Tracking changes to a microplankton community in a North Atlantic sea loch using the microplankton index PI(mp).

Microplankton plays a vital part in marine ecosystems and its importance has been recognised by the inclusion of microplankton community composition in regulatory frameworks such as the European Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive as an indicator of ecological status. Quantitative techniques are therefore required to assess the environmental status of the microplankton in a water body. Here we demonstrate the use of a method known as the Microplankton Index PI(mp) to evaluate changes in the microplankton community of the West coast Scottish Sea Loch Creran. Microplankton in this fjord has been studied since the 1970’s providing a data set spanning four decades. Our analysis compares an arbitrarily chosen reference period between 1979 and 1981 with a period between 2011 and 2013 and demonstrates that between these two periods community structure has changed considerably with a substantial drop in the numbers of observed diatoms accompanied by a rise in the number of autotrophic/mixotrophic dinoflagellates as well as an increase in the potentially toxin producing genus Pseudo-nitzschia and that these are related to changes in both the intensity and timing of local patterns of precipitation. The PI(mp) is shown to be a useful and robust method to visualise and quantify changes in the underlying structure of the microplankton community and is a powerful addition to the toolbox of techniques needed to determine the health of our seas.

A systematic review on the factors associated with positive experiences in carers of someone with cancer.

The aim of this review was to identify the factors associated with positive experiences in non-professional carers of someone with a cancer diagnosis. A systematic search of the following electronic databases was undertaken: Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SocINDEX and Medline. Literature was searched using terms relating to cancer, caring and positive experiences. Additional records were identified through a manual search of relevant reference lists. The search included studies published in English from 1990- June 2015. Two raters were involved in data extraction, quality appraisal, coding, synthesis, and analysis. Evolutionary concept analysis was used as a guiding framework in order to focus on attributes associated with positive experiences. Fifty two articles were included in this review. Analysis identified four overarching attributes: ‘gender’, ‘personal resources’, ‘finding meaning’ and ‘social context’. Despite the challenges associated with caring this combination of internal and external factors enabled some carers to report positive experiences related to caring. This knowledge may be clinically helpful when designing supportive interventions. Strengths and limitations of these claims are discussed.

Numerical encoding to tame SQL injection attacks.

Recent years have seen an astronomical rise in SQL Injection Attacks (SQLIAs) used to compromise the confidentiality, authentication and integrity of organisations’ databases. Intruders becoming smarter in obfuscating web requests to evade detection combined with increasing volumes of web traffic from the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud-hosted and on-premise business applications have made it evident that the existing approaches of mostly static signature lack the ability to cope with novel signatures. A SQLIA detection and prevention solution can be achieved through exploring an alternative bio-inspired supervised learning approach that uses input of labelled dataset of numerical attributes in classifying true positives and negatives. We present in this paper a Numerical Encoding to Tame SQLIA (NETSQLIA) that implements a proof of concept for scalable numerical encoding of features to a dataset attributes with labelled class obtained from deep web traffic analysis. In the numerical attributes encoding: the model leverages proxy in the interception and decryption of web traffic. The intercepted web requests are then assembled for front-end SQL parsing and pattern matching by applying traditional Non-Deterministic Finite Automaton (NFA). This paper is intended for a technique of numerical attributes extraction of any size primed as an input dataset to an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and statistical Machine Learning (ML) algorithms implemented using Two-Class Averaged Perceptron (TCAP) and Two-Class Logistic Regression (TCLR) respectively. This methodology then forms the subject of the empirical evaluation of the suitability of this model in the accurate classification of both legitimate web requests and SQLIA payloads.

Hierarchical clustering with multiple-height branch-cut applied to short time-series gene expression data.

Rigid adherence to pre-specified thresholds and static graphical representations can lead to incorrect decisions on merging of clusters. As an alternative to existing automated or semi-automated methods, we developed a visual analytics approach for performing hierarchical clustering analysis of short time-series gene expression data. Dynamic sliders control parameters such as the similarity threshold at which clusters are merged and the level of relative intra-cluster distinctiveness, which can be used to identify "weak-edges" within clusters. An expert user can drill down to further explore the dendrogram and detect nested clusters and outliers. This is done by using the sliders and by pointing and clicking on the representation to cut the branches of the tree in multiple-heights. A prototype of this tool has been developed in collaboration with a small group of biologists for analysing their own datasets. Initial feedback on the tool has been positive.

Can Regional Cooperation Promote Sustainable Development?

This chapter argues that regional cooperation may be a promising framework to work towards sustainable development. There are two broad pathways linking regional cooperation and sustainable development. On the one hand, shared or transboundary socio-environmental concerns may spark regional cooperation and on the other, pre-existing regional organisations created for other purposes become frameworks to address sustainability concerns. Yet, neither of these processes is automatic and whether they take place depends on the existence of particular drivers pursuing a sustainability agenda at the regional level. Ultimately, whether regional cooperation fosters sustainable development and how this takes place thus depends to a large extent on the specific people or organisations driving a sustainability agenda at the regional level and their relationship to national governments.