4,478 research outputs found
Computing the Margin of Victory in Preferential Parliamentary Elections
We show how to use automated computation of election margins to assess the
number of votes that would need to change in order to alter a parliamentary
outcome for single-member preferential electorates. In the context of
increasing automation of Australian electoral processes, and accusations of
deliberate interference in elections in Europe and the USA, this work forms the
basis of a rigorous statistical audit of the parliamentary election outcome.
Our example is the New South Wales Legislative Council election of 2015, but
the same process could be used for any similar parliament for which data was
available, such as the Australian House of Representatives given the proposed
automatic scanning of ballots
Into the Light: Diurnality has Evolved Multiple Times in Geckos
Geckos are the only major lizard group consisting mostly of nocturnal species. Nocturnality is presumed to have evolved early in gecko evolution and geckos possess numerous adaptations to functioning in low light and at low temperatures. However, not all gecko species are nocturnal and most diurnal geckos have their own distinct adaptations to living in warmer, sunlit environments. We reconstructed the evolution of gecko activity patterns using a newly generated time-calibrated phylogeny. Our results provide the first phylogenetic analysis of temporal activity patterns in geckos and confirm an ancient origin of nocturnality at the root of the gecko tree. We identify multiple transitions to diurnality at a variety of evolutionary time scales and transitions back to nocturnality occur in several predominantly diurnal clades. The scenario presented here will be useful in reinterpreting existing hypotheses of how geckos have adapted to varying thermal and light environments. These results can also inform future research of gecko ecology, physiology, morphology and vision as it relates to changes in temporal activity patterns
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