Performance evaluation of tourism websites' information quality of four global destination brands

Some tourists only have a slight idea of where they want to go on a holiday when planning starts. Such tourists or their travel partners are likely to look for information for making a final travel decision. As the web becomes an increasingly popular information source, tourism destination websites can play a critical role in destination choice. A rubric for comparing tourism websites put forward by Dion and Woodside (2010) is used and ideas for enhancing the rubric are introduced utilizing a growing literature. Comparisons are made for the tourism websites of Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Taipei. Analysis involves considering websites' quality and usefulness. The study indicates that Hong Kong's site is best while Beijing has the most room for improvement. The paper concludes with implications of the research for website analysis. The discussion includes contributions to the value of criteria for websites found in the literature but not covered in an information-quality performance rubric

How Valuable Are Organic Amendments as Tools for the Phytomanagement of Degraded Soils? The Knowns, Known Unknowns, and Unknowns

Nowadays, soil functionality and productivity are severely impaired due, in great part, to the fact that most of the land is being intensively used for food production and urbanization purposes, with a consequent rise in the generation of wastes and consumption/degradation of fertile soils. These issues can be jointly addressed by an integrated and sustainable management of the soil resource carried out in the framework of two recent paradigms: circular economy and phytomanagement. Within the fields of resource conservation and regenerative (urban) land management, at least the three following fundamental aspects can be contemplated: (i) the valorization and safe recovery of organic wastes (e.g., composts, green and animal manures, and biosolids) as soil amendments (from residue to resource); (ii) the re-development and revegetation of degraded soils characterized by low organic matter content, deficient physical structure and depressed biological status (from bare to vegetated soil); and, finally, (iii) the promotion of soil health in order to support soil ecological processes, functions and concomitant ecosystem services (integration of ecocentric and anthropocentric perspectives). Here, we discuss the benefits (knowns), potential risks (known unknowns) and future/affordable uncertainties (unknowns) resulting from the application of organic amendments (OAs) to soil. Traditionally, most studies have used physical-chemical parameters to assess soil health/quality, whereas less attention has been paid to soil biological criteria. Thus, we highlight the relevance of soil biological properties as key drivers of ecological restoration and suitable indicators of soil health. Notwithstanding, special attention should be paid to “amendments-plants-microorganisms” interactions in different soils and field conditions. Finally, the risk of introduction of emerging contaminants, including for instance microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), through the application of OAs to soil, is currently a matter of much concern that must urgently be addressed if we are to continue with such practice

Oral Treatment with Iododiflunisal Delays Hippocampal Amyloid-β Formation in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease: A Longitudinal in vivo Molecular Imaging Study

Transthyretin (TTR) is a tetrameric, amyloid-β (Aβ)-binding protein, which reduces Aβ toxicity. The TTR/Aβ interaction can be enhanced by a series of small molecules that stabilize its tetrameric form. Hence, TTR stabilizers might act as disease-modifying drugs in Alzheimer's disease. Objective: We monitored the therapeutic efficacy of two TTR stabilizers, iododiflunisal (IDIF), which acts as small-molecule chaperone of the TTR/Aβ interaction, and tolcapone, which does not behave as a small-molecule chaperone, in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease using positron emission tomography (PET). Methods: Female mice (AβPPswe/PS1A246E/TTR+/-) were divided into 3 groups (n=7 per group): IDIF-treated, tolcapone-treated, and non-treated. The oral treatment (100mg/Kg/day) was started at 5 months of age. Treatment efficacy assessment was based on changes in longitudinal deposition of Aβ in the hippocampus (HIP) and the cortex (CTX) and determined using PET-[18F]florbetaben. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed at age=14 months. Results: Standard uptake values relative to the cerebellum (SUVr) of [18F]florbetaben in CTX and HIP of non-treated animals progressively increased from age=5 to 11 months and stabilized afterwards. In contrast, [18F]florbetaben uptake in HIP of IDIF-treated animals remained constant between ages=5 and 11 months and significantly increased at 14 months. In the tolcapone-treated group, SUVr progressively increased with time, but at lower rate than in the non-treated group. No significant treatment effect was observed in CTX. Results from immunohistochemistry matched the in vivo data at age=14 months. Conclusion: Our work provides encouraging preliminary results on the ability of small-molecule chaperones to ameliorate Aβ deposition in certain brain regions

Estimating compensation payments for on-farm conservation of agricultural biodiversity in developing countries.

This paper examines the role of direct compensation payments for agrobiodiversity conservation, using minor millet landraces in India as an example. The cost of farmer participation in a hypothetical 'payments for agrobiodiversity conservation services' (PACS) scheme is estimated using a stated preference valuation approach. Significant inter-crop and inter-varietal differences are observed with respect to consumption values, upon which the compensation demanded by farm households is shown to primarily depend. Drawing on a categorisation of consumption values and farmer preferences, the paper points to the importance of simultaneously considering a range of potential interventions in order to conserve a priority portfolio of agrobiodiverse resources in predominantly subsistence-based agricultural systems

Preliminary assessment of the feasibility of using AB words to assess candidacy in adults

Background: Adult cochlear implant (CI) candidacy is assessed in part by the use of speech perception measures. In the United Kingdom the current cut-off point to fall within the CI candidacy range is a score of less than 50% on the BKB sentences presented in quiet (presented at 70 dBSPL). Goal: The specific goal of this article was to review the benefit of adding the AB word test to the assessment test battery for candidacy. Results: The AB word test scores showed good sensitivity and specificity when calculated based on both word and phoneme scores. The word score equivalent for 50% correct on the BKB sentences was 18.5% and it was 34.5% when the phoneme score was calculated; these scores are in line with those used in centres in Wales (15% AB word score). Conclusion: The goal of the British Cochlear Implant Group (BCIG) service evaluation was to determine if the pre-implant assessment measures are appropriate and set at the correct level for determining candidacy, the future analyses will determine whether the speech perception cut-off point for candidacy should be adjusted and whether other more challenging measures should be used in the candidacy evaluation

Enseñanza de Ciencias en Nivel Secundario: Experimentación Remota Usando VISIR

La actividad experimental es fundamental en la enseñanza de las ciencias en cualquier nivel de educación, para la comprensión de los contenidos, pero también para despertar el interés en las asignaturas científicas. La motivación de los estudiantes y el trabajo colaborativo son aspectos esenciales para lograr resultados positivos en el aprendizaje. Este artículo describe la implementación de una serie de actividades de experimentación remota utilizando el laboratorio remoto VISIR en una asignatura de Física en nivel secundario. Datos cualitativos y cuantitativos fueron analizados con el objetivo de estudiar la influencia del uso de VISIR en la motivación de los estudiantes. Los resultados mostraron que la experimentación remota es una herramienta muy útil para fomentar el interés en tópicos de circuitos electrónicos.N/

Preparando estudiantes secundarios para carreras de ingeniería: un estudio de caso utilizando el laboratorio remoto VISIR

Este trabajo describe una implementación didáctica del laboratorio remoto VISIR en el Instituto Politécnico Superior, en un curso de Física de nivel secundario con una estrategia de aprendizaje inductivo. El estudio presentado se enfoca en el análisis de la influencia de la herramienta utilizada en el entusiasmo de los estudiantes y en la percepción que ellos tienen del efecto de la utilización del laboratorio remoto sobre su aprendizaje. Los resultados indican que la implementación llevada a cabo influye positivamente en la motivación de los estudiantes y en su aprendizaje. Dada la relevancia que tiene la experimentación en la formación en ciencias en nivel secundario, lo obtenido muestra el efecto positivo que esto puede tener en la elección de una carrera universitaria de ingeniería.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Machine Learning Techniques for the Detection of Shockable Rhythms in Automated External Defibrillators

Early recognition of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and electrical therapy are key for the survivalof out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients treated with automated external defibrilla-tors (AED). AED algorithms for VF-detection are customarily assessed using Holter record-ings from public electrocardiogram (ECG) databases, which may be different from the ECGseen during OHCA events. This study evaluates VF-detection using data from both OHCApatients and public Holter recordings. ECG-segments of 4-s and 8-s duration were ana-lyzed. For each segment 30 features were computed and fed to state of the art machinelearning (ML) algorithms. ML-algorithms with built-in feature selection capabilities wereused to determine the optimal feature subsets for both databases. Patient-wise bootstraptechniques were used to evaluate algorithm performance in terms of sensitivity (Se), speci-ficity (Sp) and balanced error rate (BER). Performance was significantly better for publicdata with a mean Se of 96.6%, Sp of 98.8% and BER 2.2% compared to a mean Se of94.7%, Sp of 96.5% and BER 4.4% for OHCA data. OHCA data required two times morefeatures than the data from public databases for an accurate detection (6 vs 3). No signifi-cant differences in performance were found for different segment lengths, the BER differ-ences were below 0.5-points in all cases. Our results show that VF-detection is morechallenging for OHCA data than for data from public databases, and that accurate VF-detection is possible with segments as short as 4-s