Making space for experiences

Leisure and retail providers need to understand the elements of the visitor experience and the way in which they evaluate their satisfaction. This article suggests a holistic prism model of the interaction between the management and the visitor in a leisure space. This is applied to a netnographic study of visitors to a folk festival to illustrate the interconnectiveness of the different attributes causing dissatisfaction. It found that the physical and operational attributes were evaluated not through a checklist of individual features but as hindrances to the visitor's desire to make best use of the time. Visitors also evaluated the experience in the light of their own values and concerns, passing judgement on the values communicated by the management. At the heart of the experience was the enjoyment of choosing from an abundant offer and discovering something new. The main attraction is often only the pretext for enjoying the company of friends so places to meet before and chill-out afterwards are vital to the experience. The distinctiveness of the setting, the food and drink can become the sensory cues which give the event or location its uniqueness. The challenge to retail and leisure organisations is to design these elements of a memorable experience into their offerings

Holidays under the hegemony of hyper-connectivity: getting away, but unable to escape?

Holidays have been imagined as occasions of escape and liminal leisure. This conceptualisation requires re-evaluation as a consequence of the widespread adoption of portable communication devices (smartphones) and the use of Web 2.0 interactive platforms (social media). Studies suggest that the gratifications of contact with the ‘other’, and the 10 enjoyment of the licence associated with the liminal condition, are compromised by endemic contact with the domicile. An analysis draws on the work of Heidegger and Althusser, and is supported by insights from Foucault, Arendt and Lacan. It is argued that users are ‘enframed’ and subjected by their devices. This re-imagining is representative of an 15 evolving change in the human condition, of which the compromising of tourism-as-escape is but one manifestation

Risk of mortality among inpatients with COVID-19 and type 2 diabetes: national data from Kuwait

Introduction To investigate type 2 diabetes as a risk factor for COVID-19 death following hospital admission in Kuwait. Methods A retrospective cohort study using data from a central hospital that cared for all hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Kuwait. We investigated the association between type 2 diabetes, with COVID-19 mortality using multiply imputed logistic regression and calculated the population attributable fraction. Results A total of 5333 patients were admitted with COVID-19, of whom 244 died (4.6%). Diabetes prevalence was 24.8%, but 53.7% of those who died had diabetes. After adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity and other comorbidities, diabetes was associated with death (OR 1.70 [95% CI 1.23, 2.34]) and admission to the intensive care unit more than 3 days after initial admission (OR 1.78 [95% CI 1.17, 2.70]). Assuming causality, the population attributable fraction for type 2 diabetes in COVID-19 death was 19.6% (95% CI 10.8, 35.6). Conclusion Type 2 diabetes is a strong risk factor for COVID-19 death in the Middle East. Given the high prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the Middle East, as well as many Western countries, the public health implications are considerable

Interaction between contrasting rice genotypes and soil physical conditions induced by hydraulic stresses typical of alternate wetting and drying irrigation of soil

Background and aims: Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) saves water in paddy rice production but could influence soil physical conditions and root growth. This study investigated the interaction between contrasting rice genotypes, soil structure and mechanical impedance influenced by hydraulic stresses typical of AWD. Methods: Contrasting rice genotypes, IR64 and deeper- rooting Black Gora were grown in various soil conditions for 2 weeks. For the AWD treatments the soil was either maintained in a puddled state, equilibrated to −5 kPa (WET), or dried to −50 kPa and then rewetted at thewater potential of −5 kPa (DRY-WET). There was an additional manipulated macropore structure treatment, i.e. the soil was broken into aggregates, packed into cores and equilibrated to −5 kPa (REPACKED). A flooded treatment (puddled soil remained flooded until harvest) was set as a control (FLOODED). Soil bulk density, penetration resistance and X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) derived macropore structure were measured. Total root length, root surface area, root volume, average diameter, and tip number were determined by WinRhizo. Results: AWD induced formation of macropores and slightly increased soil mechanical impedance. The total root length of the AWD and REPACKED treatments were 1.7–2.2 and 3.5–4.2 times greater than that of the FLOODED treatment. There was no significant difference between WET and DRY-WET treatments. The differences between genotypes were minimal. Conclusions: AWD influenced soil physical properties and some root characteristics of rice seedlings, but drying soil initially to −50 kPa versus −5 kPa had no impact. Macropores formed intentionally from repacking caused a large change in root characteristics

Soil fertility evaluation in Negara Brunei Darussalam

A goal of Negara Brunei Darussalam Department of Agriculture is to increase agricultural production and reduce dependence on imported food products by increasing the area of land used for agriculture and by increasing productivity on existing agricultural land. This consultancy project provided supporting information by assessing the soil characteristics and their suitability for a variety of crops and provided recommendations for profitable and sustainable land management. This project generated a number of soil evaluation products that assisted with providing consolidated information and transfer of knowledge to assist with improved land use decision making for policy makers, advisory officers, and farmers. The products included: soil data for 24 soil types, maps, soil identification key, field manual for soil type identification (in English and Malay), toposequence cross-sections, database and land information system, land evaluation calculator, suitability assessment for 69 crops, acid sulfate soil identification, fertilizer and lime calculator, and identification of management options. This paper presents key features for some of these products that were successfully used to communicate and deliver soil evaluation information targeted to the different levels of users in Brunei.Gerard Grealish, Anthony Ringrose-Voase and Rob Fitzpatrickhttp://www.iuss.org/19th%20WCSS/19th%20WCSS_Handbook_REAL%20HANDBOOK_V10_BACK%20COVER%20change.pdfhttp://trove.nla.gov.au/work/3767923

Improving patient throughput for oral day case surgery. The efficacy of a nurse-led pre-admission clinic

In an attempt to reduce patient failures and cancelled operations on the day of admission for oral day case surgery, and to improve pre-operative patient assessment and education, a nurse-led pre-admission clinic (PAC) was introduced in April 1996. Day case patients were selected in cohorts from the waiting list and invited to attend the pre-admission clinic prior to finalizing their operation dates. Clinics were run by experienced staff nurses and patients screened for medical or surgical problems that might preclude day case surgery; access to experienced anaesthetic or surgical opinion was arranged as necessary. During a 2 year period 908 patients were sent clinic appointments; but only 727 (80%) attended; of these 629 (69%) progressed to surgery, but 98 (11%) were deemed unsuitable for day case treatment usually because of medical or socio-domestic complications and were managed more appropriately elsewhere. Of the 181 non-attenders, 140 were ultimately removed from the waiting list. Pre-admission screening thus filtered out 279 patients who were either unsuitable for day case surgery or no longer interested in receiving treatment. Waiting times for surgery were reduced from over 12 months to less than 3.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Patients' experience of oral day case surgery: Feedback from a nurse-led pre-admission clinic

A nurse-led pre-admission clinic (PAC) was introduced in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 1996 to help reduce patient failures and cancelled operations on the day of admission and to improve pre-operative patient assessment and education for oral day case surgery. In order to investigate patients' perceptions of their experience and to ascertain their views on their PAC appointment, a questionnaire was sent to 178 day case patients operated upon between October 1997 and January 1998. Questions were asked relating to details of their PAC visit and subsequent surgical experience, with additional comments invited. Eighty eight completed questionnaires were returned (49% response rate), which showed a greater than 90% satisfaction with the PAC. Patients reported fewer worries, increased confidence and an improved understanding of both their surgery and peri-operative care following PAC attendance. Eighty eight percent of the additional comments reported a favourable experience. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Tráfego de máquinas agrícolas e alterações de bioporos em área sob pomar de laranja Agricultural machinery traffic and alterations in biopores under an orange orchard

O estudo micromorfológico permite observar detalhadamente todas as modificações causadas na estrutura e no espaço poroso do solo, impostas pelo cultivo e pelo tráfego de máquinas agrícolas. Este trabalho testou a hipótese de que a compactação causada pelo tráfego de máquinas influi, diferencialmente, na forma e na distribuição das classes de poros, os quais podem ser utilizados como indicadores da qualidade do solo. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar e quantificar, por meio de estudos micromorfológicos, as modificações na porosidade oriunda da atividade biológica (bioporos) em um Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo sob pomar de laranja submetido ao tráfego de máquinas. Amostras indeformadas foram coletadas na superfície (0-12 cm) de uma área sob pomar de laranja, abrangendo as posições: entrerodado (ER), rodado (R) e projeção da copa (PC), utilizado, como testemunha, um perfil sob mata. Os resultados mostraram que o aumento na diversidade de poros está diretamente relacionado com os processos de degradação da estrutura do solo e que o estudo da ocorrência das classes de poros mostrou-se mais eficiente na identificação da compactação do solo em estádios iniciais que os dados de densidade do solo.<br>Soil micromorphological studies enable a detailed observation of the modifications in soil pore structure and space imposed by cultivation and agricultural machinery traffic. This study tested the hypothesis that compaction caused by machinery affects the form and class distribution of pores in a distinct way and that such alterations can be used as soil quality indicators. The objectives of this study were to evaluate and quantify, through micromorphological studies, the modifications in porosity caused by biological activity (biopores) in a Red-Yellow Latosol (Oxisol) under an orange orchard subjected to machinery traffic. Undisturbed samples were collected from the surface soil layer (0-12 cm) in the following positions: in-between wheel tracks (ER), wheel tracks (R) and plant canopy projection (PC). For comparison purposes, samples were also collected from a soil profile under natural vegetation. Results showed that the increase in pore diversity is directly related to the process of soil structure degradation. The study of pore classes was more effective to identify soil compaction in its initial state than soil density data