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Drawing on Dutch mortgage orientation consultations, the present study uncovers how mortgage advisors communicate information packages to laypersons. These information packages are jointly constructed by advisors and customers as a distinct activity within a professional advisory setting. We name this activity ‘explicative telling’. Through a systematic analysis of 57 of such explicative tellings we will demonstrate that this explicative telling activity consists of (1) doing preliminary work; (2) a body in which (a) general, official information about a specific mortgage topic is given and (b) information is applied to the customer’s situation; and (3) (pre-)closing sequences. Essential to the explicative telling activity is the recipient orientation of mortgage information, and also the advisors’ display of accountability for providing eligible information. This is supported by the irreversibility of the preliminary phase and by the presence of news deliverer upshot formulations during the body of the telling.

A global COVID-19 pandemic caused untold community disruptions, a huge toll on lives and placed major burdens on the economies of developing countries. It spread worldwide within a short period of time before nations could mobilise evidence for the best responses. Communities in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe were heavily disrupted. This article focuses on exploring the transboundary differences in COVID-19 responses, plus the implications for improving the health communication strategies in a pandemic age. Health practitioners and governments were ill-prepared to inform the general public about the pandemic and enforced complete shutdowns of economic and social activities. With the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging communities, there was a dearth of focused health communication on COVID-19’s end. New tools of communication and dissemination of information were embraced in the southern Africa country-specific cases. For example, content on precautionary lifestyles, individual or personal responsibility and utilisation of community health workers in the pandemic era was prioritised to prevent or minimise infections and avoid recurrence of the disease. New communication methods were important for addressing uncertainty and can be applied for any future pandemic. This health communication topic addresses the neglected, but important gap on the efficacy of processes towards better health communication strategies. The transdisciplinary methods include improved health communication strategies informed by the experiences of three Southern African Development Community countries. While such measures to arrest COVID-19 proved plausible, these countries’ projections for the future are a concern, suggesting an urgent need to enhance and strengthen health communication in southern Africa.Transdisciplinary contributionThis is a transdisciplinary exploration of health communication and its implications for COVID-19 and future pandemic responses in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

In the rising new global economic and social period, after the COVID-19 pandemic, traceability is expected to be a critical parameter for the selection of foods by consumers worldwide. Accordingly, traditional foods (TFs) can become the foods of choice in the new era due to their originality, authenticity, unique organoleptic properties, and locality. In this paper, the consumers’ perception on traceability regarding Greek TFs and northwest Greek TFs is investigated, in order to find out the specific information they require for the purchase of these foods. Traceability was tested using variables related to package, product, quality, process, and personal information of these foods. A self-response questionnaire survey was carried out in September and October 2021 on a sample of 1707 participants through the Google platform. The results show that the participants consider traceability regarding questions on package information “quite important” and “very important” by an average of 68%, on food information by 64%, on quality information by 69%, on production process information by 78%, and on personal information by 65%. A similar pattern was recorded for the regional northwest Greek TFs for information on production process, personal, and package data, although there was a significant increase in the perception by the participants for data related to food information itself by 87% and more related to quality information by 94%.

Manufacturers increasingly adopt health symbols, which translate overall product healthiness into a single symbol, to communicate about the overall healthiness of their grocery products. This study examines how the performance implications of adding a front-of-pack health symbol to a product vary across products. We study the sales impact of a government-supported health symbol program in 29 packaged categories, using over four years of scanner data. The results indicate that health symbols are most impactful when they positively disconfirm pre-existing beliefs that a product is not among the healthiest products within the category. More specifically, we find that health symbols are more effective for (i) products with a front-of-pack taste claim, (ii) lower priced products, and (iii) private label products. Furthermore, these results are more pronounced in healthier categories than in unhealthier categories. Our findings imply that health symbols can help overcome lay beliefs among consumers regarding a product’s overall healthiness. As such, adding a health symbol provides easy-to-process information about product healthiness for the consumer and can increase product sales for the manufacturer.

Sensory analysis is a powerful tool for creating profiles of food and beverages based on information perceived by the human senses. This paper investigates 18 of the most popular Colombian coffees. Individuals from nine different cities assessed products in two different ways: degree of presence (absence) of sensory properties and degree of acceptance (liking). The results focused on identifying variations in sensory evaluations due to the city, as well as classification of the products according to their degree of acceptance or rejection, and investigating associations between sensory attributes, price, and label–package information. A correspondence analysis allowed us to investigate the variation introduced by the factor city. The most preferred/rejected products were identified through preference mapping. The level of intensity of the smelling sensory attribute positively affects the price and the information presented at the product´s label–package. However, tasting attributes negatively affects price and perceptions of the product´s label–package information. We conclude that smelling sensory attributes has greater impact on purchase intentions than tasting attributes. Decision‐makers should manage scent, price, and label–package characteristics wisely because they are part of the first experience of the customer. 1) In this study, sensory attributes of the 18 most popular Colombian coffees are investigated. 2) Results suggest that sensory attributes linked to the olfactory sense have direct effect on price. 3) Attributes related to flavor have an inverse relation with price. 4) Same relations are observed for information showed at the package.

[...]the present study was undertaken to evaluate the appropriateness of presently available drug PIs. Analysis of Content of PIs These PIs so obtained were analyzed for the presentation and completeness of clinical and pharmaceutical formulation based on the criteria laid down by the Indian Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 under section 6.2 and 6.3 of Schedule D. The following points were investigated for each of these PIs:[18] Legibility, approved generic name of active ingredients, content of active ingredient per dosage form, list of excipients, therapeutic indications, posology and method of administration, contraindications, special warnings and precautions, drug interactions, pregnancy and lactation, pediatric and geriatric indications, special conditions and contraindications, effect on ability to drive and use machines, undesirable effects, antidote for overdosage, pharmaceutical information, storage information, instructions for use and handling, shelf life, date on which information last updated, name and address of the manufacturer/distributor, provision of full information on request should be highlighted, retail price of drug, and references. Some important aspects that could be considered for further improving the PIs include:[5,6] Readability of PIs clarified by standardizing the font size and type (e.g., size 9 and times new roman), use of capitals, italics, and underlining to be minimized, line spacing to be at least 1.5 times, headings should stand out by choosing a bold typeface or a different color, dark text should be printed on a light background, bullet point is preferable over long paragraphs, thick paper can be used to reduce transparency and glossy paper is discouraged as it causes glare in bright light, symbols and pictograms can be used provided they do not replace the actual text in leaflet, if the pictogram meaning is doubtful then it should not be used, hints regarding the application errors can be included, preclinical safety data to be included for drugs which have been recently introduced into market, also medicinal products whose safety data requires additional monitoring, and it should be clearly mentioned that use of this product requires additional precautions. [...]the various guidelines should be compared with each other for the development of a complete PI so that it can highlight all the salient features of a standard PI.

The aim of this study was to examine if package inserts (PIs) supplied with prescribed and over-the-counter medications in Saudi Arabia contain information relevant for the safe and appropriate use of these medications. Sixty PIs for prescription-only medications (n = 37) and over-the-counter medications (n = 23) were evaluated against a set of safety criteria compiled from the literature. Analyzed PIs were defective in many aspects. Particularly of concern were unclear dosage instructions, lack of measures to be taken when an administrative error was made, inappropriate presentation of side effects, and lack of measures to be taken if serious side effects occurred. This study indicated that information relevant to the safe and appropriate use of medications was not uniformly mentioned in the PIs analyzed. To avoid medication errors due to deficits in the current PIs, we recommend improvement in the existing PIs based on best practice for information content and design.

Background: It is widely recognized that accurate and reliable product information is essential for the safe and effective use of medications. Pharmaceutical companies are the primary source of most drug information, including package inserts. Package inserts are printed leaflets accompanying marketed drug products and contain information approved by the regulatory agencies. Studies on package inserts in India, in 1996, had shown that crucial information was often missing and they lacked uniformity. Aim: To assess the presentation and completeness of clinically important information provided in the currently available package inserts in India. Materials and Methods: Package inserts accompanying allopathic drug products marketed by pharmaceutical companies in India were collected. These package inserts were analyzed for the content of clinically important information in various sections. Statistical Analysis: The results were expressed as absolute numbers and percentages. Results: Preliminary analyses revealed that most package inserts did contain information under headings, such as, therapeutic indications, contraindications, undesirable effects, etc., listed in the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945. The findings indicated considerable improvement in package inserts since 1996. However, on critical evaluation it was revealed that clinically important information was not well presented and was often incomplete. Information with regard to pediatric and geriatric use was present in only 44% and 13% of the package inserts, respectively. Only five of the inserts had information on the most frequent adverse drug reactions associated with the drug. Also, information on interactions and overdosage was often missing. Conclusion: Although the package inserts appear to have improved over the past decade there is still a definite need to further refine the clinical information contained, to minimize the risks to patients. This could be brought about by self-regulation on the part of the industry as well as by updating the relevant guidelines in line with those of developed countries.

Stvaratelji gradiva u Hrvatskoj sve više počinju raditi s izvorno digitalnom i digitaliziranom dokumentacijom te prelaze s datotečnih sustava na dijeljenim mapama (engl. file system) na sustave za upravljanje digitalnom dokumentacijom. Prelazak na takve sustave nije lagan proces zbog potrebe integracije s postojećim aplikacijama i mnogim drugim rješenjima koja omogućuju rad s dokumentacijom. Novo okruženje donosi prednosti i izazove za stvaratelje i nadležne arhive. Ovim se radom elaboriraju prednosti koje stvaratelj može postići kvalitetnom implementacijom sustava, ali i ističu izazovi na koje bi stvaratelji i arhivi trebali odgovoriti.

The work presented in this paper summarizes the research performed in order to implement a set of Units of Learning (UoLs) focused on adaptive learning processes, using the specification IMS Learning Design (IMS-LD). Through the implementation and analysis of four learning scenarios, and one additional application case, we identify a number of constraints on the use of IMS-LD to support adaptive learning.