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During the month of October, the National Football League (NFL) activates a breast cancer awareness campaign - Crucial Catch - in which players, referees and coaches wear pink apparel and gear to promote its cause. Given that more than 17 million people in the USA watch a regular season game every week, this campaign reaches a broad audience. Using a representative sample of US adults (N = 600), this study examined differences in demographic variables (age, gender and race) and domain-specific personal variables (television viewership, cause involvement) on various campaign-related outcomes including cause-related outcomes (i.e., breast cancer perception and donation intentions to support the campaign) and organisation-related outcomes (i.e., perceived motives of the NFL, attitude toward the NFL and behaviour toward the NFL). Findings show how consumers' demographic, lifestyle and psychographic characteristics influence their responses to the campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The pathophysiology of hypogammaglobulinemia in nephrotic syndrome (NS) remains unknown. We evaluated the differences in the distribution of anti-bacterial antibodies and anti-viral antibodies, and those of immune antibodies and natural antibodies in steroid-sensitive NS. Materials and Methods: We examined the antibody status of 18 children who had routine vaccinations. The levels of immnunoglobulin G (IgG), the lgG subclasses, and the antibodies induced by vaccinations such as diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus and measles-mumps-rubella were analyzed in children with steroid-sensitive NS. Results: There was a positive correlation between the albumin and IgG values (r = 0.6, p < 0.01), and the four IgG subclasses were all evenly depressed in the nephrotic children during the acute stage of the disease. The antibodies induced by bacterial antigens were depressed and the seropositivity of anti-viral antibodies tended to be lower than those of age-matched control children during the acute stage. The depressed immune antibody status recovered rapidly in the remission stage of NS, despite corticosteroid treatment. Conclusion: IgG levels correlated positively with albumin levels, and all antibodies, including immune and natural antibodies, were depressed in the acute stage of NS. Our results suggest that hypogammaglobulinaemia in NS may be associated with intravascular homeostasis of oncotic pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microstructural and chemical properties of screen-printed Ag contacts on an n+ emitter surface in crystalline Si solar cells are investigated using a transmission electron microscope. The Pb-based glass layer, where many Ag precipitates are randomly distributed, is formed between a Ag thick film and textured Si. For both textured and nontextured Si surfaces, the Ag crystallites are epitaxially grown on Si with an abrupt interface along the {l1l} atomic plane. Based on high resolution electron microscopy images combined with fast Fourier transform patterns, the registry of Ag on Si driven by a geometrical matching condition leads to minimization of the effective lattice mismatch between Ag and Si, resulting in the formation of a Ag/Si epitaxial superlattice near the interface region. INSET: 10.1149/ 1. 347 38 12. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]