Research on China's tourism: A 35-year review and authorship analysis

This study reviewed 333 articles on China's tourism from 96 English‐language academic journals within and outside of tourism from 1978 to 2012. Tourism policy and impacts, and tourism industry development and promotion were the two predominant research themes. Tourism development, policy, ecological impacts, attractions and markets were the five most popular topics. On the basis of an authorship relationship analysis, three research networks were producing most of the China tourism research output in English. A majority of the authors were based in Mainland China, the USA and Hong Kong. Trends and gaps in the literature on China's tourism were identified

Metaverse customer journeys in tourism: building viable virtual worlds

Purpose – This research examined the use of the metaverse in tourism and hospitality to comprehend better how the technology might shape customer journey management, especially relative to information provision, experiences, and customer benefits. Design/methodology/approach – This explanatory research used a two-stage approach of media analysis and practitioner interviews to analyse the interactions among tourism information provision, customer experiences, and customer benefits in the metaverse. It conceptualized and mapped the consumer journey of the emerging metaverse experience, focusing on the ideas and practices of metaverse design pioneers in tourism and hospitality. Findings – Based on the media analysis and interviews with 27 designers, the MIEB model was proposed, containing three parts (information characteristics, customer experiences, and customer benefits) and 31 supporting items grouped into nine components. Originality/value – One of the unique contributions of this research is the Metaverse – Information – Experiences – Benefits (MIEB) model for applying the metaverse in customer journey management (pre-, during-, and post-trip). The findings contribute to the current literature with this model based on the practical perspectives of metaverse designers and provide insights on how to incorporate the MIEB model in applying the metaverse in tourism and hospitality management. The findings also address existing literature gaps of insufficient research on metaverse management and design through all stages of the customer travel journey and by paying attention to stakeholders' viewpoints, including the media and designers of metaverse applications. Engaging in semi-structured interviews with pioneers of the metaverse in order to gain insights into the design of tourism experiences was also different from other metaverse tourism research, although this is not claimed as a significant point of innovation

Hydrocarbon Detection Based on Phase Decomposition in Chaoshan Depression, Northern South China Sea

Located in the northern South China Sea, Chaoshan Depression is mainly a residual Mesozoic depression, with a construction of Meso-Cenozoic strata over 7000m thick and good hydrocarbon accumulation conditions. Amplitude attribute of -90°phase component derived by phase decomposition is employed to detect Hydrocarbon in the zone of interest (ZOI) in Chaoshan Depression. And it is found that there are evident amplitude anomalies occurring around ZOI. Phase decomposition is applied to forward modeling results of the ZOI, and high amplitudes occur on the -90°phase component more or less when ZOI is charged with hydrocarbon, which shows that the amplitude abnormality in ZOI is probably caused by oil and gas accumulation

A potential three-gene-based diagnostic signature for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a life-threatening disease whose etiology remains unknown. This study aims to explore diagnostic biomarkers and pathways involved in IPF using bioinformatics analysis.Methods: IPF-related gene expression datasets were retrieved and downloaded from the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened, and weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) was performed to identify key module and genes. Functional enrichment analysis was performed on genes in the clinically significant module. Then least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) logistic regression and support vector machine-recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) algorithms were run to screen candidate biomarkers. The expression and diagnostic value of the biomarkers in IPF were further validated in external test datasets (GSE110147).Results: 292 samples and 1,163 DEGs were screened to construct WGCNA. In WGCNA, the blue module was identified as the key module, and 59 genes in this module correlated highly with IPF. Functional enrichment analysis of blue module genes revealed the importance of extracellular matrix-associated pathways in IPF. IL13RA2, CDH3, and COMP were identified as diagnostic markers of IPF via LASSO and SVM-RFE. These genes showed good diagnostic value for IPF and were significantly upregulated in IPF.Conclusion: This study indicates that IL13RA2, CDH3, and COMP could serve as diagnostic signature for IPF and might offer new insights in the underlying diagnosis of IPF

Mesoporous nano Ni-Al2O3 catalyst for CO2 methanation in a continuously stirred tank reactor

Mesoporous nano Ni-Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by using Pluronic P123 (P123) and fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (AEO-7) as structure directing agents (SDAs), and applied for CO2 methanation in a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR). Compared with NiAl-A prepared by using AEO-7 as SDA and NiAl-N without SDA, NiAl-P prepared by using P123 as SDA possesses ordered mesopores, high Ni dispersion, large metal surface area and amounts of adsorbed CO2, which benefits CO2 conversion. Under the conditions of 1.0 MPa, 300 °C and H2/CO2 ratio of 4, NiAl-P shows the highest CO2 conversion of 74.0% and CH4 yield of 73.6%

What motivates international tourists’ positive word-of-mouth? The effect of individualist and collectivist cultural orientations

Purpose The purpose of this research paper was to determine which needs for incentives influence positive word-of-mouth (PWOM) among international tourists and how these needs differ based on the cultural orientation toward individualism and collectivism. Design/methodology/approach This research used online surveys to gather data from 959 Australian, US, UK, Japanese and Korean respondents who had visited Beijing. A random sampling method was used, and data were analyzed using SmartPLS 4.0. By adopting the existence relatedness growth theory, the findings explain how cultural orientation affects the impact of needs for incentives in generating PWOM. Findings Three hypothesized relationships were significant for Australia/UK/USA and Japan/Korea – the effect of needs for incentives on motivation, the effect of motivation on PWOM and the effects of needs for incentives on PWOM were significant and positive for Australia/UK/USA and Japan/Korea. The effect of needs for incentive type on motivation varied across national populations, and the intensity of the effects of needs for incentive type on PWOM was also different. For Australian, UK and the US tourists, the honorary title was the most influential need to stimulate word-of-mouth motivation. The need for cultural learning was the most influential for Japanese and Korean tourists. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature by exploring and comparing the needs for incentives that influence PWOM among tourists from the perspective of individualism and collectivism. The results also increase the understanding of the relationships among needs for incentives, motivation and PWOM

The relationship between serum uric acid within the normal range and β-cell function in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes: differences by body mass index and gender

Background Elevated serum uric acid (SUA) has a positive correlation with insulin secretion and insulin resistance indexes. However, whether weight- and gender-specific differences regarding the relationship between SUA within the normal range and β-cell function and insulin resistance exist is unknown in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Methods A total of 380 patients with type 2 diabetes were divided into two groups as overweight/obesity (n = 268) and normal weight (n = 112). Each group were again divided into low (LSUA) and high normal SUA (HSUA). The HbA1c, C-peptide, SUA, creatinine, and lipids profiles were measured. HOMA2IR and HOMA%2B were estimated using fasting glucose and C-peptide by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA). Pearson’s correlations and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the associations between SUA levels and islet function indexes. Results In overweight/obesity subgroup, the levels of body mass index, fasting C-peptide (FCP), P2hCP, fasting CPI (FCPI), postprandial CPI (PPCPI), ΔC-peptide, HOMA2%B, and HOMA2IR were higher in HSUA group than in LSUA group. In contrast, the HbA1c, FBS, and P2hBS were lower in HSUA than in LSUA. In normal weight subgroup, there were no differences between the HSUA than LSUA group in terms of clinical characteristics. Pearson’s correlations indicated that there were no significant correlations between SUA and insulin secretory capacity in normal weight group, but in overweight/obesity group, SUA had positive significant correlations with P2hCP, FCPI, PPCPI, ΔC-peptide, and HOMA2%B. In the female group, there were no significant correlations between SUA and insulin secretory capacity. However, in the male group, SUA had positive significant correlations with insulin secretory capacity include P2hCP, FCPI, PPCPI, ΔC-peptide, and HOMA2%B. Multiple linear regression showed that SUA was significantly associated with HOMA2%B, but not with HOMA2IR in overweight/obesity and male group. Conclusions Our study shows that SUA levels within normal range were associated with β-cell function in T2DM patients with overweight/obesity or male. This finding supports that the association between SUA within normal range and insulin secretion ability differs by weight and sex

Multi-stakeholder perspectives on the impacts of service robots in urban hotel rooms

The main purpose of this exploratory research was to determine city hotel guest, manager, and owner perspectives on the impacts in terms of costs and benefits of the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) service robots. Hotel guests perceived more benefits than costs while management views were more focused on the costs involved. Owners mainly adopted a financial view of hotel robot use. The negative attitudes held by hotel managers toward AI service robots were related to costs of implementation and a concern that these costs could not be returned. The Technology Readiness Index (TRI) was applied to examine guest perceptions