Inland and Island Tourism, Contrasting Geographies Touching Each Other

Despite being opposite geographic regions, inland territories and small islands have very much in common in terms of economic and social constraints. Based on the case study of the Azores archipelago, the limitations and opportunities for tourism development in the small oceanic islands are analysed. This study is supported by empirical research involving the application of questionnaires to the main tourism stakeholders in the archipelago. The results lead to the conclusion that in the case of the group of small temperate islands, tourism has progressively asserted itself as strategic for the local economy, but the application of a sustainable development model must be considered as these territories are generally highly vulnerable, both environmentally and socially.

Declining Worker Turnover: The Role of Short-Duration Employment Spells

Using the Quarterly Workforce Indicators database, we document that a significant amount of the decline in labor market turnover during the last two decades is accounted for by the decline in employment spells that last just one or two quarters. This phenomenon is pervasive: short-term employment spells have declined across industries, firm size categories, demographic groups, and geographic regions. Using a search-and-matching model in the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides tradition that incorporates noisy signals about the quality of a worker-firm match, we argue that improved screening by workers and firms can account for much of the decline in short-lived employment spells. (JEL E24, J23, J41, J63, M51)

A Review of the Literature on Food Values and Their Potential Implications for Consumers’ Food Decision Processes

This article offers a semi-systematic literature review on the concept of food values. Specifically, 36 relevant research articles were analyzed. The results underscore the novelty and rapid popularity of this concept in different professional, scientific, and academic fields. Among the findings, the article highlights how the concept of food values has evolved to accommodate the features and behaviors of specific markets. Nonetheless, one can group food values into three distinct clusters. This article expands our understanding on the evolution of food values along different dimensions (various clusters and segments related to geographic regions and social classes). It also identifies several research gaps and translates them into different research proposals.

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Applied to the Detection of Multiple Adulterants in Roasted and Ground Arabica Coffee

Roasted coffee has been the target of increasingly complex adulterations. Sensitive, non-destructive, rapid and multicomponent techniques for their detection are sought after. This work proposes the detection of several common adulterants (corn, barley, soybean, rice, coffee husks and robusta coffee) in roasted ground arabica coffee (from different geographic regions), combining near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and chemometrics (Principal Component Analysis—PCA). Adulterated samples were composed of one to six adulterants, ranging from 0.25 to 80% (w/w). The results showed that NIR spectroscopy was able to discriminate pure arabica coffee samples from adulterated ones (for all the concentrations tested), including robusta coffees or coffee husks, and independently of being single or multiple adulterations. The identification of the adulterant in the sample was only feasible for single or double adulterations and in concentrations ≥10%. NIR spectroscopy also showed potential for the geographical discrimination of arabica coffees (South and Central America).

Global E-government Trends, Challenges and Opportunities

E-government is crucial in this era for all countries, either developed or developing. Although it has provided numerous advantages and opportunities, the E-government transformation is still considered a complex process. Considering the available research work and data on e-government surveys by the United Nations, this research has primarily focused on the global complexities of applying E-government along with regional and global E-government leaders. This research has been conducted using a systematic review methodology. According to 2020 surveys, the results are promising to show significant advancement in digital services in various geographic regions, cities, and countries. However, the results showed also that the most common challenges facing governments worldwide are the absence of digital infrastructures, limited resources for adopting the digital government policies, and lack of trust. Hence, governments must build trust with their citizens so that they can participate and avoid any resistance.

Genetic Diversity and Dispersal of Aspergillus fumigatus in Arctic Soils

Aspergillus fumigatus is a saprophytic mold and an opportunistic pathogen with a broad geographic and ecological distribution. A. fumigatus is the most common etiological agent of aspergillosis, affecting over 8,000,000 individuals worldwide. Due to the rising number of infections and increasing reports of resistance to antifungal therapy, there is an urgent need to understand A. fumigatus populations from local to global levels. However, many geographic locations and ecological niches remain understudied, including soil environments from arctic regions. In this study, we isolated 32 and 52 A. fumigatus strains from soils in Iceland and the Northwest Territories of Canada (NWT), respectively. These isolates were genotyped at nine microsatellite loci and the genotypes were compared with each other and with those in other parts of the world. Though significantly differentiated from each other, our analyses revealed that A. fumigatus populations from Iceland and NWT contained evidence for both clonal and sexual reproductions, and shared many alleles with each other and with those collected from across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Interestingly, we found one triazole-resistant strain containing the TR34 /L98H mutation in the cyp51A gene from NWT. This strain is closely related to a triazole-resistant genotype broadly distributed in India. Together, our results suggest that the northern soil populations of A. fumigatus are significantly influenced by those from other geographic regions.

Real-World Rates of Bleeding, Factor VIII Use, and Quality of Life in Individuals with Severe Haemophilia A Receiving Prophylaxis in a Prospective, Noninterventional Study

Regular prophylaxis with exogenous factor VIII (FVIII) is recommended for individuals with severe haemophilia A (HA), but standardised data are scarce. Here, we report real-world data from a global cohort. Participants were men ≥18 years old with severe HA (FVIII ≤ 1 IU/dL) receiving regular prophylaxis with FVIII. Participants provided 6 months of retrospective data and were prospectively followed for up to 12 months. Annualised bleeding rate (ABR) and FVIII utilisation and infusion rates were calculated. Differences between geographic regions were explored. Of 294 enrolled participants, 225 (76.5%) completed ≥6 months of prospective follow-up. Pre-baseline and on-study, the median (range) ABR values for treated bleeds were 2.00 (0–86.0) and 1.85 (0–37.8), respectively; the median (range) annualised FVIII utilisation rates were 3629.0 (1008.5–13541.7) and 3708.0 (1311.0–14633.4) IU/kg/year, respectively; and the median (range) annualised FVIII infusion rates were 120.0 (52.0–364.0) and 122.4 (38.0–363.8) infusions/year, respectively. The median (range) Haemo-QoL-A Total Score was 76.3 (9.4–100.0) (n = 289), ranging from 85.1 in Australia to 67.7 in South America. Physical Functioning was the most impacted Haemo-QoL-A domain in 4/6 geographic regions. Despite differences among sites, participants reported bleeding requiring treatment and impaired physical functioning. These real-world data illustrate shortcomings associated with FVIII prophylaxis for this global cohort of individuals with severe HA.