Socioeconomic disadvantage and changes in health risk behaviours in Australia: 1989-90 to 2001

Objective. Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated in industrialized countries with unhealthy lifestyle characteristics, such as smoking, physical inactivity and being overweight or obese. This paper examines changes over time in the association between SES and smoking status, physical activity and being overweight or obese in Australia. Methods. Data were taken from three successive national health surveys in Australia carried out in 1989-90 (n = 54 576), 1995 (n = 53 828) and 2001 (n = 26 863). Participants in these surveys were selected using a national probability sampling strategy, and aggregated data for geographical areas are used to determine the changing association between SES and lifestyle over time. Findings. Overall, men had less healthy lifestyles, In 2001 inverse SES trends for both men and women showed that those living in lower SES areas were more likely to smoke and to be sedentary and obese, There were some important socioeconomic changes over the period 1989-90 to 2001. The least socioeconomically disadvantaged areas had the largest decrease in the percentage of people smoking tobacco (24% decrease for men and 12% for women) and the largest decrease in the percentage of people reporting sedentary activity levels (25% decrease for men and 22% for women). While there has been a general increase in the percentage over time of those who are overweight or obese, there is a modest trend for being overweight to have increased (by about 16% only among females) among those living in areas of higher SES. Conclusion. Socioeconomic inequalities have been increasing for several key risk behaviours related to health; this suggests that T specific population-based prevention strategies intended to reduce health inequalities are needed.

Water, Communities and Mineral Resource Development: Understanding the Risks and Opportunities

Issues around water – its quality, use, availability and environmental value – can be a major point of tension between mineral projects and local communities. Failure to manage these issues appropriately can jeopardise the obtaining of regulatory approvals for new projects and place at risk the ‘social licence to operate’ of existing operations. Conversely, there may also be significant opportunities for companies to engage constructively with communities over water issues and to make a positive contribution to the sustainable development of these communities. Using case studies, this paper will explore the various types of social risks and opportunities associated with water and mineral resource development and identify key learnings relating to the management of these issues.

Sexual partner preferences: evolutionary imperative, emotional attachment or hedonism?

Data are taken from a representative sample of the Australian population to determine the qualities that are desired in a sexual partner. These qualities are considered in three categories: those reflecting the perceived reproductive value of the partner (evolutionary imperative), the emotional attachment to a partner and the pure pleasure associated with having sex. Subjects completed a telephone-based survey 876 males; 908 females; aged 18-59). The qualities respondents report they most desire in a sexual partner are that the person is someone who cares about them, and whom they love. They also rank highly the criterion that their partner should enjoy sex, and much less highly that they themselves should enjoy the sex. Evolutionary imperatives are ranked fairly low as criteria sought in a sexual partner. Males and females generally expressed similar preferences in a sexual partner, as do persons in different age groups, and persons in different marital status categories. Heterosexual males appear to place a higher emphasis on the physical appearance of a partner when compared with non-heterosexuals. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

The Portuguese programme one laptop per child: political, educational and social impact

In 2008, the XVII Portuguese Constitutional Government launched the ‘e.escolinha’ programme, within the Technological Plan for Education, which set out the distribution of a computer, called ‘Magalhães’, designed for chil-dren attending the 1st cycle of basic education. Suspended in 2011 by the XIX Government, this programme has allowed, however, almost 500 000 children to have access to a personal computer. It was expected that this political measure would “revolutionise” the national education system by bringing changes to the pedagogical practices of teachers and the learning processes of children and by achieving educational success, in general. Based on documental analysis and on a set of interviews with key decision-makers in conceiving, implementing and monitoring this governmental initiative, the fi rst part of this chapter presents and analyses the ‘e.escolinha’ initiative and the policies be-hind that governmental programme, seeking to disassemble those objectives and provide some insights into the relationship between discourses, rhetoric, and reality. After that, the chapter focuses on children’s uses and practices with the ‘Magalhães’ laptop, at school and at home. Based on the results of questionnaires fi lled in by approximately 1500 children from 32 First Cycle public schools of the municipality of Braga (north of Portugal) and also from questionnaires applied to their parents and teachers, this chapter intends to analyse the real impact of this initiative for children, family and school. It also seeks to discuss the contribution of this educational policy to children’s digital literacy and also to their own and their families’ social and digital inclusion. To understand if it represented an added value to teachers’ pedagogical practice is another of its aims. The fi ndings point out a major focus on technology and access rather than on uses and competences or even on social, educational and cultural change. In fact, a major conclusion is the existence of a strong gap between the policy and the practices, typical of a top-down policy design. This study is an integrant part of a research project titled “Navigating with ‘Magalhães’: Study on the Impact of Digital Media in Schoolchildren” conducted at the University of Minho, Portugal, financed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [PTDC/CCI-COM/101381/2008] and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund [COMPETE: FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-009056].

Integrated project evaluation and selection using multiple-attribute decision-making technique

The evaluation and selection of industrial projects before investment decision is customarily done using marketing, technical and financial information. Subsequently, environmental impact assessment and social impact assessment are carried out mainly to satisfy the statutory agencies. Because of stricter environment regulations in developed and developing countries, quite often impact assessment suggests alternate sites, technologies, designs, and implementation methods as mitigating measures. This causes considerable delay to complete project feasibility analysis and selection as complete analysis requires to be taken up again and again till the statutory regulatory authority approves the project. Moreover, project analysis through above process often results sub-optimal project as financial analysis may eliminate better options, as more environment friendly alternative will always be cost intensive. In this circumstance, this study proposes a decision support system, which analyses projects with respect to market, technicalities, and social and environmental impact in an integrated framework using analytic hierarchy process, a multiple-attribute decision-making technique. This not only reduces duration of project evaluation and selection, but also helps select optimal project for the organization for sustainable development. The entire methodology has been applied to a cross-country oil pipeline project in India and its effectiveness has been demonstrated. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.