Spatial coordinated medium sharing: Optimal access control management in drive-thru internet

Driven by the ever-growing expectation of ubiquitous connectivity and the widespread adoption of IEEE 802.11 networks, it is not only highly demanded but also entirely possible for in-motion vehicles to establish convenient Internet access to roadside WiFi access points (APs) than ever before, which is referred to as Drive-Thru Internet. The performance of Drive-Thru Internet, however, would suffer from the high vehicle mobility, severe channel contentions, and instinct issues of the IEEE 802.11 MAC as it was originally designed for static scenarios. As an effort to address these problems, in this paper, we develop a unified analytical framework to evaluate the performance of Drive-Thru Internet, which can accommodate various vehicular traffic flow states, and to be compatible with IEEE 802.11a/b/g networks with a distributed coordination function (DCF). We first develop the mathematical analysis to evaluate the mean saturated throughput of vehicles and the transmitted data volume of a vehicle per drive-thru. We show that the throughput performance of Drive-Thru Internet can be enhanced by selecting an optimal transmission region within an AP's coverage for the coordinated medium sharing of all vehicles. We then develop a spatial access control management approach accordingly, which ensures the airtime fairness for medium sharing and boosts the throughput performance of Drive-Thru Internet in a practical, efficient, and distributed manner. Simulation results show that our optimal access control management approach can efficiently work in IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g networks. The maximal transmitted data volume per drive-thru can be enhanced by 113.1% and 59.5% for IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g networks with a DCF, respectively, compared with the normal IEEE 802.11 medium access with a DCF.

Effect of exercise intensity on skeletal muscle AMPK signaling in humans

The effect of exercise intensity on skeletal muscle AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling and substrate metabolism was examined in eight men cycling for 20 min at each of three sequential intensities: low (40 ± 2% Vo₂ peak), medium (59 ± 1% Vo₂ peak), and high (79 ± 1% Vo₂ peak). Muscle free AMP/ATP ratio only increased at the two higher exercise intensities (P < 0.05). AMPK a1 (1.5-fold) and AMPK a2 (5-fold) activities increased from low to medium intensity, with AMPK a2 activity increasing further from medium to high intensity. The upstream AMPK kinase activity was substantial at rest and only increased 50% with exercise, indicating that, initially, signaling through AMPK did not require AMPK kinase posttranslational modification. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC)-ßphosphorylation was sensitive to exercise, increasing threefold from rest to low intensity, whereas neuronal NO synthase (nNOS)µphosphorylation was only observed at the higher exercise intensities. Glucose disappearance (tracer) did not increase from rest to low intensity, but increased sequentially from low to medium to high intensity. Calculated fat oxidation increased from rest to low intensity in parallel with ACCß phosphorylation, then declined during high intensity. These results indicate that ACCß phosphorylation is especially sensitive to exercise and tightly coupled to AMPK signaling and that AMPK activation does not depend on AMPK kinase activation during exercise.

Social entrepreneurship and experiential learning

Social entrepreneurship is a growing, but currently ill-defined area of innovation and business development. It is about accountability not just to commercial imperatives but to the wide range of stakeholders in a social enterprise, potentially an area of great tension. Social responsibility is about a commitment to society, entrepreneurship is usually understood to provide a business outlook on the enterprise – it needs to be sustainable commercially.

To educate the modern or millennial learner (born after about 1980 and grappling with burgeoning youth needs for creative employment development) into developing a small to medium enterprise with a social responsibility, modern postgraduate coursework programs have looked closely at experiential learning. This provides a performative learning through transforming theory into applied situations. The workplace based projects used for the postgraduate programs are effective immersive learning. This paper will include a case study of two postgraduate coursework units New Ventures in Creative Enterprise, and Building Creative Teams, part of a Masters in Communication/Creative Enterprise. These provide experiential learning about strategic planning for startup creative businesses, and work-based projects which build on interpersonal skills for ongoing success.

Social entrepreneurship and experiential learning

Social enterprises and entrepreneurship are about accountability not just to commercial imperatives but to the wide range of stakeholders in a social enterprise, potentially an area of great tension. Social responsibility is about a commitment to society or community, entrepreneurship is usually understood to provide a business outlook on the enterprise - it needs to be sustainable commercially and balanced carefully.
To educate the modem or millenniallearner (born after about 19t1O and grappling with burgeoning youth needs for creative employment developmem) into developing a small to medium enterprise with a social responsibility, modem postgraduate coursework programs have looked closely at experiential learning. This provides a transformative learning through workplace-based projects and strategic business conceptuaUsing. This paper will include a case study of two postgraduate coursework units New Ventures in Creative Enterprise, and Building Creative Teams, part of a Masters in Communication/Creative Enterprise. These provide experiential learning about strategic planning for startup creative businesses, and work-based projects which build on interpersonal skills for ongoing success.

Stanley Melbourne Bruce in London, 1938-41

This article examines Stanley Melbourne Bruce's role as Australian high commissioner in London during the approach to the Second World War and the European War from 1939 to 1941. It argues that Bruce in this period was an influential high commissioner who strongly influenced Australian foreign policy and exercised some influence, albeit with limitations, on the British government. After 1933, Bruce had transformed the office of Australian high commissioner in London from a largely commercial position into one with real diplomatic influence. In the approach to war, Bruce tended to bolster the policy of appeasement on which the Chamberlain government was already decided and in the Phoney War his cautious arguments contributed to the delay of the Allied intervention in Norway. With the accession of Winston Churchill to the prime ministership in May 1940, Bruce lost some of the influence he had had with Neville Chamberlain and he was on the losing side of the argument inside the British Cabinet about the possibility of a negotiated peace in May–June 1940. Despite the limitations of his personal relationship with Churchill, he was nonetheless an influential voice with other British ministers and senior officials and with the US ambassador in London and key members of the Roosevelt administration. This equipped him to play an effective part in the emerging Anglo-American alliance and issues of post-war international reconstruction.

Mitomycin C: a promising agent for the treatment of canine corneal scarring

Objective  To evaluate the safety and efficacy of mitomycin C (MMC) in prevention of canine corneal scarring.

Methods  With an in vitro approach using healthy canine corneas, cultures of primary canine corneal fibroblasts or myofibroblasts were generated. Primary canine corneal fibroblasts were obtained by growing corneal buttons in minimal essential medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. Canine corneal myofibroblasts were produced by growing cultures in serum-free medium containing transforming growth factor β1 (1 ng/mL). Trypan blue assay and phase-contrast microscopy were used to evaluate the toxicity of three doses of MMC (0.002%, 0.02% and 0.04%). Real-time PCR, immunoblot, and immunocytochemistry techniques were used to determine MMC efficacy to inhibit markers of canine corneal scarring.

Results  A single 2-min treatment of 0.02% or less MMC did not alter canine corneal fibroblast or keratocyte phenotype, viability, or growth. The 0.02% dose substantially reduced myofibroblast formation (up to 67%; P < 0.001), as measured by the change in RNA and protein expression of fibrosis biomarkers (α-smooth muscle actin and F-actin).

Conclusion  This in vitro study suggests that a single 2-min 0.02% MMC treatment to the canine corneal keratocytes is safe and may be useful in decreasing canine corneal fibrous metaplasia. In vivo studies are warranted.

After Charlie: free speech and the political economy of communication

Three significant events at the start of 2015 have put freedom of speech firmly on the global agenda. The first was the carry-over from the December 2014 illegal entry to the Sony Corporation’s file servers by anonymous hackers, believed to be linked to the North Korean regime. The second was the horrible attack on journalists, editors, and cartoonists at the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo on 7 January. The third was the election of leftwing anti-austerity party Syrzia in Greece on 25 January.While each event is different in scope and size, they are important to scholars of the political economy of communication because they all speak to ongoing debates about freedom of expression, freedom of speech and freedom of the press. I name each of these concepts separately because, despite popular confusion, they are not the same thing (Patching and Hirst, 2014) . Freedom of expression is the right to individual self-expression through any means; it is an inalienable human right. Freedom of speech refers to the right (and the physical ability) to utter political speech, to say what others wish to repress and to demand a voice with which to express a range of social and political thoughts. Freedom of the press is a very particular version of freedom of expression that is intimately bound with the political economy of speech and of the printing press. Freedom of the press is impossible without the press and, despite its theoretical availability to all of us, this principle is impossible to articulate without the material means (usually money) to actually deploy a printing press (or the electronic means of broadcasting and publishing).Freedom of expression is immutable; freedom of speech subject to legal, ethical and ideological restriction (for better, or worse) and freedom of the press is peculiar to bourgeois society in that it entails the freedom to own and operate a press, not the right to say or publish on a level playing field. Access to freedom of the press is determined in the marketplace and is subject to the unequal power relationships that such determination implies.It is fitting to start with the Charlie Hebdo massacre because the loss of 17 lives makes this the most chilling of the three events and demands that it be given prominence in any analysis. No lives have been lost yet because Sony’s computers were hacked and the election of Syriza has not (yet) led to mass deaths in Greece.

Bone-derived soluble factors and laminin-511 cooperate to promote migration, invasion and survival of bone-metastatic breast tumor cells

Tumor intrinsic and extrinsic factors are thought to contribute to bone metastasis but little is known about how they cooperate to promote breast cancer spread to bone. We used the bone-metastatic 4T1BM2 mammary carcinoma model to investigate the cooperative interactions between tumor LM-511 and bone-derived soluble factors in vitro. We show that bone conditioned medium cooperates with LM-511 to enhance 4T1BM2 cell migration and invasion and is sufficient alone to promote survival in the absence of serum. These responses were associated with increased secretion of MMP-9 and activation of ERK and AKT signaling pathways and were partially blocked by pharmacological inhibitors of MMP-9, AKT-1/2 or MEK. Importantly, pre-treatment of 4T1BM2 cells with an AKT-1/2 inhibitor significantly reduced experimental metastasis to bone in vivo. Promotion of survival and invasive responses by bone-derived soluble factors and tumor-derived LM-511 are likely to contribute to the metastatic spread of breast tumors to bone.

Propyl gallate and butylated hydroxytoluene influence the accumulation of saturated fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acid and carotenoids in thraustochytrids

Schizochytrium sp. S31 was shown to have potential for production of the functional food ingredients docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and astaxanthin, with coproduction of biodiesel. Biomass and lipid levels were greater with glycerol than with glucose as carbon source. Addition of propyl gallate or butylated hydroxytoluene to the media resulted in increased biomass and lipid levels, with propyl gallate being the more effective of the two antioxidants. Medium supplementation with propyl gallate at 0.03% and glycerol as the carbon source resulted in enhanced biomass productivity (28.50 g L^-1), lipid accumulation (24.87 g L^-1) and astaxanthin levels (452.26 μg L^-1).

A new voice in a new place: musical encounters with a difference

Australian education providers at the university level are being challenged to be more inclusive of cultural diversity and associated knowledge systems in their curricula. This article reports on some findings of a research study that aimed to evaluate the introduction of African music to primary teacher education students and to provide them with a context for assimilating African music into their own teaching practice. This paper reports on my work as a music educator in sharing my different worlds of experience ‘with one voice’ in order to expand students’ local knowledge base. It also discusses the nature and applications of African music and demonstrates some aspects that correlate with Western music. Through a study of both Western and African pedagogies and repertoire, students were able to gain a more holistic perspective of the role of music in society and were able to contextualize and transfer epistemological and pedagogical insights from one society to another.

Antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction with interactive voice response

The aim of this study was to empirically test a model of antecedents and consequences of customers’ satisfaction with interactive voice response (IVR). IVR is a commonplace selfservice technology, yet it has seldom been the focus of academic research. As customers’ frustration with IVR is apparent, understanding how customers evaluate IVR and their subsequent behavioural intentions is important. Findings of a study of Australian Football League members who were users of its IVR system indicated that customer satisfaction resulted when it was easy to use, offered fast service and provided customers with feelings of control. Overall satisfaction with the IVR system was related to customers’ intentions to reuse it and their trust in the AFL. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Giving the people a voice? Experiments with consultative authoritarian institutions in China

In the last decade Chinese consultative authoritarianism has been renewed through many political and administrative innovations and tools. Authoritarian rule in China is now permeated by a wide variety of consultative and deliberative practices. These practices stabilize and strengthen authoritarian rule, leading to deliberative authoritarianism, an advanced form of consultative authoritarianism. This paper discusses two experiments—deliberative polling at Zeguo, Zhejiang, and a township election in Ya'an, Sichuan. Through these two cases we examine the direction which the development of consultative authoritarianism is presently taking, and the potentials and limitations of such input mechanisms in an authoritarian setting.

Mathematical modelling of downflow floating medium filter (DFF) with in-line flocculation arrangement

A laboratory-scale set-up consisting of rapid mixing device and floating medium filter was used to study the use of a downflow floating medium filter (DFF) with an in-line flocculation arrangement as a static flocculator and a prefilter. The semi-empirical mathematical model formulated incorporates flocculation within the filter, particle/floc attachment onto the filter and the detachment of flocs from the medium. The mathematical model for filtration takes into account the expansion of the filter bed. The removal efficiency of DFF and headless development were successfully simulated for different conditions of filtration velocity, filter depth and influent suspended solids (SS). The values of attachment coefficient a(p)β and headless coefficient β1 were found to be independent of filtration velocity, filter depth and influent SS concentration.

Incorporating domain knowledge with video and voice data analysis in news broadcasts

This paper addresses the area of video annotation, indexing and retrieval, and shows how a set of tools can be employed, along with domain knowledge, to detect narrative structure in broadcast news. The initial structure is detected using low-level audio visual processing in conjunction with domain knowledge. Higher level processing may then utilize the initial structure detected to direct processing to improve and extend the initial classification.

The structure detected breaks a news broadcast into segments, each of which contains a single topic of discussion. Further the segments are labeled as a) anchor person or reporter, b) footage with a voice over or c) sound bite. This labeling may be used to provide a summary, for example by presenting a thumbnail for each reporter present in a section of the video. The inclusion of domain knowledge in computation allows more directed application of high level processing, giving much greater efficiency of effort expended. This allows valid deductions to be made about structure and semantics of the contents of a news video stream, as demonstrated by our experiments on CNN news broadcasts.