Coordination in games with incomplete information: experimental results

We use experiments to study coordination in games with incomplete information and ask whether an informed player can use cheap talk strategically. Two players decide whether to enter a market where stage game payoffs either form a prisoner’s dilemma or a stag-hunt. One player knows which stage game is played while the other knows only the associated probabilities. When players engage in a prisoner’s dilemma each player prefers unilateral entry. When payoffs form a stag-hunt game, the outcome where neither enters Pareto dominates the outcome where both enter. We ask whether cheap talk aids coordination on the Pareto dominant outcome and whether the informed player can use cheap talk to engineer her preferred outcome. Consistent with previous literature, the benefit of cheap talk depends on the relationship between payoffs and risks. We find that cheap talk benefits informed players only when payoff risks are low. Key Words: cheap talk, coordination, experiments, incomplete information, risk dominance, payoff domiance

Colorectal Cancer, Socioeconomic Distribution and Behavior: A Comparative Analysis of Urban and Rural Counties in the USA

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks second for all cancer related deaths among men and women together and third for either sex when considered separately. Disparities exist in CRC incidence and mortality between rural and urban counties in the USA. This study sought to explore socioeconomic and behavioral factors that may partly explain these observed differences. Methods: Using educational and income levels as measures of socioeconomic status (SES), and average alcohol consumption and smoking frequency as behavioral factors, data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program for analysis were coupled. Results: Results showed statistically significant inequalities for CRC incidence (t = 2.678, p = 0.010) and mortality (t = 2.567, p = 0.013), as well as socioeconomic (i.e., poverty; t = 5.644, p < 0.001) and behavioral (i.e., smoking; t = 2.885, p = 0.006) factors between selected rural and urban counties. Regression analysis for colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates at the rural, urban, and national levels yielded relative impacts of smoking frequency, alcohol consumption, and educational level. Conclusions: Health policies aimed at reducing disparities between rural and urban populations in the USA must therefore adequately address SES and behavioral factors. Key words: colorectal cancer, rural health, social determinants of health, health behavio

"Technoference" and Implications for Mothers' and Fathers' Couple and Coparenting Relationship Quality

Technology devices are widely used today, creating opportunities to connect and communicate with distant others while also potentially disrupting communication and interactions between those who are physically present (i.e., technoference or phubbing). These disruptions in couple and coparenting relationships have the potential to negatively impact relationship outcomes. In this two-part study of 182 married/cohabiting couples from the Daily Family Life Project and 239 couples from the Couple Well-Being Project, we examined the role of technoference in couple and coparenting relationship quality and potential gender differences utilizing dyadic data. We found that greater technoference related to greater conflict over technology use, and greater conflict predicted lower relationship satisfaction and poorer perceptions of coparenting quality (Study 1). Using a more diverse sample (Study 2), we again found support for the main pathways tested in our first study, suggesting that results found in Study 1 and in previous work are not artifacts of sampling. As satisfaction, support, and agreement among relationship partners and parents are often critical to relationship health and family cohesion, it is important for couples and families to evaluate, monitor, and be willing to adapt their technology usage patterns so that these patterns do not cause conflict and possibly relationship deterioration over tim

In-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy of 35Mg and 33Na

Excited states in the very neutron-rich nuclei 35Mg and 33Na were populated in the fragmentation of a 38Si projectile beam on a Be target at 83 MeV/u beam energy. We report on the first observation of gamma-ray transitions in 35Mg, the odd-N neighbor of 34Mg and 36Mg, which are known to be part of the "Island of Inversion" around N = 20. The results are discussed in the framework of large- scale shell-model calculations. For the A = 3Z nucleus 33Na, a new gamma-ray transition was observed that is suggested to complete the gamma-ray cascade 7/2+ --> 5/2+ --> 3/2+ gs connecting three neutron 2p-2h intruder states that are predicted to form a close-to-ideal K = 3/2 rotational band in the strong-coupling limit.Comment: Accepted for publication Phys. Rev. C. March 16, 2011: Replaced figures 3 and 5. We thank Alfredo Poves for pointing out a problem with the two figure

Gravitational waves and mass ejecta from binary neutron star mergers: Effect of large eccentricities

As current gravitational wave (GW) detectors increase in sensitivity, and particularly as new instruments are being planned, there is the possibility that ground-based GW detectors will observe GWs from highly eccentric neutron star binaries. We present the first detailed study of highly eccentric BNS systems with full (3+1)D numerical relativity simulations using consistent initial conditions, i.e., setups which are in agreement with the Einstein equations and with the equations of general relativistic hydrodynamics in equilibrium. Overall, our simulations cover two different equations of state (EOSs), two different spin configurations, and three to four different initial eccentricities for each pairing of EOS and spin. We extract from the simulated waveforms the frequency of the f-mode oscillations induced during close encounters before the merger of the two stars. The extracted frequency is in good agreement with f-mode oscillations of individual stars for the irrotational cases, which allows an independent measure of the supranuclear equation of state not accessible for binaries on quasicircular orbits. The energy stored in these f-mode oscillations can be as large as 10−3  M⊙∼1051  erg, even with a soft EOS. In order to estimate the stored energy, we also examine the effects of mode mixing due to the stars’ offset from the origin on the f-mode contribution to the GW signal. While in general (eccentric) neutron star mergers produce bright electromagnetic counterparts, we find that for the considered cases with fixed initial separation the luminosity decreases when the eccentricity becomes too large, due to a decrease of the ejecta mass. Finally, the use of consistent initial configurations also allows us to produce high-quality waveforms for different eccentricities which can be used as a test bed for waveform model development of highly eccentric binary neutron star systems.S. V. C. was supported by the DFG Research Training Group 1523/2 “Quantum and Gravitational Fields.” T. D. acknowledges support by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 749145, BNSmergers. N. K. J.-M. acknowledges support from STFC Consolidator Grant No. ST/L000636/1. B. B. was supported by DFG Grant No. BR 2176/5-1. W. T. was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY-1707227. Also, this work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 690904. This research was supported in part by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Research at Perimeter Institute is supported by the Government of Canada through Industry Canada and by the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Economic Development & Innovation. Computations were performed on the supercomputer SuperMUC at the LRZ (Munich) under the project number pr48pu and on the ARA cluster of the University of Jena

Inverse-kinematics one-neutron pickup with fast rare-isotope beams

New measurements and reaction model calculations are reported for single neutron pickup reactions onto a fast \nuc{22}{Mg} secondary beam at 84 MeV per nucleon. Measurements were made on both carbon and beryllium targets, having very different structures, allowing a first investigation of the likely nature of the pickup reaction mechanism. The measurements involve thick reaction targets and $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy of the projectile-like reaction residue for final-state resolution, that permit experiments with low incident beam rates compared to traditional low-energy transfer reactions. From measured longitudinal momentum distributions we show that the \nuc{12}{C} (\nuc{22}{Mg},\nuc{23}{Mg}+\gamma)X reaction largely proceeds as a direct two-body reaction, the neutron transfer producing bound \nuc{11}{C} target residues. The corresponding reaction on the \nuc{9}{Be} target seems to largely leave the \nuc{8}{Be} residual nucleus unbound at excitation energies high in the continuum. We discuss the possible use of such fast-beam one-neutron pickup reactions to track single-particle strength in exotic nuclei, and also their expected sensitivity to neutron high-$\ell$ (intruder) states which are often direct indicators of shell evolution and the disappearance of magic numbers in the exotic regime.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Temperature dependence of binary and ternary recombination of H3+ ions with electron

We study binary and the recently discovered process of ternary He-assisted recombination of H3+ ions with electrons in a low temperature afterglow plasma. The experiments are carried out over a broad range of pressures and temperatures of an afterglow plasma in a helium buffer gas. Binary and He-assisted ternary recombination are observed and the corresponding recombination rate coefficients are extracted for temperatures from 77 K to 330 K. We describe the observed ternary recombination as a two-step mechanism: First, a rotationally-excited long-lived neutral molecule H3* is formed in electron-H3+ collisions. Second, the H3* molecule collides with a helium atom that leads to the formation of a very long-lived Rydberg state with high orbital momentum. We present calculations of the lifetimes of H3* and of the ternary recombination rate coefficients for para and ortho-H3+. The calculations show a large difference between the ternary recombination rate coefficients of ortho- and para-H3+ at temperatures below 300 K. The measured binary and ternary rate coefficients are in reasonable agreement with the calculated values.Comment: 15 page

Mirror Energy Differences at Large Isospin Studied through Direct Two-Nucleon Knockout

The first spectroscopy of excited states in 52Ni (Tz=2) and 51Co (Tz=-3/2) has been obtained using the highly selective two-neutron knockout reaction. Mirror energy differences between isobaric analogue states in these nuclei and their mirror partners are interpreted in terms of isospin nonconserving effects. A comparison between large scale shell-model calculations and data provides the most compelling evidence to date that both electromagnetic and an additional isospin nonconserving interactions for J=2 couplings, of unknown origin, are required to obtain good agreement.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter