Agritourism and the farmer as rural entrepreneur: A UK analysis

Farm-based recreation or agritourism is increasingly seen as a diversification strategy to promote a more diverse and sustainable rural economy and to protect farming incomes against market fluctuation. Thus, farmers are increasingly being recognised as entrepreneurial, needing to develop new skills and capabilities to remain competitive. However, few studies have addressed the role of entrepreneurship within the context of the diversified farm tourism business. This paper examines the range of skills and competencies that farmers in the North West of England identify as important for successful diversification and explores the extent to which these competencies are evident. The findings indicate that although farmers are increasingly turning to agritourism as a means to generate additional income, they lack many of the fundamental business competencies required for success. A finding which has implications for rural development policies and signals the need to address these skill deficiencies through farm advisory processes and via more effective training and support of agritourism providers

Debate: Can Sustainable Tourism include Flying?

Can Sustainable tourism include flying? was the question addressed by the debate at the University of Central Lancashire (University of Central Lancashire), UK on March 30th 2012. There was an unexpected degree of consensus among the speakers that tourism had severe environmental impacts, mainly from flying and that many countries currently benefitting from tourism development were likely to suffer from climate change. They also agreed that corporate tourism often diverted funds from destination areas into their own profits. Those arguing for flying stressed the balance of environmental, social and economic benefits, while those arguing against prioritised the environmental damage of increasing aviation. The pro-fliers were optimistic about technological advances in aircraft and fuels but the others doubted their potential to reduce emissions from current or increased levels of aviation. Both sides admitted behavioural change was difficult, but saw hope in recent trends

The role of Melancholia in prostate cancer patients' depression

BACKGROUND: Although it is well established that prostate cancer (PCa) patients are more likely to experience clinical depression than their age-matched non-prostate cancer peers, and that such depression can have negative effects upon survival, little is known about the underlying nature of the depressive symptomatology that these men experience. In particular, the incidence of melancholic symptoms of depression, which are signs of increased risk of suicide and resistance to treatment, has not previously been reported in PCa patients. The present study aimed to measure the incidence and nature of Melancholia in PCa depression. METHOD: A sample of 507 PCa patients in Queensland, Australia, completed anonymous and confidential questionnaires about their background, treatment status, and depression. Data were analysed to select depressive symptoms that were part of the definition of Melancholia vs those which were not. Regression was used to determine the links between Melancholia and overall depressive status, and factor analysis revealed the underlying components of Melancholia, which were mapped over time since diagnosis for 3 years. RESULTS: Psychometric data were satisfactory. Melancholia significantly predicted depressive status for the most depressed subset of patients, but not for the total sample. Melancholia was factored into its components of Anhedonia and Agitation, and the first of these was more powerful in predicting Melancholia. Variability over the 3 years following diagnosis was noted for each of these two components of Melancholia. CONCLUSIONS: The strong presence of Melancholia in the depressive symptomatology of this sample of PCa patients suggests that some forms of treatment for depression may be more likely to succeed than others. The dominance of Anhedonia and Agitation over other symptoms of Melancholia also holds implications for treatment options when assisting these men to cope with their depression

Victoria Park

It was mid March this year when I visited Victoria Park. Not to say I hadn’t visited before, walking through the park twice a week most weeks. This time however as a ‘site visit’ in its intentionality, the visit was of significantly greater educational substance. This visit, I joined most of the Aboriginal Political History student cohort in an excursion that almost felt like a walk back in time. With the purpose of gaining a larger understanding of Aboriginal occupation and use of the land which we use so regularly. That land being Victoria Park. A place that I was amused to feel a strange sense of nostalgia by the way we navigated the landscape

Managing agricultural phosphorus to minimize water quality impacts

Eutrophication of surface waters remains a major use-impairment in many countries, which, in fresh waters, is accelerated by phosphorus (P) inputs from both point (e.g., municipal waste water treatment plants) and nonpoint sources (e.g., urban and agricultural runoff). As point sources tend to be easier to identify and control, greater attention has recently focused on reducing nonpoint sources of P. In Brazil, agricultural productivity has increased tremendously over the last decade as a consequence, to a large extent, of increases in the use of fertilizer and improved land management. For instance, adoption of the “4R” approach (i.e., right rate, right time, right source, and right placement of P) to fertilizer management can decrease P runoff. Additionally, practices that lessen the risk of runoff and erosion, such as reduced tillage and cover crops will also lessen P runoff. Despite these measures P can still be released from soil and fluvial sediment stores as a result of the prior 10 to 20 years’ management. These legacy sources can mask the water quality benefits of present-day conservation efforts. Future remedial efforts should focus on developing risk assessment indices and nonpoint source models to identify and target conservation measures and to estimate their relative effectiveness. New fertilizer formulations may more closely tailor the timing of nutrient release to plant needs and potentially decrease P runoff. Even so, it must be remembered that appropriate and timely inputs of fertilizers are needed to maintain agricultural productivity and in some cases, financial support might also be required to help offset the costs of expensive conservation measures

Enhancing local community’s involvement and empowerment through practicing Cittaslow: experiences from Goolwa, South Australia

This study attempted to investigate how and the extent to which Cittaslow philosophy and practice enhanced local community’s involvement and empowerment in relation to tourism development from the sustainability’s perspective. As an empirical study, a series of in-depth interviews with key stakeholders including local government, local business, and local community’s members were conducted in Goolwa, the first Australian accredited Cittaslow town since 2007, located in South Australia. The results indicated that to a greater extent the accreditation and practice of Cittaslow philosophy in Goolwa increased a stronger and more effective collaboration amongst local community, business and residents as an essential element for achieving sustainability in tourism development. Not only did it encourage the local community’s participation in decision making process from the beginning of tourism development, but also revitalised the locality and sense of place of Goolwa through promoting local specialities and produces, in particular food and wine products. The results also suggested that psychological and social aspects of local community’s empowerment have been significantly enhanced after the establishment of Cittaslow. Yet, the economic empowerment of the local community was less experienced

Salmonella and Paracolon species isolated from the wild brown rat, Rattus norvegicus, in the city of Richmond, Virginia

The importance of bacteria as a cause of serious intestinal diseases in man and. other animals has been recognized since the early days of the science of bacteriology. Of those forms usually associated with intestinal disturbances in man, the species considered most important are those belonging in the Salmonella group, the Paracolon group, and the Shigella group. Also, it has been known since the early part of this century that the conman rat serves as an important vector for the dissemination of infectious organisms. For example, standard textbooks list rats as primary vectors of enteric bacteria. However. there has been a surprisingly small amount of work done to determine the actual percentage of infection in wild rats. There have been numerous investigations concerning outbreaks of Salmonellosis in mouse populations, and in mouse colonies in breeding laboratories, but few surveys have been made on wild rodents in recent years

Novel approaches in the prognostication, monitoring and management of light chain amyloidosis

Background: Systemic light chain (AL) amyloidosis is a rare disorder characterised by the production of abnormal clonal light chains, which mis-fold and deposit as amyloid fibrils within the tissues, with progressive organ dysfunction. Significant progress has been made in the field of AL amyloidosis, but improvements can still be made in the stratification of patients, the monitoring of patients who achieve a clonal remission and in the treatment of patients, both with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) and at relapse. / Aims: • To explore the merits of mass spectrometry as a novel diagnostic technique. • To analyse the features of Mayo stage 1 patients to help identify variables predictive for survival. • To assess the outcome of patients treated with an autologous stem cell transplant and to compare outcomes with patients treated with standard first line chemotherapy. • To analyse the outcomes of relapsed patients treated with the immunomodulatory drug pomalidomide. • To explore the complications of treatment including reactivation of cytomegalovirus infection. • To assess if amyloidosis can complicate solid organ transplantation. / Results and Conclusions: • Mass spectrometry can accurately identify and quantify a monoclonal light chain component, even in patients in a complete light chain response by current serological methods. • The cardiac biomarker N- terminal B-natriuretic peptide still has a prognostic value in Mayo stage 1 patients. • ASCT remains a safe and effective treatment with outcomes comparable to the large American transplant centres, but with no survival benefit over standard first line treatment. • Pomalidomide is a therapeutic option for multiply relapsed AL amyloidosis patients but responses are not as sustained nor as deep in the real-world setting. • There is a substantial risk of cytomegalovirus reactivation in patients treated with bortezomib • Solid organ transplantation appears to be a genuine risk factor for the development of both AL and AA amyloidosis

Factor structure of the Gotland Scale of male depression in two samples of men with prostate cancer:Implications for treating male depression

Up to a quarter of all prostate cancer (PCa) patients suffer from clinically significant depression but treatments are inconsistent and short-lived in their efficacy. One possible reason could be that 'male depression' is not adequately diagnosed by the criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) used in many clinical settings.In response to this limitation, the Gotland Scale of Male Depression (GSMD) was developed to identify the extra symptoms of MDD in men. Although the factor structure of the GSMD has been reported in non-PCa samples, it has not been determined for this group of men. Two samples of PCa patients were recruited, 191 from Australia and 138 from the United Kingdom and all patients received the GSMD individually, plus a background questionnaire. Two-factor solutions were identified for each of the two samples. The Australian sample was characterized by changes in emotional and somatic function, followed by depressed mood. The U.K. sample exhibited the same two-factor solution but in reverse order of weighting. Targeted treatments for depression in PCa patients may benefit from identification of the loadings that individual patients have on these two GSMD factors so that specific clinical profiles and treatment needs may be based on this information about their depression