Q Fever (Coxiella burnetii) Knowledge and Attitudes of Australian Cat Breeders and Their Husbandry Practices

A Q fever outbreak in a small animal veterinary hospital, associated with a cat caesarean section, initiated a cat seroprevalence study (n = 712) that found circulating antibodies to Coxiella burnetii was highest in cattery‐confined breeding cats (9.3%). These findings stimulated interest about potential sources of C. burnetii infection for cats and humans associated with cats. Cat breeders are potentially a group at increased risk of C. burnetii infection, and this study sought to identify potential risk factors. A cross‐sectional online survey was conducted targeting all domestic cat breeders registered with an affiliate member body in Australia in 2015. Responses from 177 cat breeders across Australia were analysed. Forty per cent of responding cat breeders had not heard of Q fever. Raw meat was fed as an integral constituent of the diet by 89% of respondents. Eighty per cent of respondents allowed queens access to the home for parturition, and assistance of queens and resuscitation of kittens at the time of birth were reported by 97% of respondents. Respondents who perceived some level of exposure to Q fever through their breeding activities were three times less likely to perform mouth‐to‐snout resuscitation (OR 0.3 95% CI 0.1–0.9; P = 0.034) than those who did not perceive a risk of exposure. Similarly, respondents who perceived Q fever as a risk through breeding activities were close to eight times more likely to use personal protective equipment during parturition (OR 7.7 95% CI 1.5–39.9; P = 0.015) than those who did not. Husbandry practices of cat breeders that may increase the risk of C. burnetii transmission require further targeted investigations to assess the contribution of these risk factors to the acquisition of disease. Concurrent education forums are recommended to inform Australian cat breeders of the aetiopathogenesis of Q fever.     

广东转基因蔬果的消费者态度研究

【目的】分析消费者对转基因蔬果的接受程度和购买意愿。【方法】构建消费者态度理论模型, 确定影响因素和变量,利用广东转基因蔬果的城市消费者意愿调查数据,采用 Ordered-Logistic Model 回归分析, 判断消费者的接受程度和购买意愿。【结果】消费者对于抗病虫害及延长储存期的两种转基因蔬果的态度有差异, 年龄、失业和其他职业、收入以及信息来源报刊 / 杂志对前者有显著影响,性别、年龄、受教育程度、公务员及 事业部门职业等、提供食品信息来源的报刊 / 杂志和食品包装信息成分说明等因素对后者有显著影响;广东消费 者缺乏转基因相关的科学知识,获取相关转基因食品信息渠道主要通过电视广播和报刊杂志;消费者对转基因 蔬果的态度总体平均接受比例占 49%,中立占 27.8%,反对占 18%。【结论】转基因蔬果将占有近 50% 市场份额, 并且近 30% 的潜在市场待开发。管理上应将普及相关科学知识及信息发布作为工作重点,促进转基因生物技术 的发展和转基因食品的生产。     

北京城区消费者对食品安全问题的关注调查

以北京部分城市居民为例,调查了消费者对食品安全问题的关注度。研究结果表明,多数消费者关注食品安全问题,其主要关心的食品安全问题有：1）食品的生产日期和保质期;2）食品内的药剂残留;3）食品添加剂的滥用;4）造假食品;5）食品卫生问题。消费者认为导致食品安全问题发生的主要原因是食品制造厂商注重自己的利益,忽视了消费者的利益;相关部门职责不明,执法力度不够和消费者对假冒伪劣产品的鉴别能力不高。因此,政府和有关部门加强执法力度,严惩不法商贩,并且加强监督检查。媒体加大曝光力度,同时企业能够倡导诚信经营,加强行业自律是解决食品安全问题的有利举措。提高消费者自身对食品安全的认知能力和增强维权意识也是控制食品安全的一项措施。     

Agroforestry,attitude towards risk and nutrient availability: a case study of south Indian farming systems

Introduction of two systems of agroforestry to the farmers portfolio is evaluated for their changes in cropping pattern, input use, income generation, farmers attitude towards risk and nutrient availability. Two different types of farmers are studied under both irrigated and dryland farming systems. Farm survey data collected from south Indian villages have been used with a mean-variance framework to identify the risk aversion levels of farmers. The results indicate that the risk-taking preferences of farmers should be given consideration in evaluating the impact of agroforestry systems. Among the two agroforestry systems analyzed, the one with drumstick is shown to increase the risk of crop production while the one with leucaena reduces the risk and enables farmers to invest in more risky cash crops. The impact of agroforestry on crop allocation, input use and income differs due to the differences in resource availability of farmers. The influence of agroforestry on nutrient availability of the farm households also differs based on the components of agroforestry, orientation of farming and the nature of farming systems. It is argued that design of agroforestry systems should consider differences in resource constraints in farming systems and risk attitudes of farmers towards their allocation decisions and that such considerations would largely enhance the successful adoption of agroforestry in developing countries.     

Do socio-psychological factors matter in agroforestry planning? Lessons from smallholder traditional agroforestry systems

Most of the well planned rural development forestry programs of the 1970s, and agroforestry in particular, were either not adopted by the intended beneficiaries or failed to meet the needs and aspirations of the rural people, particularly in the developing countries. The reasons for non-adoption in some cases appear to be technical, bio-physical, social and economic (termed as rational reasons by the planners), but in other situations the reasons are not so easily recognisable and comprehended (termed irrational reasons). These irrational reasons are the perceptions and attitude of the farmer towards farm practices, and their role in agroforestry planning has remained almost completely neglected. The present study is based on a household survey of the farmers in traditional agroforestry systems of Western Himalaya and investigates the importance of perceptional and attitudinal aspects of the farmers with regard to agroforestry adoption and extension. In the present study, farmers’ perceptions of restrictions on felling of trees from their own land and attitudes towards agroforestry were the most important sociopsychological factors which influenced tree growing. This study implies a need to take into account the socio-psychological factors of the farmers for planning socially acceptable agroforestry programs. The importance of study of various de jure rules and regulations controlling the use of on-farm tree resources and related exemptions and their association with farmers’ perceptions and tree growing is highlighted to develop policies to encourage tree growing in agroforestry.     

Exploring the urban park use,preference and behaviours among the residents of Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

The understanding of cross-cultural upon park usage is vital to be enhanced among public since findings that been discovered in the Western context are not own any similarities with the Asian context. In fact, it has been in a long run for the Western nations to primarily contextualized and conceptualized much on the literature of park usage. This study aims to look at how the people use and perceive urban parks in their daily life in the Malaysian cultural context, and also highlights the constraints faced by Malaysians while using the urban parks in the city of Kuala Lumpur. A survey consisted of 669 urban park users as the sample of the study (365 men, 304 females) aged between 18 and 73 years (M = 34.85, SD = 11.46) were conducted in five urban parks in Kuala Lumpur. Respondents were recruited based on a random sampling method, which composed of three main ethnic groups in Malaysia. Malaysians wanted to use the urban parks for multiple purposes including active activities and others. Most of them would visit the parks and spend their time in a group consisting of family members or friends rather than alone. The percentage of respondent with 74.7% stated their reason of visiting the urban park in order “to get fresh air”, followed by the factor of reducing stress and relaxing with 69.7%; and the latter reason would be “to exercise, play games or keep in shape” with 61.4%. More than 80% of the respondents claimed the parks in Kuala Lumpur are safe to be visited. This is because, majority of the respondents tend to visit the parks in group of family or friends rather than alone. In addition, most of the respondents would run their activities in parks during the weekends, which simultaneously make them to enjoy their day in such comfortable and secure way. The findings of this survey would contribute to a better understanding of the present park usage of Kuala Lumpur residents. With a better understanding of current park-visiting habits, various constraints faced by the residents related to public security and safety, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall have been suggested to develop more comprehensive strategy in order to provide engagement and urban parks stimulation for its residents. In addition, this study is also fruitful for Kuala Lumpur future parks in terms of its development, design and management.     

试论促进大学生就业意识构建的途径

大学生就业问题是当前社会各界普遍关心的民生问题。但大学生在择业过程中表现出的就业意识差、缺乏对自身的客观评价、职业发展目标不明确、缺乏主动参与和竞争意识、就业期望值高等主观原因仍是制约就业率的关键因素。在分析以上原因的基础上,从加强专业教育、树立正确的就业观及就业心理方面提出了促进大学生就业意识构建的主要途径。     

Constructing community gardens? Residents’ attitude and behaviour towards edible landscapes in emerging urban communities of China

Community gardens are very popular in developed countries, providing multiple benefits to inhabitants. In developing China, residents in many emerging urban communities of China have been appropriating and reclaiming public open spaces intentionally as a leisure opportunity and transforming their entertainment functions into vegetable plots, which has caused a series of conflicts and disputes. However, this issue of informal community gardening has rarely been discussed formally at community level. Therefore, this study aims to learn and better understand what factors motivate residents to reclaim existing public open spaces for gardening and cultivating plants. The approach was to select and study informal community gardens in three urbanizing communities in Hangzhou, China. These emerging communities consist, to a significant extent, of people with farming experience, who have relocated here from previously rural areas during the urban expansion from the year 2000 to the current day. The informal community gardening takes place in the context of lack of community management, neglected public infrastructure and a disregard for resident’s living needs such as their personal sentiment, social activity, food quality and saving expenses. While most people are willing to participate in community gardening and those who do not want to contribute are not substantially against the activity. In the conclusions, suggestions are made about how to fulfil resident’s requirements and are presented at both community and city levels so that they may inform to the growth of emerging communities in other cities and countries undergoing rapid urbanization.     

The influence of initial attitudes on responses to communication about genetic engineering in food production

Source credibility has been thought to bean important determinant of peoples reactions toinformation about technology. There has also been muchdebate about the need to communicate effectively withthe public about genetic engineering, particularlywithin the context of food production. Questionnaireswere used to investigate the impact of sourcecredibility, admission of risk uncertainty, andinitial attitude towards genetic engineering onattitudes of respondents after information provision.120 respondents with positive attitudes towardsgenetic engineering in food production were providedwith persuasive information about the technology,where both source attribution and admission of riskuncertainty were systematically varied within theexperimental design. Impact on perceptions of sourcecredibility, informational qualities, and postintervention attitudes were examined, and compared toa second group of respondents who held initiallynegative attitudes towards genetic engineering, andwho had been exposed to similar informationinterventions. As predicted by Social Judgment Theory,initial attitude was found to be an importantdeterminant of post-intervention attitude. However,admission of risk uncertainty was also found to beinfluential in increasing acceptance and reducingrejection of the technology, possibly through thefacilitation of elaborative processing. Contrary toprevious research, prior attitudes had an impact onperceptions of both source credibility andinformational quality. In terms of effectiveinformation provision about genetic engineering, itwas concluded that scientific honesty is the bestpolicy, and that lay understanding of scientificprocess is probably greater than hitherto assumed byexperts.     

Non-commercial collection of spur-thighed tortoises (Testudo graeca graeca): a cultural problem in southeast Spain

Collecting tortoises for the pet trade is one of the factors threatening species of Testudo in the Mediterranean area. The collection of Testudo graeca graeca for pets is described in southeast Spain, where the main European population of this subspecies coincides with an area where keeping tortoises in captivity is a long-established custom. This present paper, based on inquiries made to children, reveals that this practice continues to be a common activity, and estimates a captive population in the order of tens of thousand of tortoises. Tortoises are collected as a result of chance encounters with wild animals by local inhabitants, and without any commercial objectives. The captive breeding and the release of tortoises without any institutional control is also common. These activities could be an important threat for the species. Implications for conservation are discussed and a critical review of the conservation strategies developed in relation to this threat (trade control and re-introduction programmes) are presented. We suggest that environmental education programmes are necessary to reduce casual collection and to change the social perception of tortoises as pets.