Exploring the Shopping Motivations of International Residential Tourists

Over the last few decades, so-called “international residential tourism” has increased considerably, creating a new consumer base in tourist destinations, particularly in southern Europe, whose shopping motivations are unknown. As a rule, existing literature has focused its attention on studying consumer motivations in their places of residence, references to the study of the international residential tourist's (IRT's) shopping motivations being very limited. It is in this context that this study examines the main contributions related to IRT shopping motivations. Taking as a starting point empirical research carried out in two top international tourist destinations, the study analyzes and contrasts the applicability of general theoretical contributions to this specific IRT segment. The results obtained confirm the existence, although not without its variations, of certain stability in the main aspects relating to shopping motivation, allowing the foundations to be laid for the incorporation of shopping motivation as a variable for the segmentation of IRTs. Both for tourist resort managers and retailers in the area, having access to a valid scale for measuring these motivations may be of great help to them in being able to categorize IRTs in accordance with their shopping motivations. In this way, they will have a broader knowledge of the market and how it is made up and it will facilitate the implementation of marketing policies aimed at improving the planning of commercial areas, as well as help them to adapt their product range and communication to the segments that are of most interest to their companies and destinations.The authors would like to express their thanks for the financial support received under the MCYTFEDER Research Project, grant SEJ-2006-08342/ECON

The acculturation of international residential tourists and their shopping behaviours

This study deals with an unexplored question regarding the role of the acculturation of international residential tourists (IRT), and provides companies in tourist destinations with keys to develop strategies aimed at this type of tourists. Results show that the acculturation of IRT follows a Pareto/Bradford distribution: few show high levels of acculturation and many show low levels. Finally, we find significant differences in shopping behaviour and socio-demographic variables.The authors would like to express their thanks for the financial support received under the MEYC, DGI Research Project, grant SEJ2006/08342, Spain

Respiratory infection by Corynebacterium striatum: Epidemiological and clinical determinants

© 2014 The Authors. The increasing prevalence of advanced chronic respiratory disease, with frequent exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics for repeated and prolonged hospitalizations, favours the emergence of nosocomial respiratory infection by Gram-positive bacteria, such as outbreaks of Corynebacterium striatum. There is little evidence about patterns of respiratory infection, transmission and adaptive ability of this pathogen. Seventy-two C. striatum isolates from 51 advanced respiratory patients, mainly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, were studied during 38 months. Patients were 74.8 ± 8.6 years old and 81.9% were men, who had required an average of 2.2 hospitalizations and 63.5 days in the hospital in the previous year. Of 49 isolates from 42 patients we were able to identify 12 clones by multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA), nine phenotypic variants and 22 antibiotic susceptibility patterns, and we determined their clinical and epidemiological determinants. MLSA allows identification of the existence of nosocomial outbreaks by transmission of the same or different clones, the persistence of the same clone in the environment or in patient airways for months. The study showed the high variability and adaptive capacity of the isolates, the antibiotic multidrug-resistance in all of them, and their contribution to a high morbidity and mortality (41%) during the study period.This work was supported by the General Board for Research, Technological Development and Innovation of the Department of Finance and Innovation of the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands (Direcció General de Recerca, Desenvolupament Tecnològic i Innovació, de la Conselleria d'Hisenda i Innovació, de la Comunitat Autònoma de les Illes Balears). This work was supported also by funding from Spanish MINECO through Consolider CSD2009-00006. Margarita Gomila was supported by a postdoctoral contract from the University of the Balearic Islands, with funds from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports through the International Excellence Campus ProgrammePeer Reviewe

Actitud de los residentes hacia el alojamiento P2P: la perspectiva de los millennials

Uno de los fenómenos que con más fuerza está impactando la actividad turística en la actualidad es el intercambio, a gran escala, de plazas de alojamiento entre particulares. Aunque existe una extensa producción científica sobre la actitud de los residentes hacia el turismo, en general existen muy pocas investigaciones relacionadas con la formación de su actitud hacia este tipo de alojamiento y, específicamente, por parte de los millennials. A partir de un modelo de medición de la percepción de los impactos del turismo basado en la teoría del intercambio social se ha efectuado un análisis comparativo entre los millennials y las generaciones de mayor edad, de la actitud de los residentes hacia esta actividad y de la percepción de los impactos que provoca. El análisis se realiza utilizando una muestra de 1088 ciudadanos de Tenerife y 529 de Mallorca. El estudio confirma que el apoyo que recibe esta actividad es mayor por parte de esta generación.One of the phenomena that has made an important incursion into the tourism activity today is the exchange of accommodation in private homes. Although there is an extensive scientific work on the attitude of residents towards tourism, in general there is very little research related to the formation of their attitude towards this type of accommodation and, specifically, on the part of the millennials. The study has been based on a model of measurement of the perception of the impacts of tourism by using the theory of social exchange. A comparative analysis has been carried out between the millennials and the older generations, the residents’ attitude to this activity and the perception of the impacts that it causes. The analysis is performed by using a sample of 1088 citizens from Tenerife and 529 from Mallorca. The study confirms that the support received for this activity is greater in this generation

Identification and diversity of multiresistant Corynebacterium striatum clinical isolates by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and by a multigene sequencing approach

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The genus <it>Corynebacterium </it>is composed of Gram-positive bacteria that are widely distributed throughout the environment; these bacteria are also part of the normal microbiota of human skin and mucous membranes. Multiple studies have shown that species of this genus, including <it>C. striatum</it>, become pathogenic to humans under special conditions. Our aim was to determine the characteristics of clinical multiresistant strains of <it>C. striatum </it>that were isolated in our geographical region, to determine their diversity, and to compare them with the type strain and with related species. We studied fifty-two strains of <it>C. striatum </it>isolated from different hospitals from Mallorca, Spain, mainly from the Hospital Joan March in Bunyola, Mallorca. Most of the strains were isolated from sputum cultures of respiratory samples from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. To gain further insight into the genetic diversity of the strains, we analysed several housekeeping genes and other genes associated with antibiotic resistance. Strains were also characterised phenotypically by their antibiotic resistance profiles and by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ITS1 region, <it>gyrA </it>and <it>rpoB </it>were chosen as the appropriate genes in the <it>C. striatum </it>genome to study the genetic diversity of <it>C. striatum </it>species and to discriminate between strains. After analysing these three genes, four sequence types (ST2, ST4, ST1 and ST11) were found to be the most abundant. Splits tree analysis of the strains demonstrated that these clinical isolates did not share any alleles with the type strain of the species. Recombination was detected within all of the <it>C. striatum </it>isolates, and different clonal populations were detected within the samples.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results demonstrate that the isolates were best identified using gene-based molecular methods; using these methods, the isolated strains were determined to be different from the type strain of <it>C. striatum</it>. The ITS1 region and the <it>gyrA </it>and <it>rpoB </it>genes were selected because of their variability and were the most useful tools for discriminating between strains. The phenotype and antibiotype characteristics of the strains did not seem suitable for typing purposes. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry can be a useful method for identifying and discriminating between <it>C. striatum </it>strains.</p

Homeostatic competition drives tumor growth and metastasis nucleation

We propose a mechanism for tumor growth emphasizing the role of homeostatic regulation and tissue stability. We show that competition between surface and bulk effects leads to the existence of a critical size that must be overcome by metastases to reach macroscopic sizes. This property can qualitatively explain the observed size distributions of metastases, while size-independent growth rates cannot account for clinical and experimental data. In addition, it potentially explains the observed preferential growth of metastases on tissue surfaces and membranes such as the pleural and peritoneal layers, suggests a mechanism underlying the seed and soil hypothesis introduced by Stephen Paget in 1889 and yields realistic values for metastatic inefficiency. We propose a number of key experiments to test these concepts. The homeostatic pressure as introduced in this work could constitute a quantitative, experimentally accessible measure for the metastatic potential of early malignant growths.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, to be published in the HFSP Journa

Low expression of bcl-2 in Brca1-associated breast cancers

Little data are available concerning the molecular mechanisms of action of Brca1 and Brca2 in breast oncogenesis. Recent experimental results suggest that Brca1 plays a role in the regulation of apoptosis. In order to determine whether the analysis of human tumours would provide data supporting this hypothesis, we have assessed the expression of the antiapoptotic bcl-2 and of the proapoptotic p53 genes in Brca1- and Brca2-associated breast carcinomas. The levels of expression of these genes were compared to those observed in controls and to the mitotic and the apoptotic indexes. Our series were composed of 16 cases of breast carcinoma in women with a germline Brca1 gene mutation, and of four cases with Brca2 mutation. A group of 39 patients aged under 36 years and for whom the search for Brca1 gene mutations was negative, and a group of 36 cases of sporadic cancers without data on their Brca status were used as controls. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect p53 and bcl-2 gene products. Mitotic and apoptotic indexes were higher in Brca1-associated tumours than in controls. No significant difference in p53 immunostaining was observed between the four groups of patients. In contrast, the rate of bcl-2-positive tumours was lower (31%) in Brca1-carcinomas than in carcinomas without Brca1 mutation (90%) (P< 10–3). A strong Bcl-2 expression was found in the four cases of Brca2-associated carcinomas. No significant correlation was observed between p53 and Bcl-2 immunostainings, either in cases or in controls. The association between Brca1 status and Bcl-2 expression remained significant after adjustment for the oestrogen receptor status. Our study shows that a low expression of bcl-2 characterises most Brca1-associated breast carcinomas, a biological trait which seems not to be shared by Brca2-associated tumours nor to be related to oestrogen receptor and/or p53 status.bcl-2 might thus be one of the target genes involved in the oncogenesis related to Brca1 and its down-regulation may account for the increased apoptosis and the high proliferative rate observed in Brca1-associated carcinomas. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig