Public Support Research Articles

Experimental Study on Automated Controller of Street Light Management System using IoT

In order to ensure public safety and support nighttime activities, street lighting is crucial to the urban landscape, and this study starts by contextualizing its importance. It then goes on to analyze the shortcomings of the current street lighting systems, which are typified by their static control methods and poor environmental response.These shortcomings underscore the urgent need for a paradigm shift towards more intelligent and adaptive solutions. The core proposition of this project lies in the design and implementation of an advanced street light management system empowered by IoT technology. At its heart, the system comprises a sophisticated network of interconnected devices, including sensors, actuators, and a central control unit. These components collaborate synergistically to capture, analyze, and act upon real-time data gleaned from the surrounding environment. Through the application of cutting-edge data analytics and machine learning algorithms, the system autonomously adjusts lighting levels in accordance with fluctuating parameters such as ambient light levels, traffic density, weather conditions, and pedestrian activity. By dynamically optimizing energy usage while ensuring adequate illumination, the system not only enhances operational efficiency but also contributes to cost reduction and environmental sustainability. Moreover, the proposed system incorporates proactive maintenance features, enabling early fault detection and remote diagnostics. This capability minimizes downtime and enhances system reliability, thereby mitigating the operational challenges associated with traditional street lighting infrastructure. The project further explores the conceptual framework of IoT, elucidating its transformative potential in revolutionizing urban infrastructure management. By seamlessly integrating physical devices with digital intelligence, IoT facilitates the creation of interconnected ecosystems wherein data-driven decision-making and automation converge to drive unprecedented efficiency and innovation

Changing US Support for Public Health Data Use Through Pandemic and Political Turmoil.

Recent legislative privacy efforts have not included special provisions for public health data use. Although past studies documented support for public health data use, several global events in 2020 have raised awareness and concern about privacy and data use. This study aims to understand whether the events of 2020 affected US privacy preferences on secondary uses of identifiable data, focusing on public health and research uses. We deployed two online surveys-in February and November 2020-on data privacy attitudes and preferences using a choice-based-conjoint analysis. Participants received different data-use scenario pairs-varied by the type of data, user, and purpose-and selected scenarios based on their comfort. A hierarchical Bayes regression model simulated population preferences. There were 1,373 responses. There was no statistically significant difference in the population's data preferences between February and November, each showing the highest comfort with population health and research data activities and the lowest with profit-driven activities. Most subgroups' data preferences were comparable with the population's preferences, except African Americans who showed significant decreases in comfort with population health and research. Despite world-changing events, including a pandemic, we found bipartisan public support for using identifiable data for public health and research. The decreasing support among African Americans could relate to the increased awareness of systemic racism, its harms, and persistent disparities. The US population's preferences support including legal provisions that permit public health and research data use in US laws, which are currently lacking specific public health use permissions.

Categorical Inequalities and Canadian Attitudes toward Positive and Negative Rights

Abstract Liberal democracies are expected to provide residents with both negative rights, such as limitations against the abuse of police powers, and some range of positive (social) rights, such as access to social benefits. These rights are commonly deemed to apply equally, without respect to individuals’ ascriptive backgrounds. Existing research, often in the US context and focused on social programs, shows both support for abstract rights and group-specific prejudices. We interrogate whether similar patterns exist in Canada and innovate by directly examining negative and positive rights in the same study. Using a series of novel survey experiments, we demonstrate the degree to which categorical inequalities based on race and legal status affect public support for rights provision in Canada. Both rights are more recognized for citizens relative to out-of-status migrants, and legal status at times interacts with racialized minority status. Rights appear far from universal in the minds of Canadians.

Borrelia burgdorferi

Since its recent discovery in the late 1970s, Lyme Disease (LD) has been a growing public health concern, especially in the United States where it accounts for the majority of vector-borne infections each year. The causative agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected Ixodes tick. This pathogen uses many unique mechanisms to both shield itself from the host immune response and cause disease. Clinically, LD presents in successive phases, with each increasing in severity as the bacterial cells migrate to new tissues and organ systems. On the epidemiological and ecological fronts, limitations in reporting, ecological changes, and a lack of public support hinder accurate surveillance and enhance the spread of the disease. The goal of this literature review is to increase public knowledge of B. burgdorferi, its vector, and the disease it causes, along with suggesting preventative measures to protect individuals who reside in high-risk areas. A collective and coordinated public health effort represents our greatest chance of restraining the LD-causing pathogen.

Public preferences of environmental peacebuilding: The case of forest conservation projects in Colombia

To date, no studies have examined the nationwide support for environmental peacebuilding projects in post-conflict countries, that is, projects that seek to use the management of natural resources as a way of fostering peace and cooperation. However, public support can be crucial for the legitimacy and effectiveness of these projects. This article aims to address this gap by exploring which project characteristics influence public support for environmental peacebuilding projects. It does so through a conjoint experiment in Colombia with 1,504 survey respondents, focusing on forest conservation projects. The findings indicate that provisions related to the reintegration of ex-combatants and the dialogue between victims and ex-combatants resonate positively with respondents. Participants from the political right or those opposed to the 2016 peace agreement were somewhat less responsive to this information. The most significant impact was observed with provisions for job creation and public investments that targeted the entire population. Based on these findings, we conclude that the inclusion of environmental peacebuilding provisions in forest conservation projects can increase public support for them in post-conflict countries.

Expectations on biochar as a climate solution in Sweden: Carbon dioxide removal with environmental co-benefits

While carbon dioxide removal is indispensable in net-zero climate policy, incentives to deploy removals are limited. Swedish public support to biochar is one exception. This paper draws on the Swedish case to explore expectations put on biochar and the significance of public support for fulfilling these expectations. The analysis shows that biochar is expected to contribute to several environmental objectives. However, while biochar producers and users voice expectations on strengthening the multifunctionality of landscapes, e.g., improved ecosystem resilience and reduced nutrient run-off, the authorities rather narrowly direct attention to the stability of biochar as a carbon storage. Nevertheless, public support is contributing to a small but important protective space for biochar development through three channels: First, through investment grants, which are crucial for the emerging Swedish biochar production capacity. Second, through demand-pull created by municipalities that specify high environmental safeguards, which favours domestic production over import. Third, indirectly through support of production facilities that enable intermediary activities for gathering and sharing knowledge. However, while recent changes to EU state aid regulation may be a game-changer, EU has until now acted as a barrier to support to carbon dioxide removal. This socio-technical regime resistance, combined with a lack of jointly articulated expectations on biochar, appear to have been preventing deployment on more significant scale.

Economic and financial viability of a pig farm in central semi-tropical Mexico: 2022–2026 prospective

To estimate the economic and financial viability of a pig farm in central sub-tropical Mexico within a 5-year planning horizon, a Monte Carlo simulation model was utilized. Net returns were projected using simulated values for the distribution of input and product processes, establishing 2021 as base scenario. A stochastic modelling approach was employed to determine the economic and financial outlook. The findings reveal a panorama of economic and financial viability. Net income increased by 555%, return on assets rose from 3.36% in 2022 to 11.34% in 2026, and the probability of decapitalization dropped from 58% to 13%, respectively in the aforesaid periods. Similarly, the probability of obtaining negative net income decreased from 40% in 2022 to 18% in 2026. The technological, productive, and economic management of the production unit allowed for a favorable scenario within the planning horizon. There is a growing interest in predicting the economic sectors worth investing in and supporting, considering their economic and development performance. This research offers both methodological and scientific evidence to demonstrate the feasibility of establishing a planning schedule and validating the suitability of the pork sector for public investment and support.

Three strategies to revive teetering clean hydrogen dreams

A global effort is underway to realize long-held visions of a diversified clean hydrogen (H2) economy. In the United States, the Department of Energy has selected seven clean H2 hub proposals into which it plans to invest $7 billion, along with another $1 billion to stimulate demand for the molecules. Coupled with generous production subsidies, these moves are intended to support early-movers to prove business models, initiate the build-out of distribution infrastructure, and catalyze further scale-up efforts. Major public support programs are also underway in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Australia. Despite this unprecedented level of public funding, there is a growing risk that follow-on commercial adoption could be mostly limited to substitution in existing uses, new entrants will struggle to gain traction, and private capital will remain on the sidelines for emerging applications. Drawing on insights from senior stakeholders from across the clean H2 value chain and investment community, we explain why the long-term prospects for most clean H2 use-cases remain moribund, and show how public support can address the underlying “system-level” gaps that must also be overcome to truly unlock large-scale growth. In particular, there is an opportunity and need for public support to help resolve three underlying issues: (i) clarifying fit with the broader clean energy ecosystem; (ii) bridging “chicken-and-egg” barriers; and (iii) harnessing incumbency without being captured by it.

How Public Support for Innovation Affect Entrepreneurial Orientation of Mexican Companies: The Moderating Effect of Being a Family Business

How Public Support for Innovation Affect Entrepreneurial Orientation of Mexican Companies: The Moderating Effect of Being a Family Business

Political Attitude of the 212 Alumni towards Muhaimin Iskandar as a Candidate for Vice Presidentiality of Anies Baswedan

The General Election is an event where the public can choose their leaders openly and compete between the three presidential candidates, namely Lt. Gen. TNI (Ret.) H. Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo, H. Ganjar Pranowo, S.H., M.I.P., and H. Anies Rasyid Baswedan, S.E., M.P.P., Ph.D. The third candidate certainly has their strategy for selecting a vice presidential candidate and how to campaign. Anies Rasyid Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar, as candidate pair number 1, experienced many challenges in getting public support. This research aims to explore the political attitudes of the Persaudaraan Alumni 212 community organization using interpretative qualitative methods to understand social phenomena through Bryman's interpretation process. Meanwhile, to find out the extent of the truth of the research, the author uses qualitative data analysis techniques starting from data collection and data analysis, data reduction, data presentation, and conclusions. The results of the research show that, on average, the administrators and members of the Persaudaraan Alumni 212 showed cognitive, affective and conative components regarding Muhaimin Iskandar's candidacy as Anies' vice-presidential candidate, who then ultimately accepted candidate number 1 because of the mental that resulted from joint deliberations and produced Itjima Ulama.

Comparative analysis of alpine agritourism in Trentino, Tyrol, and South Tyrol: Regional variations and prospects

Abstract Agritourism is an increasingly popular form of tourism that entails visiting farms to engage in activities and gain insights into the farming way of life. This research explores the economic, social, and environmental dynamics of agritourism in the Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino Euroregion with a specific emphasis on the three distinct regional entities in Austria and Italy: the Austrian state of Tyrol (comprising North and East Tyrol) and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Tyrol and Trentino. It addresses two key research aims: uncovering regional distinctions among these Alpine provinces and understanding the motivations, challenges, and future plans of agritourism operators. A comprehensive review of existing literature frames the study, while data collection involves an online survey of agritourism farms in the region. Distinctive characteristics emerge, with Trentino emphasizing restaurant services, sustainability, and community engagement. South Tyrol prioritizes quality accommodations and work–life balance, while Tyrol aligns closer with South Tyrol’s focus. Notably, economic factors exert a substantial influence on their motivations to embrace agritourism, underscoring their pivotal role in this context. Despite facing challenges such as “time management and labour,” “meeting visitors’ expectations,” and “local permits and taxes,” most agritourism operators across the region display willingness to expand their activity in the future. Overall, agritourism in the study area is characterized by significant structural and operational differences resulting in different future public support and regulatory needs.

Local News Reporting and Mass Attitudes on Infrastructure Investment

AbstractA growing body of research documents how shrinking local newsrooms undermine political accountability and local fiscal and policy performance in the United States. We extend this work to examine political impacts from the level of information content in local news, which has been jeopardized by reductions in newsroom staffing. To understand how information content affects public response to news coverage of a local issue, we focus on the case of preventive spending on infrastructure maintenance and repair. Inefficiently low levels of infrastructure investment are often attributed to low public knowledge about the risk of failure events. In a preregistered survey experiment, we test how the level and type of information in a news article affect support for infrastructure investment across two different types of infrastructure risk (repeated nuisance versus catastrophic failure). For both types of risk, we find that more information-rich reporting, whether investigative or event-driven, increases public support for preventive spending and imposes accountability penalties on local leaders who fail to invest in prevention.

Natural disasters, salience and public support for climate change policy

Natural disasters, salience and public support for climate change policy

What determines voting behavior to host the Olympic games in the Rhine-Ruhr area: a multilevel model

What determines voting behavior to host the Olympic games in the Rhine-Ruhr area: a multilevel model

Revisiting the IOM Reports and Envisioning a Promising Future for Public Health.

Two public health reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published in 1988 and 2003 by the Institute of Medicine continue to resonate. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for a robust and adequately funded public health system that has political and public support as well as strong connections to health care and other sectors. However, a spate of recent assessments of the nation's public health infrastructure shows continuing gaps in funding, workforce, capacity, and other dimensions. There are reasons for optimism and opportunities for progress in public health in the third decade of the 21st century. There is great promise in cross-sector partnerships and in embracing the "public" in public health by building power with communities in health improvement efforts and in decision-making. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(5):495-500. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307584).

Prescribing antibiotics prudently—A survey of policy implementation drivers among physicians and veterinarians

BackgroundAs the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) problem accelerates, humans and animals are suffering from the consequences of infections with diminishing antimicrobial treatment options. Within the One Medicine and One Health mandate, which denotes a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach to improve medicine and health across human and animal sectors, we investigate how human and veterinary medical practitioners apply their medical and policy knowledge in prescribing antimicrobials. Different regions and locations establish different intermediary policies and programs to support clinicians in that pursuit. In Hong Kong, there are locally adapted programs at governance and clinical levels in the human medical field. However, there is no locally adapted veterinary antibiotic prescription guideline or stewardship program, and veterinarians adopt overseas or international professions' antimicrobial use guidelines. Such a policy environment creates a natural experiment to compare local policy implementation conditions and clinicians' knowledge, perception, and practice. MethodWe construct the investigative survey tool by adaptation of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) and Capacity, Opportunity, and Motivation-Behavior (COMB) models. We identify, compare and contrast factors that influence clinicians' antimicrobial prescription behavior. The factors are considered both intrinsically, such as personal attributes, and extrinsically, such as societal and professional norms. FindingsThe absence of locally adopted antimicrobial guidelines influences AMR stewardship program implementation in local Hong Kong veterinary community. As medical allies, physicians and veterinarians share similar demographic influence, organization considerations and perception of public awareness. Both cohorts prescribe more prudently with more years-in-practice, time available to communicate with patients or caretakers, and public awareness and support.

Perceptions around medications for opioid use disorder among a diverse sample of U.S. adults

IntroductionMedications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) including methadone (MMT), buprenorphine (BUP), and naltrexone (NTX) are safe and effective. However, there are significant negative perceptions surrounding MOUD, creating barriers to uptake. While research on MOUD stigma has largely focused on provider and patient experiences, fewer studies have explored MOUD perceptions among the general public. Given that MOUD stigma expressed by social ties surrounding individuals with OUD can influence treatment choices, we assessed MOUD perceptions among U.S. adults to determine how beliefs impacted treatment preference. We further explored how MOUD perceptions may be amplified among racialized groups with histories of experiencing drug-related discrimination. MethodsThe study collected survey data from a diverse sample of U.S. adults (n = 1508) between October 2020 and January 2021. The survey measured knowledge of MOUD and non-medication treatments, relative agreement with common MOUD perceptions, and treatment preferences. Multinomial logistic regression analysis tested associations with treatment preference, stratified by race/ethnicity. ResultsDescriptive results indicated that across groups, many respondents (66.8 %) had knowledge of MOUD, but believed MOUD was a “substitute” for opioids and had some degree of concern about misuse. Multivariable results showed knowledge of non-medication treatments was positively associated with MOUD preference among White (MMT OR = 3.16, 95 % CI = 1.35–7.39; BUP OR = 2.69, CI = 1.11–6.47), Black (MMT OR = 3.91, CI = 1.58–9.69), and Latino/a (MMT OR = 5.12, CI = 1.99–13.2; BUP OR = 3.85, CI = 1.5–9.87; NTX OR = 4.51, CI = 1.44–14.06) respondents. Among White respondents, we identified positive associations between MOUD experience and buprenorphine preference (OR = 4.33, CI = 1.17–16.06); non-medication treatment experience and preference for buprenorphine (OR = 2.86, CI = 1.03–7.94) and naltrexone (OR = 3.17, CI = 1.08–9.28). Concerns around misuse of methadone were negatively associated with methadone preference among White (OR = 0.65, CI = 0.43–0.98) and Latino/a (OR = 0.49, CI = 0.34–0.7), and concerns around misuse of buprenorphine was negatively associated with preference for MOUD among White (MMT OR = 0.62, CI = 0.39–0.99; BUP OR = 0.48, CI = 0.3–0.77; NTX OR = 0.6, CI = 0.36–0.99) and Latino/a (BUP OR = 0.59, CI = 0.39–0.89) respondents. ConclusionsThis analysis offers critical insights into treatment perceptions beyond the patient population, finding that negative beliefs around MOUD are common and negatively associated with preferences for medication-based treatment. These findings highlight implications for public support of evidence-based treatment and lay the groundwork for future interventions addressing public stigma toward MOUD.

Analyzing Media Impact on Public Engagement with CSR Practices

This study examines the impact of media on public engagement with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices using a qualitative approach. The focus of the analysis is on the narratives formed by digital and traditional media and their influence on public perceptions of CSR activities. Data were gathered from content analysis of 100 news articles and 50 social media posts related to CSR activities of five multinational companies over the past year. The results indicate that consistently positive media narratives about CSR tend to enhance company reputation and public support, while negative exposure triggers less favorable public reactions. The study also found that influencers and digital activists play a crucial role in shaping online discourse about CSR, significantly influencing public perceptions. These findings suggest that companies need to design effective CSR communication strategies and continuously monitor and evaluate these strategies to ensure sustained positive impact on public engagement with CSR activities

Pilot Projects to Secure Local Supply in Rural Areas. Start-ups, Community-oriented Entrepreneurs and Public Funding as Drivers?

The usual store formats can hardly be operated economically in places with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants. In line with the spiral theory, the resulting retreat from the area offers new commercial opportunities for innovative forms of offering, such as staff-free 24/7 markets or online ordering options. At present, a wide variety of actors are experimenting with new and flexible approaches, and it does not yet seem foreseeable which models will ultimately prevail. How can the initial experiences be systematized and what is the potential for establishment? To this end, we compare five pilot projects that use decentralized, mobile and digital formats to bring everyday goods to consumers. For the five case studies, 35 semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts and customers. Central comparative dimensions are the context of emergence and the actor constellations, the contribution to local supply, the economic viability as well as the social function of the offers. The results show that two cases are strongly subsidy-driven or depend on public support. In two other cases, the social function dominates with the involvement of socially oriented enterprises, where the approaches can rather fulfill a complementary supply function. Finally, there is also a new format that at least has the potential to be rolled out on a large scale in rural areas of Germany and beyond.

The radical flank: Curse or blessing of a social movement?

Social movements often comprise a variety of actors employing differing levels of radicality. This study examines how collective action enables social change by studying the influence of the presence of a radical flank on public support for moderate and radical activists. We report two experimental studies investigating the reactions towards the protests of a movement in the United Kingdom opposing a university’s reduction in sustainable catering options (N = 485) and an anti-fracking movement in the US (N = 455). In both experiments, participants read a fake newspaper article about a: (1) completely nonviolent, (2) completely violent, or (3) mixed violent/nonviolent movement including a radical flank. The tested models reveal that identification with the activists drives effects on public support (i.e., intentions to participate and donate). Specifically, the presence of a radical flank caused an increase in public support for the moderates (Study 1) or a decrease in support for the radicals (Study 2). Study 2 additionally found that the magnitude of the effects is moderated by the participants’ sympathy for the movement’s cause. Observers who were sympathetic towards the advocated changes reacted more strongly towards the chosen tactics. Implications for theory, practice and future research are discussed.