Can an environmentally biased speech change our perception regarding environmental issues? A randomized experiment for Brazil

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to investigate the influence of e-government public services on public trust at the local government level, addressing the pressing need to understand the factors shaping citizen perceptions and trust in government institutions. Background: With the proliferation of e-government initiatives worldwide, governments are increasingly turning to digital solutions to enhance public service delivery and promote transparency. However, despite the potential benefits, there remains a gap in understanding how these initiatives impact public trust in government institutions, particularly at the local level. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the relationship between e-government service quality, individual perceptions, and public trust, providing valuable insights into the complexities of citizen-government interactions in the digital age. Methodology: Employing a quantitative approach, this study utilises surveys distributed to users of e-government services in one of the regencies in Indonesia. The sample consists of 278 individuals. Data analysis is conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling, allowing for the exploration of relationships among variables and their influence on public trust. Contribution: This study provides insights into the factors influencing public trust in e-government services at the local government level, offering a nuanced understanding of the relationship between service quality, individual perceptions, and public trust. Findings: This study emphasises information quality and service quality in e-government-based public services as crucial determinants of individual perception in rural areas. Interestingly, system quality in e-government services has no influence on individual perception. In the individual perception, perceived security and privacy emerge as the strongest antecedent of public trust, highlighting the need to guarantee secure and private services for citizens in rural areas. These findings emphasise the importance of prioritising high-quality information, excellent service delivery, and robust security measures to foster and sustain public trust in e-government services. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners must prioritise enhancing the quality of e-government services due to their significant impact on individual perception, leading to higher public trust. Government agencies must ensure reliability, responsiveness, and the effective fulfilment of user needs. Additionally, upholding high standards of information quality in e-government services by delivering accurate, relevant, and timely information remains crucial. Strengthening security measures through robust protocols such as data encryption and secure authentication becomes essential for protecting user data. With that in mind, the authors believe that public trust in government would escalate. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers could investigate the relation between system quality in e-government services and individual perception in different rural settings. Longitudinal studies could also elucidate how evolving service quality, information quality, and security measures impact user satisfaction and trust over time. Comparative studies across regions or countries can reveal cultural and contextual differences in individual perceptions, identifying both universal principles and region-specific strategies for e-government platforms. Analysing user behaviour and preferences across various demographic groups can inform targeted interventions. Furthermore, examining the potential of emerging technologies such as blockchain or artificial intelligence in enhancing e-government service delivery, security, and user engagement remains an interesting topic. Impact on Society: This study’s findings have significant implications for fostering public trust in government institutions, ultimately strengthening democracy and citizen-government relations. By understanding how e-government initiatives influence public trust, policymakers can make informed decisions to improve service delivery, enhance citizen engagement, and promote transparency, thus contributing to more resilient and accountable governance structures. Future Research: Future research could opt for longitudinal studies to evaluate the long-term effects of enhancements in service quality, information quality, and security. Cross-cultural investigations can uncover universal principles and contextual differences in user experiences, supporting global e-government strategies in rural areas. Future research could also improve the research model by adding more variables, such as risk aversion or fear of job loss, to gauge individual perceptions.

The agriculture sector plays an important role in human life as a primary source of food along with different sources. Unfortunately, global warming and various environmental issues, mainly in less advantaged nations, hamper the agricultural field. Today’s agriculture sector faces major difficulties and obstacles, as do the observation and monitoring systems such as water, fields, cost, energy, fertilizer, diseases, etc. Environmental monitoring and resource management are critical for ensuring agricultural sustainability and reducing the effect of climate change. An eminent fact that human beings are considers as the very smart and talented species on earth. AI stands for artificial intelligence; it is a field of computer science that studies computer systems to mimic the behavior of human beings and helps with the best performance in the area of science and technology. It gives advanced devices in different areas, like environmental monitoring and resource management, healthcare as well as sustainable agriculture. Increasing demand of food and poor quality of agricultural soil resources, need to produce more and more food per unit area. For this amplified demand, AI technology can maintain environmental resource management in sustainable agriculture with different aspects. This review article explores the utilization of AI technology in managing environmental resources and monitoring for sustainable agriculture.

Dissemination of Misinformative and Biased Information about Prostate Cancer on YouTube

The study of environmental communication, as a subfield of the study of communication, is a relatively recent endeavor. Roughly speaking, the field of environmental communication involves the study of existing communication about environmental issues and the identification of methods for improved communication about environmental issues. The field has its roots in a variety of disciplines, and it now includes subdisciplines such as environmental rhetoric, environmental journalism, and environmental media effects, among others. The earliest articles in the core literature emerged in the late 1960s and the 1970s, partly as a response to the obvious increases in environmental awareness that had taken place since the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. In the 1980s, more universities began offering courses in environmental communication, and some departments even offered graduate specializations. The field was often, though not always, linked with science and health communication, and some scholars profess specialization in “environmental, science, and health communication” as a single unified subdiscipline. The major communication associations have developed divisions for environmental communication (first, the National Communication Association, and, then, the International Communication Association) though both followed the lead initially of the Conference on Communication and Environment (COCE). Now the International Environmental Communication Association is the latest group unifying environmental communication scholars. The association publishes the journal Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture. A variety of activities take place today under the banner of environmental communication. Approximately equal contributions are made by scholars using humanistic or social science methods. Some researchers focus on the study of environmental communication from a critical or analytic standpoint, whereas others develop teaching tools and instructional methods to improve environmental practice. Thus, the typical divisions within communication are present (rhetoric versus mass communication approaches, for instance), but scholars from diverse fields are also engaged in examining ways to improve communication within their own environmental subdomains (wildlife management practitioners, for instance, have been especially interested in communication). Another way to segment environmental communication research is by topic domain. Recently, major studies have focused primarily on climate, but earlier research concentrated on topics such as nuclear power, pollution, endangered species, acid rain, etc.

Purpose : The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate and discuss how individuals' subjective perceptions of personal and environmental issues influence return to work behaviour. Method : A qualitative design utilizing in-depth interviews and maximum variation sampling of 11 individuals who either returned to work or withdrew from work after a health leave was conducted. Experiences elicited were analysed using the constant comparative method followed by a member check with participants to confirm findings and interpretations. Results : Findings underscored the importance of two key constructs in understanding return to work from the individual's perspective: the personal meaning of disability and return to work relevancy. Throughout the experience of getting better and returning to work participants reflected upon the impact of personal and external factors that contributed to their work disability, sought clarity of their performance capacities and examined the importance of work and the consequences of work disability within their life circumstances. Conclusions : Insights into an individual's perceptions of their impairment and the personal relevance of work can promote a better understanding of return to work behaviour. Integrating individual perceptions is essential to advancing a multidimensional approach in return to work research.

Applying Emotive Rhetorical Strategy to Environmental Communication in English and Latvian

Previous surveys showed a poor quality of the web sites providing health information about low back pain. However, the rapid and continuous evolution of the Internet content may question the current validity of those investigations. The present study is aimed to quantitatively assess the quality of the Internet information about low back pain retrieved with the most commonly employed search engines. An Internet search with the keywords "low back pain" has been performed with Google, Yahoo!® and Bing™ in the English language. The top 30 hits obtained with each search engine were evaluated by five independent raters and averaged following criteria derived from previous works. All search results were categorized as declaring compliant to a quality standard for health information (e.g. HONCode) or not and based on the web site type (Institutional, Free informative, Commercial, News, Social Network, Unknown). The quality of the hits retrieved by the three search engines was extremely similar. The web sites had a clear purpose, were easy to navigate, and mostly lacked in validity and quality of the provided links. The conformity to a quality standard was correlated with a marked greater quality of the web sites in all respects. Institutional web sites had the best validity and ease of use. Free informative web sites had good quality but a markedly lower validity compared to Institutional websites. Commercial web sites provided more biased information. News web sites were well designed and easy to use, but lacked in validity. The average quality of the hits retrieved by the most commonly employed search engines could be defined as satisfactory and favorably comparable with previous investigations. Awareness of the user about checking the quality of the information remains of concern.

The patients and health care professionals worldwide depend largely on the internet for health care information due to its easy ubiquitous accessibility and economy, unlike the print media. The clinicians, health care professionals and asthma patients depend on the internet resources. The authentication of information on the web is an unmet demand. There is a growing need to provide quality information to the patients who desire education in the internet. As there is no system of validation of quality of information on internet, there can be a possibility of misleading or biased information on the internet. The present study aimed to evaluate the quality and content of information of websites providing patient education of asthma. Google search engine were used to identify 192 websites providing education on asthma, among which 42 were analyzed by Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HON code); Core Educational Concepts and Health Summit Working Group (HSWG) guidelines. On the basis of core educational concepts and HSWG criteria, websites were graded as excellent, good and average. Among the 42 websites, the HON code compliance was found to be very low (19%). A majority of the sites were compliant to basic HSWG criteria while lacking in few key elements. The HSWG scores were affected by development factors, and higher among those developed from public organizations of developed countries with non commercial interest. HSWG criteria and information on missing core educational concepts of HON code must be incorporated for an enhanced quality of information for asthma patient education.

Objective: This research analyzes the changes in landscapes and territory in Chapada Diamantina, with emphasis on the municipalities of Ibicoara-BA and Mucugê-BA, caused by the implementation of central pivot irrigation systems and the appropriation of these spaces by agribusiness. Theoretical framework: This study was conducted based on theoretical reflections on environmental issues, the relationship between society and nature and theories on space and territory. Water use issues, granting policies and the procedures that bodies in the environmental sector used to monitor access to water and its multiple uses. Method: It is based on the use of data collection with thematic mapping, use of satellite images and theoretical discussion. The data were obtained from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the National Water Agency (ANA), the Brazilian Agricultural Company - Embrapa and the Institute of the Environment and Water Resources (INEMA). Results and conclusion: The results demonstrate strong growth in agribusiness in Chapada Diamantina and a high impact on environmental resources, especially due to the removal of vegetation cover from the surfaces of Gerais and an increase in demand for water. Implications of the research: The environmental and territorial approach of the research questions the development model implemented in the region, pointing out intra-regional inequalities, and the environmental problems arising from the massive land and water in the area with high environmental fragility. Originality/value: This research has social, economic, scientific and environmental value with the data analyzed and the originality of the discussions presented.

Why can the public participate in environmental issues? What is the motive for them to do so? When we specify environment resources with benefits and focus on the real motivation created after that, the reason for Chinese public participation in environmental issues forwardly is clear. Furthermore, this paper also points out the process that the public taking part in the environmental issues and resolving living problems together is a mechanism of social study as well as a process for improving the quality of democracy. Key words: Environment resource; Environmental interests; Quality of democracy

The article deals with the initiatives of the CMEA member states in the field of environmental protection. The holding of the UN conference on the environment in Stockholm in 1972 actualized the environmental agenda both in the world and within the socialist camp. In parallel with the preparations for the UN conference in 1972, the journal “Problems of Peace and Socialism” held an international symposium “Marxism-Leninism and the Problems of Environmental Conservation”. This event was designed to develop a common point of view for communist parties on environmental protection. In 1976, an international meeting on environmental protection was held at the CMEA Secretariat. The meeting was organized by the Institute of Economics of the World Socialist System of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Committee on Scientific and Technical Cooperation of CMEA. The main issues of the meeting were related to the state policy on environmental protection and use of natural resources in the CMEA member countries. Thus it can be stated that in the CMEA countries, as well as all over the world, since the 1970s the attention to environmental issues began to grow. At the same time, environmental rhetoric was often in conflict with the current objectives of the economies of the CMEA countries. Although the official discourse was dominated by the idea of aspirations for the future, the leaders preferred to solve the problems of the current moment.

In May 2011, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies published Lessons for the Coalition: an end of term report on New Labour and Criminal Justice (Silvestri, 2011). In that collection I described Labour's performance on environmental issues as ‘too little too late’. The UK experienced a period of Blair/Brown environmental governance that demonstrated ‘symbolic success but real failure’. Amongst New Labour's environmental achievements were the establishment of the Climate Change Act 2008, the creation of the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the establishment of numerous green quangos to oversee and implement a range of environmental policies. However, these steps forward were seemingly threatened by the early days of a Cameron-led coalition where austerity measure, trade and the abolition of green quangos were on the cards. In sum, I concluded ‘future UK government report cards on the environment do not look good’ (Walters, 2011). After two and half years of a Conservative/Liberal Democratic coalition, and much rhetoric about it being ‘the greenest government ever’, the interim report card for the Cameron government on environmental matters is grim reading indeed. The demise of green quangos, record carbon emissions, renewable energies policies stultified, environmental criminality and victimisation all but ignored, and billions of pounds lost to environmental corporate fraudsters are just some of the headlines of Tory inspired governance with much environmental rhetoric and no environmental results.

This paper discusses two different environmental political projects, the journal The Ecologist and the report Our Common Future . The former deems it necessary to substitute current patterns of production and transformation of the social structure with radical alternatives, claiming that they lie at the roots of our environmental as well as social crisis. The latter rejects this thesis and prescribes minor administrative changes, regarding the environmental problems as management problems with management solutions. Both, however, employ terms and often concepts derived from Ecosystem Ecology to build up their ideas of 'stability', 'limits' and 'control'. Since the environmental issue has recently become an unavoidable problem for scientific as well as political fields, there is a great deal of traffic between these two domains, leading to concepts and ideas in one domain being transported to the other.

Green Culture is about an idea the environment and how we talk about it. Is the environment something simply out there in the world to be found? Or is it, as this book suggests, a concept and a set of cultural values constructed by our use of language? That language, in its many forms, comes under scrutiny here, as distinguished authors writing from a variety of perspectives consider how our idea and our discussion of the environment evolve together, and how this process results in action or inaction. Listen to politicians, social scientists, naturalists, and economists talk about the environment, and a problem becomes clear: dramatic differences on environmental issues are embedded in dramatically different discourses. This book explores these differences and shows how an understanding of rhetoric might lead to their resolution. The authors examine specific environmental debates over the Great Lakes and Yellowstone, a toxic waste dump in North Carolina and an episode in Red Lodge, Montana. They look at how genres such as nature writing and specific works such as Rachel Carson s Silent Spring have influenced environmental discourse. And they investigate the impact of cultural traditions, from the landscape painting of the Hudson River School to the rhetoric of the John Birch Society, on our discussions and positions on the Most of the scholars gathered here are also hikers, canoeists, climbers, or bird watchers, and their work reflects a deep, personal interest in the natural world in connection with the human community. Concerned throughout to make the methods of rhetorical analysis perfectly clear, they offer readers a rare chance to see what, precisely, we are talking about when we talk about the environment.

Over the years, rapid urbanisation aided by advanced technologies and population increment has significantly altered the natural environment into concrete jungles resulting in adverse environmental degradation. In order to mould a sustainable, resilient and green future, global efforts and directives have been introduced, such as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, low-carbon cities, and others at international and local levels. Nevertheless, grassroots initiatives and actions are crucial in producing results. Presently, there is no mechanism to measure the relevant environmental components into a comprehensive system indicating Malaysia’s level of environmental resilience. Though the local governments have to report their development performance via MURNINET, a system developed by PLANMalaysia, this system does not include environmental resilience. As such, this study on the Environmental Resilience Index (ERI) was embarked on, proposing five environmental components that can be used by local authorities to assess environmental resilience. ERI covers environmental resources, built environment, climate conditions, natural disasters and environmental issues. On the other hand, this paper shares an ERI pilot analysis of the environmental resources of the study area, Selangor, Malaysia, consisting of 9 districts. The data used to analyse are majorly secondary data from official reports of responsible technical departments and agencies in Malaysia to ensure the validity and reliability of data. The output of this analysis was generated using ArcGIS software as it relates to the weightage of different components and sub-components. The results show that most districts in Selangor have an ERI level of moderate level, while three districts, namely Sabak Bernam, Sepang and Petaling, are categorised as having low ERI levels.