616 research outputs found
The Influence of Safety, Efficacy, and Medical Condition Severity on Natural v. Synthetic Drug Preference
Research indicates that there is a preference for natural v. synthetic products, but the influence of this preference on drug choice in the medical domain is largely unknown. We present 5 studies in which participants were asked to consider a hypothetical situation in which they had a medical issue requiring pharmacological therapy. Participants ( N = 1223) were asked to select a natural, plant-derived, or synthetic drug. In studies 1a and 1b, approximately 79% of participants selected the natural v. synthetic drug, even though the safety and efficacy of the drugs were identical. Furthermore, participants rated the natural drug as safer than the synthetic drug, and as that difference increased, the odds of choosing the natural over synthetic drug increased. In studies 2 and 3, approximately 20% of participants selected the natural drug even when they were informed that it was less safe (study 2) or less effective (study 3) than the synthetic drug. Finally, in study 4, approximately 65% of participants chose a natural over synthetic drug regardless of the severity of a specific medical condition (mild v. severe hypertension), and this choice was predicted by perceived safety and efficacy differences. Overall, these data indicate that there is a bias for natural over synthetic drugs. This bias could have implications for drug choice and usage
Correlated non-perturbative electron dynamics with quantum trajectories
An approach to electron correlation effects in atoms that uses quantum
trajectories is presented. A comparison with the exact quantum mechanical
results for 1D Helium atom shows that the major features of the correlated
ground state distribution and of the strong field ionization dynamics are
reproduced with quantum trajectories. The intra-atomic resonant transitions are
described accurately by a trajectory ensemble. The present approach reduces
significantly the computational time and it can be used for both bound and
ionizing electrons.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
A Behavioral Confirmation and Reduction of the Natural versus Synthetic Drug Bias
Research reveals a biased preference for natural versus synthetic drugs; however, this research is based upon self-report and has not examined ways to reduce the bias. We examined these issues in five studies involving 1,125 participants. In a Pilot Study (N = 110), participants rated the term natural to be more positive than the term synthetic, which reveals a default natural-is-better belief. In Studies 1 (N = 109) and 2 (N = 100), after a supposed personality study, participants were offered a thank you âgiftâ of a natural or synthetic pain reliever. Approximately 86% (Study 1) and 93% (Study 2) of participants chose the natural versus synthetic pain reliever, which provide a behavioral choice confirmation of the natural drug bias. In Studies 3 (N = 350) and 4 (N = 356), participants were randomly assigned to a control or experimental condition and were asked to consider a scenario in which they had a medical issue requiring a natural versus synthetic drug. The experimental condition included a stronger (Study 3) or weaker (Study 4) rational appeal about the natural drug bias and a statement suggesting that natural and synthetic drugs can be good or bad depending upon the context. In both studies, the natural bias was reduced in the experimental condition, and perceived safety and effectiveness mediated this effect. Overall, these data indicate a bias for natural over synthetic drugs in preferences and behavioral choices, which might be reduced with a rational appeal
Social Media Battles: their Impact during the 2014 Greek Municipal Elections
The purpose of this study is to examine the use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube by candidates running for the 2014 Greek Municipal Elections by addressing the following questions: (1) which factors affect social media adoption by municipal candidates?, and (2) whether social media usage along with the popularity of candidates' social media pages influence candidates' vote share. Results indicate that social media are not very popular campaigning tools among municipal candidates in Greece. This implies that Greek candidates still rely on traditional ways to lure their voters. Furthermore, findings reveal that candidates running in large municipalities are more likely to utilize social media (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) as means of political marketing. In addition, challengers seem to prefer Facebook and Twitter as campaign tools while males tend to focus on YouTube to attract voters. Despite the low adoption rate, results suggest that candidates who made use of social media won more votes compared to candidates who were not social media users. Moreover, it was found that a candidate's Facebook page and YouTube channel popularity are good indicators of the candidate's vote share
Colloidal Assemblies of Oriented Maghemite Nanocrystals and their NMR Relaxometric Properties
Elevated-temperature polyol-based colloidal-chemistry approach allows for the
development of size-tunable (50 and 86 nm) assemblies of maghemite iso-oriented
nanocrystals, with enhanced magnetization. 1H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
relaxometric experiments show that the ferrimagnetic cluster-like colloidal
entities exhibit a remarkable enhancement (4 to 5 times) in the transverse
relaxivity, if compared to that of the superparamagnetic contrast agent
Endorem, over an extended frequency range (1-60 MHz). The marked increase of
the transverse relaxivity r2 at a clinical magnetic field strength (1.41 T),
which is 405.1 and 508.3 mM-1 s-1 for small and large assemblies respectively,
allows to relate the observed response to the raised intra-aggregate magnetic
material volume fraction. Furthermore, cell tests with murine fibroblast
culture medium confirmed the cell viability in presence of the clusters. We
discuss the NMR dispersion profiles on the basis of relaxivity models to
highlight the magneto-structural characteristics of the materials for improved
T2-weighted magnetic resonance images.Comment: Includes supporting informatio
Anatomical variants of the emissary veins: unilateral aplasia of both the sigmoid sinus and the internal jugular vein and development of the petrosquamosal sinus. A rare case report
We report a case of hypoplasia of the right transverse sinus and aplasia of the
ipsilateral sigmoid sinus and the internal jugular vein. In addition, development
of the petrosquamosal sinus and the presence of a large middle meningeal sinus
and sinus communicans were observed. A 53-year-old Caucasian woman was
referred for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigation due to chronic headache.
On the MRI scan a solitary meningioma was observed. Finally MR 2D venography
revealed this extremely rare variant. (Folia Morphol 2011; 70, 4: 305–308
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