Effects of uniform-allocation constraints in networked common-pool resource extraction games

Communities that share common-pool resources (CPRs) often coordinate their actions to sustain resource quality more effectively than if they were regulated by some centralized authority. Networked models of CPR extraction suggest that the flexibility of individual agents to selectively allocate extraction effort among multiple resources plays an important role in maximizing their payoffs. However, empirical evidence suggests that real-world CPR appropriators may often de-emphasize issues of allocation, for example by responding to the degradation of a single resource by reducing extraction from multiple resources, rather than by reallocating extraction effort away from the degraded resource. Here, we study the population-level consequences that emerge when individuals are constrained to apply an equal amount of extraction effort to all CPRs that are available to them within an affiliation network linking agents to resources. In systems where all resources have the same capacity, this uniform-allocation constraint leads to reduced collective wealth compared to unconstrained best-response extraction, but it can produce more egalitarian wealth distributions. The differences are more pronounced in networks that have higher degree heterogeneity among resources. In the case that the capacity of each CPR is proportional to its number of appropriators, the uniform-allocation constraint can lead to more efficient collective extraction since it serves to distribute the burden of over-extraction more evenly among the network’s CPRs. Our results reinforce the importance of adaptive allocation in self-regulation for populations who share linearly degrading CPRs; although uniform-allocation extraction habits can help to sustain higher resource quality than does unconstrained extraction, in general this does not improve collective benefits for a population in the long term.

Invertebrate-induced priority effects and secondary metabolites control fungal community composition in dead wood

During decomposition of organic matter, microbial communities may follow different successional trajectories depending on the initial environment and colonizers. The timing and order of the assembly history can lead to divergent communities through priority effects. We explored how assembly history and resource quality affected fungal dead wood communities and decomposition, 1.5 and 4.5 years after tree felling. Additionally, we investigated the effect of invertebrate exclusion during the first two summers. For aspen (Populus tremula) logs, we measured initial resource quality of bark and wood, and surveyed the fungal communities by DNA metabarcoding at different time points during succession. We found that a gradient in fungal community composition was related to resource quality and discuss how this may reflect tolerance-dominance trade-offs in fungal life history strategies. As with previous studies, the initial amount of bark tannins was negatively correlated with wood decomposition rate over 4.5 years. The initial fungal community explained variation in community composition after 1.5, but not 4.5 years, of succession. Although the assembly history of initial colonizers may cause alternate trajectories in successional communities, our results indicate that the communities may easily converge with the arrival of secondary colonizers. We also identified a strong invertebrate-induced priority effect of fungal communities, even after 4.5 years of succession, thereby adding crucial knowledge to the importance of invertebrates in affecting fungal community development. By measuring and manipulating aspects of assembly history and resource quality that have rarely been studied, we expand our understanding of the complexity of fungal community dynamics.

The Role of Presence, Flow and Education Components in the Continuing Intention to e-Learn

This paper investigates learners’ experiences in virtual education environments and the impact on their continued intention to e-learn. We study how presence and flow affect behavioral intention to continue e-learning, and analyze the role of TAM perceptions on core components of the virtual education environment. We develop an integrated conceptual model, and we test it by means of a questionnaire-based survey and registered data collected from a broad sample of learners within a virtual education environment. The results strongly support the conceptual model, suggesting that the virtual education environment’s components (categorized by professor attitude and perceived didactic resource quality) play a key role in prompting learners’ perceptions, attitudes and behavioral intentions

Seasonal resource categorisation and behavioural adaptation among non-human primates: Implications for hominin carnivory in the Early Pleistocene

Seasonality plays a critical role in determining the yearly dietary variability of many nonhuman primates living in tropical and subtropical environments. Much previous research has emphasised the seasonal importance of both preferred resources—eaten whenever available—and fallback foods—eaten during periods of scarcity to compensate for an insufficient availability of preferred resources. However, previous discussions of this dichotomy have often overlooked why different populations of the same taxon may exhibit a different level of engagement with identical resources, especially those that require some degree of technological investment by virtue of being embedded. Similarly, not enough attention has been given to diachronic trends in the incorporation of novel resources to seasonal consumption patterns among non-human primates.In this paper, we present a framework for understanding the spatio-temporal relationships between preferred and fallback resources in a more systematic way, explicitly through the lens of landscape knowledge and seasonal fluctuations in quality and availability. We argue it is the interplay between resource quality and the available knowledge pertaining to its exploitation that will determine the categorisation of a resource. In this regard, the accumulation of further information through encounter, experimentation, and behavioural (including technological) innovation enables resources with high nutritional potential to attain preferred status. We end with an exploration of the gradual consolidation of the hominin carnivory niche in the Early Pleistocene of East Africa, to demonstrate the utility of our framework—specifically the interplay between seasonality and the concept of landscape knowledge—for understanding behavioural change in the archaeological record.

Evaluation and collaboration in creating online audio descriptions of visual art

AccesArte is an accessibility project that is part of the internship programme at Kaleidoscope, a non-profit organization founded by the authors to apply audio description (AD) research to developing accessibility programmes. The project consists of ADs of a thematic selection of visual artworks, and the development of eclectic and experience-oriented AD types. It uses online, open access videos and performs a formative and summative evaluation of the resources, with the latter being online, open and ongoing. The goal of this article is to offer a detailed description and critical analysis of the project, with an emphasis on the formative evaluation process. In this regard, the formative evaluation has allowed us to include blind and partially sighted (BPS) consultants in the process, improve resource quality, and enrich the interns’ learning experience.

Association of hospital nursing and postsurgical sepsis

Despite concerted research and clinical efforts, sepsis remains a common, costly, and often fatal occurrence. Little evidence exists for the relationship between institutional nursing resources and the incidence and outcomes of sepsis after surgery. The objective of this study was to examine whether hospital nursing resource quality is associated with postsurgical sepsis incidence and survival. This cross-sectional, secondary data analysis used registered nurses’ reports on hospital nursing resources—staffing, education, and work environment—and multivariate logistic regressions to model their association with risk-adjusted postsurgical sepsis and mortality in 568 hospitals across four states. Better work environment quality was associated with lower odds of sepsis. While the likelihood of death among septic patients was nearly seven times that of non-septic patients, better nursing resources were associated with reduced mortality for all patients. Whereas the preponderance of sepsis research has focused on clinical interventions to prevent and treat sepsis, this study describes organizational characteristics hospital administrators may modify through organizational change targeting nurse staffing, education, and work environments to improve patient outcomes.

The institutional foundations of surf break governance in Atlantic Europe

The sport of surfing is best enjoyed with one rider on one wave, but crowding makes that optimal assignment increasingly hard to attain. This study examines the phenomenon of surf localism, whereby competitors are excluded from waves by intimidation and the threat of violence. An alternative way to accommodate crowds is contained in the surfer’s code, which sets informal rules and self-enforced regulations to avoid conflict in the water. Both regimes establish property rights over common pool resources with no state intervention, creating a setting wherein users face the question of cooperation or conflict. The disposition to cooperate and follow norms has been shown to vary substantially across different cultures, though. Employing data from over seven hundred surf spots on the European Atlantic coast, this study reports evidence that certain informal cultural norms significantly reduce the probability of violent exclusion, while formal state institutions mostly are irrelevant. The results also indicate that informal norms become more important with greater resource quality and, possibly, with increasing scarcity.