Potential Perils of Biological Sequence Visualization using Sequence Logo

Sequence motif’s characteristics are commonly visualized by using a sequence logo. This paper describes a user study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of sequence logo as evaluation metric for motif prediction tools. We also investigate the nature of confirmation biases in using sequence logos in result reporting in publications. While sequence logos have been widely used for visualizing sequence motifs in the past 20 years, no study has reported its effectiveness and possible misuses in decision making. We conducted a paper-and-pencil test to determine the effectiveness of sequence logos in some of their common usages. A survey study was also performed to investigate sequence logos’ learnability. We found that there are great mismatches between users’ perception and actual quality of motifs when sequence logos were used as an evaluation metric. Therefore, evaluation of motif prediction tools based on sequence logos has to be interpreted cautiously. Our result also suggests that there are still room for improvements in the current sequence logo’s layout design

Measuring User Engagement in Mobile Classroom Response System: A Case Study

Mobile classroom response system, formerly known as clicker, is a promising technology to engage students in a lecture hall. Previous studies reported the positive effects of clickers on student engagement. However, most studies focused on patterns of cohort transitions using clickers during peer-instruction activities. This paper describes a mixed method approach to explore the dynamic of user engagement among undergraduate students in a local Malaysian university. Both interaction log and diary study were selected to track the pattern of ninety five registered students using mobile classroom response system across seven lecture weeks. Interaction logs were used to profile user type, participation type and submission type. The analysis of interaction logs revealed that seven visitors participated during lecture, only around 18% of registered students participated actively, registered students were more likely to answer all questions at the end of lecture compared to the beginning of lecture and middle of lecture. On the other hand, the analysis of diary entries provided qualitative information about user engagement attributes such focused attention, felt involvement, endurability, perceived usability and novelty. Both interaction log and students diary indicated that two registered students had positive engagement using mobile classroom response system during lecture

Perception Enhancements Using Visual Attributes in Sequence Motif Visualization

Human factor theories are always being neglected especially in the design of biological tools. This problem was found in sequence logo which is used to visualize the conservation characteristics of the biological sequence motifs. Previous studies have found some limitations in the graphical representation which cause biasness and misinterpretation of the results in sequence logo. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate on the visual attributes performance in helping viewers to perceive and interpret the information based the preattentive theories and Gestalt principles of perception. A survey was carried out to gather user’s opinion. The results showed some limitations in the use of colour, negative space, size and arrangement of the nucleotides and the lack of information and interactivity in the sequence logo. Therefore, improvements in standardizing the colour, graphical representation of the nucleotides and interactivity of the tool are needed to solve the problems of biasness and misinterpretation of the results in sequence logo visualization

Machine Learning and Dyslexia-Diagnostic and Classification System (DCS) for Kids with Learning Disabilities

New generation is the future of every nation, but dyslexia which is a learning disability is spoiling the new generation. Most experts are using manual techniques to diagnose dyslexia. Machine learning algorithms are capable enough to learn the knowledge of experts and intelligently diagnose and classify dyslexics. This research proposes such a machine learning based diagnostic and classification system. The system is trained by human expert classified data of 857 school children scores in various tests. The data was collected in another fundamental research of designing special tests for dyslexics. Twenty-fifth percentile was used as threshold. The scores equal to the threshold and below were marked as indicators of children who were likely to have dyslexia while the scores above the threshold were considered to be indicators of children who were non-dyslexic. The system has three components: the diagnostic module is a pre-screening application that can be used by experts, trained users and parents for detecting the symptoms of dyslexia. The second module is classification, which classifies the kids into two groups, non-dyslexics and suspicious for dyslexia. A third module is an analysis tool for researchers. The results show that 20.7% of students seem to be dyslexic out of 257 in the testing data set which has confirmed by human expert

WRIDY: MULTISENSORY WRITING APPROACH IN MOBILE APPLICATION FOR KIDS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES INCLUDING DYSLEXIA

Handwriting development begins as early as infancy when children are first able to grasp a writing object and leave a mark on the paper. Handwriting is linked with brain functioning; experts suggest that handwriting skill lightens a student’s cognitive load. With consistent handwriting practice, it becomes less demanding and more automatic, enabling students critical thinking and thought organization. The lack of writing skill decreases kids’ capacity to carry out higher-order skills. Most of the writing intervention approaches are not multisensory and some are using substances that may be dangerous for kids such as sand or shaving cream or pipe cleaners or play-doh etc. These issues become more challenging for kids with a learning disability such as dyslexia. This empirical gap in the multisensory writing system is the target of this research. A multisensory mobile application (Wridy) is designed and developed to support kids with learning disabilities. Wridy is an early-stage multisensory writing intervention tool. It uses a dyslexia-friendly user interface, fonts and colour. Wridy is demonstrated to the teachers of the Dyslexia Association Kuching, Malaysia. The results of the survey show that Wridy is helpful and useful in learning writing alphabets especially for kids with learning disabilities such as dyslexia

Indoor Navigation Systems Using Annotated Maps in Mobile Augmented Reality

A Mobile Augmented Reality indoor navigation framework composed of several modules to reduce human cognitive workload and save time by blending the digital and physical worlds seamlessly through aligning the appropriate 3D path with features in the real world through ground detection. The framework helps in better understanding the surrounding especially unfamiliar buildings such as offices, shopping malls and libraries etc. It determines the users starting location via scanning the reference image which is placed at the entrance. The system was tested at the Centre for Academic Information Services (CAIS), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). The results proved that the system provides a good platform to show the location information without requiring hardware installation and a strong wireless connection

LEARNING PROGRAMMING USING VISUALISATION- AN ANALYSIS OF LEARNER EXPERIENCES

Computational thinking and problem-solving are crucial skills of twenty-first-century education. The abstractness and problem-solving nature of programming is a challenge for novice learners. We experimented with an online free visualisation tool called Python Tutor for Object-Oriented C++ programming to improve the learning of visualisation of abstract concepts, problem-solving and computational thinking. In this study, we engaged two classes of undergraduate students. To investigate the learning effects of the visualisation tool in learning, Class One (C1) was treated as an experimental group, and Class Two (C2) was a control group. The same topics were taught to both groups. The experimental group received an opportunity to use the selected tool as they learned the taught content. At the end of two sessions, a quiz was distributed to both groups. Next, C1 was treated as the control group, and C2 became the experimental group. The same topics were thought to both groups. At the end of the two sessions, a second quiz was given to both groups and scores were recorded. To gauge all participants’ problem-solving and computational thinking skills as a whole, we collected data at the beginning and the end of the semester using a Computational Thinking Scales (CTS) and Problem-Solving Test. Findings indicate that the selected visualisation tool helped participants understand and solve ill-defined problems, a critical skill in learning Programming

House dust mite sensitization, eczema, and wheeze increase risk of shellfish sensitization

Non peer reviewe

Association of maternal Vitamin D status with glucose tolerance and caesarean section in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort: the growing up in Singapore towards healthy outcomes study

10.1371/journal.pone.0142239PLoS ONE10111-16GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes