A scientometric review of the synergetic effects of emotions on the travel motivation of senior tourists

This paper seeks to make three contributions to the senior tourism literature. The first apllies a scientometric review to analyse when, how and why the subject title has potential value in scientific domain; the second measure and validate senior tourists’ emotional experiences when vacationing in Lisbon, adapting Hosany and Gilbert Destination Emotion Scale (DES); and the third identifies the effect of positive emotions on push motivations. The scientometric review over 18479 bibliographical records published since 1900, were retrieved by terms from the Web-of-Science and exported to CiteSpace. A sample of 464 senior tourists vacationing in Lisbon was conducted to analyses the synergetic effect of emotions on the travel motivations of senior tourists, applying structural equations modeling (SEM). The results shows the association between positive emotions, place attachment and push motivations in seniors tourist experience, through the connection between ten areas of research in the knowledge domain: the first seven major clusters (#0 to #6), and three small clusters: #10 with the reference Jang, (2009); # 41, with the reference Sangpikul, (2008) and cluster #48 with the reference Pearce, (2005)

Measaurement of the intelectual contribution of the issue: Synergetic effect of emotions on the travel motivation of senior tourists

Detecting the signs of potential valuable ideas has theoretical and practical implications in order to safeguard the integrity of scientific knowledge. A critical part is to discern whether the study of a new idea is cognitively demanding. Not only do we need to have an up-do-date understanding of the scientific field’s intellectual structure as we must be able to identify exactly how the newly idea is connected to the intellectual structure as well. The perceived value of this paper is to provide specific trails of evidence to show why and how “The Synergetic Effect of Emotions on Travel Motivation of Senior Tourists” is novel in the scientific domain. The prediction of its potential value is going to be made in computational terms, using the program CiteSpace, showing the degree of changes introduced by it due to its connection with previously disparate patches of knowledge, creating a network of ideas. CiteSpace supports the modeling and visualization of our topic from bibliographical sources in terms of networks of several types of entities, including cited references, co-authors, co-occuring keywords and identify centrality between pivotal points as a measure of the importance of those nodes. This paper centered on document citations and co-citations networks in order to deliver accurate results for the knowledge of each domain. Individual nodes in the network can be aggregated into different thematic concentrations or clusters, based on their interconnectivity. Other points of interest include articles highly cited, strong bursts and hight frequency of occurance

Assessing educational leadership: a competence-complexity based test

This study is focused on the validation of a leadership test, based on a complex model of leadership skills, as a tool for assessing teacher’s educational competence, viewed as important in conduting adolescent and adult learning classes. Its specific purpose is to establish the norms and interpretation criteria for the test, in educational contexts. The model highlights the skills for leadership effectiveness, in a definite cultural setting, the Academy of East Timor National Police, viewing leadership as an essential way of steering human systems. The postulates of the model hypothesize the positivity of leadership as a result from an appropriate combination of power and information, while executing the fundamental activities of dinamizing and controlling the performance and results of the learning ativities. The test was applied to a sample of trainees in an educational military context, the Academy of East Timor National Police. The results of their evaluations on each competence for leadership effectiveness were valid and reliable. Nevertheless, the authors plan to test this tool in other specific contexts, in order to complete the evaluation of the leadership complex set of competences required by educational contexts.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The effectiveness of intervention by speech therapy in vocal fold paralysis: Objective assessment

Objectivos: Analisar os resultados atingidos por um grupo de pacientes com paralisia da corda vocal, usando medidas de avaliação objectivas, antes e após intervenção de Terapia da Fala. Materiais e Métodos: Análise retrospectiva dos resultados obtidos por um grupo de 38 pacientes com paralisia da corda vocal submetidos à intervenção da área de Terapia da Fala, num Hospital Central. Resultados: O tipo de paralisias foi variável, sendo que a maioria dos sujeitos apresentava paralisia unilateral, em posição paramediana. As diferenças de resultados dos parâmetros jitter, shimmer e NNE revelaram-se significativas (p < 0,05). O número médio de consultas de Terapia da Fala necessárias foi de 13,29±7,95. Conclusões: A intervenção de Terapia da Fala em casos de paralisia da corda vocal iniciada precocemente é eficaz, evitando-se assim que os pacientes fossem submetidos a procedimentos cirúrgicos, já que apresentam melhoras significativas da qualidade da voz com a intervenção terapêutica.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sustained-Release Bupropion Overdose: A Case Report

Bupropion is an atypical antidepressant with a unique aminoketone structure similar to amphetamines. A narrow therapeutic margin is evident from observational studies that show seizure activity with doses of 400-600 mg or higher. A 38-year old woman took an overdose of 6 grams of bupropion with 110 grams of alcohol. She presented to the Emergency Department with agitation, visual hallucinations and myoclonus of the upper limbs; eyes spontaneously open with isochoric and light reactive pupils with horizontal nystagmus; afebrile, normotensive (121/63 mm Hg) and tachycardic (120 beats/minute). The electrocardiogram revealed a sinus tachycardia with prolonged QT interval (QT/QTc: 0.46/ 0.537) and a QRS complex length in the upper limit of normal. Arterial blood gases revealed metabolic acidosis (pH = 7.16) with increased anion-gap (value=18). She developed mal epilepticus needing thiopental induced coma and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission. She suffered prolonged symptoms including seizures before fully recovering. The narrow therapeutic range and the increasing use in the treatment of smoking cessation boosted the number of intentional and unintentional poisoning by this drug. Previous reports of bupropion overdose almost all involve the immediate release formulation. There are some reports of overdose with sustained-release formulation, but there is limited information on its spectrum of toxicity

Familial pseudoxanthoma elasticum with nephrocalcinosis: a case report

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by progressive calcification and fragmentation of elastic fibres. PXE commonly involves the reticular dermis, the Bruch membrane of the eye, and blood vessels. PXE is caused by mutations in the ABCC6 gene. More than 300 pathogenic ABCC6 mutations are known. Two of these mutations are common: p.R1141X in exon 24, with a prevalence of 30%, and the Alu–mediated deletion of exons 23 to 29 (EX23_29del; p.A999_S1403del) found in 10-20% of patients. Homozygosity is rare. A 40-year-old female with a previous diagnosis of PXE was admitted in Nephrology Outpatient Clinic for nephrocalcinosis. She has two sisters, one of which also has a diagnosis of PXE and nephrocalcinosis. Physical examination revealed the presence of typical skin and ocular abnormalities. Microscopic and gross hematuria was reported in both affected sisters. Abdominal ultrasound confirmed bilateral cortico-medullar nephrocalcinosis. Calcium and phosphorus levels in blood and urine were normal. Hyperparathyroidism, renal tubular acidosis, hypervitaminosis D and hyperoxaluria were excluded. Renal biopsy showed only minor glomerular abnormalities. Medullary sponge kidney was identified by excretory urography. Genomic DNA was used as a template for PCR amplification of the region spanning introns 22 to 29 of ABCC6 [Pfendner et al., J Med Genet 2007;44:621-8]. The oligonucleotide cocktail used generated a 552bp PCR product for the normal sequence, and a 652bp product for the deletion mutation. Both sisters with PXE were homozygous for the EX23_29del mutation. The third sister did not carry this deletion. There are occasional reports of diffuse visceral calcifications (testis, mammary gland) in PXE. PXE-associated nephrocalcinosis was previously noted in four patients belonging to different families. This is the first report of familiar co-occurrence of PXE and nephrocalcinosis with medullary sponge kidney. These sisters’ peculiar phenotype could be due to their unusual genotype, or other shared genetic and environmental factors

Relationships between nutrient composition of flowers and fruit quality in orange trees grown in calcareous soil

A field experiment was conducted in a commercial orange orchard (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb. cv. ‘Valencia late’ grafted on Citrange Troyer) established on a calcareous soil in the south of Portugal, to investigate if flower analysis could be used to predict fruit quality. In April 1996, during full bloom, flowers were collected from 20 trees. In March 1997 the fruits were harvested and their quality evaluated. This procedure was repeated every year during three years. Principal Component Analysis was used to evaluate the patterns of covariation in the concentrations of nutrients in flowers and in fruit quality parameters. Stepwise selection procedures wer then used to develop regression models relating fruit quality parameters to the mineral composition of flowers. The predictive power of the regression models was evaluated using an independent set of data. The mineral composition of flowers at full bloom could be used to predict quality parameters of fruit in the following year, namely fruit fresh weight and the maturation index. Magnesium, Ca and Zn registered in flowers were related to fruit fresh weight estimations and N, P, Mg and Fe were related to fruit maturation index. Reference values were determined for the mineral composition of flowers, corresponding to trees where fruits had a diameter > 76 mm

The root ferric-chelate reductase of Ceratonia siliqua (L.) and Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf. responds differently to a low level of iron

Iron (Fe) deficiency is a common nutritional disorder in several crops grown in calcareous soils, but some species are well adapted to these conditions. A hydroponic experiment was conducted to compare the response of a calcicole species Ceratonia siliqua L. (carob) and of Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf., a citrus rootstock very sensitive to Fe deficiency. Rootstocks from both species were grown in nutrient solutions without Fe (0 M Fe), with 1 M Fe, and with 10 M Fe (carob) or 40 M Fe (P. trifoliata). A low level of Fe or its absence in the nutrient solution led to a significant decrease in P. trifoliata vegetative growth and in SPAD readings. The root activity of ferric-chelate reductase (FC-R), a key enzyme in Fe uptake, was low in the absence or with high levels of Fe. Its highest values were in roots exposed to a low level of Fe as described in several sensitive species. In contrast, the activity of FC-R was very high in carob in the absence of Fe and was decreased sharply even when only a low level of Fe was present in the nutrient solution. Plant growth and SPAD readings in the leaves of carob were similar in all treatments. Carob seems to maintain a large activity of root FC-R that may ensure enough Fe to satisfy plant demand. The fact that it presents a slow growing pattern may also contribute to the tolerance of this species to low levels of external Fe

Effects of fertiliser practices on the growth and quality of two table grape cultivars: 'Cardinal' and 'D. Maria'.

In this study, the different fertilliser practices of four commercial vineyards (Vitis vinifera L. cv. 'Cardinal' and cv. 'D. Maria') in southern Portugal were assessed and compared in 2002. The vineyards were established in similar soils under the same climatic conditions and additional water was supplied by drip irrigation. At harvest, the mineral composition of petioles (P, K, Mg, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) and quality parameters of the grapes (total soluble solids expressed as degree Brix, cluster length and weight, number of grapes, grapes weight and rachis weight) were recorded. For the 'Cardinal' cultivar, the nutritional status of the plant was correlated with growth and yield, and the greatest values for most of the parameters studied were measured at Alvisquer farm. For the 'D. Maria' cultivar, a single correlation was found between nutrient levels and growth. Shoot and cluster lengths, and grape weight were similar at all farms, though cluster weight, number of grapes and total soluble solids were smaller at Pedras than at Alvisquer or Gomeira

Compared to mycophenolate mofetil, rapamycin induces significant changes on growth factors and growth factor receptors in the early days post‐kidney transplantation

We found 1 article: Transplantation. 2002 Mar 27;73(6):915-20. Compared to mycophenolate mofetil, rapamycin induces significant changes on growth factors and growth factor receptors in the early days post-kidney transplantation. Oliveira JG, Xavier P, Sampaio SM, Henriques C, Tavares I, Mendes AA, Pestana M. Renal Department, Hospital S. João, Porto, Portugal. Abstract BACKGROUND: The new immunosuppressive drug Rapamycin (Rapa) is endowed with a mechanism of action that is distinct from that of calcineurin inhibitors. It has been claimed that Rapa does not significantly modulate either the cytokine expression or the transcription of several growth factors in mitogen-activated T cells. Previously, we reported that fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) sample cultures synthesize a large array of cytokines, and some of them may be powerful predictors of acute rejection in renal transplants. We hypothesized that Rapa may induce significant changes on cytokine production by FNAB sample cultures and on serum cytokine receptors when compared to other immunosuppressive drugs. METHODS: Kidney transplants treated with CsA-Rapa-Pred (Rapa group) were compared with transplants treated with CsA-mycophenolate mofetil-Pred (MMF group). They were studied on day 7 posttransplantation, and they remained rejection free for at least the first 6 months. FNAB samples were cultured and the supernatants were collected at 48 hr of incubation and analyzed by ELISA for interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-18, monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), soluble tumor necrosis factor I, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta(1). The soluble receptors for IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha, together with IL-2 and IL-18 were also measured in serum. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed when comparing Rapa with the MMF group. IL-18 and TGF-beta(1) synthesis were up-regulated, whereas IL-6 and MCP-1 were down-regulated in FNAB sample cultures. The Rapa group showed a significant down-regulation of each cytokine receptor and of IL-2 in serum. CONCLUSIONS: Rapa was associated with a decreased synthesis of primarily monocyte-derived cytokines and enhanced production of TGF-beta(1), which in an appropriate cytokine milieu may promote allograft tolerance. The down-regulation of cytokine receptors and IL-2 may be associated with a depressed immune response towards the kidney allograft. PMID: 11923692 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE