Vol. 38, No. 18

2-1-2006
By:

Discoveries briefs 2/2/06

A new way to help computers recognize patterns

Researchers at Ohio State have found a way to boost the development of pattern recognition software by taking a different approach from that used by most experts in the field. This work may affect research in areas as diverse as genetics, economics, climate modeling and neuroscience.

Aleix Martinez, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, explained what these areas of research have in common: pattern recognition.

He designs computer algorithms to replicate human vision, so he studies the patterns in shape and color that help us recognize objects, from apples to friendly faces. But much of today's research in other areas comes down to finding patterns in data - identifying the common factors among people who develop a certain disease, for example. In fact, the majority of pattern recognition algorithms in science and engineering today are derived from the same basic equation and employ the same methods, collectively called linear feature extraction, Martinez said.

But the typical methods don't always give researchers the answers they want. That's why Martinez and doctoral student Manil Zhu developed a fast and easy test to find out in advance which algorithms are best in a particular circumstance. Along the way, they discovered what happens to scientific data when researchers use a less-than-ideal algorithm: They don't necessarily get the wrong answer, but they do get extraneous information along with the answer.www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/pattest.htm

Divorce drops a person's wealth by 77 percent, study finds
A new nationwide study provides some of the best evidence to date of the devastating financial toll divorce can wreak on a person's wealth. The study of about 9,000 people found that divorce reduces a person's wealth by about three-quarters (77 percent) compared to that of a single person, while being married almost doubles comparative wealth (93 percent). And people who get divorced see their wealth begin to drop long before the decree becomes final.

"Divorce causes a decrease in wealth that is larger than just splitting a couple's assets in half," said Jay Zagorsky, author of the study and a research scientist at the Center for Human Resource Research. By the same token, married people see an increase in wealth that is more than just adding the assets of two single people. "If you really want to increase your wealth, get married and stay married. On the other hand, divorce can devastate your wealth," Zagorsky said.

Contrary to popular belief, the results showed that the wealth status of divorced women wasn't significantly worse than that of divorced men, in terms of real money. The study used data involving 9,055 people who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which is funded primarily by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The NLSY is a nationally representative survey conducted by CHRR.
www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/divwlth.htm

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