User Communication Research Articles

Analysis of Social Media Usage in Enhancing Communication and Collaboration in Educational Environments

In this rapidly evolving digital era, the use of social media has become an integral part of daily life, including among students, teachers, and parents in educational environments. This study aims to conduct an in-depth analysis of social media usage in efforts to enhance communication and collaboration in educational settings. The method employed in this research is a qualitative literature review utilizing data sourced from Google Scholar spanning from 2020 to 2024. Key search terms included social media, communication and collaboration, and education environment. The data analysis technique used in this research is qualitative data analysis. The qualitative data analysis process involves several steps, such as organising the data, forming themes or patterns, and interpreting the findings from the scientific articles used. The study's findings reveal that in the continuously evolving digital era, social media usage has become a crucial aspect across various domains, including education. The analysis of social media usage in enhancing communication and collaboration in educational environments highlights its significant potential to increase participant engagement, facilitate the exchange of ideas, and broaden the reach of educational information. However, the utilization of social media also necessitates a careful and responsible approach to address associated challenges and risks.

Design of an Encryption Chat Application Based on ChaCha20-Poly1305

This study introduces the meticulous design and development of a chat application fortified with the robust ChaCha20-Poly1305 encryption algorithm. The selected cryptographic algorithm is renowned for its efficacy in ensuring top-notch security. In our application, ChaCha20 serves as the backbone for stream encryption, ensuring that the message content remains confidential and impenetrable to eavesdroppers. Simultaneously, Poly1305, an esteemed message authentication code, guarantees the integrity and authenticity of each chat message. It ensures that the messages sent are genuine and have not been tampered with during transit. Together, the integration of these two components constructs a fortified wall against potential security breaches, safeguarding user communications. This not only instills confidence in users regarding the privacy of their conversations but also sets a benchmark in chat application security. The overarching aim is to offer an impeccable blend of user-friendly experience and top-tier security, revolutionizing the way secure communications are perceived and utilized.

Social media and electronic communication usage by South African dietitians

Objectives: This study investigated to what extent South African dietitians make use of social media and electronic communication and their compliance with the ethical guidelines set by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). Design: Cross-sectional descriptive design. Setting: South Africa. Subjects: Registered South African dietitians. Methods: Data were collected using an online survey (N = 125) and an observational checklist for selected digital platforms (N = 135). Both parts assessed demographic characteristics, usage of digital platforms and awareness or adherence to ethical guidelines. Results: Most participants used Instagram (45.5%) and Facebook (31.6%) as these platforms were regarded as user friendly, quick and suitable for their target audiences. Barriers to social media usage included time constraints (53.0%) and being unfamiliar with some platforms (37.3%). Enablers to social media usage included better reach of target population (61.4%) and ease of use (56.6%). The majority of survey participants were aware of the HPCSA Ethical Guidelines for Good Practice (n = 68/75, 90.7%). Overall compliance with the HPCSA guidelines was observed, yet nearly half (37/89, 41.6%) of the dietitians who shared information on digital platforms never provided references. Forms of touting/canvassing were observed on 20.7% (n = 28/135) of the platforms, while 15.6% of dietitians (n = 21) sold products on their websites, mostly meal-plans and supplements. Conclusion: South African dietitians actively engage with digital platforms to a varied extent, highlighting the importance of being cognisant of, and applying, the HPCSA Ethical Guidelines for Good Practice. The study can be useful in guiding future research on this unexplored, emerging topic.

Genetic Algorithm for Mode Selection in Device-to-Device (D2D) Communication for 5G Cellular Networks

The widespread use of smart devices and mobile applications is leading to a massive growth of wireless data traffic. With the rapidly growing of the customers’ data traffic demand, improving the system capacity and increasing the user throughput have become essential concerns for the future fifth-generation (5G) wireless communication network. In a conventional cellular system, devices are not allowed to directly communicate with each other in the licensed cellular spectrum and all communications take place through the base stations (BS) and core network. Device-to-Device (D2D) communication refers to a technology that enables devices to communicate directly with each other, without sending data to the base station and the core network. This technology has the potential to improve system performance, enhance the user experience, increase spectral efficiency, reduce the terminal transmitting power, reduce the burden of the cellular network, and reduce end to end latency. In D2D communication user equipment’s (UEs) are enabled to select among different modes of communication which are defined based on the frequency resource sharing. Dedicated mode where D2D devices directly transmit by using dedicated resources. Reuse mode where D2D devices reuse some resources of the cellular network. Outband mode where D2D communication uses unlicensed spectrum (e.g. the free 2.4 GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band or the 38 GHz millimetre wave band) where cellular communication does not take place. Cellular mode where the D2D communication is relayed via gNode B (gNB) and it is treated as cellular users. In this work, the target was to reach the optimal mode selection policy and genetic algorithm method was used with the objective of maximizing the total fitness function. Optimal mode selection policy was presented and analysed amongst cellular, dedicated, reused and outband mode. In the present study of mode selection issues in D2D enabled networks, genetic algorithm was proposed for the case when the cellular user equipment (UE) moves in the network. Quality of service (QoS) parameters, mobility parameters and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method were used to define the mode selection algorithm. To evaluate the performance of the proposed genetic algorithm, a study of the convergence of the algorithm and the signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) was done.

Smartphone-Enabled Interaction on Large Displays—A Web-Technology-Based Approach

This paper proposes the design and implementation of a system for simultaneous communication of several users over a single display, such as large public displays or video walls. Motivated by the lack of software frameworks that are both free and suited for the desired level of complexity, we present a novel, out-of-the-box solution for collaborative and remotely controlled application use. The solution is based exclusively on web technologies, thus significantly facilitating usability and reach, and eliminating the need for additional software installations or the use of additional devices. The architecture of the developed solution is modular and comprises three main components: (1) the environment, (2) the remote controllable application (RCA), and (3) the controller. The environment serves as a central hub that manages the data flow and ensures synchronization between the user devices. The RCA, which runs on the large display, serves as the interface for interacting with the content, while the controller, which is loaded on the users’ smartphones, enables control and interaction with the RCA in real time. By using web sockets and a server–client architecture, the system supports device- and platform-independent remote control and centralized collaboration through an off-the-shelf communication framework entirely flexible regarding client application. In order to demonstrate the possibilities of the proposed system, several different scenarios were covered, and solutions were implemented and tested on a large display in the faculty lobby.

Detection of atmospheric turbulence parameters in free space optical communication

Abstract These days usage of wireless communication has become vast compared to wired communication. The landline is replaced with a mobile, wi-fi with DAS. From the era of 1970 to the 1980s, wireless communication has evolved and wireless communication uses RF waves to communicate which is called RF communication. As the demand for the speed of data rate, the new technology is evolving in the unguided medium due to its range, cost, and availability. In this evolution, it first came with optical fiber and after RF wireless or electromagnetic wireless technologies. Later, researchers have been found optical communication. In present days it is facing a lot of challenges and trials. Optical communication means communication using the light ray or light spectrum which can achieve great speed and long distance with secure data transfer. The major challenge to achieve this communication is atmospheric turbulence. Although lots of experiments have been done still the problem is the detection of atmospheric conditions and making communication possible according to atmospheric turbulence. In this paper, we are going to discuss a few techniques to detect atmospheric turbulence.

Intelligent reflecting surfaces assisted integrated information and energy networks in D2D communications

AbstractIntelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS) is set to revolutionize future wireless networks, particularly in Device to Device (D2D) communication. Its unique intelligence lies in dynamically reshaping signal propagation and enhancing network performance. The proposed model ensures receivers in a D2D network are accessible only through strategically placed IRS elements, optimizing signal propagation and coverage. Simulations demonstrate the solution's effectiveness, enhancing communication for Information Users (IUs) and energy harvesting for Energy Users (EUs) while meeting SINR constraints. Our efficient algorithms tackle the non‐convex problem, enabling exclusive transmission of information signals from the AP to serve both IUs and EUs with improved performance.

UAV-assisted fair communications for multi-pair users: A multi-agent deep reinforcement learning method

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) plays an important role in scenarios like search and rescue, remote communication relay, battlefield mobile networks, etc. In this paper, we investigate multiple UAV relays providing real-time transmission for multi-pair ground users (GUs) in the absence of ground-based stations (GBSs). Due to the limited load capacities and energy resources on-board, fairness between multi-pair users, throughput maximization, as well as the connectivity maintenance between UAVs are jointly considered. We formulate the energy-efficient fair throughput objective function, which turns to be non-convex with hybrid variables. To solve this intractable problem, we utilize the power of neural networks in function approximation and propose a multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL)-based algorithm. Different from traditional MADRL algorithms, we utilize the method, named independent proximal policy optimization (IPPO), which allows agents to update according to their own observations memory and encourages more explorations to some extend, as the base of our solution. Simulation results demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms some baselines in terms of fairness, throughput as well as energy consumption.

Ghosting Phenomenon in Interpersonal Communication of Bumble Application Users

Technological developments have made it easier for humans to build interpersonal relationships, one of which is using dating apps. One phenomenon that is often found in dating apps is the ghosting phenomenon. The ghosting phenomenon is an indirect termination of relationships that can hinder communication. However, many adult couples often fail or experience a breakup when they are at the approach stage. In general, someone experiencing the termination of a relationship or losing a partner can be a very traumatic and sad experience and can disrupt a person's mental health. This research aims to find out at what stage the ghosting phenomenon occurs in interpersonal communication on the dating app Bumble. This research uses a phenomenological research method with a qualitative approach, data collection techniques of in-depth interviews and observation. The theory used is the Social Penetration Theory which has four stages in a relationship, namely the orientation stage, affective exploratory exchange, affective exchange and stable exchange. The results of this research show that the ghosting phenomenon can occur at every stage of a relationship, during the introduction stage or when the relationship is already close to each other. This experience of ghosting behavior also creates communication barriers between people and leaves the victim feeling uncomfortable.

Incentive Mechanism in the Sponsored Content Market With Network Effects

We propose an incentive mechanism for the sponsored content provider (CP) market in which the communication of users can be represented by a graph, and the private information of the users is assumed to have a continuous distribution function. The CP stipulates incentive rewards to encourage users to reveal their private information truthfully and increase their content demand, which leads to an increase in the advertising revenue. We prove that all users gain a nonnegative utility and disclose their private information truthfully. Moreover, we study the effectiveness and scalability of the proposed mechanism in a case study with different network structures.

Exploring user interaction patterns in an online physician interactive community based on exponential random graph models

The online physician interactive community (OPIC) is a platform designed for medical workers to discuss medical issues. Physician users can create content in OPIC by posting and replying to posts to discuss the solutions of medical problems with other users. The OPIC plays an important role in bringing together physicians from different medical specialties and disseminating medical experience. However, most OPIC users are not very active in replying to posts, which makes it difficult to fulfill users’ needs for medical information exchange and the development of OPIC is difficult. Current research has given little attention to the communication of physician users in the OPIC. It is necessary to examine how reposting links are established between users in OPIC. This study builds a user interaction network based on the perspective of social network analysis using user repost data from a well-known OPIC in China. Then, an exponential random graph model (ERGM) was applied to quantitatively analyze this user interaction network. Some reposting patterns among OPIC users were discovered. There is significant reciprocity in OPIC of reposting interactions between users. Users with homogeneous characteristics in terms of professional status, community honor status, and geographic location were more likely to interact with each other. In addition, users who added a profile, had a higher level of social effort, and generated more neutral content were more likely to receive responses from others. This study reveals the interaction patterns between physician users in OPIC, which enriches the related research within the OPIC domain and helps to improve communication between users in OPIC.

FBS-TGCN: a temporal graph-convolutional-network model for spatiotemporal prediction of spam messages from fake base stations

Spam messages affect the normal communication of mobile phone users and public security. Fake base station (FBS) is the main channel for sending spam messages. Accurate spatiotemporal prediction of spam messages from FBS is important for implementing short-term spam prevention measures by the police. However, existing models used for spam messages modeling often focus on capturing spatial dependencies based on distance, thus failing to fully exploit spatial dependencies hidden in the data. Meanwhile, they encounter difficulties in mitigating the impact of excessive zero data. Therefore, based on the crowdsourced spam message data, a temporal graph-convolutional-network model (FBS-TGCN) is developed for the spatiotemporal prediction of spam messages from FBS. This model includes graph convolutional network (GCN) and gated temporal convolutional network (TCN) to capture the spatial and temporal dependencies alternatively. We further combine a weighted adjacency matrix and a self-adaptive adjacency matrix to capture both distance-based spatial dependencies and hidden spatial dependencies. A weighted loss function is used to mitigate the influence of excessive zero data. Experimental results using the spam dataset in Beijing demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model when compared to the baseline models, especially in the prediction of spam messages quantity and high spamming areas.

Plant Bioacoustics: A system of plant-sound relationship

Bioacoustics is a field of study that examines the production of sound and how it affects living things. Numerous plant species' physiology, behaviour, and eventual survival have all been greatly influenced by sound and its usage in communication. A better framework for future research may be developed along with a greater understanding of how various organisms interact acoustically with plants if the acoustic link between plants and animals is understood. A re-imagination of our knowledge of these organisms is anticipated to result from the systematic investigation of the functional and evolutionary importance of sound in plant life. This will also stimulate the emergence of new ideas and viewpoints regarding the communicative complexity of plants. The primary goal of this study is to examine some information about the bioacoustics interaction between plants and animals their sound, and ecology, including potential techniques of sound production employed by plants.
 The importance of acoustical research in plant ecology, as well as its potential mechanisms and future applications, are covered in this paper. The first section of this article reviews how plants amplify and transmit sounds produced by insect pests. The second section looks at surprising examples of carnivorous plants that show how plants have evolved to reflect but also enhance animal sounds, potentially revealing new angles in research on the interactions between animals and plants. The discussion then focuses on the mechanisms by which plants produce sound through transpiration stress and photosynthesis, as well as a potential model for these mechanisms.

Distributed Sequential Detection for Cooperative Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Internet of Things.

The rapid development of wireless communication technology has led to an increasing number of internet of thing (IoT) devices, and the demand for spectrum for these devices and their related applications is also increasing. However, spectrum scarcity has become an increasingly serious problem. Therefore, we introduce a collaborative spectrum sensing (CSS) framework in this paper to identify available spectrum resources so that IoT devices can access them and, meanwhile, avoid causing harmful interference to the normal communication of the primary user (PU). However, in the process of sensing the PUs signal in IoT devices, the issue of sensing time and decision cost (the cost of determining whether the signal state of the PU is correct or incorrect) arises. To this end, we propose a distributed cognitive IoT model, which includes two IoT devices independently using sequential decision rules to detect the PU. On this basis, we define the sensing time and cost functions for IoT devices and formulate an average cost optimization problem in CSS. To solve this problem, we further regard the optimal sensing time problem as a finite horizon problem and solve the threshold of the optimal decision rule by person-by-person optimization (PBPO) methodology and dynamic programming. At last, numerical simulation results demonstrate the correctness of our proposal in terms of the global false alarm and miss detection probability, and it always achieves minimal average cost under various costs of each observation taken and thresholds.

Legislative Initiatives for Improving the Interaction among the Educational Process Participants: Criminological Perspective

Introduction. The use of smartphones as a learning tool in schools is prohibited by the Russian law. As it is well known, the scientific and technological progress has induced active implementation of the electronic devices into the everyday life of all categories of citizens, and the system of education has not been an exception. To systematise the use of the electronic devices in the education system, the legislators have submitted to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation a draft law, which reflects the revised attitude to the modern means of communication. However, the reaction of the scientific community to this proposal has been extremely contradictive and contained both positive and negative arguments. The aim of the present research is to study the expediency and justification of using the means of electronic communication in the educational institutions, to analyse the criminological problems arising in this field, and to assess the legislative initiatives and opinions of the scientists of different scientific specialties referring to improving the interaction among the educational process participants.Materials and Methods. The overview analysis of the scientific criminological literature and respective legislation regarding the expediency and justification of using the means of communication for the educational purposes was carried out in the frame of the research. Among the methodological tools there were used the commonly accepted in Russia methods of scientific cognition: general scientific (dialectical method) and specific scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, logical, comparative legal, systemic methods).Results. In the frame of the research, the analysis of the various scientific opinions on acceptability of using the means of communication for the educational purposes was made. The criminological problems arising in this field and the existing legal regulation were studied, the opinions of scientists of different scientific specialties on this matter were evaluated. The conclusion about the negative effect of the long-term usage of a device on the learner’s academic progression was made, even though it was used for the educational purposes. According to the scientists’ opinion, this dependency can be explained by multitasking: the mobile phones have many applications and functions that naturally lead to frequent switching from one task to another, which happens in the educational process too. This entails worsening the quality of perception of the material. To change the situation, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) and the Federal Service for Supervision of Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor) have developed the recommendations for the educational institutions and state authorities on reducing the negative impact of mobile devices on learners.Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the conducted research have led to the conclusion that the total prohibition of the means of communication usage for the educational purposes significantly complicates and slows down the development of learners’ cognitive activity. Moreover, the opinion of some of the researchers about potential threats caused by children having devices in an educational institution does not seem convincing from a criminological point of view, because a smartphone can act as a guaranty of child’s security, the means of communication with his parents and monitoring his movement and condition. The paragraph 3.5.3 of the sanitary rules and norms SP (СП) 2.4.3648-20, which regulates the prohibition of the mobile means of communication usage for the educational purposes at the lessons, should be revised. In our opinion, it should not be the prohibition, but the control over the usage of the electronic devices in the educational process.

Gas Leakage Detection with Notification Alert and Auto Cut-off Valve

Good safety procedures must be put in place in places of employment and education since safety is important in today's environment. The safety model now in use in businesses and industries is modified by this work and can also be applied in residences and commercial buildings. Installing a gas detector in susceptible areas is single path to take preventative action against the risk of gas leaks. A gas detector, which is frequently a component of a safety system, is a gadget designed to identify the existence of gases within a given space. A gas detector that has the ability to alert nearby operators should be alerted to a potential leak so they can either address or evacuate the area. Numerous gases have the potential to be dangerous to organic life, including humans and animals, which makes this kind of equipment crucial. It is necessary to prevent containment into any region where gas shouldn't be present. Leaks are highly dangerous since even a tiny leak has the potential to gradually accumulate an explosive concentration of gas. Testing with a gas detector is the sole means by which users can identify gas leaks, today's gas detectors are less effective in their use. It is risky since gas leaks need to be detected as soon as possible. Because of this, the gas detector with notifies device was created to avoid explosions or fires from happening in buildings. As long as there is a power source, this type of gas detector will continuously detect gas. The Arduino UNO microcontroller was utilized in this project to interpret sensor input and transmit an SMS alert to a GSM module, allowing for user communication. Until the gas concentration reaches a harmful level, the buzzer will continue to ring. These projects have the advantage of preventing fires before they start, which can occur from cooking unsupervised without human monitoring or gas leak explosions.

Integrated Sensing and Secure Communication with XL-MIMO.

This paper studies extremely large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (XL-MIMO)-empowered integrated sensing and secure communication systems, where both the radar targets and the communication user are located within the near-field region of the transmitter. The radar targets, being untrusted entities, have the potential to intercept the confidential messages intended for the communication user. In this context, we investigate the near-field beam-focusing design, aiming to maximize the achievable secrecy rate for the communication user while satisfying the transmit beampattern gain requirements for the radar targets. We address the corresponding globally optimal non-convex optimization problem by employing a semidefinite relaxation-based two-stage procedure. Additionally, we provide a sub-optimal solution to reduce complexity. Numerical results demonstrate that beam focusing enables the attainment of a positive secrecy rate, even when the radar targets and communication user align along the same angle direction.

Breakthroughs and Applications of Augmented Reality (AR) Technology in the Digital Media Field

Abstract This study pioneers the application of augmented reality (AR) in the realm of digital media, integrating AR technology with cultural education and artistic media concepts to forge a novel trajectory for digital media art creation. It delves into AR 3D scene construction technologies, employing calibration through the reconstruction of 2D image sequences, feature point extraction for spatial coordinate transformation, and 3D model development. Furthermore, it utilizes Level of Detail (LOD) models and texture mapping technologies to enhance visualization and interaction. The research culminates in a comparative analysis of traditional and AR-based media, evaluating differences in appeal and assessing functional capabilities. The findings indicate that AR-based media outperforms traditional media across several functions: media search (0.385), virtual design (0.424), immersive experience (0.466), real-time interaction (0.525), and user communication (0.396), with users expressing high satisfaction with these enhanced capabilities. This study not only diminishes the complexities associated with integrating digital media and AR technologies but also optimizes and innovates traditional methodologies.

Secure Intelligent Reflecting Surface-Aided Integrated Sensing and Communication

In this paper, an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is leveraged to enhance the physical layer security of an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system in which the IRS is deployed to not only assist the downlink communication for multiple users, but also create a virtual line-of-sight (LoS) link for target sensing. In particular, we consider a challenging scenario where the target may be a suspicious eavesdropper that potentially intercepts the communication-user information transmitted by the base station (BS). To ensure the sensing quality while preventing the eavesdropping, dedicated sensing signals are transmitted by the BS. We investigate the joint design of the phase shifts at the IRS and the communication as well as radar beamformers at the BS to maximize the sensing beampattern gain towards the target, subject to the maximum information leakage to the eavesdropping target and the minimum signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) required by users. Based on the availability of perfect channel state information (CSI) of all involved user links and the potential target location of interest at the BS, two scenarios are considered and two different optimization algorithms are proposed. For the ideal scenario where the CSI of the user links and the potential target location are perfectly known at the BS, a penalty-based algorithm is proposed to obtain a high-quality solution. In particular, the beamformers are obtained with a semi-closed-form solution using Lagrange duality and the IRS phase shifts are solved for in closed form by applying the majorization-minimization (MM) method. On the other hand, for the more practical scenario where the CSI is imperfect and the potential target location is uncertain in a region of interest, a robust algorithm based on the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">S</i> -procedure and sign-definiteness approaches is proposed. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in achieving a trade-off between the communication quality and the sensing quality, and also show the tremendous potential of IRS for use in sensing and improving the security of ISAC systems.

Medidas de proteção contra a COVID-19: impactos comunicativos, sociais e emocionais em usuários de aparelhos de amplificação sonora individual

ABSTRACT Purpose to investigate the communicative, social, and emotional impacts generated by adopting protective measures against COVID-19 and associate them with the degree of hearing loss and the time of use of hearing aids. Methods cross-sectional quantitative study, with 72 individuals, divided into adults and older adults, with bilateral hearing loss up to moderately severe degree, users of hearing aids fitted before the pandemic in a public hearing health program who had maintained effective use of the devices. The participants were invited to participate in the study while waiting for an appointment and signed the consent form. After that, medical records were accessed to collect information about audiological profiles and the fitting/use of hearing aids. Afterward, a protocol with objective questions was orally applied in a silent room. Data were tabulated and subjected to Equality of Two Proportions and Chi-Square statistical tests. Results in both groups, a significant number of users had communication impacted by the use of masks and by social distancing, with difficulty with digital technologies (cell phones/computers) predominating among adults, while older adults more commonly experienced communicative impairments during video calls. The communicative impediment existed regardless of the audiological profile and device use time. When asked if they stopped communicating and if the measures affected their social life, the sample was divided between “yes/sometimes” and “no”. As for the emotional impact of protective measures, there was a greater impact among adults. Conclusion protective measures affected the communication of hearing aids users but did not discourage communicative exchanges and social interactions for approximately half of the sample, with the emotional impact being more evident in adults. Such difficulties were not related to the audiological profile and daily use of the devices.