BackgroundThe exploration of microarray data and data from other high-throughput projects for hypothesis generation has become a vital aspect of post-genomic research. For the non-bioinformatics specialist, however, many of the currently available tools provide overwhelming amounts of data that are presented in a non-intuitive way.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn order to facilitate the interpretation and analysis of microarray data and data from other large-scale data sets, we have developed a tool, which we have dubbed the electronic Fluorescent Pictograph – or eFP – Browser, available at http://www.bar.utoronto.ca/, for exploring microarray and other data for hypothesis generation. This eFP Browser engine paints data from large-scale data sets onto pictographic representations of the experimental samples used to generate the data sets. We give examples of using the tool to present Arabidopsis gene expression data from the AtGenExpress Consortium (Arabidopsis eFP Browser), data for subcellular localization of Arabidopsis proteins (Cell eFP Browser), and mouse tissue atlas microarray data (Mouse eFP Browser).Conclusions/SignificanceThe eFP Browser software is easily adaptable to microarray or other large-scale data sets from any organism and thus should prove useful to a wide community for visualizing and interpreting these data sets for hypothesis generation.

We describe a set of best practices for scientific software development, based on research and experience, that will improve scientists' productivity and the reliability of their software.

Author summaryComputers are now essential in all branches of science, but most researchers are never taught the equivalent of basic lab skills for research computing. As a result, data can get lost, analyses can take much longer than necessary, and researchers are limited in how effectively they can work with software and data. Computing workflows need to follow the same practices as lab projects and notebooks, with organized data, documented steps, and the project structured for reproducibility, but researchers new to computing often don't know where to start. This paper presents a set of good computing practices that every researcher can adopt, regardless of their current level of computational skill. These practices, which encompass data management, programming, collaborating with colleagues, organizing projects, tracking work, and writing manuscripts, are drawn from a wide variety of published sources from our daily lives and from our work with volunteer organizations that have delivered workshops to over 11,000 people since 2010.

) and the Wide Range Intelligence Test (WRIT; Glutting, Adams, & Sheslow, 2000) are two well-normed brief measures of general intelligence with subtests purportedly assessing verbal-crystallized abilities and nonverbal-fluid-visual abilities. With a sample of 152 children, adolescents, and adults, the present study reports meaningful convergent validity coefficients and a latent factor structure consistent with the theoretical intellectual models both tests were constructed to reflect. Consideration of the hierarchical model of intelligence tests and issues regarding test interpretation are presented.Keywords: construct validity, intelligence, WRIT, WASI, hierarchical structure Brief assessment of general intelligence may serve a variety of clinical (e.g., screening and reevaluation) and research purposes. Although some have argued that clinical assessments require that a "comprehensive" battery of intelligence tests be administered to fully understand the nature of performance deficits in the context of individual profiles, research on various subtest analyses (i.e., subtest strengths and weaknesses or unique profiles) reveals them to lack sufficient reliability and validity (Canivez & Watkins, 1998, 1999Glutting, McDermott, Konold, Snelbaker, & Watkins, 1998;Glutting, McDermott, Watkins, Kush, & Konold, 1997;Macmann & Barnett, 1997;McDermott, Fantuzzo, Glutting, Watkins, & Baggaley, 1992;Watkins & Canivez, 2004). The incremental validity (Haynes & Lench, 2003;Hunsley, 2003;Hunsley & Meyer, 2003) of factor-based scores of more "comprehensive" measures of intelligence has been questioned and found lacking (Glutting, Youngstrom, Ward, Ward, & Hale, 1997;Kahana, Youngstrom, & Glutting, 2002;Konold, 1999;Ree & Earles, 1991;Ree, Earles, & Treachout, 1994;Watkins & Glutting, 2000;Watkins, Glutting, & Lei, 2007;Youngstrom, Kogos, & Glutting, 1999). When estimating general intellectual functioning without regard to examining subtest performance, patterns, or profiles, intelligence tests with fewer subtests may provide more time-and costeffective yet valid assessment. Development of brief multidimensional (i.e., verbal and nonverbal estimates) measures of intelligence evolved out of the inadequacies of both single index intelligence screeners and short forms developed from comprehensive intelligence tests noted by A. S. Kaufman and Kaufman (1990) and Silverstein (1990). Among the problems identified were spuriously high correlations between short forms and the full- Data from Jason M. Collins' and Greg Wilson's specialist in school psychology theses were combined for analyses in the present study.We thank Peter W. Hartmann for helpful comments on a version of this article, and also thank Daniel Bialick for providing an electronic copy of his dissertation for review.

The application of the method of Hopfield and Tank to the Travelling Salesman Problem (1985) has been re-examined in an effort to find a procedure for scaling to system sizes of real interest. As this failed, methods were tried to improve the algorithm, recognizing the importance of a "silicon implementation". No satisfactory refinement was found, and the reasons for algorithm failure have been identified.

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Implementation of this multifaceted, observational hand hygiene program was associated with sustained improvement in hand hygiene adherence. The principles of this program could be applied to other medical centers pursuing improved hand hygiene adherence among healthcare personnel.

Over the last 15 years, Software Carpentry has evolved from a week-long training course at the US National Laboratories into a worldwide volunteer effort to raise standards in scientific computing. This article explains what we have learned along the way, the challenges we now face, and our plans for the future.