High-quality Individuals Research Articles

The Perception of Teacher Well-being and Its Implications on The Interest of UNIMED Biology Education Students to Become a Teacher

This study aims to analyze the interest and perceptions of teacher welfare among 52 respondents. Quantitative analysis revealed that 69.2% of respondents are highly interested in becoming teachers, while 30.8% are moderately interested. These findings reflect a strong commitment from the younger generation toward the teaching profession, despite significant concerns about financial welfare. Qualitative analysis identified two main themes: financial welfare and personal motivation. Many respondents felt that the salary they receive is not proportional to the responsibilities they bear, while intrinsic motivation, such as a desire to contribute to education, serves as a major driving factor in choosing this career. This study aligns with previous findings emphasizing the importance of financial welfare in job satisfaction for teachers but also offers new insights by highlighting personal motivation as a decisive factor. The conclusion of this research suggests that greater attention to teachers' financial welfare is necessary to attract high-quality individuals to the teaching profession and to create a better learning environment. Recommendations for policymakers include increasing compensation and support for teachers while considering their intrinsic motivations.

Predation affects the evolution of sex-specific longevity.

Predation, a major cause of natural selection, is classically thought to target the weak and sick. However, predators can target animals with condition-dependent sexual traits, and therefore, high-quality individuals can also be the focus of predation. Thus, it is not always clear which individuals are the foci of predators or how this affects trait evolution. Here, we tested for evolutionary effects of sex-specific predation on male and female longevity using replicate populations of the broad-horned flour beetle Gnatocerus cornutus. We found that male-limited predation resulted in the evolution of reduced male and increased female longevity, while female-limited predation had no effects on the longevity of either sex. We also document the costs of reproduction. Coupled with other findings, our results suggest that predation impacts high-quality males and, because of negative intersexual genetic correlations, this increases female longevity.

Morphometric variation and deteriorating food availability both explain seasonally declining reproductive success of Dicrurus hottentottus (Hair-crested Drongo)

Abstract Seasonally declining reproductive performance in avian populations may be attributed to high-quality individuals breeding earlier than low-quality individuals (the quality hypothesis), to deteriorating environmental conditions (the date hypothesis), or both. By comparing the reproductive performance among different perennial pairs, and the same perennial pairs across different years, we tested the influence of timing of breeding on reproductive performance in Dicrurus hottentottus (Hair-crested Drongo) from 2010 to 2022. Breeding pairs that typically laid earlier relative to the population mean (i.e., early-breeding pairs) exhibited a significantly higher fledging rate compared to breeding pairs that often bred later relative to the population mean (i.e., late-breeding pairs). For a given pair, the fledging rate of early-breeding pairs increased when they bred later compared to other years, while the fledging rates of late-breeding pairs were significantly lower in years when they bred later than usual. We found that male morphological traits were associated with both the timing of breeding and the feeding rate. Pairs with long-billed (indicator of high quality) males bred earlier than pairs with short-billed males, and pairs with larger males (indicator of high quality) had a higher feeding rate than pairs with smaller males. Female age had reversed effects on the timing of breeding and fledging rate: older females tended to breed earlier than younger females; but there was a sharp decline in fledging rate after 7 years of age in late-breeding pairs. Finally, our results showed that the feeding rate and the amount of invertebrate biomass decreased with laying date, indicating deteriorating feeding conditions later in the breeding season. Overall, our findings support both the quality hypothesis and the date hypothesis. Low-quality D. hottentottus are likely to be most adversely affected by the phenological mismatches induced by climate change, which, in turn, may affect population dynamics through reduced fecundity.

Knowledge-enhanced multidimensional estimation of distribution hyper-heuristic evolutionary algorithm for semiconductor final testing scheduling problem

The semiconductor final test scheduling problem (SFTSP), recognized as a crucial bottleneck in the semiconductor production process, holds immense significance for improving both quality control and scheduling efficiency within chip and integrated circuit enterprises. This article introduces the knowledge-enhanced multidimensional estimation of distribution hyper-heuristic evolutionary algorithm (KMEDHEA) for addressing the SFTSP with the aim of minimizing the makespan. First, a single-vector encoding scheme is used to represent feasible solutions, and a problem-specific constrained-separable left-shift decoding scheme is devised to transform these solutions into feasible scheduling schedules. Second, eight simple yet effective heuristics with problem-specific knowledge are developed that served as a suite of low-level heuristics (LLHs) for exploring the problem solution space. Third, the multidimensional estimation of distribution algorithm (MEDA) is employed as the high-level strategy to estimate the correlations and connections of the pre-designed LLHs, thereby guiding the search scope towards high-quality individuals. Finally, critical configurations of parameters are systematically analyzed by conducting a design-of-experiment (DOE) approach. Numerical experiments are conducted on well-known benchmark datasets, and the experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the KMEDHEA versus several state-of-the-art approaches. The best-known solutions are updated for nine out of ten benchmark instances, highlighting the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed KMEDHEA in solving the SFTSP.

Cumulative costs of reproduction in a long-lived ungulate.

Cumulative costs of reproduction are predicted by life-history theories of aging, but empirical support for cumulative costs of reproduction in ungulates is limited. Examinations of the relationship between previous reproductive effort and future reproductive output are often limited to successive years. We analyzed pregnancy status, lactation duration, and age class of Elk (Cervus canadensis) in Utah, United States, from 2019 to 2022 to better understand the relationship between previous reproductive effort and future reproductive output, particularly in nonsuccessive years. Pregnancy status 1 year prior, pregnancy status 2 years prior, and age had no effect on the likelihood of pregnancy in Elk. However, lactation duration 1 year prior and lactation duration 2 years prior had a negative effect on the likelihood of pregnancy. The best-fitting model to explain the relationship between pregnancy status and previous lactation was the positive interaction between lactation duration 1 year prior and lactation duration 2 years prior. The results of our study suggest long-lasting (i.e., multiple-year), cumulative costs of reproduction can influence reproductive output in female Elk, but differences in individual quality may have an even greater influence. High-quality individuals may be able to override the costs of reproduction and minimize reproductive trade-offs.

Heterogeneous pbest-guided comprehensive learning particle swarm optimization

The balance between exploration and exploitation in the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is often discussed but has not been well solved. To further improve the capabilities of exploration and exploitation in the search space, the aim of this study is to focus on a novel comprehensive learning strategy for the PSO algorithm, which is named the heterogeneous pbest-guided comprehensive learning particle swarm optimizer (HPBPSO). In this algorithm, the population is divided into two subpopulations. In the exploration subpopulation, a pbest-guided mechanism is designed for obtaining better particles’ personal best information. Meanwhile, the non-elite personal best particles learn from elite personal best particles by using dynamic crossover strategy. In the exploitation subpopulation, in order to fully leverage the benefits of learning from high-quality individuals, the learning process is divided into two distinct categories: elite individual learning and intragroup learning. Furthermore, intergroup perturbation is designed to accelerate convergence performance. The experiments on classical functions are firstly used to verify the effectiveness and mutuality of the proposed strategies. Moreover, the performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated on two well-known benchmarks and medical image segmentation problem. According to the statistical results, the HPBPSO algorithm is not only better than the other existing state-of-the-art PSO variants and metaheuristic evolutionary algorithms, but also applicable to real-world optimization problems.

Swiss Round Selection Algorithm for Multi-Robot Task Scheduling

Efficient and stable control and task assignment optimization in electronic commerce logistics and warehousing systems involving multiple robots executing multiple tasks is highly challenging. Hence, this paper proposes a Swiss round selection algorithm for multi-robot task allocation to address the challenges mentioned. Firstly, based on the shipping process of electronic commerce logistics and warehousing systems, the tasks are divided into packaging and sorting stages, and a grid model for the electronic commerce warehousing system is established. Secondly, by increasing the probabilities of crossover and mutation in the population and adopting a full crossover and full mutation approach, the search scope of the population is expanded. Then, a Swiss round selection mechanism with burst probability is proposed, which ensures the smooth inheritance of high-quality individuals while improving the diversity of the population. Finally, 12 comparative experiments are designed with different numbers of robots and tasks. The experimental results demonstrate that the Swiss round selection algorithm outperforms the genetic algorithm in terms of maximum task completion time and convergence time to reach the optimal value. Thus, the effectiveness of the Swiss round selection algorithm in solving the multi-robot task allocation problem is verified.

Strategi Pembelajaran Everyone Is Teacher Here Untuk Membentuk Berpikir Kritis Pada Pembelajaran Pendidikan Agama Islam Siswa SMK Negeri 1 Wonosobo

The education sector requires innovation to prepare students to become competent individuals and to produce high-quality individuals in society by equipping them with various 21st-century skills to meet the demands of changing times. Through the everyone is teacher here learning strategy, it is hoped that students can develop critical thinking skills, which are highly essential in the current era of globalization.This research aims to explore how the everyone is teacher here learning strategy is implemented in SMKN 1 Wonosobo, its impact on fostering critical thinking, the factors influencing its implementation, and the outcomes after its execution. This study employs a descriptive qualitative research method. Data collection techniques include observation, interviews, and documentation, while data analysis involves triangulation.The findings reveal that the Islamic Education teachers at SMKN 1 Wonosobo have effectively implemented the everyone is teacher here learning strategy. The cultivation of students' critical thinking skills has started to progress well, although there are indicators that need reinforcement due to some students' lack of concentration in receiving new material. Supportive factors for the "everyone is teacher here" strategy are easily planned and implemented, encouraging students to actively engage in developing their thinking skills. Inhibiting factors include lack of concentration, reading interest, and self-confidence among some students. The implementation of the "everyone is teacher here" strategy has led to students' progress in critical thinking, increased self-confidence, self-expression, and greater responsibility.

Plumage and eggshell colouration covary with the level of sex-specific parental contributions to nest building in birds

Interspecific variation in sex-specific contributions to prenatal parental care, including avian nest building, is becoming increasingly better understood as we amass more information on more species. We examined whether sex-specific nest building contributions covary with the colouration of parents and their eggs in 521 species of Western Palearctic birds. Having colourful plumage and laying colourful eggs are costly because of the deposition of pigments in feathers and eggs and/or forming costly nanostructural substrates in feathers, and so it might be expected that those costs covary with the costs of nest building at the level of individuals and/or across species to produce of a suite of codivergent traits. Using a phylogenetically informed approach, we tested the hypothesis that species in which females alone invest energy building nests exhibit less sexual plumage dichromatism. However, we found comparative support for the opposite of this prediction. We then tested that species in which females alone build nests lay more colourful, and costlier, eggs because the dual costs of building nests and laying colourful eggs can only be borne by higher quality individuals. As expected, we found that species in which females build nests alone or together with males are more likely to lay colourfully pigmented eggs relative to species in which only males build nests. Finally, stochastic character mapping provided evidence of the repeated evolution of female-only nest building. Interspecific sex differences in plumage colouration therefore covary in a complex manner with female pre- (nest building) and post-copulatory (egg production) investment in reproduction.

Uloga upravljanja ljudskim resursima u podsticanju kreativnosti - primenjeno na IT organizaciji u Republici Srbiji

This research paper aims to delve into the significance and role of contemporary Human Resources Management (HRM) practices in not only attracting creative individuals to the organization but also in fostering environments conducive to their work, development, and self-actualization. Understanding how to cultivate creativity at both individual and organizational levels has become crucial for every organization in the Information Technology (IT) industry. These efforts ultimately lead to gaining competitive advantages. With rapid technological advancements and the ensuing competition for talent, the challenge of attracting and retaining high-quality individuals has become increasingly prominent, compelling organizations to seek solutions from HRM. The presented case study in this paper examines the importance of creativity for IT organizations and evaluates the principal components of individual and organizational creativity through a questionnaire comprising 34 questions. The research results highlight HRM practices that contribute significantly. This paper aims to provide insights into theoretical frameworks serving as hypotheses and practical applications of identified practices. Additionally, it encourages HRM practitioners to further explore using the enclosed questionnaire.

Analysis of the Temporal and Spatial Pattern and Convergence Characteristics of High-Quality Sustainable Economic Development of Urban Agglomeration

Based on the sample data of 149 cities in ten major urban agglomerations from 2004 to 2019, the entropy method, Dagum Gini coefficient, and three-dimensional kernel density estimation method are used to calculate and describe the spatial pattern of the high-quality, sustainable economic development of these ten major urban agglomerations. We then use the spatial econometric model to estimate the β convergence trend within the urban agglomerations and among the urban agglomerations at different levels. Our main findings include the following: First, the urban agglomeration tends to develop a high-quality economy, but the gap between the urban agglomerations can be large. Second, although the gap within the overall group of urban agglomerations is expanding, the gap between high-quality individuals and the average is constantly shrinking; the gap between groups is still the leading cause of the spatial gap, with a contribution rate of 70.51%. Third, all urban agglomerations have an absolute and conditional β convergence trend, and the convergence speed presents the characteristics of “high level slow, low level fast”. Government intervention, financial development, urbanization, and human capital contribute to the high-quality, sustainable economic development of each urban agglomeration. There is a heterogeneous influence; there is also absolute and conditional β convergence among urban agglomerations at all levels, and the convergence rate presents a gradient characteristic of “third level > second level > first level”, and by balancing the financial relationships between city groups within each level, development differences can promote the dynamic coordination of high-quality, sustainable economic development rates.

A decomposition-based memetic algorithm to solve the biobjective green flexible job shop scheduling problem with interval type-2 fuzzy processing time

With increasing environmental awareness, energy consumption of industries is becoming a popular research topic. In industrial manufacturing, processing time is highly uncertain. This study investigates a green flexible job shop scheduling problem with interval type-2 fuzzy processing time (IT2GFJSP) with the objectives of makespan and energy consumption. To solve this problem, a decomposition-based memetic algorithm (DBMA) is used. In the proposed approach, (1) five initial rules are presented to generate a high-quality population; (2) crossover and mutation operators are designed to increase the exploration capability; (3) three effective neighborhood structures are designed to increase the exploitation capability; and (4) a new Tchebycheff aggregation method based on a subproblem decomposition-based (SDB) strategy is proposed to select high-quality individuals and design acceptance criterion. The improved performance of this method is demonstrated by comparison with two other effective methods. To verify the effectiveness of DBMA, it is compared with five other famous algorithms on 30 benchmarks. Computational results show that the DBMA can obtain better solutions than other algorithms when solving the IT2GFJSP.

In vitro clonal propagation of Tanacetum cinerariifolium and establishment of an ex situ collection of selected clones

Dalmatian pyrethrum Tanacetum cinerariifolium (Trevir.) Sch. Bip. (Asteraceae) is a perennial herb endemic to the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. The species is widely cultivated in many countries for its bioactive compounds pyrethrins, which are used as natural insecticides. Plants derived from seeds vary greatly in pyrethrin content; therefore, the vegetative propagation of high-quality individuals is very important for the establishment of agricultural pyrethrum crops. The present study deals with rapid in vitro multiplication of pyrethrum, ex vitro adaptation of selected clones and creation of an ex situ collection, as a first step towards introducing the species into agriculture in Bulgaria. Seeds from a private ex situ collection in Bulgaria and from a natural Croatian population were used as initial material for in vitro cultures initiation. Basal MS medium (Murashige and Skoog 1962) or MS supplemented with different concentrations of kinetin and indole-3-butyric acid were used for seed germination and multiplication of one-seed derived clones by consecutive subcultivations. The propagation effectiveness was evaluated as a number of new plants obtained per initial shoot. Considerable losses were noticed due to both endophytic contaminations and necrosis, especially on media supplemented with plant growth regulators. These problems were overcome by medium optimization: adding an antibiotic and modifying the medium to increase the calcium concentration using CaCO3. In the best medium variant (basal MS + 200 mg/L Medaxone + 75 mg/L Ca) no more infected plants were observed, and the percentage of necrotic plants decreased threefold, which resulted in formation of 38.06±10.11 new plants per initial shoot for a period of 7 months. Three hundred and sixty plants were ex vitro adapted in a phytotron (88% surviving rate), then 16 plants from 4 selected clones were transferred to the ex situ collection and bloomed twice from the very first growing season (June and September). The number of the flower heads increased in the second year of field cultivation and an average of 328±138 capitula per plant were counted for the best clone. The first trials to establish a pilot plantation of pyrethrum are promising.

Can low-quality parents exploit their high-quality partners to gain higher fitness?

An individual's optimal investment in parental care potentially depends on many variables, including its future fitness prospects, the expected costs of providing care and its partner's expected or observed parental behaviour. Previous models suggested that low-quality parents could evolve to exploit their high-quality partners by reducing care, leading to the paradoxical prediction that low-quality parents could have higher fitness than their high-quality partners. However, these studies lacked a complete and consistent life-history model. Here, we challenge this result, developing a consistent analytical model of parental care strategies given individual variation in quality, and checking our results using agent-based simulations. In contrast to previous models, we predict that high-quality individuals always outcompete low-quality individuals in fitness terms. However, care effort may differ between high- and low-quality parents in either direction: low-quality individuals care more than high-quality individuals if their baseline mortality is higher, but less if their mortality increases more steeply with increasing care. We also highlight the ambiguity of the term 'quality' and stress the need for 'genealogical consistency' in evolutionary models.

Research on Economic Optimal Dispatching of Microgrid Based on an Improved Bacteria Foraging Optimization

This paper proposes an improved Bacterial Foraging Optimization for economically optimal dispatching of the microgrid. Three optimized steps are presented to solve the slow convergence, poor precision, and low efficiency of traditional Bacterial Foraging Optimization. First, the self-adaptive step size equation in the chemotaxis process is present, and the particle swarm velocity equation is used to improve the convergence speed and precision of the algorithm. Second, the crisscross algorithm is used to enrich the replication population and improve the global search performance of the algorithm in the replication process. Finally, the dynamic probability and sine-cosine algorithm are used to solve the problem of easy loss of high-quality individuals in dispersal. Quantitative analysis and experiments demonstrated the superiority of the algorithm in the benchmark function. In addition, this study built a multi-objective microgrid dynamic economic dispatch model and dealt with the uncertainty of wind and solar using the Monte Carlo method in the model. Experiments show that this model can effectively reduce the operating cost of the microgrid, improve economic benefits, and reduce environmental pollution. The economic cost is reduced by 3.79% compared to the widely used PSO, and the economic cost is reduced by 5.23% compared to the traditional BFO.

Dynamic multi-objective evolutionary algorithm based on knowledge transfer

Dynamic multi-objective optimization problems (DMOPs) are mainly reflected in objective changes with changes in the environment. To solve DMOPs, a transfer learning (TL) approach is used, which can continuously adapt to environmental changes and reuse valuable knowledge from the past. However, if all individuals are transferred, they may experience negative transfers. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel knowledge transfer method for the dynamic multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (T-DMOEA) to solve DMOPs, which consists of a multi-time prediction model (MTPM) and a manifold TL algorithm. First, according to the movement trend of historical knee points, the MTPM model uses a weighted method to effectively track knee points after environmental changes. Then, the knowledge of the suboptimal solution is reused in the non-knee point set using the manifold TL technique, which yields more high-quality individuals and speeds up the convergence. In the dynamic evolutionary process, the knee points and high-quality solutions are combined to guide the generation of the initial population in the next environment, ensuring the diversity of the population while reducing the computational cost. The experimental results show that the proposed T-DMOEA algorithm can converge rapidly in solving DMOPs while obtaining better-quality solutions.

Investigating Faculty Technological and Pedagogical Content Knowledge: The BiPSU Context

One of the components that shape the educational system is the instructor. They do several tasks at school that significantly impact students' character, value system, principles, and the character of the entire population. Because of the teacher's position in the classroom, the need for teacher professionalism, discipline, competence, commitment, and innovation is crucial for teachers to contribute to the country's educational aim of obtaining an exceptional education. Per the recommendations of the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines, this study surveyed 31 faculty members in the School of Arts and Sciences department. It evaluated their competency in integrating technology into pedagogical content using Johnson's (2001) cross-sectional descriptive design. Using the updated TPACK (Technology, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge) instrument developed by Valtonen et al. (2017), the study found that liberal arts faculty understand how various technologies can be used in the classroom. They also recognized that incorporating technology into the classroom may change their teaching. A strong relationship was found between teachers' service length, pedagogical knowledge, sex, and technological knowledge. It was suggested that school administrators prioritize program and investment strategies that develop an experienced teaching workforce of high-quality individuals. It is also advised that the faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences engage in activities that optimize Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to increase their content knowledge, professional growth, and professional learning.

Effects of artificial mating on genomic selection of resistance against Cryptocaryon irritans in large yellow croaker

Genomic selection has been widely used in aquaculture breeding of major aquaculture species. However, the complex environment and mass spawning characteristics make most of the current aquaculture species reproduce the next generation through natural mating, which results in uneven parental contributions, difficulty in tracking high-quality individuals and risk of inbreeding. In this study, we compared the difference in resistance to Cryptocaryon irritans (C. irritans) between artificial insemination pairing and natural mating in large yellow croaker. The reference group consisted of two challenge experimental groups in 2018 and 2020, with 487 and 260 samples, respectively. A total of 381 candidates were selected from the resistant to C. irritans strain (G2) of large yellow croaker constructed in 2019 and genotyped by using 55 K array. The BayesB models and survival time were used to calculate the genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) of candidates. Finally, a candidate parents population consists of 35 females and 15 males with high estimated breeding value and mature gonads were selected from the resistance against C. irritans strain of large yellow croaker and reproduced two offspring populations due to the characteristics of spawning for two consecutive nights. A natural mating population (T group) was produced on the first spawning night of the parent population, and an artificial mating population contained 19 full-sib and half-sib families (F group) was produced on the second spawning night by the same parents. In addition, a natural mating population (C group) was produced by the unselected strain. A C. irritans infection challenge with duration of 120 h was conducted to compare the performance of disease resistance between the T, F, and C groups. The results showed that the survival rate for T and C groups was 9.85% and 0%, respectively, and the survival rate for F group was ranged from 0% to 63.83%, which 10 families survived significantly longer than the T group. The result showed that the artificially mated can achieved higher phenotypic progress than random mating in the selected breeding of large yellow croaker. This study provides reference for improvement of genomic selection strategy in aquatic species.

Food supply and individual quality influence seabird energy expenditure and reproductive success.

Breeding animals trade off maximizing energy output to increase their number of offspring with conserving energy to ensure their own survival, leading to an energetic ceiling influenced by external, environmental factors or by internal, physiological factors. We examined whether internal or external factors limited energy expenditure by supplementally feeding breeding black-legged kittiwakes varying in individual quality, based on earlier work that defined late breeders as low-quality and early breeders as high-quality individuals. We tested whether energy expenditure increased when food availability decreased in both low- and high-quality birds; we predicted this would only occur in high-quality individuals capable of sustaining high levels of energy expenditure. Here, we find that food-supplemented birds expended less energy than control birds because they spent more time at the colony. However, foraging trips of food-supplemented birds were only slightly shorter than control birds, implying that food-supplemented birds were limited by food availability at sea similarly to control birds. Late breeders expended less energy, suggesting that low-quality individuals may not intake the energy necessary for sustaining high-energy output. Food-supplemented birds had more offspring than control birds, but offspring number did not influence energy expenditure, supporting the idea that the birds reached an energy ceiling. Males and lighter birds expended more energy, possibly compensating for relatively higher energy intake. Chick-rearing birds were working near their maximum, with highest levels of expenditure for early-laying (high-quality) individuals foraging at sea. Due to fluctuating marine environments, kittiwakes may be forced to change their foraging behaviors to maintain the balance between reproduction and survival.

Contamination effects on sexual selection in wild dung beetles.

Sexual selection influences the expression of secondary sexual traits, which are costly to produce and maintain and are thus considered honest indicators of individual condition. Therefore, sexual selection could select for high-quality individuals able to respond to stressful conditions, with impacts on population-level fitness. We sampled dung beetles from 19 pastures and investigated if contamination by herbicides and veterinary drugs modifies male investment in sexually selected traits and has associated population-level effects. We measured horn size, condition dependence (i.e. size-corrected body mass) and allometry, besides abundance and sexual size dimorphism in three species: Copris incertus, Euoniticellus intermedius and Digitonthophagus gazella. In contrary to our expectations, horn size was independent of contamination and individual condition. However, strong positive allometric relationships were reduced by herbicide contamination for C. incertus and D. gazella and were increased by ivermectin for C. incertus, revealing differential investment in horn production according to body size in contaminated habitats. At the population level, large-horned C. incertus males were more abundant in contaminated pastures, potentially revealing a case of evolutionary rescue by sexual selection or a plastic response to higher population densities. Finally, chemical compounds affected the sexual size dimorphism of all three species, with potential effects on female fecundity or intrasexual selection. Together, our findings indicate that contamination interferes with sexual selection processes in the wild, opening new questions regarding the role of sexual selection in favouring species persistence in contaminated environments.