Academics should embrace Lo-Fi podcasting

Podcasts have become an established part of university communications and public engagement activities. Reflecting on the development of the medium and the creation of the ‘Isolation Pod’ podcast during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK, Mark Carrigan makes the case for the wider use of podcasts by academics in a lo-fi fashion, where increasingly high production standards are eschewed for more direct and focused audio engagements

Physiologic Evidences Of Good Tolerance Of Concurrent Rumen Fistulation And Duodenal Cannulation In West African Dwarf Sheep

Twelve adult West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep of mean age and body weight of 18 ± 1.19 months and 14.69 ± 256 kg body weight respectively were used to study the compatibility of concurrent rumen fisulation and duodenal cannulation with normal life. The compatibility with norma life was assessed by differences in body weight, voluntary feed intake, rectal temperature and some haematological and biochemical parameters for a period of eight weeks between test and contro groups. During the sudyperiod, all the six animals survived the surgery. There was no significant (p < 0.05) dfference in body weight between the test and control groups for the entire study period (week 1-8). The mean rectal temperature of the test group was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the control group on week 1(44.6 ± 3.150C), week 2 (43.26 ± 414 0C) and week 3 (41.15 ± 6620C) after implantation. Packed cell volume (PCV) and erythrocyte count (EC) were significantly reduced in the test group within the frst three weeks (33.19 ± 141 to 24.45 ± 1.39%and 7.01 ± 134 to 437 ± 1.58 x 106μl) respectively. On the contrary, total leukocyte count (TLC), and neutrophils were significantly higher in the test group between weeks 1 to 3 (12.48 ± 435 and 31.09 ± 3.67 respectvely) compared to the control (8.06 ± 0.95 and 23.41 ± 2.09 respecvely. Lymphocytes were insignificantly higher in the test group while voluntary feed intake was insigniicantly reduced in the test group throughout the eight weeks. Biochemical analyses revealed that serum creatinine was signicantly higher in the test group at week 1 (3.62 ± 1.18) and week 2 (3.08 ± 1.44) afer surgery. There was however, no significant difference in serum total proteins during the study period. Serum potassium concentrations were sgniicantly decreased inthe test group at week 1 (4.96 ± 1.03 to 1.34 ± 0.04). Sodum was also signcanty reduced (146.08 ± 3.78 to 96.03 ± 6.21) but on week 3 post impantation (PI). On the other hand, serum globulin was significantly higher in the test group throughout the study period. Gross observationsof incision sites showed adhesions characterized by coalesced tissue granulations. The study has shown that the use of polymetric materials in fabricating rumen fistulae and duodenal cannuale could pave way for increased routine nutritional studies in ruminants particularly in developing countries where the availability of these materials constitute great limitationto research involving rumen studies. Keywords: Duodenal cannulation, Rumen fistulation, West African Dwarf shee

Lo-fi Hip Hop Streaming in China: Online Engagement, Motivation, and Sense of Community

As a new wave of music, Lo-fi Hip Hop has emerged on YouTube, and Bilibili in China, transforming into a trending and distinctive video streaming phenomenon. However, it remains unknown how viewers with divergent socio-cultural backgrounds engage with the Lo-fi Hip Hop streaming video on digital platforms, why they participate, and how the sense of community is exhibited. A qualitative mix-method study containing comment analysis and in-depth interviews (N=12) was conducted to investigate the uniqueness of the Lo-fi Hip Hop community on Bilibili. The findings revealed the difference in viewers’ online community engagement between YouTube and Bilibili and various motivations of watching Lo-fi Hip Hop streaming. Lastly, the study also extends the Sense of Community (SoC) theory to the community with implications for the application. The study further contributes to the research of Lo-fi Hip Hop video streaming in a global context

GIF Today

The revival of the animated GIF marks a point in the history of the web when it finally became sufficiently advanced to take pleasure in its own obsolescence. Like the rusty engines and the leaking pipes of the derelict spaceship in Alien, the lo-fi jitter of the GIF signals a moment when the novelty of technology fades off and becomes the backdrop rather then substance

Weird Internet Aesthetics: Are Lo-Fi Media Inherently Revolutionary?

This essay explores participatory media as a form of “imperfect cinema”. Particularly, I’m focusing on Instagram as a platform in which users both produce and consume material in a way which embodies Juan García Espinosa’s notion of how “imperfect cinema” functions. To begin, I will attempt to tease the greater context of this paper, that being the production and consumption of digital content in the twenty-first century and how the modes of how content is produced emphasizes or complicates an ancient tension between the individual and corporation, proletariat and bourgeoisie, and the casual and profitable. I’ll observe the framework of Instagram more broadly, its ability to draw overlap between the individual and corporation, and the curious phenomena of lo-fi aesthetics. From here, I will propose a particular reading for this phenomenon; that lo-fi aesthetics branch from an intrinsic desire to oppose capitalism. Next, I will introduce the framework of imperfect cinema, its qualities, and how these qualities are illuminated in Octavio Getino and Fernando Solanos’ 1968 Latin-American film Hour of the Furnaces. With the framework of Hito Steyerl implemented in her work, “In Defense of The Poor Image,” as well as Juan García Espinosa’s Third Cinema manifesto, For an Imperfect Cinema, I will draw connections between the mode of “Imperfect Cinema” and low quality digital aesthetics. With this understanding, I will use this framework to discuss a renaissance of lo-fi imagery, and weird internet aesthetics. Essentially, in understanding that lo-fi aesthetic functions similarly to “imperfect cinema,” in combination with the framework discussed by Espinosa, Gettino and Solonas, and Steyerl’s modernized conception, we can understand how and why lo-fi aesthetics arise, why they are “work” to either be funny or impactful, and what they inevitably end up doing to comment or critique modes of control over the common individual

Lo-Fi Matchmaking: A Study of Social Pairing for Backpackers

There is a new world emerging around mobile social networks and the technologies used to facilitate and mediate them. It is technically feasible for mobile social software such as pairing or matchmaking systems to introduce people to others and assist information exchange. However, little is known about the social structure of many mobile communities or why they would want pairing systems. When these systems are built, it is not clear what the social response by those communities will be or what the systems will be like to use in practice. While engaged in other work determining requirements for a mobile travel assistant we saw a potentially useful application for a pairing system to facilitate the exchange of travel information between backpackers. To explore this area, we designed two studies involving usage of a low-fidelity role prototype of a social pairing system for backpackers. Graphs of the resulting social pairings showed backpackers who were hubs in the network of travel information. It also demonstrated the effect of travel direction on information utility. Backpackers rated the utility of different pairing types, and provided feedback on the social implications of being paired based on travel histories. Practical usage of the social network pairing activity and the implications of broader societal usage are discussed

The Effects of Music Genre on Scores in Different Exam Types: A Pilot Study

The Mozart Effect is a theory that suggests Mozart’s music results in an improvement in spatial performance and a change in brain activity. Lo-Fi (or “Low-Fidelity”) music is a new musical genre that incorporates elements from different existing musical genres (Casumbal et al., 2019; Jaušovec & Habe, 2005). While substantial research has been conducted on the Mozart Effect, little research has examined the impact of Lo-Fi music on cognitive performance. Using an experimental design with a sample of 86 participants, this study examined whether there were performance differences on both spatial ability and reading comprehension test under conditions of Classical music (n = 22), Lo-Fi music (n = 32), or no music (n = 32). It was hypothesized that participants in both the Classical and Lo-Fi music conditions would have higher scores on both the spatial ability and reading comprehension tests compared to the no music condition. The results found no differences between musical genre groups for either exam type. This suggests that both conditions were neither better nor worse than the silent control. This also seems to imply that neither musical condition was too much of a distraction

Lo-fi prototyping to design interactive-tabletop applications for children

Interactive tabletops are an exiting new platform for supporting children's collaboration. With design guidelines and standardized interaction principles still immature, there is a considerable need for iterative prototyping to define the task and interface. Lo-fi prototypes-using cardboard, paper, etc.- are easy to develop, flexible to adjust during design sessions, and intuitive for users to manipulate. Using them can be a valuable step in designing tabletop applications. In this paper, we detail the design process of two tabletop applications, concentrating on the role of lo-fi prototyping. TransTime is a pattern game for 5-6 year olds to engage how time progresses. OurSpace is a design tool for 7-9 year olds to arrange desks and assign seats for students in their classroom. By comparing the experiences, we arrive at a better understanding of the benefits, challenges, and limits of using lo-fi prototypes to design interactive-tabletop applications for children

Wi-Fi remote controlled RC car commanded by a C# application & esp32 Arduino Wi-Fi module

En aquest treball es pretén construir un robot a partir d’un cotxe teledirigit que serà controlat mitjançant Wi-Fi. El robot es controlarà des d’una aplicació Windows programada en llenguatge C#, que es connectarà amb el mòdul Wi-Fi ESP32 programat en llenguatge Arduino, per tal de donar instruccions al robot. El robot conté una càmera IP per la qual el seu operador pot accedir en directe a la visió del robot i el pot controlar des del seu PC mitjançant un controlador Xbox.En este trabajo se pretende construir un robot a partir de un coche teledirigido que será controlado mediante Wi-Fi. El robot se controlará desde una aplicación Windows programada en lenguaje C#, que se conectará con el módulo Wi-Fi ESP32 programado en lenguaje Arduino, para dar instrucciones al robot. El robot contiene una cámara IP con lo cual su operador puede acceder en directo a la visión del robot y lo puede controlar desde su PC mediante un controlador Xbox.In this project, it is expected to build a robot from an RC car that will be controlled through Wi-Fi. The robot will be controlled from a Windows application programmed in the C# language, that will be connected to the ESP32 Wi-Fi module, programmed in Arduino language, to give instructions to the robot. The robot contains an IP camera whereupon its operator can access live to the robot’s vision and he can control it from his PC through an Xbox controller.Outgoin