Contesting Sphere Boundaries Online: Private/Technical/Public Discourses in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Discussion Groups

The internet is fast becoming a means for people to obtain information, creating a unique forum for the intersection of the public, technical, and private spheres. To ground my research theoretically, I used Jürgen Habermas’s sphere theory. Habermas (1987) explains that the technical sphere colonizes the private sphere, which decreases democratic potential. In particular, the internet is a place for altering technical colonization of the private and public spheres. My research focuses on women’s health because it is a particularly useful case study for examining sphere tensions. Historically, the biomedical health establishment has been a powerful agent of colonization, resulting in detrimental effects for women and their health. The purpose of this study is to examine how the internet encourages expert and female patient deliberation, which empowers women to challenge the experts and, thus, make conversations between the private/technical spheres more democratic. I used PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) as a case to observe the changing sphere boundaries by studying the discourse that took place on multiple patient and doctor websites over a four-year period. Through my research, I found that the PCOS women challenge the biomedical model by appropriating medical language. By understanding the medical talk, the women are able to feel confident when discussing their health conditions with the doctor and with each other. The PCOS women also become lay-experts who have personal and medical experience with PCOS, reducing private sphere colonization. This case study exemplifies how female empowerment can influence expert culture, challenging our conventional understanding of democracy.

SCWDS BRIEFS: Volume 21, Number 3 (October 2005)

H5N1 Influenza Virus in Wild Birds: A Fact Sheet Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 and Wild Birds What are avian influenza viruses? What is a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus? What is “Bird Flu” and what is “HPAI H5N1”? What do we know about avian influenza viruses in wild birds? Do we have HPAI H5N1 in North America? Is there currently a public health risk associated with HPAI H5N1 in wild birds? Is there a domestic animal health risk associated with HPAI in wild birds? What is the possibility of HPAI H5N1 entering North America via migratory wild birds? What is the possibility of this virus being maintained in wild bird populations? Do we have surveillance for HPAI H5N1 in the United States? Additional information on HPAI can be found at these websites: The recognized geographic and species distribution of chronic wasting disease (CWD) has expanded since early September 2005 to include Hampshire County in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia National Fish and Wildlife Health Initiative Guiding Principles Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) virus was isolated from seven white-tailed deer in southwestern Michigan during September 2005 During the past summer, more than 500 head of livestock in North Dakota and South Dakota were lost to one of the largest recorded anthrax outbreaks in U.S. history. Most of the losses were in cattle, but horses, bison, and farm-reared elk also were affected. Dr. John Fischer, Director of SCWDS, has received this year’s Special Recognition Award from the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA). Dr. William Randolph Davidson is retiring in November 2005.

What Business Reference Librarians Need to Know about Intellectual Property: Presentations sponsored by the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Association (PTDLA) at the American Library Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, June 25, 2006

Presentations sponsored by the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Association (PTDLA) at the American Library Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, June 25, 2006 Speaker #1: Nan Myers Associate Professor; Government Documents, Patents and Trademarks Librarian Wichita State University, Wichita, KS Title: Intellectual Property Roundup: Copyright, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Patents Abstract: This presentation provides a capsule overview of the distinctive coverage of the four types of intellectual property – What they are, why they are important, how to get them, what they cost, how long they last. Emphasis will be on what questions patrons ask most, along with the answers! Includes coverage of the mission of Patent & Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs) and other sources of business information outside of libraries, such as Small Business Development Centers. Speaker #2: Jan Comfort Government Information Reference Librarian Clemson University, Clemson, SC Title: Patents as a Source of Competitive Intelligence Information Abstract: Large corporations often have R&D departments, or large numbers of staff whose jobs are to monitor the activities of their competitors. This presentation will review strategies that small business owners can employ to do their own competitive intelligence analysis. The focus will be on features of the patent database that is available free of charge on the USPTO website, as well as commercial databases available at many public and academic libraries across the country. Speaker #3: Virginia Baldwin Professor; Engineering Librarian University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE Title: Mining Online Patent Data for Business Information Abstract: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website and websites of international databases contains information about granted patents and patent applications and the technologies they represent. Statistical information about patents, their technologies, geographical information, and patenting entities are compiled and available as reports on the USPTO website. Other valuable information from these websites can be obtained using data mining techniques. This presentation will provide the keys to opening these resources and obtaining valuable data. Speaker #4: Donna Hopkins Engineering Librarian Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY Title: Searching the USPTO Trademark Database for Wordmarks and Logos Abstract: This presentation provides an overview of wordmark searching in www.uspto.gov, followed by a review of the techniques of searching for non-word US trademarks using codes from the Design Search Code Manual. These codes are used in an electronic search, either on the uspto website or on CASSIS DVDs. The search is sometimes supplemented by consulting the Official Gazette. A specific example of using a section of the codes for searching is included. Similar searches on the Madrid Express database of WIPO, using the Vienna Classification, will also be briefly described.

Interactivity: a factor to increase memorization

Today, approximately 29% of the world population use the Internet, against 38% in Brazil, which shows its importance in people's routine not only in Brazil, but also worldwide. Being the Internet a communication media, this research evaluates the influence of Interactivity as a factor to increase memorization of Internet sites. According to literature, multiway, immediacy and contingency factors increase Interactivity and sites that provide one or more of these factors influence memorization. 20 in-depth personal interviews were conducted to improve the understanding the issue, to identify leads and elaborate our hypothesis, followed by a quantitative survey of 300 people. Hypotheses were tested using Chi-square and a hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analysis. Results showed that the smaller the number of leads of a specific website, the larger are its memorization and access. The theoretical contribution of this investigation is that websites that offer fewer leads are more interactive, which causes them to be remembered. The managerial implication is that websites with a clear position and a small quantity of information or leads tend to be more remembered and accessed by internet users.

FOLKSONOMIA: UMA ANÁLISE DE SUA OPERACIONALIDADE E SUA POSSÍVEL APLICABILIDADE NA CIÊNCIA DA INFORMAÇÃO

O artigo apresenta uma análise da operacionalidade das Folksonomias e a possibilidade de aplicação dessa ferramenta nos sistemas de organização da informação da área de Ciência da Informação. Para tanto foi realizada uma análise de coerência de tags e dos recursos disponíveis para etiquetagem em dois websites, a Last.fm e o CiteULike. Por meio dessa análise constatou-se que em ambos os websites ocorreram incoerências e discrepâncias nas tags utilizadas. Todavia, o sistema da Last.fm demonstrou-se mais funcional que o do CiteULike obtendo um desempenho melhor. Por fim, sugere-se a junção das Folksonomias às Ontologias, que permitiriam a criação de sistemas automatizados de organização de conteúdos informacionais alimentados pelos próprios usuários

Competência informacional e midiática no ensino superior: Desafios e propostas para o Brasil

A presença das tecnologias e das mídias é hoje tão importante, que é impossível ignorá-la. Os calouros e estudantes universitários de hoje têm telefones celulares com fotos digitais e ídeos. Eles usam blogs, twitter e sites de redes sociais. Ao mesmo tempo, leem livros e artigos, e fazem seus projetos e a lição de casa. Continuamente, diferentes tecnologias e novas informações estão impactando o ensino superior. Isto exige uma rápida atualização da competência informacional e midiática pelos alunos. Apesar do impacto progressivo da tecnologia digital na cultura acadêmica contemporânea, é imperativo resgatar e consolidar um compromisso mais crítico com a informação, mídia e tecnologia. Nós defendemos a convergência da literacia da informação e da literacia dos media no ensino superior. O Projeto CIMES (Competência em Informação e Mídia no Ensino Superior) está em estágio inicial. O presente artigo tem como objetivo revisar as questões teóricas, políticas e práticas sobre a educação para a competência em informação e mídia no ensino superior, especialmente no Brasil. O objetivo final do Projeto CIMES é fornecer uma estrutura para desenvolver programas educacionais no Brasil que tenham a competência em informação e a competência midiática como uma aplicação transversal no ensino superior. O atual estágio do projeto permite apenas traçar um quadro geral analítico

Web Scale Discovery Systems – How to assess the best solution

The University of São Paulo has been experiencing the increase in contents in electronic and digital formats, distributed by different suppliers and hosted remotely or in clouds, and is faced with the also increasing difficulties related to facilitating access to this digital collection by its users besides coexisting with the traditional world of physical collections. A possible solution was identified in the new generation of systems called Web Scale Discovery, which allow better management, data integration and agility of search. Aiming to identify if and how such a system would meet the USP demand and expectation and, in case it does, to identify what the analysis criteria of such a tool would be, an analytical study with an essentially documental base was structured, as from a revision of the literature and from data available in official websites and of libraries using this kind of resources. The conceptual base of the study was defined after the identification of software assessment methods already available, generating a standard with 40 analysis criteria, from details on the unique access interface to information contents, web 2.0 characteristics, intuitive interface, facet navigation, among others. The details of the studies conducted into four of the major systems currently available in this software category are presented, providing subsidies for the decision-making of other libraries interested in such systems.

The humankind genome: from genetic diversity to the origin of human diseases

Genome-wide association studies have failed to establish common variant risk for the majority of common human diseases. The underlying reasons for this failure are explained by recent studies of resequencing and comparison of over 1200 human genomes and 10 000 exomes, together with the delineation of DNA methylation patterns (epigenome) and full characterization of coding and noncoding RNAs (transcriptome) being transcribed. These studies have provided the most comprehensive catalogues of functional elements and genetic variants that are now available for global integrative analysis and experimental validation in prospective cohort studies. With these datasets, researchers will have unparalleled opportunities for the alignment, mining, and testing of hypotheses for the roles of specific genetic variants, including copy number variations, single nucleotide polymorphisms, and indels as the cause of specific phenotypes and diseases. Through the use of next-generation sequencing technologies for genotyping and standardized ontological annotation to systematically analyze the effects of genomic variation on humans and model organism phenotypes, we will be able to find candidate genes and new clues for disease’s etiology and treatment. This article describes essential concepts in genetics and genomic technologies as well as the emerging computational framework to comprehensively search websites and platforms available for the analysis and interpretation of genomic data.

E-Natural

[ES] E-NATURAL es un portal web donde se localizan empresas del sector del turismo rural, en este portal se publicitan y venden sus productos y servicios. Cada empresa dispone de un espacio web único e individual para poder promocionarse en internet. Mediante un buscador, permite a los usuarios acceder a los contenidos de cada empresa registrada en el sistema. Este buscador es abierto y cualquier usuario no registrado puede consultar la información acerca de productos y servicios ofertados, y disponer de toda la información relacionada con cada empresa. Las empresas registradas disponen de un sistema de información completo de fácil manejo e intuitivo que permite autogestionar todo el contenido de los productos y páginas web de cada empresa individualmente. También se incluye  un sistema de gestión de contenidos que genera páginas web profesionales automáticamente, con posibilidad de edición de páginas. Por otra parte, los usuarios registrados podrán realizar: reservas de productos mediante  un completo sistema de gestión de reservas, con especial atención al alojamiento, compras de productos mediante un completo sistema de compras, adaptado a la plataforma Paypal, clasificaciones de productos y páginas web del sistema, utilizando votaciones mediante rankings. La plataforma contiene un sistema de gestión de comentarios sobre productos y páginas web de empresas que permite seleccionar la visualización y la no visualización del contenido. Por último, los usuarios podrán compartir información sobre contenidos publicados en las páginas, mediante el uso de redes sociales como Twitter, Google+ y Facebook.

Bewertungsportale im Internet – Meinungsfreiheit versus Datenschutz und Haftungsfragen der Portalbetreiber

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit rechtlichen Fragestellungen rund um Bewertungs-portale im Internet. Zentrale Themen der Arbeit sind dabei die Zulässigkeit der Veröffentlichung der von den Nutzern abgegebenen Bewertungen vor dem Hintergrund möglicherweise entgegenstehender datenschutzrechtlicher Bestimmungen und der Persönlichkeitsrechte der Betroffenen. Des weiteren wird der Rechtsschutz der Betroffenen erörtert und in diesem Zusammenhang die haftungsrechtlichen Risiken der Forenbetreiber untersucht. Gegenstand der Arbeit sind dabei sowohl Online-Marktplätze wie eBay, auf denen sowohl der Bewertende als auch der Bewertete registriert und mit dem Bewertungsverfahren grundsätz-lich einverstanden sind (geschlossene Portale), als auch Portale, auf denen – oftmals unter einem Pseudonym und ohne vorherige Anmeldung – eine freie Bewertungsabgabe, zu Pro-dukteigenschaften, Dienstleistungen bis hinzu Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen des Bewerteten möglich ist (offene Portale). Einleitung und Erster Teil Nach einer Einleitung und Einführung in die Problematik werden im ersten Teil die verschie-denen Arten der Bewertungsportale kurz vorgestellt. Die Arbeit unterscheidet dabei zwischen so genannten geschlossenen Portalen (transaktionsbegleitende Portale wie eBay oder Ama-zon) auf der einen Seite und offenen Portalen (Produktbewertungsportale, Hotelbewertungs-portale und Dienstleistungsbewertungsportale) auf der anderen Seite. Zweiter Teil Im zweiten Teil geht die Arbeit der Frage nach, ob die Veröffentlichung der durch die Nutzer abgegebenen Bewertungen auf den offenen Portalen überhaupt erlaubt ist oder ob hier mögli-cherweise das Persönlichkeitsrecht der Betroffenen und hier insbesondere das Recht auf in-formationelle Selbstbestimmung in Form der datenschutzrechtlichen Bestimmungen die freie Bewertungsabgabe unzulässig werden lässt. Untersucht werden in diesem Zusammenhang im einzelnen Löschungs- bzw. Beseitigungsan-sprüche der Betroffenen aus § 35 Abs. 2 Satz 2 Nr. 1 BDSG bzw. §§ 1004 i. V. m. 823 Abs. 1 BGB (allgemeines Persönlichkeitsrecht). Die Arbeit kommt in datenschutzrechtlicher Hinsicht zu dem Schluss, dass die Bewertungen personenbezogene Daten darstellen, die den datenschutzrechtlichen Bestimmungen unterlie-gen und eine Veröffentlichung der Bewertungen nach dem im deutschen Recht geltenden da-tenschutzrechtlichen Erlaubnisvorbehalt grundsätzlich nicht in Betracht kommt. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser den tatsächlichen Gegebenheiten und Interessenlagen im Internet nicht mehr gerecht werdenden Gesetzeslage diskutiert der Autor sodann die Frage, ob die datenschutzrechtlichen Bestimmungen in diesen Fällen eine Einschränkung durch die grund-gesetzlich garantierten Informationsfreiheiten erfahren müssen. Nach einer ausführlichen Diskussion der Rechtslage, in der auf die Besonderheiten der ein-zelnen Portale eingegangen wird, kommt die Arbeit zu dem Schluss, dass die Frage der Zuläs-sigkeit der Veröffentlichung der Bewertungen von einer Interessenabwägung im Einzelfall abhängt. Als Grundsatz kann jedoch gelten: Ist die bewertete Tätigkeit oder Person in Bezug auf die bewertete Eigenschaft ohnehin einer breiten Öffentlichkeit zugänglich, erscheint eine Veröffentlichung der Daten nicht bedenklich. Dagegen wird man einen Löschungs- bzw. Be-seitigungsanspruch bejahen müssen für die Bewertungen, die Tätigkeiten oder Eigenschaften des Bewerteten, die in keinem Zusammenhang mit ihm als öffentlicher Person stehen, betref-fen. Anschließend geht die Arbeit auf die Persönlichkeitsrechte der Betroffenen und der sich hier-aus ergebenden Beseitigungs- und Unterlassungsansprüchen gemäß der §§ 1004 Abs. 1, 823 Abs. 1 BGB ein, verneint jedoch wegen dem Vorrang der spezialgesetzlichen Bestimmungen aus dem Bundesdatenschutzgesetz letztlich eine Anwendbarkeit der Anspruchsgrundlagen. Schließlich wird in diesem Teil noch kurz auf die Zulässigkeit der Bewertung juristischer Per-sonen eingegangen, die im Grundsatz bejaht wird. Dritter Teil Sofern der zweite Teil der Arbeit zu dem Schluss kommt, dass die Veröffentlichung der Be-wertungen zulässig ist, stellt sich im dritten Teil die Frage, welche Möglichkeiten das Recht dem Bewerteten bietet, gegen negative Bewertungen vorzugehen. Untersucht werden, dabei datenschutzrechtliche, deliktsrechtliche, vertragliche und wettbe-werbsrechtliche Ansprüche. Ein Schwerpunkt dieses Teils liegt in der Darstellung der aktuellen Rechtsprechung zu der Frage wann eine Bewertung eine Tatsachenbehauptung bzw. ein Werturteil darstellt und den sich hieraus ergebenden unterschiedlichen Konsequenzen für den Unterlassungsanspruch des Betroffenen. Diejenigen Bewertungen, die eine Meinungsäußerung darstellen, unterstehen dem starken Schutz der Meinungsäußerungsfreiheit. Grenze der Zulässigkeit sind hier im wesentlichen nur die Schmähkritik und Beleidigung. An Tatsachenbehautpungen dagegen sind schärfere Maßstäbe anzulegen. In diesem Zusammenhang wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob vertragliche Beziehungen zwischen den Beteiligten (Bewertenden, Bewertete und Portalbetreiber) die Meinungsäußerungsfreiheit einschränkt, was jedenfalls für die geschlossenen Portale bejaht wird. Vierter Teil Der vierte Teil der Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit den „Zu-gut-Bewertungen“. Es geht dabei um wettbewerbsrechtliche Ansprüche im Falle verdeckter Eigenbewertungen. Solche Eigenbewertungen, die unter dem Deckmantel der Pseudonymität als Werbemittel zur Imageverbesserung in entsprechenden Bewertungsportale verbreitet werden ohne den wahren Autor erkennen zu lassen, sind in wettbewerbsrechtlicher Hinsicht grundsätzlich unzulässig. Fünfter Teil Im letzten Teil der Arbeit wird schließlich der Frage nach der Verantwortlichkeit der Portal-betreiber für rechtswidrige Bewertungen nachgegangen. Zunächst wird die Feststellung getroffen, dass es sich bei den von den Nutzern abgegebenen Bewertungen um fremde Inhalte handelt und somit die Haftungsprivilegierungen der § 11 Abs. 1 TDG, § 9 Abs. 1 MDStV eingreifen, wonach die Forenbetreiber für die rechtswidrigen Bewertungen jedenfalls so lange nicht verantwortlich sind, solange sie hiervon keine Kenntnis haben. Da von dieser Haftungsprivilegierung nach der Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichtshofs die Störerhaftung nicht umfasst ist, wird die Reichweite die Forenbetreiber aus der Störerhaftung treffenden Überwachungspflichten diskutiert. Die Arbeit kommt hier zu dem Ergebnis, dass in den Fällen, in denen dem Adressaten der Bewertung die Identität des Verfassers bekannt ist, sich die Verpflichtungen der Forenbetrei-ber auf die Beseitigung bzw. Sperrung der rechtswidrigen Bewertung beschränken. Sofern die Identität des Bewertenden unbekannt ist, haften die Forenbetreiber als Mitstörer und dem Be-troffenen stehen Unterlassungsansprüche auch gegen die Forenbetreiber zu.

Digital marketing: le nuove opportunità di business per le aziende nell'era del web 2.0

L’elaborato ha lo scopo di presentare le nuove opportunità di business offerte dal Web. Il rivoluzionario cambiamento che la pervasività della Rete e tutte le attività correlate stanno portando, ha posto le aziende davanti ad un diverso modo di relazionarsi con i propri consumatori, che sono sempre più informati, consapevoli ed esigenti, e con la concorrenza. La sfida da accettare per rimanere competitivi sul mercato è significativa e il mutamento in rapido sviluppo: gli aspetti che contraddistinguono questo nuovo paradigma digitale sono, infatti, velocità, mutevolezza, ma al tempo stesso misurabilità, ponderabilità, previsione. Grazie agli strumenti tecnologici a disposizione e alle dinamiche proprie dei diversi spazi web (siti, social network, blog, forum) è possibile tracciare più facilmente, rispetto al passato, l’impatto di iniziative, lanci di prodotto, promozioni e pubblicità, misurandone il ritorno sull’investimento, oltre che la percezione dell’utente finale. Un approccio datacentrico al marketing, attraverso analisi di monitoraggio della rete, permette quindi al brand investimenti più mirati e ponderati sulla base di stime e previsioni. Tra le più significative strategie di marketing digitale sono citate: social advertising, keyword advertising, digital PR, social media, email marketing e molte altre. Sono riportate anche due case history: una come ottimo esempio di co-creation in cui il brand ha coinvolto direttamente il pubblico nel processo di produzione del prodotto, affidando ai fan della Pagina Facebook ufficiale la scelta dei gusti degli yogurt da mettere in vendita. La seconda, caso internazionale di lead generation, ha permesso al brand di misurare la conversione dei visitatori del sito (previa compilazione di popin) in reali acquirenti, collegando i dati di traffico del sito a quelli delle vendite. Esempio di come online e offline comunichino strettamente.

Tracce di cinefilia su Facebook

La mia tesi approfondisce le dinamiche della cinefilia su Facebook: quali relazioni s'instaurano tra lo spettatore cinefilo, e dunque il suo particolare sguardo, e la moltitudine di frammenti di cinema dispersi nella rete; come si sono modificati i rapporti, gli atteggiamenti, i processi di negoziazione, le abitudini e soprattutto i discorsi dei cinefili al cospetto di tracce di cinema sui social network e in particolare su Facebook. Inoltreprovo a dimostrare che la cinefilia è un'esperienza costitutivamente autobiografica, cui il web permette il perpetuare potenzialmente infinito della (auto)narrazione di sé.

Effects of glucosamine, chondroitin, or placebo in patients with osteoarthritis of hip or knee: network meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of glucosamine, chondroitin, or the two in combination on joint pain and on radiological progression of disease in osteoarthritis of the hip or knee. Design Network meta-analysis. Direct comparisons within trials were combined with indirect evidence from other trials by using a Bayesian model that allowed the synthesis of multiple time points. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Pain intensity. Secondary outcome was change in minimal width of joint space. The minimal clinically important difference between preparations and placebo was prespecified at -0.9 cm on a 10 cm visual analogue scale. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases and conference proceedings from inception to June 2009, expert contact, relevant websites. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Large scale randomised controlled trials in more than 200 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip that compared glucosamine, chondroitin, or their combination with placebo or head to head. Results 10 trials in 3803 patients were included. On a 10 cm visual analogue scale the overall difference in pain intensity compared with placebo was -0.4 cm (95% credible interval -0.7 to -0.1 cm) for glucosamine, -0.3 cm (-0.7 to 0.0 cm) for chondroitin, and -0.5 cm (-0.9 to 0.0 cm) for the combination. For none of the estimates did the 95% credible intervals cross the boundary of the minimal clinically important difference. Industry independent trials showed smaller effects than commercially funded trials (P=0.02 for interaction). The differences in changes in minimal width of joint space were all minute, with 95% credible intervals overlapping zero. Conclusions Compared with placebo, glucosamine, chondroitin, and their combination do not reduce joint pain or have an impact on narrowing of joint space. Health authorities and health insurers should not cover the costs of these preparations, and new prescriptions to patients who have not received treatment should be discouraged.

Sexual health of ethnic minority MSM in Britain (MESH project): design and methods

Background Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the group most at risk of acquiring HIV infection in Britain. HIV prevalence appears to vary widely between MSM from different ethnic minority groups in this country for reasons that are not fully understood. The aim of the MESH project was to examine in detail the sexual health of ethnic minority MSM living in Britain. Methods/Design The main objectives of the MESH project were to explore among ethnic minority MSM living in Britain: (i) sexual risk behaviour and HIV prevalence; (ii) their experience of stigma and discrimination; (iii) disclosure of sexuality; (iv) use of, and satisfaction with sexual health services; (v) the extent to which sexual health services (for treatment and prevention) are aware of the needs of ethnic minority MSM. The research was conducted between 2006 and 2008 in four national samples: (i) ethnic minority MSM living in Britain; (ii) a comparison group of white British MSM living in Britain; (iii) NHS sexual health clinic staff in 15 British towns and cities with significant ethnic minority communities and; (iv) sexual health promotion/HIV prevention service providers. We also recruited men from two "key migrant" groups living in Britain: MSM born in Central or Eastern Europe and MSM born in Central or South America. Internet-based quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. Ethnic minority MSM were recruited through advertisements on websites, in community venues, via informal networks and in sexual health clinics. White and "key migrant" MSM were recruited mostly through Gaydar, one of the most popular dating sites used by gay men in Britain. MSM who agreed to take part completed a questionnaire online. Ethnic minority MSM who completed the online questionnaire were asked if they would be willing to take part in an online qualitative interview using email. Service providers were identified through the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) and the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) CHAPS partnerships. Staff who agreed to take part were asked to complete a questionnaire online. The online survey was completed by 1241 ethnic minority MSM, 416 men born in South and Central America or Central and Eastern Europe, and 13,717 white British MSM; 67 ethnic minority MSM took part in the online qualitative interview. In addition 364 people working in sexual health clinics and 124 health promotion workers from around Britain completed an online questionnaire. Discussion The findings from this study will improve our understanding of the sexual health and needs of ethnic minority MSM in Britain.

The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies

Much biomedical research is observational. The reporting of such research is often inadequate, which hampers the assessment of its strengths and weaknesses and of a study's generalisability. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) initiative developed recommendations on what should be included in an accurate and complete report of an observational study. We defined the scope of the recommendations to cover three main study designs: cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies. We convened a 2-day workshop in September, 2004, with methodologists, researchers, and journal editors to draft a checklist of items. This list was subsequently revised during several meetings of the coordinating group and in e-mail discussions with the larger group of STROBE contributors, taking into account empirical evidence and methodological considerations. The workshop and the subsequent iterative process of consultation and revision resulted in a checklist of 22 items (the STROBE statement) that relate to the title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections of articles.18 items are common to all three study designs and four are specific for cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional studies.A detailed explanation and elaboration document is published separately and is freely available on the websites of PLoS Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Epidemiology. We hope that the STROBE statement will contribute to improving the quality of reporting of observational studies