Genomic basis of ecological niche divergence among cryptic sister species of non-biting midges

Background: There is a lack of understanding the evolutionary forces driving niche segregation of closely related organisms. In addition, pinpointing the genes driving ecological divergence is a key goal in molecular ecology. Here, larval transcriptome sequences obtained by next-generation-sequencing are used to address these issues in a morphologically cryptic sister species pair of non-biting midges (Chironomus riparius and C. piger). Results: More than eight thousand orthologous open reading frames were screened for interspecific divergence and intraspecific polymorphisms. Despite a small mean sequence divergence of 1.53% between the sister species, 25.1% of 18,115 observed amino acid substitutions were inferred by α statistics to be driven by positive selection. Applying McDonald-Kreitman tests to 715 alignments of gene orthologues identified eleven (1.5%) genes driven by positive selection. Conclusions: Three candidate genes were identified as potentially responsible for the observed niche segregation concerning nitrite concentration, habitat temperature and water conductivity. Additionally, signs of positive selection in the hydrogen sulfide detoxification pathway were detected, providing a new plausible hypothesis for the species’ ecological differentiation. Finally, a divergently selected, nuclear encoded mitochondrial ribosomal protein may contribute to reproductive isolation due to cytonuclear coevolution

Apprentice poaching in regional labor markets

A number of studies have found that firms provide less training if they are located in regions with strong labor market competition. This finding is usually interpreted as evidence of a higher risk of poaching in these regions. Yet, there is no direct evidence that regional competition is positively correlated with poaching. Building on a recently established approach to ex-post identify poaching of apprenticeship completers, our paper is the first to directly investigate the correlation between regional labor market competition and poaching. Using German administrative data, we find that competition indeed increases training establishments' probability of becoming poaching victims. However, poaching victims do not change their apprenticeship training activity in reaction to past poaching. Instead, our findings indicate that the lower training activity in competitive regions can be attributed to lower retention rates, a less adverse selection, and lower labor and hiring costs of apprenticeship completers hired from rivals

Thermally induced magnetic switching in bit-patterned media

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics 122, 043907 (2017) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4992808.We have studied the thermal variation of the switching field of magnetic islands at room temperature. A model bit-pattern media composed of an assembly of islands with 80 nm width was fabricated by sputter deposition onto a pre-patterned substrate. Using direct magnetic-contrast imaging of the islands under applied field, we extract the switching probabilities of individual islands. Based on an analytical model for the thermally activated switching of the islands, we are able to determine the intrinsic magnetic anisotropy of each island and, consequentially, a distribution of anisotropies for the island ensemble investigated. In the distribution, we identify a separated group of islands with a particularly small anisotropy. We attribute this group to islands containing misaligned grains triggering the magnetic reversal. At room temperature and slow field sweep rates, the observed thermal broadening of the switching-field distribution is small compared to the intrinsic broadening. However, we illustrate that thermal fluctuations play a crucial role at high sweep rates by extrapolating our results to technological relevant regimes

Make the most of your visual simulation data

There still exists no common standard on how to publish and cite visualisations of simulation data. We introduce the TIB AV-Portal as a sustainable infrastructure for audio-visual data using a combination of digital object identifiers (DOI) and media fragment identifiers (MFID) to cite these data in accordance with scientific standards. The benefits and opportunities of enhancing publications with visual data are illustrated by showing a use case from opto-electronics

Observer design for a class of nonlinear systems combining dissipativity with interconnection and damping assignment

A nonlinear observer design approach is proposed that exploits and combines port-Hamiltonian systems and dissipativity theory. First, a passivity-based observer design using interconnection and damping assignment for time variant state affine systems is presented by applying output injection to the system such that the observer error dynamics takes a port-Hamiltonian structure. The stability of the observer error system is assured by exploiting its passivity properties. Second, this setup is extended to develop an observer design approach for a class of systems with a time varying state affine forward and a nonlinear feedback contribution. For a class of nonlinear systems, the theory of dissipative observers is adapted and combined with the results for the passivity-based observer design using interconnection and damping assignment. The convergence of the compound observer design is determined by a linear matrix inequality. The performance of both observer approaches is analyzed in simulation examples

Reproducible research through persistently linked and visualized data

The demand of reproducible results in the numerical simulation of opto-electronic devices or more general in mathematical modeling and simulation requires the (long-term) accessibility of data and software that were used to generate those results. Moreover, to present those results in a comprehensible manner data visualizations such as videos are useful. Persistent identifier can be used to ensure the permanent connection of these different digital objects thereby preserving all information in the right context. Here we give an overview over the state-of-the art of data preservation, data and software citation and illustrate the benefits and opportunities of enhancing publications with visual simulation data by showing a use case from opto-electronics

Will Algorithms Replace Managers? A Systematic Literature Review on Algorithmic Management

Algorithms increasingly take on tasks traditionally performed by humans. They not only serve as co-workers to their human counterparts but increasingly take over management tasks by supervising and coordinating human workers – a phenomenon referred to as Algorithmic Management (AM). There is a growing research interest in this topic, but currently, the field lacks an overview and thorough understanding of what types of managerial work algorithms already perform. We address this with a structured literature review. We find that the automation of management work and workers’ responses to it (so-called algoactivism) have received the most attention. However, the configuration of AM systems has so far received little systematic attention. We further analyze which management functions algorithms perform. We find that while algorithms primarily supervise and investigate workers, coordinating interdependent workers and tasks has not been addressed. We propose several avenues for future research

Reproducible research through persistently linked and visualized data

The demand of reproducible results in the numerical simulation of opto-electronic devices or more general in mathematical modeling and simulation requires the (long-term) accessibility of data and software that were used to generate those results. Moreover, to present those results in a comprehensible manner data visualizations such as videos are useful. Persistent identifier can be used to ensure the permanent connection of these different digital objects thereby preserving all information in the right context. Here we give an overview over the state-of-the art of data preservation, data and software citation and illustrate the benefits and opportunities of enhancing publications with visual simulation data by showing a use case from opto-electronics