Making the FTC ☺: An Approach to Material Connections Disclosures in the Emoji Age

In examining the rise of influencer marketing and emoji’s concurrent surge in popularity, it naturally follows that emoji should be incorporated into the FTC’s required disclosures for sponsored posts across social media platforms. While current disclosure methods the FTC recommends are easily jumbled or lost in other text, using emoji to disclose material connections would streamline disclosure requirements, leveraging an already-popular method of communication to better reach consumers. This Note proposes that the FTC adopts an emoji as a preferred method of disclosure for influencer marketing on social media. Part I discusses the rise of influencer marketing, the FTC and its history of regulating sponsored content, and the current state of regulation. Part II explores the proliferation of emoji as a method of communication, and the role of the Unicode Consortium in regulating the adoption of new emoji. Part III makes the case for incorporating emoji as a method of disclosure to bridge compliance gaps, and offers additional recommendations to increase compliance with existing regulations

Illness reporting and demand for medical care in rural Burkina Faso

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Social Science & Medicine. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.The issue of illness reporting in modelling demand for health care in low- and middle-income countries can be handled according to either of two conceptually-different constructs: (a) considering illness reporting behaviour as endogenous to demand; or (b) considering demand itself as the outcome of a sample selection phenomenon. In this paper, we take the second viewpoint and estimate the demand for medical care with an estimator that uses Heckman-type. Empirical estimates based on household survey data from rural Burkina Faso suggest that there are some implications of illness reporting behaviour for modelling the demand for medical care.German Science Foundatio

Willingness to Pay for Social Health Insurance among Informal Sector Workers in Wuhan, China: a Contingent Valuation Study

Background: Most of the about 140 million informal sector workers in urban China do not have health insurance. A 1998 central government policy leaves it to the discretion of municipal governments to offer informal sector workers in cities voluntary participation in a social health insurance for formal sector workers, the so-called 'basic health insurance' (BHI). Methods: We used the contingent valuation method to assess the maximum willingness to pay (WTP) for BHI among informal sector workers, including unregistered rural-to-urban migrants, in Wuhan City, China. We selected respondents in a two-stage self-weighted cluster sampling scheme. Results: On average, informal sector workers were willing to pay substantial amounts for BHI (30 Renminbi (RMB), 95% confidence interval (CI) 27-33) as well as substantial proportions of their incomes (4.6%, 95% CI 4.1-5.1%). Average WTP increased significantly when any one of the copayments of the BHI was removed in the valuation: to 51 RMB (95% CI 46-56) without reimbursement ceiling; to 43 RMB (95% CI 37-49) without deductible; and to 47 RMB (95% CI 40-54) without coinsurance. WTP was higher than estimates of the cost of BHI based on past health expenditure or on premium contributions of formal sector workers. Predicted coverage with BHI declined steeply with the premium contribution at low contribution levels. When we applied equity weighting in the aggregation of individual WTP values in order to adjust for inequity in the distribution of income, mean WTP for BHI increased with inequality aversion over a plausible range of the aversion parameter. Holding other factors constant in multiple regression analysis, for a 1% increase in income WTP for BHI with different copayments increased by 0.434-0.499% (all p < 0.0001), and for a 1% increase in past health care expenditure WTP increased by 0.076-0.148% (all p < 0.0004). Being male, a migrant, or without permanent employment significantly decreased WTP for BHI. Education was not a significant determinant of WTP for BHI. Conclusion: Our results suggest that Chinese municipal governments should allow informal sector workers to participate in the BHI. From a normative perspective, BHI for informal sector workers is likely to increase social welfare because average WTP for BHI is significantly higher than estimates of the average cost of BHI. We further find that informal sector workers do not value the BHI as a mechanism to recover the relatively frequent but small financial losses associated with common illnesses, but because it protects against the rare but large financial losses associated with catastrophic care. From a behavioural perspective, our results predict that at a price equal to the average premium contribution of formal sector workers 35% of informal sector workers will enrol in the BHI. Subsidies and changes in insurance attributes (e.g. including catastrophic care and portability) should be effective in increasing BHI coverage. In addition, coverage should expand with rising incomes among informal sector workers in China. Finally, adverse selection will be unlikely to be a large problem, if the BHI is offered to informal sector workers

Ökologische Sanitärlösungen in Afrika: Beitrag zu nachhaltiger Abfallentsor-gung und erhöhter Bodenfruchtbarkeit

While plant nutrient deficiencies are a major constraint to increasing crop yields in many rural parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, excess nutrients in organic wastes and wastewater cause environmental and hygienic problems in urban areas. We report on an ongoing research aimed at implementing principles of ecological sanitation on a university campus near Accra, Ghana. Alternative sanitation including dry urinals and separating toilets was installed in buildings. Pure urine, urine-water mix, greywater from baths and kitchens and faeces are treated and stored separately. Except for faeces, all materials are used to fertilise annual (urine) and perennial (urine-water, greywater) crops. Urine application significantly boosted maize and sorghum growth. Pathogens present in all fresh sanitary products, e.g. Escherichia coli, could be largely deactivated by six weeks of storage. A survey revealed no fundamental objections of farmers against the use of sanitary products. Scenario calculations suggest that recycling organic wastes and urine may contribute to alleviating nutrient deficiencies, particularly with regard to P and in densely settled areas. Future research should aim at developing hygienically safe, resource-efficient ways of urine application

Prämedikationsqualität und Patientenzufriedenheit nach Prämedikation mit Midazolam, Clonidin oder Placebo: Randomisierte Doppelblindstudie mit altersangepasster Dosierung

Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Die Prämedikation hat u.a. zum Ziel, Angstgefühle und innere Unruhe vor einem chirurgischen Eingriff zu lindern und gleichzeitig möglichst wenig unerwünschte Wirkungen zu verursachen. Es gibt bisher keine Untersuchungen, die die Wirkungen und Nebenwirkungen von Clonidin (Catapresan®), Midazolam (Dormicum®) und Placebo in altersabhängig unterschiedlicher Dosierung verglichen und deren Akzeptanz beim Patienten untersucht haben. Patienten und Methoden: In dieser randomisierten, placebokontrollierten Studie wurden 139 erwachsene Patienten untersucht und 60min vor der Narkoseeinleitung mit Clonidin, Midazolam oder Placebo prämediziert. Angst, Sedierungstiefe und Nebenwirkungen wurden an 6 aufeinanderfolgenden Zeitpunkten erfasst. Ergebnisse: Midazolam zeigte eine stärkere anxiolytische und sedative Wirkung als Clonidin. Die Prämedikation mit Midazolam verminderte die Sauerstoffsättigung. Es gab keine klinisch relevanten Veränderungen in der Hämodynamik in allen Gruppen. Midazolam und Clonidin verminderten das Risiko für "postoperative nausea and vomiting" (PONV). Midazolam zeigte die geringsten Nebenwirkungen. Placebo wurde von den Patienten weitaus am schlechtesten beurteilt, im Gegensatz zu Clonidin und Midazolam, das am besten beurteilt wurde. Schlussfolgerung: Die sedierende und anxiolytische Wirkung von Midazolam ist stärker als diejenige von Clonidin. Midazolam wurde von den Patienten besser angenommen als Clonidin, Clonidin siginfikant besser als Placebo. Die meisten Patienten würden Midazolam wieder wähle

The Challenges of Developing an Instrument to Assess Health Provider Motivation at Primary Care Level in Rural Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tanzania.

The quality of health care depends on the competence and motivation of the health workers that provide it. In the West, several tools exist to measure worker motivation, and some have been applied to the health sector. However, none have been validated for use in sub-Saharan Africa. The complexity of such tools has also led to concerns about their application at primary care level. To develop a common instrument to monitor any changes in maternal and neonatal health (MNH) care provider motivation resulting from the introduction of pilot interventions in rural, primary level facilities in Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania. Initially, a conceptual framework was developed. Based upon this, a literature review and preliminary qualitative research, an English-language instrument was developed and validated in an iterative process with experts from the three countries involved. The instrument was then piloted in Ghana. Reliability testing and exploratory factor analysis were used to produce a final, parsimonious version. This paper describes the actual process of developing the instrument. Consequently, the concepts and items that did not perform well psychometrically at pre-test are first presented and discussed. The final version of the instrument, which comprises 42 items for self-assessment and eight for peer-assessment, is then shown. This is followed by a presentation and discussion of the findings from first use of the instrument with MNH providers from 12 rural, primary level facilities in each of the three countries. It is possible to undertake work of this nature at primary health care level, particularly if the instruments are kept as straightforward as possible and well introduced. However, their development requires very lengthy preparatory periods. The effort needed to adapt such instruments for use in different countries within the region of sub-Saharan Africa should not be underestimated