Decline In Attractiveness Research Articles

Using the 2016 Zika outbreak to estimate the potential tourism impacts of a Chikungunya event in Florida

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a mosquito-borne illness, is increasing in prevalence worldwide, and experts have warned of the imminence of an outbreak in the Southern Gulf Region of the United States (U.S.). Tourist destinations such as Miami and Orlando in Florida are among the most likely places for an outbreak to occur. The decline in attractiveness of a destination due to the outbreak, combined with the restrictive measures implemented to combat the outbreak, have the potential to significantly impact tourism-dependent local economies. This study is unique in that it estimates the potential economic impacts on tourism of an unprecedented outbreak, in this case CHIKV events in the U.S. For this, declines in tourism that followed the 2016 Zika virus outbreak in the Wynwood area of Miami, Florida are assessed to provide insights on the potential size and scope of the shock on tourism resulting from a CHIKV event. Results suggest that a CHIKV outbreak can lead to losses of approximately US$ 30 million in sales and nearly 250 jobs in the Wynwood area alone. Other popular tourist destinations such as Orlando could suffer significant losses of more than 2,500 jobs and US$ 300 million in sales. Estimating the potential losses associated with tourism declines resulting from a CHIKV outbreak provides data and insights to decision-makers that are considering policy measures aimed at preventing, preparing for, or mitigating the impacts of such events. This is particularly relevant as new advances are being made in the development of a CHIKV vaccine.

The effect of monetary incentives on task attractiveness, effort and performance

PurposeThere is a longstanding debate regarding the effectiveness of financial incentives in improving work performance. This study is motivated by seemingly conflicting theory and mixed research evidence, and advances the management accounting literature on pay-for-performance by examining the separate and joint effects of task attractiveness and monetary incentives on allocation of effort and on performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses an online, multi-period, mixed design experiment with two independent groups of participants who receive either incentive pay or flat pay to perform a multidimensional job. The job tasks differ in complexity and participants can choose how to distribute effort between tasks. Observations are taken across two periods.FindingsIf the complex task is initially viewed as attractive it becomes less attractive over time, while the attractiveness of the simple task is stable. Participants who receive flat pay and who find the complex task attractive spent more time on working on that task than those compensated with incentives. Incentives caused higher initial performance than flat pay among participants who find the complex task to be attractive, but the differential is transient; dissatisfaction with initial performance seemingly contribute to a decline in attractiveness and deterioration in performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe results indicate that task attributes and personal preferences moderate the effects of incentives on performance and that further research is needed to examine strategies to mitigate spillover effects of deficient performance to subsequent periods. However, the findings may not be applicable to extremely complex work environments involving numerous tasks and/or group work.Practical implicationsShowing that incentives may have a positive but transitory effect on performance, because task attributes and personal preferences moderate the incentive-performance relationship, may have practical implications for hiring, job design and compensation systems design.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on pay-for-performance by using a setting that better represents contemporary work environments than prior studies have and introduces choice over effort allocation. Additionally, we contribute to theory by showing that economics and psychology theories should be viewed as complements in investigating the intricate relationship between incentives and performance.

Cross-cultural perception of female facial appearance: A multi-ethnic and multi-centre study.

Humans extract and use information from the face in assessments of physical appearance. Previous research indicates high agreement about facial attractiveness within and between cultures. However, the use of a narrow age range for facial stimuli, limitations due to unidirectional cross-cultural comparisons, and technical challenges have prevented definitive conclusions about the universality of face perception. In the present study, we imaged the faces of women aged 20 to 69 years in five locations (China, France, India, Japan, and South Africa) and secured age, attractiveness, and health assessments on continuous scales (0–100) from female and male raters (20–66 years) within and across ethnicity. In total, 180 images (36 of each ethnicity) were assessed by 600 raters (120 of each ethnicity), recruited in study centres in the five locations. Linear mixed model analysis revealed main and interaction effects of assessor ethnicity, assessor gender, and photographed participant (“face”) ethnicity on age, attractiveness, and health assessments. Thus, differences in judgments of female facial appearance depend on the ethnicity of the photographed person, the ethnicity of the assessor, and whether the assessor is female or male. Facial age assessments correlated negatively with attractiveness and health assessments. Collectively, these findings provide evidence of cross-cultural variation in assessments of age, and even more of attractiveness, and health, indicating plasticity in perception of female facial appearance across cultures, although the decline in attractiveness and health assessments with age is universally found.

Re-planning an edge city: Tysons in the post-suburban era

While suburban sprawl has continued almost unabated in the US, recent evidence suggests that urban qualities are gaining foothold in suburban America. The prevalent explanation for the growing appeal of urban qualities emphasizes the preference of the young and talented workforce for urban-like environments together with the environmental benefits of compact, denser, and transit-oriented development. This paper examines the case of an archetypal edge city, Tysons (previously, Tysons Corner), which is being transformed into a ‘real’ city. It contends that while Tysons has remained attractive for businesses, local decision-makers, planners, developers, and property owners anticipated its prospective decline in attractiveness and prepared a long-term plan in order to secure its competitive edge. To support this argument, this paper analyzes two recent comprehensive plans, accompanying planning documents, newspapers and magazines, and interviews with local decision-makers, planners, and stakeholders. Similar to the transformation of inner cities through regeneration and gentrification, edge-city de-sprawling/retrofitting should not be interpreted solely from a demand-driven standpoint; instead, retrofitting is a means to buttress longstanding performances of capital investments within the built environment.

Gradual cover competitive facility location

A new gradual cover competitive facility location model is proposed and tested. In cover competitive models, it is assumed that up to a certain distance a demand point is attracted to a facility and beyond this distance it is not. The decline in attraction and cover is abrupt. It is either 0 or 1. We propose a gradual decline in attraction from 1 to 0. As the distance increases the attraction and cover decline. The buying power captured by a facility cannot exceed its attraction level, and the total buying power captured by all facilities cannot exceed the buying power available at the demand point. The single-facility location is optimally solved. The largest problem of 1000 demand points is solved in less than one second. The multiple facility version is solved by SNOPT and other solvers.

Degree of Convergence of the Efficiency of the Polish Equity Investment Funds Obtained with Measures Based on the Sharpe Ratio

Abstract Long-term persistence of low interest rates and a decline in attractiveness of investing in low-interest bank deposits generate additional demand for investments in investment funds. In such a situation, it is expected to have widespread use of the investment efficiency measures which take into account not only return, but risk level. The study examines eight measures of efficiency based on the Sharpe ratio. The study uses monthly data for 22 active equity funds over the period 2005-2015. It was found that the majority of funds were more efficient than the market in periods of moderate economic growth and less effective in the period of strong growth on the capital market. The most efficient funds retain high efficiency in all phases of the economic cycle. The efficiency values obtained using indicators: Shape, Treynor, Jensen, Sortino, Omega, Sharpe-Israelsen and IR were strongly correlated, while values of the UPR indicator were significantly different from the other results.

Trends in attractiveness of general practice as a career: surveys of views of UK-trained doctors.

BackgroundIt is current UK policy to expand the numbers of newly qualified doctors entering training to become GPs, to meet increased demand.Aim To report on trends in young doctors’ views on the attractiveness of general practice as a career, compared with hospital practice.Design and setting Questionnaire surveys in the UK.MethodSurveys of doctors, 3 years after graduation, conducted in successive year-of-qualification cohorts between 1999 and 2015.ResultsThe overall response rate from contactable doctors was 55%. In response to the statement ‘General practice is more attractive than hospital practice for doctors at present’, 59% of doctors agreed in the 1999 survey, 77% in 2005, and only 36% in 2015. One-third of doctors agreed that their exposure to general practice had been insufficient for them to assess it as a career option, but this improved over time: agreement fell from 39% in 1999 to 28% in 2015. As a factor influencing specialty choice, enthusiasm for, and commitment to, the specialty was rated as very important by 65% of intending GPs in 2015, up from 49% in 1999; the corresponding figures for intending hospital doctors were 91% in 2015, up from 61% in 1999.ConclusionOver the 16 years covered by this study, the attractiveness of general practice has fallen relative to hospital practice. This may not necessarily reflect a decline in attractiveness of general practice in absolute terms; rather, it may reflect a greater increase, over time, in the appeal of hospital practice.

Human Physique and Sexual Attractiveness in Men and Women: A New Zealand–U.S. Comparative Study

Men and women living in New Zealand and California completed five studies regarding human physique and sexual attractiveness. In Studies 1-3, women rated images of male stimuli and, in Studies 4-5, men rated female stimuli. In Study 1, women in both countries rated mesomorphic (muscular) and average male somatotypes as most attractive, followed by ectomorphic (slim) and endomorphic (heavily built) figures. In Study 2, amount and distribution of masculine trunk hair (chest and abdominal) was altered progressively in a series of front-posed male figures. In both countries, the image lacking any trunk hair was rated as the most attractive, with a steady decline in attractiveness as hirsutism became more pronounced. Study 3 assessed attractiveness of front-posed male figures that varied only in the length of the non-erect penis. Five lengths were presented: The smallest penile size was rated as less attractive than three intermediate sizes. The largest penile size was not the most attractive, but received higher scores than the unaltered and smallest penile size. In Study 4, men rated the attractiveness of back-posed female images varying in waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (from 0.5 to 1.0). The 0.7 WHR figure was rated more attractive in New Zealand and the 0.6 WHR in California. Study 5 measured the attractiveness of female skin color; men expressed preferences for lighter skinned female figures in New Zealand and California. Results indicate very similar preferences for sexually dimorphic physical traits among men and women of European extraction, living in two culturally and geographically different environments.

Long-term outcome of cleft lip nasal reconstruction in childhood.

This study documents the pattern of unilateral cleft lip nasal reconstruction in the practice of one surgeon at a tertiary cleft center, evaluating the long-term appearance outcome of single-operation unilateral cleft lip nasal reconstruction in childhood. A retrospective medical record review was performed for all patients with a diagnosis of unilateral cleft lip and age greater than 15 years. Operative notes were reviewed, recording 15 variables identifying specific rhinoplastic maneuvers. Nasal appearance outcome analysis was performed for all patients who underwent only one nasal surgery before 12 years of age (n = 19). Standard frontal whole face photographic images were presented as opposing pairs in a looseleaf binder to two panels, 1 of 10 lay persons and 1 of 10 plastic surgeons. Each pair consisted of photographs of the same patient at different ages in one of three combinations: preoperative-perioperative, perioperative-longest postoperative, or preoperative-longest postoperative. Participants were asked to compare the appearance of the noses in the two photographs and assign a rating based on a 5-point Likert scale. Statistical analyses were performed on the data collected in the aesthetic analysis. The effect of surgery upon nasal appearance was assessed by comparing the preoperative and perioperative photographs. The effect of growth was assessed by comparing the perioperative and long-term postoperative photographs. The combined effect of surgery and growth was assessed by comparing the preoperative and long-term postoperative photographs. The data were assessed by lay and professional evaluators, together and separately, to determine whether differences existed. The majority of patients did not undergo revisional nasal surgery, whereas those who did usually had one nasal operation. Most revisional nasal surgery was performed in conjunction with other cleft-related secondary surgery. A majority of lay and professional evaluators perceived revisional nasal surgery as improving nasal appearance in the short-term and to a lesser degree in the long-term, as compared with the preoperative state. Evaluations of revisional nasal surgery are generally constant between the short-term and long-term postoperative images. Lay evaluations may be contaminated by a general decline in attractiveness with aging. Patient preference should be a major factor in the decision for nasal revision surgery. Multiple means of assessing nasal appearance outcome need to be used to validate results. Nasal appearance outcomes need to be correlated with outcomes with respect to nasal morphology and function as well as patient and parent satisfaction.

Bark and Ambrosia Beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) Responses to Volatiles from Aging Loblolly Pine Billets

Environ. Entomol. 28(4): 638-648 (1999) Many species of bark and ambrosia beetles use host volatiles as cues for breeding site location. In a study where the objectives were to identify the different volatiles released by Pinus taeda L. billets as they age, to determine the arrival sequence of scolytids (Coleoptera: (Colytidae), and to correlate volatile emission by the billets with beetle catches, 25 species of scolytids were trapped. Bark beetles were more attracted to the billets in the beginning of the period, whereas ambrosia beetles arrived later. Among the bark beetles, Dendroctonus terebrans (Olivier) was significantly more attracted during the 1st 3 wk after tree felling, Hylastes tenuis Eichhoff in the 1st 2 wk, Pityophthorus pulicarius (Zimmermann) in weeks 2 and 3, and Ips grandicollis (Eichhoff) was more attracted on weeks 3 and 4. Among the ambrosia beetles, Xyleborinus saxeseni (Ratzeburg) was more attracted to billets during weeks 4-6, whereas Xyleborus pubescens Zimmermann and Xyleborus californicus Wood were more attracted during week 6. The billets showed marked decline in attractiveness to all scolytids after 8 wk. Volatiles collected during the beetle trapping periods included 15 hydrocarbon monoterpenes, 18 oxygenated monoterpenes, 4-allylanisole, and ethanol, The hydrocarbon monoterpenes and 4-allylanisole decreased sharply over time, but oxygenated monoterpenes and ethanol increased up to weeks 4-6, after which they also decreased. Good correlations between certain billet volatiles and catches for some beetle species were obtained, but their biological significance could not be determined.

Pheromone Trap Monitoring of Z-Strain European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae): Optimum Pheromone Blend, Comparison with Blacklight Traps, and Trap Number Requirements

Commercial pheromone lures for monitoring European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner), captured significantly fewer moths and indicated a delayed peak emergence compared with blacklight traps in Minnesota. Pheromone trap studies were therefore conducted during 1992-1994 at Rosemount and Le Sueur, MN, to determine the relative attractiveness of different ratios of ( Z )- and ( E )-11-tetradecenyl acetate isomers to O. nubilalis male moths. Isomer ratios in the pheromone lures tested ranged in percentage of concentration from 99.5:0.5 to 95.0:5.0 ( Z:E ). In addition to overall catch, the timing of O. nubilalis Rights based on pheromone and blacklight traps catches was compared. The variance to mean relationship in pheromone trap catch data was used to estimate the optimum number of traps needed. Analysis of the proportion of total moths captured indicated that moths were highly attracted to lures with a ratio of isomers near 98:2 ( Z:E ). A significant decline in attractiveness occurred with lures in the 95:5 ( Z:E ) isomer range. Although the 1st moth catch in pheromone traps usually coincided with blacklight traps, the timing of 2nd-generation cumulative emergence (e.g., 50% peak catch) was significantly different between pheromone and blacklight traps. Despite an aggregated distribution of moth catches, the expected optimum trap number ranged from 2 to 5 at the 25% precision level. Results of this study confirm the increased response of O. nubilalis males to limited concentrations of ( E ) isomer (1—3%) in the pheromone blend. To ensure optimum performance of O. nubilalis pheromone lures, a renewed emphasis must be placed on quality control protocols during commercial pheromone lure preparation.

Reproductive Readiness and Niche Differences Affect Responses of Conifer Root Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to Simulated Host Odors

Four species of pine-root feeding weevils, Hylobius radicis Buchanan, H. assimilis Boheman, H. pales (Herbst), and Pachylobius picivorus (Germar), comprise a major pest guild on plantation pines in the Great Lakes region. The former 2 species breed in living trees, whereas the latter 2 species breed in dead or dying trees or stumps. This study develops an ecological and physiological context for the diversity of responses to a common chemical signal among closely related species exploiting common hosts. All 4 species respond to a mixture of terpenes and ethanol but show different temporal and behavioral patterns. H. radicis and H. assimilis have a spring peak and midsummer decline in attraction to turpentine-and ethanol-baited pitfall traps, and females are the predominant gender captured. The period of attraction of H. pales and P. picivorus to baited traps extends somewhat later into the summer, and males and females are captured in equal numbers. For all species, capture rates in passive screen traps decline later than those in pitfall traps. Dissections of captured female weevils show that volatile-emitting pitfall traps are selective for reproductively mature individuals of all species, whereas the passive screen traps catch nonreproductive and reproductive females in equal numbers. Ninety-seven percent of the males captured were reproductively mature, so their decline in attraction to pitfall traps is not directly related to reproductive status. Niche differences among the 4 species can explain some of the differences in the attraction of the weevils to baited pitfall traps.

Indirect Herbivore Mediation of Avian Seed Dispersal in Pinyon Pine

During a 4—yr study, we examined how an insect herbivore indirectly influenced pinyon pine by affecting its avian seed dispersal agents. Colorado pinyon pine, Pinus edulis, suffered reduced cone initiation and increased cone mortality primarily from infestation by the stem— and cone—boring moth Dioryctria albovitella. Because avian dispersal agents selectively foraged where cone crops were highest, individual trees and stands of trees with greater insect abundances were avoided. Even herbivore— resistant trees with substantial cone crops did not receive dispersal services if they were surrounded by susceptible trees because the birds often ignored entire stands of trees. A cone removal experiment showed that avian seed dispersers also ignored trees with artificially reduced crops even though many cones remained. We argue that masting, the production of large cone crops at irregular intervals, may have evolved to insure dispersal success. The decline in attractiveness of entire stands of trees to dispersal agents due to infestation may functionally alter the sex expression of uninfested individuals.

CONTROLLED-RELEASE SEX PHEROMONE LURES FOR MONITORING SPRUCE BUDWORM POPULATIONS

AbstractFive formulations of the primary sex pheromone components of the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana [Clem.]) were evaluated as lures for monitoring spruce budworm populations: Biolures (Consep Membranes Inc.), Luretape plastic flakes (Hercon, Healthchem Corp.), polyethylene vials (International Pheromone Systems), hollow fibers (Albany International), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pellets. PVC pellets showed significant loss in attractiveness over the required 6-week period. Also, different batches of PVC pellets had very different rates of pheromone release and attraction; the oldest lures, stored for the longest period, were the most attractive. Luretape caught fewer moths than anticipated from the release-rate data and showed wide variation in catch among individual lures. Fibers were inconsistent. Biolures and polyethylene vials showed the lowest decline in attractiveness over time and the lowest variation in catch among individual lures, but their capture rates were higher than necessary.

An effect of mate fertility on the attractiveness and oviposition rates of mated Drosophila melanogaster females

Mate fertility has a strong influence on the sexual receptivity of mated Drosophila melanogaster females, but an effect of mate fertility on the attractiveness of mated females has not previously been demonstrated. We compared the declines in attractiveness over the first 10 h after mating for females mated to fertile (XY) males and those mated to sterile (XO) males, and found a significant effect of mate fertility. A large and significant decrease in attractiveness, that is the same for both XY- and XO-mated females, is evident during the first 4 h after mating. However, a further decline in attractiveness occurs between 4 and 6 h after mating for XY-mated females, but not until between 6 and 10 h after mating for females with sterile mates. Thus, XY-mated females are significantly less attractive than XO-mated females at 6–8 h post-mating, but not at any other time. A sharp increase in oviposition rates for both types of mated females is associated with the decline in attractiveness that occurs between 4 and 10 h after mating.

Temporal decline in attractiveness of honeybee queen tracks

A BODY or surface (such as that of a worker bee or a cage) that has been in contact with a honeybee queen becomes attractive to worker bees1–3 due to contamination with queen pheromones3,4. Little information is available about the durability of those pheromones, apart from Butler's report that 30 min after removal of the queen a cage becomes less attractive to the workers, and loses its attractiveness entirely after a further hour1. I report here experimental evidence of a temporal decline in the attractiveness of tracks left on a waxed surface by a queen.

Termination of aggregation by the European elm bark beetle,Scolytus multistriatus

The attractiveness of European elm bark beetle virgin females boring in elm logs declined within two days after the introduction of males. However, in the laboratory and in the field the number of beetles attracted to female-infested bolts was not depressed by the presence of separate logs infested with males or both sexes. It is concluded that the decline in attractiveness following cohabitation of the sexes results from termination of the production of attractant pheromone by mated females rather than the production of antiattractants by either sex.