Although it has been the subject of verbal theory since Darwin, the evolution of morphological trait allometries remains poorly understood, especially in the context of sexual selection. Here we present an allocation trade-off model that predicts the optimal pattern of allometry under different selective regimes. We derive a general solution that has a simple and intuitive interpretation and us...

Theory predicts that costly sexual displays should evolve condition dependence if the marginal fitness gain from trait exaggeration is greater for highthan for low-condition individuals and that the strength of condition dependence should increase with the strength of directional selection. While there is substantial support for the first prediction, evidence for the latter is much weaker. We u...

What is the role that colour plays in perception of a brand by customers? How can we explore the cognitive role that colour plays in determining brand perception? To answer these questions we propose a preference disaggregation method based on multi-criteria decision aid. We identify the criteria aggregation model that underlies the global preference of a brandwith respect to each brand image a...

This paper presents a method to take advantage of artificial evolution in positron emission tomography reconstruction. This imaging technique produces datasets that correspond to the concentration of positron emitters through the patient. Fully 3D tomographic reconstruction requires high computing power and leads to many challenges. Our aim is to reduce the computing cost and produce datasets w...

Large scale experiments of gene inactivation in yeast have shown that 50% of genes have no detectable impact on the phenotype, and similar observations have been made in other model organisms. This apparent paradox is probably due to the fact that many genes only have a marginal contribution to the fitness of organisms. Because of the size of populations and the number of generations that can b...

This paper presents an evolutionary approach for image reconstruction in positron emission tomography (PET). Our reconstruction method is based on a cooperative coevolution strategy (also called Parisian evolution): the “fly algorithm”. Each fly is a 3D point that mimics a positron emitter. The flies’ position is progressively optimised using evolutionary computing to closely match the data mea...

We explored behavioural adjustments made by parent house sparrows, Passer domesticus, when the nutritional condition of their dependent nestlings was improved experimentally. Male parents responded to artificially supplemented broods by increasing food deliveries, whereas female parents continued matching the already high rate of control females. Thus, parental care was not truncated in the fac...

A neural network with mixed order weights, n neurons and a modified Hebbian learning rule can learn any function f : {−1, 1}n → R and reproduce its output as the network’s energy function. The network weights are equal to Walsh coefficients, the fixed point attractors are local maxima in the function, and partial sums across the weights of the network calculate averages for hyperplanes through ...

The purpose of this study was to test a structural model to determine which psychosocial constructs affected the purchase intention of athletic team merchandise (ATM). Results from the analyses indicated that the twelve-factor ATM model fit the data from collegiate athletic events well, explaining the various impact factors that lead to purchase intention of athletic team merchandise among spor...