Building Occupancy Estimation Using machine learning algorithms

Building occupancy recently has drawn the attention of many researchers. With the advance of new technologies in AI and IoT, it has become possible to further optimize building energy consumption without compromising comfort of the occupants. In this thesis project, occupancy is estimated by training models on data collected from the building called Arkivenshus in Stavanger. The data collected includes measurements of electricity consumption, ventilation, hot and cold-water consumption and PIR sensors (Passive infra-red sensors). The models that are trained are classification algorithms such as KNN, decision tree, random forest, and support vector machine. Data from the building is collected over two months period where data points are collected every 15min. Occupancy detection solutions that employ cameras, WIFI activities etc can be used to detect occupancy in buildings, however these solutions can be intrusive, costly and computationally expensive. Moreover, PIR sensors which are used for activation of lighting systems detect occupancy, they however cannot be directly related to the count of number of people. To estimate the number of people inside building I have labelled the data in five categories, where 1 represents counts less than 5, 2 represents between 5 and 25,3 represents between 25 and 50, 4 represents between 50 and 75 and for counts greater than 75 they are represented by class 5. Due to the pandemic I was not able to register number of people inside the building more than 80, which presumably has an impact on the efficiency of my model. The performance of the models are compared using various metrices, Since the data is nor balanced and I have divided the target into five classes, looking only the accuracy of a model is a bit misleading in selecting the best model. Considering accuracy, confusion matrix and learning curves of each model the best performing model is found to be SVM (Support vector machine)

Development of a Workflow for a Robust Cytometry of Reaction Rate Constant

Cytometry of Reaction Rate Constant (CRRC) is a method for studying cell population heterogeneity based on the activity of cellular processes. The original CRRC workflow did not account for cell motility, which led to inaccurate measurements in motile cells. Here, we report on the development of a new CRRC workflow that makes it applicable to motile cells. We confirmed the robustness of the new workflow to cell movement by performing a comparative CRRC workflow study of cross-membrane transport in motile cells. Using the new workflow, preliminary progress was made on the investigation of cytochrome p450 (CYP) activity. We validated the CRRC experimental procedure to conduct such study but found that the CRRC CYP assay had considerable variability. Nonetheless, the development of the new CRRC workflow is a step in the right direction with more work needing to be done to understand the variability found in the CRRC CYP assay

Studies of the transfer of radionuclides and dose rate assessments in the pasture lands located in the counties of Uppsala and Jämtland

The study was conducted in the pastoral lands of two Counties, Uppsala and Jämtland Counties. Soil and grass samples were collected from six study areas. Two from Uppsala County: Lövstalöt and Möjsjövik, and four from Jämtland County: Backfors, Hallen, Myrviken and Vikdrolet. Milk samples were also collected from Lövstalöt (Uppsala County) and Hallen and Oviken (Jämtland County). The study aims at analyzing the presence and activity concentration of natural radionuclides and 137Cs from Chernobyl accident and determines their transfer factor from soil to grass and from grass to milk. It also describes the migration of 137Cs and the homogeneity of concerned natural radionuclides in the soil profile of the study areas. The third objective of the study was to assess in situ and laboratory outdoor dose rate in air of radionuclides in the study areas and make comparison between Counties and the methods. Higher concentrations of natural radionuclides were found in Jämtland study areas than in Uppsala due to the geological background of the area rich in natural radionuclides. But, higher concentration of 137Cs was found in Uppsala than in Jämtland due to higher anthropogenic deposition from Chernobyl accident. Activity concentrations of the radionuclides were higher than suggested by UNSCEAR. In Uppsala study areas, higher total annual effective dose rate of radionuclides were found in the laboratory measurement than in situ. A similar finding was obtained in Jämtland study areas except in Hallen. In Jämtland County, the contribution of artificial radionuclide (137Cs) was not very significant to the total annual effective dose rate and much concern could be given to the natural radionuclides dose rate assessment. In Uppsala County, however, it can be advocated that equal concerns should be given to both artificial radionuclide (137Cs) and natural radionuclide for dose rate assessment due to their significant contribution to the total annual effective dose rate estimated in the study

Development of a Workflow for a Robust Cytometry of Reaction Rate Constant

Cytometry of Reaction Rate Constant (CRRC) is a method for studying cell population heterogeneity based on the activity of cellular processes. The original CRRC workflow did not account for cell motility, which led to inaccurate measurements in motile cells. Here, we report on the development of a new CRRC workflow that makes it applicable to motile cells. We confirmed the robustness of the new workflow to cell movement by performing a comparative CRRC workflow study of cross-membrane transport in motile cells. Using the new workflow, preliminary progress was made on the investigation of cytochrome p450 (CYP) activity. We validated the CRRC experimental procedure to conduct such study but found that the CRRC CYP assay had considerable variability. Nonetheless, the development of the new CRRC workflow is a step in the right direction with more work needing to be done to understand the variability found in the CRRC CYP assay

Host specificity of the hemiparasitic mistletoe, Agelanthus natalitius.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.Mistletoes are a group of hemiparasitic plants that grow on a wide variety of host trees and differ in their degree of host specificity, ranging from specialists to generalists. Mistletoes can also be locally host specific where host preference varies geographically, i.e. at a given location a mistletoe species may infect only part of its overall host set. The mistletoe Agelanthus natalitius parasitises at least 11 tree genera distributed throughout South Africa. However, there is geographic variation in infection patterns over the parasite’s range, suggesting that A. natalitius may be locally host specific. We quantified the degree of host specificity and tested the mechanisms that direct host specialisation in two distinct mistletoe populations at Highover and Mtontwane (about 110 km apart) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We investigated the distribution, abundance and community composition of woody species that host the mistletoe. We also assessed the effect of light on germination and early survival of the mistletoes in a greenhouse experiment. We conducted field reciprocal transplant experiments at both sites to investigate the compatibility of these mistletoes with their hosts Acacia karroo and A. caffra during early development. We then analysed the nutrient and water contents of the mistletoe-host pairs to investigate the role of nutrient and water status in directing host specificity in mistletoes. We further studied avian dispersal in the field and in captivity to investigate optimal dispersal distance and germination success, and evaluated their role in determining mistletoe host specificity. At both study sites, five host species were recorded as being parasitised by the mistletoe A. natalitius. A. karroo and A. caffra appear to be the two most common host species in the region; both grow abundantly at the study sites and were recorded with high infection by A. natalitius. However, A. karroo is the most abundant host species and the mistletoe showed a high degree of host specificity on A. karroo. Infection by mistletoes was positively correlated with tree size, and was highly aggregated, both individually and locally. Field observations and greenhouse shade experiments showed that light can influence mistletoe distribution. Germination of mistletoe seeds was independent of host species and site. However, hypocotyls (the structures that develop into haustoria) grew longer when placed on their source host species within their locality. Additionally, they showed preference for the most abundant host species, A. karroo. Water and nutrient status of the host species A. karroo and A. caffra had no significant effect. Thus, host nutrient and water content may not account for host specificity in this mistletoe species. Mistletoes accumulated more nutrients and maintained more negative than their host trees. We also investigated the mistletoes’ use of passive nutrient uptake (from host xylem) and active nutrient uptake (from host phloem) by using the N:Ca ratio as an index of nutrient access. Mistletoes growing on A. caffra had a ratio > 1, i.e. the mistletoe actively accessed nutrients from the phloem of host trees. However, mistletoes on A. karroo had a N:Ca ratio < 1, which implies that they passively accessed nutrients from the xylem. The difference in mechanism of nutrient acquisition on different host species may reflect the level of compatibility between mistletoe and host. Several bird species were frequently observed to feed on mistletoes, many of which were used in our captivity studies. Although birds did not consume mistletoe fruits in captivity as they do in the field, they were effective in removing the pulp cover of mistletoe fruits and exposing seeds in germinable condition. In captivity, the Red-winged Starling ingested whole fruits and regurgitated seeds, deliberately wiping their bills on twigs to remove the sticky seeds. As a result, germination success of mistletoes processed by Red-winged Starlings was higher than any other bird species tested in captivity. Overall, there appears to be host specificity in morphologically identical mistletoes. Understanding the mechanisms that result in host race evolution are potentially important to the process of speciation in hemiparasitic mistletoes. We need to take into account genotypic matching in conserving these different forms of mistletoes and their host Acacia genotypes. Further research into the mechanisms of host specificity and patterns of genotypic matching is warranted

The role of tourism development and of HRD in the tourism sector in promoting economic growth in Eritrea.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.Eritrea is a young state and a developing country faced with major problems and constraints, one of which is a shortage of professional, skilled and semi-skilled human resources. With the country's considerable and diverse attractions, tourism is a promising option for economic development in Eritrea. The objective of this research paper is to examine the role of human resource development in contributing to the creation of a modem and internationally competitive tourism sector in Eritrea, as well as increasing tourism 's contribution to ecenomic growth and sustainable develepment. Tourism is one of the major socio-economic sectors of the world and is also a rapidly growing sector. However, it has both positive and negative impacts. In order to maximize the positive and minimize the negative impacts, most countries now are opting for responsible tourism or sustainable tourism development. Not all countries and regions have benefited equally from tourism, and competition in the tourism market is fierce, especially for small countries and new entrants like Eritrea. One of the factors for optirnising the contribution made by tourism is human resource development (HRD) in the tourism industry. This paper investigates how the economic contribution of tourism can be increased, and suggests approaches to revitalizing the human resources of the tourism sector, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The study shows how HRD can play a vital role in supporting tourism development and ensuring the continuous supply of quality human resources to meet the industry's growing requirements. Based on human capital theory in relation to the tourism industry, and considering the sector's special employment characteristics, it presents a comprehensive analysis and assessment of current tourism human resources in Eritrea in terms of various HRD variables such as education, training, experience, and foreign language competence. The results indicate that significant gaps exist between the supply of and demand for human resources as the tourism industry grows in Eritrea. The findings reveal that all-round training is required across the spectrum of tourism occupations, places, levels of management and stakeholders including the public at large. The lack of trainers and training infrastructure is identified as a key factor responsible for inadequate professionalism in the Eritrean tourism industry. As a result, the study identifies specific policies, strategies and recommendations to be adopted if Eritrea is to be in a position to face the challenges posed by international tourism competition

EVALUATION OF THE TAB-SIMCO ACID MINE DRAINAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM: WATER CHEMISTRY, PERFORMANCE AND TREATMENT PROCESSES

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