Research Laboratory Research Articles

A Bead-Based Nonradioactive Immunoassay for Autoantibody Testing in a Mouse Model of Myasthenia Gravis

Serological testing for anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) autoantibodies is not only crucial for the diagnosing, disease monitoring, and treatment management of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) but also for preclinical studies utilizing MG disease models. However, there are no specific guidelines on which methods to use in clinical diagnostic or research laboratories to detect or quantify any MG-specific autoantibodies. Conventional autoantibody assays, particularly those for anti-AChR antibodies, are varied and mostly laboratory-specific. Here, we report our new nonradioactive immunoprecipitation–immunoblotting method for assessing autoantibodies (anti-AChR antibodies) in a mouse model of MG. This simple, efficient, reproducible, and cost-effective assay appears superior to the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay but comparable to the radioimmunoprecipitation or cell-based assay in specificity and sensitivity. Thus, the newly developed assay can serve as a valuable alternative to classical assays and is suitable for routine testing of AChR-specific autoantibodies in preclinical studies. The further optimization of our assay may facilitate its application in the diagnosis and therapeutic management of patients with MG.

The Bead Maze Hand Function Test for Children.

There is a need for a pediatric hand function test that can be used to objectively assess movement quality. We have developed a toy-based test, the Bead Maze Hand Function (BMHF) test, to quantify how well a child performs an activity. This is achieved by assessing the control of forces applied while drawing a bead over wires of different complexity. To study the psychometric properties of the BMHF test and understand the influence of age and task complexity on test measures. A cross-sectional, observational study performed in a single visit. Clinical research laboratory. Twenty-three participants (ages 4-15 yr) were recruited locally. They were typically developing children with no illness or conditions that affected their movement. Interventions/Assessments: Participants performed the BMHF test and the Box and Block test with both hands. Total force and completion time were examined according to age and task complexity using a linear mixed-effects model. We calculated intraclass correlation coefficients to measure interrater reliability of the method and estimated concurrent validity using the Box and Block test. Total force and completion time decreased with age and depended on task complexity. The total force was more sensitive to task complexity. The Box and Block score was associated with BMHF completion time but not with total force. We found excellent interrater reliability. A familiar toy equipped with hidden sensors provides a sensitive tool to assess a child's typical hand function. Plain-Language Summary: We developed the Bead Maze Hand Function (BMHF) test to determine how well a child performs an activity with their hands. The BMHF test is a toy equipped with hidden sensors. Twenty-three typically developing children with no illnesses or conditions that affected their hand movement participated in the study. We asked the children to perform the BMHF test with both hands. Our study found that occupational therapists can reliably use the BMHF test to assess a child's hand function.

Rapid detection of incipient foil failure and remediation for longevity in repetitively pulsed, electron-beam-pumped excimer lasers for fusion research.

The use of an electron beam to pump an excimer laser has the advantage of being readily scalable to higher laser energies at high efficiency. Typically, a pulsed power driver generates the electron beam in a vacuum diode that consists of an electron emitter and a thin anode foil that holds the vacuum against the atmospheric-pressure laser gas. Even a miniscule leak in the anode foil can lead to an electrical breakdown in the vacuum diode, resulting in the destruction of the foil and evidence of the failure mechanism. The problem is even more onerous at the high voltage, high current, and pulse repetition frequencies needed for the large-area diodes used in excimer lasers for fusion research. Electra is one such laser used at the Naval Research Laboratory to develop excimer laser technologies for inertial fusion energy. To achieve longevity on Electra, it was necessary to instantly detect an incipient foil failure and halt the pulsed power drivers so the physical cause(s) could be studied. This rapid detection was accomplished using an optically filtered photodiode that senses the presence of argon emission from a Penning discharge vessel attached to the vacuum diodes. Details of this "Spectral Penning Leak Detector" device and its operation are presented. The diagnostics allowed the identification of a recurrent pinhole leak in the anode foil induced by cathode spots, which were created by electron emission from the foil during post-pulse voltage reversals. Eliminating the voltage reversals increased the continuous operation of the Electra laser from hundreds of shots to over 90 000 shots.

Preparation empty peptide-receptive MHC class I complex for large-scale detection through photolabile peptide ligands

Peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) multimers are wide recognized as the premier technique for detecting, characterizing, and isolating antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell subsets. These multimers are specifically useful in studying infections, autoimmune conditions, and cancer through single-cell analysis techniques such as flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. However, the development of high-throughput assays with commercially available pMHC tetramers can be expensive, while in-house production may pose challenges for most biology research laboratories. In this context, we introduce a cost-friendly and uncomplicated protocol to prepare empty MHC class I tetramers using disulfide-stabilized molecules and photolabile peptide ligands. Our method relies on disulfide bond-stabilized MHC-I molecules, which demonstrated stability when folded into stable monomers in the presence of a photolabile epitope. These monomers, upon ultraviolet irradiation and streptavidin binding, efficiently assemble into tetramers devoid of any peptide. Following a short incubation with the peptide of interest under gentle conditions, the resulting pMHC tetramer effectively detects patient-sourced, neoantigen-specific T cells. Our unique approach streamlines large-scale pMHC generation, thus paving the way for advancements in T cell-based diagnostics and personalized therapies.

Frequency and localization of neuromas in transtibial residual limbs

ObjectiveTo describe the frequency and localization of neuromas in residual limbs of individuals with transtibial amputation using ultrasound imaging. Study DesignCross-sectional study. SettingRehabilitation center research laboratory. ParticipantsAdults who have lived with a transtibial amputation for more than 12 months were recruited for this study. Participants were included regardless of whether there was a presence of residual limb neuropathic pain. Twenty-three participants (24 transtibial residual limbs) with and without residual limb neuropathic pain were enrolled. The etiology of amputation of most participants was peripheral vascular disease and diabetes. InterventionA comprehensive history was collected and a musculoskeletal ultrasound assessment for the presence and location of neuromas in their residual limb was conducted. During the ultrasound evaluation, a sonopalpation Tinel test was performed by applying pressure on each neuroma with the probe. Main Outcome MeasuresNumber of neuromas and their localization in each residual limb examined. ResultsA total of 31 neuromas in the 24 transtibial residual limbs were identified by ultrasound imaging. The average number of neuromas per residual limb was 1.3. All the major peripheral nerves studied could present neuromas, with a predominance of the superficial fibular nerve within our sample. Thirty-five percent of all the neuromas were described as painful. ConclusionThe presence of terminal neuromas on surgically sectioned nerves in transtibial residual limbs is frequent. Seventy-nine percent of participants had at least one neuroma. Ultrasound imaging is clinically useful to identify neuromas. The evaluator can easily communicate with the patient to diagnose symptomatic neuromas.

In vitro evaluation of the mechanical and optical properties of 3D printed vs CAD/CAM milled denture teeth materials

This laboratory research aimed to assess the Flexural strength, fracture toughness, Volumetric wear and optical properties of various recent 3D-printed denture tooth materials and compare them to CAD/CAM milled materials. Four 3D-printed denture tooth materials (Lucitone Tooth, OnX, Flexcera Ultra +, and VarseoSmile Crown Plus) and one CAD/CAM milled denture teeth material (Ivotion Dent) were used to fabricate fifteen specimens for each material (with total no. of 300 specimens). Tests were conducted according to ISO standards to assess flexural strength, fracture toughness, color staining, and volumetric wear. All materials were printed, washed, cured, or milled following the manufacturer’s instructions. Flexural strength and fracture toughness values were obtained by a universal testing machine. Volumetric wear was evaluated using a non-contact optical profilometer. Color stability outcomes were obtained via a spectrophotometer for determining L*a*b* values, with color change (ΔE2000) based on the CIEDE2000 formula. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc analysis (α = 0.05). All 3D-printed materials exhibited higher flexural strength values than the milled material (p < 0.05). For fracture toughness, two of the 3D-printed materials showed higher values than the milled material, while the other two had lower values. Insignificant variances in volumetric wear were detected between the materials (p > 0.05). Color staining results varied, with milled materials generally demonstrating better-staining resistance compared to the 3D-printed materials. 3D-printed denture tooth materials exhibit good mechanical and optical properties, presenting a cost-effective and efficient alternative to CAD/CAM milled materials for denture tooth fabrication.

Unveiling the Future: Advancements in AR and MR Display Technologies

AbstractThis issue features specialists from Meta Reality Labs Research, Avegant, and RayNeo who discuss the latest advancements in the fields of augmented (AR) and mixed reality (MR) display technologies. The articles detail solutions designed to enhance consumer experiences and refine technological applications.

Evaluation of the Fertility Status of Rice Fields in Giri Jaya Village, Nagrak District, Sukabumi Regency

The research comprises three stages, which include: Field research, Laboratory research, encompassing the analysis of soil chemical properties. Data analysis, conducted both descriptively and quantitatively. Composite soil samples from rice fields were collected at three different elevations (top, middle, and bottom) at a depth of 1-20 cm in the surface layer of the rice field soil. Analysis of paddy soil samples involved measuring pH H2O using the electrometric method, total N, and cation exchange capacity (CEC) using the titrimetric method, potential K2O using the flame photometric method, potential P2O5 and organic C using the spectrophotometric method, K exchangeability and Na exchangeability using the flame photometric method, and Ca exchangeability and Mg exchangeability using the AAS method. Data obtained from soil analysis at different elevations were compared based on soil type for each observed parameter. The research results indicate that the evaluation of nutrient status is influenced by altitude. Land situated at lower elevations exhibits better soil fertility status, followed by land at the upper and middle elevations.

Генотипни различия в растежната активност на семената от сортове зимен ечемик

At the Institute of Agriculture - Karnobat, Bulgaria, laboratory research was conducted on 5 varieties of two-row and 5 varieties of multi-row winter barley. The aim of the research is to determine the genotypic differences in the initial growth of winter barley varieties. The varieties were studied in a laboratory experiment using the roll method. Number of indicators number of roots (number), length of roots (cm), length of the first leaf (cm) were recorded. 20 seeds of each variety were placed on filter paper in 3 replicates. The rolls are immersed in water and after 10 days the length of the first leaf, the number of roots and their length are counted. The results of the analysis show that Zahir and Alexan varieties form the largest number of roots. The Lardeya and Bozhin varieties form the smallest number of roots. The Kuber and Siela varieties have the longest root length and the first leaf. The varieties Zahir and Achinora have the smallest root length, and Lardea and Zemela have the smallest length of the first leaf. To improve the length of the first leaf, good combinations are expected when crossing the varieties Daria, Bozhin with Alexan, Achinora. Siela, Zemela, Alexan and Achinora varieties are genetically the most distant from Lardea, Kuber and Zahir in terms of length and number of roots. It is recommended to use them for crosses in order to create a better root system.

Identifying ice wedges in ground-penetrating radar data from the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory permafrost tunnel, Fox, Alaska

The warming of Alaska’s permafrost has been leading to thawing within its discontinuous permafrost. This can cause ice wedges to melt, resulting in thermokarst formations such as sinkholes and landslides, which are causing damage to Alaskan infrastructure. To avoid developing further infrastructure in areas containing ice wedges, it is necessary to improve methods of detecting subsurface ground ice. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a nonintrusive remote sensing method of locating and characterizing permafrost and other subsurface features that are not evident on a cut face or surface. When applied to the detection of ice wedges at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory permafrost tunnel in Fox, Alaska, a few identifying features have been observed which corresponded with prior research. We first use GPR reflections of areas along the tunnel walls holding known ice wedges to verify the identifying features of an ice wedge within GPR data. We use these reflections as test data to identify possible ice wedges in locations where they were not observed on the tunnel walls.

Effect of Omega-3 Adjuvant Therapy on Cognitive Improvement and Levels of Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) in Schizophrenia Patients Receiving Risperidone Therapy

Background: Schizophrenia is a disorder with severe and persistent psychotic manifestations accompanied by cognitive impairment. Treatment with atypical antipsychotic therapy (APG-2) provides only minimal benefit for the cognitive impairment of schizophrenia patients. Many efforts are currently being expanded to find new treatments that can serve as “co-treatments” to improve neurocognition from aspects of neurobiology and neuroplasticity. Several studies found that omega-3 fatty acids can improve cognitive function in schizophrenia patients.Objective: The objective is to assess the impact of omega-3 adjuvant therapy on improving cognitive function and elevating glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) levels in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia who are undergoing risperidone treatment.Method: A research study utilizing experimental analysis, including pre-tests and post-tests with non-random group selection, was conducted at Dadi Regional Special Hospital in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, between May and July 2023. Sample testing was carried out at the HUMRC Research Laboratory. The study involved 44 participants divided into two groups: a treatment group comprising 22 individuals who received 4 mg/day risperidone along with Omega-3 supplements for eight weeks and a control group of 22 individuals who received only 4 mg/day risperidone. Cognitive function was evaluated using the MoCA-Ina tool, while GDNF serum levels were determined through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Significance was assessed through the Chi-square, Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney, Pearson and Spearman correlation tests.Results: There was an improvement in cognitive function and a significant increase of GDNF serum levels in schizophrenia patients who received omega-3 adjuvant therapy over 8 weeks compared to individuals with schizophrenia who solely received the antipsychotic risperidone. Conclusion: Supplementing standard risperidone therapy with omega-3 adjuvant can enhance cognitive function and elevate GDNF levels.

Effect of Omega-3 Adjuvant Therapy on Cognitive Improvement and Levels of Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) in Schizophrenia Patients Receiving Risperidone Therapy

Background: Schizophrenia is a disorder with severe and persistent psychotic manifestations accompanied by cognitive impairment. Treatment with atypical antipsychotic therapy (APG-2) provides only minimal benefit for the cognitive impairment of schizophrenia patients. Many efforts are currently being expanded to find new treatments that can serve as “co-treatments” to improve neurocognition from aspects of neurobiology and neuroplasticity. Several studies found that omega-3 fatty acids can improve cognitive function in schizophrenia patients.Objective: The objective is to assess the impact of omega-3 adjuvant therapy on improving cognitive function and elevating glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) levels in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia who are undergoing risperidone treatment.Method: A research study utilizing experimental analysis, including pre-tests and post-tests with non-random group selection, was conducted at Dadi Regional Special Hospital in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, between May and July 2023. Sample testing was carried out at the HUMRC Research Laboratory. The study involved 44 participants divided into two groups: a treatment group comprising 22 individuals who received 4 mg/day risperidone along with Omega-3 supplements for eight weeks and a control group of 22 individuals who received only 4 mg/day risperidone. Cognitive function was evaluated using the MoCA-Ina tool, while GDNF serum levels were determined through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Significance was assessed through the Chi-square, Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney, Pearson and Spearman correlation tests.Results: There was an improvement in cognitive function and a significant increase of GDNF serum levels in schizophrenia patients who received omega-3 adjuvant therapy over 8 weeks compared to individuals with schizophrenia who solely received the antipsychotic risperidone. Conclusion: Supplementing standard risperidone therapy with omega-3 adjuvant can enhance cognitive function and elevate GDNF levels.

Relationship between fault transmissivity, flow dimensions and effective hydraulic conductivity in siliceous mudstone of the Wakkanai Formation around the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory in Japan

Effective hydraulic conductivity is typically used to evaluate groundwater flow in faulted/fractured media. Estimating effective hydraulic conductivity relies on modelling the transmissivity and hydraulic connectivity of faults/fractures using a large dataset. As an alternative to evaluating hydraulic connectivity, flow dimension is an easily available and quantitative indicator of fault/fracture hydraulic connectivity. However, the flow dimension has not been used as much quantitatively to evaluate the effective hydraulic conductivity. This study demonstrates how flow dimensions in poorly self-sealed faults directly relate to effective hydraulic conductivities. Effective hydraulic conductivities of massive siliceous mudstone of the Wakkanai Formation around the Horonobe Underground Research Laboratory (URL) in Japan were analysed by simulation with long-term (&gt;10 years) data of hydraulic pressure and inflow during the construction and operation of the URL. The estimated effective hydraulic conductivities varied from c . 10 −8 to c . 10 −11 m s −1 with an increase in depth from c . 250 to c . 600 m. The fault local transmissivities and flow dimensions from packer tests varied from c . 10 −6 to c . 10 −10 m 2 s −1 and from c . 2.0 or more to c . 1.0 with increasing depth, respectively. When applying the Landau–Lifshitz–Matheron formula to calculate the fault effective transmissivities, these variations correlate well and the estimated effective hydraulic conductivities are sound.

А. I. Kagalnyak: an unforgettable mentor аnd wise psychologist

The article highlights the professional and scientific work of psychologist Hanna Ivanovna Kahalnyak, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor, Honored Secondary Education Worker. Hanna Ivanovna's scientific heritage has more than 70 works. Her research covers a wide range of topics: features of the development of thinking operations in primary school students, study of mental development of younger students, professionally important qualities of future teachers, their positive dynamics during their studies in a secondary education institution; motivational sphere of education of children, the influence of the temperament of teachers on the education of students, etc. The author of the dissertation «Peculiarities of Comparison in Younger Students» conducted an experiment, during which she taught children to analyze, compare, and structure various subjects. She managed to establish that the features of comparison depend on the content of the compared objects; the degree of their generalization; proximity or distance from each other. In the manual «Psychology of Abilities», Hanna Ivanivna describes in detail the connection between abilities, knowledge, experience and skills, confirming with interesting examples from the lives of famous people. The manual contains a thorough description of various types of abilities, in particular a detailed description of the structure of pedagogical abilities. The author supplemented the structure developed by her supervisor G. С. Kostyuk, his own research and interesting examples. The manual also talks about the conditions for the formation of students' abilities that can be useful for teachers and psychologists in modern educational practice. In the monograph «Teacher's personality: socio-psychological aspect» Hanna Ivanovna explores the versatility of the teacher's personality. She emphasizes that each teacher has a unique set of characteristics that affect their professional activities. The author of the monograph describes various aspects of the teacher's personality: individual traits, communication style, teacher's humor, understanding of the individual characteristics of students and colleagues; methods of work that can be used by modern teachers. Six publications H. I. Kahalnyak included in WoS. Our university has created a Research Laboratory «Improvement of the skill of the future psychologist named after Hanna Ivanіvna Kahalnyak». Laboratory workers continue to investigate the scientific heritage of H. I. Kahalnyak and implement her ideas in the modern educational space.

A comprehensive workflow for optimizing RNA-seq data analysis

BackgroundCurrent RNA-seq analysis software for RNA-seq data tends to use similar parameters across different species without considering species-specific differences. However, the suitability and accuracy of these tools may vary when analyzing data from different species, such as humans, animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. For most laboratory researchers lacking a background in information science, determining how to construct an analysis workflow that meets their specific needs from the array of complex analytical tools available poses a significant challenge.ResultsBy utilizing RNA-seq data from plants, animals, and fungi, it was observed that different analytical tools demonstrate some variations in performance when applied to different species. A comprehensive experiment was conducted specifically for analyzing plant pathogenic fungal data, focusing on differential gene analysis as the ultimate goal. In this study, 288 pipelines using different tools were applied to analyze five fungal RNA-seq datasets, and the performance of their results was evaluated based on simulation. This led to the establishment of a relatively universal and superior fungal RNA-seq analysis pipeline that can serve as a reference, and certain standards for selecting analysis tools were derived for reference. Additionally, we compared various tools for alternative splicing analysis. The results based on simulated data indicated that rMATS remained the optimal choice, although consideration could be given to supplementing with tools such as SpliceWiz.ConclusionThe experimental results demonstrate that, in comparison to the default software parameter configurations, the analysis combination results after tuning can provide more accurate biological insights. It is beneficial to carefully select suitable analysis software based on the data, rather than indiscriminately choosing tools, in order to achieve high-quality analysis results more efficiently.

НАУЧНАЯ ШКОЛА ПРОФЕССОРА ПЕТРА ВАСИЛЬЕВИЧА СЕНИНА

The strategic task in the field of modern higher education is to develop the research potential of the university, to educate scientific staff. The effectiveness of this process depends on the successful functioning of scientific schools. In this regard, the research aimed at studying the experience of the author's scientific schools is relevant. (Research purpose) The research purpose is analyzing the concept and features of the scientific school as a form of personal growth and formation of researchers at the university using the example of research in the field of developing technologies for high-resource repair of machinery and technological equipment using metal coatings with specified functional properties (experience of the scientific school of professor P.V. Senin). (Materials and methods) Applied scientific and theoretical methods of analyzing the experience of the functioning of a scientific school, summarized and interpreted the criteria for its success as a form of personal growth and becoming a researcher at a university. Scientific and technical literature and publications in the field of humanitarian knowledge were used in the study. (Results and discussion) The experience of the P.V. Senin scientific school has shown that the implementation of the mechanisms of personal growth and formation of researchers at the university is the inclusion of students in the process of the scientific school, based on the creation of innovation centers, research laboratories, student teams, as well as the publication activity of the community of scientists on the basis of general theoretical and methodological approaches reflecting common research results. It was determined that the priority task of the scientific school is the interaction of university science and economic sectors aimed at creating technologies for high-resource repair of machines using the method of electric spark processing. (Conclusions) The results of the activities of the P.V. Senin scientific school allow us to consider this structure as a point of personal growth and professional development of a research student, a young scientist.

Automation in Healthcare: Advantages, Prospects, Perceptual Barriers

Introduction. In healthcare, automation refers to the use of technology to replace manual labor with mechanized processes. It offers solutions to some of the biggest challenges in this field by increasing work efficiency and improving the quality of medical care. The aim of the study was to explore the potential impact of automation on healthcare practices and to investigate the perceptions of healthcare professionals towards these innovations. Materials and methods. The study utilized general scientific research methodologies, including analysis and synthesis. Through the examination of secondary data,, the findings of a sociological survey conducted by Google Cloud commissioned by Harris Poll were analyzed and presented in the context of the studied topic. The questionnaire was filled in by 300 doctors across the United States. Results. Over the next years, global automation in healthcare is expected to see a significant growth due to various growth factors including the continuous improvement of healthcare automation technologies, growing public investment, as well as recognition of the benefits of automation in medical logistics processes, laboratory research and other types of medical and related activities. Automation, such as information technology and control systems, reduces individual efforts in multiple procedures.

Integration between constrained optimization and deep networks: a survey.

Integration between constrained optimization and deep networks has garnered significant interest from both research and industrial laboratories. Optimization techniques can be employed to optimize the choice of network structure based not only on loss and accuracy but also on physical constraints. Additionally, constraints can be imposed during training to enhance the performance of networks in specific contexts. This study surveys the literature on the integration of constrained optimization with deep networks. Specifically, we examine the integration of hyper-parameter tuning with physical constraints, such as the number of FLOPS (FLoating point Operations Per Second), a measure of computational capacity, latency, and other factors. This study also considers the use of context-specific knowledge constraints to improve network performance. We discuss the integration of constraints in neural architecture search (NAS), considering the problem as both a multi-objective optimization (MOO) challenge and through the imposition of penalties in the loss function. Furthermore, we explore various approaches that integrate logic with deep neural networks (DNNs). In particular, we examine logic-neural integration through constrained optimization applied during the training of NNs and the use of semantic loss, which employs the probabilistic output of the networks to enforce constraints on the output.

Evergene: an interactive webtool for large-scale gene-centric analysis of primary tumours

Abstract Motivation The data sharing of large comprehensive cancer research projects, such as The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), has improved the availability of high-quality data to research labs around the world. However, due to the volume and inherent complexity of high-throughput omics data, analysis of it is limited by the capacity for performing data processing through programming languages such as R or Python. Existing webtools lack functionality that supports large-scale analysis; typically, users can only input one gene, or a gene list condensed into a gene set, instead of individual gene-level analysis. Furthermore, analysis results are usually displayed without other sample-level molecular or clinical annotations. To address these gaps in the existing webtools, we have developed Evergene using R and Shiny. Results Evergene is a user-friendly webtool that utilises RNA-sequencing data, alongside other sample and clinical annotation, for large-scale gene-centric analysis, including principal component analysis (PCA), survival analysis (SA) and correlation analysis (CA). Moreover, Evergene achieves in-depth analysis of cancer transcriptomic data which can be explored through dimensional reduction methods, relating gene expression with clinical events or other sample information, such as ethnicity, histological classification, and molecular indices. Lastly, users can upload custom data to Evergene for analysis. Availability Evergene webtool is available at https://bshihlab.shinyapps.io/evergene/. The source code and example user input dataset are available at https://github.com/bshihlab/evergene. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics Advances online.

A Systematic Process to Engineer Dependable Integration of Frame-based Input Devices in a Multimodal Input Chain: Application to Rehabilitation in Healthcare

Designing new input devices and associated interaction techniques is a key contribution in order to increase the bandwidth between users and interactive applications. In the field of Human-Computer Interaction, research and development services in industry and research laboratories in universities have been, since the invention of the mouse and the graphical user interface, proposing multiple contributions including the integration of multiple input devices in multimodal interaction technique. Those contributions, most of the time, are presented as prototypes or demonstrators providing evidence of the bandwidth increase through user studies. Such contributions however, do not provide any support to software developers for integrating them in real-life systems. When done, this integration is performed in a craft manner, outside required software engineering good practice. This paper proposes a systematic process to integrate novel input devices and associated interaction techniques to better support users' work. It exploits most recent interactive systems architectural model and formal model-based approaches for interactive systems supporting verification and validation when required. The paper focusses on Frame-based input devices which support gesture-based interactions and movements recognition but also addresses their multimodal use. This engineering approach is demonstrated on an interactive application in the area of rehabilitation in healthcare where dependability of interactions and applications is as critical as their usability.