I Lie? We Lie! Why? Experimental Evidence on a Dishonesty Shift in Groups

Unethical behavior such as dishonesty, cheating and corruption occurs fre-quently in organizations or groups. Recent experimental evidence suggests that there isa stronger inclination to behave immorally in groups than individually. We ask if this isthe case, and if so, why. Using a parsimonious laboratory setup, we study how individualbehavior changes when deciding as a group member. We observe a strong dishonestyshift. This shift is mainly driven by communication within groups and turns out to be inde-pendent of whether group members face payoff commonality or not (i.e., whether othergroup members benefit from one’s lie). Group members come up with and exchange morearguments for being dishonest than for complying with the norm of honesty. Thereby,group membership shifts the perception of the validity of the honesty norm and of itsdistribution in the population

On reminder effects, drop-outs and dominance: evidence from an online experiment on charitable giving

We present the results of an experiment that (a) shows the usefulness of screening out drop-outs and (b) tests whether different methods of payment and reminder intervals affect charitable giving. Following a lab session, participants could make online donations to charity for a total duration of three months. Our procedure justifying the exclusion of drop-outs consists in requiring participants to collect payments in person flexibly and as known in advance and as highlighted to them later. Our interpretation is that participants who failed to collect their positive payments under these circumstances are likely not to satisfy dominance. If we restrict the sample to subjects who did not drop out, but not otherwise, reminders significantly increase the overall amount of charitable giving. We also find that weekly reminders are no more effective than monthly reminders in increasing charitable giving, and that, in our three months duration experiment, standing orders do not increase giving relative to one-off donations

Identifying discrete behavioural types: A re-analysis of public goods game contributions by hierarchical clustering

We propose a framework for identifying discrete behavioural types in experimental data. We re-analyse data from six previous studies of public goods voluntary contributions games. Using hierarchical clustering analysis, we construct a typology of behaviour based on a simi- larity measure between strategies. We identify four types with distinct sterotypical behaviours, which together account for about 90% of participants. Compared to previous approaches, our method produces a classification in which different types are more clearly distinguished in terms of strategic behaviour and the resulting economic implications

The genomes of two key bumblebee species with primitive eusocial organization

Background: The shift from solitary to social behavior is one of the major evolutionary transitions. Primitively eusocial bumblebees are uniquely placed to illuminate the evolution of highly eusocial insect societies. Bumblebees are also invaluable natural and agricultural pollinators, and there is widespread concern over recent population declines in some species. High-quality genomic data will inform key aspects of bumblebee biology, including susceptibility to implicated population viability threats. Results: We report the high quality draft genome sequences of Bombus terrestris and Bombus impatiens, two ecologically dominant bumblebees and widely utilized study species. Comparing these new genomes to those of the highly eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera and other Hymenoptera, we identify deeply conserved similarities, as well as novelties key to the biology of these organisms. Some honeybee genome features thought to underpin advanced eusociality are also present in bumblebees, indicating an earlier evolution in the bee lineage. Xenobiotic detoxification and immune genes are similarly depauperate in bumblebees and honeybees, and multiple categories of genes linked to social organization, including development and behavior, show high conservation. Key differences identified include a bias in bumblebee chemoreception towards gustation from olfaction, and striking differences in microRNAs, potentially responsible for gene regulation underlying social and other traits. Conclusions: These two bumblebee genomes provide a foundation for post-genomic research on these key pollinators and insect societies. Overall, gene repertoires suggest that the route to advanced eusociality in bees was mediated by many small changes in many genes and processes, and not by notable expansion or depauperation

Systemic inhibition of tumour angiogenesis by endothelial cell-based gene therapy

Angiogenesis and post-natal vasculogenesis are two processes involved in the formation of new vessels, and both are essential for tumour growth and metastases. We isolated endothelial cells from human blood mononuclear cells by selective culture. These blood outgrowth cells expressed endothelial cell markers and responded correctly to functional assays. To evaluate the potential of blood outgrowth endothelial cells (BOECs) to construct functional vessels in vivo, NOD-SCID mice were implanted with Lewis lung carcinoma cells subcutaneously (s.c.). Blood outgrowth endothelial cells were then injected through the tail vein. Initial distribution of these cells occurred throughout the lung, liver, spleen, and tumour vessels, but they were only found in the spleen, liver, and tumour tissue 48 h after injection. By day 24, they were mainly found in the tumour vasculature. Tumour vessel counts were also increased in mice receiving BOEC injections as compared to saline injections. We engineered BOECs to deliver an angiogenic inhibitor directly to tumour endothelium by transducing them with the gene for human endostatin. These cells maintained an endothelial phenotype and decreased tumour vascularisation and tumour volume in mice. We conclude that BOECs have the potential for tumour-specific delivery of cancer gene therapy

Knee disorders in primary care: design and patient selection of the HONEUR knee cohort.

BACKGROUND: Knee complaints are a frequent reason for consultation in general practice. These patients constitute a specific population compared to secondary care patients. However, information to base treatment decisions on is generally derived from specialistic settings. Our cohort study is aimed at collecting knowledge about prognosis and prognostic factors of knee complaints presented in a primary care setting. This paper describes the methods used for data collection, and discusses potential selectiveness of patient recruitment. METHODS: This is a descriptive prospective cohort study with one-year follow-up. 40 Dutch GPs recruited consecutive patients with incident knee complaints aged 12 years and above from October 2001 to October 2003. Patients were assessed with questionnaires and standardised physical examinations. Additional measurements of subgroups included MRI for recent knee traumas and device assessed function measurements for non-traumatic patients. After the inclusion period we retrospectively searched the computerized medical files of participating GPs to obtain a sample to determine possible selective recruitment. We assessed differences in proportions of gender, traumatic onset of injury and age groups between participants and non-participants using Odds Ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: We recruited 1068 patients. In a sample of 310 patients visiting the GP, we detected some selective recruitment, indicating an underrepresentation of patients aged 12 to 35 years (OR 1.70; 1.15-2.77), especially among men (OR 2.16; 1.12-4.18). The underrepresentation of patients with traumatic onset of injury was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: This cohort is unique in its size, setting, and its range of both age and type of knee complaints. We believe the detected selective recruitment is unlikely to introduce significant bias, as the cohort will be divided into subgroups according to age group or traumatic onset of injury for future analyses. However, the underrepresentation of men in the age group of 12 to 35 years of age warrants caution. Based on the available data, we believe our cohort is an acceptable representation of patients with new knee complaints consulting the GP, and we expect no problems with extrapolation of the results to the general Dutch population

Delegation and coordination with multiple threshold public goods: experimental evidence

When multiple charities, social programs and community projects simultaneously vie for funding, donors risk mis-coordinating their contributions leading to an inefficient distribution of funding across projects. Community chests and other intermediary organizations facilitate coordination among donors and reduce such risks. To study this, we extend a threshold public goods framework to allow donors to contribute through an intermediary rather than directly to the public goods. Through a series of experiments, we show that the presence of an intermediary increases public good success and subjects’ earnings only when the intermediary is formally committed to direct donations to socially beneficial goods. Without such a restriction, the presence of an intermediary has a negative impact, complicating the donation environment, decreasing contributions and public good success.When multiple charities, social programs and community projects simultaneously vie for funding, donors risk mis-coordinating their contributions leading to an inefficient distribution of funding across projects. Community chests and other intermediary organizations facilitate coordination among donors and reduce such risks. To study this, we extend a threshold public goods framework to allow donors to contribute through an intermediary rather than directly to the public goods. Through a series of experiments, we show that the presence of an intermediary increases public good success and subjects’ earnings only when the intermediary is formally committed to direct donations to socially beneficial goods. Without such a restriction, the presence of an intermediary has a negative impact, complicating the donation environment, decreasing contributions and public good success

ADAM12 is a circulating marker for stromal activation in pancreatic cancer and predicts response to chemotherapy

This work was supported by KWF Dutch Cancer Society (UVA 2012–5607 and UVA 2013–5932