You are about to venture into an aspect of the oral health professions that may be a new realm to you—one not previously considered as a career possibility. Enter with an open mind, and you can find rewards also not previously considered. Did you enter the profession because you “want to work with people” or “want to help people?” Here is the opportunity to explore new avenues for that personal goal. This textbook provides an overview of dental public health in greater depth and breadth than the traditional view of community dental hygiene. It builds a foundation in community education and health promotion, but expands to provide a broader view of the core principles and competencies expected at all levels of involvement in public health practice, from part-time volunteer work to a professional career in public health practice. As depicted on the cover of the text, dental public health involves many entities coming together around a central focus—improving the public’s oral health. When each piece of the puzzle is interconnected, the infrastructure is strong and the benefit to the public is enhanced. This theme is carried throughout the text and each chapter heading depicts pieces of the puzzle addressed in that chapter. Each chapter is written by a leader in the dental public health community. All have advanced education and expertise in public health. Although primarily written for the dental hygiene student, it is useful for all oral health care providers working in public health settings. The modular format of the text is specifically designed to allow for flexibility in depth of content or order of presentation for different curricula and teaching styles. Each module centers on a core content area of public health. To accommodate different curricula, the modules can be used in a different sequence than presented. The text also can be used for multiple courses, in the event that public health content is presented in various courses (e.g., statistics, ethics, research, health education, and community dental hygiene). Key terms are listed at the beginning of each chapter to guide the learner’s study of core concepts. The key terms are often used in public health practice and appear on National Board Examinations. The competencies addressed in each chapter, and listed in Appendix 3, are from the American Dental Education Association’s Competencies for Entry into the Profession of Dental Hygiene. These competencies are not used verbatim in all dental hygiene programs for purposes of accreditation; however, they are the guiding principles for assuring that students are competent for practice and, therefore, remain a useful tool to guide the learner’s study and aid the instructor’s efforts toward that end. Various learning activities are provided for groups or individuals to use inside or outside the classroom. In addition, review questions and answers are provided to reinforce main ideas. Resources, including web sites and search terms, are listed for use with the learning activities, or for more in-depth study and reference. Highlighted at the beginning of each chapter are the stages in the Dental Hygiene Process of Care that are addressed in that chapter as they relate to public health practice.

The frequency of new editions of this book is indicative of the rapid and tremendous changes in the fields of computer and information sciences. First published in 1995, the book has rapidly gone through three editions already and now we are in the fourth. Over this period, we have become more dependent on computer and telecommunication technology than ever before and computer technology has become ubiquitous. Since I started writing on social computing, I have been advocating a time when we, as individuals and as nations, will become totally dependent on computing technology. That time is almost on us. Evidence of this is embodied in the rapid convergence of telecommunication, broadcasting, and computing devices; the miniaturization of these devices; and the ever increasing storage capacity, speed of computation, and ease of use. These qualities have been a big pulling force sucking in millions of new users every day, sometimes even those unwilling. Other appealing features of these devices are the increasing number of applications, apps, as they are increasingly becoming known, and being wireless and easily portable. Whether small or big, these new gizmos have become the centerpiece of an individual’s social and economic activities and the main access point for all information. Individuals aside, computing technology has also become the engine that drives the nations’ strategic and security infrastructures that control power grids, gas and oil storage facilities, transportation, and all forms of national communication, including emergency services. These developments have elevated cyberspace to be the most crucial economic and security domains of nations. US President Barack Obama has classified cyberspace security and cyber threat as one of the most serious economic and national security challenges the United States is facing as a nation.1 He, in particular, classified the country’s computer networks to be the national security priority. What led to this has been a consistent and growing problem of cyber threats. In 2007 alone, the Pentagon reported nearly 44,000 incidents of malicious cyber activities carried out by foreign militaries, intelligence agencies, and individual hackers. In April 2009, the US government admitted, after reports, that the nation’s power grid is vulnerable to cyber attack, following reports that it has been infiltrated by foreign spies. According to reports, there is a pretty strong consensus in the security community that the SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition), an industrial control system that is used to monitor and control industrial, infrastructure, or facility-based processes, has not kept pace with the rest of the industry; it needs, if not total replacement, at least a detailed update to keep abreast of rapid changes in technology. According to the Wall Street Journal, the intruders had not sought to damage the power grid or any other key infrastructure so far, but suggested that they could change their approach in the event of a crisis or war. The motives behind these potential attacks are undoubtedly military, economic, and political.2 There are almost similar stories with other countries. The rising trend in cyber attacks, many of them with lightening speed, affecting millions of computers worldwide and in the process causing a loss of billions of dollars to individuals and businesses, may be an indication of how unprepared we are to handle such attacks not only now but also in the future. It may also be a mark of the poor state of our cyberspace security policies and the lack of will to implement these policies and develop protocols and build facilities that will diminish the effects of these menacing activities if not eliminating them altogether. It is encouraging though to hear that at last governments have started to act. For example, the US government has started to take all aspects of cyber crime very seriously and the department of defense (DoD) has formed an entire cyber command to handle online threats to the country. The United Kingdom (UK) has also launched a cyber defense program and both countries are in possession of and are building more effective cyber warfare capabilities. They are not the only one. This is not limited to the United States and the United Kingdom alone; a number of other countries including China and Russia are also building their own capabilities. There is a growing realization that the next big war may probably be fought in cyberspace. One hopes, though, that as these governments prepare defensive stances, they also take steps to protect the individual citizens. As we look for such defensive strategies, the technological race is picking up speed with new technologies that make our efforts and existing technologies on which these strategies based obsolete in shorter and shorter periods. All these illustrate the speed at which the computing environment is changing and demonstrate a need for continuous review of our defensive strategies and more importantly a need for a strong ethical framework in our computer, information and engineering science education. This has been the focus of this book and remains so in this edition.

“The compendium of science knowledge for upper primary pupils in Uganda” is a text compiled for primary school pupils who look forward to sit for their last National Examinations at the primary schools levels and suitable for home study with minimal parental guidance. The text is meant for revision purposes by Pupils who have already studied the topics either individually, in groups or with their teachers. It is thus of much benefit to the learner because whatever is revised becomes much easier and understandable in mastering its required concepts. This revision tool helps you to master science contents right away from primary four before you sit the examinations called the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) in Primary seven. However, since the questions in the book are straightly answered, it helps you to understand, adopt, and apply the skills of ‘Assertiveness’ and ‘Problem solving’ in daily life and this is also facilitated by the diagrams there in. Finally, the compendium of science knowledge is an essential tool for learners who might be termed as being ‘slow learners’ in nature and, a necessary instrument for teachers in recapping previously taught lessons.

Records are valuable assets of organizations. Good records management not only helps protect records but also enhances organizations’ operational efficiency. Recognizing the importance of good records management and of preserving Hong Kong’s documentary heritage, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the Government) has developed its records management policy and procedures with regard to international standard (i.e. ISO 15489 Information and documentation - Records management published by the International Organization for Standardization in 2001) and international best practices. Records management is an important function of an organization. We believe that good and proper record keeping is evidence of a well-governed organization and should be seen as an integral part of, rather than incidental to, any business. In terms of strengthening corporate governance and promoting good management practices, we see definite merits of sharing good records management practices and procedures with government-owned or funded statutory bodies. By setting out the principles and good practices relating to records management, and providing checklist and guidelines, this document aims to help government-owned or funded statutory bodies and their staff to assess the way in which they are managing their records and to pursue improvements if necessary.