Measuring Accuracy of Automated Parsing and Categorization Tools and Processes in Digital Investigations

This work presents a method for the measurement of the accuracy of evidential artifact extraction and categorization tasks in digital forensic investigations. Instead of focusing on the measurement of accuracy and errors in the functions of digital forensic tools, this work proposes the application of information retrieval measurement techniques that allow the incorporation of errors introduced by tools and analysis processes. This method uses a `gold standard' that is the collection of evidential objects determined by a digital investigator from suspect data with an unknown ground truth. This work proposes that the accuracy of tools and investigation processes can be evaluated compared to the derived gold standard using common precision and recall values. Two example case studies are presented showing the measurement of the accuracy of automated analysis tools as compared to an in-depth analysis by an expert. It is shown that such measurement can allow investigators to determine changes in accuracy of their processes over time, and determine if such a change is caused by their tools or knowledge.Comment: 17 pages, 2 appendices, 1 figure, 5th International Conference on Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime; Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, pp. 147-169, 201

Evidence for the validity of Protatlanta sculpta (Gastropoda: Pterotracheoidea)

The genus Protatlanta is thought to be monotypic and is part of the Atlantidae, a family of shelled heteropods. These microscopic planktonic gastropods are poorly known, although research on their ecology is now increasing in response to concerns about the effects of ocean acidification on calcareous plankton. A correctly implemented taxonomy of the Atlantidae is fundamental to this progressing field of research and it requires much attention, particularly using integrated molecular and morphological techniques. Here we use DNA barcoding, shell morphology and biogeography to show that the genus Protatlanta includes at least two valid species in the Atlantic Ocean. Protatlanta souleyeti and Protatlanta sculpta were found to be separate species, with different shell morphology and separated by a K2P genetic distance of 19% sequence divergence at the Cytochrome Oxidase 1 gene. This evidence supports the revival of the species name P. sculpta, which was described by Issel in 1911, but has not been recognised as a valid species since 1915

Asian emissions of CO and Noₓ : constraints from aircraft and Chinese station data

2004-2005 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Re-colonization of hostile environments by benthic foraminifera: an example from Montserrat, Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc

The Soufrière Hills Volcano, on the island of Montserrat, has an eruption history spanning over 2 million years. During this time the volcano has undergone multiple eruptions with intervening periods of low activity or dormancy. The most recent activity began in 1995 and has seen a series of major eruptive events. One of the most recent of these, and the focus of this study, occurred on the 20th May 2006. This major dome collapse produced 90 million m3 of volcanic material in only 3 hours, propelling ash clouds through the air and pyroclastic flows down the side of the volcano and into the sea. In this study of benthic foraminifera, cores from four sites off-shore Montserrat are analysed, including those collected from a location within the path of the 2006 ash cloud, around 10 km west of the Montserrat coast. In this area, one core contained 6-7 cm of ash overlying hemipelagic sediments. Volcanic ash is present in two distinct layers, one 3 cm layer produced by the 2006 eruption and the other, 3-4 cm layer, from an earlier eruption in 2003. Other cores were collected from areas unaffected by recent ash fall deposits and provide a base line for comparisons within the affected areas. To the east and south-east of Montserrat there is a different situation as this is the direction of travel of massive pyroclastic flows down the Tar Valley and the impact on the sea floor is more dramatic. There are also two extinct volcanic centres that allow the investigation of sea floor re-colonization on different time scales. The sites to the west of Montserrat record rapid colonization by benthic foraminifera of opportunistic taxa, comparable to that seen near Mt Pinatubo in the South China Sea while the sites to the east record a slower pattern of re-colonization by a wider spectrum of taxa, similar to that recorded at Deception Island in the Southern Ocean, with different benthic taxa performing the pioneering role.</jats:p

Cross-species gene expression analysis of species specific differences in the preclinical assessment of pharmaceutical compounds

Animals are frequently used as model systems for determination of safety and efficacy in pharmaceutical research and development. However, significant quantitative and qualitative differences exist between humans and the animal models used in research. This is as a result of genetic variation between human and the laboratory animal. Therefore the development of a system that would allow the assessment of all molecular differences between species after drug exposure would have a significant impact on drug evaluation for toxicity and efficacy. Here we describe a cross-species microarray methodology that identifies and selects orthologous probes after cross-species sequence comparison to develop an orthologous cross-species gene expression analysis tool. The assumptions made by the use of this orthologous gene expression strategy for cross-species extrapolation is that; conserved changes in gene expression equate to conserved pharmacodynamic endpoints. This assumption is supported by the fact that evolution and selection have maintained the structure and function of many biochemical pathways over time, resulting in the conservation of many important processes. We demonstrate this cross-species methodology by investigating species specific differences of the peroxisome proliferatoractivator receptor (PPAR) a response in rat and human

Performance-based sub-selection of CMIP6 models for impact assessments in Europe

This is the final version. Available on open access from Copernicus Publications via the DOI in this recordCode and data availability: The code used to apply the ClimWIP method is publicly available via the ESMValTool (https://docs.esmvaltool.org/en/latest/recipes/recipe_climwip.html, ESMValTool, 2022). The data used in this study are available through the ESGF data portal at https://esgf-node.llnl.gov/projects/cmip6/ (CMIP, 2022). Further assessment plots for the models used in this paper are available on GitHub at https://github.com/tepmo42/cmip6_european_assessment (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.782884, Palmer et al., 2023), as is a spreadsheet of all available assessments (for Europe) carried out for CMIP6 models to date. The RAPID-MOC monitoring project is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and data (Frajka-Williams et al., 2021). E-OBS data (v.14.0, Cornes et al., 2018) can be found at https://www.ecad.eu/download/ensembles/download.php, in Cornes et al. (2018). The HadISST dataset (Rayner et al., 2003) is publicly available for download at https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadisst/data/download.html. The ERA5 data (Hersbach et al., 2020) are available for download through the Copernicus Climate Change Service (2017) at https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/home.We have created a performance-based assessment of CMIP6 models for Europe that can be used to inform the sub-selection of models for this region. Our assessment covers criteria indicative of the ability of individual models to capture a range of large-scale processes that are important for the representation of present-day European climate. We use this study to provide examples of how this performance-based assessment may be applied to a multi-model ensemble of CMIP6 models to (a) filter the ensemble for performance against these climatological and processed-based criteria and (b) create a smaller subset of models based on performance that also maintains model diversity and the filtered projection range as far as possible. Filtering by excluding the least-realistic models leads to higher-sensitivity models remaining in the ensemble as an emergent consequence of the assessment. This results in both the 25th percentile and the median of the projected temperature range being shifted towards greater warming for the filtered set of models. We also weight the unfiltered ensemble against global trends. In contrast, this shifts the distribution towards less warming. This highlights a tension for regional model selection in terms of selection based on regional climate processes versus the global mean warming trend.European Union Horizon 2020Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)European Research Council (ERC

Primary cilia elongation in response to interleukin-1 mediates the inflammatory response

Primary cilia are singular, cytoskeletal organelles present in the majority of mammalian cell types where they function as coordinating centres for mechanotransduction, Wnt and hedgehog signalling. The length of the primary cilium is proposed to modulate cilia function, governed in part by the activity of intraflagellar transport (IFT). In articular cartilage, primary cilia length is increased and hedgehog signaling activated in osteoarthritis (OA). Here, we examine primary cilia length with exposure to the quintessential inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1), which is up-regulated in OA. We then test the hypothesis that the cilium is involved in mediating the downstream inflammatory response. Primary chondrocytes treated with IL-1 exhibited a 50 % increase in cilia length after 3 h exposure. IL-1-induced cilia elongation was also observed in human fibroblasts. In chondrocytes, this elongation occurred via a protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent mechanism. G-protein coupled adenylate cyclase also regulated the length of chondrocyte primary cilia but not downstream of IL-1. Chondrocytes treated with IL-1 exhibit a characteristic increase in the release of the inflammatory chemokines, nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2. However, in cells with a mutation in IFT88 whereby the cilia structure is lost, this response to IL-1 was significantly attenuated and, in the case of nitric oxide, completely abolished. Inhibition of IL-1-induced cilia elongation by PKA inhibition also attenuated the chemokine response. These results suggest that cilia assembly regulates the response to inflammatory cytokines. Therefore, the cilia proteome may provide a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of inflammatory pathologies, including OA

Organic matter control on the distribution of arsenic in lake sediments impacted by ~ 65 years of gold ore processing in subarctic Canada

Climate change is profoundly affecting seasonality, biological productivity, and hydrology in high northern latitudes. In sensitive subarctic environments exploitation of mineral resources led to contamination and it is not known how cumulative effects of resource extraction and climate warming will impact ecosystems. Gold mines near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, subarctic Canada, operated from 1938 to 2004 and released > 20,000 t of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) to the environment through stack emissions. This release resulted in elevated arsenic concentrations in lake surface waters and sediments relative to Canadian drinking water standards and guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. A meta-analytical approach is used to better understand controls on As distribution in lake sediments within a 30-km radius of historic mineral processing activities. Arsenic concentrations in the near-surface sediments range from 5 mg·kg− 1 to over 10,000 mg·kg− 1 (median 81 mg·kg− 1; n = 105). Distance and direction from the historic roaster stack are significantly (p < 0.05) related to sedimentary As concentration, with highest As concentrations in sediments within 11 km and lakes located downwind. Synchrotron-based μXRF and μXRD confirm the persistence of As2O3 in near surface sediments of two lakes. Labile organic matter (S1) is significantly (p < 0.05) related to As and S concentrations in sediments and this relationship is greatest in lakes within 11 km from the mine. These relations are interpreted to reflect labile organic matter acting as a substrate for microbial growth and mediation of authigenic precipitation of As-sulphides in lakes close to the historic mine where As concentrations are highest. Continued climate warming is expected to lead to increased biological productivity and changes in organic geochemistry of lake sediments that are likely to play an important role in the mobility and fate of As in aquatic ecosystems

Do Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) processes influence survival in patients with colorectal cancer? A population-based experience

BACKGROUND: MDT (multidisciplinary team) meetings are considered an essential component of care for patients with cancer. However there is remarkably little direct evidence that such meetings improve outcomes. We assessed whether or not MDT (multidisciplinary team) processes influenced survival in a cohort of patients with colorectal cancer. METHODS: Observational study of a population-based cohort of 586 consecutive patients with colorectal cancer diagnosed in Tayside (Scotland) during 2006 and 2007. RESULTS: Recommendations from MDT meetings were implemented in 411/586 (70.1 %) of patients, the MDT+ group. The remaining175/586 (29.9 %) were either never discussed at an MDT, or recommendations were not implemented, MDT- group. The 5-year cause-specific survival (CSS) rates were 63.1 % (MDT+) and 48.2 % (MDT-), p < 0.0001. In analysis confined to patients who survived >6 weeks after diagnosis, the rates were 63.2 % (MDT+) and 57.7 % (MDT-), p = 0.064. The adjusted hazard rate (HR) for death from colorectal cancer was 0.73 (0.53 to 1.00, p = 0.047) in the MDT+ group compared to the MDT- group, in patients surviving >6 weeks the adjusted HR was 1.00 (0.70 to 1.42, p = 0.987). Any benefit from the MDT process was largely confined to patients with advanced disease: adjusted HR ((early)) 1.32 (0.69 to 2.49, p = 0.401); adjusted HR((advanced)) 0.65 (0.45 to 0.96, p = 0.031). CONCLUSIONS: Adequate MDT processes are associated with improved survival for patients with colorectal cancer. However, some of this effect may be more apparent than real – simply reflecting selection bias. The MDT process predominantly benefits the 40 % of patients who present with advanced disease and conveys little demonstrable advantage to patients with early tumours. These results call into question the current belief that all new patients with colorectal cancer should be discussed at an MDT meeting