Search results for " Competition"
showing 10 items of 819 documents
Internal Simulation of an Agent’s Intentions
2013
We present the Associative Self-Organizing Map (A-SOM) and propose that it could be used to predict an agent’s intentions by internally simulating the behaviour likely to follow initial movements. The A-SOM is a neural network that develops a representation of its input space without supervision, while simultaneously learning to associate its activity with an arbitrary number of additional (possibly delayed) inputs. We argue that the A-SOM would be suitable for the prediction of the likely continuation of the perceived behaviour of an agent by learning to associate activity patterns over time, and thus a way to read its intentions.
Densities of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fry in relation to physical habitat, spawning redd distribution and parr abundance in a small subarctic…
2014
Two small-scale surveys were conducted in a small river to examine the effects of physical habitat characteristics, spatial spawning redd distribution and abundance of older juveniles on the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fry (age 0+) distribution 1) shortly after the emergence and 2) after the assumed main dispersal period of fry. The effect of physical habitat variables (water depth, water velocity and substratum size), spatial spawning redd distribution and densities of older juveniles were examined using multiple linear regressions. Identical models were fitted with generalized habitat suitability indices to test their applicability to predict the variation in fry densities. Clear pat…
Polyandrous females produce sons that are successful at post-copulatory competition.
2014
Some of the genetic benefit hypotheses put forward to explain multiple male mating (polyandry) predict that sons of polyandrous females will have an increased competitive ability under precopulatory or post-copulatory competition via paternally inherited traits, such as attractiveness or fertilization efficiency. Here, we tested these predictions by comparing the competitive ability of sons of experimentally monandrous and polyandrous female bank voles (Myodes glareolus), while controlling for potential material and maternal effects. In female choice experiments, we found no clear preference for sons of either monandrous or polyandrous mothers. Moreover, neither male type was dominant over …
Predicting mid-air gestural interaction with public displays based on audience behaviour
2020
Abstract Knowledge about the expected interaction duration and expected distance from which users will interact with public displays can be useful in many ways. For example, knowing upfront that a certain setup will lead to shorter interactions can nudge space owners to alter the setup. If a system can predict that incoming users will interact at a long distance for a short amount of time, it can accordingly show shorter versions of content (e.g., videos/advertisements) and employ at-a-distance interaction modalities (e.g., mid-air gestures). In this work, we propose a method to build models for predicting users’ interaction duration and distance in public display environments, focusing on …
Fingerprint Quality Evaluation in a Novel Embedded Authentication System for Mobile Users
2015
The way people access resources, data and services, is radically changing using modern mobile technologies. In this scenario, biometry is a good solution for security issues even if its performance is influenced by the acquired data quality. In this paper, a novel embedded automatic fingerprint authentication system (AFAS) for mobile users is described. The goal of the proposed system is to improve the performance of a standard embedded AFAS in order to enable its employment in mobile devices architectures. The system is focused on the quality evaluation of the raw acquired fingerprint, identifying areas of poor quality. Using this approach, no image enhancement process is needed after the …
Learning what (not) to do: testing rejection and copying of simulated heterospecific behavioural traits
2011
Animals can copy behaviour of heterospecifics (interspecific social learning), but it is not known whether social-learning strategies postulated for conspecific contexts, such as selectively copying individuals (or behaviours) that are more successful or common than the observer, apply here. A recent study found evidence for biased interspecific acquisition of nest site feature preference depending on observed fitness of the demonstrator (clutch size). We experimentally tested whether migratory pied flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca, females, given a choice between two novel alternative behavioural traits of nest site feature choice, copy or reject the experimentally induced choice exhibited b…
Interaction of climate change with effects of conspecific and heterospecific density on reproduction
2020
We studied the relationship between temperature and the coexistence of great tit Parus major and blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus, breeding in 75 study plots across Europe and North Africa. We expected an advance in laying date and a reduction in clutch size during warmer springs as a general response to climate warming and a delay in laying date and a reduction in clutch size during warmer winters due to density-dependent effects. As expected, as spring temperature increases laying date advances and as winter temperature increases clutch size is reduced in both species. Density of great tit affected the relationship between winter temperature and laying date in great and blue tit. Specifically…
Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds
2014
© 2014 The Authors. Nests are structures built to support and protect eggs and/or offspring from predators, parasites, and adverse weather conditions. Nests are mainly constructed prior to egg laying, meaning that parent birds must make decisions about nest site choice and nest building behavior before the start of egg-laying. Parent birds should be selected to choose nest sites and to build optimally sized nests, yet our current understanding of clutch size-nest size relationships is limited to small-scale studies performed over short time periods. Here, we quantified the relationship between clutch size and nest size, using an exhaustive database of 116 slope estimates based on 17,472 nes…
The territories of tourism: a reflection about the experience of the Tourist Districts (Local Tourism Systems) in Sicily
2013
The tourist district is an important tool for territorial governance of regional tourism. The district is a type of Local System which is characterized by its multidimensionality, as well as the spatial contiguity of traders who belong to it. The territory is a space transformed by social interactions and relations of production: it is therefore the indispensable reference for measuring the impact of tourism. A bottom up approach in the process of identification of the districts is therefore vital. A Balance Score Card-approach is desirable to correctly manage this process. This study is a preliminary analysis derived from direct experience of the Sicilian tourist districts, recently formed…
The association between body mass, metabolic rates and survival of bank voles
2009
Summary 1Many studies have been performed in an attempt to explain physiological, ecological and evolutionary factors behind inter- and intraspecific variation in basal metabolic rate (BMR) and maximum aerobic metabolic rate (VO2max). However, very little is known about the association between the traits and fitness components in populations of free-living animals. 2We studied the association between body size and the metabolic rates of bank voles Myodes (= Clethrionomys) glareolus and their survival, measured by repeated trappings across 2 years in an isolated, island population. All measured traits (body mass, BM; head width, HW; VO2max and BMR) were significantly repeatable over short (m…