On the Helpfulness of Answering Developer Questions on Discord with Similar Conversations and Posts from the Past

A big part of software developers’ time is spent finding answers to their coding-task-related questions. To answer their questions, developers usually perform web searches, ask questions on Q&A websites, or, more recently, in chat communities. Yet, many of these questions have frequently already been answered in previous chat conversations or other online communities. Automatically identifying and then suggesting these previous answers to the askers could, thus, save time and effort. In an empirical analysis, we first explored the frequency of repeating questions on the Discord chat platform and assessed our approach to identify them automatically. The approach was then evaluated with real-world developers in a field experiment, through which we received 142 ratings on the helpfulness of the suggestions we provided to help answer 277 questions that developers posted in four Discord communities. We further collected qualitative feedback through 53 surveys and 10 follow-up interviews. We found that the suggestions were considered helpful in 40% of the cases, that suggesting Stack Overflow posts is more often considered helpful than past Discord conversations, and that developers have difficulties describing their problems as search queries and, thus, prefer describing them as natural language questions in online communities

Nanodust detection near 1 AU from spectral analysis of Cassini/RPWS radio data

Nanodust grains of a few nanometer in size are produced near the Sun by collisional break-up of larger grains and picked-up by the magnetized solar wind. They have so far been detected at 1 AU by only the two STEREO spacecraft. Here we analyze the spectra measured by the radio and plasma wave instrument onboard Cassini during the cruise phase close to Earth orbit; they exhibit bursty signatures similar to those observed by the same instrument in association to nanodust stream impacts on Cassini near Jupiter. The observed wave level and spectral shape reveal impacts of nanoparticles at about 300 km/s, with an average flux compatible with that observed by the radio and plasma wave instrument onboard STEREO and with the interplanetary flux models

Semi-Automatic, Inline and Collaborative Web Page Code Curations

Software developers spend about a quarter of their workday using the web to fulfill various information needs. Searching for relevant information online can be time-consuming, yet acquired information is rarely systematically persisted for later reference. In this work, we introduce SALI, an approach for semi-automated linking web pages to source code locations inline with the source code. SALI helps developers naturally capture high-quality, explicit links between web pages and specific source code locations by suggesting links for curation within the IDE. Through two laboratory studies, we examined the developer’s ability to both curate and consume links between web pages and specific source code locations while performing software development tasks. The studies were performed with 20 subjects working on realistic software change tasks from widely-used open-source projects. Results showed that developers continuously and concisely curate web pages at meaningful locations in the code with little effort. Additionally, we showed that other developers could use these curations while performing new and different change tasks to speed up relevant information gathering within unfamiliar codebases by a factor of 2.4

Performance of a deep convolutional neural network for MRI-based vertebral body measurements and insufficiency fracture detection

OBJECTIVES The aim is to validate the performance of a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) for vertebral body measurements and insufficiency fracture detection on lumbar spine MRI. METHODS This retrospective analysis included 1000 vertebral bodies in 200 patients (age 75.2 ± 9.8 years) who underwent lumbar spine MRI at multiple institutions. 160/200 patients had ≥ one vertebral body insufficiency fracture, 40/200 had no fracture. The performance of the DCNN and that of two fellowship-trained musculoskeletal radiologists in vertebral body measurements (anterior/posterior height, extent of endplate concavity, vertebral angle) and evaluation for insufficiency fractures were compared. Statistics included (a) interobserver reliability metrics using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), kappa statistics, and Bland-Altman analysis, and (b) diagnostic performance metrics (sensitivity, specificity, accuracy). A statistically significant difference was accepted if the 95% confidence intervals did not overlap. RESULTS The inter-reader agreement between radiologists and the DCNN was excellent for vertebral body measurements, with ICC values of > 0.94 for anterior and posterior vertebral height and vertebral angle, and good to excellent for superior and inferior endplate concavity with ICC values of 0.79-0.85. The performance of the DCNN in fracture detection yielded a sensitivity of 0.941 (0.903-0.968), specificity of 0.969 (0.954-0.980), and accuracy of 0.962 (0.948-0.973). The diagnostic performance of the DCNN was independent of the radiological institution (accuracy 0.964 vs. 0.960), type of MRI scanner (accuracy 0.957 vs. 0.964), and magnetic field strength (accuracy 0.966 vs. 0.957). CONCLUSIONS A DCNN can achieve high diagnostic performance in vertebral body measurements and insufficiency fracture detection on heterogeneous lumbar spine MRI. KEY POINTS • A DCNN has the potential for high diagnostic performance in measuring vertebral bodies and detecting insufficiency fractures of the lumbar spine

Cultivating a Team Mindset about Productivity with a Nudge: A Field Study in Hybrid Development Teams

While there has been significant study of both individuals and teams of knowledge workers, research has focused largely on one or the other, with less focus on the interaction between the two. In this paper, we explore the tensions between the individual and their team, focusing on the choices an individual makes towards their own productivity versus their team's productivity. We developed a technology probe with a team nudge that fosters recurring reflection and prompts individuals to consider how their team helps them to be productive. We examined its impact through a longitudinal field study with 48 participants. We chose to undertake this study with software development teams as they are examples of knowledge workers who collaborate on a shared set of tasks with specific goals. Our exploration took place with hybrid development teams, which have increasingly become the norm. Our analysis of a total of 8338 hourly self-reports and 1389 daily diary entries found that the team nudge increased participants' productivity ratings and team awareness, led to participants spending more time on their own tasks, reshaped their perceptions of themselves and their team, yet, in general, did not increase team cohesion or affect well-being

Gene Expression Profiles of Chlamydophila pneumoniae during the Developmental Cycle and Iron Depletion–Mediated Persistence

The obligate intracellular, gram-negative bacterium Chlamydophila pneumoniae (Cpn) has impact as a human pathogen. Little is known about changes in the Cpn transcriptome during its biphasic developmental cycle (the acute infection) and persistence. The latter stage has been linked to chronic diseases. To analyze Cpn CWL029 gene expression, we designed a pathogen-specific oligo microarray and optimized the extraction method for pathogen RNA. Throughout the acute infection, ratio expression profiles for each gene were generated using 48 h post infection as a reference. Based on these profiles, significantly expressed genes were separated into 12 expression clusters using self-organizing map clustering and manual sorting into the “early”, “mid”, “late”, and “tardy” cluster classes. The latter two were differentiated because the “tardy” class showed steadily increasing expression at the end of the cycle. The transcriptome of the Cpn elementary body (EB) and published EB proteomics data were compared to the cluster profile of the acute infection. We found an intriguing association between “late” genes and genes coding for EB proteins, whereas “tardy” genes were mainly associated with genes coding for EB mRNA. It has been published that iron depletion leads to Cpn persistence. We compared the gene expression profiles during iron depletion–mediated persistence with the expression clusters of the acute infection. This led to the finding that establishment of iron depletion–mediated persistence is more likely a mid-cycle arrest in development rather than a completely distinct gene expression pattern. Here, we describe the Cpn transcriptome during the acute infection, differentiating “late” genes, which correlate to EB proteins, and “tardy” genes, which lead to EB mRNA. Expression profiles during iron mediated–persistence led us to propose the hypothesis that the transcriptomic “clock” is arrested during acute mid-cycle

Разработка архитектуры и программных средств витрин данных для предприятия нефтегазовой отрасли

Анализируются проблемы создания отраслевых информационно-аналитических систем, основанных на современных OLAP-технологиях. Рассмотрен вариант архитектуры хранилища данных для крупного нефтегазодобывающего предприятия на примере проектирования тематической витрины данных, включающего анализ специфической предметной области, проектирование многомерных структур данных, постановку аналитических задач и их решение

The X-ray emission from Young Stellar Objects in the rho Ophiuchi cloud core as seen by XMM-Newton

We observed the main core F of the rho Ophiuchi cloud, an active star-forming region located at ~140 pc, using XMM-Newton with an exposure of 33 ks. We detect 87 X-ray sources within the 30' diameter field-of-view of the it EPIC imaging detector array. We cross-correlate the positions of XMM-Newton X-ray sources with previous X-ray and infrared (IR) catalogs: 25 previously unknown X-ray sources are found from our observation; 43 X-ray sources are detected by both XMM-Newton and Chandra; 68 XMM-Newton X-ray sources have 2MASS near-IR counterparts. We show that XMM-Newton and Chandra have comparable sensitivity for point source detection when the exposure time is set to ~30 ks for both. We detect X-ray emission from 7 Class I sources, 26 Class II sources, and 17 Class III sources. The X-ray detection rate of Class I sources is very high (64 %), which is consistent with previous Chandra observations in this area. We propose that 15 X-ray sources are new class III candidates, which doubles the number of known Class III sources, and helps to complete the census of YSOs in this area. We also detect X-ray emission from two young bona fide brown dwarfs, GY310 and GY141, out of three known in the field of view. GY141 appears brighter by nearly two orders of magnitude than in the Chandra observation. We extract X-ray light curves and spectra from these YSOs, and find some of them showed weak X-ray flares. We observed an X-ray flare from the bona fide brown dwarf GY310. We find as in the previous Chandra observation of this region that Class I sources tend to have higher temperatures and heavier X-ray absorptions than Class II and III sources.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables, accepted by A&

Motivation and its importance in learning English

The principal objective of this paper is to pay our attention to such a significant problem as motivation in the process of learning a foreign language. The paper is devoted to the very important problem concerning educational process. For most purposes in today, motivation has different reasons why we act in a certain way. We may indeed be motivated by influences as basic as pain and pleasure. The key to understanding motivation is, to some, understanding why it is important to an individual or to a group or organization. In this case some definitions of motivation are given. Also the paper pinpoints attention upon the ways the teacher can use to level up the student's desire to study language

Properties and Origin of the High-Velocity Gas Toward the Large Magellanic Cloud

In the spectra of 139 early-type Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) stars observed with FUSE and with deep radio Parkes HI 21-cm observations along those stars, we search for and analyze the absorption and emission from high-velocity gas at +90<v<+175 km/s. The HI column density of the high-velocity clouds (HVCs) along these sightlines ranges from <10^18.4 to 10^19.2 cm^-2. The incidence of the HVC metal absorption is 70%, significantly higher than the HI emission occurrence of 32%. We find that the mean metallicity of the HVC is [OI/HI] = -0.51 (+0.12,-0.16). There is no strong evidence for a large variation in the HVC metallicity, implying that thes e HVCs have a similar origin and are part of the same complex. The mean and scatter of the HVC metallicities are more consistent with the present-day LMC oxygen abundance than that of the Small Magellanic Cloud or the Milky Way. We find that on average [SiII/OI] = +0.48 (+0.15,- 0.25) and [FeII/OI] = +0.33 (+0.14,-0.21), implying that the HVC complex is dominantly ionized. The HVC complex has a multiphase structure with a neutral (OI, FeII), weakly ionized (FeII, NII), and highly ionized (OVI) components, and has evidence of dust but no molecules. All the observed properties of the HVC can be explained by an energetic outflow from the LMC. This is the first example of a large (>10^6 M_sun) HVC complex that is linked to stellar feedback occurring in a dwarf spiral galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Ap