When females are sexually promiscuous, the intensity of sperm competition for males depends on how many partners females mate with. To maximize fitness, males should adjust their copulatory investment in relation to this intensity. However, fitness costs associated with sperm competition may not only depend on how many males a female has mated with, but also how related rival males are. Accordi...

The fact that histones are modified by acetylation has been known for almost 30 years. The recent identification of enzymes that regulate histone acetylation has revealed a broader use of this modification than was suspected previously. Acetylases are now known to modify a variety of proteins, including transcription factors, nuclear import factors and alpha-tubulin. Acetylation regulates many ...

The recent rapid growth of the Internet as a medium of communication and commerce, combined with the development of sophisticated software tools, are to a large extent responsible for producing a new kind of information: databases with detailed records about consumers’ preferences. These databases have become part of a Þrm’s assets, and as such they can be sold to competitors. This possibility ...

Some empirically minded philosophers of science argue that the evidence should choose the best theory from among theoretical rivals. However, the evidence may not speak clearly, a problem of ‘underdetermination of theory by data’. We examine this problem in a concrete setting, rival theories of smoking behaviour. We investigate whether several uncontested pieces of empirical evidence allow us t...

names as markers of identity are a source of a wide variety of information. this paper explores the names of characters to show the sociocultural factors which influence the choice of names and the effects that the names of these characters have on the roles they play. using a variety of personal names from ayi kwei armah’s fragments, buchi emecheta’s the joys of motherhood, and nawal el sadaaw...