IL-18 inhibits growth of murine orthotopic prostate carcinomas via both adaptive and innate immune mechanisms

Interleukin(IL)-18 is a pleiotrophic cytokine with functions in immune modulation, angiogenesis and bone metabolism. In this study, the potential of IL-18 as an immunotherapy for prostate cancer (PCa) was examined using the murine model of prostate carcinoma, RM1 and a bone metastatic variant RM1(BM)/B4H7-luc. RM1 and RM1(BM)/B4H7-luc cells were stably transfected to express bioactive IL-18. These cells were implanted into syngeneic immunocompetent mice, with or without an IL-18-neutralising antibody (αIL-18, SK113AE4). IL-18 significantly inhibited the growth of both subcutaneous and orthotopic RM1 tumors and the IL-18 neutralizing antibody abrogated the tumor growth-inhibition. In vivo neutralization of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) completely eliminated the anti-tumor effects of IL-18 confirming an essential role of IFN-γ as a down-stream mediator of the anti-tumor activity of IL-18. Tumors from mice in which IL-18 and/or IFN-γ was neutralized contained significantly fewer CD4+ and CD8+ T cells than those with functional IL-18. The essential role of adaptive immunity was demonstrated as tumors grew more rapidly in RAG1−/− mice or in mice depleted of CD4+ and/or CD8+ cells than in normal mice. The tumors in RAG1−/− mice were also significantly smaller when IL-18 was present, indicating that innate immune mechanisms are involved. IL-18 also induced an increase in tumor infiltration of macrophages and neutrophils but not NK cells. In other experiments, direct injection of recombinant IL-18 into established tumors also inhibited tumor growth, which was associated with an increase in intratumoral macrophages, but not T cells. These results suggest that local IL-18 in the tumor environment can significantly potentiate anti-tumor immunity in the prostate and clearly demonstrate that this effect is mediated by innate and adaptive immune mechanisms.

Meaningful musical engagement : the potential impact of generative music systems on learning experiences

In order to create music, the student must establish a relationship with the musical materials. In this thesis, I examine the capacity of a generative music system called jam2jam to offer individuals a virtual musical play-space to explore. I outline the development of an iteration of software development named jam2jam blue and the evolution of a games-like user interface in the research design that jointly revealed the nature of this musical exploration. The findings suggest that the jam2jam blue interface provided an expressive gestural instrument to jam and experience musicmaking. By using the computer as an instrument, participants in this study were given access to meaningful musical experiences in both solo and ensemble situations and the researcher is allowed a view of their development of a relationship with the musical materials from the perspective of the individual participants. Through an iterative software development methodology, pedagogy and experience design were created simultaneously. The research reveals the potential for the jam2jam software to be used as a reflective tool for feedback and assessment purposes. The power of access to ensemble music making is realised though the participants’ virtual experiences which are brought into their physical space by sharing their experience with others. It is suggested that this interaction creates an environment conducive to self-initiated learning in which music is the language of interaction. The research concludes that the development of a relationship between the explorer and the musical materials is subject to the collaborative nature of the interaction through which the music is experienced.

The music of the spheres

This article describes a method for making a spectroscope from scrap materials, i.e. a fragment of compact disc, a cardboard box, a tube and a digital camera to record the spectrum. An image processing program such as ImageJ can be used to calculate the wavelength of emission and absorption lines from the digital photograph. Multiple images of a spectrum can be stacked to reduce random noise, enabling spectra of faint objects to be obtained. Some basic experiments are described, such as viewing the spectrum produced by various types of lamp and the Sun. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Context-aware rate-adaptive beaconing for efficient and scalable vehicular safety communication

Vehicular safety applications, such as cooperative collision warning systems, rely on beaconing to provide situational awareness that is needed to predict and therefore to avoid possible collisions. Beaconing is the continual exchange of vehicle motion-state information, such as position, speed, and heading, which enables each vehicle to track its neighboring vehicles in real time. This work presents a context-aware adaptive beaconing scheme that dynamically adapts the beaconing repetition rate based on an estimated channel load and the danger severity of the interactions among vehicles. The safety, efficiency, and scalability of the new scheme is evaluated by simulating vehicle collisions caused by inattentive drivers under various road traffic densities. Simulation results show that the new scheme is more efficient and scalable, and is able to improve safety better than the existing non-adaptive and adaptive rate schemes.

Adaptive subcarrier allocation in multiuser OFDM system using forced cost based decisions

Subcarrier allocation scheme for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing(OFDM) based multiuser system is proposed. Most previous algorithms use greedy approach as a subcarrier allocation scheme until a conflict occurs or as an initial first round allocation with improvement steps carried out in next rounds. Our algorithm uses information obtained by the forced costs of a system that incur by a current allocation to make assignment decisions. This algorithm does not rely on greedy approach and therefore can also be considered as a substitute for first layer Greedy algorithms. Simulation results show that for two user case this algorithm gives better or equal allocation 80-90 percent of the time when compared with the greedy allocation.

Adaptive evolution of color vision as seen through the eyes of butterflies

Butterflies and primates are interesting for comparative color vision studies, because both have evolved middle- (M) and long-wavelength- (L) sensitive photopigments with overlapping absorbance spectrum maxima (lambda(max) values). Although positive selection is important for the maintenance of spectral variation within the primate pigments, it remains an open question whether it contributes similarly to the diversification of butterfly pigments. To examine this issue, we performed epimicrospectrophotometry on the eyes of five Limenitis butterfly species and found a 31-nm range of variation in the lambda(max) values of the L-sensitive photopigments (514-545 nm). We cloned partial Limenitis L opsin gene sequences and found a significant excess of replacement substitutions relative to polymorphisms among species. Mapping of these L photopigment lambda(max) values onto a phylogeny revealed two instances within Lepidoptera of convergently evolved L photopigment lineages whose lambda(max) values were blue-shifted. A codon-based maximum-likelihood analysis indicated that, associated with the two blue spectral shifts, four amino acid sites (Ile17Met, Ala64Ser, Asn70Ser, and Ser137Ala) have evolved substitutions in parallel and exhibit significant d(N)/d(S) >1. Homology modeling of the full-length Limenitis arthemis astyanax L opsin placed all four substitutions within the chromophore-binding pocket. Strikingly, the Ser137Ala substitution is in the same position as a site that in primates is responsible for a 5- to 7-nm blue spectral shift. Our data show that some of the same amino acid sites are under positive selection in the photopigments of both butterflies and primates, spanning an evolutionary distance >500 million years.

The sound of music : sharing song selections between collocated strangers in public urban places

This paper presents Capital Music, a mobile application enabling real-time sharing of song choices with collocated urban dwellers. Due to the real-time, location-based peer-to-peer approach of the application, a user experience study was performed utilising the Wizard of Oz method. The study provides insight into how sharing non-privacy sensitive but personal data in an anonymous way can influence the user experience of people in public urban places. We discuss the findings in relation to how Capital Music influences the process of “cocooning” in public urban places, the practice of designing anonymous interactions between collocated strangers, and how the sharing of song choices can create a sense of commonality between anonymous users in the urban space. The outcomes of this study are relevant for future location-based social networking applications that aim to create interactions between collocated strangers.

Tangible cultural heritage and adaptive reuse: the Old Government House, Brisbane, Australia

The Old Government House, a former residence of the Queen’s representatives in Brisbane, Australia, symbolises British cultural heritage of Colonial Queensland. Located on the campus of the Queensland University of Technology, it is one of the oldest surviving examples of a stately residence in Queensland. Built in 1860s, the Old Government House was originally intended as a temporary residence for the first governor of the newly independent colony of Queensland. However, it remained the vice-regal residence until 1909, serving eleven succeeding governors. Nearly seven decades later, it became the first building in Queensland to be protected under heritage legislation. Thus its importance, as an excellent exemplar that demonstrates the significance of cultural heritage, was established. The Old Government House has survived 150 years of restoration work, refurbishments, and additions. Through these years, it has served the people of Queensland in a multitude of roles. This paper aims to investigate the survival of heritage listed buildings through their adaptive re-use. Its focus will be on the adaptive reuse of the Old Government House through its refurbishments and additions over a period of 150 years. Through a qualitative research process this paper will endeavour to establish the significance of restoration work on the Old Government house; the new opportunities that has opened up as a result of the restoration work; the continued maintenance and management of the building through adaptive re-use; the economic benefits of restoration work; and its contribution to the on-going interest in the preservation of the Tangible Cultural Heritage.

Preparing for portfolio careers in Australian music : setting a research agenda

In the twenty-first century, Australian musicians increasingly maintain ‘portfolio’ careers, in which they combine diverse employment arrangements and activities. Often, these incorporate industry sectors outside of music. This career pattern is widespread but not well understood, largely because of the limitations of existing research. The lack of knowledge about musicians’ work and careers means that Australia currently may not provide appropriate and effective policy, funding, initial training and continuing career support across the diverse music sector. This article discusses existing research relating to the careers and skilling needs of musicians in Australia, and outlines a targeted agenda for further research that has the potential to inform stronger alignment between the requirements of building sustainable music careers and musicians’ education and training.

Recombination hotspots and host susceptibility modulate the adaptive value of recombination during maize streak virus evolution

Background Maize streak virus -strain A (MSV-A; Genus Mastrevirus, Family Geminiviridae), the maize-adapted strain of MSV that causes maize streak disease throughout sub-Saharan Africa, probably arose between 100 and 200 years ago via homologous recombination between two MSV strains adapted to wild grasses. MSV recombination experiments and analyses of natural MSV recombination patterns have revealed that this recombination event entailed the exchange of the movement protein - coat protein gene cassette, bounded by the two genomic regions most prone to recombination in mastrevirus genomes; the first surrounding the virion-strand origin of replication, and the second around the interface between the coat protein gene and the short intergenic region. Therefore, aside from the likely adaptive advantages presented by a modular exchange of this cassette, these specific breakpoints may have been largely predetermined by the underlying mechanisms of mastrevirus recombination. To investigate this hypothesis, we constructed artificial, low-fitness, reciprocal chimaeric MSV genomes using alternating genomic segments from two MSV strains; a grass-adapted MSV-B, and a maize-adapted MSV-A. Between them, each pair of reciprocal chimaeric genomes represented all of the genetic material required to reconstruct - via recombination - the highly maize-adapted MSV-A genotype, MSV-MatA. We then co-infected a selection of differentially MSV-resistant maize genotypes with pairs of reciprocal chimaeras to determine the efficiency with which recombination would give rise to high-fitness progeny genomes resembling MSV-MatA. Results Recombinants resembling MSV-MatA invariably arose in all of our experiments. However, the accuracy and efficiency with which the MSV-MatA genotype was recovered across all replicates of each experiment depended on the MSV susceptibility of the maize genotypes used and the precise positions - in relation to known recombination hotspots - of the breakpoints required to re-create MSV-MatA. Although the MSV-sensitive maize genotype gave rise to the greatest variety of recombinants, the measured fitness of each of these recombinants correlated with their similarity to MSV-MatA. Conclusions The mechanistic predispositions of different MSV genomic regions to recombination can strongly influence the accessibility of high-fitness MSV recombinants. The frequency with which the fittest recombinant MSV genomes arise also correlates directly with the escalating selection pressures imposed by increasingly MSV-resistant maize hosts.

An interactive and adaptive building layer : strategies for allowing people to become advanced building-users

This paper reports outcomes of a pilot study to develop a conceptual framework to allow people to retrofit a building-layer to gain better control of their own built- environments. The study was initiated by the realisation that discussions surrounding the improvement of building performances tend to be about top-down technological solutions rather than to help and encourage bottom-up involvement of building-users. While users are the ultimate beneficiaries and their feedback is always appreciated, their direct involvements in managing buildings would often be regarded as obstruction or distraction. This is largely because casual interventions by uninformed building-users tend to disrupt the system. Some earlier researches showed however that direct and active participation of users could improve the building performance if appropriate training and/or systems were introduced. We also speculate this in long run would also make the built environment more sustainable. With this in mind, we looked for opportunities to retrofit our own office with an interactive layer to study how we could introduce ad-hoc systems for building-users. The aim of this paper is to describe our vision and initial attempts followed by discussion.

Adaptive sizing of populations and number of islands in distributed genetic algorithms

Deciding the appropriate population size and number of is- lands for distributed island-model genetic algorithms is often critical to the algorithm’s success. This paper outlines a method that automatically searches for good combinations of island population sizes and the number of islands. The method is based on a race between competing parameter sets, and collaborative seeding of new parameter sets. This method is applicable to any problem, and makes distributed genetic algorithms easier to use by reducing the number of user-set parameters. The experimental results show that the proposed method robustly and reliably finds population and islands settings that are comparable to those found with traditional trial-and-error approaches.

An open-source approach to music education through jam2jam XO

This article examines the philosophy and practice of open-source technology in the development of the jam2jam XO software for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) computer. It explores how open-source software principles, pragmatist philosophy, improvisation and constructionist epistemologies are operationalized in the design and development of music software, and how such reflection reveals both the strengths and weaknesses of the open-source software development paradigm. An overview of the jam2jam XO platform, its development processes and music educational uses is provided and resulting reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of open-source development for music education are discussed. From an educational and software development perspective, the act of creating open-source software is shown to be a valuable enterprise, however, just because the source code, creative content and experience design are accessible and 'open' to be changed, does not guarantee that educational practices in the use of that software will change. Research around the development and use of jam2jam XO suggests that open-source software development principles can have an impact beyond software development and on to aspects of experience design and learning relationships.

A survey of tagging techniques for music, speech and environmental sound

Sound tagging has been studied for years. Among all sound types, music, speech, and environmental sound are three hottest research areas. This survey aims to provide an overview about the state-of-the-art development in these areas.We discuss about the meaning of tagging in different sound areas at the beginning of the journey. Some examples of sound tagging applications are introduced in order to illustrate the significance of this research. Typical tagging techniques include manual, automatic, and semi-automatic approaches.After reviewing work in music, speech and environmental sound tagging, we compare them and state the research progress to date. Research gaps are identified for each research area and the common features and discriminations between three areas are discovered as well. Published datasets, tools used by researchers, and evaluation measures frequently applied in the analysis are listed. In the end, we summarise the worldwide distribution of countries dedicated to sound tagging research for years.