Infant mortality rates regressed against number of vaccine doses routinely given: Is there a biochemical or synergistic toxicity?

The infant mortality rate (IMR) is one of the most important indicators of the socio-economic well-being and public health conditions of a country. The US childhood immunization schedule specifies 26 vaccine doses for infants aged less than 1 year—the most in the world—yet 33 nations have lower IMRs. Using linear regression, the immunization schedules of these 34 nations were examined and a correlation coefficient of r = 0.70 (p < 0.0001) was found between IMRs and the number of vaccine doses routinely given to infants. Nations were also grouped into five different vaccine dose ranges: 12–14, 15–17, 18–20, 21–23, and 24–26. The mean IMRs of all nations within each group were then calculated. Linear regression analysis of unweighted mean IMRs showed a high statistically significant correlation between increasing number of vaccine doses and increasing infant mortality rates, with r = 0.992 (p = 0.0009). Using the Tukey-Kramer test, statistically significant differences in mean IMRs were found between nations giving 12–14 vaccine doses and those giving 21–23, and 24–26 doses. A closer inspection of correlations between vaccine doses, biochemical or synergistic toxicity, and IMRs is essential

Local Foodie: Experience design of a mobile augmented reality application for tourists to encourage local food consumption

Food is an essential part of travel experience. Consumption of locally produced food while traveling has the two-fold benefit of providing insight into the local culture and increasing the sustainability of tourism. However, finding local food often requires motivation and effort, as information about food ingredients' origins and supply chains is not easy to discover. This paper presents the three-phase experience design process of a prototype of a mobile augmented reality (MAR) application "Local Foodie" designed to encourage tourists in Finland to consume local food. Adventure, autonomy, and competence were determined as experience goals for the application, and an interactive MAR prototype was created through iterative design. The results of a user evaluation (n=10) of the prototype suggest that the use of the application was intrinsically motivating, and the MAR elements contributed especially to the fulfillment of adventure and autonomy experience goals. Future work could leverage context-awareness and personalization to further enhance the experience of adventure.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe