One route to influence in mass communication campaigns to reduce risky behavior is through interpersonal discussion of the content of the campaign and other behaviors pertinent to those targeted by the campaign. The goal of this study was to test the effects of online group interaction among adolescents about antimarijuana advertisements on relevant attitudes and behaviors. A between‐subjects post‐only experimental design was used to test two crossed factors, online chat and strength of arguments in antidrug ads. A sample of 535 students was randomly assigned to one of four conditions: chat and strong‐argument ads, chat and weak‐argument ads, no chat and strong‐argument ads, and no chat and weak‐argument ads. The group interactions about antidrug ads lead to negative effects such that those who chatted reported more promarijuana attitudes and subjective normative beliefs than those who just viewed the ads. No support was found for the hypothesis that strong‐argument ads would result in more antidrug beliefs relative to weak‐argument ads in either the chat or the no‐chat conditions. Overall, these findings suggest that viewing antidrug ads and discussing them with peers may result in deleterious effects in adolescents.

A major challenge for many industries wanting to adopt 3D printing technologies for rapid prototyping, customized parts, and low-volume manufacturing depends on the availability and functionality of the input materials to suit specific requirements. A well-studied nanofiller because of its distinct properties and wide range of applications, graphene oxide (GO) proves to be a good choice in the development of new materials. However, as a filler in a polymer matrix, GO has its own unique set of problems enough to make certain constraints in achieving an optimum reinforcement in the targeted polymer matrix. The need for a matrix–filler interaction is critical because reinforcement occurs only when the external load applied to the material can be successfully transmitted from the matrix to the filler, which will only happen if the interfacial adhesion between the matrix and the filler is strong. This study demonstrates the synthesis of the covalently linked GO–methacrylate (MA) nanocomposite materials through 3D printing via stereolithography (SL). Spectral analysis using Fourier-transform infrared confirms the successful functionalization of GO and ascertains the presence of the functionalized GO (fGO) in the 3D-printed nanocomposite specimens. Likewise, further validation using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry also affirms the formation of fGO for use as a functional filler, activating a stronger interfacial bonding with the MA polymer. Excellent attributes of GO will become futile because of premature fracturing of the material simply because of an oversight to consider robustness during the early stages of design. Hence, different mechanical and thermal properties of the new 3D-printed MA–fGO nanocomposite material are characterized and presented in the discussion. This work demonstrates the first successful 3D printing of the functionalized GO nanocomposite via SL, forming a complex structure with consistently high fidelity and enhanced material properties with potential for various industrial applications.

This paper investigates how motivations that drive news use affect the process of learning political information from the news. A model that traces the influence of motivational factors on following news about general public affairs is proposed. Tests conducted with nationally representative surveys revealed that motivations for following general public affairs in the news are conceptually and empirically distinct. Results showed that certain psychological needs drive motivations toward following general news, and that various types of motives have independent effects on exposure and attention to news. Finally, we found that motivations have significant indirect effects on knowledge about politics. Implications on theoretical developments in political knowledge and learning are discussed.

We evaluated the potential of polarimetric rainfall retrieval methods for the Tagaytay C-Band weather radar in the Philippines. For this purpose, we combined a method for fuzzy echo classification, an approach to extract and reconstruct the differential propagation phase, Φ DP , and a polarimetric self-consistency approach to calibrate horizontal and differential reflectivity. The reconstructed Φ DP was used to estimate path-integrated attenuation and to retrieve the specific differential phase, K DP . All related algorithms were transparently implemented in the Open Source radar processing software wradlib. Rainfall was then estimated from different variables: from re-calibrated reflectivity, from re-calibrated reflectivity that has been corrected for path-integrated attenuation, from the specific differential phase, and from a combination of reflectivity and specific differential phase. As an additional benchmark, rainfall was estimated by interpolating the rainfall observed by rain gauges. We evaluated the rainfall products for daily and hourly accumulations. For this purpose, we used observations of 16 rain gauges from a fivemonth period in the 2012 wet season. It turned out that the retrieval of rainfall from K DP substantially improved the rainfall estimation at both daily and hourly time scales. The measurement of reflectivity apparently was impaired by severe miscalibration while K DP was immune to such effects. Daily accumulations of rainfall retrieved from K DP showed a very low estimation bias and small random errors. Random scatter was, though, strongly present in hourly accumulations.

When disaster events capture global attention users of Twitter form transient interest communities that disseminate information and other messages online. This paper examines content related to Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) as it hit the Philippines and triggered international humanitarian response and media attention. It reveals how Twitter conversations about disasters evolve over time, showing an issue attention cycle on a social media platform. The paper examines different functions of Twitter and the information hubs that drive and sustain conversation about the event. Content analysis shows that the majority of tweets contain information about the typhoon or its damage, and disaster relief activities. There are differences in types of content between the most retweeted messages and posts that are original tweets. Original tweets are more likely to come from ordinary users, who are more likely to tweet emotions, messages of support, and political content compared with official sources and key information hubs that include news organizations, aid organization, and celebrities. Original tweets reveal use of the site beyond information to relief coordination and response.