Understanding How Social Entrepreneurs Fit into the Tourism Discourse

This chapter discusses how social entrepreneurs fit into the existing tourism discourse. It examines four areas of literature in particular, tourism entrepreneurs, sustainability, destination development and intrapreneurship, and analyzes how introducing the concept of social entrepreneurs into these discussions is useful, and contributes to our understanding. Furthermore the paper illustrates that as social entrepreneurs are relevant to a broad range of issues in the tourism literature this should prevent the development of research silos where social entrepreneurship scholars seek out their own vein of research. The nexus of common ground and interests, as displayed in this chapter, should enhance the development of research, thought and understanding of social entrepreneurs within the field as a whole The key argument is that research on social entrepreneurs is not just relevant for those interested in entrepreneurs it also effects our thinking on issues such as destination development, relationships between stakeholders, tourism policy and sustainability. The chapter concludes with a wide range of questions for further research

Effect of TiO2-containing nano-coatings on the color protection of heat-treated jack pine

The UV protective coatings were developed by incorporating triazine derivative organic UV stabilizers into inorganic titania particles which were produced by sol–gel method. The objective of this study is to delay the color change of heat-treated wood subjected to outdoor conditions. The protective coatings were prepared in air at room temperature. The coatings were not further treated thermally after their application to heat-sensitive materials. Coatings were applied to heat-treated jack pine wood. Subsequently, accelerated aging tests were carried out using coated and uncoated jack pine samples. The color change of the wood samples was studied, and the results were compared. Also, the morphological analyses were done using XPS after having weathered the wood at different times

Assessing the impacts of social entrepreneurs and social enterprises in tourism

Tourism social entrepreneurs are considered important stakeholders in sustainable community development. The concept has been gaining attention in the tourism scholarship; however, an examination of the specific impacts made by tourism social entrepreneurs and their enterprises are limited. This chapter therefore aims to examine the impacts of social entrepreneurs and social enterprises in tourism. To reveal the social nature of this entrepreneurial phenomenon in tourism, our analysis was guided by Gartner's (1985) framework for describing new venture creation. By applying Gartner's (1985) framework comprising the individual, the organization, the process, and environment, we draw attention to where the current scholarship is emphasized before we lead into a discussion on the impacts of tourism social entrepreneurs, and opportunities for future scholarship

Effect of surface organic coatings of cellulose nanocrystals on the viability of mammalian cell lines

Ambar S Jimenez,1 Francesca Jaramillo,1 Usha D Hemraz,2 Yaman Boluk,3 Karina Ckless,1 Rajesh Sunasee1 1Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY, USA; 2National Research Council, Montreal, QC, Canada, 3Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta and National Institute for Nanotechnology, National Research Council, Edmonton, AB, Canada Abstract: Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have emerged as promising candidates for a number of bio-applications. Surface modification of CNCs continues to gain significant research interest as it imparts new properties to the surface of the nanocrystals for the design of multifunctional CNCs-based materials. A small chemical surface modification can potentially lead to drastic behavioral changes of cell-material interactions thereby affecting the intended bio-application. In this work, unmodified CNCs were covalently decorated with four different organic moieties such as a diaminobutane fragment, a cyclic oligosaccharide (β-cyclodextrin), a thermoresponsive polymer (poly[N-isopropylacrylamide]), and a cationic aminomethacrylamide-based polymer using different synthetic covalent methods. The effect of surface coatings of CNCs and the respective dose-response of the above organic moieties on the cell viability were evaluated on mammalian cell cultures (J774A.1 and MFC-7), using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide and lactate dehydrogenase assays. Overall, the results indicated that cells exposed to surface-coated CNCs for 24 h did not display major changes in cell viability, membrane permeability as well as cell morphology. However, with longer exposure, all these parameters were somewhat affected, which appears not to be correlated with either anionic or cationic surface coatings of CNCs used in this study. Keywords: cellulose nanocrystals, surface coating, cell viability, MTT, LD

Cellulose nanocrystal cationic derivative induces NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent IL-1\u3b2 secretion associated with mitochondrial ROS production

Crystalline cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have emerged as novel materials for a wide variety of important applications such as nanofillers, nanocomposites, surface coatings, regenerative medicine and potential drug delivery. CNCs have a needle-like structure with sizes in the range of 100-200. nm long and 5-20. nm wide and a mean aspect ratio 10-100. Despite the great potential applicability of CNCs, very little is known about their potential immunogenicity. Needle-like materials have been known to evoke an immune response in particular to activate the (NOD-. like receptor, pyrin domain-containing 3)-inflammasome/IL-1\u3b2 (Interleukin 1\u3b2) pathway. In this study we evaluated the capacity of unmodified CNC and its cationic derivatives CNC-AEM (aminoethylmethacrylate)1, CNC-AEM2, CNC-AEMA(aminoethylmethacrylamide)1 and CNC-AEMA2 to stimulate NLRP3-inflammasome/IL-1\u3b2 pathway and enhance the production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS). Mouse macrophage cell line (J774A.1) was stimulated for 24. h with 50. \u3bcg/mL with unmodified CNC and its cationic derivatives. Alternatively, J774A1 or PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) were stimulated with CNC-AEMA2 in presence or absence of LPS (lipopolysaccharide). IL-1\u3b2 secretion was analyzed by ELISA, mitochondrial function by JC-1 staining and ATP content. Intracellular and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) were assessed by DCF-DA (2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate) and MitoSOX, respectively. Mitochondrial ROS and extracellular ATP were significantly increased in cells treated with CNC-AEMA2, which correlates with the strongest effects on IL-1\u3b2 secretion in non-primed cells. CNC-AEMA2 also induced IL-1\u3b2secretion in LPS-primed and non-primed PBMCs. Our data suggest that the increases in mitochondrial ROS and ATP release induced by CNC-AEMA2 may be associated with its capability to evoke immune response. We demonstrate the first evidence that newly synthesized cationic cellulose nanocrystal derivative, CNC-AEMA2, has immunogenic properties, which may lead to the development of a potential non-toxic and safe nanomaterial to be used as a novel adjuvant for vaccines.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

How does working in pandemic units affect the risk of occupational hand eczema in healthcare workers during the coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic: A comparative analysis with nonpandemic units

Background Hand eczema (HE) has increased among healthcare workers (HCWs) working in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) units, and was associated with increased hand hygiene practices

How does working in pandemic units affect the risk of occupational hand eczema in healthcare workers during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: A comparative analysis with nonpandemic units.

Background Hand eczema (HE) has increased among healthcare workers (HCWs) working in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) units, and was associated with increased hand hygiene practices

A real-time video quality estimator for emerging wireless multimedia systems

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are increasingly deployed to enable thousands of users to share, create, and access live video streaming with different characteristics and content, such as video surveillance and football matches. In this context, there is a need for new mechanisms for assessing the quality level of videos because operators are seeking to control their delivery process and optimize their network resources, while increasing the user’s satisfaction. However, the development of in-service and non-intrusive Quality of Experience assessment schemes for real-time Internet videos with different complexity and motion levels, Group of Picture lengths, and characteristics, remains a significant challenge. To address this issue, this article proposes a non-intrusive parametric real-time video quality estimator, called MultiQoE that correlates wireless networks’ impairments, videos’ characteristics, and users’ perception into a predicted Mean Opinion Score. An instance of MultiQoE was implemented in WMNs and performance evaluation results demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of MultiQoE in predicting the user’s perception of live video streaming services when compared to subjective, objective, and well-known parametric solutions