This paper reports on a technique for measuring and analyzing computer user satisfaction. Starting with the literature and using the critical incident interview technique, 39 factors affecting satisfaction were identified. Adapting the semantic differential scaling technique, a questionnaire for measuring satisfaction was then created. Finally, the instrument was pilot tested to prove its validity and reliability. The results of this effort and suggested uses of the questionnaire are reported here.computers: systems design/operation, information systems, management, utility/performance, multi-attribute

Application of recombinant DNA methods to restructure metabolic networks can improve production of metabolite and protein products by altering pathway distributions and rates. Recruitment of heterologous proteins enables extension of existing pathways to obtain new chemical products, alter posttranslational protein processing, and degrade recalcitrant wastes. Although some of the experimental and mathematical tools required for rational metabolic engineering are available, complex cellular responses to genetic perturbations can complicate predictive design.

The glycosylation pattern of chCE7, an antineuroblastoma chimeric IgG1, was engineered in Chinese hamster ovary cells with tetracycline-regulated expression of beta(1,4)-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase III (GnTIII), a glycosyltransferase catalyzing formation of bisected oligosaccharides that have been implicated in antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). Measurement of the ADCC activity of chCE7 produced at different tetracycline levels showed an optimal range of GnTIII expression for maximal chCE7 in vitro ADCC activity, and this activity correlated with the level of constant region-associated, bisected complex oligosaccharides determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The new optimized variants of chCE7 exhibit substantial ADCC activity and, hence, may be useful for treatment of neuroblastoma. The strategy presented here should be applicable to optimize the ADCC activity of other therapeutic IgGs.

Information theoretic based measures form a fundamental class of similarity measures for comparing clusterings, beside the class of pair-counting based and set-matching based measures. In this paper, we discuss the necessity of correction for chance for information theoretic based measures for clusterings comparison. We observe that the baseline for such measures, i.e. average value between random partitions of a data set, does not take on a constant value, and tends to have larger variation when the ratio between the number of data points and the number of clusters is small. This effect is similar in some other non-information theoretic based measures such as the well-known Rand Index. Assuming a hypergeometric model of randomness, we derive the analytical formula for the expected mutual information value between a pair of clusterings, and then propose the adjusted version for several popular information theoretic based measures. Some examples are given to demonstrate the need and usefulness of the adjusted measures.