An IAD type framework for Blockchain enabled smart tourism ecosystem

The concept of smart tourism remains fuzzy when it comes to practice because of the lack of clarity on the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in addition to complex institutional ecosystem that exist within the tourism industry. Further, trust and safety of the data generated due to the advancement of smart tourism in varied institutional arrangements pose huge challenges. Extant literature proposes that the application of decentralized ledger promises possible solutions to most of these problems due to the inherent features of the Blockchain technology. This suggestion raises two practical questions. First, does the sophisticated additional layer adds complexity to its practical application? Second, will the suggested solutions really lead to a win-win for all the stakeholders involved? In this study, we use Ostrom's action arena to examine the exchanges (information, contractual and monetary) between various stakeholders in a BCT enabled smart tourism of a Blockchain enabled tourism industry to answer these two questions.     

Impairment of Mitochondrial–Nuclear Cross Talk in Neutrophils of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Increased leukocyte apoptosis is intrinsically linked to disease patho-physiology, susceptibility to and severity of infections in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. A consistent defect in neutrophil function is considered central to this increased risk for infections. Although redox imbalance is considered a potential mediator of these associated complications, detailed molecular evidence in clinical samples remains largely undetected. The study consisted of three groups (n = 50 each) of Asian Indians: early diagnosed diabetic patients, cases with late-onset diabetic complications and age and gender-matched healthy controls. We evaluated mitochondrial oxidative stress, levels of nuclear DNA damage and apoptosis in peripheral blood neutrophils isolated from T2DM patients. We observed that in both early and late diabetic subjects, the HbA1c levels in neutrophils were altered considerably with respect to healthy controls. Increased oxidative stress observed in both early and late diabetics imply the disentanglement of fine equilibrium of mitochondria-nuclear cross talk which eventually effected the augmentation of downstream nuclear γH2AX activation and caspase-3 expression. It would be overly naïve to refute the fact that mitochondrial deregulation in neutrophils perturbs immunological balance in type 2 diabetic conditions. By virtue of our data, we posit that maneuvering mitochondrial function might offer a prospective and viable method to modulate neutrophil function in T2DM. Nevertheless, similar investigations from other ethnic groups in conjunction with experimental evidences would be a preeminent need. Obviously, our study might aid to comprehend this complex interplay between mitochondrial dysfunction and neutrophil homeostasis in T2DM.     

Introduction: Fostering Aging Research in Undergraduate Psychology Programs

Faculty at 4-year colleges and other universities that have teaching as their primary focus are an important potential resource for conducting research on the psychology of aging and for training undergraduates who can fill the ranks as the next generation of researchers. This special-theme issue presents 9 articles that describe the components of a successful training program for faculty at these institutions; examples of student involvement in National Institute on Aging (NIA)-funded research being carried out at 6 institutions; the reflections of distinguished scholars who served as program faculty; and information on applying for the NIA's R15 Academic Research Enhancement Award.     

Follow-up Evaluation of a Faculty Training Program in Aging Research

In collaboration with distinguished scholars and National Institute on Aging (NIA) staff, we designed, implemented, and evaluated a research training program in aging for psychology faculty from 4-year colleges. The goal of the program was to build and sustain a community of college faculty committed to conducting aging research, incorporating recent advances in their courses, and engaging undergraduate students in aging research. Program design included an initial 2-week summer institute, ongoing consultation, a midyear meeting during the intervening year, and a follow-up institute. The initial institute focused on research methodology, selected content areas, and procedural matters related to preparation and submission of grant applications. There were 2 follow-up meetings that provided participants with extended opportunities to discuss the proposal they were developing. Between 1998 and 2004, 6 cohorts of psychology faculty (with 13–15 members in each cohort) participated in the program. This paper reports the results of a follow-up evaluation we conducted in September 2004.     

An analytical technique to find approximate solutions of nonlinear damped oscillatory systems

Combining Krylov-Bogoliubov-Mitropolskii (KBM) and harmonic balance methods, an analytical technique is presented to determine approximate solutions of nonlinear oscillatory systems with damping. The first approximate perturbation solutions in which the unperturbed solutions contain two harmonic terms agree with numerical solutions nicely even if the damping force is significant. With suitable examples it has been shown that the combination of classical KBM and harmonic balance methods sometimes fails to measure satisfactory results; but the combination of extended KBM method (by Popov) and harmonic balance method always give the desired results. The method is illustrated by several examples and the solutions are compared to some existing solutions.     

Usage of Conventional PCR Technology for the Detection of HLA-B27 Allele: A Significant Molecular Marker of Ankylosing Spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that has been linked to the human leukocyte antigen class I allele HLA-B27. More than 90 % of patients with ankylosing spondylitis possess the HLA-B27 allele, but only 1 % of people with HLA-B27 develop the disease. Ankylosing spondylitis predominately affects young males. The present study was planned to find out the involvement of HLA-B27 specific allele in relation to age and sex in symptomatic suspected patients of ankylosing spondylitis using conventional PCR technology. Forty symptomatic patients of ankylosing spondylitis were included in the present study. SSP–PCR technique was used to detect the HLA-B27 specific allele. This study showed (out of 40 symptomatic suspected cases of ankylosing spondylitis only 12 patients were detected positive with HLA-B27 allele, while remaining 28 were negative) that the positivity rate for ankylosing spondylitis with HLA-B27 allele is low. Furthermore, it was observed that the males above 50 years are more prone to develop AS with HLA-B27 specific allele. It could be concluded that the conventional PCR technology is a rapid, sensitive, and confirmatory method for the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis.