KULTURNI TURIZAM KAO KONKURENTNI ČIMBENIK U MEDITERANSKOM TURIZMU - Komparativna studija japanskog i njemačkog izvornog tržišta za talijansku kulturnu baštinu

The Mediterranean region is a delicate area of living, exposed to severe trouble that may be caused even by minor influences, e.g. military conflicts. Therefore, it is necessary to search for useful long-term solutions for tourism in the countries of this region. Due to the abundance of cultural assets, cultural tourism becomes ever more important. On the other hand, the weak points of product development and marketing become apparent in spite of great demand. This empirical study determines the needs of people potentially interested in visiting Italy with the example of the source markets in Japan and in Germany, particularly considering cultural tourism with specific consideration of castles and stately homes. Having determined these needs, it will be possible to show the required consequences for product development and marketing at a local, regional, national and international level.Mediteran je osjetljivo područje za život, izloženo ozbiljnom problemu koji može biti izazvan i neznatnim utjecajem npr. vojnim konfliktima. Zbog toga je potrebno tražiti korisna dugoročna rješenja za turizam u zemljama tog područja. Zbog obilja kulturnog bogatstva kulturni turizam postaje još važniji. S druge strane, slabe točke razvoja proizvoda i marketinga bivaju očevidni unatoč velikoj potražnji. Ova empirijska studija utvrđuje potrebe ljudi, potencijalno zainteresiranih da posjete Italiju s primjerom izvornih tržišta Japana i Njemačke, osobito u svezi kulturnog turizma sa specifičnim naglaskom dvoraca i otmjenih obiteljskih kuća. Nakon što smo utvrdili te potrebe biti će moguće pokazati potrebna djelovanja za razvoj proizvoda i marketinga na lokalnoj, područnoj, nacionalnoj i međunarodnoj razini

Growth strategies in mature destinations: Linking spatial planning with product development

To rejuvenate a destination means to develop growth strategies whilst in a phase of maturation or stagnation. Stagnation tendencies have been prevalent in Alpine tourism since the 1980’s. In recent years, mature destinations in the Alps have attempted to maintain their appeal by defining and inventing new products and promotions rather than by further market penetration. The rapid (spatial) growth of tourism enterprises in the 1960’s and 1970’s in the Alpine destination South Tyrol led to restrictive spatial legislation and as a result, greatly limited the quantitative and qualitative development capacities of hotel businesses in these mature destinations. Consequently, the entrepreneurs in South Tyrol and the surrounding region often perceive spatial planning as a restrictive instrument limiting the growth and strategic planning and development of their enterprises. In 2007, after a period of stagnation, the South Tyrolean legislature opened up possibilities of quantitative growth for tourism enterprises, but connected it with an obligatory spatial planning and strategy concept for the entire municipality. Consequently, the municipality has to justify the declaration of new tourism zones by demonstrating the potential for growth in tourism. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate, by way of the three South Tyrolean municipalities, that spatial planning and strategic tourism development are not necessarily conflictive but that spatial planning, in combination with tourism planning and product development, can be a pro-active and creative tool with an important role in developing and implementing growth in mature destinations. As such, the scope of both spatial planning and product development have been jointly defined and tested in a case study

Destination Design: A heuristic case study approach to sustainability-oriented innovation

The landscape of research outputs in tourism planning is fragmented and multi-disciplinary. Design as a meta-discipline has the power to integrate sectoral thought and inject creativity, non-linear thought and transdisciplinarity into planning processes, particularly when tackling sustainability challenges. This paper defines Destination Design as a novel framework capable of evolving the concepts of spatial and participatory planning using the design thinking cognitive style to address sustainability paradoxes. The features of are explored through the unique case study of sustainability-oriented innovation in the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site. Results show that design thinking can be invaluable for pioneering pro-sustainability initiatives. Further, creative forms of engagement might encourage the acceptance and support of local transformations, but are difficult to implement

Ineffective off-label use of recombinant activated factor VII in a case of bone-marrow transplantation-related gastrointestinal bleeding

BACKGROUND: For patients with a normal coagulation system, who experience serious bleeding, sound evidence for recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) as an effective haemostatic agent is only scarcely available so far from controlled clinical trials. In systematic reviews on the clinical use of rFVIIa, treatment failures were only rarely reported. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a 45-year old, Caucasian male with persistent intestinal bleeding due to enterocolitis associated with cytomegalovirus infection and acute graft-versus-host-disease. He had received allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation from an unrelated HLA-identical donor because of chronic myelogenous leukaemia diagnosed two years earlier. Bleeding started at day 18 after transplantation with bloody diarrhea, which was treated with multiple transfusions of fresh frozen plasma, platelet, and red blood cell concentrates, and continued relentlessly, despite all efforts, including continued transfusions, high-dose prednisolone, broad antibiotic and antiviral coverage, and tranexamic acid. Recombinant FVIIa was started at boluses of 90–120 μg/kg every 4–8 hours. Despite more than 10 doses, recurrent severe bleeding progressed to refractory shock, multiorgan failure and death. CONCLUSIONS: Little can be concluded from single case reports of clinical improvement, because publication bias in favour of positive effects is likely. Our case suggests that rFVIIa is not a panacea, in particular for severe bleeding after bone-marrow transplantation. As long as rigorous, controlled studies or comprehensive registries are lacking, conventional interventions remain the standard of care in non-haemophilic patients with severe bleeding

Health region development from the perspective of system theory - An empirical cross-regional case study

Governments are increasingly establishing health regions to deal with current challenges of public health service. These regions are seen as instruments to balance public and private stakeholders, and offer health care to regional citizens as well as to medical/health tourists. However, it is still unclear how the development of such health regions as well as their governance may be conceptualized. We apply Luhmann's system theory approach in the context of a cross-regional case study that compares health region developments in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol (Italy) with particular regard to the Eastern Dolomites and in the province of Zeeland (the Netherlands). We suggest that Luhmann's system theory provides a useful set of criteria to evaluate and judge health region development. Fully developed health regions can be understood as auto-poietic systems. By emphasizing programs, personnel, and communication channels, these case studies illustrate the suitability of the system theory toolset to analyze the governance and spatial embeddedness of health regions. Additionally, the study contributes to literature by indicating that health regions are closely related to identity issues and to decision making in regions

Radiation damage in metalloproteins

Die makromolekulare Kristallographie ist eine leistungsfähige Methode zur Strukturaufklärung und basiert auf der Wechselwirkung intensiver Röntgenstrahlung mit kristallinem biologischem Material. Diese Wechselwirkung führt unter anderem auch zur Freisetzung von Elektronen aus den Atomhüllen und damit zu Ionisierungen, Entstehung von Radikalen und der Lösung chemischer Bindungen. Während sich so Schäden in den einzelnen Molekülen immer mehr anhäufen kommt es gleichzeitig zu einer fortlaufenden Zersetzung des Kristallgitters. Das Ausmaß der Schädigung wird drastisch vermindert, wenn Experimente bei Temperaturen um 100 K durchgeführt werden, was daher heute zur Standardprozedur gehört und das Problem viele Jahre in Schach halten konnte. Mit den neuen starken Undulator-Strahlen in Synchrotronen der dritten Generation, entwickeln sich Strahlenschäden jedoch wieder zu einer bedeutenden Hürde, wenn es darum geht maximale Strukturinformation aus einem einzelnen Kristall zu gewinnen. Der Einsatz von Elektronen- oder Radikalfängern zum Schutz der Biomoleküle gegen reaktive Spezies ist bereits in der Elektronenspektroskopie dokumentiert und mittlerweile gibt es auch in der Röntgenkristallographie vielversprechende Experimente. Abgesehen von den gut dokumentierten globalen und strukturellen Auswirkungen, kommt es bei Metalloenzymen zusätzlich zur Reduktion des Metalls. Während sich der Oxidationszustand nicht eindeutig aus der Elektronendichte bestimmen lässte, kann er doch entscheidende Auswirkungen auf die Koordination des Metalls und damit seine strukturelle Umgebung haben. In der vorliegenden Arbeit haben wir verschiedene Radikalfänger auf ihren möglichen Schutzeffekt für Metalloproteine hin untersucht. Kristalle wurden mit Lösungen ausgewählter Substanzen durchtränkt und anschließend Diffraktionsexperimente am ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble), bei der Berliner Elektronenspeicherring-Gesellschaft für Synchrotronstrahlung (BESSY) und am institutseigenen Rotationsanoden-Instrument durchgeführt. Die gesammelten Datensets wurden in fünf aufeinanderfolgende Subsets mit steigender Strahlendosis aufgeteilt, anhand derer die kumulativen lokalen und globalen Strahlenschäden evaluiert werden konnten. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt lag dabei auf dem Oxidationszustand des Metalls, der mit Hilfe eines UV-vis Mikrospektrophotometers genau festgestellt werden konnte. Unsere Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass Radikalfänger wahrscheinlich nicht im Stande sind, die Reduktion eines Metalls wesentlich zu verringern. DNQ, HEPES und das schon als wirksamer Scavenger beschriebene Askorbat kann möglicherweise eine schützende Wirkung zugeschrieben werden und sie bieten sich für weiterführende Tests an.The elucidation of high resolution macromolecular structures depends largely on the application of brilliant X-ray radiation to biological matter in crystalline form, which is the basis of macromolecular crystallography. When X-rays interact with organic matter a plethora of electrons is ejected from atomic shells leading to ionizations, formation of radicals and breakage of bonds. In summary, this leads to accumulating damage of protein molecules and as a consequence to progressing deterioration of the crystal lattice. The rate of damage is reduced dramatically when experiments are done at 100K in a nitrogen stream, which has become a standard technique and kept the problem under control for many years. Today, however, in strong undulator beamlines at third generation synchrotrons radiation damage is re-emerging as a major limiting factor to the amount of information that can be obtained from one crystal. The use of electron or radical scavengers to reduce the load of reactive species and thereby protect biological macromolecules has been described for electron spectroscopy and in analogy promising experiments have been conducted in macromolecular X-ray crystallography. Apart from the well-described global and structural damage, enzymes containing metal co-factors run an additional risk. It has been shown that reduction of the metal is one of the first events happening. While the redox state can not be determined from the electron density measured experimentally, it can have critical impact on the metal's structural environment. In the present work the influence of a range of possible electron scavengers on the damage suffered by crystals of model metalloproteins was investigated. For that purpose, proteins were crystallized and soaked in scavenger solutions. Data was collected from azurin, insulin and myoglobin at three different stations: the ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble), at BESSY (Berliner Elektronenspeicherring-Gesellschaft für Synchrotronstrahlung) and at the rotating anode home source present at the institute. After processing the data in five consecutive subsets of increasing dose, local and global effects of radiation damage were evaluated. A special focus was given to the metal oxidation state, which was determined by UV-vis microspectrophotometry experiments. Our results suggest that scavengers are not able to prevent the reduction of the metal. Nonetheless, DNQ, hepes and the previously reported scavenger ascorbate, might have a small protective effect and would be candidates for further tests

AIEST: Review of an Institution Dedicated to Tourism Knowledge

The AIEST (Association Internationale D’Experts Scientifique de Tourisme) has been in existence as the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism for 65 years! It is therefore the world's oldest association for tourism research. This age not only stands for tradition, but also for a commitment to the efforts directed towards establishing tourism as a science

Food Security, Inequality and the Neoliberal Diet in Emerging Economies

How have growing food-import dependency and intra-state inequalities impacted class diets under the neoliberal food regime? This study shows a deepening inequality between low-to-middle-income working classes, whose diet has become increasingly compromised nutritionally, and higher-income classes, who have gained increased access to healthful or “luxury” foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. We develop an index that measures the risk of exposure to what we call the “neoliberal diet” for low-to-middle-income working classes. Using this index, we compare the US and Canada with a group of countries including the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) plus South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, and Turkey. We conclude that food security for most people in these so-called emerging nations can hardly be achieved under the “comparative advantage” logic of the neoliberal food regime and its nutritionally compromised diet. A more promising, and democratic, alternative is a food-sovereignty program of agrarian reforms to promote peasant production and social empowerment, as well as rural–urban alliances. &nbsp