37 research outputs found
EXPLORING TOURIST PERCEPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS OF SPA TOURISM IN MILE CITY, CHINA: A GROUNDED THEORY APPROACH
No full textThis qualitative study explores tourist perceptions and expectations of spa tourism in Mile City, China. The focus is on service quality, cultural authenticity, and sustainability practices. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 18 participants to explore how these elements influence visitor satisfaction and decision-making. The findings highlight the critical role of cleanliness, therapist expertise, and ambiance in shaping overall satisfaction and revisit intentions. Visitors likewise place considerable importance on the incorporation of indigenous cultural components, including customary healing practices and ethnic decorations, which significantly enrich their spa experiences. Additionally, a distinct need for transparent and observable sustainability initiatives has arisen, even though existing practices remain constrained. By employing a grounded theory methodology, this research presents a novel conceptual framework to direct forthcoming investigations in spa tourism. This research offers vital insights for local spa enterprises and policymakers to enhance service offerings and align promotional strategies with modern traveler expectations, thereby promoting asustainable and culturally immersive spa tourism industry in Mile City
Analysis of sediment dynamics in intensively managed landscapes
No full textThe flux of fine sediment within agricultural watersheds is an important factor determining the environmental quality of streams and rivers. Human activity has significantly altered the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles within terrestrial and aquatic environments through agricultural intensification, tile drainage installation, and urban development. The study of watershed-scale sediment dynamics is of great value for understanding and predicting the response of sediment dynamics to intensive human impact and is crucial to developing management strategies for reducing the vulnerability of the ecosystem to future changes. The primary objective of this dissertation is to investigate sediment sources, sediment transport, and sediment yield in an intensively managed agricultural landscape. This objective was accomplished by combining of field sampling and measurements, laboratory analysis, sediment fingerprinting study, statistical analysis and modeling exploration in the Upper Sangamon River Basin, Illinois.
The relative contributions from cropland, grassland, forested floodplain, upper grazed floodplain, and lower grazed floodplain to the suspended sediment in the stream are evaluated by sediment fingerprinting techniques. The grazed areas of the floodplain are identified as the primary source of fine suspended sediment within the headwaters of the Sangamon River. Erosion of the floodplain both by surface runoff and by streambank erosion contribute to the production of almost all fine sediment sampled within the stream system. The results are consistent both for event and aggregated samples and for large and small events. The fingerprinting results are also consistent with visible and historical evidence of active erosion of grazed areas of floodplain upstream from the in-stream sampling location. Evidence from field reconnaissance and inspection of aerial photography supports the conclusion that cattle grazing plays an important role in accelerating floodplain and streambank erosion.
The relationships between rainfall, discharge, and suspended sediment concentration are examined by sediment rating curve approach and hysteresis analysis. Sediment rating curves developed for three sites along the Sangamon River all have a peaked pattern with a transition point at geometric mean of discharge, indicating suspended sediment load in the stream is far below the stream transport capacity during high flows. Spatially, suspended sediment concentrations tend to become more coincident with the seasonality of rainfall and discharge with increasing watershed size and the mean suspended sediment concentration decreases as drainage area increases. Temporally, the SRCs developed for the rising and falling limbs of hydrographs and the four sampling seasons also exhibit the same trends, suggesting that these trends are not scale-dependent. The peaked pattern of sediment rating curve is most apparent in sediment rating curve developed on discharge and sediment data collected in summer, which means the limitation of sediment supply is most significant in summer.
Sediment fluxes in modern times and before European settlement is investigated by using a semi-distributed, coupled hydrologic and sediment model. Intensive agricultural activities since European settlement have increased sediment supply and enhanced suspended sediment load in stream, and also influence re-distribution of detached sediment within the system. The percent of sediment supply from each source to the total amount of mobilized sediment significantly changed from 1840s to 2000s, and the agricultural uplands have become the major source of suspended sediment in the stream. The model estimates that sediment supply from uplands increased 11-fold from the 1840s to 2000s, and sediment yield in 2000s is 9 times of that in 1840s. A higher percent of sediment is transported out of the system and deposited in the channel in 2000s than in 1840s. Suspended sediment load has increased more rapidly than floodplain sedimentation. The re-distribution of detached sediment is also influenced by the presence of built levees and extended channel network. With the increased sediment supply and decreased percent of floodplain sedimentation, sediment delivery ratio for the entire watershed only increased 4%.
In conclusion, the integrated results from field, statistical and modeling studies advance the knowledge and understanding of sediment supply, delivery, and export in intensively managed landscapes. The findings also inform management strategies aimed at reducing the vulnerability of this landscape to ongoing human impact.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2020-12-01The student, Mingjing Yu, accepted the attached license on 2018-11-07 at 14:11.The student, Mingjing Yu, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2018-11-07 at 14:17.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2018-11-08 at 15:40.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #13067 on 2019-02-07 at 14:17:09Made available in DSpace on 2019-02-07T20:35:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
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Previous issue date: 2018-11-08Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 109815
Lift date: 2021-02-07T20:36:09Z
Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemEmbargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 109815
Lift date: 2021-02-07T20:39:46Z
Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemEmbargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 109815
Lift date: 2021-02-07T20:44:35Z
Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemU of I Only Restriction Lifted for Item 109815 on 2021-02-08T10:15:39Z
Tourism targeted poverty alleviation in China : a case study of Luquan County, Yunnan Province
No full textThesis (Ph.D. (Integrated Tourism and Hospitality Management))--National Institute of Development Administration, 2022The purposes of this research are: 1) to explore the contexts of tourism management as a means for poverty alleviation in Luquan County, China. 2) to identify the key success factors of tourism management practices for poverty alleviation in Guangdong Province, Guangxi Province, and Guizhou Province, China. 3) to investigate the efficiency of tourism management for poverty alleviation in Luquan County, China. 4) to propose the strategy plan of tourism management for poverty alleviation in Luquan County, China.
This research will mainly apply qualitative methodology as research method, using semi-structured interview as research tools. Five sample groups of the population and with regards to qualitative research results which are: 1) local poor individuals, 2) local government officers, 3) NGOs, 4) Tourists, and 5) Private sectors. Due to research objective 1 and 3 are in the same location, the same sample size of 30 participants will be used to collect data for both objectives. The research objective 2 must be accomplished in three distinct regions. The sample size for each region is 30 individuals, for total sample size of 90.
The findings of the study indicate that, 1) tourism policy. An on-site interview in Luquan County revealed that the once-promising tourism business in the area has failed to take off. Since there is no tourist industry, it is evident that agriculture is the locals' primary source of income. 2) tourism planning. The region's natural resources are abundant, yet tourism has not increased much. In addition, local government officials said that they will prioritize urgent actions to eliminate the greatest barriers to poverty reduction. 3) tourism participation. All tourists remarked about how disappointing the local tourism was and how little they interacted with locals. 4) sustainable tourism development. Private operators acknowledge the significance of corporate social responsibility, but their modest size makes it difficult to undertake a diverse array of projects. 5) tourism destination management. As the local tourism business is still in its infancy, there are no tourist attractions in the area and just a handful of buses go there. The local infrastructure is quite deficient, and there are no suitable tourist attractions or activities
Intergenerational Dynamics and Sustainability in Community-Based Tourism: A Case Study of Koh Kret
No full textThis study explores the intergenerational dynamics within Koh Kret’s community-based tourism sector, addressing the challenges faced by older business owners and the reluctance of younger generations to inherit family businesses. Despite comprehensive analysis into sustainable tourism and cultural conservation, there are notable deficiencies in understanding the relationship between these elements, especially within the context of family-operated businesses. Through conducting thorough interviews with 25 community members, including local community leaders, older business owner, younger generation, and visitors, this research utilizes grounded theory to examine these interactions and formulate approaches to enhance youth engagement. Key findings will provide detailed insights into the operational difficulties of older entrepreneurs, uncover the motivations behind the younger generation’s reluctance, and propose actionable solutions to promote sustainable tourism. This research aims to fill a critical gap in the literature by offering a holistic approach to intergenerational challenges in community-based tourism, ensuring both the sustainability and cultural integrity of Koh Kret as a tourist destination
By Put-Call-Furthers Parity for Arbitrage of the TAIEX Index Future and the TAIEX Index Options
No full textThe author used Put-Call-Futures Parity, Arbitrage-Free, Ex-ante Tests and Ex-post Tests to examine the arbitrage opportunity and market efficiency of the TAIEX index futures (TX) and the TAIEX index options (TXO) in this paper, during the period of December 24th, 2001 to December 31st, 2002.
The author first, used daily closing prices to test for the existence of possible arbitrage opportunities. Second, she used ex-ante tests and arbitrage strategy to examine the arbitrage opportunity whether it exists or not with a time lag.
Furthermore, The author classified the samples which exist ex-post arbitrage profit into five sub-samples according to call options positions belonging to near-the-money and far-from-the-money, futures positions belonging to positive basis and negative basis, markets belonging to bull markets and bear markets, and different margin requirement. She used ex-post and ex-ante tests to compare the results of over-all markets samples with the sub-samples, then, she also examined the results of included transaction cost or not. The major findings are as follows:
1. Whether taking into transaction cost or not, the TAIEX index futures and the TAIEX index options markets have arbitrage opportunity\uef\ubcand so the markets unefficient.
2. The results of ex-ante tests and the average of arbitrage profit are positive for time to increase.
3. The long arbitrage strategy generates a higher arbitrage profit than the short arbitrage strategy.
4. The investors could proceed arbitrage profit during markets belonging to positive basis and bear market and low margin requirement
On-site Regeneration of Acetaminophen Loaded Zeolite Granules by Applying Gaseous Ozone Based Oxidation Process
No full textThe wide application of pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products cause an increasing contamination of aquatic systems. Adsorption by zeolites is a promising process to remove target organic micro-pollutants (OMPs) selectively from water bodies. In order to have a sustainable adsorption process, restoring the adsorption capacity of the exhausted zeolites is necessary.In this research, the gaseous O3 based process was applied to regenerate the column packed with acetaminophen (ACE) loaded zeolite granules. The aim of this study was to investigate the regeneration performance by using the gaseous O3 based process and the feasibility of its long-term operation. An initial concentration 200mgL^-1 of ACE was used for the zeolite granules adsorption process. After 120 hours of loading, the gaseous O3 based process was applied to regenerate the ACE loaded zeolite granules. It was found that an ideal ACE degradation rate of 80 -100% was obtained by drying the zeolite granules before the regeneration. While when the drained bed (without drying process) was applied, the ACE degradation rates were below 35% for both the gaseous O3 and the gaseous O3/H2O2 processes. The water content of zeolite granules was the main limiting factor that affected the regeneration performance. A higher ACE degradation rate was obtained with lower water content. It was also found that adding H2O2 to the process enhanced the ACE degradation rate for the zeolite granules with the same water content. Nevertheless, the highest ACE degradation rate was achieved when the water content was 0% without adding H2O2. Regarding the long-term regeneration, three cycles of regeneration were conducted to investigate the feasibility of long-term regeneration by using the gaseous O3 process in dried bed. The effect of ozone on zeolite surface characteristics and the accumulation of intermediates had minor influences on the adsorption capacity restoration. Compared to the fresh zeolite, owing to the incomplete regeneration of the adsorbed ACE in the inner part of zeolite, the used zeolite granules lost 25% of the adsorption capacity in the long-term operation. Therefore, it is feasible to use gaseous O3 process in dried bed to regenerate ACE-loaded zeolite granules from the long-term operation perspectives.Civil Engineering | Environmental Engineerin
A brief introduction to body-oriented parametric design for 3D-printed fashion and textiles
No full textThis paper presents the introduction to the author’s PhD thesis titled, Interfashionality: Body-oriented Parametric Design and Parametric Thinkign 2.0 for 3 D-printed Fashion and Textiles. The paper firstly introduces the author’s research motivation, which is followed by theoretical discussions around and design examples of fashion and textile digitalization, as well as 3 D-printed fashion and textiles. The author then introduces the important implication of parametric design for creating 3 D-printed fashion and textiles. In this section, through analyzing the self-organized conference, Digital Fashion-3D Printing for Designer, and through intensive discussions of the origin of parametric design and its adoption in fashion, the author then summarizes the scope of the research. This paves the way for a concrete research question, five research aims, research structure (model of the research) and thesis structure
Effect of the location pattern of rural residential buildings on natural ventilation in mountainous terrain of central China
No full textThe use of natural ventilation in buildings to reduce the energy consumption and CO2 emission has been widely investigated and practiced, but few existing studies have considered the exploration and assessment of natural ventilation in different location patterns of rural residential buildings in the mountainous terrain of China. In this paper, the representative rural residential buildings are firstly selected in Huarong, Pingjiang and Liuyang regions of northern Hunan Province to carry out on-site survey works to determine building types, physical parameters and layout forms. Then, the wind tunnel experiments are carried out to investigate the effectiveness of natural ventilation under different location patterns, and the monitored results are compared with simulated data. The results show that the experiments and simulations are in satisfactory agreement. The experimental data also indicate that when the modelled distance of 120 mm (i.e. 12 m between the building and hilly terrain in practical application) is the best option for building natural ventilation. Based on the investigation and statistical data, the natural ventilation effectiveness under different location patterns and operational conditions is simulated using CFD methods, and it is obtained the most favourable location pattern for natural ventilation. The results show that the winter ventilation of buildings in the existing location pattern is significantly obstructed in the hilly terrain, which is favourable to the indoor thermal environment, however, the natural ventilation is compromised to a certain extent in summer. Furthermore, the findings also show that, regardless of the hilly terrain's height at 50 m or 150 m, the buildings are able to avoid natural ventilation in winter to the maximum extent when the distance between the buildings and the frontier of the hilly terrain is double that of the building height (i.e. 12 m). This study could contribute to theoretical instructions for optimum design of natural ventilation of rural residential buildings in the mountainous terrain of central China.Design & Construction Managemen
Relationship of Pst, a High Affinity Phosphate Transporter, β-lactam Resistance and Biofilm Formation in Streptococcus Pneumoniae
No full textLuo, Mingjing.Thesis Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2016.Includes bibliographical references (leaves ).Abstracts also in Chinese.Title from PDF title page (viewed on …)
