SPOT: Open Source framework for scientific data repository and interactive visualization

SPOT is an open source and free visual data analytics tool for multi-dimensional data-sets. Its web-based interface allows a quick analysis of complex data interactively. The operations on data such as aggregation and filtering are implemented. The generated charts are responsive and OpenGL supported. It follows FAIR principles to allow reuse and comparison of the published data-sets. The software also support PostgreSQL database for scalability

Scaling up pro-poor land recordation:Findings and consequences of three peri-urban cases from sub-Saharan Africa

Scaling up promotion of land rights and improved access to land for the poor, women and other vulnerable groups has been at the core of the global land community’s agenda. The pro-poor land recordation tool (PPLRT) offers an alternative approach to both conventional and emergent responsible land tools, which can be implemented on its own and in combination with other tools. It has recently been tested for various types of rural contexts. This article further develops the PPLRT based on literature review on peri-urban challenges and three documented peri-urban cases in sub-Saharan African cities. It recommends refinement of three design elements, especially related to peri-urban characteristics of rapid changes in landholdership, land fragmentation and asymmetry of actors in conflict resolution. Further research needs to include other continents, contexts with land appropriation, and attend to topics of local weighting of evidence, impacts of pro-poor land recordation, and contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda

Btk Is Required for an Efficient Response to Erythropoietin and for SCF-controlled Protection against TRAIL in Erythroid Progenitors

Regulation of survival, expansion, and differentiation of erythroid progenitors requires the well-controlled activity of signaling pathways induced by erythropoietin (Epo) and stem cell factor (SCF). In addition to qualitative regulation of signaling pathways, quantitative control may be essential to control appropriate cell numbers in peripheral blood. We demonstrate that Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) is able to associate with the Epo receptor (EpoR) and Jak2, and is a substrate of Jak2. Deficiency of Btk results in reduced and delayed phosphorylation of the EpoR, Jak2, and downstream signaling molecules such as Stat5 and PLCγ1 as well as in decreased responsiveness to Epo. As a result, expansion of erythroid progenitors lacking Btk is impaired at limiting concentrations of Epo and SCF. In addition, we show that SCF induces Btk to interact with TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)–receptor 1 and that lack of Btk results in increased sensitivity to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Together, our results indicate that Btk is a novel, quantitative regulator of Epo/SCF-dependent expansion and survival in erythropoiesis

A comparison of optimisation algorithms for high-dimensional particle and astrophysics applications

Optimisation problems are ubiquitous in particle and astrophysics, and involve locating the optimum of a complicated function of many parameters that may be computationally expensive to evaluate. We describe a number of global optimisation algorithms that are not yet widely used in particle astrophysics, benchmark them against random sampling and existing techniques, and perform a detailed comparison of their performance on a range of test functions. These include four analytic test functions of varying dimensionality, and a realistic example derived from a recent global fit of weak-scale supersymmetry. Although the best algorithm to use depends on the function being investigated, we are able to present general conclusions about the relative merits of random sampling, Differential Evolution, Particle Swarm Optimisation, the Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy, Bayesian Optimisation, Grey Wolf Optimisation, and the PyGMO Artificial Bee Colony, Gaussian Particle Filter and Adaptive Memory Programming for Global Optimisation algorithms