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Similar Preferences (similar + preference)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting33%
Earth and Environmental Science22%

Selected Abstracts

Difference in organization of corticostriatal and thalamostriatal synapses between patch and matrix compartments of rat neostriatum

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 10 2006
Fumino Fujiyama
Abstract The neostriatum, which possesses a mosaic organization consisting of patch and matrix compartments, receives glutamatergic excitatory afferents from the cerebral cortex and thalamus. Differences in the synaptic organization of these striatopetal afferents between the patch and matrix compartments were examined in the rat using confocal laser scanning and electron microscopes. Thalamostriatal terminals immunopositive for vesicular glutamate transporter (VGluT) 2 were less dense in the patch than in the matrix compartment, although the density of VGluT1-immunopositive corticostriatal terminals was almost evenly distributed in both the compartments. Quantitative analysis of ultrastructural images revealed that 84% of VGluT2-positive synapses in the patch compartment were formed with dendritic spines, whereas 70% in the matrix compartment were made with dendritic shafts. By contrast, VGluT1-positive terminals display a similar preference for specific synaptic targets in both compartments: about 80% made synapses with dendritic spines. In addition, VGluT2-positive axospinous synapses in the patch compartment were larger than the VGluT1-positive axospinous synapses in both compartments. As axospinous synapses are generally found in neuronal connections showing high synaptic plasticity, the present findings suggest that the thalamostriatal connection requires higher synaptic plasticity in the patch compartment than in the matrix compartment. [source]

Influence of host plant odours on invasion of the rice leaf bug Trigonotylus caelestialium into paddy fields

AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
Tatsuya Fujii
1The host-odour preferences of the rice leaf bug Trigonotylus caelestialium between the rice plant Oryza sativa L. and four species of graminaceous weeds, Poa annua, Alopecurus aequalis, Digitaria ciliaris and Eleusine indica, were investigated with an olfactometer aiming to clarify the influence of these odours on invasion of the bug to paddy fields at the flowering stage of rice. 2Both female and male adults significantly preferred the graminaceous weed A. aequalis in the flowering stage to rice in the fifth-leaf stage. The bugs also significantly preferred flowering P. annua and A. aequalis to rice in the panicle-formation stage. However, the bugs showed no preferences between rice in the flowering and grain-filling stages and the flowering graminaceous weeds P. annua, D. ciliaris and E. indica. 3The preference of the rice leaf bug for the flowering graminaceous weeds before rice flowering coincides with the fact that these bugs mainly live on these weeds before rice flowering. It is considered that the bug's similar preference for flowering rice panicles as the flowering graminaceous weeds causes the intense invasion of the bug into paddy fields at this rice developmental stage. [source]

Time preference and two-country trade

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC THEORY, Issue 1 2008
Been-Lon Chen
F11; E20; H20 We present a dynamic two-country model of international trade with endogenous time preference. We show that if the two countries have similar preferences, production technologies and labor endowments, there exists a unique and stable steady state such that both consumption and investment goods are produced in both countries. Unlike the case of constant time preferences, the steady state is independent of the initial international distribution of capital. We prove a dynamic Heckscher,Ohlin theorem such that the labor-abundant country exports the labor-intensive good. [source]

Decision support for simulating the car park activity in an urban area

JOURNAL OF ADVANCED TRANSPORTATION, Issue 2 2009
Jean-Marie Boussier
Abstract Complexity of car park activity is reproduced from a concurrent execution of behaviour of various drivers. This paper presents a step in the development of a multimodal traffic simulator based on multi-agent paradigm and designed as a decision aid tool as well as a video game. The user-player has the opportunity to test different scenarios. We propose an approach for designing the decision-making rules and the learning mechanism for a car driver agent. For that, a panel of methods such as stated preference modelling, Design Of Experiments and data fusion is used. Initial behavioural models, based on similar preferences, are developed for specified categories. Each agent will adapt its behaviour after executing its learning process. Our approach can be used in order to optimize needs of road network users and those of people in charge of traffic regulation. A demonstrator has been developed to test parking policies in an urban area as well as changes of car park characteristics. [source]

Understanding heterogeneous preferences of cooperative members

AGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2009
Nikos Kalogeras
We study the heterogeneity in the preference structure of cooperative members. Using conjoint analysis the utility that members attach to intra-organizational and strategic attributes of their cooperative is elicited. Recognizing that members are not homogenous, a concomitant finite-mixture regression model is employed to allow preferences to vary across different member segments. With data from 120 cooperative members, we find that most members demonstrate rather similar preferences for strategic attributes but differ with respect to the intra-organizational attributes of control and management. Members' preference structures are affected by business size and attitudes towards risk. [EconLit Citations: Q130; M000, C400]. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Habitat preferences of European grayling in a medium size stream, the Ain river, France

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2000
J. P. Mallet
The three grayling Thymallus thymallus age-classes had strong preferences for their local habitat in the Ain river. All age-classes preferred high water velocities between 70 and 110 cm s -1, confirming that grayling is a typical rheophilic species. An important intraspecific segregation regarding depth occurred, as large individuals preferred deeper water than small ones (optimal ranges=50,60, 80,120 and 100,140 cm for 0+, 1+ and adults respectively). The three age-classes had similar preferences for small substratum articles, with optimal values between 0·5 and 16·0 mm. Preference curves were generally comparable between the two sites, despite important differences in habitat availability. It is emphasized that grayling needs various habitat conditions to achieve its entire life cycle. The increasing scarcity of this species underlines the urgency of protecting lotic habitat integrity and diversity. [source]

The acceptability of variations in smile arc and buccal corridor space

ORTHODONTICS & CRANIOFACIAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2007
S Parekh
Structured Abstract Authors ,, Parekh S, Fields HW, Beck FM, Rosenstiel SF Objectives ,, To evaluate the esthetic acceptability range of computer-generated variations in smile arc and buccal corridor. Design ,, Web-based descriptive study using available subjects. Setting and Sample Population ,, The World Wide Web. Subjects for the main study included 115 lay and 131 orthodontist raters. Experimental Variables ,, Buccal corridors and smile arcs, each presented for a female and a male image. Buccal corridors were presented as none, ideal and excessive. The smile arc was presented as flat, ideal and excessive. The nine male and female variations, as combinations of the above variables, were each presented twice to evaluate reliability. Outcome Measure ,, Acceptability of buccal corridors and smile arcs using the web-based instrument. An arbitrary super majority threshold of acceptability was set at 67% approval. Results ,, Both laypersons and orthodontists showed good reliability (k , 0.70). There was a broad range of acceptability, but laypersons and orthodontists showed no significant differences on the two variables tested. While orthodontists and laypersons both found smiles with excessive buccal corridors to be significantly less acceptable than those with ideal or absent buccal corridors, they were still acceptable over 70% of the time. Flat smile arcs were only acceptable 50,60% of the time, while smiles with ideal and excessive smile arcs were significantly more acceptable 84,95% of the time. When examining buccal corridors and smile arcs together, excessive buccal corridors were significantly less acceptable than ideal or absent buccal corridors regardless of the smile arc. A flat smile arc significantly reduced the acceptability of any buccal corridor to below the threshold of acceptability. Conclusions ,, Laypersons and orthodontists have similar preferences when acceptability of buccal corridors and smile arcs are considered. Flat smile arcs are more detrimental to smile esthetics than variations in buccal corridors. Clinicians must realize that although attractiveness may be reduced by variations in buccal corridors and smile arcs, the result may still be acceptable to a majority of people. [source]

Determination of ,-helix N1 energies after addition of N1, N2, and N3 preferences to helix/coil theory

PROTEIN SCIENCE, Issue 4 2000
Jia Ke Sun
Abstract Surveys of protein crystal structures have revealed that amino acids show unique structural preferences for the N1, N2, and N3 positions in the first turn of the ,-helix. We have therefore extended helix-coil theory to include statistical weights for these locations. The helix content of a peptide in this model is a function of N-cap, C-cap, N1, N2, N3, C1, and helix interior (N4 to C2) preferences. The partition function for the system is calculated using a matrix incorporating the weights of the fourth residue in a hexamer of amino acids and is implemented using a FORTRAN program. We have applied the model to calculate the N1 preferences of Gln, Val, Ile, Ala, Met, Pro, Leu, Thr, Gly, Ser, and Asn, using our previous data on helix contents of peptides Ac-XAKAAAAKAAGY-CONH2. We find that Ala has the highest preference for the N1 position. Asn is the most unfavorable, destabilizing a helix at N1 by at least 1.4 kcal mol,1 compared to Ala. The remaining amino acids all have similar preferences, 0.5 kcal mol,1 less than Ala. Gln, Asn, and Ser, therefore, do not stabilize the helix when at N1. [source]

CONSUMERS AND AGENCY PROBLEMS

THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 478 2002
Canice Prendergast
Consumers solve many agency problems, by pointing out when they believe that agents have made mistakes. I consider the role that consumers play in inducing efficient behaviour by agents. I distinguish cases where consumers have similar preferences to the principal, from those where they diverge. In the former case, allowing consumer feedback improves allocations, and increasing consumer information is unambiguously beneficial. Where consumers disagree with principals over desired outcomes, which characterises many public sector benefits, consumers' feedback about the performance of agents can reduce welfare. This may result in efficiently restricting the ability of consumers to complain about agent performance. [source]