Cost-benefit Relationships Research Articles

Multi-scenario optimization model for operation of inter-basin water transfer-supply systems considering cost–benefit relationships

Abstract The optimized operation of an inter-basin water transfer system is a widely used approach to achieving optimized regional water resource allocation. The costs of water transfers vary considerably, depending on the composition of the water source, the target audience and the route and distance of the transfer. This study proposes a multi-scenario optimization model for the operation of inter-basin water transfer-supply systems that balances the cost–benefit relationships. A two-objective optimization model is first established including minimizing the sum of squared water supply deficits and the cost of water transfers. Three water transfer scenarios are developed for different cost–benefit relationships. Based on these scenarios, the established optimization model is further converted into a single-objective optimization model to avoid the direct calculation of complex water transfer costs. The model is finally solved to obtain water transfer schemes. The proposed model is applied to the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China. The results show that with a contracted diversion of 60% of the Yangtze River, the reliability of the water supply is 78.2% and the water shortage index is 2.8%, which is a compromise between balancing the water shortage index and the volume and cost of water transfer.

Assessment of Urban Forest Ecological Benefit Based on the i-Tree Eco Model—A Case Study of Changchun Central City

Urban forests are one of the most ecologically significant systems in urban ecosystems. To make the layout and input–output ratio of urban forests more economically rational for sustainable strategic planning, it is necessary to assess the ecological benefits and ecosystem services of urban forests according to the local geographical characteristics of different cities and analyse their cost–benefit relationships. In this study, the i-Tree Eco model was used to assess the ecological benefits of urban forests in terms of four aspects: carbon sequestration and oxygen release, energy saving, rainwater retention, and air quality improvement. To translate them into economic benefits, using mathematical and statistical analysis, the cost–benefit relationship of urban forests with different tree and shrub proportions was analysed, and the impact range of urban forests with different layout types was compared. The research found that: (1) tree species are the main influencing factor of urban forest ecological benefits, (2) linear urban forests have a wider impact range, (3) if the proportion of trees in urban forests in the research area is adjusted to 0.36, the ecological benefits can increase by RMB 0.061 billion per year. We provide efficient and convenient research paths and tools for studying the cost–benefit relationship. By using an i-Tree Eco model, we realized the economic characteristics of urban forests. This research provides quantitative support for the balanced construction of urban ecological civilization and economic benefits. It can provide quantitative support for a balance between urban ecological development, economic development, and spatial optimization.

Economic Sustainability Assessment of a Beekeeping Farm in Hungary

In Hungary, beekeeping is a relatively small-scale sector within the livestock sector, but it is essential for maintaining biodiversity and rural employment. In order to provide ecosystem services such as pollination by honey bees, apiaries need to be economically sustainable, and it is therefore of strategic importance that beekeepers can continue their activities. Based on this, this article’s main objective is the economic analysis of Hungarian honey production, which enables the evaluation of the cost–benefit relationships, production volume and the efficiency of the operation. The authors’ analysis is based on a Hungarian apiary with 300 bee colonies, which also engages in migration and produces a significant amount of acacia honey. The model farm produces several types of honey due to migratory beekeeping, and its average yield reaches 60 kg/bee colony/year, which the authors calculated based on the average purchase prices in 2021. Based on the farm model, the analysis showed that 71 bee colonies and 4253 kg of honey production reached the profitability threshold.

Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled: An Interdisciplinary Analysis

The study proposes a theoretical analysis of Kazuo Ishiguro’s fourth novel, using the storytelling forms proposed by Kurt Vonnegut, along with the Freudian and Jungian oneiric theories, in order to decide the Kafkaesque texture of the narrative. The protagonist Ryder can open secret portals to physical places in his past and can reconfigure his reality based on memories. Firstly, the study discusses the intertextual connection of The Unconsoled with Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and Woolf’s Orlando: A Biography while treating its Kantian value according to the domino effect and the quantum principle of probability. The second part analyses Ishiguro’s dream techniques, in conjunction with concepts like the Pygmalion and Golem effects, the imposter syndrome, the tunnel memory and Kahneman’s system 1 and 2 of thinking, for explaining Ryder’s irrational doings. The last part examines Ryder’s cognitive dissonance, his lack of anagnorisis, as well as his flow of consciousness, as compared to Woolf ‘s Mrs. Dalloway and Joyce’s Odysseus. The protagonist’s need for mental decluttering and willpower is then explained through the Stoic principles in Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, as a way to strike a balance between creation and consumption, both in Ishiguro’s novel and in real life. The problems of the nameless European city are also interpreted from a game theoretical perspective, with the tragedy of the commons and the public goods game as examples of faulty cost-benefit relationships. Holistically speaking, the study highlights the meditative power of The Unconsoled, focusing on the narrative’s similitudes to the semantic-linguistic incomprehensibility of Joyce’s Finnegans Wake.

Assessment of the Potential of Coordinating Two Interacting Monitoring Networks within the Lerma-Santiago Hydrologic System in Mexico

Water quality monitoring networks in the global south often display inefficiencies because monitoring strategies are frequently designed based on subjective professional judgments to define the temporal and spatial attributes of the networks, leading to poor cost–benefit relationships. The Lerma-Santiago Hydrological System (LSHS) in Mexico currently experiences severe environmental degradation caused by uncontrolled pollutant emissions from urban centers, agricultural, livestock, and industrial activities settled in the basin. While both the national and state authorities monitor this hydrological system, there has never been an effort to assess the monitoring efficiency of these two networks. The aim of the present study was to assess through multivariate statistical analyses the potential for coordination between these two interacting networks. For this purpose, two independent large water quality datasets with temporal and spatial attributes measured by two different authorities (the federal and the state) were used to identify those sites where coordination should be rationalized and those parameters that should continue to be monitored. The case study herein presented highlights the duplication in efforts to monitor surface water quality in the Lerma-Santiago hydrologic system, which implies a lack of coordination between the authorities and shows that water quality monitoring networks have not been reassessed since they were first implemented. Furthermore, using the case study of the Lerma-Santiago in Mexico, we expanded on various deficiencies, such as the use of different sampling frequencies and analytical methods by the authorities and inefficient communication among federal and state authorities. This study has revealed a large potential for coordinating two water quality monitoring networks (WQMN) in the Lerma-Santiago Hydrological System and a methodological approach that may be used to assess this potential. Coordination strategies for WQMNs can lead to significant cost reductions, extended network reach, and higher overall data quality in developing countries with limited financial resources and technical capabilities.

Recent ecophysiological, biochemical and evolutional insights into plant carnivory.

Carnivorous plants are an ecological group of approx. 810 vascular species which capture and digest animal prey, absorb prey-derived nutrients and utilize them to enhance their growth and development. Extant carnivorous plants have evolved in at least ten independent lineages, and their adaptive traits represent an example of structural and functional convergence. Plant carnivory is a result of complex adaptations to mostly nutrient-poor, wet and sunny habitats when the benefits of carnivory exceed the costs. With a boost in interest and extensive research in recent years, many aspects of these adaptations have been clarified (at least partly), but many remain unknown. We provide some of the most recent insights into substantial ecophysiological, biochemical and evolutional particulars of plant carnivory from the functional viewpoint. We focus on those processes and traits in carnivorous plants associated with their ecological characterization, mineral nutrition, cost-benefit relationships, functioning of digestive enzymes and regulation of the hunting cycle in traps. We elucidate mechanisms by which uptake of prey-derived nutrients leads to stimulation of photosynthesis and root nutrient uptake. Utilization of prey-derived mineral (mainly N and P) and organic nutrients is highly beneficial for plants and increases the photosynthetic rate in leaves as a prerequisite for faster plant growth. Whole-genome and tandem gene duplications brought gene material for diversification into carnivorous functions and enabled recruitment of defence-related genes. Possible mechanisms for the evolution of digestive enzymes are summarized, and a comprehensive picture on the biochemistry and regulation of prey decomposition and prey-derived nutrient uptake is provided.

Between the market and the developmental state – the place and limits of pro-poor ENGO led “waste-preneurship” in South Africa

ABSTRACT Southern Waste geographies have focused on informal waste-picking and the emergence of neoliberal waste regimes as responses to inadequate Household Solid Waste Management (HWSM) – exploring cost-benefit relationships, labour, and market dynamics, respectively. Less understood regarding reconfigurations of waste governance is the role and performance of Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (ENGOs) that have attempted to improve HSWM and recycling practices through Community-Based Recycling Interventions (CBRIs). Exploring the case of Wildlands Conservation Trust (WCT) “wastepreneur” initiative in rural and peri-urban communities in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, this study sought to critically assess the sustainability and labour dynamics of the intervention, highlighting its response to changing conditions. The project had initial successes in both facilitating and compensating pro-poor peri-urban waste-picking, generated high expectations and positively impacted recycling practices and perceptions in the process. After a point, however, the initiative experienced financial and institutional challenges which precipitated a restructuring of the initiative in line with prevailing recycling market dynamics – of which it had been naïve – and changing government labour funding; fostering a significant downscaling and disappointment on the part of participants. The findings highlight the limitations of CBRIs in hybrid governance contexts and with underdeveloped recycling markets, and the need for analysis that moves beyond critiques of neoliberalism to consider the ongoing role of the developmental state in local urban service provision.

Context Dependency in Bark Beetle-Fungus Mutualisms Revisited: Assessing Potential Shifts in Interaction Outcomes Against Varied Genetic, Ecological, and Evolutionary Backgrounds.

Context dependency occurs when biological interactions shift in sign or magnitude depending upon genetic, abiotic, and biotic context. Most models of mutualism address systems where interaction outcomes slide along a mutualism-antagonism continuum as environmental conditions vary altering cost-benefit relationships. However, these models do not apply to the many mutualisms that involve by-product benefits and others that do not have antagonistic alternate states. The ubiquity of such mutualisms indicates a need for different approaches and models to understand how environmental variability influences their strength, stability, and ecological roles. In this paper, we apply the concept of context dependency to mutualisms among bark beetles and fungi that span a variety of life strategies and exposures to environmental variability. Bark beetles and their mutualist fungi co-construct a niche based on by-product benefits that allows them to exist in a resource that is otherwise intractable or inaccessible. For the closest of these partnerships, this has resulted in some of the most influential agents of forest mortality in conifer forests worldwide. Understanding these symbioses is key to understanding their influence on forest structure and dynamics and responses to change. We found no evidence that bark beetle mutualisms change in sign as conditions vary, only in magnitude, and that the “closest” (and most environmentally influential) of these partnerships have evolved behaviors and mechanisms to reduce context-dependency and stabilize benefit delivery. The bark beetle-fungus symbioses most likely to slide along a mutualism-antagonism continuum are those involving loosely associated facultative symbionts that may provide benefits under some circumstances and that are horizontally transmitted by the beetle host. Additionally, some symbiotic fungi are never mutualists – these “third party” fungi are exploiters and may shift from commensalism to antagonism depending on environmental context. Our assessment indicates that a careful differentiation between bark beetle-fungus partnerships is crucial to understanding how they influence forests and respond to environmental variability.

Thermoregulation mode, substrate temperature and camouflage efficiency affecting defensive behavior of lizards in Amazonia

ABSTRACT In ectotherms, defensive responses to predators usually depend on cost-benefit relationships between death risk and the energy required to flee. In this study we investigate Amazonian lizards to test the hypothesis that the minimum predator approach distance (PAD) is influenced by temperature and camouflage. We test the hypothesis that PAD estimated for species with different thermoregulation modes respond differently to temperature and camouflage. We sampled 35 lizards of a heliotherm and a non-heliotherm species, for which we simulated a terrestrial visually oriented predator. Using a fixed-effects linear model, temperature positively affected PAD estimates, but the camouflage did not contribute to the model. Using a mixed linear model assuming thermoregulation mode as a random factor, camouflage negatively affected PAD estimates, independently of temperature. Our findings suggest that high exposure to predators in open habitats may be compensated by rapid fleeing optimized by high temperatures, and low fleeing performance, usually caused by relatively low temperatures in shaded habitats, may be compensated by camouflage. However, identifying the best PAD predictor greatly depended on accounting for thermoregulation mode in hypothesis testing, although the results obtained by both fixed and mixed-effects models may be relevant for conservation.

Clinical Utility of Bladder Cancer Biomarkers

Each year, there are an estimated 550 000 diagnoses of bladder cancer worldwide, and almost 200 000 deaths from bladder cancer. The need for frequent follow-up, including invasive procedures like cystoscopy, repetitive procedures like transurethral resection of bladder tumors and intravesical instillation therapy in non-muscle invasive stages, as well as systemic treatment with or without radical local treatment in advanced stages, makes bladder cancer one of the most expensive cancers to treat. Prognostic and predictive biomarkers have the potential to fundamentally change bladder cancer treatment algorithms, which may result in improved patient comfort and oncological outcomes and may also decrease the socioeconomic burden of the disease. Intense research has resulted in the recent approval by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration of the first agent for this disease that targets a specific mutation (fibroblast-growth factor receptor). Yet, many areas of bladder cancer diagnosis and treatment have remained unchanged for decades, and this is only in part due to their therapeutic success. In order to integrate biomarkers into clinical practice patterns, specific considerations for the different disease stages and settings should be kept in mind. Especially in the setting of screening, work-up of hematuria, as well as surveillance of patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, (urine-)biomarkers may prove useful. They must, however, demonstrate a high enough sensitivity to pick up a cancer diagnosis or recurrence, allow easy handling (preferably a point-of-care setting) and adequate cost–benefit relationships, while also providing additional information to a full work-up. A biomarker to identify patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer who are in need of—and likely to respond to—neoadjuvant therapy would be very useful. In later disease, early detection of recurrence or progression, as well as biomarkers guiding treatment decisions between the available systemic agents, will be paramount for improved patient care.

Factors that influence human behavior in biofuel use and their implications for biocultural conservation

A set of investigations has attempted to identify patterns in human resource use behavior to drive conservation strategies. However, it is still necessary to advance the understanding of the factors that influence human decision making in the use of resources, considering the perceived cost-benefit relationships. In this research, we assessed whether cost-benefit rationale may explain why certain resources are more used than others, as well as the factors that can predict resource consumption by certain families. We adopted the use of biofuels as research model in a rural settlement in northeastern Brazil. Our main findings indicate that the species most frequently used by people are those that favor the cost-benefit relationship. Resource availability was the main variable that directed the frequency of use of the species, and only the number of people in the residences explained the consumption of firewood by the families. These findings can provide important insights for the elaboration of biocultural conservation strategies because they present the mechanisms that can direct the behavior in the use of certain resources and the greater consumption of firewood by certain families.

Institutional factors and the impact of international financial reporting standards: the Central and Eastern European experience

ABSTRACT We examine the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the institutional context of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) member countries of the European Union. Extending prior IFRS research with national or multi-country regional insights from CEE, we investigate both firm-level financial reporting benefits and country-level benefits, together with the cost–benefit relationships involved, following from IFRS adoption. We survey expert professionals employed by Big 4 firms, acting as auditors and/or consultants in the application of IFRS, in locations across ten CEE countries. Financial reporting benefits, which are mainly firm-related, are perceived to have been realised to a higher extent than country-level benefits. Our analyses of micro-level institutional factors suggest that the accounting and auditing profession was the most valuable resource in the IFRS adoption process in CEE. A serious adoption process at the micro-level, signalled by high levels of perceived difficulties and regulatory impediments, along with resources available at the country-level and enforcement initiatives, is associated with financial reporting benefits. Country-level benefits are perceived to have materialised to a higher extent in countries with a lower quality of institutions, but with more organisational enablers available at the micro-institutional level. Benefits are perceived to exceed costs to a lesser extent in larger countries and in those with stronger institutions. This perception might be driven by higher expectations from IFRS in countries allocating more resources to IFRS and already having a more developed infrastructure. Overall, the benefits from IFRS adoption are perceived to overcome the costs in the long term.

Dynamics of bed bug infestations and control under disclosure policies

Bed bugs have reemerged in the United States and worldwide over recent decades, presenting a major challenge to both public health practitioners and housing authorities. A number of municipalities have proposed or initiated policies to stem the bed bug epidemic, but little guidance is available to evaluate them. One contentious policy is disclosure, whereby landlords are obligated to notify potential tenants of current or prior bed bug infestations. Aimed to protect tenants from leasing an infested rental unit, disclosure also creates a kind of quarantine, partially and temporarily removing infested units from the market. Here, we develop a mathematical model for the spread of bed bugs in a generalized rental market, calibrate it to parameters of bed bug dispersion and housing turnover, and use it to evaluate the costs and benefits of disclosure policies to landlords. We find disclosure to be an effective control policy to curb infestation prevalence. Over the short term (within 5 years), disclosure policies result in modest increases in cost to landlords, while over the long term, reductions of infestation prevalence lead, on average, to savings. These results are insensitive to different assumptions regarding the prevalence of infestation, rate of introduction of bed bugs from other municipalities, and the strength of the quarantine effect created by disclosure. Beyond its application to bed bugs, our model offers a framework to evaluate policies to curtail the spread of household pests and is appropriate for systems in which spillover effects result in highly nonlinear cost-benefit relationships.

Hormesis can enhance agricultural sustainability in a changing world

Considerable evidence has emerged that low-dose challenges induce adaptive responses that protect organisms from preceding or succeeding toxic effects, endogenous aging activities or exogenous challenges/threats via conditioning processes. These principles indicate that pre-post conditioning processes can affect the theoretical foundations and practice of agricultural planning and programs, creating the potential to optimize outcomes/performance, leading to more favourable cost-benefit relationships. These developments can be applied to agricultural systems to reduce environmental change impacts, enhance resistance to microbes and pests, and increase productivity at far lower costs, helping to enhance agricultural sustainability in a “changing world”. However, care should be exercised to account for risks that could be associated with the incorrect use of hormesis-based solutions and for regulatory issues that may arise. More caution should be taken regarding risks and regulatory as well as commercial difficulties that will likely hamper achieving greater agricultural sustainability.

Social Evolution: Selection on Multiple Cooperative Traits Optimizes Cost–Benefit Relationships

Cooperation is potentially risky in a population where non-producing cheats can reap benefits from and gain a fitness advantage over cooperators. A new study shows that cooperation can be safeguarded by selection on multiple traits.

SAND AS A SOIL STABILIZER

Clayey soils often exhibit undesirable engineering behaviour such as low strength, swelling and shrinkage characteristics etc. To improve these properties, the common method followed is stabilization. An experimental program carried out in this study aims to highlight the physical mechanisms of stabilization of an expansive soil by adding an inert material (sand). The study aimed to analyze the effect of stabilization on the variation of soil consistency and the results have shown that soil consistency improved appreciably. The findings of the laboratory testing procedures also presented substantial improvement in strength with the addition of sand percentages up to 60% by weight of soil, as well a noticeable alteration in the moisture-density relation. The soil tested could be used as subgrade material in pavement structures for low volume bearing roads, after its stabilization with fine sand. A further step in the investigation process could be the analysis of the swelling potential of clayey soils in conjunction with the addition of other waste materials along with sand, as well as the cost-benefit relationships of stabilization with sand in large projects like the highway construction.

Population‐based cost‐offset analyses for disorder‐specific treatment of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in Germany

Previous research has shown that anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are expensive illnesses to treat. To reduce their economic burden, adequate interventions need to be established. Our objective was to conduct cost-offset analyses for evidence-based treatment of eating disorders using outcome data from a psychotherapy trial involving cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and focal psychodynamic therapy (FPT) for AN and a trial involving CBT for BN. Assuming a currently running, ideal healthcare system using a 12-month, prevalence-based approach and varying the willingness to participate in treatment, we investigated whether the potential financial benefits of AN- and BN-related treatment outweigh the therapy costs at the population level. We elaborated on a formula that allows calculating cost-benefit relationships whereby the calculation of the parameters is based on estimates from data of health institutions within the German healthcare system. Additional intangible benefits were calculated with the aid of Quality-Adjusted Life Years. The annual costs of an untreated eating disorder were 2.38 billion EUR for AN and 617.69 million EUR for BN. Independent of the willingness to participate in treatment, the cost-benefit relationships for the treatment remained constant at 2.51 (CBT) and 2.33 (FPT) for AN and 4.05 (CBT) for BN. This consistency implies that for each EUR invested in the treatment, between 2.33 and 4.05 EUR could be saved each year. Our findings suggest that the implementation of evidence-based psychotherapy treatments for AN and BN may achieve substantial cost savings at the population level.

Leaf phenology and morphofunctional variation in Myrcia amazonica DC. (Myrtaceae) in gallery forest and “campo rupestre” vegetation in the Chapada Diamantina, Brazil

Myrcia amazonica DC. occurs in gallery forest and “campo rupestre” vegetation in the Chapada Diamantina, Bahia State, Brazil—habitats with contrasting irradiance and humidity conditions. We evaluated variations in aspects of the cost–benefit relationships of leaf maintenance and photosynthetic activity (phenology, leaf age, gas exchange, and photosynthetic pigments) and the maintenance of a positive water balance (leaf water potential, wood density, and leaf attributes) in two populations of M. amazonica occurring in those habitats. Our hypothesis was that this species would show more efficient water use associated with maintaining its leaves for longer periods in “campo rupestre” vegetation rather than in gallery forests—linked to the environmental constraints on “campo rupestre” population (lower water availability and elevated irradiance). We found that individuals growing in “campo rupestre” showed greater stomatal conductance, CO2 assimilation, transpiration rates, leaf thicknesses, leaf succulence, daily water potential amplitudes, and leaf longevity but lower wood densities as compared to the gallery forest population. Even with wide contrasts in terms of all of these parameters, both populations maintained perennial leaf patterns, despite with variations in the intensities and durations of leaf production (being more intense and of shorter duration in the “campo rupestre” population). Myrcia amazonica demonstrated high functional and morphological plasticity of attributes related to its survival and growth in these habitats. Our hypothesis was confirmed, as “campo rupestre” plants showed morphofunctional strategies associated with resource conservation, including more efficient water use.

A cost-benefit analysis of the individual mandate in the health coverage system of the USA

One of the challenging issues in the USA is health coverage system. The issue generally constitutes the major discussion topic of most presidential selection process. The paper analyses casual relationships of the issue and explains the cost benefit relationships between two policies, which are with the mandate and without mandate. One of the targets of the paper is to predict the effects of policy intervention on well being of the population regarding the health issue. By this way, the paper will generate a new approach on how to improve healthcare policy decisions. One of the most significant purposes of the study is to focus on policy alternatives regarding the health coverage system of the USA. The paper will study policy alternatives to decline the figures of people having no insurance. In order to decrease this amount, the paper will examine the cost-benefit of the system for the 20-year period.

Heat Treatment, Ozarks Cherts, and Prehistoric Toolstone Use in Southwest Missouri

Burlington and Jefferson City cherts often dominate Ozarks lithic assemblages, and this record contains ample evidence for the heat treatment of both. In this paper, we use a technological investment model to understand why prehistoric knappers may have invested in heat treatment at the Big Eddy Site in southwest Missouri. Tech investment models offer one way to evaluate the cost-benefit relationships of various technologies and, consequently, the conditions under which a manufacturing strategy might be adopted. We conduct a heat treatment experiment to measure the untreated utilities of the two materials, the approximate time needed to heat each, and the resultant gains in utility a knapper acquires by spending the time to do so. In the Big Eddy case, the tech investment model suggests that the two toolstones were heat-treated differentially in response to differences in utility gains and availability on the landscape.