You can't always sketch what you want: Understanding Sensemaking in Visual Query Systems

Visual query systems (VQSs) empower users to interactively search for line charts with desired visual patterns, typically specified using intuitive sketch-based interfaces. Despite decades of past work on VQSs, these efforts have not translated to adoption in practice, possibly because VQSs are largely evaluated in unrealistic lab-based settings. To remedy this gap in adoption, we collaborated with experts from three diverse domains---astronomy, genetics, and material science---via a year-long user-centered design process to develop a VQS that supports their workflow and analytical needs, and evaluate how VQSs can be used in practice. Our study results reveal that ad-hoc sketch-only querying is not as commonly used as prior work suggests, since analysts are often unable to precisely express their patterns of interest. In addition, we characterize three essential sensemaking processes supported by our enhanced VQS. We discover that participants employ all three processes, but in different proportions, depending on the analytical needs in each domain. Our findings suggest that all three sensemaking processes must be integrated in order to make future VQSs useful for a wide range of analytical inquiries.Comment: Accepted for presentation at IEEE VAST 2019, to be held October 20-25 in Vancouver, Canada. Paper will also be published in a special issue of IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG) IEEE VIS (InfoVis/VAST/SciVis) 2019 ACM 2012 CCS - Human-centered computing, Visualization, Visualization design and evaluation method

Labour Market Information Driven, Personalized, OER Recommendation System for Lifelong Learners

In this paper, we suggest a novel method to aid lifelong learners to access relevant OER based learning content to master skills demanded on the labour market. Our software prototype 1) applies Text Classification and Text Mining methods on vacancy announcements to decompose jobs into meaningful skills components, which lifelong learners should target; and 2) creates a hybrid OER Recommender System to suggest personalized learning content for learners to progress towards their skill targets. For the first evaluation of this prototype we focused on two job areas: Data Scientist, and Mechanical Engineer. We applied our skill extractor approach and provided OER recommendations for learners targeting these jobs. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 12 subject matter experts to learn how our prototype performs in terms of its objectives, logic, and contribution to learning. More than 150 recommendations were generated, and 76.9% of these recommendations were treated as useful by the interviewees. Interviews revealed that a personalized OER recommender system, based on skills demanded by labour market, has the potential to improve the learning experience of lifelong learners.Comment: This paper has been accepted to be published in the proceedings of CSEDU 2020 by SciTePres

Recommendation, collaboration and social search

This chapter considers the social component of interactive information retrieval: what is the role of other people in searching and browsing? For simplicity we begin by considering situations without computers. After all, you can interactively retrieve information without a computer; you just have to interact with someone or something else. Such an analysis can then help us think about the new forms of collaborative interactions that extend our conceptions of information search, made possible by the growth of networked ubiquitous computing technology. Information searching and browsing have often been conceptualized as a solitary activity, however they always have a social component. We may talk about 'the' searcher or 'the' user of a database or information resource. Our focus may be on individual uses and our research may look at individual users. Our experiments may be designed to observe the behaviors of individual subjects. Our models and theories derived from our empirical analyses may focus substantially or exclusively on an individual's evolving goals, thoughts, beliefs, emotions and actions. Nevertheless there are always social aspects of information seeking and use present, both implicitly and explicitly. We start by summarizing some of the history of information access with an emphasis on social and collaborative interactions. Then we look at the nature of recommendations, social search and interfaces to support collaboration between information seekers. Following this we consider how the design of interactive information systems is influenced by their social elements

Constricted channel flow with different cross-section shapes

Pressure driven steady flow through a uniform circular channel containing a constricted portion is a common problem considering physiological flows such as underlying human speech sound production. The influence of the constriction’s cross-section shape (circle, ellipse, circular sector) on the flow within and downstream from the constriction is experimentally quantified. An analytical boundary layer flow model is proposed which takes into account the hydraulic diameter of the cross-section shape. Comparison of the model outcome with experimental and three-dimensional numerically simulated flow data shows that the pressure distribution within the constriction can be modeled accurately so that the model is of interest for analytical models of fluid–structure interaction without the assumption of two-dimensional flow

Pharmachk: robust device for counterfeit and substandard medicines screening on developing regions

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityCounterfeit and substandard medicines are a grave public health concern that comprises a $75B black market and claims over 100,000 lives every year. The World Health Organization estimates that 10-50% of medicines in countries around the world are adulterated, and their presence imposes serious financial and economic burdens while also contributing to the rise of drug-resistant pathogens. Although a plethora of technologies are available for field-based quality screening, none reliably quantify active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content or kinetic release from a dissolving tablet. The United States Pharmacopeia, a global leader in medicines standards for over 150 years, indicates that these quality measures are vitally important yet remain outside of the reach ofexisting screening tools. The current field standard relies on thin layer chromatography to only provide qualitative results that make it difficult to discern between tablets that contain 80% and 100% API. Meanwhile, international standards set the threshold for substandard medicines at 90%. This clear lack of appropriately quantitative and field- ready analytical tools poses a serious problem for national and international policymakers who are plagued with wildly variable information that prevents focused and deliberate action against the spread ofthese medications. This work presents an alternative analytical technique that can specifically and accurately quantify drug API content and kinetic release. PharmaChk provides an orthogonal approach to existing technologies using a portable, inexpensive, and easy-to-use platform. We demonstrate that aptamers can provide a simple and effective way to target a wide range of APis, while maintaining high quantitative precision and accuracy. A microfluidic, flow-through system is employed to obtain valuable drug quality information using a single step procedure. Through our research, we demonstrate the development of the PharmaChk platform from the proof-of-concept stage to beta prototyping and field-testing. By providing a portable, robust, and quantitative approach to medicines testing, PharmaChk can enable the collection of important drug quality information throughout pharmaceutical supply chains and ultimately save the lives of millions that are not afforded safe and essential medicines

Final report of the EURISOL Design Study (2005-2009) A Design Study for a European Isotope-Separation-On-Line Radioactive Ion Beam Facility

European Commission Contract N°515768 RIDS Published by GANI

On the Capability of Smartphones to Perform as Communication Gateways in Medical Wireless Personal Area Networks

This paper evaluates and characterizes the technical performance of medical wireless personal area networks (WPANs) that are based on smartphones. For this purpose, a prototype of a health telemonitoring system is presented. The prototype incorporates a commercial Android smartphone, which acts as a relay point, or “gateway”, between a set of wireless medical sensors and a data server. Additionally, the paper investigates if the conventional capabilities of current commercial smartphones can be affected by their use as gateways or “Holters” in health monitoring applications. Specifically, the profiling has focused on the CPU and power consumption of the mobile devices. These metrics have been measured under several test conditions modifying the smartphone model, the type of sensors connected to the WPAN, the employed Bluetooth profile (SPP (serial port profile) or HDP (health device profile)), the use of other peripherals, such as a GPS receiver, the impact of the use of theWi-Fi interface or the employed method to encode and forward the data that are collected from the sensors.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TEC2009-13763-C02-0