Carrots vs. Sticks

This article draws a general picture of the differences between the metaphors of carrots and sticks. It discusses incentive effects (in principle, a $100 carrot creates the same incentives as a$100 stick, but there are exceptions); transaction costs (carrots are paid upon compliance, sticks upon violation, therefore sticks have lower transaction costs if the majority complies); risks (probabilistic carrots create risks for compliers, probabilistic sticks for violators); wealth and budget constraints (the maximum carrot depends on the principal's wealth, the maximum stick on the agent's wealth, but sticks can have a multiplication effect); distributive effects (carrots may overcompensate, sticks may undercompensate; individualizing sanctions changes the distributive effect of carrots but not of sticks); activity level effects caused by these distributive effects; the principal's incentives to behave opportunistically; and the agent's incentives to self-report. The article also discusses special types (precompensated, annullable, combined, intra-group financed, reversible, strict liability carrots and sticks) and two extensions (political risks, behavioural effects)

Amphiphilic Zwitterionic Bioderived Block Copolymers from Glutamic Acid and Cholesterol : Ability to Form Nanoparticles and Serve as Vectors for the Delivery of 6-Mercaptopurine

In this work, the straightforward synthesis of amphiphilic zwitterionic bioderived block copolymers (BCPs) using glutamic acid (Glu) and cholesterol (Chol) as building blocks are reported. The previously established Glu-derivative NBoc-Glu-OtBu-methacrylate (NBoc-Glu-OtBu-MA) serves as hydrophobic precursor for the zwitterionic block, while a mostly unexplored cholesteryl-derived methacrylate monomer (Chol-MA) with increased side chain flexibility functions as the hydrophobic block. In the first step, NBoc-Glu-OtBu-MA is polymerized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Afterward, the linear polymer is chain-extended with Chol-MA, yielding P(NBoc-Glu-OtBu-MA)(n)-b-(Chol-MA)(m) BCPs with varying block ratios. After deprotection under acidic conditions, polymers with a block weight ratio of 87:13 (Glu-OH-MA:Chol-MA) readily assemble into polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) of a desirable size below 100 nm diameter, making them good candidates for biomedical applications. The experimental results are supported using computations of the partition coefficients and machine learning models for the prediction of the polymer densities of the different BCPs. In addition, high (up to 20 wt.%) loading of the hydrophobic anti-cancer drug 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) is achieved in these NPs during the assembly process. The cytostatic activity of 6-MP NPs is demonstrated in vitro on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. These results emphasize the potential of amphiphilic zwitterionic bioderived NPs for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs

Inkuilen van eendenkroos als veevoer met verschillende additieven = Ensiling Duckweed for feed with different additives

Ferment duckweed as silage is a cheap and sustainable alternative for drying. Without an additive, no satisfying preservation result was reached. Molasses gave a good preservation result and is relatively cheap and practical. Common methods of forage ensilaging are not suitable for duckweed as they have too little product structure to facilitate wrapping. The use of an airtight container or silo may lead to good preservation results, and prevent losses

The Impact of Socioeconomic Status, Surgical Resection and Type of Hospital on Survival in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer:A Population-Based Study in The Netherlands

The influence of socioeconomic inequalities in pancreatic cancer patients and especially its effect in patients who had a resection is not known. Hospital type in which resection is performed might also influence outcome. Patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer from 1989 to 2011 (n = 34,757) were selected from the population-based Netherlands Cancer Registry. Postal code was used to determine SES. Multivariable survival analyses using Cox regression were conducted to discriminate independent risk factors for death. Patients living in a high SES neighborhood more often underwent resection and more often were operated in a university hospital. After adjustment for clinicopathological factors, risk of dying was increased independently for patients with intermediate and low SES compared to patients with high SES. After resection, no survival difference was found among patients in the three SES groups. However, survival was better for patients treated in university hospitals compared to patients treated in non-university hospitals. Low SES was an independent risk factor for poor survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. SES was not an adverse risk factor after resection. Resection in non-university hospitals was associated with a worse prognosis.</p

Age and prognosis in patients with pancreatic cancer:a population-based study

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has an enormous impact on patients, and even more so if they are of younger age. It is unclear how their treatment and outcome compare to older patients. This study compares clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival (OS) of PDAC patients aged <60 years to older PDAC patients. METHOD: This is a retrospective, population-based cohort study using Netherlands Cancer Registry data of patients diagnosed with PDAC (1 January 2015-31 December 2018). Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess OS. RESULTS: Overall, 10,298 patients were included, of whom 1551 (15%) were <60 years. Patients <60 years were more often male, had better performance status, less comorbidities and less stage I disease, and more often received anticancer treatment (67 vs. 33%, p < 0.001) than older patients. Patients <60 years underwent resection of the tumour more often (22 vs. 14%p < 0.001), more often received chemotherapy, and had a better median OS (6.9 vs. 3.3 months, p < 0.001) compared to older patients. No differences in median OS were demonstrated between both age groups of patients who underwent resection (19.7 vs. 19.4 months, p = 0.123), received chemotherapy alone (7.8 vs. 8.5 months, p = 0.191), or received no anticancer treatment (1.8 vs. 1.9 months, p = 0.600). Patients <60 years with stage-IV disease receiving chemotherapy had a somewhat better OS (7.5 vs. 6.3 months, p = 0.026). CONCLUSION: Patients with PDAC <60 years more often underwent resection despite less stage I disease and had superior OS. Stratified for treatment, however, survival was largely similar