Micro-level Assessment of Rural Societal Vulnerability of Coastal Regions: An Insight into Sagar Island, West Bengal, India

Most of the villages in coastal blocks of West Bengal, India, are prone to both cyclones and coastal and river flooding. Very severe cyclones in recent time (e.g., Sidr, Aila, Fani, Bulbul, and Amphan) exposed the coastal population livelihood at stake. Displacement and migration are very much evident due to such extreme events. However, the existing study examines the nature of societal vulnerability mainly for the coastal villages that focus on the biophysical components. An ‘integrated approach’ was adopted to assess the societal vulnerability which is viewed as a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. A number of proxy indicators were considered to represent these components and a normalisation procedure was adopted in order to aggregate them into a single value. Three key observations emerged. First, components such as sensitivity and adaptive capacity were found to act as the major determinants of vulnerability. Second, eight mouzas were found to have a higher vulnerability score, and surprisingly, some of the mouzas are non-coastal. Third, factors such as demography, agriculture and economic capacity emerged as the major cause for increasing vulnerability. These results have policy implications in the context of prioritising limited resources among the vulnerable villages and determinants through the disaster risk management programme at the district and block levels.

Pharmacist-led cardiovascular risk prevention in Western Canada: a qualitative study

Objectives Preventing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is a public health and policy priority, including for employers. A novel CVD risk management programme that included medication management was delivered by pharmacists to employees of a Canadian university. This qualitative study describes the experiences and perceptions of participants who received individual health consultations in this programme. Methods A qualitative study design using free-text responses was adopted. Data (5658 words) came from evaluation surveys completed by 119 programme participants were iteratively coded and thematically analysed. Key findings We identified four themes characterising participant experiences of pharmacist-led CVD prevention. Theme one was labelled self-efficacy because personalised health information and advice on CVD risk factor management empowered participants to make improvements for their health. Participants expressed a range of positive responses about the longer consultations, supportive communication and safe setting of their pharmacist-led encounters; hence, Theme two is labelled pharmacists’ interpersonal skills. The wider context of the programme included a number of enabling factors (Theme three) that either supported or limited participant engagement in the programme. A number of changes to behaviour and health measures were identified and participant suggestions to expand and continue the programme further contributed to perceptions of positive programme impact (Theme four). Conclusions This study raises questions about how external resources and broader determinants might enable, or hinder, future programme success and sustainability. It also highlights the need for greater understanding and communication of the importance of primary prevention and the role of pharmacists in CVD risk reduction and workplace health promotion.

Corporate Risk Management, Firms’ Characteristics and Capital Structure: Evidence from Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex Companies

The current article takes account of the existing status of risk management practices of the Indian publicly listed companies and establishes the relationship of their risk management programme with the firms’ financial characteristics such as capital structure, assets’ size, asset tangibility, profitability and valuation multiples. To establish the relationship, a risk management score is constructed using publicly disclosed information for Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex 30 companies. Results suggest that companies with more comprehensive risk management programmes are likely to enjoy lower costs of debt and have a higher propensity to invest in intangible assets. These firms with more comprehensive risk management programmes also demonstrate more stable cash flows, sales and net operating profit. It is also evident that firms that are deeply indulged in risk management activities are likely to have higher financial leverage as higher leverage increases a firm’s total risk, and their risk management activities act to balance that risk. Consequently, firms with extensive risk management activities can endure higher debt in their capital structure; hence, a risk management programme works as a substitute of equity capital.

Infrastructures and analysis of image processing technique used for enhancement image applicaton process in electronics engineering

Principle objective of Image enhancement is to process an image so that result is more suitable than original image for specific application. image enhancement used in Quality Control ,Problem Diagnostics, Research and Development ,Insurance Risk Assessment ,Risk Management Programme, Digital infrared thermal imaging in health care, Surveillance in security, law enforcement and defence. Various enhancement schemes are used for enhancing an image which includes gray scale manipulation, filtering and Histogram Equalization (HE), fast Fourier transform. Image enhancement is the process of making images more useful. The reasons for doing this include, Highlighting interesting detail in images, removing noise from images, making images more visually appealing, edge enhancement and increase the contrast of the image.

Confidence in the face of risk: the Risk Assessment and Management Self-Efficacy Study (RAMSES)

Aims and methodTo evaluate a comprehensive risk management programme. A Risk Assessment and Management Self-Efficacy Scale (RAMSES) was used to evaluate the impact of a clinical guideline and training course. Fifty-three psychological therapists were randomly allocated to training v. waiting list in a controlled, delayed-intervention design. Differences in mean self-efficacy scores between groups were examined using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).ResultsThe RAMSES measure had adequate factor structure, internal consistency and construct validity. When adjusting for baseline scores and cluster design, the group exposed to training had a higher mean self-efficacy score than controls. Mean differences between groups were not significant after the control group received training, nor at 6 months' follow-up.Clinical implicationsExposure to training and clinical guidelines can improve self-efficacy in risk assessment and management. An important advance put forward by this study is the specification of areas of competence in risk assessment and management, which can be measured using a psychometrically sound tool.