Asking about human papillomavirus vaccination and the usefulness of registry validation: a study of young women recruited using Facebook.

Background: Australia was the first country to implement a government-funded National Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Programme. We assessed HPV vaccine uptake comparing self-reported and Register validated estimates, and the knowledge and attitudes of young women with regards to HPV vaccination post-implementation of the programme.

Methods: Females, aged 16-25 years living in Victoria, Australia, were recruited using targeted advertising on Facebook from May to September 2010, to complete a web-based questionnaire.

Attitudes to Chlamydia screening elicited using the social networking site Facebook for subject recruitment.

Background: Chlamydia (Chlamydia trachomatis) is the commonest bacterial sexually transmissible infection worldwide and contributes to significant morbidity in females. We examined potential barriers and facilitating factors for screening in young Victorian women, using the social networking site, Facebook to recruit participants.

Methods: This was part of a larger study on young women's health that assessed the feasibility of using social networking sites for recruitment.

Knowledge of human papillomavirus and cervical cancer among young women recruited using a social networking site.

Objectives: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the commonest sexually transmitted infection. Despite the significant morbidity and mortality associated with HPV-related diseases, previous studies have demonstrated low HPV knowledge in the general population. The objectives of this study were to assess knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV among young women and investigate predictors of high knowledge.

Web-based recruiting for health research using a social networking site: an exploratory study.

Background: Recruitment of young people for health research by traditional methods has become more expensive and challenging over recent decades. The Internet presents an opportunity for innovative recruitment modalities.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of recruiting young females using targeted advertising on the social networking site Facebook.

The galactic habitable zone and the age distribution of complex life in the Milky Way.

We modeled the evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy to trace the distribution in space and time of four prerequisites for complex life: the presence of a host star, enough heavy elements to form terrestrial planets, sufficient time for biological evolution, and an environment free of life-extinguishing supernovae. We identified the Galactic habitable zone (GHZ) as an annular region between 7 and 9 kiloparsecs from the Galactic center that widens with time and is composed of stars that formed between 8 and 4 billion years ago. This GHZ yields an age distribution for the complex life that may inhabit our Galaxy.