Decision‐Making in Public Good Dilemmas: Theory and Agent‐Based Simulation

In many real world contexts individuals find themselves in situations where they have to decide between options of behaviour that serve a collective purpose or behaviours which satisfy one’s private interests, ignoring the collective. In some cases the underlying social dilemma (Dawes, 1980) is solved and we observe collective action (Olson, 1965). In others social mobilisation is unsuccessful. The central topic of social dilemma research is the identification and understanding of mechanisms which yield to the observed cooperation and therefore resolve the social dilemma. It is the purpose of this thesis to contribute this research field for the case of public good dilemmas. To do so, existing work that is relevant to this problem domain is reviewed and a set of mandatory requirements is derived which guide theory and method development of the thesis. In particular, the thesis focusses on dynamic processes of social mobilisation which can foster or inhibit collective action. The basic understanding is that success or failure of the required process of social mobilisation is determined by heterogeneous individual preferences of the members of a providing group, the social structure in which the acting individuals are contained, and the embedding of the individuals in economic, political, biophysical, or other external contexts. To account for these aspects and for the involved dynamics the methodical approach of the thesis is computer simulation, in particular agent-based modelling and simulation of social systems. Particularly conductive are agent models which ground the simulation of human behaviour in suitable psychological theories of action. The thesis develops the action theory HAPPenInGS (Heterogeneous Agents Providing Public Goods) and demonstrates its embedding into different agent-based simulations. The thesis substantiates the particular added value of the methodical approach: Starting out from a theory of individual behaviour, in simulations the emergence of collective patterns of behaviour becomes observable. In addition, the underlying collective dynamics may be scrutinised and assessed by scenario analysis. The results of such experiments reveal insights on processes of social mobilisation which go beyond classical empirical approaches and yield policy recommendations on promising intervention measures in particular.

Caimanes and the Water - Infinite Legal Struggles about a Finite Good

This report is intended to shed more light on the ongoing water struggle in Caimanes, a small urban area in the central northern area of Chile, neighbouring Latin America’s biggest tailings dam. Undoubtedly, the water in Caimanes is running out and the conflict between the opponents of the dam and its owner, a multinational copper enterprise, is getting more and more attention by the national and also international media. In the discussion a judgment of the Chilean Supreme Court from last October plays a central role, because it is said to have granted the people from Caimanes their right to water. After a short introduction with some details about Camaines and the tailings from the dam El Mauro, the key points of this judgment shall be outlined. The final part of the report is dedicated to various institutional problems of the Chilean resources law and policy that can become virulent for the water supply and the environmental well-being of many other urban areas in the industrialized north of Chile.

Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetic Nanoparticles with High Magnetization and Good Oxidation Resistibility

Magnetic nanoparticles attract increasing attention because of their current and potential biomedical applications, such as, magnetically targeted and controlled drug delivery, magnetic hyperthermia and magnetic extraction. Increased magnetization can lead to improved performance in targeting and retention in drug delivery and a higher efficiency in biomaterials extraction. We reported an approach to synthesize iron contained magnetic nanoparticles with high magnetization and good oxidation resistibility by pyrolysis of iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)[subscript 5]) in methane (CH[subscript 4]). Using the high reactivity of Fe nanoparticles, decomposition of CH[subscript 4] on the Fe nanoparticles leads to the formation of nanocrystalline iron carbides at a temperature below 260°C. Structural investigation indicated that the as-synthesized nanoparticles contained crystalline bcc Fe, iron carbides and spinel iron oxide. The Mössbauer and DSC results testified that the as-synthesized nanoparticle contained three crystalline iron carbide phases, which converted to Fe[subscript 3]C after a heat treatment. Surface analysis suggested that the as-synthesized and subsequently heated iron-iron carbide particles were coated by iron oxide, which originated from oxidization of surface Fe atoms. The heat-treated nanoparticles exhibited a magnetization of 160 emu/g, which is two times of that of currently used spinel iron oxide nanoparticles. After heating in an acidic solution with a pH value of 5 at 60°C for 20 h, the nanoparticles retained 90 percentage of the magnetization.

Good Practice in the use of PowerPoint

This presentation aims to encourage academic staff to make better use of PowerPoint by avoiding dependence on or abuse of bullet points. It highlights PowerPoint's emergent properties and presents clear guidelines for effective slides

Work-life balance - You've never had it so good??

Gives some personal reflections on work-life balance in both services and in academic research. Over the last few years both childcare and working practices have changed for the better. I hope this will stimulate discussion with the contributions from other academics at the WiSET discussion session.

New Brand PowerPoint template - good practice advice

This short video introduces the new teaching templates and provides advice about good slide design

Blackboard Good Practice Guide

This short (4 sides of A4) document provides advice to tutors about essential and recomended practices, organisational principles, blended learning, accessibility and copyright.

What makes a good learning activity for school kids: examples from the MiGen project

Powerpoint describing good educational eactivities

Faculty Good Practice - Event

Slides and link to Panopto recording about 'good practice' within from across the Faculty Adam Procter - Winchester School of Art. Liz Williams - Southampton Law School. Jean Leah - School of Management.

Asymmetrically fair rules for an indivisible good problem with a budget constraint

We study a particular restitution problem where there is an indivisible good (land or property) over which two agents have rights: the dispossessed agent and the owner. A third party, possibly the government, seeks to resolve the situation by assigning rights to one and compensate the other. There is also a maximum amount of money available for the compensation. We characterize a family of asymmetrically fair rules that are immune to strategic behavior, guarantee minimal welfare levels for the agents, and satisfy the budget constraint.

Is it always good to let universities select their students?

We undertake a first step to investigating a reform that has been applied in numerous universities across Europe: the right to select students. We ask to what extent this right will increase the efficiency of the university. While it seems evident that giving universities the right to select students that match best with the human capital of professors should increase efficiency measures in the productivities of students in the labor market, we point to a potentially negative efect. We argue that allowing universities to select the students they prefer can reduce the incentives of the universities to improve the human capital of their professors.

Efectividad del tratamiento inmunomodulador con leucocitos alogénicos, en aborto involuntario recurrente. Revisión sistemática y metaanálisis

Dentro del marco del aborto involuntario recurrente (AIR), se han propuesto causas autoinmunes y alogénicas, e implementación de terapias como la inmunización activa con leucocitos alogénicos de la pareja o de donantes. La evidencia disponible en cuanto a la efectividad de estos tratamientos es contradictoria, por lo que se desea realizar una revisión sistemática para evaluar la efectividad de la inmunización activa con leucocitos alogénicos de la pareja o de donantes para esta condición. Se realizó un estudio tipo revisión sistemática de la literatura, usando las siguientes bases de datos: Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library y Scielo. Se realizó una búsqueda a través del registro de ensayos clínicos del Instituto Nacional de Salud de los Estados Unidos (www.clinicaltrials.gov) y, una búsqueda manual a través de las referencias de los estudios seleccionados siguiendo la estrategia de bola de nieve. Se seleccionaron ensayos clínicos y estudios de cohorte analítica, en idioma inglés y español. Se realizó un análisis cuantitativo de la información por medio de un metaanálisis. El tratamiento inmunomodulador con linfocitos puede considerarse como una terapia efectiva para mantener la gestación y lograr recién nacido vivo según resultados estadísticos; sin embargo la calidad de los estudios incluidos es baja, por lo que no se aconseja para la práctica rutinaria. Se sugiere la realización de estudios con metodologías robustas y que apoyen los resultados presentados en esta investigación.