Improving replicability using interaction with laboratories: a multi-lab experimental assessment

Phenotyping inbred and genetically-engineered mouse lines has become a central strategy for discovering mammalian gene function and evaluating pharmacological treatment. Yet the utility of any findings critically depends on their replicability in other laboratories. In previous publications we proposed a statistical approach for estimating the inter-laboratory replicability of novel discoveries in a single laboratory, and demonstrated that previous phenotyping results from multi-lab databases can be used to derive a Genotype-by-Lab (GxL) adjustment factor to ensure the replicability of single-lab results, for similarly measured phenotypes, even before making the effort of replicating the new finding in additional laboratories.The demonstration above, however, still raised several important questions that could only be answered by an additional large-scale prospective experiment: Does GxL-adjustment works in single-lab experiments that were not intended to be standardized across laboratories? With genotypes that were not included in the previous experiments? And can it be used to adjust the results of pharmacological treatment experiments? We replicated results from five studies in the Mouse Phenome Database (MPD), in three behavioral tests, across three laboratories, offering 212 comparisons including 60 involving a pharmacological treatment: 18 mg/kg/day fluoxetine. In addition, we define and use a dimensionless GxL factor, derived from dividing the GxL variance by the standard deviation between animals within groups, as the more robust vehicle to transfer the adjustment from the multi-lab analysis to very different labs and genotypes.For genotype comparisons, GxL-adjustment reduced the rate of non-replicable discoveries from 60% to 12%, for the price of reducing the power to make replicable discoveries from 87% to 66%. Another way to look at these results is noting that the adjustment could have prevented 23 failures to replicate, for the price of missing only three replicated ones. The tools and data needed for deployment of this method across other mouse experiments are publicly available in the Mouse Phenome Database.Our results further point at some phenotypes as more prone to produce non-replicable results, while others, known to be more difficult to measure, are as likely to produce replicable results (once adjusted) as the physiological body weight is.

Pengukuran Kualitas Perangkat Lunak Menggunakan Function Point Analysis (Studi Kasus: Fishbowl)

Fishbowl merupakan perangkat lunak inventory yang digunakan perusahaan manufaktur dalam menjalankan kegiatan operasional perusahaan. Perangkat lunak Fishbowl ini menjadi perangkat lunak inventory terlaris sejak tahun 2013 dan memiliki anggota sebanyak 5.000. Sehingga layak menjadi studi kasus dalam pengukuran kualitas perangkat lunak dikarenakan jangkauan yang dimiliki. Pengujian dilakukan dengan metode Function Point Analysis (FPA) yang terdiri dari tiga komponen yang terdiri information processing size, technical complexity adjustment factor dan function point. Pemilihan FPA dilakukan karena kemudahan dan subyektifitas yang dimiliki sehingga dapat menunjukkan hasil yang dapat dipahami secara cepat. Selain itu, FPA dapat menunjukkan tingkat kompleksitas perangkat lunak agar dapat disimpulkan kualitas yang dimiliki. Hasil perhitungan yang telah didapatkan dengan menggunakan FPA terhadap perangkat lunak manufaktur Fishbowl yaitu hasil perhitungan CFP sebesar 156, hasil RCAF sejumlah 45, dan hasil perhitungan function point sebesar 171,6. Hasil tersebut menunjukkan bahwa perangkat lunak Fishbowl ini mudah dalam penggunaannya, serta menunjukkan bahwa denga tingkat kompleksitas yang cukup baik, maka perangkat lunak tersebut layak untuk dibeli.

Evaluating the impacts of autonomous cars on the capacity of freeways in Brazil using the HCM-6 PCE methodology

This paper analyses the factors that affect the impact of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the capacity of a freeway in Brazil using an adaptation of the HCM-6 procedure for truck PCE estimation. A version of Vissim, recalibrated to represent traffic streams and AVs on Brazilian freeways, was used to simulate more than 25,000 scenarios representing combinations of traffic (e.g., AV fleets, AV platoons, percentage of AVs and of heavy goods vehicles) and road (grades and number of lanes) characteristics. AV impacts on capacity were evaluated by means of the capacity adjustment factor (CAF) and a model to estimate CAF from control variables was fitted and validated. The results indicate increases of up to 30% in capacity with 60% of platooning-capable AVs. Statistical analyses show that the fraction of AVs in the stream and the proportion of platooning-capable AVs are the factors with the greatest impact on this increase in capacity.

Aeroacoustic Optimization of the Bionic Leading Edge of a Typical Blade for Performance Improvement

New, innovative optimization approaches to improve turbomachine performance and reduce turbomachine noise are significant in engineering. In this paper, based on the bionic concept, a wave structure is used to shape the leading edge of the blade. Using an NACA0018 blade as the basic blade, a united parametric approach controlled by three parameters is proposed to configure the wavy leading edge. Then, a new optimization strategy boosting design efficiency is established to output the optimal design results. Finally, the corresponding performance and flow mechanism are analyzed. Taking into account the existence of the hub wall and the shroud wall from the closed impeller, a near-wall adjustment factor is added, the significance of which is herein demonstrated. An optimal bionic blade is successfully obtained by the optimization strategy, which can reduce the mean drag coefficient by about 6% and the overall sound pressure level by about 3 dB, in relative to the original blade. Mechanism analysis revealed that the wave structure can induce spanwise velocity at the leading edge and cause a further delay in flow separation in the downstream region, synchronously reducing drag and noise.

Evaluation of mapped-plot variance estimators across a range of partial nonresponse in a post-stratified national forest inventory

When conducting a forest inventory, sometimes portions of plots cannot be measured due to inaccessibility. Two primary methods have been presented to account for partial nonresponse in the estimation phase: 1) use a ratio-to-size estimator, or 2) apply an adjustment factor to all plot observations in proportion to the missing area. Both approaches provide identical estimates of the population mean, but the estimates of variance differ when partial nonresponse is present. Variance estimator performance was examined for a range of population forest area and partial nonresponse proportions in the sample. The ratio-to-size variance estimator performed unbiasedly with respect to simulation results, but the adjustment factor variance estimates were biased with the magnitude and direction dependent upon the forest area proportion and amount of partial nonresponse. The bias is relatively small when the partial nonresponse is small, which is often the case; however, the ratio-to-size method is preferred to ensure accurate variance estimation for a wide range of circumstances.

Dynamic Analysis of Retailers’ Paid Membership Strategy

Paid membership system has attracted more and more attention from retailers because of its advantages in improving customer loyalty, increasing repeat purchases and corporate cash flow in the short term, and collecting consumption data conveniently. In the fierce competition environment, it is an interesting topic whether the paid membership card can be accepted by the customers as soon as possible. Based on the theory of evolutionary game, this paper discusses the strategies of retailers to implement the paid membership in the case of two different consumer groups. The results show that only when the relationship between the parameters meets certain conditions can the paid membership card be accepted smoothly. In order to satisfy the condition, retailers should take such measures: making the difference between service level and membership card price bigger and reducing consumers’ estimated default risk and retailers’ service adjustment factor. The results of this study provide a useful reference for retailers to successfully implement the paid membership system.

Multi-UAVs task assignment method considering expected destruction probability of target

To solve the combat task assignment of reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (RUAV)/unmanned combat aerial vehicle(UCAV), this paper proposed an efficient task assignment method that takes into account the expected destruction probability of target. This method improves the utility function and constraint of the model that based on the goal of destroying the total sum of the target value. The adjustment factor is added to the model to achieve a balanced distribution of RUAVs/UCAVs resources; the expected destruction probability of target is introduced as a constraint to prevent the excessive distribution of RUAVs/UCAVs resources. Subsequently, a greedy algorithm based on maximizing marginal-return is designed to solve the proposed model. The simulation results show that the improved algorithm not only meets the combat effectiveness but also improves the economic performance on the basis of real-time task allocation.

Dynamic Analysis of the Rental Prices of Long-Rental Apartments and Ordinary Rental Housing Based on the Impact of Long-Rental Apartment Enterprises’ Competitive Behaviors

This paper addresses the issue of the impact of the competitive behaviors of long-rental apartment firms on the rents of long-rental apartments and ordinary rental housing and introduces a dynamic gaming approach to the housing rental market domain to reveal changes in the long-term complexity of rents of long-rental apartments and ordinary rental housing caused by the competitive behavior of long-rental apartment firms. Through numerical simulation, it is found that the adoption of smaller rent adjustment strategies by firms is important for maintaining system stability, while the changes in reference effect behavior of landlords and service quality and differences in demand share have moderating effects on system stability. The enhanced reference effect of landlords, the improvement of service quality, and the increase of the difference in demand share between the two long-rental apartments help to mitigate the disruption of system stability by the increase of the adjustment factor of the firms. The decentralized long-lease apartment firms, which occupy a higher proportion of the market, are able to exert a major impact on the rent of general rental housing by taking advantage of the market, while the difference in the demand share between the two firms is the main reason for the change in the rent of long-rental apartments.