On opportunistic software reuse

The availability of open source assets for almost all imaginable domains has led the software industry toopportunistic design-an approach in which people develop new software systems in an ad hoc fashion by reusing and combining components that were not designed to be used together. In this paper we investigate this emerging approach. We demonstrate the approach with an industrial example in whichNode.jsmodules and various subsystems are used in an opportunistic way. Furthermore, to study opportunistic reuse as a phenomenon, we present the results of three contextual interviews and a survey with reuse practitioners to understand to what extent opportunistic reuse offers improvements over traditional systematic reuse approaches.Peer reviewe

Some History of Functional Programming Languages

We study a series of milestones leading to the emergence of lazy, higher order, polymorphically typed, purely functional programming languages. An invited lecture given at TFP12, St Andrews University, 12 June 2012

Quantifying Water-Mediated Protein–Ligand Interactions in a Glutamate Receptor: A DFT Study

It is becoming increasingly clear that careful treatment of water molecules in ligand–protein interactions is required in many cases if the correct binding pose is to be identified in molecular docking. Water can form complex bridging networks and can play a critical role in dictating the binding mode of ligands. A particularly striking example of this can be found in the ionotropic glutamate receptors. Despite possessing similar chemical moieties, crystal structures of glutamate and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA) in complex with the ligand-binding core of the GluA2 ionotropic glutamate receptor revealed, contrary to all expectation, two distinct modes of binding. The difference appears to be related to the position of water molecules within the binding pocket. However, it is unclear exactly what governs the preference for water molecules to occupy a particular site in any one binding mode. In this work we use density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the interaction energies and polarization effects of the various components of the binding pocket. Our results show (i) the energetics of a key water molecule are more favorable for the site found in the glutamate-bound mode compared to the alternative site observed in the AMPA-bound mode, (ii) polarization effects are important for glutamate but less so for AMPA, (iii) ligand–system interaction energies alone can predict the correct binding mode for glutamate, but for AMPA alternative modes of binding have similar interaction energies, and (iv) the internal energy is a significant factor for AMPA but not for glutamate. We discuss the results within the broader context of rational drug-design

The Biochemistry, Ultrastructure, and Subunit Assembly Mechanism of AMPA Receptors

The AMPA-type ionotropic glutamate receptors (AMPA-Rs) are tetrameric ligand-gated ion channels that play crucial roles in synaptic transmission and plasticity. Our knowledge about the ultrastructure and subunit assembly mechanisms of intact AMPA-Rs was very limited. However, the new studies using single particle EM and X-ray crystallography are revealing important insights. For example, the tetrameric crystal structure of the GluA2cryst construct provided the atomic view of the intact receptor. In addition, the single particle EM structures of the subunit assembly intermediates revealed the conformational requirement for the dimer-to-tetramer transition during the maturation of AMPA-Rs. These new data in the field provide new models and interpretations. In the brain, the native AMPA-R complexes contain auxiliary subunits that influence subunit assembly, gating, and trafficking of the AMPA-Rs. Understanding the mechanisms of the auxiliary subunits will become increasingly important to precisely describe the function of AMPA-Rs in the brain. The AMPA-R proteomics studies continuously reveal a previously unexpected degree of molecular heterogeneity of the complex. Because the AMPA-Rs are important drug targets for treating various neurological and psychiatric diseases, it is likely that these new native complexes will require detailed mechanistic analysis in the future. The current ultrastructural data on the receptors and the receptor-expressing stable cell lines that were developed during the course of these studies are useful resources for high throughput drug screening and further drug designing. Moreover, we are getting closer to understanding the precise mechanisms of AMPA-R-mediated synaptic plasticity

C. PRESL) at the transcriptional level.

This paper investigates differences in gene expression among the two Thlaspi caerulescens ecotypes La Calamine (LC) and Lellingen (LE) that have been shown to differ in metal tolerance and metal uptake. LC originates from a metalliferous soil and tolerates higher metal concentrations than LE which originates from a non-metalliferous soil. The two ecotypes were treated with different levels of zinc in solution culture, and differences in gene expression were assessed through application of a cDNA microarray consisting of 1,700 root and 2,700 shoot cDNAs. Hybridisation of root and shoot cDNA from the two ecotypes revealed a total of 257 differentially expressed genes. The regulation of selected genes was verified by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Comparison of the expression profiles of the two ecotypes suggests that LC has a higher capacity to cope with reactive oxygen species and to avoid the formation of peroxynitrite. Furthermore, increased transcripts for the genes encoding for water channel proteins could explain the higher Zn tolerance of LC compared to LE. The higher Zn tolerance of LC was reflected by a lower expression of the genes involved in disease and defence mechanisms. The results of this study provide a valuable set of data that may help to improve our understanding of the mechanisms employed by plants to tolerate toxic concentrations of metal in the soil

Fostering Software Developers' Productivity at Work Through Self-Monitoring and Goal-Setting

Software development organizations strive to enhance the productivity of their developers. While research has looked into various ways for improving developer productivity, little is known about the activities they pursue at work, how these activities influence the fragmentation of work, and how these insights could be leveraged to foster productivity at work. In my PhD thesis, I address software developer productivity by taking a mixed-method approach to investigate developers’ perceptions of productivity in the field and to examine the individual differences of each developer’s work. My goal is to increase developers’ awareness about their own work habits and productivity, and to encourage productive behavior changes at work through the provision of two persuasive technologies, self-monitoring and goal-setting