VVV DR1: The first data release of the Milky Way bulge and southern plane from the near-infrared ESO public survey VISTA variables in the Via Lactea

Context. The ESO public survey VISTA variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) started in 2010. VVV targets 562 sq. deg in the Galactic bulge and an adjacent plane region and is expected to run for about five years. Aims. We describe the progress of the survey observations in the first observing season, the observing strategy, and quality of the data obtained. Methods. The observations are carried out on the 4-m VISTA telescope in the ZYJHK(s) filters. In addition to the multi-band imaging the variability monitoring campaign in the K-s filter has started. Data reduction is carried out using the pipeline at the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit. The photometric and astrometric calibration is performed via the numerous 2MASS sources observed in each pointing. Results. The first data release contains the aperture photometry and astrometric catalogues for 348 individual pointings in the ZYJHK(s) filters taken in the 2010 observing season. The typical image quality is similar to 0 ''.9-1 ''.0. The stringent photometric and image quality requirements of the survey are satisfied in 100% of the JHK(s) images in the disk area and 90% of the JHK(s) images in the bulge area. The completeness in the Z and Y images is 84% in the disk, and 40% in the bulge. The first season catalogues contain 1.28 x 10(8) stellar sources in the bulge and 1.68 x 10(8) in the disk area detected in at least one of the photometric bands. The combined, multi-band catalogues contain more than 1.63 x 10(8) stellar sources. About 10% of these are double detections because of overlapping adjacent pointings. These overlapping multiple detections are used to characterise the quality of the data. The images in the JHK(s) bands extend typically similar to 4 mag deeper than 2MASS. The magnitude limit and photometric quality depend strongly on crowding in the inner Galactic regions. The astrometry for K-s = 15-18 mag has rms similar to 35-175 mas. Conclusions. The VVV Survey data products offer a unique dataset to map the stellar populations in the Galactic bulge and the adjacent plane and provide an exciting new tool for the study of the structure, content, and star-formation history of our Galaxy, as well as for investigations of the newly discovered star clusters, star-forming regions in the disk, high proper motion stars, asteroids, planetary nebulae, and other interesting objects.

An ecological economic interpretation of the Jevons effect

This article develops an ecological economic interpretation of the Jevons effect. Moreover, it is argued that under the neoclassical paradigm there are no elements with which to foresee the long-term existence of this phenomenon. The objective of these arguments is to demonstrate that the Jevons effect can be used to compare the ability of neoclassical and ecological economics describing the social appropriation of nature. This is elaborated in two steps. First, we show the importance of the thesis that the economy cannot be cut off from the biophysical materiality of what is produced to give consistency to the so-called Khazzoom-Brookes postulate. It is made clear that this supposition is exogenous to the neoclassical paradigm. Second, the supposition of the biophysical materiality of what is produced is utilized to make an ecological economic interpretation of the Jevons effect. Afterwards, a comparison is made between the neoclassical and the ecological economic perspectives. This comparison leads to the following conclusions: (i) the persistent presence of the Jevons effect in the long run is an anomaly in the neoclassical paradigm; (ii) the observation of the non-existence of the Jevons effect is a refutation of the supposition that economic growth and biophysical materiality are not separable, a central thesis defended by ecological economists. This situation makes possible to use the Jevons effect as a 'laboratory test' to compare the ability of neoclassical and ecological economic paradigms to describe the social appropriation of nature. (C) 20111 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Milky Way demographics with the VVV survey I. The 84-million star colour-magnitude diagram of the Galactic bulge

Context. The Milky Way (MW) bulge is a fundamental Galactic component for understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies, in particular our own. The ESO Public Survey VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea is a deep near-IR survey mapping the Galactic bulge and southern plane. Particularly for the bulge area, VVV is covering similar to 315 deg(2). Data taken during 2010 and 2011 covered the entire bulge area in the JHKs bands. Aims. We used VVV data for the whole bulge area as a single and homogeneous data set to build for the first time a single colour-magnitude diagram (CMD) for the entire Galactic bulge. Methods. Photometric data in the JHK(s) bands were combined to produce a single and huge data set containing 173 150 467 sources in the three bands, for the similar to 315 deg(2) covered by VVV in the bulge. Selecting only the data points flagged as stellar, the total number of sources is 84 095 284. Results. We built the largest colour-magnitude diagrams published up to date, containing 173.1+ million sources for all data points, and more than 84.0 million sources accounting for the stellar sources only. The CMD has a complex shape, mostly owing to the complexity of the stellar population and the effects of extinction and reddening towards the Galactic centre. The red clump (RC) giants are seen double in magnitude at b similar to -8 degrees-10 degrees, while in the inner part (b similar to -3 degrees) they appear to be spreading in colour, or even splitting into a secondary peak. Stellar population models show the predominance of main-sequence and giant stars. The analysis of the outermost bulge area reveals a well-defined sequence of late K and M dwarfs, seen at (J - K-s) similar to 0.7-0.9 mag and K-s greater than or similar to 14 mag. Conclusions. The interpretation of the CMD yields important information about the MW bulge, showing the fingerprint of its structure and content. We report a well-defined red dwarf sequence in the outermost bulge, which is important for the planetary transit searches of VVV. The double RC in magnitude seen in the outer bulge is the signature of the X-shaped MW bulge, while the spreading of the RC in colour, and even its splitting into a secondary peak, are caused by reddening effects. The region around the Galactic centre is harder to interpret because it is strongly affected by reddening and extinction.

Study of the infrastructures and the fishing power in Gran Canaria

Máster en Gestión Sostenible de Recursos Pesqueros

Reconstruction of the aquifer history of Gran Canaria

[EN]A study on the recent history and current state of the aquifer in the Island of Gran Canaria (Canary Is., 28oN, 15oW) is performed. Though rainfall is scarce on the island, traditional agricultural practices and small population were able to keep the aquifer in a constant state for centuries. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 20th Century, culture of several water-consuming species was introduced on a commercial basis due to the relative proximity of the Canaries to continental Europe and to the possibility of more than one yearly harvest. This led to generalised well digging (more than 300m deep in many cases) and to the appearance of a chronic hydraulic deficit, as well as to spoiling vastcoastal areas of the aquifer through intrusion of brackish water. In the mid 1960’s, coincident with the apex of agricultural exploitation, massive tourism appeared in the scene. This new activity soon became a susbstitute for Agriculture, but it attracted more new labour force to the island, and a fast growth of population was the main result. Moreover, new water use practices entered the scene. As a consequence, the main causes for the aquifer decline are population growth and extensive Agriculture practices in use during the last half of the 20th Century. Some remarks on sustainability issues in order to cope with Climate Change are also offered.

Climate change and the tourism sector: the clean development mechanism, a market instrument under the Kyoto Protocol to achieve multiple objectives

The main objective of this research is to demonstrate that the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), an instrument created under a global international treaty, can achieve multiple objectives beyond those for which it has been established. As such, while being already a powerful tool to contribute to the global fight against climate change, the CDM can also be successful if applied to different sectors not contemplated before. In particular, this research aimed at demonstrating that a wider utilization of the CDM in the tourism sector can represent an innovative way to foster sustainable tourism and generate additional benefits. The CDM was created by Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and represents an innovative tool to reduce greenhouse gases emissions through the implementation of mitigation activities in developing countries which generate certified emission reductions (CERs), each of them equivalent to one ton of CO2 not emitted in the atmosphere. These credits can be used for compliance reasons by industrialized countries in achieving their reduction targets. The logic path of this research begins with an analysis of the scientific evidences of climate change and its impacts on different economic sectors including tourism and it continues with a focus on the linkages between climate and the tourism sector. Then, it analyses the international responses to the issue of climate change and the peculiar activities in the international arena addressing climate change and the tourism sector. The concluding part of the work presents the objectives and achievements of the CDM and its links to the tourism sector by considering case studies of existing projects which demonstrate that the underlying question can be positively answered. New opportunities for the tourism sector are available.

Welfare provision in Sweden and the dominant position of the Sap

There have been almost fifty years since Harry Eckstein' s classic monograph, A Theory of Stable Democracy (Princeton, 1961), where he sketched out the basic tenets of the “congruence theory”, which was to become one of the most important and innovative contributions to understanding democratic rule. His next work, Division and Cohesion in Democracy, (Princeton University Press: 1966) is designed to serve as a plausibility probe for this 'theory' (ftn.) and is a case study of a Northern democratic system, Norway. What is more, this line of his work best exemplifies the contribution Eckstein brought to the methodology of comparative politics through his seminal article, “ “Case Study and Theory in Political Science” ” (in Greenstein and Polsby, eds., Handbook of Political Science, 1975), on the importance of the case study as an approach to empirical theory. This article demonstrates the special utility of “crucial case studies” in testing theory, thereby undermining the accepted wisdom in comparative research that the larger the number of cases the better. Although not along the same lines, but shifting the case study unit of research, I intend to take up here the challenge and build upon an equally unique political system, the Swedish one. Bearing in mind the peculiarities of the Swedish political system, my unit of analysis is going to be further restricted to the Swedish Social Democratic Party, the Svenska Arbetare Partiet. However, my research stays within the methodological framework of the case study theory inasmuch as it focuses on a single political system and party. The Swedish SAP endurance in government office and its electoral success throughout half a century (ftn. As of the 1991 election, there were about 56 years - more than half century - of interrupted social democratic "reign" in Sweden.) are undeniably a performance no other Social Democrat party has yet achieved in democratic conditions. Therefore, it is legitimate to inquire about the exceptionality of this unique political power combination. Which were the different components of this dominance power position, which made possible for SAP's governmental office stamina? I will argue here that it was the end-product of a combination of multifarious factors such as a key position in the party system, strong party leadership and organization, a carefully designed strategy regarding class politics and welfare policy. My research is divided into three main parts, the historical incursion, the 'welfare' part and the 'environment' part. The first part is a historical account of the main political events and issues, which are relevant for my case study. Chapter 2 is devoted to the historical events unfolding in the 1920-1960 period: the Saltsjoebaden Agreement, the series of workers' strikes in the 1920s and SAP's inception. It exposes SAP's ascent to power in the mid 1930s and the party's ensuing strategies for winning and keeping political office, that is its economic program and key economic goals. The following chapter - chapter 3 - explores the next period, i.e. the period from 1960s to 1990s and covers the party's troubled political times, its peak and the beginnings of the decline. The 1960s are relevant for SAP's planning of a long term economic strategy - the Rehn Meidner model, a new way of macroeconomic steering, based on the Keynesian model, but adapted to the new economic realities of welfare capitalist societies. The second and third parts of this study develop several hypotheses related to SAP's 'dominant position' (endurance in politics and in office) and test them afterwards. Mainly, the twin issues of economics and environment are raised and their political relevance for the party analyzed. On one hand, globalization and its spillover effects over the Swedish welfare system are important causal factors in explaining the transformative social-economic challenges the party had to put up with. On the other hand, Europeanization and environmental change influenced to a great deal SAP's foreign policy choices and its domestic electoral strategies. The implications of globalization on the Swedish welfare system will make the subject of two chapters - chapters four and five, respectively, whereupon the Europeanization consequences will be treated at length in the third part of this work - chapters six and seven, respectively. Apparently, at first sight, the link between foreign policy and electoral strategy is difficult to prove and uncanny, in the least. However, in the SAP's case there is a bulk of literature and public opinion statistical data able to show that governmental domestic policy and party politics are in a tight dependence to foreign policy decisions and sovereignty issues. Again, these country characteristics and peculiar causal relationships are outlined in the first chapters and explained in the second and third parts. The sixth chapter explores the presupposed relationship between Europeanization and environmental policy, on one hand, and SAP's environmental policy formulation and simultaneous agenda-setting at the international level, on the other hand. This chapter describes Swedish leadership in environmental policy formulation on two simultaneous fronts and across two different time spans. The last chapter, chapter eight - while trying to develop a conclusion, explores the alternative theories plausible in explaining the outlined hypotheses and points out the reasons why these theories do not fit as valid alternative explanation to my systemic corporatism thesis as the main causal factor determining SAP's 'dominant position'. Among the alternative theories, I would consider Traedgaardh L. and Bo Rothstein's historical exceptionalism thesis and the public opinion thesis, which alone are not able to explain the half century social democratic endurance in government in the Swedish case.

Innovation and economic performance of the firms in the service sector: relevant issues and open problems

This thesis is a collection of essays related to the topic of innovation in the service sector. The choice of this structure is functional to the purpose of single out some of the relevant issues and try to tackle them, revising first the state of the literature and then proposing a way forward. Three relevant issues has been therefore selected: (i) the definition of innovation in the service sector and the connected question of measurement of innovation; (ii) the issue of productivity in services; (iii) the classification of innovative firms in the service sector. Facing the first issue, chapter II shows how the initial width of the original Schumpeterian definition of innovation has been narrowed and then passed to the service sector form the manufacturing one in a reduce technological form. Chapter III tackle the issue of productivity in services, discussing the difficulties for measuring productivity in a context where the output is often immaterial. We reconstruct the dispute on the Baumol’s cost disease argument and propose two different ways to go forward in the research on productivity in services: redefining the output along the line of a characteristic approach; and redefining the inputs, particularly analysing which kind of input it’s worth saving. Chapter IV derives an integrated taxonomy of innovative service and manufacturing firms, using data coming from the 2008 CIS survey for Italy. This taxonomy is based on the enlarged definition of “innovative firm” deriving from the Schumpeterian definition of innovation and classify firms using a cluster analysis techniques. The result is the emergence of a four cluster solution, where firms are differentiated by the breadth of the innovation activities in which they are involved. Chapter 5 reports some of the main conclusions of each singular previous chapter and the points worth of further research in the future.

Survival of the fittest: Herausforderungen an den Fremdenverkehr im Zeichen des global change

Der Globale Wandel ist im Begriff, den Tourismus zu verändern. Die Wechselwirkung von Tourismus und Klimawandel sind beidseitiger Art. Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigt Möglichkeiten der Adaption und einen wandelbaren Fremdenverkehr. Eine Übersicht der gängigen Tourismusmodelle stellt den Stand der Forschung dar. Der Fremdenverkehr ist durch drei Faktoren massiv geprägt: Die Nachfrage und Motivation, die Reisemittler und Veranstalter sowie das Destinationsangebot. Bei der Motivation wirken Motiv und Anreiz Motivationspsychologisch betrachtet auf die Reiseentscheidung deren Grundlage verarbeitete Informationen sind. Reisemittler und Veranstalter haben einen großen Einfluss auf Entscheidungsprozesse. Neue IuK Technologien haben deren Arbeit grundlegend verändert. Das Tourismusangebot wird stark durch die naturräumlichen Gegebenheiten sowie das politische System bestimmt. Überlebenswichtig für die Destination ist die evolutionstheoretisch etrachtete Fitnessmaximierung also Adaption und Wandel, um sich an geänderte Rahmenbedingungen anpassen zu können. Gerade im Bereich des Klimawandels müssen Maßnahmen ergriffen werden. Aber auch die Marktsättigung gerade in Verbindung mit der aktuellen Finanzkrise wirkt besonders schwer auf die Destination. Eine hohes Innovationsvermögen, Trendscanning und der Zusammenschluss in flexiblen Netzwerkclustern können einen Kundenmehrwert erzeugen. Die Fitnessmaximierung ist somit Überlebensziel der Destination und führt zur Kundenzufriedenheit die im Sättigungsmarkt alleinig Wachstum generieren kann.

Birth, Development and Progressive Institutionalization of the Ombudsman in the Russian Legal and Political System

One of the current trends in governance and legal development in Russia is aimed at establishing a modern, efficient and internationally harmonised system of safeguards of human rights and civil liberties. A fairly recent addition to this system has been the institution of ombudsman as a public authority specialised in promoting and protecting human rights and civil liberties. The introduction of this institution as well as its formalisation at the constitutional and legislative levels has been increasingly relevant and important, as it raises the dealings between the state and the individual to a new level. As an independent public institution resolving conflicts between citizens and government authorities, the ombudsman makes steps, within the scope of his jurisdiction, to restitute individual rights, and helps to enhance the reputation of government. The present work describes and assesses the birth, development and institutionalization process of the Ombudsman Office in the Russian Federation, at federal and regional levels, with a particular emphasis on the role of international references and cooperation for institution building. Ombudsmen have done a magnificent job in demonstrating value with the resolution of individual and systemic complaints; subsequent improvements to government; and economic savings by mitigating litigation costs.