Building Occupancy Simulation and Data Assimilation Using a Graph Based Agent Oriented Model

Building occupancy simulation and estimation simulates the dynamics of occupants and estimates the real time spatial distribution of occupants in a building. It can benefit various applications like conserving energy, smart assist, building construction, crowd management, and emergency evacuation. Building occupancy simulation and estimation needs a simulation model and a data assimilation algorithm that assimilates real-time sensor data into the simulation model. Existing build occupancy simulation models include agent-based models and graph-based models. The agent-based models suffer high computation cost for simulating a large number occupants, and graph-based models overlook the heterogeneity and detailed behaviors of individuals. Recognizing the limitations of the existing models, in this dissertation, we combine the benefits of agent and graph based modeling and develop a new graph based agent oriented model which can efficiently simulate a large number of occupants in various building structures. To support real-time occupancy dynamics estimation, we developed a data assimilation framework based on Sequential Monte Carol Methods, and apply it to the graph-based agent oriented model to assimilate real time sensor data. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the developed model and the data assimilation framework. The major contributions of this dissertation work include 1) it provides an efficient model for building occupancy simulation which can accommodate thousands of occupants; 2) it provides an effective data assimilation framework for real-time estimation of building occupancy

Every breath you take: comparing perceptions of cyberstalkers and physical stalkers

The current literature has identified different factors that influence perceptions of stalking behaviour, such as participant gender and the relationship between the victim and the stalker. Much less is known about perceptions of cyberstalkers. Researchers are unsure whether cyberstalking is inherently different to physical stalking. However, evidence exists suggesting they are the same. This study aimed to inform this contentious point by examining the effect of the medium of stalking (cyber or physical) on stalking perception. Participants completed an online questionnaire and were assigned to a physical or cyberstalking condition; both of which contained a vignette of stranger stalker behaviour and ex-partner stalker behaviour. After which the behaviours were rated on a 7 point Likert-type scale on 4 different measures. Participants viewed stranger stalkers as more dangerous than ex-partner stalkers, a result consistent with previous literature. The medium of stalking, however, only had a minimal influence – cyber stranger stalkers were seen as more alarming than physical stalkers; however this difference was minimal. No difference on the three other measures was found. This suggests that people view cyberstalkers as the same as physical stalkers, supporting the idea that the two forms of stalking are not distinct. Implications for cyberstalker treatment are discussed, along with possible methods to reduce the chances of being a cyberstalking victim. Gender had no influence on stalker perception – a result which was accounted for through methodology

An Unusual Case of Tuberculous Lymphadenitis and Comparison of Various Methods for Diagnosis of Tuberculous Lymphadenitis

Although tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBLN) is extremely common in India, sometimes it may pose a diagnostic dilemma even after multimodality testing. This case report is about a patient who had undergone multiple fine needle aspirations (FNAC), Ziehl-Neelsen staining of aspirate, GeneXpert Nucleic acid amplification test (TBNAAT), biopsy and immunohistochemistry before arriving at a provisional diagnosis by hematoxylin-eosin staining of additional deeper sections. Additional information obtained by TBNAAT is whether the isolated strain is sensitive to Rifampicin. Emergence of multidrug resistance tuberculosis (resistance to rifampicin and INH) and extensively drug resistant strains implying resistance to fluoroquinolones and second-line injectable drugs can be a huge problem in the management of the disease. She is now under treatment and follow up. This case report highlights that caseation necrosis on FNAC even in the absence of acid-fast bacilli and a negative TBNAAT is strongly suggestive of tuberculous aetiology and may be used for initiating definitive treatment. A comparison of results of ZN stain of aspirate with TBNAAT for 22 cases of clinically suspected TBLN is also brought out

A para-virtualization technique to improve the performance of cross-platform emulation

A cross platform system emulator is a hyper-visor which can emulate a source ISA (Instruction Set Architecture) platform on a different target ISA platform. Since the source instruction cannot be executed directly on the target system, each CPU instruction of the source platform should be converted to one or more target instructions. This incurs additional overhead, thus reducing the overall performance. In this paper we propose a solution to improve the performance of cross platform emulators that use a binary translator to translate a guest ISA to a target ISA. The solution para-virtualizes hot guest functions by invoking a more efficient host native code instead of translated guest code

Evaluation of the activity of CYP2C19 in Gujrati and Marwadi subjects living in Mumbai (Bombay)

BACKGROUND: Inherited differences in the metabolism and disposition of drugs, and genetic polymorphisms in the targets of drug therapy (e.g., receptors), can greatly influence efficacy and toxicity of medications. Marked interethnic differences in CYP2C19 (a member of the cytochrome P-450 enzyme superfamily catalyzing phase I drug metabolism) which affects the metabolism of a number of clinically important drugs have been documented. The present study evaluated the activity of CYP2C19 in normal, healthy Gujrati and Marwadi subjects by phenotyping (a western Indian population). METHODS: All subjects received 20 mg of omeprazole, which was followed by blood collection at 3 hrs to estimate the metabolic ratio of omeprazole to 5-hydroxyomeprazole. The analysis was done by HPLC. RESULTS: It was seen that 10.36% of this population were poor metabolizers(PM) whereas 89.63% were extensive metabolizers(EM). CONCLUSION: A genotyping evaluation would better help in identifying population specific genotypes and thus help individualize drug therapy

Development of a photosynthesis model with an emphasis on ecological applications

A theoretical description of the simultaneous processes of photosynthesis and photorespiration in a single leaf is developed, based on the hypothesis that carbon dioxide and oxygen compete for the active site of ribulose diphosphate carboxylase. Michaelis-Menten kinetics and competitive inhibition at the end of a diffusion path provide the basic structure of the model. Data of Ludwig (1972) from sunflower are analyzed according to the formulation. This description is part of a more general physiological-ecological model of photosynthesis presented previously (Tenhunen et al., 1976a, b) and continues to elaborate sub-processes in terms of physiologically meaningful parameters. The description is considered a working hypothesis. Data on photorespiration from the literature are reviewed as they relate to this working hypothesis. Several lines of investigation are thereby suggested that will help clarify the role of photorespiration in whole leaf photosynthesis and determine the over-all utility of this modeling approach.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47718/1/442_2005_Article_BF01833627.pd