Tourism and Empirical Applications of International Trade Theory: A Multi-Country Analysis

This paper examines the application of quantitative techniques to further our understanding of international trade theory with respect to tourism flows. The analyses are based on the construction of Balassa and Grubel-Lloyd Indices, as well as the construction of dynamic indices. The results of the analyses suggest that international trade theory has much to offer the study of international tourism flows. Many countries seem to specialize as both exporters and importers of tourism services. The analyses also explore the theoretical assertion that intra-industry trade is likely to be of importance in understanding international tourism flows

Tourism and Empirical Applications of International Trade Theory: A Multi-Country Analysis

This paper examines the application of quantitative techniques to further our understanding of international trade theory with respect to tourism flows. The analyses are based on the construction of Balassa and Grubel-Lloyd Indices, as well as the construction of dynamic indices. The results of the analyses suggest that international trade theory has much to offer the study of international tourism flows. Many countries seem to specialize as both exporters and importers of tourism services. The analyses also explore the theoretical assertion that intra-industry trade is likely to be of importance in understanding international tourism flows

Sensory substitution for space gloves and for space robots

Sensory substitution systems for space applications are described. Physical sensors replace missing human receptors and feed information to the interpretive centers of a different sense. The brain is plastic enough so that, with training, the subject localizes the input as if it were received through the missing receptors. Astronauts have difficulty feeling objects through space suit gloves because of their thickness and because of the 4.3 psi pressure difference. Miniature force sensors on the glove palm drive an electrotactile belt around the waist, thus augmenting the missing tactile sensation. A proposed teleoperator system with telepresence for a space robot would incorporate teleproprioception and a force sensor/electrotactile belt sensory substitution system for teletouch

Role of the conduction electrons in mediating exchange interactions in Heusler alloys

Because of large spatial separation of the Mn atoms in Heusler alloys the Mn 3d states belonging to different atoms do not overlap considerably. Therefore an indirect exchange interaction between Mn atoms should play a crucial role in the ferromagnetism of the systems. To study the nature of the ferromagnetism of various Mn-based semi- and full-Heusler alloys we perform a systematic first-principles calculation of the exchange interactions in these materials. The calculation of the exchange parameters is based on the frozen-magnon approach. The calculations show that the magnetism of the Mn-based Heusler alloys depends strongly on the number of conduction electrons, their spin polarization and the position of the unoccupied Mn 3d states with respect to the Fermi level. Various magnetic phases are obtained depending on the combination of these characteristics. The Anderson's s-d model is used to perform a qualitative analysis of the obtained results. The conditions leading to diverse magnetic behavior are identified. If the spin polarization of the conduction electrons at the Fermi energy is large and the unoccupied Mn 3d states lie well above the Fermi level, an RKKY-type ferromagnetic interaction is dominating. On the other hand, the contribution of the antiferromagnetic superexchange becomes important if unoccupied Mn 3d states lie close to the Fermi energy. The resulting magnetic behavior depends on the competition of these two exchange mechanisms. The calculational results are in good correlation with the conclusions made on the basis of the Anderson s-d model which provides useful framework for the analysis of the results of first-principles calculations and helps to formulate the conditions for high Curie temperature.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, 2 table

Unravelling Active Galactic Nuclei

A complete flat-spectrum radio-loud sample of AGN includes a significant fraction of Seyfert-like AGN including a NLS1. Analysis of their optical spectra suggests that the reddest continuum colours are either associated with AGN in nearby resolved galaxies, or distant quasars showing relatively narrow permitted emission lines.Comment: Poster contribution presented at the Joint MPE,AIP,ESO workshop on NLS1s, Bad Honnef, Dec. 1999, to appear in New Astronomy Reviews; also available at http://wave.xray.mpe.mpg.de/conferences/nls1-worksho

Stakeholders' willingness to pay for enhanced construction waste management: a Hong Kong study

Based on the polluter pays principle, construction waste disposal charging schemes (CWDCS) have been deployed by various economies as one of the most effective ways of managing construction waste. Nevertheless, a means of rationalizing these schemes has not been well documented. Using the economic technique of contingent valuation method (CVM), this study aims to investigate stakeholders’ willingness to pay (WTP) for enhanced construction waste management (CWM) with a view to providing a scientific foundation for CWDCS rationalization. In considering this WTP in light of repeated exhortations that all stakeholders play a role in the management of construction waste, the study is unique. To ascertain stakeholders’ WTP, a payment card-style questionnaire survey was designed and administered to Hong Kong’s major CWM stakeholders in February 2014. Interestingly, the results show that there is no statistically significant variation in the WTP of different stakeholder groups. The average maximum WTP is around HK232/t for landfill disposal of C&D waste, HK186/t for off-site sorting facility (OSF) disposal, and HK$120/t for public fill reception facility (PFRF) disposal. These values are higher than the existing CWDCS charges (HK$125/t for landfilling, HK$100/t for OSF disposal, and HK$27/t for PFRF disposal) but much lower than the charges proposed to the government. This research provides not only a scientific foundation for the ongoing debate on changes to Hong Kong’s CWDCS, but also a valuable reference for other economies facing the challenge of developing charging schemes to deal with construction waste.postprin

Reef response to sea-level and environmental changes during the last deglaciation: Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 310, Tahiti Sea Level

The last deglaciation is characterized by a rapid sea-level rise and coeval abrupt environmental changes. The Barbados coral reef record suggests that this period has been punctuated by two brief intervals of accelerated melting (meltwater pulses, MWP), occurring at 14.08-13.61 ka and 11.4-11.1 ka (calendar years before present), that are superimposed on a smooth and continuous rise of sea level. Although their timing, magnitude, and even existence have been debated, those catastrophic sea-level rises are thought to have induced distinct reef drowning events. The reef response to sea-level and environmental changes during the last deglacial sea-level rise at Tahiti is reconstructed based on a chronological, sedimentological, and paleobiological study of cores drilled through the relict reef features on the modern forereef slopes during the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 310, complemented by results on previous cores drilled through the Papeete reef. Reefs accreted continuously between 16 and 10 ka, mostly through aggradational processes, at growth rates averaging 10 mm yr-1. No cessation of reef growth, even temporary, has been evidenced during this period at Tahiti. Changes in the composition of coralgal assemblages coincide with abrupt variations in reef growth rates and characterize the response of the upward-growing reef pile to nonmonotonous sea-level rise and coeval environmental changes. The sea-level jump during MWP 1A, 16 ± 2 m of magnitude in ~350 yr, induced the retrogradation of shallow-water coral assemblages, gradual deepening, and incipient reef drowning. The Tahiti reef record does not support the occurrence of an abrupt reef drowning event coinciding with a sea-level pulse of ~15 m, and implies an apparent rise of 40 mm yr-1 during the time interval corresponding to MWP 1B at Barbados. © 2012 Geological Society of America