An Empirical Study of Bots in Software Development -- Characteristics and Challenges from a Practitioner's Perspective

Software engineering bots - automated tools that handle tedious tasks - are increasingly used by industrial and open source projects to improve developer productivity. Current research in this area is held back by a lack of consensus of what software engineering bots (DevBots) actually are, what characteristics distinguish them from other tools, and what benefits and challenges are associated with DevBot usage. In this paper we report on a mixed-method empirical study of DevBot usage in industrial practice. We report on findings from interviewing 21 and surveying a total of 111 developers. We identify three different personas among DevBot users (focusing on autonomy, chat interfaces, and "smartness"), each with different definitions of what a DevBot is, why developers use them, and what they struggle with. We conclude that future DevBot research should situate their work within our framework, to clearly identify what type of bot the work targets, and what advantages practitioners can expect. Further, we find that there currently is a lack of general purpose "smart" bots that go beyond simple automation tools or chat interfaces. This is problematic, as we have seen that such bots, if available, can have a transformative effect on the projects that use them.Comment: To be published at the ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE

Burden of childhood-onset arthritis

Juvenile arthritis comprises a variety of chronic inflammatory diseases causing erosive arthritis in children, often progressing to disability. These children experience functional impairment due to joint and back pain, heel pain, swelling of joints and morning stiffness, contractures, pain, and anterior uveitis leading to blindness. As children who have juvenile arthritis reach adulthood, they face possible continuing disease activity, medication-associated morbidity, and life-long disability and risk for emotional and social dysfunction. In this article we will review the burden of juvenile arthritis for the patient and society and focus on the following areas: patient disability; visual outcome; other medical complications; physical activity; impact on HRQOL; emotional impact; pain and coping; ambulatory visits, hospitalizations and mortality; economic impact; burden on caregivers; transition issues; educational occupational outcomes, and sexuality

Signals in the Soil: An Introduction to Wireless Underground Communications

In this chapter, wireless underground (UG) communications are introduced. A detailed overview of WUC is given. A comprehensive review of research challenges in WUC is presented. The evolution of underground wireless is also discussed. Moreover, different component of UG communications is wireless. The WUC system architecture is explained with a detailed discussion of the anatomy of an underground mote. The examples of UG wireless communication systems are explored. Furthermore, the differences of UG wireless and over-the-air wireless are debated. Different types of wireless underground channel (e.g., In-Soil, Soil-to-Air, and Air-to-Soil) are reported as well

Prevalence and risk factors for diabetes and diabetic retinopathy: results from the Nigeria national blindness and visual impairment survey.

BACKGROUND: In Nigeria, urbanisation and increasing life expectancy are likely to increase the incidence of non-communicable diseases. As the epidemic of diabetes matures, visual loss from diabetic retinopathy (DR) will increase unless mechanisms for early detection and treatment improve, and health systems respond to the growing burden of non-communicable diseases. METHODS: A nationally-representative population-based sample of 13,591 participants aged ≥40 years selected by multistage-stratified-cluster-random-sampling with probability-proportional-to-size procedures were examined in 305 clusters in Nigeria between January 2005 to June 2007. All were asked about history of diabetes and underwent basic eye examination. Visual acuity (VA) was measured using logMAR E-chart. Participants with VA11.1mmol/l or had DR. Data in the subsample were used to estimate the prevalence and to analyse risk factors for diabetes and DR using multivariable logistic regression. Additional information on the types of DR was obtained from participants not in the subsample. RESULTS: In the subsample, 164 participants were excluded due to missing data; and 1,595 analysed. 52/1,595 had diabetes, a prevalence of 3.3% (95%CI 2.5-4.3%); and 25/52(48%) did not know. Media opacity in 8/52 precluded retinal examination. 9/44(20.5%) had DR. Higher prevalence of diabetes was associated with urban residence (Odds ratio [OR]1.87) and overweight/obesity (OR3.02/4.43 respectively). Although not statistically significant, DR was associated with hypertension (OR3.49) and RBG>15.0mmol/L (OR8.10). Persons with diabetes had 3 times greater odds of blindness. Of 11,832 other participants in the study sample, 175(1.5%) had history of diabetes; 28 had DR. Types of DR (total=37) included 10.8% proliferative, 51.4% macular oedema. CONCLUSION: The age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes in Nigeria was 3.25% (95%CI 2.50-4.30) and over 10% of people with diabetes aged ≥40 years had sight-threatening-DR. These data will enable the development of better public health strategies for the control of diabetes and planning services for DR to prevent vision loss

Buildup of a dynamically supported orogenic plateau: Numerical modeling of the Zagros/Central Iran case study

The Iranian plateau is a vast inland region with a smooth average elevation of c. 1.5 km formed at the rear of the Zagros orogen as a result of the Arabia-Eurasia collision (i.e., over the last 30-35 Myr). This collision zone is of particular interest due to its disputed resemblance to the faster Himalayan collision, which gave birth to the Tibetan plateau around 50 Myr ago. Recent studies have suggested that a recent (10-5 Ma) slab break-off event below Central Iran caused the formation of the Iranian plateau. Here, we test several hypotheses through large-scale (3082 × 590 km) numerical models of continental subduction models that incorporate a free upper surface erosion, rheological stratification, brittle-elastic-ductile rheologies, and metamorphic phase changes (density and physical properties) and account for the specific crustal and thermal structure of the Arabian and Iranian continental lithospheres. We test the impact of the transition from oceanic to continental subduction and the topographic consequences of the progressive slowdown of the convergence rate during continental subduction. Our results demonstrate the role of mantle flow beneath the overriding plate, initiated as an indirect consequence of slab break-off. This flow creates a dynamic topography support during continental subduction and results in delamination of the overriding plate lithospheric mantle followed by isostatic readjustment, hence of further uplift and maintenance of a plateau-like topography without significant crustal thickening. The slowdown of the convergence rate during the development of the continental subduction/collision phase largely contributes to this process by controlling the timing and depth of slab break-off