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__Abstract__ The paper uses monthly data on financial stock index returns, tourism stock sub-index returns, effective exchange rate returns and interest rate differences from April 2005 – August 2013 for Taiwan that applies Chang’s (2014) novel approach for constructing a tourism financial indicator, namely the Tourism Financial Conditions Index (TFCI). The TFCI is an adaptation and extension of the widely-used Monetary Conditions Index (MCI) and Financial Conditions Index (FCI) to tourism stock data. However, the method of calculation of the TFCI is different from existing methods of constructing the MCI and FCI in that the weights are estimated empirically. The empirical findings show that TFCI is estimated quite accurately using the estimated conditional mean of the tourism stock index returns. The new TFCI is straightforward to use and interpret, and provides interesting insights in predicting the current economic and financial environment for tourism stock index returns that are based on publicly available information. In particular, the use of market returns on the tourism stock index as the sole indicator of the tourism sector, as compared with the general activity of economic variables on tourism stocks, is shown to provide an exaggerated and excessively volatile explanation of tourism financial conditions.

__Abstract__ This paper uses monthly data from April 2005 to August 2013 for Taiwan to propose a novel tourism indicator, namely the Tourism Conditions Index (TCI). TCI accounts for the spillover weights based on the Granger causality test and estimates of the multivariate BEKK model for four TCI indicators to predict specific tourism and economic environmental indicators for Taiwan. The foundation of the TCI is the Financial Conditions Index (FCI), which is derived from the Monetary Conditions Index (MCI). The empirical findings show that TCI weighted by spillovers reveal greater significance in forecasting the Composite Index (CI), an economic environmental indicator, than the Tourism Industry Index (TII), which is an existing indicator for the tourism industry that is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE). Moreover, previous values of the alternative TCI and TII are shown to contain useful information in predicting both tourism and economic environmental factors. Overall, the new Tourism Conditions Index is straightforward to use and also provides useful insights in predicting tourism arrivals and the current economic environment.

This paper investigates the stock returns and volatility size effects for firm performance in the Taiwan tourism industry, especially the impacts arising from the tourism policy reform that allowed mainland Chinese tourists to travel to Taiwan. Four conditional univariate GARCH models are used to estimate the volatility in the stock indexes for large and small firms in Taiwan. Daily data from 30 November 2001 to 27 February 2013 are used, which covers the period of Cross-Straits tension between China and Taiwan. The full sample period is divided into two subsamples, namely prior to and after the policy reform that encouraged Chinese tourists to Taiwan. The empirical findings confirm that there have been important changes in the volatility size effects for firm performance, regardless of firm size and estimation period. Furthermore, the risk premium reveals insignificant estimates in both time periods, while asymmetric effects are found to exist only for large firms after the policy reform. The empirical findings should be useful for financial managers and policy analysts as it provides insight into the magnitude of the volatility size effects for firm performance, how it can vary with firm size, the impacts arising from the industry policy reform, and how firm size is related to financial risk management strategy.

This paper reports the results of a study of hadron production in e/sup +/e/sup -/ collisions at c.m. energies of 33, 35, and 35.8 GeV. Production of a new quark flavor has been sought. The measured values of the total cross section, the thrust distributions, and the study of inclusive muon production show no evidence for the production of a new charge-2/3e quark near threshold. In addition, during an energy scan in the region 29.9< or =..sqrt..s< or =31.6 GeV, no hadron resonance indicating the existence of a bound state composed of charge-2/3e quarks has been found.

The authors present a case of a patient with a persistent spontaneous pneumothorax (after seven days of chest tube drainage) in whom a tear in an upper lobe bleb was held open by adhesions between the bleb and the chest wall. Radiographic findings which might indicate such a condition are presented, thus altering one to the need for early surgical intervention. Current theories regarding the pathophysiology of pneumothorax in the young and elderly patient are reviewed.

Physical review letters 43(12), 830 - 833 (1979). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.43.830, We report the analysis of the spatial energy distribution of data for e+e−→hadrons obtained with the MARK-J detector at PETRA. We define the quantity 'oblateness' to describe the flat shape of the energy configuration and the three-jet structure which is unambiguously observed for the first time. Our data can be explained by quantum chromodynamic predictions for the production of quark-antiquark pairs accompanied by hard noncollinear gluons., Published by APS, College Park, Md.

Protean manifestation of pulmonary and pleural space infections can be expected in drug addicts. Because of the need to establish strict environmental protection for staff and patients, even simple drainage procedures should be performed in the operating room. Without testing, these patients should be considered as potential carriers of the AIDS virus. If a subcutaneous abscess is found to extend into the pleural space, drainage and full lung expansion are attempted through a limited rib resection. If this is unsuccessful, a full thoracotomy should be done to meet these surgical objectives.