Analysis of rule-based and shallow statistical models for COVID-19 cough detection for a preliminary diagnosis

Coronavirus pandemic that has spread all over the world, is one of its kind in the recent past, that has mobilized researchers in areas such as (not limited to) pre-screening solutions, contact tracing, vaccine developments, and crowd estimation. Pre-screening using symptoms identification, cough classification, and contact tracing mobile applications gained significant popularity during the initial outbreak of the pandemic. Audio recordings of coughing individuals are one of the sources that can help in the pre-screening of COVID-19 patients. This research focuses on quantitative analysis of covid cough classification using audio recordings of coughing individuals. For analysis, we used three different publicly available datasets i.e., COUGHVID, NoCoCoDa, and a self-collected dataset through a web application. We observed that wet cough has more correlation with covid cough as opposed to dry cough. However, the classification model trained with wet and dry coughs, both, has similar test performance as that of the model trained with wet cough samples only. We conclude that audio-signal recordings of coughing individuals have the potential as a pre-screening test for COVID-19

IMPACT OF INNOVATIVNESS ON OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF GOVERONMENT LEVEL COMPANIES (GLCs): A MODERATING ROLE OF INCENTIVE SCHEMES

Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) is not a new strategy of fostering a firm’s performance and to increase customer satisfaction and market share, espoused by striving firms. However, studies on the effect of CE on the performance of GLCs are not common in literature, especially in the eastern world. The literature strongly indicates the requirement of more workable models of CE for GLCs in Pakistan, due to dearth in existing studies on the subject. Hence, the aim of this study is to gauge the impact of the most compelling element of CE on the operational performance of GLCs. This study has also been supplemented with the moderating role of incentive schemes in order to effectively gauge the motivational aspect in CE of GLCs. The analysis has been made through SMART PLS and structural equational modelling was used as the tool of analysis. Analysis indicated that innovation is perceived as one of the prime tools that may affect operational performance, although GLCs have different compensation structures and thus does not seem to be affecting the relationship of innovativeness and operational performance of GLCs

IMPACT OF INNOVATIVNESS ON OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF GOVERONMENT LEVEL COMPANIES (GLCs): A MODERATING ROLE OF INCENTIVE SCHEMES

Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) is not a new strategy of fostering a firm’s performance and to increase customer satisfaction and market share, espoused by striving firms. However, studies on the effect of CE on the performance of GLCs are not common in literature, especially in the eastern world. The literature strongly indicates the requirement of more workable models of CE for GLCs in Pakistan, due to dearth in existing studies on the subject. Hence, the aim of this study is to gauge the impact of the most compelling element of CE on the operational performance of GLCs. This study has also been supplemented with the moderating role of incentive schemes in order to effectively gauge the motivational aspect in CE of GLCs. The analysis has been made through SMART PLS and structural equational modelling was used as the tool of analysis. Analysis indicated that innovation is perceived as one of the prime tools that may affect operational performance, although GLCs have different compensation structures and thus does not seem to be affecting the relationship of innovativeness and operational performance of GLCs

LEGAL PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF WOMEN IN AZAD JAMMU AND KASHMIR

This article focuses on legal perspectives of women’s social and economic status in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The bulk of international human rights  instruments provide that human rights are available to ‘everyone’ as grounded in Universal Declaration of human rights (UDHR), (1948) and other human rights instruments. In relation to women, economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights are specifically grounded in UDHR, Women’s Convention and the International Covenant of Economic, social and cultural rights (ICESCR), (1966). In this context, this paper analyses relevant provisions of women’s rights in order to highlight obligations of AJK pertaining to protection of ESC rights. It discusses the ESC status of women with linkage to Millennium development goals (MDGs). It aims to discuss that what are socio-economic conditions of women in AJK? Is there any pattern of vulner-ability in this respect? In general, ESC rights are considered as mere aspirations and goals therefore the Maastricht guidelines are also formulated. The argument developed throughout article is that though AJK is not a State but is state-like entity and has its human rights obligations, in particular, ESC obligations for promotion and protection of women. The women in AJK are vulnerable and may be empowered by promotion of ESC rights. Keywords: ESC rights, women in AJK, human right

Uncovering RNA binding proteins associated with age and gender during liver maturation

In the present study, we perform an association analysis focusing on the expression changes of 1344 RNA Binding proteins (RBPs) as a function of age and gender in human liver. We identify 88 and 45 RBPs to be significantly associated with age and gender respectively. Experimental verification of several of the predicted associations in mice confirmed our findings. Our results suggest that a small fraction of the gender-associated RBPs (~40%) are expressed higher in males than females. Altogether, these observations show that several of these RBPs are important and conserved regulators in maintaining liver function. Further analysis of the protein interaction network of RBPs associated with age and gender based on the centrality measures like degree, betweenness and closeness revealed that several of these RBPs might be prominent players in aging liver and impart gender specific alterations in gene expression via the formation of protein complexes. Indeed, both age and gender-associated RBPs in liver were found to show significantly higher clustering coefficients and network centrality measures compared to non-associated RBPs. The compendium of RBPs and this study will help us gain insight into the role of post-transcriptional regulatory molecules in aging and gender specific expression of genes

RELATIONSHIP OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT; A CASE STUDY OF HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS

Purpose: This study explored the relationship between learning ambiance and academic attainment of health and physical education students at secondary school level. Methods: A survey of 800 (males=400; females=400) randomly selected from 40 secondary schools was conducted to collect the required information. However, after elimination of some spoilt questionnaires; the researchers finally used 768 valid questionnaires for data analysis. Results: The analyzed information stated that the current student teaching and learning facilities in the chosen region were discovered not up to the mark, so these facilities have an adverse effect on learners, academics. Therefore, a major portion from both the groups of gender fell in the category of low achievement. Conclusion: The findings of the study also revealed   girls reporting lesser academic achievement might be due to societal norms and domestic pressure. Recommendations: The findings of the study may help the teachers to work in collaboration with their respective head of the institution to establish an arsenal of strategies that could inoculate students against low and average academic achievements by providing a conducive to learning environmen

GSM Based Smart Distribution System

Nontechnical losses (NTL) during transmission of electrical energy are a main problem in developing countries. It is so complicated for the utility companies to detect and fight the people responsible for the theft. Electricity theft forms a main chunk of non technical losses (NTL). These losses affect the quality of supply, increase load on the generating station, and affect tariff forced on actual consumers. This paper shows some common methods used by consumers for electricity theft and also proposes an architectural distribution system for theft detection using GSM based smart energy meter. The Inspiration of this work is to detect illegal consumers, preserve and successfully utilize energy. As well as smart meters are proposed to provide automatic readings/data of dissimilar parameters related to instantaneous power consumption via GSM. It will reduce the laborious task and financial expenditure by adopting the automatic meter reading instead of the manual meter reading process and bill data entry process.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v2i5.155

A Study on the Prevalence of Human Values in Software Engineering Publications, 2015-2018

Failure to account for human values in software (e.g., equality and fairness) can result in user dissatisfaction and negative socio-economic impact. Engineering these values in software, however, requires technical and methodological support throughout the development life cycle. This paper investigates to what extent software engineering (SE) research has considered human values. We investigate the prevalence of human values in recent (2015 - 2018) publications at some of the top-tier SE conferences and journals. We classify SE publications, based on their relevance to different values, against a widely used value structure adopted from social sciences. Our results show that: (a) only a small proportion of the publications directly consider values, classified as relevant publications; (b) for the majority of the values, very few or no relevant publications were found; and (c) the prevalence of the relevant publications was higher in SE conferences compared to SE journals. This paper shares these and other insights that motivate research on human values in software engineering

Analysis of Human Gait Cycle with Body Equilibrium based on leg Orientation

Gait analysis identifies the posture during movement in order to provide the correct actions for a normal gait. A person\u27s gait may differ from others and can be recognized by specific patterns. Healthy individuals exhibit normal gait patterns, while lower limb amputees exhibit abnormal gait patterns. To better understand the pitfalls of gait, it is imperative to develop systems capable of capturing the gait patterns of healthy individuals. The main objective of this research was to introduce a new concept in gait analysis by computing the static and dynamic equilibrium in a real-world environment. A relationship was also presented among the parameters stated as static \& dynamic equilibrium, speed, and body states. A sensing unit was installed on the designed metal-based leg mounting assembly on the lateral side of the leg. An algorithm was proposed based on two variables: the position of the leg in space and the angle of the knee joint measured by an IMU sensor and a rotary encoder. It was acceptable to satisfy the static conditions when the body was in a fixed position and orientation, whether lying down or standing. While walking and running, the orientation is determined by the position and knee angle variables, which fulfill the dynamic condition. High speed reveals a rapid change in orientation, while slow speed reveals a slow change in orientation. The proposed encoder-based feedback system successfully determined the flexion at 47$^\circ$, extension at 153$^\circ$, and all seven gait cycle phases were recognized within this range of motion. Body equilibrium facilitates individuals when they are at risk of falling or slipping