Climate and the Destination Choice of German Tourists

The attractiveness of a tourist destination is partly dependent on its environmental and climatic resource base. Climate change can be expected to have an effect on this attractiveness and will subsequently alter patterns of demand. An application of the pooled travel cost model using survey data on the destination choices of German tourists is presented in this study. Data on the climate, beach length and indicators of cultural, natural resource and economic attractiveness of the destination countries are used in the regression analysis. Optimal climate values were calculated and a climate index was used to examine the change in climatic attractiveness under an arbitrary scenario of climate change. It was found that, for European countries during the summer months, there would be an increase in attractiveness. However, the northern European countries become relatively more attractive closing the gap on the currently popular southern European countries.climate change, international tourism

Including Social Nash Equilibria in Abstract Economies

We consider quasi-variational problems (variational problems having constraint sets depending on their own solutions) which appear in concrete economic models such as social and economic networks, financial derivative models, transportation network congestion and traffic equilibrium. First, using an extension of the classical Minty lemma, we show that new upper stability results can be obtained for parametric quasi-variational and linearized quasi-variational problems, while lower stability, which plays a fundamental role in the investigation of hierarchical problems, cannot be achieved in general, even on very restrictive conditions. Then, regularized problems are considered allowing to introduce approximate solutions for the above problems and to investigate their lower and upper stability properties. We stress that the class of quasi-variational problems include social Nash equilibrium problems in abstract economies, so results about approximate Nash equilibria can be easily deduced.quasi-variational, social Nash equilibria, approximate solution, closed map, lower semicontinuous map, upper stability, lower stability

Crucifixion and median neuropathy.

Crucifixion as a means of torture and execution was first developed in the 6th century B.C. and remained popular for over 1000 years. Details of the practice, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, have intrigued scholars as historical records and archaeological findings from the era are limited. As a result, various aspects of crucifixion, including the type of crosses used, methods of securing victims to crosses, the length of time victims survived on the cross, and the exact mechanisms of death, remain topics of debate. One aspect of crucifixion not previously explored in detail is the characteristic hand posture often depicted in artistic renditions of crucifixion. In this posture, the hand is clenched in a peculiar and characteristic fashion: there is complete failure of flexion of the thumb and index finger with partial failure of flexion of the middle finger. Such a "crucified clench" is depicted across different cultures and from different eras. A review of crucifixion history and techniques, median nerve anatomy and function, and the historical artistic depiction of crucifixion was performed to support the hypothesis that the "crucified clench" results from proximal median neuropathy due to positioning on the cross, rather than from direct trauma of impalement of the hand or wrist

THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON TOURISM AND RECREATION

Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing economic sectors. Tourism is obviously related to climate, as tourists prefer spending time outdoors and travel to enjoy the sun or landscape. It is therefore surprising that the tourism literature pays little attention to climate and climatic change and it is equally surprising that the climate change impact literature pays little attention to tourism. The number of studies on tourism and climate change is, however, starting to grow. This paper reviews this literature, discussing shortcomings and recent developments in global modeling of tourism flows are presented. The range of methods used and issues studied in the literature is large, and findings are correspondingly diverse. However, all studies agree that climate change matters to tourism and recreation. Future avenues of inquiry are also discussed.Tourism, recreation, weather, climate, climate change

THE ROLE OF CLIMATE INFORMATION IN TOURIST DESTINATION CHOICE DECISION-MAKING

This study examines if tourists actively inform themselves about the climate of their planned destination. In addition, we examine where they inform themselves and at what point in the holiday decision-making process. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to tourists at the airport, international bus station, and the train station in Hamburg during July and August 2004. Of the 394 respondents, 73% stated that they informed themselves about the climate of their destination. Moreover, the majority of them informed themselves about climate before booking (42%). Nevertheless, a large percentage of the tourists sampled state that they informed themselves shortly before their trip. Interestingly, a significantly large share of the respondents said that they checked the weather at their destination in the week before their trip.Tourist decision-making, destination image, information search, climate, weather

THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON TOURISM IN GERMANY, THE UK AND IRELAND: A SIMULATION STUDY

We downscale the results of a global tourism simulation model at a national resolution to a regional resolution. We use this to investigate the impact of climate change on the regions of Germany, Ireland and the UK. Because of climate change, tourists from all three countries would spend more holidays in the home country. In all three countries, climate change would first reduce the number of international arrivals – as Western European international tourist demand falls – but later increase numbers – as tourism demand from increasingly rich tropical countries grows. In Ireland and the UK, the regional pattern of demand shifts is similar to the international one: Tourism shifts north. In Germany, the opposite pattern is observed as the continental interior warms faster than the coast: Tourism shifts south.International tourism, domestic tourism, climate change, regional impacts

Metallo-intercalators and metallo-insertors

Since the elucidation of the structure of double helical DNA, the construction of small molecules that recognize and react at specific DNA sites has been an area of considerable interest. In particular, the study of transition metal complexes that bind DNA with specificity has been a burgeoning field. This growth has been due in large part to the useful properties of metal complexes, which possess a wide array of photophysical attributes and allow for the modular assembly of an ensemble of recognition elements. Here we review recent experiments in our laboratory aimed at the design and study of octahedral metal complexes that bind DNA non-covalently and target reactions to specific sites. Emphasis is placed both on the variety of methods employed to confer site-specificity and upon the many applications for these complexes. Particular attention is given to the family of complexes recently designed that target single base mismatches in duplex DNA through metallo-insertion

Degassing history of water, sulfur, and carbon in submarine lavas from Kilauea volcano, Hawaii

Major, minor, and dissolved volatile element concentrations were measured in tholeiitic glasses from the submarine portion (Puna Ridge) of the east rift zone of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. Dissolved H_(2)O and S concentrations display a wide range relative to nonvolatile incompatible elements at all depths. This range cannot be readily explained by fractional crystallization, degassing of H20 and S during eruption on the seafloor, or source region heterogeneities. Dissolved C0_2 concentrations, in contrast, show a positive correlation with eruption depth and typically agree within error with the solubility at that depth. We propose that most magmas along the Puna Ridge result from (I) mixing of a relatively volatile-rich, undegassed component with magmas that experienced low pressure (perhaps subaerial) degassing during which substantial H_(2)O, S, and C0_2 were lost, followed by (2) fractional crystallization of olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase from this mixture to generate a residual liquid; and (3) further degassing, principally of C0_2 for samples erupted deeper than 1000 m, during eruption on the seafloor. The degassed end member may form at upper levels of the summit magma chamber (assuming less than lithostatic pressure gradients), during residence at shallow levels in the crust, or during sustained summit eruptions. The final phase of degassing during eruption on the seafloor occurs slowly enough to achieve melt/vapor equilibrium during exsolution of the typically CO_(2)-rich vapor phase. We predict that average Kilauean primary magmas with 16% MgO contain ~0.47 wt% H_(2)O, ~900 ppm S, and have δD values of ~-30 to -40‰. Our model predicts that submarine lavas from wholly submarine volcanoes (i.e., Loihi), for which there is no opportunity to generate the degassed end member by low pressure degassing, will be enriched in volatiles relative to those from volcanoes whose summits have breached the sea surface (i.e., Kilauea and Mauna Loa)