Study on Buyback Contract in Supply Chain With a Loss-Averse Supplier and Multiple Loss-Averse Retailers Under Stockout Loss Situation

According to the prospect theory and the loss-aversion function, this paper developers the buyback contract model in a two-stage supply chain with a loss-averse supplier and multiple loss-averse retailers. Under the stockout loss setting, we analyze the effect of the loss aversion on the behavior from the retailers and the supplier, and then the buyback contract has been shown to be able to coordinate the supply chain. Furthermore, the number of retailers and loss aversion coefficient meet a certain range, there will be a unique optimal buyback price to achieve supply chain coordination

Power vs. Spectrum 2-D Sensing in Energy Harvesting Cognitive Radio Networks

Energy harvester based cognitive radio is a promising solution to address the shortage of both spectrum and energy. Since the spectrum access and power consumption patterns are interdependent, and the power value harvested from certain environmental sources are spatially correlated, the new power dimension could provide additional information to enhance the spectrum sensing accuracy. In this paper, the Markovian behavior of the primary users is considered, based on which we adopt a hidden input Markov model to specify the primary vs. secondary dynamics in the system. Accordingly, we propose a 2-D spectrum and power (harvested) sensing scheme to improve the primary user detection performance, which is also capable of estimating the primary transmit power level. Theoretical and simulated results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, in term of the performance gain achieved by considering the new power dimension. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to jointly consider the spectrum and power dimensions for the cognitive primary user detection problem

Synthesis and Processing of High Entropy Materials and their Integration into Lithium Batteries

With the increasing demand for renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal, and wind energy, the development of efficient energy storage devices is necessary. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been considered a potentially revolutionary technology for storing renewable energy due to their advantages of low self-discharge, long life span, high output voltage, and high energy density. Over the past few decades, LIBs have undergone extensive development in both industry and academia. In current LIB technology, the cell voltage and capacity are primarily determined by the electrode materials, which also dominate the battery cost. Therefore, exploring alternative electrode materials and investigating their structure-composition-performance relationships is essential for further development. Recently, the use of the high entropy concept to develop materials is gaining significant interest. The high entropy concept is derived from high entropy alloys (HEAs), which possess high configurational entropy (Sconfig) by incorporating 5 or more elements into a single-phase structure, leading to the so-called “cocktail effect”, where the multiple synergies among the constituent elements may result in additional or changed properties. That means HEMs can have the potential to outperform the parent material system. Inspired by the high entropy concept, high entropy oxides (HEOs) were investigated as a new class of conversion electrode materials for LIBs, which show unexpected reversibility due to their unique structural stability. These unexpected findings have stimulated many recent studies on the performance of high entropy materials in electrochemical energy storage devices. In this work, a new photonic curing method was used to synthesize high entropy oxides for more rapid and efficient synthesis. The material was used as a binder-free electrode material for LIBs. Since HEO has a high mixed lithium-ion and electronic conductivity at room temperature, HEO was also synthesized by the photonic curing method for coating on NCM851005. In addition, the mechanism as a coating material for performance improvement was investigated. Inspired by the application of HEO as a conversion electrode material as an anode, high-entropy fluorides (HEFs), as conversion materials, were synthesized and used as cathode materials for LIBs and their underlying storage mechanisms were investigated. Due to the elemental dissolution of metal fluorides during cycling, high entropy oxides have also been studied as a coating for HEFs. The application and research of high entropy materials in electrode materials provide new guidelines for designing and manufacturing new electrode materials for LIBs

Polysaccharides from the Chinese medicinal herb Achyranthes bidentata enhance anti-malarial immunity during Plasmodium yoelii 17XL infection in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Clinical immunity to malaria in human populations is developed after repeated exposure to malaria. Regulation and balance of host immune responses may lead to optimal immunity against malaria parasite infection. Polysaccharides (ABPS) derived from the Chinese herb ox knee <it>Achyranthes bidentata </it>possess immuno-modulatory functions. The aim of this study is to use the rodent malaria model <it>Plasmodium yoelii </it>17XL (<it>P. y</it>17XL) to examine whether pretreatment with ABPS will modulate host immunity against malaria infection and improve the outcome of the disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To determine whether ABPS could modulate immunity against malaria, mice were pretreated with ABPS prior to blood-stage infection by <it>P. y</it>17XL. Host survival and parasitaemia were monitored daily. The effect of pretreatment on host immune responses was studied through the quantitation of cytokines, dendritic cell populations, and natural regulatory T cells (Treg).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Pretreatment with ABPS prior to infection significantly extended the survival time of mice after <it>P. y</it>17XL infection. At three and five days post-infection, ABPS pretreated mice developed stronger Th1 immune responses against malaria infection with the number of F4/80⁺CD36⁺macrophages and levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α and nitric oxide being significantly higher than in the control group. More importantly, ABPS-treated mice developed more myeloid (CD11c⁺CD11b⁺) and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (CD11c⁺CD45R⁺/B220⁺) than control mice. ABPS pretreatment also resulted in modulated expression of MHC-II, CD86, and especially Toll-like receptor 9 by CD11c⁺dendritic cells. In comparison, pretreatment with ABPS did not alter the number of natural Treg or the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Pretreatment with the immuno-modulatory ABPS selectively enhanced Th1 immune responses to control the proliferation of malaria parasites, and prolonged the survival of mice during subsequent malaria infection.</p

Research on Geometric Mappings in Complex Systems Analysis

We mainly discuss the properties of a new subclass of starlike functions, namely, almost starlike functions of complex order λ, in one and several complex variables. We get the growth and distortion results for almost starlike functions of complex order λ. By the properties of functions with positive real parts and considering the zero of order k, we obtain the coefficient estimates for almost starlike functions of complex order λ on D. We also discuss the invariance of almost starlike mappings of complex order λ on Reinhardt domains and on the unit ball B in complex Banach spaces. The conclusions contain and generalize some known results

Bridging multiscale interfaces for developing ionically conductive high-voltage iron sulfate-containing sodium-based battery positive electrodes

Non-aqueous sodium-ion batteries (SiBs) are a viable electrochemical energy storage system for grid storage. However, the practical development of SiBs is hindered mainly by the sluggish kinetics and interfacial instability of positive-electrode active materials, such as polyanion-type iron-based sulfates, at high voltage. Here, to circumvent these issues, we proposed the multiscale interface engineering of Na$_{2.26}$Fe$_{1.87}$(SO$_4$)$_3$, where bulk heterostructure and exposed crystal plane were tuned to improve the Na-ion storage performance. Physicochemical characterizations and theoretical calculations suggested that the heterostructure of Na$_6$Fe(SO$_4$)$_4$ phase facilitated ionic kinetics by densifying Na-ion migration channels and lowering energy barriers. The (11-2) plane of Na$_{2.26}$Fe$_{1.87}$(SO$_4$)$_3$ promoted the adsorption of the electrolyte solution ClO4− anions and fluoroethylene carbonate molecules, which formed an inorganic-rich Na-ion conductive interphase at the positive electrode. When tested in combination with a presodiated FeS/carbon-based negative electrode in laboratory- scale single-layer pouch cell configuration, the Na$_{2.26}$Fe$_{1.87}$(SO$_4$)$_3$-based positive electrode enables an initial discharge capacity of about 83.9 mAh g$^{−1}$, an average cell discharge voltage of 2.35 V and a specific capacity retention of around 97% after 40 cycles at 24 mA g$^{−1}$ and 25 °C

Antitumor Effect of Zhihuang Fuzheng Soft Capsules on Tumor-Bearing Mice

Chinese medicines (CMs) have been shown to have some advantages in preventing and controlling tumors. In this study, we investigated the antitumor effect of ZFSC by establishing a mouse model of HT-1080, A-549, and HCT-8 tumors. The result showed that tumor volumes of HT-1080 tumor-bearing nude mice in ZFSC low, medium, and high dose groups were lower significantly compared to the model group, and the high dose ZFSC showed the best antitumor effect. Tumor volumes of A-549 tumor-bearing nude mice in ZFSC low, medium, and high dose groups were lower significantly compared to the model group and showed a good dose-response relationship. There was no significant effect on human colon cancer, although inhibition trends disappeared in the bar chart. In order to verify the immunomodulatory effect of ZFSC, ELISA was used to analyze serums IL-2, TNF-α, and IFN in spleens. The results showed that ZFSC could enhance the immune function of tumor-bearing mice. ZFSC reduced IFN-γ and TNF-α content in the serum of HT-1080 tumor-bearing mice and inhibit PD1 and PDL1 and suggested that the antitumor mechanism of ZFSC on human fibrosarcoma could be attributed to inhibition of the PDL1/PD1 pathway