This discussion of an episode of mass hysteria in a Malay college in West Malaysia examines stress and conflict in relation to the interpretive process within a specific social setting. Unlike previous studies, which conceptualize mass hysteria as a cathartic response to accumulated stress, the present study treats stress as a matter of definition in a specific sociocultural context rather than as an objective given from which predictions can be made. Objections are raised to the logic of explanations that attribute mass hysteria to environmental stress. What is of concern is how meanings are assigned to events that are experienced as stressful, how participants and observers explain these events, and the consequences that follow from their interpretations.
A case control study was conducted to identify the risk factors for acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI) in hospitalised children in Kelantan. One hun-dred and twenty children aged one month to five years hospitalised for ALRI were matched by age with 120 children as controls. Data on demography and expo-sure to putative risk factors were collected by interview-ing parents or caretakers. Anthropometric measure-ments were also carried out to assess the nutritional sta-tus of the children. For each risk factor studied, the odds ratios for exposure and disease were calculated by using univariate analysis followed by multiple logistic regression analysis to determine those factors which remained significant.
The presence of sibling(s) who coughed at home (OR 12.1, 95% CI 5.2-28.1), crowding in bedroom (OR 4.4, 95% CI 2.1-9.0), weight-for-age < 3rd percentile (OR 9.0, 95% CI 3.1-25.8), lack of breast feeding (OR 9.4, 95% CI 2.3-38.4) and incomplete immunisation (OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.7-12.1) were significant indepen-dent risk factors for ALRI. Other factors like poverty, maternal education level, male sex, low birth weight, history of atopy, family history of asthma and indoor air pollution were not associated with an increased risk of ALRI.
This study showed that poor nutritional status, inap-propriate child care practices and poor living conditions, particularly those related to crowding, predispose to ALRI in Kelantanese children necessitating hospital admission. A change in these factors may reduce the morbidity and mortality of childhood ALRI in Kelantan.
Land-use change models are important tools for integrated environmental management. Through scenario analysis they can help to identify near-future critical locations in the face of environmental change. A dynamic, spatially explicit, land-use change model is presented for the regional scale: CLUE-S. The model is specifically developed for the analysis of land use in small regions (e.g., a watershed or province) at a fine spatial resolution. The model structure is based on systems theory to allow the integrated analysis of land-use change in relation to socio-economic and biophysical driving factors. The model explicitly addresses the hierarchical organization of land use systems, spatial connectivity between locations and stability. Stability is incorporated by a set of variables that define the relative elasticity of the actual land-use type to conversion. The user can specify these settings based on expert knowledge or survey data. Two applications of the model in the Philippines and Malaysia are used to illustrate the functioning of the model and its validation.
Indicators, whether referred to as ecological, biological or environmental, help us in assessing environmental conditions. Hypothetically, joint influences are predicted of the parameters associated with the number of water-borne, food-borne and vector-borne cases in study areas. Regression analysis of the dependent variables in water—borne diseases such as Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery and Hepatitis indicated that the total coly°orm, fecal colform, residual chlorine, mean monthly rainfall and temperature influence almost hay of the cases in the 3 District of Serernban. Thus, coordinated monitoring of physical, chemical and biological parameters is needed to continue to build databases and to develop models integrating environnrental and social conditions, consequences and costs.
Decision-makers require useful tools, such as indicators, to help them make environmentally sound decisions leading to effective management of hazardous wastes. Four hazardous waste indicators are being tested for such a purpose by several countries within the Sustainable Development Indicator Programme of the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development. However, these indicators only address the 'down-stream' end-of-pipe industrial situation. More creative thinking is clearly needed to develop a wider range of indicators that not only reflects all aspects of industrial production that generates hazardous waste but considers socio-economic implications of the waste as well. Sets of useful and innovative indicators are proposed that could be applied to the emerging paradigm shift away from conventional end-of-pipe management actions and towards preventive strategies that are being increasingly adopted by industry often in association with local and national governments. A methodological and conceptual framework for the development of a core-set of hazardous waste indicators has been developed. Some of the indicator sets outlined quantify preventive waste management strategies (including indicators for cleaner production, hazardous waste reduction/minimization and life cycle analysis), whilst other sets address proactive strategies (including changes in production and consumption patterns, eco-efficiency, eco-intensity and resource productivity). Indicators for quantifying transport of hazardous wastes are also described. It was concluded that a number of the indicators proposed could now be usefully implemented as management tools using existing industrial and economic data. As cleaner production technologies and waste minimization approaches are more widely deployed, and industry integrates environmental concerns at all levels of decision-making, it is expected that the necessary data for construction of the remaining indicators will soon become available.
The Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, with neighboring Indonesian Seas and South China Sea, lies at the center of the world's tropical marine biodiversity. Encircled by 3 populous, developing nations, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, the Sea and its adjacent coastal and terrestrial ecosystems, supports ca. 33 million people, most with subsistence livelihoods heavily reliant on its renewable natural resources. These resources are being impacted severely by rapid population growth (> 2% yr-1, with expected doubling by 2035) and widespread poverty, coupled with increasing international market demand and rapid technological changes, compounded by inefficiencies in governance and a lack of awareness and/or acceptance of some laws among local populations, particularly in parts of the Philippines and Indonesia. These key root causes all contribute to illegal practices and corruption, and are resulting in severe resource depletion and degradation of water catchments, river, lacustrine, estuarine, coastal, and marine ecosystems. The Sulu-Sulawesi Sea forms a major geopolitical focus, with porous borders, transmigration, separatist movements, piracy, and illegal fishing all contributing to environmental degradation, human suffering and political instability, and inhibiting strong trilateral support for interventions. This review analyzes these multifarious environmental and socioeconomic impacts and their root causes, provides a future prognosis of status by 2020, and recommends policy options aimed at amelioration through sustainable management and development.
Varicella or chickenpox is an infectious disease caused by Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV), which commonly affects the children. It is a mild, self-limiting disease and rarely complicate to serious conditions except in adults. Decreasing incidence of chickenpox among children, probably owing to improved living conditions ,prevention and health care, is worrisome as growing number of adults are being infected. This creates disturbing concerns in many parties as women at childbearing age might get infected and not only are them at a great risk of serious complications, but also their unborn fetus or their newborn babies.