Study of Pakistan pilot project farmer-leaders to Nepal

Farmer participation / Irrigation management / Farmer managed irrigation systems / Irrigated farming / Sustainable agriculture / Institution building / Pakistan

Electricity consumption forecasting using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS)

Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) is a developing Malaysian Technical University. There is a great development of UTHM since its formation in 1993. Therefore, it is crucial to have accurate future electricity consumption forecasting for its future energy management and saving. Even though there are previous works of electricity consumption forecasting using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), but most of their data are multivariate data. In this study, we have only univariate data of UTHM electricity consumption from January 2009 to December 2018 and wish to forecast 2019 consumption. The univariate data was converted to multivariate and ANFIS was chosen as it carries both advantages of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). ANFIS yields the MAPE between actual and predicted electricity consumption of 0.4002% which is relatively low if compared to previous works of UTHM electricity forecasting using time series model (11.14%), and first-order fuzzy time series (5.74%), and multiple linear regression (10.62%)

Parametric Representations of Facial Expressions on PDE-Based Surfaces

NoParameterisation of facial expressions on PDE surface representations of human faces are presented in this work. Taking advantage of the boundary-value approach inherent to Bloor-Wilson PDE method, facial expressions are achieved by manipulating the original boundary curves. Such curves are responsible for generating a surface representation of a human face in its neutral configuration, so that regions on these curves represent a given facial expression in a fast and realistic manner. Additionally, the parameterisation proposed here is carried out by applying different mathematical transformations to the affected curves according to the corresponding facial expression. Full analytic expressions parameterising some of the most common facial expressions such as smiling and eyebrow raising are in this work. Some graphical examples of these facial expressions are used to illustrate the results obtained using Bloor-Wilson PDE method as the foundations of the parameterisation scheme proposed here. Thus, it is shown that an efficient, intuitive and realistic parameterisation of facial expressions is attainable using Bloor-Wilson PDE method in along with a suitable mathematical expression

PDE Face: A Novel 3D Face Model

YesWe introduce a novel approach to face models, which exploits the use of Partial Differential Equations (PDE) to generate the 3D face. This addresses some common problems of existing face models. The PDE face benefits from seamless merging of surface patches by using only a relatively small number of parameters based on boundary curves. The PDE face also provides users with a great degree of freedom to individualise the 3D face by adjusting a set of facial boundary curves. Furthermore, we introduce a uv-mesh texture mapping method. By associating the texels of the texture map with the vertices of the uv mesh in the PDE face, the new texture mapping method eliminates the 3D-to-2D association routine in texture mapping. Any specific PDE face can be textured without the need for the facial expression in the texture map to match exactly that of the 3D face model

PDE-based Facial Animation: Making the Complex Simple

YesDirect parameterisation is among the most widely used facial animation techniques but requires complicated ways to animate face models which have complex topology. This paper develops a simple solution by introducing a PDE-based facial animation scheme. Using a PDE face model means we only need to animate a group of boundary curves without using any other conventional surface interpolation algorithms. We describe the basis of the method and show results from a practical implementation.EPSR

Slave spin cluster mean field theory away from half-filling: Application to the Hubbard and the extended Hubbard Model

A new slave-spin representation of fermion operators has recently been proposed for the half-filled Hubbard model. We show that with the addition of a gauge variable, the formalism can be extended to finite doping. The resulting spin problem can be solved using the cluster mean-field approximation. This approximation takes short-range correlations into account by exact diagonalization on the cluster, whereas long-range correlations beyond the size of clusters are treated at the mean-field level. In the limit where the cluster has only one site and the interaction strength $U$ is infinite, this approach reduces to the Gutzwiller approximation. There are some qualitative differences when the size of the cluster is finite. We first compute the critical $U$ for the Mott transition as a function of a frustrating second-neighbor interaction on lattices relevant for various correlated systems, namely the cobaltites, the layered organic superconductors and the high-temperature superconductors. For the triangular lattice, we also study the extended Hubbard model with nearest-neighbor repulsion. In additionto a uniform metallic state, we find a $\sqrt(3) \times \sqrt(3)$ charge density wave in a broad doping regime, including commensurate ones. We find that in the large $U$ limit, intersite Coulomb repulsion $V$ strongly suppresses the single-particle weight of the metallic state.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, submitted to PR

The Perceived Impact of International Educational Experiences in the United States on Saudi Respiratory Therapists

BACKGROUND: Rapid changes in healthcare and science have enhanced the need for international educational experiences (IEE). Despite the importance of IEE in healthcare, there is a lack of literature in this area of research specifically relating to respiratory therapy. Therefore, it is important to assess the perceived impact of IEE in the United States on RT students in order to evaluate the need for developing international educational opportunities in the field of respiratory therapy. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess Saudi RT international students’ perception of the impact of IEE on their lives experiences. METHODS: Data were collected through a descriptive survey using a modified version of the international education survey (IES). The survey was emailed to all RT members of the Saudi Society for Respiratory Care (SSRC). Four main dimensions were assessed: Professional RT role, global understanding, personal development, and intellectual development. Excluded from the study were non-Saudi RTs and RTs with no IEE from the United States. RESULTS: Nineteen responses met the exclusion criteria of the study and were excluded. The total adjusted number of participants was sixty-two (n=62) out of (N=534) emailed surveys. The study response rate was 15.17%. Just over half of participants hold a graduate degree in RT while 48.4% hold an undergraduate degree in RT. Female participants accounted for 12.9% of all participants while male participants accounted for 87.1%. The study revealed that “professional RT role” was the most impacted area of IEE for RT undergraduate students (M 5.48, ± 1.4). The study showed that “global understanding” was the most impacted area of IEE for graduate RT students (M 5.4, SD of ± 0.84). The study findings showed that there is a moderately significant positive correlation between the duration of IEEs and the impact of RT professional role (r=0.426; p=0.001). Moreover, the study findings indicated that IEEs had a higher but insignificant influence on former international RT students’ perceptions of impact than current students. Conclusion: IEE had a large overall impact on participant’s lives experiences. The study findings support the value of promoting IEEs in the United States for RT students due to its perceived positive impact on internationalization of healthcare. Further studies with higher number of participants, different cultural backgrounds, and different IEE destinations is recommended