PATENT LICENSING BY MEANS OF AN AUCTION: INTERNAL VS. EXTERNAL PATENTEE

An independent research laboratory owns a patented process innovation that can be licensed by means of an auction to two Cournot duopolists producing differentiated goods. For large innovations and close enough substitute goods the patentee auctions o¤ only one license, preventing the full diffusion of the innovation. For this range of parameters, however, if the laboratory merged with one of the firms in the industry, full technology diffusion would be implemented as the merged entity would always license the innovation to the rival firm. This explains that, in this context, a vertical merger is both profitable and welfare improving.Patent licensing, two-part tariff contracts, vertical mergers

The OPTX Project I: The Flux and Redshift Catalogs for the CLANS, CLASXS, and CDF-N fields

We present the redshift catalogs for the X-ray sources detected in the Chandra Deep Field North (CDF-N), the Chandra Large Area Synoptic X-ray Survey (CLASXS), and the Chandra Lockman Area North Survey (CLANS). The catalogs for the CDF-N and CLASXS fields include redshifts from previous work, while the redshifts for the CLANS field are all new. For fluxes above 10^-14 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 (2-8 keV) we have redshifts for 76% of the sources. We extend the redshift information for the full sample using photometric redshifts. The goal of the OPTX Project is to use these three surveys, which are among the most spectroscopically complete surveys to date, to analyze the effect of spectral type on the shape and evolution of the X-ray luminosity functions and to compare the optical spectral types with the X-ray spectral properties. We also present the CLANS X-ray catalog. The nine ACIS-I fields cover a solid angle of ~0.6 square degrees and reach fluxes of 7x10^-16 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 (0.5-2 keV) and 3.5x10^-15 ergs cm^-2 s^-1 (2-8 keV). We find a total of 761 X-ray point sources. Additionally, we present the optical and infrared photometric catalog for the CLANS X-ray sources, as well as updated optical and infrared photometric catalogs for the X-ray sources in the CLASXS and CDF-N fields. The CLANS and CLASXS surveys bridge the gap between the ultradeep pencil-beam surveys, such as the CDFs, and the shallower, very large-area surveys. As a result, they probe the X-ray sources that contribute the bulk of the 2-8 keV X-ray background and cover the flux range of the observed break in the logN-logS distribution. We construct differential number counts for each individual field and for the full sample.Comment: Published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement. 18 pages, 16 figures, 14 table

Evaluation of Overall Survival (OS) and Event-Free Survival (EFS) of paediatric sarcoma patients at a single institution

Aims: To evaluate OS and EFS of paediatric sarcoma patients with an interest in comparing metastatic cases with non-metastatic cases, and compiling statistics on treatment methods. Methods: Information was obtained from patient notes in the Schiehallion ward. These contained information about diagnosis, treatment, prognostic indicators, and outcomes for each patient. Results: 56 patients, 2001-2008. Osteosarcoma: 11 patients, 7♂, 4♀; age range: 4-16; = 10; OS = 64%, EFS = 55%; Primary site of disease: Femur (47%), Tibia (41%), Humerus (5.5%), Scapula (5.5%), Other (1%); Metastatic Rate = 27% (OS = 0%). Ewing’s sarcoma: 24 patients, 10♂, 14♀; age range: 1-16, = 12; OS = 71%, EFS = 58%; Primary site of disease: Pelvis (29%), Femur (22%), Paraspinal (16%), Chest Wall (10%), Tibia (10%), Other (13%); Metastatic Rate = 21% (OS = 40%; EFS = 40%); Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma: 10 patients; OS= 80%, EFS = 60%; Metastatic Rate = 20% (OS = 100%; EFS = 100%). Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma: 11 patients; OS = 73%, EFS = 73%; Metastatic Rate = 0%. Conclusions: Our results reflect access to an experienced and innovative paediatric sarcoma service with close links to a national Sarcoma MDT. The data falls in line with other studies in terms of age of onset, location of primary tumour, metastatic rate, site of metastases, and prognosis for all cancer types. Limb salvage surgery is greatly favoured over amputation for both osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma. Females have a more favourable prognosis in osteosarcoma and a slightly poorer prognosis in Ewing’s sarcoma. Yorkhill’s overall survival rates are currently better than the UK-wide statistic for three of the four tumours examined.</p

A systematic review of associations between environmental exposures and development of asthma in children aged up to 9 years

Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Changing AGN Population

We investigate how the fraction of broad-line sources in the AGN population changes with X-ray luminosity and redshift. We first construct the rest-frame hard-energy (2-8 keV) X-ray luminosity function (HXLF) at z=0.1-1 using Chandra Lockman Hole-Northwest wide-area data, Chandra Deep Field-North 2 Ms data, other Chandra deep field data, and the ASCA Large Sky Survey data. We find that broad-line AGNs dominate above 3e43 ergs/s and have a mean luminosity of 1.3e44 ergs/s. Type II AGNs can only become an important component of the X-ray population at Seyfert-like X-ray luminosities. We then construct z=0.1-0.5 and z=0.5-1 HXLFs and compare them with both the local HXLF measured from HEAO-1 A2 survey data and the z=1.5-3 HXLF measured from soft-energy (0.5-2 keV) Chandra and ROSAT data. We find that the number density of >1e44 ergs/s sources (quasars) steadily declines with decreasing redshift, while the number density of 1e43-1e44 ergs/s sources peaks at z=0.5-1. Strikingly, however, the number density of broad-line AGNs remains roughly constant with redshift while their average luminosities decline at the lower redshifts, showing another example of cosmic downsizing.Comment: Accepted by The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 5 page

Cost-effectiveness of eplerenone in patients with systolic heart failure and mild symptoms

Aim In the Eplerenone in Mild Patients Hospitalization and Survival Study in Heart Failure (EMPHASIS-HF), aldosterone blockade with eplerenone decreased mortality and hospitalisation in patients with mild symptoms (New York Heart Association class II) and chronic systolic heart failure (HF). The present study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of eplerenone in the treatment of these patients in the UK and Spain.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Methods and results Results from the EMPHASIS-HF trial were used to develop a discrete-event simulation model estimating lifetime direct costs and effects (life years and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained) of the addition of eplerenone to standard care among patients with chronic systolic HF and mild symptoms. Eplerenone plus standard care compared with standard care alone increased lifetime direct costs per patient by £4284 for the UK and €7358 for Spain, with additional quality-adjusted life expectancy of 1.22 QALYs for the UK and 1.33 QALYs for Spain. Mean lifetime costs were £3520 per QALY in the UK and €5532 per QALY in Spain. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis suggested a 100% likelihood of eplerenone being regarded as cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of £20 000 per QALY (UK) or €30 000 per QALY (Spain).&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Conclusions By currently accepted standards of value for money, the addition of eplerenone to optimal medical therapy for patients with chronic systolic HF and mild symptoms is likely to be cost-effective.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt