County Cork
Applying Time Series Deep Learning Models to Forecast the Growth of Perennial Ryegrass in Ireland
Onibonoje, Oluwadurotimi, Ngo, Vuong M., McCarre, Andrew, Ruelle, Elodie, O-Briend, Bernadette, Roantree, Mark
Grasslands, constituting the world's second-largest terrestrial carbon sink, play a crucial role in biodiversity and the regulation of the carbon cycle. Currently, the Irish dairy sector, a significant economic contributor, grapples with challenges related to profitability and sustainability. Presently, grass growth forecasting relies on impractical mechanistic models. In response, we propose deep learning models tailored for univariate datasets, presenting cost-effective alternatives. Notably, a temporal convolutional network designed for forecasting Perennial Ryegrass growth in Cork exhibits high performance, leveraging historical grass height data with RMSE of 2.74 and MAE of 3.46. V alidation across a comprehensive dataset spanning 1,757 weeks over 34 years provides insights into optimal model configurations. This study enhances our understanding of model behavior, thereby improving reliability in grass growth forecasting and contributing to the advancement of sustainable dairy farming practices. Introduction Grasslands stand as the world's largest terrestrial ecosystem, serving as a pivotal source of sustenance for livestock. Tackling the escalating demand for meat and dairy products in an environmentally sustainable manner presents a formidable challenge. Encompassing 31.5% of the Earth's landmass (Latham et al., 2014), grasslands rank among the most prevalent and widespread vegetation types.
Sociotechnical Effects of Machine Translation
Moorkens, Joss, Way, Andy, Lankford, Séamus
While the previous chapters have shown how machine translation (MT) can be useful, in this chapter we discuss some of the side-effects and risks that are associated, and how they might be mitigated. With the move to neural MT and approaches using Large Language Models (LLMs), there is an associated impact on climate change, as the models built by multinational corporations are massive. They are hugely expensive to train, consume large amounts of electricity, and output huge volumes of kgCO2 to boot. However, smaller models which still perform to a high level of quality can be built with much lower carbon footprints, and tuning pre-trained models saves on the requirement to train from scratch. We also discuss the possible detrimental effects of MT on translators and other users. The topics of copyright and ownership of data are discussed, as well as ethical considerations on data and MT use. Finally, we show how if done properly, using MT in crisis scenarios can save lives, and we provide a method of how this might be done.
Machine Learning Applications to Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy in Optical Diagnosis; A Systematic Review
Rossberg, Nicola, Li, Celina L., Innocente, Simone, Andersson-Engels, Stefan, Komolibus, Katarzyna, O'Sullivan, Barry, Visentin, Andrea
Its noninvasive nature and sensitivity to absorption related to tissue biomolecular content and scattering change, associated with subcellular morphology, make it an extremely powerful tool to analyse tissue composition, microstructure or oxygenation status, offering promising performance in applications such as cancer diagnostics and surgical guidance [1, 30, 85, 121]. DRS signals are measured by delivering a typically white light source into the tissue and detecting diffusely reflected signals at a certain distance from the source, where the distance between the emitting and receiving fibres determines the tissue depth probed. Depending on the application and clinical objective, multiple illumination or detection fibres can be used to obtain more quantitative information and probe different depths. The light delivery and collection from tissue are often handled using optical fibres or fibre bundles. When incident on the tissue, the light undergoes scattering and absorption processes, which alter the light intensity across the measured spectrum [75, 121].
EdgeAIGuard: Agentic LLMs for Minor Protection in Digital Spaces
Mujtaba, Ghulam, Khowaja, Sunder Ali, Dev, Kapal
--Social media has become integral to minors' daily lives and is used for various purposes, such as making friends, exploring shared interests, and engaging in educational activities. However, the increase in screen time has also led to heightened challenges, including cyberbullying, online grooming, and exploitations posed by malicious actors. Traditional content moderation techniques have proven ineffective against exploiters' evolving tactics. T o address these growing challenges, we propose the EdgeAIGuard content moderation approach that is designed to protect minors from online grooming and various forms of digital exploitation. The proposed method comprises a multi-agent architecture deployed strategically at the network edge to enable rapid detection with low latency and prevent harmful content targeting minors. The experimental results show the proposed method is significantly more effective than the existing approaches. Social media platforms have fundamentally transformed how individuals communicate, connect, and share information. It is not an exaggeration to say that social media has become integral to our daily lives. For minors, these platforms serve to form their identities, express themselves, and interact socially [1]. A recent study revealed that approximately 84% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 actively use social media for an average of 4.8 hours daily [2]. Platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram are easily accessible on devices like smartphones and wearables, allowing users to share their personal experiences while engaging with diverse content.
corobos: A Design for Mobile Robots Enabling Cooperative Transitions between Table and Wall Surfaces
Han, Changyo, Nakagawa, Yosuke, Naemura, Takeshi
Swarm User Interfaces allow dynamic arrangement of user environments through the use of multiple mobile robots, but their operational range is typically confined to a single plane due to constraints imposed by their two-wheel propulsion systems. We present corobos, a proof-of-concept design that enables these robots to cooperatively transition between table (horizontal) and wall (vertical) surfaces seamlessly, without human intervention. Each robot is equipped with a uniquely designed slope structure that facilitates smooth rotation when another robot pushes it toward a target surface. Notably, this design relies solely on passive mechanical elements, eliminating the need for additional active electrical components. We investigated the design parameters of this structure and evaluated its transition success rate through experiments. Furthermore, we demonstrate various application examples to showcase the potential of corobos in enhancing user environments.