Several abstracts for the conference on 'Regulation of transport mechanisms'

Several abstracts for the conference on 'Regulation of transport mechanisms

Overcoming Language Dichotomies: Toward Effective Program Comprehension for Mobile App Development

Mobile devices and platforms have become an established target for modern software developers due to performant hardware and a large and growing user base numbering in the billions. Despite their popularity, the software development process for mobile apps comes with a set of unique, domain-specific challenges rooted in program comprehension. Many of these challenges stem from developer difficulties in reasoning about different representations of a program, a phenomenon we define as a "language dichotomy". In this paper, we reflect upon the various language dichotomies that contribute to open problems in program comprehension and development for mobile apps. Furthermore, to help guide the research community towards effective solutions for these problems, we provide a roadmap of directions for future work.Comment: Invited Keynote Paper for the 26th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Program Comprehension (ICPC'18

Identifying Characteristics of Effective Small Group Learning Valued by Medical Students and Facilitators

Background: Small group teaching is an important part of undergraduate medical education, providing the ideal setting for learners to clarify misunderstandings, test hypotheses and evaluate ideas. Many schools undergoing curriculum reform have increased the time students spend in small group learning. However, there is an overall paucity of literature examining case-based small group sessions in medical school. Objective: This study was designed to examine student and facilitator perceptions of effective case-based small group teaching in the pre-clinical years and compare results in order to identify similarities and differences and identify key areas of disconnect so that the small group learning experience can be improved. Methods: An 18-item survey was emailed to all 388 students who had started the second year of medical school at the University of Massachusetts between August 2008 and August 2010 and to 146 of 161 facilitators who had facilitated a case-based small group session during that same time. Chi-square tests of equality of proportions were used to compare the answers of students and small group facilitators. Results: 79 (54%) small group facilitators and 195 (50%) students responded. Student and facilitator responses were similar in the areas regarding goals of small group sessions and responsibilities of the facilitator. Significant difference was noted between cohorts about the most important roles of the facilitator, whether facilitators and/or students should attend training prior to sessions, whether groups should follow a consistent format, how students should be expected to prepare for small groups, how student knowledge and performance should be assessed, and whether the small group leader should be a skilled facilitator or content expert. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that there are areas where perceptions of effectiveness differ between students and facilitators. Identifying these areas presents an opportunity to make small group sessions more effective by allowing for more informed facilitator development and better communication of session expectations to students. The lack of a substantive body of literature on this important trend in medical education, coupled with our findings, suggests that further study is needed to identify characteristics of case-based small group learning that are mutually valued by students and facilitators. This will encourage the development of small group sessions that are deemed effective and maximize learning and teaching time

Climate and soil type together explain the distribution of microendemic species in a biodiversity hotspot

The grasshopper genus Caledonula, endemic to New Caledonia, was studied to understand the evolution of species distributions in relation to climate and soil types. Based on a comprehensive sampling of 80 locations throughout the island, the genus was represented by five species, four of which are new to science, of which three are described here. All the species have limited distributions in New Caledonia. Bioclimatic niche modelling shows that all the species were found in association with a wet climate and reduced seasonality, explaining their restriction to the southern half of the island. The results suggest that the genus was ancestrally constrained by seasonality. A molecular phylogeny was reconstructed using two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers. The partially resolved tree showed monophyly of the species found on metalliferous soils, and molecular dating indicated a rather recent origin for the genus. Adaptation to metalliferous soils is suggested by both morphological changes and radiation on these soils. The genus Caledonula is therefore a good model to understand the origin of microendemism in the context of recent and mixed influences of climate and soil type