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Emoticons are graphic signs illustrated with ASCII characters to accompany text-based computer-mediated communication (Dresner & Herring, 2010). The effects of using emoticons has begun to be investigated, but little effort has been put forth to determine how well people are able to interpret the meaning of emoticons. Preliminary data from the current research effort is reported to indicate how well 34 undergraduate students were able to correctly interpret 50 distinct emoticons from Yahoo Messenger. Results suggest that correct interpretation varied widely between emoticons, and the reported frequency of use was positively correlated with emoticon interpretability. Research and design implications are discussed, as well as questions for future research.

As of 2005, 5.5% of the American population had some form of diabetes, with an increasing rate of diagnosis. Adults 65 years of age and over are at an increased risk for developing diabetes. Sixty-four participants completed 10 trials of control solution testing. MANOVA results indicated main effects of participant age and order of glucometer use on dependent variables. Follow-up ANOVAs revealed a main effect of age on task time, errors during training, and near transfer errors, and a main effect of glucometer use on rate of near and far transfer errors committed. Results and avenues of further investigation are discussed.

research centers on social justice and equity issues in adult and higher education. Critical, feminist and ecological frameworks underpin her interdisciplinary endeavors while employing mixed-methods. A recurring theme in her scholarship explores gender and diversity for girls and women in environmental sciences and engineering with an emphasis on their learning, socialization and career development. She has served as an evaluator and senior researcher on the ADVANCE-ENG Girls to Women: An Innovative Engineering Faculty-Student Mentoring Summit for Underrepresented Minority (URM) Girls and Their Mothers and managed a cadre of other environmental training programs. Christine Grant, North Carolina State University Dr. Christine Grant is a Full Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular (CBE) engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU). She obtained a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering from Brown University in 1984; her graduate degrees (M.S. and Ph.D.) were both obtained from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1986 and 1989. She joined the NCSU faculty in 1989 after completing her doctorate and has moved through the ranks of Assistant and Associate to Full Professor-one of only 4 African-American women in the U.S. at that rank. Her research focuses on surface and interfacial phenomena in the areas of green chemical engineering and polymers. She has served her profession as a leader in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) as a member of both the Board of Directors and the Chemical Technology Operating Council. She is the recipient of the NSF Presidential Mentoring Award and the Diversity Award from the Council for Chemical Research (CCR). Grant serves as an Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Special Initiatives at NCSU.

The elderly are at an increased risk for being diagnosed with diabetes. While previous studies have examined technique errors when a patient used his or her current blood glucometer or a single novel glucometer, no study has measured errors as a patient transferred to using a second, novel experimental glucometer. Results support findings that older adults perform more slowly and less accurately than younger adults when transferring between pieces of equipment. Implications for future blood glucometer design and training are discussed.