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This study, reporting on the results of two experiments using college students, finds that audiences judged stories similarly regardless of whether the byline was by a male or female. Bylines with unclear gender — i.e., "J. J. Goodman" — tended to be evaluated somewhat lower. One of the experiments, carried out with relatively unsophisticated news readers, finds that women tended to be evaluated somewhat higher on such variables as "trustworthiness," "writing style," and "accuracy." This study suggests that it may be that times have changed in attitudes toward female bylines, contrary to a number of earlier studies.

Newspapers believe the ethnic composition of newsrooms should mirror the society that journalists seek to understand and record. Yet little research has addressed how readers react to the ethnicity of a journalist. In two experiments manipulating ethnicity in bylines and good news/ bad news treatment, an Hispanic author was highly likely to be associated in readers' minds with a glowing article about Hispanics, but was unlikely to be credited with authorship of a positive article about Anglos. The Hispanic author was evaluted no differently than was the Anglo-American author of comparable skill. Negative treatments of news were regarded as better stories than the positive treatments.

An overview is presented of a multifaceted intervention to promote consistent condom use by female commercial sex workers in Thailand, in the context of the government's 100% condom use policy for preventing spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The project is described with reference to a succession of stages including pre-programme needs assessment, intervention design, implementation and evaluation. The key elements of the intervention were video scenarios and discussions coordinated by health personnel, and video-depicted open-ended narratives aimed at helping sex workers to explore their personal and work-related dilemmas and concerns. A core objective was to enhance sex workers' self-esteem and perceived future with a view to strengthening their motivation to take preventive action against HIV infection. The intervention was evaluated using a combination of qualitative (process evaluation) and quantitative (outcome) methods. The outcome evaluation was undertaken using a pretest, post-test intervention and control group quasi-experimental design. There were significant increases in consistent condom use among the intervention groups but not among the controls. Pragmatic stability is advocated for the Thai sex industry and recommendations are offered for good quality HIV prevention activities.

SummaryA comparative study of 1100 women aged 25–45 years, users and non-users of modern methods of contraception, in the urban centres of Lahore and Faisalabad was conducted in 1991. The objective of the study was to investigate reproductive behaviour and the extent to which social, cultural and attitudinal variables, such as beliefs and values about family life, religiosity and fatalism, influence the fertility decision-making process. Preferences for smaller families were found to be consistently associated with modern attitudes and behaviour towards family and religious values and obligations. Family income, husband's occupation and religiosity offered no explanation of reproductive behaviour. It is concluded that cultural setting and tradition exert an important influence on reproductive behaviour, independent of economic development.

In a previous issue of the Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine, Pillay and Black summarised the trade-offs of the safety of efavirenz use in pregnancy (Pillay P, Black V. Safety, strength and simplicity of efavirenz in pregnancy. Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine 2012;13(1):28-33.). Highlighting the benefits of the World Health Organization's proposed options for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, the authors argued that the South African government should adopt Option B as national PMTCT policy and pilot projects implementing Option B+ as a means of assessing the individual- and population-level effect of the intervention. We echo this call and further propose that the option to remain on lifelong antiretroviral therapy, effectively adopting PMTCT Option B+, be offered to pregnant women following the cessation of breastfeeding, for their own health, following the provision of counselling on associated benefits and risks. Here we highlight the benefits of Options B and B+.

Civilians are increasingly targeted in today's wars. To reduce military casualties, civilians are used as protective shields; to facilitate guerrilla warfare, they are abducted or enslaved; torture, rape, and executions are carried out to undermine morale and to eradicate the cultural links and self-esteem of the population. Most civilians in zones of conflict witness war-related traumatic events such as shootings, killings, rape, and loss of family members. The extent of psychosocial problems that results from this mass exposure to traumatic events may ultimately threaten the prospects for long-term stability in society.