Stopover destination image: Using the repertory test to identify salient attributes

This paper reports a rare investigation of stopover destination image. Although the topic of destination image has been one of the most popular in the tourism literature since the 1970s, there has been a lack of research attention in relation to the context of stopover destinations for long haul international travellers. The purpose of this study was to identify attributes deemed salient to Australian consumers when considering stopover destinations for long haul travel to the United Kingdom and Europe. Underpinned by Personal Construct Theory (PCT), the study used the Repertory Test to identify 21 salient attributes, which could be used in the development of a survey instrument to measure the attractiveness of a competitive set of stopover destinations. While the list of attributes shared some commonality with general studies of destination image reported in the literature, the elicitation of a relatively large number of stopover context specific attributes highlights the potential benefit of engaging with consumers in qualitative research, such as using the Repertory Test, during the questionnaire development stage.

Reaginic allergy to Parthenium pollen: evaluation by skin test and RAST

The pollen of Parthenium hysterophorus, an alien weed growing wild in India was found to be a potential source of allergic rhinitis. A clinical survey showed that 34% of the patients suffering from rhinitis and 12% suffering from bronchial asthma gave positive skin-prick test reactions to Parthenium pollen antigen extracts. Parthenium-specific IgE was detected in the sera of sixteen out of twenty-four patients suffering from seasonal rhinitis. There was 66% correlation between skin test and RAST.

Preliminary assessment of a rapid leaf nitrogen test in mango

Nitrogen (N) is an essential nutrient in mango, influencing both productivity and fruit quality. In Australia, tree N is traditionally assessed once a year in the dormant pre-flowering stage by laboratory analysis of leaf N. This single assessment is insufficient to determine tree N status at all stages of the annual phenological cycle. Development of a field-based rapid N test would allow more frequent monitoring of tree N status and improved fertiliser management. This experiment examined the accuracy and useability of several devices used in other horticultural crops to rapidly assess mango leaf N in the field; the Konica Minolta 'SPAD-502 chlorophyll meter', Horiba 'Cardy Meter' and the Merck 'RQflex 10'. Regression and correlation analyses were used to determine the relationship between total leaf N and the measurements from the rapid test devices. The relationship between the chlorophyll index measured by the SPAD-502 meter and leaf N is highly significant at late fruit set (R 2=0.72, n=40) and post-harvest (R2=0.81, n=40) stages in the mango cultivar 'Kensington Pride' and significant (R2=0.51, n=40) at the flowering stage, indicating the device can be used to rapidly assess mango leaf N in the field. Correlation analysis indicated the relationship between petiole sap measured with the Cardy or Merck devices and leaf N is non-significant. © 2013 ISHS.

Salt-Fog Pollution Test-A Modification to Suit Natural Conditions

Salt-fog tests as per International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) recommendations were conducted on stationtype insulators with large leakage lengths. Later, tests were conducted to simulate natural conditions. From these tests, it was understood that the pollution flashover would occur because of nonuniform pollution layers causing nonuniform voltage distribution during a natural drying-up period. The leakage current during test conditions was very small and the evidence was that the leakage current did not play any significant role in causing flashovers. In the light of the experimental results, some modification of the test procedure is suggested.

Design of laterally loaded piles in clays based on cone penetration test data: a reliability-based approach

The behaviour of laterally loaded piles is considerably influenced by the uncertainties in soil properties. Hence probabilistic models for assessment of allowable lateral load are necessary. Cone penetration test (CPT) data are often used to determine soil strength parameters, whereby the allowable lateral load of the pile is computed. In the present study, the maximum lateral displacement and moment of the pile are obtained based on the coefficient of subgrade reaction approach, considering the nonlinear soil behaviour in undrained clay. The coefficient of subgrade reaction is related to the undrained shear strength of soil, which can be obtained from CPT data. The soil medium is modelled as a one-dimensional random field along the depth, and it is described by the standard deviation and scale of fluctuation of the undrained shear strength of soil. Inherent soil variability, measurement uncertainty and transformation uncertainty are taken into consideration. The statistics of maximum lateral deflection and moment are obtained using the first-order, second-moment technique. Hasofer-Lind reliability indices for component and system failure criteria, based on the allowable lateral displacement and moment capacity of the pile section, are evaluated. The geotechnical database from the Konaseema site in India is used as a case example. It is shown that the reliability-based design approach for pile foundations, considering the spatial variability of soil, permits a rational choice of allowable lateral loads.

Spatial and temporal variability in midge (Nematocera) assemblages in shallow Finnish lakes (60−70 °N) : community-based modelling of past environmental change

Multi- and intralake datasets of fossil midge assemblages in surface sediments of small shallow lakes in Finland were studied to determine the most important environmental factors explaining trends in midge distribution and abundance. The aim was to develop palaeoenvironmental calibration models for the most important environmental variables for the purpose of reconstructing past environmental conditions. The developed models were applied to three high-resolution fossil midge stratigraphies from southern and eastern Finland to interpret environmental variability over the past 2000 years, with special focus on the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), the Little Ice Age (LIA) and recent anthropogenic changes. The midge-based results were compared with physical properties of the sediment, historical evidence and environmental reconstructions based on diatoms (Bacillariophyta), cladocerans (Crustacea: Cladocera) and tree rings. The results showed that the most important environmental factor controlling midge distribution and abundance along a latitudinal gradient in Finland was the mean July air temperature (TJul). However, when the dataset was environmentally screened to include only pristine lakes, water depth at the sampling site became more important. Furthermore, when the dataset was geographically scaled to southern Finland, hypolimnetic oxygen conditions became the dominant environmental factor. The results from an intralake dataset from eastern Finland showed that the most important environmental factors controlling midge distribution within a lake basin were river contribution, water depth and submerged vegetation patterns. In addition, the results of the intralake dataset showed that the fossil midge assemblages represent fauna that lived in close proximity to the sampling sites, thus enabling the exploration of within-lake gradients in midge assemblages. Importantly, this within-lake heterogeneity in midge assemblages may have effects on midge-based temperature estimations, because samples taken from the deepest point of a lake basin may infer considerably colder temperatures than expected, as shown by the present test results. Therefore, it is suggested here that the samples in fossil midge studies involving shallow boreal lakes should be taken from the sublittoral, where the assemblages are most representative of the whole lake fauna. Transfer functions between midge assemblages and the environmental forcing factors that were significantly related with the assemblages, including mean air TJul, water depth, hypolimnetic oxygen, stream flow and distance to littoral vegetation, were developed using weighted averaging (WA) and weighted averaging-partial least squares (WA-PLS) techniques, which outperformed all the other tested numerical approaches. Application of the models in downcore studies showed mostly consistent trends. Based on the present results, which agreed with previous studies and historical evidence, the Medieval Climate Anomaly between ca. 800 and 1300 AD in eastern Finland was characterized by warm temperature conditions and dry summers, but probably humid winters. The Little Ice Age (LIA) prevailed in southern Finland from ca. 1550 to 1850 AD, with the coldest conditions occurring at ca. 1700 AD, whereas in eastern Finland the cold conditions prevailed over a longer time period, from ca. 1300 until 1900 AD. The recent climatic warming was clearly represented in all of the temperature reconstructions. In the terms of long-term climatology, the present results provide support for the concept that the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index has a positive correlation with winter precipitation and annual temperature and a negative correlation with summer precipitation in eastern Finland. In general, the results indicate a relatively warm climate with dry summers but snowy winters during the MCA and a cool climate with rainy summers and dry winters during the LIA. The results of the present reconstructions and the forthcoming applications of the models can be used in assessments of long-term environmental dynamics to refine the understanding of past environmental reference conditions and natural variability required by environmental scientists, ecologists and policy makers to make decisions concerning the presently occurring global, regional and local changes. The developed midge-based models for temperature, hypolimnetic oxygen, water depth, littoral vegetation shift and stream flow, presented in this thesis, are open for scientific use on request.

Location of concentrators in a computer communication network: a stochastic automation search method

The following problem is considered. Given the locations of the Central Processing Unit (ar;the terminals which have to communicate with it, to determine the number and locations of the concentrators and to assign the terminals to the concentrators in such a way that the total cost is minimized. There is alao a fixed cost associated with each concentrator. There is ail upper limit to the number of terminals which can be connected to a concentrator. The terminals can be connected directly to the CPU also In this paper it is assumed that the concentrators can bo located anywhere in the area A containing the CPU and the terminals. Then this becomes a multimodal optimization problem. In the proposed algorithm a stochastic automaton is used as a search device to locate the minimum of the multimodal cost function . The proposed algorithm involves the following. The area A containing the CPU and the terminals is divided into an arbitrary number of regions (say K). An approximate value for the number of concentrators is assumed (say m). The optimum number is determined by iteration later The m concentrators can be assigned to the K regions in (mk) ways (m > K) or (km) ways (K>m).(All possible assignments are feasible, i.e. a region can contain 0,1,…, to concentrators). Each possible assignment is assumed to represent a state of the stochastic variable structure automaton. To start with, all the states are assigned equal probabilities. At each stage of the search the automaton visits a state according to the current probability distribution. At each visit the automaton selects a 'point' inside that state with uniform probability. The cost associated with that point is calculated and the average cost of that state is updated. Then the probabilities of all the states are updated. The probabilities are taken to bo inversely proportional to the average cost of the states After a certain number of searches the search probabilities become stationary and the automaton visits a particular state again and again. Then the automaton is said to have converged to that state Then by conducting a local gradient search within that state the exact locations of the concentrators are determined This algorithm was applied to a set of test problems and the results were compared with those given by Cooper's (1964, 1967) EAC algorithm and on the average it was found that the proposed algorithm performs better.

Similar solutions for the incompressible laminar boundary layer with pressure gradient in micropolar

This paper presents the similarity solution for the steady incompressible laminar boundary layer flow of a micropolar fluid past an infinite wedge. The governing equations have been solved numerically using fourth orderRunge-Kutta-Gill method. The results indicate the extent to which the velocity and microrotation profiles, and the surface shear stress are influenced by coupling, microrotation, and pressure gradient parameters. The important role played by the standard length of the micropolar fluid in determining the structure of the boundary layer has also been discussed.

Development and psychometric properties of the DCDDaily: a new test for clinical assessment of capacity in activities of daily living in children with developmental coordination disorder

Objective To develop the DCDDaily, an instrument for objective and standardized clinical assessment of capacity in activities of daily living (ADL) in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and to investigate its usability, reliability, and validity. Subjects Five to eight-year-old children with and without DCD. Main measures The DCDDaily was developed based on thorough review of the literature and extensive expert involvement. To investigate the usability (assessment time and feasibility), reliability (internal consistency and repeatability), and validity (concurrent and discriminant validity) of the DCDDaily, children were assessed with the DCDDaily and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 Test, and their parents filled in the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 Checklist and Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire. Results 459 children were assessed (DCD group, n = 55; normative reference group, n = 404). Assessment was possible within 30 minutes and in any clinical setting. For internal consistency, Cronbach’s α = 0.83. Intraclass correlation = 0.87 for test–retest reliability and 0.89 for inter-rater reliability. Concurrent correlations with Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 Test and questionnaires were ρ = −0.494, 0.239, and −0.284, p < 0.001. Discriminant validity measures showed significantly worse performance in the DCD group than in the control group (mean (SD) score 33 (5.6) versus 26 (4.3), p < 0.001). The area under curve characteristic = 0.872, sensitivity and specificity were 80%. Conclusions The DCDDaily is a valid and reliable instrument for clinical assessment of capacity in ADL, that is feasible for use in clinical practice.

Development of a transient gradient enhanced non local continuum damage mechanics model for masonry

Due to the advent of varied types of masonry systems a comprehensive failure mechanism of masonry essential for the understanding of its behaviour is impossible to be determined from experimental testing. As masonry is predominantly used in wall structures a biaxial stress state dominates its failure mechanism. Biaxial testing will therefore be necessary for each type of masonry, which is expensive and time consuming. A computational method would be advantageous; however masonry is complex to model which requires advanced computational modelling methods. This thesis has formulated a damage mechanics inspired modelling method and has shown that the method effectively determines the failure mechanisms and deformation characteristics of masonry under biaxial states of loading.

Application of the Conjugate Gradient Method to a Problem on Minimum Time Orbit Transfer

This correspondence considers the problem of optimally controlling the thrust steering angle of an ion-propelled spaceship so as to effect a minimum time coplanar orbit transfer from the mean orbital distance of Earth to mean Martian and Venusian orbital distances. This problem has been modelled as a free terminal time-optimal control problem with unbounded control variable and with state variable equality constraints at the final time. The problem has been solved by the penalty function approach, using the conjugate gradient algorithm. In general, the optimal solution shows a significant departure from earlier work. In particular, the optimal control in the case of Earth-Mars orbit transfer, during the initial phase of the spaceship's flight, is found to be negative, resulting in the motion of the spaceship within the Earth's orbit for a significant fraction of the total optimized orbit transfer time. Such a feature exhibited by the optimal solution has not been reported at all by earlier investigators of this problem.

On Minimization of Peak Power for Scan Circuit during Test

Scan circuit generally causes excessive switching activity compared to normal circuit operation. The higher switching activity in turn causes higher peak power supply current which results into supply, voltage droop and eventually yield loss. This paper proposes an efficient methodology for test vector re-ordering to achieve minimum peak power supported by the given test vector set. The proposed methodology also minimizes average power under the minimum peak power constraint. A methodology to further reduce the peak power below the minimum supported peak power, by inclusion of minimum additional vectors is also discussed. The paper defines the lower bound on peak power for a given test set. The results on several benchmarks shows that it can reduce peak power by up to 27%.

The life cycle and genetic structure of the red alga Furcellaria lumbricalis on a salinity gradient

The life cycle and genetic diversity of the red alga Furcellaria lumbricalis (Hudson) Lamouroux were investigated in 15 populations in northern Europe. The occurrence of different life cycle phases and seasonality of reproduction were studied in four brackish populations in the northern Baltic Sea. Furthermore, a new method, based on genome screening with ISSR markers combined with a restriction-ligation method, was developed to discover microsatellite markers for population genetic analyses. The mitochondrial DNA cox2-3 spacer sequence and four microsatellite markers were used to examine the genetic diversity and differentiation of red algal populations in northern Europe. In addition, clonality and small-scale genetic structure of one Irish and four Baltic Sea populations were studied with microsatellite markers. It was discovered that at the low salinities of the northern Baltic Sea, only tetrasporophytes and males were present in the populations of F. lumbricalis and that winter was the main season for tetrasporangial production. Furthermore, the population occurring at the lowest salinity (3.6 practical salinity units, psu) did not produce spores. The size of the tetraspores was smaller in the Baltic Sea populations than that in the Irish population, and there were more deformed spores in the Baltic Sea populations than in the Irish populations. Studies with microsatellite markers indicated that clonality is a common phenomenon in the Baltic Sea populations of F. lumbricalis, although the proportion of clonal individuals varied among populations. Some genetic divergence occurred within locations both in Ireland and in the northern Baltic Sea. Even though no carpogonia were detected in the field samples during the study, the microsatellite data indicated that sexual reproduction occurs at least occasionally in the northern Baltic Sea. The genetic diversity of F. lumbricalis was highest in Brittany, France. Since no variation was discovered in the mtDNA cox2-3 spacer sequence, which is generally regarded as an informative phylogeographic marker in red algae, it can be assumed that the studied populations probably share the same origin.

On plane-wave propagation in a uniform pipe in the presence of a mean flow and a temperature gradient

A theoretical study on the propagation of plane waves in the presence of a hot mean flow in a uniform pipe is presented. The temperature variation in the pipe is taken to be a linear temperature gradient along the axis. The theoretical studies include the formulation of a wave equation based on continuity, momentum, and state equation, and derivation of a general four-pole matrix, which is shown to yield the well-known transfer matrices for several other simpler cases.

Coastal environmental gradients – Key to reproduction habitat mapping of freshwater fish in the Baltic Sea

Habitat requirements of fish are most strict during the early life stages, and the quality and quantity of reproduction habitats lays the basis for fish production. A considerable number of fish species in the northern Baltic Sea reproduce in the shallow coastal areas, which are also the most heavily exploited parts of the brackish marine area. However, the coastal fish reproduction habitats in the northern Baltic Sea are poorly known. The studies presented in this thesis focused on the influence of environmental conditions on the distribution of coastal reproduction habitats of freshwater fish. They were conducted in vegetated littoral zone along an exposure and salinity gradient extending from the innermost bays to the outer archipelago on the south-western and southern coasts of Finland, in the northern Baltic Sea. Special emphasis was placed on reed-covered Phragmites australis shores, which form a dominant vegetation type in several coastal archipelago areas. The main aims of this research were to (1) develop and test new survey and mapping methods, (2) investigate the environmental requirements that govern the reproduction of freshwater fish in the coastal area and (3) survey, map and model the distribution of the reproduction habitats of pike (Esox lucius) and roach (Rutilus rutilus). The white plate and scoop method with a standardized sampling time and effort was demonstrated to be a functional method for sampling the early life stages of fish in dense vegetation and shallow water. Reed-covered shores were shown to form especially important reproduction habitats for several freshwater fish species, such as pike, roach, other cyprinids and burbot, in the northern Baltic Sea. The reproduction habitats of pike were limited to sheltered reed- and moss-covered shores of the inner and middle archipelago, where suitable zooplankton prey were available and the influence of the open sea was low. The reproduction habitats of roach were even more limited and roach reproduction was successful only in the very sheltered reed-covered shores of the innermost bay areas, where salinity remained low (< 4‰) during the spawning season due to freshwater inflow. After identifying the critical factors restricting the reproduction of pike and roach, the spatial distribution of their reproduction habitats was successfully mapped and modelled along the environmental gradients using only a few environmental predictor variables. Reproduction habitat maps are a valuable tool promoting the sustainable use and management of exploited coastal areas and helping to maintain the sustainability of fish populations. However, the large environmental gradients and the extensiveness of the archipelago zone in the northern Baltic Sea demand an especially high spatial resolution of the coastal predictor variables. Therefore, the current lack of accurate large-scale, high-resolution spatial data gathered at exactly the right time is a considerable limitation for predictive modelling of shallow coastal waters.