Cooperative Driver Research Articles

Beyond the Nominal and the Ad Hoc: The Substance and Drivers of China-Russia Military Cooperation

Post-Cold War China-Russia relations have always been a matter of debate. Since the end of the Cold War, the China-Russia strategic cooperation has progressed consistently, showing immunity to exogenous shocks. This paper explores the international-systemic incentives for the China-Russia alignment and examines the actual mechanisms of the China-Russia military cooperation to identify the foundations for a military alliance. The paper argues that China-Russia relations are “on the verge of an alliance,” meaning that a strong basis for an alliance is in place, and only minor steps are needed for a fully-fledged alliance to materialize; the occurrence of such steps is still an open question.

Comparing physical and social cognitive skills in macaque species with different degrees of social tolerance.

Contemporary evolutionary theories propose that living in groups drives the selection of enhanced cognitive skills to face competition and facilitate cooperation between individuals. Being able to coordinate both in space and time with others and make strategic decisions are essential skills for cooperating within groups. Social tolerance and an egalitarian social structure have been proposed as one specific driver of cooperation. Therefore, social tolerance is predicted to be associated with enhanced cognitive skills that underpin communication and coordination. Social tolerance should also be associated with enhanced inhibition, which is crucial for suppressing automatic responses and permitting delayed gratification in cooperative contexts. We tested the performance of four closely related non-human primate species (genus Macaca) characterized by different degrees of social tolerance on a large battery of cognitive tasks covering physical and social cognition, and on an inhibitory control task. All species performed at a comparable level on the physical cognition tasks but the more tolerant species outperformed the less tolerant species at a social cognition task relevant to cooperation and in the inhibitory control task. These findings support the hypothesis that social tolerance is associated with the evolution of sophisticated cognitive skills relevant for cooperative social living.

Altruistic punishment in elections

Altruistic punishment is a fundamental driver for cooperation in human interactions. In this paper, we expand our understanding of this form of pro-social behavior to help explain a puzzle of voting: why do individuals who are indifferent between two potential policy outcomes of an election participate when voting is costly? Using a simple voting experiment, we provide robust evidence that many voters are willing to engage in voting as a form of punishment, even when voting is costly and the voter has no monetary stake in the election outcome. In our sample, and in a robustness check through Monte Carlo simulation, we show that at least fourteen percent of individuals are willing to incur a cost to vote against candidates who broke their electoral promises, even when they have no pecuniary interest in the election outcome.

The Eurasian Economic Union: the geopolitics of authoritarian cooperation

Understanding cooperation among authoritarian regimes remains a puzzle for researchers; in particular, those working in post-Soviet Eurasia. Research suggests that autocrats are becoming increasingly coordinated in their efforts to thwart democracy, with authoritarian-led regional organizations offering an effective vehicle to extend autocrat time horizons. In contrast, older studies, including insights from failed regional integration among former Soviet states, suggest that the absence of democracy limits cooperation, although in both cases there is a lack of detail on the mechanisms enabling or constraining relations between autocrats. This article addresses this shortcoming by developing a theoretical framework based around autocrat survivability or “regime security” and applying it to the important case of the newly formed Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), drawing on original interview data with experts and stake-holders in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The argument forwarded in this article is that concerns over regime security create antagonistic cooperation drivers. In the case of the EAEU, regime security provides a strong explanation for the inability of member states to coordinate policy. The implication is that future studies should pay close attention to the way the material and ideational aspects of authoritarian rule combine to drive, but also limit relations between autocrats.

Abstract 4886: The BRIP1 DNA helicase is a 17q dosage sensitive cooperative driver in neuroblastoma

Abstract Neuroblastoma (NB) is an aggressive pediatric tumor arising from sympathetic neuronal progenitors. NBs have a low mutation burden while copy number alterations are highly recurrent: MYCN amplification is present in half of high risk tumors often accompanied by 1p deletions while MYCN non-amplified aggressive NB frequently exhibit 11q deletions. Remarkably, both high risk groups show almost invariably chromosome 17q gain and we also reported that the mouse syntenic chromosome 11 region was gained during MYCN driven tumor formation. We propose that one or more dosage sensitive genes on 17q act as cooperative drivers during NB development. Using an integrated bioinformatics analysis, we identified several candidate drivers implicated in DNA repair including BRIP1, also known as FANCJ and located on 17q23.2. BRIP1 acts as a DNA helicase in unwinding of stable G-quadruplex (G4) structures in single stranded DNA during replication ensuring timely progression through S-phase. We show that BRIP1 knock down causes increased replicative stress in MYCN overexpressing NB cells as evidenced as shown by increased RPA32 levels and reduced replication fork velocity. Overexpression of BRIP1 in dβh-MYCN-eGFP transgenic zebrafish caused accelerated tumor formation supporting its role as cooperative driver gene. Gene expression profiling after BRIP1 knock down confirmed enrichment for gene sets implicated in DNA replication and repair and are indicative for perturbation of G4 enriched genes. We also identified further additional 17q dosage sensitive genes implicated in replication fork dynamics including BRCA1, BRCA2, EME1 and TOP2A. We propose that 17q gain acts as an amplifier for expression of multiple genes implicated in control of replicative stress and replication fork dynamics. Finally, we explored whether this replicative stress resistance phenotype could represent a novel therapeutic vulnerability for NB cells or other MYC(N) driven tumor entities. To this end, we tested several compounds for synergistic interaction with G4 stabilizing ligands such as TMPYP4, pyridostatin and BRACO-19 with promising results. In conclusion, we identified BRIP1 as 17q cooperative driver in NB through relief from G4 induced replication fork stalling in rapidly dividing tumor cells. Further, NB cells exhibit replicative stress resistance through upregulation of multiple critical regulators of replication fork dynamics, offering a new venue for therapeutic interventions. Citation Format: Suzanne Vanhauwaert, Kaat Durinck, Els Janssens, Givani Dewyn, Bram De Wilde, Genevieve Laureys, Daniel Carter, Chueng Belamy, Katleen De Preter, Christophe Vanneste, Frank Speleman. The BRIP1 DNA helicase is a 17q dosage sensitive cooperative driver in neuroblastoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4886. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4886

Social preferences and cooperation in simple social dilemma games

We use a laboratory experiment to examine the role of social preferences in simple one-shot social dilemma games by comparing play with and without a human counterpart. We find that cooperation rates are slightly lower without a human counterpart in all games we consider. However, the difference is small and statistically insignificant, suggesting that social preferences are not the primary driver of cooperation in one-shot social dilemma games.

Border Permeability And Drivers Of Cross-Border Cooperation In The Turkish And Eu Border Region

<p>With the impact of globalization, increasing flows of social, economic and political relations have begun to redefine the state borders which causes the rising of new border identities. By this redefinition process, European Union (EU)'s external wall forming the boundaries with the neighbourhood countries have also begun to be rebuilt at local and regional level. Throughout this process, new frontier identities are formed with a degree of permeability where the state’s security policies act as the prior issue in the international relations.</p><p> </p><p>Border permeability, that contains grey values varying from closeness to full openness, defines the degree of permeability according to the size, shape and direction of the flows. Dynamic feature of the flows converts border space into a subject of continuous social, economic and political movement. In such places, actors leading the flows appear as the basic elements of permeability and they can be described as economic, political and socio-cultural agents. At the edge of supranational and national border, actors use networks, which are connected to both local and regional levels, in order to build up cross-border cooperation in different aspects. In this context, border regions transform into a space, where local actors develop methods to overcome the restrictiveness of constraints for the flows among the supranational and the national borders.</p><p> </p><p>This paper aims to evaluate the permeability between EU supranational border and Turkish national border and to define the new cross-border cooperation formed by the social, economic and political flows of the actors. In this context, the permeability and the new border identity will be assessed through three type of administrative body (supranational, national EU and national non-EU) by using the national and local level data supported by EU cross-border programmes and by in-depth interviews conducted at various actors including national institutions, local organizations and NGOs in Turkey.</p>

Securitising transnational crime: the political drivers of police cooperation between Australia and Indonesia

ABSTRACTWhy are national police forces increasingly seeking to work together to combat crime? Scholars agree that these cooperative efforts are not simply a response to a growth in transnational crime but debate remains about the broader social and political dynamics involved. Through a case study of the policing relationship between Australia and Indonesia, this article argues that the increasing tendency of governments to frame transnational crime as a security issue is a central driver of international police cooperation. To illustrate this ‘securitising’ discourse, the article discusses various ‘wars on crime’ prosecuted by the two countries since the 1970s.

Trust Factor Based Secure Congestion Control For Vanet

Weight-based clustering algorithm in ad hoc network is an on demand clustering algorithm for multi-hop packet radio network. These types of networks are ad hoc networks and dynamic in nature due to mobility of nodes. Clustering in mobile ad hoc network can be defined as various partitions into various groups. It is an important concept of VANNET, because clustering makes it possible to guarantee of system performance, such as throughput delay and also security issues. So in the algorithm they select the cluster head whose performance is well and formation of cluster in ad hoc network. The cluster head is elected based on weight factor, so it is called weighted clustering algorithm. Weighted clustering algorithm is basically appropriate cluster selection in wireless adhoc network where it is necessary to provide robustness in face of topological changes caused by node motion, node failure and node insertion or node removal. The WCA select the cluster head which has lowest weight among the nodes and some other factor also consider the election for cluster head. The cluster head, form a dominant set in the network, determine the topology and its stability. The weighted clustering algorithm takes into consideration the ideal degree, transmission power, mobility and battery power of nodes. Traffic efficiency applications are becoming increasingly popular over the road networks in the last few years. This type of applications aims mainly at increasing the traffic fluency over the road network, which minimizes the travel time of each vehicle towards its targeted destinations. The Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs) technology has been utilized to design these applications. Communications between vehicles, V2V, and between vehicles and installed Road Side Units (RSUs), V2I, helped designing these applications. Malicious, selfish and intruder drivers can take advantages of other cooperative drivers and use their trust. a Secure Congestion control protocol. This protocol aims to guarantee integrity and authenticity of transmitted data. It is designed to provide the security requirements of traffic efficiency protocols that have been proposed using the technology of VANETs. SCOOL also aims to preserve the privacy of the cooperative vehicles and drivers. The main contribution of work is new strategy for clustering a wireless ad hoc network and improvement in WCA. Author derived a simple stability model and a load balancing clustering scheme. They showed that the algorithm outperform in term of cluster formation and stability. Main idea of approach is to avoid cluster re-election and reduce the computation and communication cost. The improved weighted clustering algorithm, the goals of algorithm are maintaining stable clustering structure, minimizing the overhead for clustering set up, maximize lifetime of nodes in the system and achieving good performance. Keyword - Weight-based clustering, SCOOL, WCA, VANETs.

The Sanctioning Dilemma: A Quasi-Experiment on Social Norm Enforcement in the Train

Numerous laboratory experiments have established peer-sanctioning as an important driver of norm compliance and cooperation in human groups. However, systematic evidence of peer-sanctioning occurring in the field is still rare. Here we present results from a quasi-experimental field study investigating the enforcement of the silence norm in the train. We let a confederate play music on his/her mobile phone in an open-plan train car and measure the time until a negative sanction occurs (if any). The silence norm is enforced in 45 of 90 cases, enforcement rates do not differ across silent- and non-silent-area cars, and the more passengers are in a car, the more likely is the silence norm enforced. Passengers’ propensities to enforce the silence norm are in line with predictions derived from the asymmetric volunteer’s dilemma (VOD). The higher a passenger’s net benefit from enforcing the silence norm is, the more likely is the passenger to negatively sanction the norm breaker. Our findings extend the validity of results from laboratory experiments which conceive the second-order free-rider problem as a VOD.

Euronest: What Drives Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation in the Eastern Partnership?

The regional inter-parliamentary cooperation assembly, Euronest, has been described in the context of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) policy, yet not conceptually analysed. This article therefore aims to focus on the identification of the driving forces behind multilateral parliamentary cooperation in the EaP region. Following a literature review, three conceptual interpretations of the drivers of inter-parliamentary cooperation can be pointed out: institutionalization, socialization and parliamentary diplomacy. The research shows that all the three possible explanations play a role in driving the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. Parliamentary diplomacy, including both formal and informal tracks, is concluded to play the leading role in the development of Euronest. Institutions, such as secretariats and political party families, have a lot of potential but are still in their infancy. Socialization is seen as a goal of Euronest, but with serious limitations.

Presence of a loner strain maintains cooperation and diversity in well-mixed bacterial communities.

Cooperation and diversity abound in nature despite cooperators risking exploitation from defectors and superior competitors displacing weaker ones. Understanding the persistence of cooperation and diversity is therefore a major problem for evolutionary ecology, especially in the context of well-mixed populations, where the potential for exploitation and displacement is greatest. Here, we demonstrate that a ‘loner effect’, described by economic game theorists, can maintain cooperation and diversity in real-world biological settings. We use mathematical models of public-good-producing bacteria to show that the presence of a loner strain, which produces an independent but relatively inefficient good, can lead to rock–paper–scissor dynamics, whereby cooperators outcompete loners, defectors outcompete cooperators and loners outcompete defectors. These model predictions are supported by our observations of evolutionary dynamics in well-mixed experimental communities of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We find that the coexistence of cooperators and defectors that produce and exploit, respectively, the iron-scavenging siderophore pyoverdine, is stabilized by the presence of loners with an independent iron-uptake mechanism. Our results establish the loner effect as a simple and general driver of cooperation and diversity in environments that would otherwise favour defection and the erosion of diversity.

An analysis of multi-level collaborative initiatives on sustainable energy in Europe

A polycentric, multi-scale, climate governance framework is developing in parallel to the negotiations for a credible global agreement. Subnational governments are increasingly engaged to contribute to climate mitigation. Local climate action is particularly evident in Europe, where regional and municipal institutions are often designing, implementing and monitoring sustainable energy policies, plans and actions in a cooperative way. Strengths and weaknesses of multi-level cooperation initiatives on sustainable energy in Europe are assessed thanks to data collected through the European project Coopenergy. Political commitment emerges as a major driver for successful cooperation, while lack of funding is recognized as a major barrier.

Test Site AIM – Toolbox and Enabler for Applied Research and Development in Traffic and Mobility

The Application Platform for Intelligent Mobility (AIM) is a test site for research and development in the domain of intelligent mobility services, which resides in the city of Braunschweig and in parts of the circumjacent regions. The test site, which was set into operation in 2014, contains powerful instruments for simulating, measuring and manipulating microscopic and macroscopic aspects of traffic and mobility. Thus, AIM can serve as platform for research and development projects with high systemic and technical demands. For this purpose, AIM contains simulation environments, specific test tracks and – above all – several service platforms in the field.The manuscript gives a detailed inside view on two of the most sophisticated services: The AIM Research Intersection is an instrument for detection and assessment of traffic behavior in a complex intersection under real-time conditions. The AIM Reference Track provides V2X functionality for long-term operation in the scale of an urban environment. For both services field applications are depicted to demonstrate the opportunities for individual usage. In addition, AIM services can be seen as relevant components of a toolbox for research and development in the field of applied mobility services. That means that services can be combined to generate multiple options for further applications as additional value apart from their particular task. The manuscript exemplarily outlines a combination of the aforementioned services to bring up the opportunity of infrastructural supported cooperative driver assistance systems. The manuscript ends with a sum-up and an outlook on future works and the integration in the further development outline of AIM.

Factors explaining inter-municipal cooperation in service delivery: a meta-regression analysis

Inter-municipal cooperation is an important public service delivery reform, whose drivers move beyond simple concerns with costs and economic efficiency, to policy issues related to governance structure and spatial context. We conduct a meta-regression analysis based on the existing multivariate empirical literature to explore what factors explain divergence in results in the existing empirical studies. We find strong evidence that fiscal constraints, spatial, and organizational factors are significant drivers of cooperation. Our meta-regressions do not yield results to explain divergence in results on community wealth, economies of scale, or racial homogeneity. More studies on these factors are needed to understand how these factors might affect cooperation. Future theoretical and empirical research should give more attention to spatial and organizational factors to develop a better understanding of factors driving cooperation, and how they differ across local government structures and regions.

Plural policing in Paris: variations and pitfalls of cooperation between national and municipal police forces

The city of Paris, which epitomises the French tendency towards centralisation, has not escaped the global trend towards a pluralisation of policing. Parisian streets, parks and gardens and social estates are now being patrolled by a variety of uniformed professionals. This article aims to analyse the issues raised by the process of coordinating multiple actors. First, these non-police officers patrolling the streets are mapped in order to define their identities. Next, cooperative relationships and rivalries between these various actors are analysed, highlighting the differentiated configurations of the Parisian plural policing complex. We stress the differentiated nature of the regulation of plural policing in Paris and the importance of interindividual relations as a driver for cooperation. We also emphasise the pitfalls of coordination, in a context marked by several layers of cooperation and conflicting professional priorities.

Transcarpathian oblast and Kaliningrad oblast: Contrasts and cooperation in the east borderlands of the European Union

The ethnocultural, historical and socioeconomic factors of cross-border cooperation in the eastern borderlands of the European Union are analyzed with a case study of two regions: Kaliningrad oblast of Russia and Transcarpathian oblast of Ukraine. They have a number of similar geographical and historical features: both regions are eastern parts of the European Union periphery and the western periphery of the postSoviet space; they are isolated from the main territory of the state, and their state affiliation and administrative boundaries have repeatedly changed until recently. The article assesses the demographic and socioeconomic indicators, analyzes cross-border gradients on the studied borderlands and the practice of cross-border activities, and assesses the impact of the border on the everyday life of the population. It was revealed that the main drivers of cross-border cooperation in the studied borderlands are the benefits of using differences in prices for goods and services in different countries, and the ethnocultural closeness of the ethnic groups living on the both sides of the border. It was found that, despite the different approaches of Russia and Ukraine to the integration model, their western regions face similar difficulties and challenges of cross-border cooperation. The essential problem is the asymmetric nature of cooperation, both due to the significant socioeconomic gradients and different levels of development of civil society and the political institutions, the priorities of which are determined by the European Union.

International drivers of Brazilian agricultural cooperation in Africa in the post-2008 economic crisis

This text focuses on the major drivers of Brazilian agricultural cooperation in Africa as conceived and pursued from 2004 to 2014, with emphasis on the impacts of political and economic international changes that took place in that period, and particularly the impacts of the 2008 economic crisis, in framing Brazil's foreign policy and development assistance initiatives. It addresses current international forces and developments at the systemic level, but also analyses recent economic domestic developments, in particular those directly related to Brazilian agriculture and those related to the policy framework of its evolving internationalization. Special attention is paid to the dual dimensions of Brazilian agricultural policy and to its projection in agricultural cooperation as pursed in Africa.

Drivers of International Cooperation in Competition Law Enforcement

This article examines the key drivers of international cooperation in competition law enforcement. It aims to demonstrate the factors that determine the likelihood and effectiveness of enforcement cooperation between independent jurisdictions. The findings of the article explain why some jurisdictions are able to use currently available legal mechanisms for international competition law enforcement cooperation more effectively than others. Such understanding enables us to draw up a more realistic account of the level of enforcement cooperation any given two or more jurisdictions can reasonably achieve. The analysis of this article may also help towards identifying potential areas for improvement in international enforcement cooperation.

Does social complexity link vocal complexity and cooperation?

In some avian species, individuals spend most of their lives in complex social groups. A recent hypothesis argues that social complexity will drive complexity in signaling systems. According to this hypothesis, individuals living in more complex groups (larger and with greater diversity of interactions) require larger and more diverse repertoires of signals, compared to individuals living in groups that are relatively simple in social structure. Social complexity has also been argued to be an important driver of social cognition and cooperation. Although many of these arguments have been based on empirical findings with non-human primates, similar evidence is beginning to emerge from avian studies. Here, we discuss some of this avian evidence, with an emphasis on two model species: Carolina chickadees, Poecile carolinensis (Paridae), and pied flycatchers, Ficedula hypoleuca. In Carolina chickadees, variation in the structure of chick-a-dee calls influences behavior of receivers in pro-social and potentially cooperative ways in anti-predator and food detection contexts. In pied flycatchers, breeding individuals were much less likely to travel greater distances to assist in mobbing predators near their conspecific neighbors if those neighbors had failed to assist them in mobbing earlier. More research is needed to determine whether communicative complexity per se makes sophisticated social cognition possible, such as reconciliation and cooperation (and whether the latter might stem from reciprocal altruism or less cognitively demanding processes like conspecific by-product mutualism).