Talking to others: analysing tourists’ communications on cultural heritage experiences

In the area of cultural heritage, tourists’ experiences emphasise not only the moment and its personal nature but also socio-cultural traits. These experiences when expressed (social communications) are an important gateway to knowledge about tourists’ sense-making processes. This paper reports on the mediation between tourists and heritage sites via comments on a digital platform (TripAdvisor) about two Spanish tourist destinations with opposing characteristics and four heritage sites, which are analysed. The methodology used seeks to transcend the individual and anecdotal aspects of tourists’ comments. Indeed, the results obtained show the relevance of the humanisation and the discursive weight of heritage contexts in emotional/personal stories. Tendencies observed in non-regulated contexts confirm the role of a complex negotiation at cultural heritage sites and highlight the need to explore possible exchanges of sense in tourists’ encounters with such sites.     

Topoiesis del espacio textual

ABSTRACT

The concept of topoiesis of textual space addresses an analysis of the spatial elements that tend to provide a meaning to the literary text. Based on textual semiotics where there is an organized relational system of meanings, in this article we propose that it is possible to determine the function of space as a meaning issue from three different literary text instances (event or motive; character; and object). This distinction will permit a deeper interpretation of the sense of space in the literary text.     

The move to preferential trade on the Western Pacific Rim: some initial conclusions

Since? ? Research for this project has been supported by the Australian Research Council through Discovery Project Grant No. DP0453077. View all notes the turn of the century the Asia-Pacific region has become the most active location for the negotiation of preferential trade agreements (PTAs)—a dramatic change from the period before the financial crises of 1997–98. Substantial variance in scope exists among the more than 80 PTAs currently being implemented, negotiated or which are under study in the region. Those involving the United States are by far the most comprehensive. At the other end of the spectrum are those involving ASEAN and China, which are largely ‘aspirational’ in their provisions. This variance points to the range of economic and political objectives that PTAs serve. Regardless of the comprehensiveness of their coverage, the overall economic effects of the new PTAs is likely to be small given the prevailing low level of tariffs, the intervention of other factors such as fluctuating exchange rates, the proliferation of agreements (which removes the advantages they accord individual partners), and the unwillingness of governments to liberalise ‘sensitive’ sectors. Few of the agreements move substantially beyond existing WTO provisions. The proliferation of PTAs not only has tended to shift attention and resources away from negotiations at the global level but also runs the risk of fragmenting the ‘pro-liberalisation’ coalition in countries that have signed multiple agreements.     

Cash Transfers and the Well‐being of Older People in Brazil

This article provides a comprehensive assessment of the effects of social protection interventions on material and subjective elements of well‐being. Drawing on a longitudinal survey located in two relatively deprived parts of Brazil, it assesses the effects of pensions and other cash transfers on the well‐being of older people and their households. This analysis is located within a dynamic economic and public policy context. The article finds that pension benefits significantly increase per capita income and that this is strongly associated with overall levels of satisfaction with household well‐being. Levels of reported subjective well‐being do not fall as respondents age, and the survey finds high levels of optimism about future well‐being. The positive effects of pension benefits were supported by upgraded health services and by more specific policies such as access to credit on favourable terms. Overall, the authors conclude that a combination of economic growth and effective public policies significantly boosted the well‐being of most households in their survey, and that Brazil can be taken as a model of good practice for other middle‐income countries.     

SEISMIC RESPONSE CONTROL OF CABLE-STAYED BRIDGE USING DIFFERENT CONTROL STRATEGIES

The goal of this research is to study the effect of cable vibration through a number of control cases of a cable-stayed bridge. In order to consider the complicated dynamic behaviour of the full-scale bridge, a three-dimensional numerical model of the MATLAB-based analysis tool has been developed by the complete simulation of the Gi-Lu bridge. The dynamic characteristics of cables in the cable-stayed bridge are verified between the field experiment and the result from numerical simulation using geometrically nonlinear beam elements in MATLAB program. Three types of control devices are selected to reduce the response of the bridge deck which includes: actuators, viscous-elastic dampers with large capacity, and base isolations. Moreover, two types of control devices, MR dampers and viscous dampers, are installed either between the deck and cables and/or between two neighbouring cables for controlling the cable vibration. A modified bi-viscous model combined with convergent rules is used to describe the behaviour of MR dampers. Finally, through evaluation criteria the control effectiveness on the cable-stayed bridge using different control strategies is examined.