Local Dominance Research Articles

Conformity or contrast? Simultaneous effect of grademates and classmates on students’ educational aspirations

This study examines the relationship between peers' cognitive abilities and students' educational aspirations. The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) predicts that compared with equally able counterparts, students tend to have higher educational aspirations when the average ability of their surrounding peers is relatively low. Meanwhile, the local dominance effect claims that the association changes between educational aspirations and peers' ability from relatively local to relatively distant peers; closer distance leads to stronger associations. In addition, some empirical findings contradict the notion that students' aspirations are positively associated with their high-achieving classmates. This study combines the BFLPE and local dominance effect into one theoretical framework and explores whether the “higher aspiration-inferior peers” hypothesis stands at the class and grade levels. Using data from the 2014–2015 China Education Panel Survey and employing multilevel regression modeling, this study finds opposite associations in class and grade. The findings indicate that when classmates' cognitive ability is controlled, students feel negative pressure from their grademates. Better performance exhibited by their grademates results in their relatively low educational aspirations. However, at the class level, the negative correlation by peer comparison with excellent classmates is offset by positive associations brought about by these peers. The findings of this study support the hypotheses that students' educational aspirations are positively correlated with their peers’ cognitive abilities as long as their local peers are relatively high achievers, and their distant peers are relatively low achievers.

Blockchain-Based Information Sharing Security for the Internet of Things

The Blockchain (BCT) is the first decentralized ledger to include a trust mechanism in its design. It establishes a trustworthy framework for distributed commands by using data redundancy at several nodes. Conspicuously, the current study presents a BCT-based lightweight IoT information exchange security architecture for data exchange. The proposed technique uses a dual chain methodology, namely transaction and data BCT working together to provide distributed storage and tamper-proofing of data. Moreover, Transaction BCT is enhanced by a consensus algorithm using a practical Byzantine fault-tolerant (PBFT) mechanism. The proposed algorithm can increase data registering efficiency, transactions, and privacy protection BCT. It is deduced that local dominance can be avoided using the dynamic game strategy of node cooperation. Furthermore, by reporting the node’s global reputation value, the status of the unknown node may be approximated. The high-trust measure is utilized to adjust the weight of the affected node in the combined node-set, leading to the Bayesian equilibrium. The proposed model is validated in several experimental simulations and results are compared with state-of-the-art techniques. Based on the results, enhanced performance is registered for the proposed techniques in terms of temporal delay, statistical efficiency, reliability, and stability.

A Prize for the Village Ruling Class: “Village Funds” and Class Dynamics in Rural Indonesia

The Village Fund in Indonesia has been praised as a breakthrough policy in eradicating rural poverty. This article, based on a study of a “best practice village” in central Java, however, reveals that the Village Fund has simply facilitated the triumph of the village ruling class. Though village political institutions have adopted good governance measures (participation, transparency, accountability, and so on), the poor remain largely powerless and are unable to gain a significant share of the Village Fund. In contrast to existing “elite capture” literature which has often highlighted local elite domination, this article moves beyond this limited view. By looking at the economic bases of the powerful actors occupying village political positions and institutions, this article shows how members of the village ruling class are primarily capitalist farmers whose power lies in land ownership and agricultural commodity production. As a result, development projects in rural areas continue to be the “prize” for the village ruling class when there is no re-organisation in the structure of land ownership and production relations in the countryside.

Biochar mitigates allelopathic effects in temperate trees.

Many invasive and some native tree species in North America exhibit strong allelopathic effects that may contribute to their local dominance. Pyrogenic carbon (PyC; including soot, charcoal, and black carbon) is produced by the incomplete combustion of organic matter and is widespread in forest soils. Many forms of PyC have sorptive properties that can reduce the bioavailability of allelochemicals. We investigated the potential for PyC produced by controlled pyrolysis of biomass ("biochar" [BC]) to reduce the allelopathic effects of black walnut (Juglans nigra) and Norway maple (Acer platanoides), a common native tree species and a widespread invasive species in North America, respectively. Seedling growth of two native tree species (Acer saccharinum [silver maple] and Betula papyrifera [paper birch]) in response to leaf-litter-incubated soils was examined; litter incubation treatments included leaves of black walnut, Norway maple, and a nonallelopathic species (Tilia americana [American basswood]) in a factorial design with varying dosages; responses to the known primary allelochemical of black walnut (juglone) were also examined. Juglone and leaf litter of both allelopathic species strongly suppressed seedling growth. BC treatments substantially mitigated these effects, consistent with the sorption of allelochemicals; in contrast no positive effects of BC were observed in leaf litter treatments involving controls or additions of nonallelopathic leaf litter. Treatments of leaf litter and juglone with BC increased the total biomass of silver maple by ~35% and in some cases more than doubled the biomass of paper birch. We conclude that BCs have the capacity to largely counteract allelopathic effects in temperate forest systems, suggesting the effects of natural PyC in determining forest community structure, and also the applied use of BC as a soil amendment to mitigate allelopathic effects of invasive tree species.

Editorial Message

I n January 2023, the Neurosciences Journal will complete 28 years of continuous publication. Since 1996, the journal has embarked on a long, endless journey and has taken on this weighty expedition. We are struggling to achieve global, regional, and local dominance. The length of time required for

Acculturation and Local Dominance: A Study in the Context of Rabaris of Gujarat

A person or group can become more or less accustomed to particular beliefs and practises of a culture that is not their own through the process of cultural contact and exchange known as acculturation. When one group moves from one place to another, this process becomes functional. In such a circumstance, it is inevitable that immigrant groups will progressively acquire cultural aspects of the host culture while retaining parts of their own. This illustrates the extent of their integration into a new community and the preservation of their distinct culture. Acculturation has been a social phenomenon for several migrant populations in India. The Rabaris were originally a nomadic tribe prominently inhabiting the regions of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab in India. They were engaged in camel and cattle herding. The origin of Rabaris is often traced from Iran via Afghanistan and Baluchistan. It is believed that they migrated to India in the 4th century. The belief of Rabaris about their origin takes a mythological turn and reflects the actual impact of adaptation of cultural traits of Hinduism, which is inherent in their belief and overall culture. The Rabaris of Gavviyar Village in Surat are a small settled group engaged in pastoral pursuits. This paper attempts to highlight the extent of acculturation among Rabaris and the impact of the local dominance on their lives.

The global evaluation strategy for many‐objective partial collaborative computation offloading problem

SummaryWith the number of services expanding in the Internet of Things (IoT), the limited resources of user terminals are insufficient to satisfy the computation needs of all running services. Therefore, we design a collaborative computation‐offloading model (CCOM) composed of multiple servers and task offloading modes to solve the problem by offloading tasks from resource‐constrained terminals to other computing entities, which achieves the following four objectives: model execution time minimization, task execution time minimization, energy consumption minimization, and most efficient device workload. And the global evaluation strategy based on angle and distance is proposed to address the individual selection problems caused by the overly localized Pareto dominance relationship and objective conflicts in the many‐objective evolutionary algorithms. In simulations, the strategy achieves the best Inverted Generation Distance (IGD) performance on 22 benchmark test problems based on Wilcoxon's rank sum statistical test and improves performance in the four objectives above by 18%, 31%, 20%, and 42%, respectively. Finally, we think that the strategy can provide adequate offloading performance for decision‐makers.

Detection and molecular characterization of VRE isolates in Slovakia from stool samples positive for Clostridioides difficile toxins.

The study aimed to identify colonized patients as a possible source of eventual VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci) infection from stool samples positive for glutamate dehydrogenase antigen, as well as for Clostridioides difficile toxins A and B. The study was carried out from 7/2020 to 9/2021. Stool samples were grown in a brain heart infusion medium with a gram-positive non-spore-forming bacteria supplement under aerobic conditions. The samples for VRE identification were grown on CHROMID® VRE agar, and the MICs for vancomycin and teicoplanin were also estimated. The presence of the vanA/vanB genes was tested using the PCR method. The total number of 113 stool samples positive for Clostridioides difficile toxins was analyzed. Of these samples, 44 isolates with VRE characters were identified. The most prevalent isolates in our set of isolates were Enterococcus faecium (27 isolates, 62%), Enterococcus faecalis (9 isolates, 21%), Enterococcus solitarius (4 isolates, 9%), Enterococcus durans (2 isolates, 4%), 1 isolate Enterococcus sulfurous (2%), and Enterococcus raffinosus (2%). In total, 26 isolates were detected in the study in the presence of vanA genes (24 isolates E. faecium, 2 isolates E. faecalis) and 18 isolates detected in the presence of vanB genes (7 isolates E. faecalis, 4 isolates E. solitarius, 3 isolates E. faecium, 2 isolates E. durans, 1 isolate E. sulfurous, and E. raffinosus). The results of this study showed the local dominance character of the vanA gene of hospital VRE isolates that were carriers of genes associated with high resistance to vancomycin, teicoplanin, and occasionally linezolid.

Do people prefer offshore to onshore wind energy? The role of ownership and intended use

Global investments in offshore wind energy are expected to escalate over the coming decades, fueled by improvements in technology, declining costs, and increasing political support. The complexity, scale, and location of these developments make international ownership and export of electricity more feasible. We examine how the general public's acceptance of wind energy will be affected by a political shift in focus from onshore to nearshore or offshore locations, from local or national dominance of ownership to international dominance, and from meeting local or national needs to meeting international ones. We use a nationwide choice experiment with 1612 individuals in Norway to reveal the preferences for these attributes and apply a mixed logit regression model to estimate the willingness to pay to avoid certain outcomes. We show that, although respondents prefer offshore and nearshore locations to onshore ones, they are even more concerned with maintaining local or national control both through ownership and intended use of the added electricity. Although the preferences for national ownership are strong for both nearshore and offshore alternatives, the preference for meeting national needs becomes less important when wind energy developments are located farther off the coast. Three wind energy scenarios are used to further investigate these preferences: 1) international consortium for offshore wind energy, 2) national alliances for nearshore wind energy, and 3) local energy communities for onshore wind energy. We also discuss how a shift to nearshore and offshore wind energy can be enabled by paying greater attention to people's concerns over national control of wind energy resources.

Wavelet representation of singular integral operators

This article develops a novel approach to the representation of singular integral operators of Calderón–Zygmund type in terms of continuous model operators, in both the classical and the bi-parametric setting. The representation is realized as a finite sum of averages of wavelet projections of either cancellative or noncancellative type, which are themselves Calderón–Zygmund operators. Both properties are out of reach for the established dyadic-probabilistic technique. Unlike their dyadic counterparts, our representation reflects the additional kernel smoothness of the operator being analyzed. Our representation formulas lead naturally to a new family of T(1) theorems on weighted Sobolev spaces whose smoothness index is naturally related to kernel smoothness. In the one parameter case, we obtain the Sobolev space analogue of the \(A_2\) theorem; that is, sharp dependence of the Sobolev norm of T on the weight characteristic is obtained in the full range of exponents. In the bi-parametric setting, where local average sparse domination is not generally available, we obtain quantitative \(A_p\) estimates which are best known, and sharp in the range \(\max \{p,p'\}\ge 3\) for the fully cancellative case.

Predominant landward skewing of tidal meanders

AbstractHighly sinuous, high‐amplitude meander bends shaped by unidirectional, downstream‐oriented flows in alluvial rivers are predominantly upstream‐skewed, offering an opportunity to infer flow direction from meander planforms. In contrast, it remains unclear whether tidal meander bends formed by bidirectional, potentially asymmetric flows display similar skewing preferences, despite being characterized by planform dynamics similar to their alluvial counterparts. Geomorphological characteristics of meandering channels in different tidal environments thus merit further research. Here we used satellite images to measure meandering patterns for 232 purely tidal channels located at 25 study sites worldwide, to disclose imprints of tidal flows embedded in meander planforms. Our study sites span micro‐ to macro‐tidal settings characterized by different tidal flow asymmetries, and include both vegetated mangrove swamps and salt marshes, as well as unvegetated intertidal flats. We found that tidal meanders exhibit morphological features consistently scaled to local channel width regardless of tidal regimes, and that they are typically less sinuous than fluvial bends. Exponential landward reduction of channel widths (i.e. funnelling) is counterbalanced by a linear increase in width‐adjusted bend amplitude that is more pronounced in ebb‐dominated environments. More importantly, the majority of tidal bends appear to be preferentially landward‐skewed, and the degree of skewing increases as bend sinuosity and amplitude increase as well. Although the mechanism controlling such skewing preference remains elusive and further fieldwork is needed to elucidate this point, we hypothesize that it might be related to the local dominance of ebb flows characterizing most tidal environments. Overall, our results demonstrate a statistical preference for landward skewing in high‐amplitude, highly sinuous tidal meander bends that does not depend on the site‐specific characteristics of the considered tidal environment and can be potentially employed to infer the direction of tidal flows based exclusively on remotely sensed meander planforms.

A Batch-dynamic Suitor Algorithm for Approximating Maximum Weighted Matching

Matching is a popular combinatorial optimization problem with numerous applications in both commercial and scientific fields. Computing optimal matchings w.r.t. cardinality or weight can be done in polynomial time; still, this task can become infeasible for very large networks. Thus, several approximation algorithms that trade solution quality for a faster running time have been proposed. For networks that change over time, fully dynamic algorithms that efficiently maintain an approximation of the optimal matching after a graph update have been introduced as well. However, no semi- or fully dynamic algorithm for (approximate) maximum weighted matching has been implemented. In this article, we focus on the problem of maintaining a \( 1/2 \) -approximation of a maximum weighted matching (MWM) in fully dynamic graphs. Limitations of existing algorithms for this problem are (i) high constant factors in their time complexity, (ii) the fact that none of them supports batch updates, and (iii) the lack of a practical implementation, meaning that their actual performance on real-world graphs has not been investigated. We propose and implement a new batch-dynamic \( 1/2 \) -approximation algorithm for MWM based on the Suitor algorithm and its local edge domination strategy [Manne and Halappanavar, IPDPS 2014]. We provide a detailed analysis of our algorithm and prove its approximation guarantee. Despite having a worst-case running time of \( \mathcal {O}(n + m) \) for a single graph update, our extensive experimental evaluation shows that our algorithm is much faster in practice. For example, compared to a static recomputation with sequential Suitor , single-edge updates are handled up to \( 10^5\times \) to \( 10^6\times \) faster, while batches of \( 10^4 \) edge updates are handled up to \( 10^2\times \) to \( 10^3\times \) faster.

Dominance, diversity, and niche breadth in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities.

Classical theory identifies resource competition as the major structuring force of biotic communities and predicts that (i) levels of dominance and richness in communities are inversely related, (ii) narrow niches allow dense "packing" in niche space and thus promote diversity, and (iii) dominants are generalists with wide niches, such that locally abundant taxa also exhibit wide distributions. Current empirical support, however, is mixed. We tested these expectations using published data on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal community composition worldwide. We recorded the expected negative relationship between dominance and richness and, to a degree, the positive association between local and global dominance. However, contrary to expectations, dominance was pronounced in communities where more specialists were present and, conversely, richness was higher in communities with more generalists. Thus, resource competition and niche packing appear to be of limited importance in AM fungal community assembly; rather, patterns of dominance and diversity seem more consistent with habitat filtering and stochastic processes.

Potential and limitations of LiDAR altimetry in archaeological survey. Copper Age and Bronze Age settlements in southern Iberia

Potential and limitations of LiDAR altimetry in archaeological survey. Copper Age and Bronze Age settlements in southern Iberia

Multi-Objective Optimal Power Flow with efficient Constraint Handling using Hybrid Decomposition and Local Dominance Method

Multi-Objective Optimal Power Flow with efficient Constraint Handling using Hybrid Decomposition and Local Dominance Method

The early SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Senegal was driven by the local emergence of B.1.416 and the introduction of B.1.1.420 from Europe.

Molecular surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is growing in west Africa, especially in the Republic of Senegal. Here, we present a molecular epidemiology study of the early waves of SARS-CoV-2 infections in this country based on Bayesian phylogeographic approaches. Whereas the first wave in mid-2020 was characterized by a significant diversification of lineages and predominance of B.1.416, the second wave in late 2020 was composed primarily of B.1.1.420. Our results indicate that B.1.416 originated in Senegal and was exported mainly to Europe. In contrast, B.1.1.420 was introduced from Italy, gained fitness in Senegal, and then spread worldwide. Since both B.1.416 and B.1.1.420 lineages carry several positive selected mutations in the spike and nucleocapsid genes, each of which may explain their local dominance, their mutation profiles should be carefully monitored. As the pandemic continues to evolve, molecular surveillance in all regions of Africa will play a key role in stemming its spread.

Major Shifts in Sustainable Consumer Behavior in Romania and Retailers’ Priorities in Agilely Adapting to It

The sustainable consumption and integration of digital solutions with respect to sustainable consumption have been encouraged by the new European circular economy action plan. Digital adoption has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic; companies have been challenged to rapidly adapt to the constant evolution of consumer needs and expectations, leading to valuable insights into the advancement of green business practices and a consequent rethinking of their business model. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the major shifts in sustainable consumer behavior on the Romanian retail market within the context of the Green European Deal, and retailers’ priorities in agilely adapting to these significant evolutions. Based on a comprehensive literature review on these major shifts and significant evolutions at the national and international levels, a quantitative study was carried out to evaluate the Romanian retail market and identify the major challenges faced by retailers in dealing with the new set of priorities. The data collection was conducted via a survey used in the retail environment, applied within a Romanian supermarket chain. The Romanian retail sector has a particular configuration, which may have an impact upon the study’s generalizability. Located in Central and Eastern Europe at the crossroads of the EU, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Middle East, Romania is a leading destination for foreign direct investment, and it is recognized for the similarities of its distribution and sales channels, the range of its retail outlets, and the local retail market dominance on the Big Box segment by reputed major retailers. A spectacular evolution is recorded in Romania’s e-commerce market, including from the point of view of the long-standing and memorable traditional relationship between Romania and China which was confirmed more recently by Romanian consumers who prefer to buy online from stores in China. Our consumer research provides retailers with deep consumer insights with regard to their priorities in their agile adaptation. According to our research, Romanian consumers are environmentally concerned consumers, displaying an increased awareness about the important role they play with respect to impacting sustainable production and consumption by adopting green purchase behavior. Our study also points to the fact that retailers, although faced with challenges in targeting consumers with customized messages to reinforce their brand perception on sustainability issues, do pay considerable attention to sustainability as a personal value embraced by consumers and are willing to focus on digitizing their business processes to enable new, sustainable business models.

Acculturation and Local Dominance: A Study in the Context of Rabaris of Gujarat

Acculturation and Local Dominance: A Study in the Context of Rabaris of Gujarat

An Integrated Decision-Making Framework Based on Many-Objective Brain Storming Optimization for Urban Drainage System Design

Many cities around the world face the flooding management problems as extreme rainfall events have become more frequent. It’s of great practical significance to design an effective urban drainage system (UDS) to improve the stormwater runoff quality. An integrated decision-making analysis framework based on many-objective brain storm optimization is proposed to make the optimal design of UDS. Firstly, a generic mathematical model is presented considering five objectives simultaneously. Secondly, an effective many-objective brain storm optimization based on local region dominance (DRP) is designed as the solver of the model and a set of Pareto-optimal solutions are obtained. Thirdly, two kinds of multi-attribute decision analysis methods are introduced to rank the Pareto-optimal solutions. Fourthly, the comparison experiments of a case study with three multi-objective evolutionary algorithms show the promising performance of the integrated decision-making framework and the corresponding optimization algorithm.

Academic self-concept formation and peer-group contagion: Development of the big-fish-little-pond effect in primary-school classrooms and peer groups.

How do peer groups influence academic self-concept formation? We evaluate developmental issues in the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE; negative effects of class-average achievement on math self-concept [MSC]) and its generalizability to peer-group-average achievement (1,017 primary-school students tested in Years 4 and 6, 46 classes, 130 peer groups). The effects of peer-group-average and class-average achievement on MSC were both negative when we considered these two contextual effects separately. However, the effect of peer-group-average became nonsignificant in models with both contextual effects; the negative effect of class-average achievement was relatively unaffected. Results for peer-group-average achievement contradict predictions based on local dominance theory (that the BFLPE should be more negative for peer-group-average achievement than the more local frame of reference, a contrast effect) and social comparison choice studies (that peer-group-average achievement effects should be positive, an assimilation effect). Unsurprisingly, we found BFLPEs based on class-average achievement and gender differences favoring boys in both Years 4 and 6. However, consistent with theories of the cognitive development of social comparison and gender socialization/intensification processes, we also found negative effects of class-average and gender differences favoring boys on change in MSC (MSC in Year 6 controlling for MSC in Year 4) over this critical late-childhood period. Our results support the robustness of the BFLPE based on class-average achievement and developmental processes underpinning it, but do not support the posited effects of peer-group-average achievement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)