A logic programming framework for modeling temporal objects

Published versio

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour: A rare tumour of the breast

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour is a rare tumour of the breast and this report highlights the radiological and histological features and the difficulties in making a diagnosis. A high index of suspicion when dealing with a breast lesion that has both cystic and solid components in a background of von Recklingausen’s neurofibromatosis will make the diagnosis easie

Adaptive Computation of the Swap-Insert Correction Distance

The Swap-Insert Correction distance from a string $S$ of length $n$ to another string $L$ of length $m\geq n$ on the alphabet $[1..d]$ is the minimum number of insertions, and swaps of pairs of adjacent symbols, converting $S$ into $L$. Contrarily to other correction distances, computing it is NP-Hard in the size $d$ of the alphabet. We describe an algorithm computing this distance in time within $O(d^2 nm g^{d-1})$, where there are $n_\alpha$ occurrences of $\alpha$ in $S$, $m_\alpha$ occurrences of $\alpha$ in $L$, and where $g=\max_{\alpha\in[1..d]} \min\{n_\alpha,m_\alpha-n_\alpha\}$ measures the difficulty of the instance. The difficulty $g$ is bounded by above by various terms, such as the length of the shortest string $S$, and by the maximum number of occurrences of a single character in $S$. Those results illustrate how, in many cases, the correction distance between two strings can be easier to compute than in the worst case scenario.Comment: 16 pages, no figures, long version of the extended abstract accepted to SPIRE 201

Beyond sustainable buildings: eco-efficiency to eco-effectiveness through cradle-to-cradle design

Sustainable building development focuses on achieving buildings that meet performance and functionality requirements with minimum adverse impact on the environment. Such eco-efficiency strategies are however not feasible for achieving long-term economic and environmental objectives as they only result in damage reduction without addressing design flaws of contemporary industry. The cradle-to-cradle (C2C) design philosophy which has been described as a paradigm changing innovative platform for achieving ecologically intelligent and environmentally restorative buildings appears to offer an alternative vision which, if embraced, could lead to eco-effectiveness and the achievement of long-term environmental objectives. Adoption of C2C principles in the built environment has however been hindered by several factors especially in a sector where change has always been a very slow process. From a review of extant literature, it is argued that the promotion of current sustainable and/or gree n building strategies - which in themselves are not coherent enough due to their pluralistic meanings and sometimes differing solutions - are a major barrier to the promotion of C2C principles in the built environment. To overcome this barrier to C2C implementation, it is recommended that research should focus on developing clearly defined and measurable C2C targets that can be incorporated into project briefs from the inception of development projects. These targets could enable control, monitoring and comparison of C2C design outcomes with eco-efficient measures as well as serve as a guide for project stakeholders to achieve eco-effective “nutrient” management from the project conceptualization phase to the end of life of the building

Identifying the impact of G-quadruplexes on Affymetrix 3' arrays using cloud computing.

A tetramer quadruplex structure is formed by four parallel strands of DNA/ RNA containing runs of guanine. These quadruplexes are able to form because guanine can Hoogsteen hydrogen bond to other guanines, and a tetrad of guanines can form a stable arrangement. Recently we have discovered that probes on Affymetrix GeneChips that contain runs of guanine do not measure gene expression reliably. We associate this finding with the likelihood that quadruplexes are forming on the surface of GeneChips. In order to cope with the rapidly expanding size of GeneChip array datasets in the public domain, we are exploring the use of cloud computing to replicate our experiments on 3' arrays to look at the effect of the location of G-spots (runs of guanines). Cloud computing is a recently introduced high-performance solution that takes advantage of the computational infrastructure of large organisations such as Amazon and Google. We expect that cloud computing will become widely adopted because it enables bioinformaticians to avoid capital expenditure on expensive computing resources and to only pay a cloud computing provider for what is used. Moreover, as well as financial efficiency, cloud computing is an ecologically-friendly technology, it enables efficient data-sharing and we expect it to be faster for development purposes. Here we propose the advantageous use of cloud computing to perform a large data-mining analysis of public domain 3' arrays

Availability and Use of Modern Information and Communication Technologies among Farmers in Orumba South Lga of Anambra State, Nigeria

The study ascertained the availability and use of telecommunication/computer information and communication technologies among farmers in Orumba South L.G.A of Anambra State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to describe the demographic characteristics of the farmers in the study area, identify Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in telecommunication/computer available to the farmers and ascertain the use of ICTs to contact and non-contact farmers in the study area. Data for the study were generated from structured questionnaire. A sample size of 114 farmers made up of 36 contact and 78 non-contact farmers were selected using stratified random sampling technique. Data analysis were by the use of descriptive (frequencies, percentages and mean) and inferential (t-test) statistical tools. The result showed that majority (54.39%) of the farmers are within the active and innovative age category. Majority (87.72%) are married and have one form of education or another. Their farm holdings are small-scaled and majority (99%) of the farmers are experienced while 68.42% are non-contact farmer. Availability of telephone /GSM rating is 57% while computer is 52.6%. Both contact and non-contact farmers make more use of telephone/GSM than other items. The test of the hypothesis showed that calculated t-value of 2.64 is greater than the tabulated t-value of 1.96 at 0.05 level of significance and 112 degree of freedom. Thus the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference in the mean responses of the contact and non-contact farmers in the use of ICT facilities in the study area is rejected. Therefore, the contact farmers differed significantly from the non-contact farmers in their mean responses with respect to the use of ICT facilities for extension purposes. It was recommended that both contact and non-contact farmers should be exposed to the use of other telecommunication/computer other than telephone/GSM and computer.Keywords: modern information and communication technologiesJournal of Agriculture and Social Research (JASR) Vol. 11, No. 1, 201

Contribution of maduganga wetland for economic development; with special reference to Balapitiya divisional secretarial

Maduganga estuary is most valuable Ramsar wetland, situated in Galle District in Sri Lanka. This is a Special Area Managed by the Coast Conservation Department. The objective of this research is to study the contribution of the wetland for economic development of the area. Furthermore paid attention about the obstruction for the economic activities and discussed how to develop this economic activity as ecofriendly industries. The investigation was done by using primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected from the sample of 50 house from 5 Gramaniladhari divisions and seven Boat Service Centers in Balapitiya Divisional secretarial by applying questionnaire and interview methods. Secondary data was collected from investigation report, websites and electronic press archives. Raw data was analyzed by using statistical techniques available in Microsoft Excel Software. Analyzed data was presented by using Graphic Methods and tables. According to this study tourism is the most famous and large industry in the area. There is much potential for the development of Maduganga for eco-tourism. Prawn catching, Inland fishing, Aquaculture and Coir industry are other major economic activities in the area. Some activities of the people contribute to the deterioration of habitats. Example is high powered motorized boats operating. Some economic activities are threatens to persistence of Maduganga wetland and want to get immediate action for sustain these economic activities

Fostering Basic Problem-Solving Skills in Chemistry

A triangle divided in three parts was used to relate three variables, or two variables and a constant. Students learned to manipulate a given equation so that one of the variables is a product of the other two variables. Problems relating density, mass, and volume; speed of light, frequency and wavelength; gram, mole, and molar mass, molarity, moles and liters; and number of particles, Avogadro’s number, and mole were attempted using triangles. In addition, a special triangle was constructed to relate the variables and a constant of the ideal gas law equation, and was used to solve ideal gas law problems. This visual representation of the problem helped students to understand the factors that need to be considered and the operations that needed to be performed in the problem-solving process. Over the course of two years, the method was used in four different introductory chemistry classes that had a total of 87 students. More than 80% of the students who use triangles were able to arrive at the correct answers. A big percentage of students also liked using triangles to solve simple problems

Variable structure unit vector control of electric power generation

A variable structure Automatic Generation Control (VSAGC) scheme is proposed in this paper for the control of a single area power system model dominated by steam powered electric generating plants. Unlike existing, VSAGC scheme where the selection of the control function is based on a trial and error procedure, the strategy proposed here relies on a systematicapproach based on the unit vector control concept. Simulation results show the superiority of the proposed control scheme over the existing ones

Curbing promiscuous habits among Nigerians through religious studies

The prevalence of inappropriate sexual habit among Nigerian citizens today poses a moral challenge. The idea seems to be that since everybody does it, there is probably nothing wrong with it. It is surprising that many young men and women give reason to justify this evil act. The act of prostitution, adultery and premarital sex has existed since time immemorial and the general public considers it a deviant act which is the act of being different from the popular belief, usually in a bad way. The aim of this study is to discourage inappropriate sexual habit through religious instructions and encourage people to control their sexual urge to avoid sexually transmitted disease like HIV/AIDS which has claimed the lives of those who are too young to die