Growing consumer concern for health and environment issues has resulted in increased attention towards the purchase and consumption of organic food. This has driven an increase in organic research, especially as marketers seek to understand the motivations behind consumer purchases of organic goods. This study explored the effects of health consciousness, environmental concern, organic knowledge, availability, quality, price consciousness, subjective norms, risk aversion, perceived control and familiarity on organic attitudes, organic purchase intentions and organic purchase behaviour. These variables formed the antecedents of the causal model which utilised Ajzen and Fishbein's (1980) Theory of Reasoned Action as the framework of analysis. Results showed strong support for the relationship between organic knowledge, subjective norms and environmental concern on organic attitudes. While health consciousness, quality, subjective norms and familiarity were found to influence purchase intentions, familiarity was the only variable found to exhibit a significant relationship with organic purchase behaviour. This paper will discuss the implications of these results for marketers. It will also consider the limitations of the study and areas for future research.

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ABSTRACT:The two-month special observing period of the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP) in autumn 1999 included a variety of complex mountain wave events. Seven wave events were carefully analyzed, compared with numerical models and described in published papers. These detailed investigations revealed some common dynamical elements, i.e. the importance of low-level processes involving the slow-moving boundary layer, low-level wind shear causing either wave absorption or decoupling/spilling, upstream blocking, and latent heat release. Based on these studies, it is clear that any quantitative prediction of mountain wave generation must take full account of these lower troposphere processes. The newest numerical models show significant skill in simulating these effects. Using these models, the climatology of waves over the Alps can be studied.

Study Objectives Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are the second most common form of trauma among older adults. We sought to describe the incidence, risk factors, and consequences of persistent pain among older adults evaluated in the emergency department (ED) after an MVC. Methods We conducted a prospective longitudinal study of patients aged 65 years or older who presented to one of eight EDs after MVC between June 2011 and June 2014 and were discharged home after evaluation. ED evaluation was done via in-person interview; follow-up data were obtained via mail-in survey or phone call. Pain severity (0-10 scale) overall and for 15 parts of the body (locations) were assessed at each follow-up time point. Principal component analysis was used to assess the dimensionality of the locations of pain data. Participants reporting pain severity ≥4 attributed to the MVC at six months were defined as having persistent pain. Results Of the 161 participants, 72% reported moderate to severe pain at the time of the ED evaluation. At six months, 26% of participants reported moderate to severe MVC-related pain. ED characteristics associated with persistent pain included acute pain severity, pain located in the head, neck, and jaw or low back and legs, poor self-rated health, less formal education, pre-MVC depressive symptoms, and patient's expected time to physical recovery more than 30 days. Compared to those without persistent pain, individuals with persistent pain were substantially more likely at 6 month follow-up to have also experienced a decline in their capacity for physical function (73% vs. 36%; difference = 37%, 95% CI 19%-52%), a new difficulty with activities of daily living (42% vs. 17%; difference = 26%, 95% CI 10%-43%), a one point or more reduction overall self-rated health on a 5-point scale (54% vs. 30%; difference = 24%, 95% CI 6%-41%), and a change in their living situation in order to obtain additional help (23% vs. 8%; difference = 15%, 95% CI 2%-31%). Conclusion Among older adults discharged home from the ED after evaluation following an MVC, persistent pain is common and frequently associated with functional decline and disability.

ABSTRACT:A new downscaling method has been developed to improve forecasts of near-surface temperature. This involves applying a correction to forecast temperatures to account for the difference in height between the terrain in the forecast model and the real terrain, using an estimate of the lapse rate of temperature. The strongest variations in lapse rate are found to occur overnight, being a function of cloud cover and geostrophic wind speed. These variables similarly influence the night time lapse rate in the UK Met Office Unified Model forecast at 4 km resolution. Therefore, a simple algorithm has been employed to estimate the lapse rate at a given location, based on forecast model temperature and elevation fields. The algorithm has a positive impact on performance in stable conditions, compared to assuming an adiabatic lapse rate at all times.  Crown

Mixtures of metals are often present in surface waters, leading to toxicity that is difficult to predict. To provide data for development of multimetal toxicity models, Daphnia magna neonates were exposed to individual metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn) and to binary combinations of those metals in standard 48-h lethality tests conducted in US Environmental Protection Agency moderately hard reconstituted water with 3 mg dissolved organic carbon (DOC)/L added as Suwannee River fulvic acid. Toxicity tests were performed with mixtures of Ni and 1) Cd, which is considerably more toxic than Ni; 2) Cu, which is less toxic than Cd but more toxic than Ni; and 3) Zn, which has a toxicity threshold similar to Ni. For each combination of metals in the binary mixtures, the concentration of 1 metal was held constant while the second metal was varied through a series that ranged from nonlethal to lethal concentrations; then the roles of the metals were reversed. Inflection points of the concentration–response curves were compared to test for additivity of toxicity. Sublethal concentrations of Ni caused less-than-additive toxicity with Cd, slightly less-than-additive toxicity with Zn, and greater-than-additive toxicity with Cu. One explanation of these results might be competition among the metals for binding to biological ligands and/or dissolved organic matter. Therefore, models might have to incorporate sometimes competing chemical interactions to accurately predict metal-mixture toxicity.

Use prevalence of alternative tobacco products and marijuana has increased dramatically. Unfortunately, clinical guidelines have focused on traditional cigarettes with limited attention regarding these emerging public health issues. Thus, it is critical to understand how healthcare professionals view this issue and are responding to it. This qualitative study explored knowledge, beliefs and clinic-based practices regarding traditional and alternative tobacco products (cigar-like products, smokeless tobacco, hookah, e-cigarettes) and marijuana among rural and urban Georgia primary healthcare providers. The sample comprised 20 healthcare providers in primary care settings located in the Atlanta Metropolitan area and rural southern Georgia who participated in semi-structured interviews. Results indicated a lack of knowledge about these products, with some believing that some products were less harmful than traditional cigarettes or that they may be effective in promoting cessation or harm reduction. Few reported explicitly assessing use of these various products in clinic. In addition, healthcare providers reported a need for empirical evidence to inform their clinical practice. Healthcare providers must systematically assess use of the range of tobacco products and marijuana. Evidence-based recommendations or information sources are needed to inform clinical practice and help providers navigate conversations with patients using or inquiring about these products.

Rain gauge observations show that when averaged over a large number of cases of frontal systems passing over the UK, strong orographic rain enhancement occurs on the lee slopes of the first hills encountered by the southwesterly flow in the warm sector. The operational forecasts using 1.5 km grid spacing produced realistic looking mean rainfall patterns over the Lake District and Wales, with an area-averaged rain accumulation error of less than 2%. Model-level rain rates increase with decreasing altitude consistent with the seeder-feeder mechanism. Increasing the horizontal grid spacing in the operational weather forecast model decreases the amount of rain produced over the hills, thereby reducing forecast accuracy. The area-averaged rain accumulations are 11-24% smaller than observed at 12 km grid spacing and 33-48% smaller than observed at 40 km grid spacing.In additional simulations of the 15 January 2011 case over the Lake District at 1.5 km grid spacing, replacing the orography with that used by the 12 and 40 km models reduced the area-averaged rain accumulations by 10 and 23% respectively. These changes were due to reduced cloud water and ice mixing ratios over the lower hills resulting in slower increases in rain rate with decreasing altitude. It is demonstrated that neglecting the horizontal advection of falling rain drops results in too much rain falling on the windward slope and not enough falling on the lee slopes.