Mimicry

In evolutionary biology, mimicry is a similarity of one species to another that protects one or both. In the case of prey species, it is a class of antipredator adaptation. This similarity can be in appearance, behaviour, sound or scent. Mimics occur in the same areas as their models.

Mimicry occurs when a group of organisms, the mimics, evolve to share perceived characteristics with another group, the models. The evolution is driven by the selective action of a signal-receiver or dupe. Birds, for example, use sight to identify palatable insects (the mimics), whilst avoiding the noxious models.

The model is usually another species, except in cases of automimicry. The deceived signal-receiver is typically another organism, such as the common predator of two species. As an interaction, mimicry is in most cases advantageous to the mimic and harmful to the receiver, but may increase, reduce or have no effect on the fitness of the model depending on the situation. The model may be hard to identify: for example, eye spots may not resemble any specific organism's eyes, and camouflage often cannot be attributed to a particular model.

Mimic (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the mimic is a type of fictional monster. It is portrayed as being able to change its shape to disguise its body as an inanimate object, commonly a chest. The mimic has a powerful adhesive that holds fast to creatures who touch the creature, allowing the mimic to beat the creature with its powerful pseudopods. The mimic was introduced in the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game's original Monster Manual. The mimic subsequently appeared in the game's second edition and third edition. Several variants of the creature have been introduced, with a variety of abilities and sizes.

Publication history

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The mimic made its first appearance in the original Monster Manual (1977), by Gary Gygax. This book described mimics as "subterranean creatures which cannot stand the light of the sun. They are able to perfectly mimic stone or wood." According to the book, mimics thus pose as items such as stonework, doors, or chests; when a character or creature touches the disguised mimic, the mimic can lash out with a bludgeoning pseudopod. A mimic excretes an adhesive glue to hold fast whatever touches it. The book states that all mimics move about constantly in search of prey. Mimics are described as neutral in alignment.

Hypolimnas misippus

The Danaid Eggfly, Mimic, or Diadem (Hypolimnas misippus) is a widespread species of nymphalid butterfly. It is well known for polymorphism and mimicry. Males are blackish with distinctive white spots that are fringed in blue. Females are in multiple forms that include male like forms while others closely resemble the toxic butterflies Danaus chrysippus and Danaus plexippus. They are found across Africa, Asia, and Australia.

Description

The male has the upperwings dark velvety brownish-black. The forewing has a broad white oval spot between the veins 3 and 7. A smaller spot near the apex is also present. These spots are crossed by the black veins and bordered in iridescent blue that is visible only at certain angles. The hind wing has a larger white spot but the veins crossing it are yellowish and not as prominent as on the forewing. There are some white specks along the tornus and the margin is edged with white and black.

Fact (band)

Fact was a Japanese rock band, formed in December 1999 in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Clean and screamed singing styles are both used, and gang vocals are present in many choruses. Even though a Japanese band, the lyrics to most of the band's songs are written in English.

The members have hidden their faces during every video since 2009 wearing traditional Japanese Noh masks during the time they supported their second album, Fact (2009), but abandoned the imagery in videos the next year in favor of either partially or fully concealing their faces.

They are signed to Maximum10, an indie-rock imprint of the Avex Group.

History

The band was formed from members of other bands in the Tokyo area. They then began to tour the local music scene in and around Chiba, Mito and Tokyo. Originally, Tomohiro played bass and sang with support from Kazuki and Takahiro but, in 2002, main vocal duties as well as a third guitar were added when Hironobu joined. Hironobu had been a member of the band Second Base along with Kazuki before either of them joined Fact.

Data warehouse

In computing, a data warehouse (DW or DWH), also known as an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), is a system used for reporting and data analysis. DWs are central repositories of integrated data from one or more disparate sources. They store current and historical data and are used for creating analytical reports for knowledge workers throughout the enterprise. Examples of reports could range from annual and quarterly comparisons and trends to detailed daily sales analyses.

The data stored in the warehouse is uploaded from the operational systems (such as marketing, sales, etc., shown in the figure to the right). The data may pass through an operational data store for additional operations before it is used in the DW for reporting.

Types of systems

The difference between data warehouse and data mart

Types of data marts

Software tools

The typical extract-transform-load (ETL)-based data warehouse uses staging, data integration, and access layers to house its key functions. The staging layer or staging database stores raw data extracted from each of the disparate source data systems. The integration layer integrates the disparate data sets by transforming the data from the staging layer often storing this transformed data in an operational data store (ODS) database. The integrated data are then moved to yet another database, often called the data warehouse database, where the data is arranged into hierarchical groups often called dimensions and into facts and aggregate facts. The combination of facts and dimensions is sometimes called a star schema. The access layer helps users retrieve data.

Fact (disambiguation)

A fact is an idea which is considered to be wholly and absolutely true.

Fact or Facts may also refer to:

Music

Other uses

See also