General Public Awareness Research Articles

Neurology and the Internet: a review.

Nowadays, the Internet is the major source to obtain information about diseases and their treatments. The Internet is gaining relevance in the neurological setting, considering the possibility of timely social interaction, contributing to general public awareness on otherwise less-well-known neurological conditions, promoting health equity and improving the health-related coping. Neurological patients can easily find several online opportunities for peer interactions and learning. On the other hand, neurologist can analyze user-generated data to better understand patient needs and to run epidemiological studies. Indeed, analyses of queries from Internet search engines on certain neurological diseases have shown a strict temporal and spatial correlation with the "real world." In this narrative review, we will discuss how the Internet is radically affecting the healthcare of people with neurological disorders and, most importantly, is shifting the paradigm of care from the hands of those who deliver care, into the hands of those who receive it. Besides, we will review possible limitations, such as safety concerns, financial issues, and the need for easy-to-access platforms.

The Public Face of Transplantation: The Potential of Education to Expand the Face Donor Pool.

Despite the growing success of facial transplantation, organ donor shortages remain challenging. Educational health campaigns can effectively inform the general public and institute behavioral modifications. A brief educational introduction to facial transplantation may positively influence the public's position on facial donation. The authors anonymously surveyed 300 participants, gathering basic demographic information, donor registration status, awareness of facial transplantation, and willingness to donate solid organs and facial allografts. Two-hundred of these participants were presented an educational video and subsequently resurveyed on facial donation. Factorial parametric analyses were performed to compare exposure responses before and after watching video exposure. Among participants completing the survey alone (control group), 49 percent were registered donors, 78 percent reported willingness to donate solid organs, and 52 percent reported willingness to donate facial allograft. Of participants who watched the video (video group) 52 percent were registered; 69 and 51 percent were willing to donate solid organs and face, respectively. Following educational intervention, 69 percent of participants in the video group reported willingness to donate facial tissue, an 18 percent increase (p < 0.05), that equated to those willing to donate solid organs. The greatest increase was observed among younger participants (23 percent); women (22 percent); Jewish (22 percent), Catholic (22 percent), and black/African American (25 percent) participants; and respondents holding a higher degree. No significant differences according to gender or ethnicity were observed. Educational interventions hold much promise for increasing the general public's awareness of facial transplantation and willingness to participate in donation of facial allografts.

Awareness of malaria and treatment-seeking behaviour among persons with acute undifferentiated fever in the endemic regions of Myanmar

BackgroundMyanmar has a high burden of malaria with two-third of the population at risk of malaria. One of the basic elements of the Roll Back Malaria Initiative to fight against malaria is early diagnosis and treatment within 24 h of fever. Public awareness about malaria is a key factor in malaria prevention and control and in improving treatment-seeking behaviour.MethodsA large community-based survey was carried out in 27 townships of malaria endemic regions in Myanmar in 2015 which reported on the knowledge, behaviour and practices around malaria in the general population. We used the data already collected in this survey to assess (i) general public awareness of malaria and (ii) treatment-seeking behaviour and associated factors among persons with acute undifferentiated fever.ResultsA total of 6597 respondents from 6625 households were interviewed (response rate of 99.5%). About 85% of the respondents were aware that mosquito bite was the mode of transmission of malaria and 90% mentioned that malaria was preventable. However, only 16% of the respondents knew about anti-malaria drug resistance. There were certain misconceptions about the transmission of malaria such as dirty water, same blood group, sharing shelter, sleeping/eating together and poor hygiene. Health facility staff were the most common source of information about malaria (80%). Nearly one-fourth (23%) of the respondents with fever resorted to self-medication. Around 28% of the respondents with fever underwent blood testing, less than half of whom (44%) were tested within 24 h. Elderly age group, females, those with poor knowledge about malaria and those residing in non-Regional Artemisinin Resistance Initiative townships were associated with poor treatment-seeking behaviour in case of fever.ConclusionAlthough there is fair knowledge on mosquito bite as a mode of transmission and prevention of malaria, there are some misconceptions about transmission of malaria. Those having poor knowledge about malaria have poor treatment-seeking behaviour. A considerable number of respondents seek care from informal care providers and seek care late. Thus, there is a need to promote awareness about the role of early diagnosis and appropriate treatment and address misconceptions about transmission of malaria.

Cannabis Intoxication Case Series: The Dangers of Edibles Containing Tetrahydrocannabinol

Cannabis and its principal active constituent, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), are increasingly available as edibles resembling commercially available food products. In this case series, we describe a population of predominantly pediatric patients who were inadvertently exposed to a THC-containing product in San Francisco. Twelve children and 9 adults were identified, with 16 patients having detectable serum THC and THC metabolites. All patients presented to hospitals with a variety of constitutional symptoms and all were discharged home within 12 hours. In general, pediatric patients had more severe symptoms and longer hospital length of stay, and, uniquely, a majority presented with leukocytosis and elevated lactic acid levels. We recommend that efforts be made to increase general public awareness in regard to the potential hazards of THC-containing edibles resembling commercially available food products.

Sepsis Awareness - An Irish Survey

Introduction: Sepsis is a time dependent medical emergency that remains the leading cause of death from infection worldwide. Early recognition and prompt treatment is fundamental to increased survival rates and optimal outcome for survivors of severe sepsis and septic shock. The majority of sepsis is community acquired and approximately 70-80% of patients with sepsis present to the Emergency Department (CDC 2016). Lack of knowledge and awareness can result in late patient presentations and delayed treatment by healthcare professionals. Increased awareness and education are imperative to facilitate early recognition and prompt treatment of sepsis. This has contributed to a significant reduction in mortality rate in the last 50 years with acute myocardial infarction and is a driving force that motivates the essential need for sepsis awareness if a reduction in mortality is to be achieved. Theory/Method: The survey was designed to gain insight into general public and healthcare workers perceptions, knowledge and attitudes regarding sepsis. A Prospective, quantitative survey was performed using a structured predetermined questionnaire. Sample: A total of 1589 participants comprised of the general public (n=561) and healthcare workers (n=1028) from all 6 hospital groups in the Republic of Ireland. Healthcare workers included Consultants, Non Consultant Hospital Doctors, nurses/midwives, care/support staff, allied health professionals, clerical/administration staff, portering staff, medical/nursing students and others. Results/Discussions: 57% of the general population had heard of the term sepsis. The majority were aware of sepsis through social/conventional media (42%) or personal experience (23%). On further exploration 70% of the general public associated sepsis with a “bad infection” and/or “blood poisoning”. However, heart attack was considered by the general public to have the highest mortality rate. 94% of healthcare workers surveyed had heard of sepsis, with 71% having received college and/or hospital based sepsis education. The ‘Sepsis 2’ definition which describes sepsis as a “dysregulated immune response to infection i.e. infection and Systemic Inflammatory Response (SIRS)” was the most popular description of sepsis by all grades of doctors and nurses/midwives. However, 25% - 30% of all doctors and 29% of nurses/ midwives did not think you needed infection to develop sepsis. This was a significant finding as it is important to distinguish between awareness and actuaually being able to recognise and diagnose sepsis correctly. Conclusions: There is moderate general public awareness about the term sepsis but this is not coupled with an understanding of the true impact and potential mortality associated with sepsis. There is evidence of good sepsis awareness in healthcare workers probably largely due to hospital and/or college education. Results of this survey reflect the challenges for early recognition and treatment of sepsis not only in the general public but amongst healthcare professionals. Lessons learned: This body of work was essential as it allowed quantification of the awareness, attitudes and perceptions of sepsis. It will help guide the National Programme plan education and awareness requirements for successful implementation of the National Clinical Guidelines. A sepsis E-learning programme was launched on HSELand in September 2016 to ensure easy accessibilty to sepsis education for healthcare workers. Limitations: The majority of participants were accessed in a hospital setting. Some of the questions had too many variables in the answer which made measurement difficult. Suggestions for future research: A repeat National Survey with a larger general public sample to evaluate if there has been an increase in sepsis awareness and assess any change in attitudes and perceptions of sepsis.

Effects of the Ambient Fine Particulate Matter on Public Awareness of Lung Cancer Risk in China: Evidence from the Internet-Based Big Data Platform.

BackgroundIn October 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified the particulate matter from outdoor air pollution as a group 1 carcinogen and declared that particulate matter can cause lung cancer. Fine particular matter (PM2.5) pollution is becoming a serious public health concern in urban areas of China. It is essential to emphasize the importance of the public’s awareness and knowledge of modifiable risk factors of lung cancer for prevention.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to explore the public’s awareness of the association of PM2.5 with lung cancer risk in China by analyzing the relationship between the daily PM2.5 concentration and searches for the term “lung cancer” on an Internet big data platform, Baidu.MethodsWe collected daily PM2.5 concentration data and daily Baidu Index data in 31 Chinese capital cities from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016. We used Spearman correlation analysis to explore correlations between the daily Baidu Index for lung cancer searches and the daily average PM2.5 concentration. Granger causality test was used to analyze the causal relationship between the 2 time-series variables.ResultsIn 23 of the 31 cities, the pairwise correlation coefficients (Spearman rho) between the daily Baidu Index for lung cancer searches and the daily average PM2.5 concentration were positive and statistically significant (P<.05). However, the correlation between the daily Baidu Index for lung cancer searches and the daily average PM2.5 concentration was poor (all r2s<.1). Results of Granger causality testing illustrated that there was no unidirectional causality from the daily PM2.5 concentration to the daily Baidu Index for lung cancer searches, which was statistically significant at the 5% level for each city.ConclusionsThe daily average PM2.5 concentration had a weak positive impact on the daily search interest for lung cancer on the Baidu search engine. Well-designed awareness campaigns are needed to enhance the general public’s awareness of the association of PM2.5 with lung cancer risk, to lead the public to seek more information about PM2.5 and its hazards, and to cope with their environment and its risks appropriately.

Diagnostic delays in 537 symptomatic cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection in Saudi Arabia

BackgroundAlthough the literature indicates that patient delays in seeking medical support for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections are associated with poor clinical outcomes, delays in the diagnosis itself remain poorly understood in these patients. This study aimed to determine the median time interval from symptom onset to a confirmed diagnosis and to identify the potential predictors of this interval in Saudi Arabian MERS patients. MethodsThis was a retrospective study of patients with confirmed MERS who were publicly reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). ResultsFive hundred and thirty-seven symptomatic cases of MERS-CoV infection were included. The median time interval between symptom onset and confirmation of the MERS diagnosis was 4 days (interquartile range 2–7 days), ranging from 0 to 36 days. According to the negative binomial model, the unadjusted rate ratio (RR) of delays in the diagnosis was significantly higher in older patients (>65 years) (RR 1.42), non-healthcare workers (RR 1.74), patients with severe illness (RR 1.22), those with an unknown source of infection (RR 1.84), and those who had been in close contact with camels (RR 1.74). After accounting for confounders, the adjusted rate ratio (aRR) of delays in the diagnosis was independently associated with unknown source of infection (aRR 1.68) and close contact with camels (aRR 1.58). ConclusionsThe time interval from symptom onset to diagnosis was greater in older patients, non-healthcare workers, patients with severe illness, patients with an unknown source of infection, and patients who had been in close contact with camels. The findings warrant educational interventions to raise general public awareness of the importance of early symptom notification.

Summary of Smart Grid

Energy sustainability and environmental preservation have become worldwide concerns with the many manifestations of climate change and the continually increasing demand for energy. As cities and nations become more technologically advanced, electricity consumption rises to levels that may no longer be manageable if left unattended. The Smart Grid offers an answer to the shift to more sustainable technologies such as distributed generation and micro-grids. A general public awareness and adequate attention from potential researchers and policy makers is crucial. This paper presents a summary of the Smart Grid with its general features, functionalities and characteristics. It presents the Smart Grid fundamental and related technologies and have identified the issues emerging. It introduces Smart Grid politics of US, EU, and China. It demonstrates how these technologies have shaped the modern electricity grid and continued to evolve and strengthen its role in the better alignment of energy demand and supply.

Developing a Public Online Learning Environment for Crisis Awareness, Preparation, and Response

This article describes the design and development of an online immersive learning environment focused on enhancing the general public's awareness of, and preparation for, crisis situations. This research has sought to answer the question “Is it possible to develop a timeline based immersive and engaging training environment for mass self-study education in crisis preparedness?” The system developed is based on the Pandora+ training environment and integrates original collaborative European research work carried out on eLearning and Crisis Management over the last ten years. The research reported here not only describes the design of the Pandora+ training environment but also the outputs from a pilot trial in Lisbon run by the POP-ALERT EU FP7 project. Where appropriate, the results were also compared to those from a large EU survey on crisis preparedness and attitudes, also undertaken within POP-ALERT. The results of this article have resulted in an original and innovative system that has significant potential to transform the education of the public in disaster preparedness.

Public and Patient Knowledge About Dental Implants

The more informed a patient is about a given procedure, the better the ultimate outcome. This study was designed to compare general public awareness and knowledge regarding oral implant treatment with those of patients presenting for such treatment and to determine the sources from which they may have obtained such information, as well as the accuracy of the information. In this cross-sectional study, 2 groups of patients were asked to complete a questionnaire containing implant knowledge questions and questions regarding any sources they may have used to obtain information about dental implants. Group I consisted of patients presenting for treatment of a dental emergency (general population group), and group II consisted of patients presenting for an implant consultation. The χ2 test was used to determine whether there were differences in knowledge and information sources between the 2 groups. A total of 126 adult patients (76 dental emergency patients and 50 implant consultation patients) participated in the study. The general population group was less informed about dental implants, especially information relating to implant material and longevity, and received information from less reliable sources than patients presenting for implant screening (friends or relatives vs primary dentist).Both groups reported cost of the procedure as a primary barrier to receiving implants (89% and 90%). There is still a need for continued education of the general public regarding dental implants.

Abstract TP199: Stroke Awareness in Argentina, the Sifhon Population Survey

Introduction: Stroke awareness in Latin America is scant. We conducted a large population survey in 13 provinces in Argentina to assess knowledge of cerebrovascular disease. Methods: We distributed 110,000 multiple-choice anonymous questionnaires using the house distribution system of a bottled water dispensing company, assessing information regards age, gender, educational level, general stroke information, attitude towards symptoms and treatment. Percentages of each choice were recorded for every question and a multivariate analysis was performed. Results: A total of 12,710 surveys were returned, age 51±17 years, 69% women. Almost 95% reported prior knowledge of the disease, 50% through public media, 37% through a relative/friend that had a stroke and 8% through their family doctor. The Spanish acronym for accidente cerebrovascular , ACV, was the most frequently identified name for stroke (79%), the Spanish equivalent to cerebral attack was used by 7% and 0,4% used the term “ictus”. Only 29% knew about TIA but 69% identified stroke risk factors. Although 73% recognized their signs and symptoms, 11% misinterpreted them as a heart attack and 34% ignored that stroke can present with severe headache. Although 73% considered the disease potentially disabling/fatal, 40% ignored its frequency. If symptoms, 25% would call 911 and 50% would go to an emergency room by own means. Only 63% knew the existence of a specific treatment. Lowest degree of knowledge was seen in young, single, non-university men. Conclusion: This study represents the largest general public stroke awareness survey in Spanish speaking populations. Respondents showed excellent recognition of risk factors, warning signs and need of a rapid response. The population had little knowledge of prevalence, severity, TIA, and acute treatment. Public media appear to have an essential role in education.

Public awareness and perception toward Adverse Drug Reactions reporting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To assess the general public awareness and perception about Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) reporting and pharmacovigilance. Method: A cross-sectional study conducted on June 2012 during awareness campaign held in two malls in Riyadh city for two days. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of three parts was distributed to the attendees who accepted to participate in the study. Results: A total of 204 questionnaires were collected with a response rate of 68%. Twenty-three percent could correctly define ADRs. Only 13(15.7%) of responders were familiar with the term “Pharmacovigilance” and only 78.6% were aware about the Saudi Pharmacovigilance Center. Sixty-seventy percent indicated that their physicians or pharmacists don't actively encourage them to report ADRs that may occur when they take their medications. The majority of responders (73.2%) believed that the medical team, rather than consumers, should report ADRs. When asked why patients do not report ADRs, 19.1(48.5%) believed that patients do not know whether the ADR is from the medication or not, 18.1(46.1%) stated that the reason was because patients don't know about the Pharmacovigilance Center, 16(40.7%) think that patients don't know about the importance of ADRs reporting, and 14(36.3%) responded that patients probably don't know how to report ADRs. Conclusion: The general public in Saudi Arabia are not aware about ADRs reporting and the pharmacovigilance system. The Saudi Food and Drug Authorities (FDA) need to put more efforts to increasing public awareness about the importance of ADRs reporting process and the importance of pharmacovigilance system in promoting patient safety.

Motivations and Barriers in Promoting Preschool Education

AbstractThis study is designed to explore the reasons for sending and not sending preschool age children to preschools at an early age by exploring the motivations for and barriers towards promoting preschool education in Turkey. It aimed to determine various stakeholders' perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge related to preschool education in order to promote high-quality and comprehensive preschool education. The research was conducted with 224 participants in five cities in Turkey. Qualitative data was collected through individual and focus group interviews and interpreted by content analysis and descriptive analysis. The findings indicated that families put forward the following reasons for sending their children to preschool: preschool education prepares children for school and helps form the habit of attending school, teachers' efforts in convincing parents to send their children to preschool, providing the care for the children of working mothers with preschool teachers , and preschool helps children develop social behavior. The following factors were reasons families did not send their children to preschool: economic conditions, perceiving the child as too young, concerns over practices at school, perceptions about the mother's role, and distrust of the transportation system. The results will help decision makers develop policies and strategies to heighten the general public's awareness of the need for early education, as well as better provide early education opportunities.KeywordsPreschool education · Motivation · Barrier · Pre-schooling · Dissemination of preschool educationResearch is well established in showing that access to a high-quality early childhood education has a direct and permanent effect at every stage of human development (Avila & Baldwin, 2007; Barnett, 2008; Blau & Currie, 2005; Heckman & Masterov, 2007; Reynolds, 1992; Reynolds, Mehana, & Temple, 1995). For this reason, in order to provide early education policies, countries determine their equality in opportunity policies and form new strategies. Many countries regulate their early childhood education practices through the state legislature and as part of the education system according to the socio-political developments of the country. These legislative regulations determine basic core values in areas like curriculum, institutional process, teacher education, personnel requirement, monitoring and finance, and parent-teacher cooperation (Bankovic, 2014; Karila, 2008; Kuisma & Sandberg, 2008; Sheridan, Williams, Sandberg, & Vuorinen, 2011).Likewise, preschool education and the preschool teacher training system have been changed and developed in Turkey. Even though kindergartens opened before 1908, they became organized and widespread following the Temporary Preschool Law dated 23 September 1913. After two years, the Law Primary school bylaws were issued in 1915.Accordingly, kindergartens were opened, whether attached or unattached to primary schools, in order to provide education for children aged four to seven (Akyuz, 1989; Cicioglu, 1989). With the opening of kindergartens, the need for trained teachers in these schools arose. In the same year as the issuance of the bylaws, a kindergarten teacher education school providing one year of education was opened in Istanbul, but it was closed after four years of operation in 1919. In this period, 370 preschool teachers were educated (Oguzkan & Oral, 1987) and preschool education took its institutional place in the education process in real terms.However, for many years, the insufficient quality and quantity of early education, the changing position of women within the family and their active roles in real life due to rapid socio-cultural and economical changes, and, most importantly, the positive impact of early education on a child's development as proven by educational studies and brain surveys demonstrate the necessity to take certain measures in the early stages of care and education of children. …

Primary Documents ed. by Mário Pedrosa

Reviewed by: Primary Documents ed. by Mário Pedrosa David William Foster Pedrosa, Mário. Primary Documents. Ed. Glória Ferreira and Paulo Herkenhoff. Trans. Stephen Berg. New York: The Museum of Modern Art [distributed by Duke UP], 2015. Pp. 464 + illus. ISBN 978-0-87070-911-1. One of the most significant aspects of the programming activities of the MOMA, with all the influence that it has on the American grasp of the arts, has been its focus on Latin America, through its formal exhibits, its calendar of events, and its list of publications. This focus has corresponded, in general, to the opening toward Latin America that has occurred in the New York City arts scene in recent decades, but no metropolitan institution is better situated, both professionally and in terms of general public awareness, than the legendary MOMA. Thus, this volume of the writings of Brazilian arts scholars Mário Pedrosa (1900–81) is indeed a welcome event. Pedrosa is considered to be a key figure in the criticism of contemporary Brazilian art, the sort of intellectual presence who both defines the parameters of the subject and establishes major theoretical foundations. Pedrosa’s life and his career were coterminus with Brazilian modernism, which was both a specific arts movement deriving from the program of the revolutionary Semana de Arte Moderna (February 1922) and a set of cultural horizons that articulated a uniquely Brazilian artistic consciousness. This consciousness, because it served to contribute to the still emerging (1889) republic’s quest for its cultural identity, continues to define the so-called Brazilian artistic way in the present, as much more sociohistorical and political factors may contribute to the sense of a need to move beyond Modernism as the singular basis for Brazilian artistic horizons. One of the most distinctive features of Pedrosa’s work has been something like a Moebiusstrip relationship between arts and politics. Certainly, Modernism had from the start a strong political component, as part of the effort to wrest control of cultural production away from authoritarian aesthetes who saw art as a classically, academically dominated domain separate from the hurly-burly of contemporary life. That Modernism had its roots in São Paulo—by the third decade of the twentieth century, one of the most hurly-burly of Brazilian (and, indeed, Latin American) cities—is hardly circumstantial: the new languages of Modernism, in all realms of cultural production, echoed the new urban languages, in all semiotic orders, that could be heard and seen in what was touting itself (as could be seen in the self-proclamation of one of Hildegard’s most famous photographs of the city) “the major industrial center of Latin America”—that is, the major axis of Latin American modernity. Pedrosa understood, and promoted, a consistently high-level of intellectual thought toward encouraging that understanding, of the complexity of the modern world, and his essential theoretical writings as well as his critical essays prompted by specific cultural phenomena always returned to the sense of a second order of complexity: the complexity of the domains of human experience and expression and, on an exponentially higher plane, the complexity of their interaction. As he wrote in 1967, precisely at a time when the authoritarian dictatorship was energetically combating the deeply social embeddedness of critical artistic activity, “The extreme complexity of modern civilization allows no activity of a scientific, cultural, or aesthetic order to unfold in isolation. It imposes a globalizing activity in all senses” (135). The denigration by the dictatorship of cultural production and the attempts to circumscribe it through censorship and other repressive measures were part of an effort to suppress the imbrication of art in the experiencing and comprehension of daily life, and Pedrosa’s scholarly and critical voice was key to refuting such efforts. Writing for the Associação Brasileira dos Críticos de Arte (ABCA), on the occasion of the censorship (1969) of a show at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio, Pedorsa states: “[It] is imperative that a stop be put to [the] practice of an official albeit anonymous censorship. The visual arts sector exercises no clandestine activity that might require control, vigilance, or combat through the state’s...

General Public Awareness in Life Insurance

This survey aimed at ascertaining the views of 120 respondents from overall sectors on the factors that determine the awareness in life insurance in the context of Nepal. The result of insurance awareness hypothesis shows that education is an important factor which affects the buying decision of consumers in life insurance. The researcher has employed descriptive design to conduct the study through structured set of questionnaire; convenience sampling technique has been used in the initial stage to narrow down the population from entire population. Similarly likert scale has been used for consumer survey and later computed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) Version 20 for windows to compare means. The survey result produces the result that in spite of the immense benefits and security provided by the life insurance, public awareness regarding it is low. The research also provides light in the aspect that insurance awareness is positively affected by educational level of attainment whereas it is statistically independent to gender, income and professional line of involvement.

PHP17 - General Public Knowledge and Awareness About Medicines Use in Penang, Malaysia

PHP17 - General Public Knowledge and Awareness About Medicines Use in Penang, Malaysia

The Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service Ocean State Report

ABSTRACTThe Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) Ocean State Report (OSR) provides an annual report of the state of the global ocean and European regional seas for policy and decision-makers with the additional aim of increasing general public awareness about the status of, and changes in, the marine environment. The CMEMS OSR draws on expert analysis and provides a 3-D view (through reanalysis systems), a view from above (through remote-sensing data) and a direct view of the interior (through in situ measurements) of the global ocean and the European regional seas. The report is based on the unique CMEMS monitoring capabilities of the blue (hydrography, currents), white (sea ice) and green (e.g. Chlorophyll) marine environment. This first issue of the CMEMS OSR provides guidance on Essential Variables, large-scale changes and specific events related to the physical ocean state over the period 1993–2015. Principal findings of this first CMEMS OSR show a significant increase in global and regional sea levels, thermosteric expansion, ocean heat content, sea surface temperature and Antarctic sea ice extent and conversely a decrease in Arctic sea ice extent during the 1993–2015 period. During the year 2015 exceptionally strong large-scale changes were monitored such as, for example, a strong El Niño Southern Oscillation, a high frequency of extreme storms and sea level events in specific regions in addition to areas of high sea level and harmful algae blooms. At the same time, some areas in the Arctic Ocean experienced exceptionally low sea ice extent and temperatures below average were observed in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic condition that causes high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (sometimes referred to as bad cholesterol) from birth. FH means high cholesterol that runs in a family. FH is caused by specific DNA changes that are passed on from parents to their children. It is not caused by lifestyle factors such as a high-fat diet or lack of exercise. There are 2 main types of FH, homozygous and heterozygous, that have different symptoms, risks, and treatments. In this Cardiology Patient Page, we focus on heterozygous FH, which we will call FH. FH affects 1 in 200 to 300 people. FH is usually inherited from 1 parent in an autosomal dominant pattern. This means a parent with FH has a 50% chance of passing it on to each child, regardless of sex. This also means all first-degree relatives (parents, siblings, and children) of a person with FH have a 50% chance to have FH, and a 50% chance to not have FH. Healthcare providers and the general public lack awareness about FH. Therefore, it is underdiagnosed and undertreated. A person with FH who is not treated is 20 times more likely to develop coronary artery disease than a person without FH. Coronary artery disease can lead to heart attacks and other major cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and sudden cardiac death. However, early diagnosis with universal lipid screening, cascade screening in families, and appropriate treatment with statins and other medications can reduce this risk. Most people with FH will not have any symptoms until complications of untreated high cholesterol arise years later. Rarely, patients may have visible signs of extremely high cholesterol, such as a corneal arcus or tendon xanthomas. A corneal arcus is a yellowish ring along the edge of the colored part of one or both …

Public Support for the Right to Euthanasia: The Competing Roles of Values and Religiosity Across 35 Nations

The determination of moral views has been frequently reduced to the effects of religiosity, although the effect of human values was acknowledged. This paper attempts to answer the question whether traditional religiosity is still the major regulator of moral attitudes and whether non-religious values have an independent impact. This is studied using attitudes toward euthanasia as a representative case of moral attitudes, since it is still widely discussed. At first, four hypotheses regarding the justifiability of euthanasia are reformulated regarding traditional religiosity, the values of autonomy, their interactions and effects of vulnerability. The multilevel analysis of the data from the 5th wave of World Values Survey showed that across 35 countries both traditional religiosity and human values have significant and independent impacts on the recognition of the right to euthanasia. Multilevel path analysis demonstrated that the effect of religiosity is partially mediated by the both values of autonomy and conservative ones. In addition, as a result of the low level of general public awareness of the topic, different kinds of capital have an inconsistent impact. We conclude with a discussion of the competing and additive roles of religiosity and the values of autonomy as modern regulators of public moral attitudes.

Maintaining occupational safety and health levels during the financial crisis – A conceptual model

The current financial crisis has imposed significant pressure upon the labour market and working conditions while, at the same time, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is challenged. Crucial organizational functions such as training, new work equipment purchasing and innovation are mainly affected. Literature suggests a positive correlation between a country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and accidents’ rate with a respective phase shift (time lag) representing the required time needed for adaptation.This paper presents a new model, based on a qualitative approach. This paper proposes a new model according to which OSH is defined by eight (8) determinants which are interacting, adapting and defining OSH’s level, flexibility and strength against pressure posed by external factors like recession. In effect, this model acts as an opposing force to any pressure posed on OSH. Steady state is defined by the net’s density, strength and OSH’s centrality while the key for stability is National Labour Inspectorate’s (NLI) position and relation with each of the stakeholders. That can be achieved either by regulatory surveillance and strong enforcement or by raising general public awareness, taking advantage of the social amplification/attenuation theories regarding risk. An additional model of risk communication across the OSH leveling determinants is proposed. The proposed models are evaluated by the use of the Greek paradigm.