Consistency in Destination Branding: The Impact of Events

Events are part of the attraction of a destination and as such should be included in the integrated marketing for the destination and incorporated into a destination's branding strategy. This implies the need to evaluate the contribution of an event not just in terms of the direct financial contribution that it generates but also in terms of its consistency with the destination brand values. Consistency as an evaluation criteria concerns how (and if) the interrelationships among the elements of the marketing mix enhance destination brand equity. This paper uses content analysis to demonstrate the importance of incorporating consistency as an evaluation criterion of an event. In particular, the results of a content analysis performed using Australian newspaper articles from 1998-2005 show that the set of negative association related to Schoolies week appears to be inconsistent with the brand values of the Gold Coast as expressed in the brand 'VeryGC'

Quality traceability for user-centric context-aware systems in intelligent environments

Context-awareness is an important component of modern software systems. For example, in Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), the concept of context-awareness empowers users by reducing their dependence on others. Due to this role in healthcare, such systems need to be reliable and usable by their intended users. Our research addresses the development, testing and validation of context-aware systems in an emerging field which currently lacks sufficient systems engineering processes and disciplines. One specific issue being that developers often focus on delivering a system that works at some level, rather than engineering a system that meets a specified set of system requirements and their corresponding qualities. Our research aims to contribute towards improving the delivery of system quality by tracing, developing and linking systems development data for requirements, contexts including sensors, test cases and their results, and user validation tests and their results. We refer to this approach as the “quality traceability of context-aware systems”. In order to support the developer, the quality traceability of context-aware systems introduces a systems development approach tailored to context-aware systems in intelligent environments, an automated system testing tool and system validation process. We have implemented a case study to inform the research. The case study is in healthcare and based on an AAL system used to remotely monitor and manage, in real time, an individual prone to depressive symptoms

Evaluation of long-term counselling at a community health service for women who are on a low income

Aims. Given the lack of research evaluating long-term counselling, coupled with the lack of women-only counselling services, the present study evaluated the long-term counselling service offered by a women-only community health centre. Method. The research ascertained: 1) the characteristics of 155 service users pre-counselling, 2) the views and experiences of 75 service users post-counselling and 3) pre-post-counselling clinical change in 98 service users via the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation - Outcome Measure (CORE-OM). Results. Unemployment, low income and reports of abuse were related to poorer mental health as measured by the CORE-OM. Content analysis of open-ended questions revealed that women felt supported, comfortable and gained insight through the counselling relationship. They also reported positive changes in their lives, relationships, health behaviours, and psychological wellbeing. Post-counselling improvements were found in CORE-OM scores. Conclusions. Long-term counselling in a women-only environment for socially disempowered women may be beneficial. A research-informed approach to counselling and therapy evaluation, which acknowledges the social context of psychological distress, should be taken across institutions

X-band synthetic aperture radar methods

Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs), operating at L-band and above, offer microwave observations of the Earth at very high spatial resolution in almost all-weather conditions. Nevertheless, precipitating clouds can significantly affect the signal backscattered from the ground surface in both amplitude and phase, especially at X band and beyond. This evidence has been assessed by numerous recent efforts analyzing data collected by COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) and TerraSAR-X (TSX) missions at X band. This sensitivity can be exploited to detect and quantify precipitations from SARs at the spatial resolution of a few hundred meters, a very appealing feature considering the current resolution of precipitation products from space. Forward models of SAR response in the presence of precipitation have been developed for analyzing SAR signature sensitivity and developing rainfall retrieval algorithms. Precipitation retrieval algorithms from SARs have also been proposed on a semi-empirical basis. This chapter will review experimental evidences, modelling approaches, retrieval methods and recent applications of X-band SAR data to rainfall estimation

Performance Evaluation of a New Dual-Polarization Microphysical Algorithm Based on Long-Term X-Band Radar and Disdrometer Observations

Abstract Accurate estimation of precipitation at high spatial and temporal resolution of weather radars is an open problem in hydrometeorological applications. The use of dual polarization gives the advantage of multiparameter measurements using orthogonal polarization states. These measurements carry significant information, useful for estimating rain-path signal attenuation, drop size distribution (DSD), and rainfall rate. This study evaluates a new self-consistent with optimal parameterization attenuation correction and rain microphysics estimation algorithm (named SCOP-ME). Long-term X-band dual-polarization measurements and disdrometer DSD parameter data, acquired in Athens, Greece, have been used to quantitatively and qualitatively compare SCOP-ME retrievals of median volume diameter D0 and intercept parameter NW with two existing rain microphysical estimation algorithms and the SCOP-ME retrievals of rain rate with three available radar rainfall estimation algorithms. Error statistics for rain rate estimation, in terms of relative mean and root-mean-square error and efficiency, show that the SCOP-ME has low relative error if compared to the other three methods, which systematically underestimate rainfall. The SCOP-ME rain microphysics algorithm also shows a lower relative error statistic when compared to the other two microphysical algorithms. However, measurement noise or other signal degradation effects can significantly affect the estimation of the DSD intercept parameter from the three different algorithms used in this study. Rainfall rate estimates with SCOP-ME mostly depend on the median volume diameter, which is estimated much more efficiently than the intercept parameter. Comparisons based on the long-term dataset are relatively insensitive to path-integrated attenuation variability and rainfall rates, providing relatively accurate retrievals of the DSD parameters when compared to the other two algorithms

A sanctuary of tranquillity in a ruptured world: evaluating long-term counselling at a women’s community health centre

The longitudinal study described in this article evaluated long-term counselling provided at a women’s health centre in the UK for service users on low incomes. The article focuses on the qualitative aspect of the study in which 59 women were interviewed individually before and/or after their counselling. The interviews explored how women make sense of long-term counselling in the context of their gendered experiences and complex needs. The data were analysed using thematic analysis informed by a feminist orientation and attachment theory. Four main themes emerged:‘violence and loss in the context of female oppression’, ‘a sanctuary for women’, ‘non-medicalised long-term counselling in a safe setting’, and ‘benefits of the long view’. Participants attributed various benefits to receiving long-term counselling in a women-only environment. These included gaining employment; reduced suicidal ideation, anxiety and depression; improved physical health, improved confidence and being able to make positive changes in their relationships. The women interviewed post-counselling valued long term-counselling in this context, in contrast to short-term therapy in a medicalised environment. Wider implications with regards to clinical practice and research are discussed

Cutaneous manifestations in patients with COVID-19 : a preliminary review of an emerging issue

Background: The infection caused by the recently identified SARS-CoV-2, called COronaVIrus Disease-19 (COVID-19), has rapidly spread throughout the world. With the exponential increase of patients worldwide, the clinical spectrum of COVID-19 is being better defined and new symptoms are emerging. Numerous reports are documenting the occurrence of different cutaneous manifestations in COVID-19 patients. Objectives: To provide a brief overview of the COVID-19-associated cutaneous lesions. Methods: Literature search was performed in the PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases up to 30 April 2020. This narrative review summarizes the available data regarding clinical and histological features of COVID-19-associated skin manifestations. Results: Literature reports showed a great heterogeneity in COVID-19-associated cutaneous manifestations, as well as in their latency periods and associated extracutaneous symptoms. Pathogenic mechanisms are unknown, although the role of hyperactive immune response, complement activation and microvascular injury has been hypothesized. Based on our experience and the literature data, we subdivided the reported cutaneous lesions into six main clinical patterns: i) urticarial rash, ii) confluent erythematous/maculo-papular/morbilliform rash, iii) papulovesicular exanthem, iv) chilblain-like acral pattern, v) livedo reticularis/racemosa-like pattern, vi) purpuric "vasculitic" pattern. These six patterns can be merged into two main settings: the first one - inflammatory/exanthematous - including the first three groups cited above and the second one including the vasculopathic/vasculitic lesions of the last three aforementioned groups. Conclusions: The possible presence of cutaneous findings leading to suspect COVID-19 puts dermatologists in a relevant position. Further studies are needed to delineate the diagnostic and prognostic value of such cutaneous manifestations

Discrimination of land cover from a multiparameter SAR data set

The identification of the most valuable radar observation parameters (e.g., frequency, polarisation, incidence angle) is important both for designing nonredundant high-performance sensors (i.e. selection of frequency bands and polarisations) and for specifying mission operation requirements (i.e. temporal sampling, incidence angle). Moreover, the task of classifying multiparameter SAR images may require to adopt a strategy that implies the selection of a number of features among those available fromthis kind of sensors. In this paper we have performed this kind of analysis in a specific area of interest to account for the particular conditions in which remotely sensed data are going to be used. The paper summarises the results of the analysis of the radar data acquired during the MAC Europe ’91 and X-SAR/SIR-C campaigns over the Montespertoli test site in Italy. The analysis is based mainly on a statistical approach aiming at demonstrating what is the contribution of different measurements performed by the polarimetric SAR for discriminating the surface coverage. The work is intended to furnish a guideline to develop an optimal strategy for acquiring and processing polarimetric data to be used for land classification

Discrimination of land cover from a multiparameter SAR data set

The identification of the most valuable radar observation parameters (e.g., frequency, polarisation, incidence angle) is important both for designing nonredundant high-performance sensors (i.e. selection of frequency bands and polarisations) and for specifying mission operation requirements (i.e. temporal sampling, incidence angle). Moreover, the task of classifying multiparameter SAR images may require to adopt a strategy that implies the selection of a number of features among those available fromthis kind of sensors. In this paper we have performed this kind of analysis in a specific area of interest to account for the particular conditions in which remotely sensed data are going to be used. The paper summarises the results of the analysis of the radar data acquired during the MAC Europe ’91 and X-SAR/SIR-C campaigns over the Montespertoli test site in Italy. The analysis is based mainly on a statistical approach aiming at demonstrating what is the contribution of different measurements performed by the polarimetric SAR for discriminating the surface coverage. The work is intended to furnish a guideline to develop an optimal strategy for acquiring and processing polarimetric data to be used for land classification