Travelers'attitudes toward carpooling in Lahore:motives and constraints

Traffic congestion has become a critical issue in developing countries,as it tends to increase social costs in terms of travel cost and time,energy consumption and environmental degradation.With limited resources,reducing travel demand by influencing individuals’ travel behavior can be a better long-term solution.To achieve this objective,alternate travel options need to be provided so that people can commute comfortably and economically.This study aims to identify key motives and constraints in the consideration of carpooling policy with the help of stated preference questionnaire survey that was conducted in Lahore City.The designed questionnaire includes respondents’ socioeconomic demographics,and intentions and stated preferences on carpooling policy.Factor analysis was conducted on travelers’ responses,and a structural model was developed for carpooling.Survey and modeling results reveal that social,environmental and economic benefits,disincentives on car use,preferential parking treatment for carpooling,and comfort and convenience attributes are significant determinants in promoting carpooling.However,people with strong belief in personal privacy,security,freedom in traveling and carpooling service constraints would have less potential to use thecarpooling service.In addition,pro-auto and pro-carpooling attitudes,marital status,profession and travel purpose for carpooling are also underlying factors.The findings implicate that to promote carpooling policy it is required to consider appropriate incentives on this service and disincentives on use of private vehicle along with modification of people’s attitudes and intentions.

Dengue and falciparum malaria co-infection in travelers returning from Burkina Faso:Report of two cases in Northeastern Italy

Rationale: Malaria and dengue are the most prevalent vector-borne diseases in tropical countries. Plasmodium parasite and dengue virus(DENV) concurrent infection is possible and often under-recognized in geographical areas where these infections are both endemic.Patients concern and diagnosis: We describe the first two cases of Plasmodium falciparum and DENV-3 co-infection in travelers returning to northeastern Italy from Burkina Faso during 2013-2014.Interventions: Malaria infection in both patients was treated with mefloquine. Due to the persistence of symptoms despite of the antimalaria treatment, dengue was also investigated;the treatment of dengue was symptomatic.Outcomes: The patients were discharged in good general condition.Lessons: The need for surveillance of potential malaria and dengue co-infection in travelers returning to Europe from endemic areas is highlighted, as infection with Plasmodium does not exclude arboviral co-infection.

Minimizing the risk of international spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak by targeting travelers

The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has become a global health emergency owing to its magnitude, attributed deaths, and its propensity to spread across the world. In-fact, owing to its quick spread across international boundaries and the resulting caseload, the disease has been declared as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020. It is worth noting that out of the 395 cases detected in other nations, 165 (41.8%) have a positive history of travel to China. As of now, the World Health Organization has not recommended for any restrictions on the travel or trade aspects, but has clearly specified that implementation of International Health Regulations should be strictly done at the airports and seaports. In conclusion, the COVID-19 outbreak has created an alarm across the globe as the causative virus is novel in nature. However, strengthening of standard infection control practices and adoption of preventive measures for travelers can significantly minimize the threat of further transmission of the disease.

Dry cupping therapy and the wellness management of health travelers

Objective:Individuals travel locally and internationally in order to find alternative treatments which are less-toxic and more beneficial to their health and wellness.Despite the popularity of the western system of medicine,cupping therapies are gaining enormous attention in Pakistan as a system of traditional and complementary medicine to ensure the quality of life and wellness notions of the people.The present study aims to examine the effectiveness of dry cupping therapy(DCT)on the health,wellness,and quality of life preferences of health-seeking travelers in a sample of Faisalabad.Methods:DCT was performed for 15-20 minutes on subjects by using 3-5 disposable cupping glasses.Study participants filled the questionnaires before and after DCT interventions.Partial least square structural equation modeling technique is used in order to statistically analyze the data.Results:A total of 187 subjects participated in two DCT interventions at Coural Wellness Center Faisalabad and provided their final responses after 30 days from 2nd DCT.Respondents’perceptions of their physical feelings were generally found in a significantly positive and direct relation with DCT and health status(HS),i.e.,body pain(β=0.019),vitality(β=0.138),and bodily movement(β=0.207).This trend was observed in the psychological feelings of respondents as well,i.e.,emotional feelings(β=0.169).DCT significantly mediated the overall phenomenon and variance account for values were found between 20%and 80%for all the study constructs.The scores of all the health and wellness items on the questionnaire were significantly improved in 79.68%of studied participants after 1st and 2nd DCT interventions except for social functioning.Conclusion:Findings of the present study suggest that DCT has an important role in determining the health perceptions and HS of health travelers without potential side-effects.It can improve the health and overall quality of life of the people by positively influencing their physical and psychological health perceptions.It additionally leads to improve travelers’emotion,behavior,and other daily matters.

Running Head:Business Travel and Perceived Stress Psychological Stress among Business Travelers in Malaysia

Businesses and corporations today break geographical boundaries and carry out business globally[14].Business travel can be physically demanding and psychologically stressful,compromising the well-being of business travelers and the benefits of organizations.The present study examined how biopsychosocial factors,which are health concern,burnout,and social support,explained business travel stress among business travelers in Malaysia.We recruited 100 working adults(n=63 men,n=37 women)who traveled for business purposes from airports in Malaysia.Participants completed a series of questionnaires using the paper-and-pencil method.The mediation analyses showed that only burnout mediated the relationship between business travel and perceived stress.Specifically,the less intensely an individual traveled,s/he experienced a higher level of perceived stress;and this could be explained by the high level of burnout experienced.These findings have shed some light on how to deal with business travel stress at organizational and personal levels.Our findings suggested that organization-level interventions and policies should place an emphasis on employees who have to travel and in particular those who travel less intensively.Also,to provide support for business traveling employees,corporations should set up interventions and policies that aim to decrease burnout associated with business traveling.

Image of Guangzhou in the Eyes of Western Travelers to China in the 19th Century

Based on the travel texts of western travelers who came to Guangzhou in the 19;century, the travel situation of travelers in Guangzhou in the 19;century was deeply analyzed;Thirteen Hongs of Canton as the focus of the travel texts, and western travelers’ impressions of Guangzhou’s urban landscapes and water landscapes were described and discussed in detail;China’s national image in the eyes of Westerners was analyzed, and it was an objective reflection of the situation of the Qing Empire at that time.

文旅产业国际传播策略优化研究——基于YouTube#China travel视频用户评论语料分析

目的:了解外国游客对现有中国旅游业的评价与态度,是优化“媒体+文旅”形势下国际传播效果及文旅产业建设的重要佐证。方法:通过使用Gooseeker工具对YouTube #China travel和#144-hour标签下热门视频用户评价进行爬取和分析。结果:从受众视角揭示了我国现有文旅产业国际传播的现状及效果,为优化中国文旅产业国际传播策略提供数据支持。结论:面对外国社交媒体平台上“China travel”的爆火,我国的文旅产业建设及国际传播推广应从情感角度入手,把握受众的评价与态度,借助媒体融合的发展趋势建立细分化的国际传播矩阵。

First identification of a novel Aichivirus D in goats with diarrhea

Kobuvirus comprises 6 officially recognized species,namely Aichivirus A-F,and can be further divided into 20 genotypes through VP1 gene phylogenetic analysis(https://ictv.global/report/chapter/picornaviridae/picornaviridae/kobuvirus).Aichivirus A in human,Aichivirus B in bovine,Aichivirus C in porcine and caprine,Aichivirus D in yak have been proved to be associated with diarrhea(Chen Y S et al.2013;Yang et al.2015;Zhu et al.2016;Zhai et al.2017;Wang et al.2020;Abi et al.2022;Yan et al.2023).

The protective role of prebiotics and probiotics on diarrhea and gut damage in the rotavirus-infected piglets

Rotavirus is one of the pathogenic causes that induce diarrhea in young animals, especially piglets, worldwide. However, nowadays, there is no specific drug available to treat the disease, and the related vaccines have no obvious efficiency in some countries. Via analyzing the pathogenesis of rotavirus, it inducing diarrhea is mainly due to disturb enteric nervous system, destroy gut mucosal integrity, induce intracellular electrolyte imbalance, and impair gut microbiota and immunity. Many studies have already proved that prebiotics and probiotics can mitigate the damage and diarrhea induced by rotavirus infection in hosts. Based on these, the current review summarizes and discusses the effects and mechanisms of prebiotics and probiotics on rotavirus-induced diarrhea in piglets. This information will highlight the basis for the swine production utilization of prebiotics and probiotics in the prevention or treatment of rotavirus infection in the future.

Lactose-free milk powder can effectively relieve diarrhea symptoms in weaning SD rats and children

Diarrhea has become the leading cause of illness and death among infants and young children in developing countries.Clinically,patients with diarrhea showed damaged intestinal epithelial villi,usually accompanied by lactase deficiency.In this study,we evaluated the therapeutic effects of lactose-free milk powder on rats and children with diarrhea.Antibiotic-associated diarrhea(AAD)model was established by gavage with antibiotic mixture in SD rats,followed by administration of milk powder containing lactose or not.The results showed that lactose-free milk powder ameliorated A AD-related diarrhea symptoms,and accelerated the recovery from diarrhea.And 16S sequencing results indicated lactose-free milk powder contributed to increase theα-andβ-diversity of intestinal flora,and restore the intestinal microbiota disorder.In conclusion,our data demonstrate that lactose-free milk powder could alleviate diarrhea by restoring gut microbiota and intestinal barrier function.

A CRISPR/Cas12a-based platform for rapid on-site bovine viral diarrhea virus diagnostics

Bovine viral diarrhea virus(BVDV)is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus,belonging to the genus Pestivirus in the Flaviviridae family(Riitho et al.2020).Currently,BVDV is divided into 3 main genotypes,BVDV-1,BVDV-2,and BVDV-3,based on the genetic differences in the 5′untranslated region(5′UTR)(Muasya et al.2022).

Transcriptome analysis suggests broad jejunal alterations in Linghu’s obesity-diarrhea syndrome:A pilot study

BACKGROUND Obesity is associated with a significantly increased risk for chronic diarrhea,which has been proposed as Linghu’s obesity-diarrhea syndrome(ODS);however,its molecular mechanisms are largely unknown.AIM To reveal the transcriptomic changes in the jejunum involved in ODS.METHODS In a cohort of 6 ODS patients(JOD group),6 obese people without diarrhea(JO group),and 6 healthy controls(JC group),high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analyses were performed to identify jejunal mucosal mRNA expression alterations and dysfunctional biological processes.In another cohort of 16 ODS patients(SOD group),16 obese people without diarrhea(SO group),and 16 healthy controls(SC group),serum diamine oxidase(DAO)and D-lactate(DLA)concentrations were detected to assess changes in intestinal barrier function.RESULTS The gene expression profiles of jejunal mucosa in the JO and JC groups were similar,with only 1 differentially expressed gene(DEG).The gene expression profile of the JOD group was significantly changed,with 411 DEGs compared with the JO group and 211 DEGs compared with the JC group,129 of which overlapped.The enrichment analysis of these DEGs showed that the biological processes such as digestion,absorption,and transport of nutrients(especially lipids)tended to be up-regulated in the JOD group,while the biological processes such as rRNA processing,mitochondrial translation,antimicrobial humoral response,DNA replication,and DNA repair tended to be down-regulated in the JOD group.Eight DEGs(CDT1,NHP2,EXOSC5,EPN3,NME1,REG3A,PLA2G2A,and PRSS2)may play a key regulatory role in the pathological process of ODS,and their expression levels were significantly decreased in ODS patients(P<0.001).In the second cohort,compared with healthy controls,the levels of serum intestinal barrier function markers(DAO and D-LA)were significantly increased in all obese individuals(P<0.01),but were higher in the SOD group than in the SO group(P<0.001).CONCLUSION Compared with healthy controls and obese individuals without diarrhea,patients with Linghu’s ODS had extensive transcriptomic changes in the jejunal mucosa,likely affecting intestinal barrier function and thus contributing to the obesity and chronic diarrhea phenotypes.

ON MONOTONE TRAVELING WAVES FOR NICHOLSON'S BLOWFLIES EQUATION WITH DEGENERATE p-LAPLACIAN DIFFUSION

We study the existence and stability of monotone traveling wave solutions of Nicholson's blowflies equation with degenerate p-Laplacian diffusion.We prove the existence and nonexistence of non-decreasing smooth traveling wave solutions by phase plane analysis methods.Moreover,we show the existence and regularity of an original solution via a compactness analysis.Finally,we prove the stability and exponential convergence rate of traveling waves by an approximated weighted energy method.

Frequency of Rotavirus among under 5 Children Admitted to Wad Madani Pediatric Teaching Hospital with Diarrhea, Gezira State, Sudan (2021-2022)

Rotavirus is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis and responsible for 20% of death in children under 5 years of age approximately 111 million episodes of gastroenteritis due to Rotavirus in under 5 children, which result in 25 million visits to clinic, 2 million hospitalization and 352,000 - 592,000 deaths. Children in the poorest countries account 82% of rotaviruses death. Diarrhea disease are major cause of death and disease among children under five years, a child on average suffers 2 to 3 attacks of diarrhea every year. Stools samples were collected from 196 children suffering from diarrhea and were tested for rotaviruses by immune chromatography test antigen (ICT-Ag), ELISA and RT PCR The data were analyzed using statistical package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results showed that prevalence of rotavirus was 26/196 (13.3%) by ICT Ag and ELISA and confirmed by RT-PC R. 87.8% of the children were vaccinated by Rota vaccine, 70% of their mothers not using soap for cleaning the children and thought diarrhea not infectious disease and believed it was caused by teething. In conclusion there was a decrease in prevalence of diarrhea by Rotavirus due to insertion of Rota vaccine in routine vaccination, rotavirus infection mostly occurs in poor family that not able to provide safe water and due to poor sanitation and low education of mother beside that some children suffered from malnutrition, so it recommended to incorporate ELISA as a diagnostic tool in routine diagnosis of rotavirus among children suffered from gastroenteritis.

Image of China Under the Pen of Western Travelers in 13 th Century

In the long river of human history,different kinds of peoples and nations experienced the civilization contact and cullural exchange,which had happened out of nothing,from the original touch to the mutual understanding.This paper reviews how a few western travelers,taking adventures and suffering hardships,came to China and reported the image of China in 13th century;moreover,great admiration is deserved to illustrate their efforts in spreading such a positive and glorious image of China as her true reputation throughout the world.

Calcium/calcimimetic via calcium-sensing receptor ameliorates cholera toxin-induced secretory diarrhea in mice

BACKGROUND Enterotoxins produce diarrhea through direct epithelial action and indirectly by activating the enteric nervous system.Calcium-sensing receptor(CaSR)inhibits both actions.The latter has been well documented in vitro but not in vivo.The hypothesis to be tested was that activating CaSR inhibits diarrhea in vivo.AIM To determine whether CaSR agonists ameliorate secretory diarrhea evoked by cholera toxin(CTX)in mice.METHODS CTX was given orally to C57BL/6 mice to induce diarrhea.Calcium and calci-mimetic R568 were used to activate CaSR.To maximize their local intestinal actions,calcium was administered luminally via oral rehydration solution(ORS),whereas R568 was applied serosally using an intraperitoneal route.To verify that their actions resulted from the intestine,effects were also examined on Cre-lox intestine-specific CaSR knockouts.Diarrhea outcome was measured biochemically by monitoring changes in fecal Cl-or clinically by assessing stool consistency and weight loss.RESULTS CTX induced secretory diarrhea,as evidenced by increases in fecal Cl-,stool consistency,and weight loss following CTX exposure,but did not alter CaSR,neither in content nor in function.Accordingly,calcium and R568 were each able to ameliorate diarrhea when applied to diseased intestines.Intestinal CaSR involvement is suggested by gene knockout experiments where the anti-diarrheal actions of R568 were lost in intestinal epithelial CaSR knockouts(villinCre/Casrflox/flox)and neuronal CaSR knockouts(nestinCre/Casrflox/flox).CONCLUSION Treatment of acute secretory diarrheas remains a global challenge.Despite advances in diarrhea research,few have been made in the realm of diarrhea therapeutics.ORS therapy has remained the standard of care,although it does not halt the losses of intestinal fluid and ions caused by pathogens.There is no cost-effective therapeutic for diarrhea.This and other studies suggest that adding calcium to ORS or using calcimimetics to activate intestinal CaSR might represent a novel approach for treating secretory diarrheal diseases.

Coexisting fast–slow dendritic traveling waves in a 3D-array electric field coupled neuronal network

Coexistence of fast and slow traveling waves without synaptic transmission has been found in hhhippocampal tissues,which is closely related to both normal brain activity and abnormal neural activity such as epileptic discharge. However, the propagation mechanism behind this coexistence phenomenon remains unclear. In this paper, a three-dimensional electric field coupled hippocampal neural network is established to investigate generation of coexisting spontaneous fast and slow traveling waves. This model captures two types of dendritic traveling waves propagating in both transverse and longitude directions: the N-methyl-D-aspartate(NMDA)-dependent wave with a speed of about 0.1 m/s and the Ca-dependent wave with a speed of about 0.009 m/s. These traveling waves are synaptic-independent and could be conducted only by the electric fields generated by neighboring neurons, which are basically consistent with the in vitro data measured experiments. It is also found that the slow Ca wave could trigger generation of fast NMDA waves in the propagation path of slow waves whereas fast NMDA waves cannot affect the propagation of slow Ca waves. These results suggest that dendritic Ca waves could acted as the source of the coexistence fast and slow waves. Furthermore, we also confirm the impact of cellular spacing heterogeneity on the onset of coexisting fast and slow waves. The local region with decreasing distances among neighbor neurons is more liable to promote the onset of spontaneous slow waves which, as sources, excite propagation of fast waves. These modeling studies provide possible biophysical mechanisms underlying the neural dynamics of spontaneous traveling waves in brain tissues.

Travel-Limiting Disabilities in the United States: Why Accessibility Matters?

This study evaluates the distribution of travel-limiting disabilities across genders and geographic locations in the United States. This study aims to describe and compare the socioeconomic and demographic variables of the people with and without travel-limiting disabilities across geographic locations and gender. The study further evaluates the trip purpose and impact of Covid-19 fourth wave pandemic on the use of public transit and travel to physical workplace for the people with and without travel-limiting disabilities across gender and geographic locations. The study uses the 2022 weighted National Household Travel Survey dataset and employs descriptive statistics. Results reaffirm the findings from previous literature that there are more people with travel-limiting disabilities in urban areas and among women. Over 50 percent of people aged 65 and above have a form of travel-limiting disabilities. The most trip for people with travel-limiting disabilities is made for shopping and medical purposes. Across all categories, rural areas, urban areas, male and female for the people without travel-limiting disabilities, COVID-19 fourth wave did not change the pattern of trips made to physical workplace as pre-COVID-19 era. This pattern is also observable for the people with travel-limiting disabilities in rural and urban areas. Females with travel-limiting disabilities reported making less trips to physical workplaces while male reported doing the same as before COVID-19 era. The study concludes that the quantification of travel-limiting disabilities across geographic location and gender is vital in disability study and could drive policy implementation for improved accessibility for the vulnerable population.

Relationship between dietary fiber intake and chronic diarrhea in adults

BACKGROUND Dietary fiber is essential for human health and can help reduce the symptoms of constipation.However,the relationship between dietary fiber and diarrhea is,poorly understood.AIM To evaluate the relationship between dietary fiber and chronic diarrhea.METHODS This retrospective study was conducted using data from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,conducted between 2005 and 2010.Participants over the age of 20 were included.To measure dietary fiber consumption,two 24-hour meal recall interviews were conducted.The independent relationship between the total amount of dietary fiber and chronic diarrhea was evaluated with multiple logistic regression and interaction analysis.RESULTS Data from 12829 participants were analyzed.Participants without chronic diarrhea consumed more dietary fiber than participants with chronic diarrhea(29.7 vs 28.5,P=0.004).Additionally,in participants with chronic diarrhea,a correlation between sex and dietary fiber intake was present:Women who consume more than 25 g of dietary fiber daily can reduce the occurrence of chronic diarrhea.CONCLUSION Dietary fiber can reduce the occurrence of chronic diarrhea.

A Combination Prediction Model for Short Term Travel Demand of Urban Taxi

This study proposes a prediction model considering external weather and holiday factors to address the issue of accurately predicting urban taxi travel demand caused by complex data and numerous influencing factors.The model integrates the Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise(CEEMDAN)and Convolutional Long Short Term Memory Neural Network(ConvLSTM)to predict short-term taxi travel demand.The CEEMDAN decomposition method effectively decomposes time series data into a set of modal components,capturing sequence characteristics at different time scales and frequencies.Based on the sample entropy value of components,secondary processing of more complex sequence components after decomposition is employed to reduce the cumulative prediction error of component sequences and improve prediction efficiency.On this basis,considering the correlation between the spatiotemporal trends of short-term taxi traffic,a ConvLSTM neural network model with Long Short Term Memory(LSTM)time series processing ability and Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN)spatial feature processing ability is constructed to predict the travel demand for urban taxis.The combined prediction model is tested on a taxi travel demand dataset in a certain area of Beijing.The results show that the CEEMDAN-ConvLSTM prediction model outperforms the LSTM,Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model(ARIMA),CNN,and ConvLSTM benchmark models in terms of Symmetric Mean Absolute Percentage Error(SMAPE),Root Mean Square Error(RMSE),Mean Absolute Error(MAE),and R2 metrics.Notably,the SMAPE metric exhibits a remarkable decline of 21.03%with the utilization of our proposed model.These results confirm that our study provides a highly accurate and valid model for taxi travel demand forecasting.