VFR travel generated by international students: The case of Japanese students in Australia

The visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market is one of the largest and most rapidly growing global tourism markets. Although much research has been carried out on this market since the early 1990s, these studies have largely been in the Western context, with Asian VFR travellers receiving little attention. To extend our understanding of the international VFR market, this study focused on Japanese international students studying in Australia. Through a series of in-depth interviews with 26 students, their roles and experiences as VFR hosts and the behaviours of the VFR travellers who visited them were explored. The results show that the majority of the students not only played important roles in motivating their friends and relatives to visit their study destinations but also recognised these roles. A number of unique behaviours on the part of Japanese VFR travellers, such as accommodation use and information searches, were also observed. The study\u27s findings extend our understanding of the VFR market. The study suggests that international students are important resources for tourism practitioners because they can trigger international visits by friends and relatives

Electronic properties of electron-doped [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester and silylmethylfullerene

Electronic properties of electron-doped chemically decorated fullerenes, [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and silylmethylfullerene (SIMEF), by a planar electrode were studied using density functional theory combined with the effective screening medium method to simulate the heterointerface between the chemically decorated and cationic counter materials. We find that the distribution of accumulated electrons and induced electric field depend on the molecular arrangement with respect to the external electric field of the electrode. We also show that the quantum capacitance of the molecule is sensitive to molecular arrangement owing to the asymmetric distribution of the accumulated electrons

Energetics and electronic structures of chemically decorated C60 chains

We studied the energetics and electronic structures of one-dimensional molecular chains of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) using the density functional theory (DFT). Our DFT calculations show that the binding energies of PCBM range from 90 to 300 meV, depending on not only the intermolecular spacing but also the intermolecular arrangements owing to the interaction between functional groups and C60. The electronic structure of PCBM chains are also sensitive to the mutual arrangements of PCBM in their chain structure. The calculated effective masses of the conduction band range from 0.58 to 634.97m e, giving rise to anisotropic transport properties in their condensed phase

Electronic structure and cohesive energy of silylmethyl fullerene and methanoindene fullerene solids

Using the density functional theory, we studied the energetics and electronic structures of chemically decorated fullerene solids, monoclinic phases of silylmethyl fullerene (SIMEF) and methanoindene fullerene (MIF), under the experimentally determined lattice parameters. Cohesive energies of these solids are 1.83 and 1.07 eV for SIMEF and MIF, respectively, despite the large intermolecular spacing owing to the functional groups. The SIMEF and MIF solids are semiconductors with a moderate band gap of about 1.2 eV with narrow dispersion band near the band gap. We also elucidated that these solids exhibit a strong anisotropic band dispersion relation near the gap, because of their large asymmetric molecular shape. The calculated electron effective masses range from 1.37m e to 7.91m e for the SIMEF solid and from 0.57m e to 4.23m e for the MIF solid

β-adrenergic receptor signaling evokes the PKA-ASK axis in mature brown adipocytes.

Boosting energy expenditure by harnessing the activity of brown adipocytes is a promising strategy for combatting the global epidemic of obesity. Many studies have revealed that the β3-adrenergic receptor agonist is a potent activator of brown adipocytes, even in humans, and PKA and p38 MAPK have been demonstrated for regulating the transcription of a wide range of critical genes such as Ucp1. We previously revealed that the PKA-ASK1-p38 axis is activated in immature brown adipocytes and contributes to functional maturation. However, the downstream mechanisms of PKA that initiate the p38 MAPK cascade are still mostly unknown in mature brown adipocytes. Here, we identified the ASK family as a crucial signaling molecule bridging PKA and MAPK in mature brown adipocytes. Mechanistically, the phosphorylation of ASK1 at threonine 99 and serine 993 is critical in PKA-dependent ASK1 activation. Additionally, PKA also activates ASK2, which contributes to MAPK regulation. These lines of evidence provide new details for tailoring a βAR-dependent brown adipocyte activation strategy