Industry, Tourism and Investment

Abstract Geothermal resource is a kind of renewable green and clean energy stored in the earth's interior. Under the impetus of the global energy revolution and the goal of “double-carbon”, the development and utilization of geothermal energy has become an important strategy for the energy development of all countries in the world. Magnetotelluric (MT) sounding method, which is not shielded by high-resistance layers and provides high resolution for low-resistance layers, has unique advantages in revealing geothermal system structures, delineating hydrothermal geoelectric structures, and assessing the development potential of geothermal regions. Based on an MT profile in Maotian Township, Jianshi County, this paper processed data from 51 broadband MT measurement points using Fourier transform, Robust estimation, and impedance tensor decomposition techniques. After a detailed analysis of the dimensional characteristics and electrical axes, a 2D electrical structure model from the surface to a depth of 9 km was obtained via topography-based 2D inversion. The fault distribution was confirmed, and the potential geothermal resource areas were inferred based on geological information. The MT sounding survey confirmed the favorable geothermal resource storage range in the study area and demonstrated the advantages of MT in geothermal exploration, with important practical value for investigating the underground electrical structure and geothermal resource distribution.

ObjectivesEarly oral hygiene and care help prevent early childhood caries (ECC). As remote Indigenous communities in Canada have limited access to dental care, this project explores Indigenous women's oral hygiene practices during and after pregnancy and in regard to children (0–36 months) within three communities in Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada.MethodsA mixed-methods study design was employed. Self-identifying Indigenous women who were pregnant or had given birth within the 3 years preceding data collection (2019) were invited to complete a semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire.Results156 Indigenous women participated. Of participants who gave birth in the last 3 years (n = 145), 78.8% started brushing infants' teeth/gums. Of participants whose infants had teeth (n = 114), 27.9% had taken the infant to a dentist. Factors impacting infant oral hygiene practices included personal experiences, access to supplies, and health literacy. Among pregnant participants (n = 28), 38.5% had visited a dentist during pregnancy. Among participants who had given birth within 3 years (n = 145), 67.9% had since seen a dentist. Factors impacting dental care utilization during pregnancy included service availability and safety concerns. After giving birth, factors included service availability and competing priorities.ConclusionsWithin Indigenous communities in NWT, inaccessible oral health care, information, and supplies made it challenging for mothers to meet oral health recommendations during and after pregnancy and in regard to young children. The findings of this project suggest the need for long-term, collaborative strategies focused on increasing the availability and accessibility of dental care professionals and services within communities and improving oral health literacy via culturally appropriate and collaboratively developed informational initiatives.

Abstract Recent climate warming is contributing to permafrost degradation and vegetation change; however, little is known about the legacy of Holocene landscape change on contemporary soil biogeochemical conditions. In permafrost soils of northwestern Canada, widespread permafrost degradation occurred during the early Holocene warm interval and its impacts on soil biogeochemistry are archived in the paleo‐active layer. Here we show contrasting profiles of soil soluble chemistry and organic carbon composition at sites affected by different types of permafrost degradation. At sites that experienced increased depth of thaw, the relict active layer contained a lower abundance of soluble ions than the underlying undisturbed permafrost; however, both the relict active layer and undisturbed permafrost contained mainly old recalcitrant organics suggesting that minor microbial degradation of organics had occurred. At sites that experienced past thaw slumping, the relict active layer had a higher solute content and contained both young‐degradable and old‐recalcitrant organics due to the integration of slumped surface organic mats into the colluvial soils or vegetation re‐colonizing the surface of the former slump. Our results show that permafrost degradation that occurred during the early to mid‐Holocene have preconditioned the biogeochemical conditions in near‐surface permafrost soils such that significant local variability exist following past landscape changes. Thus, determining the state of soil soluble chemistry and SOC in permafrost should be done within a paleo‐landscape change framework to better forecast CO2–CH4 emissions and solutes release from thawing permafrost.

Abstract Burbot (Lota lota: Gadidae) is a difficult species to manage effectively due to its preference for deep‐water habitats and under‐ice spawning behaviour, resulting in a poor understanding of its reproductive activity. However, the use of acoustic signalling by burbot as part of their mating system has recently been described and this behaviour may provide a means of investigating questions regarding the spatial and temporal distribution of spawning aggregations using passive acoustic monitoring.We used audio and video recording to confirm that burbot vocalise and that these vocalisations can be detected under field conditions as well as to characterise the relationship between burbot acoustic signalling and spawning behaviour. We also evaluated the feasibility of locating and monitoring burbot spawning aggregations in real time using passive acoustics.Burbot vocalisations were difficult to identify with only about 6% of the recordings containing calls being successfully identified as such in the field. Burbot vocalised more often between sundown and sunrise than during daylight hours. Calls recorded at night tended to be lower frequency, longer duration, and have lower bandwidth than those made during the day.Burbot vocalisations could not be recorded in conjunction with video recordings of spawning activity, indicating that burbot may not call during active spawning, but may use acoustic communication to signal the onset of reproductive readiness and to form pre‐spawning aggregations.While burbot calls were readily identifiable, observers had a difficult time identifying burbot calls in real time under field conditions. Passive acoustic monitoring demonstrates considerable potential as a management tool to locate burbot spawning grounds and identify periods of activity, but may not be an appropriate technique for monitoring spawning activity in real time.

This article presents the first multivariate analysis of the Human Resource Module (HRM) of the Canadian Tourism Satellite Account. Annual labour productivity is calculated for six tourism industries using the National Tourism Indicators and the HRM. The impact of various labour force characteristics on labour productivity is measured through the estimation of an econometric model. Labour productivity is found to increase with the capital labour ratio, the proportion of part-time hours, the share of hours supplied by women, the proportion of immigrant workers and the proportion of the most experienced workers.

The nongated and multiple entry point character of many destinations makes it difficult to accurately estimate visitor attendance. This research describes a modeling procedure for credibly estimating tourist attendance in such destinations. It demonstrates the application of the approach in the mountain tourism destination of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. This article suggests that while the model is capable of providing timely and relevant attendance estimates for destination managers, its credibility is dependent on access to a substantive base of both audited attendance data concerning anchored visitors and specific behavioral information collected on a systematic basis from footloose visitors in the destination. The findings are offered as a contribution to the growing literature on tourism destination and special event visitor attendance estimation and performance assessment.

Abstract Refineries are processing bottoms and heavy oils to lighter products using either thermal cracking base technologies such as visbreaking, delayed and fluid coking, or solid catalyst base low to moderate hydroconversion technologies using fixed bed and ebullated bed reactors. Unconverted resid from ebullated bed reactor has also been fed to delayed coker to increase the distillates yield. These processes perform well for what they are designed to do. With the new fuel specifications of 10–50 parts per million sulfur restriction in transportation fuels, distillates produced from low conversion fixed bed and ebullated bed hydroprocessing will not meet the required ultra low sulfur content without further hydrotreating. For distillates produced from delayed and fluid coking, even more severe secondary processing is needed to reduce the aromatic and sulfur contents in order to meet the new fuel regulations. In light of the current high crude price, general decline in crude quality, and regulations mandated high quality, ultra low sulfur specifications for the transportation fuels, significant advantages exist for flexible technology that can overcome limitations of current bottoms of the barrel upgrading processes. The Alberta Government formed the Alberta Oil Sands Technology Research Authority (AOSTRA) in the 1970's to fund research and development of technologies to improve the economics of producing synthetic crude oil from its vast reserves of heavy oils and oil sands. These research programs provided new insight on the molecular structure of heavy oil, the chemistry of the various non-volatile fractions, especially on their tendency to form carbonaceous solids (coke) during upgrading. In the mid-1990's researchers at the Alberta Research Council (ARC) and AOSTRA developed a new upgrading technology called (HC)3TM, a hydro-conversion process that is designed to efficiently convert bottoms and residua rich in metals and asphaltenes to lighter products. In 2001, Headwaters Heavy Oil, Inc. (HHO), obtained a worldwide exclusive license from the Alberta Science and Research Authority (ASRA) to commercialize and market the (HC)3TM hydrocracking technology. The This paper describes the (HC)3TM technology, its applications to improve operations at existing supported catalyst hydroprocessing facilities and as a stand alone hydrocracker.

A comparison of all-season resorts in Canada and the U.S. reveals that Canadian resorts experience more pronounced seasonal demand and generally focus on one primary activity. Canadian resorts could benefit from targeting several market segments, including incentive and business travelers. Canadian resorts attract a large percentage of international travelers, particularly from Japan and Europe. Canadians could build on that business by offering travel packages. The U.S. remains the single largest potential market for Canadian resorts. Guests reported that the top reasons they chose a particular resort were a prior visit or word of mouth; therefore, the best marketing approach may be to ensure guests are satisfied and to keep in touch with them. Except for sun-and-sand experiences, Canadian resorts can be competitive with other destinations. Canadian resorts' guests are relatively well-educated and affluent travelers. Canadian operators should, therefore, consider ways to market to the affluent.