Managing the threat of terrorism in British travel and leisure organizations

Purpose - To study how the threats of terrorism are being handled by a variety of UK companies in the travel and leisure sector in the UK in the post 9/11 era. Design/methodology/approach - A review of the literature of risk management in a world that is perceived to be more risky as a result of the terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 (9/11) is presented. Describes the application of theories of organizational resilience and institutions to frame an understanding of how managers make sense of terrorism risk and comprehend uncertainty. Reports a qualitative analysis of themes in interviews conducted with 25 managers from 6 unnamed organizations in the aviation industry (3 organizations) and the UK travel and leisure industry (3 organizations), representing a catering supplier, an airport, an airline, a tour company, a convention centre, and an arts and entertainment centre. Findings - The results indicated that the three organizations in the aviation industry prioritize threats from terrorism, whilst the three organizations in the leisure and travel sector do not, suggesting that the managers in the travel and leisure industry apply a probabilistic type of thinking and believe the likelihood of terrorism to be low. Reports that they give precedence to economic concerns and numerous other threats to the industry. Concludes that managers fall prey to the 'ludic fallacy', which conceives all odds as being calculable and hence managers conceive the terrorism risk as low while also expecting institutional factors to pre-empt and control terrorism threats, a reaction which the authors believe to be rather complacent and dangerous. Originality/value - Contributes to the research literature on risk management by revealing the gap in the ability of existing management tools and methodologies to deal with current and uncertain threats facing organizations due to terrorism.

A New Vision: U.S Travel and Tourism Industry

Greg Farmer, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism, envisions a new proactive role for travel and tourism in the U.S. He has written this article especially for the FIU Hospitality Review.

Demographic, Behavioral and Perceptual Comparisons of U.S Visitor Experience with Group Package Tours and Free Independent Travel to China

U.S. visitor demand for the China travel experience is anticipated to rise significantly through 2105, causing the Chinese government to employ 100 million service providers over the next six years and raising concern about service delivery and perceptions of the on-site China experience. In an effort to better understand these issues concerning U.S. visitors, this study investigated two specific types of U.S. travelers to China: Group Package Tour (GPT) visitors and Free Independent Travel (FIT) visitors. Results indicated that GPT visitors were more likely to be older and have higher household income than FIT visitors. Four trip-related characteristics of GPT and FIT visitors were found to be significantly different, with GPT visitors showing higher levels of satisfaction with the overall China on-site travel experience.

Tequila at Sunrise: Spring Break Travel Motivations and Risk Behaviors of American Students in Acapulco, Mexico

Little research has been completed regarding spring break motivations and behaviors of American students in foreign destinations, specifically in Mexico. This paper looks at push and pull motivations in relation to drug and alcohol consumption and findings indicate greater drug and alcohol use among those who selected “party reputation” and “to go wild” as travel motivations. Binge drinking, sexual activity, and drug use among students on spring break in Acapulco, Mexico were also analyzed and compared to past findings within the United States. Results suggest that students are involved in heavy alcohol consumption and significant drug use. Additionally, high rates of sexual activity occur on spring break and results suggest low condom use, placing students at higher risks for the contraction of sexually transmitted infections.

The European Union and its Northern Frontier : EUropean Geopolitics and its Arctic Context

The present study explores EUropean geopolitical agency in a distinct spatio-temporal context: the Arctic region of the early 21st century. Thus, it provides an in-depth analysis of the European Union’s process to construct EUropean legitimacy and credibility in its ‘Northern Neighbourhood’ between 2008 and 2014. Embedded in a conceptual and methodological framework using critical geopolitics, this study assesses the strategic policy reasoning of the EU and the implicit geopolitical discourses that guide and determine a particular line of argumentation so as to claim a ‘legitimate’ role in the Arctic and accordingly construct a distinct ‘EUropean Arctic space’. In doing so, it establishes a clearer picture on the (narrated) regional interests of the EU and the related developed policy and concrete steps taken in order to get hold of these interests. Eventually, the analysis gets to the conceptual bottom of what exactly fashioned the EU with geopolitical agency in the circumpolar North. As a complementary explanation, this study provides a thick description of the area under scrutiny – the Arctic region – in order to explicate the systemic context that conditioned the EU’s regional demeanour and action. Elucidated along the lines of Arctic history and identity, rights, interests and responsibility, it delineates the emergence of the Arctic as a region of and for geopolitics. The findings indicate that the sui generis character of the Arctic as EUropean neighbourhood essentially determined the EU’s regional performance. It explicates that the Union’s ‘traditional’ geopolitical models of civilian or normative power got entangled in a fluid state of Arctic affairs: a distinct regional system, characterised by few strong state actors with pronounced national Arctic interests and identities, and an indefinite local context of environmental changes, economic uncertainties and social challenges. This study applies critical geopolitics in a Political Science context and essentially contributes to a broader understanding of EU foreign policy construction and behaviour. Ultimately, it offers an interdisciplinary approach on how to analyse EU external action by explicitly taking into account the internal and external social processes that ultimately condition a certain EUropean foreign policy performance.

Best after rain : waterfall discharges and the tourist experience

Waterfalls attract tourists because they are aesthetically appealing landscape features that are not part of everyday experience. It is generally understood that falls are usually seen at their best when there is a copious flow of water, especially after heavy rain. Guidebooks often contain this observation when referring to waterfalls, sometimes warning readers that the flow may be severely reduced during dry periods. Indeed, many visitors are disappointed when they see falls at such times. Some are saddened when the discharge of a waterfall has been depleted by the abstraction of water upstream for power generation or other purposes. While, for those in search of the Sublime or merely the superlative, size is often important, small waterfalls can give great pleasure to lovers of landscape beauty. According to guidebooks, however, even these falls are usually best seen after rain. Drawing on tourist and travel literature and personal journals from the eighteenth century to the present, and with reference to examples from different parts of the world, this paper discusses the importance of discharge in the tourist experience of waterfalls.

Sustainable Australia : containing travel in master planned estates

Low density suburban development and excessive use of automobiles are associated with serious urban and environmental problems. These problems include traffic congestion, longer commuting times, high automobile dependency, air and water pollution, and increased depletion of natural resources. Master planned development suggests itself as a possible palliative for the ills of low density and high travel. The following study examines the patterns and dynamics of movement in a selection of master planned estates in Australia. The study develops new approaches for assessing the containment of travel within planned development. Its key aim is to clarify and map the relationships between trip generation and urban form and structure. The initial conceptual framework of the paper is developed in a review of literature related to urban form and travel behaviour. These concepts are tested empirically in a pilot study of suburban travel activity in master planned estates. A geographical information systems methodology is used to determine regional journey-to-work patterns and travel containment rates. Factors that influence selfcontainment patterns are estimated with a regression model. This research is a useful preliminary examination of travel self-containment in Australian master planned estates.

Research Monograph : Sustainable Australia : Containing travel in master planned estates

Low density suburban development and excessive use of automobiles are associated with serious urban and environmental problems. These problems include traffic congestion, longer commuting times, high automobile dependency, air and water pollution, and increased depletion of natural resources. Master planned development suggests itself as a possible palliative for the ills of low density and high travel. The following study examines the patterns and dynamics of movement in a selection of master planned estates in Australia. The study develops new approaches for assessing the containment of travel within planned development. Its key aim is to clarify and map the relationships between trip generation and urban form and structure. The initial conceptual framework of the report is developed in a review of literature related to urban form and travel behaviour. These concepts are tested empirically in a pilot study of suburban travel activity in master planned estates. A geographical information systems (GIS) methodology is used to determine regional journey-to-work patterns and travel containment rates. Factors that influence self-containment patterns are estimated with a regression model. The key research findings of the pilot study are: - There is a strong relation between urban structural form and patterns of trip generation; - The travel self-containment of Australian master planned estates is lower than the scholarly literature implies would occur if appropriate planning principles to achieve sustainable urban travel were followed; - Proximity to the central business district, income level and education status are positively correlated with travel containment; - Master planned estates depend more on local and regional centres for employment than on the central business district; - The service sector is the major employer in and around master planned estates. It tends to provide part-time and casual employment rather than full-time employment; - Travel self-containment is negative correlated with car dependency. Master planned estates with less car dependent residents, and with good access to public transport, appear to be more self-contained and, consequently, more sustainable than the norm. This research is a useful preliminary examination of travel self-containment in Australian master planned estates. It by no means exhausts the subject. In future research we hope to further assess sustainable travel patterns with more detailed spatial analysis.

An investigation of differences in crash characteristics between males and females involved in a fatigue-related crash or close call event

There is consensus among community and road safety agencies that driver fatigue is a major road safety issue and it is well known that excessive fatigue is linked with an increased risk of a motor vehicle crash. Previous research has implicated a wide variety of factors involved in fatigue-related crashes and the effects of these various factors in regard to crash risk can be interpreted as causal (i.e. alcohol and/or drugs may induce fatigue states) or additive (e.g. where a lack of sleep is combined with alcohol). As such, the purpose of this investigation was to examine self-report data to determine whether there are any differences in the prevalence, crash characteristics, and travel patterns of males and females involved in a fatigue-related crash or close call event. Such research is important to understand how fatigue related incidents occur within the typical driving patterns of men and women and it provides a starting point in order to explore if males and females experience and understand the risk of diving when tired in the same way. A representative sample of (N = 1,600) residents living in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and New South Wales (NSW), Australia, were surveyed regarding their experience of fatigue and their involvement in fatigue-related crashes and close call incidents. Results revealed that over 35% of participants reported having had a close call or crash due to driving when tired in the five years prior to the study being conducted. In addition, the results obtained revealed a number of interesting characteristics that provide preliminary evidence that gender differences do exist when examining the prevalence, crash characteristics, and travel patterns of males and females involved in a fatigue-related crash or close call event. It is argued that the results obtained can provide particularly useful information for the refinement and further development of appropriate countermeasures that better target this complex issue.

Investigation into Travel of Transit Oriented Development Residents’ of Kelvin Grove Urban Village

Travel surveys were conducted for collecting data related to residents’ travel at Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV). Currently, KGUV has residents living in the affordable apartments, apartments, townhouses and student accommodation. As a part of data collection process, travel surveys were undertaken for residents living in apartments, affordable apartments and student accommodation. This document contains the questionnaire form used to collect the demographic and travel data related to residents at KGUV. A mail back survey technique was used to collect data for residents living in affordable apartment and apartments, and an intercept surveys was conducted for residents living in student accommodation.

Modelling and execution of asset management process via workflow automation

An Asset Management (AM) life-cycle constitutes a set of processes that align with the development, operation and maintenance of assets, in order to meet the desired requirements and objectives of the stake holders of the business. The scope of AM is often broad within an organization due to the interactions between its internal elements such as human resources, finance, technology, engineering operation, information technology and management, as well as external elements such as governance and environment. Due to the complexity of the AM processes, it has been proposed that in order to optimize asset management activities, process modelling initiatives should be adopted. Although organisations adopt AM principles and carry out AM initiatives, most do not document or model their AM processes, let alone enacting their processes (semi-) automatically using a computer-supported system. There is currently a lack of knowledge describing how to model AM processes through a methodical and suitable manner so that the processes are streamlines and optimized and are ready for deployment in a computerised way. This research aims to overcome this deficiency by developing an approach that will aid organisations in constructing AM process models quickly and systematically whilst using the most appropriate techniques, such as workflow technology. Currently, there is a wealth of information within the individual domains of AM and workflow. Both fields are gaining significant popularity in many industries thus fuelling the need for research in exploring the possible benefits of their cross-disciplinary applications. This research is thus inspired to investigate these two domains to exploit the application of workflow to modelling and execution of AM processes. Specifically, it will investigate appropriate methodologies in applying workflow techniques to AM frameworks. One of the benefits of applying workflow models to AM processes is to adapt and enable both ad-hoc and evolutionary changes over time. In addition, this can automate an AM process as well as to support the coordination and collaboration of people that are involved in carrying out the process. A workflow management system (WFMS) can be used to support the design and enactment (i.e. execution) of processes and cope with changes that occur to the process during the enactment. So far few literatures can be found in documenting a systematic approach to modelling the characteristics of AM processes. In order to obtain a workflow model for AM processes commonalities and differences between different AM processes need to be identified. This is the fundamental step in developing a conscientious workflow model for AM processes. Therefore, the first stage of this research focuses on identifying the characteristics of AM processes, especially AM decision making processes. The second stage is to review a number of contemporary workflow techniques and choose a suitable technique for application to AM decision making processes. The third stage is to develop an intermediate ameliorated AM decision process definition that improves the current process description and is ready for modelling using the workflow language selected in the previous stage. All these lead to the fourth stage where a workflow model for an AM decision making process is developed. The process model is then deployed (semi-) automatically in a state-of-the-art WFMS demonstrating the benefits of applying workflow technology to the domain of AM. Given that the information in the AM decision making process is captured at an abstract level within the scope of this work, the deployed process model can be used as an executable guideline for carrying out an AM decision process in practice. Moreover, it can be used as a vanilla system that, once being incorporated with rich information from a specific AM decision making process (e.g. in the case of a building construction or a power plant maintenance), is able to support the automation of such a process in a more elaborated way.

The expression of ADAM-9 and -10 in prostate cancer and their regulation by dihydrotestosterone, insulin-like growth Factor-1 and epidermal growth factor

Prostrate Cancer(PCa)is the most common cause of cancer death amongst Western males. PCa occurs in two distinct stages. In its early stage, growth and development is dependent primarily on male sex hormones (androgens) such as testosterone, although other growth factors have roles maintaining PCa cell survival in this stage. In the later stage of PCa development, growth and.maintenance is independent of androgen stimulation and growth factors including Insulin-like Growth Factor -1 (IGf.:·l) and Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) are thought to have more crucial roles in cell survival and PCa progression. PCa, in its late stages, is highly aggressive and metastatic, that is, tumorigenic cells migrate from the primary site of the body (prostate) and travel via the systemic and lymphatic circulation, residing and colonising in the bone, lymph node, lung, and in more rare cases, the brain. Metastasis involves both cell migration and tissue degradation activities. The degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM), the tissue surrounding the organ, is mediated in part by members of a family of 26 proteins called the Matrix Metalloproteases (MMPs), whilst ceil adhesion molecules, of which proteins known as Integrins are included, mediate ce11 migration. A family of proteins known as the ADAMs (A Disintegrin . And Metalloprotease domain) were a recently characterised family at the commencement of this study and now comprise 34 members. Because of their dual nature, possessing an active metaiioprotease domain, homologous to that of the MMPs, and an integrin-binding domain capable of regulating cell-cell and cell-ECM contacts, it was thought likely that members of the ADAMs family may have implications for the progression of aggressive cancers such as those ofthe prostate. This study focussed on two particular ADAMs -9 and -10. ADAM-9 has an active metalloprotease domain, which has been shown to degrade constituents of the ECM, including fibronectin, in vitro. It also has an integrin-binding capacity through association with key integrins involved in PCa progression, such as a6~1. ADAM-10 has no such integrin binding activities, but its bovine orthologue, MADM, is able to degrade coHagen type IV, a major component of basement membranes. It is likely human ADAM-10 has the same activity. It is also known to cleave Ll -a protein involved in cell anchorage activities - and collagen type XVII - which is a principal component of the hemidesmosomes of cellular tight junctions. The cleavage of these proteins enables the cell to be released from the surrounding environment and commence migratory activities, as required in metastasis. Previous studies in this laboratory showed the mRNA expression of the five ADAMs -9,- 10, -11, -15 and -17 in PCa cell lines, characteristic of androgen-dependent and androgen independent disease. These studies were furthered by the characterisation of AD AM-9, -10 and -17 mRNA regulation by Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the androgen-responsive cell line (LNCaP). ADAM-9 and -10 mRNA levels were elevated in response to DHT stimulation. Further to these observations, the expression of ADAM-9 and -10 was shown in primary prostate biopsies from patients with PCa. ADAM-1 0 was expressed in the cytoplasm and on the ceH membrane in epithelial and basal cells ofbenign prostate glands, but in high-grade PCa glands, ADAM-I 0 expression was localised to the nucleus and its expression levels appeared to be elevated when compared to low-grade PCa glands. These studies provided a strong background for the hypothesis that ADAM-9 and -10 have key roles in the development ofPCa and provided a basis for further studies.The aims of this study were to: 1) characterise the expression, localisation and levels, of ADAM-9 and -10 mRNA and protein in cell models representing characteristics of normal through androgen-dependent to androgen-independent PCa, as well as to expand the primary PCa biopsy data for ADAM-9 and ADAM-10 to encompass PCa bone metastases 2) establish an in vitro cell system, which could express elevated levels of ADAM-1 0 so that functional cell-based assays such as cell migration, invasion and attachment could be carried out, and 3) to extend the previous hormonal regulation data, to fully characterise the response of ADAM-9 and -10 mRNA and protein levels to DHT, IGF-1, DHT plus IGF-1 and EGF in the hormonal/growth factor responsive cell line LNCaP. For aim 1 (expression of ADAM-9 and -10 mRNA and protein), ADAM-9 and -10 mRNA were characterised by R T -PCR, while their protein products were analysed by Western blot. Both ADAM-9 and -10 mRNA and protein were expressed at readily detectable levels across progressively metastatic PCa cell lines model that represent characteristics of low-grade,. androgen-dependent (LNCaP and C4) to high-grade, androgen-independent (C4-2 and C4-2B) PCa. When the non-tumorigenic prostate cell line RWPE-1 was compared with the metastatic PCa cell line PC-3, differential expression patterns were seen by Western blot analysis. For ADAM-9, the active form was expressed at higher levels in RWPE-1, whilst subcellular fractionation showed that the active form of ADAM-9 was predominantly located in the cell nucleus. For ADAM-I 0, in both of the cell Jines, a nuclear specific isoform of the mature, catalytically active ADAM-I 0 was found. This isoforrn differed by -2 kDa in Mr (smaller) than the cytoplasmic specific isoform. Unprocessed ADAM-I 0 was readily detected in R WPE-1 cell lines but only occasionally detected in PC-3 cell lines. Immunocytochemistry using ADAM-9 and -10 specific antibodies confirmed nuclear, cytoplasmic and membrane expression of both ADAMs in these two cell lines. To examine the possibility of ADAM-9 and -10 being shed into the extracellular environment, membrane vesicles that are constitutively shed from the cell surface and contain membrane-associated proteins were collected from the media of the prostate cell lines RWPE-1, LNCaP and PC-3. ADAM-9 was readily detectable in RWPE- 1 and LNCaP cell membrane vesicles by Western blot analysis, but not in PC-3 cells, whilst the expression of ADAM-I 0 was detected in shed vesicles from each of these prostate cell lines. By Laser Capture Microdissection (LCM), secretory epithelial cells of primary prostate gland biopsies were isolated from benign and malignant glands. These secretory cells, by Western blot analysis, expressed similar Mr bands for ADAM-9 and -10 that were found in PCa cell lines in vitro, indicating that the nuclear specific isoforrn of ADAM-I 0 was present in PCa primary tumours and may represent the predominantly nuclear form of ADAM-I 0 expression, previously shown in high-grade PCa by immunohistochemistry (IHC). ADAM-9 and -10 were also examined by IHC in bone metastases taken from PCa patients at biopsy. Both ADAMs could be detected at levels similar to those shown for Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) in these biopsies. Furthermore, both ADAM-9 and -10 were predominantly membrane- bound with occasional nuclear expression. For aim 2, to establish a cell system that over-expressed levels of ADAM-10, two fulllength ADAM-I 0 mammalian expression vectors were constructed; ADAM-I 0 was cloned into pcDNA3.1, which contains a CMV promoter, and into pMEP4, containing an inducible metallothionine promoter, whose activity is stimulated by the addition of CdC}z. The efficiency of these two constructs was tested by way of transient transfection in the PCa cell line PC-3, whilst the pcDNA3.1 construct was also tested in the RWPE-1 prostate cell line. Resultant Western blot analysis for all transient transfection assays showed that levels of ADAM-I 0 were not significantly elevated in any case, when compared to levels of the housekeeping gene ~-Tubulin, despite testing various levels of vector DNA, and, for pMEP4, the induction of the transfected cell system with different degrees of stimulation with CdCh to activate the metallothionine promoter post-transfection. Another study in this laboratory found similar results when the same full length ADAM-10 sequence was cloned into a Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) expressing vector, as no fluorescence was observed by means of transient tran sfection in the same, and other, PCa cell lines. It was hypothesised that the Kozak sequence included in the full-length construct (human ADAMI 0 naturally occurring sequence) is not strong enough to initiate translation in an artificial system, in cells, which, as described in Aim 1, are already expressing readily detectable levels of endogenous ADAM-10. As a result, time constraints prevented any further progress with Aim 2 and functional studies including cell attachment, invasion and migration were unable to be explored. For Aim 3, to characterise the response of ADAM-9 and -10 mRNA and protein levels to DHT, IGF-1, DHT plus IGF-1 and EGF in LNCaP cells, the levels of ADAM-9 and -10 mRNA were not stimulated by DHT or IGF-I alone, despite our previous observations that initially characterised ADAM-9 and -10 mRNA as being responsive to DHT. However, IGF-1 in synergy with DHT did significantly elevate mRNA levels ofboth ADAMs. In the case of ADAM-9 and -10 protein, the same trends of stimulation as found at the rnRNA level were shown by Western blot analysis when ADAM-9 and -10 signal intensity was normalised with the housekeeping protein ~-Tubulin. For EGF treatment, both ADAM-9 and -10 mRNA and protein levels were significantly elevated, and further investigation vm found this to be the case for each of these ADAMs proteins in the nuclear fractions of LNCaP cells. These studies are the first to describe extensively, the expression and hormonal/growth factor regulation of two members of the ADAMs family ( -9 and -1 0) in PCa. These observations imply that the expression of ADAM-9 and -10 have varied roles in PCa whilst it develops from androgen-sensitive (early stage disease), through to an androgeninsensitive (late-stage), metastatic disease. Further studies are now required to investigate the several key areas of focus that this research has revealed, including: • Investigation of the cellular mechanisms that are involved in actively transporting the ADAMs to the cell's nuclear compartment and the ADAMs functional roles in the cell nucleus. • The construction of a full-length human ADAM-10 mammalian expression construct with the introduction of a new Kozak sequence, that elevates ADAM-I 0 expression in an in vitro cell system are required, so that functional assays such as cell invasion, migration and attachment may be carried out to fmd the functional consequences of ADAM expression on cellular behaviour. • The regulation studies also need to be extended by confirming the preliminary observations that the nuclear levels of ADAMs may also be elevated by hormones and growth factors such as DHT, IGF-1 and EGF, as well as the regulation of levels of plasma membrany vesicle associated ADAM expression. Given the data presented in this study, it is likely the ADAMs have differential roles throughout the development of PCa due to their differential cellular localisation and synergistic growth-factor regulation. These observations, along with those further studies outlined above, are necessary in identifying these specific components ofPCa metastasis to which the ADAMs may contribute.

Investigation into travel of transit oriented development : school students’ travel survey of Kelvin Grove Urban Village

Travel surveys were conducted for collecting data related to school students’ travel at Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV). Currently, KGUV has school students studying at grade 10 to 12. As a part of data collection process, travel surveys were undertaken for school students studying. This document contains the questionnaire form used to collect the demographic and travel data related to school students at KGUV. The surveys forms were hand delivered to the school and the responses were collected back via reply paid envelop provided with the questionnaire form.

Across-country comparisons of selected infant and young child feeding indicators and associated factors in four South Asian countries

Background: Information on infant and young child feeding is widely available in Demographic and Health Surveys and National Family Health Surveys for countries in South Asia; however, infant and young child feeding indicators from these surveys have not been compared between countries in the region. Objective. To compare the key indicators of breastfeeding and complementary feeding and their determinants in children under 24 months of age between four South Asian countries. Methods: We selected data sets from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2004, the India National Family Health Survey (NFHS-03) 2005–06, the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2006, and the Sri Lanka 2000 Demographic and Health Survey. Infant feeding indicators were estimated according to the key World Health Organization indicators. Results: Exclusive breastfeeding rates were 42.5% in Bangladesh, 46.4% in India, and 53.1% in Nepal. The rate of full breastfeeding ranged between 60.6% and 73.9%. There were no factors consistently associated with the rate of no exclusive breastfeeding across countries. Utilization of health services (more antenatal clinic visits) was associated with higher rates of exclusive breastfeeding in India but lower rates in Nepal. Delivery at a health facility was a negative determinant of exclusive breastfeeding in India. Postnatal contacts by Public Health Midwives were a positive factor in Sri Lanka. A considerable proportion of infants under 6 months of age had been given plain water, juices, or other nonmilk liquids. The rate of timely first suckling ranged from 23.5% in India to 56.3% in Sri Lanka. Delivery by cesarean section was found to be a consistent negative factor that delayed initiation of breastfeeding. Nepal reported the lowest bottle-feeding rate of 3.5%. Socioeconomically privileged mothers were found to have higher bottlefeeding rates in most countries. Conclusions: Infant and young child feeding practices in the South Asia region have not reached the expected levels that are required to achieve a substantial reduction in child mortality. The countries with lower rates of exclusive breastfeeding have a great potential to improve the rates by preventing infants from receiving water and water-based or other nonmilk liquids during the first 6 months of life.

Sustainable urban and transport development for transportation disadvantaged : a review

Around the world, particularly in North America and Australia, urban sprawl combined with low density suburban development has caused serious accessibility and mobility problems, especially for those who do not own a motor vehicle or have access to public transportation services. Sustainable urban and transportation development is seen crucial in solving transportation disadvantage problems in urban settlements. However, current urban and transportation models have not been adequately addressed unsustainable urban transportation problems that transportation disadvantaged groups overwhelmingly encounter, and the negative impacts on the disadvantaged have not been effectively considered. Transportation disadvantaged is a multi-dimensional problem that combines demographic, spatial and transportation service dimensions. Nevertheless, most transportation models focusing on transportation disadvantage only employ demographic and transportation service dimensions and do not take spatial dimension into account. This paper aims to investigate the link between sustainable urban and transportation development and spatial dimension of the transportation disadvantage problem. The paper, for that purpose, provides a thorough review of the literature and identifies a set of urban, development and policy characteristics to define spatial dimension of the transportation disadvantage problem. This paper presents an overview of these urban, development and policy characteristics that have significant relationships with sustainable urban and transportation development and travel inability, which are also useful in determining transportation disadvantaged populations.