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Complementing urban agriculture and green spaces is important for ecosystem functions and biodiversity in cities: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Get PDF1. As cities expand, they encroach on agricultural land, impacting food production and natural habitats. While urban agriculture could help address these issues, the impact of increased food production on ecosystem functions—particularly with regards to soil conservation, climate regulation and biodiversity—remains poorly understood.2. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted a meta-analysis to quantify the effects of urban agriculture on ecosystem functions (i.e. soil quality and climate regulation) and biodiversity (i.e. plants, birds, mammals, arthropods and insect pollinators). We estimated ecosystem functions and biodiversity in urban agriculture by comparing them with other urban green spaces (e.g. parks, residential gardens, green roofs) and conventional rural farms.3. Our results overall showed that urban agriculture is in an intermediate state between the other urban green spaces and conventional rural farms in terms of environmental impacts. Urban agriculture had a positive effect on the studied ecosystem functions relative to conventional rural farms (+25%, CI95: +12% to +39%), but was equivalent in its provision of these functions to other green spaces. Urban agriculture also had a positive effect on biodiversity compared to conventional rural farms (+38%, CI95: −10 to +111%), but a negative effect compared to green spaces (−12%, CI95: −29 to +8%). Specifically, urban agriculture had 39% (CI95: −59 to −10%) lower plant diversity and abundance than that seen in other green spaces.4. Practical implications. Our results suggest that urban agriculture's contribution to urban sustainability requires complementarity with other green spaces to effectively support ecosystem functions and biodiversity in cities. We also detected substantial issues with the classification and characterisation of urban agriculture plots. Improving conceptual and methodological consistency will continue to be a crucial challenge for urban agriculture research
Graph-based Digital Twin Blueprint for Securing 6G Local Area Networks
No full textThe rise of sixth-generation (6G) wireless technologies is expected to transform local connectivity through ultralow latency communication, autonomous network management, and massive device integration. Among these, 6G Local Area Networks (LANs) are emerging as key enablers for smart homes and industrial automation, offering decentralised and intelligent control at the network edge. However, it introduces critical security requirements. Traditional intrusion detection methods, based on static rules and signatures, are limited in addressing dynamic device interactions, strict latency constraints, and increasingly stealthy cyberattacks expected in 6G LANs. To overcome these limitations, this work introduces a graph-based security framework using digital twins (DTs) designed for 6G LANs. The proposed solution integrates three core components. First, a graph-based anomaly detection module models the real-time network structure using GraphSAGE and Graph Attention Networks (GAT) to enable efficient and context-aware threat identification. Second, an explainability module based on Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) provides transparent decision-making and introduces a confidence-aware mechanism to autonomously or collaboratively handle detected threats. Third, a self-healing module applies mitigation actions dynamically, enabling fast, adaptive, and explainable responses while allowing human oversight when needed. The effectiveness of the framework is validated through extensive experiments on a 6G LAN testbed and an external dataset. Results show that our solution reduces end-to-end detection latency by up to 63%, lowers mitigation reaction time by 55%, and decreases processing overhead by 20%, while improving detection accuracy by up to 25% compared to conventional methods. These results highlight the practical benefits of using DTs for real-time and explainable 6G LAN security. Our work offers a scalable and locally deployable solution that meets the performance and transparency needs of emerging autonomous networks
Conceptualising Vulnerability in Forced Displacement: The Role of Human Rights‐Based Approaches in Mitigating Trafficking Risks—Findings From Poland and Romania
No full textThis article examines the vulnerability of Ukrainian refugees to trafficking, abuse, and exploitation in Poland and Romania following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Drawing on survey data from the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix and qualitative interviews with key informants, the study applies a multi-level, intersectional framework to assess personal, situational, and contextual dimensions of vulnerability. It introduces a “continuum of vulnerability” model, recognising that risks are dynamic, relational, and shaped by structural inequalities. Quantitative analysis identifies financial insecurity, age, and discrimination as key predictors of harm, while qualitative findings highlight the impact of conditional protection regimes, housing insecurity, and healthcare barriers. Although few trafficking cases were officially identified, findings suggest that a well-funded and coordinated rights-based response helped mitigate risks. The article argues that such protection frameworks must remain in place for as long as needed and that vulnerability should be continuously monitored across all three dimensions
No Choice but to Move: Climate Displacement and Eroding Livelihoods in Mongolia
No full textAs climate change reshapes Mongolia’s environment, herders are being pushed to cities – not by sudden disaster, but through slow erosion of options. Their stories challenge dominant ideas of choice, agency, and what counts as ‘displacement’
FLOCC: Closed-Loop Cotton Flock Fibre (DDW)
No full textThis output represents the second iteration of a multi-component creative practice portfolio investigating circular textile innovation. Building on initial material and design development from the EU WORTH Partnership, it explores scaling, refining, and extending circular textile materials derived from cotton yarn clippings from Scottish Madras (Scotch Leno) lace production at MYB Textiles. The research addresses two material challenges: diverting lace production clippings from landfill and producing small-batch natural flock fibre as a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based synthetic materials.I co-led and instigated the FLOCC project with Sara Robertson (co-lead), directing design development, research strategy, and collaborations with core partners Annika Syrjämäki (Maison du Flock, flock prototyping) and MYB Textiles (waste processing and bespoke fabric production) and additional industrial collaborator Velutex (Spain, electrostatic flock production). Studio-based experimentation combined iterative prototyping, material testing, and reflective evaluation to refine fibre properties, design approaches, and applications.Iteration 2 was disseminated at Dutch Design Week 2025, Klokgebouw, Eindhoven (juried, curated), showcasing scaled textile works, new colourways, bespoke Scottish Madras fabric, and combined paper/flock samples. Interaction with international designers, academics, and industry stakeholders—including Nike, Adidas, Jaguar—and coverage in international publications Textile Eye (trend and colour report) and Colour Matter (sustainable approaches to colouration and print) generated evaluative feedback that informed material refinement and design applications. Following DDW, work was further showcased at MaterialDistrict, Utrecht (March 2026), and at Scotland: Land of Innovation, British Embassy, Paris, St Andrew’s Day Showcase & Networking Event (November 2025) as part of MYB Textiles’ representation. Crowdfunding support from Creative Scotland enabled material production, travel, and exhibition costs.Iteration 2 demonstrates the technical and aesthetic potential of natural cotton flock as a circular material, scaling earlier prototypes into refined, exhibition-ready textile and paper works while evidencing industrial viability and ongoing knowledge exchange across design, research, and manufacturing contexts
An innovative 'passive-solar' timber drying kiln: Progress Report I
No full textThis report details the technical progress in the design of an autonomous solar kiln for timber drying and covers the development of IoT-based monitoring and control systems, including hardware selection, software in Arduino IDE for autonomous regulation, and system validation through testing. Solar PV and battery systems were sized using PVsyst, a comprehensive solar energy simulation tool, to evaluate the solar potential and system performance of the solar kiln at five locations across Scotland. This finds that all five sites are suitable for the installation of off-grid solar systems and indicates that solar-powered wood drying can be a viable and sustainable solution in these locations.The kiln’s structural configuration was optimised through computational modelling, examining airflow dynamics, channel spacing, and fan placement to maximise drying efficiency while minimising energy consumption. To validate the airflow simulations, a scale model was constructed and evaluated against simulation results to ensure the simulation and optimisations correspond to real-world performance. This report outlines the methodologies, results, and key conclusions, serving as a foundation for further development toward a full-scale prototype
SelectVote Byzantine Fault Tolerance for Evidence Custody: Virtual Voting Consensus with Environmental Compensation
Get PDFDigital evidence custody requires consensus protocols that guarantee immediate and deterministic finality. Legal admissibility depends on proof that no party can alter or delay confirmation of evidence transfers. Conventional Byzantine fault tolerance protocols scale poorly because of quadratic communication overhead, while probabilistic ledger systems such as IOTA and SPECTRE produce confirmation uncertainty that weakens custody verification. This paper introduces SelectVote Byzantine Fault Tolerance, a deterministic consensus protocol that infers virtual votes from graph structure instead of exchanging explicit messages. The protocol operates in permissioned forensic networks and assigns validation witnesses through a fixed, hash-based selection process. Empirical evaluation demonstrates sub-quadratic communication scaling (O(n1.7)) compared to traditional O(n2) Byzantine protocols and maintains Byzantine resilience. To ensure physical integrity, the paper also presents an environmental compensation framework for precision weight verification. The framework models temperature, humidity, and pressure effects on load cells and corrects measurement drift to preserve sub-gram accuracy across normal storage conditions. Experimental evaluation confirms that the integrated system sustains high throughput with deterministic finality and maintains consistent measurement precision under environmental variation. The combined result supports reliable, legally defensible custody of digital evidence across distributed institutions
Dissolution
No full textNAMED A BEST THRILLER OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMESNAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY ESQUIRE"Suspenseful, provocative and surprisingly tender."-NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW"Cleverly weaves together time travel and memory games into a hard-to-put-down thriller. It's an expertly crafted puzzle of a story."-NEW SCIENTISTA woman dives into her husband's memories to uncover a decades-old feud threatening reality itself in this staggering technothriller from the bestselling author of AscensionMaggie Webb has lived the last decade caring for elderly husband, Stanley, as memory loss gradually erases all the beautiful moments they created together. It's the loneliest she's ever felt in her life.When a mysterious stranger named Hassan appears at her door, he reveals a shocking truth: Stanley isn't losing his memories. Someone is actively removing them to hide a long-buried secret from coming to light. If Maggie does what she's told, she can reverse it. She can get her husband back.Led by Hassan and his technological marvels, Maggie breaks into her husband's mind, probing the depths of his memories in an effort to save him. The deeper she dives, the more she unravels a mystery spanning continents and centuries, each layer more complex than the last. But Hassan cannot be trusted. Not just memories are disappearing, but pieces of reality itself. If Maggie cannot find out what Stanley did all those years ago, and what Hassan is after, she risks far more than her husband's life. The very course of human history hangs in the balance
Semantic-aware framework for zero-shot malware classification via attention-based relation network
Get PDFDeep neural networks have proven effective in identifying known malware; however, they face challenges when it comes to detecting novel malware that they have not encountered before. This issue arises from their dependence on labeled data for training, which is often scarce for new or uncommon malware types. As a result, creating a model that can detect every possible form of malware becomes impractical. Identifying previously unseen malware is essential, which calls for innovative methods such as Zero-Shot Learning (ZSL). ZSL involves classifying categories that were not present during training. To address this, we propose a novel technique called the Semantic-aware Multi-level Attention-based Relation Network (SMART) for zero-shot malware detection. SMART incorporates Relation-wise Attention (RwA) and Pairwise Semantic Attention (PwA) mechanisms to improve detection accuracy. The PwA component is designed to capture relationships between pairs of input elements, while the RwA mechanism operates at a higher level, analyzing interactions among multiple elements. Our approach outperformed previous methods by significantly reducing false positives and achieving a notable accuracy rate of 95%
Critical success factors for implementing smart maintenance in the fourth industrial revolution era: a bibliometric analysis within the built environment
Get PDFPurposeThe implementation of smart maintenance (SM) has greatly benefited facility managers, construction project managers and other stakeholders within the built environment. Unfortunately, its actualization for stakeholders in the built environment in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) era remains a challenge. To reduce the challenge, this study aims at conducting a bibliometric analysis to unearth the critical success factors supporting SM implementation. The future direction and practice of SM in the construction industry were also explored.Design/methodology/approachA bibliometric approach was adopted for reviewing articles extracted from the Scopus database. Keywords such as (“smart maintenance“) OR (“intelligent maintenance”) OR (“technological maintenance”) OR (“automated maintenance”) OR (“computerized maintenance”) were used to extract articles from the Scopus database. The studies were restricted between 2006 and 2021 to capture the 4IR era. The initial extracted papers were 1,048; however, 288 papers were selected and analysed using VOSviewer software.FindingsThe findings revealed that the critical success factors supporting the implementation of SM in the 4IR era are collaboration, digital twin design, energy management system and decentralized data management system. Regarding the future practice of SM in the 4IR era, it was also revealed that SM is possible to evolve into maintenance 4.0. This will support the autonomous maintenance of infrastructures in the built environment.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of a single database contributed to the limitation of the findings from this study.Practical implicationsDespite the limitations, the findings of this study contributed to practice and research by providing stakeholders in the built environment with the direction of SM practice.Originality/valueStakeholders in the built environment have clamoured to implement SM in the 4IR era. This study provided the critical success factors for adopting SM, guaranteeing the 4IR era. It also provides the research trends and direction of SM practice
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