Effect of an iPod video intervention on consent to donate organs: a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: The gap between the supply of organs available for transplantation and demand is growing, especially among ethnic groups. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a video designed to address concerns of ethnic groups about organ donation. DESIGN: Cluster randomized, controlled trial. Randomization was performed by using a random-number table with centralized allocation concealment. Participants and investigators assessing outcomes were not blinded to group assignment. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00870506) SETTING: Twelve branches of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles in northeastern Ohio. PARTICIPANTS: 952 participants aged 15 to 66 years. INTERVENTION: Video (intervention; n = 443) or usual Bureau of Motor Vehicles license practices (control; n = 509). MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was the proportion of participants who provided consent for organ donation on a newly acquired driver's license, learner's permit, or state identification card. Secondary outcomes included willingness to make a living kidney donation to a family member in need and personal beliefs about donation. RESULTS: More participants who viewed the video consented to donate organs than control participants (84% vs. 72%; difference, 12 percentage points [95% CI, 6 to 17 percentage points]). The video was effective among black participants (76% vs. 54%; difference, 22 percentage points [CI, 9 to 35 percentage points]) and white participants (88% vs. 77%; difference, 11 percentage points [CI, 5 to 15 percentage points]). At the end of the trial, fewer intervention than control participants reported having insufficient information about organ donation (34% vs. 44%; difference, -10 percentage points [CI, -16 to -4 percentage points]), wanting to be buried with all of their organs (14% vs. 25%; difference, -11 percentage points [CI, -16 to -6 percentage points]), and having conflicts with organ donation (7% vs. 11%; difference, -4 percentage points [CI, -8 to -2 percentage points]). LIMITATION: How the observed increases in consent to donate organs might translate into a greater organ supply in the region is unclear. CONCLUSION: Exposure to a brief video addressing concerns that ethnic groups have about organ donation just before obtaining a license, permit, or identification card increased consent to donate organs among white and black participants. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Electrochemical ESR and voltammetric studies of lithium ion pairing with electrogenerated 9,10-anthraquinone radical anions either free in acetonitrile solution or covalently bound to multiwalled carbon nanotubes.

The influence of lithium ion pairing on the voltammetric reduction of anthraquinone in acetonitrile is reported. On gold electrodes, the single electron reduction generates a radical anion which forms a complex with lithium cations from the electrolyte. In situ ESR studies support this finding, and signal intensity measurements are used to estimate a value for the complexation equilibrium constant. Values calculated were of the of the order of 6000 mol(-1) dm3. Potential shift measurements and Digisim modeling are shown to be in support of a complexation mechanism in which a little of the complex precipitates on the electrode surface. The effect of lithium ion pairing is also demonstrated for the case in which 1-anthraquinonyl groups are covalently attached to multiwalled carbon nanotubes abrasively immobilized on a basal plane pyrolytic graphite electrode.

Exploration of gas sensing possibilities with edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes: nitrogen dioxide detection.

The voltammetric response of nitrogen dioxide in aqueous sulfuric acid using an edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrode has been explored and contrasted with that from basal plane pyrolytic graphite, glassy carbon or boron-doped diamond electrodes. Edge plane graphite electrode is found to produce an excellent voltammetric signal in comparison with other carbon-based electrodes exhibiting a well-defined analytically useful voltammetric redox couple in 2.5 M sulfuric acid which is absent on the alternative electrodes.