Brenda Lopez Silva

Depression symptoms in multiple sclerosis patients – The role of IL1B

Andreia Bettencourt1,2, Bárbara Leal1,2, Marta Ferreira1, Cláudia Carvalho1,2, Inês Moreira4, Ernestina Santos3, Paulo Pinho e Costa1,2,5, Berta Silva1,2, Sara Cavaco4, Ana Martins da Silva2,3 1. Laboratório de Imunogenética, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) – Universidade do Porto. 2. Unidade Multidisciplinar de Investigação Biomédica, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto UMIB/ICBAS/UP. 3. Serviço de Neurologia, Centro Hospitalar do Porto – Hospital de Santo António (CHP-HSA). 4. Unidade de Neuropsicologia Centro Hospitalar do Porto – Hospital de Santo António (CHP-HSA). 5. Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge – INSA.

Information-building applications: designing for data exploration and analysis by elementary school students

The propagation of Inquiry Based Learning has lead to many more elementary students interacting with authentic scientific tools and practices. However, the more problematic realities of scientific data collection, such as noise and large data sets, are often deliberately hidden from students. Students will need to confront these realities and be able to make skillful data scoping decisions in order to make sense of ever more prevalent large datasets. We dub software designed to support these activities Information-Building Applications (IBAs). This paper presents the design considerations that went into building an exemplar IBA, PhotoMAT (Photo Management and Analysis Tool), a brief user study to show how the solutions enacted by following these principles are taken up by actual students, and a discussion of how the design considerations identified by our work might be applied to another IBA.

CytoViz: an Artistic Mapping of Network Measurements as Living Organisms in a VR Application

CytoViz is an artistic, real-time information visualization driven by statistical information gathered during gigabit network transfers to the Scalable Adaptive Graphical Environment (SAGE) at various events. Data streams are mapped to cellular organisms defining their structure and behavior as autonomous agents. Network bandwidth drives the growth of each entity and the latency defines its physics-based independent movements. The collection of entity is bound within the 3D representation of the local venue. This visual and animated metaphor allows the public to experience the complexity of high-speed network streams that are used in the scientific community. Moreover, CytoViz displays the presence of discoverable Bluetooth devices carried by nearby persons. The concept is to generate an event-specific, real-time visualization that creates informational 3D patterns based on actual local presence. The observed Bluetooth traffic is put in opposition of the wide-area networking traffic by overlaying 2D animations on top of the 3D world. Each device is mapped to an animation fading over time while displaying the name of the detected device and its unique physical address. CytoViz was publicly presented at two major international conferences in 2005 (iGrid2005 in San Diego, CA and SC05 in Seattle, WA).

LunAR Park: Augmented reality, retro-futurism & a ride to the moon

Museum spaces are ideal settings for interactive experiences that combine entertainment, education and innovative technologies. LunAR Park is an augmented reality application designed for a planetarium setting that utilizes existing lunar exhibits to immerse the visitor in an enhanced world of interactive lunar exploration referencing amusement park experiences. The application was originally presented as part of Moon Lust, an exhibition at the Adler Planetarium and Astronomical Museum in Chicago that explored global interests on lunar exploration and habitation through interactive technologies. The content of LunAR Park was inspired by pre-space age depictions of the lunar landscape at the original Luna Park in Coney Island, the advancement of lunar expeditions of the past century, and the romantic notions of future colonization of the moon. LunAR Park transforms four lunar themed exhibits into a virtual amusement park that brings the surface of the moon to life. The users interact with the augmented environment through iPads and navigate the virtual landscape by physically traversing the space around the four exhibits.