Modeling Aggregate Choice for Form and Function Through Metaconjoint Analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Sylcott ◽  
Jonathan Cagan
Keyword(s):  
Product Attributes ◽  
Holdout Sample ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Form Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Relationship

In the previous work, meta-attributes have been used to model the relationship between two groups of disparate product attributes. There, preference for form, function, and the relationship between the two were modeled for individual consumers. However, this approach is limited as designers are often called on to choose a design that best appeals to a group of consumers, not individuals. This work expands on the concept and makes it more generally applicable by adapting metaconjoint to model aggregate choice for consumer groups. The results from this work show that a metaconjoint approach can be used to model aggregate choice for form and function and can yield better results on holdout sample predictions than form or function alone.

scholarly journals Ecomorphology of Neotropical Electric Fishes: An Integrative Approach to Testing the Relationships between Form, Function, and Trophic Ecology

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K M Evans ◽  
L Y Kim ◽  
B A Schubert ◽  
J S Albert
Keyword(s):  
Resource Utilization ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Form Function ◽  
Electric Fishes ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Relationship

SynopsisThe relationship between form and function is thought to play an integral role in structuring broad-scale patterns of morphological evolution and resource utilization. In ecomorphological studies, mechanical performance is widely understood to constrain the evolution of form and function. However, the relationship between form, function, and resource utilization is less clear. Additionally, seasonal fluctuations in resource availability may further complicate patterns of resource use. How organisms cope with these complexities, and the effect of these factors on broadscale patterns of morphological evolution is also poorly understood. Here we use three-dimensional geometric morphometrics, biomechanics, stable isotope analysis, and gut-content analysis to study trophic evolution in a clade of riverine-adapted electric fishes from a region with high seasonal variability; the Amazon River. We find significant and phylogenetically structured relationships among measures of trophic ecology and skull shape. We also recover a significant relationship between the mechanical advantage of the mandible and trophic position, where species feeding at higher trophic levels have narrower jaws with lower mechanical advantages, and species feeding at lower trophic levels have deeper jaws with higher mechanical advantages. Our results indicate that selection is driving the evolution of mandible shape and performance toward specialization on different trophic ecologies.

scholarly journals Understanding Design Aesthetics beyond Functional Beauty Accounts

2019 ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Lucía Jiménez Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Integral Model ◽  
Aesthetic Appreciation ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Form Function ◽  
Actual Design ◽  
Design Objects ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract: Design is presented as an apt object of aesthetic appreciation. The nature of its aesthetic dimension will be developed in terms of the relationship between form and function. Specially, by looking at the role that knowledge about function plays in our design aesthetic judgements. Then, I will present the dominant view about the aesthetic value of design coming from functional beauty accounts. Finally, in the last section, I will focus upon some problems derived from the aforementioned integral model form-function in design aesthetics. By means of practical cases, I will point to the narrowness of functional beauty accounts and its inability to include a broader range of actual design objects and their relevant design aesthetic properties. 

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) of DNA and RNA

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 34-35
Author(s):  
Patricia G. Arscott ◽  
Gil Lee ◽  
Victor A. Bloomfield ◽  
D. Fennell Evans
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Structures ◽  
Inorganic Materials ◽  
Resolving Power ◽  
Scanning Tunneling ◽  
Tunneling Microscopy ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Dna And Rna ◽  
Calf Thymus ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Relationship

STM is one of the most promising techniques available for visualizing the fine details of biomolecular structure. It has been used to map the surface topography of inorganic materials in atomic dimensions, and thus has the resolving power not only to determine the conformation of small molecules but to distinguish site-specific features within a molecule. That level of detail is of critical importance in understanding the relationship between form and function in biological systems. The size, shape, and accessibility of molecular structures can be determined much more accurately by STM than by electron microscopy since no staining, shadowing or labeling with heavy metals is required, and there is no exposure to damaging radiation by electrons. Crystallography and most other physical techniques do not give information about individual molecules.We have obtained striking images of DNA and RNA, using calf thymus DNA and two synthetic polynucleotides, poly(dG-me5dC)·poly(dG-me5dC) and poly(rA)·poly(rU).

scholarly journals An integrative method for testing form–function linkages and reconstructed evolutionary pathways of masticatory specialization

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (107) ◽  
pp. 20150184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Jack Tseng ◽  
John J. Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Deep Time ◽  
Integrate Form ◽  
Functional Changes ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Form Function ◽  
Evolutionary Pathways ◽  
And Function

Morphology serves as a ubiquitous proxy in macroevolutionary studies to identify potential adaptive processes and patterns. Inferences of functional significance of phenotypes or their evolution are overwhelmingly based on data from living taxa. Yet, correspondence between form and function has been tested in only a few model species, and those linkages are highly complex. The lack of explicit methodologies to integrate form and function analyses within a deep-time and phylogenetic context weakens inferences of adaptive morphological evolution, by invoking but not testing form–function linkages. Here, we provide a novel approach to test mechanical properties at reconstructed ancestral nodes/taxa and the strength and direction of evolutionary pathways in feeding biomechanics, in a case study of carnivorous mammals. Using biomechanical profile comparisons that provide functional signals for the separation of feeding morphologies, we demonstrate, using experimental optimization criteria on estimation of strength and direction of functional changes on a phylogeny, that convergence in mechanical properties and degree of evolutionary optimization can be decoupled. This integrative approach is broadly applicable to other clades, by using quantitative data and model-based tests to evaluate interpretations of function from morphology and functional explanations for observed macroevolutionary pathways.

Relationship of Skeletal Muscle Atrophy to Functional Status: A Systematic Research Review

2000 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Michael
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Atrophy ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
Functional Limitation ◽  
Skeletal Muscle Atrophy ◽  
Research Review ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

In the realm of muscle atrophy research, many studies address minute details of molecular function but few examine the effects of atrophy in terms of mobility, strength, endurance, and performance of activities of daily living. The relationship between impairment and functional limitation is the focus of this research review. A wide array of studies constitute this area of inquiry, including investigations as diverse and widely disparate as molecular chemistry and space travel and populations as different as rats, healthy young men, and elderly women. Thirty-four studies were selected based on their fit with the Enabling-Disabling Model. Three paradigms of atrophy and function emerged. Adaptation reflects the plastic nature of muscle when placed under certain conditions, ranging from disuse to high-resistance exercise. Injury/loss describes damage to muscle tissue from ischemia, medications, or reloading or reperfusion trauma. Also in this category is the loss of muscle that is seen with aging. Integrity relates to the muscle’s tendency to protect itself and maintain structural adjacencies and cellular proportions. Based on the 3 muscle research paradigms, the relationship of muscle atrophy to function is portrayed as a bidirectional interaction wherein form and function have an influence on each other by way of physical changes, including those of adaptation, injury/loss, or integrity. A conceptual model is constructed to reflect this relationship.

Verb inflection in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit and auxiliation patterns in French and Italian

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nunzio La Fauci ◽  
Liana Tronci
Keyword(s):  
Complex Interaction ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Verb Inflection ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Verb Inflections ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Relationship

This paper deals with the complex interaction between form and function in the verb morphosyntax of four Indo-European languages (French, Italian, Ancient Greek and Sanskrit). Beyond the difference in form, auxiliation patterns in French and Italian, and verb inflections in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit correlate, thanks to the agreement for number and person, to the expression of the relationship with the Subject. The different auxiliation patterns (sum and habeo) and the different inflections (middle and active) correlate to different properties of the Subject. In particular, these forms depend on the syntactic opposition between middle and non-middle. The ways of this dependency are regulated and systematic, although they appear fuzzy and chaotic, not only if the four languages are compared to each other, but also if different morphosyntactic combinations, inside the same language, are concerned.

Towards a pragmatic approach to the study of languages in contact

Pragmatics ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan A. Argente ◽  
Lluís Payrató
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Languages In Contact ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interactive Strategies ◽  
And Function ◽  
Adaptation Processes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
New Distribution

The study of language contact has been traditionally carried out from a structural perspective (synchronic or diachronic), from a sociolinguistic perspective and/or from a rather psychological perspective, centered on the linguistic and communicative competence of the multilingual individual. However, a great number of linguistic and sociolinguistic topics that appear in language contact situations may be productively tackled from a pragmatic viewpoint. This pragmatic perspective takes into account linguistic use in communication contexts and raises, at a different level, questions that deal with the structures and the evolution of the codes in contact. The main aim of this presentation is the analysis of some of the specific problems that arise in given language contact situations from a pragmatic perspective, considering the adaptation processes of the speakers, their particular interactive strategies and the social meaning generated. Understanding pragmatics in its original sense, i.e. as the study of the relationship between linguistic signs and speakers (users of certain resources), these phenomena should be understood as the result of speakers’ adaptation to changing sociocultural circumstances. This adaptation creates a new distribution of the verbal resources (or linguistic economy) of the community and, consequently, modifies its varieties as far as form and function are concerned.

English as a Lingua Franca: form follows function

English Today ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 58-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessia Cogo
Keyword(s):  
Research Field ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The World ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTIn this paper I wish to respond to the article published in ET94 by Saraceni while at the same time providing some clarifications concerning the concept of English as a Lingua Franca (henceforth ELF). In his article Saraceni raises three main questions (and a number of related debatable comments which I will quickly deal with in my final remarks) regarding: 1) the nature of ELF and its speakers, 2) the relationship between ELF and the World Englishes (henceforth WE) paradigm, and 3) the distinction between form and function. I will address each of these questions, and in so doing consider a number of notions concerning the ELF research field.

scholarly journals Examining Form and Function of Dendritic Spines

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin F. H. Lee ◽  
Cary Soares ◽  
Jean-Claude Béïque
Keyword(s):  
Dendritic Spines ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Laser Scanning Microscopy ◽  
Spine Morphology ◽  
Functional Changes ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Spine Structure ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Relationship

The majority of fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system takes place at protrusions along dendrites called spines. Dendritic spines are highly heterogeneous, both morphologically and functionally. Not surprisingly, there has been much speculation and debate on the relationship between spine structure and function. The advent of multi-photon laser-scanning microscopy has greatly improved our ability to investigate the dynamic interplay between spine form and function. Regulated structural changes occur at spines undergoing plasticity, offering a mechanism to account for the well-described correlation between spine size and synapse strength. In turn, spine structure can influence the degree of biochemical and perhaps electrical compartmentalization at individual synapses. Here, we review the relationship between dendritic spine morphology, features of spine compartmentalization and synaptic plasticity. We highlight emerging molecular mechanisms that link structural and functional changes in spines during plasticity, and also consider circumstances that underscore some divergence from a tight structure-function coupling. Because of the intricate influence of spine structure on biochemical and electrical signalling, activity-dependent changes in spine morphology alone may thus contribute to the metaplastic potential of synapses. This possibility asserts a role for structural dynamics in neuronal information storage and aligns well with current computational models.

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