Development of a Java-based Unified and Flexible Natural Language Discourse System

This paper outlines the design and development of a Java-based, unified and flexible natural language dialogue system that enables users to interact using natural language, e.g. speech. A number of software development issues are considered with the aim of designing an architecture that enables different discourse components to be readily and flexibly combined in a manner that permits information to be easily shared. Use of XML schemas assists this component interaction. The paper describes how a range of Java language features were employed to support the development of the architecture, providing an illustration of how a modern programming language makes tractable the development of a complex dialogue system.

sscMap: An extensible Java application for connecting small-molecule drugs using gene-expression signatures

Background
Connectivity mapping is a process to recognize novel pharmacological and toxicological properties in small molecules by comparing their gene expression signatures with others in a database. A simple and robust method for connectivity mapping with increased specificity and sensitivity was recently developed, and its utility demonstrated using experimentally derived gene signatures.

Results
This paper introduces sscMap (statistically significant connections' map), a Java application designed to undertake connectivity mapping tasks using the recently published method. The software is bundled with a default collection of reference gene-expression profiles based on the publicly available dataset from the Broad Institute Connectivity Map 02, which includes data from over 7000 Affymetrix microarrays, for over 1000 small-molecule compounds, and 6100 treatment instances in 5 human cell lines. In addition, the application allows users to add their custom collections of reference profiles and is applicable to a wide range of other 'omics technologies.

Conclusion
The utility of sscMap is two fold. First, it serves to make statistically significant connections between a user-supplied gene signature and the 6100 core reference profiles based on the Broad Institute expanded dataset. Second, it allows users to apply the same improved method to custom-built reference profiles which can be added to the database for future referencing. The software can be freely downloaded from http://purl.oclc.org/NET/sscMap

Analysis of Bayesian classification-based approaches for Android malware detection

Mobile malware has been growing in scale and complexity spurred by the unabated uptake of smartphones worldwide. Android is fast becoming the most popular mobile platform resulting in sharp increase in malware targeting the platform. Additionally, Android malware is evolving rapidly to evade detection by traditional signature-based scanning. Despite current detection measures in place, timely discovery of new malware is still a critical issue. This calls for novel approaches to mitigate the growing threat of zero-day Android malware. Hence, the authors develop and analyse proactive machine-learning approaches based on Bayesian classification aimed at uncovering unknown Android malware via static analysis. The study, which is based on a large malware sample set of majority of the existing families, demonstrates detection capabilities with high accuracy. Empirical results and comparative analysis are presented offering useful insight towards development of effective static-analytic Bayesian classification-based solutions for detecting unknown Android malware.

Influence of fill factor variation in high shear granulation on the post granulation processes: Compression and tablet properties

This paper describes an investigation of the effect of fill factor; on the compaction behaviour of the granules during tableting and hence mechanical properties of tablets formed. The fill factor; which is the ratio of volume of wet powder material to vessel volume of the granulator, was used as an indicator of batch size. It has been established previously that in high shear granulation the batch size influences the size distribution and granule mechanical properties [1]. The work reported in this paper is an extension to the work presented in [1], hence granules from the same batches were used in production of tablets. The same tabletting conditions were employed during tabletting to allow a comparison of their properties. The compaction properties of the granules are inferred from the data generated during the tabletting process. The tablet strength and dissolution properties of the tablets were also measured. The results obtained show that the granule batch size affects the strength and dissolution of the tablets formed. The tablets produced from large batches were found to be weaker and had a faster dissolution rate. The fill factor was also found to affect the tablet to tablet variation of a non-functional active pharmaceutical ingredient included in the feed powder. Tablets produced from larger batches show greater variation compared to those from smaller batches.

A review of ADP processing software

Data processing is an essential part of Acoustic Doppler Profiler (ADP) surveys, which have become the standard tool in assessing flow characteristics at tidal power development sites. In most cases, further processing beyond the capabilities of the manufacturer provided software tools is required. These additional tasks are often implemented by every user in mathematical toolboxes like MATLAB, Octave or Python. This requires the transfer of the data from one system to another and thus increases the possibility of errors. The application of dedicated tools for visualisation of flow or geographic data is also often beneficial and a wide range of tools are freely available, though again problems arise from the necessity of transferring the data. Furthermore, almost exclusively PCs are supported directly by the ADP manufacturers, whereas small computing solutions like tablet computers, often running Android or Linux operating systems, seem better suited for online monitoring or data acquisition in field conditions. While many manufacturers offer support for developers, any solution is limited to a single device of a single manufacturer. A common data format for all ADP data would allow development of applications and quicker distribution of new post processing methodologies across the industry.