Socioeconomic Aspects and Characteristics of Artisanal Fishing in the Marchica Lagoon (Mediterranean, Morocco)

Marchica lagoon offers very favourable conditions for practice of artisanal fishing which is the main socioeconomic activity carried out in this coastal ecosystem. However, artisanal fishing there suffers from a lack of control and management due to the absence of a data collection system on the various biological and socioeconomic aspects of this fishery. Thus, it considers serious threaten their sustainability. The main purpose of the paper to give a comprehensive account of artisanal fishing and its socioeconomic aspects in the Marchica lagoon, through a survey carried out at five sites around the lagoon. It has been found that there a low level of education among fishermen. The fishermen practiced two gears, pound net and trammel net. The economical analysis showed that the total annual gross product per boat is about 15766,80 USD, which gives an average monthly income of about 1148, 10USD par boat. Therefore, the wealth produced by these fisheries have a real impact on the quality of the fishermen live. Hence, ensure sustainable development of this fishery.

Knowledge, Practice, and Availability of Iodized Salt and Associated Factors in Jibat Woreda, West Shoa Zone, Ethiopia

Appropriate knowledge, practice, and availability of iodized salt are used to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders. However, little is known about the availability of adequately iodized salt in the western part of Ethiopia. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess knowledge, practice, and availability of iodized salt and associated factors at household level in Jibat woreda, Ethiopia. Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted using structured and pretested questionnaire interview. Sampling salt was tested by the iodometric titration method. The result showed that iodine content more than 90% was considered as adequately iodized salt. The result of this study shown that among the 357 salt samples, 191(53.5%) households had good knowledge on iodized salt while 166 (46.5%) had poor knowledge on iodized salt. In addition, the result of the study revealed that 162 (45.4%) had good practice of iodized salt, whereas 195 (54.6%) had poor practice of iodized salt. The result of this study also shown that 149 (41.7%) households were using adequately iodized salt while 208 (58.3%) were using inadequate iodized salt in study area. Residence area, education level, household job, and average monthly income were significantly associated with knowledge of iodized salt at household level. Residence area, educational level, average monthly income, and expose to sunlight were significantly associated with availability of adequately iodized salt. In this finding, the knowledge and practices of iodized salt at household level in Jibat woreda, Ethiopia, were poor, and the availability of iodine in iodized salt was inadequate. This is associated to residence area, education level of household, and average monthly income. Therefore, any concerned body/institution should have to work in the above gabs of the knowledge, practice, and availability of iodized salt.

Skin Care Characteristics According to the General Characteristics of Middle-aged Women Living in Dalian, China

This study was attempted to find out whether there are differences in skin care characteristics depending on general characteristics of middle-aged women living in Dalian, China. As a result, age showed significant differences from skin care information source, preferred facial care, academic background showed differences from skin care information source, preferred facial care, occupations showed differences in skin care method, average monthly income from skin care information source, skin care methods, and preferred facial care. Through this study, it was revealed that there are significant differences in skin care characteristics depending on the general characteristics of middle-aged women living in Dalian, China. In particular, skin care information sources were most introduced by friends and acquaintances, and they mainly take care of their skin through home care. This seems to have an impact on relationship culture based on experience and trust even though middle-aged women's social advancement and educational background are gradually increasing under China's reform and opening policy. Therefore, skin care marketing for middle-aged women, who are emerging as a new blue ocean in the Chinese skin beauty market, needs to establish a strategy based on China's relationship culture. The results of this study are meaningful in providing basic data for the development and marketing of skin care programs for middle-aged Chinese women.

MISUSE OF TOPICAL CREAMS AIMED AT PREVENTING AND TREATING MELASMA AND FRECKLES AMONG WORKING WOMEN

Topical creams used to treat and prevent melasma and freckles contain corticosteroids, hydroquinone, mercury, and retinoic to lighten skin color. Misuse of these products and the rate of adverse effects have increased greatly in recent years. This study aims to assess the misuse of topical cream to prevent and treat melasma and freckles among working women in northeast Thailand. Our population consisted of 1,143 working women in the region aged 30-59 years old. The respondents were recruited from four provinces eight districts using a structured questionnaire distributed via a multi-stage random sampling method. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to represent and analyze the data. Eight hundred sixty-two (75.42%) of the respondents were users, and 105 (12.18%) had misused the products. The prevalence of misuse of products containing mercury, steroids, hydroquinone, retinoic acid, and mercury plus retinoic acid was 43.8%, 11.43%, 15.24%, 12.38%, and 17.15%, respectively. Factors associated with misuse of this product were age 30-44 years, education level less than a bachelor’s degree, working as a housekeeper or freelancer, presence of melasma and freckles, average monthly income ≤ 15,000 THB and low levels of knowledge and health literacy. Misuse of medication to treat pigmentary disorders is a growing public health concern. Social media and nonprofit campaigns should be implemented to create awareness of these products' misuse and adverse effects.

Assessing Stakeholders’ Satisfaction of a Catholic University Graduate School in the Philippines

Students around the world pursue graduate education for their professional development, career promotions, and lifelong learning. Seen as an investment, universities faced challenges with rising expectations and industry competitiveness on factors influencing satisfaction to improve graduate school service quality. The paper aims to assess and compare the level of stakeholders' satisfaction of a Catholic University Graduate School in the Philippines using the 7Ps of a marketing framework, including the product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence. The study applied the quantitative research design using a descriptive and comparative approach. The respondents were the 270 graduate school students, faculty members, and alumni determined using the simple random sampling method. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to gather data. Percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used for the descriptive analysis. Meanwhile, the Mann-Whitney U-test was used to determine the significant differences in the level of satisfaction when the stakeholders are grouped according to their designation, academic programs, average monthly income, and employer. The findings showed that the overall level of satisfaction of the stakeholders of a graduate school in terms of the 7Ps of the marketing mix is high, with the product as the highest rating and price as the lowest. A significant difference was found in the level of satisfaction of the stakeholders when they are grouped according to the designation, academic program, family's average monthly income, and employment. The findings showed that the graduate school in the Catholic university offered good quality graduate education, has qualified and competent professors, has an accessible location, and has effective policies and procedures that exceed the expectations of the stakeholders.

Awareness and Health Risk Protection Behaviours of Scavengers in the Gbalahi Landfill Site in the Era of Sustainable Development, Ghana

Scavenging is a pivotal in achieving sustainable waste management, environment health and economic development. The purpose of the study was to assess the practices, knowledge, perception and health risk protection behaviours of waste scavengers in the Gbalahi landfill site. A total of 60 scavengers were conveniently sampled and interviewed. The study showed 83% of the respondents had an average monthly income between GH¢ 1.00 to GH¢ 100.00 whereas 17% had between GH¢ 101.00 to GH¢ 300.00. The study also revealed 93% of the respondents sort waste using hooks and their bare hands. The respondents that have ever been physically abused by other scavengers were 62%. A significant number of scavengers believed they have been fortified against “dirt diseases” during their childhood and have developed natural immunity against diseases. The knowledge of scavengers was skewed towards economic benefits as they viewed scavenging as a survival strategy. Safety and protection practices are limited to the use of pieces of clothes to cover the nose, wearing of multiple clothes and worn-out boots recovered from the landfill. Discrimination and physical abuse posed a seemingly significant psychological health risk to majority of them. Covid-19 health risks behaviours, majority of the respondents risk being exposed to the virus and pathogens. Scavengers should be provided with personal protective equipment and / or strictly made to obey safety and protection protocols.

Kajian sosial ekonomi pada petani garam di wilayah Madura

As one of the islands in Indonesia , Madura is one of the salt-producing centers in Indonesia , thus earning the nickname as the Salt Island. Therefore, almost 80% of the population in Madura have a livelihood as salt farmers and including salt farmers in Bunder Village, Pademawu District, Pamekasan Regency. However, the weak adoption power of Madura salt farmers in Bunder Village, Pademawu District, Pamekasan Regency to the new technology, namely geomembrane, has a very significant socio-economic impact on salt farmers. So the purpose of this study was to examine the socio-economic conditions of Madura salt farmers in Bunder Village, Pademawu District, Pamekasan Regency. Data were collected through primary data (observations and interviews) and secondary data. The data obtained from the results of the study were processed using qualitative analysis (income analysis) and quantitative analysis (range score analysis of BPS welfare indicators in 2015) to ensure the socio-economic conditions of Madura salt farmers in Bunder Village, Pademawu District, Pamekasan Regency. The results showed that (1) The average monthly income of salt farmers was IDR 1,784,416 per hectare per month (2) The average range score of Madura salt farmers based on the BPS welfare indicators in 2020 was in the poor category.

TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION ACCEPTANCE LEVEL AND THE ASSOCIATIONS OF THESE LEVELS TO THEIR SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC: A STUDY ON EMPLOYEES OF PRIMARY COOPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIETIES IN IDUKKI DISTRICT

This research article is an extract of Ph.D. thesis research work. The present research paper explores the level of acceptance to technology implementation and the associations of these levels to their socio-demographic among the employees of primary cooperative credit societies in Idukki District. The study reveals that, 49.1 percent of the bank employees have technology implementation acceptance above average; among them, the number of male employees was more than that of women employees. And, the study concludes that the profile variables of the respondents that were considered for the present study, namely; the gender dimension of the respondents, the age of the respondents, their educational qualifications, the marital status of the respondents, the designation of the respondents, training undergone by the bank employees, average monthly income of the respondents’ family, and the type of the respondents’ family, have a significant association with the acceptance of technology change in the workplace. KEY WORDS: Acceptance to technology implementation, Employees, Idukki District

Are You a Typical Energy Consumer? Socioeconomic Characteristics of Behavioural Segmentation Representatives of 8 European Countries

Scarcity of resources and their waste, as well as deteriorating quality of life and the environment, are pressing problems of modern civilisations. Rational and efficient energy consumption is one of the possibilities for preventing harmful practices and the degradation of ecosystems. Understanding the consumer’s way of thinking and acting by identifying his needs and preferences are essential for effective efforts for smart, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth. Therefore, the aim of this article was a comprehensive socioeconomic analysis of particular behavioural types of energy consumers, as a continuation of the authors’ previous research. The paper uses statistical methods (chi-square test and correspondence analysis) dedicated to non-metric variables for an effective analysis of the data obtained from the questionnaires. The identification of socioeconomic factors was carried out on a representative sample of n = 4506 respondents from eight European countries (the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom). This allowed for distinguishing a typical representative of five consumer segments (EI; AE; DS; O; I), developed on the basis of motivation to save energy. The authors succeeded in combining behavioural segmentation with the socioeconomic characteristics of the created classes. The results indicated that 10 out of 12 examined factors were significantly correlated with the behavioural type. These are (in order of significance): attitude towards saving energy; age; employment status; home country; the ownership status of the premises; the number of people in a household; average monthly income per person in a household; education; gender and place of residence.

Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Animal-Source Food Consumption in Turkey

In this study, before and during COVID-19 pandemic food consuming habits of people living is seven regions of Turkey were examined and it was investigated how this findings change depending on such demographic characteristics as people’s gender, age, education level, marital status and average monthly income. Surveys were conducted on 800 people across Turkey via the internet, and the results were tested with non-parametric test methods in terms of whether there was any significance difference between dependent and independent groups. At the same time, the factors that will affect the consumers' consumption of these products in the future were analyzed by the method of regression trees. A significant difference was found between the consumption frequencies of meat-type foods before and during COVID-19 among consumers. It was found that daily consumption of yoghurt increased too much during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the results of regression tree analisys average monthly income was found is the most affecting factor the consumers' preference of these products in the future. In the study, it was determined that at the zoonotic infection knowledge levels, most of the participants did not give up their food habits at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it was determined that they did not give up their consumption of animal-based food. Finally, it is recommended people to be conscious consumers and that necessary studies should be carried out to reduce their anxiety in any pandemic.