Search results for: cellular communication

Authors: V. R. Sadasivam, M. Vipin, P. Vineeth, M. Sajith, G. Sathiskumar, R. Manikandan, N. Vijayarangan

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Global positioning system technology is what leads to such things as navigation systems, GPS tracking devices, GPS surveying and GPS mapping. All that GPS does is provide a set of coordinates which represent the location of GPS units with respect to its latitude, longitude and elevation on planet Earth. It also provides time, which is accurate. The tracking devices themselves come in different flavors. They will contain a GPS receiver, and GPS software, along with some way of transmitting the resulting coordinates. GPS in mobile tend to use radio waves to transmit their location to another GPS device. The purpose of this prototype “Mobi Navi Tour for Rescue Operation” timely communication, and lightning fast decision-making with a group of people located in different places with a common goal. Timely communication and tracking the people are a critical issue in many situations, environments. Expedited can find missing person by sending the location and other related information to them through mobile. Information must be drawn from the caller and entered into the system by the administrator or a group leader and transferred to the group leader. This system will locate the closest available person, a group of people working in an organization/company or vehicle to determine availability and their position to track them. Misinformation cannot lead to the wrong decision in the rapidly paced environment in a normal and an abnormal situation. In “Mobi Navi Tour for Rescue Operation” we use Google Cloud Messaging for android (GCM) which is a service that helps developers send data from servers to their android applications on android devices. The service provides a simple, lightweight mechanism that servers can use to tell mobile applications to contact the server directly, to fetch updated application or user data.

Keywords: android, gps, tour, communication, service

Procedia PDF Downloads 396

Authors: Hamid R. Lashgarian Azad, Seyed N. Shetab Boushehri

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Wireless sensor networks (WSN) have become progressively popular due to their wide range of applications. Wireless Sensor Network is made of numerous tiny sensor nodes that are battery-powered. It is a very significant problem to maximize the lifetime of wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we propose a two-stage protocol based on an imperialist competitive algorithm (2S-ICA) to solve a sensor network optimization problem. The energy of the sensors can be greatly reduced and the lifetime of the network reduced by long communication distances between the sensors and the sink. We can minimize the overall communication distance considerably, thereby extending the lifetime of the network lifetime through connecting sensors into a series of independent clusters using 2SICA. Comparison results of the proposed protocol and LEACH protocol, which is common to solving WSN problems, show that our protocol has a better performance in terms of improving network life and increasing the number of transmitted data.

Keywords: wireless sensor network, imperialist competitive algorithm, LEACH protocol, k-means clustering

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Authors: Jessica Maiuolo, Irene Bava, Micaela Gliozzi, Vincenzo Mollace

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Doxorubicin is an anthracycline that is commonly used as a chemotherapy drug due to its cytotoxic effects. The clinical use of doxorubicin is limited due to its known cardiotoxic effects. Polyphenols have a wide range of beneficial properties, and particular importance is given to Oleuropein, one of the main polyphenolic compounds of olive oil. The biological mechanisms involved and the role of the endoplasmic reticulum were examined. Olive oil extract and Oleuropein were able to decrease the damage induced by exposure to doxorubicin. In particular, this natural compound was found to reduce cell mortality and oxidative damage, increase lipid content, and decrease the concentration of calcium ions that escaped from the endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, the direct involvement of this cellular organelle was demonstrated by silencing the ATF6 arm of the Unfolded Protein Response, which was activated after treatment with doxorubicin. The protection afforded by pre-treatment with the natural compound of interest, following the early damage induced by DOXO, provided valuable information regarding the potential use of these substances along with chemotherapy treatment.

Keywords: Olea europea L., oleuropein, doxorubicin, endoplasmic reticulum, nutraceutical support

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Authors: Anujendra, Parag Kumar Guha Thakurta

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The data transmission between mobile hosts and base stations (BSs) in Mobile networks are often vulnerable to failure. Thus, efficient link connectivity, in terms of the services of both base stations and communication channels of the network, is required in wireless mobile networks to achieve highly reliable data transmission. In addition, it is observed that the number of blocked hosts is increased due to insufficient number of channels during heavy load in the network. Under such scenario, the channels are allocated accordingly to offer a reliable communication at any given time. Therefore, a reliability-based channel allocation model with acceptable system performance is proposed as a MOO problem in this paper. Two conflicting parameters known as Resource Reuse factor (RRF) and the number of blocked calls are optimized under reliability constraint in this problem. The solution to such MOO problem is obtained through NSGA-II (Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm). The effectiveness of the proposed model in this work is shown with a set of experimental results.

Keywords: base station, channel, GA, pareto-optimal, reliability

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Authors: Pairah Bte Satariman

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This study is carried out to evaluate Malay Language Curriculum for secondary schools in Singapore. The evaluation focuses on the implementation of Spoken Interaction Skill which was recommended by the Curriculum Review Committee in 2010. The study found that the students face difficulty in communicating interactively with others in their daily activities. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the results (products) on the implementation of this skill since 2011. The research used a qualitative method which includes oral test and interview with students and teachers teaching the subject. Preliminary findings show that generally, the students are not able to communicate interactively and fluently in the oral test unless they are given enough prompts. The teachers feel that the implementation of the skill is timely as students are more keen to use English in their daily communication even in Malay Language Classes. Teachers also mentioned the challenges in the implementation such as insufficient curriculum time and teaching materials.

Keywords: evaluation, Malay language curriculum, spoken interaction skills, communication, implementation

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Authors: Vishwesh Kulkarni, Nikhil Bellarykar

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Cellular complexity stems from the interactions among thousands of different molecular species. Thanks to the emerging fields of systems and synthetic biology, scientists are beginning to unravel these regulatory, signaling, and metabolic interactions and to understand their coordinated action. Reverse engineering of biological networks has has several benefits but a poor quality of data combined with the difficulty in reproducing it limits the applicability of these methods. A few years back, many of the commonly used predictive algorithms were tested on a network constructed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) to resolve this issue. The network was a synthetic network of five genes regulating each other for the so-called in vivo reverse-engineering and modeling assessment (IRMA). The network was constructed in S. cereviase since it is a simple and well characterized organism. The synthetic network included a variety of regulatory interactions, thus capturing the behaviour of larger eukaryotic gene networks on a smaller scale. We derive a new set of algorithms by solving a nonlinear optimization problem and show how these algorithms outperform other algorithms on these datasets.

Keywords: synthetic gene network, network identification, optimization, nonlinear modeling

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Authors: Leora Branfield Day, Stephanie Saunders, Leah Steinberg, Shiphra Ginsburg, Christine Soong

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Introduction: Discordance between patients expressed and documented preferences at the end of life is common. Although junior trainees frequently lead goals of care (GOC) conversations, lack of training can result in poor communication. Based on a needs assessment, we developed an interactive electronic learning module (eModule) for conducting patient-centred GOC discussions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the eModule on residents’ attitudes towards GOC conversations. Methods: First-year internal medicine residents (n=11) from the University of Toronto selected using purposive sampling underwent semi-structured interviews before and after completing a GOC eModule. Interviews were anonymized, transcribed and open-coded using NVivo. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, we developed a framework to understand the attitudes of residents to GOC conversations before and after viewing the module. Results: Before the module, participants described limited training and negative emotions towards GOC conversations. Many focused on code status and procedure choices (e.g., ventilation) instead of eliciting patient-centered values. Pressure to “get the DNR" led to conflicting feelings and distress. After the module, participants’ approached conversations with a greater focus on patient values and process. They felt more prepared and comfortable, recognizing the complexity of conversations and the importance of patient-centeredness. Conclusions: A novel GOC eModule allowed residents to develop a patient-centered and standardized approach to GOC conversations while improving confidence and preparedness. This resource could be an effective strategy toward attaining a critical communication competency among learners with the potential to enhance accurate GOC documentation.

Keywords: goals of care conversations, communication skills, emodule, medical education

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Authors: Lizeth Fuentes-Mera, Vanessa Perez-Silos, Nidia K. Moncada-Saucedo, Alejandro Garcia-Ruiz, Alberto Camacho, Jorge Lara-Arias, Ivan Marino-Martinez, Victor Romero-Diaz, Adolfo Soto-Dominguez, Humberto Rodriguez-Rocha, Hang Lin, Victor Pena-Martinez

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Biphasic scaffolds in cartilage tissue engineering have been designed to influence not only the recapitulation of the osteochondral architecture but also to take advantage of the healing ability of bone to promote the implant integration with the surrounding tissue and then bone restoration and cartilage regeneration. This study reports the development and characterization of a biphasic scaffold based on the assembly of a cartilage phase constituted by fibroin biofunctionalized with bovine cartilage matrix; cellularized with differentiated pre-chondrocytes from adipose tissue stem cells (autologous) and well attached to a bone phase (bone bovine decellularized) to mimic the structure of the nature of native tissue and to promote the cartilage regeneration in a model of joint damage in pigs. Biphasic scaffolds were assembled by fibroin crystallization with methanol. The histological and ultrastructural architectures were evaluated by optical and scanning electron microscopy respectively. Mechanical tests were conducted to evaluate Young's modulus of the implant. For the biological evaluation, pre-chondrocytes were loaded onto the scaffolds and cellular adhesion, proliferation, and gene expression analysis of cartilage extracellular matrix components was performed. The scaffolds that were cellularized and matured for 10 days were implanted into critical 3 mm in diameter and 9-mm in depth osteochondral defects in a porcine model (n=4). Three treatments were applied per knee: Group 1: monophasic cellular scaffold (MS) (single chondral phase), group 2: biphasic scaffold, cellularized only in the chondral phase (BS1), group 3: BS cellularized in both bone and chondral phases (BS2). Simultaneously, a control without treatment was evaluated. After 4 weeks of surgery, integration and regeneration tissues were analyzed by x-rays, histology and immunohistochemistry evaluation. The mechanical assessment showed that the acellular biphasic composites exhibited Young's modulus of 805.01 kPa similar to native cartilage (400-800 kPa). In vitro biological studies revealed the chondroinductive ability of the biphasic implant, evidenced by an increase in sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAGs) and type II collagen, both secreted by the chondrocytes cultured on the scaffold during 28 days. No evidence of adverse or inflammatory reactions was observed in the in vivo trial; however, In group 1, the defects were not reconstructed. In group 2 and 3 a good integration of the implant with the surrounding tissue was observed. Defects in group 2 were fulfilled by hyaline cartilage and normal bone. Group 3 defects showed fibrous repair tissue. In conclusion; our findings demonstrated the efficacy of biphasic and bioactive scaffold based on silk fibroin, which entwined chondroinductive features and biomechanical capability with appropriate integration with the surrounding tissue, representing a promising alternative for osteochondral tissue-engineering applications.

Keywords: biphasic scaffold, extracellular cartilage matrix, silk fibroin, osteochondral tissue engineering

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Authors: Francisco J. García-de-Quirós, Gianmarco Radice

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When considering small robots working in a cooperative community for Moon surface exploration, navigation and inter-nodes communication aspects become a critical issue for the mission success. For this approach to succeed, it is necessary however to deploy the required infrastructure for the robotic community to achieve efficient self-localization as well as relative positioning and communications between nodes. In this paper, an exploration mission concept in which two cooperative robotic systems co-exist is presented. This paradigm hinges on a community of reference agents that provide support in terms of communication and navigation to a second agent community tasked with exploration goals. The work focuses on the role of the agent community in charge of the overall support and, more specifically, will focus on the positioning and navigation methods implemented in RF microwave bands, which are combined with the communication services. An analysis of the different methods for range and position calculation are presented, as well as the main limiting factors for precision and resolution, such as phase and frequency noise in RF reference carriers and drift mechanisms such as thermal drift and random walk. The effects of carrier frequency instability due to phase noise are categorized in different contributing bands, and the impact of these spectrum regions are considered both in terms of the absolute position and the relative speed. A mission scenario is finally proposed, and key metrics in terms of mass and power consumption for the required payload hardware are also assessed. For this purpose, an application case involving an RF communication network in UHF Band is described, in coexistence with a communications network used for the single agents to communicate within the both the exploring agents as well as the community and with the mission support agents. The proposed approach implements a substantial improvement in planetary navigation since it provides self-localization capabilities for robotic agents characterized by very low mass, volume and power budgets, thus enabling precise navigation capabilities to agents of reduced dimensions. Furthermore, a common and shared localization radiofrequency infrastructure enables new interaction mechanisms such as spatial arrangement of agents over the area of interest for distributed sensing.

Keywords: cooperative robotics, localization, robot navigation, surface exploration

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Authors: Bruno R. A. Oliveira, Italo V. V. Braga, Jonas P. Reges, Luiz P. O. Santos, Sidney C. Duarte, Emilson R. R. Melo, Auzuir R. Alexandria

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This project aims to building a controlled greenhouse, or for better understanding, a structure where one can maintain a given range of temperature values (°C) coming from radiation emitted by an incandescent light, as previously defined, characterizing as a kind of on-off control and a differential, which is the plotting of temperature versus time graphs assisted by MATLAB software via serial communication. That way it is possible to connect the stove with a computer and monitor parameters. In the control, it was performed using a PIC 16F877A microprocessor which enabled convert analog signals to digital, perform serial communication with the IC MAX232 and enable signal transistors. The language used in the PIC's management is Basic. There are also a cooling system realized by two coolers 12V distributed in lateral structure, being used for venting and the other for exhaust air. To find out existing temperature inside is used LM35DZ sensor. Other mechanism used in the greenhouse construction was comprised of a reed switch and a magnet; their function is in recognition of the door position where a signal is sent to a buzzer when the door is open. Beyond it exist LEDs that help to identify the operation which the stove is located. To facilitate human-machine communication is employed an LCD display that tells real-time temperature and other information. The average range of design operating without any major problems, taking into account the limitations of the construction material and structure of electrical current conduction, is approximately 65 to 70 ° C. The project is efficient in these conditions, that is, when you wish to get information from a given material to be tested at temperatures not as high. With the implementation of the greenhouse automation, facilitating the temperature control and the development of a structure that encourages correct environment for the most diverse applications.

Keywords: greenhouse, microcontroller, temperature, control, MATLAB

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Authors: Josiah O. Carter, Charlotte Hayden, Elizabeth Arthurs

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Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital management policies have changed frequently and rapidly. This has created novel challenges in keeping the workforce abreast of these changes to enable them to deliver safe and effective care. Traditional communication methods, e.g. email, do not keep pace with the rapidly changing environment in the hospital, resulting in inaccurate, irrelevant, or outdated information being communicated, resulting in inefficiencies in patient care. Methods: The creation of a WhatsApp messaging group within the medical division at the Bristol Royal Infirmary has enabled senior clinicians and the hospital management team to update the medical workforce in real-time. It has two primary functions: (1) To enable dissemination of a concise, important operational summary. This comprises information on bed status and infection control procedural changes. It is fed directly from a daily critical incident briefing (2) To facilitate a monthly scheduled question and answer (Q&A) session for junior doctors to clarify issues with clinical directors, rota, and management staff. Additional ad-hoc updates are sent out for time-critical information; otherwise, it mainly functions as a broadcast-only group to prevent important information from being lost amongst other communication. All junior doctors within the medical division were invited to join the group. At present, the group comprises 131 participants, of which 10 are administrative staff (rota coordinators, management staff & clinical directors); the remaining 121 are junior clinicians working within the medical division. An electronic survey via Microsoft forms was sent out to junior doctors via the WhatsApp group and via email to assess its utilisation and effectiveness with the aim of quality improvements. Results: Of the 121 group participants, 19 completed the questionnaire (response rate 15.7%). Of these, 16/19 (84.2%) used it regularly, and 12/19 (63.2%) rated it as the most useful source for reliable updates relating to the hospital response to the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas only 2/19 (10.5%) found the trust intranet and the trust COVID-19 operational email update most useful. Respondents rated the WhatsApp group more useful as an information source (mean score 7.7/10) than as a means of providing feedback to management staff (mean score 6.3/10). Qualitative feedback suggested information around ward closures and changes to COVID cohorting, along with updates on staffing issues, were most useful. Respondents also noted the Q&A sessions were an efficient way of relaying feedback about management decisions but that it would be preferable if these sessions could be delivered more frequently. Discussion: During the current global COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increased need for rapid dissemination of critical information within NHS trusts; this includes communication between junior doctors, managers, and senior clinicians. The versatility of WhatsApp permits a variety of functions allowing for regular updates, the dissemination of time-critical information, and enables conversing and feedback. The project has demonstrated that reserved and well-managed use of a WhatsApp group is a welcome, efficient and practical means of communication between the senior management team and the junior medical workforce.

Keywords: communication, COVID-19, hospital management, WhatsApp

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Authors: Frida C. Jaime Franco, C. Paulina Navarro Núñez, R. Jacob Sánchez Nájera

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The importance of developing multi-language abilities in our global society is noteworthy. However, the necessity, interest, and consciousness of the significance that the development of another language represents, apart from the mother tongue, is not always the same in all contexts as it is in multicultural communities, especially in rural higher education institutions immersed in small communities. Leading opportunities for digital interaction among learners from Mexico and abroad partners represents scaffolding towards, not only language skills development but also intercultural communicative competences (ICC). This study leads us to consider what should be the best approach to work while applying a program of ICC integrated into the practice of EFL. While analyzing the roots of the language, it is possible to obtain the main objective of learning another language, to communicate with a functional purpose, as well as attaching social practices to the learning process, giving a result of functionality and significance to the target language. Hence, the collateral impact that collaborative learning leads to, aims to contribute to a better global understanding as well as a means of self and other cultural awareness through intercultural communication. While communicating through the target language by online collaboration among students in platforms of long-distance communication, language is used as a tool of interaction to broaden students’ perspectives reaching a substantial improvement with the help of their differences. This process should consider the application of the target language in the inquiry of sociocultural information, expecting the learners to integrate communicative skills to handle cultural differentiation at the same time they apply the knowledge of their target language in a real scenario of communication, despite being through virtual resources.

Keywords: collaborative learning, communicative approach, culture, interaction, interculturalism, target language, virtual partnership

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Authors: Perpetual Nwakaego Ibe

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The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), were an integrated project formed to eradicate many unnatural situations the citizens of the third world country may found themselves in. The MDGs, to be a sustainable project for the future depends 100% on the actions of governments, multilateral institutions and civil society. This paper first looks at the political views on the MDGs and relates it to the current electoral situations around the country by underlining the drastic changes over the few months. The second part of the paper presents ICT in tertiary institutions as one of the solutions in terms of the success of the MDGs. ICT is vital in all phases of educational process and development of the cloud connectivity is an added advantage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for sharing a common data bank for research purposes among UNICEF, RED CROSS, NPS, INEC, NMIC, and WHO. Finally, the paper concludes with areas that needs twigging and recommendations for the tertiary institutions committed to delivering an ambitious set of goals. A combination of observation, and document materials for data gathering was employed as the methodology for carrying out this research.

Keywords: MDG, ICT, data bank, database

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Authors: Zemour Kamel, Chouhim Kadda Mohamed Amine

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Salinity is one of the most environmental factors limiting crop productivity. It has a negative effect on both germination and plant growth processes (photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration), nutrient balance, membrane properties and cellular homeostasis, enzymatic and metabolic activities. Among the strategic crops in the world and more mainly in Algeria, durum wheat is very affected by this abiotic stress. For that, this study focuses on an evaluation of salt stress effect on the germination process of durum wheat as well as its response after application of lavender hydrosol and aqueous pistachio extract. The results have shown that all the physicochemical parameters of germination have been affected by this stress. However, lavender hydrosol and aqueous pistachio extract, considered as organic compounds, significantly improved the germination of wheat seeds. Finally, this study has highlighted the importance of using organic products as an ideal alternative to reduce the effect of abiotic stress on durum wheat productivity.

Keywords: salinity, wheat durum, extract, lavender hydrosol, aqueous pistachio

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Authors: Leander Van Neste, Kirk Wojno

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The innate immune system reacts to foreign insult in several unique ways, one of which is phagocytosis of perceived threats such as cancer, bacteria, and viruses. The goal of this study was to look for evidence of phagocytosed RNA from tumor cells in circulating monocytes. While all monocytes possess phagocytic capabilities, the non-classical CD14+/FCGR3A+ monocytes and the intermediate CD14++/FCGR3A+ monocytes most actively remove threatening ‘external’ cellular materials. Purified CD14-positive monocyte samples from fourteen patients recently diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa) were investigated by single-cell RNA sequencing using the 10X Genomics protocol followed by paired-end sequencing on Illumina’s NovaSeq. Similarly, samples were processed and used as controls, i.e., one patient underwent biopsy but was found not to harbor prostate cancer (benign), three young, healthy men, and three men previously diagnosed with prostate cancer that recently underwent (curative) radical prostatectomy (post-RP). Sequencing data were mapped using 10X Genomics’ CellRanger software and viable cells were subsequently identified using CellBender, removing technical artifacts such as doublets and non-cellular RNA. Next, data analysis was performed in R, using the Seurat package. Because the main goal was to identify differences between PCa patients and ‘control’ patients, rather than exploring differences between individual subjects, the individual Seurat objects of all 21 patients were merged into one Seurat object per Seurat’s recommendation. Finally, the single-cell dataset was normalized as a whole prior to further analysis. Cell identity was assessed using the SingleR and cell dex packages. The Monaco Immune Data was selected as the reference dataset, consisting of bulk RNA-seq data of sorted human immune cells. The Monaco classification was supplemented with normalized PCa data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), which consists of bulk RNA sequencing data from 499 prostate tumor tissues (including 1 metastatic) and 52 (adjacent) normal prostate tissues. SingleR was subsequently run on the combined immune cell and PCa datasets. As expected, the vast majority of cells were labeled as having a monocytic origin (~90%), with the most noticeable difference being the larger number of intermediate monocytes in the PCa patients (13.6% versus 7.1%; p<.001). In men harboring PCa, 0.60% of all purified monocytes were classified as harboring PCa signals when the TCGA data were included. This was 3-fold, 7.5-fold, and 4-fold higher compared to post-RP, benign, and young men, respectively (all p<.001). In addition, with 7.91%, the number of unclassified cells, i.e., cells with pruned labels due to high uncertainty of the assigned label, was also highest in men with PCa, compared to 3.51%, 2.67%, and 5.51% of cells in post-RP, benign, and young men, respectively (all p<.001). It can be postulated that actively phagocytosing cells are hardest to classify due to their dual immune cell and foreign cell nature. Hence, the higher number of unclassified cells and intermediate monocytes in PCa patients might reflect higher phagocytic activity due to tumor burden. This also illustrates that small numbers (~1%) of circulating peripheral blood monocytes that have interacted with tumor cells might still possess detectable phagocytosed tumor RNA.

Keywords: circulating monocytes, phagocytic cells, prostate cancer, tumor immune response

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Authors: Anita Jäger, Andrew Salazar, Jörg von Hagen, Harald Kolmar

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In the treatment of individuals with sensitive and psoriatic skin, several inflammation and itch-related molecular and cellular targets have been identified, but many of these have yet to be characterized. In this study, we present two potential targets in the skin that can be linked to the inflammation and itch cycle. 11ßHSD1 is the enzyme responsible for converting inactive cortisone to active cortisol used to transmit signals downstream. The activation of the receptor NK1R correlates with promoting inflammation and the perception of itch and pain in the skin. In this study, both targets have been investigated based on their involvement in inflammation. The role of both identified targets was characterized based on the secretion of inflammation cytokine- IL6, IL-8, and CCL2, as well as phosphorylation and signaling pathways. It was found that treating skin cells with molecules able to inhibit inflammatory pathways results in the reduction of inflammatory signaling molecules secreted by skin cells and increases their proliferative capacity. Therefore, these molecular targets and their associated pathways show therapeutic potential and can be mitigated via small molecules. This research can be used for further studies in inflammation and itch pathways and can help to treat pathological symptoms.

Keywords: inflammation, itch, signaling pathway, skin

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Authors: Chengcao Sun, Shujun Li, Cuili Yang, Yongyong Xi, Liang Wang, Feng Zhang, Dejia Li

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Hsa-miRNA-139-5p (miR-139-5p) has recently been discovered having anticancer efficacy in different organs. However, the role of miR-139-5p on lung cancer is still ambiguous. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-139-5p on development of lung cancer. Results indicated miR-139-5p was significantly down-regulated in primary tumor tissues and very low levels were found in a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines. Ectopic expression of miR-139-5p in NSCLC cell lines significantly suppressed cell growth through inhibition of cyclin D1 and up-regulation of p57(Kip2). In addition, miR-139-5p induced apoptosis, as indicated by up-regulation of key apoptosis gene cleaved caspase-3, and down-regulation of anti-apoptosis gene Bcl2. Moreover, miR-139-5p inhibited cellular metastasis through inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-7 and MMP-9. Further, oncogene c-Met was revealed to be a putative target of miR-139-5p, which was inversely correlated with miR-139-5p expression. Taken together, our results demonstrated that miR-139-5p plays a pivotal role in lung cancer through inhibiting cell proliferation, metastasis, and promoting apoptosis by targeting oncogenic c-Met.

Keywords: hsa-miRNA-139-5p (miR-139-5p), c-Met, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), proliferation, apoptosis

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Authors: C. V. Pietreanu, S. E. Zaharia, C. Dinu

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The present research is built on three major pillars, commencing by making some considerations on accident investigation methods and pointing out both defining aspects and differences between linear and non-linear analysis. The traditional linear focus on accident analysis describes accidents as a sequence of events, while the latest systemic models outline interdependencies between different factors and define the processes evolution related to a specific (normal) situation. Linear and non-linear accident analysis methods have specific limitations, so the second point of interest is mirrored by the aim to discover the drawbacks of systemic models which becomes a starting point for developing new directions to identify risks or data closer to the cause of incidents/accidents. Since communication represents a critical issue in the interaction of human factor and has been proved to be the answer of the problems made by possible breakdowns in different communication procedures, from this focus point, on the third pylon a new error-modeling instrument suitable for risk assessment/accident analysis will be elaborated.

Keywords: accident analysis, multi-factorial error modeling, risk, systemic methods

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Authors: K. S. Sruthi

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Antennas are one of the most important parts of a communication chain. They are used for both communication and calibration purposes. New developments in probe technologies have enabled near-field probes with much larger bandwidth. The objective of this paper is to design, simulate and fabricate a dual polarized wide band inverted quad ridged shape horn antenna which can be used as measurement probe for near field measurements. The inverted quad-ridged horn antenna probe not only provides measurement in the much wider range but also provides dual-polarization measurement thus enabling antenna developers to measure UWB, UHF, VHF antennas more precisely and at lower cost. The antenna is designed to meet the characteristics such as high gain, light weight, linearly polarized with suppressed side lobes for near-field measurement applications. The proposed antenna is simulated with commercially available packages such as Ansoft HFSS. The antenna gives a moderate gain over operating range while delivering a wide bandwidth.

Keywords: near-field antenna measurement, inverted quad-ridge horn antenna, wideband Antennas, dual polarized antennas, ansoft HFSS

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Authors: Adine Barett, Jermel Watson, Anteneh Girma, Kacem Thabet

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In information security, secure communication of data across networks has always been a problem at the forefront. Transfer of information across networks is susceptible to being exploited by attackers engaging in malicious activity. In this paper, we leverage steganography and cryptography to create a layered security solution to protect the information being transmitted. The first layer of security leverages crypto- graphic techniques to scramble the information so that it cannot be deciphered even if the steganography-based layer is compromised. The second layer of security relies on steganography to disguise the encrypted in- formation so that it cannot be seen. We consider three cryptographic cipher methods in the cryptography layer, namely, Playfair cipher, Blowfish cipher, and Hills cipher. Then, the encrypted message is passed through the least significant bit (LSB) to the steganography algorithm for further encryption. Both encryption approaches are combined efficiently to help secure information in transit over a network. This multi-layered encryption is a solution that will benefit cloud platforms, social media platforms and networks that regularly transfer private information such as banks and insurance companies.

Keywords: cryptography, steganography, layered security, Cipher, encryption

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Authors: Mayank Sharma, Anubhaw Kumar, Siddharth Desai, Ankit Tomar

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With the advent of cost-effective hardware and communication technologies, the scope of digitalising operations within a supply chain has tremendously increased. This has provided the opportunity to create digital twins of entire supply chains through the use of Internet-of-Things (IoT) and communication technologies. Adverse events like the COVID-19 pandemic and unpredictable geo-political situations have further warranted the importance of digitalization and remote operability of day-to-day operations at critical nodes. Globalisation, rising consumerism & e-commerce has exponentially increased the complexities of existing supply chains. We discuss here a scalable, future-ready and inclusive framework for creating digital twins developed along with the industry leaders from Cisco, Bosch, Accenture, Intel, Deloitte & IBM. We have proposed field-tested key technologies and frameworks required for creating digital twins. We also present case studies of real-life stable deployments done by us in the supply chains of a few marquee industry leaders.

Keywords: internet-of-things, digital twins, smart factory, industry 4.0, smart manufacturing

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Authors: Moustafa Osman Mohammed

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This paper introduces Luhmann’s autopoietic social systems starting with the original concept of autopoiesis by biologists and scientists, including the modification of general systems based on socialized medicine. A specific type of autopoietic system is explained in the three existing groups of the ecological phenomena: interaction, social and medical sciences. This hypothesis model, nevertheless, has a nonlinear interaction with its natural environment ‘interactional cycle’ for the exchange of photon energy with molecular without any changes in topology. The external forces in the systems environment might be concomitant with the natural fluctuations’ influence (e.g. radioactive radiation, electromagnetic waves). The cantilever sensor deploys insights to the future chip processor for prevention of social metabolic systems. Thus, the circuits with resonant electric and optical properties are prototyped on board as an intra–chip inter–chip transmission for producing electromagnetic energy approximately ranges from 1.7 mA at 3.3 V to service the detection in locomotion with the least significant power losses. Nowadays, therapeutic systems are assimilated materials from embryonic stem cells to aggregate multiple functions of the vessels nature de-cellular structure for replenishment. While, the interior actuators deploy base-pair complementarity of nucleotides for the symmetric arrangement in particular bacterial nanonetworks of the sequence cycle creating double-stranded DNA strings. The DNA strands must be sequenced, assembled, and decoded in order to reconstruct the original source reliably. The design of exterior actuators have the ability in sensing different variations in the corresponding patterns regarding beat-to-beat heart rate variability (HRV) for spatial autocorrelation of molecular communication, which consists of human electromagnetic, piezoelectric, electrostatic and electrothermal energy to monitor and transfer the dynamic changes of all the cantilevers simultaneously in real-time workspace with high precision. A prototype-enabled dynamic energy sensor has been investigated in the laboratory for inclusion of nanoscale devices in the architecture with a fuzzy logic control for detection of thermal and electrostatic changes with optoelectronic devices to interpret uncertainty associated with signal interference. Ultimately, the controversial aspect of molecular frictional properties is adjusted to each other and forms its unique spatial structure modules for providing the environment mutual contribution in the investigation of mass temperature changes due to pathogenic archival architecture of clusters.

Keywords: autopoiesis, nanoparticles, quantum photonics, portable energy, photonic structure, photodynamic therapeutic system

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Authors: Sakshi Bhalla

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On the one hand, given their seemingly simplistic, near universal usage and understanding, emoji are discarded as a potential step back in the evolution of communication. On the other, their effectiveness, pervasiveness, and adaptability across and within contexts are undeniable. In this study, the responses of 40 people (categorized by age) were recorded based on a uniform two-part questionnaire where they were required to a) identify the meaning of 15 emoji when placed in isolation, and b) interpret the meaning of the same 15 emoji when placed in a context-defining posting on Twitter. Their responses were studied on the basis of deviation from their responses that identified the emoji in isolation, as well as the originally intended meaning ascribed to the emoji. Based on an analysis of these results, it was discovered that each of the five age categories uses, understands and perceives emoji differently, which could be attributed to the degree of exposure they have undergone. For example, in the case of the youngest category (aged < 20), it was observed that they were the least accurate at correctly identifying emoji in isolation (~55%). Further, their proclivity to change their response with respect to the context was also the least (~31%). However, an analysis of each of their individual responses showed that these first-borns of social media seem to have reached a point where emojis no longer inspire their most literal meanings to them. The meaning and implication of these emoji have evolved to imply their context-derived meanings, even when placed in isolation. These trends carry forward meaningfully for the other four groups as well. In the case of the oldest category (aged > 35), however, the trends indicated inaccuracy and therefore, a higher incidence of a proclivity to change their responses. When studied in a continuum, the responses indicate that slowly and steadily, emoji are evolving from pictograms to ideograms. That is to suggest that they do not just indicate a one-to-one relation between a singular form and singular meaning. In fact, they communicate increasingly complicated ideas. This is much like the evolution of ancient hieroglyphics on papyrus reed or cuneiform on Sumerian clay tablets, which evolved from simple pictograms to progressively more complex ideograms. This evolution within communication is parallel to and contingent on the simultaneous evolution of communication. What’s astounding is the capacity of humans to leverage different platforms to facilitate such changes. Twiterese, as it is now called, is one of the instances where language is adapting to the demands of the digital world. That it does not have a spoken component, an ostensible grammar, and lacks standardization of use and meaning, as some might suggest, may seem like impediments in qualifying it as the 'language' of the digital world. However, that kind of a declarative remains a function of time, and time alone.

Keywords: communication, emoji, language, Twitter

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Authors: Jiahui Song

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In order to predict or explain a complicated biological process, it is important first to construct mathematical models that can be used to yield analytical solutions. Through numerical simulation, mathematical model results can be used to test scenarios that might not be easily attained in a laboratory experiment, or to predict parameters or phenomena. High-intensity, nanosecond pulse electroporation has been a recent development in bioelectrics. The dynamic pore model can be achieved by including a dynamic aspect and a dependence on the pore population density into pore formation energy equation to analyze and predict such electroporation effects. For greater accuracy, with inclusion of atomistic details, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were also carried out during this study. Besides inducing pores in cells, external voltages could also be used in principle to modulate action potential generation in nerves. This could have an application in electrically controlled ‘pain management’. Also a simple model-based rate equation treatment of the various cellular bio-chemical processes has been used to predict the pulse number dependent cell survival trends.

Keywords: model, high-intensity, nanosecond, bioelectrics

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Authors: Wegene Demeke

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Background: The demand for healthcare services is growing in developing and developed countries. Information and communication technology is used to facilitate healthcare services. In the case of developing countries, implementing telemedicine is aimed at providing healthcare for people living in remote areas where health service is not accessible. The implementations of telemedicine in developing countries are unsuccessful. For example, the recent study indicates that 90% of telemedicine projects are abandoned or failed in developing countries. Several researchers reported the technological challenges as the main factor for the non-adoption of telemedicine. However, this research reports the health professionals’ perspectives arising from technical, social and organizational factors that are considered as key elements for the setting and running of telemedicine in Ethiopia. The importance and significance of telemedicine for healthcare is growing. For example, the use of telemedicine in the current pandemic situation becomes an essential strategic element in providing healthcare services in developed countries. Method: Qualitative and quantitative exploratory research methods used to collect data to find factors affecting the adoption of Information and communication technologies for telemedicine use. The survey was distributed using emails and Google forms. The email addresses were collected from personal contact and publicly available websites in Ethiopia. The thematic analysis used to build the barriers and facilitators factors for establishing telemedicine services. A survey questionnaire with open-and-close questions was used to collect data from 175 health professionals. Outcome: The result of this research will contribute to building the key barriers and facilitators factors of telemedicine from the health professional perspectives in developing countries. The thematic analysis provides barriers and facilitators factors arising from technical, organizational, and social sources.

Keywords: telemedicine, ICT, developing country, Ethiopia, health service

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Authors: Wei Gao

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The current study investigates the change of listener responses in social conversations of the second language (L2) speakers who are staying abroad with Chinese L1 speakers in Australian universities and how their long-term stay abroad impacted their design for L2 recipient actions. There is a limited amount of empirical work on L2 English listener response acquisition, particularly regarding the influence of long-term stay abroad in English-speaking countries. Little is known whether the development of L2 listener responses and the improvement of interactional competence is affected by the prolonged residency in the target L2 country. Forty-eight participants were recruited, and they participated in the designed speaking task through Computer-Mediated Communication. Results showed that long-term stay abroad Chinese L1 speakers demonstrated an English-like pattern of listener responses in communication. Long-term stay abroad experience had a significant impact on L2 English listener responses production and organization in social conversation. Long-term stay abroad L1 Chinese speakers had an active and productive response in listenership than their non-stay abroad counterparts in terms of frequency and placement in producing listener responses. However, the L2 English listener response production only occurred to be partial in response tokens, such as backchannels and reactive expressions, also in resumptive openers' employment. This study shows that L2 English listener responses could be acquired during a long-term stay abroad in English-speaking countries but showed partial acquisition in collaborative finishes production. In addition, the most prominent finding was that Chinese L1 speakers changed their overall listener responses pattern from L1 Chinese to L2 English. The study reveals specific interactional changes in English L2 listener responses acquisition. It generates pedagogical implications for cross-cultural communication and L2 pragmatics acquisition during a long-term stay abroad.

Keywords: listener responses, stay abroad, interactional competence, L2 pragmatics acquisition

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Authors: Sandra Hartl, Meena Chavan

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This paper presents the outcome of a four year Ph.D. research on cross-cultural conflict management in transnational business relationships. An important and complex problem about managing conflicts that arise across cultures in business relationships is investigated, and conflict resolution strategies are identified. This paper particularly focuses on transnational relationships within a Chinese, German and Middle Eastern framework. Unlike many papers on this issue which have been built on experiments with international MBA students, this research provides real-life cases of cross-cultural conflicts which are not easy to capture. Its uniqueness is underpinned as the real case data was gathered by interviewing top executives at management positions in large multinational corporations through a qualitative case study method approach. This paper makes a valuable contribution to the theory of cross-cultural conflicts, and despite the sensitivity, this research primarily presents real-time business data about breaches of contracts between two counterparties engaged in transnational operating organizations. The overarching aim of this research is to identify the degree of significance for the cultural factors and the communication factors embedded in cross-cultural business conflicts. It questions from a cultural perspective what factors lead to the conflicts in each of the cases, what the causes are and the role of culture in identifying effective strategies for resolving international disputes in an increasingly globalized business world. The results of 20 face to face interviews are outlined, which were conducted, recorded, transcribed and then analyzed using the NVIVO qualitative data analysis system. The outcomes make evident that the factors leading to conflicts are broadly organized under seven themes, which are communication, cultural difference, environmental issues, work structures, knowledge and skills, cultural anxiety and personal characteristics. When evaluating the causes of the conflict it is to notice that these are rather multidimensional. Irrespective of the conflict types (relationship or task-based conflict or due to individual personal differences), relationships are almost always an element of all conflicts. Cultural differences, which are a critical factor for conflicts, result from different cultures placing different levels of importance on relationships. Communication issues which are another cause of conflict also reflect different relationships styles favored by different cultures. In identifying effective strategies for solving cross-cultural business conflicts this research identifies that solutions need to consider the national cultures (country specific characteristics), organizational cultures and individual culture, of the persons engaged in the conflict and how these are interlinked to each other. Outcomes identify practical dispute resolution strategies to resolve cross-cultural business conflicts in reference to communication, empathy and training to improve cultural understanding and cultural competence, through the use of mediation. To conclude, the findings of this research will not only add value to academic knowledge of cross-cultural conflict management across transnational businesses but will also add value to numerous cross-border business relationships worldwide. Above all it identifies the influence of cultures and communication and cross-cultural competence in reducing cross-cultural business conflicts in transnational business.

Keywords: business conflict, conflict management, cross-cultural communication, dispute resolution

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Authors: Ibrahim Magaji

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WhatsApp messaging platform brings about new opportunities for users to participate in unique storytelling experiences and audience engagement, particularly to Students of Mass communication who receive training to report events and issues accurately and objectively in accordance with official controls. Also, the complex nature of society today made it possible to use the WhatsApp platform that revolutionizes the means of sharing information, ideas, and experiences. This paper examined the WhatsApp messaging platform and how it influenced the academic performance of students in the Department of Mass Communication, Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Talata Mafara. It used in-depth interview techniques and focus group discussion with students, as well as the use of published materials as well as unpublished materials to gather related and relevant data. Also, the paper used procedures involved to analyze long interview content. This procedure includes observation of a useful utterance, development of expanded observation, the examination of the interconnection of observed comments, collective scrutiny of observation for patterns and themes, and review and analysis of the themes across all interviews for development of the thesis. The result revealed that the majority of students used WhatsApp messenger for making friends and chatting. Also, the students experienced negative effects such as poor grammar and spelling, less study time, and poor academic performance because of active participation in the use of WhatsApp messaging platform. Surprisingly, there was a high addiction rate among students in the usage of WhatsApp messenger. However, other students experienced an improvement in their readings skills as a result of participation in the use of the platform. Also, students shared ideas, discussed, and shared examination questions among themselves on WhatsApp messenger.

Keywords: WhatsApp messenger, students, participation, group

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Authors: Khaled A. Madi, Rema A. Mousbahi, Mostafa B. Abuitbel, Abdualhakim O. Nagi

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Antenna perhaps is the most important part of any communication system, it determines the overall efficiency and the direction of radiation of the system. Antennas vary in shape and size on a very wide range. For fast moving vehicles, the antenna should offer as litter aerodynamic resistance as possible. Slot antenna is best suited for this purpose. It offers very little aerodynamic resistance, compact, easy to feed and fabricate. This work presented in this paper deals with the investigation of a half wave slot antenna. The antenna has been studied, analyzed, designed, simulated, fabrication, and tested at the X-band. The field of antenna study is an extremely vast one, and to grasp the fundamentals, two pronged approaches have been used, and the focus was on the fabrication and testing of a slot waveguide directional antenna. Focuses on the design and simulation of slot antennas with an emphasis on optimization of a 9.1 GHz a rectangular waveguide have been used to feed slot antenna. A microwave fed slot antenna used in the communication lab was also simulated. The results have been presented and compared with the expected values, where a good agreement was achieved between the simulation and experimental results.

Keywords: microwave, slot antenna, simulation, fabrication

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: A. N. Gornostaeva, P. I. Bobyleva, E. R. Andreeva, L. B. Buravkova

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Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) possess immunomodulatory properties. The effect of MSCs on the crucial cellular immunity compartment – T-cells is of a special interest. It is known that MSC tissue niche and expected milieu of their interaction with T- cells are characterized by low oxygen concentration, whereas the in vitro experiments usually are carried out at a much higher ambient oxygen (20%). We firstly evaluated immunomodulatory effects of MSCs on T-cells at tissue-related oxygen (5%) after interaction implied cell-to-cell contacts and paracrine factors only. It turned out that MSCs under reduced oxygen can effectively suppress the activation and proliferation of PHA-stimulated T-cells and can provoke decrease in the production of proinflammatory and increase in anti-inflammatory cytokines. In hypoxia some effects were amplified (inhibition of proliferation, anti-inflammatory cytokine profile shift). This impact was more evident after direct cell-to-cell interaction; lack of intercellular contacts could revoke the potentiating effect of hypoxia.

Keywords: MSCs, T-cells, activation, low oxygen, cell-to-cell interaction, immunosuppression

Procedia PDF Downloads 382