Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adoption of Climate Change Adaptation Practices

Southeast Asia is among the most vulnerable regions to climate change, and its high dependence on agriculture imposes significant challenges on its farming systems. Given these challenges, farmers’ climate change adaptation is becoming increasingly important. Therefore, this thesis explored the interlinkages among – and the influence of – social support, knowledge, and various aspects of farmers’ perceptions on their adoption of climate change adaptation practices. Previous research in Southeast Asia has thus far focused on farmers’ attitudes towards – or barriers to – adaptation. This thesis goes a step further by providing insights into the underlying factors and how their interlinkages influence adaptation. Structural Equation Modelling was employed to account for the complexity of farmers’ adaptation behaviour. The results show that social support, knowledge, and perceived usefulness of adaptation practices have small positive direct effects on farmers’ adoption of adaptation practices. Perceived ease of use had a medium-sized positive direct effect, and also mediated the relationship between knowledge and adoption. Perceptions of climate change and its impacts were not found to have significant direct or indirect effects. The thesis concludes that perception should not be studied as a single latent construct when investigating Southeast Asian farmers’ adoption of adaptation practices but rather as multiple constructs. The findings contribute to the crucial research efforts needed in the region to understand how farmers’ adaptive capacity and food systems’ resilience can be strengthened. Thus, the findings also add to policy-relevant literature and provide a good foundation for future research on the development of climate change adaptation policies

Potential policy projects for decreasing fluoride concentrations in the groundwater of Aguascalientes, Mexico

Reductions in groundwater quality due to aquifer depletion is a growing issue globally and will become more prominent with continued climate change and population growth. Dry regions are particularly vulnerable to this issue due to their reliance on groundwater for water supply. Therefore, urgent attention to improving groundwater management in such areas is essential in regional budgets and policy agendas. This thesis aims to provide insight and initial estimates on the potential net social benefits associated with two policy projects intended to increase the groundwater quality in the semi-arid state of Aguascalientes, Mexico. The focus lies on the aquifer of Valle de Aguascalientes, where fluoride contamination due to aquifer overdraft is becoming increasingly problematic. The projects evaluated are the installation of fluoride removal units using electrocoagulation (Project A), and the implementation of centre pivot irrigation systems (Project B). Policy evaluation is performed using cost-benefit analysis. The results show that Project A is associated with a net present value (NPV) of 159 262 033.17 USD and Project B with an NPV of -123 864 575.35 USD. However, due to the uncertainty associated with these estimates, the resulting recommendation is to not accept either project until the certainty of the policy evaluation is increased. Nevertheless, the information provided in this thesis may be helpful in planning for future studies

VOID : 6-26 maj 2011 på Tobaksmagasinet i Jakobstad, Yrkeshögskolan Novia, fotolinjen

Fotoutställningen VOID producerades av fotolinjen vid yrkeshögskolan Novia under våren 2011 och visades på Tobaksmagasinet i Jakobstad. Denna publikation är en sammanställning av de verk som ingick i utställningen

Determination of quality of life in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis subjected to conservative treatment.

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction and objectives</p> <p>Physical deformities caused by adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) coupled with conservative treatment of AIS with orthesis unavoidably impacts on patients' quality of life (QoL). The present study aimed at evaluating the QoL in patients affected by AIS treated with brace. The study also sought to determine the ability of different QoL questionnaires to monitor QoL over the course of treatment.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>Data were collected in 108 consecutive patients (96 females, 16 males) affected by AIS admitted to the outpatient orthopaedic clinic of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome (Italy). Patients were subjected to full-time (i.e., 22 hrs per day) conservative treatment with the progressive action short brace (PASB), the Lyon brace or a combination of PASB + Lyon brace. Three instruments were used for QoL determination: the Scoliosis Research Society 22 (SRS-22), Bad Sobernheim Stress Questionnaire (BSSQ) and the Brace Questionnaire (BrQ).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant correlation was detected among the 3 scores (p < 0.001). The BrQ possesses a higher capacity to detect changes in QoL in relation to the patient gender, type of brace, curve severity at baseline and at the completion of treatment, and curve type. Overall, boys displayed a higher QoL than girls. In all 3 questionnaires, higher QoL scores were determined in patients treated with the PASB compared with those using the Lyon brace. QoL scores were significantly correlated with the curve severity. Higher QoL scores were obtained by participants with thoraco-lumbar curves as compared with those with other curves.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The 3 questionnaires are effective in capturing changes in QoL in AIS patients subjected to conservative treatment. However, the BrQ possesses a higher discriminatory capacity compared with the other questionnaires tested. PASB-based treatment is associated with better QoL than the Lyon bracing.</p

Braces for idiopathic scoliosis in adolescents. A cochrane review

STUDY DESIGN. Cochrane systematic review. OBJECTIVE. To evaluate the efficacy of bracing in adolescent patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA. AIS is a 3-dimensional deformity of the spine. Although AIS can progress during growth and cause a surface deformity, it is usually not symptomatic. However, in adulthood, if the final spinal curvature surpasses a certain critical threshold, the risk of health problems and curve progression is increased. Braces are traditionally recommended to stop curvature progression in some countries and criticized in others. They generally need to be worn full time, with treatment extending over years. METHODS. The following databases (up to July 2008) were searched with no language limitations: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE (from January 1966), EMBASE (from January 1980), and CINHAL (from January 1982), and reference lists of the articles. An extensive handsearch of the gray literature was also conducted. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and prospective cohort studies were searched for comparing braces with no treatment, other treatment, surgery, and different types of braces. Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. RESULTS. We included 2 studies. There was very low quality evidence from 1 prospective cohort study with 286 girls that a brace curbed curve progression at the end of growth (success rate, 74 95% confidence interval {CI}: 52%-84%), better than observation (success rate, 34% 95% CI: 16%-49%) and electrical stimulation (success rate, 33% 95% CI: 12%-60%). There is low-quality evidence from 1 RCT with 43 girls that a rigid brace is more successful than an elastic one (SpineCor) at curbing curve progression when measured in Cobb degrees, but there were no significant differences between the 2 groups in the subjective perception of daily difficulties associated with wearing the brace. CONCLUSION. There is very low quality evidence in favor of using braces, making generalization very difficult. Further research could change the actual results and our confidence in them; in the meantime, patients' choices should be informed by multidisciplinary discussion. Future research should focus on short- and long-term patient-centered outcomes, in addition to measures such as Cobb angles. RCTs and prospective cohort studies should follow both the Scoliosis Research Society and Society on Scoliosis Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Treatment criteria for bracing studies. © 2010, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Svenska kyrkan och sekularisering : en studie över prästers olika uppfattningar

Tidigare studier visar att sekulariseringen inneburit stora förändringar på det religiösa området. Studiens syfte var att beskriva hur präster inom Svenska kyrkan i Gävle uppfattade sekulariseringens påverkan. Fokus låg på att beskriva de kvalitativt olika uppfattningar som fanns, då dessa förhoppningsvis skulle ge en ökad och fördjupad vetskap kring sekulariseringens olika verkningar. Det empiriska materialet samlades in via kvalitativa intervjuer där åtta präster gav uttryck för sina uppfattningar. Studien visar på att kvalitativt olika uppfattningar fanns. Vidare visar studien på en rad intressanta strategier och åtgärder som behövs i det framtida kyrkliga arbetet. Det gäller bland annat organisatoriska förändringar i form av hur många kyrkor som ska finnas och hur ofta det ska firas gudstjänst, ett ökat samarbete mellan de lokala församlingarna och en utveckling av högmässan

En studie i hur gymnasieelever ochlärare upplever att en personligdator påverkar elevernas lärande : med särskild fokus vid upplevda fördelar och nackdelar

Syftet med denna uppsats är att ge exempel på hur personliga datorer kan upplevas av eleveroch lärare på gymnasienivå. Metoderna som används är intervju med elever och lärare samtanalys av styrdokument och tidigare forskning inom området. I dag vill man från regeringsoch skolverkets håll förstärka skolans roll som förmedlare av kunskap inom IT-området. Dettalas om digitalkompetens, en färdighet man menar är nödvändig för att idag och i framtidenkunna verka i samhället. Att utrusta elever och lärare med personliga datorer i så kallade entill-en projekt är något som den senaste tiden vunnit mark. I Umeå väljer man hösten 2008och framåt att ge samtliga elever som börjar studera vid någon av de kommunala skolornatillgång till sådana datorer inom vad man benämner som elevdataprojektet. I denna studieintervjuar jag elever och lärare från en av de skolorna i kommunen.Både elever och lärare är i huvudsak positivt inställda till att få tillgång till och arbeta medpersonliga datorer. Lärarna ser bland annat fördelar i kunna anpassa lärandet till enskildaelever, att datorn förenklar inlämningar och spridning av information, att man nu lättare fårtillgång till information/material och att elever i behov av särskilt stöd har stora fördelar.Bland nackdelarna nämns bland annat okoncentration under lektionen att elever med godadatorkunskaper får större fördelar än andra och att personliga datorer ställer krav på elevernaseget ansvar. Eleverna menar att datorn låter gör det lättare att fåt tag på information, att manarbetar effektivare, att det är roligt att arbeta med en personlig dator. Nackdelar man uppleverär bland annat okoncentration under lektionerna, att datorn är tung att bära omkring och attelever med god datorkunskap har större fördelar än andra.Slutsatser som dras är bland annat att lärarens användande och integrerande av datorerna iundervisningen hur stor inverkan på upplevda fördelar och nackdelar samt att den ökadeokoncentrationen bör problematiseras då det i slutändan är osäkert om vad som är ökadokoncentration och vad som synliggjord okoncentration