The Economic Impact of a Sporting Event: A Regional Approach

This paper aims to estimate the economic impact of a large one-day international sporting event on both a regional and a city economy. In addition, it seeks to investigate the regional origins of visitors to the event, and investigates the relationship between residence and expenditure. The importance of sporting events to regional economies is recognised, but can be difficult to quantify due to the scale and nature of the data required. This analysis draws on over 5,000 spectator interviews conducted at the five one-day rugby internationals (Scotland versus England, France, Romania, South Africa and Fiji) held in Edinburgh, Scotland, during 2002. As such it represents one of the largest databases of its kind in Europe. Spectators were asked about their expenditure, residence, accommodation and attitudes to future visits. Findings were triangulated using a parallel survey of business turnover. The survey data is used to estimate the economic impact on both the wide region (Scotland) and the city region (Edinburgh). Our findings indicate that each match may be worth around £20m to the Scottish economy and £12m to the city of Edinburgh economy. We argue that although this appears large, the methodology used may have resulted in an estimate that is slightly conservative if anything. This points to a greater need for local, regional and national government to exploit the potential that such events can have. We also found that the origin profile of spectators differs between matches, naturally reflecting the origins of the visiting crowd, but more importantly there are also notable regional differences in expenditure patterns among visitors from each nation. We examine the possible reasons for this and the implications for regional and city tourism marketing strategies.

A dual approach to the linear analysis of elastic structure

Imperial Users onl

A Functional Ecological Comparison of three Sponge Species from the Lower Florida Keys

The shallow, tidal flats off the islands of the lower Florida Keys represent a harsh environment for sessile marine invertebrates. This habitat is home to three taxonomically distinct sponge species that share similar rope morphologies: Cliona varians forma varians, Ircinia variabilis, and Neopetrosia subtriangularis. Despite sharing a habitat, these three species differ in their symbiont regime, with C. varians hosting dinoflagellate photosymbionts, and I. variabilis and N. subtriangularis hosting cyanobacterial photosymbionts. We conducted experiments to measure other ecological differences between these species. The sponges were all assayed for pumping rates using dye-video analysis and tissue samples were taken to compare the composition and functional genes of their microbiomes. The results indicated that N. subtriangularis had a significantly higher pumping rate than the other species. The microbiomes of the species varied, and the microbiome functional gene screening provided evidence that C. varians forma varians hosts nitrogen fixing bacteria, that I. variabilis hosts methane metabolizing bacteria, and that N. subtriangularis hosts nitric oxide reducing bacteria. More work is currently underway to examine the metabolism of these sponges, giving us insight into the unique ecology of this harsh habitat

Insulin hypoglycaemia in the treatment of the psychoses

(1). An historical introduction to the treatment of insanity is outlined. The development of the hypoglycaemic treatment is traced. (2). The case material reviewed in this thesis consist of 46 patients. Case summaries are included and are divided into two groups - Group I treated by Dr Strecker, and Group II treated by the writer. Of these, 40 were diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia. (3). An account of the treatment is given in detail. The symptomatology is described at length, particular reference being made to the definition of coma. An account is given of the blood sugar changes, together with a t able. A relationship between coma and blood sugar was found, namely, that for coma to be produced a mean fall of 80% was necessary and. that the more rapid the fall the deeper the coma. The onset of coma seemed to coincide with an acceleration of the pulse and a raised blood, pressure. This is recorded graphically. (4). The management of hypoglycaemia has been d.iscusse and certain points in technique have been emphasised. The difficulties and dangers have been enumerated, and their prophylaxis and treat ment discussed. These undesirable phenomena are rare and usually avoidable. (5). The effects of hypoglycaemia upon the individual have been reviewed. It is considered that there is ample physiological foundation for this treatment in schizophrenia. The mental effects have been considered. Periods of lucidity are discussed and related to the fugue states of diabetics. The undoubted sedative effect of treatment in many cases is made clear. (6). Three types of remission are defined - complete, incomplete and partial. Two Tables of results are given. (7). In the evaluation of results the two groups of cases are dealt with separately. The poor results in Group I are attributed to the unsatisfactory case material, and to the inadequa treatment in many of them. It is considered that the results of treatment in Group II. though perhaps not so satisfactory as might half been hoped, are undoubtedly better than in spontaneous remissions. (8). Insulin treatment is looked upon, not as a method of treatment in itself, but as an important psycho-biological factor which, used in conjunction with other methods of treatment such a psychotherapy and occupational therapy, seems to accelerate the process of recovery - and make this more complete - in essentially recoverable cases. (9). With the modified technique described, it is maintained that treatment can be carried out in the normal hospital routine with no great difficult or undue expenditure of time and money

How technology can be applied to support change management best practices in the South African automotive industry

Organisations within the South African automotive industry (SAAI) are always seeking innovative ways to remain globally competitive. In order to keep costs as low as possible, existing facilities are often adapted to either cater for a wider variety of products or, alternatively, to produce larger volumes than they were originally designed to produce. In every instance, some form of change needs to take place. When the change management processes are defined within the system, quick wins need to be identified. These quick wins may include the elimination of non-valueadding time that is spent moving paper work between offices or ensuring the correct checks are in place to prevent the process from moving to the next step until all the requirements for the current steps have been completed. Technology has been identified as a suitable support mechanism that would be able to integrate into the complex system that comprises processes to be followed in an order that can be predefined. Every organisation faces its own unique challenges when technology is introduced. These can include a lack of computer literacy and the unwillingness to accept that change can in fact benefit the organisation. Getting the users to take ownership of the new systems through comprehensive training initiatives will be shown to be the most effective manner in which to ensure that the systems are effective and used to their full potential. This treatise will investigate the change management systems currently being used in the SAAI and compare the most important factors against the perceived best practices of the resources that are involved in change management. Organisations that operate at various levels within the SAAI will be researched. A literature review of the best practices in change management systems combined with an investigation into how technology can assist in supporting these best practices will be conducted. The findings will then be summarised and recommendations based on the collected data and information will be formulated and put forward

What the General Baptists of Texas (Negro) Want Educationally with Suggestions for Improvement of the Educational Program

The purpose of this study is: First, to give a brief historical sketch of the early educational efforts of the General Baptists; second, to explain the influence of social and educational institutions on the cause of Negro education; and third, to show the educational wants of the constituents and suggestions for the improvement of the educational program. In carrying out the objective set forth above, an attempt is made to furnish an interpretation of the life and work of two of these institutions, with major emphasis on Mary Allen College, and the aims of their present supporters, for those who are now and those who will be its students in the future, and for those who are interested in the higher education of the Negro race in America. This study is concerned with the General Baptists of Texas. Questionnaires were submitted to 1024 members who were sufficiently diffused over the state to allow for representative measurement of the sentiment of the General Baptists of Texas. The members might be classified into three divisions. The first division includes three hundred and ninety-six ministers, the second division includes four hundred and thirty-two women, and the third division includes one hundred and ninety-six laymen. This study deals only with the educational wants and suggestions for the improvement of the educational program

Online vs. face-to-face discussions in a web-based research methods course for postgraduate nursing students : A quasi-experimental study

Background: Web-based technologies are increasingly being used to create modes of online learning for nurses but their effect has not been assessed in nurse education. Objectives: Assess whether participation in face-to-face discussion seminars or online asynchronous discussion groups had different effects on educational attainment in a webbased course. Design: Non-randomised or quasi-experimental design with two groups – students choosing to have face-to-face discussion seminars and students choosing to have online discussions. Setting: The Core Methods module of a postgraduate research methods course. Participants: All 114 students participating in the first 2 years during which the course teaching material was delivered online. Outcome: Assignment mark for Core Methods course module. Methods: Background details of the students, their choices of modules and assignment marks were collected as part of the routine course administration. Students’ online activities were identified using the student tracking facility within WebCT. Regression models were fitted to explore the association between available explanatory variables and assignment mark. Results: Students choosing online discussions had a higher Core Methods assignment mark (mean 60.8/100) than students choosing face-to-face discussions (54.4); the difference was statistically significant (t = 3.13, df = 102, p = 0.002), although this ignores confounding variables. Among online discussion students, assignment mark was significantly correlated with the numbers of discussion messages read (Kendall’s taub = 0.22, p = 0.050) and posted (Kendall’s taub = 0.27, p = 0.017); among face-to-face discussion students, it was significantly associated with the number of non-discussion hits in WebCT (Kendall’s taub = 0.19, p = 0.036). In regression analysis, choice of discussion method, whether an MPhil/PhD student, number of non-discussion hits in WebCT, number of online discussion messages read and number posted were associated with assignment mark at the 5% level of significance when taken singly; in combination, only whether an MPhil/PhD student (p = 0.024) and number of non-discussion hits (p = 0.045) retained significance. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that a research methods course can be delivered to postgraduate healthcare students at least as successfully by an entirely online method in which students participate in online discussion as by a blended method in which students accessing web-based teaching material attend face-to-face seminar discussions. Increased online activity was associated with higher assignment marks. The study highlights new opportunities for educational research that arise from the use of virtual learning environments that routinely record the activities of learners and tutors

Social Vision And Individual Learning In Arnold Bennett\u27s Five Towns Fiction

Arnold Bennett\u27s reputation has been hampered by the disfavour that he incurred among the leading modernists and the critical tendency to treat realism as an attempt to achieve social mimesis. If realism is regarded as a mode of fiction, Bennett\u27s Five Towns books can be seen as an endeavour to formulate a coherent social vision rather than as a reproduction of the Staffordshire Potteries. In Anna of the Five Towns, The Old Wives\u27 Tale and Clayhanger, the best of the Five Towns works, the characters\u27 environment displays an increasing propensity to divide into personal and social worlds, both of which are animated by a force that is peculiar to each work. The society described in Anna is impelled by Social Darwinism, whereas a principle of cyclical change governs the diffuse universe portrayed in The Old Wives\u27 Tale. Although the social milieu of Clayhanger is distinct from Edwin\u27s personal sphere, both aspects of the novel\u27s universe are ruled by human suffering.;The characters in these novels strive with an increasing degree of success to understand the powers that rule their worlds. Anna Tellwright learns to detect the impact of Social Darwinism on her personal realm, but since her development is delineated from the novel\u27s outset she is unable to apply this insight on a social scale. Constance learns to view the influence of change on her personal world as evidence of continuity--a realization that is free from the irony that tinges Anna\u27s discovery--but she cannot understand the same force when it is manifested socially. Sophia perceives the cycle of change as a force that intensifies her sense of alienation, and she learns to deal with her angst by concentrating upon practical affairs. Unlike his predecessors, Edwin Clayhanger attains full comprehension of the misery that prevails in his personal world and in society as a whole. Bennett, moreover, manipulates a number of stylistic devices, such as narrative point of view, imagery and symbolism, in order to enhance the fictional exploration of the relationship between man and society