title: Validating federated learning performance in practice: An agricultural edge hardware testbed analysis

authors: Akhund, Mahnoor

subjects: federated learning

abstract: Smart agriculture, driven by the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence, generates vast amounts of data from distributed sensors and devices on farms. Traditional centralised machine learning approaches struggle in rural settings due to intermittent connectivity, limited bandwidth, and data privacy concerns. Federated learning (FL) has emerged as a promising approach to address these challenges by collaboratively training models directly on edge devices, for example farm sensors and edge computers, without sending raw data off-site. This thesis presents the design, development, and evaluation of a standards-driven, hardware-based federated learning testbed for smart agriculture. The testbed consists of six NVIDIA Jetson Nano edge computing nodes. A primary objective was to evaluate and compare modern, open-source FL frameworks in a realistic edge environment. Therefore, we specifically tested the FLIGHT framework. FLIGHT was selected for its notable features, including a Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) architecture facilitating serverless deployment and native support for hierarchical topologies relevant to distributed farm networks. We developed a reproducible methodology for deploying and benchmarking FLIGHT on these resource-constrained devices, using the Fashion-MNIST image classification dataset as a proxy for agricultural sensor data to compare performance against known benchmarks and simulation expectations. Key contributions include: 1) the physical testbed itself; 2) an open and repeatable experimental framework centered around FLIGHT; and 3) a comprehensive performance analysis under realistic network conditions and device constraints, providing data to bridge the gap between simulation results and practical deployment challenges. The results demonstrate that the federated model achieves competitive accuracy while significantly reducing raw data transfer. Findings indicate that careful configuration of FL can mitigate the impact of limited connectivity, and that even low-power devices can collaboratively train useful models within reasonable time-frames. These insights validate the viability of FL in smart farming scenarios. The developed testbed and its accompanying benchmarking methodology lay a foundation for future research and deployment of FL in agriculture, bridging the gap between theoretical simulations and real-world farm deployments. This work’s significance lies in providing both a practical tool for researchers to rigorously evaluate FL strategies in edge environments and guidance for stakeholders aiming to deploy privacy-preserving AI in agriculture at scale.

text: Validating federated learning performance in practice: An agricultural edge hardware testbed analysis Smart agriculture, driven by the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence, generates vast amounts of data from distributed sensors and devices on farms. Traditional centralised machine learning approaches struggle in rural settings due to intermittent connectivity, limited bandwidth, and data privacy concerns. Federated learning (FL) has emerged as a promising approach to address these challenges by collaboratively training models directly on edge devices, for example farm sensors and edge computers, without sending raw data off-site. This thesis presents the design, development, and evaluation of a standards-driven, hardware-based federated learning testbed for smart agriculture. The testbed consists of six NVIDIA Jetson Nano edge computing nodes. A primary objective was to evaluate and compare modern, open-source FL frameworks in a realistic edge environment. Therefore, we specifically tested the FLIGHT framework. FLIGHT was selected for its notable features, including a Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) architecture facilitating serverless deployment and native support for hierarchical topologies relevant to distributed farm networks. We developed a reproducible methodology for deploying and benchmarking FLIGHT on these resource-constrained devices, using the Fashion-MNIST image classification dataset as a proxy for agricultural sensor data to compare performance against known benchmarks and simulation expectations. Key contributions include: 1) the physical testbed itself; 2) an open and repeatable experimental framework centered around FLIGHT; and 3) a comprehensive performance analysis under realistic network conditions and device constraints, providing data to bridge the gap between simulation results and practical deployment challenges. The results demonstrate that the federated model achieves competitive accuracy while significantly reducing raw data transfer. Findings indicate that careful configuration of FL can mitigate the impact of limited connectivity, and that even low-power devices can collaboratively train useful models within reasonable time-frames. These insights validate the viability of FL in smart farming scenarios. The developed testbed and its accompanying benchmarking methodology lay a foundation for future research and deployment of FL in agriculture, bridging the gap between theoretical simulations and real-world farm deployments. This work’s significance lies in providing both a practical tool for researchers to rigorously evaluate FL strategies in edge environments and guidance for stakeholders aiming to deploy privacy-preserving AI in agriculture at scale.

year: 2025

title: Heirlooming and shell money beads in the Solomon Islands

authors: Szabó, Katherine

abstract: Strings of shell money made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of intensively worked shell beads have featured in the accounts of anthropologists of Melanesia for over a century, and large collections of these strings are to be found in major museum collections around the world. In the Solomon Islands, the tradition of their production continues to this day. Despite new strings still entering circulation, within villages in and around Malaita there are also older strings, either held communally or under tabu. Local wisdom states that some of these are around two hundred years old. The historical and anthropological literature also makes mention of heirloom shell money strings, although how long such strings may be curated and remain active in cultural life has never been quantified. Here, we investigate two large, complex shell money strings from the Solomon Islands, held in the collections of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge: one from Makira and the other from Nggela. Through direct accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of individual beads, we establish the restringing and combining of strings of different ages into new strings, as well as the maintenance in use of individual beads for up to two to three hundred years. This demonstrable case of the heirlooming of shell beads has repercussions for archaeology, and the potential cultural longevity of shell valuables such as these should be a consideration in interpretations.

text: Heirlooming and shell money beads in the Solomon Islands Strings of shell money made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of intensively worked shell beads have featured in the accounts of anthropologists of Melanesia for over a century, and large collections of these strings are to be found in major museum collections around the world. In the Solomon Islands, the tradition of their production continues to this day. Despite new strings still entering circulation, within villages in and around Malaita there are also older strings, either held communally or under tabu. Local wisdom states that some of these are around two hundred years old. The historical and anthropological literature also makes mention of heirloom shell money strings, although how long such strings may be curated and remain active in cultural life has never been quantified. Here, we investigate two large, complex shell money strings from the Solomon Islands, held in the collections of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge: one from Makira and the other from Nggela. Through direct accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of individual beads, we establish the restringing and combining of strings of different ages into new strings, as well as the maintenance in use of individual beads for up to two to three hundred years. This demonstrable case of the heirlooming of shell beads has repercussions for archaeology, and the potential cultural longevity of shell valuables such as these should be a consideration in interpretations.

year: 2024

title: Barriers and facilitators to colorectal cancer diagnosis in New Zealand: a qualitative study

authors: Blackmore, Tania Louise

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Background: New Zealand (NZ) has high rates of colorectal cancer but low rates of early diagnosis. Due to a lack of understanding of the pre-diagnostic experience from the patient’s perspective, it is necessary to investigate potential patient and health system factors that contribute to longer diagnostic intervals. Previous qualitative studies have discussed delays using The Model of Pathways to Treatment, but this has not been explored in the NZ context. This study aimed to understand the patient experience and perception of their general practitioner (GP) through the diagnostic process in the Waikato region of NZ. In particular, we sought to investigate potential barriers and facilitators that contribute to longer diagnostic intervals. 
Methods: Ethical approval for this study was granted by the New Zealand Health and Disability Ethics Committee. Twenty-eight participants, diagnosed with colorectal cancer, were interviewed about their experience. Semi-structured interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically using The Model of Pathways to Treatment framework (intervals: appraisal, help-seeking, diagnostic). 
Results: Participant appraisal of symptoms was a barrier to prompt diagnosis, particularly if symptoms were normalised, intermittent, or isolated in occurrence. Successful self-management techniques also resulted in delayed help-seeking. However if symptoms worsened, disruption to work and daily routines were important facilitators to seeking a GP consultation. Participants positively appraised GPs if they showed good technical competence and were proactive in investigating symptoms. Negative GP appraisals were associated with a lack of physical examinations and misdiagnosis, and left participants feeling dehumanised during the diagnostic process. However high levels of GP interpersonal competence could override poor technical competence, resulting in an overall positive experience, even if the cancer was diagnosed at an advanced stage. Māori participants often appraised symptoms inclusive of their sociocultural environment and considered the impact of their symptoms in relation to family. 
Conclusions: The findings of this study highlight the importance of tailored colorectal cancer symptom communication in health campaigns, and indicate the significance of the interpersonal competence aspect of GP-patient interactions. These findings suggest that interpersonal competence be overtly displayed in all GP interactions to ensure a higher likelihood of a positive experience for the patient.

text: Barriers and facilitators to colorectal cancer diagnosis in New Zealand: a qualitative study Background: New Zealand (NZ) has high rates of colorectal cancer but low rates of early diagnosis. Due to a lack of understanding of the pre-diagnostic experience from the patient’s perspective, it is necessary to investigate potential patient and health system factors that contribute to longer diagnostic intervals. Previous qualitative studies have discussed delays using The Model of Pathways to Treatment, but this has not been explored in the NZ context. This study aimed to understand the patient experience and perception of their general practitioner (GP) through the diagnostic process in the Waikato region of NZ. In particular, we sought to investigate potential barriers and facilitators that contribute to longer diagnostic intervals. 
Methods: Ethical approval for this study was granted by the New Zealand Health and Disability Ethics Committee. Twenty-eight participants, diagnosed with colorectal cancer, were interviewed about their experience. Semi-structured interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically using The Model of Pathways to Treatment framework (intervals: appraisal, help-seeking, diagnostic). 
Results: Participant appraisal of symptoms was a barrier to prompt diagnosis, particularly if symptoms were normalised, intermittent, or isolated in occurrence. Successful self-management techniques also resulted in delayed help-seeking. However if symptoms worsened, disruption to work and daily routines were important facilitators to seeking a GP consultation. Participants positively appraised GPs if they showed good technical competence and were proactive in investigating symptoms. Negative GP appraisals were associated with a lack of physical examinations and misdiagnosis, and left participants feeling dehumanised during the diagnostic process. However high levels of GP interpersonal competence could override poor technical competence, resulting in an overall positive experience, even if the cancer was diagnosed at an advanced stage. Māori participants often appraised symptoms inclusive of their sociocultural environment and considered the impact of their symptoms in relation to family. 
Conclusions: The findings of this study highlight the importance of tailored colorectal cancer symptom communication in health campaigns, and indicate the significance of the interpersonal competence aspect of GP-patient interactions. These findings suggest that interpersonal competence be overtly displayed in all GP interactions to ensure a higher likelihood of a positive experience for the patient.

year: 2020-10-01