Darwinian Selection and Non-existence of Nash Equilibria

We study selection acting on phenotype in a collection of agents playing local games lacking Nash equilibria. After each cycle one of the agents losing most games is replaced by a new agent with new random strategy and game partner. The network generated can be considered critical in the sense that the lifetimes of the agents is power law distributed. The longest surviving agents are those with the lowest absolute score per time step. The emergent ecology is characterized by a broad range of behaviors. Nevertheless, the agents tend to be similar to their opponents in terms of performance.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

APPLICATION OF THE ECONOMIC THRESHOLD FOR INTERSEASONAL PEST CONTROL

We show how an interseasonal pest control problem can be simplified to enable an intraseasonal model to be empirically applied, extending the range of application of the intraseasonal model. Three alternative economic thresholds are compared. The optimal solution requires repeated computations by the farmer to compute the profit maximizing dose, with a corresponding threshold, for each pest infestation. Two alternative decision rules require a single computation by the farmer for the threshold and dosage rate. An empirical illustration shows that, relative to the optimal solution which is computationally burdensome to the farmer, little net revenue is lost by using one of the thresholds based upon a simpler decision rule.Farm Management,

The maximum density droplet to lower density droplet transition in quantum dots

We show that, Landau level mixing in two-dimensional quantum dot wave functions can be taken into account very effectively by multiplying the exact lowest Landau level wave functions by a Jastrow factor which is optimized by variance minimization. The comparison between exact diagonalization and fixed phase diffusion Monte Carlo results suggests that the phase of the many-body wave functions are not affected much by Landau level mixing. We apply these wave functions to study the transition from the maximum density droplet state (incipient integer quantum Hall state with angular momentum L=N(N-1)/2) to lower density droplet states (L>N(N-1)/2).Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Auger electron spectroscopy study of oxidation of a PdCr alloy used for high-temperature sensors

A Pd-13 wt. percent Cr solid solution is a promising high-temperature strain gage alloy. In bulk form it has a number of properties that are desirable in a resistance strain gage material, such as a linear electrical resistance versus temperature curve to 1000 C and stable electrical resistance in air at 1000 C. However, unprotected fine wire gages fabricated from this alloy perform well only to 600 C. At higher temperatures severe oxidation degrades their electrical performance. In this work Auger electron spectroscopy was used to study the oxidation chemistry of the alloy wires and ribbons. Results indicate that the oxidation is caused by a complex mechanism that is not yet fully understood. As expected, during oxidation, a layer of chromium oxide is formed. This layer, however, forms beneath a layer of metallic palladium. The results of this study have increased the understanding of the oxidation mechanism of Pd-13 wt. percent Cr

Heteranthery in Clarkia: pollen performance of dimorphic anthers contradicts expectations.

Premise of the studyWild plant species that require the services of pollen-feeding insects for reliable pollination may evolve features that attract and reward their mutualistic partners. Heterantherous species have been proposed to exhibit a "division of labor" whereby "feeding anthers" (which produce pollen that may be consumed by an insect) are distinguished from "reproductive anthers" (which produce pollen more likely to contribute to reproduction). In some heterantherous species, including Clarkia unguiculata (Onagraceae), these two anther types differ with respect to stamen length, anther size, pollen production, and pollen color.MethodsThe primary goal of this study was to test one component of the "division of labor" hypothesis by comparing the performance of the pollen produced by each type of anther in C. unguiculata. To achieve this goal, under greenhouse conditions, we hand pollinated and assessed pollen performance (using epifluorescence microscopy) within ~228 flowers.Key resultsThe pollen produced by the two anther types differed significantly with respect to both stigma and style penetration. The inner series of anthers produce pollen with higher performance than the outer series of longer, dark red anthers.ConclusionsThese findings contradict previous descriptions of the genus, reporting that the inner diminutive series of anthers in Clarkia produce "abortive and nonfunctional" pollen. We outline the future research required to demonstrate the ecological function of heteranthery in this iconic wildflower group

Four Species of Synopiidae from the Caribbean Region (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

Synopia ultramarina is redescribed from the Gulf Stream and the Florida Keys and comments are made on the tangled taxonomy in Synopia. Tiron bellairsi, originally described from Barbados, is reported from Belize, at the opposite side of the Caribbean Basin. Garosyrrhoe bigarra, a Pacific species, is also reported from Belize, but no clear subspecific differences are detected as yet between Pacific and Atlantic populations

Gammaropsis arawakia, a New Species of Marine Amphipoda (Crustacea) from Jamaica

One of the dominant amphipods in algal turf communities at Discovery Bay, Jamaica, is a new species, Gammaropsis arawakia, characterized by long peduncle of uropod 3, small coxa I, 3-articulate accessory flagellum, extremely setose gnathopod 2, one pair of dorsal teeth on urosomite I, pointed ocular lobe, and oblique upper margin of cephalic sinus for antenna 2