ESTIMATING THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE ECOTOURISM DESTINATION: THE CASE OF TRA SU MELALEUCA FOREST NATURAL PARK IN VIET NAM

In this article, the application of the Individual Travel Cost Method (ITCM) aims at providing a deeper insight into visitors’ preferences and their expenses on marketed and non-marketed services when travelling to the Tra Su Melaleuca Forest Natural Park, an ecotourism destination in An Giang Province of Viet Nam. The empirical findings from the survey of 237 visitors in 2022 showed that the frequency of trips to this recreational site was 1.3 per year on average and relied strongly on the travel costs. Additionally, the estimate of tourism revenues for 2022 of this site was 82,3 billion Viet Nam Dong (VND; equivalent to 3,5 million USD). Meanwhile, its economic value calculated by the ITCM application reaches 206,2 billion VND (or 8,8 million USD). It is obvious that a greater economic value over the monetary amount of revenue also raises several ideas of managerial implications dedicated to the recreational site. It includes building a marketing team for developing recreational services and digital marketing performance, expanding tour services like transportation, lodging, local guides. Finally, enabling local people to engage in dialogues, decision-making, and interest shares is also necessary for the sustainable development of ecotourism

Exploring the Multitarget Activity of Wedelolactone against Alzheimer’s Disease: Insights from <i>In Silico</i> Study

In this study, Wedelolactone’s multitarget activity against Alzheimer’s disease was examined using density functional theory and molecular docking techniques. At physiological pH, the pKa and molar fractions have been estimated. The most likely relative rate constants of two radical scavenger mechanisms are formal hydrogen transfer in a lipid environment and single-electron transfer in a water solvent. Compared to Trolox (koverall = 8.96 × 104 M–1 s–1), Wedelolactone (koverall = 4.26 × 109 M–1 s–1) is more efficient in scavenging the HOO• radical in an aqueous environment. The chelation capacity of metals was investigated by examining the complexation of the Cu(II) ion at various coordination positions and calculating the complexation kinetic constants. Furthermore, molecular docking simulations showed that the known forms of Wedelolactone at physiological pH effectively inhibited the AChE and BChE enzymes by comparing their activity to that of tacrine (control). Wedelolactone is a promising drug candidate for Alzheimer’s disease therapy in light of these findings