Communication in Plants: Comparison of Multiple Action Potential and Mechanosensitive Signals With Experiments

Problems and countermeasures associated with intercultural adaptation in international education according to the communication action theory model

Due to the development of the Chinese economy, the consolidation of national power worldwide, and the increasing frequency of economic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries, the number of people from various countries who travel to China to engage in exchanges has increased significantly. Given the development of economic globalization, the acceleration of the process of educational internationalization represents a general trend in higher education development and a common requirement for universities. In addition to education, international students also experience cross-cultural adaptation, that is, behavioral adaptation or changes that occur in people in response to changes in their home country, whether in the form of external or internal cultural adaptation. For international students, the problem of cross-cultural adaptation not only hinders their learning progress but also affects their psychology and living conditions. This article explains the construction of Habermas’s theory of communication action. According to this theory, the purpose of communication is to coordinate the common actions of actors, and this coordination is achieved through mutual communication, which is mediated by language. The article also discusses the cross-cultural adaptation experienced by international students in Chinese universities and highlights the importance of developing educational services for international students in the context of international education. Studies have shown that female students exhibit slightly worse psychological adaptation than male students and female students have a slightly higher rate of depression rate than male students. An interpersonal study of 120 international students traveling to China found that most of these students (60%) were able to adapt in terms of their interpersonal relationships. To solve the problems associated with cross-cultural adaptation of international students in China, some countermeasures have been proposed, mainly including active participation in interpersonal communication, an enhanced understanding of the new culture, and the amplification of cultural identity.

Broadening the definition of a nervous system to better understand the evolution of plants and animals

Most textbook definitions recognize only animals as having nervous systems. However, for the past couple decades, botanists have been meticulously studying long-distance signaling systems in plants, and some researchers have stated that plants have a simple nervous system. Thus, an academic conflict has emerged between those who defend and those who deny the existence of a nervous system in plants. This article analyses that debate, and we propose an alternative to answering yes or no: broadening the definition of a nervous system to include plants. We claim that a definition broader than the current one, which is based only on a phylogenetic viewpoint, would be helpful in obtaining a deeper understanding of how evolution has driven the features of signal generation, transmission and processing in multicellular beings. Also, we propose two possible definitions and exemplify how broader a definition allows for new viewpoints on the evolution of plants, animals and the nervous system.

A Voxel Model to Decipher the Role of Molecular Communication in the Growth of Glioblastoma Multiforme

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), the most malignant human tumour, can be defined by the evolution of growing bio-nanomachine networks within an interplay between self-renewal (Grow) and invasion (Go) potential of mutually exclusive phenotypes of transmitter and receiver cells. Herein, we present a mathematical model for the growth of GBM tumour driven by molecule-mediated inter-cellular communication between two populations of evolutionary bio-nanomachines representing the Glioma Stem Cells (GSCs) and Glioma Cells (GCs). The contribution of each subpopulation to tumour growth is quantified by a voxel model representing the end to end inter-cellular communication models for GSCs and progressively evolving invasiveness levels of glioma cells within a network of diverse cell configurations. Mutual information, information propagation speed and the impact of cell numbers and phenotypes on the communication output and GBM growth are studied by using analysis from information theory. The numerical simulations show that the progression of GBM is directly related to higher mutual information and higher input information flow of molecules between the GSCs and GCs, resulting in an increased tumour growth rate. These fundamental findings contribute to deciphering the mechanisms of tumour growth and are expected to provide new knowledge towards the development of future bio-nanomachine-based therapeutic approaches for GBM.