Impact In Rural Areas Research Articles

Estimating the Impact of Energy Efficiency on Housing Prices in Germany: Does Regional Disparity Matter?

The German government aims at a climate-neutral building stock by 2050 to reach the goals defined in the Climate Action Plan 2050. Increasing the energy efficiency of existing buildings is therefore a high priority. For this purpose, investments of private homeowners will play a major role since about 46.5% of the German dwellings are owner-occupied. To identify potential monetary benefits of investing in energetic retrofits, we investigate whether energy efficiency is reflected in property values of single-family houses in Germany. Thereby we examine possible heterogeneous effects among regions. With 455,413 individual observations on a 1km²-grid level for 2014 to 2018, this study adds to the literature 1) by examining the effect of energy efficiency on housing values for Germany on a more small-scale level and specifically investigating regional disparities in this context and 2) by estimating an energy efficiency value-to-cost ratio. Applying a hedonic analysis, we find a positive relationship between energy efficiency and asking prices. We also find evidence for regional disparities. Effects are significantly weaker in large cities compared to other urban areas, whereas the impact in rural areas is much stronger. Since property values are expected to decline in rural regions, homeowners could alleviate this development by increasing the energy efficiency of their dwellings.

Tobacco-Free Pharmacies and U.S. Adult Smoking Behavior: Evidence From CVS Health's Removal of Tobacco Sales

Beginning September 3, 2014, CVS Health stopped selling tobacco products in all of its retail stores nationwide. This study assessed the impact of removing tobacco sales from CVS Health on cigarette smoking behaviors among U.S. adult smokers. CVS Health retail location data (2012-2016) were linked with data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a phone-based survey of the non-institutionalized civilian population aged ≥18 years. Using a difference-in-differences regression model, quit attempts and daily versus nondaily smoking were compared between smokers living in counties with CVS stores and counties without CVS stores, before and after CVS's removal of tobacco sales. Control variables included individuals' sociodemographic and health-related variables, state tobacco control variables, and urban status of counties. Analyses were conducted in 2018. During the 2-year period following the removal of tobacco sales from CVS Health, smokers living in counties with high CVS density (≥3.5 CVS stores per 100,000 people) had a 2.21% (95% CI=0.08, 4.33) increase in their quit attempt rates compared with smokers living in counties without CVS stores. This effect was greater in urban areas (marginal effect: 3.03%, 95% CI=0.81, 5.25); however, there was no statistically significant impact in rural areas. Additionally, there was no impact on daily versus nondaily smoking in either urban or rural areas. Removing tobacco sales in retail pharmacies could help support cessation among U.S. adults who are attempting to quit smoking, particularly in urban areas.

A spatial model of growth relationships and Latino-owned business

The expansion of ethnic minorities evokes policy debate about their impact on the local economy, driving a need to measure their effects. This article introduces a spatial econometrics approach to Deller et al.’s expansion of the Carlino-Mills growth model. We employ the confidential US Census data to investigate drivers of local economic performance with emphasis on the role of Latino-owned businesses (LOB) on convergence. The model also includes a number of controls. The model produces direct, indirect, and total impact estimates, and expected values for the non-LOB controls. The estimated total impact of LOB employment on county-level average annual growth rates is significant and positive, but a rurality interaction carries the opposite sign, such that the total impact in rural areas is negative. The negative effect in rural areas is due to negative spatial spillovers captured by the model. The spatial Durbin error model empirical results indicate that although LOB employment interacted with rurality significantly impacts county-level growth rates of population, employment, and income, they do not change the equilibrium relationship between these variables captured by the speed of convergence.

Rural Entrepreneurship Strategies: Empirical Experience in the Northern Sub-Plateau of Spain

Entrepreneurship initiatives that could have an impact in rural areas are embedded in broader agricultural, rural development or structural policies at the European Union level. Nevertheless, there is a prevailing lack of rural strategies focused on entrepreneurship, especially in aging and depopulated EU rural regions. In this context, the need to have real experiences as an empirical contribution to the academic, political and professional spheres is identified. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the current empirical research throughout a real experience and its capitalization. The paper portrays the design and implementation of a rural entrepreneurship strategy, in a very depopulated area, engaging civil society participation by adapting the ‘Working With People’ model to the idiosyncratic conditions of the context. The study then considers the main factors of this strategy by analyzing its application in a wider area in the province of Ávila, Spain. We find that rural entrepreneurship can be enriched by strategies designed and assessed by the beneficiaries from the early stages of formulation. This experience is supported by the ‘Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno’, a non-profit institution that manages its legacy to achieve social goals in youth training, scientific research and environmental fields.

The Effectiveness of Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders.

This review article is an overview of the effectiveness of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. ICBT’s effectiveness has been investigated in treating and managing conditions like depression, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), adjustment disorder, bipolar disorder, chronic pain, and phobias. ICBT’s role in the treatment of medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus with comorbid psychiatric illnesses was also explored. Furthermore, this study elaborates on its cost-effectiveness and its impact in rural areas. We conducted a thorough literature search using PubMed and Google Scholar with no restrictions on the date. ICBT's role in treating and controlling psychiatric illnesses has been established in the literature. From the data compiled, we conclude that ICBT is useful in treating mental health and medical illnesses with psychiatric comorbidities. It has also been found to be cost-effective for patients and society. ICBT is a potential tool emerging with modern day technological advancements and is useful in rural and urban settings, across various languages and cultures, and on a global scale. Larger randomized control trials on its use in clinical practice and in reaching rural populations are bound to shed more light on the effectiveness of this tool along with spreading awareness among physician and patient communities.

Las tecnologías de información y comunicación (TIC) como respuesta a necesidades educativas zonas rurales en Nicaragua

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo reflexionar desde una perspectiva crítica sobre las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) en la educación rural, tomando como antecedente, el poco acceso a estas nuevas tendencias y partiendo de que estos recursos no resuelven por sí solos los problemas o necesidades, sin embargo pueden generar respuestas a situaciones específicas que puedan surgir. También los proyectos institucionales, destinados a dotar de recursos tecnológicos y programas educativos a las escuelas, han tenido especial repercusión en el ámbito rural, contribuyendo a minimizar la brecha digital entre los contextos urbanos y rurales. Todos demandan mayor reconocimiento y apoyo tanto por parte de las instituciones públicas como de las familias, cuya implicación en los procesos innovadores que ellos impulsan es muy escasa. Sin embargo, algo más de la mitad de los docentes entrevistados que trabajan en escuelas rurales declara sentirse apoyado por sus compañeros de centro, mientras que el resto manifiesta tener que buscar dicho apoyo en colegas de otros centros.

Plastic surgery telehealth consultation expedites Emergency Department treatment

Plastic surgery is a field that is particularly amenable to a telehealth milieu, as visual exam and radiographs guide proper diagnosis and management. The goals of this study were to evaluate telehealth feedback executed through an iPad app for plastic surgery-related consultations. A Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement (QA/QI) study was conducted over a 1-month period during which patients with hand injuries, facial injuries, or acute wounds presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) of a level-one trauma centre and university hospital were monitored. The study utilized a commercial iPad application through which up to four images and a brief history could be sent to a remote Plastic Surgery Educator (PSE) for evaluation. The PSE would respond with best practice information, references and videos to assist ED point-of-care providers. During the 1-month period of this study, there were 42 ED consultations for plastic surgical conditions. There was a highly significant difference in overall mean response time between consultants and PSEs (48.3 minutes vs. 8.9 minutes respectively, p < 0.001). The agreement between PSEs and consultants regarding patient assessment and care was 85.7% for in-person consultations and 100% for phone consultations. In four cases of telephone consultations, the ED providers placed splints incorrectly on hand-injured patients. Our results show that telehealth consultations to a remote plastic surgeon based on digital images and a brief history were able to produce timely and accurate responses in an emergency care facility. This design may have significant impact in rural areas, underserved populations, or regions abroad.

FLOOD RISK FACTORS IN SUBURBAN AREA IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION POLICIES – CASE STUDY OF WROCLAW, POLAND

The uncontrolled sprawl of urban development exerts environmental impact in rural areas. The aim of this study is to identify areas vulnerable to climate change in the context of implementation of policies adapting to climate change at the local level. Such areas can be defined as those where the negative implication of flesh flood overlapping with soil sealing is observed. The study areas composed of municipalities which are influenced by the urban sprawl process of the city of Wroclaw, Poland. The analyses were performed using publicly available spatial data from aerial orthophotomaps from 2004–2012, the satellite images; archival and current land use maps. The database CORINE 1990, 2000, 2006; Urban Atlas and geodatabase of the European Environment Agency were also of an important usage for this study.

Television Viewing Habits and Moral Formation of Children in Rural India

Television has a direct and straight relation with children lives. At early stage of their life, they become familiar to cartoon programmes on television. The early exposure to the television intermingle their lives with the characters they watch on television and affects their later life. It has been researched that television plays a significant role in the development of children’s moral formation. But the social and economic dimension of Indian villages is different from cities. Mostly, rural children believe in what they watch on television while urban children are more intelligent in understanding and choosing their contents. The prime aim of this study was to find out the role of television in children moral formation. A fewer studies have been conducted on television impact in rural areas of India. A sample of sixty students was chosen randomly from the 9 th and 10 th class according to their availability. The study concluded that there is a deep relation in watching television and moral development of children. Majority of the children behave the way they watch people performing activities on the television screen and follow them in their everyday life.

Phenotypic differences in body size, body condition and circulating carotenoids between hybrid and “pure” red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) in the wild

In the last decades, the release of large numbers of farmed-reared birds became a widespread management practice for game species. The red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) is a quarry species with a high economic impact in rural areas of southwest Europe. In order to increase productivity and produce heavier birds, farmed red-legged partridges have often been hybridized with Chukar partridges (A. chukar), although these species have allopatric distribution ranges. During restocking, hybrid birds may be released into wild populations and may subsequently successfully breed, thus threatening the genetic integrity of native A. rufa populations. In this study, we compared several phenotypic indicators (body size, body condition and physiological state) between “pure” and hybrid partridges in order to evaluate the possible consequences of A. chukar genetic introgression into A. rufa. For this purpose, we captured 115 wild red-legged partridges during the breeding seasons 2003–2005 in four game estates of central Spain. We observed a greater occurrence of hybrid A. rufa × A. chukar partridges nearby the sites where the release of farmed-birds took place. We also found that hybrid males were smaller and hybrid females had better body condition and lower plasma carotenoid concentration than pure partridges of the same sex. Low carotenoid levels in blood plasma might be a limitation for female reproduction (fewer carotenoids available for ornamentation or to allocate to eggs). Overall, our results showed a greater occurrence of hybrids near restocking areas and phenotypic differences between hybrids and “pure” partridge in the wild. Genetic controls of farm-reared partridges should be a key step to prevent the releases of hybrids and ensure the maintenance of the genetic integrity of wild red-legged partridge populations.

MIGRATION, TRANSLOCAL NETWORKS AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRATIFICATION IN NAMIBIA

ABSTRACTRural–urban migration and networks are fundamental for many livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa. Remittances in cash and kind provide additional income, enhance food security and offer access to viable resources in both rural and urban areas. Migration allows the involved households to benefit from price differences between rural and urban areas. In this contribution, I demonstrate that rural–urban networks not only contribute to poverty alleviation and security, but also further socio-economic stratification. This aspect has been ignored or neglected by most scholars and development planners. Using ethnographic data from Namibia, I have adopted a translocal perspective on migration and stratification, focusing on the resulting impact in rural areas where modern urban forms of stratification, induced by education and income from wage labour, are on the increase.

An Explorative Study of ICT for Developmental Impact in Rural Areas of Bangladesh

abstractThe interest of the World Bank, various agencies of the United Nations and other donor organisations, which in the past supported information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) initiatives under the broad telecentre umbrella, seems to be waning somewhat. There are several reasons for this lack of interest. With the increasing ubiquity of mobile services, those who considered telecentres useful, mainly because of the connectivity they provided, may no longer see a need for them. Many initiatives were considered failures, as they were not financially sustainable beyond the initial funding period. There was also a lack of adequate evaluations to show whether and how these centres had contributed to development objectives. While there are several evaluations of shared facilities, there is no generally recognised framework for such appraisals, which exhibit various approaches, derived from different disciplines, mainly from information systems and to a more limited extent from development studies. Approaching an evaluation of an ICT4D project in a rural setting in Bangladesh from a development perspective, this study, which is informed by the seminal work of Amartya Sen (2001), “Development as Freedom” (DaF), adopts an interpretive qualitative research style and illustrates the importance of understanding the local context. Our findings demonstrate that the two ICT interventions studied in this research had significant impacts on the five freedoms espoused in DaF.

Can Commercially-oriented Microfinance Help Meet the Millennium Development Goals? Evidence from Pakistan

Summary The current emphasis in the microfinance industry is a shift from donor-funded to commercially sustainable operations. This article evaluates the impact of access to microloans from the Khushhali Bank—Pakistan’s first and largest microfinance bank which operates on commercial principles. Using primary data from a detailed household survey of nearly 3,000 borrower and non-borrower households, a difference in difference approach is used to test for the impact of access to loans. Once the results are disaggregated between rural and urban areas there is a positive impact in rural areas on food expenditure and on some social indicators such as the health of children and female empowerment. These impacts are observed even in very poor households. These findings suggest that commercially-oriented microfinance and the millennium development goals are not incompatible, given a supportive environment.

Phylogenetic analysis reveals a high level of speciation in the Paracoccidioides genus

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic disease endemic to most of Latin America, with greatest impact in rural areas. The taxonomic status of one of the best studied Paracoccidioides isolates (Pb01) as P. brasiliensis remains unresolved due to its genomic differences from the other three previously described phylogenetic species (S1, PS2 and PS3; Carrero et al., 2008. Fungal Genet. Biol. 45, 605). Using the genealogic concordance method of phylogenetic species recognition (GCPSR) via maximum parsimony and Bayesian analysis, we identified a clade of 17 genotypically similar isolates, including Pb01, which are distinct from the S1/PS2/P3 clade. Consistent with GCPSR, this “ Pb01-like” group can be considered a new phylogenetic species, since it is strongly supported by all independent and concatenated genealogies. “ Pb01-like” species exhibit great sequence and morphological divergence from the S1/PS2/PS3 species clade, and we estimate that these groups last shared a common ancestor approximately 32 million years ago. In addition, recombination analysis revealed independent events inside both main groups suggesting reproductive isolation. Consequently, we recommend the formal description of the “ Pb01-like” cluster as the new species Paracoccidioides lutzii, a tribute to Adolpho Lutz, discoverer of P. brasiliensis in 1908.

Sustainability of long-term treatment in a rural district: The Lusikisiki model of decentralised HIV/AIDS care

No abstract available.

Does prenatal care increase access to child immunization? Gender bias among children in India

Prenatal care appears to serve as a trigger in increasing the chances for access to subsequent health care services. Although several previous studies have investigated this connection, none have focused specifically on how parents’ behavior differs before and after learning the gender of their babies. Investigating parents’ behavioral changes after the child's birth provides a quasi-natural experiment with which to test the gender discrimination hypothesis. This issue was examined here, using a rich family health survey data set from India. We find evidence for the triggering effect of prenatal care on immunization only among rural boys, but we find no compelling evidence for this effect among other sub-samples. This finding suggests two things, which are not mutually exclusive. One is that the information spillover from prenatal care has a much larger impact in rural areas, where alternative sources of information are scarce, compared with urban areas. The other is that the sex of a child is a critical factor in producing different levels of health care behavior in rural areas, where sons are favored and more valued than in urban areas.

Structural Change in Western Africa as a Legacy of European Colonialism: The Labour System in Ghana and the Ivory Coast

In this article, the author analyses the transformation of the labour system in the Ivory Coast and in Ghana. The empirical research was undertaken during two field trips in urban centres (Abidjan and Accra). The transformation of the labour system is shown on a macro- and a micro-level: the structural change of the economy on the one hand, and life-stories of men in their fifties and sixties on the other. This comparative research project shows the symbiosis which resulted from the confrontation of global and local elements. The results demonstrate processes of globalization which took place in urban areas in many social fields, and with a lesser impact in rural areas. In the 1940s and 1950s, a restructuration of the labour system happened which the life-stories of the older men demonstrate. This paradigmatic analysis of transformation processes shows the mixtures, the intertwining and the embedding of these local West African societies in a global history.

The Potential Impact of the Minimum Wage in Rural Areas

This article explores the extent to which the potential impact of the national minimum wage might differ in rural areas. Using pre-1999 data from the British Household Panel Survey, a number of dimensions of the policy's potential impact in rural areas are considered, in particular, the number of workers affected, their typical characteristics, and the effects on pay inequality and household income distribution. The results show that for the majority of rural areas that are accessible to urban labour markets, the impact is likely to be broadly similar. In contrast, the potential impacts, and particularly the distributional effects, of the national minimum wage are found to be greatest in remoter rural areas.

Impact of ambulance diversion policies in urban, suburban, and rural areas of Central Maryland.

As a method to control patient flow to overburdened hospitals, effective emergency medical services (EMS) systems provide policies for ambulance diversion. The Maryland state EMS system supports two types of alert for general hospital use: red alert, aimed at limiting the delivery of patients who may require intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and yellow alert, aimed at preventing further overload of already overtaxed emergency departments (EDs). To examine the effect of those alert policies in different geographical environments, urban, suburban, and rural. Alert data for 23 hospitals in Central Maryland and ambulance arrival data for approximately 138,000 ambulance calls during calendar year 1996 were combined and analyzed. The impacts of diversion practices in the geographic areas were compared. Red alert reduced volume in all patient acuity levels in all geographic areas by a statistically significant 0.4 patient/hr. Yellow alert diverted low-acuity patients at the rate of 0.13 patient/hr (p<0.001) in urban areas and at the rate of 0.16 patient/hr (p<0.001) in suburban areas, but had minimal impact in the flow of patients in the rural environment. The ED diversion policy has some limited effect in preventing further patient volume in urban and suburban areas, but has virtually no impact in rural areas. However, an ICU diversion policy diverts patients of all acuities uniformly and inordinately diverts patients not likely to require ICU admissions while having only minimal impact on patients who do require ICU resources. The impact of red alert is uniform in all geographic areas. The impact and efficacy of ambulance diversion policies should be evaluated to ensure they are having the intended effect. While perhaps initially effective, the impact of alert policies may change over time.

Land-use changes and their environmental impact in rural areas in Europe, edited by R. Kr�nert, J. Baudry, I. R. Bowler and A. Reenberg. UNESCO-MAB-series volume 24. Parthenon Publishers, Carnforth, 1999. ISBN 1 85070 047 8, �55.00 (hardback), xiii+261 pp.

Land Degradation & DevelopmentVolume 11, Issue 6 p. 587-587 Book Review Land-use changes and their environmental impact in rural areas in Europe, edited by R. Krönert, J. Baudry, I. R. Bowler and A. Reenberg. UNESCO-MAB-series volume 24. Parthenon Publishers, Carnforth, 1999. ISBN 1 85070 047 8, £55.00 (hardback), xiii+261 pp. G. P Hekstra, G. P Hekstra Harichsterdyk 62, 8571 RM Harich, The NetherlandsSearch for more papers by this author G. P Hekstra, G. P Hekstra Harichsterdyk 62, 8571 RM Harich, The NetherlandsSearch for more papers by this author First published: 19 January 2001 https://doi.org/10.1002/1099-145X(200011/12)11:6<587::AID-LDR415>3.0.CO;2-1AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume11, Issue6November/December 2000Pages 587-587 RelatedInformation