Writing a dissertation can be a daunting topic - Researching Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality for Dissertations and Theses 2nd edn is a unique text that takes away the stress, worry and confusion by ...providing a step-by-step, user friendly guide to all you need to know to successfully research and compile your dissertation or thesis. Now in its second edition, this bestselling text has been fully revised and updated, and now includes two new chapters looking at conducting mixed methods research, as well as analysing mixed methods research.•Clearly links research processes with the presentation of these in the writing of dissertations and theses.•Draws on the work of undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students the author has supervised, over 30 years to provide examples of dissertation/theses material.•Uses case studies/examples based on the author's own peer reviewed research.•Written in an accessible style. •Presents tried and tested student activities.It provides a discussion of research approaches, looking at key differences and similarities. A critical evaluation of these different approaches is provided and, importantly, a discussion on selecting the appropriate approach(es) for your dissertation. It takes the reader from the initial idea and topics, through the literature review, methodology, presenting and analysing results and successfully making conclusions.Unlike other texts available, this book includes case studies based on the author's own research, as well as students' work, to demonstrate different research approaches and techniques, providing an opportunity for criticism and a discussion on 'learning from mistakes.' A must-have text for all students on how best to conduct research, compile your findings and to present them in the resulting dissertation.
The contributions in this Special Issue originate from a Symposium “Classical biological control of weeds and arthropods: Evaluation of social, economic and ecological benefits" presented at the 26th ...International Congress of Entomology, held in Helsinki, Finland in 2022. Following an opening article analyzing agent and target traits associated with greater success odds in weed biological control, a perspective article summarizing how biological control programs are currently assessed and how they may be evaluated going forward frames the articles in the Special Issue. Articles assess different dimensions of success for selected weed and arthropod biocontrol programs either on the individual project level or through summaries of recent projects for geographic regions. Success dimensions include economic, ecological and socio-economic benefits. Included are also several articles that summarize or propose the use of innovative tools to improve biological control as a discipline going forward. Overall, this Special Issue portrays a status quo of biological control characterized by thoughtful analyses of project outcomes and recommendations to improve outcome assessments and increase the odds of success. As such, an optimistic prognosis for biological control is provided.
The use of living organisms or natural substances to counteract the damage caused by harmful organisms to economically and/or ecologically important species has provided significant benefits to the ...global community. The Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol, a supplementary agreement to it, regulate access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable distribution of benefits arising out of their utilization. Despite the good intentions pursued by the international regime—mainly, the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity—, non-strategic national measures adopted pursuant to the Convention and the Protocol may create obstacles or even impede access to, and use of biological control genetic resources. In view of that, this paper recommends different pathways the scientists and practitioners working in the field of biological control may consider in order to enhance access to these resources.
Transradial artery access for percutaneous coronary intervention is associated with lower bleeding and vascular complications than transfemoral artery access, especially in patients with acute ...coronary syndromes. A growing body of evidence supports adoption of transradial artery access to improve acute coronary syndrome-related outcomes, to improve healthcare quality, and to reduce cost. The purpose of this scientific statement is to propose and support a "radial-first" strategy in the United States for patients with acute coronary syndromes. This document also provides an update to previously published statements on transradial artery access technique and best practices, particularly as they relate to the management of patients with acute coronary syndromes.
The possible symmetry preserving and symmetry breaking ground states of a two-dimensional, two-component Bose-Einstein condensate are classified in terms of the intercomponent and intracomponent ...interaction strengths and in terms of the parameters of the trapping potential, which is taken to be harmonic plus Gaussian. An effective potential can be defined which shows that the symmetry preserving ground states of the total density are either disks or annuli. The possibilities to compose a total density of these forms gives rise to a number of different ground states of the individual components’ density profiles.
Tourism Destination Quality: Attributes and Dimensionscritically compares dimensions of tourism destination quality established in the TDQ study with dimensions of product quality, service quality, ...place quality and destination service/product quality.
Nonviral delivery of self-amplifying RNA vaccines Geall, Andrew J; Verma, Ayush; Otten, Gillis R ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
09/2012, Letnik:
109, Številka:
36
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Despite more than two decades of research and development on nucleic acid vaccines, there is still no commercial product for human use. Taking advantage of the recent innovations in systemic delivery ...of short interfering RNA (siRNA) using lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), we developed a self-amplifying RNA vaccine. Here we show that nonviral delivery of a 9-kb self-amplifying RNA encapsulated within an LNP substantially increased immunogenicity compared with delivery of unformulated RNA. This unique vaccine technology was found to elicit broad, potent, and protective immune responses, that were comparable to a viral delivery technology, but without the inherent limitations of viral vectors. Given the many positive attributes of nucleic acid vaccines, our results suggest that a comprehensive evaluation of nonviral technologies to deliver self-amplifying RNA vaccines is warranted.
Nucleic acid-based vaccines such as viral vectors, plasmid DNA, and mRNA are being developed as a means to address a number of unmet medical needs that current vaccine technologies have been unable ...to address. Here, we describe a cationic nanoemulsion (CNE) delivery system developed to deliver a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine. This nonviral delivery system is based on Novartis's proprietary adjuvant MF59, which has an established clinical safety profile and is well tolerated in children, adults, and the elderly. We show that nonviral delivery of a 9 kb self-amplifying mRNA elicits potent immune responses in mice, rats, rabbits, and nonhuman primates comparable to a viral delivery technology, and demonstrate that, relatively low doses (75 µg) induce antibody and T-cell responses in primates. We also show the CNE-delivered self-amplifying mRNA enhances the local immune environment through recruitment of immune cells similar to an MF59 adjuvanted subunit vaccine. Lastly, we show that the site of protein expression within the muscle and magnitude of protein expression is similar to a viral vector. Given the demonstration that self-amplifying mRNA delivered using a CNE is well tolerated and immunogenic in a variety of animal models, we are optimistic about the prospects for this technology.
Summary Background The Xpert MTB/RIF test for tuberculosis is being rolled out in many countries, but evidence is lacking regarding its implementation outside laboratories, ability to inform same-day ...treatment decisions at the point of care, and clinical effect on tuberculosis-related morbidity. We aimed to assess the feasibility, accuracy, and clinical effect of point-of-care Xpert MTB/RIF testing at primary-care health-care facilities in southern Africa. Methods In this pragmatic, randomised, parallel-group, multicentre trial, we recruited adults with symptoms suggestive of active tuberculosis from five primary-care health-care facilities in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Tanzania. Eligible patients were randomly assigned using pregenerated tables to nurse-performed Xpert MTB/RIF at the clinic or sputum smear microscopy. Participants with a negative test result were empirically managed according to local WHO-compliant guidelines. Our primary outcome was tuberculosis-related morbidity (measured with the TBscore and Karnofsky performance score KPS) in culture-positive patients who had begun anti-tuberculosis treatment, measured at 2 months and 6 months after randomisation, analysed by intention to treat. This trial is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov , number NCT01554384. Findings Between April 12, 2011, and March 30, 2012, we randomly assigned 758 patients to smear microscopy (182 culture positive) and 744 to Xpert MTB/RIF (185 culture positive). Median TBscore in culture-positive patients did not differ between groups at 2 months (2 IQR 0–3 in the smear microscopy group vs 2 0·25–3 in the MTB/RIF group; p=0·85) or 6 months (1 0–3 vs 1 0–3; p=0·35), nor did median KPS at 2 months (80 70–90 vs 90 80–90; p=0·23) or 6 months (100 90–100 vs 100 90–100; p=0·85). Point-of-care MTB/RIF had higher sensitivity than microscopy (154 83% of 185 vs 91 50% of 182; p=0·0001) but similar specificity (517 95% 544 vs 540 96% of 560; p=0·25), and had similar sensitivity to laboratory-based MTB/RIF (292 83% of 351; p=0·99) but higher specificity (952 92% of 1037; p=0·0173). 34 (5%) of 744 tests with point-of-care MTB/RIF and 82 (6%) of 1411 with laboratory-based MTB/RIF failed (p=0·22). Compared with the microscopy group, more patients in the MTB/RIF group had a same-day diagnosis (178 24% of 744 vs 99 13% of 758; p<0·0001) and same-day treatment initiation (168 23% of 744 vs 115 15% of 758; p=0·0002). Although, by end of the study, more culture-positive patients in the MTB/RIF group were on treatment due to reduced dropout (15 8% of 185 in the MTB/RIF group did not receive treatment vs 28 15% of 182 in the microscopy group; p=0·0302), the proportions of all patients on treatment in each group by day 56 were similar (320 43% of 744 in the MTB/RIF group vs 317 42% of 758 in the microscopy group; p=0·6408). Interpretation Xpert MTB/RIF can be accurately administered by a nurse in primary-care clinics, resulting in more patients starting same-day treatment, more culture-positive patients starting therapy, and a shorter time to treatment. However, the benefits did not translate into lower tuberculosis-related morbidity, partly because of high levels of empirical-evidence-based treatment in smear-negative patients. Funding European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, National Research Foundation, and Claude Leon Foundation.
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