Becoming famous and then richer: How status can bias perfect competition

We test the effect of status in a laboratory experimental market using the standard Double Oral Auction. We consider a box design with a unique Walrasian outcome. In half of the experiments status is awarded to a group of people according to the scores of a trivia quiz. The status group is in the long side of the market, hence they do not have any market power. In the other half of the experiments status is not awarded. We find that prices never reach the Walrasian price in the status sessions while it is attained in non status experiments. Therefore status bias the theoretical perfect competition outcome

Intimidad de tierra y agua: en los orígenes del cuento hondureño.

Sin resume

“Binge drinking” y suplementos de selenio: Efectos sobre la actividad y expresión de la glutatión peroxidasa

Desde hace unas décadas, en España, el patrón de consumo intensivo o de fin de semana, tipo “binge drinking”, se ha convertido en el predilecto por los adolescentes. Como consecuencia de este consumo, los jóvenes se ven expuestos semanalmente a altas dosis de alcohol que producen intoxicaciones etílicas, alteraciones de la conducta, episodios de violencia y estrés oxidativo. El selenio (Se), es un mineral importante para la salud al que se le han atribuido propiedades antiinflamatorias, antivirales y antioxidantes, por formar parte de las distintas selenoproteínas. Se postula que el selenio modula el estrés oxidativo, principalmente a través de las diferentes isoformas de la glutatión peroxidasa (GPx) y de la selenoproteína P (SelP), las cuales actúan reduciendo los niveles de peróxido de hidrógeno y de hidroperóxidos de fosfolípidos de las células. En este trabajo se han estudiado los efectos del “binge drinking” sobre los niveles de Se, la actividad de la enzima GPx, la expresión de la GPx y SelP, y si la suplementación con Se puede ser utilizada como una terapia antioxidante que promueva una mayor defensa frente al estrés oxidativo provocado por este patrón de consumo de alcoholUniversidad de Sevilla. Grado en Farmaci

Iminoazúcares sp2 en inmunoterapias contra el cáncer

En la actualidad, los tratamientos más utilizados para combatir el cáncer se basan en el uso de quimioterapia, radioterapia y cirugía. El principal inconveniente que presentan estas terapias es la escasa selectividad que presentan, lo que implica que afectan también a células sanas, producen severos efectos secundarios y además, no evitan la posibilidad de metástasis. Por estos motivos, en este trabajo se plantea el uso de inmunoterapia como tratamiento antitumoral específico. La inmunoterapia es un tipo de tratamiento que persigue estimular las defensas naturales con el fin de tratar el cáncer, entre otras enfermedades. En el caso del cáncer, es necesario generar una respuesta inmunológica potente y selectiva frente a células tumorales. Con el fin de alcanzar este objetivo, una de las estrategias más exitosas se basa en el desarrollo de vacunas que emplean antígenos de tipo carbohidrato asociados a tumores. Estos antígenos, denominados TACAs (Tumor-Associated Carbohydrate Antigens), se encuentran expuestos en mucinas de la superficie de un gran número de células. En las células sanas, los TACAs están enmascarados por el alto nivel de glicosilación que presentan las mucinas, mientras que en células tumorales la glicosilación, debido al mal funcionamiento de glicosidasas y glicosiltransferasas, está reducida significantemente, dejando expuestos estos antígenos, que pueden usarse como biomarcadores tumorales (Figura 1). Figura 1. De izquierda a derecha, estructura de la MUC-1 no glicosilada, estructura de la MUC-1 en células normales y estructura de la MUC-1 en células tumorales. Aunque estos TACAS son candidatos para el desarrollo de vacunas antitumorales, en el organismo son detectados como auto-antígenos por el sistema inmune, impidiendo la activación de la respuesta inmune dependiente de células T y la consecuente producción de anticuerpos de alta afinidad. Por este motivo, en este trabajo se plantea la sustitución de la unidad monosacarídica del antígeno Tn por un glicomimético con estructura de iminoazúcar sp2, con el objetivo de producir una respuesta inmune suficiente para activar la producción de anticuerpos de alta afinidad frente a células tumorales. Concretamente se aborda la síntesis de un glicomimético del antígeno tumoral Tn (-O-GalNAc-Ser/Thr) (Figura 2A) con estructura de iminoazúcar sp2 bicíclico (Figura 2B). Figura 2. A) Estructura del antígeno Tn; B) Estructura del glicomimético con estructura de iminoazúcar sp2 bicíclico.Universidad de Sevilla. Máster en Estudios Avanzados en Químic

Lying through Their Teeth: Third Party Advice and Truth Telling in a Strategy Proof Mechanism

We test the effect of advice on the well known top trading cycles (TTC) matching algorithm in a school choice frame work. We compare three treatments involving third party advice [right advice (R), wrong advice (W), and both right and wrong advice (RW)] to a no-advice baseline (B). In line with previous literature the truth telling rate is higher than 80% in the baseline, but it becomes as low as 35% in the W treatment. Truth telling rates are also significantly lower in R than in B, and much lower in RW than in B. This evidence suggests that a vast majority of participants in our experiment were confused. Truth telling seems to work only as a default strategy, and participants can be heavily influenced by advice. The real life implementation of matching mechanisms may have been misguided by some laboratory experimentation

Social Comparison, Aspirations and Priming: When Fiction is as Powerful as Fact

This study uses a novel application of priming to provide experimental evidence that aspirations and social comparisons may be influenced by non factual sources. A textual narrative eliciting social comparison is shown to dramatically alter material aspirations. This is despite the narrative not presenting any new information, relying instead on participants’ existing knowledge. However the effect of the priming rapidly dissipates when attention is redirected to unrelated tasks. These findings build on literature examining the influence of media, social comparison and aspirations on well-being. The findings build support for the claim that media exposure may distort perceptions of status with implications for satisfaction, education attainment and risk preferences. It also demonstrates that at least in the short run, preferences in general and aspirations in particular are highly suggestible

Lying through Their Teeth: Third Party Advice and Truth Telling in a Strategy Proof Mechanism

We test the effect of advice on the well known top trading cycles (TTC) matching algorithm in a school choice frame work. We compare three treatments involving third party advice [right advice (R), wrong advice (W), and both right and wrong advice (RW)] to a no-advice baseline (B). In line with previous literature the truth telling rate is higher than 80% in the baseline, but it becomes as low as 35% in the W treatment. Truth telling rates are also significantly lower in R than in B, and much lower in RW than in B. This evidence suggests that a vast majority of participants in our experiment were confused. Truth telling seems to work only as a default strategy, and participants can be heavily influenced by advice. The real life implementation of matching mechanisms may have been misguided by some laboratory experimentation

Trust, discrimination and acculturation Experimental evidence on Asian international and Australian domestic university students

ntercultural relations between Australia and Asia are pivotal to the economic prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region. However, there appears to be tension between Australian domestic and Asian international students at universities in Australia. To measure the degree of trust and patterns of discrimination between these groups, the Berg, Dickhaut and McCabe (1995) trust game and a series of control games were used in framework where each participant played each game against several partners. Controlling for individual heterogeneity, domestic students significantly discriminated against international students in the trust game, and individual discrimination was preference-based rather than based on beliefs towards international students’ trustworthiness. Moreover, the degree of in-group favouritism shown by domestic students was negatively correlated with the Big Five personality trait of Openness. Intercultural patterns across the games also pointed to a willingness of international students to build relations with domestic students. However, the average amount that they sent in the trust game was negatively related with the number of semesters studied at university in Australia, which may partly reflect cultural adjustment but also institutional disadvantages faced specifically by international students. The study furthers understanding of the patterns of discrimi-nation between domestic and international university students, the nature of this discrimination, and illustrates the extent of challenges faced by the Australian tertiary education sector

The discreet charm of the collective contract

We compare individual with collective contracts using variations of a repeated gift- exchange game. Firms consist of one employer and three workers. In the individual variation (I) different workers can receive separate wages. In the collective variation (C) workers receive the same wage. I and C are played altering the order across sessions resulting in four treatments: 1I, 1C, 2I, 2C. The wage offered in the first period of 1C is significantly higher than the wage offered in the first period of 1I. Average wage and effort become indistinguishable in phase 1 afterwards. Individual contracts resulted on higher average effort but undistinguishable wages when comparing 2I with 2C. In spite of an experimental design favourable to individual contracts, collective contracts fared unexpectedly well

The discreet charm of the collective contract

We compare individual with collective contracts using variations of a repeated gift- exchange game. Firms consist of one employer and three workers. In the individual variation (I) different workers can receive separate wages. In the collective variation (C) workers receive the same wage. I and C are played altering the order across sessions resulting in four treatments: 1I, 1C, 2I, 2C. The wage offered in the first period of 1C is significantly higher than the wage offered in the first period of 1I. Average wage and effort become indistinguishable in phase 1 afterwards. Individual contracts resulted on higher average effort but undistinguishable wages when comparing 2I with 2C. In spite of an experimental design favourable to individual contracts, collective contracts fared unexpectedly well