The impact of test medium on use of visual analogue scales

Objectives: Visual analog scales are frequently used as a means of allowing participants to rate symptoms during clinical trials. The accuracy and reproducibility of these scales play an important role in determining the experimental value of the data they provide. This study was initiated to compare the data collected using paper- and computer-based (Tablet PC) analog scales to better understand the variability in data provided by a visual analog scale.

Methods: Thirty participants rated ocular comfort, redness, and clarity of vision (right and left eyes) on a nondemarcated horizontal line on both paper and a Tablet PC. Measurements were taken in the morning between the hours of 8:30 and 10:30 am and again the same day between 2:30 and 4:30 pm.

Results: The mean difference between the measures recorded in the morning for the 2 media was 2.6 ± 0.9 (confidence intervals, 2 standard errors of the differences) units on a 100 unit scale, with the Tablet PC having the higher mean measure. The limits of agreement (2 standard deviations of the differences) was 9.4 units. Comparing the difference of the differences (1.0 ± 1.3) between the 2 methods of measure (morning vs. afternoon) the visual analog scales on the Tablet PC seemed to have good reproducibility of agreement in comparison with the paper version.

Conclusions: Discrepancy analysis yielded no significant difference and slight bias between paper- and computer-based analog scales. Repeatability of measures using the Tablet PC was also demonstrated. These results suggest that the choice of medium does not significantly influence the outcome for subjective analog scales.

From blogging Central Asia to citizen media : a practitioners’ perspective on the evolution of the neweurasia blog project

This essay examines the development of one regional blogosphere, the Central Asian ‘Stanosphere’, through a focus on the neweurasia blog project. The neweurasia project began in 2005 as an Englishlanguage volunteer-run blog project about the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus, rapidly becoming one of the most visited blogs about the region. Following this auspicious start, over the next five years neweurasia developed into a multi-language locally driven project with more than 80,000 unique page views on average per month. Despite its indisputable successes, the project was often a steep learning curve for all involved. In this essay, we examine neweurasia’s evolution from ‘blogging Central Asia’ towards a citizen media project, and reflect on some of the issues and challenges encountered. On the basis of our discussion, we reflect upon how neweurasia, and citizen media in general, can maximise its impact on the nascent Stanosphere, in the process helping to give Central Asia a voice in the global blogosphere.

Potentials of social media for tacit knowledge sharing amongst physicians : preliminary findings

Tacit knowledge sharing amongst physicians, such as the sharing of clinical experiences, skills, or know-how, or know-whom, is known to have a significant impact on the quality of medical diagnosis and decisions. This paper posits that social media can provide new opportunities for tacit knowledge sharing amongst physicians, and demonstrates this by presenting findings from a review of relevant literature and a survey conducted with physicians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten physicians from around the world who were active users of social media. Initial thematic analysis revealed eight themes as potential contributions of social web tools to facilitate tacit knowledge flow amongst physicians. The emergent themes are defined, linked to the literature, and supported by instances of interview transcripts. Findings presented here are preliminary, and final results will be reported after accomplishing all phases of data collection and analysis.

New media and web 2.0 : an Irish republican example

The initial development of the Internet and the World Wide Web was based upon the presentation of static information, this only allowed for the access and consumption of that information. The development of Web 2.0 has resulted in a situation where information is displayed in a dynamic manner and allows for interaction between the viewer and the site or application showing this information. The information may no longer just be text based but could be video, audio and information presented in an interactive manner though applications.

The terms terrorist or terrorism are highly emotive terms but the general term, terrorist, is used to denote revolutionaries who seek to use terror systematically to further their views or to govern a particular area. Terrorist organisations are reflective and adoptive, this paper focus on the impact of Web 2.0 and its potential use by terrorist organisations. The paper uses real life case studies to identify the key issues and possible trends.

An exploration of the impact of celebrity on the HIV/AIDS pandemic

The framework we present in this article separates into three generations the celebrity/personality involvement in the AIDS movement that has been steadily building momentum over the past 25 years. We analyze the celebrification of HIV/AIDS and the role of the media in the process. We contend the relationship between celebrity, the public and HIV/AIDS is multipurpose: celebrities maintain a positive public presence between projects while allowing themselves and their supporting fans to feel good about taking on and affecting a meaningful cause. Celebrities are vehicles and embodiments of concern that act as proxies for their various audiences. And this is their power–celebrities are embodiments of their audiences. The awareness that celebrities have brought to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has resulted in better treatment for victims and increased government support for medical research, and yet has also distracted the public’s attention from the scope of the epidemic. It is the third generation of celebrities who are refocusing efforts on worldwide prevention and a cure for HIV/AIDS.

Sacrificial girls : a case study of the impact of streaming and setting on gender reform

This article reports on research funded by the Australian Research Council to investigate school responses to gender equity. It addresses the efforts of a disadvantaged school to tackle what they perceived to be gender inequalities, but in the process of constructing a top-set and bottom-set/ stream class they are developing new forms of old inequalities and new forms of inequalities. This research indicates that despite popular assertions that girls’ education has become the priority of schools and education systems, girls are being further disadvantaged through attempts to implement market strategies coupled with gender reform agendas grounded in liberal notions of equity and relying on unsophisticated notions of affirmative action. In addition, this study highlights the extent to which a media-driven debate about boys’ education has influenced the constitution of boys as the ‘new disadvantaged’ with the capacity to determine the nature of gender reform agendas and programmes in schools.

The promise of a new media and development agenda

The role of the press is underpinned by a concern for public welfare, and the discourses and debates in journalism practice and theory stem from the notion that the press is one of the pillars of a democracy and an essential element of the public sphere (Rosen, 2005; Dahlgren and Sparks, 1991). The public sphere, in turn, is linked to the theory of modernisation and the development agenda of a society, where the media are expected to play an important function as watchman, policy disseminator and teacher (Schramm, 1964). This article looks at citizen journalism’s potential to provide yet another opportunity to disadvantaged communities in India to communicate with the world, via information and communication technologies. The new media also open up the possibility of these earlier disenfranchised communities becoming partners in the country’s development and democratic agenda. This is a discussion paper based on a survey of initiatives undertaken by various community groups in India to provide a voice to local communities who would otherwise remain silent. It explores the impact of these citizen journalism initiatives on local communities vis-à-vis their effectiveness as a tool for development and social change, and argues that the growth and success of these initiatives around the world, though piecemeal, should become an important part of discourse concerning the role of journalism in society.

Cardiovascular disease risk in the offspring of diabetic women: the impact of the intrauterine environment

The incidence of gestational diabetes is increasing worldwide, exposing large numbers of infants to hyperglycaemia whilst in utero. This exposure may have a long-term negative impact on the cardiovascular health of the offspring. Novel methods to assess cardiovascular status in the neonatal period are now available—including measuring arterial intima-media thickness and retinal photography. These measures will allow researchers to assess the relative impact of intrauterine exposures, distinguishing these from genetic or postnatal environmental factors. Understanding the long-term impact of the intrauterine environment should allow the development of more effective health policy and interventions to decrease the future burden of cardiovascular disease. Initiating disease prevention aimed at the developing fetus during the antenatal period may optimise community health outcomes.

Adolescents’ physical activity : competition between perceived neighborhood sport facilities and home media resources

Objective. To examine the independent, competing, and interactive effects of perceived availability of specific types of media in the home and neighborhood sport facilities on adolescents’ leisure-time physical activity (PA).

Methods. Survey data from 34 369 students in 42 Hong Kong secondary schools were collected (2006–07). Respondents reported moderate-to-vigorous leisure-time PA, presence of sport facilities in the neighborhood and of media equipment in the home. Being sufficiently physically active was defined as engaging in at least 30 minutes of non-school leisure-time PA on a daily basis. Logistic regression and post-estimation linear combinations of regression coefficients were used to examine the independent and competing effects of sport facilities and media equipment on leisure-time PA.

Results. Perceived availability of sport facilities was positively (ORboys = 1.17; ORgirls = 1.26), and that of computer/Internet negatively (ORboys = 0.48; ORgirls = 0.41), associated with being sufficiently active. A significant positive association between video game console and being sufficiently active was found in girls (ORgirls = 1.19) but not in boys. Compared with adolescents without sport facilities and media equipment, those who reported sport facilities only were more likely to be physically active (ORboys = 1.26; ORgirls = 1.34), while those who additionally reported computer/Internet were less likely to be physically active (ORboys = 0.60; ORgirls = 0.54).

Conclusions. Perceived availability of sport facilities in the neighborhood may positively impact on adolescents’ level of physical activity. However, having computer/Internet may cancel out the effects of active opportunities in the neighborhood. This suggests that physical activity programs for adolescents need to consider limiting the access to computer-mediated communication as an important intervention component.

Social media for social change lawyers: an Australian housing rights lawyer's experience

This paper reflects on the use of Twitter and Facebook at the PILCH Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic (HPLC), and the lessons for social change lawyers. While these two forms of social media have been useful tools in the HPLC's mission to address the systemic and structural issues that impact on people experiencing homelessness in Victoria, Australia, there have been salutary lessons in their deployment, engagement and impact. This paper, written in autoethnographic form by a former HPLC manager, reflects on the costs and benefits of these new media forms for ‘social change lawyering’.

Gatecrashing the research paradigm : effective integration of online technologies in maximising research impact and engagement in legal education

Legal academics are not only teachers but also creators of knowledge. The role of an academic includes a responsibility to share this knowledge through engagement not just of their students, but also of the wider community. In addition, there is increasing emphasis on legal academics having to account for the so-called ‘impact’ of research. In selecting both the topic of their research and the mode of publication of their knowledge, legal academics act as gatekeepers. There is an increasing critique of the existing paradigm of research publication and its emphasis on the metrics of impact. This critique recognises the limitations of the commercial publication paradigm in the present context of open access and the vast array of citizen-mediated platforms for dissemination of legal knowledge and innovation. Susskind (Tomorrow’s Lawyers 2013) for example identifies expert crowd-sourced legal information as breaking down barriers to access to justice. Tracking their experience with publication of a paper on social media in legal education from the ALTA conference in 2012, the authors share an auto-ethnographic account of their insights into the potential for both impact and engagement of a diverse audience in their research. This highlights the ways in which various media can be used strategically to redefine the role of the gatekeeper.

T2-T2 exchange in biofouled porous media

Recent two dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques access exchange in pore structures through surface relaxation and diffusion based relaxation [1-4]. This research applies these techniques to measure pore changes due to biofilm growth and the impact this growth has on diffusion transport. The porous media used in this study are model beadpacks constructed from borosilicate glass beads with diameters approximately 100 um. This research shows that through changes in the relaxation rates, NMR can be used to verity biofilm growth in porous media

Indian news media : from observer to participant

This book makes a new and significant argument that Indian news media is no longer just an observer but an active participant in the events that direct the nation. It explores the changing role of Indian news media and their performance in the past 25 years by closely examining media coverage of some landmark events within the context of India’s globalising polity, which has led to privatisation, widespread engagement with new communication technologies, and the rise of individualism. The challenges of globalisation have caused significant changes in news processes and procedures, which this volume details by examining media’s coverage of events and issues such as paid news, anti-graft movement, sting journalism, Delhi gang-rape protest, politics-media nexus and neo-liberalism’s impact on the industry’s performance.
The book places Indian media’s evolution in the context of economic, political and sociological developments in the country. It takes a multi-disciplinary approach to evaluate reportage in a multitude of media platforms. The theoretical exploration of the changes in the Indian media landscape draws from academic disciplines of ‘media studies’, ‘journalism,’ ‘cultural studies’ and ‘sociology’. This book follows the authors’ earlier work, titled Indian Media in a Globalised World (SAGE/2010).

Race, genetic determinism and the media: an exploratory study of media coverage of genetics and Indigenous Australians

Social scientists and Indigenous people have voiced concerns that media messages about genetics and race may increase the public's belief in genetic determinism and even increase levels of racism. The degree of genetic determinism in media messages has been examined as a determining factor. This study is the first to consider the implications of this area of scholarship for the indigenous minority in Australia. A search of the last two decades of major Australian newspapers was undertaken for articles that discussed Indigenous Australians and genetics. The review found 212 articles, of which 58 concerned traits or conditions that were presented in a genetically deterministic or antideterministic fashion. These 58 articles were analysed by topic, slant, and time period. Overall, 23 articles were anti-deterministic, 18 were deterministic, 14 presented both sides and three were ambiguous. There was a spike in anti-deterministic articles in the years after the Human Genome Diversity Project, and a parallel increase in deterministic articles since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2000. Potential implications of the nature of media coverage of genetics for Indigenous Australians is discussed. Further research is required to test directly the impact of these messages on Australians.

A study of the impact of environmental surroundings on personal well-being in urban China using a multi-item well-being indicator

We examine the relationship between atmospheric and water pollution, traffic congestion, access to parkland and personal well-being using a survey administered across six Chinese cities in 2007. In contrast to existing studies of well-being determinants by economists which typically employ single-item indicators, we use the Personal Well-being Index (PWI). We also employ the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) to measure job satisfaction, which is one of the variables for which we control when examining the relationship between environmental surroundings and personal well-being. Previous research by psychologists has shown the PWI and JSS to have good psychometric properties in western and Chinese samples. A robust finding is that in cities with higher levels of atmospheric pollution and traffic congestion, respondents report lower levels of personal well-being ceteris paribus. Specifically, we find that a one standard deviation increase in suspended particles or sulphur dioxide emissions is roughly equivalent to a 12-13% reduction in average monthly income in the six cities. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.