Toshio Nakamura

An application-independent system for visualizing user operation history

A history-of-user-operations function helps make applications easier to use. For example, users may have access to an operation history list in an application to undo or redo a past operation. To provide an overview of a long operation history and help users find target interactions or application states quickly, visual representations of operation history have been proposed. However, most previous systems are tightly integrated with target applications and difficult to apply to new applications. We propose an application-independent method that can visualize the operation history of arbitrary GUI applications by monitoring the input and output GUI events from outside of the target application. We implemented a prototype system that visualizes operation sequences of generic Java Awt/Swing applications using an annotated comic strip metaphor. We tested the system with various applications and present results from a user study.

Synthetic studies on quassinoids: total synthesis of (±)-amarolide

The total synthesis of (±)-amarolide (1), a quassinoid having 10 chiral centers, was accomplished from the previously reported l2β-hydroxy-picrasan-3-one (4) by 18 step reactions.

Synthetic studies on quassinoids: a stereoselective construction of the picrasane skeleton

Abstract 12β-Hydroxypicrasan-3-one, a compound having the correct relative stereochemistry of all the six ring-juncture chiral centers of the picrasane skeleton, was synthesized from a known tricyclic compound, using the orthoester Claisen rearrangement and lead tetraacetate oxidation as key reactions.