Purpose The purpose of this study is to organize and analyze the existing literature on co-creation in tourism to identify the state-of-the-art studies and the research gap in this field. Design/methodology/approach As the research questions seek to provide an overview of the studies in the available literature, the systematic mapping study (SMS) has been selected as the research method. A suitable mapping study method for analyzing and structuring a broad research field concerning methods, designs and research focuses on the existing publications. In total, 137 articles published during 2006–2019 in reliable academic databases such as Science Direct, Emerald, Scopus, Wiley, ProQuest, Sage, Web of Science and Taylor and Francis were selected and analyzed. Findings The results show a rising trend of published articles in tourism, with the maximum number published in 2019 and the minimum number in 2006. Also, analysis of input articles revealed that most of the studies focused on the antecedents and prerequisites for co-creation and paid less attention to the co-creation context. Other findings show that in the field of tourism, the hospitality sector, especially hotels have paid special attention to co-creation. The majority of papers were the empirical type with quantitative design. Furthermore, most studies used the survey method, while the case study and other methods were the next choices. Originality/value This study addresses a major research gap by summarizing the literature related to value co-creation with a specific focus on tourism using the SMS method that provides an overview of the studies in this field. Categorizing papers through SMS helps researchers to review the status of studies in a visual summary to identify gaps and directions for future research.

The increasing application of aptamers in bioassays has triggered a lot of research interest for development of highly sensitive and selective sensing platforms. Herein, we report on the design of a sensitive cocaine biosensor by immobilizing the 5 0 -disulfide-functionalized end of an aptamer sequence on a nanoporous gold (NPG) electrode followed by the conjugation of its 3 0 -amino-functionalized end to 2,5dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA) as the redox probe. In the presence of cocaine, the aptamer undergoes a conformational change from an open unfolded state to a closed conformation, which reduces the distance between DHBA and the electrode surface, resulting in the enhanced electron-transfer efficiency.Using square wave voltammetric method and under the optimal conditions, the cocaine aptasensor presented two linear responses in the concentration ranges between 0.05-1 and 1-35 mM, with an excellent detection limit of 21 nM. The proposed aptasensor provides a simple and low-cost method for cocaine detection with good reproducibility and accuracy. Furthermore, it could be regarded as a general model to investigate the unique function of aptamer-functionalized nanostructured electrodes to stablish highly advanced electrochemical biosensors for various target analytes of diagnostic importance.

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The effect of different hormones on fructan accumulation and the genes regulating biosynthesis and degradation is known; however, information on hormonal interaction mechanisms for fructan content and mean degree of polymerization (mDP) is limited. Cell suspension cultures of chicory were prepared and treated with abscisic acid (ABA), auxin (AUX), ethylene (ETH), ABA + AUX or ABA + ETH, then inulin concentration, mDP of inulin and expression of FAZY genes was determined. A low concentration of AUX and ETH increased fructan content, while a high concentration of AUX and ETH decreased it. Exogenous ABA increased mDP of inulin and this coincided with the low expression of 1‐FEHII. In hormone interactions, ABA changed and adjusted the effect of both AUX and ETH. ABA, together with a low level of AUX and ETH, resulted in a decrease in inulin content and increase in mDP, which coincided with low expression of FEHII. ABA together with a high level of AUX and ETH caused an increase in inulin content with a lower mDP, which coincided with high expression of biosynthesis (1‐FFT) and degradation (1‐FEHII) genes. The effect of both AUX and ETH was almost the same, although the effect of ETH was more severe. ABA had a modulating role in combinations with AUX and ETH. Among biosynthesis and degradation genes, the expression of 1‐FEHII was more affected by these hormones.