Understanding the effects of violent video games on violent crime

Psychological studies invariably find a positive relationship between violent video game play and aggression. However, these studies cannot account for either aggressive effects of alternative activities video game playing substitutes for or the possible selection of relatively violent people into playing violent video games. That is, they lack external validity. We investigate the relationship between the prevalence of violent video games and violent crimes. Our results are consistent with two opposing effects. First, they support the behavioral effects as in the psychological studies. Second, they suggest a larger voluntary incapacitation effect in which playing either violent or non-violent games decrease crimes. Overall, violent video games lead to decreases in violent crime. --Video Games,Violence,Crime

Understanding the effects of violent video games on violent crime

Psychological studies invariably find a positive relationship between violent video game play and aggression. However, these studies cannot account for either aggressive effects of alternative activities video game playing substitutes for or the possible selection of relatively violent people into playing violent video games. That is, they lack external validity. We investigate the relationship between the prevalence of violent video games and violent crimes. Our results are consistent with two opposing effects. First, they support the behavioral effects as in the psychological studies. Second, they suggest a larger voluntary incapacitation effect in which playing either violent or non-violent games decrease crimes. Overall, violent video games lead to decreases in violent crime

Characterization of aeroallergen sensitivities in children with allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis

Allergic rhinitis is a common comorbid condition in pediatric chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Testing for aeroallergen sensitization should therefore be considered in the evaluation of children with CRS. At present the aeroallergen sensitivity profile of children with CRS remains uncharacterized. In this study, we retrospectively identify a consecutive series of children with CRS and allergic rhinitis who have undergone joint otolaryngology and allergy evaluation at a single tertiary care center. We describe the aeroallergen sensitivity profiles (based upon formal skin testing) of these children, stratifying them according to co-morbidity status: 1) CRS with cystic fibrosis (CF), 2) CRS with immune deficiency and 3) uncomplicated CRS (without co-morbid CF, immune deficiency or primary ciliary dyskinesia). We identify 208 children (average age 9.3 years, standard deviation 4.8 years) with CRS and allergic rhinitis meeting inclusion criteria, 140 with uncomplicated CRS, 64 with co-morbid immune deficiency and 4 with co-morbid CF. The prevalence of indoor aeroallergen sensitivities (62.9–100.0%) was more common than that of outdoor aeroallergen sensitivities (43.8–50.0%) in all three cohorts of children. In all three cohorts, the most common indoor aeroallergen sensitivity was to dust mites (50.0–75.0%) and the most common outdoor aeroallergen sensitivity was to tree pollens (43.8–50.0%). The aeroallergen sensitivity profile of children with CRS and allergic rhinitis appears to be similar to that of the general pediatric population with allergic rhinitis, and parallels the aeroallergen sensitivities previously described for adults with CRS and allergic rhinitis. Knowledge of the aeroallergen sensitivities in children with CRS and allergic rhinitis will enhance both diagnostic and treatment strategies

Cooperative Collision Avoidance at Intersections: Algorithms and Experiments

In this paper, we leverage vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology to implement computationally efficient decentralized algorithms for two-vehicle cooperative collision avoidance at intersections. Our algorithms employ formal control theoretic methods to guarantee a collision-free (safe) system, whereas overrides are only applied when necessary to prevent a crash. Model uncertainty and communication delays are explicitly accounted for by the model and by the state estimation algorithm. The main contribution of this work is to provide an experimental validation of our method on two instrumented vehicles engaged in an intersection collision avoidance scenario in a test track

Bidirectional Scatter Measurements of a Guided-mode Resonant Filter Photonic Crystal Structure

This work investigates the Bidirectional Scatter Distribution Function (BSDF) at incident angles other than normal and at 544-nm wavelength of a Guided Mode Resonance Filter (GMRF) Photonic Crystal (PC) structure designed for normally incident light at 532 nm. Strong out-coupling of PC diffraction orders into both the transmitted and reflected hemispheres was observed specifically at a 25.7° incidence angle, which we attribute to this incident angle/wavelength pair being a good match to the ( ± 1, 0) PC grating mode. BSDF measurements at incident angles of 15° and 35° also displayed some out-coupled diffraction, though much lower in magnitude, and are also attributed to being a weaker match to the ( ± 1, 0) PC grating mode. Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain Maxwell\u27s equation simulations demonstrate that since this GMRF was designed for complete destructive interference of the transmitted light upon normal incidence, stronger out-coupling of the diffraction is expected for modal solutions as the angle of incidence increases. © 2012 Optical Society of America

When Wrong is Right: The Instructional Power of Multiple Conceptions

For many decades, educational communities, including computing education, have debated the value of telling students what they need to know (i.e., direct instruction) compared to guiding them to construct knowledge themselves (i.e., constructivism). Comparisons of these two instructional approaches have inconsistent results. Direct instruction can be more efficient for short-term performance but worse for retention and transfer. Constructivism can produce better retention and transfer, but this outcome is unreliable. To contribute to this debate, we propose a new theory to better explain these research results. Our theory, multiple conceptions theory, states that learners develop better conceptual knowledge when they are guided to compare multiple conceptions of a concept during instruction. To examine the validity of this theory, we used this lens to evaluate the literature for eight instructional techniques that guide learners to compare multiple conceptions, four from direct instruction (i.e., test-enhanced learning, erroneous examples, analogical reasoning, and refutation texts) and four from constructivism (i.e., productive failure, ambitious pedagogy, problem-based learning, and inquiry learning). We specifically searched for variations in the techniques that made them more or less successful, the mechanisms responsible, and how those mechanisms promote conceptual knowledge, which is critical for retention and transfer. To make the paper directly applicable to education, we propose instructional design principles based on the mechanisms that we identified. Moreover, we illustrate the theory by examining instructional techniques commonly used in computing education that compare multiple conceptions. Finally, we propose ways in which this theory can advance our instruction in computing and how computing education researchers can advance this general education theory

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Comment on Work as an Inclusive Part of Population Health Inequities Research and Prevention. [Am J Public Health. 2018] New Horizons for Occupational Health Surveillance. [Am J Public Health. 2018

Toward Comprehensive Specification of Distributed Systems

A new approach to modelling distributed systems is presented. It uses sequential processes and event synchronization as building blocks to construct a cohesive picture of the interdependent requirements for the functionality, architecture, scheduling policies, and performance attributes of a distributed system. A language called CSPS (an extension of Hoare\u27s CSP) is used in the illustration of the approach. Employing CSP as a base allows modelled systems to be verified using techniques already developed for verifying CSP programs and leads to the emergence of a uniform incremental strategy for verifying both logical and performance properties of distributed systems. Several small distributed systems have been modelled using this approach. These exercises enabled us to evaluate the notation system and to gain some expertise on how to approach the specification of distributed systems. This paper describes one of the models and the modelling strategy that has emerged from these exercises