Search

Key driver analysis (statistically inferred importance analysis) is commonly implemented to understand what customer satisfaction attributes are most important in driving overall customer satisfaction. Building on prior research, this article suggests that dominance analysis and relative weight analysis are the most appropriate statistical techniques for conducting key driver analysis, yet relative weight analysis is the more feasible choice. A process is put forth so that research practitioners can conduct key driver analysis with relative weight analysis implementing a two-step approach. The two-step approach should be used when the key driver analysis contains a large number of attributes, which are theoretically redundant and highly correlated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In group-living species, reproductive variation among individuals of the same sex is widespread. By identifying the mechanisms underlying this reproductive skew, we gain fundamental insights into the evolution and maintenance of sociality. A common mechanism, social control, is typically studied by quantifying dominance, which is one of many attributes of sociality that describes how individuals exert influence on others and is an incomprehensive measure of social control as it accounts only for direct relationships. Here, we use the global reaching centrality (GRC), which quantifies the degree of hierarchy in a social network by accounting for both direct and indirect social relationships. Using a wild, free-living population of adult female yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris), we found a positive relationship between the reproductive skew index and GRC: more despotic social groups have higher reproductive skew. The GRC was stronger predictor for skew than traditional measures of social control (i.e. dominance). This allows deeper insights into the diverse ways individuals control other group members reproduction, a core component in the evolution of sociality. Future studies of skew across taxa may profit by using more comprehensive, network-based measures of social control.

Consumers are known to seek out and display conspicuous goods—items that are exclusive and signal wealth and high social standing. Though many factors can drive such conspicuous consumption, the present work looks at an unexplored element: whether consumers find themselves in a dominance versus prestige-based hierarchy. Dominance-based hierarchies encourage consumers to use threatening, assertive, and manipulative behaviors to navigate the hierarchy. In contrast, prestige-based hierarchies encourage consumers to show their talent, skills, and motivation to operate within the hierarchy. The present research reveals how these two main bases of hierarchy shape consumers' consumption of conspicuous goods. Specifically, dominance, relative to prestige hierarchies, is proposed to foster greater social anxiety, which leads people to seek conspicuous goods as a means of psychological security. Consequently, dominance-based hierarchies are more likely to encourage conspicuous consumption relative to prestige-based hierarchies. Multiple experiments, which utilize real employees' behaviors, experimental manipulations of hierarchy, as well as incentivize-compatible decisions, reveal that dominance-based hierarchies, relative to prestige-based hierarchies, increase consumers' preference for conspicuous goods. Moreover, evidence for a psychological mechanism in the form of social anxiety is demonstrated via both mediation and moderation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multi-task learning model is a learning paradigm that shares features across multiple tasks, and it has achieved great success in fields such as computer vision and natural language processing etc. Multiple tasks often conflict and even compete with each other, which seriously reduces the model performance of multi task learning. Most existing optimization methods alleviate multi task gradient conflicts by adjusting task weights. However, it is also important to consider the magnitude and direction of task gradients during the training process. The magnitude and direction of task gradients reflect the conflict and dominance among tasks, which can disrupt the training process and cause instability. In this paper, we present a rescaling and balancing approach for tackling conflicting and dominating gradients. The approach employs a projecting conflict strategy to mitigate the influence of conflicting gradients from multiple tasks and utilize rescaling and balancing techniques to mitigate gradient dominance during training. The proposed method comprehensively considers the weighting, magnitude, and directions of gradients from tasks. We conduct a series of ablation experiments and comparative experiments on different multi-task networks to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Mechanisms governing the migratory decisions of birds have long fascinated ecologists and sparked considerable debate. Identifying factors responsible for variation in migration distance, also known as differential migration, has been a popular approach to understanding the mechanisms underlying migratory behaviour more generally. However, research progress has been slowed by the continued testing of overlapping, non‐mechanistic, and circular predictions among a small set of historically entrenched hypotheses. We highlight the body size hypothesis and suggest that the predictions commonly tested have impeded progress because body size relationships with migration distance are predictions made by several distinct hypotheses with contrasting mechanisms. The cost of migration itself has not been adequately accounted for in most hypotheses, and we propose two flight efficiency hypotheses with time‐ and energy‐minimizing mechanisms that allow individuals to mitigate the risks inherent to longer migrations. We also advance two conceptual versions of the social dominance hypothesis based on two distinct underlying mechanisms related to distance minimization and food maximization that will help clarify the role of competition in driving migratory decisions. Overall, we describe and refine 12 mechanistic hypotheses proposed to explain differential migration (along with several other special‐case hypotheses), seven of which have underlying mechanisms related to food limitation as past research has identified this to be an important driver of differential migration. We also thoroughly reviewed 145 publications to assess the amount of support for 10 critical assumptions underlying alternative hypotheses for differential migration in birds. Our review reveals that surprisingly few studies explicitly evaluate assumptions within a differential migration context. Generating and testing strong predictions and critical assumptions underlying mechanisms of alternative hypotheses will improve our ability to differentiate among these explanations of differential migration. Additionally, future intraspecific progress will be greatest if investigators continue to focus on mechanisms underlying variation in migration distance within rather than among demographic classes, as previous research has found differing mechanisms to be responsible for differential migration among demographic classes. Interspecifically, a thorough comparative analysis that seeks to explain variation in migration distance among species would broaden both our understanding of the mechanisms regulating current differential migration patterns and those that led to the evolution of migration more generally. Collectively, we provide a framework that, together with advances in animal‐borne tracking and other technology, can be used to advance our understanding of the causes of differential migration distance, and migratory decisions more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose that political polarization stems in part from differing conceptions of one's nation. Four studies tested the hypothesis that national essentialism – conceiving one's nation as possessing an inherent, unchanging essence – underlies three political ideologies: right‐wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and nationalism. Study 1 (n = 263) provides correlational evidence that essentialist thinking about the U.S. positively predicted all three ideological variables, as well as support for conservative policies regarding religion, taxes, the environment, and immigration. Converging experiments show that prompting participants to think about the U.S.’s essence increased support for RWA and nationalism, but not SDO. Study 2 (n = 164) compared an essentialist to a non‐essentialist framing of the U.S., while Study 3 (n = 150) compared essentialist framings of the U.S. to an unrelated concept (music). Parallel mediation analyses show that support for RWA and nationalism mediated the relationship between primed national essentialism and support for conservative policy positions. Study 4 (n = 174) directly replicated Study 2 and went further to test mediators, showing that perceptions of intergroup threat mediated the effect of national essentialism on RWA, while national identification mediated the effect of national essentialism on nationalism. Data and materials are publicly available at: (https://osf.io/srvxk/?view_only=d803fbf4c59c4b7e912f5a345ddb09b9) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hemipelagic succession 29m thick, situated in South Tibet within the Tethyan Himalaya tectonic unit, has been investigated for its calcareous nannofossil content. A total of 17 samples were subject to qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis. The studied interval belongs to the upper Albian-lowermost Cenomanian and extends into the UC0 nannofossil zone; based on the last occurrence of Hayesites albiensis , the UC0a and UC0b-c subzones were recognized. The most abundant nannofossil of the Youxia section is Watznaueria barnesiae. Other common taxa are Eiffellithus turriseiffelii , Eprolithus floralis, Rhagodiscus spp., and Zeugrhabdotus spp. In the lowermost part of the studied section, below the beginning of the Albian-Cenomanian Boundary Event (ACBE), i.e., prior to the δ13C positive excursion related to OAE1d, the nannofossils confined to high paleolatitudes, namely Repagulum parvidentatum , Seribiscutum primitivum , and Sollasites horticus , are present with a low abundance. This occurrence is believed to be evidence of a short episode of cooler surface waters linked to a transgressive event. The nannofossil abundance and diversity, along with the fluctuation patterns of the nutrient and temperature indices throughout the section, reflects a primary signal of mesotrophic to eutrophic conditions from the base of the succession up to the two oldest δ13C peaks of ACBE, both late Albian in age and within the OAE1d. By contrast, the dominance of Watznaueria barnesiae , representing more than 80% of the total assemblages, along with the significant drop in abundance and diversity shown by nannofossils within late phases of ACBE, are interpreted as a diagenetic signal. Mesotrophic to eutrophic conditions returned towards the top of the studied succession, where Biscutum constans and Zeugrhabdotus erectus again show a higher abundance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominance is a primary determinant of social dynamics and resource access in social animals. Recent studies show that dominance is also reflected in the gene regulatory profiles of peripheral immune cells. However, the strength and direction of this relationship differs across the species and sex combinations investigated, potentially due to variation in the predictors and energetic consequences of dominance status. Here, we investigated the association between social status and gene expression in the blood of wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta; n = 113 individuals), including in response to lipopolysaccharide, Gardiquimod (an agonist of TLR7, which detects single‐stranded RNA in vivo) and glucocorticoid stimulation. Meerkats are cooperatively breeding social carnivores in which breeding females physically outcompete other females to suppress reproduction, resulting in high reproductive skew. They therefore present an opportunity to disentangle the effects of social dominance from those of sex per se. We identify a sex‐specific signature of dominance, including 1045 differentially expressed genes in females but none in males. Dominant females exhibit elevated activity in innate immune pathways and a larger fold‐change response to LPS challenge. Based on these results and a preliminary comparison to other mammals, we speculate that the gene regulatory signature of social status in the immune system depends on the determinants and energetic costs of social dominance, such that it is most pronounced in hierarchies where physical competition is important and reproductive skew is large. Such a pattern has the potential to mediate life history trade‐offs between investment in reproduction versus somatic maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the free and forced vibrations of a cantilevered conical beam with axially functionally graded material1, carrying a concentrated mass and subjected to a distributed load, are investigated. The beam has a rectangular cross-section with a variable thickness and properties along the length. The governing equation of the system is derived using the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory based on the Hamilton principle. The response of the system is determined under the assumption of the first mode dominance using the method of multiple scales2. The validity of the results is confirmed by comparing them with the results of the numerical solution. This investigation breaks new ground by examining the nonlinear effects of curvature and inertia, which contribute to the occurrence of hardening and softening behavior in the frequency response. Additionally, this article provides new insights into the profound impact of material distribution on the system's frequency response at the initial resonance state. Therefore, the motivation of this study lies in the convergence of FGM, nonlinear behavior, and resonance of a beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimal timing of sexual behaviours across a daily cycle can form a key component of mating and reproductive success. However, few studies have explored circadian rhythms in mating behaviour within the context of sexual selection and sexual conflict. Here we characterized circadian patterns in female receptivity to mating and the frequency of male mating and courtship behaviours in freely interacting captive groups of red junglefowl, Gallus gallus , in outdoor enclosures. We showed that patterns of male sexual behaviour and female resistance to mating attempts differ between the morning and evening during a 10-day mating trial. Females progressively reduced their level of resistance to male mating attempts during the early hours of the morning and progressively increased their resistance in the evening. Males did not match their mating frequencies to female receptivity and initiated mating attempts more often in the evening, but tended to perform more courtship displays in the morning. The pattern of male behaviour was associated with social status, such that dominant males courted females more often than subordinates, particularly in the morning. However, we did not find strong evidence that male social status was associated with different timing strategies. These results demonstrate circadian patterns in multiple sexual behaviours in red junglefowl, with potential consequences for sexual selection in this species and welfare management in domestic populations of closely related fowl. • Sexual selection may target individual variation in circadian behaviour. • Sex differences in the optimal timing of behaviours can drive sexual conflict. • We quantified circadian patterns in sexual behaviour in a polygynandrous bird. • Males courted more in the morning and female resistance was highest in the evening. • Male social status was not associated with different timing strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of correlations in Monte Carlo power iteration has long been dominated by the question of generational correlations and their effects on the estimation of statistical uncertainties. More recently, there has been a growing interest in spatial correlations, prompted by the discovery of neutron clustering. Despite several attempts, a comprehensive framework concerning how Monte Carlo sampling strategies, population control, and variance reduction methods affect the strength of such correlations is still lacking. In this work, we propose a set of global and local (i.e., space-dependent) tallies that can be used to characterize the impact of correlations. These tallies encompass Shannon entropy, pair distance, normalized variance, and Feynman moment. In order to have a clean yet fully meaningful setting, we carry out our analysis in a few homogeneous and heterogeneous benchmark problems of varying dominance ratio. Several classes of collision sampling strategies, population control, and variance reduction techniques are tested, and their relative advantages and drawbacks are assessed with respect to the proposed tallies. The major finding of our study is that branchless collisions, which suppress the emergence of branches in neutron histories, also considerably reduce the effects of correlations in most of the explored configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the intense and long-standing interest surrounding early sport specialisation, scholars still debate its nature and implications. Previous researchers have also identified the need for further research relating to the psychological aspects of early specialisation such as lower quality motivation, dropout and burnout. To help guide future research it is important to build upon the quantitative literature concerning such psychological aspects of early specialisation. The specific aims of this paper are to provide an overview of research results of quantitative studies that set out to explore relationships between early specialisation and psychological aspects, and to critically examine the designs of such studies. As such, study design characteristics including participant demographics, the psychological aspects represented, and the research questions and results are explored. Data searches were conducted in PubMed, SportDiscus, and PsychINFO using search terms such as "early sport speciali*". Twenty-one relevant papers met the inclusion criteria. The results highlight that the published papers in this area are broad in some respects (variety of sports, performance levels, and gender), but narrow in others (North American dominance, few psychological aspects explored, and few papers per psychological aspect). Many of the studies are based on cross-sectional and retrospective self-reports. Overall, this paper serves as a foundation on which to design future research studies in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A few large firms in the U.S. financial system achieve substantial economic gains. Their dominance sets them apart while also raising concerns about the suppression of worker earnings. Utilizing administrative data, this study reveals that the largest financial firms pay workers an average of 30.2% more than their smallest counterparts, significantly exceeding the 7.9% disparity in nonfinance sectors. This positive size-earnings relationship is consistently more pronounced in finance, even during the 2008 crisis or compared to the high-tech sector. Evidence suggests that large financial firms' excessive gains, coupled with their workers' sought-after skills, explain this distinct relationship. (JEL G20, J31, J42, L11, L12, L13) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The HRD field, in its current situation as it approaches the second quarter of the twenty-first century, is at a crossroads. Although theories of HRD that have been developed in Western Europe and North America have served the field well, they represent the voices and experiences of less than 25% of the world's population. This paper questions the enduring dominance of Western-cultural HRD, and argues for transformation of the discipline to be inclusive and equitable but also reflective of the global mosaic of human knowledge, wisdom, and practice. We critically consider literature arguing for a generalised theorisation of HRD and, grounded in our own different positional perspectives, we propose and discuss a new term Cultural HRD, which is distinct from National HRD (NHRD) and Indigenous HRD, as a way forward for HRD theorising. We illustrate our proposed concept through describing what we term Islamic-cultural HRD and contrasting this with Western-cultural HRD. Prompted by our concerns relating to the under-representation of cultural HRD theorisation, we further argue for a new emancipatory structures approach to theorising, to pivot HRD towards a more equitable and context-sensitive discipline that can both explain and foster human and organisational development across diverse global contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Health state valuation assumes that respondents trade off between all aspects of choice tasks and maximize their utility. Yet, respondents may use heuristic valuation processes, i.e., strategies to simplify or avoid the trade-offs that are core to health state valuation. The objective of this study is to explore if heuristic valuation processes are more prevalent for valuation from a 10-year-old child's perspective compared to the use of an adult perspective. Methods: We reused existing data in which EQ-5D health states were valued from adult and child perspectives with composite time trade-off (cTTO) and discrete choice experiment (DCE) tasks. Our analyses focused on comparing completion time and responding patterns across both perspectives. We also explored how reflective of a set of heuristic strategies respondents' choices were in both perspectives. Results: We found no evidence for systematic differences in completion time across perspectives. Generally, we find different responding patterns in child perspectives, e.g., more speeding, dominance violations, and clustering of utilities at 1.0, 0.8, and 0. Very few heuristic strategies provide a coherent explanation for the observed DCE responses. Conclusion: Our results provide some, albeit indirect, evidence for differences in heuristic valuation processes between perspectives, although not across all data sources. Potential effects of heuristic valuation processes, such as transfer of responsibility, may be identified through studying responding patterns in cTTO and DCE responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Background Method Results Conclusion Implications and Recommendations This study investigated the role of nontypical development in the relative dominance in twins' relationships throughout childhood.Dominance dynamics, affecting siblings' well‐being, are different in twins than in singletons for whom age and development often dictate sibling hierarchy. These dynamics in twins, who share similar ages and developmental contexts, remain underexplored and demand further understanding.A longitudinal study surveyed 1,547 mothers and 536 fathers of 322 monozygotic (sharing nearly 100% genes) and 1,199 dizygotic (sharing 50% genetic variance) twin pairs, aged 3 to 8–9. Both parents reported on the twins' relationships. Mothers reported whether either twin had a developmental condition.No dominance difference was found in similar developmental conditions dyads, whether both twins had typical or nontypical development. However, in dyads where twins differed in the developmental condition, nontypically developing twins were less dominant than their typically developing cotwins. This dominance imbalance persisted throughout childhood, even if initial developmental issues were resolved.From parents' perspectives, nontypical development does not, in itself, prevent children from demonstrating dominance behaviors in twinship, but it is more likely that the asymmetry in developmental conditions is associated with the relationship between the twins.According to parents' perceptions, twins with nontypical development might experience imbalances in their relationship throughout childhood when their co‐twin is a typically developing child. However, demonstrating dominance might be possible for them in other contexts. Understanding these dominance dynamics is vital for caregivers, informing tailored parenting strategies and interventions to support the well‐being of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonid fishes are a widespread and economically important group of fishes that are strongly affected by anthropogenic environmental degradation. Consequently, studies on their behavior and ecology are essential for their conservation. Wild Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) were observed in an unimpacted Alaskan river using underwater video observations for two consecutive summers (2015 and 2016). Foraging, aggressive behavior, and position held by individual fish were quantified. Fish held focal positions in the water column most of the time (mean = 81%), active foraging was observed for 14% of the observation periods, and antagonistic interactions occurred during 5% of the time. The analysis of intraspecific aggression revealed that aggressive interactions occurred between conspecifics of similar sizes (±100 mm), although the winners of bouts were significantly larger than the losers. Notably, initiators emerged as more successful in these bouts compared to receivers, irrespective of body length. These findings underscore the significance of conducting field studies to gain valuable insights into the behavior of fish in their natural stream environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The yield potential of large-panicle rice is often limited by grain-filling barriers caused by the development of inferior spikelets (IS). Photoassimilates, which are the main source of rice grain filling, mainly enter the caryopsis through the dorsal vascular bundle. The distribution of assimilates between superior spikelets (SS) and IS is influenced by auxin-mediated apical dominance; however, the mechanism involved is still unclear. In this study, the effect of auxin signaling on the grain filling of SS and IS was investigated in two large-panicle japonica rice varieties, W1844 and CJ03. Compared to SS, IS displayed delayed initiation of filling and a significantly lower grain weight. Furthermore, the endosperm development in IS remained stagnant at the coenocytic stage. The development of the dorsal vascular bundle in the IS was also slow, and poor sucrose-unloading was observed during the initial grain filling stage. However, the endosperm development in IS immediately started after the improvement of dorsal vascular bundle development. GUS activity staining further revealed that indole-3-acetic (IAA) was localized in the dorsal vascular bundle and surrounding areas, suggesting that the low IAA content observed in the IS during the initial grain filling stage may have delayed the development of the dorsal vascular bundle. Therefore, these results demonstrate that IAA may control sugar transport and unloading by regulating dorsal vascular bundle development, consequently affecting endosperm development in IS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While recent studies have highlighted the potential for background cues in asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) to inadvertently disclose non‐job‐related information about job applicants, researchers have yet to explore the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) cues. This study investigates whether background cues about SES (specifically cues not available in a face‐to‐face interview) introduce unique biases in the hiring process. We examined if evaluators could discern SES differences based on a job applicant's background and whether these cues influenced the perceived hireability of the job applicant. To enhance the realism of our findings and understand when such biases may be exacerbated, we simulated the conditions a hiring manager might face by inducing cognitive load (CL). In a working sample of N = 260 American Cloud Research Connect participants, we used a 2 (low; high SES) by 2 (low; high CL) between‐subjects experimental design. We found that although evaluators could identify differences in SES and did experience a difference in CL, these two factors did not directly influence the perceived hireability of the job applicant. We also investigated the role of evaluators' characteristics, such as their own SES, attitude towards poverty, and social dominance orientation. Although these did not directly influence their ratings of the job applicant, we identified noteworthy correlations: participants' perceptions of the SES of the background correlated with the job applicant's (a) perceived hireability, and (b) perceived SES. These findings emphasize the need for further research into the subtle cues that evaluators might use to gauge SES, which could impact a job applicant's AVI evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social hierarchies are widely used to predict life‐history patterns and priority of access to resources. Yet, behavioural ecology and social sciences lack a consistent relationship between specific behaviours and social rank across studies. I used published data sets from 42 groups of 25 species representing several taxa to determine whether hierarchies inferred from different behaviours are similar or (in)consistently different at both individual and group levels. Ranks inferred from yielding interactions in the absence of aggression ('ritualized') were often comparable to ranks inferred from decided aggression (unambiguous outcome) but not to ranks inferred from undecided aggression. Accordingly, hierarchies inferred from data sets including only decided interactions were steeper than those inferred from data sets including undecided aggression. These results support the hypothesis that aggression can be context‐dependent and might reflect less stable or mutually recognized relationships than (ritualized) yielding interactions. I discuss the consequences of choosing different behaviours to infer social hierarchies and the difficulty of making generalizations from one species or taxon to another. Finally, I recommend that the use of ritualized yielding and certainly the use of decided over undecided interactions to infer social hierarchies should be preferred, especially in comparative studies which go beyond taxon‐specific idiosyncrasies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current methods for time series ordinal classification (TSOC) methods suffer from low efficiency because the measures used to evaluate the quality of the shapelet need to calculate Information Gain from the Euclidian distances between the shapelet and time series, which incurs tremendous computation for large datasets. This paper introduces a novel method of shapelet discovery for TSOC in which a new measure is adopted, which takes into account the coverage concentration and dominance of shapelet on SAX-represented time series datasets. Moreover, a trie-tree is constructed based on all candidate shapelets and aims to discover a diverse set of high-quality shapelets. The experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency when compared to eight SOTA algorithms for time series classification/ordinal classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutral memories can be modulated via intentional memory control paradigms such as directed forgetting. In addition, previous studies have shown that neutral visual memories can be modulated indirectly, via remember and forget instructions towards competing verbal memories. Here we show that direct modulation of neutral verbal memory strength is impaired by negative visual context, and that negative visual context is resistant to indirect memory modulation. Participants were directly instructed to intentionally remember or forget newly encoded neutral verbal information. Importantly, this verbal information was interleaved with embedded negative visual context. Results showed that negative visual context eliminated the well-documented effect of direct instructions to intentionally remember verbal content. Furthermore, negative visual memory was highly persistent, overcoming its sensitivity to indirect modulation shown in previous studies. Finally, these memory effects persisted to the following day. These results demonstrate the dominance of negative visual context over neutral content, highlighting the challenges associated with memory modulation in psychopathologies involving maladaptive processing of negative visual memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is a promising technique operating with limited resources. NOMA can be executed in both power and code domains. Cyclic interleaved NOMA strategies are debated in recent literature, combining power and code domains. Identical code cyclic shift (ICCS) transmission is viewed to be a bridge between code division access and NOMA. We propose identical code–data cyclic shift NOMA (ICDCS‐NOMA) in which the code and data are cyclically shifted in distinction to simple cyclic interleaved transmission introduced in our earlier work and the ICCS transmission. The cell‐edge user in a NOMA pair engages its signal transmission using ICDCS; in contrast, the cell‐center user prefers simple cyclic interleaved transmission. The spread data stream and its cyclic shifted version are blended in ICDCS, followed by cyclic interleaving. A distinct and extreme fading channel pair is assumed with the same number of paths for the edge and center users. Diversity combining multipath signals is embraced at the edge user terminal, and frequency domain equalization (FDE)/matched filter (MF) receiver is employed at the center user. The simulation indicates the dominance of the proposed ICDCS‐NOMA transmission in terms of the attained diversity gain over the conventional, ICCS, and simple cyclic interleaved transmissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diallel analysis provides basic genetic information that is critically important to identify parents involved in hybridization breeding programs. This study was initiated to estimate combining ability effects and determine the type of gene action involved in inheritance of late blight resistance. Five tomato lines and 10F1 progenies produced by crossing of parents in a 5 × 5 half-diallel fashion were assessed for late blight resistance in field conditions. The combining ability ratio was greater than unity for all traits considered in this stud. At the same time, the degree of dominance was less than unity for all the traits, indicating a greater importance of additive gene effects for the inheritance of late blight resistance. The parents ’Eshete’ and ’Roma VF’ were general combiners, exhibiting significantadverse general combining ability effects for all studied traits. Specific combining ability effects of ’Roma VF × Eshete’ and ’Melkashola × Eshete’ were significantly negative for disease incidence, with all the lines exhibiting significant negative general combining ability effects for the trait, indicating transgressive segregants that are late blight resistant could be produced from crossing of these parental lines. These results, accordingly, indicated that the parents could be utilized in the crossing programme to develop late blight resistant transgressive segregant varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in the abundance of woody species have been reported to affect the provisioning of ecosystem services in drylands worldwide. However, it is virtually unknown how multiple biotic and abiotic drivers, such as climate, grazing, and fire, interact to determine woody dominance across global drylands. We conducted a standardized field survey in 304 plots across 25 countries to assess how climatic features, soil properties, grazing, and fire affect woody dominance in dryland rangelands. Precipitation, temperature, and grazing were key determinants of tree and shrub dominance. The effects of grazing were determined not solely by grazing pressure but also by the dominant livestock species. Interactions between soil, climate, and grazing and differences in responses to these factors between trees and shrubs were key to understanding changes in woody dominance. Our findings suggest that projected changes in climate and grazing pressure may increase woody dominance in drylands, altering their structure and functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socioeconomic status self‐deception refers to the motivated tendency to perceive oneself as having a higher subjective status than would correspond to objective conditions. This can be a powerful mechanism to legitimize the social order. We proposed that when people perceive the surrounding social environment to be classist, people tend to self‐deceive themselves by overestimating their socioeconomic status. This mechanism, in turn, would lead to justify the system to a higher extent and show less support for redistribution, and reduce relative deprivation and status anxiety. These hypotheses were tested across four pre‐registered studies on different high‐quality samples, different operationalization of the variables in our model, and both cross‐sectional and longitudinal observations. On the one hand, the results do not provide evidence of a link between perceiving a classist climate and socioeconomic status self‐deception. On the other hand, socioeconomic status self‐deception was confirmed to predict higher system justification, and lower support for redistribution, status anxiety and relative deprivation. The construct and operationalization of socioeconomic status self‐deception proposed in this research could help reconcile opposing predictions by system justification theory and social dominance theory, and understand why individuals low on socioeconomic status would oppose policies which could benefit them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Laypeople reason that different races share 68% of their genes. In fact, the Human Genome Project indicates that humans, regardless of race, share 99.9% of our genetic material and that only 1/200th of 1% has been used to group people into the five classically conceived races. We reasoned that information about shared genetics might compel participants to extend their ingroup to include those formerly in the outgroup. In three studies, we showed participants an 11‐min video with this information and compared this to a music video. In Study 1, we examined 123 European New Zealanders and found that attitudes towards individuals in other countries (measured by questions such as How much do you believe in being loyal to all mankind?) improved significantly from pre‐ to post‐test compared to a music video detailing the effect of music on a child's brain. In Study 2, we replicated this effect with a group of 93 European participants in the United Kingdom. In Study 3, we replicated this effect again with a group of 150 participants from the United Kingdom and showed that the effect is independent of age, political orientation, need for cognitive control and submissiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a pre-registered study, we sought initial evidence for the relationship between pathological narcissistic grandiosity and involvement in environmental activism. This relationship was predicted based on the dark-ego-vehicle principle (DEVP) for which research is currently still rare. Using a socio-demographically diverse US sample (N = 1,145), we not only aimed at conceptually replicating previous findings on the DEVP but also at examining differential patterns of narcissistic engagement in environmental activism. In particular, we expected higher pathological narcissistic grandiosity to be more strongly related to greater engagement in environmental leadership actions than to greater engagement in environmental participatory actions. Results support the validity of the DEVP by showing that higher pathological narcissistic grandiosity was related to greater involvement in environmental activism, even above and beyond relevant covariates (i.e., pathological narcissistic vulnerability, age, and gender). Also, we found positive relationships between involvement in environmental activism and typical correlates of pathological narcissistic grandiosity (i.e., virtue signaling, dominance, and sensation seeking). Contrary to our predictions, we did not find the relationship between pathological narcissistic grandiosity and environmental activism to be more intense for environmental leadership actions compared to environmental participatory actions. These results are discussed considering the DEVP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research finds that people’s perspectives on sexual interactions shift with time and new experiences. Despite this, little empirical work has explored the role that communication following a sexual interaction plays in partners’ perceptions of each other and the sexual interaction. This study began to address this gap by applying impression management theory and gender performance theory to analyze 40 interviews with BDSM (Bondage/discipline, Dominance/submission, Sadism, Masochism) practitioners who “top,” or enact a dominant role, about a community-held practice called “aftercare.” Participants were U.S. residents, ages 23-65, and included 14 cisgender women, 19 cisgender men, 2 transgender women and 5 non-binary individuals. Findings showed practitioners used aftercare to manage the impression they leave on their partners, the wider BDSM community, and themselves. Further, data revealed gender differences in how BDSM practitioners understood and articulated aftercare. Overall, these findings offer an empirical example of impression management in erotic interactions and the role that gender plays in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For improvement of quantitative traits the information on nature of gene action is an important asset for plant breeders. However, the information on gene action for yield and its attributes is scanty in pigeonpea crop. Methods: The present experiment was carried out during kharif 2018-2020 at GBPUAT, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The experimental material consisted of six generations of three crosses viz., PADT-16 × PUSA 992, PADT-16 × UPAS 120 and PADT-16 × PAU 881. The observations were recorded on nine morphological characters. The gene action was estimated by three parameters model of Jinks and Jones if scaling tests were non significant and six parameters model of Hayman if scaling tests were significant. Result: For majority of traits in all three crosses, epistatic gene action was present as scaling tests were found to be significant. However, for traits number of primary branches, number of secondary branches and number of seeds per pod in cross PADT-16 × UPAS 120 a simple additive/dominance model was found to be adequate. In general, magnitude of dominance was found to be higher as compared to corresponding additive gene action. The high magnitude of dominance indicated that heterosis breeding is rewarding in these characters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the chaotic dynamics of a large one-dimensional lattice of coupled maps with diffusive coupling of varying strength using the covariant Lyapunov vectors (CLVs). Using a lattice of diffusively coupled quadratic maps, we quantify the growth of spatial structures in the chaotic dynamics as the strength of diffusion is increased. When the diffusion strength is increased from zero, we find that the leading Lyapunov exponent decreases rapidly from a positive value to zero to yield a small window of periodic dynamics which is then followed by chaotic dynamics. For values of the diffusion strength beyond the window of periodic dynamics, the leading Lyapunov exponent does not vary significantly with the strength of diffusion with the exception of a small variation for the largest diffusion strengths we explore. The Lyapunov spectrum and fractal dimension are described analytically as a function of the diffusion strength using the eigenvalues of the coupling operator. The spatial features of the CLVs are quantified and compared with the eigenvectors of the coupling operator. The chaotic dynamics are composed entirely of physical modes for all of the conditions we explore. The leading CLV is highly localized and localization decreases with increasing strength of the spatial coupling. The violation of the dominance of Oseledets splitting indicates that the entanglement of pairs of CLVs becomes more significant between neighboring CLVs as the strength of diffusion is increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies have revealed a paradoxical phenomenon in public goods games, wherein destructive agents, harming both cooperators and defectors, can unexpectedly bolster cooperation. Building upon this intriguing premise, our paper introduces a novel concept: constructive agents, which confer additional benefits to both cooperators and defectors. We investigate the impact of these agents on cooperation dynamics within the framework of public goods games. Employing replicator dynamics, we find that unlike destructive agents, the mere presence of constructive agents does not significantly alter the defective equilibrium. However, when the benefits from constructive agents are outweighed by the damage inflicted by destructive agents, the addition of constructive agents does not affect the ability of destructive agents to sustain cooperation. In this scenario, cooperators can be maintained through a cyclic dominance between cooperators, defectors, and destructive agents, with constructive agents adding complexity but not fundamentally changing the equilibrium. Conversely, if the benefits from constructive agents surpass the harm caused by destructive agents, the presence of constructive agents nullifies the ability of destructive agents to foster cooperation. Our results highlight the nuanced role of constructive agents in cooperation dynamics, emphasizing the necessity of carefully assessing incentive balances when encouraging cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article will reconsider the historiographical value played by the 182 bc Antigonid military ritual – known as Xanthika. Firstly, in order to appraise ancient historiographical adaptations and modern analytical shortcomings, this article will retrace extant ancient sources and, secondly, its current state-of-the-art. Thirdly, the original Polybian treatment will be discerned from its Livian adaptations, and historiographical distinctions will be proposed for each version. Fourthly, the Xanthika will be reconsidered as a key historiographical device through which Polybius coupled the Hellenic themes of Alexandrian legitimacy, deep-rooted tyrannical discord, and irreversible royal decadence within a larger narrative of the Roman ascendance towards world dominance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate over the governor of spirit is an age-old yet ever-renewing topic in Traditional Chinese Medicine ( TCM). The theory primarily revolves around three viewpoints: the heart governs the spirit, the brain governs the spirit, and the heart and brain have a joint role governing the spirit. This article, proceeding from the debate on the dominance of the divine spirit, aims to establish a novel perspective that integrates second -generation cognitive science with the TCM theory of the divine spirit based on their shared concerns regarding cognitive issues. Consciousness is the holistic living organism, and according to the cognitive concepts of second-generation cognitive science, consciousness is an interactive process between the body and the environment. Incorporating the embodied characteristics of the second -generation cognitive science, which emphasizes a return to the human body, behavior, and environment, and its holistic research paradigm into the exploration of the TCM theory of the divine spirit can provide a novel interpretive perspective for the debate on the dominance of the divine spirit. Additionally, conducting an in-depth analysis of the commonalities and differences between second-generation cognitive science and the TCM theory of the divine spirit offers theoretical principles and new research pathways for further developing the TCM theory of the divine spirit. This study has remarkable value in promoting the modernization of the TCM theory of the divine spirit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that reflections on evil and its origin formed part of philosophical inquiry already in the times of the Presocratics. It considers only those thinkers whose contribution to the issue may be characterised as noteworthy: Anaximander, the Pythagoreans, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, and the Atomists. It is undeniable that none of the Presocratics presented an articulate theory of evil or a theodicy; therefore, the suggestions presented here are bound to remain conjectural. Still, it is my conviction that their fragments contain significant ideas related to evil's origins. Insofar as they turned their attention to the problem of evil, the Presocratics displayed the following tendencies: (a) they declined to ascribe the existence of evil to the will of the gods. Instead, (b) the emergence of badness was seen as instigated by the disruption of the primeval harmony (Anaximander), or (c) coeval opposed principles in constant struggle for dominance were posited, one of which was the cause of good, the other of evil (Pythagoreans and Empedocles). (d) Attempts were made to make good's existence dependent on the existence of evil or to declare the latter illusory (Heraclitus and Parmenides). (e) Emphasis was placed on the moral agents' personal responsibility for badness (Democritus). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimization problem involving interval parameters and multiple conflicting objectives are called multi-objective optimization problems with interval parameters (IMOPs), which are common and hard to be solved effectively in practical applications. An interval multi-objective honey badger algorithm (IMOHBA) is proposed to address the IMOPs in this paper. Firstly, the μ metric is employed to assess the Pareto dominance relationship among interval individuals, which reflects the quality of the optimal solutions. Secondly, the crowding distance suitable for the interval objective is utilized to reflect the distribution of the optimal solution. Finally, the candidate solutions are ranked and selected by the non-dominated sorting method. To validate the performance of IMOHBA, it is tested on 19 benchmark IMOPs as well as an interval multi-objective scheduling problem for underwater wireless sensor networks and compared with three state-of-the-art algorithms. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority and strong competitiveness of IMOHBA in addressing IMOPs, exhibiting improved convergence and broader exploration capabilities of the solution space. These findings further validate the effectiveness and feasibility of IMOHBA, highlighting its unique advantage in solving IMOPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moscow is actively using the conflict in Ukraine to advance its vision of a different international order. This vision emphasises a world fragmented into spheres of influence centred on a handful of 'civilisational states' embodying distinct political cultures not necessarily compatible with liberalism and democracy. Russia uses its own sphere of influence in Eurasia as the incubator of an alternative set of norms and institutions that it seeks to socialise globally. This Russian vision appeals to other revisionist powers, notably China and Iran, which support Russia's war in Ukraine largely out of a desire to diminish US influence and consolidate their own regional spheres. Elements of it also appeal across the Global South, now a key arena for competition over the future global order. The outcome of Russia's war in Ukraine is perhaps the most important determinant of what the coming world order will look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rehabilitation programs for terrorists have gained notoriety. Some issues still require thorough investigation, such as the social support they receive. The present research aims to examine the attitudes towards rehabilitation programs for terrorist offenders and the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying these attitudes. To this end, two studies were conducted: the first study evaluated the mediating mechanisms (negative feelings and threats; N = 407) and the second study analyzed the moderating mechanisms (social dominance orientation, system justification, and political orientation; N = 444). In both cases, the type of offender was manipulated (criminal vs. nationalist terrorist vs. Islamist terrorist offenders) and different attitudes were assessed (general support, incapacitation, treatment effectiveness, and mandated treatment). The results showed less support for rehabilitation programs for Islamist terrorists than for other offenders. Moreover, Islamist terrorists pose a more significant terrorist threat while criminals pose a greater realistic threat, which led to less favorable attitudes towards rehabilitation programs. Finally, individuals with more conservative ideologies had stronger negative attitudes towards programs for Islamist terrorists. We discuss these findings within the framework of integrated threat and system justification theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upper‐middle‐class Chinese families send children to the United States for high school to exit what some perceive as an 'unhappy' educational environment in China or in pursuit of a 'better education' in the United States. However, for some students, the American high school experience itself may be marked by 'unhappiness', endured in the pursuit of 'success'. Based on ethnographic interviews with Chinese youth attending private American high schools, this study illustrates how narratives of unhappiness surrounding such transnational educational choices result in multiple success frames among students, categorized as 'pragmatists' and 'rebels'. Those who downplay happiness or experience unhappiness in the US context tend to adopt the 'pragmatic' frame, while those emphasizing their exit from an 'unhappy' situation are more likely to align with the 'rebel' frame. Despite slight deviations from parental expectations, the relative economic security of these families enables Chinese youth to develop ambivalent success frames based on their familiarity with both US and Chinese contexts, questioning the dominance of a singular success narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summer high temperature is an important climate issue. Severe heat waves occurred over China during summer 2022. Using daily temperature, we examine the severity of the 2022 high‐temperature event, and explore the dominance of summer cumulative temperature from the frequency and intensity of high temperature, for both the interannual variation of the 63 years (1960–2022) and the year of 2022. Corresponding to different "high" temperature thresholds, the frequency (number of the days) of high temperature, the summer cumulative temperature, and the intensity of high temperature are obtained for each summer with the daily data. Statistical tests show that cumulative temperature can be linearly regressed to frequency and intensity, which can help find the dominance from the two factors. For interannual variation, the comparison of the normalized regression coefficients suggests that, in the variation of cumulative temperature, the relative importance can vary from "dominated by intensity", which corresponds to low temperature threshold (28°C), to "dominated by frequency", which corresponds to high threshold (36°C). For the year 2022, we compare the two terms in the regression, which uses the coefficients from multi‐year regression along with the normalized frequency and intensity of this year, to determine the relative importance. Results show that overall it also varies from "dominated by intensity" to "dominated by frequency", with the increase in threshold. Note that, for the two cases, these are the overall situation for the whole country; however, for each specific station, whether frequency or intensity dominates needs to be determined with the measures. A moderate threshold of 32°C, which considers both frequency and intensity, is suggested for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People who feel powerless are motivated to gain power, which may include men endorsing hostile sexism to affirm societal power or women endorsing benevolent sexism to affirm power in relationships. We used four waves of an annual longitudinal panel sample (N = 58,405) to test whether within‐person changes in powerlessness predicted subsequent changes in men's hostile sexism and women's benevolent sexism. Results from a random intercept cross‐lagged panel model indicated that men who generally felt more powerless tended to endorse hostile sexism, but within‐person tests did not provide directional evidence linking men's powerlessness with hostile sexism. By contrast, women who generally felt more powerless endorsed benevolent sexism more strongly, and small within‐person lagged effects indicated that upward deviations in women's powerlessness in 1 year predicted stronger endorsement of benevolent sexism the following year. These results provide novel evidence that powerlessness motivates women's benevolent sexism and their toleration of gender inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the widespread use of face masks to combat COVID‐19, little is known about their immediate and delayed social consequences. To understand short‐ and long‐term effects of face masks on interpersonal perception, we measured the evaluation of faces with and without masks at four time points—June 2020, January 2021, September 2021 and June 2022—from the early months of the pandemic in North America to the more recent, and from the implementation of mask mandates to the end of these requirements. Surprisingly, we found that, in general, faces with masks were perceived as more competent, warm, trustworthy, considerate and attractive, but less dominant and anxious than faces without masks. Moreover, differences in attributions of dominance, trustworthiness and warmth between faces with and without masks increased in a linear trend from June 2020 to June 2022. Notably, the impact of masks on perceptions of competence, considerateness, attractiveness and anxiousness did not change over time. We discuss how mask mandates can alter people's social perceptions of others who wear masks compared to those who do not wear masks and how these mandates may influence attributions of some traits more than others through mere exposure and/or social norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that people use emotions to manage service encounters. Little research has examined how rule enforcers manage status with different emotion displays. This article conceptualizes emotion displays as defensive and protective strategies to study how rule enforcers use emotions to control status dynamics in contested encounters. Based on 30 body-worn camera-recorded ticket-fining events and 11 interviews, the analysis shows that inspectors use emotion strategies of displaying dominance and giving and claiming sympathy to manage situations and negotiate status. Feeling rules prescribe inspectors to avoid conflict escalation and personal investment, yet rule enforcement involves interpersonal contests with emotional tension that makes emotional investment difficult to avoid. The findings yield insights into microprocesses of emotion management with an appreciation of the strategic use of emotion displays and their relation to micro-level status dynamics. The article discusses the prospects of studying the microprocesses of negotiating status and its methodological implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies ethnolinguistic vitality (EV) theory to analyse the diminishing proficiency and usage of the Miao language among its speakers in Guizhou, China. Forty-five Miao participated in the semi-structured interviews for this project. The study identified the language’s endangered status characterised by low vitality, Mandarin dominance, declining proficiency, and economic-cultural shifts. Media influence exacerbated these threats, while negative perceptions of Miao linguistic capital and inadequate educational resources further endanger the language. Integrating EV theory, this study informs targeted revitalisation efforts crucial for ensuring the sustainability of the Miao language amidst socio-economic pressures favouring Mandarin dominance in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a school choice matching model where priorities for schools are represented by binary relations that may not be linear orders. Even in that case, it is necessary to construct linear orders from the original priority relations to execute several mechanisms. We focus on the (linear order) extensions of the priority relations, because a matching that is stable for an extension profile is also stable for the profile of priority relations. We show that if the priority relations are partial orders, then for each stable matching for the original profile of priority relations, an extension profile for which it is also stable exists. Furthermore, if there are multiple stable matchings that are ranked by Pareto dominance, then there is an extension for which all these matchings are stable. We apply the result to a version of efficiency adjusted deferred acceptance mechanisms. • We focus on the school choice model where the original priority relations are partial orders. • We consider the extensions of the original priority relations and the stable matchings for the original profile. • For each stable matching for the original profile, an extension profile for which it is also stable exists. • If multiple stable matchings that are ranked by Pareto dominance exist, then an extension for which all these matchings are stable exists. • The result is applied to the efficiency adjusted deferred acceptance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research demonstrates that overconfident people are more likely to attain high-status positions of leadership and influence. However, the underlying motivational and behavioral mechanisms driving this relationship remain largely unexplored. In the present research, we sought to fill this gap in the literature by proposing that overconfidence is associated with stronger status motives and the pursuit of high-status positions via dominance-based strategies. In Studies 1 and 2, we find overconfidence to be positively related to the pursuit of high-status positions of leadership. In Studies 3 and 4, we find overconfident individuals to lean towards dominance- over prestige-based status-seeking strategies. Finally, in Study 4, a field study among real-world supervisor-subordinate dyads, we find an indirect effect of overconfidence on expected social status advancement through dominance. Together, the current studies offer novel insight into the relationship between overconfidence and social status advancement by identifying previously unexplored explanatory mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to rating scale items is a multidimensional process, since not only the substantive trait being measured but also additional personal characteristics can affect the respondents' category choices. A flexible model class for analyzing such multidimensional responses are IRTree models, in which rating responses are decomposed into a sequence of sub-decisions. Different response processes can be involved in item responding both sequentially across those sub-decisions and as co-occurring processes within sub-decisions. In the previous literature, modeling co-occurring processes has been exclusively limited to dominance models, where higher trait levels are associated with higher expected scores. However, some response processes may rather follow an ideal point rationale, where the expected score depends on the proximity of a person's trait level to the item's location. Therefore, we propose a new multidimensional IRT model of co-occurring dominance and ideal point processes (DI-MIRT model) as a flexible framework for parameterizing IRTree sub-decisions with multiple dominance processes, multiple ideal point processes, and combinations of both. The DI-MIRT parameterization opens up new application areas for the IRTree model class and allows the specification of a wide range of theoretical assumptions regarding the cognitive processing of item responding. A simulation study shows that IRTree models with DI-MIRT parameterization provide excellent parameter recovery and accurately reflect co-occurring dominance and ideal point processes. In addition, a clear advantage over traditional IRTree models with purely sequential processes is demonstrated. Two application examples from the field of response style analysis highlight the benefits of the general IRTree framework under real-world conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In decision science and engineering, multi-objective optimization is crucial for the understanding of real-world systems. The recently proposed colonial competitive algorithm (CCA) is a successful method in mono-objective optimization. Nevertheless, CCA cannot handle simultaneously the conflicting objectives in multi-objective problem. In addition, its performance diminishes as the dimension of problem increases. In order to deal with these situations, in this work, an improved CCA, named multi-objective improved colonial competitive algorithm (MICCA) is proposed. To enhance the MICCA effectiveness in achieving the global optima, a new approach for the colonies movement toward the imperialists, named enhanced assimilation, is incorporated. Moreover, in contrast to CCA, the Pareto dominance approach is implemented into this algorithm to allow it to tackle problems that involve conflicting objectives. To assess the MICCA efficiency, computational time, convergence and diversity metrics are used. Extensive simulation studies are carried out on standard unconstrained, constrained and multi-criteria engineering design problems. The obtained results are compared to the outcomes of existing CCA variants and other algorithms using the same metrics. The comparative results illustrate that for a wide variety of challenges and engineering applications, the proposed MICCA outperforms other known algorithms in terms of computational time, convergence and global search capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) have been proved to bring promising prospects for solving multiobjective optimization problems (MOPs), the performance of the algorithm deteriorates sharply in high-dimensional objective space due to the weak selection pressure and the unregulated balance, which is caused by the increase of objective space dimension. Some current MOEAs with two-stage strategy (TS) strive to address above issues by dividing the evolutionary process into two independent stages, in which convergence and diversity are handled separately within successive generations of different stages. However, TS-MOEAs have some weaknesses, such as sensitivity to stage division, and incomplete separation of convergence and diversity. In this paper, TS/KW-MaOEA is proposed for solving many-objective optimization problems (MaOPs), which keeps TS as the central and equips a perfect control mechanism for separated balance. More specifically, TS/KW-MaOEA can automatically adjust the balance trend and provide appropriate selection pressure for MaOPs according to the Kondratiev wave (KW) search model and the objective space dimension. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, a series of experiments are carried out against seven state-of-the-art many-objective optimization algorithms on 15 benchmark problems with up to 30 objectives. Experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm is highly competitive against peer competitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife conservation can become contentious when human interests are impinged. For peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) in the United Kingdom, their iconic status as a protected species is contested by pigeon racers and falconers restrained by strict wildlife policies. However, even entrenched conservation policies can shift, sparking controversy.This paper seeks to understand the conditions leading to recent conservation policy shifts and conflicts. Through archival research and discourse analysis of falconry and pigeon racers' rhetoric, I review the development of 150 years of UK wildlife legislation and politics surrounding peregrines, situating present‐day conflict within long‐standing tensions between competing interests.In doing so, I demonstrate how contrasting ideologies of the raptors existed simultaneously between groups. Each vied for dominance and influenced policies over time, with the ideologies of 'winners' suppressing that of the 'losers' to become the norm.This historical approach highlights the key role global events like war played in overpowering the dominance of protective ideologies towards peregrines domestically, allowing peregrine culls and capture to become socially permissible. Conversely, post‐War environmental movements originating in the United States suppressed falconry's extractive relationships with peregrines in the United Kingdom, entrenching ecological priorities as a norm still conventional today.I argue that wildlife protection is contested because cultural extinction of falconry and pigeon racing were imminent, brought on by policymakers' focus on preventing the biological extinction of peregrines. However, recent policy shifts highlight the acceptance of anthropocentric interests within conservation practices.Policy implications: Animals can play multiple roles in society, but the public may not be accustomed to anthropocentric interests overtly displayed within contemporary conservation practices. Policy needs to be more sensitive towards accommodating or communicating human interests, but to also reflect on the social and ecological implications of their own ideologies towards conservation. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]