Australian tertiary learning and teaching scholarship and research 2007-2012

Research into Higher Education is strongly supported in Australia by journals and conferences. Teaching and learning awards, projects and programmes in Australia have gained a significantly larger profile over the last five years thanks, in part, to an imaginative and supportive environment fostered by the federal government through the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) and now the Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT)

Probing the Nature of Short Swift Bursts via Deep INTEGRAL Monitoring of GRB 050925

We present results from Swift, XMM-Newton, and deep INTEGRAL monitoring in the region of GRB 050925. This short Swift burst is a candidate for a newly discovered soft gamma-ray repeater (SGR) with the following observational burst properties: 1) galactic plane (b=-0.1 deg) localization, 2) 150 msec duration, and 3) a blackbody rather than a simple power-law spectral shape (with a significance level of 97%). We found two possible X-ray counterparts of GRB 050925 by comparing the X-ray images from Swift XRT and XMM-Newton. Both X-ray sources show the transient behavior with a power-law decay index shallower than -1. We found no hard X-ray emission nor any additional burst from the location of GRB 050925 in ~5 Ms of INTEGRAL data. We discuss about the three BATSE short bursts which might be associated with GRB 050925, based on their location and the duration. Assuming GRB 050925 is associated with the H II regions (W 58) at the galactic longitude of l=70 deg, we also discuss the source frame properties of GRB 050925.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in ASR special issue on Neutron Stars and Gamma Ray Bursts, full resolution of Fig 5 is available at http://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Takanori.Sakamoto/GRB050925/integral_ibis_images.ep

Antisense oligonucleotide induction of the hnRNPA1b isoform affects pre-mRNA splicing of SMN2 in SMA type I fibroblasts

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a severe, debilitating neuromuscular condition characterised by loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. SMA is caused by a loss of expression of SMN1 that encodes the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein necessary for the survival of motor neurons. Restoration of SMN expression through increased inclusion of SMN2 exon 7 is known to ameliorate symptoms in SMA patients. As a consequence, regulation of pre-mRNA splicing of SMN2 could provide a potential molecular therapy for SMA. In this study, we explored if splice switching antisense oligonucleotides could redirect the splicing repressor hnRNPA1 to the hnRNPA1b isoform and restore SMN expression in fibroblasts from a type I SMA patient. Antisense oligonucleotides (AOs) were designed to promote exon 7b retention in the mature mRNA and induce the hnRNPA1b isoform. RT-PCR and western blot analysis were used to assess and monitor the efficiency of different AO combinations. A combination of AOs targeting multiple silencing motifs in hnRNPA1 pre-mRNA led to robust hnRNPA1b induction, which, in turn, significantly increased expression of full-length SMN (FL-SMN) protein. A combination of PMOs targeting the same motifs also strongly induced hnRNPA1b isoform, but surprisingly SMN2 exon 5 skipping was detected, and the PMO cocktail did not lead to a significant increase in expression of FL-SMN protein. We further performed RNA sequencing to assess the genome-wide effects of hnRNPA1b induction. Some 3244 genes were differentially expressed between the hnRNPA1b-induced and untreated SMA fibroblasts, which are functionally enriched in cell cycle and chromosome segregation processes. RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that expression of the master regulator of these enrichment pathways, MYBL2 and FOXM1B, were reduced in response to PMO treatment. These findings suggested that induction of hnRNPA1b can promote SMN protein expression, but not at sufficient levels to be clinically relevant

Muon Collider

Both e+e- and {\mu}+{\mu}- colliders have been proposed as possible candidates for a lepton collider to complement and extend the reach of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The physics program that could be pursued by a new lepton collider (e+e- or {\mu}+{\mu}-) with sufficient luminosity would include understanding the mechanism behind mass generation and electroweak symmetry breaking; searching for, and possibly discovering, supersymmetric particles; and hunting for signs of extra spacetime dimensions and quantum gravity. However, the appropriate energy reach for such a collider is currently unknown, and will only be determined following initial physics results at the LHC. It is entirely possible that such results will indicate that a lepton collider with a collision energy well in excess of 1 TeV will be required to illuminate the physics uncovered at LHC. Such a requirement would require consideration of muons as the lepton of choice for such a collider.Comment: v.2., 6 pp. To appear in the 2nd edition of the book Elementary Particles, Landolt-Boernstein Series published by Springer. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:physics/9901022 by other autho

Tomato: a crop species amenable to improvement by cellular and molecular methods

Tomato is a crop plant with a relatively small DNA content per haploid genome and a well developed genetics. Plant regeneration from explants and protoplasts is feasable which led to the development of efficient transformation procedures. In view of the current data, the isolation of useful mutants at the cellular level probably will be of limited value in the genetic improvement of tomato. Protoplast fusion may lead to novel combinations of organelle and nuclear DNA (cybrids), whereas this technique also provides a means of introducing genetic information from alien species into tomato. Important developments have come from molecular approaches. Following the construction of an RFLP map, these RFLP markers can be used in tomato to tag quantitative traits bred in from related species. Both RFLP's and transposons are in the process of being used to clone desired genes for which no gene products are known. Cloned genes can be introduced and potentially improve specific properties of tomato especially those controlled by single genes. Recent results suggest that, in principle, phenotypic mutants can be created for cloned and characterized genes and will prove their value in further improving the cultivated tomato.

A ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complex disrupts actin cytoskeleton assembly and blocks cytokinesis

The dinuclear Ru(II) complex [(Ru(phen) 2 ) 2 (tpphz)] 4+ (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, tpphz = tetrapyridophenazine) “RuRuPhen” blocks the transformation of G-actin to F-actin filaments with no disassembly of pre-formed F-actin. Molecular docking studies indicate multiple RuRuPhen molecules bind to the surface of G-actin but not the binding pockets of established actin polymerisation inhibitors. In cells, addition of RuRuPhen causes rapid disruption to actin stress fibre organisation, compromising actomyosin contractility and cell motility, due to this effect RuRuPhen interferes with late-stage cytokinesis. Immunofluorescent microscopy reveals that RuRuPhen causes cytokinetic abscission failure by interfering with ESCRT complex recruitmen

Relaxation Effects in the Transition Temperature of Superconducting HgBa2CuO4+delta

In previous studies on a number of under- and overdoped high temperature superconductors, including YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-y} and Tl_{2}Ba_{2}CuO_{6+\delta}, the transition temperature T_c has been found to change with time in a manner which depends on the sample's detailed temperature and pressure history. This relaxation behavior in T_c is believed to originate from rearrangements within the oxygen sublattice. In the present high-pressure studies on HgBa_{2}CuO_{4+\delta} to 0.8 GPa we find clear evidence for weak relaxation effects in strongly under- and overdoped samples ($T_c\simeq 40 - 50 K$) with an activation energy $E_{A}(1 bar) \simeq 0.8 - 0.9 eV$. For overdoped HgBa_{2}CuO_{4+\delta} E_{A} increases under pressure more rapidly than previously observed for YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.41}, yielding an activation volume of +11 \pm 5 cm^{3}; the dependence of T_c on pressure is markedly nonlinear, an anomalous result for high-T_c superconductors in the present pressure range, giving evidence for a change in the electronic and/or structural properties near 0.4 GPa

Swift follow-up of the Gravitational Wave source GW150914

The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (ALIGO) observatory recently reported the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GW) which triggered ALIGO on 2015 September 14. We report on observations taken with the Swift satellite two days after the trigger. No new X-ray, optical, UV or hard X-ray sources were detected in our observations, which were focused on nearby galaxies in the GW error region and covered 4.7 deg2 (~2 per cent of the probability in the rapidly available GW error region; 0.3 per cent of the probability from the final GW error region, which was produced several months after the trigger). We describe the rapid Swift response and automated analysis of the X-ray telescope and UV/Optical telescope data, and note the importance to electromagnetic follow-up of early notification of the progenitor details inferred from GW analysis

The Intentional Use of Service Recovery Strategies to Influence Consumer Emotion, Cognition and Behaviour

Service recovery strategies have been identified as a critical factor in the success of. service organizations. This study develops a conceptual frame work to investigate how specific service recovery strategies influence the emotional, cognitive and negative behavioural responses of . consumers., as well as how emotion and cognition influence negative behavior. Understanding the impact of specific service recovery strategies will allow service providers' to more deliberately and intentionally engage in strategies that result in positive organizational outcomes. This study was conducted using a 2 x 2 between-subjects quasi-experimental design. The results suggest that service recovery has a significant impact on emotion, cognition and negative behavior. Similarly, satisfaction, negative emotion and positive emotion all influence negative behavior but distributive justice has no effect

Spinning Strings as Small Black Rings

Certain supersymmetric elementary string states with spin can be viewed as small black rings whose horizon has the topology of S^1 \times S^{d-3} in a d-dimensional string theory. By analyzing the singular black ring solution in the supergravity approximation, and using various symmetries of the \alpha' corrected effective action we argue that the Bekenstein-Hawking-Wald entropy of the black string solution in the full string theory agrees with the statistical entropy of the same system up to an overall normalization constant. While the normalization constant cannot be determined by the symmetry principles alone, it can be related to a similar normalization constant that appears in the expression for small black holes without angular momentum in one less dimension. Thus agreement between statistical and macroscopic entropy of (d-1)-dimensional non-rotating elementary string states would imply a similar agreement for a d-dimensional elementary string state with spin. Our analysis also determines the structure of the near horizon geometry and provides us with a geometric derivation of the Regge bound. These studies give further evidence that a ring-like horizon is formed when large angular momentum is added to a small black hole.Comment: LaTeX file, 31 pages; v2: references to earlier work adde