Exploring the benefits of the combination of a software architecture analysis and a usability evaluation of a mobile application

Designing easy to use mobile applications is a difficult task. In order to optimize the development of a usable mobile application, it is necessary to consider the mobile usage context for the design and the evaluation of the user-system interaction of a mobile application. In our research we designed a method that aligns the inspection method “Software ArchitecTure analysis of Usability Requirements realizatioN” SATURN and a mobile usability evaluation in the form of a user test. We propose to use mobile context factors and thus requirements as a common basis for both inspection and user test. After conducting both analysis and user test, the results described as usability problems are mapped and discussed. The mobile context factors identified define and describe the usage context of a mobile application. We exemplify and apply our approach in a case study. This allows us to show how our method can be used to identify more usability problems than with each method separately. Additionally, we could confirm the validity and identified the severity of usability problems found by both methods. Our work presents how a combination of both methods allows to address usability issues in a more holistic way. We argue that the increased quantity and quality of results can lead to a reduction of the number of iterations required in early stages of an iterative software development process.     

Schema-based Web wrapping

An effective solution to automate information extraction from Web pages is represented by wrappers. A wrapper associates a Web page with an XML document that represents part of the information in that page in a machine-readable format. Most existing wrapping approaches have traditionally focused on how to generate extraction rules, while they have ignored potential benefits deriving from the use of the schema of the information being extracted in the wrapper evaluation. In this paper, we investigate how the schema of extracted information can be effectively used in both the design and evaluation of a Web wrapper. We define a clean declarative semantics for schema-based wrappers by introducing the notion of (preferred) extraction model, which is essential to compute a valid XML document containing the information extracted from a Web page. We developed the SCRAP (SChema-based wRAPper for web data) system for the proposed schema-based wrapping approach, which also provides visual support tools to the wrapper designer. Moreover, we present a wrapper generalization framework to profitably speed up the design of schema-based wrappers. Experimental evaluation has shown that SCRAP wrappers are not only able to successfully extract the required data, but also they are robust to changes that may occur in the source Web pages.     

Nanoparticle‐embedded polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal for paper‐like displays

Abstract— A polymer‐dispersed liquid‐crystal (PDLC) matrix template embedded with nano/microparticles can be backfilled/infiltrated with a dye‐doped liquid crystal for a paper‐like reflective display. In this way, a desirable degree of diffusion can be realized to reduce the viewing‐angle dependency of a gain reflector and metallic glare without changing other electro‐optical properties.     

Gene expression changes in a transgenic mouse model overexpressing human wildtype and mutant torsinA

Primary torsion dystonia is an autosomal-dominantly inherited, neurodevelopmental movement disorder caused by a GAG deletion (ΔGAG) in the DYT1 gene, encoding torsinA. This mutation is responsible for approximately 70% of cases of early-onset primary torsion dystonia. The function of wildtype torsinA is still unknown, and it is unsolved how the deletion in the DYT1 gene contributes to the development of the disease. To better understand the molecular processes involved in torsinA pathology, we used genome-wide oligonucleotide microarrays to characterize gene expression patterns in the striatum of mouse models overexpressing the human wildtype and mutant torsinA. By this approach we were able to detect gene expression changes that seem to be specific for torsinA pathology. We found an impact of torsinA, independent from genotype, on vesicle trafficking, exocytosis, and neurotransmitter release in our mouse model. In addition, we were able to identify several new pathways and processes involved in the development of the nervous system that are affected by wildtype and mutant torsinA. Furthermore, we have striking evidence from our gene expression data that glutamate receptor mediated synaptic plasticity in the striatum is the affected underlying cellular process for impaired motor learning in human ΔGAG torsinA transgenic mice.     

Development and Analytical Verification of an Integrated 2-D Surface Water—Groundwater Model

DIVAST is a two-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality numerical model developed for estuarine and coastal modelling. The original model enables the simulation of problems such as pollution and flooding in surface waters. In this paper the existing model is extended to allow the modelling of 2-D groundwater as well as surface water in the same model, using an integrated approach rather than two disparate models. The changes to the original model are summarised and the method of implementation is outlined. The new extended model (DIVAST-SG) is then tested against an analytical solution to verify that the model solves the equations correctly. The model is shown to predict the analytical solution for two different scenarios to within approximately 1 % of the height of flood wave.     

Consensus in the presence of mortal Byzantine faulty processes

We consider the problem of reaching agreement in distributed systems in which some processes may deviate from their prescribed behavior before they eventually crash. We call this failure model “mortal Byzantine”. After discussing some application examples where this model is justified, we provide matching upper and lower bounds on the number of faulty processes, and on the required number of rounds in synchronous systems. We then continue our study by varying different system parameters. On the one hand, we consider the failure model under weaker timing assumptions, namely for partially synchronous systems and asynchronous systems with unreliable failure detectors. On the other hand, we vary the failure model in that we limit the occurrences of faulty steps that actually lead to a crash in synchronous systems.     

Geschlechterforschung ist Wissenschaftsforschung – Wissenschaftsforschung ist Geschlechterforschung

The articles collected in this number all originate from a section of the 2004 annual meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Medizin, Naturwissenschaft und Technik.The section was organized by the Berlin Feminist Science Studies Workgroup (BFSSW) at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin. The contributions are dedicated to recent accounts and research topics in a field constituted by the intersection between 20th century (life) sciences and gender studies.They view modern life sciences as situated in hybrid fields of theory and practice, public and scientific discourse, of experimental procedures and practices of control. Methodological approaches range from Derrida’s notion of deconstruction, Foucault’s regulatory power and governmentality, Butler’s method of analyzing performativity and Haraway’s situated knowledge. They focus on dispositifs of research and regulation, visualizing procedures in the human sciences, and the emergence of new objects of biopolitics. One contribution focuses on the ‘politics of emotions’ and the paradoxical effects of laughter in ‘sexed’ and ‘gendered’ discourses and explores the productivity of humor for a gender-sensitive way of ‘doing history’. This introduction deals with recent developments in – mainly German – gender studies during the last two decades under the triple perspective of women in science, science of gender and gender in science.

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Geschlechterforschung ist Wissenschaftsforschung – Wissenschaftsforschung ist Geschlechterforschung Einführung in den Themenschwerpunkt “Wissenschaftsgeschichte als Geschlechtergeschichte”

     

Towards Efficient Execution of MPI Applications on the Grid: Porting and Optimization Issues

The message passing interface (MPI) is a standard used by many parallel scientific applications. It offers the advantage of a smoother migration path for porting applications from high performance computing systems to the Grid. In this paper Grid-enabled tools and libraries for developing MPI applications are presented. The first is MARMOT, a tool that checks the adherence of an application to the MPI standard. The second is PACX-MPI, an implementation of the MPI standard optimized for Grid environments. Besides the efficient development of the program, an optimal execution is of paramount importance for most scientific applications. We therefore discuss not only performance on the level of the MPI library, but also several application specific optimizations, e.g., for a sparse, parallel equation solver and an RNA folding code, like latency hiding, prefetching, caching and topology-aware algorithms.     

Velocity Distribution in the Roughness Layer of Rough-Bed Flows

Several models for the vertical distribution of the double-averaged (in time and in the plane parallel to the mean bed) longitudinal velocity in the flow region between roughness troughs and roughness tops are suggested. We found that the same model for velocity distribution may be applicable to a range of flow conditions and roughness types, which share some common features. The suggested models for velocity distribution in the near-bed region are: (1) Constant velocity; (2) exponential velocity distribution; and (3) linear velocity distribution. The measured velocity distributions may be approximated by a single model or by a combination of models depending on roughness geometry and flow conditions. The validity of these models for velocity distribution is supported by laboratory data.     

A novel polarizer‐free dye‐doped polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal for reflective TFT displays

Abstract— A novel preparation method for dichroic dye‐doped polymer‐dispersed liquid crystals has been developed. This was achieved by creating a porous polymer matrix first by washing out the liquid crystal from a polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC), which is then refilled with dye‐doped liquid crystal. Optimizing the liquid crystal used in the refilling results in decreased turn‐on voltage and faster response time. Poster‐standard reflectivity and newspaper‐standard contrast was demonstrated with a 3.8‐in. QVGA reflective TFT display with a drive voltage of 10 V.