Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Edinburgh Research Explorer Tracking and monitoring horses in the wild using wireless sensor networks

—The Retuerta is one of the oldest breed of horses in Europe, which roams wild in the Donana National Park, Andalusia, Spain. Thirty-two of these horses were marked with wireless sensors to gather spatio-temporal data on their behaviour over a period of several months. This paper describes our experiences of tracking and monitoring these wild horses attached with body-worn sensors and operating in a harsh and challenging environment. Analysis of this data for the ﬁrst two months has revealed rare insights into the horses’ social behaviour, such as the group dynamics (group sizes and memberships), dispersal and home ranges which are of interest to both animal ethologists and practitioners managing the ecology of their wild habitats. The paper introduces the Virtual Beacon - Time Division Multiple Access (VB-TDMA) protocol for orchestrating the data collection, and describes the choices that were made for addressing the many technical challenges for an extended deployment, such as in the design of the sensor platform, wireless data collection and battery lifetime issues. Our experiences point to the virtue of simplicity in design of wireless sensor networks to support core functionalities for achieving good average case performances.
Speci�c KIR-HLA genotypes predict the outcomes of refractory or recurrent primary central nervous system lymphoma

Purpose An effective salvage regimen for the reinduction of remission is lacking for refractory or recurrent primary central nervous system lymphoma (r/r PCNSL). This study aimed to evaluate the e�cacy and safety of high-dose cytarabine plus temozolomide in treating r/r PCNSL and to explore the associated prognostic factors.
Eﬀects of base ﬂow modiﬁcations on noise ampliﬁcations: ﬂow past a backward-facing step

Ampliﬁcations of ﬂow past a backward-facing step to optimal inﬂow and initial perturbations are investigated at Reynolds number 500. Two mechanisms of receptivity to inﬂow noise are identiﬁed: the bubble-induced inﬂectional point instability and the mis-alignment eﬀect downstream of the secondary bubble. The further development of the misalignment results in decay of perturbations from x = 28 (the step is located at x = 0), as has been observed in previous non-normality studies (Blackburn et al. 2008), and eventually limits the receptivity. The receptivity is found to maximise at inﬂow perturbation frequency ω = 0 . 50 and spanwise wavenumber β = 0, where the inﬂow noise takes full advantage of both mechanisms and is ampliﬁed over two orders in terms of the velocity magnitude. In direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the ﬂow perturbed by optimal or random inﬂow noise, vortex shedding, ﬂapping of bubbles, three-dimensionality and turbulence are observed in succession as the magnitude of the inﬂow noise increases. Similar features of linear and nonlinear receptivity are observed at higher Reynolds number. The Strouhal number of the bubble ﬂapping is 0.08, at which the receptivity to inﬂow noise reaches maximum. This Strouhal number is close to reported values extracted from DNS or large eddy simulations at larger Reynolds number (Le et al. 1997; Kaiktsis et al. 1996; M´etais 2001; Wee et al. 2004). Methodologies to further clarify the mechanisms of receptivity and suppress the noise ampliﬁcations by modifying the base ﬂow using a linearly optimal body force is proposed. It is noticed that the mechanisms of optimal noise ampliﬁcations are fully revealed in the distribution of the base ﬂow modiﬁcation, which weakens the bubble instabilities and the misalignment eﬀects and subsequently reduces receptivity signiﬁcantly. Comparing the base ﬂow modiﬁcations with respect to ampliﬁcations to inﬂow and initial perturbations, it is found that the maximum receptivity to initial perturbations is highly correlated with the receptivity to inﬂow noise at the optimal frequency ω = 0 . 50 while the correlation reduces as the inﬂow frequency deviates from this optimal value.
Paasword: a Holistic Data Privacy and Security by Design Framework for Cloud Services Paasword: a Holistic Data Privacy and Security by Design Framework for Cloud Services

The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Users are permitted to download and/or print one copy for non-commercial private study or research. Further distribution and any use of material from within this archive for profit-making enterprises or for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. Whilst further distribution of specific materials from within this archive is forbidden, you may freely distribute the URL of WestminsterResearch: Abstract: The valuable transformation of organizations that adopt cloud computing is indisputably accompanied by a number of security threats that should be considered. In this paper, we outline significant security challenges presented when migrating to a cloud environment and propose PaaSword – a novel holistic, data privacy and security by design, framework that aspires to alleviate them. The envisaged framework intends to maximize and fortify the trust of individual, professional and corporate users to cloud services. Specifically, PaaSword involves a context-aware security model, the necessary policies enforcement and governance mechanisms along with a physical distribution, encryption and query middleware, aimed at facilitating the implementation of secure and transparent cloud-based applications.
Nonlinear static procedures for state-dependent seismic fragility analysis of reinforced concrete buildings

This paper introduces a simplified methodology to develop state-dependent fragility relationships, based on nonlinear static analyses combined with the Cloud Capacity Spectrum Method. Capacity reduction factors for structural members are applied to simulate the attainment of a specific damage state under a mainshock. A cloud-based procedure is adopted to compute fragility analyses. The procedure is illustrated for a case-study building designed for gravity loads only. Results highlight the importance of considering the effect of cumulative damage in the fragility analysis of buildings. The proposed methodology may be used for seismic-risk assessment studies accounting for ground-motion sequences
Full Length Research

Oxisols are one of the major soils of Malawi and they are high in P sorption. Conservation agriculture has been practiced on this soil for some years now but soil management effects on P sorption and external P requirement (EPR) of Oxisols in Malawi have not, however, been determined. Soil management effects on P sorption and EPR of Oxisols in Malawi were therefore determined in the present study. The effects studied were conventional tillage (CT), no-tillage (NT) and crop rotation (CR). The soils differed considerably in their sorption characteristics, with the sorption maxima ranging from 413 to 345 mg P kg -1 . Differences in sorption maxima and affinity due to soil management effects were statistically significantly ( P ≤ 0.05). The sorption affinity (b) values ranged from 0.48 to 0.72 dm 3 mg -1 and differences due to soil management effects were statistically significant ( P ≤ 0.05) only between conventional tillage (CT) and no tillage (NT) or crop rotation (CR). The sorption affinity due to NT was not statistically significant from that of CR. The b values were the highest in soils that had been subjected to CT.
Identification Of Prognostic Factors For Breast Cancer Data Using Survival Analysis Techniques

: Statistical methods for survival data analysis have continued to flourish in the last two decades. Applications of the methods have broadened from their historical use in cancer and reliability research used in the fields of business, criminology, epidemiology, and social and behavioral sciences. Survival analysis consists of studies of the survival time of a subject (days, weeks, months, or years), which is the time that elapses between the baseline and the moment an adverse event occurs, or the subject drops out of the trial. A retrospective study of 468 breast cancer patterns over a period of one year, i.e., from December, 2021 to November 2022, was collected from the medical records at the Jakka Sujathamma Cancer Detection Centre, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India. The log-rank test revealed a statistically significant difference in patient survival times, and it can be deduced that tumor size, family history, advanced stage, and age all have an impact on the disease. The three main risk factors for breast cancer death are stage, grade, and tumor size. Age is one of the most significant risk factors in the Cox PH model analysis; as age rises, so does the likelihood of developing breast cancer.
Group model-building: tackling messy problems

Group model-building here refers to a system dynamics model-building process in which a client group is deeply involved in the process of model construction. The problem that is modelled can be reasonably well defined, but it can also take the form of an ill-defined or messy problem, i.e., a situation in which opinions in a management team differ considerably. These messy managerial situations are difficult to handle, primarily because thus far little theoretical work has been conducted to shed more light on the question why these messy situations exist and why it may be difficult for a management team to reach agreement. This article fills this theoretical gap by drawing on literature from sociology, (social) psychology and small-group research. Insights from this literature are discussed and translated into guidelines for conducting Group Model-Building projects for messy problems. The article ends with the conclusion that system dynamicists should include Group Model-Building and facilitation training in their teaching programs. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modeling boreal forest soil dynamics with the microbially explicit soil model MIMICS+ (v1.0)

Understanding carbon exchange processes between land reservoirs and the atmosphere is essential for predicting carbon-climate feedbacks. Still, considerable uncertainty remains in the representation of the terrestrial carbon cycle in Earth System Models. An emerging strategy to constrain these uncertainties is to include the role of different microbial groups explicitly. Following this approach, we extend the framework of the MIcrobial-MIneral Carbon Stabilization (MIMICS) model with additional mycorrhizal groups and a nitrogen cycle that includes a novel representation of inorganic nitrogen sorption to 5 particles via a Langmuir isotherm. MIMICS+ v1.0 is designed to capture and quantify relationships between soil microorganisms and their environment, with a particular emphasis on boreal ecosystems. We evaluated MIMICS+ against podzolic soil profiles in Norwegian forests as well as the conventional Community Land Model (CLM). MIMICS+ matched observed carbon stocks better than CLM, and gave a broader range of C:N ratios, more in line with observations. This is mainly explained by a higher direct-plant-derived fraction into the Soil Organic Matter (SOM) pools. The model produces microbial biomass 10 estimates in line with numbers reported in the literature. MIMICS+ also showed better representation of climate gradients than CLM, especially in terms of temperature. To investigate responses to changes in nutrient availability, we performed an N enrichment experiment, and found that nitrogen sorbed to particles through the sorption algorithm served as a long-term storage of nutrients for the microbes. Furthermore, although the microbial groups responded considerably to the nitrogen enrichment, we only saw minor responses for carbon storage and respiration. Together, our results present
Edinburgh Research Explorer Real-Time Motion Adaptation using Relative Distance Space Representation

—Reacting to environment changes is a big challenge for real world robot applications. This paper presents a novel approach that allows the robot to quickly adapt to changes, particularly in the presence of moving targets and dynamic obstacles. Typically, a conﬁguration space replanning or adaptation is required if the environment is changed. Rather, our method aims to maintain a plan, in a relative distance space rather than conﬁguration space, that can be valid in different environments. In addition, we introduce an incremental planning structure that allows us to handle unexpected obstacles that may appear during execution. The main contribution is that the relative distance space representation encodes pose re-targeting, reaching and avoiding tasks within one uniﬁed cost term that can be solved in real-time to achieve a fast implementation for high degree of freedom (DOF) robots. We evaluate our method on a 7 DOF LWR robot arm, and a 14 DOF dual-arm Baxter robot.
Edinburgh Research Explorer Anything but engaged

Background The absence of meaningful end user engagement has repeatedly been highlighted as a key factor contributing to ‘failed’ implementations of electronic health records (EHRs), but achieving this is particularly challenging in the context of national scale initiatives. In 2002, the National Health Service (NHS) embarked on a so-called ‘top-down’ national implementation strategy aimed at introducing commercial, centrally procured, EHRs into hospitals throughout England. Objective We aimed to examine approaches to, and experiences of, user engagement in the context of a large-scale EHR implementation across purpose-fully selected hospital care providers implementing early versions of nationally procured software. Methods We conducted a qualitative, case-study based, socio-technically informed, longitudinal investigation, purposefully sampling and collecting data from four hospitals. Our data comprised a total of 123 semi-structured interviews with users and managers, 15 interviews with additional stake-holders, 43 hours of non-participant observations of meetings and system use, and relevant organis-ation-speciﬁc documents from each case study site. Analysis was thematic, building on an existing model of user engagement that was originally developed in the context of studying the implementation of relatively simple technologies in commercial settings. NVivo8 software was used to facilitate coding. Results Despite an enduring commitment to the vision of shared EHRs and an appreciation of their potential beneﬁts, meaningful end user engagement was never achieved. Hospital staﬀ were not consulted in systems choice, leading to frustration; they were then further alienated by the implementation of systems that they perceived as inadequately customised. Various eﬀorts to achieve local engagement were attempted, but these were in eﬀect risk mitigation strategies. We found the role of clinical champions to be important in these engagement eﬀorts, but progress was hampered by the hierarchical structures within healthcare teams. As a result, engagement eﬀorts focused mainly on clinical staﬀ with inadequate consideration of management and administrative staﬀ. Conclusions This work has allowed us to further develop an existing model of user engagement from the commercial sector and adapt it to inform user engagement in the context of large-scale eHealth implementations. By identifying key points of possible engagement, disengagement and re-engagement, this model will we hope both help those planning similar large-scale EHR implementation eﬀorts and act as a much needed catalyst to further research in this neglected ﬁeld of enquiry.
Search for dark matter in events with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for dark matter pair production in association with a W or Z boson in pp collisions representing 20.3 fb-1 of integrated luminosity at sqrt(s)=8 TeV using data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with a hadronic jet with the jet-mass consistent with a W or Z boson, and with large missing transverse momentum are analyzed. The data are consistent with the Standard Model expectations, and limits are set on the mass scale in effective field theories that describe the interaction of dark matter and Standard Model particles.
Control of pancreatic -cell bioenergetics.

The canonical model of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) by pancreatic beta cells predicts a glucose-induced rise in the cytosolic ATP/ADP ratio. Such bioenergetic sensitivity to metabolic fuel is unusual as it implies that ATP flux is governed to a significant extent by ATP supply whilst it is predominantly demand-driven in other cell types. Metabolic control is generally shared between different processes, but potential control of ATP consumption over beta cell bioenergetics has been largely ignored to date. This paper offers a brief overview of experimental evidence that demonstrates ATP flux control by glucose-fuelled oxidative phosphorylation. Based on old and new data it is argued that ATP supply does not hold exclusive control over ATP flux but shares it with ATP demand
The correlation of plasma microRNA-200 family expressions with risk and disease severity of lupus nephritis.

The article "The correlation of plasma microRNA-200 family expressions with risk and disease severity of lupus nephritis, by Y. Zhang, Y. Wang, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2018; 22 (10): 3118-3125-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_201805_15070-PMID: 29863256" has been withdrawn since the conclusions of this paper have some shortcomings and the authors decided to improve them further. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview. org/article/15070.
Identi�cation of secretory factors associated with suppressive tumor microenvironment in esophageal cancer

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the deadliest solid malignancies and has a poor survival rate worldwide. Suppressive tumor microenvironment is the main cause to promote tumor development, metastasis and poor survival time. Tumor-derived secretory factors could connect tumor tissues and components in the tumor microenvironment to promote tumor progression. Here, in our study, we analyzed multiple individual transcriptome databases and found a group of secretory factors derived from tumor tissues that have correlation with in�ltrated immune cells in tumor microenvironment. These secretory factors are differently expressed in esophageal tumor tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. Among them, MFAP2 as the most signi�cant gene was positively correlated with a serial of suppressive in�ltrated immune cells, higher pathological stage and poorer overall survival time. Furthermore, we got the consistent results when we collected tissue samples from patients with ESCC and detected the expression of MFAP2 by immunohistochemistry, immuno�uorescence and qRT-PCR methods. Our comprehensive analyses deciphered the prognostic, immunological, and therapeutic value of MFAP2 in esophageal cancer management, thus providing a target for individual and precise therapy for combating esophageal cancer.
Critical perspectives on ‘manufactured’ risks arising from Eurocentric business practices in Africa. Critical perspectives on international business

Purpose – this paper considers the Eurocentric conceptualisation of risk, which reinforces language, culture and business practices that are in conflict with Africa’s own traditional business methodologies”. It attempts to identify the rent-seeking methods and resource-seeking strategies that sustain the hegemony of global corporations in Africa. Design/methodology/approach – the paper explores nonlinear historical narrative around the concept and construction of the idea and language of risk. It follows discourse analysis to identify how the Eurocentric concept of risk was exported and incorporated within the language of international business in non-Western business traditions. The fundamental research question driving this paper is: to what extent does the conceptualisation of risk perpetuate the African continent as risk-ridden? Findings – the rent and resource-seeking strategies employed by multinational corporations (MNCs) are central to ‘manufactured’ risks, and this negatively creates impact for post-independent Africa. Whilst the state is inconsistent in its approach to dealing with this crisis, global corporations continue to do business, extract resources and expand their capital and market base in Africa. Originality/value – the philosophical basis of risk and its historical foundations in the African context are presented. Neo-colonial business methods, languages, cultures and strategies are explored and consideration is given as to how African governments could address the issue of co-option, as well as how to respond to the risks arising by MNCs’ business practices. The paper adds to the theoretical narratives by arguing that when considering entry into the marketplace, MNCs must ensure they integrate African perspectives (native categories) into their operational strategies. Moreover, management practitioners might consider addressing the essential topics of language, culture, business systems and business practices using ethnomethodological lenses.
The beneﬁt of being a social butterﬂy: communal roosting deters predation

Aposematic passion-vine butterﬂies from the genus Heliconius form communal roosts on a nightly basis. This behaviour has been hypothesized to be beneﬁcial in terms of information sharing and/or anti-predator defence. To better understand the adaptive value of communal roosting, we tested these two hypotheses in ﬁeld studies. The information-sharing hypothesis was addressed by examining following behaviour of butterﬂies departing from natural roosts. We found no evidence of roost mates following one another to resources, thus providing no support for this hypothesis. The anti-predator defence hypothesis was tested using avian-indiscriminable Heliconius erato models placed singly and in aggregations at ﬁeld sites. A signiﬁcantly higher number of predation attempts were observed on solitary models versus aggregations of models. This relationship between aggregation size and attack rate suggests that communally roosting butterﬂies enjoy the beneﬁts of both overall decreased attack frequency as well as a prey dilution effect. Com-munal roosts probably deter predators through collective aposematism in which aggregations of conspicuous, unpalatable prey communicate a more effective repel signal to predators. On the basis of our results, we propose that predation by birds is a key selective pressure maintaining Heliconius communal roosting behaviour.