Exploring the Applicability of Low‑Shot Learning in Mining Software Repositories

Background: Despite the well-documented and numerous recent successes of deep learning, the application of standard deep architectures to many classification problems within empirical software engineering remains problematic due to the large volumes of labeled data required for training. Here we make the argument that, for some problems, this hurdle can be overcome by taking advantage of low-shot learning in combination with simpler deep architectures that reduce the total number of parameters that need to be learned. Findings: We apply low-shot learning to the task of classifying UML class and sequence diagrams from Github, and demonstrate that surprisingly good performance can be achieved by using only tens or hundreds of examples for each category when paired with an appropriate architecture. Using a large, off-the-shelf architecture, on the other hand, doesn’t perform beyond random guessing even when trained on thousands of samples. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that identifying problems within empirical software engineering that lend themselves to low-shot learning could accelerate the adoption of deep learning algorithms within the empirical software engineering community

Efficacy of a gas permeable contact lens to induce peripheral myopic defocus

Purpose. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the potential of a novel custom-designed rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lens to modify the relative peripheral refractive error in a sample of myopic patients. Methods. Fifty-two right eyes of 52 myopic patients (mean [TSD] age, 21 [T2] years) with spherical refractive errors ranging from j0.75 to j8.00 diopters (D) and refractive astigmatism of 1.00 D or less were fitted with a novel experimental RGP (ExpRGP) lens designed to create myopic defocus in the peripheral retina. A standard RGP (StdRGP) lens was used as a control in the same eye. The relative peripheral refractive error was measured without the lens and with each of two lenses (StdRGP and ExpRGP) using an open-field autorefractometer from 30 degrees nasal to 30 degrees temporal, in 5-degree steps. The effectiveness of the lens design was evaluated as the amount of relative peripheral refractive error difference induced by the ExpRGP compared with no lens and with StdRGP conditions at 30 degrees in the nasal and temporal (averaged) peripheral visual fields. Results. Experimental RGP lens induced a significant change in relative peripheral refractive error compared with the nolens condition (baseline), beyond the 10 degrees of eccentricity to the nasal and temporal side of the visual field (p G 0.05). The maximum effect was achieved at 30 degrees. Wearing the ExpRGP lens, 60% of the eyes had peripheral myopia exceeding j1.00 D, whereas none of the eyes presented with this feature at baseline. There was no significant correlation (r = 0.04; p = 0.756) between the degree of myopia induced at 30 degrees of eccentricity of the visual field with the ExpRGP lens and the baseline refractive error. Conclusions. Custom-designed RGP contact lenses can generate a significant degree of relative peripheral myopia in myopic patients regardless of their baselin spherical equivalent refractive error.Jaume Paune´ has proprietary and financial interests in the manufacturing and distribution of lenses evaluated in this study. The remaining authors declare that they do not have any proprietary or financial interest in any of the materials mentioned in this article. This work was partially funded by Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal, Projects: PTDC/SAU-BEB/ 098392/2008 and PTDC/SAU-BEB/098391/200

Iodinated Cyanine Dyes: A New Class of Sensitisers for use in NIR Activated Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)

Iodinated cyanine dye 6a has been developed for use as a NIR excited photosensitiser in photodynamic therapy.</p

Changes in peripheral refraction, higher-order aberrations, and accommodative lag with a radial refractive gradient contact lens in young myopes

Purpose: To evaluate changes in the peripheral refraction (PR), visual quality, and accommodative lag with a novel soft radial refractive gradient (SRRG) experimental contact lens that produces peripheral myopic defocus. Methods: 59 myopic right eyes were fitted with the lens. The PR was measured up to 30° in the nasal and temporal horizontal visual fields and compared with values obtained without the lens. The accommodative lag was measured monocularly using the distance-induced condition method at 40 cm, and the higher-order aberrations (HOAs) of the entire eye were obtained for 3- and 5-mm pupils by aberrometry. Visual performance was assessed through contrast sensitivity function (CSF). Results: With the lens, the relative PR became significantly less hyperopic from 30° to 15° temporally and 30° nasally in the M and J0 refractive components (P,0.05). Cylinder foci showed significant myopization from 30° to 15° temporally and 30° to 25° nasally (P,0.05). The HOAs increased significantly, the CSF decreased slightly but reached statistical significance for 6 and 12 cycles per degree (P,0.05), and the accommodative lag decreased significantly with the SRRG lens (P¼0.0001). There was a moderate correlation between HOAs and CSF at medium and high spatial frequencies. Conclusion: The SRRG lens induced a significant change in PR, particularly in the temporal retina. Tangential and sagittal foci changed significantly in the peripheral nasal and temporal retina. The decreased accommodative lag and increased HOAs particularly in coma-like aberration may positively affect myopia control. A longitudinal study is needed to confirm this potential.Supported in part by Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia, Lisbon, Portugal (Projects: PTDC/SAU-BEB/098392/2008 and PTDC/SAU-BEB/ 098391/2008)

A comparison of stomatal traits between contemporary and fossil leaves of Melaleuca quinquenervia: Do they reflect climate variation?

© 2019 Stomatal traits have been shown to vary in predictable ways in response to environmental change in many plant species. As a consequence, stomatal traits in fossil leaves are sometimes used as proxies for past CO2 and climate. Here we investigate the influence of temperature, rainfall and CO2 on stomatal traits in plant cuticle fine details of Melaleuca quinquenervia. We use both modern and fossil leaves deposited over the last c. 7500 years to evaluate the effect of CO2, and modern leaves for climate variables. We found a significant negative relationship between stomatal size and density across both modern and fossil leaves of M. quinquenervia. However, we were unable to find any relationship between stomatal traits and CO2 across a range from 260 to 380 ppm. We were unable to find any robust relationships between stomatal traits and either evaporation or temperature using the modern dataset. Apogeotropic roots account for the lack of stomatal anatomy response to evaporation in sites that experiences inundation. We conclude that stomatal size is a highly plastic trait in this species and changes do not necessarily reflect functional changes in the leaves

Spray-Deposited Nanocrystals for Photovoltaic Cells

This article evaluates the potential for colloidal, semiconducting nanocrystals for use as the photoabsorbing layer in spray-deposited photovoltaic cells. Future needs for renewable energy can be met through the implementation of photovoltaic cells, which are able to be mass produced at a low cost. After presenting an overview of the mechanism through which photovoltaic cells produce electricity, the hot injection method of fabrication for nanocrystal photovoltaic cells will be discussed, as well as resulting photon-conversion efficiencies. Advantages, disadvantages and possible next steps will then be evaluated based on current findings in this field