Modeling improvements in booster seat use: a discrete choice conjoint experiment

Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death in children aged 1–14 years. Many children, however, are not properly restrained in safety seats that reduce serious injury and death. This study used a discrete choice conjoint experiment to study factors influencing the decision to use booster seats. Parents of 1714 children aged 4–9 years from nine Canadian provinces completed choice tasks presenting experimentally varied combinations of 15 4-level booster seat promotion attributes. Latent class analysis yielded three segments of parents. The choices of the Benefit Sensitive segment (50%) were most sensitive to the injury prevention benefits of booster seats. The choices of parents in the Context Sensitive segment (33.5%) were more likely to be influenced by installation complexity, oppositional behavior, and the prospect that their child may be teased for riding in booster seats. Parents in the High Risk segment (16.5%) were younger, less educated, and less knowledgeable about vehicle safety legislation. They anticipated fewer benefits, expected more barriers and were less likely to use booster seats. Simulations suggest that consistent enforcement coupled with advertising focusing on injury prevention and the use of booster seats by other parents would increase adoption.     

Sensitive and reproducible intact mass analysis of complex protein mixtures with superficially porous capillary reversed-phase liquid chromatography mass spectrometry

The compatibility of superficially porous (SP) resin for label-free intact protein analysis with online capillary LC/MS is demonstrated to give improved chromatographic resolution, sensitivity, and reproducibility. The robustness of the platform was measured against several samples of varying complexity and sample loading amount. The results indicate that capillary SP columns provide high loading capacities and that ～6 s chromatographic peak widths are typical for standard proteins in simple mixtures and proteins isolated from cell and tissue lysates. Subfemtomole detection limits for standard proteins were consistently observed, with the lowest levels at 12 amol for ubiquitin. The analysis of total heart homogenates shows that capillary SP columns provide theoretical peak capacity of 106 protein forms with 30 min total analysis time and enabled detection of proteins from complex mixtures with a single high-resolution scan. The SPLC/MS platform also detected 343 protein forms from two HeLa acid extract replicate analyses that consumed 5 × 10(4) cells and 30 min analysis time, each. Comparison of all the species observed in each HeLa replicate showed 90% overlap (309 forms) with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 89.9% for the common forms observed in the replicates. Efficient acid extract of 1 × 10(4) HeLa cells allowed reproducible detection of common modification states and members from all five of the histone families and demonstrated that capillary SPLC/MS supports reproducible label-free profiling of histones in <15 min total analysis time. The data presented demonstrate that a capillary LC/MS platform utilizing superficially porous stationary phase and a LTQ-Orbitrap FT-MS is fast, sensitive, and reproducible for intact protein profiling from small tissue and cell amounts.     

No Shades of Gray: The Binary Discourse of George W. Bush and an Echoing Press

Binary communications represent the world as a place of polar opposites. Such conceptions of reality, although not uncommon in Western thought, take on a heightened importance when political leaders employ them in a concerted, strategic discourse in a mass media environment. With this in mind, this research offers a conception of binary discourse and uses this as a foundation to examine (a) the use of binaries by U.S. President George W. Bush in 15 national addresses, from his inauguration in January 2001 to commencement of the Iraq War in March 2003, and (b) the responses of editorials in 20 leading U.S. newspapers to the president's communications.     

3G与换机将引爆亚太区手机市场

对于终端厂商而言,亚太区是全球最大的市场,并且潜力最大,因为这一地区拥有全球40%的移动用户。随着欧洲和北美等成熟市场增长趋缓,亚太区的重要性正日渐提升。在那些收入存在较大差距的地区,现阶段运营商面临的挑战是既要鼓励高端用户使用数据业务,又要吸引低收入人群入网而对于设备商而言,则必须在保持现有利润水平的前提下为运营商和消费者提供丰富多彩的终端。无论是运营商、终端提供商还是应用开发商在制定战略时都必须对未来的终端技术有一个清楚的认识。与西欧所有运营商只采用GSM和WCDMA不同的是,亚太地区正在或计划使用的技术…     

Development and qualitative assessment of the GAME(Cycle) exercise system.

Increased physical activity is important for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, among people with disabilities, inactivity is prevalent. In order to encourage exercise among members of this group, an exercise system combining arm ergometry with video gaming, called the GAME(Cycle) was previously developed. User input was received through an arm crank ergometer on a swivel, with the angular velocity of the ergometer resistance wheel controlling one axis and rotation of ergometer about the swivel controlling the other. The purpose of this study was to detail the algorithms used in this device and present novel features included in a second generation of the GAME(Cycle). The features include a wheel on base, a steering return mechanism, and wireless fire buttons. A focus group of clinicians (n = 8), wheelchair users (n = 8), and clinician wheelchair users (n = 2) was conducted to evaluate the features of the GAME(Cycle). The focus group suggested improvements to the steering mechanism and to reduce vibration in the system. However, the focus group enjoyed the GAME(Cycle) and felt that it would encourage exercise among persons with disabilities.     

The Effect of Ionic Surfactant Adsorption on the Rheology of Ceramic Glaze Suspensions

The rheological behavior of ceramic glaze suspensions containing limestone, quartz, feldspar, and kaolin, has been improved by the addition of either a cationic (cetylpyridinium chloride, CPC) or an anionic (sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, SDBS) surfactant. Additional stability and lower viscosity can result from either electrical double layer repulsion or steric repulsion depending on the surfactant type, concentration, ionic strength, and pH. Underdosing may result in high viscosity due to charge neutrality and hydrophobic attraction between particles while overdosing may result in high viscosity possibly due to micelles in the solution. The situation is particularly complicated for glazes containing limestone and anionic surfactant at moderate to low pH where calcium carbonate is soluble. The anionic surfactant and calcium ions can form complexes that are poorly soluble and strongly adsorb to the surface of the particles. The resulting thick steric layer of complexes produces a significant repulsion and stable, low viscosity suspensions. ζ potential measurements and adsorption isotherms are used to interpret the rheological behavior.     

Heterogeneity in the families of sons of alcoholics: The impact of familial vulnerability type on offspring characteristics.

In 2 samples of sons of alcoholics (family history positive for alcoholism; FHP: N?=?74 & N?=?72), cluster analyses identified 3 subtypes of familial vulnerability: 1 with low levels of familial psychopathology (FHP-LP) and moderate levels of familial alcoholism; a 2nd with high levels of familial antisocial personality (FHP-ASP), violence, and alcoholism; and a 3rd with high levels of familial depression (FHP-DEP), mania, anxiety disorder, and alcoholism. Compared with family history negative (FHN) participants (N?=?106), FHP offspring had higher levels of alcohol problems. FHP-ASP offspring had elevated levels of antisocial traits and negative affect. Compared with FHN participants, FHP-DEP offspring elevated levels of antisocial traits, hypomania, and experience seeking. FHP-LP offspring had moderate levels of antisocial traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring patterns of fantasy behavior in children.

Developed the Children's Fantasy Inventory using 748 1st and 3rd graders. Within the limits of a 45-item instrument relevant to the children's attention span, a wide range of fantasy activity was tapped. The 9 empirically derived, nonorthogonal scales had good internal consistency, as measured by coefficient alpha, and good test–retest reliabilities. The scales on the Children's Fantasy Inventory were related to other previously used measures of fantasy in children and to previously derived adult scales. Differences in styles of fantasy were found between boys and girls and between 1st and 3rd graders, but there were no significant differences in overall frequency of fantasy. Retesting after a year's lag indicated that fantasy behaviors had significant stability over time. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Length-dependent extraction of single-walled carbon nanotubes

A two-phase liquid-liquid extraction process is presented which is capable of extracting water-soluble single-walled carbon nanotubes into an organic phase. The extraction utilizes electrostatic interactions between a common phase transfer agent and the sidewall functional groups on the nanotubes. Large length-dependent van der Waals forces for nanotubes allow the ability to control the length of nanotubes extracted into the organic phase as demonstrated by atomic force microscopy.