COMPETITIVENESS OF COOPERATIVE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE FIELD OF TRADE: DIRECTION OF RESEARCH

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. 98-104
Author(s):  
E. S. MAKAROVA ◽  
◽  
Ya. F. NASHIRVANOVA ◽  
E. A. GATINA ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Comprehensive Assessment ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
The Face ◽  
Retail Chains

The article is devoted to the study of approaches to assessing the competitiveness of cooperative trade organizations. In the face of increasing competition, cooperative trade organizations have to compete not only with private stores, but also with large retail chains that continue to expand into rural areas. Based on the available approaches to assessing competitiveness, the authors proposed a methodology for a comprehensive assessment of external and internal competitiveness, which allows to analyze various aspects, approaches to determining competitive advantages, including the opinion of buyers and an expert approach.

scholarly journals Basket of options: Unpacking the concept

2021 ◽  
pp. 003072702110194
Author(s):  
E Ronner ◽  
J Sumberg ◽  
D Glover ◽  
KKE Descheemaeker ◽  
CJM Almekinders ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Technological Change ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Farm Households ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Individual User ◽  
Opportunities For Learning ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
The Face ◽  
Potential Adaptation

How to stimulate technological change to enhance agricultural productivity and reduce poverty remains an area of vigorous debate. In the face of heterogeneity among farm households and rural areas, one proposition is to offer potential users a ‘basket of options’ – a range of agricultural technologies from which potential users may select the ones that are best suited to their specific circumstances. While the idea of a basket of options is now generally accepted, it has attracted little critical attention. In this paper, we reflect on outstanding questions: the appropriate dimensions of a basket, its contents and how they are identified, and how a basket might be presented. We conceive a basket of options in terms of its depth (number of options related to a problem or opportunity) and breadth (the number of different problems or opportunities addressed). The dimensions of a basket should reflect the framing of the problem or opportunity at hand and the objective in offering the basket. We recognise that increasing the number of options leads to a trade-off by decreasing the fraction of those options that are relevant to an individual user. Farmers might try out, adapt or use one or more of the options in a basket, possibly leading to a process of technological change. We emphasise that the selection (or not) of specific options from the basket, and potential adaptation of the options, provide important opportunities for learning. Baskets of options can therefore be understood as important boundary concepts that invite critical engagement, comparison and discussion. Significant knowledge gaps remain, however, about the best ways to present the basket and to guide potential users to select the options that are most relevant to them.

scholarly journals Wellness Tourism—New Challenges and Opportunities for Tourism in Salou

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8246
Author(s):  
Marta Gemma Nel-lo Andreu ◽  
Alba Font-Barnet ◽  
Marc Espasa Roca
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Seasonal Adjustment ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Strategic Renewal ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Wellness Tourism ◽  
Fundamental Value ◽  
The Impact

Following a long history of using various strategies and policies for diversification and seasonal adjustment in the face of the challenges of achieving economic, social, and environmental sustainability, sun and beach destinations should also consider targeting the wellness tourism market as a post pandemic opportunity and long-term solution. Salou is a mature sun and beach destination in the Mediterranean, but one which, for some time, has had an increasing commitment to family and sports tourism as a result of a strategic renewal process. Now, with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the destination management organization is considering the evolution of the model, the internalization of sustainability as a fundamental value, and the impact of different markets. In this study, we examined the challenges the Salou Tourist Board has faced during the development of a post pandemic model for sustainable tourism and what strategies it has adopted in response. We also considered the opportunities and competitive advantages that Salou has in the field of wellness tourism. The results obtained should encourage the continuation of work that promotes the environmental axis of sustainability and adds value to the natural resources on which it depends, including the sea and the landscape, while maintaining the environmental quality of the resources.

scholarly journals On Using a Mobile Application to Support Teledermatology: A Case Study in an Underprivileged Area in Colombia

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Pablo Sáenz ◽  
Mónica Paola Novoa ◽  
Darío Correal ◽  
Bell Raj Eapen
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Correct Diagnosis ◽  
Skin Lesions ◽  
Healthcare Personnel ◽  
Combined Use ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
The Face

Background. The use of mobile applications in dermatology to support remote diagnosis is gaining acceptance, particularly in rural areas, where dermatology services are commonly managed by healthcare personnel with no specialty training. Moreover, ontologies—sets of concepts that represent knowledge in a given domain—are increasingly being used to support medical diagnosis. A specific case is ONTODerm: an ontology to aid dermatological diagnosis. However, there is little information on the combined use of mobile applications and ontologies as support solutions in dermatology. Objective. Assessing the reliability of ONTODerm as a tool to support remote dermatological diagnosis when used together with a mobile dermatological application in underprivileged areas. Methods. A mobile application that allows characterization of skin lesions was developed, and the information about the lesions was sent to ONTODerm. An exploratory study was conducted in a remote area without access to a dermatologist. A total of 64 dermatological queries were recorded in the application and consulted with ONTODerm. Later, an experienced dermatologist evaluated the characterization and diagnosis of each query to determine the accuracy of the system. Results. The results showed that the probability of obtaining a correct diagnosis was between 64.4% and 85.6% with a confidence interval of 95%. A higher accuracy rate was obtained when the skin lesion occurred on the face or when its border was categorized as poorly demarcated. Conclusions. This study demonstrates the implementation of a teledermatology strategy based on mobile applications and domain ontology-driven knowledge base to provide timely assistance to healthcare professionals. This approach was found to be pertinent in the Colombian rural context, particularly in forest regions, where dermatology specialists are not available. The results of this article do not represent a final validation of the proposed approach; they suggest how the ontology can be improved to effectively support medical staff in marginalized regions.

scholarly journals Green Tourism in the Context of Sustainable Development and the Challenges Posed by the Global Economic Crisis

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (45) ◽  
pp. 11-17
Author(s):  
T. O. Zinchuk ◽  
◽  
T. V. Usiuk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Face ◽  
Green Tourism ◽  
Development Goals

The articles aims to substantiate the socio-economic, environmental, historical and cultural role played by green tourism and its contribution to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals based on current innovative trends and capabilities of tourism in the face of challenges posed by the ongoing crisis in global economy caused by the latest pandemic. The objectives of the research were to detail the theoretical, methodological and applied approaches to the development of green tourism, which is a market sector providing travel services. The definition of green tourism has been made more profound through connecting it with the Sustainable Development Goals, which is rather logical. The motivating factors for the development of green tourism have been analyzed taking into account the model of multifunctionality in agriculture and its importance in rural development policy. The nature of changes in the green tourism sector has been identified with respect to the peculiarities of the current global situation, when a pandemic is restraining the world tourism intensity, on the one hand, and is stimulating local tourism, on the other. It is worth adding that local tourism is mostly green and focused on the conservation of the environmental and natural resources, as well as sustainment of mostly rural areas. The research carried out shows that green tourism can become a driving force for economic growth in rural areas, a motivator for employment, a factor in preserving rural culture and traditions in a particular area. At the same time, the results of the research prove the existence of a link between green tourism and national economic, environmental, socio-cultural, intellectual, energy security due to the most typical development priorities of such tourism. On analyzing the experience of the countries that suffered the pandemic most, we have found some prospects for green tourism development. It is a new system of partnership between the state, business and civil society which can become an additional incentive to preserve the potential of green tourism. Thus, strategic guidelines for green tourism development based on institutional priorities, with the current economic crisis challenges in mind, have been designed.

scholarly journals Challenges of COVID-19 pandemic: The postgraduate case in Sustainable Management of Natural Resources - UIEP

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marja Liza Fajardo-Franco ◽  
Martin Aguilar-Tlatelpa
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Preventive Measure ◽  
Distance Teaching ◽  
Master Of Science ◽  
Digital Format ◽  
Academic Activities ◽  
Sustainable Natural Resource Management ◽  
The Face ◽  
Digital Gap ◽  
Teaching Learning

<p>A generalized preventive measure in Mexico against the COVID-19 pandemic was the suspension of in-person non-essential activities, including academic activities. The Universidad Intercultural del Estado de Puebla (Intercultural University of the State of Puebla - UIEP) suspended all classroom course from March 20th, 2019, until the present day. The program of Master of Science in Sustainable Natural Resource Management has remained active in a digital format, facing the following challenges: the speedy implementation of a virtual and distance teaching-learning process; the optimization of computer resources in the face of the digital gap and limited access to these technologies in the region; and an efficient traceability of research processes. COVID-19 displayed the social and digital gap present in the rural areas of Mexico, such as in the case of Sierra Norte de Puebla, in which UIEP is enclaved. However, it also displayed the ability of response and adaptation in the face of the contingency scenario caused by SARS-CoV-2.</p>

The preferred way of patient communicating with a cardiologist and declared objectives for future contacts (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Kalańska-Łukasik ◽  
Aleksandra Gładyś ◽  
Tomasz Jadczyk ◽  
Monika Gruz-Kwapisz ◽  
Wojciech Wojakowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Medical Visit ◽  
Remote Communication ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Validated Questionnaire ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Face ◽  
Willingness To Use

BACKGROUND Telemedicine solutions, especially in the face of a pandemic, have intensified their role in the patient-cardiologist contact. Entirely recognition of modern technology must be based on the patient's acceptance to be able to improve effective cooperation with the physician. However, the successful application of patient-centric telehealth services requires an in-depth analysis of users’ expectations. OBJECTIVE To evaluate factors determining readiness for telecommunications solutions in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). METHODS A cross-sectional study based on an investigator-designed validated questionnaire including 19 items (demographics, health status, medical history, previous healthcare experience, expected telehealth functionalities and preferred remote communication methods) was used. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to assess the relationship between readiness and their determinants. RESULTS Nearly 84% of respondents consent to the use of telemedicine solutions in the cardiologist-patient contact. Disacceptance to using telemedicine was two times frequent for rural dwellers, OR=2.411 (95%CI:1.003-5.796) and for patients without access to the Internet, OR=2.432 (95%CI:1.022-5.786). In comparison to studying participants living in rural areas, city dwellers demonstrated a higher willingness to use telemedicine solutions in particular function such as : issuing prescription (61,2%/83,2%), alarm at the deterioration of health (79,95%/61,5 %), arranging or cancelling a medical visit (53,8 %/75.5%). Contact by mobile phone was preferred by younger patients OR=2.256 (95%CI:1.058-4.814). Older people and patients who had no previous difficulties in contact with physicians prefer contact by line phone. CONCLUSIONS Patients with CVD are ready to accept the virtual solutions to contact a cardiologist. However, patients' expectations for telehealth services are associated with socio-demographical factors. Identifying needs in a group of patients with CVD may help to adjust telecommunication technologies for specific groups of patients

The Demand for Special Education Teachers in Rural Schools Revisited: An Update on Progress

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul T. Sindelar ◽  
Daisy J. Pua ◽  
Tiffany Fisher ◽  
David J. Peyton ◽  
Mary T. Brownell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Rural Schools ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Teacher Shortages ◽  
Technology Applications ◽  
Qualified Teacher ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact

In this commentary, we revisit “NCLB and the Demand for Highly Qualified Teachers: Challenges and Solutions for Rural Schools,” an article we published in this journal in 2005. We consider the predictions we made then about the impact of the Highly Qualified Teacher mandate on special education teacher (SET) shortages in rural states and regions, acknowledging that we overlooked the diversity of rural areas and their differentiated needs in our original article. We then update strategies and programs for preparing, recruiting, and retaining SETs in rural schools and discuss the implications of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which has replaced the No Child Left Behind Act, for special education in rural areas. We note with optimism the resilience that rural areas have exhibited in the face of teacher shortages and see hope in recent technology applications and other context-based strategies.

scholarly journals Conservationist governmental technologies in the Western European mountains: the unfinished transformation of the Pyrenees

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Ismael Vaccaro ◽  
Oriol Beltran
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
The Face ◽  
Resources Conservation ◽  
European Mountains ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

In this paper, using a political ecology framework, we examine the impacts of statemaking technologies in several areas of the Pyrenean mountain range, Spain. We describe processes of governmental territorialization in a European, non-colonial setting, stressing their effect on the conceptualization and management of natural resources. Conservation policies are a traditional locus of political ecology: as public policies devoted to natural resource management they embody the interaction between politics and ecology. The article has several analytical goals: a) to shift the emphasis of the political ecological analysis from an explanation of territorialization based on the tension between the first and third world, towards the impact of the conflictive relationship between cities and rural areas, b) to highlight the resilience and creativity of local agency in the face of massive political disruption in the form of public policies, c) to point out to the emergence of European policies and the new leisure economies as key elements of the contemporary reconstruction of the Western mountains, and d) underscore the unfinished character, or the ongoing nature, of the described process of political negotiation of rights of access and control of natural resources.Key Words: political ecology; Pyrenees; conservation; territorial control

scholarly journals Illness, Death, and Macronutrients: Adequacy of Rural Mozambican Household Production of Macronutrients in the Face of HIV/AIDS

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (2_suppl2) ◽  
pp. S331-S338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Donovan ◽  
Jaquelino Massingue
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
The North ◽  
Income Sources ◽  
The Face ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
Drug Interventions ◽  
Hiv Aids

Background As the public sector and civil society develop intervention programs to deal with the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, there has been an increasing emphasis on the relationship between nutrition and the disease. Drug interventions may be ineffective, and the progression from HIV infection to full-blown AIDS may be accelerated without adequate nutrition. Mozambique is still fighting an increasing prevalence rate of HIV, including in rural areas. Rural households in Mozambique rely heavily on their own agricultural production for the basic macronutrients. Objectives To evaluate the extent to which household agricultural production of basic staples meets overall household needs for major macronutrients, comparing households affected and not directly affected by HIV/ AIDS and other major illnesses over two time periods. Methods This research analyzes nationally representative panel data from rural household surveys conducted in 2002 and 2005 to evaluate whether households that have suffered the chronic illness or illness-related death of prime-age adult members (15 to 49 years of age) are more vulnerable to macronutrient gaps. Results Households in the South and in the North with a male illness or death in 2002 produced significantly less macronutrients from crops in 2005 than nonaffected households. These households also had significantly lower income per adult equivalent. Conclusions Mortality or illness from HIV/AIDS affects the ability of agricultural households dependent on own-food production to produce macronutrients. Interventions to improve access to food may be needed for affected households, particularly in light of their inability to recover over time. More analysis is needed to understand income sources, crop diversification, and access to macronutrients through the market.

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