48 research outputs found
Thermal Tourism and Geoheritage: Examining Visitor Motivations and Perceptions
Kúpele Vyžne Ružbachy spa and San Giovanni spa are very well known spas located in Slovakia and in Italy. Both spas are surrounded by environmental and historical richness, including geological features that hold considerable potential for geotourism. In order to gauge the promotional value of these geological features, this study investigates: (a) The motivation of tourists for visiting the area, (b) the level of visitors' interest and knowledge regarding the area's geological features, (c) their assessment of the attractiveness and accessibility of these features, (d) their overall opinion about the area for geotourism, and (e) indications for utilizing these features to improve the landscape knowledge of the general public. The data were collected using on-site survey methods and examined by statistical analysis. Results of the survey show that the attraction of tourists to these areas is due not only to health and wellness benefits, but also to social aspects and the desire for exploring new places. It was found that the geological elements in both locations hold significant geotourism potential—and efforts to increase visitors' awareness of their environmental and cultural significance could be decisive in capitalizing on the attraction of these unique sites. Improvement of the accessibility to the sites would be highly recommended as a way to increase tourism diversity
Simposio per Immagini. Sesto Simposio Internazionale Il monitoraggio costiero mediterraneo: problematiche e tecniche di misura
Il volume è un appendice del VI Simposio "Il Monitoraggio Costiero Mediterraneo: problematiche e tecniche di misura" ed è curato da Gianni Fasano e Alessandro Materassi
Vengono illustrate le attività scientifico-culturali svolte in concomitate dell'Evento
Nel Volume sono presenti contributi di
Paola Baldari, Antonio Raschi, Alessandra Potenti, Laura Pellegrino, Matteo De Vincenzi, Francesca Giampaolo
Increasing Heatwave Hazards in the Southeastern European Union Capitals
Heatwaves (HWs) are one of the “natural” hazards with the greatest impact worldwide in terms of mortality and economic losses, and their effects may be exacerbated in large urban areas. For these reasons, more detailed analyses of urban HW trends represent a priority that cannot be neglected. In this study, HW trends were investigated during the warmest period of the year (May–September) by using a slightly improved version of the EuroHEAT HW definition applied on long meteorological time-series (36-year period, 1980–2015) collected by weather stations located in the capitals of the 28 European Union member countries. Comparisons between two 18-year sub-periods (1980–1997 vs. 1998–2015) were carried out and a city-specific HW hazard index (HWHI), accounting for the main HW characteristics, was proposed. Most of the capitals revealed significant positive trends of the majority of HW hazard characteristics and substantial HWHI increases were observed during the sub-period 1998–2015, especially in the central-eastern and southeastern cities. Conversely, minor HWHI increases were observed in most of the northern capitals and opposite situations were even observed in several northern and especially southwestern cities. The results of this study represent a support for planning urban HW-related mitigation and adaptation strategies with the priority given to the southeastern cities
Can indicators for sustainable tourism improve tourism planning in the coastal destinations? Empirical evidence from Catalonia, Istrian Region and Tuscany Region
Due to the continuous increase of the tourism industry, tourism destinations need to be managed under a sustainable framework, with the main aim of minimizing the adverse effects caused by tourism flows. In recent years, several attempts have been made to measure those effects and value the level of sustainability of every destination. A clear example of this is the European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS). In the paper, the results are presented of a project which aimed to test indicators of sustainable tourism in coastal destinations of Catalonia, Istrian Region, and Tuscany Region. The results of 33 collected indicators are available on the online platform of the project INTERREG MED MITOMED+. During the first year, in every category of indicators (economic, social-cultural and environmental) only some indicators were collected, which was expected because different regions apply different methodologies. The collected data is the starting point that shows destinations how the indicator can be obtained and what its purpose is. Furthermore, collected data can help local and regional tourism stakeholders to prevent factors of risk, to take decisions and to improve the implementation of policies for sustainable maritime and coastal tourism development in the Mediterranean area
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Thermal optimality of net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide and underlying mechanisms
It is well established that individual organisms can acclimate and adapt to temperature to optimize their functioning. However, thermal optimization of ecosystems, as an assemblage of organisms, has not been examined at broad spatial and temporal scales. Here, we compiled data from 169 globally distributed sites of eddy covariance and quantified the temperature response functions of net ecosystem exchange (NEE), an ecosystem-level property, to determine whether NEE shows thermal optimality and to explore the underlying mechanisms. We found that the temperature response of NEE followed a peak curve, with the optimum temperature (corresponding to the maximum magnitude of NEE) being positively correlated with annual mean temperature over years and across sites. Shifts of the optimum temperature of NEE were mostly a result of temperature acclimation of gross primary productivity (upward shift of optimum temperature) rather than changes in the temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration. Ecosystem-level thermal optimality is a newly revealed ecosystem property, presumably reflecting associated evolutionary adaptation of organisms within ecosystems, and has the potential to significantly regulate ecosystemclimate change feedbacks. The thermal optimality of NEE has implications for understanding fundamental properties of ecosystems in changing environments and benchmarking global models.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by New Phytologist Trust and can be found at: http://www.newphytologist.org/Keywords: Climate change, Temperature acclimation, Optimum temperature, Thermal optimality, Temperature adaptatio
Key Learning Outcomes for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Education in Europe: A Modified Delphi Study.
Harmonizing clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) education in Europe is necessary to ensure that the prescribing competency of future doctors is of a uniform high standard. As there are currently no uniform requirements, our aim was to achieve consensus on key learning outcomes for undergraduate CPT education in Europe. We used a modified Delphi method consisting of three questionnaire rounds and a panel meeting. A total of 129 experts from 27 European countries were asked to rate 307 learning outcomes. In all, 92 experts (71%) completed all three questionnaire rounds, and 33 experts (26%) attended the meeting. 232 learning outcomes from the original list, 15 newly suggested and 5 rephrased outcomes were included. These 252 learning outcomes should be included in undergraduate CPT curricula to ensure that European graduates are able to prescribe safely and effectively. We provide a blueprint of a European core curriculum describing when and how the learning outcomes might be acquired
The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics' resources: focus on curated databases
The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (www.isb-sib.ch) provides world-class bioinformatics databases, software tools, services and training to the international life science community in academia and industry. These solutions allow life scientists to turn the exponentially growing amount of data into knowledge. Here, we provide an overview of SIB's resources and competence areas, with a strong focus on curated databases and SIB's most popular and widely used resources. In particular, SIB's Bioinformatics resource portal ExPASy features over 150 resources, including UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, ENZYME, PROSITE, neXtProt, STRING, UniCarbKB, SugarBindDB, SwissRegulon, EPD, arrayMap, Bgee, SWISS-MODEL Repository, OMA, OrthoDB and other databases, which are briefly described in this article
Measuring Destination Image of an Italian Island: An Analysis of Online Content Generated by Local Operators and Tourists
The understanding of destination image is a key point for tourism enterprises, local authorities, and policy makers. This study explores the case of Capraia, a small island located in Tuscany, to analyze how tourists (tourism demand) and local operators (tourism supply) create and communicate the island’s online image. This research quantitatively examines online communication on the two sides of the tourism market to monitor the online destination image of the island of Capraia. To build on previous research in this area, this study adopts a web content mining approach to assess the characteristics of content published online. The main dimensions of destination image (as developed in the literature) are used as a basis to create a dictionary for automated content analysis. A total of 24 tourism promotion websites and 9,180 tourist Instagram posts were analyzed. Findings reveal discrepancies between the image proposed by local operators and that perceived by tourists. Local operators mostly communicate general information to discover the destination, while tourists prioritize communication based on emotional appeal and personal experience on the island. This research aims to provide support for local operators and policy makers in decisions relating to communication and in defining the island image