Communicating Reproductive Coercion in the Context of Domestic and Family Violence: Perspectives of Service Providers Supporting Migrant and Refugee Women

The current study explored the language barriers to help-seeking in the context of reproductive coercion and abuse (RCA), domestic and family violence (DFV), and sexual violence (SV), drawing on observations by key informants supporting women from migrant and refugee communities. A lack of shared language has been identified as a key barrier to help seeking for migrant and refugee women experiencing DFV more broadly, though how language intersects with help seeking in the context of RCA is yet to be investigated. We conducted 6 focus groups with 38 lawyers, counsellors, and social workers supporting women experiencing DFV in Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia. Our findings address two main areas. First, consistent with past research in DFV, our participants identified language as a barrier for women when communicating about sexual and reproductive issues in the context of health and police encounters. More specifically, our findings suggest that the inability of health professionals and police to communicate with women who have low or no English proficiency not only negatively impacted victims/survivors’ ability to access support, but also facilitated the perpetration of RCA. We conclude that language can be a mechanism through which coercive control is enacted by perpetrators of RCA and health and policing systems may not be equipped to recognise and address this issue. We also suggest that greater conceptual clarity of RCA is needed within the DFV sector in order to tailor responses.

Development and Proof-of-Concept Evaluation of a Sensory Science-Based Model for Product Development of Vegetable-Based Products for Children

Children’s vegetable intake is too low, and a key barrier to the inadequate intake is low acceptance. To facilitate successful development of new vegetable-based products for children, a sensory science approach to product development has been taken. A new theoretical model is proposed, the CAMPOV model: Children’s Acceptance Model for Product development of Vegetables. The model is informed by scientific literature and considers biological, psychological, and situational, and intrinsic and extrinsic product factors relevant to children’s acceptance of vegetables, with a focus on modifiable factors at the product level. Simultaneously, 14 new vegetable-based product concepts for children were developed and evaluated through focus groups with 5–8-year-olds (n = 36) as a proof-of-concept evaluation of the model. Children had high interest in six of the concepts. Factors identified from the literature that positively associated with the children’s interest in the concepts included bright colours, bite-sized pieces, good taste, fun eating experience, and familiarity. The CAMPOV model and proof-of-concept evaluation results can guide further sensory and consumer research to increase children’s acceptance of food products containing vegetables, which will in turn provide further insights into the validity of the model. The food industry can use the model as a framework for development of new products for children with high sensory appeal.

Replication is the key barrier during the dual-host adaption of mosquito-borne flaviviruses

Mosquito-borne flaviviruses (MBFs) adapt to a dual-host transmission circle between mosquitoes and vertebrates. Dual-host affiliated insect-specific flaviviruses (dISFs), discovered from mosquitoes, are phylogenetically similar to MBFs but do not infect vertebrates. Thus, dISF-MBF chimeras could be an ideal model to study the dual-host adaption of MBFs. Using the pseudo-infectious reporter virus particle and reverse genetics systems, we found dISFs entered vertebrate cells as efficiently as the MBFs, but failed to initiate replication. Exchange of the un-translational regions (UTRs) of Donggang virus (DONV), an dISF, with those from Zika virus (ZIKV) rescued DONV replication in vertebrate cells and critical secondary RNA structures were further mapped. Essential UTR-binding host factors were screened for ZIKV replication in vertebrate cells, displaying different binding patterns. Therefore, our data demonstrate a post-entry cross-species transmission mechanism of MBFs, while UTR-host interaction is critical for dual-host adaption.

Role of the Land-Based Private Sector in Low-Emission Development: An Indonesian Case

The land-based private sector is a critical player in reducing emissions in Indonesia. While the Indonesian Government has undertaken various national efforts to reduce the rate of deforestation and land degradation, the involvement of land-based private sectors are still minimal. Using content and thematic analysis, this study explores why land-based private sector is not leading to low carbon development in Indonesia. More specifically, this study aims to: (1) analyse two key policies critically shaping the land-based private sector’s involvement in low emission development in Indonesia; (2) identify the land-based sector’s practices to engage in the development of low carbon policies in the East Kalimantan Province in Indonesia; and (3) conduct a participants’ perceptions analysis to identify the critical factors influencing their involvement in low emissions development. The results show that even though the Government has adopted several mandatory regulations to support the land-based private sector’s participation in emission reduction activities, to date, only a handful of businesses are actively involved in emission reduction efforts. The key barrier identified is the lack of incentives for the businesses to implement low emission programs/activities. This study offers four specific policy recommendations that could support land-based private sector involvement in low emission development in Indonesia. These include (1) establishment of an independent monitoring agency; (2) incentives for ecologically sustainable companies that meet predetermined standard criteria; (3) strict and fair sanctions as disincentives for companies that ignore regulations, and (4) building capacity of the land-based private sector to adopt and develop innovative low emission practices.

The role of technology in crisis management and product recall in food supply chains

This chapter considers food governance and how it frames crisis management and product recalls in food supply chains. Effective food recalls following a food safety or legality related incident are supported by traceability systems ranging from paper based to those that apply the newest technology. This chapter is considers the value of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) for improvements in food supply chain governance structures that are especially tested during product recalls. The focus is on identifying advantages of Blockchain systems within public-private partnerships (PPPs) for food governance. There is great potential to reduce information asymmetry, a key barrier to supply chain development, innovation and efficiency, and effective crisis management and product recalls with the use of DLTs including Blockchain. PPPs for supply chain governance deliver value at the supply chain and wider stakeholder level including developing Blockchain consortia to improve overall efficiency and integrity in data collection, storage and sharing.

Morphological features of single cells enable accurate automated classification of cancer from non-cancer cell lines

Accurate cancer detection and diagnosis is of utmost importance for reliable drug-response prediction. Successful cancer characterization relies on both genetic analysis and histological scans from tumor biopsies. It is known that the cytoskeleton is significantly altered in cancer, as cellular structure dynamically remodels to promote proliferation, migration, and metastasis. We exploited these structural differences with supervised feature extraction methods to introduce an algorithm that could distinguish cancer from non-cancer cells presented in high-resolution, single cell images. In this paper, we successfully identified the features with the most discriminatory power to successfully predict cell type with as few as 100 cells per cell line. This trait overcomes a key barrier of machine learning methodologies: insufficient data. Furthermore, normalizing cell shape via microcontact printing on self-assembled monolayers enabled better discrimination of cell lines with difficult-to-distinguish phenotypes. Classification accuracy remained robust as we tested dissimilar cell lines across various tissue origins, which supports the generalizability of our algorithm.

Development of Osix - A Peering Point in a Box

<p>Sending traffic over international communication links is much more expensive than sending traffic locally. Unfortunately, there are situations where two local networks end up using the international links because there are no national links between the two networks. To avoid this, a peering relationship should be established between these two local networks to allow them to directly exchange traffic. Peering relationships are implemented at Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). There has been a significant increase in the number of IXPs in developed countries but take up in developing countries has been slow despite these countries having the most to gain due to the high prices that they pay for international bandwidth. Research has identified that lack of technical skills is a key barrier to the deployment of IXPs in these countries. In particular, although skills exist to maintain an IXP there is a lack of technical expertise to integrate individual tools together to implement an IXP. The goal of this thesis is to develop an integrated IXP solution that could be easily deployed in developing countries. This content of this thesis includes analysis of the requirements for such a solution, development of a design, description of implementation trade-offs and evaluation of a final solution</p>

Development of Osix - A Peering Point in a Box

<p>Sending traffic over international communication links is much more expensive than sending traffic locally. Unfortunately, there are situations where two local networks end up using the international links because there are no national links between the two networks. To avoid this, a peering relationship should be established between these two local networks to allow them to directly exchange traffic. Peering relationships are implemented at Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). There has been a significant increase in the number of IXPs in developed countries but take up in developing countries has been slow despite these countries having the most to gain due to the high prices that they pay for international bandwidth. Research has identified that lack of technical skills is a key barrier to the deployment of IXPs in these countries. In particular, although skills exist to maintain an IXP there is a lack of technical expertise to integrate individual tools together to implement an IXP. The goal of this thesis is to develop an integrated IXP solution that could be easily deployed in developing countries. This content of this thesis includes analysis of the requirements for such a solution, development of a design, description of implementation trade-offs and evaluation of a final solution</p>

Understanding national trends in COVID–19 vaccine hesitancy in Canada – April 2020 to March 2021

Objective: Key to reducing COVID–19 morbidity and mortality and reducing the need for further lockdown measures in Canada and worldwide is widespread acceptance of COVID–19 vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy has emerged as a key barrier to achieving optimal vaccination rates, for which there is little data among Canadians. This study examined rates of vaccine hesitancy and their correlates among Canadian adults. Methods: This study analyzed data from five age, sex and province–weighted population-based samples to describe rates of hesitancy between April 2020 and March 2021 among Canadians who completed online surveys as part of the iCARE Study, and various sociodemographic, clinical and psychological correlates. Vaccine hesitancy was assessed by asking: If a vaccine for COVID-19 were available today, what is the likelihood that you would get vaccinated? Responses were dichotomized into very likely, unlikely, somewhat unlikely (reflecting some degree of vaccine hesitancy) vs extremely likely to get the vaccine, which was the comparator. Results: Overall, 15,019 respondents participated in the study. A total of 42.2% of respondents reported vaccine hesitancy over the course of the study, which was lowest during surveys 1 (April 2020) and 5 (March 2021) and highest during survey 3 (November 2020). Fully adjusted multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that women, those aged 50 and younger, non–Whites, those with high school education or less, and those with annual household incomes below the poverty line in Canada (i.e., $60,000) were significantly more likely to report being vaccine hesitant over the study period, as were essential and healthcare workers, parents of children under the age of 18, and those who do not get regular flu vaccines. Believing engaging in infection prevention behaviours (like vaccination) is important for reducing virus transmission and high COVID-19 health concerns (being infected and infecting others) were associated with 77% and 54% reduction in vaccine hesitancy, respectively, and having high personal financial concerns (worried about job or income loss) was associated with 1.33 times increased odds of vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion: Results point to the importance of targeting vaccine efforts to women, younger people and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, and that vaccine messaging should emphasize the benefits of getting vaccinated, and how the benefits (particularly to health) far outweigh the risks. Future research is needed to monitor ongoing changes in vaccine intentions and behaviour, as well as to better understand motivators and facilitators of vaccine acceptance, particularly among vulnerable groups.

Yersiniabactin contributes to overcoming zinc restriction during Yersinia pestis infection of mammalian and insect hosts

Yersinia pestis causes human plague and colonizes both a mammalian host and a flea vector during its transmission cycle. A key barrier to bacterial infection is the host’s ability to actively sequester key biometals (e.g., iron, zinc, and manganese) required for bacterial growth. This is referred to as nutritional immunity. Mechanisms to overcome nutritional immunity are essential virulence factors for bacterial pathogens. Y. pestis produces an iron-scavenging siderophore called yersiniabactin (Ybt) that is required to overcome iron-mediated nutritional immunity and cause lethal infection. Recently, Ybt has been shown to bind to zinc, and in the absence of the zinc transporter ZnuABC, Ybt improves Y. pestis growth in zinc-limited medium. These data suggest that, in addition to iron acquisition, Ybt may also contribute to overcoming zinc-mediated nutritional immunity. To test this hypothesis, we used a mouse model defective in iron-mediated nutritional immunity to demonstrate that Ybt contributes to virulence in an iron-independent manner. Furthermore, using a combination of bacterial mutants and mice defective in zinc-mediated nutritional immunity, we identified calprotectin as the primary barrier for Y. pestis to acquire zinc during infection and that Y. pestis uses Ybt to compete with calprotectin for zinc. Finally, we discovered that Y. pestis encounters zinc limitation within the flea midgut, and Ybt contributes to overcoming this limitation. Together, these results demonstrate that Ybt is a bona fide zinc acquisition mechanism used by Y. pestis to surmount zinc limitation during the infection of both the mammalian and insect hosts.