scholarly journals Identifying the fitness consequences of sex in complex natural environments

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Rushworth ◽  
Yaniv Brandvain ◽  
Tom Mitchell-Olds
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Transplant Experiment ◽  
Biological Traits ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Ecological Fitness ◽  
Lifetime Fitness ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Cost Of Sex

AbstractIn the natural world, sex prevails, despite its costs. While much effort has been dedicated to identifying the intrinsic costs of sex (e.g. the cost of males), few studies have identified the ecological fitness consequences of sex. Furthermore, correlated biological traits that differ between sexuals and asexuals may alter these costs, or even render the typical costs of sex irrelevant. Here we use a large-scale transplant experiment of a North American wildflower to show that sex is associated with reduced lifetime fitness, despite lower herbivory. We separate the effects of sex from hybridity, finding that over-winter survival is elevated in asexuals regardless of hybridity, but herbivores target hybrid asexuals. Survival is lowest in homozygous sexual lineages, implicating inbreeding depression as a cost of sex. Our results show that the consequences of sex are shaped by complex natural environments, correlated traits, and the identity of mates, rather than sex itself.

scholarly journals Evolution of Clustering Quantified by a Stochastic Method—Case Studies on Natural and Human Social Structures

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 7972
Author(s):  
G.-Fivos Sargentis ◽  
Theano Iliopoulou ◽  
Stavroula Sigourou ◽  
Panayiotis Dimitriadis ◽  
Demetris Koutsoyiannis
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Organizational Needs ◽  
The Universe

Clustering structures appearing from small to large scales are ubiquitous in the physical world. Interestingly, clustering structures are omnipresent in human history too, ranging from the mere organization of life in societies (e.g., urbanization) to the development of large-scale infrastructure and policies for meeting organizational needs. Indeed, in its struggle for survival and progress, mankind has perpetually sought the benefits of unions. At the same time, it is acknowledged that as the scale of the projects grows, the cost of the delivered products is reduced while their quantities are maximized. Thus, large-scale infrastructures and policies are considered advantageous and are constantly being pursued at even great scales. This work develops a general method to quantify the temporal evolution of clustering, using a stochastic computational tool called 2D-C, which is applicable for the study of both natural and human social spatial structures. As case studies, the evolution of the structure of the universe, of ecosystems and of human clustering structures such as urbanization, are investigated using novel sources of spatial information. Results suggest the clear existence both of periods of clustering and declustering in the natural world and in the human social structures; yet clustering is the general trend. In view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, societal challenges arising from large-scale clustering structures are discussed.

Cost- und Monitoring-Projekt: Zwei neue forstliche Meinungsumfragen im Vergleich | The Cost- and Monitoring-Projects: A Comparison of Two New Forestry Opinion Polls

2000 ◽  
Vol 151 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Wild-Eck ◽  
Willi Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Forest Economics ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Federal Institute ◽  
Swiss Confederation ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Opinion Polls

Two large-scale surveys looking at attitudes towards forests, forestry and forest policy in the second half ofthe nineties have been carried out. This work was done on behalf of the Swiss Confederation by the Chair of Forest Policy and Forest Economics of the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Not only did the two studies use very different methods, but the results also varied greatly as far as infrastructure and basic conditions were concerned. One of the main differences between the two studies was the fact that the first dealt only with mountainous areas, whereas the second was carried out on the whole Swiss population. The results of the studies reflect these differences:each produced its own specific findings. Where the same (or similar) questions were asked, the answers highlight not only how the attitudes of those questioned differ, but also views that they hold in common. Both surveys showed positive attitudes towards forests in general, as well as a deep-seated appreciation ofthe forest as a recreational area, and a positive approach to tending. Detailed results of the two surveys will be available in the near future.

Waste minimization program in Shuaiba Industrial Area

1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 289-295
Author(s):  
Saleh Al-Muzaini
Keyword(s):  
Solid Waste ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Industrial Area ◽  
Waste Minimization ◽  
Regulatory Body ◽  
Eastern Sector ◽  
Western Sector ◽  
Petroleum Companies ◽  
The Cost

The Shuaiba Industrial Area (SIA) is located about 50 km south of Kuwait City. It accommodates most of the large-scale industries in Kuwait. The total area of the SIA (both eastern and western sectors) is about 22.98 million m2. Fifteen plants are located in the eastern sector and 23 in the western sector, including two petrochemical companies, three refineries, two power plants, a melamine company, an industrial gas corporation, a paper products company and, two steam electricity generating stations, in addition to several other industries. Therefore, only 30 percent of the land in the SIA's eastern sector and 70 percent of land in the SIA's western sector is available for future expansion. Presently, industries in the SIA generate approximately 204,000 t of solid waste. With future development in the industries in the SIA, the estimated quantities will reach 240,000 t. The Shuaiba Area Authority (SAA), a governmental regulatory body responsible for planning and development in the SIA, has recognized the problem of solid waste and has developed an industrial waste minimization program. This program would help to reduce the quantity of waste generated within the SIA and thereby reduce the cost of waste management. This paper presents a description of the waste minimization program and how it is to be implemented by major petroleum companies. The protocols employed in the waste minimization program are detailed.

Spaces of Consumption in American Literary Realism

2019 ◽  
pp. 391-410
Author(s):  
Gary Totten
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Literary Realism ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
New Strategies

This chapter discusses how consumer culture affects the depiction and meaning of the natural world in the work of American realist writers. These writers illuminate the relationship between natural environments and the social expectations of consumer culture and reveal how such expectations transform natural space into what Henri Lefebvre terms “social space” implicated in the processes and power dynamics of production and consumption. The representation of nature as social space in realist works demonstrates the range of consequences such space holds for characters. Such space can both empower and oppress individuals, and rejecting or embracing it can deepen moral resolve, prompt a crisis of self, or result in one’s death. Characters’ attempts to escape social space and consumer culture also provide readers with new strategies for coping with their effects.

An Out-of-Core Dataflow Middleware to Reduce the Cost of Large Scale Iterative Solvers

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng Zhou ◽  
Erik Saule ◽  
Hasan Metin Aktulga ◽  
Chao Yang ◽  
Esmond G. Ng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Iterative Solvers ◽  
The Cost

scholarly journals A Survey on Contrastive Self-Supervised Learning

Technologies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Ashish Jaiswal ◽  
Ashwin Ramesh Babu ◽  
Mohammad Zaki Zadeh ◽  
Debapriya Banerjee ◽  
Fillia Makedon
Keyword(s):  
Computer Vision ◽  
Supervised Learning ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Performance Comparison ◽  
Extensive Review ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Dominant Component ◽  
Supervised Methods ◽  
The Cost

Self-supervised learning has gained popularity because of its ability to avoid the cost of annotating large-scale datasets. It is capable of adopting self-defined pseudolabels as supervision and use the learned representations for several downstream tasks. Specifically, contrastive learning has recently become a dominant component in self-supervised learning for computer vision, natural language processing (NLP), and other domains. It aims at embedding augmented versions of the same sample close to each other while trying to push away embeddings from different samples. This paper provides an extensive review of self-supervised methods that follow the contrastive approach. The work explains commonly used pretext tasks in a contrastive learning setup, followed by different architectures that have been proposed so far. Next, we present a performance comparison of different methods for multiple downstream tasks such as image classification, object detection, and action recognition. Finally, we conclude with the limitations of the current methods and the need for further techniques and future directions to make meaningful progress.

scholarly journals A Review on Terahertz Technologies Accelerated by Silicon Photonics

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1646
Author(s):  
Jingya Xie ◽  
Wangcheng Ye ◽  
Linjie Zhou ◽  
Xuguang Guo ◽  
Xiaofei Zang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Circuit ◽  
Silicon Photonics ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Single Chip ◽  
Photonic Integrated Circuit ◽  
Hybrid Silicon ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Silicon Based ◽  
Thz Applications

In the last couple of decades, terahertz (THz) technologies, which lie in the frequency gap between the infrared and microwaves, have been greatly enhanced and investigated due to possible opportunities in a plethora of THz applications, such as imaging, security, and wireless communications. Photonics has led the way to the generation, modulation, and detection of THz waves such as the photomixing technique. In tandem with these investigations, researchers have been exploring ways to use silicon photonics technologies for THz applications to leverage the cost-effective large-scale fabrication and integration opportunities that it would enable. Although silicon photonics has enabled the implementation of a large number of optical components for practical use, for THz integrated systems, we still face several challenges associated with high-quality hybrid silicon lasers, conversion efficiency, device integration, and fabrication. This paper provides an overview of recent progress in THz technologies based on silicon photonics or hybrid silicon photonics, including THz generation, detection, phase modulation, intensity modulation, and passive components. As silicon-based electronic and photonic circuits are further approaching THz frequencies, one single chip with electronics, photonics, and THz functions seems inevitable, resulting in the ultimate dream of a THz electronic–photonic integrated circuit.

scholarly journals ShadingNet: Image Intrinsics by Fine-Grained Shading Decomposition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anil S. Baslamisli ◽  
Partha Das ◽  
Hoang-An Le ◽  
Sezer Karaoglu ◽  
Theo Gevers
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Image Decomposition ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Decomposition Algorithms ◽  
Ambient Light ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Large Scale Dataset ◽  
Direct Illumination

AbstractIn general, intrinsic image decomposition algorithms interpret shading as one unified component including all photometric effects. As shading transitions are generally smoother than reflectance (albedo) changes, these methods may fail in distinguishing strong photometric effects from reflectance variations. Therefore, in this paper, we propose to decompose the shading component into direct (illumination) and indirect shading (ambient light and shadows) subcomponents. The aim is to distinguish strong photometric effects from reflectance variations. An end-to-end deep convolutional neural network (ShadingNet) is proposed that operates in a fine-to-coarse manner with a specialized fusion and refinement unit exploiting the fine-grained shading model. It is designed to learn specific reflectance cues separated from specific photometric effects to analyze the disentanglement capability. A large-scale dataset of scene-level synthetic images of outdoor natural environments is provided with fine-grained intrinsic image ground-truths. Large scale experiments show that our approach using fine-grained shading decompositions outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms utilizing unified shading on NED, MPI Sintel, GTA V, IIW, MIT Intrinsic Images, 3DRMS and SRD datasets.

Network effect in shared supply chain platform value co-creation behavior in evolutionary game1

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Zou Xiaohong ◽  
Chen Jinlong ◽  
Gao Shuanping
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Condition ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Simulation Analysis ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Evolutionary Game ◽  
Dynamic Game ◽  
Network Effect ◽  
Chain Model ◽  
The Cost

The shared supply chain model has provided new ideas for solving contradictions between supply and demand for large-scale standardized production by manufacturers and personalized demands of consumers. On the basis of a platform network effect perspective, this study constructs an evolutionary game model of value co-creation behavior for a shared supply chain platform and manufacturers, analyzes their evolutionary stable strategies, and uses numerical simulation analysis to further verify the model. The results revealed that the boundary condition for manufacturers to participate in value co-creation on a shared supply chain platform is that the net production cost of the manufacturers’ participation in the platform value co-creation must be less than that of nonparticipation. In addition, the boundary condition for the shared supply chain platform to actively participate in value co-creation is that the cost of the shared supply chain platform for active participation in value co-creation must be less than that of passive participation. Moreover, value co-creation behavior on the shared supply chain platform is a dynamic game interaction process between players with different benefit perceptions. Finally, the costs and benefits generated by the network effect can affect value co-creation on shared supply chain platforms.

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