Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Rainfall Trends and Periodicity in Ruiru Location , Kenya

Climate change is a serious issue in the world today with extreme weather conditions being experienced globally as characterised by devastating floods and prolonged droughts. This has often led to destruction of property and loss of life. These conditions are viewed as disasters requiring mitigation. Ruiru location being a peri-urban area has a lot of farming taking place and increased population due to settlement. This has increased the demand for water as stream flow is decreasing and boreholes are drying, with water scarcity prominent during droughts. Moreover during floods there is high surface runoff in the paved areas. The study sought to determine rainfall trends across the year for 31 years if any in Ruiru location. Monthly rainfall data for 31 years (1984-2014) obtained from four stations located within the location; Ting’ang’a, Ruiru mills, coffee research foundation and Doondu were used. Graphs were constructed to show trends within months and years and statistical significance of the observed trends tested using a linear regression model. Statistical analysis using MannKendall, Spearman’s Rho, Linear Regression and Student’s t was employed to determine the significant difference among the four stations. High annual mean rainfall of 170mm and low annual mean rainfall of 37 mm were observed. MannKendall, Spearman’s Rho, Linear Regression and Student’s t showed no significant difference of rainfall means between Ting’ang’a and Ruiru Mills stations, while the other stations were statistically insignificant. Linear regression models showed an upward trend which was statistically insignificant in all the four stations. There was no significant trend across the year for the past 31 years. The research findings will help in prediction of the occurrence of high and low rainfall amounts for proper planning and water resources management.
Integrating qualitative and quantitative data and findings

Integration is where one method influences in some way the objectives, sampling, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the other methods within a mixed methods study. Studies of qualitative research undertaken with RCTs have identified that publications often have no evidence of integration of findings. That is, the promise of qualitative research helping to explain the RCT results is simply not delivered in practice, or at least not in a way that is visible outside the original research team. The focus of this chapter is on where integration can occur within a study, the techniques that can facilitate integration, and examples of integration in the context of qualitative research and RCTs.
Visualization and Pre-Processing of Intensive Care Unit Data Using Python Data Science Tools

Abundance of information is collected in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) during patient stay. To help humans cope with abundance of such data, computers can help with 1) pre-processing and 2) visualization. Fortunately modern languages such as Python provide good tools to help programmers aid in those tasks. Tools such as Pandas allow import of data into a standard dataframe that can be processed with machine learning algorithms using scikit-learn, and later this data can be visualized interactively in web environment using Bokeh. The Jupyter notebook interface allows quick prototyping of the methods. This work shows how this collection of tools can be used to visualize patient data and filter it for outliers using multiple machine learning algorithms. The prototype created in this work is applied on a public ICU dataset with the intention of future extension towards automated detection of outliers in the data. Such outliers can either indicate hazards or should be removed before further analysis. Open source code and visualization are publicly available to support this paper. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Jacob Barhak specializes in chronic disease modeling with emphasis on using computational technological solutions. Dr. Barhak has diverse international background in engineering and computing science. He received his Ph.D. in 2003 from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. From 2003 to 2006 he worked at an NSF Engineering Research Center at the University of Michigan focusing on inspection systems and personalization. From 2006 to 2012 he worked on developing disease modeling tools for the Michigan model for diabetes at the University of Michigan. The Reference Model for disease progression was independently self-developed by Dr. Barhak in 2012. He is the developer of the MIcro Simulation Tool (MIST). 2018 Paper No. 16 Page 1 of 11
Finding a Serial Burglar's Home Using Distance Decay and Conditional Origin-Destination Patterns: A Test of Empirical Bayes Journey-to-Crime Estimation in The Hague

Can we tell where an offender lives from where he or she commits crimes? Journey-tocrime estimation is a tool that uses crime locations to tell us where to search for a serial offender’s home. In this paper, we test a new method: empirical Bayes journey-to-crime estimation. It differs from previous methods because it utilises an ‘origin–destination’ rule in addition to the ‘distance decay’ rule that prior methods have used. In the new method, the profi ler not only asks ‘what distances did previous offenders travel between their home and the crime scenes? ’ but also ‘where did previous offenders live who offended at the locations included in the crime series I investigate right now? ’. The new method could not only improve predictive accuracy, it could also reduce the traditional distinction between marauding and commuting offenders. Utilising the CrimeStat software, we apply the new method to 62 serial burglars in The Hague, The Netherlands, and show that the new method has higher predictive accuracy than methods that only exploit a distance decay rule. The new method not only improves the accuracy of predicting the homes of commuters—offenders who live outside their offending area—it also improves the search for marauders—offenders who live inside their offending area. After presenting an example of the application of the technique for prediction of a specifi c burglar, we discuss the limitations of the method and offer some suggestions for its future development. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
User Pro les for Context-Aware Recon guration in Software Product Lines

Software Product Lines (SPLs) are a mechanism to capture families of closely related software systems by modeling commonalities and variability. Although user customization has a growing importance in software systems and is a vital sales argument, SPLs currently only allow user customization at deploy-time. In this paper, we extend the notion of context-aware SPLs by means of user pro les, containing a linearly ordered set of preferences. Preferences have priorities, meaning that a low priority preference can be neglected in favor of a higher prioritized one. We present a recon guration engine checking the validity of the current con guration and, if necessary, recon guring the SPL while trying to ful ll the preferences of the active user pro le. Thus, users can be assured about the recon guration engine providing the most suitable con guration for them. Moreover, we demonstrate the feasibility of our approach using a case study based on existing car customizability.
Physicochemical characteristics and fatty acid profile of meat from lambs with different genotypes and diets

The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition and fatty acid profile of meat from Santa Ines, Dorper × Santa Ines, and undefined-breed lambs finished in a feedlot system according to two forage:concentrate ratios (50:50 and 20:80) in the diet. Overall, 54 non-castrated animals were used (with an average initial weight of 23±1.5 kg at 150 days old) and were slaughtered when they reached 36 kg of live weight or 63 days of confinement. Diets with high concentrate levels favored meat production with higher protein content. Among the saturated fatty acids, only heptadecanoic (C17:0) and arachidic acids (C20:0) differed among the treatments. The amount of oleic acid detected in the meat ranged from 49.2 to 51.9 g/100 g, making this one the most representative fatty acids. Regardless of the diet and genotype, the unsaturated fatty acid and desirable fatty acid levels in the lamb meat characterize it as of satisfactory quality for the consumer market.
Measurements of Evaporation Kinetics of Pure Water and Salt Solutions

The kinetics of vapor-liquid exchange in water are poorly understood, yet may be critically important in predicting changes in Earth's climate and understanding the water isotope record preserved in ice cores . In this thesis we present measurements of the kinetics of water evaporation. In Chapter 1 we review recent work on the subject, including our own liquid microjet technique which has higher precision than other methods. In Chapter 2 we extend our earlier measurements of the evaporation kinetics of H2O by studying pure D2O. We find that the evaporation coefficient, which can be thought of as the percentage of evaporation attempts which succeed, is identical for the two isotopomers. We interpret this result using a previously developed transition state theory (TST) model of evaporation, which predicts the respective evaporation coefficients to be equal due to competing energetic and entropic effects. In Chapter 3, we examine the evaporation kinetics of H2O evaporating from 3M ammonium sulfate solution. Ammonium sulfate was selected as it is the largest inorganic component of anthropogenic aerosol in the atmosphere. Again we find that the evaporation coefficient is unchanged relative to pure water. This is consistent with theoretical and experimental studies suggesting that both the ammonium ion and sulfate ion are repelled from the air-water interface, implying that these ions will not directly interact with evaporating water molecules. This result also suggests that inorganic components of atmospheric aerosol are unlikely to significantly affect evaporation kinetics. In Chapter 4 we examine the evaporation kinetics of H2O from 4M sodium perchlorate solution. Perchlorate was selected as it is expected to be strongly enhanced in concentration at the air-water interface, and therefore more likely to directly influence the evaporation process. We find that the evaporation coefficient for this system is ~25% smaller than that for pure H2O, indicating that the perchlorate ions do indeed impede evaporation. Given experimental evidence for the perchlorate ion slowing the rotational motions of H2O molecules in its first solvation shell, and our TST predictions indicating that the evaporation kinetics of water are highly sensitive to the hindered rotational motions of surface water molecules, we suggest that perchlorate ions at the interface are inhibiting the evaporation of H2O molecules with which they are in direct contact. This result suggests that other surface-enhanced ions may also affect the evaporation kinetics through direct interactions with evaporating molecules and opens several interesting new avenues of study, which are discussed in Chapter 5.
Procedures and Methods of Quality Planning and Their Use for Forming Process Optimization

Present development in the all fields of people activities is connected with increased requirements for product quality. Totally essential influence on products quality belongs to quality planning. According to terminological standard of ISO 9000 s standards family quality planning is defined as “part of quality management focused on setting quality objectives and specifying necessary operational processes and related resources to fulfil the quality objectives”. Quality planning represents many of activities, which decide about resulting quality. For example these partial activities are included in quality planning (Plura, 2001):  Quality objectives identification and their development in organization  Product quality characteristics planning (the development of products, which meet customer (and other stakeholders) requirements  Quality plan processing  Planning of methods, which will be used for achievement of required product quality  Processes quality planning (the development of processes, which will be able to assure required product quality and their capability verification)  Preventive actions planning for possible problems risk minimization  Planning of ways of product and process quality measurement and monitoring  Measurement systems planning and their suitability verification  Planning of data collection and needed quality records, etc.
Satellite and Ground Observations of Severe Air Pollution Episodes in the Winter of 2013 in Beijing, China

ABSTRACTBeginning in early January 2013, Beijing experienced multiple prolonged and severe smog events that were characterized by very high levels of PM2.5, with peak daily PM2.5 over 400 µg m–3. With PM2.5 concentration contours created from ground observations and satellite remote sensing data, we describe the spatial and temporal characteristics of these episodes and further investigated the factors that contributed to these episodes. Our results indicated that these smog episodes affected a much larger geographic region, far beyond Beijing metropolitan area, corresponding to a total area of ~550,000 km2 and ~180 million people. The extremely cold weather in December 2012 and regional pollution transport were likely the main causes of these severe PM pollutions. In addition to aggressive emission control measures for Beijing, coordinated regional policy must be put in place to achieve more blue-sky days. Although the configuration of the current ground monitoring network may be sufficient to record PM2.5 levels in urban centers, these monitors alone cannot fully characterize the spatial pattern and track the transport of air pollution on a regional scale. Satellite remote sensing data can provide valuable information to fill the gaps left by ground monitors to create a more comprehensive picture of PM2.5.
Layered design approach for context-aware systems.

The omnipresent integration of computer technology in everyday applications introduces new opportunities to make software systems aware of the context in which they are used. Such context-aware systems can respond more adequately to user expectations. However, modelling the context influence inside of software systems burdens developers for several reasons. First, context-dependent behaviour might crosscut the application logic of a software system. Next, since software systems can simultaneously reside in multiple contexts, context-dependent behaviour should be composable. Furthermore, since context information is volatile, these compositions are subject to change at runtime. This paper explores how layered design approaches can be used to deal with these specific characteristics.
Identification of novel variants in HNF1-alpha gene in maturity onset diabetes in young adults (MODY) subjects of Eastern India

Background : The disorder, Maturity Onset of Diabetes of the young (MODY) is a monogenic form of Non-Insulin dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM), characterized by autosomal dominant mode of inheritance and onset is usually before 25 years of age. Clinical studies of the subjects with the different forms of MODY indicate that each is associated with a different defect in the normal pattern of glucose stimulated insulin secretion. MODY can result from mutations in any one of the six different genes as of now, one of which encodes the glycolytic enzyme Glucokinase, associated with MODY2 and the other five encode transcription factors HNF4alpha associated with MODY1,HNF1alpha associated with MODY3, IPF with MODY4, HNF1Beta with MODY5 and NeuroD1 with MODY6.Studies related to mutations in the MODY genes have led to a better understanding of the genetic causes of the Beta cell dysfunction as genetic factors play a great role in this disorder. Objective: To investigate the mutation pattern/patterns in the different transcription factor genes with special reference to HNF1alpha gene which are highly penetrant with 63% mutation carriers manifesting clinical diabetes by the age of 25 years. Hence study of mutation pattern in this gene is essential in our population i.e. Eastern Indian population. Our study is focused on HNF1alpha related to MODY3, which is the most common one. Methods: In our study, the enzyme amplification (PCR) of the10 target exons of the said gene with simultaneous mutation detection in them by PCR-SSCP (Polymerase chain reaction followed by single strand conformational polymorphism) reaction analysis method was attempted by screening of exon1-10 with respect to normal healthy controls without Diabetes Mellitus. The nature of the specific mutations was also determined by sequencing. Result: It was observed in our study that there were sequence variants existing in exon7 and exon 8 of HNF1-alpha gene, revealed by PCR-SSCP study in our population which goes in agreement with the sequencing study. The age at diagnosis of the subjects with novel single base substitution polymorphisms in exon 7 seem to be little less than those in subjects with polymorphisms in exon 8 of the HNF1-alpha gene. Conclusions: The age at diagnosis of the subjects with novel single base substitution polymorphisms in exon 7 seem to be little less than that in subjects with polymorphisms in exon 8 of the HNF1-alpha gene, emphasizing that age at diagnosis is influenced by variations in mutational positions.
Spontaneous ascitic fluid infection of patients with liver cirrhosis : culture-negative neutrocytic ascites vs . spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in Huai ’ an , China

Aim: Spontaneous ascite infections (SAI) include culture-negative neutrocytic ascites (CNNA) and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). The present study compared the clinical characteristics, laboratory results and prognosis of CNNA and SBP in cirrhotic patients. Methods: 156 consecutive patients in Huai’an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College due to the first episode of SAI between January 2010 and December 2015 through statistical analyses were analyzed. Results: 108 patients (69.2%) had CNNA, and 48 patients (30.8%) had SBP; and 19 patients (12.2%) died during hospitalization. Patients with SBP had higher in-hospital mortality than that in CNNA (P<0.05). Child-Pugh score (odds ratio [OR]: 0.328, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.136-0.791) was the only independent predictor of in-hospital mortality. In-hospital mortality was not significantly different between cirrhotic patients with different reasons (P>0.05). Gram-positive bacterium infections have an upward tendency in spontaneous ascite infections. Conclusions: Patients with SBP had higher in-hospital mortality than CNNA, but CNNA can turn to be SBP. In-hospital mortality was only related to a patient’s liver function without the causes of cirrhosis or other reasons. Therapy to spontaneous ascite infections needs to be considered for Gram-positive bacteria infection.
Cytochrome Oxidase-I Gene Sequencing Approaches to Identification of Culex pipiens Complex Collected in Baljurashi Province, Saudi Arabia

Some species of mosquitoes such as Culex pipiens complex are survive at different habitat conditions. They are considered of medically important vectors for some diseases, which causes a huge financial and medical problems to humans. From this point of view, species identification is the first step in the control of Culex pipiens complex. Previously identification of Culex pipiens complex is mainly done on the basis of a wide variety of morphological and biological characteristics. This can be difficult because diagnostic morphological features are often varied so little between species. So that in the present work, Culex species identification is performed by using DNA sequencing assay based on the mtDNA cytochrome oxidase-I (COX-I) gene. 56 mosquitoes specimens were collected from different infected areas in Baljurashi province, Al Baha, Saudi Arabia and grown for several generations in lab. COX-I gene amplification was carried out using the universal primers LCO1490 and HCO2198. Only 35 mosquito specimens had good amplified COXI target gene sequenced. These DNA sequences were compared with available sequences using basic alignment search tool in NCBI-Nucleotide database. Most of the examined specimens have high matching result in gene-bank with LC102132. However specimens T6, 8, 9, 15, 21, 45 & 51 have high similarity with JQ958371 Culex pipiens strain cf-3 and also specimen T35 has high similarity with KJ500032 Culex pipiens isolate 2AF. In conclusion, Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial COX-I gene can be used as molecular tool for identification of Culex species.
Optimization Approaches in Wireless Sensor Networks

Advancements in silicon technology, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), wireless communications, and digital electronics have led to the proliferation of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in a wide variety of application domains including military, health, ecology, environment, industrial automation, civil engineering, and medical. This wide application diversity combined with complex sensor node architectures, functionality requirements, and highly constrained and harsh operating environments makes WSN design very challenging. One critical WSN design challenge involves meeting application requirements such as lifetime, reliability, throughput, delay (responsiveness), etc. for myriad of application domains. Furthermore, WSN applications tend to have competing requirements, which exacerbates design challenges. For example, a high priority security/defense system may have both high responsiveness and long lifetime requirements. The mechanisms needed for high responsiveness typically drain battery life quickly, thus making long lifetime difficult to achieve given limited energy reserves. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) sensor nodes have difficulty meeting application requirements due to the generic design traits necessary for wide application applicability. COTS sensor nodes are mass-produced to optimize cost and are not specialized for any particular application. Fortunately, COTS sensor nodes contain tunable parameters (e.g., processor voltage and frequency, sensing frequency, etc.) whose values can be specialized to meet application requirements. However, optimizing these tunable parameters is left to the application designer. Optimization techniques at different design levels (e.g., sensor node hardware and software, data link layer, routing, operating system (OS), etc.) assist designers in meeting application requirements. WSN optimization techniques can be generally categorized as static or dynamic. Static optimizations optimize a WSN at deployment time and remain fixed for the WSN’s lifetime. Whereas static optimizations are suitable for stable/predictable applications, static optimizations are inflexible and do not adapt to changing application requirements and environmental stimuli. Dynamic optimizations provide more flexibility by continuously optimizing a WSN/sensor node during runtime, providing better adaptation to changing application requirements and actual environmental stimuli. This chapter introduces WSNs from an optimization perspective and explores optimization strategies employed in WSNs at different design levels to meet application requirements 13