THAI HOTEL CLASSIFICATION: A CLUSTER ANALYSIS BASED ON ENTREPRENEURIAL MARKETING CHARACTERISTICS

This paper seeks to explore whether there is any meaningful clusters of Thai hotels based on entrepreneurial marketing variables and the demographic characteristics of hotels and their managers. Exploratory two-step cluster analysis was adopted since it can deal with both categorical and continuous data simultaneously. The analysis resulted in nine clusters, each with its own unique characteristics. The findings indicated that three major characteristics of hotel and hotel managers —hotel size, gender, and types of manager (owner vs. non-owner) — play important roles in the cluster formation process. It is suggested that future research in entrepreneurial marketing investigate the relationships between the characteristics of hotels and their managers and entrepreneurial marketing attributes in more detail in order to advance knowledge in this relatively new area of research

IMMUNOMODULATORY EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PROPORTIONS OF THE HERBAL MIXTURE IN TRIPHALA ON HUMAN T LYMPHOCYTES (MOLT-4)

Objectives: To investigate effect of different proportions of Terminalia bellerica Roxb (TB):Terminalia chebula Retz (TC):Phyllanthus emblica L. (PE) in triphala extract on immunological activity and to determine the possibility of applying the appropriate extract for health and immune disorders.Methods: The extracts with different proportions of TB: TC: PE (w/w/w), i.e.12:8:4 (F1), 4:12:8 (F2), 8:4:12 (F3) and 8:8:8 (F4), were prepared by decoction in water and dried under vacuum. Gallic acid, a major compound in triphala, was detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The effect of the extracts on IFN-g and IL-10 cytokine production produced by MOLT-4 cells was determined by ELISA.Results: The results show that F1, F4 and TB extracts significantly stimulated IFN-g production but no alteration in IL-10 expression was observed. With LPS induction, F1, F2, F3 and PE extracts significantly inhibited IFN-g production, while F2, F3, TB and TC extracts inhibited IL-10 production. By determining the IFN-g/IL-10 cytokine ratio, we found that the Th1/Th2 balance after treatment with triphala extract was mainly skewed toward a Th1-like response. With LPS induction, only the F1 extract could restore the balance of immunity by shifting the Th2 response to a normal level.Conclusion: Our investigation indicates that different proportions of triphala extracts and induction conditions affect cytokine production, with a predominant Th1 response. F4, the equal proportion triphala extract, could be applied as a healthy herbal drink. F1, containing a high proportion of T. bellerica, was a promising extract as an effective therapeutic intervention against Th2 imbalance diseases such as allergy and autoimmune disease or for use with cancer vaccines.Â

AN EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SELF-PERCEPTIONS, CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION, AND SAVING BEHAVIOR

This paper seeks to examine (1) the effects of social status and the three major components of self-esteem, performance, appearance, and social self-esteem, on conspicuous consumption and (2) the impact of conspicuous consumption on saving behavior. The relationships substantiated in this study are based mainly on the perception-behavior linkage within the social psychology domain. The data used to analyze the proposed relationships in this study were collected through an on-line survey, with a final sample size of 268 consumers. The findings show that only social status and the social dimension of self-esteem significantly affect conspicuous consumption. Surprisingly, we found no relationship between conspicuous consumption and savings. The results are discussed, along with suggestions for future researc

EXPERIENTIAL, ANTICIPATORY, UNREAL: this fairy-tale does not have a happy ending.

The methodology will be tested in the cinema type because of its promise of escapist hyperreality. It is spatial, highly personal and privatized, and firmly anti-architecture. Because the film is self-contained, its space is irrelevant. The representation of experience can be reclaimed as a design strategy to activate the movie theatre typology--a typology that architecture has long since lost

REPRESENTING THE EXPERIENTIAL, THE ANTICIPATORY, AND THE UNREAL

The methodology will be tested in the cinema type because of its promise of escapist hyperreality. It is spatial, highly personal and privatized, and firmly anti-architecture. Because the film is self-contained, its space is irrelevant. The representation of experience can be reclaimed as a design strategy to activate the movie theatre typology--a typology that architecture has long since lost

Phylloplane microorganisms on the leaf surfaces of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), hop (Humulus lupulus L.), mint (Mentha piperita L.) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)

Phyllopane microorganisms on the leaf surfaces of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. ), hop (Humulus lupulus L. 'Fuggle-H'), mint (Mentha piperita L. 'Mitcham') and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. ) has been observed by cultural methods. A leaf impression method was used to examine both actively growing and inactive propagules present on the surfaces of the leaves. A surface sterilization method was also used to detect the presence of any fungi occurring inside the living tissues. All leaf samples were collected from different locations in the Willamette Valley, i. e. , Benton, Lane, Linn, Marion, Polk, Washington and Yamhill Counties. A total of 38 species of microorganisms were found on the surface of healthy leaves of all four host plants. They are divided into five categories which are as follows. First, several microorganisms are very commonly found on the leaf surfaces of all plants and at almost every location; with frequencies of occurrence from 0.01-97 percent. There are 16 species in this first category and examples are Alternaria tenuis Nees ex Per. , Aureobasidium pullulans (de Bary) Arn. , Cladosporium cladosporioides (Fres. ) de Vries, C. herbarum Pers. ex Fr., Epicoccum purpurascens Ehrenb. ex Schlecht., Sporobolomyces roseus Kluy. & van Niel, and so forth. Second, microorganisms which occurred mainly on bean, mint and tomato leaf surfaces, with the range of frequencies between 0. 01- 29 percent. Thirteen species were isolated, e. g. Acremoniella atra (Corda) Sacc. , Aspergillus niger Tiegh. , Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. , and Phoma sp. etc. Third, microorganisms which grow mainly on tomato leaves with some occurrence on mint or bean leaves. Fourth, microorganisms which grow on tomato and mint leaves only. The frequency of occurrence was between 0.01-29 percent. Fifth, other epiphyllous microorganisms besides fungi, include species of actinomycetes and bacteria that were not identified. These microorganisms, especially the bacteria, abounded on all of the crop leaves and at every location. Numbers of the internal fungi were found in lesser numbers than those on the leaf surfaces. Seven species were isolated from inside of the healthy leaf tissues of the same crops. They were Alternaria tenuis, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Epicoccum purpurascens, Phoma sp. , Stemphylium botryosum Wallr. , Ulocladium atrum Preuss, and Verticilium sp. A. tenuis was the most commonly present at the cut edges of bean leaf squares with average 57 percent. The rest of them were varied, and ranged from 1-17 percent