Testing Onion Market Integration in Pakistan

This paper analyses spatial market integration using monthly wholesale real price of onion in four regional markets located in each of the four provinces of Pakistan. Unit root test indicates that the price series in each location are stationary, and the series are represented as autoregressive model for eachlocation. The error correction model results show that the regional markets of onion have strong price linkages, and thus are spatially integrated.

MODLEACH: A Variant of LEACH for WSNs

Wireless sensor networks are appearing as an emerging need for mankind. Though, Such networks are still in research phase however, they have high potential to be applied in almost every field of life. Lots of research is done and a lot more is awaiting to be standardized. In this work, cluster based routing in wireless sensor networks is studied precisely. Further, we modify one of the most prominent wireless sensor network's routing protocol "LEACH" as modified LEACH (MODLEACH) by introducing \emph{efficient cluster head replacement scheme} and \emph{dual transmitting power levels}. Our modified LEACH, in comparison with LEACH out performs it using metrics of cluster head formation, through put and network life. Afterwards, hard and soft thresholds are implemented on modified LEACH (MODLEACH) that boast the performance even more. Finally a brief performance analysis of LEACH, Modified LEACH (MODLEACH), MODLEACH with hard threshold (MODLEACHHT) and MODLEACH with soft threshold (MODLEACHST) is undertaken considering metrics of throughput, network life and cluster head replacements.Comment: IEEE 8th International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications (BWCCA'13), Compiegne, Franc

Losslees compression of RGB color images

Although much work has been done toward developing lossless algorithms for compressing image data, most techniques reported have been for two-tone or gray-scale images. It is generally accepted that a color image can be easily encoded by using a gray-scale compression technique on each of the three accounts the substantial correlations that are present between color planes. Although several lossy compression schemes that exploit such correlations have been reported in the literature, we are not aware of any such techniques for lossless compression. Because of the difference in goals, the best way of exploiting redundancies for lossy and lossless compression can be, and usually are, very different. We propose and investigate a few lossless compression schemes for RGB color images. Both prediction schemes and error modeling schemes are presented that exploit inter-frame correlations. Implementation results on a test set of images yield significant improvements

Economic implications of water efficiency measures II: cost effectiveness of composite strategies

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.This paper briefly describes the development and application of a tool for generating micro-components (e.g. baths, taps, showers, WCs, washing machines and dishwashers) based water efficient composite strategies and assesses their cost effectiveness using a number of economic assessment methods. A composite strategy is defined as a combination of micro-components that could deliver a given water efficiency level. The assessment results suggest that the economic performance of water efficient composite strategies varies considerably. There is no linear relationship between water and energy consumption and the total cost associated with the strategies. Additionally, conventional cost assessment methods appear to be unsuitable for identifying the least cost options to consumers.The work was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and its support is thankfully acknowledged

Economic Implications of Water Efficiency Measures II: Cost Effectiveness of Composite Strategies

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.This paper briefly describes the development and application of a tool for generating micro-components (e.g. baths, taps, showers, WCs, washing machines and dishwashers) based water efficient composite strategies and assesses their cost effectiveness using a number of economic assessment methods. A composite strategy is defined as a combination of micro-components that could deliver a given water efficiency level. The assessment results suggest that the economic performance of water efficient composite strategies varies considerably. There is no linear relationship between water and energy consumption and the total cost associated with the strategies. Additionally, conventional cost assessment methods appear to be unsuitable for identifying the least cost options to consumers.The work was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and its support is thankfully acknowledged

Radial Primary Angioplasty The Gold Standard Treatment for STEMI Patients∗

This is the author accepted manuscript.There is another ORE record for this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/30367Challenges such as water scarcity and ever-increasing demand put an additional strain onto water distribution networks. Better asset management through leakage mitigation and demand forecasting can offset the current and future implications of these challenges. This paper shows how new high-resolution logging (e.g. 1 litre ticks) is able to enhance traditional methods of investigating leakages (e.g. minimum night flows) and instantiate novel methods for demand prediction (through micro-component analysis). Machine learning or other statistical analytical techniques coupled with the high-resolution data can be used in an adaptive way for leakage detection and demand forecasting. As a proof of concept, this paper investigates example datasets obtained from a UK based water company. The analyses suggest that it is possible to: extrapolate leakage from night flow time series data; predict water consumption patterns for different types of households and create consumption profiles based upon water user characteristics/behaviour.The authors would like to thank the EPSRC funding from WISE Centre for Doctoral Training. The authors also acknowledge the provision of anonymised data and financial support from South West Water, UK

Integrated Model for Water, Food, Energy, and Human Development

This is the author accepted manuscriptWater, Food, and Energy (WFE) are basic needs crucial to human survival but also pervade many aspects of human development. Systemically, they are vastly interdependent. A system dynamics model was constructed to evaluate the dynamics behavior of WFE systems and their linkages to human development. The model was constructed, calibrated and tested against Indonesia national data on yearly basis from 1990 to 2015. System model comprising five modules, W-F-E sectors, demographic and human development. Analysis of error using Mean-Square Error (MSE), Root Means Square Percent Error (RMSPE), and Inequality statistics were used for model behavioral test. Preliminary results show that some variable like population size, GDP per capita, and Human Development Index (HDI) match historical trends and have low RMSPE (less than 10%). However, some variables pose greater error like Industrial water demands so it need to be reconstructed. Energy and Food module are being constructed. As part of the future work, once the model is fully constructed, it will be applied to assess the impact of a range of policy scenarios and implications on WFE and human development

Developing a decision support tool for the positioning and sizing of vortex flow controls in existing sewer systems

12th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry, CCWI2013This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.This paper describes the development of a decision support tool for the positioning and sizing of vortex flow controls in existing sewer systems. The tool aims to prioritise the placement of vortex flow controls primarily within subcatchments with the greatest flood consequence rating and maximise the use of unused inpipe volumes during critical rainfall events. The decision support tool is intended for use in catchments where opportunities to implement SuDS and rainwater harvesting to defend against flooding are limited. The decision support tool is envisaged to identify potential strategies which could enhance flood resistance of sewer systems in a cost effective manner. © 2013 The Authors

A facile synthesis of porous graphene for efficient water and wastewater treatment

This is the final version of the article. Available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this record.The use of two-dimensional graphene-based materials in water treatment has recently gained significant attention due to their unique electronic and thermal mobility, high surface area, high mechanical strength, excellent corrosion resistance and tunable surface chemistry. However, the relatively expensive, poor hydrophobicity, low adsorption capacity and recyclability, and complex post-treatment of the most pristine graphene frameworks limit their practical application. Here, we report a facile scalable method to produce highly porous graphene from reduced graphene oxide via thermal treatment without addition of any catalyst or use of any template. Comparing to conventional graphene counterparts, as-prepared porous graphene nanosheets showed evident improvement in hydrophobicity, adsorption capacity, and recyclability, making them ideal candidate materials for water treatment. Superhydrophobic and superoleophilic porous graphene prepared in this work has been demonstrated as effective absorbents for a broad range of ions, oils and organic solvents, exhibiting high selectivity, good recyclability, and excellent absorption capacities > 90%. The synthesis method of porous graphene reported in this paper is easy to implement, low cost and scalable. These attributes could contribute towards efficient and cost-effective water purification and pollution reduction.The authors acknowledge support from the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Metamaterials at the University of Exeter [Grant no. EP/L015331/1]