An external replication on the effects of test-driven development using a multi-site blind analysis approach

Context: Test-driven development (TDD) is an agile practice claimed to improve the quality of a software product, as well as the productivity of its developers. A previous study (i.e., baseline experiment) at the University of Oulu (Finland) compared TDD to a test-last development (TLD) approach through a randomized controlled trial. The results failed to support the claims. Goal: We want to validate the original study results by replicating it at the University of Basilicata (Italy), using a different design. Method: We replicated the baseline experiment, using a crossover design, with 21 graduate students. We kept the settings and context as close as possible to the baseline experiment. In order to limit researchers bias, we involved two other sites (UPM, Spain, and Brunel, UK) to conduct blind analysis of the data. Results: The Kruskal-Wallis tests did not show any significant difference between TDD and TLD in terms of testing effort (p-value = .27), external code quality (p-value = .82), and developers' productivity (p-value = .83). Nevertheless, our data revealed a difference based on the order in which TDD and TLD were applied, though no carry over effect. Conclusions: We verify the baseline study results, yet our results raises concerns regarding the selection of experimental objects, particularly with respect to their interaction with the order in which of treatments are applied. We recommend future studies to survey the tasks used in experiments evaluating TDD. Finally, to lower the cost of replication studies and reduce researchers' bias, we encourage other research groups to adopt similar multi-site blind analysis approach described in this paper.This research is supported in part by the Academy of Finland Project 278354

Case studies of outdoor testing and analysis of building components

The construction and development of the PASSYS/PASLINK outdoor test cells were funded by the European Commission, with the objective of providing high-quality test environments for quantifying the performance of passive solar building components. Over the years since the original test cells were commissioned, the initial concept for outdoor testing has been extended to include other test cell types. Significant improvements have been made to the experimental procedures and analysis techniques, and a broad range of components has been tested. This paper describes representative experiments that have been conducted using these highly controlled outdoor test environments, indicates some of the related analysis, and shows the type of information that can be obtained from such tests. It demonstrates the way in which component performance can be ascertained in the realistic external environment. The case studies chosen range from building component tests within EC research projects to commercial tests, and from conventional building components to novel integrated facade systems. They also include a large range of passive and active components. Each case study summarises the test component, the purpose of the test, details of the test configuration (period of test, instrumentation, etc.), results and analysis, and associated modelling and monitoring where appropriate. The paper concludes with an appraisal of the advantages and limitations of the test cells for the various component types

Dimensionality reduction and unsupervised learning techniques applied to clinical psychiatric and neuroimaging phenotypes

Unsupervised learning and other multivariate analysis techniques are increasingly recognized in neuropsychiatric research. Here, finite mixture models and random forests were applied to clinical observations of patients with major depression to detect and validate treatment response subgroups. Further, independent component analysis and agglomerative hierarchical clustering were combined to build a brain parcellation solely on structural covariance information of magnetic resonance brain images. Übersetzte Kurzfassung: Unüberwachtes Lernen und andere multivariate Analyseverfahren werden zunehmend auf neuropsychiatrische Fragestellungen angewendet. Finite mixture Modelle wurden auf klinische Skalen von Patienten mit schwerer Depression appliziert, um Therapieantwortklassen zu bilden und mit Random Forests zu validieren. Unabhängigkeitsanalysen und agglomeratives hierarchisches Clustering wurden kombiniert, um die strukturelle Kovarianz von Magnetresonanz­tomographie-Bildern für eine Hirnparzellierung zu nutzen

Knowledge-Driven Multi-Locus Analysis Reveals Gene-Gene Interactions Influencing HDL Cholesterol Level in Two Independent EMR-Linked Biobanks

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are routinely being used to examine the genetic contribution to complex human traits, such as high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Although HDL-C levels are highly heritable (h2∼0.7), the genetic determinants identified through GWAS contribute to a small fraction of the variance in this trait. Reasons for this discrepancy may include rare variants, structural variants, gene-environment (GxE) interactions, and gene-gene (GxG) interactions. Clinical practice-based biobanks now allow investigators to address these challenges by conducting GWAS in the context of comprehensive electronic medical records (EMRs). Here we apply an EMR-based phenotyping approach, within the context of routine care, to replicate several known associations between HDL-C and previously characterized genetic variants: CETP (rs3764261, p = 1.22e-25), LIPC (rs11855284, p = 3.92e-14), LPL (rs12678919, p = 1.99e-7), and the APOA1/C3/A4/A5 locus (rs964184, p = 1.06e-5), all adjusted for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status. By using a novel approach which censors data based on relevant co-morbidities and lipid modifying medications to construct a more rigorous HDL-C phenotype, we identified an association between HDL-C and TRIB1, a gene which previously resisted identification in studies with larger sample sizes. Through the application of additional analytical strategies incorporating biological knowledge, we further identified 11 significant GxG interaction models in our discovery cohort, 8 of which show evidence of replication in a second biobank cohort. The strongest predictive model included a pairwise interaction between LPL (which modulates the incorporation of triglyceride into HDL) and ABCA1 (which modulates the incorporation of free cholesterol into HDL). These results demonstrate that gene-gene interactions modulate complex human traits, including HDL cholesterol

Heterologous prime-boost-boost immunisation of Chinese cynomolgus macaques using DNA and recombinant poxvirus vectors expressing HIV-1 virus-like particles

Background: There is renewed interest in the development of poxvirus vector-based HIV vaccines due to the protective effect observed with repeated recombinant canarypox priming with gp120 boosting in the recent Thai placebo-controlled trial. This study sought to investigate whether a heterologous prime-boost-boost vaccine regimen in Chinese cynomolgus macaques with a DNA vaccine and recombinant poxviral vectors expressing HIV virus-like particles bearing envelopes derived from the most prevalent clades circulating in sub-Saharan Africa, focused the antibody response to shared neutralising epitopes. Methods: Three Chinese cynomolgus macaques were immunised via intramuscular injections using a regimen composed of a prime with two DNA vaccines expressing clade A Env/clade B Gag followed by boosting with recombinant fowlpox virus expressing HIV-1 clade D Gag, Env and cholera toxin B subunit followed by the final boost with recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara expressing HIV-1 clade C Env, Gag and human complement protein C3d. We measured the macaque serum antibody responses by ELISA, enumerated T cell responses by IFN-gamma ELISpot and assessed seroneutralisation of HIV-1 using the TZM-bl beta-galactosidase assay with primary isolates of HIV-1. Results: This study shows that large and complex synthetic DNA sequences can be successfully cloned in a single step into two poxvirus vectors: MVA and FPV and the recombinant poxviruses could be grown to high titres. The vaccine candidates showed appropriate expression of recombinant proteins with the formation of authentic HIV virus-like particles seen on transmission electron microscopy. In addition the b12 epitope was shown to be held in common by the vaccine candidates using confocal immunofluorescent microscopy. The vaccine candidates were safely administered to Chinese cynomolgus macaques which elicited modest T cell responses at the end of the study but only one out of the three macaques elicited an HIV-specific antibody response. However, the antibodies did not neutralise primary isolates of HIV-1 or the V3-sensitive isolate SF162 using the TZM-bl b-galactosidase assay. Conclusions: MVA and FP9 are ideal replication-deficient viral vectors for HIV-1 vaccines due to their excellent safety profile for use in humans. This study shows this novel prime-boost-boost regimen was poorly immunogenic in Chinese cynomolgus macaques

Final Report from the Models for Change Evaluation

Note: This evaluation is accompanied by an evaluation of the National Campaign for this initiative as well as introduction to the evaluation effort by MacArthur's President, Julia Stasch, and a response to the evaluation from the program team. Access these related materials here (https://www.macfound.org/press/grantee-publications/evaluation-models-change-initiative).Models for Change is an initiative of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundationto accelerate juvenile justice reforms and promote fairer, more effective, and more developmentally appropriate juvenile justice systems throughout the United States. Between 2004 and 2014, the Foundation invested more than $121 million in the initiative, intending to create sustainable and replicable models of systems reform.In June 2013, the Foundation partnered with Mathematica Policy Research and the University of Maryland to design and conduct a retrospective evaluation of Models for Change. The evaluation focused on the core state strategy, the action network strategy, and the national context in which Models for Change played out. This report is a digest and synthesis of several technical reports prepared as part of the evaluation

CHORUS Deliverable 2.1: State of the Art on Multimedia Search Engines

Based on the information provided by European projects and national initiatives related to multimedia search as well as domains experts that participated in the CHORUS Think-thanks and workshops, this document reports on the state of the art related to multimedia content search from, a technical, and socio-economic perspective. The technical perspective includes an up to date view on content based indexing and retrieval technologies, multimedia search in the context of mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks, and an overview of current evaluation and benchmark inititiatives to measure the performance of multimedia search engines. From a socio-economic perspective we inventorize the impact and legal consequences of these technical advances and point out future directions of research