Thermal decomposition of allantoin as probed by matrix isolation FTIR spectroscopy

The optimized geometries, energies of the possible conformers of allantoin (2,5-dioxo-4-imidazolidinyl urea, the diureide of glyoxylic acid) as well as the barriers for conformational interconversion have been calculated using the density functional theory [DFT(B3LYP)/6-311++G(d,p)] method. The calculations predicted the existence of four conformers (gC, tT, g′C, and g′T; where the first and second symbols in the name of the conformers designate the conformation around the exocyclic NHC–NHCO and CNH–CO axes, respectively), with the gC form contributing to more than 98% of the population in gas phase at room temperature. This conformer is different from that corresponding to the monomeric unit found in crystalline RS-allantoin (g′C; Mootz, D. Acta Crystallogr.1965, 19, 726), stressing the importance of intermolecular H-bonding in determining the structure of the crystal. Upon sublimation under vacuum (10−6 mbar), the compound was found to undergo extensive decomposition to urea, isocyanic acid, NH3, and carbon. The identification of the decomposition products was made by using matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy. In consonance with the theoretical predictions, the allantoin molecules surviving thermal decomposition were found to undergo conformational isomerization and be present in the cryogenic argon matrix in both the gC and g′C conformations. The solid state room temperature infrared spectrum of allantoin was also investigated and assigned

SHARING FISHEYE VIEWS IN RELAXED-WYSIWIS GROUPWARE APPLICATIONS

Desktop conferencing systems are now moving away from strict view-sharing and towards relaxed "what-you-see-is-what-I-see" (relaxed-WYSIWIS) interfaces, where distributed participants in a real time session can view different parts of a shared visual workspace. As with strict view-sharing, people using relaxed-WYSIWIS require a sense of workspace awareness -the up-to-the-minute knowledge about another person's interactions with the shared workspace. The problem is deciding how to provide a user with an appropriate level of awareness of what other participants are doing when they are working in different areas of the workspace. In this paper, we summarize requirements for workspace awareness, identify problems with existing groupware solutions, and propose as a replacement fisheye views that show both global context and local detail within a single window. Within groupware, these displays provide peripheral awareness of other participants by showing their position and actions in the global context. As well, detailed awareness is provided by assigning multiple focal points to each participant, and by magnifying the area around everyone's work to highlight all details of their interactions. Concepts are illustrated in two groupware prototypes: a fisheye graph browser, and a fisheye viewer for text documents.We are currently acquiring citations for the work deposited into this collection. We recognize the distribution rights of this item may have been assigned to another entity, other than the author(s) of the work.If you can provide the citation for this work or you think you own the distribution rights to this work please contact the Institutional Repository Administrator at [email protected]

FROM AWARENESS TO TEAMROOMS, GROUPWEB AND TURBOTURTLE: EIGHT SNAPSHOTS OF RECENT WORK IN THE GROUPLAB PROJECT

This report contains eight short papers that serve as snapshots of recent work by members and collaborators of the GroupLab team. All papers are concerned with groupware, and all but one of the systems described were implemented using GroupKit, our groupware toolkit. The first five papers are a suite of articles that considers how awareness of others can be supported in groupware systems. The papers cover theoretical considerations of awareness (#2), practical efforts in building systems and widgets to support awareness (#1,3,4) and evaluation of widgets to determine their effectiveness and usability (#5). Suite Overview: Supporting Awareness of Others in Groupware 1. Peepholes: Low Cost Awareness of One's community 2. Workspace Awareness for Groupware 3. Workspace Awareness Support With Radar Views 4. A Fisheye Text Editor for Relaxed-WYSIWIS Groupware 5. A Usability Study of Workspace Awareness Widgets The next three papers cover individual projects. TeamRooms (#6) is a groupware equivalent of a physical team room. Group members can stock the room with applications, and can enter the room at any time to continue their work individually or collectively. GroupWeb (#7) is a World Wide Web browser that is group-aware. People can share their views of pages in real time, can gesture around it with telepointers, and can add group annotations to a page with a groupware editor. TurboTurtle (#8) is a microworld for Newtonian physics designed for children. Children were observed using TurboTurtle, and their collaboration styles are analyzed. 6. TeamRooms: Groupware for Shared Electronic Spaces 7. GroupWeb: A WWW Browser as Real Time Groupware 8. Children's Collaboration Styles in a Newtonian MicroWorldWe are currently acquiring citations for the work deposited into this collection. We recognize the distribution rights of this item may have been assigned to another entity, other than the author(s) of the work.If you can provide the citation for this work or you think you own the distribution rights to this work please contact the Institutional Repository Administrator at [email protected]

Enhancing Creativity with Groupware Toolkits

Abstract. Effective groupware toolkits not only make it possible for average programmers to develop groupware, but also enhance their creativity. By removing low-level implementation burdens and supplying appropriate building blocks, toolkits give people a ‘language ’ to think about groupware, which in turn allows them to concentrate on creative designs. This is important, for it means that programmers can rapidly generate and test new ideas, replicate and refine ideas presented by others, and create demonstrations for others to try. To illustrate the link between groupware toolkits and creativity, I describe example toolkits we have built and how others have leveraged them in their own work

Workspace Awareness in Real-Time Distributed Groupware: Framework, Widgets, and Evaluation

this paper, we present the concept of workspace awareness as one key to supporting the richness evident in face-to-face interaction. We construct a conceptual framework that describes the elements and mechanisms of workspace awareness, and apply the framework to the design of widgets that help people maintainawareness in real-time distributed groupware. Our evaluation of these widgets has shown that several designs improve the usability of groupware applications. Keywords: workspace awareness, real-time groupware, shared workspaces

Collected Posters from the Nectar Annual General Meeting.

This report collects eight posters produced by students and associates of the Grouplab Research Group (Dept. Computer Science, University of Calgary) for the NSERC Nectar Annual General Meeting, held after the ACM CSCW Conference in November, 2006, Banff.We are currently acquiring citations for the work deposited into this collection. We recognize the distribution rights of this item may have been assigned to another entity, other than the author(s) of the work.If you can provide the citation for this work or you think you own the distribution rights to this work please contact the Institutional Repository Administrator at [email protected]

Heuristic Evaluation of Groupware Based on the Mechanics of Collaboration

. Despite the increasing availability of groupware, most systems are awkward and not widely used. While there are many reasons for this, a significant problem is that groupware is difficult to evaluate. In particular, there are no discount usability evaluation methodologies that can discover problems specific to teamwork. In this paper, we describe how we adapted Nielsen's heuristic evaluation methodology, designed originally for single user applications, to help inspectors rapidly, cheaply effectively identify usability problems within groupware systems. Specifically, we take the `mechanics of collaboration' framework and restate it as heuristics for the purposes of discovering problems in shared visual work surfaces for distance-separated groups. 1