Tourism visioning: implementing a primary stakeholder approach

Following a discussion on the relationship between participatory planning, collaboration, and tourism visioning, this paper describes the development of a tourism specific visioning process. A case study of a facilitated tourism visioning process in the City of Surprise, Arizona, U.S.A. is presented. This case study provides an example of the potential power of the visioning process for a destination community developing a tourism vision to guide collaborative tourism planning. Insights from three stakeholder workshops are discussed in two contexts: (1) a long-term recommendations of what is needed for implementing a successful tourism visioning process and development of a community tourism plan, and (2) a manageable set of short-term “successes” that could be accomplished by stakeholders collaborating to establish a tourism vision

Empowering Latino parents to transform the education of their children

This article emphasizes the role of parental involvement in the college preparation of Latino elementary and secondary school students. Although literature shows that education is highly valued in Latino families, actual college enrollment rates for Latino youth are below average. This has been attributed to barriers including lack of financial resources, problems in communication with schools, and low familiarity with the college planning process. The American Dream Academy is a university outreach program that is designed to help Latino families overcome these barriers. We conducted a qualitative analysis of speeches that were prepared and delivered by parents at graduation ceremonies of the program from 2007 to 2009. Our analysis revealed six themes: facing challenges, envisioning success, understanding the school system, taking ownership, community raising a child, and creating a supportive home environment. The findings enrich existing literature and help understand the complex systems that are at play with parental involvement in Latino families

Word Adjacency Graph Modeling: Separating Signal From Noise in Big Data

There is a need to develop methods to analyze Big Data to inform patient-centered interventions for better health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a method to explore Big Data to describe salient health concerns of people with epilepsy. Specifically, we used Word Adjacency Graph modeling to explore a data set containing 1.9 billion anonymous text queries submitted to the ChaCha question and answer service to (a) detect clusters of epilepsy-related topics, and (b) visualize the range of epilepsy-related topics and their mutual proximity to uncover the breadth and depth of particular topics and groups of users. Applied to a large, complex data set, this method successfully identified clusters of epilepsy-related topics while allowing for separation of potentially non-relevant topics. The method can be used to identify patient-driven research questions from large social media data sets and results can inform the development of patient-centered interventions

Gene expression response to a nematode parasite in novel and native eel hosts

Invasive parasites are involved in population declines of new host species worldwide. The high susceptibilities observed in many novel hosts have been attributed to the lack of protective immunity to the parasites which native hosts acquired during their shared evolution. We experimentally infected Japanese eels (Anguilla japonica) and European eels (Anguilla anguilla) with Anguillicola crassus, a nematode parasite that is native to the Japanese eel and invasive in the European eel. We inferred gene expression changes in head kidney tissue from both species, using RNA‐seq data to determine the responses at two time points during the early stages of infection (3 and 23 days postinfection). At both time points, the novel host modified the expression of a larger and functionally more diverse set of genes than the native host. Strikingly, the native host regulated immune gene expression only at the earlier time point and to a small extent while the novel host regulated these genes at both time points. A low number of differentially expressed immune genes, especially in the native host, suggest that a systemic immune response was of minor importance during the early stages of infection. Transcript abundance of genes involved in cell respiration was reduced in the novel host which may affect its ability to cope with harsh conditions and energetically demanding activities. The observed gene expression changes in response to a novel parasite that we observed in a fish follow a general pattern observed in amphibians and mammals, and suggest that the disruption of physiological processes, rather than the absence of an immediate immune response, is responsible for the higher susceptibility of the novel host

Wafer test of the LHCb Outer Tracker TDC-Chip

The OTIS-TDC is the front end readout chip for the LHCb Outer Tracker. It is designed to measure drift times with a resolution better than 1 ns. As the chip will be directly mounted to its board, the test have to be performed on the wafer itself. As the testing period for 7 000 chips was only three weeks, many test routines have been implemented on a FPGA. Each chip is subjected to detailed probe testing to ensure the full functionality as well as a good performance. Overall 47 wafer have been tested. From the chips passing the test 2 000 have been used in the Outer Tracker front end electronic

Stability of complex hyperbolic space under curvature-normalized Ricci flow

Using the maximal regularity theory for quasilinear parabolic systems, we prove two stability results of complex hyperbolic space under the curvature-normalized Ricci flow in complex dimensions two and higher. The first result is on a closed manifold. The second result is on a complete noncompact manifold. To prove both results, we fully analyze the structure of the Lichnerowicz Laplacian on complex hyperbolic space. To prove the second result, we also define suitably weighted little H\"{o}lder spaces on a complete noncompact manifold and establish their interpolation properties.Comment: Some typos in version 2 are correcte

Ricci flow for homogeneous compact models of the universe

Using quaternions, we give a concise derivation of the Ricci tensor for homogeneous spaces with topology of the 3-dimensional sphere. We derive explicit and numerical solutions for the Ricci flow PDE and discuss their properties. In the collapse (or expansion) of these models, the interplay of the various components of the Ricci tensor are studied. We dedicate this paper to honor the work of Josh Goldberg.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figure

Parental behaviour of a precocial species: implications for juvenile survival

Parents determine habitat selection for precocial young by leading their young to foraging areas until the chicks attain full independence. There are potential benefits and costs to reproductive success associated with changing habitats while caring for young. This study investigated the relationship between different types of habitats and their quality on chick survival and brood movements of a declining upland shorebird, the mountain plover Charadrius montanus.From 2004 to 2006, a total of 153 mountain plover broods were monitored on the primary breeding habitats in eastern Colorado, USA; two shortgrass prairie habitats that were either occupied or unoccupied by black-tailed prairie dogs Cynomys ludovicianus and agricultural lands. Habitat quality hypotheses were tested using newly developed statistical applications to estimate survival of chicks and brood movement patterns.Chick survival and brood movements were influenced by habitat. Chick survival over the 30-day brood-rearing period was substantially higher on nesting habitat of shortgrass occupied by prairie dogs compared with agricultural land and shortgrass unoccupied by prairie dogs. The rate of brood movement away from shortgrass with prairie dogs was lower than shortgrass without prairie dogs, but higher than agricultural lands for each year of the study.This study suggests that complex processes influence how different habitats affect brood-rearing activity of mountain plovers. Even though broods moved off nesting habitat of shortgrass occupied by prairie dogs, this habitat had the highest survival rate and is highly important to mountain plover reproductive success.Synthesis and applications. In order to develop effective conservation strategies, the provision of adequate breeding habitat should include information on patterns of habitat selection for all stages of the breeding cycle, including the nesting and dependent young periods. From a conservation perspective, understanding the habitat use of young birds is critical when population dynamics show great sensitivity to survival of young. Previous studies on mountain plovers have suggested that nest success is similar among shortgrass prairie habitats and agricultural lands. Thus, conservation measures that increase nest success may be ineffective for mountain plovers unless they are accompanied by measures promoting chick survival

Semi-Arid Grassland Bird Responses to Patch-Burn Grazing and Drought

As grassland birds of central North America experience steep population declines with changes in land use, management of remaining tracts becomes increasingly important for population viability. The integrated use of fire and grazing may enhance vegetation heterogeneity and diversity in breeding birds, but the subsequent effects on reproduction are unknown. We examined the influence of patch-burn grazing management in shortgrass steppe in eastern Colorado on habitat use and reproductive success of 3 grassland bird species, horned lark (Eremophila alpestris), lark bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys), and McCown’s longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii), at several spatial scales during 2011 and 2012. Although no simple direct relationship to patch-burn grazing treatment existed, habitat selection depended on precipitation- and management induced vegetation conditions and spatial scale. All species selected taller-than-expected vegetation at the nest site, whereas at the territory scale, horned larks and McCown’s longspurs selected areas with low vegetation height and sparse cover of tall plants (taller than the dominant shortgrasses). Buntings nested primarily in unburned grassland under average rainfall. Larks and longspurs shifted activity from patch burns during average precipitation (2011) to unburned pastures during drought (2012). Daily survival rate (DSR) of nests varied with time in season, species, weather, and vegetation structure. Daily survival rate of McCown’s longspur nests did not vary with foliar cover of relatively tall vegetation at the nest under average precipitation but declined with increasing cover during drought. At the 200-m scale, increasing cover of shortgrasses, rather than taller plant species, improved DSR of larks and longspurs. These birds experience tradeoffs in the selection of habitat at different spatial scales: tall structure at nests may reduce visual detection by predators and provide protection from sun, wind, and rain, yet taller structure surrounding territories may host nest predators. Patch-burn grazing management in combination with other strategies that retain taller-structured vegetation may help sustain a diversity of breeding habitats for shortgrass birds under varying weather conditions

Simulation and fabrication of active laser mirrors

Common laser mirrors made of copper for high power applications in metal working have to be cooled in order to minimize thermal deformations. This paper presents a new approach: The principal idea is to use metal-coated mirrors made of silicon carbide (SiC) and to preheat them. The mirror surface shall be manufactured so that the induced heat deforms it to the ideal form. Simulations concerning the thermal behavior prove the feasibility of the idea. The simulations are verified by interferometric measurement during heating