Estimation of Demand Systems Based on Elasticities of Substitution

This paper develops a model for demand-system estimations, whose coefficients are own-price Marshallian elasticities and elasticities of substitution between goods. The model satisfies the homogeneity, symmetry and, eventually, adding-up restrictions implied by consumer theory, and is primarily useful for the estimation of the demands of several goods of the same industry or group of products. The characteristics of the model are compared to other existing alternatives (logarithmic, translog, AIDS and QUAIDS demand systems). The model is finally applied to estimate the demands for several carbonated soft drinks in Argentina, and its results are presented, together with the ones obtained with the other estimation methods

Modern Industrial Economics and Competition Policy: Open Problems and Possible Limits

Naturally, competition policy is based on competition economics made applicable in terms of law and its enforcement. Within the different branches of competition economics, modern industrial economics, or more precisely gametheoretic oligopoly theory, has become the dominating paradigm both in the U.S. (since the 1990s Post-Chicago movement) and in the EU (so-called more economic approach in the 2000s). This contribution reviews the state of the art in antitrust-oriented modern industrial economics and, in particular, critically discusses open questions and possible limits of basing antitrust on modern industrial economics. In doing so, it provides some hints how to escape current enforcement problems in industrial economics-based competition policy on both sides of the Atlantic. In particular, the paper advocates a change of the way modern industrial economics is used in competition policy: instead of more and more case-by-cases analyses, the insights from modern industrial economics should be used to design better competition rules

The ENIGMA Stroke Recovery Working Group: Big data neuroimaging to study brain-behavior relationships after stroke

The goal of the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Stroke Recovery working group is to understand brain and behavior relationships using well-powered meta- and mega-analytic approaches. ENIGMA Stroke Recovery has data from over 2,100 stroke patients collected across 39 research studies and 10 countries around the world, comprising the largest multisite retrospective stroke data collaboration to date. This article outlines the efforts taken by the ENIGMA Stroke Recovery working group to develop neuroinformatics protocols and methods to manage multisite stroke brain magnetic resonance imaging, behavioral and demographics data. Specifically, the processes for scalable data intake and preprocessing, multisite data harmonization, and large-scale stroke lesion analysis are described, and challenges unique to this type of big data collaboration in stroke research are discussed. Finally, future directions and limitations, as well as recommendations for improved data harmonization through prospective data collection and data management, are provided

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cells: a dangerously dynamic duo in breast cancer progression

Aberrant activation of a latent embryonic program - known as the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) - can endow cancer cells with the migratory and invasive capabilities associated with metastatic competence. The induction of EMT entails the loss of epithelial characteristics and the de novo acquisition of a mesenchymal phenotype. In breast cancer, the EMT state has been associated with cancer stem cell properties including expression of the stem cell-associated CD44+/CD24-/low antigenic profile, self-renewal capabilities and resistance to conventional therapies. Intriguingly, EMT features are also associated with stem cells isolated from the normal mouse mammary gland and human breast reduction tissues as well as the highly aggressive metaplastic and claudin-low breast tumor subtypes. This has implications for the origin of these breast tumors as it remains unclear whether they derive from cells that have undergone EMT or whether they represent an expansion of a pre-existing stem cell population that expresses EMT-associated markers to begin with. In the present review, we consider the current evidence connecting EMT and stem cell attributes and discuss the ramifications of these newly recognized links for our understanding of the emergence of distinct breast cancer subtypes and breast cancer progression