6,220 research outputs found
Social learning mechanisms compared in a simple environment
Social learning can be adaptive, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Many researchers have focused on imitation but this may have led to simpler mechanisms being underestimated. We demonstrate in simulation that imitative learning is not always the best strategy for a group-living animal, and that the effectiveness of any such strategy will depend on details of the environment and the animal's lifestyle. We show that observations of behavioural convergence or "traditions" might suggest effective social learning, but are meaningless considered alone
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Water governance and poverty: a framework for analysis
YesIn this paper we present a framework for understanding water governance, through which we
critique some of the assumptions underlying the current consensus on good governance.
Specifically, we suggest that current approaches are based on incomplete or partial
understandings of the concepts of governance. We question the idea that governance can be
identified as an abstract set of principles, without the need for contextualisation and localisation.
In particular, we suggest that there is a general lack of understanding of the way local
interactions shape and influence governance processes. Finally, and with specific reference to
the MDGs and the water sector, we question the implicit assumption that `good¿ governance is
necessarily pro-poor governance.
The paper addresses these issues through a critical discussion of governance, from which we
develop a framework for conceptualising water governance. The framework draws on theories of
governance, institutions and structuration, but is also informed by recent empirical research and
experiences from the field. We apply the framework to a specific case in Southwestern Tanzania
and raise a number of issues and challenges for further research
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How institutions elude design: river basin management and sustainable livelihoods.
YesThis paper challenges ideas that it is possible to `get the institutions right¿ in the management of natural resources. It engages with the literature and policy specifying `design principles¿ for robust institutions and uses data from a river basin management project in Usangu, Tanzania, to illustrate the complexity of institutional evolution. The paper draws on emerging `post-institutionalist¿ perspectives to reject over-formalised managerial approaches in favour of those that accept the dynamic nature of institutional formation, and accommodate a variety of partial and contingent solutions. Data from Usangu suggests that external `crafting¿ is inevitably problematic because, to a certain extent, institutions elude design
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Body mass index and health care utilization in diabetic and nondiabetic individuals.
BackgroundAlthough controversial, most studies examining the relationship of body mass index (BMI) with mortality in diabetes suggest a paradox: the lowest risk category is above normal weight, versus normal weight in nondiabetic persons. One proposed explanation is greater morbidity of diabetes in normal weight persons. If this were so, it would suggest a health care utilization paradox in diabetes, paralleling the mortality paradox, yet no studies have examined this issue.ObjectiveTo compare the relationship of BMI with health care utilization in diabetic versus nondiabetic persons.DesignPopulation-based cross-sectional study.SubjectsAdults in the 2000-2011 Medical Expenditures Panel Surveys (N=120,389).MeasuresTotal health care expenditures, hospital utilization (≥1 admission), and emergency department utilization (≥1 visit). BMI (kg/m) categories were: <20 (underweight); 20 to <25 (normal); 25 to <30 (overweight); 30 to <35 (obese); and ≥35 (severely obese). Adjustors were age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, health insurance, education, smoking, co-morbidity, urbanicity, region, and year.ResultsAmong diabetic persons, adjusted mean total health care expenditures were significantly lower in obese versus normal weight persons (513-229, 95% CI, -2; P=0.052). Findings for hospital and emergency department utilization exhibited similar patterns.ConclusionsNormal weight diabetic persons used substantially more health care than their overweight and obese counterparts, a difference not observed in nondiabetic persons. These differences support the plausibility of a BMI mortality paradox related to greater morbidity of diabetes in normal weight than in heavier persons
Thermodynamic anomalies in a lattice model of water: Solvation properties
We investigate a lattice-fluid model of water, defined on a 3-dimensional
body-centered cubic lattice. Model molecules possess a tetrahedral symmetry,
with four equivalent bonding arms. The model is similar to the one proposed by
Roberts and Debenedetti [J. Chem. Phys. 105, 658 (1996)], simplified by
removing distinction between "donors" and "acceptors". We focus on solvation
properties, mainly as far as an ideally inert (hydrophobic) solute is
concerned. As in our previous analysis, devoted to neat water [J. Chem. Phys.
121, 11856 (2004)], we make use of a generalized first order approximation on a
tetrahedral cluster. We show that the model exhibits quite a coherent picture
of water thermodynamics, reproducing qualitatively several anomalous properties
observed both in pure water and in solutions of hydrophobic solutes. As far as
supercooled liquid water is concerned, the model is consistent with the second
critical point scenario.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl
Cluster-variation approximation for a network-forming lattice-fluid model
We consider a 3-dimensional lattice model of a network-forming fluid, which
has been recently investigated by Girardi and coworkers by means of Monte Carlo
simulations [J. Chem. Phys. \textbf{126}, 064503 (2007)], with the aim of
describing water anomalies. We develop an approximate semi-analytical
calculation, based on a cluster-variation technique, which turns out to
reproduce almost quantitatively different thermodynamic properties and phase
transitions determined by the Monte Carlo method. Nevertheless, our calculation
points out the existence of two different phases characterized by long-range
orientational order, and of critical transitions between them and to a
high-temperature orientationally-disordered phase. Also, the existence of such
critical lines allows us to explain certain ``kinks'' in the isotherms and
isobars determined by the Monte Carlo analysis. The picture of the phase
diagram becomes much more complex and richer, though unfortunately less
suitable to describe real water.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, submitted to J. Chem. Phy
Revisiting waterlike network-forming lattice models
In a previous paper [J. Chem. Phys. 129, 024506 (2008)] we studied a 3
dimensional lattice model of a network-forming fluid, recently proposed in
order to investigate water anomalies. Our semi-analytical calculation, based on
a cluster-variation technique, turned out to reproduce almost quantitatively
several Monte Carlo results and allowed us to clarify the structure of the
phase diagram, including different kinds of orientationally ordered phases.
Here, we extend the calculation to different parameter values and to other
similar models, known in the literature. We observe that analogous ordered
phases occur in all these models. Moreover, we show that certain "waterlike"
thermodynamic anomalies, claimed by previous studies, are indeed artifacts of a
homogeneity assumption made in the analytical treatment. We argue that such a
difficulty is common to a whole class of lattice models for water, and suggest
a possible way to overcome the problem.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figure
Pleading with the Emperor: Pax Americana and the Transformation of Environmental Governance
The combined effects of the globalisation and integration of productive networks of capital, the hegemony of neo-liberal discourse in the framing of policy toward capital markets, the unchallenged dominance of the US military, the establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) and World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the more recent signing of bilateral free trade agreements(BITs) have circumscribed the ability of governments to exercise sovereignty in the creation of environmental policy. The resultant capacity to "insulate policy from the chaos of politics" (Economist 1994, 9) has prompted a number of authors to situate issues of global governance within the context of Empire. In this paper, we chart the re-emergence of Empire as concept and phenomena. In the first section, we identify three schools of thought that invoke the concept of Empire: the image of Pax Americana held by US neoconservatives for whom Empire is a reality justified by the necessities of geo-political power; the liberal-humanitarianism of European foreign policy elites who argue for a multi-polar Empire to balance American power; and the complex multi-dimensional entity of domination depicted by the global justice movement. We reveal the tensions that exist between Empire’s agents, most notably between a vision of a multi-polar Empire and that of Pax Americana. Through the work of Hardt and Negri, Harvey and Foucault, we develop an operational concept of Empire to explore how the tensions between the agents of Empire manifest as a global system of governance. Drawing on this analysis, we discuss the implications of Empire for environmental politics and policy through a case-study of the Australian-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) to illustrate the complex, multiform strategies of power operating in the maintenance and transformation of Empire
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