Would You Kindly Consider the Consequences?

This article seeks to introduce the application of laws to the plot lines of videogames as a source of legal scholarship and reflexive social critique through an analysis of the legal liability for the killing of Big Daddies in Bioshock

Aspects of the plasma modification of polymeric materials

The effect of orientation and crystallinity of certain polymers, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and poly (ether ether ketone) (PEEK) , upon the extent and nature of plasma oxidation was studied. It was found that increasing the extent of surface ordering lessened susceptibility to plasma oxidation and reduced the subsequent decay of surface treatment. The surface ageing of plasma oxidised PEEK was extensively studied with regards to the transient increase in hydrophilicity that has been observed after plasma modification. The decay and transient increase in hydrophilicity were found to be dependent upon crystallinity and storage temperature. An estimate of the activation energies for processes leading to the increase in contact angle after plasma modification were calculated and found to suggest that these processes were rotational reorganisations at the surface as opposed to migrational reorganisations. The decay of other plasma modified surfaces revealed that plasma oxidised PET and plasma fluorinated PEEK both underwent transitional reorganisations at the surface, however no such change was observed for ammonia plasma treated PEEK. Plasma modification of carbon fibres was investigated with regards to improving composite performance. Microwave plasma treatments were found to be as good as standard commercial treatments. Graphitic carbon was investigated as a model for carbon fibre surfaces, however, the plasma modified surface was found to age more readily and to be too labile for useful comparison

Nintendo Creators Purgatory: Why YouTubers should think twice before registering for the Nintendo Creators Program

Recently, Nintendo launched the Nintendo Creators Program, designed to share profits generated from YouTube advertising revenue with YouTube creators using copyrighted Nintendo content. While the program is an insightful response to the problems many content rights holders face in policing YouTube for copyright infringement and submitting take down notices, it as has several pitfalls for creators including exposure to censorship, bureaucracy and content use and abuse

Racial Exemplars And Their Effects On The Race-Implicit Association Test

Research on prejudice has long been skewed by participants’ ability to monitor their reactions on overt measures of such attitudes. Accordingly, researchers created an implicit measure to study prejudice (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). The Implicit Association Test (IAT) was thus developed. Though the IAT has long been purported as the only ‘true’ measure of participants’ feelings and cognitions, recent research has suggested the measure is not as infallible as once purported (e.g., Smith & Zarate, 1990). The purpose of this study was to integrate existing research on exemplars and how they affect scores on the IAT. Results showed that priming participants with racial exemplars that vary in terms of stereotypicality and valence had little effect on Race-IAT scores. Further, contrary to previous research, significant differences between African American and European American participants on the Race-IAT did emerge

Supplementation of laying hen feed with tocopherols and algal (Haematococcus pluvialis) astaxanthin for egg yolk nutrient enhancement and a novel use of egg yolk protein and lecithin in the formation of artificial oil bodies for stabilizing omega-3 oil

Abstract: Feeding Study Adding supplements to hen feed can increase egg nutritional value. Research on astaxanthin, tocotrienols, and tocopherols indicates this compound is a potent antioxidants and provides health benefits to humans. We hypothesized that the addition of these nutrients to hen feed will result in egg yolks with increased nutrient content with minimum change in functional properties. Laying hens (W-36 breed) were fed four diets with different supplementation levels of palm toco concentrate and algae (Haematococcus pluvial is) biomass containing astaxanthin for eight weeks. Egg yolks were analyzed for physical (color and Haugh unit), chemical (fatty acid composition, phospholipids by 31P NMR, quantification of tocotrienols, tocopherols, and astaxanthin by HPLC), and functional properties (texture, emulsification, viscosity, and sensory evaluation). Feed with the highest nutrient concentration was also studied for stability of these antioxidants using the Arrhenius approach. No significant differences were observed among functional properties, except emulsification capacity and sensory characteristics among eggs from different diet treatments. Emulsification capacity decreased as the concentration of feed additives increased. Changes in egg yolk color achieved maximum values at day 8. Incorporation of tocopherols and tocotrienols increased until day 8 and astaxanthin incorporation increased until day 10, then decreased slightly thereafter. Feed nutrients resulted in a dose-response relationship of these in the egg yolk. Transfer efficiency ranged from 0-9.9% for tocotrienols and tocopherols and 7.6-14.9% for astaxanthin for their peak values. Sensory evaluation of cooked eggs showed a significant difference in perceived sulfur, fishy flavor, astringency, and lumpy levels. No significant difference was shown with dryness and hardness characteristics. Results from the Arrhenius accelerated stability study showed significant differences in shelf-life of various nutrients and such results can be used to properly formulate the feed materials. Abstract: Artificial Oil Body Study Egg yolk protein is a co-product from egg lecithin isolation. We hypothesize egg yolk protein and egg lecithin can be used to make artificial oil bodies (AOB) mimicking the naturally occurring oleosomes with similar stability and oil protection from oxidation. Egg yolk protein, soy protein isolate, and naturally occurring oleosomes were used for a 30-day oxidation study. Egg yolk protein and soy oleosin were also used for a 2-week accelerated oxidation test with fish oil to determine the effect of environment (pH 3 and 7) and in the presence of a pro-oxidant (0 and 50 ppm CuSO4) on lipid oxidation. Both experiments were evaluated for primary oxidation (peroxide value), secondary oxidation TBARS (2-thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances), particle size, and turbidity. Native soy oleosomes had lowest primary and secondary oil oxidation. Yolk protein created more stable AOB than soy protein isolate. All three oil bodies were not significantly different for turbidity. pH and pro-oxidant had effects on the particle size and turbidity of the accelerated 2-week oxidation, but was unable to determine statistical significance because the AOB were not stable and oil was separated from the system

Adult children of alcoholics: Measuring the personality characteristics of autonomy, inferiority and intimacy

This study investigated how adult children of alcoholics differ from adult children of non-alcoholics when measured on the personality characteristics of autonomy, inferiority and intimacy. The subjects were randomly selected from the employees of a large school district in southeast Virginia. Each subject received a questionnaire package that included the Adjective Check List, Personal Orientation Inventory, Children of Alcoholics Screening Test and The Personal History Questionnaire. The return rate for questionnaire packages was 72%. All subjects were volunteers and their identities remained anonymous to the researcher. The sample size was 130.;The subjects were placed in the adult children of alcoholics group (n = 86) if they were parented by an alcoholic and scored six or above on the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST). Subjects were placed in the adult children of non-alcoholics group (n = 44) if they were not parented by an alcoholic and scored below six on the CAST. The subjects were compared on the autonomy and abasement scales of the Adjective Check List, and the capacity of intimate contact (C) scale of The Personal Orientation Inventory. There was no statistically significant difference found between the two groups when a t-test was employed with the alpha level set at the.05. A Bonferroni method was used to control for alpha since several questions were studied. For this population which was primarily white, well-educated, employed, females, there was no statistically significant difference between adult children of alcoholics and adult children of non-alcoholics for the variables of autonomy, inferiority and intimacy. However, self-reported adult children of alcoholics scored statistically significantly higher on the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) than did self-reported adult children of non- alcoholics using a t-test with the alpha level set at.05. All self reported adult children of alcoholics scored six or above on the CAST.;This research was based on the work of Erik Erikson and his developmental stage approach. These findings would indicate that some children of alcoholics may not be in need of treatment or a recovery program

Study of the Department of Children Service\u27s supervisors

The focus of this study has been what the supervisors within the Department of Children\u27s Services consider to be good qualities that a supervisor should possess. The information gained will be useful in the future for the training of supervisors in order to help with the retention of social workers

PATIENT-RATED SEIZURE SEVERITY AND ADJUSTMENT TO EPILEPSY

Studies have indicated that many, although by no means all, people with epilepsy have difficulty in adjusting to the disorder, manifest by higher rates of psychological and social problems than amongst the general population. A variety of neurological and environmental factors have been hypothesized to contribute to these consequences. It has been suggested that the severity of seizures may be an important factor in determining psychological and social well-being, but very little research has investigated this empirically. This study was therefore undertaken to investigate the relationship between patient-rated seizure severity and adjustment to epilepsy. If greater seizure severity was associated with poorer adjustment, measurement of seizure severity might provide a suitable means of identifying those patients who could benefit from a psychoeducational intervention programme, and may also serve as a useful measure of treatment efficacy. In addition, the research considered the value of Wright's (1990) comprehensive conceptual model for the definition and assessment of adjustment, as much research in the area of adjustment to chronic illness has suffered from insufficient definition and difficulties with measurement. The results indicated that seizure severity was only weakly associated with psychological and illness-related measures of adjustment. These associations would not be sufficiently strong to allow the proposed use of seizure severity as an indicator of poor adjustment, although there may be some value in using this variable as a measure of treatment efficacy in addition to seizure frequency. The conceptual model of adjustment was found to be of value as a framework for guiding operationalisation and measurement of adjustment. Results tentatively confirmed the associations currently suggested within the model and further additions were proposed. Suggestions for future research are made.Southmead Health Services NHS Trus

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF A QUESTIONNAIRE TO ASSESS CARBOHYDRATE COUNTING SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE OF HEART-HEALTHY FOODS, AND NUTRITION LABEL-READING SKILLS IN ADULTS WITH DIABETES

Diabetes mellitus affects the metabolism of carbohydrates, thus patients should monitor carbohydrate intake and eat a heart-healthy diet using nutrition labels. To assess carbohydrate counting skills, knowledge of heart-healthy diet, and nutrition label-reading skills the Heart-Healthy Carb Quiz (HHCQ) was developed and assessed for its validity and reliability in adults with diabetes. Data were analyzed for 55 subjects; average age was 41.7 ± 17.6 years and 29 participants were women. Thirty-six participants had type 1 diabetes and 19 had type 2; average duration of diabetes was 14.3 ± 12.3 years. Average HbA1c was 8.0% ± 2.0%. HHCQ total scores correlated significantly with CarbQuiz total scores (r=0.39, p = 0.003) and the HHCQ demonstrated good stability in the test-retest measure (r=0.74, p = 0.001) (both assessed using a Pearson product-moment correlation). Cronbach alpha was 0.70; inter-item total correlation was 0.45. This study supports the validity and reliability of the HHCQ