We report on an experimental study that was set up to reveal differences in the tendencies of men and women to cooperate in same-sex interactions. Former studies on this subject were mostly conducted ...in industrialized modern societies. In contrast, we tested the cooperation tendency among Buryats, a people from Southern Siberia of Mongolian origin. All subjects participated in (1) one iterated Public Goods Game in a group of four individuals of the same sex and (2) four one-shot Prisoner's Dilemma games with different partners of the same sex. The interactions were in a face-to-face setting, but any intentional communication during the experiments was prohibited. We found that Buryat men were more cooperative than Buryat women in both types of same-sex interactions. In particular, the fraction of men employing a strategy of unconditional cooperation in the iterated Public Goods Game was much higher (36%) than the fraction of unconditional cooperators among women (21%). In general, the behavior of men was less context dependent than the behavior of women. In both sexes, individuals who were more cooperative in one type of game tended to be more cooperative in the other type of game. Although direct communication was prohibited, the interaction partners in the Prisoner's Dilemma games employed the same strategy much more frequently than expected by chance. We conclude that, even among strangers, the exchange of subtle signals is sufficient to coordinate strategic decisions.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The article highlights relevance of a socially oriented bank in the financial sector of the country’s economy, the specifics of its strategy and banking services. The relevance of the study lies in ...the need to examine complex issues of access to financial services. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the author’s position on the relevance of the strategy of a socially oriented bank. The research methodology used in the work includes: a historical method, a systematic method, a method of scientific abstraction and theoretical knowledge, not excluding logical approaches and mathematical calculations. In the course of the research, a scientific hypothesis is put forward about the impossibility of the existence of a socially oriented bank without banking services that differ in criteria from the general market. The conclusions drawn help us to actively discuss the need to increase the level of accessibility of financial services to the population of the country and to raise issues of competition in the banking sector. They broaden the discussion on commercial bank interest rates and their role in stabilising the country’s economy. The author’s position, in the conclusions, reflects the relationship of the bank’s customer, as a part of society and a commercial bank, with its services as a platform for the availability of financial services. The author concludes that there is virtually no competition between the leading banks and that the total cost of the loan varies in the range of 20-40%. Considering the bank’s customers as a part of society, the author raises social issues of financial stability of the country’s citizens through the prism of accessibility of financial services. And the financial stability of the company and the attractiveness of internal financing are important, relevant and complex issues in modern Russia. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that it explains the relationship between society and the state through financial institutions and the services they provide, reflecting the bank’s social policy as an integral part of its strategy.
In this paper, we investigate facial sexual dimorphism and its' association with body dimorphism in Maasai, the traditional seminomadic population of Tanzania. We discuss findings on other human ...populations and possible factors affecting the developmental processes in Maasai.
Full-face anthropological photographs were obtained from 305 Maasai (185 men, 120 women) aged 17-90 years. Facial shape was assessed combining geometric morphometrics and classical facial indices. Body parameters were measured directly using precise anthropological instruments.
Sexual dimorphism in Maasai faces was low, sex explained 1.8% of the total shape variance. However, male faces were relatively narrower and vertically prolonged, with slightly wider noses, narrower-set and lower eyebrows, wider mouths, and higher forehead hairline. The most sexually dimorphic regions of the face were the lower jaw and the nose. Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR), measured in six known variants, revealed no significant sexual dimorphism. The allometric effects on facial traits were mostly related to the face growth, rather than the growth of the whole body (body height). Significant body dimorphism was demonstrated, men being significantly higher, with larger wrist diameter and hand grip strength, and women having higher BMI, hips circumferences, upper arm circumferences, triceps skinfolds. Facial and body sexual dimorphisms were not associated.
Facial sex differences in Maasai are very low, while on the contrary, the body sexual dimorphism is high. There were practically no associations between facial and body measures. These findings are interpreted in the light of trade-offs between environmental, cultural, and sexual selection pressures.
Previous research has demonstrated that Maasai and Europeans tend to align in their ratings of the physical strength and aggressiveness of Maasai male faces, calibrated to hand grip strength (HGS). ...However, perceptions of attractiveness of these faces differed among populations. In this study, three morphs of young Maasai men created by means of geometric morphometrics, and depicting the average sample and two extrema (± 4 SD of HGS), were assessed by men and women from Tanzania, Czech Republic, Russia, Pakistan, China, and Mexico (total sample = 1540). The aim of this study was to test cross-cultural differences in the perception of young Maasai men's composites calibrated to HGS, focusing on four traits: physical strength, attractiveness, aggressiveness, and helpfulness. Individuals from all six cultures were able to distinguish between low, medium, and high HGS portraits. Across all study populations, portrait of Maasai men with lower HGS was perceived as less attractive, more aggressive, and less helpful. This suggests that people from diverse populations share similar perceptions of physical strength based on facial shape, as well as attribute similar social qualities like aggressiveness and helpfulness to these facial images. Participants from all samples rated the composite image of weak Maasai men as the least attractive.
The ability to trust others, including strangers, is a prerequisite for human cooperation. Economically it is not rational to trust strangers, as trust can be easily exploited. Still, generally, the ...level of trust toward strangers is relatively high. Trust is closely related to trustworthiness: when trusting others, one expects them to reciprocate. Some individuals elicit more trust than others. Apparently, humans use subtle cues for judging the trustworthiness of their interaction partners. Here, we report on an experiment that investigates trust and trustworthiness in a population of 176 mainly Dutch students. The aims of our study were: (1) to investigate how the sex of interaction partners and their facial appearance (femininity/masculinity) affect the degree of trust and trustworthiness, compared to fully anonymous conditions; (2) to test whether individuals who elicit trust in their interaction partners are trustworthy themselves. Each subject of our experiment played five one-shot Trust Games: one with an anonymous interaction partner, and four "personalized" games after seeing a 20 s silent video of their interaction partner (twice same-sex, and twice opposite-sex). The degree of facial sexual dimorphism was investigated with geometric morphometrics based on full-face photographs. Our results revealed that, despite the already high level of trust in the anonymous setting, the personalization of interactions had a clear effect on behavior. Females elicited more trust in partners of both sexes. Interestingly, females with more feminine faces elicited less trust in both male and female partners, while males with more masculine facial shape were more trusted by females, but less trusted by males. Neither sex nor facial femininity/masculinity predicted trustworthiness. Our results demonstrate that (1) sex and sex-related facial traits of interaction partners have a clear effect on eliciting trust in strangers. However, (2) these cues are not reliable predictors of actual trustworthiness.
Objectives
The aim of our study was to compare morphometric patterns of facial sexual dimorphism with strength‐face relationship in members of two distinct populations of European and Central Asian ...origin: Russians and Tuvans.
Methods
Handgrip strength (HGS) measures and facial photographs were collected from Russian (n = 233) and Tuvan (n = 187) men and women. We digitized 70 landmarks and semilandmarks on full‐face and 54 landmarks and semilandmarks on profile photos. This was done to capture variation in facial morphology. After that, we performed the shape regressions of landmarks' coordinates upon sex and HGS. Results were visualized in forms of thin‐plate deformation grids and geometric morphometric morphs.
Results
In both populations, HGS was associated significantly with male facial shape only. In Russian men, strength‐related changes of facial shape were almost completely in direction of increase in male‐typicality. This was especially evident for the relative lower facial width, which was higher in men compared to women, as well as in stronger men compared to weaker ones. On the contrary, in Tuvans the lower face was relatively narrower in men than in women. However, the facial shape of strong Tuvan men was also associated with relatively wider lower face. Our results indicate that the effect of strength on facial shape is relatively independent of facial sexual dimorphism.
Conclusions
Our findings clearly demonstrate that physical strength is associated with the shape of the lower part of male faces even in populations with a mismatched direction of lower face sexual dimorphism.
The results of studying the influence of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) on the structure formation and properties of composite ceramics of the Al2O3-ZrO2 + 3mol% Y2O3 (YSZ) system, based on the ...metastable Al2O3 phase, are presented in this work. The phase composition of the powders, the structure, physical and mechanical properties of the Al2O3 - YSZ ceramics were studied taking into account the YSZ concentration and the pressing pressure. We have found that various crystallization processes occur during the sintering of ceramics and two types of structure are realized: aggregate-hardened and disperse-hardened, depending on the HHP value. It is shown that the processing of compacts under HHP conditions at 600–700 MPa prevents the formation of agglomerates of YSZ grains in the intergranular space of Al2O3, and the maximum values of physical and mechanical characteristics are achieved at concentrations of 10 and 15% YSZ and HHP values of 700 MPa.
Gene loss, thermogenesis, and the origin of birds Newman, Stuart A.; Mezentseva, Nadezhda V.; Badyaev, Alexander V.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,
June 2013, Letnik:
1289, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Compared to related taxa, birds have exceptionally enlarged and diversified skeletal muscles, features that are closely associated with skeletal diversification and are commonly explained by a ...diversity of avian ecological niches and locomotion types. The thermogenic muscle hypothesis (TMH) for the origin of birds proposes that such muscle hyperplasia and the associated skeletal innovations are instead the consequence of the avian clade originating from an ancestral population that underwent several successive episodes of loss of genes associated with thermogenesis, myogenesis, and skeletogenesis. Direct bird ancestors met this challenge with a combination of behavioral strategies (e.g., brooding of nestlings) and acquisition of a variety of adaptations for enhanced nonshivering thermogenesis in skeletal muscle. The latter include specific biochemical alterations promoting muscle heat generation and dramatic expansion of thigh and breast muscle mass. The TMH proposes that such muscle hyperplasia facilitated bipedality, freeing upper limbs for new functions (e.g., flight, swimming), and, by altering the mechanical environment of embryonic development, generated skeletal novelties, sometimes abruptly, that became distinctive features of the avian body plan.
The reactions of microcirculation parameters of symmetrical areas of the human head to hypoxic loads were studied. The study was conducted in 10 healthy male volunteers aged 18-19 years. Short-term ...hypoxia was modeled using a ReOxy Cardio normobaric device (S. A. Aimediq). Synchronous measurements of microcirculation parameters in symmetrical temporal regions of the head at the basal state and immediately after short-term hypoxic exposure were carried out by the method of laser Doppler flowmetry. We evaluated statistical characteristics of perfusion of both sides, as well as regression characteristics of the relationship between changes in the microcirculation parameters and the initial values of these parameters. It was shown that the reaction of the microcirculation parameters in symmetrical regions of the head to hypoxia depends on the initial microcirculation parameters in ipsi- and contralateral sides. 3D graphs were constructed and regression equations describing these relationships were formulated. A new method of geometric sensing is proposed, which allows predicting the direction of reactions to hypoxic effects. The obtained data illustrate the specificity of regulation of microcirculation of paired organs determined by the presence of functional asymmetry. A new method of geometric zoning is proposed, which allows solving the problems of personalized assessments of the state of the microcirculation system in patients.
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