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"Stuart, Peter"
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Cross-cultural usability evaluation of AI-based adaptive user interface for mobile applications
With the widespread purchase of mobile communication devices and their extensive usage in every aspect of life, allied with global mobility and market penetration – a more culturally universally adaptable interface has become a priority. This pliable interface must conform continuously with the changing abilities of the end user and the person’s culture, irrespective of the prevailing ambient culture. The information required to customise this interface must be derived from the user’s actual digital footprint and not on their feedback. This treatise presents the usability evaluation results of a culturally inclusive and ubiquitous mobile learning (M-Learning) platform (‘Mobile Academy’), with an AI-based adaptive user interface which takes the snapshot of the installed apps on a smartphone as input, predicts the user’s cultural affiliation as well as the language preference and thus offer a culturally customised user interface as the output. The proof of concept (PoC) prototype has been developed based on the CIAUI (Culturally Inclusive Adaptive User Interface) framework, using plasticity of user interface techniques. This approach was taken to test the affordability of developing inclusive applications, considering the ever growing large global culturally diverse user base. Usability evaluation was then conducted and the results carefully analysed. The results indicated that the PoC exhibited enhanced cross-cultural usability and affordability of such techniques. The evaluation results of the PoC also advocates in favour of the user’s cultural profiling based on the mobile usage data, particularly a single snapshot of installed apps. The research provides direction for future research and application development.
Journal Article
Genetic characterization of nodular worm infections in Asian Apes
Parasitic nematodes of
Oesophagostomum
spp., commonly known, as 'nodular worms' are emerging as the most widely distributed and prevalent zoonotic nematodes.
Oesophagostomum
infections are well documented in African non-human primates; however, the taxonomy, distribution and transmission of
Oesophagostomum
in Asian non-human primates are not adequately studied. To better understand which
Oesophagostomum
species infect Asian non-human primates and determine their phylogeny we analysed 55 faecal samples from 50 orangutan and 5 gibbon individuals from Borneo and Sumatra. Both microscopy and molecular results revealed that semi-wild animals had higher
Oesophagostomum
infection prevalence than free ranging animals. Based on sequence genotyping analysis targeting the Internal transcribed spacer 2 of rDNA, we report for the first time the presence of
O. aculeatum
in Sumatran apes. Population genetic analysis shows that there is significant genetic differentiation between Bornean and Sumatran
O. aculeatum
populations. Our results clearly reveal that
O. aculeatum
in free-ranging animals have a higher genetic variation than those in semi-wild animals, demonstrating that
O. aculeatum
is circulating naturally in wildlife and zoonotic transmission is possible. Further studies should be conducted to better understand the epidemiology and dynamics of
Oesophagostomum
transmission between humans, non-human primates and other wild species and livestock in Southeast Asia.
Journal Article
Handbook on agriculture biotechnology and development
This title provides a diverse, but concentrated, global perspective on biotechnology applications to plant agriculture. Readers gain rich insights into specific aspects of agbiotech, anchored in an overarching governance framework that determines trade and regulation of agbiotech processes.
Book
Food resources and intestinal parasites as limiting factors for boreal vole populations during winter
Processes limiting the growth of cyclic vole populations have stimulated considerable research and debate over several decades. In Fennoscandia, the peak density of cyclic vole populations occurs in fall, and is followed by a severe winter decline. Food availability and intestinal parasites have been demonstrated to independently and synergistically limit wildlife populations. The purpose of this study was to directly compare competing food and parasite hypotheses on the limitation of overwintering high-density vole populations. Moreover, we evaluated the ability of food limitation and nematode infection to interact and thereby intensify population declines. A two-factor experiment with food supplementation and antihelminthic medication was conducted on replicated, enclosed field vole (
Microtus agrestis
) populations in central Finland over one full boreal winter. Population abundance, survival, and demographic attributes were monitored through live trapping. Vole feces were concurrently examined for the eggs of Heligmosomidae nemadotes and oocysts of eimerian coccidians. We found that vole density declined in all treatment groups throughout winter. However, food supplementation mitigated this decline through positive effects on reproduction, and voles in food-supplemented populations were generally in better physiological condition than non-supplemented voles. Food supplementation and antihelminthic treatment reduced the prevalence of Heligmosomidae nematodes, while neither food nor medication affected the prevalence of eimerians, or infection intensity of either parasite group. Although food supplementation and antihelminthic medication aided in the clearance of Heligmosomidae nematodes, their prevalence did not influence vole population growth, and this parasite group is therefore unlikely to contribute to the cyclic winter decline of boreal vole populations. Instead food resources acting alone were the primary factor limiting vole population growth.
Journal Article
The Invasive Bank Vole (Myodes glareolus): A Model System for Studying Parasites and Ecoimmunology during a Biological Invasion
The primary driver of the observed increase in emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) has been identified as human interaction with wildlife and this increase has emphasized knowledge gaps in wildlife pathogens dynamics. Wild rodent models have proven excellent for studying changes in parasite communities and have been a particular focus of eco-immunological research. Helminth species have been shown to be one of the factors regulating rodent abundance and indirectly affect disease burden through trade-offs between immune pathways. The Myodes glareolus invasion in Ireland is a unique model system to explore the invasion dynamics of helminth species. Studies of the invasive population of M. glareolus in Ireland have revealed a verifiable introduction point and its steady spread. Helminths studies of this invasion have identified enemy release, spillover, spillback and dilution taking place. Longitudinal studies have the potential to demonstrate the interplay between helminth parasite dynamics and both immune adaptation and coinfecting microparasites as M. glareolus become established across Ireland. Using the M. glareolus invasion as a model system and other similar wildlife systems, we can begin to fill the large gap in our knowledge surrounding the area of wildlife pathogen dynamics.
Journal Article
Diet quality limits summer growth of field vole populations
Marked variation occurs in both seasonal and multiannual population density peaks of northern European small mammal species, including voles. The availability of dietary proteins is a key factor limiting the population growth of herbivore species. The objective of this study is to investigate the degree to which protein availability influences the growth of increasing vole populations. We hypothesise that the summer growth of folivorous vole populations is positively associated with dietary protein availability. A field experiment was conducted over a summer reproductive period in 18 vegetated enclosures. Populations of field voles (Microtus agrestis) were randomised amongst three treatment groups: 1) food supplementation with ad libitum high protein (30% dry weight) pellets, 2) food supplementation with ad libitum low protein (1% dry weight; both supplemented foods had equivalent energy content) pellets, and 3) control (no food supplementation), n = 6 per treatment. Vole density, survival, demographic attributes and condition indicators were monitored with live-trapping and blood sampling. Highest final vole densities were attained in populations that received high protein supplementation and lowest in low protein populations. Control populations displayed intermediate densities. The survival rate of voles was similar in all treatment groups. The proportion of females, and of those that were pregnant or lactating, was highest in the high protein supplemented populations. This suggests that variation in reproductive, rather than survival rates of voles, accounted for density differences between the treatment groups. We found no clear association between population demography and individual physiological condition. Our results demonstrate that dietary protein availability limits vole population growth during the summer growing season. This suggests that the nutritional quality of forage may be an underestimated source of interannual variation in the density and growth rates of widely fluctuating populations of herbivorous small mammals.
Journal Article