Abstract
The article is devoted to the substantiation of the methodology for assessing the quality of services in agrotourism. The main goal is to develop a model that would allow us to take into ...account all the nuances of assessing the quality of services, taking into account agricultural specifics. In this case, it is difficult to justify ways to improve efficiency, operating solely on economic performance indicators, both absolute and relative: gross income, gross output, net profit, profitability, and others. The presence of both quantitative and qualitative components in this case causes certain difficulties in assessing the efficiency of production. The assessment should include separate components related to the quality side – the service. In this case, it is a component that affects the attraction of additional sources of financing for the main activities of agricultural enterprises. The work is primarily devoted to small businesses – farms as attractive objects from a tourist point of view. In addition, from our point of view, small businesses are able to extract the maximum possible cumulative effect from the combination of basic agricultural activities and the provision of related services. The article presents a methodology for assessing the quality of services based on the SERVQUAL model and adapted for use in the field of agriculture.
Currently, the interest in design thinking in the world has made it possible to add many techniques and visual schemes that can solve various kinds of problems, including for building a strategy to ...achieve the company’s goals, its corporate spirit and the development of creative skills of its employees. Already today, it is possible to call the merit of design thinking the shift of emphasis in corporate goals to customer orientation, to the mobilization of collective intelligence to solve problems, to understanding the importance of empathy, creativity and entrepreneurship. A comparative analysis of existing design thinking frameworks is given, including from researchers of companies and design centers such as Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University (d.school), The HPI-Stanford Design Thinking Research Program, Stanford d.school’s Design Thinking framework (IDEO), Google, Intel. Frameworks structure the process of design thinking in 5-6 phases: from empathy, when the needs and requests of consumers are studied, to testing an innovative product or service being created. The place of “design thinking” approach in the general concept of human-centered design is shown. The task of design thinking, the development of innovative products or services focused on human needs, is to provide a solution to a specific problem of a certain target audience. The paper outlines the principles of designing a digital innovative product. The five steps of designing a new product are described and the features of using various visualization techniques are given. The study uses such tools as the “Persona” model, Job Stories and User Stories frameworks. The creating process features of an innovative product based on the integration of design thinking, Lean Startup methodology and the theory of Jobs to Be Done are described. The life cycle of the innovation development “Creation – Evaluation – Training” is presented which is based on the process of validated learning. Changes in the outline of the business model in the lean startup methodology are presented. New segments have been added to the Lean Canvas business model – “Key Partners”, “Key Activities”, “Key Resources”, “Consumer Relations”.
The review focuses on the lipid based nanocarriers, with special attention paid to natural bioactive payloads. First, micelles and microemulsions are considered as very attractive colloidal ...nanocontainers that allow for marked improving the solubility of hydrophobic bioactives. Further, liposomal vehicles are reviewed, with both advantages and limitations discussed. Literature assay covers up-to-date information of about last three to five years, although brief background is given on the pioneer works addressing the liposomes and their evolution from bench to bedside. Final part of the review is devoted to the modern modifications of vesicular nanocarriers which can be adapted to specific administration way due to improved targeting properties, permeability, mucoadhesiveness and possibility to cross biological barriers. Therein, such kinds of nanocarriers as transfersomes, niosomes, ethosomes, chitosomes are evaluated; and separate sections focus on the natural based formulations, i.e., phytosomes and invasomes.
Aim of the study was to develop recommendations for improving procedures and unifying the content of risk management of the healthcare system to preserve public health based on an analysis of the ...opinions of doctors, organizers and experts of the healthcare system. Material and methods . As part of a quantitative online survey conducted from September to December, 2022, 104 respondents working in the healthcare system of the Russian Federation were interviewed. Additionally, 6 in-depth interviews were conducted with the organizers and experts of the healthcare sector as part of a qualitative sociological study. Desk research included analysis of scientific literature, and the regulatory framework related to the introduction of a risk-based approach to healthcare. Results and discussion . The article presents an analysis the perception of risks in healthcare by doctors, organizers and experts at the level of a medical organization, of the healthcare system and of public health (macro level), with the identification and classification of the main risk groups, on the basis of which risk-management’ measures can be built. The results of the study testify to the insufficiently deep introduction of risk management into the management system of medical organizations. The half of the respondents noted the low and extremely low level of risk management principles’ usage in their own organizations (50 % of respondents) and in Russian medical organizations in general (58.6 % of respondents). At the same time, from a third to a half of the participants found that it was difficult to answer about risk management implementation in their organizations, due to the lack of a unified methodology, imperfection of standards and quality control system of this set of measures, lack of specialists who could manage risks, lack of educational activities. To introduce a systematic approach to the unification of risk management processes, it is necessary to develop and approve the methodology of best practices, as well as take care of the training of specialists. Conclusions . In order to implement a systematic approach to the unification of risk management processes, it is necessary to develop and approve a methodology of best practices, as well as to take care of the training of specialists. It is imperative that hospital managers and staff focus on improving the organizational culture of patient safety management as the basis for their mission to preserve public health. It is necessary to continue further research in this direction in order to develop a strategy for countering risks at the level of public health as a medical and social resource of society.
Photogeneration of hydrogen in microalgae is thought to be among the mechanisms increasing their resilience to stresses including those caused by nutrient deprivation by re-routing the flow of ...electrons and reducing power in the cell. Metabolism of phosphorus (P), an essential nutrient, and its reserve forms such as polyphosphate (PolyP), is affected by and plays a role in the responses to diverse stresses, too. However, the potential interplay of the capability of photogeneration of hydrogen and turnover of phosphorus-rich inclusions in stressed microalgae cells so far escaped the attention of researchers. Here, we present a quantitative ultrastructural view of the turnover of P-rich inclusions in the model microalga
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
strains, the parent strain CC-425 and its
hydEF-1
mutant lacking hydrogenase activity as a function of sulfur and oxygen availability in the medium. In addition to the electron microscopy cell image analysis of the studied strains, we followed the elemental composition of the inclusions in different (sub) compartments of the cells obtained with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The stress caused by sulfur deprivation and subsequent transition of the microalgae culture to anaerobic conditions declined the size of phosphorus-containing inclusions but increased their number in the parent strain. Overall, the accumulation of the phosphorus-rich inclusions in
hydEF-1
mutant was much lower than in the fully functional parent strain regardless of the cultivation conditions. We believe that impaired hydrogenase activity and correspondingly reduced sink of electrons and reducing power in the mutant strain indirectly affects the turnover of P and its reserves in the cell. These effects were manifested by the changes in the abundance, morphology, and elemental composition of the P-containing inclusions. We hypothesized that the sulfur-deprivation stress increased the initiation of the biosynthesis of PolyP chains, but their elongation and hence the formation of large PolyP-containing inclusions was hindered by anaerobiosis.
Abstract
Planning and forecasting in agrotourism have their own characteristics, due to the specifics of the industry, associated with the finding of this area in close connection with agriculture ...and tourism. At the same time, in the planning of agricultural indicators, it is necessary to adhere to long-tested and positively proven methods based on quantitative methods. The qualitative side of agrotourism implies the need for a separate approach to planning a number of indicators, such as the price of a service. Forecasting methods here should take into account the purely market orientation of the tourist component. In addition, the field of agrotourism is mostly represented by small farms, which most often do not use professional software products for the purpose of forecasting indicators and further planning their activities on this basis. This article describes the methods of moving the dynamics series for planning and forecasting indicators in agrotourism.
Objective:
Among modern gene therapy methods for combating oncology, suicidal gene therapy based on the delivery of a cytotoxic agent to target cells is of particular importance and promise. As one ...of such genes, the gene for ribonuclease of
Bacillus pumilus
7P, binase, can be considered; the enzyme has a high antitumor potential and low immunogenicity. In addition to the choice of a transgene, another factor influencing the effectiveness of gene therapy is the method of delivering the nucleic acid to target cells. Surfactants have high functional activity and are promising means of delivering therapeutic nucleic acids. The aim of this work was to evaluate the possibility of using geminal surfactants as a means of delivering a genetic construct based on the cytotoxic binase gene into tumor cells.
Methods:
To optimize the transfection conditions, a reporter genetic construct carrying the binase gene fused to the gene for the green fluorescent protein TurboGFP was created, which made it possible to evaluate the delivery efficiency by the fluorescence intensity. To eliminate the toxic effect of binase on recipient cells, the RNase inhibitor gene, barstar, was introduced into the genetic construct.
Results and Discussion:
A high complexing ability of geminal surfactants in relation to the reporter system was shown by methods of dynamic light scattering and fluorescence spectroscopy. For surfactant 16-6-16OH, the highest transfecting activity together with a low level of cytotoxicity was found.
Conclusions:
Thus, the study proved the possibility of using geminal surfactants for the delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids to target cells.
The development of tourism, as one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the economy, entails an increase in the recreational pressure on the visited territories. The research of modern ...landscapes shows that their use for recreational purposes can lead not only to significant negative changes in individual components, but also to fundamental disturbances and degradation of landscapes in general. In this connection, the systematic monitoring of the recreational pressure, the search for its optimal values, which do not entail the degradation of the landscape, is of particular relevance. Research of the recreational capacity of landscapes was started as far back as the twentieth century. Over the past decades, the standards of recreational pressure for the most common types of landscapes have been defined. Based on the developed methods of assessing the degree of recreational landscape digression, measures to improve the landscape have been proposed. It has been established that the increase in the economic effect from the development of tourism and recreation is possible on the basis of landscape and recreational analysis, which takes into account the individual characteristics of the territory when determining the permissible recreational pressure. The article briefly describes the main groups of landscape research methods used in determining the permissible recreational pressure on the landscape. The most important parameter on which the researchers rely when they calculate the permissible recreational pressure on the landscape is the density of the recreational pressure. During research of the density of recreational pressure, some traditional methods of researching landscapes are applicable, for example, conducting reconnaissance routes. The analysis of approaches to the definition of permissible recreational pressure on the landscape is spent, a brief algorithm for conducting landscape research at the local level is given, and the example of creating the appropriate landscape maps is given. The article presents the results of landscape researches, conducted on the territory of the Vorotynsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region. The analysis shows that sustainable development of tourism and recreation can be based on the results of extensive research, including the establishment of landscape features of the territory and the determination of optimal types of recreational activities and the degree of its intensity for each natural-territorial complex.
The article is devoted to assessing the availability of the largest French overseas departments with tourist resources based on quantitative characteristics. The main approaches to assessing the ...provision of the territory with resources - component-wise and integral were considered. The algorithm for conducting the assessment, including techniques of both main approaches, was presented. The component-wise assessment was carried out according to three main blocks of parameters that reflect the availability of tourist resources in the territory: provision of natural facilities; provision with objects of historical-cultural heritage; provision of tourist infrastructure. Due (for the reason) to the heterogeneity of the evaluation criteria, which does not allow using absolute indicators, a point-rating approach was applied, which allowed linking the main characteristics of each department being evaluated together and conducting a component-by-component, and then an integral assessment. Based on the results of geo-information analysis a map scheme was constructed, which reflects the geolocation of the evaluated departments and the degree of their availability of tourist resources. It will allow tourism industry organizers to more effectively to direct their efforts and funds to the development of tourism in the overseas departments of France. The work was built using GIS.
A homologous series of cationic surfactants with a pyrrolidinium head group containing a hydroxyethyl moiety was studied for the solubilization of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, indomethacin ...and meloxicam, and the antioxidant quercetin. For indomethacin, the solubilization capacity linearly increases with increasing number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain. In the case of quercetin and meloxicam, the solubilization capacity passes through a maximum for the hexadecyl derivative. The possibility of solubilization by premicellar surfactant aggregates was shown for indomethacin and meloxicam.
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