Prosocial Option Increases Women’s Entry Into Competition

We provide evidence that women enter competitions at the same rate as men when the incentive for winning includes the option to share part of the rewards with the losers (i.e., when the incentive system is socially oriented). Using an experiment (with N = 238 subjects from three laboratories), we find that about 16% more men than women choose to compete in the standard tournament; this gender gap is eliminated in the socially oriented incentive treatment. While men’s choice to compete remains unchanged, at around 52% in both conditions, women increase their entry rate from 35% in the standard tournament to 60% when the incentive includes a socially oriented option

The impact of international benchmarking on the price of immunosuppressive medicines for transplant recipients in South Africa

Background. External reference pricing (ERP) is an internationally applied pricing policy to regulate the price of medicines. In 2005, the South African (SA) Minister of Health published a Government Gazette of regulations relating to a transparent pricing system for medicines and scheduled substances, stating that the Minister must publish a methodology for conforming to international benchmarks. In May 2014, the most recent proposed benchmark methodology was published, detailing that international benchmarking of medicines (IBM) requires that the lowest price in a selected basket of countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain and SA) be used as the ultimate price for the purposes of benchmarking of originator products.Objectives. To provide a broad observational basis for the use of IBM and the proposed countries as a pricing tool; the feasibility of using BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) as comparator countries; and a small sample comparison of local state tender pricing in relation to the IBM proposed basket of comparator country pricing. Immunosuppressant medicines for organ transplant patients were used for this comparison, as they are relatively expensive and there is reluctance to implement pricing and reimbursement policy options to contain their costs.Methods. Ex-manufacturer medicine pricing information for 2016, 2017 and 2018 was sourced for immunosuppressive medicines for SA (public and private sectors), Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Spain, Brazil and Russia. Unit prices were compared for products with the same international non-proprietary name (INN), strength, formulation and manufacturer. In most cases the products were matched on product name, bearing translation nuances in mind.Results. Across all 3 years, in the majority of products, ERP using the proposed basket of comparator countries Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Spain lowered the local private sector ex-manufacturer price of medicine. Similarly, for the majority of products comparing local pricing with that of available BRICS country pricing data, the comparison lowered the price. For 92% of products where a comparison could be made, the SA state tender price was the lowest available price.Conclusions. Conducting an ERP analysis consumes time and resources. However, it may prove to reduce a current or proposed medicine price and may be considered as one of a range of medicine pricing policies employed by a country. It should not be used in isolation from other medicine pricing and reimbursement policies.

Enantioselective synthesis and application to the allylic imidate rearrangement of amine-coordinated palladacycle catalysts of cobalt sandwich complexes

The reaction of (η5-(N,N-dimethylaminomethyl)cyclopentadien-yl)(η4-tetraphenylcyclobutadiene)cobalt with sodium tetrachloropalladate and (R)-N-acetylphenylalanine gave planar chiral palladacycle di-μ-chloridebis[(η5-(Sp)-2-(N,N-dimethylaminomethyl)cyclopentadienyl,1-C,3′-N)(η4-tetraphenylcyclobutadiene)cobalt]dipalladium [(Sp)-Me2-CAP-Cl] in 92 % ee and 64 % yield. Enantiopurity (>98 % ee) was achieved by purification of the monomeric (R)-proline adducts and conversion back to the chloride dimer. Treatment with AgOAc gave (Sp)-Me2-CAP-OAc which was applied to asymmetric transcyclopalladation (up to 78 % ee). The (R)-N-acetylphenylalanine mediated palladation methodology was applicable also to the corresponding N,N-diethyl (82 % ee, 39 % yield) and pyrrolidinyl (>98 % ee, 43 % yield) cobalt sandwich complexes. A combination of 5 mol % of the latter [(Sp)-Pyrr-CAP-Cl] and AgNO3 (3.8 equiv) is a catalyst for the allylic imidate rearrangement of an (E)-N-aryltrifluoroacetimidate (up to 83 % ee), and this catalyst system is also applicable to the rearrangement of a range of (E)-trichloroacetimidates (up to 99 % ee). This asymmetric efficiency combined with the simplicity of catalyst synthesis provides accessible solutions to the generation of non-racemic allylic amine derivatives

An improved comparison of atmospheric Ar/N2 time series and paired ocean-atmosphere model predictions

Ar/N2 variations in the atmosphere reflect ocean heat fluxes, air-sea gas exchange, and atmospheric dynamics. Here atmospheric Ar/N2 time series are compared to paired ocean-atmosphere model predictions. Agreement between Ar/N2 observations and simulations has improved in comparison to a previous study because of longer time series and the introduction of automated samplers at several of the atmospheric stations, as well as the refinement of the paired ocean-atmosphere models by inclusion of Ar and N2 as active tracers in the ocean component. Although analytical uncertainties and collection artifacts are likely to be mainly responsible for observed Ar/N2 outliers, air parcel back-trajectory analysis suggests that some of the variability in Ar/N2 measurements could be due to the low-altitude history of the air mass collected and, by extension, the local oceanic Ar/N2 signal. Although the simulated climatological seasonal cycle can currently be evaluated with Ar/N2 observations, longer time series and additional improvements in the signal-to-noise ratio will be required to test other model predictions such as interannual variability, latitudinal gradients, and the secular increase in atmospheric Ar/N2 expected to result from ocean warming. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union

Molecular crystallization inhibitors for salt damage control in porous materials. An overview

The use of inhibition chemicals holds the prospect of an efficient strategy to control crystallization in porous materials, thereby potentially contributing to the prevention or mitigation of the salt decay phenomenon in modern as well as historical building materials in a more sustainable manner. In this review, we first provide an essential background on the mechanism of salt crystallization and on the factors influencing this phenomenon; next, we illustrate the mechanism at the basis of the action of crystal growth inhibitors, and critically discuss the major advances in the development of different families of inhibitors, particularly focusing on their influence on salt transport and crystallization within the structure of porous media. Specifically, correlations between the crystallization inhibition processes in porous materials and variables, such as porous substrate composition and properties, contaminant salt type and concentrations, microclimatic conditions, inhibiting solution concentration and properties, and application methods, will be highlighted. Environmental aspects, limitations, and problems associated with some inhibition chemicals are also taken into account. Finally, a survey and a discussion on the most representative experimental techniques and instrumentation available to assess qualitatively and quantitatively the inhibitor effectiveness, as well as recently developed modelling tools are given out

Export production and its regulating factors in the West Antarctica Peninsula region of the Southern Ocean

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 26 (2012): GB2005, doi:10.1029/2010GB004028.In connection with the Palmer LTER program, mixed layer water samples were collected during the cruise of the L.M. Gould in Jan., 2008 at 49 stations on a 20 × 100 km grid in the West Antarctica Peninsula (WAP) region of the Southern Ocean. In this study, [O2]/[Ar] ratios and the triple isotope composition of dissolved O2 were measured, and were used to estimate net community O2 production (NCP) and gross primary O2 production (GPP), respectively. These estimates are further converted to carbon export production, primary production and the f-ratio. Our measurements give NCP ranging from −3 to 76 mmol O2 m−2 day−1 (−25 to 650 mg C m−2 day−1), and GPP from 40 to 220 mmol O2 m−2 day−1 (180 to 1010 mg C m−2 day−1). The O2 NCP/GPP ratios range from −0.04 to 0.43, corresponding to f-ratios of −0.08 to 0.83. NCP and the NCP/GPP ratio are highest in the northern coastal areas, and decrease to lower values toward the southern coastal area and the open ocean. The inshore-offshore gradient appears to be regulated primarily by iron availability, as supported by the positive correlation between NCP and Fv/Fm ratios (r2 = 0.22, p < 0.05). Mixed layer depth (MLD) is inversely correlated with NCP (r2 = 0.21, p < 0.002) and NCP/GPP (r2 = 0.21, p < 0.02), and highest NCP occurred in the fresh water lenses probably formed from melted coastal glaciers. These results suggest that export production and the f-ratio increase where water stratification is intensified by input of fresh meltwater, and that mixed layer stratification is the major factor regulating NCP in the inner-shelf and coastal regions. Along-shelf variability of phytoplankton community composition is highly correlated with NCP, i.e., NCP increases when the diatom-dominated community in the south transitions to the cryptophyte-dominated one in the north. A high correlation is also observed between NCP and the logarithm of the surface chlorophyll concentration (r2 = 0.72, p < 0.0001) , which makes it possible to estimate carbon export as a function of Chl a concentration in this region.This research was supported by NSF-OPP grant 0823101 to Ducklow and NASA Earth and Space Sciences Fellowship to Huang.2012-10-2

A Homogeneous Actor-Based Monitor Language for Adaptive Behaviour

This paper describes a structured approach to encoding monitors in an actor language. Within a configuration of actors, each of which publishes a history, a monitor is an independent actor that triggers an action based on patterns occurring in the histories. We define a monitor language based on linear temporal logic and show how it can be homogeneously embedded within an actor language. The approach is demonstrated through a number of examples and evaluated in terms of a real-world actor-based simulation