Multi-threaded Implementation of Association Rule Mining with Visualization of the Pattern Tree

Motor Vehicle fatalities per 100,000 population in the United States has been reported to be 10.69% in the year 2012 as per NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The fatality rate has increased by 0.27% in 2012 compared to the rate in the year 2011. As per the reports, there are many factors involved in increasing the fatality rate drastically such as driving under influence, testing while driving, and various other weather phenomena. Decision makers need to analyze the factors attributing to the increase in an accident rate to take implied measures. Current methods used to perform the data analysis process has to be reformed and optimized to make policies for controlling the high traffic accident rates. This research work is an extension to the data-mining algorithm implementation Most Associated Sequential Pattern (MASP). MASP uses association rule mining approach to mine interesting traffic accident data using a modified version of FP-growth algorithm. Owing to the huge amounts of available traffic accident data, MASP algorithm needs to be further modified to make it more efficient with respect to both space and time. Therefore, we present a parallel implementation to the MASP algorithm. In addition to this, pattern tree and apriori-tid algorithm implementation has been done. The application is designed in C# using .NET Framework and C# Task Parallel Library

How fast is too fast? Boundaries to the perception of electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves

Transcutaneous electrical stimulation is a promising technique for providing prosthetic hand users with information about sensory events. However, questions remain over how to design the stimulation paradigms to provide users the best opportunity to discriminate these events. Here, we investigate if the refractory period influences how the amplitude of the applied stimulus is perceived. Twenty participants completed a two-alternative forced choice experiment. We delivered two stimuli spaced between 250 ms to 450 ms apart (inter-stimulus-interval, isi). The participants reported which stimulus they perceived as strongest. Each stimulus consisted of either a single or paired pulse delivered transcutaneously. The inter-pulse interval (ipi) for the paired pulse stimuli varied between 6 and 10 ms. We found paired pulses with an ipi of 6 ms were perceived stronger than a single pulse less often than paired pulses with an ipi of 8 ms (p = 0.001) or 10 ms (p < 0.0001). Additionally, we found when the isi was 250 ms, participants were less likely to identify the paired pulse as strongest, than when the isi was 350 or 450 ms. This study emphasizes the importance of basing stimulation paradigms on the underlying neural physiology. The results indicate there is an upper limit to the commonly accepted notion that higher stimulation frequencies lead to stronger perception. If frequency is to be used to encode sensory events, then the results suggest stimulus paradigms should be designed using frequencies below 125 Hz

Parametric Investigation of Traditional Vaulted Roofs in Hot-Arid Climates

In the Mediterranean and North African regions, traditional vaulted roof forms have been widely used due to their significant influence on enhancing thermal indoor conditions. This research parametrically investigates the thermal performance of vaulted roofs, seeking a better understanding of the reciprocal relationship between the solar irradiance received by these roofs and the resulting energy consumption in the hot-arid city of Aswan (23.58oN), Egypt. The methodological procedure is realized through two phases. The annual simulations of solar irradiance and energy consumption are carried out in the first phase, where the quantitative performance of 2,310 different cases are predicted in terms of six vaulted roof forms against eleven key influencing variables. The unsupervised technique of Principal Component Analysis is used in the second phase to reduce the higher dimensionality of the resulting dataset and extract important information from newly established orthogonal principal components. The outcomes of this work aim to provide architects and practitioners with an optimized dataset to use in the design and application of vaulted roof forms and support decision makers addressing the development strategies by providing essential data for setting regulations of newly built environments in harsh hot-arid contexts

Markets, large projects and sustainable development: traditional and new planning in the Thames Gateway

The transition from traditional hierarchical government to new forms of governance and planning can be overstated. The regionalisation of planning and new ambitions for spatial planning in the UK are commonly understood to have created an overcomplex system concerned with co-ordination and integration across jurisdictional spheres. However, this new governance of planning sits alongside traditional planning processes such as the public inquiry and ministerial decision. This case study of a large port development near London suggests that the emphasis upon the move to new, collaborative practices understimates the influence of traditional governmental structures. This provides cause for questioning the capacity of the current planning system to address the challenge of sustainable development, a central concern for the new planning

Yhteistyökumppanitoiminnan ja -myynnin kehittäminen

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kerätä tietoa jalkapalloseura AC Oulun yhteistyökumppanitoiminnan ja –myynnin kehittämisen avuksi. Teoreettinen viitekehys keskittyi käsittelemään yhteistyökumppanuuden määrittelyä ja sen historiaa sekä myynnin ja yhteistyökumppanitoiminnan kehittämistä. Tutkimuksen pääkysymyksenä oli, miten AC Oulun yhteistyökumppanitoimintaa ja -myyntiä voidaan kehittää. Tutkimus edusti laadullista tapaustutkimusta. Aineisto on hankittu teemahaastattelujen avulla siten, että haastateltavina toimi kolme AC Oulun yhteistyökumppaniyritystä sekä kolme yritystä, jotka eivät ole AC Oulun yhteistyökumppaneita. Tulokset osoittivat, että yritykset ovat yksimielisiä yhteistyökumppanuuden vastavuoroisuudesta. Jokaisella yrityksellä on heidän omat tapansa toteuttaa yhteistyökumppanuutta, mutta kaikki toivovat kumppaniltaan aktiivisuutta, ideointia yhteistyölle ja arvojen mukaista toimintaa. AC Oulun yhteistyökumppanit olivat tyytyväisiä AC Oulun toimintaa, mutta olivat hieman huolissaan uusista muutoksista. Kumppanit esittivät yksittäisiä toiveita seuran yhteistyökumppanitoiminnan kehittämiseksi. Yritykset odottavat seuroilta vastuullista, aktiivista ja läpinäkyvää toimintaa sekä panostamista yhteistyökumppanuuteen. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella ehdotan AC Oululle kahdeksaa huomioon otettavaa asiaa, joista osa on seuralla jo hyvin hallinnassa. Yhteistyökumppanitoimintaa ja –myyntiä voidaan kehittää esimerkiksi kattavan viestinnän, kumppanuussuhteiden hoidon, kannattavan kumppanivalinnan ja vastuullisuuden huomioimisen avulla

An epidemiological study of metabolic syndrome in a rural area of Ambala district, Haryana

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a state of deranged metabolic and anthropometric status. It is considered a precursor to various cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Objectives: (1) To determine the prevalence of MS in adults aged 20 years and above in the rural area of Ambala district, Haryana. (2) To determine the sociodemographic factors associated with MS. Materials and Methods: In a community-based cross-sectional study, a total of 1200 subjects aged 20 years and above were studied, using multi-stage random sampling. Results: The prevalence of MS was estimated by using criterion given by the International Diabetes Federation. MS was found in 110 (9.2%) subjects, being more prevalent in females: 73 (66.36%) when compared to 37 males (33.63%). Sedentary occupation and age were significantly associated with MS. Conclusions: MS is a major health problem in the region and it should be given proper attention in order to prevent and control it

A nitrogen source-dependent inducible and repressible gene expression system in the red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae.

The unicellular red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae is a model organism for studying the basic biology of photosynthetic organisms. The C. merolae cell is composed of an extremely simple set of organelles. The genome is completely sequenced. Gene targeting and a heat-shock inducible gene expression system has been recently established. However, a conditional gene knockdown system has not been established, which is required for the examination of function of genes that are essential to cell viability and primary mutant defects. In the current study, we first evaluated the expression of a transgene from two chromosomal neutral loci located in the intergenic region between CMD184C and CMD185C, and a region upstream of the URA5.3 gene. There was no significant difference in expression between them and this result suggests that both may be used as neutral loci. We then designed an inducible and repressible gene expression by using promoters of nitrate-assimilation genes. The expression of nitrate-assimilation genes such as NR (nitrate reductase), NIR (nitrite reductase) and NRT (the nitrate/nitrite transporter) are reversibly regulated by their dependence on nitrogen sources. We constructed stable strains in which a cassette containing the NR, NIR or NRT promoter and sfGFP gene was inserted in a region upstream of URA5.3 and examined the efficacy of the promoters. The NR, NIR, and NRT promoters were constitutively activated in the nitrate medium, whereas their activities were extremely low in presence of ammonium. The activation of each promoter was immediately inhibited within a period of 1 hour by the addition of ammonium. Thus, a conditional knockdown system in C. merolae was successfully established. The activity varies among the promoters, and each is selectable according to the expression level of a target gene estimated by RNA-sequencing. This method is applicable to defects in genes of interest in photosynthetic organism