Local news and audiences’ wellbeing:the roles of motivation, satisfaction, and trust

Local news plays an important role in generating a sense of community attachment. However, the relationship between local news and wellbeing is less explored. Based on a national survey of 6,367 Australians, this study found that trust in and satisfaction with local news were linked with higher personal and community wellbeing. News-related factors (motivation, satisfaction, trust) were more strongly related to community wellbeing than to personal wellbeing. Accessing local news for community-related reasons was the strongest predictor of wellbeing. Guided by uses and gratifications theory, this study provides new insights into the role of local news in peoples’ lives, and emphasises the need to protect local news from further decline.</p

BioéthiqueOnline : Moving to Peer-Review = BioéthiqueOnline : Passage à l’évaluation par les pairs

Éditoral / Editoria

A clinical study of risk factors related to malware infections

The success of malicious software (malware) depends upon both technical and human factors. The most security conscious users are vulnerable to zero-day exploits; the best security mechanisms can be circumvented by poor user choices. While there has been significant research addressing the technical aspects of malware attack and defense, there has been much less research reporting on how human behavior interacts with both malware and current malware defenses. In this paper we describe a proof-of-concept field study designed to examine the interactions between users, anti-virus (anti-malware) software, and malware as they occur on deployed systems. The 4-month study, conducted in a fashion similar to the clinical trials used to evaluate medical interventions, involved 50 subjects whose laptops were instrumented to monitor possible infections and gather data on user behavior. Although the population size was limited, this initial study produced some intriguing, non-intuitive insights into the efficacy of current defenses, particularly with regards to the technical sophistication of end users. We assert that this work shows the feasibility and utility of testing security software through long-term field studies with greater ecological validity than can be achieved through other means

Transanal Endoscopic Surgical Proctectomy for Proctitis Case Series Report: Diversion, Radiation, Ulcerative Colitis, and Crohn’s Disease

Abstract: Background: With recent trends in natural orifice surgery, there has been a rising interest in the evolution of transanal endoscopic surgery (TES) and transanal access platforms. Transanal endoluminal removal of rectal masses has matured into transanal endoscopic surgical resection of the rectum for benign and malignant disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the surgical outcomes of TES completion proctectomy in patients with proctitis in a retained rectum.Methods: This is a retrospective case series report. Patient demographics and peri-operative outcome variables were recorded.Results: TES proctectomy was successfully performed in 6 patients using a disposable transanal access platform. The patient's ages ranged from 22 – 74 years, 4 women and 2 men, BMI ranged from 22 – 51 kg/m2. The indication for surgery was proctitis in a retained rectum: diversion (n=1), radiation (n=1), ulcerative colitis (n=2), and Crohn's disease (n=2). Four applications of TES proctectomy were employed: TES completion proctectomy (n=2), TES assisted single incision abdominal perineal resection (n=1), TES assisted laparoscopic restorative proctectomy with colo-anal anastomosis (n=1), and TES assisted laparoscopic restorative total proctocolectomy with ileal pouch anal anastomosis (n=1). The operative time for TES completion proctectomy ranged from 140 – 238 minutes (n=4). The operative time for TES restorative proctectomy was longer at 446 min and 557 min (n=2). The hospital length of stay for both TES completion and restorative proctectomy ranged from 2 – 5 days (n=5). Complications included 1 urinary tract infection, 1 chronic draining perineal sinus tract, and 1 perineal wound dehiscence requiring re-operation. All six patients are doing well at the time of follow up (range 3 – 19 months).Conclusions: TES completion proctectomy alone or in combination with laparoscopic abdominal surgery is a safe and effective method to perform proctectomy and restorative proctectomy in this small case series of patients with proctitis in a retained rectum due to diversion, radiation, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease