Although altruistic and selfish behaviors seem fundamentally incommensurable humans regularly choose between them. One model of such choices suggests that individuals ascribe a common form of subjective value to their own outcomes and those of others. To test this 'person invariance' hypothesis, we asked individuals to choose between allocating varying amounts of money to themselves or to a partner. Participants' choice patterns provided an estimate of the relative value they placed on their own and others' gains. These estimates were used to isolate neural activity correlating with the subjective value of gains irrespective of the recipient (self or other) during a separate set of trials in which rewards were offered only to the self or partner. Activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex scaled with this person-invariant value parameter, consistent with earlier demonstrations that this region supports common value computation. These data suggest that individuals reduce the value associated with their own and others' experiences to a common subjective scale, which is used to guide social decision-making.
This paper investigates the effect of differential aperture loss with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) fibres and examines whether such selection bias would result in the observed correlation between rest‐frame absorption equivalent width of Mg ii absorbers, Wr(2796), and mean associated [O ii] luminosity, , in SDSS QSO spectra. We demonstrate based on a Monte Carlo simulation that the observed Wr(2796) versus correlation of Mg ii absorbers can be well reproduced, if all galaxies found in deep surveys possess extended Mg ii haloes and if the extent of Mg ii haloes scales proportionally with galaxy mass as shown in previous studies. The observed correlation can be explained by a combination of (1) the known Wr(2796) versus ρ anticorrelation in galaxy and Mg ii absorber pairs, and (2) an increasing aperture loss in the 3 arcsec diameter SDSS fibre for galaxies at larger ρ. Galaxies at larger projected distances produce on average weaker Mg ii absorbers and weaker (or zero) in SDSS QSO spectra. We show that such a correlation diminishes when larger fibres are adopted and is therefore not physical. While under a simple halo model the majority of Mg ii absorbers do not directly probe star‐forming discs, they trace photoionized halo gas associated with galaxies. We show that because of the scaling relation between extended gas cross‐section and galaxy mass, the number density evolution of the Mg ii absorber population as a whole provides a good measure of the cosmic star formation history.
This discussion considers the role and findings of ethnographic research within a clinical trial of supported employment for veterans with spinal cord injury. Contributing to qualitative evaluation research and to debates over anthropological evidence vis-à-vis clinical trials, we demonstrate how enactors of a randomized controlled trial can simultaneously attend to both the trial's evidentiary and procedural requirements and to the lived experiences and needs of patients and clinicians. Three major findings are described: (1) contextual information essential to fidelity efforts within the trial; (2) the role of human interrelationships and idiosyncratic networks in the trial's success; and (3) a mapping of the power and authority structures relevant to the staff's ability to perform the protocol. We emphasize strengths of anthropological ethnography in clinical trials that include the provision of complementary, qualitative data, the capture of otherwise unmeasured parts of the trial, and the realization of important information for the translation of the clinical findings into new settings.
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