Time-constrained nature-inspired optimization algorithms for an efficient energy management system in smart homes and buildings

This paper proposes two bio-inspired heuristic algorithms, the Moth-Flame Optimization (MFO) algorithm and Genetic Algorithm (GA), for an Energy Management System (EMS) in smart homes and buildings. Their performance in terms of energy cost reduction, minimization of the Peak to Average power Ratio (PAR) and end-user discomfort minimization are analysed and discussed. Then, a hybrid version of GA and MFO, named TG-MFO (Time-constrained Genetic-Moth Flame Optimization), is proposed for achieving the aforementioned objectives. TG-MFO not only hybridizes GA and MFO, but also incorporates time constraints for each appliance to achieve maximum end-user comfort. Different algorithms have been proposed in the literature for energy optimization. However, they have increased end-user frustration in terms of increased waiting time for home appliances to be switched ON. The proposed TG-MFO algorithm is specially designed for nearly-zero end-user discomfort due to scheduling of appliances, keeping in view the timespan of individual appliances. Renewable energy sources and battery storage units are also integrated for achieving maximum end-user benefits. For comparison, five bio-inspired heuristic algorithms, i.e., Genetic Algorithm (GA), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA), Firefly Algorithm (FA) and Moth-Flame Optimization (MFO), are used to achieve the aforementioned objectives in the residential sector in comparison with TG-MFO. The simulations through MATLAB show that our proposed algorithm has reduced the energy cost up to 32.25% for a single user and 49.96% for thirty users in a residential sector compared to unscheduled load

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CROP WATER DEMAND AND IRRIGATION WATER SUPPLY AT PABBI MINOR OF WARSAK GRAVITY CANAL

The research study was conducted on irrigation water supply and demand at Pabbi minor of Warsak gravity canal from June to August 1998. Objectives of the research were to assess the actual supply of irrigation water, irrigation water demand of major crops, and comparison between water supply and demand for all the outlets of Pabbi minor. Actual irrigation supply was determined by cutthroam flumes. Cropping pattern was determined by interviewing the farmers by making use of proformas developed for that purpose.Cropping pattern, evapotranspiration, sanctioned discharge, fallow, water demand, water supply

Collaborative Research in Economics in Pakistan: The Case of Pakistan Development Review from 1973 to 2009

ABSTRACT The pattern of collaborative authorship (extent of international collaboration and degree of collaboration) and institutional affiliation in the papers of the Pakistan Development Review were determined by using bibliometric techniques. The sample used was the papers published during 1973-2009. Of the 1627 papers, 723 (44.44%) were the result of collaborative effort. International collaboration was observed only in 94 papers. The degree of collaboration was 0.44 as a whole and the year-wise calculated degree ranged between 0.13 and 0.76. The year 2009 was the most productive year in terms of collaborative research

Information Literacy among Faculty members in the Public Sector Medical Colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan

Purpose of the study: This study aims to evaluate faculty members\u27 information literacy skills in public sector medical colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Design/Methodology/approach: The descriptive research design was used to conduct and accomplish the study\u27s objectives. The research population consisted of faculty members at public sector medical colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa southern region. Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Lecturers, and demonstrators comprise the faculty. The adapted questionnaires of (Jan & Bahtti, 2018; Ullah, 2015; Sharma & Lata, 2019; and Rafique, 2014) were modified and used as data collection instrument. Key findings: Majority of the public sector medical college faculty recognizes the various sources of information, and they use both printed and online materials to identify needed information. The majority of faculty at these medical colleges consults monographs/textbooks regularly, preceded by online journals/medical databases. A good number of medical faculty members opted to use the HEC digital library to locate and access their contents. Delimitations of the study: This study is delimited to three public sector medical colleges operate in southern districts: of Khyber Medical University Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Kohat, the Gomal Medical College (GMC) in Dera Ismail Khan, and the Bannu Medical College (BMC) in Bannu. Practical implication(s): The findings of the study will motivate the policy makers and authorities of these three medical colleges in southern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to enhance the information literacy skills of medical faculty. This practice will result into an effective medical education in the province. Contribution to the knowledge: No significant work has been done on the Faculty\u27s Information literacy skills at public sector medical colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.. This study will add valuable literature to literary world

APOBEC3G Variant (rs6001417) CG and GG Genotypes and their protective feature against HIV-1 Infection in Pakistani Dwelled Community

Background: APOBEC3G (Apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like 3G) gene is one of the genetic host factors, have been linked with HIV-1 AIDS predisposing and protection in different residence populations. The investigation of genetic marker (APOBEC3G) variant (rs6001417) CC, CG and GG genotypes in Pakistan.Methods: The extraction of DNA, the DNA Rapid Salting-out method was used. Then the observed DNA with electrophoresis technique referred for quantitative real-time PCR to identify the APOBEC3G variant rs6001417 genotypes and Taq Man genotyping.  Results: Three genotypes of rs6001417 (CC, CG and GG) were compared both in HIV-1 infected patients and healthy control groups (p=0.73, p=0.007, p=0.01 respectively). The rs6001417 CG and GG genotype demonstrated a significant involvement in both the healthy and infected individuals and portraying possible protective effect against HIV-1 infection with predictive value of 36.43% and 13.57% respectively.Conclusion: APOBEC3G (rs6001417) CG and GG genotypes may have a protective feature in the progression of HIV-1 infection and we may use this as a preliminary predictive marker in the country for HIV-1 infected individuals as well.Keywords: HIV-1; APOBEC3G; Predictive marker; Predictive value; Real-time PC

An efficient energy management in office using bio-inspired energy optimization algorithms

Energy is one of the valuable resources in this biosphere. However, with the rapid increase of the population and increasing dependency on the daily use of energy due to smart technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT), the existing resources are becoming scarce. Therefore, to have an optimum usage of the existing energy resources on the consumer side, new techniques and algorithms are being discovered and used in the energy optimization process in the smart grid (SG). In SG, because of the possibility of bi-directional power flow and communication between the utility and consumers, an active and optimized energy scheduling technique is essential, which minimizes the end-user electricity bill, reduces the peak-to-average power ratio (PAR) and reduces the frequency of interruptions. Because of the varying nature of the power consumption patterns of consumers, optimized scheduling of energy consumption is a challenging task. For the maximum benefit of both the utility and consumers, to decide whether to store, buy or sale extra energy, such active environmental features must also be taken into consideration. This paper presents two bio-inspired energy optimization techniques; the grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA) and bacterial foraging algorithm (BFA), for power scheduling in a single office. It is clear from the simulation results that the consumer electricity bill can be reduced by more than 34.69% and 37.47%, while PAR has a reduction of 56.20% and 20.87% with GOA and BFA scheduling, respectively, as compared to unscheduled energy consumption with the day-ahead pricing (DAP) scheme

Male predominant association with Apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like 3G variants (rs6001417, rs35228531, rs8177832) predict protection against HIV-1 infection

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, it is a global health concern mainly lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). There are numerous limitations of this infection particularly in the form of host factors which may limit and interfere HIV-1 replication. The most notable host factors which hinder HIV-1 DNA propagation is the apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide- like 3G (APOBEC3G). Any genetic polymorphism of this substantial host factor may impact the host susceptibility pattern to HIV viral infection in different part of the world. The aim of this study to examine genetic variants (rs6001417, rs35228531, rs8177832) effecting HIV-1 infection.Method: Three variants of APOBEC3G gene polymorphism were genotyped while using RT-PCR method. Frequency distribution of these genotypes was evaluated in both the HIV-1 and healthy group.Results: The rs6001417 CG (p = 0.03) and rs35228531 CT (p = 0.01) genotypes were found as protective elements, while rs35228531 TT (p = 0.02) and rs8177832 AA (p = 0.03) genotypes had shown susceptibility against the HIV-1 infection. Our data suggest, rs35228531 CT (p = 0.003) and rs8177832 AA (P = <0.001) genotypes have predominant incidences in HIV-1 male population than healthy control.Conclusion: We predict rs6001417 CG, rs35228531 CT as protective and rs35228531 TT, rs8177832 AA genotypes as a predisposing tool, against the HIV-1 infection in a section of Pakistani population. In addition, male gender was found predominantly high in both protective genotype rs35228531 CT (p = 0.003) and predisposing genotype rs8177832 AA (p = <0.001). The predominant contribution may help the patient to be predict about the status of HIV infection, however, extra efforts are required to study larger cohort of patients to better elucidate the association

Reliability and Validity of Scales Assessing Anxiety Associated with Information Related Tasks: A Systematic Review

This research carried out a systematic review of the evidence of reliability and validity of scales available in studies reporting surveys of individuals to assess anxiety associated with information related tasks such as library anxiety, information seeking anxiety, and information anxiety. A systematic search using keywords ‘library anxiety’, ‘information anxiety’, \u27information seeking anxiety\u27, and \u27information seeking\u27 AND \u27anxiety\u27 was carried in Web of Science, Scopus, LISA, and LISTA to identify the relevant literature. This review included those studies reporting the use of any scale assessing information related anxiety, and published in the English language, and included all type of documents (e.g. journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, thesis/dissertations, reports). The two-phase screening process, title/abstract screening, and full-text screening resulted in 85 eligible studies reviewed in this paper. The data extracted from each eligible study included author names, year of publication, scale title, type of constructed assessed, sample characteristics, number of items in the scale, types of reliability and validity reported. The results revealed that most of the empirical studies did not report the reliability and validity of scales used for data collection. Eight instruments assessing information related anxieties were identified. These scales were heterogeneous in the number of statements and subscales and homogenous in the type of scale options. An internal consistency coefficient such as Cronbach\u27s alpha was the widely used reliability measure. Face validity, content validity, and construct validity either through exploratory factor analysis or confirmatory factor analysis were the most used validity measures. These results quite had serious implications on the inferences drawn by the practitioners and researchers based on the results of existing studies. The use of good-quality measures for assessing information related anxieties needs to be promoted not only by academicians but also by journal referees and editors. This review would be a worthy contribution in the existing research on information related anxieties as no such study appeared so far in this area

Association of anti C1q and ds-DNA levels with the pathogenesis of Lupus Nephritis among SLE patients

Background: Lupus nephritis (LN) is the most common and serious complication associated with SLE and it results in significant morbidity and mortality. It is known by several studies that patients of LN have higher levels of anti-dsDNA and anti-C1q compared with SLE patients without renal involvement. The current study was designed to determine and compare the level of anti-dsDNA and anti-C1q in patients of SLE with and without lupus nephritis in the Pakistani population. This current study was also aimed at providing proof that anti-C1q levels are more prominent in LN/non-LN SLE as compared to anti-dsDNA. This project may help in the determination of results in Pakistan and contribute to the further confirmation of the sensitivity of anti-C1q.Method: The patient samples were collected from Sheikh Zayed hospital, Lahore. These patients were clinically diagnosed by the Rheumatologists as SLE and LN positive on the basis of ACR and SLEDAI scoring criteria. This study was performed and samples were analyzed in the Department of Medical and Laboratory Sciences, Imperial College of Business Study, Lahore on the patient’s serum by ELISA technique.Result: About 38% (12) patients with LN were positive for anti-dsDNA and 31% (9) SLE patients without LN were positive whereas about 38.7% (12) were anti-dsDNA negative in LN cases and 58.6% (17) in SLE without LN. In case of anti-C1q 100% (31) of these LN patients were positive and 93.1% (27) patients SLE without LN showed positive anti C1q results. Only 6.9% (2) patients showed negative results for anti-C1q in LN negative patientsConclusion: The higher levels of anti-C1q suggest that it may be a better diagnostic marker for LN than that of anti-dsDNA and that it can be helpful in the prognosis of SLE patients