Artificial intelligence in communication management : a cross-national study on adoption and knowledge, impact, challenges and risks

Purpose Artificial intelligence (AI) might change the communication profession immensely, but the academic discourse is lacking an investigation of the perspective of practitioners on this. This article addresses this research gap. It offers a literature overview and reports about an empirical study on AI in communications, presenting first insights on how professionals in the field assess the technology. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative cross-national study among 2,689 European communication practitioners investigated four research questions: RQ1 – How much do professionals know about AI and to what extent are they already using AI technologies in their everyday lives? RQ2 – How do professionals rate the impact of AI on communication management? RQ3 – Which challenges do professionals identify for implementing AI in communication management? RQ4 – Which risks do they perceive? Findings Communication professionals revealed a limited understanding of AI and expected the technology to impact the profession as a whole more than the way their organisations or themselves work. Lack of individual competencies and organisations struggling with different levels of competency and unclear responsibilities were identified as key challenges and risks. Research limitations/implications The results highlight the need for communication managers to educate themselves and their teams about the technology and to identify the implementation of AI as a leadership issue. Originality/value The article offers the first cross-national quantitative study on AI in communication management. It presents valuable empirical insights on a trending topic in the discipline, highly relevant for both academics and practitioners

Analysis of Synthetic DNAs and DNA-Protamine Complexes with the Scanning Tunneling Microscope

Three duplex DNAs 22, 47, and 100 base-pairs in length have been imaged with the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) after deposition on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). Images of the 47 base-pair (bp) molecules are resolved sufficiently to identify the two phosphodiester strands, the direction of helical coiling (this molecule contains three turns of left-handed helix), and single-stranded ends. Length measurements indicate that all three DNA sequences have adopted an A-like conformation. DNA-protamine complexes were also prepared and imaged under similar conditions. Length measurements of the complexes demonstrate that the binding of bull protamine 1 to the 47-mer stabilizes the DNA in a B conformation and prevents the B to A transition that has been shown to occur as the DNA molecules dehydrate on the surface. Measurements of the diameter of the complex (3 nm) were also obtained and were found to be only slightly larger than the DNA molecule. This observation is consistent with the binding of the protamine molecule inside one of the grooves

Sceptical Employees as CSR Ambassadors in Times of Financial Uncertainty

This chapter offers new insights into the understanding of internal (employee) perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and strategies. This study explores the significance of employees’ involvement and scepticism upon CSR initiatives and focuses on the effects it may have upon word of mouth (WOM) and the development of employee–organisation relationships. Desk research introduces the research questions. Data for the research questions were gathered through a self-completion questionnaire distributed in a hardcopy form to the sample. An individual’s level of scepticism and involvement appears to affect the development of a positive effect on employees’ WOM. Involvement with the domain of the investment may be a central factor affecting relationship building within the organization, and upon generation of positive WOM. The chapter offers a conceptual framework to public relations (PR) and corporate communications practitioners, which may enrich their views and understanding of the use and value of CSR for communication strategies and practices. For-profit organisations are major institutions in today’s society. CSR is proffered as presenting advantages for (at macro level) society and (micro level) the organization and its employees. Concepts, such as involvement and scepticism, which have not been rigorously examined in PR and corporate communication literature, are addressed. By examining employee perceptions, managers and academic researchers gain insights into the acceptance, appreciation and effectiveness of CSR policies and activities upon the employee stakeholder group. This will affect current and future CSR communication strategies. The knowledge acquired from this chapter may be transferable outside the for-profit sector

Large-Mass Ultra-Low Noise Germanium Detectors: Performance and Applications in Neutrino and Astroparticle Physics

A new type of radiation detector, a p-type modified electrode germanium diode, is presented. The prototype displays, for the first time, a combination of features (mass, energy threshold and background expectation) required for a measurement of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering in a nuclear reactor experiment. The device hybridizes the mass and energy resolution of a conventional HPGe coaxial gamma spectrometer with the low electronic noise and threshold of a small x-ray semiconductor detector, also displaying an intrinsic ability to distinguish multiple from single-site particle interactions. The present performance of the prototype and possible further improvements are discussed, as well as other applications for this new type of device in neutrino and astroparticle physics (double-beta decay, neutrino magnetic moment and WIMP searches).Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

Lesion topography and microscopic white matter tract damage contribute to cognitive impairment in symptomatic carotid artery disease

Purpose: To investigate associations between neuroimaging markers of cerebrovascular disease, including lesion topography and extent and severity of strategic and global cerebral tissue injury, and cognition in carotid artery disease (CAD). Materials and Methods: All participants gave written informed consent to undergo brain magnetic resonance imaging and the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination–Revised. One hundred eight patients with symptomatic CAD but no dementia were included, and a score less than 82 represented cognitive impairment. Group comparison and interrelations between global cognitive and fluency performance, lesion topography, and ultrastructural damage were assessed with voxel-based statistics. Associations between cognition, medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA), lesion volumes, and global white matter ultrastructural damage indexed as increased mean diffusivity were tested with regression analysis by controlling for age. Diagnostic accuracy of imaging markers selected from a multivariate prediction model was tested with receiver operating characteristic analysis. Results: Cognitively impaired patients (n = 53 [49.1%], classified as having probable vascular cognitive disorder) were older than nonimpaired patients (P = .027) and had more frequent MTA (P<.001), more cortical infarctions (P = .016), and larger volumes of acute (P = .028) and chronic (P = .009) subcortical ischemic lesions. Lesion volumes did not correlate with global cognitive performance (lacunar infarctions, P = .060; acute lesions, P = .088; chronic subcortical ischemic lesions, P = .085). In contrast, cognitive performance correlated with presence of chronic ischemic lesions within the interhemispheric tracts and thalamic radiation (P< .05, false discovery rate corrected). Skeleton mean diffusivity showed the closest correlation with cognition (R2 = 0.311, P< .001) and promising diagnostic accuracy for vascular cognitive disorder (area under the curve, 0.82 [95% confidence interval: 0.75, 0.90]). Findings were confirmed in subjects with a low risk of preclinical Alzheimer disease indexed by the absence of MTA (n = 85). Conclusion: Subcortical white matter ischemic lesion locations and severity of ultrastructural tract damage contribute to cognitive impairment in symptomatic CAD, which suggests that subcortical disconnection within large-scale cognitive neural networks is a key mechanism of vascular cognitive disorder

Reconceptualizing CSR in the media industry as relational accountability

In this paper, we reconceptualize CSR in the media industries by combining empirical data with theoretical perspectives emerging from the communication studies and business ethics literature. We develop a new conception of what corporate responsibility in media organizations may mean in real terms by bringing Bardoel and d’Haenens’ (European Journal of Communication 19 165–194 2004) discussion of the different dimensions of media accountability into conversation with the empirical results from three international focus group studies, conducted in France, the USA and South Africa. To enable a critical perspective on our findings, we perform a philosophical analysis of its implications for professional, public, market, and political accountability in the media, drawing on the insights of Paul Virilio. We come to the conclusion that though some serious challenges to media accountability exist, the battle for responsible media industries is not lost. In fact, the speed characterizing the contemporary media environment may hold some promise for fostering the kind of relational accountability that could underpin a new understanding of CSR in the media

The association between human endogenous retroviruses and multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The interaction between genetic and environmental factors is crucial to multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis. Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs) are endogenous viral elements of the human genome whose expression is associated with MS. Objective: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis and to assess qualitative and quantitative evidence on the expression of HERV families in MS patients. Methods: Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched for published studies on the association of HERVs and MS. Meta-analysis was performed on the HERV-W family. Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for association. Results: 43 reports were extracted (25 related to HERV-W, 13 to HERV-H, 9 to HERV-K, 5 to HRES-1 and 1 to HER-15 family). The analysis showed an association between expression of all HERV families and MS. For HERV-W, adequate data was available for meta-analysis. Results from meta-analyses of HERV-W were OR = 22.66 (95%CI 6.32 to 81.20) from 4 studies investigating MSRV/HERV-W(MS-associated retrovirus) envelope mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, OR = 44.11 (95%CI 12.95 to 150.30) from 6 studies of MSRV/ HERV-W polymerase mRNA in serum/plasma and OR = 6.00 (95%CI 3.35 to 10.74) from 4 studies of MSRV/HERV-W polymerase mRNA in CSF

Processing and mechanical properties of magnesium-lithium composites containing steel fibers

Deformation-processed metal-metal composites (DMMC) of Mg-Li alloys containing steel reinforcing fibers were prepared by infiltrating a preform of steel wool with the molten matrix. The Li content was varied to control the crystal structure of the matrix; Mg-4 wt pct Li is hexagonal close packed (hcp), while Mg-12 wt pct Li is body-centered cubic (bcc). The low carbon steel used as the reinforcing fiber is essentially bcc. The hcp/bcc and bcc/bcc composites were subsequently deformed by rolling and by extrusion/swaging and mechanically tested to relate the tensile strength of the composites to true deformation strain. The hcp/bcc composites had limited formability at temperatures up to 400 °C, while the bcc/bcc composites had excellent formability during sheet rolling at room temperature but limited formability during swaging at room temperature. The tensile strengths of the hcp/bcc composite rod and the bcc/bcc composite sheet and rod increased moderately with deformation, though less than predicted from rule-of-mixtures (ROM) calculations. This article presents the experimental data for these DMMC materials and comments on the possible effect of texture development in the matrix and fiber phases on the deformation characteristics of the composite material