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Broad Acceptance (broad + acceptance)
Selected AbstractsDietary specialization and infochemical use in carnivorous arthropods: testing a conceptENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, Issue 3 2003Johannes L. M. Steidle Abstract For the location of hosts and prey, insect carnivores (i.e., parasitoids or predators) often use infochemical cues that may originate from the host/prey itself but also from the food of the host/prey, a food plant, or another feeding substrate. These cues can be either specific for certain host/prey complexes or generally present in various complexes, and the reaction of the carnivores to these cues is either innate or learned. According to the concept on dietary specialization and infochemical use in natural enemies, the origin and specificity of the infochemical cues used and the innateness of the behavioural response are dependent on the degree of dietary specialization of the carnivore and its host/prey species. This concept has been widely adopted and has been frequently cited since its publication. Only few studies, however, have been explicitly designed to test predictions of the concept. Thus, more than 10 years after publication and despite of its broad acceptance, the general validity of the concept is still unclear. Using data from about 140 research papers on 95 species of parasitoids and predators, the present literature study comparatively scrutinises predictions from the concept. In accordance with the concept, learning to react to infochemicals and the use of general host and host plant cues was more often found in generalists than in specialists. In addition, more specialists were using specific infochemicals than generalists. In contrast to the concept, however, there was no significant difference between specialists and generalists in the proportion of carnivore species that use infochemicals during foraging and also extreme generalists are using infochemical cues for foraging. Likewise, an innate reaction to infochemicals was found in both specialists and generalists. Several reasons why infochemical use, including an innate reaction to infochemicals, is adaptive in generalist carnivores are discussed . We conclude that the concept has been a useful paradigm in advancing the chemical ecology of arthropod carnivores, but needs to be modified: the use of infochemicals is expected in all arthropod carnivores, regardless of dietary specialization. [source] A resource-based conceptual model of plant diversity that reassesses causality in the productivity,diversity relationshipGLOBAL ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2006Chris Lavers ABSTRACT Biogeographical studies frequently reveal positive correlations between species richness and estimates of environmental water and/or energy. A popular interpretation of this relationship relates the supply of water and energy to productivity, and then, in turn, to richness. Productivity,diversity theories are now legion, yet none has proved sufficiently intuitive to gain broad acceptance. Like productivity, heterogeneity is known to influence diversity at fine spatial scales, yet the possibility that richness might relate to water,energy dynamics at coarse spatial scales via a heterogeneity-generating mechanism has received little attention. In this paper we outline such a conceptual model for plants that is internally consistent and testable. We believe it may help to explain the capacity of environments receiving different inputs of water and energy to support variable numbers of species at a range of spatial scales, the pervasive correlation between productivity and richness, some exceptions to the productivity,diversity relationship, the form of productivity,diversity curves and the link between richness and environmental ,harshness'. The model may also provide an answer to one of the most venerable puzzles in the field of diversity studies: why high inputs of water and energy correspond to more species rather than simply more individuals. [source] The practitioner perspective on the modeling of pedagogy and practiceJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 1 2008S. De Freitas Abstract The promotion of e-learning in policies internationally has led to questions about how best to employ technology in support of learning. A range of models has since been developed that attempts to relate pedagogy to technology. However, research into the effectiveness of such models in changing teaching practice is sparse, and work that compares these models to practitioners' own representations of their practice is absent. The study described here involved asking practitioners to model their own practice, and to compare these with a model developed by a government organization. Practitioners were adept at using existing models and repurposing them to suit their own context. Our research provided evidence of broad acceptance of the existing model with practitioners, but indicated that practitioners would take this tool and remodel it for their own contexts of learning to make it meaningful, relevant and useful to them. [source] Single port surgery: Review of the literature and our initial experienceASIAN JOURNAL OF ENDOSCOPIC SURGERY, Issue 2 2009Kazuhiro Yasuda Abstract This review summarizes the published data regarding single port surgery (SPS) in order to evaluate the current status of SPS. SPS is a rapidly evolving technique in minimally invasive surgery. A wide variety of SPS have been performed since 1992, including appendectomy, cholecystectomy, colectomy, inguinal hernia repair, liver cyst fenestration, and bariatric surgery, and the technical feasibility has been demonstrated. Further advancements in technology and technique may allow the broad acceptance of this new method. Prospective randomized trials comparing SPS to laparoscopic surgery are essential to further determine the advantages and disadvantages of SPS. [source] | ||||||||||