Suchergebnisse

Uses the dollar auction game to examine the escalation process, varying the amount and timing of a bidding tax. Results indicate that timing was important, while amount had little effect. External signals in escalating situations may be valuable primarily to make players reconsider their situation, rather than as modifiers of expected utility at the margin. (Abstract amended)

This articles included in this special section focus on the ecological and economic interactions of woodland use in Western Zimbabwe. One of the aims was to investigate the use of modeling to achieve integration among disciplines. The integrated model draws on the models in the different papers comprising the special section. The model has five ecological sectors, five sectors covering woodland use by local people amd the state forestry organization, two sectors to cover agriculture, one sector for population growth and land use, a sector to cover carbon sequestration, and a sector to calculate net present values of the various uses. The state has usually attempted to keep people and their livestock out of the forest. We show that the private benefits of cropland may be greater than those related to state or local use of the woodland, but further work is required to incorporate the public costs of subsidies to cropland, and the public benefits of woodland services. Livestock production in the woodlands is compatible with woodland management, both from economic and ecological perspectives. Expulsion of forest dwellers from the state forest makes little ecological impact on the woodland, and does not improve the economic value of the woodland to the state. However, if the Forestry Commission relaxes the current control on in-migration, it is likely that the woodland be rapidly depleted in the face of massive in-migration. Modeling is seen as a framework for integration of ecological and economic issues, but further work is required to incorporate institutional perspectives from the sociological and anthropological disciplines.

With the intention to further promote the field of ecological engineering and the solutions it provides, a workshop on "Benefits of Ecological Engineering Practices" was held 3 December 2009. It was conducted by the International Ecological Engineering Society in Paris at the conference "Ecological Engineering: from Concepts to Application" organized by the Ecological Engineering Applications Group GAIE. This paper presents the results of the workshop related to three key questions: (1) what are the benefits of ecological engineering practices to human and ecosystem well-being, (2) which concepts are used or useful to identify, reference, and measure the benefits of ecological engineering practices, and (3) how and to whom shall benefits of ecological engineering practices be promoted. While benefits of ecological engineering practices are diverse, general conclusions can be derived to facilitate communication. Identifying benefits requires valuation frameworks reaching beyond the scope of ecology and engineering. A distinction between human and ecosystem well-being in this regard may not be easy or useful, but instead humans embedded in ecosystems should be addressed as a whole. The concepts of resource efficiency, ecosystem services, ecosystem health, and multifunctional land use could serve as suitable references to frame ecological engineering benefits, as well as referring to international political goals such as biodiversity protection, climate change mitigation and poverty reduction. Sector and application specific criteria of good practice could be worked out. Regional, area specific reference systems for sustainable development could provide comparative advantages for ecologically engineered solutions. Besides people with high decision making power and people with high motivation for change are good target groups to be addressed.

Background The multiple breath washout (MBW) parameter Sacin is thought to be a marker of acinar airway involvement, but has not been validated using quantitative imaging techniques in asthma. Objective We aimed to utilise 3He diffusion magnetic resonance ( 3 He-MR) at multiple diffusion timescales and quantitative computed tomography (CT) densitometry to determine the nature of acinar airway involvement in asthma. Methods Thirty-seven patients with asthma and seventeen age-matched healthy controls underwent spirometry, body plethysmography, MBW (using the tracer gas sulphur hexafluoride) and He-MR. A subset of patients with asthma (n = 27) underwent quantitative CT densitometry. Results Ninety-four percent (16/17) of patients with an elevated Sacin had GINA treatment steps 4/5 asthma and 13/17 had refractory disease. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of 3 He at 1s was significantly higher in patients with Sacin-high asthma compared to healthy controls (0.024 vs 0.017, p < 0.05). Sacin correlated strongly with ADC at 1s (R = 0.65, p < 0.001), but weakly with ADC at 13ms (R = 0.38, p < 0.05). ADC at both 13ms and 1s correlated strongly with the mean lung density expiratory / inspiratory ratio, a CT marker of expiratory air trapping (R = 0.77, p < 0.0001 for ADC at 13ms; R = 0.72, p < 0.001 for ADC at 1s). Conclusion Sacin is associated with alterations in long-range diffusion within the acinar airways and gas trapping. The precise anatomical nature and mechanistic role in severe asthma requires further evaluation. ; This paper presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). This work was partly funded through research collaborations with Chiesi Farmaceutici S. P. A. and Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Additional funding was received from the Airway Disease PRedicting Outcomes through Patient Specific Computational Modelling (AirPROM) project (funded through an FP7 European Union grant). ; Peer-reviewed ; Post-print

The 10-Point Action Plan to catalyse a Circular Bioeconomy of Wellbeing is a call for collective and integrated action to global leaders, investors, companies, scientists, governments, nongovernmental and intergovernmental organisations, funding agencies and society at large to put the world on a sustainable path.

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Ecosystem services (the benefits to humans from ecosystems) are estimated globally at $125 trillion/year [1, 2]. Similar assessments at national and regional scales show how these services support our lives [3]. All valuations recognize the role of biodiversity, which continues to decrease around the world in maintaining these services [4, 5]. The giant panda epitomizes the flagship species [6]. Its unrivalled public appeal translates into support for conservation funding and policy, including a tax on foreign visitors to support its conservation [7]. The Chinese government has established a panda reserve system, which today numbers 67 reserves [8, 9]. The biodiversity of these reserves is among the highest in the temperate world [10], covering many of China's endemic species [11]. The panda is thus also an umbrella species [12]—protecting panda habitat also protects other species. Despite the benefits derived from pandas, some journalists have suggested that it would be best to let the panda go extinct. With the recent downlisting of the panda from Endangered to Vulnerable, it is clear that society's investment has started to pay off in terms of panda population recovery [13, 14]. Here, we estimate the value of ecosystem services of the panda and its reserves at between US$2.6 and US$6.9 billion/year in 2010. Protecting the panda as an umbrella species and the habitat that supports it yields roughly 10–27 times the cost of maintaining the current reserves, potentially further motivating expansion of the reserves and other investments in natural capital in China. Wei et al. estimate that the value of ecosystem services of the giant panda and its nature reserves was US$2.6–US$6.9 billion/year in 2010. Protecting the panda and its habitat yields roughly 10–27 times the cost of maintaining the current reserves, potentially motivating expansion of the reserves and other investments in natural capital in China.