Redisplacement by design

Recently, researchers have noted that traditional knowledge systems (TKSs) can inspire technology design. They have also noted that the interdependency between Aboriginal culture and “landscape” provides insight into an embodied approach to HCI [1]: People’s experience of place and construction of space does not separate the mind, the body, and the surroundings [2]. However, we notice that increased recognition of Aboriginal TKS is no easy panacea for the constraints on design prescribed by the way the “technology race” (pun intended) abstracts spaces. Instead, paradoxes for the cultural “localization” of technology, mentioned in previous columns in this series, emerge from complex power relations between TKSs and dominant knowledge.

Region Based Structure Layout Optimization by Selective Data Copying

As the gap between processor and memory continues to grow Memory performance becomes a key performance bottleneck for many applications. Compilers therefore increasingly seek to modify an application’s data layout to improve cache locality and cache reuse. Whole program Structure Layout [WPSL] transformations can significantly increase the spatial locality of data and reduce the runtime of programs that use link-based data structures, by increasing the cache line utilization. However, in production compilers WPSL transformations do not realize the entire performance potential possible due to a number of factors. Structure layout decisions made on the basis of whole program aggregated affinity/hotness of structure fields, can be sub optimal for local code regions. WPSL is also restricted in applicability in production compilers for type unsafe languages like C/C++ due to the extensive legality checks and field sensitive pointer analysis required over the entire application. In order to overcome the issues associated with WPSL, we propose Region Based Structure Layout (RBSL) optimization framework, using selective data copying. We describe our RBSL framework, implemented in the production compiler for C/C++ on HP-UX IA-64. We show that acting in complement to the existing and mature WPSL transformation framework in our compiler, RBSL improves application performance in pointer intensive SPEC benchmarks ranging from 3% to 28% over WPSL

Discovering transcriptional modules by Bayesian data integration.

MOTIVATION: We present a method for directly inferring transcriptional modules (TMs) by integrating gene expression and transcription factor binding (ChIP-chip) data. Our model extends a hierarchical Dirichlet process mixture model to allow data fusion on a gene-by-gene basis. This encodes the intuition that co-expression and co-regulation are not necessarily equivalent and hence we do not expect all genes to group similarly in both datasets. In particular, it allows us to identify the subset of genes that share the same structure of transcriptional modules in both datasets. RESULTS: We find that by working on a gene-by-gene basis, our model is able to extract clusters with greater functional coherence than existing methods. By combining gene expression and transcription factor binding (ChIP-chip) data in this way, we are better able to determine the groups of genes that are most likely to represent underlying TMs. AVAILABILITY: If interested in the code for the work presented in this article, please contact the authors. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Identification and characterization of insect-specific proteins by genome data analysis

Background: Insects constitute the vast majority of known species with their importance including biodiversity, agricultural, and human health concerns. It is likely that the successful adaptation of the Insecta clade depends on specific components in its

Understandable by design: How can products be designed to align with user experience?

Chapter 14 Understandable by Design: How Can Products be Designed to Align with User Experience? A. Mieczakowski, PM Langdon, RH Bracewell, JJ Patmore and PJ Clarkson 14.1 Introduction Understanding users increases the likelihood that ...