Revisiting the need for formal education in visualization.

Defining visualization education is still a work in progress. Visualization education is not just a subject within computer science. Computer scientists are not always the appropriate choice to teach visualization courses on their own. Visualization is not just mastering a set of concepts but acquiring skills. Student should learn by doing, either using one tool or a variety of tools, depending on the course's focus.     

Darstellung und Koordinationsverhalten von 2-Acylmethylen-thiazolidinen

Preparation and Coordination Behaviour of 2-Acylmethylene-thiazolidines The reaction of 2,2-dichlorovinyl ketones with 2-aminoethanethiol in different solvents is described. The 2-acylmethylene-thiazolidines as the main products from this reaction are studied in view of their coordination tendency to divalent metal ions. The prepared neutral chelates with Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Pd²⁺, Zn²⁺ have [N₂O₂] coordination, elucidated by analytical, spectroscopical and magnetochemical methods.     

Parameter optimization for the Gaussian model of protein folding

Computational models of protein folding and ligand docking are large and complex. Few systematic methods have yet been developed to optimize the parameters in such models. We describe here an iterative parameter optimization strategy that is based on minimizing a structural error measure by descent in parameter space. At the start, we know the ‘correct’ native structure that we want the model to produce, and an initial set of parameters representing the relative strengths of interactions between the amino acids. The parameters are changed systematically until the model native structure converges as closely as possible to the correct native structure. As a test, we apply this parameter optimization method to the recently developed Gaussian model of protein folding: each amino acid is represented as a bead and all bonds, covalent and noncovalent, are represented by Hooke's law springs. We show that even though the Gaussian model has continuous degrees of freedom, parameters can be chosen to cause its ground state to be identical to that of Go-type lattice models, for which the global ground states are known. Parameters for a more realistic protein model can also be obtained to produce structures close to the real native structures in the protein database.     

Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life.

Two studies examined violent video game effects on aggression-related variables. Study 1 found that real-life violent video game play was positively related to aggressive behavior and delinquency. The relation was stronger for individuals who are characteristically aggressive and for men. Academic achievement was negatively related to overall amount of time spent playing video games. In Study 2, laboratory exposure to a graphically violent video game increased aggressive thoughts and behavior. In both studies, men had a more hostile view of the world than did women. The results from both studies are consistent with the General Affective Aggression Model, which predicts that exposure to violent video games will increase aggressive behavior in both the short term (e.g., laboratory aggression) and the long term (e.g., delinquency). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retention mechanisms of reversed-phase liquid chromatography: determination of solute-solvent interaction free energies

Mean-field statistical thermodynamics theory has recently been developed to account for the partitioning of solutes from aqueous mobile phases into reversed-phase liquid chromatography stationary phases. Several predictions are tested here against an extensive data base of nearly 350 sets of experiments. In agreement with theory, we find that (i) the dependence of retention on mobile phase composition can often be suitably linearized through use of a type of composition plot recently suggested by Dill, (ii) retention measurements can be used to determine the binary interaction constants of solutes with solvents, and (iii) ET-30 solvent probe experiments appear to provide a direct measure of the binary interaction constants. This work suggests that the simple random-mixing approximation for solutes with solvents is often useful even for complex chromatographic solutions.     

Gender differences in mediated communication: Women connect more than do men

Past research in gender differences in the overall Internet use has been contradictory. Some asserted men used it more than women, while others asserted there were no gender difference. Both camps concluded that men and women differed in their motivation and utilization of time spent online. The purpose of the present research was to take a contemporary look at these gender differences. Using an online survey, we asked participants about their experiences with multiple forms of mediated communication: social networking sites, e-mail, video calls, instant messaging, texting, and phone calls. Our results indicated that women, compared to men, are generally more frequent mediated communication users. Compared to men, women prefer and more frequently use text messaging, social media, and online video calls. These results suggest that the nature of mediated social interaction is changing.     

Feature enhancement techniques for the detection of spinal cord injury

Evoked potentials (EPs) produced by median nerve stimulation and recorded from the somatosensory receiving area of cat cortex were obtained from anaesthetized cats and averaged before and after one of two treatments. Seven data transformations were applied to the average EPs with the idea of emphasizing features of the EP pertinent for classification. The transformations applied involved both time and frequency domain representation of the original average EPs. Statistical multivariate classification techniques were then used to obtain canonical plots of the original and transformed EPs. In every case, frequency domain analysis resulted in better separation between treatment categories. It was also found that the power spectrum which was normalized by its average power proved the best for classification purposes.