Is Strong Reciprocity a Maladaptation? On the Evolutionary Foundations of Human Altruism

In recent years a large number of experimental studies have documented the existence of strong reciprocity among humans. Strong reciprocity means that people willingly repay gifts and punish the violation of cooperation and fairness norms even in anonymous one-shot encounters with genetically unrelated strangers. We provide ethnographic and experimental evidence suggesting that ultimate theories of kin selection, reciprocal altruism, costly signaling and indirect reciprocity do not provide satisfactory evolutionary explanations of strong reciprocity. The problem of these theories is that they can rationalize strong reciprocity only if it is viewed as maladaptive behavior whereas the evidence suggests that it is an adaptive trait. Thus, we conclude that alternative evolutionary approaches are needed to provide ultimate accounts of strong reciprocity.

In Search of Homo Economicus: Behavioral Experiments in 15 Small- Scale Societies,

Homo Economicus, Behavioral Experiments, Small-Scale Societies,

Mitigating Global Temperature Change Through Industrial Sector Improvements: A Case Study In Automotive Manufacturing

Manufacturing is an integral part of our country’s flow of products and people and a top contributor to carbon emissions, promoting global temperature rise. During processing, toxic substances are emitted across the value chain. These emissions account for nearly 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and the World. Until 2023, an accessible pathway for manufacturing companies to transition to net-zero emissions hasn’t been made readily available. The current research was conducted to determine if reducing carbon emissions in manufacturing facilities through efficiency improvements, process optimization, and technology advancements can mitigate global temperature change.This quantitative, mixed-method approach was conducted by investigating major constraints and evaluating the current state of energy security in manufacturing. A feasibility study was conducted on deploying biomass-to-energy as the primary energy source for the facility and the state of Missouri. A case study was conducted at an automotive manufacturing facility to measure efficiency improvements in a real-life context. The research shows that emissions reductions from manufacturing favor the ability to impact global temperature change. Education was found to be the top constraint by cost and impact. Energy security within the sector and the United States is favorable at an index value lower than 70. Improvements in energy efficiency and new processing methods showed favorable business savings (+$125k) and emissions reductions (-200k tons) in less than a year. The feasibility of biomass-to-energy showed being able to become a primary supplier of energy to the plant and Missouri. Findings indicated that it is necessary to promote and mesh education, technology growth, and energy-saving efforts to have a favorable impact on global temperature change

Increased C3 productivity in Midwestern lawns since 1982 revealed by carbon isotopes in Amanita thiersii

How climate and rising carbon dioxide concentrations (pCO2) have influenced competition between C3 and C4 plants over the last 50 years is a critical uncertainty in climate change research. Here we used carbon isotope (δ13C) values of the saprotrophic lawn fungus Amanita thiersii to integrate the signal of C3 and C4 carbon in samples collected between 1982 and 2009 from the Midwestern USA. We then calculated 13C fractionation (Δ) to assess the balance between C3 and C4 photosynthesis as influenced by mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation over a 30 year period (MAP‐30), and pCO2. Sporocarp Δ correlated negatively with MAT (−1.74‰ °C−1, 79% of variance) and positively with MAP (9.52‰ m−1, 15% of variance), reflecting the relative productivity of C3 and C4 grasses in lawns. In addition, Δ values correlated positively with pCO2 (0.072‰ ppm−1, 5% of variance). Reduced photorespiration with rising pCO2 accounted for 20% of this increased Δ, but the remaining 80% is consistent with increased assimilation of C3‐derived carbon by Amanita thiersii resulting from increased productivity of C3 grasses with rising pCO2. Between 1982 and 2009, pCO2 rose by 46 ppm and the relative contribution of C3 photosynthesis to Amanita thiersii carbon increased 18.5%. The δ13C value of Amanita thiersii may integrate both lawn maintenance practices and the physiological responses of turf grasses to rising CO2 concentrations

STEM: a tool for the analysis of short time series gene expression data

BACKGROUND: Time series microarray experiments are widely used to study dynamical biological processes. Due to the cost of microarray experiments, and also in some cases the limited availability of biological material, about 80% of microarray time series experiments are short (3–8 time points). Previously short time series gene expression data has been mainly analyzed using more general gene expression analysis tools not designed for the unique challenges and opportunities inherent in short time series gene expression data. RESULTS: We introduce the Short Time-series Expression Miner (STEM) the first software program specifically designed for the analysis of short time series microarray gene expression data. STEM implements unique methods to cluster, compare, and visualize such data. STEM also supports efficient and statistically rigorous biological interpretations of short time series data through its integration with the Gene Ontology. CONCLUSION: The unique algorithms STEM implements to cluster and compare short time series gene expression data combined with its visualization capabilities and integration with the Gene Ontology should make STEM useful in the analysis of data from a significant portion of all microarray studies. STEM is available for download for free to academic and non-profit users at

Pricing and Reimbursement in U.S. Pharmaceutical Markets

In this survey chapter on pricing and reimbursement in U.S. pharmaceutical markets, we first provide background information on important federal legislation, institutional details regarding distribution channel logistics, definitions of alternative price measures, related historical developments, and reasons why price discrimination is highly prevalent among branded pharmaceuticals. We then present a theoretical framework for the pricing of branded pharmaceuticals, without and then in the presence of prescription drug insurance, noting factors affecting the relative impacts of drug insurance on prices and on utilization. With this as background, we summarize major long-term trends in copayments and coinsurance rates for retail and mail order purchases, average percentage discounts off Average Whole Price paid by third party payers to pharmacy benefit managers as well as average dispensing fees, and generic penetration rates. We conclude with a summary of the evidence regarding the impact of the 2006 implementation of the Medicare Part D benefits on pharmaceutical prices and utilization, and comment on very recent developments concerning the entry of large retailers such as Wal-Mart into domains traditionally dominated by large retail chains and the "commoditization" of generic drugs

In Search of Homo Economicus: Behavioral Experiments in 15 Small-Scale Societies

We can summarize our results as follows. First, the canonical model is not supported in any society studied. Second, there is considerably more behavioral variability across groups than had been found in previous cross-cultural research, and the canonical model fails in a wider variety of ways than in previous experiments. Third, group-level differences in economic organization and the degree of market integration explain a substantial portion of the behavioral variation across societies: the higher the degree of market integration and the higher the payoffs to cooperation, the greater the level of cooperation in experimental games. Fourth, individual-level economic and demographic variables do not explain behavior either within or across groups. Fifth, behavior in the experiments is generally consistent with economic patterns of everyday life in these societies

Echocardiography during submaximal isometric exercise in children with repaired coarctation of the aorta compared with controls

Objective Patients with repaired coarctation (RCoA) remain at higher risk of cardiac dysfunction, initially often only detected during exercise. In this study, haemodynamics of isometric handgrip (HG) and bicycle ergometry (BE) were compared in patients with RCoA and matched controls (MCs). Methods Case-control study of 19 children with RCoA (mean age 12.9 +/- 2.3 years; mean age of repair 7 months) compared with 20 MC. HG with echocardiography followed by BE was performed in both groups. Results During HG (blood pressure) BP increased from 114 +/- 11/64 +/- 4 mm Hg to 132 +/- 14/79 +/- 7 mm Hg, without significant differences. During HG as well as BE, HR increased less in patients with RCoA. There were no significant differences in (left ventricle) LV dimensions or LV mass. The RCoA group had diastolic dysfunction: both at rest and during HG they had significantly higher transmitral E and A velocities and lower tissue Doppler E' and A' velocities. E/E' was higher, reaching statistical significance during HG (p<0001). Conventional parameters of systolic function (FS and EF) were similar at rest and HG. More sensitive tissue Doppler S' was significantly lower at rest in CoA subjects (5.1 +/- 1.5 cm/s vs 6.5 +/- 1 +/- 1 cm/s; p<0.01), decreasing further during HG by 5% in the CoA group (NS) while unchanged in controls. Conclusions We provide first evidence that HG with echocardiography is feasible, easy and patient-friendly. A decreased systolic (tissue Doppler) and impaired diastolic LV function was measured in the RCoA group, a difference that tended to increase during HG