Strategic Intelligence for Sacred Sites

The polysemous aspect of pilgrimage constitutes a very old human activity, sometimes religious and alternatively secular, make it a complex matter to approach and handle. The exact number of pilgrims visiting sacred sites remains undetermined, and ranges, according to sources, between 200 and 400 million people yearly (Griffin & Raj, 2017). Pilgrimages are often associated with tourism and generate, in several countries, comfortable amounts of revenue. Public or private companies manage sacred sites and at the same time, areas of services for pilgrims and accompanying persons, and an intense network of shops, places for food and accommodation, grow, sometimes haphazardly. Very often, competition takes place between destinations resulting in an accrued and largely documented need for proper management, marketing strategy, and customised communications. This is particularly important as some have discussed the manner in which host countries may consider pilgrimage as a support to regional development (Raj & Griffin, 2015). In recent years, authors – using Strategic Intelligence – have shown how pandemics could lead to collapses in financial, economic, political, social, cultural and environment fields. In such circumstances, an approach such as Strategic Intelligence could be a support to foresight (Fournié et al., 2020). Geopolitical, technical and environment issues may also be detrimental to religious practises and pilgrimages. They may also affect the peaceful development of sacred sites. Neither empirically nor epistemically, is Strategic Intelligence usually associated with pilgrimages. The current paper examines how, by taking benefit from its more recent developments, Strategic Intelligence may allow the strong and balanced evolution of a sacred place, and insert it into the regional and national economy. It may boost the creation of jobs, the identification and growth of related industries and added-valued services (Dou et al., 2018). Strategic Intelligence will also support, if necessary, the conditions for peace-building and preparation for resilience. We intend to examine here how Strategic Intelligence may offer an innovative, transversal and holistic framework to support the ‘pilgrimage phenomenon’ wondering if it may become a way to resilience. A path, definitely necessary, to bypass human generated conflicts, environmental changes, natural phenomena or pandemics

Exploring Quality Improvement for Diabetes Care: A Multiple Case Study of Primary Care Teams in First Nations Communities in Canada

Clinical quality improvement (QI) teams from First Nations communities across Canada participated in an 18-month QI collaborative program called the TransFORmation of IndiGEnous Primary HEAlthcare Delivery (FORGE AHEAD) clinical QI initiative. Community-based participatory research and multiple case study methodologies were utilized to explore the experience of two clinical QI teams from diverse primary care settings in First Nations communities as they engaged in developing and implementing changes in practice to improve the quality of diabetes care. This study provides insight into how clinical QI teams drew upon multiple sources of knowledge and information to inform their QI activities, the importance of strengthening relationships and building partnerships with the community, and the factors that support or hinder QI within First Nations communities in Canada. The knowledge generated may help inform community action and future development and implementation of QI programs in First Nations communities in Canada

Resurrection of a Heretic Religion Through Pilgrimage: the Cathar Case Study

Six hundred ninety-eight years have passed since Guilhem Bélibaste, the last known Perfect or Albigensian was burned at stake in Villerouge-Termenès. His execution, in 1321, ended the official presence of the Cathars – who preferred to call themselves Good-Men and Good-Women- in the South of France. The Catholic Church, feeling that the influence of this alleged heretic movement threatened its power, started procedures around 1147 to at first control the Cathars peacefully, but failing to do so, later felt it had to destroy them, by means of crusades and the Inquisition. For many people, the intangible and tangible remains of Catharism are still part of their cultural and religious memory. Recently, a revival of the Cathar movement has emerged, resulting in religious tourism products, such as trails and pilgrimages. In parallel, some groups appear to be attracted to the alternative teaching which claim a Cathar legacy. This article intends to investigate those pilgrimages and assesses the secular or religious motivations of the participants. It also examines whether these aspects are creating a new trend, reviving and strengthening interest in the once forbidden religion or resurrecting Catharism presence in the 21st century, an era in which many people are desperately looking for a sense of meaning

Humberto: The Fire Next Time

“The Fire Next Time” is the opening section of a novel, Humberto, that tells the story of a group of people working at a biomedical engineering firm in St. Louis. The section follows Charles, a well-respected employee and leader whose marriage is slowly disintegrating. In the first chapter, a larger-than-life employee, the Priest, joins the company. He befriends Charles while working closely with him. The Priest, however, begins an affair with Charles’ wife, Linda. Charles is put in a difficult position: how should he work with a man he both hates and admires? As Charles struggles with this dilemma, a mysterious and rapidly growing lump, christened “Humberto” by Charles’ fellow employees, has appeared on his boss’ neck. As a result, Mr. Samuels, the boss, has begun acting more and more erratically. Charles, too, feels himself being pulled down a darker and unpredictable path. This novel explores themes of loneliness and loss, anxiety and absurdity. It is also a cross-genre piece, demonstrating realism, satire, surrealism and the fantastic

Application of Competitive Intelligence for Insular Territories: Automatic Analysis of Scientific and Technology Trends to Fight the Negative Effects of Climate Change

Islands are fragile territories because of their geographical position. As a result, climate impacts can have serious consequences, of which some are irreversible. Therefore, it is necessary to allow insular territories to benefit from the latest scientific and technological advances in combating climate effects. The current article shows how to deal with automatic analysis of scientific information on the one hand, but also its applications via patents. We will analyse the latest scientific results as well as their possible applications using patent analysis. We will also focus on experts, laboratories, and leading companies, that are active on the field. The sources used are scientific data obtained via Google Scholar using PoP, the various patent databases accessible. Data extractions will be analysed using the Patent Pulse system

Two refutations of idealism in light of the linguistic turn.

Dept. of Philosophy. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1975 .F78. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, page: . Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1975

On the Goodness-of-Fit Tests for Some Continuous Time Processes

We present a review of several results concerning the construction of the Cramer-von Mises and Kolmogorov-Smirnov type goodness-of-fit tests for continuous time processes. As the models we take a stochastic differential equation with small noise, ergodic diffusion process, Poisson process and self-exciting point processes. For every model we propose the tests which provide the asymptotic size $\alpha$ and discuss the behaviour of the power function under local alternatives. The results of numerical simulations of the tests are presented.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure

Prevalence of Fimeria funduli (Protozoa: Eimeriidae) in the Longnose Killifish Fundulus similis from Horn Island, Mississippi

Eimeria funduli occurred in Fundulus similis from Horn Island, Mississippi, during 1980, in contrast with its apparent absence during 1978 and 1979. Prevalence of the parasite appears to be related to the unusually low salinity in Mississippi Sound, and in ponds and off the beaches of Horn Island. The low salinity may have promoted the migration of infective intermediate hosts from inshore waters to the island

Exocrine Pancreatic Neoplasms in the Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) from a Creosote-Contaminated Site

A high prevalence of exocrine pancreatic neoplasms occurred in mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, from a creosote-contaminated site in the Elizabeth River, Virginia. A total of 20 neoplasms were found in a group of about 1,300 fish obtained at this site over a 2-yr period. Of 240 fish collected during October 1991, 3.3% had pancreatic neoplasms. Adjusted total lesion prevalence for large adult fish (Size Class III: total length = 75–85 mm; Size Class IV: total length \u3e 85 mm) was 6.7%. Pancreatic neoplasms were not observed in 234 fish collected at this site during May 1991, nor were they found in 420 fish obtained during fall 1991 from 1 uncontaminated and 6 moderately contaminated localities. Lesions involved both mesenteric and intrahepatic exocrine pancreas and ranged from well-differentiated acinar cell adenomas to poorly differentiated acinar cell carcinomas. One fish had an atypical acinar cell focus. All specimens with pancreatic neoplasms also had hepatocellular lesions. This epizootic of exocrine pancreatic neoplasia is the first to be reported in a wild fish population. Based on chemical characterization of the site and limited experimental data on chemically induced pancreatic carcinogenesis in other small fish species, the neoplasms were probably caused by exposure of the mummichog to chemical carcinogens in their environment