Belief formation in a signaling game without common prior: an experiment

Using belief elicitation, the paper investigates the process of belief formation and evolution in a signaling game in which a common prior is not induced. Both prior and posterior beliefs of Receivers about Senders' types are elicited, as well as beliefs of Senders about Receivers' strategies. In the experiment, subjects often start with diffuse uniform beliefs and update them in view of observations. However, the speed of updating is influenced by the strength of initial beliefs. An interesting result is that beliefs about the prior distribution of types are updated slower than posterior beliefs, which incorporate Senders' strategies. In the medium run, for some specifications of game parameters, this leads to outcomes being significantly different from the outcomes of the game in which a common prior is induced. It is also shown that elicitation of beliefs does not considerably change the pattern of play in this game

Cooperation beyond consanguinity: post-marital residence, delineations of kin, and social support among South Indian Tamils

Evolutionary ecologists have shown that relatives are important providers of support across many species. Among humans, cultural reckonings of kinship are more than just relatedness, as they interact with systems of descent, inheritance, marriage and residence. These cultural aspects of kinship may be particularly important when a person is determining which kin, if any, to call upon for help. Here, we explore the relationship between kinship and cooperation by drawing upon social support network data from two villages in South India. While these Tamil villages have a nominally male-biased kinship system (being patrilocal and patrilineal), matrilateral kin play essential social roles and many women reside in their natal villages, letting us tease apart the relative importance of genetic relatedness, kinship and residence in accessing social support. We find that people often name both their consanguineal and affinal kin as providing them with support, and we see some weakening of support with lesser relatedness. Matrilateral and patrilateral relatives are roughly equally likely to be named, and the greatest distinction instead is in their availability, which is highly contingent on post-marital residence patterns. People residing in their natal village have many more consanguineal relatives present than those who have relocated. Still, relocation has only a small effect on an individual's network size, as non-natal residents are more reliant on the few kin that they have present, most of whom are affines. In sum, marriage patterns have an important impact on kin availability, but the flexibility offered by the broadening of the concept of kin helps people develop the cooperative relationships that they rely upon, even in the absence of genetic relatives. This article is part of the theme issue 'The evolution of female-biased kinship in humans and other mammals'

T-cell Subset Regulation in Atopy

Presentation of processed allergen by antigen-presenting cells to T-helper (Th) lymphocytes, which is influenced costimulatory signals, cytokines, chemokines, and regulatory T cells (Tregs), determines the development of different types of T-cell immunity. The discovery of Tregs revolutionized the primary concepts of immune regulation interpreted within the framework of a binary Th1/Th2 paradigm. Tregs play a central role in the maintenance of peripheral homeostasis, the establishment of controlled immune responses, and the inhibition of allergen-specific effector cells. Recently, some other T-cell subsets appeared, including Th17 and Th9 cells, which control local tissue inflammation through upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. This review aims to discuss our understanding of the T-cell subset reciprocal interaction in atopy

The Immunological Synapse: a Dynamic Platform for Local Signaling

The immunological synapse (IS) as a concept has evolved from a static view of the junction between T cells and their antigen-presenting cell partners. The entire process of IS formation and extinction is now known to entail a dynamic reorganization of membrane domains and proteins within and adjacent to those domains. Discussion The entire process is also intricately tied to the motility machinery—both as that machinery directs “scanning” prior to T-cell receptor engagement and as it is appropriated during the ongoing developments at the IS. While the synapse often remains dynamic in order to encourage surveillance of new antigen-presenting surfaces, cytoskeletal forces also regulate the development of signals, likely including the assembly of ion channels. In both neuronal and immunological synapses, localized Ca 2+ signals and accumulation or depletion of ions in microdomains accompany the concentration of signaling molecules in the synapse. Such spatiotemporal signaling in the synapse greatly accelerates kinetics and provides essential checkpoints to validate effective cell–cell communication

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

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How obedience of marriage rules may counteract genetic drift

Marriage rules are a common component of many human societies. Since these rules, translated into mating patterns, would imply inbreeding, the question arises as to their long-term population genetic effects. We show by simulation that continuous unilateral or bilateral cross-cousin mating, reflecting the most common form of prescribed marriage, increases homozygosity but at the same time slows down considerably the loss of gene diversity due to genetic drift. For X-chromosomal genes, this effect is more pronounced if marriage, translated into mating, is matrilateral rather than patrilateral. Although the maintenance of gene diversity, in principle, could have conferred a selective advantage to the initiation of marriage rules, the mechanisms driving such a move are difficult to perceive. We therefore conclude that the possible preservation of gene diversity through marriage rule-induced inbreeding is a by-product, not the source, of a cultural invention that instead rested on foresight and strategic thinking