Faulty sensor detection using data correlation of multivariant sensor reading in smart agriculture with IOT

The Internet of Things (IoT), the idea of getting real-world objects connected with each other, will change the ways we organize, obtain and consume information radically. Through sensor networks, agriculture can be connected to the IoT, which allows us to create connections among agronomists, farmers and crops regardless of their geographical differences. On the other hand, Sensor fault is critical in smart grids, where controllers rely on healthy measurements from different sensors to determine all kinds of operations. However, when sensor fault happens, missing data and/or bad data can flow into control and management systems, which may lead to potential malfunction or even system failures. This brings the need for Sensor Fault Detection and eliminate this potential fault. This thesis proposes to design a Faulty Sensor Detection Mechanism using the data correlation method of multivariate sensors. This method will be applied to the smart agriculture which uses multi-variate sensors such as moisture sensor, temperature sensor and water sensor in IoT. The data are collected and received by a microcontroller which also can be linked to the internet. According to the algorithm, which applied on the smart agriculture, in case, the system gives No FAULT when the correlation value between (temperature, moisture) and (temperature, water) are negative and positive for (Water, moisture). In other cases. The system has a fault in a sensor when the correlation values between sensors are changed. Also, when the sensor gives a constant reading for a long time the system has got a fault in this sensor. The system got No FAULT when was different in sensors reading and the correlation value between (temperature, moisture) is (-0.33), between (temperature, water) is (-0.16) and (moisture, water) is (0.36). In addition, this system will be connected to the internet through the ESP8266 module. In order to surveillance the system at anytime and anywhere, this system is connected with the cloud (Things board) by using an ESP8266 WiFi network connection. This would allow the system to be more efficient and more reliable in detecting and monitoring the system’s parameters such as the state of sensors. The accuracy of the algorithm for data correlation may be changing depending on the application that wants to detect the faulty sensor in the system and according to how many data that income to the microcontroller per minute and how many data should take to calculate the correlation coefficient. Therefore, for the smart agriculture which it's used in this project, the period is adjusted to give a good diagnose for the sensor as soon as possible

Simultaneous Hand Pose and Skeleton Bone-Lengths Estimation from a Single Depth Image

Articulated hand pose estimation is a challenging task for human-computer interaction. The state-of-the-art hand pose estimation algorithms work only with one or a few subjects for which they have been calibrated or trained. Particularly, the hybrid methods based on learning followed by model fitting or model based deep learning do not explicitly consider varying hand shapes and sizes. In this work, we introduce a novel hybrid algorithm for estimating the 3D hand pose as well as bone-lengths of the hand skeleton at the same time, from a single depth image. The proposed CNN architecture learns hand pose parameters and scale parameters associated with the bone-lengths simultaneously. Subsequently, a new hybrid forward kinematics layer employs both parameters to estimate 3D joint positions of the hand. For end-to-end training, we combine three public datasets NYU, ICVL and MSRA-2015 in one unified format to achieve large variation in hand shapes and sizes. Among hybrid methods, our method shows improved accuracy over the state-of-the-art on the combined dataset and the ICVL dataset that contain multiple subjects. Also, our algorithm is demonstrated to work well with unseen images.Comment: This paper has been accepted and presented in 3DV-2017 conference held at Qingdao, China. http://irc.cs.sdu.edu.cn/3dv

The Relationship between Real Wages and Output: Evidence from Pakistan

Information on wage levels is essential in evaluating the living standards and conditions of work and life of the workers. Since nominal wage fails to explain the purchasing power of employees, real wage is considered as a major indicator of employees purchasing power and can be used as proxy for their level of income. Any fluctuations in the real wage rate have a significant impact on poverty and the distribution of income. When used in relation with other economic variables, for instance employment or output they are valuable indicators in the analysis of business cycles. There has been a long debate regarding the relationship between real wages and the employment (output). Despite the apparent simplicity, the relationship between real wages and output has remained deceptive both theoretically and empirically. Keynes (1936) viewed cyclical movements in employment along a stable labour demand schedule thus indicating counter cyclical real wages. His deduction is in line with sticky wages and sticky expectations, which augments models like Phillips curve. In these models real wages behaved as counter-cyclical as nominal wages are slow to adjust during recession (decrease in aggregate demand and associated slowdown in price growth). Stickiness of wages or expectations shifts the labour supply over the business cycles [Abraham and Haltiwanger (1995)]. Barro (1990) and Christiano and Eichenbaum (1992) have associated these labour supply shifts with intertemporal labour-leisure substitution. This in response to temporary changes in real interest rates (fiscal policy shocks) could yield counter-cyclical real wages. However, Long and Plosser (1983) and Kydland and Prescott (1982) while studying the real business cycle models highlight on the technology shocks which leads to pro-cyclical real wages.

The Taylor Rule and the Macroeconomic Performance in Pakistan

A widely agreed proposition in modern economics is that policy rules have greater advantage over discretion in improving economic performance. Simple monetary policy instrument rules are feasible options for developing countries lacking the pre-requisites for more sophisticated targeting rules. Notwithstanding the focus of modern literature on the issue, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has never declared itself to be following any type of rule. Surprisingly, this topic has remained out of research focus (among the academia and the practitioners) in Pakistan. This is the first attempt to deal with a rulebased monetary policy strategy in the case of the SBP. We have estimated the Taylor rule and simulated the economy using this rule as a monetary policy strategy. Our results indicate that the SBP has not been following the Taylor rule. In fact, the actual policy can be taken as an extreme deviation from it. On the other hand, counterfactual simulation confirms that macroeconomic performance can be improved, in terms of stability in inflation and output, when a simple Taylor rule is adopted. In this regard the parameter values (especially the inflation target) in the rule must be set according to the conditions of the economy under consideration rather than by relying on the ones suggested by the Taylor rule.Taylor Rule, Macroeconomic Performance, Counterfactual Simulation

The Taylor Rule and the Macroeconomic Performance in Pakistan

A widely agreed proposition in modern economics is that policy rules have greater advantage over discretion in improving economic performance. Simple monetary policy instrument rules are feasible options for developing countries lacking the pre-requisites for more sophisticated targeting rules. Notwithstanding the focus of modern literature on the issue, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has never declared itself to be following any type of rule. Surprisingly, this topic has remained out of research focus (among the academia and the practitioners) in Pakistan. This is the first attempt to deal with a rule-based monetary policy strategy in the case of the SBP. We have estimated the Taylor rule and simulated the economy using this rule as a monetary policy strategy. Our results indicate that the SBP has not been following the Taylor rule. In fact, the actual policy can be taken as an extreme deviation from it. On the other hand, counterfactual simulation confirms that macroeconomic performance can be improved, in terms of stability in inflation and output, when a simple Taylor rule is adopted. In this regard the parameter values (especially the inflation target) in the rule must be set according to the conditions of the economy under consideration rather than by relying on the ones suggested by the Taylor rule.Taylor Rule, Macroeconomic Performance, Counterfactual Simulation

Revisiting and re-representing scaffolding: The two gradient model

© 2017 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. In this paper I intend to illustrate Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and then extend the discussion to scaffolding and its relationship with the ZPD. This is then followed by some concerns raised in literature regarding scaffolding as a concept and as a metaphor which involves analysing the arguments for regarding the role of cultural tools and peers as scaffolds akin to instructors. In consideration of some of the criticisms directed at scaffolding, I introduce the concept of the Two Gradient Model (TGM) which is a descriptive model that attempts to clarify the interaction between the instructor and learner. Furthermore, the TGM also demonstrates the need to differentiate between instructors and cultural tools as scaffolds where the latter should be kept relegated as secondary components in the scaffolding process. Additionally, the TGM also differentiates between instructors and peers whereby the latter do not occupy the same interpersonal dynamics as the former in a pedagogical environment

Challenges and Opportunities in Teaching Interdisciplinary Courses on Islam and Evolution: A Theology-Centric Perspective

In the nascent discourse of Islam and science, the discussion of how to reconcile evolution with Islam is one of the most, if not the most, pressing concerns. This article reviews the various studies that have looked at the reception of evolution in multiple contexts to highlight the pedagogical challenges that materialise for Muslim students and teachers. It argues that, while recognising the obstacles and challenges mentioned in other studies, the crucial subject matter of Islamic theology (ʿaqīda) is not fully appreciated in those analyses. How and why theology is a vital discussion matter is examined, along with the benefits that it can offer. These insights could provide fodder for teachers and students when discussing the thorny topic of Islam and evolution in classroom settings. This paper’s deliberations could also be of interest to researchers examining the pedagogy and reception of evolution in Muslim contexts

OLD TEXTS, NEW MASKS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF MISREADING EVOLUTION ONTO HISTORICAL ISLAMIC TEXTS: with Shoaib Ahmed Malik, “Old Texts, New Masks: A Critical Review of Misreading Evolution onto Historical Islamic Texts”; and James Henry Collin, “Soul Making, Theosis, and Evolutionary History: An Irenaean Approach.”

© 2019 by the Joint Publication Board of Zygon With the increasing interest in Islam and evolution, some Islamic thinkers have vehemently rejected evolution, while others have eagerly embraced it. However, those seeking to embrace evolution sometimes err in their interpretation of historical writings. Indeed, there are texts written by famous historical scholars of Islam who seem to suggest that humans have evolved from lower forms of species. These include Ibn Khaldūn, Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī, al-Jāhiz, and The Brethren of Purity (Ikhwān al Safā). Although this may be true, such readings are a mistaken interpretation of the aforementioned authors who are actually referring to some form of the scalae naturae (the Great Chain of Being). This reference to the Great Chain of Being is unknown to some contemporary readers who mistakenly believe these writers to be discussing an evolutionary or a proto-evolutionary theory. This article demonstrates how and why these historical records do not actually represent any notion of evolution as it is currently understood, in the hope of avoiding any further erroneous claims that seem to be proliferating among modern thinkers

Impact of Word-of-Mouth on Brand Engagement: An Empirical Study of Evolving Garment Brands of Pakistan

The purpose of this paperis to investigate the impact of word-of-mouth (WOM) on brand engagement.A questionnaire derived from the previous literature and relevant literature was distributed to 700 respondents. 560 respondents returned the questionnaires, 60 being incomplete and were discarded. Correlation and regression procedures were employed to evaluate the hypothesized relationships between the variables. Significant and positive relationships were observed between wom and brand engagement. Brand love was also found to moderate the relationship between word of mouth and brand engagement. Keywords: Brand engagement, brand love, fashion industry, word-of-mout