Browsing by Type "Conference Publication"

Many believe that data mining poses the biggest privacy challenge in the next decade. In this paper we concentrate on threats to privacy arising from the possibility of combining aggregate data to deduce the confidential individual values. We determine the maximum number of sum totals that can be disclosed without leading to a 2-compromise in a 1-dimensional database for range queries.

Many believe that data mining poses the biggest privacy challenge in the next decade. In this paper we concentrate on threats to privacy arising from the possibility of combining aggregate data to deduce the confidential individual values. We determine the maximum number of sum totals that can be disclosed without leading to a 2-compromise in a 1-dimensional database for range queries.

This paper presents a novel feature, Topographic High-order Derivatives (THD) for 3D face recognition. THD is based on the high-order micro-pattern information extracted from face topography maps. Face topography maps are partitioned into polar sectors, and THDs are computed using directional highorder derivatives within the sectors. Local features are extracted by encoding directional high-order derivatives within polar neighborhoods. To evaluate the proposed method, we use Bosphorus and FRGC 3D face databases which include pose and expression changes. The performance of the proposed method is higher compared to the state-of-the-art benchmark approaches in 3D face recognition.

The Fifth Generation (5G) of mobile phone technology is gradually witnessing deployment in many parts of the world. New Zealand is also expected to start 5G deployment by the end of 2019. This paper reviews the progress made to date regarding the introduction of 5G specifically in New Zealand. This paper explores several technical and non-technical issues that relate to the 5G debate that is ongoing across the country. Of particular interest are topics that are associated with government's policy and actions towards 5G, and the perception of the general public about this upcoming technology.

Sheep and goats have been produced in Fiji from as early as the 1840s and the country currently has the largest small ruminant production of all Pacific Island Countries. The first local research on small ruminants started in the 1950s. Over the decades the small ruminant production systems have been influenced by numerous challenges but remained an integral part of agricultural production systems in Fiji.

A database search was performed to better understand technologies tested and developed in local small ruminant research activities. Historic literature reviews and additional grey literature were considered additionally. The available published literature was systematically reviewed identifying technologies that have been adopted and persisted over time. Factors fostering or constraining their adoption were assessed. In addition, several key informant interviews revealed current challenges and developments of small ruminant research, and extension, in Fiji.

Four main drivers of the institutional environment for small ruminant research in Fiji have been identified. Among them, the Ministry of Agriculture of Fiji has traditionally been a proponent of small ruminant research to this day. Its efficiency in delivering research outcomes has fluctuated greatly over time.

Results revealed that key production system aspects have also been the focal areas of small ruminant research in Fiji with a strong focus on gastro-intestinal parasite management, breeding and forage development. The development of the Fiji Fantastic sheep breed has been a concerted success of the research and extension system and remains of great importance.

Conclusions from the literature review and key informant interviews include that many of the current challenges have remained unchanged since the beginning of small ruminant production in Fiji. The government is trying to find new ways to support the development of the local small ruminant sector. An aging farming population, the status of small ruminant production compared to other agricultural activities, low accessibility of small ruminant technologies and traditional land lease systems remain substantial impediments.

Cell to cell communication is vital for the co-ordination of physiological process and the regulation of an organism's phenotype. More recently communication via extracellular membrane vesicles has gained recognition. We first described a novel mechanism for the spread and dominance of multidrug resistance (MDR) and enhanced metastatic capacity in cancer via submicron microparticles (MPs). MPs are plasma membrane vesicles released spontaneously from various cell types, carrying bioactive material and are implicated in different physiological and pathophysiological processes. Through this communication apparatus, cancer cells can acquire and secure a survival advantage by various mechanisms. This study aims to examine a role of MPs in altering immune cell function in cancer.

The effects of MPs isolated from human breast cancer cells were examined on antigen presenting cells (APC) in vitro. MP-mediated effects on cell phenotype and functionality was assessed by cytokine profiling and migration assay. We observed a cancer cell induced change in immune cell phenotype and functionality which have the potential to support a reduced global immune response in cancer. The elucidation of this pathway provides novel therapeutic strategies which can be exploited for the treatment of cancer.

Introduction: Multiple Myeloma (MM) is an incurable hematological malignancy affecting plasma cells marked by highly heterogeneous survival rate. Relapse is a significant impediment to the successful treatment of MM clinically. One of the main causes for relapse in MM is the development of multidrug resistance (MDR) to cancer chemotherapy. Currently, risk stratification to MM sub-groups and categorization of complete response to therapy are assessed based on molecular, cytogenetic markers using bone marrow biopsy as available systemic markers are incompetent in this regard. We are exploring the clinical significance of our recent in vitro and in vivo findings of a novel non-genetic basis to MDR whereby tiny vesicles called microparticles (MPs) shed from cancer cell's surface transfer MDR phenotype intercellularly. Microparticles isolated from the peripheral blood of patients who suffer from Multiple Myeloma will be phenotyped for resistance, adhesion and dissemination markers. Subsequently, these parameters will be correlated clinically to assess whether these characteristics are predictive of treatment outcome.

In this work, we proposed Software Defined Networking (SDN) based access control techniques for preventing unauthorised access to traffic flows in secure networks. We have developed an Access Control Application (ACA) for the SDN Controller for differentiating the flow requests from the user/devices that are classified at different security levels and configuring the routes with physical or virtual separation between the flows. This separation of flows makes it difficult for the malicious users with lower security clearance to access the flows that belong to the users with higher security clearance. Hence, our work significantly minimises the attack surface in secure environments. We will also discuss the prototype implementation of our model and some performance characteristics.