An Empirical Analysis on Software Development Efforts Estimation in Machine Learning Perspective

The prediction of effort estimation is a vital factor in the success of any software development project. The available of expert systems for the software effort estimation supports in minimization of effort and cost for every software project at same time leads to timely completion and proper resource management of the project. This article supports software project managers and decision makers by providing the state-of-the-art empirical analysis of effort estimation methods based on machine learning approaches. In this paper ?ve machine learning techniques; polynomial linear regression, ridge regression, decision trees, support vector regression and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) are investigated for the purpose software development effort estimation by using bench mark publicly available data sets. The empirical performance of machine learning methods for software effort estimation is investigated on seven standard data sets i.e. Albretch, Desharnais, COCOMO81, NASA, Kemerer, China and Kitchenham. Furthermore, the performance of software effort estimation approaches are evaluated statistically applying the performance metrics i.e. MMRE, PRED (25), R2-score, MMRE, Pred(25). The empirical results reveal that the decision tree-based techniques on Deshnaris, COCOMO, China and kitchenham data sets produce more adequate results in terms of all three-performance metrics. On the Albretch and nasa datasets, the ridge regression method outperformed then other techniques except pred(25) metric where decision trees performed better

Women Health in Rural Pakistan in Millennium Development Goals Perspectives

This aim of this research was to study the situation of different Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) indicators at the gross root level in Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. For this primary data were collected with the help of pre-designed questionnaires through face to face interview from 60 randomly households head. The data was analysed by using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. Main finding revealed that majority and statistically significant respondents not using any contraceptive methods. Majority of the respondents have no deliveries in their homes ended in last 3 years and there was no significant difference in the percent distribution of the respondents in the selected villages regarding this. Maternal health care, births attendant status and immunization of children against EPI are not up to the mark. Knowledge about HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, DM is at maximum. The study recommends for social campaign/awareness, births control at the household’s level, training of more skillful persons having specialty in the maternal health care, immunization of children of less than 2 years about the different contagious diseases. Keywords: Maternal health, HIV/AIDS preventions, MDG

ASSESSMENT OF RADIOLOGICAL HEALING IN ELDERLY HIP FRACTURES FIXED WITH INTRAMEDULLARY VERSUS EXTRAMEDULLARY IMPLANTS AT THREE MONTHS

OBJECTIVE: To compare the radiological healing in elderly patients with hip fractures fixed with intramedullary versus extramedullary implants at 3 months by using Radiological Union Score for Hip (RUSH score). METHODS: This quasi-experimental study was conducted at Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar from September 2020 to March 2021, in elderly patients (50-80 years) with hip fractures. Out of 238 patients, 119 were non-randomly assigned to Group-A undergoing intra- medullary implants and 119 to Group-B undergoing fixation with an extra-medullary implant. After the surgery, the patients were followed up periodically at 2nd week, 6th week and 12th week after surgery and assessed for radiological healing through RUSH score. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 23. RESULTS: Out of 238 patients, 96 were males and 142 were females. In Group-A, 51 (42.9%) were males and 68 (57.1%) were females. In Group-B, 45 (37.8%) were males and 74 (62.2%) were females. Majority (n=135/238: 56.72%) were aging from 50-60 years. Mean±SD of age was 63.1±8.8 years and 61.7±8.1 years in Group-A & Group-B respectively. Mean±SD of RUSH score in Group-A & Group-B was 19.50±6.92 and 22.51±5.60 respectively. Mean RUSH score for males in Group-A and Group-B was 21.52±6.39 and 22.33±6.99 (p=0.354) and for females in Group-A and Group-B was 19.36±7.33 and 22.18±5.75 (p=0.025) respectively. Median and IQR of RUSH score in Group-A & Group-B was 21±10 and 23±8 respectively (p=0.069). CONCLUSION: There was statistically insignificant difference in median RUSH score with use of either intramedullary or extramedullary implants in the management of hip fractures

Agro-morphological and genetic diversity studies in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) germplasm using microsatellite markers

Background Knowledge of the genetic diversity and population structure of germplasm collections is an important foundation for crop improvement. Rice production across a broad range of rice-growing environments results in a diverse array of local rice varieties. Many rice varieties have been lost as a result of biodiversity loss and are now grown in Pakistan. Methods and results To protect the biodiversity of rice varieties, an experiment was carried out to check the genetic and morphological variations between 8 exotic and 7 local rice genotypes, using 5 different SSR markers, i.e., RM3, RM259, RM341, RM520, and RM11943. The analysis of morphological and quality traits of rice observed significant variation across genotypes. The results revealed that genotype Irri-Pak attained the highest plant height and primary branch plant-1, while genotype Mushkan produced a higher number of productive tillers and obtained a higher fertility factor (%). Similarly, the highest value for panicle length was observed for genotype Faker-e-Malakand, 1000-grains weight in genotype Calmochi, and maximum days to maturity was noticed in genotype Swati-2014. Moreover, the genotype Brio attained the highest value of stem diameter, while maximum seed length was noted in the genotype Sug Dasi. The highest number of primary branches plant(-1) in genotype Ibge-I and secondary branches plant(-1) in genotype Calmochi were noticed. A higher concentration of sodium and potassium was observed for the genotype Marte, while the genotype Muskan attained the maximum content of copper. Moreover, the highest concentration of iron in genotype Originario, zinc in genotype JP-5, and cadmium content were noticed in genotype Ibge. Similarly, the dendrogram analysis for quantitative parameters showed three clusters at 74.13% similarities. Whereas all the genotypes of European origin formed a separate cluster. A set of 5 simple sequence repeat primers, covering four chromosomes, amplified a total of 14 alleles and showed 100% polymorphism with an average PIC value ranging from 0.39 to 0.91. The UPGMA cluster analysis separated the 15 rice genotypes into 3 main groups based on 32.5% similarities and the highest genetic distance (45.1%) was observed between two genotypes (Fakher-e-malakand and Musa), having different geographical origins. There was no genetic distance between the genotypes Marte and Brio, irrespective of having the same origin. Conclusions The maximum genetic distances were noted for genotype, Fakhre-e-Malakand and Musa having a different origin, while the minimum genetic distance was shown by genotypes, Marte and Onice, from the same origin.Peer reviewe

Bovine Theileriosis: Prevalence, Estimation of Hematological Profile and Chemotherapy in Cattle in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan

Theileriosis in cattle is one of the major constraints to the development of livestock enterprise in Pakistan and in most parts of the world. The disease causing agent is transmitted by Ixodid ticks having complicated life cycle. Prominent signs exhibited by cattle are; anorexia, fever, enlarged lymph nodes, occulonasal discharges and diarrhoea. The current study was planned to investigate the prevalence of theileriosis in cattle in and around district Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. For the determination of prevalence of theileriosis, a total of 384 animals, as calculated through statistical method, of different age and sex groups were screened. For detection of Theileria parasite, blood samples were collected from peripheral veins and microscopic examination of Giemsa stained blood smears revealed 14.32% (55/384) prevalence of Theileria parasite in cattle.For hematological investigations, blood samples were collected from jugular veins of 55 affected animals in ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) coated vacutainers and complete blood count (CBC) was estimated through standard procedures. The hematology revealed significant (p<0.05) reduction in the RBCs count, haemoglobin level and packed cell volume i.e. 3.28x106/μL, 5.32 g/dL and 20.98%, respectively. For chemotherapy, positive animals were treated with the combination of buparvaquone @2.5mg/Kg and oxytetracycline @10mg/kg body weight. The efficacy of the treatment was estimated in terms of number of positive animals 5 days post treatment showing 92.72% (51/55) treatment efficacy

Heat Transport Phenomena for the Darcy–Forchheimer Flow of Casson Fluid over Stretching Sheets with Electro-Osmosis Forces and Newtonian Heating

In this study, an investigation has been carried out to analyze the impact of electro-osmotic effects on the Darcy–Forchheimer flow of Casson nanofluid past a stretching sheet. The energy equation was modelled with the inclusion of electro-osmotic effects with viscous and Joule dissipations. The governing system of partial differential equations were transformed by using the suitable similarity transformations to a system of ordinary differential equations and then numerically solved by using the Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method with a shooting scheme. The effects of various parameters of interest on dimensionless velocity and temperature distributions, as well as skin friction and heat transfer coefficient, have been adequately delineated via graphs and tables. A comparison with previous published results was performed, and good agreement was found. The results suggested that the electric and Forchheimer parameters have the tendency to enhance the fluid velocity as well as momentum boundary layer thickness. Enhancements in temperature distribution were observed for growing values of Eckert number. It was also observed that higher values of electric field parameter diminished the wall shear stress and local Nusselt number

Distributed Multi-Agent Approach for Achieving Energy Efficiency and Computational Offloading in MECNs Using Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic

Mobile edge computing networks (MECNs) based on hierarchical cloud computing have the ability to provide abundant resources to support the next-generation internet of things (IoT) network, which relies on artificial intelligence (AI). To address the instantaneous service and computation demands of IoT entities, AI-based solutions, particularly the deep reinforcement learning (DRL) strategy, have been intensively studied in both the academic and industrial fields. However, there are still many open challenges, namely, the lengthening convergence phenomena of the agent, network dynamics, resource diversity, and mode selection, which need to be tackled. A mixed integer non-linear fractional programming (MINLFP) problem is formulated to maximize computing and radio resources while maintaining quality of service (QoS) for every user’s equipment. We adopt the advanced asynchronous advantage actor-critic (A3C) approach to take full advantage of distributed multi-agent-based solutions for achieving energy efficiency in MECNs. The proposed approach, which employs A3C for computing offloading and resource allocation, is shown through numerical results to significantly reduce energy consumption and improve energy efficiency. This method’s effectiveness is further shown by comparing it to other benchmarks

Thermal radiative flux and energy of Arrhenius evaluation on stagnating point flowing of Carreau nanofluid: A thermal case study

This research extends to investigate the effects of activation energy and thermal radiation on mixed convection striation point flow of Carreau liquid toward the stretchable sheet. Heat transport assessment is utilized in the existence of activation energy. For flowing formulations, Carreau substance rheological relationships are used. For modelling and simulation, the Buongiorno nanoliquid model with thermophoretic and Brownian diffusion features is used. The obtained partial differential equation is converted to an ordinary differential equation by utilizing appropriate transmission. The mathematical formulation of the outcoming equation is achieved by utilizing the RK-Fehlberg approach with the bvp4c technique. This assessment illustrates several significant empirical features of flow and heat transport. Numerical simulations are taken for various scales of Hartmann number, temperature ratio parameter, and Schmidt number. The assumption is that the velocity estimation reduces the Hartmann number. The opposite result of the thermal ratio parameter remains valid for the Nusselt effect and temperature curve. Furthermore, the influence of Schmidt quantity on the Sherwood amount and solutal contour are extremely opposite

Efficacy of diode laser in the management of glaucoma following intravitreal silicone oil injection in complicated retinal detachment

Background: Intravitreal silicone oil injection has been used to manage complicated retinal detachment. This study aims to analyse the efficacy of diode laser (TSCPC) in the management of secondary glaucoma following intravitreal silicone oil injection in complex retinal detachment surgery.Methods: The medical records of 58 eyes of 58 patients retrospectively were reviewed. Patients who underwent TSCPC for the management of secondary glaucoma following intravitreal silicone oil injection in complex retinal detachment were included. Procedure performed under local anaesthesia. The laser power was set at 1500-2200 mW for 2 sec. At each follow-up visit, patients went under charting of their IOP measurements with anterior segment and fundus examination. Post procedural follow up visits were carried out as; at 1 week, 1st, 3rdand 6thmonths. The efficacy was measured as reduction in IOP up to ≤20 mmHg without further needs for medications at 6 months.Results: The IOP was reduced up to 19.26±10.15 mmHg. Comparisons of IOP at each interval with pre-treatment showed significant difference with p\u3c0.0001. The efficacy of procedure was achieved in 77.6% patients. Age, gender and pre-operative IOP showed significant association with p\u3c0.05.Conclusions: Diode laser TSCPC was effective and safe in reducing IOP. The IOP decreases gradually over six month follow up. The procedure is simple and cost-effective yet reasonably afforded by patients in low resources population. In spite of the retained intravitreal silicon oil patients with failed medical treatment for uncontrolled IOP can be treated with TSCPS