scholarly journals How the Zebra got its Rump Stripes: Salience at Distance and in Motion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Muhl-Richardson ◽  
Maximillian G Parker ◽  
Greg Davis
Keyword(s):  
Selective Pressure ◽  
Exogenous Attention ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Mesopic Vision ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Effective Deterrent ◽  
Benefits And Costs ◽  
Plains Zebra ◽  
Head Neck ◽  
Striking Effect

Zebras' stripes cannot protect them from predators, Darwin concluded, and current consensus tends to support his view1,2. In principle, stripes could support crypsis or aposematism, could dazzle, confuse or disrupt predators' perception3-8, yet no such effects are manifest in predator-prey interactions9-11. Instead, narrow stripes covering zebras' head, neck, limbs and flanks are an effective deterrent to tabanids12, vectors for equine disease13,14. Accordingly, while other potential benefits, e.g., thermoregulation15,16 and intraspecific communication17, cannot be excluded, zebra stripes likely evolved primarily to deter parasites18-20. Rump stripes, however, do not fit this, or any extant view. Typically horizontal and broader in sub-species with width variation, they are ill-suited to crypsis or parasite-deterrence12 and vary with hyaena threat18, perhaps shaped by an additional selective pressure. We observed that rump (and rear-flank) stripes remain highly conspicuous when viewed in motion or at distance, while other stripes do not. To study this striking effect, we filtered images of zebra to simulate acuity limitations in lion and hyaena photopic and mesopic vision. For mountain zebra and plains zebra without shadow striping, rump stripes were the most conspicuous image regions according to computational salience models, corroborated by human observers' judgements of maximally attention-capturing image locations, which were strongly biased toward the rear. By hijacking exogenous attention mechanisms to force predator attention to the rear, salient rump stripes confer benefits to zebra, estimated here in pursuit simulations. Benefits of rump stripe salience may counteract anti-parasite benefits and costs of conspicuity to shape rump and shadow stripe variation.

EU merger review of the acquisition of non-controlling minority shareholdings: where to now?

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-92
Author(s):  
Frank Montag ◽  
Mary Wilks
Keyword(s):  
White Paper ◽  
Merger Control ◽  
Eu Merger Control ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
One Year ◽  
Minority Shareholdings ◽  
Minority Interests ◽  
Policy Proposals ◽  
Benefits And Costs ◽  
The Eu

AbstractOn 9 July 2014, the European Commission (the Commission) published its White Paper “Towards more effective EU merger control”, which reviewed the operation of the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) ten years after the introduction of the substantive test of “significant impediment to substantial competition” (SIEC) and proposed certain specific improvements, including the review of non-controlling minority interests under the EUMR. The 2014 White Paper followed approximately one year of consultation with Member States and interested parties, and was accompanied by a Staff Working Document, which analyses in more detail the considerations underlying the policy proposals in the 2014 White Paper, and an Impact Assessment, which analyses the potential benefits and costs of the various policy options considered.Less than six months after the consultation on the 2014 White Paper closed, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager indicated that the Commission is reconsidering its proposals to allow it to review the acquisition of non-controlling minority shareholdings under the EUMR. This decision has been welcomed by many in the business and legal community as the “targeted transparency system” proposed by the Commission had raised a number of concerns regarding proportionality, legal certainty, cost and administrative burden.Whilst we await the Commission’s next move, this article considers whether non-controlling minority shareholdings should be subject to EU merger control and the extent to which the Commission’s originally envisaged system adequately dealt with the issues it sought to address. This article also proposes a number of principles that the authors suggest should be taken into account when designing a balanced system of merger review for acquisitions of non-controlling minority shareholdings in which the burden of the additional review is proportionate to the goals pursued.

scholarly journals Does Concealing a Sexual Minority Identity Prevent Exposure to Prejudice?

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1056-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin X. Goh ◽  
Daniel N. Kort ◽  
Avery M. Thurston ◽  
Lina R. Benson ◽  
Cheryl R. Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Minority ◽  
Sexual Minorities ◽  
Null Model ◽  
The Self ◽  
Protective Properties ◽  
Intergroup Interactions ◽  
Bayesian Inferences ◽  
Sexual Orientations ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Benefits And Costs

Concealing a stigmatized identity is considered self-protective in that it presumably decreases exposure to bias during intergroup interactions relative to disclosing the identity. We conducted two studies exploring sexual minorities’ expectations about the self-protective properties of concealment and the reality concerning whether concealment prevents exposure to bias. In Study 1, half of sexual minorities who imagined interacting with a straight peer chose to conceal their identity, and this was predicted by the belief that concealment carries protective benefits. Study 2 randomly assigned sexual minorities to reveal or conceal their sexual orientations in actual interactions with straight peers. Neither sexual minority partners nor independent sexual minority coders perceived less bias among straight partners who interacted with sexual minorities concealing versus disclosing their identities. This was confirmed with Bayesian inferences demonstrating more evidence for the null model than the alternative. We discuss the potential benefits and costs of disclosure.

Dams: Effects of Hydrological Infrastructure on Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-148
Author(s):  
Andrew Dillon ◽  
Ram Fishman
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
The Body ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Benefits And Costs ◽  
Distributional Impacts

Hydrological investments, particularly irrigation dams, have multiple potential benefits for economic development. Dams also have financial, environmental, and distributional impacts that can affect their benefits and costs. This article reviews the evidence on the impact of dams on economic development, focusing on the levels and variability of agricultural productivity, and its effect on poverty, health, electricity generation, and flood control. We also review the evidence on irrigation efficiency and collective action of dam maintenance. Throughout the discussion, we highlight the empirical challenges that restrict the body of causally interpretable impact estimates and areas in which the evidence is particularly thin. We conclude with a discussion of emerging issues pertaining to the long-term sustainability of dams’ impacts and suggest directions for future research.

Internationalization of Higher Education: Potential Benefits and Costs

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahira Jibeen ◽  
Masha Asad Khan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Quality Education ◽  
Internationalization Of Higher Education ◽  
Quality Of Education ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Benefits And Costs

<div><p class="Els-Abstract-head">Abstract</p></div><p>Internationalization of higher education is the top stage of international relations among universities and it is no longer regarded as a goal in itself, but as a means to improve the quality of education.  The knowledge translation and acquisition, mobilization of talent in support of global research and enchantment of the curriculum with international content are considered to be the benefits of internationalization of higher education. Though, internationalization holds many positives to higher education, there are grave risks associated with this multifaceted and growing phenomenon. Negative aspects include commercial profit, academic colonization and difficulty in ensuring quality education. The current review has implications for educational policy makers to ensure positive and reciprocal benefits to the higher education institutions and the countries concerned.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Climate change and non-stationary population processes in fisheries management

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 1297-1305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cody S. Szuwalski ◽  
Anne B. Hollowed
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Fishery Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Stationary Population ◽  
Stock Assessments ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Population Processes ◽  
Benefits And Costs ◽  
Spawning Biomass

Abstract The potential influence of climate change on the future distribution and abundance of fish (and therefore commercial fisheries and food security) is increasingly recognized in the fishery management community. A changing climate will likely have differing effects on different species; some will flourish, some will flounder. Management targets for fishing mortality and spawning biomass are often calculated by assuming stationary population processes, but under climate change, this assumption may be violated. Non-stationary population processes can introduce bias into estimates of biomass from stock assessments and calculations of target fishing mortalities and biomasses. However, few accepted frameworks exist for incorporating the changing influence of the environment on exploited populations into management strategies. Identifying changes in population processes due to environmental influences is important in order to enable climate-enhanced management strategy evaluations to elucidate the potential benefits and costs of changing management targets. Cost/benefit analyses will also be useful when coincidentally caught species respond differently to environmental change.

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