The hospital microbiome project: Meeting report for the UK science and innovation network UK-USA workshop 'beating the superbugs: Hospital microbiome studies for tackling antimicrobial resistance', October 14th 2013

The UK Science and Innovation Network UK-USA workshop 'Beating the Superbugs: Hospital Microbiome Studies for tackling Antimicrobial Resistance' was held on October 14th 2013 at the UK Department of Health, London. The workshop was designed to promote US-UK collaboration on hospital microbiome studies to add a new facet to our collective understanding of antimicrobial resistance. The assembled researchers debated the importance of the hospital microbial community in transmission of disease and as a reservoir for antimicrobial resistance genes, and discussed methodologies, hypotheses, and priorities. A number of complementary approaches were explored, although the importance of the built environment microbiome in disease transmission was not universally accepted. Current whole genome epidemiological methods are being pioneered in the UK and the benefits of moving to community analysis are not necessarily obvious to the pioneers; however, rapid progress in other areas of microbiology suggest to some researchers that hospital microbiome studies will be exceptionally fruitful even in the short term. Collaborative studies will recombine different strengths to tackle the international problems of antimicrobial resistance and hospital and healthcare associated infections

An analysis of contemporary trends in the agritourism market in Poland

The degree of future development of agritourism will be strongly influenced by fashion trends that are dictated by the contemporary market. Changing lifestyles of the society, which manifest themselves in the pursuit of buying greener products and seeking unconventional ways of spending free time will further develop this service. Continuous improvement of service offers and introduction of more interesting forms of recreation that guarantee higher quality of services should become key goals for individuals involved in agritourism. The potential of agritourism is slowly being recognized, although in comparison to other forms of accommodation, still a rather small number of Polish tourists choose it. There is therefore a necessity to develop a marketing plan to make agritourism services more distinguishable on the local and foreign tourism markets. In order for rural areas to develop and to provide rural communities with additional sources of income, it undoubtedly seems necessary to differentiate between rural tourism and agritourism

Agrotourism offer of kujawsko-pomorskie province

Z przedstawionego materiału badawczego wynika, że usługodawcy starają się stworzyć usługę wysokiej jakości. Przejawia się to nie tylko w proponowanej ofercie atrakcji, ale również dbałości o klienta poprzez osobiste organizowanie mu pobytu. Należy pamiętać, że współczesny konsument oczekuje obok wypoczynku w miłej atmosferze, okazywania nim zainteresowania, często też fachowej porady i przede wszystkim posiadania bogatego zasobu informacji na temat oferowanego produktu. Kreowana przez usługodawców świadomość korzystnego wpływu gospodarstwa na edukację rodzi podstawę do przekonania o unikalności tego pozarolniczego źródła dochodów. Planowane inwestycje świadczą o rosnącym wciąż zapotrzebowaniu na tego rodzaju usługi.Presented results of research prove that service providers try to create high quality services. It is showed not only in the offer of attractions, but in caring about customers by arranging their stay, as well. It should be taken into account, that modern consumers expect rest in a nice atmosphere, interests to them, professional advice and a lot of information about the offer, too. The awareness created by service providers that the farms have a good influence on education, makes this non-agricultural income source unique. Suggested investment shows increasing demand for this kind of services

The role of agrotourism in the development and conversion of rural areas

Agrotourism plays a huge role in the activation of rural areas. Its position and market power affects a number of external components and mechanisms. And although its positive impact on the economic and social development rural areas is noticeable, it also reveals a number of barriers related. An important aspect is to strengthen awareness of local communities concerning benefits resulting from the development of this non-agricultural source of income. Only then it will trigger a multiplier effect that will eventually lead to reduction of unemployment, job creation in sectors serving tourists, revenue growth and will improve both living standard and working conditions of the population actively involved. Improving the visibility of rural values, processing, traditional crafts, rural buildings can become a powerful magnet for tourists, tourists looking for new unconventional forms of recreation. Benefits of the development of rural tourism can become real if there is visible involvement and close cooperation between both - service providers and local authorities (government)

Economical situation of analysed agrotourist farms Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province as an axample

Przeprowadzone badania ujawniły, że rozwój agroturystyki musi i powinien być skoordynowany z działaniami instytucjonalnymi, które wydają się być niezbędne, by oferowana usługa miała charakter kompleksowy i profesjonalny. Bez odpowiedniego wsparcia różnych organów (władz lokalnych, stowarzyszeń agroturystycznych, Federacji i innych) ta pozarolnicza działalność gospodarcza nadal ograniczała się będzie do pojedynczych kwater. Wsparcia ankietowani oczekują głównie ze strony władz lokalnych, choć przyznali, że największą rolę przy uruchamianiu usługi odegrał Ośrodek Doradztwa Rolniczego. Organ ten organizuje kursy, szkolenia, wystawy, konkursy oraz prowadzi działalność informacyjną i doradczą. Niemniej gospodarze dostrzegli na tym polu wiele niedociągnięć. Życzyliby sobie w przyszłości większej inicjatywy w pozyskiwaniu gości, pomocy w przygotowaniu ofert, organizowaniu wspólnych wystaw, czy systematycznego doradztwa. Pozytywnie ocenia się merytoryczne przygotowanie usługodawców do prowadzenia tego przedsięwzięcia. Korzystanie z fachowej literatury, czy wzorowanie się na doświadczeniach innych osób, zajmujących się agroturystyką, świadczy o znacznym ukierunkowaniu działań na fachowość. One to w połączeniu z działaniami instytucji pracujących na rzecz agroturystyki pozwolą wypracować ciekawsze oferty, mobilizować do przejawu większej aktywności, by poza przeciętność wykreować i zbudować swój nowy wizerunek.Conducted research showed, that the development of the agrotourism must be and should be coordinated with institutional actions. It seems to be essential for the comprehensive and professional character of offered services. Without suitable assistance of different kinds of agencies (for example: local authorities, farm tourism associations, federations, etc.), this non-agricultural business activity will be limited to individual lodgings. In the opinion of respondents, local authorities are expected to provide sufficient support, although they admitted that a Centre of the Agricultural Consulting had played the key role in the service activation. A Centre of the Agricultural Consulting organizes courses, workshops, exhibitions and competitions, as well as conducts advisory activities and provides information on the many topics related to the farm-based tourism. However, hosts noticed a lot of shortcomings on this field. They expect the greater initiative in recruiting guests and they would like to receive more help with preparing offers or organizing exhibitions and more systematic consulting. The preparation and abilities of contractors to this venture is positively assessed. The professionalism is confirmed by using specialist literature or following the example of the experience of other persons dealing with the farm tourism. This all, in combination with an effort of institutions working on the farm tourism development, will help to find more interesting offers and encourage to the greater activity to create and build a new image

Analysis of selected accommodation conditions at agritourism farms based on the method of classification trees

A comparative analysis, using the classification tree method, of typically agritourism and agriculturally inactive farms has been conducted in this paper. An interview questionnaire, carried out on 78 farms, has been applied as a research tool.According to the research, typically agritourism farms evaluated the quality of their own services more positively. However, these factors did not influence the improvement of offer standards. Perhaps they had to invest more often in the development of farms rather than focus on improving the sanitary and hygiene infrastructure. The residential buildings may have not been adapted to undergo redevelopment in that respect. Agriculturally inactive households rarely broadened their knowledge in order to improve accommodation conditions. They had higher standards regardless of the level of hosts' qualifications. Presumably, hosts who focus mainly on agritourism are more likely to improve accommodation conditions. They basically do not have to pay expenses that would be incurred by agricultural activity. The application of the classification tree method has allowed to observe that high self-evaluation of services provided does not always have to result in better sanitary equipment of rooms or possession of living rooms. The method has made it possible to present the examined factors in a simple graphical manner, thus allowing to notice differences between typically agritourism farms and agriculturally inactive farms

Preparation and physicochemical characterisation of ceramic supports for suported liquid membranes

Supported liquids membranes are very promising products. They have been intensively inves-tigated in last two decades and widely used in many technologies especially in gas separation and purifi-cation processes. A key aspect in obtaining satisfying effectiveness and long membrane lifetime is a proper choice of ionic liquid and polymeric or ceramic support. Properties of both affect the processes of obtaining useful supported ionic liquid membranes. In comparison to polymeric membranes, ceramic ones are slightly thicker, however they are thermally and mechanically more stable. Our research was aimed at sintering fine glass particles of 500 to 45 μm in size in order to prepare porous membranes which can be used as supports for liquid membranes. Dextrin and borax were used as pore-making agents. The membranes, as disks 35 mm in diameter and 3 mm of thickness, were prepared. The porosity was determined using absorption method. It was found, that the porosity could be controlled by changing the applied pressure from 1 to 5 MPa, particle size distribution, sintering temperature, type and amount of pore-enhancing agents