Risky choices in strategic environments: An experimental investigation of a real options game

Managers frequently make decisions under conditions of fundamental uncertainty due the stochastic nature of the outcomes and competitive rivalry. In this study, we experimentally test a theoretical model under fundamental uncertainty and competitive rivalry by designing a sequential interaction game between two players. The first mover can decide either to choose a sure outcome that assigns a risky outcome to the second mover or to pass the decision to the second mover. If the second player gets the chance to decide, she can choose between a sure outcome, conditioned by the assignment of a risky payoff to the first mover, or the sharing of the risky outcome with the first mover. We then introduce the following experimental treatments: (i) relegating second-mover participants to a purely passive role and substituting them with a random device (absence of strategic uncertainty - that is, when the source of uncertainty is a human subject); (ii) providing information about the behaviour of second-mover counterparts; and (iii) completely removing the second-mover participant.We find that decision makers are sensitive to the presence or absence of strategic uncertainty; indeed, in the presence of strategic uncertainty, first movers more often diverge from the behaviour predicted by the model. Given our experimental results, the theoretical model needs to be revisited. The standard model of monetary payoff-maximizing agents should be substituted by one of decision makers who maximize a utility function which includes the psychological cost induced by strategic uncertainty. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V

The management of dental practices in the post-covid 19 era: An economic and operational perspective

Background: In order to protect dental teams and their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, dentists have had to adopt several measures (operating and post-operating procedures) which may increase the total treatment time and costs relating to individual protective measures. This paper will propose a thorough analysis of operating dentistry procedures, comparing the economic performance of the activity in a dental surgery before and after the adoption of these protective measures, which are required to contain the risk of SARS-COV-2 infections. Methods: The economic analysis is articulated in three approaches. Firstly, it assesses a reduction in markup by maintaining current charges (A); alternatively, it suggests revised charges to adopt in order to maintain unvaried levels of markup (B). And the third Approach (C) examines available dental treatments, highlighting how to profitably combine treatment volumes to reduce markup loss or a restricted increase in dental charges. Results: Maintaining dental charges could cause a loss in markup, even rising to 200% (A); attempting to maintain unvaried levels of markup will result in an increase in dental charges, even at 100% (B); and varying the volumes of the single dental treatments on offer (increasing those which current research indicates as the most profitable) could mitigate the economic impact of the measures to prevent the transmission of SARS-COV-2 (C). Conclusions: The authors of this paper provide managerial insights which can assist the dentist-entrepreneur to become aware of the boundaries of the economic consequences of governmental measures in containing the virus infection

A single amino acid change A19V in perforin: a novel, frequent predisposing factor to childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia?

We screened 100 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) to assess the incidence of single amino acid change A91V in perform. Heterozygous A91V was found in 12/100 patients and 5/127 controls (OR, 3.4; 95%CI: 1.15-9.95; p=0.014). A91V is a novel and frequent predisposing factor for childhood ALL

The natural history of ankylosing spondylitis in the 21st century

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the axial skeleton and evolves in stiffnes followed by ankylosis and disability. However, it may be difficult to exactly establish the natural history of the disease and the influence of risk factors of progression, since most patients are treated with various pharmacologic or non-pharmacologic agents, which may potentially influence the natural progression of the disease. In this context, we report here a very interesting case of a 40 year old man, presented to our outpatient clinic, 28 years after the onset of AS. Previously for personal reasons, did not choose not to undergo any treatment. This case allows us to evaluate the natural radiological progression of the disease and the influence of predictive risk factors

Dosimetric characterization of CVD diamonds in photon, electron and proton beams

The purpose of this work is the characterization, in an on line configuration, of the dosimetric response of a commercial CVD diamond. The study shows the possibility of using CVD diamond for dosimetric purposes with clinical, high-energy electron (4-15 MeV), photon (6-15 MV) and proton (62 MeV) beams

Generation of a Sprague-Dawley-GFP rat iPS cell line

We generated a rat iPSC line called ATCi-rSD95 from transgenic Sprague-Dawley GFP fetal fibroblasts. Established ATCi-rSD95 cells present a normal karyotype, silencing of the transgenes and express pluripotency-associated markers. Additionally, ATCi-rSD95 cells are able to form teratoma with differentiated cells derived from the three germ-layers that maintain the GFP expression

Isolation and characterization of Sprague-Dawley and Wistar Kyoto GFP rat embryonic stem cells

We generated two rat embryonic stem cell (ESC) lines: ATCe-SD7.8 from Sprague-Dawley strain and ATCe-WK1 from Wistar Kyoto strain. Cells were marked with enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) by transduction with a lentiviral vector. Cells present a normal karyotype and express pluripotency-associated markers. Pluripotency was tested in vivo with the teratoma formation assay. Cells maintain eGFP expression upon differentiation to the three-germ layers. These cells can be a useful tool for cell therapy studies and chimera generation as they can be easily tracked by eGFP expression

MLL-MLLT10 fusion in acute monoblastic leukemia: variant complex rearrangements and 11q proximal breakpoint heterogeneity

Cytogenetic studies of acute monoblastic leukemia cases presenting MLL-MLLT10 (alias MLL-AF10) fusion show a broad heterogeneity of chromosomal breakpoints. We present two new pediatric cases (French-American-British type M5) with MLL-MLLT10 fusion, which we studied with fluorescence in situ hybridization. In both we detected a paracentric inversion of the 11q region that translocated onto chromosome 10p12; one case displayed a variant complex pattern. We review the cytogenetic molecular data concerning the proximal inversion breakpoint of 11q and confirm its heterogeneit

Subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with psoriatic arthritis: a case-control study. Preliminary data

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), correlated with some traditional risk factors of atherosclerosis and with PsA-related disease factors. Methods: Forty-one patients and 41 healthy subjects were evaluated for intima-media thickness (IMT) and flow-mediated dilation (FMD), using carotid duplex scanning. IMT values were expressed like IMT mean (cumulative mean of all the IMT mean) and M-MAX (cumulative mean of all the higher IMT). Subclinical atherosclerosis markers were correlated with age, body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure in both groups, with duration of arthritis, duration of psoriasis, tender and swollen joints, BASDAI (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index), BASFI (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients. Results: IMT mean and M-MAX were both higher in PsA patients compared with controls (0.7±0.15 vs 0.62±0.09 mm; p<0.01 and 0.86±0.21 vs. 0.74±0.13 mm; p<0.01 respectively). FMD was smaller in patients than in controls (5.9±2 vs 7.5±2.8%; p<0.01). Univariate analysis showed a correlation between IMT mean and SBP (r=0.217; p=0.05) and a correlation between M-MAX and age (r=0.392; p<0.001), BMI (r=0.252; p<0.05), SBP (r=0.446; p<0.001) in both groups. In PsA patients M-MAX resulted correlated with ESR (r=0.338; p<0.05) and BASDAI (r=0.322; p<0.05). Conclusions: PsA patients exhibited endothelial dysfunctions which is an early marker of subclinical atherosclerosis, as well as an higher IMT. An interesting correlation between M-MAX and PsA activity index (ESR and BASDAI) was found

Epigenetic status of argininosuccinate synthetase and argininosuccinate lyase modulates autophagy and cell death in glioblastoma.

Arginine deprivation, either by nutritional starvation or exposure to ADI-PEG20, induces adaptive transcriptional upregulation of ASS1 and ASL in glioblastoma multiforme ex vivo cultures and cell lines. This adaptive transcriptional upregulation is blocked by neoplasia-specific CpG island methylation in either gene, causing arginine auxotrophy and cell death. In cells with methylated ASS1 or ASL CpG islands, ADI-PEG20 initially induces a protective autophagic response, but abrogation of this by chloroquine accelerates and potentiates cytotoxicity. Concomitant methylation in the CpG islands of both ASS1 and ASL, observed in a subset of cases, confers hypersensitivity to ADI-PEG20. Cancer stem cells positive for CD133 and methylation in the ASL CpG island retain sensitivity to ADI-PEG20. Our results show for the first time that epigenetic changes occur in both of the two key genes of arginine biosynthesis in human cancer and confer sensitivity to therapeutic arginine deprivation. We demonstrate that methylation status of the CpG islands, rather than expression levels per se of the genes, predicts sensitivity to arginine deprivation. Our results suggest a novel therapeutic strategy for this invariably fatal central nervous system neoplasm for which we have identified robust biomarkers and which overcomes the limitations to conventional chemotherapy imposed by the blood/brain barrier