The propaganda strategies adopted by the Colonial British during the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960 as applied in newspaper coverage: A case study

The ongoing discussions on the fluid boundaries between ‘propaganda’ and ‘persuasion’ have emerged in numerous studies, the most prominent being Jowett and O’Donnell (2006). Sharing their views, Herman and Chomsky (1988) argued on the repercussions of only using elite sources in media reports due to their capacity to mobilise the masses for a single cause and shape elite opinions, due to the absence of alternative or opposing viewpoints. This case study examined the nature of propaganda strategies adopted by the colonial British during the Malayan Emergency that proved to be highly effective. This study consisted of two separate elements. First, it extends the discussion on propaganda by examining the significance of ‘race’ used as a crucial element within the discourses of anti-communism, as a legitimate rationale to mobilise forces, primarily within a Malayan context. Second, it investigated how propaganda strategies such as the forced resettlement of the ethnic Chinese, strategies used in framing the insurgents, and psychological warfare operated as powerful mechanisms to shape propaganda communication. A comparative content analysis of two mainstream English newspapers – namely The Times (London) and Straits Times (Singapore) – was conducted to identify trends in reporting used. Juxtaposing this method was the administration of in-depth interviews with ex-service personnel who had actively served in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. The findings of this research reveal a significant correlation between ‘race’ and the constructs of communism. The results also indicate that psychological strategies adopted by the British in the form of deeds and news production proved to be highly effective

Combining Image Processing Techniques and Mobile Sensor Information for Marker-less Augmented Reality Based Reconstruction

Marker-less Augmented Reality(AR) based recon- struction using mobile devices, is a near impossible task. When considering vision based tracking approaches, it is due to the lack of processing power in mobile devices and when considering mobile sensor based tracking approaches, it is due to the lack of accuracy in mobile Global Positioning System(GPS). In order to address this problem this research presents a novel approach which combines image processing techniques and mobile sensor information which can be used to perform precise position localization in order to perform augmented reality based reconstruction using mobile devices. The core of this proposed methodology is tightly bound with the image processing technique which is used to identify the object scale in a given image, which is taken from the user’s mobile device. Use of mobile sensor information was to classify the most optimal locations for a given particular user location. This proposed methodology has been evaluated against the results obtained using 10cm accurate Real-Time Kinematic(RTK) device and against the results obtained using only the Assisted Global  Positioning  System(A-GPS)  chips  in  mobile  devices. Though  this  proposed  methodology  require  more  processing time than A-GPS chips, the accuracy level of this proposed methodology outperforms that of A-GPS chips and the results of the experiments carried out further convince that this proposed methodology facilitates improving the accuracy of position local- ization for augmented reality based reconstruction using mobile devices under certain limitations

Blockchain for next generation services in banking and finance: cost, benefit, risk and opportunity analysis

YesPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to help in providing a better understanding of the application of blockchain technology in the context of the banking and finance sectors. The aim is to outline blockchain’s benefits, opportunities, costs, risks as well as challenges of the technology in the context of banking and finance services Design/methodology/approach – Careful examination of the extant literature, including utilising relevant academic-based research databases has been carried out. It covered reviewing various research contributions published in peer-reviewed journals, academic reports, as well as technical reports to help in identifying related benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks. Findings – The findings reveal that there are limited contributions in utilising blockchain in the banking and finance sectors when compared with other sectors. As such, the study highlighted the relevant perspective of benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks within such sectors. Practical implications – This study helps in offering a focal point to banking and financial sector managers and decision-makers for realising the benefits of blockchain technology as well as developing strategies and programmes to overcome the identified challenges. Originality/value – This study highlights the need for a holistic understanding of the various aspects of cost, benefits, risk and opportunities to create blockchain applications that work for banking and finance sectorsNPRP grant # [11S-0117–180325] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation)

Roles of Carboxyl Groups in the Transmembrane Insertion of Peptides

We have used pHLIP® [pH (low) insertion peptide] to study the roles of carboxyl groups in transmembrane (TM) peptide insertion. pHLIP binds to the surface of a lipid bilayer as a disordered peptide at neutral pH; when the pH is lowered, it inserts across the membrane to form a TM helix. Peptide insertion is reversed when the pH is raised above the characteristic pKa (6.0). A key event that facilitates membrane insertion is the protonation of aspartic acid (Asp) and/or glutamic acid (Glu) residues, since their negatively charged side chains hinder membrane insertion at neutral pH. In order to gain mechanistic understanding, we studied the membrane insertion and exit of a series of pHLIP variants where the four Asp residues were sequentially mutated to nonacidic residues, including histidine (His). Our results show that the presence of His residues does not prevent the pH-dependent peptide membrane insertion at ∼ pH 4 driven by the protonation of carboxyl groups at the inserting end of the peptide. A further pH drop leads to the protonation of His residues in the TM part of the peptide, which induces peptide exit from the bilayer. We also find that the number of ionizable residues that undergo a change in protonation during membrane insertion correlates with the pH-dependent insertion into the lipid bilayer and exit from the lipid bilayer, and that cooperativity increases with their number. We expect that our understanding will be used to improve the targeting of acidic diseased tissue by pHLIP

pHLIP Peptide Interaction with a Membrane Monitored by SAXS

The pH (Low) Insertion Peptides (pHLIP® peptides) find application in studies of membrane-associated folding, since spontaneous insertion of these peptides is conveniently triggered by varying pH. Here we employed small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to investigate WT pHLIP® peptide oligomeric state in solution at high concentrations and monitor changes in liposome structure upon peptide insertion into the bilayer. We established that even at high concentrations (up to 300 μM) WT pHLIP® peptide at pH 8.0 does not form oligomers higher than tetramers (which exhibit concentration-dependent transfer to monomeric state as it was shown previously). This finding has significance for medical applications, when high concentration of the peptide is injected into blood and diluted in blood circulation. The interaction of WT pHLIP® peptide with liposomes does not alter the unilamellar vesicle structure upon peptide adsorption by lipid bilayer at high pH or upon insertion across the bilayer at low pH. At the same time, SAXS data clearly reflect the insertion of the peptide into the membrane at low pH, which opens the possibility to investigate kinetic process of a polypeptide insertion and exit from the membrane in real time by time-resolved SAXS

Controlled modification of resonant tunneling in metal-insulator-insulator-metal structures

We present comprehensive experimental and theoretical work on tunnel-barrier rectifiers comprising bilayer (Nb2O5/Al2O3) insulator configurations with similar (Nb/Nb) and dissimilar (Nb/Ag) metal electrodes. The electron affinity, valence band offset, and metal work function were ascertained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, and electrical measurements on fabricated reference structures. The experimental band line-up parameters were fed into a theoretical model to predict available bound states in the Nb2O5/Al2O3 quantum well and generate tunneling probability and transmittance curves under applied bias. The onset of strong resonance in the sub-V regime was found to be controlled by a work function difference of Nb/Ag electrodes in agreement with the experimental band alignment and theoretical model. A superior low-bias asymmetry of 35 at 0.1 V and a responsivity of 5 A/W at 0.25 V were observed for the Nb/4 nm Nb2O5/1 nm Al2O3/Ag structure, sufficient to achieve a rectification of over 90% of the input alternate current terahertz signal in a rectenna device

Ge interface engineering using ultra-thin La2O3 and Y2O3 films: A study into the effect of deposition temperature

A study into the optimal deposition temperature for ultra-thin La2O3/Ge and Y2O3/Ge gate stacks has been conducted in this paper with the aim to tailor the interfacial layer for effective passivation of the Ge interface. A detailed comparison between the two lanthanide oxides (La2O3 and Y2O3) in terms of band line-up, interfacial features, and reactivity to Ge using medium energy ion scattering, vacuum ultra-violet variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VUV-VASE), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction is shown. La2O3 has been found to be more reactive to Ge than Y2O3, forming LaGeOx and a Ge sub-oxide at the interface for all deposition temperature studied, in the range from 44 °C to 400 °C. In contrast, Y2O3/Ge deposited at 400 °C allows for an ultra-thin GeO2 layer at the interface, which can be eliminated during annealing at temperatures higher than 525 °C leaving a pristine YGeOx/Ge interface. The Y2O3/Ge gate stack deposited at lower temperature shows a sub-band gap absorption feature fitted to an Urbach tail of energy 1.1 eV. The latter correlates to a sub-stoichiometric germanium oxide layer at the interface. The optical band gap for the Y2O3/Ge stacks has been estimated to be 5.7 ± 0.1 eV from Tauc-Lorentz modelling of VUV-VASE experimental data. For the optimal deposition temperature (400 °C), the Y2O3/Ge stack exhibits a higher conduction band offset (>2.3 eV) than the La2O3/Ge (∼2 eV), has a larger band gap (by about 0.3 eV), a germanium sub-oxide free interface, and leakage current (∼10−7 A/cm2 at 1 V) five orders of magnitude lower than the respective La2O3/Ge stack. Our study strongly points to the superiority of the Y2O3/Ge system for germanium interface engineering to achieve high performance Ge Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor technology

Enhanced low voltage nonlinearity in resonant tunneling metal–insulator–insulator–metal nanostructures

The electrical properties of bi-layer Ta2O5/Al2O3 and Nb2O5/Al2O3 metal–insulator–insulator–metal nanostructures as rectifiers have been investigated. The ultra-thin (1–6 nm) insulator layers were deposited by atomic-layer deposition or rf magnetron sputtering with Al as metal contacts. Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry was performed to extract the optical properties and band gap of narrow band gap insulator layers while the surface roughness of the metal contacts was measured by atomic force microscopy. Superior low voltage large signal and small signal nonlinearities such as asymmetry of 18 at 0.35 V, rate of change of non-linearity of 7.5 V�1, and responsivity of 9 A/W at 0.2 V were observed from the current–voltage characteristics. A sharp increase in current at �2 V on Ta2O5/Al2O3 device can be ascribed to resonant tunneling