Graduated units in secondary-school French

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1949. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Discovery of a lipid synthesising organ in the auditory system of an insect

Weta possess typical Ensifera ears. Each ear comprises three functional parts: two equally sized tympanal membranes, an underlying system of modified tracheal chambers, and the auditory sensory organ, the crista acustica. This organ sits within an enclosed fluid-filled channel–previously presumed to be hemolymph. The role this channel plays in insect hearing is unknown. We discovered that the fluid within the channel is not actually hemolymph, but a medium composed principally of lipid from a new class. Three-dimensional imaging of this lipid channel revealed a previously undescribed tissue structure within the channel, which we refer to as the olivarius organ. Investigations into the function of the olivarius reveal de novo lipid synthesis indicating that it is producing these lipids in situ from acetate. The auditory role of this lipid channel was investigated using Laser Doppler vibrometry of the tympanal membrane, which shows that the displacement of the membrane is significantly increased when the lipid is removed from the auditory system. Neural sensitivity of the system, however, decreased upon removal of the lipid–a surprising result considering that in a typical auditory system both the mechanical and auditory sensitivity are positively correlated. These two results coupled with 3D modelling of the auditory system lead us to hypothesize a model for weta audition, relying strongly on the presence of the lipid channel. This is the first instance of lipids being associated with an auditory system outside of the Odentocete cetaceans, demonstrating convergence for the use of lipids in hearing

Self-Disclosure on Facebook: Comparing two Research Organisations

This study investigated whether there is a difference in self-disclosure on Facebook between employees of an Australian government organisation and an academic institution. We employed quantitative and qualitative approaches, including an online questionnaire of 216 participants and ten interviews. The two organisations were compared on organisational variables, and measures of Privacy Concerns, Privacy Behaviour and Propensity to Trust as potential predictors of self-disclosure. Privacy Behaviour and Propensity to Trust were significant predictors for the government organisation, whereas demographic and organisational factors were the main predictors for the academic institution. Furthermore, qualitative findings revealed that, whilst the government participants focussed on the costs of self-disclosure on Facebook, the academic institution participants focussed on the benefits of self-disclosure. These results provide preliminary support for our online self-disclosure model, and highlight the importance of considering different organisations and populations in studies of online self-disclosure and privacy

“A Famous Writer Comes to Our Pages”: James Cowan’s Children’s Writing for the Enzed Junior

The Enzed Junior, the children’s pages of the Auckland Star, included 255 articles written by James Cowan between 1936 and 1941. Drawing widely on his lifetime’s research, Cowan took his younger readers on journeys over frontiers, onto battle sites and on New Zealand “history trails,” revealing the enthusiasms and fascinations which had characterised his career. This paper surveys the content and themes of his writing for the Enzed Junior

Breaching the Human Firewall: Social engineering in Phishing and Spear-Phishing Emails

We examined the influence of three social engineering strategies on users’ judgments of how safe it is to click on a link in an email. The three strategies examined were authority, scarcity and social proof, and the emails were either genuine, phishing or spear-phishing. Of the three strategies, the use of authority was the most effective strategy in convincing users that a link in an email was safe. When detecting phishing and spear-phishing emails, users performed the worst when the emails used the authority principle and performed best when social proof was present. Overall, users struggled to distinguish between genuine and spear-phishing emails. Finally, users who were less impulsive in making decisions generally were less likely to judge a link as safe in the fraudulent emails. Implications for education and training are discussed

A Separate Phone to Work and Play: Protection Motivation Theory and Smartphone Security Behaviour

Smartphone security is a growing concern. In this study, we use of the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to explore users’ attitudes, perceptions and behaviours towards the security of their work provided and personal smartphones. Australian employees from an insurance company participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews focussed on their behaviours. Data was analysed using deductive and inductive thematic analysis, guided by PMT to explore the comparisons between personal and work devices. The main overarching theme was that people behave more safely on their work smartphones compared to on their personal smartphones. Results suggest that perceived vulnerability, perceived reward, response cost, self-efficacy and social influence largely contributed to a lack of protective behaviour displayed when using personal smartphones. Despite the safe behaviour reported for work smartphones, these behaviours appear to be motivated by organisational controls, rather than intrinsically. This research has applied implications for education, relevant to both personal and workplace contexts

‘Anti’-Social Media: Narcissism and Self-Control as Predictors of Facebook Self-Disclosure

Internationally forestry and wood products supply chains are being transformed. This traditionally resource intensive low technology sector is moving rapidly towards precision-manufacturing, advanced technology use and innovation in ways that increase the value and sustainability of wood within the emerging bio-economy. This research-in-progress reports on a major Australian Research Council funded applied industry based program integrating different digital tools and techniques along the forestry supply chain to improve product traceability, characterisation and knowledge management to stimulate and support market innovation. The paper provides insight into contemporary forest supply chains and illustrates the breadth of research being undertaken in this program. A specific example involving the innovative use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and digital telemetry to advance the speed and accuracy of forestry resource assessments is described. Preliminary results comparing manual and automated techniques for inventory estimation appear positive. Planned next steps for this project and the program are presented

Enhancing Information Literacy: A Practical Exemplar

This case-study outlines a teaching partnership between library and academic staff at the University of Waikato. It describes the strategies adopted to develop greater student information literacy and knowledge of source materials; and demonstrates the inter-relationship between student assignments and library resourcing. Both achievements and areas of difficulty are discussed

Separating Golgi proteins from cis to trans reveals underlying properties of cisternal localization

The order of enzymatic activity across Golgi cisternae is essential for complex molecule biosynthesis. However, an inability to separate Golgi cisternae has meant the cisternal distribution of most resident proteins, and their underlying localization mechanisms, are unknown. Here, we exploit differences in surface charge of intact cisternae to perform the first separation of early to late Golgi sub-compartments. We determine protein and glycan abundance profiles across the Golgi; over 390 resident proteins are identified, including 136 new additions, with over 180 cisternal assignments. These assignments provide a means to better understand the functional roles of Golgi proteins and how they operate sequentially. Protein and glycan distributions are validated in-vivo, using high resolution microscopy. Results reveal distinct functional compartmentalization among resident Golgi proteins. Analysis of transmembrane proteins shows several sequence-based characteristics relating to pI, hydrophobicity, Ser abundance and Phe bilayer asymmetry that change across the Golgi. Overall this suggests a continuum of TM features, rather than discrete rules, which guide proteins to earlier or later locations within the Golgi stack.Marie Curie fellowship PIEF-GA-2011-301401 1058 (FP7-PEOPLE-2011) MR

Polymorphisms in the circadian expressed genes PER3 and ARNTL2 are associated with diurnal preference and GNβ3 with sleep measures

Sleep and circadian rhythms are intrinsically linked, with several sleep traits, including sleep timing and duration, influenced by both sleep homeostasis and the circadian phase. Genetic variation in several circadian genes has been associated with diurnal preference (preference in timing of sleep), although there has been limited research on whether they are associated with other sleep measurements. We investigated whether these genetic variations were associated with diurnal preference (Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire) and various sleep measures, including: the global Pittsburgh Sleep Quality index score; sleep duration; and sleep latency and sleep quality. We genotyped 10 polymorphisms in genes with circadian expression in participants from the G1219 sample (n = 966), a British longitudinal population sample of young adults. We conducted linear regressions using dominant, additive and recessive models of inheritance to test for associations between these polymorphisms and the sleep measures. We found a significant association between diurnal preference and a polymorphism in period homologue 3 (PER3) (P < 0.005, recessive model) and a novel nominally significant association between diurnal preference and a polymorphism in aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator-like 2 (ARNTL2) (P < 0.05, additive model). We found that a polymorphism in guanine nucleotide binding protein beta 3 (GNβ3) was associated significantly with global sleep quality (P < 0.005, recessive model), and that a rare polymorphism in period homologue 2 (PER2) was associated significantly with both sleep duration and quality (P < 0.0005, recessive model). These findings suggest that genes with circadian expression may play a role in regulating both the circadian clock and sleep homeostasis, and highlight the importance of further studies aimed at dissecting the specific roles that circadian genes play in these two interrelated but unique behaviours