Burnette Faulkner (sharkyacht50)

Ecotourism in national parks of developing countries is increasingly recognised as a promising option to achieve sustainable development goals, regardless, might imply various paradoxical managerial challenges. This paper, therefore, seeks to contribute a methodological framework utilising ES-based social landscape metrics (SLM) to address the potential barriers in managing ecotourism-integrated multi-functional national parks. We present a mixed-method case study in Vietnam's Tram Chim National Park (TCNP), conducted via semi-structural interviews and PGIS with tourists and locals. Multiple key informants, i.e. TCNP's authorities were also interviewed to provide their managerial insights and assist in verifying the PGIS results obtained from the tourists and locals. Via the quantified and mapped SLMs, the study reveals the differences between tourists and locals in terms of how and where they perceive and appreciate the intangible values of TCNP. Through spatial statistics, we reported important spatial correlations (i) between different categories of Ecosystem Services (ES) and (ii) between ES richness and diversity on different TCNP's land covers. As a contribution to the decision-making outlook, we remarked potential areas to expand of ecotourism activities based on the spatial hot and cold spots. This study concludes by highlighting opportunities for future research in expanding on socio-geographical assessments of ES, especially in the fields of ecotourism. Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use is a potential risk factor for hepatic encephalopathy (HE), but few studies have examined the effect on post-TIPS HE. The purpose of this study was to determine whether PPIs are associated with increased rates of post-TIPS HE in an independent patient cohort. This single-institution retrospective study analyzed 86 patients (54 male, mean age 58.2) following TIPS from 1/1/2017 to 12/31/2019. Dates of PPI usage and episodes of new or worsening HE were recorded. Poisson regression with generalized estimating equations was used to test for association between PPI use and post-TIPS HE and to test for dose dependence. Post-TIPS HE was also analyzed using the Andersen-Gill survival model for recurrent events. There were 1.88 episodes of new or worsening post-TIPS HE per person-year among 35 patients on uninterrupted PPIs therapy, 1.95 on PPIs and 0.94 off PPIs among 35 patients on intermittent therapy, and 0.47 among 16 patients never on PPIs. PPI use was significantly associated with post-TIPS HE in both univariable (incidence rate ratio (IRR)=2.62; CI=1.41-4.84; p=0.002) and multivariable (IRR=2.31; CI=1.37-3.89; p=0.002) regression. Analysis of only those patients on PPIs showed increased rates of HE with higher doses (IRR=1.17 per 10mg omeprazole equivalent; CI=1.04-1.33; p=0.011). Recurrent events survival analysis supported the association between PPI use and HE in univariable (hazard ratio (HR)=2.17; CI=1.19-3.95; p=0.011) and multivariable (HR=1.87; CI=1.12-3.13; p=0.017) analysis. In an independent patient cohort PPI use was associated with increased rates of new or worsening post-TIPS HE. In an independent patient cohort PPI use was associated with increased rates of new or worsening post-TIPS HE.In this study, the albedo factors (number, energy, and dose) of some boron compounds were investigated at a scattering angle of 180°. Eight boron compounds were tested in the mean atomic number range of 4.571 ≤ Z‾ ≤ 19.00. The samples were irradiated by gamma rays emitted at 59.54 keV from an Am-241-point source with an activity of 0.43 MBq. The scattered gamma rays were counted by an ultra-low energy germanium detector with a resolution of 140 eV at 5.9 keV. The results showed that the albedo factors decreased as the mean atomic number increased. The correlations between the albedo factors and mean atomic numbers were also high.The goal of this work was to produce accurate data for use as a '