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Demand for goods/services has increased in Latin America due to urbanization, leading to a complex delivery system and increased logistical activities. In Quito, the Historic Center and La Mariscal are two zones that face logistical challenges. The objective of this chapter is to analyze the commercial logistic activities related to loading and unloading goods in these zones. To address this urban freight problem, this chapter proposes a solution through the calculation of the optimal number and location of loading and unloading bays in each zone based on actual commercial activity data. First, a delivery survey was completed in each zone regarding frequency and amount of deliveries. Then, based on the data obtained, an optimization model is proposed to determine the optimal number and location of loading and unloading bays. Finally, a simulation model of the delivery process is performed to readjust the bay’s optimal number. A total number of 75 and 98 bays were calculated to serve the total shopping district of a representative square kilometer (km²) of the Historic Center and La Mariscal. This solution aims to minimize the delivery time and the distance for deliveries, improve urban freight transportation, and reduce traffic. This study could be used as a baseline and guide for further research in urban logistics, especially in Latin America, where urban logistics is still under study. This chapter is part of a Research Project of Urban Logistics in Quito, led by Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), in association with the Megacity Logistics Lab of MIT.

With the increasing urbanization rates in emerging countries such as the ones in Latin America and the Caribbean, urban logistics solutions and initiatives are widely needed. Urban planners often consider only passenger transportation and leave freight transportation unattended, thus increasing externalities and degrading the transportation of goods. This chapter presents three urban logistics solutions, which intend to tackle problems related to urbanization and last mile delivery operations challenges by evaluating location models for loading and unloading bays, urban transfer centers location models, and freight trip generation models. The presented solutions were proposed by several researchers of the Institute of Innovation in Productivity and Logistics CATENA-USFQ over the last four years and remain theoretical at the moment. However, we present estimated results of potential implementations in three districts of Quito: Historic Center, Entertainment District, and Corporate District. This chapter not only presents the mentioned urban logistics solutions in Quito but also gives an overview of the followed methodology, which can be replicated in countries and cities of similar characteristics of the region.

Globalisation is generally defined as the “denationalisation of clusters of political, economic, and social activities” that destabilize the ability of the sovereign State to control activities on its territory, due to the rising need to find solutions for universal problems, like the pollution of the environment, on an international level. Globalisation is a complex, forceful legal and social process that take place within an integrated whole with out regard to geographical boundaries. Globalisation thus differs from international activities, which arise between and among States, and it differs from multinational activities that occur in more than one nation‐State. This does not mean that countries are not involved in the sociolegal dynamics that those transboundary process trigger. In a sense, the movements triggered by global processes promote greater economic interdependence among countries. Globalisation can be traced back to the depression preceding World War II and globalisation at that time included spreading of the capitalist economic system as a means of getting access to extended markets. The first step was to create sufficient export surplus to maintain full employment in the capitalist world and secondly establishing a globalized economy where the planet would be united in peace and wealth. The idea of interdependence among quite separate and distinct countries is a very important part of talks on globalisation and a significant side of today’s global political economy.

This study aims to the effect of NaF, Li₂CO₃ and H₃BO₃ minerals was investigated, and the best mineralizer was found to be H₃BO₃. Furthermore, the effect of temperature was investigated, and the synthesized samples were calcined at temperatures of 1100, 1200 and 1300 °C to select the optimum calcination temperature.

This study was aimed at thoroughly investigating the effects of mineralizer addition and temperature on the synthesis of malayaite pink pigment based on raw materials of SnCl₂-SiO₂-Ca(OH)₂-K₂Cr₂O₇. To this end, the optimization of the synthesis parameters such as mineralizer addition and temperature was completely perused.

The optimum temperature was 1300 °C, and the color efficiency of pigments was evaluated by colorimetric (CIE L*a*b* system) analysis, and these parameters were close to those of industrial pigments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, for the first time, the effect of mineralizer addition and temperature on the synthesis of malayaite pink pigment was investigated through the sol-gel method. Herein, different parameters were optimized to propose a novel pigment with a much better performance.

The purpose of this paper is to present the first economic valuation of four environmental attributes of the Yanachaga–Chemillén National Park (PNYCH – Parque Nacional Yanachaga-Chemillén) in Peru.

This study included households in three cities adjacent to the PNYCH and assessed the willingness to pay (WTP) for preservation efforts of these natural services to avoid the predicted loss in forest area by 2030 (currently 143,425 hectares per year).

The results showed that the average WTP was US$0.695 (2.3197 soles) per household annually. Added to all households in Peru (9 million), this is equivalent to approximately 6.255 million dollars annually.

The economic valuation of these attributes is complementary to the contingent valuation and can have a significant impact, as this data influences decision-making and public policies focused on conserving forests and biodiversity.

Upon using the choice experiment (CE) model, the attributes that have the most significant impact on inhabitants’ well-being were economic benefits. The flora and fauna coverage attributes were beneficial for the inhabitants of the place because they valued the proposed recovery and conservation program in a positive and differential way.

From the collection of valuable economic data, the novelty lies in using the CE method, which has not yet been applied in valuations of natural ecosystem services in Peru.

This chapter studies the tourism cluster of Majorca and its connection with collective entrepreneurship. To this end, the authors review the history of four world leading Spanish hotel companies, from their beginnings, in Majorca, in the 1950s, to their internationalization, in the 1980s and 1990s: Barceló, Meliá, Riu, and Iberostar. This allows us to identify common patterns of behaviour among them over time, which in turn illustrate the dynamics of the tourism cluster and the role played by its context. This qualitative and historical research allows us to make the following contributions: first, in line with other studies in the economic history of Spanish tourism, the four cases support the identification of Majorca as a tourism cluster. Second, the authors highlight several important characteristics of the island which reinforced and strengthened the cluster and boosted collective entrepreneurship, through an intense flow of information between the companies. Third, the authors illustrate coopetition as the key nature of the relationship between the clustered companies in a simultaneous process of competition and cooperation. Finally, the authors show how the strength of the tourism cluster, in Majorca, drove the companies to replicate the same dynamics and structures abroad.

Inorganic pigments have been widely investigated due to their chemical stability such as resistance to chemical attacks by acids and alkalis, excellent hardness and high temperature stability. Cr_1.3Fe_0.7O₃ which is considered as a ceramic nanopigment also seems to be a highly efficient photovoltaic material. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In this work, the paper reports the synthesis of a novel and high purity Cr_1.3Fe_0.7O₃ nanopigment via sol-gel process using stearic acid as complexing agent. The method includes formation of an organic precursor with metallic cations homogeneously distributed all over the matrix. Sample characterisations were performed by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, UV-vis diffused reflectance spectra and photoluminescence. The transport properties and colour characteristics were also investigated by spectroscopic and technological characterisation of the synthesised nanoparticles.

The prepared nanopigments were uniform in distribution and a spherical morphology with an average size of about 200 nm was observed. Cr_1.3Fe_0.7O₃ nanoparticles showed a direct band gap value of 2.85 eV and the colour efficiency of the nanopigments evaluated by colourimetric analysis resulted characteristic values of L*=39.96, a*=3.67 and b*=3.12.

This method for synthesis of nanopigments is novel and could be employed for various applications in synthesis of wide variety of nanoceramics.

The Geography of Tourism in Spain is now at a par in terms of its scientific production with other European countries. Since the middle of the '80s the quality and volume of contributions is analogous to the rest of the European Union, although as a part of University Geography in Spain it has not achieved the level of dedication reached by other subjects considering the importance of tourist activities to the economy, the society and the territory of Spain. It could be said that the Geography of Tourism in Spain is in the international vanguard in dealing with Mediterranean coastal tourism, with the relationships between the residential real estate and tourism sectors and with aspects related to tourism and leisure in rural and protected areas.

This chapter analyzes the intersectionality of inequalities based on class, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity within the Indignados (indignant or outraged people) movement of Spain. By analyzing the interpretative frames and organizational practices of the movement, we looked for influencing factors and the degree to which the movement has incorporated an intersectional perspective into its interpretative frames. Some of the frames did attend to the various inter-related forms of inequality. The factors influencing an intersectional perspective included: the presence of coexisting or inclusive forms of expressing the collective identity of the movement, mechanisms implemented to balance asymmetries among actors, and the confluence of three of the four dominant frames within the movement.