We study the asymptotic average minimum manipulating coalition size as a characteristic of quality of a voting rule and show its serious drawback. We suggest using the asymptotic average threshold coalition size instead. We prove that, in large electorates, the asymptotic average threshold coalition size is maximised among all scoring rules by the Borda rule when the number m of alternatives is...

Bergmann's rule predicts larger body sizes in species living in higher latitudes and altitudes. This rule appears to be valid for endotherms, but its relevance to ectotherm vertebrates has largely been debated. In squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes), only one study, based on Liolaemus species of the boulengeri clade, has provided phylogenetic evidence in favour of Bergmann's clines. We reass...

BACKGROUND To assess patients' satisfaction and to evaluate methadone therapy program, it is important to understand the experiences of opium dependents during the treatment period in methadone centers and determine the quality of this program and revise standards based on that. This study aimed to describe the nature and structure of patients' experiences during treatment in methadone centers....

1. Species' abundance scales approximately as an inverse power of body mass. This property has been explained on the basis of metabolic rates of organisms of different sizes. 2. This paper considers the additional effect of population dynamics on the abundance-body size relationship, on the grounds that mass flow through food webs also depends on interactions between predators and their prey. T...

Species distribution models should provide conservation practioners with estimates of the spatial distributions of species requiring attention. These species are often rare and have limited known occurrences, posing challenges for creating accurate species distribution models. We tested four modeling methods (Bioclim, Domain, GARP, and Maxent) across 18 species with different levels of ecologic...

We develop nonlinear renewal theorems for a perturbed random walk without assuming stochastic boundedness of centered perturbation terms. A second order expansion of the expected stopping time is obtained via the uniform integrability of the difference between certain linear and nonlinear stopping rules. An intermediate renewal theorem is obtained which provides expansions between the nonlinear...

There are a number of ecogeographical "rules" that describe patterns of geographical variation among organisms. The island rule predicts that populations of larger mammals on islands evolve smaller mean body size than their mainland counterparts, whereas smaller-bodied mammals evolve larger size. Bergmann's rule predicts that populations of a species in colder climates (generally at higher lati...

BACKGROUND Full-thickness skin graft (FTSG) is a very versatile tool regularly used in small sizes. With the established knowledge of the graft take through the margins as well as wound bed, we extended the use of the FTSG for reconstruction of large-sized defects with satisfactory results.  METHODS We presented our experience in wound reconstruction using FTSG in 28 patients. We select...

Rensch's rule, stating that sexual size dimorphism (SSD) becomes more evident and male-biased with increasing body size, has been well supported for taxa that exhibit male-biased SSD. Bats, primarily having female-biased SSD, have so far been tested for whether SSD allometry conforms to Rensch's rule in only three studies. However, these studies did not consider phylogeny, and thus the mechanis...

Ectotherms rely for their body heat on surrounding temperatures. A key question in biology is why most ectotherms mature at a larger size at lower temperatures, a phenomenon known as the temperature-size rule. Since temperature affects virtually all processes in a living organism, current theories to explain this phenomenon are diverse and complex and assert often from opposing assumptions. Alt...