Dynamic pricing with the counter-conformity, conformity and non-conformity of consumer behavior

Confronted with well-informed consumers, the firms have to take everything into consideration. Through the classic game theory, pricing mechanism is discussed with different characteristics of consumer behavior. The consumer population is heterogeneous along two dimensions: they may have an inclination towards the obedience of the public and different degrees of patience. After introducing the price deviation variables, we demonstrate that heterogeneity in both inclination and patience is important because they jointly determine the structure of optimal pricing policies. The numerical example shows that the markdown degree, the expected purchasing amount of consumers and the expected profits of the firm are increasing with the increase of the proportion of counter-conformity consumers. And we also examine whether the discount rate of capital, counter-conformity consumers and myopic consumers will have an impact on the sales. In particular, when the discount rate and the proportion of the conformity customers are too high, the expected profits of the firm are increasing mildly with the increase of the proportion of myopic customers. Therefore, the discount rate and characteristics of consumer behavior should be considered together to maximize the revenue of firms

How does digital technology affect total factor productivity in manufacturing industries? Empirical evidence from China

Extensive studies have discussed the relationship between digital technology and total factor productivity (T.F.P.) in manufacturing industries, but far less attention is paid to the nonlinear relationship. Based on the panel data of China’s manufacturing industries and matching data of National Intellectual Property Public Service Network from 2000 to 2019, this article aims to explore how digital technology affects T.F.P. in manufacturing industries. The result demonstrates that a significant inverted U-shaped relationship is between digital technology and T.F.P. The threshold in high technology manufacturing industries is larger than that in low and middle technology manufacturing industries. With the progress of digital technology, the expenditure of technology and equipment upgrading is increasing. However, the marginal return of technology and equipment is decreasing, besides technology innovation. The case of China perhaps provides new insights into manufacturing industries in developing country to gain sustainable development

Anti-cancer activity of Aster tataricus on SCC-9 human oral squamous carcinoma

Background: Oral squamous carcinoma is a head and neck cancer, which is one of the types of malignant cancers. Present study evaluates the anticancer activity of Aster tataricus (AT) on SCC-9 human oral squamous carcinoma.Materials and Methods: Ethanol extract of AT was prepared by a standard procedure of maceration. AT extract was used in different concentrations like 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 and 640 μg/ml for the evaluation of its anticancer activity. Effect of AT extract on SCC9 cells were observed by microscope and cytotoxicity by 3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-Yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay. Moreover, clonogenic assay was used for the estimation of effect of AT extract on colony forming ability of SCC9 cells.Result: Result of the study suggested that treatment with AT extract causes cytotoxicity to SCC9 cancerous cells. In addition, AT extract treatment reduces clonogenic potential of SCC9 cell and it also inhibits the proliferation of cell significantly (p<0.001) in G2/M phase.Conclusion: Thus, given study concludes that AT extract effectively attenuates the growth of SCC-9 cancerous cells by the virtue of its cytotoxic and anti clonogenic activity.Keywords: Aster tataricus, 3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-Yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay, Human oral squamous carcinoma, SCC-

Self-assembly of noble metal nanoparticles into sub-100 nm colloidosomes with collective optical and catalytic properties.

Self-assembly at the nanoscale represents a powerful tool for creating materials with new structures and intriguing collective properties. Here, we report a novel strategy to synthesize nanoscale colloidosomes of noble metals by assembling primary metal nanoparticles at the interface of emulsion droplets formed by their capping agent. This strategy produces noble metal colloidosomes of unprecedentedly small sizes (<100 nm) in high yield and uniformity, which is highly desirable for practical applications. In addition, it enables the high tunability of the composition, producing a diversity of monometallic and bimetallic alloy colloidosomes. The colloidosomes exhibit interesting collective properties that are different from those of individual colloidal nanoparticles. Specifically, we demonstrate Au colloidosomes with well-controlled interparticle plasmon coupling and Au-Pd alloy colloidosomes with superior electrocatalytic performance, both thanks to the special structural features that arise from the assembly. We believe this strategy provides a general platform for producing a rich class of miniature colloidosomes that may have fascinating collective properties for a broad range of applications