A Prompt to the Web: The Media and Health Information Seeking Behaviour

UNLABELLED: OBJECTIVE, DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The objective was to investigate media influence on consumers' health related behaviours. A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected adults (18+ years) residing in the Hunter Region of New South Wales Australia was conducted. The sample was selected using a combination of the white pages and random digit dialling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The proportions of respondents who recalled seeing or hearing about conditions or treatments in the media over the 12 months prior to interview (August 2009-August 2010) and their subsequent health related behaviour. RESULTS: Although most survey participants reported seeking health information from their doctors, around two-thirds of survey participants (551, 68.8%) recalled hearing, seeing or reading about one or more medical conditions (total = 1097 instances) in the mainstream media over the past 12 months. Almost 40% of respondents (307, 38.4%) stated that they had looked for more information about a condition as a result of hearing about it in the media, and most used the internet (269, 87.4%). More than a quarter of respondents (215, 26.9%) indicated that they had asked their doctor about a condition they had heard about in the media. Around half of those who asked their doctor (109, 50.6%) reported that their inquiry resulted in them receiving treatment, of whom almost half (53, 48.3%) reported being prescribed a medicine. CONCLUSION: The survey results show that consumers become aware of medicines through traditional media and then to learn more often turn to the internet where quality of information may be poor

The academic–vocational divide in three Nordic countries : implications for social class and gender

In this study we examine how the academic–vocational divide is manifested today in Finland, Iceland and Sweden in the division between vocationally (VET) and academicallyoriented programmes at the upper-secondary school level. The paper is based on a critical re-analysis of results from previous studies; in it we investigate the implications of this divide for class and gender inequalities. The theoretical lens used for the synthesis is based on Bernstein´s theory of pedagogic codes. In the re-analysis we draw on previous studies of policy, curriculum and educational praxis as well as official statistics. The main conclusions are that contemporary policy and curriculum trends in all three countries are dominated by a neo-liberal discourse stressing principles such as “market relevance” and employability. This trend strengthens the academic–vocational divide, mainly through an organisation of knowledge in VET that separates it from more general and theoretical elements. This trend also seems to affect VET students’ transitions in terms of reduced access to higher education, particularly in male-dominated programmes. We also identify low expectations for VET students, manifested through choice of textbooks and tasks, organisation of teacher teams and the advice of career counsellors.Peer reviewe

Health information seeking on the Internet: a double divide? Results from a representative survey in the Paris metropolitan area, France, 2005–2006

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Internet is a major source of information for professionals and the general public, especially in the field of health. However, despite ever-increasing connection rates, a digital divide persists in the industrialised countries. The objective of this study was to assess the determinants involved in: 1) having or not having Internet access; and 2) using or not using the Internet to obtain health information.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey of a representative random sample was conducted in the Paris metropolitan area, France, in the fall of 2005 (n = 3023).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Close to 70% of the adult population had Internet access, and 49% of Internet users had previously searched for medical information. Economic and social disparities observed in online health information seeking are reinforced by the economic and social disparities in Internet access, hence a double divide. While individuals who reported having a recent health problem were less likely to have Internet access (odds ratio (OR): 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.53–0.98), it is they who, when they have Internet access, are the most likely to search for health information (OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.11–1.87).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In the French context of universal health insurance, access to the Internet varies according to social and socioeconomic status and health status, and its use for health information seeking varies also with health beliefs, but not to health insurance coverage or health-care utilisation. Certain economic and social inequalities seem to impact cumulatively on Internet access and on the use of the Internet for health information seeking. It is not obvious that the Internet is a special information tool for primary prevention in people who are the furthest removed from health concerns. However, the Internet appears to be a useful complement for secondary prevention, especially for better understanding health problems or enhancing therapeutic compliance.</p

The aromatic cation radical from bis(pentamethylphenyl)methane oxidation. Structural reassignment by X-ray crystallography

The aromatic cation radical formed by the oxidation of bis(pentamethyl phenyl)methane has been isolated as its crystalline hexachloroantimonate, and shown by X-ray crystallography to be the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octamethylanthracene cation radica

A tool proving well-definedness of streams using termination tools

A stream specification is a set of equations intended to define a stream, that is, an infinite sequence over a given data type. In [5] a transformation from such a stream specification to a TRS is defined in such a way that termination of the resulting TRS implies that the stream specification admits a unique solution. In this tool description we present how proving such well-definedness of several interesting boolean stream specifications can be done fully automatically using present powerful tools for proving TRS termination

Relative configuration of Glechomafuran isolated from the fruits of Smyrnium olusatrum

A furanogermacrane, 1.beta., 10.alpha., 4.alpha.,5.beta.-diepoxy-7,8-furanogermacrane (glechomafuran), was isolated from the fruit of S. olusatrum L. The relative configuration of this known compound of previously undetermined stereochemistry was estab

Synthesis of tricarbonyl derivatives of rhenium(I) with Group 16 donor atoms. Crystal and molecular structure of di-mu-bromo-mu-1,8-naphthalenedisulfide-bis(fac-tricarbonylrhenium(I))

The tetrahydrofuran adduct Re2Br2(CO)(6)(THF)(2) reacts with 1,8-naphthalenedisulfide (NDS) to give Re2Br2(CO)(6)(NDS), which crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P2(1)/c, with cell constants a=10.071(4), b=21.229(5), c=10.135(7) Angstrom; beta=105.73(5)degrees, and Z=4 molecules per unit cell. The final R value is 0.044 for 2035 data (Mo-K-alpha). The Re2Br2(CO)(6) fragment is the same as in all previously determined structures of this series, having bridging bromides and a fac tricarbonyl arrangement about each rhenium atom. The rhenium atoms are also bridged by the disulfide fragment of NDS forming two five-membered rings of composition Re-S-S-Re-Br. The fold angle across the Br ... Br vector is 29 degrees. The Re-Br distances are unequal, with the shorter distances to the bromine closer to the naphthalene fragment; this bromine is further from the S-S bridge than the other. The Re-S and S-C distances average 2.48 and 1.78 Angstrom, respectively, while the S-S bond is 2.16 Angstrom long. Both the Re-S-S-Re and C-S-S-C torsion angles are nearly 0 degrees, which is a significant distinction from the previously investigated structures of this type. The NDS ligand is significantly non-planar, and this may be due to steric repulsion from the nearby carbonyl groups. The dibenzyldisulfide and dibenzyldiselenide complexes Re-2(mu-I)(2)(CO)(6)(E(2)Bz(2)), E=S, Se, have been prepared starting from the same THF rhenium(I) precursor. The Se NMR data of the dibenzyldiselenide complex show a downfield shift of about 165 ppm with respect to the uncomplexed molecule under the same conditions. Bis(dimethylphosphine)ethane gives ReI(CO)(3)(Me(2)PCH(2)CH(2)PMe(2)); iodide abstraction from the latter by silver triflate gave Re(SO3CF3)(CO)(3)(Me(2)PCH(2)CH(2)PMe(2)), which is suggested to contain the monodentate triflato ligand