Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2013-10-18"
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- Characterization of the cis‐regulatory regions governing ojoplano locusPublication . Gago-Rodrigues, Inês; Martinez-Morales, JuanOjoplano (opo) is a vertebrate-specific gene that was first identified in medaka fish as a recessive mutant, showing both neural crest defects and a failure of optic cup folding. In humans, this gene is associated with genetic diseases including hereditary craniofacial malformations and schizophrenia. It is localized in a 2Mb gene desert flanked by insulator sequences, between the genes SLC35B and TFAp2a. This region, syntenic between all vertebrates, represents only 2% of chromosome 6. However, it includes 23% of the all conserved cis-regulatory elements in this chromosome. Using transgenesis assays in zebrafish, we screened the enhancer activity of this locus and obtain a collection of nine enhancers. These regulatory elements were all conserved from human to teleosts and showed epigenetic marks for enhancer activity. We could associate multiple enhancers with ororfacial celfting disease and in order to explore the functionality of the enhancers, we performed a bioinformatics analysis to search for transcription factor bindings in the enhancer sequences. In terms of gene regulation we observe that H6:10137 opo enhancer has two Vsx2 binding sites and that this transcription factor regulates the expression of opo during eye development. Our findings suggest that the regulation of Vsx2 over opo is essential for optic cup folding. So far, there is no clear connection between optic cup patterning and morphogenesis. Vsx2 provides this link by controlling the expression of opo.
- The role of sensescapes in tourist experiences in rural areasPublication . Agapito, Dora; Mendes, Júlio; Valle, Patrícia Oom doThe sensory appealing of destinations has recently been in focus as an important dimension in the process of facilitating positive and memorable tourist experiences. Particularly, the countryside embraces local resources rich in multi-sensory effects that could be explored in the planning and marketing of stimulating tourist experiences addressed to segments of tourists suitable for sustainable local development. Despite being well documented that the so-called five senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch – influence human perception, memory, and behavior, research following a holistic approach to all modalities of sensory experiences in tourism, specifically in rural destinations, is still scarce. In this light, this thesis encloses four studies aiming to explore the role of sensescapes in tourist experiences in rural areas. The first study explores the conceptualization of the sensory dimension of tourist experiences by discussing its theoretical underpinnings. The second study presents a conceptual framework intended to support the appropriateness of the research on sensory experiences as perceived by tourists and resulting contribute to marketing sustainable sensory-themed tourist experiences in rural destinations. Subsequently, study three shows through a questionnaire presented to tourists in rural lodgings in Southwest Portugal that reported sensory experiences could be used to capture meaningful sensory-based themes adequate for segmenting tourists and tangibilize tourist offerings based on sensory experiences. Study four uses a two-step process of data collection, conducted in loco and six months after the tourists’ visit to Southwest Portugal, revealing that richer sensory tourist experiences may have an important role in the long-term memory of individuals’ experiences, potentiating favorable tourist behavior with respect to rural destinations loyalty. Overall, the results corroborate the importance of the sensory dimension for individuals’ likelihood of having a positive and memorable tourist experience, as well as the potential of using sensory stimuli in marketing tourist experiences in rural destinations.