X-architecture Steiner minimal tree algorithm based on multi-strategy optimization discrete differential evolution

Global routing is an important link in very large scale integration (VLSI) design. As the best model of global routing, X-architecture Steiner minimal tree (XSMT) has a good performance in wire length optimization. XSMT belongs to non-Manhattan structural model, and its construction process cannot be completed in polynomial time, so the generation of XSMT is an NP hard problem. In this paper, an X-architecture Steiner minimal tree algorithm based on multi-strategy optimization discrete differential evolution (XSMT-MoDDE) is proposed. Firstly, an effective encoding strategy, a fitness function of XSMT, and an initialization strategy of population are proposed to record the structure of XSMT, evaluate the cost of XSMT and obtain better initial particles, respectively. Secondly, elite selection and cloning strategy, multiple mutation strategies, and adaptive learning factor strategy are presented to improve the search process of discrete differential evolution algorithm. Thirdly, an effective refining strategy is proposed to further improve the quality of the final Steiner tree. Finally, the results of the comparative experiments prove that XSMT-MoDDE can get the shortest wire length so far, and achieve a better optimization degree in the larger-scale problem.

Darwinian Selection Discriminates Young Athletes: the Relative Age Effect in Relation to Sporting Performance

Background The relative age effect (RAE) is a worldwide phenomenon, allowing sport participation and elite selection to be based on birthdate distribution. Negative consequences include both a narrow, non-optimal elite selection and negative health effects on entire populations. This study investigated the RAE and athletic performance in multiple individual sports in Sweden. Methods Birthdates of athletes born between the years 1922 and 2015 were collected across 4-month periods (tertiles: T1, T2, T3) from cross-country skiing (N = 136,387), orienteering (N = 41,164), athletics (N = 14,503), alpine skiing (N = 508), E-sports (N = 47,030), and chess (N = 4889). In total, data from 244,560 athletes (women: N = 79,807, men: N = 164,753) was compared to the complete parent population of 5,390,954 births in Sweden during the same years. Chi-squared statistics compared parent and cohort distributions stratified by sport, sex, and age. Results A significantly skewed distribution of birthdates was present in all sports, both sexes, and most age groups. The largest RAEs are seen in children where T1 often constitutes 40–50% and T3, 20–25% of the population. In E-sports, an inversed RAE was seen in adults. In most investigated sports, birthdate distribution was correlated to performance in children but not in adults. Conclusions Skewed birthdate distributions were consistently prevalent in all investigated individual sports in Sweden, both physically demanding and cognitive/skill-based. As sport participation is related to total level of physical activity, both present and future, failing to address the RAE issue at an early age will result not only in a narrow and arbitrary selection for adult elite athletes but also in a negative impact on public health.

RosBREED: bridging the chasm between discovery and application to enable DNA-informed breeding in rosaceous crops

The Rosaceae crop family (including almond, apple, apricot, blackberry, peach, pear, plum, raspberry, rose, strawberry, sweet cherry, and sour cherry) provides vital contributions to human well-being and is economically significant across the U.S. In 2003, industry stakeholder initiatives prioritized the utilization of genomics, genetics, and breeding to develop new cultivars exhibiting both disease resistance and superior horticultural quality. However, rosaceous crop breeders lacked certain knowledge and tools to fully implement DNA-informed breeding—a “chasm” existed between existing genomics and genetic information and the application of this knowledge in breeding. The RosBREED project (“Ros” signifying a Rosaceae genomics, genetics, and breeding community initiative, and “BREED”, indicating the core focus on breeding programs), addressed this challenge through a comprehensive and coordinated 10-year effort funded by the USDA-NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative. RosBREED was designed to enable the routine application of modern genomics and genetics technologies in U.S. rosaceous crop breeding programs, thereby enhancing their efficiency and effectiveness in delivering cultivars with producer-required disease resistances and market-essential horticultural quality. This review presents a synopsis of the approach, deliverables, and impacts of RosBREED, highlighting synergistic global collaborations and future needs. Enabling technologies and tools developed are described, including genome-wide scanning platforms and DNA diagnostic tests. Examples of DNA-informed breeding use by project participants are presented for all breeding stages, including pre-breeding for disease resistance, parental and seedling selection, and elite selection advancement. The chasm is now bridged, accelerating rosaceous crop genetic improvement.

Electric distribution network reconfiguration for power loss reduction based on runner root algorithm

This paper proposes a method for solving the distribution network reconfiguration (NR) problem based on runner root algorithm (RRA) for reducing active power loss. The RRA is a recent developed metaheuristic algorithm inspired from runners and roots of plants to search water and minerals. RRA is equipped with four tools for searching the optimal solution. In which, the random jumps and the restart of population are used for exploring and the elite selection and random jumps around the current best solution are used for exploiting. The effectiveness of the RRA is evaluated on the 16 and 69-node system. The obtained results are compared with particle swarm optimization and other methods. The numerical results show that the RRA is the potential method for the NR problem.

The Misuse of Numbers

Mass democracies such as the United States, that have embraced meritocratic criteria for elite selection and mass opportunity, are tempted develop impersonal, objective, mechanical, measures of quality. Why? The seductiveness of such measures is that they all turn measures of quality into measures of quantity, thereby allowing comparison across cases with an apparently single metric. This chapter attempts to sketch that logic and argue that it is irremediably and fatally flawed.

Agricultural Trade and Undernourishment, Nutrition, and Dietary Diversity

The results described in this chapter are of the investigation based on the collaborative research of scientists from the three Russian universities (Omsk State Agrarian University, Bashkir State Agrarian University, and Orenburg State University) which started in 2014. The authors assess various indicators of food safety. The study includes physical and chemical properties, technological characteristics, and chemical composition of new elite selection cultivars of pea (“Pisum arvense”, the harvest of 2018, Bashkir Scientific and Research Institute of Agriculture) and haricot bean (harvest of 2018, Omsk State Agrarian University). Most of the samples have increased phytochemical capacity and high protein concentration (21.15-22.49% in haricot bean; 19.38-23.75% in pea). The authors demonstrate that these cultivars can be used for the enrichment of foodstuff and the creation of new functional foods.

The Icelandic power structure revisited

Political scientists have developed three main interpretations of the Icelandic power structure – namely, traditional elitism, competitive elitism and professional pluralism. These can be seen to some extent as successive regimes, with traditional elitism prevalent in the nineteenth century, competitive elitism for much of the twentieth century and professional pluralism in more recent decades. However, their relative strength at different times, and the extent to which they still predominate, remains uncertain. This article evaluates how the different models reflect on the position of the political elite over time and how helpful they are in understanding contemporary power structures. Data on the composition of the political elite on one hand, and eight contemporary elite groups on the other are analysed in order to evaluate elite openness, elite selection and network patterns. The results provide support for conventional interpretations, in that competitive elitism replaced traditional elitism in important respects during the twentieth century, but has itself been replaced in many respects by professional pluralism. Accordingly, professional pluralism is characteristic of the contemporary power structure, with relatively open access to elite groups, strong influence of meritocratic and professional criteria and network patterns which are concentrated within, rather than across, spheres of influence. Remnants of traditional elite privilege and competitive elitism, where political parties play a central role, can be found in a number of areas, and professional pluralism has important elitist features.

Pro-vitamin A carotenoids stability and bioaccessibility from elite selection of biofortified cassava roots (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) processed to traditional flours and porridges

The effects of fermentation and thermal processing on the stability and bioaccessibility of pVAC from elite selections of biofortified cassava roots were assessed to determine the potential for genotype x processing effects.