bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Authors: Dumontet Charles , Thieblemont Catherine
Published: November 2023

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHL) constitute a diverse set of syndromes characterized by their morphology as well as their immunological, cytogenetic and molecular characteristics. The chances of cure are good in certain subtypes such as diffuse large cell lymphoma (DLCL) with an overall 5-year survival of approximately 60 per cent. Most of the prognostic work in lymphoma, as reflected in this chapter, relates to identifying the predictors of response to therapy. Despite this, lymphoma is still a common cause of cancer death, but little research has been done on prognostic factors in patients likely to be referred to palliative care (those with recurrent disease).
Pain Relief
Authors: Montoya Maria , Bruera Eduardo
Published: November 2023

Pain is one of the major symptoms in patients with advanced cancer, and comprises a heterogeneous group of more than 100 syndromes with varying underlying pathophysiologies. Although in 80 to 90 per cent of patients, pain can be controlled by methods approved by the World Health Organization, at least 25 per cent of cancer patients die in pain, 1–5 mainly because of inadequate assessment, not enough knowledge about pain and its treatment, and physicians, and patients, misconceptions of opioid use.
Cancer-Related Fatigue
Authors: Yavuzsen Tugba , Davis Mellar P
Published: November 2023

Fatigue is a non-specific subjective symptom that is often associated with many chronic illnesses and psychiatric disorders. It is one of the most prevalent cancer related symptoms and has a significant adverse impact on daily function, quality of life (QoL), and survival. There are a limited number of studies addressing the prevalence of fatigue in cancer which varies between 4 to 91 per cent, depending on the diagnostic criteria. Fatigue adversely influences tolerance to chemotherapy and impairs self-care, therefore an assessment of fatigue should be part of routine cancer care.2 Fatigue is poorly managed by physicians and there are few truly evidence based treatments.
Remarks on the equilibrium theory for the Cahn-Hilliard equation in one space dimension
Authors: Alikakos Nicholas D , McKinney William R
Published: November 2023

Equation (CH) is one of the most celebrated models devised to study the phenomena of separation and coarsening for a melted binary alloy under conditions of constant temperature, where the unknown function u is the concentration of one of the components (Cahn 1961; Cahn and Hilliard 1958). In this article we are concerned with the equilibrium theory for (CH) (Van der Waals 1893), i.e., the study of the stable time independent solutions of (CH).
Mathematical Aspects of Electrophoresis
Authors: Geng Xiao , Fife Paul C
Published: November 2023

The object of electrophoresis techniques is to effect a separation among individual types of charged particles existing in a solution. This is done by passing an electric current through the solution; the differing responses of the various particle types to the induced electrical field then provides a separation mechanism.
Introduction to nearrings
Authors: Clay James R
Published: November 2023

Even though man has been dealing with nearrings and using their properties since the development of calculus, it was not until about 1905 that steps were taken to formalize the key ideas important to nearrings. Then, Dickson was interested in the independence of the field axioms, and he showed by examples that commutativity of multiplication and a second distributive law were not a consequence of the other field axioms. His example would be called a nearfield today, which is a very important type of nearring. Its importance was signalled almost immediately when in 1907 Veblen and Wedderburn used Dickson's nearfields to give examples of nondesarguesian planes. Later, in the 1930s, H. Zassenhaus determined all the finite nearfields, a profound contribution, and used these in describing sharply transitive permutation groups.
The great unifier
Authors: Clay James R
Published: November 2023

One of the main points of this chapter is to demonstrate a very special place that traditional ring theory and module theory play within algebra, and even within mathematics. This is due to an abundance of symmetry in rings and their associated modules. More specifically, a ring enjoys the consequences of both distributive laws: the left, where a · (b + c) = (a · b) +(a· c),and the right, where (a + b) c =(a· c) + (b · c). We shall see that each of these is a consequence of different properties.
Some first families of nearrings and some of their ideals
Authors: Clay James R
Published: November 2023

In §2, we had the debut of many of the nearrings whose influence on the theory has been profound. Later, in Chapter 3, we explored an Eden for many of these influential families of nearrings. In this chapter, we wish to get better acquainted with some of these first families of nearrings. With a better understanding of these first families, one should be able to find the abstract structure theory more meaningful and alive. Also, these first families continue to provide geneses for important research. Before we explore these first families further, we shall first find it useful to develop the concept of a nearring module. It has been rather traditional to take one particular viewpoint on this subject, even though it was known that an alternative existed. With promptings from J. D. P. Meldrum [M], Gary Grainger [GG] explored the alternative viewpoint and has found ample evidence that the alternative deserves serious attention.
Avant-guarde families of nearrings
Authors: Clay James R
Published: November 2023

One can be confident that others will feel that certain families of nearrings should have been included in Chapter 4 among the ‘first families’. (For example, nearfields would certainly be among the first families, but they really do not have many ideals.) Also, among those families included in Chapter 4, one can assume with probability 0.9813 that others will feel that the best stories concerning these families were left untold. Decisions as to what to include were influenced by (1) what was already told in [Pl, [Ml, and [W], and (2) the directions and limitations agreed upon between the author and his publisher. Here in this final chapter, we touch only lightly upon various families of nearrings. These are but a small sampling of topics of current interest to rerearchers in nearring theory, but each of these topics shows promise of being a source for very interesting new mathematics and a strong potential for applications. As the name of the chapter suggests, topics included here have not yet been developed sufficiently to be among the 'first families'. It is hoped that others will be encouraged and even motivated to develop various families into prominence. With such development, we can only expect considerable enrichment of the theory.
The interpretation of L′
Authors: Chapman Jonathan , Rowbottom Frederick
Published: November 2023

An interpretation of a language is an operation mapping its terms to a context where a notion of validity, or truth, can be given. It is usual to interpret a language for a topos S directly in S, mapping terms (relative to certain strings of variables) to morphisms of the topos. Indeed, L′ —terms can be interpreted in a similar way, as partial functions-see Chapter 5. However, it is more convenient to map L′ —terms to partial elements (sets with at most one element) in L-then validity can be defined so that L′ is (immediately) a conservative extension of L. This idea is due to Zangwill (1980) and related to Fourman’s interpretation (1977), mapping terms of Scott’s language (mentioned in Chapter 3) to morphisms of S with codomain a set of partial elements. (See also Boileau and Joyal (1981), last section.)
Local set theories in S
Authors: Chapman Jonathan , Rowbottom Frederick
Published: November 2023

Local set theories will be developed in S, internalizing Chapter 2 and closely following the order of material there (cf. Section 2.1). This provides logic for a topos in S which is workable and much used in later chapters.
Construction of primitive polynomials
Authors: Ellis Graham
Published: November 2023

In Chapters 2 and 3 we have seen how the existence and structure theorems for finite fields lead, at least in theory, to some interesting applications. However, to put the applications into practice we need to be able to construct ‘concrete representations’ of the field GF(pn) for given primes p and positive integers n.
Introduction to groups
Authors: Ellis Graham
Published: November 2023

In this chapter we give a brief introduction to the theory of groups. Each of the results presented has for its movtivation some aspect of our account of Galois groups given in Chapter 7. The chapter can, however, be read totally independently of Chapter 7. To achieve this independence some material from Chapter 7 is repeated. A group is a set G with a binary operation ° (called multiplication) satisfying the following axioms.
Divisibility
Authors: Rose H E
Published: November 2023

The simplest results in number theory concern the division of integers. Everyone is familiar with this notion, for example, when a week is divided into days, hours, and minutes. We shall begin with this topic to emphasize its central and fundamental role. Divisibility has been studied for at least three thousand years. From before the time of Pythagoras, the Greeks considered questions about even and odd numbers, perfect and amicable numbers, and the primes, amongst many others: even today a few of these questions are still unanswered. On the other hand, some of their ideas have helped to lay the foundation of modern number theory. Their motivation was both practical and theoretical. the latter having a mystical or religious origin. Our motivation is •study for its own sake· even though many results have important applications in other branches of mathematics and science.
The complex Monge-Ampére operator
Authors: Klimek Maciej
Published: November 2023

The purpose of this chapter is to explore some applications of the complex Monge-Ampere operator in investigations of fundamental properties of plurisubharmonic functions. In particular, we shall study the notion of maximality, and we shall show that, in the realm of several complex variables, the Monge-Ampere operator can serve the same purpose as the Laplacian in one variable.
The Dirichlet problem for the Monge-Ampére operator
Authors: Klimek Maciej
Published: November 2023

The proof of this equality is rather complicated. In comparison with the arguments we used in the previous chapter, it makes heavier demands on classical potential theory. We develop the necessary material as we go along.
Maximal functions of logarithmic growth
Authors: Klimek Maciej
Published: November 2023

Green functions, with pole at infinity, have been extensively used in the theory of functions of one complex variable ( e.g. Leja 1957; Nevanlinna 1970). Among other applications, the Green functions have been particularly helpful in investigations of polar sets, polynomial approximation, and growth properties of analytic functions.
Elementary properties of factorized groups
Authors: Amberg Bernhard , Franciosi Silvana , Giovanni Francesco De
Published: November 2023

In this case we say that G is factorized by A and B. Clearly every homomorphic image of G is also factorized by the homomorphic images AN/N of A and BN/N of B. On the other hand, a subgroup of a factorized group G = AB will usually not be the product of a subgroup of A and a subgroup of B. Therefore the following elementary lemma is quite useful.
Products of periodic groups
Authors: Amberg Bernhard , Franciosi Silvana , Giovanni Francesco De
Published: November 2023

In this section we shall prove that an arbitrary product of two periodic groups need not be periodic. In fact, Suchkov (1984 and l 985) has constructed non-periodic groups which are factorized by two locally finite subgroups. His examples are subgroups of the symmetric group on the set 𝕫 of integers.
Triply factorized groups
Authors: Amberg Bernhard , Franciosi Silvana , Giovanni Francesco De
Published: November 2023

This section is devoted to the construction of some triply factorized groups G =AB= AK= BK where A, B, and Kare abelian subgroups and K is normal in G. The construction is connected with a special class of rings, called radical rings.
Oscillations Of Equations With Piecewise Constant Arguments
Authors: Györi I , Ladas G
Published: November 2023

As we shall see, within intervals of certain length, each of the above equations has the structure of a continuous dynamical system, while the continuity of the solution at the points that join consecutive intervals leads to difference equations. It is interesting to note that equations with piecewise constant arguments provide the simplest examples of differential equations capable of displaying chaotic behaviour.
Oscillations Of Second- And Higher-Order Equations
Authors: Györi I , Ladas G
Published: November 2023

In Sections 10.4-10.8 we present some basic oscillation results for nth-order neutral delay differential equations, including sufficient conditions for oscillation, comparison results and linearized oscillations.
Logic programming—what it is
Authors: Hogger Christopher John
Published: November 2023

In a problem-solving context, the first principle is concerned with representing assumptions and conclusions, whilst the second is concerned with establishing the logical connections between assumptions and conclusions. Roughly speaking, the general aim in any such context is to infer the desired conclusion from the given assumptions, and to do so in a manner which is computationally viable.
Logic programming—whence it came
Authors: Hogger Christopher John
Published: November 2023

Logic programming represents a point of convergence in the disciplines of logic, mechanical theorem-proving and computing science. Logic contributed, in particular, symbolic systems which enjoyed economy of syntax and for which the notions of deriving sentences and interpreting sentences could be independently articulated yet precisely related. For this we are indebted, in particular, to two famous logicians: Gottlob Frege, whose work led to what we now regard as the standard formulation of first-order logic; and Alfred Tarski, who clarified the long-standing semantic confusions between ‘truth’ and ‘proof’.
The language of first-order logic
Authors: Hogger Christopher John
Published: November 2023

The language of first-order predicate logic is the set of all sentences constructible in accordance with the following (informal) grammar.

We assume some alphabet of constant symbols some alphabet of function symbols some alphabet of variable symbols some alphabet of predicate symbols -

Note-a tuple (or n-tuple) of n>O items, where n is finite, is an ordered arrangement of those items. The three items b, Y and Z can be ordered, for instance, into the tuple . Another possible 3-tuple is , which is treated as being distinct from the previous one. The conventional tuple delimiters < and > are replaced by ( and ) in our logic language. A function symbol which applies to n-tuples for a specified value of n is said to be an n-ary function symbol or, equivalently, to have arity n. Thus, in the example above, ‘f’ is 3-ary.
Modularity of Knowledge
Authors: Tyugu É
Published: November 2023

Merging different kinds of knowledge in problem-solving is discussed. Several formal calculi are considered as knowledge representation means, and uniting calculi in the NUT programming system is described. This paper has been inspired by the last book of Sergei Maslov [1] where he described a tower of deductive systems as a representation of scientific knowledge about the world. He illustrated the usage of formal calculi by numerous examples from biology, economics, and technology.
Computational Models in PRoLOG
Authors: Lomp A A
Published: November 2023

The programming language PRoLoa enables us to write declarative programs where the order of predicates is irrelevant to the correctness and functioning of the program.
Information Content of Chess Positions: Implications for Game-Specific Knowledge of Chess Players
Authors: Nievergeltt J
Published: November 2023

Chess has served as a convenient vehicle for studying cognition and perception (see de Groot 1965, and Chase and Simon 1973) as well as machine intelligence. Perhaps the central question for both of these research uses of chess is: How much chess-specific knowledge does it take to play at a given level of competence, for example, at the master level? It is difficult to say what chess-specific knowledge is, and it certainly consists of different types of knowledge that must be considered independently of each other (for example, ‘book knowledge’ is very different from experience obtained in over-the-board play). Even if one succeeds in defining what ‘chess-specific knowledge’ is, there remains the difficulty of measuring it. Because of these difficulties, any approach to measuring the amount of knowledge possessed by a practitioner of a craft must he based on questionable assumptions, and any result obtained is subject to uncertainty and criticism.
Multi-entity Models
Authors: Moses Yoram , Tennenholtz Moshe
Published: November 2023

In a seminal paper, McCarthy and Hayes (1969) suggested firstorder logic as a basis for knowledge representation and reasoning about action. They considered, and rejected, a model of inteacting automata as being epistemologically inadequate. This chapter suggests multi-entity models, a framework closely related to the interacting automata of McCarthy and Hayes, as a tool for knowledge representation and reasoning. Multi-entity models are designed so as to overcome some of the main criticisms of interacting automata. A number of basic issues in multi-agent activity are investigated in the framework of these models, illustrating both the expressiveness and the computational tractability of multi-entity models.
Variations and Local Exceptions in Inductive Logic Programming
Authors: Siromoney Arul , Siromoney Rani
Published: November 2023

Variations are valid departures from the normal. One pictures the classical music composer writing variations for a given theme, the jazz player improvising on a melody, or the Indian percussionist improvising on a rhythm. Each variation is valid in itself, and is a departure or variation from some normal base or theme. We note that variations are different from noise. Each variation is a valid departure from the normal, whereas noise is incorrect or illegal deviation from the normal.
Behavioural Clones and Cognitive Skill Models
Authors: Michie Donald , Sammut Claude
Published: November 2023

Over the past fifteen years cognitive psychologists and AI scientists have been converging on mutually coherent models of complex decision skills. These models have now been applied to the implementation of real-time control systems. Machine learning has been introduced at the lower level of a ‘blackboard’ model. In this way rule-structured ‘agents’ were machine-synthesized from automatically logged samples of human behaviour. In flight-simulator tests synthetic autopilots have regularly flown complete missions without human intervention.
A framework for verbalizing unconscious knowledge based on inductive logic programming
Authors: Furukawa Koichi
Published: November 2023

In this paper, we discuss the problem of verbalizing unconscious knowledge. Since there is no way to observe brain activities directly, it is rather difficult to clarify the mechanism of such intelligent behaviour as speaking natural language. A new approach to this problem is proposed. We select the domain of string instrument performance because of the possibility for getting objective data associated with intelligent activities. It is rather easy to measure various muscle movements during the performance. To elicit the secrets of miraculous performance by virtuosos, we need to analyse elaborately the measurements associated with their performance to explain them in terms of primitive muscle movements. We propose inductive logic programming as a very promising candidate for such analysis because of its capability of associating measurements with such basic facts as the structure of the human body and of muscle links.
Control skill, machine learning and hand-crafting in controller design
Authors: Bratko Ivan , Urbančič Tanja
Published: November 2023

Consider a dynamic system, such as a crane or a plane, and an operator who has acquired the skill of operating that system. Suppose then that the operator is asked to design an algorithm for automatically controlling the system. The operator may try to design such an automatic controller by reconstructing his or her subcognitive skill through introspection, or by other means, e.g. by reasoning about the system and engineering the controller. The main question investigated in this paper is, how would different operators go about this task, and how does the success depend on various factors affecting the task? These factors include:
Developments in computational learning and discovery theory within the framework of elementary formal systems
Authors: Arikawa Setsuo , Shinohara Ayumi , Sato Masako , Shinohara Takeshi
Published: November 2023

This paper surveys our studies on computational learning theory and computational discovery theory within the framework of elementary formal systems (EFSs for short), which are a kind of logic program on words, i.e., strings of characters.

First we show that the EFSs are a good framework for discussing formal grammars and languages. Then we point out that EFSs work as a unifying framework for inductive inference of languages by discussing the model inference for EFSs in Shapiro’s sense.
A learning mechanism for logic programs using dynamically shared substructures
Authors: Numao Masayuki , Morita Shigekazu , Karaki Kenichi
Published: November 2023

A reasoning method that proves a predicate logic formula by reducing its graph representation is proposed. Since the method directly reduces a logic formula represented by a graph, it can be understood to self-optimize a graph representation, meaning that it automatically transforms a logic formula into an efficient form equivalent to that acquired by explanation-based learning. By sharing the original subgraph between the learned formulae, reasoning efficiency does not deteriorate even after learning several examples. Therefore, the utility problem is overcome in the sense that no extra search is necessary for macros. The present paper demonstrates these facts in simple list manipulation problems and by proving geometric theories.
A connectionist approach to numeric law discovery
Authors: Saito Kazumi , Nakano Ryohei
Published: November 2023

The discovery of an underlying law from a set of numeric data is the central part of scientific discovery systems. This paper proposes a new connectionist approach to numeric law discovery. In order to efficiently and constantly obtain near-optimal results (law candidates), we introduce a new second-order learning algorithm; by adopting a quasi Newton method as a basic framework, the optimal step-lengths are calculated as the minimal points of second-order approximations. The minimum -description length criterion selects the most suitable from law-candidates. The main advantage of our method over previous work on the symbolic or connectionist approach is that it can efficiently discover numeric laws whose power values are not restricted to integers. Experiments showed that the proposed method works well in discovering such laws even from data containing a small amount of noise.
Vesper
Authors: Robinson J Alan , Barklund Jonas
Published: November 2023

VESPER I is a denotational formalism, that is, a collection of expressions each of which denotes some entity. Its logic, when viewed at the topmost level, is given by a single simplification function. The simplification is vertically extended in the sense that in a single act of simplification an expression and (simultaneously) all or most of its subexpressions are recast into a simpler form. All VESPER computations are reductions to normal form, in which the simplification function is iterated on a given expression until it has no further effect. Expressions are by definition in normal form if they are fixed points of the simplification function.
W. S. Jevons: his logical machine and work on induction and boolean algebra
Authors: Shepherdson J C
Published: November 2023

The English scientist William Stanley Jevons, who lived from 1835 to 1882, was one of the architects of symbolic logic. In 1870 he designed and had built the very first logical deduction machine. Since this machine is in the Museum of Science in Oxford where Machine Intelligence 15 was meeting, Donald Michie thought it would be interesting for members to visit it and he invited me to describe it for them before the visit. He also thought that Jevons’ work on induction was related to recent work on inductive logic programming, and asked me to elucidate that relation. Finally I’d like to comment on one of Jevons’ most important contributions to the founding of boolean algebra as we know it today, i.e. allowing the use of unrestricted union. Boole only allowed the use of the exclusive ‘or’, the union only of disjoint classes which meant he only had an awkward partial algebra and a very shaky foundation for many of his results.
Conclusion
Authors: Louw Eric , Duffy Neil
Published: November 2023

In Chapter 1 we set specific objectives for this book. It is appropriate at this stage to consider how these objectives have been met. The overriding purpose was to take a management view of computer viruses, since this does not appear to have been done and the importance of doing so is crucial to any meaningful attempt to counter the virus threat. How well this has been accomplished is best judged by management readers. A review of the other objectives follows. 1. To present a concise but comprehensive account of what is known about computer viruses. This was done mostly in Chapter 2, where the nature of computer viruses was explained and various aspects of the problem were discussed.
Conclusion
Authors: Hahnle Reiner
Published: November 2023

In the preceding chapters we presented a new approach to many-valued theorem proving starting out from signed analytic tableaux. The main technical device was a systematic extension of the sign language. We showed that admitting subsets of the set of truth values of a logic as signs is sufficient to build compact and efficient tableau systems for a large class of many-valued logics and we coined the term sets-as-signs approach for that technique (Chapter 4). Its extendability to many-valued first-order logics was demonstrated (Section 5.4).
Nervous system, sense organs, and excitable epithelia
Authors: Bone Q
Published: November 2023

With the exception of the Appendicularia, all the pelagic tunicates have a single centralized brain from which mixed nerves radiate to innervate the muscles, gills, endostyle, and other organs; they also contain the axons of primary sensory cells of different kinds. In appendicularians, there is an anterior brain or cerebral ganglion in the trunk, but this is linked to a large caudal ganglion at the base of the tail, which controls the tail musculature, and in some cases the sensory cells are secondary sensory cells (section 4.5.3). The general morphology of the nervous system is described in Chapters 1 and 2. Unfortunately, as will become evident in this chapter, knowledge of most aspects of the histology and fine anatomy of the nervous systems of Pyrosoma, salps, and doliolids has lagged behind more recent work on the physiology of the system, and it is only in appendicularians that there has been recent advance in the fine structure of the nervous system and its circuitry. A striking feature of most pelagic tunicates is that they possess excitable epithelia which propagate action potentials when mechanically stimulated. This epithelial sensory system (which in salps and appendicularians extends the receptor fields of the sensory cells lying in the epithelium), is also found in one doliolid stage, but not in Pyrosoma so far as is known.
Molecular phylogeny of tunicates. A preliminary study using 28S ribosomal RNA partial sequences: implications in terms of evolution and ecology
Authors: Christen R , Braconnot J -C
Published: November 2023

Phylogenetic information can now be derived from the comparison of nucleic acid sequences that are strictly homologous in different taxa. Among available gene sequences, ribosomal RNAs (rRNA) have provided some of the most valuable phylogenetic information. Three rRNA molecules have been generally used, namely the 5S rRNA, 16-18S rRNA and 26-28S rRNA. Phylogenies derived from the 5S molecule are now thought to be less reliable because of an inappropriate rate of evolution (Halanych, 1991). In contrast, both the 16-18S rRNA and the 23-28S rRNA are now widely used (Sogin et al., 1986; Baroin et al., 1988; Field et al., 1988; Perasso et al., 1989; Christen et al., 1991a; Lafay et al., 1992). The 5’-l end of the 28S rRNA molecule (i.e. about 400 nucleotides) is an interesting region for the rapid investigation of phylogenetic problems, since it comprises domains of widely different rates of evolution that allow molecular phylogenies to be derived for species that radiated less than 50 million years ago (for example some of the echinoid radiations; see Smith et al., 1992), as well as radiations that took place more than 600 million years ago, like the origin of Metazoa or the radiations of Porifera (Christen et al., 1991b; Lafay et al., 1992).
Models of sexual selection and monogamy
Authors: Møller Anders Pape , Gregersen Jens
Published: November 2023

Until quite recently the study of sexual selection was dominated by theoretical issues. However, empirical research on female choice and male combat has increased dramatically, with field and laboratory studies of individually identifiable organisms being the most frequent approach. Every empirical study has to address the question of whether male-male competition or female choice generates the process of sexual selection. Although these two modes of sexual selection were clearly defined by Darwin, it is not always easy to resolve the relative importance of the two processes, nor to decide whether a given structure or behaviour demonstrates one or the other, or both. Different taxa appear to rely on male-male competition and female choice to different degrees, but the reason for interspecific differences in the relative importance of the two modes of sexual selection remains largely unknown. These issues will be discussed further in section 2.2.
Determinants of tail ornament size
Authors: Møller Anders Pape , Gregersen Jens
Published: November 2023

Extravagant secondary sexual characters, such as the tail of male barn swallows, may always be subject to intense directional sexual selection. It would obviously be advantageous for any male to grow an even longer tail, provided that the benefits of doing so exceeded the costs. What determines the size of an ornament of a particular individual? Ornaments, like any other morphological character, are probably determined by the effects of genes, the environment, genetic dominance effects and a number of interaction terms. The relative importance of the various factors generating morphological variation can be determined by comparison of the size of ornaments grown by the same genotypes in different environments and by comparison of the phenotype of relatives, as described in section 6.2.
Parasites and sexual selection
Authors: Møller Anders Pape , Gregersen Jens
Published: November 2023

Parasites constitute more than half of all organisms of the world, and individuals of most organisms are infected with parasites at least at some time during their life span (Price 1980). Parasites therefore become a potentially important force during natural and sexual selection. Parasites exploit the resources of the live bodies of other species, on which individual parasites spend most of their lives, causing some or even a great deal of damage (Price 1980). Parasites are often subdivided into microparasites (viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa) and macroparasites (helminths, arthropods). Microparasites are characterized by small size, short generation times, and high rates of direct reproduction within their hosts. The duration of an infection is relatively short, and these parasites induce either lifelong immunity, chronic infections, or death of the host. Macroparasites have longer generation times than microparasites and complete some part of their life cycle outside the host. The immune responses of the host generally depend on the number of macroparasites present, and are of relatively short duration, which makes the host susceptible to continual reinfection.
Geographic variation in ornament size
Authors: Møller Anders Pape , Gregersen Jens
Published: November 2023

Most field studies are restricted to a single locality, and field workers therefore often have the misconception that the typical behaviour or morphology of a species is that observed at their own study site. All individuals of a species rarely look similar across the distributional range because environmental conditions and the intensities of various selection pressures change geographically. Animals usually demonstrate geographic variation with sometimes characteristic patterns such as those described by the zoogeographic rules (Mayr 1942). For example, Bergmann’s rule states that individuals of a species living in more northern parts of the distributional range are larger whereas Allen’s rule posits that individuals in more northern latitudes exhibit smaller extremities. This kind of clinal variation in morphology is what is expected when natural selection is at work. Individuals with a smaller surface to volume ratio and smaller extremities are at an energetic advantage at more northern latitudes.
Introduction
Authors: Lank David B
Published: November 2023

Natural selection is one of the primary mechanisms moulding the phenotypic characters of a population. This central tenet of evolutionary biology is well established and it is widely accepted that past and present environments have interacted and continue to interact in complex ways with the genetic constitutions of organisms to produce the populations we see today. while not discounting the importance of stochastic events in the evolutionary processes, natural selection is seen by many evolutionary biologists as a key to understanding the form, function, and demography of populations. There are manifold ways in which complex environments can alter organisms, both directly in shaping the appearance of individuals and indirectly through selective changes that modify populations’ gene pools. Through detailed investigations of populations in their natural environments, we have begun to understand some of the ways in which natural selection operates. Classic studies by Clutton-Brock and colleagues (1982) on Red Deer (Cervus elephas), by Newton (1986) on Sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) and by many workers on Great Tits (Parus major) (for example McCleery and Perrins 1989), have helped clarify how natural selection influences both demographic and other phenotypic attributes of these populations.
Heritability of quantitative traits
Authors: Lank David B
Published: November 2023

In the most traditional view, heritability is the proportion of total phenotypic variance attributable to additive genetic variance. The latter results from segregation of alleles with additive effects. Other contributors to total variance include dominance, epistatic and environmental effects and covariances and interactions among all these factors (Falconer 1989). Additive genetic variance is the basis of Fisher’s Fundamental Theorem —’the rate of increase in fitness of any organism at any time is equal to its [additive] genetic variance in fitness at that time’. When factors other than additive genetic variance contribute to phenotypic variance, the theorem should be stated in terms of heritability rather than genetic variance. In this sense, heritability sets an upper limit on the instantaneous rate of evolution of a trait in response to a selection gradient.
Body size
Authors: Lank David B
Published: November 2023

Variation in body size has been widely studied by evolutionary biologists, in part because it is relatively easy to measure. In diverse animal taxa, especially those with indeterminate growth, an individual’s size is an overwhelming predictor of its social status, relative fecundity, or probability of survival. This is not necessarily so for adult birds. At certain ontogenetic stages, such as when nest-mates compete for food brought by parents, relative body size may be a life or death matter. As adults, however, phenotypic variation in body size is apparently usually unrelated to components of fitness. In the exceptionally well studied Galapagos Large Cactus Finch, where information was available on both genetic and phenotypic variation, body size was generally unrelated to fitness, although there was selection on beak shape (Grant and Grant 1989). Even in highly polygamous species, in which sexual dimorphism is often attributed to directional selection for larger members of the limited sex, there is little evidence from field studies for directional selection for larger adult body size. In one case, the aerial acrobatic displaying Longtailed Manikin Chiroxiphia linearis (McDonald 1989), the most successful males may actually be lighter or smaller, but most such studies find no correlations between body size and male success. Alatalo and Lundberg (1986) found normalizing selection on tarsus length in Pied Flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca).
Coloniality and breeding ecology
Authors: Zann Richard A
Published: November 2023

Ten Zebra Finch colonies have been studied in detail to date (Table 6.1). Most studies have concentrated on nesting activity and breeding seasonality, but only my studies in northern Victoria have monitored seasonal changes in the size of free-flying flocks. Ten Zebra Finch colonies have been studied in detail to date (Table 6.1). Most studies have concentrated on nesting activity and breeding seasonality, but only my studies in northern Victoria have monitored seasonal changes in the size of free-flying flocks.
Populations
Authors: Zann Richard A
Published: November 2023

Many observers in the arid zone, especially around central Australia, have commented on the vast numbers of Zebra Finches that may assemble around water-holes during periods of drought. With so many birds coming and going observers find it difficult to make careful counts and terms such as ‘abundant’, ‘numerous’, ‘countless’, ‘myriads’, ‘thousands’, ‘hundreds of thousands’, and even ‘millions’, have been used. ‘Literally thousands’ have also been observed on dense patches of seeding grasses in semiarid areas (Rix 1943). The calls of large flocks around water can make such a din that some observers can find it a relief to leave the area. Careful counts of large flocks at water-holes have been made by Fisher et al. (1972) during their comprehensive survey of drinking patterns of desert birds. They found the Zebra Finch to be the second most common species observed after the Galah, and the largest number of Zebra Finches estimated drinking at a water-hole (70 km north of Alice Springs) during one day was in September 1967 when 17,750 visits were recorded. The same day 47,000 Budgerigar visits were also made. A year later Rix (1970) estimated that there must have been ‘hundreds of thousands’ of Zebra Finches drinking at the same water-hole.
Sexual imprinting and mate choice
Authors: Zann Richard A
Published: November 2023

In the mid-1960s Immelmann began to investigate puzzling accounts from aviculturalists who reported that when they fostered out eggs of rare estrildines to pairs of Bengalese Finches for rearing, the young, on reaching adulthood, often formed breeding pairs with Bengalese Finches. Consequently, in a long series of pioneering experiments, lmmelmann (1969, 1972a) systematically cross-fostered eggs of Zebra Finches belonging to both domesticated and wild stocks to pairs of Bengalese Finches that raised the young to independence. Young were then held individually until maturity whereupon sexual preferences were tested in ‘free choice experiments’. Males, which were given a choice of a female Zebra Finch or female Bengalese Finch at each end of a three-compartment cage (the ‘double-choice test’), overwhelmingly directed their courtship towards the latter. Holding conditions after independence had no effect on preference; they all preferred females of the foster- parent species, even if they could hear and see their own species. The number of siblings in a brood had no effect on the direction of imprinting, so Immelmann concluded that young imprint on the individuals that fed them, namely their parents, not on their siblings.
A simple framework
Authors: Hassell Michael P
Published: November 2023

Howard and Fiske’s (1911) view that parasitoids are important in regulating host populations was probably based on their presumption of density depend ence, their observations that parasitoids can cause very heavy host mortalities and their experience of some dramatically successful biological pest-control programmes, particularly the control of the cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi) by the specialist coccinellid beetle, Rhodolia cardinalis (Koebele 1870). Since then, the potential importance of parasitoids and predators has been emphasised in a number of ways:
The Human Impact
Authors: Aiken S Robert , Leigh Colin H
Published: November 2023

Environmental change spans all of human time. Even so-called primitive peoples have left their mark on the earth. Fire, the oldest of anthropogenic landscape modifiers, has long been implicated in the origins and maintenance of tropical savannahs and mid-latitude grasslands, and biggame hunters of the Stone Age may have caused or at least contributed to late Pleistocene mammalian extinctions. Peoples with domesticated plants and animals have shaped natural systems even more profoundly. Among their creations are extensive humanized landscapes, some of them of great productivity and beauty; widespread soil erosion and soil salinization are two other results.
The historical evolution of concepts of the role of the insulin like growth factors
Authors: Daughaday William H
Published: November 2023

Recognition of the ‘somatomedins’ and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) arose from three areas of research: (i) the characterization of plasma intermediaries of growth-hormone action; (ii) the isolation of the peptides in plasma which have insulin-like metabolic action; (iii) the autocrine factors which sustain growth of some cells in the absence of serum.
Abbreviations for Commonly Cited Publications
Authors: Keay R W J
Published: November 2023

Fl.Cam. Flore du Cameroun Fl.Congo Flore du Congo Beige and subsequent volumes Fl.Gab. Flore du Gabon FfEA Flora of tropical east Africa(families published separately, so no volume numbers) FfA Flora of tropical Africa FWTA Flora of west tropical Africa FZ Flora Zambesiaca Geeding Guide de terrain des ligneux Saheliens et Soudano-guineens (1980) Nig.Trees Nigerian trees
Leaf
Authors: Tomlinson P B
Published: November 2023

The palm leaf is a determinate appendage and has a unified structure and development. However, it is useful to describe it in terms of a discrete axis and blade. The axis, in turn, consists of two components: petiole (including rachis) and basal sheath. In biomechanical terms these three regions (blade, petiole, and sheath) are discrete since each is constructed in a very different way and illustrates a different design principle (Fig. 9.1), as follows.
The root
Authors: Tomlinson P B
Published: November 2023

Roots in palms, other than the embryonic root or radicle, are always adventitious and endogenous in origin (Karsten 1856). They are also entirely primary in construction, i.e. they lack secondary thickening. The seedling radicle itself is soon replaced by adventitious roots arising from the obconical seedling axis produced during establishment growth. The diameter of these adventitious seedling roots increases to a maximum value during the process of establishment growth, a change which is most obvious in stilt-rooted palms like Iriartea and Socratea (Plate 4), where the last formed (youngest) aerial roots may have a diameter of 7 cm. In such roots growth rates of from 4.13 to 7.94 cm per day have been measured (Vilhena et al. 1984).
Inflorescence
Authors: Tomlinson P B
Published: November 2023

The term ‘inflorescence’ in classical botanical literature originally had physiological rather than morphological implications because it referred to the onset of sexual reproduction in plants (Rickett 1944); the plant was said to be ‘at inflorescence’. Inflorescence in the broadest sense should also include seed set and in this context corresponds to the adult reproductive phase established as the fifth and final phase in the development of the individual palm (Chapter 2). The phase is readily perceived in palms because of their simple construction and involves determinate branching and the development of flower-bearing appendages. The subject has been summarized by Fisher (1985) giving emphasis to commercially important and commonly cultivated species.
Introduction
Authors: Goss-Custard John D
Published: November 2023

One of the major challenges facing the science of ecology is to predict how natural populations will respond to the many changes to which our planet is subject. This is not just because ecological systems are complex and that single-species populations, and multi-species communities of species populations, may be affected by changes in the intricate ecosystem of which they are a part. The challenge arises from the need to make predictions to wholly new circumstances that lie beyond our direct experience and, in many cases, may have no evolutionary precedent. Simultaneous changes in climate, land-use, agricultural and industrial practice and recreational activities, for example, introduce novel combinations of factors into the environment. The required predictions are difficult to make yet they must be reliable; policy decisions are increasingly influenced by ecological forecasts, and failures can be expensive in many ways. This increasing requirement to make predictions provides an additional stimulus to the scientist’s always fascinating task of understanding the natural world.
Foods and feeding behaviour
Authors: Short Lester L , Horne Jennifer F M , Gilbert Albert Earl
Published: November 2023

The barbets and toucans are known to be fruiteaters. Because of the special aspects of the wax element of honeyguides’ diet, this will be discussed in Chapter 7, although their other foods will be discussed here. Unfortunately the nutritional value of no barbet’s or toucan’s diet is known, although that of certain fruits that they eat has been investigated.
Breeding and aspects of life cycle
Authors: Short Lester L , Horne Jennifer F M , Gilbert Albert Earl
Published: November 2023

At this point we discuss actual breeding, its seasonality, eggs and egg-laying, incubation activities, hatching and nestling development, fledging, feeding of young to independence, relations between young and adults at the time of independence, the life cycle and moult. Breeding is less regular under seasonally dry or irregular rainfall conditions, compared with wet forested regions.
Honeyguides
Authors: Short Lester L , Horne Jennifer F M , Gilbert Albert Earl
Published: November 2023

The honeyguides are unusual in several ways, and in their combination of special traits they are unique. They are nest-parasitic in habits without specialisation in eggs for different hosts (i.e, in Johnsgard’s 1997 terms, they are ‘interspecific, obligate, exploitative, host-intolerant brood parasites’) and indeed are rather catholic in choice of hosts.