Farmers’ occupational health, perception and practices towards leptospirosis: A cause for concern

Introduction: Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonotic disease with a global distribution. Exposure to Leptospira is a major occupational health concern with farmers. Lack of awareness of disease can result in delay in seeking medical care which has serious implications on morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards leptospirosis among farmers in the district of Colombo, Sri Lanka.Methods: The study was a descriptive, cross sectional study conducted among farmers in the district of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Data was collected using a pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire to assess the KAP of 120 randomly selected farmers in the Homagama, Padukka, Boralesgamuwa and Kotte Medical Officer of Health (MOH) areas.Results: The majority of respondents were in the 50-74 year age group and 85% were male. The majority of participants had reasonable knowledge (74%) of the method of transmission, symptoms, complications and preventive measures of leptospirosis, which was occupationally related to farming. Satisfactory attitudes towards disease prevention was demonstrated by 92.5% and 53.3% had favorable practices.Conclusion: The results of the study imply that knowledge of leptospirosis among the farming community can be improved further. This in turn may help to translate toward better attitudes and practices.</p

The economic and innovation contribution of universities: a regional perspective

Universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) have come to be regarded as key sources of knowledge utilisable in the pursuit of economic growth. Although there have been numerous studies assessing the economic and innovation impact of HEIs, there has been little systematic analysis of differences in the relative contribution of HEIs across regions. This paper provides an exploration of some of these differences in the context of the UK’s regions. Significant differences are found in the wealth generated by universities according to regional location and type of institution. Universities in more competitive regions are generally more productive than those located in less competitive regions. Also, traditional universities are generally more productive than their newer counterparts, with university productivity positively related to knowledge commercialisation capabilities. Weaker regions tend to be more dependent on their universities for income and innovation, but often these universities under-perform in comparison to counterpart institutions in more competitive regions. It is argued that uncompetitive regions lack the additional knowledge infrastructure, besides universities, that are more commonly a feature of more competitive regions

Regional heterogeneity and firms’ innovation: the role of regional factors in industrial R&D in India

This study makes an early attempt to estimate the magnitude and intensity of manufacturing firms’ R&D by Indian states during the period 1991‒2008 and analyses the role of regional factors on firm-level R&D activities. As there is little research on state-wise R&D performance of firms in India, this study serves an important contribution to the academic and policy realm. It has brought out the fact the total manufacturing R&D investment in India is unevenly distributed regionally with a few states accounting for disproportionate share of it. Regional heterogeneity or inter-state disparities in R&D has increased between the 1990s and the first decade of the twenty-first century. In view of this persistent regional heterogeneity in R&D, the study has developed and estimated an empirical model for a sample of 4545 Indian manufacturing firms with R&D facilities located in single state and that explicitly includes regional factors as probable factors affecting R&D. The three-step Censored Quantitle Regression results confirm that regional factors play an important role in shaping the R&D intensity of the sample of firms. This led us to some useful policy suggestions for regional governments to promote local firms’ R&D activities