Branching Processes and Evolution at the Ends of a Food Chain

In a critically self--organized model of punctuated equilibrium, boundaries determine peculiar scaling of the size distribution of evolutionary avalanches. This is derived by an inhomogeneous generalization of standard branching processes, extending previous mean field descriptions and yielding $\nu=1/2$ together with $\tau'=7/4$, as distribution exponent of avalanches starting from species at the ends of a food chain. For the nearest neighbor chain one obtains numerically $\tau'=1.25 \pm 0.01$, and $\tau'_{first}=1.35 \pm 0.01$ for the first return times of activity, again distinct from bulk exponents.Comment: REVTex file, 12 pages, 2 figures in eps-files uuencoded, psfig.st

“And DPSIR begat DAPSI(W)R(M)!” - A unifying framework for marine environmental management

The marine environment is a complex system formed by interactions between ecological structure and functioning, physico-chemical processes and socio-economic systems. An increase in competing marine uses and users requires a holistic approach to marine management which considers the environmental, economic and societal impacts of all activities. If managed sustainably, the marine environment will deliver a range of ecosystem services which lead to benefits for society. In order to understand the complexity of the system, the DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) approach has long been a valuable problem-structuring framework used to assess the causes, consequences and responses to change in a holistic way. Despite DPSIR being used for a long time, there is still confusion over the definition of its terms and so to be appropriate for current marine management, we contend that this confusion needs to be addressed. Our viewpoint advocates that DPSIR should be extended to DAPSI(W)R(M) (pronounced dap-see-worm) in which Drivers of basic human needs require Activities which lead to Pressures. The Pressures are the mechanisms of State change on the natural system which then leads to Impacts (on human Welfare). Those then require Responses (as Measures). Furthermore, because of the complexity of any managed sea area in terms of multiple Activities, there is the need for a linked-DAPSI(W)R(M) framework, and then the connectivity between marine ecosystems and ecosystems in the catchment and further at sea, requires an interlinked, nested-DAPSI(W)R(M) framework to reflect the continuum between adjacent ecosystems. Finally, the unifying framework for integrated marine management is completed by encompassing ecosystem structure and functioning, ecosystem services and societal benefits. Hence, DAPSI(W)R(M) links the socio-ecological system of the effects of changes to the natural system on the human uses and benefits of the marine system. However, to deliver these sustainably in the light of human activities requires a Risk Assessment and Risk Management framework; the ISO-compliant Bow-Tie method is used here as an example. Finally, to secure ecosystem health and economic benefits such as Blue Growth, successful, adaptive and sustainable marine management Responses (as Measures) are delivered using the 10-tenets, a set of facets covering all management disciplines and approaches

Assessing students wellbeing in a spatial dimension

This paper examines the issues related to the double-sided dimension of wellbeing: subjective and objective. In the theoretical framework developed by Fleuret and Atkinson (2007, The New Zealand Geographer 63 106–29), spaces of wellbeing are shaped by four dimensions (spaces of security, spaces of capability, therapeutic spaces and integrative spaces). In the case of the student population in Angers, we observe a major imbalance: the component that really stands out is capability, which is quite logical because students are a population in a transition between youth and adulthood. The results reveal that the student population has a specific relation to space due to a transitory presence in the university town, with, as a consequence, a simultaneous embedding in different places. This could explain why the students do not perceive the characteristics of place to be a major influence on their wellbeing; instead it is the perception they have of their wellbeing that influences their perception of place

Cross-species models of human melanoma

Although transformation of melanocytes to melanoma is rare, the rapid growth, systemic spread, as well as the chemoresistance of melanoma present significant challenges for patient care. Here we review animal models of melanoma, including murine, canine, equine, and zebrafish models, and detail the immense contribution these models have made to our knowledge of human melanoma development, and to melanocyte biology. We also highlight the opportunities for cross‐species comparative genomic studies of melanoma to identify the key molecular events that drive this complex disease. © 2015 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland

Does Culture Impact Preferred Employee attributes in Complaint Handling Encounters?

Recently, Gruber et al.’s (2011) Kano study revealed that complaining customers in Saudi Arabia are less difficult to delight than UK customers. The present study investigates whether these differences are caused by different service sector development stages, as suggested in their study, or by cultural differences instead. Data were collected using Kano questionnaires from 151 respondents with complaining experience in Singapore. This country was chosen as it has a highly developed service economy (like the UK) but also a collectivistic culture (like Saudi Arabia). The analysis reveals that Singaporean customers show the same preferences as those in the UK. We consider this as a strong indicator for the suggested impact of the stage of service sector development rather than cultural differences on complaining customers’ preferences of frontline employee attributes. Our results support the findings by Gruber et al. (2011). By doing so, they surprisingly refute previous research which concluded that national culture plays a significant role in shaping customer expectations during complaint handling encounters. Our study especially corroborates the notion of a life cycle of quality attributes that had been found for goods and services and the preferred attributes of frontline employees dealing with customer complaints

Pleasure, Health and Sociability. Food Fact and Food Choice through Iberian Ham

A medida que avanzan los estudios sobre el polisémico ámbito de la alimentación humana, resulta más necesario considerar mayor número de variables para analizar con solvencia el hecho alimentario. Más allá de los estudios sobre las fases de producción y distribución, nuestra propuesta se centra en la fase del consumo y trata de identificar los elementos que explican por qué las sociedades seleccionan y prefieren unos alimentos en detrimento de otros. Actualmente, la selección alimentaria está intrínsecamente presente en el hecho alimentario de las sociedades modernas, relegando a un segundo plano los factores biológicos y fisiológicos, en relación a parámetros dominantes comparados con el placer, la salud y la sociabilidad. Mediante una combinación de técnicas cuantitativas y cualitativas, este estudio propone la relevancia de dimensiones como el placer y la salud como elementos que guían a los consumidores para elegir un determinado producto gourmet, como es el caso del jamón ibérico en España.Esta investigación es el resultado del proyecto I+D (CSO2013-42468-P) del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad Las marcas de calidad en el mundo rural: nuevos retos para productores y consumidores

From DPSIR the DAPSI(W)R(M) Emerges… a Butterfly – ‘protecting the natural stuff and delivering the human stuff’

The complexity of interactions and feedbacks between human activities and ecosystems can make the analysis of such social-ecological systems intractable. In order to provide a common means to understand and analyse the links between social and ecological process within these systems, a range of analytical frameworks have been developed and adopted. Following decades of practical experience in implementation, the Driver Pressure State Impact Response (DPSIR) conceptual framework has been adapted and re-developed to become the D(A)PSI(W)R(M). This paper describes in detail the D(A)PSI(W)R(M) and its development from the original DPSIR conceptual frame. Despite its diverse application and demonstrated utility, a number of inherent shortcomings are identified. In particular the DPSIR model family tend to be best suited to individual environmental pressures and human activities and their resulting environmental problems, having a limited focus on the supply and demand of benefits from nature. We present a derived framework, the “Butterfly”, a more holistic approach designed to expand the concept. The “Butterfly” model, moves away from the centralised accounting framework approach while more-fully incorporating the complexity of social and ecological systems, and the supply and demand of ecosystem services, which are central to human-environment interactions