Nascent entrepreneurship: A critical perspective and research agenda in tourism and hospitality

Purpose – This study aims to systematize the drivers of nascent entrepreneurship in tourism and to suggest avenues for future research. As a consequence of the pandemic, a reduction in early-stage entrepreneurial activity was reported worldwide. The countries that responded best to this situation were those that fostered entrepreneurship at this early stage, designated as nascent. Hence, research on nascent entrepreneurs requires particular attention. Design/methodology/approach – To address this study’s goal, the authors have examined the development of nascent entrepreneur literature in the last two decades and discussed how the literature on tourism nascent entrepreneurship relates to the mainstream literature in terms of theoretical frameworks. The authors explored specificities of the tourism industry to propose new research avenues to explore the theme of new venture creation in the hospitality and tourism sector. Findings – The authors divided the implication of tourism specificities into main themes: motivations, human and social capital and government and incubators. Several research questions for future research are proposed. Practical implications – By focusing on nascent entrepreneurship, researchers and policymakers can obtain important insights from projects that have not been implemented, going beyond those that have been successfully undertaken, as aimed at in entrepreneurship research. Originality/value – This research contributes to the nascent tourism entrepreneurship literature by providing theoretical and empirical research questions to advance existing knowledge in tourism nascent entrepreneurship.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Primary Submucosal Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Rectum Diagnosed by Endoscopic Ultrasound: Case Report and Literature Review

Primary colorectal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is one of the very rare malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract. The diagnosis cannot be made before ruling out other common primary sites. Using the endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) technique to get a tissue biopsy for submucosal tumors has not been demonstrated as the best diagnostic approach in the literature. Surgery is the gold standard treatment with arising evidence of good efficacy following conventional chemoradiation therapy. A 49-year-old male presented with rectal discomfort. Sigmoidoscopy revealed multiple submucosal masses in the rectosigmoid colon. Mucosal biopsies showed nonspecific inflammation. Subsequently, an EUS with fine needle biopsy was done and established the diagnosis of rectal SCC. There were no other primary sites noticed in the extensive evaluation. The patient chose to be treated only with chemoradiation without surgery. At the time of writing this report he had no evidence of recurrence achieving 2.5 years of survival. EUS is an emerging excellent approach to diagnose submucosal colorectal SCC. This case will add supportive evidence of having a complete response following combining treatment with squamous cell directed chemotherapy and external beam radiotherapy without preceded surgery

Transformational leadership, organizational justice and organizational outcomes

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of transformational leadership (TL) on organizational commitment (OC) with the mediating role of organizational justice (OJ) in the higher education (HE) sector in Syria. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected from 502 employees from six HE institutions. Two measures of organizational outcomes were selected for this study, namely, job satisfaction (JS) and OC. Using structural equation modelling (SEM), the authors tested four alternative models to indicate the relationship between leadership and organizational outcomes. Findings: TL has both direct and indirect effects on OC through interactional justice (IJ). TL has an impact on JS through procedural justice (PJ) and IJ as intermediate variables, while transactional leadership (TrL) has an impact on JS through distributive justice (DJ). The three types of OJ have an impact on OC through JS. The authors found that the national culture may not influence the impact of the leader in the current globalization context, as the results were similar to the Western studies. Practical implications: The findings of the study provide managers of the HE sector with insights into the formations of employees’ fairness perceptions, and with some guidelines for managing employees by documenting OJ to draw positive attitudinal and behavioral responses from employees. Originality/value: While most previous research has focused on exploring the relationship between leadership and OJ or between OJ and JS in the business sector, the study, however, seeks in addition, to pinpoint the effect of OJ as a mediate variable between the leadership and JS and OC in HE

Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in the Palestinian population

We determined the prevalence of hypertension and the level of awareness, treatment and control of hypertension among Palestinian adults in a population-based cross-sectional survey. Two-stage stratified sampling method was used to select 2077 participants from the general population aged 25 years and over. Trained observers obtained two blood pressure (BP) measurements from each individual by the use of a standardized mercury sphygmomanometer after a 5-min sitting rest. Information on sociogeographical factors and antihypertensive medications was obtained using a standard questionnaire. Hypertension was defined as a mean systolic BP (SBP) X140mm Hg, diastolic BP (DBP)X90mmHg, and/or use of antihypertensive medications. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 27.6%, with a higher percentage among men (29.2 vs 26.4%; P¼0.04). Hypertension increased with age in both men and women. Among hypertensive patients, 51.0% were aware of their elevated BP, 40.2% had treatment and only 9.5% achieved targeted BP control (o140/90mmHg). Patients under antihypertensive treatment showed SBP and DBP that were only 3.1mmHg and 2.5mmHg lower than individuals without antihypertensive treatment, respectively. The data show that hypertension prevalence among Palestinian adults is high, whereas the proportions of awareness treatment and control of hypertension were low. Concerted public health effort is urgently required to improve the detection, treatment and control of hypertension in Palestine.Technical and financial support for this study was made available by the Palestinian American Research Council. We also wish to thank Dr Asa’d Ramlawi, Head of the primary care department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health for his support. This project is Funded by the Palestinian American Research Council

Numerical and experimental analyses of biocomposites reinforced with natural fibres

n the last decades the biocomposites have been widely used in the construction, automobile and aerospace industries. Not only the interface transition zone (ITZ) but also the heterogeneity of natural fibres affects the mechanical behaviour of these composites. This work focuses on the numerical and experimental analyses of a polymeric composite fabricated with epoxy resin and unidirectional sisal and banana fibres. A three-dimensional model was set to analyze the composites using the elastic properties of the individual phases. In addition, a two-dimensional model was set taking into account the effective composite properties obtained by micromechanical models. A tensile testing was performed to validate the numerical analyses and evaluating the interface condition of the constitutive phases

Lipopolysaccharide and lipotheicoic acid differentially modulate epididymal cytokine and chemokine profiles and sperm parameters in experimental acute epididymitis

Bacterial infections are the most prevalent etiological factors of epididymitis, a commonly diagnosed inflammatory disease in the investigation of male infertility factors. The influence of early pathogenic mechanisms at play during bacterial epididymitis on reproductive outcomes is little understood. We report here that experimental epididymitis induced in rats by Gram-negative (LPS) and Gram-positive (LTA) bacterial products resulted in differential patterns of acute inflammation in the cauda epididymis. LPS elicited a strong inflammatory reaction, as reflected by upregulation of levels of mRNA for seven inflammatory mediators (Il1b, Tnf, Il6, Ifng, Il10, Nos2 and Nfkbia), and tissue concentration of six cytokines/chemokines (IL1A, IL1B, IL6, IL10, CXCL2 and CCL2) within the first 24 h post-treatment. Conversely, LTA induced downregulation of one (Nfkbia) and upregulation of six (Il1b, Il6, Nos2, Il4 Il10 and Ptgs1) inflammatory gene transcripts, whereas increased the tissue concentration of three cytokines/chemokines (IL10, CXCL2 and CCL2). The stronger acute inflammatory response induced by LPS correlated with a reduction of epididymal sperm count and transit time that occurred at 1, 7, and 15 days post-treatment. Our study provides evidence that early epididymal inflammatory signaling events to bacterial activators of innate immunity may contribute to the detrimental effects of epididymitis upon male fertility.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)CNPqSao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)Pro-Reitoria de Pesquisa/UNESPUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Sect Expt Endocrinol, Dept Pharmacol, BR-04044020 Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista, Dept Pharmacol, Inst Biosci Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, BrazilSci & Innovat Ctr Androl, Androsci, BR-03178200 Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Med Sch, Hosp Clin, Reprod Toxicol Unity,Dept Pathol, BR-01246903 Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Med Sch, Hosp Clin, Div Urol, BR-01246903 Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilState Univ Centro Oeste, Dept Pharm, BR-85040080 Guarapuava, PR, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Sect Expt Endocrinol, Dept Pharmacol, BR-04044020 Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil(CNPq)/CSF/BJT: 401718/2012-3CNPq: 479546/2013-4, 455450/2014-5, 308349/2010-5FAPESP: 2010/52711-0, 2015/08227-0Pro-Reitoria de Pesquisa/UNESP: 557Web of Scienc

Impact of antimicrobial stewardship programme on hospitalized patients at the intensive care unit: a prospective audit and feedback study

AIMS: Inappropriate use of antibiotics is one of the most important factors contributing to the emergence of drug resistant pathogens. The purpose of this study was to measure the clinical impact of antimicrobial stewardship programme (ASP) interventions on hospitalized patients at the Intensive care unit at Palestinian Medical Complex. METHODS: A prospective audit with intervention and feedback by ASP team within 48-72 h of antibiotic administration began in September 2015. Four months of pre-ASP data were compared with 4 months of post-ASP data. Data collected included clinical and demographic data; use of antimicrobials measured by defined daily doses, duration of therapy, length of stay, readmission and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: Overall, 176 interventions were made the ASP team with an average acceptance rate of 78.4%. The most accepted interventions were dose optimization (87.0%) followed by de-escalation based on culture results with an acceptance rate of 84.4%. ASP interventions significantly reduces antimicrobial use by 24.3% (87.3 defined daily doses/100 beds vs. 66.1 defined daily doses/100 beds P < 0.001). The median (interquartile range) of length of stay was significantly reduced post ASP [11 (3-21) vs. 7 (4-19) days; P < 0.01]. Also, the median (interquartile range) of duration of therapy was significantly reduced post-ASP [8 (5-12) days vs. 5 (3-9); P = 0.01]. There was no significant difference in overall 30-day mortality or readmission between the pre-ASP and post-ASP groups (26.9% vs. 23.9%; P = 0.1) and (26.1% vs. 24.6%; P = 0.54) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our prospective audit and feedback programme was associated with positive impact on antimicrobial use, duration of therapy and length of stay

Tripping to cope: coping strategies and use of hallucinogens during the COVID-19 pandemic in three cultural contexts

The COVID-19 pandemic has made evident the need to develop effective strategies to cushion the psychological consequences of social catastrophes. Preliminary evidence suggests that the use of hallucinogens is a protective factor that mitigates against such stressors. However, the underlying mechanisms must be further explored. This study specifically focused on the potential role of coping strategies in this regard, analyzing them through an online survey completed by a total of 2971 subjects who were followed up with from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic until six months after baseline. The survey was published in three different cultures (English, Spanish, and Portuguese), allowing for the collection of data from three different cultural contexts. The results show that coping strategies were generally more related to psychological well-being and psychopathology than to hallucinogenic drug use. However, regarding the latter, users of hallucinogens had higher scores on problem-focused engagement and disengagement and lower scores on wishful thinking than non-users. Longitudinally, while most baseline coping scores were associated with psychological distress and the severity of psychological symptoms, some coping strategies were related to the use of hallucinogens. These results show an adaptive pattern of coping strategies among hallucinogen users. Further research should take into account that coping strategies are only marginally associated with hallucinogenic drug use. Other underlying mechanisms explaining the better adjustment of users of hallucinogens to pandemics should be explore