43 research outputs found
A Survey of Experimental Research on Contests, All-Pay Auctions and Tournaments
Many economic, political and social environments can be described as contests in which agents exert costly efforts while competing over the distribution of a scarce resource. These environments have been studied using Tullock contests, all-pay auctions and rankorder tournaments. This survey provides a review of experimental research on these three canonical contests. First, we review studies investigating the basic structure of contests, including the contest success function, number of players and prizes, spillovers and externalities, heterogeneity, and incomplete information. Second, we discuss dynamic contests and multi-battle contests. Then we review research on sabotage, feedback, bias, collusion, alliances, and contests between groups, as well as real-effort and field experiments. Finally, we discuss applications of contests to the study of legal systems, political competition, war, conflict avoidance, sales, and charities, and suggest directions for future research. (author's abstract
S100b Milk concentration in mammalian species.
S100B is a neurotrophic protein detectable in
biological fluids and in human milk. Since there are several
maternal-neonatal conditions requiring the administration of
animal milks the aim of the present study was to quantify
S100B in milk from different mammalian species and to
compare protein\u2019s concentration among human and
mammalian milks. We assessed S100B concentrations in
donkey (n=12), goat (n=15) sheep (n=15), commercially
available cow (n=8) and human (n=15) milk samples. S100B
measurements were performed using an
immunoluminometric assay. S100B concentration in human
milk (10.41 \ub1 4.2 microg/L) was higher (P<0.001) than
mammalian milks. Of note, S100B concentration in cow
milk (3.13 \ub10.56 microg/L) was higher (P<0.01) than that
showed in donkey (1.17 \ub1 0.26 microg/L), sheep (0.25 \ub10.11
microg/L) and goat (0.26 \ub1 0.11 microg/L). S100B in
donkey milk was higher (P<0.01) than sheep and goat
samples whilst protein\u2019s concentration did not differ
between goat and sheep. The present study suggests the
opportunity of S100B addition to animal milk intended for
infant feeding
Intestinal metabolism of weaner piglets fed either a typical United States or an European diet with or without supplementation of tributyrin and lactitol
Survey of the occurrence of Aflatoxin M1 in ovine milk by HPLC and its confirmation by MS
During the period of October-July 2000, 240 samples of dairy ewes milk, obtained from farms of Enna (Sicily, Italy), were checked for Aflatoxin M-1 (AFM(1)) by HPLC using a fluorimetric detector. The limit of detection and the limit of quantification were 250 ng/L for AFM(1). All the positive milk samples for AFM(1) were confirmed by LC-MS. AFM(1) was detected in 81% of milk samples, ranging from 2 to 108 ng/L. Three samples were over the legal limits (50 ng/L). Mean contamination of samples obtained from stabulated ewes was higher than that from grazing ewes (35.27 vs. 12.47 ng/L). Furthermore, samples collected in the period September-October showed higher contamination than samples collected during the other months (42.68 vs. 10.55 ng/L). Both differences are related to the administration of compound feed. Based on current toxicological knowledge we concluded that the AFM(1) contamination levels recorded in ewe milk did not present a serious human health hazard. However, as ewe milk is exclusively used to produce cheese due to its higher protein content, and also considering the preferential binding of AFM(1) to casein during coagulation of milk, a potentially high concentration effect could occur, thus the surveillance of contamination levels should be more continuous and widespread
S100B Protein concentration in milk-formulas for preterm and term infants. Correlation with industrial preparation procedures.
Human milk S100B protein possesses important neurotrophic properties. However, in some conditions human milk is substituted by milk formulas. The aims of the present study were: to assess S100B concentrations in milk formulas, to verify any differences in S100B levels between preterm and term infant formulas and to evaluate the impact of industrial preparation at predetermined phases on S100B content. Two different set of samples were tested: (i) commercial preterm (n = 36) and term (n = 36) infant milk formulas; ii) milk preterm (n = 10) and term infant (n = 10) formulas sampled at the following predetermined industrial preparation time points: skimmed cow milk (Time 0); after protein sources supplementation (Time 1); after pasteurization (Time 2); after spray-drying (Time 3). Our results showed that S100B concentration in preterm formulas were higher than in term ones (p 0.05) at Time 2, whereas a significant (p < 0.001) dip was observed at Time 3. In conclusion, S100B showed a sufficient thermostability to resist pasteurization but not spry-drying. New feeding strategies in preterm and term infants are therefore warranted in order to preserve S100B protein during industrial preparation