The hotel comment card: A motivator of guest satisfaction

This paper explores the traditional pen and paper hotel comment card (HCC) from the guests’ perspective to gain an insight and to improve its effectiveness. The HCC has long been the predominant method of soliciting guest feedback. Although electronic methods of collection are now available the HCC has a sense of familiarity, has general acceptance, and is widely employed. Initially, a literature review of the hotel comment card is provided. Then, the study explores how frequent guests categorize HCC attributes. These attributes are then extended to include evaluation criteria identified in the literature and desired by hotel managers. The extended evaluation criterion is then used to explore how frequent hotel guests believe that future HCCs may motivate guests to provide feedback and assist in the co-­‐‑creation of value. The overall finding is that the HCCs design and execution can be improved

Hotel guest e-questionnaires: implications for feedback and relationships

This paper examines the reliability and efficacy of hotel guest e-mail questionnaire compared to the paper questionnaire in the Asian Pacific context. Conducted in Perth, Singapore and Penang, cities with mature hospitality and tourism industries and a representation of chain and independent deluxe hotels, this exploratory qualitative study examines hotelier views of e-mail guest communication derived from content analysis of guest questionnaires format and content and in-depth interviews with senior hoteliers. The findings indicated that e-questionnaires manifested as e-mails, as a direct replacement of the paper questionnaire, appear to be premature given divergent hotelier views and shortcomings in email response administration. If properly executed, e-mail can play an increasingly important adjunct role to the paper guest questionnaire as a part of a multi-channel approach. The balance/relationship between ‘high tech’ and ‘high touch’ needs to be maintained: the latter can enhance the latter but should not undermine it

From research to policy: optimizing the design of a national monitoring system to mitigate soil nitrous oxide emissions

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils are a key source of greenhouse gas emissions in most countries. In order for governments to effectively reduce N2O emissions, a national inventory system is needed for monitoring, reporting and verifying emissions that provides unbiased estimates with the highest precision feasible. Inventory frameworks could be advanced by incorporating experimental research networks targeting key gaps in process understanding and drivers of emissions, with a multi-stage survey to collect data on agricultural management and N2O fluxes that allow for development, parameterization and application of models to estimate national-scale emissions. Verification can be accomplished with independent estimation of fluxes from atmospheric N2O concentration data. A robust monitoring system would provide accurate emission estimates, and allow policymakers to develop programs to more sustainably manage reactive N and target mitigation measures for reducing N2O emissions from agricultural soils

The importance of management information and soil moisture representation for simulating tillage effects on N2O emissions in LPJmL5.0-tillage

No-tillage is often suggested as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Modeling tillage effects on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions is challenging and subject to great uncertainties as the processes producing the emissions are complex and strongly nonlinear. Previous findings have shown deviations between the LPJmL5.0-tillage model (LPJmL: Lund–Potsdam–Jena managed Land) and results from meta-analysis on global estimates of tillage effects on N2O emissions. Here we tested LPJmL5.0-tillage at four different experimental sites across Europe and the USA to verify whether deviations in N2O emissions under different tillage regimes result from a lack of detailed information on agricultural management, the representation of soil water dynamics or both. Model results were compared to observational data and outputs from field-scale DayCent model simulations. DayCent has been successfully applied for the simulation of N2O emissions and provides a richer database for comparison than noncontinuous measurements at experimental sites. We found that adding information on agricultural management improved the simulation of tillage effects on N2O emissions in LPJmL. We also found that LPJmL overestimated N2O emissions and the effects of no-tillage on N2O emissions, whereas DayCent tended to underestimate the emissions of no-tillage treatments. LPJmL showed a general bias to overestimate soil moisture content. Modifications of hydraulic properties in LPJmL in order to match properties assumed in DayCent, as well as of the parameters related to residue cover, improved the overall simulation of soil water and N2O emissions simulated under tillage and no-tillage separately. However, the effects of no-tillage (shifting from tillage to no-tillage) did not improve. Advancing the current state of information on agricultural management and improvements in soil moisture highlights the potential to improve LPJmL5.0-tillage and global estimates of tillage effects on N2O emissions

Evaluating land cover influences on model uncertainties—A case study of cropland carbon dynamics in the Mid-Continent Intensive Campaign region

tQuantifying spatial and temporal patterns of carbon sources and sinks and their uncertainties acrossagriculture-dominated areas remains challenging for understanding regional carbon cycles. Character-istics of local land cover inputs could impact the regional carbon estimates but the effect has not beenfully evaluated in the past. Within the North American Carbon Program Mid-Continent Intensive (MCI)Campaign, three models were developed to estimate carbon fluxes on croplands: an inventory-basedmodel, the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model, and the General Ensemble biogeo-chemical Modeling System (GEMS) model. They all provided estimates of three major carbon fluxes oncropland: net primary production (NPP), net ecosystem production (NEP), and soil organic carbon (SOC)change. Using data mining and spatial statistics, we studied the spatial distribution of the carbon fluxesuncertainties and the relationships between the uncertainties and the land cover characteristics. Resultsindicated that uncertainties for all three carbon fluxes were not randomly distributed, but instead formedmultiple clusters within the MCI region. We investigated the impacts of three land cover characteristicson the fluxes uncertainties: cropland percentage, cropland richness and cropland diversity. The resultsindicated that cropland percentage significantly influenced the uncertainties of NPP and NEP, but noton the uncertainties of SOC change. Greater uncertainties of NPP and NEP were found in counties withsmall cropland percentage than the counties with large cropland percentage. Cropland species richnessand diversity also showed negative correlations with the model uncertainties. Our study demonstratedthat the land cover characteristics contributed to the uncertainties of regional carbon fluxes estimates.The approaches we used in this study can be applied to other ecosystem models to identify the areaswith high uncertainties and where models can be improved to reduce overall uncertainties for regionalcarbon flux estimates

Hematology, plasma biochemistry, and hormonal analysis of captive Louisiana pine snakes (Pituophis ruthveni): effects of intrinsic factors and analytical methodology

Blood analyte data are useful in health assessments and management of reptiles. There is a knowledge gap for blood analyte data of the endangered Louisiana pine snake (LPS; Pituophis ruthveni). The objectives of this study were to provide baseline hematology, plasma biochemical, and hormone data of captive LPS, to compare the data in juvenile and adult snakes and in adult snakes by sex, and to investigate methodological differences in hormone (serum vs. plasma) and protein analyses (total solids versus total protein). Blood samples from apparently healthy captive LPS were analyzed for hematology and plasma biochemistry (n = 11) and plasma and serum hormone analyses (n = 9). Packed cell volume (PCV) and absolute heterophils were significantly higher in adult compared with juvenile LPS, while PCV, white blood cell count, and absolute lymphocytes were higher in adult males compared with adult females. Significantly higher plasma concentrations were found in adults compared with juveniles for calcium, total protein, total solids, albumin, globulins, and bile acids. No significant differences were observed in 17β-estradiol measured in serum and plasma when comparing adults and juveniles and for 17β-estradiol in adult males and females. Plasma concentrations of 17β-estradiol were significantly lower than in serum. Serum testosterone in two adult males was 8.33 and 35.53 nmol/L, respectively, while it was undetectable in females and juveniles (n = 5). This study is the first to provide baseline information on blood analytes in endangered LPS, which will be useful for individual animals in managed care and as baseline for future population-level assessments

Warm Molecular Hydrogen Emission in Normal Edge-On Galaxies NGC 4565 and NGC 5907

We have observed warm molecular hydrogen in two nearby edge-on disk galaxies, NGC 4565 and NGC 5907, using the Spitzer high-resolution infrared spectrograph. The 0-0 S(0) 28.2 micron and 0-0 S(1) 17.0 micron pure rotational lines were detected out to 10 kpc from the center of each galaxy on both sides of the major axis, and in NGC 4565 the S(0) line was detected at r = 15 kpc on one side. This location lies beyond a steep drop in the radio continuum emission from cosmic rays in the disk. Despite indications that star formation activity decreases with radius, the H2 excitation temperature and the ratio of the H2 line and the far-IR luminosity surface densities, Sigma_L(H2}/Sigma_L(TIR}, change very little as a function of radius, even into the diffuse outer region of the disk of NGC 4565. This suggests that the source of excitation of the H2 operates over a large range of radii, and is broadly independent of the strength and relative location of UV emission from young stars. Although excitation in photodissociation regions is the most common explanation for the widespread H2 emission, cosmic ray heating or shocks cannot be ruled out. The inferred mass surface densities of warm molecular hydrogen in both edge-on galaxies differ substantially, being 4(-60) M_solar/pc^2 and 3(-50) M_solar/pc^2 at r = 10 kpc for NGC 4565 and NGC 5907, respectively. The higher values represent very unlikely point-source upper limits. The point source case is not supported by the observed emission distribution in the spectral slits. These mass surface densities cannot support the observed rotation velocities in excess of 200 km/s. Therefore, warm molecular hydrogen cannot account for dark matter in these disk galaxies, contrary to what was implied by a previous ISO study of the nearby edge-on galaxy NGC 891.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal (20 pages, 17 figures, 7 tables

Definition, Capabilities, and Components of a Terrestrial Carbon Monitoring System

Research efforts for effectively and consistently monitoring terrestrial carbon are increasing in number. As such, there is a need to define carbon monitoring and how it relates to carbon cycle science and carbon management. There is also a need to identify capabilities of a carbon monitoring system and the system components needed to develop the capabilities. Capabilities that enable the effective application of a carbon monitoring system for monitoring and management purposes may include: reconciling carbon stocks and fluxes, developing consistency across spatial and temporal scales, tracking horizontal movement of carbon, attribution of emissions to originating sources, cross-sectoral accounting, uncertainty quantification, redundancy and policy relevance. Focused research is needed to integrate these capabilities for sustained estimates of carbon stocks and fluxes. Additionally, if monitoring is intended to inform management decisions, management priorities should be considered prior to development of a monitoring system