Syntaxin 6 and Vti1b form a novel SNARE complex, which is upregulated in activated macrophages to facilitate exocytosis of TNF.

A key function of activated macrophages is to secrete proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF; however, the intracellular pathway and machinery responsible for cytokine trafficking and secretion is largely undefined. Here we show that individual SNARE proteins involved in vesicle docking and fusion are regulated at both gene and protein expression upon stimulation with the bacterial cell wall component lipopolysaccharide. Focusing on two intracellular SNARE proteins, Vti1b and syntaxin 6 (Stx6), we show that they are up-regulated in conjunction with increasing cytokine secretion in activated macrophages and that their levels are selectively titrated to accommodate the volume and timing of post-Golgi cytokine trafficking. In macrophages, Vti1b and syntaxin 6 are localized on intracellular membranes and are present on isolated Golgi membranes and on Golgi-derived TNF� vesicles budded in vitro. By immunoprecipitation, we find that Vti1b and syntaxin 6 interact to form a novel intracellular Q-SNARE complex. Functional studies using overexpression of full-length and truncated proteins show that both Vti1b and syntaxin 6 function and have rate-limiting roles in TNF� trafficking and secretion. This study shows how macrophages have uniquely adapted a novel Golgi-associated SNARE complex to accommodate their requirement for increased cytokine secretion.

Entertainment architecture : constructing a framework for the creation of an emerging transmedia form

This thesis investigates the radically uncertain formal, business, and industrial environment of current entertainment creators. It researches how a novel communication technology, the Internet, leads to novel entertainment forms, how these lead to novel kinds of businesses that lead to novel industries; and in what way established entertainment forms, businesses, and industries are part of that process. This last aspect is addressed by focusing on one exemplary es-tablished form: movies. Using a transdisciplinary approach and a combination of historical analysis, industry interviews, and an innovative mode of ‘immersive’ textual analysis, a coherent and comprehensive conceptual framework for the creation of and re-search into a specific emerging entertainment form is proposed. That form, products based on it, and the conceptual framework describing it are all re-ferred to as Entertainment Architecture (‘entarch,’ for short). The thesis charac-terises this novel form as Internet-native transmedia entertainment, meaning it fully utilises the unique communicative characteristics of the Internet, and is spread across media. The thesis isolates four constitutive elements within Entertainment Architec-ture: story, play, ‘dance,’ and ‘glue.’ That is, entarch tells a story; offers playful interaction; invites social interaction between producer and consumer, and amongst consumers (‘dance’); and all components of it can be spread across many media, but are so well interconnected and mutually dependent that they are perceived as one product instead of many (‘glue’). This sets entarch apart from current media franchises like Star Wars or Halo, which are perceived as many products spread across many media. Entarch thus embraces the commu-nicative behaviour of Internet-native consumers instead of forcing them to de-sist from it, it harnesses the strengths of various media while avoiding some of their weaknesses, and it can sustain viable businesses. The entarch framework is an innovative contribution to scholarship that al-lows researchers to investigate this emerging entertainment form in a structured way. The thesis demonstrates this by using it to survey business models appro-priate to the entarch environment. The framework can also be used by enter-tainment creators — exemplified in the thesis by moviemakers — to delimit the room for manoeuvre available to them in a changing environment.

The pomegranate cycle : reconfiguring opera through performance, technology & composition

The Pomegranate Cycle is a practice-led enquiry consisting of a creative work and an exegesis. This project investigates the potential of self-directed, technologically mediated composition as a means of reconfiguring gender stereotypes within the operatic tradition. This practice confronts two primary stereotypes: the positioning of female performing bodies within narratives of violence and the absence of women from authorial roles that construct and regulate the operatic tradition. The Pomegranate Cycle redresses these stereotypes by presenting a new narrative trajectory of healing for its central character, and by placing the singer inside the role of composer and producer. During the twentieth and early twenty-first century, operatic and classical music institutions have resisted incorporating works of living composers into their repertory. Consequently, the canon’s historic representations of gender remain unchallenged. Historically and contemporarily, men have almost exclusively occupied the roles of composer, conductor, director and critic, and therefore men have regulated the pedagogy, performance practices, repertoire and organisations that sustain classical music. In this landscape, women are singers, and few have the means to challenge the constructions of gender they are asked to reproduce. The Pomegranate Cycle uses recording technologies as the means of driving change because these technologies have already challenged the regulation of the classical tradition by changing people’s modes of accessing, creating and interacting with music. Building on the work of artists including Phillips and van Veen, Robert Ashley and Diamanda Galas, The Pomegranate Cycle seeks to broaden the definition of what opera can be. This work examines the ways in which the operatic tradition can be hybridised with contemporary musical forms such as ambient electronica, glitch, spoken word and concrete sounds as a way of bringing the form into dialogue with contemporary music cultures. The ultilisation of other sound cultures within the context of opera enables women’s voices and stories to be presented in new ways, while also providing a point of friction with opera’s traditional storytelling devices. The Pomegranate Cycle simulates aesthetics associated with Western art music genres by drawing on contemporary recording techniques, virtual instruments and sound-processing plug-ins. Through such simulations, the work disrupts the way virtuosic human craft has been used to generate authenticity and regulate access to the institutions that protect and produce Western art music. The DIY approach to production, recording, composition and performance of The Pomegranate Cycle demonstrates that an opera can be realised by a single person. Access to the broader institutions which regulate the tradition are not necessary. In short, The Pomegranate Cycle establishes that a singer can be more than a voice and a performing body. She can be her own multimedia storyteller. Her audience can be anywhere.

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.

A survey to evaluate the implementation of a national clinical assessment form

Purpose: The Australian Universities Radiation Therapy Student Clinical Assessment Form (AURTSCAF) was designed to assess the clinical skills of radiation therapy (RT) students from the six universities that offer entry level RT programs. Given the AURTSCAF has now been in use for over two years, the Radiation Therapy Program Coordinators (RTPC) group initiated a post implementation evaluation survey. This formed the final phase of the AURTSCAF project and was funded by the Radiation Oncology Division of the Department of Health and Ageing. Methods: A cross-sectional designed survey using purposive sampling was distributed via email to all RT clinical sites. The survey asked questions about the requirements of a pass grade for students at different stages of their program, and the addition of a new category of assessment related to fitness to practise. Response types included both forced choice closed ended responses and open ended responses. There was also a section for open comments about the AURTSCAF. Results: There were 100 responses (55%) from clinicians who had utilised the assessment form over the previous 12 month period. Responses highlighted several positives with regard to the utility and implementation of the form. Comments regarding areas for improvement with the standardisation of the grading of students and consensus for the addition of a new domain in fitness for practise have informed the recommended changes proposed for 2012. Conclusion: This evaluation has provided a representative sample of the views of clinicians involved in assessing students on clinical placement. Recommendations include the addition of the sixth domain of assessment: Fitness for practise, the addition of descriptors and prompts for this domain in the user guide, the addition of a consensus statement about the use of the rating scale and dissemination of the proposed changes nationally.

The potential influence of Neoliberalism on the capacity and form of spatial adaptation

Human spatial environments must adapt to climate change. Spatial planning is central to climate change adaptation and potentially well suited to the task, however neoliberal influences and trends threaten this capacity. This paper explores the potential interaction of emerging research areas, the first of which pursues climate change adaptation through spatial planning and the second of which has observed the neoliberalisation of urban planning, The potential capacity and form of spatial adaptation within the context a planning environment influenced by neoliberal principles is evaluated. This influence relates to the themes of spatial scale, temporal scale, responsibility for action, strategies and mechanisms, accrual of benefits, negotiation of priorities and approach to uncertainty. This paper presents a conceptual framework of the influence of neoliberalism on spatial adaptation and presents examples of this approach in documents which underpin adaptation in Australia. It identifies the potential characteristics and the challenges and opportunities of spatial adaptation under a neoliberal frame. The neoliberal frame does not entirely preclude spatial adaptation but significantly influence its form. Neoliberal approaches involve individual action in response to private incentives and near term impacts while collective action, regulatory mechanisms and long term planning is approached cautiously. Challenges concern the degree to which collective action and a long term orientation are necessary, how individual adaptation relates to collective vulnerability and the prioritisation of adaptation by markets. Opportunities might involve the operability of individual and local adaptation, the existence of private incentives to adapt and the potential to align adaptation with entrepreneurial projects.

Entertainment architecture : constructing a framework for the creation of an emerging transmedia form

The topic of this research is a novel entertainment form currently emerging from the youngest human communication technology, the Internet. This form, products based on it, and the conceptual framework describing it are all referred to as Entertainment Architecture (‘entarch,’ for short). Entarch is classified as Internet-native transmedia entertainment — it fully utilises the unique communicative characteristics of the Internet and is not based on just one medium. A number of entarch examples are explored through ‘immersive’ textual analysis — a new mode of textual analysis required for research into this kind of entertainment. As a secondary priority, entarch is related to the movie — which is chosen as an exemplary existing entertainment form finding itself in a radically uncertain formal, business, and industrial environment, and accordingly is struggling financially. Throughout, formal, business, and industrial consequences of the emergence of Entertainment Architecture are explored. This research is an example of applied cultural science, as it treats culture as a source of innovation and a complex dynamic system with technological as well as human characteristics. It analyses the dynamics of cultural change in the context of business development, consumer experience, and economic evolution — with an intrinsically transdisciplinary methodology.

Chimaeric HIV-1 subtype C Gag molecules with large in-frame C-terminal polypeptide fusions form virus-like particles

HIV-1 Pr55 Gag virus-like particles (VLPs) are strong immunogens with potential as candidate HIV vaccines. VLP immunogenicity can be broadened by making chimaeric Gag molecules: however, VLPs incorporating polypeptides longer than 200 aa fused in frame with Gag have not yet been reported. We constructed a range of gag-derived genes encoding in-frame C-terminal fusions of myristoylation-competent native Pr55Gag and p6-truncated Gag (Pr50Gag) to test the effects of polypeptide length and sequence on VLP formation and morphology, in an insect cell expression system. Fused sequences included a modified reverse transcriptase-Tat-Nef fusion polypeptide (RTTN, 778 aa), and truncated versions of RTTN ranging from 113 aa to 450 aa. Baculovirus-expressed chimaeric proteins were examined by western blot and electron microscopy. All chimaeras formed VLPs which could be purified by sucrose gradient centrifugation. VLP diameter increased with protein MW, from ∼100 nm for Pr55Gag to ∼250 nm for GagRTTN. The presence or absence of the Gag p6 region did not obviously affect VLP formation or appearance. GagRT chimaeric particles were successfully used in mice to boost T-cell responses to Gag and RT that were elicited by a DNA vaccine encoding a GagRTTN polypeptide, indicating the potential of such chimaeras to be used as candidate HIV vaccines. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparation and thermal energy storage properties of paraffin/calcined diatomite composites as form-stable phase change materials

A composite paraffin-based phase change material (PCM) was prepared by blending composite paraffin and calcined diatomite through the fusion adsorption method. In this study, raw diatomite was purified by thermal treatment in order to improve the adsorption capacity of diatomite, which acted as a carrier material to prepare shape-stabilized PCMs. Two forms of paraffin (paraffin waxes and liquid paraffin) with different melting points were blended together by the fusion method, and the optimum mixed proportion with a suitable phase-transition temperature was obtained through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. Then the prepared composite paraffin was adsorbed in calcined diatomite. The prepared paraffin/calcined diatomite composites were characterized by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transformation infrared (FT-IR) analysis techniques. Thermal energy storage properties of the composite PCMs were determined by DSC method. DSC results showed that there was an optimum adsorption ratio between composite paraffin and calcined diatomite and the phase-transition temperature and the latent heat of the composite PCMs were 33.04 â—¦C and 89.54 J/g, respectively. Thermal cycling test of composite PCMs showed that the prepared material is thermally reliable and chemically stable. The obtained paraffin/calcined diatomite composites have proper latent heat and melting temperatures, and show practical significance and good potential application value.

The naturally imperfect form : investigations of the application of digital sculpting methods - extracted art : incorporating and translating ‘found art’ into the medium of digital sculpture

This dissertation analyses how physical objects are translated into digital artworks using techniques which can lead to ‘imperfections’ in the resulting digital artwork that are typically removed to arrive at a ‘perfect’ final representation. The dissertation discusses the adaptation of existing techniques into an artistic workflow that acknowledges and incorporates the imperfections of translation into the final pieces. It presents an exploration of the relationship between physical and digital artefacts and the processes used to move between the two. The work explores the 'craft' of digital sculpting and the technology used in producing what the artist terms ‘a naturally imperfect form’, incorporating knowledge of traditional sculpture, an understanding of anatomy and an interest in the study of bones (Osteology). The outcomes of the research are presented as a series of digital sculptural works, exhibited as a collection of curiosities in multiple mediums, including interactive game spaces, augmented reality (AR), rapid prototype prints (RP) and video displays.

Form prevailing over substance?

The decision of the Court of Appeal in Kellas-Sharpe v PSAL Ltd [2012] QCA 371 considered a not unusual provision in a loan agreement, being a provision whereby a lender agrees to accept a lower or concessional rate of interest in circumstances of prompt payment by the borrower. The loan agreement in question provided for the borrower to pay a standard rate of interest of 7.5% per month. However, if the borrower was not in default, the lender agreed to accept interest at a concessional rate of interest of 4% per month. The issue for determination by the Court of Appeal (McMurdo P, Gotterson JA and Fryberg J) was whether the clause was subject to the equitable jurisdiction to relieve against penalties, and, if so, if the interest rate provision should be treated as a penalty making the interest rate provision void. In mounting this argument, the borrower was seeking to overturn a long line of authority which has repeatedly upheld the semantic distinction between an increase in the rate of interest (which attracts the doctrine concerning penalties) and an incentive to the borrower by way of a reduction in the interest rate for prompt payment (which does not attract the doctrine)...

The Music Industry : Music in the Cloud, 1st edition

"The music industry is going through a period of immense change brought about in part by the digital revolution. What is the role of music in the age of computers and the internet? How has the music industry been transformed by the economic and technological upheavals of recent years, and how is it likely to change in the future? This is the first major study of the music industry in the new millennium. Wikström provides an international overview of the music industry and its future prospects in the world of global entertainment. He illuminates the workings of the music industry, and captures the dynamics at work in the production of musical culture between the transnational media conglomerates, the independent music companies and the public." -- back cover Table of Contents Introduction: Music in the Cloud Chapter 1: A Copyright Industry. Chapter 2: Inside the Music Industry Chapter 3: Music and the Media Chapter 4: Making Music - An Industrial or Creative Process Chapter 5: The Social and Creative Music Fan Chapter 6: Future Sounds

Korean ubiquitous-eco-city : a smart-sustainable urban form or a branding hoax?

The buzzwords of zero-carbon, low-carbon, carbon-neutral, smart-eco and ubiquitous-eco have become common brands for the sustainable eco-cities of the 21st century. This paper focuses on one of these city types ‘ubiquitous-eco-city’ (u-eco-city). The principal premise of a u-eco-city is to provide a high quality of life and place to residents, workers and visitors with low-to-no negative impacts on the natural environment by using state-of-the-art technologies in the planning, development and management stages. The paper aims to put this premise into a test and address whether u-eco-city is a dazzling smart and sustainable urban form that constitutes an ideal 21st century city model or just a branding hoax. This paper explores recent developments and trends in the ubiquitous technologies, infrastructures, services and management systems, and their utilisation and implications for the development of u-eco-cities. The paper places Korean u-eco-city initiatives under microscope, and critically discusses their prospects in forming a smart and sustainable urban form and become an ideal city model.