1,242 research outputs found
Nuevos datos del género Parhelophilus Girschner, 1897 de España, incluidos los primeros registros de P. crococoronatus Reemer, 2000 (Diptera, Syrphidae)
The hoverfly Parhelophilus crococoronatus Reemer, 2000 (Syrphidae: Eristalinae) was recorded from France and Portugal. In this work, it is reported from Spain for the first time. In Murcia province, the species was caught at the hydro dam “Presa de la Risca”. The habitat consisted of newly flooded forested meadows with decaying shrubs and dead trees, where the aquatic larvae of Parhelophilus live. This habitat has most likely been lost by now, as most of the area has been flooded, and the current presence of P. crococoronatus needs to be confirmed. In Granada province, P. crococoronatus was collected in a Phragmites-rich natural wetland, while in Huelva it was collected in a marshland with trees and low vegetation. The findings show that, even if the habitat of P. crococoronatus in Murcia has disappeared, the species is more widespread and has viable populations in Spain. Additional records of Parhelophilus versicolor (Fabricius, 1794) and Parhelophilus frutetorum (Fabricius, 1775) are provided.El sírfido Parhelophilus crococoronatus Reemer, 2000 (Syrphidae: Eristalinae) estaba registrado de Francia y Portugal. En este trabajo, se documenta, por primera vez, de España. En la provincia de Murcia, el hábitat donde esta especie se ha capturado es el Embalse de la Risca, constituido por valles forestales arbolados recientemente inundados, con matorrales en descomposición y árboles muertos, donde viven las larvas acuáticas de Parhelophilus. Este hábitat ha desaparecido por inundación, por lo que la presencia actual en esta ubicación de P. crococoronatus requiere de confirmación. En la provincia de Granada, P. crococoronatus se recolectó en un humedal natural dominado por Phragmites, mientras que, en Huelva, fue recolectado en un área de marismas con árboles y vegetación baja. Los presentes hallazgos muestran que, aunque el hábitat de P. crococoronatus haya desaparecido en Murcia, la especie está más extendida en España. Se proporcionan registros adicionales de Parhelophilus versicolor (Fabricius, 1794) y Parhelophilus frutetorum (Fabricius, 1775).The work reported here was partly funded by the ‘Fauna Ibérica’ Project PGC2018-095851-A-C65 of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. Antonio Ricarte’s position (Ref. UATALENTO17-08) at the University of Alicante is funded by the “Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento”
Consumer response to sustainable packaging design
The design of more sustainable packaging is an important step towards reducing packaging’s environmental impacts. Packaging however is also the ‘silent salesman’ that provides many cues which consumers may use to make inferences about the packaged product’s expected benefits. Successful sustainable packaging should not only be environment-friendlier, but should also be an attractive option for consumers. The overall aim of this thesis is to examine how functional and aesthetical aspects of sustainable packaging design affect consumer purchase-related behaviors through inference-making processes. Chapter 1 provides the background of the thesis and describes the overarching theoretical framework. Chapter 2 presents an initial empirical test of consumer cue perception and inference-making processes by using a methodology of idiosyncratic attribute elicitation to analyse consumer response to a series of tomato soup packaging designs. The findings show that (packaging) sustainability is a highly salient association (second to convenience-related perceptions), but is only moderately important for consumer attitudes. Moreover, packaging sustainability cues inform further inference-making regarding a variety of consumer benefits such as product sustainability, price, healthiness, quality and (expected) taste. Results also show a large gap between consumer perception of packaging sustainability and experts’ life-cycle analysis outcomes. Chapter 3 examines how packaging can be actively redesigned to be more sustainable. It considers the extent to which three different sustainable redesign strategies (based on circular economy design literature) affect consumer purchase intentions, moral satisfaction, willingness-to-pay and benefit inferences. The results showed that consumers tend to prefer circular over linear strategies, and biologically circular over technically circular ones. Additionally, applying combinations of such redesign strategies leads to diminished increases in perceived sustainability, and consumers derive little additional moral satisfaction from more intensively redesigned packaging. Chapter 4 focusses on the influence of packaging sustainability in conjunction with product contents sustainability and different firm sustainability (advertisement) claims. Findings showed that consumers are more likely to infer deceptive firm intentions when firms provide environmental claims for packaged products that are only partially sustainable. For such products, consumers make both positive and negative inferences such that they positively value the improved environmental impacts, yet at the same time negatively value the deceitful actions of the firm. The usage of advertisement puffery has both pros and cons such that it strengthens both the positives and negatives. Furthermore, drawing from centrality theories, the results also suggest that consumers tend to be more critical when only a peripheral attribute (packaging) is made sustainable versus when only a central attribute (product contents) is sustainable. Chapter 5 examines the mental associations between sustainability low strength/high gentleness benefits. The chapter investigates how overtly sustainable (vs. conventional) laundry detergent packaging affects consumer choices, depending on consumers’ intended laundry usage (strength vs. gentleness emphasis). Results show that the sustainable option is disadvantaged in consumer choices when consumers seek strength, and is preferred when they seek gentleness benefits. The perceived strength deficiency can (partially) be overcome by providing aesthetical masculinity signals through packaging design, and packaging that contains both sustainability and masculinity design cues is perceived relatively favourable in terms of perceived strength, gentleness and environment-friendliness. Lastly, Chapter 6 summarizes the main findings and discusses theoretical and practical implications. Overall, this thesis shows that (functional and aesthetical) sustainable packaging design does not merely change consumers’ (potentially inaccurate) view of that packaging’s environmental qualities, but causes consumers to make a range of inferences which affect packaged product choice. Successful sustainable packaging design should seek to reinforce those consumer inferences with positive effects and/or inhibit inferences with potential negative effects to ensure an overall attractive packaged product proposition.</p
NOTE ON HYMENODICTYON (RUB.) AND ITS OCCURRENCE IN MALESIA, ESPECIALLY IN WEST JAVA
The genus Hymenodictyon is a genus of often large, often deciduous trees which is widely distributed over the African and Asian-Malesian tropics, with 11 species recorded for Madagascar
MISCELLANEOUS BOTANICAL NOTES-IV*
1. In connection with the first record from Malaysia (Atjeh, North Sumatra)of a species of Schoepfia (Olacaceae), viz. S. fragrans Wall, in Roxb., some notes on the genus are given, including a key to the species of section Schoepfiopsis (emended) and to the two Indian species of Schoepfia.The specimens of the Kew and Leyden Herbaria of these two species are listed. The name Schoepfia ffriffithii Tiegh. is validly published in the present paper, if this was not done before. 2. Smilax pygmaea Merr. (Liliaceae) is recorded from Atjeh, Sumatra. 3. The first indigenous species of Mivmlus (Scrophulariaceae), M. tenellus Bunge,is recorded for Malaysia from Atjeh, Sumatra. 4. A new species of Macadamia (Proteaceae) is described from Celebes: Macadamia hildebrandii Van Steenis. It belongs to the same genus as the common Australian bush nut, M. ternifolia, with edible seeds. 5. Some information, additional to a previous paper on Biophytum (Oxalidaceae)in Malaysia, is given. 6. Some records of plants new to Mount Pangrango, West Java, are mentioned. 7. The recent introduction and the present distribution in Malaysia of the weed Eupatorium odoratum L. (Compositae) is discussed. 8. Some additional records of the liana Hollrungia aurantioides K. Schum.(Passifloraceae) from New Guinea and from outside this island (Ternate, Moluccas)are published
Front-office/back-office configurations and operational performance in complex health services
Background: Acquired brain injury (ABI) occurs from various causes at different ages and leads to many different types of healthcare needs. Several Dutch ABI-networks installed a local co-ordination and contact point (CCP) which functions as a central and easily accessible service for people to consult when they have questions related to ABI.
Goals: To explore the relationship between front/back office design and operational performance by investigating the particular enquiry service provided by different CCPs for people affected by an ABI.
Methods: In-depth interviews with 14 FO/BO employees from three case organizations, complemented with information from desk research and three one-day field visits.
Results: The CCPs applied different FO/BO configurations in terms of customer contact and in terms of grouping of front and/or back office activities into tasks for one employee.
Discussion: It is the complexity of the enquiry that determines which approach is more appropriate. For complex enquiries, the level of decoupling is high in all CCPs. This allows multiple experts to be involved in the process. For regular enquiries, CCPs have a choice: either working in the same way as in the complex enquiries or coupling FO/BO activities to be able to serve clients faster and without handovers
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