CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF THE THWARTING-DISORIENTATION THEORY OF SUICIDE.

A CROSS-CULTURAL SURVEY OF 58 CULTURES INVESTIGATED THE THWARTING-DISORIENTATION THEORY OF SUICIDE. HYPOTHESIZED THAT SUICIDE TAKES PLACE IN CONTEXTS IN WHICH A PERSON'S SOCIAL TIES ARE DISRUPTED OR THREATENED WITH DISRUPTION BY THE DISCRETIONARY ACTS OF HIMSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE. ALSO, IT WAS POSITED THAT THE MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAT A SOCIETY PROVIDES FOR THE OCCURRENCE OF THWARTING DISORIENTATION, THE GREATER WOULD BE ITS SUICIDE RATE. EVIDENCE CONFIRMING THESE HYPOTHESES WAS OBTAINED. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visualizations for Mathematics Courses Based on a Computer Algebra System

This paper discusses the introduction of a computer-algebra system to perform visualizations in mathematics education.With theIllustrated Mathematicsproject, we provide a comprehensive collection of graphics and animations for various topics in mathematics, which can directly be used for teaching. Because the programs (written inMathematica) we used for the creation of this collection are included, it is easy to design new examples by modifying parameters in existing examples. Therefore,Illustrated Mathematicscan be used as a first step of the introduction of a computer-algebra system in mathematics education.In the second part, we report on the development of a workbench and learning environment, with which the students can discover the mathematical concepts by themselves. For that, the given examples have to be didactically enriched and processed. By creating their own visualizations of increasing complexity, the students improve their knowledge about the underlying computer-algebra system.     

Replying to email with structured responses

Structured response objects include buttons, menus and formatted fields that an email sender can insert in a message to elicit predetermined responses from recipients. Two studies explored the usefulness of structured response objects in meeting the needs of everyday email. In Study 1, subjective content classifications suggested that more than half of typical email messages are requests or answers to requests. Further, a significant proportion of requests and answers could be expressed as structured response objects, the most common one being the choice of a single item from a predetermined list. Study 2 experimentally determined social factors that affect preference for structured responses compared with free form text. It found an overall preference for replying with structured responses compared with text. But, in accordance with social richness theories, this preference was reduced for ambiguous messages and for those of a personal nature. Together, these results suggest that structured response objects can be a useful tool to increase the convenience and efficiency of electronic messaging.     

ELECTROLYZED WATER AND ITS CORROSIVENESS ON VARIOUS SURFACE MATERIALS COMMONLY FOUND IN FOOD PROCESSING FACILITIES

ASTM A‐36 medium carbon steel, 110 copper, 3003‐H14 aluminum, polyvinylchloride (PVC) type 1 and 304 stainless steel coupons were immersed in electrolyzed (EO) water, chlorine water, modified EO water and deionized water for a period of 8 days, and the properties of these types of water, weights and surface roughness of the coupons were monitored. EO water significantly increased (P < 0.05) the surface roughness of carbon steel, aluminum and copper with time; however, chlorine water, modified EO water and deionized water produced minimal changes on these materials. Regardless of the treatment water used, the surface roughness of stainless steel and PVC essentially remained the same. Carbon steel, copper, aluminum and stainless steel had a fair, good, good and outstanding corrosion resistance in EO water, respectively. Chlorine and modified EO water had a much less corrosive effect than EO water on all the materials tested.