"Lose at the Starting Line, Win at the Finishing Line": beating academic adversity

Panel 1 - Beating Academic Adversity in Hong Kong, Singapore, and IndiaThis paper examines public perception and discourse of academic adversity and resilience to understand what are considered to be deterrents of academic success and what are believed to effectively counteract the deterrents and contribute to educational resilience. Data are drawn on discourse analysis of media coverage in Hong Kong of the success stories of students at risk after the release of university entrance exam results. In Hong Kong, educational desires are fuelled by the high value placed on education, and an extremely competitive examination system whereby less than 20 percent of secondary ...postprin

HopScotch - a low-power renewable energy base station network for rural broadband access

The provision of adequate broadband access to communities in sparsely populated rural areas has in the past been severely restricted. In this paper, we present a wireless broadband access test bed running in the Scottish Highlands and Islands which is based on a relay network of low-power base stations. Base stations are powered by a combination of renewable sources creating a low cost and scalable solution suitable for community ownership. The use of the 5~GHz bands allows the network to offer large data rates and the testing of ultra high frequency ``white space'' bands allow expansive coverage whilst reducing the number of base stations or required transmission power. We argue that the reliance on renewable power and the intelligent use of frequency bands makes this approach an economic green radio technology which can address the problem of rural broadband access

The Effects of Two Types of Sleep Deprivation on Visual Working Memory Capacity and Filtering Efficiency

Sleep deprivation has adverse consequences for a variety of cognitive functions. The exact effects of sleep deprivation, though, are dependent upon the cognitive process examined. Within working memory, for example, some component processes are more vulnerable to sleep deprivation than others. Additionally, the differential impacts on cognition of different types of sleep deprivation have not been well studied. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of one night of total sleep deprivation and 4 nights of partial sleep deprivation (4 hours in bed/night) on two components of visual working memory: capacity and filtering efficiency. Forty-four healthy young adults were randomly assigned to one of the two sleep deprivation conditions. All participants were studied: 1) in a well-rested condition (following 6 nights of 9 hours in bed/night); and 2) following sleep deprivation, in a counter-balanced order. Visual working memory testing consisted of two related tasks. The first measured visual working memory capacity and the second measured the ability to ignore distractor stimuli in a visual scene (filtering efficiency). Results showed neither type of sleep deprivation reduced visual working memory capacity. Partial sleep deprivation also generally did not change filtering efficiency. Total sleep deprivation, on the other hand, did impair performance in the filtering task. These results suggest components of visual working memory are differentially vulnerable to the effects of sleep deprivation, and different types of sleep deprivation impact visual working memory to different degrees. Such findings have implications for operational settings where individuals may need to perform with inadequate sleep and whose jobs involve receiving an array of visual information and discriminating the relevant from the irrelevant prior to making decisions or taking actions (e.g., baggage screeners, air traffic controllers, military personnel, health care providers)

Role of human tissue kallikrein in gastrointestinal stromal tumour invasion

Background: Human tissue kallikrein (hK1) generates vasodilator kinins from kininogen and promotes angiogenesis by kinin-dependent and kinin-independent mechanisms. Here, we investigate the expression and functional relevance of hK1 in human gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST).<p></p> Methods: Vascularisation and hK1 expression of GIST samples were assessed by immunohistochemistry. In two GIST cell lines, hK1 expression was assessed by PCR, and hK1 protein levels and activity were measured by ELISA and an amidolytic assay, respectively. The effect of hK1 silencing, inhibition or overexpression on GIST cell proliferation, migration and paracrine induction of angiogenesis was studied. Finally, local and systemic levels of hK1 were assessed in mice injected with GIST cells.<p></p> Results: Human tissue kallikrein was detected in 19 out of 22 human GIST samples. Moreover, GIST cells express and secrete active hK1. Titration of hK1 demonstrated its involvement in GIST invasive behaviour, but not proliferation. Furthermore, hK1 released by GIST cells promoted endothelial cell migration and network formation through kinin-dependent mechanisms. Gastrointestinal stromal tumour implantation in nude mice resulted in local and systemic hK1 expression proportional to tumour dimension.<p></p> Conclusions: Human tissue kallikrein is produced and released by GIST and participates in tumour invasion. Further studies are needed to validate hK1 as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target in GIST

Telerobotic Pointing Gestures Shape Human Spatial Cognition

This paper aimed to explore whether human beings can understand gestures produced by telepresence robots. If it were the case, they can derive meaning conveyed in telerobotic gestures when processing spatial information. We conducted two experiments over Skype in the present study. Participants were presented with a robotic interface that had arms, which were teleoperated by an experimenter. The robot could point to virtual locations that represented certain entities. In Experiment 1, the experimenter described spatial locations of fictitious objects sequentially in two conditions: speech condition (SO, verbal descriptions clearly indicated the spatial layout) and speech and gesture condition (SR, verbal descriptions were ambiguous but accompanied by robotic pointing gestures). Participants were then asked to recall the objects' spatial locations. We found that the number of spatial locations recalled in the SR condition was on par with that in the SO condition, suggesting that telerobotic pointing gestures compensated ambiguous speech during the process of spatial information. In Experiment 2, the experimenter described spatial locations non-sequentially in the SR and SO conditions. Surprisingly, the number of spatial locations recalled in the SR condition was even higher than that in the SO condition, suggesting that telerobotic pointing gestures were more powerful than speech in conveying spatial information when information was presented in an unpredictable order. The findings provide evidence that human beings are able to comprehend telerobotic gestures, and importantly, integrate these gestures with co-occurring speech. This work promotes engaging remote collaboration among humans through a robot intermediary.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure

Induction of Selective Blood-Tumor Barrier Permeability and Macromolecular Transport by a Biostable Kinin B1 Receptor Agonist in a Glioma Rat Model

Treatment of malignant glioma with chemotherapy is limited mostly because of delivery impediment related to the blood-brain tumor barrier (BTB). B1 receptors (B1R), inducible prototypical G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) can regulate permeability of vessels including possibly that of brain tumors. Here, we determine the extent of BTB permeability induced by the natural and synthetic peptide B1R agonists, LysdesArg9BK (LDBK) and SarLys[dPhe8]desArg9BK (NG29), in syngeneic F98 glioma-implanted Fischer rats. Ten days after tumor inoculation, we detected the presence of B1R on tumor cells and associated vasculature. NG29 infusion increased brain distribution volume and uptake profiles of paramagnetic probes (Magnevist and Gadomer) at tumoral sites (T1-weighted imaging). These effects were blocked by B1R antagonist and non-selective cyclooxygenase inhibitors, but not by B2R antagonist and non-selective nitric oxide synthase inhibitors. Consistent with MRI data, systemic co-administration of NG29 improved brain tumor delivery of Carboplatin chemotherapy (ICP-Mass spectrometry). We also detected elevated B1R expression in clinical samples of high-grade glioma. Our results documented a novel GPCR-signaling mechanism for promoting transient BTB disruption, involving activation of B1R and ensuing production of COX metabolites. They also underlined the potential value of synthetic biostable B1R agonists as selective BTB modulators for local delivery of different sized-therapeutics at (peri)tumoral sites