2,642 research outputs found
The resurrection of group selection as a theory of human cooperation
Two books edited by members of the MacArthur Norms and Preferences Network (an interdisciplinary group, mainly anthropologists and economists) are reviewed here. These books in large part reflect a renewed interest in group selection
that has occurred among these researchers: they promote the theory that human cooperative behavior evolved via selective processes which favored biological and/or cultural group-level adaptations as opposed to individual-level adaptations. In support of this theory, an impressive collection of cross-cultural data are presented which suggest that participants in experimental economic games often do not behave as self-interested income maximizers; this lack of self-interest is regarded as evidence of group selection. In this review, problems with these data and with the theory are discussed. On the data side, it is argued that even if a behavior seems individually-maladaptive in a game context, there is no reason to believe that it would have been that way in ancestral contexts, since the environments of experimental games do not at all resemble those in which ancestral humans would have interacted cooperatively. And on the theory side, it is argued that it is premature to invoke group selection in order to explain human cooperation, because more parsimonious individual-level theories have not yet been exhausted. In summary, these books represent ambitious interdisciplinary contributions on an important topic, and they include unique and useful data; however, they do not make a convincing case that the evolution of human cooperation required group selection
Metal-Insulator oscillations in a Two-dimensional Electron-Hole system
The electrical transport properties of a bipolar InAs/GaSb system have been
studied in magnetic field. The resistivity oscillates between insulating and
metallic behaviour while the quantum Hall effect shows a digital character
oscillating from 0 to 1 conducatance quantum e^2/h. The insulating behaviour is
attributed to the formation of a total energy gap in the system. A novel looped
edge state picture is proposed associated with the appearance of a voltage
between Hall probes which is symmetric on magnetic field reversal.Comment: 4 pages, 5 Postscript figures: revised versio
Muonium as a hydrogen analogue in silicon and germanium; quantum effects and hyperfine parameters
We report a first-principles theoretical study of hyperfine interactions,
zero-point effects and defect energetics of muonium and hydrogen impurities in
silicon and germanium. The spin-polarized density functional method is used,
with the crystalline orbitals expanded in all-electron Gaussian basis sets. The
behaviour of hydrogen and muonium impurities at both the tetrahedral and
bond-centred sites is investigated within a supercell approximation. To
describe the zero-point motion of the impurities, a double adiabatic
approximation is employed in which the electron, muon/proton and host lattice
degrees of freedom are decoupled. Within this approximation the relaxation of
the atoms of the host lattice may differ for the muon and proton, although in
practice the difference is found to be slight. With the inclusion of zero-point
motion the tetrahedral site is energetically preferred over the bond-centred
site in both silicon and germanium. The hyperfine and superhyperfine
parameters, calculated as averages over the motion of the muon, agree
reasonably well with the available data from muon spin resonance experiments.Comment: 20 pages, including 9 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Laying the groundwork at the AGS: Recent results from experiment E895
The E895 Collaboration at the Brookhaven AGS has performed a systematic
investigation of Au+Au collisions at 2-8 AGeV, using a large-acceptance Time
Projection Chamber. In addition to extensive measurements of particle flow,
spectra, two-particle interferometry, and strangeness production, we have
performed novel hybrid analyses, including azimuthally-sensitive pion HBT,
extraction of the six-dimensional pion phasespace density, and a first
measurement of the Lambda-proton correlation function.Comment: Presented at Quark Matter 2001, 8 pages, 5 figure
Anaerobic digestion of whole-crop winter wheat silage for renewable energy production
With biogas production expanding across Europe in response to renewable energy incentives, a wider variety of crops need to be considered as feedstock. Maize, the most commonly used crop at present, is not ideal in cooler, wetter regions, where higher energy yields per hectare might be achieved with other cereals. Winter wheat is a possible candidate because, under these conditions, it has a good biomass yield, can be ensiled, and can be used as a whole crop material. The results showed that, when harvested at the medium milk stage, the specific methane yield was 0.32 m3 CH4 kgâ1 volatile solids added, equal to 73% of the measured calorific value. Using crop yield values for the north of England, a net energy yield of 146â155 GJ haâ1 yearâ1 could be achieved after taking into account both direct and indirect energy consumption in cultivation, processing through anaerobic digestion, and spreading digestate back to the land. The process showed some limitations, however: the relatively low density of the substrate made it difficult to mix the digester, and there was a buildup of soluble chemical oxygen demand, which represented a loss in methane potential and may also have led to biofoaming. The high nitrogen content of the wheat initially caused problems, but these could be overcome by acclimatization. A combination of these factors is likely to limit the loading that can be applied to the digester when using winter wheat as a substrat
Environmental variability in aquatic ecosystems: avenues for future multifactorial experiments
The relevance of considering environmental variability for understanding and predicting biological responses to environmental changes has resulted in a recent surge in variability-focused ecological research. However, integration of findings that emerge across studies and identification of remaining knowledge gaps in aquatic ecosystems remain critical. Here, we address these aspects by: (1) summarizing relevant terms of variability research including the components (characteristics) of variability and key interactions when considering multiple environmental factors; (2) identifying conceptual frameworks for understanding the consequences of environmental variability in single and multi-factorial scenarios; (3) highlighting challenges for bridging theoretical and experimental studies involving transitioning from simple to more complex scenarios; (4) proposing improved approaches to overcome current mismatches between theoretical predictions and experimental observations; and (5) providing a guide for designing integrated experiments across multiple scales, degrees of control, and complexity in light of their specific strengths and limitations
Longitudinal Flow of Protons from 2-8 AGeV Central Au+Au Collisions
Rapidity distributions of protons from central Au + Au
collisions measured by the E895 Collaboration in the energy range from 2 to 8
AGeV at the Brookhaven AGS are presented. Longitudinal flow parameters derived
using a thermal model including collective longitudinal expansion are extracted
from these distributions. The results show an approximately linear increase in
the longitudinal flow velocity, , as a function of the
logarithm of beam energy.Comment: 5 Pages, including 3 figures, 1 tabl
Vertical transport and electroluminescence in InAs/GaSb/InAs structures: GaSb thickness and hydrostatic pressure studies
We have measured the current-voltage (I-V) of type II InAs/GaSb/InAs double
heterojunctions (DHETs) with 'GaAs like' interface bonding and GaSb thickness
between 0-1200 \AA. A negative differential resistance (NDR) is observed for
all DHETs with GaSb thickness 60 \AA below which a dramatic change in the
shape of the I-V and a marked hysteresis is observed. The temperature
dependence of the I-V is found to be very strong below this critical GaSb
thickness. The I-V characteristics of selected DHETs are also presented under
hydrostatic pressures up to 11 kbar. Finally, a mid infra-red
electroluminescence is observed at 1 bar with a threshold at the NDR valley
bias. The band profile calculations presented in the analysis are markedly
different to those given in the literature, and arise due to the positive
charge that it is argued will build up in the GaSb layer under bias. We
conclude that the dominant conduction mechanism in DHETs is most likely to
arise out of an inelastic electron-heavy-hole interaction similar to that
observed in single heterojunctions (SHETs) with 'GaAs like' interface bonding,
and not out of resonant electron-light-hole tunnelling as proposed by Yu et al.
A Zener tunnelling mechanism is shown to contribute to the background current
beyond NDR.Comment: 8 pages 12 fig
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