Intimacies of Exchange

Claiming Crimea ◽

10.12987/yale/9780300218299.003.0006 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Kelly O'Neill

Keyword(s):

Black Sea ◽

Economic Geography ◽

Small Scale ◽

Key Sites ◽

Economic Landscape ◽

And Control ◽

The Impact ◽

Key Nodes

This chapter examines the flow of goods across and through Crimea in an attempt to understand the impact of Russian rule on the economic landscape. It focuses on the patterns of exchange and consumption, arguing for the significance of small-scale transactions for understanding the economic geography of the region. While Russian officials were eager to facilitate and control Black Sea trade, farmers and gardeners and craftsmen began participating in the system of overland markets and fairs that connected the southern provinces to merchants and consumers everywhere from Kharkov and Moscow to Nizhnii Novgorod and Kazan. The Crimean economy thus moved southward toward Constantinople and northward toward Moscow, yet the towns of the peninsula remained key nodes of consumption and production, the orchards and vineyards key sites of prosperity.

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Behind the Web Store: The Organisational and Spatial Evolution of Multichannel Retailing in Toronto

Environment and Planning A Economy and Space ◽

10.1068/a3562 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 34 (8) ◽

pp. 1411-1441 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Andrew Currah

Keyword(s):

Urban Space ◽

Economic Geography ◽

Information Technologies ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Commodity Chain ◽

Multichannel Retailing ◽

Business To Consumer ◽

Economic Landscape ◽

The Impact ◽

The Web

In this paper I address two issues of general relevance to contemporary debates in economic geography: first, the organisational and spatial implications of new information technologies for the economic landscape; and, second, the enduring role of place to digital capitalism. Specifically, I examine the organisational evolution of multichannel retailing in Toronto from a geographical perspective. Bricks-and-mortar retailers are increasingly pursuing a multichannel strategy by operating an Internet-based web store alongside the existing network of physical retail outlets. I therefore evaluate the organisational implications of the adoption of business-to-consumer e-commerce (e-tailing) technology for six Canadian bricks-and-mortar retailers based in Toronto and assess how the associated changes in business structure have been inscribed upon the urban landscape. The argument is developed in three sections. First, I discuss how the formula for competitive advantage in the new (r)etail markets of the developed world has shifted from a pure play to a multichannel organisational paradigm. Second, I provide a background to the development of Canadian e-commerce and an overview of the empirical methodologies employed during the research. Third, the focus of the paper moves ‘behind the web store’ to spatialise the physical places that constitute the fulfilment infrastructure of e-tailing as sequentially linked stages in Internet commodity chains. I evaluate the impact of the Internet commodity chain upon the geographical organisation of each retailer, and, in particular, consider whether the unique logistical requirements of e-tailing have stimulated spatial processes of disintermediation and reintermediation. It is argued that, when read through the lens of Toronto, e-tailing has incurred limited organisational disruption and is characterised by a distinctive geography of integration between online and offline retailing services within the urban space of the city. I conclude the paper by contextualising the findings within themes for conceptual debate in economic geography.

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The impact of supportive supervision of infection prevention and control practices on Ebola outbreak in Liberia

Journal of Infection Prevention ◽

10.1177/1757177418780994 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 19 (6) ◽

pp. 287-293

Author(s):

Ogbaini-Emovon Ephraim ◽

Sneh Cyrus ◽

Pajibo Myer ◽

Abah Steve

Keyword(s):

Prevention And Control ◽

Infection Prevention ◽

Virus Disease ◽

Health Facilities ◽

Infection Prevention And Control ◽

Small Scale ◽

Supportive Supervision ◽

And Control ◽

Isolation Facilities ◽

The Impact

Background: Supportive supervision of infection prevention and control (IPC) practices was one of a range of interventions employed at the county level in the control of the world’s most deadly Ebola virus disease outbreak that affected Liberia during 2013–2016. Methods: Datasets generated from four consecutive assessment visits to 25 health facilities in Maryland County, in Liberia, were analysed. Information on IPC practices was obtained by interview, direct observation and completion of a standardised assessment tool. For each of the IPC fields assessed, a score < 50% was graded poor, 50–75% as fair, while > 75% was rated as good. Results: Before the intervention, the first assessment (baseline) indicated that the majority of the health facilities scored low in terms of isolation facilities, IPC administration, supply and equipment, personnel and staffing, triage and waste management. Following the application of supportive supervision and monitoring, all the facilities recorded moderate to good performance in all the fields during the fourth round of assessment, except for isolation facilities, which scored low. Conclusion: Supportive supervision and monitoring of healthcare facilities appeared to have contributed to the improvement in IPC standards and compliance during the Ebola outbreak as demonstrated in this small-scale study and should be sustained as a core component of IPC programs, particularly in prolonged outbreak situations.

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The Impact of Entrepreneurial Training and Performance of SMEs In Ghana

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology ◽

10.32628/ijsrst207215 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 126-134

Author(s):

Richard Sarfo Gyasi ◽

Cai Li ◽

Isaac Gumah Akolgo ◽

Yvonne Owusu-Ampomah

Keyword(s):

Small Scale ◽

Business Skills ◽

Training Interventions ◽

Self Employment ◽

Entrepreneurial Training ◽

And Performance ◽

Set Up ◽

Economic Landscape ◽

The Impact

In developing countries such as Ghana, the economic landscape is changing, with a move from foreign direct investment to self-employment and entrepreneurship. Academics, practitioners and governments worldwide increasingly recognized the role of education and training in providing entrepreneurs with the necessary business skills and acumen to plan, set up and grow their business ideas. The main aim of the study is to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial training intervention on innovations and performance of small scale automobile businesses in Ghana. Data was collected from small scale automobile business owners and managers in Kumasi Metropolis in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The convenient sampling method was used to select eight hundred and ninety-six (896) respondents for the study. The data was analyzed meaningfully following the appropriate protocols by categorizing and coding. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0, SMART PLS 3.2.8 and Microsoft Excel 2007 were used in analyzing the data. The study reveals that; there is a significant relationship between entrepreneurial training interventions and performance of small scale automobile firms in Ghana.

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Energetics in robotic flight at small scales

Interface Focus ◽

10.1098/rsfs.2016.0088 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 20160088 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Konstantinos Karydis ◽

Vijay Kumar

Keyword(s):

Building Energy ◽

Point Of View ◽

Great Promise ◽

Energetic Efficiency ◽

Small Scale ◽

Energy Aware ◽

Aerial Robots ◽

Open Question ◽

And Control ◽

The Impact

Recent advances in design, sensing and control have led to aerial robots that offer great promise in a range of real-world applications. However, one critical open question centres on how to improve the energetic efficiency of aerial robots so that they can be useful in practical situations. This review paper provides a survey on small-scale aerial robots (i.e. less than 1 m 2 area foot print, and less than 3 kg weight) from the point of view of energetics. The paper discusses methods to improve the efficiency of aerial vehicles, and reports on recent findings by the authors and other groups on modelling the impact of aerodynamics for the purpose of building energy-aware motion planners and controllers.

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Recovery of small-scale infiltration and erosion after wildfires

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics ◽

10.1515/johh-2017-0056 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 66 (3) ◽

pp. 261-270 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Sierra S. Larson-Nash ◽

Peter R. Robichaud ◽

Fredrick B. Pierson ◽

Corey A. Moffet ◽

C. Jason Williams ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Surface ◽

Water Repellency ◽

Rainfall Simulation ◽

Small Scale ◽

Soil Water Repellency ◽

P Values ◽

Sediment Yields ◽

Erosion Models ◽

And Control ◽

The Impact

Abstract Wildfires naturally occur worldwide, however the potential disruption to ecosystem services from subsequent post-fire flooding and erosion often necessitates a response from land managers. The impact of high severity wildfire on infiltration and interrill erosion responses was evaluated for five years after the 2003 Hot Creek Fire in Idaho, USA. Relative infiltration from mini-disk tension infiltrometers (MDI) was compared to rainfall simulation measurements on small burned and control plots. Vegetation recovery was slow due to the severity of the fire, with median cover of 6-8% on burned sites after 5 years. Consequently, interrill sediment yields remained significantly higher on the burned sites (329-1200 g m-2) compared to the unburned sites (3-35 g m-2) in year 5. Total infiltration on the burned plots increased during the study period, yet were persistently lower compared to the control plots. Relative infiltration measurements made at the soil surface, and 1- and 3-cm depths were significantly correlated to non-steady state total infiltration values taken in the first 10 minutes of the hour-long rainfall simulations. Significant correlations were found at the 1-cm (ρ = 0.4-0.6) and 3-cm (ρ = 0.3-0.6) depths (most p-values <0.001), and somewhat weaker correlations at the soil surface (ρ = 0.2-0.4) (p-values <0.05 and up). Soil water repellency is often stronger below the soil surface after severe wildfire, and likely contributes to the reduced infiltration. These results suggest that relative infiltration measurements at shallow depths may be useful to estimate potential infiltration during a short-duration high-intensity storm and could be used as an input for post-fire erosion models.

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Lung Function Assessment as an Early Biomonitor of Mercury-Induced Health Disorders in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Areas in Indonesia

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph15112480 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (11) ◽

pp. 2480 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sri Pateda ◽

Masayuki Sakakibara ◽

Koichiro Sera

Keyword(s):

Lung Function ◽

Pulmonary Function ◽

Respiratory Function ◽

Gold Mining ◽

Atmospheric Mercury ◽

The Body ◽

Small Scale ◽

Hair Samples ◽

And Control ◽

The Impact

The evaluation of mercury impact on humans is currently nonspecific because the body characteristics (homeostasis) of each human being varies. Therefore, in the early diagnosis of mercury toxicity, one of the most important monitoring parameters is the respiratory function examination. In this study, respiratory function was examined with a portable spirometer and correlated with the mercury levels in hair from the noses and heads of subjects. Samples were taken from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) areas (villages of East Tulabolo and Dunggilata) and control areas (villages of Bongo and Longalo) in Gorontalo Province, Indonesia. A statistical analysis with the Mann–Whitney test (alternative) showed significant differences in lung function between the polluted and control areas (α = 0.03). The analysis of nasal and head hair samples with particle-induced X-ray emissions (PIXE) showed that the mercury levels in the ASGM area were considerably higher than in the more homogeneous control areas. This study confirms that a pulmonary function test is a quick and precise alternative way to monitor the impact of mercury on humans, especially atmospheric mercury, because we detected a negative correlation between pulmonary function and the level of mercury in hair.

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Suppressed, but Not Forgotten

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185/a000033 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 70 (1) ◽

pp. 5-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Beat Meier ◽

Anja König ◽

Samuel Parak ◽

Katharina Henke

Keyword(s):

Memory Trace ◽

Thought Suppression ◽

Test Phase ◽

Indirect Test ◽

Final Test ◽

Test Experiment ◽

And Control ◽

Cue Words ◽

The Impact

This study investigates the impact of thought suppression over a 1-week interval. In two experiments with 80 university students each, we used the think/no-think paradigm in which participants initially learn a list of word pairs (cue-target associations). Then they were presented with some of the cue words again and should either respond with the target word or avoid thinking about it. In the final test phase, their memory for the initially learned cue-target pairs was tested. In Experiment 1, type of memory test was manipulated (i.e., direct vs. indirect). In Experiment 2, type of no-think instructions was manipulated (i.e., suppress vs. substitute). Overall, our results showed poorer memory for no-think and control items compared to think items across all experiments and conditions. Critically, however, more no-think than control items were remembered after the 1-week interval in the direct, but not in the indirect test (Experiment 1) and with thought suppression, but not thought substitution instructions (Experiment 2). We suggest that during thought suppression a brief reactivation of the learned association may lead to reconsolidation of the memory trace and hence to better retrieval of suppressed than control items in the long term.

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Research Participation Experiences of Informants of Suicide and Control Cases

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000025 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 31 (5) ◽

pp. 238-246 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Paul W. C. Wong ◽

Wincy S. C. Chan ◽

Philip S. L. Beh ◽

Fiona W. S. Yau ◽

Paul S. F. Yip ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ethical Issues ◽

Research Participation ◽

Self Report ◽

Initial Contact ◽

Psychological Autopsy ◽

Autopsy Study ◽

The People ◽

And Control ◽

The Impact

Background: Ethical issues have been raised about using the psychological autopsy approach in the study of suicide. The impact on informants of control cases who participated in case-control psychological autopsy studies has not been investigated. Aims: (1) To investigate whether informants of suicide cases recruited by two approaches (coroners’ court and public mortuaries) respond differently to the initial contact by the research team. (2) To explore the reactions, reasons for participation, and comments of both the informants of suicide and control cases to psychological autopsy interviews. (3) To investigate the impact of the interviews on informants of suicide cases about a month after the interviews. Methods: A self-report questionnaire was used for the informants of both suicide and control cases. Telephone follow-up interviews were conducted with the informants of suicide cases. Results: The majority of the informants of suicide cases, regardless of the initial route of contact, as well as the control cases were positive about being approached to take part in the study. A minority of informants of suicide and control cases found the experience of talking about their family member to be more upsetting than expected. The telephone follow-up interviews showed that none of the informants of suicide cases reported being distressed by the psychological autopsy interviews. Limitations: The acceptance rate for our original psychological autopsy study was modest. Conclusions: The findings of this study are useful for future participants and researchers in measuring the potential benefits and risks of participating in similar sensitive research. Psychological autopsy interviews may be utilized as an active engagement approach to reach out to the people bereaved by suicide, especially in places where the postvention work is underdeveloped.

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