cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
title: Characterization of Rhodopseudomonas Palustrus Strains for the Production of Fixed Nitrogen Fertilizer for Mars
Creators: name: Derrick, Daniel Kade
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: The purpose of this project was to characterize the potential of various strains of purple non-sulfur bacteria for the production of fixed nitrogen fertilizers for the manned Mars missions. Six strains of Rhodopseudomonas palustris (CGA009, CGA010, TIE-1, NifA*, and PB23) were all investigated. Through initial growth trial experiments, R. palustris NifA* and PB23 were selected for their engineered nitrogen fixation and rapid growth respectively. Growth curves and ammonium concentrations were collected over time in pilot scale batch photobioreactors (200 mL). Biomass production was then scaled up to benchtop photobioreactors (1.5 L) and then 14 L total volume for both NifA* and PB23. Cells were harvested via centrifugation, and nitrogen degradation was characterized using both volatile ammonia and soluble nitrogen arrays. While PB23 was found to grow more rapidly at small scale, NifA* performed better in scale up. Further studies will quantify rates of nitrogen degradation using the arrays developed in this Senior Design Project.
title: Maximizing Returns for Investors Using Modern Portfolio Theory and the Efficient Frontier
Creators: name: Parkinson, Charity Smith
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: There exists an efficient frontier upon which there is an optimal point of allocation of an investor’s assets among different types of investment vehicles. Identifying this point and allocating a portfolio accordingly allow an investor to capture the highest market return with the least amount of risk. This research study offers a model which can be used to find this optimal investment allocation and discusses the challenges and assumptions associated with using it. Using techniques discussed in Markowitz (1952), we obtain the optimal allocation of wealth for two portfolios of 13 and 12 assets, respectively. Such a model is not intended to portray the “perfect” portfolio allocation but provides context for decision making based upon the desire for high returns and investor’s aversion to risk. This model allows for optimal allocation, both with and without constraints to short selling. The results from the models have important implications by providing investment advisors more sophistication when assigning allocation weights. Instead of assigning these weights arbitrarily, which is common in wealth advisory, our model provides direction for obtaining the weights corresponding to the efficient frontier.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: THE TOUR OPERATOR’S PERCEPTIONS
Creators: name: Gopal, Srinivasan
Publisher: name: tourismos
Year: 2014

description: This paper discuss about the main issue of the environment and the initiatives taken by the tour operators in the conservation, minimization of the environmental degradation, as an undeniable fact the tourism industry is one of the major contributor of pollution. The comparative approach has been adapted from the sustainability tourism handbook by the European tourism commission is followed in the paper, different perceptions and approach taken by the tour operators towards the environmental sustainability are compared and presented. And much has already been written on the direct, physical impacts of tourism on ecosystems and host communities (Matthieson and Wall, 1982; Jenner and Smith, 1992; Price, 1995). Yet so far, only a few researchers have attempted to explore ways in which industry may be involved creatively in regulation (Poon, 1993; Goodall, 1995; Eaton, 1996), which insists on the assessment of the role of the tour operators in the environmental sustainability.
description: tourismos, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2014)
THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE FUTURE OF TOURISM
Creators: name: Thornburg, Jack
Publisher: name: tourismos
Year: 2021

description: Under the neoliberal economic model promulgated by the International Monetary Fund, many countries such as Costa Rica have changed economic policy to emphasize international tourism. With the increase in tourist arrivals, tourism is considered a major generator of foreign exchange but with externalities subsidized through degradation of local environments. Such development is considered inefficient and unsustainable resource use. Eco-tourism is environmentally friendly due to its small-scale, community based, and reliant on local commodities. Eco-tourism is significant in a world of increasingly scarce natural resources and environmental degradation. A world of environmental limitations requires a shift in tourist modalities. The policy challenge is to decentralize the tourist sector and reorient towards broad-based eco-tourism.
description: tourismos, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2014)
SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF CULTURAL RESHAPING ON A CITY’S HOSPITALITY ENTERPRISES
Creators: name: Charterina, Jon
name: Barrutia, Jon
Publisher: name: tourismos
Year: 2014

description: This study aims to detect the synergistic relations between the dynamics of the hospitality industry and a city’s efforts towards cultural revitalization, as a main part of its general urban regeneration. To this end, we analyse in detail the case of Bilbao, which in 2010 was awarded the Lee Kwan New World City Prize. This European city has extensive experience in territory and urban regeneration, and a significant leadership record in the cultural realm. Our analyses draw on a series of in-depth interviews with managers from the hospitality, commercial, cultural and public sectors. Another central aim of this paper is to gather conclusions that may be extrapolated to similar contexts and to offer recommendations for action both to the hospitality industry and to public bodies.
description: tourismos, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2014)
Two speed TASEP
Creators: name: Borodin, Alexei
name: Ferrari, Patrik L.
name: Sasamoto, Tomohiro
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: Probability (math.PR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 82C22, 60K35, 15A52

description: We consider the TASEP on Z with two blocks of particles having different jump rates. We study the large time behavior of particles' positions. It depends both on the jump rates and the region we focus on, and we determine the complete process diagram. In particular, we discover a new transition process in the region where the influence of the random and deterministic parts of the initial condition interact. Slow particles may create a shock, where the particle density is discontinuous and the distribution of a particle's position is asymptotically singular. We determine the diffusion coefficient of the shock without using second class particles. We also analyze the case where particles are effectively blocked by a wall moving with speed equal to their intrinsic jump rate.
description: 51 pages, 7 figures, LaTeX
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY: A STUDY FROM THE TOURIST STATE OF UTTARAKHAND, INDIA
Creators: name: Kala, Devkant
name: Bagri, S.C.
Publisher: name: tourismos
Year: 2014

description: Hotel in developing economies must create effective competitive strategies for survival, since they exist in an environment where stakeholders are demanding more from every organization. Consequently, they should focus on reliable and critical performance indicators, absolutely important for the success of hotels and adopt a comprehensive performance measurement framework that meets the requirements of the dynamic environment. This research is undertaken to identify the key performance indicators in hospitality industry of Uttarakhand and to find out the influence of managerial characteristics on the choice of performance indicators. Data was collected from a sample of 143 hotel managers of two major tourist locations using questionnaire over a six weeks period. Results indicate that financial indicators are still prevalent and most preferred key performance indicators in the elite managerial segment of almost all hospitality organizations. The study suggests that hospitality managers need to rethink about the choice of their performance indicators.
description: tourismos, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2014)
title: Shared Roots: An Examination of the Interconnectedness of Cultures and Nations Manifest Through Art and Design
Creators: name: Baldwin, Hannah
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.— Robert L. Peters
The way that people influence their surroundings through art and design is a fascinating lens through which to view culture and history. Visual arts, including architecture, illustrate how cultures meld and shape one another’s histories and values as they come in contact. Pattern making, in particular, is found in every culture as a way of recording and making sense of the patterns of life. This project seeks to highlight the interconnectedness of cultures by examining the history and cultures of three European countries through the lens of pattern design. Field research was conducted in Italy, Romania, Spain by visiting museums, natural and historic sites, talking with locals, and examining art and architectural styles through sketching, photography, and a series of memoirs. The culmination of this project is a line of coordinating, but distinct, wallcovering designs that represent each of the three countries. The collection illustrates the individual yet interconnected natures of these countries, emphasizing the beauty of being distinct yet connected.
ARE BUTLER’S TOURISM AREA LIFE CYCLE AND PLOG’S PSYCHOGRAPHIC MODEL CORRECT?
Creators: name: Muangasame, Kaewta
Publisher: name: tourismos
Year: 2014

description: There are over 200 citations according to Butler and Plog’s models while only few researches have criticized these models considering the validity of the models in research and their limitation. Therefore, this paper aims to present the limitations of these two models to apply in tourism research. Using a case study of Thailand, the paper illustrates complicated nature of the destination and diversification in tourism activities applying the four characteristics of tourism product from marketing aspect. Finally, it analyzed the applicability of the Chaos Model of tourism in terms of understanding the complexity of tourism in recent situation in comparison to those two models that can be wrong under conditions of how the model was created and their research validity.
description: tourismos, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2014)
Unconventional Meissner screening induced by chiral molecules in a conventional superconductor
Creators: name: Alpern, Hen
name: Amundsen, Morten
name: Hartmann, Roman
name: Sukenik, Nir
name: Spuri, Alfredo
name: Yochelis, Shira
name: Prokscha, Thomas
name: Gutkin, Vitaly
name: Anahory, Yonathan
name: Scheer, Elke
name: Linder, Jacob
name: Salman, Zaher
name: Millo, Oded
name: Paltiel, Yossi
name: Di Bernardo, Angelo
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The coupling of a superconductor to a different material often results in a system with unconventional superconducting properties. A conventional superconductor is a perfect diamagnet expelling magnetic fields out of its volume, a phenomenon known as Meissner effect. Here, we show that the simple adsorption of a monolayer of chiral molecules, which are non-magnetic in solution, onto the surface of a conventional superconductor can markedly change its diamagnetic Meissner response. By measuring the internal magnetic field profile in superconducting Nb thin films under an applied transverse field by low-energy muon spin rotation spectroscopy, we demonstrate that the local field profile inside Nb is considerably modified upon molecular adsorption in a way that also depends on the applied field direction. The modification is not limited to the chiral molecules/Nb interface, but it is long ranged and occurs over a length scale comparable to the superconducting coherence length. Zero-field muon spin spectroscopy measurements in combination with our theoretical analysis show that odd-frequency spin-triplet states induced by the chiral molecules are responsible for the modification of the Meissner response observed inside Nb. These results indicate that a chiral molecules/superconductor system supports odd-frequency spin-triplet pairs due to the molecules acting as a spin active layer and therefore they imply that such system can be used as a simpler alternative to superconductor/ferromagnet or superconductor/topological insulator hybrids for the generation and manipulation of unconventional spin-triplet superconducting states.
description: 13 pages and 5 figures plus Appendixes
Vulnerability of "A novel protocol-authentication algorithm ruling out a man-in-the-middle attack in Quantum Cryptography"
Creators: name: Abidin, Aysajan
name: Larsson, Jan-Åke
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In this paper we review and comment on "A novel protocol-authentication algorithm ruling out a man-in-the-middle attack in quantum cryptography", [M. Peev et al., Int. J. Quant. Inform., 3, 225, (2005)]. In particular, we point out that the proposed primitive is not secure when used in a generic protocol, and needs additional authenticating properties of the surrounding quantum-cryptographic protocol.
description: 6 pages
title: Emergent Seedling Spatial Patterns Following Insect Seed Predation in a Simulated Population
Creators: name: Tirrell, Justin
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: Tropical vertebrate species have faced increasing pressures from hunters, causing many to become locally extinct. I used an agent-based model (NEDD) to investigate the influence of dispersal and insect seed predation on seedling survival. Statistical dispersal kernels were used to simulate the dispersal of seeds. The NEDD model generates survival and spatial data from parameter sets, which were chosen based on a Latin-Hypercube experimental design. Spatial point analysis was performed on the output data to identify trends in spatial clustering patterns as the parameter space was changed. The results of this investigation suggest that there is a positive association between the proportion of seeds that are distributed at a frugivore site and the successful recruitment of seeds. Increasing frequency of frugivore sites was shown to have a negative impact on seedling recruitment. Understanding the role of tropical vertebrates in mediating seed dispersal and survival may inform management decisions in the near future.
Critical issues in the formation of quantum computer test structures by ion implantation
Creators: name: Schenkel, T.
name: Lo, C. C.
name: Weis, C. D.
name: Schuh, A.
name: Persaud, A.
name: Bokor, J.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The formation of quantum computer test structures in silicon by ion implantation enables the characterization of spin readout mechanisms with ensembles of dopant atoms and the development of single atom devices. We briefly review recent results in the characterization of spin dependent transport and single ion doping and then discuss the diffusion and segregation behaviour of phosphorus, antimony and bismuth ions from low fluence, low energy implantations as characterized through depth profiling by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Both phosphorus and bismuth are found to segregate to the SiO2/Si interface during activation anneals, while antimony diffusion is found to be minimal. An effect of the ion charge state on the range of antimony ions, 121Sb25+, in SiO2/Si is also discussed.
title: tourismos, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2014)
Creators: name: Tourismos
Publisher: name: University of the Aegean
Year: 2014

description: The Sociology of Tourism. Theoretical and empirical investigations...321-324 STANDARDISED AND CUSTOMISED KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS IN HUNGARIAN HOTELS...307-319 MYSTERY AND THRILLER TOURISM IN EUROPEAN CULTURAL DESTINATIONS...293-306 AN ANALYSIS OF SUSTAINABLE OPERATING PRACTICES IN MIAMI, FLORIDA HOTELS AND RESORTS...279-291 WORKAHOLISM IN TOURISM SECTOR: THE CASE OF TAIWAN...265-278 AGRITOURISM POTENTIAL OF GREENHOUSE ENTERPRISES ESTABLISHED AT DIKILI-KAYNARCA REGION IN IZMIR-TURKEY...253-264 REGIONAL AIRPORTS, TOURISM AND DEVELOPMENT: TWO PORTUGUESE CASE STUDIES...239-251 EMERGING RURAL DESTINATIONS: THE CASE STUDY OF FLORINA, WESTERN MACEDONIA, GREECE...223-238 ARE BUTLER’S TOURISM AREA LIFE CYCLE AND PLOG’S PSYCHOGRAPHIC MODEL CORRECT?...207-221 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY: A STUDY FROM THE TOURIST STATE OF UTTARAKHAND, INDIA...187-206 SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF CULTURAL RESHAPING ON A CITY’S HOSPITALITY ENTERPRISES...167-186 THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE FUTURE OF TOURISM...145-165 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: THE TOUR OPERATOR’S PERCEPTIONS...127-143 SERVICE QUALITY OF TOURIST GUIDES AND THEIR ROLE IN TRAVEL AGENCY MARKETING...113-125 HOW SMALL HOTELS WOULD PENETRATE IN THE ALL-INCLUSIVE MARKET: AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH...93-111 AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF INDEPENDENT TRAVEL AGENCIES IN ITALY...73-92 RESIDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TOURISM IMPACTS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS TOURISM POLICIES...37-71 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND ONLINE HOTEL REVIEW EVALUATION...15-35 Initial Pages & Editorial...i-xiv
title: The Art of Seduction: Male Perceptions of Sexual Willingness
Creators: name: Starrett, Lisa
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: The body of sexual assault research historically focuses on survivors, specifically female survivors. Examining male perpetrators is an important gap in the literature. Research demonstrates that men often misperceive the sexual willingness of female partners. Additionally, men predominantly react with guilt, shame, and depression when accused of sexual assault (Brennan, Swartout, Cook, & Parrot, 2018). The current study examined men’s perceptions of non-consensual dating advice as provided by a best-selling men’s dating book. We found several factors that related to higher endorsement of the non-consensual tactics, including past or present involvement in a fraternity, knowing a sexual assault perpetrator, living in an Urban area, affiliating with a religion, viewing pornography “a great deal,” being married, and identifying as a sexual minority. Implications and discussion on greater representation in research for sexual minorities are discussed.
Toolbox for atomic layer deposition process development on high surface area powders
Creators: name: Knemeyer, Kristian
name: Baumgarten, Robert
name: Ingale, Piyush
name: Naumann D’Alnoncourt, Raoul
name: Driess, Matthias
name: Rosowski, Frank
Publisher: name: Technische Universität Berlin
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: 540 Chemie und zugeordnete Wissenschaften
subject: atomic layer deposition
subject: materials properties
subject: adsorption
subject: surface and interface chemistry
subject: thin film deposition
subject: measuring instruments

description: Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an industrially applied technique for thin film deposition. The vast majority of processes target flat substrates rather than powders. For ALD on powders, new processes are needed, as different reaction conditions are required. Here, two setups are described in detail, which enhance the ALD process development for powders. The first setup described is capable of directly measuring the vapor pressure of a given precursor by a capacitance diaphragm gauge. Promising precursors can be pre-selected, and suitable precursor saturation temperatures can be determined. The second setup consists of four parallel reactors with individual temperature zones to screen the optimal ALD temperature window in a time efficient way. Identifying the precursor saturation temperature beforehand and subsequently performing the first ALD half cycle in the parallel setup at four different reactor temperatures simultaneously will drastically reduce process development times. Validation of both setups is shown for the well-known ALD precursors, trimethylaluminum to deposit aluminum oxide and diethyl zinc to deposit zinc oxide, both on amorphous silica powder.
title: Limits of Growth: An Ecological Approach to Mainstream Economics
Creators: name: Alder, Jacob Cannon
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: Modern economists today rely on several fundamental assumptions in the same way physicists rely on laws governing energy and motion. Economists use growth—ideally unrestricted growth—as the key assumption upon which they build models and policy recommendations. The central economic theory explains that growth will enhance individual well-being over time. However, every known physical system has boundaries beyond which it will collapse, and the observed reality is that economic growth cannot be separated from physical resource consumption. As a result, many societies are overshooting physical, ecological boundaries. This project focuses on a few of the complexities generated by a growth-oriented economy in Northern Utah. It analyzes the ways traditional economic models prioritize growth as the primary means of improving quality of life. It explores several positive and negative impacts of limits to growth, whether they are elective policy measures (like paying a carbon tax) or reactions to a collapsed system (like depleted water reservoirs). It draws on electricity data from two utility providers and compares trends with interconnected behavioral and technological changes. Ultimately, this project questions the ways in which society could thrive without traditional economic growth. By using axioms from physics, primarily the second law of thermodynamics, this project assesses population projections and increased resource consumption, drawing connections between a growing population, a growing economy, and growing energy use.
Liberty Icons: Linguistic and Multimodal Notes on the Cultural Roots of Digital Technologies
Creators: name: Moschini, Ilaria
Publisher: name: Firenze University Press
Year: 2014
Subjects: Digital Technologies; Functional Linguistics; Gnosticism; Multimodality; US Rhetoric of Liberty

description: Since the famous 1984 Apple Television Ad, personal computers and the Internet have become icons of popular culture that embody libertarian values. Indeed, they have been described as the necessary tools for the empowerment of the individual and the realization of a peer-to-peer decentralized democracy. This libertarian representation has become a frame, perceived as universal and celebrated all over the world, on a daily basis, through the creation of user-generated contents. I believe that both personal computers and the Internet are American cultural products not only because of the very peculiar historical blending out of which they originate – a mixture of Cold War industrial research culture, US counterculture and DIY ethos (Turner 2006) – but, mainly, because of the founding concept that they are associated with, i.e. freedom. Adopting a functional linguistic/multimodal perspective, my article will explore the conceptual/semantic mapping of digital discourse through the analysis of a corpus of texts that goes from 1984 Apple Ad to Hillary Clinton’s Internet Freedom Speech in order to show how the current mainframe global discourse on digital technologies is permeated with a concept of freedom that combines the US founding rhetoric of liberty together with cybernetics, gnosticism and psychedelic narrations.
description: LEA - Lingue e Letterature d'Oriente e d'Occidente, Vol 2 (2013)
Distribution of conductance for Anderson Insulators: A theory with a single parameter
Creators: name: Douglas, Andrew
name: Muttalib, K. A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We obtain an analytic expression for the full distribution of conductance for a strongly disordered three dimensional conductor within a perturbative approach based on the transfer-matrix formulation. Our results confirm numerical evidence that the log-normal limit of the distribution is not reached even in the deeply insulating regime. We show that the variance of the logarithm of the conductance scales as a fractional power of the mean, while the skewness changes sign as one approaches the Anderson metal-insulator transition from the deeply insulating limit, all described as a function of a single parameter. The approach suggests a possible single parameter description of the Anderson transition that takes into account the full nontrivial distribution of conductance.
description: 4 pages, 4 figures
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND ONLINE HOTEL REVIEW EVALUATION
Creators: name: Hasegawa, Hikaru
Publisher: name: tourismos
Year: 2014

description: In this article, we analyse the relationship between customers' satisfaction with several types of hotel attributes and reviewer's descriptive information included in online hotel reviews. In particular, we consider the possibility of a causal relationship between reviewer's descriptive information and customer satisfaction ratings. For this purpose, we construct dummy variables that represent the characteristics of reviewer's descriptive information and use them as explanatory variables in a multivariate ordered probit model. From our empirical results, we find that reviewer's descriptive information related to hotel's attributes have substantial effects on corresponding customer satisfaction. In particular, the evaluations of service and hospitality have substantial effects on all satisfaction variables.
description: tourismos, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2014)
title: Oxidative Protection Using Pluronic Micelles
Creators: name: Heap, Mitchell Glen
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: Methods for drug delivery are currently being researched in many different applications. One significant obstacle to drug delivery is a drug's inherent hydrophobic character. Drugs that are hydrophobic are difficult to successfully administer since the body consists mostly of water. Therefore, a greater variety of drugs could potentially be used for the treatment of disease if they could successfully be administered. Recent research in oncology and virology has attempted to overcome the obstacles posed by hydrophobic drugs by encapsulating them in micelles. Micelles form spontaneously from compounds that contain both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions and can be used to increase the solubility of hydrophobic drugs in water. Commonly used compounds that form micelles are Pluronic copolymers, which have a hydrophilic block that consists of polyethylene oxide (PEO) subunits and two hydrophobic blocks that consist of polypropylene oxide (PPO) subunits. Different types of Pluronic such as Pluronic F68 and F127 each have a triblock structure made of the same PEO and PPO subunits but differ in the number of these subunit repeats. This difference affects both size and hydrophilic lipophilic ratio, which is described as hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB). It was hypothesized that micelles offer encapsulated drugs protection from oxidation and that polymer properties such as HLB influence the degree of protection. Results from this experiment indicate that Pluronic can be used to form micelles that offer a degree of oxidative protection to encapsulated quercetin. Results also showed that the Pluronic polymers F68 and F127 may offer different levels of oxidative protection as well. The data suggests that Pluronic F127 may offer greater protection than Pluronic F68 which is thought to be due to differences in the inherent properties of each copolymer. Among these properties, HLB is thought to be a significant influencing factor.
title: Characterization of Rhodopseudomonas Palustris Strains for the Production of Fixed Nitrogen Fertilizer for Mars
Creators: name: Walters, Andrew James
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: The purpose of this project was to characterize the potential of various strains of purple non-sulfur bacteria for the production of fixed nitrogen fertilizers for the manned Mars missions. Six strains of Rhodopseudomonas palustris (CGA009, CGA010, TIE-1, NifA*, and PB23) were all investigated. Through initial growth trial experiments, R. palustris NifA* and PB23 were selected for their engineered nitrogen fixation and rapid growth respectively. Growth curves and ammonium concentrations were collected over time in pilot scale batch photobioreactors (200 mL). Biomass production was then scaled up to benchtop photobioreactors (1.5 L). Fourteen liters of both NifA* and PB23 were then grown at scale. Cells were harvested via centrifugation, and nitrogen degradation was characterized using both volatile ammonia and soluble nitrogen arrays. While PB23 was found to grow more rapidly at small scale, NifA* performed better in scale up. Further studies will quantify rates of nitrogen degradation using the arrays developed in this study.
RESIDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TOURISM IMPACTS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS TOURISM POLICIES
Creators: name: Brida, Juan Gabriel
name: Disegna, Marta
name: Osti, Linda
Publisher: name: tourismos
Year: 2014

description: The purpose of this paper is to explore residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts and how they affect attitudes towards local tourism policies. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of community attachment and employment sector of residents. This study presents the results of a quantitative survey among residing families of a small mountain community located in the North-East of Italy. The findings reveal that residents perceptions on economic, environmental and sociocultural impacts affect their support to local tourism policies. Residents who perceive positively tourism impacts are more willing to support future tourism development policies. The analysis has also demonstrated that native-born residents generally perceive negatively tourism impacts and are less willing to support any increase in the overall number of tourists, supporting the well know social exchange theory. Some implications for the tourism planning and management of the destination are also discussed.
description: tourismos, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2014)
title: Exposure of Phlebotomus Argentipes to Alpha-Cypermethrin, Permethrin, and DDT Using CDC Bottle Bioassays to Assess Insecticide Susceptibility
Creators: name: Andersen, Jacob Rex
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: Background: Insecticide resistance for sand flies is a concern since sand flies are vectors for Leishmania spp. parasites which cause leishmaniasis affecting millions of people each year. The CDC bottle bioassay is used to assess resistance by comparing known insecticide diagnostic doses and diagnostic times from an insecticide-susceptible population. The objective of this study was to determine diagnostic doses and diagnostic times for α-cypermethrin and the lethal dose for 50% and 90% mortality for α-cypermethrin, permethrin, and DDT for Phlebotomus argentipes.
Methods: The CDC bottle bioassays were performed in 1,000 mL glass bottles with 15-25 sand flies from a laboratory strain of insecticide-susceptible P. argentipes. A range of concentrations of α-cypermethrin, permethrin, and DDT were evaluated. Approximately four replicates at each concentration were completed with a 24-hour recovery period after the exposure tests. 24-hour mortality dose-response survival curves were created. A time-to-knockdown test was conducted withα-cypermethrin to determine the diagnostic doses with diagnostic times.
Results: α-Cypermethrin had the lowest LD50 and LD90 followed by permethrin and then DDT with the highest values. Diagnostic doses with (diagnostic times) for α-cypermethrin were 7.5 μg/mL (30 minutes), 5.0 μg/mL (35 minutes), and 3.0 μg/mL (45 minutes).
Conclusions: The dose-response survival curves, diagnostic doses, and diagnostic times can be utilized by control programs in assessing insecticide resistance in field populations of P. argentipes. The control programs can apply the appropriate insecticide and dose to effectively manage the population. The data presented can also be used a starting point for determining diagnostic doses and diagnostic times for other sand fly species.
title: Microcarrier Separation Devices for Continuous In-Line Bioprocessing of Adherent Cell Culture
Creators: name: Burrows, Tessa M.
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: Bioreactors are a space-efficient method of growing cells en masse for industrial operations by suspending the cells in an agitated vessel full of cell culture media. Adherent cell lines can be grown on microcarriers in bioreactors to reduce the space needed for petri dishes or flasks in the lab. One of the important factors in cell culture is changing the cell media to remove cell waste, secreted products, and/or replenish the nutrients available. Bioreactors face unique challenges with media changes, as cells should not be removed from a culture when media is changed. Currently, some labs let the cells settle to the bottom of the bioreactor for 30-45 min before decanting the spent media and refilling the tank with new media. This limits the cells’ access to oxygen and nutrients, and can cause the cells to die or stop producing a product of interest. This project provides bioreactor users with three single-use products that separate microcarriers from media in a continuous flow, to shorten the time adherent cells are outside of their ideal environment. The Honors extension of this project evaluates the adherent cell lines commonly used in industry, and calculates the stress induced on the microcarriers based on the fluid mechanics of the proposed designs. The designs selected for this project utilize gravitational and centrifugal settling with an inclined settler, lamella separator, and hydrocylone and were designed to operate with two peristaltic pumps to control flow rates, and separate a solution of dilute microcarriers. The Honors extension of this project also includes a robust explanation of the mechanism of settling for each design, and more clearly detail show the results can be used to customize a separator to address the needs of a lab. Flow rates were tested to determine the most effective inlet and permeate streams to maximize settling for high flow rates. Two prototype designs–the inclined settler and the lamella separator –had a separation efficiency greater than 99% for a moderate flow rate above 2.083 L/hr (50 L over 24 hours), and calculations of the maximum fluid shear forces were negligible compared to forces generated by bioreactor agitators. These designs can be scaled up to larger bioreactor cultures to allow for higher throughput and more efficient product separation, leading to longer bioreactor experiments with reduced risk of undue cell stress or death.
AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF INDEPENDENT TRAVEL AGENCIES IN ITALY
Creators: name: Turcato, Laura
name: Namasivayam, Mohan
name: Shevels, Terry
Publisher: name: tourismos
Year: 2014

description: This summary paper is an attempt to indicate what the current situation of Italian independent travel agencies is in the light of the economic crisis and major changes that lately have affected the industry. The study is based on a strategic analysis of the industry to identify whether or not independent agencies are sustainable in the long term by adopting a strategy that includes the process of disintermediation, and, it will provide recommendations to the management of independent travel agencies regarding how such agencies should respond more proactively to the recent crisis, by taking advantage of opportunities rather than primarily responding defensively. The economic crisis in Italy is definitely creating huge concerns to travel agencies, causing sometimes agency closures. However, from the data collated and analysed the researchers noticed that the crisis is in part changing the industry in favour of travel agencies. In the researchers’ opinion, agencies should be aware of such ‘positive’ changes and use them as the basis for their future success.
description: tourismos, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2014)
Status inconsistencies in an educational setting : an application of rank balance theory
Creators: name: Clark, Susan M.
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2010

description: This research is concerned with a theory of rank balance as an approach to understanding stratified social systems. Despite a long history of interest in the problem, it was not until recently that an attempt was made to develop a theory which integrates rank balance within the field of social stratification. This project critically examines the theory developed by Zelditch and Anderson. One hundred and ninety-two students in a university residence were interviewed in order to collect data directed to answering three problems. The first problem investigated is a precondition to the theory and is concerned with the way in which a social system is stratified. It is maintained that a person has an overall rank in a system which is determined by his/her ranks on relevant evaluative criteria weighted according to their relative importance. The data showed strong support for this part of the theory. The second problem was to study the extent to which the students had balanced or imbalanced ranks under three different definitions of balance. The results show that the percentage of balanced and imbalanced persons varies according to the precise definition used, although under all three conditions a majority of the students were imbalanced. Such findings indicate that the usefulness of rank balance as an explanatory system may be limited if there is no agreement on which people are balanced or imbalanced. The third problem studied was to investigate if people who have imbalanced ranks behave differently from those whose ranks are balanced. One response to imbalance was studied. This was the desire for rank mobility as expressed through preferences for changes in ranks on the evaluative criteria. Contrary to the predictions of the theory, students generally did not appear to be concerned with rank balance. Possible reasons for this lack of concern may be found in the peculiarities of the student residences as a social system, in the type of evaluative criteria important to the students, or in the nature of the comparison processes the members make between themselves. Evidence from this research indicates that the scope of the theory has to be limited since it is not likely to be applicable to all social systems.
New Performance Measures for Object Tracking under Complex Environments
Creators: name: Mondal, Ajoy
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)
subject: Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Various performance measures based on the ground truth and without ground truth exist to evaluate the quality of a developed tracking algorithm. The existing popular measures - average center location error (ACLE) and average tracking accuracy (ATA) based on ground truth, may sometimes create confusion to quantify the quality of a developed algorithm for tracking an object under some complex environments (e.g., scaled or oriented or both scaled and oriented object). In this article, we propose three new auxiliary performance measures based on ground truth information to evaluate the quality of a developed tracking algorithm under such complex environments. Moreover, one performance measure is developed by combining both two existing measures ACLE and ATA and three new proposed measures for better quantifying the developed tracking algorithm under such complex conditions. Some examples and experimental results conclude that the proposed measure is better than existing measures to quantify one developed algorithm for tracking objects under such complex environments.
title: Intra- and Interspecific Secondary Metabolite Variation Between Fruit and Leaf Tissues in the Hyperdiverse Psychotria Genus
Creators: name: Carlson, Cole A.
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: Secondary metabolites are chemical compounds that are considered to mediate a variety of plant interactions with their environment and are not involved in basic metabolism. Recently, there has been an interest in understanding the function and allocation of these metabolites in fruit tissues. In contrast to leaves, the chemistry in fruit tissue mediates exclusive interactions with seed dispersers that directly affect plant fitness and are under different evolutionary selective pressures. Only a few studies outline the patterns of chemistry between fruit and leaf tissues. This study aims to understand how secondary metabolites in two species of the hyperdiverse congeneric genus (Psychotria) differ between fruit and leaf tissues within each species, how plant tissue chemistry differs across species, and what implications this has for ecological interactions, seed dispersal, and the understanding of evolutionary processes. Plant samples from seed, leaf, and pulp tissue were collected from two species of the hyperdiverse Psychotria genus, P. marginata and P. limonensis. Plant samples were collected in a Neotropical forest on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. The secondary metabolites from these plant tissues were extracted using a [99.9: 0.1] ethanol to formic acid solution. The plant extracts will be analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry methods. The data will then further be analyzed using novel modeling methods to elucidate and compare the chemical structural diversity of each tissue and species.
Within species, I predict the chemical makeup of leaf tissues is different than that of pulp and seed tissues. This would further support the hypothesis that secondary metabolites in fruit tissues have an adaptive function. Across species, I predict that the differences in secondary metabolite diversity in leaf tissues will be greater than the differences within species. These results would suggest an evolutionary mechanism in which defensive leaf chemistry is selected upon. This selection of leaf chemistry contributes to the diversification of the genus to fill novel niches and allows for the hyperdiverse genus to coexist within a small area. Though the chemistry between the leaf tissues is predicted to be divergent when compared across species, the question remains if this trend will be exhibited in fruits. I predict that fruit tissue chemistry will be similar between species in order to conserve the important function these metabolites play in mediating interactions with the same seed disperser within the genus. This study will lead to a better understanding of the evolutionary selective processes imposed on different plant tissues and the significance that these metabolites play in the diversification of plant genera.
title: The Response of Male Bumblebees to a Putative Queen Pheromone
Creators: name: Haemmerle, Xavier K.
Publisher: name: Utah State University
Year: 2020

description: Queen pheromones are chemical signals produced by the dominant reproductive female in many species of eusocial insects. These pheromones are vital for maintaining a reproductive division of labor. Two evolutionary scenarios may describe the origin of queen pheromones. Sensory exploitation describes a scenario where the pheromone is produced to take advantage of a preexisting sensory bias in a population. An alternative scenario is that the recipient of the pheromone has an adapted response to a preexisting chemical signal. There is a growing body of evidence that cuticular hydrocarbons that act as queen pheromones are co-opted from ancient fertility signals that existed in solitary ancestral species of modern social Hymenoptera. In many species of Hymenoptera, similar cuticular hydrocarbons have also been identified as sex pheromones. I tested the hypothesis that a putative queen pheromone identified in Bombus impatiens originated from a sex pheromone present in an ancestral species with an experiment designed to identify primer and releaser effects of queen pheromones on males. Although behavioral (releaser) results were inconclusive, future analyses of the collected samples may reveal neural or reproductive physiological (primer) responses to the pheromone. This experiment will serve as a foundation from which to design additional studies concerning the evolution of chemical social signals.
HOW SMALL HOTELS WOULD PENETRATE IN THE ALL-INCLUSIVE MARKET: AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH
Creators: name: Georgakellos, Dimitrios
name: Papakonstantinou, Maria
Publisher: name: tourismos
Year: 2014

description: The present paper proposes and evaluates a novel, alternative holiday package for small hotels helping them to gain share in the all-inclusive market. The examined package tour includes accommodation in small hotels and meals in a number of local, traditional, small restaurants. For this, a relevant survey attempting to understand tourists’ attitudes and behaviour towards all-inclusive packages as well as the alternative one was held in the island of Kos, Greece. Furthermore, a case study concerning a preliminary feasibility appraisal about a possible application of this package in a real hotel has been examined and presented. The survey shows that there is a noteworthy interest for the new package while the results of the feasibility analysis seem to be financially promising.
description: tourismos, Vol. 9 No. 1 (2014)
A wavelet-Galerkin algorithm of the E/B decomposition of CMB polarization maps
Creators: name: Cao, Liang
name: Fang, Li-Zhi
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We develop an algorithm of separating the $E$ and $B$ modes of the CMB polarization from the noisy and discretized maps of Stokes parameter $Q$ and $U$ in a finite area. A key step of the algorithm is to take a wavelet-Galerkin discretization of the differential relation between the $E$, $B$ and $Q$, $U$ fields. This discretization allows derivative operator to be represented by a matrix, which is exactly diagonal in scale space, and narrowly banded in spatial space. We show that the effect of boundary can be eliminated by dropping a few DWT modes located on or nearby the boundary. This method reveals that the derivative operators will cause large errors in the $E$ and $B$ power spectra on small scales if the $Q$ and $U$ maps contain Gaussian noise. It also reveals that if the $Q$ and $U$ maps are random, these fields lead to the mixing of the $E$ and $B$ modes. Consequently, the $B$ mode will be contaminated if the powers of $E$ modes are much larger than that of $B$ modes. Nevertheless, numerical tests show that the power spectra of both $E$ and $B$ on scales larger than the finest scale by a factor of 4 and higher can reasonably be recovered, even when the power ratio of $E$- to $B$-modes is as large as about 10$^2$, and the signal-to-noise ratio is equal to 10 and higher. This is because the Galerkin discretization is free of false correlations, and keeps the contamination under control. As wavelet variables contain information of both spatial and scale spaces, the developed method is also effective to recover the spatial structures of the $E$ and $B$ mode fields.
description: 24 pages, 13 figures. ApJ accepted