Converting Instance Checking to Subsumption: A Rethink for Object Queries over Practical Ontologies

Efficiently querying Description Logic (DL) ontologies is becoming a vital task in various data-intensive DL applications. Considered as a basic service for answering object queries over DL ontologies, instance checking can be realized by using the most specific concept (MSC) method, which converts instance checking into subsumption problems. This method, however, loses its simplicity and efficiency when applied to large and complex ontologies, as it tends to generate very large MSC's that could lead to intractable reasoning. In this paper, we propose a revision to this MSC method for DL SHI, allowing it to generate much simpler and smaller concepts that are specific-enough to answer a given query. With independence between computed MSC's, scalability for query answering can also be achieved by distributing and parallelizing the computations. An empirical evaluation shows the efficacy of our revised MSC method and the significant efficiency achieved when using it for answering object queries

Assessment on Factors Influencing Employees’ Motivation

This study was designed to explore the factors influencing employee’s motivation. It specifically aimed at assessing; Financial Incentives, Career development, Promotion Opportunity and Job security regarding with the employee’s motivation. This study based on both quantitative and qualitative research approach. Simple random sampling technique was used to collect data from a sample of 67 respondents. The collected data was analysed using percentages and means by using SPSS. Four objectives were formulated and tested using descriptive and inferential techniques respectively in order to establish the effects of financial incentives, career development, promotion opportunity, job security in employee’s motivation. In the present study, questionnaire and interview were used as instruments of primary data collection. To check for reliability of the study used Cronbach’s Alpha and to check for validity was used for Factor Analysis (KMO). From the findings, it was revealed that workers on every level understand the importance of training in regard to productivity of an organization but also motivate them, financial incentive was seen as the key factor that management should use to motivate their employees’ because workers expect to cover their daily lives and that depends on what they get from work. It enabled HR management to adopt a more focused approach towards motivating employees, where motivational strategies/methods can be better designed to address employees’ specific motivational needs. However previous researches used in this study showed that different results could be obtained from different groups of already working employees. The study therefore can be seen as an introduction to a more detailed study to be carried by future researchers on the field of employee’s motivation

Impact of Discipline on Academic Performance of Pupils in Public Primary Schools in Muhoroni Sub-County, Kenya

In Muhoroni Sub-County, Kenya, pupils’ academic performance has received little attention in relation to discipline. The objectives of this study were to determine the level of discipline and extent of impact of discipline on academic performance among class eight pupils in the sub-county’s public primary schools. The study adopted descriptive survey and correlational research designs. The study population comprised 2,450 class eight pupils in the sub-county’s public primary schools. From 34 randomly selected schools, 817 pupils were selected by stratified random sampling. Questionnaires were used to collect data on discipline and academic performance of the pupils. Reliability coefficients of the questionnaires were determined by test-retest method and found to be 0.83 and 0.97 for questionnaire on discipline and academic performance respectively. The questionnaires’ face and content validity was ascertained by experts. Results indicated that 46 (5.6%), 214 (26.2%), 413(50.6%) and 144 (17.6%) of the pupils had low, moderate, high, and very high discipline respectively. Also, discipline related positively with, and accounted for 23% of variance in the pupils’ academic performance (R = .480, β = .480, R2 = .230, p < .05). The study recommended enhancement of discipline among the pupils for improvement of their academic performance. Keywords: Academic Performance, Discipline, Impact, Pupils, Primary Schools.

Transforming agricultural extension in Eastern Africa through Climate Resilient Farmer Field Schools: Training update from the Climate Resilient Agribusiness for Tomorrow project

There is a scientific consensus that climate variability and change is affecting food security for the growing population in Eastern Africa through increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and greater frequency of extreme weather events. Climate-smart and ecologically sustainable methods of agricultural production can help the region to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change while increasing productivity and enhancing livelihoods. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) could also provide the means to help policymakers, practitioners, private sector stakeholders, farmers and other critical value chain actors from the local, national to regional levels identify effective strategies to support the transformation of agricultural systems

The origin and development of domestic architecture and urban planning in the pre-Islamic Near East

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Ontology alignment with semantic validation

The present invention relates to computer implemented methods and system for determining correspondences between terms in two or more ontologies. The methods and systems are designed to accept as inputs ontologies in Web Ontology Language (OWL) syntax or any other ontology syntax, to calculate a similarity measure between terms in the ontologies, extract an alignment based on this similarity measure, and verify this alignment according to the semantics contained in the ontologies. This process is designed to be executed iteratively until the similarity measures converge, or until another suitable finalization condition is met. The result of these methods and of the systems implementing these methods is an alignment between two or more ontologies establishing semantic correspondences between the terms in the ontologies

Position verification of a mobile robot using standard pattern

As mobile robots are taking on more and more of the tasks that were normally delegated to humans, they need to acquire higher degrees of autonomous operation, which calls for accurate and efficient position determination and/or verification. The critical geometric dimensions of a standard pattern are used here to locate the relative position of the mobile robot with respect to the pattern; by doing so, the method does not depend on values of any intrinsic camera parameters, except the focal length. In addition, this method has the advantages of simplicity and flexibility. This standard pattern is also provided with a unique identification code, using bar codes, that enables the system to find the absolute location of the pattern. These bar codes also assist in the scanning algorithms to locate the pattern in the environment. A thorough error analysis and experimental results obtained through software simulation are presented, as well as the current direction of our work