This study is concerned with the United States policy on restriction of travel to China and its effects on national and international politics.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how internal and external sources influence dog owners’ desire and intent to travel with their dogs, using the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB). Specifically, this study investigates 1) the demographic profile of participating dog owners, 2) the relationship between dog owners’ Anticipated Emotions (AE) and their desire to travel with their dogs, 3) dog owners’ Attitudes toward the act (Aact) of traveling with their dogs and its relationship with their desire to travel with dogs, 4) the relationship between Subjective Norms (SN) and dog owners desire to travel with dogs, 5) owners’ Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) over their dog-accompanied travel situation, 6) the relationship between desire for dog-accompanied travel and Behavioral Intent (BI), and 7) the relationship between Past Behavior (PB) and the desire and BI regarding future travel with dogs.

This Ph.D. thesis critically reviews the relationship between activism and academe in the inquiry on fairly traded tourism and the role of reflexivity in assisting with that inquiry. It includes published material, part activist, part academic research outputs, on the concept of Fair Trade in Tourism (FTinT), spanning a time period from 2000 to 2013. From my present academic perspective, it critically engages with some of the personal and socio-political complexities surrounding the organisation, which initiated the investigation into FTinT, and my position within the organisation as a key actor and change agent. Applying reflexivity as a method for deconstruction and dialectical critique of my activist and academic engagement, this thesis uses the FTinT research to explore the interface between activism and academe in tourism research. Accordingly, the writing style is predominantly personal, interwoven with reflections on theoretical currents to inform the analysis. Such personal, reflexive engagement illuminates the underlying mechanisms and processes employed in the quest for developing increased public awareness and tangible, applicable criteria and strategies for fairer trade in tourism at a time when such ideas were entirely original. The analysis in this thesis includes application of several approaches to reflexivity and application of concepts of trustworthiness in qualitative research to accredit the scholarly significance of such activist endeavour. Reflexivity and activism are generally under-researched areas in the tourism academy, even more so in relation to trade justice. In particular, there is no evidence of research on these areas as interconnected entities. This study therefore provides an original contribution to knowledge in tourism research on a number of different levels. In this inquiry, I am arguing the case for a more concentrated, though critical engagement with activist and participatory action research as a way of addressing issues of inequity and injustice in the tourism trade. In that context, reflexivity approaches can provide important insights into researchers’ underlying values and beliefs which inflect their choices and decision-making and their relationships within the research environment. However, my research also reveals some serious challenges, both in the application of reflexivity and in the engagement with the activist/academic interface. Such challenges relate to issues of ethical and political integrity, cultural sensitivity, memory-work, and the acceptance of the value of the reciprocal relationship between activism and academe within tourism scholarship.

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Light Suite is a collection of the work I produced during my enrollment in the University of New Orleans Low Residency M.F.A. program. The writing, format and length styles reflect my experimentation with my craft. It also provides insight as to what my "poetic voice" is. Light Suite attempts to entwine personal experience with engaged observation and occasional flights of fantasy. The following poems illustrate my attempt at diversifying personal, poetic style. There are travel, prose, and accidental meaning poems. There are poems that feature personal narrative and collaboration. All of my works do share one characteristic and that is the close relationship with visual representation of an oral experience. I employ white space, line breaks, line length, assonance and consonance to create works that are as close to my speaking voice as possible.

Dissertation for the degree of Master of Science University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg. April 2013 / Many academic works in the train scheduling environment concentrate on optimizing movements of resources through the physical network. To opti- mize bulk freight lines, algorithms must provide a feasible schedule given the available resources, basic operational constraints and varying demand while ensuring resource allocations that minimise total cost. To be usable the al- gorithm must run within reasonable time limits. This dissertation focuses on the bulk freight train scheduling problem of full loads without track conges- tion but extends to cover operational constraints as well as exible resource allocation and hubs. A problem outline is given wherein the constraints and decision variables are well de ned followed by a review of current literature. An exact formation of the problem is given with benchmarking on small data sets. A genetic algorithm is used to solve for schedules on larger problem data sets. The algorithm was successfully implemented on the 60Mt Coal Line in South Africa which provided notable improvements in e ciencies. Discussion and results are provided.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-104). / Over the next 30 years, the Boomers will double the 65+ population in the United States and comprise a new generation of older Americans. This study forecasts the aging Boomers' travel. Previous efforts to forecast 65+ travel are lacking in key two respects: they have failed to incorporate generation differences and have forecasted only broad travel characteristics (e.g. vehicle miles traveled). Drawing on the theory of generations, this study investigates empirically whether cohort differences in travel exist between the Boomers and the current 65+ population. It incorporates theoretically motivated cohort variables related to the historical processes of motorization, proxied by registered automobiles per person, and gender role evolution, proxied by labor force participation rates of women. The resulting forecast predicts the aging Boomers' travel demand with respect to activities requiring travel, person miles traveled, usage of transit and non-motorized modes, and trip chaining propensity. Data extracted from the 1977, 1983, 1990, and 1995 National Personal Transportation Surveys (NPTS) are used to estimate discrete and joint discrete/continuous demand models. Multiple imputation is used to impute missing survey data. Iterative proportional fitting is used to simulate future populations for forecasting purposes. Although 65+ travel is predicted to increase across all the modeled travel indicators, the results indicate that the current national forecast of 65+ travel prepared for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services may overestimate future demand. The forecasts also suggest that investment in transit could increase 65+ transit usage propensities; opportunities for increasing transit viability are identified. / (cont.) Finally, in the estimated models, the cohort variables are significant, and with the exception of forecasted person-miles, cohort variable inclusion increases forecasted travel. The implication for transportation modeling is that historical location and generation membership affects transportation behavior. The implication for planners is that in preparing for future 65+ transportation needs, studying the current 65+ population is not adequate. The Boomers will comprise a new generation of 65+ with different associated travel needs. / by Sara Bush. / Ph.D.

This thesis focuses on the use of magnetic levitation technology as a means to provide launch capability to future space bound vehicles. Building on past work and after an extensive literature review, we aim to show how magnetic levitation and propulsion can be an economically and socially justifiable means to launch cargo and passengers for the purpose of reconnaissance, space tourism, and deep space exploration. Based on the validity of the technology, we look at the economic and political viability of establishing a magnetic levitation and propulsion launch system and compare it with current launch systems. With the recession caused due to the market crash in 2008-09 and the national space budget constrictions that followed, it is easy to establish that any project of this scale would not only require international collaboration and cooperation, but also an international framework developed from the ground up to engage private enterprise and promote public-private partnerships. As the United States of America accounts for over 75% of global space spending, we focus on the impact of its internal policy and legislation such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the United States munitions list that have a direct impact on collaborative and cooperative efforts made by public and private entities within the United States. The thesis goes on to describe how a new global space policy for civil and commercial projects could potentially pave the way for new avenues of collaboration and inclusion of actors who for the time being are unable to participate in the space arena either due to lack of available funds or technology inputs. This thesis and the publications based upon it, aims to define a new era in international cooperation, with a magnetic levitation and propulsion project being a technological test -bed that would help validate the cooperation scenario.

Thesis (M. P. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

This thesis develops econometric models of departure time and travel mode choice to evaluate dynamic transportation policies. Dynamic policies affect travel attributes differently throughout the day. Both departure time and mode choice are modelled with Random Utility Maximizing (RUM) Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) discrete choice models that capture systematic and random heterogeneity. Departure time is represented by a heteroskedastic generalized extreme value model (Het-GEV) with overlapping choice sets. Studying the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), models are estimated using Revealed Preference (RP) household travel data from the 2006 Transportation Tomorrow Survey (TTS). Empirical models are used to evaluate dynamic transit and road pricing policies. Results indicate that the models are capable of capturing mode and time switching behaviour in response to peak pricing policies. To alleviate demand while maintaining transit mode share, a road charge and a moderate, flat, transit fare increase throughout the morning peak are recommended.