The current study examined factors related to older adults' perceptions of Internet use. Three hundred ninety five older adults participated in the study. The factor analysis revealed four factors perceived by older adults as critical to their Internet use: social connection, self-efficacy, the need to seek financial information, and the need to seek health information. Key differences were found between previous research and the factors extracted in this study. The regression analysis demonstrated that variables like health condition, financial status, computer experience, and life satisfaction significantly predict, at various levels, factors perceived by the older adults to affect Internet use. The significance of the study as well as its implications for research and practice are discussed. Suggestions are made for future research and practice.

Social isolation and inadequate social support have been identified as correlates of depression in older adults, although the relationship between depression and social isolation is not entirely understood (Dorfman et al., 1995). This study was conducted to describe the social networks of depressed older adults living in the community and to compare the social networks of depressed and nondepressed individuals, thus adding to the body of knowledge regarding social networks, older adults, and depression. The sample consisted of 91 respondents aged 65 and older who were randomly selected using the voter registry. About 27% (25) respondents reported significant levels of depressive symptomology as measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). All respondents completed semistructured interviews that included questions about social contacts with family and others during the prior week. All participants reported social contact with family and friends during this period. In this sample, depressed elders were not socially isolated. They were more likely to report contacts with friends than those who were not depressed, and equally likely to report involvement in volunteer activities. Their likelihood of seeking social support was also comparable. Results emphasize the importance of peer relationships and suggest that, in some groups of older adults, social isolation may not be a hallmark of depressive symptoms.

Persons above age 80 comprise the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, and it is estimated that one in four will need long-term care due to increased disabilities and illness. A major concern for residents, families, and providers is to ensure care that "allows the resident to maintain or attain their highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial wellbeing." The challenge is measuring a subjective concept such as well-being. The Eden Alternative is a current initiative aimed at improving the quality of life and well-being of long-term care residents. The initiative consists of providing long-term care environments that emphasize person-directed decision making and well-being. The purpose of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of the Eden Alternative Well-Being Assessment Tool (EAWBAT). There are three assessment tools designed to measure the well-being of elders (residents), family members of residents, and employees working in the longterm care environments. The sample consisted of 237 residents, 430 employees, and 134 family members from seven Eden Alternative organizations throughout the United States. Factor analysis was completed to identify the underlying structure in these data for elders, employees, and families. Reliability statistics were computed for each scale. Reliability statistics ranged from .876 (employee assessment tool) to .949 (family assessment tool), indicating the potential of the EAWBAT to measure the well-being of residents residing in long-term care environments, employees supporting them, and their family members.

Health professions trainees' performance in teams is rarely evaluated, but increasingly important as the healthcare delivery systems in which they will practice move towards team-based care. Effective management of care transitions is an important aspect of interprofessional teamwork. This mixed-methods study used a crossover design to randomise health professions trainees to work as individuals and as teams to formulate written care transition plans. Experienced external raters assessed the quality of the written care transition plans as well as both the quality of team process and overall team performance. Written care transition plan quality did not vary between individuals and teams (21.8 vs. 24.4, respectively, p = 0.42). The quality of team process did not correlate with the quality of the team-generated written care transition plans (r = -0.172, p = 0.659). However, there was a significant correlation between the quality of team process and overall team performance (r = 0.692, p = 0.039). Teams with highly engaged recorders, performing an internal team debrief, had higher-quality care transition plans. These results suggest that high-quality interprofessional care transition plans may require advance instruction as well as teamwork in finalising the plan.

Vitamin metabolism of the fowl. I 754. The shell gland has three-quarters of its riboflavin present as dinucleotide, the 5. It is suggested that the magnum is the tissue involved in the day-to-day rest being equally divided between the free form and the mononucleotide.mechanism affecting the amount of riboflavin in the egg.The author thanks Dr A. W. Greenwood, the Director of this Centre, for his advice and criticism, and Miss D. R. Mitchell for assistance both in the care of the birds and in the analyses. M. E. COATES AND OTHERS 1952which, mainly because of their speed and simplicity of operation, are increasingly being used for routine determinations of the vitamins. Since they are applied in particular at this laboratory to experiments on the synthesis of vitamins by the micro-organisms of the alimentary tract, it was thought advisable to examine certain gut-content materials by the chick method.The following twelve substances were tested for one or more of the vitamins listed; (9) Dried spinach-beet ; a mixture of spinach-beet leaves freshly picked, freed from stalk, immediately dried in a current of warm air at about 4 5 O and milled before use.(10) Dried rat faeces, collected from normal stock-colony rats and dried at about 70°, then milled finely.(I I) Dried whole rumen contents, kindly supplied by our colleague Dr J. W. G.Porter, collected from a fistulated cow over several weeks, spread on stainless steel trays, dried in a current of warm air at about 45', then milled and the whole sample remixed mechanically before use.(12) Fish solubles, kindly supplied by Dr J. A. Lovern of the Torry Research Station, Aberdeen; a concentrate of a watery extract obtained in the course of manufacture of herring oil by the ' cook-and-press' method. StandardsFor the work with chicks commercially pure samples of the vitamins were used throughout, since the quantities involved were large. For microbiological tests the Medical Research Council Provisional Standards were used when available ; synthetic pteroylglutamic acid (Lederle Laboratories Inc.) was used as folic-acid standard in both methods. The two sets of standards were compared microbiologically and corrections were made when necessary, the results being expressed in terms of microbiological standards. Most of the materials were bulky and of low potency, so that it was sometimes necessary to replace as much as 20 yo of the diet by the test sample to get a measurable response. The basic components of the diet were then adjusted to preserve the nutritive value of the basal diet as far as possible unchanged. Where the sample, such as dried faeces or flour, consisted mainly of fibrous or carbohydrate material, it was added at the expense of the dextrin. If it contained an appreciable amount of protein, as in dried milk, some of the casein was omitted from the basal diet. Certain materials for which a chick assay was required were of too low potency to give a measurable response even when forming 20 % of the diet. Such samples were fortified before testing by the addi...