Benefits of tolerance in public goods games

Leaving the joint enterprise when defection is unveiled is always a viable option to avoid being exploited. Although loner strategy helps the population not to be trapped into the tragedy of the commons state, it could offer only a modest income for non-participants. In this paper we demonstrate that showing some tolerance toward defectors could not only save cooperation in harsh environments, but in fact results in a surprisingly high average payoff for group members in public goods games. Phase diagrams and the underlying spatial patterns reveal the high complexity of evolving states where cyclic dominant strategies or two-strategy alliances can characterize the final state of evolution. We identify microscopic mechanisms which are responsible for the superiority of global solutions containing tolerant players. This phenomenon is robust and can be observed both in well-mixed and in structured populations highlighting the importance of tolerance in our everyday life.Comment: 10 two-column pages, 8 figures; accepted for publication in Physical Review

Need, Greed and Noise: Competing Strategies in a Trading Model

We study an economic model where agents trade a variety of products by using one of three competing rules: "need", "greed" and "noise". We find that the optimal strategy for any agent depends on both product composition in the overall market and composition of strategies in the market. In particular, a strategy that does best on pairwise competition may easily do much worse when all are present, leading, in some cases, to a "paper, stone, scissors" circular hierarchy.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Statistical model on student performance in UTHM by using non-parametric, semi-parametric and parametric survival analysis

Student performance defined as students who are capable to success during their studies. This study explored the use of survival analysis to investigate the performance of Bachelor’s degree students in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). The data was collected from the Academic Management Office (AMO), UTHM. The main objective of this study is to estimate the survival rates of students with different entrance qualifications. The study also aim to identify the covariates that dominate the student performance, investigate the performance of Cox model based on the violation of the Proportional Hazard (PH) assumption, compare the model performance by using the survival and Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) models and estimate the time ratio (TR) of student performance in accordance to the selected best model. The survival analysis considered the survival approach such as the Kaplan-Meier (KM) method in the non-parametric method, Cox model in semi-parametric model and survival and AFT models in parametric model. The results revealed that students with STPM-entrance qualification had the highest survival rate compared to Diploma and Matriculation holders. The Cox model in the semi-parametric model identified the GPA, entrance qualification and course as the significant covariates to be included in the study. Faculty covariate was excluded since the p-value insignificant at 90% significance level. The result provided by the Cox model violated the PH assumptions. Then, the performance of the Cox model is less accurate. The invalidation performance of Cox model prompted the need to conduct other parametric survival and AFT models to produce more precise results. As a conclusion, the Log-normal AFT model is the best alternative model to estimate student performance in UTHM and other similar higher educational institution

Adequate Funding of Education in Georgia: What Does It Mean, What Might It Cost, How Could It Be Implemented? - Brief

This report contains a discussion of what adequate funding for education means and how it has been estimated for other statesThe report then explores the financial implications for Georgia of funding adequacy. FRC Brief 12

Disease prevention versus data privacy : using landcover maps to inform spatial epidemic models

The availability of epidemiological data in the early stages of an outbreak of an infectious disease is vital for modelers to make accurate predictions regarding the likely spread of disease and preferred intervention strategies. However, in some countries, the necessary demographic data are only available at an aggregate scale. We investigated the ability of models of livestock infectious diseases to predict epidemic spread and obtain optimal control policies in the event of imperfect, aggregated data. Taking a geographic information approach, we used land cover data to predict UK farm locations and investigated the influence of using these synthetic location data sets upon epidemiological predictions in the event of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. When broadly classified land cover data were used to create synthetic farm locations, model predictions deviated significantly from those simulated on true data. However, when more resolved subclass land use data were used, moderate to highly accurate predictions of epidemic size, duration and optimal vaccination and ring culling strategies were obtained. This suggests that a geographic information approach may be useful where individual farm-level data are not available, to allow predictive analyses to be carried out regarding the likely spread of disease. This method can also be used for contingency planning in collaboration with policy makers to determine preferred control strategies in the event of a future outbreak of infectious disease in livestock

PENSION FUNDS AND CAPITAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT:HOW MUCH BANG FOR THE BUCK?

This paper studies the relation between institutional investors and capital market development by analyzing unique data on monthly asset-level portfolio allocations of Chilean pension funds between 1995 and 2005. The results depict pension funds as large and important institutional investors that tend to hold a large amount of bank deposits, government paper, and short-term assets; buy and hold assets in their portfolios without actively trading them; hold similar portfolios at the asset-class level; simultaneously buy and sell similar assets; and follow momentum strategies when trading. Although pension funds may have contributed to the development of certain primary markets, these patterns do not seem fully consistent with the initial expectations that pension funds would be a dynamic force driving the overall development of capital markets. The results do not appear to be explained by regulatory restrictions. Instead, asset illiquidity and manger incentives might be behind the patterns illustrated in this paper.institutional investors; investment behavior; trading; urnover; momentum

Mutualism and evolutionary multiplayer games: revisiting the Red King

Coevolution of two species is typically thought to favour the evolution of faster evolutionary rates helping a species keep ahead in the Red Queen race, where `it takes all the running you can do to stay where you are'. In contrast, if species are in a mutualistic relationship, it was proposed that the Red King effect may act, where it can be beneficial to evolve slower than the mutualistic species. The Red King hypothesis proposes that the species which evolves slower can gain a larger share of the benefits. However, the interactions between the two species may involve multiple individuals. To analyse such a situation, we resort to evolutionary multiplayer games. Even in situations where evolving slower is beneficial in a two-player setting, faster evolution may be favoured in a multiplayer setting. The underlying features of multiplayer games can be crucial for the distribution of benefits. They also suggest a link between the evolution of the rate of evolution and group size

Effect of grass–clover forage and whole-wheat feeding on the sensory quality of eggs

BACKGROUND: A sensory panel evaluated the sensory profile of eggs from hens from three experimental systems: (1) an indoor system × normal layer diet (InL), (2) a grass–clover forage system × normal layer diet (GrL), and (3) a grass–clover forage system × whole wheat and oyster shells (GrW). RESULTS: The taste of the albumen was significantly more ‘watery’ and the yolks a darker yellow/orange in the eggs from the GrL and GrW groups. The yolk was darkest from the GrW group. The yolks from the InL and GrW groups had a significantly more ‘fresh’, less ‘animal’, ‘cardboard’, and ‘intense’ aroma than the GrL group. The taste of the yolks from the InL and GrW groups was significantlymore ‘fresh’ and less ‘cardboard’-like compared to the GrL group. The yolks tasted significantly less ‘sulfurous’ in the GrW group than in the GrL group. CONCLUSION: The combination of a high feed intake from a grass–clover pasture and the type of feed allocated is an important factor in relation to the sensory quality of eggs. Thus, a less favourable sensory profile of eggs was found from hens on a grass–clover pasture and fed a normal layer diet

WoodCircus, Underpinning the vital role of the forest-based sector in the Circular Bioeconomy. D2.2 Resource Efficiency, Side Streams and Value Chain Analysis – WP2 Final Report

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