Ordinary Shops Research Articles

Fighting the Cold War on the beach: East–West encounters on the Romanian Black Sea Riviera between the 1960s and the 1980s

ABSTRACT This article examines how starting in the 1960s and with the peak in the 1970s and into the early 1980s, the Romanian Black Sea Coast became a hotbed of European tourism with visitors not just from Romania and the neighbouring socialist countries, but also from western capitalist countries. Following the model of more developed tourist countries and lured by the possibility of gaining hard currencies, socialist Romania sought to develop beach tourism so as to attract Western tourists seeking seaside vacations. But, as this article shows, the socialist state was not the only one to benefit from the arrival of Western tourists. The presence of foreign tourists, especially of those from capitalist countries who were in stark majority on the seaside, offered the Romanian citizens the opportunity to mingle and to establish economic and personal relationships that helped them to acquire goods unavailable in ordinary shops, while enabling them to adopt a more cosmopolitan way of life. This article shows that from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s, on the Romanian Black Sea Coast, with the tacit acceptance of local officials, became a space that mingled socialist landscape and values with capitalist material culture.

Barriers and facilitators for integration of guidelines on operating health shops: a case of family planning services

BackgroundThe Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) piloted the implementation of Guidelines on Operating Health Shops in Zambia in 2016, with a view to making basic medicines more accessible to communities. The guidelines aim to transform ordinary drug shops into health shops, which are dispensing facilities permitted to sell a ZAMRA-prescribed list of medicines over the counter. However, studies that explore the integration and uptake of guidelines into the health system are lacking. This study aims to inform future improved implementation of these guidelines by examining the current acceptability of guidelines within the Zambian health system, especially in relation to family planning services.MethodologyData collected through documentary review, key informant interviews with district pharmacists, staff from ZAMRA and in-depth interviews with 24 health shop owners and dispensers were analyzed using thematic analysis. A conceptual framework on the integration of health innovations into health systems guided the analysis.ResultsThe Guidelines on Operating Health Shops were implemented to address the problem of inadequate access to quality medicines especially in rural areas. Factors that facilitated the acceptability of the guidelines included their perceived relevance and simplicity, comprehensive training and improved knowledge among health shop operators on the guidelines, development of a governance and reporting structure or steering committee at the national level as well as perceived improved health outcomes at the community level. Factors that hindered acceptability of the guidelines included the high cost of implementing them, a restricted list of drugs which affected consumer choice, limited communication between the local council and the operators of health shops, health shop owners not owning the health shop premises restricting their ability to adapt the building, and cultural norms which constrained uptake of family planning services.ConclusionIn addition to training, facilitating the acceptability of the guidelines among health shop owners requires paying attention to operational issues such as location, ownership of the shop, size of infrastructure as well as financial costs of implementing guidelines through decentralizing the registration process and thus reducing the cost of registration. It is also important to have effective communication strategies between operators and the regulators of health shops.

BUYING AND SELLING USED CLOTHING IN THE MARKET OF GEDE BAGE BANDUNG IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF ISLAMIC LAW AND LAW NO. 7 OF 2014 CONCERNING TRADE

The purpose of this study is to analyze Islamic Law and Law No. 7 of 2014 concerning Regulations against the Sale and Purchase of Used Clothing at Gede Bage Market, Bandung. Data collection techniques were taken through observation and interviews. Furthermore, the data collected is compiled and analyzed using descriptive analysis method. The results of the study concluded that the practice of buying and selling used clothing at the Gede Bage Market in Bandung is almost the same as the practice of buying and selling in general. Products traded are clothes, shirts, shirts, only in the process of buying and selling, the seller does not provide information about the condition and status of the goods being sold. According to Islamic law in buying and selling used clothing is permitted if the buyer indirectly knows that the goods sold are used clothing, because clothes sold in the scope of ordinary shops and prices are relatively cheaper. Buying and selling is not allowed if the buyer really does not understand the condition of the seller because in this case including tadlis (fraud). Whereas according to the Trade Law concerning imported goods which are not new or used clothing that has violated the Trade Law are contained in article 47 paragraph 1. So that according to the Trade Law the imported goods are not new or used clothing is subject to sanctions according to article 111, namely imprisoned for a maximum of 5 (five) years or a maximum fine of Rp.5,000,000,000.00 (five billion rupiah).

Improving safety and quality of Egyptian pastrami through alteration of its microbial community

The present research was carried out to study the effect of adding autoclaved non-meat ingredients on the microbial quality and aflatoxin contents in pastrami final product, produced from fresh, chilled or frozen meat cuts, during its manufacturing steps. The experiment was carried out on three groups of pastrami. The first group was aimed to study the effect of adding autoclaved non-meat additives on aerobic plate counts and E. coli counts of produced pastrami. The second group was directed to study the effect of each manufacturing steps on artificially inoculated E. coli O157:H7 onto beef cut used for pastrami fabrication. The third group was designed to study the effect of using high quality spices (subjected to HACCP during its fabrication) on the residual contents of aflatoxins in the final pastrami product. The results indicated that using of autoclaved non-meat ingredients significantly reduced the microbial load in pastrami final product. In addition, manufacturing steps of pastrami produced complete inhibition of artificially inoculated E. coli O157:H7 in the final product. Furthermore, the use of sterilized high quality spices resulted in reduction of aflatoxin contents in pastrami bellow the permissible limit in comparison with the use of low quality spices purchased from ordinary shops.

Evaluation Of Egg Quality Conditions In Omdurman Locality

This study was carried out to assess the extent of quality deteriorations of eggs sold at Sabrin market, Omdurman and to determine their suitability for human consumption. Hundred eggs produced by Bovans white breed (fifty eggs from the farm and another fifty eggs from an ordinary shop in Sabrin market) in Omdurman North locality were collected and divided into 5 groups each containing 20 eggs. Group one was tested at the time of collection. Each of the rest 4 groups was further subdivided into 2 groups, one stored in a refrigerator and the other under room temperature. Eggs in each group were subjected to quality measurements at the end of week one, two, three and four. Egg weight, shell strength, albumin height and Haugh unit were the parameters measured to test the effects of storage on table egg quality. Results showed significant differences between eggs obtained from the poultry farm and those collected from Sabrin market in egg weight, albumen height and Haugh unit during the different period of storage. No difference in egg shell strength between treatments was seen. The study concluded that eggs sold at open markets such as Sabrin market may have low quality questioning their suitability for human consumption.

Востребованность косметологических процедур, в зависимости от психологических аспектов личности

An increased number of cosmetic institutes and cosmetologists as well as a wide range of service in this field is explained by natural physiological processes in our body, whichsteadily lead to decline of its functions, i.e. aging. Fashion for bright, young and successful look makes a great contribution to psychological behavior of a modern woman making her conform to social trends. The presence of various skin diseasesresulting from pathological aspects, disruption of hormonal status, bad ecology, and stress entails early appearance of aesthetic drawbacks that makes a person call upon specialists of aesthetic and cosmetology fields, or even dermatologists, in some severe cases. 
 We were interested people of what age and with what problems address cosmetologists. The object of our research was men and women older than 18, dissatisfied with their appearance or having some skin problems. We did not take into account people who visit cosmetologists on instructions of their parents (average age of such patients is 12±1,8 years old). Anonymous questionnaire was held among 163 people, among whom there were 37 men (average age is 28±1,9 years old) and 125 women (average age is 33±1,7 years old). All the respondents were asked to answer the questions of a prepared questionnaire (pic.1; pic.2): about multiplicity of visits to a cosmetologist, about the reasons of visiting a cosmetologist, types of cosmetology service, and to evaluate (subjectively) the efficiency of mass-market cosmetics and professional cosmetics, and to point out the qualities that a cosmetologist should possess. 
 By analyzing the obtained data we learnt that men (75,3%) almost do not visit a cosmetologist, but women vice versa visit a cosmetologists on a regular basis (70,9%). However, 22,1% of women carry out procedures more often than 1-2 times a month, and the others (6,6%) – 1-2 times a week. It happened that the most popular procedure is depilation (34,4%). A facial (21,6%) and massage (21,6%) are less in demand.It was revealed that women almost equally use mass-market cosmetics and professional cosmetics while men (85%) do not differentiate between these them and do not use any of them. According to a subjective evaluation, in 46,4% of the cases the use of professional cosmetics was more popular than cosmetics made of simple home ingredients that was bought in ordinary shops. 
 93,1% of respondents pointed out that the most important quality of a cosmetologist is medical education. 
 Despite high motivation of women to visit a cosmetologist, according to the questionnaire, high prices of procedures limits the quantity of visits, 34,2% of respondents told this.

МІСЬКІ ПРИРОДООХОРОННІ ТЕРИТОРІЇ: РЕАЛЬНИЙ ЗАХИСТ ЧИ ФОРМАЛЬНЕ СТВОРЕННЯ

The purpose of the study is to identify the expediency and validity of creating a certain category of Nature Reserve Fund (NRF) in the specific conditions of the urban environment in accordance with the functions and criteria established by the current legislation of Ukraine on the example of Partyzans’ka Slava Regional Landscape Park (RLP) in Kyiv. To achieve this goal, the peculiarities of urban protected areas creation in accordance with the criteria and tasks established are considered. Materials and methods. The following research algorithm is applied to determine the conformity of the Partyzans’ka slava RLP (henceforth: Park) territory to the requirements, according to legislative and regulatory documents. A Digital Elevation Model had been developed and after its filtering, a hypsometric map was constructed. Based on the obtained relief morphometric parameters, collected information, analysis of satellite images and field studies, using the GIS software packages, a landscape structure map of the RLP territory was been created. Main research results. A significant inconsistency of the RLP functioning with the existing requirements and its actual transformation into an ordinary shopping and entertainment complex is revealed. The fulfilment of the main functions of the Park for 25 years from the moment of granting the status of a nature conservation institution of local importance is analysed. Unsatisfactory implementation of the legal objectives of RLP creation, including huge disproportions in the allocation of functional zones is established. Unreasonable Park zoning leads, among other things, to illegal construction, land grabbing and deforestation throughout its territory. In addition, the actual absence of a reserved functional zone in no way contributes to the Park’s fulfilment of its tasks as an institution of the NRF of Ukraine. For a quarter of a century, no special administration has been established in the Park. That means that the RLP does not have a statutory management body. As a result of a governing body absence, Project for its territory organization is not updated and approved in the Park. The species diversity of flora and fauna of the Park turned out to be quite poor. Also, none of the typical and rare plant groups included in the Green Book of Ukraine has been discovered on the Park territory. Due to insufficient provision of the conditions for the population organized rest, uncontrolled recreation violated the integrity of the soil and vegetation, and the whole territory of the RLP is heavily littered. Based on the revealed problems of the RLP functioning, a weak perception of the Park status by the society is substantiated, which contributes to the further degradation of natural complexes and makes it inappropriate to keep its territory as a nature protected institution of the NRF of Ukraine. The scientific novelty of the study is to carry out landscape analysis and to create a map of the Park territory landscape structure for the first time. The analysis of this map allows refuting the idea of high landscape value within the Park. Practical value. Considering that none of the legal functions of the RLP has been performed for a long time, it is proposed to improve the management quality of this protected area by integrating it into the urban infrastructure. It is justified to review the Park’s conservation status and its transfer from the category of NRF institution to a regular urban culture and recreation park with increased access for visitors in order to ensure their daily contact with nature. At the same time, valuable natural objects, in particular centenary trees, must be preserved and protected. According to the concept of nature and the city organic unity, such a park will contribute to the creation of an urbanized space that is comfortable for residents and safe for the environment.

An Investigation of the Perceived Value of Shopping Tourism

Managing shopping risk is a prerequisite to ensuring business prosperity in shopping destinations, as risk is likely to influence perceived value and the choice of future shopping destinations. Previous studies have shown that enhancing trust is a means of avoiding or minimizing perceived (shopping) risk. Increased trust is expected to reduce shopping risk and ultimately foster the impression of a shopping destination as reliable. Despite its important role, trust has received limited, if any, attention in shopping- and tourism-related research. As shopping behavior while traveling abroad differs from ordinary shopping in one’s home country, tourists’ shopping activities require in-depth research grounded in psychological theory. This study aimed to examine the influence of trust in a shopping destination on the value of that destination as perceived by tourist shoppers. The findings suggest that trust in a shopping destination positively influences perceptions of the destination’s value in every value category.

Honey bee: a consumer’s point of view

Abstract This article concerns the way bee products are perceived by customers. It is mainly focused on honey, which is considered the main output product of beekeeping. Beekeeping is a very popular activity in the Czech Republic. Based on current data there are over 48 thousand people engaged in beekeeping in the Czech Republic. Hand in hand with the increasing number of beekeepers the popularity of bee products - especially honey - among Czech consumers is also growing. Recently, the consumption of honey in the Czech Republic has been slightly increasing. A big problem today is that honey sold in Czech supermarkets is frequently falsified. At the same time, it is increasingly popular to buy honey directly from beekeepers. The aim of this research was to describe the situation about the honey market in the Czech Republic, and also to examine the relationship between consumers on the one hand, and honey/beekeepers on the other. We have also considered customer's trust in organic honey and honey sold in supermarket chains. Results show that consumers view bee products as generally healthy and prefer to buy bee products from a beekeeper because of greater convenience as locally sourced honey is perceived to be of higher quality. The majority of consumers agree with paying a higher price for a product of higher quality. The article confirmed the hypothesis that most people think that bee products sold by a beekeeper are healthier than those bought at ordinary shops.

Global cities, local streets: everyday diversity from New York to Shanghai

1. Spaces of Everyday Diversity: The Patchwork Ecosystem of Local Shopping Streets by Sharon Zukin, Philip Kasinitz, and Xiangming Chen 2. From Ghetto to Global: Two Neighborhood Shopping Streets in New York City by Philip Kasinitz and Sharon Zukin 3. Commercial Development from Below: The Resilience of Local Shops in Shanghai by Hai Yu, Xiangming Chen, and Xiaohua Zhong 4. From Greengrocers to Cafes: Producing Social Diversity in Amsterdam by Iris Hagemans, Anke Hendriks, Jan Rath, and Sharon Zukin 5. Life and Death of the Great Regeneration Vision: Diversity, Decay, and Upgrading in Berlin's Ordinary Shopping Streets by Christine Hentschel and Talja Blokland 6. Toronto's Changing Neighborhoods: Gentrification of Shopping Streets by Katharine N. Rankin, Kuni Kamizaki and Heather McLean 7. Tokyo's Living Shopping Streets: The Paradox of Globalized Authenticity by Keiro Hattori, Sunmee Kim, and Takashi Machimura 8. Local Shops, Global Streets by Philip Kasinitz, Sharon Zukin, and Xiangming Chen 9. Research Note: How to Put a Transnational Project Together by Sharon Zukin, Philip Kasinitz, and Xiangming Chen

Effects of intuitive judgments on consumer assortment evaluations

Purpose – This paper aims to apply intuition theory to clarify consumers’ assortment evaluations. For each decision process, this paper explores how perceptions of organization and variety influence consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 504 observations were collected across three product categories. Perceived choice, time and expertise in the product category provide proxies to distinguish between intuitive and deliberative systems. The intuitive system further consists of intuition based on either expertise or heuristics. Findings – It was revealed that distinct decision processes (deliberative, intuitive based on expertise and intuitive based on heuristics) affect the link between assortment perceptions and consumers’ assortment evaluations. Consumers’ evaluations in deliberative- and heuristic-based intuitive systems rely more on perceptions of organization than of variety; whereas intuitive judgments based on expertise depend almost equally on both perceptions. Research limitations/implications – Some limitations have to be underlined. The approximations used could be more precise and are subjective in nature. Moreover, the ordinary product categories that were studied might encourage more intuitive decisions by consumers. If so, the deliberative mode of thinking might have been underrepresented in this sample. Originality/value – Despite the limitations, this research is, to our knowledge, the first to explore the influence of intuition theory on ordinary shopping and in particular on assortment perception. As such, it contributes to a deeper understanding of this theory in the field.

Prevalence, use and sale of contact lenses in Saudi Arabia: Survey on university women and non-ophthalmic stores

To assess the prevalence and general knowledge of contact lens (CL) wear among women users and to examine the practice of CL dispensation by non-ophthalmic stores. One thousand four hundred and sixty-six female university students, between 16 and 31 years of age, and 1766 registered beauty stores in the region were randomly interviewed using self-administered questionnaires. The questions addressed general care/handling of CLs, CL case and solution hygiene practices by patients, the CL selection available in the shops, the type of instructions given to consumers, and who gives these instructions. The prevalence of CL use was 70.2% (1029/1466). Fifty percent were part time users of CLs, and cosmetic reasons were the major reason (63.3%) for CL use. Approximately 38.7% of the respondents used CL without consultation with an eye care practitioner. The main purchasing locations were optical shops (51%), beauty salons (38%), and pharmacies (11%). Concerning contact lens care, 89.4% of the respondents adequately washed their hands before handling CLs and 72.7% changed their solutions daily, while 7.7% admitted to occasional overnight wear of their CL and 27.6% sometimes shared their CLs with friends. Interestingly, 80.3% of the 1327 shops sold CLs with no prescription, and 61.4% gave no instructions to the patients during purchase. There is a high prevalence of CL use by female university students in Saudi Arabia, especially for cosmetic purposes. Although, there was good awareness with regard to general lens care practices, some users shared their lenses with friends, and the rate of sale of CLs without prescriptions in ordinary shops was high.

Access to subsidized artemether-lumefantrine from the private sector among febrile children in rural setting in Kilosa, Tanzania.

The World Health Organization aims at universal access to effective antimalarial treatment by the year 2015. Consequently, an enormous financial resource has been invested on Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) subsidy. In Tanzania, strategies to increase access of artemether-lumufantrine (ALu) rural areas, where the burden is highest, includes subsidy to the Faith-based Organisations (FBO) facilities and accredited drug dispensing outlets (ADDOs). This study was done to assess the extent to which children suffering from malaria access ALu from the private sector in rural areas. A total of 1,235 under fives randomly selected from 12 rural villages were followed up at home on weekly basis for six months in Kilosa district in 2008. Using a structured questionnaire, caretakers were interviewed about the child's history of fever in the past 7 days; type of treatment given and the source. Baseline data were obtained on demographic characteristics, caretakers' knowledge about malaria and social economic indicators of the household. Of the 1,235 children followed-up, 740 care-seeking visits were recorded, of which, 264 (35.7%) were made at government health facilities and nearly a quarter (24.1%; 178/740) at ordinary shops that sell general merchandize including rice and sugar. Only 22% of the caretakers sought care from FBO and ADDOs. While 686 (86.6%) of the episodes were treated with antimalarials, only 319 (43%) received ALu, the recommended antimalarial. Majority (83%) of the visits made at government facilities were prescribed with ALu compared to less than half who went to FBO facilities (40.0%) and ADDOs (25.0%). In conclusion, this study has shown that less than a quarter of fever episodes suspected to be malaria in rural areas were made at FBO facilities and ADDOs, of which, less than half were treated with ALu. This shows that ALu subsidy to formal private sector does not adequately reach children in rural areas, where the malaria burden is highest. This cast some doubts if the target of universal access to effective antimalarial, by 2015, will be reached. There is need to consider enlisting the services of community health workers in the efforts to improve access to ALu in rural areas. Further research is needed to explore providers' / dispensers' preference for non-recommended antimalarials in the private sector and caretakers' preference for ordinary shops.

Profit or access: which is more important for Chinese medical journals?

The Chinese Medical Association, one of the largest and most influential medical journal publishers in China, signed an exclusive copyright transfer agreement with Beijing Wanfang Data Co. Ltd in 2006, which ended the era of cheap transfer of copyrights from journals to full-text databases. Since then, many journals have chosen the same route to earn more money. However, without generally recognized databases that offer free access to medical abstracts in China, many potential readers are lost. In addition, many Chinese readers do not have adequate literature retrieval skills: more convenient access to journals is therefore far more important than earning immediate profits. Goods in exclusive shops are more expensive than those in ordinary shops. That is why many journals sell exclusive copyrights to databases. However, while obtaining more profits by exclusive copyright transfer, journals may actually lose a large proportion of readers.

Household Storage of Pharmaceuticals, Sources and Dispensing Practices in Drug Stores and Ordinary Retail Shops in Rural Areas of Kibaha District, Tanzania

A cross sectional study was conducted in rural areas of Kibaha district within the Coastal region of Tanzania to assess knowledge on dosage, storage, expiry and dispensing practices of antimalarial drugs among households, drug stores and ordinary shops. A standard questionnaire was administered to 253 household members to assess their knowledge as regards storage, sources and use of antimalarial drugs. Drug sellers in 20 drug stores and 39 shopkeepers in ordinary retail shops were also interviewed and their dispensing practices of antimalarials and other over the counter drugs were observed and recorded. The results showed that 35 % of household members interviewed knew the dates and importance of drug expiry, whereas 65 % kept drugs without knowing expiry dates. Only 16 % of household members were informed of the expiry dates of drugs at the facilities they attended. Furthermore, 48 % of these household members could state three or more symptoms of malaria correctly. The majority of drug store (53 %) and ordinary retail shop (75 %) sellers did not dispense correct doses of antimalarials due to low literacy and lack of dosage guidelines or package inserts. In order to reduce incidences of drug poisoning due to over-dosage or drug resistance due to under dosage, there is need to educate both consumers and dispensers on correct dosage regimens through mass media such as radio, health education programs, television, posters, leaflets and newspapers. Keywords: Households, antimalarials, storage, expiry dates, self-medication, drug stores, ordinary shops. The East and Central African Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vol. 9 (3) 2006: pp. 74-80

Assessing the performance, practices and roles of drug sellers/dispensers and mothers'/guardians' behaviour for common childhood conditions in Kibaha district, Tanzania

In most third world countries, self-medication is common and pharmacies, drug stores and drug shops are important providers of health advice and inexpensive medicines. We used exit interviews to assess drug sellers'/dispensers' roles and consumers' behaviour in Kibaha district, Coast region, Tanzania. Exit interviews with mothers/guardians reported the following childhood conditions treated with or without prescriptions at drug shops: respiratory infections (34%), fever (21%), a combination of diarrhoea, acute respiratory infection (ARI) and fever (14%), diarrhoea alone (13%) and other conditions (17%). The majority of drug sellers/dispensers prescribed or dispensed branded drugs (85%) for most mothers/guardians who visited these drug shops. In addition, antibiotics in total were prescribed for 31% of the mothers/guardians. Of the antibiotics dispensed, 38% were not prescribed by clinicians. In total, oral rehydration salts (ORSs) (3%), antimalarials (sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine) (24%) and antipyretics (11%), were prescribed in 20% but were bought by only 9%; multivitamins (6%), cough mixtures (4%) and other drugs (2%) (antihelminthics, benzylbenzoate emulsions, ear and eye drops) were also purchased from these facilities. Of the diarrhoea case histories presented by simulated clients at the drug shops, only 35% of the bloody diarrhoea scenarios were accurately diagnosed for getting antibiotics as compared with 44% for watery diarrhoea for which the use of antibiotics were wrongly advised (P<0.01). Furthermore, drug sellers/dispensers in these drug shops recommended use of ORS less frequently (3%) for a combination of diarrhoea, ARI and fever, and 2% for ARI alone than for watery (29%) and bloody diarrhoea (32%), respectively, for children under five years of age (P<0.001). Antimicrobial agents were advised for ARI (38%), watery diarrhoea (44%) and bloody diarrhoea (35%), respectively, with no significant difference among the three common childhood conditions. Antipyretics were advised in almost all childhood conditions but were least in watery (2%) and bloody diarrhoea (4%). This study demonstrates that antibiotics are overused in both the urban and rural settings of Kibaha district and that this is due to both clinicians'and drug sellers'prescribing practices in public and private facilities. The use of branded drugs was more common than that of generic drugs in private pharmacies, drug stores and ordinary shops. It is hereby proposed that any intervention should focus on training both facilities in the district on selectively prescribing and rational use of antibiotics for ARI and diarrhoea, and also to prescribe and dispense generic drugs so that it costs patients less when they buy drugs in shops. There is a need to increase awareness in recommending the use of ORS for clients to manage watery and bloody diarrhoea, and ARI in children under five years of age.

Shopping behaviour in the Øresund region before and after the establishment of the fixed link between Denmark and Sweden

In July 2000 the 15.5 km long fixed link across the Oresund was opened, connecting the Danish capital Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmo. With the decrease of the barrier an enlarged flow of shoppers was expected with Swedish customers availing themselves of the range of opportunities in the Copenhagen area and Danish customers making use of the much longer shop opening hours in Sweden. However, experience from other European border areas shows that customers tend to do their ordinary shopping in their home countries and that there must be significant differences in prices or ranges of goods to overcome the barrier of the border. Does the typical situation result from the rural nature of many border areas, and will matters be quite different in a metropolitan area? The purpose of the present paper is to describe the level and character of cross-border shopping by the residents of the Oresund region before and after the opening of the fixed link. Responses from about 4,000 people form the basis of the conclusion that a little less than a year after the opening of the fixed link the number of shopping trips across the Oresund had increased, but there was still no heavy flow of customers doing ordinary shopping in the neighbouring countries. In order to assess the level of cross-border shopping across the Oresund the findings are compared to those from surveys across the Danish-German land border.

Border trade and tax-free import of alcohol to Norway

Due to the high prices of alcoholic beverages in their home country, Norwegians usually bring alcohol with them when they return from trips abroad. This can be either tax-free alcohol bought at airports or on ferries, or alcohol bought in ordinary shops in foreign countries. The Norwegians quotas for duty-free import are 1 litre of spirits, 1 litre of wine (2 litres if no spirits) and 2 litres of beer. For the Swedes and Finns the quotas have gradually been increased, since they became members of the EU in 1995, and from 1 January 2004 they can import nearly unlimited amounts of alcohol for personal use. As a result the prices have decreased and made it increasingly profitable for Norwegians to buy alcohol in these countries, especially in Sweden, which is nearest to Norway. In this article the development of the total private alcohol import by Norwegian travellers, and especially the border trade from Sweden, is estimated from a series of survey data spanning the years from 1962 to 2002. The total private import of alcohol (spirits, wine and beer) has increased by a factor of 13 during the last 40 years. In 2002 it was estimated at 90 centilitres of pure alcohol per inhabitant 15 years and older. This corresponds to nearly 16% of the officially recorded domestic sale of alcohol. During the whole period the predominant part of private import, in terms of pure alcohol, has been spirits, but the import of wine has increased even more, relatively speaking, and corresponded to about two thirds of the private import of spirits in 2002. The border trade in alcohol from Sweden has increased strongly since 1994, from about 6 centilitres per inhabitant 15 years and older to about 32 centilitres in 2002. In 1994 it represented about 11% of the total private import by travellers, and in 2002 it represented more than a third. Compared to recorded total domestic alcohol sales it represented about 5.5%. The increase was relatively moderate from 1994 to 1999, but from 1999 to 2002 the total border trade from Sweden, in terms of pure alcohol, increased by about 275%. This development has been caused by several concurrent factors. Firstly, the prices in Sweden have been reduced due to the increased availability of cheaper alcohol from Denmark. Secondly, the exchange rate between the Swedish and Norwegian currencies has been profitable for Norwegians, especially after year 2000. Thirdly, the opening hours of the Swedish alcohol monopoly shops were expanded to include Saturdays starting 1 July 2001, after having been closed on Saturdays for nearly 20 years. And fourthly, a strong focus in Norwegian media on the price levels in Sweden has probably also contributed to the strong increase in the border trade in both alcohol and other goods.

1918〜1926年の高知県における運動具販売の歴史的研究

This paper shows the process of the promotion of sports equipment sales and popularization of sports in Kochi Prefecture during the period 1918-1926 by examining advertisements that appeared in the Kochi Newspaper and Kochi Kyoiku (Education in Kochi), a local journal published by the Kochi Association of Education. Sales of sports equipment can be traced back to the 1910s, and during the 1920s they grew strongly. As far as this period is concerned, it was ordinary shops and teaching aid/material retailers that started to place advertisements for sports equipment . As sales grew, their advertisements were taken over by those of particular dealers of sports apparatus. Among them were dealers who not only sold sports equipment produced in other prefectures or imported from abroad, but who also set out to sell their own products, with their emphasis on producing gym suits. The collected advertisements show that in Kochi Prefecture, baseball and tennis played the central role in sports through the 1910s, and then athletics, swimming, table tennis, soccer, and mountain climing gained in popularity around 1920, followed by the addition of volleyball, basketball and indoor baseball in the following year. It is also shown that these sports were played at schools, military bases, government and public offices, newspaper offices and hospitals.

The use of formal and informal services for antenatal care and malaria treatment in rural Uganda.

The study aimed to analyze reasons for the use or non-use of antenatal care services and malaria treatment among pregnant women living in rural areas in Uganda. Focus group discussions with pregnant women, in-depth interviews with key informants (Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and health workers) and a structured questionnaire administered to pregnant women were used to collect the relevant information. Antenatal care attendance was irregular and few women knew that the purpose of attending antenatal care was to monitor both the growth of the baby and the health status of the woman. Parity significantly influenced antenatal care attendance, but level of education, religion and marital status did not. Fifty-five per cent of the women stated that they had delivered outside the formal health delivery system despite antenatal care attendance. All women in their second pregnancy had delivered their first child in the village, despite TBA training to the contrary. Malaria as perceived by pregnant women is common and multiple health service providers are used for its treatment. About 66% of the mothers reported having suffered from malaria during the current pregnancy; of these more than half had received treatment outside the formal health delivery system. Self-treatment with drugs bought from ordinary shops was commonly reported. Nearly all women (93.3%) knew about the antimalarial drug chloroquine and 83% thought that it was used for the treatment of malaria, not for its prevention. Some women believed that the drug could cause abortion. Health seeking behaviour was influenced by several factors, including the perceived high cost of antenatal care services, of conducting a delivery and treatment, and perceived inadequacy of services provided by the formal health system. Inadequacy of formal health services was perceived by users to be partly due to understaffing and to irregular supply of essential drugs. Intensive health education to pregnant women on the safety of chloroquine use in pregnancy, the importance and the need for regular antenatal care attendance are recommended. In addition, training of more TBAs and continued educational efforts to upgrade their knowledge, regular and adequate supply of essential drugs, and free health services for high-risk groups such as pregnant women are recommended to improve antenatal care services and drug prophylaxis use in pregnancy.