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This paper discusses the digital hardware and software that is required for data acquisition in a portable electronic nose (e‐nose) system. A review of current e‐nose systems is presented highlighting the methods employed by these systems to acquire the data from the sensor head.

People with pre-existing mental health conditions are more likely to be affected by global crises. The Covid-19 pandemic has presented them with unique challenges, including reduced contact with the psychiatric rehabilitation and support systems. Thus, understanding the emotional experience of this population may assist mental health organizations in future global crises.

In this paper, researchers analyzed the discourse of the mentally ill during the Covid-19 pandemic, as reflected in Israeli Facebook groups: three private groups and one public group. Researchers explored the language, reactions, emotions and sentiments used in these groups during the year before the pandemic, outbreak periods and remission periods, as well as the period before the vaccine’s introduction and after its appearance.

Analyzing groups’ discourse using the collective emotion theory suggests that the group that expressed the most significant difficulty was the Depression group, while individuals who suffer from social phobia/anxiety and PTSD were less affected during the lockdowns and restrictions forced by the outbreak.

Findings may serve as a tool for service providers during crises to monitor patients’ conditions, and assist individuals who need support and help.

This study aims to investigate the characteristics, as well as the purpose and posts of the COVID-19 Facebook groups.

A systematic search for COVID-19 Facebook groups was conducted on June 1, 2020. Characteristics of the groups were examined using descriptive statistics. Mann-Whitney test was used to study the differences between groups. The study of the most popular groups’ posts was also carried out using the content analysis method.

The groups had a combined membership of 2,729,061 users. A total of 147,885 posts were received. There were about approximately 60% public groups. A high percentage of the groups (86.5%) had descriptions. The results showed a significant relationship between the groups’ description status and the number of members (p-value = 0.016). The majority of COVID-19 Facebook groups (56%) were created to meet their members’ information needs. The highest number of studied posts were related to vaccination (35.2%), followed by curfew rules (19.6%) and symptoms (10.6%).

Translating these insights into policies and practices will put policymakers and health-care providers in a stronger position to make better use of Facebook groups to support and enhance public knowledge about COVID-19.

Dark tourism has grown as an area of study since the 1990s with a great deal of research carried out into visitor motivations in recent years. Visitor centres within the dark tourism sector have a balancing act between the education and entertainment elements of tourism and sensitivity to the difficult stories they tell as part of their remit. This study examines the importance of tourism to the survival of Ireland's remaining workhouse buildings and the role the workhouse museums play in the local community. Research found that the visitor demographics and responses correlated with other studies, with a similar spread of male and female respondents to the survey, similar reasons for visiting and many of the same emotional responses.

The workhouses are very large buildings spread over several acres of land and therefore can be difficult and expensive to maintain. Community is very important to the management at Donaghmore and Portumna, and both management teams are open to the use of the buildings for events and education. They are also aware of their place in the local communities, supporting other businesses such as accommodation and restaurants.

This chapter shows that not only are Ireland's workhouses an important part of the history of the country, but they also have a role in modern society as places to preserve and teach that history. Tourism plays an important role in the preservation of the remaining workhouses and in educating the public about a difficult time in Ireland's history.

In general, active participation increases learning outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to explore how: information and communication technologies (ICT) can be used to improve the participation of students during lectures and the effect of ICT on the learning outcomes of students.

The authors tested a specific tool, Soapbox, in a compulsory course of a Masters’ program, at VU University, The Netherlands. During half of the lectures the students were invited to participate using their mobile phone or laptop, for the other half of the lectures, taught by the same lecturer, the tool was not used. The authors compared the two groups of lectures. For the evaluation the authors used observations in the classroom, a questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions with students and with the lecturer.

The results show that the ICT tool facilitated and increased the level of communication and interaction among the students and between the students and the lecturers. Students’ scored lectures with the tool consistently higher on the item “engaging.” Most of the students appreciated the use of the ICT tool and said that they felt more involved.

Despite the knowledge about the limited learning effect of lectures on larger groups, most of the teaching at universities is conducted through such lectures. The research shows that the majority of the students felt more involved in the lectures with the ICT tool, and almost half of the students feel that the learning effect of lectures with the tool is higher than the learning effect of lectures without. Although observations could not confirm the perceived enhanced involvement, about 80 percent would recommend using the tool in other classes, providing a case for the use of interactive technology in large-scale lectures.

Due to an international ageing population, global health organisations have recognised the challenges arising from fragmented interaction between health and social sectors in the end of life care. The purpose of this paper is to explore the existing literature on integrative palliative care services for older people.

An integrative review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses. Papers included in the review focused upon integrated care within palliative care systems (January 2007–2017). A certain number of papers were excluded when the review focused on individuals younger than 65, not written in English and not being focused on integrated palliative care.

Nine studies fitted the inclusion criteria and three themes were identified: person-centred care, co-ordination of care, and education and training. The review identifies that integrated palliative care requires co-ordinated techniques that focus upon the quality of life, individual needs and awareness of vulnerability rather than fixation on inevitable mortality.

The emerging presence of the need for integrated palliative care requires further research in order to develop coherent models of integrated palliative care which can be incorporated into practice.

This review identified themes relevant to the emerging issues in the global health sector of end of life care. The literature suggests that the optimised use of an integrated care approach to a palliative model of care is required and in need of further investigation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate a theoretical framework that examines and extends understanding of the role of cognitive/information processing, learning motivation and learning task behaviors in facilitating student engagement, course persistence and academic performance.

Student subjects were used to collect survey data. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the impact of active teaching, academic self-efficacy and task avoidance on the dependent variables – course grade, course persistence and expectancy for success.

Active teaching and academic self-efficacy were positive predictors of course grade while task avoidance was a negative predictor of course grade. Course persistence was positively impacted by academic self-efficacy and diminished by task-avoidance behaviors. Academic self-efficacy was shown to positively impact expectancy for success.

The results confirm the importance of adopting active teaching techniques, the need for periodic opportunities for experienced academic success and the need for coaching on self-regulation of study habits and class attendance behaviors.

This study builds on prior calls for more investigations on the role of teaching style on student psychological responses, engagement, learning task behaviors and academic performance. The teaching and learning processes were examined on four levels – attention/engagement, encoding, processing/synthesizing and learning task behaviors. In addition, prior work was extended by incorporating behavioral indicators (e.g. task avoidance) of learning motivation as opposed to reliance on self-reported levels of motivation that may have not been consistent with actual behaviors.

This study aims to discuss the possible consequences of food crises caused by unsustainable food production and distribution, as well as how the rapid depletion of food resources may affect human life, destinations and the food tourism industry.

To address the lack of research examining the impact of sustainability issues and food crises on food tourism, this study conducted a critical review of the literature and reports related to agriculture, food production and sustainability.

Global conflicts, climate change and supply disruptions result in the reduction of food availability and quality. The high price of food and energy in such circumstances will further exacerbate poverty and delay destination development, which will negatively impact food tourism's economic sustainability. Furthermore, local businesses will be limited in their ability to offer a variety of culinary experiences, which will negatively impact the overall experience of food tourism. In this context, there is a pressing need to investigate the experiential aspects of food tourism as well as today's challenges relating to food crises at multiple levels, sustainable approaches, food quality and food services.

The United Nations, FAO, WHO, UNICEF and other regional and international organizations refer to unsustainable practices and food crises on a variety of levels. Several sectors, including the food tourism industry, are predicted to be negatively affected by the current situation. However, governments have not adopted an emergency code to address this issue, except in some regions experiencing extreme inflation and food shortages. Besides promoting sustainable practices, responding to global crises and enhancing culinary and cultural tourism experiences, food crisis management and sustainability efforts can have a significant impact on future research, practical applications and societal outcomes.

As one of the first studies conducted in this field, this study examines the effects of declines in food production and issues in the supply chain on the food tourism industry.

本文讨论了不可持续的粮食生产和分配造成的粮食危机的可能后果, 以及粮食资源的快速枯竭如何影响人类生活、目的地和食品旅游业。

为了解决缺乏研究可持续性问题和粮食危机对食品旅游的影响问题, 本研究对与农业、粮食生产和可持续性相关的文献和报告进行了批判性回顾。

全球冲突、气候变化和供应中断导致粮食供应和质量下降。在这种情况下, 粮食和能源的高昂价格将进一步加剧贫困, 阻碍目的地的发展, 这将对食品旅游的经济可持续性产生负面影响。此外, 当地企业提供各种烹饪体验的能力将受到限制, 这将对美食旅游的整体体验产生负面影响。在此背景下, 迫切需要了解食品旅游的体验, 以及当今在多个层面上与粮食危机、可持续方法、食品质量和食品服务相关的挑战。

联合国、粮农组织、世界卫生组织、儿童基金会和其他区域和国际组织在各种层面上提到了不可持续的做法和粮食危机。包括食品旅游业在内的几个部门预计将受到当前形势的负面影响。然而, 除了一些经历极端通货膨胀和粮食短缺的地区外, 各国政府还没有通过紧急代码来解决这个问题。除了推广可持续实践、应对全球危机、增强烹饪和文化旅游体验外, 粮食危机管理和可持续发展工作还可以对未来的研究、实际应用和社会成果产生重大影响。

作为该领域最早进行的研究之一, 本研究考察了食品产量下降和供应链问题对食品旅游业的影响。

Este artículo analiza las posibles consecuencias de las crisis alimentarias provocadas por la producción y distribución insostenibles de alimentos, así como el modo en que el rápido agotamiento de los recursos alimentarios puede afectar a la vida humana, a los destinos y a la industria del turismo gastronómico.

Para abordar la falta de investigaciones que examinen el impacto de las cuestiones de sostenibilidad y las crisis alimentarias en el turismo gastronómico, este estudio realizó una revisión crítica de la literatura y los informes relacionados con la agricultura, la producción de alimentos y la sostenibilidad.

Los conflictos mundiales, el cambio climático y las interrupciones en el suministro provocan la reducción de la disponibilidad y la calidad de los alimentos. El elevado precio de los alimentos y la energía en tales circunstancias agravará aún más la pobreza y retrasará el desarrollo de los destinos, lo que repercutirá negativamente en la sostenibilidad económica del turismo gastronómico. Además, los negocios locales verán limitada su capacidad de ofrecer una variedad de experiencias culinarias, lo que repercutirá negativamente en la experiencia global del turismo gastronómico. En este contexto, existe una necesidad acuciante de investigar los aspectos experienciales del turismo gastronómico, así como los retos actuales relacionados con las crisis alimentarias a múltiples niveles, los enfoques sostenibles, la calidad de los alimentos y los servicios alimentarios.

Las Naciones Unidas, la FAO, la OMS, UNICEF y otras organizaciones regionales e internacionales se refieren a las prácticas insostenibles y a las crisis alimentarias en diversos niveles. Se prevé que varios sectores, entre ellos la industria del turismo alimentario, se verán afectados negativamente por la situación actual. Sin embargo, los gobiernos no han adoptado un código de emergencia para abordar esta cuestión, excepto en algunas regiones que experimentan una inflación extrema y escasez de alimentos. Además de promover prácticas sostenibles, responder a las crisis mundiales y mejorar las experiencias turísticas culinarias y culturales, la gestión de las crisis alimentarias y los esfuerzos de sostenibilidad pueden tener un impacto significativo en la investigación futura, las aplicaciones prácticas y los resultados sociales.

Como uno de los primeros estudios realizados en este campo, este estudio examina los efectos de la disminución de la producción de alimentos y los problemas de la cadena de suministro en la industria del turismo gastronómico.

Many approaches on the economic aspect of hospital acquired infections (HAIs) have two major limitations: first, the lack of distinction between resources attributable to the management of HAI and resources absorbed by the main clinical problem for which the patient was hospitalized, and second, the lack of an adequate method for calculating the relative costs. These assume that the resources used by HAI can be determined by measuring the extra days of length of days (LOS) of infected patients versus non‐infected patients and attribute to extra‐LOS a value to the mean total cost. The aim of the article is to test a cost‐modelling method that could overcome these limitations by applying the appropriateness evaluation protocol to the medical charts of patients with hospital‐acquired symptomatic urinary tract infection (UTI) or sepsis, and by using cost‐centre accounting.

The paper explains and tests a model for calculating costs of HAIs.

The data analysis showed that it is not always true that infections protract LOS: five out of 25 sepsis cases have extra‐LOS and eight out of 25 UTI cases have extra‐LOS, while the cases of sepsis that arose in surgery ward and intensive care units and urinary tract infections in ICU are without prolongation of LOS. The data analysis also showed that, using the mean total cost, the three cases of sepsis in the general surgery and the six in the ICU did not incur costs, nor did the two cases of UTI in ICU, so that they appear to be infections at zero cost. Moreover, the weight of the cost for the bed, or for the diagnostic services, or for the pharmacological treatment, varied widely depending on the site of the HAI and the ward where the patient was hospitalized.

The method can be applied in any hospital.