Equal Preference Research Articles

The importance of leaf surface wax as short‐range attractant and oviposition stimulant in a generalist Lepidoptera

AbstractGreen gram, Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek, is an important pulse crop of Asia. Severe attack by the larvae of Spilosoma obliqua Walker (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) causes defoliation of green gram and reduces seed yield. Females lay eggs on the leaf surface, and therefore, surface wax plays an important role as short‐range attractant and oviposition stimulant. So, we have attempted to find out whether leaf surface wax compounds (alkanes and free fatty acids) from three green gram cultivars (PDM 54, PUSA BAISAKHI and SAMRAT) could act as short‐range attractant and oviposition stimulant in females. The TLC, GC‐MS and GC‐FID analyses of n‐hexane extracts revealed 20 n‐alkanes from n‐C15 to n‐C36 and 13 free fatty acids from C12:0 to C21:0, whilst linoleic acid was unique in SAMRAT. Pentacosane was the predominant amongst n‐alkanes in the leaf surface waxes of three cultivars. Heneicosanoic acid and palmitoleic acid were the predominant free fatty acids in the leaf surface waxes of PDM 54, and PUSA BAISAKHI and SAMRAT, respectively. Females were attracted towards one leaf equivalent surface wax of three green gram cultivars against solvent controls (n‐hexane) in Y‐tube olfactometer bioassays. A synthetic blend of pentacosane, heptacosane, nonacosane, hexatriacontane, palmitoleic acid, linolenic acid and stearic acid, a synthetic blend of pentacosane, hexatriacontane and stearic acid, and a synthetic blend of hexatriacontane, linolenic acid and stearic acid resembling in amounts present in one leaf equivalent surface wax of PDM 54, PUSA BAISAKHI and SAMRAT, respectively, served as short‐range attractant and oviposition stimulant in females. Females showed equal preference for egg laying towards the above three synthetic blends when these blends were tested against each other, and hence, these blends could be employed in development of baited traps in pest management strategies.

Are patient-regarding preferences stable? Evidence from a laboratory experiment with physicians and medical students from different countries

We quantify patient-regarding preferences by fitting a bounded rationality model to data from an incentivized laboratory experiment, where Chinese medical doctors, German medical students and Chinese medical students decide under different payment schemes. We find a remarkable stability in patient-regarding preferences when comparing subject pools and we cannot reject the hypothesis of equal patient-regarding preferences in the three groups. The results suggest that a health economic experiment can provide knowledge that reach beyond the student subject pool, and that the preferences of decision-makers in one cultural context can be of relevance in a very different cultural context.

Identifying Preferences for Equal College Access, Income, and Income Equality

Revealed preferences for equal college access may be due to beliefs that equal access increases societal income or income equality. To isolate preferences for those goods, we implement an online discrete choice experiment using social statistics generated from true variation among commuting zones. We find that, ceteris paribus, the average income that individuals are willing to sacrifice is (1) $4,984 to increase higher education enrollment by 1 standard deviation (14 percent); (2) $1,168 to decrease rich/poor gaps in higher education enrollment by 1 standard deviation (8 percent); and (3) $2,900 to decrease the 90/10 income inequality ratio by 1 standard deviation (1.66). In addition, we find that political affiliation is an important moderator of preferences for equality. While both Democrats and Republicans are willing to trade over $4,000 to increase higher education enrollment by 1 standard deviation, Democrats are willing to sacrifice nearly three times more income to decrease either rich/poor gaps in higher education enrollment or the 90/10 income inequality ratio by 1 standard deviation.

Changing the policy paradigm: A benefit maximization approach to electricity planning in developing countries

Access to electricity can lead to enhanced education, business, and healthcare opportunities. Governments in emerging economies are often faced with the challenge of increasing access to electricity and reducing system inequality, while operating under severe budget constraints. This paper develops a methodology for finding the optimal expansion of a power system under the objective of maximizing social benefit, as it relates to distributional equality for electricity access, subject to a budget constraint. This contrasts with traditional models, which minimize the cost of satisfying projected electricity demand. We formulate a generation expansion planning problem as a utility-maximization mixed-integer linear program and apply it to a case study analysis of a low-income country with limited electricity infrastructure. We focus our analysis on understanding how the optimal allocation of generation between centralized and distributed resources is impacted by stakeholder preferences toward equality and different budget levels. We find that a high preference for equality leads to lower overall electricity consumption levels, but improved electrification rates due to greater investment (300–750 km increase) in transmission infrastructure. If stakeholders move from a low to a high equality preference then they could see a 72–87% increase in energy access equality rating depending on the budget. Conversely, indifference to equality leads to higher overall consumption levels in urban areas but reduced electrification rates. This methodology can help decision makers evaluate the social trade-offs between improving energy access, reducing energy inequality and poverty, and increasing total electricity consumption when operating under budget constraints in their countries.

Not Playing Favorites: An Experiment on Parental Fairness Preferences

We conduct a lab-in-the-field experiment to identify parents' preferences for investing in their children. The experiment exogenously varied the short-run returns to educational investments to identify how much parents care about maximizing total household earnings, minimizing cross-sibling inequality in outcomes (child-level earnings), and minimizing cross-sibling inequality in inputs (child-level investments). We show that while parents place some weight on maximizing earnings, they also display a strong preference for equality in inputs, forgoing roughly 40% of their potential earnings or 90% of a day’s wage to equalize inputs. We find no evidence that parents care about equalizing outcomes.

Enrichment use in finishing pigs and its relationship with damaging behaviours: Comparing three wood species and a rubber floor toy

Environmental enrichment in pig housing is a legal requirement under current EU legislation, but some recommended loose materials may cause obstructions in fully-slatted systems. Wood is an organic material that could be compatible with slatted systems. This study investigated enrichment use in finishing pigs (three wood species and a rubber floor toy) and explored the relationship between use and damaging behaviours, and physiological and physical measures of stress and injury. Individual variation in enrichment use within pen was also investigated. Pigs (12 weeks old; week 0) were housed in 40 pens of seven pigs (n = 280). One of four different enrichment items (one spruce, larch, or beech wooden post, or rubber floor toy) was randomly assigned to each pen (10 pens/treatment). The behaviour of each individually marked pig was observed continuously from video recordings taken on six different occasions (twice during week 2, 4 and 7; 1 h per occasion). Individual tail/ear lesion and tear staining scores were recorded every 2 weeks. Saliva samples for cortisol analysis were obtained from three focal pigs per pen every 2 weeks. These focal pigs were selected based on the latency to approach the experimenter on the first sampling day and classified as ‘Approach’, ‘Neutral’ or ‘Avoid’. Carcasses were inspected for tail lesions and potential oral damage. Time spent using enrichment was higher in pigs with spruce and rubber toy than with larch and beech (P < 0.001). Spruce was used up the most quickly and was the softest of the wood species (P < 0.001). High use of spruce was not due to consistent high use by certain pigs. No treatment effect on any other behaviour was recorded, but enrichment use was positively correlated with damaging behaviours at pen level (P < 0.001). Spruce pigs had slightly more severe tail lesion scores than Beech (P < 0.05). Salivary cortisol did not differ between treatments but was higher in ‘Avoid’ than ‘Approach’ pigs (P = 0.04). No clear oral damage that could be attributed to using wood was found. By investigating enrichment use at both pen and individual level, a more complete picture was obtained of how pigs used the enrichment. Wood appears to be a safe material to use as environmental enrichment for pigs and a softer wood species was preferred by pigs with equal preference for the rubber floor toy.

Not Playing Favorites: An Experiment on Parental Fairness Preferences

We conduct a lab-in-the-field experiment to identify parents' preferences for investing in their children. The experiment exogenously varied the short-run returns to educational investments to identify how much parents care about maximizing total household earnings, minimizing cross- sibling inequality in outcomes (child-level earnings), and minimizing cross-sibling inequality in inputs (child-level investments). We show that while parents place some weight on maximizing earnings, they also display a strong preference for equality in inputs, forgoing roughly 40% of their potential earnings or 90% of a day’s wage to equalize inputs. We find no evidence that parents care about equalizing outcomes.

Combined Ray-Tracing/FDTD and Network Planner Methods for the Design of Massive MIMO Networks

The design of a massive MIMO network requires a channel model that captures the Spatio-temporal dimensions of the propagation environment. In this paper, we propose a novel method combining Hybrid Raytracing - Finite difference time domain (FDTD) and network planner tools to address this requirement. This method provides accurate and realistic EMF exposure models for the design of a massive MIMO network. Using this method, we proceed with the optimization of the BS's locations under the low power consumption and low EMF exposure constraints. Assuming equal preference of the optimization objectives, the simulations show that the uplink localized 10g dose appears to be the dominant factor of the localized 10g EMF exposure. Moreover, a massive MIMO network designed to serve 224 simultaneous active users at the same time-frequency resource is subject to an increase of the total whole-body dose (2 times higher in downlink and +18% in uplink), compared to a design with 14 active users. However, in the same conditions, the downlink localized 10g dose reduces (20 times lower) whereas the uplink localized 10g dose increases (+23%) in comparison with the scenario with fewer users (14). Besides, the electromagnetic field strength in all locations obtained with this new method is 2 times weaker compared to a 4G LTE network, while complying with the international guidelines.

Investigating the Impact of Conformational Molecular Engineering on the Crystal Packing of Cavity Forming Porphyrins

Herein we report the synthesis of 5,10,15,20-tetraaryl-(X)-substituted-2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphyrins (OETArXPs) and a structural investigation of their solid-state properties via small molecule X-ray diffraction. A series of halogen (fluorine to iodine), nitrogenous (azido, cyano), alkyl (TMS-acetylene and acetylene), and chained (benzyloxy) porphyrins were chosen as the initial target molecules. Following this, a selection of tetravalent metal complexes [Cu(II), Ni(II), and Pd(II)] based on these porphyrins were synthesized to allow for an investigation of the effects of metal complexes on the structural properties of these highly substituted porphyrins. The size of the halogen atom affects the potential of intermolecular interactions and the resulting crystal packing in these 4-halo-OETArXP complexes. The fluorine series have an equal preference for alkyl or aryl groups (ortho-hydrogen), the chlorine series favor interactions between the alkyl groups, and the bromine appears to favor the aryl (ortho- and meta-hydrogens). This results in an extensive cupping pattern in the unit cell. For the 2,6-halo-OETArXP it was established that the change in position alters the types of the intermolecular contacts toward face-to-edge or face-to-face interactions and alters the packing patterns observed. Within the 4-benzyloxy-OETArXP series the meso-substituent favors interacting with the core of the porphyrin macrocycle. The 4-cyano-OETArXP is a suitable hydrogen-bond acceptor and results in an interesting Z-shape network. Additionally, it was highlighted that solvent effects play a much larger role in crystal packing than intermolecular/intramolecular interaction or metal(II) center substitution. This is accompanied by a study using both the azide- and acetylene-OETArXPs as a base molecule to allow for a quick one-step reaction for the generation of a variety of functionalized compounds. Using a copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction, we were able to append hydrogen bonding functionalities to the OETArXPs framework in high yields. The crystal packing images included in this work shows the potential to create selective and functional receptor sites based on free base porphyrins. However, insofar as analytical measurements indicate, the design of such a free base porphyrin through crystal engineering has not yet been realized. The variety of porphyrin packing arrangements herein indicates the need for further studies.

Habitat selection in transformed landscapes and the role of forest remnants and shade coffee in the conservation of resident birds.

Biodiversity conservation in transformed landscapes is becoming increasingly important. However, most assessments of the value of modified habitats rely heavily on species presence and/or abundance, masking ecological processes such as habitat selection and phenomena like ecological traps, which may render species persistence uncertain. High species richness has been documented in tropical agroforestry systems, but comparisons with native habitat remnants generally lack detailed information on species demography and habitat use. We generated a multi-species, multi-measure framework to evaluate the role of habitat selection in the adaptation of species to transformed landscapes, and demonstrate that its use could affect how we value the contribution different land uses make to biodiversity conservation. We analysed 7years of capture-mark-recapture and observation data for twelve species of resident birds present in native forest remnants and shade coffee plantations in a mega-diverse region. We assessed whether species behaved adaptively by evaluating the correlation between measures of habitat preference (occurrence, abundance, fidelity, inter-seasonal variance and age) and performance (body condition, muscle, primary moult, breeding and juveniles) in forest and coffee, and generated hypotheses about their role in species persistence. We documented adaptive habitat selection for seven species, non-ideal selection for four and maladaptive selection for one. While many species showed equal preference and/or equal performance in many traits, in general we found more evidence for birds preferring and/or performing better in forest than coffee, although relationships between our indicators and population adaptation need to be studied further before our proposed framework can be applied to more species and landscapes. While shade coffee can act as a biodiversity-friendly matrix providing complementary or supplementary habitat to a wide range of resident bird species, protecting remnants of native vegetation is still of paramount importance for biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes.

Design toolkits for campus open spaces from post-occupancy evaluations of federal universities in South-west Nigeria

PurposeParticipatory design strategy through post-occupancy evaluation of built assets is a feedback mechanism into the design process. This paper draws upon a wider empirical study that aims at evaluating the University Campus Open Spaces (UCOS) of six federal universities in South-west Nigeria. The purpose of this paper is to generate evidence-based design toolkits for UCOS towards spanning of disconnects between designers and users thereby revisiting and revitalizing their design criteria.Design/methodology/approachA sample (n=3,016) of users was drawn in a cross-sectional survey through stratified random method. The research instrument was a structured questionnaire in multiple choice and Likert-type scales. The data obtained were subjected to statistical techniques.FindingsResults show that males use the UCOS for active and passive recreation than females. The UCOS are male dominated because the females have higher concerns for lack of safety and inclement weather. Both genders have equal preference for sitting. “Group academic” activities are at peak in the “afternoon”, while “being alone” takes place in the “evening” and “personal academic” in the “morning”. Safety is primary to zoological and botanical gardens. Social interaction spaces enhance successful recreation parks. Coherence and legibility are the highest cognitive satisfaction factors for pedestrian sidewalks.Practical implicationsThe research generated design requirements for UCOS, and it is important for informing better design solutions in the future.Originality/valueThe results are synthesized into three-in-two new frameworks to guide future design actions for innovative strategies between design and use/operational phases.

Women’s economic status and sexual negotiation: re-evaluation of the ‘normative precedent’ in Tanzania

Women's ability to negotiate the conditions and circumstances of sexual relations is central to their sexual and reproductive health, including mitigating HIV risk. In Africa, gender-based power imbalances constrain women's sexual agency. Research has suggested that among couples in sub-Saharan African countries, such as Uganda and Nigeria, sexual decision making is defined by a ‘normative precedent’ in the form of a set of rules and practices conferring sexual authority on men. Using qualitative data among women in paid work and among men, this study explored interpersonal relations and sexual negotiation in Tanzania. Data were collected in two sites, Dar es Salaam and Mbeya. The normative precedent for sexual decision making was universally understood by men and women. Women did not perceive paid work as giving them greater bargaining power in the domain of sex. In Mbeya, a high-HIV area, some women perceived that refusing sex would encourage men to have additional sexual partners, thus increasing their susceptibility to HIV. Other women, however, believed that suspicions about men's behaviour combined with accurate HIV knowledge, provided leverage for women to refuse sex. In both sites, challenges to the normative precedent were evident, particularly among younger men. Both men and women expressed a preference for equality in sexual decision making.

Share of Household Earnings and Time Use of Women in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Households

We investigate the impact of the share of household earnings on time use in household labor among women in same-sex households and different-sex households in the USA. Contrary to the U-shape pattern found among heterosexual women, we find an inverse U-shape relationship between time spent in household labor and earnings share for lesbians. This result holds when we divide the sample into households with and without children. These findings are most consistent with preferences for relational equality.

How Advantageous Is It? An Analytical Study of Controller-Assisted Path Construction in Distributed SDN

Distributed software-defined networks (SDN), consisting of multiple inter-connected network domains, each managed by one SDN controller, is an emerging networking architecture that offers balanced centralized control and distributed operations. Under such a networking paradigm, most existing works focus on designing sophisticated controller-synchronization strategies to improve joint controller-decision-making for inter-domain routing. However, there is still a lack of fundamental understanding of how the performance of distributed SDN is related to network attributes, thus it is impossible to justify the necessity of complicated strategies. In this regard, we analyze and quantify the performance enhancement of distributed SDN architectures, which is influenced by intra-/inter-domain synchronization levels and network structural properties. Based on a generic network model, we establish analytical methods for performance estimation under four canonical inter-domain synchronization scenarios. Specifically, we first derive an asymptotic expression to quantify how dominating structural and synchronization-related parameters affect the performance metric. We then provide performance analytics for an important family of networks, where all links are of equal preference for path constructions. Finally, we establish fine-grained performance metric expressions for networks with dynamically adjusted link preferences. Our theoretical results reveal how network performance is related to synchronization levels and intra-/inter-domain connections, the accuracy of which is confirmed by simulations based on both real and synthetic networks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work quantifying the performance of distributed SDN in terms of network structural properties and synchronization levels.

Behaviors and Performance Improvement in a Vendor‐Managed Inventory Program: An Experimental Study

Although vendor‐managed inventory (VMI) programs have gained popularity in practice, some empirical studies report that their implementations have not been successful. We conduct experiments to investigate behaviors in a supply chain where a supplier replenishes inventories for a retailer according to a VMI program under a revenue‐sharing contract. The results show that subjects’ decisions deviate significantly from the standard theoretical predictions because the retailer presents equality preference with adjustment, and the supplier exhibits fairness concern. Since the supplier bears not only the production cost, but also the risk of leftover inventory in the VMI program, we propose an approach that provides the retailer with an opportunity to voluntarily compensate the supplier with an additional percentage of revenue after demand realization. Experimental results based on this new operational procedure show that the retailer still presents equality preference with adjustment, but the supplier has a decision bias of ex post inventory error regret. The supply chain can perform better under the proposed approach than under only a revenue‐sharing contract. Interestingly, the proposed approach does not cause the retailer to share a higher percentage of revenue with the supplier, but it induces the supplier to replenish a higher stock quantity, which leads to higher profits for both the retailer and the supplier.

Participatory Crossover Analysis to Support Discussions about Investments in Irrigation Water Sources

Regional long-term water management plans depend increasingly on investments by local water users such as farmers. However, local circumstances and individual situations vary and investment decisions are made under uncertainty. Water users may therefore perceive the costs and benefits very differently, leading to non-uniform investment decisions. This variation can be explored using crossover points. A crossover point represents conditions in which a decision maker assigns equal preference to competing alternatives. This paper presents, applies, and evaluates a framework extending the use of the concept of crossover points to a participatory process in a group setting. We applied the framework in a case study in the Coal River Valley of Tasmania, Australia. Here, farmers can choose from multiple water sources. In this case, the focus on crossover points encouraged participants to engage in candid discussions exploring the personal lines of reasoning underlying their preferences. Participants learned from others’ inputs, and group discussions elicited information and insights considered valuable for both the participants and for outsiders on the factors that influence preferences. We conclude that the approach has a high potential to facilitate learning in groups and to support planning.

Neurocognitive mechanisms of reactions to second- and third-party justice violations

The aim of the current study was threefold: (i) understand people’s willingness to engage in either punishment of the perpetrator or compensation of the victim in order to counteract injustice; (ii) look into the differences between victims of and witnesses to injustice; (iii) investigate the different role played by social preference and affective experience in determining these choices. The sample tested here showed an equal preference for punishment and compensation; neuroimaging findings suggested that compensation, as opposed to punishment, was related to Theory of Mind. Partially supporting previous literature, choosing how to react to an injustice as victims, rather than witnesses, triggered a stronger affective response (striatal and prefrontal activation). Moreover, results supported the idea that deciding whether or not to react to an injustice and then how severely to react are two distinct decisional stages underpinned by different neurocognitive mechanisms, i.e., sensitivity to unfairness (anterior insula) and negative affectivity (amygdala). These findings provide a fine-grained description of the psychological mechanisms underlying important aspects of social norm compliance.

Is Perceived Equal Opportunity Corrosive for Support for Equal Outcomes? Individual-Based Evidence

According to a long-standing school of thought, the improvement in equal opportunity is said to reduce the support for equality of outcomes. Yet, some scholars challenge this wisdom and maintain that equalizing opportunities introduces higher uncertainty about individuals’ future rank in their society, which, in turn, leads to more demand for equalizing incomes. Based on the 2013 survey of French residents (N = 4000), this paper argues that both claims are correct. Two pieces of evidence are provided. First, the relationship between perceived equality of opportunity and preference for equality of outcomes is asymmetrically U-shaped. Second, using split samples, this relationship proves to be decreasing among the poorest and increasing among the richest. The article provides some clues supporting the generalizability of such results, based on the analysis of the four waves of the International Social Survey Program in 27 countries.

Determination of preference-equivalent levels for fan noise and their prediction by indices based on specific loudness patterns.

In a previous study by the authors, two indices were identified as appropriate descriptors for perceptual dimensions of fan noise. The index Nlow describes the amount of low-frequency loudness relative to the overall loudness. The index Nratio represents the ratio between the amount of loudness resulting from mid-frequency content and that from high frequencies. The aim of this study is to quantify how variations in these two indices affect subjects' preferences and loudness judgments. In listening experiments, fan noise signals were adjusted separately to equal loudness and equal preference compared to a common reference sound by varying their level in an adaptive procedure. The fan noises used in the listening tests consisted of 11 typical signals from three major groups of fan sounds from the earlier study and 18 signals that were parametrically varied in terms of the two indices. Reductions in A-weighted sound pressure level of up to 15 dB were necessary to make unpleasant fan sounds equally preferred as the fixed reference sound. A regression model based on the index Nratio explains 81% of the variation in the evaluation data with a root-mean-squared error of 2.53 dB.

Fair ways to share benefits from community forests? How commodification is associated with reduced preference for equality and poverty alleviation

This research is concerned with the trend towards commodification of forestry, in the context of community forest governance for sustainable development in the tropics. In these contexts, commodification takes different forms, including sales of certified timbers and sales of carbon credits. In addition to the general aim to enhance income, these market-based forestry interventions typically aim to align with sustainable development agendas, including (a) safeguarding ecological integrity and (b) promoting poverty alleviation. Our concern here is that the process of forest commodification might lead to a shift in local norms of benefit-sharing, in ways that can hinder these key components of sustainable development goals. We report the results of a survey (N = 519) conducted across sites in Bolivia, China and Tanzania that shows that switching from non-monetary to monetary benefits is associated with changes in preferences for distributional fairness in ways that may be detrimental to the poor. In particular, we show that forest commodification is associated with a lower likelihood of selecting pro-poor or egalitarian approaches to benefit sharing and higher likelihood of selecting to distribute benefits in a way that rewards individual contributions or compensates losses.