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This article analyses tourist demand in relation to the city of Barcelona, with the aim of defining the effect of tourist expenditure on tourist behaviour in urban destinations. The relationships between motivation, satisfaction, length of stay and repeat visits are studied for leisure and business travellers. Tourist expenditure is used as a moderating effect, and is made up of three groups described under tourist expenditure: light, medium and heavy spenders. The theoretical model is based on the literature, and puts forward different hypotheses, which are tested using SEM with multi-group analysis. Data collection was carried out on the basis of surveys conducted by Barcelona Tourism Board, Turisme de Barcelona, among tourists during their stay in the destination. The sample used comprises 12,965 tourists who stayed overnight in Barcelona between 2009 and 2011. The results show the behavioural differences between the groups, as well as the degree of support for the hypotheses. Furthermore, these results are used for proposing management strategies for urban destinations.

Estrogen receptor (ER) beta agonists have been demonstrated to possess anti-inflammatory properties in inflammatory disease models. The objective of this study was to determine whether ERbeta agonists affect in vitro and in vivo preclinical models of asthma. mRNA expression assays were validated in human and rodent tissue panels. These assays were then used to measure expression in human cells and our characterized rat model of allergic asthma. ERB-041 [7-ethenyl-2-(3-fluoro-4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,3-benzoxazol-5-ol], an ERbeta agonist, was profiled on cytokine release from interleukin-1beta-stimulated human airway smooth muscle (HASM) cells and in the rodent asthma model. Although ERbeta expression was demonstrated at the gene and protein level in HASM cells, the agonist failed to have an impact on the inflammatory response. Similarly, in vivo, we observed temporal modulation of ERbeta expression after antigen challenge. However, the agonist failed to have an impact on the model endpoints such as airway inflammation, even though plasma levels reflected linear compound exposure and was associated with an increase in receptor activation after drug administration. In these modeling systems of airway inflammation, an ERbeta agonist was ineffective. Although ERbeta agonists are anti-inflammatory in certain models, this novel study would suggest that they would not be clinically useful in the treatment of asthma.

This report represents a preliminary attempt to define the best avenues of approach for selecting animals adapted to a tropical environment by using a climatic chamber as a means of testing their adaptability.Several studies have been recently published that describe differences in the reactions of animals of various breeds as they are subjected to high ambient temperatures (Kibler and Brody, 1951; McDowell et al.,1954). In all these studies, however, the animals tested were born and reared in temperate climates, so that they may not have been physiologically adjusted to the new environment to the fullest extent possible. All animals used in the present study were born at or near Turrialba, and had always lived in ambient temperatures of about 20° C., and in the high humidity characteristic of a rain forest type of tropical climate. Furthermore, this study presents some new and significant comparisons between the behavior of animals toward tests conducted at night and in the daytime.