534 research outputs found
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The Changing Distribution of Global Tourism: Evidence from Gini Coefficients and Markov Matrixes
This study measures the degree of dispersion of global tourism over the past two decades and then predicts the future dispersion of global tourism. Gini coefficients are used to measure the dispersion of international tourism arrivals and are calculated over the last 20 years using data from the UNWTO. The Gini coefficient is found to be decreasing over time, with time explaining a vast majority of the variance (R2=0.959). Using the same data, Markov transition matrixes are used to predict the future distribution of tourism based on changes in the distribution of tourism over the past 20 years
Phase transitions in a gas of anyons
We continue our numerical Monte Carlo simulation of a gas of closed loops on
a 3 dimensional lattice, however now in the presence of a topological term
added to the action corresponding to the total linking number between the
loops. We compute the linking number using certain notions from knot theory.
Adding the topological term converts the particles into anyons. Using the
correspondence that the model is an effective theory that describes the
2+1-dimensional Abelian Higgs model in the asymptotic strong coupling regime,
the topological linking number simply corresponds to the addition to the action
of the Chern-Simons term. We find the following new results. The system
continues to exhibit a phase transition as a function of the anyon mass as it
becomes small \cite{mnp}, although the phases do not change the manifestation
of the symmetry. The Chern-Simons term has no effect on the Wilson loop, but it
does affect the {\rm '}t Hooft loop. For a given configuration it adds the
linking number of the 't Hooft loop with all of the dynamical vortex loops to
the action. We find that both the Wilson loop and the 't Hooft loop exhibit a
perimeter law even though there are no massless particles in the theory, which
is unexpected.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Understanding the Role of Culture and Heritage in Community Festivals: An Importance-Performance Analysis
Festivals can support local communities by bringing in unique visitors who will inject new revenue into the economy. Continued evaluation of festivals is necessary to ensure they are meeting customer expectations, which will generate positive word-of-mouth advertising and repeat visitation. The research reported here used an importance-performance analysis to evaluate a regional festival in South Carolina. Particular attention was paid to the importance of the cultural aspects of the festival. Based on a survey of 212 festival attendees, several recommendations are made to festival planners. Results indicate that cultural aspects of the festival were not very important to attendees
Universal properties of knotted polymer rings
By performing Monte Carlo sampling of -steps self-avoiding polygons
embedded on different Bravais lattices we explore the robustness of
universality in the entropic, metric and geometrical properties of knotted
polymer rings. In particular, by simulating polygons with up to we
furnish a sharp estimate of the asymptotic values of the knot probability
ratios and show their independence on the lattice type. This universal feature
was previously suggested although with different estimates of the asymptotic
values. In addition we show that the scaling behavior of the mean squared
radius of gyration of polygons depends on their knot type only through its
correction to scaling. Finally, as a measure of the geometrical
self-entanglement of the SAPs we consider the standard deviation of the writhe
distribution and estimate its power-law behavior in the large limit. The
estimates of the power exponent do depend neither on the lattice nor on the
knot type, strongly supporting an extension of the universality property to
some features of the geometrical entanglement.Comment: submitted to Phys.Rev.
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Consumer Preference for Sustainable Tourism Certifications: A Choice Modeling Approach
Certifying tourism businesses as sustainable has been proposed as a means to connect the academic goals of ecotourism to the industry. One obstacle that impedes the development of widely recognized sustainable tourism certifications is the lack of knowledge regarding consumer preferences for these certifications. A better understanding of consumer desires is needed in order to create sustainable tourism certifications that will generate price premiums for certified businesses and thus accelerate the growth of certified businesses. This study uses a stated-preference choice modeling approach to examine consumer preference for sustainable tourism certifications amongst international tourists in Tanzania. Results suggest that certifications that emphasize environmental sustainability are more important to tourists than certifications that emphasize cultural or economic sustainability. Additionally, the more stringent certifications provide relatively little increase in consumer utility. The implications of the findings on the development of sustainable tourism certifications are discussed
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Tourism and Local Character in South Carolina: A Stated Preference Based Demand Analysis
This study attempts to quantify tourists’ demand for regional character on vacations to the South Carolina (SC) coast. Preferences for authentic elements such as the destination’s local flair and the local ownership of restaurants were measured using stated-preference choice modeling. This technique forces individuals to make tradeoffs between hypothetical trips based on attributes such as number of activities, amount of locally owned restaurants, degree of local flair, and price. The results of the survey (n=240) indicate a statistically significant demand for local flair and local restaurant ownership, although the demand plateaus after reaching a moderate level
Refractive Structure-From-Motion Through a Flat Refractive Interface
Recovering 3D scene geometry from underwater images involves the Refractive Structure-from-Motion (RSfM) problem, where the image distortions caused by light refraction at the interface between different propagation media invalidates the single view point assumption. Direct use of the pinhole camera model in RSfM leads to inaccurate camera pose estimation and consequently drift. RSfM methods have been thoroughly studied for the case of a thick glass interface that assumes two refractive interfaces between the camera and the viewed scene. On the other hand, when the camera lens is in direct contact with the water, there is only one refractive interface. By explicitly considering a refractive interface, we develop a succinct derivation of the refractive fundamental matrix in the form of the generalised epipolar constraint for an axial camera. We use the refractive fundamental matrix to refine initial pose estimates obtained by assuming the pinhole model. This strategy allows us to robustly estimate underwater camera poses, where other methods suffer from poor noise-sensitivity. We also formulate a new four view constraint enforcing camera pose consistency along a video which leads us to a novel RSfM framework. For validation we use synthetic data to show the numerical properties of our method and we provide results on real data to demonstrate performance within laboratory settings and for applications in endoscopy
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Evaluator/controller practicum for US Department of Energy emergency exercises
Argonne National Laboratory has designed a practicum to help ensure that exercises at Department of Energy (DOE) facilities provide results that will be useful in maintaining or improving emergency preparedness while ensuring the safety of the public and the exercise participants. Participants in the first two offerings of the practicum came from DOE facilities nationwide. The practicum augments the usual forms of controller and evaluator training with actual practice in carrying out controller and evaluator roles. Feedback from participants indicated substantial benefit from the training. Many of the participants expressed a desire to present such training to others at their home facilities
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