scholarly journals A short comparative history of wells and toilets in South Africa and Finland

Author(s):  
Johannes Haarhoff ◽  
Petri Juuti ◽  
Harri Mäki

This paper describes the technological development of wells and toilets and the cultural practices related to them in two countries, South Africa and Finland, from the Middle Ages to modern times. Wells and toilets have always been linked to the well-being of humans and they still are the most common technical systems in the service of mankind. They are simple to build, but if they are constructed improperly or stop functioning properly, they may endanger the health of both humans and the environment. The solutions used for getting clean water or for disposal of excrement have always been a matter of life and death for human settlements. Located on opposite sides of the world, the climate and natural resources of South Africa and Finland are very different. However, surprisingly similar solutions, for example wind turbines to pump water, have been used in rural areas. Furthermore, urbanization and industrialization occurred in both countries at approximately the same time in the 19th century, which caused increasing environmental problems in Finnish and South African urban areas. The transition to modern water supply and waste disposal systems was a very demanding process for municipal administrations in both countries.

1971 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-574
Author(s):  
K.P. Pothen

This article contains the results of an enquiry into social and economic aspects of a Christianity founded in India in the 19th Century. The work takes the form of statistical analysis, interviews and close observation of 100 families in a rural environment and 100 families in an urban environ ment. The author describes, first of all, the history of this Christian Community and then puts forward the major conclusions of the study. It seems clear that, in spite of the fact that for the last ten years the influence of the Church has been constantly declining, the growth in the numbers of Christians is sufficient to ensure the continued existence, in material terms, of the Church's institutions. The annual income per head of 447 Roupees puts the Christian Community of Malwa above the average for India as a whole, but there is a considerable difference, in this as in other aspects, between rural and urban areas. It appears that Christianity is much less firmly rooted in rural areas than it is in the towns ; conversion means much less socially to the country-dweller who lives in an environment where the caste-system, with its religious overtones, is still very influential. The achievement of Independence has made a very con siderable difference to the conditions of missionary work. The Church is no longer the sole means of influence in providing advancement and employment.


Author(s):  
Ace Dimitrievski ◽  
Sonja Filiposka ◽  
Francisco José Melero ◽  
Eftim Zdravevski ◽  
Petre Lameski ◽  
...  

Connected health is expected to introduce an improvement in providing healthcare and doctor-patient communication while at the same time reducing cost. Connected health would introduce an even more significant gap between healthcare quality for urban areas with physical proximity and better communication to providers and the portion of rural areas with numerous connectivity issues. We identify these challenges using user scenarios and propose LoRa based architecture for addressing these challenges. We focus on the energy management of battery-powered, affordable IoT devices for long-term operation, providing important information about the care receivers’ well-being. Using an external ultra-low-power timer, we extended the battery life in the order of tens of times, compared to relying on low power modes of the microcontroller.


2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (69_suppl) ◽  
pp. 35-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel J. Clark ◽  
Mark A. Collinson ◽  
Kathleen Kahn ◽  
Kyle Drullinger ◽  
Stephen M. Tollman

Aim: To examine the hypothesis that circular labour migrants who become seriously ill while living away from home return to their rural homes to convalesce and possibly to die. Methods: Drawing on longitudinal data collected by the Agincourt health and demographic surveillance system in rural northeastern South Africa between 1995 and 2004, discrete time event history analysis is used to estimate the likelihood of dying for residents, short-term returning migrants, and long-term returning migrants controlling for sex, age, and historical period. Results: The annual odds of dying for short-term returning migrants are generally 1.1 to 1.9 times (depending on period, sex, and age) higher than those of residents and long-term returning migrants, and these differences are generally highly statistically significant. Further supporting the hypothesis is the fact that the proportion of HIV/TB deaths among short-term returning migrants increases dramatically as time progresses, and short-term returning migrants account for an increasing proportion of all HIV/TB deaths. Conclusions: This evidence strongly suggests that increasing numbers of circular labour migrants of prime working age are becoming ill in the urban areas where they work and coming home to be cared for and eventually to die in the rural areas where their families live. This shifts the burden of caring for them in their terminal illness to their families and the rural healthcare system with significant consequences for the distribution and allocation of health care resources.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-41
Author(s):  
Shivangi Nigam ◽  
Niranjana Soperna

Violence against women is linked to their disadvantaged position in the society. It is rooted in unequal power relationships between men and women in society and is a global problem which is not limited to a specific group of women in society. An adolescent girl’s life is often accustomed to the likelihood of violence, and acts of violence exert additional power over girls because the stigma of violence often attaches more to a girl than to the  perpetrator. The experience of violence is distressing at the individual emotional and physical level. The field of research and programmes for adolescent girls has traditionally focused on sexuality, reproductive health, and behaviour, neglecting the broader social issues that underpin adolescent girls’ human rights, overall development, health, and well-being. This paper is an endeavour to address the understated or disguised form of violence which the adolescent girls experience within the social contexts. The parameters exposed under this research had been ignored to a large extent when it comes to studying the dimension of violence under the social domain. Hence, the researchers attempted to explore this camouflaged form of violence and discovered some specific parameters such as: Diminished Self Worth and Esteem, Verbal Abuse, Menstruation Taboo and Social Rigidity, Negligence of Medical and Health Facilities and Complexion- A Prime Parameter for Judging Beauty. The study was conducted in the districts of Haryana (India) where personal interviews were taken from both urban and rural adolescent girls (aged 13 to 19 years) based on  a structured interview schedule. The results revealed that the adolescent girls, both in urban as well as rural areas were quite affected with the above mentioned issues. In urban areas, however, due to the higher literacy rate, which resulted in more rational thinking, the magnitude was comparatively smaller, but the difference was still negligible.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-435
Author(s):  
Maylee Inga-Hancco ◽  
Adamari Indigoyen-Porras ◽  
Sergio Parra-Alarcón ◽  
Juan Cerrón-Aliaga ◽  
Wagner Vicente-Ramos

The present study describes the methodological process proposed by the Social Progress Imperative Global Organization to calculate the Social Progress Index in urban and rural areas of the province of Huancayo, Peru, in 2020. The survey was based on 229 observations regarding basic human needs, foundations of well-being and opportunities. The result produced an index of 56.04 for urban areas and 53.98 for rural areas; results that are in the low and low middle range respectively, identifying deficiencies in the quality of economic policies, with respect to the sanitation service, where more than 30% do not have access to drinking water, and others. It was concluded that the index showed no improvement with respect to 2019, likewise the social gaps still persist and the well-being of the aforementioned population was not increased.


2016 ◽  
pp. 69-77
Author(s):  
Maria BOSTENARU DAN ◽  
◽  
Cristina Olga Gociman ◽  

This paper investigates the mapping of the impact of natural hazards as included in several databases reviewed or created by the author. These are: - The database of the contribution of the session series “Natural hazards’ impact on urban areas and infrastructure”, convened and co-convened by the first author over 15 years at the European Geosciences General Assembly. - A database created from reviews of students supervised by the authors in frame of the course “Protection of settlements against risks” at the home university. - A collection of historical photographs from the 19th century on different natural and man-made hazards from the Canadian Centre for Architecture, the archive review of which has been performed by the first author and which will be subject of a book to be published about the time of the conference. -Two reviewed collections, one from the exhibition and book on “Images of disasters” (German research) and one on the book “Illustrated history of natural disasters” which include major disasters from the beginning of the mankind. In frame of the paper maps of the spread of data will be presented, created using both arcGIS online and GoogleMaps (see https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zpbbz3WgVMBs.k-3vhGj- -l1M&usp=sharing), comparing the source and the type of hazard, to see eventual overlappings between the databases.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noor Shafina Mohd Nor ◽  
Yung-An Chua ◽  
Suraya Abdul Razak ◽  
Zaliha Ismail ◽  
Hapizah Mohd Nawawi

Abstract Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Early identification of the coronary risk factors (CRF) among youths assists in determining the high-risk group to develop CAD in later life. In view of the modernised lifestyle, both urban and rural residing youths are thought to be equally exposed to various CRF. This study aimed to describe the common CRF including obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, smoking and family history of premature CAD in Malaysian youths residing in urban and rural areas. Methods: We recruited 942 Malaysian subjects aged 15–24 years old [(males=257, and urban=555 vs rural=387, (mean age + SD = 20.5 + 2.1 years)] from the community health screening programmes organised in both rural and urban regions throughout Malaysia. Medical history and standardised anthropometric measurements were recorded. Laboratory investigations were obtained for fasting serum lipid profiles and plasma glucose levels. Results: Youths in the rural were more overweight and obese (49.4% vs 42.7%, p<0.044) and have higher family history of hyperlipidaemia (16.3% vs 11.3%, p<0.036) than youths in the urban areas. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL-c) (2.8 vs 2.7 mmol/L) and total cholesterol (TC) (4.7 vs 4.5 mmol/L) were significantly higher in urban compared to rural youths (p<0.019 and p<0.012). Overall, more youth in this study has CRF rather than not (Has CRF = 67.0% vs No CRF = 33.0%). Significantly more rural youths have at least one CRF compared to urban youths (rural = 71.6% vs urban = 63.8%, p=0.012). Conclusion: In conclusion, rural youths have significantly higher BMI with higher family history of hyperlipidaemia compared to urban youths. However, urban youths have higher LDL-c and TC levels. Other coronary risk factors are not significantly different between urban and rural youths. CRF were significantly more prevalent among rural compared to urban youths.


Transportation planning is an area of public policy that is increasingly recognized for having a significant impact on human health and well-being. Passengers all across the world are choosing bus transit as one of the most cost-effective ways of transportation. The number of passengers who use this mode of transportation is steadily increasing. According to statistics, the bus was India's most popular mode of transportation in 2014. A bus was viewed as a mode of transportation by 66 percent of families in rural areas and 62 percent of households in urban areas. With increased demand, there is a concern about efficiently organizing this service. Because a lack of planning can generate major problems in the real world, such as traffic jams and high operating expenses, it is a source of concern for corporate and government entities who provide this service. In this paper, a review on various bus transit planning approaches and stages and methodologies used in each stage of the customized bus planning strategy is presented. This study will assist bus service organizing entities, whether private or public, in efficiently organizing bus service


Ritið ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-288
Author(s):  
Hjalti Hugason

n 2017 the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation was celebrated. Then there was a huge discussion about the impact of the Reformation on church, culture and society. In this article and in a second one that follows, this question will be raised, especially in Icelandic context.Here it is assumed that it is only possible to state that a change has occurred or a novelty has arised because of Lutheran influence if it can be demonstrated that the Reformation is a necessary prerequisite for the change / innovation being discussed. Here it is particularly pointed out that various changes that until now have been traced to the Reformation can have been due to the development of the central-con-trolled state power. It is also pointed out that, due to the small population, rural areas and simple social structure, various changes that occurred in urban areas did not succeed in Iceland until long after the Reformation. Such cases are interpret-ed as delayed Lutheran effects. Then, in Iceland, many changes, which were well matched to the core areas of the Reformation, did not work until the 18th century and then because of the pietism. Such cases are interpreted as derivative Lutheran effects.In Iceland two generalizations have been evident in the debate on the influence of the Lutheran Reformation. The first one emphasizes an extensive and radical changes in many areas in the Reformation period and subsequent extensive decline. It is also stated that this regression can be traced directly to the Reformation and not to other fenomenons, e.g. the development of modern, centralized state. The other one states that the Reformation was most powerful in the modernization in both the church and society in Iceland.This article focuses on the influence of the Reformation on religious and church life. Despite the fact that the Reformation has certainly had the broadest and most direct effects on this field, it is noteworthy that the church organization itself was only scarsely affected by the Reformation. After the Reformation the Icelandic church was for example almost as clergy-orientaded as in the middle Ages.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Seck ◽  
D. G. Dia ◽  
D. Doupa ◽  
A. Diop-Dia ◽  
I. Thiam ◽  
...  

Diabetes represents a challenging global health issue in the 21st century. Data from sub-Saharan African populations are scarce and are usually restricted to urban settings. The objective of this study was to compare prevalence and risk factors of diabetes in rural and urban areas in Senegal.Methods.In a community-based survey between January and May 2012, we included 1027 adults aged≥18 years living in northern Senegal. Sociodemographic, clinical, and biological data were collected during household visits. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with diabetes.Results.Mean age of participants was48.0±16.9years and 65.7% were female. Participants from urban area represented 55.7%. The age-standardized prevalence of diabetes was 7.6% (6.0% in men versus 9.0% in women). Prevalence of diabetes was higher in urban areas (8.1%) compared to rural areas (4.6%). Disease awareness rate was 43%. After multivariate analysis, age (OR = 1.63,p=0.001), familial history of diabetes (OR = 1.42,p=0.001), and abdominal obesity (OR = 1.17,p=0.05) were associated with diabetes.Conclusion.Diabetes is frequent in urban and rural areas in Senegal. Awareness rate is very low among populations. Age, family history of diabetes, and abdominal obesity are the main risk factors identified.


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