R&D subsidies under asymmetric Cournot competition

With a three-stage game model, this article theoretically assesses the effectiveness of different research and development subsidy strategies under asymmetric duopoly. The findings indicate that subsidising the small firm instead of the large is the optimum for the maximisation of social welfare in general. Meanwhile, if the initial marginal costs of the two firms are close to each other, providing subsidies to the small firm leads to more social R&D investment and higher aggregate production, but lower consumer surplus. Conversely, while the cost gap of the duopoly is large, subsidising the big firm becomes the preferable option for the authority to stimulate both R&D investment and total output of the industry, while sacrificing consumer surplus

Cost-reduction innovation under mixed economy

Industries with mixed oligopoly are exceedingly popular all over the world, especially in developing countries, such as China. This paper highlights the innovation strategies of mixed duopoly with a (semi-) public firm and another private firm, and the effects of mixed oligopoly on innovation are captured. Firstly, the (semi-) public firm innovates more and produces more than the private firm. Secondly, the degree of the public ownership stimulates the output and innovation. Finally, the price difference and the price dispersion all increase with the degree of the public ownership under independent goods

Link of renal microcirculatory dysfunction to increased coronary microcirculatory resistance in hypertensive patients

Background: This study investigated the correlation between renal microcirculation and coronary microcirculation in hypertensive patients. Methods: Participants consisted of 231 consecutive candidates who were referred to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from March 2014 to May 2016 for elective coronary angiography due to suspected myocardial ischemia. All participants were evaluated for the index of microvascular resistance (IMR), coronary flow reserve (CFR), and fractional flow reserve (FFR) us¬ing a pressure wire. Blood and urine samples were collected for determination of the levels of urinary microalbuminuria (mALB), b2-microglobulin (b2-MG), serum cystatin C (CysC), and uric acid (UA). All participants were categorized into two groups according to the renal microcirculatory function. Results: Participants in the observation group had a higher IMR (31 ± 5 vs. 22 ± 6; p < 0.01) and a lower FFR (0.84 ± 0.10 vs. 0.87 ± 0.09 U; p < 0.05) during hyperemia than those in the control group. Linear regression tests revealed that mALB, b2-MG, CysC, and UA levels were positively cor¬related with IMR (r = 0.610, 0.553, 0.701, and 0.647, respectively, p < 0.01). The hs-CRP levels were positively correlated with IMR (r = 0.419, p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis indicated that renal microcirculation was an independent predictor of IMR. Conclusions: Renal microcirculatory dysfunction in hypertensive patients is characterized by higher IMR and lower FFR; in addition, it is closely correlated with an increased coronary microcirculatory resistance

Local and global polarization of Λ\Lambda hyperons across RHIC-BES energies: the roles of spin hall effect, initial condition and baryon diffusion

We perform a systematic study on the local and global spin polarization of $\Lambda$ and $\overline{\Lambda}$ hyperons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at beam energy scan energies via the (3+1)-dimensional CLVisc hydrodynamics model with AMPT and SMASH initial conditions. Following the quantum kinetic theory, we decompose the polarization vector as the parts induced by thermal vorticity, shear tensor and the spin Hall effect (SHE). We find that the polarization induced by SHE and the total polarization strongly depends on the initial conditions. At $7.7$GeV, SHE gives a sizeable contribution and even flips the sign of the local polarization along the beam direction for AMPT initial condition, which is not observed for SMASH initial condition. Meanwhile, the local polarization along the out-of-plane direction induced by SHE with AMPT initial condition does not always increase with decreasing collision energies. Next, we find that the polarization along the beam direction is sensitive to the baryon diffusion coefficient, but the local polarization along the out-of-plane direction is not. Our results for the global polarization of $\Lambda$ and $\overline{\Lambda}$ agree well with the STAR data. Interestingly, the global polarization of $\overline{\Lambda}$ is not always larger than that of $\Lambda$ due to various competing effects. Our findings are helpful for understanding the polarization phenomenon and the detailed structure of quark-gluon plasma in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

1,2-Bis[5-(2,2′-dicyano­vinyl)-2-n-pentyl-3-thien­yl]-3,3,4,4,5,5-hexa­fluoro­cyclo­pent-1-ene: a new photochromic diaryl­ethene compound

The title compound, C31H26F6N4S2, is a new photochromic dithienylethene with dicyano­vinyl subsitituents. In the crystal structure, the mol­ecule adopts a photoactive anti­parallel conformation, with two n-pentyl groups located on opposite sides of the cyclo­pentene ring. The cyclo­pentene ring assumes an envelope conformation. The distance between the two reactive C atoms on the thio­phene rings is 3.834 (7) Å. One of the n-pentyl groups is disordered over two positions; the site occupancy factors are ca 0.7 and 0.3

4-{2-[5-(3,5-Difluoro­phen­yl)-2-methyl­thio­phen-3-yl]-3,3,4,4,5,5-hexa­fluoro­cyclo­pent-1-en-1-yl}-1,5-dimethyl­pyrrole-2-carbonitrile

In the title compound, C23H14F8N2S, the dihedral angles between the pyrrole and thio­phene groups and the almost planar C—C=C—C unit of the cyclo­pentene ring (r.m.s. deviation = 0.4193 Å) are 43.6 (5) and 50.1 (2)°, respectively. The distance of 3.612 (3) Å between the potentially reactive C atoms of the two heteroaryl substituents is short enough to enable a photocyclization reaction

Optimal trade policies under product differentiations

This article focuses on the optimal international trade policy considered product differentiations. A duopoly model with a home firm in a developing country and a foreign firm in a developed country is established. The findings indicate that, the optimal tariff relies on the product differentiations significantly. On one hand, higher marginal cost of home firms have opposite effects on optimal tariff compared to higher marginal cost of foreign firms. On the other hand, the optimal tariff is monotonically decreasing in the amount of consumers caring about brands and increasing in the scale of consumers not caring about brands. Moreover, an increase in the marginal cost and transportation cost of imported goods triggers price rising in domestic market as the market power of home firms is consolidated. In addition, a foreign firm may withdraw from domestic market if its competitive advantages vanishes under high tariffs

Comparison of serum apolipoprotein A-I between Chinese multiple sclerosis and other related autoimmune disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Serum apolipoprotein (apo) A-I was considered to be an immune regulator and could suppress pro-inflammatory cytokines generated by activated T cell in some autoimmune diseases. However, the change of serum apoA-I levels in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is unknown.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the presentation we performed a study on serum apoA-I levels in the patients with MS. We enrolled some age and gender matched patients with MS, autoimmune demyelinating diseases (Guillain-Barre Syndrome and Clinically Isolated Syndrome), neuroinflammatory diseases (viral encephalitis), autoimmune connective diseases (rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus) and healthy control groups, and tested their serum lipids levels: total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoproteins (HDL), apolipoproteinB100 (apoB100), apolipoproteinA-I (apoA-I).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For all patients, age had no effect on serum apoA-I levels (<it>P </it>> 0.05). Meanwhile, we proved the highest serum apoA-I levels in MS patients and the lowest serum apoA-I levels in SLE patients. Serum apoA-I levels was significantly elevated in female MS patients (P = 0.033; P < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In short we believed that patients with MS and other autoimmune demyelination had significantly decreased serum levels of apo A-I.</p

3-(4-{3,3,4,4,5,5-Hexafluoro-2-[5-(3-methoxy­phen­yl)-2-methyl-3-thien­yl]cyclo­pent-1-en­yl}-5-methyl-2-thien­yl)benzonitrile

The title compound, C29H19F6NOS2, is a new unsymmetrical photochromic diarylethene derivative with different meta-phenyl substituents. The distance between the two reactive (i.e. can be irradiated to form a new chemical bond) C atoms is 3.501 (4) Å; the dihedral angles between the mean plane of the main central cyclo­pentene ring and the thio­phene rings are 47.7 (5) and 45.1 (2)°, and those between the thio­phene rings and the adjacent benzene rings are 29.4 (2) and 28.4 (3)°. The three C atoms and the F atoms of hexa­fuorocyclo­pentene ring are disordered over two positions, with site-occupancy factors of 0.751 (4) and 0.249 (4)