Agent-based models for residential energy consumption and intervention simulation

The increase in energy consumption in buildings has gained global concern due to its negative implications on the environment. A major part of this increase is attributed to human behavioural energy waste, which has triggered the development of energy simulation models. These models are used to analyse energy consumption in buildings, study the effect of human behaviour and test the effectiveness of energy interventions. However, existing models are limited in simulating realistic and detailed human dynamics, including occupant interaction with appliances, with each other or with energy interventions. This detailed interaction is important when simulating and studying behavioural energy waste. To overcome the limitations of existing models, this thesis proposes a complete layered Agent-Based Model (ABM) composed of three layers / models. The daily behaviour model simulates realistic and detailed behaviour of occupants by integrating a Probabilistic Model (PM) in the ABM. The peer pressure model simulates family-level peer pressure effect on the energy consumption of the house. This model is underpinned using well established human behaviour theories by Leon Festinger – informal social communication theory, social comparison theory and cognitive dissonance theory. The messaging intervention model implements and tests a novel messaging intervention that is proposed in the thesis along with the complete ABM. The intervention is a middle solution between the abstract data presented by existing energy feedback systems and the automated approach followed by existing energy management systems. Therefore, it detects and sends energy waste incidents to occupants who are allowed to take control of their devices. The proposed intervention is tested in the messaging intervention model, which takes advantage of the two other proposed models. The undertaken experiments showed that the model is able to overcome the limitations of exiting models by simulating realistic and detailed human behaviour dynamics. Besides, the experiments showed that the model can be used by policy makers to decide how to target family members to achieve optimal energy saving, thus addressing the world’s concern about increased energy consumption levels

Antibacterial activity of Moringa oleifera methanolic leaves extracts against some Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial isolates

Background: Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) found to be very useful tree in tropical countries. In folklore and Ayurvedic all parts of the tree used in different healing procedures for different diseases. The plant leaves are very good nutrient supplement for malnutrition and also used as an antibiotic. Methods: Phytochemical analysis of the leaf in solvents of varying polarity; viz., Aqueous and Methanol were also carried out. The phytochemical screening indicated the presence of phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides etc. Results: The antibacterial activity of Moringa oleifera leaf extracts against four microorganisms, viz. Escherichia coli, Shigella Staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus, The Methanolic extract was active against E.coli, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus whereas the aqueous extract exhibited an inhibitory effect on Pneumonia, E. coli and Shigella only at different zone of inhibition levels of extracts. Well diffusion method was used to assess the antibacterial effect of the extracts on both Gram positive and Gram negative micro-organisms. Moreover, the statistically, results were not significant at both 1% and 5% level of significances. Conclusion: It became obvious that, the higher reducing power of the aqueous extract could be due to the better solubility of the antioxidant components in water whereas the predominant antibacterial activity in organic solvent extracts as compared to aqueous extracts, indicated that the active components responsible for the bactericidal activity are more soluble in organic solvents. This study provided an evidence to support traditional medicinal uses of the plant

A Non-intrusive Heuristic for Energy Messaging Intervention Modelled using a Novel Agent-based Approach

In response to the increased energy consumption in residential buildings, various efforts have been devoted to increase occupant awareness using energy feedback systems. However, it was shown that feedback provided by these systems is not enough to inform occupant actions to reduce energy consumption. Another approach is to control energy consumption using automated energy management systems. The automatic control of appliances takes-out the occupant sense of control, which is proved to be uncomfortable in many cases. This paper proposes an energy messaging intervention that keeps the control for occupants whilst supporting them with actionable messages. The messages inform occupants about energy waste incidents happening in their house in real-time, which enables occupants to take actions to reduce their consumption. Besides, a heuristic is defined to make the intervention non-intrusive by controlling the rate and time of the messages sent to occupants. The proposed intervention is evaluated in a novel layered agentbased model. The first layer of the model generates detailed energy consumption and realistic occupant activities. The second layer is designed to simulate the peer pressure effect on the energy consumption behaviour of the individuals. The third layer is a customisable layer that simulates energy interventions. The implemented intervention in this paper is the proposed non-intrusive messaging intervention. A number of scenarios are presented in the experiments to show how the model can be used to evaluate the proposed intervention and achieve energy efficiency targets

Employee Engagement in Turbulent Times: The Case of a Pharmaceutical Organisation in Lebanon

To survive in a competitive world, organisations depend on their employees. Previous studies showed that engaging employees increases productivity and drives organisational success. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory thesis was to investigate the phenomenon of employee engagement in a pharmaceutical organisation in Beirut, Lebanon. This study aims to understand how employee engagement is defined by participants in the selected organisation. Another aim is to explore employee engagement strategies implemented by PHARM from managers’ perspectives. Also, the drivers of employee engagement from employees’ perspectives were explored. This study applied qualitative methodology based on constructivist grounded theory as an epistemological perspective guiding a single case study approach. Five managers and twenty employees working in different departments in PHARM participated in face to face semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data revealed three themes: multifaceted employee engagement definition, strategies of employee engagement, and drivers of employee engagement. Some factors that affect negatively employee engagement include work load, time flexibility, favoritism, unfairness and mistrust. The contribution of this study to theory includes a new definition of employee engagement using Macey and Schneider (2008) conceptual model. The contribution to practice includes the construction of a model of employee engagement drivers that would help PHARM engage their employees. Further quantitative research is recommended on the topic of employee engagement definitions, strategies and drivers in the Lebanese pharmaceutical sector in order to support the research findings

An Analysis Approach for Context-Aware Energy Feedback Systems

Several energy systems have been developed and studied to help occupants reduce energy usage by providing feedback about their consumption. But recently, a major challenge has emerged about how to enable users to make informed energy efficiency decisions based on consumption feedback. This is because existing systems only present abstract consumption data that are not related to the surrounding energy consumption context. This paper proposes a novel energy data analysis approach which leverages context-awareness to support users to take actions that improve energy efficiency. The approach consists of two stages: multidimensional analysis followed by case-based reasoning. The anticipated output of the analysis approach will be understandable and actionable feedback that helps occupants control their energy consumption

Defining Context for Home Electricity Feedback Systems

Existing electricity feedback systems provide home occupants with real-time consumption data to enable them to control their consumption. However, these systems provide abstract consumption data that is not related to the occupants surrounding. Although there are some attempts to enrich consumption data with some context information, the presented feedback is not enough to inform decisions of how to conserve electricity. Therefore, this paper provides a rich definition of electricity consumption context, which can be used to provide sensible feedback to users. The obtained context elements can be categorized into three context types: User Context, Appliances Context, and Environment Context. Finally, different implications for the application of a context-aware feedback system are presented showing how the obtained context definition could be used to provide understandable feedback

Botanical Overview and Chemical Composition of some Grewia spp. “Gudeim plant” in Sudan

This research is conducted to study the Taxonomy of the genus Grewia in Sudan. The chemical compositions of fruits of four species of Grewia in Sudan have been studied. These species were: G.tenax, G.villosa, G.flavescens and G.mollis. This plant has a common vernacular Sudanese Arabic name: "Gudeim". It is mainly cultivated in Milleit and Kutum (North Darfur-Western Sudan). Common uses of Grewia species were overviewed in areas of nutrition, folk medicine and famine food. Fruits of the four Grewia species components were chemically analyzed for content of: ash, moisture, proteins, fats, fibers, carbohydrates, reducing sugars, sucrose, minerals (potassium, iron and phosphorus), vitamin C and anti-nutritional factors (tannins and phytate). International methodologies for chemical measurements had been used. The results of chemical analysis were statistically analyzed via Duncan's New Multiple Range Test (DNMRT). The results of morphological characteristics and the chemical components were used to construct taxonomic keys. The study found a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) among the 4 Grewia species in all of the studied chemical components