User Profile, Perception, and Behavioral Characteristics of Web-Based GIS in Tourism Information Search

Among the Internet applications, Web-based spatial data service (WebGIS), e.g. Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, and GlobeXplore, has promised a new generation of information platforms and expanded the ways in which travel information can be accessed. However, we know little about the population who seeks tourism and recreation information through WebGIS. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate tourism-information seekers’ characteristics and their use behaviors associated with tourism situations when utilizing WebGIS. An electronic selfadministered survey was developed as the study instrument. ANOVA was employed to conduct analyses. Sex showed to be influential in information search behavior. The factor of age differentiated the behavior and perceptions toward WebGIS in a wide spectrum in comparison to other factors. In general, education as a factor showed differences in motive and the area of interests. The factor of income levels showed little influence in the attitude and preferences

Apakah Opec Merupakan Kartel?: Pendekatan Kausalitas Granger dalam Kerangka Vector Autoregressive

One would believe that The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is certainly a cartel which curbs production in order to raise the price of its product as well as to share the market among its members. Did energy shock of the 1970\u27s engineered by an effective cartel of OPEC members acting to share the market by controlling output and influencing market prices? One would also expect OPEC\u27s production to significantly affect the market price of oil as the organization is often accused of curbing production in order to raise prices. This paper tries to determine whether OPEC has the power of affecting the market price of oil and or vice versa. This study uses the Toda and Yamamoto (1995) procedure for testing for Granger non-causality in Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models that involves variables that are integrated of an arbitrary order and that are possibly cointegrated. The results indicate that there is no statistically significant causal relationship between real crude oil price and OPEC production in either direction for full sample period 1974 – 2005. Instead, we find that real crude oil price Granger cause OPEC production in 2 different sub samples period, but not in other direction. As overall we reject cartel hypothesis for OPEC as a whole

On pancultural self-enhancement: well-adjusted Taiwanese self-enhance on personally valued traits

Taiwanese participants made better-than-average judgments on collectivistic and individualistic traits, evaluated the personal importance of those traits, and completed measures of psychological adjustment (depression, perceived stress, subjective well-being, and satisfaction with life). Replicating findings from other East Asian samples, participants self-enhanced (i.e., regarded the self as superior to peers) more on collectivistic than individualistic attributes and assigned higher personal importance to the former than the latter. Moreover, better adjusted participants manifested a stronger tendency to self-enhance on personally important attributes. These data are consistent with the view that self-enhancement is a universal human motive that is expressed tactically and at odds with the assertion that self-enhancement is a uniquely Western phenomenon. <br/

Effect of Different Parts (Leaf, Stem and Stalk) and Seasons (Summer and Winter) on the Chemical Compositions and Antioxidant Activity of Moringa oleifera

Moringa oleifera, Lam. (Moringaceae) is grown world-wide in the tropics and sub-tropics of Asia and Africa and contains abundant various nutrients. This study describes the effect of different parts (leaf, stem and stalk) and seasons (summer and winter) on the chemical compositions and antioxidant activity of M. oleifera grown in Taiwan. The results showed that the winter samples of Moringa had higher ash (except the stalk part), calcium and phenolic compounds (except the leaf part) and stronger antioxidative activity than summer samples. The methanolic extract of Moringa showed strong scavenging effect of DPPH radicals and reducing power. The trend of antioxidative activity as a function of the part of Moringa was: leaf > stem > stalk for samples from both seasons investigated. The Moringa extract showed strong hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity and high Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activity except the stalk part

25 years of epidermal stem cell research.

This is a chronicle of concepts in the field of epidermal stem cell biology and a historic look at their development over time. The past 25 years have seen the evolution of epidermal stem cell science, from first fundamental studies to a sophisticated science. The study of epithelial stem cell biology was aided by the ability to visualize the distribution of stem cells and their progeny through lineage analysis studies. The excellent progress we have made in understanding epidermal stem cell biology is discussed in this article. The challenges we still face in understanding epidermal stem cells include defining molecular markers for stem and progenitor sub-populations, determining the locations and contributions of the different stem cell niches, and mapping regulatory pathways of epidermal stem cell proliferation and differentiation. However, our rapidly evolving understanding of epidermal stem cells has many potential uses that promise to translate into improved patient therapy