Is there a need for safety monitoring guidelines for antidepressant treatment?

Antidepressants are amongst the most commonly prescribed classes of drugs and their use continues to grow. The World Health Organisation estimates that depression effects approximately 121 million people worldwide, with 26 million people receiving some form of medical care for depression [1]. A large number of these people will be treated with antidepressants. Moreover, antidepressants are commonly administered to special populations, such as the elderly, children and women during reproductive life stages. Depression is also commonly associated with comorbid physical illnesses [2], being overweight [3], tobacco smoking [4], poor diet [5] and lack of physical activity [6]. Large numbers of people being treated, often with vulnerabilities, increases the likelihood of adverse drug reactions to antidepressant treatment.

In what ways does policy on academic integrity, copyright and privacy need to respond in order to accommodate assessment with Web 2.0 tools?

Increasingly social web technologies, such as blogging and micro-blogging, audio and video podcasting, photo/video, social bookmarking, social networking, wiki writing or virtual worlds are being used as forms of authoring or content creation to support students’ learning in higher education. As Web 2.0 teaching practice is characterised by open access to information and collaborative networks there are both familiar and novel challenges for policy-makers in higher education institutions. The Government 2.0 Taskforce heralded legislative and practice changes necessary because of Web 2.0. We reflect on the qualitative feedback received from innovative higher education practitioners using Web 2.0 to assess student work. This indicates a need for information policy review to accommodate the cultural shift towards information exchange and communication across traditional institutional boundaries. Issues involved when implementing Web 2.0 assessments are identified to highlight requisite areas for policy improvement in higher education, in particular for academic integrity, copyright and privacy policies

Talking books for children's home use in a minority Indigenous Australian language context

Members of the Kunibidji community are the traditional owners of the lands and seas around Maningrida, a remote community in Northern Australia. Most of the 200 members of the Kunibidji Community speak Ndjebbana as their first language. This study reports on the complexities of transforming technology to provide Kunibídji children with access to digital texts at home. The printed Ndjebbana texts that were kept at school were transformed to Ndjebbana talking books displayed on touch screen computers in the children's homes. Some results of the children's interaction around these touch screens are presented as well as some quantitative results of the computer viewing in the homes. The processes of rejecting technological determinism, upholding linguistic human rights of speakers of minority languages and viewing technology as practice rather than a set of artefacts are discussed in this paper. The results of this study highlight the need for speakers of minority Indigenous Australian languages to have access to texts in their threatened languages on technologies at home.

Oral language competence, young speakers and the Law

Purpose: This paper highlights the forensic implications of language impairment in 2 key (and overlapping) groups of young people: identified victims of maltreatment (abuse and/or neglect) and young offenders.

Method: Two lines of research pertaining to oral language competence and young people's interface with the law are considered: 1 regarding investigative interviewing with children as victims or witnesses in the context of serious allegations of sexual abuse, and the other pertaining to adolescent offenders as suspects, witnesses, or victims. The linguistic demands that forensic interviewing places on these young people are also considered. Literature concerning the impact of early maltreatment on early language acquisition is briefly reviewed, as is the role of theory of mind in relation to the requirements of investigative interviewing of children and adolescents.

Implications: High-risk young people (i.e., those who are subject to child protection orders because of suspected or confirmed maltreatment, and those who are engaged with the youth justice system) face an elevated risk for suboptimal language development but may need to draw on their language skills in high-stakes forensic interviews. Implications for early intervention policy and practice are identified, and the need for greater speech-language pathology advocacy and engagement in forensic interviewing research is emphasized.

Slipper saga begs the question – do we need a speaker at all?

Speaker of the House of Representatives Peter Slipper has stepped aside following allegations of sexual harassment and the misuse of cab-charge vouchers.

The business of sexuality education : changing practice : the need for professional development

This paper reports on data collected from practicing sexuality education teachers following their participation in professional learning intervention in sexuality education. It explores whether the provision of effective professional development and classroom resources enables teachers to effectively address the sensitive issues of sexual diversity, gender and power.

Need for a cohesive television policy in India

The Indian television industry has been dramatically transformed since 1991 when foreign television channels such as STAR TV and others began beaming their programs into Indian households from foreign soil. The impact of the exponential growth in television channelsi, television viewers and the television software industry in India between 1991 and 2006 has been well documented (Rodrigues, 1998, 2005). This paper analyses whether the Indian government’s television policy during the past decade and a half adequately met the challenge of the entry of private and foreign channels into Indian homes. The paper also makes a set of recommendations to the Government of India with regards to its television policy so that this popular medium can achieve its potential as a catalyst for social change in India (NAMEDIA, 1986).

Making decisions about fertility : three facts GPs need to communicate to women

Background Average annual fertility rates in industrialised countries have been below two children per woman for the past 3 decades. The reasons behind women’s childbearing behaviour are complex. However, a lack of awareness regarding the consequences of delayed childbearing and the inability of reproductive technologies to overcome the ‘biological clock’ may be contributory factors.

Objective A narrative review guided by the research question: What do women need to know about the consequences of delayed childbearing in order to make informed decisions about their fertility?

Discussion There are three facts that women need to know in order to make informed decisions around their fertility: Some women want to have more children than they are able to have because they postpone childbearing; there can be medical consequences to delaying childbearing and; some women’s ideas about their fertility don’t match the ‘the scientific facts’. General practitioners are well placed to play a strategic role in the provision of timely, relevant information to help women make informed decisions about their fertility. Further research is needed to identify the most appropriate ways for GPs to communicate this information.

Linguistic and psychometric validation of the diabetes-specific quality-of-life scale in U. K. english for adults with type 1 diabetes

OBJECTIVE To develop a linguistically and psychometrically validated U.K. English (U.K./Ireland) version of the Diabetes-Specific Quality-of-Life Scale (DSQOLS) for adults with type 1 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We conducted independent forward and backward translation of the validated German DSQOLS. An iterative interview study with health professionals (n = 3) and adults with type 1 diabetes (n = 8) established linguistic validity. The DSQOLS was included in three Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating (DAFNE) studies (total N = 1,071). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was undertaken to examine questionnaire structure. Concurrent and discriminant validity, internal consistency, and reliability were assessed.

RESULTS EFA indicated a six-factor structure for the DSQOLS (social aspects, fear of hypoglycemia, dietary restrictions, physical complaints, anxiety about the future, and daily hassles). High internal consistency reliability was found for these factors and the weighted treatment satisfaction scale (α = 0.85–0.94). All subscales were moderately, positively correlated with the Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality-of-Life (ADDQoL) measure, demonstrating evidence of concurrent validity. Lower DSQOLS subscale scores [indicating impaired quality of life (QoL)] were associated with the presence of diabetes-related complications.

CONCLUSIONS The DSQOLS captures the impact of detailed aspects of modern type 1 diabetes management (e.g., carbohydrate counting and flexible insulin dose adjustment) that are now routine in many parts of the U.K. and Ireland. The U.K. English version of the DSQOLS offers a valuable tool for assessing the impact of treatment approaches on QoL in adults with type 1 diabetes.