A Theory of Size and Product Diversity of Marketplaces with Application to the Trade Show Arena

Markets involve the exchange of information and products between buyers and sellers in marketplaces created by market organizers. This paper develops a theory to explain the differences in the size (number of participants) and diversity (range of products displayed) across these marketplaces. We assume that successful transactions require information transmission between parties calling for investment in time/effort. Two key factors affect this process of information interchange: diminishing marginal returns to effort encouraging diversification and congestion cost resulting from participant overload. We study a sequential model of interaction between buyers, sellers and marketplace organizers. Organizers choose the number and nature of marketplaces to organize, and set entry fees for them while buyers and sellers make participation and effort allocation decisions. We show that participants' breadth of product interest, their buying and selling intensities (i.e. how frequently they are likely to engage in future product transactions) as well as the technological innovativeness of the industry have important influences on the size and range of product diversity in the marketplace. We apply this model to the industrial trade show arena to explain differences in trade show types (horizontal with broad product focus vs. vertical with narrow product focus) across industries. Empirical tests of several propositions derived from our model provide an encouraging degree of support for our theory. Our analysis identifies several industries that appear to be underserved by one type of show or the other, suggesting possible future opportunities for organizers.

Electronically Switchable Sham Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) System

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is increasingly being used to demonstrate the causal links between brain and behavior in humans. Further, extensive clinical trials are being conducted to investigate the therapeutic role of TMS in disorders such as depression. Because TMS causes strong peripheral effects such as auditory clicks and muscle twitches, experimental artifacts such as subject bias and placebo effect are clear concerns. Several sham TMS methods have been developed, but none of the techniques allows one to intermix real and sham TMS on a trial-by-trial basis in a double-blind manner. We have developed an attachment that allows fast, automated switching between Standard TMS and two types of control TMS (Sham and Reverse) without movement of the coil or reconfiguration of the setup. We validate the setup by performing mathematical modeling, search-coil and physiological measurements. To see if the stimulus conditions can be blinded, we conduct perceptual discrimination and sensory perception studies. We verify that the physical properties of the stimulus are appropriate, and that successive stimuli do not contaminate each other. We find that the threshold for motor activation is significantly higher for Reversed than for Standard stimulation, and that Sham stimulation entirely fails to activate muscle potentials. Subjects and experimenters perform poorly at discriminating between Sham and Standard TMS with a figure-of-eight coil, and between Reverse and Standard TMS with a circular coil. Our results raise the possibility of utilizing this technique for a wide range of applications

Energy dissipation and ion heating at the heliospheric termination shock

The Los Alamos hybrid simulation code is used to examine heating and the partition of dissipation energy at the perpendicular heliospheric termination shock in the presence of pickup ions. The simulations are one-dimensional in space but three-dimensional in field and velocity components, and are carried out for a range of values of pickup ion relative density. Results from the simulations show that because the solar wind ions are relatively cold upstream, the temperature of these ions is raised by a relatively larger factor than the temperature of the pickup ions. An analytic model for energy partition is developed on the basis of the Rankine-Hugoniot relations and a polytropic energy equation. The polytropic index gamma used in the Rankine-Hugoniot relations is varied to improve agreement between the model and the simulations concerning the fraction of downstream heating in the pickup ions as well as the compression ratio at the shock. When the pickup ion density is less than 20%, the polytropic index is about 5/3, whereas for pickup ion densities greater than 20%, the polytropic index tends toward 2.2, suggesting a fundamental change in the character of the shock, as seen in the simulations, when the pickup ion density is large. The model and the simulations both indicate for the upstream parameters chosen for Voyager 2 conditions that the pickup ion density is about 25% and the pickup ions gain the larger share ( approximately 90%) of the downstream thermal pressure, consistent with Voyager 2 observations near the shock

Imaging Radiation Pneumonitis in a Rat Model of a Radiological Terrorism Incident

We have developed a rat model of single, sub-lethal thoracic irradiation. Our irradiation protocol is considered representative of exposures near the detonation site of a dirty bomb or small nuclear device. The model is being used to investigate techniques for identifying, triaging and treating possible victims. In addition to physiological markers of right ventricular hypertrophy, pulmonary vascular resistance, and arterial distensibility, we present two methods for quantifying microvascular density. We used methods including microfocal X-ray imaging to investigate changes in lung structure/function resulting from radiation exposure. Radiation pneumonitis is a complication in subjects receiving thoracic irradiation. A radiographic hallmark of acute radiation pneumonitis is a diffuse infiltrate corresponding to the radiation treatment field. We describe two methods for quantifying small artery dropout that occurs in the model at the same time-period. Rats were examined 3-days, 2-weeks, 1-month (m), 2-m, 5-m, and 12-m post-irradiation and compared with aged-matched controls. Right ventricular hypertrophy and increases in pulmonary vascular resistance were present during the pneumonitis phase. Vascular injury was dependent on dose and post-irradiation duration. Rats irradiated with 5 Gy had few detectable changes, whereas 10 Gy resulted in a significant decrease in both microvascular density and arterial distensibility around 2- m, the decrease in each lessening, but extending through 12-m. In conclusion, rats irradiated with a 10 Gy dose had changes in vascular structure concurrent with the onset of radiation pneumonitis that were detectable with our imaging techniques and these structural changes persist after resolution of the pneumonitis

Roles for Intestinal Bacteria, Viruses, and Fungi in Pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Therapeutic Approaches

Intestinal microbiota are involved in the pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and pouchitis. We review the mechanisms by which these gut bacteria, fungi, and viruses mediate mucosal homeostasis, via their composite genes (metagenome) and metabolic products (metabolome). We explain how alterations to their profiles and functions under conditions of dysbiosis contribute to inflammation and effector immune responses that mediate inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in humans and enterocolitis in mice. It could be possible to engineer the intestinal environment by modifying the microbiota community structure or function to treat patients with IBD— either with individual agents, via dietary management, or as adjuncts to immunosuppressive drugs. We summarize the latest information on therapeutic use of fecal microbial transplantation and propose improved strategies to selectively normalize the dysbiotic microbiome in personalized approaches to treatment

Pericentromeric heterochromatin is hierarchically organized and spatially contacts H3K9me2 islands in euchromatin.

Membraneless pericentromeric heterochromatin (PCH) domains play vital roles in chromosome dynamics and genome stability. However, our current understanding of 3D genome organization does not include PCH domains because of technical challenges associated with repetitive sequences enriched in PCH genomic regions. We investigated the 3D architecture of Drosophila melanogaster PCH domains and their spatial associations with the euchromatic genome by developing a novel analysis method that incorporates genome-wide Hi-C reads originating from PCH DNA. Combined with cytogenetic analysis, we reveal a hierarchical organization of the PCH domains into distinct territories. Strikingly, H3K9me2-enriched regions embedded in the euchromatic genome show prevalent 3D interactions with the PCH domain. These spatial contacts require H3K9me2 enrichment, are likely mediated by liquid-liquid phase separation, and may influence organismal fitness. Our findings have important implications for how PCH architecture influences the function and evolution of both repetitive heterochromatin and the gene-rich euchromatin

A Technique for generating Feynman Diagrams

We present a simple technique that allows to generate Feynman diagrams for vector models with interactions of order $2n$ and similar models (Gross-Neveu, Thirring model), using a bootstrap equation that uses only the free field value of the energy as an input. The method allows to find the diagrams to, in principle, arbitrarily high order and applies to both energy and correlation functions. It automatically generates the correct symmetry factor (as a function of the number of components of the field) and the correct sign for any diagram in the case of fermion loops. We briefly discuss the possibility of treating QED as a Thirring model with non-local interaction.Comment: 19 pages, LateX, To be published in Z. f. Phys.