Public awareness

One of the primary tools for raising awareness on biological invasions has been the publication of species accounts of the most prominent alien invaders. Until now such compilations have been available only for particular taxa, biomes and/or regions (Cronk and Fuller 2001; Weber 2003; Weidema 2000). In Europe, species accounts for selected invasive species have been published for a few countries or

for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) demonstrate the potential to limit infarct size and decrease mortality by coronary reperfusion and arrhythmia control. The effectiveness of these treatments is dependent on time and access to acute medical care. Coronary reperfusion requires early administration of thrombolytic agents or angioplasty. 1-3 Defibrillation and other methods to control cardiac arrhythmias require trained personnel and equipment in an appropriate clinical setting. 4,5 Although the need for timely receipt of these therapeutic strategies is well recognized, rapid access to emergency medical care re-).

During the years of communist rule in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), there were few significant palliative care developments. Since the political changes of the 1990s, however, there has been a steady development of palliative care services in this region. In 2005, the European Association for Palliative Care Task Force for the Development of Palliative Care in Europe undertook a qualitative survey among boards of national associations to identify barriers to the development of palliative care in CEE and CIS. By July 2006, 44 of 52 (85%) European countries had responded to the survey, but we report here on the specific results from 22 of 27 (81%) countries in CEE and CIS. Data were analyzed thematically by geographic region and by the degree of development of palliative care in each country. Four significant barriers to the development of palliative care were identified: 1) financial and material resources; 2) problems relating to opioid availability; 3) lack of public awareness and government recognition of palliative care as a field of specialization; and 4) lack of palliative care education and training programs. Despite huge variations in the levels of provision across the countries of CEE and the CIS, data collected in the qualitative survey reveal that the development of palliative care in many countries continues to remain uneven, uncoordinated, and poorly integrated across wider health care systems, mainly as a result of

Osteoporosis has recently been recognized as a major public health problem by some governments and health care providers. Despite significant progress in knowledge about osteoporosis, public awareness is required for effective management if precautions are to be taken. The aim of this study was to evaluate the educational status of osteoporotic individuals, and their awareness about the disease and sources of information. We also aimed to compare the variables between the geographical regions of the country, since significant differences exist in socioeconomic status and lifestyle within the same cultural context. This multicenter study was carried out in eight cities located in six different geographical regions between September 2001 and January 2002. To our knowledge, this is the first multicenter study in Turkey evaluating the relationship between awareness of osteoporotic patients and other variables such as educational level and economic factors. Ten centers took part in this ...

Background: We planned to raise public awareness and decentralize directly observed tuberculosis treatment at village level using volunteer community members in order to reduce prolonged delays in seeking care and improve compliance to tuberculosis treatment. We do not know the magnitude of tuberculosis knowledge gap and preferred modality of tuberculosis treatment supervision among the public in Tigray. Objectives: To assess knowledge of pulmonary tuberculosis and to determine level of acceptance regarding village-based tuberculosis treatment using volunteers among the general public. Method: A cross sectional survey was conducted among 838 adults (≥15 years) in 8 districts of Tigray region. Respondents selected from 70 villages using a multistage cluster sampling technique were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire in July 2002. Result: The mean and median knowledge score of respondents about pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) was 5.24 and 6.67 (maximum score of 10) respectively. Female respondents (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR)=1.86; 95% Confidence interval (CI)=1.39-2.47), illiterates (AOR=1.64; 95% CI=1.1-2.47) and rural residents (AOR=1.95; 95% CI=1.37-2.76) were more likely to have a low level of knowledge score. Among respondents who had prior knowledge of PTB (n=717), 599 (83.5%) accepted the idea of tuberculosis (TB) treatment by volunteer community members. Illiterates, rural residents, married and respondents with large family size were more likely to support supervised TB-treatment using volunteers. Respondents' preferred treatment supervisors were: volunteer community health workers (60%), public health staff (16.5%) and family members (12.7%). Conclusion: There is a wide knowledge gap among the public regarding PTB. The idea of organizing directly observed TB treatment using volunteers appears to be accepted.

Our objective was to determine age-specific rubella susceptibility among Egyptian females. This was a cross-sectional survey in eight randomly selected communities, with the largest number of reported rubella cases in the 2007 Rubella surveillance. A sample of 5672 females between the ages of 6 and 45 years were interviewed. Of those 602 blood samples were obtained and tested for rubella IgG. The proportion of seronegative females was 9.7%. The highest proportion of susceptible females was in the ages between 6 and 25 years and the highest risk of susceptibility was among unmarried females [odds ratio (OR) = 7.2]. The knowledge of interviewed females about rubella, the vaccine and the effect rubella infection on pregnancy and on the fetus was very limited. In conclusion more vaccination coverage is needed, with simultaneous increase of public awareness to minimize the susceptible female population.

Amazona imperialis) and the Red-necked or Jaco Parrot (A. arausiaca). These birds are of national as well as international significance, as their populations have been on the decline for several years. During the last 15 years the local authorities, with the support and cooperation of various regional and international agencies, have mounted a campaign to save both species from extinction. An islandwide public awareness campaign has been attempted, with encouraging results. An increase in the species population as well as an increased level of private and public support for parrot conservation, are among the positive results to date. In spite of these accomplishments, however, the parrots are not out of danger and therefore continued vigilance is necessary. Additional measures are proposed to ensure the continued existence and complete recovery of the Dominican Amazons.

To be effective, criminal justice policies should affect the underlying social norms for which the policies were enacted. This study sought to determine whether public perceptions of criminal justice policies on domestic violence affected social norms. Two waves of data were collected via a telephone survey where a random probability sample of 973 residents was drawn from 4 communities. A structural equation model was tested and confirmed. Results provided strong support for the hypothesis that perceptions of criminal justice policies have direct effects on attitudes toward criminal justice response, and indirect effects on victim-blaming attitudes, both underlying social norms related to domestic violence. The enactment of criminal justice policies, therefore, may have an impact beyond victims and perpetrators and lead to a transformation of the community through the emergence of new social norms. Public awareness campaigns designed to disseminate criminal justice policies may be instrumental in provoking social change.

Background Breast cancer is the commonest cancer of women the world over, and its incidence is rising, especially in developing countries, where the disease poses a major health care challenge. This growing incidence in developing countries reflects the advanced stage at diagnosis, low levels of public awareness of the risk for the disease, and poor medical infrastructure and expertise, with the resultant poor treatment outcomes. Methods This article provides a collective edited summary of the presentations at the symposium titled “Breast Cancer Care in Developing Countries,” held as part of the Breast Surgery International program at the International Surgical week 2007, Montreal, Canada, August 2007. The aim of the presentations was to bring out the diverse clinical pathological and outcomes-related facts of breast cancer care available to women in several countries. As the incidence of breast cancer continues to rise steadily in the developing world, the lack of awareness of this disease and the absence of breast cancer screening programs make it almost certain that the majority of breast cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. In addition, the quality of care available for breast cancer patients varies widely according to where the patient is treated. Results Though there are some centers of excellence providing multimodality protocol-based treatment on a par with the best anywhere in the world, most breast cancer patients receive inadequate and inappropriate treatment because of a lack of high-quality infrastructure—and sometimes skills—and, above all, because of limited financial resources. Conclusions In countries where these limitations are present, there is a need to emphasize public health education, promoting early diagnosis. In addition, resources must be directed toward the creation of more public facilities for cancer treatment. As these goals are met, it is likely that there will be a much-needed improvement in breast cancer care in developing countries.

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In recent years there has been an increase in the general public awareness of the ethical aspects of technology. The attention given by the media to computer-related disasters in technical systems such as the explosion of the Ariane 5 rocket in 1996 and the Therac-25 computerized radiation machine overdoses has stimulated interest in Computer Ethics.

In the industrialized world, Internet use has grown exponentially to become a global communication and business resource. For the time being, both theoretical and empirical research on consumption and the Internet are still in their infancy. This paper discusses the possible influence of the Internet on sustainable consumption. In absence of a solid empirical data base, the approach is a conceptual one. The paper investigates the role of the Internet in the development of consumption patterns and lifestyles, looks at the Internet's role in developing public awareness of environmental and social issues, and discusses its potential contribution to support strategies for sustainable consumption such as sufficiency, efficiency, consistency, and political consumption. It concludes with implications for consumer policy and questions for further research. While shopping via the web has been reduced to little more than the bit of eye-hand coordination required for a series of mouseclicks, the impact of a consumption-heavy lifestyle on the environment has decidedly not been lessened. Whereas the digital age promises everything, all the time, right away, the momentum of the industrial system and of growing human numbers is such that climate change, soil degradation, over-pumping of groundwater, and deforestation cannot be easily reversed.

Monitoring of marine debris has been undertaken around the world for several years. Its purposes are as follows. 1. To provide information on the types, quantities and distribution of marine debris. 2. To provide an insight into problems and threats associated with an area. 3. To assess the effectiveness of appropriate legislation and coastal management policies. 4. To identify source of marine debris. 5. To explore public health issues relating to marine debris. 6. To increase public awareness of the condition of the coastline. Three main methods have been described, each with variations. This paper provides an overview of the approaches, the advantages and disadvantages and describes the method used by what is the largest current monitoring programme in the UK. It is concluded that no standard technique can be universally employed for monitoring studies but that the use of volunteers is essential to achieve a large-scale survey. The use of volunteers has the added advantages of capitalizing on local knowledge of the coastline being surveyed and directly involving the public in coastal management issues.

Animals that pose a threat of disease are often in conflict with human appreciation of them, despite that they may be endangered in nature. This study examined undergraduate students' knowledge of, attitudes toward, and belief in myths about, bats, controversial animals well known both from mythology and movies. Factor analysis was applied to 46 Likert-type items (Bat Attitude Questionnaire) and five dimensions with high reliability (␣ = 0.93) were derived. It was found that the level of knowledge significantly influenced attitudes to, and belief in myths about, bats. Students more aware of the biology of bats showed more positive attitudes to them and less belief in myths about them than students with less knowledge of the biology of the bat. Males showed greater knowledge of bats than females, but even after controlling for the effect of knowledge, females had slightly more negative attitudes toward bats and greater belief in myths about them than did males. A substantial number of students reported a serious fear of bats. Myths about bats were very pervasive in all subgroups, being similarly distributed amongst biology majors and non-majors. These results suggest that greater public awareness could balance human avoidance of bats, something that is promoted by an evolutionary predisposition to avoid potential disease threats. Effective interventions and public awareness should therefore result in more positive attitudes toward these controversial animals.

– Malaysia is a land and structure deformation active country due to long term rainy season which is common phenomena in monsoon tropical region. To secure this hazard under control, Land Stability Monitoring System (LandSMS), a web-based deformation ...

Space exploration is a multifaceted endeavor and will be a ''grand challenge'' of the 21st century. It has already become an element of the political agenda of a growing number of countries worldwide. However, the public is largely unaware of space exploration activities and in particular does not perceive any personal benefit. In order to achieve highly ambitious space exploration goals to explore robotically and with humans the inner solar system, space agencies must improve and expand their efforts to inform and raise the awareness of the public about what they are doing, and why. Therefore adopting new techniques aiming at informing and engaging the public using participatory ways, new communication techniques to reach, in particular, the younger generation will be a prerequisite for a sustainable long-term exploration program: as they will enable it and carry most of the associated financial burden. This paper presents an environmental analysis of space exploration in the United States and Europe and investigates the current branding stature of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). We discuss how improved market research and new branding methods can increase public space awareness and improve the image of NASA and ESA. We propose a new participatory approach to engage the public as major stakeholder (along governments, the industrial space sector and the science community) that may provide sufficient resources for and sustainability of a long-term space exploration program.

An Arabic version of the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes Inventory [POSHA-E;, a global instrument to measure public attitudes about stuttering. (The ASHA Leader, 22,(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)] was administered to 424 Arab parents of preschool and school age children in 18 government schools across all six governorates in Kuwait. The survey questions pertained to and investigated attitudes, knowledge and beliefs towards stuttering as well as comparative attitudes toward several other conditions. The aim was to identify whether potential barriers existed that might hinder the establishment and conduct of treatment programs for stuttering within Kuwait. These potential barriers might be negative stereotypes, misconceptions about stuttering, cultural beliefs as well as lack of awareness of the disorder within Kuwaiti society. The instrument successfully sampled a variety of beliefs, reactions and emotions that identified cultural beliefs, societal ignorance and confusion about the disorder. It was found that although stuttering appears to be a disorder that most people in Kuwait are aware of and familiar with, their level of knowledge about stuttering in general and about some specific aspects of the disorder was limited. This indicates a need to disseminate scientific information about stuttering in Kuwait and possibly other Arabic speaking countries.

As  countries  of  the  world  used  large  amounts  of  public  funds  to  manage  the  2008  financial  crisis,  public  debt  has risen to a critical level in many of them. due to the drop in real economy, several countries faced unemployment and economic fallback  that  are  still  unresolved  to  this  day.  After  the  crisis,  many  were  concerned  how  to  restore  the  confidence  in  financial institutions  and  how  banks  can  better  contribute  to  sustainable  social  and  economic  growth.  This  paper  discusses  corporate
social responsibility (CSR), an attitude putting ethical norms in the spotlight. The CSR pyramid distinguishes various layers of responsibilities. The first at the bottom is economic responsibility, serving as the foundation for the pyramid, however, companies also need to comply with legal norms. ethical responsibility is the obligation to conduct in a fair way and to do the right thing. After the crisis, central banks in many countries became responsible for sustaining financial stability. To this end, central banks have developed their own corporate social responsibility strategies. This activity is studied from the view of how csr can contribute to
financial stability.

Currently, Malaysia like other Asian countries has experienced rapid expansion of urbanization due to economic development, industrialization, massive migrations as well as natural population growth. This expansion particularly unplanned consumed a huge amount of arable land in the urban milieu and in its surrounding areas. This paper aims to measure arable land loss due to massive urbanization in Balik Pulau region of Penang State, Malaysia. Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) images of 1992 and 2002 at the resolution of 30 m and Landsat ETM (Enhanced Thematic Mapper) 2010 have been used to measure the rate of urban expansion and its impact on agricultural land. The integration of Remote Sensing and Geographical information system GIS were used to quantify the conversion of arable land to built-up areas in Penang State. The result reveals that built-up areas have expanded rapidly during the last four decades at the expense of agricultural land in Balik Pulau Region. Built-up areas had inc...

Siting municipal solid waste landfills in Kuwait had not considered public concerns about the location of such facilities. Kuwait Municipality has disposed urban waste in abandoned sand quarries for the past 20 years in an unplanned fashion. Due to this improper siting criteria, environmental and health problems have risen from old landfills that are located in residential areas. In an effort to help responsible decision-makers in assessing public support for siting landfills a structured, yet simple, questionnaire was designed and distributed to a random sample of heads of households. Statistical techniques were employed to examine trends and relationships between the sample public responses concerning landfill siting criteria. The findings of the research indicated that a significant percentage of the responding sample did not know about the various landfill impacts and less than 50% were aware of the negative impacts of landfills on the public health and the environment. The visual appearance of the landfill scored the lowest impact in the opinion of the sample public while the most important aspect in siting a landfill appeared to be its economic consideration. The research findings also directed attention to the important role that the media could play in increasing public awareness. Results from the cross-classification analysis demonstrated the existence of differences in awareness levels according to age, nationality, martial status, education, and occupation of the responding sample. Statistically, these differences were significant at the 95% significance level, as supported by the test of the x-square.

This paper develops an alternative (or supplementary) theoretical justification for the regulation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social and environmental accounting and reporting (SEAR) to the justification contained in the extant academic literature. It does this by demonstrating how, contrary to the dominant business discourse, increased regulation designed to protect the social and environmental interests of a range of stakeholders can also serve to enhance corporate economic performance and shareholder value.The theoretical perspectives developed in this paper are drawn from Beck's and Giddens’ theories on reflexive modernity, and indicate that reflexively appropriated knowledge can be a key factor in developing socially constructed understandings of the social and environmental risks to a range of stakeholders inherent in business operations.In situations where voluntary self-regulation of CSR and SEAR has been ineffective in preventing corporate actions and decisions that have resulted in damaging social and environmental consequences, processes of reflexivity can substantially increase public awareness of the level of risk they face from corporate operations. Such increased perceptions of risk can lead to a loss of trust in an individual corporation or a whole industrial sector, and this can be exacerbated where stakeholders begin to actively seek out alternative risk discourses to inform themselves about possible risks of which they were previously unaware. We argue that effective statutory regulation could avoid these outcomes, and the loss of shareholder economic value that can flow from these outcomes.

The disastrous flood of 1998 was a result of excessiverainfall all over the catchment areas of the major rivers of Bangladesh. Dhaka City, which is surroundedby rivers on all sides, was seriously affected despite the completion of Phase I of the Dhaka IntegratedFlood Protection Project (DIFPP). Water entered into the protected part of the city throughhydraulic leakage such as buried sewerage pipes, breached and incomplete floodwalls, ungated culverts andinoperative regulators. The drainage network and retention ponds of the city were found to be in poorconditions and capacities of the pumping stations were found inadequate. There was a serious lack of coordinationbetween the agencies responsible for flood protection and drainage of the city. These issues must beaddressed to achieve long-term flood mitigation. In addition, feedback from both the experts andgeneral public indicated that completion of Phase II of DIFPP was essential to bring the eastern part ofthe city under flood protection. Other structural measures suggested in this paper include installing andmaintaining adequate drainage and pumping capacity and timely operation of regulators. This studyalso suggests a set of non-structural measures for flood mitigation that include protectingthe retention ponds, raising public awareness on maintaining the city drains, introducing landzoning and flood proofing in the eastern part of Dhaka, and stream lining institutional bottlenecks.

Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) is one of the public higher learning institutions in Malaysia to offer Biomedical Engineering at the undergraduate level. Biomedical engineering is a new branch of engineering which apply the engineering principle and techniques to the health sector. The needs for such specialization are due to the advancement of medical technology, risk of shoddy medical products which flooded the country's market and also current public awareness on health issues. Thus, Universiti Malaysia Perlis has taken the challenge to develop her own course of Biomedical Engineering to cater the needs of producing capable biomedical engineer in this field to serve the job market locally and abroad. This article will give an update to the recent development of the curricular structure and physical facilities through out these sessions of running the program.

Air pollution is a serious problem in thickly populated and industrialized areas in Thailand, especially in Bangkok. The air pollution in Bangkok is abundant, especially in areas where pollution sources and the human population are concentrated. Economic growth and industrialization are proceeding at a rapid pace, accompanied by increasing emissions of air polluting sources. Furthermore, though the variety and quantities of polluting sources have increased dramatically, the development of a suitable method for monitoring the pollution causing sources has not followed at the same pace. Environmental impacts of air pollutants have impact on public health, vegetation, material deterioration etc. To prevent or minimize the damage caused by atmospheric pollution, suitable monitoring systems are urgently needed that can rapidly and reliably detect and quantify polluting sources for monitoring by regulating authorities in order to prevent further deterioration of the current pollution levels. Consequently, it is important that the current real-time air quality monitoring system, controlled by the Pollution Control Department (PCD), should be adapted or extended to aid in alleviating this problem.

Sri Lanka has an exceptionally rich amphibian biodiversity with high endemism. This paper describes 106 amphibian species, the majority confined to rainforests and many threatened with extinction. The key factors causing amphibian decline in Sri Lanka are of anthropogenic origins; habitat destruction and fragmentation, alien invasive species, wildlife diseases/pathogens, climate change and environmental pollution. Only 750 km2 of Sri Lanka are covered with tropical rainforests and this area is broken into 100 km2 fragments or less. It is difficult for amphibians to tolerate disturbances and to maintain a sustainable population size under these conditions. Alien and domestic species impose threats by direct predation, competition, disease contraction and habitat alteration. Parasites and pathogens, especially the chirtrid fungus, hamper the growth, reproductive success, and physical fitness of amphibians and can result in mortality. Climate change has reduced the distribution of amphibians by modifying vegetation and habitat structure rendering them unsuitable for some amphibians. Pollution, especially agro-chemicals, threaten amphibians causing anatomical malformations, physiological disorders and even mass mortalities. Furthermore, acid depositions causing diebacks in montane forests also destroy amphibian niches. This paper recommends a number of conservation initiatives including in-situ and ex-situ conservation, the establishment of buffer zones to protect core forests, promotion of research on biodiversity conservation, improvement of conservation policies and legal frameworks as well as community-based activities including raising public awareness, environmental education and the introduction of eco-friendly agricultural practices

With the advent of newer diagnostic modalities more and more cancer patients are being diagnosed each year. The rising detection rate and greater public awareness have immensely increased the load on already overburdened and increasingly fewer surgical oncology units. As a result a large number of these cases are being dealt with by general surgeons. Methods: We have used a retrospective case count from a single surgical unit, based at the University Hospital, Varanasi, and data from the Hospital Based Cancer Registry (HBCR), Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Trivandrum, from 1990 to 1994, to define the malignancy load on general surgical units and to define the number and sites of malignancies commonly encountered by general surgeons. Results: A total of 28,136 patients were registered at the RCC, the commonest malignancy being oral cavity (16.35%), followed by lung (12.7%) and breast (23.8%) among men and women, respectively. On the other hand, in the 2123 patients with malignancy who were treated at the Medical College (MCH) in Trivandrum, the commonest sites encountered were stomach (11.68%), thyroid (10.31%) and colorectal (9.5%). This was quite similar to the frequencies observed at Varanasi, where colorectal cancer constituted 10.26% and stomach 6.98%. Only 13.6% of the patients reporting to RCC were treated by surgery alone or in combination, while this figure was 48.1% for MCH. Similarly 2056 (7.3%) patients presenting to RCC had completed treatment prior to being referred to RCC; almost all of these patients were treated by surgery at referral institutions by general surgeons.

"Sustainable housing implementation requires strong support from the public, government and the housing industry. Lack of public awareness and understanding of the language and the
meaning of sustainable housing may cause lack of public support. Salama stated that "sustainability or sustainable design is simply a rephrasing of some of the forgotten values of traditional architecture and urbanism"(Salama 2007). This exploratory paper examines public awareness of sustainable housing in Saudi Arabia. In developing countries, like Saudi Arabia, which have been experiencing a rapid rate of urbanisation, sustainable concept intervention is essential due to the scarcity of resources (Reffat 2004a). Sustainable building methods include the full use of the site design, passive solar design, natural light and ventilation. This paper reports on an exploratory survey on understanding the potential of the implementation of sustainable housing in Saudi Arabia. The main problem is that more than half of respondents were not aware of sustainable housing. Thus, one of the recommendations from the survey is to educate the public by using local media to inform people of the benefits of sustainable implementation to both new and existing housing stock."

We present an overview of our Brain-computer interface (BCI) research, invasive as well as non-invasive, during the past four years. The invasive BCIs are based on local fieldand action potentials recorded with microelectrode arrays implanted in the visual cortex of the macaque monkey. The non-invasive BCIs are based on electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded from a human subject's scalp. Several EEG paradigms were used to enable the subject to type text or to select icons on a computer screen, without having to rely on one's fingers, gestures, or any other form of motor activity: the P300 event-related potential, the steady-state visual evoked potential, and the error related potential. We report on the status of our EEG BCI tests on healthy subjects as well as patients with severe communication disabilities, and our demonstrations to a broad audience to raise the public awareness of BCI.

We explored the relationships among human attitudes towards biodiversity, its economic value and the public awareness for biodiversity conservation. Behavioural items and specific human attitudes to species were studied in the framework of a contingent valuation survey conducted in the Doñ ana National and Natural Park (SW Spain). Our analyses revealed a strong correlation between individuals' attitudes towards particular species and their stated willingness to allocate funds for their conservation. Factors influencing individuals' attitudes and willingness to pay are suggested. Overall, we found that the role of affective factors is much greater than the role of ecological-scientific considerations.

While many countries have developed and expanded efforts to sustain and enhance the protection of biodiversity, the effectiveness of such programs, as well as the manner in which funds are distributed, has been questioned. We examined funding allocation decisions for species conservation in Spain at different governmental scales. Several factors that may impact conservation spending patterns and policy decisions were examined, including available scientific data, current scientific policies, and public awareness and perceptions of conservation needs. Our analyses revealed a strong connection between existing conservation policies and scientific information, research priorities and public concern. We found that there is a substantial bias in the taxa that are studied, the funding levels for those studies and public policy which triggers and supports the studies. The relationships, however, are not strictly cause and effect, but are instead enmeshed in a complex feed-back system in which conventional scientific activity acts as the main driver but is itself influenced by both policy and public perception. By acknowledging both the essential role of science in this system and the critical factors that can influence the acquisition of scientific information, a constructive dialog can be established that will propel conservation activities to a more productive and environmentally sound outcome.

To establish the views of physiotherapists and general practitioners (GPs) on self-referral and physiotherapy scope of practice. Design Survey questionnaire design utilising both qualitative and quantitative questioning. Setting Twenty-six general practices throughout Scotland. Participants Sixty-four physiotherapists and 97 GPs with direct experience of implementing systems of self-referral to physiotherapy in primary care in Scotland. Method Questionnaires containing a mix of open and closed questions were distributed at the end of a year-long data collection period of a national trial (2003)(2004)(2005). Responses were analysed by clinician group: GPs and physiotherapists. Results An overall response rate of 73% (117/161) was achieved. High levels of comfort with, and confidence in, physiotherapists acting as first point of contact practitioners were reported by 96% (67/70) of GPs, and just 6% (3/47) of physiotherapists reported not being comfortable. More than 78% (91/117) of all clinicians indicated that there could be possible and definite benefits for musculoskeletal patients if physiotherapists were involved in monitoring and prescribing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, issuing sickness certificates and requesting X-rays, although this was more strongly supported by physiotherapists (>88% vs >63%; P < 0.001). Seventy-eight percent (35/47) of physiotherapist respondents felt that physiotherapists could accept self-referrals very ably, 47% (21/47) felt that not all physiotherapists were sufficiently experienced, and 16% (7/47) reported the need for additional training before physiotherapists could undertake this role. Only 34% (16/47) of physiotherapists felt that the public understood what physiotherapy is and what it can offer. Conclusion The concept of physiotherapists working as first point of contact practitioners is strongly supported by the majority of GPs and physiotherapists. Potential benefits for patients were identified if physiotherapists undertook extended roles with regard to other aspects of musculoskeletal management. There is a need to address both professional and public awareness of physiotherapy and self-referral specifically.

We can notice that the general public awareness on ethical aspects of technology is increasing. The high level of media attention given to computerrelated disasters in technical systems such as the explosion of Ariane V in 1996 and the Therac-25 computerized radiation machine overdoses has increased interest in Computer Ethics.

Background and purpose In Pakistan, almost 70% of the population lives in rural areas. Ninety-four percent of households in rural areas and 58% in urban areas depend on biomass fuels (wood, dung, and agricultural waste). These solid fuels have poor combustion efficiency. Due to incomplete combustion of the biomass fuels, the resulting smoke contains a range of health-deteriorating substances that, at varying concentrations, can pose a serious threat to human health. Indoor air pollution accounts for 28,000 deaths a year and 40 million cases of acute respiratory illness. It places a significant economic burden on Pakistan with an annual cost of 1% of GDP. Despite the mounting evidence of an association between indoor air pollution and ill health, policy makers have paid little attention to it. This review analyzes the existing information on levels of indoor air pollution in Pakistan and suggests suitable intervention methods. Methods This review is focused on studies of indoor air pollution, due to biomass fuels, in Pakistan published in both scientific journals and by the Government and international organizations. In addition, the importance of environmental tobacco smoke as an indoor pollutant is highlighted. Results Unlike many other developing countries, there are no long-term studies on the levels of indoor air pollution. The limited studies that have been undertaken indicate that indoor air pollution should be a public health concern. High levels of particulate matter and carbon monoxide have been reported, and generally, women and children are subject to the maximum exposure. There have been a few interventions, with improved stoves, in some areas since 1990. However, the effectiveness of these interventions has not been fully evaluated. Conclusion Indoor air pollution has a significant impact on the health of the population in Pakistan. The use of biomass fuel as an energy source is the biggest contributor to poor indoor air quality followed by smoking. In order to arrest the increasing levels of indoor pollution, there is a dire need to recognize it as a major health hazard and formulate a national policy to combat it. An integrated effort, with involvement of all stakeholders, could yield promising results. A countrywide public awareness campaign, on the association of indoor air pollution with ill health, followed by practical intervention would be an appropriate approach. Due to the current socioeconomic conditions in the country, development and adoption of improved cooking stoves for the population at large would be the most suitable choice. However, the potential of biogas as a fuel should be explored further, and modern fuels (natural gas and LPG) need to be accessible and economical. Smoking in closed public spaces should be banned, and knowledge of the effect of smoking on indoor air quality needs to be quantified.

Public awareness of the need to reduce global warming and the significant increase in the prices of conventional energy sources have encouraged many countries to provide new energy policies that promote the renewable energy applications. Such renewable energy sources like wind, solar, hydro based energies, etc. are environment friendly and have potential to be more widely used. Combining these renewable energy sources with back-up units to form a hybrid system can provide a more economic, environment friendly and reliable supply of electricity in all load demand conditions compared to single-use of such systems. One of the most important issues in this type of hybrid system is to optimally size the hybrid system components as sufficient enough to meet all load requirements with possible minimum investment and operating costs. There are many studies about the optimization and sizing of hybrid renewable energy systems since the recent popular utilization of renewable energy sources. In this concept, this paper provides a detailed analysis of such optimum sizing approaches in the literature that can make significant contributions to wider renewable energy penetration by enhancing the system applicability in terms of economy.

Over the past two decades, a misguided, militaristic war on drugs has been waged through a variety of means, including drug interdiction programs on the streets and highways of the United States, and high-profile campaigns in the United States media designed to construct drug use as a dangerous social problem. Yet during this same period, a far more deadly social problem -the death of some 40,000 people a year in automobile accidents along these same streets and highways -has largely been excluded from public consciousness and public debate. Recently, a convergence of circumstances in New Mexico made visible this imbalance in public awareness and public policy, and perhaps even began to remedy it. The roadside shrines that decorate the highways of New Mexico and other states likewise serve this purpose, encoding the collective tragedy of automotive death in the cultural landscape. In their tragic beauty and ongoing accumulation, these shrines challenge critical criminologists to find a new focus, a new everyday criminology of the automobile that can expand the existing criminology of automotive corporate crime.

This study assessed the impact of Information, Education, Communication and Marketing (IECM) strategy by Malawi's Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TEVETA) on potential clients' awareness of the organisation's existence understanding of policies on and HIV/AIDS and Gender, and their perception of the importance of TEVET activities in Malawi. A structured questionnaire was deployed to gather data from a sample of 585 interviewees recruited using a two step sampling design. The findings suggest that the IECM activities were not successful in creating awareness of TEVETA Malawi's presence and TEVET amongst urban, peri-urban and rural Malawians. Further, the study found that potential client knowledge of what TEVETA does and its policies relating to gender and HIV/AIDS inclusiveness was limited. For TEVET to become popular and help in driving national economic growth, the study recommends that TEVETA Malawi should espouse a targeted integrated public communication strategy comprising use of multiple communication channels, strategic placement IECM materials and use of multiple languages.

In 1991 the Philippine government shifted many coastal management responsibilities to local governments and fostered increased local participation in the management of coastal resources. In their delivery of integrated coastal management (ICM) as a basic service, many local governments have achieved increasing public awareness of coastal resource management (CRM) issues. Continuing challenges are financial sustainability, inadequate capacities, weak law enforcement, and lack of integrated and collaborative efforts. To address these challenges, a CRM certification system was developed to improve strategies and promote incentives for local governments to support ICM. This system is being applied by an increasing number of local governments to guide the development and implementation of ICM in their jurisdiction. The CRM benchmarks required for a local government to achieve the first level of certification are: budget allocated, CRM related organizations formed and active, CRM plan developed and adopted, shoreline management initiated and two or more best practices implemented. Implementation is providing tangible benefits to communities through enhanced fisheries production associated with MPAs, revenues from user fees and enhanced community pride through learning exchanges and involvement in decisions, among others.

In India Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been formally introduced in 1994. It relied on the institutional framework that has a strong supporting legislative, administrative and procedural set-up. Both central and state authorities together are sharing the responsibility of its development and management. A Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) analysis taken up in this article has suggested that there are several issues that need to be readdressed. It highlights several constraints, ranging from improper screening and scoping guidelines to ineffective monitoring and post project evaluation. The opportunities are realised as increasing public awareness, initiatives of environmental groups and business community and forward thinking to integrate environmental consideration into plans and policies. Poor governance, rapid economic reforms, and favours to small-scale units are some of the foreseen threats to the system. This article concludes with some suggestions to improve EIA process in India.

‘Virtual globe’ software systems such as Google Earth are growing rapidly in popularity as a way to visualise and share 3D environmental data. Scientists and environmental professionals, many of whom are new to 3D modeling and visual communications, are beginning routinely to use such techniques in their work. While the appeal of these techniques is evident, with unprecedented opportunities for public access to data and collaborative engagement over the web, are there nonetheless risks in their widespread usage when applied in areas of the public interest such as planning and policy-making?This paper argues that the Google Earth phenomenon, which features realistic imagery of places, cannot be dealt with only as a question of spatial data and geographic information science. The virtual globe type of visualisation crosses several key thresholds in communicating scientific and environmental information, taking it well beyond the realm of conventional spatial data and geographic information science, and engaging more complex dimensions of human perception and aesthetic preference. The realism, perspective views, and social meanings of the landscape visualisations embedded in virtual globes invoke not only cognition but also emotional and intuitive responses, with associated issues of uncertainty, credibility, and bias in interpreting the imagery. This paper considers the types of risks as well as benefits that may exist with participatory uses of virtual globes by experts and lay-people. It is illustrated with early examples from practice and relevant themes from the literature in landscape visualisation and related disciplines such as environmental psychology and landscape planning. Existing frameworks and principles for the appropriate use of environmental visualisation methods are applied to the special case of widely accessible, realistic 3D and 4D visualisation systems such as Google Earth, in the context of public awareness-building and agency decision-making on environmental issues. Relevant principles are suggested which lend themselves to much-needed evaluation of risks and benefits of virtual globe systems. Possible approaches for balancing these benefits and risks include codes of ethics, software design, and metadata templates.

... 1991) combined remote sensing technology with ... spatial variation using GIS reduces the uncertainty caused by spatial averaging; for example, change in the land ... These applications ofGIS with water quality models enable management agencies to identify critical areas within a ...

The study aimed to disclose and described the prevailing sentiments on the different news articles on mental depression among public school teachers in the Philippines. The study utilized a mixed-method research design utilizing content analysis of online news articles from January to December 2019. The study employed Plutchik Wheels of Emotions to present the sentiment analysis of the study. Google Trends was also utilized to present the vulnerability of the topic. The news content analysis revealed sentiments of the articles to negative (36.88%) and positive (63.12%) where writers principal emotions on Trust, Anticipation, Fear and Sadness and few articles on Joy, Anger, Surprise and Disgust. The unique discoveries of the study focused on the soft evidence and the actual news articles on Mental Depression among Public School Teachers. Further studies may be conducted to explore the hidden themes on the embedded sentiments found in the news articles in this study

The present scenario of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in four study countries of Asianamely China, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand is highlighted comparing technical, economic, legal and, health issues. An overview of various aspects of the municipal solid waste (MSW) is provided comprising all domestic and non-hazardous wastes in the urban areas of the above countries with emphasis on the generation and composition of MSW, management needs, collection systems practiced, transportation and disposal systems used. The collections systems and their lacunae, the recycling practiced with respect to the involvement of the government and the private sectors are underlined. Disposal methods in India and Thailand find mention in particular for landfill and incineration. Other issues taken up are the effects on MSW due to cultural aspects and climatic variations. Further to that it is reflected on the public awareness and participation of the community in MSWM as well as the involvement of the NGOs and the private sector. Finally, the emerging trends with respect to the integrated solid waste management (ISWM) have been discussed.

The most common expression of phenolic compounds is flavonoids abundantly present in plants, fruits, seeds, and vegetables. Flavonoids have the basic chemical structure of diphenylpropanes (C 6 eC 3 eC 6 ), and most often aglycones e.g., quercetin (3) or kaempferol (4), moieties are found attached to sugars (glycosides).