September 23, 2007, 11:27 AM CT

Scientists explore theme park thrills

University of Nottingham researchers are helping to capture the essence of excitement with a live experiment that measures the 'thrill factor' of riding a rollercoaster.

Volunteers at Alton Towers will be linked up to a heart monitor, accelerometer, face-cam and other monitoring equipment to give a unique insight into their reactions to one of Europe's biggest rides.

The aim of the rider monitoring system, developed by computer researchers at The University of Nottingham, is to help establish a definitive 'thrill factor' across thrill rides worldwide - and help to shape the next generation of rollercoasters.

Volunteer riders on the Oblivion ride - which features a 180ft vertical drop - will be subject to psychological and physiological tests as part of a 'Thrill Laboratory' being run at Alton Towers from September 19-21.

Each day, different groups of 24 Oblivion riders will attend the 'Thrill Laboratory' for profiling sessions. Each of the three daily personal thrill profiling sessions includes:

• Psychological profiling - using a 'sensation seeking scale' to assess the thrill seeking tendencies of each rider.
• A ride on Oblivion, assisted by thrill technicians. Riders create their own personal ride video, which captures facial expressions, audio commentary, heart rate showing patterns of stress, and the G-Forces experienced on the ride.
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Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

September 17, 2007, 10:40 PM CT

ER episode impacts viewers' health knowledge and behavior

A new study by scientists at the University of Southern California suggests that some TV may be good for you.

Scientists observed that a storyline on the primetime NBC network drama ER that dealt with teen obesity, high blood pressure and healthy eating habits had a positive impact on the attitudes and behaviors of viewers, especially among men.

The study, reported in the Sept. 14 Journal of Health Communication and now available online, offered scientists a rare opportunity to evaluate the impact of health messages in entertainment, says Thomas W. Valente, Ph.D., associate professor of preventive medicine and member of the Institute for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Research (IPR) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

This study demonstrates the importance of interventions and programs targeted at a population level, says Valente. We have so a number of public heath issues to deal with, we cant restrict ourselves to any one strategy. We have to do everything and anything we can to help people improve their health.

The storyline depicted an African-American teen who is diagnosed with high blood pressure during a visit to the emergency room and is advised to eat more fruits and vegetables and to get more exercise. The story aired over three episodes from April 29 to May 13, 2004......... Posted by: Gina      Read more         Source

September 17, 2007, 10:33 PM CT

Argue in language of target group

When it is time to sell a change in your company, know the culture of your organization, particularly of the group you need to impress, and tailor your argument in the language and metrics of your target group so your message will resonate.

So says Jennifer A. Howard-Grenville, a University of Oregon management professor in the Lundquist College of Business, in a paper reported in the July-recent issue of the journal Organization Science and in her newly published book Corporate Culture and Environmental Practice: Making Change at a High-Technology Manufacturer (Edward Elgar Publishing Inc.).

Both are based on an analysis of data gathered in a nine-month, in-depth study of a manufacturing company while she was a doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Based in a group formed to help the company reduce its detrimental environmental impact, she observed the groups interactions with members of a larger, dominant technology-development group.

While the groups worked differently, the environmental group gradually began to influence how the core group designed certain new processes with environmental impact in mind. The company, fictitiously named Chipco in the study, is a major U.S. semiconductor manufacturer.

Howard-Grenvilles research provides a broad look at the tug of war that goes on within businesses to advance certain causes, be they those that affect the manufacturing of new products, increasing market share or responding to external social and environmental pressures......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:32:59 GMT

Making Sense

Qarrtsiluni, the online literary magazine I help publish, has a brand new look and a brand new theme: Qarrtsiluni. Here’s how guest editors Qarrtsiluni and Rob Mackenzie describe it:

Writers often lean on what they see. But for this issue, we challenge you to build up a world in scent, taste, touch, sound, or any combination of these. We are not outlawing imagery, not at all. We value a clear, active connection with the world. As Wislawa Szymborska said in “Conversation with a Stone”: “Even sight heightened to become all-seeing/ will do you no good without a sense of taking part.” To have a full and concrete awareness of space, physical detail, and emotion, you do not need sight. Take your impetus from another sense, or let material from another sense define or guide the piece.

Read the post for the rest of the guidelines, and the other news about the magazine. Posted by: Vianegativa      Read more     Source

September 12, 2007, 7:56 PM CT

Can consumers be confused into buying?

An important article from the recent issue of the Journal of Consumer Research examines the effectiveness of a new confusion-based sales technique called disrupt-then-reframe. The scientists observed that by presenting a confusing sales pitch to consumers and then restating the pitch in a more familiar way, they were able to increase sales of a candy bar in a supermarket, increase students willingness to pay to join a student interest group, and increase students acceptance of a tuition increase.

Eventhough encounters between commercial sales representatives and consumers are one of the more common types of interpersonal interactions found in everyday life, relatively little research has been conducted on interpersonal influence attempts applied to commercial settings, write Frank R. Kardes (University of Cincinnati), Bob M. Fennis (University of Twente, the Netherlands), Edward R. Hirt, Zakary L. Tormala, and Brian Bullington (all of the University of Indiana).

Consumers in the study were confused with an unusual monetary request (e.g., 100 cents for a candy bar, 300 cents to join a student interest group, or 7500 cents for a tuition increase). However, the scientists observed that a confusing sales pitch alone such as one utilizing technical jargon, confusing terminology, or large and confusing product assortments does not lead to greater consumer interest. Rather, it increases the need for cognitive closure; consumers will grasp for easy-to-process or unambiguous information that has direct and obvious implications for judgment and behavior......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

September 12, 2007, 7:47 PM CT

Vowel sounds affect our perceptions of products

Would you drive a SUV called a Himmer" Phonetic symbolism refers to the notion that the sounds of words, apart from their assigned definition, convey meaning. A fascinating forthcoming paper from the recent issue of the Journal of Consumer Research applies this theory to product names. The scientists find that product names with vowel sounds that convey positive attributes about the product are deemed more favorable by consumers.

Front vowel sounds are ones that are made with the tongue forward in the mouth, such as the sound of the letter I in mill. Back vowel sounds are ones that are made with the tongue farther back in the mouth, such as the a sound in mall. Numerous previous studies have shown that the two types of vowel sounds tend to be linked to different concepts that are strikingly uniform, even across cultures. Front vowel sounds convey small, fast, or sharp characteristics, while back vowel sounds convey large, slow, or dull characteristics.

The implications of phonetic symbolism for brand names are relatively straightforward, write Tina M. Lowrey and L. J. Shrum (University of Texas San Antonio). If sounds do convey certain types of meaning, then perceptions of brands may be enhanced when the fit between the sound symbolism and the product attributes is maximized......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

September 11, 2007, 11:30 PM CT

Parking spaces outnumber drivers

From suburban driveways to the sprawling lots that spring up around big retailers, Americans devote lots of space to parking spaces - a growing land-use trend that plays a role in heating up urban areas and adding to water pollution, as per a recent study.

Purdue University scientists surveyed the total area devoted to parking in a midsize Midwestern county and observed that parking spaces outnumbered resident drivers 3-to-1 and outnumbered resident families 11-to-1. The scientists found the total parking area to be larger than 1,000 football fields, or covering more than two square miles.

"Even I was surprised by these numbers," said Bryan Pijanowski, the associate professor of forestry and natural resources who led the study in Purdue's home county of Tippecanoe. "I can't help but wonder: Do we need this much parking space?".

Pijanowski said that his results are cause for concern, in part, because parking lots present environmental and economic problems. They are, for instance, a major source of water pollution, he said.

Tippecanoe County parking lots turn out about 1,000 pounds of heavy metal runoff annually, said Purdue professor Bernard Engel, who used a computer model to estimate changes in water-borne runoff caused by land-use changes. Engel, head of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, said lots are troublesome because pollutants collect on their non-absorbent surfaces and are then easily carried away by rain......... Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

September 4, 2007, 8:00 PM CT

Should doctors should participate in capital punishment?

Should doctors be involved in the state-ordered administration of capital punishment? In the recent issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, three anesthesiologists and a medical ethicist take an in-depth look at this question in a commentary and two editorials.

None of these articles debate whether capital punishment is justifiable. Instead, the authors explore the current position of the American Medical Association (AMA), which prohibits doctor participation in legally authorized executions. Here are a few highlights of the arguments presented in these articles.

In a commentary column, David Waisel, M.D., an anesthesiologist practicing at Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, asserts that it is time to reassess the AMA's position on this issue and allow doctors to participate in state-mandated executions to help provide the condemned a more humane path to death. Dr. Waisel cites numerous details about the technical problems linked to lethal injection, the form of capital punishment most usually used in the United States today. Dr. Waisel reasons that doctors, especially anesthesiologists, possess the skills to administer the medications used in lethal injections in a manner that prevents undue suffering.

"If state administration of capital punishment is legal and ongoing, humane methods of execution should be sought and applied. It is honorable for physicians to minimize the harm to these condemned individuals and organized medicine has an obligation to permit doctor participation in legal execution," he writes......... Posted by: Tom      Read more         Source

August 31, 2007, 4:50 AM CT

Population movements, money and forest regrowth

A study of forest cover in El Salvador in the recent issue of BioScience presents novel findings on how economic globalization, land policy changes, and monies sent to family members by emigrants have transformed agriculture and stimulated forest regrowth. The study, by Susanna B. Hecht and Sassan S. Saatchi, employed socioeconomic data, land-use surveys, and satellite imagery to document substantial increases in the area of El Salvador covered by both light and heavy woodland since peace accords were signed in 1992.

Most analyses of forest cover in Central America have focused on loss of old-growth forests. In drawing attention to regrowth of woodland in a country that was extensively deforested during the 1970s, Hecht and Saatchi call for a renewed examination of social and economic influences on agricultural practices and their effects on forest extent. New growth forests, most often in a mosaic along with agriculture, can buffer declines in biological diversity and are extensively used by old growth species.

War drove a number of people to flee El Salvador during the 1980s and early part of 1990s, which led to a number of farms being abandoned. The country experienced a net increase in tree cover thereafter. Hecht and Saatchi found a 22 percent increase in the area with 30 percent tree cover, and a 6.5 percent increase in the area with more than 60 percent tree cover. Policies that encouraged sustainable agriculture contributed to the increase, the authors maintain......... Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source

August 29, 2007, 9:47 PM CT

Greece Suffers More Fires In 2007

Greece has experienced more wildfire activity this August than other European countries have over the last decade, as per data from ESA satellites. The country is currently battling an outbreak of blazes, which began last Thursday, that have spread across the country killing more than 60 people.

ESA's ERS-2 and Envisat satellites continuously survey fires burning across the Earth's surface with onboard sensors - the Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) and the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) respectively, known as the ATSR Word Fire Atlas, which is available to users online in near-real time.

The ATSR World Fire Atlas is the longest worldwide fire atlas available. Even if the atlas is not supposed to pick up all fires due to satellite overpass constraints and cloud coverage, it is statistically representative from one month to the other and from one year to the other.

Working like thermometers in the sky, the sensors measure thermal infrared radiation to take the temperature of Earth's land surfaces. Temperatures exceeding 308ºK at night are classed as burning fires. Data gathered from July 1996 to 28 August 2007 was used to plot the number of fires occurring monthly and show Greece has had four times the number of fires this August in comparison to its July and August 1998 records......... Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source