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Shrinking population can have significant negative impacts on the social and economic fabric of a city. This paper aims to understand different urban transportation policies to respond to population decline in shrinking cities by examining two case studies of urban interventions in mid-size cities in Japan.

The paper analyzes the implementation of sustainable mobility strategies in the urban transport sector in the Japanese cities of Toyama and Kanazawa, which risk having their populations significantly reduced in the next decades. The analysis is based on case study research that uses the data and information collected through desk and field research. Interviews with local actors, as well as published policy and academic documents on the case studies provided critical data and information to analyze the case studies.

Both cities have tried to make urban mobility more sustainable via different strategies. Toyama used more structural changes, called the “sticks and dumplings” approach, having land use incentives and the Light Rail Transit reinforced by bus routes as the backbone of its strategy. Kanazawa relied on a city center revitalization plan to densify residential use in the city center.

More structural interventions are necessary to change the declining of shrinking cities, mitigating some of the negative effects. City administrations need to have clear policy priorities and should not allocate their limited resources to competing policy agendas.

The study is unique as it is one of the first efforts to analyze urban transportation interventions in shrinking cities in Japan.

The major purpose of this research note is to explore some of the potential biosecurity and nosocomial risks associated with international medical tourism.

The note reviews relevant medical tourism and cognate literature.

The note finds that there are substantial risks associated with nosocomial infections and complications as a result of international tourism. Although these are clearly significant at an individual level they also represent significant biosecurity risks to the home country of medical tourists and particularly to medical facilities which they may visit if they have an infection. Medical tourists are therefore identified by the medical community as posing significant risks for the spread of pandemics, as well as further contributing to increased antibiotic resistance. Further systematic research is required to assess risk management strategies including the appropriateness of international and national regulations which currently shows considerable variability.

The development of international medical tourism is demonstrated to have potentially significant negative implications for global public health.

The relevance of the paper lies in its identification of considerable risks associated with international medical tourism which may have considerable economic and personal costs associated with them. Such risks are not usually incorporated into assessments of the economic benefits of medical tourism.

This research examines whether a shift to a hybrid classroom, which replaces some face-to-face classroom time with online instruction, adversely affects student learning if the structure and incentives that are characteristic of a flipped classroom are already in place.

This study features a quantitative analysis of individual student data collected over multiple sections of a single course with the same instructor. In all seven sections, over two semesters, principles of microeconomics used a flipped classroom format that features preclass video lectures, daily quizzes and highly interactive class time. In three of the seven sections, the time spent in class was reduced by one-third. For this experiment, student scores on the cumulative final exam evaluate student learning. Students took a survey at the end of the semester to provide feedback on time use during the course and to make observations about the class format.

Results from this study suggest that despite accountability for the work done outside of class, students score 4.4% points lower on the final exam in the class format that features reduced face-to-face time. However, student comments also suggest that this is a worthwhile tradeoff as they balance work, internships and other nonacademic demands on their time. Student evaluations of the course and instructor are statistically unchanged.

Efficiency in educational delivery is an ongoing concern for students and faculty. This research demonstrates that a classroom that is both flipped and hybrid makes better use of student and faculty time, provides a richer learning experience and only modestly reduces student learning. It is notable that students report a preference for the hybrid classroom model, despite modestly lower levels of learning.

While research has been done on flipped and hybrid classrooms separately, this is the first paper to isolate the effect of seat time within the flipped classroom context. This research addresses the flipped classroom design's ability to mitigate the documented reduction in student learning that often results from reduced class time or an increase in online learning.

The major purpose of this introduction to the special issue of Tourism Review on health and medical tourism is to outline some of main issues that exist in the academic literature in this rapidly developing field.

The paper reviews relevant health and medical tourism and cognate literature.

The paper identifies some of the interrelationships between different areas of health and medical tourism, including wellness and wellbeing tourism, dental tourism, stem‐cell tourism, transplant tourism, abortion tourism, and xeno‐tourism. Key to defining these areas are the relationships to concepts of wellness and illness and the extent to which regulation encourages individuals to engage in cross‐border purchase of health services and products. Key themes that emerge in the literature include regulation, ethics, the potential individual and public health risks associated with medical tourism, and the relative lack of information on the extent of medical tourism.

The development of international medical tourism is demonstrated to have potentially significant implications for global public health.

The paper covers an extensive range of academic literature on international medical tourism which indicates the different approaches and emphases of research in different disciplines as well as the ideological and philosophical differences that exist with respect to health medical tourism. The paper also notes that some of the individual and public health risks of medical tourism are not usually incorporated into assessments of its potential economic benefits.

The purpose of this study is to explore the comparative effects of mainstream celebrities and social media influencers on consumer advocacy and relationship intentions. The study also examines the direct and serial mediation effects on those relationships.

The survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 718 respondents throughout Malaysia, with convenience and snowball sampling techniques employed. The data were analyzed based on the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach through the AMOS version 24. The PROCESS MACRO v-4.20 was applied to evaluate mediating effects in the model.

The results reveal that celebrity endorsers' involvement in social media significantly influences the uses of social media, which also impacts the attitudes and, subsequently, consumer relationship and advocacy intentions. The study found that mainstream celebrities and social media influencers effectively promote brands, and it discovered insignificant differences in their effects on the analyzed relationships.

This study has been conducted on consumers in Malaysia; it may have different effects on consumers in other countries.

Brand managers and policymakers may benefit from following the study's guidelines for making consumer relationship and advocacy intentions by celebrity endorsers and uses of social media.

The brand community can benefit from tightening their social bondage by sharing and managing crucial information from celebrities and using social media.

The study explores the effects of mainstream celebrities on consumer relationship and advocacy intentions using social media networks and managing consumer attitudes.