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Objective: To evaluate the effect of an anti-smoking advertisement on young women's perceptions of smoking in movies and their intention to smoke. Subjects/setting: 2038 females aged 12-17 years offending cinemas in New South Wales, Australia. Design/intervention: Quasi-experimental study of patrons, who were surveyed after having viewed a movie of their local cinema. The control group was surveyed during week 1 and the intervention group, during week 2. Before seeing the movie in week 2, a 30 second anti-smoking advertisement was shown, which featured a well known female actor drawing attention to the prevalence of smoking in movies. Outcomes: Altitude of current smokers and non-smokers to smoking in the movies; intention of current smokers and non-smokers to be smoking in 12 months time. Results: Among non-smokers, 48.2% of the intervention subjects thought that the smoking in the movie they viewed was "not OK" compared with 28.3% of the control subjects (p < 0.0001). However, there was no difference among smokers in the intervention (26.4%) and control (16.9%) groups (p = 0.28). A higher percentage of current smokers in the intervention group indicated they were unlikely to smoke in 12 months time (47.8%) than smokers in the control condition (31.9%) (p = 0.03). For non-smokers, there was no difference in smoking intentions between conditions, with 95% saying they would be unlikely to be smoking in 12 months time. Conclusions: This "real world" study suggests that placing an anti-smoking advertisement before movies containing smoking scenes can help to "immunise" young women against the influences of film stars smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, as the key raw material of artificial biological heart valve, bovine pericardium is mainly depend on import and has become a "bottleneck" challenge, greatly limiting the development of domestic biological heart valve. Therefore, the localization of bovine pericardium is extremely urgent. In this study, the pericardium of Sichuan yak was compared with that of Australian cattle in terms of fundamental properties and anti-calcification performance. The results demonstrated that the appearance and thickness of yak pericardium were more advantageous than the Australian one. Sichuan yak pericardium and Australian cattle pericardium had comparable performance in shrinkage temperature, mechanical test and anti-calcification test. This study preliminarily verifies the feasibility of substitution of Australian cattle pericardium by Sichuan yak pericardium and promotes the progression of bovine pericardium localization with data support.

Background: Various continuing medical education (CME) options are available for general practitioners (GPs). These options differ in their clinical effectiveness and GPs' preferences for learning format. We report on a national survey, conducted by NPS MedicineWise, identifying Australian GPs' preferences for CME., Methods: A stratified random sample of 2500 GPs in Australia participated in the survey in 2012. Reponses to the questions on GPs' preferences for CME activities and motivation for choice were analysed., Results: Most GPs (95%) preferred learning in a group rather than on their own. Specifically, 83% preferred face-to-face lecture-based formats; 70% preferred interactive group discussions; 66% preferred one-to-one learning with an expert; and 55% preferred online self-education. Relevance to clinical practice was the key motivation for participation (80%)., Discussion: Although GPs are increasingly using online learning, conventional face-to-face activities with peers and experts remain popular. Lecture-based CME continues to be preferred, despite evidence suggesting other modalities may be more effective. CME activities delivered through a combination of methods are likely to appeal to the wide range of GP preferences while optimising clinical outcomes.