Quality and Tourism Supply: A Study of Enterprises Linked to Rural Community-Based Tourism in the Canton of Riobamba

This article focuses on the quality and supply of community-based tourism in the rural parishes of Calpi, Cacha and San Juan in the canton of Riobamba, Ecuador. The objective was to study the quality of the supply of community tourism services in the rural parishes of the canton of Riobamba and to determine the characteristics of the supply, services and tourism products. The methodology used was interpretative, documentary and descriptive. The results obtained show that there is a lack of tourism organisation in the rural parishes of the canton of Riobamba. Therefore, standards should be determined to regulate the practices of service providers in order to boost their productivity and promote actions that contribute to the social, economic and environmental development of the canton of Riobamba. State organizations should promote solidarity-based tourism activities to strengthen the active participation of the community from an intercultural perspective. Received: 4 March 2021 / Accepted: 6 May 2021 / Published: 8 July 2021

Illegitimacy and its Effects on Marriage Prospects in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Rural England

All births, marriages and deaths that occurred in two rural parishes in south-west England in the period 1754–1914 were examined, using a wide array of source material. Records of individuals were linked together into large multi-generational family groups. There were 4,940 births, of which 319 were illegitimate. For the illegitimate cases, the rates of subsequent marriage of mothers and fathers were determined and compared with those for other people in the same parishes. Being the father of an illegitimate child did not impact the chances of subsequent marriage. Being the mother of an illegitimate child decreased the chances of subsequent marriage but only if the mother was co-resident with her children. Where the mother did not live with the illegitimate child(ren), her chances of marriage were similar to that of other women. Mothers of illegitimate children were more likely to marry their cousins and were less geographically mobile than other mothers.

Serological Evidence of Human Orthohantavirus Infections in Barbados, 2008 to 2016

Background: Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is well-known in South and North America; however, not enough data exist for the Caribbean. The first report of clinical orthohantavirus infection was obtained in Barbados, but no other evidence of clinical orthohantavirus infections among adults in the Caribbean has been documented. Methods: Using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests followed by confirmatory testing with immunofluorescent assays (IFA), immunochromatographic (ICG) tests, and pseudotype focus reduction neutralization tests (pFRNT), we retrospectively and prospectively detected orthohantavirus-specific antibodies among patients with febrile illness in Barbados. Results: The orthohantavirus prevalence rate varied from 5.8 to 102.6 cases per 100,000 persons among febrile patients who sought medical attention annually between 2008 and 2016. Two major orthohantavirus epidemics occurred in Barbados during 2010 and 2016. Peak orthohantavisinfectionswere observed during the rainy season (August) and prevalence rates were significantly higher in females than males and in patients from urban parishes than rural parishes. Conclusions: Orthohantavirus infections are still occurring in Barbados and in some patients along with multiple pathogen infections (CHIKV, ZIKV, DENV and Leptospira). Orthohantavirus infections are more prevalent during periods of high rainfall (rainy season) with peak transmission in August; females are more likely to be infected than males and infections are more likely among patients from urban rather than rural parishes in Barbados.

The Reformation in Moray: Precursors and Initiation

Evidence from Moray, an area outside the heartland of radical ‘fervencie’, argues that the reach of the reform movement in Scotland was indeed broad, and assists with an answer to the question as to ‘how this Protestant minority was able to impose such profound religous change so rapidly through the country.’ This article explores what is known of precursors to the reformation in the province, seeking to show that, while ambiguity must be acknowledged, the changes after 1560 were not entirely unheralded. It has long been recognised that ‘the determining factor in any area in promoting the reformed faith was the attitude of the local lairds’, so the connections – by kindred, bonding and marriage – between Moray's intricate networks of landowning families and the national brokers of power are explored. This article is concerned primarily with the lairds, the burgesses and the clergy of Moray rather than with the people of the rural parishes. Moray's history during the reformation period also illustrates the negotiation, both of contingencies and between factions, that the process of change involved.

Faith as a Mechanism for Health Promotion among Rural African American Prostate Cancer Survivors: A Qualitative Examination

Conceptualized using critical race theory as a theoretical underpinning, this study analyzed the lived experiences of older, rural, African American male prostate cancer (hereafter referenced as PrCA) survivors’ faith and health promotion practices within Northeast Louisiana. Qualitative data from journaling, observations, and semi-structured interviews were obtained from ten older, African American male PrCA survivors residing in four rural parishes of Louisiana. The data analysis employed a two-stage approach known as Polkinghorne’s analysis of narratives and narrative analysis using an art-based methodological approach. Framed as composite character counterstories, survivors’ narratives revealed how survivors made sense of and gave meaning to their PrCA diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and survivorship. Specifically, their counterstories indicate that centering and honoring the unique and often taken-for-granted perspectives of older, rural, African American male PrCA survivors offered a deeper understanding of the multiple factors influencing their quality of life, as well as the sociostructural mechanisms impacting their survivorship care. Faith was examined as both a secular and sacred source of support that these men viewed as central to the acceptance of their diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and survivorship.

The Scanian Economic-Demographic Database (SEDD)

The Scanian Economic-Demographic Database (SEDD) is a high-quality longitudinal data resource spanning the period 1646-1967. It covers all individuals born in or migrated to the city of Landskrona and five rural parishes in western Scania in southern Sweden. The entire population present in the area is fully covered after 1813. At the individual level, SEDD combines various demographic and socioeconomic records, including causes of death, place of birth and geographic data on the place of residence within a parish. At the family level, the data contain a combination of demographic records and information on occupation, landholding and income. The data for 1813-1967 was structured in the model of the Intermediate Data Structure (IDS). In addition to storing source data in the SEDD IDS tables, a wide range of individual- and context-level variables were constructed, which means that most types of analyses using SEDD can be conducted without the need of further elaboration of the data. This article discusses the source material, linkage methods, and structure of the database.

Fires and Fire Safety Measures in Churches of Tobolsk North during the Synodal Period (1722-1917)

The results of a study on the extent, causes and measures of combating fires in churches in the north of the Tobolsk diocese in the XVIII - early XX centuries are presented in the article. Sources indicate “large” fires in Berezov and Surgut and few in rural parishes, and, as a rule, they indicate the destruction of church buildings and the futility of public efforts to prevent the fire element. The destruction of churches from fire is presented as a common cause of rebuilding of parish buildings in the 18th century. It is noted that the main cause of the fires was the careless handling of fire by church servants when burning stoves. Fire safety measures are characterized by the adoption of relevant legislative norms and administrative orders, monitoring of building codes and the repair of irregularities made during the construction of churches, and the spread of fire insurance. It is indicated that the state tried to involve not only the police, but also the population in the fight against fires. It is concluded that, despite the efforts made, the fire department in the territory of the region remained at a low level and did not allow to successfully confront the fire element.

Neonatal Mortality and Temperature in Two Northern Swedish Rural Parishes, 1860–1899—The Significance of Ethnicity and Gender

The aim of this study was to analyze the association between season of birth and daily temperature for neonatal mortality in two Swedish rural parishes between 1860 and 1899. Further, we aimed to study whether the association varied according to ethnicity (indigenous Sami reindeer herders and non-Sami settlers) and gender. The source material for this study comprised digitized parish records from the Demographic Data Base, Umeå University, combined with local weather data provided by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute. Using a time event-history approach, we investigated the association between daily temperature (at birth and up to 28 days after birth) and the risk of neonatal death during the coldest months (November through March). The results showed that Sami neonatal mortality was highest during winter and that the Sami neonatal mortality risk decreased with higher temperatures on the day of birth. Male neonatal risk decreased with higher temperatures during the days following birth, while no effect of temperature was observed among female neonates. We conclude that weather vulnerability differed between genders and between the indigenous and non-indigenous populations.

Traditional knowledge using medicinal plants in Portoviejo Canton

The problem centers on the loss of empirical knowledge of the use of medicinal plants as a source of alternative medicine. The objective of the work is to carry out a study aimed at establishing the current state of local knowledge about the use of medicinal plants in rural parishes and 1 urban one of the Portoviejo canton. The method was based on the literature review on the subject and as techniques, the population survey was used on the knowledge and importance of medicinal plants. The main results of the research included the recovery of the use of medicinal plants as an alternative medicine use. As a result, it was obtained that the inhabitants of these parishes of average age between 35-59 years, had a high impact on the applied surveys of 39.1% of the use of medicinal plants and that the lowest ignorance of the use of medicinal plants as an alternative in medicine it was obtained by people of average age between 60 and over, but this is due to memory loss. It is concluded that knowledge about medicinal plants is regular since their inhabitants do not maintain continuity in their use.

Welfare and demography in the time of Malthus. Regional and local variations in poor relief and population developments in Flanders, c. 1750-1810

Flanders represents a particularly interesting region for research that aims to investigate the development of socio-economic inequalities at the local and regional level. The relationship between and effects of structural socio-economic characteristics on the one hand and micro-level variations on the other hand remain unclear. The data collected by the STREAM project (streamproject.ugent.be) together with its tailored geographical information system (GIS) allow us to explore these relationships for the rural parishes of early modern Flanders. In this chapter we examine spatial patterns in poor relief and demographic behaviour and how these were interrelated.