Detecting market manipulation in stock market data

Anomaly Detection is an extensively researched problem that has diverse applications in many domains. Anomaly detection is the process of finding data points or patterns that do not conform to expected behavior within a dataset. Solutions to this problem have used techniques from disciplines such as statistics, machine learning, data mining, spectral theory and information theory. In the case of stock market data, the input is a non-linear complex time series that render statistical methods ineffective. The aim of this thesis, is to detect anomalies within the Standard and Poor and Qatar Stock Exchange using the behavior of similar time series. Many works on stock market manipulation focus on supervised learning techniques, which require labeled datasets. The labeling process requires substantial efforts. Anomalous behavior is also dynamic in nature. For those reasons, the development of an unsupervised market manipulation detection technique would be very interesting. The Contextual Anomaly Detector (CAD) is an unsupervised method that finds anomalies by looking at similarly behaving time series and uses them to predict expected values. When the predicted value is different from the actual value in the time series by a certain threshold, it is considered an anomaly. This thesis will look at the Contextual Anomaly Detector (CAD) and implement a different preprocessing step to improve recall and precision

Towards An Effective Urban Growth Management Strategy In Qatar (1)

Control and management of urban growth is currently a subject of intense debate in both professional and academic planning circles, as suburban sprawl, pollution, and the decline of the urban environment particularly in city centres have become more sensitive public issues. The desire to control growth versus an increasing public need for housing and other related facilities has created a serious dilemma for planning agencies in their efforts to facilitate for better living environment. Growth management can be defined as the mitigation of the impacts of growth in order to improve or maintain the quality of life in a community. By clearly articulating the values of the community and identifying those items that contribute to the quality of life through the creation of a growth management strategy and implementation plan, it is possible to establish an effective approach to manage future growth. Increasing demands for urban growth with decreasing satisfaction in the resulting quality of life is the dilemma of most countries including the State of Qatar. The inefficient use of economic and physical resources results in development that generates new problems, such as sprawl, traffic congestion and rising demands for increased government spending on new infrastructure and services. The lack of comprehensive planning and development control may also results in infrastructure installation costs that are much higher than what they would be with a growth management strategy in place. The land allocation policies that are uncoordinated with physical development plans in Qatar exacerbate the problem by directing development to areas without appropriate infrastructure and services. This paper aim at reviews the current problems associated with the lack of an urban growth management strategy in the State of Qatar and outlines the process of creating a comprehensive system to effectively handle urban growth. The paper will also attempt to formulate an outline for an effective strategy to mitigate the impacts of growth in order to maintain and improve the quality of life in the State of Qatar

"Toxic pleasures”: A study of eating out behavior in Arab female university students and its associations with psychological distress and disordered eating

University years are a critical period in which young people establish independence and adopt lasting health behaviors. The aim of this study was to estimate the associations between eating out, psychological distress, and disordered eating behaviors among young Arab females in Qatar a rapidly developing small nation. A cross-sectional probability-based survey of 1615 Qatar University's female students assessed the frequency of eating out (main independent variable) and other eating behaviors in relation to two main dependent variables, disordered eating and psychological distress, which were measured using the Eating Attitudes Test and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, respectively. Multivariable logistic-regression analyses were used to estimate these two main associations with and without adjustment for other potential confounding variables, including the main effects of psychological distress and disordered eating on each other. Of the students, 45% reported eating out 3 times or more a week. Furthermore, approximately 18% screened positive for disordered eating and 33% reported high levels of psychological distress in the past 30 days. After adjustment for other variables, eating out 5 times or more a week was not significantly associated with the odds of disordered eating (OR 1.21, p=0.32). However, eating out 5 times or more per week was significantly associated with odds of having psychological distress (OR 1.46, p=0.03). Both psychological distress and disordered eating were strongly associated with each other (OR 2.58, p < 0.001)

EXPLORING THE STAGES OF INFORMATION SEEKING IN A CROSS-MODAL CONTEXT

Previous studies of users with visual impairments access to the web have focused on human-web interaction. This study explores the under investigated area of cross-modal collaborative information seeking (CCIS), that is, the challenges and opportunities that exist in supporting visually impaired (VI) users to take an effective part in collaborative web search tasks with sighted peers. We conducted an observational study to investigate the process with fourteen pairs of VI and sighted users in co-located and distributed settings. The study examined the effects of cross-modal collaborative interaction on the stages of the individual Information Seeking (IS) process. The findings showed that the different stages of the process were performed individually most of the time; however it was observed that some collaboration took place in the results exploration and management stages. The accessibility challenges faced by VI users affected their individual and collaborative interaction and also enforced certain points of collaboration. The paper concludes with some recommendations towards improving the accessibility of cross-modal collaborative search.Peer Reviewe

Impact of Innovative Learning Environment Based on Research Activities on Secondary School Student's Attitude Towards Research and Their Self-Efficacy.

Advanced and free learning environment coupled with the creative learning activities is assumed to be a motivational variable. In the present study, we applied an innovative learning strategy involving students in order to achieve positive impact on their attitude towards science, desire to learn science and future career choices. The study experiment was focused on enhancing the research skills of the students; apply knowledge for solving real world problems, positively changing the students’ attitude towards science, raising students’ self-efficacy and enhance positivism toward science related subjects. This research assumes that if the attitude and perception of post-secondary students is changed and made positive about science, then they might choose to study related science subjects forexample, mathematics, engineering and science at university level studies. Therefore, it will also impact students’ career choices after university studies and they might enter scientific careers. Our study focused on evaluating various changes in the attitude, desire and self-efficacy of participating students when traditional instruction is replaced through the innovative learning environment. A total of 120 students participated in our experiment where researchers assisted students to experience hands on different research activities. Pre and posttest were used to evaluate the change in students’ attitude and desire towards science, knowledge and self-efficacy. The study results have shown that significant changes in the performance of students’ for-example, student noticed positive attitude towards their own research abilities, desire to learn science, self-efficacy, learning and career choices. However, results did not show any differences based on gender as such.Qatar Universit

Strain variation of respiratory syncytial virus in Qatar and its relationship to B-cell epitopes from the attachment (G) protein of RSV (B) strain

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the major cause of acute lower tract infection in early childhood. Annual epidemics occur which are well documented in developed countries during winter months, placing considerable pressure on the provision of health care. Little is known about the epidemiology of RSV infection in the Middle East and other desert climate regions of the world. The aim of this project was to study the specificity of the immune response to RSV B in children, and to relate this to the infecting RSV strain, with particular emphasis on antibody response to RSV attachment (G) protein. RSV is an important cause of hospital admission in children (54%) during winter months in Qatar. 63% of these infections are due to RSV A. A case study involving analysis of RSV strains from hospitalized children was carried out in Qatar over 2 winter seasons (1999-2000 and 2000-2(01). RSV incidence was found to correlate with high relative humidity and low temperature. A comparison of enzyme immuno assay (EIA) and polymerase chain reaction (peR) for the detection of RSV in clinical samples demonstrated that peR was more sensitive than EIA. All positive RSV samples obtained during the study period were classified as belonging to RSV A and B subtypes using Multiplex peR. In this project, primer sets were designed and optimized to amplify the whole of the G gene of RSV A and B strains. Derived sequence analysis allowed deduction of the molecular epidemiology of RSV G gene for RSV A and B strains in Qatar and elsewhere. Sequence data of the G gene from Qatar RSV A&B isolates confirmed the variability of this protein and showed that variability occurs among group B RSV viruses isolated in Qatar (0.8%), although to a lesser extent than among the group A viruses (5%) from same location. However, the group B viruses isolated in Qatar were highly variable in G gene sequences compared to the prototype strain RSVB N2 (13%) and to strain world-wide (10%) at the nucleotide level. In order to produce an epitope map of the RSVB G protein, synthetic peptides representing linear B-cell epitopes of a representative Qatar RSV B isolate (B/Q/28/00) were used. The reactivity of human sera with the synthetic peptides was studied using sera from young children from whom RSV had been isolated. The sera from these children had variable peptide binding responses against different regions of the G protein of RSV B and the responses were focused on the conserved region. The results indicated that peptide 14 (a. a 150-165) of the G protein, in the conserved region of the protein, is a major antigenic site. This peptide sequence was recognized by a majority of the tested sera (93% sera). To examine the relationship between neutralization antibody titre and reactivity to the synthetic peptides in children's sera, a modified micro-neutralization method was used. There was no significant correlation between the peptide binding activity in the sera and the neutralization titre of these sera. Sera from children infected with RSV A bound to peptides from the G protein of RSV B strain. However, children infected with RSV B had greater neutralizing antibody titre to RSV B strain than to the two RSV A strains. There was no difference in the neutralization antibody titre in sera to RSV A when assessed with prototype strains isolated many years ago (RSV A2), and with the recently-isolated strain AlQ/IO/OO

Computational screening of known broad-spectrum antiviral small organic molecules for potential influenza HA stem inhibitors.

With the emergence of new influenza virus strains that are resistant to current inhibitors such as oseltamivir (anti-neuraminidase (NA)) and amantadine (anti-M2 proton channel), influenza A viruses continue to be a serious threat to the public health worldwide. With this in view, there is a persistent need for the development of broader and more effective vaccines and therapeutics. Identification of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) that recognize relatively invariant structures ‎on influenza haemagglutinin (HA) stem has invigorated efforts to develop universal influenza vaccines. The current computational study is designed to identify potential flavonoid inhibitors that bind to the contact epitopes of HA stem that are targeted by broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAb). In this study, we utilized the three-dimensional crystallographic structure of different HA subtypes (H1, H2, H5, H3, and H7) in complex with bNAb to screen for potential broadly reactive influenza inhibitors. We performed Quantitative Structure-Activity and Relationship (QSAR) for 100 natural compounds known for their antiviral activity and performed molecular docking using AutoDock 4.2 suite. Furthermore, we conducted virtual screening of 1413 bioassay hit compounds by using virtual lab bench CLC Drug Discovery. The results showed 18 lead flavonoids with strong binding abilities to bNAb epitopes of various HA subtypes. These 18 broadly reactive compounds exhibited significant interactions with an average of seven Hbonds, docking energy of -22.43 kcal·mol-1, and minimum interaction ‎ energy of -4.65 kcal·mol-1, with functional contact residues. Procyanidin depicted strong interactions with group 1 HAs, whereas both sorbitol and procyanidin exhibited significant interactions with group 2 HAs. Using in silico docking analysis, we identified 18 bioactive flavonoids with potential strong binding cababilities to influenza HA-stems of various subtypes, which are the target for bNAb. The virtual screened bioassay hit compounds depicted a high number of Hbonds but low interaction and docking values compared to antiviral flavonoids. Using structure-based design and nanotechnology-based approaches, identified molecules could be modified to generate next generation anti-influenza drugs

Molecular epidemiology of Rotavirus in children with gastroenteritis in Qatar

Acute gastroenteritis remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality of young children worldwide. The vast majority of diarrhea cases in developing and developed countries are attributable to the viruses and to a lesser extent to bacteria, fungi and toxins. Rotavirus (RV) is recognized as the most important etiological agent leading to acute gastroenteritis globally. In order to determine the burden and characteristics of RV infections in children in Qatar, profiling of circulating genotypes and their correlation with demographics and clinical manifestations were evaluated

Polymerase chain reaction ribotyping of Clostridium difficile isolates in Qatar: a hospital-based study

Background Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is not generally reported to public health authorities in the Middle East and its true prevalence remains largely unknown. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of CDI and its associated ribotypes among C. difficile isolates in Qatar. Influence of age and correlation with other risk factors e.g. proton pump inhibitor use, antibiotic use, existence of chronic conditions, etc was also investigated for CDI positive patients. Methods A total of 1,532 patients with suspected CDI were recruited from two hospitals between 2011 and 2012. C. difficile was identified using glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) lateral flow assay and toxins A and B Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA). The C. difficile positive samples were then cultured for PCR-ribotyping. Results 122 of the 1,532 (7.9%) samples from individual patients were identified as C.difficile positive; and 79 of these were viably cultured (~65%). From these, 36 different PCR ribotypes were isolated, of which strains 258 (6 [7.6%]), 01/014/046 (5 [6.3%]), and 011/053/056/107 (4 [5%]) were the most prevalent. The prevalence of PCR-ribotype 027 was 1.3% (n = 1). An age of ≥65 years and treatment with proton pump inhibitors correlated with higher frequency of CDI. Treatment with third generation cephalosporins (50 [41%]) and piperacillin/tazobactam antibiotics (55 [45.1%]) was most frequently associated with CDI. Conclusion The most common C. difficile ribotype identified in Qatar was 258, which is different from those found in North America, Europe and Asia. The prevalence of CDI was higher in Qatar than Europe; though comparable to other Middle Eastern countries. These findings underscore the importance of local surveillance to detect and control C. difficile infection

Comparative Phylogenetic and Residue Analysis of Hepatitis C Virus E1 Protein from the Middle East and North Africa Region

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major public health problem in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with an estimate of over 15 million chronically infected patients. However, molecular characterization of circulating genotypes in the MENA region remains elusive. Here, we performed a comparative phylogenomic analysis of so-far available E1 gene sequences (937), originating from eight countries in the MENA region. All HCV E1 protein sequences present in NCBI from the MENA region were retrieved and cataloged per year and country of origin. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a maximum diversity of genotypes and subtypes in South Arabia [G-1 (1a, 1b, 1g), G-2 (2a, 2c), G-3 (3a) and G-4 (4a, 4d, 4n, 4o, 4r, 4s)] followed by Egypt [G-1 (1b, 1g) and G-4 (4a, 4l, 4n, 4m, 4u)], Iran [G-1 (1b) and G-3 (3a) G-6 (6a)], Tunisia [G-1 (1b) and G-2 (2a, 2b, 2c)], Algeria [G-1 (1i), 4(4f), Pakistan [G-1 (1a), G-3(3a, 3b)], Afghanistan [G-1 (1a), GT-3 (3a)], and 5(5a), and Yemen [G-4 (4r)]. The calculated evolution rate of retrieved sequences was 1.601 × 10−3 substitutions/site/year and the mean nucleotide diversity rate was 0.2684 (P < 0.001). The ratio of synonymous to non-synonymous (mean dN/dS) substitutions was higher in genotypes 2 and 4 compared to the genotypes 1 and 3. A higher degree of nucleotide identity in E1 gene was found between subtypes 1a and 1b, between 2c and 2g, and between 4a, 4d, and 4o. Comparative residue analysis of E1 protein epitope sequences of previously reported H111, A4, and A6 monoclonal antibodies showed relatively poor and genotype-specific conservancy. Perhaps, none of the reported epitope sequences had immunogenicity score higher than 0.4 (A minimum threshold for vaccine sequence prediction). Furthermore, these epitope sequences were heavily glycosylated at amino acid 196, 209, and 234 sites in all GTs. In conclusion, a high genetic variability in E1 protein coupled with increased glycosylation may deduce heterogeneity and subsequent escape from vaccine-generated immune response, thereby ascertaining necessary interventions for disease management and control.The work was performed at BRC internal resource