Protein influences on guayule and Hevea natural rubber sol and gel

Guayule (Parthenium argentatum) is under cultivation in the southwestern United States as an alternative source of natural rubber free from proteins that cause Type I latex allergies. However, since guayule lacks the protein‐polymer interactions present in Hevea latex, its physical and chemical properties may differ. The solvent‐soluble (Sol) and insoluble (Gel) fractions from guayule and Hevea natural rubbers were isolated through a solubilization/centrifugation deproteinization process. Protein could be reduced or removed by centrifugation, or concentrated in the gel fraction for both Hevea and guayule rubber. Separation of the sol fraction of Hevea rubber reduced the overall protein level, in some cases to below detection limits, without impacting rubber thermo‐oxidative stability. Notably, no detectable cross reactions took place between guayule protein antibodies and Hevea‐based materials, nor vice‐versa. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42051.     

Application of ribbon burners to the flame treatment of polypropylene films

This article focuses on recent advances in the understanding of industrial gas burners. Ribbon burners have been chosen as the focus of the review because of the advantages presented by the burner arrangement and burner performance. The ribbon burner configuration, because of its ability to provide large flame surface and flame stabilization, has a large range of stability as flow rate, equivalence ratio and reactant gas composition are varied. Discussed in detail is the application of ribbon burners in the surface modification, or flame treatment, of polymer films to increase the wettability of a polymer surface. Optimum treatment requires a spatially homogeneous post-flame reaction zone even with burners up to 3 m in length. For methane/air flames, the optimum equivalence ratio is near 0.93 where the active oxidizing-species concentration near the surface is a maximum. Chemical kinetic models of the impinging flame and surface oxidation chemistry of a polymer film are also discussed. The model predictions are in good qualitative agreement with the available understanding of the flame variables affecting surface treatment and the expected oxidized species on the polymer surface.     

The Framing of Feminists and Feminism in News and Public Affairs Programs in U.S. Electronic Media

This research analyzes the representation of feminists and feminism in media (in part by comparing such representation to that of women) via content analysis of 35,000 hours of ABC, CNN, PBS, and NPR news and public affairs content. Feminists appear rarely and are often demonized. Although they are shown in a personalized and trivialized fashion, though, feminists are so represented less often than "regular" women. Feminists are less often victims, more often have agency, and more often are associated with the goals of the women's movement than regular women. Yet feminists' realm is not that of regular women; feminists are less often associated with day-to-day work/leisure activities of regular women, and more often with public sphere activities including media/the arts and politics.     

Toward an understanding of the nature and conceptualization of outsourcing success

Despite the pervasiveness of outsourcing, many outsourcing ventures have been unable to achieve success. I posit that one explanation for the elusiveness of the achievement of success relates to a lack of consensus regarding what constitutes “success.” This study provides a more complete, multidimensional definition of outsourcing success, which will enable a better understanding of success with a more effective and consistent measure of outsourcing success. The results indicate that practitioners and academics agree on the top criteria used to define success. A quantitative study confirms the conceptualization of outsourcing success as a first-order construct with eight dimensions.     

Women workers in Notman's studio

Abstract

Scattered among the 160 000 images made by the Notman photographic studio of Montreal between 1860 and 1880, and preserved today in the studio's picture books at the McCord Museum, are about two dozen portraits of women who worked for Notman's during that period.1 These portraits were retrieved by the staff at the Notman Photographic Archives who matched the names of women listed in the Notman wages books, retained from 1864 (the studio was established in 1856), with the names identifying each and every portrait made and printed by the Notman studio from 1856 and kept in albums. Many of the negatives, too, have been retained and are in the Notman collection. Their photographs harmonize well with those of the bourgeois women who were Notman clients, sharing poses, expressions, dress, coiffures and attributes. The women are situated in comfortable home-like environments. They pose alone, or as sisters, or as mothers and daughters (never as wives), with attributes of education and leisure, such as books, watercolour sketchbooks or, notably, photographs and albums. Their clothing is always elegant and occasionally sumptuous.     

Multiple Risk Expert Systems Interventions: Impact of Simultaneous Stage-Matched Expert System Interventions for Smoking, High-Fat Diet, and Sun Exposure in a Population of Parents.

Three stage-based expert system interventions for smoking, high-fat diet, and unsafe sun exposure were evaluated in a sample of 2,460 parents of teenagers. Eighty-four percent of the eligible parents were enrolled in a 2-arm randomized control trial, with the treatment group receiving individualized feedback reports for each of their relevant behaviors at 0, 6, and 12 months as well as a multiple behavior manual. At 24 months, the expert system outperformed the comparison condition across all 3 risk behaviors, resulting in 22% of the participants in action or maintenance for smoking (vs. 16% for the comparison condition), 34% for diet (vs. 26%), and 30% for sun exposure (vs. 22%). Proactive, home-based, and stage-matched expert systems can produce significant multiple behavior changes in at-risk populations where the majority of participants are not prepared to change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpretation of Genetic Risk Feedback Among African American Smokers With Low Socioeconomic Status.

The authors report on factors related to interpretation of feedback on genetic susceptibility to lung cancer among 371 African American smokers receiving care in a community health clinic, with a focus on whether smokers were interpreting feedback consistent with a defensive processing or an accuracy orientation. Smokers were given feedback on the absence (indicating increased risk) or presence (indicating average risk) of the gene for the mu isoform of glutathione S-transferase . Smokers who were told they were at higher risk were more likely to inaccurately recall the result than those deemed at average risk. Smokers who inaccurately recalled the result, regardless of risk status, were most likely to misinterpret the meaning of the result. Perceived lung cancer risks and worries were not associated with comprehension of the test result. The authors suggest additional research is needed to develop more effective strategies for communicating genetic risk feedback to motivate smoking cessation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)