Evaluation of a Novel Biphasic Culture Medium for Recovery of Mycobacteria: A Multi-Center Study

on L-J slants. Automated liquid culture systems are expensive. A low-cost culturing medium capable of rapidly indicating the presence of mycobacteria is needed. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a novel biphasic culture medium for the recovery of mycobacteria from clinical sputum specimens from suspected pulmonary tuberculosis patients.<0.001).

Study on the Influence of Health and Wellness Tourists’ Pull Motivation on Revisit Intention-- the Moderating Role of the Push Motivation

Health and wellness tourism is a new form of tourism in which people seek to experience a healthy lifestyle through tourism. From the perspective of demand side, this paper discusses the tourism motivation of health and wellness tourists, and based on a new tourism motivation model, studies the influence mechanism of pull motivation on revisit intention. The results showed that:(1) Pull motivation had a significant positive effect on revisit intention; (2) pushing motivation negatively moderates the relationship between pull motivation and revisit intention

Clustering of Health and Wellness Tourists Based on Tourism Motivation

In this paper, exploratory factor analysis, cluster analysis and other methods are used to study the health and wellness tourists based on tourism motivation, the results showed that: (1) the motivation of health and wellness tourism can be divided into three push motives: knowledge and experience, social and health, exploration and reflection; three pull motives: food and cultural activities, supporting facilities and information, natural and interpersonal environment. (2) According to the motivation, there are four types of tourists: seeking knowledge and health and wellness, facility service and environmental experience, exploration and reflection, and nearby travel. (3) There are significant differences among the four different types of health and wellness tourists in age, education level, occupation and monthly income

Growth and spectroscopic properties of Ti-doped sapphire single-crystal fibers

Titanium doped sapphire (Ti:Al2O3) crystal fibers have been grown by the micro-pulling-down (mu-PD) method using different pulling rate in the range (0.1-0.5 mm/min). The present work has investigated the crystal growth, including diameter, bubbles defects and segregation properties. The fiber's absorption and IR emission experiments are analyzed. The lifetime of Ti3+ in the IR range obtained at room temperature is 3.1 mu s. Moreover, the two blue emissions at 420 nm and 470 nm bands have been discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

β-Ga₂O₃ Used as a Saturable Sbsorber to Realize Passively Q-Switched Laser Output

β-Ga2O3 crystals have attracted great attention in the fields of photonics and photoelectronics because of their ultrawide band gap and high thermal conductivity. Here, a pure β-Ga2O3 crystal was successfully grown by the optical floating zone (OFZ) method, and was used as a saturable absorber to realize a passively Q-switched all-solid-state 1 μm laser for the first time. By placing the as-grown β-Ga2O3 crystal into the resonator of the Nd:GYAP solid-state laser, Q-switched pulses at the center wavelength of 1080.4 nm are generated under a output coupling of 10%. The maximum output power is 191.5 mW, while the shortest pulse width is 606.54 ns, and the maximum repetition frequency is 344.06 kHz. The maximum pulse energy and peak power are 0.567 μJ and 0.93 W, respectively. Our experimental results show that the β-Ga2O3 crystal has great potential in the development of an all-solid-state 1 μm pulsed laser

Global influenza vaccination rates and factors associated with influenza vaccination

Objectives: Influenza vaccination is an effective method for preventing influenza virus infection. Herein, we performed a meta-analysis to quantify global influenza vaccination rates (IVRs) and the factors influencing its uptake in the general population, individuals with chronic diseases, pregnant women, and healthcare workers. Methods: Related articles were obtained from online databases and screened according to the inclusion criteria. The pooled IVRs were calculated using the random effects model. Subgroup analyses and multivariate meta-regression were performed to determine the factors associated with influenza vaccine uptake. Results: We included 522 studies from 68 countries/regions. Most studies were conducted in the European region (247 studies), followed by the Western Pacific (135 studies) and American regions (100 studies). The IVRs with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in the general population were lower (24.96%, 23.45%-26.50%) than in individuals with chronic diseases (41.65%, 40.08%-43.23%), healthcare workers (36.57%, 33.74%-39.44%), and pregnant women (25.92%, 23.18%-28.75%). The IVRs in high-income countries/regions were significantly higher than that in middle-income countries/regions. A free national or regional vaccination policy, perception of influenza vaccine efficacy and disease severity, a recommendation from healthcare workers, and having a history of influenza vaccination were positive factors for vaccine uptake (P <0.01). Conclusion: Overall, global IVRs were low, especially in the general population. The studies on the IVRs, especially for priority populations, should be strengthened in Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asian, and African regions. Free vaccination policies and the dissemination of continuous awareness campaigns are effective measures to enhance vaccination uptake