Ahead of the Game: Middle and Upper Palaeolithic Hunting Behaviors in the Southern Caucasus

Over the past several decades a variety of models have been proposed to explain perceived behavioral and cognitive differences between Neanderthals and modern humans. A key element in many of these models and one often used as a proxy for behavioral “modernity” is the frequency and nature of hunting among Palaeolithic populations. Here new archaeological data from Ortvale Klde, a late Middle–early Upper Palaeolithic rockshelter in the Georgian Republic, are considered, and zooarchaeological methods are applied to the study of faunal acquisition patterns to test whether they changed significantly from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic. The analyses demonstrate that Neanderthals and modern humans practiced largely identical hunting tactics and that the two populations were equally and independently capable of acquiring and exploiting critical biogeographical information pertaining to resource availability and animal behavior. Like lithic techno-typological traditions, hunting behaviors are poor proxies for major behavioral differences between Neanderthals and modern humans, a conclusion that has important implications for debates surrounding the Middle–Upper Palaeolithic transition and what features constitute “modern” behavior. The proposition is advanced that developments in the social realm of Upper Palaeolithic societies allowed the replacement of Neanderthals in the Caucasus with little temporal or spatial overlap and that this process was widespread beyond traditional topographic and biogeographical barriers to Neanderthal mobility.

Teaching Time Preference and Human Impatience: The Billionaire Game

The Billionaire Game involves students in discussing time preference, or what Fisher (1930) calls human impatience. The game can facilitate the introduction of the material on present value and discounting or discussions on such issues as investment in human capital and the intertemporal consumption-saving decision. Thus, the game can facilitate discussions in a number of economics courses.

The Old Ball Game: Organization of Nineteenth Century Professional Base Ball Clubs

The first professional base ball clubs came in two varieties: stock clubs, which paid their players fixed wages, and player cooperatives, in which players shared the proceeds after expenses. We argue that stock clubs were formed with players of known ability, while co-ops were formed with players of unknown ability. Although residual claimancy served to screen out players of inferior ability in co-ops, the process was imperfect due to the team production problem. Based on this argument, we suggest that co-ops functioned as an early minor league system where untried players could seek to prove themselves and eventually move up to wage teams. Empirical analysis of data on player performance and experience in early professional base ball provides support for the theory.

Can a Newly Proposed Mechanism for Allocating Contracts in U.S. Electricity Wholesale Markets Lead to Lower Prices? A Game Theoretic Analysis

This study of the wholesale electricity market compares the cost-minimizing performance of the auction mechanism currently in place in U.S. markets with the performance of a proposed replacement. The current mechanism chooses an allocation of contracts that minimizes a fictional cost calculated using pay-as-offer pricing. Then suppliers are paid the market clearing price. The proposed mechanism uses the market clearing price in the allocation phase as well as in the payment phase. In concentrated markets, the proposed mechanism outperforms the current mechanism even when strategic behavior by suppliers is taken into account. The advantage of the proposed mechanism increases with increased price competition.

It's your game, keep it real. Sexual education study

Purpose: This study translated and adapted the It's Your Game, Keep It Real study currently being implemented with middle school youth in Southeast Texas for a middle school population in rural western Honduras. The study tested the effects of a sexual health education program focused on human immunodeficiency virus, sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy prevention. We hypothesized that the number of adolescents in the intervention group who initiate sexual activity will reduce in comparison to the control group and there will be an increase consistent condom use in sexually active adolescents in the intervention group. ^ Methods: The target population included Spanish-speaking Hispanic middle school students from a small, semi-urban city in western Honduras. One school was randomly selected to receive the intervention and one to the comparison condition. The intervention curriculum consisted of 10 seventh-grade lessons that included individual and group classroom-based activities and personal journaling. Follow-up surveys were completed three months after the last lesson with 146 students (79.3% of the defined cohort). ^ Results: In the comparison condition, 21.4% of students initiated sex by the post-test follow-up three months after the intervention compared to 7.8% in the intervention condition. ^ Conclusions: A multi-component, curriculum-based program that is theory driven and culturally relevant can increase knowledge about STIs and HIV, increase self-confidence amongst middle school students, and develop communication skills amongst friends and partners. Further research must be conducted to assess delay in sexual initiation and the generalizability of these results.^

Competencia comunicativa : Los intercambios audio-orales en la estructura propuesta por DEFI

La competencia comunicativa, eje sobre el cual gira actualmente la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras, necesita obligatoriamente de la comprensión y de la producción oral de la L2. El desarrollo de la habilidad oral en una formación enteramente a distancia en las lenguas extranjeras implica el uso de una serie de herramientas que determinarán la sincronía o la asincronía de los intercambios audio orales producidos entre los aprendices y los tutores expertos de la lengua. Estas herramientas presentan claramente características de uso que difieren mucho, pero no en su totalidad, de las técnicas empleadas en intercambios presenciales. Esta presentación abordará esas particularidades de las herramientas tecnológicas, principalmente en el área de la producción oral, a partir de las diferentes tareas propuestas por los módulos del proyecto DEFI (Dispositivo de Enseñanza de Francés Interactivo), a implantar en la Escuela de Lenguas a partir de este año lectivo. Si bien esta formación a distancia posee una guía de uso y un descriptivo de las funciones más importantes, creemos conveniente reflexionar sobre la práctica misma y cómo los aprendices llegarán a alcanzar los objetivos propuestos, es decir, la adquisición de la competencia comunicativa

Competencia comunicativa : Los intercambios audio-orales en la estructura propuesta por DEFI

La competencia comunicativa, eje sobre el cual gira actualmente la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras, necesita obligatoriamente de la comprensión y de la producción oral de la L2. El desarrollo de la habilidad oral en una formación enteramente a distancia en las lenguas extranjeras implica el uso de una serie de herramientas que determinarán la sincronía o la asincronía de los intercambios audio orales producidos entre los aprendices y los tutores expertos de la lengua. Estas herramientas presentan claramente características de uso que difieren mucho, pero no en su totalidad, de las técnicas empleadas en intercambios presenciales. Esta presentación abordará esas particularidades de las herramientas tecnológicas, principalmente en el área de la producción oral, a partir de las diferentes tareas propuestas por los módulos del proyecto DEFI (Dispositivo de Enseñanza de Francés Interactivo), a implantar en la Escuela de Lenguas a partir de este año lectivo. Si bien esta formación a distancia posee una guía de uso y un descriptivo de las funciones más importantes, creemos conveniente reflexionar sobre la práctica misma y cómo los aprendices llegarán a alcanzar los objetivos propuestos, es decir, la adquisición de la competencia comunicativa

Competencia comunicativa : Los intercambios audio-orales en la estructura propuesta por DEFI

La competencia comunicativa, eje sobre el cual gira actualmente la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras, necesita obligatoriamente de la comprensión y de la producción oral de la L2. El desarrollo de la habilidad oral en una formación enteramente a distancia en las lenguas extranjeras implica el uso de una serie de herramientas que determinarán la sincronía o la asincronía de los intercambios audio orales producidos entre los aprendices y los tutores expertos de la lengua. Estas herramientas presentan claramente características de uso que difieren mucho, pero no en su totalidad, de las técnicas empleadas en intercambios presenciales. Esta presentación abordará esas particularidades de las herramientas tecnológicas, principalmente en el área de la producción oral, a partir de las diferentes tareas propuestas por los módulos del proyecto DEFI (Dispositivo de Enseñanza de Francés Interactivo), a implantar en la Escuela de Lenguas a partir de este año lectivo. Si bien esta formación a distancia posee una guía de uso y un descriptivo de las funciones más importantes, creemos conveniente reflexionar sobre la práctica misma y cómo los aprendices llegarán a alcanzar los objetivos propuestos, es decir, la adquisición de la competencia comunicativa