High-quality Partners Research Articles

Artificial intelligence-driven photovoltaic building materials industry: Greenization and digitization innovation conversion of photovoltaic technology based on a novel interval fuzzy field theory decision-making model

Digital technologies, such as big data, the Internet, and artificial intelligence, are rapidly advancing. Photovoltaic building materials enterprises (PBMEs) have been leveraging digital transformation to enhance their technological innovation capabilities and gain a competitive edge. In the global context of transitioning towards a low-carbon economy, the deep integration of digital technology offers a new solution for the green transformation of PBMEs. The synergy between green traction digitalization and digitalization enables green practices, making collaborative integration crucial for the far-reaching development of PBMEs. Within the framework of China’s “double carbon” policy, domestic PBMEs are experiencing exponential growth, where digital green innovation (DGI) has become their primary objective. In this DGI context, selecting the right partners is the first step that significantly impacts the efficiency and effectiveness of DGI implementation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assist PBMEs in selecting high-quality partners, promoting the DGI process, enhancing technological innovation capabilities, and gaining a competitive advantage. To achieve this, the paper proposes constructing a theoretical framework for evaluating the DGI cooperation ability of PBMEs using the theory of ecological reciprocity. Based on this framework, an evaluation index system is established to assess the DGI cooperation ability of potential partners The interval intuitionistic fuzzy evaluation method, combined with a double combination weighting approach, is employed to evaluate the DGI ability of selected partners. Furthermore, by applying field theory, a dynamic selection model for strategic alliance partners is developed to aid PBMEs in selecting high-quality partners for DGI and facilitating the DGI process. The research findings indicate that: i) The evaluation standard framework for DGI cooperation ability of PBMEs encompasses “symbiosis,” “mutualism,” and “regeneration,” along with the crucial environmental element of mutual trust. ii) The evaluation method based on double combination weighting effectively assesses the comprehensive DGI capabilities of selected PBME partners. The application of field theory enables scientific and effective dynamic partner selection for PBMEs through resource complementarity. iii) The proposed framework and partner selection model can be employed in real partner selection scenarios for PBMEs, allowing them to choose high-quality partners, enhance their DGI capabilities, and attain practical selection outcomes. This paper presents novel partner selection model that integrates decision rules and resource complementarity, enabling PBMEs to efficiently select DGI partners from a pool of potential candidates and improve their innovation efficiency. The utilization of the double combination weighting method and field theory in the partner selection paradigm of D extends the theoretical foundation, while the establishment of the DGI capability evaluation index system for PBME partners contributes to empirical applications.

Агропромышленный комплекс России и Волгоградской области: особенности импортозамещения в условиях санкционного давления

The priority areas of import substitution in the agro-industrial complex and their prospects in the conditions of sanctions pressure, acting as a strategic factor in the development of the Russian economy, require extraordinary decisions from it. The purpose of this article is to consider the features of the implementation of import substitution in the agro-industrial complex in the country and the Volgograd region. The modern realities of economic development under sanctions are actively restructuring the activities of agricultural enterprises to comply with new rules. The current situation in the country is considered by representatives of agribusiness and the state not as a period of crisis, but, on the contrary, as a prospect for increasing their capabilities: the range of their own products is expanding, new customers are being attracted, the domestic market is aimed at providing high-quality goods of domestic production. In recent years, there has been an increase in production capacity in the agro-industrial complex; the results of the import substitution process are characterized by positive dynamics. Thus, the production complex for drying vegetables in the Volgograd region is a successful example of the implementation of the import substitution policy and proves the region’s potential in this area. The region has sufficient resources for long-term agricultural development. Timely measures taken to support the industry stabilized the situation in conditions of geopolitical tension, which allows us to assert the status of the region as one of the flagships of the Russian agro-industrial complex. The significant scale of involvement of the Russian economy in the global world does not allow the country to completely avoid import substitution. There is no urgent need and possibility of producing all goods; The question is raised about creating our own technologies, goods and services, which are critically important for the country and could become competitive. Therefore, in the near future, it is necessary to strengthen the role of the state from the position of searching for new high-quality partners, adopting appropriate legislative innovations that ensure sovereignty in this area, and increasing the financial component of support for farmers.

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.

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

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

The importance of high-quality partner support for reducing stress during pregnancy and postpartum bonding impairments.

The current study investigated the extent to which interparental support reduced pregnancy stress and subsequent postpartum bonding impairments with infant. We hypothesized that receiving higher quality partner support would be associated with decreased maternal pregnancy-related concerns, and less maternal and paternal pregnancy stress which, in turn, would predict fewer parent-infant bonding impairments. One hundred fifty-seven cohabiting couples completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires once during pregnancy and twice postpartum. Path analyses with tests of mediation were employed to test our hypotheses. Higher quality support received by mothers was associated with lower maternal pregnancy stress which, in turn, predicted fewer mother-infant bonding impairments. An indirect pathway of equal magnitude was observed for fathers. Dyadic pathways also emerged such that higher quality support received by fathers was associated with lower maternal pregnancy stress which reduced mother-infant bonding impairments. Similarly, higher quality support received by mothers reduced paternal pregnancy stress and subsequent father-infant bonding impairments. Hypothesized effects reaching statistical significance (p < .05) were small to moderate in magnitude. These findings have important theoretical and clinical implications in demonstrating the critical role of both receiving and providing high-quality interparental support to reduce pregnancy stress and subsequent postpartum bonding impairments for mothers and fathers. Results also highlight the utility of investigating maternal mental health in the couple context.

Mycorrhiza governs plant-plant interactions through preferential allocation of shared nutritional resources: A triple (13C, 15N and 33P) labeling study.

Plant-plant interactions and coexistence can be directly mediated by symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi through asymmetric resource exchange between the plant and fungal partners. However, little is known about the effects of AM fungal presence on resource allocation in mixed plant stands. Here, we examined how phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) resources were distributed between coexisting con- and heterospecific plant individuals in the presence or absence of AM fungus, using radio- and stable isotopes. Congeneric plant species, Panicum bisulcatum and P. maximum, inoculated or not with Rhizophagus irregularis, were grown in two different culture systems, mono- and mixed-species stands. Pots were subjected to different shading regimes to manipulate C sink-source strengths. In monocultures, P. maximum gained more mycorrhizal phosphorus uptake benefits than P.bisulcatum. However, in the mixed culture, the AM fungus appeared to preferentially transfer nutrients (33P and 15N) to P.bisulcatum compared to P. maximum. Further, we observed higher 13C allocation to mycorrhiza by P.bisulcatum in mixed- compared to the mono-systems, which likely contributed to improved competitiveness in the mixed cultures of P.bisulcatum vs. P. maximum regardless of the shading regime. Our results suggest that the presence of mycorrhiza influenced competitiveness of the two Panicum species in mixed stands in favor of those with high quality partner, P. bisulcatum, which provided more C to the mycorrhizal networks. However, in mono-species systems where the AM fungus had no partner choice, even the lower quality partner (i.e., P.maximum) could also have benefitted from the symbiosis. Future research should separate the various contributors (roots vs. common mycorrhizal network) and mechanisms of resource exchange in such a multifaceted interaction.

The ecological and evolutionary significance of effectiveness landscapes in mutualistic interactions.

Mutualism effectiveness, the contribution of an interacting organism to its partner's fitness, is defined as the number of immediate outcomes of the interactions (quantity component) multiplied by the probability that an immediate outcome results in a new individual (quality component). These components form a two-dimensional effectiveness landscape with each species' location determined by its values of quantity (x-axis) and quality (y-axis). We propose that the evolutionary history of mutualistic interactions leaves a footprint that can be identified by three properties of the spatial structure of effectiveness values: dispersion of effectiveness values, relative contribution of each component to the effectiveness values and correlation between effectiveness components. We illustrate this approach using a large dataset on synzoochory, seed dispersal by seed-caching animals. The synzoochory landscape was clumped, with effectiveness determined primarily by the quality component, and with quantity and quality positively correlated. We suggest this type of landscape structure is common in generalised coevolved mutualisms, where multiple functionally equivalent, high-quality partners exert similarly strong selection. Presumably, only those organisms located in high-quality regions will impact the evolution of their partner. Exploring properties of effectiveness landscapes in other mutualisms will provide new insight into the evolutionary and ecological consequences of mutualisms.

The Impact of Supply Chain Partnership on Firm Performance: an Empirical Study Based on Listed Manufacturing Companies in China

Today, Supply Chain Management (SCM) is regarded as an essential strategic factor, which has a great deal of influence on earning competitiveness in global business environment. There are conflicts among all members of the SCM. In order to maximize the total profit of the SCM, negotiation among all members is necessary. For enterprise in the supply chain, the supply chain partnership has become a significant factor affecting firm performance. In this paper, I examine the impact of cooperation between enterprise and its supply chain partners. Specifically, I collect survey data from Chinese manufacturing firms about their relations with partners and use regression analysis to test hypotheses about the associations between firm performance and supply chain partnership. My results support that superior supplier partnership has a positive impact on reducing transaction costs and improving financial and market performance. In additional test, I establish a series of models with interactive terms. The results of additional test indicate that the impact is enhanced if the competition of each sub industry of the manufacturing industry is different. Above all, I put forward the following suggestions. Enterprise managers could establish an evaluation mechanism of suppliers and retailers, which select high-quality cooperative partners and reduce low-quality transaction costs for enterprises. When participating in business operation, shareholders could comprehensively understand the business conditions of various supply partners and choose reliable supply chain partners for investment. Also, the government can guide the realization of resource sharing and information exchange among supply chain enterprises, which is beneficial to create a more competitive supply chain to promote economic development.

Massive rhizobial genomic variation associated with partner quality in Lotus-Mesorhizobium symbiosis.

Variation in partner quality is commonly observed in diverse cooperative relationships, despite the theoretical prediction that selection favoring high-quality partners should eliminate such variation. Here, we investigated how genetic variation in partner quality could be maintained in the nitrogen-fixing mutualism between Lotus japonicus and Mesorhizobium bacteria. We reconstructed de novo assembled full-genome sequences from nine rhizobial symbionts, finding massive variation in the core genome and the similar symbiotic islands, indicating recent horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of the symbiosis islands into diverse Mesorhizobium lineages. A cross-inoculation experiment using 9 sequenced rhizobial symbionts and 15L. japonicus accessions revealed extensive quality variation represented by plant growth phenotypes, including genotype-by-genotype interactions. Variation in quality was not associated with the presence/absence variation in known symbiosis-related genes in the symbiosis island; rather, it showed significant correlation with the core genome variation. Given the recurrent HGT of the symbiosis islands into diverse Mesorhizobium strains, local Mesorhizobium communities could serve as a major source of variation for core genomes, which might prevent variation in partner quality from fixing, even in the presence of selection favoring high-quality partners. These findings highlight the novel role of HGT of symbiosis islands in maintaining partner quality variation in the legume-rhizobia symbiosis.

Initial examination of social compensation and honing frameworks for sexual minority social life and well-being

The present study used an ecologically-valid approach to address the lack of understanding of similarities and differences in social network size and social interaction quality, and links to affect, among same- and different-gender couples. People in couples who self-identified as a woman with a woman ( n = 48), man with a man ( n = 40), woman with a man ( n = 33), and man with a woman ( n = 33) completed a single measure of social network size, and momentary assessments of social interaction quality and affect throughout their days over two weekends. Women reported lower interaction quality, less positive, and more negative affect (actor effects); similar results were also found for those who were partnered with a woman (partner effects). However, results showed an interaction of actor and partner gender, such that people in different-gender couples experienced lower interaction quality, less positive, and more negative affect than same-gender couples. Overall, results provide preliminary evidence of a honing framework, where people in same-gender couples hone their social networks down to high-quality interaction partners, more than people in different-gender couples, and experience similar links between social interactions and affect compared to people in different-gender couples.

An Experimental Investigation of Variations in Judgments of Hypothetical Males and Females Initiating Mixed-Gender Threesomes: An Application of Sexual Script Theory.

Although many young adults are interested in mixed-gender threesomes (MGTs), little research has assessed attitudes toward them. Yet, MGTs offer a rare context to investigate how consensually nonmonogamous sexual encounters and involvement with same-sex others influence attitudes. Thus, by adopting sexual script theory as a framework, the current study compared three dimensions of character judgments (cognitive abilities, morality, partner quality) and assumptions about the sexual history of hypothetical males and females who initiated a MGT (two females and one male; two males and one female) or mixed-sex dyadic sexual activity with a casual or committed partner. To do so, a between-subject design was adopted in which 690 U.S. adults (405 women, 285 men) evaluated a hypothetical initiator described in one of 12 vignettes. On average, participants made neutral judgments about the initiator, yet those initiating dyadic sexual behavior were judged more favorably and as having a less extensive sexual history than MGT initiators. Male initiators were judged more favorably than female initiators, particularly by men. Those initiating in the context of a committed relationship were judged as more moral and as higher-quality partners than those initiating within a casual relationship; female (but not male) initiators in the committed context were judged as having a less extensive sexual history than female initiators in the casual context. These results confirm the presence of mononormativity biases and the sexual double standard and have implications for educators and practitioners related to stigma reduction and the promotion of inclusive sexual education.

Performance implications of using signaling and screening for expanding interfirm business networks: Evidence from franchising

Entrepreneurial business firms such as franchisors can enhance their network performance by attracting high-quality partners and preventing low-quality partners from joining the network. We draw on agency and transaction cost theories and the substantive literature on voluntary information disclosure to develop a theoretical framework that examines the consequences of using signaling and screening mechanisms for interfirm network performance. Our model posits a complementary effect for signaling and screening because of their ability to offset the disadvantages of each other. We empirically evaluate our hypotheses through econometric analyses of a unique multi-sector panel dataset from the U.S. franchising industry. We find that ex-ante signaling and screening at the contractual relationship formation stage are complementary mechanisms that enhance network performance when they are used together. Additionally, we find that specific investments by the focal firm and by the partners positively moderate the performance impact of screening and signaling respectively. Our findings suggest that the joint use of screening and signaling and their synchronization with specific investment commitments from each side can assist an entrepreneurial business network in mitigating the double-sided adverse selection problem at the formation stage of dyadic network partnerships and enhancing network performance.

Reliability of the Service Trip Audit Tool to assess the quality of short-term medical missions.

BackgroundWe aimed to assess the adherence of short-term medical missions (STMMs) operating in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to key best practices using the Service Trip Audit Tool (STAT) and to calculate the inter-rater reliability of the data points. This tool was based on a previously published inventory of 18 STMM best practices.MethodsProgramme administrators and recent volunteers from 335 North American organizations offering STMMs in LAC were invited to complete the STAT anonymously online. Adherence to each of 18 best practices was reported as either ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘not sure’. Fleiss’ κ was used to assess inter-rater agreement of the responses.ResultsA total of 194 individuals from 102 organizations completed the STAT (response rate 30.4%; 102/335 organizations) between 12 July and 7 August 2017. Reported adherence was >80% for 9 of 18 best practices. For 37 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with multiple raters, inter-rater agreement was moderate to substantial (κ>0.4) for 12 of 18 best practices.ConclusionsThis is the first study to evaluate adherence to STMM best practices. Such an objective evaluation will be valuable to governments, volunteers and NGO donors who have an interest in identifying high-quality partners. Assessment and monitoring of STMMs through self-audit may be foundational steps towards quality improvement.

Negotiation of Parental Duties in Chick-Rearing Common Murres (Uria aalge) in Different Foraging Conditions

Mates of biparental species share parental care but they are also predicted to try, within limits, to push for more offspring care from their partners. Here we test (a) whether mates will attempt to exploit their partners less often when resources are scarce so as to not push their partners to their abandonment threshold and (b) whether there are differences in exploitation and compensation strategies of low and high quality partners where the quality assessment is based on within-pair differences in chick-provisioning rates. The same fourteen pairs of common murres were observed in a year when capelin fish (the main prey species),were abundant (match year) and in a second year when capelin did not arrive inshore to spawn until the second week after hatching (mismatch year). One murre parent always attends the chick and, in the most common type of interaction, the returning parent feeds the chick and takes over the brooding role. We consider nest relief interactions to be irregular if they did not follow this sequence for determining which parent will continue or take on the lower-energy brooder role. Two types of irregular nest reliefs were examined: (a) the returning bird does not bring a fish and (b) the brooding bird does not allow a brooding changeover even when the returner brings a fish. Rates of irregular nest reliefs and total visit time increased in the mismatch year after capelin arrived inshore, suggesting that longer co-attendance in good conditions reflects negotiation, rather than the increased resting or ‘loafing’ time as previously proposed. High provisioners initiated fewer irregular nest reliefs than their low provisioning partners during favorable conditions but increased to comparable levels when resources were scarce. Partners’ attempts to brood without provisioning were less often refused during unfavorable feeding conditions, suggesting that murres compensated for their mates when they could. The observation that rates of irregular nest reliefs changed with resource availability suggests that negotiation occurs throughout chick rearing and is not a set ‘sealed bid’ at the onset.

Market segmentation on dating platforms

Individuals from two populations seek matchmaking services from competing dating websites. Each population is heterogeneous along an objective quality rank and matched couples experience disutility if there are incompatibilities in their quality ranks. Individuals in the populations care also about other traits that they wish their partner to possess. They are more likely to find a partner possessing such traits, the bigger the population served by the website. We investigate whether price competition can lead to segmentation of the two populations. We find that segmentation arises, only if compatibility in quality is relatively important to individuals in comparison to the importance of matching with high quality partners and in comparison to cross network externalities. At the market equilibrium, too many men and women patronize the website that matches high quality individuals. Allowing websites to price discriminate between men and women reduces social welfare.

An Examination of the Sexual Double Standard Pertaining to Masturbation and the Impact of Assumed Motives

Research reveals that masturbation is a highly stigmatized behavior for which people are harshly judged. Stigmatized sexual behaviors often result in discrepancies in social judgment such as the Sexual Double Standard (SDS; the tendency to judge women’s sexual behavior more harshly than men’s). However, no research has experimentally examined the SDS with respect to masturbation or the assumed motives influencing the potential SDS. Thus, in study one, a total of 496 U.S. adults (246 women, 250 men) were required to read one of four vignettes depicting a hypothetical man or woman engaged in masturbation. After reading the vignette, the endorsement of the SDS was assessed by asking participants to rate the perceived partner quality of the hypothetical masturbator. In study two, a total of 264 U.S. adults (115 women, 149 men) were again required to read vignettes, rate the target’s perceived partner quality, and report on the assumed pleasure and intimacy-focused motives of the target. The results of both studies revealed a reverse SDS, in which women were viewed as higher quality partners than men. Study two further demonstrated that women were assumed to have masturbated for both pleasure and intimacy-focused motives to a greater extent than men and that these motives helped to explain the reverse SDS. Overall, these findings highlight the need to equalize double standards in Western cultures to reduce potentially harmful effects on sexual health.

Maintenance of variation in mutualism by screening.

Models of partner choice leading to mutualism raise a conceptual problem: directional selection for high-quality partners should ultimately erode variation in partner quality. How do we explain the persistence of variation in partner quality observed in nature? The problem arises in all models of partner choice, including screening models, in which a host induces potential symbionts of different quality to screen themselves by assigning them different costs and rewards. Using a screening model in which costs and rewards are sometimes assigned incorrectly, I show that a stable polymorphism can arise because rewards are higher when partners vary in quality than when there is only one type of partner. Partner quality, therefore, undergoes negative frequency-dependent selection even though there is a preference for high-quality partners. This also shows that partner choice by screening does not need to be totally accurate to be effective-inaccuracies enable both effective screening and the maintenance of variation.

Pair-bonding influences affective state in a monogamous fish species.

In humans, affective states are a key component in pair-bonding, particularly in the early stage of a relationship. Pairing with a high-quality partner elicits positive affective states which, in turn, validate and reinforce the mate choice. Affective states thus strongly affect pair stability and future reproductive success. We propose generalizing the link between affective states and pair-bonding to encompass other monogamous species exhibiting biparental care, chiefly where the reproductive success of the pair critically depends on the coordination between partners. The convict cichlid Amatitlania siquia is a monogamous fish species that forms long-lasting pairs with strong cooperation between parents for parental care. In this species, we showed that females paired with their non-preferred male had lower reproductive success than those paired with their preferred male. We then transposed the judgement bias paradigm, previously used in other animal species, to assess objectively affective states in fishes. Females that were assigned their non-preferred partner exhibited pessimistic bias, which indicates a negative affective state. By contrast, females that were assigned their preferred partner did not exhibit changes in their affective state. Our results highlight that the influence of pair-bonding on affective states is not human-specific and can also be observed in non-human species.

Obstacle to consult a psychiatrist in general hospital: Indonesian perspective

Why do individuals pay costs to punish selfish behavior, even as third-party observers? A large body of research suggests that reputation plays an important role in motivating such third-party punishment (TPP). Here we focus on a recently proposed reputation-based account (Jordan et al., 2016) that invokes costly signaling. This account proposed that “trustworthy type” individuals (who are incentivized to cooperate with others) typically experience lower costs of TPP, and thus that TPP can function as a costly signal of trustworthiness. Specifically, it was argued that some but not all individuals face incentives to cooperate, making them high-quality and trustworthy interaction partners; and, because the same mechanisms that incentivize cooperation also create benefits for using TPP to deter selfish behavior, these individuals are likely to experience reduced costs of punishing selfishness. Here, we extend this conceptual framework by providing a concrete, “from-the-ground-up” model demonstrating how this process could work in the context of repeated interactions incentivizing both cooperation and punishment. We show how individual differences in the probability of future interaction can create types that vary in whether they find cooperation payoff-maximizing (and thus make high-quality partners), as well as in their net costs of TPP – because a higher continuation probability increases the likelihood of receiving rewards from the victim of the punished transgression (thus offsetting the cost of punishing). We also provide a simple model of dispersal that demonstrates how types that vary in their continuation probabilities can stably coexist, because the payoff from remaining in one’s local environment (i.e. not dispersing) decreases with the number of others who stay. Together, this model demonstrates, from the group up, how TPP can serve as a costly signal of trustworthiness arising from exposure to repeated interactions.

Reduced Responsiveness to Volatile Signals Creates a Modular Reward Provisioning in an Obligate Food-for-Protection Mutualism.

Plants in more than 100 families secrete extrafloral nectar (EFN) to establish food-for-protection mutualisms with ants. Facultative ant-plants secrete EFN as a jasmonic acid (JA)-dependent response to attract generalist ants. In contrast, obligate ant-plants like the Central American “Swollen-Thorn Acacias” are colonized by specialized ants, although an individual host can carry ant colonies from different species that differ in the degree of protection they provide. We hypothesized that hosts that associate simultaneously with various partners should produce rewards in a modular manner to preferentially reward high quality partners. To test this hypothesis, we applied JA to distinct leaves and quantified cell wall invertase activity (CWIN; a regulator of nectar secretion) and EFN secretion by these “local” (i.e., treated) and the “systemic” (i.e., non-treated) leaves of the same branch. Both CWIN activity and EFN secretion increased in local and systemic leaves of the facultative ant-plant Acacia cochliacantha, but only in the local leaves of the obligate ant-plant, A. cornigera. The systemic EFN secretion in A. cochliacantha was associated with an enhanced emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Such VOCs function as “external signals” that control systemic defense responses in diverse plant species. Indeed, the headspace of JA-treated branches of A. cochliacantha induced EFN secretion in both plant species, whereas the headspace of A. cornigera caused no detectable induction effect. Analyses of the headspace using GC-MS identified six VOCs in the headspace of A. cochliacantha that were not emitted by A. cornigera. Among these VOCs, β-caryophyllene and (cis)-hexenyl isovalerate have already been reported in other plant species to induce defense traits, including EFN secretion. Our observations underline the importance of VOCs as systemic within-plant signals and show that the modular rewarding in A. cornigera is likely to result from a reduced emission of the systemic signal, rather than from a reduced responsiveness to the signal. We suggest that modular rewarding allows hosts to restrict the metabolic investment to specific partners and to efficiently sanction potential exploiters.