A Cone-Shaped Typology of Destination Cities in the United States

Based on a panel survey of Americans’ travel behavior, this study adopts cluster analysis and discriminant analysis to build a typology of destination cities in the United States. Past studies relied on supply-side characteristics such as types of attractors and seasonality to categorize destinations; this study adopted tripographic variables for the cluster analysis, such as estimated annual tourist volumes, tourist ratios, trip purposes, accommodation types, trip lengths, and transportation modes. The results validated the 11 cluster solution of cities in the United States. The discriminant analysis results in six discriminant functions in which four are corresponding to the clustering variables. The finding could be useful for various destination marketing, competition, and benchmarking research

Time-dependent generator coordinate method study of mass-asymmetric fission of actinides

Low-energy positive and negative parity collective states in the equilibrium minimum, and the dynamics of induced fission of actinide nuclei are investigated in a unified theoretical framework based on the generator coordinate method (GCM) with the Gaussian overlap approximation (GOA). The collective potential and inertia tensor, both at zero and finite temperature, are computed using the self-consistent multidimensionally constrained relativistic mean field (MDC-RMF) model, based on the energy density functional DD-PC1. Pairing correlations are treated in the BCS approximation with a separable pairing force of finite range. A collective quadrupole-octupole Hamiltonian characterized by zero-temperature axially-symmetric deformation energy surface and perturbative cranking inertia tensor, is used to model the low-lying excitation spectrum. The fission fragment charge distributions are obtained by propagating the initial collective states in time with the time-dependent GCM+GOA that uses the same quadrupole-octupole Hamiltonian, but with the collective potential and inertia tensor computed at finite temperature. The illustrative charge yields of $^{228}$Th, $^{234}$U, $^{240}$Pu, $^{244}$Cm, and $^{250}$Cf are in very good agreement with experiment, and the predicted mass asymmetry is consistent with the result of a recent microscopic study that has attributed the distribution (peak) of the heavier-fragment nuclei to shell-stabilized octupole deformations.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1809.0614

Deconfinement Phase Transition Heating and Thermal Evolution of Neutron Stars

The deconfinement phase transition will lead to the release of latent heat during spins down of neutron stars if the transition is the first-order one.We have investigated the thermal evolution of neutron stars undergoing such deconfinement phase transition. The results show that neutron stars may be heated to higher temperature.This feature could be particularly interesting for high temperature of low-magnetic field millisecond pulsar at late stage.Comment: 4 pages, to be published by American Institute of Physics, ed. D.Lai, X.D.Li and Y.F.Yuan, as the Proceedings of the conference Astrophysics of Compact Object

Leptin Receptor Overlapping Transcript (LEPROT) Is Associated with the Tumor Microenvironment and a Prognostic Predictor in Pan-Cancer

Background: Leptin receptor overlapping transcript (LEPROT) is reported to be involved in metabolism regulation and energy balance as well as molecular signaling of breast cancer and osteosarcoma. LEPROT is expressed in various tissue and is suggested to be involved in cancer developments but with contradictory roles. The comprehensive knowledge of the effects of LEPROT on cancer development and progression across pan-cancer is still missing. Methods: The expressions of LEPROT in cancers were compared with corresponding normal tissues across pan-cancer types. The relationships between expression and methylation of LEPROT were then demonstrated. The correlations of LEPROT with the tumor microenvironment (TME), including immune checkpoints, tumor immune cells infiltration (TII), and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), were also investigated. Co-expression analyses and functional enrichments were conducted to suggest the most relevant genes and the mechanisms of the effects in cancers for LEPROT. Finally, the correlations of LEPROT with patient survival and immunotherapy response were explored. Results: LEPROT expression was found to be significantly aberrant in 15/19 (78.9%) cancers compared with corresponding normal tissues; LEPROT was downregulated in 12 cancers and upregulated in three cancers. LEPROT expressions were overall negatively correlated with its methylation alterations. Moreover, LEPROT was profoundly correlated with the TME, including immune checkpoints, TIIs, and CAFs. According to co-expression analyses and functional enrichments, the interactions of LEPROT with the TME may be mediated by the interleukin six signal transducer/the Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of the transcription signaling pathway. Prognostic values may exist for LEPROT to predict patient survival and immunotherapy response in a context-dependent way. Conclusions: LEPROT affects cancer development by interfering with the TME and regulating inflammatory or immune signals. LEPROT may also serve as a potential prognostic marker or a target in cancer therapy. This is the first study to investigate the roles of LEPROT across pan-cancer