Attributional Style and Depression in Multiple Sclerosis: The Learned Helplessness Model

OpenAIRE

Vargas, Gray A.; Arnett, Peter A.

2013-01-01

Several etiologic theories have been proposed to explain depression in the general population. Studying these models and modifying them for use in the multiple sclerosis (MS) population may allow us to better understand depression in MS. According to the reformulated learned helplessness (LH) theory, individuals who attribute negative events to internal, stable, and global causes are more vulnerable to depression. This study differentiated attributional style that was or was not related to MS...

Dual hesitant pythagorean fuzzy Hamacher aggregation operators in multiple attribute decision making

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Wei Guiwu

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate the multiple attribute decision making (MADM problem based on the Hamacher aggregation operators with dual Pythagorean hesitant fuzzy information. Then, motivated by the ideal of Hamacher operation, we have developed some Hamacher aggregation operators for aggregating dual hesitant Pythagorean fuzzy information. The prominent characteristic of these proposed operators are studied. Then, we have utilized these operators to develop some approaches to solve the dual hesitant Pythagorean fuzzy multiple attribute decision making problems. Finally, a practical example for supplier selection in supply chain management is given to verify the developed approach and to demonstrate its practicality and effectiveness.

Attributional style and depression in multiple sclerosis: the learned helplessness model.

Science.gov (United States)

Vargas, Gray A; Arnett, Peter A

2013-01-01

Several etiologic theories have been proposed to explain depression in the general population. Studying these models and modifying them for use in the multiple sclerosis (MS) population may allow us to better understand depression in MS. According to the reformulated learned helplessness (LH) theory, individuals who attribute negative events to internal, stable, and global causes are more vulnerable to depression. This study differentiated attributional style that was or was not related to MS in 52 patients with MS to test the LH theory in this population and to determine possible differences between illness-related and non-illness-related attributions. Patients were administered measures of attributional style, daily stressors, disability, and depressive symptoms. Participants were more likely to list non-MS-related than MS-related causes of negative events on the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ), and more-disabled participants listed significantly more MS-related causes than did less-disabled individuals. Non-MS-related attributional style correlated with stress and depressive symptoms, but MS-related attributional style did not correlate with disability or depressive symptoms. Stress mediated the effect of non-MS-related attributional style on depressive symptoms. These results suggest that, although attributional style appears to be an important construct in MS, it does not seem to be related directly to depressive symptoms; rather, it is related to more perceived stress, which in turn is related to increased depressive symptoms.

Multiplicative Attribute Graph Model of Real-World Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Myunghwan [Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Leskovec, Jure [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

2010-10-20

Large scale real-world network data, such as social networks, Internet andWeb graphs, is ubiquitous in a variety of scientific domains. The study of such social and information networks commonly finds patterns and explain their emergence through tractable models. In most networks, especially in social networks, nodes also have a rich set of attributes (e.g., age, gender) associatedwith them. However, most of the existing network models focus only on modeling the network structure while ignoring the features of nodes in the network. Here we present a class of network models that we refer to as the Multiplicative Attribute Graphs (MAG), which naturally captures the interactions between the network structure and node attributes. We consider a model where each node has a vector of categorical features associated with it. The probability of an edge between a pair of nodes then depends on the product of individual attributeattribute similarities. The model yields itself to mathematical analysis as well as fit to real data. We derive thresholds for the connectivity, the emergence of the giant connected component, and show that the model gives rise to graphs with a constant diameter. Moreover, we analyze the degree distribution to show that the model can produce networks with either lognormal or power-law degree distribution depending on certain conditions.

Module-based analysis of robustness tradeoffs in the heat shock response system.

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Hiroyuki Kurata

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Biological systems have evolved complex regulatory mechanisms, even in situations where much simpler designs seem to be sufficient for generating nominal functionality. Using module-based analysis coupled with rigorous mathematical comparisons, we propose that in analogy to control engineering architectures, the complexity of cellular systems and the presence of hierarchical modular structures can be attributed to the necessity of achieving robustness. We employ the Escherichia coli heat shock response system, a strongly conserved cellular mechanism, as an example to explore the design principles of such modular architectures. In the heat shock response system, the sigma-factor sigma32 is a central regulator that integrates multiple feedforward and feedback modules. Each of these modules provides a different type of robustness with its inherent tradeoffs in terms of transient response and efficiency. We demonstrate how the overall architecture of the system balances such tradeoffs. An extensive mathematical exploration nevertheless points to the existence of an array of alternative strategies for the existing heat shock response that could exhibit similar behavior. We therefore deduce that the evolutionary constraints facing the system might have steered its architecture toward one of many robustly functional solutions.

An Extended TOPSIS Method for the Multiple Attribute Decision Making Problems Based on Interval Neutrosophic Set

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Pingping Chi

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The interval neutrosophic set (INS can be easier to express the incomplete, indeterminate and inconsistent information, and TOPSIS is one of the most commonly used and effective method for multiple attribute decision making, however, in general, it can only process the attribute values with crisp numbers. In this paper, we have extended TOPSIS to INS, and with respect to the multiple attribute decision making problems in which the attribute weights are unknown and the attribute values take the form of INSs, we proposed an expanded TOPSIS method. Firstly, the definition of INS and the operational laws are given, and distance between INSs is defined. Then, the attribute weights are determined based on the Maximizing deviation method and an extended TOPSIS method is developed to rank the alternatives. Finally, an illustrative example is given to verify the developed approach and to demonstrate its practicality and effectiveness.

Trade-off between multiple constraints enables simultaneous formation of modules and hubs in neural systems.

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Yuhan Chen

Full Text Available The formation of the complex network architecture of neural systems is subject to multiple structural and functional constraints. Two obvious but apparently contradictory constraints are low wiring cost and high processing efficiency, characterized by short overall wiring length and a small average number of processing steps, respectively. Growing evidence shows that neural networks are results from a trade-off between physical cost and functional value of the topology. However, the relationship between these competing constraints and complex topology is not well understood quantitatively. We explored this relationship systematically by reconstructing two known neural networks, Macaque cortical connectivity and C. elegans neuronal connections, from combinatory optimization of wiring cost and processing efficiency constraints, using a control parameter α, and comparing the reconstructed networks to the real networks. We found that in both neural systems, the reconstructed networks derived from the two constraints can reveal some important relations between the spatial layout of nodes and the topological connectivity, and match several properties of the real networks. The reconstructed and real networks had a similar modular organization in a broad range of α, resulting from spatial clustering of network nodes. Hubs emerged due to the competition of the two constraints, and their positions were close to, and partly coincided, with the real hubs in a range of α values. The degree of nodes was correlated with the density of nodes in their spatial neighborhood in both reconstructed and real networks. Generally, the rebuilt network matched a significant portion of real links, especially short-distant ones. These findings provide clear evidence to support the hypothesis of trade-off between multiple constraints on brain networks. The two constraints of wiring cost and processing efficiency, however, cannot explain all salient features in the real

A New Attribute Control Chart using Multiple Dependent State Repetitive Sampling

KAUST Repository

Aldosari, Mansour Sattam; Aslam, Muhammad; Jun, Chi-Hyuck

2017-01-01

In this manuscript, a new attribute control chart using multiple dependent state repetitive sampling is designed. The operational procedure and structure of the proposed control chart is given. The required measures to determine the average run length (ARL) for in-control and out-of-control processes are given. Tables of ARLs are reported for various control chart parameters. The proposed control chart is more sensitive in detecting a small shift in the process as compared to the existing attribute control charts. The simulation study shows the efficiency of the proposed chart over the existing charts. An example is given for the illustration purpose.

A New Attribute Control Chart using Multiple Dependent State Repetitive Sampling

KAUST Repository

Aldosari, Mansour Sattam

2017-03-25

In this manuscript, a new attribute control chart using multiple dependent state repetitive sampling is designed. The operational procedure and structure of the proposed control chart is given. The required measures to determine the average run length (ARL) for in-control and out-of-control processes are given. Tables of ARLs are reported for various control chart parameters. The proposed control chart is more sensitive in detecting a small shift in the process as compared to the existing attribute control charts. The simulation study shows the efficiency of the proposed chart over the existing charts. An example is given for the illustration purpose.

Multiplicative mixing of object identity and image attributes in single inferior temporal neurons.

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Ratan Murty, N Apurva; Arun, S P

2018-04-03

Object recognition is challenging because the same object can produce vastly different images, mixing signals related to its identity with signals due to its image attributes, such as size, position, rotation, etc. Previous studies have shown that both signals are present in high-level visual areas, but precisely how they are combined has remained unclear. One possibility is that neurons might encode identity and attribute signals multiplicatively so that each can be efficiently decoded without interference from the other. Here, we show that, in high-level visual cortex, responses of single neurons can be explained better as a product rather than a sum of tuning for object identity and tuning for image attributes. This subtle effect in single neurons produced substantially better population decoding of object identity and image attributes in the neural population as a whole. This property was absent both in low-level vision models and in deep neural networks. It was also unique to invariances: when tested with two-part objects, neural responses were explained better as a sum than as a product of part tuning. Taken together, our results indicate that signals requiring separate decoding, such as object identity and image attributes, are combined multiplicatively in IT neurons, whereas signals that require integration (such as parts in an object) are combined additively. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Balancing tradeoffs: Reconciling multiple environmental goals when ecosystem services vary regionally

Science.gov (United States)

O’Connell, Christine S.; Carlson, Kimberly M.; Cuadra, Santiago; Feeley, Kenneth J.; Gerber, James; West, Paul C.; Polasky, Stephen

2018-06-01

As the planet’s dominant land use, agriculture often competes with the preservation of natural systems that provide globally and regionally important ecosystem services. How agriculture impacts ecosystem service delivery varies regionally, among services being considered, and across spatial scales. Here, we assess the tradeoffs between four ecosystem services—agricultural production, carbon storage, biophysical climate regulation, and biodiversity—using as a case study the Amazon, an active frontier of agricultural expansion. We find that the highest values for each of the ecosystem services are concentrated in different regions. Agricultural production potential and carbon storage are highest in the north and west, biodiversity greatest in the west, and climate regulation services most vulnerable to disruption in the south and east. Using a simple optimization model, we find that under scenarios of agricultural expansion that optimize total production across ecosystem services, small increases in priority for one ecosystem service can lead to reductions in other services by as much as 140%. Our results highlight the difficulty of managing landscapes for multiple environmental goals; the approach presented here can be adapted to guide value-laden conservation decisions and identify potential solutions that balance priorities.

Multiple Attribute Decision Making Based Relay Vehicle Selection for Electric Vehicle Communication

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Zhao Qiang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Large-scale electric vehicle integration into power grid and charging randomly will cause serious impacts on the normal operation of power grid. Therefore, it is necessary to control the charging behavior of electric vehicle, while information transmission for electric vehicle is significant. Due to the highly mobile characteristics of vehicle, transferring information to power grid directly might be inaccessible. Relay vehicle (RV can be used for supporting multi-hop connection between SV and power grid. This paper proposes a multiple attribute decision making (MADM-based RV selection algorithm, which considers multiple attribute, including data transfer rate, delay, route duration. It takes the characteristics of electric vehicle communication into account, which can provide protection for the communication services of electric vehicle charging and discharging. Numerical results demonstrate that compared to previous algorithm, the proposed algorithm offer better performance in terms of throughput, transmission delay.

Modeling trade-offs between plant fiber and toxins: a framework for quantifying risks perceived by foraging herbivores.

Science.gov (United States)

Camp, Meghan J; Shipley, Lisa A; Johnson, Timothy R; Forbey, Jennifer Sorensen; Rachlow, Janet L; Crowell, Miranda M

2015-12-01

When selecting habitats, herbivores must weigh multiple risks, such as predation, starvation, toxicity, and thermal stress, forcing them to make fitness trade-offs. Here, we applied the method of paired comparisons (PC) to investigate how herbivores make trade-offs between habitat features that influence selection of food patches. The method of PC measures utility and the inverse of utility, relative risk, and makes trade-offs and indifferences explicit by forcing animals to make choices between two patches with different types of risks. Using a series of paired-choice experiments to titrate the equivalence curve and find the marginal rate of substitution for one risk over the other, we evaluated how toxin-tolerant (pygmy rabbit Brachylagus idahoensis) and fiber-tolerant (mountain cottontail rabbit Sylviagus nuttallii) herbivores differed in their hypothesized perceived risk of fiber and toxins in food. Pygmy rabbits were willing to consume nearly five times more of the toxin 1,8-cineole in their diets to avoid consuming higher levels of fiber than were mountain cottontails. Fiber posed a greater relative risk for pygmy rabbits than cottontails and cineole a greater risk for cottontails than pygmy rabbits. Our flexible modeling approach can be used to (1) quantify how animals evaluate and trade off multiple habitat attributes when the benefits and risks are difficult to quantify, and (2) integrate diverse risks that influence fitness and habitat selection into a single index of habitat value. This index potentially could be applied to landscapes to predict habitat selection across several scales.

Multiple Attribute Decision Making Based on Cross-Evaluation with Uncertain Decision Parameters

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Tao Ding

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Multiple attribute decision making (MADM problem is one of the most common and popular research fields in the theory of decision science. A variety of methods have been proposed to deal with such problems. Nevertheless, many of them assumed that attribute weights are determined by different types of additional preference information which will result in subjective decision making. In order to solve such problems, in this paper, we propose a novel MADM approach based on cross-evaluation with uncertain parameters. Specifically, the proposed approach assumes that all attribute weights are uncertain. It can overcome the drawback in prior research that the alternatives’ ranking may be determined by a single attribute with an overestimated weight. In addition, the proposed method can also balance the mean and deviation of each alternative’s cross-evaluation score to guarantee the stability of evaluation. Then, this method is extended to a more generalized situation where the attribute values are also uncertain. Finally, we illustrate the applicability of the proposed method by revisiting two reported studies and by a case study on the selection of community service companies in the city of Hefei in China.

Trade-offs across space, time, and ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, J.P.; Beard, T.D.; Bennett, E.M.; Cumming, Graeme S.; Cork, S.J.; Agard, J.; Dobson, A.P.; Peterson, G.D.

2006-01-01

Ecosystem service (ES) trade-offs arise from management choices made by humans, which can change the type, magnitude, and relative mix of services provided by ecosystems. Trade-offs occur when the provision of one ES is reduced as a consequence of increased use of another ES. In some cases, a trade-off may be an explicit choice; but in others, trade-offs arise without premeditation or even awareness that they are taking place. Trade-offs in ES can be classified along three axes: spatial scale, temporal scale, and reversibility. Spatial scale refers to whether the effects of the trade-off are felt locally or at a distant location. Temporal scale refers to whether the effects take place relatively rapidly or slowly. Reversibility expresses the likelihood that the perturbed ES may return to its original state if the perturbation ceases. Across all four Millennium Ecosystem Assessment scenarios and selected case study examples, trade-off decisions show a preference for provisioning, regulating, or cultural services (in that order). Supporting services are more likely to be "taken for granted." Cultural ES are almost entirely unquantified in scenario modeling; therefore, the calculated model results do not fully capture losses of these services that occur in the scenarios. The quantitative scenario models primarily capture the services that are perceived by society as more important - provisioning and regulating ecosystem services - and thus do not fully capture trade-offs of cultural and supporting services. Successful management policies will be those that incorporate lessons learned from prior decisions into future management actions. Managers should complement their actions with monitoring programs that, in addition to monitoring the short-term provisions of services, also monitor the long-term evolution of slowly changing variables. Policies can then be developed to take into account ES trade-offs at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Successful strategies will

Trade-offs across Space, Time, and Ecosystem Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jon Paul. Rodríguez

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Ecosystem service (ES trade-offs arise from management choices made by humans, which can change the type, magnitude, and relative mix of services provided by ecosystems. Trade-offs occur when the provision of one ES is reduced as a consequence of increased use of another ES. In some cases, a trade-off may be an explicit choice; but in others, trade-offs arise without premeditation or even awareness that they are taking place. Trade-offs in ES can be classified along three axes: spatial scale, temporal scale, and reversibility. Spatial scale refers to whether the effects of the trade-off are felt locally or at a distant location. Temporal scale refers to whether the effects take place relatively rapidly or slowly. Reversibility expresses the likelihood that the perturbed ES may return to its original state if the perturbation ceases. Across all four Millennium Ecosystem Assessment scenarios and selected case study examples, trade-off decisions show a preference for provisioning, regulating, or cultural services (in that order. Supporting services are more likely to be "taken for granted." Cultural ES are almost entirely unquantified in scenario modeling; therefore, the calculated model results do not fully capture losses of these services that occur in the scenarios. The quantitative scenario models primarily capture the services that are perceived by society as more important - provisioning and regulating ecosystem services - and thus do not fully capture trade-offs of cultural and supporting services. Successful management policies will be those that incorporate lessons learned from prior decisions into future management actions. Managers should complement their actions with monitoring programs that, in addition to monitoring the short-term provisions of services, also monitor the long-term evolution of slowly changing variables. Policies can then be developed to take into account ES trade-offs at multiple spatial and temporal scales

Environmentally induced development costs underlie fitness tradeoffs.

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, Greg M; Wilkinson, Melanie J; Aguirre, J David; Blows, Mark W; Ortiz-Barrientos, Daniel

2018-06-01

Local adaptation can lead to genotype-by-environment interactions, which can create fitness tradeoffs in alternative environments, and govern the distribution of biodiversity across geographic landscapes. Exploring the ecological circumstances that promote the evolution of fitness tradeoffs requires identifying how natural selection operates and during which ontogenetic stages natural selection is strongest. When organisms disperse to areas outside their natural range, tradeoffs might emerge when organisms struggle to reach key life history stages, or alternatively, die shortly after reaching life history stages if there are greater risks of mortality associated with costs to developing in novel environments. We used multiple populations from four ecotypes of an Australian native wildflower (Senecio pinnatifolius) in reciprocal transplants to explore how fitness tradeoffs arise across ontogeny. We then assessed whether the survival probability for plants from native and foreign populations was contingent on reaching key developmental stages. We found that fitness tradeoffs emerged as ontogeny progressed when native plants were more successful than foreign plants at reaching seedling establishment and maturity. Native and foreign plants that failed to reach seedling establishment died at the same rate, but plants from foreign populations died quicker than native plants after reaching seedling establishment, and died quicker regardless of whether they reached sexual maturity or not. Development rates were similar for native and foreign populations, but changed depending on the environment. Together, our results suggest that natural selection for environment-specific traits early in life history created tradeoffs between contrasting environments. Plants from foreign populations were either unable to develop to seedling establishment, or they suffered increased mortality as a consequence of reaching seedling establishment. The observation of tradeoffs together with

Carbon sequestration in wood products: a method for attribution to multiple parties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tonn, Bruce; Marland, Gregg

2007-01-01

When forest is harvested some of the forest carbon ends up in wood products. If the forest is managed so that the standing stock of the forest remains constant over time, and the stock of wood products is increasing, then carbon dioxide is being removed from the atmosphere in net and this should be reflected in accounting for greenhouse gas emissions. We suggest that carbon sequestration in wood products requires cooperation of multiple parties; from the forest owner to the product manufacturer to the product user, and perhaps others. Credit for sequestering carbon away from the atmosphere could acknowledge the contributions of these multiple parties. Accounting under a cap-and-trade or tax system is not necessarily an inventory system, it is a system designed to motivate and/or reward an environmental objective. We describe a system of attribution whereby credits for carbon sequestration would be shared among multiple, contributing parties. It is hoped that the methodology outlined herein proves attractive enough to parties concerned to spur them to address the details of such a system. The system of incentives one would choose for limiting or controlling greenhouse gas emissions could be quite different, depending on how the attribution for emissions and sequestration is chosen

Sibling Competition & Growth Tradeoffs. Biological vs. Statistical Significance

OpenAIRE

Kramer, Karen L.; Veile, Amanda; Ot?rola-Castillo, Erik

2016-01-01

Early childhood growth has many downstream effects on future health and reproduction and is an important measure of offspring quality. While a tradeoff between family size and child growth outcomes is theoretically predicted in high-fertility societies, empirical evidence is mixed. This is often attributed to phenotypic variation in parental condition. However, inconsistent study results may also arise because family size confounds the potentially differential effects that older and younger s...

Performance trade-offs and ageing in the 'world's greatest athletes'.

Science.gov (United States)

Careau, Vincent; Wilson, Robbie S

2017-08-16

The mechanistic foundations of performance trade-offs are clear: because body size and shape constrains movement, and muscles vary in strength and fibre type, certain physical traits should act in opposition with others (e.g. sprint versus endurance). Yet performance trade-offs are rarely detected, and traits are often positively correlated. A potential resolution to this conundrum is that within -individual performance trade-offs can be masked by among -individual variation in 'quality'. Although there is a current debate on how to unambiguously define and account for quality, no previous studies have partitioned trait correlations at the within- and among-individual levels. Here, we evaluate performance trade-offs among and within 1369 elite athletes that performed in a total of 6418 combined-events competitions (decathlon and heptathlon). Controlling for age, experience and wind conditions, we detected strong trade-offs between groups of functionally similar events (throwing versus jumping versus running) occurring at the among-individual level. We further modelled individual (co)variation in age-related plasticity of performance and found previously unseen trade-offs in throwing versus running performance that manifest through ageing. Our results verify that human performance is limited by fundamental genetic, environmental and ageing constraints that preclude the simultaneous improvement of performance in multiple dimensions. Identifying these constraints is fundamental to understanding performance trade-offs and predicting the ageing of motor function. © 2017 The Author(s).

Reproductive tradeoffs and yolk steroids in female leopard geckos, Eublepharis macularius.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhen, T; Crews, D; Fivizzani, A; Elf, P

2006-11-01

Life history theory predicts tradeoffs among reproductive traits, but the physiological mechanisms underlying such tradeoffs remain unclear. Here we examine reproductive tradeoffs and their association with yolk steroids in an oviparous lizard. Female leopard geckos lay two eggs in a clutch, produce multiple clutches in a breeding season, and reproduce for several years. We detected a significant tradeoff between egg size and the number of clutches laid by females during their first two breeding seasons. Total reproductive effort was strongly condition-dependent in the first season, but much less so in the second season. Although these and other tradeoffs were unmistakable, they were not associated with levels of androstenedione, oestradiol, or testosterone in egg yolk. Female condition and egg size, however, were inversely related to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels in egg yolk. Finally, steroid levels in egg yolk were not directly related to steroid levels in the maternal circulation when follicles were developing, indicating that steroid transfer to eggs is regulated. These findings suggest that maternal allocation of DHT could mitigate tradeoffs that lead to poor offspring quality (i.e. poor female condition) and small offspring size (i.e. small egg size).

Viruses' life history: towards a mechanistic basis of a trade-off between survival and reproduction among phages.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marianne De Paepe

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Life history theory accounts for variations in many traits involved in the reproduction and survival of living organisms, by determining the constraints leading to trade-offs among these different traits. The main life history traits of phages-viruses that infect bacteria-are the multiplication rate in the host, the survivorship of virions in the external environment, and their mode of transmission. By comparing life history traits of 16 phages infecting the bacteria Escherichia coli, we show that their mortality rate is constant with time and positively [corrected] correlated to their multiplication rate in the bacterial host. Even though these viruses do not age, this result is in line with the trade-off between survival and reproduction previously observed in numerous aging organisms. Furthermore, a multiple regression shows that the combined effects of two physical parameters, namely, the capsid thickness and the density of the packaged genome, account for 82% of the variation in the mortality rate. The correlations between life history traits and physical characteristics of virions may provide a mechanistic explanation of this trade-off. The fact that this trade-off is present in this very simple biological situation suggests that it might be a fundamental property of evolving entities produced under constraints. Moreover, such a positive correlation between mortality and multiplication reveals an underexplored trade-off in host-parasite interactions.

VIKOR Method for Interval Neutrosophic Multiple Attribute Group Decision-Making

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Yu-Han Huang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we will extend the VIKOR (VIsekriterijumska optimizacija i KOmpromisno Resenje method to multiple attribute group decision-making (MAGDM with interval neutrosophic numbers (INNs. Firstly, the basic concepts of INNs are briefly presented. The method first aggregates all individual decision-makers’ assessment information based on an interval neutrosophic weighted averaging (INWA operator, and then employs the extended classical VIKOR method to solve MAGDM problems with INNs. The validity and stability of this method are verified by example analysis and sensitivity analysis, and its superiority is illustrated by a comparison with the existing methods.

Habitat Fragmentation Intensifies Trade-Offs between Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Heathland Ecosystem in Southern England.

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Cordingley, Justine E; Newton, Adrian C; Rose, Robert J; Clarke, Ralph T; Bullock, James M

2015-01-01

While habitat fragmentation represents a major threat to global biodiversity, its impacts on provision of ecosystem services are largely unknown. We analysed biodiversity value and provision of multiple ecosystem services in 110 fragments of lowland heathland ecosystems in southern England, in which vegetation dynamics have been monitored for over 30 years. Decreasing fragment size was found to be associated with a decrease in biodiversity and recreational values, but an increase in relative carbon storage, aesthetic value and timber value. The trade-off between either biodiversity or recreational values with the other ecosystem services therefore became more pronounced as heathland size decreased. This was attributed to a higher rate of woody succession in smaller heathland fragments over the past three decades, and contrasting values of different successional vegetation types for biodiversity and provision of ecosystem services. These results suggest that habitat fragmentation can reduce the potential for developing "win win" solutions that contribute to biodiversity conservation while also supporting socio-economic development. Approaches to multi-purpose management of fragmented landscapes should therefore consider the potential trade-offs in ecosystem services and biodiversity associated with fragmentation, in order to make an effective contribution to sustainable development.

Multiple functional attributes of glucose-monitoring neurons in the medial orbitofrontal (ventrolateral prefrontal) cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Szabó, István; Hormay, Edina; Csetényi, Bettina; Nagy, Bernadett; Lénárd, László; Karádi, Zoltán

2018-02-01

Multiple functional attributes of glucose-monitoring neurons in the medial orbitofrontal (ventrolateral prefrontal) cortex. NEUROSCI BIOBEHAV REV 73(1) XXX-XXX, 2017.- Special chemosensory cells, the glucose-monitoring (GM) neurons, reportedly involved in the central feeding control, exist in the medial orbitofrontal (ventrolateral prefrontal) cortex (mVLPFC). Electrophysiological, metabolic and behavioral studies reveal complex functional attributes of these cells and raise their homeostatic significance. Single neuron recordings, by means of the multibarreled microelectrophoretic technique, elucidate differential sensitivities of limbic forebrain neurons in the rat and the rhesus monkey to glucose and other chemicals, whereas gustatory stimulations demonstrate their distinct taste responsiveness. Metabolic examinations provide evidence for alteration of blood glucose level in glucose tolerance test and elevation of plasma triglyceride concentration after destruction of the local GM cells by streptozotocin (STZ). In behavioral studies, STZ microinjection into the mVLPFC fails to interfere with the acquisition of saccharin conditioned taste avoidance, does cause, however, taste perception deficit in taste reactivity tests. Multiple functional attributes of GM neurons in the mVLPFC, within the frame of the hierarchically organized central GM neuronal network, appear to play important role in the maintenance of the homeostatic balance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A note on “An alternative multiple attribute decision making methodology for solving optimal facility layout design selection problems”

OpenAIRE

R. Venkata Rao

2012-01-01

A paper published by Maniya and Bhatt (2011) (An alternative multiple attribute decision making methodology for solving optimal facility layout design selection problems, Computers & Industrial Engineering, 61, 542-549) proposed an alternative multiple attribute decision making method named as “Preference Selection Index (PSI) method” for selection of an optimal facility layout design. The authors had claimed that the method was logical and more appropriate and the method gives directly the o...

Ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies misunderstood without landscape history

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Stephanie A. Tomscha

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Dramatic changes in ecosystem services have motivated recent work characterizing their interactions, including identifying trade-offs and synergies. Although time is arguably implicit in these ideas of trade-offs and synergies (e.g., temporal dynamics or changes in ecosystem services, such interactions are routinely inferred based on the spatial relationships among ecosystem services alone (e.g., spatial concordance of ecosystem services indicates synergies, whereas incongruence signifies trade-offs. The limitations of this approach have not been fully explored. We quantified ecosystem service interactions using correlations among contemporary ecosystem services and compared these results to those derived by incorporating change in ecosystem services from an earlier decade. To document change over ~60 years in an urbanizing floodplain, we used aerial photography to map multiple floodplain-associated ecosystem services. Our results demonstrate how incorporating landscape baselines can influence measured synergies and trade-offs. Spatial correlations among contemporary ecosystem services missed several interactions that were detected when using prior baseline ecosystem services. Ignoring the history of ecosystem services and their change over time may result in missed opportunities to foster their synergies and lead to unnecessary trade-offs. Efforts to incorporate ecosystem services into land management should include long-term monitoring and baseline reconstructions of ecosystem services.

Hesitant triangular fuzzy information aggregation operators based on Bonferroni means and their application to multiple attribute decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chunyong; Li, Qingguo; Zhou, Xiaoqiang; Yang, Tian

2014-01-01

We investigate the multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) problems with hesitant triangular fuzzy information. Firstly, definition and some operational laws of hesitant triangular fuzzy elements are introduced. Then, we develop some hesitant triangular fuzzy aggregation operators based on Bonferroni means and discuss their basic properties. Some existing operators can be viewed as their special cases. Next, we apply the proposed operators to deal with multiple attribute decision-making problems under hesitant triangular fuzzy environment. Finally, an illustrative example is given to show the developed method and demonstrate its practicality and effectiveness.

Life History Trade-offs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smallegange, I.M.; Kliman, R.M.

2016-01-01

Trade-offs play a central role in life history theory. This article explains why they exist, how they arise, how they can be measured, and briefly discusses their evolution. Three important trade-offs are discussed in detail: the trade-off between current reproduction and survival, between current

Age-dependent trade-offs between immunity and male, but not female, reproduction.

Science.gov (United States)

McNamara, Kathryn B; van Lieshout, Emile; Jones, Therésa M; Simmons, Leigh W

2013-01-01

Immune function is costly and must be traded off against other life-history traits, such as gamete production. Studies of immune trade-offs typically focus on adult individuals, yet the juvenile stage can be a highly protracted period when reproductive resources are acquired and immune challenges are ubiquitous. Trade-offs during development are likely to be important, yet no studies have considered changes in adult responses to immune challenges imposed at different stages of juvenile development. By manipulating the timing of a bacterial immune challenge to the larvae of the cotton bollworm moth, we examined potential trade-offs between investment into immunity at different stages of juvenile development (early or late) and subsequent adult reproductive investment into sperm or egg production. Our data reveal an age-dependent trade-off between juvenile immune function and adult male reproductive investment. Activation of the immune response during late development resulted in a reduced allocation of resources to eupyrene (fertilizing) sperm production. Immune activation from the injection procedure itself (irrespective of whether individuals were injected with an immune elicitor or a control solution) also caused reproductive trade-offs; males injected early in development produced fewer apyrene (nonfertilizing) sperm. Contrary to many other studies, our study demonstrates these immune trade-offs under ad libitum nutritional conditions. No trade-offs were observed between female immune activation and adult reproductive investment. We suggest the differences in trade-offs observed between male sperm types and the absence of reproductive trade-offs in females may be the result of ontogenetic differences in gamete production in this species. Our data reveal developmental windows when trade-offs between immune function and gametic investment are made, and highlight the importance of considering multiple developmental periods when making inferences regarding the

Diversity-Multiplexing-Nulling Trade-Off Analysis of Multiuser MIMO System for Intercell Interference Coordination

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Jinwoo Kim

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A fundamental performance trade-off of multicell multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO systems is explored for achieving intercell and intracell interference-free conditions. In particular, we analyze the three-dimensional diversity-multiplexing-nulling trade-off (DMNT among the diversity order (i.e., the slope of the error performance curve, multiplexing order (i.e., the number of users that are simultaneously served by MU-MIMO, and nulling order (i.e., the number of users with zero interference in a victim cell. This trade-off quantifies the performance of MU-MIMO in terms of its diversity and multiplexing order, while nulling the intercell interference toward the victim cell in the neighbor. First, we design a precoding matrix to mitigate both intercell and intracell interference for a linear precoding-based MU-MIMO system. Then, the trade-off relationship is obtained by analyzing the distribution of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR at the user terminals. Furthermore, we demonstrate how DMNT can be applied to estimate the long-term throughput for each mobile station, which allows for determining the optimal number of multiplexing order and throughput loss due to the interference nulling.

On the road to invariant recognition: explaining tradeoff and morph properties of cells in inferotemporal cortex using multiple-scale task-sensitive attentive learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Grossberg, Stephen; Markowitz, Jeffrey; Cao, Yongqiang

2011-12-01

Visual object recognition is an essential accomplishment of advanced brains. Object recognition needs to be tolerant, or invariant, with respect to changes in object position, size, and view. In monkeys and humans, a key area for recognition is the anterior inferotemporal cortex (ITa). Recent neurophysiological data show that ITa cells with high object selectivity often have low position tolerance. We propose a neural model whose cells learn to simulate this tradeoff, as well as ITa responses to image morphs, while explaining how invariant recognition properties may arise in stages due to processes across multiple cortical areas. These processes include the cortical magnification factor, multiple receptive field sizes, and top-down attentive matching and learning properties that may be tuned by task requirements to attend to either concrete or abstract visual features with different levels of vigilance. The model predicts that data from the tradeoff and image morph tasks emerge from different levels of vigilance in the animals performing them. This result illustrates how different vigilance requirements of a task may change the course of category learning, notably the critical features that are attended and incorporated into learned category prototypes. The model outlines a path for developing an animal model of how defective vigilance control can lead to symptoms of various mental disorders, such as autism and amnesia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimating the monetary value of willingness to pay for E-book reader's attributes using partially confounded factorial conjoint choice experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Yong, Chin-Khian

2013-09-01

A partially confounded factorial conjoint choice experiments design was used to examine the monetary value of the willingness to pay for E-book Reader's attributes. Conjoint analysis is an efficient, cost-effective, and most widely used quantitative method in marketing research to understand consumer preferences and value trade-off. Value can be interpreted by customer or consumer as the received of multiple benefits from a price that was paid. The monetary value of willingness to pay for battery life, internal memory, external memory, screen size, text to Speech, touch screen, and converting handwriting to digital text of E-book reader were estimated in this study. Due to the significant interaction effect of the attributes with the price, the monetary values for the seven attributes were found to be different at different values of odds of purchasing versus not purchasing. The significant interactions effects were one of the main contribution of the partially confounded factorial conjoint choice experiment.

Quantifying women's stated benefit-risk trade-off preferences for IBS treatment outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, F Reed; Hauber, A Brett; Ozdemir, Semra; Lynd, Larry

2010-01-01

The Food and Drug Administration, currently, is exploring quantitative benefit-risk methods to support regulatory decision-making. A scientifically valid method for assessing patients' benefit-risk trade-off preferences is needed to compare risks and benefits in a common metric. The study aims to quantify the maximum acceptable risk (MAR) of treatment-related adverse events (AEs) that women with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are willing to accept in exchange for symptom relief. A stated-choice survey was used to elicit trade-off preferences among constructed treatment profiles, each defined by symptom severity and treatment-related AEs. Symptom attributes included frequency of abdominal pain and discomfort, frequency of diarrhea, and frequency of urgency. AE attributes included frequency of mild-to-moderate constipation and the risk of four possible serious AEs. A Web-enabled survey was administered to 589 female US residents at least 18 years of age with a self-reported diagnosis of diarrhea-predominant IBS. Preference weights and MAR were estimated using mixed-logit methods. SUBJECTS were willing to accept higher risks of serious AEs in return for treatments offering better symptom control. For an improvement from the lowest to the highest of four benefit levels, subjects were willing to tolerate a 2.65% increase in impacted-bowel risk, but only a 1.34% increase in perforated-bowel risk. Variation in MARs across AE types is consistent with the relative seriousness of the AEs. Stated-preference methods offer a scientifically valid approach to quantifying benefit-risk trade-off preferences that can be used to inform regulatory decision-making.

Science for Trade-Offs Between Conflicting Interests in Future Forests

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Sune Linder

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Forests deliver multiple ecosystem services to society. Management of forests must be able to deal with trade-offs when the delivery of different ecosystem services comes in conflict with each other. The research program Future Forests (http://www.futureforests.se attempts to form a scientific basis for managing such trade-offs between conflicting interests in northern boreal forests. Some key characteristics of the research program are interdisciplinary and participatory research and a clear communication agenda for stakeholders. This paper gives a brief overview of the underlying ideas behind the program, and an introduction to the papers published in this Special Issue.

Uses And Characteristics Of Dynamic Tradeoff Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Schwuttke, Ursula M.

1995-01-01

Report discusses basic concepts, some applications, and performance characteristics of dynamic tradeoff evaluation (DTE). Basic concepts of DTE also described in "Dynamic Restructuring of Problems in Artificial Intelligence" (NPO-18488). DTE is method of enhancing real-time performance of artificial-intelligence system such as might be used to monitor data from multiple sensors in factory, aircraft, spacecraft, or other complex system of equipment. Report presents evaluation of DTE as applied to spacecraft-monitoring problems.

Evaluating multiple dimensions of visitors' tradeoffs between access and crowding at Arches National Park using indifference curve analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Steven R. Lawson; Robert E. Manning

2001-01-01

Tradeoffs are an inherent part of many of the decisions faced by outdoor recreation managers. For example, decisions concerning the social carrying capacity of popular attraction sites involve tradeoffs between limiting visitor use to ensure a high quality experience and allowing high levels of visitor use to ensure that large numbers of visitors retain access to park...

Multiple Authorities Attribute-Based Verification Mechanism for Blockchain Mircogrid Transactions

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Sarmadullah Khan

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Recently, advancements in energy distribution models have fulfilled the needs of microgrids in finding a suitable energy distribution model between producer and consumer without the need of central controlling authority. Most of the energy distribution model deals with energy transactions and losses without considering the security aspects such as information tampering. The transaction data could be accessible online to keep track of the energy distribution between the consumer and producer (e.g., online payment records and supplier profiles. However this data is prone to modification and misuse if a consumer moves from one producer to other. Blockchain is considered to be one solution to allow users to exchange energy related data and keep track of it without exposing it to modification. In this paper, electrical transactions embedded in blockchain are validated using the signatures of multiple producers based on their assigned attributes. These signatures are verified and endorsed by the consumers satisfying those attributes without revealing any information. The public and private keys for these consumers are generated by the producers and endorsement procedure using these keys ensures that these consumers are authorized. This approach does not need any central authority. To resist against collision attacks, producers are given a secret pseudorandom function seed. The comparative analysis shows the efficiency of proposed approach over the existing ones.

TODIM Method for Single-Valued Neutrosophic Multiple Attribute Decision Making

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Dong-Sheng Xu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Recently, the TODIM has been used to solve multiple attribute decision making (MADM problems. The single-valued neutrosophic sets (SVNSs are useful tools to depict the uncertainty of the MADM. In this paper, we will extend the TODIM method to the MADM with the single-valued neutrosophic numbers (SVNNs. Firstly, the definition, comparison, and distance of SVNNs are briefly presented, and the steps of the classical TODIM method for MADM problems are introduced. Then, the extended classical TODIM method is proposed to deal with MADM problems with the SVNNs, and its significant characteristic is that it can fully consider the decision makers’ bounded rationality which is a real action in decision making. Furthermore, we extend the proposed model to interval neutrosophic sets (INSs. Finally, a numerical example is proposed.

Optimizing time and resource allocation trade-offs for investment into morphological and behavioral defense

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steiner, Uli; Pfeiffer, Thomas

2007-01-01

pronounced at intermediate environmental conditions. Optimizing single traits generally leads to a more pronounced response of the defense traits, which implies that studying single traits leads to an overestimation of their response to predation. Behavioral defense and morphological defense compensate......Prey organisms are confronted with time and resource allocation trade-offs. Time allocation trade-offs partition time, for example, between foraging effort to acquire resources and behavioral defense. Resource allocation trade-offs partition the acquired resources between multiple traits...... for and augment each other depending on predator densities and the effectiveness of the defense mechanisms. In the presence of time constraints, the model shows peak investment into morphological and behavioral defense at intermediate resource levels....

An Extended TOPSIS Method for Multiple Attribute Decision Making based on Interval Neutrosophic Uncertain Linguistic Variables

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Said Broumi

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The interval neutrosophic uncertain linguistic variables can easily express the indeterminate and inconsistent information in real world, and TOPSIS is a very effective decision making method more and more extensive applications. In this paper, we will extend the TOPSIS method to deal with the interval neutrosophic uncertain linguistic information, and propose an extended TOPSIS method to solve the multiple attribute decision making problems in which the attribute value takes the form of the interval neutrosophic uncertain linguistic variables and attribute weight is unknown. Firstly, the operational rules and properties for the interval neutrosophic variables are introduced. Then the distance between two interval neutrosophic uncertain linguistic variables is proposed and the attribute weight is calculated by the maximizing deviation method, and the closeness coefficients to the ideal solution for each alternatives. Finally, an illustrative example is given to illustrate the decision making steps and the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Intuitionistic uncertain linguistic partitioned Bonferroni means and their application to multiple attribute decision-making

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Liu, Zhengmin; Liu, Peide

2017-04-01

The Bonferroni mean (BM) was originally introduced by Bonferroni and generalised by many other researchers due to its capacity to capture the interrelationship between input arguments. Nevertheless, in many situations, interrelationships do not always exist between all of the attributes. Attributes can be partitioned into several different categories and members of intra-partition are interrelated while no interrelationship exists between attributes of different partitions. In this paper, as complements to the existing generalisations of BM, we investigate the partitioned Bonferroni mean (PBM) under intuitionistic uncertain linguistic environments and develop two linguistic aggregation operators: intuitionistic uncertain linguistic partitioned Bonferroni mean (IULPBM) and its weighted form (WIULPBM). Then, motivated by the ideal of geometric mean and PBM, we further present the partitioned geometric Bonferroni mean (PGBM) and develop two linguistic geometric aggregation operators: intuitionistic uncertain linguistic partitioned geometric Bonferroni mean (IULPGBM) and its weighted form (WIULPGBM). Some properties and special cases of these proposed operators are also investigated and discussed in detail. Based on these operators, an approach for multiple attribute decision-making problems with intuitionistic uncertain linguistic information is developed. Finally, a practical example is presented to illustrate the developed approach and comparison analyses are conducted with other representative methods to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the developed approach.

Trade-off study of liquid-metal self-cooled blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gohar, Y.

1986-01-01

A trade-off study of liquid-metal self-cooled blankets was carried out to define the performance of these blankets with respect to the main functions in a fusion reactor, and to determine the potential to operate at the maximum possible values of the performance parameters. The main purpose is to improve the reactor economics by maximizing the blanket energy multiplication factor, reduce the capital cost of the reactor, and satisfy the design requirements. The main parameters during the course of the study were the tritium breeding ratio (TBR), the blanket energy multiplication factor, the energy fraction lost to the shield, the 6 Li enrichment in the breeder material, the total blanket thickness, the reflector material selection, and the compositions of the different blanket zones. Also, the impact of different reactor design choices on the performance parameters was analyzed. The effect of the impurity control system (limiter or divertor), the material choice for the limiter, the elimination of tritium breeding from the inboard section of tokamak reactors, the coolant choice for the nonbreeding inboard blanket, and the neutron source distribution were part of the trade-off study. In addition, tritium breeding benchmark calculations were performed to study the impact of the use of different transport codes and nuclear data libraries. The importance and the negative effect of high TBR on the energy multiplication motivated the benchmark calculations

Estimation of effective dose and lifetime attributable risk from multiple head CT scans in ventriculoperitoneal shunted children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aw-Zoretic, J.; Seth, D.; Katzman, G.; Sammet, S.

2014-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this review is to determine the averaged effective dose and lifetime attributable risk factor from multiple head computed tomography (CT) dose data on children with ventriculoperitoneal shunts (VPS). Method and materials: A total of 422 paediatric head CT exams were found between October 2008 and January 2011 and retrospectively reviewed. The CT dose data was weighted with the latest IRCP 103 conversion factor to obtain the effective dose per study and the averaged effective dose was calculated. Estimates of the lifetime attributable risk were also calculated from the averaged effective dose using a conversion factor from the latest BEIR VII report. Results: Our study found the highest effective doses in neonates and the lowest effective doses were observed in the 10–18 years age group. We estimated a 0.007% potential increase risk in neonates and 0.001% potential increased risk in teenagers over the base risk. Conclusion: Multiple head CTs in children equates to a slight potential increase risk in lifetime attributable risk over the baseline risk for cancer, slightly higher in neonates relative to teenagers. The potential risks versus clinical benefit must be assessed

Decision Making in Manufacturing Environment Using Graph Theory and Fuzzy Multiple Attribute Decision Making Methods Volume 2

CERN Document Server

Rao, R Venkata

2013-01-01

Decision Making in Manufacturing Environment Using Graph Theory and Fuzzy Multiple Attribute Decision Making Methods presents the concepts and details of applications of MADM methods. A range of methods are covered including Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), VIšekriterijumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje (VIKOR), Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Preference Ranking METHod for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE), ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la Realité (ELECTRE), COmplex PRoportional ASsessment (COPRAS), Grey Relational Analysis (GRA), UTility Additive (UTA), and Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA). The existing MADM methods are improved upon and three novel multiple attribute decision making methods for solving the decision making problems of the manufacturing environment are proposed. The concept of integrated weights is introduced in the proposed subjective and objective integrated weights (SOIW) method and the weighted Euclidean distance ba...

Balancing tradeoffs in the Denali Wilderness: an expanded approach to normative research using stated choice analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Steven R. Lawson; Robert Manning

2002-01-01

Wilderness experiences are thought to be comprised of or defined by three dimensions, including social, resource, and management conditions. Decisions about how to manage wilderness recreation in Denali National Park involve potential tradeoffs among the conditions of resource, social, and managerial attributes of the wilderness experience. This study expands the...

Managing trade-offs in landscape restoration and revegetation projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Maron, Martine; Cockfield, Geoff

2008-12-01

Landscape restoration projects often have multiple and disparate conservation, resource enhancement, and sometimes economic objectives, since projects that seek to meet more than one objective tend to be viewed more positively by funding agencies and the community. The degree to which there are trade-offs among desired objectives is an important variable for decision makers, yet this is rarely explicitly considered. In particular, the existence of ecological thresholds has important implications for decision-making at both the project level and the regional level. We develop a model of the possibilities and choices for an agency seeking to achieve two environmental objectives in a region through revegetation of a number of sites. A graphical model of the production possibilities sets for a single revegetation project is developed, and different trade-off relationships are discussed and illustrated. Then the model is used to demonstrate the possibilities for managing all such projects within a region. We show that, where there are thresholds in the trade-off relationship between two objectives, specialization (single- or dominant-objective projects) should be considered. This is illustrated using a case study in which revegetation is used to meet avian biodiversity and salinity mitigation objectives. We conclude that where there are sufficient scientific data, explicit consideration of different types of trade-offs can assist in making decisions about the most efficient mix and type of projects to better achieve a range of objectives within a region.

Opposition multiple objective symbiotic organisms search (OMOSOS for time, cost, quality and work continuity tradeoff in repetitive projects

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Duc-Hoc Tran

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Construction managers often face with projects containing multiple units wherein activities repeat from unit to unit. Therefore effective resource management is crucial in terms of project duration, cost and quality. Accordingly, researchers have developed several models to aid planners in developing practical and near-optimal schedules for repetitive projects. Despite their undeniable benefits, such models lack the ability of pure simultaneous optimization because existing methodologies optimize the schedule with respect to a single factor, to achieve minimum duration, total cost, resource work breaks or various combinations, respectively. This study introduces a novel approach called “opposition multiple objective symbiotic organisms search” (OMOSOS for scheduling repetitive projects. The proposed algorithm used an opposition-based learning technique for population initialization and for generation jumping. Further, this study integrated a scheduling module (M1 to determine all project objectives including time, cost, quality and interruption. The proposed algorithm was implemented on two application examples in order to demonstrate its capabilities in optimizing the scheduling of repetitive construction projects. The results indicate that the OMOSOS approach is a powerful optimization technique and can assist project managers in selecting appropriate plan for project. Keywords: Symbiotic organisms search, Multi-objective analysis, Resource tradeoff, Schedules, Repetitive

Rock property estimates using multiple seismic attributes and neural networks; Pegasus Field, West Texas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schuelke, J.S.; Quirein, J.A.; Sarg, J.F.

1998-12-31

This case study shows the benefit of using multiple seismic trace attributes and the pattern recognition capabilities of neural networks to predict reservoir architecture and porosity distribution in the Pegasus Field, West Texas. The study used the power of neural networks to integrate geologic, borehole and seismic data. Illustrated are the improvements between the new neural network approach and the more traditional method of seismic trace inversion for porosity estimation. Comprehensive statistical methods and interpretational/subjective measures are used in the prediction of porosity from seismic attributes. A 3-D volume of seismic derived porosity estimates for the Devonian reservoir provide a very detailed estimate of porosity, both spatially and vertically, for the field. The additional reservoir porosity detail provided, between the well control, allows for optimal placement of horizontal wells and improved field development. 6 refs., 2 figs.

A new linguistic aggregation operator and its application to multiple attribute decision making

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Jibin Lan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a new linguistic aggregation operator in linguistic environment is established and the desirable properties: monotonic, focus effect, idempotent, commutative and bounded are studied. Then, a new restricted ordering relation on the n-dimensional linguistic scales is proposed which satisfies strict pareto-dominance and is restricted by a weighting vector. A practical multiple attribute decision making methodology for an uncertain linguistic environment is proposed based on the proposed operator. An example is given to illustrate the rationality and validity of the new approach to decision making application.

Aggregation operators of neutrosophic linguistic numbers for multiple attribute group decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Jun

2016-01-01

Based on the concept of neutrosophic linguistic numbers (NLNs) in symbolic neutrosophic theory presented by Smarandache in 2015, the paper firstly proposes basic operational laws of NLNs and the expected value of a NLN to rank NLNs. Then, we propose the NLN weighted arithmetic average (NLNWAA) and NLN weighted geometric average (NLNWGA) operators and discuss their properties. Further, we establish a multiple attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) method by using the NLNWAA and NLNWGA operators under NLN environment. Finally, an illustrative example on a decision-making problem of manufacturing alternatives in the flexible manufacturing system is given to show the application of the proposed MAGDM method.

Learning about social-ecological trade-offs

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Diego Galafassi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Trade-offs are manifestations of the complex dynamics in interdependent social-ecological systems. Addressing trade-offs involves challenges of perception due to the dynamics of interdependence. We outline the challenges associated with addressing trade-offs and analyze knowledge coproduction as a practice that may contribute to tackling trade-offs in social-ecological systems. We discuss this through a case study in coastal Kenya in which an iterative knowledge coproduction process was facilitated to reveal social-ecological trade-offs in the face of ecological and socioeconomic change. Representatives of communities, government, and NGOs attended two integrative workshops in which methods derived from systems thinking, dialogue, participatory modeling, and scenarios were applied to encourage participants to engage and evaluate trade-offs. Based on process observation and interviews with participants and scientists, our analysis suggests that this process lead to increased appreciation of interdependences and the way in which trade-offs emerge from complex dynamics of interdependent factors. The process seemed to provoke a reflection of knowledge assumptions and narratives, and management goals for the social-ecological system. We also discuss how stakeholders link these insights to their practices.

A Decision Support System for Assessing Trade-Offs between Ecosystem Management Goals: An Application in Portugal

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Jordi Garcia-Gonzalo

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Cork oak (Quercus suber L. and holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia ecosystems are characteristic of Mediterranean forestry in Portugal. Even though cork is the most valuable product, these ecosystems provide multiple products and services. Assessing trade-offs between multiple goals is thus critical for the effectiveness of oak ecosystem management planning. This paper focuses on the development of a decision support system for oak ecosystems’ scenario analysis including multiple criteria. It includes an innovative decision support systems (DSS functionality to assess trade-offs between the criteria that may support negotiation and consensus building between decision-makers and forest stakeholders. Specifically, a module that encapsulates the Feasible Goals Method/Interactive Decision Maps (FGM/IDM technique is developed for interactive visualization of the Pareto frontier. The Pareto frontier illustrates the degree to which improving one particular criterion requires accepting sacrifices in the achievements of others. It thus provides information about trade-offs between competing decision-makers’ preferences. Results are discussed for a large-scale application encompassing over 1 million ha of cork and holm oak forest ecosystems in Southern Portugal. This study demonstrates the potential of the new DSS functionality to enhance multi-objective forest planning, namely by facilitating participation by stakeholders and providing transparency to the decision-making processes.

Analysis of the Perfect Table Fuzzy Rainbow Tradeoff

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Byoung-Il Kim

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Cryptanalytic time memory tradeoff algorithms are tools for inverting one-way functions, and they are used in practice to recover passwords that restrict access to digital documents. This work provides an accurate complexity analysis of the perfect table fuzzy rainbow tradeoff algorithm. Based on the analysis results, we show that the lesser known fuzzy rainbow tradeoff performs better than the original rainbow tradeoff, which is widely believed to be the best tradeoff algorithm. The fuzzy rainbow tradeoff can attain higher online efficiency than the rainbow tradeoff and do so at a lower precomputation cost.

A social-ecological analysis of ecosystem services supply and trade-offs in European wood-pastures

Science.gov (United States)

Hartel, Tibor

2018-01-01

Wood-pastures are complex social-ecological systems (SES), which are the product of long-term interaction between society and its surrounding landscape. Traditionally characterized by multifunctional low-intensity management that enhanced a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), current farm management has shifted toward more intensive farm models. This study assesses the supply of ES in four study areas dominated by managed wood-pastures in Spain, Sweden, and Romania. On the basis of 144 farm surveys and the use of multivariate techniques, we characterize farm management and structure in the study areas and identify the trade-offs in ES supply associated with this management. We link these trade-offs to multiple factors that characterize the landholding: economic, social, environmental, technological, and governance. Finally, we analyze how landholders’ values and perspectives have an effect on management decisions. Results show a differentiated pattern of ES supply in the four study areas. We identified four types of trade-offs in ES supply that appear depending on what is being promoted by the farm management and that are associated with different dimensions of wood-pasture management: productivity-related trade-offs, crop production–related trade-offs, multifunctionality-related trade-offs, and farm accessibility–related trade-offs. These trade-offs are influenced by complex interactions between the properties of the SES, which have a direct influence on landholders’ perspectives and motivations. The findings of this paper advance the understanding of the dynamics between agroecosystems and society and can inform system-based agricultural and conservation policies. PMID:29732404

Reliability and validity of the Attributional Style Questionnaire- Survey in people with multiple sclerosis

Science.gov (United States)

Kneebone, Ian I.; Dewar, Sophie J.

2016-01-01

Background: The current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of an attributional style measure that can be administered remotely, to people who have multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: A total of 495 participants with MS were recruited. Participants completed the Attributional Style Questionnaire-Survey (ASQ-S) and two comparison measures of cognitive variables via postal survey on three occasions, each 12 months apart. Internal reliability, test-retest reliability and congruent validity were considered. Results: The internal reliability of the ASQ-S was good (α > 0.7). The test-retest correlations were significant, but failed to reach the 0.7 set. The congruent validity of the ASQ-S was established relative to the comparisons. Conclusions: The psychometric properties of the ASQ-S indicate that it shows promise as a tool for researchers investigating depression in people with MS and is likely sound to use clinically in this population. PMID:28450893

Plant responses, climate pivot points, and trade-offs in water-limited ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Munson, S. M.; Bunting, E.

2017-12-01

Ecosystem transitions and thresholds are conceptually well-defined and have become a framework to address vegetation response to climate change and land-use intensification, yet there are few approaches to define the environmental conditions which can lead to them. We demonstrate a novel climate pivot point approach using long-term monitoring data from a broad network of permanent plots, satellite imagery, and experimental treatments across the southwestern U.S. The climate pivot point identifies conditions that lead to decreased plant performance and serves as an early warning sign of increased vulnerability of crossing a threshold into an altered ecosystem state. Plant responses and climate pivot points aligned with the lifespan and structural characteristics of species, were modified by soil and landscape attributes of a site, and had non-linear dynamics in some cases. Species with strong increases in abundance when water was available were most susceptible to losses during water shortages, reinforcing plant energetic and physiological tradeoffs. Future research to uncover the heterogeneity of plant responses and climate pivot points at multiple scales can lead to greater understanding of shifts in ecosystem productivity and vulnerability to climate change.

Attributes of system testing which promote cost-effectiveness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, L.C.

1975-01-01

A brief overview of conventional EMP testing activity examines attributes of overall systems tests which promote cost-effectiveness. The general framework represents an EMP-oriented systems test as a portion of a planned program to design, produce, and field system elements. As such, all so-called system tests should play appropriate cost-effective roles in this program, and the objective here is to disclose such roles. The intrinsic worth of such tests depends not only upon placing proper values on the outcomes, but also upon the possible eventual consequences of not doing tests. A relative worth measure is required. Attributes of EMP system testing over the range of potential activity which encompasses research and development, production, field handling, verification, evaluation, and others are reviewed and examined. Thus, the relative worth, in a cost-effective sense, is provided by relating such attributes to the overall program objectives so that values can be placed on the outcomes for tradeoff purposes

Managing bay and estuarine ecosystems for multiple services

Science.gov (United States)

Needles, Lisa A.; Lester, Sarah E.; Ambrose, Richard; Andren, Anders; Beyeler, Marc; Connor, Michael S.; Eckman, James E.; Costa-Pierce, Barry A.; Gaines, Steven D.; Lafferty, Kevin D.; Lenihan, Junter S.; Parrish, Julia; Peterson, Mark S.; Scaroni, Amy E.; Weis, Judith S.; Wendt, Dean E.

2013-01-01

Managers are moving from a model of managing individual sectors, human activities, or ecosystem services to an ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach which attempts to balance the range of services provided by ecosystems. Applying EBM is often difficult due to inherent tradeoffs in managing for different services. This challenge particularly holds for estuarine systems, which have been heavily altered in most regions and are often subject to intense management interventions. Estuarine managers can often choose among a range of management tactics to enhance a particular service; although some management actions will result in strong tradeoffs, others may enhance multiple services simultaneously. Management of estuarine ecosystems could be improved by distinguishing between optimal management actions for enhancing multiple services and those that have severe tradeoffs. This requires a framework that evaluates tradeoff scenarios and identifies management actions likely to benefit multiple services. We created a management action-services matrix as a first step towards assessing tradeoffs and providing managers with a decision support tool. We found that management actions that restored or enhanced natural vegetation (e.g., salt marsh and mangroves) and some shellfish (particularly oysters and oyster reef habitat) benefited multiple services. In contrast, management actions such as desalination, salt pond creation, sand mining, and large container shipping had large net negative effects on several of the other services considered in the matrix. Our framework provides resource managers a simple way to inform EBM decisions and can also be used as a first step in more sophisticated approaches that model service delivery.

Valuing Treatments for Parkinson Disease Incorporating Process Utility: Performance of Best-Worst Scaling, Time Trade-Off, and Visual Analogue Scales

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weernink, Marieke Geertruida Maria; Groothuis-Oudshoorn, Catharina Gerarda Maria; IJzerman, Maarten Joost; van Til, Janine Astrid

2016-01-01

Objective The objective of this study was to compare treatment profiles including both health outcomes and process characteristics in Parkinson disease using best-worst scaling (BWS), time trade-off (TTO), and visual analogue scales (VAS). Methods From the model comprising of seven attributes with

A study of Trade-off between Opportunistic Resource Allocation and Interference Alignment in Femtocell Scenarios

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lertwiram, Namzilp; Popovski, Petar; Sakaguchi, Kei

2012-01-01

One of the main problems in wireless heterogeneous networks is interference between macro- and femto-cells. Using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) to create multiple frequency orthogonal sub-channels, this interference can be completely avoided if each sub-channel is exclusiv...... of the communication resources. In this letter we investigate the interactions and the trade-offs between these two strategies....

Multi-Attribute Vickrey Auctions when Utility Functions are Unknown

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Máhr, T.; De Weerdt, M.M.

2006-01-01

Multi-attribute auctions allow negotiations over multiple attributes besides price. For example in task allocation, service providers can define their service by means of multiple attributes, such as quality of service, deadlines, or delay penalties. Auction mechanisms assume that the players have

Adjusted permutation method for multiple attribute decision making with meta-heuristic solution approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Karimi

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The permutation method of multiple attribute decision making has two significant deficiencies: high computational time and wrong priority output in some problem instances. In this paper, a novel permutation method called adjusted permutation method (APM is proposed to compensate deficiencies of conventional permutation method. We propose Tabu search (TS and particle swarm optimization (PSO to find suitable solutions at a reasonable computational time for large problem instances. The proposed method is examined using some numerical examples to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The preliminary results show that both approaches provide competent solutions in relatively reasonable amounts of time while TS performs better to solve APM.

Soil management shapes ecosystem service provision and trade-offs in agricultural landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamburini, Giovanni; De Simone, Serena; Sigura, Maurizia; Boscutti, Francesco; Marini, Lorenzo

2016-08-31

Agroecosystems are principally managed to maximize food provisioning even if they receive a large array of supporting and regulating ecosystem services (ESs). Hence, comprehensive studies investigating the effects of local management and landscape composition on the provision of and trade-offs between multiple ESs are urgently needed. We explored the effects of conservation tillage, nitrogen fertilization and landscape composition on six ESs (crop production, disease control, soil fertility, water quality regulation, weed and pest control) in winter cereals. Conservation tillage enhanced soil fertility and pest control, decreased water quality regulation and weed control, without affecting crop production and disease control. Fertilization only influenced crop production by increasing grain yield. Landscape intensification reduced the provision of disease and pest control. We also found tillage and landscape composition to interactively affect water quality regulation and weed control. Under N fertilization, conventional tillage resulted in more trade-offs between ESs than conservation tillage. Our results demonstrate that soil management and landscape composition affect the provision of several ESs and that soil management potentially shapes the trade-offs between them. © 2016 The Author(s).

Searchable attribute-based encryption scheme with attribute revocation in cloud storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shangping; Zhao, Duqiao; Zhang, Yaling

2017-01-01

Attribute based encryption (ABE) is a good way to achieve flexible and secure access control to data, and attribute revocation is the extension of the attribute-based encryption, and the keyword search is an indispensable part for cloud storage. The combination of both has an important application in the cloud storage. In this paper, we construct a searchable attribute-based encryption scheme with attribute revocation in cloud storage, the keyword search in our scheme is attribute based with access control, when the search succeeds, the cloud server returns the corresponding cipher text to user and the user can decrypt the cipher text definitely. Besides, our scheme supports multiple keywords search, which makes the scheme more practical. Under the assumption of decisional bilinear Diffie-Hellman exponent (q-BDHE) and decisional Diffie-Hellman (DDH) in the selective security model, we prove that our scheme is secure.

48 CFR 15.101-1 - Tradeoff process.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Tradeoff process. 15.101-1... AND CONTRACT TYPES CONTRACTING BY NEGOTIATION Source Selection Processes and Techniques 15.101-1 Tradeoff process. (a) A tradeoff process is appropriate when it may be in the best interest of the...

Models for Multiple Attribute Decision-Making with Dual Generalized Single-Valued Neutrosophic Bonferroni Mean Operators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Wang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this article, we expand the dual generalized weighted BM (DGWBM and dual generalized weighted geometric Bonferroni mean (DGWGBM operator with single valued neutrosophic numbers (SVNNs to propose the dual generalized single-valued neutrosophic number WBM (DGSVNNWBM operator and dual generalized single-valued neutrosophic numbers WGBM (DGSVNNWGBM operator. Then, the multiple attribute decision making (MADM methods are proposed with these operators. In the end, we utilize an applicable example for strategic suppliers selection to prove the proposed methods.

Trade-offs in osmoregulation and parallel shifts in molecular function follow ecological transitions to freshwater in the Alewife

Science.gov (United States)

Velotta, Jonathan P.; McCormick, Stephen; Schultz, Eric T.

2015-01-01

Adaptation to freshwater may be expected to reduce performance in seawater because these environments represent opposing selective regimes. We tested for such a trade-off in populations of the Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). Alewives are ancestrally anadromous, and multiple populations have been independently restricted to freshwater (landlocked). We conducted salinity challenge experiments, whereby juvenile Alewives from one anadromous and multiple landlocked populations were exposed to freshwater and seawater on acute and acclimation timescales. In response to acute salinity challenge trials, independently derived landlocked populations varied in the degree to which seawater tolerance has been lost. In laboratory-acclimation experiments, landlocked Alewives exhibited improved freshwater tolerance, which was correlated with reductions in seawater tolerance and hypo-osmotic balance, suggesting that trade-offs in osmoregulation may be associated with local adaptation to freshwater. We detected differentiation between life-history forms in the expression of an ion-uptake gene (NHE3), and in gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity. Trade-offs in osmoregulation, therefore, may be mediated by differentiation in ion-uptake and salt-secreting pathways.

Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morrison-Saunders, Angus; Pope, Jenny

2013-01-01

One of the defining characteristics of sustainability assessment as a form of impact assessment is that it provides a forum for the explicit consideration of the trade-offs that are inherent in complex decision-making processes. Few sustainability assessments have achieved this goal though, and none has considered trade-offs in a holistic fashion throughout the process. Recent contributions such as the Gibson trade-off rules have significantly progressed thinking in this area by suggesting appropriate acceptability criteria for evaluating substantive trade-offs arising from proposed development, as well as process rules for how evaluations of acceptability should occur. However, there has been negligible uptake of these rules in practice. Overall, we argue that there is inadequate consideration of trade-offs, both process and substantive, throughout the sustainability assessment process, and insufficient considerations of how process decisions and compromises influence substantive outcomes. This paper presents a framework for understanding and managing both process and substantive trade-offs within each step of a typical sustainability assessment process. The framework draws together previously published literature and offers case studies that illustrate aspects of the practical application of the framework. The framing and design of sustainability assessment are vitally important, as process compromises or trade-offs can have substantive consequences in terms of sustainability outcomes delivered, with the choice of alternatives considered being a particularly significant determinant of substantive outcomes. The demarcation of acceptable from unacceptable impacts is a key aspect of managing trade-offs. Offsets can be considered as a form of trade-off within a category of sustainability that are utilised to enhance preferred alternatives once conditions of impact acceptability have been met. In this way they may enable net gains to be delivered; another imperative

Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morrison-Saunders, Angus, E-mail: A.Morrison-Saunders@murdoch.edu.au [School of Geo and Spatial Sciences, North West University (South Africa); School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University (Australia); Pope, Jenny [School of Geo and Spatial Sciences, North West University (South Africa); Integral Sustainability (Australia); Curtin University (Australia)

2013-01-15

One of the defining characteristics of sustainability assessment as a form of impact assessment is that it provides a forum for the explicit consideration of the trade-offs that are inherent in complex decision-making processes. Few sustainability assessments have achieved this goal though, and none has considered trade-offs in a holistic fashion throughout the process. Recent contributions such as the Gibson trade-off rules have significantly progressed thinking in this area by suggesting appropriate acceptability criteria for evaluating substantive trade-offs arising from proposed development, as well as process rules for how evaluations of acceptability should occur. However, there has been negligible uptake of these rules in practice. Overall, we argue that there is inadequate consideration of trade-offs, both process and substantive, throughout the sustainability assessment process, and insufficient considerations of how process decisions and compromises influence substantive outcomes. This paper presents a framework for understanding and managing both process and substantive trade-offs within each step of a typical sustainability assessment process. The framework draws together previously published literature and offers case studies that illustrate aspects of the practical application of the framework. The framing and design of sustainability assessment are vitally important, as process compromises or trade-offs can have substantive consequences in terms of sustainability outcomes delivered, with the choice of alternatives considered being a particularly significant determinant of substantive outcomes. The demarcation of acceptable from unacceptable impacts is a key aspect of managing trade-offs. Offsets can be considered as a form of trade-off within a category of sustainability that are utilised to enhance preferred alternatives once conditions of impact acceptability have been met. In this way they may enable net gains to be delivered; another imperative

Valuing tradeoffs between agricultural production and ecosystem services in the Heihe River Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Z.; Deng, X.; Wu, F.

2017-12-01

Ecosystem services are faced with multiple stress from complex driving factors, such as climate change and human interventions. The Heihe River Basin (HRB), as the second largest inland river basin in China, is a typical semi-arid and arid region with fragile and sensitive ecological environment. For the past decades, agricultural production activities in the basin has affected ecosystem services in different degrees, leading to complex relations among "water-land-climate-ecology-human", in which hydrological process and water resource management is the key. In this context, managing trade-offs among water uses in the river basin to sustain multiple ecosystem services is crucial for healthy ecosystem and sustainable socioeconomic development. In this study, we analyze the trade-offs between different water uses in agricultural production and key ecosystem services in the HRB by applying production frontier analysis, with the aim to explore the potential for managing them. This method traces out joint production frontiers showing the combinations of ecosystem services and agricultural production that can be generated in a given area, and it deals with the economic problem of the allocation of scarce water resources under presumed objective, which aims to highlight synergies and reduce trade-offs between alternative water uses. Thus, management schemes that targets to both sustain agricultural production and increase the provision of key ecosystem services have to consider not only the technological or biological nature of interrelationships, but also the economic interdependencies among them.

Cognition-Action Trade-Offs Reflect Organization of Attention in Infancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, Sarah E; Harbourne, Regina T; Horger, Melissa N

2018-01-01

This chapter discusses what cognition-action trade-offs in infancy reveal about the organization and developmental trajectory of attention. We focus on internal attention because this aspect is most relevant to the immediate concerns of infancy, such as fluctuating levels of expertise, balancing multiple taxing skills simultaneously, learning how to control attention under variable conditions, and coordinating distinct psychological domains. Cognition-action trade-offs observed across the life span include perseveration during skill emergence, errors and inefficient strategies during decision making, and the allocation of resources when attention is taxed. An embodied cognitive-load account interprets these behavioral patterns as a result of limited attentional resources allocated across simultaneous, taxing task demands. For populations where motor errors could be costly, like infants and the elderly, attention is typically devoted to motor demands with errors occurring in the cognitive domain. In contrast, healthy young adults tend to preserve their cognitive performance by modifying their actions. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Some Interval Neutrosophic Linguistic Maclaurin Symmetric Mean Operators and Their Application in Multiple Attribute Decision Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yushui Geng

2018-04-01

Full Text Available There are many practical decision-making problems in people’s lives, but the information given by decision makers (DMs is often unclear and how to describe this information is of critical importance. Therefore, we introduce interval neutrosophic linguistic numbers (INLNs to represent the less clear and uncertain information and give their operational rules and comparison methods. In addition, since the Maclaurin symmetric mean (MSM operator has the special characteristic of capturing the interrelationships among multi-input arguments, we further propose an MSM operator for INLNs (INLMSM. Furthermore, considering the weights of attributes are the important parameters and they can influence the decision results, we also propose a weighted INLMSM (WINLMSM operator. Based on the WINLMSM operator, we develop a multiple attribute decision making (MADM method with INLNs and some examples are used to show the procedure and effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared with the existing methods, the proposed method is more convenient to express the complex and unclear information. At the same time, it is more scientific and flexible in solving the MADM problems by considering the interrelationships among multi-attributes.

Are trade-offs among species' ecological interactions scale dependent? A test using pitcher-plant inquiline species.

Science.gov (United States)

Kneitel, Jamie M

2012-01-01

Trade-offs among species' ecological interactions is a pervasive explanation for species coexistence. The traits associated with trade-offs are typically measured to mechanistically explain species coexistence at a single spatial scale. However, species potentially interact at multiple scales and this may be reflected in the traits among coexisting species. I quantified species' ecological traits associated with the trade-offs expected at both local (competitive ability and predator tolerance) and regional (competitive ability and colonization rate) community scales. The most common species (four protozoa and a rotifer) from the middle trophic level of a pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) inquiline community were used to link species traits to previously observed patterns of species diversity and abundance. Traits associated with trade-offs (competitive ability, predator tolerance, and colonization rate) and other ecological traits (size, growth rate, and carrying capacity) were measured for each of the focal species. Traits were correlated with one another with a negative relationship indicative of a trade-off. Protozoan and rotifer species exhibited a negative relationship between competitive ability and predator tolerance, indicative of coexistence at the local community scale. There was no relationship between competitive ability and colonization rate. Size, growth rate, and carrying capacity were correlated with each other and the trade-off traits: Size was related to both competitive ability and predator tolerance, but growth rate and carrying capacity were correlated with predator tolerance. When partial correlations were conducted controlling for size, growth rate and carrying capacity, the trade-offs largely disappeared. These results imply that body size is the trait that provides the basis for ecological interactions and trade-offs. Altogether, this study showed that the examination of species' traits in the context of coexistence at different scales

Land management influences trade-offs and the total supply of ecosystem services in alpine grassland in Tibet, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Junxi; Zhao, Yan; Yu, Chengqun; Luo, Liming; Pan, Ying

2017-05-15

Developing sustainable use patterns for alpine grassland in Tibet is the primary challenge related to conserving these vulnerable ecosystems of the 'world's third pole' and guaranteeing the well-being of local inhabitants. This challenge requires researchers to think beyond the methods of most current studies that are limited to a single aspect of conservation or productivity, and focus on balancing various needs. An analysis of trade-offs involving ecosystem services provides a framework that can be used to quantify the type of balancing needed. In this study, we measured variations in four types of ecosystem services under five types of grassland management including grazing exclusion, sowing, combined plowing and grazing exclusion, combined plowing and sowing, and natural grassland, from 2013 to 2015. In addition, we accessed the existence and changing patterns of ecosystem service trade-offs using Spearman coefficients and a trade-off index. The results revealed the existence of trade-offs among provisioning and regulating services. Plowing and sowing could convert the trade-off relationships into synergies immediately. Grazing exclusion reduced the level of trade-offs gradually over time. Thus, the combined plowing and sowing treatment promoted the total supply of multiple ecosystem services when compared with natural grassland. We argue that the variations in dry matter allocation to above- and belowground serve as one cause of the variation in trade-off relationships. Another cause for variation in trade-offs is the varied species competition between selection effects and niche complementarity. Our study provides empirical evidence that the effects of trade-offs among ecosystem services could be reduced and even converted into synergies by optimizing management techniques. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary tradeoffs, Pareto optimality and the morphology of ammonite shells.

Science.gov (United States)

Tendler, Avichai; Mayo, Avraham; Alon, Uri

2015-03-07

Organisms that need to perform multiple tasks face a fundamental tradeoff: no design can be optimal at all tasks at once. Recent theory based on Pareto optimality showed that such tradeoffs lead to a highly defined range of phenotypes, which lie in low-dimensional polyhedra in the space of traits. The vertices of these polyhedra are called archetypes- the phenotypes that are optimal at a single task. To rigorously test this theory requires measurements of thousands of species over hundreds of millions of years of evolution. Ammonoid fossil shells provide an excellent model system for this purpose. Ammonoids have a well-defined geometry that can be parameterized using three dimensionless features of their logarithmic-spiral-shaped shells. Their evolutionary history includes repeated mass extinctions. We find that ammonoids fill out a pyramid in morphospace, suggesting five specific tasks - one for each vertex of the pyramid. After mass extinctions, surviving species evolve to refill essentially the same pyramid, suggesting that the tasks are unchanging. We infer putative tasks for each archetype, related to economy of shell material, rapid shell growth, hydrodynamics and compactness. These results support Pareto optimality theory as an approach to study evolutionary tradeoffs, and demonstrate how this approach can be used to infer the putative tasks that may shape the natural selection of phenotypes.

Improving the Accuracy of Attribute Extraction using the Relatedness between Attribute Values

Science.gov (United States)

Bollegala, Danushka; Tani, Naoki; Ishizuka, Mitsuru

Extracting attribute-values related to entities from web texts is an important step in numerous web related tasks such as information retrieval, information extraction, and entity disambiguation (namesake disambiguation). For example, for a search query that contains a personal name, we can not only return documents that contain that personal name, but if we have attribute-values such as the organization for which that person works, we can also suggest documents that contain information related to that organization, thereby improving the user's search experience. Despite numerous potential applications of attribute extraction, it remains a challenging task due to the inherent noise in web data -- often a single web page contains multiple entities and attributes. We propose a graph-based approach to select the correct attribute-values from a set of candidate attribute-values extracted for a particular entity. First, we build an undirected weighted graph in which, attribute-values are represented by nodes, and the edge that connects two nodes in the graph represents the degree of relatedness between the corresponding attribute-values. Next, we find the maximum spanning tree of this graph that connects exactly one attribute-value for each attribute-type. The proposed method outperforms previously proposed attribute extraction methods on a dataset that contains 5000 web pages.

A multi-attribute approach to choosing adaptation strategies: Application to sea-level rise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, A.E.; Chu, H.Q.

1994-01-01

Selecting good adaptation strategies in anticipation of climate change is gaining increasing attention as it becomes increasingly clear that much of the likely change is already committed, and could not be avoided even with aggressive and immediate emissions reductions. Adaptation decision making will place special requirements on regional and local planners in the US and other countries, especially developing countries. Approaches, tools, and guidance will be useful to assist in an effective response to the challenge. This paper describes the value of using a multi-attribute approach for evaluating adaptation strategies and its implementation as a decision-support software tool to help planners understand and execute this approach. The multi-attribute approach described here explicitly addresses the fact that many aspects of the decision cannot be easily quantified, that future conditions are highly uncertain, and that there are issues of equity, flexibility, and coordination that may be as important to the decision as costs and benefits. The approach suggested also avoids trying to collapse information on all of the attributes to a single metric. Such metrics can obliterate insights about the nature of the trade-offs that must be made in choosing among very dissimilar types of responses to the anticipated threat of climate change. Implementation of such an approach requires management of much information, and an ability to easily manipulate its presentation while seeking acceptable trade-offs. The Adaptation Strategy Evaluator (ASE) was developed under funding from the US Environmental Protection Agency to provide user-friendly, PC-based guidance through the major steps of a multi-attribute evaluation. The initial application of ASE, and the focus of this paper, is adaptation to sea level rise. However, the approach can be easily adapted to any multi-attribute choice problem, including the range of other adaptation planning needs

Thermotolerant Yeast Strains Adapted by Laboratory Evolution Show Trade-Off at Ancestral Temperatures and Preadaptation to Other Stresses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caspeta, Luis; Nielsen, Jens

2015-01-01

adaptive laboratory evolution, we previously isolated seven Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains with improved growth at 40°C. Here, we show that genetic adaptations to high temperature caused a growth trade-off at ancestral temperatures, reduced cellular functions, and improved tolerance of other stresses...... in the ancestral strain. The latter is an advantageous attribute for acquiring thermotolerance and correlates with the reduction of yeast functions associated with loss of respiration capacity. This trait caused glycerol overproduction that was associated with the growth trade-off at ancestral temperatures....... In combination with altered sterol composition of cellular membranes, glycerol overproduction was also associated with yeast osmotolerance and improved tolerance of high concentrations of glucose and ethanol. Our study shows that thermal adaptation of yeast is suitable for improving yeast resistance...

Metabolic enzyme cost explains variable trade-offs between microbial growth rate and yield.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meike T Wortel

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Microbes may maximize the number of daughter cells per time or per amount of nutrients consumed. These two strategies correspond, respectively, to the use of enzyme-efficient or substrate-efficient metabolic pathways. In reality, fast growth is often associated with wasteful, yield-inefficient metabolism, and a general thermodynamic trade-off between growth rate and biomass yield has been proposed to explain this. We studied growth rate/yield trade-offs by using a novel modeling framework, Enzyme-Flux Cost Minimization (EFCM and by assuming that the growth rate depends directly on the enzyme investment per rate of biomass production. In a comprehensive mathematical model of core metabolism in E. coli, we screened all elementary flux modes leading to cell synthesis, characterized them by the growth rates and yields they provide, and studied the shape of the resulting rate/yield Pareto front. By varying the model parameters, we found that the rate/yield trade-off is not universal, but depends on metabolic kinetics and environmental conditions. A prominent trade-off emerges under oxygen-limited growth, where yield-inefficient pathways support a 2-to-3 times higher growth rate than yield-efficient pathways. EFCM can be widely used to predict optimal metabolic states and growth rates under varying nutrient levels, perturbations of enzyme parameters, and single or multiple gene knockouts.

The gender-job satisfaction paradox and the dual-earner society: Are women (still) making work-family trade-offs?

Science.gov (United States)

Grönlund, Anne; Öun, Ida

2018-01-01

Despite their disadvantaged labour market position, women consistently report higher levels of job satisfaction than men. Researchers have attributed women's higher job satisfaction to their lower expectations, arguing that gender differences will fade away as women's labour market prospects improve. Others, however, argue that women are more contented than men because their jobs satisfy a need for family adaptions. In this article, we put the hypotheses of transitions and trade-offs to a strong test, by comparing men and women with comparable human capital investments living in a country where women's employment is strongly supported by policies, practices and social norms. The relationship between gender and job satisfaction is analysed with stepwise OLS regressions. The analysis is based on a survey to newly graduated highly educated men and women in five occupations in Sweden (n ≈ 2 450). First, we show that, after controlling for a range of job characteristics, women report a higher level of job satisfaction than men. Second, although the paradox appears to be surprisingly persistent, it cannot be attributed to work-family trade-offs. Future research should consider job satisfaction more broadly in the light of gender role socialization and persistent gender inequalities.

Ideology, family policy and gender economic inequality: Different models, different tradeoffs

OpenAIRE

Mandel, Hadas

2007-01-01

This paper focuses on cross-national differences in patterns of gender economic inequality, revealing their affinity to both welfare state policies and prevailing conceptions of gender equality. By mapping multiple aspects of inequality and assembling them into distinctive profiles, the paper shows that each pattern of state intervention is accompanied by an uneven record of achievements and failures in promoting gender equality. These tradeoffs can best be understood by placing them in the i...

Derivation of Optimal Operating Rules for Large-scale Reservoir Systems Considering Multiple Trade-off

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, J.; Lei, X.; Liu, P.; Wang, H.; Li, Z.

2017-12-01

Flood control operation of multi-reservoir systems such as parallel reservoirs and hybrid reservoirs often suffer from complex interactions and trade-off among tributaries and the mainstream. The optimization of such systems is computationally intensive due to nonlinear storage curves, numerous constraints and complex hydraulic connections. This paper aims to derive the optimal flood control operating rules based on the trade-off among tributaries and the mainstream using a new algorithm known as weighted non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (WNSGA II). WNSGA II could locate the Pareto frontier in non-dominated region efficiently due to the directed searching by weighted crowding distance, and the results are compared with those of conventional operating rules (COR) and single objective genetic algorithm (GA). Xijiang river basin in China is selected as a case study, with eight reservoirs and five flood control sections within four tributaries and the mainstream. Furthermore, the effects of inflow uncertainty have been assessed. Results indicate that: (1) WNSGA II could locate the non-dominated solutions faster and provide better Pareto frontier than the traditional non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA II) due to the weighted crowding distance; (2) WNSGA II outperforms COR and GA on flood control in the whole basin; (3) The multi-objective operating rules from WNSGA II deal with the inflow uncertainties better than COR. Therefore, the WNSGA II can be used to derive stable operating rules for large-scale reservoir systems effectively and efficiently.

Ecosystem service trade-offs across global contexts and scales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeannine Cavender-Bares

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Meeting human needs while sustaining the planet's life support systems is the fundamental challenge of our time. What role sustenance of biodiversity and contrasting ecosystem services should play in achieving a sustainable future varies along philosophical, cultural, institutional, societal, and governmental divisions. Contrasting biophysical constraints and perspectives on human well-being arise both within and across countries that span the tropics and temperate zone. Direct sustenance of livelihoods from ecosystem services in East Africa contrasts with the complex and diverse relationships with the land in Mexico and the highly monetary-based economy of the United States. Lack of understanding of the contrasting contexts in which decision-making about trade-offs occurs creates impediments to collective global efforts to sustain the Earth's life support systems. While theoretical notions of the goals of sustainability science seek a unified path forward, realities on the ground present challenges. This Special Feature seeks to provide both an analytical framework and a series of case studies to illuminate impediments posed to sustainability by contrasting biophysical constraints and human perspectives on what should be sustained. The contributors aim to clarify the trade-offs posed to human welfare in sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services and the challenges in managing for a sustainable future in which human well-being is not compromised as compared to today. Our goal is to provide novel insights on how sustainability can be achieved internationally through exploration of constraints, trade-offs, and human values examined at multiple scales, and across geographic regions from a range of cultural perspectives.

Ocean zoning for conservation, fisheries and marine renewable energy: assessing trade-offs and co-location opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Yates, Katherine L; Schoeman, David S; Klein, Carissa J

2015-04-01

Oceans, particularly coastal areas, are getting busier and within this increasingly human-dominated seascape, marine biodiversity continues to decline. Attempts to maintain and restore marine biodiversity are becoming more spatial, principally through the designation of marine protected areas (MPAs). MPAs compete for space with other uses, and the emergence of new industries, such as marine renewable energy generation, will increase competition for space. Decision makers require guidance on how to zone the ocean to conserve biodiversity, mitigate conflict and accommodate multiple uses. Here we used empirical data and freely available planning software to identified priority areas for multiple ocean zones, which incorporate goals for biodiversity conservation, two types of renewable energy, and three types of fishing. We developed an approached to evaluate trade-offs between industries and we investigated the impacts of co-locating some fishing activities within renewable energy sites. We observed non-linear trade-offs between industries. We also found that different subsectors within those industries experienced very different trade-off curves. Incorporating co-location resulted in significant reductions in cost to the fishing industry, including fisheries that were not co-located. Co-location also altered the optimal location of renewable energy zones with planning solutions. Our findings have broad implications for ocean zoning and marine spatial planning. In particular, they highlight the need to include industry subsectors when assessing trade-offs and they stress the importance of considering co-location opportunities from the outset. Our research reinforces the need for multi-industry ocean-zoning and demonstrates how it can be undertaken within the framework of strategic conservation planning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Reference-Dependent Regret Model for Deterministic Trade-off Studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kujawski, Edouard

2005-02-25

Today's typical multi-criteria decision analysis is based on classical expected utility theory that assumes a mythical ''Rational Individual'' immune to psychological influences such as anticipated regret. It is therefore in conflict with rational individuals who trade-off some benefits and forgo the alternative with the highest total classical utility for a more balanced alternative in order to reduce their levels of anticipated regret. This paper focuses on decision making under certainty. It presents a reference-dependent regret model (RDRM) in which the level of regret that an individual experiences depends on the absolute values rather than the differences of the utilities of the chosen and forgone alternatives. The RDRM best choice may differ from the conventional linear additive utility model, the analytic hierarchy process, and the regret theory of Bell and Loomes and Sugden. Examples are presented that indicate that RDRM is the better predictive descriptor for decision making under certainty. RDRM satisfies transitivity of the alternatives under pairwise comparisons and models rank reversal consistent with observed reasonable choices under dynamic or distinct situations. Like regret theory, the RDRM utilities of all the alternatives under consideration are interrelated. For complex trade-off studies regret is incorporated as an element of a cost-utility-regret analysis that characterizes each alternative in terms of its monetary cost, an aggregate performance utility, and a regret value. This provides decision makers adequate information to compare the alternatives and depending on their values they may trade-off some performance and/or cost to avoid high levels of regret. The result is a well-balanced alternative often preferred by reasonable decision makers to the optimal choice of classical multi-attribute utility analysis. The model can readily be extended to incorporate rejoicing to suit decision makers who seek it. The

Material Selection for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Using Multiple Attribute Decision Making Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarita Baghel

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs provide a potential alternative to conventional p-n junction photovoltaic devices. The semiconductor thin film plays a crucial role in the working of DSC. This paper aims at formulating a process for the selection of optimum semiconductor material for nanostructured thin film using multiple attribute decision making (MADM approach. Various possible available semiconducting materials and their properties like band gap, cost, mobility, rate of electron injection, and static dielectric constant are considered and MADM technique is applied to select the best suited material. It was found that, out of all possible candidates, titanium dioxide (TiO2 is the best semiconductor material for application in DSC. It was observed that the proposed results are in good agreement with the experimental findings.

A survival-reproduction trade-off in entomopathogenic nematodes mediated by their bacterial symbionts.

Science.gov (United States)

Emelianoff, Vanya; Chapuis, Elodie; Le Brun, Nathalie; Chiral, Magali; Moulia, Catherine; Ferdy, Jean-Baptiste

2008-04-01

In this work, we investigate the investment of entomopathogenic Steinernema nematodes (Rhabditidae) in their symbiotic association with Xenorhabdus bacteria (Enterobacteriaceae). Their life cycle comprises two phases: (1) a free stage in the soil, where infective juveniles (IJs) of the nematode carry bacteria in a digestive vesicle and search for insect hosts, and (2) a parasitic stage into the insect where bacterial multiplication, nematode reproduction, and production of new IJs occur. Previous studies clearly showed benefits to the association for the nematode during the parasitic stage, but preliminary data suggest the existence of costs to the association for the nematode in free stage. IJs deprived from their bacteria indeed survive longer than symbiotic ones. Here we show that those bacteria-linked costs and benefits lead to a trade-off between fitness traits of the symbiotic nematodes. Indeed IJs mortality positively correlates with their parasitic success in the insect host for symbiotic IJs and not for aposymbiotic ones. Moreover mortality and parasitic success both positively correlate with the number of bacteria carried per IJ, indicating that the trade-off is induced by symbiosis. Finally, the trade-off intensity depends on parental effects and, more generally, is greater under restrictive environmental conditions.

Do Performance-Safety Tradeoffs Cause Hypometric Metabolic Scaling in Animals?

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Jon F

2017-09-01

Hypometric scaling of aerobic metabolism in animals has been widely attributed to constraints on oxygen (O 2 ) supply in larger animals, but recent findings demonstrate that O 2 supply balances with need regardless of size. Larger animals also do not exhibit evidence of compensation for O 2 supply limitation. Because declining metabolic rates (MRs) are tightly linked to fitness, this provides significant evidence against the hypothesis that constraints on supply drive hypometric scaling. As an alternative, ATP demand might decline in larger animals because of performance-safety tradeoffs. Larger animals, which typically reproduce later, exhibit risk-reducing strategies that lower MR. Conversely, smaller animals are more strongly selected for growth and costly neurolocomotory performance, elevating metabolism. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Potential Trade-Offs between the Sustainable Development Goals in Coastal Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Craig W. Hutton

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs are offered as a comprehensive strategy to guide and encourage sustainable development at multiple scales both nationally and internationally. Furthermore, through the development of indicators associated with each goal and sub-goal, the SDGs support the notion of monitoring, evaluation and adaptive management, underpinned by the aspirations of social justice, equity and transparency. As such, the ethical intention of the SDGs is well founded. However, possible conflicts and trade-offs between individual SDGs have received little attention. For example, SDGs relating to poverty (SDG 1, inequality (SDG 10, food security (SDG2, economic development (SDG 8 and life in water and on land (SDGs 14 and 15, are potentially competing in many circumstances. In a social–ecological context, policy support and formulation are increasingly adopting systems approaches, which analyse the complex interactions of system elements. Adopting such an approach in this work, the above SDGs are analysed for coastal Bangladesh. This demonstrates multiple potential trade-offs between the SDGs, including agricultural farming approaches in the light of poverty reduction, and between economic growth and environmental integrity as well as equity. To develop coherent and policy relevant socio-ecological strategies, appropriate decision frameworks need to be co-developed across the range of stakeholders and decision-makers. Integrated models have great potential to support such a process.

Trade-offs between reproductive allocation and storage in species of Oenothera L. (Onagraceae) native to Argentina

Science.gov (United States)

Vilela, Alejandra; Cariaga, Rodrigo; González-Paleo, Luciana; Ravetta, Damián

2008-01-01

A trade-off between reproduction and survival arises because current reproduction diminishes levels of a limiting resource such that less can be placed in storage organs for the survival of an organism during the unfavorable season. Oenothera is a particularly suited genus for studying those kind of trade-offs because it contains species with different life-history strategies (annual, biennial and perennial). Since allocation to leaves is a major factor associated with changes in life-history, here we tested the hypothesis that Oenothera leaf attributes would affect plant reproductive effort and therefore, root reserves. We selected two groups of taxa differing in their leaf area ratio (low- and high-LAR) and we compared their pattern of resource allocation to growth, reproduction and storage. Path analysis confirmed our hypothesis that LAR is the most important variable in explaining variation in allocation to reproduction or storage. The group with high allocation to leaves assigned resources preferentially to storage while the other group allocated more resources to reproduction, as predicted. A trade-off between reproduction and storage was only confirmed for the high-LAR group. The low-LAR group showed the life-history tactic of annual plants, while the high-LAR group exhibited a strategy generally associated with perenniality.

On the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff of secret-key agreement over multiple-antenna channels

KAUST Repository

Zorgui, Marwen

2014-09-01

We consider secret-key agreement with public discussion over Rayleigh fading quasi-static channels. First, the secret-key diversity gain and the secret-key multiplexing gain are defined. Then, the secret-key diversity multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) is established. The eavesdropper is shown to \\'steal\\' only transmit antennas. We show that likewise the DMT without secrecy constraint, the secret-key DMT is the same either with or without full channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter (CSI-T). This insensitivity of secret-key DMT toward CSI-T highlights a fundamental difference between secret-key agreement and the wiretap channel whose secret DMT depends crucially on CSI-T. Several secret-key DMT-achieving schemes are presented in case of full CSI-T.

On the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff of secret-key agreement over multiple-antenna channels

KAUST Repository

Zorgui, Marwen; Rezki, Zouheir; Alomair, Basel; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2014-01-01

We consider secret-key agreement with public discussion over Rayleigh fading quasi-static channels. First, the secret-key diversity gain and the secret-key multiplexing gain are defined. Then, the secret-key diversity multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) is established. The eavesdropper is shown to 'steal' only transmit antennas. We show that likewise the DMT without secrecy constraint, the secret-key DMT is the same either with or without full channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter (CSI-T). This insensitivity of secret-key DMT toward CSI-T highlights a fundamental difference between secret-key agreement and the wiretap channel whose secret DMT depends crucially on CSI-T. Several secret-key DMT-achieving schemes are presented in case of full CSI-T.

Constraints, Trade-offs and the Currency of Fitness.

Science.gov (United States)

Acerenza, Luis

2016-03-01

Understanding evolutionary trajectories remains a difficult task. This is because natural evolutionary processes are simultaneously affected by various types of constraints acting at the different levels of biological organization. Of particular importance are constraints where correlated changes occur in opposite directions, called trade-offs. Here we review and classify the main evolutionary constraints and trade-offs, operating at all levels of trait hierarchy. Special attention is given to life history trade-offs and the conflict between the survival and reproduction components of fitness. Cellular mechanisms underlying fitness trade-offs are described. At the metabolic level, a linear trade-off between growth and flux variability was found, employing bacterial genome-scale metabolic reconstructions. Its analysis indicates that flux variability can be considered as the currency of fitness. This currency is used for fitness transfer between fitness components during adaptations. Finally, a discussion is made regarding the constraints which limit the increase in the amount of fitness currency during evolution, suggesting that occupancy constraints are probably the main restrictions.

Intelligent Decision Support in Proportional–Stop-Loss Reinsurance Using Multiple Attribute Decision-Making (MADM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shirley Jie Xuan Wang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the possibility of incorporating intelligent decision support systems into reinsurance decision-making. This involves the insurance company and the reinsurance company, and is negotiated through reinsurance intermediaries. The article proposes a decision flow to model the reinsurance design and selection process. This article focuses on adopting more than one optimality criteria under a more generic combinational design of commonly used reinsurance products, i.e., proportional reinsurance and stop-loss reinsurance. In terms of methodology, the significant contribution of the study the incorporation of the well-established decision analysis tool multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM into the modelling of reinsurance selection. To illustrate the feasibility of incorporating intelligent decision supporting systems in the reinsurance market, the study includes a numerical case study using the simulation software @Risk in modeling insurance claims, as well as programming in MATLAB to realize MADM. A list of managerial implications could be drawn from the case study results. Most importantly, when choosing the most appropriate type of reinsurance, insurance companies should base their decisions on multiple measurements instead of single-criteria decision-making models so that their decisions may be more robust.

Dynamical trade-offs arise from antagonistic coevolution and decrease intraspecific diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Weini; Traulsen, Arne; Werner, Benjamin; Hiltunen, Teppo; Becks, Lutz

2017-12-12

Trade-offs play an important role in evolution. Without trade-offs, evolution would maximize fitness of all traits leading to a "master of all traits". The shape of trade-offs has been shown to determine evolutionary trajectories and is often assumed to be static and independent of the actual evolutionary process. Here we propose that coevolution leads to a dynamical trade-off. We test this hypothesis in a microbial predator-prey system and show that the bacterial growth-defense trade-off changes from concave to convex, i.e., defense is effective and cheap initially, but gets costly when predators coevolve. We further explore the impact of such dynamical trade-offs by a novel mathematical model incorporating de novo mutations for both species. Predator and prey populations diversify rapidly leading to higher prey diversity when the trade-off is concave (cheap). Coevolution results in more convex (costly) trade-offs and lower prey diversity compared to the scenario where only the prey evolves.

The emotion-induced memory trade-off: more than an effect of overt attention?

Science.gov (United States)

Steinmetz, Katherine R Mickley; Kensinger, Elizabeth A

2013-01-01

Although it has been suggested that many effects of emotion on memory are attributable to attention, in the present study we addressed the hypothesis that such effects may relate to a number of different factors during encoding or postencoding. One way to look at the effects of emotion on memory is by examining the emotion-induced memory trade-off, whereby enhanced memory for emotional items often comes at the cost of memory for surrounding background information. We present evidence that this trade-off cannot be explained solely by overt attention (measured via eyetracking) directed to the emotional items during encoding. Participants did not devote more overt attention to emotional than to neutral items when those items were selectively remembered (at the expense of their backgrounds). Only when participants were asked to answer true/false questions about the items and the backgrounds--a manipulation designed to affect both overt attention and poststimulus elaboration--was there a reduction in selective emotional item memory due to an increase in background memory. These results indicate that the allocation of overt visual attention during encoding is not sufficient to predict the occurrence of selective item memory for emotional items.

A possible tradeoff between developmental rate and pathogen ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

related tradeoffs is that they are mediated via the conflict- ... Keywords. life-history evolution; tradeoff; development time; immune function; pathogen; Drosophila. Journal of Genetics .... This work was supported in parts by funds from Depart-.

Evaluation of trade-offs in costs and environmental impacts for returnable packaging implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Jarupan, Lerpong; Kamarthi, Sagar V.; Gupta, Surendra M.

2004-02-01

The main thrust of returnable packaging these days is to provide logistical services through transportation and distribution of products and be environmentally friendly. Returnable packaging and reverse logistics concepts have converged to mitigate the adverse effect of packaging materials entering the solid waste stream. Returnable packaging must be designed by considering the trade-offs between costs and environmental impact to satisfy manufacturers and environmentalists alike. The cost of returnable packaging entails such items as materials, manufacturing, collection, storage and disposal. Environmental impacts are explicitly linked with solid waste, air pollution, and water pollution. This paper presents a multi-criteria evaluation technique to assist decision-makers for evaluating the trade-offs in costs and environmental impact during the returnable packaging design process. The proposed evaluation technique involves a combination of multiple objective integer linear programming and analytic hierarchy process. A numerical example is used to illustrate the methodology.

Sibling Competition & Growth Tradeoffs. Biological vs. Statistical Significance.

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, Karen L; Veile, Amanda; Otárola-Castillo, Erik

2016-01-01

Early childhood growth has many downstream effects on future health and reproduction and is an important measure of offspring quality. While a tradeoff between family size and child growth outcomes is theoretically predicted in high-fertility societies, empirical evidence is mixed. This is often attributed to phenotypic variation in parental condition. However, inconsistent study results may also arise because family size confounds the potentially differential effects that older and younger siblings can have on young children's growth. Additionally, inconsistent results might reflect that the biological significance associated with different growth trajectories is poorly understood. This paper addresses these concerns by tracking children's monthly gains in height and weight from weaning to age five in a high fertility Maya community. We predict that: 1) as an aggregate measure family size will not have a major impact on child growth during the post weaning period; 2) competition from young siblings will negatively impact child growth during the post weaning period; 3) however because of their economic value, older siblings will have a negligible effect on young children's growth. Accounting for parental condition, we use linear mixed models to evaluate the effects that family size, younger and older siblings have on children's growth. Congruent with our expectations, it is younger siblings who have the most detrimental effect on children's growth. While we find statistical evidence of a quantity/quality tradeoff effect, the biological significance of these results is negligible in early childhood. Our findings help to resolve why quantity/quality studies have had inconsistent results by showing that sibling competition varies with sibling age composition, not just family size, and that biological significance is distinct from statistical significance.

Sibling Competition & Growth Tradeoffs. Biological vs. Statistical Significance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen L Kramer

Full Text Available Early childhood growth has many downstream effects on future health and reproduction and is an important measure of offspring quality. While a tradeoff between family size and child growth outcomes is theoretically predicted in high-fertility societies, empirical evidence is mixed. This is often attributed to phenotypic variation in parental condition. However, inconsistent study results may also arise because family size confounds the potentially differential effects that older and younger siblings can have on young children's growth. Additionally, inconsistent results might reflect that the biological significance associated with different growth trajectories is poorly understood. This paper addresses these concerns by tracking children's monthly gains in height and weight from weaning to age five in a high fertility Maya community. We predict that: 1 as an aggregate measure family size will not have a major impact on child growth during the post weaning period; 2 competition from young siblings will negatively impact child growth during the post weaning period; 3 however because of their economic value, older siblings will have a negligible effect on young children's growth. Accounting for parental condition, we use linear mixed models to evaluate the effects that family size, younger and older siblings have on children's growth. Congruent with our expectations, it is younger siblings who have the most detrimental effect on children's growth. While we find statistical evidence of a quantity/quality tradeoff effect, the biological significance of these results is negligible in early childhood. Our findings help to resolve why quantity/quality studies have had inconsistent results by showing that sibling competition varies with sibling age composition, not just family size, and that biological significance is distinct from statistical significance.

Heterogeneous Face Attribute Estimation: A Deep Multi-Task Learning Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Hu; K Jain, Anil; Shan, Shiguang; Chen, Xilin

2017-08-10

Face attribute estimation has many potential applications in video surveillance, face retrieval, and social media. While a number of methods have been proposed for face attribute estimation, most of them did not explicitly consider the attribute correlation and heterogeneity (e.g., ordinal vs. nominal and holistic vs. local) during feature representation learning. In this paper, we present a Deep Multi-Task Learning (DMTL) approach to jointly estimate multiple heterogeneous attributes from a single face image. In DMTL, we tackle attribute correlation and heterogeneity with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) consisting of shared feature learning for all the attributes, and category-specific feature learning for heterogeneous attributes. We also introduce an unconstrained face database (LFW+), an extension of public-domain LFW, with heterogeneous demographic attributes (age, gender, and race) obtained via crowdsourcing. Experimental results on benchmarks with multiple face attributes (MORPH II, LFW+, CelebA, LFWA, and FotW) show that the proposed approach has superior performance compared to state of the art. Finally, evaluations on a public-domain face database (LAP) with a single attribute show that the proposed approach has excellent generalization ability.

Do Managers Face a Performance Trade-off?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Maria Falk

2017-01-01

equity, accountability, and procedural justice. However, our knowledge of whether such trade-offs exist is scarce. Using an administrative 10-year panel data set of Danish public schools and principals, this paper analyzes trade-offs between production performance (measured by student performance...... and student pass rate) and process performance (measured by equity, accountability, and procedural justice). Results show no evidence of trade-offs. In contrast, principals who succeed in raising student performance generally also succeed in securing high pass rates, high equity, high accountability, and high...... procedural justice. These results suggest that managers who are able to secure high performance on one dimension of performance will likely also be high performing on other performance dimensions....

Ants learn to rely on more informative attributes during decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Takao; Pratt, Stephen C

2013-01-01

Evolutionary theory predicts that animals act to maximize their fitness when choosing among a set of options, such as what to eat or where to live. Making the best choice is challenging when options vary in multiple attributes, and animals have evolved a variety of heuristics to simplify the task. Many of these involve ranking or weighting attributes according to their importance. Because the importance of attributes can vary across time and place, animals might benefit by adjusting weights accordingly. Here, we show that colonies of the ant Temnothorax rugatulus use their experience during nest site selection to increase weights on more informative nest attributes. These ants choose their rock crevice nests on the basis of multiple features. After exposure to an environment where only one attribute differentiated options, colonies increased their reliance on this attribute relative to a second attribute. Although many species show experience-based changes in selectivity based on a single feature, this is the first evidence in animals for adaptive changes in the weighting of multiple attributes. These results show that animal collectives, like individuals, change decision-making strategies according to experience. We discuss how these colony-level changes might emerge from individual behaviour.

Statistical Multiplexing of Computations in C-RAN with Tradeoffs in Latency and Energy

OpenAIRE

Kalør, Anders E.; Agurto, Mauricio I.; Pratas, Nuno K.; Nielsen, Jimmy J.; Popovski, Petar

2017-01-01

In the Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture, the baseband signals from multiple remote radio heads are processed in a centralized baseband unit (BBU) pool. This architecture allows network operators to adapt the BBU’scomputational resources to the aggregate access load experienced at the BBU, which can change in every air-interface access frame. The degree of savings that can be achieved by adapting the resources is a tradeoff between savings, adaptation frequency, and increased qu...

Energy/Reliability Trade-offs in Fault-Tolerant Event-Triggered Distributed Embedded Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gan, Junhe; Gruian, Flavius; Pop, Paul

2011-01-01

task, such that transient faults are tolerated, the timing constraints of the application are satisfied, and the energy consumed is minimized. Tasks are scheduled using fixed-priority preemptive scheduling, while replication is used for recovery from multiple transient faults. Addressing energy...... and reliability simultaneously is especially challenging, since lowering the voltage to reduce the energy consumption has been shown to increase the transient fault rate. We presented a Tabu Search-based approach which uses an energy/reliability trade-off model to find reliable and schedulable implementations...

The Social Attribution Task-Multiple Choice (SAT-MC): A Psychometric and Equivalence Study of an Alternate Form.

Science.gov (United States)

Johannesen, Jason K; Lurie, Jessica B; Fiszdon, Joanna M; Bell, Morris D

2013-01-01

The Social Attribution Task-Multiple Choice (SAT-MC) uses a 64-second video of geometric shapes set in motion to portray themes of social relatedness and intentions. Considered a test of "Theory of Mind," the SAT-MC assesses implicit social attribution formation while reducing verbal and basic cognitive demands required of other common measures. We present a comparability analysis of the SAT-MC and the new SAT-MC-II, an alternate form created for repeat testing, in a university sample (n = 92). Score distributions and patterns of association with external validation measures were nearly identical between the two forms, with convergent and discriminant validity supported by association with affect recognition ability and lack of association with basic visual reasoning. Internal consistency of the SAT-MC-II was superior (alpha = .81) to the SAT-MC (alpha = .56). Results support the use of SAT-MC and new SAT-MC-II as equivalent test forms. Demonstrating relatively higher association to social cognitive than basic cognitive abilities, the SAT-MC may provide enhanced sensitivity as an outcome measure of social cognitive intervention trials.

Fuzzy Linguistic Optimization on Multi-Attribute Machining

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tian-Syung Lan

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Most existing multi-attribute optimization researches for the modern CNC (computer numerical control turning industry were either accomplished within certain manufacturing circumstances, or achieved through numerous equipment operations. Therefore, a general deduction optimization scheme proposed is deemed to be necessary for the industry. In this paper, four parameters (cutting depth, feed rate, speed, tool nose runoff with three levels (low, medium, high are considered to optimize the multi-attribute (surface roughness, tool wear, and material removal rate finish turning. Through FAHP (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process with eighty intervals for each attribute, the weight of each attribute is evaluated from the paired comparison matrix constructed by the expert judgment. Additionally, twenty-seven fuzzy control rules using trapezoid membership function with respective to seventeen linguistic grades for each attribute are constructed. Considering thirty input and eighty output intervals, the defuzzifierion using center of gravity is thus completed. The TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution is moreover utilized to integrate and evaluate the multiple machining attributes for the Taguchi experiment, and thus the optimum general deduction parameters can then be received. The confirmation experiment for optimum general deduction parameters is furthermore performed on an ECOCA-3807 CNC lathe. It is shown that the attributes from the fuzzy linguistic optimization parameters are all significantly advanced comparing to those from benchmark. This paper not only proposes a general deduction optimization scheme using orthogonal array, but also contributes the satisfactory fuzzy linguistic approach for multiple CNC turning attributes with profound insight.

Multiple Attribute Group Decision-Making Methods Based on Trapezoidal Fuzzy Two-Dimensional Linguistic Partitioned Bonferroni Mean Aggregation Operators.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Kedong; Yang, Benshuo; Li, Xuemei

2018-01-24

In this paper, we investigate multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) problems where decision makers represent their evaluation of alternatives by trapezoidal fuzzy two-dimensional uncertain linguistic variable. To begin with, we introduce the definition, properties, expectation, operational laws of trapezoidal fuzzy two-dimensional linguistic information. Then, to improve the accuracy of decision making in some case where there are a sort of interrelationship among the attributes, we analyze partition Bonferroni mean (PBM) operator in trapezoidal fuzzy two-dimensional variable environment and develop two operators: trapezoidal fuzzy two-dimensional linguistic partitioned Bonferroni mean (TF2DLPBM) aggregation operator and trapezoidal fuzzy two-dimensional linguistic weighted partitioned Bonferroni mean (TF2DLWPBM) aggregation operator. Furthermore, we develop a novel method to solve MAGDM problems based on TF2DLWPBM aggregation operator. Finally, a practical example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of this method and analyses the impact of different parameters on the results of decision-making.

Time-Space Trade-Offs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pagter, Jakob Illeborg

. The area of time-space trade-offs deals with both upper and lower bounds and both are interesting, theoretically as well as practically. The viewpoint of this dissertation is theoretical, but we believe that some of our results can find applications in practice as well. The last four years has witnessed...... perspective hierarchical memory layout models are the most interesting. Such models are called external memory models, in contrast to the internal memory models discussed above. Despite the fact that space might be of great relevance when solving practical problems on real computers, no theoretical model...... capturing space (and time simultaneously) has been defined. We introduce such a model and use it to prove so-called IOspace trade-offs for Sorting. Building on the abovementioned techniques for time-space efficient internal memory Sorting, we develop the first IO-space efficient external memory Sorting...

Molecular and Neuroendocrine Approaches to Understanding Trade-offs: Food, Sex, Aggression, Stress, and Longevity-An Introduction to the Symposium.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Jill E; Deviche, Pierre

2017-12-01

Life history strategies are composed of multiple fitness components, each of which incurs costs and benefits. Consequently, organisms cannot maximize all fitness components simultaneously. This situation results in a dynamic array of trade-offs in which some fitness traits prevail at the expense of others, often depending on context. The identification of specific constraints and trade-offs has helped elucidate physiological mechanisms that underlie variation in behavioral and physiological life history strategies. There is general recognition that trade-offs are made at the individual and population level, but much remains to be learned concerning the molecular neuroendocrine mechanisms that underlie trade-offs. For example, we still do not know whether the mechanisms that underlie trade-offs at the individual level relate to trade-offs at the population level. To advance our understanding of trade-offs, we organized a group of speakers who study neuroendocrine mechanisms at the interface of traits that are not maximized simultaneously. Speakers were invited to represent research from a wide range of taxa including invertebrates (e.g., worms and insects), fish, nonavian reptiles, birds, and mammals. Three general themes emerged. First, the study of trade-offs requires that we investigate traditional endocrine mechanisms that include hormones, neuropeptides, and their receptors, and in addition, other chemical messengers not traditionally included in endocrinology. The latter group includes growth factors, metabolic intermediates, and molecules of the immune system. Second, the nomenclature and theory of neuroscience that has dominated the study of behavior is being re-evaluated in the face of evidence for the peripheral actions of so-called neuropeptides and neurotransmitters and the behavioral repercussions of these actions. Finally, environmental and ecological contexts continue to be critical in unmasking molecular mechanisms that are hidden when study animals

An appraisal of the enzyme stability-activity trade-off.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Scott R

2017-07-01

A longstanding idea in evolutionary physiology is that an enzyme cannot jointly optimize performance at both high and low temperatures due to a trade-off between stability and activity. Although a stability-activity trade-off has been observed for well-characterized examples, such a trade-off is not imposed by any physical chemical constraint. To better understand the pervasiveness of this trade-off, I investigated the stability-activity relationship for comparative biochemical studies of purified orthologous enzymes identified by a literature search. The nature of this relationship varied greatly among studies. Notably, studies of enzymes with low mean synonymous nucleotide sequence divergence were less likely to exhibit the predicted negative correlation between stability and activity. Similarly, a survey of directed evolution investigations of the stability-activity relationship indicated that these traits are often uncoupled among nearly identical yet phenotypically divergent enzymes. This suggests that the presumptive trade-off often reported for investigations of enzymes with high mean sequence divergence may in some cases instead be a consequence of the degeneration over time of enzyme function in unselected environments, rather than a direct effect of thermal adaptation. The results caution against the general assertion of a stability-activity trade-off during enzyme adaptation. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution © 2017 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

No trade-off between learning speed and associative flexibility in bumblebees: a reversal learning test with multiple colonies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nigel E Raine

Full Text Available Potential trade-offs between learning speed and memory-related performance could be important factors in the evolution of learning. Here, we test whether rapid learning interferes with the acquisition of new information using a reversal learning paradigm. Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris were trained to associate yellow with a floral reward. Subsequently the association between colour and reward was reversed, meaning bees then had to learn to visit blue flowers. We demonstrate that individuals that were fast to learn yellow as a predictor of reward were also quick to reverse this association. Furthermore, overnight memory retention tests suggest that faster learning individuals are also better at retaining previously learned information. There is also an effect of relatedness: colonies whose workers were fast to learn the association between yellow and reward also reversed this association rapidly. These results are inconsistent with a trade-off between learning speed and the reversal of a previously made association. On the contrary, they suggest that differences in learning performance and cognitive (behavioural flexibility could reflect more general differences in colony learning ability. Hence, this study provides additional evidence to support the idea that rapid learning and behavioural flexibility have adaptive value.

Trait-fitness relationships determine how trade-off shapes affect species coexistence.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehrlich, Elias; Becks, Lutz; Gaedke, Ursula

2017-12-01

Trade-offs between functional traits are ubiquitous in nature and can promote species coexistence depending on their shape. Classic theory predicts that convex trade-offs facilitate coexistence of specialized species with extreme trait values (extreme species) while concave trade-offs promote species with intermediate trait values (intermediate species). We show here that this prediction becomes insufficient when the traits translate non-linearly into fitness which frequently occurs in nature, e.g., an increasing length of spines reduces grazing losses only up to a certain threshold resulting in a saturating or sigmoid trait-fitness function. We present a novel, general approach to evaluate the effect of different trade-off shapes on species coexistence. We compare the trade-off curve to the invasion boundary of an intermediate species invading the two extreme species. At this boundary, the invasion fitness is zero. Thus, it separates trait combinations where invasion is or is not possible. The invasion boundary is calculated based on measurable trait-fitness relationships. If at least one of these relationships is not linear, the invasion boundary becomes non-linear, implying that convex and concave trade-offs not necessarily lead to different coexistence patterns. Therefore, we suggest a new ecological classification of trade-offs into extreme-favoring and intermediate-favoring which differs from a purely mathematical description of their shape. We apply our approach to a well-established model of an empirical predator-prey system with competing prey types facing a trade-off between edibility and half-saturation constant for nutrient uptake. We show that the survival of the intermediate prey depends on the convexity of the trade-off. Overall, our approach provides a general tool to make a priori predictions on the outcome of competition among species facing a common trade-off in dependence of the shape of the trade-off and the shape of the trait

Prediction Approach of Critical Node Based on Multiple Attribute Decision Making for Opportunistic Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qifan Chen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Predicting critical nodes of Opportunistic Sensor Network (OSN can help us not only to improve network performance but also to decrease the cost in network maintenance. However, existing ways of predicting critical nodes in static network are not suitable for OSN. In this paper, the conceptions of critical nodes, region contribution, and cut-vertex in multiregion OSN are defined. We propose an approach to predict critical node for OSN, which is based on multiple attribute decision making (MADM. It takes RC to present the dependence of regions on Ferry nodes. TOPSIS algorithm is employed to find out Ferry node with maximum comprehensive contribution, which is a critical node. The experimental results show that, in different scenarios, this approach can predict the critical nodes of OSN better.

On the cost/delay tradeoff of wireless delay tolerant geographic routing

OpenAIRE

Tasiopoulos, Argyrios; Tsiaras, Christos; Toumpis, Stavros

2012-01-01

In Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs), there is a fundamental tradeoff between the aggregate transport cost of a packet and the delay in its delivery. We study this tradeoff in the context of geographical routing in wireless DTNs.We ?rst specify the optimal cost/delay tradeoff, i.e., the tradeoff under optimal network operation, using a dynamic network construction termed the Cost/Delay Evolving Graph (C/DEG) and the Optimal Cost/Delay Curve (OC/DC), a function that gives the minimum possible agg...

The cricket and the ant : Organizational trade-offs in changing environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peli, Gabor; Bruggeman, Jeroen

2007-01-01

Organizations face trade-offs when they adopt strategies in changing resource environments. The type of trade-off depends on the type of resource change. This paper offers an organizational trade-off model for quantitative resource changes. We call it the "Cricket and Ant" (CA) model, because the

On the finite-SNR diversity-multiplexing tradeoff of zero-forcing transmit scheme under secrecy constraint

KAUST Repository

Rezki, Zouheir

2011-06-01

In this paper, we address the finite Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoff (DMT) of the Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) wiretap channel, where a Zero-Forcing (ZF) transmit scheme, that intends to send the secret information in the orthogonal space of the eavesdropper channel, is used. First, we introduce the secret multiplexing gain at finite-SNR that generalizes the definition at high-SNR. Then, we provide upper and lower bounds on the outage probability under secrecy constraint, from which secret diversity gain estimates of ZF are derived. Through asymptotic analysis, we show that the upper bound underestimates the secret diversity gain, whereas the lower bound is tight at high-SNR, and thus its related diversity gain estimate is equal to the actual asymptotic secret diversity gain of the Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wiretap channel. © 2011 IEEE.

Predicting Social and Communicative Ability in School-Age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study of the Social Attribution Task, Multiple Choice

Science.gov (United States)

Burger-Caplan, Rebecca; Saulnier, Celine; Jones, Warren; Klin, Ami

2016-01-01

The Social Attribution Task, Multiple Choice is introduced as a measure of implicit social cognitive ability in children, addressing a key challenge in quantification of social cognitive function in autism spectrum disorder, whereby individuals can often be successful in explicit social scenarios, despite marked social adaptive deficits. The…

Preliminary A ampersand PCT multiple detector design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberson, G.P.; Martz, H.E.; Camp, D.C.; Decman, D.J.; Johansson, E.M.

1997-01-01

The next generation, multi-detector active and passive computed tomography (A ampersand PCT) scanner will be optimized for speed and accuracy. At the Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) we have demonstrated the trade-offs between different A ampersand PCT design parameters that affect the speed and quality of the assay results. These fundamental parameters govern the optimum system design. Although the multi-detector scanner design has priority put on speed to increase waste drum throughput, higher speed should not compromise assay accuracy. One way to increase the speed of the A ampersand PCT technology is to use multiple detectors. This yields a linear speedup by a factor approximately equal to the number of detectors used without a compromise in system accuracy. There are many different design scenarios that can be developed using multiple detectors. Here we describe four different scenarios and discuss the trade-offs between them. Also, some considerations are given in this design description for the implementation of a multiple detector technology in a field- deployable mobile trailer system

Robust Optimization for Time-Cost Tradeoff Problem in Construction Projects

OpenAIRE

Li, Ming; Wu, Guangdong

2014-01-01

Construction projects are generally subject to uncertainty, which influences the realization of time-cost tradeoff in project management. This paper addresses a time-cost tradeoff problem under uncertainty, in which activities in projects can be executed in different construction modes corresponding to specified time and cost with interval uncertainty. Based on multiobjective robust optimization method, a robust optimization model for time-cost tradeoff problem is developed. In order to illus...

Multiple Criteria Decision Making Combined with VRP: A Categorized Bibliographic Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yahia Zare Mehrjerdi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In this research author reviews references related to the topic of multi criterion (goal programming, multiple objective linear and nonlinear programming, bi-criterion programming, Multi Attribute Decision Making, Compromise Programming, Surrogate Worth Trade-off Method and various versions of vehicle routing problem (VRP, Multi depot VRP (MDVRP, VRP with time windows (VRPWTW, Stochastic VRP (SVRP, Capacitated VRP (CVRP, Fuzzy VRP (FVRP, Location VRP (LVRP, Backhauling VRP(BHVRP, Facility Location VRP (FLVRP, and Inventory control VRP (ICVRP. Although, VRP is a research area with rich research works and powerful researchers there found only 81 articles that relates various vehicle routing type problems with various multiple objectives techniques. This author found that there is no research done in some areas of VRP (i.e., FVRP, ICVRP, LRP and CVRP. It is interesting to see that this research area was completely an unattractive to master students (with zero research reported and a somewhat attractive area to doctoral students (with 6 researches reported. Among the many multi criterion programming techniques available only three of them (goal programming, bi-criterion programming, linear and nonlinear multi objective programming are being employed to solve the problem.

Functional trade-off between strength and thermal capacity of dermal armor: Insights from girdled lizards.

Science.gov (United States)

Broeckhoven, Chris; du Plessis, Anton; Hui, Cang

2017-10-01

The presence of dermal armor is often unambiguously considered the result of an evolutionary predator-prey arms-race. Recent studies focusing predominantly on osteoderms - mineralized elements embedded in the dermis layer of various extant and extinct vertebrates - have instead proposed that dermal armor might exhibit additional functionalities besides protection. Multiple divergent functionalities could impose conflicting demands on a phenotype, yet, functional trade-offs in dermal armor have rarely been investigated. Here, we use high-resolution micro-computed tomography and voxel-based simulations to test for a trade-off between the strength and thermal capacity of osteoderms using two armored cordylid lizards as model organisms. We demonstrate that high vascularization, associated with improved thermal capacity might limit the strength of osteoderms. These results call for a holistic, cautionary future approach to studies investigating dermal armor, especially those aiming to inspire artificial protective materials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrating ecosystem-service tradeoffs into land-use decisions.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Joshua H; Caldarone, Giorgio; Duarte, Thomas Kaeo; Ennaanay, Driss; Hannahs, Neil; Mendoza, Guillermo; Polasky, Stephen; Wolny, Stacie; Daily, Gretchen C

2012-05-08

Recent high-profile efforts have called for integrating ecosystem-service values into important societal decisions, but there are few demonstrations of this approach in practice. We quantified ecosystem-service values to help the largest private landowner in Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools, design a land-use development plan that balances multiple private and public values on its North Shore land holdings (Island of O'ahu) of ∼10,600 ha. We used the InVEST software tool to evaluate the environmental and financial implications of seven planning scenarios encompassing contrasting land-use combinations including biofuel feedstocks, food crops, forestry, livestock, and residential development. All scenarios had positive financial return relative to the status quo of negative return. However, tradeoffs existed between carbon storage and water quality as well as between environmental improvement and financial return. Based on this analysis and community input, Kamehameha Schools is implementing a plan to support diversified agriculture and forestry. This plan generates a positive financial return ($10.9 million) and improved carbon storage (0.5% increase relative to status quo) with negative relative effects on water quality (15.4% increase in potential nitrogen export relative to status quo). The effects on water quality could be mitigated partially (reduced to a 4.9% increase in potential nitrogen export) by establishing vegetation buffers on agricultural fields. This plan contributes to policy goals for climate change mitigation, food security, and diversifying rural economic opportunities. More broadly, our approach illustrates how information can help guide local land-use decisions that involve tradeoffs between private and public interests.

Integrated Adaptive Scenarios for Ariculture: Synergies and Tradeoffs.

Science.gov (United States)

Malek, K.; Rajagopalan, K.; Adam, J. C.; Brady, M.; Stockle, C.; Liu, M.; Kruger, C. E.

2017-12-01

A wide variety of factors can drive adaptation of the agricultural production sector in response to climate change. Warming and increased growing season length can lead to adoption of newer plant varieties as well as increases in double cropping systems. Changes in expectations of drought frequency or economic factors could lead to adoption of new technology (such as irrigation technology or water trading systems) or crop choices with a view of reducing farm-level risk, and these choices can result in unintended system wide effects. These are all examples of producer adaptation decisions made with a long-term (multiple decades) view. In addition, producers respond to short-term (current year) shocks - such as drought events - through management strategies that include deficit irrigation, fallowing, nutrient management, and engaging in water trading. The effects of these short- and long-term decisions are not independent, and can drive or be driven by the other. For example, investment in new irrigation systems (long-term) can be driven by expectations of short-term crop productivity losses in drought years. Similarly, the capacity to manage for short-term shocks will depend on crop type and variety as well as adopted irrigation technologies. Our overarching objective is to understand the synergies and tradeoffs that exist when combining three potential long-term adaptation strategies and two short-term adaptation strategies, with a view of understanding the synergies and tradeoffs. We apply the integrated crop-hydrology modeling framework VIC-CropSyst, along with the water management module Yakima RiverWare to address these questions over our test area, the Yakima River basin. We consider adoption of a) more efficient irrigation technologies, slower growing crop varieties, and increased prevalence of double cropping systems as long-term adaptation strategies; and b) fallowing and deficit irrigation as short-term responses to droughts. We evaluate the individual and

Teori Pecking Order dan Trade-Off dalam Analisis Struktur Modal di Bursa Efek Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D Agus Harjito

2014-06-01

Full Text Available AbstractThis study aims to test the pecking order theory and trade-off theory of capital structure in the analysis of the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Pecking order theory is represented by the variable profitability and growth, while the variables volatility of earnings, tangibility of assets and the size represents a trade-off theory. The company's goal is prosperity of shareholder value. To achieve these objectives the company needs funds from internal sources and external sources. Internal sources in the form of retained earnings, while the external sources of debt and shareholders' approval in the pecking order theory. This study uses the data of financial ratios of the firms during the period 2000-2010. To analyze the data, this study uses a multiple regression with the dependent variable is the debt ratio, while profitability, growth, volatility of earnings, tangibility of assets and size as independent variables. The results show that asset structure and company size has a positive and significant impact on capital structure, while profitability has a negative effect on debt ratios. But company's growth rate has not relationship with the debt ratio or capital structure. Simultaneously, the all independent variables affect capital structure significantly.Keywords: pecking order, trade-off, capital structure, debt rasioAbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji teori pecking order dan teori trade-off dalam analisis struktur modal di Bursa Efek Indonesia. Teori pecking order diwakili oleh variabel profitability dan growth, sementara variabel-variabel volatility of earnings, tangibility of assets dan size mewakili teori trade-off. Tujuan perusahaan adalah memakmurkan nilai pemegang saham. Untuk mencapai tujuan tersebut perusahaan membutuhkan dana yang diperoleh dari sumber internal dan sumber eksternal. Sumber internal berupa laba ditahan, sedangkan sumber eksternal berupa hutang dan saham sebagaimana dijelaskan dalam teori pecking order

Electricity supply industry modelling for multiple objectives under demand growth uncertainty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinrich, G.; Basson, L.; Howells, M.; Petrie, J.

2007-01-01

Appropriate energy-environment-economic (E3) modelling provides key information for policy makers in the electricity supply industry (ESI) faced with navigating a sustainable development path. Key challenges include engaging with stakeholder values and preferences, and exploring trade-offs between competing objectives in the face of underlying uncertainty. As a case study we represent the South African ESI using a partial equilibrium E3 modelling approach, and extend the approach to include multiple objectives under selected future uncertainties. This extension is achieved by assigning cost penalties to non-cost attributes to force the model's least-cost objective function to better satisfy non-cost criteria. This paper incorporates aspects of flexibility to demand growth uncertainty into each future expansion alternative by introducing stochastic programming with recourse into the model. Technology lead times are taken into account by the inclusion of a decision node along the time horizon where aspects of real options theory are considered within the planning process. Hedging in the recourse programming is automatically translated from being purely financial, to include the other attributes that the cost penalties represent. From a retrospective analysis of the cost penalties, the correct market signals, can be derived to meet policy goal, with due regard to demand uncertainty. (author)

Payload system tradeoffs for mobile communications satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Moody, H. J.

1990-01-01

System level trade-offs carried out during Mobile Satellite (M-SAT) design activities are described. These trade-offs relate to the use of low level beam forming, flexible power and spectrum distribution, and selection of the number of beams to cover the service area. It is shown that antenna performance can be improved by sharing horns between beams using a low level beam forming network (BFN). Additionally, greatly increased power utilization is possible using a hybrid matrix concept to share power between beams.

Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff in Olfaction

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Rinberg, Dmitry; Koulakov, ALexel; Gelperin, Alan

2006-01-01

The basic psychophysical principle of speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) has been used to understand key aspects of neuronal information processing in vision and audition, but the principle of SAT is still debated in olfaction...

Temporal trade-offs in psychophysics.

Science.gov (United States)

Barack, David L; Gold, Joshua I

2016-04-01

Psychophysical techniques typically assume straightforward relationships between manipulations of real-world events, their effects on the brain, and behavioral reports of those effects. However, these relationships can be influenced by many complex, strategic factors that contribute to task performance. Here we discuss several of these factors that share two key features. First, they involve subjects making flexible use of time to process information. Second, this flexibility can reflect the rational regulation of information-processing trade-offs that can play prominent roles in particular temporal epochs: sensitivity to stability versus change for past information, speed versus accuracy for current information, and exploitation versus exploration for future goals. Understanding how subjects manage these trade-offs can be used to help design and interpret psychophysical studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The evolution of trade-offs under directional and correlational selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Roff, Derek A; Fairbairn, Daphne J

2012-08-01

Using quantitative genetic theory, we develop predictions for the evolution of trade-offs in response to directional and correlational selection. We predict that directional selection favoring an increase in one trait in a trade-off will result in change in the intercept but not the slope of the trade-off function, with the mean value of the selected trait increasing and that of the correlated trait decreasing. Natural selection will generally favor an increase in some combination of trait values, which can be represented as directional selection on an index value. Such selection induces both directional and correlational selection on the component traits. Theory predicts that selection on an index value will also change the intercept but not the slope of the trade-off function but because of correlational selection, the direction of change in component traits may be in the same or opposite directions. We test these predictions using artificial selection on the well-established trade-off between fecundity and flight capability in the cricket, Gryllus firmus and compare the empirical results with a priori predictions made using genetic parameters from a separate half-sibling experiment. Our results support the predictions and illustrate the complexity of trade-off evolution when component traits are subject to both directional and correlational selection. © 2012 The Author(s). Evolution© 2012 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Secure diversity-multiplexing tradeoff of zero-forcing transmit scheme at finite-SNR

KAUST Repository

Rezki, Zouheir

2012-04-01

In this paper, we address the finite Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoff (DMT) of the Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) wiretap channel, where a Zero-Forcing (ZF) transmit scheme, that intends to send the secret information in the orthogonal space of the eavesdropper channel, is used. First, we introduce the secrecy multiplexing gain at finite-SNR that generalizes the definition at high-SNR. Then, we provide upper and lower bounds on the outage probability under secrecy constraint, from which secrecy diversity gain estimates of ZF are derived. Through asymptotic analysis, we show that the upper bound underestimates the secrecy diversity gain, whereas the lower bound is tight at high-SNR, and thus its related diversity gain estimate is equal to the actual asymptotic secrecy diversity gain of the MIMO wiretap channel. © 2012 IEEE.

A multiple objective mixed integer linear programming model for power generation expansion planning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Antunes, C. Henggeler; Martins, A. Gomes [INESC-Coimbra, Coimbra (Portugal); Universidade de Coimbra, Dept. de Engenharia Electrotecnica, Coimbra (Portugal); Brito, Isabel Sofia [Instituto Politecnico de Beja, Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestao, Beja (Portugal)

2004-03-01

Power generation expansion planning inherently involves multiple, conflicting and incommensurate objectives. Therefore, mathematical models become more realistic if distinct evaluation aspects, such as cost and environmental concerns, are explicitly considered as objective functions rather than being encompassed by a single economic indicator. With the aid of multiple objective models, decision makers may grasp the conflicting nature and the trade-offs among the different objectives in order to select satisfactory compromise solutions. This paper presents a multiple objective mixed integer linear programming model for power generation expansion planning that allows the consideration of modular expansion capacity values of supply-side options. This characteristic of the model avoids the well-known problem associated with continuous capacity values that usually have to be discretized in a post-processing phase without feedback on the nature and importance of the changes in the attributes of the obtained solutions. Demand-side management (DSM) is also considered an option in the planning process, assuming there is a sufficiently large portion of the market under franchise conditions. As DSM full costs are accounted in the model, including lost revenues, it is possible to perform an evaluation of the rate impact in order to further inform the decision process (Author)

Trade-off analysis of ecosystem services in Eastern Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruijs, A.; Wossink, Ada; Kortelainen, M.; Alkemade, R.; Schulp, C.J.E.

2013-01-01

In this paper we assess trade-offs between ecosystem services in a spatially explicit manner. From a supply side perspective, we estimate opportunity costs, which reflect in monetary terms the trade-offs between ecosystem services due to a marginal land use change. These are based on estimation of

A population model evaluating the consequences of the evolution of double-resistance and tradeoffs on the benefits of two-drug antibiotic treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Ellsworth M; Chao, Lin

2014-01-01

The evolution of antibiotic resistance in microbes poses one of the greatest challenges to the management of human health. Because addressing the problem experimentally has been difficult, research on strategies to slow the evolution of resistance through the rational use of antibiotics has resorted to mathematical and computational models. However, despite many advances, several questions remain unsettled. Here we present a population model for rational antibiotic usage by adding three key features that have been overlooked: 1) the maximization of the frequency of uninfected patients in the human population rather than the minimization of antibiotic resistance in the bacterial population, 2) the use of cocktails containing antibiotic pairs, and 3) the imposition of tradeoff constraints on bacterial resistance to multiple drugs. Because of tradeoffs, bacterial resistance does not evolve directionally and the system reaches an equilibrium state. When considering the equilibrium frequency of uninfected patients, both cycling and mixing improve upon single-drug treatment strategies. Mixing outperforms optimal cycling regimens. Cocktails further improve upon aforementioned strategies. Moreover, conditions that increase the population frequency of uninfected patients also increase the recovery rate of infected individual patients. Thus, a rational strategy does not necessarily result in a tragedy of the commons because benefits to the individual patient and general public are not in conflict. Our identification of cocktails as the best strategy when tradeoffs between multiple-resistance are operating could also be extended to other host-pathogen systems. Cocktails or other multiple-drug treatments are additionally attractive because they allow re-using antibiotics whose utility has been negated by the evolution of single resistance.

Industrial-strength ecology: trade-offs and opportunities in algal biofuel production.

Science.gov (United States)

Shurin, Jonathan B; Abbott, Rachel L; Deal, Michael S; Kwan, Garfield T; Litchman, Elena; McBride, Robert C; Mandal, Shovon; Smith, Val H

2013-11-01

Microalgae represent one of the most promising groups of candidate organisms for replacing fossil fuels with contemporary primary production as a renewable source of energy. Algae can produce many times more biomass per unit area than terrestrial crop plants, easing the competing demands for land with food crops and native ecosystems. However, several aspects of algal biology present unique challenges to the industrial-scale aquaculture of photosynthetic microorganisms. These include high susceptibility to invading aquatic consumers and weeds, as well as prodigious requirements for nutrients that may compete with the fertiliser demands of other crops. Most research on algal biofuel technologies approaches these problems from a cellular or genetic perspective, attempting either to engineer or select algal strains with particular traits. However, inherent functional trade-offs may limit the capacity of genetic selection or synthetic biology to simultaneously optimise multiple functional traits for biofuel productivity and resilience. We argue that a community engineering approach that manages microalgal diversity, species composition and environmental conditions may lead to more robust and productive biofuel ecosystems. We review evidence for trade-offs, challenges and opportunities in algal biofuel cultivation with a goal of guiding research towards intensifying bioenergy production using established principles of community and ecosystem ecology. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Predicting shifting sustainability tradeoffs in marine finfish aquaculture under climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarà, Gianluca; Gouhier, Tarik C; Brigolin, Daniele; Porporato, Erika M D; Mangano, M Cristina; Mirto, Simone; Mazzola, Antonio; Pastres, Roberto

2018-05-03

Defining sustainability goals is a crucial but difficult task because it often involves the quantification of multiple interrelated and sometimes conflicting components. This complexity may be exacerbated by climate change, which will increase environmental vulnerability in aquaculture and potentially compromise the ability to meet the needs of a growing human population. Here, we developed an approach to inform sustainable aquaculture by quantifying spatio-temporal shifts in critical trade-offs between environmental costs and benefits using the time to reach the commercial size as a possible proxy of economic implications of aquaculture under climate change. Our results indicate that optimizing aquaculture practices by minimizing impact (this study considers as impact a benthic carbon deposition ≥ 1 gC m -2 d -1 ) will become increasingly difficult under climate change. Moreover, an increasing temperature will produce a poleward shift in sustainability trade-offs. These findings suggest that future sustainable management strategies and plans will need to account for the effects of climate change across scales. Overall, our results highlight the importance of integrating environmental factors in order to sustainably manage critical natural resources under shifting climatic conditions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Robust Optimization for Time-Cost Tradeoff Problem in Construction Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Construction projects are generally subject to uncertainty, which influences the realization of time-cost tradeoff in project management. This paper addresses a time-cost tradeoff problem under uncertainty, in which activities in projects can be executed in different construction modes corresponding to specified time and cost with interval uncertainty. Based on multiobjective robust optimization method, a robust optimization model for time-cost tradeoff problem is developed. In order to illustrate the robust model, nondominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II is modified to solve the project example. The results show that, by means of adjusting the time and cost robust coefficients, the robust Pareto sets for time-cost tradeoff can be obtained according to different acceptable risk level, from which the decision maker could choose the preferred construction alternative.

A Typology Framework for Trade-Offs in Development and Disaster Risk Reduction: A Case Study of Typhoon Haiyan Recovery in Tacloban, Philippines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heidi Tuhkanen

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Development and disaster risk are deeply linked. Disasters reverse development gains; development initiatives influence the risk, vulnerability, and exposure of people, assets, and environments to disasters. Hence, knowledge of key dimensions of the potential trade-offs between development and disaster risk reduction (DRR may inform decision-making processes, goals, and initiatives in ways that have potential to address unsustainable development practices that are commonplace in countries of all economic levels. This paper presents, explores, and tests a conceptual framework for analysing the trade-offs that underpin this relationship as evidenced through policy goals, initiatives, and decision-making processes. We categorise key dimensions of relevant trade-offs into five specific dimensions: (i The aggregation of development and DRR gains and losses, (ii risk prioritisation when seeking to reduce multiple risks, (iii the equity of decision-making processes and outcomes, (iv the balancing of near- and long-term goals, and (v the distribution of power and participation. By framing key questions related to each trade-off dimension, we test the framework in the context of a major disaster recovery process in Tacloban, the Philippines, following Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda in November 2013. We consider how decision-making trade-offs can be made more visible and useful in the pursuit of transformative change in development and DRR.

Using grizzly bears to assess harvest-ecosystem tradeoffs in salmon fisheries.

Science.gov (United States)

Levi, Taal; Darimont, Chris T; Macduffee, Misty; Mangel, Marc; Paquet, Paul; Wilmers, Christopher C

2012-01-01

Implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) requires a clear conceptual and quantitative framework for assessing how different harvest options can modify benefits to ecosystem and human beneficiaries. We address this social-ecological need for Pacific salmon fisheries, which are economically valuable but intercept much of the annual pulse of nutrient subsidies that salmon provide to terrestrial and aquatic food webs. We used grizzly bears, vectors of salmon nutrients and animals with densities strongly coupled to salmon abundance, as surrogates for "salmon ecosystem" function. Combining salmon biomass and stock-recruitment data with stable isotope analysis, we assess potential tradeoffs between fishery yields and bear population densities for six sockeye salmon stocks in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and British Columbia (BC), Canada. For the coastal stocks, we find that both bear densities and fishery yields would increase substantially if ecosystem allocations of salmon increase from currently applied lower to upper goals and beyond. This aligning of benefits comes at a potential cost, however, with the possibility of forgoing harvests in low productivity years. In contrast, we detect acute tradeoffs between bear densities and fishery yields in interior stocks within the Fraser River, BC, where biomass from other salmon species is low. There, increasing salmon allocations to ecosystems would benefit threatened bear populations at the cost of reduced long-term yields. To resolve this conflict, we propose an EBFM goal that values fisheries and bears (and by extension, the ecosystem) equally. At such targets, ecosystem benefits are unexpectedly large compared with losses in fishery yields. To explore other management options, we generate tradeoff curves that provide stock-specific accounting of the expected loss to fishers and gain to bears as more salmon escape the fishery. Our approach, modified to suit multiple scenarios, provides a generalizable method

Using grizzly bears to assess harvest-ecosystem tradeoffs in salmon fisheries.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taal Levi

Full Text Available Implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM requires a clear conceptual and quantitative framework for assessing how different harvest options can modify benefits to ecosystem and human beneficiaries. We address this social-ecological need for Pacific salmon fisheries, which are economically valuable but intercept much of the annual pulse of nutrient subsidies that salmon provide to terrestrial and aquatic food webs. We used grizzly bears, vectors of salmon nutrients and animals with densities strongly coupled to salmon abundance, as surrogates for "salmon ecosystem" function. Combining salmon biomass and stock-recruitment data with stable isotope analysis, we assess potential tradeoffs between fishery yields and bear population densities for six sockeye salmon stocks in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and British Columbia (BC, Canada. For the coastal stocks, we find that both bear densities and fishery yields would increase substantially if ecosystem allocations of salmon increase from currently applied lower to upper goals and beyond. This aligning of benefits comes at a potential cost, however, with the possibility of forgoing harvests in low productivity years. In contrast, we detect acute tradeoffs between bear densities and fishery yields in interior stocks within the Fraser River, BC, where biomass from other salmon species is low. There, increasing salmon allocations to ecosystems would benefit threatened bear populations at the cost of reduced long-term yields. To resolve this conflict, we propose an EBFM goal that values fisheries and bears (and by extension, the ecosystem equally. At such targets, ecosystem benefits are unexpectedly large compared with losses in fishery yields. To explore other management options, we generate tradeoff curves that provide stock-specific accounting of the expected loss to fishers and gain to bears as more salmon escape the fishery. Our approach, modified to suit multiple scenarios, provides a

Energy and water tradeoffs in enhancing food security: A selective international assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mushtaq, Shahbaz; Maraseni, Tek Narayan; Maroulis, Jerry; Hafeez, Mohsin

2009-01-01

Rice is the major staple food in most Asian countries. However, with rapidly growing populations, sustained high productivity and yields through improving water productivity is critically important. Increasingly complex energy-agriculture relationships require an in-depth understanding of water and energy tradeoffs. This study contributes to energy and food policies by analysing the complex energy, water and economics dynamics across a selection of major rice growing countries. The results show that tradeoffs exist between yield and energy inputs with high yield attributed to higher levels of energy input. The selected developed countries show higher energy productivity, relative to all other energy inputs, compared to the selected developing counties, owing to enhanced mechanisation, on-farm technology and improved farm management. Among all countries, China has the highest water productivity due to water-saving irrigation practices. These practices offer opportunities for developed and developing countries to increase water productivity at the same time taking advantage of economic and energy benefits of reduced pumping. Sustained production from agriculture is vital to food security. Improved irrigation practices can offset environmental footprints in the short run but their large-scale implementation remains an issue. In the long run, investments are needed to buffer the negative impacts of food production on the environment. Investments to boost water productivity and improved energy use efficiency in crop production are two pathways to reduce energy dependency, enhanced natural resource sustainability and ensuring future food security.

Anticipating and Managing Future Trade-offs and Complementarities between Ecosystem Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark S. Reed

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper shows how, with the aid of computer models developed in close collaboration with decision makers and other stakeholders, it is possible to quantify and map how policy decisions are likely to affect multiple ecosystem services in future. In this way, potential trade-offs and complementarities between different ecosystem services can be identified, so that policies can be designed to avoid the worst trade-offs, and where possible, enhance multiple services. The paper brings together evidence from across the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme's Sustainable Uplands project for the first time, with previously unpublished model outputs relating to runoff, agricultural suitability, biomass, heather cover, age, and utility for Red Grouse (Lagopus scotica, grass cover, and accompanying scenario narratives and video. Two contrasting scenarios, based on policies to extensify or intensify land management up to 2030, were developed through a combination of interviews and discussions during site visits with stakeholders, literature review, conceptual modeling, and process-based computer models, using the Dark Peak of the Peak District National Park in the UK as a case study. Where extensification leads to a significant reduction in managed burning and grazing or land abandonment, changes in vegetation type and structure could compromise a range of species that are important for conservation, while compromising provisioning services, amenity value, and increasing wildfire risk. However, where extensification leads to the restoration of peatlands damaged by former intensive management, there would be an increase in carbon sequestration and storage, with a number of cobenefits, which could counter the loss of habitats and species elsewhere in the landscape. In the second scenario, land use and management was significantly intensified to boost UK self-sufficiency in food. This would benefit certain provisioning services but would have negative

Identifying mechanisms that structure ecological communities by snapping model parameters to empirically observed tradeoffs.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas Clark, Adam; Lehman, Clarence; Tilman, David

2018-04-01

Theory predicts that interspecific tradeoffs are primary determinants of coexistence and community composition. Using information from empirically observed tradeoffs to augment the parametrisation of mechanism-based models should therefore improve model predictions, provided that tradeoffs and mechanisms are chosen correctly. We developed and tested such a model for 35 grassland plant species using monoculture measurements of three species characteristics related to nitrogen uptake and retention, which previous experiments indicate as important at our site. Matching classical theoretical expectations, these characteristics defined a distinct tradeoff surface, and models parameterised with these characteristics closely matched observations from experimental multi-species mixtures. Importantly, predictions improved significantly when we incorporated information from tradeoffs by 'snapping' characteristics to the nearest location on the tradeoff surface, suggesting that the tradeoffs and mechanisms we identify are important determinants of local community structure. This 'snapping' method could therefore constitute a broadly applicable test for identifying influential tradeoffs and mechanisms. © 2018 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An Adaptive Tradeoff Algorithm for Multi-issue SLA Negotiation

Science.gov (United States)

Son, Seokho; Sim, Kwang Mong

Since participants in a Cloud may be independent bodies, mechanisms are necessary for resolving different preferences in leasing Cloud services. Whereas there are currently mechanisms that support service-level agreement negotiation, there is little or no negotiation support for concurrent price and timeslot for Cloud service reservations. For the concurrent price and timeslot negotiation, a tradeoff algorithm to generate and evaluate a proposal which consists of price and timeslot proposal is necessary. The contribution of this work is thus to design an adaptive tradeoff algorithm for multi-issue negotiation mechanism. The tradeoff algorithm referred to as "adaptive burst mode" is especially designed to increase negotiation speed and total utility and to reduce computational load by adaptively generating concurrent set of proposals. The empirical results obtained from simulations carried out using a testbed suggest that due to the concurrent price and timeslot negotiation mechanism with adaptive tradeoff algorithm: 1) both agents achieve the best performance in terms of negotiation speed and utility; 2) the number of evaluations of each proposal is comparatively lower than previous scheme (burst-N).

Of Uberfleas and Krakens: Detecting Trade-offs Using Mixed Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Careau, Vincent; Wilson, Robbie S

2017-08-01

All animals experience performance trade-offs as they complete tasks such as capturing prey, defending territories, acquiring mates, and escaping predators. Why then, is it so hard to detect performance trade-offs at the whole-organismal level? Why do we sometimes even obtain positive correlations between two performance traits that are predicted to be negatively associated? Here we explore two plausible explanations. First, most analyses are based on individual maximal values (i.e., personal best), which could introduce a bias in the correlation estimates. Second, phenotypic correlations alone may be poor indicators of a trade-off when contrasting processes occur at the among- versus within-individual levels. One such scenario is the "big houses big cars" model developed in life-history theory to explain the existence of "uberfleas" that are superior in all regards (because they acquire more resources than others). We highlight that the exact opposite scenario might occur for performance trade-offs, where among-individual trade-offs may be masked by within-individual changes in physical condition. One of the best ways to test among these alternative scenarios is to collect repeated pairs of performance traits and analyze them using multivariate mixed models (MMMs). MMMs allow straightforward and simultaneous examination of trait correlations at the among- and within-individual levels. We use a simple simulation tool (SQuID package in R) to create a population of Krakens, a mythical giant squid-like sea creature whose morphology generates a performance trade-off between swimming speed and strength or ability to sink ships. The simulations showed that using individual maximum values introduces a bias that is particularly severe when individuals differ in the number of repeated samples (ntrial). Finally, we show how MMMs can help detect performance (or any other type of) trade-offs and offer additional insights (e.g., help detect plasticity integration). We hope

Reassessing the Trade-off Hypothesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosas, Guillermo; Manzetti, Luigi

2015-01-01

Do economic conditions drive voters to punish politicians that tolerate corruption? Previous scholarly work contends that citizens in young democracies support corrupt governments that are capable of promoting good economic outcomes, the so-called trade-off hypothesis. We test this hypothesis based...

The hyperspectral imaging trade-off

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carstensen, Jens Michael

, this will be the standard situation, and it enables the detection of small spectral features like peaks, valleys and shoulders for a wide range of chemistries. Everything else being equal this is what you would wish for, and hyperspectral imaging is often used in research and in remote sensing because of the needs and cost......Although it has no clear-cut definition, hyperspectral imaging in the UV-Visible-NIR wavelength region seems to mean spectral image sampling in bands from 10 nm width or narrower that enables spectral reconstruction over some wavelength interval. For non-imaging spectral applications...... structures in these projects. However, hyperspectral imaging is a sampling choice within spectral imaging that typically will impose some trade-offs, and these trade-offs will not be optimal for many applications. The purpose of this presentation is to point out and increase the awareness of these trade...

Dissociable mechanisms of speed-accuracy tradeoff during visual perceptual learning are revealed by a hierarchical drift diffusion model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiaxiang eZhang

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Two phenomena are commonly observed in decision-making. First, there is a speed-accuracy tradeoff such that decisions are slower and more accurate when instructions emphasize accuracy over speed, and vice versa. Second, decision performance improves with practice, as a task is learnt. The speed-accuracy tradeoff and learning effects have been explained under a well-established evidence-accumulation framework for decision-making, which suggests that evidence supporting each choice is accumulated over time, and a decision is committed to when the accumulated evidence reaches a decision boundary. This framework suggests that changing the decision boundary creates the tradeoff between decision speed and accuracy, while increasing the rate of accumulation leads to more accurate and faster decisions after learning. However, recent studies challenged the view that speed-accuracy tradeoff and learning are associated with changes in distinct, single decision parameters. Further, the influence of speed-accuracy instructions over the course of learning remains largely unknown. Here, we used a hierarchical drift-diffusion model to examine the speed-accuracy tradeoff during learning of a coherent motion discrimination task across multiple training sessions, and a transfer test session. The influence of speed-accuracy instructions was robust over training and generalized across untrained stimulus features. Emphasizing decision accuracy rather than speed was associated with increased boundary separation, drift rate and non-decision time at the beginning of training. However, after training, an emphasis on decision accuracy was only associated with increased boundary separation. In addition, faster and more accurate decisions after learning were due to a gradual decrease in boundary separation and an increase in drift rate. The results suggest that speed-accuracy instructions and learning differentially shape decision-making processes at different time scales.

Information-disturbance tradeoff in estimating a unitary transformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bisio, Alessandro; D'Ariano, Giacomo Mauro; Perinotti, Paolo; Chiribella, Giulio

2010-01-01

We address the problem of the information-disturbance tradeoff associated to the estimation of a quantum transformation and show how the extraction of information about a black box causes a perturbation of the corresponding input-output evolution. In the case of a black box performing a unitary transformation, randomly distributed according to the invariant measure, we give a complete solution of the problem, deriving the optimal tradeoff curve and presenting an explicit construction of the optimal quantum network.

On capacity tradeoffs in secure DS-CDMA packet communications with QOS constraints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sattar, F.; Mufti, M.

2012-01-01

This paper presents a mathematical framework for analysis of effect of counter mode (CTR) encryption on the traffic capacity of packet communication systems based on direct-sequence, code-division, multiple-access (DS-CDMA). We specify QoS constraints in terms of minimum acceptable mean opinion score (MOS) of voice payload, maximum permissible resource utilization for CTR-mode re-keying and DS-CDMA processing gain. We quantify the trade-offs in system capacity as a function of these constraints. Results show that application of CTR encryption causes error expansion and respecting the QoS constraints while satisfying the desired encryption parameters results in reduction of traffic capacity. (author)

The offspring quantity–quality trade-off and human fertility variation

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, David W.; Borgerhoff Mulder, Monique

2016-01-01

The idea that trade-offs between offspring quantity and quality shape reproductive behaviour has long been central to economic perspectives on fertility. It also has a parallel and richer theoretical foundation in evolutionary ecology. We review the application of the quantity–quality trade-off concept to human reproduction, emphasizing distinctions between clutch size and lifetime fertility, and the wider set of forces contributing to fertility variation in iteroparous and sexually reproducing species like our own. We then argue that in settings approximating human evolutionary history, several factors limit costly sibling competition. Consequently, while the optimization of quantity–quality trade-offs undoubtedly shaped the evolution of human physiology setting the upper limits of reproduction, we argue it plays a modest role in accounting for socio-ecological and individual variation in fertility. Only upon entering the demographic transition can fertility limitation be clearly interpreted as strategically orientated to advancing offspring quality via increased parental investment per child, with low fertility increasing descendant socio-economic success, although not reproductive success. We conclude that existing economic and evolutionary literature has often overemphasized the centrality of quantity–quality trade-offs to human fertility variation and advocate for the development of more holistic frameworks encompassing alternative life-history trade-offs and the evolved mechanisms guiding their resolution. PMID:27022072

The influence of the composition of tradeoffs on the generation of differentiated cells

Science.gov (United States)

Amado, André; Campos, Paulo R. A.

2017-06-01

We study the emergence of cell differentiation under the influence of tradeoffs between the different functions the cell needs to perform. In the model, the viability of a given colony, i.e. the chance to survive and then form propagules, is determined by the capability of its lower level units to perform different functions. Due to the existence of tradeoffs, it can be evolutionarily advantageous for the colony to evolve the division of labor whereby the cells can suppress their contributions to some of the activities through the activation of regulatory genes. Our simulation results show that cell differentiation is more likely as the number of tradeoffs increases, but the outcome also depends on their strength. We observe the existence of critical values for the minimum number of tradeoffs and their strength beyond that maximum cell differentiation can be attained. The occurrence of a maximum tradeoff strength beyond which the population is no longer viable imposes an upper level of constraint to the system. This maximum tradeoff strength decreases with the number of tradeoffs. Besides the statistical study of the model, as a concrete example, we apply the model to a simplified cyanobacteria system. In this line, variations of this model can be applied to a variety of systems when the underlying tradeoffs are known or can be estimated.

On the Verge: Costs and Tradeoffs Facing Community College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Cochrane, Debbie; Szabo-Kubitz, Laura

2016-01-01

"On the Verge: Costs and Tradeoffs Facing Community College Students" documents California community college students' struggles to cover college expenses beyond tuition, their experiences with financial aid, and the troubling tradeoffs they face when available resources do not stretch far enough. Consistent with a growing body of…

Rate-cost tradeoffs in control

KAUST Repository

Kostina, Victoria; Hassibi, Babak

2017-01-01

function is the mean-square deviation of the system state from the desired state. We study the fundamental tradeoff between the communication rate r bits/sec and the limsup of the expected cost b, and show a lower bound on the rate necessary to attain b

The Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoff of Secret-Key Agreement over Multiple-Antenna Channels

KAUST Repository

Zorgui, Marwen; Rezki, Zouheir; Alomair, Basel; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

We study the problem of secret-key agreement between two legitimate parties, Alice and Bob, in presence an of eavesdropper Eve. There is a public channel with unlimited capacity that is available to the legitimate parties and is also observed by Eve. Our focus is on Rayleigh fading quasi-static channels. The legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper are assumed to have perfect channel knowledge of their channels. We study the system in the high-power regime. First, we define the secret-key diversity gain and the secret-key multiplexing gain. Second, we establish the secret-key diversity multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) under no channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter (CSI-T). The eavesdropper is shown to “steal” only transmit antennas. We show that, likewise the DMT without secrecy constraint, the secret-key DMT is the same either with or without full channel state information at the transmitter. This insensitivity of secret-key DMT toward CSI-T features a fundamental difference between secret-key agreement and the wiretap channel, in which secret DMT depends heavily on CSI-T. Finally, we present several secret-key DMT-achieving schemes in case of full CSI-T. We argue that secret DMT-achieving schemes are also key DMT-achieving. Moreover, we show formally that artificial noise (AN), likewise zero-forcing (ZF), is DMT-achieving. We also show that the public feedback channel improves the outage performance without having any effect on the DMT.

The Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoff of Secret-Key Agreement over Multiple-Antenna Channels

KAUST Repository

Zorgui, Marwen

2015-10-26

We study the problem of secret-key agreement between two legitimate parties, Alice and Bob, in presence an of eavesdropper Eve. There is a public channel with unlimited capacity that is available to the legitimate parties and is also observed by Eve. Our focus is on Rayleigh fading quasi-static channels. The legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper are assumed to have perfect channel knowledge of their channels. We study the system in the high-power regime. First, we define the secret-key diversity gain and the secret-key multiplexing gain. Second, we establish the secret-key diversity multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) under no channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter (CSI-T). The eavesdropper is shown to “steal” only transmit antennas. We show that, likewise the DMT without secrecy constraint, the secret-key DMT is the same either with or without full channel state information at the transmitter. This insensitivity of secret-key DMT toward CSI-T features a fundamental difference between secret-key agreement and the wiretap channel, in which secret DMT depends heavily on CSI-T. Finally, we present several secret-key DMT-achieving schemes in case of full CSI-T. We argue that secret DMT-achieving schemes are also key DMT-achieving. Moreover, we show formally that artificial noise (AN), likewise zero-forcing (ZF), is DMT-achieving. We also show that the public feedback channel improves the outage performance without having any effect on the DMT.

Coding-Spreading Tradeoff in CDMA Systems

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bolas, Eduardo

2002-01-01

.... Comparing different combinations of coding and spreading with a traditional DS-CDMA, as defined in the IS-95 standard, allows the criteria to be defined for the best coding-spreading tradeoff in CDMA systems...

Sustainable Assessment of Aerosol Pollution Decrease Applying Multiple Attribute Decision-Making Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Audrius Čereška

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Air pollution with various materials, particularly with aerosols, increases with the advances in technological development. This is a complicated global problem. One of the priorities in achieving sustainable development is the reduction of harmful technological effects on the environment and human health. It is a responsibility of researchers to search for effective methods of reducing pollution. The reliable results can be obtained by combining the approaches used in various fields of science and technology. This paper aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of the multiple attribute decision-making (MADM methods in investigating and solving the environmental pollution problems. The paper presents the study of the process of the evaporation of a toxic liquid based on using the MADM methods. A schematic view of the test setup is presented. The density, viscosity, and rate of the released vapor flow are measured and the dependence of the variation of the solution concentration on its temperature is determined in the experimental study. The concentration of hydrochloric acid solution (HAS varies in the range from 28% to 34%, while the liquid is heated from 50 to 80 °C. The variations in the parameters are analyzed using the well-known VIKOR and COPRAS MADM methods. For determining the criteria weights, a new CILOS (Criterion Impact LOSs method is used. The experimental results are arranged in the priority order, using the MADM methods. Based on the obtained data, the technological parameters of production, ensuring minimum environmental pollution, can be chosen.

Identification and Prioritization of Important Attributes of Disease-Modifying Drugs in Decision Making among Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Nominal Group Technique and Best-Worst Scaling.

Science.gov (United States)

Kremer, Ingrid E H; Evers, Silvia M A A; Jongen, Peter J; van der Weijden, Trudy; van de Kolk, Ilona; Hiligsmann, Mickaël

2016-01-01

Understanding the preferences of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) for disease-modifying drugs and involving these patients in clinical decision making can improve the concordance between medical decisions and patient values and may, subsequently, improve adherence to disease-modifying drugs. This study aims first to identify which characteristics-or attributes-of disease-modifying drugs influence patients´ decisions about these treatments and second to quantify the attributes' relative importance among patients. First, three focus groups of relapsing-remitting MS patients were formed to compile a preliminary list of attributes using a nominal group technique. Based on this qualitative research, a survey with several choice tasks (best-worst scaling) was developed to prioritize attributes, asking a larger patient group to choose the most and least important attributes. The attributes' mean relative importance scores (RIS) were calculated. Nineteen patients reported 34 attributes during the focus groups and 185 patients evaluated the importance of the attributes in the survey. The effect on disease progression received the highest RIS (RIS = 9.64, 95% confidence interval: [9.48-9.81]), followed by quality of life (RIS = 9.21 [9.00-9.42]), relapse rate (RIS = 7.76 [7.39-8.13]), severity of side effects (RIS = 7.63 [7.33-7.94]) and relapse severity (RIS = 7.39 [7.06-7.73]). Subgroup analyses showed heterogeneity in preference of patients. For example, side effect-related attributes were statistically more important for patients who had no experience in using disease-modifying drugs compared to experienced patients (p decision making would be needed and requires eliciting individual preferences.

Using Flow-Ecology Relationships to Evaluate Ecosystem Service Trade-Offs and Complementarities in the Nation's Largest River Swamp

Science.gov (United States)

Kozak, Justin P.; Bennett, Micah G.; Hayden-Lesmeister, Anne; Fritz, Kelley A.; Nickolotsky, Aaron

2015-06-01

Large river systems are inextricably linked with social systems; consequently, management decisions must be made within a given ecological, social, and political framework that often defies objective, technical resolution. Understanding flow-ecology relationships in rivers is necessary to assess potential impacts of management decisions, but translating complex flow-ecology relationships into stakeholder-relevant information remains a struggle. The concept of ecosystem services provides a bridge between flow-ecology relationships and stakeholder-relevant data. Flow-ecology relationships were used to explore complementary and trade-off relationships among 12 ecosystem services and related variables in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana. Results from Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration were reduced to four management-relevant hydrologic variables using principal components analysis. Multiple regression was used to determine flow-ecology relationships and Pearson correlation coefficients, along with regression results, were used to determine complementary and trade-off relationships among ecosystem services and related variables that were induced by flow. Seven ecosystem service variables had significant flow-ecology relationships for at least one hydrologic variable ( R 2 = 0.19-0.64). River transportation and blue crab ( Callinectes sapidus) landings exhibited a complementary relationship mediated by flow; whereas transportation and crawfish landings, crawfish landings and crappie ( Pomoxis spp.) abundance, and blue crab landings and blue catfish ( Ictalurus furcatus) abundance exhibited trade-off relationships. Other trade-off and complementary relationships among ecosystem services and related variables, however, were not related to flow. These results give insight into potential conflicts among stakeholders, can reduce the dimensions of management decisions, and provide initial hypotheses for experimental flow modifications.

Using Flow-Ecology Relationships to Evaluate Ecosystem Service Trade-Offs and Complementarities in the Nation's Largest River Swamp.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozak, Justin P; Bennett, Micah G; Hayden-Lesmeister, Anne; Fritz, Kelley A; Nickolotsky, Aaron

2015-06-01

Large river systems are inextricably linked with social systems; consequently, management decisions must be made within a given ecological, social, and political framework that often defies objective, technical resolution. Understanding flow-ecology relationships in rivers is necessary to assess potential impacts of management decisions, but translating complex flow-ecology relationships into stakeholder-relevant information remains a struggle. The concept of ecosystem services provides a bridge between flow-ecology relationships and stakeholder-relevant data. Flow-ecology relationships were used to explore complementary and trade-off relationships among 12 ecosystem services and related variables in the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana. Results from Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration were reduced to four management-relevant hydrologic variables using principal components analysis. Multiple regression was used to determine flow-ecology relationships and Pearson correlation coefficients, along with regression results, were used to determine complementary and trade-off relationships among ecosystem services and related variables that were induced by flow. Seven ecosystem service variables had significant flow-ecology relationships for at least one hydrologic variable (R (2) = 0.19-0.64). River transportation and blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) landings exhibited a complementary relationship mediated by flow; whereas transportation and crawfish landings, crawfish landings and crappie (Pomoxis spp.) abundance, and blue crab landings and blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) abundance exhibited trade-off relationships. Other trade-off and complementary relationships among ecosystem services and related variables, however, were not related to flow. These results give insight into potential conflicts among stakeholders, can reduce the dimensions of management decisions, and provide initial hypotheses for experimental flow modifications.

General tradeoff relations of quantum nonlocality in the Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt scenario

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Su, Hong-Yi, E-mail: hongyisu@chonnam.ac.kr [Department of Physics Education, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757 (Korea, Republic of); Chen, Jing-Ling [Theoretical Physics Division, Chern Institute of Mathematics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071 (China); Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543 (Singapore); Hwang, Won-Young, E-mail: wyhwang@jnu.ac.kr [Department of Physics Education, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757 (Korea, Republic of)

2017-02-15

General tradeoff relations present in nonlocal correlations of bipartite systems are studied, regardless of any specific quantum states and measuring directions. Extensions to multipartite scenarios are possible and very promising. Tsirelson’s bound can be derived out in particular. The close connection with uncertainty relations is also presented and discussed. - Highlights: • Quantum violation of CHSH inequalities is found to satisfy tradeoff relations. • Tsirelson’s bound for quantum mechanics can be directly implied from these tradeoffs. • Tradeoff relations shed new light on uncertainty relations in summation forms.

The Geometry of Nutrient Space-Based Life-History Trade-Offs: Sex-Specific Effects of Macronutrient Intake on the Trade-Off between Encapsulation Ability and Reproductive Effort in Decorated Crickets.

Science.gov (United States)

Rapkin, James; Jensen, Kim; Archer, C Ruth; House, Clarissa M; Sakaluk, Scott K; Castillo, Enrique Del; Hunt, John

2018-04-01

Life-history theory assumes that traits compete for limited resources, resulting in trade-offs. The most commonly manipulated resource in empirical studies is the quantity or quality of diet. Recent studies using the geometric framework for nutrition, however, suggest that trade-offs are often regulated by the intake of specific nutrients, but a formal approach to identify and quantify the strength of such trade-offs is lacking. We posit that trade-offs occur whenever life-history traits are maximized in different regions of nutrient space, as evidenced by nonoverlapping 95% confidence regions of the global maximum for each trait and large angles (θ) between linear nutritional vectors and Euclidean distances (d) between global maxima. We then examined the effects of protein and carbohydrate intake on the trade-off between reproduction and aspects of immune function in male and female Gryllodes sigillatus. Female encapsulation ability and egg production increased with the intake of both nutrients, whereas male encapsulation ability increased with protein intake but calling effort increased with carbohydrate intake. The trade-offs between traits was therefore larger in males than in females, as demonstrated by significant negative correlations between the traits in males, nonoverlapping 95% confidence regions, and larger estimates of θ and d. Under dietary choice, the sexes had similar regulated intakes, but neither optimally regulated nutrient intake for maximal trait expression. We highlight the fact that greater consideration of specific nutrient intake is needed when examining nutrient space-based trade-offs.

Value tradeoffs for the Hanford Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Keeney, R.L.; Winterfeldt, D. von [Decision Insights, Inc., Irvine, CA (United States)

1997-09-01

The Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) program at the Hanford Site of the Department of Energy has adopted a logical approach to making decisions that uses decision analysis to structure and analyze decision alternatives and public values to evaluate them. This report is the third in a series to support this effort. The first identified a set of objectives (called {open_quotes}ends objectives{close_quotes}) that characterize the ultimate goals and desires of Hanford decision makers and stakeholders. The second report developed operational measures for these ends objectives (called {open_quotes}ends measures{close_quotes}) and it also developed a set of performance objectives and associated performance measures that are more directly related to how well decision alternatives in the TWRS program perform to achieve the ends objectives. The present report describes the development of quantitative value tradeoffs for both the ends measures and the performance measures. First, five national value experts were interviewed to obtain value tradeoffs for units of the ends measures identified in Keeney and von Winterfeldt (1996). The results of this assessment are shown in Table S1. Second, the implied value tradeoffs for the units of the performance measures were calculated from the value tradeoffs for units of the ends measures provided by the national experts. When calculating the value tradeoffs for the units of the performance measures, very simple quantitative relationships between ends and performance measures were assumed. The results of this calculation are shown in Table S2. The results of this report shown in Tables S1 and S2 should be considered preliminary and largely illustrative of the principles for developing value tradeoffs. The report lists several important caveats and recommendations for how future work can improve on the assessment of value tradeoffs.

Information-disturbance tradeoff in quantum measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maccone, Lorenzo

2006-01-01

We present a simple information-disturbance tradeoff relation valid for any general measurement apparatus: The disturbance between input and output states is lower bounded by the information the apparatus provides in distinguishing these two states

Adaptation of the Electra Radio to Support Multiple Receive Channels

Science.gov (United States)

Satorius, Edgar H.; Shah, Biren N.; Bruvold, Kristoffer N.; Bell, David J.

2011-01-01

Proposed future Mars missions plan communication between multiple assets (rovers). This paper presents the results of a study carried out to assess the potential adaptation of the Electra radio to a multi-channel transceiver. The basic concept is a Frequency Division multiplexing (FDM) communications scheme wherein different receiver architectures are examined. Options considered include: (1) multiple IF slices, A/D and FPGAs each programmed with an Electra baseband modem; (2) common IF but multiple A/Ds and FPGAs and (3) common IF, single A/D and single or multiple FPGAs programmed to accommodate the FDM signals. These options represent the usual tradeoff between analog and digital complexity. Given the space application, a common IF is preferable; however, multiple users present dynamic range challenges (e.g., near-far constraints) that would favor multiple IF slices (Option 1). Vice versa, with a common IF and multiple A/Ds (Option 2), individual AGC control of the A/Ds would be an important consideration. Option 3 would require a common AGC control strategy and would entail multiple digital down conversion paths within the FPGA. In this paper, both FDM parameters as well as the different Electra design options will be examined. In particular, signal channel spacing as a function of user data rates and transmit powers will be evaluated. In addition, tradeoffs between the different Electra design options will be presented with the ultimate goal of defining an augmented Electra radio architecture for potential future missions.

Trade-Off Analysis between Concerns Based on Aspect-Oriented Requirements Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Laurito, Abelyn Methanie R.; Takada, Shingo

The identification of functional and non-functional concerns is an important activity during requirements analysis. However, there may be conflicts between the identified concerns, and they must be discovered and resolved through trade-off analysis. Aspect-Oriented Requirements Engineering (AORE) has trade-off analysis as one of its goals, but most AORE approaches do not actually offer support for trade-off analysis; they focus on describing concerns and generating their composition. This paper proposes an approach for trade-off analysis based on AORE using use cases and the Requirements Conflict Matrix (RCM) to represent compositions. RCM shows the positive or negative effect of non-functional concerns over use cases and other non-functional concerns. Our approach is implemented within a tool called E-UCEd (Extended Use Case Editor). We also show the results of evaluating our tool.

Seasonal and within-canopy variation in shoot-scale resource-use efficiency trade-offs in a Norway spruce stand.

Science.gov (United States)

Tarvainen, Lasse; Räntfors, Mats; Wallin, Göran

2015-11-01

Previous leaf-scale studies of carbon assimilation describe short-term resource-use efficiency (RUE) trade-offs where high use efficiency of one resource requires low RUE of another. However, varying resource availabilities may cause long-term RUE trade-offs to differ from the short-term patterns. This may have important implications for understanding canopy-scale resource use and allocation. We used continuous gas exchange measurements collected at five levels within a Norway spruce, Picea abies (L.) karst., canopy over 3 years to assess seasonal differences in the interactions between shoot-scale resource availability (light, water and nitrogen), net photosynthesis (An ) and the use efficiencies of light (LUE), water (WUE) and nitrogen (NUE) for carbon assimilation. The continuous data set was used to develop and evaluate multiple regression models for predicting monthly shoot-scale An . These models showed that shoot-scale An was strongly dependent on light availability and was generally well described with simple one- or two-parameter models. WUE peaked in spring, NUE in summer and LUE in autumn. However, the relative importance of LUE for carbon assimilation increased with canopy depth at all times. Our results suggest that accounting for seasonal and within-canopy trade-offs may be important for RUE-based modelling of canopy carbon uptake. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A trade-off between precopulatory and postcopulatory trait investment in male cetaceans.

Science.gov (United States)

Dines, James P; Mesnick, Sarah L; Ralls, Katherine; May-Collado, Laura; Agnarsson, Ingi; Dean, Matthew D

2015-06-01

Mating with multiple partners is common across species, and understanding how individual males secure fertilization in the face of competition remains a fundamental goal of evolutionary biology. Game theory stipulates that males have a fixed budget for reproduction that can lead to a trade-off between investment in precopulatory traits such as body size, armaments, and ornaments, and postcopulatory traits such as testis size and spermatogenic efficiency. Recent theoretical and empirical studies have shown that if males can monopolize access to multiple females, they will invest disproportionately in precopulatory traits and less in postcopulatory traits. Using phylogenetically controlled comparative methods, we demonstrate that across 58 cetacean species with the most prominent sexual dimorphism in size, shape, teeth, tusks, and singing invest significantly less in relative testes mass. In support of theoretical predictions, these species tend to show evidence of male contests, suggesting there is opportunity for winners to monopolize access to multiple females. Our approach provides a robust dataset with which to make predictions about male mating strategies for the many cetacean species for which adequate behavioral observations do not exist. © 2015 The Author(s). Evolution © 2015 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Energy Efficiency - Spectral Efficiency Trade-off: A Multiobjective Optimization Approach

KAUST Repository

Amin, Osama

2015-04-23

In this paper, we consider the resource allocation problem for energy efficiency (EE) - spectral efficiency (SE) trade-off. Unlike traditional research that uses the EE as an objective function and imposes constraints either on the SE or achievable rate, we propound a multiobjective optimization approach that can flexibly switch between the EE and SE functions or change the priority level of each function using a trade-off parameter. Our dynamic approach is more tractable than the conventional approaches and more convenient to realistic communication applications and scenarios. We prove that the multiobjective optimization of the EE and SE is equivalent to a simple problem that maximizes the achievable rate/SE and minimizes the total power consumption. Then we apply the generalized framework of the resource allocation for the EE-SE trade-off to optimally allocate the subcarriers’ power for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with imperfect channel estimation. Finally, we use numerical results to discuss the choice of the trade-off parameter and study the effect of the estimation error, transmission power budget and channel-to-noise ratio on the multiobjective optimization.

Energy Efficiency - Spectral Efficiency Trade-off: A Multiobjective Optimization Approach

KAUST Repository

Amin, Osama; Bedeer, Ebrahim; Ahmed, Mohamed; Dobre, Octavia

2015-01-01

In this paper, we consider the resource allocation problem for energy efficiency (EE) - spectral efficiency (SE) trade-off. Unlike traditional research that uses the EE as an objective function and imposes constraints either on the SE or achievable rate, we propound a multiobjective optimization approach that can flexibly switch between the EE and SE functions or change the priority level of each function using a trade-off parameter. Our dynamic approach is more tractable than the conventional approaches and more convenient to realistic communication applications and scenarios. We prove that the multiobjective optimization of the EE and SE is equivalent to a simple problem that maximizes the achievable rate/SE and minimizes the total power consumption. Then we apply the generalized framework of the resource allocation for the EE-SE trade-off to optimally allocate the subcarriers’ power for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with imperfect channel estimation. Finally, we use numerical results to discuss the choice of the trade-off parameter and study the effect of the estimation error, transmission power budget and channel-to-noise ratio on the multiobjective optimization.

Tradeoffs Between Branch Mispredictions and Comparisons for Sorting Algorithms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Moruz, Gabriel

2005-01-01

Branch mispredictions is an important factor affecting the running time in practice. In this paper we consider tradeoffs between the number of branch mispredictions and the number of comparisons for sorting algorithms in the comparison model. We prove that a sorting algorithm using O(dnlog n......) comparisons performs Omega(nlogd n) branch mispredictions. We show that Multiway MergeSort achieves this tradeoff by adopting a multiway merger with a low number of branch mispredictions. For adaptive sorting algorithms we similarly obtain that an algorithm performing O(dn(1+log (1+Inv/n))) comparisons must...... perform Omega(nlogd (1+Inv/n)) branch mispredictions, where Inv is the number of inversions in the input. This tradeoff can be achieved by GenericSort by Estivill-Castro and Wood by adopting a multiway division protocol and a multiway merging algorithm with a low number of branch mispredictions....

Boldness predicts an individual's position along an exploration-exploitation foraging trade-off.

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick, Samantha C; Pinaud, David; Weimerskirch, Henri

2017-09-01

Individuals do not have complete information about the environment and therefore they face a trade-off between gathering information (exploration) and gathering resources (exploitation). Studies have shown individual differences in components of this trade-off but how stable these strategies are in a population and the intrinsic drivers of these differences is not well understood. Top marine predators are expected to experience a particularly strong trade-off as many species have large foraging ranges and their prey often have a patchy distribution. This environment leads these species to exhibit pronounced exploration and exploitation phases but differences between individuals are poorly resolved. Personality differences are known to be important in foraging behaviour but also in the trade-off between exploration and exploitation. Here we test whether personality predicts an individual exploration-exploitation strategy using wide ranging wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) as a model system. Using GPS tracking data from 276 wandering albatrosses, we extract foraging parameters indicative of exploration (searching) and exploitation (foraging) and show that foraging effort, time in patch and size of patch are strongly correlated, demonstrating these are indicative of an exploration-exploitation (EE) strategy. Furthermore, we show these are consistent within individuals and appear stable in the population, with no reproductive advantage. The searching and foraging behaviour of bolder birds placed them towards the exploration end of the trade-off, whereas shy birds showed greater exploitation. This result provides a mechanism through which individual foraging strategies may emerge. Age and sex affected components of the trade-off, but not the trade-off itself, suggesting these factors may drive behavioural compensation to maintain resource acquisition and this was supported by the evidence that there were no fitness consequence of any EE trait nor the trade-off

Women's Benefits and Harms Trade-Offs in Breast Cancer Screening: Results from a Discrete-Choice Experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Sicsic, Jonathan; Pelletier-Fleury, Nathalie; Moumjid, Nora

2018-01-01

Over the past decade, the benefits and harms balance of breast cancer (BC) screening has been widely debated. To elicit women's trade-offs between the benefits and harms of BC screening and to analyze the main determinants of these trade-offs. A discrete-choice experiment with seven attributes depicting BC screening programs including varying levels of BC mortality, overdiagnosis, and false-positive result was used. Eight hundred twelve women aged 40 to 74 years with no personal history of BC recruited by a survey institute and representative of the French general population (age, socioeconomic level, and geographical location) completed the discrete-choice experiment. Preference heterogeneity was investigated using generalized multinomial logit models from which individual trade-offs were derived, and their main determinants were assessed using generalized linear models. Screening acceptance rates under various benefits and harms ratios were simulated on the basis of the distribution of individual preferences. The women would be willing to accept on average 14.1 overdiagnosis cases (median = 9.6) and 47.8 false-positive results (median = 27.2) to avoid one BC-related death. After accounting for preference heterogeneity, less than 50% of women would be willing to accept 10 overdiagnosis cases for one BC-related death avoided. Screening acceptance rates were higher among women with higher socioeconomic level and lower among women with poor health. Women are sensitive to both the benefits and the harms of BC screening and their preferences are highly heterogeneous. Our study provides useful results for public health authorities and clinicians willing to improve their recommendations of BC screening on the basis of women's preferences. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Humanizing Outgroups Through Multiple Categorization

Science.gov (United States)

Prati, Francesca; Crisp, Richard J.; Meleady, Rose; Rubini, Monica

2016-01-01

In three studies, we examined the impact of multiple categorization on intergroup dehumanization. Study 1 showed that perceiving members of a rival university along multiple versus simple categorical dimensions enhanced the tendency to attribute human traits to this group. Study 2 showed that multiple versus simple categorization of immigrants increased the attribution of uniquely human emotions to them. This effect was explained by the sequential mediation of increased individuation of the outgroup and reduced outgroup threat. Study 3 replicated this sequential mediation model and introduced a novel way of measuring humanization in which participants generated attributes corresponding to the outgroup in a free response format. Participants generated more uniquely human traits in the multiple versus simple categorization conditions. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings and consider their role in informing and improving efforts to ameliorate contemporary forms of intergroup discrimination. PMID:26984016

Simultaneous colour visualizations of multiple ALS point cloud attributes for land cover and vegetation analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zlinszky, András; Schroiff, Anke; Otepka, Johannes; Mandlburger, Gottfried; Pfeifer, Norbert

2014-05-01

LIDAR point clouds hold valuable information for land cover and vegetation analysis, not only in the spatial distribution of the points but also in their various attributes. However, LIDAR point clouds are rarely used for visual interpretation, since for most users, the point cloud is difficult to interpret compared to passive optical imagery. Meanwhile, point cloud viewing software is available allowing interactive 3D interpretation, but typically only one attribute at a time. This results in a large number of points with the same colour, crowding the scene and often obscuring detail. We developed a scheme for mapping information from multiple LIDAR point attributes to the Red, Green, and Blue channels of a widely used LIDAR data format, which are otherwise mostly used to add information from imagery to create "photorealistic" point clouds. The possible combinations of parameters are therefore represented in a wide range of colours, but relative differences in individual parameter values of points can be well understood. The visualization was implemented in OPALS software, using a simple and robust batch script, and is viewer independent since the information is stored in the point cloud data file itself. In our case, the following colour channel assignment delivered best results: Echo amplitude in the Red, echo width in the Green and normalized height above a Digital Terrain Model in the Blue channel. With correct parameter scaling (but completely without point classification), points belonging to asphalt and bare soil are dark red, low grassland and crop vegetation are bright red to yellow, shrubs and low trees are green and high trees are blue. Depending on roof material and DTM quality, buildings are shown from red through purple to dark blue. Erroneously high or low points, or points with incorrect amplitude or echo width usually have colours contrasting from terrain or vegetation. This allows efficient visual interpretation of the point cloud in planar

Interparameter trade-off quantification and reduction in isotropic-elastic full-waveform inversion: synthetic experiments and Hussar land data set application

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Wenyong; Geng, Yu; Innanen, Kristopher A.

2018-05-01

The problem of inverting for multiple physical parameters in the subsurface using seismic full-waveform inversion (FWI) is complicated by interparameter trade-off arising from inherent ambiguities between different physical parameters. Parameter resolution is often characterized using scattering radiation patterns, but these neglect some important aspects of interparameter trade-off. More general analysis and mitigation of interparameter trade-off in isotropic-elastic FWI is possible through judiciously chosen multiparameter Hessian matrix-vector products. We show that products of multiparameter Hessian off-diagonal blocks with model perturbation vectors, referred to as interparameter contamination kernels, are central to the approach. We apply the multiparameter Hessian to various vectors designed to provide information regarding the strengths and characteristics of interparameter contamination, both locally and within the whole volume. With numerical experiments, we observe that S-wave velocity perturbations introduce strong contaminations into density and phase-reversed contaminations into P-wave velocity, but themselves experience only limited contaminations from other parameters. Based on these findings, we introduce a novel strategy to mitigate the influence of interparameter trade-off with approximate contamination kernels. Furthermore, we recommend that the local spatial and interparameter trade-off of the inverted models be quantified using extended multiparameter point spread functions (EMPSFs) obtained with pre-conditioned conjugate-gradient algorithm. Compared to traditional point spread functions, the EMPSFs appear to provide more accurate measurements for resolution analysis, by de-blurring the estimations, scaling magnitudes and mitigating interparameter contamination. Approximate eigenvalue volumes constructed with stochastic probing approach are proposed to evaluate the resolution of the inverted models within the whole model. With a synthetic

Parent-offspring conflict and the genetic trade-offs shaping parental investment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kölliker, Mathias; Boos, Stefan; Wong, Janine W Y; Röllin, Lilian; Stucki, Dimitri; Raveh, Shirley; Wu, Min; Meunier, Joël

2015-04-16

The genetic conflict between parents and their offspring is a cornerstone of kin selection theory and the gene-centred view of evolution, but whether it actually occurs in natural systems remains an open question. Conflict operates only if parenting is driven by genetic trade-offs between offspring performance and the parent's ability to raise additional offspring, and its expression critically depends on the shape of these trade-offs. Here we investigate the occurrence and nature of genetic conflict in an insect with maternal care, the earwig Forficula auricularia. Specifically, we test for a direct response to experimental selection on female future reproduction and correlated responses in current offspring survival, developmental rate and growth. The results demonstrate genetic trade-offs that differ in shape before and after hatching. Our study not only provides direct evidence for parent-offspring conflict but also highlights that conflict is not inevitable and critically depends on the genetic trade-offs shaping parental investment.

A Goal Oriented Approach for Modeling and Analyzing Security Trade-Offs

Science.gov (United States)

Elahi, Golnaz; Yu, Eric

In designing software systems, security is typically only one design objective among many. It may compete with other objectives such as functionality, usability, and performance. Too often, security mechanisms such as firewalls, access control, or encryption are adopted without explicit recognition of competing design objectives and their origins in stakeholder interests. Recently, there is increasing acknowledgement that security is ultimately about trade-offs. One can only aim for "good enough" security, given the competing demands from many parties. In this paper, we examine how conceptual modeling can provide explicit and systematic support for analyzing security trade-offs. After considering the desirable criteria for conceptual modeling methods, we examine several existing approaches for dealing with security trade-offs. From analyzing the limitations of existing methods, we propose an extension to the i* framework for security trade-off analysis, taking advantage of its multi-agent and goal orientation. The method was applied to several case studies used to exemplify existing approaches.

Intertemporal Risk-Return Trade-off in Foreign Exchange Rates

OpenAIRE

Christiansen, Charlotte

2010-01-01

We investigate the intertemporal risk-return trade-off of foreign ex-change (FX) rates for ten currencies quoted against the USD. For each currency,we use three risk measures simultaneously that pertain to that currency; its re-alized volatility, its realized skewness, and its value-at-risk. We apply monthlyFX excess returns and monthly FX risk measures calculated from daily ob-servations. We find that there is a positive and signi…cant contemporaneousrisk-return trade-off for most currencies...

Trade-off preferences regarding adjuvant endocrine therapy among women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouters, H.; Maatman, G.A.; Dijk, L. van; Bouvy, M.L.; Vree, R.; Geffen, E.C.G. van; Nortier, J.W.; Stiggelbout, A.M.

2013-01-01

Background: There is substantial nonadherence to effective adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer prevention. We therefore examined patients' trade-offs between the efficacy, side-effects, and regimen duration, and whether trade-offs predicted nonadherence. Patients and methods: Trade-offs

Trade-off preferences regarding adjuvant endocrine therapy among women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouters, H; Maatman, G A; Van Dijk, L; Bouvy, M L; Vree, R; Van Geffen, E C G; Nortier, J W; Stiggelbout, A M

BACKGROUND: There is substantial nonadherence to effective adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer prevention. We therefore examined patients' trade-offs between the efficacy, side-effects, and regimen duration, and whether trade-offs predicted nonadherence. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Trade-offs

Attributional Choices for Academic Success and Failure by Intellectually Gifted Students

Science.gov (United States)

Assouline, Susan G.; Colangelo, Nicholas; Ihrig, Damien; Forstadt, Leslie

2006-01-01

This study emerges from the lack of empirical research on gifted students' attributions about academic success and failure in multiple subject areas and school in general. We explored differences in top attributional choices between boys and girls for success and failure in general academics, language arts, science, and mathematics. Gifted…

Culture impacts the magnitude of the emotion-induced memory trade-off effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Gutchess, Angela; Garner, Lauryn; Ligouri, Laura; Konuk, Ayse Isilay; Boduroglu, Aysecan

2017-10-04

The present study assessed the extent to which culture impacts the emotion-induced memory trade-off effect. This trade-off effect occurs because emotional items are better remembered than neutral ones, but this advantage comes at the expense of memory for backgrounds such that neutral backgrounds are remembered worse when they occurred with an emotional item than with a neutral one. Cultures differ in their prioritisation of focal object versus contextual background information, with Westerners focusing more on objects and Easterners focusing more on backgrounds. Americans, a Western culture, and Turks, an Eastern-influenced culture, incidentally encoded positive, negative, and neutral items placed against neutral backgrounds, and then completed a surprise memory test with the items and backgrounds tested separately. Results revealed a reduced trade-off for Turks compared to Americans. Although both groups exhibited an emotional enhancement in item memory, Turks did not show a decrement in memory for backgrounds that had been paired with emotional items. These findings complement prior ones showing reductions in trade-off effects as a result of task instructions. Here, we suggest that a contextual-focus at the level of culture can mitigate trade-off effects in emotional memory.

Diverse Expected Gradient Active Learning for Relative Attributes.

Science.gov (United States)

You, Xinge; Wang, Ruxin; Tao, Dacheng

2014-06-02

The use of relative attributes for semantic understanding of images and videos is a promising way to improve communication between humans and machines. However, it is extremely labor- and time-consuming to define multiple attributes for each instance in large amount of data. One option is to incorporate active learning, so that the informative samples can be actively discovered and then labeled. However, most existing active-learning methods select samples one at a time (serial mode), and may therefore lose efficiency when learning multiple attributes. In this paper, we propose a batch-mode active-learning method, called Diverse Expected Gradient Active Learning (DEGAL). This method integrates an informativeness analysis and a diversity analysis to form a diverse batch of queries. Specifically, the informativeness analysis employs the expected pairwise gradient length as a measure of informativeness, while the diversity analysis forces a constraint on the proposed diverse gradient angle. Since simultaneous optimization of these two parts is intractable, we utilize a two-step procedure to obtain the diverse batch of queries. A heuristic method is also introduced to suppress imbalanced multi-class distributions. Empirical evaluations of three different databases demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approach.

Speed and stamina trade-off in lacertid lizards.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanhooydonck, B; Van Damme, R; Aerts, P

2001-05-01

Morphological and physiological considerations suggest that sprinting ability and endurance capacity put conflicting demands on the design of an animal's locomotor apparatus and therefore cannot be maximized simultaneously. To test this hypothesis, we correlated size-corrected maximal sprint speed and stamina of 12 species of lacertid lizards. Phylogenetically independent contrasts of sprint speed and stamina showed a significant negative relationship, giving support to the idea of an evolutionary trade-off between the two performance measures. To test the hypothesis that the trade-off is mediated by a conflict in morphological requirements, we correlated both performance traits with snout-vent length, size-corrected estimates of body mass and limb length, and relative hindlimb length (the residuals of the relationship between hind- and forelimb length). Fast-running species had hindlimbs that were long compared to their forelimbs. None of the other size or shape variables showed a significant relationship with speed or endurance. We conclude that the evolution of sprint capacity may be constrained by the need for endurance capacity and vice versa, but the design conflict underlying this trade-off has yet to be identified.

100 Areas soil washing tradeoff study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belden, R.D.

1995-11-01

The complex nature of cost analysis and systems work demands a level of effort to ensure that decisions made support the best interests of all parties. This tradeoff study will act as a formal decision analysis method for the evaluation of many variables. The documentation of the decision rationale and system design is essential for successful planning and implementation of any system. The Hanford Site offers unique problems for economic analysis of remediation alternatives. The variations in the size of sites, geographic locations, and possible cleanup scenarios all add to the complexity of the tradeoff analysis. A thorough examination of all alternatives must be held to a level of detail appropriate to current regulatory and budgetary considerations. This study will compare the economics of two specific alternatives for remediation of soils at the Hanford Site. Remove and dispose is compared to remove, treat, and dispose. The treatment analyzed in this study is volume reduction through soil washing

Features of spatial and functional segregation and integration of the primate connectome revealed by trade-off between wiring cost and efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yuhan; Wang, Shengjun; Hilgetag, Claus C; Zhou, Changsong

2017-09-01

The primate connectome, possessing a characteristic global topology and specific regional connectivity profiles, is well organized to support both segregated and integrated brain function. However, the organization mechanisms shaping the characteristic connectivity and its relationship to functional requirements remain unclear. The primate brain connectome is shaped by metabolic economy as well as functional values. Here, we explored the influence of two competing factors and additional advanced functional requirements on the primate connectome employing an optimal trade-off model between neural wiring cost and the representative functional requirement of processing efficiency. Moreover, we compared this model with a generative model combining spatial distance and topological similarity, with the objective of statistically reproducing multiple topological features of the network. The primate connectome indeed displays a cost-efficiency trade-off and that up to 67% of the connections were recovered by optimal combination of the two basic factors of wiring economy and processing efficiency, clearly higher than the proportion of connections (56%) explained by the generative model. While not explicitly aimed for, the trade-off model captured several key topological features of the real connectome as the generative model, yet better explained the connectivity of most regions. The majority of the remaining 33% of connections unexplained by the best trade-off model were long-distance links, which are concentrated on few cortical areas, termed long-distance connectors (LDCs). The LDCs are mainly non-hubs, but form a densely connected group overlapping on spatially segregated functional modalities. LDCs are crucial for both functional segregation and integration across different scales. These organization features revealed by the optimization analysis provide evidence that the demands of advanced functional segregation and integration among spatially distributed regions may

Quantum circuit implementation of the optimal information-disturbance tradeoff of maximally entangled states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang ShengLi; Zou Xubo; Li Ke; Jin Chenhui; Guo Guangcan

2008-01-01

We give a direct derivation for the information-disturbance tradeoff in estimating a maximally entangled state, which was first obtained by Sacchi (2006 Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 220502) in terms of the covariant positive operator valued measurement (POVM) and Jamiolkowski's isomorphism. We find that, the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, which is one of the most powerful tools in deriving the tradeoff for a single-particle pure state still plays a key role in the case of the maximal entanglement estimation. Our result shows that the inequality becomes equality when the optimal tradeoff is achieved. Moreover, we demonstrate that such a tradeoff is physically achievable with a quantum circuit that only involves single- and two-particle logic gates and single-particle measurements

Experimental manipulation reveals a trade-off between weapons and testes.

Science.gov (United States)

Somjee, U; Miller, C W; Tatarnic, N J; Simmons, L W

2018-01-01

Theory predicts a trade-off between sexually selected weapons used to secure mates and post-copulatory traits used to maximize fertilization success. However, individuals that have a greater capacity to acquire resources from the environment may invest more in both pre- and post-copulatory traits, and trade-offs may not be readily apparent. Here, we manipulate the phenotype of developing individuals to examine allocation trade-offs between weapons and testes in Mictis profana (Hemiptera: Coreidae), a species where the hind legs are sexually selected weapons used in contests over access to females. We experimentally prevented males from developing weapons by inducing them to autotomize their hind legs before the final moult to adulthood. We compared trait expression in this group to males where autotomy was induced in the mid-legs, which are presumably not under sexual selection to the same extent. We found males without weapons invested proportionally more in testes mass than those with their mid-legs removed. Males that developed to adulthood without weapons did not differ from the mid-leg removal group in other traits potentially under precopulatory sexual selection, other post-copulatory traits or naturally selected traits. In addition, a sample of adult males from the same population in the wild revealed a positive correlation between investment in testes and weapons. Our study presents a critical contribution to a growing body of literature suggesting the allocation of resources to pre- and post-copulatory sexual traits is influenced by a resource allocation trade-off and that this trade-off may only be revealed with experimental manipulation. © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

"Entrepreneurship policy: Trade-offs and impact in the EU"

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Murdock, Karen

2012-01-01

Based on the notion that trade-offs in public policies form the basis of the separation of managed and entrepreneurial economies; this paper investigates the impact of policy on actual entrepreneurship activity in these two categories of economies. Using data from 19 European Union member countries......, the impact that policy trade-offs in the goal, target, location and system of finance have on entrepreneurship activity is measured using ordinary least squares regression. The results indicate that while business regulation negatively impact entrepreneurship activity, the location of policy does not show...

Valuing Treatments for Parkinson Disease Incorporating Process Utility: Performance of Best-Worst Scaling, Time Trade-Off, and Visual Analogue Scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Weernink, Marieke G M; Groothuis-Oudshoorn, Catharina G M; IJzerman, Maarten J; van Til, Janine A

2016-01-01

The objective of this study was to compare treatment profiles including both health outcomes and process characteristics in Parkinson disease using best-worst scaling (BWS), time trade-off (TTO), and visual analogue scales (VAS). From the model comprising of seven attributes with three levels, six unique profiles were selected representing process-related factors and health outcomes in Parkinson disease. A Web-based survey (N = 613) was conducted in a general population to estimate process-related utilities using profile-based BWS (case 2), multiprofile-based BWS (case 3), TTO, and VAS. The rank order of the six profiles was compared, convergent validity among methods was assessed, and individual analysis focused on the differentiation between pairs of profiles with methods used. The aggregated health-state utilities for the six treatment profiles were highly comparable for all methods and no rank reversals were identified. On the individual level, the convergent validity between all methods was strong; however, respondents differentiated less in the utility of closely related treatment profiles with a VAS or TTO than with BWS. For TTO and VAS, this resulted in nonsignificant differences in mean utilities for closely related treatment profiles. This study suggests that all methods are equally able to measure process-related utility when the aim is to estimate the overall value of treatments. On an individual level, such as in shared decision making, BWS allows for better prioritization of treatment alternatives, especially if they are closely related. The decision-making problem and the need for explicit trade-off between attributes should determine the choice for a method. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Fitness tradeoffs of antibiotic resistance in extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Basra, Prabh; Alsaadi, Ahlam; Bernal-Astrain, Gabriel; O'Sullivan, Michael Liam; Hazlett, Bryn; Clarke, Leah Marie; Schoenrock, Andrew; Pitre, Sylvain; Wong, Alex

2018-02-07

Evolutionary trade-offs occur when selection on one trait has detrimental effects on other traits. In pathogenic microbes, it has been hypothesized that antibiotic resistance trades off with fitness in the absence of antibiotic. While studies of single resistance mutations support this hypothesis, it is unclear whether trade-offs are maintained over time, due to compensatory evolution and broader effects of genetic background. Here, we leverage natural variation in 39 extra-intestinal clinical isolates of Escherichia coli to assess trade-offs between growth rates and resistance to fluoroquinolone and cephalosporin antibiotics. Whole genome sequencing identifies a broad range of clinically relevant resistance determinants in these strains. We find evidence for a negative correlation between growth rate and antibiotic resistance, consistent with a persistent trade-off between resistance and growth. However, this relationship is sometimes weak, and depends on the environment in which growth rates are measured. Using in vitro selection experiments, we find that compensatory evolution in one environment does not guarantee compensation in other environments. Thus, even in the face of compensatory evolution and other genetic background effects, resistance may be broadly costly, supporting the use of drug restriction protocols to limit the spread of resistance. Furthermore, our study demonstrates the power of using natural variation to study evolutionary trade-offs in microbes. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Trade-offs between carbon, water, soil and food in Guanzhong-Tianshui economic region from remotely sensed data

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Z. X.; Li, Jing; Guo, Z. Z.; Li, Ting

2017-06-01

It is important to ensure the efficient supply of land ecosystem services when the competition for land is increasing. In this paper we simulated the ecosystem services function under two scenarios, including carbon sequestration, agricultural production, water and soil conservation, and analyzed the tradeoffs among these ecosystem services in Guanzhong-Tianshui region from 2000 to 2050. Then the productive efficiency of ecosystem services was assessed under two scenarios and compared their production possibility frontiers (PPFs). Through the simulation analysis of their optimum allocation, we also provide the scientific evidence to the development of ecosystem. The natural rules were revealed that if these trade-offs emphasize the potential to sequester carbon in the landscape, along with very little loss of agricultural production, much more water is used. It could be identified to adhere to combine the exploitation and utilization, remediation and protection for land to promote the effective circulation of land eco-system, and meet the society's preferences for land ecosystem service function by adjusting the use of multiple eco-services.

Competing values, tensions and trade-offs in management of nuclear power plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Reiman, Teemu; Rollenhagen, Carl

2012-01-01

The specific goal of the study is to look how tensions, competing values and trade-offs manifest in the management of nuclear power plants. Second goal is to inspect how existing frameworks, such as Competing Values Framework, can be used to model the tensions. Empirical data consists of thirty interviews that were conducted as part of a NKS study on safety culture in the Nordic nuclear branch. Eight trade-offs are identified based on a grounded theory based analysis of the interview data. The competing values and potential tensions involved in the trade-offs are discussed.

Invasion versus isolation: trade-offs in managing native salmonids with barriers to upstream movement.

Science.gov (United States)

Fausch, Kurt D; Rieman, Bruce E; Dunham, Jason B; Young, Michael K; Peterson, Douglas P

2009-08-01

Conservation biologists often face the trade-off that increasing connectivity in fragmented landscapes to reduce extinction risk of native species can foster invasion by non-native species that enter via the corridors created, which can then increase extinction risk. This dilemma is acute for stream fishes, especially native salmonids, because their populations are frequently relegated to fragments of headwater habitat threatened by invasion from downstream by 3 cosmopolitan non-native salmonids. Managers often block these upstream invasions with movement barriers, but isolation of native salmonids in small headwater streams can increase the threat of local extinction. We propose a conceptual framework to address this worldwide problem that focuses on 4 main questions. First, are populations of conservation value present (considering evolutionary legacies, ecological functions, and socioeconomic benefits as distinct values)? Second, are populations vulnerable to invasion and displacement by non-native salmonids? Third, would these populations be threatened with local extinction if isolated with barriers? And, fourth, how should management be prioritized among multiple populations? We also developed a conceptual model of the joint trade-off of invasion and isolation threats that considers the opportunities for managers to make strategic decisions. We illustrated use of this framework in an analysis of the invasion-isolation trade-off for native cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) in 2 contrasting basins in western North America where invasion and isolation are either present and strong or farther away and apparently weak. These cases demonstrate that decisions to install or remove barriers to conserve native salmonids are often complex and depend on conservation values, environmental context (which influences the threat of invasion and isolation), and additional socioeconomic factors. Explicit analysis with tools such as those we propose can help managers make

Verification of classified fissile material using unclassified attributes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicholas, N.J.; Fearey, B.L.; Puckett, J.M.; Tape, J.W.

1998-01-01

This paper reports on the most recent efforts of US technical experts to explore verification by IAEA of unclassified attributes of classified excess fissile material. Two propositions are discussed: (1) that multiple unclassified attributes could be declared by the host nation and then verified (and reverified) by the IAEA in order to provide confidence in that declaration of a classified (or unclassified) inventory while protecting classified or sensitive information; and (2) that attributes could be measured, remeasured, or monitored to provide continuity of knowledge in a nonintrusive and unclassified manner. They believe attributes should relate to characteristics of excess weapons materials and should be verifiable and authenticatable with methods usable by IAEA inspectors. Further, attributes (along with the methods to measure them) must not reveal any classified information. The approach that the authors have taken is as follows: (1) assume certain attributes of classified excess material, (2) identify passive signatures, (3) determine range of applicable measurement physics, (4) develop a set of criteria to assess and select measurement technologies, (5) select existing instrumentation for proof-of-principle measurements and demonstration, and (6) develop and design information barriers to protect classified information. While the attribute verification concepts and measurements discussed in this paper appear promising, neither the attribute verification approach nor the measurement technologies have been fully developed, tested, and evaluated

Condition-Dependent Trade-Off Between Weapon Size and Immunity in Males of the European Earwig.

Science.gov (United States)

Körner, Maximilian; Vogelweith, Fanny; Foitzik, Susanne; Meunier, Joël

2017-08-11

Investigating the expression of trade-offs between key life-history functions is central to our understanding of how these functions evolved and are maintained. However, detecting trade-offs can be challenging due to variation in resource availability, which masks trade-offs at the population level. Here, we investigated in the European earwig Forficula auricularia whether (1) weapon size trades off with three key immune parameters - hemocyte concentration, phenoloxidase and prophenoloxidase activity - and whether (2) expression and strength of these trade-offs depend on male body condition (body size) and/or change after an immune challenge. Our results partially confirmed condition dependent trade-offs between weapon size and immunity in male earwigs. Specifically, we found that after an immune challenge, weapon size trades off with hemocyte concentrations in low-condition, but not in good-condition males. Contrastingly, weapon size was independent of pre-challenge hemocyte concentration. We also found no trade-off between weapon size and phenoloxidase activity, independent of body condition and immune challenge. Overall, our study reveals that trade-offs with sexual traits may weaken or disappear in good-condition individuals. Given the importance of weapon size for male reproductive success, our results highlight how low-condition individuals may employ alternative life-history investment strategies to cope with resource limitation.

Disguising quantum channels by mixing and channel distance trade-off

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fung, Chi-Hang Fred; Chau, H F

2014-01-01

We consider the reverse problem of the distinguishability of two quantum channels, which we call the disguising problem. Given two quantum channels, the goal here is to make the two channels identical by mixing with some other channels with minimal mixing probabilities. This quantifies how much one channel can disguise as the other. In addition, the possibility to trade-off between the two mixing probabilities allows one channel to be more preserved (less mixed) at the expense of the other. We derive lower- and upper-bounds of the trade-off curve and apply them to a few example channels. Optimal trade-off is obtained in one example. We relate the disguising problem and the distinguishability problem by showing that the former can lower and upper bound the diamond norm. We also show that the disguising problem gives an upper-bound on the key generation rate in quantum cryptography. (paper)

Development and Validation of the Masculine Attributes Questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Junhan; Kogan, Steven M

2017-07-01

The present study describes the development and validation of the Masculine Attributes Questionnaire (MAQ). The purpose of this study was to develop a theoretically and empirically grounded measure of masculine attributes for sexual health research with African American young men. Consistent with Whitehead's theory, the MAQ items were hypothesized to comprise two components representing reputation-based and respect-based attributes. The sample included 505 African American men aged 19 to 22 years ( M = 20.29, SD = 1.10) living in resource-poor communities in the rural South. Convergent and discriminant validity of the MAQ were assessed by examining the associations of masculinity attributes with psychosocial factors. Criterion validity was assessed by examining the extent to which the MAQ subscales predicted sexual risk behavior outcomes. Consistent with study hypotheses, the MAQ was composed of (a) reputation-based attributes oriented toward sexual prowess, toughness, and authority-defying behavior and (b) respect-based attributes oriented toward economic independence, socially approved levels of hard work and education, and committed romantic relationships. Reputation-based attributes were associated positively with street code and negatively related to academic orientation, vocational engagement, and self-regulation, whereas respect-based attributes were associated positively with academic and vocational orientations and self-regulation. Finally, reputation-based attributes predicted sexual risk behaviors including concurrent sexual partnerships, multiple sexual partners, marijuana use, and incarceration, net of the influence of respect-based attributes. The development of the MAQ provides a new measure that permits systematic quantitative investigation of the associations between African American men's masculinity ideology and sexual risk behavior.

Tradeoffs around crop residue biomass in smallholder crop-livestock systems - What's next?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tittonell, P.A.; Gérard, B.; Erenstein, O.

2015-01-01

Much has been written on the tradeoffs that smallholder farmers face when having to allocate their biomass resources among competing objectives such as feed, fuel, mulch, compost or the market. This paper summarises yet a new body of evidence from 10 studies on tradeoffs in the allocation of cereal

Face Image Retrieval of Efficient Sparse Code words and Multiple Attribute in Binning Image

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suchitra S

2017-08-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT In photography, face recognition and face retrieval play an important role in many applications such as security, criminology and image forensics. Advancements in face recognition make easier for identity matching of an individual with attributes. Latest development in computer vision technologies enables us to extract facial attributes from the input image and provide similar image results. In this paper, we propose a novel LOP and sparse codewords method to provide similar matching results with respect to input query image. To improve accuracy in image results with input image and dynamic facial attributes, Local octal pattern algorithm [LOP] and Sparse codeword applied in offline and online. The offline and online procedures in face image binning techniques apply with sparse code. Experimental results with Pubfig dataset shows that the proposed LOP along with sparse codewords able to provide matching results with increased accuracy of 90%.

Insights from life history theory for an explicit treatment of trade-offs in conservation biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Charpentier, Anne

2015-06-01

As economic and social contexts become more embedded within biodiversity conservation, it becomes obvious that resources are a limiting factor in conservation. This recognition is leading conservation scientists and practitioners to increasingly frame conservation decisions as trade-offs between conflicting societal objectives. However, this framing is all too often done in an intuitive way, rather than by addressing trade-offs explicitly. In contrast, the concept of trade-off is a keystone in evolutionary biology, where it has been investigated extensively. I argue that insights from evolutionary theory can provide methodological and theoretical support to evaluating and quantifying trade-offs in biodiversity conservation. I reviewed the diverse ways in which trade-offs have emerged within the context of conservation and how advances from evolutionary theory can help avoid the main pitfalls of an implicit approach. When studying both evolutionary trade-offs (e.g., reproduction vs. survival) and conservation trade-offs (e.g., biodiversity conservation vs. agriculture), it is crucial to correctly identify the limiting resource, hold constant the amount of this resource when comparing different scenarios, and choose appropriate metrics to quantify the extent to which the objectives have been achieved. Insights from studies in evolutionary theory also reveal how an inadequate selection of conservation solutions may result from considering suboptimal rather than optional solutions when examining whether a trade-off exits between 2 objectives. Furthermore, the shape of a trade-off curve (i.e., whether the relationship between 2 objectives follows a concave, convex, or linear form) is known to affect crucially the definition of optimal solutions in evolutionary biology and very likely affects decisions in biodiversity conservation planning too. This interface between evolutionary biology and biodiversity conservation can therefore provide methodological guidance to

A comparison of carbon allocation schemes: On the equity-efficiency tradeoff

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan, Xunzhang; Teng, Fei; Wang, Gehua

2014-01-01

In the long-term stabilization targets of greenhouse gases concentrations, various carbon emission rights allocation schemes have been proposed. To compare and evaluate them, the most essential is the equity-efficiency tradeoff. This paper measures the equity and the efficiency in the global rather than the narrower national perspective. Specifically, the equity of the first allocation is quantified by the carbon Gini coefficient defined by per capita cumulative emission, and the economic efficiency to accomplish obligations is described with the discounted global abatement costs. Under 20 key allocation schemes, the numerical comparison on the equity-efficiency tradeoff side is carried out through the Equitable Access to Sustainable Development model. Our studies indicate that the equity and the efficiency of future emission space allocation approximately show a three-stage relationship. - Highlights: • The equity-efficiency tradeoff among 20 key allocation schemes is carried out. • Both the equity and the efficiency are measured in the global perspective. • The Equitable Access to Sustainable Development model is adopted as the study tool. • A practical trade framework is indispensable to efficiently address climate change. • The equity and the efficiency generally show a three-stage tradeoff relationship

Predicting coexistence of plants subject to a tolerance-competition trade-off.

Science.gov (United States)

Haegeman, Bart; Sari, Tewfik; Etienne, Rampal S

2014-06-01

Ecological trade-offs between species are often invoked to explain species coexistence in ecological communities. However, few mathematical models have been proposed for which coexistence conditions can be characterized explicitly in terms of a trade-off. Here we present a model of a plant community which allows such a characterization. In the model plant species compete for sites where each site has a fixed stress condition. Species differ both in stress tolerance and competitive ability. Stress tolerance is quantified as the fraction of sites with stress conditions low enough to allow establishment. Competitive ability is quantified as the propensity to win the competition for empty sites. We derive the deterministic, discrete-time dynamical system for the species abundances. We prove the conditions under which plant species can coexist in a stable equilibrium. We show that the coexistence conditions can be characterized graphically, clearly illustrating the trade-off between stress tolerance and competitive ability. We compare our model with a recently proposed, continuous-time dynamical system for a tolerance-fecundity trade-off in plant communities, and we show that this model is a special case of the continuous-time version of our model.

Environmental trade-offs of tunnels vs cut-and-cover subways

Science.gov (United States)

Walton, M.

1978-01-01

Heavy construction projects in cities entail two kinds of cost - internal cost, which can be defined in terms of payments from one set of parties to another, and external cost, which is the cost borne by the community at large as the result of disutilities entailed in construction and operation. Environmental trade-offs involve external costs, which are commonly difficult to measure. Cut-and-cover subway construction probably entails higher external and internal cost than deep tunnel construction in many urban geological environments, but uncertainty concerning the costs and environmental trade-offs of tunneling leads to limited and timid use of tunneling by American designers. Thus uncertainty becomes a major trade-off which works against tunneling. The reverse is true in Sweden after nearly 30 years of subway construction. Econometric methods for measuring external costs exist in principle, but are limited in application. Economic theory based on market pressure does not address the real problem of urban environmental trade-offs. Nevertheless, the problem of uncertainty can be addressed by comparative studies of estimated and as-built costs of cut-and-cover vs tunnel projects and a review of environmental issues associated with such construction. Such a study would benefit the underground construction industry and the design of transportation systems. It would also help solve an aspect of the urban problem. ?? 1978.

Response Surface Approximation for Fatigue Life Prediction and Its Application to Multi-Criteria Optimization With a Priori Preference Information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baek, Seok Heum; Joo, Won Sik; Cho, Seok Swoo

2009-01-01

In this paper, a versatile multi-criteria optimization concept for fatigue life prediction is introduced. Multi-criteria decision making in engineering design refers to obtaining a preferred optimal solution in the context of conflicting design objectives. Compromise decision support problems are used to model engineering decisions involving multiple trade-offs. These methods typically rely on a summation of weighted attributes to accomplish trade-offs among competing objectives. This paper gives an interpretation of the decision parameters as governing both the relative importance of the attributes and the degree of compensation between them. The approach utilizes a response surface model, the compromise decision support problem, which is a multi-objective formulation based on goal programming. Examples illustrate the concepts and demonstrate their applicability

Relational Aggression and Hostile Attribution Biases: Testing Multiple Statistical Methods and Models

Science.gov (United States)

Godleski, Stephanie A.; Ostrov, Jamie M.

2010-01-01

The present study used both categorical and dimensional approaches to test the association between relational and physical aggression and hostile intent attributions for both relational and instrumental provocation situations using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development longitudinal Study of Early Child Care and Youth…

Evolutionary trade-offs in plants mediate the strength of trophic cascades.

Science.gov (United States)

Mooney, Kailen A; Halitschke, Rayko; Kessler, Andre; Agrawal, Anurag A

2010-03-26

Predators determine herbivore and plant biomass via so-called trophic cascades, and the strength of such effects is influenced by ecosystem productivity. To determine whether evolutionary trade-offs among plant traits influence patterns of trophic control, we manipulated predators and soil fertility and measured impacts of a major herbivore (the aphid Aphis nerii) on 16 milkweed species (Asclepias spp.) in a phylogenetic field experiment. Herbivore density was determined by variation in predation and trade-offs between herbivore resistance and plant growth strategy. Neither herbivore density nor predator effects on herbivores predicted the cascading effects of predators on plant biomass. Instead, cascade strength was strongly and positively associated with milkweed response to soil fertility. Accordingly, contemporary patterns of trophic control are driven by evolutionary convergent trade-offs faced by plants.

Trade-offs, co-benefits and safeguards: Current debates on the breadth of REDD+.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Visseren-Hamakers, I.J.; McDermott, C.; Vijge, M.J.; Cashore, B.

2012-01-01

Fundamental trade-offs exist between different land uses for carbon, livelihoods, economic development, biodiversity, agriculture and energy (especially biofuels). This article analyses the scientific debates on REDD+ trade-offs, co-benefits and safeguards, and shows how the development and expanded

Scheduling and Optimization of Fault-Tolerant Embedded Systems with Transparency/Performance Trade-Offs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Izosimov, Viacheslav; Pop, Paul; Eles, Petru

2012-01-01

In this article, we propose a strategy for the synthesis of fault-tolerant schedules and for the mapping of fault-tolerant applications. Our techniques handle transparency/performance trade-offs and use the faultoccurrence information to reduce the overhead due to fault tolerance. Processes...... and messages are statically scheduled, and we use process reexecution for recovering from multiple transient faults. We propose a finegrained transparent recovery, where the property of transparency can be selectively applied to processes and messages. Transparency hides the recovery actions in a selected part...... of the application so that they do not affect the schedule of other processes and messages. While leading to longer schedules, transparent recovery has the advantage of both improved debuggability and less memory needed to store the faulttolerant schedules....

Multiplant strategy under core-periphery structure

OpenAIRE

Tsubota, Kenmei

2012-01-01

A typical implicit assumption on monopolistic competition models for trade and economic geography is that firms can produce and sell only at one place. This paper fallows endogenous determination of the number of plants in a new economic geography model and examine the stable outcomes of organization choice between single-plant and multi-plant in two regions. We explicitly consider the firms' trade-off between larger economies of scale under single plant configuration and the saving in interr...

Measuring service quality trade-offs in Asian distribution channels: A multi-layer perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wetzels, M.G.M.; Ruyter, de J.C.; Lemmink, J.G.A.M.

2000-01-01

In international marketing channels customer service has become an important factor in supplier and purchase decisions. In evaluating supplier performance several trade-offs are taken into account by actors operating at various channel levels. These are trade-offs among customer service elements and

No genetic tradeoffs between hygienic behaviour and individual innate immunity in the honey bee, Apis mellifera.

Science.gov (United States)

Harpur, Brock A; Chernyshova, Anna; Soltani, Arash; Tsvetkov, Nadejda; Mahjoorighasrodashti, Mohammad; Xu, Zhixing; Zayed, Amro

2014-01-01

Many animals have individual and social mechanisms for combating pathogens. Animals may exhibit short-term physiological tradeoffs between social and individual immunity because the latter is often energetically costly. Genetic tradeoffs between these two traits can also occur if mutations that enhance social immunity diminish individual immunity, or vice versa. Physiological tradeoffs between individual and social immunity have been previously documented in insects, but there has been no study of genetic tradeoffs involving these traits. There is strong evidence that some genes influence both innate immunity and behaviour in social insects--a prerequisite for genetic tradeoffs. Quantifying genetic tradeoffs is critical for understanding the evolution of immunity in social insects and for devising effective strategies for breeding disease-resistant pollinator populations. We conducted two experiments to test the hypothesis of a genetic tradeoff between social and individual immunity in the honey bee, Apis mellifera. First, we estimated the relative contribution of genetics to individual variation in innate immunity of honey bee workers, as only heritable traits can experience genetic tradeoffs. Second, we examined if worker bees with hygienic sisters have reduced individual innate immune response. We genotyped several hundred workers from two colonies and found that patriline genotype does not significantly influence the antimicrobial activity of a worker's hemolymph. Further, we did not find a negative correlation between hygienic behaviour and the average antimicrobial activity of a worker's hemolymph across 30 honey bee colonies. Taken together, our work indicates no genetic tradeoffs between hygienic behaviour and innate immunity in honey bees. Our work suggests that using artificial selection to increase hygienic behaviour of honey bee colonies is not expected to concurrently compromise individual innate immunity of worker bees.

Visualisation of uncertainty for the trade-off triangle used in sustainable agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Paul; Takahashi, Taro; Lee, Michael

2017-04-01

Agriculture at the global-scale is at a critical juncture where competing requirements for maximal production and minimal pollution have led to the concept of sustainable intensification. All farming systems (arable, grasslands, etc.) are part of this debate, where each have particular associated environmental risks such as water and air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and soil degradation, as well as issues affecting production efficiency, product quality and consumer acceptability, reflected in the development of agricultural sustainability policies. These challenges necessitate multidisciplinary solutions that can only be properly researched, implemented and tested in real-world production systems which are suited to their geographical and climatic production practice. In this respect, various high-profile agricultural data collection experiments have been set up, such as the North Wyke Farm Platform (http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/farmplatform) to research agricultural productivity and ecosystem responses to different management practices. In this farm-scale grasslands experiment, data on hydrology, emissions, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, productivity and livestock welfare/health are collected, that in turn, are converted to trade-off metrics with respect to: (i) economic profits, (ii) societal benefits and (iii) environmental concerns, under the umbrella of sustainable intensification. Similar agriculture research platforms have similar objectives, where data collections are ultimately synthesised into trade-off metrics. Trade-offs metrics can then be usefully visualized via the usual sustainable triangle, with a new triangle for each key time period (e.g. baseline versus post-baseline). This enables a visual assessment of change in sustainability harmony or discord, according to the remit of the given research experiment. In this paper, we discuss different approaches to calculation of the sustainability trade-off metrics that are required from the farm

Evolutionary trade-offs in kidney injury and repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Yutian; Anders, Hans-Joachim

2017-11-01

Evolutionary medicine has proven helpful to understand the origin of human disease, e.g. in identifying causal roles of recent environmental changes impacting on human physiology (environment-phenotype mismatch). In contrast, diseases affecting only a limited number of members of a species often originate from evolutionary trade-offs for usually physiologic adaptations assuring reproductive success in the context of extrinsic threats. For example, the G1 and G2 variants of the APOL1 gene supporting control of Trypanosoma infection come with the trade-off that they promote the progression of kidney disease. In this review we extend the concept of evolutionary nephrology by discussing how the physiologic adaptations (danger responses) to tissue injury create evolutionary trade-offs that drive histopathological changes underlying acute and chronic kidney diseases. The evolution of multicellular organisms positively selected a number of danger response programs for their overwhelming benefits in assuring survival such as clotting, inflammation, epithelial healing and mesenchymal healing, i.e. fibrosis and sclerosis. Upon kidney injury these danger programs often present as pathomechanisms driving persistent nephron loss and renal failure. We explore how classic kidney disease entities involve insufficient or overshooting activation of these danger response programs for which the underlying genetic basis remains largely to be defined. Dissecting the causative and hierarchical relationships between danger programs should help to identify molecular targets to control kidney injury and to improve disease outcomes.

Transfer and use of generation attributes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jansen, J.C.

2005-06-01

Key issues regarding generation attribute accounting are being considered in the U.S., following similar discussions related to their use in Europe. Strict substantiation, environmental additionality and consistency criteria should be enshrined in nascent legislation being developed regarding claims over (electricity) generation attributes, and suitable standardization of disclosure labels should be mandated for electricity offerings to end users. In this way, the issue of multiple counting can be addressed effectively, consumer protection in the electricity market reliably ensured, and confidence in the integrity of green power products enhanced. For the time being, non-hydro renewable electricity cannot gain substantial market share without specific policy stimulation. Yet, both in Europe and in the U.S., credible facilitation of the consumer's choice in the electricity market is set to unleash considerable addition

Balanced the Trade-offs problem of ANFIS Using Particle Swarm Optimisation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dian Palupi Rini

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Improving the approximation accuracy and interpretability of fuzzy systems is an important issue either in fuzzy systems theory or in its applications . It is known that simultaneous optimisation both issues was the trade-offs problem, but it will improve performance of the system and avoid overtraining of data. Particle swarm optimisation (PSO is part of evolutionary algorithm that is good candidate algorithms to solve multiple optimal solution and better global search space. This paper introduces an integration of PSO dan ANFIS for optimise its learning especially for tuning membership function parameters and finding the optimal rule for better classification. The proposed method has been tested on four standard dataset from UCI machine learning i.e. Iris Flower, Habermans Survival Data, Balloon and Thyroid dataset. The results have shown better classification using the proposed PSO-ANFIS and the time complexity has reduced accordingly.

Trade-Off and Synergy among Ecosystem Services in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region of China.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Keyu; Li, Jing; Yang, Xiaonan

2015-11-03

Natural ecosystems provide society with important goods and services. With rapidly increasing populations and excessive utilization of natural resources, humans have been enhancing the production of some services at the expense of others. Although the need for certain trade-offs between conservation and development is urgent, having only a small number of efficient methods to assess such trade-offs has impeded progress. This study focuses on the evaluation of ecosystem services under different land use schemes. It reveals the spatial and temporal distributions of and changes in ecosystem services. Based on a correlation rate model and distribution mapping, the trade-offs and synergies of these ecosystem services can be found. Here, we also describe a new simple approach to quantify the relationships of every trade-off and synergy. The results show that all ecosystem services possess trade-offs and synergies in the study area. The trend of improving carbon sequestration and water interception indicate that these key ecosystem services have the strongest synergy. And the decrease in regional agricultural production and other services, except water yield, may be considered as trade-offs. The synergy between water yield and agricultural production was the most significant, while the trade-off between water interception and carbon sequestration was the most apparent, according to our interaction quantification model. The results of this study have implications for planning and monitoring the future management of natural capital and ecosystem services, and can be integrated into land use decision-making.

Trade-Off and Synergy among Ecosystem Services in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region of China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keyu Qin

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Natural ecosystems provide society with important goods and services. With rapidly increasing populations and excessive utilization of natural resources, humans have been enhancing the production of some services at the expense of others. Although the need for certain trade-offs between conservation and development is urgent, having only a small number of efficient methods to assess such trade-offs has impeded progress. This study focuses on the evaluation of ecosystem services under different land use schemes. It reveals the spatial and temporal distributions of and changes in ecosystem services. Based on a correlation rate model and distribution mapping, the trade-offs and synergies of these ecosystem services can be found. Here, we also describe a new simple approach to quantify the relationships of every trade-off and synergy. The results show that all ecosystem services possess trade-offs and synergies in the study area. The trend of improving carbon sequestration and water interception indicate that these key ecosystem services have the strongest synergy. And the decrease in regional agricultural production and other services, except water yield, may be considered as trade-offs. The synergy between water yield and agricultural production was the most significant, while the trade-off between water interception and carbon sequestration was the most apparent, according to our interaction quantification model. The results of this study have implications for planning and monitoring the future management of natural capital and ecosystem services, and can be integrated into land use decision-making.

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Alcove Gas Barrier trade-off study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, M.S.; Van Sambeek, L.L.

1992-07-01

A modified Kepner-Tregoe method was used for a trade-off study of Alcove Gas Barrier (AGB) concepts for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The AGB is a gas-constraining seal to be constructed in an alcove entrance drift. In this trade-off study, evaluation criteria were first selected. Then these criteria were classified as to their importance to the task, assigning a weighting value to each aspect. Eleven conceptual design alternatives were developed based on geometrical/geological considerations, construction materials, constructibility, and other relevant factors and evaluated

Optimization of Emissions Sensor Networks Incorporating Tradeoffs Between Different Sensor Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholson, B.; Klise, K. A.; Laird, C. D.; Ravikumar, A. P.; Brandt, A. R.

2017-12-01

In order to comply with current and future methane emissions regulations, natural gas producers must develop emissions monitoring strategies for their facilities. In addition, regulators must develop air monitoring strategies over wide areas incorporating multiple facilities. However, in both of these cases, only a limited number of sensors can be deployed. With a wide variety of sensors to choose from in terms of cost, precision, accuracy, spatial coverage, location, orientation, and sampling frequency, it is difficult to design robust monitoring strategies for different scenarios while systematically considering the tradeoffs between different sensor technologies. In addition, the geography, weather, and other site specific conditions can have a large impact on the performance of a sensor network. In this work, we demonstrate methods for calculating optimal sensor networks. Our approach can incorporate tradeoffs between vastly different sensor technologies, optimize over typical wind conditions for a particular area, and consider different objectives such as time to detection or geographic coverage. We do this by pre-computing site specific scenarios and using them as input to a mixed-integer, stochastic programming problem that solves for a sensor network that maximizes the effectiveness of the detection program. Our methods and approach have been incorporated within an open source Python package called Chama with the goal of providing facility operators and regulators with tools for designing more effective and efficient monitoring systems. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energys National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

No genetic tradeoffs between hygienic behaviour and individual innate immunity in the honey bee, Apis mellifera.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brock A Harpur

Full Text Available Many animals have individual and social mechanisms for combating pathogens. Animals may exhibit short-term physiological tradeoffs between social and individual immunity because the latter is often energetically costly. Genetic tradeoffs between these two traits can also occur if mutations that enhance social immunity diminish individual immunity, or vice versa. Physiological tradeoffs between individual and social immunity have been previously documented in insects, but there has been no study of genetic tradeoffs involving these traits. There is strong evidence that some genes influence both innate immunity and behaviour in social insects--a prerequisite for genetic tradeoffs. Quantifying genetic tradeoffs is critical for understanding the evolution of immunity in social insects and for devising effective strategies for breeding disease-resistant pollinator populations. We conducted two experiments to test the hypothesis of a genetic tradeoff between social and individual immunity in the honey bee, Apis mellifera. First, we estimated the relative contribution of genetics to individual variation in innate immunity of honey bee workers, as only heritable traits can experience genetic tradeoffs. Second, we examined if worker bees with hygienic sisters have reduced individual innate immune response. We genotyped several hundred workers from two colonies and found that patriline genotype does not significantly influence the antimicrobial activity of a worker's hemolymph. Further, we did not find a negative correlation between hygienic behaviour and the average antimicrobial activity of a worker's hemolymph across 30 honey bee colonies. Taken together, our work indicates no genetic tradeoffs between hygienic behaviour and innate immunity in honey bees. Our work suggests that using artificial selection to increase hygienic behaviour of honey bee colonies is not expected to concurrently compromise individual innate immunity of worker bees.

Features of spatial and functional segregation and integration of the primate connectome revealed by trade-off between wiring cost and efficiency.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuhan Chen

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The primate connectome, possessing a characteristic global topology and specific regional connectivity profiles, is well organized to support both segregated and integrated brain function. However, the organization mechanisms shaping the characteristic connectivity and its relationship to functional requirements remain unclear. The primate brain connectome is shaped by metabolic economy as well as functional values. Here, we explored the influence of two competing factors and additional advanced functional requirements on the primate connectome employing an optimal trade-off model between neural wiring cost and the representative functional requirement of processing efficiency. Moreover, we compared this model with a generative model combining spatial distance and topological similarity, with the objective of statistically reproducing multiple topological features of the network. The primate connectome indeed displays a cost-efficiency trade-off and that up to 67% of the connections were recovered by optimal combination of the two basic factors of wiring economy and processing efficiency, clearly higher than the proportion of connections (56% explained by the generative model. While not explicitly aimed for, the trade-off model captured several key topological features of the real connectome as the generative model, yet better explained the connectivity of most regions. The majority of the remaining 33% of connections unexplained by the best trade-off model were long-distance links, which are concentrated on few cortical areas, termed long-distance connectors (LDCs. The LDCs are mainly non-hubs, but form a densely connected group overlapping on spatially segregated functional modalities. LDCs are crucial for both functional segregation and integration across different scales. These organization features revealed by the optimization analysis provide evidence that the demands of advanced functional segregation and integration among spatially

Trade-offs and synergies between carbon storage and livelihood benefits from forest commons.

Science.gov (United States)

Chhatre, Ashwini; Agrawal, Arun

2009-10-20

Forests provide multiple benefits at local to global scales. These include the global public good of carbon sequestration and local and national level contributions to livelihoods for more than half a billion users. Forest commons are a particularly important class of forests generating these multiple benefits. Institutional arrangements to govern forest commons are believed to substantially influence carbon storage and livelihood contributions, especially when they incorporate local knowledge and decentralized decision making. However, hypothesized relationships between institutional factors and multiple benefits have never been tested on data from multiple countries. By using original data on 80 forest commons in 10 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, we show that larger forest size and greater rule-making autonomy at the local level are associated with high carbon storage and livelihood benefits; differences in ownership of forest commons are associated with trade-offs between livelihood benefits and carbon storage. We argue that local communities restrict their consumption of forest products when they own forest commons, thereby increasing carbon storage. In showing rule-making autonomy and ownership as distinct and important institutional influences on forest outcomes, our results are directly relevant to international climate change mitigation initiatives such as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and avoided deforestation. Transfer of ownership over larger forest commons patches to local communities, coupled with payments for improved carbon storage can contribute to climate change mitigation without adversely affecting local livelihoods.

Trade-off analysis of high-aspect-ratio-cooling-channels for rocket engines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pizzarelli, Marco; Nasuti, Francesco; Onofri, Marcello

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Aspect ratio has a significant effect on cooling efficiency and hydraulic losses. • Minimizing power loss is of paramount importance in liquid rocket engine cooling. • A suitable quasi-2D model is used to get fast cooling system analysis. • Trade-off with assigned weight, temperature, and channel height or wall thickness. • Aspect ratio is found that minimizes power loss in the cooling circuit. -- Abstract: High performance liquid rocket engines are often characterized by rectangular cooling channels with high aspect ratio (channel height-to-width ratio) because of their proven superior cooling efficiency with respect to a conventional design. However, the identification of the optimum aspect ratio is not a trivial task. In the present study a trade-off analysis is performed on a cooling channel system that can be of interest for rocket engines. This analysis requires multiple cooling channel flow calculations and thus cannot be efficiently performed by CFD solvers. Therefore, a proper numerical approach, referred to as quasi-2D model, is used to have fast and accurate predictions of cooling system properties. This approach relies on its capability of describing the thermal stratification that occurs in the coolant and in the wall structure, as well as the coolant warming and pressure drop along the channel length. Validation of the model is carried out by comparison with solutions obtained with a validated CFD solver. Results of the analysis show the existence of an optimum channel aspect ratio that minimizes the requested pump power needed to overcome losses in the cooling circuit

Technical attributes, health attribute, consumer attributes and their roles in adoption intention of healthcare wearable technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Min; Luo, Meifen; Nie, Rui; Zhang, Yan

2017-12-01

This paper aims to explore factors influencing the healthcare wearable technology adoption intention from perspectives of technical attributes (perceived convenience, perceived irreplaceability, perceived credibility and perceived usefulness), health attribute (health belief) and consumer attributes (consumer innovativeness, conspicuous consumption, informational reference group influence and gender difference). By integrating technology acceptance model, health belief model, snob effect and conformity and reference group theory, hypotheses and research model are proposed. The empirical investigation (N=436) collects research data through questionnaire. Results show that the adoption intention of healthcare wearable technology is influenced by technical attributes, health attribute and consumer attributes simultaneously. For technical attributes, perceived convenience and perceived credibility both positively affect perceived usefulness, and perceived usefulness influences adoption intention. The relation between perceived irreplaceability and perceived usefulness is only supported by males. For health attribute, health belief affects perceived usefulness for females. For consumer attributes, conspicuous consumption and informational reference group influence can significantly moderate the relation between perceived usefulness and adoption intention and the relation between consumer innovativeness and adoption intention respectively. What's more, consumer innovativeness significantly affects adoption intention for males. This paper aims to discuss technical attributes, health attribute and consumer attributes and their roles in the adoption intention of healthcare wearable technology. Findings may provide enlightenment to differentiate product developing and marketing strategies and provide some implications for clinical medicine. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Public Transportation Hub Location with Stochastic Demand: An Improved Approach Based on Multiple Attribute Group Decision-Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sen Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Urban public transportation hubs are the key nodes of the public transportation system. The location of such hubs is a combinatorial problem. Many factors can affect the decision-making of location, including both quantitative and qualitative factors; however, most current research focuses solely on either the quantitative or the qualitative factors. Little has been done to combine these two approaches. To fulfill this gap in the research, this paper proposes a novel approach to the public transportation hub location problem, which takes both quantitative and qualitative factors into account. In this paper, an improved multiple attribute group decision-making (MAGDM method based on TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution and deviation is proposed to convert the qualitative factors of each hub into quantitative evaluation values. A location model with stochastic passenger flows is then established based on the above evaluation values. Finally, stochastic programming theory is applied to solve the model and to determine the location result. A numerical study shows that this approach is applicable and effective.

Relating auditory attributes of multichannel sound to preference and to physical parameters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Choisel, Sylvain; Wickelmaier, Florian Maria

2006-01-01

playing a role in sound quality evaluation. Eight selected attributes are quantified by a panel of 39 listeners using paired-comparison judgments and probabilistic choice models, and related to overall preference. A multiple-regression model predicts preference well, and some similarities are observed......Sound reproduced by multichannel systems is affected by many factors giving rise to various sensations, or auditory attributes. Relating specific attributes to overall preference and to physical measures of the sound field provides valuable information for a better understanding of the parameters...

Application of multiple objective models to water resources planning and management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

North, R.M.

1993-01-01

Over the past 30 years, we have seen the birth and growth of multiple objective analysis from an idea without tools to one with useful applications. Models have been developed and applications have been researched to address the multiple purposes and objectives inherent in the development and management of water resources. A practical approach to multiple objective modelling incorporates macroeconomic-based policies and expectations in order to optimize the results from both engineering (structural) and management (non-structural) alternatives, while taking into account the economic and environmental trade-offs. (author). 27 refs, 4 figs, 3 tabs

Bees Algorithm for Construction of Multiple Test Forms in E-Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Songmuang, Pokpong; Ueno, Maomi

2011-01-01

The purpose of this research is to automatically construct multiple equivalent test forms that have equivalent qualities indicated by test information functions based on item response theory. There has been a trade-off in previous studies between the computational costs and the equivalent qualities of test forms. To alleviate this problem, we…

Earth Observatory Satellite system definition study. Report 3: Design cost trade-off studies and recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

1974-01-01

An analysis of the design and cost tradeoff aspects of the Earth Observatory Satellite (EOS) development is presented. The design/cost factors that affect a series of mission/system level concepts are discussed. The subjects considered are as follows: (1) spacecraft subsystem cost tradeoffs, (2) ground system cost tradeoffs, and (3) program cost summary. Tables of data are provided to summarize the results of the analyses. Illustrations of the various spacecraft configurations are included.

Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis for Health Care Decision Making—An Introduction: Report 1 of the ISPOR MCDA Emerging Good Practices Task Force

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thokala, Praveen; Devlin, Nancy; Marsh, Kevin; Baltussen, Rob; Boysen, Meindert; Kalo, Zoltan; Longrenn, Thomas; Mussen, Filip; Peacock, Stuart; Watkins, John; IJzerman, Maarten Joost

2016-01-01

Health care decisions are complex and involve confronting trade-offs between multiple, often conflicting, objectives. Using structured, explicit approaches to decisions involving multiple criteria can improve the quality of decision making and a set of techniques, known under the collective heading

Case-based reasoning diagnostic technique based on multi-attribute similarity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Makoto, Takahashi [Tohoku University, Miyagi (Japan); Akio, Gofuku [Okayama University, Okayamaa (Japan)

2014-08-15

Case-based diagnostic technique has been developed based on the multi-attribute similarity. Specific feature of the developed system is to use multiple attributes of process signals for similarity evaluation to retrieve a similar case stored in a case base. The present technique has been applied to the measurement data from Monju with some simulated anomalies. The results of numerical experiments showed that the present technique can be utilizes as one of the methods for a hybrid-type diagnosis system.

Speed-Accuracy Tradeoffs in Speech Production

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-01

capacity of discrete motor responses under different cognitive sets. Journal of Experimental Psychology , 71 (4), 475. SPEED-ACCURACY TRADEOFFS IN HUMAN...space defined by vocal tract constriction degree and location, as in Articulatory Phonology Browman & Goldstein (1992). These high-level spaces are...relationship between speech gestures varies as a function of their positions within the syllable Browman & Goldstein (1995); Krakow (1999); Byrd et al

Improved hybridization of Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) algorithm with Fuzzy Multiple Attribute Decision Making - Simple Additive Weighting (FMADM-SAW)

Science.gov (United States)

Zaiwani, B. E.; Zarlis, M.; Efendi, S.

2018-03-01

In this research, the improvement of hybridization algorithm of Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) with Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) in selecting the best bank chief inspector based on several qualitative and quantitative criteria with various priorities. To improve the performance of the above research, FAHP algorithm hybridization with Fuzzy Multiple Attribute Decision Making - Simple Additive Weighting (FMADM-SAW) algorithm was adopted, which applied FAHP algorithm to the weighting process and SAW for the ranking process to determine the promotion of employee at a government institution. The result of improvement of the average value of Efficiency Rate (ER) is 85.24%, which means that this research has succeeded in improving the previous research that is equal to 77.82%. Keywords: Ranking and Selection, Fuzzy AHP, Fuzzy TOPSIS, FMADM-SAW.

Trade-off between growth and immune function : a meta-analysis of selection experiments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Most, Peter; de Jong, Berber; Parmentier, Henk K.; Verhulst, Simon

P>1. Evidence suggests that developing and maintaining an effective immune system may be costly and that an organism has to make a trade-off between immune function and other fitness-enhancing traits. To test for a trade-off between growth and immune function we carried out a meta-analysis of data

Trade-off between bandwidth and efficiency in semipolar (20 2 ¯ 1 ¯) InGaN/GaN single- and multiple-quantum-well light-emitting diodes

Science.gov (United States)

Monavarian, M.; Rashidi, A.; Aragon, A. A.; Nami, M.; Oh, S. H.; DenBaars, S. P.; Feezell, D.

2018-05-01

InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with large modulation bandwidths are desirable for visible-light communication. Along with modulation speed, the consideration of the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) under operating conditions is also important. Here, we report the modulation characteristics of semipolar (20 2 ¯ 1 ¯ ) InGaN/GaN (LEDs) with single-quantum well (SQW) and multiple-quantum-well (MQW) active regions grown on free-standing semipolar GaN substrates with peak internal quantum efficiencies (IQEs) of 0.93 and 0.73, respectively. The MQW LEDs exhibit on average about 40-80% higher modulation bandwidth, reaching 1.5 GHz at 13 kA/cm2, but about 27% lower peak IQE than the SQW LEDs. We extract the differential carrier lifetimes (DLTs), RC parasitics, and carrier escape lifetimes and discuss their role in the bandwidth and IQE characteristics. A coulomb-enhanced capture process is shown to rapidly reduce the DLT of the MQW LED at high current densities. Auger recombination is also shown to play little role in increasing the speed of the LEDs. Finally, we investigate the trade-offs between the bandwidth and efficiency and introduce the bandwidth-IQE product as a potential figure of merit for optimizing speed and efficiency in InGaN/GaN LEDs.

Navigating trade-offs in land-use planning: integrating human well-being into objective setting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vanessa M. Adams

2014-12-01

Full Text Available There is an increasing demand for development of natural resources, which can be accompanied by environmental degradation. Planning for multiple land uses requires navigating trade-offs between social, economic, and environmental outcomes arising from different possible futures. To explore these trade-offs, we use the Daly River catchment, in Australia's Northern Territory, as a case study. The catchment contains areas of priority for both conservation and development. In response to the challenge of navigating the required trade-offs, the Daly River Management Advisory Committee (DRMAC initiated a land-use plan for the region. Both development and conservation of natural resources in the catchment will affect human well-being and the long-term provisioning of ecosystem services in diverse ways. To understand some of these impacts, an innovative engagement process was designed to elicit the relative importance of key factors to residents' well-being. The process identified 19 well-being factors grouped into four domains: biodiversity, socio-cultural, recreational, and commercial. Overall, the highest-ranked well-being factors were in the social-cultural and biodiversity domains while commercial values were ranked the least important. Respondents reported low satisfaction with commercial factors as well, noting concerns over environmental impacts from existing developments and sustainability of future developments. We identified differences in the reported importance values for several types of stakeholders, most notably between indigenous respondents and those employed in the agricultural sectors. Indigenous respondents placed greater importance on biodiversity and socio-cultural factors. Agricultural respondents placed greater importance on commercial factors. The outcomes of our engagement were integrated into DRMAC's process of objective-setting to ensure that objectives for each domain were included in land-use planning. Our results can also

Stakeholders' Responses to CSR Tradeoffs: When Other-Orientation and Trust Trump Material Self-Interest

Science.gov (United States)

Bridoux, Flore; Stofberg, Nicole; Den Hartog, Deanne

2016-01-01

When investing in corporate social responsibility (CSR), managers may strive for a win-win scenario where all stakeholders end up better off, but they may not always be able to avoid trading off stakeholders' interests. To provide guidance to managers who have to make tradeoffs, this study used a vignette-based experiment to explore stakeholders' intention to associate with a firm (i.e., buy from or become an employee) that trades off CSR directed at the stakeholders' own group (self-directed CSR) and CSR directed at another stakeholder group (other-directed CSR). Results show that stakeholders were not systematically more attracted to a firm that favors their own group over another stakeholder group. Specifically, stakeholders' other-orientation moderated their reaction to tradeoffs: stakeholders higher on other-orientation were willing to forego some material benefits to associate with a firm that treated suppliers in developing countries significantly better than its competitors, whereas stakeholders lower on other-orientation were more attracted to a firm favoring their own stakeholder group. Other-orientation also moderated reactions to tradeoffs involving the environment, although high CSR directed at the environment did not compensate for low self-directed CSR even for stakeholders higher on other-orientation. Second, the vignette study showed that trust mediated the relationship between tradeoffs and stakeholders' reactions. The study contributes first and foremost to the burgeoning literature on CSR tradeoffs and to the multimotive approach to CSR, which claims that other motives can drive stakeholders' reactions to CSR in addition to self-interest. First, it provides further evidence that studying CSR tradeoffs is important to understand both (prospective) employees' and customers' reactions to CSR-related activities. Second, it identifies other-orientation as a motive-related individual difference that explains heterogeneity in stakeholders' reactions to

Stakeholders' Responses to CSR Tradeoffs: When Other-Orientation and Trust Trump Material Self-Interest.

Science.gov (United States)

Bridoux, Flore; Stofberg, Nicole; Den Hartog, Deanne

2015-01-01

When investing in corporate social responsibility (CSR), managers may strive for a win-win scenario where all stakeholders end up better off, but they may not always be able to avoid trading off stakeholders' interests. To provide guidance to managers who have to make tradeoffs, this study used a vignette-based experiment to explore stakeholders' intention to associate with a firm (i.e., buy from or become an employee) that trades off CSR directed at the stakeholders' own group (self-directed CSR) and CSR directed at another stakeholder group (other-directed CSR). Results show that stakeholders were not systematically more attracted to a firm that favors their own group over another stakeholder group. Specifically, stakeholders' other-orientation moderated their reaction to tradeoffs: stakeholders higher on other-orientation were willing to forego some material benefits to associate with a firm that treated suppliers in developing countries significantly better than its competitors, whereas stakeholders lower on other-orientation were more attracted to a firm favoring their own stakeholder group. Other-orientation also moderated reactions to tradeoffs involving the environment, although high CSR directed at the environment did not compensate for low self-directed CSR even for stakeholders higher on other-orientation. Second, the vignette study showed that trust mediated the relationship between tradeoffs and stakeholders' reactions. The study contributes first and foremost to the burgeoning literature on CSR tradeoffs and to the multimotive approach to CSR, which claims that other motives can drive stakeholders' reactions to CSR in addition to self-interest. First, it provides further evidence that studying CSR tradeoffs is important to understand both (prospective) employees' and customers' reactions to CSR-related activities. Second, it identifies other-orientation as a motive-related individual difference that explains heterogeneity in stakeholders' reactions to

Stakeholders’ responses to CSR tradeoffs: When other-orientation and trust trump material self-interest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flore eBridoux

2016-01-01

Full Text Available When investing in corporate social responsibility (CSR, managers may strive for a win-win scenario where all stakeholders end up better off, but they may not always be able to avoid trading off stakeholders’ interests. To provide guidance to managers who have to make tradeoffs, this study used a vignette-based experiment to explore stakeholders’ intention to associate with a firm (i.e., buy from or become an employee that trades off CSR directed at the stakeholders’ own group (self-directed CSR and CSR directed at another stakeholder group (other-directed CSR. Results show that stakeholders were not systematically more attracted to a firm that favors their own group over another stakeholder group. Specifically, stakeholders’ other-orientation moderated their reaction to tradeoffs: stakeholders higher on other-orientation were willing to forego some material benefits to associate with a firm that treated suppliers in developing countries significantly better than its competitors, whereas stakeholders lower on other-orientation were more attracted to a firm favoring their own stakeholder group. Other-orientation also moderated reactions to tradeoffs involving the environment, although high CSR directed at the environment did not compensate for low self-directed CSR even for stakeholders higher on other-orientation. Second, the vignette study showed that trust mediated the relationship between tradeoffs and stakeholders’ reactions. The study contributes first and foremost to the burgeoning literature on CSR tradeoffs and to the multimotive approach to CSR, which claims that other motives can drive stakeholders’ reactions to CSR in addition to self-interest. First, it provides further evidence that studying CSR tradeoffs is important to understand both (prospective employees’ and customers’ reactions to CSR-related activities. Second, it identifies other-orientation as a motive-related individual difference that explains

Testing the competition-colonization trade-off with a 32-year study of a saxicolous lichen community.

Science.gov (United States)

Pastore, A I; Prather, C M; Gornish, E S; Ryan, W H; Ellis, R D; Milleri, T E

2014-02-01

Competition-colonization trade-offs are theorized to be a mechanism of coexistence in communities structured by environmental fluctuations. But many studies that have tested for the trade-off have failed to detect it, likely because a spatiotemporally structured environment and many species assemblages are needed to adequately test for a competition-colonization trade-off. Here, we present a unique 32-year study of rock-dwelling lichens in New Mexico, USA, in which photographs were used to quantify lichen life history traits and interactions through time. These data allowed us to determine whether there were any trade-offs between traits associated with colonization and competition, as well as the relationship between diversity and disturbance in the community. We did not find evidence for a trade-off between competitive ability and colonization rate or any related life history traits. Interestingly, we did find a peak in all measures of species diversity at intermediate levels of disturbance, consistent with the intermediate disturbance hypothesis pattern. We suggest that the coexistence of the dominant species in this system is regulated by differences in persistence and growth rate mediating overgrowth competition rather than a competition-colonization trade-off.

Wavefield reconstruction inversion with a multiplicative cost function

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, Nuno V.; Yao, Gang

2018-01-01

We present a method for the automatic estimation of the trade-off parameter in the context of wavefield reconstruction inversion (WRI). WRI formulates the inverse problem as an optimisation problem, minimising the data misfit while penalising with a wave equation constraining term. The trade-off between the two terms is balanced by a scaling factor that balances the contributions of the data-misfit term and the constraining term to the value of the objective function. If this parameter is too large then it implies penalizing for the wave equation imposing a hard constraint in the inversion. If it is too small, then this leads to a poorly constrained solution as it is essentially penalizing for the data misfit and not taking into account the physics that explains the data. This paper introduces a new approach for the formulation of WRI recasting its formulation into a multiplicative cost function. We demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the additive cost function when the trade-off parameter is appropriately scaled in the latter, when adapting it throughout the iterations, and when the data is contaminated with Gaussian random noise. Thus this work contributes with a framework for a more automated application of WRI.

Casual Attributions of Adolescent Females in a Masculine Domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Krauser, Barbara Z.; Ballif, Bonnie L.

Achievement attributions of adolescent females in the masculine domain of mathematics were investigated in relation to self-schemas for gender, expectancy of success, and mathematics achievement. The most important findings revealed by multiple regression analysis were that mathematics achievement and the self-schema for masculinity predicted…

The prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes of medication trade-offs in kidney and liver transplant recipients: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Serper, Marina; Reese, Peter P; Patzer, Rachel R; Levitsky, Josh; Wolf, Michael S

2017-11-25

High out-of-pocket medication costs negatively impact adherence in transplantation. We evaluated the association of "medication trade-offs"-defined as choosing to spend money on other expenses over medications-with medication nonadherence and transplant outcomes. From 2011 to 2012, we performed a prospective study of 201 transplanted recipients (n = 103 liver, n = 98 kidney and) at two large US transplant centers. Structured interviews assessed socio-demographics, medication adherence, and medication trade-offs. Multivariable models assessing risk factors for medications trade-offs and the association between medications trade-offs and post-transplant hospital admissions were performed. A total of 17% of patients reported medication trade-offs; the most common trade-offs were inability to afford a prescription in the past 12 months and making choices between prescriptions and food. In multivariable analysis, insurance type (RR: 2.97, 95% CI: 1.19-7.40), limited health literacy (RR: 2.64, 95% CI: 1.23-5.64), and ≥3 comorbid conditions (RR: 2.48, 95% CI: 1.09-5.62; all P trade-offs. Patients with trade-offs were more likely to report nonadherence to medications (mean adherence: 77 ± 23% with trade-offs vs. 89 ± 19% without trade-offs, P trade-offs was associated with post-transplant hospital admissions (RR 1.64, 95% CI 1.14-2.35, P < 0.01). Assessments of financial barriers are warranted in clinical practice to identify nonadherence and improve post-transplant outcomes. © 2017 Steunstichting ESOT.

Heuristics for multiobjective multiple sequence alignment.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbasi, Maryam; Paquete, Luís; Pereira, Francisco B

2016-07-15

Aligning multiple sequences arises in many tasks in Bioinformatics. However, the alignments produced by the current software packages are highly dependent on the parameters setting, such as the relative importance of opening gaps with respect to the increase of similarity. Choosing only one parameter setting may provide an undesirable bias in further steps of the analysis and give too simplistic interpretations. In this work, we reformulate multiple sequence alignment from a multiobjective point of view. The goal is to generate several sequence alignments that represent a trade-off between maximizing the substitution score and minimizing the number of indels/gaps in the sum-of-pairs score function. This trade-off gives to the practitioner further information about the similarity of the sequences, from which she could analyse and choose the most plausible alignment. We introduce several heuristic approaches, based on local search procedures, that compute a set of sequence alignments, which are representative of the trade-off between the two objectives (substitution score and indels). Several algorithm design options are discussed and analysed, with particular emphasis on the influence of the starting alignment and neighborhood search definitions on the overall performance. A perturbation technique is proposed to improve the local search, which provides a wide range of high-quality alignments. The proposed approach is tested experimentally on a wide range of instances. We performed several experiments with sequences obtained from the benchmark database BAliBASE 3.0. To evaluate the quality of the results, we calculate the hypervolume indicator of the set of score vectors returned by the algorithms. The results obtained allow us to identify reasonably good choices of parameters for our approach. Further, we compared our method in terms of correctly aligned pairs ratio and columns correctly aligned ratio with respect to reference alignments. Experimental results show

Quantifying Trade-Offs Among Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity, and Agricultural Returns in an Agriculturally Dominated Landscape Under Future Land‑Management Scenarios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma C. Underwood

2017-07-01

Full Text Available https://doi.org/10.15447/sfews.2017v15iss2art4Change in land use in agriculturally dominated areas is often assumed to provide positive benefits for land-owners and financial agricultural returns at the expense of biodiversity and other ecosystem services. For an agriculturally dominated area in the Central Valley of California we quantify the trade-offs among ecosystem services, biodiversity, and the financial returns from agricultural lands. We do this by evaluating three different landscape management scenarios projected to 2050 compared to the current baseline: habitat restoration, urbanization, and enhanced agriculture. The restoration scenario benefited carbon storage services and increased landscape suitability for birds, and also decreased ecosystem disservices (nitrous oxide emissions, nitrogen leaching, although there was a trade-off in slightly lower financial agricultural returns. Under the urbanization scenario, carbon storage, suitability for birds, and agricultural returns were negatively affected. A scenario which enhanced agriculture, tailored to the needs of a key species of conservation concern (Swainson’s Hawk, Buteo swainsoni, presented the most potential for trade-offs. This scenario benefitted carbon storage and increased landscape suitability for the Swainson's Hawk as well as 15 other focal bird species. However, this scenario increased ecosystem disservices. These spatially explicit results, generated at a scale relevant to land management decision-makers in the Central Valley, provide valuable insight into managing for multiple benefits in the landscape and an approach for assessing future land-management decisions.

Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis for Health Care Decision Making—Emerging Good Practices: Report 2 of the ISPOR MCDA Emerging Good Practices Task Force

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marsh, Kevin; IJzerman, Maarten Joost; Thokala, Praveen; Baltussen, Rob; Boysen, Meindert; Kalo, Zoltan; Longrenn, Thomas; Mussen, Filip; Peacock, Stuart; Watkins, John; Devlin, Nancy

2016-01-01

Health care decisions are complex and involve confronting trade-offs between multiple, often conflicting objectives. Using structured, explicit approaches to decisions involving multiple criteria can improve the quality of decision making. A set of techniques, known under the collective heading

Equity trade-offs in conservation decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Elizabeth A; Bennett, Nathan J; Ives, Christopher D; Friedman, Rachel; Davis, Katrina J; Archibald, Carla; Wilson, Kerrie A

2018-04-01

Conservation decisions increasingly involve multiple environmental and social objectives, which result in complex decision contexts with high potential for trade-offs. Improving social equity is one such objective that is often considered an enabler of successful outcomes and a virtuous ideal in itself. Despite its idealized importance in conservation policy, social equity is often highly simplified or ill-defined and is applied uncritically. What constitutes equitable outcomes and processes is highly normative and subject to ethical deliberation. Different ethical frameworks may lead to different conceptions of equity through alternative perspectives of what is good or right. This can lead to different and potentially conflicting equity objectives in practice. We promote a more transparent, nuanced, and pluralistic conceptualization of equity in conservation decision making that particularly recognizes where multidimensional equity objectives may conflict. To help identify and mitigate ethical conflicts and avoid cases of good intentions producing bad outcomes, we encourage a more analytical incorporation of equity into conservation decision making particularly during mechanistic integration of equity objectives. We recommend that in conservation planning motivations and objectives for equity be made explicit within the problem context, methods used to incorporate equity objectives be applied with respect to stated objectives, and, should objectives dictate, evaluation of equity outcomes and adaptation of strategies be employed during policy implementation. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Coupled bias-variance tradeoff for cross-pose face recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Annan; Shan, Shiguang; Gao, Wen

2012-01-01

Subspace-based face representation can be looked as a regression problem. From this viewpoint, we first revisited the problem of recognizing faces across pose differences, which is a bottleneck in face recognition. Then, we propose a new approach for cross-pose face recognition using a regressor with a coupled bias-variance tradeoff. We found that striking a coupled balance between bias and variance in regression for different poses could improve the regressor-based cross-pose face representation, i.e., the regressor can be more stable against a pose difference. With the basic idea, ridge regression and lasso regression are explored. Experimental results on CMU PIE, the FERET, and the Multi-PIE face databases show that the proposed bias-variance tradeoff can achieve considerable reinforcement in recognition performance.

Time and Outcome Framing in Intertemporal Tradeoffs

Science.gov (United States)

Scholten, Marc; Read, Daniel

2013-01-01

A robust anomaly in intertemporal choice is the delay-speedup asymmetry: Receipts are discounted more, and payments are discounted less, when delayed than when expedited over the same interval. We developed 2 versions of the tradeoff model (Scholten & Read, 2010) to address such situations, in which an outcome is expected at a given time but…

No Genetic Tradeoffs between Hygienic Behaviour and Individual Innate Immunity in the Honey Bee, Apis mellifera

OpenAIRE

Harpur, Brock A.; Chernyshova, Anna; Soltani, Arash; Tsvetkov, Nadejda; Mahjoorighasrodashti, Mohammad; Xu, Zhixing; Zayed, Amro

2014-01-01

Many animals have individual and social mechanisms for combating pathogens. Animals may exhibit short-term physiological tradeoffs between social and individual immunity because the latter is often energetically costly. Genetic tradeoffs between these two traits can also occur if mutations that enhance social immunity diminish individual immunity, or vice versa. Physiological tradeoffs between individual and social immunity have been previously documented in insects, but there has been no stu...

Towards generalizing co-evolutionary dynamics of socio-hydrology: Theoretical frameworks of cultural evolution and robustness-fragility tradeoff

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, W. S.; Yu, D. J.; Davis, T.; Hillis, V.; Waring, T. M.

2017-12-01

One ongoing challenge to socio-hydrology is the problem of generalization: to what extent do common human-water co-evolutions exist across distinct cases and what are underlying mechanisms of these co-evolutions. This problem stems in part from a lack of unifying theories in socio-hydrology, which hinders the explanation and generalization of results between cases in different regions. Theories help an analyst to make assumptions that are necessary to diagnose a specific phenomenon, to explain the general mechanisms of causation, and, thus, to predict future outcomes. To help address the issue, this study introduces two theories that are increasingly used in the fields of sustainability science and social-ecological systems research: robustness-fragility tradeoff (RFTO) and cultural multi-level selection (CMLS). We apply each of these theories to two distinct cases (water management issues in southwest Bangladesh and the Kissimmee River Basin, Florida) and interpret the phenomena of the levee and adaptation effects. CMLS and RFTO focus on complementary aspects of socio-hydrological phenomena. The theory of RFTO, which is mostly about inherent tradeoffs associated with infrastructure improvements, explains how efforts to increase system robustness can generate hidden endogenous risks. CMLS theory, rooted in the broader theory of cultural evolution, concerns how human cultural dynamics can act as an endogenous driver of system change across multiple levels of social organizations. Using the applied examples, we demonstrate that these two theories can provide an effective way to study social-hydrological systems and to overcome the generalization problem. Our work shows that multiple theories can be synthesized to give a richer understanding of diverse socio-hydrological patterns.

Synthetic control of a fitness tradeoff in yeast nitrogen metabolism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee Jack J

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Microbial communities are involved in many processes relevant to industrial and medical biotechnology, such as the formation of biofilms, lignocellulosic degradation, and hydrogen production. The manipulation of synthetic and natural microbial communities and their underlying ecological parameters, such as fitness, evolvability, and variation, is an increasingly important area of research for synthetic biology. Results Here, we explored how synthetic control of an endogenous circuit can be used to regulate a tradeoff between fitness in resource abundant and resource limited environments in a population of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found that noise in the expression of a key enzyme in ammonia assimilation, Gdh1p, mediated a tradeoff between growth in low nitrogen environments and stress resistance in high ammonia environments. We implemented synthetic control of an endogenous Gdh1p regulatory network to construct an engineered strain in which the fitness of the population was tunable in response to an exogenously-added small molecule across a range of ammonia environments. Conclusion The ability to tune fitness and biological tradeoffs will be important components of future efforts to engineer microbial communities.

Agency attribution: event-related potentials and outcome monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Bednark, Jeffery G; Franz, Elizabeth A

2014-04-01

Knowledge about the effects of our actions is an underlying feature of voluntary behavior. Given the importance of identifying the outcomes of our actions, it has been proposed that the sensory outcomes of self-made actions are inherently different from those of externally caused outcomes. Thus, the outcomes of self-made actions are likely to be more motivationally significant for an agent. We used event-related potentials to investigate the relationship between the perceived motivational significance of an outcome and the attribution of agency in the presence of others. In our experiment, we assessed agency attribution in the presence of another agent by varying the degree of contiguity between participants' self-made actions and the sensory outcome. Specifically, we assessed the feedback correct-related positivity (fCRP) and the novelty P3 measures of an outcome's motivational significance and unexpectedness, respectively. Results revealed that both the fCRP and participants' agency attributions were significantly influenced by action-outcome contiguity. However, when action-outcome contiguity was ambiguous, novelty P3 amplitude was a reliable indicator of agency attribution. Prior agency attributions were also found to influence attribution in trials with ambiguous and low action-outcome contiguity. Participants' use of multiple cues to determine agency is consistent with the cue integration theory of agency. In addition to these novel findings, this study supports growing evidence suggesting that reinforcement processes play a significant role in the sense of agency.

Endogenous testosterone is not associated with the trade-off between paternal and mating effort

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eikenaar, Cas; Whitham, Megan; Komdeur, Jan; van der Velde, Marco; Moore, Ignacio T.

2011-01-01

Males may face a trade-off between caring for offspring and pursuing additional matings. In birds, the androgen testosterone has been suggested to be a key proximate mediator in this trade-off for several reasons. At the population level, high testosterone is typically associated with the period of

Contract Source Selection: An Analysis of Lowest Price Technically Acceptable and Tradeoff Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-15

using- spss - statistics.php Lamoureux, J., Murrow, M., & Walls, C. (2015). Relationship of source selection methods to contract outcomes: an analysis ...Contract Source Selection: an Analysis of Lowest Price Technically Acceptable and Tradeoff Strategies 15 June 2016 LCDR Jamal M. Osman, USN...ACQUISITION RESEARCH PROGRAM SPONSORED REPORT SERIES Contract Source Selection: an Analysis of Lowest Price Technically Acceptable and Tradeoff

Multi-attribute bilateral bargaining in a one-to-many setting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.H. Gerding (Enrico); D.J.A. Somefun (Koye); J.A. La Poutré (Han)

2005-01-01

htmlabstractNegotiations are an important way of reaching agreements between selfish autonomous agents. In this paper we focus on one-to-many bargaining within the context of agent-mediated electronic commerce. We consider an approach where a seller negotiates over multiple interdependent attributes

Education Gains Attributable to Fertility Decline: Patterns by Gender, Period, and Country in Latin America and Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jing; Dow, William H; Rosero-Bixby, Luis

2017-08-01

We investigate the heterogeneity across countries and time in the relationship between mother's fertility and children's educational attainment-the quantity-quality (Q-Q) trade-off-by using census data from 17 countries in Asia and Latin America, with data from each country spanning multiple census years. For each country-year, we estimate micro-level instrumental variables models predicting secondary school attainment using number of siblings of the child, instrumented by the sex composition of the first two births in the family. We then analyze correlates of Q-Q trade-off patterns across countries. On average, one additional sibling in the family reduces the probability of secondary education by 6 percentage points for girls and 4 percentage points for boys. This Q-Q trade-off is significantly associated with the level of son preference, slightly decreasing over time and with fertility, but it does not significantly differ by educational level of the country.

Cancer and Longevity--Is There a Trade-off?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Kaare; Pedersen, Jacob K; Hjelmborg, Jacob V B

2012-01-01

Animal models and a few human studies have suggested a complex interaction between cancer risk and longevity indicating a trade-off where low cancer risk is associated with accelerating aging phenotypes and, vice versa, that longevity potential comes with the cost of increased cancer risk...

Burden attributable to child maltreatment in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Sophie E; Scott, James G; Ferrari, Alize J; Mills, Ryan; Dunne, Michael P; Erskine, Holly E; Devries, Karen M; Degenhardt, Louisa; Vos, Theo; Whiteford, Harvey A; McCarthy, Molly; Norman, Rosana E

2015-10-01

Child maltreatment is a complex phenomenon, with four main types (childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect) highly interrelated. All types of maltreatment have been linked to adverse health consequences and exposure to multiple forms of maltreatment increases risk. In Australia to date, only burden attributable to childhood sexual abuse has been estimated. This study synthesized the national evidence and quantified the burden attributable to the four main types of child maltreatment. Meta-analyses, based on quality-effects models, generated pooled prevalence estimates for each maltreatment type. Exposure to child maltreatment was examined as a risk factor for depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and intentional self-harm using counterfactual estimation and comparative risk assessment methods. Adjustments were made for co-occurrence of multiple forms of child maltreatment. Overall, an estimated 23.5% of self-harm, 20.9% of anxiety disorders and 15.7% of depressive disorders burden in males; and 33.0% of self-harm, 30.6% of anxiety disorders and 22.8% of depressive disorders burden in females was attributable to child maltreatment. Child maltreatment was estimated to cause 1.4% (95% uncertainty interval 0.4-2.3%) of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in males, and 2.4% (0.7-4.1%) of all DALYs in females in Australia in 2010. Child maltreatment contributes to a substantial proportion of burden from depressive and anxiety disorders and intentional self-harm in Australia. This study demonstrates the importance of including all forms of child maltreatment as risk factors in future burden of disease studies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Postdetonation nuclear debris for attribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Fahey, A J; Zeissler, C J; Newbury, D E; Davis, J; Lindstrom, R M

2010-11-23

On the morning of July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was exploded in New Mexico on the White Sands Proving Ground. The device was a plutonium implosion device similar to the device that destroyed Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9 of that same year. Recently, with the enactment of US public law 111-140, the "Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Act," scientists in the government and academia have been able, in earnest, to consider what type of forensic-style information may be obtained after a nuclear detonation. To conduct a robust attribution process for an exploded device placed by a nonstate actor, forensic analysis must yield information about not only the nuclear material in the device but about other materials that went into its construction. We have performed an investigation of glassed ground debris from the first nuclear test showing correlations among multiple analytical techniques. Surprisingly, there is strong evidence, obtainable only through microanalysis, that secondary materials used in the device can be identified and positively associated with the nuclear material.

Trade-off between information and disturbance in qubit thermometry

Science.gov (United States)

Seveso, Luigi; Paris, Matteo G. A.

2018-03-01

We address the trade-off between information and disturbance in qubit thermometry from the perspective of quantum estimation theory. Given a quantum measurement, we quantify information via the Fisher information of the measurement and disturbance via four different figures of merit, which capture different aspects (statistical, thermodynamical, geometrical) of the trade-off. For each disturbance measure, the efficient measurements, i.e., the measurements that introduce a disturbance not greater than any other measurement extracting the same amount of information, are determined explicitly. The family of efficient measurements varies with the choice of the disturbance measure. On the other hand, commutativity between the elements of the probability operator-valued measure (POVM) and the equilibrium state of the thermometer is a necessary condition for efficiency with respect to any figure of disturbance.

Energy security and climate change protection: Complementarity or tradeoff?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, Stephen P.A.; Huntington, Hillard G.

2008-01-01

Energy security and climate change protection have risen to the forefront of energy policy - linked in time and a perception that both goals can be achieved through the same or similar policies. Although such complementarity can exist for individual technologies, policymakers face a tradeoff between these two policy objectives. The tradeoff arises when policymakers choose the mix of individual technologies with which to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy security. Optimal policy is achieved when the cost of the additional use of each technology equals the value of the additional energy security and reduction in greenhouse gas emission that it provides. Such an approach may draw more heavily on conventional technologies that provide benefits in only one dimension than on more costly technologies that both increase energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (author)

Ethical Perspective: Five Unacceptable Trade-offs on the Path to Universal Health Coverage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ole Frithjof Norheim

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This article discusses what ethicists have called “unacceptable trade-offs” in health policy choices related to universal health coverage (UHC. Since the fiscal space is constrained, trade-offs need to be made. But some trade-offs are unacceptable on the path to universal coverage. Unacceptable choices include, among other examples from low-income countries, to expand coverage for services with lower priority such as coronary bypass surgery before securing universal coverage for high-priority services such as skilled birth attendance and services for easily preventable or treatable fatal childhood diseases. Services of the latter kind include oral rehydration therapy for children with diarrhea and antibiotics for children with pneumonia. The article explains why such trade-offs are unfair and unacceptable even if political considerations may push in the opposite direction.

Exercise identity and attribution properties predict negative self-conscious emotions for exercise relapse.

Science.gov (United States)

Flora, Parminder K; Strachan, Shaelyn M; Brawley, Lawrence R; Spink, Kevin S

2012-10-01

Research on exercise identity (EXID) indicates that it is related to negative affect when exercisers are inconsistent or relapse. Although identity theory suggests that causal attributions about this inconsistency elicit negative self-conscious emotions of shame and guilt, no EXID studies have examined this for exercise relapse. Weiner's attribution-based theory of interpersonal motivation (2010) offers a means of testing the attribution-emotion link. Using both frameworks, we examined whether EXID and attributional properties predicted negative emotions for exercise relapse. Participants (n = 224) read an exercise relapse vignette, and then completed EXID, attributions, and emotion measures. Hierarchical multiple regression models using EXID and the attributional property of controllability significantly predicted each of shame and guilt, R² adjusted = .09, ps ≤ .001. Results support identity theory suggestions and Weiner's specific attribution-emotion hypothesis. This first demonstration of an interlinking of EXID, controllability, and negative self-conscious emotions offers more predictive utility using complementary theories than either theory alone.

Post-fledging care, multiple breeding and the costs of reproduction in the great tit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhulst, S; Hut, RA

In species that initiate multiple broods in a single season there is usually a trade-off between the number of young in the first brood, and the timing and occurrence of subsequent broods in the same season. The hypothesis that experimental reduction of clutch size reduces the duration of

Post-fledging care, multiple breeding and the cost of reproduction in the great tit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhulst, S.; Hut, R.A.

1996-01-01

In species that initiate multiple broods in a single season there is usually a trade-off between the number of young in the first brood, and the timing and occurrence of subsequent broods in the same season. The hypothesis that experimental reduction of clutch size reduces the duration of

Ecosystem service trade-offs, perceived drivers, and sustainability in contrasting agroecosystems in central Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos E. González-Esquivel

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The ability of agroecosystems to provide food ultimately depends on the regulating and supporting ecosystem services that underpin their functioning, such as the regulation of soil quality, water quality, soil erosion, pests, and pollinators. However, there are trade-offs between provisioning and regulating or supporting services, whose nature at the farm and plot scales is poorly understood. We analyzed data at the farm level for two agroecosystems with contrasting objectives in central Mexico: one aimed at staple crop production for self-subsistence and local markets, the other directed to a cash crop for export markets. Bivariate and multivariate trade-offs were analyzed for different crop management strategies (conventional, organic, traditional, crop rotation and their underpinning socioeconomic drivers. There was a clear trade-off between crop yield and soil quality in self-subsistence systems. However, other expected trade-offs between yields and soil quality did not always occur, likely because of the overall good soils of the region and the low to medium input profile of most farms. Trade-offs were highly dependent on farm-specific agricultural practices; organic, traditional, and rotation management systems generally showed smaller trade-offs between yield and soil quality, pest control, and biodiversity than did conventional management systems. Perceived drivers reported by farmers included increasing prices for cash crops, rising costs of inputs, and extreme climatic events (e.g., drought, hail, frost. Farmers did not identify the regulation of soil quality, water quality, soil erosion, pests, or pollinators as important constraints. Although acceptable yields could be maintained irrespective of key regulating and supporting services according to these perceptions, current levels of soil erosion and nutrient runoff are likely to have important negative effects at the watershed scale. Sustainability in both agroecosystems could be

Cancer susceptibility and reproductive trade-offs: a model of the evolution of cancer defences.

Science.gov (United States)

Boddy, Amy M; Kokko, Hanna; Breden, Felix; Wilkinson, Gerald S; Aktipis, C Athena

2015-07-19

The factors influencing cancer susceptibility and why it varies across species are major open questions in the field of cancer biology. One underexplored source of variation in cancer susceptibility may arise from trade-offs between reproductive competitiveness (e.g. sexually selected traits, earlier reproduction and higher fertility) and cancer defence. We build a model that contrasts the probabilistic onset of cancer with other, extrinsic causes of mortality and use it to predict that intense reproductive competition will lower cancer defences and increase cancer incidence. We explore the trade-off between cancer defences and intraspecific competition across different extrinsic mortality conditions and different levels of trade-off intensity, and find the largest effect of competition on cancer in species where low extrinsic mortality combines with strong trade-offs. In such species, selection to delay cancer and selection to outcompete conspecifics are both strong, and the latter conflicts with the former. We discuss evidence for the assumed trade-off between reproductive competitiveness and cancer susceptibility. Sexually selected traits such as ornaments or large body size require high levels of cell proliferation and appear to be associated with greater cancer susceptibility. Similar associations exist for female traits such as continuous egg-laying in domestic hens and earlier reproductive maturity. Trade-offs between reproduction and cancer defences may be instantiated by a variety of mechanisms, including higher levels of growth factors and hormones, less efficient cell-cycle control and less DNA repair, or simply a larger number of cell divisions (relevant when reproductive success requires large body size or rapid reproductive cycles). These mechanisms can affect intra- and interspecific variation in cancer susceptibility arising from rapid cell proliferation during reproductive maturation, intrasexual competition and reproduction. © 2015 The Author

Design trade-offs for homing missiles

Science.gov (United States)

Spencer, Allen; Moore, William

1992-05-01

Major design considerations, trade-offs and technology issues for future hypervelocity, anti-missile interceptors are presented in an overview format. Two classes of interceptors are considered: a low altitude interceptor using an active radar seeker for defense against tactical ballistic missiles (TBMs) and a higher altitude interceptor using a passive infra-red seeker for defense against ICBMs. Considerations are presented in the areas of mission requirements, seeker selection, aerodynamic and aerothermal environments, control systems, and guidance performance.

Trade-off analysis in the Northern Andes to study the dynamics in agricultural land use

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stoorvogel, J.J.; Antle, J.M.; Crissman, C.C.

2004-01-01

In this paper we hypothesize that land use change can be induced by non-linearities and thresholds in production systems that impact farmers' decision making. Tradeoffs between environmental and economic indicators is a useful way to represent dynamic properties of agricultural systems. The Tradeoff

Selection bias in studies of human reproduction-longevity trade-offs.

Science.gov (United States)

Helle, Samuli

2017-12-13

A shorter lifespan as a potential cost of high reproductive effort in humans has intrigued researchers for more than a century. However, the results have been inconclusive so far and despite strong theoretical expectations we do not currently have compelling evidence for the longevity costs of reproduction. Using Monte Carlo simulation, it is shown here that a common practice in human reproduction-longevity studies using historical data (the most relevant data sources for this question), the omission of women who died prior to menopausal age from the analysis, results in severe underestimation of the potential underlying trade-off between reproduction and lifespan. In other words, assuming that such a trade-off is expressed also during reproductive years, the strength of the trade-off between reproduction and lifespan is progressively weakened when women dying during reproductive ages are sequentially and non-randomly excluded from the analysis. In cases of small sample sizes (e.g. few hundreds of observations), this selection bias by reducing statistical power may even partly explain the null results commonly found in this field. Future studies in this field should thus apply statistical approaches that account for or avoid selection bias in order to recover reliable effect size estimates between reproduction and longevity. © 2017 The Author(s).

Phenotypic plasticity in the developmental integration of morphological trade-offs and secondary sexual trait compensation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomkins, Joseph L; Kotiaho, Janne S; Lebas, Natasha R

2005-03-07

Trait exaggeration through sexual selection will tale place alongside other changes in phenotype. Exaggerated morphology might be compensated by parallel changes in traits that support, enhance or facilitate exaggeration: 'secondary sexual trait compensation' (SSTC). Alternatively, exaggeration might be realized at the expense of other traits through morphological trade-offs. For the most part, SSTC has only been examined interspecifically. For these phenomena to be important intraspecifically, the sexual trait must be developmentally integrated with the compensatory or competing trait. We studied developmental integration in two species with different development: the holometabolous beetle Onthophagus taurus and the hemimetabolous earwig Forficula auricularia. Male-dimorphic variation in trait exaggeration was exploited to expose both trade-offs and SSTC. We found evidence for morphological trade-offs in O. taurus, but no F. auricularia, supporting the notion that trade-offs are more likely in closed developmetal systems. However, we found these trade-offs were not limited solely to traits growing close together. Developmental integration of structures involved in SSTC were detected in both species. The developmental integration of SSTC was phenotypically plastic, such that the compensation for relatively larger sexual traits was greater in the exasperated male morphs. Evidence of intraspecific SSTC demands studies of the selective, genetic and developmental architecture of phenotypic integration.

Mapping synergies and trade-offs between energy and the Sustainable Development Goals

Science.gov (United States)

Fuso Nerini, Francesco; Tomei, Julia; To, Long Seng; Bisaga, Iwona; Parikh, Priti; Black, Mairi; Borrion, Aiduan; Spataru, Catalina; Castán Broto, Vanesa; Anandarajah, Gabrial; Milligan, Ben; Mulugetta, Yacob

2018-01-01

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—including 17 interconnected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets—is a global plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. SDG7 calls for action to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Here we characterize synergies and trade-offs between efforts to achieve SDG7 and delivery of the 2030 Agenda as a whole. We identify 113 targets requiring actions to change energy systems, and published evidence of relationships between 143 targets (143 synergies, 65 trade-offs) and efforts to achieve SDG7. Synergies and trade-offs exist in three key domains, where decisions about SDG7 affect humanity's ability to: realize aspirations of greater welfare and well-being; build physical and social infrastructures for sustainable development; and achieve sustainable management of the natural environment. There is an urgent need to better organize, connect and extend this evidence, to help all actors work together to achieve sustainable development.

Trade-offs in size, quantity and reliability of generalized nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, D.; Mubayi, V.

1987-01-01

In the 1960's and 1970's, there was rapid growth in the size of newly started nuclear power plants because of the anticipated advantages of increasing scale. Any such advantages were overwhelmed by the complications that arose with long construction times, and attention is now being given to a ''second generation'' of smaller plants of new design. Providing the same production capacity will require larger numbers of plants if they are smaller. Although it seems to have received little attention previously, there should be compensating economies due to ''learning curve'' effects in the manufacture of multiple units of standardized designs (Hill 1983). Moreover, the use of a large number of smaller units increases the overall system reliability. On balance, however, it is not clear how scale, quantity, and reliability considerations interact to determine optimal plant size. The purpose of this paper is to begin examining the size-quantity tradeoff taking into account scale effects, the manufacturing learning curve, plant availability, and system reliability

Exploration of tradeoffs in intensity-modulated radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craft, David; Halabi, Tarek; Bortfeld, Thomas

2005-01-01

The purpose of this study is to calculate Pareto surfaces in multi-criteria radiation treatment planning and to analyse the dependency of the Pareto surfaces on the objective functions used for the volumes of interest. We develop a linear approach that allows us to calculate truly Pareto optimal treatment plans, and we apply it to explore the tradeoff between tumour dose homogeneity and critical structure sparing. We show that for two phantom and two clinical cases, a smooth (as opposed to kinked) Pareto tradeoff curve exists. We find that in the paraspinal cases the Pareto surface is invariant to the response function used on the spinal cord: whether the mean cord dose or the maximum cord dose is used, the Pareto plan database is similar. This is not true for the lung studies, where the choice of objective function on the healthy lung tissue influences the resulting Pareto surface greatly. We conclude that in the special case when the tumour wraps around the organ at risk, e.g. prostate cases and paraspinal cases, the Pareto surface will be largely invariant to the objective function used to model the organ at risk

Drought-induced trans-generational tradeoff between stress tolerance and defence: consequences for range limits?

Science.gov (United States)

Alsdurf, Jacob D; Ripley, Tayler J; Matzner, Steven L; Siemens, David H

2013-01-01

Areas just across species range boundaries are often stressful, but even with ample genetic variation within and among range-margin populations, adaptation towards stress tolerance across range boundaries often does not occur. Adaptive trans-generational plasticity should allow organisms to circumvent these problems for temporary range expansion; however, range boundaries often persist. To investigate this dilemma, we drought stressed a parent generation of Boechera stricta (A.Gray) A. Löve & D. Löve, a perennial wild relative of Arabidopsis, representing genetic variation within and among several low-elevation range margin populations. Boechera stricta is restricted to higher, moister elevations in temperate regions where generalist herbivores are often less common. Previous reports indicate a negative genetic correlation (genetic tradeoff) between chemical defence allocation and abiotic stress tolerance that may prevent the simultaneous evolution of defence and drought tolerance that would be needed for range expansion. In growth chamber experiments, the genetic tradeoff became undetectable among offspring sib-families whose parents had been drought treated, suggesting that the stress-induced trans-generational plasticity may circumvent the genetic tradeoff and thus enable range expansion. However, the trans-generational effects also included a conflict between plastic responses (environmental tradeoff); offspring whose parents were drought treated were more drought tolerant, but had lower levels of glucosinolate toxins that function in defence against generalist herbivores. We suggest that either the genetic or environmental tradeoff between defence allocation and stress tolerance has the potential to contribute to range limit development in upland mustards.

State-independent error-disturbance trade-off for measurement operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, S.S.; Wu, Shengjun; Chau, H.F.

2016-01-01

In general, classical measurement statistics of a quantum measurement is disturbed by performing an additional incompatible quantum measurement beforehand. Using this observation, we introduce a state-independent definition of disturbance by relating it to the distinguishability problem between two classical statistical distributions – one resulting from a single quantum measurement and the other from a succession of two quantum measurements. Interestingly, we find an error-disturbance trade-off relation for any measurements in two-dimensional Hilbert space and for measurements with mutually unbiased bases in any finite-dimensional Hilbert space. This relation shows that error should be reduced to zero in order to minimize the sum of error and disturbance. We conjecture that a similar trade-off relation with a slightly relaxed definition of error can be generalized to any measurements in an arbitrary finite-dimensional Hilbert space.

Corticosterone manipulation reveals differences in hierarchical organization of multidimensional reproductive trade-offs in r-strategist and K-strategist females.

Science.gov (United States)

Lancaster, L T; Hazard, L C; Clobert, J; Sinervo, B R

2008-03-01

Life history trade-offs are often hierarchical with decisions at one level affecting lower level trade-offs. We investigated trade-off structure in female side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana), which exhibit two evolved strategies: yellow-throated females are K-strategists and orange-throated are r-strategists. Corticosterone treatment was predicted to differentially organize these females' reproductive decisions. Corticosterone-treated yellow females suppressed reproduction but survived well, and augmented egg mass without decreasing clutch size. Conversely, corticosterone enhanced mortality and reproductive rates in orange females, and increased egg mass only after lengthy exposure. Corticosterone did not affect post-laying condition, suggesting that corticosterone increased egg mass through enhanced energy acquisition (income breeding). Corticosterone enhanced survival of lightweight females, but decreased survival of heavy females, introducing a foraging vs. predation trade-off. We conclude that rather than being a direct, functional relationship, observed trade-offs between offspring size and number represent evolved differences in hierarchical organization of multidimensional trade-offs, particularly in response to stress.

A procurement decision support mechanism on multi-attribute fuzzy-interval auctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Franco de los Ríos, Camilo; Hougaard, Jens Leth; Nielsen, Kurt

2016-01-01

Procurement systems are the basis for assuring efficiency and fairness in organizations. Consequently, the development of procurement systems faces an ongoing challenge in designing trading systems that facilitate transparent competition on both price and multiple attributes, as well as ensuring...

Hair length, facial attractiveness, personality attribution: A multiple fitness model of hairdressing

OpenAIRE

Bereczkei, Tamas; Mesko, Norbert

2007-01-01

Multiple Fitness Model states that attractiveness varies across multiple dimensions, with each feature representing a different aspect of mate value. In the present study, male raters judged the attractiveness of young females with neotenous and mature facial features, with various hair lengths. Results revealed that the physical appearance of long-haired women was rated high, regardless of their facial attractiveness being valued high or low. Women rated as most attractive were those whose f...

Designing multi-reservoir system designs via efficient water-energy-food nexus trade-offs - Selecting new hydropower dams for the Blue Nile and Nepal's Koshi Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Harou, J. J.; Hurford, A.; Geressu, R. T.

2015-12-01

Many of the world's multi-reservoir water resource systems are being considered for further development of hydropower and irrigation aiming to meet economic, political and ecological goals. Complex river basins serve many needs so how should the different proposed groupings of reservoirs and their operations be evaluated? How should uncertainty about future supply and demand conditions be factored in? What reservoir designs can meet multiple goals and perform robustly in a context of global change? We propose an optimized multi-criteria screening approach to identify best performing designs, i.e., the selection, size and operating rules of new reservoirs within multi-reservoir systems in a context of deeply uncertain change. Reservoir release operating rules and storage sizes are optimized concurrently for each separate infrastructure design under consideration across many scenarios representing plausible future conditions. Outputs reveal system trade-offs using multi-dimensional scatter plots where each point represents an approximately Pareto-optimal design. The method is applied to proposed Blue Nile River reservoirs in Ethiopia, where trade-offs between capital costs, total and firm energy output, aggregate storage and downstream irrigation and energy provision for the best performing designs are evaluated. The impact of filling period for large reservoirs is considered in a context of hydrological uncertainty. The approach is also applied to the Koshi basin in Nepal where combinations of hydropower storage and run-of-river dams are being considered for investment. We show searching for investment portfolios that meet multiple objectives provides stakeholders with a rich view on the trade-offs inherent in the nexus and how different investment bundles perform differently under plausible futures. Both case-studies show how the proposed approach helps explore and understand the implications of investing in new dams in a global change context.

Multiple resistances against diseases and insects in a breeding population of pinus pinaster

Science.gov (United States)

Alejandr Solla; Maria Vivas; Elena Cubera; Luis Sampedro; Xoaquin Moreira; Esther Merlo; Raul de la Mata; Rafael Zas

2012-01-01

The different plant defenses existing within a given taxon have been commonly assumed to trade-off among each other because of both evolutionary and physiological reasons. The higher the efficiency of a single defensive trait, the lower selective pressure for other redundant defenses expected. On the other hand, production of multiple defenses might be...

Multiple breeding in the Great Tit. A trade-off between successive reproductive attempts?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhulst, S.; Tinbergen, J.M.; Daan, S.

1997-01-01

1. Multiple breeding (raising more than one batch of young per breeding season) is a common life-history tactic that has received very little attention. A simple static optimization model was developed, applicable to iteroparous animals with parental care, that predicts: (1) when an animal should be

Tritium-containment systems: a tradeoff study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Folkers, C.L.; Cena, R.J.

1978-01-01

Various design parameters are evaluated that affect the performance of tritium-containment systems for fusion reactors. Our study included a review of such parameters as tritium forms, impurities, catalysts, adsorbents, getters, and as low as reasonably achievable principles. We organized these schemes, which can be considered for treating either air or inert atmospheres, so one could easily make orderly choices and tradeoffs for optimum performance. The relationships examined involved purification-system decontamination factors, flow rates, recycling and leakage, and environmental losses

Heat-conserving postures hinder escape: a thermoregulation–predation trade-off in wintering birds

OpenAIRE

Jennie M. Carr; Steven L. Lima

2012-01-01

Wintering birds may conserve body heat by adopting postures with minimal leg exposure or significant ptiloerection. However, maximally heat-conserving postures may hinder a bird's ability to escape attack, leading to a trade-off between predation risk and thermoregulation. Such a trade-off implies that birds should use the most heat-conserving postures only at very cold temperatures. Feeding in a relatively low-risk environment should also facilitate the use of such heat-conserving postures. ...

Research on efficiency evaluation model of integrated energy system based on hybrid multi-attribute decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yan

2017-05-25

The efficiency evaluation model of integrated energy system, involving many influencing factors, and the attribute values are heterogeneous and non-deterministic, usually cannot give specific numerical or accurate probability distribution characteristics, making the final evaluation result deviation. According to the characteristics of the integrated energy system, a hybrid multi-attribute decision-making model is constructed. The evaluation model considers the decision maker's risk preference. In the evaluation of the efficiency of the integrated energy system, the evaluation value of some evaluation indexes is linguistic value, or the evaluation value of the evaluation experts is not consistent. These reasons lead to ambiguity in the decision information, usually in the form of uncertain linguistic values and numerical interval values. In this paper, the risk preference of decision maker is considered when constructing the evaluation model. Interval-valued multiple-attribute decision-making method and fuzzy linguistic multiple-attribute decision-making model are proposed. Finally, the mathematical model of efficiency evaluation of integrated energy system is constructed.

Life history trade-offs imposed by dragline use in two money spiders.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonte, Dries; Verduyn, Lieselot; Braeckman, Bart P

2016-01-01

Trade-offs among life history traits are central to understanding the limits of adaptations to stress. In animals, virtually all decisions taken during life are expected to have downstream consequences. To what degree rare, but energy-demanding, decisions carry over to individual performance is rarely studied in arthropods. We used spiders as a model system to test how single investments in silk use - for dispersal or predator escape - affect individual performance. Silk produced for safe lines and as threads for ballooning is of the strongest kind and is energetically costly, especially when resources are limited. We induced dragline spinning in two species of money spider at similar quantities to that under natural conditions and tested trade-offs with lifespan and egg sac production under unlimited prey availability and a dietary restriction treatment. We demonstrate strong trade-offs between dragline spinning and survival and fecundity. Survival trade-offs were additive to those imposed by the dietary treatment, but a reduction in eggs produced after silk use was only prevalent under conditions where food was restricted during the spider's life. Because draglines are not recycled after their use for dispersal or predator escape, their spinning incurs substantial fitness costs in dispersal, especially in environments with prey limitation. Rare but energetically costly decisions related to dispersal or predator escape may thus carry over to adult performance and explain phenotypic heterogeneity in natural populations. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Linked sustainability challenges and trade-offs among fisheries, aquaculture and agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchard, Julia L; Watson, Reg A; Fulton, Elizabeth A; Cottrell, Richard S; Nash, Kirsty L; Bryndum-Buchholz, Andrea; Büchner, Matthias; Carozza, David A; Cheung, William W L; Elliott, Joshua; Davidson, Lindsay N K; Dulvy, Nicholas K; Dunne, John P; Eddy, Tyler D; Galbraith, Eric; Lotze, Heike K; Maury, Olivier; Müller, Christoph; Tittensor, Derek P; Jennings, Simon

2017-09-01

Fisheries and aquaculture make a crucial contribution to global food security, nutrition and livelihoods. However, the UN Sustainable Development Goals separate marine and terrestrial food production sectors and ecosystems. To sustainably meet increasing global demands for fish, the interlinkages among goals within and across fisheries, aquaculture and agriculture sectors must be recognized and addressed along with their changing nature. Here, we assess and highlight development challenges for fisheries-dependent countries based on analyses of interactions and trade-offs between goals focusing on food, biodiversity and climate change. We demonstrate that some countries are likely to face double jeopardies in both fisheries and agriculture sectors under climate change. The strategies to mitigate these risks will be context-dependent, and will need to directly address the trade-offs among Sustainable Development Goals, such as halting biodiversity loss and reducing poverty. Countries with low adaptive capacity but increasing demand for food require greater support and capacity building to transition towards reconciling trade-offs. Necessary actions are context-dependent and include effective governance, improved management and conservation, maximizing societal and environmental benefits from trade, increased equitability of distribution and innovation in food production, including continued development of low input and low impact aquaculture.

Life history tradeoffs of pathogens and the treatment principle of antibiogenesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui-An Wang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available There are no eternal individual lives so life continues by relaying with reproduction. Consequently, lifespan and fecundity are two essential genetic traits of life. The life history tradeoffs theory holds that there is an inverse relationship between lifespan and fecundity. This paper proposes two new concepts, i.e., “lifespan of pathogens” and treatment of infections by “antibiogenesis”. The lifespan of pathogens is the time limitation of those tiny lives just as other large creatures. Notably, the lifespan of bacterium is the time interval from the cell division by which it is produced to next division by then its life ends and transforms to two new lives, or dies. Antibiogenesis means inhibiting generation of new lives. By the principle of life history tradeoffs, the lifespan of pathogens determines the speed of their proliferations and consequently the modality of infection. The treatment principle of antibiogenesis requires the duration of treatment to be determined by the lifespan of infected pathogens. The life history tradeoffs theory and the two concepts are helpful to understanding the pathobiology and shaping the clinical aspects of infectious diseases.

Life-history constraints in grassland plant species: a growth-defence trade-off is the norm

Science.gov (United States)

E.M. Lind; E.T. Borer; E.W. Seabloom; P.B. Adler; J.D. Bakker; D.M. Blumenthal; M. Crawley; K.F. Davies; J. Firn; D.S. Gruner; S. Harpole; Y. Hautier; H. Hillebrand; J.M.H. Knops; B.A. Melbourne; B. Mortensen; A.C. Risch; M. Schuetz; C.J. Stevens; P.D. Wragg

2013-01-01

Plant growth can be limited by resource acquisition and defence against consumers, leading to contrasting trade-off possibilities. The competition-defence hypothesis posits a trade-off between competitive ability and defence against enemies (e.g. herbivores and pathogens). The growth-defence hypothesis suggests that strong competitors for nutrients are also defended...

Thermotolerant Yeast Strains Adapted by Laboratory Evolution Show Trade-Off at Ancestral Temperatures and Preadaptation to Other Stresses.

Science.gov (United States)

Caspeta, Luis; Nielsen, Jens

2015-07-21

A major challenge for the production of ethanol from biomass-derived feedstocks is to develop yeasts that can sustain growth under the variety of inhibitory conditions present in the production process, e.g., high osmolality, high ethanol titers, and/or elevated temperatures (≥ 40 °C). Using adaptive laboratory evolution, we previously isolated seven Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains with improved growth at 40 °C. Here, we show that genetic adaptations to high temperature caused a growth trade-off at ancestral temperatures, reduced cellular functions, and improved tolerance of other stresses. Thermotolerant yeast strains showed horizontal displacement of their thermal reaction norms to higher temperatures. Hence, their optimal and maximum growth temperatures increased by about 3 °C, whereas they showed a growth trade-off at temperatures below 34 °C. Computational analysis of the physical properties of proteins showed that the lethal temperature for yeast is around 49 °C, as a large fraction of the yeast proteins denature above this temperature. Our analysis also indicated that the number of functions involved in controlling the growth rate decreased in the thermotolerant strains compared with the number in the ancestral strain. The latter is an advantageous attribute for acquiring thermotolerance and correlates with the reduction of yeast functions associated with loss of respiration capacity. This trait caused glycerol overproduction that was associated with the growth trade-off at ancestral temperatures. In combination with altered sterol composition of cellular membranes, glycerol overproduction was also associated with yeast osmotolerance and improved tolerance of high concentrations of glucose and ethanol. Our study shows that thermal adaptation of yeast is suitable for improving yeast resistance to inhibitory conditions found in industrial ethanol production processes. Yeast thermotolerance can significantly reduce the production costs of biomass

New Hybrid Multiple Attribute Decision-Making Model for Improving Competence Sets: Enhancing a Company’s Core Competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuan-Wei Huang

2016-02-01

Full Text Available A company’s core competitiveness depends on the strategic allocation of its human resources in alignment with employee capabilities. Competency models can identify the range of capabilities at a company’s disposal, and this information can be used to develop internal or external education training policies for sustainable development. Such models can ensure the importation of a strategic orientation reflecting the growth of its employee competence set and enhancing human resource sustainably. This approach ensures that the most appropriate people are assigned to the most appropriate positions. In this study, we proposed a new hybrid multiple attributed decision-making model by using the Decision-making trial and Evaluation Laboratory Technique (DEMATEL to construct an influential network relation map (INRM and determined the influential weights by using the basic concept of the analytic network process (called DEMATEL-based ANP, DANP; the influential weights were then adopted with a modified Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR method. A simple forecasting technique as an iteration function was also proposed. The proposed model was effective. We expect that the proposed model can facilitate making timely revisions, reflecting the growth of employee competence sets, reducing the performance gap toward the aspiration level, and ensuring the sustainability of a company.

African-American Undergraduates' Perceptions and Attributions of Child Sexual Abuse

Science.gov (United States)

Hestick, Henrietta; Perrino, Carrol S.

2009-01-01

This study examined perceptions of child sexual abuse and attributions of responsibility in a cross-sectional convenience sample of 384 African-American undergraduates using a scenario manipulating the age of the victim, gender of the victim, and gender of the perpetrator. Multiple interactions of respondent, victim, and perpetrator gender on…

Prioritization of Forest Restoration Projects: Tradeoffs between Wildfire Protection, Ecological Restoration and Economic Objectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin C. Vogler

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The implementation of US federal forest restoration programs on national forests is a complex process that requires balancing diverse socioecological goals with project economics. Despite both the large geographic scope and substantial investments in restoration projects, a quantitative decision support framework to locate optimal project areas and examine tradeoffs among alternative restoration strategies is lacking. We developed and demonstrated a new prioritization approach for restoration projects using optimization and the framework of production possibility frontiers. The study area was a 914,657 ha national forest in eastern Oregon, US that was identified as a national priority for restoration with the goal of increasing fire resiliency and sustaining ecosystem services. The results illustrated sharp tradeoffs among the various restoration goals due to weak spatial correlation of forest stressors and provisional ecosystem services. The sharpest tradeoffs were found in simulated projects that addressed either wildfire risk to the urban interface or wildfire hazard, highlighting the challenges associated with meeting both economic and fire protection goals. Understanding the nature of tradeoffs between restoration objectives and communicating them to forest stakeholders will allow forest managers to more effectively design and implement economically feasible restoration projects.

Behavioral tradeoffs when dispersing across a patchy landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick A. Zollner; Steven L. Lima

2005-01-01

A better understanding of the behavior of dispersing animals will assist in determining the factors that limit their success and ultimately help improve the way dispersal is incorporated into population models. To that end, we used a simulation model to investigate three questions about behavioral tradeoffs that dispersing animals might face: (i) speed of movement...

A Framework for Similarity Search with Space-Time Tradeoffs using Locality Sensitive Filtering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiani, Tobias Lybecker

2017-01-01

that satisfies certain locality-sensitivity properties, we can construct a dynamic data structure that solves the approximate near neighbor problem in $d$-dimensional space with query time $dn^{\\rho_q + o(1)}$, update time $dn^{\\rho_u + o(1)}$, and space usage $dn + n^{1 + \\rho_u + o(1)}$ where $n$ denotes......We present a framework for similarity search based on Locality-Sensitive Filtering~(LSF),generalizing the Indyk-Motwani (STOC 1998) Locality-Sensitive Hashing~(LSH) framework to support space-time tradeoffs. Given a family of filters, defined as a distribution over pairs of subsets of space...... the number of points in the data structure.The space-time tradeoff is tied to the tradeoff between query time and update time (insertions/deletions), controlled by the exponents $\\rho_q, \\rho_u$ that are determined by the filter family. \\\\ Locality-sensitive filtering was introduced by Becker et al. (SODA...

Muscle trade-offs in a power-amplified prey capture system.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco, M Mendoza; Patek, S N

2014-05-01

Should animals operating at great speeds and accelerations use fast or slow muscles? The answer hinges on a fundamental trade-off: muscles can be maximally fast or forceful, but not both. Direct lever systems offer a straightforward manifestation of this trade-off, yet the fastest organisms use power amplification, not direct lever action. Power-amplified systems typically use slow, forceful muscles to preload springs, which then rapidly release elastic potential energy to generate high speeds and accelerations. However, a fast response to a stimulus may necessitate fast spring-loading. Across 22 mantis shrimp species (Stomatopoda), this study examined how muscle anatomy correlates with spring mechanics and appendage type. We found that muscle force is maximized through physiological cross-sectional area, but not through sarcomere length. Sit-and-wait predators (spearers) had the shortest sarcomere lengths (fastest contractions) and the slowest strike speeds. The species that crush shells (smashers) had the fastest speeds, most forceful springs, and longest sarcomeres. The origin of the smasher clade yielded dazzlingly high accelerations, perhaps due to the release from fast spring-loading for evasive prey capture. This study offers a new window into the dynamics of force-speed trade-offs in muscles in the biomechanical, comparative evolutionary framework of power-amplified systems. © 2014 The Author(s). Evolution © 2014 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Multi-person and multi-attribute design evaluations using evidential reasoning based on subjective safety and cost analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, J.; Yang, J.B.; Sen, P.

1996-01-01

This paper presents an approach for ranking proposed design options based on subjective safety and cost analyses. Hierarchical system safety analysis is carried out using fuzzy sets and evidential reasoning. This involves safety modelling by fuzzy sets at the bottom level of a hierarchy and safety synthesis by evidential reasoning at higher levels. Fuzzy sets are also used to model the cost incurred for each design option. An evidential reasoning approach is then employed to synthesise the estimates of safety and cost, which are made by multiple designers. The developed approach is capable of dealing with problems of multiple designers, multiple attributes and multiple design options to select the best design. Finally, a practical engineering example is presented to demonstrate the proposed multi-person and multi-attribute design selection approach

Fitness trade-offs in pest management and intercropping with colour: an evolutionary framework and potential application.

Science.gov (United States)

Farkas, Timothy E

2015-10-01

An important modern goal of plant science research is to develop tools for agriculturalists effective at curbing yield losses to insect herbivores, but resistance evolution continuously threatens the efficacy of pest management strategies. The high-dose/refuge strategy has been employed with some success to curb pest adaptation, and has been shown to be most effective when fitness costs (fitness trade-offs) of resistance are high. Here, I use eco-evolutionary reasoning to demonstrate the general importance of fitness trade-offs for pest control, showing that strong fitness trade-offs mitigate the threat of pest adaptation, even if adaptation were to occur. I argue that novel pest management strategies evoking strong fitness trade-offs are the most likely to persist in the face of unbridled pest adaptation, and offer the manipulation of crop colours as a worked example of one potentially effective strategy against insect herbivores.

Making Trade-Offs Visible: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations about the Relationship between Dimensions and Institutions of Democracy and Empirical Findings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans-Joachim Lauth

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Whereas the measurement of the quality of democracy focused on the rough differentiation of democracies and autocracies in the beginning (e.g. Vanhanen, Polity, Freedom House, the focal point of newer instruments is the assessment of the quality of established democracies. In this context, tensions resp. trade-offs between dimensions of democracy are discussed as well (e.g. Democracy Barometer, Varieties of Democracy. However, these approaches lack a systematic discussion of trade-offs and they are not able to show trade-offs empirically. We address this research desideratum in a three-step process: Firstly, we propose a new conceptual approach, which distinguishes between two different modes of relationships between dimensions: mutual reinforcing effects and a give-and-take relationship (trade-offs between dimensions. By introducing our measurement tool, Democracy Matrix, we finally locate mutually reinforcing effects as well as trade-offs. Secondly, we provide a new methodological approach to measure trade-offs. While one measuring strategy captures the mutual reinforcing effects, the other strategy employs indicators, which serve to gauge trade-offs. Thirdly, we demonstrate empirical findings of our measurement drawing on the Varieties of Democracy dataset. Incorporating trade-offs into the measurement enables us to identify various profiles of democracy (libertarian, egalitarian and control-focused democracy via the quality of its dimensions.

Give 'til it hurts: trade-offs between immunity and male reproductive effort in the decorated cricket, Gryllodes sigillatus.

Science.gov (United States)

Gershman, S N; Barnett, C A; Pettinger, A M; Weddle, C B; Hunt, J; Sakaluk, S K

2010-04-01

Trade-offs between life-history variables can be manifested at either the phenotypic or genetic level, with vastly different evolutionary consequences. Here, we examined whether male decorated crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus) from eight inbred lines and the outbred founder population from which they were derived, trade-off immune effort [lytic activity, phenoloxidase (PO) activity or encapsulation] to produce spermatophylaxes: costly nuptial food gifts essential for successful sperm transfer. Canonical correlation analysis of the outbred population revealed a trade-off between spermatophylax mass and lytic activity. Analysis of our inbred lines, however, revealed that although PO activity, encapsulation, body mass, spermatophylax mass and ampulla (sperm capsule) mass were all highly heritable, lytic activity was not, and there was, therefore, no negative genetic correlation between lytic activity and spermatophylax mass. Thus, males showed a phenotypic but not a genetic trade-off between spermatophylax mass and lytic activity, suggesting that this trade-off is mediated largely by environmental factors.

Defensive traits exhibit an evolutionary trade-off and drive diversification in ants.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchard, Benjamin D; Moreau, Corrie S

2017-02-01

Evolutionary biologists have long predicted that evolutionary trade-offs among traits should constrain morphological divergence and species diversification. However, this prediction has yet to be tested in a broad evolutionary context in many diverse clades, including ants. Here, we reconstruct an expanded ant phylogeny representing 82% of ant genera, compile a new family-wide trait database, and conduct various trait-based analyses to show that defensive traits in ants do exhibit an evolutionary trade-off. In particular, the use of a functional sting negatively correlates with a suite of other defensive traits including spines, large eye size, and large colony size. Furthermore, we find that several of the defensive traits that trade off with a sting are also positively correlated with each other and drive increased diversification, further suggesting that these traits form a defensive suite. Our results support the hypothesis that trade-offs in defensive traits significantly constrain trait evolution and influence species diversification in ants. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

When we cannot have it all: Ecosystem services trade-offs in the context of spatial planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Turkelboom, Francis; Leone, Michael; Jacobs, Sander; Kelemen, Eszter; García-Llorente, Marina; Baró, Francesc; Termansen, Mette; Barton, David N.; Berry, Pam; Stange, Erik; Thoonen, Marijke; Kalóczkai, Ágnes; Vadineanu, Angheluta; Castro, Antonio J.; Czúcz, Bálint; Röckmann, Christine; Wurbs, Daniel; Odee, David; Preda, Elena; Gómez-Baggethun, Erik; Rusch, Graciela M.; Pastur, Guillermo Martínez; Palomo, Ignacio; Dick, Jan; Casaer, Jim; Dijk, Van Jiska; Priess, Joerg A.; Langemeyer, Johannes; Mustajoki, Jyri; Kopperoinen, Leena; Baptist, Martin J.; Peri, Pablo Luis; Mukhopadhyay, Raktima; Aszalós, Réka; Roy, S.B.; Luque, Sandra; Rusch, Verónica

2018-01-01

Spatial planning has to deal with trade-offs between various stakeholders’ wishes and needs as part of planning and management of landscapes, natural resources and/or biodiversity. To make ecosystem services (ES) trade-off research more relevant for spatial planning, we propose an analytical

Academic procrastination: the relationship between causal attribution styles and behavioral postponement.

Science.gov (United States)

Badri Gargari, Rahim; Sabouri, Hossein; Norzad, Fatemeh

2011-01-01

This research was conducted to study the relationship between attribution and academic procrastination in University Students. The subjects were 203 undergraduate students, 55 males and 148 females, selected from English and French language and literature students of Tabriz University. Data were gathered through Procrastination Assessment Scale-student (PASS) and Causal Dimension Scale (CDA) and were analyzed by multiple regression analysis (stepwise). The results showed that there was a meaningful and negative relation between the locus of control and controllability in success context and academic procrastination. Besides, a meaningful and positive relation was observed between the locus of control and stability in failure context and procrastination. It was also found that 17% of the variance of procrastination was accounted by linear combination of attributions. We believe that causal attribution is a key in understanding procrastination in academic settings and is used by those who have the knowledge of Causal Attribution styles to organize their learning.

Design tradeoff studies and sensitivity analysis. Appendix B

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1979-05-25

The results of the design trade-off studies and the sensitivity analysis of Phase I of the Near Term Hybrid Vehicle (NTHV) Program are presented. The effects of variations in the design of the vehicle body, propulsion systems, and other components on vehicle power, weight, cost, and fuel economy and an optimized hybrid vehicle design are discussed. (LCL)

Stability for Function Trade-Offs in the Enolase Superfamily 'Catalytic Module'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nagatani, R.A.; Gonzalez, A.; Shoichet, B.K.; Brinen, L.S.; Babbitt, P.C.; /UC, San Francisco /SLAC, SSRL

2007-07-12

Enzyme catalysis reflects a dynamic interplay between charged and polar active site residues that facilitate function, stabilize transition states, and maintain overall protein stability. Previous studies show that substituting neutral for charged residues in the active site often significantly stabilizes a protein, suggesting a stability trade-off for functionality. In the enolase superfamily, a set of conserved active site residues (the ''catalytic module'') has repeatedly been used in nature in the evolution of many different enzymes for the performance of unique overall reactions involving a chemically diverse set of substrates. This catalytic module provides a robust solution for catalysis that delivers the common underlying partial reaction that supports all of the different overall chemical reactions of the superfamily. As this module has been so broadly conserved in the evolution of new functions, we sought to investigate the extent to which it follows the stability-function trade-off. Alanine substitutions were made for individual residues, groups of residues, and the entire catalytic module of o-succinylbenzoate synthase (OSBS), a member of the enolase superfamily from Escherichia coli. Of six individual residue substitutions, four (K131A, D161A, E190A, and D213A) substantially increased protein stability (by 0.46-4.23 kcal/mol), broadly consistent with prediction of a stability-activity trade-off. The residue most conserved across the superfamily, E190, is by far the most destabilizing. When the individual substitutions were combined into groups (as they are structurally and functionally organized), nonadditive stability effects emerged, supporting previous observations that residues within the module interact as two functional groups within a larger catalytic system. Thus, whereas the multiple-mutant enzymes D161A/E190A/D213A and K131A/K133A/D161A/E190A/D213A/K235A (termed 3KDED) are stabilized relative to the wild-type enzyme (by 1

Competition in Multiple Characteristics: An Empirical Test of Location Equilibrium.

OpenAIRE

Elizalde, J. (Javier)

2010-01-01

With products differentiated in multiple dimensions, the location equilibrium for a duopolistic market exhibits aximum differentiation in one dimension and minimum differentiation in all the other dimensions. This paper analyses whether this equilibrium arises using real data for the Spanish movie theatre exhibition market where the firms (cinemas) are differentiated along two dimensions (their geographical location and the set of movies exhibited). Data not only shows a trade-off such that c...

Financing Investment: The Cost Trade-Off

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hirth, Stefan; Flor, Christian Riis

Intuition suggests that corporate investment should be decreasing in financing constraints. We show that even when financing is obtained using a standard debt contract and there is symmetric information between the firm and outside investors, the relation is actually U-shaped. We thus provide a new...... theoretical explanation for the recent empirical findings of Cleary et al. (2007). We split up the endogenously implied financing costs and propose a trade-off between expected liquidation costs and second-best investment costs. For rather unconstrained firms, the risk of costly liquidation dominates the cost...

Understanding trade-offs between development and resources

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ngwadla, Xolisa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available stream_source_info Ngwadla_CSIR2017.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 4104 Content-Encoding UTF-8 stream_name Ngwadla_CSIR2017.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 UNDERSTANDING TRADE... feedstock + production aspects • Are there limits to growth? WHY UNDERSTAND RESOURCE TRADE-OFFS WITH INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT? UNEMPLOYMENT - 24% in 2011 - 27% in 2016 INEQUALITY - Gini Coefficient: - 0,69 in 2011 - 0,68 in 2015...

A trade-off study revealing nested timescales of constraint

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijnants, M.L.; Cox, R.F.A; Hasselman, F.; Bosman, A. M. T.; Van Orden, G.

2012-01-01

This study investigates human performance in a cyclic Fitts task at three different scales of observation, either in the presence (difficult condition) or in the absence (easy condition) of a speed–accuracy trade-off. At the fastest scale, the harmonicity of the back and forth movements, which

Tradeoffs in process strategy games with application in the WDM reconfiguration problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cohen, Nathann; Coudert, David; Mazauric, Dorian

2011-01-01

We consider a variant of the graph searching games that models the routing reconfiguration problem in WDM networks. In the digraph processing game, a team of agents aims at processing, or clearing, the vertices of a digraph D. We are interested in two different measures: (1) the total number...... tradeoffs may happen even for a basic class of digraphs. On the other hand, we exhibit classes of graphs for which good tradeoffs can be achieved. We finally detail the relationship between this game and the routing reconfiguration problem. In particular, we prove that any instance of the processing game, i...

Fundamental rate-loss trade-off for the quantum internet.

Science.gov (United States)

Azuma, Koji; Mizutani, Akihiro; Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2016-11-25

The quantum internet holds promise for achieving quantum communication-such as quantum teleportation and quantum key distribution (QKD)-freely between any clients all over the globe, as well as for the simulation of the evolution of quantum many-body systems. The most primitive function of the quantum internet is to provide quantum entanglement or a secret key to two points efficiently, by using intermediate nodes connected by optical channels with each other. Here we derive a fundamental rate-loss trade-off for a quantum internet protocol, by generalizing the Takeoka-Guha-Wilde bound to be applicable to any network topology. This trade-off has essentially no scaling gap with the quantum communication efficiencies of protocols known to be indispensable to long-distance quantum communication, such as intercity QKD and quantum repeaters. Our result-putting a practical but general limitation on the quantum internet-enables us to grasp the potential of the future quantum internet.

Social attribution test--multiple choice (SAT-MC) in schizophrenia: comparison with community sample and relationship to neurocognitive, social cognitive and symptom measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Morris D; Fiszdon, Joanna M; Greig, Tamasine C; Wexler, Bruce E

2010-09-01

This is the first report on the use of the Social Attribution Task - Multiple Choice (SAT-MC) to assess social cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. The SAT-MC was originally developed for autism research, and consists of a 64-second animation showing geometric figures enacting a social drama, with 19 multiple choice questions about the interactions. Responses from 85 community-dwelling participants and 66 participants with SCID confirmed schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders (Scz) revealed highly significant group differences. When the two samples were combined, SAT-MC scores were significantly correlated with other social cognitive measures, including measures of affect recognition, theory of mind, self-report of egocentricity and the Social Cognition Index from the MATRICS battery. Using a cut-off score, 53% of Scz were significantly impaired on SAT-MC compared with 9% of the community sample. Most Scz participants with impairment on SAT-MC also had impairment on affect recognition. Significant correlations were also found with neurocognitive measures but with less dependence on verbal processes than other social cognitive measures. Logistic regression using SAT-MC scores correctly classified 75% of both samples. Results suggest that this measure may have promise, but alternative versions will be needed before it can be used in pre-post or longitudinal designs. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Employability attributes and personality preferences of postgraduate business management students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingrid Potgieter

2013-05-01

Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between employees’ employability attributes (as the Employability Attributes Scale measures them and their personality preferences (as the Myers-Briggs Type indicator, Form M, measures them. Motivation for the study: There seems to be a paucity of information about how employees’ personality preferences relate to their employability attributes in South Africa’s multicultural organisational context. Research design, approach and method: The authors conducted a quantitative survey. It involved a non-probability sample of 304 early career adults enrolled for an Honour’s degree in business management in an open distance learning higher education institution. They used correlational statistics and multiple regression analyses to analyse the data. Main findings: The authors observed a number of significant relationships between the participants’ personality preferences and their employability attributes. Practical/managerial implications: Career counsellors and human resource practitioners need to recognise how employees’ personality preferences influence their employability attributes in the management of their career development and employability. Contribution/value add: The findings add to the existing career literature on the career metacompetencies that influence employees’ employability. They also provide valuable information that organisations can use for career development support and counselling practices in the contemporary world of work.

Trade-offs between ecosystem services and alternative pathways toward sustainability in a tropical dry forest region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Mora

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The design of strategies aimed at sustainable resource management requires an understanding of the trade-offs between the ecosystem services at stake, to determine appropriate ways in which to navigate them. We assess trade-offs between forage production for cattle ranching and the maintenance of carbon stocks or tree diversity in a Mexican tropical dry forest. Trade-offs between pairs of services were assessed by identifying their efficiency frontiers at both site and landscape scales. We also estimated service outcomes under current and hypothetical land-management conditions. We found stark trade-offs between fodder and carbon stocks and between fodder and tree species richness at the site scale. At the landscape scale, the efficiency frontier was concave, with a much less pronounced trade-off in the fodder-species richness case. Our estimates of current service supply levels showed a reduction of 18-21% for C stock and 41-43% for fodder biomass, relative to the maximum feasible values along the efficiency frontier. Choice of the optimum management strategy to reduce such inefficiency depended on deforestation level: secondary forest regeneration was most suitable when deforestation is low, whereas increased fodder productivity in the pastures is best when deforestation is high. Pasture enrichment with forage trees and secondary forest growth are potential management alternatives for achieving sustainability given the range of enabling ecological factors and to balance ecological and social sustainability given the requirements and preferences of local stakeholders. Given that analogous trade-offs are found across the tropics, this work contributes to reconciling tropical forest maintenance and its use for sustainable rural livelihoods.

Trade-offs Between Electricity Production from Small Hydropower Plants and Ecosystem Services in Alpine River Basins

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Philipp; Schwemmle, Robin; Viviroli, Daniel

2015-04-01

The need for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the decision to phase out nuclear power plants in Switzerland and Germany increases pressure to develop the remaining hydropower potential in Alpine catchments. Since most of the potential for large reservoirs is already exploited, future development focusses on small run-of-the-river hydropower plants (SHP). Being considered a relatively environment-friendly electricity source, investment in SHP is promoted through subsidies. However, SHP can have a significant impact on riverine ecosystems, especially in the Alpine region where residual flow reaches tend to be long. An increase in hydropower exploitation will therefore increase pressure on ecosystems. While a number of studies assessed the potential for hydropower development in the Alps, two main factors were so far not assessed in detail: (i) ecological impacts within a whole river network, and (ii) economic conditions under which electricity is sold. We present a framework that establishes trade-offs between multiple objectives regarding environmental impacts, electricity production and economic evaluation. While it is inevitable that some ecosystems are compromised by hydropower plants, the context of these impacts within a river network should be considered when selecting suitable sites for SHP. From an ecological point of view, the diversity of habitats, and therefore the diversity of species, should be maintained within a river basin. This asks for objectives that go beyond lumped parameters of hydrological alteration, but also consider habitat diversity and the spatial configuration. Energy production in run-of-the-river power plants depends on available discharge, which can have large fluctuations. In a deregulated electricity market with strong price variations, an economic valuation should therefore be based on the expected market value of energy produced. Trade-off curves between different objectives can help decision makers to define policies

Reproductive effort and the egg number vs. size trade-off in Physalaemus frogs (Anura: Leiuperidae)

Science.gov (United States)

Camargo, Arley; Sarroca, Macarena; Maneyro, Raúl

2008-09-01

Patterns of reproductive allocation are expected to differ between species according to temporally and spatially variable costs of reproduction. Even when reproductive allocation patterns are the same, species can also differ in how the reproductive effort is allocated between offspring number and size. In this study, we compared the reproductive allocation patterns and the offspring number vs. size trade-off in two frog species, Physalaemus biligonigerus and P. gracilis, using bivariate (standardized major axis) and multiple linear regressions. Both species showed a common slope between body size and reproductive effort and thus a similar allocation pattern although P. biligonigerus has a larger body size (shift along common slope) and makes a lower reproductive effort (shift in intercept) than P. gracilis. We suggest that similar allocation patterns may be related to the shared phenologies of these frogs and that the differences in reproductive effort could represent either an adaptive shift (e.g., change in body space for the clutch) or a historical constraint. There was a negative correlation between fecundity and egg size in P. biligonigerus but not in P. gracilis as predicted by the acquisition-allocation model (Y-model). This study constitutes the first valid test of the Y-model based on recent predictions derived for the trade-off between offspring size vs. number. We conclude that future studies should compare reproductive allocation patterns between species using tests of allometric slopes with appropriate phylogenetic control to detect both adaptive shifts in allocation strategies and correlations with other life-history traits.

Trade-offs between microbial growth phases lead to frequency-dependent and non-transitive selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Manhart, Michael; Adkar, Bharat V; Shakhnovich, Eugene I

2018-02-14

Mutations in a microbial population can increase the frequency of a genotype not only by increasing its exponential growth rate, but also by decreasing its lag time or adjusting the yield (resource efficiency). The contribution of multiple life-history traits to selection is a critical question for evolutionary biology as we seek to predict the evolutionary fates of mutations. Here we use a model of microbial growth to show that there are two distinct components of selection corresponding to the growth and lag phases, while the yield modulates their relative importance. The model predicts rich population dynamics when there are trade-offs between phases: multiple strains can coexist or exhibit bistability due to frequency-dependent selection, and strains can engage in rock-paper-scissors interactions due to non-transitive selection. We characterize the environmental conditions and patterns of traits necessary to realize these phenomena, which we show to be readily accessible to experiments. Our results provide a theoretical framework for analysing high-throughput measurements of microbial growth traits, especially interpreting the pleiotropy and correlations between traits across mutants. This work also highlights the need for more comprehensive measurements of selection in simple microbial systems, where the concept of an ordinary fitness landscape breaks down. © 2018 The Author(s).

A neuroimaging investigation of attribute framing and individual differences

Science.gov (United States)

Murch, Kevin B.

2014-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to evaluate the neural basis of framing effects. We tested the reflexive and reflective systems model of social cognition as it relates to framing. We also examined the relationships among frame susceptibility, intelligence and personality measures. Participants evaluated whether personal attributes applied to themselves from multiple perspectives and in positive and negative frames. Participants rated whether each statement was descriptive or not and endorsed positive frames more than negative frames. Individual differences on frame decisions enabled us to form high and low frame susceptibility groups. Endorsement of frame-consistent attributes was associated with personality factors, cognitive reflection and intelligence. Reflexive brain regions were associated with positive frames while reflective areas were associated with negative frames. Region of Interest analyses showed that frame-inconsistent responses were associated with increased activation within reflective cognitive control regions including the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), dorsomedial PFC and left ventrolateral PFC. Frame-consistent responses were associated with increased activation in the right orbitofrontal cortex. These results demonstrate that individual differences in frame susceptibility influence personal attribute evaluations. Overall, this study clarifies the neural correlates of the reflective and reflexive systems of social cognition as applied to decisions about social attributions. PMID:23988759

A trade-off between length and width in resolution

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Thapen, Neil

2016-01-01

Roč. 12, č. 5 (2016), s. 1-14 ISSN 1557-2862 R&D Projects: GA ČR GBP202/12/G061 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : proof complexity * resolution * trade-off Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics http:// toc .nada.kth.se/ articles /v012a005/index.html

Lower Bound of Energy-Latency Tradeoff of Opportunistic Routing in Multihop Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gorce Jean-Marie

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Opportunistic networking aims at exploiting sporadic radio links to improve the connectivity of multihop networks and to foster data transmissions. The broadcast nature of wireless channels is an important feature that can be exploited to improve transmissions by using several potential receivers. Opportunistic relaying is thus the first brick for opportunistic networking. However, the advantage of opportunistic relaying may be degraded due to energy increase related to having multiple active receivers. This paper proposes a thorough analysis of opportunistic relaying efficiency under different realistic radio channel conditions. The study is intended to find the best tradeoff between two objectives: energy and latency minimizations, with a hard reliability constraint. We derive an optimal bound, namely, the Pareto front of the related optimization problem, which offers a good insight into the benefits of opportunistic routings compared with classical multihop routing schemes. Meanwhile, the lower bound provides a framework to optimize the parameters at the physical layer, MAC layer, and routing layer from the viewpoint of cross layer during the design or planning phase of a network.

The intersectionality of discrimination attributes and bullying among youth: an applied latent class analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Garnett, Bernice Raveche; Masyn, Katherine E; Austin, S Bryn; Miller, Matthew; Williams, David R; Viswanath, Kasisomayajula

2014-08-01

Discrimination is commonly experienced among adolescents. However, little is known about the intersection of multiple attributes of discrimination and bullying. We used a latent class analysis (LCA) to illustrate the intersections of discrimination attributes and bullying, and to assess the associations of LCA membership to depressive symptoms, deliberate self harm and suicidal ideation among a sample of ethnically diverse adolescents. The data come from the 2006 Boston Youth Survey where students were asked whether they had experienced discrimination based on four attributes: race/ethnicity, immigration status, perceived sexual orientation and weight. They were also asked whether they had been bullied or assaulted for these attributes. A total of 965 (78%) students contributed to the LCA analytic sample (45% Non-Hispanic Black, 29% Hispanic, 58% Female). The LCA revealed that a 4-class solution had adequate relative and absolute fit. The 4-classes were characterized as: low discrimination (51%); racial discrimination (33%); sexual orientation discrimination (7%); racial and weight discrimination with high bullying (intersectional class) (7%). In multivariate models, compared to the low discrimination class, individuals in the sexual orientation discrimination class and the intersectional class had higher odds of engaging in deliberate self-harm. Students in the intersectional class also had higher odds of suicidal ideation. All three discrimination latent classes had significantly higher depressive symptoms compared to the low discrimination class. Multiple attributes of discrimination and bullying co-occur among adolescents. Research should consider the co-occurrence of bullying and discrimination.

The effects of cognitive style and emotional trade-off difficulty on information processing in decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dawei; Hao, Leilei; Maguire, Phil; Hu, Yixin

2016-12-01

This study investigated the effects of cognitive style and emotional trade-off difficulty (ETOD) on information processing in decision-making. Eighty undergraduates (73.75% female, M = 21.90), grouped according to their cognitive style (field-dependent or field-independent), conducted an Information Display Board (IDB) task, through which search time, search depth and search pattern were measured. Participants' emotional states were assessed both before and after the IDB task. The results showed that participants experienced significantly more negative emotion under high ETOD compared to those under low ETOD. While both cognitive style and ETOD had significant effects on search time and search depth, only ETOD significantly influenced search pattern; individuals in both cognitive style groups tended to use attribute-based processing under high ETOD and to use alternative-based processing under low ETOD. There was also a significant interaction between cognitive style and ETOD for search time and search depth. We propose that these results are best accounted for by the coping behaviour framework under high ETOD, and by the negative emotion hypothesis under low ETOD. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

Re-examining the risk–return relationship in Europe: Linear or non-linear trade-off?

OpenAIRE

Salvador, Enrique; Floros, Christos; Arago, Vicent

2014-01-01

This paper analyzes the risk–return trade-off in Europe using recent data from 11 European stock markets. After relaxing the linear assumptions in the risk–return relationship by introducing a new approach that considers the current state of the market, we obtain significant evidence for a positive risk–return trade-off for low volatility states. However, this finding is reduced or even non-significant during periods of high volatility. Maintaining the linear assumption over the risk–return t...

Environmental justice research shows the importance of social feedbacks in ecosystem service trade-offs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neil M. Dawson

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this article, we shine a spotlight on approaches to research ecosystem service trade-offs and critically assess their representation of relevant social dynamics. Although studies linking ecosystem services and human well-being have provided theoretical insights into social and ecological trade-offs, we argue that ecosystem services research has paid insufficient attention to "social feedbacks," people's cognitive and behavioral responses to change. We demonstrate that augmenting ecosystem services research with environmental justice approaches (exploring perceptions of the distribution of costs and benefits, decision making procedures, and recognition of different values and identities can more effectively capture important responses to ecosystem governance. Spatial analysis of land use change, mixed-method assessment of multidimensional well-being, and qualitative environmental justice research were applied in three villages adjacent to Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area in northern Laos. Spatial analysis showed that, from 2006 to 2015, forest clearance for cultivation remained stable within the protected area. Well-being assessment revealed the local population benefited from rapidly increasing incomes, asset ownership, and reduced poverty during that time. In combination, spatial and well-being analyses paint a picture of limited trade-offs, despite growing incentives to exploit protected land and resources through cash crops and high-value forest products. In contrast, results from environmental justice research revealed profound trade-offs between conservation and local practices, and highlight governance deficiencies relating to procedure and recognition. Consequently, formal protected area rules were perceived to be illegitimate by many and actively undermined, for example through negotiated access with alternative authorities. We conclude that although well-being research provides an essential foundation to understand diverse

Trade-offs between developmental parameters of two endoparasitoids developing in different instars of the same host species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Malčická, Mima; Harvey, J.A.

2014-01-01

Trade-offs amongst life history traits is a major theme in evolutionary biology. Parasitoid wasps are important biological control agents and make excellent organisms to examine trade-offs in fitness related traits such as size, development rate and survival. Here, we examined trait-related

The fitness costs and trade-off shapes associated with the exclusion of nine antibiotics by OmpF porin channels.

Science.gov (United States)

Phan, Katherine; Ferenci, Thomas

2017-06-01

The trade-off relationship between antibiotic exclusion and nutrient access across the Gram-negative outer membrane is determined by structural constraints in porin channels. The precise nutritional cost of exclusion is unknown for different antibiotics, as are the shapes of the nutrition-susceptibility trade-off. Using a library of 10 engineered isogenic Escherichia coli strains with structural modifications of OmpF porin expressed at a constant level, susceptibilities were measured for nine antibiotics and the nutritional fitness costs estimated by competitions in chemostats. Different antibiotics exhibited a remarkably varied range of geometries in the nutrition-susceptibility trade-off, including convex, concave and sigmoidal trade-off shapes. The trade-off patterns predict the possibility of adaptations in contributing to antibiotic resistance; exclusion of amoxicillin or trimethoprim in ompF mutants can occur with little loss of fitness whereas kanamycin and streptomycin exclusion has a high cost. Some individual OmpF changes even allow positive correlations (trade-ups), resulting in increased fitness and decreased susceptibility specifically to cephalexin or ciprofloxacin. The surprising plasticity of the nutrition-exclusion relationship means that there are no generalisable rules that apply to decreasing susceptibility for all antibiotics. The protein changes are exquisitely specific in determining nutritional fitness and adaptive outcomes in a structural constraint trade-off.

Sampling plans in attribute mode with multiple levels of precision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franklin, M.

1986-01-01

This paper describes a method for deriving sampling plans for nuclear material inventory verification. The method presented is different from the classical approach which envisages two levels of measurement precision corresponding to NDA and DA. In the classical approach the precisions of the two measurement methods are taken as fixed parameters. The new approach is based on multiple levels of measurement precision. The design of the sampling plan consists of choosing the number of measurement levels, the measurement precision to be used at each level and the sample size to be used at each level

Trade-offs in ecosystem services and varying stakeholder preferences: evaluating conflicts, obstacles, and opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth King

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In efforts to increase human well-being while maintaining the natural systems and processes upon which we depend, navigating the trade-offs that can arise between different ecosystem services is a profound challenge. We evaluated a recently developed simple analytic framework for assessing ecosystem service trade-offs, which characterizes such trade-offs in terms of their underlying biophysical constraints as well as divergences in stakeholders' values for the services in question. Through a workshop and subsequent discussions, we identified four different types of challenging situations under which the framework allows important insights to clarify the nature of stakeholder conflicts, obstacles to promoting more sustainable outcomes, and potential enabling factors to promote efficiency and sustainability of ecosystem service yields. We illustrated the framework's analytical steps by applying them to case studies representing three of the challenging situations. We explored the fourth challenging situation conceptually, using published literature for examples. We examined the potential utility and feasibility of using the framework as a participatory tool in resource management and conflict resolution. We concluded that the framework can be instrumental for promoting pluralism and insightful analysis of trade-offs. The insights offered here may be viewed as hypotheses to be tested and refined as additional unforeseen challenges and benefits are revealed as the framework is put into practice.

The rate-size trade-off structures intraspecific variation in Daphnia ambigua life history parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

DeLong, John P; Hanley, Torrance C

2013-01-01

The identification of trade-offs is necessary for understanding the evolution and maintenance of diversity. Here we employ the supply-demand (SD) body size optimization model to predict a trade-off between asymptotic body size and growth rate. We use the SD model to quantitatively predict the slope of the relationship between asymptotic body size and growth rate under high and low food regimes and then test the predictions against observations for Daphnia ambigua. Close quantitative agreement between observed and predicted slopes at both food levels lends support to the model and confirms that a 'rate-size' trade-off structures life history variation in this population. In contrast to classic life history expectations, growth and reproduction were positively correlated after controlling for the rate-size trade-off. We included 12 Daphnia clones in our study, but clone identity explained only some of the variation in life history traits. We also tested the hypothesis that growth rate would be positively related to intergenic spacer length (i.e. the growth rate hypothesis) across clones, but we found that clones with intermediate intergenic spacer lengths had larger asymptotic sizes and slower growth rates. Our results strongly support a resource-based optimization of body size following the SD model. Furthermore, because some resource allocation decisions necessarily precede others, understanding interdependent life history traits may require a more nested approach.

The rate-size trade-off structures intraspecific variation in Daphnia ambigua life history parameters.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John P DeLong

Full Text Available The identification of trade-offs is necessary for understanding the evolution and maintenance of diversity. Here we employ the supply-demand (SD body size optimization model to predict a trade-off between asymptotic body size and growth rate. We use the SD model to quantitatively predict the slope of the relationship between asymptotic body size and growth rate under high and low food regimes and then test the predictions against observations for Daphnia ambigua. Close quantitative agreement between observed and predicted slopes at both food levels lends support to the model and confirms that a 'rate-size' trade-off structures life history variation in this population. In contrast to classic life history expectations, growth and reproduction were positively correlated after controlling for the rate-size trade-off. We included 12 Daphnia clones in our study, but clone identity explained only some of the variation in life history traits. We also tested the hypothesis that growth rate would be positively related to intergenic spacer length (i.e. the growth rate hypothesis across clones, but we found that clones with intermediate intergenic spacer lengths had larger asymptotic sizes and slower growth rates. Our results strongly support a resource-based optimization of body size following the SD model. Furthermore, because some resource allocation decisions necessarily precede others, understanding interdependent life history traits may require a more nested approach.

Valuing trade-offs of river ecosystem services in large hydropower development in Tibet, China

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, B.; Xu, L.

2015-12-01

Hydropower development can be considered as a kind of trade-offs of ecosystem services generated by human activity for their economic and energy demand, because it can increase some river ecosystem services but decrease others. In this context, an ecosystem service trade-off framework in hydropower development was proposed in this paper. It aims to identify the ecological cost of river ecosystem and serve for the ecological compensation during hydropower development, for the hydropower services cannot completely replace the regulating services of river ecosystem. The valuing trade-offs framework was integrated by the influenced ecosystem services identification and ecosystem services valuation, through ecological monitoring and ecological economic methods, respectively. With a case study of Pondo hydropower project in Tibet, China, the valuing trade-offs of river ecosystem services in large hydropower development was illustrated. The typical ecological factors including water, sediment and soil were analyzed in this study to identify the altered river ecosystem services by Pondo hydropower project. Through the field monitoring and valuation, the results showed that the Lhasa River ecosystem services value could be changed annually by Pondo hydropower project with the increment of 5.7E+8CNY, and decrement of 5.1E+7CNY. The ecological compensation for river ecosystem should be focus on water and soil conservation, reservoir dredging and tributaries habitat protection.

Interval-valued Hesitant Fuzzy Heronian Mean Operators and Their Application to Multiple Attribute Decision Making%区间犹豫模糊集成算子及其在多属性决策中的应用

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

赵晓冬; 臧誉琪; 孙微

2017-01-01

针对属性值为区间犹豫模糊元且属性间存在相互关联的多属性决策问题,提出一种基于区间犹豫模糊Heronian平均算子的多属性决策方法.首先,给出了区间犹豫模糊元的定义及运算法则;然后,提出了区间犹豫模糊Heronian平均算子和区间犹豫模糊几何Heronian平均算子,并探讨了它们的特性;在此基础上,考虑到各属性的不同重要性,定义了区间犹豫模糊加权Heronian平均算子和区间犹豫模糊加权几何Heronian平均算子;最后,将区间犹豫模糊加权Heronian平均算子应用于多属性决策问题中,验证了所提算子的有效性和可行性.%With respect to the multiple attribute decision making problems in which the a ttribute values are in the form of interval-valued hesitant fuzzy information and attributes are associated with each other,in this paper proposed a multiple attribute decision making method based on the intervalvalued hesitant fuzzy Heronian mean operator.Firstly,the definition of the interval-valued hesitant fuzzy set is given,some basic operation laws of it are discussed;Then,the interval-valued hesitant fuzzy Heronian mean operator and the interval-valued hesitant fuzzy geometric Heronian mean operator are proposed,some desirable properties are studied in detail;Furthermore,considering the attributes with different importance,the interval-valued hesitant fuzzy weighted Heronian mean operator and the interval-valued hesitant fuzzy weighted geometric Heronian mean operator are defined.Finally,the interval-valued hesitant fuzzy weighted Heronian mean operator is applied to the multiple attribute decision making problem,in order to illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed operators.

Has the tradeoff between productivity gains and job growth disappeared?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P.A.D. Cavelaars

2004-01-01

textabstractPolicymakers’ efforts to boost trend output growth may be hampered by the presence of a tradeoff between productivity gains and job creation. This paper presents empirical evidence that the negative relationship between productivity growth and employment growth that prevailed in the

The role of trade-offs in biodiversity conservation planning: linking ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A recent whole-country planning study for Papua New Guinea illustrates the importance of complementarity-based trade-offs in determining priority areas for biodiversity conservation, and for designing economic instruments such as biodiversity levies and offsets. Two international biodiversity programs provide important ...

Discount rates in risk versus money and money versus money tradeoffs.

Science.gov (United States)

Alberini, Anna; Chiabai, Aline

2007-04-01

We use data from a survey of residents of five Italian cities conducted in late spring 2004 to estimate the discount rates implicit in (1) money versus future risk reductions and (2) money versus money tradeoffs. We find that the mean personal discount rate is 0.3-1.7% in (1) and 8.7% in (2). The latter is lower than the discount rates estimated in comparable situations in many recent studies, greater than market interest rates in Italy at the time, and exhibits modest variation with age and gender. The discount rate implicit in money versus risk tradeoffs is within the range of estimates from studies in the United States and Europe, and does not depend on observable individual characteristics. We use split samples to investigate whether a completely abstract risk reduction - one where the risk reduction delivery has been stripped of all specifics, so that respondents should focus on the risks without being distracted by details - results in WTP and discount figures comparable to those from an identified delivery mechanism (a medical test). We find that while WTP for an immediate risk reduction is 42-73% higher with the abstract risk reduction, the discount rate in the money versus risk tradeoffs and the variance of the error term in the WTP equation are the same across the two variants of the questionnaire.

Ecosystem service trade-offs and their influencing factors: A case study in the Loess Plateau of China.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Qiang; Zhao, Wenwu; Fu, Bojie; Ding, Jingyi; Wang, Shuai

2017-12-31

Soil erosion control (SEC), carbon sequestration (CAS), and soil moisture (SMO) strongly interact in the semi-arid Loess Plateau. Since SMO has supportive effects on SEC and CAS, it can be considered as ecosystem service (ES), and there is an immediate need to coordinate the relationships among these ecosystem services (ESs) to promote the sustainability of vegetation recovery. In this study, we quantified the ESs, ES trade-offs, and the environmental factors in 151 sample plots in the Ansai watershed, and we used a redundancy analysis (RDA) to clarify the effects of environmental factors on these ESs and their trade-offs. The results were as follows: (1) the general trend in the SEC of vegetation types was Robinia pseudoacacia (CH)>native grass (NG)>small arbor (ST)>Hippophae rhamnoides (SJ)>artificial grass (AG)>Caragana korshinskii (NT)>apple orchard (GY)>crop (CP); the CAS trend was CH>SJ>NT>AG>CP>ST>GY>NG; and the SMO trend was CP>NG>GY>AG>SJ>ST>CH>NT. (2) For SEC-SMO trade-offs, the influence of vegetation type, altitude, silt and sand composition was dominant. The arrangement of NG, AG, and SJ could decrease the extent of the trade-offs. (3) For CAS-SMO trade-offs, vegetation coverage and types were the dominant factors, but the effects were not complex. The extent of these trade-offs was lowest for NT, and that for SJ was the second lowest. (4) Considering the relationships among the three ESs, SJ was the most appropriate afforestation plant. Combing the vegetation types, slope position, slope gradient, and soil properties could regulate these ES relationships. The dominant factors influencing ES trade-offs varied among the different soil layers, so we must consider the corresponding influencing factors to regulate ESs. Moreover, manual management measures were also important for coordinating the ES relationships. Our research provides a better understanding of the mechanisms influencing the relationships among ESs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All

Attributional processes in the learned helplessness paradigm: behavioral effects of global attributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikulincer, M

1986-12-01

Following the learned helplessness paradigm, I assessed in this study the effects of global and specific attributions for failure on the generalization of performance deficits in a dissimilar situation. Helplessness training consisted of experience with noncontingent failures on four cognitive discrimination problems attributed to either global or specific causes. Experiment 1 found that performance in a dissimilar situation was impaired following exposure to globally attributed failure. Experiment 2 examined the behavioral effects of the interaction between stable and global attributions of failure. Exposure to unsolvable problems resulted in reduced performance in a dissimilar situation only when failure was attributed to global and stable causes. Finally, Experiment 3 found that learned helplessness deficits were a product of the interaction of global and internal attribution. Performance deficits following unsolvable problems were recorded when failure was attributed to global and internal causes. Results were discussed in terms of the reformulated learned helplessness model.

Evaluating the Life Cycle Environmental Benefits and Trade-Offs of Water Reuse Systems for Net-Zero Buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasik, Vaclav; Anderson, Naomi E; Collinge, William O; Thiel, Cassandra L; Khanna, Vikas; Wirick, Jason; Piacentini, Richard; Landis, Amy E; Bilec, Melissa M

2017-02-07

Aging water infrastructure and increased water scarcity have resulted in higher interest in water reuse and decentralization. Rating systems for high-performance buildings implicitly promote the use of building-scale, decentralized water supply and treatment technologies. It is important to recognize the potential benefits and trade-offs of decentralized and centralized water systems in the context of high-performance buildings. For this reason and to fill a gap in the current literature, we completed a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the decentralized water system of a high-performance, net-zero energy, net-zero water building (NZB) that received multiple green building certifications and compared the results with two modeled buildings (conventional and water efficient) using centralized water systems. We investigated the NZB's impacts over varying lifetimes, conducted a break-even analysis, and included Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis. The results show that, although the NZB performs better in most categories than the conventional building, the water efficient building generally outperforms the NZB. The lifetime of the NZB, septic tank aeration, and use of solar energy have been found to be important factors in the NZB's impacts. While these findings are specific to the case study building, location, and treatment technologies, the framework for comparison of water and wastewater impacts of various buildings can be applied during building design to aid decision making. As we design and operate high-performance buildings, the potential trade-offs of advanced decentralized water treatment systems should be considered.

Extending Attribution Theory: Considering Students' Perceived Control of the Attribution Process

Science.gov (United States)

Fishman, Evan J.; Husman, Jenefer

2017-01-01

Research in attribution theory has shown that students' causal thinking profoundly affects their learning and motivational outcomes. Very few studies, however, have explored how students' attribution-related beliefs influence the causal thought process. The present study used the perceived control of the attribution process (PCAP) model to examine…

Changing US Attributes After CS-US Pairings Changes CS-Attribute-Assessments: Evidence for CS-US Associations in Attribute Conditioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Förderer, Sabine; Unkelbach, Christian

2016-03-01

Attribute Conditioning (AC) refers to people's changed assessments of stimuli's (CSs) attributes due to repeated pairing with stimuli (USs) possessing these attributes; for example, when an athletic person (US) is paired with a neutral person (CS), the neutral person is judged to be more athletic after the pairing. We hypothesize that this AC effect is due to CSs' associations with USs rather than direct associations with attributes. Three experiments test this hypothesis by changing US attributes after CS-US pairings. Experiments 1 and 2 conditioned athleticism by pairing neutral men (CSs) with athletic and non-athletic USs. Post-conditioning, USs' athleticism was reversed, which systematically influenced participants' assessment of CS athleticism. Experiment 3 conditioned athleticism and changed USs' musicality after CS-US pairings. This post-conditioning change affected musicality assessments of CSs but did not influence athleticism-assessments. The results indicate that AC effects are based on an associative CS-US-attribute structure. © 2016 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Assessing risks to multiple resources affected by wildfire and forest management using an integrated probabilistic framework

Science.gov (United States)

Steven P. Norman; Danny C. Lee; Sandra Jacobson; Christine Damiani

2010-01-01

The tradeoffs that surround forest management are inherently complex, often involving multiple temporal and spatial scales. For example, conflicts may result when fuel treatments are designed to mediate long-term fuel hazards, but activities could impair sensitive aquatic habitat or degrade wildlife habitat in the short term. This complexity makes it hard for managers...

Visualising Pareto-optimal trade-offs helps move beyond monetary-only criteria for water management decisions

Science.gov (United States)

Hurford, Anthony; Harou, Julien

2014-05-01

Water related eco-system services are important to the livelihoods of the poorest sectors of society in developing countries. Degradation or loss of these services can increase the vulnerability of people decreasing their capacity to support themselves. New approaches to help guide water resources management decisions are needed which account for the non-market value of ecosystem goods and services. In case studies from Brazil and Kenya we demonstrate the capability of many objective Pareto-optimal trade-off analysis to help decision makers balance economic and non-market benefits from the management of existing multi-reservoir systems. A multi-criteria search algorithm is coupled to a water resources management simulator of each basin to generate a set of Pareto-approximate trade-offs representing the best case management decisions. In both cases, volume dependent reservoir release rules are the management decisions being optimised. In the Kenyan case we further assess the impacts of proposed irrigation investments, and how the possibility of new investments impacts the system's trade-offs. During the multi-criteria search (optimisation), performance of different sets of management decisions (policies) is assessed against case-specific objective functions representing provision of water supply and irrigation, hydropower generation and maintenance of ecosystem services. Results are visualised as trade-off surfaces to help decision makers understand the impacts of different policies on a broad range of stakeholders and to assist in decision-making. These case studies show how the approach can reveal unexpected opportunities for win-win solutions, and quantify the trade-offs between investing to increase agricultural revenue and negative impacts on protected ecosystems which support rural livelihoods.

Nuclear propulsion tradeoffs for manned Mars missions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walton, L.A.; Malloy, J.D.

1991-01-01

A conjunction class split/sprint manned Mars exploration mission was studied to evaluate tradeoffs in performance characteristics of nuclear thermal rockets. A Particle Bed Reactor-based nuclear thermal rocket was found to offer a 38% to 52% total mass savings compared with a NERVA-based nuclear thermal rocket for this mission. This advantage is primarily due to the higher thrust-to-weight ratio of the Particle Bed Reactor nuclear rocket. The mission is enabled by nuclear thermal rockets. It cannot be performed practically using chemical propulsion

Land use efficiency: anticipating future demand for land-sector greenhouse gas emissions abatement and managing trade-offs with agriculture, water, and biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryan, Brett A; Crossman, Neville D; Nolan, Martin; Li, Jing; Navarro, Javier; Connor, Jeffery D

2015-11-01

Competition for land is increasing, and policy needs to ensure the efficient supply of multiple ecosystem services from land systems. We modelled the spatially explicit potential future supply of ecosystem services in Australia's intensive agricultural land in response to carbon markets under four global outlooks from 2013 to 2050. We assessed the productive efficiency of greenhouse gas emissions abatement, agricultural production, water resources, and biodiversity services and compared these to production possibility frontiers (PPFs). While interacting commodity markets and carbon markets produced efficient outcomes for agricultural production and emissions abatement, more efficient outcomes were possible for water resources and biodiversity services due to weak price signals. However, when only two objectives were considered as per typical efficiency assessments, efficiency improvements involved significant unintended trade-offs for the other objectives and incurred substantial opportunity costs. Considering multiple objectives simultaneously enabled the identification of land use arrangements that were efficient over multiple ecosystem services. Efficient land use arrangements could be selected that meet society's preferences for ecosystem service provision from land by adjusting the metric used to combine multiple services. To effectively manage competition for land via land use efficiency, market incentives are needed that effectively price multiple ecosystem services. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Tradeoffs between image quality and dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seibert, J.A.

2004-01-01

Image quality takes on different perspectives and meanings when associated with the concept of as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), which is chiefly focused on radiation dose delivered as a result of a medical imaging procedure. ALARA is important because of the increased radiosensitivity of children to ionizing radiation and the desire to keep the radiation dose low. By the same token, however, image quality is also important because of the need to provide the necessary information in a radiograph in order to make an accurate diagnosis. Thus, there are tradeoffs to be considered between image quality and radiation dose, which is the main topic of this article. ALARA does not necessarily mean the lowest radiation dose, nor, when implemented, does it result in the least desirable radiographic images. With the recent widespread implementation of digital radiographic detectors and displays, a new level of flexibility and complexity confronts the technologist, physicist, and radiologist in optimizing the pediatric radiography exam. This is due to the separation of the acquisition, display, and archiving events that were previously combined by the screen-film detector, which allows for compensation for under- and overexposures, image processing, and on-line image manipulation. As explained in the article, different concepts must be introduced for a better understanding of the tradeoffs encountered when dealing with digital radiography and ALARA. In addition, there are many instances during the image acquisition/display/interpretation process in which image quality and associated dose can be compromised. This requires continuous diligence to quality control and feedback mechanisms to verify that the goals of image quality, dose and ALARA are achieved. (orig.)

Optimizing the radiation therapy dose prescription for pediatric medulloblastoma: Minimizing the life years lost attributable to failure to control the disease and late complication risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodin, N. Patrik; Vogelius, Ivan R.; Bjork-Eriksson, Thomas

2014-01-01

Background. A mathematical framework is presented for simultaneously quantifying and evaluating the trade-off between tumor control and late complications for risk-based radiation therapy (RT) decision-support. To demonstrate this, we estimate life years lost (LYL) attributable to tumor recurrence...... is important, with 0.75 LYL (95% CI 0.60-7.2 years) for standard uniform 24 Gy CS irradiation. However, recurrence risk dominates the total LYL with 14.2 years (95% CI 13.4-16.6 years). Compared to standard treatment, a risk-adapted strategy prescribing 12 Gy to the spinal volume encompassing the 1st-10th......, late cardiac toxicity and secondary cancers for standard-risk pediatric medulloblastoma (MB) patients and compare the effect of dose re-distribution on a common scale. Methods. Total LYL were derived, based on the LYL attributable to radiation-induced late complications and the LYL from not controlling...

A neuroimaging investigation of attribute framing and individual differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Murch, Kevin B; Krawczyk, Daniel C

2014-10-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to evaluate the neural basis of framing effects. We tested the reflexive and reflective systems model of social cognition as it relates to framing. We also examined the relationships among frame susceptibility, intelligence and personality measures. Participants evaluated whether personal attributes applied to themselves from multiple perspectives and in positive and negative frames. Participants rated whether each statement was descriptive or not and endorsed positive frames more than negative frames. Individual differences on frame decisions enabled us to form high and low frame susceptibility groups. Endorsement of frame-consistent attributes was associated with personality factors, cognitive reflection and intelligence. Reflexive brain regions were associated with positive frames while reflective areas were associated with negative frames. Region of Interest analyses showed that frame-inconsistent responses were associated with increased activation within reflective cognitive control regions including the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), dorsomedial PFC and left ventrolateral PFC. Frame-consistent responses were associated with increased activation in the right orbitofrontal cortex. These results demonstrate that individual differences in frame susceptibility influence personal attribute evaluations. Overall, this study clarifies the neural correlates of the reflective and reflexive systems of social cognition as applied to decisions about social attributions. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Attributes of Successful Actions to Restore Lakes and ...

Science.gov (United States)

As more success is achieved restoring lakes and estuaries from nutrient pollution, there is increased opportunity to evaluate the scientific, social, and policy factors associated with achieving restoration goals. We examined case studies where deliberate actions to reduce nutrient pollution resulted in ecological recovery. Cases were identified from scientific literature meeting the following: (1) scientific evidence of nutrient pollution; (2) restoration actions taken to mitigate nutrient pollution; and (3) documented ecological improvement. We identified 9 estuaries and 7 lakes spanning countries, climatic regions, physical types, depths, and watershed areas. Among these 8 achieved improvements short of stated restoration goals, 8 were successful initially, but then condition declined and 3 achieved their goals fully. We examined each case to identify both common attributes of nutrient management, grouped into ‘themes’, and the variations on those attributes, which were coded into categorical variables and examined using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). MCA results suggested that the attributes most associated with achieving restoration goals include: (1) leadership by a dedicated watershed management agency; (2) governance through a bottom-up collaborative process; (3) a strategy that set numeric targets based on a specific ecological goal; and (4) actions to reduce nutrient loads from all sources. While our study did not provide a compreh

Attribute And-Or Grammar for Joint Parsing of Human Pose, Parts and Attributes.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Seyoung; Nie, Xiaohan; Zhu, Song-Chun

2017-07-25

This paper presents an attribute and-or grammar (A-AOG) model for jointly inferring human body pose and human attributes in a parse graph with attributes augmented to nodes in the hierarchical representation. In contrast to other popular methods in the current literature that train separate classifiers for poses and individual attributes, our method explicitly represents the decomposition and articulation of body parts, and account for the correlations between poses and attributes. The A-AOG model is an amalgamation of three traditional grammar formulations: (i)Phrase structure grammar representing the hierarchical decomposition of the human body from whole to parts; (ii)Dependency grammar modeling the geometric articulation by a kinematic graph of the body pose; and (iii)Attribute grammar accounting for the compatibility relations between different parts in the hierarchy so that their appearances follow a consistent style. The parse graph outputs human detection, pose estimation, and attribute prediction simultaneously, which are intuitive and interpretable. We conduct experiments on two tasks on two datasets, and experimental results demonstrate the advantage of joint modeling in comparison with computing poses and attributes independently. Furthermore, our model obtains better performance over existing methods for both pose estimation and attribute prediction tasks.

DECISION USEFULNESS: TRADE-OFF ANTARA RELIABILITY DAN RELEVANCE

OpenAIRE

AGUS INDRA TENAYA

2007-01-01

The purpose of this article is to search for trade-off solution betweenreliability and relevance. Approach that can be used to have more reliable andrelevant financial statement is decision usefulness. This approach suggests thatfinancial statement must be useful to become a base of investors’ decision making.The change function of financial statement from just a tool of responsibility tobecome a tool of decision making has caused historical cost-based financialstatement could not be used to ...

Metabolic Trade-offs in Yeast are Caused by F1F0-ATP synthase

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsson, Avlant; Nielsen, Jens

2016-01-01

of intermediary metabolism and consequently metabolic trade-offs may take place. One such trade-off, aerobic fermentation, occurs in both yeast (the Crabtree effect) and cancer cells (the Warburg effect) and has been a scientific challenge for decades. Here we show, using flux balance analysis combined...... with in vitro measured enzyme specific activities, that fermentation is more catalytically efficient than respiration, i.e. it produces more ATP per protein mass. And that the switch to fermentation at high growth rates therefore is a consequence of a high ATP production rate, provided by a limited pool...

Diversity and abundance of invertebrate epifaunal assemblages associated with gorgonians are driven by colony attributes

KAUST Repository

Curdia, Joao; Carvalho, Susana; Pereira, Fá bio R.; Guerra-Garcí a, José Manuel; Santos, Miguel Neves Dos; Cunha, Marina R.

2015-01-01

The present study aimed to explicitly quantify the link between the attributes of shallow-water gorgonian colonies (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) and the ecological patterns of associated non-colonial epifaunal invertebrates. Based on multiple

Clutch frequency affects the offspring size-number trade-off in lizards.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng Wang

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Studies of lizards have shown that offspring size cannot be altered by manipulating clutch size in species with a high clutch frequency. This raises a question of whether clutch frequency has a key role in influencing the offspring size-number trade-off in lizards.To test the hypothesis that females reproducing more frequently are less likely to tradeoff offspring size against offspring number, we applied the follicle ablation technique to female Eremias argus (Lacertidae from Handan (HD and Gonghe (GH, the two populations that differ in clutch frequency. Follicle ablation resulted in enlargement of egg size in GH females, but not in HD females. GH females switched from producing a larger number of smaller eggs in the first clutch to a smaller number of larger eggs in the second clutch; HD females showed a similar pattern of seasonal shifts in egg size, but kept clutch size constant between the first two clutches. Thus, the egg size-number trade-off was evident in GH females, but not in HD females.As HD females (mean  = 3.1 clutches per year reproduce more frequently than do GH females (mean  = 1.6 clutches per year, our data therefore validate the hypothesis tested. Our data also provide an inference that maximization of maternal fitness could be achieved in females by diverting a large enough, rather than a higher-than-usual, fraction of the available energy to individual offspring in a given reproductive episode.

Economic opportunities and trade-offs in collaborative forest landscape restoration

Science.gov (United States)

Alan A. Ager; Kevin C. Vogler; Michelle A. Day; John D. Bailey

2017-01-01

We modeled forest restoration scenarios to examine socioeconomic and ecological trade-offs associated with alternative prioritization scenarios. The study examined four US national forests designated as priorities for investments to restore fire resiliency and generate economic opportunities to support local industry. We were particularly interested in economic trade-...

Analysis of environmental and economic tradeoffs in switchgrass supply chains for biofuel production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong, Jia; Yu, T. Edward; Larson, James A.; English, Burton C.; Fu, Joshua S.; Calcagno, James

2016-01-01

This study considered the environmental advantages of switchgrass, along with the economic challenges in its logistics, in the design of a sustainable switchgrass supply chain in Tennessee. Applying a multi-objective optimization model to high-resolution spatial data, potential tradeoffs among the objectives of minimizing feedstock costs, GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, and soil erosion were identified for a set of conversion facilities on an efficient frontier. The tradeoff relationship was primarily driven by the type of agricultural land converted to switchgrass. Hay and pasture lands were more cost effective but resulted in higher soil carbon losses and soil erosion after being converted to switchgrass. Converting crop lands reduced GHG emissions and soil erosion but caused higher feedstock cost primarily due to the higher opportunity cost of land use. The respective average costs of abating GHG emissions and soil erosion on the efficient frontier were $2378 Mg"−"1 and $10 Mg"−"1. The compromise solution conversion facility site generated 63% higher feedstock cost compared to the cost minimizing location, while reducing soil erosion by 70 fold and diminishing GHG emissions by 27%. Reducing soil erosion may be a more cost effective environmental criterion than reducing GHG emissions in developing a sustainable switchgrass supply chain in Tennessee. - Highlights: • Multi-objective optimization is applied to a switchgrass supply chain in Tennessee. • Tradeoffs are identified among costs, greenhouse gas, and soil erosion in supply chain. • The type of agricultural land converted to feedstock is a key factor to the tradeoffs. • Abating soil erosion rather than greenhouse gas is more cost effective in Tennessee.

Tradeoffs in the quest for climate smart agricultural intensification in Mato Grosso, Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Gil, Juliana D. B.; Garrett, Rachael D.; Rotz, Alan; Daioglou, Vassilis; Valentim, Judson; Pires, Gabrielle F.; Costa, Marcos H.; Lopes, Luciano; Reis, Julio C.

2018-06-01

Low productivity cattle ranching, with its linkages to rural poverty, deforestation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, remains one of the largest sustainability challenges in Brazil and has impacts worldwide. There is a nearly universal call to intensify extensive beef cattle production systems to spare land for crop production and nature and to meet Brazil’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to reducing global climate change. However, different interventions aimed at the intensification of livestock systems in Brazil may involve substantial social and environmental tradeoffs. Here we examine these tradeoffs using a whole-farm model calibrated for the Brazilian agricultural frontier state of Mato Grosso, one of the largest soybean and beef cattle production regions in the world. Specifically, we compare the costs and benefits of a typical extensive, continuously grazed cattle system relative to a specialized soybean production system and two improved cattle management strategies (rotational grazing and integrated soybean-cattle) under different climate scenarios. We found clear tradeoffs in GHG and nitrogen emissions, climate resilience, and water and energy use across these systems. Relative to continuously grazed or rotationally grazed cattle systems, the integreated soybean-cattle system showed higher food production and lower GHG emissions per unit of human digestible protein, as well as increased resilience under climate change (both in terms of productivity and financial returns). All systems suffered productivity and profitability losses under severe climate change, highlighting the need for climate smart agricultural development strategies in the region. By underscoring the economic feasibility of improving the performance of cattle systems, and by quantifying the tradeoffs of each option, our results are useful for directing agricultural and climate policy.

Depression and genetic causal attribution of epilepsy in multiplex epilepsy families.

Science.gov (United States)

Sorge, Shawn T; Hesdorffer, Dale C; Phelan, Jo C; Winawer, Melodie R; Shostak, Sara; Goldsmith, Jeff; Chung, Wendy K; Ottman, Ruth

2016-10-01

Rapid advances in genetic research and increased use of genetic testing have increased the emphasis on genetic causes of epilepsy in patient encounters. Research in other disorders suggests that genetic causal attributions can influence patients' psychological responses and coping strategies, but little is known about how epilepsy patients and their relatives will respond to genetic attributions of epilepsy. We investigated the possibility that among members of families containing multiple individuals with epilepsy, depression, the most frequent psychiatric comorbidity in the epilepsies, might be related to the perception that epilepsy has a genetic cause. A self-administered survey was completed by 417 individuals in 104 families averaging 4 individuals with epilepsy per family. Current depression was measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire. Genetic causal attribution was assessed by three questions addressing the following: perceived likelihood of having an epilepsy-related mutation, perceived role of genetics in causing epilepsy in the family, and (in individuals with epilepsy) perceived influence of genetics in causing the individual's epilepsy. Relatives without epilepsy were asked about their perceived chance of developing epilepsy in the future, compared with the average person. Prevalence of current depression was 14.8% in 182 individuals with epilepsy, 6.5% in 184 biologic relatives without epilepsy, and 3.9% in 51 individuals married into the families. Among individuals with epilepsy, depression was unrelated to genetic attribution. Among biologic relatives without epilepsy, however, prevalence of depression increased with increasing perceived chance of having an epilepsy-related mutation (p = 0.02). This association was not mediated by perceived future epilepsy risk among relatives without epilepsy. Depression is associated with perceived likelihood of carrying an epilepsy-related mutation among individuals without epilepsy in families containing

Host and food searching in a parasitic wasp Venturia canescens: a trade-off between current and future reproduction?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Desouhant, E.; Driessen, G.J.J.; Amat, I.; Bernstein, C.

2005-01-01

Whether to invest in current or future reproduction is an important trade-off in life history evolution. For insect parasitoids, this trade-off is determined, among other factors, by the decision whether to search for hosts (immediate gain of fitness) or food (delayed fitness gains). Although host

Universal Trade-Off between Power, Efficiency, and Constancy in Steady-State Heat Engines

Science.gov (United States)

Pietzonka, Patrick; Seifert, Udo

2018-05-01

Heat engines should ideally have large power output, operate close to Carnot efficiency and show constancy, i.e., exhibit only small fluctuations in this output. For steady-state heat engines, driven by a constant temperature difference between the two heat baths, we prove that out of these three requirements only two are compatible. Constancy enters quantitatively the conventional trade-off between power and efficiency. Thus, we rationalize and unify recent suggestions for overcoming this simple trade-off. Our universal bound is illustrated for a paradigmatic model of a quantum dot solar cell and for a Brownian gyrator delivering mechanical work against an external force.

Attributions, future time perspective and career maturity in nursing undergraduates: correlational study design.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Cheng; Yang, Liu; Chen, Yuxia; Zou, Huijing; Su, Yonggang; Fan, Xiuzhen

2016-01-25

Career maturity is an important parameter as nursing undergraduates prepare for their future careers. However, little is known regarding the relationships between attributions, future time perspective and career maturity among nursing undergraduates. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of career maturity and its relationship with attributions and future time perspective. A cross-sectional survey was designed. This survey was administered to 431 Chinese nursing undergraduates. Independent-sample t-tests and one-way ANOVA were performed to examine the mean differences between categories of binary and categorical demographic characteristics, respectively. Pearson correlations and multiple linear regressions were used to test the relationships between attributions, future time perspective and career maturity. The degree of career maturity was moderate among nursing undergraduates and that internal attributions of academic achievement, future efficacy and future purpose consciousness were positively associated with career maturity (all p time perspective and to facilitate their transition from school to clinical practice.

Developmental precursors of young school-age children's hostile attribution bias.

Science.gov (United States)

Choe, Daniel Ewon; Lane, Jonathan D; Grabell, Adam S; Olson, Sheryl L

2013-12-01

This prospective longitudinal study provides evidence of preschool-age precursors of hostile attribution bias in young school-age children, a topic that has received little empirical attention. We examined multiple risk domains, including laboratory and observational assessments of children's social-cognition, general cognitive functioning, effortful control, and peer aggression. Preschoolers (N = 231) with a more advanced theory-of-mind, better emotion understanding, and higher IQ made fewer hostile attributions of intent in the early school years. Further exploration of these significant predictors revealed that only certain components of these capacities (i.e., nonstereotypical emotion understanding, false-belief explanation, and verbal IQ) were robust predictors of a hostile attribution bias in young school-age children and were especially strong predictors among children with more advanced effortful control. These relations were prospective in nature-the effects of preschool variables persisted after accounting for similar variables at school age. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for future research and prevention. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Parasite-mediated selection drives an immunogenetic tradeoff in plains zebra (Equus quagga)

Science.gov (United States)

Kamath, Pauline L.; Turner, Wendy C.; Küsters, Martina; Getz, Wayne M.

2014-01-01

Pathogen evasion of the host immune system is a key force driving extreme polymorphism in genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Although this gene family is well characterized in structure and function, there is still much debate surrounding the mechanisms by which MHC diversity is selectively maintained. Many studies have investigated relationships between MHC variation and specific pathogens, and have found mixed support for and against the hypotheses of heterozygote advantage, frequency-dependent or fluctuating selection. Few, however, have focused on the selective effects of multiple parasite types on host immunogenetic patterns. Here, we examined relationships between variation in the equine MHC gene, ELA-DRA, and both gastrointestinal (GI) and ectoparasitism in plains zebras (Equus quagga). Specific alleles present at opposing population frequencies had antagonistic effects, with rare alleles associated with increased GI parasitism and common alleles with increased tick burdens. These results support a frequency-dependent mechanism, but are also consistent with fluctuating selection. Maladaptive GI parasite ‘susceptibility alleles’ were reduced in frequency, suggesting that these parasites may play a greater selective role at this locus. Heterozygote advantage, in terms of allele mutational divergence, also predicted decreased GI parasite burden in genotypes with a common allele. We conclude that an immunogenetic trade-off affects resistance/susceptibility to parasites in this system. Because GI and ectoparasites do not directly interact within hosts, our results uniquely show that antagonistic parasite interactions can be indirectly modulated through the host immune system. This study highlights the importance of investigating the role of multiple parasites in shaping patterns of host immunogenetic variation.

Characterizing Coastal Ecosystem Service Trade-offs with Future Urban Development in a Tropical City.

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Daniel R; Friess, Daniel A

2017-11-01

With rapid urbanization in the coastal zone and increasing habitat losses, it is imperative to understand how urban development affects coastal biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. Furthermore, it is important to understand how habitat fragments can best be incorporated into broader land use planning and coastal management, in order to maximize the environmental benefits they provide. In this study, we characterized the trade-offs between (a) urban development and individual mangrove environmental indicators (habitat quality and ecosystem services), and (b) between different environmental indicators in the tropical nation of Singapore. A range of biological, biophysical, and cultural indicators, including carbon, charcoal production, support for offshore fisheries, recreation, and habitat quality for a threatened species were quantified using field-based, remote sensing, and expert survey methods. The shape of the trade-off Pareto frontiers was analyzed to assess the sensitivity of environmental indicators for development. When traded off individually with urban development, four out of five environmental indicators were insensitive to development, meaning that relatively minor degradation of the indicator occurred while development was below a certain threshold, although indicator loss accelerated once this threshold was reached. Most of the pairwise relationships between the five environmental indicators were synergistic; only carbon storage and charcoal production, and charcoal production and recreational accessibility showed trade-offs. Trade-off analysis and land use optimization using Pareto frontiers could be a useful decision-support tool for understanding how changes in land use and coastal management will impact the ability of ecosystems to provide environmental benefits.

A trade-off between reproduction and feather growth in the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicola Saino

Full Text Available Physiological trade-offs mediated by limiting energy, resources or time constrain the simultaneous expression of major functions and can lead to the evolution of temporal separation between demanding activities. In birds, plumage renewal is a demanding activity, which accomplishes fundamental functions, such as allowing thermal insulation, aerodynamics and socio-sexual signaling. Feather renewal is a very expensive and disabling process, and molt is often partitioned from breeding and migration. However, trade-offs between feather renewal and breeding have been only sparsely studied. In barn swallows (Hirundo rustica breeding in Italy and undergoing molt during wintering in sub-Saharan Africa, we studied this trade-off by removing a tail feather from a large sample of individuals and analyzing growth bar width, reflecting feather growth rate, and length of the growing replacement feather in relation to the stage in the breeding cycle at removal and clutch size. Growth bar width of females and length of the growing replacement feather of both sexes were smaller when the original feather had been removed after clutch initiation. Importantly, in females both growth bar width and replacement feather length were negatively predicted by clutch size, and more strongly so for large clutches and when feather removal occurred immediately after clutch completion. Hence, we found strong, coherent evidence for a trade-off between reproduction, and laying effort in particular, and the ability to generate new feathers. These results support the hypothesis that the derived condition of molting during wintering in long-distance migrants is maintained by the costs of overlapping breeding and molt.

Characterizing Coastal Ecosystem Service Trade-offs with Future Urban Development in a Tropical City

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Daniel R.; Friess, Daniel A.

2017-11-01

With rapid urbanization in the coastal zone and increasing habitat losses, it is imperative to understand how urban development affects coastal biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. Furthermore, it is important to understand how habitat fragments can best be incorporated into broader land use planning and coastal management, in order to maximize the environmental benefits they provide. In this study, we characterized the trade-offs between (a) urban development and individual mangrove environmental indicators (habitat quality and ecosystem services), and (b) between different environmental indicators in the tropical nation of Singapore. A range of biological, biophysical, and cultural indicators, including carbon, charcoal production, support for offshore fisheries, recreation, and habitat quality for a threatened species were quantified using field-based, remote sensing, and expert survey methods. The shape of the trade-off Pareto frontiers was analyzed to assess the sensitivity of environmental indicators for development. When traded off individually with urban development, four out of five environmental indicators were insensitive to development, meaning that relatively minor degradation of the indicator occurred while development was below a certain threshold, although indicator loss accelerated once this threshold was reached. Most of the pairwise relationships between the five environmental indicators were synergistic; only carbon storage and charcoal production, and charcoal production and recreational accessibility showed trade-offs. Trade-off analysis and land use optimization using Pareto frontiers could be a useful decision-support tool for understanding how changes in land use and coastal management will impact the ability of ecosystems to provide environmental benefits.

Direct estimation of patient attributes from anatomical MRI based on multi-atlas voting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Wu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available MRI brain atlases are widely used for automated image segmentation, and in particular, recent developments in multi-atlas techniques have shown highly accurate segmentation results. In this study, we extended the role of the atlas library from mere anatomical reference to a comprehensive knowledge database with various patient attributes, such as demographic, functional, and diagnostic information. In addition to using the selected (heavily-weighted atlases to achieve high segmentation accuracy, we tested whether the non-anatomical attributes of the selected atlases could be used to estimate patient attributes. This can be considered a context-based image retrieval (CBIR approach, embedded in the multi-atlas framework. We first developed an image similarity measurement to weigh the atlases on a structure-by-structure basis, and then, the attributes of the multiple atlases were weighted to estimate the patient attributes. We tested this concept first by estimating age in a normal population; we then performed functional and diagnostic estimations in Alzheimer's disease patients. The accuracy of the estimated patient attributes was measured against the actual clinical data, and the performance was compared to conventional volumetric analysis. The proposed CBIR framework by multi-atlas voting would be the first step toward a knowledge-based support system for quantitative radiological image reading and diagnosis.

Direct estimation of patient attributes from anatomical MRI based on multi-atlas voting.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Dan; Ceritoglu, Can; Miller, Michael I; Mori, Susumu

MRI brain atlases are widely used for automated image segmentation, and in particular, recent developments in multi-atlas techniques have shown highly accurate segmentation results. In this study, we extended the role of the atlas library from mere anatomical reference to a comprehensive knowledge database with various patient attributes, such as demographic, functional, and diagnostic information. In addition to using the selected (heavily-weighted) atlases to achieve high segmentation accuracy, we tested whether the non-anatomical attributes of the selected atlases could be used to estimate patient attributes. This can be considered a context-based image retrieval (CBIR) approach, embedded in the multi-atlas framework. We first developed an image similarity measurement to weigh the atlases on a structure-by-structure basis, and then, the attributes of the multiple atlases were weighted to estimate the patient attributes. We tested this concept first by estimating age in a normal population; we then performed functional and diagnostic estimations in Alzheimer's disease patients. The accuracy of the estimated patient attributes was measured against the actual clinical data, and the performance was compared to conventional volumetric analysis. The proposed CBIR framework by multi-atlas voting would be the first step toward a knowledge-based support system for quantitative radiological image reading and diagnosis.

Testing static tradeoff theiry against pecking order models of capital ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We test two models with the purpose of finding the best empirical explanation for corporate financing choice of a cross section of 27 Nigerian quoted companies. The models were developed to represent the Static tradeoff Theory and the Pecking order Theory of capital structure with a view to make comparison between ...

Trade-offs in managing commercial consumer returns for online apparel retail

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Leeuw, S.L.J.M.; Minguela-Rata, B.; Sabet, E.; Boter, J.; Sigurðardóttir, R.

2016-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how online apparel retailers make trade-offs in achieving efficiency in handling consumer returns, attempting to reduce the number of consumer returns they are faced with and increasing sales through returns management.

Uranium mass and neutron multiplication factor estimates from time-correlation coincidence counts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xie, Wenxiong [China Academy of Engineering Physics, Center for Strategic Studies, Beijing 100088 (China); Li, Jiansheng [China Academy of Engineering Physics, Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, Mianyang 621900 (China); Zhu, Jianyu [China Academy of Engineering Physics, Center for Strategic Studies, Beijing 100088 (China)

2015-10-11

Time-correlation coincidence counts of neutrons are an important means to measure attributes of nuclear material. The main deficiency in the analysis is that an attribute of an unknown component can only be assessed by comparing it with similar known components. There is a lack of a universal method of measurement suitable for the different attributes of the components. This paper presents a new method that uses universal relations to estimate the mass and neutron multiplication factor of any uranium component with known enrichment. Based on numerical simulations and analyses of 64 highly enriched uranium components with different thicknesses and average radii, the relations between mass, multiplication and coincidence spectral features have been obtained by linear regression analysis. To examine the validity of the method in estimating the mass of uranium components with different sizes, shapes, enrichment, and shielding, the features of time-correlation coincidence-count spectra for other objects with similar attributes are simulated. Most of the masses and multiplications for these objects could also be derived by the formulation. Experimental measurements of highly enriched uranium castings have also been used to verify the formulation. The results show that for a well-designed time-dependent coincidence-count measuring system of a uranium attribute, there are a set of relations dependent on the uranium enrichment by which the mass and multiplication of the measured uranium components of any shape and size can be estimated from the features of the source-detector coincidence-count spectrum.

Trade-off study of liquid metal self-cooled blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gohar, Y.

1986-01-01

A trade-off study of liquid metal self-cooled blankets was carried out to define the performance of these blankets and to determine the potential to operate at the maximum possible values of the performance parameters. The main parameters considered during the course of this study were the tritium breeding ratio (TBR), the blanket energy multiplication factor, the energy fraction lost to the shield, the lithium-6 enrichment in the breeder material, the total blanket thickness, the reflector material selection, and the compositions of the different blanket zones. The primary results of the study are as follows: a) the lithium-lead blanket achieves a higher TBR with a smaller blanket thickness relative to the lithium blanket; b) the lithium blanket generates more energy per fusion neutron relative to the lithium-lead blanket; c) among the possible reflector materials, the carbon reflector produces the highest TBR; d) the high-Z reflector materials (Mo, Cu, W, or steel) generate more energy per fusion neutron and produce smaller TBRs relative to the carbon reflector; e) lithium-6 enrichment is required for the lithium-lead blanket to reduce the total blanket thickness; and f) the energy deposition per fusion neutron reaches a saturation as the blanket thickness, the fraction of the high-Z material in the reflector, or the reflector zone thickness increases (this allows one to design the blanket for a specific TBR without reducing the energy production)

Trade-off bounds for the Pareto surface approximation in multi-criteria IMRT planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serna, J I; Monz, M; Kuefer, K H; Thieke, C

2009-01-01

One approach to multi-criteria IMRT planning is to automatically calculate a data set of Pareto-optimal plans for a given planning problem in a first phase, and then interactively explore the solution space and decide on the clinically best treatment plan in a second phase. The challenge of computing the plan data set is to ensure that all clinically meaningful plans are covered and that as many clinically irrelevant plans as possible are excluded to keep computation times within reasonable limits. In this work, we focus on the approximation of the clinically relevant part of the Pareto surface, the process that constitutes the first phase. It is possible that two plans on the Pareto surface have a small, clinically insignificant difference in one criterion and a significant difference in another criterion. For such cases, only the plan that is clinically clearly superior should be included into the data set. To achieve this during the Pareto surface approximation, we propose to introduce bounds that restrict the relative quality between plans, the so-called trade-off bounds. We show how to integrate these trade-off bounds into the approximation scheme and study their effects. The proposed scheme is applied to two artificial cases and one clinical case of a paraspinal tumor. For all cases, the quality of the Pareto surface approximation is measured with respect to the number of computed plans, and the range of values occurring in the approximation for different criteria is compared. Through enforcing trade-off bounds, the scheme disregards clinically irrelevant plans during the approximation. Thereby, the number of plans necessary to achieve a good approximation quality can be significantly reduced. Thus, trade-off bounds are an effective tool to focus the planning and to reduce computation time.

Trade-off bounds for the Pareto surface approximation in multi-criteria IMRT planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Serna, J I; Monz, M; Küfer, K H; Thieke, C

2009-10-21

One approach to multi-criteria IMRT planning is to automatically calculate a data set of Pareto-optimal plans for a given planning problem in a first phase, and then interactively explore the solution space and decide on the clinically best treatment plan in a second phase. The challenge of computing the plan data set is to ensure that all clinically meaningful plans are covered and that as many clinically irrelevant plans as possible are excluded to keep computation times within reasonable limits. In this work, we focus on the approximation of the clinically relevant part of the Pareto surface, the process that constitutes the first phase. It is possible that two plans on the Pareto surface have a small, clinically insignificant difference in one criterion and a significant difference in another criterion. For such cases, only the plan that is clinically clearly superior should be included into the data set. To achieve this during the Pareto surface approximation, we propose to introduce bounds that restrict the relative quality between plans, the so-called trade-off bounds. We show how to integrate these trade-off bounds into the approximation scheme and study their effects. The proposed scheme is applied to two artificial cases and one clinical case of a paraspinal tumor. For all cases, the quality of the Pareto surface approximation is measured with respect to the number of computed plans, and the range of values occurring in the approximation for different criteria is compared. Through enforcing trade-off bounds, the scheme disregards clinically irrelevant plans during the approximation. Thereby, the number of plans necessary to achieve a good approximation quality can be significantly reduced. Thus, trade-off bounds are an effective tool to focus the planning and to reduce computation time.

Key attributes of agricultural innovations in semi-arid smallholder farming systems in south-west Zimbabwe

Science.gov (United States)

Mutsvangwa-Sammie, Eness P.; Manzungu, Emmanuel; Siziba, Shephard

2018-06-01

In Sub-Sahara Africa, which includes Zimbabwe, about 80% of the population depends on agriculture for subsistence, employment and income. Agricultural production and productivity are, however, low. This has been attributed to a lack of appropriate innovations despite the huge investments that have been made to promote 'innovations' as a means to safeguarding agriculture-based livelihoods, which raises the question of how innovations are conceptualized, designed and implemented. This paper explores the key attributes of agricultural innovations by assessing how innovations are conceptualized, designed and implemented in semi-arid smallholder farming systems in south-west Zimbabwe. The study gathered information from 13 key informants and a household survey of 239 farmer households from Gwanda and Insiza districts. Results showed a multiplicity of understandings of agricultural innovations among different stakeholders. However, novelty/newness, utility and adaptability were identified as the major attributes. In general, farmers characterized agricultural innovations as 'something new and mostly introduced by NGOs' but did not associate them with the key attributes of utility and adaptability. More crop-related innovations were identified despite the area being suitable for livestock production. The paper concludes that, rather than view the multiple and sometimes competing understandings of agricultural innovations as undesirable, this should be used to promote context specific innovations which stand a better chance of enhancing agriculture-based livelihoods.

Rate-cost tradeoffs in control

KAUST Repository

Kostina, Victoria

2017-02-13

Consider a distributed control problem with a communication channel connecting the observer of a linear stochastic system to the controller. The goal of the controller is minimize a quadratic cost function. The most basic special case of that cost function is the mean-square deviation of the system state from the desired state. We study the fundamental tradeoff between the communication rate r bits/sec and the limsup of the expected cost b, and show a lower bound on the rate necessary to attain b. The bound applies as long as the system noise has a probability density function. If target cost b is not too large, that bound can be closely approached by a simple lattice quantization scheme that only quantizes the innovation, that is, the difference between the controller\\'s belief about the current state and the true state.

On the Trade-off between Energy Consumption and Food Quality Loss in Supermarket Refrigeration Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cai, Junping; Jensen, Jørgen Bauck; Skogestad, Sigurd

2008-01-01

This paper studies the trade-off between energy consumption and food quality loss, at varying ambient conditions, in supermarket refrigeration systems. Compared with the traditional operation with pressure control, a large potential for energy savings without extra loss of food quality is demonst......This paper studies the trade-off between energy consumption and food quality loss, at varying ambient conditions, in supermarket refrigeration systems. Compared with the traditional operation with pressure control, a large potential for energy savings without extra loss of food quality...

Navigating financial and supply reliability tradeoffs in regional drought management portfolios

Science.gov (United States)

Zeff, Harrison B.; Kasprzyk, Joseph R.; Herman, Jonathan D.; Reed, Patrick M.; Characklis, Gregory W.

2014-06-01

Rising development costs and growing concerns over environmental impacts have led many communities to explore more diversified water management strategies. These "portfolio"-style approaches integrate existing supply infrastructure with other options such as conservation measures or water transfers. Diversified water supply portfolios have been shown to reduce the capacity and costs required to meet demand, while also providing greater adaptability to changing hydrologic conditions. However, this additional flexibility can also cause unexpected reductions in revenue (from conservation) or increased costs (from transfers). The resulting financial instability can act as a substantial disincentive to utilities seeking to implement more innovative water management techniques. This study seeks to design portfolios that employ financial tools (e.g., contingency funds and index insurance) to reduce fluctuations in revenues and costs, allowing these strategies to achieve improved performance without sacrificing financial stability. This analysis is applied to the development of coordinated regional supply portfolios in the "Research Triangle" region of North Carolina, an area comprising four rapidly growing municipalities. The actions of each independent utility become interconnected when shared infrastructure is utilized to enable interutility transfers, requiring the evaluation of regional tradeoffs in up to five performance and financial objectives. Diversified strategies introduce significant tradeoffs between achieving reliability goals and introducing burdensome variability in annual revenues and/or costs. Financial mitigation tools can mitigate the impacts of this variability, allowing for an alternative suite of improved solutions. This analysis provides a general template for utilities seeking to navigate the tradeoffs associated with more flexible, portfolio-style management approaches.

Sustainability Orientation and Entrepreneurship Orientation: Is There a Tradeoff Relationship between Them?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang Soo Sung

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Sustainability and entrepreneurship are often regarded as binary concepts that have a tradeoff relationship, meaning that the higher the social and environmental consideration, the lower the private and economic benefits. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of individual sustainability orientation on opportunity recognition and sustainable entrepreneurship intention, and examine whether it has a tradeoff relationship with entrepreneurship orientation. The result of this study shows that sustainability orientation has a positive relationship with opportunity recognition and entrepreneurship intention related to sustainability. Analysis of the moderating effects of entrepreneurship orientation reveals the positive effect with sustainability orientation but negative effect with opportunity recognition on sustainable entrepreneurship intention. This study would suggest implications to entrepreneurs on how to balance sustainability and entrepreneurship and promote sustainability entrepreneurship.

Trade-offs in thermal adaptation: the need for a molecular to ecological integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Pörtner, Hans O; Bennett, Albert F; Bozinovic, Francisco; Clarke, Andrew; Lardies, Marco A; Lucassen, Magnus; Pelster, Bernd; Schiemer, Fritz; Stillman, Jonathon H

2006-01-01

Through functional analyses, integrative physiology is able to link molecular biology with ecology as well as evolutionary biology and is thereby expected to provide access to the evolution of molecular, cellular, and organismic functions; the genetic basis of adaptability; and the shaping of ecological patterns. This paper compiles several exemplary studies of thermal physiology and ecology, carried out at various levels of biological organization from single genes (proteins) to ecosystems. In each of those examples, trade-offs and constraints in thermal adaptation are addressed; these trade-offs and constraints may limit species' distribution and define their level of fitness. For a more comprehensive understanding, the paper sets out to elaborate the functional and conceptual connections among these independent studies and the various organizational levels addressed. This effort illustrates the need for an overarching concept of thermal adaptation that encompasses molecular, organellar, cellular, and whole-organism information as well as the mechanistic links between fitness, ecological success, and organismal physiology. For this data, the hypothesis of oxygen- and capacity-limited thermal tolerance in animals provides such a conceptual framework and allows interpreting the mechanisms of thermal limitation of animals as relevant at the ecological level. While, ideally, evolutionary studies over multiple generations, illustrated by an example study in bacteria, are necessary to test the validity of such complex concepts and underlying hypotheses, animal physiology frequently is constrained to functional studies within one generation. Comparisons of populations in a latitudinal cline, closely related species from different climates, and ontogenetic stages from riverine clines illustrate how evolutionary information can still be gained. An understanding of temperature-dependent shifts in energy turnover, associated with adjustments in aerobic scope and performance

A sustainability framework for assessing trade-offs in ecosystem services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeannine Cavender-Bares

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Achieving sustainability, i.e., meeting the needs of current populations without compromising the needs of future generations, is the major challenge facing global society in the 21st century. Navigating the inherent trade-offs between provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting ecosystem services, and doing so in a way that does not compromise natural capital needed to provide services in the future, is critical for sustainable resource management. Here we build upon existing literature, primarily from economics and ecology, to present an analytical framework that integrates (1 the ecological mechanisms that underpin ecosystem services, (2 biophysical trade-offs and inherent limits that constrain management options, (3 preferences and values of stakeholders, and (4 explicit analysis of how systems evolve through time to ensure the goal of meeting the needs of future generations. Well-known ecological models define the relationships and trade-offs among services that represents an "efficiency frontier." Well-known methods in economics that combine preferences that define the willingness of stakeholders to trade off ecosystem services on the efficiency frontiers illuminate desirable outcomes that meet human needs. System dynamics show how the system will evolve with consequent impacts on ecosystem services and human well-being and the effects this has on achieving sustainability. Heterogeneity in biophysical constraints, uncertainty, technological advances, and obstacles imposed by societal factors and governance regimes influence potential and realized ecosystem services. Using a set of contrasting scenarios, we illustrate how progress can be made toward sustainability and the important obstacles that must be addressed in doing so. Our framework for analyzing sustainability drawn from economics and ecology is intended to make an integration of concepts from both disciplines accessible to a wider audience.

e/sup +/ -e/sup -/ hadronic multiplicity distributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carruthers, P.; Shih, C.C.

1987-01-01

The authors have analyzed the 29 GeV multiplicity data for e/sup +/ -e/sup -/ → hadrons using the partially coherent laser distribution (PCLD). The latter interpolates between the negative binomial and Poisson distributions as the ratio S/N of coherent/incoherent multiplicity varies from zero to infinity. The negative binomial gives an excellent fit for rather large values of the cell parameter κ. Equally good fits (for full and partial rapidity range, and for the forward/backward 2 jet correlation) are obtained for the mostly coherent (almost Poissonian) PCLD with small values of κ (equal to the number of jets). The reasons for the existence of this tradeoff are explained in detail. The existence of the resulting ambiguity is traced to the insensitivity of the probability distribution to phase information in the hadronic density matrix. They recommend the study of higher order correlations (intensity interferometry) among like-sign particles to resolve this question

A keyword searchable attribute-based encryption scheme with attribute update for cloud storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shangping; Ye, Jian; Zhang, Yaling

2018-01-01

Ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) scheme is a new type of data encryption primitive, which is very suitable for data cloud storage for its fine-grained access control. Keyword-based searchable encryption scheme enables users to quickly find interesting data stored in the cloud server without revealing any information of the searched keywords. In this work, we provide a keyword searchable attribute-based encryption scheme with attribute update for cloud storage, which is a combination of attribute-based encryption scheme and keyword searchable encryption scheme. The new scheme supports the user's attribute update, especially in our new scheme when a user's attribute need to be updated, only the user's secret key related with the attribute need to be updated, while other user's secret key and the ciphertexts related with this attribute need not to be updated with the help of the cloud server. In addition, we outsource the operation with high computation cost to cloud server to reduce the user's computational burden. Moreover, our scheme is proven to be semantic security against chosen ciphertext-policy and chosen plaintext attack in the general bilinear group model. And our scheme is also proven to be semantic security against chosen keyword attack under bilinear Diffie-Hellman (BDH) assumption.

The role of trade-offs in biodiversity conservation planning: linking ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

[Faith D P and Walker P A 2002 The role of trade-offs in biodiversity conservation planning: linking local management, regional planning and global conservation efforts; J. Biosci. 27 (Suppl. 2) 393–407]. 1. Introduction. A reality of biodiversity conservation planning is that it requires taking into account many things other than ...

DSM vs. NSM: CPU Performance Tradeoffs in Block-Oriented Query Processing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. Zukowski (Marcin); N.J. Nes (Niels); P.A. Boncz (Peter)

2008-01-01

textabstractComparisons between the merits of row-wise storage (NSM) and columnar storage (DSM) are typically made with respect to the persistent storage layer of database systems. In this paper, however, we focus on the CPU efficiency tradeoffs of tuple representations inside the query

Time-Space Trade-Offs for the Longest Common Substring Problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Starikovskaya, Tatiana; Vildhøj, Hjalte Wedel

2013-01-01

The Longest Common Substring problem is to compute the longest substring which occurs in at least d ≥ 2 of m strings of total length n. In this paper we ask the question whether this problem allows a deterministic time-space trade-off using O(n1+ε) time and O(n1-ε) space for 0 ≤ ε ≤ 1. We give a ...... a positive answer in the case of two strings (d = m = 2) and 0 can be solved in O(n1-ε) space and O(n1+ε log2n (d log2n + d2)) time for any 0 ≤ ε ...The Longest Common Substring problem is to compute the longest substring which occurs in at least d ≥ 2 of m strings of total length n. In this paper we ask the question whether this problem allows a deterministic time-space trade-off using O(n1+ε) time and O(n1-ε) space for 0 ≤ ε ≤ 1. We give...

Regime switches in the risk-return trade-off

OpenAIRE

Marcellino, Massimiliano; Ghysels, Eric; Guerin, Pierre

2014-01-01

This paper deals with the estimation of the risk-return trade-off. We use a MIDAS model for the conditional variance and allow for possible switches in the risk-return relation through a Markov-switching specification. We find strong evidence for regime changes in the risk-return relation. This finding is robust to a large range of specifications. In the first regime characterized by low ex-post returns and high volatility, the risk-return relation is reversed, whereas the intuitive positive ...

Trade-offs Between Socio-economic Development and Ecosystem Health under Changing Water Availability

Science.gov (United States)

Nazemi, A.; Hassanzadeh, E.; Elshorbagy, A. A.; Wheater, H. S.; Gober, P.; Jardine, T.; Lindenschmidt, K. E.

2017-12-01

Natural and human water systems at regional scales are often developed around key characteristics of streamflow. As a result, changes in streamflow regime can affect both socio-economic activities and freshwater ecosystems. In addition to natural variability and/or climate change, extensive water resource management to support socio-economic growth has also changed streamflow regimes. This study aims at understanding the trade-offs between agricultural expansion in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, and alterations in the ecohydrological characteristics of the Saskatchewan River Delta (SRD) located downstream. Changes in climate along with extensive water resource management have altered the upstream flow regime. Moreover, Saskatchewan is investigating the possible expansion of irrigated agriculture to boost the provincial economy. To evaluate trade-offs across a range of possible scenarios for streamflow changes, the potential increase in provincial net benefit versus potential vulnerability of the SRD was assessed using perturbed flow realizations along with scenarios of irrigation expansion as input to an integrated water resource system model. This study sheds light on the potential variability in trade-offs between economic benefits and ecosystem health under a range of streamflow conditions, with the aim of informing decisions that can benefit both natural and human water systems.

The effects of trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD on the emotion-induced memory trade-off

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katherine R. Mickley Steinmetz

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Many studies of memory changes in individuals with PTSD have focused on memory for trauma. However, it is unclear if these mnemonic differences extend beyond trauma memory to memory for other positive and negative information and if they are specific to individuals with PTSD or extend to other individuals who have experienced trauma. The present study examined the influences of trauma exposure and PTSD on an effect that may parallel tunnel memory in PTSD: the emotion-induced memory trade-off, whereby emotional aspects of an experience are remembered at the expense of the nonemotional context. Three groups (25 with current PTSD, 27 who had experienced trauma but did not have current PTSD, and 25 controls who had neither experienced significant trauma nor met criteria for current PTSD were shown complex visual scenes that included an item (positive, negative, or neutral placed on a neutral background. 45 minutes later, participants underwent a recognition memory test for the items and backgrounds separately. An emotion-induced memory trade-off was said to occur when there was a significant difference in item and background memory for emotional scenes, but not for neutral scenes. People with PTSD, like the other groups, were more likely to remember positive and negative items than neutral items. People with PTSD exhibited a memory trade-off, but this trade-off was no larger than for the non-trauma control group. Trauma-exposed people without a current diagnosis of PTSD did not show a trade-off, because they remembered the items within scenes better than their contexts even for neutral scenes. These results suggest that i the effect of emotion on memory for visual scenes is similar in people with PTSD and control participants, and ii people who have experienced trauma, but do not have PTSD, may have a different way of attending to and remembering visual scenes, exhibiting less of a memory trade-off than either control participants or people with

RFamide-related Peptide-3 and the Trade-off between Reproductive and Ingestive Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Jill E; Benton, Noah A; Russo, Kim A; Klingerman, Candice M; Williams, Wilbur P; Simberlund, Jessica; Abdulhay, Amir; Brozek, Jeremy M; Kriegsfeld, Lance J

2017-12-01

Ingestive and sex behaviors are important for individual survival and reproductive success, but when environmental energy availability is limited, individuals of many different species make a trade-off, forfeiting sex for ingestive behavior. For example, food-deprived female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) forego vaginal scent marking and lordosis (sex behaviors) in favor of foraging, hoarding, and eating food (ingestive behavior). Reproductive processes tend to be energetically costly, and individual survival requires homeostasis in metabolic energy. Thus, during energetic challenges, the chances of survival are enhanced by decreasing the energy expended on reproductive processes. The entire hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) system is inhibited by severe energetic challenges, but comparatively little is known about the effects of mild energetic challenges. We hypothesized that (1) a trade-off is made between sex and ingestive behavior even when the level of food restriction is insufficient to inhibit the HPG system; (2) mild energetic challenges force a trade-off between appetitive ingestive and sex behaviors, but not consummatory versions of the same behaviors; and (3) the trade-off is orchestrated by ovarian steroid modulation of RFamide-related peptide 3 (RFRP-3). In other species, RFRP-3, an ortholog of avian gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone, is implicated in control of behavior in response to energetic challenges and stressful stimuli. In support of our three hypotheses, there is a "dose-response" effect of food restriction and re-feeding on the activation of RFRP-3-immunoreactive cells in the dorsomedial hypothalamus and on appetitive behaviors (food hoarding and sexual motivation), but not on consummatory behaviors (food intake and lordosis), with no significant effect on circulating levels of estradiol or progesterone. The effect of food restriction on the activation of RFRP-3 cells is modulated at the time of estrus in gonadally-intact females

Fundamental Tradeoffs among Reliability, Latency and Throughput in Cellular Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Soret, Beatriz; Mogensen, Preben; Pedersen, Klaus I.

2014-01-01

We address the fundamental tradeoffs among latency, reliability and throughput in a cellular network. The most important elements influencing the KPIs in a 4G network are identified, and the inter-relationships among them is discussed. We use the effective bandwidth and the effective capacity......, in which latency and reliability will be two of the principal KPIs....

Wideband vs. Multiband Trade-offs for a Scalable Multifunction RF system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huizing, A.G.

2005-01-01

This paper presents a concept for a scalable multifunction RF (SMRF) system that allows the RF functionality (radar, electronic warfare and communications) to be easily extended and the RF performance to be scaled to the requirements of different missions and platforms. A trade-off analysis is

The hare or the tortoise? Modeling optimal speed-accuracy tradeoff settings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Ravenzwaaij, D.

2012-01-01

Decision making is strongly influenced by the speed-accuracy trade-off. In this dissertation, I have tackled the issue of speed versus accuracy from both a theoretical and an empirical viewpoint and have been drawn time and time again to the same inescapable conclusion: speeded decision making

Strictness Analysis for Attribute Grammars

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosendahl, Mads

1992-01-01

interpretation of attribute grammars. The framework is used to construct a strictness analysis for attribute grammars. Results of the analysis enable us to transform an attribute grammar such that attributes are evaluated during parsing, if possible. The analysis is proved correct by relating it to a fixpoint...... semantics for attribute grammars. An implementation of the analysis is discussed and some extensions to the analysis are mentioned....

A hybrid multiple attribute decision making method for solving problems of industrial environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dinesh Singh

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The selection of appropriate alternative in the industrial environment is an important but, at the same time, a complex and difficult problem because of the availability of a wide range of alternatives and similarity among them. Therefore, there is a need for simple, systematic, and logical methods or mathematical tools to guide decision makers in considering a number of selection attributes and their interrelations. In this paper, a hybrid decision making method of graph theory and matrix approach (GTMA and analytical hierarchy process (AHP is proposed. Three examples are presented to illustrate the potential of the proposed GTMA-AHP method and the results are compared with the results obtained using other decision making methods.

Effect of primary user traffic on sensing-throughput tradeoff for cognitive radios

KAUST Repository

Tang, Liang; Chen, Yunfei; Hines, Evor L.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2011-01-01

The effect of the primary user traffic on the performance of the secondary network is investigated for the tradeoff between the sensing quality and the achievable throughput. Numerical results show that the actual secondary network performance when

Networks that optimize a trade-off between efficiency and dynamical resilience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brede, Markus; Vries, Bert J.M. de

2009-01-01

In this Letter we study networks that have been optimized to realize a trade-off between communication efficiency and dynamical resilience. While the first is related to the average shortest pathlength, we argue that the second can be measured by the largest eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix of the network. Best efficiency is realized in star-like configurations, while enhanced resilience is related to the avoidance of short loops and degree homogeneity. Thus crucially, very efficient networks are not resilient while very resilient networks lack in efficiency. Networks that realize a trade-off between both limiting cases exhibit core-periphery structures, where the average degree of core nodes decreases but core size increases as the weight is gradually shifted from a strong requirement for efficiency and limited resilience towards a smaller requirement for efficiency and a strong demand for resilience. We argue that both, efficiency and resilience are important requirements for network design and highlight how networks can be constructed that allow for both.

Metastatic Breast Cancer or Multiple Myeloma? Camouflage by Lytic Lesions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruce Hough

2010-01-01

Full Text Available We report a case of a female with stage I infiltrating ductal carcinoma who received adjuvant therapy including trastuzumab. One year later she developed lytic lesions and was retreated with trastuzumab that was held after she developed symptomatic heart failure. Lytic lesions were attributed to relapse of breast cancer, and cardiac failure attributed to prior trastuzumab therapy. After complications necessitated multiple hospitalizations, a further workup revealed that the lytic lesions were not metastatic breast cancer but multiple myeloma. Her advanced multiple myeloma was associated with systemic amyloidosis involving gut and heart, which ultimately led to her demise. This report addresses the pitfalls of overlapping symptoms and the question of which patients with suspected metastatic disease should undergo a biopsy.

Linking environment-productivity trade-offs and correlated uncertainties: Greenhouse gas emissions and crop productivity in paddy rice production systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, Kiyotada; Nagumo, Yoshifumi; Domoto, Akiko

2016-01-01

In comparative life cycle assessments of agricultural production systems, analyses of both the trade-offs between environmental impacts and crop productivity and of the uncertainties specific to agriculture such as fluctuations in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and crop yields are crucial. However, these two issues are usually analyzed separately. In this paper, we present a framework to link trade-off and uncertainty analyses; correlated uncertainties are integrated into environment-productivity trade-off analyses. We compared three rice production systems in Japan: a system using a pelletized, nitrogen-concentrated organic fertilizer made from poultry manure using closed-air composting techniques (high-N system), a system using a conventional organic fertilizer made from poultry manure using open-air composting techniques (low-N system), and a system using a chemical compound fertilizer (conventional system). We focused on two important sources of uncertainties in paddy rice cultivation—methane emissions from paddy fields and crop yields. We found trade-offs between the conventional and high-N systems and the low-N system and the existence of positively correlated uncertainties in the conventional and high-N systems. We concluded that our framework is effective in recommending the high-N system compared with the low-N system, although the performance of the former is almost the same as the conventional system. - Highlights: • Correlated uncertainties were integrated into environment-productivity trade-offs. • Life cycle GHG emissions and crop yields were analyzed using field and survey data. • Three rice production systems using chemical or organic fertilizers were compared. • There were portfolio (insurance) effects in matured technologies. • Analysis of trade-offs and correlated uncertainties will be useful for decisions.

Linking environment-productivity trade-offs and correlated uncertainties: Greenhouse gas emissions and crop productivity in paddy rice production systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hayashi, Kiyotada, E-mail: hayashi@affrc.go.jp [Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 3-1-3 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8604 (Japan); Nagumo, Yoshifumi [Crop Research Center, Niigata Agricultural Research Institute, 857 Nagakura-machi, Nagaoka, Niigata 940-0826 (Japan); Domoto, Akiko [Mie Prefecture Agricultural Research Institute, 530 Kawakita-cho, Ureshino, Matsusaka, Mie 515-2316 (Japan)

2016-11-15

In comparative life cycle assessments of agricultural production systems, analyses of both the trade-offs between environmental impacts and crop productivity and of the uncertainties specific to agriculture such as fluctuations in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and crop yields are crucial. However, these two issues are usually analyzed separately. In this paper, we present a framework to link trade-off and uncertainty analyses; correlated uncertainties are integrated into environment-productivity trade-off analyses. We compared three rice production systems in Japan: a system using a pelletized, nitrogen-concentrated organic fertilizer made from poultry manure using closed-air composting techniques (high-N system), a system using a conventional organic fertilizer made from poultry manure using open-air composting techniques (low-N system), and a system using a chemical compound fertilizer (conventional system). We focused on two important sources of uncertainties in paddy rice cultivation—methane emissions from paddy fields and crop yields. We found trade-offs between the conventional and high-N systems and the low-N system and the existence of positively correlated uncertainties in the conventional and high-N systems. We concluded that our framework is effective in recommending the high-N system compared with the low-N system, although the performance of the former is almost the same as the conventional system. - Highlights: • Correlated uncertainties were integrated into environment-productivity trade-offs. • Life cycle GHG emissions and crop yields were analyzed using field and survey data. • Three rice production systems using chemical or organic fertilizers were compared. • There were portfolio (insurance) effects in matured technologies. • Analysis of trade-offs and correlated uncertainties will be useful for decisions.

Qualitative analysis of patient-centered decision attributes associated with initiating hepatitis C treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuchowski, Jessica L; Hamilton, Alison B; Pyne, Jeffrey M; Clark, Jack A; Naik, Aanand D; Smith, Donna L; Kanwal, Fasiha

2015-10-01

In this era of a constantly changing landscape of antiviral treatment options for chronic viral hepatitis C (CHC), shared clinical decision-making addresses the need to engage patients in complex treatment decisions. However, little is known about the decision attributes that CHC patients consider when making treatment decisions. We identify key patient-centered decision attributes, and explore relationships among these attributes, to help inform the development of a future CHC shared decision-making aid. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with CHC patients at four Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals, in three comparison groups: contemplating CHC treatment at the time of data collection (Group 1), recently declined CHC treatment (Group 2), or recently started CHC treatment (Group 3). Participant descriptions of decision attributes were analyzed for the entire sample as well as by patient group and by gender. Twenty-nine Veteran patients participated (21 males, eight females): 12 were contemplating treatment, nine had recently declined treatment, and eight had recently started treatment. Patients on average described eight (range 5-13) decision attributes. The attributes most frequently reported overall were: physical side effects (83%); treatment efficacy (79%), new treatment drugs in development (55%); psychological side effects (55%); and condition of the liver (52%), with some variation based on group and gender. Personal life circumstance attributes (such as availability of family support and the burden of financial responsibilities) influencing treatment decisions were also noted by all participants. Multiple decision attributes were interrelated in highly complex ways. Participants considered numerous attributes in their CHC treatment decisions. A better understanding of these attributes that influence patient decision-making is crucial in order to inform patient-centered clinical approaches to care (such as shared decision-making augmented

The attribute measurement technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacArthur, Duncan W.; Langner, Diana; Smith, Morag; Thron, Jonathan; Razinkov, Sergey; Livke, Alexander

2010-01-01

Any verification measurement performed on potentially classified nuclear material must satisfy two seemingly contradictory constraints. First and foremost, no classified information can be released. At the same time, the monitoring party must have confidence in the veracity of the measurement. An information barrier (IB) is included in the measurement system to protect the potentially classified information while allowing sufficient information transfer to occur for the monitoring party to gain confidence that the material being measured is consistent with the host's declarations, concerning that material. The attribute measurement technique incorporates an IB and addresses both concerns by measuring several attributes of the nuclear material and displaying unclassified results through green (indicating that the material does possess the specified attribute) and red (indicating that the material does not possess the specified attribute) lights. The attribute measurement technique has been implemented in the AVNG, an attribute measuring system described in other presentations at this conference. In this presentation, we will discuss four techniques used in the AVNG: (1) the 1B, (2) the attribute measurement technique, (3) the use of open and secure modes to increase confidence in the displayed results, and (4) the joint design as a method for addressing both host and monitor needs.

Locations and attributes of wind turbines in Colorado, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, Natasha B.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Fancher, Tammy; Hawkins, Sarah J.; Latysh, Natalie; Leib, Kenneth J.; Matherne, Anne Marie

2013-01-01

This dataset represents an update to U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 597. Locations and attributes of wind turbines in Colorado, 2009 (available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/597/). This updated Colorado wind turbine Data Series provides geospatial data for all 1,204 wind turbines established within the State of Colorado as of September 2011, an increase of 297 wind turbines from 2009. Attributes specific to each turbine include: turbine location, manufacturer and model, rotor diameter, hub height, rotor height, potential megawatt output, land ownership, county, and development status of the wind turbine. Wind energy facility data for each turbine include: facility name, facility power capacity, number of turbines associated with each facility to date, facility developer, facility ownership, and year the facility went online. The locations of turbines are derived from 1-meter true-color aerial photographs produced by the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP); the photographs have a positional accuracy of about ±5 meters. Locations of turbines constructed during or prior to August 2009 are based on August 2009 NAIP imagery and turbine locations constructed after August 2009 were based on September 2011 NAIP imagery. The location of turbines under construction during September 2011 likely will be less accurate than the location of existing turbines. This data series contributes to an Online Interactive Energy Atlas developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (http://my.usgs.gov/eerma/). The Energy Atlas synthesizes data on existing and potential energy development in Colorado and New Mexico and includes additional natural resource data layers. This information may be used by decisionmakers to evaluate and compare the potential benefits and tradeoffs associated with different energy development strategies or scenarios. Interactive maps, downloadable data layers, comprehensive metadata, and decision-support tools also are included in the Energy Atlas. The format of

Exploring Attribution Theory and Bias

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Jessica A.

2017-01-01

Courses: This activity can be used in a wide range of classes, including interpersonal communication, introduction to communication, and small group communication. Objectives: After completing this activity, students should be able to: (1) define attribution theory, personality attribution, situational attribution, and attribution bias; (2)…

Attributing illness to food

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Batz, M. B.; Doyle, M. P.; Morris, J. G.

2005-01-01

source responsible for illness. A wide variety of food attribution approaches and data are used around the world including the analysis of outbreak data, case-control studies, microbial subtyping and source tracking methods, and expert judgment, among others. The Food Safety Research Consortium sponsored......Identification and prioritization of effective food safety interventions require an understanding of the relationship between food and pathogen from farm to consumption. Critical to this cause is food attribution, the capacity to attribute cases of foodborne disease to the food vehicle or other...... the Food Attribution Data Workshop in October 2003 to discuss the virtues and limitations of these approaches and to identify future options for collecting food attribution data in the United States. We summarize workshop discussions and identify challenges that affect progress in this critical component...

Managing unforeseen events in anesthesia: collective trade-off between "understanding" and "doing".

Science.gov (United States)

Cuvelier, L; Falzon, P; Granry, J C; Moll, M C

2012-01-01

This study aims to describe how anesthesia teams handle unforeseen events that may affect the patients' health. More precisely, it investigates the mechanisms of decisions made by anesthesia teams to manage unthought-of situations, i.e. situations that have not been foreseen as "possible" ones before their occurrence. An empirical study, based on the analysis of simulated situations, was conducted in a pediatric anesthesia service of a university hospital in France. The results highlighted three ways of managing unthought-of situations (determined management, cautious management and overwhelmed management). They support the hypothesis of a collective cognitive trade-off, whereby teams would behave as virtual operators, with their own collective trade-off between "understanding" and "doing". The discussion of the results questions the assessment criteria, the safety perspectives we adopt and the possible ways to improve the management of unforeseen situations.

Slow Steaming in Maritime Transportation: Fundamentals, Trade-offs, and Decision Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Psaraftis, Harilaos N.; Kontovas, Christos A.

2015-01-01

burned. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the practice of slow steaming from various angles. In that context, a taxonomy of models is presented, some fundamentals are outlined, the main trade-offs are analysed, and some decision models are presented. Some examples are finally presented so...

Trade-offs in online purchase decisions : two empirical studies in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Odekerken-Schröder, G.; Wetzels, M.G.M.

2003-01-01

The Internet offers firms a new way to market their products and services and to interact with their end-consumers. While many firms have developed websites, very little is known about the trade-offs consumers are willing to make when making online purchases. With millions of websites competing for

Energy-delay trade-off of wireless data collection in the plane

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mitici, M.A.; Goseling, Jasper; de Graaf, Maurits; Boucherie, Richardus J.

2014-01-01

We analyze the Pareto front of the delay of collecting data from wireless devices located in the plane according to a Poisson process and the energy needed by the devices to transmit their observations. Fundamental bounds on the energy-delay trade-off over the space of all achievable scheduling

Endogenous ROS levels in C. elegans under exogenous stress support revision of oxidative stress theory of life-history tradeoffs.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Samson W; Latta, Leigh C; Denver, Dee R; Estes, Suzanne

2014-07-24

The oxidative stress theory of life-history tradeoffs states that oxidative stress caused by damaging free radicals directly underpins tradeoffs between reproduction and longevity by altering the allocation of energetic resources between these tasks. We test this theory by characterizing the effects of exogenous oxidative insult and its interaction with thermal stress and diet quality on a suite of life-history traits and correlations in Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes. We also quantify demographic aging rates and endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in live animals. Our findings indicate a tradeoff between investment in reproduction and antioxidant defense (somatic maintenance) consistent with theoretical predictions, but correlations between standard life-history traits yield little evidence that oxidative stress generates strict tradeoffs. Increasing oxidative insult, however, shows a strong tendency to uncouple positive phenotypic correlations and, in particular, to reduce the correlation between reproduction and lifespan. We also found that mild oxidative insult results in lower levels of endogenous ROS accompanied by hormetic changes in lifespan, demographic aging, and reproduction that disappear in combined-stress treatments--consistent with the oxidative stress theory of aging. Our findings demonstrate that oxidative stress is a direct contributor to life-history trait variation and that traditional tradeoffs are not necessary to invoke oxidative stress as a mediator of relationships between life-history traits, supporting previous calls for revisions to theory.

Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity, and Economic Costs (SAMMEC) - Smoking-Attributable Expenditures (SAE)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 2005-2009. SAMMEC - Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity, and Economic Costs. Smoking-attributable expenditures (SAEs) are excess health care expenditures...

Parasite-mediated selection drives an immunogenetic trade-off in plains zebras (Equus quagga).

Science.gov (United States)

Kamath, Pauline L; Turner, Wendy C; Küsters, Martina; Getz, Wayne M

2014-05-22

Pathogen evasion of the host immune system is a key force driving extreme polymorphism in genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Although this gene family is well characterized in structure and function, there is still much debate surrounding the mechanisms by which MHC diversity is selectively maintained. Many studies have investigated relationships between MHC variation and specific pathogens, and have found mixed support for and against the hypotheses of heterozygote advantage, frequency-dependent or fluctuating selection. Few, however, have focused on the selective effects of multiple parasite types on host immunogenetic patterns. Here, we examined relationships between variation in the equine MHC gene, ELA-DRA, and both gastrointestinal (GI) and ectoparasitism in plains zebras (Equus quagga). Specific alleles present at opposing population frequencies had antagonistic effects, with rare alleles associated with increased GI parasitism and common alleles with increased tick burdens. These results support a frequency-dependent mechanism, but are also consistent with fluctuating selection. Maladaptive GI parasite 'susceptibility alleles' were reduced in frequency, suggesting that these parasites may play a greater selective role at this locus. Heterozygote advantage, in terms of allele mutational divergence, also predicted decreased GI parasite burden in genotypes with a common allele. We conclude that an immunogenetic trade-off affects resistance/susceptibility to parasites in this system. Because GI and ectoparasites do not directly interact within hosts, our results uniquely show that antagonistic parasite interactions can be indirectly modulated through the host immune system. This study highlights the importance of investigating the role of multiple parasites in shaping patterns of host immunogenetic variation.

Use of Tumor Markers in Gastrointestinal Cancers: Surgeon Perceptions and Cost-Benefit Trade-Off Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Acharya, Amish; Markar, Sheraz R; Matar, Michael; Ni, Melody; Hanna, George B

2017-05-01

Gastrointestinal cancers constitute the third most common cancers worldwide. Tumor markers have long since been used in the postoperative surveillance of these malignancies; however, the true value in clinical practice remains undetermined. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical utility of three tumor markers in colorectal and esophagogastric cancer. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to elicit the sensitivity, specificity, statistical heterogeneity and ability to predict recurrence and metastases for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen (CA) 19-9 and CA125. European surgeons were surveyed to assess their current practice and the characteristics of tumor markers they most valued. Data from the included studies and survey were combined in a cost-benefit trade-off analysis to assess which tumor markers are of most use in clinical practice. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were ranked the most desirable characteristics of a tumor marker by those surveyed. Overall, 156 studies were included to inform the cost-benefit trade-off. The cost-benefit trade-off showed that CEA outperformed both CA19-9 and CA125, with lower financial cost and a higher sensitivity, and diagnostic accuracy for metastases at presentation (area under the curve [AUC] 0.70 vs. 0.61 vs. 0.46), as well as similar diagnostic accuracy for recurrence (AUC 0.46 vs. 0.48). Cost-benefit trade-off analysis identified CEA to be the best performing tumor marker. Further studies should seek to evaluate new tumor markers, with investigation tailored to factors that meet the requirements of practicing clinicians.

CREATING SHARED VALUE IN THE PRESENCE OF CONFLICTS AND TRADEOFFS: A PARADOX PERSPECTIVE ON BUSINESS AND SOCIETY

OpenAIRE

LaPierre, Karen; Wakayama, Naomi; 若山, 俊弘

2016-01-01

While business and society may engage in mutually beneficial, synergistic interactions, they also face the challenge of managing contentious, tradeoff interactions when their objectives are not aligned. In the diverse fields of studies in business and society, these two modes of business-society interactions have been conceptualized rather separately: mutual gains and synergies in concepts such as social innovation and shared value creation on one hand, and tensions and tradeoffs in studies t...

An alternative to Even Swaps for modeling decision in a multi attribute problem; the case of Labor Formality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Tetaz

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses two different alternatives to deal with the problem of multiple objectives in decision making. Even Swaps and Choice Based Conjoint are analyzed using an election between hypothetical jobs as a frame of decision. We show that not only Choice Based Conjoint Analysis can be used to value the different tradeoffs associated, but it can also be used to predict people choices even when they are not aware of the trades involved between objectives. Finally a tailored pilot survey is used to show the Choice Based Method in practice, allowing us to obtain important conclusions regarding people willingness to pay for several Labor Formality aspects. 

Corrective Feedback, Spoken Accuracy and Fluency, and the Trade-Off Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Chehr Azad, Mohammad Hassan; Farrokhi, Farahman; Zohrabi, Mohammad

2018-01-01

The current study was an attempt to investigate the effects of different corrective feedback (CF) conditions on Iranian EFL learners' spoken accuracy and fluency (AF) and the trade-off between them. Consequently, four pre-intermediate intact classes were randomly selected as the control, delayed explicit metalinguistic CF, extensive recast, and…

Ethical Implications of Validity-vs.-Reliability Trade-Offs in Educational Research

Science.gov (United States)

Fendler, Lynn

2016-01-01

In educational research that calls itself empirical, the relationship between validity and reliability is that of trade-off: the stronger the bases for validity, the weaker the bases for reliability (and vice versa). Validity and reliability are widely regarded as basic criteria for evaluating research; however, there are ethical implications of…

Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity, and Economic Costs (SAMMEC) - Smoking-Attributable Mortality (SAM)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — 2005-2009. SAMMEC - Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity, and Economic Costs. Smoking-attributable mortality (SAM) is the number of deaths caused by cigarette...

Drivers, Constraints and Trade-Offs Associated with Recultivating Abandoned Cropland in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Meyfroidt

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Further cropland expansion might be unavoidable to satisfy the growing demand for land- based products and ecosystem services. A crucial issue is thus to assess the trade-offs between social and ecological impacts and the benefits of converting additional land to cropland. In the former Soviet Union countries, where the transition from state-command to market-driven economies resulted in widespread agricultural land abandonment, cropland expansion may incur relatively low costs, especially compared with tropical regions. Our objectives were to quantify the drivers, constraints and trade-offs associated with recultivating abandoned cropland to assess the potentially available cropland in European Russia, western Siberia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan - the region where the vast majority of post- Soviet cropland abandonment took place. Using spatial panel regressions, we characterized the socio-economic determinants of cropland abandonment and recultivation. We then used recent maps of changes in cropland to 1 spatially characterize the socio-economic, accessibility and soil constraints associated with the recultivation of abandoned croplands and 2 investigate the environmental trade-offs regarding carbon stocks and habitat for biodiversity. Less cropland abandonment and more recultivation after 2000 occurred in areas with an increasing rural population and a younger labor force, but also improved yields. Synergies were observed between cropland recultivation and intensification over the 2000s. From 47.3 million hectares (Mha of cropland abandoned in 2009, we identified only 8.5 (7.1-17.4 Mha of potentially available cropland with low environmental tradeoffs and low to moderate socio-economic or accessibility constraints that were located on high-quality soils (Chernozems. These areas represented an annual wheat production potential of 14.3 (9.6-19.5 million tons (Mt. Conversely, 8.5 (4.2-12.4 Mha had high carbon or biodiversity trade-offs, of which 10

On the ARQ protocols over the Z-interference channels: Diversity-multiplexing-delay tradeoff

KAUST Repository

Nafea, Mohamed S.; Hamza, D.; Seddik, Karim G.; Nafie, Mohamed; Gamal, Hesham El

2012-01-01

We characterize the achievable three-dimensional tradeoff between diversity, multiplexing, and delay of the single antenna Automatic Retransmission reQuest (ARQ) Z-interference channel. Non-cooperative and cooperative ARQ protocols are adopted under

The costs of parental care: a meta-analysis of the trade-off between parental effort and survival in birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, E S A; Nakagawa, S

2012-09-01

A fundamental premise of life-history theory is that organisms that increase current reproductive investment suffer increased mortality. Possibly the most studied life-history phenotypic relationship is the trade-off between parental effort and survival. However, evidence supporting this trade-off is equivocal. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to test the generality of this tenet. Using experimental studies that manipulated parental effort in birds, we show that (i) the effect of parental effort on survival was similar across species regardless of phylogeny; (ii) individuals that experienced reduced parental effort had similar survival probabilities than control individuals, regardless of sex; and (iii) males that experienced increased parental effort were less likely to survive than control males, whereas females that experienced increased effort were just as likely to survive as control females. Our results suggest that the trade-off between parental effort and survival is more complex than previously assumed. Finally, our study provides recommendations of unexplored avenues of future research into life-history trade-offs. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2012 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Multiple Learning Tracks: For Training Multinational Managers

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Michael G.; Kerin, Roger A.

1977-01-01

The problem of identifying and training college students to be effective multinational marketing managers is investigated in three parts: (1) Identification of multinational manager attributes, (2) selection of multinational managers, and (3) multiple "track" training programs. (TA)

Controversy in the classroom: How eighth-grade and undergraduate students reason about tradeoffs of genetically modified food

Science.gov (United States)

Seethaler, Sherry Lynn

Current issues in science provide a rich context for learning because they can involve complex tradeoffs that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Despite this potential benefit, and the need for citizens to make decisions about such issues, science controversy remains rare in the classroom. Consequently, there is much unknown about how students make sense of complex, multidisciplinary science. This research examined eighth-grade (n = 190) and undergraduate (n = 9) students' reasoning about tradeoffs in the genetically modified food controversy (main study). To extend the findings from the main study, undergraduate students' reasoning was followed as they learned about ten additional science controversies (extension). The studies took place in the context of curricula designed on the basis of the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration Framework, which posits a set of design principles that help students form a rich, integrated network of ideas about a topic. Two new methodologies were developed for this work. The Embedded Perspective of Science Controversy was used to study students' integration of content in their written arguments (main study) and oral and written questions (extension). The Perspective views science controversy as a set of nested levels, where tradeoffs are one of the levels, but connecting to other levels (underlying scientific details, bigger picture context, etc.) is important for the weighing of tradeoffs. A scheme based on Toulmin's (1958) work on argumentation provided a way of comparing the structure of students' arguments. As indicated by pre and post test scores, the curriculum helped both eighth-grade students (t = 11.7, p genetically modified food. In their final papers, both eighth-grade and undergraduate students presented evidence for and against their positions, in contrast with prior literature showing individuals have difficulty coming up with evidence against their positions. The students were also moving across the levels

Photovoltaic subsystem optimization and design tradeoff study. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stolte, W.J.

1982-03-01

Tradeoffs and subsystem choices are examined in photovoltaic array subfield design, power-conditioning sizing and selection, roof- and ground-mounted structure installation, energy loss, operating voltage, power conditioning cost, and subfield size. Line- and self-commutated power conditioning options are analyzed to determine the most cost-effective technology in the megawatt power range. Methods for reducing field installation of flat panels and roof mounting of intermediate load centers are discussed, including the cost of retrofit installations.

Engineering report. Part 2: NASA wheel and brake material tradeoff study for space shuttle type environmental requirements

Science.gov (United States)

Bok, L. D.

1973-01-01

The study included material selection and trade-off for the structural components of the wheel and brake optimizing weight vs cost and feasibility for the space shuttle type application. Analytical methods were used to determine section thickness for various materials, and a table was constructed showing weight vs. cost trade-off. The wheel and brake were further optimized by considering design philosophies that deviate from standard aircraft specifications, and designs that best utilize the materials being considered.

An Attribute Involved Public Key Cryptosystem Based on P-Sylow Subgroups and Randomization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sumalatha GUNNALA

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The Asymmetric Key Cryptosystem (AKC or Public Key Encryption (PKE is a mechanism used to encrypt the messages by using public key and decrypt the enciphered messages by using private key. Of late, the Attribute-Based Encryption (ABE is an expansion of asymmetric key encryption scheme that allows users to encrypt and decrypt the plaintext messages using the key based on the user’s credentials, called attributes, like social security number, PAN (Permanent Account Number, email ids or Aadhar number etc. Most of the existing ABE schemes rely on the multiple attributes from which the access control policies are derived. These policies define the users’ private keys, required for the decryption process and access to the confidential information. In this paper, we proposed a new attribute based asymmetric cryptosystem that uses the features of both the schemes: PKE and ABE. Here, we used a value of an attribute, personal to the user, for the encryption and the decryption process. This scheme assures that the receiver will only be able to access the secret data if recipient is shared with the valid attribute value. The asymmetric nature is this scheme is based on the concept of p-sylow sub-group assumption. In addition, the randomization factor is used in the encipherment process to strengthen the cipher further. The development of this cryptosystem is an embodiment where the merits of randomized asymmetric encryption technique and the attribute based encryption are integrated to achieve the authentication on top of confidentiality to secure the information transmission over the public networks.

Trade-Offs of Flowering and Maturity Synchronisation for Pineapple Quality.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V Nicodème Fassinou Hotegni

Full Text Available In the pineapple sector of Benin, poor fruit quality prevents pineapple producers to enter the European market. We investigated effects of common cultural practices, flowering and maturity synchronisation, (1 to quantify the trade-offs of flowering and maturity synchronisation for pineapple quality and the proportion of fruits exportable to European markets, and (2 to determine the effect of harvesting practice on quality attributes. Four on-farm experiments were conducted during three years using cultivars Sugarloaf and Smooth Cayenne. A split-split plot design was used in each experiment, with flowering induction practice as main factor (artificial or natural flowering induction, maturity induction practice as split factor (artificial or natural maturity induction and harvesting practice as the split-split factor (farmers' harvest practice or individual fruit harvesting at optimum maturity. Artificial flowering induction gave fruits with lower infructescence weight, higher ratio crown: infructescence length, and a lower proportion of fruits exportable to European markets than natural flowering induction. The costs of the improvements by natural flowering induction were huge: the longer durations from planting to flowering induction and harvesting, the higher number of harvestings of the fruits increasing the labour cost and the lower proportion of plants producing fruits compared with crops from artificially flowering-induced plants. Artificial maturity induction decreased the total soluble solids concentration in the fruits compared with natural maturity induction thus decreasing the proportion of fruits exportable to European markets, at a benefit of only a slightly shorter time from flowering induction to harvesting. Harvesting individual fruits at optimum maturity gave fruits with higher total soluble solids in naturally maturity induced fruits compared with the farmers' harvest practice. Given the huge costs of natural flowering induction

Market Suitability and Performance Tradeoffs Offered by Commercial Wind Turbines across Differing Wind Regimes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Souma Chowdhury

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The suitability of turbine configurations to different wind resources has been traditionally restricted to considering turbines operating as standalone entities. In this paper, a framework is thus developed to investigate turbine suitability in terms of the minimum cost of energy offered when operating as a group of optimally-micro-sited turbines. The four major steps include: (i characterizing the geographical variation of wind regimes in the onshore U.S. market; (ii determining the best performing turbines for different wind regimes through wind farm layout optimization; (iii developing a metric to quantify the expected market suitability of available turbine configurations; and (iv exploring the best tradeoffs between the cost and capacity factor yielded by these turbines. One hundred thirty one types of commercial turbines offered by major global manufacturers in 2012 are considered for selection. It is found that, in general, higher rated power turbines with medium tower heights are the most favored. Interestingly, further analysis showed that “rotor diameter/hub height” ratios greater than 1.1 are the least attractive for any of the wind classes. It is also observed that although the “cost-capacity factor” tradeoff curve expectedly shifted towards higher capacity factors with increasing wind class, the trend of the tradeoff curve remained practically similar.

Pareto-depth for multiple-query image retrieval.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsiao, Ko-Jen; Calder, Jeff; Hero, Alfred O

2015-02-01

Most content-based image retrieval systems consider either one single query, or multiple queries that include the same object or represent the same semantic information. In this paper, we consider the content-based image retrieval problem for multiple query images corresponding to different image semantics. We propose a novel multiple-query information retrieval algorithm that combines the Pareto front method with efficient manifold ranking. We show that our proposed algorithm outperforms state of the art multiple-query retrieval algorithms on real-world image databases. We attribute this performance improvement to concavity properties of the Pareto fronts, and prove a theoretical result that characterizes the asymptotic concavity of the fronts.

Large-scale bioenergy production: how to resolve sustainability trade-offs?

Science.gov (United States)

Humpenöder, Florian; Popp, Alexander; Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon; Weindl, Isabelle; Biewald, Anne; Lotze-Campen, Hermann; Dietrich, Jan Philipp; Klein, David; Kreidenweis, Ulrich; Müller, Christoph; Rolinski, Susanne; Stevanovic, Miodrag

2018-02-01

Large-scale 2nd generation bioenergy deployment is a key element of 1.5 °C and 2 °C transformation pathways. However, large-scale bioenergy production might have negative sustainability implications and thus may conflict with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) agenda. Here, we carry out a multi-criteria sustainability assessment of large-scale bioenergy crop production throughout the 21st century (300 EJ in 2100) using a global land-use model. Our analysis indicates that large-scale bioenergy production without complementary measures results in negative effects on the following sustainability indicators: deforestation, CO2 emissions from land-use change, nitrogen losses, unsustainable water withdrawals and food prices. One of our main findings is that single-sector environmental protection measures next to large-scale bioenergy production are prone to involve trade-offs among these sustainability indicators—at least in the absence of more efficient land or water resource use. For instance, if bioenergy production is accompanied by forest protection, deforestation and associated emissions (SDGs 13 and 15) decline substantially whereas food prices (SDG 2) increase. However, our study also shows that this trade-off strongly depends on the development of future food demand. In contrast to environmental protection measures, we find that agricultural intensification lowers some side-effects of bioenergy production substantially (SDGs 13 and 15) without generating new trade-offs—at least among the sustainability indicators considered here. Moreover, our results indicate that a combination of forest and water protection schemes, improved fertilization efficiency, and agricultural intensification would reduce the side-effects of bioenergy production most comprehensively. However, although our study includes more sustainability indicators than previous studies on bioenergy side-effects, our study represents only a small subset of all indicators relevant for the

The Child Quantity-Quality Trade-Off During the Industrial Revolution in England

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klemp, Marc; Weisdorf, Jacob L.

We take Gary Becker's child quantity-quality trade-off hypothesis to the historical record, investigating the causal link from family size to the literacy status of offspring using data from Anglican parish registers, c. 1700-1830. Extraordinarily forhistorical data, the parish records enable us ...

Evaluating Multiple-Choice Exams in Large Introductory Physics Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Michael; Stelzer, Tim; Gladding, Gary

2006-01-01

The reliability and validity of professionally written multiple-choice exams have been extensively studied for exams such as the SAT, graduate record examination, and the force concept inventory. Much of the success of these multiple-choice exams is attributed to the careful construction of each question, as well as each response. In this study,…

An innovative cross-sectoral method for implementation of trade-off adaptation strategy assessment under climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Tsao, Jung-Hsuan; Tung, Ching-Pin; Liu, Tzu-Ming

2014-05-01

Climate change will increase sharp risks to the water and food supply in coming decades. Although impact assessment and adaptation evaluation has been discussed a lot in recent years, the importance of adaptation implement should not be ignored. In Taiwan, and elsewhere, fallow is an option of adaptation strategy under climate change. Fallow would improve the water scarcity of domestic use, but the food security might be threatened. The trade-off effects of adaptation actions are just like the side effects of medicine which cannot be avoided. Thus, managing water resources with an integrated approach will be urgent. This study aims to establish a cross-sectoral framework for implementation the trade-off adaptation strategy. Not only fallow, but also other trade-off strategy like increasing the percentage of national grain self-sufficiency would be analyzed by a rational decision process. The recent percentage of grain self-sufficiency in Taiwan is around 32, which was decreasing from 53 thirty years ago. Yet, the goal of increasing grain self-sufficiency means much more water must be used in agriculture. In that way, domestic users may face the water shortage situation. Considering the conflicts between water supply and food security, the concepts from integrative negotiation are appropriate to apply. The implementation of trade-off adaptation strategies needs to start by quantifying the utility of water supply and food security were be quantified. Next, each side's bottom line can be found by BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) and ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement). ZOPA provides the entire possible outcomes, and BATNA ensures the efficiency of adaptation actions by moving along with Pareto frontier. Therefore, the optimal percentage of fallow and grain self-sufficiency can be determined. Furthermore, BATNA also provides the pathway step by step which can be a guideline of adaptation strategies. This framework allows analysts and stakeholder to

Attribution style, theory and empirical findings

OpenAIRE

Krohn, Charlotte

2017-01-01

Master i læring i komplekse systemer Attribution theory is a long-standing and widely discussed theory that addresses individuals’ explanation of causes of events. People attribute events of success and failure individually. Previous studies indicate that performance in sporting events may be improved by changing individuals’ attribution style. Article one describes attribution and attribution theory as state of the art. The article addresses the most important findings within attribution ...

Area Spectral Efficiency and Energy Efficiency Tradeoff in Ultradense Heterogeneous Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lanhua Xiang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In order to meet the demand of explosive data traffic, ultradense base station (BS deployment in heterogeneous networks (HetNets as a key technique in 5G has been proposed. However, with the increment of BSs, the total energy consumption will also increase. So, the energy efficiency (EE has become a focal point in ultradense HetNets. In this paper, we take the area spectral efficiency (ASE into consideration and focus on the tradeoff between the ASE and EE in an ultradense HetNet. The distributions of BSs in the two-tier ultradense HetNet are modeled by two independent Poisson point processes (PPPs and the expressions of ASE and EE are derived by using the stochastic geometry tool. The tradeoff between the ASE and EE is formulated as a constrained optimization problem in which the EE is maximized under the ASE constraint, through optimizing the BS densities. It is difficult to solve the optimization problem analytically, because the closed-form expressions of ASE and EE are not easily obtained. Therefore, simulations are conducted to find optimal BS densities.

Quantifying policy tradeoffs to support aging populations

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Sergei Scherbov

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Coping with aging populations is a challenge for most developed countries. Supporting non-working adults can create an unsustainable burden on those working. One way of dealing with this is to raise the normal pension age, but this has proven unpopular. A complementary approach is to raise the average labor force participation rate. These policies are generally more politically palatable because they often remove barriers, allowing people who would like to work to do so. Objective: To conceptualize and estimate the trade-off between pension age and labor force participation rate policies. Methods: We project the populations of European countries and apply different levels of labor force participation rates to the projected populations. We introduce the notion of a relative burden, which is the ratio of the fraction of the income of people in the labor market in 2050 that they transfer to adults out of the labor market to the same fraction in 2009. We use this indicator to investigate the trade-offs between changes in normal pension ages and the general level of labor force participation rates. Results: We show that, in most European countries, a difference in policies that results in an increase in average labor force participation rates by an additional one to two percentage points by 2050 can substitute for a one-year increase in the normal pension age. This is important because, in many European countries, without additional increases in labor force participation rates, normal pension ages would have to be raised well above 68 by 2050 to keep the burden on those working manageable. Conclusions: Because of anticipated increases in life expectancy and health at older ages as well as because of financial necessity, some mix of increases in pension ages and in labor force participation rates will be needed. Pension age changes by themselves will not be sufficient.

The relationship between the self-esteem and employability attributes of postgraduate business management students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingrid Potgieter

2012-04-01

Research purpose: The objectives of the study were to determine the relationship between self-esteem (as the Culture Free Self-Esteem Inventory measures it and employability attributes (as the Employability Attributes Scale measures it; to determine whether people’s biographical details significantly predict their self-esteem and employability attributes; and whether men and women differ significantly in their self-esteem and employability attributes. Motivation for the study: There seems to be a paucity of studies that investigate how people’s self-esteem relates to their employability attributes in South Africa’s multi-cultural context. Research design, approach and method: The researcher conducted a quantitative survey on a convenience sample of 304 employed adults enrolled for an honours degree in business management in a higher education institution. She used correlational statistics, multiple regression analyses, categorical regressions and independent t-tests to analyse the data. Main findings: The researcher found a number of significant relationships between the participants’ self-esteem and employability. The results showed that biographical details significantly predicted participants’ employability attributes. Practical/managerial implications: Career counsellors and human resource practitioners need to recognise how people’s self-esteem and their biographical details influence their employability attributes. Contribution/value-add: The findings add to the literature on the skills, abilities and biographical information that influence employability and give valuable information that organisations can use during career development support and career counselling practices in the contemporary world of work.

Policy Choices for Progressive Realization of Universal Health Coverage Comment on "Ethical Perspective: Five Unacceptable Trade-offs on the Path to Universal Health Coverage".

Science.gov (United States)

Tangcharoensathien, Viroj; Patcharanarumol, Walaiporn; Panichkriangkrai, Warisa; Sommanustweechai, Angkana

2016-07-31

In responses to Norheim's editorial, this commentary offers reflections from Thailand, how the five unacceptable trade-offs were applied to the universal health coverage (UHC) reforms between 1975 and 2002 when the whole 64 million people were covered by one of the three public health insurance systems. This commentary aims to generate global discussions on how best UHC can be gradually achieved. Not only the proposed five discrete trade-offs within each dimension, there are also trade-offs between the three dimensions of UHC such as population coverage, service coverage and cost coverage. Findings from Thai UHC show that equity is applied for the population coverage extension, when the low income households and the informal sector were the priority population groups for coverage extension by different prepayment schemes in 1975 and 1984, respectively. With an exception of public sector employees who were historically covered as part of fringe benefits were covered well before the poor. The private sector employees were covered last in 1990. Historically, Thailand applied a comprehensive benefit package where a few items are excluded using the negative list; until there was improved capacities on technology assessment that cost-effectiveness are used for the inclusion of new interventions into the benefit package. Not only cost-effectiveness, but long term budget impact, equity and ethical considerations are taken into account. Cost coverage is mostly determined by the fiscal capacities. Close ended budget with mix of provider payment methods are used as a tool for trade-off service coverage and financial risk protection. Introducing copayment in the context of fee-for-service can be harmful to beneficiaries due to supplier induced demands, inefficiency and unpredictable out of pocket payment by households. UHC achieves favorable outcomes as it was implemented when there was a full geographical coverage of primary healthcare coverage in all districts and sub

Cost, Emissions, and Customer Service Trade-Off Analysis In Pickup and Delivery Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-01

This research offers a novel formulation for including emissions into fleet assignment and vehicle routing, and for the : trade-offs faced by fleet operators between cost, emissions, and service quality. This approach enables evaluation of : the impa...

Multiple criteria decision making with life cycle assessment for material selection of composites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. S. Milani

2011-12-01

Full Text Available With the advancement of interdisciplinary approaches in today’s modern engineering, current efforts in optimal design of composites include seeking material selection protocols that can (1 simultaneously consider a series of mechanical/electrical/chemical cost criteria over a set of alternative material options, and (2 closely take into account environmental aspects of final products including recycling and end-of-life disposal options. In this paper, in addition to a review of some recent experimental and methodological advances in the above areas, a new application of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM is presented to deal with decision conflicts often seen among design criteria in composite material selection with the help of life cycle assessment (LCA. To show the application, an illustrative case study on a plastic gear material selection is conducted where the cost, mechanical and thermal properties along with environmental impact criteria are to be satisfied simultaneously. A pure plastic gear is compared to a Polyethylene terephthalate (PET/aluminum-powder composite alternative. Results suggest that simple MCDM models, including a signal-to-noise measure adapted to MCDM in the same case study, can be used to explore both trade-offs and design break-even points in large decision spaces as the decision maker’s perspective over environmental, material performance and cost attributes change during the design process. More advanced topics including the account of material data uncertainties are addressed.

A case of multiple skin cancer attributed to Grenz radiotherapy after 50 years latency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azakami, Kazuko; Matsushita, Shigeto; Baba, Chiaki; Yoshii, Noriko; Uchimiya, Hiroshi; Kanekura, Takuro; Kanzaki, Tamotsu; Mera, Shuji

2007-01-01

In 1955, this 74-year-old man received Grenz-ray therapy for inguinal tinea. In 1995, an intractable ulcer appeared in his left inguinal region. The diagnosis was Bowen's disease. In 2005, he noticed new small ulcer in the left inguinal region and a nodule on his left thigh; these lesions were diagnosed as squamous- and basal-cell carcinoma, respectively. This case suggests that various types of skin cancer may be attributable to Grenz radiotherapy after 50 years latency. We review the literature on skin cancers that developed after Grenz radiotherapy and discuss the relationship between exposure to Grenz rays and skin cancer. (author)

Progress of the AVNG System - Attribute Verification System with Information Barriers for Mass Isotopics Measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budnikov, D.; Bulatov, M.; Jarikhine, I.; Lebedev, B.; Livke, A.; Modenov, A.; Morkin, A.; Razinkov, S.; Tsaregorodtsev, D.; Vlokh, A.; Yakovleva, S.; Elmont, T.H.; Langner, D.C.; MacArthur, D.W.; Mayo, D.R.; Smith, M.K.; Luke, S.J.

2005-01-01

An attribute verification system (AVNG) with information barriers for mass and isotopics measurements has been designed and its fabrication is nearly completed. The AVNG is being built by scientists at the Russian Federal Nuclear Center-VNIIEF, with support of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Such a system could be used to verify the presence of several unclassified attributes of classified material with no classified information release. The system is comprised of a neutron multiplicity counter and gamma-spectrometry system based on a high purity germanium gamma detector (nominal relative efficiency @ 1332 keV 50%) and digital gamma-ray spectrometer DSPEC PLUS . The neutron multiplicity counter is a three ring counter with 164 3 He tubes. The system was designed to measure prototype containers 491 mm in diameter and 503 mm high. This paper provides a brief history of the project and documents the progress of this effort with drawings and photographs.

Use of a multi-attribute utility theory for evaluating the best coolant material in transmutation reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Dong Han; Han, Suk Joong; Kim, Do Hyung; Park, Won Suk

1998-12-01

In order to develop and design a good transmutation system, it is necessary first to select the best available coolant material for a reactor coolant system. Choosing the best coolant material may not be easy since there are several criteria associated with thermal performance, safety problem, cost problem, neutronic aspects. etc. The best option should be chosen based on the maximization of our needs in this situation. It is a challenging task. Decision theory can be employed to solve this type of problem. This report presents the feasibility study for evaluating the best coolant material in transmutation reactors based on the multi=attribute utility theory. The main problem presented here is how to logically evaluate candidate coolant materials under multiple criteria such as thermal performance, safety problem, cost problem, cost problem, neutronic aspects, etc. Since the current problem involves multiple criteria or attributes, first of all, the multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) such as SMART and AHP has been extensively reviewed. Then, many candidate coolant material for transmutation reactors have been identified. The next step is to construct a value tree that express to reflect the relative importance of the attributes for overall evaluation. Finally, given these assignments, the final goal were obtained by manipulating these ranks through the value tree. The proposed approach is intended to help people be rational and logical in making decisions such complex tasks. (author). 8 refs., 7 tabs., 22 figs

Trade-offs in the distribution of neural networks in a wireless sensor network

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Holenderski, M.J.; Lukkien, J.J.; Tham, C.K.

2005-01-01

This article investigates the tradeoff between communication and memory usage in different methods of distributing neural networks in a Wireless Sensor Network. A structural approach is presented, categorized in two dimensions: horizontal and vertical decomposition. Horizontal decomposition turns

An Inverse Optimal Control Approach to Explain Human Arm Reaching Control Based on Multiple Internal Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Oguz, Ozgur S; Zhou, Zhehua; Glasauer, Stefan; Wollherr, Dirk

2018-04-03

Human motor control is highly efficient in generating accurate and appropriate motor behavior for a multitude of tasks. This paper examines how kinematic and dynamic properties of the musculoskeletal system are controlled to achieve such efficiency. Even though recent studies have shown that the human motor control relies on multiple models, how the central nervous system (CNS) controls this combination is not fully addressed. In this study, we utilize an Inverse Optimal Control (IOC) framework in order to find the combination of those internal models and how this combination changes for different reaching tasks. We conducted an experiment where participants executed a comprehensive set of free-space reaching motions. The results show that there is a trade-off between kinematics and dynamics based controllers depending on the reaching task. In addition, this trade-off depends on the initial and final arm configurations, which in turn affect the musculoskeletal load to be controlled. Given this insight, we further provide a discomfort metric to demonstrate its influence on the contribution of different inverse internal models. This formulation together with our analysis not only support the multiple internal models (MIMs) hypothesis but also suggest a hierarchical framework for the control of human reaching motions by the CNS.

Linguistic Multi-Attribute Group Decision Making with Risk Preferences and Its Use in Low-Carbon Tourism Destination Selection

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Hui; Wang, Zhou-Jing

2017-01-01

Low-carbon tourism plays an important role in carbon emission reduction and environmental protection. Low-carbon tourism destination selection often involves multiple conflicting and incommensurate attributes or criteria and can be modelled as a multi-attribute decision-making problem. This paper develops a framework to solve multi-attribute group decision-making problems, where attribute evaluation values are provided as linguistic terms and the attribute weight information is incomplete. In order to obtain a group risk preference captured by a linguistic term set with triangular fuzzy semantic information, a nonlinear programming model is established on the basis of individual risk preferences. We first convert individual linguistic-term-based decision matrices to their respective triangular fuzzy decision matrices, which are then aggregated into a group triangular fuzzy decision matrix. Based on this group decision matrix and the incomplete attribute weight information, a linear program is developed to find an optimal attribute weight vector. A detailed procedure is devised for tackling linguistic multi-attribute group decision making problems. A low-carbon tourism destination selection case study is offered to illustrate how to use the developed group decision-making model in practice. PMID:28926985

Linguistic Multi-Attribute Group Decision Making with Risk Preferences and Its Use in Low-Carbon Tourism Destination Selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Hui; Wang, Zhou-Jing

2017-09-17

Low-carbon tourism plays an important role in carbon emission reduction and environmental protection. Low-carbon tourism destination selection often involves multiple conflicting and incommensurate attributes or criteria and can be modelled as a multi-attribute decision-making problem. This paper develops a framework to solve multi-attribute group decision-making problems, where attribute evaluation values are provided as linguistic terms and the attribute weight information is incomplete. In order to obtain a group risk preference captured by a linguistic term set with triangular fuzzy semantic information, a nonlinear programming model is established on the basis of individual risk preferences. We first convert individual linguistic-term-based decision matrices to their respective triangular fuzzy decision matrices, which are then aggregated into a group triangular fuzzy decision matrix. Based on this group decision matrix and the incomplete attribute weight information, a linear program is developed to find an optimal attribute weight vector. A detailed procedure is devised for tackling linguistic multi-attribute group decision making problems. A low-carbon tourism destination selection case study is offered to illustrate how to use the developed group decision-making model in practice.

Noradrenaline and dopamine neurons in the reward/effort trade-off: a direct electrophysiological comparison in behaving monkeys.

Science.gov (United States)

Varazzani, Chiara; San-Galli, Aurore; Gilardeau, Sophie; Bouret, Sebastien

2015-05-20

Motivation determines multiple aspects of behavior, including action selection and energization of behavior. Several components of the underlying neural systems have been examined closely, but the specific role of the different neuromodulatory systems in motivation remains unclear. Here, we compare directly the activity of dopaminergic neurons from the substantia nigra pars compacta and noradrenergic neurons from the locus coeruleus in monkeys performing a task manipulating the reward/effort trade-off. Consistent with previous reports, dopaminergic neurons encoded the expected reward, but we found that they also anticipated the upcoming effort cost in connection with its negative influence on action selection. Conversely, the firing of noradrenergic neurons increased with both pupil dilation and effort production in relation to the energization of behavior. Therefore, this work underlines the contribution of dopamine to effort-based decision making and uncovers a specific role of noradrenaline in energizing behavior to face challenges. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/357866-12$15.00/0.

On the Equivalence of Constructed-Response and Multiple-Choice Tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Traub, Ross E.; Fisher, Charles W.

Two sets of mathematical reasoning and two sets of verbal comprehension items were cast into each of three formats--constructed response, standard multiple-choice, and Coombs multiple-choice--in order to assess whether tests with indentical content but different formats measure the same attribute, except for possible differences in error variance…

Locations and attributes of wind turbines in New Mexico, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, Natasha B.; Diffendorfer, James B.; Fancher, Tammy; Hawkins, Sarah J.; Latysh, Natalie; Leib, Kenneth J.; Matherne, Anne Marie

2013-01-01

This dataset represents an update to U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 596. Locations and attributes of wind turbines in New Mexico, 2009 (available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/596/).This updated New Mexico wind turbine Data Series provides geospatial data for all 562 wind turbines established within the State of New Mexico as of June 2011, an increase of 155 wind turbines from 2009. Attributes specific to each turbine include: turbine location, manufacturer and model, rotor diameter, hub height, rotor height, potential megawatt output, land ownership, county, and development status of wind turbine. Wind energy facility data for each turbine include: facility name, facility power capacity, number of turbines associated with each facility to date, facility developer, facility ownership, and year the facility went online. The locations of turbines are derived from 1-meter true-color aerial photographs produced by the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP); the photographs have a positional accuracy of about ±5 meters. The locations of turbines constructed during or prior to August 2009 are based on August 2009 NAIP imagery and turbine locations constructed after August 2009 were based June 2011 NAIP imagery. The location of turbines under construction during June 2011 likely will be less accurate than the location of existing turbines. This data series contributes to an Online Interactive Energy Atlas developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (http://my.usgs.gov/eerma/). The Energy Atlas synthesizes data on existing and potential energy development in Colorado and New Mexico and includes additional natural resource data layers. This information may be used by decisionmakers to evaluate and compare the potential benefits and tradeoffs associated with different energy development strategies or scenarios. Interactive maps, downloadable data layers, comprehensive metadata, and decision-support tools also are included in the Energy Atlas. The format of the Energy

Global agriculture and carbon trade-offs.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Justin Andrew; Runge, Carlisle Ford; Senauer, Benjamin; Foley, Jonathan; Polasky, Stephen

2014-08-26

Feeding a growing and increasingly affluent world will require expanded agricultural production, which may require converting grasslands and forests into cropland. Such conversions can reduce carbon storage, habitat provision, and other ecosystem services, presenting difficult societal trade-offs. In this paper, we use spatially explicit data on agricultural productivity and carbon storage in a global analysis to find where agricultural extensification should occur to meet growing demand while minimizing carbon emissions from land use change. Selective extensification saves ∼ 6 billion metric tons of carbon compared with a business-as-usual approach, with a value of approximately $1 trillion (2012 US dollars) using recent estimates of the social cost of carbon. This type of spatially explicit geospatial analysis can be expanded to include other ecosystem services and other industries to analyze how to minimize conflicts between economic development and environmental sustainability.

Drought tolerance of tropical tree species : functional traits, trade-offs and species distribution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Markesteijn, L.

2010-01-01

KEY-WORDS:
Bolivia, drought tolerance, shade tolerance, functional traits, trade-offs, ecophysiology, species distribution
Tropical forests occur under rainfall regimes that vary greatly in the rainfall pattern and frequency and intensity of drought. Consequently water availability is

Cluster Based Vector Attribute Filtering

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kiwanuka, Fred N.; Wilkinson, Michael H.F.

2016-01-01

Morphological attribute filters operate on images based on properties or attributes of connected components. Until recently, attribute filtering was based on a single global threshold on a scalar property to remove or retain objects. A single threshold struggles in case no single property or

Evaluating multiple-choice exams in large introductory physics courses

OpenAIRE

Gary Gladding; Tim Stelzer; Michael Scott

2006-01-01

The reliability and validity of professionally written multiple-choice exams have been extensively studied for exams such as the SAT, graduate record examination, and the force concept inventory. Much of the success of these multiple-choice exams is attributed to the careful construction of each question, as well as each response. In this study, the reliability and validity of scores from multiple-choice exams written for and administered in the large introductory physics courses at the Unive...

Variation in the health and biochemical condition of the coral Acropora tenuis along two water quality gradients on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocker, Melissa M; Francis, David S; Fabricius, Katharina E; Willis, Bette L; Bay, Line K

2017-06-30

This study explores how plasticity in biochemical attributes, used as indicators of health and condition, enables the coral Acropora tenuis to respond to differing water quality regimes in inshore regions of the Great Barrier Reef. Health attributes were monitored along a strong and weak water quality gradient, each with three reefs at increasing distances from a major river source. Attributes differed significantly only along the strong gradient; corals grew fastest, had the least dense skeletons, highest symbiont densities and highest lipid concentrations closest to the river mouth, where water quality was poorest. High nutrient and particulate loads were only detrimental to skeletal density, which decreased as linear extension increased, highlighting a trade-off. Our study underscores the importance of assessing multiple health attributes in coral reef monitoring. For example, autotrophic indices are poor indicators of coral health and condition, but improve when combined with attributes like lipid content and biomass. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantifying how smokers value attributes of electronic cigarettes.

Science.gov (United States)

Nonnemaker, James; Kim, Annice E; Lee, Youn Ok; MacMonegle, Anna

2016-04-01

Rates of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use have increased quickly among US adults (3.3% in 2010 to 8.5% in 2013) and youth (4.5% in 2013 to 13.4% in 2014). As state and local governments consider regulatory policies, understanding what smokers believe about e-cigarettes and how they value e-cigarettes is important. Using data from a convenience sample of Florida adult smokers (N=765), we investigated the value smokers place on specific attributes of e-cigarettes (availability of flavours, effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a cessation aid, healthier alternative to regular cigarettes, ability to use e-cigarettes in public places) by asking smokers how much they would be willing to pay for e-cigarettes with and without each of these attributes. For cigarette-only and dual users, losing the ability to use an e-cigarette as a quit aid and losing the harm reduction of an e-cigarette significantly reduced the price respondents were willing to pay for an e-cigarette. For cigarette-only users, not being able to use an e-cigarette indoors and losing flavours also significantly reduced the price respondents were willing to pay for an e-cigarette. Our results suggest that smokers value multiple attributes of e-cigarettes. Our valuation measures also appear to align with smokers' beliefs about e-cigarettes. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

The trade-off between food and temperature in the habitat choice of bluegill sunfish

Science.gov (United States)

Wildhaber, M.L.

2001-01-01

A model is presented to describe the trade-off between food and temperature in bluegills Lepomis macrochirus, where temperature was the primary factor used in determining the patch in which to reside.

Phosphate solubilization and multiple plant growth promoting ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Phosphate solubilizing efficiencies of the strains were analyzed using different insoluble phosphorus sources and the results show that most isolates released a substantial amount of soluble phosphate from tricalcium phosphate, rock phosphate and bone meal. Screening for multiple plant growth promoting attributes ...

Hierarchical Spatio-Temporal Probabilistic Graphical Model with Multiple Feature Fusion for Binary Facial Attribute Classification in Real-World Face Videos.

Science.gov (United States)

Demirkus, Meltem; Precup, Doina; Clark, James J; Arbel, Tal

2016-06-01

Recent literature shows that facial attributes, i.e., contextual facial information, can be beneficial for improving the performance of real-world applications, such as face verification, face recognition, and image search. Examples of face attributes include gender, skin color, facial hair, etc. How to robustly obtain these facial attributes (traits) is still an open problem, especially in the presence of the challenges of real-world environments: non-uniform illumination conditions, arbitrary occlusions, motion blur and background clutter. What makes this problem even more difficult is the enormous variability presented by the same subject, due to arbitrary face scales, head poses, and facial expressions. In this paper, we focus on the problem of facial trait classification in real-world face videos. We have developed a fully automatic hierarchical and probabilistic framework that models the collective set of frame class distributions and feature spatial information over a video sequence. The experiments are conducted on a large real-world face video database that we have collected, labelled and made publicly available. The proposed method is flexible enough to be applied to any facial classification problem. Experiments on a large, real-world video database McGillFaces [1] of 18,000 video frames reveal that the proposed framework outperforms alternative approaches, by up to 16.96 and 10.13%, for the facial attributes of gender and facial hair, respectively.

Balancing Biomechanical Constraints: Optimal Escape Speeds When There Is a Trade-off between Speed and Maneuverability.

Science.gov (United States)

Clemente, C J; Wilson, R S

2015-12-01

The ability for prey to escape a pursuing predator is dependent both on the prey's speed away from the threat and on their ability to rapidly change directions, or maneuverability. Given that the biomechanical trade-off between speed and maneuverability limits the simultaneous maximization of both performance traits, animals should not select their fastest possible speeds when running away from a pursuing predator but rather a speed that maximizes the probability of successful escape. We explored how variation in the relationship between speed and maneuverability-or the shape of the trade-off-affects the optimal choice of speed for escaping predators. We used tablet-based games that simulated interactions between predators and prey (human subjects acting as predators attempting to capture "prey" moving across a screen). By defining a specific relationship between speed and maneuverability, we could test the survival of each of the possible behavioral choices available to this phenotype, i.e., the best combination of speed and maneuverability for prey fitness, based on their ability to escape. We found that the shape of the trade-off function affected the prey's optimal speed for success in escaping, the prey's maximum performance in escaping, and the breadth of speeds over which the prey's performance was high. The optimal speed for escape varied only when the trade-off between speed and maneuverability was non-linear. Phenotypes possessing trade-off functions for which maneuverability was only compromised at high speeds exhibited lower optimal speeds. Phenotypes that exhibited greater increases in maneuverability for any decrease in speed were more likely to have broader ranges of performance, meaning that individuals could attain their maximum performance across a broader range of speeds. We also found that there was a differential response of the subject's learning to these different components of locomotion. With increased experience through repeated trials

Single versus Multiple Objective(s) Decision Making: An Application ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Rahel

rather than exception in many real life decision-making circumstances. For example ...... stakeholders' relative importance of various attributes in the utility function. (Steuer 1986). ..... Multiple Criteria Optimization: Theory, Computation and.

Multiplicity of the statistical γ-rays following (HI,xn) reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sie, S.H.; Newton, J.O.; Leigh, J.R.; Diamond, R.M.

1981-02-01

The multiplicity Msub(S) of the statistical γ-rays following several ( 16 O,xn) reactions has been measured. A correlation between the total γ-multiplicity Msub(T) and Msub(S) was found. This effect is attributed to an increase in the mean excitation energy above the yrast line with increasing angular momentum input

Belief attribution despite verbal interference.

Science.gov (United States)

Forgeot d'Arc, Baudouin; Ramus, Franck

2011-05-01

False-belief (FB) tasks have been widely used to study the ability of individuals to represent the content of their conspecifics' mental states (theory of mind). However, the cognitive processes involved are still poorly understood, and it remains particularly debated whether language and inner speech are necessary for the attribution of beliefs to other agents. We present a completely nonverbal paradigm consisting of silent animated cartoons in five closely related conditions, systematically teasing apart different aspects of scene analysis and allowing the assessment of the attribution of beliefs, goals, and physical causation. In order to test the role of language in belief attribution, we used verbal shadowing as a dual task to inhibit inner speech. Data on 58 healthy adults indicate that verbal interference decreases overall performance, but has no specific effect on belief attribution. Participants remained able to attribute beliefs despite heavy concurrent demands on their verbal abilities. Our results are most consistent with the hypothesis that belief attribution is independent from inner speech.

Many-objective optimization and visual analytics reveal key trade-offs for London's water supply

Science.gov (United States)

Matrosov, Evgenii S.; Huskova, Ivana; Kasprzyk, Joseph R.; Harou, Julien J.; Lambert, Chris; Reed, Patrick M.

2015-12-01

In this study, we link a water resource management simulator to multi-objective search to reveal the key trade-offs inherent in planning a real-world water resource system. We consider new supplies and demand management (conservation) options while seeking to elucidate the trade-offs between the best portfolios of schemes to satisfy projected water demands. Alternative system designs are evaluated using performance measures that minimize capital and operating costs and energy use while maximizing resilience, engineering and environmental metrics, subject to supply reliability constraints. Our analysis shows many-objective evolutionary optimization coupled with state-of-the art visual analytics can help planners discover more diverse water supply system designs and better understand their inherent trade-offs. The approach is used to explore future water supply options for the Thames water resource system (including London's water supply). New supply options include a new reservoir, water transfers, artificial recharge, wastewater reuse and brackish groundwater desalination. Demand management options include leakage reduction, compulsory metering and seasonal tariffs. The Thames system's Pareto approximate portfolios cluster into distinct groups of water supply options; for example implementing a pipe refurbishment program leads to higher capital costs but greater reliability. This study highlights that traditional least-cost reliability constrained design of water supply systems masks asset combinations whose benefits only become apparent when more planning objectives are considered.

Breaking through the strength-ductility trade-off dilemma in an Al-Si-based casting alloy.

Science.gov (United States)

Dang, B; Zhang, X; Chen, Y Z; Chen, C X; Wang, H T; Liu, F

2016-08-09

Al-Si-based casting alloys have a great potential in various industrial applications. Common strengthening strategies on these alloys are accompanied inevitably by sacrifice of ductility, known as strength-ductility trade-off dilemma. Here, we report a simple route by combining rapid solidification (RS) with a post-solidification heat treatment (PHT), i.e. a RS + PHT route, to break through this dilemma using a commercial Al-Si-based casting alloy (A356 alloy) as an example. It is shown that yield strength and elongation to failure of the RS + PHT processed alloy are elevated simultaneously by increasing the cooling rate upon RS, which are not influenced by subsequent T6 heat treatment. Breaking through the dilemma is attributed to the hierarchical microstructure formed by the RS + PHT route, i.e. highly dispersed nanoscale Si particles in Al dendrites and nanoscale Al particles decorated in eutectic Si. Simplicity of the RS + PHT route makes it being suitable for industrial scaling production. The strategy of engineering microstructures offers a general pathway in tailoring mechanical properties of other Al-Si-based alloys. Moreover, the remarkably enhanced ductility of A356 alloy not only permits strengthening further the material by work hardening but also enables possibly conventional solid-state forming of the material, thus extending the applications of such an alloy.

An internet graph model based on trade-off optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez-Hamelin, J. I.; Schabanel, N.

2004-03-01

This paper presents a new model for the Internet graph (AS graph) based on the concept of heuristic trade-off optimization, introduced by Fabrikant, Koutsoupias and Papadimitriou in[CITE] to grow a random tree with a heavily tailed degree distribution. We propose here a generalization of this approach to generate a general graph, as a candidate for modeling the Internet. We present the results of our simulations and an analysis of the standard parameters measured in our model, compared with measurements from the physical Internet graph.

Estimating the risk-return tradeoff in MENA Stock Markets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salim Lahmiri

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This study employs the generalized autoregressive conditionally heteroskedastic in the mean (GARCH-M methodology to investigate the return generating process of Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA, Kuwait, and Morocco stock market indices. The tradeoff between returns and the conditional variance is found to be positive in all markets. In other words, the empirical findings show that investors are rewarded for their exposure to more risk in these financial markets. This result is consistent with both financial theory and empirical finance.

The Tradeoff Between Mutual Fund and Direct Stock Investments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marekwica, Marcel; Steininger, Bertram I.

2014-01-01

We study the tradeoff between direct and indirect stock investments through equity mutual funds for a utility-maximizing investor. Whereas direct investments impose higher transaction costs on the formation of a well-diversified portfolio, mutual funds charge fees for their services. Our results...... show that the fee levels that make private investors indifferent between direct and indirect stock investments vary heavily according to risk aversion, the amounts invested, correlations between assets, transaction costs, and the length of investment horizon. In particular, our results suggest...

A multiplicity jump trigger using silicon planes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexopoulos, T.; Erwin, A.R.

1993-01-01

Since silicon tracking planes are already present in a B decay experiment, it is an attractive idea to use these as part of a multiplicity jump detector. Two average B decays would produce a multiplicity jump of around 10 in the final state. Such a trigger has been tried for a fixed target Charm experiment with disappointing success. The failure was attributed to the difficulty in adequately controlling the gains of a large number of microstrip amplifies

Multi-criteria clinical decision support: A primer on the use of multiple criteria decision making methods to promote evidence-based, patient-centered healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Dolan, James G

2010-01-01

Current models of healthcare quality recommend that patient management decisions be evidence-based and patient-centered. Evidence-based decisions require a thorough understanding of current information regarding the natural history of disease and the anticipated outcomes of different management options. Patient-centered decisions incorporate patient preferences, values, and unique personal circumstances into the decision making process and actively involve both patients along with health care providers as much as possible. Fundamentally, therefore, evidence-based, patient-centered decisions are multi-dimensional and typically involve multiple decision makers.Advances in the decision sciences have led to the development of a number of multiple criteria decision making methods. These multi-criteria methods are designed to help people make better choices when faced with complex decisions involving several dimensions. They are especially helpful when there is a need to combine "hard data" with subjective preferences, to make trade-offs between desired outcomes, and to involve multiple decision makers. Evidence-based, patient-centered clinical decision making has all of these characteristics. This close match suggests that clinical decision support systems based on multi-criteria decision making techniques have the potential to enable patients and providers to carry out the tasks required to implement evidence-based, patient-centered care effectively and efficiently in clinical settings.The goal of this paper is to give readers a general introduction to the range of multi-criteria methods available and show how they could be used to support clinical decision-making. Methods discussed include the balance sheet, the even swap method, ordinal ranking methods, direct weighting methods, multi-attribute decision analysis, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP).

Structured tradeoffs preference elicitation: Evaluating CRWMS design and operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartman, H.

1994-01-01

Preliminary studies over the past few years have yielded multiple design and operations alternatives for the planned Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System (CRWMS). Waste isolation, pre-closure health and safety, and life cycle cost are among the many factors considered in developing these alternatives. The task of CRWMS designers is complicated by substantial heat and nuclear radiation energy output of the spent nuclear fuel and high level waste intended for disposal in an underground repository. Not only must the usual effectiveness, operability and cost objectives be balanced, but done so in the context of a constantly changing environment. Particular alternatives sometimes are favored by virtue of their outstanding performance relative to one of these factors. The Ultimate success of the potential repository, however, depends on reaching a defensible and traceable final decision through simultaneous and systematic weighing of all relevant factors. This paper documents the outcome of Structured Tradeoffs Preference (STP) elicitation as a method for the simultaneous and systematic weighing of factors relevant to repository thermal loading, waste package (WP) design, and emplacement mode decisions. The study provided a low-cost early indication of directions of further research on CRWMS design and operations likely to be most fruitful. The method of STP elicitation was utilized to avoid potential biases documented in other efforts which use only unstructured decision making, or open-quotes well-considered judgmentclose quotes. The STP elicitation procedure presented here complements the use of a parameter network-model pyramid suggested elsewhere in this proceedings to provide a framework for precisely articulating technical questions needing answers. It also forms an independent crosscheck of systems engineering study results and performance assessment modeling

e+-e- hadronic multiplicity distributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carruthers, P.; Shih, C.C.

1986-01-01

The 29 GeV multiplicity data have been analyzed for e + -e - → hadrons using the partially coherent laser distribution (PCLD). The latter interpolates between the negative binomial and Poisson distributions as the ratio S/N of coherent/incoherent multiplcity varies from zero to infinity. The negative binomial gives an excellent fit for rather large values of the cell parameter k. Equally good fits (for full and partial rapidity range, and for the forward/backward 2 jet correlation) are obtained for the mostly coherent (almost Poissonian) PCLD with small values of k (equal to the number of jets). The reasons for the existence of this tradeoff are explained in detail. The existence of the resulting ambiguity is traced to the insensitivity of the probability distribution to phase information in the hadronic density matrix. The study of higher order correlations (intensity interferometry) among like sign-particles is recommended to resolve this question

Experimental Evaluation of Multi-Round Matrix Multiplication on MapReduce

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)