Large-Scale Detection of Non-Technical Losses in Imbalanced Data Sets

Non-technical losses (NTL) such as electricity theft cause significant harm to our economies, as in some countries they may range up to 40% of the total electricity distributed. Detecting NTLs requires costly on-site inspections. Accurate prediction of NTLs for customers using machine learning is therefore crucial. To date, related research largely ignore that the two classes of regular and non-regular customers are highly imbalanced, that NTL proportions may change and mostly consider small data sets, often not allowing to deploy the results in production. In this paper, we present a comprehensive approach to assess three NTL detection models for different NTL proportions in large real world data sets of 100Ks of customers: Boolean rules, fuzzy logic and Support Vector Machine. This work has resulted in appreciable results that are about to be deployed in a leading industry solution. We believe that the considerations and observations made in this contribution are necessary for future smart meter research in order to report their effectiveness on imbalanced and large real world data sets.Comment: Proceedings of the Seventh IEEE Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT 2016

Implementation of a Digital Sucker Rod Pumping Unit for Research and Educational Purposes

Sucker rod pumps are one of the most popular solutions for artificial lift since its inception in the 19th century and its design has not changed much since then. In the present, companies are deploying digital technology in the field and, there has been a big push for a networked oilfield in recent years. This means technology is now able to control machines in remote places, calculate its performance and control safety operating parameters. But these digital solutions are still not available in universities, where there is a technological and technical gap for students and researchers in some respects. The main objectives in this thesis is to first, highlight how to build a digital sucker rod pump in the lab, mimic different rod string motions in the well under a single unit, help students understand the digital and mechanical aspects of this sucker rod pump, and to create a research platform with the generated data for analysis. The approach is to build a digital sucker rod pump and have a system like the ones in the field. The software selected for the system is LabVIEW that will control all the necessary equipment. Also, data output from the sensors could be used in the same software to make dynamometer calculations and graph the data without the need to export to other programs. In the last year, a lot of work has been put in selecting the right equipment, solving build issues and somewhat testing different hardware. But now there is a clear path on how to make this machine work properly by choosing solutions like LabVIEW, servomotors, digital control units, and sensors in a single system. This system can build personalized dynocards graphs, intake live data and can export the data to other programs live Excel, MATLAB, R, etc.… As a result, this digital machine will help researchers create dynocards corresponding to different pumping units, create a new platform to test gas lock or friction in deviated wells, use the data the machine produces for educational purposes and have a digital platform that can be automated and controlled like modern sucker rod pumps in the field

Empathy, morality and psychopathic traits in women

Empathic and moral processing correlates of psychopathic personality have seldom been studied in women. In this study, we experimentally tested associations between psychopathic personality traits and empathic and moral processing in a female sample, and further directly compared them to results from a male sample. We found that high levels of affective-interpersonal traits were associated with diminished affective response to sad and fearful emotions in others; lower propensity to feel moral emotions; higher endorsement of utilitarian solutions to moral dilemmas involving direct harm; and less self-reported difficulty when performing moral decision making. Overall, our findings strengthen the view that the two dimensions of psychopathy make distinct contributions to emotional and moral processing; and demonstrate that, in women, psychopathic personality traits are associated with a similar pattern of empathic and moral processing biases as the one that has been previously reported in men

Habilidades sociales y clima del aula en los estudiantes de primaria de colegios de la Alianza Cristiana y Misionera, Lima 2015

En la presente investigación se planteó como problema general ¿Cuál es la relación entre las habilidades sociales y el clima del aula en los estudiantes de sexto grado de primaria de la red de colegios de la Alianza Cristiana y Misionera, Lima 2015? Siendo el principal objetivo de esta investigación determinar la relación entre las habilidades sociales y el clima del aula en los estudiantes del sexto grado de primaria de la red de colegios de la Alianza Cristiana y Misionera, Lima 2015. La investigación está enmarcada en el paradigma positivista con un enfoque cuantitativo. Es de tipo sustantiva y se realizó bajo el diseño no experimental dentro del corte transversal. El estudio es correlacional ya que se busca determinar el grado de relación existente entre las dos variables de estudio. Se utilizó el método hipotético – deductivo. La población estuvo conformada por 233 estudiantes y la muestra fue de 152 estudiantes seleccionados a través de un muestreo no probabilístico intencionado o por conveniencia. Se trabajó a nivel de la red de colegios de la Alianza Cristiana y Misionera de Lima. Los datos fueron recogidos utilizando como técnica la encuesta y se usó como instrumento el cuestionario. Se validaron los instrumentos, por medio del juicio de expertos dando como resultado aplicable. Para la confiabilidad de los instrumentos se aplicó una prueba piloto a 20 estudiantes que no pertenecían a la muestra y se utilizó el coeficiente de Alfa de Crombach, siendo los resultados los siguientes: para el cuestionario de la variable habilidades sociales 0,933 y para el cuestionario de la variable clima del aula 0,787, por lo que ambos instrumentos son considerados confiables. Asimismo, para medir la relación de las variables y dimensiones se utilizó el estadígrafo de prueba, el Rho de Spearman, el cual nos permitió arribar a la siguiente conclusión (Rho = 0,776) y significativa (P = 0,001). Existe una relación positiva alta entre las habilidades sociales y el clima del aula en los estudiantes del sexto grado de primaria de la red de colegios de la Alianza Cristiana y Misionera, Lima 2015, por lo tanto se rechaza la hipótesis nula y se acepta la hipótesis alterna

Network Security through Software Defined Networking: a Survey

International audienceNetwork security is a predominant topic both in academia and industry. Many methods and tools have been proposed but the attackers are still able to launch massive and effective attacks. Keeping the pace with the new threats appearing or becoming more sophisticated everyday is of a paramount of importance. Software Defined Networking (SDN) has recently emerged and promotes the programmability of the networks, which thus allows to enable in-network security functions. This includes firewalls, monitoring applications or middlebox support through OpenFlow devices. Therefore, this paper reviews the related approaches which have been proposed by identifying their scope, their practicability, their advantages and their drawbacks

A systematic review of existing ageism scales

Ageism has been shown to have a negative impact on older people’s health and wellbeing. Though multiple scales are currently being used to measure this increasingly important issue, syntheses of the psychometric properties of these scales are unavailable. This means that existing estimates of ageism prevalence may not be accurate. We conducted a systematic review aimed at identifying available ageism scales and evaluating their scope and psychometric properties. A comprehensive search strategy was used across fourteen different databases, including PubMed and CINAHL. Independent reviewers extracted data and appraised risk of bias following the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) guidelines. Of the 29,664 records identified, 106 studies, assessing 11 explicit scales of ageism, were eligible for inclusion. Only one scale, the ‘Expectations Regarding Aging’ met minimum requirements for psychometric validation (i.e., adequate content validity, structural validity and internal consistency). Still, this scale only assesses the ‘stereotype’ dimension of ageism, thus failing to evaluate the other two ageism dimensions (prejudice and discrimination). This paper highlights the need to develop and validate a scale that accounts for the multidimensional nature of ageism. Having a scale that can accurately measure ageism prevalence is key in a time of increasing and rapid population ageing, where the magnitude of this phenomenon may be increasing