On the Maintenance Costs of Formal Software Requirements Specification Written in the Software Cost Reduction and in the Real-time Unified Modeling Language Notations

A formal specification language used during the requirements phase can reduce errors and rework, but formal specifications are regarded as expensive to maintain, discouraging their adoption. This work presents a single-subject experiment that explores the costs of modifying specifications written in two different languages: a tabular notation, Software Cost Reduction (SCR), and a state-of-the-practice notation, Real-time Unified Modeling Language (UML). The study records the person-hours required to write each specification, the number of defects made during each specification effort, and the amount of time repairing these defects. Two different problems are specified—a Bidirectional Formatter (BDF), and a Bicycle Computer (BC)—to balance a learning effect from specifying the same problem twice with different specification languages. During the experiment, an updated feature for each problem is sent to the subject and each specification is modified to reflect the changes. The results show that the cost to modify a specification are highly dependent on both the problem and the language used. There is no evidence that a tabular notation is easier to modify than a state-of-the-practice notation. A side-effect of the experiment indicates there is a strong learning effect, independent of the language: in the BDF problem, the second time specifying the problem required more time, but resulted in a better-quality specification than the first time; in the BC problem, the second time specifying the problem required less time and resulted in the same quality specification as the first time. This work demonstrates also that single-subject experiments can add important information to the growing body of empirical data about the use of formal requirements specifications in software development

Sleep disturbance at pre-deployment is a significant predictor of post-deployment re-experiencing symptoms.

Background: Insomnia is common in service members and associated with many mental and physical health problems. Recently, longitudinal data have been used to assess the impact of disturbed sleep on mental health outcomes. These studies have consistently shown relationships between sleep disturbance and development of mental illness. Objective: The present study examined the longitudinal relationship between sleep disturbance and PTSD symptomatology in a cohort of Marines and Navy Corpsmen deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan (n = 2,404) assessed prior to deployment, as well as at -3 and 6 months post-deployment. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the extent to which these relationships are moderated by combat-stress severity, and to what extent these findings are replicated in a second, separate cohort of Marines and Navy corpsmen (n = 938) assessed with identical measures prior to deployment and within 3 months of return. Method: The present study employed latent variable path models to examine the relationships between pre-deployment sleep disturbance and post-deployment re-experiencing symptoms. Initial cross-lagged path models were conducted on discovery and replication samples to validate the hypothesized predictive relationships. Follow up moderation path models were then conducted to include the effect of combat-stress severity on these relationships. Results: Initial cross-lagged models supported a significant relationship between pre-deployment sleep disturbance and future re-experiencing PTSD symptoms at all time points. Initial moderation models showed a small moderator effect of combat-stress severity, though the main predictive relationship between pre-deployment sleep disturbance and PTSD symptoms remained significant. The moderator effect was not significant in the replication sample. Conclusions: The results of this study support pre-deployment sleep disturbance as a risk factor for development of post-deployment PTSD symptoms. Interventions aimed at normalizing sleep may be important in preventive measures for PTSD

GenderMag: A Method for Evaluating Software’s Gender Inclusiveness

In recent years, research into gender differences has established that individual differences in how people problem-solve often cluster by gender. Research also shows that these differences have direct implications for software that aims to support users’ problem-solving activities, and that much of this software is more supportive of problem-solving processes favored (statistically) more by males than by females. However, there is almost no work considering how software practitioners—such as User Experience (UX) professionals or software developers—can find gender-inclusiveness issues like these in their software. To address this gap, we devised the GenderMag method for evaluating problem-solving software from a gender-inclusiveness perspective. The method includes a set of faceted personas that bring five facets of gender difference research to life, and embeds use of the personas into a concrete process through a gender-specialized Cognitive Walkthrough. Our empirical results show that a variety of practitioners who design software—without needing any background in gender research—were able to use the GenderMag method to find gender-inclusiveness issues in problem-solving software. Our results also show that the issues the practitioners found were real and fixable. This work is the first systematic method to find gender-inclusiveness issues in software, so that practitioners can design and produce problem-solving software that is more usable by everyone

Large Language Models as Source Planner for Personalized Knowledge-grounded Dialogue

Open-domain dialogue system usually requires different sources of knowledge to generate more informative and evidential responses. However, existing knowledge-grounded dialogue systems either focus on a single knowledge source or overlook the dependency between multiple sources of knowledge, which may result in generating inconsistent or even paradoxical responses. To incorporate multiple knowledge sources and dependencies between them, we propose SAFARI, a novel framework that leverages the exceptional capabilities of large language models (LLMs) in planning, understanding, and incorporating under both supervised and unsupervised settings. Specifically, SAFARI decouples the knowledge grounding into multiple sources and response generation, which allows easy extension to various knowledge sources including the possibility of not using any sources. To study the problem, we construct a personalized knowledge-grounded dialogue dataset \textit{\textbf{K}nowledge \textbf{B}ehind \textbf{P}ersona}~(\textbf{KBP}), which is the first to consider the dependency between persona and implicit knowledge. Experimental results on the KBP dataset demonstrate that the SAFARI framework can effectively produce persona-consistent and knowledge-enhanced responses

Who Produces for Whom in the World Economy?

International audienceFor two decades, the share of trade in inputs, also called vertical trade, has been dramatically increasing. In reallocating trade flows to their original input-producing industries and countries, this paper suggests a new measure of international trade: "value-added trade" and makes it possible to answer the question "who produces for whom?". In 2004, 27% of international trade was vertical trade. The industrial and geographic patterns of value-added trade are very different from those of standard trade. Value-added trade is relatively less important in regional trade but the difference is not more important for Asia than for AmericaLa part du commerce en produits intermédiaires dans le commerce international, appelé aussi "commerce vertical", n'a cessé d'augmenter depuis vingt ans. Cet article propose une nouvelle mesure du commerce international "le commerce en valeur ajoutée" qui réalloue les flux commerciaux aux pays et aux secteurs produisant les intrants. Les répartitions géographique et sectorielle du commerce en valeur ajoutée sont très différentes de celles du commerce " standard ". La différence entre le commerce en valeur ajoutée et le commerce standard est plus importante dans le cas du commerce régional mais ce n'est pas plus le cas en Asie qu'en Amérique

Lung cancer in never-smoker Asian females is driven by oncogenic mutations, most often involving EGFR

The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of known oncogenic driver mutations in female never-smoker Asian patients with lung adenocarcinoma. We analyzed 214 mutations across 26 lung cancer-associated genes and three fusion genes using the MassARRAY® LungCarta Panel and the ALK, ROS1, and RET fusion assays in 198 consecutively resected lung adenocarcinomas from never-smoker females at a single institution. EGFR mutation, which was the most frequent driver gene mutation, was detected in 124 (63%) cases. Mutation of ALK, KRAS, PIK3CA, ERBB2, BRAF, ROS1, and RET genesoccurred in 7%, 4%, 2.5%, 1.5%, 1%, 1%, and 1% of cases, respectively. Thus, 79% of lung adenocarcinomas from never-smoker females harbored well-known oncogenic mutations. Mucinous adenocarcinomas tended to have a lower frequency of known driver gene mutations than other histologic subtypes. EGFR mutation was associated with older age and a predominantly acinar pattern, while ALK rearrangement was associated with younger age and a predominantly solid pattern. Lung cancer in never-smoker Asian females is a distinct entity, with the majority of these cancers developing from oncogenic mutations

The Urologist's View of Male Overactive Bladder: Discrepancy between Reality and Belief in Practical Setting

PURPOSE: In order to gain insight into the physicians' awareness of and attitude towards management of overactive bladder (OAB) in males, we performed a nationwide survey of the current strategies that urologists use to diagnose and manage OAB in male patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A probability sample was taken from the Korean Urological Association Registry of Physicians, and a random sample of 289 Korean urologists were mailed a structured questionnaire that explored how they manage benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). RESULTS: A total of 185 completed questionnaires were returned. The consent rate in the survey was 64.5%. Eighty-one (44%) urologists believed that of all males with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), 20% or more had OAB and 72 (39%) believed that 10-20% had OAB. Half of the urologists surveyed believed that the most bothersome symptom in male OAB patients was nocturia. Seventy-three percent of respondents reported that they prescribed alpha blockers with anticholinergics for first line management, while 19% of urologists prescribed alpha blocker monotherapy but not anticholinergics for OAB patients. Though acute urinary retention (AUR) was considered the anticholinergic adverse event of most concern, the most frequently observed adverse event was dry mouth (95%). CONCLUSION: The present study provides insights into urologist views of male OAB. There is a discrepancy between the awareness of urologists and actual patterns of diagnosis and treatment of male OAB. This finding indicates the need to develop further practical guidelines based on solid clinical data.ope

A geography of residents' worry about the disruptive effects of contaminated sites

© 2018 Institute of Australian Geographers While the links between contaminated sites and adverse effects on human health and well-being are being increasingly recognised, some argue that the magnitude of the health problem is inadequately addressed because it is largely invisible. Health geographies literature has sought to highlight this invisibility by focusing on the link between contaminated sites and health. This study adds to health geographies by presenting unique insights into the geography of residents' worry about the disruptive effect of environmental contamination on health and well-being. It analyses a sample of residents (n = 485) living near 13 contaminated sites across Australia. Ordinal logistic regression analysis of closed-format survey questions was combined with coding of open-ended survey questions to reveal the geography of residents' worry about contamination from nearby sites. First, the study explores some of the main relationships between residents, their environs, and contaminants from nearby source sites, which determines their levels of worry: residents' demographics, residents' proximity to sites, contaminant boundaries and borders, and type of contaminant. Second, the study investigates how worry affects residents' health and well-being, ranging from effects on their personal functioning through to their sense of ontological security, which depends in part upon their perceptions of contaminants' impacts. Despite having identified a range of diverse and negative effects of worry about contamination on residents, we found that worry for contamination can also prompt coping strategies and problem-solving, reinforcing the need for more research on this subject

Cost Effectiveness of a Potential Vaccine for Human papillomavirus

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, usually a sexually transmitted disease, is a risk factor for cervical cancer. Given the substantial disease and death associated with HPV and cervical cancer, development of a prophylactic HPV vaccine is a public health priority. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating adolescent girls for high-risk HPV infections relative to current practice. A vaccine with a 75% probability of immunity against high-risk HPV infection resulted in a life-expectancy gain of 2.8 days or 4.0 quality-adjusted life days at a cost of $246 relative to current practice (incremental cost effectiveness of$22,755/quality-adjusted life year [QALY]). If all 12-year-old girls currently living in the United States were vaccinated, >1,300 deaths from cervical cancer would be averted during their lifetimes. Vaccination of girls against high-risk HPV is relatively cost effective even when vaccine efficacy is low. If the vaccine efficacy rate is 35%, the cost effectiveness increases to $52,398/QALY. Although gains in life expectancy may be modest at the individual level, population benefits are substantial