Space and culture: Tradition verses culture

This paper proposes to examine contemporary culture, through communication and technology, in an attempt to expose some of these new or altered spatial concepts evident in film and built form, such as ratefaction and saturation

Users verses IT: Understanding prejudice in information systems development project teams

This paper investigated the phenomenon of prejudice among ISD project members. We presented a theoretical discussion followed by one qualitative and one quantitative study. In the qualitative study, we interviewed different members of the project teams to understand the different types of prejudice possessed by team members. Results of this interview study led to the development of prejudice scales for IT members and users, which was used in the quantitative study. We surveyed 128 ISD teams and found that prejudice was related task and relationship conflict, satisfaction and willingness to work together in the future. Furthermore, prejudice exerts stronger influences on users than IT members in terms of increasing task and relationship conflicts and decreasing goal commitment.

Understanding nonsense : breathing life into shibboleths and killing critical thought in higher education

In this paper, I focus on the growing "nonsense industry" which is most apparent in the writing typical of business, government departments, and the financial press. This writing, like technical writing, is characterised by heavy reliance on grammatical metaphor. It endows shibboleths - for instance, "globalisation"; "efficiencies"; "competition"; "modernisation"; "consumer sentiment"; "reform"; and so on - with anthropomorphic qualities. These anthropomorphic artefacts of technocratised language are then presented as having immutable powers over people. Thus they become banal public excuses for negligent practices in both business and government.

A Mouse Model of Early-Onset Renal Failure Due to a Xanthine Dehydrogenase Nonsense Mutation

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by renal fibrosis that can lead to end-stage renal failure, and studies have supported a strong genetic influence on the risk of developing CKD. However, investigations of the underlying molecular mechanisms are hampered by the lack of suitable hereditary models in animals. We therefore sought to establish hereditary mouse models for CKD and renal fibrosis by investigating mice treated with the chemical mutagen N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea, and identified a mouse with autosomal recessive renal failure, designated RENF. Three-week old RENF mice were smaller than their littermates, whereas at birth they had been of similar size. RENF mice, at 4-weeks of age, had elevated concentrations of plasma urea and creatinine, indicating renal failure, which was associated with small and irregularly shaped kidneys. Genetic studies using DNA from 10 affected mice and 91 single nucleotide polymorphisms mapped the Renf locus to a 5.8Mbp region on chromosome 17E1.3. DNA sequencing of the xanthine dehydrogenase (Xdh) gene revealed a nonsense mutation at codon 26 that co-segregated with affected RENF mice. The Xdh mutation resulted in loss of hepatic XDH and renal Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression. XDH mutations in man cause xanthinuria with undetectable plasma uric acid levels and three RENF mice had plasma uric acid levels below the limit of detection. Histological analysis of RENF kidney sections revealed abnormal arrangement of glomeruli, intratubular casts, cellular infiltration in the interstitial space, and interstitial fibrosis. TUNEL analysis of RENF kidney sections showed extensive apoptosis predominantly affecting the tubules. Thus, we have established a mouse model for autosomal recessive early-onset renal failure due to a nonsense mutation in Xdh that is a model for xanthinuria in man. This mouse model could help to increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with renal fibrosis and the specific roles of XDH and uric acid. © 2012 Piret et al.

The exploration of consumer power in online brand communities : a comparison case study in Australia and China

Aided by the development of information technology, the balance of power in the market place is rapidly shifting from marketers towards consumers and nowhere is this more obvious than in the online environment (Denegri-Knott, Zwick, & Schroeder, 2006; Moynagh & Worsley, 2002; Newcomer, 2000; Samli, 2001). From the inception and continuous development of the Internet, consumers are becoming more empowered. They can choose what they want to click on the Internet, they can shop and transact payments, watch and download video, chat with others, be it friends or even total strangers. Especially in online communities, like-minded consumers share and exchange information, ideas and opinions. One form of online community is the online brand community, which gathers specific brand lovers. As with any social unit, people form different roles in the community and exert different effects on each other. Their interaction online can greatly influence the brand and marketers. A comprehensive understanding of the operation of this special group form is essential to advancing marketing thought and practice (Kozinets, 1999). While online communities have strongly shifted the balance of power from marketers to consumers, the current marketing literature is sparse on power theory (Merlo, Whitwell, & Lukas, 2004). Some studies have been conducted from an economic point of view (Smith, 1987), however their application to marketing has been limited. Denegri-Knott (2006) explored power based on the struggle between consumers and marketers online and identified consumer power formats such as control over the relationship, information, aggregation and participation. Her study has built a foundation for future power studies in the online environment. This research project bridges the limited marketing literature on power theory with the growing recognition of online communities among marketing academics and practitioners. Specifically, this study extends and redefines consumer power by exploring the concept of power in online brand communities, in order to better understand power structure and distribution in this context. This research investigates the applicability of the factors of consumer power identified by Denegri-Knott (2006) to the online brand community. In addition, by acknowledging the model proposed by McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig (2002), which emphasized that community study should focus on the role of consumers and identifying multiple relationships among the community, this research further explores how member role changes will affect power relationships as well as consumer likings of the brand. As a further extension to the literature, this study also considers cultural differences and their effect on community member roles and power structure. Based on the study of Hofstede (1980), Australia and China were chosen as two distinct samples to represent differences in two cultural dimensions, namely individualism verses collectivism and high power distance verses low power distance. This contribution to the research also helps answer the research gap identified by Muñiz Jr & O'Guinn (2001), who pointed out the lack of cross cultural studies within the online brand community context. This research adopts a case study methodology to investigate the issues identified above. Case study is an appropriate research strategy to answer “how” and “why” questions of a contemporary phenomenon in real-life context (Yin, 2003). The online brand communities of “Haloforum.net” in Australia and “NGA.cn” in China were selected as two cases. In-depth interviews were used as the primary data collection method. As a result of the geographical dispersion and the preference of a certain number of participants, online synchronic interviews via MSN messenger were utilized along with the face-to-face interviews. As a supplementary approach, online observation was carried over two months, covering a two week period prior to the interviews and a six week period following the interviews. Triangulation techniques were used to strengthen the credibility and validity of the research findings (Yin, 2003). The findings of this research study suggest a new definition of power in an online brand community. This research also redefines the consumer power types and broadens the brand community model developed by McAlexander et al. (2002) in an online context by extending the various relationships between brand and members. This presents a more complete picture of how the perceived power relationships are structured in the online brand community. A new member role is discovered in the Australian online brand community in addition to the four member roles identified by Kozinets (1999), in contrast however, all four roles do not exist in the Chinese online brand community. The research proposes a model which links the defined power types and identified member roles. Furthermore, given the results of the cross-cultural comparison between Australia and China showed certain discrepancies, the research suggests that power studies in the online brand community should be country-specific. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on online consumer power, by applying it to the context of an online brand community, as well as considering factors such as cross cultural difference. Importantly, it provides insights for marketing practitioners on how to best leverage consumer power to serve brand objective in online brand communities. This, in turn, should lead to more cost effective and successful communication strategies. Finally, the study proposes future research directions. The research should be extended to communities of different sizes, to different extents of marketer control over the community, to the connection between online and offline activities within the brand community, and (given the cross-cultural findings) to different countries. In addition, a greater amount of research in this area is recommended to determine the generalizability of this study.

Voices of the Unheard

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant. Horace - Roman lyric poet and satirist 65BC – 8 BC This quotation from Horace could well be the chorus to a medley of songs sung by people who face extraordinary adversity and have gained emotional resilience through music making. In this chapter we present three composition ventures that are stories or verses in a new song and whose chorus summarises the nature of the resilience factors present in the narratives. We are aware that words on a page like this can have the effect of filtering out the engaging nature of musical experience and reduce music to a critique or an evaluation of its aesthetic value. This disjuncture between language and the ephemeral, embodied experience is a problem for those who use these creative processes in therapeutic and salutogenic ways (Antonovsky, 1996) for public health. The notion of salutogenic health, put simply, delineates it from therapy in that the processes focus upon wellness rather than therapy. Whilst we include evidence from the fields of community music therapy (Pavlicevic, 2004; Leitschuh et al., 1991), neuroscience (Bittman et al., 2001) and community music (Bartleet et al., 2009) the framework for a salutogenic health outcome in community music is one which seeks to employ music practices and the qualities of music making that provide positive health benefit to communities –to enhance health and well being rather than the “treatment” of disorders. It is essentially a holistic and interdisciplinary study. Therapy and salutogenic health are not mutually exclusive as both depend upon the qualities of music experience to affect change. Collecting, analysing and presenting evidence of change in human behaviour that can be directly attributed to creative music making is a problem of evaluation.

Computing in performing arts education and practice

The performing arts have traditionally made limited use of and showed limited acceptance of computing technology. There are cognitive, physical, environmental, and social influences on the use of computers in performing arts. This paper will examine those influences on the practice of computers in the performing arts and their implications for education in those areas. These implications for the learning environment include infrastructure, interface design, industrial design, and software functionality. Although many of the issues raised in this paper are common to all visual and performing arts, there are significant differences between them which require abstraction of the concepts presented in this paper beyond the more practical focus intended. In particular there are differences in the ways humans are involved in the presentation of a work, and the transitory verses static nature of time in art products.

Compilation of somatic mutations of the CDKN2 gene in human cancers : non-random distribution of base substitutions

The CDKN2 gene, encoding the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16, is a tumour suppressor gene that maps to chromosome band 9p21-p22. The most common mechanism of inactivation of this gene in human cancers is through homozygous deletion; however, in a smaller proportion of tumours and tumour cell lines intragenic mutations occur. In this study we have compiled a database of over 120 published point mutations in the CDKN2 gene from a wide variety of tumour types. A further 50 deletions, insertions, and splice mutations in CDKN2 have also been compiled. Furthermore, we have standardised the numbering of all mutations according to the full-length 156 amino acid form of p16. From this study we are able to define several hot spots, some of which occur at conserved residues within the ankyrin domains of p16. While many of the hotspots are shared by a number of cancers, the relative importance of each position varies, possibly reflecting the role of different carcinogens in the development of certain tumours. As reported previously, the mutational spectrum of CDKN2 in melanomas differs from that of internal malignancies and supports the involvement of UV in melanoma tumorigenesis. Notably, 52% of all substitutions in melanoma-derived samples occurred at just six nucleotide positions. Nonsense mutations comprise a comparatively high proportion of mutations present in the CDKN2 gene, and possible explanations for this are discussed.

CDKN2A/p16 is inactivated in most melanoma cell lines

The CDKN2A gene maps to chromosome 9p21-22 and is responsible for melanoma susceptibility in some families. Its product, p16, binds specifically to CDK4 and CDK6 in vitro and in vivo, inhibiting their kinase activity. CDKN2A is homozygously deleted or mutated in a large proportion of tumor cell lines and some primary tumors, including melanomas. The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of CDKN2A and elucidate the mechanisms of p16 inactivation in a panel of 60 cell lines derived from sporadic melanomas. Twenty-six (43%) of the melanoma lines were homozygously deleted for CDKN2A, and an additional 15 (25%) lines carried missense, nonsense, or frameshift mutations. All but one of the latter group were shown by microsatellite analysis to be hemizygous for the region of 9p surrounding CDKN2A. p16 was detected by Western blotting in only five of the cell lines carrying mutations. Immunoprecipitation of p16 in these lines, followed by Western blotting to detect the coprecipitation of CDK4 and CDK6, revealed that p16 was functionally compromised in all cell lines but the one that carried a heterozygous CDKN2A mutation. In the remaining 19 lines that carried wild-type CDKN2A alleles, Western blot analysis and immunoprecipitation indicated that 11 cell lines expressed a wild-type protein. Northern blotting was performed on the remaining eight cell lines and revealed that one cell line carried an aberrantly sized RNA transcript, and two other cell lines failed to express RNA. The promoter was found to be methylated in five cell lines that expressed CDKN2A transcript but not p16. Presumably, the message seen by Northern blotting in these cell lines is the result of cross-hybridization of the total cDNA probe with the exon 1beta transcript. Microsatellite analysis revealed that the majority of these cell lines were hemi/homozygous for the region surrounding CDKN2A, indicating that the wild-type allele had been lost. In the 11 cell lines that expressed functional p16, microsatellite analysis revealed loss of heterozygosity at the markers immediately surrounding CDKN2A in five cases, and the previously characterized R24C mutation of CDK4 was identified in one of the remaining 6 lines. These data indicate that 55 of 60 (92%) melanoma cell lines demonstrated some aberration of CDKN2A or CDK4, thus suggesting that this pathway is a primary genetic target in melanoma development.

Fusion of morphological images for airborne target detection

Several track-before-detection approaches for image based aircraft detection have recently been examined in an important automated aircraft collision detection application. A particularly popular approach is a two stage processing paradigm which involves: a morphological spatial filter stage (which aims to emphasize the visual characteristics of targets) followed by a temporal or track filter stage (which aims to emphasize the temporal characteristics of targets). In this paper, we proposed new spot detection techniques for this two stage processing paradigm that fuse together raw and morphological images or fuse together various different morphological images (we call these approaches morphological reinforcement). On the basis of flight test data, the proposed morphological reinforcement operations are shown to offer superior signal to-noise characteristics when compared to standard spatial filter options (such as the close-minus-open and adaptive contour morphological operations). However, system operation characterised curves, which examine detection verses false alarm characteristics after both processing stages, illustrate that system performance is very data dependent.

Mutations in cardiac T-Box Factor gene TBX20 are associated with diverse cardiac pathologies, including defects of septation and valvulogenesis and cardiomyopathy

The T-box family transcription factor gene TBX20 acts in a conserved regulatory network, guiding heart formation and patterning in diverse species. Mouse Tbx20 is expressed in cardiac progenitor cells, differentiating cardiomyocytes, and developing valvular tissue, and its deletion or RNA interference-mediated knockdown is catastrophic for heart development. TBX20 interacts physically, functionally, and genetically with other cardiac transcription factors, including NKX2-5, GATA4, and TBX5, mutations of which cause congenital heart disease (CHD). Here, we report nonsense (Q195X) and missense (I152M) germline mutations within the T-box DNA-binding domain of human TBX20 that were associated with a family history of CHD and a complex spectrum of developmental anomalies, including defects in septation, chamber growth, and valvulogenesis. Biophysical characterization of wild-type and mutant proteins indicated how the missense mutation disrupts the structure and function of the TBX20 T-box. Dilated cardiomyopathy was a feature of the TBX20 mutant phenotype in humans and mice, suggesting that mutations in developmental transcription factors can provide a sensitized template for adult-onset heart disease. Our findings are the first to link TBX20 mutations to human pathology. They provide insights into how mutation of different genes in an interactive regulatory circuit lead to diverse clinical phenotypes, with implications for diagnosis, genetic screening, and patient follow-up.

Soundage : a practice-led approach to Gertrude Stein, sound, and generative language

In this practice-led research project I work to show how a re-reading and a particular form of listening to the sound-riddled nature of Gertrude Stein's work, Two: Gertrude Stein and her Brother, presents us with a contemporary theory of sound in language. This theory, though in its infancy, is a particular enjambment of sounded language that presents itself as an event, engaged with meaning, with its own inherent voice. It displays a propensity through engagement with the 'other' to erupt into love. In this thesis these qualities are reverberated further through the work of Seth Kim-Cohen's notion of the non-cochlear, Simon Jarvis's notion of musical thinking, Jean-Jacques Lecercle's notion of délire or nonsense, Luce Irigaray's notion of jouissant love and the Bracha Ettinger's notion of the generative matrixial border space. This reading then is simultaneously paired with my own work of scoring and creating a digital opera from Stein's work, thereby testing and performing Stein's theory. In this I show how a re-reading and relistening to Stein's work can be significant to feminist ethical language frames, contemporary philosophy, sonic art theory and digital language frames. Further significance of this study is that when the reverberation of Stein's engagements with language through sound can be listened to, a pattern emerges, one that encouragingly problematizes subjectivity and interweaves genres/methods and means, creating a new frame for sound in language, one with its own voice that I call soundage.

Out of position : the ball park of humour in contemporary art

This practice-led research project explores how humour can be employed to develop a methodology for examining the socio-political dimensions of contemporary art practice. This research aims to identify and elaborate on how using the evasive strategies and elliptical frameworks associated with ideas of the absurd and nonsense can lead to new ways of understanding the nexus between social, political and cultural practices. This is achieved primarily through an examination of the art practices of Marcel Duchamp, Bruce Nauman, and Martin Kippenberger. These artists contextualise this research because in different ways they all engage with humour as a device to critique conventional notions of how art can be read or understood. Using these strategies the project aims to demonstrate new ways for considering how visual art can use humour to creatively and critically investigate the relationships between art and the social.

N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) induced mutations within the Klotho gene lead to ectopic calcification and reduced lifespan in mouse models

Ectopic calcification (EC), which is the pathological deposition of calcium and phosphate in extra-skeletal tissues, may be associated with hypercalcaemic and hyperphosphataemic disorders, or it may occur in the absence of metabolic abnormalities. In addition, EC may be inherited as part of several monogenic disorders and studies of these have provided valuable insights into the metabolic pathways regulating mineral metabolism. For example, studies of tumoural calcinosis, a disorder characterised by hyperphosphataemia and progressive EC, have revealed mutations of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), polypeptide N-acetyl galactosaminyltransferase 3 (GALNT3) and klotho (KL), which are all part of a phosphate-regulating pathway. However, such studies in humans are limited by the lack of available large families with EC, and to facilitate such studies we assessed the progeny of mice treated with the chemical mutagen N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) for EC. This identified two mutants with autosomal recessive forms of EC, and reduced lifespan, designated Ecalc1 and Ecalc2. Genetic mapping localized the Ecalc1 and Ecalc2 loci to a 11.0 Mb region on chromosome 5 that contained the klotho gene (Kl), and DNA sequence analysis identified nonsense (Gln203Stop) and missense (Ile604Asn) Kl mutations in Ecalc1 and Ecalc2 mice, respectively. The Gln203Stop mutation, located in KL1 domain, was severely hypomorphic and led to a 17-fold reduction of renal Kl expression. The Ile604Asn mutation, located in KL2 domain, was predicted to impair klotho protein stability and in vitro expression studies in COS-7 cells revealed endoplasmic reticulum retention of the Ile604Asn mutant. Further phenotype studies undertaken in Ecalc1 (kl203X/203X) mice demonstrated elevations in plasma concentrations of phosphate, FGF23 and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. Thus, two allelic variants of Kl that develop EC and represent mouse models for tumoural calcinosis have been established. © 2015 Esapa et al.

A novel LEMD3 mutation common to patients with osteopoikilosis with and without melorheostosis

Recent studies have reported loss of function mutations in the LEMD3 gene, encoding an inner nuclear membrane protein that influences Smad signaling, as a cause of osteopoikilosis, Buschke-Ollendorff syndrome, and melorheostosis. We investigated LEMD3 in a three-generation family with osteopoikilosis from the Azores, an affected father and daughter from Ireland with osteopoikilosis (the daughter also had melorheostosis), and two other individuals from the UK with isolated melorheostosis. We found a novel C to T substitution at position 2032 bp (cDNA) in exon 8 of LEMD3, resulting in a premature stop codon at amino acid position 678. This mutation co-segregates with the osteopoikilosis phenotype in both the Azorean family and the Irish family. It was not detected in any of the six unaffected family members or in 342 healthy Caucasian individuals. No LEMD3 mutations were detected in the two patients with sporadic melorheostosis. The LEMD3 mutation reported was clearly the cause of osteopoikilosis in the two families but its relationship to melorheostosis in one of the family members is still unclear. Perhaps unsurprisingly in what is a segmental disease, we did not find LEMD3 mutations in peripheral-blood-derived DNA from the two other individuals with sporadic melorheostosis. The nature of the additional genetic and/or environmental influences required for the development of melorheostosis in those with osteopoikilosis requires further investigation.