Unpacking Pandora’s Box Shackleton, C. M.; Ruwanza, S.; Sanni, G. K. Sinasson ...
Ecosystems (New York),
06/2016, Letnik:
19, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Research into the benefits that ecosystems contribute to human wellbeing has multiplied over the last few years following from the seminal contributions of the international Millennium Ecosystem ...Assessment. In comparison, the fact that some ecosystem goods and services undermine or harm human wellbeing has been seriously overlooked. These negative impacts have become known as ecosystem disservices. The neglect of ecosystem disservices is problematic because investments into the management or reduction of ecosystem disservices may yield better outcomes for human wellbeing, or at a lower investment, than management of ecosystem services. Additionally, management to optimise specific ecosystem services may simultaneously exacerbate associated disservices. We posit that one reason for the neglect of ecosystem disservices from the discourse and policy debates around ecosystems and human wellbeing is because there is no widely accepted definition or typology of ecosystem disservices. Here, we briefly examine current understandings of the term ecosystem disservices and offer a definition and a working typology to help generate debate, policy and management options around ecosystem disservices. We differentiate ecosystem disservices from natural hazards and social hazards, consider some of their inherent properties and then classify them into six categories. A variety of examples are used to illustrate the different types of, and management strategies to, ecosystem disservices.
Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium L.) is a weed species on farmlands and pastures in parts of the west and northwest of Iran. Cypselas can remain in the soil seedbank over a prolonged period due to ...varying degrees of dormancy. This study examined different methods for breaking cypsela dormancy in two local populations of Scotch thistle at the research laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture of Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University in 2020. In these experiments, the effects of sulfuric acid, wet and dry prechilling, potassium nitrate, and gibberellic acid were evaluated on the breaking of dormancy. All the experiments were conducted as a completely randomized design with four replications and two runs. The response of two local populations of Scotch thistle were similar, and no significant difference was observed. The experiment treatments significantly increased cypsela germination compared with the control. The maximum germination percentages were observed in cypselas soaked in 98% sulfuric acid for 10 min (60.60%), KN03 for 96 h (69.36%), GA3 for 48 h (88.43%), and wet prechilling for 72 h (34.61%). Although prechilling increased germination, it was suggested that germination could be more than the recorded values if the duration of wet prechilling was increased. The best cypsela germination rate, mean germination time, T.sub.50, and radicle and plumule length were observed after soaking in GA.sub.3 for 48 h and KNO.sub.3 for 96 h. It seems that water-soluble inhibitors in the embryo and probably the cypsela coat cause seed dormancy in this weed species. These findings could help develop effective management strategies associated with the dormancy of cypselas for this species.
UNDERSTANDING PODEMOS Iglesias, Pablo
New Left review,
05/2015, Letnik:
93
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The explosion of the 2008 financial crisis has produced a series of unforeseen political consequences, in Europe in particular. How can the forces of the radical left best respond to this ...unprecedented challenge? The aim here is to explain the analysis that has informed Podemos's political strategy in Spain: who we are, where we're coming from and where we want to go - the fullest reflection on these questions that the author has been able to set down since being elected leader of Podemos last November.
Considerable changes have occurred in the management of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) during the past four decades, based on improved knowledge of the biology of DTC and on advances in therapy, ...including surgery, the use of radioactive iodine (radioiodine), thyroid hormone treatment and availability of recombinant human TSH. Improved diagnostic tools are available, including determining serum levels of thyroglobulin, neck ultrasonography, imaging (CT, MRI, SPECT-CT and PET-CT), and prognostic classifications have been improved. Patients with low-risk DTC, in whom the risk of thyroid cancer death is <1% and most recurrences can be cured, currently represent the majority of patients. By contrast, patients with high-risk DTC represent 5-10% of all patients. Most thyroid cancer-related deaths occur in this group of patients and recurrences are frequent. Patients with high-risk DTC require more aggressive treatment and follow-up than patients with low-risk DTC. Finally, the strategy for treating patients with intermediate-risk DTC is frequently defined on a case-by-case basis. Prospective trials are needed in well-selected patients with DTC to demonstrate the extent to which treatment and follow-up can be limited without increasing the risk of recurrence and thyroid cancer-related death.
Hydrological modeling tools can support collaborative decision processes by visually displaying hydrological systems connections, uncertainties, as well as conflicting preferences over water ...management strategies. Nevertheless, many challenges remain in the real application of these technical tools to successfully implement, capture, and communicate with non-experts the complexities of coupled human hydrological systems. A 5-step process shows how a WEAP-based hydrological study aiming to explore
the disappearance of a 12 km2 lake in the Aculeo basin in Chile was
transformed into a multiple question-driven sociohydrological modeling
process to help answer the diversity of questions instigating conflict.
Collaboration allowed construction of a surface–groundwater hydrological model that responded to local stakeholders' uncertainties. While testing a subset of socially accepted management strategies under two climate change
scenarios, combining the strategies allows recovering up to half the lake
water volume. However, the 5-step participatory modeling process also
shows how the increasing social–environmental conflicts over the causes and effects of the water scarcity are challenging barriers to overcome with
modeling tools. As presented in this article, although flexible approaches
and research agendas could better support the exploration of synergies
towards collaboration and production of useful and socially acceptable
hydrological models, there are still value-driven aspects of water
management that need to be explored to better support science policy
dialogues.
As physical products are increasingly augmented with digital technology, manufacturing firms have become part of the development of so‐called smart products and smart services. As such, manufacturing ...firms are challenged by new market participants and ecosystem partners, particularly from the software development industry, and by the dynamic nature of business relationships. While the academic literature on the distinctive characteristics of ecosystems, particularly digital ecosystems, is rich, the effect of smart service ecosystems' emergence on the foundation of smart products remains uncertain. This study reports on case study research based on 47 semi‐structured interviews with four companies that participate in an industrial smart service ecosystem. Taking an affordance‐theoretic perspective, we uncover the antecedents of and the process of emergent smart service ecosystems. We find that smart service ecosystems have three socio‐technical antecedents: a shared worldview, structural flexibility and integrity, and architecture of participation. We explain the emergence of smart service ecosystems as the result of specialisation in shared affordances and integration of idiosyncratic affordances into collective affordances. We derive seven propositions regarding the emergence of smart services, outline opportunities for further research, and present practical guidelines for manufacturing firms.
Highlighting how both leader and follower stress and well-being can serve as antecedents and consequences of strategic actions and initiatives, or even be a core concern of strategic plans, this ...volume spotlights the importance of stress and well-being for organizations, their leaders, and the individuals who are impacted by their decisions.
Health-care workers are crucial to any health-care system. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, health-care workers are at a substantially increased risk of becoming infected with severe acute ...respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and could come to considerable harm as a result. Depending on the phase of the pandemic, patients with COVID-19 might not be the main source of SARS-CoV-2 infection and health-care workers could be exposed to atypical patients, infected family members, contacts, and colleagues, or live in communities of active transmission. Clear strategies to support and appropriately manage exposed and infected health-care workers are essential to ensure effective staff management and to engender trust in the workplace. These management strategies should focus on risk stratification, suitable clinical monitoring, low-threshold access to diagnostics, and decision making about removal from and return to work. Policy makers need to support health-care facilities in interpreting guidance during a pandemic that will probably be characterised by fluctuating local incidence of SARS-CoV-2 to mitigate the impact of this pandemic on their workforce.
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