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Globally, the majority of ecosystems are being invaded by multiple co‐occurring alien species. While most of the quantitative syntheses have focused on single invasive species impacts, a global‐scale quantitative synthesis on the interaction effects of species co‐invasions across multiple taxa and levels of ecological organization remain largely unexplored. We address this knowledge gap by synthesizing quantitative information from 256 effect sizes published in 36 studies, that reported the individual and interaction effects of co‐occuring alien plant and animal species. Although, our meta‐analysis showed that the mean interaction effect of co‐invasions across a range of variables was antagonistic (i.e. combined effect less than the sum of individual effects), the vote‐counting revealed additive interaction effects (i.e. combined effect equal to the sum of individual effects) to dominate individual observations. Also, the frequency of interaction effect types varied significantly with response variables, ecological organization, ecosystems, continents and study design, thereby indicating the role of these ecological characteristics in shaping co‐invasion interaction effects. Synthesis. Overall, our synthesis highlights the need for incorporating local ecological complexities in future co‐invasion impact research to better predict their interaction effect on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across spatio‐temporal scales. Looking ahead, we call for concerted research efforts on the ecological impacts of co‐invasions to unravel the causes of variability in interaction outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a puzzling polarity-based asymmetry in the use of even in sentences that deny presuppositions. It argues that this asymmetry is produced by the interaction of even's controversial additive presupposition with the alternatives that are salient in the relevant contexts and demonstrates that this proposal makes good crosslinguistic predictions. Along the way, this paper shows that presupposition denials are a fruitful testing ground for uncovering details about the behaviour of even and the role of presuppositions triggered within focus alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant health is increasingly threatened by abiotic and biotic stressors linked to anthropogenic global change. These stressors are frequently studied in isolation. However, they might have non‐additive (antagonistic or synergistic) interactive effects that affect plant communities in unexpected ways. We conducted a global meta‐analysis to summarize existing evidence on the joint effects of climate change (drought and warming) and biotic attack (pathogens) on plant performance. We also investigated the effect of drought and warming on pathogen performance, as this information is crucial for a mechanistic interpretation of potential indirect effects of climate change on plant performance mediated by pathogens. The final databases included 1230 pairwise cases extracted from 117 recently published scientific articles (from 2006) on a global scale. We found that the combined negative effects of drought and pathogens on plant growth were lower than expected based on their main effects, supporting the existence of antagonistic interactions. Thus, the larger the magnitude of the drought, the lower the pathogen capacity to limit plant growth. On the other hand, the combination of warming and pathogens caused larger plant damage than expected, supporting the existence of synergistic interactions. Our results on the effects of drought and warming on pathogens revealed a limitation of their growth rates and abundance in vitro but an improvement under natural conditions, where multiple factors operate across the microbiome. Further research on the impact of climate change on traits explicitly defining the infective ability of pathogens would enhance the assessment of its indirect effects on plants. The evaluated plant and pathogen responses were conditioned by the intensity of drought or warming and by moderator categorical variables defining the pathosystems. Overall, our findings reveal the need to incorporate the joint effect of climatic and biotic components of global change into predictive models of plant performance to identify non‐additive interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a comparative analysis of the plethora of nonextensive and/or nonadditive entropies which go beyond the standard Boltzmann–Gibbs formulation. After defining the basic notions of additivity, extensivity, and composability, we discuss the properties of these entropies and their mutual relations, if they exist. The results are presented in two informative tables that are of strong interest to the gravity and cosmology community in the context of the recently intensively explored horizon entropies for black hole and cosmological models. Gravitational systems admit long-range interactions, which usually lead to a break of the standard additivity rule for thermodynamic systems composed of subsystems in Boltzmann–Gibbs thermodynamics. The features of additivity, extensivity, and composability are listed systematically. A brief discussion on the validity of the notion of equilibrium temperature for nonextensive systems is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss how countable subadditivity of operators can be derived from subadditivity under mild forms of continuity, and provide examples manifesting such circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, some properties of the general convolutional operators of general fractional calculus (GFC), which satisfy analogues of the fundamental theorems of calculus, are described. Two types of general fractional (GF) operators on a finite interval exist in GFC that are conventionally called the L-type and T-type operators. The main difference between these operators is that the additivity property holds for T-type operators and is violated for L-type operators. This property is very important for the application of GFC in physics and other sciences. The presence or violation of the additivity property can be associated with qualitative differences in the behavior of physical processes and systems. In this paper, we define L-type line GF integrals and L-type line GF gradients. For these L-type operators, the gradient theorem is proved in this paper. In general, the L-type line GF integral over a simple line is not equal to the sum of the L-type line GF integrals over lines that make up the entire line. In this work, it is shown that there exist two cases when the additivity property holds for the L-type line GF integrals. In the first case, the L-type line GF integral along the line is equal to the sum of the L-type line GF integrals along parts of this line only if the processes, which are described by these lines, are independent. Processes are called independent if the history of changes in the subsequent process does not depend on the history of the previous process. In the second case, we prove the additivity property holds for the L-type line GF integrals, if the conditions of the GF gradient theorems are satisfied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantile-quantile plots in the precise sense of scatterplots showing corresponding quantiles of two variables have long been supported by official command qqplot. That command is generalized here in several ways in a new command, qqplotg. In this article, I explain the major features of qqplotg and give several examples of its use. Themes include the use of quantile-quantile plots to explore the possibilities for working on a transformed scale and the value of plotting difference between quantiles versus mean quantile or plotting position. Various historical and methodological remarks are sprinkled throughout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study of strong homology Mardešić and Prasolov isolated a certain inverse system of abelian groups A indexed by elements of ω ω . They showed that if strong homology is additive on a class of spaces containing closed subsets of Euclidean spaces then the higher derived limits lim n A must vanish, for n > 0. They also proved that under the Continuum Hypothesis lim 1 A ≠ 0. The question whether lim n A vanishes, for all n > 0 , has attracted considerable interest from set theorists. Dow, Simon and Vaughan showed that under the Proper Forcing Axiom (PFA) lim 1 A = 0. Bergfalk showed that it is consistent that lim 2 A does not vanish. Later Bergfalk and Lambie-Hanson showed that, modulo a weakly compact cardinal, it is relatively consistent with ZFC that lim n A = 0 , for all n. The large cardinal assumption was recently removed by Bergfalk, Hrušak and Lambie-Hanson. We complete the picture by showing that, for any n > 0 , it is relatively consistent with ZFC that lim n A ≠ 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies implications of the consistency conditions among prior, posteriors, and information sets on introspective properties of qualitative belief induced from information sets. The main result reformulates the consistency conditions as: (i) the information sets, without any assumption, almost surely form a partition; and (ii) the posterior at a state is equal to the Bayes conditional probability given the corresponding information set. The main implication of this result is to provide a tractable epistemic model which dispenses with the technical assumptions inherent in the standard epistemic model such as the countable number of information sets. Applications are agreement theorem, no-trade theorem, and the epistemic characterization of correlated equilibria. Implications are as follows. First, since qualitative belief reduces to fully introspective knowledge in the standard environment, a care must be taken when one studies non-veridical belief or non-introspective knowledge. Second, an information partition compatible with the consistency conditions is uniquely determined by the posteriors. Third, qualitative and probability-one beliefs satisfy truth axiom almost surely. The paper also sheds light on how the additivity of the posteriors yields negative introspective properties of beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between amino acid mutations and enzyme bioactivity is a significant challenge in modern bio-industrial applications. Despite many successful designs relying on complex correlations among mutations at different enzyme sites, the underlying mechanisms of these correlations still need to be explored. In this study, we introduced a revised version of the residual-contact network clique model to investigate the additive effect of double mutations based on the mutation occurrence topology, secondary structures, and physicochemical properties. The model was applied to a set of 182 double mutations reported in three extensively studied enzymes, and it successfully identified over 90% of additive double mutations and a majority of non-additive double mutations. The calculations revealed that the mutation additivity depends intensely on the studied mutation sites' topology and physicochemical properties. For example, double mutations on irregular secondary structure regions tend to be non-additive. Our method provides valuable tools for facilitating enzyme design and optimization. The code and relevant data are available at Github. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Poultry diets consist of several ingredients contributing specific amounts of nutrients and it is assumed that the supply from each ingredient is additive when diets are formulated. However, the additivity of apparent metabolisable energy (AME) and ileal amino acid digestibility in broiler diets combining sorghum with different protein sources has not been examined. Aims: To determine the additivity of AME along with ileal digestibility values for protein and amino acids in diets combining sorghum with different protein sources. Methods: The digestibility assays, based on semi-purified diets containing sorghum, sunflower meal (SFM), meat and bone meal (MBM), soybean meal (SBM), canola meal (CM), and cottonseed meal (CSM), were fed individually, or sorghum was combined with the different protein sources. Each diet was fed to three cages of 12 17-day-old broilers for 7 days. Excreta was collected for the final 3 days and at the end of the assay, digesta was collected from the terminal ileum for digestibility determination. Key results: When sorghum was mixed with the different protein sources, all predicted values for protein digestibility were additive, but for AME only the value for sorghum + SFM was additive. All other predicted AME values for sorghum combinations were different (P < 0.05) from the determined value. There were significant (P < 0.05) differences between predicted and determined amino acid digestibility coefficients, but amino acids showing associative effects varied among the different sorghum protein source combinations. Conclusions: Overall, the present results indicated that caution should be exercised when predicting the AME and apparent ileal amino acid digestibility values for sorghum-based diets from values determined with individual feed ingredients. Implications: The study indicated that positive and negative interactions are likely to occur among dietary ingredients in mixed diets, which has implications for both energy and protein utilisation. Sorghum-fed broilers has reduced performance compared with those fed corn- and wheat-based diets. This difference has been attributed to the presence of anti-nutritional factors in sorghum. The present findings showed that anti-nutritional factors in sorghum and protein meals have an impact on the additivity of digestible nutrients in mixed diets, giving rise to associative effects. This article belongs to the Collection Sustainable Animal Agriculture for Developing Countries 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce a new class of derivations that generalizes skew derivations and semi-derivations, and we call it skew semi-derivation. Furthermore, we present a study of the conditions under which this type of multiplicative derivation becomes additive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allopolyploidy in plants involves the merging of two or more distinct parental genomes into a single nucleus, a significant evolutionary process in the plant kingdom. Transcriptomic analysis provides invaluable insights into allopolyploid plants by elucidating the fate of duplicated genes, revealing evolutionary novelties and uncovering their environmental adaptations. By examining gene expression profiles, scientists can discern how duplicated genes have evolved to acquire new functions or regulatory roles. This process often leads to the development of novel traits and adaptive strategies that allopolyploid plants leverage to thrive in diverse ecological niches. Understanding these molecular mechanisms not only enhances our appreciation of the genetic complexity underlying allopolyploidy but also underscores their importance in agriculture and ecosystem resilience. However, transcriptome profiling is challenging due to genomic redundancy, which is further complicated by the presence of multiple chromosomes sets and the variations among homoeologs and allelic genes. Prior to transcriptome analysis, sub-genome phasing and homoeology inference are essential for obtaining a comprehensive view of gene expression. This review aims to clarify the terminology in this field, identify the most challenging aspects of transcriptome analysis, explain their inherent difficulties, and suggest reliable analytic strategies. Furthermore, bulk RNA-seq is highlighted as a primary method for studying allopolyploid gene expression, focusing on critical steps like read mapping and normalization in differential gene expression analysis. This approach effectively captures gene expression from both parental genomes, facilitating a comprehensive analysis of their combined profiles. Its sensitivity in detecting low-abundance transcripts allows for subtle differences between parental genomes to be identified, crucial for understanding regulatory dynamics and gene expression balance in allopolyploids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We empirically examined the effectiveness of how the Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH) technique structures task information to help reduce confirmation bias (Study 1) and the portrayal of intelligence analysts as suffering from such bias (Study 2). Study 1 (N = 161) showed that individuals presented with hypotheses in rows and evidence items in columns were significantly less likely to demonstrate confirmation bias, whereas those presented with the ACH-style matrix (with hypotheses in columns and evidence items in rows) or a paragraph of text (listing the evidence for each hypothesis) were not less likely to demonstrate bias. The ACH-style matrix also did not confer any benefits regarding increasing sensitivity to evidence credibility. Study 2 showed that the majority of 62 Dutch military analysts did not suffer from confirmation bias and were sensitive to evidence credibility. Finally, neither judgmental coherence nor cognitive reflection differentiated between better or worse performers in the hypotheses evaluation tasks.

Greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) is a major global pest, causing direct damage to plants and transmitting viral plant diseases. Management of T. vaporariorum is problematic because of widespread pesticide resistance, and many greenhouse growers rely on biological control agents to regulate T. vaporariorum populations. However, these are often slow and vary in efficacy, leading to subsequent application of chemical insecticides when pest populations exceed threshold levels. Combining chemical and biological pesticides has great potential but can result in different outcomes, from positive to negative interactions. In this study, we evaluated co-applications of the entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) Beauveria bassiana and Cordyceps farinosa and the chemical insecticide spiromesifen in laboratory bioassays. Complex interactions between the EPFs and insecticide were described using an ecotoxicological mixtures model, the MixTox analysis. Depending on the EPF and chemical concentrations applied, mixtures resulted in additivity, synergism, or antagonism in terms of total whitefly mortality. Combinations of B. bassiana and spiromesifen, compared to single treatments, increased the rate of kill by 5 days. Results indicate the potential for combined applications of EPF and spiromesifen as an effective integrated pest management strategy and demonstrate the applicability of the MixTox model to describe complex mixture interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed a surge in research on the effects of multiple stressors in freshwater ecosystems. While studies have increased, the synthesis of their findings into a broader understanding of ecosystem‐level effects remains an ongoing endeavour. Leaf litter decomposition, a frequently investigated and pivotal ecosystem function in freshwaters, is sensitive to changes in abiotic conditions and biotic communities, and therefore susceptible to multiple‐stressor effects.Here, we synthesize findings from 27 manipulative experimental studies encompassing 61 responses of litter decomposition to paired stressors such as warming, nutrient enrichment and emerging pollutants in freshwater ecosystems. We calculated the individual and overall interaction effect sizes resulting from two stressors occurring simultaneously. Furthermore, we analysed the effect of moderator variables in the size and direction of interaction effect sizes using a meta‐analytical approach.Although the vote‐counting method showed additive interactions to dominate individual observations (91.8%), weighted random‐effects meta‐analysis revealed an overall antagonistic interaction between stressors (i.e. the cumulative effect of paired stressors on litter decomposition was less than the sum of their single effects). Our results emphasized the influence of experimental characteristics such as macroinvertebrate involvement, habitat type (lentic vs. lotic) and litter quality (assumed from plant mycorrhizal association) in shaping the responses of litter decomposition to multiple stressors.Our meta‐analysis highlights the need to incorporate local ecological complexities in manipulative experiments to improve predictions of multiple‐stressor effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functions. The present study underscores the importance of considering biotic interactions and adopting the metacommunity framework in conservation and restoration actions to support the management of freshwater ecosystems in an era of rapid global change. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of instructor clarity on student learning has been explained using cognitive load theory, which stipulates that students have limited mental resources to devote to activities pertaining to learning. To date, the effect of teacher clarity on students' cognitive burden has been studied in reference to students' extraneous cognitive load as clear teachers design their instruction to be straightforward and free from distraction. However, few instructional communication studies have examined how clarity's impact on extraneous cognitive load interacts with the intrinsic difficulty of students' course lessons to conditionally impact students' learning processes. This study utilized data from 221 students to estimate a latent first-stage conditional process model with teacher clarity predicting students' deep processing of course material through students' receiver apprehension, dependent upon the intrinsic difficulty of the course material (despite teaching). Results indicated that as teachers were generally clearer during instruction, students more deeply processed their course material because they experienced less receiver apprehension. However, this indirect effect was greater when students had more working memory availability (i.e., lower intrinsic cognitive load controlling for clear teaching). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WHO (World Health Organization) reports from recent years warn about the growing number of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Therefore, there is an urgent need to constantly search for new substances effective in the fight against microorganisms. Plants are a rich source of chemical compounds with antibacterial properties. These compounds, classified as secondary metabolites, may act independently or support the action of currently used antibiotics. Due to the large number of metabolites isolated from the plant kingdom and new plant species being studied, there is a need to develop new strategies/techniques or modifications of currently applied methods that can be used to select plant extracts or chemical compounds isolated from them that enter into positive, synergistic interactions with currently used antibiotics. One such method is the dual-disk synergy test (DDST). It involves the diffusion of active compounds in the agar environment and influencing the growth of microorganisms grown on it. The method was used to assess the interaction of extracts from the fruit and shoots of some cultivated varieties of Rubus idaeus and Rubus occidentalis with selected antibiotics. The research was conducted on strains of bacteria pathogenic to humans, including Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Helicobacter pylori, and Candida albicans, showing synergy, antagonism, or lack of interaction of the tested substances—plant extract and antibiotic. As a result, it was found that the diffusion method is useful in screening tests to assess the impact of antibiotic–herbal substance interactions on Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We empirically examined the effectiveness of how the Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH) technique structures task information to help reduce confirmation bias (Study 1) and the portrayal of intelligence analysts as suffering from such bias (Study 2). Study 1 (N = 161) showed that individuals presented with hypotheses in rows and evidence items in columns were significantly less likely to demonstrate confirmation bias, whereas those presented with the ACH-style matrix (with hypotheses in columns and evidence items in rows) or a paragraph of text (listing the evidence for each hypothesis) were not less likely to demonstrate bias. The ACH-style matrix also did not confer any benefits regarding increasing sensitivity to evidence credibility. Study 2 showed that the majority of 62 Dutch military analysts did not suffer from confirmation bias and were sensitive to evidence credibility. Finally, neither judgmental coherence nor cognitive reflection differentiated between better or worse performers in the hypotheses evaluation tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guatemalan potato moth (Tecia solanivora) is one of the most destructive pests affecting potatoes in Colombia. Our objective was to evaluate the susceptibility of T. solanivora to a combination of entomopathogenic nematodes and entomopathogenic fungi, to study the interactions of these two agents under laboratory conditions. We evaluated the mortality of fourth instar larvae against 200 Infective Juveniles (IJs) per larva of ten strains of entomopathogenic nematodes, and 104–108 conidia per larva of Beauveria bassiana sensu lato Bb9205 and Metarhizium anisopliae sensu lato Ma9236. We found that Steinernema feltiae SC125 caused a mortality rate of 98.2% with an LC50 of 33 IJs/larva. M. anisopliae sensu lato Ma9236 achieved a mortality rate of 88.8% with an LC50 of 6.9 × 105 conidia/larva. We selected these strains for the interaction tests. We determined that the interaction test results were statistically additive regardless of any difference in application times of the entomopathogens and despite the observation of signs of infection in the hosts from both the nematode and the fungus. Despite not having found synergistic interactions between the evaluated control agents, these laboratory tests suggest a possible strategy of combining entomopathogenic nematode and fungi for biological management of the guatemalan moth T. solanivora in potato crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an account of interpretive effects involving same and different, relying on two claims: the first is that same and different are able to take scope, and the second is that they are presuppositional. On this account, same and different are decomposed into two parts: an additive operator TOO and a (non-)identity predicate. We argue that this account provides a more parsimonious account of well-known properties of same and different, such as the distinction between internal and external readings, as well as the parallelism effects discovered by Hardt and Mikkelsen (Linguist Philos 38:289–314, 2015). We also present a solution to a previously unexplained puzzle involving comparatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Understanding post-hatch gene expression patterns is crucial for exploring the genetic basis underlying economically important traits in the crossbreeding of chickens, which has been rarely studied. Therefore, we conducted gene expression analysis on F1 chicken breast muscle and liver tissues using ssRNA-seq at 28 days. The study revealed additivity as the predominant gene expression pattern in post-hatch muscle and liver. GO analysis identified 11 biological process terms associated with growth and development in differentially expressed gene sets and non-additive gene sets, including key genes like STAT5A and TGFB2. KEGG analysis uncovered six growth-related pathways with genes such as SLC27A4 and GLUL. These findings provide valuable insights for domestic animal crossbreeding. Heterosis refers to the phenomenon where hybrids exhibit superior performance compared to the parental phenotypes and has been widely utilized in crossbreeding programs for animals and crops, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain enigmatic. A better understanding of the gene expression patterns in post-hatch chickens is very important for exploring the genetic basis underlying economically important traits in the crossbreeding of chickens. In this study, breast muscle and liver tissues (n = 36) from full-sib F1 birds and their parental pure lines were selected to identify gene expression patterns and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at 28 days of age by strand-specific RNA sequencing (ssRNA-seq). This study indicates that additivity is the predominant gene expression pattern in the F1 chicken post-hatch breast muscle (80.6% genes with additivity) and liver (94.2% genes with additivity). In breast muscle, Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that a total of 11 biological process (BP) terms closely associated with growth and development were annotated in the identified DEG sets and non-additive gene sets, including STAT5A, TGFB2, FGF1, IGF2, DMA, FGF16, FGF12, STAC3, GSK3A, and GRB2. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation presented that a total of six growth- and development-related pathways were identified, involving key genes such as SLC27A4, GLUL, TGFB2, COX17, and GSK3A, including the PPAR signaling pathway, TGF-beta signaling pathway, and mTOR signaling pathway. Our results may provide a theoretical basis for crossbreeding in domestic animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understory small trees and shrubs play a crucial role in the biogeochemical cycles in forest ecosystems. However, their biomass in northeastern China is still uncertain and has been heavily disregarded due to the limited number of available allometric equations. For this study, 782 plants from 33 species obtained by the destructive method were used to develop species-specific and generalized aboveground allometric biomass equations based on collar diameter (D) and height (H) using weighted nonlinear seemingly unrelated regression. Each biomass component was shown to be well predicted by D alone, with R2 adj. values mostly greater than 0.80. The majority of species performed better in the models for wood and aboveground biomass when H was included as D2H. Furthermore, generalized equations for the two components showed a comparatively large coefficient of variation but comparable Bias to species-specific equations, especially for small trees. It is recommended to estimate biomass using generalized equations for mixed species only when species-specific equations are unavailable at a given site. However, in the event when precision is not the primary concern, generalized equations are also suggested. The developed equations will help to improve the accuracy of biomass assessment of understory woody plants in northeastern China forest ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sakha particle da(ɣanï) has a restricted, semantically varied distribution. It appears in three main roles: negative polarity item (NPIs), a marker of scalar focus, and doubled in coordination constructions. In coordination X da(ɣanï) Y da(ɣanï) means 'both X and Y' in positive sentences, but 'neither X nor Y' in negative sentences. Following from the assumption that NPIs denote low-point existentials, it is surprising to find a particle that is involved in these as well as 'both...and' coordination. While there are quantifier particles in other languages which overlap with all of da(ɣanï)'s uses, these typically these serve far more roles. One such common role that da(ɣanï) lacks is a basic additive 'too' reading, though an additive reading emerges with scalar focus. I argue that da(ɣanï) is an element which combines with an host that has semantic alternatives and makes them obligatorily active, in the sense of Chierchia (2013). When it combines with a low-point existential, this has the effect of creating NPIs. The 'both...and' reading is argued to be the result of da(ɣanï) inducing an additive post-supposition. However, a unary 'too' function is blocked by the additive presupposition of another particle emie. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protein value of any food item is determined by the quantity and ileal digestibility of indispensable amino acids in that food. To determine the ileal digestibility of amino acids, an animal model needs to be used, and the pig is the preferred model because values for ileal digestibility obtained in pigs are representative of values obtained in humans. In addition, pigs are omnivorous animals like humans, they are meal eaters, they consume most diets that humans consume, they are easy to work with, and they can be used for repeated determinations of digestibility in many foods. It is, therefore, possible to use pigs to establish a database with digestibility values for human foods and by correcting digestibility values obtained in pigs for the basal endogenous losses of amino acids, it is possible to calculate true ileal digestibility values that are additive in mixed meals. As a consequence, the protein quality of a meal consisting of several food items can be calculated based on digestibility values obtained in pigs. Future work needs to focus on expanding existing databases for amino acid digestibility in foods to include more food items, which will make it possible to estimate the amino acid value of more mixed meals. It is also necessary that the amino acid values in mixed meals be related to requirements for digestible indispensable amino acids in the individuals consuming the meals. The current contribution describes the basic steps in determining amino acid digestibility in human foods using the pig as a model and also outlines future steps needed to further improve amino acid nutrition in humans.

Let \(\mathfrak{R}\) and \(\mathfrak{R}'\) be two associative rings (not necessarily with identity elements). A bijective map \(\varphi\) of \(\mathfrak{R}\) onto \(\mathfrak{R}'\) is called an \textit{\(m\)-multiplicative isomorphism} if {\(\varphi (x_{1} \cdots x_{m}) = \varphi(x_{1}) \cdots \varphi(x_{m})\)} for all \(x_{1}, \dotsc ,x_{m}\in \mathfrak{R}.\) In this article, we establish a condition on generalized matrix rings, that assures that multiplicative maps are additive. And then, we apply our result for study of \(m\)-multiplicative isomorphisms and \(m\)-multiplicative derivations on generalized matrix rings.

Abstract Background Oils are important sources of energy in pig diets. The combination of oils with different degree of saturation contributes to improve the utilization efficiency of the mixed oils and may reduce the cost of oil supplemented. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of oils with different degree of saturation on the fat digestibility and corresponding additivity and bacterial community in growing pigs. Methods Eighteen crossbred (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) barrows (initial body weight: 29.3 ± 2.8 kg) were surgically fitted with a T-cannula in the distal ileum. The experimental diets included a fat-free basal diet and 5 oil-added diets. The 5 oil-added diets were formulated by adding 6% oil with different ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids (U:S) to the basal diet. The 5 oils were palm oil (U:S = 1.2), canola oil (U:S = 12.0), and palm oil and canola oil were mixed in different proportions to prepare a combination of U:S of 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5, respectively. Results The apparent and standardized ileal digestibility (AID and SID) of fat and fatty acids increased linearly (P

Compatible model systems were developed for estimating fuel load dynamics in Ulex europaeus (gorse) and in Erica australis (Spanish heath) dominated shrub communities at stand level. The models were based on intensive, detailed destructive field sampling and were fitted simultaneously to fulfill the additivity principle. The models enable, for the first time, estimation of the biomass dynamics of the total shrub layer, size fractions and vegetative stage, with reasonably good accuracy. The approach used addresses the high variability in shrub biomass estimates by using a site index (SI) based on biomass levels at a reference age of 10 years. Analysis of the effect of climatic variables on site index confirmed the preference of gorse for mild temperatures and the ability of high heath communities to tolerate a wider range of temperatures. In the gorse communities, SI tended to increase as summer rainfall and the mean temperature of the coldest month increased. However, in the heath communities, no relationships were observed between SI and any of the climatic variables analyzed. The study findings may be useful for assessing and monitoring fuel hazards, updating fuel mapping, planning and implementing fuel reduction treatments and predicting fire behavior, among other important ecological and biomass use-related applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we prove that every multiplicative anti-derivation map of an arbitrary generalized n -matrix ring is additive. Even more, as consequence, we get the same conclusion for the class of triangular n -matrix rings, unital prime rings with a nontrivial idempotent, standard operator algebras and factor von Neumann algebras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tree crown can be described by various crown dimension variables, including crown width (CW), an important predictor variable in forest growth-and-yield models. Because CW is quantified as the arithmetic mean of north–south and east–west CW measurements (crown components), issues of additivity and inherent correlation between crown components exist. Using two versatile estimation algorithms (non-linear seemingly unrelated regression − NSUR – and non-linear error-in-variable models − NEIVM), we employed three methods of constructing simultaneous model systems (non-linear summation − NSE, one-step proportional weighting system − OPWS, and two-step proportional weighting system − TPWS) to effectively address those issues. The performance of the three methods was evaluated using CW measurements of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) in China. Results showed that the OPWS outperformed the NSE and the TPWS for each algorithm. NEIVM-OPWS was more accurate than TPWS, and NEIVM outperformed NSUR. Diameter at breast height, total height and mean diameter at breast height (a variable describing stand density and competition) significantly contributed to CW and its component equations. Each CW model system included additivity of the crown component equations and accounted for the inherent correlations between equations. Overall, NEIVM-OPWS provided a closer estimate of CW to the measured CW than other model systems and methods employed. An effective CW model system will help understand light capture by the bamboo canopy and contribute to the effective management of bamboo forests in China and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oils are important sources of energy in pig diets. The combination of oils with different degree of saturation contributes to improve the utilization efficiency of the mixed oils and may reduce the cost of oil supplemented. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of oils with different degree of saturation on the fat digestibility and corresponding additivity and bacterial community in growing pigs. Methods: Eighteen crossbred (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) barrows (initial body weight: 29.3 ± 2.8 kg) were surgically fitted with a T-cannula in the distal ileum. The experimental diets included a fat-free basal diet and 5 oil-added diets. The 5 oil-added diets were formulated by adding 6% oil with different ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids (U:S) to the basal diet. The 5 oils were palm oil (U:S = 1.2), canola oil (U:S = 12.0), and palm oil and canola oil were mixed in different proportions to prepare a combination of U:S of 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5, respectively. Results: The apparent and standardized ileal digestibility (AID and SID) of fat and fatty acids increased linearly (P < 0.05) as the U:S of dietary oils increased except for SID of fat and C18:2. The AID and SID of fat and fatty acids differed among the dietary treatments (P < 0.05) except for SID of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) and C18:2. Fitted one-slope broken-line analyses for the SID of fat, saturated fatty acids (SFA) and UFA indicated that the breakpoint for U:S of oil was 4.14 (R2 = 0.89, P < 0.01), 2.91 (R2 = 0.98, P < 0.01) and 3.84 (R2 = 0.85, P < 0.01), respectively. The determined SID of fat, C18:1, C18:2 and UFA in the mixtures was not different from the calculated SID of fat, C18:1, C18:2 and UFA. However, the determined SID of C16:0, C18:0 and SFA in the mixtures were greater than the calculated SID values (P < 0.05). The abundance of Romboutsia and Turicibacter in pigs fed diet containing palm oil was greater than that in rapeseed oil treatment group, and the two bacteria were negatively correlated with SID of C16:0, C18:0 and SFA (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The optimal U:S for improving the utilization efficiency of mixed oil was 4.14. The SID of fat and UFA for palm oil and canola oil were additive in growing pigs, whereas the SID of SFA in the mixture of two oils was greater than the sum of the values of pure oils. Differences in fat digestibility caused by oils differing in degree of saturation has a significant impact on bacterial community in the foregut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We take an axiomatic approach to study redistribution problems when agents report income and needs. We formalize axioms reflecting ethical and operational principles such as additivity, impartiality and individual rationality. Different combinations of those axioms characterize three focal rules (laissez faire, full redistribution, and need‐adjusted full redistribution) as well as compromises among them. We also uncover the structure of those compromises exploring the Lorenz dominance criterion as well as majority voting. Our analysis provides an axiomatic justification for a linear income tax system. We conclude our analysis resorting to Eurostat's Household Budget Survey from where we illustrate the different redistribution patterns accounting for needs across European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was to compare the estimates of basal endogenous losses (BEL) of amino acids (AA) determined by 3 methods including feeding a nitrogen-free diet (NFD) or a low-casein diet (LCD, containing casein at 30 g/kg diet) or using the regression method. Another objective was to investigate whether the ileal AA digestibility of corn calculated from a casein-supplemented corn diet is additive for a corn-soybean meal (SBM) mixed diet in broilers. On d 31 of age, 168 Ross 308 male broilers were assigned to 8 dietary treatments with 6 replicates in a randomized complete block design. An NFD and 3 diets containing 30, 60, or 90 g/kg of casein were formulated to determine the BEL of AA and ileal AA digestibility of casein. The other 4 diets consisted of a corn diet, SBM diet, casein-supplemented corn diet, and corn-SBM mixed diet. On d 35 of age, digesta from the distal section of the ileum were collected. The BEL of AA in birds fed the LCD were greater (P

This paper considers a solution to a scenario found in Tom Regan's Case for Animal Rights, offered by Daniel Kary. Regan considers a case where either one human or any number of dog's must be sacrificed. He chooses the human because they would be harmed more than any dog would be. This is initially puzzling since Regan claims that humans and dogs have equal inherent value (the objective value as an end that entities have). Kary's solution argues the human should be saved since their possible experiences have greater intrinsic value (the objective value as an end that experiences have) than those of any number of dogs'. The rationale is that dog experiences are too similar to be additive. The paper acknowledges that Kary's alternative solution is more plausible than Regan's, but it ultimately fails to be convincing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let R be a ring with involution containing a nontrivial symmetric idempotent element e. Let δ : R → R be a mapping such that δ(ab) = δ(b)a* + b* δ(a) for all a, b ∈ R, we call δ a*−reverse derivable map on R. In this paper, our aim is to show that under some suitable restrictions imposed on R, every *−reverse derivable map of R is additive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WHO (World Health Organization) reports from recent years warn about the growing number of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Therefore, there is an urgent need to constantly search for new substances effective in the fight against microorganisms. Plants are a rich source of chemical compounds with antibacterial properties. These compounds, classified as secondary metabolites, may act independently or support the action of currently used antibiotics. Due to the large number of metabolites isolated from the plant kingdom and new plant species being studied, there is a need to develop new strategies/techniques or modifications of currently applied methods that can be used to select plant extracts or chemical compounds isolated from them that enter into positive, synergistic interactions with currently used antibiotics. One such method is the dual-disk synergy test (DDST). It involves the diffusion of active compounds in the agar environment and influencing the growth of microorganisms grown on it. The method was used to assess the interaction of extracts from the fruit and shoots of some cultivated varieties of Rubus idaeus and Rubus occidentalis with selected antibiotics. The research was conducted on strains of bacteria pathogenic to humans, including Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Helicobacter pylori, and Candida albicans, showing synergy, antagonism, or lack of interaction of the tested substances—plant extract and antibiotic. As a result, it was found that the diffusion method is useful in screening tests to assess the impact of antibiotic–herbal substance interactions on Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms.

Abstract—The work reports on studies of the diffuse reflectance spectra in situ recorded in vacuum for SiO2-nanoparticle-modified BaSO4 micron-sized powders in the range of 0.2–2.2 μm before and after the separate solar spectrum quanta exposure and the successive irradiation after exposure to protons with energy of 5 keV. The absence of additivity upon the separate and successive solar spectrum quanta irradiation of the examined compound is established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative analysis of changes in the diffuse reflectance spectra (ρλ) and the integrated absorption coefficient in the range of 0.2–2.2 μm is performed after the separate and sequential irradiation of a barium-sulfate powder modified with silicon-dioxide nanoparticles (mBaSO4/nSiO2) with 5-keV protons and solar-radiation quanta. The spectra are recorded after each irradiation cycle in vacuum within the irradiation region (in situ). The integrated solar-radiation absorption coefficient of the modified mBaSO4/nSiO2 pigment before irradiation is 0.048, which is several times lower than that of ZnO pigment widely used around the world. The additivity coefficient calculated from the results of sequential and separate irradiation of the mBaSO4/nSiO2 powder decreases by a factor of 7.5–1.052 with an increase in the fluence of 5-keV protons. Assessment of the additivity changes under the action of the spectrum of charged particles in geostationary orbit (as one of the most used and with the most severe radiation conditions) shows that the nonadditivity of separate and sequential exposure to protons and solar-radiation quanta on the pigment for mBaSO4/nSiO2 thermal-control coatings will persist for 1.27 years under these irradiation parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crown development is closely related to the biomass and growth rate of the tree and its width (CW) is an important covariable in growth and yield models and in forest management. To date, various CW models have been proposed. However, limited studies have explicitly focused on additive and inherent correlation of crown components and total CW as well as the influence of competition on crown radius from the corresponding direction. In this study, two model systems were used, i.e., aggregation method system (AMS) and disaggregation method system (DMS), to develop crown width additive model systems. For calculating spatially explicit competition index (CI), four neighbor tree selection methods were evaluated. CI was decomposed into four cardinal directions and added into the model systems. Results show that the power model form was more proper for our data to fit CW growth. For each crown radius and total CW, height to the diameter at breast height (HDR) and basal area of trees larger than the subject tree (BAL) significantly contributed to the increase of prediction accuracy. The 3-m fixed radius was optimal among the four neighborhoods selection ways. After adding decomposed competition Hegyi index into model systems AMS and DMS, the prediction accuracy improved. Of the model systems evaluated, AMS based on decomposed CI provided the best performance as well as the inherent correlation and additivity properties. Our study highlighted the importance of decomposed CI in tree CW modelling for additive model systems. This study focused on methodology and could be applied to other species or stands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Isobolographic analysis is the preferred method of assessment of pharmacodynamic interactions occurring among drugs administered in mixture in both pre-clinical and clinical studies. Despite its mathematical complexity, rigorous preliminary conditions and various prerequisites to be met, it assesses the pharmacodynamic interactions, classifying them as additive, antagonistic, synergistic or indifferent in nature. These interactions are usually plotted in the Cartesian system of coordinates forming isobolograms. The strength (power) of interactions is calculated and presented as an interaction index. Conclusion. This report provides basic information on the isobolographic analysis used experimentally in preclinical conditions indicating the underestimation of this valuable method in pharmacology and toxicology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop sensitivity analyses for the sample average treatment effect in matched observational studies while allowing unit‐level treatment effects to vary. The methods may be applied to studies using any optimal without‐replacement matching algorithm. In contrast to randomized experiments and to paired observational studies, we show for general matched designs that over a large class of test statistics, any procedure bounding the worst‐case expectation while allowing for arbitrary effect heterogeneity must be unnecessarily conservative if treatment effects are actually constant across individuals. We present a sensitivity analysis which bounds the worst‐case expectation while allowing for effect heterogeneity, and illustrate why it is generally conservative if effects are constant. An alternative procedure is presented that is asymptotically sharp if treatment effects are constant, and that is valid for testing the sample average effect under additional restrictions which may be deemed benign by practitioners. Simulations demonstrate that this alternative procedure results in a valid sensitivity analysis for the weak null hypothesis under a host of reasonable data‐generating processes. The procedures allow practitioners to assess robustness of estimated sample average treatment effects to hidden bias while allowing for effect heterogeneity in matched observational studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dogan and Yildiz introduce and analyze the pro-con model that is inspired by Franklin's prudential algebra. Consider an agent who is endowed with two sets of orderings: pro- and con-orderings. For each choice set, if an alternative is the top-ranked by a pro-ordering (con-ordering), then this is a pro (con) for choosing that alternative. The alternative with more pros than cons is chosen from each choice set. Each ordering may have a weight reflecting its salience. In this case, the probability that an alternative is chosen equals the difference between the total weights of its pros and cons. Although, this is an additive model similar to the random utility model with structurally invariant primitives, authors show that every (random) choice function is (random) pro-con rational. Their technique requires a generalization of Ford-Fulkerson theorem. The connection between the random model and its deterministic counterpart demonstrates a fruitful use of classical integer programming techniques in choice theory. We consider an agent who is endowed with two sets of orderings: pro- and con-orderings. For each choice set, if an alternative is the top-ranked by a pro-ordering (con-ordering), then this is a pro (con) for choosing that alternative. The alternative with more pros than cons is chosen from each choice set. Each ordering may have a weight reflecting its salience. In this case, the probability that an alternative is chosen equals the difference between the total weights of its pros and cons. We show that every nuance of the rich human choice behavior can be captured via this structured model. Our technique requires a generalization of the Ford-Fulkerson theorem, which may be of independent interest. As an application of our results, we show that every choice rule is plurality-rationalizable. Funding: K. Yildiz is grateful for the hospitality of New York University, Department of Economics during his visit in the 2017–2018 academic year, and the support from the Scientific and Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) [Grant 1059B191601712]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) are among the most employed approaches for aggregating performances in Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM). TOPSIS and SAW are two MCDM methods based on the value function approach and are often used in combination with other MCDM methods in order to produce rankings of alternatives. In this paper, first, we analyse some common features of these two MCDM methods with a specific reference to the additive properties of the value function and to the sensitivity of the value function to trade-off weights. Based on such methodological insights, an experimental comparison of the results provided by these two aggregation methods across a computational test is performed. Specifically, similarities in rankings of alternatives produced by TOPSIS and SAW are evaluated under three different Minkowski distances (namely, the Euclidean, Manhattan and Tchebichev ones). Similarities are measured trough a set of statistical indices. Results show that TOPSIS, when used in combination with a Manhattan distance, produces rankings which are extremely similar to the ones resulting from SAW. Similarities are also Experimental results confirm that rankings produced by TOPSIS methods are closer to SAW ones when similar formal properties are satisfied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]