Toujours plus, toujours mieux ? Effet contre-intuitif de l'évaluation des attributs environnementaux du produit par le consommateur

CAHIER DE RECHERCHE n°2014-02 E3l'’objectif de cet article est d’étudier l’influence du nombre d’attributs environnementaux d’un produit de consommation sur le poids associé à ces attributs. Les résultats de deux expérimentations montrent que les consommateurs tendent à systématiquement sous-évaluer les attributs environnementaux (certifiés ou non) lorsqu’ils sont présentés ensemble, par rapport à une éva-luation des mêmes attributs présentés séparément. Cet effet non rationnel, appelé effet d’inclusion, est plus fort pour les individus davantage préoccupés par l’environnement et impli-qués envers les écolabels. Les conclusions de cette étude remettent en question l’intérêt de cu-muler de tels attributs pour les consommateurs de produits pro-environnementau

Estimation du poids d'un attribut environnemental : influence et effet des mesures d'évaluation

CAHIER DE RECHERCHE n°2014-01 E3Cet article étudie l’influence des mesures d’évaluation utilisées sur le poids alloué à un attributenvironnemental lors de l’évaluation d’un produit. Les résultats de deux expérimentationsmontrent que les consommateurs tendent à systématiquement surévaluer un attributenvironnemental lorsqu’il est évalué en mesure non monétaire et/ou jointe (par rapport à uneévaluation en mesure monétaire et/ou séparée). Les conclusions de cette étude remettent enquestion le principe d’invariance de procédure et invitent les chercheurs et praticiens à prendre enconsidération la nature de la mesure d’évaluation utilisée pour évaluer le poids de tels attributs parles consommateurs.Mots-clés : invariance de procédure, attribut environnemental, consentement à payer, probabilitéd’achat, choix discre

Kinetics determination of soybean oil transesterification in the design of a continuous biodiesel production process

One-step batch transesterification consisting of three stepwise reversible reactions of pure soybean oil with methanol was conducted at two different mixing speeds (600 and 300 rpm) to produce soybean oil fatty acid methyl esters (biodiesel). In both batch reactions, sodium methoxide (1.09 wt% based on soybean oil) was used as the catalyst, the reaction temperature was 60oC, and the methanol-to-oil molar ratio was 6:1. The objectives were to determine and/or investigate: 1) the mechanism and order of the reaction, 2) the reaction rate constants, 3) the effect of changes in mixing intensity on the reaction rate, 4) the comparison of the reaction mechanism and kinetic rate constants calculated with established literature references (for validation), and 5) how to interpret and utilize the kinetics analysis in the design of a continuous pilot-scale biodiesel production process. The kinetics analysis from the experiment showed that a second-order kinetic mechanism provided a good fit for the reaction. Kinetic rate constants at both mixing speeds were calculated and ranged from -3.10 x 10-3 - 0.028 (wt% min)-1 for the triglyceride, monoglyceride, and diglyceride forward reactions. The rate constants were slightly higher at the 600 rpm mixing speed. Higher mixing intensity also resulted in an increased purity of methyl esters (95.2 wt %). At both mixing speeds, monoglycerides showed the smallest percent elimination of all reaction intermediates at approximately 30%. The rate constants calculated for monoglycerides were the lowest as well. The monoglyceride rate constant of 0.0149 (wt% min)-1 was used in the design of a continuous process in a 100 gallon vessel, which is a scale of operation that could be easily adopted by a cooperative of oil seed producers or geographically isolated plant-oil producing villages. This Honors thesis was a component of a Biological and Agricultural Engineering team Senior Design project which consisted of designing a continuous biodiesel process from production to purification

Increasing Understanding of the best ways to collect and use feedback from students and trainees in order to improve the quality of education and training.

This is a project report looking at increasing understanding of the best ways to collect and use feedback from students and trainees in order to improve the quality of education and training

Ambulation of patients who are mechanically ventilated: Nurses' views

Aims Equipment and skills in intensive care have advanced dramatically, and early rehabilitation and ambulation for patients in intensive care units (ICUs) is part of their journey to recovery. The aim of this study is to increase understanding of nurses’ perspectives on ambulating mechanically ventilated patients, and to determine why this is not a routine part of ICU patient care. Method An interpretative phenomenological analysis method was used to extract data from semi- structured interviews. The questions were piloted twice before being used in the main study. Results Results identified two overarching themes, staff anxiety and organisational culture, within which there are several subthemes. The study also found that education and training programmes could increase staff confidence, and consequently result in routine ambulation of mechanically ventilated patients. Conclusion The study identified that nursing staff are aware of the benefits of ambulation for patients in ICUs, but the personal satisfaction gained from undertaking this activity does not outweigh the anxiety it causes. This is compounded by the organisational culture of ICUs, for example, the hierarchical pyramid of leadership, which dictates that consultants decide when patients are ready to ambulate

The Sustainability Liability: Potential Negative Effects of Ethicality on Product Preference

Manufacturers are increasingly producing and promoting sustainable products (i.e., products that have a positive social and/or environmental impact). However, relatively little is known about how product sustainability affects consumers\u27 preferences. Theauthors propose that sustainability may not always be an asset, even if most consumers care about social and environmental issues. The degree to which sustainability enhances preference depends on the type of benefit consumers most value for theproduct category in question. In this research, the authors demonstrate that consumers associate higher product ethicality with gentleness-related attributes and lower product ethicality with strength-related attributes. As a consequence of these associations, the positive effect of product sustainability on consumer preferences is reduced when strength-related attributes are valued, sometimes even resulting in preferences for less sustainable product alternatives (i.e., the sustainability liability ). Conversely, when gentleness-related attributes are valued, sustainability enhances preference. In addition, the authors show that the potential negative impact of sustainability on product preferences can be attenuated using explicit cues about productstrength

cAMP Response Element-Binding Protein Is Essential for the Upregulation of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Transcription, But Not the Behavioral or Endocrine Responses to Antidepressant Drugs

Antidepressant drugs activate the cAMP signal transduction pathway through a variety of monoamine neurotransmitter receptors. Recently, molecular studies have identified a role for cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) in the mechanism of action of chronically administered antidepressant drugs. However, the function of CREB in the behavioral and endocrine responses to these drugs has not been thoroughly investigated. We have used CREB-deficient mice to study the effects of two antidepressants, desipramine (DMI) and fluoxetine (FLX), in behavioral, endocrine, and molecular analyses. Behaviorally, CREB-deficient mice and wild-type mice respond similarly to DMI and FLX administration in the forced swim test and tail suspension test. Furthermore, the ability of DMI to suppress an acute corticosterone response after swim stress is maintained in CREB-deficient mice. However, upregulation of a molecular target of CREB, BDNF, is abolished in the CREBdeficient mice after chronic administration of DMI. These data are the first to demonstrate that CREB activation is upstream of BDNF mechanistically in response to antidepressant drug treatment. Therefore, although behavioral and endocrine responses to antidepressants may occur by CREB-independent mechanisms, CREB is critical to target gene regulation after chronic drug administration, which may contribute to long-term adaptations of the system to antidepressant drug treatment

Assessing the efficacy of active learning to support student performance across undergraduate programmes in Biomedical Science

Introduction: Active learning is a useful tool to enhance student engagement and support learning in diverse educational situations. We aimed to assess the efficacy of an active learning approach within a large interprofessional first year Medical Cell Biology module taken by six healthcare programmes across the School of Biomedical Sciences at Ulster University, United Kingdom. Materials and methods: An active learning approach was developed for weekly formative assessment using Smartwork to design a weekly interactive multiple-choice quiz to reinforce key concepts specifically for each lecture. We tracked and assessed student performance in the module overall and in each element of course work and exam for 2 years prior to and following the introduction of an active learning strategy to engage and support learning for students from all academic backgrounds and abilities. Results: Full engagement with active learning was significantly associated with an increased overall module performance as well as a significantly increased performance in each element of class test (No engagement vs. Full engagement, p &lt; 0.001), exam (No Engagement vs. Full engagement, p &lt; 0.05) and coursework (No engagement vs. Full engagement, p &lt; 0.001) within this overall total (No Engagement vs. Full engagement, p &lt; 0.01). Partial engagement with active learning was associated significantly improved class test (No engagement vs. partially engaged, p &lt; 0.001) and coursework (No engagement vs. partially engaged, p &lt; 0.05) performance. While a trend toward increased performance in exam and overall module mark was observed, these were not significant. Discussion: Active learning is a useful tool to support student learning across a range of healthcare programmes taken by students with differing backgrounds and academic abilities in an interprofessional and widening participation setting. Student engagement in active learning was highlighted as a key contributory factor to enhanced student performance in all aspects of assessment.</p

Structural Equations Modeling

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144267/1/jcpy83.pd

Industrial constructions of publics and public knowledge: a qualitative investigation of practice in the UK chemicals industry

This is a post print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link below - © 2007 by SAGE PublicationsWhile the rhetoric of public engagement is increasingly commonplace within industry, there has been little research that examines how lay knowledge is conceptualized and whether it is really used within companies. Using the chemicals sector as an example, this paper explores how companies conceive of publics and "public knowledge," and how this relates to modes of engagement/communication with them. Drawing on qualitative empirical research in four companies, we demonstrate that the public for industry are primarily conceived as "consumers" and "neighbours," having concerns that should be allayed rather than as groups with knowledge meriting engagement. We conclude by highlighting the dissonance between current advocacy of engagement and the discourses and practices prevalent within industry, and highlight the need for more realistic strategies for industry/public engagement.Funding was received from the ESRC Science in Society Programme