Beach Vacation Research Articles

DRIVE-BY CONSERVATION

THE LATE AFTERNOON SUN is streaming through the windows of the seaside Picasso Museum on the Mediterranean coast of Antibes, France, where a handful of scientists are huddled around a computer. They are surrounded by Pablo Picasso’s paintings and a battery of lab equipment that they’ve transported during an 11-hour drive from Italy. Antibes might be best known as a beach vacation hot spot, but for four days in late August, it’s the primary destination for a group of mobile conservation scientists who traverse Europe in a white Volkswagen van to study masterpieces of art. Europe is full of culturally important objects, many of which are too fragile to move or are simply the wrong shape and size to fit on a typical lab bench—think of Michelangelo’s enormous “David” sculpture or prehistoric artwork painted on a cave wall. This mobile laboratory—known as MOLAB—is the brainchild of Bruno Brunetti and Antonio Sgamellotti, two chemists at Italy’s ...

Each Beach Vacation Raises Risk of Small Nevi in Kids

Each Beach Vacation Raises Risk of Small Nevi in Kids

The Clinical Picture: Generalized pruritus after a beach vacation

A 25-year-old man presents with a 2-month history of generalized itching that began 5 weeks after a trip to Brazil, during which he had sexual relations without protection. What is the most likely diagnosis?

Developing Mauritianness: National Identity, Cultural Heritage Values and Tourism

Mauritius is a nation of immigrants who have harmoniously come together, working to make their new homeland an economic success story. To continue this unprecedented economic growth Mauritius is consciously aware of the need for diversification in all its industries, including tourism. Known for being a quintessential beach vacation destination, Mauritius desires to expand the tourism sector to include aspects of cultural heritage tourism. To accomplish this task several questions must be answered about the meaning of Mauritianness and its relationship to tourism. Here it is argued that in order to further develop cultural heritage tourism in Mauritius, the understanding of Mauritian national identity must also be advanced.

ASSESSING TOURISTS' PREFERENCES FOR RECREATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS CENTRAL TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF A TOURISM AREA IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

The main goals of this paper are to (1) highlight the need for sustainable development as a means to conserve natural resources and the environment, which often represent the basis for tourism development, (2) illustrate the importance of assessing tourists' preferences when designing programs and policies central to the sustainable development of a tourism area, and (3) study tourists' interests in sustainable development. With these goals in mind, 180 tourists from Europe, Latin America, and North America were interviewed as they were leaving the resort region of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. The main factors that they considered when deciding where to go on a beach vacation were evaluated, as well as their preferences regarding four programs designed to improve recreational and environmental management of the area. Preferences by tourists were elicited both in monetary and non-monetary terms. This paper reports the non-monetary analysis of the data. The results indicate that clean ocean water and beaches, quality of services, and price are the most important factors considered by the respondents before deciding to come to Punta Cana. It was not possible to obtain reliable responses on how tourists perceived the four programs contributing to the sustainable development of Punta Cana. Nevertheless, they expressed high interest and willingness to pay for two of these programs: the outdoor aquarium and the Water Management Program. The results reported in this paper show how important it is to elicit tourists' preferences of programs central to the sustainable development of tourism areas since these preferences can drive managers' development decisions in more sustainable directions.

Association of cutaneous malignant melanoma with intermittent exposure to ultraviolet radiation: results of a case-control study in Ontario, Canada.

Although solar radiation is well established as a risk factor for melanoma, it is less clear how the pattern and timing of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation might be important. The particular objective of this study was to evaluate the association of melanoma risk with various measures of intermittent and chronic exposures to UV radiation, and to assess how these exposures interact with other risk factors such as skin type. Data were analysed from a large case-control study (583 cases, 608 controls) of malignant melanoma, carried out in southern Ontario, Canada. Significant risk increases were identified with several measures of intermittent exposure, including beach vacations in adolescence and in the past 5 years, previous sunburn, and use of sunbeds and sunlamps. Chronic exposure, indicated by days of outdoor activity during adolescence and by occupation in recent adult life, was associated with significantly reduced risk. Subgroup analyses showed: no major risk differences by body site of melanoma; stronger association of lentigo maligna melanoma with intermittent exposure; more pronounced effects of beach vacations and sunburn in younger subjects; and consistently higher risks for intermittent exposures among subjects with skin more susceptible to burning. The data lend limited support to the hypothesis of increased risk associated with intermittent UV exposure. The findings suggest that future studies should take age at diagnosis, host susceptibility and histological subtype into account.

Phytophotodermatitis: the other “lime” disease

Phytophotodermatitis is a skin eruption that occurs after contact with photosensitizing compounds in plants and exposure to UV light. There are two common presentations of phytophotodermatitis. Acutely, erythema and vesiculation similar to a severe sunburn are noted. After resolution of the inflammation, the involved skin has marked hyperpigmentation. Many plants have been identified that contain furocoumarins (psoralens), including limes, lemons, and celery. We present a patient with an acute phototoxic eruption and hyperpigmentation after contact with limes during a beach vacation.

Solar ultraviolet radiation exposure does not appear to exacerbate HIV infection in homosexual men

To determine the effect of sun exposure on HIV progression. Cross-sectional survey nested within a longitudinal cohort study. The Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study. A total of 1155 white HIV-seronegative and 496 white HIV-seropositive homosexual men, of whom 142 seroconverted during the study. T-helper lymphocyte decline and AIDS. No positive correlation was found between the development of AIDS or loss of T-helper lymphocytes and (i) phenotypic characteristics associated with enhanced ultraviolet radiation (UVR) sensitivity (hair or eye color, skin type), or (ii) reported UVR exposure (sun lamp/tanning bed use, frequency of beach vacations, sunscreen use), or (iii) composite score of UVR sensitivity and exposure history. The composite scores and individual measures of risk were not correlated with rate of T-helper lymphocyte decline (slope) based upon rank correlation (correlation coefficient, 0.04; P = 0.32). In fact, individuals purposefully seeking the sun had slower T-helper lymphocyte declines. Sensitivity to UVR was also not significantly associated with AIDS [odds ratio (OR), 1.11 per unit of higher composite score; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.66-1.88; P = 0.63]. Among individuals who were HIV-infected at baseline, those who have been purposely seeking sun exposure were less likely to have AIDS (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.39-1.11; P = 0.12). These data suggest that phenotypic characteristics of high UVR sensitivity and exposure are not highly correlated with decline in T-helper lymphocyte count or with progression to AIDS.

How to measure the radius of the earth on your beach vacation

How to measure the radius of the earth on your beach vacation