The price-volume relationship for new and remanufactured smartphones

Despite the rapid expansion of secondary markets for remanufactured electronic goods, the understanding of their empirical dynamics such as the price-volume relationship is still rather limited. In this study, we investigate such dynamics over time for new, manufacturer- and seller-refurbished smartphones using data from eBay UK and eBay US. We find significant negative relationships between price and volume for new smartphones indicating that the profit potential of such markets for sellers is limited. We show, instead, that the price-volume relationships for remanufactured smartphones are positive and significant – suggesting that the secondary markets for such items are potentially highly profitable. Overall, our empirical results suggest that the UK markets have higher profit potential than their US counterparts. The proposed analysis is a further step toward a better understanding of the price dynamics of new and remanufactured smartphones – and it enables both manufacturers and OEMs to better evaluate the profit potential of one of the fastest growing segments of consumer electronic goods

The origin of summer monsoon rainfall at New Delhi by deuterium excess

International audienceThe deuterium excess in summer monsoon precipitation, determined from isotopic measurements(?18O and Keywords: deuterium excess, relative humidity, origin of precipitatio

Conference report: opportunity and challenge in wood drying: Quality control and energy saving

The 9th IUFRO (International Union of Forestry Organisation) International Wood Drying Conference was held in August 21-26, 2005, in Nanjing, China. It attracted over 120 from 24 countries. At the conference, 58 papers were orally presented and 31 papers were presented as posters. This conference was another success following the eight previous conferences held, respectively, in Skelleftea (Sweden) in 1987, Seattle (USA) in 1999, Vienna (Austria) in 1992, Rotorua (New Zealand) in 1994, Quebec (Canada) in 1996, Stellenbosch (South Africa) in 1999, Tsukuba (Japan) in 2001 and Brasov (Romania) in 2003.The papers presented at the 9th IUFRO International Wood Drying Conference reflected the latest progresses and achievements in wood drying research and development. These papers covered fundamental research (heat and mass transfer, stress development and modelling), new technology development (microwave/radio frequency drying, vacuum drying) and drying related wood properties. The highlight was the research on quality control and energy saving which was the theme of the conference and attracted 14 papers orally presented

Chinese herbal medicine for atopic eczema

Background: Traditional Chinese herbal mixtures have been used to treat atopic eczema for many years. Their efficacy has attracted public attention and recently some clinical trials have been undertaken. Objectives: To assess the effects of Chinese herbal mixtures in the treatment of atopic eczema. Search strategy: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) ( January 2004), the Cochrane Skin Group Specialised Register (January 2004), MEDLINE (1966 to January 2004), EMBASE (1980 to January 2004), CINHL (1980 to January 2004) and a number of complementary medicine databases. In addition, the cited references of all trials identified and key review articles were searched. Pharmaceutical companies involved in oral traditional Chinese herbs and experts in the field were contacted. Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials of Chinese herbal mixtures used in the treatment of atopic eczema. Data collection and analysis: Two authors independently applied eligibility criteria, assessed the quality of the trials and extracted data. Any discrepancies were discussed to achieve consensus. Main results: Four randomised controlled trials, with eight weeks for each phase, met the inclusion criteria. The trials randomised 159 participants aged from 1 to 60 years. The withdrawal rates ranged from 7.5 to 22.5% and no trial used intention to treat analysis

A clinical study of mycophenolate mofetil combined with low-dose steroids in the management of pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and safety of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) combined with lowdose steroids in the treatment of pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus (pSLE).Methods: A total of 76 children were diagnosed and admitted with SLE, lupus nephritis (LN) and type IV diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis at Hainan Women and Children’s Medical Center, Haikou, China from March 2017 to December 2018, had their clinical data analyzed retrospectively. Among them, 38 children received methylprednisolone pulse combined with MMF and intermittent oral low-dose glucocorticoids (GC), labelled MMF group, while the remaining 38 children, which served as control group, were treated with oral GC and transitional reduction. Pertinent biochemical parameters were evaluatedResults: Compared with control group, MMF group showed a notably lower level of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), a higher level of complement C3, lower level of serum creatinine (Scr) and 24-h urine protein level 6 months after treatment (p < 0.05). Albumin level was higher in MMF group at 6 months and 12 months after treatment than in the control group. Compared to control group, the SLEDAI score in MMF group was significantly lower at 6 months and 12 months after treatment (p < 0.05). Body mass index, triglyceride, fasting blood glucose and intraocular pressure levels in the MMF group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05). Post-treatment, peripheral blood CD3+ and CD4+ T lymphocytes, CD4+/CD8+ ratio and NK cell levels in the two groups were significantly increased, while CD8+ T lymphocyte level declined.Conclusion: MMF combined with low-dose methylprednisolone controls symptoms early and mitigates renal injury in the treatment of pSLE. It is also safe, and effectively regulates the patient's cellular immune function

Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Buildings Using a Statistical Method of Response Prediction

The seismic vulnerability functions for portfolio-level loss estimation are typically developed for general classes of buildings which may not be suitable to assess building-specific risks. Performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE) provides the means to conduct building-specific seismic risk assessments. However, such assessments often rely on computationally-intensive analytical frameworks such as incremental dynamics analysis (IDA) which poses a challenge for many types of risk assessment projects. To expand its accessibility, FEMA P-58 outlines a simplified method to predict the nonlinear responses of buildings in which the scope is limited to lower levels of inter-story drifts (less than 4%). This limitation restricts its application to ductile structures, particularly when predicting the vulnerability of modern special moment frame systems. To overcome this shortcoming, this paper proposes an enhanced methodology by which the nonlinear responses of some common structural systems can be predicted by interpolating from a structural response database, itself developed by IDA. The database adopted in the current study consists of structural responses of 61 distinct modern buildings with variety of heights (number of stories), construction material, and lateral load resisting systems. Two building reference models, light-wood frame and special reinforced concrete moment frame with varying heights, are selected to validate the performance of the proposed statistical method. The predicted structural responses for these buildings are benchmarked against the corresponding IDA results. The estimated vulnerability of buildings based on the enhanced simplified method is in good agreement with IDA results. The proposed framework can be used in expedited seismic risk evaluations to estimate the losses of buildings in a large portfolio of diverse structures

Influence of Irreparability Fragility on Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Buildings

The probability that a building is sanctioned to demolition following an earthquake depends on several geotechnical, structural, strategic and financial decision variables. This paper explores the literature on post-earthquake reparability assessment of buildings focusing on structural characteristics and evaluates their approaches for four midrise code-compliant structural systems, namely, steel moment frame, reinforced concrete moment frame, light frame wood, and steel braced frame. The structural responses are estimated using incremental dynamics analysis (IDA) in accordance with FEMA P-695 provisions and the IDA results are relayed to a building-specific loss assessment framework to estimate their seismic vulnerability in terms of monetary losses. To estimate the impact of irreparability fragility, the loss assessment framework evaluates the vulnerability for each reference model at four levels of irreparability thresholds as well as for a case which excludes irreparability. The results show that the projected losses for these reference models are very sensitive to the assumptions for irreparability fragility. The impact of irreparability fragility on the final loss estimates, while varying by reference model, is relatively limited at lower levels of shaking intensity and tends to grow when incrementing toward higher levels of shaking. The paper also discusses a potential numerical issue with the framework to include irreparability in loss estimation, called ‘irreparability anomaly’, which arises from merely linking irreparability to peak residual drift. The observations emphasize the significance of the underlying assumptions for irreparability fragility in seismic vulnerability and loss assessment of building and call for further studies to establish more robust procedures

(E)-Isopentyl 3-(3,4-dihy­droxy­phen­yl)­acrylate

The title compound, C14H18O4, a derivative of caffeic acid, has an E configuration about the C=C bond. The benzene ring is almost coplanar with the C=C—C(O)—O—C linker [maximum deviation = 0.050 (2) Å], making a dihedral angle of only 4.53 (2)°. In the mol­ecule, the adjacent hy­droxy groups form an O—H⋯O inter­action. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, generating a chain propagating in the [110] direction