This dissertation is aimed at analyzing and discussing the perception of the local people of Chiang Mai towards tourism. Tourism in Thailand and its importance to the country is illustrated in the first chapter. The current position of Tourism in Thailand is indicated in the second chapter with tourism statistics and major trends shown between 1985-1995. This chapter also reviewed the importance of tourism within the Thai economy. The third chapter elaborated some of the major issues in Thai tourism with special attention to economic, environmental and sociocultural issues, as well as the related problems. In chapter 5 anticipated advantages and observed disadvantages in local community involvement in tourism in Chiang Mai are elaborated. Chapter 5 explains the research methodology followed by study results in chapter 6. Chapter 7 concluded the study's hypothesis as well as the objectives of this research. The implications from field - work and the policy issues are also noted. The conclusions from the study investigating the inner city of Chiang Mai residents' perceptions toward tourism development in the areas of arts and culture ; environmental circumstances ; employment ; infrastructure development and social problems revealed that on one side, there was a high degree of agreement among the respondents with regards to economic gain and employment created by tourism. Infrastructure development was also viewed positively by the respondents. On the other side, tourism was perceived as the cause of the environmental degradation and social problems. It is hoped that this study will serve as a source of reference and a guideline to be used by both private and public sectors in considering perception of local Chiang Mai people to tourism. The author has drawn articles from a variety of sources, including tourism journals, local newspapers and magazines. Field-work in the form of the samples were systematically chosen from the inner city of Chiang Mai to guarantee the outcome from the specified area of study.

This thesis explores the impact of crime on seaside resorts in mid-nineteenth century England, together with the implications and challenges presented for authority and control. The evidence is based on a case study of two contrasting south Devon resorts, Exmouth and Torquay. The research findings are based mainly on the period between 1835 and 1860. In particular, the thesis considers the nature and scale of crime committed and the reactions produced amongst those in positions of power and authority. The responses of these influential individuals and groups were shaped by a range of factors such as social and economic change, class, gender and the unique characteristics of seaside resorts. As the fledgling tourist industry developed, it was important to provide an environment where visitors were welcome and their property was safe. The evidence from the two resorts reflected patterns of crime detected in other parts of the country, especially in relation to property crime, which is examined in detail. Larceny emerges as the most common category of crime. Here, the evidence indicates that this crime was regularly perpetrated by servants, with women often being convicted for stealing clothes and other wearing apparel. Workplace theft was common in Torquay, related to the fact that building work was going ahead at a fast pace from the 1830s. The most distinctive feature of crime within the two resorts can be found in the attention given to countering anti-social behaviour and keeping order on the streets. This was closely tied up with the maintenance of ‘social tone’, which was of crucial importance to the authorities in a number of nineteenth century seaside resorts, including Exmouth and Torquay.

In this thesis a constitutive model is developed for the numerical prediction of UD composite material behaviour under impact loading. Impact induced loading usually results in three dimensional stress states which significantly influences the failure behaviour. The heterogeneous nature of composite materials, in particular, results in a complex failure behaviour which manifests itself in various failure modes. Predicting the onset and evolution of these failure modes requires the use of physically based three dimensional theories for the prediction of the onset of damage and subsequent damage evolution. Furthermore, the use of polymeric matrices in continuous fibre reinforced composites results in a distinct directional strain rate dependent material behaviour which needs to be incorporated in constitutive models for the numerical simulation of impact events. The developed constitutive model relies on the prediction of the onset of damage evolution by the use of physically based three dimensional stress based failure criteria. A special feature of the proposed model is the identification of potential fracture planes. Numerically efficient algorithms for finding such planes are developed thus enabling the implementation into an explicit FE environment which was prohibitive so far. Damage evolution is simulated by degrading the tractions which are acting on the failure mode dependent fracture planes. The damage evolution and consequent energy dissipation is thereby driven by physically based dissipation potentials which consider only stresses which contribute to damage growth. The well known mesh dependent energy dissipation in Continuum Damage Mechanics is reduced by the introduction of an element size dependent parameter into the constitutive equations. An experimental program is conducted to investigate the compressive behaviour of composites. The focus of the study is on the rate dependent failure behaviour. The experiments are designed such that the failure mechanisms can be studied at varying strain rates with identical boundary conditions. This allows for direct conclusions about the strain rate dependent material behaviour. Novel optical measurement techniques are applied across all investigated strain rates thus ensuring an improved observation of the failure modes. The proposed constitutive model is finally verified by modelling of three point beam bending experiments which were performed quasi-statically and at impact velocities. The experimental technique for beam bending at impact loading was therefore improved thus yielding significantly more accurate experimental data.

Class of 2009 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: The study’s purpose was determining the economic impact of recurrent coagulopathy with crotaline envenomation using the current standard of care, crotalinae polyvalent immune Fab antivenom (CroFab), and to establish a model of pharmacoeconomic assessment for future studies. METHODS: A recurrent coagulopathy cost assessment tool was designed that included payer and patient costs. This system used medical and billing references, government and business websites, published studies, and average costs for major variables affecting costs of recurrent coagulopathy to the payer and patient. RESULTS: Of the 42 subjects screened during the study period, 13 were eligible, and 5 chose to participate. On average, lab results were the most significant cost to payers ($247.25). No subject required additional vials of CroFab as a result of recurrent coagulopathy and therefore this was the least costly parameter. There were no correlation between lab costs, doctor visits, or ER visits. Lost wages were the highest cost to patients, with an average of $880.85. Household help and child care were the least costly parameters in this study group. The loss to follow-up was a substantial barrier to obtaining the projected number of study subjects. CONCLUSIONS: A major limitation of this study is the small sample size. Therefore, only generalizations can be made by analyzing the data in regards to the true costs of recurrent coagulopathy to patients and payers. Future pharmacoeconomic studies regarding average costs related to crotaline envenomation should consider experimental mortality a significant barrier to obtaining significant results.

Seventy-eight low-altitude passes of MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging magnetometer data from August to September of 2014 have been applied to produce an approximate map of the crustal magnetic field at a constant altitude of 80 km covering latitudes of 50°–80°N and longitudes of 160°–330°E. The strongest anomalies are located in the westernmost part of the mapped region just north and northeast of the Caloris impact basin. The strongest single anomaly group lies over a smooth plains unit that extends northward from Caloris. A second anomaly lies on the Odin Formation, interpreted as primary Caloris ejecta. A third broad anomaly also lies over a smooth plains unit, Suisei Planitia. Although many smooth plains on Mercury may have a volcanic origin, a subset of these plains is concentrated around Caloris and could have a dominantly impact origin. It is therefore proposed that many of the Mercurian anomaly sources consist of impact basin ejecta materials.

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Society needs information and communication technology (ICT) hardware to produce, process and store highly valuable information. This hardware, of course, affects the environment throughout its whole life cycle, starting with manufacturing, where the necessary scarce and precious resources (e.g. rare earth metals) are often mined under miserable environmental conditions. This leads to pollution of soil, water and air in the present as well as for the future. During the use phase of ICT hardware, energy consumption impacts the environment. At the end of life of ICT hardware, recycling, disposing as e-waste in landfills or disassembling are additional impacts that affect the environment. More and more producers and users, especially companies, want to measure these impacts, which is a complex task. However, approaches to measure the impacts are at hand, either as single indicators, measuring one specific impact, or as composed indicators, combining different single indicators into one "summarizing" indicator. However, collection of data, measurement, assessment and interpretation are challenging. Unfortunately, guidelines for those who want to measure the impact of ICT hardware are rare. With our research, we aim to shed light on the various approaches to measure impacts of ICT hardware as well as their application in practice. Based on a literature review, we identified different indicators and them to the attention of experts from companies to assess these approaches in terms of practicability, significance and value for practice. The results show that research investigates and proposes a variety of different more or less complex indicators. However, business prefers single indicators, which are easy to measure and understand.

We have carried out detailed thermometric and cooling history studies of several LL-, L- and H-chondrites of petrologic types 5 and 6. Among the selected samples, the low-temperature cooling of St. Severin (LL6) has been constrained in an earlier study by thermochronological data to an average rate of similar to 2.6 degrees C/My below 500 degrees C. However, numerical simulations of the development of Fe-Mg profiles in Opx-Cpx pairs using this cooling rate grossly misfit the measured compositional profiles. Satisfactory simulation of the latter and low temperature thermochronological constraints requires a two-stage cooling model with a cooling rate of similar to 50-200 degrees C/ky from the peak metamorphic temperature of similar to 875 degrees C down to 450 degrees C, and then transitioning to very slow cooling with an average rate of similar to 2.6 degrees C/My. Similar rapid high temperature cooling rates (200-600 degrees C/ky) are also required to successfully model the compositional profiles in the Opx-Cpx pairs in the other samples of L5, L6 chondrites. For the H-chondrite samples, the low temperature cooling rates were determined earlier to be 10-20 degrees C/My by metallographic method. As in St. Severin, these cooling rates grossly misfit the compositional profiles in the Opx-Cpx pairs. Modeling of these profiles requires very rapid cooling, similar to 200-400 degrees C/ky, from the peak temperatures (similar to 810-830 degrees C), transitioning to the metallographic rates at similar to 450-500 degrees C. We interpret the rapid high temperature cooling rates to the exposure of the samples to surface or near surface conditions as a result of fragmentation of the parent body by asteroidal impacts. Using the thermochronological data, the timing of the presumed impact is constrained to be similar to 4555-4560 My before present for St. Severin. We also deduced similar two stage cooling models in earlier studies of H-chondrites and mesosiderites that could be explained, using the available geochronological data, by impact induced fragmentation at around the same time. Diffusion kinetic analysis shows that if a lower petrological type got transformed by the thermal effect of shock impacts to reflect higher metamorphic temperature, as has been suggested as a possibility, then the peak temperatures would have had to be sustained for at least 10 ky and 80 ky, respectively, for transformation to the petrologic types 6 and 4. Finally, we present a model that reconciles textural data supporting an onion-shell parent body of H-chondrites with rapid cooling rate at high temperature caused by impact induced disturbance, and also discuss alternatives to the onion shell parent body model. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The semi-desert and hot climate zones occupy one fifth of the Earth's surface. However, the design process for environmental control employs the same technical procedures as those of cold and temperate climates despite the differences in human response and the environmental factors in each zone. It is the thesis of this research to devise a bio-climatological approach to the design of building in these areas, with special reference to reidential units. Analysis of the housing problem in Egypt as a part of the global problem is considered. Both inside and outside the built environment metabolic rate, clothing, solar radiation, air temperature, air movement and humidity are the dominant parameters affecting human comfort. To assess the solar radiation contribution to the sensible effect of ambient air temperature, a computer program has been devised. A bioclimatic approach to the classification of cliniates is proposed, and analysis of the Egyptian climate and Cairo microclimates emphasizes the importance of ventilation for relieving thermal stress. A method of assessing ventilation performance in relation to human comfort during overheated periods has been proposed with emphasis on the importance of studying the aerodynamics of residential units comprising multi-cell spaces. A survey of historical precedent in house design in Egypt is aimed at defining the characteristics of both old and contemporary residential units, and how they responded to their micro-climates. As wind is the critical element determining the microclimates within Cairo and possibly other cities of similar climate, a programme for wind tunnel experiments was carried out to examine the parameters affecting air movement around and within buildings. A bioclimatic approach considering architectural design as a three phase process, ie analysis (feasibility studies), synthesis (spatial design) and appraisal (detail design), was considered. This included a procedure for optimization of ventilation systems. Conclusion and recommendations have been made for building forms, interior design, building regulations and new development design.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are complex and comprehensive software packages designed to integrate business processes and functions. Despite the difficulties and risks of implementing such a system, the last decade has seen a remarkable global diffusion of such systems. To cope with technical developments, the Saudi Arabian government is starting to implement them in both private and public organisations, including the higher education (HE). HE in Saudi Arabia applies integrated solutions to replace existing systems, supporting all its business functions and improving effectiveness and efficiency. Evaluating the impact of ERP adoption on stakeholders’ performance is complex and no single existing model was considered adequate. To overcome their various weaknesses, this study integrates three models (Task Technology Fit, the Information Systems Success Model and End User Computing Satisfaction) to produce a new model which offers a comprehensive view of the most important factors affecting stakeholders’ performance. This integration results in a theoretical framework that is used as model for empirical investigations of the impact of ERP systems on HE stakeholders. The aim of this research is to assess the impact of ERP systems on Saudi academic institutions, focusing on stakeholders’ post-implementation performance. Three case studies are examined, using mixed methods of interviews and questionnaires to collect quantitative and qualitative data. SPSS 20 and analytical techniques were undertaken to analyse case studies data. While the results varied according to the circumstances of each case, the overall quantitative findings were that there were six significant factors in the system quality dimension (timeliness, flexibility, ease of use, content, currency and authorisation) and two (reliability and responsiveness) in the service quality dimension. These results were consistent with those of the qualitative phase, which identified a number of other factors having a significant impact on stakeholder performance: resistance to change, continuous training and education, appropriate systems customisation and top management support. In general, it was found that ERP systems had a significant of positive and negative nature impact on HE stakeholders’ performance and productivity in Saudi Arabia.