives, starting from Prof Lindiwe Dovey. Many thanks to her and the whole Screen Worlds Team. I am so grateful to fellow colleagues at the School of Arts in SOAS, such as Prof Shane McCausland, who enthusiastically embraced and shared my interest in recursion, Dr Caspar Melville, Prof Lucy Duran, and Dr Morgan Davies, who welcomed me to a sonic discussion to share my experience teaching (or rather, being taught) video essays. I further thank the SOAS Decolonising Working Group. I am also grateful to Bartolomeo Meletti, for his eagerness to join me in the challenging endeavour of creating a guide to make video essays. Finally, I would like to thank the anonymous peer reviewer of this article, for their thorough feedback and generous engagement with my work.

We investigated the effects of audiovisual semantic congruency on recognition memory performance. It has been shown previously that memory performance is better for semantically congruent stimuli that are presented together in different modalities (e.g., a dog’s bark with a picture of the dog) during encoding, compared to stimuli presented together with an incongruent or non-semantic stimulus across modalities. We wanted to clarify whether this congruency effect is also present when the effects of response bias and uncertainty of stimulus type are removed. The participants memorized auditory or visual stimuli (sounds, spoken words or written words), which were either presented with a semantically congruent stimulus in the other modality or presented alone during encoding. This experimental paradigm allowed us to utilize signal detection theory in performance analysis. In addition, it enabled us to eliminate possible effects caused by intermingling congruent stimuli with incongruent or non-semantic stimuli, as previously done in other studies. The memory of sounds was facilitated when accompanied by semantically congruent pictures or written words, in comparison to sounds presented in isolation. The memory of spoken words was facilitated by semantically congruent pictures. However, written words did not facilitate memory of spoken words, or vice versa. These results suggest that semantically congruent verbal and non-verbal visual stimuli presented in tandem with auditory counterparts, can enhance the precision of auditory encoding, except when the stimuli in each modality are both verbal.

The author explains the conditions and reasons for the introduction in 2003 a new major, that is Film and Television Producer into the list of Media Majors for which the students are trained in higher educational institutions for the domestic industry. The article points out the goals and tasks for developers of normative and methodological materials required for the introduction of such a major, the functional responsibilities and skills of the producer in audiovisual industry and the main features of his/her activities as compared to the classical entrepreneurship skill set. The author presents the list of learning outcomes and the tasks a graduate who has mastered the curriculum of the Producer program should solve. A highlight of the article is given to the legal basis for ensuring the activities of the producer. Besides, the professional standard of "Film Producer", approved by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, is critically evaluated. Basing on the analysis of the current state of the national film business the author reflects on the problems and challenges the system of professional training of producers, faces and outlines the prospects for the future work. These problems demand further diversification of Film Majors including the introduction of a new one called Producer of distribution. Moreover, its necessary to determine the optimal number of students, to write the teaching aids and textbooks aimed at solving practical problems existing in film business and multimedia and mastering the current students skills. The author states that one of the most crucial problems in the system of producer training is the unresolved issue of financial support of the diploma project (a film shot by a graduate). The author offers his own system of the development of a diploma film, which will allow us to give a more realistic and deeper assessment of the abilities, skills and knowledge of a future film-maker. The second half of the article gives a brief overview of the current state of cinema, television and multimedia in Europe and determines, in this respect, the main directions for improving the system of professional training of producers in European film schools, taking into consideration the new industrial context. The fact that the changing industrial context makes producers seek for new ways to reduce uncertainty and risks, attracting external investors and co-producers, is particularly stressed. The author also reflects on the problem of the so-called TV-ization of a film, which has set absolutely new tasks in front of the producers and creators of audiovisual product. In conclusion, the author presents a summary of the main principles, methods and approaches to structuring the educational process while teaching students the Major "Film and Television Producer" at the Film University Babelsberg named after Konrad Wolf. The author appreciates the experience of German colleagues, which can be implemented into domestic practice.

Background. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in interdisciplinary research of arts due to the fact that human consciousness has a unity of principles and approaches in the perception of the surrounding world. In this regard, synthetic arts are of particular interest because they form their creative potential by the expressive means of their art forms. And cinema is one of those open to interaction with the audiovisual means of its other components. There are a lot of studies on fi lm music that contain the analysis of functional and structural features, as well as a point of expressive means interaction, although the last one is not systematized and generalized. Objectives. The study is aimed at identifying the features of the interaction between music and cinema. Particularly, the infl uence of compositional and improvisational processes of music on the expressive structure of the fi lm and the specifi cs of fi lm making are considered. The movies using mostly jazz music were selected to study for a more effective and balanced comparison of the effects of compositional and improvisational principles in their dialectical coexistence. Methods. The desire to explore the phenomenon in its entirety led to an integrated approach which has helped to project the expressive system of music on fi lm work. Both systemic and structural-functional methods are involved in order to determine the specifi cs. The comparative method of analysis is used to generalize the connections of music thinking with audiovisual conception. And the interpretative approach helps to synthesize the results of survey. Scientifi c novelty consists in the attempt to outline the essential connection between music and audiovisual creativity which lies in the time nature of both arts and the tendency to non-verbal expressiveness. Results. The results of the research support the idea that composition and improvisation as two principles of creating a musical work are equally inherent in fi lm making. The fi rst of them provides for the stability and completeness of the structure, while the second one is associated with an instantaneous sensual response to the creation of the work in front of the viewer. Thereby, improvisation actualizes the process of creating a work of art as a way of artists’ communication with one another and with the public. It should be noted that there is a difference between the concept of improvisation as a process and the improvisational principle as a property. The last of them is found in the music of any tradition and is refl ected in the content and form of the work. The main features of the improvisational principle are relaxedness and freedom of expression, a feeling of continuity of movement and unexpectedness of further actions. Similarly, the compositional principle can be distinguished. It is based on repeats and returns of stable elements at a distance. The interaction of compositional and improvisational principles can be traced in the complex of expressive means of the fi lm at the level of dramatic development and plot structure, features of the dynamic movement and screen plastic, light-shadow score, fi - gurative content. When it comes to a musical or biopic fi lm, the diegetic music becomes a stabilizing element of the composition, and the constant returning to the situation of musical performance creates a cyclical effect. At the same time, sensual contemplation, live instant response to the observation of the creation provides a fi eld for acting improvisation within the regulated scenario. Analysis of the movie “Round Midnight” (Bertrand Tavernier, 1986) confi rms these assumptions and the hero’s jazz improvisation replaces his monologues, acting as the main fi gurative characteristic. Films in the genre Noir are marked by the use of jazz improvisation on the non-diegetic structure level. The functional uncertainty of sections, the fl ow of linear and nonlinear narratives, and unexpected change in the rhythm are observed in such fi lms. However, the return of wandering, searching, doubting, walking, coversational situations provide a manifestation of the compositional principle. These observations are made on the example of the movie “Lift to the Scaffold” (Luis Malle, 1958), and the most profound form of interaction between jazz improvisation and cinematic expressiveness – the so-called “jazz cinema”, based on the interpretation of jazz through the prism of fi lm expressive means. “Shadows” (John Cassavetes, 1959) happened to be the fi rst specimen of such kind of fi lms. But the most complex form of interaction between compositional and improvisational elements of music and fi lms are large-scale drama fi lms with numerous storylines and a large number of characters. This is considered on the example of the “Regtime” (Milo&#353; Forman, 1981), where the musical genre determines the plot development, certain events and situations and musical score. In other words, music affects the expressive structure of the fi lm on three levels: genre-stylistic, compositional-dramatic, artistic-linguistic. Conclusions. In the process of the research it has been found out that common time nature in music and cinema allows them to be in close cooperation. The analysis of improvisational and compositional elements in fi lms indicates their certain connections with the musical form. Stabilization at the level of the plot is achieved through the return of certain dramatic situations, cycle of musical compositions as a diegetic element of the fi lm and fi nally, musical accompaniment of certain situations. Instead, improvisation is refl ected in the unexpected events, the looseness of the dialogue and the violation of linear development. All of these dramatic situations are marked by sensual contemplation and alive, instant response to changes in events. One of the main features that unite fi lm structure and jazzy music is the dialogical character of narration. This property makes improvisation a method of presentation and composition building.

Background:Rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) have a great impact on people’s quality of life affecting daily tasks. Research has shown that sexual relationships are also affected by RMDs. This occurs by one or a combination of: (1) the symptoms of the disease and (2) the side effects of the medication.Although we are all here because of sex, talking about sex and sexuality remains taboo. Physicians themselves report that embarrassment, lack of time, lack of knowledge about the topic, or age are barriers that prevent them from starting a conversation about the subject. Consequently, the sexual sphere of people with RMDs is neglected; producing uncertainty in the people affected by them and their partners.In 2016, we set ourselves the task of studying what has already been created. The only material we found was a book with drawings that showed several sexual positions. We realized that the existing material fell short and we knew that we could make an original contribution. That’s why using participatory action research (PAR) approach we decided to create Reumasutra (LLC): The kamasutra for people with rheumatic diseases.Objectives:To understand the complexities and the difficulties of sexuality in people with RMDs,To offer a solution to the problems previously identified,To (un)validate the proposed solution using the feedback of people with RMDs.Methods:PAR affirms that experience can be a basis of knowing and that experiential learning can lead to a legitimate form of knowledge that influences practice.PAR differs from conventional research in three ways. Firstly, it focuses on research whose purpose is to enable action. Secondly, PAR pays careful attention to power relationships, advocating for power to be deliberately shared between the researcher and the researched: blurring the line between them until the researched become the researchers. Thirdly, PAR contrasts with less dynamic approaches that remove data and information from their contexts, by advocating that those being researched should be involved in the process actively.Results:Our project is divided into three phases.In the first phase, interviews with people with RMDs were conducted. The interviewees expressed that sex remains a taboo topic, which is often ignored by physicians. Besides, we opened a suggestion box on the websitewww.reumaxxx.com. Last year, we received feedback from approximately >30.000 people. After evaluating the feedback, it was clear that the best way to educate in sex in RMDs was by showing real people practicing adapted sexual positions.For that task, we asked a couple with RMDs to validate the sexual positions that appear as drawings on the only book we found on the topic. Also, the couple added new sexual positions that they have been using and adapting to be sexually active despite having RMDs.In the second phase, we recruited sex surrogates with experience with people with functional diversity to recreate the sexual position previously validated. The sex surrogates received coaching in real-time from a person with RMDs. The positions were filmed in January 2020.For the last phase, we expect to upload the audiovisual content to the website. Afterward, we will send out surveys so that the users themselves can determine the validity and usefulness of the solution created.Conclusion:Mobility in rheumatic diseases is affected. Sex is dynamic and a person cannot properly learn a new dynamic reality using static resources. We need to cross the taboo line to offer real solutions anchored to the reality of people with RMDs.Acknowledgments:To Dr. Anne Campbell, John Campbell, Miss Estigia, Ivy de Luna, Sylvan, and Sally Fenaux and her crew.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

To form a more reliable percept of the environment, the brain needs to estimate its own sensory uncertainty. Current theories of perceptual inference assume that the brain computes sensory uncertainty instantaneously and independently for each stimulus. We evaluated this assumption in four psychophysical experiments, in which human observers localized auditory signals that were presented synchronously with spatially disparate visual signals. Critically, the visual noise changed dynamically over time continuously or with intermittent jumps. Our results show that observers integrate audiovisual inputs weighted by sensory uncertainty estimates that combine information from past and current signals consistent with an optimal Bayesian learner that can be approximated by exponential discounting. Our results challenge leading models of perceptual inference where sensory uncertainty estimates depend only on the current stimulus. They demonstrate that the brain capitalizes on the temporal dynamics of the external world and estimates sensory uncertainty by combining past experiences with new incoming sensory signals.

In research studies on how people perceive simultaneously presented audiovisual information, researchers have often shown that the number of visual flashes participants perceive on a computer screen can be altered by varying the number of accompanying auditory, visual, or combined audiovisual cues or inducers. In the present study, we examined the effects of number-incongruent audiovisual inducer stimuli on the participants’ perceived number of target flashes. We instructed 16 participants (eight males and eight females; Mage = 21.56; SDage = 1.93) to report their perceived number of target flashes while ignoring the visual and auditory inducers. Across 18 different experimental conditions, we presented one or two target flashes in association with varied numbers (0, 1, 2) of auditory and visual inducer stimuli. In the condition with one target flash paired with one visual and two auditory inducers, the number of visual inducers (i.e., one) had a greater influence on the number of perceived target flashes than did the number of auditory inducers (i.e., two). Under all other number incongruent audiovisual inducer conditions, the participants’ perceived number of target flashes was influenced more by the number of auditory than the number of visual inducers. We discuss these findings in the context of perceptual grouping and perceptual temporal uncertainty.

The cochlear implant (CI) allows profoundly deaf individuals to partially recover hearing. Still, due to the coarse acoustic information provided by the implant, CI users have considerable difficulties in recognizing speech, especially in noisy environments. CI users therefore rely heavily on visual cues to augment speech recognition, more so than normal-hearing individuals. However, it is unknown how attention to one (focused) or both (divided) modalities plays a role in multisensory speech recognition. Here we show that unisensory speech listening and reading were negatively impacted in divided-attention tasks for CI users—but not for normal-hearing individuals. Our psychophysical experiments revealed that, as expected, listening thresholds were consistently better for the normal-hearing, while lipreading thresholds were largely similar for the two groups. Moreover, audiovisual speech recognition for normal-hearing individuals could be described well by probabilistic summation of auditory and visual speech recognition, while CI users were better integrators than expected from statistical facilitation alone. Our results suggest that this benefit in integration comes at a cost. Unisensory speech recognition is degraded for CI users when attention needs to be divided across modalities. We conjecture that CI users exhibit an integration-attention trade-off. They focus solely on a single modality during focused-attention tasks, but need to divide their limited attentional resources in situations with uncertainty about the upcoming stimulus modality. We argue that in order to determine the benefit of a CI for speech recognition, situational factors need to be discounted by presenting speech in realistic or complex audiovisual environments.

We present our studies on the use of characteristics that describe the occurrences of DISfluence and nonverbal vocalization (DIS-NV) in spoken expressions for the recognition of emotions in 0"turn" to denote the continuous speech made by one speaker without interrupting the other speaker. Note that each speaker tower can contain one or more declarations, and consecutive speaker declarations may or may not belong to the same speaker tour. Here, our definition of speaker tower focuses on feeling and integrity in speech production, which differs from "tower" in the context of a tower system, which focuses on the transition between different speakers. We carried out experiments in the spontaneous dialogue database AVEC2012 to study the effectiveness of the proposed work. Our results show that our DIS-NV functions offer better performance than LLD or PMI functions in predicting all emotional dimensions. The DIS-NV characteristics are particularly predictive of the emotional dimension Waiting linked to the speaker's uncertainty and allow the best reported result to be obtained. The emotion recognition model using only the 5 DIS-NV functions achieved overall performance linked to the best reported result obtained by a multimodal emotion recognition model using thousands of audiovisual and lexical functionalities. These results confirmed that the proposed characteristics of DIS-NV are predictive of emotions in spontaneous dialogue.

This paper presents formalization of a new Multimedia Web Ontology Language (E-MOWL) to handle events with media depictions. The temporal, spatial and entity aspects that are implicitly linked to an event are represented through this language to model the context of events. The already existing Multimedia Web Ontology Language (MOWL) can be leveraged for perceptual modelling of a domain, where the concepts manifest into media patterns in the multimedia document and helps in semantic processing of the contents. The language E-MOWL provides a rich method for representing knowledge corresponding to a specific domain wherein the context specifies the intended meaning of each element of the domain of discourse; an element in different context may correspond to different functional role. The context information associated with an event ties the audiovisual data with event related aspects. All these aspects when considered altogether provide the evidence and contribute towards recognizing an event from multimedia documents. The language also enables reasoning with the uncertainty associated with the events and is organized in the form of Bayesian Network (BN). The media items that are semantically relevant can be assimilated together on the basis of their association with events. We have demonstrated the efficacy of our approach by utilizing an ontology for the entertainment category in news domain to offer an application \textit{news aggregation} and event-based book recommendations.

The article highlights the issue of the psychological impact of fakes on the individual, which is intensively increased through various mass media and especially social networks. The general research aim comprises the study of features of the psychological influence of fakes on an individual and classification of this influence. It was proven that fakes intensify the person's stress, weaken adaptive reserves, reduce efficiency, and lead to stress disorders. Numerous fake messages cause intense emotional transformation of the individual through the emotional receptivity of the message. It was found that under the influence of fakes, a person's direct participation in the information cycle through the mass media contributes to the consolidation of his behavior into certain groups. Fake information encourages fake modeling of one's own future and determines its influence on one's status in society. It was shown that human perception of emotional audiovisual narratives causes the tunnel vision. Pragmatic assumptions stimulate the individual to perceive fake information as the absolute truth, and in situations of uncertainty - to show a pronounced activity with a growing preference for information. Fakes can worsen physical and mental health, cause changes in mental processes, motivation, priorities and affect interaction in the society. That is why, the knowledge of features of the psychological impact of fakes on an individual will help understand the need to analyze information content, search, critically select and test messages to maintain one’s mental health.

Abstract Recognizing emotions during social interactions has many potential applications with the popularization of low-cost mobile sensors, but a challenge remains with the lack of naturalistic affective interaction data. Most existing emotion datasets do not support studying idiosyncratic emotions arising in the wild as they were collected in constrained environments. Therefore, studying emotions in the context of social interactions requires a novel dataset, and K-EmoCon is such a multimodal dataset with comprehensive annotations of continuous emotions during naturalistic conversations. The dataset contains multimodal measurements, including audiovisual recordings, EEG, and peripheral physiological signals, acquired with off-the-shelf devices from 16 sessions of approximately 10-minute long paired debates on a social issue. Distinct from previous datasets, it includes emotion annotations from all three available perspectives: self, debate partner, and external observers. Raters annotated emotional displays at intervals of every 5 seconds while viewing the debate footage, in terms of arousal-valence and 18 additional categorical emotions. The resulting K-EmoCon is the first publicly available emotion dataset accommodating the multiperspective assessment of emotions during social interactions.

Opera is a performing art in which music plays the leading role, and the acting of singers has a synergistic effect with the music. The mirror neuron system represents the neurophysiological mechanism underlying the coupling of perception and action. Mirror neuron activity is modulated by the appropriateness of actions and clarity of intentions, as well as emotional expression and aesthetic values. Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that an opera performance induces mirror neuron activity in the audience so that the performer effectively shares an embodied performance with the audience. However, it is uncertain which aspect of opera performance induces mirror neuron activity. It is hypothesized that although auditory stimuli could induce mirror neuron activity, audiovisual perception of stage performance is the primary inducer of mirror neuron activity. To test this hypothesis, this study sought to correlate opera performance with brain activity as measured by electroencephalography (EEG) in singers while watching an opera performance with sounds or while listening to an aria without visual stimulus. We detected mirror neuron activity by observing that the EEG power in the alpha frequency band (8–13 Hz) was selectively decreased in the frontal-central-parietal area when watching an opera performance. In the auditory condition, however, the alpha-band power did not change relative to the resting condition. This study illustrates that the audiovisual perception of an opera performance engages the mirror neuron system in its audience.

Abstract The WHO Classification of Endocrine Tumours designates pituitary neoplasms as adenomas. A proposed nomenclature change to pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) has been met with concern by some stakeholder groups. The Pituitary Society coordinated the Pituitary Neoplasm Nomenclature (PANOMEN) workshop to address the topic. Experts in pituitary developmental biology, pathology, neurosurgery, endocrinology, and oncology, including representatives nominated by the Endocrine Society, European Society of Endocrinology, European Neuroendocrine Association, Growth Hormone Research Society, and International Society of Pituitary Surgeons. Clinical epidemiology, disease phenotype, management, and prognosis of pituitary adenomas differ from that of most NETs. The vast majority of pituitary adenomas are benign and do not adversely impact life expectancy. A nomenclature change to PitNET does not address the main challenge of prognostic prediction, assigns an uncertain malignancy designation to benign pituitary adenomas, and may adversely affect patients. Due to pandemic restrictions, the workshop was conducted virtually, with audiovisual lectures and written précis on each topic provided to all participants. Feedback was collated and summarized by Content Chairs and discussed during a virtual writing meeting moderated by Session Chairs, which yielded an evidence-based draft document sent to all participants for review and approval. There is not yet a case for adopting the PitNET nomenclature. The PANOMEN Workshop recommends that the term adenoma be retained and that the topic be revisited as new evidence on pituitary neoplasm biology emerges.

Morning report (MR) is a valued educational experience in internal medicine training programs. Many senior residents and faculty have not received formal training in how to effectively facilitate MR. Faculty at the University of Toronto were surveyed to provide insights into what they felt were key elements for the successful facilitation of MR. These insights fell within 5 major categories: planning and preparation, the case, running the show, wrapping up and closing the loop.Résumé Le rapport du matin (RM) est un outil pédagogique précieux dans les programmes de formation en médecine interne. Nombre de résidents séniors et de membres du corps enseignant n’ont toutefois jamais reçu de formation officielle sur la façon de faciliter l’élaboration du RM. Nous avons sondé les membres du corps enseignant de l’université de Toronto pour avoir un aperçu de ce qu’ils percevaient comme étant des éléments-clés susceptibles d’améliorer grandement l’élaboration du RM. Les réponses reçues se répartissent en cinq principales catégories: la planification et la préparation du RM, les caractéristiques du cas évalué, l’importance et la façon de prendre en main le processus, le résumé des informations et l’art de « boucler la boucle». Morning report (MR) has long been an integral and valued part of Internal Medicine training programs in North America.1,2 Some residents recognize MR as the most important educational activity during their training.3 Medical students, residents and faculty typically attend MR. Although the structure and function of MR can vary across institutions, it usually involves a case-based discussion facilitated by a faculty member, chief medical resident (CMR), or other senior resident. The facilitator discusses pertinent aspects of one or more clinical cases to teach medical knowledge, clinical reasoning and other important aspects of physician competencies, such as communication and collaboration skills. 4 Residents have expressed a preference for an interactive teaching session led by an individual with extensive medical knowledge and excellent clinical acumen.5Despite trainees’ perceptions about the core educational function of MR and their preference for skilled facilitators, most residents and many faculty have never received any formal training on how to conduct an effective MR. This, coupled with a lack of resources in the literature, may contribute to feelings of trepidation about assuming the role of facilitator.6 Based on this need, we were invited by the organizing group of residents at the 2015 Canadian CMR Conference, held in Toronto, Canada, to lead a seminar to introduce CMRs to the principles of effective MR facilitation. The conference was attended by over 70 current and future CMRs. In preparation for this seminar, we reviewed available literature and found that practical guidelines on how to facilitate a successful MR were generally lacking. To help us to provide guidance and to capture broad opinions and experiences, we recruited a sample of 24 faculty at the University of Toronto, including many award-winning teachers whose experience in leading MR ranges from 3 to over 30 years. We asked them to provide insights into what they felt were key elements of facilitating a successful MR. While not a systematic collection of data, their insights taken together represent a broad experience base. Given the relative lack of evidence-based literature describing how to facilitate MR, we decided to disseminate a refined summary of the shared wisdom we uncovered in hopes that it would benefit other CMRs and junior faculty as they take on this challenging role.The insights provided fall within 5 main themes (Table 1) which are discussed below, followed by a brief discussion about future directions for MR:1) Planning and preparation2) The case3) Running the show4) Wrapping up5) Closing the LoopTable 1. Experience-Based Tips to Running an Effective Morning ReportPLANNING AND PREPARATION:1) Ensure audiovisual aids are present and working before starting. 2) Start and end on time. 3) Encourage all faculty to attend and participate. 4) Know the audience (including names).THE CASE:5) The case can be undifferentiated or one for which the diagnosis and even response to treatment is known. 6) There are pros and cons to the facilitator knowing details of the case in advance. 7) If details of the case are not known to the facilitator, determine with the person presenting if the discussion should be focused on diagnosis, management or other pertinent issues. 8) Cases need not be limited to inpatients and can include ambulatory cases and case simulations.RUNNING THE SHOW:9) Establish a respectful learning climate. 10) Personal anecdotes and reflections on past cases can engage the audience. 11) Ensure time is spent discuss learning issues valuable to all present. 12) Facilitate and engage in discussion rather than deliver a lecture. 13) Use a mix of pattern recognition (heuristics) and analytical reasoning strategies. 14) Start with a question that has an obvious answer if dealing with a quiet audience. 15) Promote volunteerism for answers as much as possible, but direct a question to a specific person if no one volunteers. 16) Begin by engaging the most junior learners and advance to involve senior learners. 17) Encourage resource stewardship and evidence-based medicine. 18) Acknowledge areas of uncertainty and don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”. 19) Teaching “scripts” or the use of a systematic approach to developing a differential diagnosis can be used when discussing less familiar topics. 20) Highlight the variability in clinical approach amongst "the experts" in the room.WRAPPING-UP:21) Ensure there is time to summarize “take home points”. 22) Provide learners with the opportunity to summarize what they have learned.CLOSING THE LOOP23) Reinforcement of learning can include a distribution of a relevant paper or providing a summary of learning points via email or blog. 24) Maintain a case log to ensure a balanced curriculum. 25) Provide feedback to the case presenter and facilitator.Planning and Preparation It is important for the organizer and facilitator (these may or may not be the same person) to be diligent when preparing for MR. The person in charge of organizing MR should ensure that all necessary audiovisual equipment is in working order, which may be as simple as ensuring there is a whiteboard and working marker. To optimize housestaff attendance, the sessions and facilitators should be scheduled in a regular and predictable way. The lure of a light breakfast should not be underestimated and may add to the social aspect of this event. Sessions should begin and finish on time (or even slightly early). Ideally, deferring pages for all but critical clinical issues should occur. Having faculty regularly attend MR as audience participants, and not just as facilitators, improves the attendance of learners who see through role-modelling the importance of continuing medical education and lifelong learning. Faculty presence also raises the level of discussion around grey areas of diagnosis and management, providing trainees with a spectrum of opinions and approaches to clinical medicine, specifically role-modelling how faculty approach clinical uncertainty. The organizer must also ensure that someone, usually a trainee, is responsible for bringing the details of one or more clinical cases to be discussed.The facilitator should ensure they know the names and year of training of the housestaff in attendance. It is helpful if the organizer can provide a list (ideally with pictures) of those who will be in attendance for the facilitator to reference. Over time, this helps to develop a sense of community within the group. It also allows the facilitator to engage all participants and with the goals of first posing level-specific questions to the more junior learners and ending with the most senior learners.The Case The selected clinical case can be either a new patient seen in consultation in the past 24 hours or a patient that has been in hospital for some time and for whom results of investigations and response to treatment are known. Ideally, the majority of the cases selected should not involve particularly rare medical issues and should mirror the clinical case mix of patients being cared for by the trainees. Trainees will benefit more from discussions about common clinical problems rather. However, to highlight issues of diagnostic reasoning, it can be beneficial to occasionally discussing uncommon case including typical presentations of rare diseases or unusual presentations of common problems.The faculty surveyed expressed differing opinions when asked if they thought the details of the case should be known to the facilitator in advance. Knowing the details of the case in advance can ensure the facilitator is comfortable with the content area and allows them to focus on aspects of the case that they think will have the highest learning impact for trainees. However, when the case is not known to the facilitator, the audience will be more likely to garner insight into the clinical reasoning process of the facilitator. The opportunity to learn about the cognitive process that an “expert” uses when generating a differential diagnosis and formulating plans for investigation and management is potentially much more valuable than the discussion of content that could be read in a textbook or electronically. When the details of a case are not known, the discussion is more spontaneous and the lines of discussion are more reflective of the thoughts of the trainees, rather than the facilitator. The discussion can be guided by the case itself and the trainees’ questions and answers. A mixed approach to case discussion will provide the variety that the participants value.Although traditionally MR has focused on the diagnosis or management of one or more clinical cases from the inpatient service, its format is flexible enough to provide opportunity for discussion or for other important aspects of patient care. MR can also address ambulatory cases,7 include the presence of a real patient for the purposes of highlighting history-taking and clinical findings and also incorporate discussion of simulated cases, such as code blue scenarios. The discussion can also be enriched by the health professionals from other disciplines including, pharmacists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, and social workers. The case can also be selected to allow the discussion to be focused on other specific elements of management, such as resource utilization and “choosing wisely,”8 quality and safety, bioethics, and evidence-based medicine.9Running the Show In developing their skills in facilitation, many of the faculty surveyed discussed that they continuously build on the facilitation skills that they have learned over time, the basic principles of which are described elsewhere.10,11 Through feedback and reflection, they adapt to a style that reflects how they believe the MR should be conducted.The facilitator must establish a respectful climate at MR that is conducive to learning. He or she must ensure that the session is collegial and enforce that the goal of the session is learning, rather than showmanship. The environment should encourage interaction and permit people to ask questions. Trainees should feel comfortable enough to answer questions and test hypotheses, even if answers are incorrect. However, the facilitator must ensure that the correct information is conveyed to the group and that incorrect answers are explored as key teaching points. Humour can put people at ease. Self-deprecating humour can be non-threatening and freely employed if it is within the facilitator’s comfort zone. However, humour should never come at the expense of a trainee. Personal anecdotes and reflections on past cases can engage the audience, relax the atmosphere and vividly impart key facts and clinical wisdom.It is important for the facilitator to be respectful of time. Trainees often report that too much time is spent on reviewing the history and physical examination and on the development of an exhaustive differential diagnosis while less time is spent on investigation and management issues, which senior trainees find most valuable. There need not be a fixed formula related to how much time to spend on specific components of the case. A skilled facilitator will expand and abbreviate aspects of the case discussion based on the specific case presented. Some cases represent excellent opportunities to review evidence-based physical examination, some may highlight issues of resource stewardship related to investigation and some are particularly well-suited to discussion of evidence-based management.The facilitator should facilitate a clinical discussion, rather than deliver a didactic talk. He or she should coach the audience to identify key historical facts or findings on physical examination to allow everyone to fully participate in the case formulation and clinical reasoning that will follow. Demonstrating a mix of pattern recognition and heuristics (e.g., “Quick – what do you think the diagnosis is?”) and analytical reasoning strategies will help trainees learn to employ and recognize the strengths and limitations of each.In the face of a quiet audience, questions that have obvious answers should be posed first. The facilitator should promote volunteerism as much as possible; however, addressing specific members of the audience prevents silence and can help ensure everyone is engaged in the discussion. Sensitivity to the level of trainee is important. A facilitator should avoid potential embarrassment of a trainee by allowing a more junior learner to come up with the answer to a question that the more senior trainee could not answer. In other words, there should be an inviolate sequence wherein, for any given topic, the facilitator starts with trainees at an appropriate level for the questions and moves upward sequentially by level of training. This allows participants to relax and set their focus on learning, rather than avoiding eye contact and fearing embarrassment.A skilled facilitator should not allow any one person to dominate the discussion and should also refrain from asking multiple questions to the same participant. However, it can be valuable to challenge a respondent or the group to elaborate on their answers, as this can uncover gaps in knowledge and understanding and provide additional opportunities for learning.It is important to ensure that the discussion is of interest to trainees at all levels. If faculty are present, their opinions should be sought throughout the case. It is helpful to highlight the variability in approach amongst “the experts” in the room. Judicious use and justification of investigations should be encouraged to promote learning about resource stewardship and evidence-based medicine principles should be incorporated, when relevant.Many facilitators are anxious about how to handle situations where they don’t know the answer to a particular clinical problem. In these cases, a demonstration of the clinical reasoning process and a focus on an approach to clinical problems can be helpful. Some of the most useful discussions centre on how to deal with uncertainty and on how to find answers to clinical questions in real-time using available resources. The facilitator should not hesitate to say “I don’t know,” as this demonstrates that nobody has infinite knowledge and role-models the necessity of recognizing one’s limitations. Teaching scripts relating to specific topics or the use of an etiologic or body systems-based approach to developing a differential diagnosis are helpful teaching approaches6.Wrapping Up Sufficient time should be dedicated to recapitulation and repetition of one to 3 key take home messages. This serves to reinforce the important points that were discussed and to ensure that participants walk away with key messages to facilitate learning. Having a few members of the audience identify what they have learned is often beneficial as the facilitator may not identify the same issues as the trainees.Closing the Loop Further reinforcement can occur if a summary of the take home points, or a relevant paper, is circulated by email or posted to a blog.12 This must be done in a manner that protects patient confidentiality. Updates on previously presented diagnostic dilemmas will enhance learning. Finally, the organizer of MR can keep a log of cases that have been presented to avoid excessive repetition of topics and ensure a balanced curriculum.A process for the person presenting the case to be provided with feedback about their presentation skills by the facilitator or peers should be implemented. It is also important for the facilitator to receive feedback about their teaching and the session overall. Feedback will help faculty refine their facilitation skills, especially if coupled with faculty development initiatives to improve teaching skills.13 It may also be important for novice clinician teachers who need to build a teaching portfolio as part of their academic review and promotion process. 14 If it is clear the faculty utilize the feedback, it serves to role-model self-reflection and promote a culture of frequent formative feedback.The Future of MR MR has a long tradition and can be an evolving teaching format capable of meeting current educational needs. For example, with the implementation of competency-based medical education (CBME) into residency training programs, the competencies being developed for Internal Medicine trainees can provide a framework to organize aspects of learning experiences, including MR. 15 Issues of advocacy and stewardship may be highlighted as explicit learning points of cases, as MR allows for discussion of authentic core clinical tasks and problems, avoiding the reduction of competencies to endless lists taught without the necessary context needed for deeper learning.16 There are also challenges to implementing and sustaining a successful MR in today's current training climate. Issues such as duty-hour restrictions, increased volume and acuity of patients, and pressure to discharge patients early in the day17–19 have prompted some to modify the traditional MR. An “afternoon report” allows for attention to clinical duties early in the day and preserves teaching for later in the day. MR should continue to evolve to meet current education and healthcare delivery needs, and these innovations should be described in the literature and studied.Although these tips have been generated from shared experiences at a single centre, we believe they will be useful to facilitators in many other settings, as they represent the experiences of many facilitators with many cumulative years of experience. This article is intended to stimulate others to reflect upon and discuss what they have found to be the key elements to facilitating a successful MR.Acknowledgements We would like to thank our colleagues who contributed tips and whose teaching has influenced the careers of countless trainees: Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi, Dr. Isaac Bogoch, Dr. Mark Cheung, Dr. Allan Detsky, Dr. Irfan Dhalla, Dr. Vera Dounaevskaia, Dr. Trevor Jamieson, Dr. Lauren Lapointe Shaw, Dr. Jerome A. Leis, Dr. Don Livingstone, Dr. Julia Lowe, Dr. Ophyr Mourad, Dr. Valerie Palda, Dr. Joel Ray, Dr. Donald Redelmeier, Dr. Steve Shadowitz, Dr. Rob Sargeant.References1. Parrino TA, Villanueva AG. The principles and practice of MR. JAMA 1986;256(6):730–33.2. Amin Z, Guajardo J, Wisniewski W, Bordage G, Tekian A, Niederman LG. MR: focus and methods over the past three decades. Acad Med 2000;75(10):S1–S5.3. Gross CP, Donnelly GB, Reisman AB, Sepkowitz KA, Callahan MA. Resident expectations of MR: a multi-institutional study. Arch Int Med 1999;159(16):1910–14.4. McNeill M, Ali SK, Banks DE, Mansi IA. MR: can an established medical education tradition be validated? J Grad Med Educ 2013;5(3):374–84.5. Ways M, Kroenke K, Umali J, Buchwald D. MR: A survey of resident attitudes. Arch Int Med 1995;155(13):1433–37.6. Sacher AG, Detsky AS. Taking the stress out of MR: an analytic approach to the differential diagnosis. J Gen Intern Med 2009;24(6):747–51.7. Wenderoth S, Pelzman F, Demopoulos B. Ambulatory MR. J Grad Med Educ 2002;17(3):207–209.8. Kane GC, Holumzer C, Sorokin R. Utilization management MR: Purpose, planning and early experience in a university hospital residency program. Sem Med Pract 2001;4(1):27–36.9. Banks DE, Runhua Shi M. Decreased hospital length of stay associated with presentation of cases at MR with librarian support. J Med Libr Assoc 2007;95(4):381–87.10. Azer SA. Challenges facing PBL tutors: 12 tips for successful group facilitation. Med Teach 2005;27(8):676–81.11. Skeff KM. Enhancing teaching effectiveness and vitality in the ambulatory setting. J Gen Intern Med 1988;3(1):S26–S33.12. Bogoch II, Frost DW, Bridge S, Lee TC, Gold WL, Pansiko DM, Cavalcanti R. MR blog: a web-based tool to enhance case-based learning. Teach Learn Med 2012;24(3):238–41.13. Boerboom TB, Stalmeijer RE, Dolmans DH, Jaarsma DA. How feedback can foster professional growth of teachers in the clinical workplace: A review of the literature. Stud Educ Eval 2015;46:47–52.14. Fleming VM, Schindler N, Martin GJ, DaRosa DA. Separate and equitable promotion tracks for clinician-educators. JAMA 2005;294(9):1101–1104.15. Frank JR, Snell LS, Ten Cate O, Holmboe ES, Carraccio C, Swing SR, Harris, KA. Competency-based medical education: theory to practice. Med Teach, 2010;32(8):638–45.16. Hawkins RE, Welcher CM, Holmboe ES, Kirk LM, Norcini JJ, Simons KB, Skochelak SE. Implementation of competency‐based medical education: are we addressing the concerns and challenges? Med Educ. 2015;49(11):1086–1102.17. Arora VM, Georgitis E, Siddique J, Vekhter B, Woodruff JN, Humphrey HJ, Meltzer DO. Association of workload of on-call medical interns with on-call sleep duration, shift duration, and participation in educational activities. JAMA 2008;300(10):1146–53.18. Horwitz LI, Krumholz HM, Huot SJ, Green ML. Internal medicine residents' clinical and didactic experiences after work hour regulation: a survey of chief residents. J Gen Int Med 2006;21(9):961–65.19. Khanna S, Sier D, Boyle J, Zeitz K. Discharge timeliness and its impact on hospital crowding and emergency department flow performance. Emerg Med Aus 2016;28(2):164–70.

The Australian Government has been actively evaluating how best to merge the functions of the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) and the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) for around two years now. Broadly, the reason for this is an attempt to keep pace with the communications media transformations we reduce to the term “convergence.” Mounting pressure for restructuring is emerging as a site of turf contestation: the possibility of a regulatory “one-stop shop” for governments (and some industry players) is an end game of considerable force. But, from a public interest perspective, the case for a converged regulator needs to make sense to audiences using various media, as well as in terms of arguments about global, industrial, and technological change. This national debate about the institutional reshaping of media regulation is occurring within a wider global context of transformations in social, technological, and politico-economic frameworks of open capital and cultural markets, including the increasing prominence of international economic organisations, corporations, and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Although the recently concluded FTA with the US explicitly carves out a right for Australian Governments to make regulatory policy in relation to existing and new media, considerable uncertainty remains as to future regulatory arrangements. A key concern is how a right to intervene in cultural markets will be sustained in the face of cultural, politico-economic, and technological pressures that are reconfiguring creative industries on an international scale. While the right to intervene was retained for the audiovisual sector in the FTA, by contrast, it appears that comparable unilateral rights to intervene will not operate for telecommunications, e-commerce or intellectual property (DFAT). Blurring Boundaries A lack of certainty for audiences is a by-product of industry change, and further blurs regulatory boundaries: new digital media content and overlapping delivering technologies are already a reality for Australia’s media regulators. These hypothetical media usage scenarios indicate how confusion over the appropriate regulatory agency may arise: 1. playing electronic games that use racist language; 2. being subjected to deceptive or misleading pop-up advertising online 3. receiving messaged imagery on your mobile phone that offends, disturbs, or annoys; 4. watching a program like World Idol with SMS voting that subsequently raises charging or billing issues; or 5. watching a new “reality” TV program where products are being promoted with no explicit acknowledgement of the underlying commercial arrangements either during or at the end of the program. These are all instances where, theoretically, regulatory mechanisms are in place that allow individuals to complain and to seek some kind of redress as consumers and citizens. In the last scenario, in commercial television under the sector code, no clear-cut rules exist as to the precise form of the disclosure—as there is (from 2000) in commercial radio. It’s one of a number of issues the peak TV industry lobby Commercial TV Australia (CTVA) is considering in their review of the industry’s code of practice. CTVA have proposed an amendment to the code that will simply formalise the already existing practice . That is, commercial arrangements that assist in the making of a program should be acknowledged either during programs, or in their credits. In my view, this amendment doesn’t go far enough in post “cash for comment” mediascapes (Dwyer). Audiences have a right to expect that broadcasters, production companies and program celebrities are open and transparent with the Australian community about these kinds of arrangements. They need to be far more clearly signposted, and people better informed about their role. In the US, the “Commercial Alert” <http://www.commercialalert.org/> organisation has been lobbying the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to achieve similar in-program “visual acknowledgements.” The ABA’s Commercial Radio Inquiry (“Cash-for-Comment”) found widespread systemic regulatory failure and introduced three new standards. On that basis, how could a “standstill” response by CTVA, constitute best practice for such a pervasive and influential medium as contemporary commercial television? The World Idol example may lead to confusion for some audiences, who are unsure whether the issues involved relate to broadcasting or telecommunications. In fact, it could be dealt with as a complaint to the Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman (TIO) under an ACA registered, but Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) developed, code of practice. These kind of cross-platform issues may become more vexed in future years from an audience’s perspective, especially if reality formats using on-screen premium rate service numbers invite audiences to participate, by sending MMS (multimedia messaging services) images or short video grabs over wireless networks. The political and cultural implications of this kind of audience interaction, in terms of access, participation, and more generally the symbolic power of media, may perhaps even indicate a longer-term shift in relations with consumers and citizens. In the Internet example, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Internet advertising jurisdiction would apply—not the ABA’s “co-regulatory” Internet content regime as some may have thought. Although the ACCC deals with complaints relating to Internet advertising, there won’t be much traction for them in a more complex issue that also includes, say, racist or religious bigotry. The DVD example would probably fall between the remits of the Office of Film and Literature Classification’s (OFLC) new “convergent” Guidelines for the Classification of Film and Computer Games and race discrimination legislation administered by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). The OFLC’s National Classification Scheme is really geared to provide consumer advice on media products that contain sexual and violent imagery or coarse language, rather than issues of racist language. And it’s unlikely that a single person would have the locus standito even apply for a reclassification. It may fall within the jurisdiction of the HREOC depending on whether it was played in public or not. Even then it would probably be considered exempt on free speech grounds as an “artistic work.” Unsolicited, potentially illegal, content transmitted via mobile wireless devices, in particular 3G phones, provide another example of content that falls between the media regulation cracks. It illustrates a potential content policy “turf grab” too. Image-enabled mobile phones create a variety of novel issues for content producers, network operators, regulators, parents and viewers. There is no one government media authority or agency with a remit to deal with this issue. Although it has elements relating to the regulatory activities of the ACA, the ABA, the OFLC, the TIO, and TISSC, the combination of illegal or potentially prohibited content and its carriage over wireless networks positions it outside their current frameworks. The ACA may argue it should have responsibility for this kind of content since: it now enforces the recently enacted Commonwealth anti-Spam laws; has registered an industry code of practice for unsolicited content delivered over wireless networks; is seeking to include ‘adult’ content within premium rate service numbers, and, has been actively involved in consumer education for mobile telephony. It has also worked with TISSC and the ABA in relation to telephone sex information services over voice networks. On the other hand, the ABA would probably argue that it has the relevant expertise for regulating wirelessly transmitted image-content, arising from its experience of Internet and free and subscription TV industries, under co-regulatory codes of practice. The OFLC can also stake its claim for policy and compliance expertise, since the recently implemented Guidelines for Classification of Film and Computer Games were specifically developed to address issues of industry convergence. These Guidelines now underpin the regulation of content across the film, TV, video, subscription TV, computer games and Internet sectors. Reshaping Institutions Debates around the “merged regulator” concept have occurred on and off for at least a decade, with vested interests in agencies and the executive jockeying to stake claims over new turf. On several occasions the debate has been given renewed impetus in the context of ruling conservative parties’ mooted changes to the ownership and control regime. It’s tended to highlight demarcations of remit, informed as they are by historical and legal developments, and the gradual accretion of regulatory cultures. Now the key pressure points for regulatory change include the mere existence of already converged single regulatory structures in those countries with whom we tend to triangulate our policy comparisons—the US, the UK and Canada—increasingly in a context of debates concerning international trade agreements; and, overlaying this, new media formats and devices are complicating existing institutional arrangements and legal frameworks. The Department of Communications, Information Technology & the Arts’s (DCITA) review brief was initially framed as “options for reform in spectrum management,” but was then widened to include “new institutional arrangements” for a converged regulator, to deal with visual content in the latest generation of mobile telephony, and other image-enabled wireless devices (DCITA). No other regulatory agencies appear, at this point, to be actively on the Government’s radar screen (although they previously have been). Were the review to look more inclusively, the ACCC, the OFLC and the specialist telecommunications bodies, the TIO and the TISSC may also be drawn in. Current regulatory arrangements see the ACA delegate responsibility for broadcasting services bands of the radio frequency spectrum to the ABA. In fact, spectrum management is the turf least contested by the regulatory players themselves, although the “convergent regulator” issue provokes considerable angst among powerful incumbent media players. The consensus that exists at a regulatory level can be linked to the scientific convention that holds the radio frequency spectrum is a continuum of electromagnetic bands. In this view, it becomes artificial to sever broadcasting, as “broadcasting services bands” from the other remaining highly diverse communications uses, as occurred from 1992 when the Broadcasting Services Act was introduced. The prospect of new forms of spectrum charging is highly alarming for commercial broadcasters. In a joint submission to the DCITA review, the peak TV and radio industry lobby groups have indicated they will fight tooth and nail to resist new regulatory arrangements that would see a move away from the existing licence fee arrangements. These are paid as a sliding scale percentage of gross earnings that, it has been argued by Julian Thomas and Marion McCutcheon, “do not reflect the amount of spectrum used by a broadcaster, do not reflect the opportunity cost of using the spectrum, and do not provide an incentive for broadcasters to pursue more efficient ways of delivering their services” (6). An economic rationalist logic underpins pressure to modify the spectrum management (and charging) regime, and undoubtedly contributes to the commercial broadcasting industry’s general paranoia about reform. Total revenues collected by the ABA and the ACA between 1997 and 2002 were, respectively, $1423 million and $3644.7 million. Of these sums, using auction mechanisms, the ABA collected $391 million, while the ACA collected some $3 billion. The sale of spectrum that will be returned to the Commonwealth by television broadcasters when analog spectrum is eventually switched off, around the end of the decade, is a salivating prospect for Treasury officials. The large sums that have been successfully raised by the ACA boosts their position in planning discussions for the convergent media regulatory agency. The way in which media outlets and regulators respond to publics is an enduring question for a democratic polity, irrespective of how the product itself has been mediated and accessed. Media regulation and civic responsibility, including frameworks for negotiating consumer and citizen rights, are fundamental democratic rights (Keane; Tambini). The ABA’s Commercial Radio Inquiry (‘cash for comment’) has also reminded us that regulatory frameworks are important at the level of corporate conduct, as well as how they negotiate relations with specific media audiences (Johnson; Turner; Gordon-Smith). Building publicly meaningful regulatory frameworks will be demanding: relationships with audiences are often complex as people are constructed as both consumers and citizens, through marketised media regulation, institutions and more recently, through hybridising program formats (Murdock and Golding; Lumby and Probyn). In TV, we’ve seen the growth of infotainment formats blending entertainment and informational aspects of media consumption. At a deeper level, changes in the regulatory landscape are symptomatic of broader tectonic shifts in the discourses of governance in advanced information economies from the late 1980s onwards, where deregulatory agendas created an increasing reliance on free market, business-oriented solutions to regulation. “Co-regulation” and “self-regulation’ became the preferred mechanisms to more direct state control. Yet, curiously contradicting these market transformations, we continue to witness recurring instances of direct intervention on the basis of censorship rationales (Dwyer and Stockbridge). That digital media content is “converging” between different technologies and modes of delivery is the norm in “new media” regulatory rhetoric. Others critique “visions of techno-glory,” arguing instead for a view that sees fundamental continuities in media technologies (Winston). But the socio-cultural impacts of new media developments surround us: the introduction of multichannel digital and interactive TV (in free-to-air and subscription variants); broadband access in the office and home; wirelessly delivered content and mobility, and, as Jock Given notes, around the corner, there’s the possibility of “an Amazon.Com of movies-on-demand, with the local video and DVD store replaced by online access to a distant server” (90). Taking a longer view of media history, these changes can be seen to be embedded in the global (and local) “innovation frontier” of converging digital media content industries and its transforming modes of delivery and access technologies (QUT/CIRAC/Cutler & Co). The activities of regulatory agencies will continue to be a source of policy rivalry and turf contestation until such time as a convergent regulator is established to the satisfaction of key players. However, there are risks that the benefits of institutional reshaping will not be readily available for either audiences or industry. In the past, the idea that media power and responsibility ought to coexist has been recognised in both the regulation of the media by the state, and the field of communications media analysis (Curran and Seaton; Couldry). But for now, as media industries transform, whatever the eventual institutional configuration, the evolution of media power in neo-liberal market mediascapes will challenge the ongoing capacity for interventions by national governments and their agencies. Works Cited Australian Broadcasting Authority. Commercial Radio Inquiry: Final Report of the Australian Broadcasting Authority. Sydney: ABA, 2000. Australian Communications Information Forum. Industry Code: Short Message Service (SMS) Issues. Dec. 2002. 8 Mar. 2004 <http://www.acif.org.au/__data/page/3235/C580_Dec_2002_ACA.pdf >. Commercial Television Australia. Draft Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice. Aug. 2003. 8 Mar. 2004 <http://www.ctva.com.au/control.cfm?page=codereview&pageID=171&menucat=1.2.110.171&Level=3>. Couldry, Nick. The Place of Media Power: Pilgrims and Witnesses of the Media Age. London: Routledge, 2000. Curran, James, and Jean Seaton. 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Thomas, Julian and Marion McCutcheon. “Is Broadcasting Special? Charging for Spectrum.” Conference paper. ABA conference, Canberra. May 2003. Turner, Graeme. “Talkback, Advertising and Journalism: A cautionary tale of self-regulated radio”. International Journal of Cultural Studies 3.2 (2000): 247-255. ---. “Reshaping Australian Institutions: Popular Culture, the Market and the Public Sphere.” Culture in Australia: Policies, Publics and Programs. Ed. Tony Bennett and David Carter. Melbourne: Cambridge UP, 2001. Winston, Brian. Media, Technology and Society: A History from the Telegraph to the Internet. London: Routledge, 1998. Web Links http://www.aba.gov.au http://www.aca.gov.au http://www.accc.gov.au http://www.acif.org.au http://www.adma.com.au http://www.ctva.com.au http://www.crtc.gc.ca http://www.dcita.com.au http://www.dfat.gov.au http://www.fcc.gov http://www.ippr.org.uk http://www.ofcom.org.uk http://www.oflc.gov.au Links http://www.commercialalert.org/ Citation reference for this article MLA Style Dwyer, Tim. "Transformations" M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture <http://www.media-culture.org.au/0403/06-transformations.php>. APA Style Dwyer, T. (2004, Mar17). Transformations. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture, 7, <http://www.media-culture.org.au/0403/06-transformations.php>