6,803 research outputs found
Learning From Early Attempts to Generalize Darwinian Principles to Social Evolution
Copyright University of Hertfordshire & author.Evolutionary psychology places the human psyche in the context of evolution, and addresses the Darwinian processes involved, particularly at the level of genetic evolution. A logically separate and potentially complementary argument is to consider the application of Darwinian principles not only to genes but also to social entities and processes. This idea of extending Darwinian principles was suggested by Darwin himself. Attempts to do this appeared as early as the 1870s and proliferated until the early twentieth century. But such ideas remained dormant in the social sciences from the 1920s until after the Second World War. Some lessons can be learned from this earlier period, particularly concerning the problem of specifying the social units of selection or replication
Faunal assemblages and multi–scale habitat patterns in headwater tributaries of the South Fork Trinity River – an unregulated river embedded within a multiple–use landscape
Las cabeceras pueden representar el 80% de los kilómetros de recorrido en una cuenca fluvial y poseen unas propiedades físicas y biológicas únicas, cuya importancia hasta hace poco no se habían reconocido para el sostenimiento de un funcionamiento sano de las redes de cuencas y sus servicios ecológicos. Tomamos muestras de 60 cabeceras de los afluentes del río South Fork Trinity, una cuenca de 2.430 km2, boscosa en su mayor parte y de múltiples usos, situada en el noroeste de California. Nuestros objetivos eran: (1) diferenciar tipos de cabeceras únicos utilizando 69 variables abióticas y vegetales, medidas a tres escalas espaciales, y luego reducirlos a subconjuntos informativos; (2) determinar si distintos biotas ocupaban los distintos tipos de afluentes; (3) determinar las características medioambientales asociadas con la presencia y abundancia de dichas comunidades bióticas; y (4) utilizando una modelización de nichos, determinar los umbrales de los atributos claves para ilustrar cómo estos biotas podrían emplearse para la medición de la integridad del sistema y los servicios ecológicos. Varios taxones fueron suficientemente abundantes y extendidos para utilizarlos como bioindicadores; la presencia y abundancia de la trucha arco iris (Oncorhynchus mykiss), la riqueza en especies de la herpetofauna (reptiles y anfibios) y el cangrejo señal (Pacifastacus leniusculus) representaban diferentes posiciones tróficas, el valor como recursos comerciales (la trucha arco iris), la sensibilidad al estrés ambiental (anfibios), e indicadores de la biodiversidad (riqueza de especies de la herpetofauna). La riqueza de especies de la herpetofauna no difirió, pero la abundancia de la trucha arco iris, del cangrejo señal, la riqueza de anfibios, difirieron significativamente entre los tipos de afluentes. Los modelos de los nichos indicaron que los patrones de distribución y abundancia, tanto en los ambientes acuáticos como en los ribereños, estaban asociados con atributos físicos y estructurales a multiples escalas espaciales, tanto dentro como alrededor de los tramos acuáticos. Los bioindicadores respondieron a series únicas de atributos, reflejando la elevada heterogeneidad ambiental en las cabeceras de los afluentes en toda esta gran cuenca. Dichos atributos de los nichos representaban una amplia gama de ambientes de cabeceras fluviales, indicando respuestas a una serie de condiciones naturales y antropogénicas. Se demostró el valor de utilizar una serie de bioindicadores para elucidar las condiciones de las cabeceras y para examinar las numerosas perturbaciones que pueden influir sobre la integridad ecológica.
Palabras clave: Cabeceras de afluentes, Bioindicadores, Multiescala, Integridad ecológica.Las cabeceras pueden representar el 80% de los kilómetros de recorrido en una cuenca fluvial y poseen unas propiedades físicas y biológicas únicas, cuya importancia hasta hace poco no se habían reconocido para el sostenimiento de un funcionamiento sano de las redes de cuencas y sus servicios ecológicos. Tomamos muestras de 60 cabeceras de los afluentes del río South Fork Trinity, una cuenca de 2.430 km2, boscosa en su mayor parte y de múltiples usos, situada en el noroeste de California. Nuestros objetivos eran: (1) diferenciar tipos de cabeceras únicos utilizando 69 variables abióticas y vegetales, medidas a tres escalas espaciales, y luego reducirlos a subconjuntos informativos; (2) determinar si distintos biotas ocupaban los distintos tipos de afluentes; (3) determinar las características medioambientales asociadas con la presencia y abundancia de dichas comunidades bióticas; y (4) utilizando una modelización de nichos, determinar los umbrales de los atributos claves para ilustrar cómo estos biotas podrían emplearse para la medición de la integridad del sistema y los servicios ecológicos. Varios taxones fueron suficientemente abundantes y extendidos para utilizarlos como bioindicadores; la presencia y abundancia de la trucha arco iris (Oncorhynchus mykiss), la riqueza en especies de la herpetofauna (reptiles y anfibios) y el cangrejo señal (Pacifastacus leniusculus) representaban diferentes posiciones tróficas, el valor como recursos comerciales (la trucha arco iris), la sensibilidad al estrés ambiental (anfibios), e indicadores de la biodiversidad (riqueza de especies de la herpetofauna). La riqueza de especies de la herpetofauna no difirió, pero la abundancia de la trucha arco iris, del cangrejo señal, la riqueza de anfibios, difirieron significativamente entre los tipos de afluentes. Los modelos de los nichos indicaron que los patrones de distribución y abundancia, tanto en los ambientes acuáticos como en los ribereños, estaban asociados con atributos físicos y estructurales a multiples escalas espaciales, tanto dentro como alrededor de los tramos acuáticos. Los bioindicadores respondieron a series únicas de atributos, reflejando la elevada heterogeneidad ambiental en las cabeceras de los afluentes en toda esta gran cuenca. Dichos atributos de los nichos representaban una amplia gama de ambientes de cabeceras fluviales, indicando respuestas a una serie de condiciones naturales y antropogénicas. Se demostró el valor de utilizar una serie de bioindicadores para elucidar las condiciones de las cabeceras y para examinar las numerosas perturbaciones que pueden influir sobre la integridad ecológica.
Palabras clave: Cabeceras de afluentes, Bioindicadores, Multiescala, Integridad ecológica.Headwaters can represent 80% of stream kilometers in a watershed, and they also have unique physical and biological properties that have only recently been recognized for their importance in sustaining healthy functioning stream networks and their ecological services. We sampled 60 headwater tributaries in the South Fork Trinity River, a 2,430 km2, mostly forested, multiple–use watershed in northwestern California. Our objectives were: (1) to differentiate unique headwater types using 69 abiotic and vegetation variables measured at three spatial scales, and then to reduce these to informative subsets; (2) determine if distinct biota occupied the different tributary types; (3) determine the environmental attributes associated with the presence and abundance of these biotic assemblages; and (4) using niche modeling, determine key attribute thresholds to illustrate how these biota could be employed as metrics of system integrity and ecologi¬cal services. Several taxa were sufficiently abundant and widespread to use as bio–indicators: the presence and abundance of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), herpetofauna (reptile and amphibian) species richness, and signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) represented different trophic positions, value as commercial resources (steelhead), sensitivity to environmental stress (amphibians), and indicators of biodiversity (herpetofauna species richness). Herpetofauna species richness did not differ, but abundances of steelhead trout, signal crayfish, and amphibian richness all differed significantly among tributary types. Niche models indicated that distribution and abun¬dance patterns in both riparian and aquatic environments were associated with physical and structural attributes at multiple spatial scales, both within and around reaches. The bio–indicators responded to unique sets of attributes, reflecting the high environmental heterogeneity in headwater tributaries across this large watershed. These niche attributes represented a wide range of headwater environments, indicating responses to a number of natural and anthropogenic conditions, and demonstrated the value of using a suite of bio–indicators to elucidate watershed conditions, and to examine numerous disturbances that may influence ecological integrity.
Key words: Headwater tributaries, Bio–indicators, Multi–scale, Ecological integrity
Nucleon momentum distribution in deuteron and other nuclei within the light-front dynamics method
The relativistic light-front dynamics (LFD) method has been shown to give a
correct description of the most recent data for the deuteron monopole and
quadrupole charge form factors obtained at the Jefferson Laboratory for elastic
electron-deuteron scattering for six values of the squared momentum transfer
between 0.66 and 1.7 (GeV/c). The good agreement with the data is in
contrast with the results of the existing non-relativistic approaches. In this
work we firstly make a complementary test of the LFD applying it to calculate
another important characteristic, the nucleon momentum distribution of
the deuteron using six invariant functions instead of two
(- and -waves) in the nonrelativistic case. The comparison with the
-scaling data shows the decisive role of the function which at
500 MeV/c exceeds all other -functions (as well as the - and
-waves) for the correct description of of the deuteron in the
high-momentum region. Comparison with other calculations using - and
-waves corresponding to various nucleon-nucleon potentials is made.
Secondly, using clear indications that the high-momentum components of
in heavier nuclei are related to those in the deuteron, we develop an approach
within the natural orbital representation to calculate in -nuclei
on the basis of the deuteron momentum distribution. As examples, in
He, C and Fe are calculated and good agreement with the
-scaling data is obtained.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, corrected, to appear in Phys. Rev. C in February
200
Isospin non-equilibrium in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies
We study the equilibration of isospin degree of freedom in intermediate
energy heavy-ion collisions using an isospin-dependent BUU model. It is found
that there exists a transition from the isospin equilibration at low energies
to non-equilibration at high energies as the beam energy varies across the
Fermi energy in central, asymmetric heavy-ion collisions. At beam energies
around 55 MeV/nucleon, the composite system in thermal equilibrium but isospin
non-equilibrium breaks up into two primary hot residues with N/Z ratios closely
related to those of the target and projectile respectively. The decay of these
forward-backward moving residues results in the strong isospin asymmetry in
space and the dependence of the isotopic composition of fragments on the N/Z
ratios of the target and projectile. These features are in good agreement with
those found recently in experiments at NSCL/MSU and TAMU, implications of these
findings are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, latex, + 3 figures available upon reques
Inefficiencies in markets for intellectual property rights: experiences of academic and public research institutions
The formal use of such intellectual property rights (IPR) as patents and registered copyright by universities has increased steadily in the last two decades. Mainstream arguments, embedded in economic theory and policy, advocating the use of IPR to protect academic research results are based on the view that IPR marketplaces work well and allow universities to reap significant benefits. However, there is a lack of evidence-based research to justify or critically evaluate these claims. Building upon an original survey of 46 universities and public research organizations in the United Kingdom, this study analyses the quality of the institutions underpinning the markets for patents and copyright, investigating potential inefficiencies that could lead to underperformance of the IPR system. These include ‘IPR market failures’ with respect to search processes and transparency; price negotiation processes; uncertainties in the perception of the economic value of IRP and the relationship with R&D cost. Further sources of underperformance may include ‘institutional failures’ with respect to enforcement and regulation. Particular attention is paid to the role of governance forms (e.g. alternative types of licensing agreements) through which IPR exchanges take place. We find that a high share of universities report market failures in IPR transactions and that the choice of IPR governance forms matter for the obstacles that are encountered. Given the importance of widely disseminating university research outcomes to foster innovation and economic development, the presence of inefficiencies in IPR markets suggests that such objectives could best be achieved by encouraging open distribution of knowledge, rather than privatization of academic knowledge
Reconstructing the global topology of the universe from the cosmic microwave background
If the universe is multiply-connected and sufficiently small, then the last
scattering surface wraps around the universe and intersects itself. Each circle
of intersection appears as two distinct circles on the microwave sky. The
present article shows how to use the matched circles to explicitly reconstruct
the global topology of space.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, IOP format. To be published in the proceedings of
the Cleveland Cosmology and Topology Workshop 17-19 Oct 1997. Submitted to
Class. Quant. Gra
Collisions of particles in locally AdS spacetimes II Moduli of globally hyperbolic spaces
We investigate 3-dimensional globally hyperbolic AdS manifolds containing
"particles", i.e., cone singularities of angles less than along a
time-like graph . To each such space we associate a graph and a finite
family of pairs of hyperbolic surfaces with cone singularities. We show that
this data is sufficient to recover the space locally (i.e., in the neighborhood
of a fixed metric). This is a partial extension of a result of Mess for
non-singular globally hyperbolic AdS manifolds.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures. v2: 41 pages, improved exposition. To appear,
Comm. Math. Phys. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0905.182
A Comparative Study of the Magnetization Process of Two-Dimensional Antiferromagnets
Plateaux in the magnetization curves of the square, triangular and hexagonal
lattice spin-1/2 XXZ antiferromagnet are investigated. One finds a zero
magnetization plateau (corresponding to a spin-gap) on the square and hexagonal
lattice with Ising-like anisotropies, and a plateau with one third of the
saturation magnetization on the triangular lattice which survives a small
amount of easy-plane anisotropy. Here we start with transfer matrix
computations for the Ising limit and continue with series in the XXZ-anisotropy
for plateau-boundaries using the groundstates of the Ising limit. The main
focus is then a numerical computation of the magnetization curves with
anisotropies in the vicinity of the isotropic situation. Finally, we discuss
the universality class associated to the asymptotic behaviour of the
magnetization curve close to saturation, as observed numerically in two and
higher dimensions.Comment: 21 pages plain TeX (with macro package included), 7 PostScript
figures included using psfig.st
(Anti)Proton and Pion Source Sizes and Phase Space Densities in Heavy Ion Collisions
NA44 has measured mid-rapidity deuteron spectra from AA collisions at
sqrt{s}=18GeV/A at the CERN SPS. Combining these spectra with published proton,
antiproton and antideuteron data allows us to calculate, within a coalescence
framework, proton and antiproton source sizes and phase space densities. These
results are compared to pion source sizes and densities, pA results and to
lower energy (AGS) data. The antiproton source is larger than the proton source
at sqrt{s}=18GeV/A. The phase space densities of pions and protons are not
constant but grow with system size. Both pi+ and proton radii decrease with
transverse mass and increase with sqrt{s}. Pions and protons do not freeze-out
independently. The nature of their interaction changes as sqrt{s}, and the
pion/proton ratio increases.Comment: 4 pages, Latex 2.09, 3 eps figures. Changes for January 2001. The
proton source size is now calculated assuming a more realistic Hulthen,
rather than Gaussian, wavefunction. A new figure shows the effect of this
change which is important for small radii. A second new figure shows the
results of RQMD calculations of the proton source size and phase density.
Because of correlations between position and momentum coalesence does not
show the full proton source size. The paper has been streamlined and
readability improve
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