Communication Loop Research Articles

Slow Listening

Lots has been written about the need for and value of listening in this era of networked communication and constant feedback loops. But what is listening, really? This paper proposes that the act of slow listening is an ethical and political act. One that can be facilitated by and in response to performance. Further, it proposes that such an act is imperative if we are to have any chance to move beyond, or offer resistance to, the current status quo where the loudest and quickest voices (who are often the least interesting) tend to dominate in all spheres of contemporary life.

Network centrality, social loops, and utility maximization

This study examines the effect of social loops on individual effort. Under a situation wherein agents’ effort induces additional efforts to others through a network, an optimum effort corresponds to the subgraph centrality that captures the number of social loops in a network. In contrast to Bonacich centrality, this centrality avoids a problem of divergence and it is based on bounded rational behaviors. We tested this theoretical fact using data for 122 Japanese university sophomores and juniors from 2013 to 2018. Bonacich cenrality had a divergence problem in all cases. On the other hand, students who had a higher subgraph centrality index tended to put forth more efforts in a class after controlling for the individual characteristics. Subgraph centrality had a robust effect even if we added an effect of other centralities, i.e., out-degree, in-degree, betweenness, and closeness centralities. This fact shows that the social loop of communication was critical in the class of university students.

A view from the sender side of feedback: anticipated receptivity to clinical feedback when changing prior physicians' clinical decisions-a mixed methods study.

When physicians transition patients, the physician taking over may change the diagnosis. Such a change could serve as an important source of clinical feedback to the prior physician. However, this feedback may not transpire if the current physician doubts the prior physician's receptivity to the information. This study explored facilitators of and barriers to feedback communication in the context of patient care transitions using an exploratory sequential, qualitative to quantitative, mixed methods design. Twenty-two internal medicine residents and hospitalist physicians from two teaching hospitals were interviewed and data were analyzed thematically. A prominent theme was participants' reluctance to communicate diagnostic changes. Participants perceived case complexity and physical proximity to facilitate, and hierarchy, unfamiliarity with the prior physician, and lack of relationship to inhibit communication. In the subsequent quantitative portion of the study, forty-one hospitalists completed surveys resulting in 923 total survey responses. Multivariable analyses and a mixed-effects model were applied to survey data with anticipated receptivity as the outcome variable. In the mixed-effects model, four factors had significant positive associations with receivers' perceived receptivity: (1) feedback senders' time spent on teaching services (β = 0.52, p = 0.02), (2) receivers' trustworthiness and clinical credibility (β = 0.49, p < 0.001), (3) preference of both for shared work rooms (β = 0.15, p = 0.006), and (4) receivers being peers (β = 0.24, p < 0.001) or junior colleagues (β = 0.39, p < 0.001). This study suggests that anticipated receptivity to feedback about changed clinical decisions affects clinical communication loops. Without trusting relationships and opportunities for low risk, casual conversations, hospitalists may avoid such conversations.

Interaction between growing oocytes and granulosa cells in vitro.

BackgroundOocyte growth is accompanied by follicular development in mammalian ovaries. Since the discovery of two oocyte‐derived factors, growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9), and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15), knowledge of the bidirectional communication between oocytes and granulosa cells for ovarian function and fertility has been accumulated. In addition, the growth culture system of oocytes has been improved, further promoting the studies on the communication between oocytes and granulosa cells in vitro.MethodsWe provide an overview of the role of granulosa cells in oocyte growth and the role of oocytes in follicular development along with our recent findings in culture experiments of bovine growing oocytes.Main findingsGranulosa cells supply nutrients and metabolites through gap junctions to oocytes and secrete paracrine signals to regulate oocytes. Oocytes regulate granulosa cell proliferation and differentiation and induce antrum formation via GDF9 and BMP15.ConclusionOocytes actively participate in various aspects of follicular development, including antrum formation via the oocyte‐derived factors GDF9 and BMP15, whose synthesis is probably regulated by granulosa cells. In vitro studies will reveal the precise communication loop between oocytes and granulosa cells that facilitates the coordinated development of oocytes and granulosa cells in the follicles.

Experimental characterization of SNSPD receiver technology for deep space FSO under laboratory testbed conditions

Deep space Free Space Optical (FSO) systems are an emerging technology, characterized with very high performance in terms of information capacity and communication distances. However, this novel technology demands preliminary experiments, which are unmanageable in real conditions. Regarding this issue, an innovative approach for testing deep space optical communication links in controlled laboratory environment is developed. The proposed testbed is based on fibre optics technology and combines a couple of units, which represent a real deep space FSO link. The parameters of several different photon-counting receivers are discussed. Similar to already demonstrated deep space missions, the implemented optical receiver is Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detector (SNSPD) characterized with high single photon sensitivity and detection efficiency. Consequently, in this paper an authentic deep space Poisson channel is theoretically defined, emulated and examined. The description of the Poisson point process is supported by real SNSPD measurements in terms of high efficiency single-photon detection. Moreover, a self-developed unit including Variable Optical Attenuator (VOA) and software controlling the attenuation in the communication loop of the breadboard is applied. Apart from possibility for representing atmospheric-induced fading due to turbulence and Mie scattering effects, the module is utilized as a precise attenuator changing dynamically the optical power based on lookup tables. Addressing the capabilities of VOA unit, detection intensity, detector noise and efficiency versus SNSPD’s bias current is measured. In addition, VOA is used as a very slow optical modulator for testing the restrictions regarding On-Off extinction ratio of the implemented SNSPD detector.

Improving the delivery of primary care for older people.

Improving the delivery of primary care for older people.

Robust Fixed-Time Consensus Tracking Control of High-Order Multiple Nonholonomic Systems

Convergence rate is an important performance index in consensus control. Yet, most of the existing results can only achieve asymptotic consensus, or finite-time consensus whose settling time is contingent on initial conditions. This paper studies the robust fixed-time consensus tracking control problem for high-order nonholonomic chained-form systems subject to unknown parameters and nonlinear uncertainties. By using the modified power integrator method, we propose a new robust fixed-time consensus tracking algorithm, with which the consensus tracking can be achieved in a fixed time independent of initial conditions even in the presence of uncertainties. An observer-based fixed-time consensus tracking algorithm is also developed as an alternative method to overcome the communication loop problem. Lyapunov analysis shows the fixed-time stability of the closed-loop system. An application to multiple wheeled mobile robots is presented.

How do stakeholder interactions in Cambodian rice farming villages contribute to a pesticide lock-in?

This paper addresses the conditions and mechanisms that sustain pesticide use by Cambodian rice farmers and constrain a transition to more sustainable pest control practices. We analyzed data from a survey of individual farmers (N = 320), focus group discussions with farmer groups, and interviews with input sellers, rat hunters and local extension agents.Our findings show that farmers mix different types (e.g. herbicides and insecticides) and brands of pesticides in one application. Other chemicals, in particular ‘growth activators’ are often added to these mixes. The interaction patterns and financial arrangements among farmers, pesticide sellers, and laborers promote or sustain these practices. Increasing returns to information and recursive social interaction at the community level thus create a lock-in situation for pesticide use.These findings have direct implications on targeting interventions, which are often aimed at providing knowledge to government extension agents and farmers. Our results suggest that farmers’ knowledge on pest management is not the only driver for their decisions and practices. A broader scope of intervention in communication and feedback loops between stakeholders directly interacting with farmers can help to diversify the suite of recommendations while providing a balance in the information that reaches farmers. Changes in these social arrangements and informal rules may be required to affect positive changes in rice pest management.

Alpha-Synuclein Pathology and the Role of the Microbiota in Parkinson's Disease.

There is a principle in science, known as Occam’s razor, that says the correct solution is usually the one with the simplest explanation. The microbiota-gut-brain axis, an interdependent series of communication loops between the enteric nervous system (ENS), the microbiota, the gut, and the brain, offers important insight into how changes in our gut affect distant organs like our brains. The inherent complexity of this axis with the crosstalk between the immune system, inflammatory states, and the thousands of bacteria, viral, and fungal species that together make up the microbiota make studying the interactions that govern this axis difficult and far from parsimonious. It is becoming increasingly clear that the microbiota is integral to this axis. Disruption of the healthy flora, a phenomenon collectively referred to as dysbiosis, has been implicated as a driver for several diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, diabetes, liver disease, and neurological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Teasing apart these complex interactions as they pertain to PD is critical for our understanding of this debilitating disease, but more importantly, for the development of future treatments. So far, treatments have been unable to stop this neurodegenerative disease, succeeding only in briefly dampening symptoms and buying patients time before the inevitable loss of function ensues. Given that the 10 years prognosis for death or life-limiting disability with someone diagnosed with PD is upwards of 80%, there is a desperate need for curative treatments that go beyond symptom management. If PD does begin in the periphery with bidirectional communication between the microbiota and the immune system, as recent literature suggests, there is an exciting possibility that progression could be stopped before it reaches the brain. This systematic review assesses the current literature surrounding the role of the microbiota in the pathogenesis of alpha-synucleinopathies and explores the hypothesis that alpha-synuclein folding is modulated by the microbiota. Furthermore, we discuss how changes in the gut environment can lead to pathology and outline the implications that advances in understanding the interactions between host and microbiota will have on future research and the development of potential biomarkers.

Effect of Supportive Supervision on Competency of Febrile Clinical Case Management in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Since 2010, the WHO has recommended that clinical decision-making for malaria case management be performed based on the results of a parasitological test result. Between 2015 and 2017, the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative-funded MalariaCare project supported the implementation of this practice in eight sub-Saharan African countries through 5,382 outreach training and supportive supervision visits to 3,563 health facilities. During these visits, trained government supervisors used a 25-point checklist to observe clinicians' performance in outpatient departments, and then provided structured mentoring and action planning. At baseline, more than 90% of facilities demonstrated a good understanding of WHO recommendations-when tests should be ordered, using test results to develop an accurate final diagnosis, severity assessment, and providing the correct prescription. However, significant deficits were found in history taking, conducting a physical examination, and communicating with patients and their caregivers. After three visits, worker performance demonstrated steady improvement-in particular, with checking for factors associated with increased morbidity and mortality: one sign of severe malaria (72.9-85.5%), pregnancy (81.1-87.4%), and anemia (77.2-86.4%). A regression analysis predicted an overall improvement in clinical performance of 6.3% (P < 0.001) by the third visit. These findings indicate that in most health facilities, there is good baseline knowledge on the processes of quality clinical management, but further training and on-site mentoring are needed to improve the clinical interaction that focuses on second-order decision-making, such as severity of illness, management of non-malarial fever, and completing the patient-provider communication loop.

Keep In‐House Employees In Communications Loop

Keep In‐House Employees In Communications Loop

Tactful Networking: Humans in the Communication Loop

This survey discusses the human-perspective into networking through the Tactful Networking paradigm, whose goal is to add perceptive senses to the network by assigning it with human -like capabilities of observation, interpretation, and reaction to daily-life features and associated entities. To achieve this, knowledge extracted from inherent human behavior in terms of routines, personality, interactions, and others is leveraged, empowering the learning and prediction of user needs to improve QoE and system performance while respecting privacy and fostering new applications and services. Tactful Networking groups solutions from literature and innovative interdisciplinary human aspects studied in other areas. The paradigm is motivated by mobile devices’ pervasiveness and increasing presence as a sensor in our daily social activities. With the human element in the foreground, it is essential: (i) to center big data analytics around individuals; (ii) to create suitable incentive mechanisms for user participation; (iii) to design and evaluate both human-aware and system-aware networking solutions; and (iv) to apply prior and innovative techniques to deal with human-behavior sensing and learning. This survey reviews the human aspect in networking solutions through over a decade, followed by discussing the tactful networking impact through literature in behavior analysis and representative examples. This paper also discusses a framework comprising data management, analytics, and privacy for enhancing human raw-data to assist Tactful Networking solutions. Finally, challenges and opportunities for future research are presented.

Joint Speed Discrimination and Augmentation For Prosthesis Feedback

Sensory feedback is critical in fine motor control, learning, and adaptation. However, robotic prosthetic limbs currently lack the feedback segment of the communication loop between user and device. Sensory substitution feedback can close this gap, but sometimes this improvement only persists when users cannot see their prosthesis, suggesting the provided feedback is redundant with vision. Thus, given the choice, users rely on vision over artificial feedback. To effectively augment vision, sensory feedback must provide information that vision cannot provide or provides poorly. Although vision is known to be less precise at estimating speed than position, no work has compared speed precision of biomimetic arm movements. In this study, we investigated the uncertainty of visual speed estimates as defined by different virtual arm movements. We found that uncertainty was greatest for visual estimates of joint speeds, compared to absolute rotational or linear endpoint speeds. Furthermore, this uncertainty increased when the joint reference frame speed varied over time, potentially caused by an overestimation of joint speed. Finally, we demonstrate a joint-based sensory substitution feedback paradigm capable of significantly reducing joint speed uncertainty when paired with vision. Ultimately, this work may lead to improved prosthesis control and capacity for motor learning.

Vocal motor control and central auditory impairments in unilateral vocal fold paralysis.

To evaluate differences in vocal motor control and central auditory processing between treated unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) and healthy control cohorts. Cross-sectional. Ten UVFP study patients treated by type I thyroplasty with stable voices were compared to 12 control subjects for vocal motor control using a pitch perturbation response task and central auditory processing performance using a battery of complex sound intelligibility assays that included adverse temporal and noise conditions. Standard clinical evaluations of voice production and peripheral audiometric sensitivity were performed. Vocal motor control was impaired in treated UVFP. The UVFP cohort exhibited a 32.5% reduction in the instantaneous, subconscious compensatory response to pitch feedback perturbation in the interval between 150 ms and 550 ms following onset (P < 0.0001, linear mixed effects model). This impairment cannot simply be ascribed to vocal motor capacity insufficiency in the UVFP cohort because both cohorts demonstrated comparable functional capacity to perform the vocal motor task. The UVFP cohort also showed greater propensity for central auditory processing impairment (P < 0.05), notably for temporal compression and added noise challenges. Combined central vocal motor control and auditory processing impairments in treated UVFP highlight reciprocal interdependency of sensory and motor systems. This pilot study suggests that peripheral motor impairment of the larynx can degrade central auditory processing, which in turn may contribute to vocal motor control impairment. A more complete restoration communicative function in UVFP will require deeper understanding of sensory, motor, and sensorimotor aspects of the human communication loop. 3b Laryngoscope, 129:2112-2117, 2019.

Lower Beta: A Central Coordinator of Temporal Prediction in Multimodal Speech.

How the brain decomposes and integrates information in multimodal speech perception is linked to oscillatory dynamics. However, how speech takes advantage of redundancy between different sensory modalities, and how this translates into specific oscillatory patterns remains unclear. We address the role of lower beta activity (~20 Hz), generally associated with motor functions, as an amodal central coordinator that receives bottom-up delta-theta copies from specific sensory areas and generate top-down temporal predictions for auditory entrainment. Dissociating temporal prediction from entrainment may explain how and why visual input benefits speech processing rather than adding cognitive load in multimodal speech perception. On the one hand, body movements convey prosodic and syllabic features at delta and theta rates (i.e., 1–3 Hz and 4–7 Hz). On the other hand, the natural precedence of visual input before auditory onsets may prepare the brain to anticipate and facilitate the integration of auditory delta-theta copies of the prosodic-syllabic structure. Here, we identify three fundamental criteria based on recent evidence and hypotheses, which support the notion that lower motor beta frequency may play a central and generic role in temporal prediction during speech perception. First, beta activity must respond to rhythmic stimulation across modalities. Second, beta power must respond to biological motion and speech-related movements conveying temporal information in multimodal speech processing. Third, temporal prediction may recruit a communication loop between motor and primary auditory cortices (PACs) via delta-to-beta cross-frequency coupling. We discuss evidence related to each criterion and extend these concepts to a beta-motivated framework of multimodal speech processing.

A social robot to support integrated person centered care

Caring for a person with dementia PwD can be a significant personal and emotional challenge for informal carers. Informal caregivers frequently report experiencing high levels of stress, mental and physical fatigue, social withdrawal and sleeplessness 1,2. Several technologies and services have been developed to support the care for people with dementia 3. Lifestyle monitoring 4 can reduce caregiver’s distress and thereby extend the period that the informal caregiver can sustain the care and support needs for the PwD 5. With lifestyle monitoring, carers have insight in the daily pattern of a person with dementia and thereby communication between both can be enhanced 6. Nevertheless, lifestyle monitoring is unidirectional without the PwD in the communication loop. To support integrated person centered care, we added social robotics to lifestyle monitoring in the European eWare project 7 to support bidirectional communication. Furthermore, the lifestyle monitoring sensors add context awareness to the social robot and the social robot provides an interface between the PwD and the informal carer. With increasing context awareness, the social robot can provide context relevant suggestions to the PwD, yet, it is unknown which suggestions are most appropriate and effective. To gain an insight in these context relevant suggestions, six focus groups 3 with formal carers and 3 with informal carers were performed in three countries The Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy. From the results, 11 functionalities were extracted, rated and ranked with - among others - activity guidance and inactivity monitoring as relevant functionalities to include. The integration of lifestyle monitoring and social robotics is promising and of value to support integrated person centered care. References : 1- Laparidou D, Middlemass J, Mountain P, Karran T, Hudson J, Mansfield P, Siriwardena N. Challenges for carers of people with dementia and their support needs from health and social care providers: a qualitative study. In: Trent Regional SAPC Spring Meeting, 15 March 2016, Leicester. 2- Aguglia E, Onor ML, Trevisiol M, Negro C, Saina M, Maso E. Stress in the caregivers of Alzheimer's patients: An experimental investigation in ltaly. American journal of Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementias 2004;194:248-252; doi: 10.1177/153331750401900403 3. Susanna Spinsante, Ennio Gambi, Laura Raffaeli, Laura Montanini, Luca Paciello, Roberta Bevilacqua, Carlos Chiatti, Lorena Rossi. Technology-based assistance of people with dementia: state of the art, open challenges, and future developments in Human Monitoring, Smart Health and Assisted Living: Techniques and Technologies, pg.55, IET. 2017 4. Scalise, L., Pietroni, F., Casaccia, S., Revel, G. M., Monteriu, A., Prist, M., ... & Pescosolido, L. Implementation of an “at-home” e-health system using heterogeneous devices. In Smart Cities Conference ISC2, 2016 IEEE International pp. 1-4. IEEE. 2016, September. 5. Bhattacharyya, S., & Benbow, S.M. Assistive Technologies and the Carers of People with Dementia: Empowerment and Connection. International Journal of Reliable and Quality E-Healthcare IJRQEH, 2016;51:45-59. 6. Nap, H.H., Lukkien D.R.M., Cornelisse C.C. Leefstijlmonitoring in Friesland. Longitudinaal onderzoek naar de impact van leefstijlmonitoring op mantelzorgers en de zorg voor mensen met dementie, september 2016, Vilans. 2016 7. Retrieved, December 15, 2017, available from: https://aal-eware.eu/wp/

Seamless human robot collaborative assembly – An automotive case study

This paper presents the implementation of a robotic system for advanced human robot collaboration assembly and discusses all the technological approach that has been implemented for facilitating the interaction and support of human operators. Unlike current industrial practice where the assembly is performed by operators, the proposed approach aims at combining the benefits of high payload industrial robots with human capabilities under a fenceless environment, by assigning to them each task based on their capabilities. Enabling technologies involve manual guidance techniques and new wearables devices allowing for multi – modal interaction as well as robot safety control functionalities. Wearable devices such as Augmented Reality glasses and smartwatches are used for closing the communication loop between operators and robots under a service-oriented architecture. The complete system is validated in a case study from the automotive industry under the ROBO-PARTNER project. A detailed safety analysis of the scenario has been performed supported by a Risk Assessment, safety concept and Safety Related Parts/Control Systems (SRC/CS) design. The findings support the concept that humans’ and robots’ destiny is collaboration rather than competition.

Hierarchical and Flat-Based Hybrid Naming Scheme in Content-Centric Networks of Things

Information-centric networking (ICN) approaches have been considered as an alternative approach to TCP/IP. Contrary to the traditional IP, the ICN treats content as a first-class citizen of the entire network, where names are given through different naming schemes to contents and are used during the retrieval. Among ICN approaches, content centric networking (CCN) is one of the key protocols being explored for Internet of Things (IoT), names the contents using hierarchical naming. Moreover, CCN follows pull-based strategy and exhibits the communication loop problem because of its broadcasting mode. However, IoT requires both pull and push modes of communication with scalable and secured content names in terms of integrity. In this paper, we propose a hybrid naming scheme that names contents using hierarchical and flat components to support both push and pull communication and to provide both scalability and security, respectively. We consider an IoT-based smart campus scenario and introduce two transmission modes: 1) unicast mode and 2) broadcast mode to address loop problem associated with CCN. Simulation results demonstrate that proposed scheme significantly improves the rate of interest transmissions, number of covered hops, name aggregation, and reliability along with addressing the loop problem.

Decoding Generational Discourse: Cracking the Code to Improve Communication Across Generations

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw Every nurse has been there: caring for a patient who only speaks a foreign language. The shift is characterized by a high-stakes game of charades, a sincere effort to communicate, and a desperate search for a confirmation of understanding. When someone speaks words that sound so different from our own, we go out of the way to ensure that what we meant to communicate was understood. We try harder. We fully commit to and actively engage in the process of communication from beginning to end. By contrast, when we hear familiar words in our most comfortable language, we don’t try as hard. We sometimes unknowingly assume the intended message was received without closing the communication loop. Communication is quick and effortless, or so we think; perhaps this effortlessness is because we are skipping the crucial step—a confirmation of understanding. “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw Every nurse has been there: caring for a patient who only speaks a foreign language. The shift is characterized by a high-stakes game of charades, a sincere effort to communicate, and a desperate search for a confirmation of understanding. When someone speaks words that sound so different from our own, we go out of the way to ensure that what we meant to communicate was understood. We try harder. We fully commit to and actively engage in the process of communication from beginning to end. By contrast, when we hear familiar words in our most comfortable language, we don’t try as hard. We sometimes unknowingly assume the intended message was received without closing the communication loop. Communication is quick and effortless, or so we think; perhaps this effortlessness is because we are skipping the crucial step—a confirmation of understanding.

The Brain-Gut-Microbiome Axis.

Preclinical and clinical studies have shown bidirectional interactions within the brain-gut-microbiome axis. Gut microbes communicate to the central nervous system through at least 3 parallel and interacting channels involving nervous, endocrine, and immune signaling mechanisms. The brain can affect the community structure and function of the gut microbiota through the autonomic nervous system, by modulating regional gut motility, intestinal transit and secretion, and gut permeability, and potentially through the luminal secretion of hormones that directly modulate microbial gene expression. A systems biological model is proposed that posits circular communication loops amid the brain, gut, and gut microbiome, and in which perturbation at any level can propagate dysregulation throughout the circuit. A series of largely preclinical observations implicates alterations in brain-gut-microbiome communication in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome, obesity, and several psychiatric and neurologic disorders. Continued research holds the promise of identifying novel therapeutic targets and developing treatment strategies to address some of the most debilitating, costly, and poorly understood diseases.