Ranking alternatives by a fair bidding rule: a theoretical and experimental analysis

We introduce a procedurally fair rule to study a situation where people disagree about the value of three alternatives in the way captured by the voting paradox. The rule allows people to select a final collective ranking by submitting a bid vector with six components (the six possible rankings of the three alternatives). In a laboratory experiment we test the robustness of the rule to the introduction of subsidies and taxes. We have two main results. First, in all treatments, the most frequently chosen ranking is the socially efficient one. Second, subsidies slightly enhance overbidding. Furthermore, an analysis of individual bid vectors reveals interesting behavioral regularities.Bidding behavior, Procedural fairness, Voting paradox

From ancient leech to direct thrombin inhibitors and beyond: New from old

Medicinal leeches have been used in health care since before written history, with widely varying popularity over the centuries. Nowadays, medicinal leech therapy is mainly used in plastic and reconstructive microsurgery, with new interesting potential therapeutic applications in many other diseases. The leech's best-known salivary product, hirudin — one of the most powerful natural anticoagulants — was the only remedy to prevent blood clotting until the discovery of heparin. Starting from hirudin, pharmacological research succeeded in developing new anticoagulants, which represent a cornerstone of prevention and treatment of thromboembolic disease. While we are perhaps on the threshold of a new era of anticoagulation, with the development of FXI and XII inhibitors and direct reversible covalent thrombin inhibitors, which promise to achieve effective anticoagulation without bleeding risk. This review retraces the intriguing journey of these drugs in cardiovascular disease, highlighting the fil rouge that links the ancient leech to the current and oncoming antithrombotic therapy. We think that knowledge of the past is key to understanding and appreciating the present and to seize future opportunities

The first 3500 years of aspirin history from its roots - A concise summary

none3Aspirin is currently the most widely used drug worldwide, and has been clearly one of the most important pharmacological achievements of the twentieth century. Historians of medicine have traced its birth in 1897, but the fascinating history of aspirin actually dates back >3500 years, when willow bark was used as a painkiller and antipyretic by Sumerians and Egyptians, and then by great physicians from ancient Greece and Rome. The modern history of aspirin precursors, salicylates, began in 1763 with Reverend Stone - who first described their antipyretic effects - and continued in the 19th century with many researchers involved in their extraction and chemical synthesis. Bayer chemist Felix Hoffmann synthesized aspirin in 1897, and 70 years later the pharmacologist John Vane elucidated its mechanism of action in inhibiting prostaglandin production. Originally used as an antipyretic and anti-inflammatory drug, aspirin then became, for its antiplatelet properties, a milestone in preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The aspirin story continues today with the growing evidence of its chemopreventive effect against colorectal and other types of cancer, now awaiting the results of ongoing primary prevention trials in this setting. This concise review revisits the history of aspirin with a focus on its most remote origins.Montinari, Maria Rosa; Minelli, Sergio; De Caterina, RaffaeleMontinari, Maria Rosa; Minelli, Sergio; De Caterina, Raffael

Beware Of Popular Kids Bearing Gifts:A Framed Field Experiment

ArticleThe literature on pro-social behavior shows that older children are more generous than younger children; however, the level of individual generosity is heterogeneous even between children of the same age. This paper investigates whether a child’s popularity affects his/her generosity. Our participants – 231 children, six to twelve years old – decide how many of their four colored wristbands they want to share with another anonymous child. We manipulate the visibility of this decision: in treatment Public, the decisions are revealed to the entire class at the end of the game, whereas in treatment Private children’s decisions remain secret. In addition, we elicited each child’s network of friends using an innovative “seating map” mechanism. Our results reveal that more popular children are more generous in Public than Private decision environments, while less popular children behave similarly in both cases. Moreover, older children in Public display greater generosity than (i) older children in Private and (ii) younger children in either Public or Private. Finally, in Public, older and more popular children share more than less popular older children, and more than younger children regardless of popularity; whereas, in Private there is no effect of popularity on children of any age. Our findings point to another reason to adopt transparent decision making in teams and organizations: it may promote the generosity of some (perhaps especially popular leaders) without detrimentally impacting the pro-sociality of others

Synchronized onset of nuclear and cell surface modifications in U937 cells during apoptosis

In this study we investigated the relationship between nuclear and cell surface modifications (i.e. blebbing, phosphatidylserine [PS] and sugar residues exposure) in a monocytic cell line, U937, during apoptosis induced by oxidative stress (1mM H2O2) or inhibition of protein synthesis (10 mg/ml puromycin). Dying cells were simultaneously observed for nuclear modifications, presence of superficial blebs and plasma membrane alterations. Morphological analysis performed by conventional fluorescence microscopy, or by transmission and scanning electron microscopy showed that the courses of nuclear and membrane alterations occured concomitantly, but the phenotype was dependent on the stage of the apoptotic process and the type of apoptogenic inducer used. The progression of apoptosis in U937 cells beyond early stages resulted in the extensive formation of blebs which concomitantly lost some typical markers of apoptosis, such as PS and sugar residues. Therefore, the modality by which the nucleus condenses, or the amount and the pattern of distribution of PS on the cell surface were, for each cell line, strictly related to the apoptogenic inducer. The morphological data reported in the present paper should lead to a more precise quantification of apoptosis by improving the detection of apoptotic cells in vivo (i.e. in tissue, organs), which is a crucial point in the evaluation of efficiency of antiproliferative drugs, such as antiblastic or immunosuppressive compounds