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Dark tourism is a unique form of tourism and its development has led to controversy. Although the topic of dark tourism has been studied for more than 20 years, some fundamental issues that exist in this area have still not been integrated and elaborated systematically. Many of the theoretical points of view espoused have not been established through academic consensus. This situation is particularly the case in the domestic tourism academic world, where much of the research on dark tourism involves simple repeats and summaries of foreign academic research with little or no independent thinking and original theoretical contributions. What is even more alarming is that some conclusions about dark tourism in domestic tourism studies are illogical, and the concepts of dark tourism defined are neither systematic nor comprehensive. As a result, they lack conviction and cease to be effective in offering practical guidance to the tourism industry. Based on a fundamental and extensive review of the domestic and international research on dark tourism, our article discusses the essential nature of dark tourism from the point of view of its internal drives and motivations, and clarifies the unique and complex relationship between dark tourism and the topic of death. Furthermore, through the use of categories that include aesthetic judgment, judgment of ugliness, theory of tragedy, theory of comedy, the appreciation of grace and the appreciation of magnificence, this article expands Stone's linear dark tourism spectrum model into a framework with four quadrants to illustrate the different combinations of four concepts, namely deep dark tourism, light gray tourism, aesthetic judgment, and the judgment of ugliness under the aegis of aesthetics. This new spectrum offers a classification of dark tourism from both the psychological experience and aesthetic judgment perspectives, and helps us to have a clearer understanding of the motivations and drives behind dark tourism. It clarifies the difference between death perception and real death experience, and explains that the kind of death people are appreciating in dark tourism is not pure biological death, but shows that their appreciation has the meaning of tragic death. Our article then develops a new definition of dark tourism based on the logic law of "species plus differentia", and formulates the core proposition that "dark tourism is one type of tourism; it conforms with the pleasure experience of tourism in general, but has its own unique characteristics of than atopsis at the same time". Based on the above discussion and analysis, our article finally defines the concept of dark tourism systematically and explains several key points about this concept in detail. In brief, our article makes an attempt to explain the essence of dark tourism based on an exploration of the motivation and drives of dark tourists, and distinguishes between the death people appreciate in dark tourism and the death associated with common life. Furthermore, the article also seeks to systematically explain the conceptual framework of dark tourism and its core propositions from the perspective of the tourism experience, and to respond to many of the controversies discussed in the domestic and international literature. In sum, we expect this article to establish a more rigorous theoretical foundation and to clarify related concepts for the development of dark tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is currently a complex, globalized phenomenon, though its status as an area of academic study field seems to be questionable. There has been significant discussions about whether studies of tourism should be disciplinary, multidisciplinary, or interdisciplinaiT pursuits and how they should relate to the institutional landscape and practices of higher education. For some academics, these discourses are somewhat arid, but we contend that they are vital since they serve to set the epistemological framework and methodological innovation for tourism scholars, and they also play a significant role in prompting investigations into tourism. In this paper, we ask the following questions. What is the central locus of debate in the field of knowledge related tourism? Is there a logic behind constructing a unique discipline of tourism? In what ways does this logic constitute an important element in our understanding of this new discipline? How do the different aspects of tourism allow reconstruction of this field? This paper examines the divided debate relating to how tourism can be a discipline, and it identifies the related criteria. It notes that among some Western academics, there is often a kind of negative feeling around the issue as to whether or not tourism constitutes a discipline. Insights in this regard are drawn from two distinctive philosophers of science--P. Hirst and T. S. Kuhn. We propose that only by establishing the internal logic and setting the logical starting point covered in the above-mentioned debate can effective alternative paths be identified that allow tourism studies to evolve into a distinct discipline. Owing to the fact that tourism has its own natural complexity, research into tourism is able to provide abundant objective resources for a multidisciplinary approach. Irrespective of the disciplinary perspectives researchers tend to adopt in tourism studies, we believe that the multidisciplinary stage is indispensable for this emerging discipline. However, we also admit that because of the multidisciplinary approaches, researchers tend to undertake studies in tourism from within the specific boundaries of the main discipline in which they have been trained. As a consequence, existing theory in the field of tourism is fragmented and weak. Some scholars have determined that the interdisciplinary approach may be suitable for solving this problem, and we believe that there is a distinct development stage for knowledge integration in constructing the discipline of tourism. In contrast to mainstream practice, this paper seeks to explore the most basic factors in integrating the tourism discipline rather than developing more holistic theories than those that currently exist. The paper rethinks the current state and role of the interdisciplinary epistemology in the formation of the tourism discipline. It argues that the interdisciplinary epistemology in tourism studies is slightly different in the basic methodological form of concepts, which demand a problem-oriented method and have been proposed by related academics. We also suggest that constructing such a discipline would benefit greatly from this problem domain, where there is the potential for an interdisciplinary approach. The authors hold the view that the interdisciplinary integration of tourism research following the establishment of the tourism discipline is possible by examining the starting point, such as the "tourism experience." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics of Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia and to investigate the correlation between serum inflammatory biomarkers and severity of the disease., Methods: Sixteen patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia admitted to the Huizhou Municipal Central Hospital from January 2020 to July 2021 were selected as the study subjects, including 10 severe cases and 6 mild cases. Clinical data were collected and analyzed, such as baseline characteristics, clinical symptoms, laboratory inspection and chest imaging manifestations., Results: (1) Thirteen Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia were associated with a definite bird or poultry contact history. Common symptoms included high fever, chill, cough, fatigue, and anorexia (16 cases), dyspnoea (12 cases), and other systemic symptoms. (2) Laboratory test results showed normal white blood cell count (WBC, 10 cases), decreased lymphocyte count (LYM, 13 cases), increased high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP, 16 cases), D-dimer (15 cases), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, 13 cases), aspartate aminotransferase (AST, 16 cases) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT, 12 cases) levels, however, the albumin (Alb, 15 cases) lever was decreased. The numbers of CD3 + T cells and CD4 + T cells decreased in 10 patients. (3) The levels of D-dimer, interleukins (IL-2, IL-6, IL-10) in severe Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia were significantly higher than those in mild Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia [D-dimer (μg/L): 10 257±4 203 vs. 1 085±642, IL-2 (ng/L): 1.1 (0.8, 1.7) vs. 0.3 (0.1, 0.7), IL-6 (ng/L): 315 (182, 505) vs. 75 (18, 131), IL-10 (ng/L): 7.0±4.1 vs. 2.3±0.7], but the LYM was lower (×10 9 /L: 0.4±0.1 vs. 1.1±0.4), with significant differences (all P < 0.05). (4) Chest imaging manifestations were exudative lesions and large consolidation of lungs. Large consolidation of both lungs can occur in some critically ill patients., Conclusions: Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia is mainly associated with a bird or poultry contact history. The clinical manifestations usually present high fever, dyspnea, normal or slightly increased leucocytes, and lung consolidation. The levels of LYM, D-dimer, IL-2, IL-6 and IL-10 in serum are expected to predict the severity of the Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia.