Collective reputation plays an extremely important role in many industries including tourism cities. With game theory approaches, based on Lijiang City in China, this article captures the collective ...reputation of tourism cities to deter low-quality products. On the one hand, low-quality firms have crowding effects on outputs and profits of high-quality firms in tourism cities. These effects are amplified in the long run. On the other hand, entry regulation, monitoring quality and labelling quality are suggested to deter low-quality firms to destroy the reputation of tourism cities. The policy implication is to deter low-quality firms to maintain the collective reputation of tourism cities.
Both the environmental and the ecological protection are key issues in the sustainable development of tourism. As a well-known world natural and cultural heritage, intensive study about the ...environment of Jiuzhaigou scenic spot has been launched since China’s natural landscape protection. The field of low-carbon tourism is starting to be explored in China, and this article uses the life cycle assessment theory to evaluate the footprint of Jiuzhaigou. We find that the air quality is closely related to the number of tourists. Therefore, to maintain the environment of Jiuzhaigou, the number of tourists is proposed to restrict. The contribution of this paper is to provide pricing theory for attracting potential tourists and to give a theoretical basis for controlling the number of tourists in Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area.
Livestream shopping has become the focus of current marketing practises, while theoretical research on it is still in initial stages. Thus, from the para-social interaction (PSI) theory perspective, ...this study draws on cognitive–affective system theory as an analytical framework to explore internal mechanisms of how anchors' characteristics influence consumer behavioural intentions in livestream shopping while considering the characteristics of consumer online interaction propensity. We conducted a survey questionnaire with a sample of 355 consumers who experienced livestream shopping and used structural equation modelling to assess their behavioural intentions. Our results reveal that anchors' physical attractiveness, social attractiveness, and professional ability influence consumers' intentions to follow the authors' suggestions and recommend anchors to others during live streams. PSI and affective trust in anchors are the chain-mediation mechanisms. Furthermore, consumers' online interaction propensity positively moderates the influence of anchors' characteristics on PSI and plays a moderating role on the whole chain mediation. However, this only affects anchors' physical attractiveness and social attractiveness while exert no effect on anchors' professional ability. This study advances the theoretical research on livestream shopping and provides practical inspiration for managers to develop more targeted livestream marketing strategies.
This paper presents three-dimensional solutions for the buckling of variable angle tow (VAT) composite laminated plates. The
p
-version finite element with hierarchical basis functions is adopted to ...determine the buckling of VAT composite laminates with different parameters. Inter-element compatibility is achieved by matching the generalized displacements at the vertices, edges, and faces shared by neighboring elements. The buckling loads of symmetrical and anti-symmetrical laminates with various boundary conditions are obtained. A convergence study is performed and the accuracy of the method is confirmed by comparing the numerical results with those in the literatures. The verified results indicate that the present 3D
p
-FEM method is accurate for the buckling analysis of VAT composite laminated plates, and that these three-dimensional results may serve as a benchmark for future studies.
Gut bacteria play an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the alteration of fecal microbiota in PD with cognitive impairment remains unexplored. This study aimed ...to explore whether the gut microbiota of patients with PD having mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) were different from those with PD having normal cognition (PD-NC) and from healthy controls (HC). Also, the study probed the association between altered gut microbiota and cognitive ability in patients with PD.
The fecal bacteria composition and short-chain fatty acids of 13 patients with PD-MCI, 14 patients with PD-NC, and 13 healthy spouses were analyzed using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Compared with HC, the fecal microbial diversities increased in patients with PD-MCI and PD-NC. After adjusting the influence of age, sex, body mass index, education, and constipation using the statistical method, the relative abundances of two families (Rikenellaceae and Ruminococcaceae) and four genera (
, and
) were found to be higher in the feces of the PD-MCI group compared with the other two groups. Moreover, the abundance of genus
and
decreased obviously in the PD-MCI group compared with the PD-NC group. Further, the abundance of genera
, and
negatively correlated with cognition ability.
Compared with HC and patients with PD-NC, the gut microbiota of patients with PD-MCI was significantly altered, particularly manifesting in enriched genera from Porphyromonadaceae family and decreased the abundance of genera
and
.
Abstract
Understanding the characteristics of soil solute transport is fundamental to the design and management of furrow irrigation systems. This study determined the soil hydraulic and solute ...transport parameters by inverse solution with HYDRUS-2D and then verified them. The experimental data were obtained from the infiltration of clay loam and sandy loam of different potassium nitrate (KNO3) concentrations under furrow irrigation. Then, the initial soil water content (θ0), KNO3 concentration, and water depth (h0) affecting the transport characteristics of nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) and potassium (K+) were analyzed. The results indicated that the soil hydraulic and solute transport parameters determined from the inversion solution with HYDRUS-2D were reliable. The soil saturated water content, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and empirical parameter n in the van Genuchten–Mualem model increase with the increase of KNO3 concentrations, whereas the empirical parameter a shows a decreasing tendency. The distribution range of NO3−-N increased with the increases of θ0 and the KNO3 concentration, which had barely any effect on the range of K+ distribution. The horizontal distribution range of NO3−-N and K+ increased with the increase of h0, but it had no obvious influence on the vertical range.
Using nanomaterials to develop multimodal systems has generated cutting-edge biomedical functions. Herein, we develop a simple chemical-vapor-deposition method to fabricate ...graphene-isolated-Au-nanocrystal (GIAN) nanostructures. A thin layer of graphene is precisely deposited on the surfaces of gold nanocrystals to enable unique capabilities. First, as surface-enhanced-Raman-scattering substrates, GIANs quench background fluorescence and reduce photocarbonization or photobleaching of analytes. Second, GIANs can be used for multimodal cell imaging by both Raman scattering and near-infrared (NIR) two-photon luminescence. Third, GIANs provide a platform for loading anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin (DOX) for therapy. Finally, their NIR absorption properties give GIANs photothermal therapeutic capability in combination with chemotherapy. Controlled release of DOX molecules from GIANs is achieved through NIR heating, significantly reducing the possibility of side effects in chemotherapy. The GIANs have high surface areas and stable thin shells, as well as unique optical and photothermal properties, making them promising nanostructures for biomedical applications.
Summary
Romiplostim was effective, safe, and well‐tolerated over 6–12 months of continuous treatment in Phase 3 trials in patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). This report describes up to ...5 years of weekly treatment with romiplostim in 292 adult ITP patients in a long‐term, single‐arm, open‐label study. Outcome measures included adverse events (including bleeding, thrombosis, malignancy, and reticulin/fibrosis), platelet response (platelet count >50 × 109 per litre), and the proportion of patients requiring rescue treatments. Treatment–related serious adverse events were infrequent and did not increase with longer treatment. No new classes of adverse events emerged. Thrombotic events occurred in 6·5% of patients and were not associated with platelet count. Median platelet counts of 50–200 × 109 per litre were maintained with stable doses of romiplostim (mean 5–8 μg/kg; generally self‐administered at home) throughout the study. A platelet response was achieved at least once by 95% of patients, with a platelet response maintained by all patients on a median 92% of study visits. There was a low rate of bleeding and infrequent need for rescue treatments. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that romiplostim was safe and well‐tolerated over 614 patient‐years of exposure in ITP patients, and that efficacy was maintained with stable dosing for up to 5 years of continuous treatment.
Introduction
Previous studies have found that white matter (WM) alterations might be correlated in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with cognitive impairment. This study aimed to investigate WM ...structural network connectome alterations in PD patients with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and assess the relationship between cognitive impairment and structural topological network changes in PD patients.
Methods
All 31 healthy controls (HCs) and 71 PD patients (43 PD-NC and 28 PD-MCI) matched for age, sex and education underwent 3.0 T MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scan. Graph theoretical analyses and network-based statistical (NBS) analyses were performed to identify the structural WM networks and subnetwork changes in PD-MCI.
Results
PD-MCI patients showed significantly decreased global efficiency (
E
glob
) and increased shortest path length (
L
p
) compared with the HC group. Several nodal efficiencies showed significant differences in multiple brain regions among the three groups. The nodal efficiency of the orbitofrontal part was closely related to the overall cognitive ability and multiple sub-cognitive domains. Moreover, NBS analyses identified eight one-connect subnetworks, three two-connect subnetworks and two multi-connect subnetworks with reduced connectivity that characterizes the WM structural organization in PD-MCI patients. The two multi-connect subnetworks were located on the bilateral lobe, and both were centered on the orbitofrontal part.
Conclusions
This study provided new evidence that PD with cognitive dysfunction is associated with WM structural alterations. The nodal efficiency and sub-network analyses focusing on the orbitofrontal part might provide new ideas to explore the physiological mechanism of PD-MCI.
Changes in altitude have a long-term and profound impact on mountain forest ecosystems. However, there have been few reports on changes in soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus contents (SCNPC) along ...altitudinal gradients in subtropical karst mountain forests, as well as on the factors influencing such changes. We selected five
forests with an altitudinal gradient in the karst mountain area of Southwest China as research objects and analyzed the changes in SCNPC along the altitudinal gradient, as well as the influencing factors behind these changes. Soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and available nitrogen contents first increased and then decreased with increasing altitude, whereas the contents of total phosphorus and available phosphorus showed no obvious trend. In the karst mountain
forest, SCNPC in the topsoil is most significantly affected by total glomalin-related soil protein (TG) and soil moisture content (SMC) (cumulative explanatory rate was 45.28-77.33%), indicating that TG and SMC are important factors that affect SCNPC in the karst mountain
forest. In addition, the main environmental factors that affect SCNPC in the subsoil showed significant differences. These results may provide a better scientific reference for the sustainable management of the subtropical mountain
forest.
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