Ethical Guidelines for Animals in Tourism, A Belmont Report Adaptation

Ethical guidelines have long been instrumental in ensuring responsible human behavior, particularly in protecting participants involved in research. The Belmont Report, a foundational document in human research ethics, outlines three key principles: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. However, ethical considerations for animals, especially in tourism, remain underdeveloped despite growing concerns over animal welfare. This study explores the potential for adapting the Belmont Report’s principles to create a set of ethical guidelines applicable to animals in tourism. Through a Delphi study, expert scholars in animal-based tourism provide feedback on these adapted principles. The research addresses the increasing demand for ethical oversight in animal-based tourism, where animals are often used in entertainment with limited regulatory standards. By integrating these modified principles into tourism practices, this study seeks to fill a critical gap in both academic literature and practical applications. The resulting guidelines aim to establish a universal ethical framework that promotes responsible and humane treatment of animals in tourism, while also enhancing tourists’ awareness and enabling informed decision-making. This research not only contributes to advancing animal welfare but also supports the development of policies and practices that foster sustainable and ethical tourism operations

The experience of working with trauma: a phenomenological perspective of mental health nurses working in secure care

Volume I comprises of three research chapters. The first presents a meta-ethnographic review of the literature exploring how therapists experience working with trauma survivors. The second chapter is an empirical research study exploring how mental health nurses working in secure care make sense of their experience of working with trauma. The third chapter is a public dissemination document which provides an accessible overview of the review and empirical chapters

Characterization of 45º-tilted fiber grating and its polarization function in fiber ring laser

We have proposed and demonstrated a fiber ring laser with single-polarization output using an intracavity 45°-tilted fiber grating (45°-TFG). The properties of the 45°-TFG have been investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The fiber ring laser incorporating the 45°-TFG has been systematically characterized, showing a significant improvement in the polarization extinction ratio (PER) and achieving a PER of >30 dB. The slope efficiencies of the ring laser with and without the 45°-TFG have been measured. This laser shows a very stable polarized output with a PER variation of less than 2 dB for 5 hours at laboratory conditions. In addition, we also demonstrated the tunability of the laser

Cognitive behavioural therapy combined with physical activity behavioural modification strategies during pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD

Introduction: Patients with COPD who exhibit elevated levels of anxiety and/or depression are typically less able to improve symptoms and physical activity (PA) levels following a programme of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Objective: To provide proof of concept that offering an intervention comprising cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) alongside PA behavioural modification strategies (BPA) during PR is more effective in improving PA outcomes compared to PR and CBT alone. Methods: Thirty-two patients with COPD (mean±SD: FEV1: 42±14% predicted) were assigned 1:1 to receive PR+CBT+BPA or PR+CBT. BPA comprised motivational interviews, step count monitoring, feedback using a pedometer and goal setting. Assessments included accelerometer-derived steps/day, movement intensity, 6MWD and HADS scores. Results: The magnitude of improvement across PA outcomes was greater for the PR+CBT+BPA compared to the PR+CBT intervention (by 828 steps/day (p=0.029) and by 8039 vector magnitude units (p=0.042), respectively). Compared to PR and CBT alone, the PR+CBT+BPA intervention induced greater clinically meaningful improvements in HADS anxiety scores (by -2 units [95% CI -4 to 1 units]) and 6MWD (by 3320 m). Conclusions: Providing anxious and/or depressed patients with COPD with a combined intervention of CBT and BPA during PR, presents more favourable improvements in PA outcome measures compared to CBT alone during PR

Impact of COVID-19 shielding on physical activity and quality of life in patients with COPD

In response to #COVID19, healthcare professionals should scale up virtual consultations for assessing core patient-reported outcomes and providing home-based rehabilitation programmes #COP

Enhancing Next-Generation Sequencing-Guided Cancer Care Through Cognitive Computing

Background: Using next-generation sequencing (NGS) to guide cancer therapy has created challenges in analyzing and reporting large volumes of genomic data to patients and caregivers. Specifically, providing current, accurate information on newly approved therapies and open clinical trials requires considerable manual curation performed mainly by human “molecular tumor boards” (MTBs). The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of cognitive computing as performed by Watson for Genomics (WfG) compared with a human MTB. Materials and Methods: One thousand eighteen patient cases that previously underwent targeted exon sequencing at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and subsequent analysis by the UNCseq informatics pipeline and the UNC MTB between November 7, 2011, and May 12, 2015, were analyzed with WfG, a cognitive computing technology for genomic analysis. Results: Using a WfG-curated actionable gene list, we identified additional genomic events of potential significance (not discovered by traditional MTB curation) in 323 (32%) patients. The majority of these additional genomic events were considered actionable based upon their ability to qualify patients for biomarker-selected clinical trials. Indeed, the opening of a relevant clinical trial within 1 month prior to WfG analysis provided the rationale for identification of a new actionable event in nearly a quarter of the 323 patients. This automated analysis took <3 minutes per case. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that the interpretation and actionability of somatic NGS results are evolving too rapidly to rely solely on human curation. Molecular tumor boards empowered by cognitive computing could potentially improve patient care by providing a rapid, comprehensive approach for data analysis and consideration of up-to-date availability of clinical trials. Implications for Practice: The results of this study demonstrate that the interpretation and actionability of somatic next-generation sequencing results are evolving too rapidly to rely solely on human curation. Molecular tumor boards empowered by cognitive computing can significantly improve patient care by providing a fast, cost-effective, and comprehensive approach for data analysis in the delivery of precision medicine. Patients and physicians who are considering enrollment in clinical trials may benefit from the support of such tools applied to genomic data

Safety and efficacy of Y-90 microsphere treatment in patients with primary and metastatic liver cancer: The tumor selectivity of the treatment as a function of tumor to liver flow ratio

BACKGROUND: Treatment records and follow-up data on 40 patients with primary and metastatic liver malignancies who underwent a single whole-liver treatment with Y-90 resin microspheres (SIR-Spheres(® )Sirtex Medical, Lake Forest, IL) were retrospectively reviewed. The objective of the study was to evaluate the anatomic and physiologic determinants of radiation dose distribution, and the dose response of tumor and liver toxicity in patients with liver malignancies who underwent hepatic arterial Y-90 resin microsphere treatment. METHODS: Liver and tumor volume calculations were performed on pre-treatment CT scans. Fractional tumor and liver flow characteristics and lung shunt fractions were determined using hepatic arterial Tc-99m MAA imaging. Absorbed dose calculations were performed using the MIRD equations. Liver toxicity was assessed clinically and by liver function tests. Tumor response to therapy was assessed by CT and/or tumor markers. RESULTS: Of the 40 patients, 5 had hepatocellular cancer (HCC), and 35 had metastatic liver tumors (15 colorectal cancer, 10 neuroendocrine tumors, 4 breast cancer, 2 lung cancer, 1 ovarian cancer, 1 endometrial cancer, and 2 unknown primary adenocarcinoma). All patients were treated in a salvage setting with a 3 to 80 week follow-up (mean: 19 weeks). Tumor volumes ranged from 15.0 to 984.2 cc (mean: 294.9 cc) and tumor to normal liver uptake ratios ranged from 2.8 to 15.4 (mean: 5.4). Average administered activity was 1.2 GBq (0.4 to 2.4 GBq). Liver absorbed doses ranged from 0.7 to 99.5 Gy (mean: 17.2 Gy). Tumor absorbed doses ranged from 40.1 to 494.8 Gy (mean: 121.5 Gy). None of the patients had clinical venoocclusive disease or therapy-induced liver failure. Seven patients (17.5 %) had transient and 7 patients (17.5 %) had persistent LFT abnormalities. There were 27 (67.5%) responders (complete response, partial response, and stable disease). Tumor response correlated with higher tumor flow ratio as measured by Tc-99m MAA imaging. CONCLUSION: Doses up to 99.5 Gy to uninvolved liver are tolerated with no clinical venoocclusive disease or liver failure. The lowest tumor dose producing a detectable response is 40.1 Gy. The utilization of MAA-based imaging techniques to determine tumor and liver blood flow for clinical treatment planning and the calculation of administered activity may improve clinical outcomes

Optical and Electronic NOx Sensors for Applications in Mechatronics

Current production and emerging NOx sensors based on optical and nanomaterials technologies are reviewed. In view of their potential applications in mechatronics, we compared the performance of: i) Quantum cascade lasers (QCL) based photoacoustic (PA) systems; ii) gold nanoparticles as catalytically active materials in field-effect transistor (FET) sensors, and iii) functionalized III-V semiconductor based devices. QCL-based PA sensors for NOx show a detection limit in the sub part-per-million range and are characterized by high selectivity and compact set-up. Electrochemically synthesized gold-nanoparticle FET sensors are able to monitor NOx in a concentration range from 50 to 200 parts per million and are suitable for miniaturization. Porphyrin-functionalized III-V semiconductor materials can be used for the fabrication of a reliable NOx sensor platform characterized by high conductivity, corrosion resistance, and strong surface state coupling