Synthesis of Chiral Polyaniline Films via Chemical Vapor Phase Polymerization

Electrically and optically active polyaniline films doped with (1R)-(-)-10-camphorsulfonic acid were successfully deposited on nonconductive substrates via chemical vapor phase polymerization. The above polyaniline∕R-camphorsulfonate films were characterized by electrochemical and physical methods, such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), UV-vis spectroscopy, four-point probe conductivity measurement, Raman spectroscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The poly aniline films grown by this method not only showed high electrochemical activity, supported by CV and Raman spectrum, but also exhibited optical activity corresponding to the polymer chains as observed by circular dichroism spectra

Attitudes toward fruit and vegetable consumption and farmers' market usage among low-income North Carolinians

Low fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption is associated with higher rates of obesity and chronic disease among low-income individuals. Understanding attitudes towards F&V consumption and addressing policy and environmental changes could help improve diet and reduce disease risk. A survey of North Carolinians receiving government assistance was used to describe benefits, barriers, and facilitators of eating F&V and shopping at farmers' markets in this population. A total of 341 eligible individuals from 14 counties completed the survey. The most commonly cited barriers to eating F&V were cost (26.4%) and not having time to prepare F&V (7.3%). Facilitators included access to affordable locally grown F&V (13.5%) and knowledge to quickly and easily prepare F&V (13.2%). Among people who did not use farmers' markets, common barriers to shopping there were not being able to use food assistance program benefits (35.3%) and not knowing of a farmers' market in their area (28.8%); common facilitators included transportation (24.8%) and having more information about farmers' market hours (22.9%). In addition to breaking down structural/environmental barriers to farmers' market usage, there is a need to disseminate promotional information about farmers' markets, including hours, location, and accepted forms of payment

Looking beyond the numbers: quality assurance procedures in the Global Network for Women\u27s and Children\u27s Health Research Maternal Newborn Health Registry.

BACKGROUND: Quality assurance (QA) is a process that should be an integral part of research to protect the rights and safety of study participants and to reduce the likelihood that the results are affected by bias in data collection. Most QA plans include processes related to study preparation and regulatory compliance, data collection, data analysis and publication of study results. However, little detailed information is available on the specific procedures associated with QA processes to ensure high-quality data in multi-site studies. METHODS: The Global Network for Women\u27s and Children\u27s Health Maternal Newborn Health Registy (MNHR) is a prospective population-based registry of pregnancies and deliveries that is carried out in 8 international sites. Since its inception, QA procedures have been utilized to ensure the quality of the data. More recently, a training and certification process was developed to ensure that standardized, scientifically accurate clinical definitions are used consistently across sites. Staff complete a web-based training module that reviews the MNHR study protocol, study forms and clinical definitions developed by MNHR investigators and are certified through a multiple choice examination prior to initiating study activities and every six months thereafter. A standardized procedure for supervision and evaluation of field staff is carried out to ensure that research activites are conducted according to the protocol across all the MNHR sites. CONCLUSIONS: We developed standardized QA processes for training, certification and supervision of the MNHR, a multisite research registry. It is expected that these activities, together with ongoing QA processes, will help to further optimize data quality for this protocol