University of Stirling

About: University of Stirling is a education organization based out in Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 7722 authors who have published 20549 publications receiving 732940 citations. The organization is also known as: Stirling University.

Running to Keep in the Same Place: Consumer Choice as a Game of Status

Abstract: If individuals care about their status, defined as their rank in the distribution of consumption of one "positional" good, then the consumer's problem is strategic as her utility depends on the consumption choices of others. In the symmetric Nash equilibrium, each individual spends an inefficiently high amount on the status good. Using techniques from auction theory, we analyze the effects of exogenous changes in the distribution of income. In a richer society, almost all individuals spend more on conspicuous consumption, and individual utility is lower at each income level. In a more equal society, the poor are worse off.

Life in the ‘charosphere’ - Does biochar in agricultural soil provide a significant habitat for microorganisms?

Abstract: Biochar application has become a novel and emergent technology for sequestering C, improving soil quality and crop production, and is a potential win–win strategy for ecosystem service delivery. Biochar addition can also stimulate soil microbial activity, and although it is unclear exactly why biochar should benefit soil microorganisms, it is thought that the large surface area and volume of pores provide a significant habitat for microbes. The aim of this study was to determine the level of microbial colonisation of wood-derived biochar that had been buried in an agricultural soil for three years. We have examined the level of colonisation on the internal and external surfaces of field-aged biochar by scanning electron microscopy, and used 14C-labelled glucose to quantify the rates of microbial activity in different spatial niches of the biochar and the surrounding soil. Microbial colonisation of field-aged biochar was very sparse, with no obvious differences between the external and internal surfaces. At the high field application rate of 50 t ha−1, biochar contributed only 6.52 ± 0.11% of the total soil pore space and 7.35 ± 0.81% of the total soil surface area of the topsoil (0–30 cm). Further, 17.46 ± 0.02% of the biochar pores were effectively uninhabitable for most microbes, being

Endogenous product versus process innovation and a firm's propensity to export

Abstract: This article provides an empirical analysis of the effects of new product versus process innovations on export propensity at the firm level. Product innovation is a key factor for successful market entry in models of creative destruction and Schumpeterian growth. Process innovation helps securing a firm’s market position given the characteristics of its product supply. Both modes of innovation are expected to raise a firm’s propensity to export. According to new trade theory, we conjecture that product innovation is relatively more important in that regard. We investigate these hypotheses in a rich survey panel data set with information about new innovations of either type. With a set of indicators regarding innovation motives and impediments and continuous variables at the firm and industry level at hand, we may determine the probability of launching new innovations and their impact on export propensity at the firm level through a double treatment approach.

Melanism and disease resistance in insects

Abstract: There is growing evidence that insects in high-density populations invest relatively more in pathogen resistance than those in low-density populations (i.e. density-dependent prophylaxis). Such increases in resistance are often accompanied by cuticular melanism, which is characteristic of the high-density form of many phase polyphenic insects. Both melanism and pathogen resistance involve the prophenoloxidase enzyme system. In this paper the link between resistance, melanism and phenoloxidase activity is examined in Spodoptera larvae. In S. exempta, cuticular melanism was positively correlated with phenoloxidase activity in the cuticle, haemolymph and midgut. Melanic S. exempta larvae were found to melanize a greater proportion of eggs of the ectoparasitoid Euplectrus laphygmae than non-melanic larvae, and melanic S. littoralis were more resistant to the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (in S. exempta the association between melanism and fungal resistance was non-signficant). These results strengthen the link between melanism and disease resistance and implicate the involvement of phenoloxidase.

Complexity revealed in the greening of the Arctic

Abstract: As the Arctic warms, vegetation is responding, and satellite measures indicate widespread greening at high latitudes. This ‘greening of the Arctic’ is among the world’s most important large-scale ecological responses to global climate change. However, a consensus is emerging that the underlying causes and future dynamics of so-called Arctic greening and browning trends are more complex, variable and inherently scale-dependent than previously thought. Here we summarize the complexities of observing and interpreting high-latitude greening to identify priorities for future research. Incorporating satellite and proximal remote sensing with in-situ data, while accounting for uncertainties and scale issues, will advance the study of past, present and future Arctic vegetation change.