| Line | Carotenoids, a family of natural pigments, form |
| an important part of the colorful signals used by | |
| many animals. Animals acquire carotenoids either | |
| directly (from the plants and algae that produce | |
| (5) | them) or indirectly (by eating insects) and store them |
| in a variety of tissues. Studies of several animal | |
| species have shown that when choosing mates, | |
| females prefer males with brighter carotenoid-based | |
| coloration. Owens and Olson hypothesize that the | |
| (10) | presence of carotenoids, as signaled by coloration, |
| would be meaningful in the context of mate selection | |
| if carotenoids were either rare or required for | |
| health. The conventional view is that carotenoids | |
| are meaningful because they are rare: healthier | |
| (15) | males can forage for more of the pigments than |
| can their inferior counterparts. Although this may be | |
| true, there is growing evidence that carotenoids are | |
| meaningful also because they are required: they are | |
| used by the immune system and for detoxification | |
| (20) | processes that are important for maintaining health. |
| It may be that males can use scarce carotenoids | |
| either for immune defense and detoxification or for | |
| attracting females. Males that are more susceptible | |
| to disease and parasites will have to use their | |
| (25) | carotenoids to boost their immune systems, whereas |
| males that are genetically resistant will use fewer | |
| carotenoids for fighting disease and will advertise | |
| this by using the pigments for flashy display instead. |
The table lists 13 varieties of edible oils by smoke point, recommended heat, typical package size, and typical price for that package.
Heating an oil above its smoke point—the temperature at which the oil begins to smoke—can produce toxic fumes. To avoid this, different oils are recommended for use with different levels of heat:
| Oil | Refined? | Smoke point (°C) | Recommended heat | Package size (mL) | Price per package ($) |
| Coconut | no | 190 | high | 250 | 8.00 |
| Corn | yes | 210 | high | 1,000 | 6.50 |
| Flaxseed | no | 49 | no | 473 | 18.00 |
| Grape-seed | yes | 215 | high | 500 | 10.50 |
| Olive, extra-virgin | no | 163 | medium | 200 | 13.00 |
| Olive, light | yes | 225 | high | 750 | 12.00 |
| Peanut | yes | 232 | high | 475 | 9.00 |
| Pumpkin | no | 100 | low | 250 | 14.50 |
| Safflower | no | 100 | low | 250 | 20.00 |
| Sesame | no | 163 | medium | 500 | 14.00 |
| Sunflower | no | 100 | low | 500 | 6.00 |
| Sunflower | yes | 227 | high | 1,000 | 7.00 |
| Walnut | no | 49 | no | 500 | 9.50 |
Article
The expenses related to sponsoring a conference can be immense. An organization sponsoring a conference can recoup these expenses through registration fees and partnership with the host hotel. As part of the partnership, the host hotel sets aside a block of rooms for conference attendees, with rooms available at a slightly higher-than-normal rate.
While most conference attendees prefer to stay in the host hotel, they often follow an alternate strategy to avoid the extra cost of reserving a room within the block at the host hotel. Some attendees reserve rooms outside the host hotel—the ROHH strategy. Others reserve rooms outside the block—the ROB strategy.
Conference sponsors have succeeded in countering these strategies by increasing the conference registration fee by a fixed amount and then offering an equivalent registration fee discount to attendees who book rooms in the block. A study has shown that if this registration discount is equal to at least half the potential savings of an attendee's particular cost-saving strategy, the attendee is much more likely to reserve a room within the block.
Weekend Conferences
Ten conferences are scheduled for the same weekend in City X. For each conference, the table lists the conference sponsor, the registration fee, the discounted registration fee (if any), the host hotel, the rate for rooms in the block at the host hotel, and the lowest rate for an available room in the host hotel during that same weekend. Conference attendees will require two nights lodging, and all room rates are per guest, per night, assuming two guests per room. The lowest rate for an available room in City X on this same weekend is S65.
