High Performance Nanostructured Organic/Inorganic Hybrids for Functional Applications

α-Zirconium phosphate (ZrP) and Montmorillonite (MMT), two nano-dimensional materials that have good gas barrier properties, have each been combined with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to create nanocomposites that were then coated onto Polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The nanocoatings have dramatically improved gas barrier properties of PET by four orders of magnitude, compared with that of uncoated PET. The UV-vis spectra also show that the coated films have high transparency. Ultimately, the goal of these studies is to create an effective nanocoating that can eventually be put to use in various applications, such as the food packaging industry

The Effects of Serious Games’ Genres and Frequency of Exposure on Children’s Dietary Preferences

Information technology artifacts can help to engender health behavior change but not enough is known about how to effectively do so. Despite the attractiveness of serious games for health promotion, we still lack an educational, theoretically founded and evidence-based framework to explain their pedagogic effectiveness and the extent to which transformative learning (health behavior change) takes place in serious games. Motivated thus, this study assesses the role of two serious games genres: simulation and puzzles in eliciting a sustained health behavior change and the moderating role of frequency of exposure on the effectiveness of these serious games’ genres. The effects of the serious games\u27 genres and the moderating role of frequency of exposure will be examined in a lab experiment

An Empirical Study Of The Mediating Mechanisms of Knowledge Contribution

Knowledge contribution is critical to the success of Knowledge Management (KM) initiatives. While extensive research has been done to understand how different individual and organizational factors affect knowledge contribution behavior, few have studied the mediating mechanisms affecting the contribution act. This study develops and empirically validates a model of how people contribute their knowledge in the distributed team environment. Particularly, we explore two mediating mechanisms of awareness and effort required in searching and matching. Our results indicate that the mediating mechanisms model provides a better specification of the antecedents of contribution behavior. Our findings and implications are discussed in the paper

Glucocorticoid-induced hypertension and the nitric oxide system

Glucocorticoid hormones, both naturally occurring and synthetic, have long been recognized as a major cause of hypertension. There are well-described experimental models of glucocorticoid-induced hypertension, such as adrenocorticotropic hormone-and dexamethasone-induced hypertension in rats, although the exact mechanism of glucocorticoid-induced hypertension remains unclear. It was initially considered to be due to mineralocorticoid receptor activation but more recent studies have not supported this notion. Current evidence demonstrates the importance of the nitric oxide (NO) system and interactions between NO and reactive oxygen species in the development of glucocorticoid-induced hypertension. This review highlights the pathways contributing to NO deficiency, which encompass the availability of l-arginine, endothelial NO synthase function and the extent of NO inactivation during oxidative stress

DO YOU FIND HEALTH ADVICE ON MICROBLOGGING PLATFORMS CREDIBLE? ROLE OF SELF-EFFICACY AND HEALTH THREAT IN CREDIBILITY ASSESSMENT

Despite the increasing prevalence, microblogging users are likely to face great challenges in assessing the credibility of health information due to the user-generated nature of content and length restriction on each microblog post. In this study we aim to explore how microblog users assess the credibility of health advice in terms of microblog posts. By incorporating the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Protection Motivation Theory, we theorize that users’ self-efficacy expectation of health actions recommended in a microblog post and their perception of health threat induced by the post can influence their elaboration processes of credibility assessment. As a study in progress, specific design of a controlled laboratory experiment to test the proposed hypotheses is included. Upon completion, this study can potentially provide important theoretical implications in the areas of online health information, microblogging and credibility literature

User acceptance of observation and response charts with a track and trigger system: A multisite staff survey

Aims and objectives: To examine user acceptance with a new format of charts for recording observations and as a prompt for responding to episodes of clinical deterioration in adult medical–surgical patients. Background: Improving recognition and response to clinical deterioration remains a challenge for acute healthcare institutions globally. Five chart templates were developed in Australia, combining human factors design principles with a track and trigger system for escalation of care. Two chart templates were previously tested in simulations, but none had been evaluated in clinical practice. Design: Prospective multisite survey of user acceptance of the charts in practice. Methods: New observation and response charts were trialled in parallel with existing charts for 24 hours across 36 adult acute medical–surgical wards, covering 108 shifts, in five Australian states. Surveys were completed by 477 staff respondents, with open-ended comments and narrative from short informal feedback groups providing elaboration and context of user experiences. Results: Respondents were broadly supportive of the chart format and content for monitoring patients, and as a prompt for escalating care. Some concerns were noted for chart size and style, use of ranges to graph vital signs and with specific human factors design features. Information and training issues were identified to improve usability and adherence to chart guidelines and to support improved detection and response for patients with clinical deterioration. Conclusions: This initial evaluation demonstrated that the charts were perceived as appropriate for documenting observations and as a prompt to detect clinical deterioration. Further evaluation after some minor modifications to the chart is recommended. Relevance to clinical practice: Explicit training on the principles and rationale of human factors chart design, use of embedded change management strategies and addressing practical issues will improve authentic engagement, staff acceptance and adoption by all clinical users when implementing a similar observation and response chart into practice

Coupling Control Variates for Markov Chain Monte Carlo

We show that Markov couplings can be used to improve the accuracy of Markov chain Monte Carlo calculations in some situations where the steady-state probability distribution is not explicitly known. The technique generalizes the notion of control variates from classical Monte Carlo integration. We illustrate it using two models of nonequilibrium transport

Computer simulations of block copolymer tethered nanoparticle self-assembly

We perform molecular simulations to study the self-assembly of block copolymer tethered cubic nanoparticles. Minimal models of the tethered nanoscale building blocks (NBBs) are utilized to explore the structures arising from self-assembly. We demonstrate that attaching a rigid nanocube to a diblock copolymer affects the typical equilibrium morphologies exhibited by the pure copolymer. Lamellar and cylindrical phases are observed in both systems but not at the corresponding relative copolymer tether block fractions. The effect of nanoparticle geometry on phase behavior is investigated by comparing the self-assembled structures formed by the tethered NBBs with those of their linear ABCABC triblock copolymer counterparts. The tethered nanocubes exhibit the conventional triblock copolymer lamellar and cylindrical phases when the repulsive interactions between different blocks are symmetric. The rigid and bulky nature of the cube induces interfacial curvature in the tethered NBB phases compared to their linear ABCABC triblock copolymer counterparts. We compare our results with those structures obtained from ABCABC diblock copolymer tethered nanospheres to further elucidate the role of cubic nanoparticle geometry on self-assembly.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87871/2/064905_1.pd