A Study of Pricing Evolution in the Online Toy Market

We examine the pricing trends in the online toy markets based on a unique set of panel data collected across three years’ span. The analysis was made through panel data regression models with error components and serial correlation, allowing comparisons of prices and price dispersions between the two types of online retailers as well as examinations of dynamics of prices and price dispersions. Our results indicate that both online branch of multichannel retailers (OBMCRS) and dotcoms charge similar prices on average, and over time their prices move in tandem. Although the OBMCR retailers charge significantly different prices, the dotcoms do charge similar prices. Moreover, both retailer types demonstrate different magnitudes of price dispersion that move at different rates over time. Although the price dispersion of OBMCRS is higher than that of the dotcoms at the beginning, the gap narrows over time.e-commerce, online pricing strategies, online toy market, price dispersion, pricing trends

Conditional protein degradation in Yarrowia lipolytica using the auxin-inducible degron

Conditional protein degradation is a powerful tool for controlled protein knockdown. The auxin-inducible degron (AID) technology uses a plant auxin to induce depletion of degron-tagged proteins, and it has been shown to be functional in several non-plant eukaryotes. In this study, we demonstrated AID-based protein knockdown in an industrially important oleaginous yeas

Mechanics, hydration phase and pore development of embodied energy and carbon composites based on ultrahigh-volume low-carbon cement with limestone calcined clay

Engineered cement-based composites exhibit excellent deformability, mechanical behavior, fresh performance and durability. However, the traditional cement-based composites incorporating high volume ordinary Portland cement would lead to high carbon footprint. In this study, a new and eco-efficient engineered cement-based composites was designed by incorporating Polypropylene fibers (PPF) and eco-friendly cement with limestone calcined clay (LC3-ECCs). The LC3-ECCs were analyzed and discussed in terms of mechanical properties, microscopic morphology, hydration products and porosity. The study found that the 28-days compressive behavior was above 44.2 MPa, and the flexural strength remained above 4.8 MPa. Because of the formation and gathering of highly polymerized compound products (C-S-H gel, C-A-S-H gel) in the matrix and plenty of ettringite, the bonding effect between PPF and LC3 cementitious matrix is better. Additionally, the LC3-ECCs with 1.5 % volume content of PP fiber showed less porosity beneficial to the mechanical behavior. This study suggests that low-carbon LC3 has the potential to be successfully utilized as the alternative to OPC and is suitable to design sustainable ECCs, and this low-carbon construction product can be also generally applied into some area with the abundant clay sources

Investigation of using limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) in engineered cementitious composites: The effect of propylene fibers and the curing system

Limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) is a new type of low-carbon cement that can reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions while meeting the performance requirements of ordinary cement. In this study, polypropylene (PP) fibers were mixed into limestone calcined clay cement-based materials to make new low-carbon ECCs. In this study, a total of 24 sets of specimens were designed for 4 groups of curing ages and 6 types of mix ratios. The compressive load–displacement data were measured the compressive curve characteristics were analyzed then, a compressive constitutive model of the composites was deduced and obtained. Through XRD, SEM-EDS and MIP experiments, the reasons and laws of the compressive strength ranges of adding PP fibers and LC3 to engineered cementitious composites (LC3-PP-ECCs) are further explained from the perspective of the pore size, microstructures and hydration products. The results show that, after 28 days, the compressive strength values of LC3-PP-ECCs generally decreases with increasing PP fiber content and the combined effect of PP fibers and hydration products causes the compressive strength of LC3-ECCs with 0.5% PP fibers to drop sharply. In addition, the specimens showed better properties in terms of toughness, ductility and energy absorption. However, in the microstructures, the addition of PP fibers will cause more internal defects and flaws. This results of this study can provide some theoretical experience and technical support for the engineering application of LC3-ECCs

Resveratrol increases the sensitivity of multiple myeloma cells against bortezomib via Hedgehog signaling pathway

Purpose: To investigate the effect of resveratrol (RSV) on bortezomib (BTZ)-resistant multiple myeloma (MM) cells, and to elucidate the underlying mechanism of action. Methods: H929 cell lines were exposed to BTZ for 8 months to establish BTZ-resistant MM cell model. Cell proliferation was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Apoptosis was measured using annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) staining while cell cycle analysis was evaluated by flow cytometry. The expression of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling proteins (sonic hedgehog (SHH), smoothened (SMO), and glioma-associated oncogene homolog (GLI)) was analyzed by western blot. Results: H929R was confirmed as a MM cell line that is resistant to BTZ. RSV enhanced the sensitivity of H929R cells against BTZ via inhibition of cell viability and colony formation, induction of cell apoptosis and regulation of expression of apoptosis-related proteins. Furthermore, RSV inhibited the expression of Hh signaling proteins (p < 0.05. Conclusion: RSV enhances the sensitivity of MM cells to BTZ, partly via Hh signaling pathway. Thus, Hh pathway is a probable target for MM treatment, and RSV has potentials for use in the clinical management of MM

A Comparative Study of Survival, Metabolism, Immune Indicators, and Proteomics, in Five Batches of Japanese Scallop Mizuhopecten yessoensis under Short-Term High Temperature Stress

Five batches of the Japanese scallop Mizuhopecten pyessoensis were tested for survival rate, oxygen consumption, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, total antioxidant capacities (T-AOC) contents, and proteomics under short-term high temperature conditions. The five batches, (W1, W2, W3, W4, W5) selected from the established 21 ‘ivory white’ M. yessoensis batches, had higher survival rates than the other batches after one year of culture. Initial rearing water temperature of 15°C was increased by 1°C per day with a cooling and heating system. The temperature was raised until over 50% of the scallops from 3 batches died. This occurred at 30°C. The higher than normal culture temperature conditions showed significant or highly significant differences in the responses of some of the batches. Some showed significantly higher survival rates and significantly different rates of oxygen consumption. CAT activity, SOD activity and T-AOC content was similar in the five batches, and all three indices were significantly lower in W3 and W5 than in the other batches (P<0.01). Expression patterns of MDA content were opposite to those of CAT activity, SOD activity and T-AOC content. Protein profiles of all five batches were similar; the sizes of the predominant bands ranged from 20-110 kDa. We identified twenty-eight proteins with high scores in the database. These included heat shock proteins (HSPs), glucose-regulated protein 94, and arginine kinase

A study of price evolution in online toy market

We study and contrast pricing and price evolution of online only (Dotcom) and online branch of multi-channel retailers (OBMCRs) based on two panel data sets collected from online toy markets. Panel data regression analyses reveal several interesting empirical results: over time, OBMCRs and Dotcoms charge similar prices on average but Dotcoms significantly increase their shipping costs that eventually drive the overall average price of Dotcoms higher than that of OBMCRs. Price dispersions of both types of retailers are persistent. The price dispersion of OBMCRs is higher than that of Dotcoms at the beginning and does not change much over time, but the price dispersion of Dotcoms increases significantly over time, indicating that the latter will eventually be higher than the former. Moreover, the OBMCRs charge significantly different prices, but the Dotcoms charge similar prices.EconomicsSSCI0ARTICLEnull

Iodide and chloride ions diffusivity, pore characterization and microstructures of concrete incorporating ground granulated blast furnace slag

Innovative approaches are under research to study the resistance of chloride ion penetration in concrete containing chloride ions, to minimize the impact of chloride ion penetration test errors in coastal reinforced concrete (RC), which is helpful to the design of coastal RC structures. In this study, the diffusion depth, free ion concentration and diffusion coefficient of chloride, iodide ions with different curing ages and GGBFS content were measured by the Rapid Chloride Migration Test (RCM) and Rapid Iodide Migration tests (RIM). The SEM-EDS and MIP were used to analyze the microstructures, pore size distribution and the hydrated products. The results show that the performance of GGBFS concrete against the diffusion of corrosive ions is affected by the curing age and the content of GGBFS. With the increase of GGBFS content, especially concrete with 60% GGBFS, the influence of chloride, iodide ion penetrating into concrete gradually becomes smaller. The long-age curing system is more conducive to the concrete resistance to the migration and diffusion of chloride, iodine ions. Compared with the ordinary concrete, the total porosity of concrete mixed with GGBFS is lower, the internal microstructures have fewer cracks and defects, the density is better, and the diffusion coefficient of chloride and iodide ions is also lower. In addition, using the concept of corrosive ion adjustment coefficient (conversion coefficient of diffusion between chloride ion and iodide ion) and applying the data regression analysis (DRA), it is found that there is a good quadratic parabolic function relationship between the GGBFS content and the ions adjustment coefficient

Familial multinodular goiter syndrome with papillary thyroid carcinomas: mutational analysis of the associated genes in 5 cases from 1 Chinese family

Background: Familial papillary thyroid cancer (fPTC) is recognized as a distinct entity only recently and no fPTC predisposing genes have been identified. Several potential regions and susceptibility loci for sporadic PTC have been reported. We aimed to evaluate the role of the reported susceptibility loci and potential risk genomic region in a Chinese familial multinodular goiter (fMNG) with PTC family. Methods: We sequenced the related risk genomic regions and analyzed the known PTC susceptibility loci in the Chinese family members who consented to join the study. These loci included (1) the point mutations of the BRAF and RET; (2) the possible susceptibility loci to sporadic PTC; and (3) the suggested potential fMNG syndrome with PTC risk region. Results: The members showed no mutations in the common susceptible BRAF and RET genomic region, although contained several different heterozygous alleles in the RET introns. All the members were homozygous for PTC risk alleles of rs966423 (C) at chromosome 2q35, rs2910164 (C) at chromosome 5q24 and rs2439302 (G) at chromosome 8p12; while carried no risk allele of rs4733616 (T) at chromosome 8q24, rs965513 (A) or rs1867277 (A) at chromosome 9q22 which were associated with radiation-related PTC. The frequency of the risk allele of rs944289 (T) but not that of rs116909374 (T) at chromosome 14q13 was increased in the MNG or PTC family members. Conclusions: Our work provided additional evidence to the genetic predisposition to a Chinese familial form of MNG with PTC. The family members carried quite a few risk alleles found in sporadic PTC; particularly, homozygous rs944289 (T) at chromosome 14q13 which was previously shown to be linked to a form of fMNG with PTC. Moreover, the genetic determinants of radiation-related PTC were not presented in this family