1,076 research outputs found
Emerging from the MIST: A Connector Tool for Supporting Programming by Non-programmers
Software development is an iterative process. As user re-quirements emerge software applications must be extended to support the new requirements. Typically, a programmer will add new code to an existing code base of an application to provide a new functionality. Previous research has shown that such extensions are easier when application logic is clearly separated from the user interface logic. Assuming that a programmer is already familiar with the existing code base, the task of writing the new code can be considered to be split into two sub-tasks: writing code for the application logic; that is, the actual functionality of the application; and writing code for the user interface that will expose the functionality to the end user.
The goal of this research is to reduce the effort required to create a user interface once the application logic has been created, toward supporting scientists with minimal pro-gramming knowledge to be able to create and modify pro-grams. Using a Model View Controller based architecture, various model components which contain the application logic can be built and extended. The process of creating and extending the views (user interfaces) on these model components is simplified through the use of our Malleable Interactive Software Toolkit (MIST), a tool set an infrastructure intended to simplify the design and extension of dynamically reconfigurable interfaces.
This paper focuses on one tool in the MIST suite, a connec-tor tool that enables the programmer to evolve the user interface as the application logic evolves by connecting related pieces of code together; either through simple drag-and-drop interactions or through the authoring of Python code. The connector tool exemplifies the types of tools in the MIST suite, which we expect will encourage collabora-tive development of applications by allowing users to inte-grate various components and minimizing the cost of de-veloping new user interfaces for the combined compo-nents
Scientists in the MIST: Simplifying Interface Design for End Users
We are building a Malleable Interactive Software Toolkit (MIST), a tool set and infrastructure to simplify the design and construction of dynamically-reconfigurable (malleable) interactive software. Malleable software offers the end-user powerful tools to reshape their interactive environment on the fly. We aim to make the construction of such software straightforward, and to make reconfiguration of the resulting systems approachable and manageable to an educated, but non-specialist, user. To do so, we draw on a diverse body of existing research on alternative approaches to user interface (UI) and interactive software construction, including declarative UI languages, constraint-based programming and UI management, reflection and data-driven programming, and visual programming techniques
Μελέτη και σχεδίαση Ε/Γ ‐ Ο/Γ πλοίου κλειστού τύπου
128 σ.Νικόλαος Ηρ. Παναγιωτακόπουλο
Spectroscopy of a fractional Josephson vortex molecule
In long Josephson junctions with multiple discontinuities of the Josephson
phase, fractional vortex molecules are spontaneously formed. At each
discontinuity point a fractional Josephson vortex carrying a magnetic flux
, Wb being the magnetic flux
quantum, is pinned. Each vortex has an oscillatory eigenmode with a frequency
that depends on and lies inside the plasma gap.
We experimentally investigate the dependence of the eigenfrequencies of a
two-vortex molecule on the distance between the vortices, on their topological
charge and on the bias current applied to the
Josephson junction. We find that with decreasing distance between vortices, a
splitting of the eigenfrequencies occurs, that corresponds to the emergence of
collective oscillatory modes of both vortices. We use a resonant microwave
spectroscopy technique and find good agreement between experimental results and
theoretical predictions.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.
Where’s the risk? Landscape epidemiology of gastrointestinal parasitism in Alberta beef cattle
Sherpa Romeo green journal; open accessBackground: Gastrointenstinal nematodes (GIN) present a serious challenge to the health and productivity of
grazing stock around the globe. However, the epidemiology of GIN transmission remains poorly understood in
northern climates. Combining use of serological diagnostics, GIS mapping technology, and geospatial statistics, we
evaluated ecological covariates of spatial and temporal variability in GIN transmission among bovine calves
pastured in Alberta, Canada.
Methods: Sera were collected from 1000 beef calves across Alberta, Canada over three consecutive years (2008–2010)
and analyzed for presence of anti-GIN antibodies using the SVANOVIR Ostertagia osteragi-Ab ELISA kit. Using a GIS and
Bayesian multivariate spatial statistics, we evaluated the degree to which variation in specific environmental covariates
(e.g. moisture, humidity, temperature) was associated with variation in spatial and temporal heterogeneity in exposure
to GIN (Nematodirus and other trichostrongyles, primarily Ostertagia and Cooperia).
Results: Variation in growing degree days above a base temperature of 5 °C, humidity, air temperature, and
accumulated precipitation were found to be significant predictors of broad–scale spatial and temporal variation in
serum antibody concentrations. Risk model projections identified that while transmission in cattle from southeastern
and northwestern Alberta was relatively low in all years, rate of GIN transmission was generally higher in the central
region of Alberta.
Conclusions: The spatial variability in risk is attributed to higher average humidity, precipitation and moderate
temperatures in the central region of Alberta in comparison with the hot, dry southeastern corner of the province and
the cool, dry northwestern corner. Although more targeted sampling is needed to improve model accuracy, our
projections represent an important step towards tying treatment recommendations to actual risk of infection.Ye
Classical Cepheid Pulsation Models: IX. New Input Physics
We constructed several sequences of classical Cepheid envelope models at
solar chemical composition () to investigate the dependence of
the pulsation properties predicted by linear and nonlinear hydrodynamical
models on input physics. To study the dependence on the equation of state (EOS)
we performed several numerical experiments by using the simplified analytical
EOS originally developed by Stellingwerf and the recent analytical EOS
developed by Irwin. Current findings suggest that the pulsation amplitudes as
well as the topology of the instability strip marginally depend on the adopted
EOS.
We also investigated the dependence of observables predicted by theoretical
models on the mass-luminosity (ML) relation and on the spatial resolution
across the Hydrogen and the Helium partial ionization regions. We found that
nonlinear models are marginally affected by these physical and numerical
assumptions. In particular, the difference between new and old models in the
location as well as in the temperature width of the instability strip is on
average smaller than 200 K. However, the spatial resolution somehow affects the
pulsation properties. The new fine models predict a period at the center of the
Hertzsprung Progression (9.84 days) that reasonably agree with
empirical data based on light curves ( days;
\citealt{mbm92}) and on radial velocity curves ( days;
\citealt{mall00}), and improve previous predictions by Bono, Castellani, and
Marconi (2000, hereinafter BCM00).Comment: 35 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Thermal escape of fractional vortices in long Josephson junctions
We consider a fractional Josephson vortex in a long 0-kappa Josephson
junction. A uniformly applied bias current exerts a Lorentz force on the
vortex. If the bias current exceeds the critical current, an integer fluxon is
torn off the kappa-vortex and the junction switches to the voltage state.
In the presence of thermal fluctuations the escape process takes place with
finite probability already at subcritical values of the bias current.
We experimentally investigate the thermally induced escape of a fractional
vortex by high resolution measurements of the critical current as a function of
the topological charge kappa of the vortex and compare the results to numerical
simulations for finite junction lengths and to theoretical predictions for
infinite junction lengths. To study the effect caused by the junction geometry
we compare the vortex escape in annular and linear junctions.Comment: submitted to PR
Evaluation of frameworks of analysis employed in studies of exclusion zones
The purpose of this Work Package is to examine the various approaches to analysing fishery
exclusion zones (FEZs) and to identify the circumstances in which one approach might be
preferred to another. Our concern here is not so much with answering questions about exclusion
zones - these being dealt with in later Work Packages - as with articulating the questions
themselves and in understanding how in principle they could be addressed. An important theme
is the precision with which questions need to be answered, since this will determine the type of
information collected and how such information is analysed. The question ' is an exclusion zone
likely to improve the condition of this fishery ?' is less precise and less demanding of data than
the question ' by how much will an exclusion zone improve this fishery ?' since it could in
principle be answered by expert judgement rather than quantitative analysis. In practice fisheries
managers may be confronted with situations where decisions have to be made quickly, and
qualitative answers may be the only thing possible in circumstances where data cannot be
obtained in the available time.
The Work Package will look at FEZs from a number of different perspectives, but its dominant
concern is with the information – principally in the form of socio-economic and biological
indicators - needed by fisheries managers in order to evaluate the effectiveness of FEZs. To
contextualise the discussion we start by outlining a paradigm for understanding the linkages
between human activities and the environment, showing how it can be applied to fisheries and
marine resources. The Work Package then considers the substantive information requirements
of fisheries managers, commencing with socio-economic assessment and moving on to a review
of biological assessment and the progress which has been made in the development of
mathematical models of FEZs. Bio-economic modelling, which is essentially a specialised type of
socio-economic assessment in which explicit account is taken of the interaction between the
biological and economic components of the fishing system, is dealt with in the final section
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