Holistic Methodologies Research Articles

A conceptual framework for environmental flows assessment based on ecosystem services and their economic valuation

In recent decades, environmental flows has emerged a major instrument for sustaining and/or rehabilitating the ecosystem functions and services of rivers worldwide. The holistic methodologies of assessment of environmental flows (=EFlows) take into account the physical, biological, water quality and socio-cultural as well as livelihood aspects of riverine ecosystems, and increasingly depend upon consultations with experts and local communities to make a negotiated socio-political decision by consensus within the society. This paper presents a conceptual framework for the assessment of EFlows on the basis of a change in total ecosystem services and their total economic value with the alteration of flow regimes. Such an assessment would consider the gain and loss of ecosystem services both upstream and downstream of the point of intervention which alters the flow regime. It is also proposed that the economic valuation should provide for appropriate weightages to ecosystem services with a strong social, cultural and livelihood bearing in regional/local context. It is further argued that a top-down approach to E-Flows assessment should be followed wherever possible to convince the policy makers.

Enzymatic browning in avocado (Persea americana) revisited: History, advances, and future perspectives

ABSTRACTConsidering nearly 80 years of research regarding one of the enzymes responsible for catalyzing the formation of pigments in higher animals, plants, fungi and bacteria, this review will focus on collecting and categorizing the existing information about polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in fruits, with particular emphasis on the information in relation to avocado, which is one of the hardiest species in terms of inactivation, has documented dual activity (EC 1.14.18.1/EC 1.10.3.1), and represents one of the oldest challenges for food science research and fruit processors.It is expected that this review will contribute to the further development of the field by highlighting the questions that have arisen during the characterization of PPO, the progress that has been made and the questions that remain today, in addition to new methodologies that are being applied to study this system. Holistic methodologies offer unexplored potential for advancing our understanding of the complex phenomena that govern PPO activity in fruits, because these methodologies will enable the characterization of this family of enzymes in all of its complexity. Subsequently, it will be possible to develop better techniques for controlling enzymatic browning in this valuable fruit.

Evaluation of Data Aggregation in Polarized Sensory Positioning

AbstractThe aim of the present work was to evaluate data aggregation when using two polarized sensory positioning (PSP) approaches for sensory characterization with consumers. Two consumer studies with different product categories (orange‐flavored powdered drinks and chocolate milk beverages) were carried out. In each study two PSP approaches were considered: PSP with scales and triadic PSP (t‐PSP). For each approach, one‐third of the consumers evaluated the whole sample set, whereas the other two‐thirds evaluated the sample set split in two subsets. Results showed that sample configurations for the evaluation of the whole and the split set by different consumer groups were relatively well correlated (RV coefficients higher than 0.79). However, agreement between the configurations differed between the studies, which can be explained by the degree of difference among samples. Besides, differences in consumers' dissimilarity scores and conclusions regarding similarities and differences among samples were identified when comparing both data sets (with and without data aggregation). Regarding the comparison of the two PSP approaches, in the two studies better agreement between sample configurations was obtained for t‐PSP. However, in one of the studies PSP with scales provided better results for the evaluation of a repeated sample by different consumer groups.Practical ApplicationsPolarized sensory positioning has been gaining popularity in the last years. The main advantage of this methodology over other holistic methodologies is that it allows aggregating data from different studies, which is particularly interesting when working with consumer‐based sensory characterization. Results from the present work showed that aggregation of data from the evaluation of split sample sets by different consumer groups provided similar results than the evaluation of the whole sample set. However, conclusions regarding similarities and differences among samples differed in one of the studies, which suggests that care must be taken when aggregating data from the evaluation of similar samples by different consumer groups.

Questioning the uncritical application of translation and back-translation methodology in accounting: Evidence from China

The ‘critical bite’ in this paper lies in providing evidence to challenge the continued and uncritical application of translation and back-translation methodology by the global standard setters and researchers. We applied a within-subject experimental design to examine the influence of translation and back-translation methodology on subjects’ judgments on the key conception of control when preparing consolidated financial reports. Semi-structured follow-up interviews were also conducted with randomly selected participants in the experiment. China provides a particularly appropriate national context for this study because Simplified Chinese is one of the most complex languages. Importantly, control, as the consolidation criterion, may be linked to the ‘invisible power’ of the Chinese government’s authority in the process of social control. The results show that subjects made inconsistent judgments on control in the research instrument in English and the same instrument translated into Simplified Chinese. Additionally, subjects expressed a preference for the legalistic approach, which concentrates on providing specific quantitative criteria and requires little exercise of preparers’ judgments. We suggest that the global accounting standard setters and accounting researchers may consider developing more holistic methodologies for translation. Possible Anglo-American biases, simplistic assumptions and marketing claims by the global accounting standard setters need to be critically examined.

Tapping the Plate or Hitting the Bottle: Sound and Movement in Self-accompanied and Musician-accompanied Dance

Unravelling correspondences between musical sounds and dance movements can lead to insights into the selection and development of culturally modified sensory, motor and perceptual capacities. Gaining these insights requires the development of holistic methodologies to analyse sound and movement concomitantly. The cultural training of performers and their intersubjective dynamics orient the interactions between sound and movement in any performance genre. As an entry point into considering the intimate entanglement of music and dance, this article opens with an account of the direct correspondences between sound and movement in Afro-Brazilian stick-dancing before analysing the more obscure relationships between sound and movement in West Sumatran plate-dancing. The rhythmic swinging of hand-held plates can be accompanied by tapping sounds created by dancers or by musicians. Differences between the timing of movement-related sounds in self-accompanied and musician-accompanied plate-dancing reveal how humanly organised expression is shaped by the interplay of bodily skill, perceptual processes and cultural experience.

Problems and Prospects of Hydraulic Modelling For Environmental Flows Assessment Studies in East Africa

The objective of this paper is to document the problems and prospects of hydraulic modelling for Environmental Flows Assessment (EFA) studies based on selected case studies. Most of studies in East Africa use Holistic methodologies. An ideal data set for defining river hydraulics for most of these methods would be six data points of stage measurements over a good distribution of discharges, the stage of zero discharge and some flood-related data. Besides, in East African region EFA studies suffer from data scarcity (i.e., poorly gauged sites) and limited expertise and funding. The hydraulics studies conducted by the authors entailed desktop research, limited fieldwork for data collection, data analysis, and modelling. The hydraulic models (HEC-RAS and PHABSIM) used are governed by Manning and/or Energy equation(s) to simulate hydraulics. The optimized sensitive parameters include roughness number, expansion/contraction coefficients,roughness modifier and Beta coefficient. Data collected at medium flow, bank full discharge information at neighbouring flow gauging stations, information from previous studies, field observations on flow regimes and professional experience validated the performance of these models. The geometric characteristics for extended floodplains and/or swamps were derived from a calibrated NASA Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Models (DEM) of 30 arc-seconds resolution under HEC-GeoRAS GIS extension Environment. The modelling results were considered satisfactory because the relative errors for most of applications fall below 20%. The good performance achieved is attributed to the instituted quality control measures right from suitable sites selection to hydraulic modelling phases. Modelling results confidence rating of above 3 in a scale of 1 to 5 achieved depended upon the hydraulic complexity. Based on the satisfactory results in the case studies, the authors would like to note that there are some prospects of carryingout hydraulic analysis in the regions with inadequate data. However, professional input is the key to successful modelling exercises. Therefore, follow research should use more data to verify the approach adopted.

Polarized sensory positioning: Do conclusions depend on the poles?

Polarized sensory positioning (PSP) is a novel methodology for sensory characterization which is based on the comparison among samples and a set of reference products, called poles. Its main advantage over other holistic methodologies is that results from different sessions can be compared. This is particularly useful when working with samples with persistent flavours, when evaluating a large number of samples over a long period of time, or during quality control. Although the key step of this methodology is the selection of the products to be considered as poles, no studies have been published addressing this issue. In this context, the aim of the present work was to contribute to bridging this gap by studying the influence of the poles on results from sensory characterization of two widely different products (make-up foundations and orange-flavoured powdered drinks) using Polarized Sensory Positioning with consumers. Results from both studies provided preliminary evidence about the stability of sensory spaces obtained with different set of poles (RV coefficients higher than 0.908). However, differences in conclusions regarding similarities and differences among samples were identified between the sets of poles in both studies, suggesting the need to carefully select stable poles for PSP tasks.

Polarized Projective Mapping: Comparison with Polarized Sensory Positioning approaches

Holistic methodologies such as Projective Mapping and sorting have gained popularity for sensory characterization of products with both trained assessors and consumers. One of their main disadvantage is that all samples should be simultaneously evaluated in the same session. An alternative to overcome this limitation is to evaluate samples by comparing them with a fixed set of products, as proposed in Polarized Sensory Positioning (PSP). In the present work a combination of Projective Mapping and Polarized Sensory Positioning, called polarized Projective Mapping (PPM), is presented and compared with the two original ways of performing PSP (scale based and triadic-PSP), in terms of conclusions regarding differences between samples and difficulty for consumers. Nine orange-flavored powdered drink samples (including one blind repeated sample) were evaluated by three groups of 45 consumers using PSP, triadic-PSP and PPM using a between-subjects design. Although the three methodologies provided similar sensory spaces, some differences were identified in terms of discriminative ability, conclusions regarding similarities between samples and perceived difficulty. Polarized Projective Mapping seems to be an interesting approach that combines the advantages of Polarized Sensory Positioning and the holistic character of Projective Mapping, providing the possibility of comparing samples evaluated in different sessions.

The Dynamic-to-Static Conversion of Dynamic Fault Trees Using Stochastic Dependency Graphs and Stochastic Activity Networks

In this paper a new modeling framework for the dependability analysis of complex systems is presented and related to dynamic fault trees (DFTs). The methodology is based on a modular approach: two separate models are used to handle, the fault logic and the stochastic dependencies of the system. Thus, the fault schema, free of any dependency logic, can be easily evaluated, while the dependency schema allows the modeler to design new kind of non-trivial dependencies not easily caught by the traditional holistic methodologies. Moreover, the use of a dependency schema allows building a pure behavioral model that can be used for various kinds of dependability studies. In the paper is shown how to build and integrate the two modular models and convert them in a Stochastic Activity Network. Furthermore, based on the construction of the schema that embeds the stochastic dependencies, the procedure to convert DFTs into static fault trees is shown, allowing the resolution of DFTs in a very efficient way.

The Dynamic-to-Static Conversion of Dynamic Fault Trees Using Stochastic Dependency Graphs and Stochastic Activity Networks

In this paper a new modeling framework for the dependability analysis of complex systems is presented and related to dynamic fault trees (DFTs). The methodology is based on a modular approach: two separate models are used to handle, the fault logic and the stochastic dependencies of the system. Thus, the fault schema, free of any dependency logic, can be easily evaluated, while the dependency schema allows the modeler to design new kind of non-trivial dependencies not easily caught by the traditional holistic methodologies. Moreover, the use of a dependency schema allows building a pure behavioral model that can be used for various kinds of dependability studies. In the paper is shown how to build and integrate the two modular models and convert them in a Stochastic Activity Network. Furthermore, based on the construction of the schema that embeds the stochastic dependencies, the procedure to convert DFTs into static fault trees is shown, allowing the resolution of DFTs in a very efficient way.

Incorporating holistic methodologies in determining wind resource availability for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Incorporating holistic methodologies in determining wind resource availability for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Incorporating holistic methodologies in determining wind resource availability for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

We have carried out site feasibility and desirability assessments for wind development on the reservation of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), located in Western Montana, USA working in collaboration with tribal experts and leaders. Holistic review of siting options includes technical, economic, environmental, and aesthetic factors. We have combined publically available GIS data for wind power classifications, digital elevation maps, and built infrastructure, with input from tribal planners to identify Seepay Ridge as a key technically and economically favored site. Preliminary go/no-go environmental assessments have been carried out by others. A major goal for this work was to provide new geospatial mapping methods and site indexing tools to enable individual communities and the reservation as a whole to assess the perceived visual impacts of specific wind development sites. The visual impact of wind development site j on any given location i was computed using a model from the literature, combined with line-of-sight viewshed modeling. We map the expected visual impact of a Seepay Ridge wind farm with either 10 or 50 turbines on locations across the reservation. The aggregated visual impact from towns on the reservation was also computed based on a population weighting. We found that a 50-turbine Seepay Ridge development has an Aggregated Urban Index (AUI) of 0.05. This means the development has about 5% of the visual impact of building a 50-turbine farm adjacent to each town on the reservation. We also conjecture that situational visual impact is an important, but as of yet unmeasured, viewshed impact variable. The perceived impact of a wind development is likely to be situation-dependent, since the perception of impact by an observer in an urban area vs. a cultural, wilderness, or primitive area is likely to be different for the same observer.

Environmental Gerontology: What Now?

During the past two decades, environmental gerontology has not flourished as scholars in the field once anticipated. This article considers reasons for this claim, focusing specifically on the place of theory and, more broadly, on the undergirding functions of paradigms for the field. It is argued that progress in this diverse field has slowed in recent years due the decline of useful theoretical research on practice, the limited applicability of current research in the field, and a positivist approach that focuses on predictive, context-independent processes while ignoring the physical environment is an essential contextual element in the aging process. Moreover, it is argued that claims that adoption of a natural or “hard” science paradigm will reinvigorate research in environmental gerontology are misguided. Rather, the case is made that environmental gerontology is not a “normal” science (judged against Kuhnian criteria) but appears currently to be in a pre-paradigmatic stage. Debates within the social-behavioral sciences about their “real science” status directly affect environmental gerontology, particularly with regard to context-dependent and independent findings. Consistent with an interpretive perspective, it is argued that because environmental gerontology ultimately solution-driven, it must focus on practical activity and practical knowledge generated from context-bound, every-day practices. This requires holistic methodologies such case studies, precedents, and exemplars necessarily and directly tied to their actual local contexts.

Application of the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration Software in Environmental Flow Setting1

Abstract: River scientists are increasingly asked to provide recommendations about the amount and timing of water flows needed to support ecosystem health. The need for scientifically credible environmental flow assessments and the limited availability of resources to conduct in‐depth studies place a premium on methods that can be readily applied at low cost. The Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) software program was originally developed by The Nature Conservancy in the 1990s to quickly process daily hydrologic records to enable characterization of natural water conditions and facilitate evaluations of human‐induced changes to flow regimes. The evolution of the IHA software is discussed, including recent revisions and additions to the IHA that have improved its utility in environmental flow‐setting processes. Drawing from holistic methodologies developed around the world, the ability to calculate characteristics of five components of flow important to river ecosystem health – extreme low flows, low flows, high‐flow pulses, small floods and large floods – has been added to the IHA. A practical advantage of these environmental flow components is that an environmental flow prescription based upon them can be readily implemented in most water management settings. Frequently used as a one‐time generator of flow statistics, the value of the IHA increases when used interactively with ecological models. A process for linking IHA output to an ecological model to explore flow‐ecology relationships within an adaptive management context is presented and demonstrated through its application on the Green River, Washington. The IHA used in conjunction with ecological models facilitates the creation and testing of flow‐ecology hypotheses, formulation of water and land protection or restoration goals, and development of a focused research and monitoring program, all important components of environmental flow‐setting processes.

The development of robust methods of post occupancy evaluation

PurposeTo highlight the importance of effective post occupancy evaluation (POE) as part of a sustainable approach to workplaces and guide facilities professionals in their choice of POE tools.Design/methodology/approachA literature review provides an insight into sustainability and an introduction to POE options, with detailed discussion of key factors influencing the effectiveness of POE. A POE case study (at the Eden Project) provides an applied analysis of POE tools, focussing particularly on the usefulness of obtainable data.FindingsPOE is shown to be useful in addressing client satisfaction and user needs as part of sustainability assessments. Improvements to the assessment of occupants' experiences are suggested, in consideration of a more holistic approach to POE.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is grounded in UK experience, but the international relevance of the issues could also be explored by readers/further research. Further exploration of novel and holistic methodologies is needed, in order to test the integrated value of the evaluation of environmental data and human perceptions.Practical implicationsThis paper will help facilities professionals determine suitable POE approaches for workplaces, as part of an evaluation of available tools.Originality/valueThis paper evaluates a current topic in the property sector and demonstrates the value that facilities professionals can provide in implementing effective POE of workplaces.

A global perspective on environmental flow assessment: emerging trends in the development and application of environmental flow methodologies for rivers

AbstractRecognition of the escalating hydrological alteration of rivers on a global scale and resultant environmental degradation, has led to the establishment of the science of environmental flow assessment whereby the quantity and quality of water required for ecosystem conservation and resource protection are determined.A global review of the present status of environmental flow methodologies revealed the existence of some 207 individual methodologies, recorded for 44 countries within six world regions. These could be differentiated into hydrological, hydraulic rating, habitat simulation and holistic methodologies, with a further two categories representing combination‐type and other approaches.Although historically, the United States has been at the forefront of the development and application of methodologies for prescribing environmental flows, using 37% of the global pool of techniques, parallel initiatives in other parts of the world have increasingly provided the impetus for significant advances in the field.Application of methodologies is typically at two or more levels. (1) Reconnaissance‐level initiatives relying on hydrological methodologies are the largest group (30% of the global total), applied in all world regions. Commonly, a modified Tennant method or arbitrary low flow indices is adopted, but efforts to enhance the ecological relevance and transferability of techniques across different regions and river types are underway. (2) At more comprehensive scales of assessment, two avenues of application of methodologies exist. In developed countries of the northern hemisphere, particularly, the instream flow incremental methodology (IFIM) or other similarly structured approaches are used. As a group, these methodologies are the second most widely applied worldwide, with emphasis on complex, hydrodynamic habitat modelling. The establishment of holistic methodologies as 8% of the global total within a decade, marks an alternative route by which environmental flow assessment has advanced. Such methodologies, several of which are scenario‐based, address the flow requirements of the entire riverine ecosystem, based on explicit links between changes in flow regime and the consequences for the biophysical environment. Recent advancements include the consideration of ecosystem‐dependent livelihoods and a benchmarking process suitable for evaluating alternative water resource developments at basin scale, in relatively poorly known systems. Although centred in Australia and South Africa, holistic methodologies have stimulated considerable interest elsewhere. They may be especially appropriate in developing world regions, where environmental flow research is in its infancy and water allocations for ecosystems must, for the time being at least, be based on scant data, best professional judgement and risk assessment. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Applications of Systems Modelling in Peace Research

Systems theory has contributed greatly to the development of peace and war-related studies. Originating approximately in the same period, each of these scientific movements has influenced the other to a degree that may seem astonishing to outsiders, and both have been divided by fierce methodological dispute. The parallel development has yielded several overlaps, among which an interesting coincidence can be observed. A number of the founders of General Systems Theory were also the forerunners of peace and conflict studies. On the basis of universal ethical motivations the first peace researchers attempted to create holistic methodologies and more detailed models enabling humanity to identify, and eventually to control, the processes leading to the outbreaks of war. Similar activities, albeit subdued by the political goals, were also carried out in government-sponsored strategic studies centres, where so-called systems analysis was elaborated. Numerous confusions have been made in the implementation of mathematicized systemic models into peace research. Attitudes have varied from naive fascination to absolute denial. In the first part of the present work an attempt to present a balanced opinion on systemic models m peace and conflict studies is worked out. Evaluation of the following concepts: game theory, computer simulation, field theory, entropy law, and catastrophe theory is carried out using the views of enthusiasts and critics. In the second part, the potential impact exerted upon peace research by complex systems studies are discussed. As the new models applicable in social systems investigations, the following proposals are evaluated: non-equilibrium thermodynamics, self-reference and autopoiesis, synergetics, and chaos theory.