Change detection for activity recognition.

Activity Recognition is concerned with identifying the physical state of a user at a particular point in time. Activity recognition task requires the training of classification algorithm using the processed sensor data from the representative population of users. The accuracy of the generated model often reduces during classification of new instances due to the non-stationary sensor data and variations in user characteristics. Thus, there is a need to adapt the classification model to new user haracteristics. However, the existing approaches to model adaptation in activity recognition are blind. They continuously adapt a classification model at a regular interval without specific and precise detection of the indicator of the degrading performance of the model. This approach can lead to wastage of system resources dedicated to continuous adaptation. This thesis addresses the problem of detecting changes in the accuracy of activity recognition model. The thesis developed a classifier for activity recognition. The classifier uses three statistical summaries data that can be generated from any dataset for similarity based classification of new samples. The weighted ensemble combination of the classification decision from each statistical summary data results in a better performance than three existing benchmarked classification algorithms. The thesis also presents change detection approaches that can detect the changes in the accuracy of the underlying recognition model without having access to the ground truth label of each activity being recognised. The first approach called `UDetect' computes the change statistics from the window of classified data and employed statistical process control method to detect variations between the classified data and the reference data of a class. Evaluation of the approach indicates a consistent detection that correlates with the error rate of the model. The second approach is a distance based change detection technique that relies on the developed statistical summaries data for comparing new classified samples and detects any drift in the original class of the activity. The implemented approach uses distance function and a threshold parameter to detect the accuracy change in the classifier that is classifying new instances. Evaluation of the approach yields above 90% detection accuracy. Finally, a layered framework for activity recognition is proposed to make model adaptation in activity recognition informed using the developed techniques in this thesis

Individual and contextual correlates of mosquito net use among women in Nigeria

Background: Malaria has been described as an urgent public health priority with almost half of the world’s population being at risk. Use of insecticide-treated nets is considered one of the effective ways of preventing malaria. Nigeria, which is ranked among the five countries that are responsible for almost half of the global malaria cases, has less than half of its women population using mosquito nets. This study examined the effects of individual and contextual factors on the use of mosquito nets among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. Methods: This study used data obtained from 2015 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey (NMIS) which involved 6048 women aged 15–49 who possessed at least one mosquito net. Multilevel binary logistic regression models were applied in the multivariable analysis. Results: About 53% of the women used mosquito nets with more than 60% of uneducated and poor women in this category. The use of mosquito nets was significantly associated with being from poor households, having knowledge about the cause of malaria, having access to malaria messages, possessing knowledge about the efficacy of malaria prevention drugs during pregnancy, having knowledge about the importance of tests to detect malaria, maintaining small household size and living in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged communities and states. Conclusions: The study revealed that mosquito net use among women in Nigeria is affected by individual and contextual factors. It is important for policy makers to design a mosquito-net-use model which would take individual and contextual factors into consideration

A DESIGN OF AN OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASE FOR EFFECTIVE DATA MINING

This paper focuses on the design of an object-oriented database (OODB), through incorporation of object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts into existing relational databases. The proposed approach makes use of the OOP concepts namely, inheritance, encapsulation and polymorphism to design an OODB and perform classification in it respectively. Usually, database is a collection of tables with common fields. In this study, those common fields are grouped together to form a single generalized table. The newly created table resembles the base class in the inheritance hierarchy. Polymorphism allows different classes to have methods of the same name and structure, performing different operations based on the calling object. The polymorphism is specifically employed to achieve classification in a simple and effective manner while Encapsulation ensures the hiding of the data and behavior of an object behind a limited and well-described interface. In Java terms, the limited and well-described interface is the set of public methods and attributes. The use of these object oriented concepts for the design of OODB ensures that even complex queries can be answered more efficiently. Particularly, data mining task and classification can be achieved in an effective manner.Â

An SVM-Based Classification and Stability Analysis of Synthetic Emulsions Co-Stabilized by a Nonionic Surfactant and Laponite Clay

Emulsions are metastable systems typically formed in the presence of surfactant molecules, amphiphilic polymers, or solid particles, as a mixture of two mutually immiscible liquids, one of which is dispersed as very small droplets in the other. These dispersions are unwanted occurrences in some areas, like those formed during crude oil production, but are also put into many other useful applications in the oil and gas industry, food industry, and construction industry, among others. These emulsions form when two immiscible liquids come together in the presence of an emulsifying agent and sufficient agitation strong enough to disperse one of the liquids in the other. Thermodynamically, these emulsions are unstable and thus would separate into their individual phases when left alone. To be stabilized, surface-active agents (surfactants) or solids (that act in so many ways like surfactants) ought to be used. Like many commercially available products, several pharmaceutical products are usually supplied in the form of emulsions that must be stabilized before they are being administered. Pharmaceutical emulsions used for oral administration either as medications themselves or as carriers come in form of stable emulsions. Either water-in-oil (w/o) or oil-in-water (o/w), these emulsions after formulation must be classified, majorly as stable or unstable. Only formulations that give stable emulsions are used, and the unstable ones reformulated or discarded. Classifying such emulsions using results obtained by visual observation in most cases can be very tedious and inaccurate. This necessitates the use of a more scientific and intelligent method of classification. The objective of this study is to employ support vector machine (SVM) as a new technique to classify synthetic emulsions. The study will assess the effects of nonionic surfactant (sodium monooleate) and Laponite clay (LC) on the stability of synthetic emulsions prepared using a response surface methodology (RSM) based on a Box-Behnken design. The stability of the emulsions was measured using batch test and TurbiScan, and the SVM was used to classify the emulsions into stable, moderately stable and unstable emulsions. The study showed that an increase in surfactant concentration in the presence of moderate to high concentrations of LC can provide a stable emulsion. Also, a clear classification of the emulsion samples was provided by the SVM, with high accuracy and reduced misclassifications due to human error. A higher accuracy in classification would reduce the risk of using the wrong formulation for any pharmaceutical product

Succession Management: A Proficient Resource in Organisational Sustainability?

The competitive business environment has made it imperative for organisations who desire to remain relevant put forward survival strategies. This study explores the effect of succession management on three dimensions of organizational sustainability among insurance industry employees in Nigeria. Data was collected from a sample of employees from selected companies. The study utilised structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the hypothesized model of succession management and organisational sustainability as separate but related processes. Looking at the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental integrity, economic prosperity and social sustainability) and how they impact succession management, the findings indicate that succession management has a significant relationship with organisational sustainability across all three dimensions. The study concludes that insurance companies comprehend the inherent potential of a robust and active succession management programme in the drive for organisational sustainability. The study further discusses the theoretical implications of the relationship

Entrepreneurship: A Viable Panacea to Socio-Political Unrest in Nigeria.

 Socio-political unrest, being an endemic problem, has become a real threat to the stability of the country, Nigeria. Some of these problems can be seen in rise in the level of kidnapping for ransom, incidences of armed robbery, domestic, political, ethnic and religious violence. The introduction of entrepreneurship in the Western nations has led to increase in the level of employment, reduction in poverty and unemployment. The socio-political problems in Nigeria, which have been majorly caused by rise in the level of poverty and unemployment, need to be arrested in order to bring about the needed peace, stability and development in the country. The aim of this paper is to examine the positive roles entrepreneurship plays in reducing to the barest minimum the endemic problem of socio-political unrest in Nigeria. This paper therefore, made use of secondary source of data collection. The paper recommended that the government of Nigeria, as a matter of urgent national requirement, must provide the enabling environment for entrepreneurs to develop, with the needed social amenities such as power (electricity) and incentives such as tax relief

Bus Rapid Transit and Socioeconomic Condition of Bus Commuters in Lagos State

Road transport is one of the most common means of transportation across the world. Bus transportation in Nigeria had witnessed many problems for the past decades considering the growing population with the attendant loss of lives and properties in most cities like Lagos in Nigeria. This paper focuses on the adequacy of services provided by Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Lagos State with respect to the extent to which it influences the socioeconomic conditions of bus commuters.  It examines the effect of services rendered by BRT on cost reduction potential, income and safety. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 20 samples each from all respondents in all local government area in Lagos State to reach a total of three hundred and thirty (330) samples. The data collection instrument was the questionnaire which was validated. Data collected were analysed with the use of descriptive statistics such as means, percentages and standard deviation and inferential statistics such as regression and analysis of variance techniques. Findings showed that BRT services has reduced the cost of bus commuters and also increased safety and security thereby increasing the socioeconomic condition of Lagosians. The study recommends improvements in BRT services through the deployment of technology as it had been used in developed countries. &nbsp

THE IMPACT OF MARKETING CAPABILITY AND DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGY ON PERFORMANCE.

This paper examines the impact of marketing capability and diversification strategy on the performance of organization. A survey design with a well structured questionnaire was adopted in collecting data from the respondents and thereafter, the data was analyzed using descriptive analyses on statistical package for social science (SPSS). The results above indicate that there exists a significant relationship between marketing capability and organizational performance, while also proving the fact that diversification have a significantly strong impact on the performance of an organization. Keywords: Marketing capability, diversification strategy, Resources based view, performanc

Analysis of Impact of Sectoral Government Expenditures on Economic Growth in Nigeria: Bound Test Co-integration Approach

This study empirically investigated the impact of government expenditures on adjudged critical sectors on economic growth in Nigeria (1984-2013). With the purpose of determining to what extent the government expenditures on these sectors are contributing to the achievement of growth objective. The study employs quantitative analysis by the use of Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag model (Bound Test Co-integration Approach) to determine both short-run and long run impact of Government expenditures on economic growth with the aid of Econometric package E-View 7. The necessary residual tests were conducted and the analysis was found to be reliable. The  specific ARDL estimates of the analysis reveals that government expenditure on defence retards the economic growth  and government expenditure on agriculture promote the economic growth while government expenditure on education and transport/communication have no impact on economic growth in the long-run. In the short run, none of the government expenditure on these sectors contributes to the growth objective. The study concludes that the reason for the failure of public expenditures to achieve the fiscal objectives is not unconnected to the fact that the level of fiscal indiscipline in these sectors is outrageous to the extent that it serves as drag to the economic growth. Consequently, the study decries policy prescription that the Government expenditures on these sectors should be increased except in the education sector to meet the UNDP recommendation.  And, further recommends that fiscal indiscipline in whatever manner among the political office holders and government officials must be mitigated to the barest minimum by ensuring that the fund budgeted are actually spent on the right course. The government should avoid the proliferation of anti-graft agencies but strengthen the available ones (EFCC and ICPC) by necessary legislations to carry out their functions diligently without unnecessary political interference. Keywords: Sectoral Government Expenditures, Economic growth, Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model.

Predictors of differences in health services utilization for children in Nigerian communities

Health service utilization is an important component of child health promotion. Evidence shows that two-thirds of child deaths in low and middle income countries could be prevented if current interventions were adequately utilized. Aim of this study was to identify determinants of variation in health services utilization for children in communities in Nigeria. Multivariable negative binomial regression model attempting to explain observed variability in health services usage in Nigerian communities was applied to the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data. We included the index of maternal deprivation, gender of child, community environmental factor index, and maternal health seeking behavior, multiple childhood deprivation index and ethnicity diversity index as the independent variables. The outcome variable was under-fives’ hospital attendance rates for acute illness. Of the 7, 577 children from 896 communities in Nigeria that were sick 1, 936 (25.6%) were taken to the health care facilities for treatment. The final model revealed that both multiple childhood deprivation (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.23, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12 to 1.35) and children living in communities with a high ethnic diversity were associated with higher rate of health service use. Maternal health seeking behaviour was associated with a significantly lower rate of health care service use. There are significant variations in health services utilization for sick children across Nigeria communities which appear to be more strongly determined by childhood deprivation factors and maternal health seeking behaviour than by health system functions