Interactive ant colony optimization (iACO) for early lifecycle software design

Finding good designs in the early stages of the software development lifecycle is a demanding multi-objective problem that is crucial to success. Previously, both interactive and non-interactive techniques based on evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been successfully applied to assist the designer. However, recently ant colony optimization was shown to outperform EAs at optimising quantitative measures of software designs with a limited computational budget. In this paper, we propose a novel interactive ACO (iACO) approach, in which the search is steered jointly by an adaptive model that combines subjective and objective measures. Results show that iACO is speedy, responsive and effective in enabling interactive, dynamic multi-objective search. Indeed, study participants rate the iACO search experience as compelling. Moreover, inspection of the learned model facilitates understanding of factors affecting users' judgements, such as the interplay between a design's elegance and the interdependencies between its components. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

The influence of search components and problem characteristics in early life cycle class modelling

© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. This paper examines the factors affecting the quality of solution found by meta-heuristic search when optimising object-oriented software class models. From the algorithmic perspective, we examine the effect of encoding, choice of components such as the global search heuristic, and various means of incorporating problem- and instance-specific information. We also consider the effect of problem characteristics on the (estimated) cost of the global optimum, and the quality and distribution of local optima. The choice of global search component appears important, and adding problem and instance-specific information is generally beneficial to an evolutionary algorithm but detrimental to ant colony optimisation. The effect of problem characteristics is more complex. Neither scale nor complexity have a significant effect on the global optimum as estimated by the best solution ever found. However, using local search to locate 100,000 local optima for each problem confirms the results from meta-heuristic search: there are patterns in the distribution of local optima that increase with scale (problem size) and complexity (number of classes) and will cause problems for many classes of meta-heuristic search

Effect of 5'UTR introns on gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana.

BACKGROUND: The majority of introns in gene transcripts are found within the coding sequences (CDSs). A small but significant fraction of introns are also found to reside within the untranslated regions (5'UTRs and 3'UTRs) of expressed sequences. Alignment of the whole genome and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has identified introns residing in both coding and non-coding regions of the genome. RESULTS: A bioinformatic analysis revealed some interesting observations: (1) the density of introns in 5'UTRs is similar to that in CDSs but much higher than that in 3'UTRs; (2) the 5'UTR introns are preferentially located close to the initiating ATG codon; (3) introns in the 5'UTRs are, on average, longer than introns in the CDSs and 3'UTRs; and (4) 5'UTR introns have a different nucleotide composition to that of CDS and 3'UTR introns. Furthermore, we show that the 5'UTR intron of the A. thaliana EF1alpha-A3 gene affects the gene expression and the size of the 5'UTR intron influences the level of gene expression. CONCLUSION: Introns within the 5'UTR show specific features that distinguish them from introns that reside within the coding sequence and the 3'UTR. In the EF1alpha-A3 gene, the presence of a long intron in the 5'UTR is sufficient to enhance gene expression in plants in a size dependent manner

Fascial deformation in the lateral elbow region: A conceptual approach

Abstract In embalmed preparations, the antebrachial fascia in the lateral elbow region is shown to be deformed by load application to the triceps muscle. From this fascia, muscles arise which are primarily concerned with the extension of wrist and fingers. In the case of lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), the superficial site of attachment of these extensors at the lateral epicondyle is extremely painful. Triceps training may help to diminish (or prevent) this pain by altering the forces acting at the lateral epicondyle

Developing mHealth remote monitoring technology for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a qualitative study eliciting user priorities and needs

Background: Guidelines in the United Kingdom recommend that medication titration for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) should be completed within 4-6 weeks and include regular reviews. However, most clinicians think that weekly clinic contact is infeasible, and audits have shown that this timeline is rarely achieved. Thus, a more effective monitoring and review system is needed; remote monitoring technology (RMT) may be one way to improve current practice. However, little is known about whether patients with ADHD, their families, and clinicians would be interested in using RMT. Objective: To explore patients’, parents’, and health care professionals’ views and attitudes toward using digital technology for remote monitoring during titration for ADHD. Methods: This was a qualitative study, and data were collected through 11 focus groups with adults and young people with ADHD, parents of children with ADHD, and health care professionals (N=59). Results: All participant groups were positive about using RMT in the treatment of ADHD, but they were also aware of barriers to its use, especially around access to technology and integrating RMT into clinical care. They identified that RMT had the most potential for use in the ongoing management and support of ADHD, rather than during the distinct titration period. Participants identified features of RMT that could improve the quality of consultations and support greater self-management. Conclusions: RMT has the potential to augment support and care for ADHD, but it needs to go beyond the titration period and offer more to patients and families than monitoring through outcome measures. Developing and evaluating an mHealth app that incorporates the key features identified by end users is required

The Primacy of Public Health Considerations in Defining Poor Quality Medicines

Paul Newton and colleagues argue that public health, and not intellectual property or trade issues, should be the prime consideration in defining and combating counterfeit medicines, and that the World Health Organization (WHO) should take a more prominent role

Engineering tyrosine electron transfer pathways decreases oxidative toxicity in hemoglobin: implications for blood substitute design

Hemoglobin (Hb)-based oxygen carriers (HBOC) have been engineered to replace or augment the oxygen-carrying capacity of erythrocytes. However, clinical results have generally been disappointing due to adverse side effects linked to intrinsic heme-mediated oxidative toxicity and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging. Redox-active tyrosine residues can facilitate electron transfer between endogenous antioxidants and oxidative ferryl heme species. A suitable residue is present in the α-subunit (Y42) of Hb, but absent from the homologous position in the β-subunit (F41). We therefore replaced this residue with a tyrosine (βF41Y, Hb Mequon). The βF41Y mutation had no effect on the intrinsic rate of lipid peroxidation as measured by conjugated diene and singlet oxygen formation following the addition of ferric(met) Hb to liposomes. However, βF41Y significantly decreased these rates in the presence of physiological levels of ascorbate. Additionally, heme damage in the β-subunit following the addition of the lipid peroxide hydroperoxyoctadecadieoic acid was five-fold slower in βF41Y. NO bioavailability was enhanced in βF41Y by a combination of a 20% decrease in NO dioxygenase activity and a doubling of the rate of nitrite reductase activity. The intrinsic rate of heme loss from methemoglobin was doubled in the β-subunit, but unchanged in the α-subunit. We conclude that the addition of a redox-active tyrosine mutation in Hb able to transfer electrons from plasma antioxidants decreases heme-mediated oxidative reactivity and enhances NO bioavailability. This class of mutations has the potential to decrease adverse side effects as one component of a HBOC product.</jats:p

An evaluation of advanced access in general practice

Aims: To evaluate ‘Advanced Access’ in general practice, and assess its impact on patients, practice organisation, activity, and staff.Objectives: To describe the range of strategies that general practices have employed to improve access to care To determine the impact of Advanced Access on the wait for an appointment, continuity of care, practice workload, and demand on other NHS services. To explore the perceptions of different groups of patients, including both users and non-users of services, about the accessibility of care and their satisfaction with access to care in relation to different models of organisation. To explore the trade-offs that patients make between speed of access, continuity of care and other factors when making an appointment in general practice. To explore the perceptions of general practitioners and receptionists about working with the NPDT and implementing changes to practice arrangements to improve access. To assess the impact of the above changes in practice organisation on staff job satisfaction and team climate.Method and results: This research was based on a comparison of 48 general practices, half of which operated Advanced Access appointment systems and half of which did not (designated ‘control’ practices). These practices were recruited from 12 representative Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). From within these 48 practices, eight (four Advanced Access and four control) were selected for in-depth case study using an ethnographic approach. The research was comprised of several component studies. These included: • A survey of all practices in 12 PCTs. Based on this we recruited the 24 Advanced Access and 24 control practices and the 8 case study practices. • An assessment of appointments available and patients seen, based on appointments records • An assessment of continuity of care based on patients’ records • Random phone calls to practices to assess ability to make an appointment by telephone • A questionnaire survey of patients attending the practices • A postal survey of patients who had not attended the surgery in the previous 12 months • A discrete choice experiment to explore trade-offs patients make between access and other factors • A survey of practice staff • Qualitative case studies in 8 practices • Interviews with PCT access facilitators The methods and results for each of these studies are described below, in relation to each of the research objectives.<br/