Search

Context There are limited reports on the detailed examination of steroid profiles for setting algorithms for 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) screening by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Objective We aimed to define an algorithm for newborn screening of 21OHD by LC-MS/MS, measuring a total of 2077 dried blood spot samples in Tokyo. Methods Five steroids (17α-hydroxyprogesterone [17αOHP], 21-deoxycortisol [21DOF], 11-deoxycortisol [11DOF], androstenedione [4AD], and cortisol [F]) were included in the panel of LC-MS/MS. Samples from 2 cohorts were assayed: Cohort A, 63 “screening positive” neonates who were referred to an endocrinologist (n = 26 with 21OHD; n = 37 false-positive; obtained from 2015 to 2020); and Cohort B, samples (n = 2014) with 17αOHP values in the 97th percentile or above, in the first-tier test with 17αOHP ELISA from 2020 to 2021. Results Analysis of Cohort A revealed that the 3 indexes 21DOF, 11DOF/17αOHP, and (4AD + 17αOHP)/F had higher area under the curve (AUC) values (0.999, 0.997, 0.989, respectively), while the 17αOHP AUC was lower (0.970). Accordingly, in addition to 17αOHP, the 3 markers were included for defining the screening algorithm. The assay of Cohort B revealed that the new algorithm gave 92% of predicted positive predictive value without false-negative cases. We also determined the reference values for the 5 steroids at 4 to 7 days after birth, according to sex and gestational age (GA), revealing extremely low levels of 21DOF at any GA irrespective of sex differences. Conclusion Our study demonstrated the high relevance of 21DOF, (4AD + 17αOHP)/F, and 11DOF/17αOHP, rather than 17αOHP, for 21OHD screening.

BACKGROUND One of the major purposes of newborn screening for 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD) is preventing life-threatening adrenal crisis. However, the details of adrenal crisis in newborns are not precisely documented. AIM We aimed to clarify the clinical details of salt-wasting in newborn 21OHD patients. METHODS Based on the follow-up survey of the screening in Tokyo from 1989 to 2017, we retrospectively analysed the conditions of classical 21OHD neonates before the initiation of therapy. RESULTS One hundred classical 21OHD patients (55 male, 45 female) were analysed. The age at the first hospital visit was 0-20 days with sex difference (male: 9.0 ± 3.5 days; female: 6.2 ± 3.9 days). Thirty-seven (37.4%) patients exhibited severe salt-wasting (SSW), that is, Na 7 mEq/L or Na/K ratio 7 mEq/L and Na/K

Rural villages in Japan are rapidly ageing and depopulating. On Shikoku Island, in the remote mountainous Iya Valley, is the village of Nagoro. Residents who have left or passed away have been repl...

This book uniquely focuses on human rights issues associated with tourism development and tourism businesses. Tourism is a manifestation of globalization and it intersects with human rights on so many levels. These implications are increasingly relevant in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent global economic hardship. Split into two main sections, the first section establishes a background to human rights issues with reference to tourism, and the second section provides a multidisciplinary analysis of a range of selected human rights issues in tourism;these include displacement, security, privacy, discrimination, freedom of movement, the rights of Indigenous people, sex tourism and labour conditions. All chapters include case studies to showcase specific issues such as legal rulings or tourism policies/regulations. This book is written by a highly regarded team of authors specializing in tourism studies and human rights law. This significant volume on the interaction between tourism development and the safeguarding of human rights will be of interest to a variety of disciplines, in the fields of tourism, political science and tourism/human rights. © 2021 Atsuko Hashimoto, Elif Harkonen and Edward Nkyi.

Now marketed as a tropical beach destination, Okinawa's identity is also forever linked with the horrors of war. Okinawa's tumultuous past encompasses the Ryukyu Islands, which had close economic t...

This chapter traces the evolution of ekiben (railway lunch box) from its beginnings to a regional culinary tourism product. Linked to the OVOP movement (One-Village-One-Product), ekiben represent regional identity. This is a unique form of culinary tourism, as tourists do not have to be in the destination to consume the local food, rather they consume it while travelling by train. Ekiben also reflects the characteristics of Japanese society, and innovations to the product have been made to meet modern-day demands. Changes in ekiben have also led changes in Japanese agriculture. This chapter brings Japanese documents and culinary tourism concepts to an English speaking audience. Ekiben is a social phenomenon, which fits within the concepts of McDonaldization and Disneyfication heuristically; prepared ekiben is quickly served, yet production and preparation of ekiben require time-consuming, made-from-scratch production methods. It is unique to Japan and co-exists the contradictory nature of fast and slow food.

Gunkanjima Island (Battleship Island) is an abandoned coalmine and community off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan. At its peak, the island was fuelling the industrialisation of modern Japan, home to a community of over 5000 residents with one of the highest population densities in the world and the site of early modern concrete high-rise buildings. With the shift to oil, the island soon became abandoned going into decay. A recent rise in media attention and the inclusion as a 2015 UNESCO World Heritage Site has generated interest in industrial heritage tourism on the island. This paper explores the rise and fall of the island as a coalmine and the transition to an industrial heritage tourism site. A framework is presented illustrating the transformation of industrial sites into industrial heritage tourist attractions.

The adaptive co-management paradigm is a marked departure from past rational-comprehensive models for conservation and natural resources management. Its potential to enhance social–ecological resilience and address the “problem of fit” makes it useful in different places and circumstances. This article argues that “situated thinking” is required when the transferral of collaborative conservation approaches such as adaptive co-management is contemplated. As such, literature addressing the role of context in natural resources management is reviewed and frames the exploration of two distinct case studies—a recreational fishery in Ontario, Canada, and a shell fishery on the Kyushu Island, Japan. This inductive approach subsequently leads us to propose a framework that potentially could assist professionals and policy makers in their application of collaborative conservation strategies such as adaptive co-management in various contexts to enhance adaptability.

Rural tourism is being used to help rejuvenate declining traditional agricultural communities in Oita, Japan, that are depopulating and aging. This paper investigates the challenges of developing sustainable partnerships for rural tourism in a range of agriculture‐related attractions including a landscape museum, agritourism accommodation resort, spa resort, one‐village‐one‐product programme and farmers’ markets. Based on the on‐going field research since 2003, there are significant challenges in developing sustainable partnership within and across programmes/attractions including lack of co‐ordination, differing views on tourism‐related projects and societal roles. These need to be recognised if the local economy is to be rejuvenated successfully and re‐branded around rural tourism.

Although souvenirs take on many forms, functions and representations, they are often formally associated with a specific geographical place. Niagara Falls, Canada is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world. International tourists often only visit Niagara Falls and one or two other major destinations such as Vancouver or Toronto while in Canada. Recognizing this, souvenir shops sell a range of souvenirs representing locations or attractions from across Canada. This raises the question as to what is an authentic geographical souvenir of Niagara Falls and what are tourists buying. This paper examines the concepts of geographical scale and geographically displaced authenticity associated with souvenirs in Niagara Falls, Canada. Inventories were completed in eight souvenir shops. One hundred unobtrusive observations of souvenir purchases by visitors in souvenir shops are presented according to a souvenir classification as to whether they represent souvenirs from Niagara, other areas o...

Partnerships are becoming increasingly important in the tourism industry especially for small and medium sized enterprises. The development of an ale trail, similar to a wine route, represents an important tool to facilitate the building of partnerships for organisations linked to culinary tourism. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rise and fall of the Waterloo-Wellington Ale Trail located in south central Ontario, Canada. Qualitative analysis of key informant interviews is presented to examine why the decision was made to discontinue the Ale Trail despite its success.

Canadian identity with respect to attracting tourists is often associated with the natural environment. Canadian society is, however, also associated with the policy of multiculturalism and diversi...

Food and beverage tourism is increasingly recognised as a way to showcase local products and stimulate tourism demand. The use of an ale trail, similar to a wine trail also represents an important option for small retailers to partner to promote their products. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the results of a self-reporting survey conducted over a 3-year period at six breweries along the Waterloo–Wellington Ale Trail located in south central Ontario, Canada. A total of 2136 valid surveys were returned and the results are examined under visitor profile, visit information and the Ale Trail experience. The paper stresses the importance of partnering and collecting baseline data for new ventures.

Summary The Niagara Region is not only home to Niagara Falls but also home to an emerging wine route with more than 50 wineries. The Niagara Wine Route has two distinct clusters. The wineries in the east are in the tourist town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, which receives many international visitors while the wineries in the west are not typically on a tourist route and receive more domestic tourists. Through the results of a visitor survey at eight wineries, the paper will illustrate the different markets visiting the Niagara Wine Route and suggests possible implications for marketing strategies for this emerging wine route.

A solid oxide fuel cell using a thin ceria-based electrolyte film with a Ru-catalyzed anode was directly operated on hydrocarbons, including methane, ethane, and propane, at 600 °C. The role of the Ru catalyst in the anode reaction was to promote the reforming reaction of the unreacted hydrocarbons by the produced steam and CO2, which avoided interference from steam and CO2 in the gas-phase diffusion of the fuels. The resulting peak power density reached 750 mW cm−2 with dry methane, which was comparable to the peak power density of 769 mW cm−2 with wet (2.9 vol.% H2O) hydrogen. More important was the fact that the cell performance was maintained at a high level regardless of the change in the methane utilization from 12 to 46% but was significantly reduced by increasing the hydrogen utilization from 13 to 42%. While the anodic reaction of hydrogen was controlled by the slow gas diffusion, the anodic reaction of methane was not subject to the onset of such a gas-diffusion process.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) using Pd metal as the anode were fabricated for detection of CO in a flowing mixture of 0–4000 ppm CO, 50% H2, 10% CO2 and 6% H2O vapor between 300 and 400 °C. When 20 mol% Sm3+-doped CeO2 (SDC) was used as the electrolyte, the Pd anode was subjected to a large and reversible change in the anodic-reaction resistance with the CO concentration. This behavior brought about an almost linear relationship between the electromotive force (EMF) generated from the cell or the short-circuit current through the cell and the logarithm of the CO concentration. In both signals, the minimum detectable CO concentration was 50 ppm, and the 90% response and 90% recovery times were about 60 s. However, the EMF of the cell at a CO concentration of 0 ppm significantly deviated from the theoretical value, which made it difficult to obtain reproducible data. In addition, the current signal of a few μA at a CO concentration of 4000 ppm was not large enough to monitor the CO concentration exactly. The improvement of these problems could be achieved by using 25 mol% Y3+-doped BaCeO3 (BCY25) with higher ionic conduction as the electrolyte: the EMF of the cell at a CO concentration of 0 ppm was near the theoretical value; the current signal reached 66 μA at a CO concentration of 4000 ppm.

Electrocatalytic oxidation of methane over anodes in single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells, 0-10 wt % Pd-30 wt % Ce 0.8 Sm 0.2 O 1.9 (samaria-doped ceria, SDC)- Ni | SDC | Sm 0.5 Sr 0.5 CoO 3 , was studied in a mixture of methane and air between 450 and 550°C. The addition of a small amount of Pd (0.145 mg cm−2) to the anode significantly promoted the partial oxidation of methane by oxygen to form hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which resulted in electromotive forces of ca. 900 mV from the cell and extremely small electrode-reaction resistances of the anode. The peak power densities, when using a 0.15 mm thick SDC electrolyte, reached 644, 467, and 269 mW cm−2 at 550, 500, and 450°C, respectively. © 2002 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

The non-Nernstian behavior of zirconia-based oxygen sensors for 0–1000 ppm C1–C5 hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen was studied using various ion conductor-containing Pt electrodes in the presence of 10 vol.% of oxygen at 600°C. The addition of a proton conductor, especially SrCe0.95Yb0.05O3−α (SCY), to the Pt electrode improved the sensitivity for the hydrocarbons over other reducing gases: −122 mV for 1000 ppm propene; −24 mV for 1000 ppm carbon monoxide; and −23 mV for 1000 ppm hydrogen. The EMF value of the cell was enhanced by the increasing carbon number of the hydrocarbons, the unsaturation of the CC linkage, and the branching of the chain structure. A similar conclusion also applied to aromatic hydrocarbons: −81 mV for 500 ppm benzene; −96 mV for 500 ppm toluene; and −102 mV for 500 ppm p-xylene. This enhanced effect, as well as the addition effect of SCY, was discussed on the basis of the measurements of polarization curves for hydrocarbons and oxygen and the non-electrochemical oxidation of the hydrocarbons by oxygen. It was found that the added SCY did not inhibit the catalytic activities for the hydrocarbons, but decreased the cathodic reaction rate of oxygen, thus, shifting the mixed potential for the hydrocarbons to more negative values.

Potentiometric sensors using different solid electrolytes, including proton, oxide-ion, and mixed proton and oxide-ion conductors, were fabricated to investigate a relationship between the mixed potential for C1−C4 hydrocarbons and ion conduction in the electrolyte in a mixture of hydrocarbons and oxygen at 600 °C. There was an increase in the mixed potential for the hydrocarbons with increasing proton conductivity or decreasing oxide-ion conductivity. The sensor using a SrCe0.95Yb0.05O3-α (SCY) electrolyte with a Pt electrode showed an enhancement of the mixed potential for the hydrocarbons by increasing the carbon number, branching the chain structure, and unsaturating the C−C linkage. The polarization curves for hydrocarbon oxidation and for oxygen reduction at the Pt/SCY interface were also measured. These results revealed that the mixed potential at the Pt/SCY interface was strongly dependent on the rate of abstraction of hydrogen atom from the hydrocarbon molecules.

With an increase in concern over the state of the planet, environmental education has come to the forefront. While environmental impacts and sustainable tourism development have dominated recent tourism research, this trend—until recently—has only received minimal coverage in the tourism curriculum. The purpose of this paper is to examine the models of the tourism programs at the university level and to investigate the level of environmental education in undergraduate tourism programs in Canadian and Japanese universities. Course descriptions were collected and analyzed. The Business/Management Model dominates Japanese universities while tourism in Canada is mainly offered under the Liberal Arts Model. There are few tourism degree programs with an environmental focus, however, a growing number of ‘tourism and environment’ courses are identified. With tourism emerging as one of the largest interrelated global industries, there is a need to increase the level of holistic environmental education across tourism degree programs.

The non-Nernstian behavior of zirconia-based electrochemical cells with various metal oxide electrodes for 0–500 ppm C1-C4 hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide was studied in the presence of 10% oxygen at 600°C. The cell using an In 2 O 3 electrode exhibited a largely negative electromotive force (emf) for propene but gave moderately negative emfs for hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The addition of 0.1 wt % MnO 2 to the In 2 O 3 electrode significantly improved the selectivity of the parent electrode for propene over hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The negative emf of the cell using the MnO 2 -containing In 2 O 3 electrode for the hydrocarbons became enhanced as the carbon number of the hydrocarbon increased, the C-C linkage was unsaturated, and the chain structure was branched. This enhanced effect, as well as the addition effect of MnO 2 , was discussed on the basis of the measurements of the polarization curves of the MnO 2 -containing In 2 O 3 electrode for the hydrocarbons and oxygen and the nonelectrochemical oxidation of the hydrocarbons by oxygen. In addition, the MnO 2 -containing In 2 O 3 electrode for the hydrocarbons was compared with an Au electrode with respect to sensitivity to the hydrocarbons and reproducibility of the sensing properties. © 2000 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

A local wine route in the Niagara Peninsula connects over 50 wineries offering tours, tasting, restaurants and shopping. At the forefront of development has been Inniskillin Winery. This paper highlights the evolution of wine tourism in the Niagara region and focuses on Inniskillin's efforts to expand into a non-traditional wine tourist market. The winery has formed a strategic alliance with a Japanese tour operator and its Icewine has become a very popular exclusive souvenir for the Japanese. An understanding of the psychological background of the Japanese target segment illustrates the link between Icewine and Japanese gift giving and sense of social obligation. Seasonal implications of this market are discussed. Inniskillin's example of developing strategic alliances has been followed by other wineries in attracting Japanese tourists as well as developing links to a variety of industries linked to wine tourism.

Coronafacic acid has been synthesized from a hydrindanone prepared by a 6- endo - trig mode cyclization reaction of the enone-aldehyde with samarium(II) iodide. The stereochemistry of the hydrindanone was controlled by the coordinated samarium species resulting in cis in respect of the hydroxyl group at C-4 and the juncture proton at C-3a.

This paper attempts to elicit the underlying reasons why and how people within the tourism industry perceive the natural environment and how they regard their own responsibility for environmental management. As East Asian culture is believed to have different attitudes and values towards the natural environment and resources when compared to Western culture, it is hypothesised that there will be a corresponding difference in how they view the relationship between nature and tourism. Although this is not an East–West comparative study, it nevertheless aims to discern if there is any structural variation in perception within East Asian countries. To this end, a questionnaire was conducted in Mainland China, Taiwan and Japan in 1994 and the data were analysed by Multidimensional Scaling (MDS). The analysis shows that authoritarianism and an anthropocentric market approach to the natural environment and resources affect the perception of tourism activities across cultures. Minor cultural differences were foun...

Since the launch of the government's Ten Million Program in 1986, the number of Japanese outbound tourists has steadily increased even during the post-bubble economy period. Many destination countries have recognised the importance of the young female market segment as having a rapid growth rate and high spending power. This article investigates the sociocultural background of the Gal tourist by exploring Japanese values on life and women, sex and sexuality and changing values in the younger generations. Based on the findings, this paper will discuss the significance of the Young Female Japanese tourists as a potential market in the near future, and also importance of understanding the sociocultural background of the target market segment.

In tourism, natural resources and the physical environment are regarded as important assets to enhance the product. Practitioners in this multisectoral industry (including hotels) perceive the environment and its resources to be a crucial feature in attracting more tourists. Today, most sectors of industry face pressure to improve their environmental performance. Hotels as a component of tourism are no exception. Hotels can act to reduce their environmental impacts and, collectively, make a substantial contribution to improving the quality of the environment. A wide range of publications offer guidance and advice on the actions hoteliers may take to alter their practices and thus address environmental issues. Yet, to date, it is not clear how many hotels are applying these recommendations, nor which actions share this common goal. Equally, the lack of operationalisation in environmental principles, implicit within many codes of practice, is seeing the emergence of a gap between theory and practice in these matters. It is the nature of this gap that is explored. Additionally, an assessment is undertaken of what the tourism industry is doing to improve environmental performance, and a case study is presented based on a detailed survey of environmental management practices in 42 London hotels. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

As tourism is an industry that involves the environment and natural resources, its physical and social impacts have reached a point where they can be no longer neglected. Numerous conferences and conventions have taken place, and the tourism industry has initiated not only intellectual campaigns, but also action programmes. the tourism industry and its “environmentally friendly” movement, however, do not stand on their own; they are often influenced by national environmental policies. In this paper, the current national environmental policies of Britain, Germany, China, Taiwan and Japan are summarised and differences in their respective emphases are highlighted along with the resulting implication for tourism. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.