Researchers are currently using a legacy program called MeltWin to analyze Nucleotide absorbance data to procure thermodynamic parameters. These parameters are necessary to describe chemical bonding, structure, and reaction potential. MeltWin was designed over 20 years ago, and as such, is not optimized for modern systems, and is only capable of running on Windows. There is a need for a program that includes the functions of MeltWin, is capable of taking advantage of the processing power of modern systems, and introduces automation, all goals of the MeltShiny open-source program. Developed through the R programming language, MeltShiny's functionality relies on an existing open-source R program called MeltR, written by Jacob Sieg of Penn State University. Both MeltR and MeltWin provide easy and consistent fitting of nucleic acid folding data. MeltR features are more robust and require less user input compared to MeltWin. However, unlike MeltWin, which has a graphical user interface, users must interact with MeltR through the R console. Typing commands into a command line interface can be tedious and requires technical knowledge. MeltShiny provides an intuitive graphical user interface that can be used by individuals of all skill levels. Additionally, users are provided with automated processing of input files, as well as the automated baseline trimming for the analysis graphs, and removal of outliers from the Van't Hoff plot and the results table. MeltShiny provides researchers with the best possible workflow, reducing the time spent interacting with a computer and increasing time for research and analysis.

The group would like to thank Dr. Brent Znosko for his feature requests for the MeltShiny application, as they served as guidelines for the group early on as they planned to tackle the project. Additionally, his patience and thorough question answering was heavily appreciated as the group became accustomed to the underlying theory and research for which the application would aid. They also appreciate his enthusiasm and willingness to meet for feature demonstrations, where he provided constructive criticism and valuable insights as an end-user.