Deploying rural community wireless mesh networks

Inadequate Internet access is widening the digital divide between town and countryside, degrading both social communication and business advancements in rural areas. Wireless mesh networking can provide an excellent framework for delivering broadband services to such areas. With this in mind, Lancaster University deployed a WMN in the rural village of Wray over a three-year period, providing the community with Internet service that exceeds many urban offerings. The project gave researchers a real-world testbed for exploring the technical and social issues entailed in deploying WMNs in the heart of a small community

The Development of Black-Led Archives in London

This thesis works to recreate a framework within the archival field in which to view the development of three Black-led archives in London: the Black Cultural Archives based in Brixton, the George Padmore Institute in Finsbury Park and the Huntley Collection based at the London Metropolitan Archives. In this work I bring together the history and intellectual contribution of the Pan-African movement and Black archival thought to discuss how the key concepts of experiences and narratives have underpinned the collection of Black archival material. This thesis focusses on the work and writing of Arthur Schomburg and other key figures in the Pan-African tradition from which to draw a general theory of Black archival thought. It also traces the development and transmission of the theory during the twentieth century through networks. In this work I discuss how this Black archival canon and thought has been employed by the founders of the archives in the face of shifting racism and government policies. This thesis traces the shifts in how racism has been articulated, to examine how the development of the archives, whilst underpinned by modes of Pan-Africanism have been shaped by changing narratives of Britishness, Government policy and available funding that ultimately led to the formation of the archives as they stand today

Archive review: the Black Cultural Archives, Brixton

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On network modeling of manufacturing and related processes using GERT Summary report

Network modeling of manufacturing and related processes using Graphical Evaluation and Review Techniqu

Reducing Cost and Contention of P2P Live Streaming through Locality and Piece Selection

The use of locality within peer-to-peer (P2P) networks is ensuring the construction of overlay networks that are both economically viable for network operators and scalable. However, the underlying protocols on which traditional P2P overlays are based are rapidly having to evolve in order to better support more time sensitive, real-time video delivery systems. This shift places greater demand on locality mechanisms to ensure the correct balance between bandwidth savings and successful timely playback. In this paper, we investigate the impact of peer locality within live streaming P2P systems and consider the pertinent challenges when designing locality based algorithms to support efficient P2P live streaming services. Based on our findings we propose an algorithm for supporting locality and harmonised play points in a live streaming P2P system. We present our results and in-depth analysis of its operation though a series of simulations which measure bandwidth consumption at network egress points, failure rates and each peer’s play point relative to the live stream

A challenging diagnosis of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency: identification of a patient with a novel F/Null phenotype

Alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency is a genetic disease characterized by low levels and/or function of A1AT protein. A1AT deficiency can result in the development of COPD, liver disease, and certain skin conditions. The disease can be diagnosed by demonstrating a low level of A1AT protein and genotype screening for S and Z mutations, which are the most common. However, there are many genetic variants in A1AT deficiency, and this screening may miss rarer cases, such as those caused by dysfunctional protein. We identified a patient with a previously unreported F/null phenotype that was missed by routine screening. This case highlights the wide variation in possible mutations, limitations in diagnostics, and the importance of combining clinical suspicion with measurement of protein levels, phenotypic analysis, and in appropriate cases expanded genetic analysis

Laser writing of individual atomic defects in a crystal with near-unity yield

Atomic defects in wide band gap materials show great promise for development of a new generation of quantum information technologies, but have been hampered by the inability to produce and engineer the defects in a controlled way. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color center in diamond is one of the foremost candidates, with single defects allowing optical addressing of electron spin and nuclear spin degrees of freedom with potential for applications in advanced sensing and computing. Here we demonstrate a method for the deterministic writing of individual NV centers at selected locations with high positioning accuracy using laser processing with online fluorescence feedback. This method provides a new tool for the fabrication of engineered materials and devices for quantum technologies and offers insight into the diffusion dynamics of point defects in solids.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Challenges and Opportunities to Updating Prescribing Information for Longstanding Oncology Drugs.

A number of important drugs used to treat cancer-many of which serve as the backbone of modern chemotherapy regimens-have outdated prescribing information in their drug labeling. The Food and Drug Administration is undertaking a pilot project to develop a process and criteria for updating prescribing information for longstanding oncology drugs, based on the breadth of knowledge the cancer community has accumulated with the use of these drugs over time. This article highlights a number of considerations for labeling updates, including selecting priorities for updating; data sources and evidentiary criteria; as well as the risks, challenges, and opportunities for iterative review to ensure prescribing information for oncology drugs remains relevant to current clinical practice

Ethical challenges in genetic research among Philippine Indigenous Peoples: Insights from fieldwork in Zamboanga and the Sulu Archipelago

The Philippines, with the recent discovery of an archaic hominin in Luzon and an extensive ethnolinguistic diversity of more than 100 Indigenous peoples, is crucial to understanding human evolution and population history in Island Southeast Asia. Advances in DNA sequencing technologies enable the rapid generation of genomic data to robustly address questions about origins, relatedness, and population movements. With the increased genetic sampling in the country, especially by international scientists, it is vital to revisit ethical rules and guidelines relevant to conducting research among Indigenous peoples. Our team led fieldwork expeditions between 2019 and February 2020 in Zamboanga and the Sulu Archipelago, a chain of islands connecting the Mindanao and Borneo landmasses. The trips concluded with a collection of 2,149 DNA samples from 104 field sites. We present our fieldwork experience among the mostly sea-oriented Sama-Bajaw and Tausug-speaking communities and propose recommendations to address the ethical challenges of conducting such research. This work contributes toward building an enabling research environment in the Philippines that respects the rights and autonomy of Indigenous peoples, who are the rightful owners of their DNA and all genetic information contained therein