Consumers of electrical power are charged with an average price that does not reflect the consumption of electricity at the time of usage, which could cause allocative inefficiency. The idea of real-time pricing (RTP) is to allow real-time changes in the prices. RTP works as an economic incentive to control consumers behavior. RTP algorithms try to predict the consumer demand in the future and set the prices accordingly. Here, we consider two types of consumers; the price takers and adaptive consumers. For price takers, we give a procedure that computes the operating price, as a fixed point computed by a randomized version of the bisection method, resulting in a relatively flat consumption. On the other hand, adaptive consumers who predict the prices in the same way may render the market unstable; however, our experiments show that when there is a slight difference in the prediction, such instability can be reduced.
reCAPTCHA is a security measure that guards web applications against automated abuse by presenting a random auto-generated challenge to the unknown user to solve. These challenges typically are hard to be solved by computers, yet easy for humans. In this paper, we present a brief overview of an Arabic reCAPTCHA service architecture and discuss key design challenges of Arabic reCAPTCHA service. These design challenges primarily include the extraction of individual word-images from the scanned pages and handling multiple users at the cloud-based server side. We show how our design addresses both of these challenges.
In this paper, a dynamic background modeling and hence foreground detection technique using a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) of spatio-temporal patches of dynamic texture (DT) is proposed. Existing methods for background modeling cannot adequately distinguish movements in both background and foreground, that usually characterizes any dynamic scene. Therefore, in most of these methods, the separation of the background from foreground requires precise tuning of parameters or an apriori model of the foreground. The proposed method aims to differentiate between global from local motion by attributing the video using spatio-temporal patches of DT modeled using a typical GMM framework. In addition to alleviating the aforementioned limitations, the proposed method can cope with complex dynamic scenes without the need for training or parameter tuning. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the method compared against competing baselines have demonstrated the superiority of the method and the robustness against dynamic variations in the background.
Glucocorticoid (GC) levels cause degenerative changes to hippocampal neurons. Growth factors and antioxidant molecules have potent neuroprotective role on hippocampal neurons. However, the role of growth factors and oxidative stress on hippocampal neurodegeneration after GC removal is not clear. We study the timedependent effect of adrenalectomy (ADX) on glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and beta-nerve growth factor (beta-NGF). Hippocampus samples were collected from bilateral adrenalectomized and sham operated male Wistar rats at 0.5, 2, 4, 12 hours also 1, 3, 7, 14 days. Samples were used for measuring IGF-1, beta-NGF, Glutathione and MDA levels. IGF-1 was significantly reduced at 12hr and remained consistent while beta-NGF showed a significant decrease at 14 days in ADX compared to Sham. GSH significantly decreased whereas MDA showed a significant increase from 7 days compared to controls. ADX may increase susceptibility of hippocampal neurons to degeneration through early changes in IGF-1 levels.
Halofuginone (HFG) is a derivative of the active ingredient of the Chinese medicinal plant Dichroa febrifuga, which has been used for millennia as a traditional remedy for malaria. We have identified the cytoplasmic prolyl tRNA synthetase (cPRS) in Plasmodium falciparum as the long-sought biochemical target of HFG and further discovered a novel mechanism of drug tolerance through the modulation of proline homeostasis. We found that a non-genetic adaptation to HFG precedes mutation or amplification of the target cPRS gene. The specific upregulation of proline levels in response to HFG treatment constitutes an unprecedented mode of drug tolerance and is necessary for the development of genetic drug resistance. We now seek to identify the primary source of increased intraparasitic proline using mass spectrometry-based metabolite profiling.
Retroviral genomes contain untranslated regulatory sequences at both the 5' and 3' ends of the genomic RNA (gRNA) implicated in critical aspects of virus replication. The mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) has been hypothesized to contain a putative second 5' Rem responsive element (RmRE) at the 5' end of the viral genome, overlapping the packaging signal (psi) and may play a role in both gRNA nuclear export and translation. To address this hypothesis, several mutations were introduced into the MMTV psi RNA and tested in stable transfections to determine their effect on nuclear export of Gag mRNA and protein expression. Our data suggest defects in both RNA transport and expression of Gag proteins in some mutants. If confirmed, these data reveal that MMTV contains sequences at the 5' end which regulate gene expression by facilitating the nuclear export and/or stability of unspliced RNAs.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an oncogenic herpes virus implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of human malignancies. Latently infected cells express around a dozen latent gene products, two of which are the non-protein coding small RNAs (EBER-1 and EBER-2). These RNAs are highly expressed (>106 copies per cell) in all forms of EBV latencies, but their function remains unclear. A growing body of evidence suggests that EBERs can inhibit apoptosis, increase cell proliferation and induce tumorogenic properties. To investigate the molecular steps that may be involved in bringing about these biological changes, we have created EBER1/2 expression plasmids and established stable EBER expressing cell lines. These cells express EBERs in the nucleus as well as excreting detectable levels of EBERs into the supernatant. Our data suggests that EBER transfected cells are resistant to apoptosis and have an upregulation of some of the genes involved in apoptosis.
Form-Based Code is a sustainable planning tool that helps realize sustainable urban form and sustainable communities from different perspectives including mixing of land uses, diversifying housing types, achieving walkability and cycling as well as permitting for community involvement in design processes. Locally, Abu Dhabi lacks FBC which could help in promoting its sustainable identity. Accordingly, this research aimed at reviewing the form-related regulations for developing Abu Dhabi new urban neighborhoods to investigate to what extent they coincide with the components of FBC as a universal practice. It has been found that the form-related regulations in Abu Dhabi are fragmented and they lack some essential components from FBC applications. There is a need for adding requirements to reflect the urban local identity of Abu Dhabi. The research ended up with developing a proposed FBC model for Abu Dhabi. Further research is planned to investigate the applicability of adopting this model
This paper proposed Axiomatic Design approach to systematically build a retrofitting scheme for an office building in the climate of Abu Dhabi. The aim of the retrofitting scheme is to reach the most energy efficient solution. The retrofitted building is treated as a large fixed system, because it includes a number of high level requirements and number of layers of decomposition necessary to generate a complete set of required retrofits, as well as, a great number of physical components. Furthermore, the components are fixed within the system, to satisfy a fixed set of requirements that do not change with time. The architecture of the system was mapped using the FR/DP dual hierarchy method of representing Axiomatic Design, the dual hierarchy is represented using Axiomatic Design Design matrix.
Building Performance Simulation (BPS) is an established method used in the design phase of buildings to predict energy consumption and guide design choices. Despite their advanced abilities to model complex building systems, BPS tools fail to account for different and changing energy use characteristics of building occupants, leading to important prediction errors. In parallel, Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) has emerged in recent years as a technique capable of capturing occupants' dynamic energy actions and behaviors in buildings. However, ABM lacks the building simulation capabilities of traditional BPS tools. This research proposes a new modeling framework that integrates BPS in ABM using trained regression surrogate models, hence levering their "technical" and "human" modeling capabilities. The framework is tested on a prototype office building, showing an excellent fit between the BPS and the trained surrogate model, with an adjusted R-squared of 0.975 and a mean absolute percentage error of 2.2 percent.
