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Development of basic-needs experience and finance-related attitude through game-based learning : The role of game mechanics and debriefing
No full textGame-based learning (GBL) supports the development of domain-specific competencies, especially knowledge, more effectively than traditional learning methods. However, it is still unclear which elements of GBL positively impact learning outcomes such as motivation and attitudes. This study involved 293 upper-secondary students in a quasi-experiment using a 2 × 2 control group design with five measurement points to test the effects of game mechanics and reflection prompts. This approach aimed to assess their effects on the basic needs experience and attitude towards financial planning among upper-secondary school students. We applied a multivariate analysis of variance and a moderated mediation path model to address two questions: (a) whether game experiences differ depending on core mechanics and reflection prompt design, and (b) whether game mechanics influence changes in finance-related attitude through basic needs experience, moderated by reflection prompts. The findings demonstrate that games offering a higher degree of strategic decision-making options and direct reflection prompts positively impact students’ basic needs experience with a moderate effect size. However, the path model did not reveal a group-specific influence on finance-related attitude. Therefore, this study provides initial results from an experimental approach to identifying the influence of different game mechanics and reflection prompts, offering valuable empirical insights into the implementation of GBL in educational settings across domains.publishe
Sinkendes Vertrauen, zunehmende Ungleichheit? Die Performanz des deutschen Sozialstaats im Spiegel der öffentlichen Meinung
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Wild and zoo-housed orangutans differ in how they explore objects
No full textIn human infants, exploratory object manipulations (henceforth called “EOM”) stimulate cognitive development and affect cognitive performance in later life. Zoo-housed great apes are frequently used to study the evolution of human cognition, however, it is unknown how the zoo environment affects their daily expression of EOM. We investigated how wild and zoo-housed Sumatran orangutans differ in their daily EOM throughout life. We collected ~ 12′000 EOM events by 51 wild and zoo-housed individuals of all ages. Zoo-housed orangutans showed significantly higher EOM rates than wild orangutans. Exploratory actions were more diverse in zoos than in the wild, even with objects available in both settings. Zoo-housed orangutans also showed a larger repertoire of exploratory actions and a higher probability of multi-object exploration, including tool use. There was no difference between settings at which age individuals first showed specific exploratory actions. Our results show that the zoo environment significantly affects EOM in orangutans and that the species’ exploratory potential exceeds its natural expression. This may have important implications for cognitive performance, as zoo-housed individuals are likely to have a broader range of affordances to draw from when confronted with novel problems. These results highlight the potential of captive-wild comparisons to study cognitive development and evolution.publishe
Mechanistic read-across comes of age : a comparative appraisal of EFSA 2025 guidance, ECHA’s RAAF, and good read-across practice
No full textRead-across has matured from an expert-driven extrapolation based largely on structural analogy into a rigorously documented, mechanistically informed cornerstone of next-generation risk assessment. Three pivotal frameworks are compared that now shape its regulatory use: the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) 2025 guidance for food and feed safety, the European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) Read-Across Assessment Framework (RAAF) for industrial chemicals under REACH, and the community-driven Good Read-Across Practice (GRAP) principles. Using five analytical lenses—conceptual structure, scientific rigor, implementation tools, regulatory acceptance, and practical impact—we identified areas of complementarity and divergence. EFSA provides a seven-step, uncertainty-anchored workflow that actively embeds new approach methodologies (NAMs) and adverse outcome pathway reasoning, offering applicants a transparent “how-to” template. RAAF, in contrast, operates as an evaluator’s rubric: six scenario types and associated assessment elements delineate what evidence must be delivered, thereby standardizing regulatory scrutiny but leaving dossier construction to the registrant. GRAP supplies the conceptual glue, emphasizing mechanistic plausibility, exhaustive analogue selection, explicit uncertainty characterization, and the strategic use of NAMs; its influence is evident in both EFSA’s and ECHA’s evolving expectations. (Terminology note: the acronym “NAM” was popularized at an ECHA workshop in 2016; earlier documents such as RAAF and initial GRAP papers therefore may not use the term explicitly). Regulatory experience under REACH demonstrates that dossier quality and acceptance rates rise markedly when RAAF criteria are met, while EFSA’s new guidance is poised to catalyze similar gains in food and feed assessments. Globally, the convergence of these frameworks—reinforced by OECD initiatives and NAM-enhanced case studies—signals an emerging international consensus on what constitutes defensible read-across. In conclusion, harmonizing EFSA’s procedural roadmap with RAAF’s evaluative rigor and GRAP’s best-practice ethos can mainstream reliable, animal-saving read-across across regulatory domains, paving the way for fully mechanistic, AI-enabled chemical safety assessment.publishe
Equilibrium trajectories quantify second-order violations of the fluctuation–dissipation theorem without the need for a model
No full textQuantifying and characterizing fluctuations far away from equilibrium is a challenging task. We discuss and experimentally confirm a series expansion for a driven classical system, relating the different nonequilibrium cumulants of the observable conjugate to the driving protocol. This series is valid from micro- to macroscopic length scales, and it encompasses the fluctuation–dissipation theorem (FDT). We apply it in experiments of a Brownian probe particle confined and driven by an optical potential and suspended in a nonlinear and non-Markovian fluid. The expansion states that the form of the FDT remains valid away from equilibrium for Gaussian observables, up to the order presented. We show that this expansion agrees with that of a known fluctuation theorem up to an unresolved difference regarding moments versus cumulants.publishe
Phonon-limited valley lifetimes in single-particle bilayer graphene quantum dots
No full textThe valley degree of freedom in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, such as gapped bilayer graphene (BLG) and transition metal dichalcogenides, is a promising carrier of quantum information in the emerging field of valleytronics. While valley dynamics have been extensively studied for moderate band gap 2D semiconductors using optical spectroscopy techniques, very little is known about valley lifetimes in narrow band gap BLG, which is difficult to study using optical techniques. Here, we report single-particle valley relaxation times 1 exceeding several microseconds in electrostatically defined BLG quantum dots using a pulse-gating technique. The observed dependence of 1 on perpendicular magnetic field can be understood qualitatively and quantitatively by a model in which 1 is limited by electron-phonon coupling. We identify the coupling to acoustic phonons via the bond length change and via the deformation potential as the limiting mechanisms.publishe
Coercion and Hierarchy : How Asymmetric Alliances Shape Sanctions Policy Across Institutional Contexts
No full textThis dissertation explores how hierarchical relationships among states shape coercion patterns in international politics. It challenges the traditional assumption of an anarchic system where all states operate as sovereign equals. Instead, I argue that many international orders structure themselves around Hierarchy (Lake 2011, 2024). In these relationships, less powerful states voluntarily cede parts of their sovereignty to a dominant state in return for security guarantees. These asymmetric alliances significantly influence both the decision to impose sanctions and their likelihood of success.
I develop a two-dimensional Hierarchy-Coercion-Framework that distinguishes between anarchic and hierarchical orders and between coercion inside or outside intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). In anarchic systems, sanctions are more likely to be unilateral or reflect weak, ad hoc coalitions, whether inside or outside IGOs. Conversely, hierarchical orders produce strong, coordinated sanctions and may represent themselves as an IGO.
The empirical analysis covers three chapters. The first examines how the United States, as the post-Cold War central power, uses its position to impose two sanction types: alliance-strengthening, norms-based sanctions that reflect shared liberal-democratic values, and unilateral "bullying" sanctions driven by domestic or strategic interests. The findings suggest that formal alliances decrease the success of bullying sanctions due to political and security costs. Sanctions are most effective when they enforce shared norms within such hierarchies, for example, when a democratic ally backslides on commitments. These sanctions are multilateral, supported by the entire alliance, and reflect a collective interest.
The second empirical chapter focuses on extraterritorial sanctions as an aggressive form of bullying. The highly unequal economic networks created by hierarchy allow a powerful state to abuse its power to bully allies and others, risking the loss of the hierarchical relationship. I argue that extraterritorial sanctions are a key instrument through which the powerful sender uses control over allies' economies to coerce a target state. Using the 2018 reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran as a natural experiment, the author employs a difference-in-differences design to measure the effects on third countries. The analysis shows that U.S. allies, especially those deeply embedded in the hierarchical economic and financial networks, suffered the most significant economic costs, even though they vocally opposed the sanctions.
The third empirical chapter shifts focus to IGOs. I argue that IGOs only impose forceful sanctions effectively when they reflect underlying hierarchical relationships among their members. I identify three necessary conditions for an IGO to qualify: asymmetric power distributions, the transfer of security authority from weaker to stronger states, and the presence of veto rights that institutionalize the voluntary nature of the Hierarchy. Indeed, among all sanctioning IGOs from 1990 to 2018, only the five permanent members of the UNSC and European Union member states possessed these relationships. Consequently, only they were consistently able to impose forceful sanctions, unlike members of the African Union, ECOWAS, and the broader UN. Member states in these organizations were significantly less likely to bust the sanctions, which reinforces the idea that Hierarchy ensures effective sanctions.
The concluding chapter synthesizes these findings to argue that Hierarchy is a critical but overlooked factor in understanding the use of economic sanctions. The work emphasizes that hierarchies are fragile and contingent: when the dominant power abuses its position, such as by imposing self-interested sanctions against allies, it risks dismantling the very structure that enables its influence. Subordinate states can choose to exit the relationship and reclaim sovereignty. Policy implications are significant. First, powerful states must carefully balance bullying behavior with maintaining Hierarchy. Second, the created economic networks are politically constructed and can unravel. Third, IGOs should allow for hierarchical relationships if they intend to enforce sanctions effectively. This suggests that veto rights—often viewed as a barrier—may in fact be essential for enabling strong, enforceable decisions in institutions like the UN or the EU. Rather than removing vetoes to increase sanction frequency, states might fare better by forming coalitions outside IGOs when their preferences diverge. The dissertation concludes by outlining future research avenues, including extending the framework to non-democratic coalitions, studying hierarchy breakdowns, and exploring how economic inducements sustain hierarchical orders. Overall, the dissertation makes a significant contribution by showing that international coercion cannot be fully understood without taking Hierarchy seriously.publishe
The Profit of Morality : On the Attempt to Reconcile Morality and Well-Being
No full textIn The Profit of Morality, I take a look at the so-called reconciliation project between morality and well-being. The goal of this project is to show that we are better off by being moral than by being immoral. My PhD thesis deals with the reconciliation project in three ways and is thus divided into three parts.
In Part I, I am concerned with rebutting an objection against the core idea of the project. According to this objection, being moral is grounded in well-being and utility calculations even though being moral precludes utility calculations. But I reject this objection as a misinterpretation of the intention of the project.
In Part II, I discuss three variants of a reconciliation in light of their prospects of success. Specifically, it is analyzed how classical and contemporary authors tried to show in different theories of well-being that we reach more pleasure, more desire satisfaction, or realize more of our human potential by being moral than by being immoral. But I conclude that every theory of well-being has to be modified implausibly in order to achieve the goal of the project.
In Part III, I develop a different approach in the reconciliation project. The idea is that well-being can neither be attained by maximizing the satisfaction of one’s appetites nor by minimizing one’s appetites because the maximizer and the minimizer are prone to become a restless, discontented Sisyphus. Rather, well-being is in a mean between these extremes. I argue then that the vices of intemperance and injustice incite us to maximize, while the virtues of temperance and justice guide us to the mean. We are thus better off by being moral than by being immoral because the virtues prevent us from becoming a restless, discontented Sisyphus and therein lies the profit of morality.publishe
Physiological synchrony among human fishers during collective hunting with wild dolphins
No full textPredator physiology is often overlooked in predator–prey interactions, despite its potential to significantly influence hunting dynamics and social cooperation among predators. We address this gap by investigating how physiological alignment relates to group dynamics and hunting performance in a unique interspecies mutualism: artisanal net-casting fishers who target fish with assistance from wild dolphins. We monitored 24 fishers using high-resolution chest-belt sensors, recording continuous electrocardiograms (ECG) and GPS positions. We then calculated interpersonal heart rate variability (HRV) synchrony in low (LF) and high frequency (HF) bands while tracking changes in foraging and social contexts. In both LF and HF HRV domains, positive social factors increased HRV synchrony among fishers, especially those with established cooperative bonds, whereas distance between fishers decreased HRV synchrony. External factors—the presence and activity of dolphins—had no measurable impact on HRV synchrony. We also found a negative association between group-level hunting success and HRV synchrony in the LF domain, which is influenced by both sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. By demonstrating the role of physiological synchrony during collective hunting in humans—driven by social factors and with direct implications for hunting outcomes—our study advances the current understanding of the eco-physiological dynamics of social predators in predator–prey systems.publishe
The Value of Climate Despair
No full textGiven the current and future suffering associated with human-made climate change and the lack of political action in response to it, it seems only natural to feel despair. However, despair has a bad reputation among climate ethicists and in the wider public. In this paper, we will push back against this view and argue that there is considerable value in climate despair. More specifically, we shall maintain that climate despair can be valuable in two respects. First, it is epistemically valuable because it constitutes a particularly apt way of recognizing the severity of what has already happened and is likely to happen because of human-made climate change, and because it can provide a “reflective break” that allows us to rearrange our values and find new strategies to tackle climate change. Second, climate despair can have various valuable expressive and signaling functions. Most importantly, perhaps, it can send the message that the despairing person cares about important moral values and norms, and remind us all of how big a moral problem climate change, in fact, is.publishe