The role of spokes characters in contemporary website design : using illustration and personality to humanise a service industry web interface : a thesis for fulfilment of a Master of Design, College of Design, Fine Arts and Music, Massey University, Wellington

According to recent literature, character identities employed within advertising have played powerful roles in the creation of many a brands personality. In doing so they have established themselves as a graphic representative for the product/service they symbolise. With the advent of digital technologies the ‘spokes character’ has been increasing in popularity. Particularly with control now being given to the user through interaction. The web, with consumer accessibility now close to one billion (eMarketer. 2005), still only offers limited download speeds for the user seeking greater infotainment based content, even with the implementation of broadband technology. This presents an ideal platform for the drawn character as compared to digital video due to the smaller file sizes. Additionally, the drawn character has the ability to visually align with a service or products core function, along with the capability to present information through the medium of storytelling. This research hypothesises that an animated spokes character within the online interface would help humanise the web experience for the consumer. Not only would a character evoke greater pleasure (by aligning story and ease of use), it would be preferable to a targeted user in comparison to a non-character site delivering the same information. In testing this hypothesis the Chiropractic industry was chosen as the trial vehicle due to limited consumer awareness on the subject. Two semi-functional sites (character and non-character) were designed based on feedback from a CIT (Communication and Information Technology) professional and presented to seven consumer participants within a group interview situation. Two methodologies employing a divergence/convergence approach were adopted within this study: exploratory research in terms of an investigation into literature and business uncovered key qualities of the spokes character from likeability and gender issues to nostalgia and brand. The purpose was to establish design criteria in the creation of a communications tool and the convergence process. This was achieved by action-based research through design where the character was realised within an industry aligned application (prototype). Consumer predilection of the semi-functional prototype revealed three benefits of the spokes character site over the same non-character site: a more enjoyable user experience; shorter learning time involved in assimilating the material offered from the site; and a higher level of trust. However a group interview of the size used can provide only an indicative result. This thesis advocates character potential within web design; not just as a humanising feature, but also as an integral part of the storytelling process

r-process enrichment of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies by fast merging double neutron stars

The recent aLIGO/aVirgo discovery of gravitational waves from the neutron star merger (NSM) GW170817 and the follow up kilonova observations have shown that NSMs produce copious amount of r-process material. However, it is difficult to reconcile the large natal kicks and long average merging times of Double Neutron Stars (DNSs), with the levels of r-process enrichment seen in ultra faint dwarf (UFD) galaxies such as Reticulum II and Tucana III. Assuming that such dwarf systems have lost a significant fraction of their stellar mass through tidal stripping, we conclude that contrary to most current models, it is the DNSs with rather large natal kicks but very short merging timescales that can enrich UFD-type galaxies. These binaries are either on highly eccentric orbits, or form with very short separations due to an additional mass-transfer between the first-born neutron star and a naked helium star, progenitor of the second-born neutron star. These DNSs are born with a frequency that agrees with the statistics of the r-process UFDs, and merge well within the virial radius of their host halos, therefore contributing significantly to their r-process enrichment.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Q&A: Epistasis

Molecular and Cellular Biolog

The role of the Pygopus chromatin modulator in cell growth and division

In adults, precisely regulated gene expression results in strict control of cell proliferation required for healthy tissues. Abnormal gene expression, on the other hand, can result in uncontrolled cell proliferation and tumor formation. Gene expression largely depends on changes to chromatin structure; it is remodeled in response to epigenetic stimuli to accommodate transcriptional activation and/or repression. Chromatin remodeling, therefore, is very broadly fundamental to normal and aberrant cellular function. Here, my research has focused on a key epigenetic effector that facilitates gene activation, called Pygopus 2 (Pygo2). Pygo2 functions primarily to link histone acetylation to active gene expression, by bridging transcription factors and modified histone proteins at gene promoters to histone acetyltransferases. In this thesis, I first examined the role of Pygo2 in the canonical Wnt signaling pathway and found that Pygo2 is transiently and specifically acetylated when bound to the activated -catenin complex. Acetylation of Pygo2 correlated with a displacement of nuclear Pygo2 to the cytoplasm, suggesting that acetylation of Pygo2 may control the recycling of -catenin complexes, following target gene activation. Upon examination of the broader role of Pygo2 beyond Wnt signalling, I found that it promotes ribosomal (r)RNA transcription within the nucleolus. In this context, Pygo2 was required for histone H4 acetylation at the rDNA promoter, suggesting a novel involvement of Pygo2 in rRNA transcription. Finally, using a whole genome approach, I discovered that Pygo2 acts as a pleiotropic chromatin effector, revealing a function for Pygo2 in gene expression required for segregation and bi-orientation of chromosomes during mitosis. Further analysis identified an interaction between Pygo2 and c-myc oncoprotein, suggesting that the chromatin effector Pygo2 may cooperate with c-myc, directing the expression of growth and division genes. Taken together, my findings suggest that in association with other important regulators of growth in cancer, Pygo2 facilitates gene expression by interpreting and relaying positive epigenetic marks on histones, which is essential to promote the expression of proliferation-related transcriptional programs

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 at Au nanoparticle electrodes: Effects of interfacial chemistry on reduction behavior

Nanoscale Au electrocatalysts demonstrate the extraordinary ability to reduce CO2 at low overpotentials with high selectivity to CO. Here, we investigate the role of surface chemistry on CO2 reduction behavior using Au25 and 5 nm Au nanoparticles. Onset potentials for CO2 reduction at Au25 nanoparticles in Nafion binders are shifted anodically by 190 mV while the hydrogen evolution reaction is shifted cathodically by 300 mV relative to Au foil. The net effect of this beneficial separation in onset potentials is relatively high Faradayic efficiencies for CO (90% at 0.8 V versus RHE) at high current densities. Experimental results show Faradayic efficiencies for CO are greatest using electrodes made with Nafion-immobilized Au25 nanoparticles. Likewise, CO2 reduction onset potential shifts are greater for smaller nanoparticles and when Nafion binders are used instead of (sulfonate-free) polyvinylidene fluoride. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis reveals Au nanoparticles may react with the sulfonates of Nafion binders. The results suggest sulfonate interfaces may alter the binding energies of key species or lead to favorable reconstructions, either of which ultimately results in remarkable improvements in Faradayic efficiencies relative to Au foil electrodes

G3, GENETICS, and the GSA: Two Journals, One Mission

With the June launch of its open-access journal G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) now offers two peer-edited journals. The missions of G3 and GENETICS are fundamentally the same: to provide a forum for timely communication of the latest findings in genetics, selected by editors who are the authors' peers. But the scopes of the two journals are different. Why offer two journals

Augmentation of Myc-Dependent Mitotic Gene Expression by the Pygopus2 Chromatin Effector

Mitotic segregation of chromosomes requires precise coordination of many factors, yet evidence is lacking as to how genes encoding these elements are transcriptionally controlled. Here, we found that the Pygopus (Pygo)2 chromatin effector is indispensable for expression of the MYC-dependent genes that regulate cancer cell division. Depletion of Pygo2 arrested SKOV-3 cells at metaphase, which resulted from the failure of chromosomes to capture spindle microtubules, a critical step for chromosomal biorientation and segregation. This observation was consistent with global chromatin association findings in HeLa S3 cells, revealing the enrichment of Pygo2 and MYC at promoters of biorientation and segmentation genes, at which Pygo2 maintained histone H3K27 acetylation. Immunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assays demonstrated MYC and Pygo2 interacting in nuclei, corroborated in a heterologous MYC-driven prostate cancer model that was distinct from Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Our evidence supports a role for Pygo2 as an essential component of MYC oncogenic activity required for mitosis