Search results for "Travel"

Design of Representations and Search Operators

2015

Successful and efficient use of evolutionary algorithms depends on the choice of genotypes and the representation – that is, the mapping from genotype to phenotype – and on the choice of search operators that are applied to the genotypes. These choices cannot be made independently of each other. This chapter gives recommendations on the design of representations and corresponding search operators and discusses how to consider problem-specific knowledge. For most problems in the real world, similar solutions have similar fitness values. This fact can be exploited by evolutionary algorithms if they ensure that the representations and search operators used are defined in such a way that simila…

Noncooperative dynamic games for inventory applications: A consensus approach

2008

We focus on a finite horizon noncooperative dynamic game where the stage cost of a single player associated to a decision is a monotonically nonincreasing function of the total number of players making the same decision. For the single-stage version of the game, we characterize Nash equilibria and derive a consensus protocol that makes the players converge to the unique Pareto optimal Nash equilibrium. Such an equilibrium guarantees the interests of the players and is also social optimal in the set of Nash equilibria. For the multi-stage version of the game, we present an algorithm that converges to Nash equilibria, unfortunately not necessarily Pareto optimal. The algorithm returns a seque…

Pedogenesis and carbon sequestration in transformed agricultural soils of Sicily

2021

The increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration is a consequence of human activities leading to severe environmental deteriorations. Techniques are thus needed to sequester and reduce atmospheric carbon. One of the proposed techniques is the transformation or construction of new soils into which more organic carbon can be sequestered and CO2 be consumed by increased weathering. By using a chronosequence of new and transformed soils on crushed limestone (0–48 years) in a Mediterranean area (Sicily), we tried to quantify the amount of organic carbon that could be additionally sequestered and to derive the corresponding rates. A further aim was to trace chemical weathering and related CO2 consump…

IJIR Title Page and Table of Contents Vol. 3

2022

IJIR Table of Contents Vol. 2

2021

A Relational Approach to Networks in a Tourism Destination: Business and Family Networks in San Vito Lo Capo, Sicily

2022

This article constructs a relational framework using the principles of the Network Approach to examining the business exchange structure of a tourist destination. Network Analysis is the methodology to analyse the metrics of collaboration and cooperation among destination companies. The model was applied in a remote tourist destination named San Vito Lo Capo on the island of Sicily, where tourism has significantly expanded in the last twenty years. The focus is on how groupings of small companies within family relations can govern and be responsible for tourism destination cooperation. As the main result, the existence was identified, of a relational framework where three clusters of famili…

Unobserved tourism

2015

Having more reliable statistics is essential for policy-makers to be able to make effective decisions. Nevertheless, measuring the number of tourists in a given destination is not an easy task. After reviewing the main problems affecting official statistics on tourism, this paper proposes a general framework by formalizing a theoretical model in which tourism nights and trips in a given destination are broken down into observed and unobserved components, according to the European system of tourism statistics. The main approaches related to the measurement of unobserved tourism are discussed, and some empirical findings in Sicily (Italy) are presented in order to highlight the actual magnitu…

Understanding the fluctuations of perceived authenticity in cultural tourism : an investigation of Bali and Alsace contexts

2022

The marketing of cultural tourism faces a dilemma between maximizing the economic return and nurturing the culture’s social functions. It needs to attract segments driven by cultural motifs, through a differentiation based on authenticity. Perceived authenticity changes over a time, but how it does remains elusive to researchers. This research investigated fluctuations of existential authenticity in cultural tourists in Bali. Participants were purposively and conveniently-sampled among visitors of cultural attractions. It comprised two stages: qualitative for building the model, and quantitative fortesting the variables. The first employed Grounded Theory interviewing 24 visitors, found the…

Trip Characteristics Analysis of the Effects of a Travel Behavior Change Program

2018

[EN] Travel behavior change programs (TBCP) are measures or actions specifically designed to motivate people to reduce their car use. This study contributes to the literature on rigorous evaluation of the effects of participating in TBCP. In particular, we analyze the effect of TBCP in relation to a potential for a reduction in car use. In contrast to previous studies, the effect of TBCP is analyzed considering two characteristics of the trip: travel companion and time of trip. The TBCP, consisting of three persuasion actions customized to the needs of the participants in the research, was designed and implemented in Valencia (Spain). To evaluate the effects of participating in the TBCP, a …

Improving performance of roundabout intersections by optimizing traffic-flow speed

2017

Streamlining of urban traffic influence nowadays almost everything about our modern life. The main effect, which we all feel as the daily traffic participants, either as pedestrians or vehicles drivrers, is travel time to work and back. Roundabouts intersections have a number of advantages over intersections with traffic lights, they reduce the severity of accidents, traffic speeds to provide an “calmer” road environment. So, operating performance of roundabouts are complicated, influenced by the confluence operations. The paper aims at analyzing the current situation of traffic in two crowded roundabouts in Sibiu, comparing the results with the original data and proposing solutions to impr…