New Media, Space and Marginality:Control and Regulation of Cybercafe Use in Small and Medium Cities in Asia

This paper is about how cybercafés in small and medium Asian towns highlight new aspects of modernity. Especially in the context of Asian modernity, the introduction of ICT-shaped social spaces in the form of cybercafés leads to multiple conflicting rhetoric of empowerment and progress on the one hand, and risk and moral degeneration on the other. Through an ethnographic study carried out in twelve small or medium towns in six Asian countries, the research explores how new media technologies influence the contexts of reimagining Asia’s encounter with modernity. The paper is based on a study drawing from secondary materials and primary information gathered through extensive field work in six developing countries in Asia: Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines in South East Asia, and India and Bangladesh in South Asia. In this paper we set out to argue that the continuities, ruptures and innovations that constitute the Asian modernity, as well as their social impacts, are mirrored in the discourses surrounding the various technologies that embody this modernity, negotiating a new phase in its mediation and legitimization in Asia. In particular, new media technologies and social media are involved in multiple discourses of risk, opportunity and adaptation. In the case of the cybercafés in Asia, we argue that the situated nature of technological access gives rise to new dimensions of adaptation at individual and collective levels. Discourses emanating from representatives of civil society, State and various other stakeholders converge on cybercafés, and their attention on this particular space emerges as an indication of its complexity as a zone of mediated access to the worlds—both desired and undesired—that computers make possible. The complexity of defining an essential set of Asian values and a regionally unique trajectory of modernity notwithstanding

Metabolic Network Topology Reveals Transcriptional Regulatory Signatures of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a disorder characterized by both insulin resistance and impaired insulin secretion. Recent transcriptomics studies related to T2DM have revealed changes in expression of a large number of metabolic genes in a variety of tissues. Identification of the molecular mechanisms underlying these transcriptional changes and their impact on the cellular metabolic phenotype is a challenging task due to the complexity of transcriptional regulation and the highly interconnected nature of the metabolic network. In this study we integrate skeletal muscle gene expression datasets with human metabolic network reconstructions to identify key metabolic regulatory features of T2DM. These features include reporter metabolites—metabolites with significant collective transcriptional response in the associated enzyme-coding genes, and transcription factors with significant enrichment of binding sites in the promoter regions of these genes. In addition to metabolites from TCA cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, and lipid metabolism (known to be associated with T2DM), we identified several reporter metabolites representing novel biomarker candidates. For example, the highly connected metabolites NAD+/NADH and ATP/ADP were also identified as reporter metabolites that are potentially contributing to the widespread gene expression changes observed in T2DM. An algorithm based on the analysis of the promoter regions of the genes associated with reporter metabolites revealed a transcription factor regulatory network connecting several parts of metabolism. The identified transcription factors include members of the CREB, NRF1 and PPAR family, among others, and represent regulatory targets for further experimental analysis. Overall, our results provide a holistic picture of key metabolic and regulatory nodes potentially involved in the pathogenesis of T2DM

Contentions and contradictions of tourism as development option: the case of Kerala, India

Although the state of Kerala in India has been regarded as a `model of development', its achievements may be unravelling thanks to a host of internal and external problems. The government and the bureaucracy now project tourism as `an engine of growth'-an excellent source of foreign exchange and employment-to revive the local economy. Opposition to large-scale tourism projects by environmental and labour activists is often dealt with through undemocratic means. This article points to a less than sanguine role for tourism in the local economy and the dynamics that work to exaggerate tourism's share in the economy in an emerging context of governmental failure, political crisis and interest group consolidation. Lessons are drawn to revisit the debate on tourism and development

Preparation and characterisation of poly(vinyl) alcohol (PVA)/starch (ST)/halloysite nanotube (HNT) nanocomposite films as renewable materials

Poly(vinyl) alcohol (PVA)/starch (ST) films (weight ratio: 80/20) were prepared using a solution casting method, in the presence of 30 wt% glycerol (GL) as a plasticiser. Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were used as relatively new clay nanofillers to PVA/ST/GL blends for more economical material packaging. HNTs at filler loadings of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 3 and 5 wt% were incorporated to enhance mechanical and thermal properties of resulting PVA/ST/HNT nanocomposites. The tensile strength of such nanocomposites was found to be improved by 20 and 3.4%, respectively, with the inclusion of 0.25 and 0.5 wt% HNTs as opposed to those of PVA/ST/GL blends. However, a decreasing strength trend was observed beyond the HNT loading of 0.5 wt% due to HNT agglomeration, as evidenced by relevant micrographs via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). However, Young’s modulus was enhanced by 148% with the addition of 1 wt% HNTs when compared with PVA/ST/GL blends. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis is indicative of slightly intercalated nanocomposite structures formed at low HNT loadings of 0.25–1 wt%. In general, the incorporation of HNTs improved the thermal stability of PVA/ST/GL blends by increasing melting and decomposition temperatures along with the reduction in weight loss

Synthesis of E- and Z-trisubstituted alkenes by catalytic cross-metathesis.

Catalytic cross-metathesis is a central transformation in chemistry, yet corresponding methods for the stereoselective generation of acyclic trisubstituted alkenes in either the E or the Z isomeric forms are not known. The key problems are a lack of chemoselectivity-namely, the preponderance of side reactions involving only the less hindered starting alkene, resulting in homo-metathesis by-products-and the formation of short-lived methylidene complexes. By contrast, in catalytic cross-coupling, substrates are more distinct and homocoupling is less of a problem. Here we show that through cross-metathesis reactions involving E- or Z-trisubstituted alkenes, which are easily prepared from commercially available starting materials by cross-coupling reactions, many desirable and otherwise difficult-to-access linear E- or Z-trisubstituted alkenes can be synthesized efficiently and in exceptional stereoisomeric purity (up to 98 per cent E or 95 per cent Z). The utility of the strategy is demonstrated by the concise stereoselective syntheses of biologically active compounds, such as the antifungal indiacen B and the anti-inflammatory coibacin D

Nutrigenomics:goals and strategies

Nutrigenomics is the application of high-throughput genomics tools in nutrition research. Applied wisely, it will promote an increased understanding of how nutrition influences metabolic pathways and homeostatic control, how this regulation is disturbed in the early phase of a diet-related disease and to what extent individual sensitizing genotypes contribute to such diseases. Ultimately, nutrigenomics will allow effective dietary-intervention strategies to recover normal homeostasis and to prevent diet-related diseases