Signaling in First-Price Auctions

It is commonly assumed in private value auctions that bidders have no information about the realization of the other bidders' valuations. Nevertheless, an informative public signal about the realization may be released by a bidder while he learns his own valuation. Using a simple discrete asymmetric first-price auction setting, we show that a bidder may indeed benefit from the presence of an informative signal about his own valuation. We characterize the optimal signal and show that a signal is not beneficial if it is too precise. The latter result carries over to a general continuous asymmetric first-price auction model. Finally, we use a specific signaling structure with uniform distributions to show that signaling need not be beneficial for any precision of the signal.asymmetric auction, first-price auction, signaling

Information Disclosure in Innovation Contests

In innovation contests, the progress of the competing firms in the innovation process is usually their private information. We analyze an innovation contest in which research firms have a stochastic technology to develop innovations at a fixed cost, but their progress is publicly announced. We make a comparison with the case of no information revelation: if the progress is disclosed, the expected profit of the firms is higher, but the expected profit of the sponsor is lower. Additionally, we show that firms may voluntarily reveal their information.contest, innovation, information revelation

Essays on Information Disclosure in Auctions and Contests

In strategic decision making, the agents' decisions depend crucially on the information they have. Less information means more uncertainty about the other agents' possible behavior, making strategic decisions more complex. As information has a strategic value, it seems natural to expect that in competitive environments an agent has an advantage if his rivaling agents know as little as possible about him. In this thesis, we study competitive strategic situations where this is not necessarily the case: we look at first-price auctions and innovation contests in which the participating agents voluntarily reveal information about themselves. In the first chapter, we study information disclosure in innovation contests. In innovation contests, the progress of the competing firms in the innovation process is usually their private information. We analyze an innovation contest in which research firms have a stochastic technology to develop innovations at a fixed cost, but their progress is publicly announced. We make a comparison with the case of no information revelation: if the progress is disclosed, the expected profit of the firms is higher, but the expected profit of the sponsor is lower. Additionally, we show that firms may voluntarily reveal their information. The second chapter deals with a particular kind of auctions. In multi-attribute procurement auctions with multiple objects, the auctioneer may care about the interplay of quality attributes that do not belong to the same item -- like each item's delivery time, if all items are needed at once. This can influence the performance of the auction mechanism. We generalize the Ausubel-Milgrom ascending proxy auction to such an environment and show that the main properties still hold: equilibria in profit-target strategies exist, the final allocation maximizes the surplus and the payoff vector is in the core. Furthermore, the scoring rule used to evaluate the bids may contain valuable information about the auctioneer for his competitors, providing an incentive not to reveal it. It is possible to keep the scoring rule secret without changing the outcome of the auction and a universal equilibrium strategy exists for a particular class of scoring rules. Additionally, for additive scoring rules there is a close connection to the original proxy auction. The final chapter considers information revelation in first-price auctions. It is commonly assumed in private value auctions that bidders have no information about the realization of the other bidders' valuations. Nevertheless, an informative public signal about the realization may be released by a bidder while he learns his own valuation. Using a simple discrete asymmetric first-price auction setting, we show that a bidder may indeed benefit from the presence of an informative signal about his own valuation. We characterize the optimal signal and show that a signal is not beneficial if it is too precise. The latter result carries over to a general continuous asymmetric first-price auction model. Finally, we use a specific signaling structure with uniform distributions to show that signaling need not be beneficial for any precision of the signal

A Pilot Study of a Sex Education Program in a Sheltered Workshop Using a Cognitive-Behavioral Model Based on Rational Emotive Therapy

This pilot study was developed to teach people with mental retardation about their own sexuality, appropriate community behaviors, and to develop within them a basic sense of responsibility for their own actions. Problems in social/sexual behaviors have been consistently quoted as reasons for high recidivism rates, as well as difficulties in community living, vocational placement, and other generalized stereotypes about mental retardation. Often the public remains uninformed about, does not recognize, and/or feels that sexual rights for people with any mental differences should not exist. Additionally, when any form of sexuality was expressed by such people it resulted in shock and/or punishment. This in turn perpetuated the old coustodial models, and the teaching of general effective living skills for eventual community re-integration remained inadequate. Included within this pilot study were problem solving techniques based on Rational Emotive Therapy which were extended into sexuality and then generalized to other non-sexual areas. The basic philosophy behind the project was that people who attend a sheltered workshop are able to think and learn appropriate behavior, can accept responsibilities for themselves, and can learn how to solve their own personal problems with minimal support. In the area of sexuality the paper concentrates on sexual knowledge and attitudes. A literature review shows that few researchers have asked the people themselves what they think or feel about sex. Several problems were revealed: Most of the literature covers philosophical positions or anecdotes. The few appropriate tests available have no published norms. Much of the material available remains inadequate and overpriced. Other areas covered include problems in sex education programs; attitudes of institutions; parental reaction to sexuality and retardation; birth control, children, and marriage; and the legal aspects of sterilization. A growing number of professionals have indicated that therapy can work if the counselor remains active, directive, structures meetings, is more verbal, uses repetition, accepts limitations, tolerates frustration, and works within narrow goals. While true insight is rare, a person can be taught several alternatives in solving his problems himself. The approach of Rational Emotive Therapy is explained and shows how it can be adapted. Another section provides materials a counselor/educator could use to create a program for his own use. This includes philosophy, readings, format, games, slide presentations, comic books, posters, and curriculums. A chapter on research shows a short questionaire format used to judge group needs and as a method for ongoing group evaluation. Results show the test to be reliable (r=.70). More than 70% know the concepts involved in making a woman pregnant and defining terms. Some problems were seen in V.D. knowledge, homosexuality, who to have sex with, making decisions, and creating alternatives. The end result is a cognitive-behavioral based sex education program which stresses acceptance of self responsibility, concept of self as adults, decision-making, and basic problem solving skills. The basic philosophy emphasizes that these are people with retardation not retarded people

Through-space 31P,1H-, 31P,13C- und 31P,19F-Spin-Spin-Kopplungen in phosphorsubstituierten Cyclophanen

Cyclophane, bei denen sich die Substituenten Fluor und Phosphor an verschiedenen aromatischen Ringen befinden, sind für die Studie von through-space 31P,19F-Spin-Spin- Kopplungen sehr geeignet. Die Synthese der P(III)-substituierten Cyclophane erfolgte aus dem jeweiligen Brom-cyclophan durch Lithiierung mit tBuLi und anschließende Umsetzung mit Ph2PCl. Die NMR-Spektren wurden durch zweidimensionale Korrelationsmethoden und heteronucleare Doppel- und Tripelresonanzexperimente analysiert. Die aus den NMR- Spektren abgeleiteten Strukturen isomerer Cyclophane wurden durch den Vergleich der experimentellen mit den aus Inkrementrechnungen erhaltenen 1H- und 13C-chemischen- Verschiebungen bestätigt. Es wurden neuartige, durch den Raum vermittelte, Spin-Spin- Kopplungen zwischen 31P und 19F gefunden, deren größte einen Wert von 51.4 Hz aufweist (im pseudo-geminal substituierten F,P-Dithia[3.3]paracyclophan 27). Durch Vergleich mit P(V)-Derivaten konnte die Bedeutung des freien Elektronenpaares an P(III) für diese Spin-Spin-Kopplung sowie für die kleineren analogen through-space P,C- und P,H- Kopplungen nachgewiesen werden. Für die Größe der through-space-Kopplungen mit P(III) ist nicht nur der räumliche Abstand der Kopplungspartner, sondern auch die Orientierung des freien Elektronenpaares an P(III) bezüglich des Kopplungspartners wichtig. Schließlich konnte eine Beziehung abgeleitet werden, welche die Abhängigkeit der Kopplungskonstante 3JP,H(ortho) von der Orientierung des freien Elektronenpaares an P(III) angibt.Cyclophanes substituted with fluorine and phosphorus at different aromatic rings are suitable for the study of through-space 31P,19F spin-spin coupling. The P(III)-substituted cyclophanes were prepared from their corresponding bromo-cyclophanes by lithiation with tBuLi and reaction with Ph2PCl. The NMR spectra were analyzed by the use of two- dimensional shift correlations and heteronuclear double and triple resonance experiments. The structure of the cyclophane isomers were confirmed by comparing the experimental 1H and 13C chemical shifts with those predicted by assuming additivity of substitutent chemical shifts. A new type of spin-spin coupling between 31P and 19F transmitted through space was discovered. The largest coupling was observed for the pseudogeminal isomer of F,P-Dithia[3.3]paracyclophan 27 (51.4 Hz). It was shown that the lone pair at P(III) is of great significance to this spin-spin coupling and to the smaller values of the through-space JP,C and JP,H. Further, the size of the through-space coupling depends not only on the distance of the coupled nuclei but also on the orientation of the lone pair at P(III) relative to the coupling partner. Finally, a correlation was derived between 3JP,H of the proton ortho to phosphorus and the orientation of the lone pair at P(III)

Activity Tracking and Improved Health Outcomes

Activity tracking devices are a popular way for health-minded individuals to measure daily movement and estimate energy expenditure. Tracking, in its many forms, has been proven to improve health outcomes. From paper diaries to devices and smartphone applications, these data are becoming more important and have the potential to be used in the physician’s office as part of a realistic physical activity plan for improved health outcomes. As a health-care professional, amid a rapidly expanding accelerometer market, it is important to know the application and practicality of these devices, as well as the evidence behind an individual\u27s usage. What we choose to recommend, as health-care professionals, can influence the health and well-being of patients in the wellness arena. This chapter will look at research focused on activity tracking, including metrics such as sleep, nutrition, and physical activity, and health outcomes to further educate health-care professionals in an ever-evolving field

Herpes zoster in Germany: Quantifying the burden of disease

Background: Herpes zoster (HZ) is caused by a reactivation of the varicella-zoster-virus (VZV) and mainly affects individuals aged ≥ 50 years. Vaccines have been licensed or are under development that can protect against HZ and its main complication postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). In Germany, the burden of disease caused by HZ is not well known. To support the decision making process related to a potential vaccination recommendation, we estimated annual HZ disease burden in people aged ≥ 50 years in Germany by utilizing various data sources. Methods: We assessed for 2007 and 2008 HZ-outpatient incidence (number of cases per 1,000 person-years, PY) by utilizing the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (ASHIP) database, which contains nationwide routine outpatient data. For the same time period annual number of HZ-inpatients and HZ-associated deaths were identified by using the Federal Health Monitoring System (FHM). PHN-incidence and loss of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) caused by HZ were calculated by multiplying number of identified HZ-patients with upper and lower limit estimates for proportion of HZ-cases developing PHN and HZ-related QALY, respectively. Results: For the study period we identified an annual average of 306,511 HZ-outpatients aged 50+, resulting in a HZ-incidence of 9.6/1,000 PY. A total 14,249 HZ-associated inpatients and 66 deaths were reported in both years on average. HZ-incidence increased by age from 6.21 in people 50-54 years to 13.19 per 1,000 PY in people aged ≥ 90 years. Females were significantly more frequently affected than males in terms of outpatient HZ-incidence (11.12 vs. 7.8 per 1,000 PY), inpatient HZ-incidence (0.51 vs. 0.38 per 1,000 PY) and mortality (0.29 vs. 0.10 per 100,000 PY). PHN-incidence was estimated to range between 0.43 and 1.33 per 1,000 PY. Based on these figures, there were between 3,065 to 24,094 QALYs lost due to HZ in persons aged ≥ 50 years in Germany per annum. Conclusion: Our study provides important baseline estimates for HZ-related disease burden in Germany. HZ poses a considerable burden on the health care system in Germany both in terms of outpatient and inpatient services. Follow-up assessments of HZ disease burden are needed to monitor the impact of VZV-vaccinations in Germany