Using Financial Incentives and Improving Information to Increase Labour Market Success: A Non-Parametric Evaluation of the 'Want2Work' Programme

The `Want2Work´ programme was designed to help individuals back into work. This article uses propensity score matching to evaluate the success of a policy that cannot otherwise be evaluated using standard parametric techniques. Using a range of estimation methods, sub-samples and types of job, the scheme was successful. Our most conservative estimates indicate that participants were 4-7 percentage points more likely to find employment than a control group of non-treated job-seekers. Effects were even stronger for Incapacity Benefit recipients. Moreover, there is little evidence that participants were placed in low quality or temporary jobs

Heirloom and Hybrid Tomato Yield and Quality in Organic and Conventional Production Systems

Due to the recent changes in the economy of Kentucky tobacco production, some producers are seeking an alternative crop that will provide similar economic gains to tobacco without needing more acreage. Tomatoes are an existing crop in Kentucky that have been declining in acreage over the last five years. There is evidence to suggest that, through niche and local marketing, tomatoes may be able to fill the void left by tobacco. However, there is concern among producers that they will lose yield and/or quality if they switch to one of these niche production systems or cultivars. A two year study at Western Kentucky University compared the yield and quality of three tomato cultivars, two heirlooms and one hybrid, under organic and conventional management techniques to see if producers concerns are valid. The heirloom cultivars used were \u27Cherokee Purple\u27 (CP) and \u27Mr. Stripey\u27, (MS) the hybrid cultivar was \u27Crista\u27 (CR). The study was a split block design, with four randomized replications within each block. Plants were grown under black plastic mulch, with drip irrigation under the mulch. Plants were harvested weekly throughout the season and data were collected on individual fruit weight, size, grade and the number of fruit produced per plant. Production and quality were compared between management techniques for each cultivar, and the cultivars were compared to each other under individual management techniques. When comparing organic and conventional management practices, CP produced significantly (p\u3c.05) larger, heavier, and higher quality fruit under organic practices and showed no significant differences in fruit number in 2008. MS and CR showed no significant differences between production systems for fruit weight or size, CR produced significantly higher quality fruit under conventional treatment and MS produced significantly more fruit per plant in 2008. In 2009, CP did not produce enough fruit under organic management to allow statistical comparison between management systems. MS however did not show any significant differences between management systems for any of the traits studied. CR produced significantly larger fruit under organic management, but no other differences were observed. When comparing cultivars in 2008, CP and CR produced fruit of similar weight but significantly heavier than MS under both production systems. CP produced the largest fruit under organic management, with CR following and MS producing the smallest fruit. Under conventional management, CP and CR produced fruit of similar size and both were larger than MS. MS produced the highest quality fruit under organic management, and CR produced the nicest grade under conventional management. No differences were seen for number of fruit per plant between cultivars under organic management, while MS produced the most fruit per plant under conventional management. In 2009 CP did not produce enough fruit to be statistically compared to the other cultivars under organic management. MS and CR produced fruit of similar weight under both organic and conventional management, while CP produced the greatest weight under conventional management. CR produced larger fruit than MS under organic management, while under conventional management CP and CR were of similar size as were CR and MS, but CP was significantly larger than MS. No significant differences were found between cultivars for fruit grade or number of fruit per plant under either management system in 2009

Activating \u3ci\u3eActavis\u3c/i\u3e

In Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis, Inc., the Supreme Court provided fundamental guidance about how courts should handle antitrust challenges to reverse payment patent settlements. The Court came down strongly in favor of an antitrust solution to the problem, concluding that “an antitrust action is likely to prove more feasible administratively than the Eleventh Circuit believed.” At the same time, Justice Breyer’s majority opinion acknowledged that the Court did not answer every relevant question. The opinion closed by “leav[ing] to the lower courts the structuring of the present rule-of-reason antitrust litigation.”This article is an effort to help courts and counsel fill in the gaps. We identify and operationalize the essential features of the Court’s analysis. We describe the elements of a plaintiff’s affirmative case, justifications that are ruled out by the Court\u27s logic, and a test for viable justifications. For private cases, we outline an appropriate procedure for evaluating damages and suggest specific jury instructions

The \u3ci\u3eActavis\u3c/i\u3e Inference: Theory and Practice

In FTC v. Actavis, Inc., the Supreme Court considered reverse payment settlements of patent infringement litigation. In such a settlement, a patentee pays the alleged infringer to settle, and the alleged infringer agrees not to enter the market for a period of time. The Court held that a reverse payment settlement violates antitrust law if the patentee is paying to avoid competition. The core insight of Actavis is the Actavis Inference: a large and otherwise unexplained payment, combined with delayed entry, supports a reasonable inference of harm to consumers from lessened competition.This paper is an effort to assist courts and counsel in implementing the Actavis Inference. First, we evaluate a variety of fact patterns that have arisen in the district courts since Actavis, including payment that takes a form other than cash. For example, a branded drug maker may promise not to offer an authorized generic drug. As we explain, under Actavis, such agreements are especially likely to violate antitrust law. We also consider how much detail a plaintiff must offer in its initial complaint to comply with federal pleading requirements.Second, we demonstrate that the Actavis Inference fully applies when multiple generic firms, rather than just one, threaten to enter the market. Our economic model shows that the Actavis Inference becomes stronger and more important in the presence of multiple generic firms. Our analysis demonstrates that the contrary conclusions reached in a recent paper by Bruce Kobayashi, Joshua Wright, Douglas Ginsburg, and Joanna Tsai (KWGT) are incorrect, inconsistent with KWGT’s own analysis, or irrelevant to a faithful implementation of Actavis.Third, we clarify the reasons not to litigate the patent in the antitrust case. Thanks to the Actavis Inference, a trial court need not determine patent validity or infringement in order to assess the legality of the settlement. The antitrust question depends upon the ex ante prospects in patent litigation and not ex post litigation of the patent by a patent court or by the antitrust court considering the settlement. Litigating the patent is thus of limited probative value and not dispositive regarding a potential antitrust violation

Understanding Harris' understanding of CEA: is cost effective resource allocation undone?

We summarise and evaluate Harris' criticisms of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and the alternative processes he commends to health care decision makers. In contrast to CEA, Harris' asserts that individuals have a right to life-saving treatment that cannot be denied on the basis of their capacity to benefit. We conclude that, whilst Harris' work has challenged the proponents of CEA and quality-adjusted life years to be explicit about the method's indirect discriminatory characteristics, his arguments ignore important questions about what ‘lives saved’ mean. Harris also attempts to avoid opportunity cost by advocating the same chance of treatment for every person desiring treatment. Using a simple example, we illustrate that an ‘equal chances’ lottery is not in the interest of any patient, as it reduces the chance of treatment for all patients by leaving some of the health budget unspent

Robotic-assisted surgery compared with laparoscopic resection surgery for rectal cancer: the ROLARR RCT

This is the final version. Available from NIHR Journals Library via the DOI in this recordData-sharing statement: All available data can be obtained by contacting the corresponding author.Background Robotic rectal cancer surgery is gaining popularity, but there are limited data about its safety and efficacy. Objective To undertake an evaluation of robotic compared with laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery to determine its safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness. Design This was a multicentre, randomised trial comparing robotic with laparoscopic rectal resection in patients with rectal adenocarcinoma. Setting The study was conducted at 26 sites across 10 countries and involved 40 surgeons. Participants The study involved 471 patients with rectal adenocarcinoma. Recruitment took place from 7 January 2011 to 30 September 2014 with final follow-up on 16 June 2015. Interventions Robotic and laparoscopic rectal cancer resections were performed by high anterior resection, low anterior resection or abdominoperineal resection. There were 237 patients randomised to robotic and 234 to laparoscopic surgery. Follow-up was at 30 days, at 6 months and annually until 3 years after surgery. Main outcome measures The primary outcome was conversion to laparotomy. Secondary end points included intra- and postoperative complications, pathological outcomes, quality of life (QoL) [measured using the Short Form questionnaire-36 items version 2 (SF-36v2) and the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20 (MFI-20)], bladder and sexual dysfunction [measured using the International Prostatic Symptom Score (I-PSS), the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI)], and oncological outcomes. An economic evaluation considered the costs of robotic and laparoscopic surgery, including primary and secondary care costs up to 6 months post operation. Results Among 471 randomised patients [mean age 64.9 years, standard deviation (SD) 11.0 years; 320 (67.9%) men], 466 (98.9%) patients completed the study. Data were analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. The overall rate of conversion to laparotomy was 10.1% and occurred in 19 (8.1%) patients in the robotic-assisted group and in 28 (12.2%) patients in the conventional laparoscopic group {unadjusted risk difference 4.12% [95% confidence interval (CI) –1.35% to 9.59%], adjusted odds ratio 0.61 [95% CI 0.31 to –1.21]; p = 0.16}. Of the nine prespecified secondary end points, including circumferential resection margin positivity, intraoperative complications, postoperative complications, plane of surgery, 30-day mortality and bladder and sexual dysfunction, none showed a statistically significant difference between the groups. No difference between the treatment groups was observed for longer-term outcomes, disease-free and overall survival (OS). Males were at a greater risk of local recurrence than females and had worse OS rates. The costs of robotic and laparoscopic surgery, excluding capital costs, were £11,853 (SD £2940) and £10,874 (SD £2676) respectively. Conclusions There is insufficient evidence to conclude that robotic rectal surgery compared with laparoscopic rectal surgery reduces the risk of conversion to laparotomy. There were no statistically significant differences in resection margin positivity, complication rates or QoL at 6 months between the treatment groups. Robotic rectal cancer surgery was on average £980 more expensive than laparoscopic surgery, even when the acquisition and maintenance costs for the robot were excluded. Future work The lower rate of conversion to laparotomy in males undergoing robotic rectal cancer surgery deserves further investigation. The introduction of new robotic systems into the market may alter the cost-effectiveness of robotic rectal cancer surgery.National Institute for Health Research (NIHR

Cold temperature tolerance of the alien Indo-Pacific damselfish Neopomacentrus cyanomos from the Southern Gulf of Mexico

The abundance of the alien, Indo-Pacific damselfish Neopomacentrus cyanomos on an oil-loading platform in the southwest Gulf of Mexico indicates that widely distributed platforms could facilitate the expansion of its geo- graphic range across the western and northern fringes of the Gulf. From there it likely will spread to other areas of the Greater Caribbean. The lionfish example demonstrates that it eventually happens, and can do so rapidly. Reduced temperature effects on the physiology of this species were examined to better predict its survivability in the northern Gulf during winter, when sea surface temperatures fall as low as 15 °C along the coast. Overall, our results show that when the degree of experimental temperature decline was large and rapid, no compensation occurred and the stress response observed mostly reflected cellular processes that minimized damage. Integrated biomarker response values were significantly different between fish rapidly exposed to colder vs. warmer temperatures (declines of −4 °C each day, from 26 to 14 °C), reflected in higher values of blood metabolites and routine metabolic rates observed in fish exposed to 14 and 18 °C respectively, and lower activity of all enzymes, lower protein carbonylation, and higher oxidative damage to lipids in fish exposed to 14 °C. While the phy- siological proxies responded to minimize damage during the rapid-decrease experiment, the same proxies re- flected the consequences of compensation when fish were thermally challenged after a 45 days acclimation at 18 °C. In this case, lower values of blood metabolites and high antioxidant levels and indicators of damages underpinned its pejus lower range. Based on the results of the present work, it seems clear that low winter SSTs in the northern Gulf will slow down the colonization of the inshore area of N. cyanomos. We suggest that the use of physiological cellular stress markers on specimens acquired at the beginning of an invasion should be im- plemented in new standardized experimental protocols, including both rapid increases/decreases of temperature and post-acclimation temperature challenges, to assess the invasiveness potential of aquatic species such as this

Early evolution of the extraordinary Nova Del 2013 (V339 Del)

We determine the temporal evolution of the luminosity L(WD), radius R(WD) and effective temperature Teff of the white dwarf (WD) pseudophotosphere of V339 Del from its discovery to around day 40. Another main objective was studying the ionization structure of the ejecta. These aims were achieved by modelling the optical/near-IR spectral energy distribution (SED) using low-resolution spectroscopy (3500 - 9200 A), UBVRcIc and JHKLM photometry. During the fireball stage (Aug. 14.8 - 19.9, 2013), Teff was in the range of 6000 - 12000 K, R(WD) was expanding non-uniformly in time from around 66 to around 300 (d/3 kpc) R(Sun), and L(WD) was super-Eddington, but not constant. After the fireball stage, a large emission measure of 1.0-2.0E+62 (d/3 kpc)**2 cm**(-3) constrained the lower limit of L(WD) to be well above the super-Eddington value. The evolution of the H-alpha line and mainly the transient emergence of the Raman-scattered O VI 1032 A line suggested a biconical ionization structure of the ejecta with a disk-like H I region persisting around the WD until its total ionization, around day 40. It is evident that the nova was not evolving according to the current theoretical prediction. The unusual non-spherically symmetric ejecta of nova V339 Del and its extreme physical conditions and evolution during and after the fireball stage represent interesting new challenges for the theoretical modelling of the nova phenomenon.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables, accepted for Astronomy and Astrophysic