Excellent dispersion of MWCNTs in PEO polymer achieved through a simple and potentially cost-effective evaporation casting

A simple, reliable and potentially cost-effective composite film casting procedure is presented using the evaporation of solvent (water) from a dilute mixture of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) polymer. It is found that the fabrication method develops excellent dispersion of MWCNTs in PEO confirmed by morphology observations, final crystallinity of polymer (amorphous) and a lower percolation threshold (closer to theoretical value) as well as higher electrical conductivity. A film thickness prediction model is derived based upon the fact that final film thickness is mainly dependent upon the dimensions of the casting mold and the loading of the MWCNTs and polymer. This simple model provides important insight that the material loss and the actual density of the base polymer are critical factors making the current casting method truly cost effective and controlling final thickness.     

Software zur Verpackungslogistik

Zusammenfassung Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt die Ergebnisse eines Vergleichs von Software zur Verpackungslogistik vor. Es werden vier Programmpakete gegenübergestellt, die von deutschen bzw. englischen Firmen derzeit angeboten werden.     

Sexuality after spinal cord injury: A conceptual model based on women's narratives.

Objective: To investigate how women experience and conceptualize their sexuality after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Research Method: Semistructured interviews and member checks with 24 women with SCI (ages 18-67) were conducted and content analyzed. Results: A conceptual model of sexual domains is proposed. Proposed domains are self- versus other focus, genital versus whole-body focus, physical versus holistic intimacy, sexuality as bodily versus mental phenomenon, exuberance versus negativity, and past versus present focus. Domains are defined and illustrated with narrative excerpts. They are conceptualized as fluid and nonexclusive. Conclusion: Endorsement of domains can change through ongoing adjustment to injury and life events. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental analysis of the role of expectancy in nicotine withdrawal.

Manipulated the withdrawal symptoms experienced by 62 cigarette smokers during a 48-hr smoking abstinence period. Ss were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 expectancy manipulation groups (psychological complaints, somatic complaints, no complaints, and no-expectancy control), and withdrawal symptoms were measured during 48 hrs of ad libitum smoking and 48 hrs of abstinence. The expectancy manipulation consisted of placebo nicotine gum and specific instructions as to the type of withdrawal symptoms to expect during smoking abstinence. Ss instructed to expect no complaints during abstinence reported fewer somatic complaints and less mood disturbance than the no-expectancy controls. Ss instructed to expect somatic, but not psychological, complaints reported more numerous and severe somatic withdrawal symptoms than did Ss instructed not to expect such symptoms. Results suggest expectancy may play a role in nicotine withdrawal experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors Affecting the Permanence of Occupational Health and Safety Topics in Engineering Courses

This paper presents an evaluation of the permanence of changes introduced within the curriculum of the College of Engineering at Tufts University. These changes involved the integration of occupational health and safety engineering resource materials into existing course work. Employing this model, Tufts faculty members developed their own lectures, case studies and laboratory materials for integration into existing courses. The evaluation, that was based on structured interviews of participating faculty and the Dean of the College, suggests that the permanence of changes to curriculum is influenced by a set of intramural parameters within the academic milieu (student interest, available class time, interest on the part of the faculty and administration) as well as by extramural factors such as the increasing prominence of legal liability of practitioners, growing interest on the part of employers and lack of readily usable materials in standard texts concerning occupational health and safety. Recommendations for future activities in these areas are offered and discussed.     

Multitask investigation of individual differences in hemispheric asymmetry.

Right-handed subjects (N?=?120) participated in four different laterality tasks designed to measure aspects of cerebral hemisphere asymmetry: identification of dichotically presented consonant-vowel syllables (CVs), examination of the effects of concurrent repetition of CVs and concurrent anagram solution on finger-tapping by the right and left hands, lateralized identification of CVs presented tachistoscopically to the left and right visual fields, and left/right biases on a free-vision face task involving judgments of emotion. Ear differences in the dichotic listening task were related to the pattern of lateralized interference in the dual-task finger-tapping paradigm. There were no other significant relations between pairs of tasks, but when the present results are considered in the light of other recent experiments, there appears to be a relation between lateral bias on the free-vision face task and visual field differences in tachistoscopic identification. The pattern of results has implications for hypothesized individual differences among right-handers in cerebral dominance for verbal processes, input pathway dominance, and asymmetric arousal of the two cerebral hemispheres. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical violence and other forms of marital aggression: Links with children's behavior problems.

Two studies examined whether physical marital violence and other forms of marital aggression (e.g., threats, throwing objects) correlate with children's behavior problems in families marked by recent spousal violence. Study 1 included 55 families seeking marital therapy. Study 2 included 199 families at battered women's shelters. In the marital therapy sample, both physical marital violence and other forms of marital aggression correlated positively with children's externalizing problems. In the women's shelter sample, physical violence and other forms of marital aggression correlated positively with children's externalizing and internalizing problems. After accounting for the frequency of physical marital violence, forms of marital aggression other than physical violence still related to children's externalizing problems in the marital therapy sample and to children's internalizing problems in the women's shelter sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)