No description available.

Risk perception for rare, low-probability hazards, such as tsunamis, tends to be low due to individual's unfamiliarity with them and the tendency to see them as synonymous with non-occurrence events. Visitors to an area tend to have even lower risk perception and knowledge of hazards, warning systems and appropriate actions to take during an event. Risk perception, however, can increase, if only temporarily, after a catastrophic event, such as the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. To determine the changes in resident's knowledge and perception and the differences between those of residents and visitors two surveys were conducted. In the first survey interview style surveying was conducted at eleven locations in the coastal Christchurch and Banks Peninsula area of the Canterbury Region The questionnaire was composed of scaled, open, and closed ended questions and the main themes included knowledge of risk, preparation and warnings, what to do during a tsunami, and changes since the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. The second survey of five coastal communities was conducted via a postal questionnaire and was aimed at obtaining residential views. Survey data was then analysed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software. The residential data was compared with that of the non-residents to determine the differences in perception of residents and visitors. The residential information was then compared with survey data from the 2003 National Coastal Survey. Visitors knew less about general tsunami information such as when the last tsunami occurred and were less likely to believe that a tsunami could occur imminently. Non-residents reported less receipt of information and did considerably less information seeking. Differences in knowledge of warning systems were difficult to ascertain. The Boxing Day event certainly made an impact, increasing people's knowledge and awareness, though most likely only temporarily.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

ABSTRACT Childhood lead exposure is increasingly becoming a public health concern in developing and developed countries. Children are particularly vulnerable because of their developing body systems and mouthing behaviours. Recent studies have shown that lead exposure during pregnancy could cause harmful effects in unborn babies, subsequently causing ill health during later childhood. Lead poisoning prevention strategies should address exposures before, during and after pregnancy. To develop an appropriate framework for childhood lead exposure preventive strategies, the knowledge, perceptions, and behaviours of pregnant women in relation to child lead hazards had to be explored. The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge, perceptions and behaviours of pregnant women in relation to child lead hazards. To answer the research question, objectives were formulated which were to explore the knowledge of pregnant women regarding the sources and routes of exposure, the health effects of lead and mechanisms to protect children against lead exposure. The study objectives were achieved by administering an exploratory structured questionnaire. A non-probability convenience sample of 119 pregnant women was selected for data collection. Data was analysed using STATA 9.0 software. The results showed that only 13 participants (11%) had heard of lead before and the majority of participants (89%, n=107) had not heard of lead before. Four participants (31%, n=13) did not know if lead could be harmful to the health of children. Nine participants (69%, n=13) however, thought that lead could harm the health of children. Six participants (46%, n=13) did not know the health and social problems that lead exposures could cause in children. High risk factors in the living environment of the study population included informal housing, overcrowded living conditions, flaking and peeling paint, poor hand wash behaviour and smoking. The study concluded that there were low levels of knowledge, lacking perceptions and high-risk behaviours and practices amongst pregnant women in relation to child lead hazards. It further concluded that there were high-risk activities and conditions in the living environment of the studied population.

Recent high profile food safety incidents in the United Kingdom have shaken consumer confidence in food products. Consumer perception of risk is seen to be very relevant to food safety issues. The impact of this perceived risk on purchase behaviour is also critical to the development of risk management strategies by authorities responsible for public health and the food industry. Focusing on fresh chicken meat products, this study explored the relationship between food risk characteristics, consumer perception of food safety related risk, consumer purchase behaviour and actions that can be taken to reduce the exposure to food risk. Following an extensive literature review, an exploratory study in the form of face-toface interviews was carried out to clarify the main concerns of food hazards, and to identify the items of perceived consequent loss and risk reducing strategies adopted by consumers. The findings were verified through a quantitative survey of 200 respondents. The data was presented in the form of Structural Equation Modelling, and analysed by the LISREL 8.30 statistical package. The results showed that consumer risk perception was affected by a range of risk characteristics, such as consumer concern about the severity of the food risk, and the potential long-term adverse effect on future generation and environment. The main elements of perceived loss associated with food safety were health, financial, time, lifestyle and taste losses, and these were shown to have a negative effect on purchase likelihood. Two other risk characteristics namely, perceived knowledge and own control of the food risk were found to be linked directly and positively to consumer purchase likelihood. Risk reducing strategies such as branded product, product quality assurance and product information adopted by consumers were identified and found to be consistent with the marketing strategies used by the food industry. These risk-reducing strategies have a negative relationship with consumer risk perception. This study presented empirical evidence for characterising types of food risks and explains how food risks and risk reducing strategies affect consumer risk perception as well as purchase likelihood. Consequently, two quantitative consumer food purchase models were developed. These models can help the government and the food industry to identify key factors to develop systematic strategies for risk management and risk communication in order to allocate resources efficiently and effectively. They can also use these models to measure the effectiveness of their risk management policy in the times of concern about food safety. This study recommends further research to apply these models in other types of food products and other types of risk, such as chemical risk, and technological risk, in particular for those risks which are beyond the control of consumers. The differences in risk perception between cultures and socio-economic groupings should be explored further. This is a valid topic for further research and provides potential benefits for consumers and food industry as a whole.

Risk perception for rare, low-probability hazards, such as tsunamis, tends to be low due to individual's unfamiliarity with them and the tendency to see them as synonymous with non-occurrence events. Visitors to an area tend to have even lower risk perception and knowledge of hazards, warning systems and appropriate actions to take during an event. Risk perception, however, can increase, if only temporarily, after a catastrophic event, such as the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. To determine the changes in resident's knowledge and perception and the differences between those of residents and visitors two surveys were conducted. In the first survey interview style surveying was conducted at eleven locations in the coastal Christchurch and Banks Peninsula area of the Canterbury Region The questionnaire was composed of scaled, open, and closed ended questions and the main themes included knowledge of risk, preparation and warnings, what to do during a tsunami, and changes since the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. The second survey of five coastal communities was conducted via a postal questionnaire and was aimed at obtaining residential views. Survey data was then analysed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software. The residential data was compared with that of the non-residents to determine the differences in perception of residents and visitors. The residential information was then compared with survey data from the 2003 National Coastal Survey. Visitors knew less about general tsunami information such as when the last tsunami occurred and were less likely to believe that a tsunami could occur imminently. Non-residents reported less receipt of information and did considerably less information seeking. Differences in knowledge of warning systems were difficult to ascertain. The Boxing Day event certainly made an impact, increasing people's knowledge and awareness, though most likely only temporarily.

A structure is vulnerable if any damage produces consequences which are disproportionate to that damage. Conversely a structure is robust if it can withstand arbitrary damage. The theory of vulnerability developed in this thesis concerns structural form and connectivity. The purpose of the theory is to identify the "weak links" within a structure. A new theory of vulnerability for 3D structures has been developed. An entirely new approach has been derived from the 2D theory developed by Wu, Blockley, Woodman (1993), Yu(1997). New concepts of a graph model for 3D structural systems, 3D structural path and loop, structural round, string pattern of structural round, 3D structural tightness, 3D structural clusters, deterioration hierarchy of structural round etc. have been defined and introduced. A method of combining structural vulnerability analysis with structural response analysis has been developed and illustrated with three examples. 2D structural vulnerability theory as developed most recently by Yu(1997) has also been re-examined and improved. The algorithm for computer implementation of 2D structural vulnerability theory has been greatly improved. The improved algorithm provides a more complete search, always use the most up to date hierarchy and has a special treatment for structure with a mixture of types of joint. In order to create a graphical user interface for SAVE (Structural Analysis for Vulnerability Estimation) (Yu, 1997), some graphical functions have been developed. These graphical functions include: drawing the structure; drawing the cluster formation procedures; drawing the hierarchical presentation; drawing the most vulnerable failure scenarios in the structure. The theory is potentially of use in the design of protection and performance monitoring programmes for safety management and to reduce the risk of overlooking vulnerable failure scenarios

Previous research indicates a distinct seasonal pattern in mortality rates. Increases are prominent during the northern-hemispheric cold season. These patterns are seen in overall mortality, diabetes mellitus, circulatory, digestive, and respiratory diseases. A principal component analysis indicates that departure from normal temperature, minimum, maximum, and average daily temperature, and dew-point temperature are the primary atmospheric variables that influence mortality patterns. ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests support findings of principal component analysis. Although a day-to-day relationship between mortality rates and atmospheric variables was noted in several instances, results suggest that the influence of the primary atmospheric variables on mortality rates is greatest when a three to five-day lag time is in place. Furthermore, results indicate that the combination of these variables in conjunction with frontal passage is linked to seasonal increases in mortality. A combination of atmospheric variables that influence mortality rates has been identified, however, their exact influence is still unclear.