Understanding collaborative workspaces:spatial affordances & time constraints

Abstract. This thesis presents a generic solution for indoor positioning and movement monitoring, positioning data collection and analysis with the aim of improving the interior design of collaborative workspaces. Since the nature of the work and the work attitude of employees varies in different workspaces, no general workspace layout can be applied to all situations. Tailoring workspaces according to the exact needs and requirements of the employees can improve collaboration and productivity. Here, an indoor positioning system based on Bluetooth Low Energy technology was designed and implemented in a pilot area (an IT company), and the position of the employees was monitored during a two months period. The pilot area consisted of an open workplace with workstations for nine employees and two sets of coffee tables, four meeting rooms, two coffee rooms and a soundproof phone booth. Thirteen remixes (BLE signal receivers) provided full coverage over the pilot area, while light durable BLE beacons, which were carried by employees acted as BLE signal broadcasters. The RSSIs of the broadcasted signals from the beacons were recorded by each remix within the range of the signal and the gathered data was stored in a database. The gathered RSSI data was normalized to decrease the effect of workspace obstacles on the signal strength. To predict the position of beacons based on the recorded RSSIs, a few approaches were tested, and the most accurate one was chosen, which provided an above 95% accuracy in predicting the position of each beacon every 3 minutes. This approach was a combination of fingerprinting with a Machine Learning-based Random Forest Classifier. The obtained position results were then used to extract various information about the usage pattern of different workspace areas to accurately access the current layout and the needs of the employees

B Cell Lymphoma Malignancy is Associated with a Long non-coding RNA, MIAT, Expression.

ABSTRACT Hematopoietic malignancies are highly dysregulated processes in which many molecular aspects are involved. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are increasingly recognized as important regulators of gene expression. They are functional RNAs longer than 200 nucleotides in length, with low coding potential. MIAT was originally identified as a long non-coding RNA expressed in neuronal cells and constitutes a component of the nuclear scaffold. Moreover it affects the kinetics of the splicing process. Recently, MIAT is genetically associated with heart disease. However the molecular basis of MIAT function as well as its role in human disease is still in the beginning. In the present thesis, Expression of MIAT was studied in leukemic cell lines as well as a large cohort of CLL patients. Quantitative analysis of MIAT, revealed extremely MIAT expression in B cell lymphoma, while other types of leukemia like AML, ALL and CML did not show considerable expression. Feasible prognosis of outcome in CLL sample groups was related to MIAT expression. Abundant expression of MIAT achieved in unfavorable outcomes group of CLL patient samples (trisomy 12, 17p13 deletion, 11q22 deletion) compared to favorable (13q deletion) cytogenetic group. Intriguingly, MIAT expression might be associate to aggressiveness and poor outcome in CLL which also empower a role for MIAT in leukemia. Since, genetic networks controlling MIAT expression was the focus of our intense interest, an association beyond the transcription factors, Oct4, and human MIAT transcript was also studied. We showed that mRNA and protein level of Oct4 is in direct modulation of MIAT expression in leukemic cell lines as well as CLL patient samples. RNAi mediated knockdown of MIAT transcript lead to robust changes in Oct4 mRNA level. We further characterized a regulatory feedback loop between Oct4 and MIAT by developing lentivirus shRNA to downregulate Oct4 level. We showed that a reciprocal correlation of MIAT and Oct4 regulates their expression. Most importantly, We demonstrated that suppression of either Oct4 or MIAT induced apoptosis and reduced viability in lymphoma derived cell line. In haematological malignancies, More studies on lncRNAs MIAT, may help to identify patient populations at risk of leukemia, may classify patients into aggressive or mild cancer groups and may also promisingly facilitate the derivation of conventional therapeutic interventions by transfering lncRNA research to clinical oncology.ABSTRACT Hematopoietic malignancies are highly dysregulated processes in which many molecular aspects are involved. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are increasingly recognized as important regulators of gene expression. They are functional RNAs longer than 200 nucleotides in length, with low coding potential. MIAT was originally identified as a long non-coding RNA expressed in neuronal cells and constitutes a component of the nuclear scaffold. Moreover it affects the kinetics of the splicing process. Recently, MIAT is genetically associated with heart disease. However the molecular basis of MIAT function as well as its role in human disease is still in the beginning. In the present thesis, Expression of MIAT was studied in leukemic cell lines as well as a large cohort of CLL patients. Quantitative analysis of MIAT, revealed extremely MIAT expression in B cell lymphoma, while other types of leukemia like AML, ALL and CML did not show considerable expression. Feasible prognosis of outcome in CLL sample groups was related to MIAT expression. Abundant expression of MIAT achieved in unfavorable outcomes group of CLL patient samples (trisomy 12, 17p13 deletion, 11q22 deletion) compared to favorable (13q deletion) cytogenetic group. Intriguingly, MIAT expression might be associate to aggressiveness and poor outcome in CLL which also empower a role for MIAT in leukemia. Since, genetic networks controlling MIAT expression was the focus of our intense interest, an association beyond the transcription factors, Oct4, and human MIAT transcript was also studied. We showed that mRNA and protein level of Oct4 is in direct modulation of MIAT expression in leukemic cell lines as well as CLL patient samples. RNAi mediated knockdown of MIAT transcript lead to robust changes in Oct4 mRNA level. We further characterized a regulatory feedback loop between Oct4 and MIAT by developing lentivirus shRNA to downregulate Oct4 level. We showed that a reciprocal correlation of MIAT and Oct4 regulates their expression. Most importantly, We demonstrated that suppression of either Oct4 or MIAT induced apoptosis and reduced viability in lymphoma derived cell line. In haematological malignancies, More studies on lncRNAs MIAT, may help to identify patient populations at risk of leukemia, may classify patients into aggressive or mild cancer groups and may also promisingly facilitate the derivation of conventional therapeutic interventions by transfering lncRNA research to clinical oncology

Upregulation of long noncoding RNA MIAT in aggressive form of chronic lymphocytic leukemias.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-proten-coding transcripts of more than 200 nucleotides generated by RNA polymerase II and their expressions are tightly regulated in cell type specific- and/or cellular differential stage specific- manner. MIAT, originally isolated as a candidate gene for myocardial infarction, encodes lncRNA (termed MIAT). Here, we determined the expression level of MIAT in established leukemia/lymphoma cell lines and found its upregulation in lymphoid but not in myeloid cell lineage with mature B cell phenotype. MIAT expression level was further determined in chronic lymphocytic leukemias (CLL), characterized by expansion of leukemic cells with mature B phenotype, to demonstrate relatively high occurrence of MIAT upregulation in aggressive form of CLL carrying either 17p-deletion, 11q-deletion, or Trisomy 12 over indolent form carrying 13p-deletion. Furthermore, we show that MIAT constitutes a regulatory loop with OCT4 in malignant mature B cell, as was previously reported in mouse pulripotent stem cell, and that both molecules are essential for cell survival

Morphological comparison of western and eastern populations of Caspian kutum, Rutilus kutum (Kamensky, 1901) (Cyprinidae) in the southern Caspian Sea

This study aimed to investigate morphological differences of western and eastern populations of Caspian kutum Rutilus kutum in the southern Caspian Sea and its providing length-weight relationships and condition factor (CF). A 13-landmark based morphometric truss network system was used to investigate the hypothesis of population fragmentation of western and eastern populations of this species. The studied populations were differentmorphologically based on pre anal, body height, distance from pectoral fin to ventral fin, distance from pectoral fin to anal fin, caudal peduncle length, head length, pre orbital, pre ventral, and dorsal length. The results also revealed a negative allometry (b<3) of length-weight relationships for both sexes. Maximum condition factors was found in March. The results suggest distinct stocks in the western and eastern of Caspian Sea for fisheries management

Design of crRNA to Regulate MicroRNAs Related to Metastasis in Colorectal Cancer Using CRISPR-C2c2 (Cas13a) Technique

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer with the second-highest mortality rate worldwide. microRNAs(miRNAs) of cancer-derived exosomes have shown promising diagnosis potential. Recent studies have shown themetastatic potential of a specific group of microRNAs called metastasis. Therefore, down-regulation of miRNAs at thetranscriptional level can reduce metastasis probability. The aim of this bioinformatics research is targeting of miRNAsprecursors using CRISPR-C2c2 (Cas13a) technique. The C2c2 (Cas13a) enzyme structure was downloaded fromthe RCSB database, the sequence miRNAs and their precursors were collected from miRbase. The crRNAs weredesigned and evaluated for their specificity by using CRISPR-RT server. The modeling 3D structure of the designedcrRNA was performed by RNAComposer server. Finally, HDOCK server was used to perform molecular docking toevaluate docked molecules' energy level and position. The crRNAs designed for miR-1280, miR-206, miR-195, miR-371a, miR-34a, miR-27a, miR-224, miR-99b, miR-877, miR-495 and miR-384 that showed high structural similaritywith the situation observed in normal and appropriate orientation was obtained. Despite high specificity, the correctorientation was not established in the case of crRNAs that designed to target miR-145, miR-378a, miR-199a, miR-320a and miR-543. The predicted interactions between crRNAs and Cas13a enzyme showed that crRNAs have astrong potential to inhibit metastasis. Therefore, crRNAs may be considered as an effective anticancer agent for furtherresearch in drug development

Stakeholders Engagement and Readability of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting : A Study of Most Sustainable Firms

The social and environmental responsibility of business has become a major issue in recent years and communicating messages about such initiatives are likely to evoke strong and often positive reactions among stakeholders of every firm. Companies can generate favorable attitudes among their stakeholders by engaging them in CSR activities and eventually strengthen stakeholder-company relationships. As a result, there is a need for companies to communicate their CSR activities more effectively to stakeholders using different media. This paper considers the content of one type of such communications, the CSR report. Trough a content analysis, it looks at how five of top sustainable organizations address their stakeholders in their CSR reports. The readability of such reports for stakeholders will also be evaluated. The results suggest that only a selected number of stakeholders are addressed in the studied CSR reports and these reports found to be not readable enough for the intended audience.Godkänd; 2015; 20160330 (arakor

The online norm of reciprocity

Godkänd; 2014; 20140819 (arakor

Stakeholders Engagement and Readability of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting : A Study of Most Sustainable Firms

The social and environmental responsibility of business has become a major issue in recent years and communicating messages about such initiatives are likely to evoke strong and often positive reactions among stakeholders of every firm. Companies can generate favorable attitudes among their stakeholders by engaging them in CSR activities and eventually strengthen stakeholder-company relationships. As a result, there is a need for companies to communicate their CSR activities more effectively to stakeholders using different media. This paper considers the content of one type of such communications, the CSR report. Trough a content analysis, it looks at how five of top sustainable organizations address their stakeholders in their CSR reports. The readability of such reports for stakeholders will also be evaluated. The results suggest that only a selected number of stakeholders are addressed in the studied CSR reports and these reports found to be not readable enough for the intended audience.Godkänd; 2015; 20160330 (arakor

Socially responsible ideas among Swedish public procurers : An exploratory study

Funding Information: This research was financially supported by Handelsbanken in Sweden through the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius’ Research Foundation. The authors thank the foundation to make this research possible. We also thank all anonymous reviewers of this journal for their suggestive comments that convey great improvement in our research. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)Public procurement is increasingly being recognized as a tool to promote corporate social responsibility and a vehicle to help governments achieve their social development goals. Due to their power to intervene and their reliance on tax money, public sector organizations are focused on expanding the inclusion of social responsibility in their public procurement strategies. At the EU level, there is a strong focus on providing new opportunities for public authorities to promote socially responsible public procurement. Utilizing translation theory and following the travel of ideas framework in a Scandinavian institutionalism approach, this study maps the adoption, development, and implementation of social responsibility in public procurement through the five stages of materialization, categorization, transportation, institutionalization, and re-travel. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with public procurement authorities from municipalities, regional councils, and governmental organizations in Sweden. The findings show that the travel of social responsibility policies in public procurement follows a new Scandinavian institutionalism approach that has brought policy makers freedom in prioritizing social issues but leaves them confused about what to prioritize. Furthermore, while the results show a positive relationship in organizations between their size, measured as full-time procurement employees, and their maturity level in terms of social responsibility, this maturity level is not associated with their procurement spending. The study findings have important implications for research on socially responsible public procurement. Additionally, the data collected from public organizations suggest several ways that policy makers can include, promote, and institutionalize social responsibility in their procurement strategies to reduce disparity and improve social welfare.Peer reviewe

Consumer Behavior Research: A Synthesis of the Recent Literature

This article analyzes 12 years of recent scholarly research on consumer behavior published in the five leading international journals in this field. Analyzing academic contributions to a specific area of research provides valuable insights into how it has evolved over a defined period. The approach was to briefly discuss content analysis and its application in scholarly literature review studies. The methodology used here involves the classification of topics to evaluate key trends in consumer behavior literature. It includes a ranking of topics published, typology of the published articles, the research classification in terms of methodologies, and analysis techniques. The most cited articles in the field and within each journal are also examined. The comprehensive literature review of consumer behavior research undertaken in this article could advance the discipline of consumer behavior research by elucidating the evolution of consumer behavior literature in the studied period