1,316 research outputs found
Putting the Semantics into Semantic Versioning
The long-standing aspiration for software reuse has made astonishing strides
in the past few years. Many modern software development ecosystems now come
with rich sets of publicly-available components contributed by the community.
Downstream developers can leverage these upstream components, boosting their
productivity.
However, components evolve at their own pace. This imposes obligations on and
yields benefits for downstream developers, especially since changes can be
breaking, requiring additional downstream work to adapt to. Upgrading too late
leaves downstream vulnerable to security issues and missing out on useful
improvements; upgrading too early results in excess work. Semantic versioning
has been proposed as an elegant mechanism to communicate levels of
compatibility, enabling downstream developers to automate dependency upgrades.
While it is questionable whether a version number can adequately characterize
version compatibility in general, we argue that developers would greatly
benefit from tools such as semantic version calculators to help them upgrade
safely. The time is now for the research community to develop such tools: large
component ecosystems exist and are accessible, component interactions have
become observable through automated builds, and recent advances in program
analysis make the development of relevant tools feasible. In particular,
contracts (both traditional and lightweight) are a promising input to semantic
versioning calculators, which can suggest whether an upgrade is likely to be
safe.Comment: to be published as Onward! Essays 202
Scale Up This? Improving Scalability and Viability in Upcycling Design
The circular economy (CE) has been hailed as a model for material recirculation, but waste management remains the dominant method of material recovery. Upcycling offers a transitional approach to the CE, reusing waste in ways which increase its value using current recovery systems. However, craft production methods common to the repurposing approach of most upcycling enterprises hinder their ability to scale up. This thesis aims to assist designers in these challenges by informing and improving operational scalability and business viability in upcycling design.
Despite its multifold benefits, upcycling practices remain niche. Research on the topic is scattered, and very few publications offer detailed practical guidelines for designers, particularly in furniture and object design, a priority sector for circular initiatives given its heavy waste volumes.
To bridge these gaps, this research-creation project employs practice-based, primary and secondary source methods. The author’s design practice in developing a collection of upcycled furniture and objects serves as a real-world example — from material sourcing to design, prototyping and exhibition. This project is later considered in light of two upcycling enterprise case studies as well as a comparative analysis of 20 upcycled furniture and object projects across four categories.
This research confirms the challenges of scaling up while identifying numerous practices which can help. These contribute to a proposed strategic design process for upcycling, from material sourcing through to design development. This practical framework aims to support designers and others in creating scalable, viable upcycling projects and enterprises, thus contributing to increased material circularity
Inflammatory Marker Levels among Patients Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Congenital Heart Defects
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and congenital heart defects (CHD) are conditions that both confer an immense increase in standard of care, and utilization of medical resources addressing comorbidities. One shared symptom that has been consistently cited is inflammation. This review sought to explore the levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor- (TNF-) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) between patients diagnosed as having either ASD or CHD. By compiling published data containing the mean values of these two inflammatory markers within these populations, it was shown that while both have significantly elevated levels compared to a phenotypically normal demographic, there is no significant difference between IL-6 levels in ASD vs. CHD patients. However, there are significantly higher levels of TNF- in CHD patients compared to ASD patients. Understanding the relationship of inflammatory markers would help guide better treatments and outcomes in ASD population, especially to those with CHD
Berkeley Prosopography Services: Building Research Communities and Restoring Ancient Communities through Digital Tools
Berkeley Prosopography Service (BPS) is an innovative open-source digital tool and service that automatically extracts prosopographic data from TEI-encoded text and generates visualizations of the dynamic social networks contained in the text corpora. Filters allow researchers to vary search parameters to consider alternative or hypothetical scenarios such as the impact of individuals and conditions on social and economic relationships. BPS provides users with individual workspaces for research, assessment and probabilistic modelling, while corpus administrators maintain data integrity. During the grant period, BPS, the first independent tool and service to be incorporated into the international Cuneiform Digital Library consortium, will undergo beta-testing of additional text corpora to confirm the reliability and generalizability of its tools for widespread use in the broad community of prosopographers
ONLINE HEALTH INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR: UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENT SEARCH APPROACHES
People intuitively use search engines to look for health information. However, people take an exploratory search approach to find the information in some scenarios, and current search engines do not support these cases well. This exploratory information seeking behaviour is rarely investigated by researchers in the context of online consumer health information. We report on a qualitative study to conceptualise the health information seeking behaviour of lay-people. This paper describes the result of this study, and makes a contribution towards a conceptual understanding of search approaches by people seeking health information, search strategies used by health information seekers, and design implications for providing a better exploratory health search experience
INNOVATION IN DESIGNING HEALTH INFORMATION WEBSITES: RESULTS FROM A QUANTITATIVE STUDY
A wealth of health information exists on the Internet, but successfully finding that information is not easy. One of the issues causing this is the lack of tools for exploring information and assisting in navigation within health websites. As a result, relevant information cannot be easily discovered. We hope to rectify this issue from the design perspective. Based on previous work, we have created a prototype website called Better Health Explorer to better support such information seeking behaviours. This paper reports on a quantitative study evaluating this prototype. The results demonstrate several improvements in health information seeking supported by the tool. Furthermore, we have identified three general design characteristics that should to be considered when designing consumer health websites. These findings have design implications for health information seeking applications, as well as identifying directions for further research
Adverse effects of pegaspargase in pediatric patients receiving doses greater than 3,750 IU
BackgroundIncreased toxicities have been identified with higher doses of pegaspargase (PEG‐ASP) in adults. This has led to routine use of a dose cap of 3,750 IU for adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients in most institutions. In pediatric ALL patients, PEG‐ASP is not capped. There is concern at our institution that larger doses may result in increased rates of adverse effects and that increased monitoring may be warranted in pediatric patients receiving doses greater than 3,750 IU. The objective of this study is to quantify the difference in the rates of PEG‐ASP‐associated adverse events between pediatric patients who received doses greater than 3,750 IU and less than or equal to 3,750 IU.MethodsRetrospective chart review of patients 1–21 years old with pre‐B‐cell ALL who received PEG‐ASP between 2007 and 2014 at an academic medical center.ResultsOf 183 patients included in the analysis, 24 received PEG‐ASP doses higher than 3,750 IU and 159 received doses less than or equal to 3,750 IU. The incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) was significantly higher for patients in the group that received more than 3,750 IU compared with those who received 3,750 IU or less (20.8 vs. 1.89%, respectively; P = 0.0011). The incidence of pancreatitis (P = 0.0306) and hyperglycemia (P = 0.0089) were also higher in the group that received more than 3,750 IU.ConclusionsPEG‐ASP doses higher than 3,750 IU are associated with higher rates of VTE, pancreatitis, and hyperglycemia in pediatric patients with pre‐B‐cell ALL. Patients receiving more than 3,750 IU should have increased monitoring, and larger, multicenter trials are needed to determine if monitoring, VTE prophylaxis, and potential dose capping recommendations should be added to clinical trial protocols.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138220/1/pbc26555_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138220/2/pbc26555.pd
The genetic change in P. falciparum populations of rural Tanzania resulting from national policy on firstline malaria treatment and pilot Sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine and Artesunate combination
Malaria Journal 2010, 9(Suppl 2):P20Theory predicts that we can protect the efficacy of
future antimalarials by changing treatment practice or
drug formulation, but the potential success of such
interventions rests upon their impact on drug pressure
in the field. So far, gathering field data on the relationship
between policy, drug pressure, recombination and
the evolution of resistance has been entirely challenging.
To test these predictions, dhfr and dhps frequency
changes were measured in two rural districts of Rufiji
and Kilombero/Ulanga during 2000-2006, and the frequencies
of the two genes compared prior, during and
after antimalarial policy change from first line CQ to
first line SP in 2001. Furthermore, while SP first line
was maintained in Kilombero/Ulanga, pilot combination
therapy of SP+Artesunate (ART) was introduced in
Rufiji in 2002 to replace SP and dhfr and dhps frequency
changes compared between the two districts. Size polymorphisms
at three sets of microsatellite loci linked to
dhfr and three other sets of unlinked microsatellite loci
were analysed. Genetic analysis of SP resistance genes
was carried out on 9,662 Plasmodium falciparum infections
identified in a series of annual cross sectional surveys
conducted in the two districts between 2000-2006.
The frequency of dhfr and dhps resistance alleles did
not change significantly while SP was the recommended
second-line treatment, but highly significant changes
occurred during the subsequent year after the switch to
first line SP. The frequency of the triple mutant dhfr
allele increased by 37% -63% and that of double mutant
dhps allele increased 200%-300%. A strong association
between these unlinked alleles also emerged; confirming
that they are co-selected by SP. Distribution of major
lineages indicates that there is extensive genetic
exchange among the geographic regions. Combination
therapy had visible effect on the frequencies of dhfr and
dhps resistance alleles. The findings of this study provide
insight on the interplay between policy, drug pressure,
recombination and the evolution of resistance
Media, Health Workers, and Policy Makers' Relationship and Their Impact on Antimalarial Policy Adoption: A Population Genetics Perspective
Drug resistance negatively impacts malaria treatments, making treatment policy revision unavoidable. So far, studies relating sociopolitical and technical issues on policy change with malaria parasite genetic change are lacking. We have quantified the effect of malaria treatment policy on drug pressure and the influence of the media, policy makers, and health worker relationship on parasite population genetic change in Kilombro/Ulanga district. Cross-sectional surveys of asymptomatic infections conducted before, during and after the switch from chloroquine to sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine were used for genetic analysis of SP resistance genes in 4,513 asymptomatic infections identified, and their frequency change was compared with retrospective study of the documented process of policy change. Highly significant changes of dhfr and dhps resistance alleles occurred within one year of switch to SP first line, followed by a decline of their rate of selection caused by reduction of SP usage, as a result of negative media reports on SP usage and lack of adequate preparations
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