Degree Of Cooperation Research Articles

Supply chain study in food industry in Bulgaria

PurposeThe article examines the supply chain (SC) in a food industry in Bulgaria. The relations between suppliers and the degree of integration of the activities along with the SC will be studied by building forms of partnerships with suppliers and the areas of cooperation they work in. The relevance of the topic is determined by the increasing pressure exerted by the consumers in terms of quality and safety, caused by the scandals with food products, the regulations concerning the traceability along the SC and providing safety and quality. The purpose of the study, in the present paper, is the theoretical and applied aspects of collaboration along the SC and the use of modern information systems and technologies in the food industry in Bulgaria.Design/methodology/approachThe objectives of the study, in the present paper, are the theoretical and applied aspects of collaboration along the SC and the use of modern information systems and technologies in the food industry in Bulgaria. The subjects of this study are the enterprises of the food industry in Bulgaria. The number of companies surveyed is 93. Small and medium-sized enterprises generate 48.7% of the turnover in the industry and 63% of the employment in the sector. A research survey with structured questionnaire was conducted in the period 2018–2019. The interrelations in the SC are underdeveloped and there is a low degree of integration between the participants in the food industry in Bulgaria. The implementation of information and communications technology (ICT) and blockchains in the SC in the food industry in Bulgaria is at a low level.FindingsThe subjects of this study are the enterprises of the food industry in Bulgaria. The number of companies surveyed is 93. Small and medium-sized enterprises generate 48.7% of the turnover in the industry and 63% of the employment in the sector. The sectors which are traditionally included in the food industry are as follows: flour milling, milk processing, meat processing, canning industry and production of dried and canned fruit, vegetables and seeds, fishery, production of sugar and confectionery, chocolate and desserts and production of spices. The present research study does not focus on production of drinks, mineral water bottles and production of alcoholic drinks, as well as production of tea and coffee, bread and bakery products. A research survey with structured questionnaire was conducted in the period 2018–2019. The questions included in the questionnaire helped to study general indicators for the evaluation of the degree of cooperation and the implementation of modern ICT in organizations in the food industry. The first part of the questionnaire included questions related to the general information about organizations, which determines the form of ownership, the existence of foreign participation in the enterprise, the number of settlements where the activity is carried out and geographic distribution of sales in the country and abroad. These questions are important to frame a general characteristic of the studied enterprises.Research limitations/implicationsThe study had few limitations, which in turn suggest avenues for further research. This study does not include the production of beverages, mineral water bottles and the production of alcoholic beverages as well as tea and coffee production. With regard to the subject of the study, the article focuses mainly on relations between suppliers and the degree of integration of the activities along the SC, which will be studied by building forms of partnerships with suppliers and the areas of cooperation they work in, while remaining outside the scope of the study themes and challenges in making SCs environmentally sustainable. Although a large amount of data were analyzed, there exists an opportunity to widen this study significantly. The possibilities of omnichannels along the SC in the food chain will be explored first as well as the possibilities for building an omnichannel strategy in the food supply chain.Practical implicationsThis study provides insights to manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers and managers of the food industry for supply chain management (SCM) and for connections and cooperation with suppliers and partners. The research study provides clarity about the degree of integration in the management of SC and the opportunities for development of the cooperation between the SC participants.Originality/valueThis study reveals for the first time the SC in the food industry in Bulgaria and provides directions for development. This study shows the degree of SCM integration as well as the opportunities for developing cooperation between the actors in the chain.

Containing the risk of catastrophic climate change

There is a general perception that limiting emissions of carbon dioxide will be sufficient to avoid catastrophic climate change. The reality could well be that the many of the world’s wealthy coastal cities which historically developed as ports will be inundated repeatedly to disappear eventually below the sea, with large swathes of the earth being flooded. Other major conurbations may cease to be liveable without air conditioning, while large numbers of people could well starve as a result of disruption of ecosystems. To the extent that this possibility is recognized, it is nevertheless perceived as a gradual process with the worst results in a distance future with any sea-level rise a gradual process. Limiting emissions is unlikely to be sufficient, because the level of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere is now much higher than ever before since humans started to exploit fossil fuels. We know this from the study of ancient air bubbles in Antarctic ice cores. There is a lack of balance between the energy transmitted by the incoming sunlight and the earth’s outgoing infrared heat radiation. So far this imbalance is absorbed by the enormous thermal mass of the oceans. As to the speed of sea-level rise, a period of extremely rapid sea-level rise of about 1.4 cm per year has occurred in the prehistoric past and disintegration of ice sheets as is happening currently may well be a plausible explanation of this fact. In fact, it is straightforward to create substantial amounts of negative emissions of carbon dioxide. Nevertheless, making it happen will require an unprecedented degree of global cooperation, a high level of taxation on the extraction of coal and crude oil, and the use of pressurized liquid petrol gas as aviation fuel.Graphic abstract

Multiple water governance models: Ecuador as a case study

Appropriate water management is essential for healthy urban and rural metabolism. Unfortunately, many challenges are associated with water governance, encompassing varying degrees of cooperation and conflict. This technical note describes the multiple water governance models in place in Ecuador such as public, private, community, and partnerships; supported by literature, and discusses the efficiency level of each model for drinking water supply and democratic citizen participation. The analysis articulates how the heterogeneity of governance models across the country respond to different socio-economic and environmental characteristics, and how the distinctive models of water governance lead to vast differences in how people understand and experience governance. The presentation and qualitative case comparison of the existing water management models revealed the transversal character of the problems affecting efficient water management, as well as the sector associated challenges and limitations. The note attempts to establish some insights about the conditions under which the various water management models are suitable and effective. The manuscript concludes by outlining several directions for future research.

Scientific and technological power and international cooperation in the field of natural hazards: a bibliometric analysis

Research on natural hazards has become a focus due to the serious threat to human life and property. Based on the Science Citation Index Expanded and the Social Sciences Citation Index in the Web of Science spanning 2000–2017, we analyze the characteristics, cooperating countries and research trends of existing articles in the field of natural hazards using a bibliometric method. And the findings provide meaningful data and references for the allocation of science and technology inputs in the fields of natural hazards research. The results show the following: The USA has made the largest contribution to the natural hazards literature and has been in the leading position during the period of research; three of the ten most influential institutions are American institutions, and six out of ten of the most-cited articles are American articles; furthermore, the USA is the country that has the highest degree of cooperation with other countries; Chinese publications rank in second place, and China is the country with the highest average annual growth rate (22.63%), and the Chinese Academy of Sciences is one of the most productive research institutions (2098) but with a low international influence. We also analyze the changes in the research on natural hazards in two time periods as well as the similarities and differences between disaster occurrences and research hotspots. We found that “earthquakes,” “landslides,” and “climate change” are frequently used keywords in natural disaster science. The frequency of the keywords “climate change,” “vulnerability,” and “adaptability” has significantly increased. In addition, the frequency of the keywords used in various countries is significantly affected by the geographical location and there is a discrepancy between the research hotspots and the actual disaster occurrences. It is recommended that countries need to adjust their research directions in natural hazards research, strengthen international cooperation and exchange, and promote the establishment and improvement of a global disaster prevention and reduction system.

A Coordination Mechanism of Supply Chain with a Retailer and Two Competitive Suppliers

To deal with coordination problem of a supply chain consisting of two competitive suppliers and a dominant retailer, considering these factors such as cooperation effort degrees and competition on the supply chain members, we establish a two-stage model considering cooperation effort degrees and competition of the suppliers from the perspectives of decentralized decision and centralized decision and exploit it to discuss the optional decisions and explore the impact of cooperation effort degrees on the profits of supply chain members. Then, we use a group negotiation model to establish a coordination mechanism. The results reveal that the decision variables and overall profit of the supply chain of suppliers and retailers under centralized decisions are better than those under the decentralized decisions. Besides, the degree of competition and price sensitivity have positive and negative effects on the efforts of suppliers and retailers, respectively. Meanwhile, the degree of cooperation between suppliers and retailers affects the profits of supply chain members and the whole supply chain in different degrees. Finally, the proposed value-added profit distribution mechanism can effectively deal with conflict problem and guarantee supply chain members and supply chain to maximize their profits and adopt the centralized decision.

The Effect of the Degree of Cooperation between Teachers on Teachers’ Satisfaction through School Satisfaction and Teacher Efficacy

The Effect of the Degree of Cooperation between Teachers on Teachers’ Satisfaction through School Satisfaction and Teacher Efficacy

Harmonization of the National Legislation on Cosmetic Products in the Context of the Standardization of the European Legislation in the Field

Considering the concern of the European Union to implement an internal market for cosmetic products which also ensures a high level of human health protection and that cosmetics is one of the industrial activities in the EU affected by counterfeiting, which may increase the risks to human health, this article examines how European horizontal legislation is implemented in national law. This article aims to present the legal instruments created at EU level to consolidate the safety of cosmetic products and to strengthen the surveillance of the cosmetic products introduced on the market, but also to protect consumers, taking into account that in order to ensure an effective control of the market it is necessary to have a high degree of administrative cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States. Moreover, the article aims to present the active role undertaken by the cosmetics industry in developing alternative testing methods within the Horizon 2020 Programme.

A system dynamics analysis about the recycling and reuse of new energy vehicle power batteries: an insight of closed-loop supply chain

In order to solve the problem about recycling and reuse of power batteries for new energy vehicles in China, the paper, from the perspective of closed-loop supply chain (CLSC), uses VENSIM software to construct the system dynamics model. By analyzing the degree of cooperation among enterprises in CLSC, the result indicates that through cooperating with foreign excellent enterprises and enhancing the degree of cooperation among enterprises in the CLSC, the development of new energy vehicle power battery recycling can be better promoted. In addition, this paper puts forward some reasonable suggestions on the development of new energy vehicle power batteries.

Adaptive clustering based on element-wised distance for distributed estimation over multi-task networks.

In multitask networks, neighboring agents that belong to different clusters pursue different goals, and therefore arbitrary cooperation will lead to a degradation in estimation performance. In this paper, an adaptive clustering method is proposed for distributed estimation that enables agents to distinguish between subneighbors that belong to the same cluster and those that belong to a different cluster. This creates an appropriate degree of cooperation to improve parameter estimation accuracy, especially for the case where the prior information of a cluster is unknown. In contrast to the static and quantitative threshold that is imposed in traditional clustering methods, we devise a method for real-time clustering hypothesis detection, which is constructed through the use of a reliable adaptive clustering threshold as reference and the averaged element-wise distance between tasks as real-time clustering detection statistic. Meanwhile, we relax the clustering conditions to maintain maximum cooperation without sacrificing accuracy. Simulations are presented to compare the proposed algorithm and some traditional clustering strategies in both stationary and nonstationary environments. The effects of task difference on performance are also obtained to demonstrate the superiority of our proposed clustering strategy in terms of accuracy, robustness, and suitability.

Crowdsourcing for Sustainable Urban Logistics: Exploring the Factors Influencing Crowd Workers’ Participative Behavior

With crowd logistics becoming a crucial part of the last-mile delivery challenge in many cities, continued participation of crowd workers has become an essential issue affecting the growth of the crowd logistics platform. Understanding how people are motivated to continue their participation in crowd logistics can provide some clarity as to what policies and measures should be undertaken by the industry to support its further growth. Using the Push–Pull–Mooring (PPM) theory, we developed a research model to explain the factors influencing crowd workers’ participative behavior. Survey data from 455 crowd workers were analyzed using SmartPLS3.0 software. The results show monetary rewards and trust have a significant positive impact on the willingness of crowd workers to continue participating in crowd logistics, while work enjoyment from previous work and entry barriers for work have a significant negative impact. Trust plays an intermediary role between monetary incentives and crowd workers’ willingness to continue participating. Based on the findings of this study, we recommend that crowd logistics platforms should offer reasonable monetary incentives and keep these under constant review, build a high degree of trust and cooperation with their crowd workers, and initiate activities geared towards promoting satisfaction at work.

Study on the knowledge dissemination efficiency and influence factors of electronic technology journals community based on the DEA-Tobit method

[Research objective] The construction of the journal community as the key content of the development of electronic technology, is of great practical significance to research knowledge production and dissemination efficiency of the journal community.[Research methods and data sources] This paper, by using DEA-Tobit model and in combination with the Chinese S&T Journal Citation Reports (Expanded Edition), focuses on the evaluation of the knowledge dissemination efficiency of electronic technology journal communities from the perspective of knowledge exchange, and demonstrates and studies the factors that affect the knowledge dissemination efficiency of journal communities.[Conclusion](1) Generally speaking, there is still 31% optimization space for the knowledge dissemination performance of the electronic technology journal community, and the low scale efficiency value has a large impact on it. (2) Journals such as Electronic Products, Light & Lighting, Journal of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and Journal of Chinese Electron Microscopy Society have relatively high knowledge transmission efficiency, and the value of technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency, and scale efficiency of those journals are equal to 1. (3) The academic quality of journal papers is the key variable to influence the electronic technical journal community knowledge dissemination efficiency; the duration of the journal and the economic status of the journal location are also positive factors affecting the effectiveness of journal knowledge dissemination; factors such as the degree of journal cooperation, the internationalization level of journals, and the institutional distribution of journal articles have a limited impact on the effectiveness of knowledge dissemination in the journal community. In addition, in view of the lower time-sensitive of the electronic technology literature, the overall influence of the novelty of the literature used by authors, which is measured by “cited half-life”, on the performance of knowledge exchange is quite different from expectations.

12/15-Lipoxygenase Deficiency Impairs Neutrophil Granulopoiesis and Lung Proinflammatory Responses to Aspergillus fumigatus.

Development of invasive aspergillosis correlates with impairments in innate immunity. We and others have recently shown that arachidonic acid metabolism pathways, specifically the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) pathways, participate in the induction of protective innate immune responses during invasive aspergillosis. Based on the high degree of cooperation and interconnection within the eicosanoid network, we hypothesized that 12/15-LOX is also active during invasive aspergillosis. We report in this study that mice deficient in the gene encoding 12/15-LOX (Alox15) are profoundly susceptible to invasive aspergillosis. Decreased survival correlated with increased fungal burden and evidence of increased lung damage. These defects were associated with very early (6 and 12 h) 12/15-LOX-dependent inflammatory cytokine (IL-1α, IL-1β, and TNF-α) and chemokine (CCL3 and CCL4) production. Neutrophil levels in the lung were blunted in the absence of 12/15-LOX, although neutrophil antifungal activity was intact. However, lower neutrophil levels in the lungs of Alox15−/− mice were not a result of impaired recruitment or survival; rather, Alox15−/− mice demonstrated impaired neutrophil granulopoiesis in the bone marrow intrinsically and after fungal exposure. Employing a lower inoculum to allow for better survival allowed the identification of 12/15-LOX-dependent induction of IL-17A and IL-22. Impaired IL-17A and IL-22 production correlated with reduced invariant NKT cell numbers as well as lower IL-23 levels. Together, these data indicate that 12/15-LOX is a critical player in induction of the earliest aspects of the innate immune response to Aspergillus fumigatus.

Is trade dispute a major factor influencing the complementarity of Sino-US solar PV products trade?

PurposeThrough empirical analysis of Sino-US solar photovoltaic (PV) trade, this paper aims to evaluate the complementarity of Sino-US solar PV trade by adopting trade combination degree (TCD) index, export similarity index (SI) and trade complementarity index (TCI). It also explores the role of trade disputes over Sino-US solar PV trade between China and the USA and important factors affecting the complementarity of the trade.Design/methodology/approachBased on the comparative advantage theory, this paper selects the TCD, export SI and TCI to evaluate the complementarity of Sino-US solar PV trade comprehensively. Among them, TCD and SI can directly reflect the degree of cooperation and competition of Sino-US solar PV trade. Finally, the authors further analyze the decisive factors affecting the complementarity of Sino-US PV trade by entropy weight method and multiple linear regression analysis on the influencing factors of TCI.FindingsThe solar PV trade between China and the USA still has a close relationship, and there is solar PV trade cooperation and competition between the two countries. The factors affecting the complementarity of Sino-US solar PV trade are mainly exchange rate levels rather than trade disputes between China and the USA. The solar PV trade policies of China and the USA will have a great negative impact on the global supply chain of solar PV products. The major solar PV products in China and the USA have a clear division in the global supply chain and still have a strong trade complementarity.Originality/valueThis paper conducts an empirical analysis of the Sino-US solar PV trade rather than a policy discussion. This research has important practical significance for the healthy and sustainable development of solar PV trade for both countries. It can also provide references to the current trade disputes between China and the USA in a broader sense.

Preoperative interview mode with Child Life in the management of preschool children′s anxiety

Objective To explore the effect of preoperative visit with Child Life mode in the management of preschool children′s anxiety. Methods A total of 80 cases of children of pre-school age who were operated from September 2018 to February 2019 were selected by cluster sampling method. The children from September to November 2018 who were given the traditional mode of preoperative visit were set as the control group. Children from December 2018 to February 2019 who were given preoperative visit with Child Life mode were set as the experimental group. The Modified Yale Perioperative Anxiety Scale (m-YPAS) scores, Induction Compliance Checklist (ICC) scores and Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) scores were compared between the two groups at 4 different perioperative time points (6 hours after admission, waiting for surgery, induction of anesthesia, and 6 hours after surgery). Results Totally three patients were suspended from the study due to surgery. A total of 77 children were studied, 38 in the experimental group and 39 in the control group. The score of m-YPAS in the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group(17.57±16.64 vs. 42.04±27.46, t value was 3.85, P 0.05) and 6 hours after surgery(35.61±15.70 vs. 41.81±17.97, t value was 1.37, P>0.05). Compare with the control group the score of ICC in the experimental group was significantly decreased (1.40±1.39 vs. 3.78±2.60, t value was 4.88, P 0.05). Conclusions Compared with the traditional preoperative visit mode, the preoperative visit mode of Child Life can effectively relieve the anxiety of preschool children undergoing general anesthesia surgery while they are waiting for surgery and during anesthesia induction, and can improve the degree of cooperation during anesthesia induction. Key words: Child Life; Preoperative interview; Preschool child; Anxiety

Investigating the Effects of Public Experiences of Police Corruption on Public Trust in the Police in Ghana

The trend of police corruption is actually a worldwide concern. In times gone by, the problem of police misconduct continues to be a significant element in the improvement of police institutions globally, though it's actually a larger problem in developing countries such as Ghana where police abuse as well as crisis have grown to be endemic leading to public mistrust of the police. For the real operationalization of the criminal justice system, people need to keep a specific amount of loyalty of the method. The police institution actually being one of the foundations of the criminal justice system should keep higher public trust in order to confirm sleek justice shipping. Nevertheless, public trust may solely occur once the police are actually seen to perform the tasks of theirs with fairness, professionalism as well as equity. In lighting of the deteriorated connection between the police and also the Ghanaian general public in phrases of loyalty, this particular analysis set out to look at the public encounters of police corruption and just how this impacts the degree of loyalty in the police in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolis in the Western Region of Ghana. The empirical research evidenced that although numerous individuals in the Metropolis see the police as being corrupt, couple of respondents had immediate encounters of police corruption. Nevertheless, a lot of the respondents had vicarious or indirect happenings of police corruption which in turn are likely to affect the amount of theirs of loyalty of the police. Research suggests that, loyalty in the police is quite important as it improves the degree of public cooperation with the police as well as compliance with the law. With respect to decreasing the incidence of police corruption, the analysis suggests that, a specific oversight with the police must be made with target on the places of police recruitment as well as education, integrity and having both senior officers as well as the subordinates of theirs accountable in phrases of misconduct. Above many, there must be highly effective interaction between the public and the police to help you boost the connection as well as have confidence in amounts in between the police and the public.

Distributed active vibration cooperative control for flexible structure with multiple autonomous substructure model

The objective of this work was to suppress the vibration of flexible structures by using a distributed cooperative control scheme with decentralized sensors and actuators. For the application of the distributed cooperative control strategy, we first propose the multiple autonomous substructure models for flexible structures. Each autonomous substructure is equipped with its own sensor, actuator, and controller, and they all have computation and communication capabilities. The primary focus of this investigation was to illustrate the use of a distributed cooperative protocol to enable vibration control. Based on the proposed models, we design two novel active vibration control strategies, both of which are implemented in a distributed manner under a communication network. The distributed controllers can effectively suppress the vibration of flexible structures, and a certain degree of interaction cooperation will improve the performance of the vibration suppression. The stability of flexible systems is analyzed by the Lyapunov theory. Finally, numerical examples of a cantilever beam structure demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

The value of co-operation: an examination of the work relationships of university professional services staff and consequences for service quality

ABSTRACT In environments characterised by complex structures and processes, universities rely on co-operation and goodwill between staff to function effectively, underpinned by good service quality. However, there is a lack of research on relationship quality in internal service settings and on the role support staff play in the development and enhancement of these relationships. This research aims to address this gap by examining the dynamics of university support staff relationships and their contribution to institutional performance, by analysing the link between relationship quality and service quality. Findings from a qualitative study with 50 staff in three UK universities reveal the ways in which interpersonal relationships can enhance or constrain internal service quality, with consequences at individual and organisational levels. The degree of co-operation encountered within a relationship influences how value co-creation, trust and reciprocity are experienced, with effects on job performance, motivation and commitment of staff.

Evolution of kinship structures driven by marriage tie and competition

The family unit and kinship structures form the basis of social relationships in indigenous societies. Families constitute a cultural group, a so-called clan, within which marriage is prohibited by the incest taboo. The clan attribution governs the mating preference and descent relationships by certain rules. Such rules form various kinship structures, including generalized exchange, an indirect exchange of brides among more than two clans, and restricted exchange, a direct exchange of brides with the flow of children to different clans. These structures are distributed in different areas and show different cultural consequences. However, it is still unknown how they emerge or what conditions determine different structures. Here, we build a model of communities consisting of lineages and family groups and introduce social cooperation among kin and mates and conflict over mating. Each lineage has parameters characterizing the trait and mate preference, which determines the possibility of marriage and the degree of cooperation and conflict among lineages. Lineages can cooperate with those having similar traits to their own or mates', whereas lineages with similar preferences compete for brides. In addition, we introduce community-level selection by eliminating communities with smaller fitness and follow the so-called hierarchical Moran process. We numerically demonstrate that lineages are clustered in the space of traits and preferences, resulting in the emergence of clans with the incest taboo. Generalized exchange emerges when cooperation is strongly needed, whereas restricted exchange emerges when the mating conflict is strict. This may explain the geographical distribution of kinship structures in indigenous societies.

Social intra-organizational connection: effects in three relational domains

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the construct of social intra-organizational connection (SIC). This construct reflects the extent to which a focal actor believes his alters present behaviors of social inclusion in relation to himself. This assessment compares the ego’s expectations of being included and the behavior of inclusion performed by those alters with whom the actor has more frequent interactions. The effects of this construct are tested in the organizational domain regarding the intention to leave, in the domain of co-workers regarding cooperation and in the family domain regarding work–family conflict. Design/methodology/approach The survey data were collected from 380 Brazilian workers. Findings The results confirmed the effects of SIC in the relational domain of the organization through the variation in the focal actor’s intention to leave. In the sphere of coworkers, the effects of SIC were found in the variation of the degree of cooperation. In the family sphere, SIC had an influence upon the intensity of the work–family conflict. Originality/value The research indicates that the behavior of making direct contacts and more frequent interactions by the focal actor extends to other relational spheres through the transitions of the organizational member between the domains of organization, coworkers and family. This paper draws attention to the need to consider the local networks, both within and beyond the organization, and their effects on each other.

Cooperative predation on mutualistic prey communities

Positive interactions are quite common in nature but are less studied. While positive association among species has been studied in ecological literature, how such interactions will impact the ecological dynamics when they occur within antagonist communities is not understood. Motivated by this, we studied a community module consisting of two prey species and a predator population where the prey species are in mutualistic relationship while the predators exhibit hunting cooperation. Our result reconfirms that both mutualism and hunting cooperation destabilizes the system. Predator cooperation may result in extinction of the relatively more attacked prey and a minimal mutualism strength is required in order to retain the coexistence equilibrium. A higher degree of cooperation among predators can lead to bistable dynamics which increases the survival chance of the otherwise extinct prey. Mutualistic association further enhances this effect thereby increasing the chance of coexistence. Generally, cooperative hunting is known to produce bistability but this system also demonstrated tristable dynamics. Moreover, the wide range of multi-stability exhibited by our model indicate the high sensitivity of the system to small perturbations. Overall, our study suggests that the interplay between the prey mutualism and predator cooperation may result in unintuitive dynamics which might be important in the context of community ecology.