Owning the problem: Media portrayals of overweight dogs and the shared determinants of the health of human and companion animal populations

Weight-related health problems have become a common topic in Western mass media. News-coverage has also extended to overweight pets, particularly since 2003 when the U.S. National Academy of Sciences announced that obesity was also afflicting co-habiting companion animals in record numbers. To characterize and track views in popular circulation on causes, consequences and responsibilities vis-à-vis weight gain and obesity, in pets as well as in people, this study examines portrayals of overweight dogs that appeared from 2000 through 2009 in British, American and Australian mass media. The ethnographic content analysis drew inspiration from the literature in population health, animal-human relationships, communication framing and the active nature of texts in cosmopolitan societies. Three main types of media articles about overweight dogs appeared during this period: 1) reports emphasizing facts and figures; 2) stories emphasizing personal prescriptions for dog owners, and 3) societal critiques. To help ordinary people make sense of canine obesity, media articles often highlight that dogs share the lifestyle of their human companion or owner, yet the implications of shared social and physical environments is rarely considered when it comes to solutions. Instead, media coverage exhorts people who share their lives with overweight dogs to ‘own the problem’ and, with resolve, to normalize their dog’s physical condition by imposing dietary, exercise and relationship changes, thereby individualizing culpability rather than linking it to broader systemic issues. Keywords: Companion animals; Media; Narrative analysis; Obesity; Public understandin

Bütçe politikası açısından ekonomistlerin amaçları

Canadian Tax Journal, Cilt XII, No: 4 (Temmuz-Ağustos 1964) de yayınlanan "Tax Policy for Growth: Reconciliation with Other Objectives" isimli bu eser yazarından izin alınarak yayınlanmıştır.Çeviriye esas metnin künyesi: A.J. Robinson ve James Cutt. (1973). "Public Finance in Canada". Selected Readings, 2nd Edition, 1973, Methuen Publications, ss. 15-16.Kamu politikasında birkaç amaç vardır. Belirli bir amaca verilen önem zamandan zamana değişebilir. "Ulusların zenginliğinin nedenleri ve yapısına yönelik araştırma" isimli eserinde Adam Smith ekonomik büyüme ile ilgilenmiştir. Fakat Marx, Mill ve Ricardo gibi daha sonraki klasik ekonomistler ve Marshall ile Clark'ında dahil olduğu marjinalistler, milli hasılanın dağlımıyla bunun artırılmasından daha fazla ilgilendiler. 1930'larda sürekli işsizlik ekonomistlerin dikkatini ekonomik istikrar amacına yöneltti

Edge-detection of the radiation field in double exposure portal images using a curve propagation algorithm

An accurate detection of the radiation field is crucial to 3D conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT). Automated techniques to detect the field edges on double exposure portal images have previously focused on thresholding techniques. In this paper, we present a new approach based on a curve propagation technique (the Fast Marching method) which proves to be more effective at detecting the radiation field than its thresholding counterpart. The comparison of both techniques in terms of computational speed and effectiveness of the detection is presented using complex images with non-homogeneous intensity levels inside the radiation field, and gradual variations in intensity level at the field boundaries. Results show that our Fast Marching method is easier to automate, and converges faster to the boundaries of the segmented radiation field. The computation time of the Fast Marching technique is five times faster in typical portal images. PACS numbers: 87.53.Oq, 87.57.Nk, 87.57.-s. Key words: double portal imaging, segmentation, thresholding, fast marchin