Experiential brand deployment : improving tourism brand evaluations

This article examines the use of an experiential branding process to help leisure resort businesses evaluate their brand. We integrate experiential marketing and the quality function development approach in combination to help understand the brand from the perspectives of both the consumer and firm, to help resort service businesses build their experience-oriented competitive brands. The value of this study is that it provides a real-world brand framework, especially those resorts with limited resources. Much is spoken about the influence of the brand and why it is important, but little is known about decisions related to developing a brand, especially for firms that have limited resources such as resort tourism operators. Tourism operators tend to be small-to-medium enterprises that do not necessarily have the capacity to do everything suggested. Therefore, we explore how firms assess the critical elements of their brand by using an integrated approach. For example, the study finds that, first, by using the quality function development method resorts can identify the most critical brand elements, and second, we identify the associated strengths of each brand element and confirm the identified resort’s critical brand elements for investment. Results show the potential strategies to create a more holistic set of experiences.

Smart coordinated distribution system control to enable high level penetration of rooftop PVs

This thesis addresses voltage violation problem, the most critical issue associated with high level penetration of photovoltaic (PV) in electricity distribution network. A coordinated control algorithm using the reactive power from PV inverter and integrated battery energy storage has been developed and investigated in different network scenarios in the thesis. Probable variations associated with solar generation, end-user participation and network parameters are also considered. Furthermore, a unified data model and well-defined communication protocol to ensure the smooth coordination between all the components during the operation of the algorithm is described. Finally this thesis incorporated the uncertainties of solar generation using probabilistic load flow analysis.

Acoustic emission activity from the two main types of small multi-cylinder diesel engine fuel injection systems

Effective fuel injector operation and efficient combustion are two of the most critical aspects when Diesel engine performance, efficiency and reliability are considered. Indeed, it is widely acknowledged that fuel injection equipment faults lead to increased fuel consumption, reduced power, greater levels of exhaust emissions and even unexpected engine failure. Previous investigations have identified fuel injector related acoustic emission activity as being caused by mechanisms such as fuel line pressure build-up; fuel flow through injector nozzles, injector needle opening and closing impacts and premixed combustion related pulses. Few of these investigations however, have attempted to categorise the close association and interrelation that exists between fuel injection equipment function and the acoustic emission generating mechanisms. Consequently, a significant amount of ambiguity remains in the interpretation and categorisation of injector related AE activity with respect to the functional characteristics of specific fuel injection equipment. The investigation presented addresses this ambiguity by detailing a study in which AE signals were recorded and analysed from two different Diesel engines employing the two commonly encountered yet fundamentally different types of fuel injection equipment. Results from tests in which faults were induced into fuel injector nozzles from both indirect-injection and direct-injection engines show that functional differences between the main types of fuel injection equipment results in acoustic emission activity which can be specifically related to the type of fuel injection equipment used.

Influence of traffic characteristics on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon build-up on urban road surfaces

Traffic is one of the prominent sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and road surfaces are the most critical platform for stormwater pollution. Build-up of pollutants on road surfaces was the focus of this research study. The study found that PAHs build-up on road surfaces primarily originate from traffic activities, specifically gasoline powered vehicles. Other sources such as diesel vehicles, industrial oil combustion and incineration were also found to contribute to the PAH build-up. Additionally, the study explored the linkages between concentrations of PAHs and traffic characteristics such as traffic volume, vehicle mix and traffic flow. While traffic congestion was found to be positively correlated with 6- ring and 5- ring PAHs in road build-up, it was negatively correlated with 3-ring and 4 ring PAHs. The absence of positive correlation between 3-ring and 4-ring PAHs and traffic parameters is attributed to the propensity of these relatively volatile PAHs to undergo re-suspension and evaporation. The outcomes of this study are expected to contribute effective transport and land use planning for the prevention of PAH pollution in the urban environment.

Why sustainable construction? Why not? An owner's perspective

Rapid urbanization in developing countries such as China has been creating unprecedented opportunities for the adoption of sustainable construction (SC). Owner, as a key driver of urbanization, plays an influential role for other stakeholders to undertake SC practices. However, lacking their demands and requirements of owners were regarded as the main barriers for the adoption of SC. Notwithstanding the diversity of previous studies on the barriers to SC, there is a dearth of research from the owner’s perspective. This paper presents an empirical study identifying the critical factors impeding the adoption of SC from the owners’ point of view. A list of 25 factors was preliminarily identified through extensive literature review and interviews with industry professionals. This was followed by a questionnaire survey to collect owners’ opinions on the relative importance of these factors. Using factor analysis, seven most critical factors are identified, namely, economic feasibility, awareness, support from project stakeholders, legislation and regulation, operability of SC, resource risk, and project management model. The research findings show that economic feasibility, awareness, legislation and regulation are the most important factors impeding owners in adopting SC practices. This implied that the government plays a vital role in removing the barriers impeding the greater adoption of SC by building owners in China. This is helpful for a transition to the low carbon urbanization.

Strenthening information literacy through collaboration: Implications for AIM

Because of its size, its excellent VET history, and its emerging higher education provision, AIM is in a special position to be an exemplar of good practice in the VET-HE transition. Many dual sector providers, by virtue of their size, tend to focus on higher education, on the assumption that VET ‘competence’ implies that their VET entrants to HE are confident and capable in information literacy skills. While this is only one of the many challenges that such students face in their undergraduate programs, it is the most critical for most of them in their quest for academic success. All students (school leavers, gap-year participants, articulating, mature age) entering HE will face specific challenges. For articulating students, the nature of credit transfer arrangements will often mean they commence studies in units that are not designated first year units. In this case, the embedded support structures are not as prominent. The existing literature is not consistent in reports on the rates of completion, retention and attrition of articulating students. There is some evidence that VET-qualified students have higher retention rates than school leavers [1], but limited information literacy skills can lead to attrition [2].

Impact of mobile phone use on car-following behaviour of young drivers

Multitasking, such as the concurrent use of a mobile phone and operating a motor vehicle, is a significant distraction that impairs driving performance and is becoming a leading cause of motor vehicle crashes. This study investigates the impact of mobile phone conversations on car-following behaviour. The CARRS-Q Advanced Driving Simulator was used to test a group of young Australian drivers aged 18–26 years on a car-following task in three randomised phone conditions: baseline (no phone conversation), hands-free and handheld. Repeated measure ANOVA was applied to examine the effect of mobile phone distraction on selected car-following variables such as driving speed, spacing, and time headway. Overall, drivers tended to select slower driving speeds, larger vehicle spacings, and longer time headways when they were engaged in either hands-free or handheld phone conversations, suggesting possible risk compensatory behaviour. In addition, phone conversations while driving influenced car-following behaviour such that variability was increased in driving speeds, vehicle spacings, and acceleration and decelerations. To further investigate car-following behaviour of distracted drivers, driver time headways were modelled using Generalized Estimation Equation (GEE). After controlling for various exogenous factors, the model predicts an increase of 0.33 s in time headway when a driver is engaged in hands-free phone conversation and a 0.75 s increase for handheld phone conversation. The findings will improve the collective understanding of distraction on driving performance, in particular car following behaviour which is most critical in the determination of rear-end crashes.

Influence of road traffic environment and mobile phone distraction on the speed selection behaviour of young drivers

Travel speed is one of the most critical parameters for road safety; the evidence suggests that increased vehicle speed is associated with higher crash risk and injury severity. Both naturalistic and simulator studies have reported that drivers distracted by a mobile phone select a lower driving speed. Speed decrements have been argued to be a risk compensatory behaviour of distracted drivers. Nonetheless, the extent and circumstances of the speed change among distracted drivers are still not known very well. As such, the primary objective of this study was to investigate patterns of speed variation in relation to contextual factors and distraction. Using the CARRS-Q high-fidelity Advanced Driving Simulator, the speed selection behaviour of 32 drivers aged 18-26 years was examined in two phone conditions: baseline (no phone conversation) and handheld phone operation. The simulator driving route contained five different types of road traffic complexities, including one road section with a horizontal S curve, one horizontal S curve with adjacent traffic, one straight segment of suburban road without traffic, one straight segment of suburban road with traffic interactions, and one road segment in a city environment. Speed deviations from the posted speed limit were analysed using Ward’s Hierarchical Clustering method to identify the effects of road traffic environment and cognitive distraction. The speed deviations along curved road sections formed two different clusters for the two phone conditions, implying that distracted drivers adopt a different strategy for selecting driving speed in a complex driving situation. In particular, distracted drivers selected a lower speed while driving along a horizontal curve. The speed deviation along the city road segment and other straight road segments grouped into a different cluster, and the deviations were not significantly different across phone conditions, suggesting a negligible effect of distraction on speed selection along these road sections. Future research should focus on developing a risk compensation model to explain the relationship between road traffic complexity and distraction.

Fatigue crack propagation analysis of plaque rupture

Rupture of atheromatous plaque is the major cause of stroke or heart attack. Considering that the cardiovascular system is a classic fatigue environment, plaque rupture was treated as a chronic fatigue crack growth process in this study. Fracture mechanics theory was introduced to describe the stress status at the crack tip and Paris' law was used to calculate the crack growth rate. The effect of anatomical variation of an idealized plaque cross-section model was investigated. The crack initiation was considered to be either at the maximum circumferential stress location or at any other possible locations around the lumen. Although the crack automatically initialized at the maximum circumferential stress location usually propagated faster than others, it was not necessarily the most critical location where the fatigue life reached its minimum. We found that the fatigue life was minimum for cracks initialized in the following three regions: the midcap zone, the shoulder zone, and the backside zone. The anatomical variation has a significant influence on the fatigue life. Either a decrease in cap thickness or an increase in lipid pool size resulted in a significant decrease in fatigue life. Comparing to the previously used stress analysis, this fatigue model provides some possible explanations of plaque rupture at a low stress level in a pulsatile cardiovascular environment, and the method proposed here may be useful for further investigation of the mechanism of plaque rupture based on in vivo patient data.

Sense of Community in Web Environment

The study of social phenomena in the World Wide Web has been rather fragmentary, andthere is no coherent, reseach-based theory about sense of community in Web environment. Sense of community means part of one's self-concept that has to do with perceiving oneself belonging to, and feeling affinity to a certain social grouping. The present study aimed to find evidence for sense of community in Web environment, and specifically find out what the most critical psychological factors of sense of community would be. Based on known characteristics of real life communities and sense of community, and few occational studies of Web-communities, it was hypothesized that the following factors would be the most critical ones and that they could be grouped as prerequisites, facilitators and consequences of sense of community: awareness and social presence (prerequisites), criteria for membership and borders, common purpose, social interaction and reciprocity, norms and conformity, common history (facilitators), trust and accountability (consequences). In addition to critical factors, the present study aimed to find out if this kind of grouping would be valid. Furthermore, the effect of Web-community members' background variables to sense of community was of interest. In order to answer the questions, an online-questionnaire was created and tested. It included propositions that reflect factors that precede, facilitate and follow the sense of community in Web environment. A factor analysis was calculated to find out the critical factors and analyses of variance were calculated to see if the grouping to prerequisites, facilitators and consequences was right and how the background variables would affect the sense of community in Web environment. The results indicated that the psychological structure of sense of community in Web environment could not be presented with critical variables grouped as prerequisites, facilitators and consequences. Most factors did facilitate the sense of community, but based on this data it could not be argued that some of the factors chronologically precedesense of community and some follow it. Instead, the factor analysis revealed that the most critical factors in sense of community in Web environment are 1) reciprocal involvement, 2) basic trust for others, 3) similarity and common purpose of members, and 4) shared history of members. The most influencing background variables were the member's own participation activity (indicated with reading and writing messages) and the phase in membership lifecycle (from visitor to leader). The more the member participated and the further in membership life cycle he was, the more he felt sense of community. There are many descreptions of sense of community, but the present study was one of the first to actually measure the phenomenon in Web environment, and that gained well documented, valid results based on large data, proving that sense of community in Web environment is possible, and clarifying its psychological structure, thus enhancing the understanding of sense of community in Web environment. Keywords: sense of community, Web-community, psychology of the Internet

Women, environmental changes and forestry-related development : Gender-affected roles of rural people in land degradation and environmental rehabilitation in a dry region of Sudan

The purpose of the present study was to increase understanding of the interaction of rural people and, specifically, women with the environment in a dry area in Sudan. The study that included both nomadic pastoralists and farmers aimed at answering two main research questions, namely: What kinds of roles have the local people, and the women in particular, had in land degradation in the study area and what kinds of issues would a gender-sensitive, forestry-related environmental rehabilitation intervention need to consider there? The study adopted the definition of land degradation as proposed by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which describes land degradation as reduction or loss the biological or economic productivity and complexity of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. The Convention perceives desertification as land degradation. The dry study area in Sudan, South of the Sahara, has been the subject of land degradation or desertification discussions since the 1970s, and other studies have been also conducted to assess the degradation in the area. Nevertheless, the exact occurrence, scale and local significance of land degradation in the area is still unclear. This study explored how the rural population whose livelihood depended on the area, perceived environmental changes occurring there and compared their conceptions with other sources of information of the area such as research reports. The main fieldwork methods included interviews with open-ended questions and observation of people and the environment. The theoretical framework conceptualised the rural population as land users whose choices of environmental activities are affected by multiple factors in the social and biophysical contexts in which they live. It was emphasised that these factors have their own specific characteristics in different contexts, simultaneously recognising that there are also factors that generally affect environmental practices in various areas such as the land users' environmental literacy (conceptions of the environment), gender and livelihood needs. The people studied described that environmental changes, such as reduced vegetation cover and cropland production, had complicated the maintenance of their livelihoods in the study area. Some degraded sites were also identified through observations during the fieldwork. Whether a large-scale reduction of cropland productivity had occurred in the farmers' croplands remained, however, unclear. The study found that the environmental impact of the rural women's activities varied and was normally limited. The women's most significant environmental impact resulted from their cutting of trees, which was likely to contribute, at least in some places, to land degradation, affecting the environment together with climate and livestock. However, when a wider perspective is taken, it becomes questionable whether the women have really played roles in land degradation, since gender, poverty and the need to maintain livelihood had caused them to conduct environmentally harmful activities. The women have had, however, no power to change the causes of their activities. The findings further suggested that an inadequate availability of food was the most critical problem in the study area. Therefore, an environmental programme in the area was suggested to include technical measures to increase the productivity of croplands, opportunities for income generation and readiness to co-operate with other programmes to improve the local people's abilities to maintain their livelihoods. In order to protect the environment and alleviate the women's work burden, the introduction of fuel-saving stoves was also suggested. Furthermore, it was suggested that increased planting of trees on homesteads would be supported by an easy availability of tree seedlings. Planting trees on common property land was, however, perceived as extremely demanding in the study area, due to scarcity of such land. In addition, it became apparent that the local land users, and women in particular, needed to allocate their labour to maintain the immediate livelihood of their families and were not motivated to allocate their labour solely for environmental rehabilitation. Nonetheless, from the point of view of the existing social structures, women's active participation in a community-based environmental programme would be rather natural, particularly among the farmer women who had already formed a women's group and participated in communal decision making. Forming of a women group or groups was suggested to further support both the farmer women's and pastoral women's active participation within an environmental programme and their general empowerment. An Environmental programme would need to acknowledge that improving rural people's well-being and maintaining their livelihood in the study area requires development and co-operation with various sectors in Sudan.

Integrated disease management of stem end rot of mango in the Southern Philippines

This research aimed to develop and evaluate pre- and postharvest management strategies to reduce stem end rot (SER) incidence and extend saleable life of 'Carabao' mango fruits in Southern Philippines. Preharvest management focused on the development and improvement of fungicide spray program, while postharvest management aimed to develop alternative interventions aside from hot water treatment (HWT). Field evaluation of systemic fungicides, namely azoxystrobin ( Amistar 25SC), tebuconazole ( Folicur 25WP), carbendazim ( Goldazim 500SC), difenoconazole ( Score 250SC) and azoxystrobin+difenoconazole ( Amistar Top), reduced blossom blight severity and improved fruit setting and retention, resulting in higher fruit yield but failed to sufficiently suppress SER incidence. Based on these findings, an improved fungicide spray program was developed taking into account the infection process of SER pathogens and fungicide resistance. Timely application of protectant (mancozeb) and systemic fungicides (azoxystrobin, carbendazim and difenoconazole) during the most critical stages of mango flower and fruit development ensured higher harvestable fruit yield and minimally lowered SER incidence. Control of SER was also achieved by employing postharvest treatment such as HWT (52-55°C for 10 min), which significantly prolonged the saleable life of mango fruits. However, extended hot water treatment (EHWT; 46°C pulp temperature for 15 min), rapid heat treatment (RHT; 59°C for 30-60 sec), fungicide dip and promising biological control agents failed to satisfactorily reduce SER and prolong saleable life. In contrast, the integration of the improved spray program as preharvest management practice, and postharvest treatments such as HWT and fungicide dips (azoxystrobin, 150-175 ppm; carbendazim, 312.5 ppm; and tebuconazole, 125-156 ppm), significantly reduced disease and extended marketable life for utmost 8 days.

Statistical analysis of spectral data: A methodology for designing an intelligent monitoring system for the diabetic foot

Early detection of (pre-)signs of ulceration on a diabetic foot is valuable for clinical practice. Hyperspectral imaging is a promising technique for detection and classification of such (pre-)signs. However, the number of the spectral bands should be limited to avoid overfitting, which is critical for pixel classification with hyperspectral image data. The goal was to design a detector/classifier based on spectral imaging (SI) with a small number of optical bandpass filters. The performance and stability of the design were also investigated. The selection of the bandpass filters boils down to a feature selection problem. A dataset was built, containing reflectance spectra of 227 skin spots from 64 patients, measured with a spectrometer. Each skin spot was annotated manually by clinicians as "healthy" or a specific (pre-)sign of ulceration. Statistical analysis on the data set showed the number of required filters is between 3 and 7, depending on additional constraints on the filter set. The stability analysis revealed that shot noise was the most critical factor affecting the classification performance. It indicated that this impact could be avoided in future SI systems with a camera sensor whose saturation level is higher than 106, or by postimage processing.

Taxonomy of factors which influence heavy metal build-up on urban road surfaces

Heavy metals build-up on urban road surfaces is a complex process and influenced by a diverse range of factors. Although numerous research studies have been conducted in the area of heavy metals build-up, limited research has been undertaken to rank these factors in terms of their influence on the build-up process. This results in limitations in the identification of the most critical factor/s for accurately estimating heavy metal loads and for designing effective stormwater treatment measures. The research study undertook an in-depth analysis of the factors which influence heavy metals build-up based on data generated from a number of different geographical locations around the world. Traffic volume was found to be the highest ranked factor in terms of influencing heavy metals build-up while land use was ranked the second. Proximity to arterial roads, antecedent dry days and road surface roughness has a relatively lower ranking. Furthermore, the study outcomes advances the conceptual understanding of heavy metals build-up based on the finding that with increasing traffic volume, total heavy metal build-up load increases while the variability decreases. The outcomes from this research study are expected to contribute to more accurate estimation of heavy metals build-up loads leading to more effective stormwater treatment design.

Sikiöaikana päihteille altistuneiden lasten kasvuympäristö ja kehitys

Life of children exposed to alcohol or drugs in utero This study focused on the growth environment, physical development and socio-emotional development of children, aged 16 and under, who had been exposed to alcohol (n=78) or drugs (n=15) in utero. The aim of the study was to obtain a comprehensive picture of the living conditions of these children and to examine the role of the growth environment in their development. The study was carried out using questionnaires, written life stories and interviews. Attachment theory was used as a background theory in the study. Over half of the children exposed to alcohol were diagnosed with foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), one quarter was diagnosed with foetal alcohol effects (FAE), and one fifth had no diagnosis. Most of the children exposed to drugs had been exposed to either amphetamines or cannabis, and a smaller number to heroin. Some of the children exposed to alcohol were mentally handicapped or intellectually impaired. The children exposed to drugs did not exhibit any serious learning difficulties but a considerable number of them had socio-emotional development problems. Language and speech problems and attention, concentration and social interaction problems were typical among both the children exposed to alcohol and those exposed to drugs. Only one child had been placed into long-term foster care in a family immediately after leaving the maternity hospital. In biological families there had been neglect, violence, mental health problems, crime and unemployment, and many parents were already dead. Two of the children had been sexually abused and four were suspected of having been abused. From the point of view of the children's development, the three most critical issues were 1) the range of illnesses and handicaps that had impaired their functional capacity as a result of their prenatal exposure to alcohol, 2) child's age at the time of placement on a long-term basis, and 3) the number of their traumatic experiences. The relationship with their biological parents after placement also played a role. Children with symptoms were found in all diagnosis categories and types of exposure. Children with the smallest number of symptoms were found among those who had never lived with their biological parents. Almost all children were exhibiting strong symptoms at the time of placement in foster care. In most cases, they were behaving in a disorderly manner towards others, but some children were withdrawn. The most conspicuous feature among those with the most severe symptoms was their disorganized behaviour. Placement in a foster family enhanced the children's development, but did not solve the problems. The foster parents who brought these children up did not receive as much therapy for the children and support for the upbringing as they appear to have needed. In Finland, transfer to long-term custody is based on strict criteria. The rights of children prescribed in the child protection law are not fulfilled in practice. Key words: FASD, FAS, FAE, alcohol exposure, drugs exposure, illegal drugs, early interaction, child development, attachment