Bioinformatics software, shifting to mobility

Presentación en Escuela de Verano del trabajo en desarrollo para el proyecto Mr.Symbiomath IAPP project (Code: 324554)Mobile devices are pervading all the work environments with such swiftness that makes past decades of computerization appear lethargic. Even so, porting previous desktop applications is not always possible or of practical use, needing a whole reexamination of their user interface model. Software for Bioinformatics adds further issues: lack of standards in formats, mixed alternatives on the treatment of data, huge data-sizes, difficulty of output representation, which makes simpler interactive environment as are touch interfaces, struggle to reach a bare basic level of practical utility. Prove of that is near all the currently available Bioinformatics apps for mobile platforms, over 50, are either educative, or target only one simple action, typically a blast on a short local sequence. In spite of all of that, a careful design, based on continuous user testing, and sensible goals, is paying us more than acceptable results. To start with, we had real useful desktop applications, based on open workflows that could fundamentally be modeled easily as the user needed different treatment for their data. We took the essentials of this open perspective, as none of the currently available mobile software is worth its use except in rather particular conditions, and only the simplest processes are available. Our approach is more ambitious as it leaves open the process you can do to your data. You have hundreds of them at a single touch. The interface is continuously being fine tuned as more user testing adds real usability information.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. This work has been partially supported by Mr.Symbiomath IAPP project (Code: 324554

Usability tests on bioinformatics mobile applications

International Congress Poster, supported by MrSymBioMath IAPP project (Code: 324554) Marie Curie ProjectMobile devices are experiencing a dramatic increased use among clinicians and researchers. Current bio-apps are not mature enough for a serious bioinformatic use. We are addressing the key aspects that these particular interfaces and situations present to the user. In doing so, we have develop an ambitious framework for an open list of services easy and friendly accesible able to give useful results on the mobileUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Goal Driven Interaction (GDI) vs. Direct Manipulation (MD), an empirical comparison

Interacción'15, September 07-09, 2015, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain ACM 978-1-4503-3463-1/15/09. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2829875.2829892This paper presents a work in process about Goal Driven Interaction (GDI), a style of interaction intended for inexperienced, infrequent and occasional users, whose main priorities are to use a system and achieve their goals without cost in terms of time or effort. GDI basic philosophy is to guide the user about the "what" to do and the "how" to do it in each moment of the interaction process, without requiring from the user a previous knowledge to use the interface. This interaction style was introduced in previous work, where a description of its characteristics and the most appropriate user interface for it, were described. Those works included a methodology for the analysis and synthesis of the whole interactive process through a language of specification. This paper presents partial results we are collecting in real user testing, with the main aim of comparing GDI with direct manipulation interfaces (MD), nevertheless the most extended and commonly regarded as the most suitable for novice and experienced users.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Bioinformatics with mobile devices

Poster presented at this CongressMobile platforms are continuously growing in popularity and importance in every aspect of everyday life. It is important that Bioinformatics and biomedical applications keep up with this trend. These platforms offer ubiquitous access, and give their users results when they really need them. However, mobile application development has its own unique challenges (i.e. limited screen size, storage, etc.). We have developed a lightweight platform independent mobile application that allows bioinformaticians to browse Web Services repositories and to invoke themUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. This work has been partially supported by Mr.Symbiomath IAPP project (Code: 324554); the "Plataforma de Recursos Biomoleculares y Bioinformaticos" (ISCIII-PT13.0001.0012) and "Proyecto de Excelencia Junta de Andalucia" (P10-TIC-6108

A reflective characterisation of occasional user

This work revisits established user classifications and aims to characterise a historically unspecified user category, the Occasional User (OU). Three user categories, novice, intermediate and expert, have dominated the work of user interface (UI) designers, researchers and educators for decades. These categories were created to conceptualise user's needs, strategies and goals around the 80s. Since then, UI paradigm shifts, such as direct manipulation and touch, along with other advances in technology, gave new access to people with little computer knowledge. This fact produced a diversification of the existing user categories not observed in the literature review of traditional classification of users. The findings of this work include a new characterisation of the occasional user, distinguished by user's uncertainty of repetitive use of an interface and little knowledge about its functioning. In addition, the specification of the OU, together with principles and recommendations will help UI community to informatively design for users without requiring a prospective use and previous knowledge of the UI. The OU is an essential type of user to apply user-centred design approach to understand the interaction with technology as universal, accessible and transparent for the user, independently of accumulated experience and technological era that users live in

Natural and Undetermined Sudden Death: Value of Post-Mortem Genetic Investigation

Background: Sudden unexplained death may be the first manifestation of an unknown inherited cardiac disease. Current genetic technologies may enable the unraveling of an etiology and the identification of relatives at risk. The aim of our study was to define the etiology of natural deaths, younger than 50 years of age, and to investigate whether genetic defects associated with cardiac diseases could provide a potential etiology for the unexplained cases. Methods and Findings: Our cohort included a total of 789 consecutive cases (77.19% males) <50 years old (average 38.6±12.2 years old) who died suddenly from non-violent causes. A comprehensive autopsy was performed according to current forensic guidelines. During autopsy a cause of death was identified in most cases (81.1%), mainly due to cardiac alterations (56.87%). In unexplained cases, genetic analysis of the main genes associated with sudden cardiac death was performed using Next Generation Sequencing technology. Genetic analysis was performed in suspected inherited diseases (cardiomyopathy) and in unexplained death, with identification of potentially pathogenic variants in nearly 50% and 40% of samples, respectively. Conclusions: Cardiac disease is the most important cause of sudden death, especially after the age of 40. Close to 10% of cases may remain unexplained after a complete autopsy investigation. Molecular autopsy may provide an explanation for a significant part of these unexplained cases. Identification of genetic variations enables genetic counseling and undertaking of preventive measures in relatives at risk

Dios en las tres culturas

Vicerrectorado de Investigación de la Universidad de MálagaConsejería de Innovación y Ciencia de la Junta de Andalucía (convocatoria 1/2010)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación de España FFI2010-09124-

A study of the coevolution of digital organisms with an evolutionary cellular automaton

This article belongs to the Section Evolutionary Biology.This paper presents an Evolutionary Cellular Automaton (ECA) that simulates the evolutionary dynamics of biological interactions by manipulating strategies of dispersion and associations between digital organisms. The parameterization of the different types of interaction and distribution strategies using configuration files generates easily interpretable results. In that respect, ECA is an effective instrument for measuring the effects of relative adaptive advantages and a good resource for studying natural selection. Although ECA works effectively in obtaining the expected results from most well-known biological interactions, some unexpected effects were observed. For example, organisms uniformly distributed in fragmented habitats do not favor eusociality, and mutualism evolved from parasitism simply by varying phenotypic flexibility. Finally, we have verified that natural selection represents a cost for the emergence of sex by destabilizing the stable evolutionary strategy of the 1:1 sex ratio after generating randomly different distributions in each generation.This work has been supported by Generalitat Valenciana, Spain (project Prometeo/2018/A/133), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Spain (project PID2019-105969GB-I00) and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to A.M.Peer reviewe