Soda and Tobacco Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns: How Do They Compare?

In an article that forms part of the PLoS Medicine series on Big Food, Andrew Cheyne and colleagues compare soda companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns - which are designed to bolster the image and popularity of their products and to prevent regulation - with the tobacco industry's CSR campaigning

Newborn cord care practices in Haiti

Newborn cord infections commonly lead to neonatal sepsis and death, particularly in low-resource countries where newborns may receive unhygienic cord care. Topical application of chlorhexidine to the newborn's cord has been shown to prevent infection. Such benefits may be particularly important in Haiti. We explored current cord care practices by conducting a qualitative study using five focus groups among key community stakeholders (mothers of newborns/children under age two years, pregnant women, traditional birth attendants, community health workers, traditional healers) in Petit-Goâve, Haiti. Data collection was guided by the Health Belief Model. Results suggest community stakeholders recognise that infants are susceptible to cord infection and that cord infection is a serious threat to newborns. Long-held traditional cord care practices are potential barriers to adopting a new cord care intervention. However, all groups acknowledged that traditional practices could be harmful to the newborn while expressing a willingness to adopt practices that would protect the newborn. Results demonstrate potential acceptability for altering traditional cord care practices among neonatal caretakers in Haiti. An informational campaign designed to educate local health workers and new mothers to eliminate unhygienic cord applications while promoting chlorhexidine application may be a strong approach for preventing neonatal cord infections

Surface alteration and physical properties of glass from the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary

The scalloped surface feature on Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary glass is often explained as being due to terrestrial aqueous leaching. Leaching of man-made glass results in a reduction in density of the glass. Also, Fe, because of its relative insolubility, is concentrated by the leaching process. Thus, the Haitian glass specimens which have been heavily altered should have a thin rim of less dense glass in which the Fe is concentrated compared to the core glass. The higher Fe concentration in the rim glass should cause it to have an enhanced Curie constant and a lower density compared to the unaltered glass. The magnetic Curie constant, density, and scanning electron microscopic studies were made on altered specimens of Haitian glass and also on specimens showing a minimum of alteration. The results show that the less altered samples have the highest density and the lowest Curie constant. The data substantiate the terrestrial hypothesis. © 1994

The assessment of cyberchondria: Instruments for assessing problematic online health-related research

© 2020 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-020-00308-w.Purpose of review: Cyberchondria is a problematic, i.e., distressing or anxiety-increasing pattern of online health information seeking. The development of psychometrically sound instruments for the assessment of cyberchondria is imperative for better understanding of this construct. The aim of the present article is to provide a systematic literature review of cyberchondria instruments. Recent findings: Although several measures of cyberchondria have been developed, the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS) has been used most often. The CSS is based on a solid theoretical framework, with very good to excellent reliability and validity. It has been translated into several languages. Modifications of the original version of the CSS have been introduced to refine its conceptual foundation and improve its utility by making it shorter. Summary: Further improvement of the CSS may boost the quality of cyberchondria research. There remains a need to test the theoretical underpinnings of the CSS and consider alternative models of cyberchondria.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio