RESEARCH INTO THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND TERRITORIAL REFORM

The research aims to examine the theoretical aspects of administrative and territorial reform as well as to identify the attitudes of Latgale region residents to implementing the new administrative and territorial reform. The following research methods were employed: qualitative content analysis; analysis of legislative enactments and legal documents; a sociological research method – a survey was conducted to identify the opinions and assessments of Latgale residents about the new administrative and territorial reform; descriptive statistics and the graphical method. The research examined theoretical aspects regarding the division of territory into administrative units as well as the concept and definitions of a municipality as an administrative unit. The research analysed the results of the survey of Latgale region residents and identified the respondents’ assessments of implementing the new administrative and territorial reform.

SUPRA-REGIONALISM IN THE CONTEXT OF MULTI-LEVEL POLITICS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Regionalism’s studies in the context of current political events remain relevant for the academic field. However, most of these studies are focused on regionalism, concentrated within one territorial-administrative unit. At the same time, in the European space there is a phenomenon, when regionalism is dispersed over the territory of several regions. Examples of such a world are Transylvania, Silesia, the Basque Country, etc. However, today in political science there is no theoretical framework for such cases. This article offers a conceptualization of this phenomenon, which is proposed to be called supra-regionalism and a typology of supra-regionalisms in the modern world is proposed. Supra-regionalism is a political movement that has a territorial base in several administrative-territorial units, and converts aspects of regional identity (ethnic, economic, political, etc.) into political action, the goal of which is to achieve/preserve the special status of the regions it represents. In the course of the study, a number of criteria were proposed to assess the effectiveness of supra-regionalism. These include its entire integrity - that is, the uniformity of electoral support within the region, as well as the presence of mechanisms for interregional integration and representation of the supra-region. These parameters were developed based on the concept of multilevel control. Among these parameters: political representation of supra-regionalism, constitutional foundations of identity, non-electoral representation, special meetings, representation in Brussels, cross-border regions, participation in European projects. Based on a low-casus comparison of seven European supra-regionalisms, conclusions are drawn regarding the consistency of supra-regionalism in Europe at the moment. First of all, it should be noted that the main (and almost the only) mechanism for the integration of supra-regionalism is party organizations. In general, supra-regionalisms use other opportunities, including the opportunities provided by the European Union for joint representation and implementation of policy in the interests of the supra-region. Moreover, there is a tendency towards a more effective disappearance of supra-regionalisms in the European Union.

NATURAL RECREATIONAL RESOURCES OF CHORTKIV DISTRICT OF TERNOPIL REGION

The article presents a component-by-component analysis of natural recreational resources of the newly created territorial and administrative unit –Chortkiv district of Ternopil region. Geomorphological, water, biotic recreational resources are described. It is proposed to allocate the Chortkiv recreational area, which will include three recreational complexes: Monastyrysk and Buchach, Borshchiv and Zalishchyky, Chortkiv and Husyatyn. For the selected recreational complexes and nodes the types of recreational occupations according to the main groups of recreational resources are offered.The Monastyrysk and Buchach recreational complex has recreationally interesting landscapes that are part of the Dniester Canyon Landscape park, in particular the cascades of Rusylivsky and Sokiletsky waterfalls, the Zholoby cave (for cognitive recreation), and the mass recreation territory in the area of ​​the Lisova camp site, as well as the valley of the Strypa River from the village of Skomorohy (Buchach territorial community) to the village of Lytychi (Zalishchyky territorial community) for water tourism. Borshchiv and Zalishchyky recreational complex includes Borshchiv and Zalishchyky recreation centers and is characterized by very high recreational potential due to the aesthetic appeal of landscapes, a large number of living and inanimate objects, high climate comfort. The Dniester canyon, saturated with natural protection objects along its entire length, is favorable for the development of ecotourism, tourist and excursion cognitive recreation.Zalishchyky recreational center. Within the valley of the Dniester River in the vicinity of the village Khmelev, the valley of the river Dzhuryn near the village Nyrkiv and village Nahoryany (Chervonogorod waterfall) of Tovste territorial community, areas for mass recreation. The development of cognitive tourist and excursion recreation is promoted by Zhyzhavsk and Obizhevsk botanical reserves of national importance, in which forest and meadow and steppe groups with valuable relict shrubs are protected: Polish spiraea, Cyticus Podilskyy, dwarf cherry. Kasperivtsi Landscape Reserve of national importance with unique natural complexes in the valley of the Seret River with a picturesque reservoir, the presence of geological, paleontological and botanical objects of nature is a place of short-term recreation. In the valley of the Dniester and its tributaries there are ways to the surface of mineral waters – sulfate, chloride, like "Naftusya" or "Druskininkai" (Zalishchyky, Tovste), as well as medicinal peat bog (Tovste), which, in combination with a warm climate (climatotherapy), is the basis for the development of health and recreation.The unique flora of Western Podilsk Transdnistria is represented in Zhyzhavsk, Obizhevsk, Shutromyntsi, tract "Hlody" botanical nature reserves, can be the object of scientific and cognitive tourism for botanists, teachers, students, students of profile and secondary schools.Borshchiv recreation center also has a high recreational potential. Extremely interesting for the development of scientific and cognitive tourism are the outcrops of sediments belonging to the Paleozoic era (Trubchyn tract, Dzvenyhorodsk Silurian outcrops, Silurian and Devonian deposits in the Dniester, Khudykivsk outcrops of Lower Cretaceous deposits). In terms of completeness, number of fossil fauna and flora, accessibility for observation, most of them are of international importance and are stratotypes for the Eastern European platform.Chortkiv and Husyatyn recreation complex includes Husyatyn and Chortkiv recreation centers. Husyatyn recreation center specializes in the development of health and recreation. Husyatyn is a balneological resort with the use of low-mineralized water with a high content of organic substances such as "Naftusya" called "Novozbruchanska" and brines of high mineralization such as "Druskininkai" called "Husyatynska". Chortkiv recreational center specializes in short-term recreation, development of sports and recreation, which is facilitated by areas of river floodplains, slopes covered with forests, the river Seret for various types of water tourism.Key words: recreational resources, administrative district, recreational district, recreational complex.

Medication overuse headache and awareness

ABSTRACT Background: Medication overuse headache (MOH) is the worsening of an underlying headache due to the overuse of its acute treatment. Unintentionally, healthcare professionals may contribute to this condition. Health professionals play an important role in preventing this increasingly frequent and difficult-to-treat condition. Objective: To investigate MOH awareness among physicians with headache through a survey conducted among medical doctors on our university campus. Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study about MOH awareness. The total number of medical doctors working in the Dokuz Eylül University Health Campus was provided by the administrative unit. A total of 18 questions were prepared and administered on a voluntary basis to obtain information about MOH awareness. Results: A total of 312 medical doctors were surveyed, including 198 (63.5%) from internal medical sciences, 81 (26%) from surgical medical sciences, and 33 (10.5%) from basic medical sciences. Half of the physicians in our sample were unaware of MOH. Our results showed that awareness of MOH, was quite low even among medical doctors. Conclusions: MOH causes both labor and financial losses to countries and impairs the quality of life of patients. Preventing excessive use of medications by raising awareness among doctors is an important step to prevent the development of MOH.

Legal regulation of tourist tax: some problems

The search for effective sources of filling local budgets leads to the establishment of various local tax payments. The legislator defined the tourist tax as a local tax, the funds from which are credited to the local budget. Is it possible to recognize a certain payment as a «tourist tax» if there are signs of belonging and direction of funds? The article is devoted to some problems of legal regulation of tourist tax in Ukraine. The work focuses on establishing the legal content and essence of the tourist tax, as well as the rules governing the collection of this tax payment. The views of scholars on the legal content of the tourist tax are considered. Based on the analysis of the provisions of the legislation, the peculiarities and some shortcomings of the legal regulation of the collection of tourist tax are revealed. It was found that the normatively defined definition of «tourist tax» does not allow to reveal the essence and highlight the specific features of this mandatory payment. The tourist tax does not belong to the tax payments that are subject to mandatory establishment by local governments, the decision on this payment depends on the discretion of the local government. The substantiation of the establishment of the tourist tax should correspond to the objective needs of a certain territorial-administrative unit, and the definition of the circle of payers of this tax payment should be in accordance with the constitutional bases of guaranteeing the right of ownership. The article provides a list of current regulations governing the collection of tourist tax. The peculiarities and criteria for determining the preconditions for the obligation to pay the tourist tax are revealed. It is noted the need to define and form a conceptual framework that characterizes the essence of the tourist tax and amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine, which will reflect the updated model of tourist tax. The results of the study can be used in lawmaking and law enforcement, as well as further research.

Study the Relationship between Selective Characteristics of Farmers and Their Practicing Coping Strategies towards Household Food Security during Flood Period

A study was carried out at flood affected reverine villages of three upazilas (small administrative unit) under Jamalpur district in Bangladesh during September, 2011 to May, 2012 to explore the relationship, contribution and direct–indirect effect between personal attributes and their coping strategies towards household food security practiced by the farmers during flood. Data were collected from randomly selected respondents and analyzed through both the qualitative and quantitative techniques by using a statistical program. Out of 18 personal, economic, social and psychological characteristics of the farmers, the personal education, housing condition, annual income, annual expenditure, savings, organizational participation, participation in IGAs, cosmopoliteness, environmental awareness, knowledge on flood coping mechanisms and household food security had positive but both credit received and utilization of received credit had negative. In addition, age, family size, training received, risk orientation and involvement in safety net programs are insignificant with coping strategies towards household food security during flood period.

Determining the Coping Strategies towards Household Food Security Practiced by the Farmers in Flood Prone Areas

A study was carried out at each of three flood affected reverine villages of three upazilas (small administrative unit) under Jamalpur district in Bangladesh during September, 2011 to May, 2012 to find out the coping strategies towards household food security practices by the farmers during flood period. Data were collected from randomly selected 336 respondents of 6720 farm families through both the qualitative and quantitative techniques and analyzed with the help of SPSS. A three-point rating scale was used for measuring the coping strategies considering five components such as food preservation, food management, food collection, agricultural products protection and some social aspects. The overall situation about practicing coping strategy had medium to high level where 70.83 percent were practiced high, 29.17 percent medium and none of them were under practiced low coping strategy towards household food security. Based on the above findings, it can be said that still now there is an ample scope for the development workers to work with the flood affected people for creating awareness towards better utilization of existing resources for improving their food situation as well as livelihoods.

The seasonality of cholera in sub-Saharan Africa

BackgroundCholera remains a major threat in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where some of the highest case fatality risks are reported. Knowing in what months and where cholera tends to occur across the continent can aid in improving efforts to eliminate cholera as a public health concern; though largely due to lack of unified large-scale datasets, no continent-wide estimates exist. In this study we aim to estimate cholera seasonality across SSA. MethodsWe leverage the Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) global cholera database with statistical models to synthesize data across spatial and temporal scale in order to infer the seasonality of excess suspected cholera occurrence in SSA. Cholera excess occurrence was defined based on exceeding previously published estimates of mean monthly cholera incidence estimates in a given administrative unit. We developed a Bayesian statistical model to infer the monthly risk of excess cholera at the first and/or second administrative levels. Seasonality patterns were then grouped into spatial clusters. Finally, we studied the association between seasonality estimates and hydro-climatic variables.FindingsWe find that the majority of studied countries (26/38) have seasonal excess cholera patterns, corresponding to ~85% of the SSA population. Most countries (20/38) also had sub-national differences in seasonality patterns, with strong differences in seasonality strength between regions. Seasonality patterns clustered into two macro-regions (West Africa and the Sahel vs. Eastern and Southern Africa), which were composed of sub-regional clusters with varying degrees of seasonality. Exploratory association analysis found most consistent and positive correlations between cholera seasonality and precipitation, and to a lesser extent with temperature and flooding.InterpretationWidespread cholera seasonality in SSA offers opportunities for intervention planning. Further studies are needed to study the association between cholera and climate. FundingThe NASA Applied Sciences Program and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Persistence of Political Power: A Communist ‘Party Village’ in Kerala and the Paradox of Egalitarian Hierarchies

This article combines political analysis with ethnographic fieldwork to theorise Communist party’s construction of political allegiance and their persistence of power in the democratic context at a local village level in the state of Kerala in India. We provide an inaugural scholarly conceptualisation of an empirical phenomenon, known in Kerala popular parlance as ‘party gramam’ or the ‘party village’, as the focus of analysis. As we explain, a ‘party village’ is an administrative unit where a particular political party dominates not simply electorally but in all lived experience. We posit that the concept of ‘party village’ is of specific value in our understanding of various forms of current (Communist) politics. The original ascendancy of communism in the village (as in many regions of Kerala) during the twentieth century was due to its progressive ideological challenge to feudal structures of class and caste oppression. However, in democratic post-independence India, the overwhelming dominance of Communist Party in the 'party village' presents the paradox of a party with an egalitarian ideology having adapted to a persistent Hindu caste hierarchy. After situating our work within the conceptual problematisations of political party competition, and in conversation with wider communist studies literature, we provide a background to the politics of Kerala and explain the unique phenomenon of ‘party villages’ in Kerala. We then provide an insight into the social and economic structures of one such village, explaining the salience of these structures in relation to political allegiances. Next, we illustrate the paradox of continued caste hierarchies in a Communist Party village, and the multiple ways in which Hindu religion and caste structures are important to performing individual identity in social settings. We dissect the various means through which the grassroots Communist Party apparatus in the village maintains its dominance by adapting itself to regressive caste hierarchies for political profit at the same time as laying claim to having challenged them. In our concluding section, we place our village observations in the longer frame of historical north Kerala village politics, noting the changes over time and offering theoretical perspectives upon them. In this sense, through a mix of empirical observation with historical context and theorisation, we highlight the importance and the implications of unconventional democratic dynamics more generally.

Latin inscription CIL III 90 in the context of the history of Roman Orient. Old and new interpretations

The Latin inscription CIL III 90 from Bostra, dedicated to the governor of the province of Arabia, Aelius Aurelius Theon (c. 253‒259 AD), includes the abbreviation PRAES PROVINC ARABIAE VET. Initial interpretations were based on the assumption that the governor ruled for a very long time or that there was a province named “Old Arabia” (Arabia vetus). Modern research suggests the abbreviation VET mean vir et, which seems syntactically impossible. The interpretation of PRAES PROVINC ARABIAE VET as a reference to the name of the province of Arabia vetus could be discussed in the context of the structure of the Roman Empire at the end of the 3rd ‒ beginning of the 4th century A.D. in connection with the papyrus letter of Aurelius Malchus (P. Oxy. 50. 3574), which mentions an administrative unit of New Arabia. Analysis of this papyrus document and inscriptions from Bostra demonstrates that the only plausible interpretation of CIL III 90 is the following: the abbreviation VET in PRAES PROVINC ARABIAE VET indicates that the inscription is set in honor of the former (vetus) governor. Neither the “Old” nor the “New” Arabia ever existed in the structure of the Roman Empire.