1,424 research outputs found
The dynamics of Machiavellian intelligence
The "Machiavellian intelligence" hypothesis (or the "social brain"
hypothesis) posits that large brains and distinctive cognitive abilities of
humans have evolved via intense social competition in which social competitors
developed increasingly sophisticated "Machiavellian" strategies as a means to
achieve higher social and reproductive success. Here we build a mathematical
model aiming to explore this hypothesis. In the model, genes control brains
which invent and learn strategies (memes) which are used by males to gain
advantage in competition for mates. We show that the dynamics of intelligence
has three distinct phases. During the dormant phase only newly invented memes
are present in the population. During the cognitive explosion phase the
population's meme count and the learning ability, cerebral capacity
(controlling the number of different memes that the brain can learn and use),
and Machiavellian fitness of individuals increase in a runaway fashion. During
the saturation phase natural selection resulting from the costs of having large
brains checks further increases in cognitive abilities. Overall, our results
suggest that the mechanisms underlying the "Machiavellian intelligence"
hypothesis can indeed result in the evolution of significant cognitive
abilities on the time scale of 10 to 20 thousand generations. We show that
cerebral capacity evolves faster and to a larger degree than learning ability.
Our model suggests that there may be a tendency toward a reduction in cognitive
abilities (driven by the costs of having a large brain) as the reproductive
advantage of having a large brain decreases and the exposure to memes increases
in modern societies.Comment: A revised version has been published by PNA
Dynamics of alliance formation and the egalitarian revolution
Arguably the most influential force in human history is the formation of
social coalitions and alliances (i.e., long-lasting coalitions) and their
impact on individual power. In most great ape species, coalitions occur at
individual and group levels and among both kin and non-kin. Nonetheless, ape
societies remain essentially hierarchical, and coalitions rarely weaken social
inequality. In contrast, human hunter-gatherers show a remarkable tendency to
egalitarianism, and human coalitions and alliances occur not only among
individuals and groups, but also among groups of groups. Here, we develop a
stochastic model describing the emergence of networks of allies resulting from
within-group competition for status or mates between individuals utilizing
dyadic information. The model shows that alliances often emerge in a phase
transition-like fashion if the group size, awareness, aggressiveness, and
persuasiveness of individuals are large and the decay rate of individual
affinities is small. With cultural inheritance of social networks, a single
leveling alliance including all group members can emerge in several
generations. Our results suggest that a rapid transition from a hierarchical
society of great apes to an egalitarian society of hunter-gatherers (often
referred to as "egalitarian revolution") could indeed follow an increase in
human cognitive abilities. The establishment of stable group-wide egalitarian
alliances creates conditions promoting the origin of cultural norms favoring
the group interests over those of individuals.Comment: 37 pages, 15 figure
Predicting polarization enhancement in multicomponent ferroelectric superlattices
Ab initio calculations are utilized as an input to develop a simple model of
polarization in epitaxial short-period CaTiO3/SrTiO3/BaTiO3 superlattices grown
on a SrTiO3 substrate. The model is then combined with a genetic algorithm
technique to optimize the arrangement of individual CaTiO3, SrTiO3 and BaTiO3
layers in a superlattice, predicting structures with the highest possible
polarization and a low in-plane lattice constant mismatch with the substrate.
This modelling procedure can be applied to a wide range of layered
perovskite-oxide nanostructures providing guidance for experimental development
of nanoelectromechanical devices with substantially improved polar properties.Comment: 4 pages, submitted to PR
Using the clustering coefficient to guide a genetic-based communities finding algorithm
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23878-9_20Proceedings of 12th International Conference IDEAL, Norwich, UK, September 7-9, 2011.We describe an approach taken for automatically associating entries from an on-line encyclopedia with concepts in an ontology or a lexical semantic network. It has been tested with the Simple English Wikipedia and WordNet, although it can be used with other resources. The accuracy in disambiguating the sense of the encyclopedia entries reaches 91.11% (83.89% for polysemous words). It will be applied to enriching ontologies with encyclopedic knowledge
High elevation watersheds in the southern Appalachians: Indicators of sensitivity to acidic deposition and the potential for restoration through liming
Southern Appalachian high elevation watersheds have deep rocky soils with high organic matter content,
different vegetation communities, and receive greater inputs of acidic deposition compared to low elevation sites within the region. Since the implementation of the Clean Air Act Amendment in the 1990s, concentrations of acidic anions in rainfall have declined. However, some high elevation streams continue to show signs of chronic to episodic acidity, where acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) ranges from 0 to
20 µeq L-1. We studied three 3rd order watersheds (North River in Cherokee National Forest, Santeetlah Creek in Nantahala National Forest, and North Fork of the French Broad in Pisgah National Forest) and selected four to six 1st order catchments within each watershed to represent a gradient in elevation (849–1526 m) and a range in acidic stream ANC values (11–50 leq L-1). Our objectives were to (1) identify biotic, physical and chemical catchment parameters that could be used as indices of stream ANC, pH and Ca:Al molar ratios and (2) estimate the lime required to restore catchments from the effects of excess acidity and increase base cation availability. We quantified each catchment’s biotic, physical, and chemical characteristics and collected stream, O-horizon, and mineral soil samples for chemical analysis seasonally for one year. Using repeated measures analysis, we examined variability in stream chemistry and catchment characteristics; we used a nested split-plot design to identify catchment characteristics that were correlated with stream chemistry. Watersheds differed significantly and the catchments sampled provided a wide range of stream chemical, biotic, physical and chemical characteristics. Variability in stream ANC, pH, and Ca:Al molar ratio were significantly correlated with catchment vegetation characteristics (basal area, tree height, and tree diameter) as well as O-horizon nitrogen and aluminum concentrations. Total soil carbon and calcium (an indicator of parent material), were significant
covariates for stream ANC, pH and Ca:Al molar ratios. Lime requirement estimates did not differ among watersheds but this data will help select catchments for future restoration and lime application studies. Not surprisingly, this work found many vegetation and chemical characteristics that were useful indicators of stream acidity. However, some expected relationships such as concentrations of mineral soil extractable Ca and SO4 were not significant. This suggests that an extensive test of these indicators across the southern Appalachians will be required to identify high elevation forested catchments that would benefit from restoration activities
Targeting translation initiation by synthetic rocaglates for treating MYC-driven lymphomas.
MYC-driven lymphomas, especially those with concurrent MYC and BCL2 dysregulation, are currently a challenge in clinical practice due to rapid disease progression, resistance to standard chemotherapy, and high risk of refractory disease. MYC plays a central role by coordinating hyperactive protein synthesis with upregulated transcription in order to support rapid proliferation of tumor cells. Translation initiation inhibitor rocaglates have been identified as the most potent drugs in MYC-driven lymphomas as they efficiently inhibit MYC expression and tumor cell viability. We found that this class of compounds can overcome eIF4A abundance by stabilizing target mRNA-eIF4A interaction that directly prevents translation. Proteome-wide quantification demonstrated selective repression of multiple critical oncoproteins in addition to MYC in B-cell lymphoma including NEK2, MCL1, AURKA, PLK1, and several transcription factors that are generally considered undruggable. Finally, (-)-SDS-1-021, the most promising synthetic rocaglate, was confirmed to be highly potent as a single agent, and displayed significant synergy with the BCL2 inhibitor ABT199 in inhibiting tumor growth and survival in primary lymphoma cells in vitro and in patient-derived xenograft mouse models. Overall, our findings support the strategy of using rocaglates to target oncoprotein synthesis in MYC-driven lymphomas.P30 CA036727 - NCI NIH HHS; R24 GM111625 - NIGMS NIH HHS; R35 GM118173 - NIGMS NIH HHS; LB506 - Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (Nebraska DHHS)Accepted manuscriptSupporting documentatio
Fish Populations and Physical Conditions in Ditched and Impounded Marshes in East-Central Florida
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