Citizens' social media adoption in Paraguay / Adopción de redes sociales por parte de los ciudadanos en Paraguay / Adoção de redes sociais por cidadãos no Paraguai

Abstract This article aims to identify factors associated with the use of social media by Paraguayan citizens in their relationship with the government. We gathered data using a vignette survey, which recorded the responses to four public service problems and collected scores on perceived effectiveness, capability, social influence, trust in government, trust in social media infrastructure, and social media anxiety. Multivariate analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Perceived effectiveness, social influence, and trust in social media infrastructures were found to be significantly correlated with citizens' use of such media to report public service issues. On the other hand, capability, trust in government, and social media anxiety were not found to be associated with citizens' social media use. The results urge further theorization to disentangle how perceived effectiveness, social influence, and trust in social media infrastructures affect digital citizen engagement and participation and under what conditions proprietary social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter contribute to a vibrant democracy.

Resumen Este artículo tiene como objetivo identificar qué factores están asociados con el uso de las redes sociales por parte de los ciudadanos paraguayos en las relaciones ciudadano-gobierno. Recopilamos datos mediante una encuesta basada en técnica de viñeta en la que se registraron las respuestas a cuatro problemas de servicio público, además de puntuaciones sobre la eficacia percibida, la capacidad, la influencia social, la confianza en el Gobierno, la confianza en la infraestructura de las redes sociales y la ansiedad con relación a las redes sociales. Se utilizó un análisis multivariado para probar las hipótesis. Se encontró que hay una correlación entre la efectividad percibida, la influencia social y la confianza en las infraestructuras de las redes sociales con el uso de las redes sociales por parte de los ciudadanos para informar sobre problemas de servicio público. Por otro lado, no se encontró que la capacidad, la confianza en el Gobierno y la ansiedad con relación a las redes sociales estuvieran asociadas con el uso de las redes sociales por parte de los ciudadanos. Los resultados nos instan a teorizar y desentrañar aún más cómo la efectividad percibida, la influencia social y la confianza en las infraestructuras propietarias de las redes sociales afectan el compromiso y la participación digital de los ciudadanos, y bajo qué condiciones las plataformas propietarias de las redes sociales propietarias ‒como Facebook y Twitter‒ contribuyen a una democracia vibrante.

Resumo Este artigo tem como objetivo identificar os fatores associados ao uso das redes sociais pelos cidadãos paraguaios nas relações cidadão-governo. A coleta dos dados foi feita usando uma pesquisa com vinhetas na qual as respostas a quatro problemas com serviços públicos foram registrados. Também foram coletadas pontuações sobre a percepção de eficácia, capacidade, influência social, confiança no governo, confiança na infraestrutura das redes sociais e ansiedade em relação às redes sociais. Uma análise multivariada foi usada para testar as hipóteses. A percepção de eficácia, a influência social e a confiança nas infraestruturas das redes sociais estão significativamente correlacionadas com o uso que os cidadãos fazem das redes sociais para relatar problemas nos serviços públicos. Por outro lado, a capacidade, a confiança no governo e a ansiedade em relação às redes sociais não foram associadas ao uso das redes sociais pelos cidadãos. Os resultados nos incentivam a formular mais teorias e desvendar como a percepção de eficácia, a influência social e a confiança nas infraestruturas das redes sociais afetam o envolvimento e a participação digital do cidadão, e em que condições as plataformas proprietárias de redes sociais, como o Facebook e o Twitter, contribuem para uma democracia vibrante.

"Agora é guerra": a presença do discurso mobilizador em campanhas de controle da dengue / "Let's go to war": the presence of the mobilizing discourse on dengue control campaigns / "Declarada la guerra": la presencia del discurso movilizador en campañas de control del dengue

O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar resultados de pesquisa sobre as campanhas publicitárias da Secretaria de Estado de Saúde de Minas Gerais (SES-MG) veiculadas na televisão para controle da dengue, observando de que maneira a ideia de mobilização foi utilizada como estratégia discursiva. As peças foram estudadas a partir da perspectiva da nova análise do discurso proposta por Charaudeau, que concebe os discursos como resultantes de uma articulação de mão dupla entre os planos situacional e linguístico. Neste artigo, analisamos dois dos filmes publicitários veiculados nos anos 2010 e 2014, integrantes das campanhas 'Agora é Guerra ­ Todos contra Dengue' e 'Dengue ­ Ou a gente acaba com Ela ou Ela acaba com a gente'. Investigamos e questionamos tanto o discurso mobilizador adotado, que traz referências visuais, textuais e sonoras que remetem a uma guerra contra um inimigo comum, quanto as representações hegemônicas de gênero nas campanhas.

The aim of this article is to present results of a research on advertising campaigns by the Secretaria de Estado de Saúde de Minas Gerais ­ SES-MG (Minas Gerais Department of Health) that were broadcast on television to control dengue fever, observing how the idea of mobilization was used as a discursive strategy. The pictures were studied from the perspective of the new discourse analysis proposed by Charaudeau, who conceives the discourses as resulting from a two-way articulation between the situational and linguistic aspects. In this article, we analyze two films broadcast on TV by the years 2010 and 2014, which are constituent parts of the campaigns "Agora é Guerra ­ Todos contra Dengue" (Let's go to war - everybody against the dengue fever) and "Dengue ­ Ou a gente acaba com Ela ou Ela acaba com a gente" (Dengue fever - either we annihilate It or It annihilate us). We investigate and question the mobilizing discourse adopted, which brings visual, textual and sonorous references sending people to a war against a common enemy, as well as the hegemonic representations of gender on the campaigns.

El objetivo de este artículo es presentar resultados de una investigación sobre las campañas publicitarias de la Secretaria de Estado de Saúde de Minas Gerais (Ministerio de Salud de la Provinicia de Minas Gerais) que fueron transmitidas en la televisión para controlar la dengue, observando de qué manera la idea de movilización fue utilizada como estrategia discursiva. Las imágenes fueron estudiadas desde la perspectiva del nuevo análisis del discurso propuesto por Charaudeau, que concibe los discursos como resultantes de una articulación de circulación en los dos sentidos entre los planos situacional y lingüístico. Analizamos dos vídeos publicitarios transmitidos en los años 2010 y 2014, integrantes de las campañas "Agora é Guerra ­ Todos contra Dengue" (Declarada la guerra - todos contra el dengue) y "Dengue ­ Ou a gente acaba com Ela ou Ela acaba com a gente" (Dengue - O la gente acaba con Ello o Ello acaba con la gente). Investigamos y cuestionamos tanto el discurso adoptado para movilizar, que trae referencias visuales, textuales y sonoras que remiten a una guerra contra un enemigo común, como las representaciones en que quedó clara la hegemonia de género en las campañas.

Anti-obesity Public Service Announcements: An Exploratory Study on Perceived Realism and Identification with Advertisement Characters / Anuncios públicos contra la obesidad: estudio exploratorio sobre realismo percibido e identificación con los personajes de anuncios

Abstract. Mass media outreach represents an important vehicle to address widespread obesity; however, literature evaluating the effectiveness of the anti-obesity message is scarce, and the concept of identification has not been reviewed in that context. Identification with message characters and perception of realism facilitate engagement and foster message effectiveness. Fifteen women were presented with four portrayals of the overweight, in one-onone interviews: (1) a sedentary, overeating obese individual; (2) an overweight person struggling with daily activities; (3) another overweight person in a low-income socio-economic context, and (4) an overweight woman exercising and limiting her in portions. This exploratory study indicates that associating an obese person with some negatively perceived activities limits identification, regardless of activities being perceived as realistic.

Resumen. Los medios masivos proporcionan un vehículo importante para combatir la obesidad; sin embargo, la evidencia científica de la eficacia de los anuncios contra la obesidad es escasa y el concepto de identificación poco desarrollado en ese contexto. La identificación y percepción de realismo, facilita el involucramiento y fomenta la eficacia del mensaje. A quince madres se les presentaron cuatro representaciones de personas con sobre peso: (1) una persona sedentaria con obesidad, comiendo en exceso; (2) una persona con sobre peso, realizando con dificultad actividades diarias; (3) varias personas con sobre peso, en un barrio de nivel socio-económico bajo; (4) una persona con sobre peso, haciendo ejercicio y limitándose en sus porciones de alimentos. Este estúdio exploratorio sugiere que asociar a una persona con obesidad a las actividades percibidas negativamente, limita la identificación, independientemente de que las actividades sean percibidas como realistas.

Effects of Anti-Smoking Public Service Announcements on the Attitudes of Korean College Students toward Smoking

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the effects of anti-smoking public service announcements on the attitudes of Korean college students toward smoking. METHODS: This study involved students via convenience sampling from seven universities who were randomly assigned to four groups. All groups completed a preliminary questionnaire, before being shown a public service announcement twice, and then completed a post viewing questionnaire. RESULTS: For announcements with positive messages, the proportion of changes in beliefs and attitudes were 39.1% and 19.8%, respectively, whereas those with negative messages showed a greater proportion of changes in the beliefs (59.7%) and attitudes (40.3%). After adjusting for sex and change in belief, the message types and smoking status were identified as factors affecting the change in the participants attitudes. A negative message resulted in a greater change in attitudes (odds ratio [OR], 3.047; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.847–5.053). Ever-smokers including current smokers showed a greater positive change in attitude than never-smokers (OR, 6.965; 95% CI, 4.107–11.812). CONCLUSION: This study found that positive anti-smoking public service announcements were more effective on attitude change than negative messages. Additionally these announcements were more effective among viewers who were current smokers or had a prior smoking experience.

Prostate-specific antigen in breast disease

The aim of this study is to assess tissue and serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in breast lesions; to compare tissue PSA with serum PSA; to compare tissue PSA in benign and malignant lesions and to compare PSA with known prognostic factors in breast carcinoma. Tissue PSA immunoreactivity in twenty women with breast carcinoma was compared with PSA in twenty-three women with benign breast lesions. Tissue PSA was also compared with known prognostic indicators such as tumour size, axillary nodal status, histological type, histological grade, oestrogen receptor status, progesterone receptor status and c-erbB-2 oncoprotein over-expression. Serum free PSAlevels from these women were measured pre- and post-operatively and an attempt was made to correlate serum PSA with tissue PSA expression. 40% and 43% of malignant and benign breast lesions respectively showed tissue PSA immunoreactivity. No significant difference was observed in the tissue PSA expression between these two groups as also between tissue PSA and known prognostic indicators. As serum PSA levels were below the detection limit (< 0.004 ng/ml) in all except two benign cases, no statistical evaluation was done for the latter. Tissue PSA expression did not correlate with other prognostic markers and detectable serum PSA levels were present in too few cases for statistical analysis. Although no definitive conclusion is possible in this preliminary study regarding the role of PSA in breast disease, it stimulates interest in further research in this direction.

Effect of Neoadjuvant Hormonal Therapy of Surgical Margin Status in Patients with Prostate Cancer Treated by Radical Prostatectomy / Journal of Rural Medicine

(Objective) Neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (NHT) before radical prostatectomy promotes the downstaging of primary lesions. A retrospective analysis was conducted of the relationship between NHT durations and positive surgical margin rates, as well as between positive surgical margin rates and three types of prostatectomy (antegrade radical prostatectomy, retrograde radical prostatectomy, and laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP)).;(Materials and Methods) This study was a retrospective analysis of 257 patients treated with radical prostatectomy during the three years between April 2002 and March 2005. Of the 257 patients, 190 were treated by NHT. NHT durations were classified into “not conducted,” “<1 month,” “1-3 month,” “3-6 month” and “>6 month,” and the relationship between positive surgical margin rates and NHT durations was investigated. Seventy-four patients underwent antegrade radical prostatectomy, 131 were treated with retrograde radical prostatectomy, and 52 underwent LRP. Positive surgical margin rates were investigated according to the types of prostatectomy, as well as according to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels upon diagnosis.;(Results) Positive surgical margin rates were 53.8% in the “not conducted” and “<1 month” groups, 38.8% in the “1-3 month” group, 32.4% in the “3-6 month” group, and 10.7% in the >6 month” group. Positive surgical margin rates after open surgery (antegrade and retrograde) tended to decrease when NHT durations were longer, while those after LRP tended to increase inversely. No correlation was observed between PSA levels upon diagnosis and positive surgical margin rates or between presurgical PSA levels and NHT durations.;(Conclusion) Positive surgical margin rates were not significantly different when patients were treated with NHT for 1-3 months, but they tended to decrease when NHT was for >6 months. However, positive surgical margin rates after LRP increased when NHT continued for longer periods of time. This may the result of fibrous adhesion in the vicinity of the prostate due to long-term NHT which made the surgical margins unclear.

Effect of cathepsin D and prostate specific antigen on latent transforming growth factor-beta in breast cancer cell lines

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta) is present, predominantly in latent forms, in normal and malignant breast tissue. The mechanisms by which latent TGFbeta is activated physiologically remain largely an enigma. The objective of this study was to assess whether the proteases, cathepsin D and prostate specific antigen (PSA) could activate latent TGFbeta1 and TGFbeta2 in conditioned media of the hormone-dependent MCF-7 and hormone-independent MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell lines, newly purchased from ATCC. Both of the cell lines were seeded in 6-well plates 2 days prior to treatment with varying concentrations of cathepsin D and PSA. Active TGFbeta1 and TGFbeta2 in the media were then measured by ELISA after 4, 8, 24 and 72 hours of treatment. TGFbeta1 and TGFbeta2 mRNA expression of both cell lines were measured by RT-PCR to determine whether any increase in level of active TGFbeta1 and TGFbeta2 was due to increased production. There was a significant increase in only active TGFbeta2 levels in the MDA-MB-231 cell line with both treatments. Cathepsin D and PSA did not have any effect on TGFbeta1 and TGFbeta2 mRNA expression. Cathepsin D and PSA were unable to activate latent TGFbeta1 and TGFbeta2 in these two breast cancer cell lines. A constant level of TGFbeta2 mRNA in the control and treated MDA-MB-231 cells suggests that the increase in level of active TGFbeta2 was not a result of increased production but was likely to be due to activation by a mechanism independent of cathepsin D and PSA.

Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Prostate Cancer Screening

To determine the optimal strategy for prostate cancer screening, the cost-effectiveness of screening was analyzed using a medical decision model. One hundred thousand asymptomatic males between the ages of 40 and 69 were modeled with and without screening. The subjects were divided into three 10−year age groups. We used a 5−year survival rate as an effectiveness point and assumed after 5 year survival free from prostate cancer. We considered three potential programs: 1)screening with digital rectal examination(DRE), 2)screening with prostate specific antigen(PSA), and 3)screening with a combination of DRE and PSA. The study was analyzed from the payer’s perspective, and only direct medical costs were included. For each of the three age groups, PSA screening was more cost−effective than either DRE screening or a combination of DRE and PSA screening. The cost−effectiveness ratio for the combination of DRE and PSA screening was 1.1−2.3 times more expensive than that of PSA screening. If the compliance rate for work−up exams is 80%, the cost−effectiveness of prostate cancer screening is approximate to that of gastric cancer screening. In conclusion, PSA screening is the most cost−effective strategy for prostate cancer screening when compared with both DRE and the combination of DRE and PSA screening. But prostate cancer screening should be carefully conducted, taking the cost−effectiveness of the different strategies and target groups into consideration.