The aim of the study is to present selected issues related to health that are significant in the modern concept of wellness and spa.
The World Health Organization has adopted the so-called positive ...definition of health, which encompasses it as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, rather than merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Wellness is one of the contemporary approaches to health related to quality of life and actions for health (aspiring towards wellness). On the other hand, spa is an idea of a holistic approach to health, where the harmony of mind and body is to be ensured through the use of relaxing, cosmetic, and biological renewal treatments, often involving water. Spa centers combine relaxation with the care for psychophysical health. The purpose of these centers is to improve health, well-being, and appearance. These aspects are extremely important in the holistic understanding of health.
The aim of this paper is to examine the main issues that are pertinent to spa directors and employees when managing a spa. These include spa leadership; employee motivation; customer service; quality ...management; sustainability; health and safety; marketing and sales; financial management and funding; spa experience design; lifestyle and future trends. Using a sample of 45 in-depth e-interviews with respondents from 17 countries representing different positions within the spa sector, the authors analyse the priorities and challenges highlighted by the interviewees. This is framed by some of the latest studies in spa management, which provide a background and comparison for the primary research.
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BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Background
We conducted a longitudinal study to evaluate changes in the clinical presentation and epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) in an academic, US medical center.
...Methods
Consecutive patients with monomicrobial SAB were enrolled from January 1995 to December 2015. Each person’s initial bloodstream S. aureus isolate was genotyped using spa typing. Clonal complexes (CCs) were assigned using Ridom StaphType software. Changes over time in both the patient and bacterial characteristics were estimated with linear regression. Associations between genotypes or clinical characteristics and complications were estimated using multivariable regression models.
Results
Among the 2348 eligible participants, 54.2% had an implantable, foreign body of some type. This proportion increased significantly during the 21-year study period, by 0.96% annually (P = .002), as did comorbid conditions and acquisition outside of the hospital. Rates of any metastatic complication also significantly increased, by 0.94% annually (P = .019). Among the corresponding bloodstream S. aureus isolates, spa-CC012 (multi-locus sequence type MLST CC30), -CC004 (MLST CC45), -CC189 (MLST CC1), and -CC084 (MLST CC15) all significantly declined during the study period, while spa-CC008 (MLST CC8) significantly increased. Patients with SAB due to spa-CC008 were significantly more likely to develop metastatic complications in general, and abscesses, septic emboli, and persistent bacteremia in particular. After adjusting for demographic, racial, and clinical variables, the USA300 variant of spa-CC008 was independently associated with metastatic complications (odds ratio 1.42; 95% confidence interval 1.02–1.99).
Conclusions
Systematic approaches for monitoring complications of SAB and genotyping the corresponding bloodstream isolates will help identify the emergence of hypervirulent clones and likely improve clinical management of this syndrome.
During 21 years of continuous enrollment in this prospective, observational cohort study of 2348 patients, bacterial genotypes, patient characteristics, and metastatic complication rates changed significantly. The emergence of the USA300 genotype was independently associated with an increase in metastatic complications.
Health and wellness tourism Erfurt-Cooper, Patricia; Cooper, Malcolm
2009., 2009, 2009-07-27, Volume:
40
eBook
Explores health and wellness tourism from a range of perspectives including usage, heritage, management, technology, environmental and cultural features, and marketing.
Summary
Elongated hypocotyl5 (HY5) is a key transcription factor that promotes photomorphogenesis. Constitutive photomorphogenic1 (COP1)–Suppressor of phytochrome A‐105 (SPA) E3 ubiquitin ligase ...complex promotes ubiquitination and degradation of HY5 to repress photomorphogenesis in darkness. HY5 is also regulated by phosphorylation at serine 36 residue. However, the kinase responsible for phosphorylation of HY5 remains unknown.
Here, using extensive in vitro and in vivo biochemical, genetic, and photobiological techniques, we have identified a new kinase that phosphorylates HY5 and demonstrated the significance of phosphorylation of HY5 in Arabidopsis thaliana.
We show that SPA proteins are the missing kinases necessary for HY5 phosphorylation. SPAs can directly phosphorylate HY5 in vitro, and the phosphorylated HY5 is absent in the spaQ background in vivo. We also demonstrate that the unphosphorylated HY5 interacts strongly with both COP1 and SPA1 and is the preferred substrate for degradation, whereas the phosphorylated HY5 is more stable in the dark. In addition, the unphosphorylated HY5 actively binds to the target promoters and is the physiologically more active form. Consistently, the transgenic plants expressing the unphosphorylated form of HY5 display enhanced photomorphogenesis.
Collectively, our study revealed the missing kinase responsible for direct phosphorylation of HY5 that fine‐tunes its stability and activity to regulate photomorphogenesis.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The present article includes descriptive research about how water resources in Romanian medical spas could be better promoted to increase their visibility. Romania is one of the European countries ...with impressive potential in terms of balneology, having a wide diversity of natural factors that allow treating several medical conditions in the same resort. In addition, one-third of the mineral and thermal water springs in Europe are present on the Romanian territory, making Romania one of the most important European destinations in terms of natural spa resources. The present research aims to illustrate how the Romanian medical spas communicate with tourists about the therapeutic water available in five medical spas: Băile Felix-1 Mai, Techirghiol, Băile Tușnad, Sovata and Covasna, having as its main objective to raise the awareness among the spas representatives regarding the necessity of water management implementation. The research is based on primary data obtained from the official websites of the resorts included in the study and in the published scholarly articles that approached the Romanian medical spas.
Whereas the emergence of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant
(LA-MRSA) clonal complex 398 (CC398) in animal husbandry and its transmission to humans are well documented, less is known about ...factors driving the epidemic spread of this zoonotic lineage within the human population. One factor could be the bacteriophage phi3, which is rarely detected in
isolates from animals but commonly found among isolates from humans, including those of the human-adapted methicillin-susceptible
(MSSA) CC398 clade. The proportion of phi3-carrying MRSA
-CC011 isolates, which constitute presumptively LA-MRSA within the multilocus sequence type (MLST) clonal complex 398, was systematically assessed for a period of 16 years to investigate the role of phi3 in the adaptation process of LA-MRSA to the human host. For this purpose, 632 MRSA
-CC011 isolates from patients of a university hospital located in a pig farming-dense area in Germany were analyzed. Livestock-associated acquisition of MRSA
-CC011 was previously reported as having increased from 1.8% in 2000 to 29.4% in 2014 in MRSA-positive patients admitted to this hospital. However, in this study, the proportion of phi3-carrying isolates rose only from 1.1% (2000 to 2006) to 3.9% (2007 to 2015). Characterization of the phi3 genomes revealed 12 different phage types ranging in size from 40,712 kb up to 44,003 kb, with four hitherto unknown integration sites (genes or intergenic regions) and several modified bacterial attachment (
) sites. In contrast to the MSSA CC398 clade, phi3 acquisition seems to be no major driver for the readaptation of MRSA spa-CC011 to the human host.
Between the mid-1840s and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, the spa town of Baden-Baden emerged as Europe's leading fashion destination and a significant intercultural hub. On both sides of the ...Rhine, the city gained a reputation as a “French colony” and a “branch of Paris”, albeit with varying connotations. Eva Zimmermann delves into the development of this unique site of German-French cultural relations amidst the dynamics of cosmopolitanism and growing nationalism. She analyzes the diverse factors that contributed to the emergence of the “Summer Capital of Europe” and identifies phenomena and limitations of exchange and cultural transfers that shaped the entire spa experience.
Entre le milieu des années 1840 et la guerre franco-prussienne de 1870–1871, la ville thermale de Baden-Baden s’est imposée comme la première destination à la mode en Europe et comme un carrefour interculturel majeur. L’influence française particulièrement marquée a valu à la ville, des deux côtés du Rhin, la réputation de » colonie française « et de » filiale de Paris «, même si cela a été interprété de manières différentes. Eva Zimmermann se penche sur l’évolution de ce lieu unique quant aux relations culturelles franco-allemandes dans un contexte de tensions entre cosmopolitisme et nationalisme croissant. Elle analyse les multiples facteurs qui ont contribué à l’émergence de la »capitale d’été de l’Europe« et identifie les phénomènes et les limites des échanges et des transferts culturels qui ont façonné l’ensemble de l’expérience thermale.
Zwischen Mitte der 1840-Jahre und dem Deutsch-Französischen Krieg von 1870/71 avancierte der Kurort Baden-Baden zum führenden Modebad Europas und zu einem bedeutenden interkulturellen Zentrum. Der ausgeprägte französische Einfluss brachte der Stadt auf beiden Seiten des Rheins den Ruf einer »französischen Kolonie« und einer »Filiale von Paris« ein, wobei dies unterschiedlich interpretiert wurde. Eva Zimmermann geht der Entwicklung dieses einzigartigen Ortes der deutsch-französischen Kulturbeziehungen im Spannungsfeld zwischen Kosmopolitismus und erstarkendem Nationalismus nach. Sie analysiert die vielfältigen Faktoren, die zur Entstehung der »Sommerhauptstadt Europas« beitrugen, und identifiziert Phänomene und Grenzen des Austauschs und Kulturtransfers, welche die gesamte Bäderkultur prägten.
Due to the inadequate literature for fully understanding service quality in the spa industry, this article has the objective to review the related literature to obtain a conceptual understanding of a ...spa service quality framework. The method is based on a systematic review of related literature by analysing service models/dimensions from past studies and integrating them to obtain a comprehensive framework of spa service quality. Based on the proposed framework, the four themes (dimensions) of spa service quality are identified: (1) spa programmes and products, (2) physical environment, (3) customer-employee interaction, and (4) service outcome. The overview suggests that using a single service model is insufficient to fully understand the spa service quality framework because of its distinct characteristics. The findings can help researchers and spa practitioners to thoroughly understand the overall framework of spa service quality. In particular, the combination of physical environment (technology-based equipment) and better customer-employee interaction can contribute to service innovation for the spa industry. The overview helps to extend the theoretical knowledge (framework) of the traditional SERQVUAL and three-dimensional models (physical, interaction and outcome quality) by adding the product dimension as an additional component of the spa service quality framework.
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