Prevalence of victims of violence among ethnically diverse Asian/Pacific Islanders

The present research project is the first large-scale study (N = 5,051) that investigated the prevalence of victims of violence for an ethnically diverse Asian/Pacific Islander sample. The rate for the adolescent respondents of "was a victim of violence (was physically harmed by someone)" within the past 6 months was 3.33%. Over twice that rate was found for family members (6.97%) and over three times the adolescent-respondent rate was obtained for close friends (10.75%). Only partial support was found for the hypothesis that Asian groups would have the lowest rates, and Polynesian, African American, Hispanic, and Native American Indian/Alaska Native groups would have the highest rates. Higher rates were found for Whites (adolescent respondents, close friends) and the Portuguese (family members, close friends), suggesting a "minority" effect. There is a need to disaggregate ethnicity, engage in further research that considers risk and protective factors, and investigate culturally appropriate interventions.     

Tacit Knowledge and Environmental Management

This article demonstrates tacit knowledge’s relevance in environmental management and explores how organisations can manage this knowledge. Through case studies it reveals how taking the tacit knowledge of employees into account can be particularly useful in three key areas of environmental management: the identification of pollution sources, the management of emergency situations and the development of preventive solutions. In order to take tacit environmental knowledge into account, firms must challenge the predominance of formal knowledge in the management of environmental problems and promote a climate of learning that encourages the recognition and sharing of employees’ experiences. The paper also presents a framework for the analysis of the creation, transfer and retention of tacit knowledge that is not limited to environmental knowledge management.     

Application of Monitoring Data forGiardia andCryptosporidium to Boil Water Advisories

Despite the problems associated with analyzing water samples for Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts, the data can be very useful if their strengths and weaknesses are understood. Two municipalities in northern Ontario, Temagami and Thunder Bay, both issued boil water advisories for Giardia contamination. Data from these two cities are compared to show that only one municipality experienced a real outbreak, whereas the other did not. The concentration of Giardia cysts was much higher than background during the outbreak at Temagami, and the postoutbreak concentrations of cysts were very similar to the long-term average cyst concentration at Thunder Bay. The waterborne outbreak of giardiasis at Temagami was characterized by consistent positive results from water samples, concentrations two to three orders of magnitude higher than normal, and an obvious increase in the number of cases of giardiasis in the population. No outbreak was experienced at Thunder Bay, but a boil water advisory (BWA) was set in place for more than a year on the basis of a single sample from Loch Lomond in which only two cysts were detected but the sample equivalent volume was low. This gave the impression of a sudden increase in concentration, but 39 of 41 subsequent samples were negative. Additional factors that led to a BWA at Thunder Bay are described, and recommendations are presented to help determine when a BWA is necessary and when it should be rescinded.