The Birds of the Highlands of South-West Saudi Arabia and adjacent parts of the Tihama: July 2010

The objective of the survey was to compare habitats and bird life in the Asir region, particularly Jebal Souda and the Raydah escarpment protected area of the Saudi Wildlife Commission, and adjacent regions of the tihama, with those observed in July 1987 (Jennings, et al., 1988). The two surveys were approximately the same length and equal amounts of time were spent in the highlands and on the tihama. A number of walked censuses were carried out during 2010 on Jebal Souda, using the same methodology as walked censuses in 1987, and the results are compared. Broadly speaking the comparison of censuses revealed that in 2010 there were less birds and reduced diversity on the Jebal Souda plateau, compared to 1987. However in the Raydah reserve the estimates of breeding bird populations compiled in the mid 1990s was little changed as far as could be assessed in 2010. The highland region of south-west Saudi Arabia, especially Jebal Souda, has been much developed since the 1987 survey and is now an important internal recreation and resort area. This has lead to a reduction in the region’s importance for terraced agriculture. These changes may be a contributing factor to changes in bird numbers on the plateau. Subsidiary tasks that arose during the 2010 survey were to help locate satellite tagged Bald Ibises Geronticus eremita from Syria which were transiting Saudi Arabia at the time. Secondly to search for the Asir subspecies of the Eurasian Magpie Pica pica asirensis, which is endemic to the south-west Saudi Arabia highlands, and is reported to be in decline. A separate team searching for the Bald Ibis located some individuals and one was found dead. Few Magpies were located and it seems clear that this very scarce bird has declined further in numbers in recent years. A number of interesting records of birds were obtained, especially on the tihama, where two new birds for Saudi Arabia were observed, Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala and Painted Snipe Rostratula benghalensis and one species, Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus was found breeding for the first time in the Arabian Peninsula. Some recommendations for the protection and management of the Raydah reserve are presented. A systematic list of all birds seen is provided

Statistical Representation of Distribution System Loads Using Gaussian Mixture Model

Published versio

Affinely adjustable robust Volt/VAr control without centralized computations

This paper proposes a completely non-centralized Volt/VAr control (VVC) algorithm for active distribution networks which are faced with voltage magnitude violations due to the high penetration of solar photovoltaics (PVs). The proposed VVC algorithm employs a two-stage architecture where the settings of the classical voltage control devices (VCDs) are decided in the first stage through a distributed optimization engine powered by the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). In contrast, the PV smart inverters are instructed in the second stage through linear Q(P) decision rules - which are computed in a decentralized manner by leveraging robust optimization theory. The key to this non-centralized VVC routine is a proposed network partition methodology (NPM) which uses an electrical distance metric based on node Q-V 2 sensitivities for computing an intermediate reduced graph of the network, which is subsequently divided into the final partitions using the spectral clustering technique. As a result, the final network partitions are connected, stable, close in cardinality, contain at least one PV inverter for zonal reactive power support, and are sufficiently decoupled from each other. Numerical results on the UKGDS-95 bus system show that the non-centralized solutions match closely with the centralized robust VVC schemes, thereby significantly reducing the voltage violations compared to the traditional deterministic VVC routines

Choice of estimator for distribution system state estimation

Accepted versio

A Hybrid Features for Signature Recognition Using Neural Network

       In automatic personal recognition systems, biometric features is used as recognition measure based on biological traits such as face, iris, fingerprint, etc…or gait, signature which is considered behavioral characteristics. Signature verification is one of the authentication methods which can provide security at maintenance and low cost. The most essential and challenging stage of any off-line signature system is feature extraction stage. The accuracy and robust of the recognition system depends basically on the usefulness of the signature features extracted by this system. If the extracted features from a signature's image doesn't robust this will cause to higher verification error-rates especially for skilled forgeries in hacker the system. In this paper, we present a new offline handwritten signature recognition system based on combination of global with Statistical and GLCM (Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix) features using neural network as classifier tool. The global, Statistical and GLCM features are combined to consist a vector of 14 features for the authentication of the signature. Verification of signatures is decided using neural network. The experimental results obtained by using a database of 7 individuals’ signatures. A total number of 70 images are collected with 10 signatures for each person, 5 of the signatures are used in training phase, and the remaining 5 signatures are used in testing phase. In this proposed method the results show 100% recognition accuracy for training and 97.1% recognition accuracy for the testing

A Hybrid Features for Signature Recognition Using Neural Network

       In automatic personal recognition systems, biometric features is used as recognition measure based on biological traits such as face, iris, fingerprint, et

A cost effectiveness analysis of salt reduction policies to reduce coronary heart disease in four Eastern Mediterranean countries.

BACKGROUND: Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is rising in middle income countries. Population based strategies to reduce specific CHD risk factors have an important role to play in reducing overall CHD mortality. Reducing dietary salt consumption is a potentially cost-effective way to reduce CHD events. This paper presents an economic evaluation of population based salt reduction policies in Tunisia, Syria, Palestine and Turkey. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Three policies to reduce dietary salt intake were evaluated: a health promotion campaign, labelling of food packaging and mandatory reformulation of salt content in processed food. These were evaluated separately and in combination. Estimates of the effectiveness of salt reduction on blood pressure were based on a literature review. The reduction in mortality was estimated using the IMPACT CHD model specific to that country. Cumulative population health effects were quantified as life years gained (LYG) over a 10 year time frame. The costs of each policy were estimated using evidence from comparable policies and expert opinion including public sector costs and costs to the food industry. Health care costs associated with CHDs were estimated using standardized unit costs. The total cost of implementing each policy was compared against the current baseline (no policy). All costs were calculated using 2010 PPP exchange rates. In all four countries most policies were cost saving compared with the baseline. The combination of all three policies (reducing salt consumption by 30%) resulted in estimated cost savings of $235,000,000 and 6455 LYG in Tunisia;$39,000,000 and 31674 LYG in Syria; $6,000,000 and 2682 LYG in Palestine and$1,3000,000,000 and 378439 LYG in Turkey. CONCLUSION: Decreasing dietary salt intake will reduce coronary heart disease deaths in the four countries. A comprehensive strategy of health education and food industry actions to label and reduce salt content would save both money and lives

Contractile and structural properties of detrusor from children with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction

Neurogenic lower urinary tract (NLUT) dysfunction in paediatric patients can arise after congenital or acquired conditions that affect bladder innervation. With some patients, urinary tract dysfunction remains and is more difficult to treat without understanding the pathophysiology. We measured in vitro detrusor smooth muscle function of samples from such bladders and any association with altered Wnt-signalling pathways that contribute to both foetal development and connective tissue deposition. A comparator group was tissue from children with normally functioning bladders. Nerve-mediated and agonist-induced contractile responses and passive stiffness were measured. Histology measured smooth muscle and connective tissue proportions, and multiplex immunohistochemistry recorded expression of protein targets associated with Wnt-signalling pathways. Detrusor from the NLUT group had reduced contractility and greater stiffness, associated with increased connective tissue content. Immunohistochemistry showed no major changes to Wnt-signalling components except down-regulation of c-Myc, a multifunctional regulator of gene transcription. NLUT is a diverse term for several diagnoses that disrupt bladder innervation. While we cannot speculate about the reasons for these pathophysiological changes, their recognition should guide research to understand their ultimate causes and develop strategies to attenuate and even reverse them. The role of changes to the Wnt-signalling pathways was minor. View Full-Tex