Tourists\u27 Perceptions of Aboriginal Heritage Souvenirs

Heritage souvenirs are an indispensable part of indigenous tourism and the authenticity of indigenous heritage is a vital aspect of such tourism. This study adopts a mixed methods approach to explore the perceived authenticity of glass bead souvenirs of the Paiwan Tribe in Pintung County, Taiwan. The study explores differences in the evaluations of authenticity among stakeholders and the factors that influence perceptions of authen- ticity. An understanding of tourists’ perceptions of indigenous heritage offers valuable information for the creation of indigenous souvenirs and for reviving the promotion of indigenous culture

High basal expression of interferon-stimulated genes in human bronchial epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells contributes to influenza A virus resistance

Respiratory epithelial cells play a key role in influenza A virus (IAV) pathogenesis and host innate response. Transformed human respiratory cell lines are widely used in the study of IAV−host interactions due to their relative convenience, and inherent difficulties in working with primary cells. Transformed cells, however, may have altered susceptibility to virus infection. Proper characterization of different respiratory cell types in their responses to IAV infection is therefore needed to ensure that the cell line chosen will provide results that are of relevance in vivo. We compared replication kinetics of human H1N1 (A/USSR/77) IAVs in normal primary human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) and two commonly used respiratory epithelial cell lines namely BEAS-2B and A549 cells. We found that IAV replication was distinctly poor in BEAS-2B cells in comparison with NHBE, A549 and Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. IAV resistance in BEAS-2B cells was accompanied by an activated antiviral state with high basal expression of interferon (IFN) regulatory factor-7 (IRF-7), stimulator of IFN genes (STING) and IFN stimulated genes (ISGs). Treatment of BEAS-2B cells with a pan-Janus-activated-kinase (JAK) inhibitor decreased IRF-7 and ISG expression and resulted in increased IAV replication. Therefore, the use of highly resistant BEAS-2B cells in IAV infection may not reflect the cytopathogenicity of IAV in human epithelial cells in vivo

Knowledge Distillation Under Ideal Joint Classifier Assumption

Knowledge distillation is a powerful technique to compress large neural networks into smaller, more efficient networks. Softmax regression representation learning is a popular approach that uses a pre-trained teacher network to guide the learning of a smaller student network. While several studies explored the effectiveness of softmax regression representation learning, the underlying mechanism that provides knowledge transfer is not well understood. This paper presents Ideal Joint Classifier Knowledge Distillation (IJCKD), a unified framework that provides a clear and comprehensive understanding of the existing knowledge distillation methods and a theoretical foundation for future research. Using mathematical techniques derived from a theory of domain adaptation, we provide a detailed analysis of the student network's error bound as a function of the teacher. Our framework enables efficient knowledge transfer between teacher and student networks and can be applied to various applications

Change in Patient Activation and Mental Illness Symptoms after Communication Training: a Multisite Study with a Diverse Patient Sample

Objective: Patient activation involves patients’ ability and motivation to communicate about their health and health care. Research has demonstrated that clinician or patient interventions may improve patient activation. This study explored the degree to which clinician and patient interventions affected both patient activation and symptoms of depression and anxiety in a racially and ethnically diverse clinical sample. Methods: Data were from a randomized clinical trial that included 312 patients and 74 clinicians from 13 Massachusetts community- and hospital-based outpatient behavioral health clinics. Patients completed measures of patient activation and depression and anxiety symptoms. Secondary data analyses were conducted to examine the effect of patient and clinician interventions (DECIDE-PA and DECIDE-PC, respectively) on depression and anxiety symptoms and patient activation. A multilevel, mixed-effects simultaneous-equation model was estimated to assess the relationship between the interventions, changes in patients’ symptoms, and patient activation. Results: Clinicians’ greater intervention dosage (i.e., more completed DECIDE-PC training sessions) was associated with patients’ decreased anxiety symptoms, but associations with patient activation or depression symptoms were not significant. The effect of clinician training dosage on anxiety symptoms was stronger when patients and clinicians were not of the same race-ethnicity. The reduction in patients’ anxiety symptoms appeared to increase patient activation. Conclusions: Clinician interventions designed to boost patient-clinician communication and the therapeutic alliance may serve to lessen patients’ anxiety and may ultimately improve patient activation

Intraretinal Correlates of Reticular Pseudodrusen Revealed by Autofluorescence and En Face OCT.

Purpose We sought to determine whether information revealed from the reflectance, autofluorescence, and absorption properties of RPE cells situated posterior to reticular pseudodrusen (RPD) could provide insight into the origins and structure of RPD. Methods RPD were studied qualitatively by near-infrared fundus autofluorescence (NIR-AF), short-wavelength fundus autofluorescence (SW-AF), and infrared reflectance (IR-R) images, and the presentation was compared to horizontal and en face spectral domain optical coherence tomographic (SD-OCT) images. Images were acquired from 23 patients (39 eyes) diagnosed with RPD (mean age 80.7 ± 7.1 [SD]; 16 female; 4 Hispanics, 19 non-Hispanic whites). Results In SW-AF, NIR-AF, and IR-R images, fundus RPD were recognized as interlacing networks of small scale variations in IR-R and fluorescence (SW-AF, NIR-AF) intensities. Darkened foci of RPD colocalized in SW-AF and NIR-AF images, and in SD-OCT images corresponded to disturbances of the interdigitation (IZ) and ellipsoid (EZ) zones and to more pronounced hyperreflective lesions traversing photoreceptor-attributable bands in SD-OCT images. Qualitative assessment of the outer nuclear layer (ONL) revealed thinning as RPD extended radially from the outer to inner retina. In en face OCT, hyperreflective areas in the EZ band correlated topographically with hyporeflective foci at the level of the RPE. Conclusions The hyperreflective lesions corresponding to RPD in SD-OCT scans are likely indicative of degenerating photoreceptor cells. The darkened foci at positions of RPD in NIR-AF and en face OCT images indicate changes in the RPE monolayer with the reduced NIR-AF and en face OCT signal suggesting a reduction in melanin that could be accounted for by RPE thinning

Architecture of the type IVa pilus machine

Many bacteria, including important pathogens, move by projecting grappling-hook–like extensions called type IV pili from their cell bodies. After these pili attach to other cells or objects in their environment, the bacteria retract the pili to pull themselves forward. Chang et al. used electron cryotomography of intact cells to image the protein machines that extend and retract the pili, revealing where each protein component resides. Putting the known structures of the individual proteins in place like pieces of a three-dimensional puzzle revealed insights into how the machine works, including evidence that ATP hydrolysis by cytoplasmic motors rotates a membrane-embedded adaptor that slips pilin subunits back and forth from the membrane onto the pilus

Does a healthy diet travel? Motivations, satisfaction, and loyalty with plant-based food dining at destinations

Purpose: The research objectives were to: (1) examine the relationship among motivations, satisfaction and loyalty with plant-based food dining at destinations; (2) determine if and how the attractiveness of eating plant-based foods moderates satisfaction and loyalty; and (3) investigate potential differences in visitor background information and consumption characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted at tourist attractions in southern Taiwan and 274 valid questionnaires were obtained. The relationships among motivations, satisfaction and loyalty were investigated when eating plant-based foods during travel. Findings: The results indicated a positive relationship between motivations and satisfaction/loyalty in plant-based food dining. Motivations for plant-based food dining were comprised of four domains (physical, cultural, interpersonal, and prestige) and satisfaction and loyalty had three (overall satisfaction, intention to revisit, and intention to recommend). Research implications: Motivations had a significant effect on satisfaction and loyalty; food attractiveness did not moderate the effect of motivations on satisfaction/loyalty; and background characteristics influenced satisfaction and loyalty. Practical implications: Marketers of plant-based restaurants must make a greater effort to understand the distinctive demographic and dietary characteristics of the people who comprise the core of this market. Originality/value: This research adds to the limited literature on plant-based and vegetarian dining in tourism destinations. The findings also complement the evidence linking motivations to satisfaction and loyalty when dining

Exploring the views of planners and public health practitioners on integrating health evidence into spatial planning in England: A mixed-methods study

Background: This study explored barriers and facilitators to integrating health evidence into spatial planning at local authority levels and examined the awareness and use of the Public Health England Spatial Planning for Health resource. Methods: A sequential exploratory mixed methods design utilised in-depth semi-structured interviews followed by an online survey of public health, planning and other built environment professionals in England. Results: Views from 19 individuals and 162 survey responses revealed high awareness and use of the Spatial Planning for Health resource, although public health professionals reported greater awareness and use than other professionals. Key barriers to evidence implementation included: differences in interpretation and use of ‘evidence’ between public health and planning professionals; lack of practical evidence to apply locally; and lack of resource and staff capacity in local authorities. Key facilitators included: integrating health into the design of Local Plans; articulating wider benefits to multiple stakeholders, and simplifying presenting evidence (regarding language and accessibility). Conclusion: The Spatial Planning for Health resource is a useful resource at local authority level. Further work is needed to maximise its use by built environment professionals. Public health teams need support, capacity and skills to ensure that local health and wellbeing priorities are integrated into local planning documents and decisions

ZAK negatively regulates RhoGDIβ-induced Rac1-mediated hypertrophic growth and cell migration

RhoGDIβ, a Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor, induced hypertrophic growth and cell migration in a cultured cardiomyoblast cell line, H9c2. We demonstrated that RhoGDIβ plays a previously undefined role in regulating Rac1 expression through transcription to induce hypertrophic growth and cell migration and that these functions are blocked by the expression of a dominant-negative form of Rac1. We also demonstrated that knockdown of RhoGDIβ expression by RNA interference blocked RhoGDIβ-induced Rac1 expression and cell migration. We demonstrated that the co-expression of ZAK and RhoGDIβ in cells resulted in an inhibition in the activity of ZAK to induce ANF expression. Knockdown of ZAK expression in ZAK-RhoGDIβ-expressing cells by ZAK-specific RNA interference restored the activities of RhoGDIβ