Visualizing Type-Checking Proofs: An Educational Web-Based System for an Extended Simply Typed Lambda Calculus

Genetic testing is essential to identify research participants for clinical trials enrolling people with Parkinson disease (PD) carrying a variant in the glucocerebrosidase (GBA) or leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) genes. The limited availability of professionals trained in neurogenetics or genetic counseling is a major barrier to increased testing. Telehealth solutions to increase access to genetics education can help address issues around counselor availability and offer options to patients and family members. As an alternative to pretest genetic counseling, we developed a web-based genetics education tool focused on GBA and LRRK2 testing for PD called the Interactive Multimedia Approach to Genetic Counseling to Inform and Educate in Parkinson's Disease (IMAGINE-PD) and conducted user testing and usability testing. The objective was to conduct user and usability testing to obtain stakeholder feedback to improve IMAGINE-PD. Genetic counselors and PD and neurogenetics subject matter experts developed content for IMAGINE-PD specifically focused on GBA and LRRK2 genetic testing. Structured interviews were conducted with 11 movement disorder specialists and 13 patients with PD to evaluate the content of IMAGINE-PD in user testing and with 12 patients with PD to evaluate the usability of a high-fidelity prototype according to the US Department of Health and Human Services Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines. Qualitative data analysis informed changes to create a final version of IMAGINE-PD. Qualitative data were reviewed by 3 evaluators. Themes were identified from feedback data of movement disorder specialists and patients with PD in user testing in 3 areas: content such as the topics covered, function such as website navigation, and appearance such as pictures and colors. Similarly, qualitative analysis of usability testing feedback identified additional themes in these 3 areas. Key points of feedback were determined by consensus among reviewers considering the importance of the comment and the frequency of similar comments. Refinements were made to IMAGINE-PD based on consensus recommendations by evaluators within each theme at both user testing and usability testing phases to create a final version of IMAGINE-PD. User testing for content review and usability testing have informed refinements to IMAGINE-PD to develop this focused, genetics education tool for GBA and LRRK2 testing. Comparison of this stakeholder-informed intervention to standard telegenetic counseling approaches is ongoing.

BackgroundChildhood obesity is a serious public health issue among minority youth in the United States. Technology-enhanced approaches can be effective for promoting healthy behavior change.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to test the usability of prototypes of a Web-based interactive tool promoting healthy dietary behaviors to reduce childhood obesity risk in urban minority youth. The Web-based tool comprised a manga-style comic with interactive features (eg, sound effects, clickable pop-ups), tailored messaging, and goal setting, and was optimized for use on tablet devices.MethodsLatino and black/African American children ages 9 to 13 years were recruited to participate in two rounds of usability testing. A modified think-aloud method was utilized. Self-reported surveys and field notes were collected. Audio recordings and field notes from usability testing sessions were systematically reviewed by extracting and coding user feedback as either positive comments or usability or negative issues. The quantitative data from self-reported questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics.ResultsTwelve children (four female; eight black/African American) with a mean age of 10.92 (SD 1.16) years participated. Testing highlighted overall positive experiences with the Web-based interactive tool, especially related to storyline, sound effects, and color schemes. Specific usability issues were classified into six themes: appearance, content, special effects, storyline, terminology, and navigation. Changes to the Web-based tool after round 1 included adding a navigation guide, making clickable icons more visible, improving graphic designs, and fixing programming errors. In round 2 of testing (after modifications to the Web-based tool were incorporated), many of the usability issues that were identified in round 1 did not emerge.ConclusionsResults of testing will inform further development and finalization of the tool, which will be tested using a two-group pilot randomized study, with the goal of reducing childhood obesity risk in minority, low-income youth.

Music written by composers and performed by multidimensional instruments is an art form that reflects real-life emotions. Historically, people disseminated music primarily through sheet music recording and oral transmission. Among them, recording music in sheet music form was a great musical invention. It became the carrier of music communication and inheritance, as well as a record of humanity's magnificent music culture. The advent of digital technology solves the problem of difficult musical score storage and distribution. However, there are many drawbacks to using data in image format, and extracting music score information in editable form from image data is currently a challenge. An improved convolutional neural network for musical score recognition is proposed in this paper. Because the traditional convolutional neural network SEGNET misclassifies some pixels, this paper employs the feature pyramid structure. Use additional branch paths to fuse shallow image details, shallow texture features that are beneficial to small objects, and high-level features of global information, enrich the multi-scale semantic information of the model, and alleviate the problem of the lack of multiscale semantic information in the model. Poor recognition performance is caused by semantic information. By comparing the recognition effects of other models, the experimental results show that the proposed musical score recognition model has a higher recognition accuracy and a stronger generalization performance. The improved generalization performance allows the musical score recognition method to be applied to more types of musical score recognition scenarios, and such a recognition model has more practical value.

In this study, the development of an e-learning portal for university students is presented. The portal is based on responsive web design which is accessible from anywhere, at any time and on any device. A complementary user experience evaluation methodology consisting of heuristic evaluation, usability testing, user experience questionnaire and eye tracking has been applied to get a holistic understanding and identification of the potential usability problems in the portal. The methodology highlights the relative efficacy of each method. The results suggest that the heuristic evaluation identified more usability problems than the usability testing. However, few severe usability problems were identified in the usability testing and most of them were not spotted in the heuristic evaluation. For additional insights, the participants’ objective visual responses were tracked using an eye tracker (Tobii X-30 Hz); the eye tracking data were also helpful in revealing the usability issues within the portal. The aggregated heat maps were helpful in identifying the complexity of the interface elements of the portal. The identified problems were fixed in the final version of the portal. Afterward, another usability test was carried out to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the portal. The students’ perceptions regarding both versions were also analyzed through the questionnaire. According to the results, the e-learning portal seems to be efficient and effective and the students were satisfied. The proposed methodology resulted in increasing the satisfaction of the students which can lead to the maximum utilization of the e-learning portal. It is recommended that by integrating these evaluation methods, many usability problems can be identified which can then be fixed for achieving maximum user acceptance of the e-learning portals and the similar web portals.

In this paper, we show how a rich lexico-semantic network which has been built using serious games, JeuxDeMots, can help us in grounding our semantic ontologies as well as different sorts of information in doing formal semantics using rich or modern type theories (type theories within the tradition of Martin Löf). We discuss the domain of base types, adjectival and verbal types, hyperonymy/hyponymy relations as well as more advanced issues like homophony and polysemy. We show how one can take advantage of this wealth in a formal compositional semantics framework. This is a way to sidestep the problem of deciding how your type ontology should look like once you have made a move to a many sorted type system. Furthermore, we show how this kind of information can be extracted from JeuxdeMots and inserted into a proof-assistant like Coq in order to perform reasoning tasks using modern type theoretic semantics.

BackgroundYoung adult caregivers (YACs, aged 18–25) who take care of a loved one may juggle between caregiving responsibilities and other life areas such as education and social life, leading to an imbalance in their lives. The web-based tool ‘MantelzorgBalans’ aims to support informal caregivers (ICGs) in balancing caregiving tasks and activities in other life areas. However, this tool was designed to support ICGs of loved ones receiving palliative care and is not yet tailored to the needs of YACs. In order to do so, in this study we aim to explore (i) challenges and support needs of YACs in caregiving, (ii) their needs towards the content of the ‘MantelzorgBalans’ tool, and (iii) issues they encountered in using the tool and their preferences for adaptation of the tool.MethodWe conducted semi-structured interviews and usability testing with 13 student YACs in the Netherlands. Within usability testing, we used three approaches: (i) a thinking-aloud approach (verbalizing thoughts while using the tool), (ii) a task-based performance approach (scoring task completion rate), and (iii) questionnaires. We used thematic analysis to synthesize the qualitative data. For the quantitative data, we calculated frequencies and mean scores.ResultsOur findings suggest that the majority of YACs faced challenges in balancing caregiving with life areas such as education and social life. They needed support from healthcare professionals who could listen to them without judging them. With respect to the MantelzorgBalans tool, YACs needed more information on how to provide emotional support to their loved one and the emotional support that is available for them. In regards to the aesthetics, they preferred bright colours and more visuals in the tool. Overall, they were satisfied with the information presented in the tool, but they were neutral in their willingness to use it in the future.ConclusionFrom this study, we learn that YACs may experience specific challenges and needs in general, and towards a web-based tool in specific. In the near future, it will be important to develop digital tools to support YACs that match their specific needs. This may enable healthcare professionals to offer targeted and personalized digital support to YACs in future.

BackgroundDecision aids are evidence-based tools designed to inform people of the potential benefit and harm of treatment options, clarify their preferences and provide a shared decision-making structure for discussion at a clinic visit. For patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are considering methotrexate, we have developed a web-based patient decision aid called the ANSWER (Animated, Self-serve, Web-based Research Tool). This study aimed to: 1) assess the usability of the ANSWER prototype; 2) identify strengths and limitations of the ANSWER from the patient’s perspective.MethodsThe ANSWER prototype consisted of: 1) six animated patient stories and narrated information on the evidence of methotrexate for RA; 2) interactive questionnaires to clarify patients’ treatment preferences. Eligible participants for the usability test were patients with RA who had been prescribed methotrexate. They were asked to verbalize their thoughts (i.e., think aloud) while using the ANSWER, and to complete the System Usability Scale (SUS) to assess overall usability (range = 0-100; higher = more user friendly). Participants were audiotaped and observed, and field notes were taken. The testing continued until no new modifiable issues were found. We used descriptive statistics to summarize participant characteristics and the SUS scores. Content analysis was used to identified usability issues and navigation problems.Results15 patients participated in the usability testing. The majority were aged 50 or over and were university/college graduates (n = 8, 53.4%). On average they took 56 minutes (SD = 34.8) to complete the tool. The mean SUS score was 81.2 (SD = 13.5). Content analysis of audiotapes and field notes revealed four categories of modifiable usability issues: 1) information delivery (i.e., clarity of the information and presentation style); 2) navigation control (i.e., difficulties in recognizing and using the navigation control buttons); 3) layout (i.e., position of the videos, text, diagrams and navigation buttons); 4) aesthetic (i.e., the colour, look and feel of the online tool).ConclusionsAlthough the SUS score indicated high usability before and after major modification, findings from the think-aloud sessions illustrated areas that required further refinement. Our results highlight the importance of formative evaluation in usability testing.

In this paper, we present our efforts in relation to the evaluation of an interactive web-based visualization tool developed for supporting environmental sciences learning. The tool enables the visualization of different types of geo-tagged content and sensor data collected using mobile devices. It also utilizes APIs that provide multiple visual representations of the data set. These representations allow users to actively interact with graphs, maps, images, and data tables. In order to test the usability, novelty and interactivity of our web-based visualization tool, we have conducted a study involving university students in the field of teaching environmental sciences. The results and analysis of the user testing indicate that the tool's usability and performance were satisfactory. Outcomes from the user testing have resulted in a number of concrete suggestions for further enhancement and improvements of our visualization tool in relation to application functionality, navigation and interaction.

Sparsity-regularized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging framework has shown its remarkable performance to generate a feature-enhanced high-resolution image, in which a sparsity-inducing regularizer is involved by exploiting the sparsity priors of some visual features in the underlying image. However, since the simple prior of low-level features is insufficient to describe different semantic contents in the image, this type of regularizer will be incapable of distinguishing between the target of interest and unconcerned background clutters. As a consequence, the features belonging to the target and clutters are simultaneously affected in the generated image without concerning their underlying semantic labels. To address this problem, we propose a novel semantic information guided generative framework for target-oriented SAR image formation, which aims at enhancing the interested target scatters while suppressing the background clutters. First, we develop a new semantics-specific regularizer for image formation by exploiting the statistical properties of different semantic categories in a target scene SAR image. In order to infer the semantic label for each pixel in an unsupervised way, we moreover induce a novel high-level prior-driven regularizer and some semantic causal rules from the prior knowledge. Finally, our regularized framework for image formation is further derived as a simple iteratively reweighted $\ell _{1}$ minimization problem that can be conveniently solved by many off-the-shelf solvers. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of our framework for SAR image formation in terms of target enhancement and clutters suppression, compared with the state of the arts. Additionally, the proposed framework opens a new direction of devoting some machine learning strategies to image formation, which can benefit the subsequent decision-making tasks.

HOL-OCL is an interactive proof environment for the Object Constraint Language (OCL). It is implemented as a shallow embedding of OCL into the Higher-order Logic (HOL) instance of the interactive theorem prover Isabelle. HOL-OCL defines a machine-checked formalization of the semantics as described in the standard for OCL 2.0. This conservative, shallow embedding of UML/OCL into Isabelle/HOL includes support for typed, extensible UML data models supporting inheritance and subtyping inside the typed lambda-calculus with parametric polymorphism. As a consequence of conservativity with respect to higher-order logic (HOL), we can guarantee the consistency of the semantic model. Moreover, HOL-OCL provides several derived calculi for UML/OCL that allow for formal derivations establishing the validity of UML/OCL formulae. Elementary automated support for such proofs is also provided top

BackgroundInformation and communication technology (ICT) has been used with increasing frequency for the assessment of diet and physical activity in health surveys. A number of Web-based questionnaires have been developed for children and adolescents. However, their usability characteristics have scarcely been reported, despite their potential importance for improving the feasibility and validity of ICT-based methods.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to describe the usability evaluation of the Consumo Alimentar e Atividade Física de Escolares (CAAFE) questionnaire (Food Consumption and Physical Activity Questionnaire for schoolchildren), a new Web-based survey tool for the self-assessment of diet and physical activity by schoolchildren.MethodsA total of 114 schoolchildren aged 6 to 12 years took part in questionnaire usability testing carried out in computer classrooms at five elementary schools in the city of Florianopolis, Brazil. Schoolchildren used a personal computer (PC) equipped with software for recording what is on the computer screen and the children’s speech during usability testing. Quantitative and qualitative analyses took into account objective usability metrics such as error counts and time to complete a task. Data on the main difficulties in accomplishing the task and the level of satisfaction expressed by the children were assessed by the observers using a standardized form and interviews with the children. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to summarize both the quantitative and the qualitative aspects of the data obtained.ResultsThe mean time for completing the questionnaire was 13.7 minutes (SD 3.68). Compared to the children in 2nd or 3rd grades, those in 4th or 5th grades spent less time completing the questionnaire (median 12.4 vs 13.3 minutes, P=.022), asked for help less frequently (median 0 vs 1.0 count, P=.005), had a lower error count (median 2.0 vs 8.0 count, P<.001), and obtained a higher overall performance score (median 73.0 vs 68.0, P=.005). Children with a PC at home spent less time completing the questionnaire (median 12.3 vs 14.9 minutes, P<.001), had a lower overall error count (median 2.0 vs 9.0 count, P=.03), and had a higher performance score (median 72.0 vs 64.0, P=.005) compared to the children without a PC at home. The most common difficulty in completing the questionnaire was in using the scroll bar. The majority of children reported a positive evaluation (liked a lot or liked) for the four design elements, which were evaluated.ConclusionsThe results of the present study provided feedback to improve the final version of the CAAFE questionnaire. Quantitative data showed minor errors and system failures, while qualitative data indicated that, overall, the children enjoyed the CAAFE questionnaire. Grade levels and PC use must be taken into account in Web-based tools designed for children.

Backpacks are often heavy and can be a significant cause of pain. To avoid pain, they must be worn in a certain way and readjusted when they move. Yet, recognising when to adjust a backpack is not self-evident. It is an evolving embodied process---a subtle, negotiation between body and pack. We present Sensepack, a wearable that sits in-between a backpacker's body and their pack. Sensepack supports novice backpackers to learn to recognise and sense backpack displacement. It monitors shifts in weight distribution, using four textile-sensors to determine imbalances and provides tactile, real-time feedback. We evaluated Sensepack through user testing---indoors on stairs, and in the field. Our preliminary findings suggest that Sensepack may be useful for learning to identify shifts in backpack weight that can cause long-term stress on the body.

In the rank-polymorphic programming model, all functions operate on aggregate data of arbitrarily high rank, or number of dimensions. During function application, an argument array is split into cells, the individual components the function expects to consume. For example, an RGB-to-greyscale pixel transform operates on each vector in an arbitrarily large array. The aggregate structure surrounding the cells, called the frame, serves as the iteration space for cell-wise function application. The programming model was first developed by Iverson with the language APL, but it struggled with a barrier to efficient compilation: Loop nesting structure is derived from data computed at run time. This dissertation presents the design and formal semantics of Remora, a higher-order, rank-polymorphic programming language with a static type system which identifies the shape of run-time data. This overview is followed by formal semantics for a core language. Remora's static semantics ascribes to each expression a type which describes the shape of the resulting array. Quantification over the shape of cells and the type of atoms within an array is explicit, but the polymorphism over frames is entirely implicit. That is, a function's type only describes its cell-level behavior, while implicit iteration-which is common to all functions-is identified by typing rules. A type-driven dynamic semantics determines the iteration space for functions applied to computed array data, and a type soundness theorem ensures that the types-and shapes-ascribed to expressions match those of their eventual results. While frame polymorphism is instantiated implicitly in Remora's formal semantics, explicitly instantiating cell polymorphism is a severe annotation burden. For example, a vector-mean function can be used on a 3 × 5 × 4 array with no explanation that the array is a 3 × 5 frame, but the function must be explicitly instantiated to operate on vectors of length 4. That burden is alleviated by a bidirectional typing system which uses a novel constraint solver for the theory of array shapes to identify implicit dimension and shape arguments. The vector-mean function can then be applied directly to the 3 × 5 × 4 array, with bidirectional rules elaborating to code which explicitly instantiates it for 4-vector cells. Two translation steps link Remora's formal semantics to conventional rank-monomorphic languages with explicit iteration. While Remora's dynamic semantics relies heavily on run-time type information, a type erasure pass can change from carrying full type information in dynamically created closures and arrays to describing argument and iteration-space shapes statically at sites. With that shape information at each call site, the program can be translated from using rank-polymorphic function calls to rank-monomorphic explicit iteration.--Author's abstract

Since the emergence of the Covid-19 virus in Indonesia, learning activities in the education system have been changed to distance learning using online media. The most widely used application according to the results of interviews with teacher representatives from 4 vocational schools in Karawang Regency is Google Classroom. However, the application received a poor rating based on the rating on the Google Play Store. So that usability testing is carried out in order to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction of the application. There are several usability testing techniques, including (SUS) System Usability Scale and Usefull, Satisfaction and ease of Use (USE) Questionnaire. This study aims to obtain the results of usability testing and a comparison between the two techniques used. Both have some similarities where the analysis can be done using any media, it's just that there are differences in the number of questions and data analysis. The System Usability Scale (SUS) technique contains 10 questions while the Usefull, Satisfaction and ease of Use (USE) Questionnaire technique contains 30 questions with 3 main dimensions, namely Usefulness, Satisfaction and Ease of Use. The research method used is Product Moment Pearson’s method for data validity analysis and Cronbbach's Alpha method for data reliability analysis. This research is a quantitative descriptive study conducted on 50 high school students/equivalent and university students. The results of the questionnaire technique (SUS) System Usability Scale state that Google Classroom has a good interface with a score of 72 with advantages in ease of use and desire to use it again, while based on the Usefull, Satisfaction and ease of Use (USE) Questionnaire technique states Google Classroom has an average value of 84% with 81% (usefulness), 86% (ease of use), 87% (ease of learning) and 83% (satisfaction). Then according to the comparison, the Usefull, Satisfaction and ease of Use (USE) Questionnaire technique is stated to be better with a reliability value of 0.967 while (SUS) System Usability Scale only has reliability (0.634).

Internet-based mental health interventions have been demonstrated to be effective in alleviating psychological distress and promoting mental well-being. However, real-world uptake and engagement of such interventions have been low. Rather than being stand-alone interventions, situating internet-based interventions under a stratified stepped care system can support users to continue with mental health practice and monitor their mental health status for timely services that are commensurate with their needs. A user-centered approach should be used in the development of such web-based platforms to understand the facilitators and barriers in user engagement to enhance platform uptake, usability, and adherence so it can support the users' continued adoption and practice of self-care for their mental health. The aim of this study was to describe the design process taken to develop a web-based stratified stepped care mental health platform, TourHeart+, using a user-centered approach that gathers target users' perceptions on mental self-care and feedback on the platform design and incorporates them into the design. The process involved a design workshop with the interdisciplinary development team, user interviews, and 2 usability testing sessions on the flow of registration and mental health assessment and the web-based self-help interventions of the platform. The data collected were summarized as descriptive statistics if appropriate and insights are extracted inductively. Qualitative data were extracted using a thematic coding approach. In the design workshop, the team generated empathy maps and point-of-view statements related to the possible mental health needs of target users. Four user personas and related processes in the mental health self-care journey were developed based on user interviews. Design considerations were derived based on the insights drawn from the personas and mental health self-care journey. Survey results from 104 users during usability testing showed that the overall experience during registration and mental health assessment was friendly, and they felt cared for, although no statistically significant differences on preference ratings were found between using a web-based questionnaire tool and through an interactive chatbot, except that chatbot format was deemed more interesting. Facilitators of and barriers to registering the platform and completing the mental health assessment were identified through user feedback during simulation with mock-ups. In the usability testing for guided self-help interventions, users expressed pain points in course adherence, and corresponding amendments were made in the flow and design of the web-based courses. The design process and findings presented in the study are important in developing a user-centric platform to optimize users' acceptance and usability of a web-based stratified stepped care platform with guided self-help interventions for mental well-being. Accounting for users' perceptions and needs toward mental health self-care and their experiences in the design process can enhance the usability of an evidence-based mental health platform on the web.