Consumer Awareness and Perception of Organic Vegetables in Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet, Northern Philippines

Food consumption patterns are changing as a result of health and environmental issues, especially in the Cordillera Region which is known as producer and supplier of conventionally produced vegetables. The study aimed to determine the awareness and perception of consumers regarding organic vegetables and determine the factors affecting purchase/consumption of organic products. The data for the study was gathered through a survey of 200 household respondents from the selected barangays (villages) in Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet. Result shows that 70% of the household respondents were aware about organic products. Among these, 68% are moderately aware, 28% have high awareness, and only 4% have low awareness on organic vegetables. The awareness of consumers is not a guarantee that they are consumers of organic vegetables. Out of the 141 respondents who are aware, only 115 are consumers. Perception about organic products is based on the information they acquired from their friends, neighbors, relatives, officemates, radio and TV programs, seminars, programs, and the internet. Factors affecting the purchase/ consumption of organic vegetables are price, income, health benefits, nutrient contents, and safety of the product. Respondents perceived that organic vegetables are more nutritious, healthier, safe, clean, naturally grown, and free from poisonous chemicals. In order to create awareness and greater demand for organic products, there should be a massive information dissemination about organic products, the health benefits derived from consumption, and the benefit of organic production to the environment. This could be done through seminars, mothers’ classes in the barangay, and the use of media, flyers, and brochures

AIDS knowledge and attitudes in a Turkish population: an epidemiological study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate and present some pertinent comments concerning Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) knowledge, attitudes and misconceptions among the general population in a city of west Turkey. This study was deemed important and relevant due to the increasing importance of AIDS in Turkey and the other countries. METHODS: Using a multistage area sampling method, a random sample of individuals aged 11–83 years, living in 65 different quarters in the city of Eskisehir, Turkey during September, October and November 2004 were interviewed. RESULTS: In all, 1048 respondents completed the survey. In most items, respondents displayed a fairly good to excellent degree of knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Individuals with higher degrees of education indicated more correct responses in all items relating to knowledge of HIV/AIDS. In general, the respondents' attitudes towards AIDS and people with AIDS were found to be tolerant and positive, with one answer choice showing that the majority of the respondents agreed with the statement that those with HIV/AIDS must be supported, treated and helped (90.7%). Moreover, the proportions of the respondents' misconceptions were found to be significantly low for all the items. However, nearly one fourth of the respondents agreed with the misconceptions 'AIDS is a punishment by God' and 'One is not infected with HIV/AIDS if engaged in sport and well nourished'. CONCLUSION: In general HIV/AIDS related knowledge was high and people showed positive attitudes. However, people continue to hold misconceptions about AIDS and these need to be addressed by health education programs targeting those at higher risk

Sexual knowledge, attitudes and activity of men conscripted into the military

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Military conscripts may experience a change in their attitude towards sex at times when sexual urges are at their peak during their physical growth. This study examines the experience, understanding, knowledge and attitudes regarding sexual activity of the military conscripts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data was obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 1127 young adult military conscripts, and were evaluated in Southern Taiwan from January to July 2009, their demographic data, sexual knowledge, attitudes and activities were assessed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nearly 43% of the participants had performed penetrative vaginal intercourse at least once; 34% of the participants performed heterosexual oral sex at least once; almost 7% of participants had had homosexual intercourse, and 7.5% of participants had experienced homosexual oral sex in the past year. The mean sexual knowledge score based on 30 questions was 23.2 ± 4.0. The higher the educational level of the participants, the greater sexual knowledge they had obtained.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study found that 43% of unmarried young recruits had experienced premarital sexual activity. However, their sexual knowledge was insufficient and should be strengthened by sex education from an earlier age. College aged and adult learners also have sex education needs, especially with regard to integrating sexuality and life, being able to relate responsibly as sexual beings to others, the use of contraception, and about sexually transmitted disease.</p> <p>Keywords</p> <p>Young recruits, Sexual behavior, Sexual knowledge, Sex education</p

Tuberculosis and HIV co-infection: its impact on quality of life

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Performance of the NOνA Data Acquisition and Trigger Systems for the full 14 kT Far Detector

The NOvA experiment uses a continuous, free-running, dead-timeless data acquisition system to collect data from the 14 kT far detector. The DAQ system readouts the more than 344,000 detector channels and assembles the information into an raw unfiltered high bandwidth data stream. The NOvA trigger systems operate in parallel to the readout and asynchronously to the primary DAQ readout/event building chain. The data driven triggering systems for NOvA are unique in that they examine long contiguous time windows of the high resolution readout data and enable the detector to be sensitive to a wide range of physics interactions from those with fast, nanosecond scale signals up to processes with long delayed coincidences between hits which occur at the tens of milliseconds time scale. The trigger system is able to achieve a true 100% live time for the detector, making it sensitive to both beam spill related and off-spill physics

Relationship between quality of life and characteristics of patients hospitalised with tuberculosis

SETTING: Ataturk Lung Diseases and Chest Surgery Hospital in Ankara, Turkey

Intensive care and oncology nurses’ perceptions and experiences with ‘Futile medical care’ and ‘principles of good death’ [Yoğun bakim ve onkoloji hemşirelerinin “yararsiz tibbi bakim” ve “iyi ölüm prensipleri” ile ilgili algilari ve deneyimleri]

Introduction: This study aimed to determine nurses’ perceptions and experiences with ‘futile medical care’ and their opinions about ‘principles of good death’. Materials and Method: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in 11 state hospitals and 3 university hospitals in Ankara, Turkey. It included 856 nurses working in intensive care and oncology units. A questionnaire, which included demographics and futile medical care practices and the ‘Attitudes toward Principles about Dying with Dignity Scale’ were used. Results: Participants were on average 30.49 ± 6.12 years old 92.3% were women, 61.7% were married and 62.7% had a bachelor’s degree. Nurses defined medical care as futile when it was ‘not affecting quality of life’ (35.4%), ‘not curing the disease’ (46.8%) and ‘prolonging the suffering of the patient’ (42.9%). They stated that futile care was continued because of hospital policy (32.9%), doctor’s decision (54.9%) or patient’s or relative’s decision (29.3%). Three of every four nurses stated that good death principles were not applied at their hospital. We found that attitudes toward death improved as nurses’ education level increased (p =.001), and women had higher scale scores than men (p <.001). Conclusion: Nurses were generally not satisfied with end-of-life care. Extending life, while ignoring the quality thereof, remains a major ethical dilemma for health professionals. © 2017, Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved