The Impact of an Endorsement of Free Will Versus Determinism on Judgment of Weight Management Behaviors

This study examines the relationship between an endorsement of either free will or determinism and judgment of others’ weight management behaviors in a general population. Participants completed the Free Will and Determinism – Plus (FAD-Plus) to assess their beliefs in free will or determinism. Two groups were compared for analysis: determinism, which includes both scientific and fatalistic variants, and free will, which includes randomness. After completing the FAD-Plus, participants answered questions regarding their judgment of weight management behaviors on one of two case vignettes designed by the investigator that depict different weight management behaviors and outcomes. Participants then answered questions involving the weight management behaviors depicted in the vignette. Participants also answered questions regarding their overall weight attitudes on the Anti-Fat Attitudes Scale. The hypotheses for this study follow: (a) Participants endorsing free will world views will more strongly judge, both positively and negatively, successful and unsuccessful weight management behaviors, respectively, compared to those endorsing a determinist worldview and (b) There will be a difference between dieters and nondieters on judgments of both successful and unsuccessful weight loss attempts on case vignettes. To assess the relationship between all variables, a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was completed

Colorectal cancer: Cost-effectiveness of screening and chemoprevention in average risk males

This study is an economic evaluation of currently recommended colorectal cancer (CRC) screening procedures, and strategies that incorporate chemopreventive options such as aspirin or a cycooxygenase-2 inhibitor. A decision analysis model was constructed to compare alternative CRC screening strategies. A Markov model was employed to simulate the natural history of CRC. Quality adjusted life years were used as the primary outcome measure. The base case analysis represents the overall cost and effectiveness associated with each screening strategy. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated for each screening strategy. One-way sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the factors that have the greatest effect on the cost-effectiveness of screening. The most cost-effective screening strategy was Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT); followed by FOBT plus aspirin, colonoscopy, and colonoscopy plus aspirin. The ICER of FOBT was {dollar}13,014.85 compared to Natural History. The model was sensitive to the costs of FOBT, colonoscopy, and aspirin

Space shuttle: Static longitudinal, directional and lateral characteristics and control surface effectiveness of the MDAC-STS canard booster

Static longitudinal, directional, and lateral characteristics and control surface effectiveness of scale model of space shuttle canard booster at Mach 0.2

Antitussives and substance abuse

Abuse of antitussive preparations is a continuing problem in the United States and throughout the world. Illicit, exploratory, or recreational use of dextromethorphan and codeine/promethazine cough syrups is widely described. This review describes the pharmacology, clinical effects, and management of toxicity from commonly abused antitussive formulations