Designing shipping policies with top-up options to qualify for free delivery

Motivated by the booming online grocery market and the extensive use of contingent free-shipping (CFS) policies in the e-grocery industry, we investigate the optimal CFS and pricing decisions for online grocers. Under a CFS policy, consumers enjoy free shipping for orders exceeding a certain threshold value; otherwise, they are charged a flat fee for orders below this threshold. We adopt a utility-based model to capture consumers' behavior of purchasing additional items to qualify for free shipping under a CFS policy and analyze its impact on policy structure and consumer surplus. We characterize the e-grocer's optimal pricing and CFS policy and find that consumer heterogeneity and demand distribution lead to different forms of the optimal shipping policy. When consumer heterogeneity is large enough, the optimal policy induces some consumers to top up and may allow some others to ship for free. In this case, the e-grocer can charge a high-profit margin. Otherwise, a top-up option is unnecessary, and a flat-rate shipping fee policy is optimal. Moreover, while the optimal policy never induces all consumers to top up when they are rational, it is possible to do so when consumers associate some psychological disutility with the shipping fee. Surprisingly, the total consumer surplus under the optimal policy may increase in the latter case. We further model a Stackelberg game between an e-grocer and an offline channel and find that the difference between the e-grocer's internal shipping cost and consumers' inconvenience cost of shopping offline is a main driver for market segmentation. Lastly, we show that a subscription-based free-shipping program, in addition to the jointly optimized CFS and pricing policy, cannot improve profits when consumers' order size and frequency are independent. Our findings help online grocers make operational and marketing decisions under the impact of consumers' top-up behavior

Optical generation of hybrid entangled state via entangling single-photon-added coherent state

We propose a feasible scheme to realize the optical entanglement of single-photon-added coherent state (SPACS) and show that, besides the Sanders entangled coherent state, the entangled SPACS also leads to new forms of hybrid entanglement of quantum Fock state and classical coherent state. We probe the essential difference of two types of hybrid entangled state (HES). This HES provides a novel link between the discrete- and the continuous-variable entanglement in a natural way.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Low Concentrations of Bisphenol A Induce Mouse Spermatogonial Cell Proliferation by G Protein–Coupled Receptor 30 and Estrogen Receptor-α

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the most prevalent chemicals in daily-use materials; therefore, human exposure to BPA is ubiquitous. The estrogenicity of BPA is generally mediated by nuclear estrogen receptors (ERs). However, low concentrations of BPA stimulate seminoma cell proliferation by an uncertain mechanism that does not involve activation of ERs

Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase isozyme L1/UCHL1 suppresses epithelial-mesenchymal transition and is under-expressed in cadmium-transformed human bronchial epithelial cells

Cadmium (Cd), a highly toxic heavy metal, is widespreadly distributed in the environment. Chronic exposure to Cd is associated with the development of several diseases including cancers. Over the decade, many researches have been carried on various models to examine the acute effects of Cd; yet, limited knowledge is known about the long-term Cd exposure, especially in the human lung cells. Previously, we showed that chronic Cd-exposed human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells exhibited transformed cell properties, such as anchorage-independent growth, augmented cell migration, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). To study these Cd-transformed cells more comprehensively, here, we further characterized their subproteomes. Overall, a total of 63 differentially expressed proteins between Cd-transformed and passage-matched control cells among the five subcellular fractions (cytoplasmic, membrane, nuclear-soluble, chromatin-bound, and cytoskeletal) were identified by mass spectrometric analysis and database searching. Interestingly, we found that the thiol protease ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase isozyme L1 (UCHL1) is one of the severely downregulated proteins in the Cd-transformed cells. Notably, the EMT phenotype of Cd-transformed cells can be suppressed by forced ectopic expression of UCHL1, suggesting UCHL1 as a crucial modulator in the maintenance of the proper differentiation status in lung epithelial cells. Since EMT is considered as a critical step during malignant cell transformation, finding novel cellular targets that can antagonize this transition may lead to more efficient strategies to inhibit cancer development. Our data report for the first time that UCHL1 may play a function in the suppression of EMT in Cd-transformed human lung epithelial cells, indicating that UCHL1 might be a new therapeutic target for chronic Cd-induced carcinogenesis. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Geometry and optics calibration of WFCTA prototype telescopes using star light

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory project is proposed to study high energy gamma ray astronomy ( 40 GeV-1 PeV ) and cosmic ray physics ( 20 TeV-1 EeV ). The wide field of view Cherenkov telescope array, as a component of the LHAASO project, will be used to study energy spectrum and compositions of cosmic ray by measuring the total Cherenkov light generated by air showers and shower maximum depth. Two prototype telescopes have been in operation since 2008. The pointing accuracy of each telescope is crucial to the direction reconstruction of the primary particles. On the other hand the primary energy reconstruction relies on the shape of the Cherenkov image on the camera and the unrecorded photons due to the imperfect connections between photomultiplier tubes. UV bright stars are used as point-like objects to calibrate the pointing and to study the optical properties of the camera, the spot size and the fractions of unrecorded photons in the insensitive areas of the camera.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics

An interpretation for the entropy of a black hole

We investigate the meaning of the entropy carried away by Hawking radiations from a black hole. We propose that the entropy for a black hole measures the uncertainty of the information about the black hole forming matter's precollapsed configurations, self-collapsed configurations, and inter-collapsed configurations. We find that gravitational wave or gravitational radiation alone cannot carry all information about the processes of black hole coalescence and collapse, while the total information locked in the hole could be carried away completely by Hawking radiation as tunneling

Erratum to: Binding Energy and Spin-Orbit Splitting of a Hydrogenic Donor Impurity in AlGaN/GaN Triangle-Shaped Potential Quantum Well

In the framework of effective-mass envelope function theory, including the effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling, the binding energyEband spin-orbit split energy Г of the ground state of a hydrogenic donor impurity in AlGaN/GaN triangle-shaped potential heterointerface are calculated. We find that with the electric field of the heterojunction increasing, (1) the effective width of quantum well decreases and (2) the binding energy increases monotonously, and in the mean time, (3) the spin-orbit split energy Г decreases drastically. (4) The maximum of Г is 1.22 meV when the electric field of heterointerface is 1 MV/cm

Remote Sensing of Environment: Current status of Landsat program, science, and applications

Formal planning and development of what became the first Landsat satellite commenced over 50 years ago in 1967. Now, having collected earth observation data for well over four decades since the 1972 launch of Landsat- 1, the Landsat program is increasingly complex and vibrant. Critical programmatic elements are ensuring the continuity of high quality measurements for scientific and operational investigations, including ground systems, acquisition planning, data archiving and management, and provision of analysis ready data products. Free and open access to archival and new imagery has resulted in a myriad of innovative applications and novel scientific insights. The planning of future compatible satellites in the Landsat series, which maintain continuity while incorporating technological advancements, has resulted in an increased operational use of Landsat data. Governments and international agencies, among others, can now build an expectation of Landsat data into a given operational data stream. International programs and conventions (e.g., deforestation monitoring, climate change mitigation) are empowered by access to systematically collected and calibrated data with expected future continuity further contributing to the existing multi-decadal record. The increased breadth and depth of Landsat science and applications have accelerated following the launch of Landsat-8, with significant improvements in data quality. Herein, we describe the programmatic developments and institutional context for the Landsat program and the unique ability of Landsat to meet the needs of national and international programs. We then present the key trends in Landsat science that underpin many of the recent scientific and application developments and followup with more detailed thematically organized summaries. The historical context offered by archival imagery combined with new imagery allows for the development of time series algorithms that can produce information on trends and dynamics. Landsat-8 has figured prominently in these recent developments, as has the improved understanding and calibration of historical data. Following the communication of the state of Landsat science, an outlook for future launches and envisioned programmatic developments are presented. Increased linkages between satellite programs are also made possible through an expectation of future mission continuity, such as developing a virtual constellation with Sentinel-2. Successful science and applications developments create a positive feedback loop—justifying and encouraging current and future programmatic support for Landsat

LSST Science Book, Version 2.0

A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over 20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.Comment: 596 pages. Also available at full resolution at http://www.lsst.org/lsst/sciboo