Determinants of Travel Intentions to a eighboring Destination

The primary purposes of this study were to collect information on neighboring travelers’ past visits and determinants of future intentions for an overnight pleasure trip. Data was collected on a wide variety of travel behaviors. The study is based on a telephone survey of 3,688 residents of ew Brunswick ( B) and ova Scotia ( S), two sister Provinces to Prince Edward Island, a major Canadian tourist destination. The results reveal 51.9% have visited PEI within the past five years, 36.7% have visited PEI more than five years ago, and 11.4% have never visited PEI. Linear logistic regression analysis revealed that all three groups had a positive reaction to at least one form of advertising used. In all cases, if the potential visitor recalled and/or responded to an advertisement for PEI, they were much more likely to revisit than those who did not

THE EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED QUALITY OF PERFORMANCE ON PRICE-VALUE, SATISFACTION, AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTIONS BY GOLFERS\u27 RESIDENT TYPES

A model is developed that considers the effects of perceived quality of performance on price-value, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions. The model was tested using data from 3,235 surveys of golfers on Prince Edward Island, a golfing destination in Canada. Three golfer types were identified: tourists, permanent residents, and seasonal residents. An exploratory factor analysis was completed to develop five measures of perceived golf course quality. Three multiple regression models were then used to examine the relationships among the constructs. This appears to be the first study that models golfer behaviors and intentions by resident type. The results indicate a significant positive relationship between perceived quality and the feeling that value was received for the golf fee paid. The significant positive relationship was also observed between perceived quality, price-value, and satisfaction; and between perceived quality, pricevalue, satisfaction, and intentions to return to golf and to recommend the course. Overall, the results provide support for a causal relationship between the constructs. The study contributes to a better understanding of golfers’ perceptions and behavioural intentions by resident type

Using Travel Activities to Segment the Market for Travel: The Case of First-Time Visitors

The main purpose of the study is to examine the relevance and significance of market segmentation based on the activities visitors engage in while at a destination. In doing so, the paper attempts to segment first-time pleasure travellers and profile the market by tiprelated characteristics. This paper is based on a subset of 1,104 first-time visitors to Prince Edward Island (PEI) in main season (July and August 2007). This study found that three distinct segments of first-time visitors exist: “culture-seeking,” “active,” and “other interest” tourists. In addition, the study identifies that cultural themes are an important factor for a significant portion of tourists visiting PEI and demonstrates that these culture-seekers are valuable in terms of their economic contribution to the destination and cultural/social interaction with communitie

Influencing the Intentions to Visit a Destination: The Case of Potential First-Time and Repeat Visitors

This study presents a model hypothesizing that intention to travel is influenced directly by two major elements of tourism marketing: responses to advertising and the respondent’s use of the official tourism website for a destination. To test the model, data from two Web-based surveys concerning travel to Prince Edward Island (PEI) in 2008 were used: a survey of travel intentions and a follow-up conversion survey. There are four important findings. First, the intention to travel is directly influenced by two major elements of tourism marketing: responses to advertising and the respondent’s use of the official tourism website. Second, actual visitation is influenced directly by travel intentions and indirectly by responses to advertising and potential visitor’s use and reaction to the official website. Third, there is a clear difference in terms of the influences on intentions to visit a destination between potential or actual first-time and repeat visitors. For firsttime visitors, advertising recall was the most powerful predictor of intention to visit PEI; for repeat visitors it was the number of times the respondent visited the website. Fourth, the results of this paper clearly indicate that generating intention to visit leads to actual visits

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VISITING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES MARKETS IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: A LONGITUDINAL APPROACH

This study attempts to better understand the VFR market in Prince Edward Island, Canada by using data set drawn from Tourist Exit Survey during the period from 2000 to 2004. The study provided an exploratory examination of trip characteristic variables between VFR and pleasure travellers and identified some significant differences between the two trip purpose groups. It also identified that the VFR markets are important and valuable for Prince Edward Island. The results imply that tourism marketers need to address the unique differences of the VFR markets in keeping with their trip patterns and characteristics

A preliminary study of university disclosures

Disclosures, such as financial statements and annual reports, provide relevant and reliable information for decision-making and general interest. This study evaluates the disclosures by universities to the public using analysis based on general accounting theory and index items from previous studies. The objective is to determine the accountability of the eight universities sampled to their stakeholders through these disclosures. The findings indicate a need for much improvement and further research on the use of information disclosures

Autocrine Regulation of IL-21 Production in Human T Lymphocytes

Abstract IL-21 has pathologic function in immune-inflammatory diseases. IL-21 mediates its functions through a heterodimeric receptor, composed of a specific subunit, termed IL-21R, and the common γ-chain. IL-21 is mostly produced by CD4+ T cells, but molecular mechanisms that regulate IL-21 synthesis are not fully understood. The fact that CD4+ T cells express high levels of IL-21R and are capable of functionally responding to IL-21 raises the possibility that IL-21 may regulate its own production. We here show that IL-21 enhances IL-21 RNA and protein expression in human peripheral blood CD3+ T cells in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. Additionally, both IL-7 and IL-15, but not IL-4, induce IL-21, thus suggesting that common γ-chain signals are not sufficient to promote IL-21 synthesis. Analysis of molecular mechanisms underlying IL-21 induction reveals that IL-21 activates Stat3 and enhances its recruitment to IL-21 gene promoter. Pharmacologic inhibition and knockdown of Stat3 by small interference RNA largely prevent IL-21 induction in IL-21-treated cells. Consistently, IL-21 is inducible in T cells by IL-6, another cytokine that activates Stat3. Finally, we show that IL-21 positively regulates its own expression in human intestinal CD3+ lamina propria lymphocytes, and blockade of endogenous IL-21 in cultures of CD3+ lamina propria lymphocytes isolated from patients with Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease characterized by high IL-21, down-regulates Stat3 activation and IL-21 expression. These data suggest the existence of a positive autocrine loop that could help to amplify and stabilize IL-21-driven, T cell-mediated responses

Dickkopf-related protein 1 (Dkk1) regulates the accumulation and function of myeloid derived suppressor cells in cancer

Tumor–stroma interactions contribute to tumorigenesis. Tumor cells can educate the stroma at primary and distant sites to facilitate the recruitment of heterogeneous populations of immature myeloid cells, known as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). MDSCs suppress T cell responses and promote tumor proliferation. One outstanding question is how the local and distant stroma modulate MDSCs during tumor progression. Down-regulation of β-catenin is critical for MDSC accumulation and immune suppressive functions in mice and humans. Here, we demonstrate that stroma-derived Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1) targets β-catenin in MDSCs, thus exerting immune suppressive effects during tumor progression. Mice bearing extraskeletal tumors show significantly elevated levels of Dkk1 in bone microenvironment relative to tumor site. Strikingly, Dkk1 neutralization decreases tumor growth and MDSC numbers by rescuing β-catenin in these cells and restores T cell recruitment at the tumor site. Recombinant Dkk1 suppresses β-catenin target genes in MDSCs from mice and humans and anti-Dkk1 loses its antitumor effects in mice lacking β-catenin in myeloid cells or after depletion of MDSCs, demonstrating that Dkk1 directly targets MDSCs. Furthermore, we find a correlation between CD15(+) myeloid cells and Dkk1 in pancreatic cancer patients. We establish a novel immunomodulatory role for Dkk1 in regulating tumor-induced immune suppression via targeting β-catenin in MDSCs

"High Expression of the ""A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease"" 19 (ADAM19), a Sheddase for TNF-alpha in the Mucosa of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases"

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Sustainable Materials in the Creative Industries: A scoping report for the AHRC (Redacted Version)

This report contains the results of a twelve-month scoping study of current sustainable practice around materials across the creative industries. The project team has explored current and immanent sustainable practice around the sourcing, use, disposal, reuse, recycling, and upcycling of materials, to help understand the creative sector's ongoing responses and its current and potential contribution to the development of a circular economy. It provides a snapshot of practice and perceptions around material sustainability in the creative industries, identifying existing trends and showcasing cutting-edge developments, as well as flagging sector-wide and discipline specific barriers that will have to be negotiated or addressed to achieve widespread sustainably orientated practice