Aquaculture products are commonplace in markets around the world. However, despite efforts to minimize the negative perceptions towards aquaculture, several misbeliefs or myths still persist, and ...thus globally consumers tend to value wild fish more highly than farmed fish . The lack of information has been shown to be one of the most important causes of this preference, driving buying decisions to be more emotional than rational. The aim of this study was to determine whether scientific-supported information contrasting one myth could contribute to a better perception of farmed products. To that end, consensus on a series of aquaculture-related issues among different scientists, external experts, and aquaculture societies was used to build up the scientific information. This information was provided to 300 Spanish consumers using two different communication tools (150 consumers each tool): an interactive web documentary and a written and printed document, to detect possible differences in the change of consumers' perception. Consumers were asked for their degree of agreement on a set of 14 statements before and after providing the scientific information. A variable collecting the assessment of each of the statements was calculated as the Overall-perception. Possible significant differences between the scores before and after providing the information and for the ‘overall perception’ were analysed separately for each communication tool as well as for the combined sample. Possible relationship between the consumers' perception with the sociodemographic factors, the consumers' knowledge and the fish consumption habits were also assessed. Results show that consumer's perception of aquaculture before the query were moderate (5.6 average in a 0 to 10 scale) but that it increased slightly but significantly and regardless of the communication tool used. Among sociodemographic factors, age and gender were the ones that most influenced consumer's perceptions, being older people those who exhibited a generally more positive opinion towards aquaculture. The effects of consumption habits and knowledge about aquaculture were also the two most explicative factors for change in perception. Importantly, the opinion of consumers with less knowledge about seafood products in general and production methods or consuming only wild fish products, improved after being exposed to the information. These results demonstrate the utility of science- and fact-based communication campaigns to improve the societal perception of aquaculture practices and products, regardless of the tool used to transmit this information.
•Providing consumers with scientific information helps improve perception of aquaculture•Perception about aquaculture is improved regardless of the tool provided.•The sociodemographic factors age and gender has influence on consumer's perception•Consumers with less knowledge of seafood products improved their perception the most•Information campaigns are useful to enhance the societal acceptance of aquaculture
In medical and epidemiological research, multi-item questionnaires are often used to assess changes in the health of a particular group of subjects over a certain period. They can target a selected ...population sample based on specific exposure characteristics or target the whole population. Also, they can constitute an objective tool to help health professionals improve the quality of life and guide patients to the most appropriate care suitable 1,2. Trying to complete an entirely new questionnaire or translating an existing questionnaire from another language can be difficult. The biggest challenge is making a questionnaire that is effective for use in research and clinical conditions.
This article tries to guide for adapting validated and translated questionnaires to apply them to various population categories. We want to support readers less familiar with the process of developing and adapting validated questionnaires.
Although using an existing questionnaire will save time and resources, a questionnaire that includes all items of interest to the researcher may not be available, or the current questionnaire may not be translated into the language required for respondents. If no already validated questionnaires are available or suitable, it is necessary to design a new questionnaire. For this, there are several steps to follow that one must take into account.
The US Geological Survey's ShakeMap is used domestically and globally for post-earthquake emergency management and response, engineering analyses, financial instruments, and other decision-making ...activities. Recent developments in the insurance, reinsurance, and catastrophe bond sectors link payouts of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to ShakeMap products. Similarly, building codes, post-earthquake building damage forensic evaluations, and geotechnical evaluations often rely on estimated peak response-spectral values for site-specific evaluations that may lead to costly analyses, retrofits, or other expenditures. Given such activities, financial, engineering, and other technical users demand processing specifications and a metadata trail for actuarial, escrow, and forensic purposes for each significant earthquake. Recent inquiries include how and why maps change with time, how to interpret metadata, and how to obtain the creation and update history of various map layers. Similarly, the collection of ShakeMap scenarios and historical ShakeMaps-either created in earlier versions or rerun as part of the latest version of the ShakeMap Atlas-warrant a full explanation of the inputs, processing, and archiving given their contribution to fragility curve development and loss model calibration. For these reasons, in addition to event-specific ShakeMap metadata and a comprehensive online ShakeMap Manual, we have crafted this practice paper to answer several of the most frequently asked technical questions. We also describe an application programming interface (API) for accessing site-specific shaking metrics and their uncertainties for earthquake forensic purposes in a consistent fashion. In all, we describe the advantages of employing ShakeMaps for these critical purposes as well as describe their limitations and uncertainties, offering an extensive set of instructions and disclaimers that can be referenced by ShakeMap users.
► We explore contributions of geo-information tools to participatory spatial planning. ► We evaluate their contributions to the principles of good governance. ► We assess participatory and mobile ...GIS, and participatory 3-dimensional modelling.
The last few decades have seen increasing attempts to foster ‘collaborative’ and ‘participatory’ approaches to spatial planning and decision-making, with a more sophisticated conceptualisation of the contested term, participation. Participatory, ‘bottom-up’ geo-information technologies have been concurrently developing and these are expected to strengthen participatory spatial planning; important among these has been the transformation of conventional mapping and GIS tools into Participatory GIS (PGIS). In this paper we explore the potential contributions of participatory geo-information tools towards participatory spatial planning, in terms of the principles and criteria of good governance. We discuss five fundamental principles of ‘good’ governance: accountability, legitimacy, respect, equity, and competence, and the potential of geo-information tools to contribute to, and detract from, such principles; although we focus especially on participation and the recognition and validation of local knowledge. We derive criteria for the five principles, and we identify a range of evaluation questions which can be operationalised so as to interrogate the criteria for judging the contribution of participatory tools and participatory spatial planning activities. We conclude by summarily assessing the potentials of participatory geo-information tools, particularly participatory mobile GIS, participatory 3-dimensional modelling, and visualisation features in PGIS.
Patients newly diagnosed with cancer often seek information prior to being seen by a specialist. Little is known about the type of information desired and the sources used. We asked how patients find ...information about their new cancer diagnoses to improve information provision.
An anonymous seven-question survey was provided to new patients in the surgical and medical oncology clinics at a comprehensive cancer center from February 2021 to June 2021.
Of 503 consecutive patients, 405 (81%) returned surveys; 49% female, 57% aged 51-75 y, and 71% Caucasian. Many (74%) sought information before their visit. Most (57%) relied on prior medical providers and 77% reported them as a trusted source. Nearly 80% of patients used at least one nonvalidated resource; 21% friends and relatives, 20% nongovernment or hospital resources, and 12% social media. Importantly, 23% found conflicting information. Respondents desired information on cancer treatment (58%), alternative therapies (35%), and nutrition and supplements (31%).
Patients with cancer trust information from medical providers but seek information from a variety of sources that can provide conflicting information. These data support encouraging patients to use validated sources, providing robust organization-based resources, and engaging patients on topics such as alternative therapies and nutrition.
Traditional dictionaries offer curated data to users. Users should therefore be able to find the correct data to solve their information need. However, users don't necessarily know the exact scope of ...lexicographic information. Dictionary articles can still demand considerable interpretation by the user to select the appropriate meaning or equivalent. In the e-environment, users can easily navigate between different e-sources. This is especially evident on various e-book platforms, where one can link multiple dictionaries and other sources to a text or search of the internet. Internet content is obviously not curated, and providing access to such data is therefore anathema to the traditional lexicographer. A traditional dictionary is the result of an application of data pushing procedures. The online environment enables the use of data pulling procedures that give users access to both curated and non-curated data. These issues are illustrated by means of a number of examples that show that a large number of different and disparate information sources are easily available to the user to satisfy any specific information need, and that the dictionary is one of a plethora of information sources. The information is therefore available on demand, without risking information overload. It is argued that, when optimising a network of information tools that constitutes a comprehensive search universe, the information retrieval structure should preferably have a circular network as application domain, rather than a linear continuum.
Nowadays, tropical forest landscapes are commonly characterized by a multitude of interacting institutions and actors with competing land-use interests. In these settings, indigenous and tribal ...communities are often marginalized in landscape-level decision making. Inclusive landscape governance inherently integrates diverse knowledge systems, including those of indigenous and tribal communities. Increasingly, geo-information tools are recognized as appropriate tools to integrate diverse interests and legitimize the voices, values, and knowledge of indigenous and tribal communities in landscape governance. In this paper, we present the contribution of the integrated application of three participatory geo-information tools to inclusive landscape governance in the Upper Suriname River Basin in Suriname: (i) Participatory 3-Dimensional Modelling, (ii) the
Trade-off!
game, and (iii) participatory scenario planning. The participatory 3-dimensional modelling enabled easy participation of community members, documentation of traditional, tacit knowledge and social learning. The
Trade-off!
game stimulated capacity building and understanding of land-use trade-offs. The participatory scenario planning exercise helped landscape actors to reflect on their own and others’ desired futures while building consensus. Our results emphasize the importance of systematically considering tool attributes and key factors, such as facilitation, for participatory geo-information tools to be optimally used and fit with local contexts. The results also show how combining the tools helped to build momentum and led to diverse yet complementary insights, thereby demonstrating the benefits of integrating multiple tools to address inclusive landscape governance issues.
Video animations are used increasingly as patient information tools; however, we do not know their value compared to other formats of delivery, such as printed materials, verbal consultations or ...static images.
This review compares the effectiveness of video animations as information tools vs. other formats of delivery on patient knowledge, attitudes and cognitions, and behaviours. Included studies had the following features: controlled design with random or quasi-random allocation; patients being informed about any health condition or members of the public being informed about a public health topic; comparing video animation with another delivery format. Multiple digital databases were searched from 1996-June 2021. We also undertook citation searching. We used dual, independent decision-making for inclusion assessment, data extraction and quality appraisal. Included studies were appraised using the Cochrane ROB2 tool. Findings were reported using narrative synthesis.
We included 38 trials, focussed on: explaining medical or surgical procedures (
= 17); management of long-term conditions (
= 11); public health, health-promotion or illness-prevention (
= 10). Studies evaluated cartoon animations (
= 29), 3D animations (
= 6), or 2D animations, "white-board" animations or avatars (
= 1 each). Knowledge was assessed in 30 studies, showing greater knowledge from animations in 19 studies, compared to a range of comparators. Attitudes and cognitions were assessed in 21 studies, and animations resulted in positive outcomes in six studies, null effects in 14 studies, and less positive outcomes than standard care in one study. Patient behaviours were assessed in nine studies, with animations resulting in positive outcomes in four and null effects in the remainder. Overall risk of bias was "high" (
= 18), "some concerns" (
= 16) or "low" (
= 4). Common reasons for increased risk of bias were randomisation processes, small sample size or lack of sample size calculation, missing outcome data, and lack of protocol publication.
The overall evidence base is highly variable, with mostly small trials. Video animations show promise as patient information tools, particularly for effects on knowledge, but further evaluation is needed in higher quality studies.
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?, identifier: CRD42021236296.
The prevalence of unsafe food poses a widespread challenge across numerous nations. Despite the continuous investments by the Chinese government in food safety regulation, the condition of food ...safety in China is still not ideal and requires substantial enhancements. Cost-effective, information-based strategies are essential for the effective management of food safety hazards. In this research, we established an extensive database of food enterprises with documented violations and carried out a randomized intervention trial to assess the effects of regulatory information interventions on the decrease of production violations in these enterprises. The findings reveal that interventions based on food safety regulatory information were instrumental in diminishing production violations among food enterprises and had spillover effects within a given geographic area. It is important to note that the impact of the intervention was delayed, with noticeable results on production violations becoming apparent 6 months post-intervention. Additionally, the degree of information communication and the degree of information concern can positively moderate the reduction of food enterprises’ production violation behavior by food safety regulatory information intervention.
Self-medication counseling in community pharmacies plays a crucial role in health care. Counseling advice should therefore be evidence-based. Web-based information and databases are commonly used as ...electronic information sources. EVInews is a self-medication-related information tool consisting of a database and monthly published newsletters for pharmacists. Little is known about the quality of pharmacists' electronic information sources for evidence-based self-medication counseling.
Our aim was to investigate the quality of community pharmacists' web-based search results for self-medication-related content in comparison with the EVInews database, based on an adjusted quality score for pharmacists.
After receiving ethics approval, we performed a quantitative web-based survey with a search task as a prospective randomized, controlled, and unblinded trial. For the search task, participants were instructed to search for evidence-based information to verify 6 health-related statements from 2 typical self-medication indications. Pharmacists across Germany were invited via email to participate. After providing written informed consent, they were automatically, randomly assigned to use either web-based information sources of their choice without the EVInews database (web group) or exclusively the EVInews database (EVInews group). The quality of the information sources that were used for the search task was then assessed by 2 evaluators using a quality score ranging from 100% (180 points, all predefined criteria fulfilled) to 0% (0 points, none of the predefined criteria fulfilled). In case of assessment discrepancies, an expert panel consisting of 4 pharmacists was consulted.
In total, 141 pharmacists were enrolled. In the Web group (n=71 pharmacists), the median quality score was 32.8% (59.0 out of 180.0 points; IQR 23.0-80.5). In the EVInews group (n=70 pharmacists), the median quality score was significantly higher (85.3%; 153.5 out of 180.0 points; P<.001) and the IQR was smaller (IQR 125.1-157.0). Fewer pharmacists completed the entire search task in the Web group (n=22) than in the EVInews group (n=46). The median time to complete the search task was not significantly different between the Web group (25.4 minutes) and the EVInews group (19.7 minutes; P=.12). The most frequently used web-based sources (74/254, 29.1%) comprised tertiary literature.
The median quality score of the web group was poor, and there was a significant difference in quality scores in favor of the EVInews group. Pharmacists' web-based and self-medication-related information sources often did not meet standard quality requirements and showed considerable variation in quality.
German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00026104; https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00026104.
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