The Mobile Phone as a Globalising Artefact

This paper presents the findings from a qualitative study of mobile phones and youth culture in Melbourne, Australia. The focus is on how the social dynamic resulting from the use of such communications tools has created a paradigm shift that has changed the nature of inter-human relations. Mobile facilitated interaction is driving a fundamental change in social mores with respect to engagement and commitment, to notions of fluid time versus fixed time and ultimately to urban mobility. Connectivity is becoming central to what it means to have a social identity and users are responding to this by merging bits of data to create their ‘ideal digital self’ through which they communicate socially. This calls into question the nature of ‘digital identity’, indicating it is not only about how much information can be restricted, but rather, what is revealed. While the results are based on a localized study, it is proposed that this phenomenon is happening across societies and that mobile phones themselves are becoming the globalizing icon of youth culture in the early 21st Century

Creating the Ideal Digital Self: 3G Mobile Phone Content Production and Distribution as Social Communication

Mobile phone ownership presents users with the opportunity to regularly update others of their actions through the digital documentation and circulation of their experiences. There is a sense that an event is not complete until it is shared through text, voice or images. An empirical study of 35 users aged 18-30, conducted for the Smart Internet Technology CRC [3] revealed that when members of a social group cannot be together physically, circulating digitised accounts of an activity becomes an authentic way to share the event. Furthermore, the study indicated that with the convergence of 3G mobile phones, digital cameras and the Internet, users are taking advantage of the best of all three communication channels to create, circulate, distribute and archive content in new and dynamic ways. Through this process users are creating the 'ideal digital self' by which to communicate socially. However, the effectiveness of these new practices is eroded by specific design and technological limitations, thus a distinct set of user problems emerged. This paper illustrates how the Trophy Room scenario, which is a 3G phone and web application, was developed to address the user needs identified in the study

A Biomechanical Study Examining The Subacromial Balloon Spacer and Superior Capsular Reconstruction in the Treatment of Massive, Irreparable Rotator Cuff Tears

Rotator cuff tears are common tendon injuries and can be a major source of pain and disability. Massive, irreparable rotator cuff tears are a challenging surgical dilemma as currently there is no gold standard treatment algorithm. Multiple possible treatment options exist yet no clear guidelines for optimal surgical technique for this disorder have been established. In this study, two new techniques described in the treatment of massive, irreparable rotator cuff tears were explored; the insertion of a subacromial balloon spacer and superior capsular reconstruction. Their ability to restore glenohumeral joint kinematics was examined in cadaveric specimens with surgically created massive, irreparable rotator cuff tears. Humeral head migration and functional abduction forces were the outcomes measured. Both the subacromial balloon spacer and the superior capsular reconstruction were effective at restoring humeral head position at varying degrees of abduction as compared to the intact shoulder state. Functional abduction force was also restored with both surgical techniques. Finally, the subacromial balloon filled from 10-25 mL proved to be the most effective in restoring humeral head positioning. Further clinical studies need to be performed to determine if these results are reproducible in vivo as well as in the long term

Quintessence and effective AdS brane geometries

A geometric torsion dynamics leading to an effective curvature in a second order formalism on a D4-brane is revisited with a renewed interest. We obtain two effective $AdS_4$ brane geometries on a vacuum created pair of $(D{\bar D})_3$-brane. One of them is shown to describe an AdS Schwarzschild spinning black hole and the other is shown to describe a spinning black hole bound state. It is argued that a D-instanton in a vacuum created anti D3-brane within a pair may describe a quintessence. It may seen to incorporate a varying vacuum energy density in a brane universe. We consider the effective curvature scalar on $S^1\times S^1$ to analyze torsion-less geometries on a vacuum created pair of $(D{\bar D})_2$-brane. The emergent $AdS_3$ brane is shown to describe a Schwarzschild and a Reissner-Nordstrom (RN) geometries in presence of extra dimension(s).Comment: 20 pages, expanded discussion and added referenc

Quantum Kerr tunneling vacua on a (DDˉ)4(D{\bar D})_4-brane: An emergent Kerr black hole in five dimensions

We revisit a non-perturbative space-time curvature theory, underlying a two form U(1) gauge dynamics, on a D4-brane. In particular, two different gauge choices for a two form are explored underlying the dynamics of a geometric torsion in a second order formalism. We obtain two non-extremal quantum Kerr geometries in five dimensions on a pair of $(D{\bar D})_4$-brane in a type IIA superstring theory. The quantum vacua are described by a vanishing torsion in a gauge choice, underlying a geometric realization, on a non-BPS brane. It is argued that the quantum Kerr vacua undergo tunneling and lead to a five dimensional Kerr black hole in Einstein vacuum. A low energy limit in the quantum Kerr vacua further re-assures an emergent Kerr black hole.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure

Emergent gravity/Non-linear U(1) gauge theory correspondence

Kaluza-Klein gravity is revisted, with renewed interest, in a type IIB string theory on $S^1\times K3$. The irreducible curvature tensors are worked out in the, T-dual, emergent gravity in 4D to yield a non-linear U(1) gauge theory. Interestingly, the T-duality may be seen to describe an open/closed string duality at a self-dual string coupling. The obtained deformation in $AdS_5$ black hole is analyzed to introduce the notion of temperature in the emergent gravity underlying the recent idea of entropic force.Comment: 6 page

Emergent Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordstrom black holes in 4D: An effective curvature sourced by a B2-field on a D4-brane

We obtain a Schwarzschild and a Reissner-Nordstrom emergent black holes, by exploring the torsion dynamics in a generalized curvature formulation, underlying an effective D4-brane on S1. It is shown that a constant effective metric, sourced by a background fluctuation in B2-potential, on a D3-brane receives a dynamical quantum correction in presence of an electric charge.Comment: 7-pages, minor corrections, references added, to appear in Physical Review

Novel Protein-protein Interactions Regulate The Proteolytic Activity Of The Pro- Apoptotic Serine Protease, Omi/htra2

Omi/HtrA2 is a mitochondrial serine protease with high homology to the bacterial HtrA proteins. Omi promotes caspase-dependent apoptosis by binding and degrading IAPs-inhibitor of apoptosis proteins. Omi can also induce caspase-independent apoptosis but the actual mechanism is still unknown. IAP\u27s are not the only substrates cleaved by Omi. There are at least two more known substrates of Omi, the HAX-1 and the ped/pea-15 proteins. HS1-associated protein X-1 (HAX-1) is a mitochondrial protein, degraded by Omi after induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis. Ped/pea-15 is also an anti-apoptotic protein and is cleaved by Omi after induction of caspase-independent apoptosis. The proteolytic activity of Omi is necessary and essential for its pro-apoptotic function. Recent studies suggest the proteolytic activity of Omi is regulated by specific protein-protein interactions. Presenilin was identified to be such a regulator of Omi. It binds to the PDZ domain of Omi via its carboxy-terminus and this interaction significantly increases the proteolytic activity of the enzyme. My project was aimed to investigate the normal function of Omi in cell death and the mechanism of its regulation by isolating and characterizing novel Omi interactors. I screened a human melanocyte cDNA library using the yeast-two-hybrid system and Omi as the bait protein. Human Rad21 protein was isolated as a specific novel interactor of Omi. Human Rad21 interacted with the PDZ domain of Omi, the part of the protein known to be involved in protein-protein interactions. Human Rad21 is a nuclear protein that plays a role in DNA double-strand break repair and sister chromatid cohesion during metaphase. Several reports suggest hRad21 has also a role in apoptosis; it is cleaved by caspase-3 and part of the protein becomes cytoplasmic. Human Rad21 was not cleaved by Omi in vitro and therefore it is unlikely to be a substrate. When tested in a proteolytic assay Rad21 was able to increase the proteolytic activity of Omi. My work suggests a new mechanism whereby Omi and hRad21 can co-operate to induce cell death. This mechanism necessitates direct interaction of hRad21 with the PDZ domain of Omi resulting in increased proteolytic activity of the enzyme