Sustainable wine tourism development through the lens of dynamic capabilities and entrepreneurial action: an exploratory four-region perspective

This study contributes to the sustainable wine tourism literature in various ways. First, using a multi-country approach, the study empirically explores the perceived benefits gained from wine tourism, and the ways in which it could be developed sustainably. These dimensions are examined through the lens of the dynamic capabilities approach and entrepreneurial action. Subsequently, a theoretical framework is proposed to enhance understanding of the development of sustainable wine tourism. Unstructured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 56 winery owners and managers. The two theoretical frameworks help understand the various forms in which sensing and seizing can be materialised in opportunities for wine tourism development, and reconfiguring, or moving forward, to identify ways to achieve its sustainability. Stemming from the findings and the adoption of the theoretical contributions, a strategic toolkit is proposed, which provides guidance to various stakeholders in their efforts to develop a sustainable wine tourism industry. © 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Exploring veganism through serious leisure and liquid modernity

Understandings of leisure have progressed into a deep comprehension of the importance of intrinsic qualities that leisure creates for an individual choice and expression of self through food support the ‘modern’ paramount of personal choice and individuality. Food and dietary choices connecting to leisure and lifestyle mirror the conceptual framework of liquid modernity. The clarification of lifestyle offers an approach to explore veganism as a leisure lifestyle providing the foundation for this paper where veganism is explored using the dimensions of serious leisure. In this exploratory paper, the serious leisure perspective will be critiqued as a framework to explore veganism, as it moves from a diet and lifestyle to a form of individual expression of identity and self, culture and leisure

Professional Learning Communities as drivers of educational change: the case of Learning Rounds

Many researchers claim that there is a compelling weight of evidence for the effectiveness of PLCs in promoting teachers’ learning and pupil achievement. However, others raise fundamental questions about their nature and purpose. Some of the uncertainties about the nature and purpose of PLCs relate to the ways in which the macro-context of neo-liberalism has shaped the practices of PLCs in particular ways. The fundamental questions raised about PLCs relate to the type of change they are intended to produce, the model of community they are based on and whether the right conditions and skills are in place for them to contribute to change. Some researchers argue that we need to pay more attention to shortcomings within existing PLCs and their internal dynamics. Others argue that little research focuses on the specific interactions of teachers inside PLCs. The research reported here goes ‘inside the teacher community’ of Learning Rounds to explore what the shortcomings of some examples of this model in practice add to what we know about how to assist PLCs to produce change in education

Kinetic studies on the inhibition of creatine kinase activity by branched‐chain α‐amino acids in the brain cortex of rats

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is a metabolic disorder biochemically characterized by the accumulation of branched-chain α-amino acids (BCAA) and their branched-chain α-keto acids (BCKA) in blood and tissues. Neurological dysfunction is usually present in the patients, but the mechanisms of brain damage in this disease are far from be understood. The main objective of this study was to investigate the mechanisms by which BCAA inhibit creatine kinase activity, a key enzyme of energy homeostasis, in the brain cortex of 21-day-old Wistar rats. For the kinetic studies, Lineweaver–Burk and a modification of the Chevillard et al. plots were used to characterize the mechanisms of enzyme inhibition. The results indicated that BCAA inhibit creatine kinase by competition with the substrates phosphocreatine and ADP at the active site. Considering the crucial role creatine kinase plays in energy homeostasis in brain, if these effects also occur in the brain of MSUD patients, it is possible that inhibition of this enzyme activity may contribute to the brain damage found in this disease. In this case, it is possible that creatine supplementation to the diet might benefit MSUD patients