Businesses’ perception of electronic signatures: An Australian study

Dr. Aashish Srivastava provides a summary of his research into the perception of electronic signatures in Australia amongst the business community, including lawyers

Granular Matter: Microstructural Evolution and Mechanical Response

Heterogeneous (nano) composites, manufactured by the densification of variously sized grains, represent an important and ubiquitous class of technologically relevant materials. Typical grain sizes in such materials range from macroscopic to a few nanometers. The morphology exhibited by such disordered materials is complex and intricately connected with its thermal and electrical transport properties. It is important to quantify the geometric features of these materials and simulate the fabrication process. Additionally, granular materials exhibit complex structural and mechanical properties that crucially govern their reliability during industrial use. In this work, we simulate the densification of soft deformable grains from a low-density fluid-state to a mechanically rigid solid-state. The simulation is performed via methods of structural optimization that minimize the system free energy in the athermal limit. The effect of grain shapes and sizes (and dispersity therein) is simulated in detail and their effect on the composite morphology is quantified. Furthermore, in the present simulations the composite materials are perturbed under external stress (strain) stimuli to understand the mechanical response and calculate the material stress-strain response, effective Poisson’s ratio and yield stress. A tool is created to simulate the consolidation and stress-perturbation of the different shaped and sized grains using techniques of computational geometry and gradient-based optimization routines to relax microstructures into minimum-energy stable phases. The tool uses MATLAB and C++, wrapped around xml for generating Graphical User Interface (GUI). The tool can be deployed online in nanoHUB platform of Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN). Besides computing the data like enthalpy of the system and internal stress, this tool also utilizes visualization technique like Visualization ToolKit (VTK) to graph and visualize the optimized microstructures. Hence, the creation of this tool allows the wider audiences simulate the consolidation and stress-perturbation of the different shaped and sized grains

Online Bullying and Harassment: An Australian Perspective

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has created new ways for children to harass and bully each other. It is unfathomable and somewhat ironic to see how the phenomenon of cyberbullying has affected our society and indeed most disturbing to hear cases of teenagers committing suicide or being severely emotionally scarred through the misuse of the latest communication tools that were designed to improve the quality of our lives. Unfortunately the ICT’s very nature of being always-on, accessible-from-anywhere, and often anonymous means of communication makes it difficult to regulate what children say or do to each other. This paper attempts to examine online bullying and harassment - also known as cyberbullying - within the Australian context. Essentially, it discusses the various issues associated with cyberbullying including definition and characteristics of cyberbullying; laws that may be applicable to such forms of harassment; consequences of an anonymous bullying act; and whether intermediaries can be held responsible for cyberbullying. The article concludes by providing a few recommendations on how to address cyberbullying

Identification of housekeeping genes of Candidatus Branchiomonas cysticola associated with epitheliocystis in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)

Candidatus Branchiomonas cysticola is an intracellular, gram-negative Betaproteobacteria causing epitheliocystis in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.). The bacterium has not been genetically characterized at the intraspecific level despite its high prevalence among salmon suffering from gill disease in Norwegian aquaculture. DNA from gill samples of Atlantic salmon PCR positive for Cand. B. cysticola and displaying pathological signs of gill disease, was, therefore, extracted and subject to next-generation sequencing (mNGS). Partial sequences of four housekeeping (HK) genes (aceE, lepA, rplB, rpoC) were ultimately identified from the sequenced material. Assays for real-time RT-PCR and fluorescence in-situ hybridization, targeting the newly acquired genes, were simultaneously applied with existing assays targeting the previously characterized 16S rRNA gene. Agreement in both expression and specificity between these putative HK genes and the 16S gene was observed in all instances, indicating that the partial sequences of these HK genes originate from Cand. B. cysticola. The knowledge generated from the present study constitutes a major prerequisite for the future design of novel genotyping schemes for this bacterium.publishedVersio

Privacy-Deprived E-Commerce : The Efficacy of Consumer Privacy Policies on China’s E-Commerce Websites from A Legal Perspective

Purpose – Despite grave public concerns over information privacy and ongoing academic explorations of privacy policy, there is a general lack of understanding toward this issue in the legal context in China, the largest e-commerce market in the world. Departing from the extant literature of general discussion in nature, the authors undertook an exploratory study on the efficacy of e-commerce websites’ privacy policies in China from the legal perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The authors drew on a qualitative grounded theory approach to identify selective codes relating to the focal issue and established a theoretical framework therefrom. The authors then conducted theoretical integration by linking them to the Theory of Development Blocks and the System Justification Theory. Findings – The research identifies a general distrust of Chinese consumers toward privacy policies and highlights that despite their growing concerns about privacy, the privacy policies are largely ineffective in reflecting legal enforcement, changing their perceptions or influencing purchase behaviors. It also reveals that the current Chinese legislation is unable to fully render consumers’ confidence in e-commerce websites’ privacy policies effectiveness and privacy protection due to its limited recognition and influences among them. Originality/value – The research has multiple ramifications. The authors empirically confirmed a mismatch between customers’ perception of privacy policies and their actual behaviors and then theoretically explained the seemingly conflicting scenario in the context of development block of legal enforcement and system justification. The authors theorized the absence of the legal enforcement in privacy policies to supplement the legal perspective to the literature. The research further leads us to suggest that the time has come to update and strongly enforce privacy regulation in China to fuel the further development of e-commerce sector in practice

Host blood-based biosignatures for subclinical TB and incipient TB: A prospective study of adult TB household contacts in Southern India

A large proportion of the global tuberculosis (TB) burden is asymptomatic and not detectable by symptom-based screening, driving the TB epidemic through continued M. tuberculosis transmission. Currently, no validated tools exist to diagnose incipient and subclinical TB. Nested within a large prospective study in household contacts of pulmonary TB cases in Southern India, we assessed 35 incipient TB and 12 subclinical TB cases, along with corresponding household active TB cases (n=11), and household controls (n=39) using high throughput methods for transcriptional and protein profiling. We split the data into training and test sets and applied a support vector machine classifier followed by a Lasso regression model to identify signatures. The Lasso regression model identified an 11-gene signature (ABLIM2, C20orf197, CTC-543D15.3, CTD-2503O16.3, HLADRB3, METRNL, RAB11B-AS1, RP4-614C10.2, RNA5SP345, RSU1P1, and UACA) that distinguished subclinical TB from incipient TB with a very good discriminatory power by AUCs in both training and test sets. Further, we identified an 8-protein signature comprising b-FGF, IFNγ, IL1RA, IL7, IL12p70, IL13, PDGF-BB, and VEGF that differentiated subclinical TB from incipient TB with good and moderate discriminatory power by AUCs in the training and test sets, respectively. The identified 11-gene signature discriminated well between the distinct stages of the TB disease spectrum, with very good discriminatory power, suggesting it could be useful for predicting TB progression in household contacts. However, the high discriminatory power could partly be due to over-fitting, and validation in other studies is warranted to confirm the potential of the immune biosignatures for identifying subclinical TB.publishedVersio

Identification of microRNAs from medicinal plant Murraya Koenigii by high-throughput sequencing and their functional implications in secondary metabolite biosynthesis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNA molecules that play crucial post-transcriptional regulatory roles in plants, including development and stress-response signaling. However, information about their involvement in secondary metabolism is still limited. Murraya koenigii is a popular medicinal plant, better known as curry leaves, that possesses pharmaceutically active secondary metabolites. The present study utilized high-throughput sequencing technology to investigate the miRNA profile of M. koenigii and their association with secondary metabolite biosynthesis. A total of 343,505 unique reads with lengths ranging from 16 to 40 nt were obtained from the sequencing data, among which 142 miRNAs were identified as conserved and 7 as novel miRNAs. Moreover, 6078 corresponding potential target genes of M. koenigii miRNAs were recognized in this study. Interestingly, several conserved and novel miRNAs of M. koenigii were found to target key enzymes of the terpenoid backbone and the flavonoid biosynthesis pathways. Furthermore, to validate the sequencing results, the relative expression of eight randomly selected miRNAs was determined by qPCR. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the M. koenigii miRNA profile that may provide useful information for further elucidation of the involvement of miRNAs in secondary metabolism. These findings might be crucial in the future to generate artificial-miRNA-based, genetically engineered M. koenigii plants for the overproduction of medicinally highly valuable secondary metabolites.publishedVersio

Protein and transcriptional biomarker profiling may inform treatment strategies in lower respiratory tract infections by indicating bacterial–viral differentiation

Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) remain a significant global cause of infectious disease-related mortality. Accurate discrimination between acute bacterial and viral LRTIs is crucial for optimal patient care, prevention of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions, and resource allocation. Plasma samples from LRTI patients with bacterial (n = 36), viral (n = 27; excluding SARS-CoV-2), SARS-CoV-2 (n = 22), and mixed bacterial–viral (n = 38) etiology were analyzed for protein profiling. Whole-blood RNA samples from a subset of patients (bacterial, n = 8; viral, n = 8; and SARS-CoV-2, n = 8) were analyzed for transcriptional profiling. Lasso regression modeling identified a seven-protein signature (CRP, IL4, IL9, IP10, MIP1α, MIP1β, and TNFα) that discriminated between patients with bacterial (n = 36) vs viral (n = 27) infections with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.98. When comparing patients with bacterial and mixed bacterial–viral infections (antibiotics clinically justified; n = 74) vs patients with viral and SARS-CoV-2 infections (antibiotics clinically not justified; n = 49), a 10-protein signature (CRP, bFGF, eotaxin, IFNγ, IL1β, IL7, IP10, MIP1α, MIP1β, and TNFα) with an AUC of 0.94 was identified. The transcriptional profiling analysis identified 232 differentially expressed genes distinguishing bacterial (n = 8) from viral and SARS-CoV-2 (n = 16) etiology. Protein–protein interaction enrichment analysis identified 20 genes that could be useful in the differentiation between bacterial and viral infections. Finally, we examined the performance of selected published gene signatures for bacterial–viral differentiation in our gene set, yielding promising results. Further validation of both protein and gene signatures in diverse clinical settings is warranted to establish their potential to guide the treatment of acute LRTIs.publishedVersio

Medicinal plants of Seijosa circle, Pakke-Kessang district, Arunachal Pradesh, India

During plant exploration and survey of Seijosa Circle (forest area), in Pakke Kessang district of Arunachal Pradesh (2018-2019) the authors collected ca. 3000 plant samples from different localities. Of these, 219 species belonging to 184 genera and 84 families are used as medicinal plants. The information about the medicinal uses of these plants has been gathered during field trips of Seijosa from local inhabitants. The plants are arranged alphabetically family-wise, followed by their scientific name, regional name, habit, plant parts used, medicinal uses and accession number. These plant species are utilized by local people for various ailments in the Seijosa forest area

A Brief Review on the Regulatory Roles of MicroRNAs in Cystic Diseases and Their Use as Potential Biomarkers

miRNAs are small endogenous conserved non-coding RNA molecules that regulate post-transcriptional gene expression through mRNA degradation or translational inhibition, modulating nearly 60% of human genes. Cystic diseases are characterized by the presence of abnormal fluid-filled sacs in the body, and though most cysts are benign, they can grow inside tumors and turn malignant. Recent evidence has revealed that the aberrant expression of a number of miRNAs present in extracellular fluids, including plasma or serum, urine, saliva, follicular fluid, and semen, contribute to different cystic pathologies. This review aims to describe the role of different miRNAs in three worldwide relevant cystic diseases: polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), polycystic kidney disease (PKD), and pancreatic cyst tumors (PCTs), as well as their potential use as novel biomarkers.publishedVersio