title: Characterisation and expression analysis of B-cell activating factor (BAFF) in spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias): Cartilaginous fish BAFF has a unique extra exon that may impact receptor binding

authors: Li, Ronggai

subjects: Spiny dogfish

abstract: B-cell activating factor (BAFF), also known as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) ligand superfamily member 13B, is an important immune regulator with critical roles in B-cell survival, proliferation, differentiation and immunoglobulin secretion. A BAFF gene has been cloned from spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) and its expression studied. The dogfish BAFF encodes for an anchored type-II transmembrane protein of 288 aa with a putative furin protease cleavage site and TNF family signature as seen in BAFFs from other species. The identity of dogfish BAFF has also been confirmed by conserved cysteine residues, and phylogenetic tree analysis. The dogfish BAFF gene has an extra exon not seen in teleost fish, birds and mammals that encodes for 29 aa and may impact on receptor binding. The dogfish BAFF is highly expressed in immune tissues, such as spleen, and is up-regulated by PWM in peripheral blood leucocytes, suggesting a potentially important role in the immune system.

text: Characterisation and expression analysis of B-cell activating factor (BAFF) in spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias): Cartilaginous fish BAFF has a unique extra exon that may impact receptor binding B-cell activating factor (BAFF), also known as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) ligand superfamily member 13B, is an important immune regulator with critical roles in B-cell survival, proliferation, differentiation and immunoglobulin secretion. A BAFF gene has been cloned from spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) and its expression studied. The dogfish BAFF encodes for an anchored type-II transmembrane protein of 288 aa with a putative furin protease cleavage site and TNF family signature as seen in BAFFs from other species. The identity of dogfish BAFF has also been confirmed by conserved cysteine residues, and phylogenetic tree analysis. The dogfish BAFF gene has an extra exon not seen in teleost fish, birds and mammals that encodes for 29 aa and may impact on receptor binding. The dogfish BAFF is highly expressed in immune tissues, such as spleen, and is up-regulated by PWM in peripheral blood leucocytes, suggesting a potentially important role in the immune system.

year: 2011

title: Supporting collaborative transcription of recorded speech with a 3D game interface

authors: Luz, Saturnino

subjects: computer science

abstract: The amount of speech data available on-line and in institutional repositories, including recordings of lectures, “podcasts”, news broadcasts etc, has increased greatly in the past few years. Effective access to such data demands transcription. While current automatic speech recognition technology can help with this task, results of automatic transcription alone are often unsatisfactory. Recently, approaches which combine automatic speech recognition and collaborative transcription have been proposed in which geographically distributed users edit and correct automatically generated transcripts. These approaches, however, are based on traditional text-editor interfaces which provide little satisfaction to the users who perform these time-consuming tasks, most often on a voluntarily basis. We present a 3D “transcription game” interface which aims at improving the user experience of the transcription task and, ultimately, creating an extra incentive for users to engage in a process of collaborative transcription in the first place.

text: Supporting collaborative transcription of recorded speech with a 3D game interface The amount of speech data available on-line and in institutional repositories, including recordings of lectures, “podcasts”, news broadcasts etc, has increased greatly in the past few years. Effective access to such data demands transcription. While current automatic speech recognition technology can help with this task, results of automatic transcription alone are often unsatisfactory. Recently, approaches which combine automatic speech recognition and collaborative transcription have been proposed in which geographically distributed users edit and correct automatically generated transcripts. These approaches, however, are based on traditional text-editor interfaces which provide little satisfaction to the users who perform these time-consuming tasks, most often on a voluntarily basis. We present a 3D “transcription game” interface which aims at improving the user experience of the transcription task and, ultimately, creating an extra incentive for users to engage in a process of collaborative transcription in the first place.

year: 2010

title: Body Image Attitudes amongst Māori and Pakeha Females

authors: Ngamanu, Robert Errol

subjects: body image

abstract: Research has shown that body image plays a principle role in predicting the occurrence and extent of eating disordered symptomatology. The term 'body image' has multiple definitions but is most commonly used to refer to self-perceptions of body weight and shape. Evidence shows that Western socio-cultural beliefs encourage females to strive for an extremely thin, unrealistically small figure. The difficulties obtaining this  thin-ideal  have lead to the development of body image dissatisfaction (BID). Because the thin-ideal is a Western construct, BID was thought to effect only Western, White women, however, research shows that body image concerns and consequently eating pathology are appearing in non-Western, ethnic minority groups where they were once unknown. This has been attributed to increasing contact between ethnic minority groups and Western cultural mores. This would suggest that the degree of attachment a minority individual feels towards their ethnic identity is likely to moderate the development of BID and thus eating concerns. This thesis compared levels of body image dissatisfaction amongst ethnic groups in New Zealand, focussing particularly on Māori and Pakeha. No differences were found to exist amongst these groups with regards to body image dissatisfaction and eating pathology regardless of ethnic attachment. The information found has consequences for clinicians working with clients of Māori extraction and those researching body image dissatisfaction in New Zealand.

text: Body Image Attitudes amongst Māori and Pakeha Females Research has shown that body image plays a principle role in predicting the occurrence and extent of eating disordered symptomatology. The term 'body image' has multiple definitions but is most commonly used to refer to self-perceptions of body weight and shape. Evidence shows that Western socio-cultural beliefs encourage females to strive for an extremely thin, unrealistically small figure. The difficulties obtaining this  thin-ideal  have lead to the development of body image dissatisfaction (BID). Because the thin-ideal is a Western construct, BID was thought to effect only Western, White women, however, research shows that body image concerns and consequently eating pathology are appearing in non-Western, ethnic minority groups where they were once unknown. This has been attributed to increasing contact between ethnic minority groups and Western cultural mores. This would suggest that the degree of attachment a minority individual feels towards their ethnic identity is likely to moderate the development of BID and thus eating concerns. This thesis compared levels of body image dissatisfaction amongst ethnic groups in New Zealand, focussing particularly on Māori and Pakeha. No differences were found to exist amongst these groups with regards to body image dissatisfaction and eating pathology regardless of ethnic attachment. The information found has consequences for clinicians working with clients of Māori extraction and those researching body image dissatisfaction in New Zealand.

year: 2006