Sun Protection Intervention for Highway Workers: Long-Term Efficacy of UV Photography and Skin Cancer Information on Men’s Protective Cognitions and Behavior

The risk for skin cancer is increased among older males and outdoor workers who have high levels of ultraviolet (UV) exposure. This study was designed to examine the long-term efficacy of UV photography interventions on male outdoor workers, the potential mediators of its impact, and the efficacy of UV photography and skin cancer vs. aging information with this population. One hundred forty-eight male outdoor workers were randomly assigned to one of four intervention conditions or a control condition in a two by two plus one factorial design. The men in the intervention conditions received or did not receive a UV photo of their face and watched either a photoaging or skin cancer educational video. Participants completed pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, and 2-month and 1-year follow-up assessments. Analysis of covariance and structural equation modeling revealed that participants in the UV photography and cancer information interventions reported higher levels of sun protection cognitions, which were significant partial mediators of increases in sun protection behaviors and decreases in skin color. This study provides evidence for effective sun protection interventions on male outdoor workers that may help reduce skin cancer risk

Intelligent Structures Research at Virginia Tech

The desired static performance and dynamic adaptability of advanced structural materials demands the development of intrinsic analysis and control systems which are capable of independently optimizing structural properties in response to particular external disturbances. Materials and structures which incorporate environmental and material sensors, mechanical actuators, and electronic signal processing and adaptive control systems to produce either appropriate readouts or actuator responses for particular sensor inputs have been termed “smart”, “intelligent”, “sense-able” or “organic” during the past several years [1]. The primary advantage of such materials and structures is that they may be designed to adapt to a wide range of conditions during their normal use lifetimes. Some types of sensors and actuators, particularly small and lightweight optical fiber sensors and shape memory metal actuators, may be directly embedded without seriously affecting material integrity. Additionally, the optical fibers embedded in such material systems may be used as life cycle sensors to monitor nondestructively the way in which composite and metal structures are fabricated, the inservice lifetime performance conditions of the material, and the onset of material degradation due to a variety of causes including fatigue and impact damage [2]

Academic achievement in the Chinese context: The role of goals, strategies, and effort

Previous studies have suggested that Western constructs of academic motivation may operate in different ways in Asian contexts due to differences in the cultural environment. In the present study, the integrative effects of achievement goals, strategy orientations, and effort expenditure on achievement outcomes were examined among 1950 seventh-grade Chinese students in Hong Kong. Participants completed separate questionnaires for mathematics and English. Results for the two subjects were largely similar. There were significant positive relationships between mastery and performance goals, between cooperative and competitive orientations, as well as between understanding and memorizing strategies. Regression analyses further revealed that goals and strategies were highly predictive of effort expenditure, but only goals and effort significantly predicted achievement outcome, with strategies being barely significant. The need to further investigate how Chinese students reconcile the apparently antithetical orientations in learning as well as the effective strategies contributing to their learning is indicated. © 2008 International Union of Psychological Science.link_to_subscribed_fulltex