Knowledge of children and youth about forest fires: discrepancies between basic perception and reality

Forests have a vital role for all living things. Children understanding of forest phenomena is the important knowledge for various sectors such as educators, policymakers, environmentalists, etc. This paper deals with the factors that affect knowledge and perception of forest fires of students, aged 10 to 19, in the city of Belgrade. The research was conducted between October 20th, 2013 and February 3rd, 2014. The authors have used a method of surveying students in order to identify and describe the factors affecting their knowledge about forest fires. A total of 3,548 students from 18 schools in Belgrade participated in the survey. The results of the research show that there is a discrepancy between perception and reality that is what students think they know and what they actually know in very basic terms. This set of findings in combination with other findings of moderators replicates previous research on the need for educational programs to ensure there is a match between youth confidence about what they know of hazards and their actual knowledge levels. Mismatches between the two could have serious consequences in disaster risk reduction terms. Given basic knowledge gaps here, this translates into educational programming that then needs to take account of this basic discrepancy to ensure, even from the early ages, consistency between 'knowledge and coping confidence' and actual knowledge and ability to cope and respond

Thermal Stability Investigation and the Kinetic Study of Folnak® Degradation Process Under Nonisothermal Conditions

The nonisothermal degradation process of Folnak® drug samples was investigated by simultaneous thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis in the temperature range from an ambient one up to 810°C. It was established that the degradation proceeds through the five degradation stages (designated as I, II, III, IV, and V), which include: the dehydration (I), the melting process of excipients (II), as well as the decomposition of folic acid (III), corn starch (IV), and saccharose (V), respectively. It was established that the presented excipients show a different behavior from that of the pure materials. During degradation, all excipients increase their thermal stability, and some kind of solid–solid and/or solid–gas interaction occurs. The kinetic parameters and reaction mechanism for the folic acid decomposition were established using different calculation procedures. It was concluded that the folic acid decomposition mechanism cannot be explained by the simple reaction order (ROn) model (n = 1) but with the complex reaction mechanism which includes the higher reaction orders (RO, n > 1), with average value of <n > = 1.91. The isothermal predictions of the third (III) degradation stage of Folnak® sample, at four different temperatures (Tiso = 180°C, 200°C, 220°C, and 260°C), were established. It was concluded that the shapes of the isothermal conversion curves at lower temperatures (180–200°C) were similar, whereas became more complex with further temperature increase due to the pterin and p-amino benzoic acid decomposition behavior, which brings the additional complexity in the overall folic acid decomposition process