scholarly journals Assessment and Promotion of Geotouristic and Geomining Routes as a Basis for Local Development: A Case Study

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 351
Author(s):  
Paúl Carrión-Mero ◽  
Geanella Herrera-Narváez ◽  
Gricelda Herrera-Franco ◽  
Emily Sánchez-Zambrano ◽  
Josep Mata-Perelló ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Assessment ◽  
Quantitative Assessment ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Mining Sites ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Assessment Matrix ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Very High

Travel itineraries are fundamental in the development of tourism of a given area. Traditional thematic routes (e.g., architectural, archaeological) can be significantly improved and optimized by including geological and mining interest sites. The present study offers an analysis of the influence that inclusion of geosites or mining sites could have on the existing routes of the Zaruma-Portovelo region (Ecuador), together with a global assessment of these itineraries as the basis of fostering local development in communities of the region. The methodology consists of the following stages: (i) compilation of existing travel itineraries; (ii) analysis and assessment of those geosites and mining sites that are included in two geotouristic routes through the Spanish Inventory of Places of Geological Interest method (IELIG, acronym in Spanish), but have not been assessed previously; (iii) assessment of existing routes (two geotouristic routes and one geomining route) from a global perspective through the Geotouristic Route Assessment Matrix method (GtRAM, acronym in Spanish); and (iv) definition of strategies for the development and promotion of travel itineraries within the context of geotourism. According to the results of quantitative assessment, three new sites (both geosites and mining sites) were studied and their obtained score of interest was “High” (164/400). The existing routes achieved good results both from the geological-mining perspective “High” score of (189/400) and within a global context “Very High” score of (3.5/5). The quantitative assessment allowed us to propose improvement strategies to disseminate and use these itineraries to unfold sustainable development based on geotourism.

The Influence of the Definition of Patient Global Assessment in Assessment of Disease Activity According to the Disease Activity Score (DAS28) in Rheumatoid Arthritis

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 2326-2328 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAXIME DOUGADOS ◽  
MAHAUT RIPERT ◽  
PASCAL HILLIQUIN ◽  
PATRICE FARDELLONE ◽  
OLIVIER BROCQ ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽  
Disease Activity ◽  
Global Assessment ◽  
Disease Activity Score ◽  
Patient Global Assessment ◽  
Activity Score ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Very High ◽  
Assessment Of Disease Activity

Objective.Patient global assessment (PGA) is one of the 4 items included in the Disease Activity Score (DAS28) for evaluation of activity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We studied the influence of the use of 3 different techniques of PGA on the assessment of disease activity.Methods.We evaluated 3 different DAS28 according to the technique of PGA in 108 patients with active RA before and after 12 weeks of etanercept therapy.Results.The reliability (intraclass coefficient of correlation) between screening and baseline was very high and similar for the 3 DAS28. The percentage of patients in the different states of disease (from remission to higher disease activity) and the sensitivity to change across the 3 DAS28 scales were very similar.Conclusion.The different techniques of collection of PGA to be included in the DAS calculation yield similar results. However, an accepted, unequivocal technique should be encouraged in order to reduce heterogeneity in scoring DAS among patients with RA.

scholarly journals Definition of Forest for REDD+: an Unresolved Issue

2011 ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Medrilzam Medrilzam ◽  
Paul Dargusch
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
National Level ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Forest Definition ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
Definition Of

Debate over arrangements for REDD+ in a post-Kyoto climate policy framework has been continuing in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations; however, no review of the applicability of the existing forest definition to future REDD+ implementation has been undertaken. This paper highlights the need to review the definition of forest, and examines proposals to improve existing definitions. The impacts of the current forestry definition are discussed with reference to Indonesia as a case study. It is concluded that careless definition of selected forest-related terms has had a negative impact on Indonesia’s involvement in the implementation of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) afforestation and reforestation (A/R) projects. In the global context, this paper concludes that there should be clear definitions for definition of forest that are flexible enough to accommodate the various interests of UNFCCC parties. At the national level, each country should specify their forest definition carefully, taking into consideration the guidance provided at the global level and its own forest characteristics and management. Failing to do so can limit the involvement of these nations in future REDD+ schemes and reduce their capacity to mitigate climate change impacts.

scholarly journals Evaluation of a Paleontological Museum as Geosite and Base for Geotourism. A Case Study

Heritage ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1208-1227
Author(s):  
Gricelda Herrera-Franco ◽  
Karla Erazo ◽  
Carlos Mora-Frank ◽  
Paúl Carrión-Mero ◽  
Edgar Berrezueta
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Quantitative Assessment ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Improvement Strategies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Santa Elena ◽  
Very High ◽  
Delphi Analysis

The Santa Elena province in Ecuador has outstanding geological potential in petroleum, mining and geosite resources. All the wealth of palaeontological samples and their inherent link to the history of this territory require a recognised museum with educational and scientific material to support the potential and promotion of geotourism development. The Megatherium Palaeontological Museum is located in this province and was the first Palaeontological Museum in Ecuador. It exhibits samples corresponding to the Late Pleistocene Megafauna that inhabited the area. This study aims to evaluate the museum (a geoheritage element) as a possible (palaeontological) geosite by analysing its contributions to the geoheritage of the Santa Elena province. Thus, we also aim to enhance the geotourism of the area and promote its collections as a geotouristic attraction. The methodological process was based on: (i) information processing and systematisation in the museum and its environment; (ii) assessment of the museum’s geological interest through the method of the Geological Survey of Spain, the Brilha method and the Geosites Assessment Model; and (iii) a qualitative evaluation using the Delphi and the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats methodologies to define strategies and proposals for museum development. Based on the results of the applied quantitative assessment, the museum has a “very high” (277/400) degree of geological interest, due to the high values of scientific (310/400), academic (310/400) and touristic (210/400) interest. In this same way, the results obtained through the Brilha method reflect a high scientific (290/400), educational (280/400), and tourist (315/400) interest and a low degradation risk (190/400) value in the museum. Furthermore, the applied Geosites Assessment Model shows the museum as a geosite with high main and additional values, placing it between the Z23 and Z33 fields of the global valuation matrix. The evaluation approached through Delphi analysis and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats matrix allowed us to propose improvement strategies to take advantage of the museum resources as an alternative that strengthens the geotouristic development of the area.

scholarly journals INVESTIGATION OF JOINT VISIBILITY BETWEEN SAR AND OPTICAL IMAGES OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

2018 ◽  
Vol IV-2 ◽  
pp. 129-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. H. Hughes ◽  
S. Auer ◽  
M. Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environments ◽  
Work Flow ◽  
Simulation Framework ◽  
Urban Scenes ◽  
Optical Images ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Acquisition Planning ◽  
The City ◽  
Very High

In this paper, we present a work-flow to investigate the joint visibility between very-high-resolution SAR and optical images of urban scenes. For this task, we extend the simulation framework SimGeoI to enable a simulation of individual pixels rather than complete images. Using the extended SimGeoI simulator, we carry out a case study using a TerraSAR-X staring spotlight image and a Worldview-2 panchromatic image acquired over the city of Munich, Germany. The results of this study indicate that about 55 % of the scene are visible in both images and are thus suitable for matching and data fusion endeavours, while about 25 % of the scene are affected by either radar shadow or optical occlusion. Taking the image acquisition parameters into account, our findings can provide support regarding the definition of upper bounds for image fusion tasks, as well as help to improve acquisition planning with respect to different application goals.

Towards a Discourse Approach to Critical Lexicography

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-388
Author(s):  
Wenge Chen
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Critical Discourse Studies ◽  
Discourse Studies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
And Function ◽  
International English

Abstract Ideology and power, the vital concerns of critical lexicography, are aspects of a dictionary that a lexicographer and a discerning dictionary user have to encounter in any serious lexicographical enterprise (Kachru 1995); however, critical lexicography as a theme did not receive much attention until Kachru and Kahane (1995). This term later appeared in Hornscheidt (2011) and Moon (2014). However, to date there has not been any systematic theoretical exemplification of what critical lexicography is and how critical lexicographical research is done. Additionally, the scope and function of critical lexicography is relatively limited when we consider the global context, since it fails to take into account theoretical and methodological inspirations from other disciplines such as Critical Discourse Studies and/or Postcolonial Studies, which would make it more theoretically robust and analytically explanatory. With this gap in mind, this paper proposes a discourse approach to Critical Lexicography, termed Critical Lexicographical Discourse Studies (CLDS), as a response to the call for lexicographers’ ‘social accountability’. Specifically, the article puts forward a definition of CLDS and its key concepts, denotes its ontological, epistemological and methodological orientations, delineates its principles, proposes a tentative analytic framework and demonstrates a simplified case study. The article argues that a discourse approach to critical lexicography opens up space to understand different meaning-making practices and contestation in lexicography. In doing so, this article contributes to the development of international (English) lexicography and the language(s) it represents.

scholarly journals Geosites and Geotourism in the Local Development of Communities of the Andes Mountains. A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4624
Author(s):  
Paúl Carrión-Mero ◽  
César Borja-Bernal ◽  
Gricelda Herrera-Franco ◽  
Fernando Morante-Carballo ◽  
María Jaya-Montalvo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Swot Analysis ◽  
Local Development ◽  
High Interest ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Swot Matrix ◽  
Geosite Assessment ◽  
Academic Interests ◽  
Very High ◽  
Selection Of

The inventory and assessment of a geosite in a territory provides a sound basis for the protection and use of its geological heritage. This article aims to evaluate the most relevant geosites in the province of Chimborazo (Ecuador), applying the Spanish Inventory of Sites of Geological Interest (IELIG, in Spanish) method, and proposing alternatives for geotourism development in the studied area. The methodological process was based on: (i) the inventory and preliminary selection of geosites; (ii) a semi-quantitative geosite assessment and proposal of travel itineraries for geotourism; and (iii) the application of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) matrix to establish geotourism development strategies within a framework of sustainability. The global assessment of scientific, tourist, and academic interests demonstrates that 25% of the 20 evaluated geosites have very high interest and 75% have high interest. The top three geosites with the highest degrees of interest are the Chimborazo Volcano, known as ‘Earth’s Closest Point to the Sun’, the Pallatanga geological fault, and the geosite named Comunidad Cacha. The SWOT analysis reveals that travel itineraries that combine cultural heritage elements and geosites could offer a real alternative for the region’s sustainable development through geotourism.

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Through Microfinance - A Case of Rural Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Saida Parvin
Keyword(s):  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Donor Agencies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

Women’s empowerment has been at the centre of research focus for many decades. Extant literature examined the process, outcome and various challenges. Some claimed substantial success, while others contradicted with evidence of failure. But the success remains a matter of debate due to lack of empirical evidence of actual empowerment of women around the world. The current study aimed to address this gap by taking a case study method. The study critically evaluates 20 cases carefully sampled to include representatives from the entire country of Bangladesh. The study demonstrates popular beliefs about microfinance often misguide even the borrowers and they start living in a fabricated feeling of empowerment, facing real challenges to achieve true empowerment in their lives. The impact of this finding is twofold; firstly there is a theoretical contribution, where the definition of women’s empowerment is proposed to be revisited considering findings from these cases. And lastly, the policy makers at governmental and non-governmental organisations, and multinational donor agencies need to revise their assessment tools for funding.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE FORCED MARRIAGE. THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN CASE STUDY IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dzhansarayeva Rima Yerenatovna ◽  
Malikova Sholpan Baltabekovna ◽  
Atakhanova Gulzagira Makhatovna ◽  
Tlepbergenov Orynbasar Nusupaliyevich ◽  
Omarova Sholpan Bekmuratovna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Experience ◽  
Forced Marriage ◽  
Global Context ◽  
The Republic

The Rapid Iterative Test and Evaluation Method (RITE)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Medlock
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Test And Evaluation ◽  
Original Case ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter begins with a discussion of the philosophy and then definition of the RITE method. It then delves into the benefits of this method and provides practical notes on running RITE tests effectively. The chapter concludes with an overview of the original case study behind the 2002 article documenting this method.

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