Service Quality Analysis in the Five Stars Resort Hotels of Cape Verde

The objective of this study was the identification of the attributes and dimensions of service quality affecting the service performance of the five stars resort hotels located in the Cape Verde Islands. The reason boosting the initiative to do this research was the paramount role of the resort hotels in the development of the travel and tourism sector in Cape Verde, and the impact that today this sector has had in the economy of that country. The research opens with a literature review on the service quality theory in the hotel industry, starting from the middle of the 1980s with the classic model of service quality and SERVQUAL instrument to the analysis of recent models of service quality measurement in the hotel industry, as it is an example the scale of items developed in 2003 in the Lodging Quality Index (LQI). Furthermore, the study elaborates an analysis on the importance of the travel and tourism activities in the Cape Verde Islands, and it evidences the enormous importance of those activities in the performance of the Cape Verdean hotel industry. In sequence the study analyzes in details the hotel industry of Cape Verde and it identifies the market size of the five stars resort hotels and their current operators in that market. Moreover, the research develops with an online questionnaire elaborated and sent through the platforms of travel websites and communities to the guests whom have experienced the service of the five stars resort hotels located in the Cape Verde Islands. The scope of the questionnaire was to assess the attributes and dimensions of service quality in the five stars resort hotels of Cape Verde. The results of the questionnaire were in sequence analyzed through descriptive and applied statistics, using Microsoft Excel and the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Content validity analysis, factor analysis, and reliability analysis of the factors were made to purify an initial scale of 47 items of service quality. An instrument with three dimensions covering twenty four attributes of service quality assessment in the five stars resort hotels of Cape Verde was finally created. The three dimensions found were: staff competence; food and entertainment; and physical facilities. This study on the service in the five stars resort hotels of Cape Verde ends with brief comments on the status of service quality according to the identified dimensions and their attributes. In the conclusion, the study summarizes the whole work and gives some directions for future research.

Cape Verdean Creole of São Vicente: Its genesis and Structure

Although the Santiago variety of Cape Verdean Creole (CVC) has been the subject of numerous linguistic works, the second major variety of the language, i.e. the São Vicente variety of CVC (CVSV), has hardly been described. Nevertheless this lack of studies and given its striking differences, on all linguistic levels, from the variety of Santiago (CVST), the implicit explanation for such divergences, echoed for decades in the literature on CVC, has been the presumably decreolized character of CVSV. First, this study provides a comprehensive fieldwork-based synchronic description of CVSV major morpho-syntactic categories in the intent to document the variety. Second, it aims to place the study of CVSV within a broader scope of contact linguistics in the quest to explain its structure. Based on analyses of historical documents and studies, it reconstructs the sociohistorical scenario of the emergence and development of CVSV in the period of 1797- 1975. From the comparison of the current structures of CVSV and CVST, the examination of linguistic data in historical texts and the analysis of sociohistorical facts it becomes clear that the contemporary structure of CVSV stems from the contact-induced changes that occurred during the intensive language and dialect contact on the island of São Vicente in the early days of its settlement in the late 18th and ensuing early 19th century development, rather than from modern day pressure of Portuguese. Although this dissertation argues for multiple explanations rather than a single theory, by showing that processes such as languages shift among the first Portuguese settlers, L2 acquisition, migration of the Barlavento speakers and subsequent dialect leveling as well as language borrowing at a later stage were at stake, it demonstrates the usefulness of partial-restructuring model proposed by Holm (2004).

Record of postmortem injuries caused by the Neotropical social wasp Agelaia fulvofasciata (Degeer) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) on pig carcasses in the Eastern Amazon region: implications in forensic taphonomy

ABSTRACTPostmortem injuries are a source of misinterpretations in forensic analysis and therefore are subject matter of taphonomic interest. Many types of injuries can cause different artifacts, which deserve attention of the forensic pathologists when evaluating corpses, either at the crime scene or during an autopsy. Insects can be important biotaphonomic agents and their activity may result in artifacts that resemble antemortem injuries. Here, we describe postmortem injuries caused by the Neotropical wasp Agelaia fulvofasciata (Degeer, 1773) on domestic pig carcasses weighting 15 kg. The specimens showed extensive injuries to the lower lip, similar to lacerations, and some minor lesions on the snout and anus. In addition, we observed the same wasp species preying on larvae of Sarcophagidae (Peckia sp.). Besides causing postmortem injuries, the ability of this species to detect carcasses in the early and fresh decomposition stages should be noted. Thus, future applications aiming criminal, any biotaphonomic events caused by carrion insects need to be disclosed.

A survey of necrophagous blowflies (Diptera: Oestroidea) in the Amazonas-Negro interfluvial region (Brazilian Amazon)

ABSTRACT The fauna of blowflies (Calliphoridae and Mesembrinellidae) in three localities of primary Amazon forest coverage in the Amazonas-Negro interfluvial region was assessed. A total of 5066 blowflies were collected, with Chloroprocta idiodea being the most abundant species (66.3%). A difference in species richness between the localities ZF2 and Novo Airão was observed. Comparison among sampled sites revealed no considerable variation in fauna composition, except for the species Eumesembrinella benoisti (Séguy 1925) and Hemilucilia sp., whose occurrence was observed only in a single locality. Apparently, Amazon rivers are not efficient geographical barriers to influence the current composition of necrophagous blowfly assemblages. Also, most of the blowfly species did not show a noticeable specificity for any specific forest among the interfluvial areas of the ombrophilous forest. Finally, an updated checklist of necrophagous blowfly species of the Amazonas state in Brazil is presented.

The semi-presidential system of Cape Verde: the relationship between the executive and the legislative powers = O sistema semi-presidencialista caboverdiano: a relação entre os poderes executivo e legislativo

e article analyses the relationship established between the executive and legislative powers in the Cape Verdean government system where researchers seek to understand it, taking into account their theoretical and constitutional setting practice. It should be noted the prominence of the debate and studies undertaken to understand how the scienti c academy seeks to eradicate this problem. Two issues are relevant in this debate: the rst reporting to the theoretical and constitutional con guration of Cape Verdean government system and the other to its policy and legislative practice. Keywords: Cape Verde. Semi-presidential System. Systems of Government. Legislative and Executive Powers.

Male beach workers and western female tourists : livelihood strategies in Kenya's south coast region

Recent years have seen an emerging knowledge base and increasing public interest and awareness of sexual-economic relationships between local men and Western women, in different touristic regions around the world. However, to date, Western perspectives on the phenomenon make up the bulk of the existent literature. Questioning the dominant discourse of 'romance tourism' and representations of male participants as 'victims-opportunists', this dissertation explores male beach workers' experiences with, and perspectives on sexual-economic relationships between Kenyan men and visiting Western women in Kenya's South Coast region. The men were not considered in isolation; their experiences and perspectives are situated in relation to their family ties, social networks and the political economy of beach tourism. The study shows that locally these relationships are clearly understood as livelihood strategies for the visited. Men seek to establish long-term intimate relationships with female tourists as a means to accessing life's basic necessities for themselves and for their families and overall to improve their standards of living. It is argued that these relationships are a response to the poverty and inequalities generated by socio-economic changes over time. They are also a response to local gender role prescriptions that hinge male social value on men's capacity to marry, procreate and provide intergenerational social and economic support. The men's parallel quest for non-sexual economically motivated friendships with visiting foreign tourists termed "family friends" is a salient finding, that serves to reinforce the finding that the sexual- economic relationships are above all livelihood strategies. Résumé Ces dernières années ont vu l'émergence d'une base de connaissance, ainsi que d'un intérêt et d'une prise de conscience accrue du public, à l'égard des relations économico-sexuelles entre hommes locaux et femmes occidentales, dans différentes régions touristiques du monde. Cependant, à ce jour, des perspectives occidentales sur ce phénomène constituent l'essentiel de la littérature existante. En remettant en question le discours dominant du «romance tourism» (tourisme sentimental) et les représentations qui conçoivent les hommes participants comme étant 'victimes-opportunistes', cette thèse explore les expériences, et les visions qu'ont les travailleurs de plage sur les relations économico-sexuelles entre hommes Kenyans et femmes Occidentales dans la région de la côte sud du Kenya. Les hommes n'ont pas été considérés de manière isolée; leurs expériences et leurs perspectives sont situées par rapport à leur liens familiaux, leur réseaux sociaux et aussi par rapport à l'économie politique du tourisme balnéaire. L'étude montre que sur place ces relations sont clairement conçues comme des stratégies de survie pour les participants hôtes. Les hommes cherchent à établir des relations de long durée avec des femmes touristes comme moyen d'accéder à des biens et des services qui constituent des nécessités de bases, pour eux et pour leur familles et globalement pour relever leur niveau de vie! L'étude fait valoir que ces relations sont une réponse à la pauvreté et aux inégalités sociales crées par des dynamiques socio-économiques au fil du temps. Elles sont aussi une réponse au prescriptions sociales locales par lesquelles la valeur sociale masculine est définie à travers la capacité des hommes à se marier, à procréer et d'assurer un soutien intergénérationnel social et économique. La quête, en parallèle, de relations d'amitiés non-sexuelles à motivation économique, dénommé « family friends », par des hommes, est un résultat saillant de cette étude qui vient renforcer l'observation que les relations économico-sexuelles relèvent avant tout des stratégies de survie.

DNA binding properties of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor subtypes on various natural peroxisome proliferator response elements. Importance of the 5'-flanking region.

The three subtypes of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARalpha, beta/delta, and gamma) form heterodimers with the 9-cis-retinoic acid receptor (RXR) and bind to a common consensus response element, which consists of a direct repeat of two hexanucleotides spaced by one nucleotide (DR1). As a first step toward understanding the molecular mechanisms determining PPAR subtype specificity, we evaluated by electrophoretic mobility shift assays the binding properties of the three PPAR subtypes, in association with either RXRalpha or RXRgamma, on 16 natural PPAR response elements (PPREs). The main results are as follows. (i) PPARgamma in combination with either RXRalpha or RXRgamma binds more strongly than PPARalpha or PPARbeta to all natural PPREs tested. (ii) The binding of PPAR to strong elements is reinforced if the heterodimerization partner is RXRgamma. In contrast, weak elements favor RXRalpha as heterodimerization partner. (iii) The ordering of the 16 natural PPREs from strong to weak elements does not depend on the core DR1 sequence, which has a relatively uniform degree of conservation, but correlates with the number of identities of the 5'-flanking nucleotides with respect to a consensus element. This 5'-flanking sequence is essential for PPARalpha binding and thus contributes to subtype specificity. As a demonstration of this, the PPARgamma-specific element ARE6 PPRE is able to bind PPARalpha only if its 5'-flanking region is exchanged with that of the more promiscuous HMG PPRE.

Estimation of surface roughness in a semiarid region from C-band ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar data

In this study, we investigated the feasibility of using the C-band European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data to estimate surface soil roughness in a semiarid rangeland. Radar backscattering coefficients were extracted from a dry and a wet season SAR image and were compared with 47 in situ soil roughness measurements obtained in the rocky soils of the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed, southeastern Arizona, USA. Both the dry and the wet season SAR data showed exponential relationships with root mean square (RMS) height measurements. The dry C-band ERS-1 SAR data were strongly correlated (R² = 0.80), while the wet season SAR data have somewhat higher secondary variation (R² = 0.59). This lower correlation was probably provoked by the stronger influence of soil moisture, which may not be negligible in the wet season SAR data. We concluded that the single configuration C-band SAR data is useful to estimate surface roughness of rocky soils in a semiarid rangeland.

TRENDS IN HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN SWITZERLAND, 1998 TO 2008 THE REGION MAKES THE DIFFERENCE: DISPARITIES IN MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION WITHIN SWITZERLAND

The aim of this master's thesis was to assess the ten- year trends and regional differences in management and outcome of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) within Switzerland. The thesis is composed of two articles. First, in the article "Trends in hospital management of acute myocardial infarction in Switzerland, 1998 to 2008" over 102,700 cases of AMI with corresponding management and revascularization procedures were assessed. The results showed a considerable increase in the numbers of hospital discharges for AMI, namely due to the increase of between- hospital transfers. Rates of intensive care unit admissions remained stable. All types of revascularization procedures showed an increase. In particular, overall stenting rates increased with drug-eluting stents partly replacing bare stents. Second, in the article "The region makes the difference: disparities in management of acute myocardial infarction within Switzerland" around 25,600 cases of AMI with corresponding management were assessed for the period of 2007-2008 and according to seven Swiss regions. As reported by our results, considerable regional differences in AMI management were stated within Switzerland. Although each region showed different trends regarding revascularization interventions, Leman and Ticino contrast significantly by presenting the minimum and maximum rates in almost all assessed parameters. As a consequence these two regions differ the most from the Swiss average. The impact of the changes in trends and the regional differences in AMI management on Swiss patient's outcome and economics remains to be assessed. Purpose: To assess ten-year trends in management and outcome of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Switzerland. Methods: Swiss hospital discharge database for the 1998 to 2008 period. AMI was defined as a primary discharge diagnosis code I21 according to the CIM-10 classification of the World Health Organization. Management and revascularization procedures were assessed. Results: Overall, 102,729 hospital discharges with a diagnosis of AMI were analyzed. The number of hospital discharges increased almost three-fold from 5530 in 1998 to 13,834 in 2008, namely due to a considerable increase in between-hospital transfers (1352 in 1998, 6494 in 2008). Relative to all hospital discharges, Intensive Care Unit admission rate was 38.0% in 1998 and remained stable (36.2%) in 2008 (p for trend=0.25). Percutaneous revascularization rates increased from 6.0% to 39.9% (p for trend<0.001). Non-drug-eluting stent use increased from 1.3% to 16.6% (p for trend<0.05). Drug eluting stents appeared in 2004 and increased to 23.5% of hospital discharges in 2008 (p for trend=0.07). Coronary artery bypass graft increased from 1.0% to 3.0% (p for trend<0.001). Circulatory assistance increased from 0.2% to 1.7% (p for trend<0.001). Thrombolysis showed no significant changes, from 0.5% to 1.9% (p for trend=0.64). Most of these trends were confirmed after multivariate adjustment. Conclusion: Between 1998 and 2008 the number of hospital discharges for AMI increased considerably in Switzerland, namely due to between-hospital transfers. Overall stenting rates increased, drug-eluting stents partly replacing bare stents. The impact of these changes on outcome and economics remains to be assessed.

Evolució de la vegetació de l’antic estany de Sils (la Selva) en els darrers 50 anys

The historical evolution of vegetation in the former Sils Pond (la Selva) during the second half of the 20th century is described through the study of past(Bolòs, 1954; Vilar, 1981) and present-day (Mercadal, 2002) vegetation cartography, the first aerial photographs (1956 and 1980) and current orthophotos (2000). This inland pool was finally drained in 1851 and most of its area was converted into meadows (Gaudinio fragilis-Arrhenatheretum elatioris Br.-Bl. in Br.-Bl., Roussine & Nègre 1952), a semi cultural community which was very distinct florally, for the Mediterranean region. The results demonstrate that in the last 50 years changes in land use have transformed the former landscape, which was prominently meadow-like and grain-producing, into woodlands, wet grasslands, developed areas and sub-Mediterranean forests, with the consequent loss of meadow areas and floristic diversity. In response, based on historical cartography, we propose spaces to prioritize for recovery and management such as meadow areas