Calcium-Dependent Pulmonary Inflammation and Pharmacological Interventions and Mediators

Pulmonary diseases present a significant burden worldwide and lead to severe morbidity and mortality. Lung inflammation caused by interactions with either viruses, bacteria or fungi is a prominent characteristic of many pulmonary diseases. Tobacco smoke and E-cig use (“vaping”) are considered major risk factors in the development of pulmonary disease as well as worsening disease prognosis. However, at present, relatively little is known about the mechanistic actions by which smoking and vaping may worsen the disease. One theory suggests that long-term vaping leads to Ca2+ signaling dysregulation. Ca2+ is an important secondary messenger in signal transduction. Cellular Ca2+ concentrations are mediated by a complex series of pumps, channels, transporters and exchangers that are responsible for triggering various intracellular processes such as cell death, proliferation and secretion. In this review, we provide a detailed understating of the complex series of components that mediate Ca2+ signaling and how their dysfunction may result in pulmonary disease. Furthermore, we summarize the recent literature investigating the negative effects of smoking and vaping on pulmonary disease, cell toxicity and Ca2+ signaling. Finally, we summarize Ca2+-mediated pharmacological interventions that could potentially lead to novel treatments for pulmonary diseases.

Implementation of Multilingual Chatbot

Chatbots – otherwise called "conversational agents" – are software applications that mimic human speech to simulate a discussion or communication with a genuine individual. Chatbots measure the content introduced to them by the user, prior to responding as indicated by a complex series of algorithms that deciphers and recognizes what the user said, deduces what they mean, and decides a progression of fitting responses dependent on this data. The flaw in this technology is that, majority of the chatbots support English language only and not many have the expertise to impart in numerous dialects. We can’t expect all the users using this technology to know and communicate in English, and despite that, a study shows that individuals are inclined toward imparting in their local language since it's more convenient. We’ve made our attempt to overcome this flaw by building a system that is plurilingual and can communicate in a total of 108 languages. Through this paper, we explain the development of a multilingual chatbot i.e., a bot that can converse with users in multiple languages, it can be a tremendous asset to any organization. This particularly holds true in an exceptionally semantically assorted nation like India.

Man is a “Rope” Stretched Between Virosphere and Humanoid Robots: On the Urgent Need of an Ethical Code for Ecosystem Survival

In this paper we compare the strategies applied by two successful biological components of the ecosystem, the viruses and the human beings, to interact with the environment. Viruses have had and still exert deep and vast actions on the ecosystem especially at the genome level of most of its biotic components. We discuss on the importance of the human being as contraptions maker in particular of robots, hence of machines capable of automatically carrying out complex series of actions. Beside the relevance of designing and assembling these contraptions, it is of basic importance the goal for which they are assembled and future scenarios of their possible impact on the ecosystem. We can’t procrastinate the development and implementation of a highly inspired and stringent “ethical code” for human beings and humanoid robots because it will be a crucial aspect for the wellbeing of the mankind and of the entire ecosystem.

Formally Validating a Practical Verification Condition Generator

A program verifier produces reliable results only if both the logic used to justify the program’s correctness is sound, and the implementation of the program verifier is itself correct. Whereas it is common to formally prove soundness of the logic, the implementation of a verifier typically remains unverified. Bugs in verifier implementations may compromise the trustworthiness of successful verification results. Since program verifiers used in practice are complex, evolving software systems, it is generally not feasible to formally verify their implementation.In this paper, we present an alternative approach: we validate successful runs of the widely-used Boogie verifier by producing a certificate which proves correctness of the obtained verification result. Boogie performs a complex series of program translations before ultimately generating a verification condition whose validity should imply the correctness of the input program. We show how to certify three of Boogie’s core transformation phases: the elimination of cyclic control flow paths, the (SSA-like) replacement of assignments by assumptions using fresh variables (passification), and the final generation of verification conditions. Similar translations are employed by other verifiers. Our implementation produces certificates in Isabelle, based on a novel formalisation of the Boogie language.

Decellularised extracellular matrix decorated PCL PolyHIPE scaffolds for enhanced cellular activity, integration and angiogenesis

Wound healing involves complex series of events where cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions play a key role. Wounding can be simple such as the loss of the epithelial integrity...

PD-L1 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer

The carcinogenesis of prostate cancer (PCa) results from a complex series of events. Chronic inflammation and infections are crucial in this context. Infiltrating M2 type macrophages, as well as neutrophils and T lymphocytes, contribute to PCa development, progression and response to therapy. The preliminary findings on the efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with PCa were not encouraging. However, a series of studies investigating anti-PD-L1 agents such as Atezolizumab, Avelumab and Durvalumab used alone or in combination with other immunotherapies, chemotherapy or locoregional approaches are in course in this tumor. In this review, we illustrate the role of immune cells and PD-L1 expression during PCa carcinogenesis and progression, with a focus on ongoing clinical trials on anti-PD-L1 agents in this context.

Terrorism

The chapter places Greek terrorism in a broader political and cultural perspective in order to explain why it has become a permanent fixture of Greek contemporary life. Revolutionary terrorism in Greece resulted from a complex series of political conditions and longstanding cultural influences that drew politically active individuals towards the utopian world of revolutionary protest and violence. These conditions and influences provided the foundations upon which extreme Left terrorism took firm root in the mid-1970s and are analysed in depth and placed within the wider context of the evolution of the Greek political culture within the last forty years, especially the years following the Civil War and the collapse of the Colonels’ dictatorial regime in 1974. The chapter also brings up to date the trajectory of Greek terrorism, by analysing the country’s new generation of urban guerrilla groups and defining what these new groups and their leaders seek to achieve, what motivates them, and how they compare with their predecessors.

Information asymmetries in intrafamily business succession

The often long-lasting process of intrafamily business succession involves contracts for management and ownership transfer that unfold in a complex series of stages. The older and larger a family business, the more heterogeneous the involved family members’ interactions and interests can become. These differences become obvious in the succession process. Also, in entrepreneurial families, information is not easy to obtain and is neither perfect nor unlimited, for example, with regard to expectations regarding the duration or the type of business succession. Information asymmetries can arise. This article investigates the drivers of information asymmetries and provides insight into the current research by investigating information asymmetries and their impact during different phases of intrafamily business succession. Data from 215 German firms reveal the occurrence of specific information asymmetries during different phases of intrafamily business succession. JEL CLASSIFICATION M1; M59; D82; L2