Authenticity Testing Research Articles

Application of different chromatographic techniques and chemometric analysis in authenticity testing of plant protection products containing azoxystrobin as an active substance

Azoxystrobin (methyl(2E)-2-{2-[6-(2-cyanophenoxy)pyrimidin-4-yloxy] phenyl}-3-methoxyacrylate) is an active ingredient used to protect crops against fungal diseases. The experience of the Polish control laboratory indicates relatively frequent cases of counterfeit plant protection products (PPPs) containing this active substance. The present study aimed to use chemometric methods to model chemical fingerprints obtained by different chromatographic techniques to verify the original formulation of PPPs containing the active substance azoxystrobin. The pesticides used in the study came from different sources (including stores and warehouses), were manufactured at a different time and came from different production batches. The results obtained with the HPLC-DAD and HS-GC-MS techniques were then modeled using principal component analysis (PCA) and soft independent modeling by class analogy (SIMCA) classifier. The proposed approach has been confirmed as useful for verifying the authenticity of PPPs and can be used in the routine control testing of SC pesticides containing azoxystrobin.

On teaching Christian history in the postmodern world

Is there truth in history? Historians are commonly expected to produce ‘facts’ and to be ‘objective’. If they teach the history of Christianity, their audience sees in them the depositors of the ‘truth’ on the history of church. Showing the contradictions of the church’s discourse in the past and highlighting the essentially transient nature of church doctrine are perceived as a threat. Yet, our knowledge of the Christian past is provisional and limited. It depends on the quality of the historical sources at our disposal. Consciously or not, it is always the result of a process of knowledge construction. The aim of this article is to explore the triple challenge – pedagogical, pastoral and intellectual – that researchers in history of Christianity face in the exercise of their profession. Historians trained in the tradition of historical criticism consider that an historical narrative can claim a certain degree of approximation of the truth if the documents on which it is based pass the test of authenticity, reliability and validity. Without necessarily denying that truth exists somehow and somewhere, postmodern historians – and this also applies to Christian history – insist that any form of historical knowledge is constructed and that all approaches to truth are situated in terms of period, geographical location, social environment, class, gender, age and race. The study of history of Christianity brings discomfort. But in the end, one gains from confronting the critical challenges of the discipline. Faith will come out stronger if it faces the reality of the human condition.

Variation of leaf area index estimation in forests based on remote sensing images of different spatial scales.

There are several important issues in quantitative remote sensing and product authenticity testing, including how well do the ground measurement points represent the remote sensing pixels, how to obtain the relative truth value of pixels, and how much spatial resolution can truly reflect fore-st leaf area index (LAI). In this study, the measured space scope of two plant canopy analyzers [LAI-2200 and tracing radiation and architecture of canopies (TRAC)] were calculated, which were combined with remote sensing images with three different spatial resolutions: GF-2 with 4.1 m spatial resolution, the Sentinel-2 with 10 m spatial resolution, and Landsat-8 OLI with 30 m spatial resolution, to get the relative true value of pixel at each scale. Under the condition of keeping the real observed area consistent with that obtained by remote sensing, the effects of different spatial resolution images for estimating forest LAI were compared and analyzed based on the unary exponential and multiple regression statistical models. Moreover, the optimal statistical models of the three images were tested on 30 m and 100 m scales and the spatial representation of dataset were evaluated, to find the most suitable scale for the description of forest LAI in the study area. The results showed that high resolution did not necessarily fully reflect LAI of forests. The statistical model based on three kinds of resolution images could well estimate forest LAI. Among the three models, the model based on the Sentinel-2 image had the highest accuracy, and the one based on the GF-2 images had the lowest. The test results at 30 and 100 m scales indicated that the forest LAI was overestimated by the GF-2 inversion model, and underestimated by the Landsat-8 inversion model. The statistical model based on Sentinel-2 could well estimated forest LAI in the study area.

Development and In-House Validation of an LC-MS and LC-MS/MS Assay for the Determination of Food Fraud for Different Fish Species.

Background: Fish and fish products are one of the most important food sources of high commercial interest. The global food trade and the associated risks are constantly presenting new challenges to consumer protection and public authorities, which, among other things, demand state-of-the-art analytical methods to ensure food authenticity. Objective: The establishment of MS-based strategies plays a decisive role alongside the (further) development of ELISA- or DNA-oriented methods. Methods: In the present work, therefore, the development and in-house validation of an LC-MS and LC-MS/MS-based assay for authenticity testing of certain fish species is described. Results: Based on the execution of a validated bottom-up LC-electrospray-MS and MS/MS assay and multivariate analysis, the commercially available species Lutjanus malabaricus (red snapper) and Sebastes spp. (redfish) are distinguished from each other, whereas an additional 68 samples [nine additional marine species such as pangasius (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus), salmon (Salmo salar), turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), sole (Solea solea), lemon sole (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus), halibut (Reinhardtius hypoglossoides), red salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), and great scallop (Pecten jacobaeus)] served as blinded negative controls to ensure the specificity of the assay. Conclusions and Highlights: A promising LC-MS and LC-MSMS based assay has been developed that could enable the detection of fish fraud at the protein level in the future.

Authenticity testing of organically grown vegetables by stable isotope ratio analysis of oxygen in plant-derived sulphate

Analytical methods for authenticity testing of organically grown vegetables are urgently needed. Here we present a novel method for organic authentication based on stable isotope ratio analysis of oxygen in plant-derived sulphate. We combined this method with stable isotope ratio analysis of bulk plant tissue and plant-derived nitrate to discriminate organic and conventional potato, carrot, and cabbage from rigidly controlled long-term field trials and from a case study using retail potatoes. It was shown that oxygen isotope ratios of sulphate from organic vegetables were significantly lower compared to their conventional counterparts and the values were directly linked to the fertilisation strategy. The classification power of sulphate isotope analysis was superior compared to known bulk tissue isotope markers and nitrate isotope values. In conclusion, oxygen isotope analysis of plant-derived sulphate represents a promising new method for authentication of organic vegetables.

A 3-year-long investigation of the authenticity of the return results of hepatitis B virus qualitative testing in external quality assessment in East China.

In external quality assessments (EQAs), it is important and necessary for participants to return authentic test results. However, to obtain better evaluation results, some laboratories have lacked confidence that their own and have preferred to rely upon the test results in surrounding laboratories. These violations covered up errors during testing and affected the authenticity of the returned data. The occurrence of violations in EQA launched by different EQA organizers is still unknown because these violations were carried out in private. In this paper, we adjusted the hepatitis B virus (HBV) qualitative EQA schemes to uncover some of the violations by using specially designed sample combinations in four EQA surveys to show the authenticity and accuracy of HBV testing in some prefectures of East China. Four HBV qualitative EQA surveys were selected from 2016 to 2018, which were named 201602, 201701, 201702, and 201801, and a total of 474 laboratories were included. In the first two EQA surveys, the same EQA sample combinations were distributed. In the last two EQA surveys, three kinds of different sample combinations were designed and distributed with specific plans. The result of adding different sample combinations was that each laboratory only had a 33.3% chance of receiving the same sample combinations as those received by the surrounding laboratories. In addition, the laboratories were not aware that those samples with the same serial numbers might have different concentrations and target values. The sample concentrations, mode of delivery, requirements, results reports, and evaluation criteria were all the same as those of the first two EQA surveys. The number of laboratories with failed tests increased from fourfold to sevenfold between the first two and the last two EQA surveys. The number of failed tests in 201702 was eight times that in 201701 during the same year. Six (6 of 469, 1.28%) and three (3 of 472, 0.64%) poor performer laboratories (PPLabs) appeared in 201602 and 201701, respectively, while the number of those laboratories increased to 29 (29 of 474, 6.12%) in 201702 and 201801. Failed tests from PPLabs accounted for 70.5% (201702) and 68.7% (201801) of the total failed tests. The increase in the number of PPLabs was not universal but was concentrated in some prefectures. The current EQA results for HBV qualitative testing were not as good as originally anticipated. Violations during the EQA surveys caused by exchanging test results with other laboratories and by modifying results before returning still occurred in some prefectures of East China. The laboratories that were in violation can be partly exposed as PPLabs by providing different kinds of sample combinations. Through such an EQA adjustment, the laboratory would have to re-establish confidence in its own testing results from HBV EQA samples. Then, evaluations of HBV qualitative testing samples in EQA would be more authentic and accurate in East China.

ITS2: An Ideal DNA Barcode for the Arid Medicinal Plant Rhazya Stricta.

In Saudi Arabia, Rhazya stricta is a widely used folkloric plant because of its various therapeutic properties. It is sold in herbal markets as a dried powder; however, the absence of visible phenotypic traits in the powder can mask its authenticity. Potential misidentification of this substance threatens consumer health. DNA barcoding could accurately identify this plant regardless of its physical state, however barcoding presents the challenge of variations in marker loci. The objective of this work was to assess barcode markers from the chloroplast and nuclear regions to determine their taxonomic accuracy in R. stricta barcoding, and select the best marker for this species that could fulfill the authentication test for its fresh and dried samples. In this study, we assessed seven barcode markers from the chloroplast (psbA-trnH, matK, rbcL, rpoB, and rpoC1) and nuclear regions (ITS1and ITS2). We compared DNA sequences of R. stricta from 50 fresh locally collected samples and 10 dried ground samples from the herbal market with the database sequences of R. stricta, R. orientalis, and eight other related species as controls. We utilized three methods (BLAST, nearest distance, and neighbor-joining tree) in this analysis. With the exception of psbA-trnH, all the chloroplast markers determined high similarity with other taxa. However, nuclear ITS2 best distinguished between R. stricta, R. orientalis, and other related species because of its secondary structures, which allowed for more accurate distinctions. A two-locus marker of ITS1 + ITS2 sequences also showed promising results. A two-dimensional image of our proposed marker was generated to more easily handle DNA barcoding applications. Our study indicates that ITS2 is a cost-effective barcoding marker capable of verifying the authenticity of R. stricta and other medicinal plants in order to protect consumer health.

Multiracial Campus Professionals’ Experiences with Racial Authenticity

ABSTRACTUtilizing critical Multiracial theory, this study explores how Multiracial campus professionals’ experiences with racial authenticity influence their work in postsecondary contexts. Three themes were generated from 24 Multiracial campus professionals’ narratives, including encountering racial authenticity tests, navigating the authenticity trap, and Black Lives Matter and professionals’ internalization of racial authenticity tests. This study explores how Multiracial professionals’ experiences with racial authenticity often constrain their ability to foster inclusion and educational equity on campus and mediates their connections with students and colleagues.

Enhancing the geometric tolerance of aluminium hybrid metal matrix composite using EDM process

A generous development of electrical discharge machining method has been stimulated in the province of metal matrix composites materials. In this extant work, the optimal condition for various output responses specifically circularity, cylindricity, perpendicularity and radial over cut are exposed by employing grey relational analysis procedure by optimizing the input process parameters alike pulse on time (Ton), peak current (I) and gap voltage (V). The Hybrid Metal Matrix Composite material is evolved by handling the stir casting approach and then machined by exploring the input parameters using L27 orthogonal array. From the consequences of grey relational grade, a response table was discovered to elect the optimal conditions of the individual parameter. The most contributing input parameter is current with 69.08%, which is determined from the ANOVA table. Finally, the optimal conditions which were acquired from the response table are peak current of 12 A, pulse on time of 50 µs and gap voltage of 30 V and also verified through an authentication test which illustrated that optimal process parameters are competently improved by 0.1452 when compared to the predicted parameter. The machined surface is analysed using a scanning electron microscope. The results palpated that the peak current increases the number of microvoids and size of the crater was increased and the poor surface finish was achieved.

The German National Reference Centre for Authentic Food (NRZ-Authent)

The present report describes the establishment, structure and objectives of the recently established German National Reference Center for Authentic Food (NRZ-Authent). The NRZ-Authent is completely integrated into the Max Rubner-Institut (MRI), the Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food in Germany. Various different departments of MRI have a long experience regarding the analysis of the quality of food in general and the testing of food authenticity in particular. Therefore, a close interaction between these food-related departments and the NRZ-Authent is a basic requirement for the successful work of this newly created centre. The addressees of the NRZ-Authent are the official food authorities and laboratories in the German states. In this context, the NRZ-Authent will establish a platform for providing quick access to updated, reliable and consistent technical data, research findings, new techniques and expertise necessary for the correct application of European Union legislation. The MRI has been working on the authenticity of edible oils for a number of years now, and some examples of this successful work are presented.

Authentication and Assessment of Contamination in Ancient DNA.

Contamination from both present-day humans and postmortem microbial sources is a common challenge in ancient DNA studies. Here we present a suite of tools to assist in the assessment of contamination in ancient DNA data sets. These tools perform standard tests of authenticity of ancient DNA data including detecting the presence of postmortem damage signatures in sequence alignments and quantifying the amount of present-day human contamination.

Authentication of cyber-physical systems under learning-based attacks

We study the problem of learning-based attacks in a simple abstraction of cyber-physical systems—the case of a scalar, discrete-time, linear, time-invariant plant that may be subject to an attack that overrides the sensor readings and the controller actions. The attacker attempts to learn the dynamics of the plant and subsequently override the controller’s actuation signal, to destroy the plant without being detected. The attacker can feed fictitious sensor readings to the controller using its estimate of the plant dynamics and mimicking the legitimate plant operation. The controller, on the other hand, is constantly on the lookout for an attack, and immediately shuts the plant off if an attack is detected. We study the performance of a specific authentication test and, by utilizing tools from information theory and statistics, we bound the asymptotic detection and deception probabilities for any measurable control policy when the attacker uses an arbitrary learning algorithm to estimate the dynamic of the plant. Finally, we show how the controller can impede the learning process of the attacker by superimposing a carefully crafted privacy-enhancing signal upon its control policy.

The Authenticity of Image using Hash MD5 and Steganography Least Significant Bit

A creation can be considered as belonging to someone if they have a valid proof. An original creation that have been changed for certain purposes will definitely eliminate proof of ownership of the creation. A hash function is one method used to test the authenticity of data, while steganography is one method used to maintain the security of confidential data from outside parties. In this study, the Hash MD5 method will be combined with the Least Significant Bit method to test the authenticity of an image. The purpose of testing the authenticity is to find out the truth of ownership of a creation, in this case, we are testing the image. The results of this test are the status of an image that will be declared valid or invalid. Measurement of validity depends on whether there is a similarity between the value of the Hash that has been implanted and the value of the Hash obtained during the test. If the tested image has the same Hash value, then the image will be declared valid, but instead ai image is declared invalid if the image has been modified or ownership status has been changed. From the result of testing the authenticity with several images, it can prove that the combination of the Hash MD5 method with LSB has a good level of security and suitable to authenticity testing.

A Case Study : Security as A Service (SAAS) in Cloud Computing Environment

Security-as-a-service (SaaS) is an outsourcing model for security management in cloud computing environment. The researcher focused on the some of the significant research issues in cloud computing typically, Security as a Service involves applications on AMAZON online shopping portal and its controlling mechanism in cloud computing environment. Outsourcing of administrative tasks, such as log management, to save time and money and allow an organization to devote more time to its core competencies. A Web interface that allows in-house administration of some tasks as well as a view of the security environment and on-going activities. The researcher proposed a model as applied to information security type services and does not require on-premises hardware, avoiding substantial capital outlays. These security services often include authentication, anti-virus, anti-malware/spyware, intrusion detection, and Penetration testing and security event management, among others.

Memory-Based Combination PUFs for Device Authentication in Embedded Systems

Embedded systems play a crucial role in fueling the growth of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) in application domains such as health care, home automation, transportation, etc. However, their increasingly network-connected nature, coupled with their ability to access potentially sensitive/confidential information, has given rise to a plethora of security and privacy concerns. An additional challenge is the growing number of counterfeit components in these devices, with serious reliability and financial repercussions. Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are a promising security primitive to help address these concerns. Memory-based PUFs are particularly attractive as they can be realized with minimal or no additional hardware beyond what is already present in all embedded systems, i.e., memory. However, current memory-based PUFs utilize only a single memory technology for constructing the PUF, which has many disadvantages including making them vulnerable to certain security attacks. Several of these PUFs also suffer from other shortcomings such as low entropy, limited number of challenge-response pairs, etc. In this paper, we propose the design of a new memory-based combination PUF that tightly integrates (two) heterogeneous memory technologies to address these challenges/shortcomings. Our design enables us to authenticate an on-chip component and an off-chip component, thereby taking a step towards multi-component authentication in a device, without incorporating any additional hardware. We have implemented a prototype of the proposed combination PUF using a Terasic TR4-230 FPGA development board and several off-the-shelf SRAMs and DRAMs. Measured experimental results demonstrate substantial improvements over current memory-based PUFs including the ability to resist various security attacks. We also propose a lightweight authentication scheme that ensures robust operation of the PUF across environmental and temporal variations. Extensive authentication tests performed on several PUF prototypes achieved a true-positive rate of greater than 97.5 percent across these variations. The absence of any false-positives, even under an invasive attack, further highlighted the effectiveness of the overall design.

Pengembangan Learning Log untuk Siswa SMP pada Pembelajaran Pemanasan Global dengan Metode Demonstrasi Berbasis POE

This study aims to describe the development of learning log for junior high school students on global warming with demonstration based on Predict-Observe-Explain (POE). The development process started with the preparation of learning log, test trial to obtain the data to be repaired, and obtained learning log tools better. The method used was the descriptive method. Two classes in one of junior high school in Bandung were selected by cluster random sampling. Data collected through the assignment of learning log, field notes through observation and interviews. The instruments were examined in this study is learning log’ task and rubric. While research instruments consisted of student’s and teacher’s interviews guides, field notes, and rubric for assessment authentic’s effectiveness. The trial showed that questions in task still need to be improved in terms of the sentence and the editorial content, rubrics for learning log developed based on the responses of the students. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of authentic assessment test phase is (45%) quite good. The results of the application authentic assessment can measure students' POE. Questions on the task and the rubric developed well. The effectiveness of authentic assessment in application phase is (85%) very good. The response of students and teacher about authentic assessment developed positively.

Food fraud in oregano: Pesticide residues as adulteration markers

Oregano, a widely used and popular herb, is particularly vulnerable to fraud. Less valued plants, adulterants that are often used for dilution, may introduce into this commodity additional contaminants such as pesticide residues. In this study, more than 400 pesticides were screened in a representative set of 42 genuine and 34 adulterated dried oregano samples collected from various locations across Europe. The results obtained by advanced mass spectrometry-based methods, showed, that some pesticide residues could be detected in virtually all tested samples, nevertheless, on average, higher contamination was found in the adulterated oregano samples. Increased incidence of insecticides such as cyfluthrin, permethrin and cyhalothrin was typical for these samples, moreover, pyriproxyfen was detected exclusively in adulterated samples. Thus, based on a critical assessment of pesticide profiles, suspected adulterated oregano samples can be selected for follow up authenticity testing.

Lateral flow test for meat authentication with visual detection

A new lateral flow assay has been developed for meat authentication. The assay is based on gold nanoparticles and enables visual detection, by naked eye, of meat species-specific DNA sequences. The procedure includes DNA isolation from fresh meat samples, amplification of specific DNA sequences and detection by the lateral flow assay. The proposed assay is rapid and has been applied for the identification of four animal species: horse, pork, beef and sheep. The detection is completed within 25–30 min after amplification. The assay offers high detectability and good selectivity and reproducibility. As low as 0.01% of horse and 0.02% of pork DNA were detectable in binary mixtures by the reported lateral flow device.

Falsification of the Theory of Legal Rules and Legal Standards of Ronald Dworkin Using the Methodological Foundations of the Theory of Law and Morality of Leon Petrażycki

Abstract Efficient thinking is the foundation of efficient operation. The correct definition of concepts, especially the basic ones for a given field, in order to reach the truth, is a condition for the development of science and its social utility. The Petrażycki’s research methodology of law is a thoroughly modern method, as it enables effective examination of the accuracy of contemporary legal theories created after Petrażycki’s input. A model contemporary theory susceptible to an examination through the research methodology of law by Petrażycki is the normative theory of legal rules and non-legal standards by Dworkin. For this purpose some falsifications will be subject, i.e. selected ad hoc among many others, two important theories of normative law theory Dworkin. The first one is the thesis classifying legal norms into two groups of norms, namely legal rules and non-legal standards. The second one is a thesis about the existence of who are capable of discovering and issuing lawful and, at the same time, fair (just) court decisions, which are also the only ones for resolving particular court disputes. Unfortunately, owing to the seemingly cognitive research methodology of Petrażycki, both Dworkin’s deformed division of legal norms as well as Dworkin’s Hercules judges - cannot stand the test of authenticity. Due to the Petrażycki’s methodology, the legal-normative theory of Dworkin does not lose an innovative outlook on the existence of social norms, which are being discovered by judges in the jurisprudence, indifferently to the doubts over their proper classification (be it non-legal standards or, perhaps, outright standards supplementing statutory and sub-statutory legal regulations). Moreover, Dworkin’s theory is placed between naive theories, regardless of whether they are considered realistically naive theories (towards the Hercules judges) or nihilistically naive theories (when it comes to the existence of the only judgments in the given court cases which are also the just ones.) A few random reflections on the well-known work of Dworkin with the help of Petrażycki’s methodology serve to provide a new perspective on the contemporary legal normativity.

Establishment and characterization of three stable Basal/HER2-positive breast cancer cell lines derived from Chinese breast carcinoma with identical missense mutations in the DNA-binding domain of TP53

BackgroundBasal/human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer is resistant to monoclonal antibody (herceptin) treatment. There are currently only three basal/HER2+ breast cancer cell lines available, but they are not from Chinese populations.MethodsThree immortalized cell lines (ZJU-0327, ZJU-0725, and ZJU-1127) were established from invasive ductal breast carcinoma tissue of two patients treated by surgical resection at our center. The cell lines were characterized in terms of histology, therapeutic response, and biomarker expression. Their tumorigenic potential was evaluated in an athymic nude (BALB/C nu) mouse xenograft model. Cell authentication testing by the techniques of short tandem repeat.ResultsZJU-0327, ZJU-0725, and ZJU-1127 cell lines were maintained for more than 110 passages in vitro. The cells grew as monolayers; showed typical epithelial morphology and ultrastructure; were polyploid; had doubling times of 18, 57.5, and 18 h, respectively; had a near-tetraploid (ZJU-0327 and ZJU-1127) or aneuploid (ZJU-0725) karyotype with structural aberrations and tumor protein 53 mutation; insensitive to chemotherapeutic drugs and/or radiation; show high invasiveness and tumorigenicity in mice; and had no mycoplasma contamination. The cell lines were basal/HER2+, expressed cluster of differentiation, and were associated with poor prognosis. Cell authentication testing by the American Type Culture Collection confirmed the human origin of the cell lines, which did not match those in existing databases.ConclusionsThe three novel basal/HER2+ breast cancer cell lines recapitulating the malignant characteristics of the parent tumor’s, and can be useful for clarifying the molecular pathogenesis of basal/HER2+ breast cancer.