Visitors Only? New Orleans’ Tourism Industry and the Construction of Space in the City

This paper addresses a major focus of urban studies: the politics of local economic development in the US city. It does so through a case study of New Orleans and its tourism industry. Specifically, it examines development based on tourism by analyzing it within the context of the industry's drive to create an "authentic New Orleans experience." This then creates a situation in which the industry becomes involved in the neighborhoods and wage relations in the city.No embargoAcademic Major: Geograph

Molekulare und immunologische Untersuchungen bei Tsutsugamushifieber in Nepal

Orientia (O.) tsutsugamushi, ein obligat intrazelluläres Gram-negatives Bakterium, wird durch Bisse von Milbenlarven übertragen und verursacht das Tsutsugamushifieber. Das im Zentrum des asiatischen Endemiegebiets liegende Land Nepal ist in den letzten Jahren verstärkt in den Fokus der Forschung zum Tsutsugamushifieber gerückt. Die Epidemiologie dieser vernachlässigten, aufstrebenden Infektionskrankheit in Nepal wurde bislang vornehmlich anhand von Fieberstudien beschrieben. Daten zur Orientia-spezifischen Immunantwort in der gesunden nepalesischen Bevölkerung, insbesondere zur Seroprävalenz von Antikörpern, existierten bisher noch nicht. Fragen zu Orienta-Persistenz und Koinfektionen mit dem „Schweres Fieber mit Thrombozytopenie-Syndrom“ (SFTS)-Virus waren unbeantwortet. Zudem war O. tsutsugamushi in Nepal bis jetzt nur spärlich molekular charakterisiert. Um ein vertieftes Verständnis der Erkrankung in Nepal zu erlangen, wurde in dieser Dissertation das erste Mal in einer gesunden nepalesischen Population die Orientia-spezifische IgM- und IgG-Antikörperantwort sowie das systemische Zytokinprofil mittels indirekter Immunfluoreszenz (IFAT) bzw. Multiplex-Immunoassay charakterisiert und mit akut Erkrankten, im Schnelltest positiven Tsutsugamushifieber-Patient:innen in Nepal verglichen. Weiterhin wurden Serumproben aus beiden Gruppen auf zirkulierende Orientia-DNA mittels PCR untersucht. Es schloss sich eine molekulare Typisierung und phylogenetische Analyse humanpathogener Orientia-Sequenzen aus Nepal an. Die vorliegende Dissertation zeigte, dass sich der Einsatz von Schnelltests zur akkuraten Diagnosestellung eines akuten Tsutsugamushifiebers bei eingeschränkter Beurteilbarkeit deren Spezifität als deutlich sensitiver als die IFAT erwies und dieses aufwendige Verfahren möglichweise als Goldstandard aufgegeben werden sollte. In dieser Arbeit konnte erstmals eine hohe Seroprävalenz Orientia-spezifischer Antikörper in der gesunden nepalesischen Population identifiziert und in diesem Zusammenhang das endemische Vorkommen der Erkrankung in Nepal genauer charakterisieren werden: Das Tsustugamushifieber ist zu einem hohen Grad endemisch in der nepalesischen Bevölkerung. Darüber hinaus wurde der Nachweis von Orientia 16S DNA bei asymptomatischen Blutspender:innen erbracht, der angesichts einer hohen Prävalenz von IgG-Antikörpern einen zusätzlichen Hinweis auf eine Persistenz des Erregers im Organismus, auch nach einer akuten Tsutsugamushifieber-Infektion, gibt. Auf Basis dieser Erkenntnisse zeigte sich, dass alleinige Orientia 16S DNA Nachweise zwar hoch sensitiv, jedoch nicht beweisend für eine akute Infektion sind. Perspektivisch könnten Multitarget PCRs mit der zusätzlichen Zielstruktur des 47kD Gens im endemischen Setting Nepals zur diagnostischen Diskriminierung einer akuten von einer vorangegangenen Infektion beitragen. Des Weiteren konnte ein diverses Orientia-Stammvorkommen in Nepal mit großen Homologien zu anderen asiatischen Orientia-Stämmen beschrieben werden. Zusätzlich ergab sich in dieser Arbeit kein Hinweis auf SFTS-Virus-Infektionen. Weiterhin zeigte sich, dass das systemische Zytokinprofil von IL-6 und IFN-γ teilweise signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den nepalesischen Tsutsugamushifieber-Patient:innen und den gesunden nepalesischen Blutspender:innen aufwies, aus der sich Hinweise auf eine Aktivierung von Lymphozyten und des angeborenen Immunsystems ableiten lassen. Bei TNF-α und IL-10 ergaben sich Hinweise auf eine schwache inflammatorische Immunantwort und damit auf eine möglicherweise nur leichte Erkrankung. Das Beleuchten der klinischen Charakteristik gab Anhaltspunkte zur Unterstützung einer klinischen Verdachtsdiagnose anhand des Vorliegens bestimmter Symptome wie subjektives Hitzegefühl, Diarrhoe und vergrößerte Leistenlymphknoten. Die vorliegende Arbeit liefert detailliertere Daten zur Seroprävalenz Orientia-spezifischer Antikörper und zur Entzündungsantwort in der nepalesischen Bevölkerung, ebenso wie zu geeigneten molekularen diagnostischen Targets und zur Heterogenität von O. tsutsugamushi in Nepal. Diese Daten geben neue Hinweise für ein verbessertes Verständnis der Erkrankung sowie zur Etablierung geeigneter und präziser Diagnostik in Nepal. Sie können darüber hinaus einen Beitrag zur Verbesserung der Krankheitsbehandlung, zur verbesserten Kontrolle der Tsutsugamushifieber-Infektionen und zur möglichen Entwicklung eines passenden Impfstoffes für Nepal leisten.Orientia tsutsugamushi is an obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacterium transmitted by bites from mite larvae and the causative agent of Tsutsugamushi fever, a disease also known as “Scrub Typhus”. Nepal, a country located in the center of the Asian endemic area, has been the focus of increased research on Tsutsugamushi fever in recent years. The epidemiology of this neglected emerging infectious disease in Nepal has been described primarily from fever studies. Data on Orientia-specific immune response in the healthy Nepalese population, and in particular on seroprevalence of antibodies does not currently exist. This leaves unanswered questions regarding Orienta persistence and co-infection with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus, as well as sparse molecular characterization of Orientia tsutsugamushi in Nepal. To gain a deeper understanding of the disease in Nepal, this research represents the first characterization of the Orientia-specific IgM and IgG antibody response, by indirect immunofluorescence (IFAT), and systemic cytokine profile using multiplex immunoassay, in a healthy Nepalese population as compared to acutely ill, rapid test positive Tsutsugamushi fever patients. Additionally, serum samples from both groups were analyzed for circulating Orientia DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This was followed by molecular typing and phylogenetic analysis of human pathogenic Orientia sequences from Nepal. This approach showed that the use of rapid tests for diagnosis of acute Tsutsugamushi fever was accurate. Furthermore, despite limited ability to assess their specificity, rapid tests proved to be significantly more sensitive than IFAT, suggesting the field should consider abandoning this laborious procedure as the gold standard. This work is also the first to identify a high seroprevalence of Orientia-specific antibodies in the healthy Nepalese population and, in this context, to characterize more precisely the endemic occurrence of the disease in Nepal. This research demonstrates that Tsustugamushi fever is highly endemic in the Nepalese community. Furthermore, the detection of Orientia 16S DNA in asymptomatic blood donors provides additional evidence for persistence of the pathogen in the organism even after acute Tsutsugamushi fever infection, given the high prevalence of IgG antibodies. Based on these findings, Orientia 16S DNA detections alone were shown to be highly sensitive but not indicative of acute infection. As such, multi-target PCRs with the additional target of the 47kD gene in an endemic setting like Nepal could contribute to the diagnostic discrimination of acute from previous infections. The analysis allowed for the description of a diverse Orientia strain occurrence in Nepal, finding large homologies to other Asian Orientia strains. No evidence of SFTS virus infections emerged in this work. The systemic cytokine profile of IL-6 and IFN-γ showed partially significant differences between the Tsutsugamushi fever patients and blood donors, from which evidence for activation of lymphocytes and the innate immune system can be deduced. TNF-α and IL-10 revealed a weak inflammatory immune response with evidence of possibly only mild disease. The findings illuminate the clinical characteristics and provide clues for making a suspected clinical diagnosis based on the presence of symptoms such as a subjective feeling of heat, diarrhea, and enlarged inguinal lymph nodes. The present work adds to the limited body of research on Orientia tsutsugamushi in the Nepalese context, providing more detailed data on the seroprevalence of Orientia-specific antibodies and inflammatory response in the population, as well as on appropriate molecular diagnostic targets and the heterogeneity of Orientia tsutsugamushi in the country. The findings provide new clues for improved understanding of the disease and for establishing appropriate and accurate diagnostics in Nepal. They can also contribute to improved disease management, improved control of Tsutsugamushi fever infections, and the possible development of an appropriate vaccine for Nepal

Efficiency of the Tokyo Housing Market

In analyzing the dynamics of Tokyo housing price, we have compiled annual micro data sets from individual listings in a widely-circulated real estate advertising magazine. A data set compiled from "properties for investment" lists both asking (sales) prices and rents for the same properties. With such data, a price-rent ratio is directly observable and expected capital gains before tax and commissions found to be just less than 90% in ten years. The "repeatedly-listed properties for investment" data set, a subset of the first, contains only those units in the same buildings after a one-year interval. In this data set, price, rent, and ex post capital gains are all observable. They are used to show that ex post returns on housing investment in the last four years were actually rather modest. The data sets for "housing for sale" and "housing for rent" sections were separately used for hedonic regressions, from which we constructed hedonic price and rent indexes. These regressions show the effects of various determinants of housing prices and rents. The time (year) dummy variables in the hedonic regressions give estimates of price and rent increases in the last 11 years in Tokyo. According to these estimates, prices increased 85-90% over the 1981-92 period, while rents increased about 65%. The price-(annual) rent ratio rents appears to have fluctuated between 17 and 32. Finally, the weak-form efficiency of excess returns on housing is rejected. However, the conclusion is tentative considering the short sample.

WHOI Hawaii Ocean Timeseries Station (WHOTS) : WHOTS-7 2010 mooring turnaround cruise report

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Hawaii Ocean Timeseries (HOT) Site (WHOTS), 100 km north of Oahu, Hawaii, is intended to provide long-term, high-quality air-sea fluxes as a part of the NOAA Climate Observation Program. The WHOTS mooring also serves as a coordinated part of the HOT program, contributing to the goals of observing heat, fresh water and chemical fluxes at a site representative of the oligotrophic North Pacific Ocean. The approach is to maintain a surface mooring outfitted for meteorological and oceanographic measurements at a site near 22.75°N, 158°W by successive mooring turnarounds. These observations will be used to investigate air–sea interaction processes related to climate variability. This report documents recovery of the WHOTS-6 mooring and deployment of the seventh mooring (WHOTS-7). Both moorings used Surlyn foam buoys as the surface element and were outfitted with two Air–Sea Interaction Meteorology (ASIMET) systems. Each ASIMET system measures, records, and transmits via Argos satellite the surface meteorological variables necessary to compute air–sea fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum. The upper 155 m of the moorings were outfitted with oceanographic sensors for the measurement of temperature, conductivity and velocity in a cooperative effort with R. Lukas of the University of Hawaii. A pCO2 system was installed on the WHOTS-7 buoy in a cooperative effort with Chris Sabine at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. The WHOTS mooring turnaround was done on the University of Hawaii research vessel Kilo Moana, by the Upper Ocean Processes Group of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The cruise took place between 27 July and 4 August 2010. Operations began with deployment of the WHOTS-7 mooring on 28 July. This was followed by meteorological intercomparisons and CTDs. Recovery of WHOTS-6 took place on 2 Aug 2010. This report describes these cruise operations, as well as some of the in-port operations and pre-cruise buoy preparations.Funding was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Grant No. NA09OAR432012

WHOI Hawaii Ocean Timeseries Station (WHOTS) : WHOTS-8 2011 mooring turnaround cruise report

Note: author "Ludovic Bariteau" is incorrectly listed as "Bariteau Ludovic" on the Cover and Title Page.The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Hawaii Ocean Timeseries (HOT) Site (WHOTS), 100 km north of Oahu, Hawaii, is intended to provide long-term, high-quality air-sea fluxes as a part of the NOAA Climate Observation Program. The WHOTS mooring also serves as a coordinated part of the HOT program, contributing to the goals of observing heat, fresh water and chemical fluxes at a site representative of the oligotrophic North Pacific Ocean. The approach is to maintain a surface mooring outfitted for meteorological and oceanographic measurements at a site near 22.75°N, 158°W by successive mooring turnarounds. These observations will be used to investigate air–sea interaction processes related to climate variability. This report documents recovery of the seventh WHOTS mooring (WHOTS-7) and deployment of the eighth mooring (WHOTS-8). Both moorings used Surlyn foam buoys as the surface element and were outfitted with two Air–Sea Interaction Meteorology (ASIMET) systems. Each ASIMET system measures, records, and transmits via Argos satellite the surface meteorological variables necessary to compute air–sea fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum. The upper 155 m of the moorings were outfitted with oceanographic sensors for the measurement of temperature, conductivity and velocity in a cooperative effort with R. Lukas of the University of Hawaii. A pCO2 system was installed on the WHOTS-8 buoy in a cooperative effort with Chris Sabine at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. A set of radiometers were installed in cooperation with Sam Laney at WHOI. The WHOTS mooring turnaround was done on the NOAA ship Hi’ialakai by the Upper Ocean Processes Group of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The cruise took place between 5 July and 13 July 2011. Operations began with deployment of the WHOTS-8 mooring on 6 July. This was followed by meteorological intercomparisons and CTDs. Recovery of WHOTS-7 took place on 11 July 2011. This report describes these cruise operations, as well as some of the in-port operations and pre-cruise buoy preparations.Funding was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Grant No. NA090AR4320129 and the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region (CINAR)

Granulomatose com Poliangeíte com manifestação grave e atípica - relato de caso

A Granulomatose com Poliangeíte (GPA), anteriormente denominada Granulomatose de Wegener, é uma doença autoimune sistêmica crônica rara. É uma vasculite associada a anticorpo anticitoplasma de neutrófilo (ANCA) e caracterizada pela presença de antiproteinase 3 (anti-PR3). GPA é uma doença sistêmica que envolve principalmente pequenos vasos através de mecanismos imunomediados. Desta maneira, afeta principalmente o trato respiratório e o sistema renal. Dada a sua gravidade, imunossupressores devem ser introduzidos para controlar a atividade da doença. Neste caso, uma mulher jovem que permaneceu sem diagnóstico e tratamento adequado por 8 anos, apesar de acompanhamento médico e diagnósticos equivocados previamente. Apresentou progressão da doença, que se deu por destruição de sela nasal e palato duro com acometimento nasofaríngeo até exposição de estruturas ósseas cervicais, além de destruição osteoarticular em mãos, punhos, quadris e pés decorrentes, principalmente, do processo vasculítico, além do uso indiscriminado de corticosteróides

WHOI Hawaii Ocean Timeseries Station (WHOTS) : WHOTS-9 2012 mooring turnaround cruise report

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Hawaii Ocean Timeseries Site (WHOTS), 100 km north of Oahu, Hawaii, is intended to provide long-term, high-quality air-sea fluxes as a part of the NOAA Climate Observation Program. The WHOTS mooring also serves as a coordinated part of the Hawaii Ocean Timeseries (HOT) program, contributing to the goals of observing heat, fresh water and chemical fluxes at a site representative of the oligotrophic North Pacific Ocean. The approach is to maintain a surface mooring outfitted for meteorological and oceanographic measurements at a site near 22.75°N, 158°W by successive mooring turnarounds. These observations will be used to investigate air–sea interaction processes related to climate variability. This report documents recovery of the eighth WHOTS mooring (WHOTS-8) and deployment of the ninth mooring (WHOTS-9). Both moorings used Surlyn foam buoys as the surface element and were outfitted with two Air–Sea Interaction Meteorology (ASIMET) systems. Each ASIMET system measures, records, and transmits via Argos satellite the surface meteorological variables necessary to compute air–sea fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum. The upper 155 m of the moorings were outfitted with oceanographic sensors for the measurement of temperature, conductivity and velocity in a cooperative effort with R. Lukas of the University of Hawaii. A pCO2 system was installed on the buoys in cooperation with Chris Sabine at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. A set of radiometers were installed in cooperation with Sam Laney at WHOI. The WHOTS mooring turnaround was done on the NOAA ship Hi’ialakai by the Upper Ocean Processes Group of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The cruise took place between 12 and 19 June 2012. Operations began with deployment of the WHOTS-9 mooring on 13 June. This was followed by meteorological intercomparisons and CTDs. Recovery of the WHOTS-8 mooring took place on 16 June. This report describes these cruise operations, as well as some of the in-port operations and pre-cruise buoy preparations.Funding was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Grant No. NA09OAR4320129 and the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region (CINAR)

Value priorities and their relations with quality of life in the Baby Boomer generation of Lithuanian nurses: a cross-sectional survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The understanding of the values of nurses is especially important, since nurses constitute 80% of workforce in the healthcare system in Lithuania. In addition to that, nursing is one of the major constituents of healthcare. The aim of this study was to determine what values predominate in the cohort of Baby Boomer nurses, and to evaluate the relation of these values with quality of life using M. Rokeach's terminal and instrumental values scale. M.Rokeach distinguished terminal values (such as world peace, wisdom, and happiness), which are preferred end-states of existence, and instrumental values (such as responsibility and cooperation), which are preferred modes of conduct.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a representative anonymous questionnaire-based inquiry of nurses working in regional hospitals of Lithuania. The nurses who participated in the study were distributed into four work cohorts: the Veterans, the Baby Boomers, the Generation Xers, and the Generation Nexters. The majority of the nurses belonged to the Baby Boomers and the Generation Xers cohorts. Since in Lithuania, like in the whole Europe, the representatives of the Baby Boomers generation are predominating among working people, we selected this cohort (N = 387) for the analysis. The survey data was processed using the SPSS statistical software package</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The main values in life were family security, tranquility, and a sense of accomplishment. However, such values as true friendship, equality, and pleasurable and leisured life were seen as rather insignificant. The most important instrumental values were honesty, skillfulness, and responsibility. Our study showed a statistically significant (albeit weak) correlation between the QOL and terminal values such as the sense of accomplishment, tranquility, equality, and pleasure, as well as the instrumental value – obedience. We detected a statistically significant relationship between good QOL and satisfaction with oneself, relationships with the surrounding people, and friends' support.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings of our study showed that, although Lithuania was under a totalitarian regime for 50 years, both the terminal and the instrumental values of the Baby Boomers generation are very similar to those of the same generation in other countries.</p

Trends in the Synthesis and Functionalization of Guaianolides

Guaianolides constitute a large and diverse group of biologically active sesquiterpenes. Guaianolide and seco-guaianolides can also be used as, for example, scaffolds for the development of new active molecules that are readily accessible by synthetic methods. Nevertheless, these lactones often have complex structures that make their synthesis difficult. The aim of this microreview is to provide an overview of the developments in guaianolide synthesis by the two major synthetic strategies: semi-synthesis and total synthesis. Partial and total syntheses of guaianolides are described, with particular emphasis placed on the methods reported in the last decade. The methods discussed include rearrangements, cycloadditions, ring-closing metathesis, the use of transitionmetal catalysts, photochemical reactions, and other recently developed techniques as key steps