GIMO : A multi-objective anytime rule mining system to ease iterative feedback from domain experts

Data extracted from software repositories is used intensively in Software Engineering research, for example, to predict defects in source code. In our research in this area, with data from open source projects as well as an industrial partner, we noticed several shortcomings of conventional data mining approaches for classification problems: (1) Domain experts’ acceptance is of critical importance, and domain experts can provide valuable input, but it is hard to use this feedback. (2) Evaluating the quality of the model is not a matter of calculating AUC or accuracy. Instead, there are multiple objectives of varying importance with hard to quantify trade-offs. Furthermore, the performance of the model cannot be evaluated on a per-instance level in our case, because it shares aspects with the set cover problem. To overcome these problems, we take a holistic approach and develop a rule mining system that simplifies iterative feedback from domain experts and can incorporate the domain-specific evaluation needs. A central part of the system is a novel multi-objective anytime rule mining algorithm. The algorithm is based on the GRASP-PR meta-heuristic but extends it with ideas from several other approaches. We successfully applied the system in the industrial context. In the current article, we focus on the description of the algorithm and the concepts of the system. We make an implementation of the system available. © 2020 The Author

Raucherentwöhnung in Apotheken — Evaluation der Raucherentwöhnungskampagne "Tabak adieu” der Apotheker/-innen beider Basel

Zusammenfassung: Nach wie vor stellt der Tabakkonsum ein grosses gesundheitliches Problem in der Schweiz dar. Dementsprechend werden viele Anstrengungen und Massnahmen zur Reduktion des Tabakkonsums unternommen. Obwohl sich auch die Offizinapothekerl-innen in den letzten Jahren vermehrt im Bereich der Gesundheitsförderung und der Prävention engagierten, existiert bisher keine Dokumentation ihrer Rolle bei der Tabakprävention. Die Raucherentwöhnungskampagne "Tabak adieu”, die von Apothekerl-innen im Jahr 1996 in Basel als niederschwelliges Angebot durchgeführt wurde, und deren Evaluation ist ein Versuch, diese Rolle zu untersuchen. In der Evaluation wurden einerseits die beteiligten Apotheken befragt und ihre auf diesem Gebiet geleisteten Dienstleistungen erfasst. Andererseits wurden diejenigen aufhörwilligen Raucherl-innen, die sich während der Kampagne in der Apotheke über die Raucherentwöhnung beraten liessen, mittels standardisiertem Fragebogen über ihr Rauchverhalten und die in den Apotheken gemachten Erfahrungen befragt. Das Interesse am niederschwelligen Angebot der Apotheken für die Raucherentwöhnung war sehr gross: Während der vierwöchigen Kampagne wurden in den 63 beteiligten Apotheken rund 2000 Kundenkontakte mit an Raucherentwöhnung interessierten Personen registriert. Im Vergleich zur Situation vor der Kampagne verschob sich dabei die nachfrage zu den beratungsintensiven Dienstleistungen hin. Die in den Apotheken beratenen Entwöhnungswilligen beurteilten die erhaltene Raucherberatung als gut. Neben der Raucherberatung wurden den Aufhörwilligen auch Betreuung während der Entwöhnungsphase angeboten. In 76 Prozent der dokumentierten Raucherberatungen wurden Folgebesuche zwischen den Entwöhnungwilligen und dem Apothekenteam vereinbart. Die Untersuchung zeigt, dass Raucherberatung in Apotheken möglich ist, und dass das niederschwellige Angebot genutzt wird. Ein weiterer Ausbau dieser Präventionsmassnahme über die öffentlichen Apotheken scheint aufgrund der durchgeführten Evaluation sinnvoll. Voraussetzungen für erfolgreiche pharmazeutische Raucherberatungen und-ent-wöhnungen sind aber eine eingehende Fortbildung und ein motiviertes Tea

The Web Service Challenge - A review on Semantic Web Service Composition

Every year, contesters submit contributions to the Web Service Challenge (WSC) in order to determine which service composition system is the most efficient one. In this challenge, semantic composition tasks must be solved and the results delivered by the composers are checked for correctness. The time needed for the composition process is another important competition criterion. After we had participated with great success in the 2006 and 2007 WSC, we were asked to manage the Web Service Challenge 2008. In this paper, we present the challenge task, the challenge rules, the document format used, and the results of this competition. We provide a summary over the past challenges and give first previews on the future developments planned for the Web Service Challenges to come

Social rate of return to plant breeding research in Germany

This article focuses on the social rate of return to plant breeding investment in Germany between 1980-2000. Starting point of the analysis is the development of total factor productivity which is decomposed into the effects of factor input and research investment. Information on investment in plant breeding have been obtained via questionnaires sent to both private plant breeding companies and public research organizations. The empirical results suggest significant underinvestment in German plant breeding research, as the calculated social rate of return is in the range of 16 to 28%.agricultural research, plant breeding investment, social rate of return, Public Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Agile multi-beam front-end for 5G mm-wave measurements

The 5th generation new radio (5G NR) standards create both enormous challenges and potential to address the spatio-spectral-temporal agility of wireless transmission. In the framework of a research unit at TU Ilmenau, various concepts were studied, including both approaches toward integrated circuits and distributed receiver front-ends (FEs). We report here on the latter approach, aiming at the proof-of-principle of the constituting FEs suitable for later modular extension. A millimeter-wave agile multi-beam FE with an integrated 4 by 1 antenna array for 5G wireless communications was designed, manufactured, and verified by measurements. The polarization is continuously electronically adjustable and the directions of signal reception are steerable by setting digital phase shifters. On purpose, these functions were realized by analog circuits, and digital signal processing was not applied. The agile polarization is created inside the analog, real-time capable FE in a novel manner and any external circuitry is omitted. The microstrip patch antenna array integrated into this module necessitated elaborate measurements within the scope of FE characterization, as the analog circuit and antenna form a single entity and cannot be assessed separately. Link measurements with broadband signals were successfully performed and analyzed in detail to determine the error vector magnitude contributions of the FE

Using simulations to investigate the apparent fracture toughness of microcantilevers

In the past decade, micrometer cantilevers were frequently used to evaluate the fracture toughness of single phases and the fracture toughness of particular grain and phase boundaries. The calculation of the fracture toughness relies on the cantilever geometry and the experimentally determined maximum force. To quantify the toughness, the geometry and force enter analytical models, which are based on simulations that use an isotropic elastic material, perfect beam geometry and in many cases a two-dimensional configuration. However, the vast majority of materials have a limited amount of plasticity and are anisotropic. Moreover, the intentionally prepared pre-crack is seldom straight due to the focused ion beam (FIB) production method. This study uses thousands of 3D finite element method (FEM) simulations to investigate the influence of anisotropy, imperfect pre-crack shape and plasticity on the apparent fracture toughness of the material. Initially, we will discuss the influence of anisotropy on the apparent fracture toughness. To that end, the ratio of anisotropy between the cantilever axis and the transversal axis is varied to establish the effect on the fracture toughness. More, we investigate the influence of Poisson\u27s ratio and beam geometry because these values interact with the anisotropy. We find that typical metals with an anisotropy ratio less than 3 and typical cantilever geometries with an l/h ratio of more than 4 are only slightly affected by the anisotropy. We present view-graphs that allow the user to determine the influence of anisotropy for other cantilevers and highly anisotropic materials. Secondly, we investigate the influence of material bridges that are frequently used to ensure straight pre-cracks at the start of crack propagation. Additionally, we investigate the influence of pre-crack front rounding, i.e. the material bridges are omitted. We varied the geometry of the material bridge and crack front rounding to establish the influence of the geometry on the apparent fracture toughness. We discuss the difference between load controlled experiments with an internal feedback loop and displacement controlled experiments. We argue about the geometric requirements to ensure stable crack growth and the optimal experiments. We close with a discussion on the influence of plasticity on the fracture toughness and the applicability of the plastic zone size according to Rice for microcantilever experiments. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Different Approaches to Semantic Web Service Composition

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Linear Phase Shift Response with High Dynamic Range for Holographic recording in As2S3

Amorphous As2S3 films are real-time photographic materials for phase holograms. This work focuses an the phase shift in As2S3 films as a function of the exposure. A measuring method for the phase shift response simultaneous to the exposure is presented. A relative displacement determination of interferometric patterns allows precise measurements insensitive to changes of experimental conditions. The phase shift dependence on the intensity of the writing beam is evaluated for two different films. As the result a linear phase shift response is obtained with a dynamic range of nearly 9. It is independent of the intensity over four orders of magnitude. The results are proofed by diffraction efficiency measurements