An Analysis of the Performing Arts Consumer: Developing market segments by using CHAID

This study explored how the interaction between performing arts consumers’ characteristics and art-related experiences were associated with out-of-state and/or out-of-country performing arts attendance. A decision tree was developed using Exhaustive CHAID. Data were collected through an online survey of E-club members of the Wharton Center for Performing Arts at Michigan State University. This study focused on the heavy consumers, who represented approximately 30% of the performing arts market and accounted for over 50% of actual spending on tickets. The results identified important predictors and distinguished viable five segments. Chi-square tests and one-way ANOVAs were conducted to examine significant differences among segments. The identified target segments and their profiles will be essential in building effective communication and promotion strategies for various marketing purposes

Exploring Gender Differences on Generation Y’s Attitudes towards Green Practices in a Hotel

One of the early green measures, the Save the Earth campaign, has offered significant bottom-line savings for hotels since 1993. In the current economic recession, new green measures for emerging group of customers could offer another way of saving operating cost and conserving local environment for the hotel. As environmentally conscious Gen Yers become a frequent traveler segment, identifying green attributes they are willing to accept becomes vital. Thus, this study examines the attitudes of Gen Yers toward green practices and identifies green attributes that Gen Y males and females prefer. The results show significant differences in the attributes that each gender prefers, and offer segmentation guidelines and suggest specific environmental friendly services that would result in cost saving for Gen Yers. According to the results of a proposed model, hotel companies should make more efforts to promote their green practices to Gen Y hotel guests who are willing to pay more for them

Differential Impacts of Information Technology Services in the Korean Hotel Industry: A Study of Management Perceptions

Successful introduction of information technology applications in various operations of hotel management is vital to most service firms. In recent decades, technologies of information, automation, and communication are increasingly recognized as essential components of a hotel company’s strategic plan. In this study, 62 super-deluxe hotels (5 star), deluxe hotels (4 star), and tourist hotels (3 star) in Korea are examined for differences in the impact of information technology services on guest’ satisfaction, guest convenience, and operational efficiency. The findings generally suggest that the impacts of information technology-enhanced services vary according to the category of hotels in Korea. The results of the study are expected to assist managers in the selections and implementation of information technology systems in their hotel

A Comparison Model of Residents’ and Tourists’ Attitudes toward Sustainable Tourism Development: A Case of Penghu Island in Taiwan

Two stakeholders, residents and tourists, play critical roles in developing and promoting sustainable tourism planning and development. Little research has been done to investigate simultaneously both residents’ and tourists’ attitudes toward sustainable tourism development. This study was conducted to fill in the gap. Residents who lived in Penghu Island in Taiwan and Taiwanese tourists who visited Penghu were surveyed for the study. Following the web- based online survey, structural equation modeling was carried out to identify the direction and relationships among five sets of tourism development impacts and support for sustainable tourism in Penghu. The results of residents’ and tourists’ attitudes models indicated that positive economic and cultural dimensions greatly influenced their support for sustainable tourism development. Managerial and marketing implications of the findings are discussed

A Longitudinal Investigation of Activity Participation at Travel Destination: A Cohort Analytical Approach

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between activity participation at a travel destination and the effects of biological age, time of travel, and generational cohort over time. Household data from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Ontario were utilized because the data yielded longitudinal information about travel behavior across the study region. Significant relationships were found between “Shopping,” “Outdoor Recreation,” and “Entertainment” factors and the effects of biological age, time of travel, and generational cohort

Troubleshooting Arterial-Phase MR Images of Gadoxetate Disodium-Enhanced Liver.

Gadoxetate disodium is a widely used magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agent for liver MR imaging, and it provides both dynamic and hepatobiliary phase images. However, acquiring optimal arterial phase images at liver MR using gadoxetate disodium is more challenging than using conventional extracellular MR contrast agent because of the small volume administered, the gadolinium content of the agent, and the common occurrence of transient severe motion. In this article, we identify the challenges in obtaining high-quality arterial-phase images of gadoxetate disodium-enhanced liver MR imaging and present strategies for optimizing arterial-phase imaging based on the thorough review of recent research in this field

Electrical spin injection and detection in an InAs quantum well

We demonstrate fully electrical detection of spin injection in InAs quantum wells. A spin polarized current is injected from a NiFe thin film to a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) made of InAs based epitaxial multi-layers. Injected spins accumulate and diffuse out in the 2DEG, and the spins are electrically detected by a neighboring NiFe electrode. The observed spin diffusion length is 1.8 um at 20 K. The injected spin polarization across the NiFe/InAs interface is 1.9% at 20 K and remains at 1.4% even at room temperature. Our experimental results will contribute significantly to the realization of a practical spin field effect transistor

Politische Bildung, Interkulturalität und Integration

Der Beitrag stellt die Ansätze der Politikdidaktik zum gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt unter dem Aspekt der Interkulturalität dar. Zunächst wird auf die Bedeutung interkultureller Bildung für die Politikdidaktik verwiesen. Danach wird der Beitrag politischer Bildung für die Integration untersucht. Schließlich wird der Blick auf die Kompetenzorientierung im Kontext von Interkulturalität gelenkt

Detecting high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions in the cervix with quantitative spectroscopy and per-patient normalization

This study develops a spectroscopic algorithm for detection of cervical high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs). We collected reflectance and fluorescence spectra with the quantitative spectroscopy probe to measure nine spectroscopic parameters from 43 patients undergoing standard colposcopy with directed biopsy. We found that there is improved accuracy for distinguishing HSIL from non-HSIL (low grade SIL and normal tissue) when we “normalized” spectroscopy parameters by dividing the values extracted from each clinically determined suspicious site by the corresponding value extracted from a clinically normal squamous site from the same patient. The “normalized” scattering parameter (A) at 700nm, best distinguished HSIL from non-HSIL with sensitivity and specificity of 89% and 79% suggesting that a simple, monochromatic instrument measuring only A may accurately detect HSIL

Full-length cDNA sequences from Rhesus monkey placenta tissue: analysis and utility for comparative mapping

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rhesus monkeys (<it>Macaca mulatta</it>) are widely-used as experimental animals in biomedical research and are closely related to other laboratory macaques, such as cynomolgus monkeys (<it>Macaca </it><it>fascicularis</it>), and to humans, sharing a last common ancestor from about 25 million years ago. Although rhesus monkeys have been studied extensively under field and laboratory conditions, research has been limited by the lack of genetic resources. The present study generated placenta full-length cDNA libraries, characterized the resulting expressed sequence tags, and described their utility for comparative mapping with human RefSeq mRNA transcripts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From rhesus monkey placenta full-length cDNA libraries, 2000 full-length cDNA sequences were determined and 1835 rhesus placenta cDNA sequences longer than 100 bp were collected. These sequences were annotated based on homology to human genes. Homology search against human RefSeq mRNAs revealed that our collection included the sequences of 1462 putative rhesus monkey genes. Moreover, we identified 207 genes containing exon alterations in the coding region and the untranslated region of rhesus monkey transcripts, despite the highly conserved structure of the coding regions. Approximately 10% (187) of all full-length cDNA sequences did not represent any public human RefSeq mRNAs. Intriguingly, two rhesus monkey specific exons derived from the transposable elements of AluYRa2 (SINE family) and MER11B (LTR family) were also identified.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The 1835 rhesus monkey placenta full-length cDNA sequences described here could expand genomic resources and information of rhesus monkeys. This increased genomic information will greatly contribute to the development of evolutionary biology and biomedical research.</p