In order for non-kin altruism to evolve, altruists must receive fitness benefits for their actions that outweigh the costs. Several researchers have suggested that altruism is a costly signal of desirable qualities, such that it could have evolved by sexual selection. In two studies, we show that altruism is broadly linked with mating success. In Study 1, participants who scored higher on a self-report altruism measure reported they were more desirable to the opposite sex, as well as reported having more sex partners, more casual sex partners, and having sex more often within relationships. Sex moderated some of these relationships, such that altruism mattered more for men's number of lifetime and casual sex partners. In Study 2, participants who were willing to donate potential monetary winnings (in a modified dictator dilemma) reported having more lifetime sex partners, more casual sex partners, and more sex partners over the past year. Men who were willing to donate also reported having more lifetime dating partners. Furthermore, these patterns persisted, even when controlling for narcissism, Big Five personality traits, and socially desirable responding. These results suggest that altruists have higher mating success than non-altruists and support the hypothesis that altruism is a sexually selected costly signal of difficult-to-observe qualities.

Tbe literature concerning local opposition to wind turbine developments has relatively few case studies exploring the felt impacts of people living with turbines in tbeir daily lives. Aitken even suggests that such residents are subtly or overtly cast as deviants in the current literature. Our mixed-methods, grounded-theory case study of two communities in Ontario, Canada provides insights about such residents though twenty-six face-to-face in-depth interviews, 152 questionnaires, and basic spatial analysis involving locals who have been living with operating turbines for several years. Despite being neighbours the communities differ on several measures including the spatial clustering of turbines. Opposition is significantly predicted by: health, siting process, economic benefits, and visual aesthetic variables. Though a majority supports the turbines we focus on the interplay of that majority with those experiencing negative impacts, particularly related to health. We highlight an asymmetry of impacts at the local level on those who oppose turbines, which is supported by rhetorical confiict at multiple scales. The findings point to the need for greater attention to mitigating impacts, including conflict, by understanding how siting policies interact with social processes at the local level.

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Background Little is known about the relations of magnesium intake with risk of heart failure (HF) hospitalizations, particularly in African-Americans. We hypothesize that magnesium intake relates to HF hospitalization in African-Americans. Methods and Results From the Jackson Heart Study cohort (n=5,301), we studied 4,916 African-Americans recruited during 2000–2004 in Jackson (MS), who completed an 158-item Food-Frequency Questionnaire which included dietary supplements. Total daily magnesium intake derived from the questionnaire was divided by the body weight (Kg) to account for body storage, and stratified by quartiles (0.522–2.308, 2.309–3.147, 3.148–4.226 and ≥4.227mg magnesium intake/Kg). Cox proportional hazards modeling assessed the association between quartiles of magnesium intake/Kg and hospitalizations for HF adjusting for HF risk, energy intake and dietary factors affecting magnesium uptake. The cohort had a mean age=55.3 (SD=12.7yrs), and composed of 63.4% women, 21.6% diabetes, 62.7% hypertension, 7.1% coronary disease and 2.8% with known HF. When compared to participants in the first quartile of magnesium intake/Kg, those with higher magnesium intake (>2.308 mg/kg) had decreased risk of HF admission, with adjusted hazard ratios of 0.66(95%CI: 0.47–0.94) in the second quartile to 0.47 (95% CI: 0.27–0.82) in the highest quartile. Results were similar when individuals with previous diagnosed HF (2.8%) were excluded or when the analysis was repeated using quartiles of magnesium intake without accounting for body weight. Conclusions Magnesium intake below 2.3mg/Kg (~181 mg/day) was related to increased risk for subsequent HF hospitalizations. Future studies are needed to test whether serum Magnesium levels and/or intake predict risk of heart failure.