The Good of the Few: Reciprocity in the Provision of a Public Bad

People have been shown to engage in favor-trading when it is efficiency-enhancing to do so. Will they also trade favors when it reduces efficiency, as in a series of wasteful public projects that each benefits an individual? We introduce the “Stakeholder Public Bad” game to study this question. In each round, contributions to a common fund increase the earnings of one person (the “Stakeholder”) but reduce the earnings of the rest of the group so much that overall efficiency is reduced. The Stakeholder position rotates through members of the group and the promise of the high reward associated with this position may enable subjects to behave reciprocally. We hypothesize that some people will help a current Stakeholder by contributing in hopes of being rewarded later with a reciprocal gift. In a lab experiment, we find evidence of such favor trading. We also find that Stakeholders in this situation seem perfectly willing to sacrifice the good of the group to reap their own personal rewards, and this is true even when their contribution decisions are public. While the revelation of information about others’ actions and roles has previously been shown to enable efficiency-increasing reciprocity, we show that it also enables efficiency-decreasing reciprocal acts. Subjects who are more risk-averse behave in a way that is more myopically self-interested as compared to less risk-averse people when information conditions preclude favor trading, and subjects who identify with the Democratic Party show more restraint when they are Stakeholder than those who do not.logrolling, social preferences, reciprocity, externalities, public bad, public good

Singles Looking to Mingle: An Analysis of Self-Presentation in Online Dating

Online dating has become a commonplace in today’s society as more people are turning to it more than ever before. Because this type of dating has become so widely accepted, the researchers felt it was necessary to take a deeper look into self-presentation in online dating and how people choose to represent themselves. Participants of this study include single men and women, between the ages of 18-35, from a large Midwestern metro area in the United States. The purpose of this study was to gain information as to how men and women choose to represent themselves on online dating platforms. The key areas that were chosen to be further explored in the analysis include: the information participants chose to share about themselves, types of photos they used to represent themselves, expressions of desiring physical relationships and each gender’s use of deception. Ultimately, the data suggests that there were clear discrepancies between the information that men and women shared about themselves in their bios, versus what they disclosed to the researchers in questions asked

Cardiac Troponin Assessment Following Atrial Fibrillation Ablation: Implications for Chest Pain Evaluation

Background: The range of elevation of troponin I (tI) that is within expected limits from left atrial radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) is not well described, though such information may be of clinical value. Objectives: Identify the expected range of tI values post-atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. Methods: 31 patients undergoing AF ablation had a single tI level drawn the day following the procedure. Clinical variables were also collected, such as ablation type and radiofrequency (RF) time. Results: Paroxysmal AF was present in 23 patients, and 8 had chronic AF. The average RF time was 2627.8 ± 737.5 seconds. The mean RF power was 61.7 ± 4.3W (range 55-70W). The mean RF temperature limit was 53.6 ± 2.0°C (range 50-55°C). There was no clinical or electrocardiographic evidence of coronary ischemia in this population. The mean tI the following day was 3.21 ± 1.5 (range 1.48-8.41). There was no correlation between RF time, ablation type, ablation catheter size, and ablation temperature or ablation power and tI levels. Conclusions: Troponin I elevation post-ablation was ubiquitous. Knowledge of expected post-ablation tI levels may be helpful in the evaluation of post-procedure chest pain

Sonography of the Lateral Antebrachial Cutaneous Nerve With Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Anatomic Correlation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135544/1/jum20143381475.pd

Bridging the Gap between Laboratory and Field Experiments in American Eel Detection Using Transfer Learning and Convolutional Neural Network

An automatic system that utilizes data analytics and machine learning to identify adult American eel in data obtained by imaging sonars is created in this study. Wavelet transform has been applied to de-noise the ARIS sonar data and a convolutional neural network model has been built to classify eels and non-eel objects. Because of the unbalanced amounts of data in laboratory and field experiments, a transfer learning strategy is implemented to fine-tune the convolutional neural network model so that it performs well for both the laboratory and field data. The proposed system can provide important information to develop mitigation strategies for safe passage of out-migrating eels at hydroelectric facilities

Ablation of Long-standing Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most commonly encountered arrhythmia in the clinical setting affecting nearly 6 million people in United States and the numbers are only expected to rise as the population continues to age. Broadly it is classified into paroxysmal, persistent and longstanding persistent AF. Electrical, structural and autonomic remodeling are some of the diverse pathophysiological mechanisms that contribute to the persistence of AF. Our review article emphasizes particularly on long standing persistent atrial fibrillation (LSPAF) aspect of the disease which poses a great challenge for electrophysiologists. While pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) has been established as a successful ablation strategy for paroxysmal AF, same cannot be said for LSPAF owing to its long duration, complexity of mechanisms, multiple triggers and substrate sites that are responsible for its perpetuation. The article explains different approaches currently being adopted to achieve freedom from atrial arrhythmias. These mainly include ablation techniques chiefly targeting complex fractionated atrial electrograms (CFAE), rotors, linear lesions, scars and even considering hybrid approaches in a few cases while exploring the role of delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (deMRI) in the pre-procedural planning to improve the overall short and long term outcomes of catheter ablation

Perfect chronic skeletal muscle regeneration in adult spiny mice, Acomys cahirinus

The spiny mouse, Acomys cahirinus, is an adult mammal capable of remarkable feats of scar-free tissue regeneration after damage to several organs including the skin and the heart. Here we investigate the regenerative properties of the skeletal muscle of A. cahirinus tibialis anterior in comparison to the lab mouse, Mus musculus. The A. cahirinus TA showed a similar distribution of myosin heavy chain fibre types and a reduced proportion of oxidative fibres compared to M. musculus. There were differences in the matrix components of the TA with regard to collagen VI and the biomechanical properties. A. cahirinus TA regenerated faster with a more rapid induction of embryonic myosin and higher levels of dystrophin than in M. musculus fibres. There were lower levels of inflammation (NF-kB), fibrosis (TGFb-1, collagens) and higher levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine Cxcl12. There was a difference in macrophage profile between the two species. After multiple rounds of muscle regeneration the M. musculus TA failed to regenerate muscle fibres and instead produced a large numbers of adipocytes whereas the A. cahirinus TA regenerated perfectly. This clearly improved regeneration performance can be explained by differing levels of growth factors such as adiponectin between the two species

High-fidelity single-shot readout for a spin qubit via an enhanced latching mechanism

The readout of semiconductor spin qubits based on spin blockade is fast but suffers from a small charge signal. Previous work suggested large benefits from additional charge mapping processes, however uncertainties remain about the underlying mechanisms and achievable fidelity. In this work, we study the single-shot fidelity and limiting mechanisms for two variations of an enhanced latching readout. We achieve average single-shot readout fidelities > 99.3% and > 99.86% for the conventional and enhanced readout respectively, the latter being the highest to date for spin blockade. The signal amplitude is enhanced to a full one-electron signal while preserving the readout speed. Furthermore, layout constraints are relaxed because the charge sensor signal is no longer dependent on being aligned with the conventional (2, 0) - (1, 1) charge dipole. Silicon donor-quantum-dot qubits are used for this study, for which the dipole insensitivity substantially relaxes donor placement requirements. One of the readout variations also benefits from a parametric lifetime enhancement by replacing the spin-relaxation process with a charge-metastable one. This provides opportunities to further increase the fidelity. The relaxation mechanisms in the different regimes are investigated. This work demonstrates a readout that is fast, has one-electron signal and results in higher fidelity. It further predicts that going beyond 99.9% fidelity in a few microseconds of measurement time is within reach.Comment: Supplementary information is included with the pape

Cost-Driven Design of a Large Scale X-Plane

A conceptual design process focused on the development of a low-cost, large scale X-plane was developed as part of an internal research and development effort. One of the concepts considered for this process was the double-bubble configuration recently developed as an advanced single-aisle class commercial transport similar in size to a Boeing 737-800 or Airbus A320. The study objective was to reduce the contractor cost from contract award to first test flight to less than $100 million, and having the first flight within three years of contract award. Methods and strategies for reduced cost are discussed