Healthy Parks Healthy People: Evaluating and Improving Park Service Efforts to Promote Tourists Health and Well-being Introduction

Both Parks Victoria, AUS and the United States National Park Service (USNPS) focus on promoting human health and well-being while sustaining environmental well-being. This has been fostered by the agencies through the “Healthy Parks Healthy People” program, in which Parks Victoria and the USNPS are global leaders as well as agency collaborators. Given global concerns regarding health and well-being (human and environmental) this movement is crucial. However, in order for parks and associated tourism providers to implement effective health strategies, we must understand what a “healthy park” is, how evidence is being promoted to existing and potential tourists, and what lessons can be learned from these agencies to facilitate these benefits globally in other settings. This research examines these questions across both agencies through content analyses, interviews, and assessments of tourism use trends. Results inform global park tourism planning and promotion efforts to improve social and ecological

Deceptive Journalism: Characteristics of Untrustworthy News Items

Trustworthiness is key in journalism, yet some journalists intentionally deceive their audiences by fabricating sources or inventing news stories altogether. Earlier research suggests that deceitful news articles have characteristics that are different from trustworthy news articles. We aimed to confirm and expand on the existing literature by examining the case of Perdiep Ramesar, an esteemed Dutch journalist until it was discovered in 2014 that sources were non-existing in 126 of his articles for national newspaper Trouw (“Fidelity”). Using content analysis, we searched for systematic differences in source use and presentation comparing Ramesar’s deceptive news articles with two same-sized sets of reliable articles, (1) articles on similar topics from other journalists and (2) articles with verifiable sources from Ramesar himself. Results indicate that compared to real news sources, fictitious sources are more often secondary definers, who are presented in more stereotypical ways and through more and longer direct quotations. Furthermore, negations and self-references occur more often in deceptive news articles

Business Fleets and EVs: Taxation changes to support home charging from the grid, and affordability. Fast track project for RACE for 2030.

This project investigated how tax changes can accelerate the uptake of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) within business fleets by encouraging home charging. The project recommends 17 short-term and long-term tax changes that can accelerate the uptake of business fleet BEVs and encourage home chargin

“Pandemic Public Health Paradox”: Time Series Analysis of the 2009/10 Influenza A / H1N1 Epidemiology, Media Attention, Risk Perception and Public Reactions in 5 European Countries

In 2009, influenza A H1N1 caused the first pandemic of the 21st century. Although a vaccine against this influenza subtype was offered before or at the onset of the second epidemic wave that caused most of the fatal cases in Europe, vaccination rates for that season were lower than expected. We propose that the contradiction between high risk of infection and low use of available prevention measures represents a pandemic public health paradox. This research aims for a better understanding of this paradox by exploring the time-dependent interplay among changing influenza epidemiology, media attention, pandemic control measures, risk perception and public health behavior among five European countries (Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Spain and the UK). Findings suggest that asynchronicity between media curves and epidemiological curves may potentially explain the pandemic public health paradox; media attention for influenza A H1N1 in Europe declined long before the epidemic reached its peak, and public risk perceptions and behaviors may have followed media logic, rather than epidemiological logic.Public Library of Science open acces

Soluble form of the scavenger receptor for hemoglobin (sCD163) in pregnancies complicated by preterm prelabor rupture of membranes

Preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) is responsible for approximately 30% of all preterm deliveries. Histological chorioamnionitis (HCA) has been found in 50-80% of PPROM cases and is associated with higher rates of adverse maternal and neonatal outcome. The scavenger receptor for hemoglobin (CD163) is a transmembrane glycoprotein expressed almost exclusively on monocytes and macrophages. Its main function is the binding of hemoglobin-haptoglobin complexes. CD163 also serves as a surface receptor that recognizes intact bacteria and triggers cytokine production function. Moreover, it participates in the late down-regulatory phase of both acute and chronic inflammation. The soluble form of CD163 (sCD163) most likely represents the extracellular domain of CD163, which can be shed from the surface and released into the body fluid. The main aim of this thesis was to investigate sCD163 in pregnancy complicated by PPROM and relationships with HCA and funisitis. The first specific aim was to determine amniotic fluid sCD163 levels in uncomplicated pregnancies. Amniotic fluid samples were taken from 31 women who underwent amniocentesis for genetic testing in the second trimester, as well as from 32 women at term, 21 of whom had and 11 of whom did not have uterine contractions. The sCD163 levels in..

Epidemiology, key events and media attention during the A/H1N1 pandemic in Czech Republic.

<p>Detailed data on the (i) number of new A/H1N1 cases per week, (ii) reported number of confirmed A/H1N1 deaths and (iii) media attention are provided in the supplementary file ‘<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0151258#pone.0151258.s001" target="_blank">S1 Data’</a>. Data on vaccination coverage was taken from Mereckiene et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0151258#pone.0151258.ref004" target="_blank">4</a>] and data on risk perception from the Flash Eurobarometer survey [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0151258#pone.0151258.ref025" target="_blank">25</a>]. Data on key events are provided in ‘<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0151258#pone.0151258.s002" target="_blank">S1 File’</a>.</p

Epidemiology, key events and media attention during the A/H1N1 pandemic in Germany.

<p>Detailed data on the (i) number of new A/H1N1 cases per week, (ii) reported number of confirmed A/H1N1 deaths, (iii) media attention and (iv) vaccination uptake are provided in ‘<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0151258#pone.0151258.s001" target="_blank">S1 Data’</a>. Data on vaccination coverage was taken from Mereckiene et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0151258#pone.0151258.ref004" target="_blank">4</a>] and data on risk perception from the Flash Eurobarometer survey [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0151258#pone.0151258.ref025" target="_blank">25</a>]. Data on key events are provided in ‘<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0151258#pone.0151258.s002" target="_blank">S1 File’</a>.</p