The ecology of inequality in animal societies

Individuals vary in their access to resources, social connections, and phenotypic traits, and a central goal of behavioral ecology is to understand how this variation influences reproductive success and longevity. Parallel research on human societies has focused on the causes and consequences of variation in material possessions, opportunity, and health among individuals. At the core in both fields of study is that unequal distribution of benefits is an important component of social structure, but an explicit study of inequality is largely missing from evolutionary biology and ecology. Here we advance a research framework and agenda for studying inequality within an ecological and evolutionary context, drawing upon work in the human-oriented literature where applicable. We present four broad arguments for the ecological study of inequality: (1) wealth and inequality are taxonomically broad features of societies, (2) feedback loops link inequality to individual and societal outcomes, (3) very little is known about what makes some societies more unequal than others, and (4) inequality is dynamic, and these dynamics are relevant for social evolution. We hope that this framework will motivate a cohesive interdisciplinary approach to understanding inequality as a widespread and diverse biological phenomenon.

Perspectives on the Body in Ancient Nubia

Despite the richness of the record relating to the art, texts, and archaeology of the Sudanese past there has been a lack of explicit study or theorization of the human body. There is much potential and scope for a discussion of how the body has been represented through time, but also for how the body as the medium through which the social is experienced has been constructed and has changed through time. A range of possible approaches to the study of the human body are presented here.

Explicit Study of Epoxy/ Momordica Angustisepala Fiber and Rice Husk Ash Nanoparticle Composites for Roofing Sheet Application

The development of roofing sheets using sustainable materials to reduce the health hazard pose by asbestos, corrosion of galvanized zinc, and cost of long span aluminum has been giving attention. In this work, density, tensile properties, corrosion resistance and stress analysis of Momordica angustisepala fiber (MAf) and rice husk ash nanoparticle/epoxy composite was used as criteria to determine the suitability of the new material as a roofing sheet application. Roofing sheets of lower weight can be produced with this developed material. The yield strength and tensile strength of 73.45 and 75.12 MPa are within the strength recommended for galvanized zinc and long span aluminum. The new material can be used in the production of roofing sheets with better corrosion resistance than galvanized zinc and long span aluminum. It was established that light weight roofing sheets with better corrosion resistance can be made with this composite.

Persistent spatial gaps in ornithological study in Australia, 1901–2011

At the continental scale, ecological research effort is not spatially uniform. We used a century-long bibliometric database of the journal Emu – Austral Ornithology to index the spatial patterns in bird research in Australia (from articles with explicit study locations). Studies have been concentrated in Tasmania and the southwest, southeast and coastal parts of the mainland. Large spatial gaps exist in ornithological study, which are similar to those identified by Arnold Robert McGill in his 1948 review paper ( McGill 1948 ). Pre-1948 only 9.4% of articles [n = 2,107] fell within the gaps mapped by McGill in 1948, indicating that his mapping was largely accurate. These gaps have largely persisted; only 11.2% of the 1,498 articles published since 1948 came from within those gaps. We present a complementary spatial gap analysis, which focuses on studies of areas with broadly similar biogeographies (Interim Biogeographical Regions of Australia (IBRAs)). Of 85 mainland IBRAs (of 89 defined), five have no bird studies from within them (368,380 km2; 4.9% of Australia), and 34 have less than 10 studies (3,335,498 km2; 43.9%). We intersect IBRAs with McGill's gaps and show that some IBRAs within McGill's gaps are now better-studied, but 64.8% of the area within the McGill gaps boundaries comprises IBRAs where there have been no post-1948 studies in Emu. We also present an updated map of key geographical gaps in the study of Australian birds, which apparently remain extensive 60 years after they were first identified.

Self-serving optimism in hedonic prediction: People believe in a bright future for themselves and their friends, but not for their enemies

According to longitudinal research, psychological well-being is remarkably stable over time. However, people may still believe that the future will deviate from the past. Across three experiments in Norway and USA (N=1,130; two pre-registered), participants were randomly assigned to report their well-being in the past or predict their future well-being. In line with a "bright-future hypothesis", people predicted higher levels of happiness and meaning in the future than their historical baseline from the past. We observed the same optimistic pattern for a 5-year horizon as a 1-year horizon, and participants who viewed themselves as pessimistic were no exception. Rather than being a cognitive illusion, the evidence favored a motivational explanation. Specifically, the effect was found both in separate judgment between-persons and joint evaluation within-persons, which means that participants did not "correct" their predictions even when the contrast with their own past became explicit (Study 2). This suggests that the participants believed that their future optimism was rational and accurate, although it deviates from their personal experience and is statistically unrealistic. Highlighting the social dimension of well-being predictions, our final experiment found that the expectation of future improvement generalized to judgments of a friend, but not to an enemy (Study 3). Seen as a whole, the results suggest that people predict a bright future when they want to see one.

Green’s Function and Eshelby’s Tensor Based on Mindlin’s 2nd Gradient Model: An Explicit Study of Cylindrical Inclusion Case

Based on Mindlin’s 2nd gradient model that involves two length-scale parameters, Green’s function, Eshelby tensor and Eshelby-like tensor for an inclusion of arbitrary shape are derived. It is proved that the Eshelby tensor consists of two parts: the classical Eshelby tensor and a gradient part including the length-scale parameters, which enable the interpretation of the size effect. When the strain gradient is not taken into account, the obtained Green’s function and Eshelby tensor reduce to its analogue based on the classical elasticity. For the cylindrical inclusion case, the Eshelby tensor in and outside the inclusion, the volume average of the gradient part and the Eshelby-like tensor are explicitly obtained. Unlike the classical Eshelby tensor, the results show that the components of the new Eshelby tensor vary with the position and the inclusion dimensions. It is demonstrated that the contribution of the gradient part should not be neglected.

AN EQUIDISTRIBUTION THEOREM FOR HOLOMORPHIC SIEGEL MODULAR FORMS FOR AND ITS APPLICATIONS

We prove an equidistribution theorem for a family of holomorphic Siegel cusp forms for $\mathit{GSp}_{4}/\mathbb{Q}$ in various aspects. A main tool is Arthur’s invariant trace formula. While Shin [Automorphic Plancherel density theorem, Israel J. Math.192(1) (2012), 83–120] and Shin–Templier [Sato–Tate theorem for families and low-lying zeros of automorphic $L$-functions, Invent. Math.203(1) (2016) 1–177] used Euler–Poincaré functions at infinity in the formula, we use a pseudo-coefficient of a holomorphic discrete series to extract holomorphic Siegel cusp forms. Then the non-semisimple contributions arise from the geometric side, and this provides new second main terms $A,B_{1}$ in Theorem 1.1 which have not been studied and a mysterious second term $B_{2}$ also appears in the second main term coming from the semisimple elements. Furthermore our explicit study enables us to treat more general aspects in the weight. We also give several applications including the vertical Sato–Tate theorem, the unboundedness of Hecke fields and low-lying zeros for degree 4 spinor $L$-functions and degree 5 standard $L$-functions of holomorphic Siegel cusp forms.