The Evolution of Language Groups among Cooperating Digital Predators

Many species of animals have evolved complex means for communicating with one another. Oftentimes, communication is essential for the execution of tasks that require cooperation between individuals, such as group hunting and mate selection. As a result, communication itself becomes essential for survival. While these facts are readily observed, the evolutionary processes underlying them are less understood, in large part because observational - much less controlled - studies of these processes are impossible. Both the timescales and population sizes required for such studies are simply too great. To address these problems, this thesis uses simulated predators to study the evolution of language in animals. These digital predators evolve to perform two cooperative tasks: hunting and mate selection. After the populations of predators have evolved to perform both tasks successfully, the population is decomposed into both language groups and cooperative groups. Spectral clustering identifies predators that speak similar languages, while merge clustering is used to find those groups of predators that are the most successful when working together. Analysis of the groups generated by these two different methods shows that the most successful pairings are not necessarily those in which the two individuals are speaking the same language. Rather, organisms can evolve to speak a different language than the one to which they respond. Moreover, even though one task -- mate selection -- evolves earlier in evolutionary history, the language diversity it produces counteracts any head-start provided for the evolution of the second task. Thus, not only is language important for the evolution of cooperative task success, but the appearance of language groups can also play a determinant role in the evolution of cooperation.Computer Science

Effect of Percent Fines in Pelleted Diets on Growth Performance of Grow-Finish Pigs During Three Phases of Production

Swine feed is commonly pelleted to improve F/G, feed handling characteristics, and bulk density. However, the degree of improvement in F/G of pigs depends on pellet quality or the percent fines at the feeder. The objective of this study was to determine if the response to pellet quality was dependent on the BW range of grow-finish pigs. Therefore, a total of 350 pigs (initially 80 lb; line 600 × 241, DNA) were randomly placed in 35 pens with 10 pigs per pen (5 barrows and 5 gilts per pen). All pigs were fed a common diet until the onset of the first experiment. At this time, pens of pigs were weighed to determine average pig weight per pen and split into 7 blocks based on average pen weight. Treatments were randomly assigned to pens within block. There was a total of 5 treatments with 7 replications per treatment. For Exp. 1, 2, and 3, pigs were fed treatments for 20 days from 96 to 150 lb, 21 days from 179 to 234 lb, and 20 days from 260 to 317 lb, respectively. Between each experiment, a 10-day washout period was utilized to mitigate any residual effects from the previous experiment and pens were rerandomized to treatment before the start of each experiment. Treatments consisted of 10% fines (screened pellets), pellets with increasing fines inclusions (45, 65, and 85% fines), and mashed feed. Experiment 1 (96 to 150 lb) treatments contained 90.4, 67.6, 46.4, and 12.5% fines at the feeder. There was no evidence of differences in ADG or ADFI in pigs fed the mash diet compared to those fed any of the pelleted treatments. However, pigs fed pellets with 12.5% fines had improved (P \u3c 0.05) F/G compared to those fed mash diets. Pig ADFI and total feed cost increased (linear, P \u3e 0.006) in those fed pelleted diets with an increasing percentage of fines. Pigs fed pelleted diets with increasing percentage of fines (linear, P = 0.002) had poorer F/G. Experiment 2 (179 to 235 lb) treatments consisted of 86.0, 60.5, 43.6, and 15.5% fines at the feeder. There was no evidence of differences in ADG. Pigs fed 86.0% fines had a tendency for increased (P \u3c 0.1) ADFI and poorer F/G when compared to the mash diet. Therefore, total feed cost increased (P \u3c 0.05) for pigs fed pellets with 86.0% fines when compared to pigs fed the mash diet. However, pigs fed pellets with 15.5% fines had improved (P \u3c 0.05) F/G compared to those fed mash diets. For pigs fed pelleted diets, increasing percentage of fines increased (linear, P = 0.016) ADFI which resulted in poorer (linear, P \u3c 0.02) F/G, total feed cost, and income over feed cost (IOFC). Experiment 3 (260 to 317 lb) pelleted diets contained 83.6, 65.1, 41.8, and 9.6% fines at the feeder. There was no evidence of differences in ADG or ADFI for pigs fed pellets with 65.1, 41.8, or 9.6% fines compared to those fed the mash diet. Pigs fed 83.6% fines had increased (P \u3c 0.05) total feed cost per pig and a tendency for increased (P \u3c 0.1) ADFI when compared to pigs fed the mash diet. Pig F/G improved (P \u3c 0.05) when fed 9.6 and 41.8% fines compared to those fed mash diets. Pigs fed 65.1% fines had a tendency for improved (P \u3c 0.1) F/G when compared to pigs fed the mash diet. Income over feed cost improved (P \u3c 0.05) in pigs fed pellets with 9.6% fines when compared to those fed the mash diet. Pig F/G became poorer (linear, P = 0.0056) as percent fines increased in the pelleted diets. Pelleted diets with fines increasing from 9.6 to 83.6% tended to increase (linear, P = 0.0874) total feed cost. In conclusion, feeding pigs 12.5, 15.5, and 9.6% fines in Exp. 1, 2, and 3 improved F/G by 4.1, 4.5, and 6.7%, respectively, compared to pigs fed mashed diets. Increasing the percent fines from 12.5 to 90.4%, 15.5 to 86.0%, and 9.6 to 83.6% reduced F/G of pigs by 5.9, 8.6, and 6.4% for Exp. 1, 2, and 3, respectively

Effect of Percent Fines in Pelleted Diets on Growth Performance of Grow-Finish Pigs During Three Phases of Production

Swine feed is commonly pelleted to improve F/G, feed handling characteristics, and bulk density. However, the degree of improvement in F/G of pigs depends on pellet quality or the percent fines at the feeder. The objective of this study was to determine if the response to pellet quality was dependent on the BW range of grow-finish pigs. Therefore, a total of 350 pigs (initially 80 lb; line 600 × 241, DNA) were randomly placed in 35 pens with 10 pigs per pen (5 barrows and 5 gilts per pen). All pigs were fed a common diet until the onset of the first experiment. At this time, pens of pigs were weighed to determine average pig weight per pen and split into 7 blocks based on average pen weight. Treatments were randomly assigned to pens within block. There was a total of 5 treatments with 7 replications per treatment. For Exp. 1, 2, and 3, pigs were fed treatments for 20 days from 96 to 150 lb, 21 days from 179 to 234 lb, and 20 days from 260 to 317 lb, respectively. Between each experiment, a 10-day washout period was utilized to mitigate any residual effects from the previous experiment and pens were rerandomized to treatment before the start of each experiment. Treatments consisted of 10% fines (screened pellets), pellets with increasing fines inclusions (45, 65, and 85% fines), and mashed feed. Experiment 1 (96 to 150 lb) treatments contained 90.4, 67.6, 46.4, and 12.5% fines at the feeder. There was no evidence of differences in ADG or ADFI in pigs fed the mash diet compared to those fed any of the pelleted treatments. However, pigs fed pellets with 12.5% fines had improved (P \u3c 0.05) F/G compared to those fed mash diets. Pig ADFI and total feed cost increased (linear, P \u3e 0.006) in those fed pelleted diets with an increasing percentage of fines. Pigs fed pelleted diets with increasing percentage of fines (linear, P = 0.002) had poorer F/G. Experiment 2 (179 to 235 lb) treatments consisted of 86.0, 60.5, 43.6, and 15.5% fines at the feeder. There was no evidence of differences in ADG. Pigs fed 86.0% fines had a tendency for increased (P \u3c 0.1) ADFI and poorer F/G when compared to the mash diet. Therefore, total feed cost increased (P \u3c 0.05) for pigs fed pellets with 86.0% fines when compared to pigs fed the mash diet. However, pigs fed pellets with 15.5% fines had improved (P \u3c 0.05) F/G compared to those fed mash diets. For pigs fed pelleted diets, increasing percentage of fines increased (linear, P = 0.016) ADFI which resulted in poorer (linear, P \u3c 0.02) F/G, total feed cost, and income over feed cost (IOFC). Experiment 3 (260 to 317 lb) pelleted diets contained 83.6, 65.1, 41.8, and 9.6% fines at the feeder. There was no evidence of differences in ADG or ADFI for pigs fed pellets with 65.1, 41.8, or 9.6% fines compared to those fed the mash diet. Pigs fed 83.6% fines had increased (P \u3c 0.05) total feed cost per pig and a tendency for increased (P \u3c 0.1) ADFI when compared to pigs fed the mash diet. Pig F/G improved (P \u3c 0.05) when fed 9.6 and 41.8% fines compared to those fed mash diets. Pigs fed 65.1% fines had a tendency for improved (P \u3c 0.1) F/G when compared to pigs fed the mash diet. Income over feed cost improved (P \u3c 0.05) in pigs fed pellets with 9.6% fines when compared to those fed the mash diet. Pig F/G became poorer (linear, P = 0.0056) as percent fines increased in the pelleted diets. Pelleted diets with fines increasing from 9.6 to 83.6% tended to increase (linear, P = 0.0874) total feed cost. In conclusion, feeding pigs 12.5, 15.5, and 9.6% fines in Exp. 1, 2, and 3 improved F/G by 4.1, 4.5, and 6.7%, respectively, compared to pigs fed mashed diets. Increasing the percent fines from 12.5 to 90.4%, 15.5 to 86.0%, and 9.6 to 83.6% reduced F/G of pigs by 5.9, 8.6, and 6.4% for Exp. 1, 2, and 3, respectively

GEneSTATION 1.0: A Synthetic Resource of Diverse Evolutionary and Functional Genomic Data for Studying The Evolution of Pregnancy-Associated Tissues and Phenotypes

Mammalian gestation and pregnancy are fast evolving processes that involve the interaction of the fetal, maternal and paternal genomes. Version 1.0 of the GEneSTATION database (http://genestation.org) integrates diverse types of omics data across mammals to advance understanding of the genetic basis of gestation and pregnancy-associated phenotypes and to accelerate the translation of discoveries from model organisms to humans. GEneSTATION is built using tools from the Generic Model Organism Database project, including the biology-aware database CHADO, new tools for rapid data integration, and algorithms that streamline synthesis and user access. GEneSTATION contains curated life history information on pregnancy and reproduction from 23 high-quality mammalian genomes. For every human gene, GEneSTATION contains diverse evolutionary (e.g. gene age, population genetic and molecular evolutionary statistics), organismal (e.g. tissue-specific gene and protein expression, differential gene expression, disease phenotype), and molecular data types (e.g. Gene Ontology Annotation, protein interactions), as well as links to many general (e.g. Entrez, PubMed) and pregnancy disease-specific (e.g. PTBgene, dbPTB) databases. By facilitating the synthesis of diverse functional and evolutionary data in pregnancy-associated tissues and phenotypes and enabling their quick, intuitive, accurate and customized meta-analysis, GEneSTATION provides a novel platform for comprehensive investigation of the function and evolution of mammalian pregnancy

Circulation and intrusions northeast of Taiwan : chasing and predicting uncertainty in the cold dome

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 24 no. 4 (2011): 110–121, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2011.99.An important element of present oceanographic research is the assessment and quantification of uncertainty. These studies are challenging in the coastal ocean due to the wide variety of physical processes occurring on a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. In order to assess new methods for quantifying and predicting uncertainty, a joint Taiwan-US field program was undertaken in August/September 2009 to compare model forecasts of uncertainties in ocean circulation and acoustic propagation, with high-resolution in situ observations. The geographical setting was the continental shelf and slope northeast of Taiwan, where a feature called the "cold dome" frequently forms. Even though it is hypothesized that Kuroshio subsurface intrusions are the water sources for the cold dome, the dome's dynamics are highly uncertain, involving multiple scales and many interacting ocean features. During the experiment, a combination of near-surface and profiling drifters, broad-scale and high-resolution hydrography, mooring arrays, remote sensing, and regional ocean model forecasts of fields and uncertainties were used to assess mean fields and uncertainties in the region. River runoff from Typhoon Morakot, which hit Taiwan August 7–8, 2009, strongly affected shelf stratification. In addition to the river runoff, a cold cyclonic eddy advected into the region north of the Kuroshio, resulting in a cold dome formation event. Uncertainty forecasts were successfully employed to guide the hydrographic sampling plans. Measurements and forecasts also shed light on the evolution of cold dome waters, including the frequency of eddy shedding to the north-northeast, and interactions with the Kuroshio and tides. For the first time in such a complex region, comparisons between uncertainty forecasts and the model skill at measurement locations validated uncertainty forecasts. To complement the real-time model simulations, historical simulations with another model show that large Kuroshio intrusions were associated with low sea surface height anomalies east of Taiwan, suggesting that there may be some degree of predictability for Kuroshio intrusions.We thank the National Science Council of Taiwan as well as the Office of Naval Research for generous support of this effort

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a bb pair in events with one charged lepton and large missing transverse energy using the full CDF data set

We present a search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a W boson in sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV p-pbar collision data collected with the CDF II detector at the Tevatron corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45 fb-1. In events consistent with the decay of the Higgs boson to a bottom-quark pair and the W boson to an electron or muon and a neutrino, we set 95% credibility level upper limits on the WH production cross section times the H->bb branching ratio as a function of Higgs boson mass. At a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV/c2 we observe (expect) a limit of 4.9 (2.8) times the standard model value.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett (v2 contains clarifications suggested by PRL

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a bbˉb\bar{b} pair in events with no charged leptons and large missing transverse energy using the full CDF data set

We report on a search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a vector boson in the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 1.96$ TeV recorded by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45 fb$^{-1}$. We consider events having no identified charged lepton, a transverse energy imbalance, and two or three jets, of which at least one is consistent with originating from the decay of a $b$ quark. We place 95% credibility level upper limits on the production cross section times standard model branching fraction for several mass hypotheses between 90 and $150 \mathrm{GeV}/c^2$. For a Higgs boson mass of $125 \mathrm{GeV}/c^2$, the observed (expected) limit is 6.7 (3.6) times the standard model prediction.Comment: Accepted by Phys. Rev. Let

Search for Neutral Higgs Bosons in Events with Multiple Bottom Quarks at the Tevatron

The combination of searches performed by the CDF and D0 collaborations at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider for neutral Higgs bosons produced in association with b quarks is reported. The data, corresponding to 2.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity at CDF and 5.2 fb-1 at D0, have been collected in final states containing three or more b jets. Upper limits are set on the cross section multiplied by the branching ratio varying between 44 pb and 0.7 pb in the Higgs boson mass range 90 to 300 GeV, assuming production of a narrow scalar boson. Significant enhancements to the production of Higgs bosons can be found in theories beyond the standard model, for example in supersymmetry. The results are interpreted as upper limits in the parameter space of the minimal supersymmetric standard model in a benchmark scenario favoring this decay mode.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure