Homelessness and dog ownership: an investigation into animal empathy,attachment, crime,drug use,health and public opinion

Abstract

A sample of 51 homeless people in Cambridge, UK completed a questionnaire featuring adapted Animal Empathy and Companion Animal Bonding Scales. Concepts of crime, drug use, and health matters amongst the homeless, both dog owning and non-dog owning, were investigated, as well. Ninety members of the general public completed a similar questionnaire which sought their opinions on homeless people who own dogs. There was a highly significant difference (p < 0.01) between the homeless and the securely housed on their animal empathy and attachment scores, with the homeless sample displaying higher values. Gender and dog ownership status had no effect on these scores. A near significant result (U = 2, n₁ = 13, n₂ = 58, p = 0.06) was revealed for animal empathy scores of those who gave money to dog-owning homeless people and those who gave to non-dog owning homeless people. Of the public respondents, women were significantly more likely to show concern for a homeless person's dog's welfare than men (X²₍₁₎ = 8.5, p < 0.01), and of the homeless respondents, non-dog owners were significantly more likely than dog owners to believe that having a dog helped initiate conversations with the public (X²₍₁₎ = 4.0, p < 0.05). Highly significant differences (U = 10, n₁ = 31, n₂ = 20, p < 0.01) were found for medical care use between the dog-owning and non-dog owning homeless, and health scores showed a reversed trend compared to that expected for the general population, with dog owners scoring lower than non-dog owners.     

重大工程建设项目竣工验收工作中的环境监测

以辽宁省环境监测中心站配合国家环境保护总局评估中心进行的金哨水利枢纽工程竣工环境保护验收调查为例,论述了环境监测在重大工程建设项目验收调查中的重要作用,提出了项目验收监测工作的程序,认为重大工程建设项目的监测从项目开始就应列入计划,通过监测与监督,使施工期的环境污染问题降至最低限度,这样才能更好地保护生态环境及周围公众的安全健康.     

Freedom of religion,women's agency and banning the face veil: the role of feminist beliefs in shaping women's opinion

Several countries have imposed bans on the wearing of face veils, a controversial option considered in Bill 94 by the province of Quebec in 2010. This paper examines non-Muslim women's support for the acceptability of the niqab in public spaces. Analysing the 2010 Quebec Women's Political Participation Survey, we find that key feminist arguments – that wearing the niqab is a woman's free choice, a matter of freedom of religion and a visible symbol of women's oppression – are important drivers of opinion. Their role in shaping opinion, however, is complex and mirrors divisions among feminist groups in the province. Additional attitudinal drivers include generation, exposure to the practice and openness to immigration. Equally important, our findings suggest that being a member of a racial minority, feelings of cultural insecurity and religiosity are of little consequence for thinking on the issue.     

On estimation of vaccine efficacy using validation samples with selection bias

Using validation sets for outcomes can greatly improve the estimation of vaccine efficacy (VE) in the field (Halloran and Longini, 2001; Halloran and others, 2003). Most statistical methods for using validation sets rely on the assumption that outcomes on those with no cultures are missing at random (MAR). However, often the validation sets will not be chosen at random. For example, confirmational cultures are often done on people with influenza-like illness as part of routine influenza surveillance. VE estimates based on such non-MAR validation sets could be biased. Here we propose frequentist and Bayesian approaches for estimating VE in the presence of validation bias. Our work builds on the ideas of Rotnitzky and others (1998, 2001), Scharfstein and others (1999, 2003), and Robins and others (2000). Our methods require expert opinion about the nature of the validation selection bias. In a re-analysis of an influenza vaccine study, we found, using the beliefs of a flu expert, that within any plausible range of selection bias the VE estimate based on the validation sets is much higher than the point estimate using just the non-specific case definition. Our approach is generally applicable to studies with missing binary outcomes with categorical covariates.     

Awareness of a conservation unit: a Brazilian case study

The range of uses of a conservation area by a nearby population was quantified by questionnaires applied to residents of Santa Helena county, Brazil. Of the 312 responses compiled, 71.2% of the residents acknowledged the presence of a conservation unit within the county limits while only 59.3% of the respondents had participated in some recreational or leisure outdoor activity within the unit. Activities cited by respondents included games (11.7%), beach visits (11.4%), cross-country walks (9.4%), and fishing (8.3%). A possible visitor fee to improve infrastructure within the area was approved by 64.9% of the interviewees. Suggested visitor fee varied from 50 cents to two dollars.     

Conservation planning on a budget: a “resource light” method for mapping priorities at a landscape scale?

Conservation projects may be reluctant to attempt Systematic Conservation Planning because existing methods are often prohibitive in the time, money, data, and expertise they require. We tried to develop a “resource light” method for Systematic Conservation Planning and applied it to the Ewaso Ngiro Landscape of central Kenya. Over a 6-month preparation period and 1-week participatory workshop, we used expert assessments to select focal biodiversity features, set quantitative targets for these, map their current distribution, vulnerability, potential for recovery, and conservation costs, and, finally, map cross-feature conservation priorities. Preparation for and facilitation of the workshop required time investment by one part-time workshop coordinator, eight workshop committee members, six ecosystem experts, and two GIS technicians. Total time investment was approximately 56.5 person-weeks spread over facilitators and 40 workshop participants. Monetary costs for the workshop were approximately $US 42,000, excluding investments made by researchers previous to this project. Costs for a similar workshop could vary substantially, depending on need to cover salaries, international travel, food and lodging, and the number of participants. To stay within our resource constraints, we completed the exercise for only four of nine focal biodiversity features and did not negotiate trade-offs between conservation and human land-uses or use planning software to identify “optimal networks” of conservation areas. These were not considered critical for conservationists to try Systematic Conservation Planning, introduce landscape-scale conservation concepts to stakeholders, and begin implementing landscape conservation strategies. Participants agreed that further work would be needed to complete and update the planning process. Due to the lack of comparative cost data from similar planning exercises, we cannot definitively conclude that our approach was “resource light”, although we suspect it is within the constraints of most site-based conservation projects.     

Attitudes of Scottish City Inhabitants to Cetacean Conservation

In 2003, a survey was conducted in two major Scottish cities in order to investigate current perceptions of the public towards cetaceans and their conservation. Public concern about cetacean conservation was high. Overall the issues considered to be the greatest threats to cetacean populations were related to pollution: oil spills, and chemical and sewage pollution (serious threat: 68, 65, and 63%, respectively). Concern was also high regarding the depletion of cetacean prey from over-fishing, entanglement in fishing gear, marine litter and global warming, (serious threat: 54, 51, 44, and 43%, respectively). Conservation issues that are of specific concern to Scottish waters were also noted: military activities, fish farming and oil exploration. Least concern was expressed about whale-watching (not a threat: 48%). Women and older respondents expressed significantly higher levels of concern about cetacean conservation. Generally, the opinions of the public were similar to those of a test group of marine conservation professionals and advocates, although the public tended to show slightly greater levels of concern for most issues. However, the public expressed significantly higher levels of concern over oil spills, sewage pollution and chemical pollution than did marine conservation professionals/advocates. Most participants (60%) were unsure as to whether there was currently sufficient legal protection for cetaceans in Scotland, but eight out of ten respondents thought that there should be legislation specifically for cetacean conservation. Moreover, 40% stated that the proposal of a law specifically for the protection of cetaceans would make them view a political party or politician more favourably. Eighty percent of those interviewed were in favour of seeing more marine environmental education, including information on cetaceans and their environment, in the Scottish school curriculum.     

Communicating about ocean health: theoretical and practical considerations

As anthropogenic stressors threaten the health of marine ecosystems, there is a need to better understand how the public processes and responds to information about ocean health. Recent studies of public perceptions about ocean issues report high concern but limited knowledge, prompting calls for information campaigns to mobilize public support for ocean restoration policy. Drawing on the literature from communication, psychology and related social science disciplines, we consider a set of social-cognitive challenges that researchers and advocates are likely to encounter when communicating with the public about ocean health and emerging marine diseases—namely, the psychological distance at which ocean issues are construed, the unfamiliarity of aquatic systems to many members of the public and the potential for marine health issues to be interpreted through politicized schemas that encourage motivated reasoning over the dispassionate consideration of scientific evidence. We offer theory-based strategies to help public outreach efforts address these challenges and present data from a recent experiment exploring the role of message framing (emphasizing the public health or environmental consequences of marine disease) in shaping public support for environmental policy.