Biodiversity or bioenergy: is deadwood conservation an environmental issue for French forest owners?1This article is one of a selection of papers from the International Symposium on Dynamics and Ecological Services of Deadwood in Forest Ecosystems.

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
pp. 1491-1502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Deuffic ◽  
Sandrine Lyser
Keyword(s):  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Wood Decay ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Forest Owners ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of

Forest owners are confronted with contradictory views on the importance of deadwood. Environmentalists argue that it should be left in the forest to conserve biodiversity, provide a habitat for specific fauna and flora, and maintain soil quality through wood decay. Conversely, industrial stakeholders, and some public decision makers, advocate harvesting deadwood. Based on a sociological survey and qualitative interviews, we first analyzed the detailed environmental opinions and values of four groups of French foresters as well as their attitudes towards biodiversity, in particular regarding deadwood conservation. We identified various types of attitudes towards deadwood, which could be seen as waste, an unprofitable by-product, a meaningless entity, or a key part of the ecosystem. We then studied the arguments leading them to choose between deadwood conservation and deadwood harvesting for bioenergy production. On one hand, foresters are interested in short-term profitability and pest control, while others fear potential loss of fertility. Finally, the article shows that specific approaches to deadwood conservation ought to be negotiated at a local scale, pending further scientific investigation into the impact of deadwood on biodiversity and the development of more positive attitudes toward ecological concerns in the forest owners’ community.

scholarly journals Multi-Scale Spatiotemporal Change Characteristics Analysis of High-Frequency Disturbance Forest Ecosystem Based on Improved Spatiotemporal Cube Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 2537
Author(s):  
Yangcen Zhang ◽  
Xiangnan Liu ◽  
Meiling Liu ◽  
Xinyu Zou ◽  
Qian Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Vegetation Indices ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Spatiotemporal Changes ◽  
Spatiotemporal Scales ◽  
The Impact

High-frequency disturbance forest ecosystems undergo complex and frequent changes at various spatiotemporal scales owing to natural and anthropogenic factors. Effectively capturing the characteristics of these spatiotemporal changes from satellite image time series is a powerful and practical means for determining their causes and predicting their trends. Herein, we combined the spatiotemporal cube and vegetation indices to develop the improved spatiotemporal cube (IST-cube) model. We used this to acquire the spatiotemporal dynamics of forest ecosystems from 1987 to 2020 in the study area and then classified it into four spatiotemporal scales. The results showed that the cube-core only exists in the increasing IST-cubes, which are distributed in residential areas and forests. The length of the IST-cube implies the duration of triggers. Human activities result in long-term small-scope IST-cubes, and the impact in the vicinity of residential areas is increasing while there is no change within. Meteorological disasters cause short-term, large scope, and irregular impacts. Land use type change causes short-term small scope IST-cubes and a regular impact. Overall, we report the robustness and strength of the IST-cube model in capturing spatiotemporal changes in forest ecosystems, providing a novel method to examine complex changes in forest ecosystems via remote sensing.

Examining confirmation biases: implications of sponsor congruency

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Devlin ◽  
Andrew C. Billings
Keyword(s):  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Purchase Intentions ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Expected Return ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fan Identification ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate occurrences of confirmation bias existing for sponsors whose brand is congruent to a sport. More specifically, this research investigates: if confirmation biases for congruent brands occur in the absence of exposure, the impact audience segmentation has on sponsorship evaluations by comparing highly identified fans to non-fans, and if congruent sponsors are recalled more often than incongruent sponsors after exposure. Design/methodology/approach An experiment was conducted to measure how exposure, type of sponsor, and fan identification impacts recognition, attitude, and purchase intention. Findings The results confirm sport-congruent brands are more likely to be falsely recognized as a sponsor than non-congruent sponsors in the absence of sponsorship participation. Sport consumers’ confirmation biases yield positive attitudes and purchase intentions for congruent brands even in the absence of immediate exposure. Lastly, exposure has no impact on recall or sponsor outcomes, suggesting the need for articulating the brand’s connection prior to the event to build stronger memory traces. Practical implications Congruent brands should carefully consider investment costs and expected return on investment, noting benefits of participation might be marginal as a result of confirmation biases. Potential sponsors should also understand cognitive benefits begin before exposure to the sponsorship occurs, and therefore need to articulate a connection to the event prior to exposure by consumers. Originality/value The findings suggest the importance of confirmation biases when attempting to reach sport consumers. Some brands may be able to increase recall and recognition even in the absence of exposure, thus helping decision makers when managing budgets.

scholarly journals Switch-out and switch-in: What motivates the decision makers in Italian occupational pension funds?

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-42
Author(s):  
Andrea Lippi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Process ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The One ◽  
Long Term Performance ◽  
Term Performance ◽  
The Impact

To switch presumes two kinds of transactions carried out by the same person: on the one hand, the decision to exit an investment line (switch-out) and, on the other hand, the decision to enter into a new investment line (switch-in). What motivates the decision makers? This paper, considering a sample of Italian occupational pension funds, investigates the impact of short-term and long-term performance on the switch decision process and whether the same performance can lead investors to make opposite switch decisions. Some irrational behaviors are identified.

scholarly journals Technical Note: Downscaling RCM precipitation to the station scale using quantile mapping – a comparison of methods

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 6185-6201 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Gudmundsson ◽  
J. B. Bremnes ◽  
J. E. Haugen ◽  
T. Engen Skaugen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Climate Models ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Technical Note ◽  
Quantile Mapping ◽  
Real World Application ◽  
Systematic Biases ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract. The impact of climate change on water resources is usually assessed at the local scale. However, regional climate models (RCM) are known to exhibit systematic biases in precipitation. Hence, RCM simulations need to be post-processed in order to produce reliable estimators of local scale climate. A popular post-processing approach is quantile mapping (QM), which is designed to adjust the distribution of modeled data, such that it matches observed climatologies. However, the diversity of suggested QM methods renders the selection of optimal techniques difficult and hence there is a need for clarification. In this paper, QM methods are reviewed and classified into: (1) distribution derived transformations, (2) parametric transformations and (3) nonparametric transformations; each differing with respect to their underlying assumptions. A real world application, using observations of 82 precipitation stations in Norway, showed that nonparametric transformations have the highest skill in systematically reducing biases in RCM precipitation.

scholarly journals Technical Note: Downscaling RCM precipitation to the station scale using statistical transformations – a comparison of methods

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 3383-3390 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Gudmundsson ◽  
J. B. Bremnes ◽  
J. E. Haugen ◽  
T. Engen-Skaugen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Models ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Climate Models ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Technical Note ◽  
Post Processing ◽  
Real World Application ◽  
Systematic Biases ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract. The impact of climate change on water resources is usually assessed at the local scale. However, regional climate models (RCMs) are known to exhibit systematic biases in precipitation. Hence, RCM simulations need to be post-processed in order to produce reliable estimates of local scale climate. Popular post-processing approaches are based on statistical transformations, which attempt to adjust the distribution of modelled data such that it closely resembles the observed climatology. However, the diversity of suggested methods renders the selection of optimal techniques difficult and therefore there is a need for clarification. In this paper, statistical transformations for post-processing RCM output are reviewed and classified into (1) distribution derived transformations, (2) parametric transformations and (3) nonparametric transformations, each differing with respect to their underlying assumptions. A real world application, using observations of 82 precipitation stations in Norway, showed that nonparametric transformations have the highest skill in systematically reducing biases in RCM precipitation.

scholarly journals Novel Fuzzy Composite Indicators for Locating a Logistics Platform under Sustainability Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3891
Author(s):  
Hana Ayadi ◽  
Nadia Hamani ◽  
Lyes Kermad ◽  
Mounir Benaissa
Keyword(s):  
Composite Indicators ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Preference Ranking ◽  
Economic Sustainability ◽  
Weak Sustainability ◽  
Interesting Approach ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Consistency Method ◽  
Selection Of

The purpose of this paper is to help decision-makers choose the location of a logistics platform with sustainability perspectives. This study presents a compensatory and partially compensatory approach to build composite indicators, using mainly fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methods. In the first instance, the fuzzy full consistency method (F-FUCOM) was used to calculate the weight of the criteria and sub-criteria. In the second instance, two aggregation methods, namely the fuzzy multi-attribute ideal-real comparative analysis (F-MAIRCA) and the fuzzy preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (F-PROMETHEE), were used to rank the location of a logistics platform. The novelty of the work lays in studying the impact of limited sustainability and weak sustainability on the location of a logistics platform. In this respect, the aggregation of various sustainability criterion in fuzzy compensatory and partially compensatory composite indicators is an innovative and interesting approach used to locate a logistics platform. The obtained results show that economic sustainability is the most important criterion for the selection of a logistics platform, followed by the environmental criterion. Obviously, the F-MAIRCA and F-PROMETHEE methods provided the same ranking orders. Finally, sensitivity analyses were performed to validate the robustness of the proposed approach.

scholarly journals Driving social mobility? Competitive collaboration in degree apprenticeship development

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Bradley ◽  
Claire Newhouse ◽  
Nadira Mirza
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Collaborative Relationships ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Collaborative Models ◽  
National Economic ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Apprenticeship reforms have paved the way for higher education (HE) providers, including universities, to become Degree Apprenticeships (DA) training providers, creating new work-based HE routes. The changes aim to generate a new cohort of skilled individuals to support national economic growth, as well as improve levels of social mobility. The purpose of this paper is to focus on an HE partnership project which resulted in a number of collaborative models for development that address these aims. Design/methodology/approach The paper focuses on qualitative interviews undertaken during the process of creating DAs through a consortium of HE providers. It considers the collaborative relationships which were built on and which developed across the course of the short-term project. It assesses the concept of competitive collaboration and its link to social mobility. Findings The paper considers the various manifestations of collaboration which supported the DA developments in a competitive environment: collaboration as embedded; collaboration as negotiation; and collaboration as a driver for social mobility and social equality. Originality/value Working collaboratively across HE providers sought to raise the status of apprenticeships, provide opportunities for the development of new degree apprenticeship curricula and enable practitioners to establish these as a new route into HE. This paper contributes to what is currently limited knowledge about the impact of degree apprenticeships on social mobility and equality.

scholarly journals Dampak Jenis dan Kualitas Gabah Mempengaruhi Tingkat Harga Gabah dalam Perspektif Ekonomi Syariah di Desa Talungeng Kecamatan Barebbo Kab. Bone

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51
Author(s):  
Wiwijianti Wiwijianti ◽  
Agussalim Agussalim
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Rice Fields ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Rice Seeds ◽  
Islamic Economic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
The Way

This study discusses the Impact of Grain Types and Quality Affecting Grain Levels in a Sharia Economic Perspective in Talungeng Village, Barebbo District, Kab. Bone, with the aim of research is to know the impact of grain type and quality affecting the level of grain prices and know the Islamic economic review of the impact of grain type and quality. The results showed that the impact of grain type and quality was very dependent on the selection of rice seeds / seeds to be planted in the fields, because of the variety of species favored by farmers, some were short-term and resistant to paddy disease. The names of seeds are: 66, Impari, Cengelis, and Celiung. While the quality depends on the way of maintenance in terms of providing fertilizer, poisons and water supply. Whereas in sharia economics the type and quality of grain is discipline and honesty of farmers in managing rice fields so that they are able to produce rice that fits the needs of the community and has a blessing value in it.

scholarly journals Clinician attitude towards safety in medication management: a participatory action research study in an emergency department

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. e047089
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Bakhshi ◽  
Rebecca Mitchell ◽  
Alireza Nikbakht Nasrabadi ◽  
Mostafa Javadi ◽  
Shokoh Varaei
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Medication Management ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Reflection Data ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Current Medication ◽  
The Impact

ObjectivesEdication management is a process in which medications are selected, procured, delivered, prescribed, reviewed, administered and monitored to assure high-quality patient care and safety. This paper explores clinicians’ attitudes towards medication management which is both open to influence and strongly linked to successful changes in mediation behaviour. We aimed to investigate effects of engaging in participatory action research to improve emergency medicine clinicians’ attitudes to safety in medication management.SettingEmergency department of one university affiliated hospital.ParticipantsA total of 85 clinicians including nurses and physicians partook as participants. Eight managers and clinicians participated as representatives.DesignData are drawn from two-cycle participatory action research. Initially, a situation analysis on the current medication management and clinician views regarding medication management was conducted using three focus groups. Evaluation and reflection data were obtained through qualitative interviews. All qualitative data were analysed using content analysis.ResultsClinicians initially expressed negative attitudes towards existing and new plans for medication management, in that they were critical of current medication-related policy and procedures, as well as wary of the potential relevance and utility of potential changes to medication management. Through the action research, improvement actions were implemented including interprofessional courses, pharmacist-led interventions and the development of new guidelines regarding medication management. Participants and their representatives were engaged in all participatory action research stages with different levels of involvement. Extracted results from evaluation and reflection stages revealed that by engaging in the action research and practice new interventions, clinicians’ attitude towards medication management was improved.ConclusionsThe results support the impact of participatory action research on enhancing clinicians’ positive attitudes through their involvement in planning and implementing safety enhancing aspects of medication management.

scholarly journals The Impact of Short-Term Cross-Cultural Experience on the Intercultural Competence of Participating Students: A Case Study of Australian High School Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
Wendy Nelson ◽  
Johannes M. Luetz
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Short Term ◽  
School Students ◽  
Cultural Experiences ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact

Over recent years, globalisation occasioned a dramatic rise in cross-cultural interactions until this was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to competently engage in a multicultural world is often considered the “literacy of the future”. Global interconnectedness has brought studies into intercultural competence to centre stage. This has increased the demand for cross-cultural education experiences that facilitate such learning. However, there is a dearth of empirical research into the issues and effects surrounding short-term cross-cultural educational experiences for adolescents. This mixed-methods study extends previous research by looking specifically into what impact short-term cross-cultural experiences may have on the formation of intercultural competence (IC) and emotional intelligence (EI) of Australian high school students. This study used two instruments for measuring IC and EI in a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design (n = 14), the General Ethnocentrism (GENE) Scale and Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Moreover, it conducted in-depth post-experience qualitative interviews (n = 7) that broadly followed a phenomenological paradigm of inquiry. The findings suggest that fully embodied cross-cultural immersive experiences can effectively support the formation of IC and EI in high school students and may thereby play a contributing role in redressing ignorance, xenophobia, prejudice, and discrimination. A greater understanding of the linkages between immersive cross-cultural experiences and intercultural competence offers prospects for policymakers, educators, pastoral carers, and other relevant stakeholders who might employ such experiential learning to foster more interculturally and interracially harmonious human relations.

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