Recommender Systems in Light of Big Data

The growth in the usage of the web, especially e-commerce website, has led to the development of recommender system (RS) which aims in personalizing the web content for each user and reducing the cognitive load of information on the user. However, as the world enters Big Data era and lives through the contemporary data explosion, the main goal of a RS becomes to provide millions of high quality recommendations in few seconds for the increasing number of users and items. One of the successful techniques of RSs is collaborative filtering (CF) which makes recommendations for users based on what other like-mind users had preferred. Despite its success, CF is facing some challenges posed by Big Data, such as: scalability, sparsity and cold start. As a consequence, new approaches of CF that overcome the existing problems have been studied such as Singular value decomposition (SVD). This paper surveys the literature of RSs and reviews the current state of RSs with the main concerns surrounding them due to Big Data. Furthermore, it investigates thoroughly SVD, one of the promising approaches expected to perform well in tackling Big Data challenges, and provides an implementation to it using some of the successful Big Data tools (i.e. Apache Hadoop and Spark). This implementation is intended to validate the applicability of, existing contributions to the field of, SVD-based RSs as well as validated the effectiveness of Hadoop and spark in developing large-scale systems. The implementation has been evaluated empirically by measuring mean absolute error which gave comparable results with other experiments conducted, previously by other researchers, on a relatively smaller data set and non-distributed environment. This proved the scalability of SVD-based RS and its applicability to Big Data

A Pragmatic Study of Exaggeration in British and American Novels

The main concern of this study is to tackle exaggeration in British and American situations taken from Mrs. Dalloway and The Great Gatsby novels. From a pragmatic point of view, exaggeration in the field of literature has not been given enough attention. Accordingly, this study is an attempt to develop a model for the analysis of exaggeration pragmatically. Thus, it concerns itself with achieving the following aims:(1)investigating the kinds of speech acts through which the exaggeration language occurs in Mrs. Dalloway and The Great Gatsby novels.(2)identifying  the devices of exaggeration used in Mrs. Dalloway and The Great Gatsby novels.(3)showing how exaggerators pragmatically proceed the Politeness Principle and the Cooperative Principle in these two novels.(4)figuring out the pragmatic functions of exaggeration used in these two novels. In relation to the abovementioned aims, the following hypotheses are tested:(1) various kinds of speech acts through which the exaggeration language occurs can be used in Mrs. Dalloway and The Great Gatsby novels.(2)a variety of devices of exaggeration are used in these two novels.(3)the Politeness Principle and the Cooperative Principle are violated in The Great Gatsby more than in Mrs. Dalloway.(4)there are different pragmatic functions for exaggeration in these novels.To achieve the aforementioned aims, the following procedures are followed:(1)surveying the relevant literature on exaggeration in general and its pragmatic perspective in particular.(2)analyzing the exaggeration language pragmatically in Mrs. Dalloway and The Great Gatsby according to a model developed by this study.The results of the analysis prove the first, second, and fourth hypotheses, whereas they partially reject the third hypothesis and partially verify it. Keywords: Exaggeration, Pragmatics, Speech acts

Determinants of the Increase in Fasting Plasma Ketone Concentration during SGLT2 Inhibition in NGT, IFG and T2DM Patients

To examine metabolic factors that influence ketone production after sodium-glucose cotransport inhibitor (SGLT2) administration RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Fasting plasma glucose, insulin, glucagon, free fatty acid and ketone concentrations were measured in 15 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 16 non-diabetic subjects before and at 1 and 14 days after treatment with empagliflozin

THE MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGE IN SUNFLOWER PLANT UNDER HARDENING CONDITIONS TO DROUGHT TOLERANCE . I. PLANT HEIGHT AND STEM DIAMETER

The objective of the work was to study the changes in height and stem diameter of sunflower plants during growth stages under hardening conditions to drought tolerance. Field experiments were carried out during the spring season of 2000 and2001. Agricultural practices were made according to recommendations.Asplit-split plots design was used with three replications.The main plots included irrigation treatments:irrigation to100%(full irrigation),75and50%of available water.The sub plots were the cultivars Euroflor and Flame.The sub-sub plots represented four seed soaking treatments:Control(unsoaking), soaking in water ,Paclobutrazol solution(250ppm),and Pix solution(500ppm). The soaking continued for 24 hours then seeds were dried at room temperature until they regained their original weight. Amount of water for each irrigation were calculated to satisfy water depletion in soil using a neutron moisture meter. Results showed that stress 600 and 800Kp caused asignificant decreasing in plan height and stem diameter at most growth stages in both seasons and as a mean of seasons.The decrease in plant height at physiological maturation as a mean of seasons were 12.62 and 14.29%, and stem diameter 11.94 and 9.41%, respectively compared with full irrigation.Euroflor was superior over Flame in plant height at most growth stages during spring season of 2000, while Flame was superior in plant height at most growth stages during spring season of 2001 ,and in stem diameter after 30 days from planting.Soaking the seeds presowing in paclobutrazol and pix solutions decreased plant height at most growth stages in both seasons and as a mean of seasons. The decrease at physiological maturation as amean of seasons were 4.49 and 2.78%compared with unsoaked , and 5.27 and 3.57% compared with soaking in water, respectively.On the other hand,soaking in paclobutrazol and pix solutions increased stem diameter at physiological maturation by 9.78 and 12.18% compared with unsoaked as a mean of seasons. In conclusion, that it could reduce plant height and increase stem diameter to support the plants to drought tolerance by soaking the seeds presowing in water or plant growth regulato

The Morphological Change in Sunflower Plant under Hardening Conditions to Drought Tolerance. II. Leaf Number and Leaf Area

The study was conducted during the spring season of 2000 and2001. The objective was to study the changes in leaves number of sunflower plants and its leaf area during growth stages under hardening conditions to drought tolerance. Agricultural practices were made according to recommendations.Asplit-split plots design was used with three replications.The main plots included irrigation treatments:irrigation to100%(full irrigation),75and50%of available water.The sub plots were the cultivars Euroflor and Flame.The sub-sub plots represented four seed soaking treatments:Control(unsoaking), soaking in water ,Paclobutrazol solution(250ppm),and Pix solution(500ppm). The soaking continued for 24 hours then seeds were dried at room temperature until they regained their original weight. Amount of water for each irrigation were calculated to satisfy water depletion in soil using a neutron moisture meter. Results indicated that stress 800Kp reduced leaves number after 72 days from Planting by 5.29% compared with full irrigation as a mean of seasons.Increased stress to 600 and 800 Kp caused decreasing in leaf area at physiological maturation by 36.10 and 44.32% than full irrigation as a mean of seasons. Flame was superior over Euroflor after 58 days from planting in leaves number by 12.30 % in the season of 2001, while Euroflor was superior by 4.87% after58 days from planting in the season of 2000 ,and in leaf area by 58.25% after 44 days from planting in the season of 2001, and by 34.72% as a mean of seasons.Soaking the seeds presowing in paclobutrazol and pix solutions enhanced leaf formation , the percentage of increase reached to 5.57 and 7.49% after 86 days from planting as a mean of seasons, and leaf area by 35.9 and 36.95% respectively, compared with unsoaked as a mean of seasons. This study suggest that it could improve plant growth and kept sutable leaf area during seeds filling and drought tolerance by soaking the seeds presowing in water or plant growth regulators

EFFECT OF HARDENING TO DROUGHT TOLERANCE ON THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF SUNFLOWER PLANT. I. MOISTURE PERCENTAGEIN ROOT AND STEM

Two field experiments were conducted during the spring seasons of 2000,2001.The aim was to study the effect of hardening to drought tolerance on moisture percentage in root and stem of sunflower plant during growth stages . Asplit-split plots design was used with three replications.The main plots included irrigation treatments:irrigation to100%(full irrigation),75and50%of available soil water.The sub plots were the cultivars Euroflor and Flame.The sub-sub plots represented four seed soaking treatments :Control(unsoaked),soaking in water ,Paclobutrazol solution(250ppm),and Pix solution(500ppm). The soaking continued for 24 hours then seeds were dried at room temperature until they regained their original weight. Amount of water for each irrigation were calculated to satisfy water depletion in soil using a neutron meter. . Results indicated that stress at 800 Kp reduced moisture percentage in the root by 15.96% compared with full irrigation after86 days from planting,and in the stem by 9.64 and 11.99%compared with full irrigation and stress 600 Kp, respectively after 72 days from planting in the season 2001.Also stress 600 Kp reduced moisture percentage in the root after 58 days from planting by 5.81 and 5.97% compared with full irrigation and stress 800 Kp as a mean of seasons. Euroflor was superior over Flame after30 days from planting in the moisture percentage of its roots by 6.78 in the season of 2000 and by 3.10% as a mean of seasons..While Flame was superior in the moisture percentage of its stems by 4.62 and 2.51% after 58 days from planting in the season of 2000 and as a mean of seasons, respectively.Unsoaked treatment gave highest moisture percentage in the root, the percentage of increase reached to 5.05 and 9.63% than soaking in water and paclobutrazol after 30 days from planting and by 11.43 and 10.65% than soaked in water and pix solution after 86 days from planting as a mean of seasons. soaking in paclobutrazol solution decreased moisture percentage in the stem after 30 days from planting by 4.43 and 8.31% in the season 2000 and by 2.82 and 3.23% as a mean of seasons compared with soaking in water and pix solution , respectively. On the other hand paclobutrazol increased the percentage of moisture in the stems during the next stages of growth. The study suggest that it could improve water relations specially during the stages which increased water requirement (flowering and seeds filling), and increased drought tolerance by soaking the seeds presowing in water or plant growth regulator

Effect of Hardening to drought Tolerance on the Moisture Content of Sunflower Plant. III. Moisture Percentage in Whole Plant

The study was conducted during spring seasons of 2000 and 2001.The aim was to study the changes in the moisture content of sunflower plants during growth stages under hardening conditions to drought tolerance .Agricultural practices were made according to recommendation. Asplit-split plots design was used with three replications. The main plots included irrigation treatments:irrigation to100%(full irrigation),75and50%of available water. The sub plots were the cultivars Euroflor and Flame.The sub-sub plots represented four seed soaking treatments: Control (unsoaked), soaking in water ,Paclobutrazol solution(250ppm),and Pix solution(500ppm). The soaking continued for 24 hours then seeds were dried at room temperature until they regained their original weight. Amount of water for each irrigation were calculated to satisfy water depletion in soil using a neutron meter. Results indicated that plant moisture content was not affected by irrigation treatments in both seasons and as a mean of seasons ,except after 72 days from planting in the season 2000.when stress 800 Kp caused a decreased in moisture content by 4.55and 5.18% compared with full irrigation and stress 600 Kp, respectively. Euroflor was superior over Flame after 30 days from planting by 13.64% in the season of 2000 and by 6.23% as a mean of seasons , and by 2.80% after 86 days from planting in the season of 2001.While Flame was superior by 2.75% after 58 days from planting in the season of 2001. Soaking in water , paclobutrazol and pix solutions increased plant moisture content by 4.56,3.92 and 3.82% after 86 days from planting in the season 2000 , soaking in water and paclobutrazol solution increased plant moisture content by 2.61 and 2.62% as amean of seasons compared with unsoaked treatment. In conclusion, soaking the seeds presowing in water or plant growth regulators could improve water relations of plants , and increase moisture content in plants tissues especially during flowering and seed filling , when the water requirements increased and associated with high temperature in spring season in Iraq

Effect of spraying fertilizer paper and aqueous extract of licorice in the content of the fruits of two varieties of sweet peppers total Azaúbh solids and vitamin

Studied the effect of foliar fertilizers Alaongrin results showed that spraying fertilizer Alaongrin and Fertilizers and Ministry of Agriculture and rack licorice extract every three weeks after thirty days from planting seedling