The Contribution of Special and Alternative Forms of Tourism to the Sustainable Development of Tourist Destinations:Case Studies

This paper aims to investigate the impact of special and alternative forms of tourism on the sustainable development of tourism destinations,revising the traditional position of tourism development and establishing sustainable development as the only solution to tourism progress of travel destinations.The study includes conceptual approaches to the term tourism,sustainable development and specific and alternative forms of tourism and delves into theoretical approaches that are the bridging of these three central research questions.This is followed by in-depth research through policy analysis of central institutions and regional development stakeholders,as well as further analysis of sustainable development through special and alternative forms of tourism.Key tourism models and theories offer a further understanding of the natural“enemies”and“allies”of sustainable development and how they contribute to its necessity or development.Through a survey and a case study of travel destinations,we conclude the need to couple the term tourism development with sustainable development which is rooted in the healthy coexistence of residents and visitors with respect to the environment,local culture and productive-controlled economic growth.

Predictive models for mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease conversion

Alzheimer's disease(AD) is an irreversible and progressive neurodegenerative disease as well as the most common form of dementia. It usually affects the older population, but early onset AD is still possible(Ritchie et al., 2015). Recent studies propose that AD is a middle-life disease(Ritchie et al.,2015).

Foreign Language Web-Based Learning by Means of Audiovisual Interactive Activities

Online learning has been on an upward trend for many years and is becoming more and more prevalent every day, consistently presenting the less privileged parts of our society with an equal opportunity at education. Unfortunately, though, it seldom takes advantage of the new technologies and capabilities offered by the modern World Wide Web. In this article, we present an interactive online platform that provides users with learning activities for students of English as a foreign language. The platform focuses on using audiovisual multimedia content and a user experience (UX) centered approach to provide learners with an enhanced learning experience that aims at improving their knowledge level while at the same time increasing their engagement and motivation to participate in learning. To achieve this, the platform uses advanced techniques, such as interactive vocabulary and pronunciation assistance, mini-games, embedded media, voice recording, and more. In addition, the platform provides educators with analytics about user engagement and performance. In this study, more than 100 young students participated in a preliminary use of the aforementioned platform and provided feedback concerning their experience. Both the platform’s metrics and the user-provided feedback indicated increased engagement and a preference of the participants for interactive audiovisual multimedia-based learning activities.