Pricing and advertisement in a manufacturer–retailer supply chain

We use a game theoretical approach to study pricing and advertisement decisions in a manufacturer–retailer supply chain when price discounts are offered by both the manufacturer and retailer. When the manufacturer is the leader of the game, we obtained Stackelberg equilibrium with manufacturer’s local allowance, national brand name investment, manufacturer’s preferred price discount, retailer’s price discount, and local advertising expense. For the special case of two-stage equilibrium when the manufacturer’s price discount is exogenous, we found that the retailer is willing to increase local advertising expense if the manufacturer increases local advertising allowance and provides deeper price discount, or if the manufacturer decreases its brand name investment. When both the manufacturer and retailer have power, Nash equilibrium in a competition game is obtained. The comparison between the Nash equilibrium and Stackelberg equilibrium shows that the manufacturer always prefers Stackelberg equilibrium, but there is no definitive conclusion for the retailer. The bargaining power can be used to determine the profit sharing between the manufacturer and the retailer. Once the profit sharing is determined, we suggest a simple contract to help the manufacturer and retailer obtain their desired profit sharing.     

Structures of divalent transition metal salts of 4-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonate: unexpected variations in layering pattern

Salts of 4-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonate with divalent Mg, Mn, Co, and Ni cations have been crystallized and their structures determined by single crystal X-ray methods. The Mg and Mn salts are isostructural. Crystal data for hexa-aquamagnesium(II) 4-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonate dihydrate, [Mg(H₂O)₆](H₂NC₁₀H₆SO₃)₂ 2H ₂O: monoclinic, P2₁/c, Z = 2, a = 8.622(3), b = 7.043(3), c = 23.178(3) Å, =93.78(2)°, V = 1404.3(7) ų; hexa-aquamanganese(II) 4-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonate dihydrate, [Mn(H₂O)₆](H₂NC₁₀H₆SO₃)₂ 2H ₂O: monoclinic, P2₁/c, Z = 2, a = 8.652(3), b = 7.031(4), c = 23.402(2) Å, =93.09(2)°, V = 1421.5(9) ų. The structures are composed of alternating layers of octahedral metal–aqua complexes and sulfonate anions linked by an extensive network of hydrogen bonds. The extra water molecules of crystallization are located in the hexa-aquametal cation layers. The repeat unit along the c axis is a double layer. The Co and Ni compounds are isostructural with each other, but compared to the Mg and Mn compounds, have a strikingly different structure. Crystal data for hexa-aquacobalt(II) 4-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonate trihydrate, [Co(H₂O)₆](H₂NC₁₀H₆SO₃)₂ 3H ₂O: orthorhombic, Pbca, Z = 8, a = 8.518(1), b = 14.327(2), c = 45.367(6) Å, V = 5536(1) ų; hexa-aquanickel(II) 4-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonate trihydrate, [Ni(H₂O)₆](H₂NC₁₀H₆SO₃)₂ 3H ₂O: orthorhombic, Pbca, Z = 8, a = 8.4976(6), b = 14.288(1), c = 45.076(3) Å, V = 5472.9(7) ų. These structures also contain layers of octahedral hexa-aquametal complexes and additional water molecules of crystallization sandwiched by layers of sulfonate anions, however the stacking pattern is more complex with a quadruple layer repeat unit and two different types of anion layers.     

Effect of pumping methods on transmembrane pressure, fluid balance and relative recovery in microdialysis

There is a growing interest in using large pore size probes for microdialysis of macromolecular markers to monitor cell and tissue functions. Fluid balance could be an important issue when using large pore size microdialysis probes, which are affected by the mode of operation. In this study, the effect of pumping systems, push, pull, push-and-pull, and the resulting transmembrane pressure on the fluid balance, as well as, the relative recovery of small molecular nutrients and metabolites and macromolecules (proteins) were examined. The validity of the internal reference in situ calibration was examined in detail. It is concluded that a push-and-pull system is the only effective method of eliminating fluid loss or gain. The relative recovery of small solutes is not affected much by the applied pumping methods; however, the relative recovery of macromolecules is significantly influenced by them. The in situ calibration technique using Phenol Red can provide reliable results for small molecules including glucose and lactic acid. Using 10 and 70-kDa fluorescent dextrans as the internal standard for large molecules in situ calibration of similar size does not work for the pull pump system, but does work well when using a push-and-pull pumping method.     

Photolysis of Carbonyl Diisocyanate: Generation of Isocyanatocarbonyl Nitrene and Diazomethanone

The stepwise decomposition of carbonyl diisocyanate, OC(NCO)₂, has been studied by using IR spectroscopy in solid argon matrices at 16 K. Upon irradiation with an ArF laser (λ=193 nm), carbonyl diisocyanate split off CO and furnished a new carbonyl nitrene, OCNC(O)N, in its triplet ground state. Two conformers of the nitrene, syn and anti, that were derived from the two conformers of OC(NCO)₂ (62 % syn–syn and 38 % syn–anti) were identified and characterized by combining IR spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. Subsequent irradiation with visible light (λ>395 nm) caused the Curtius rearrangement of the nitrene into OCNNCO. In addition to the expected decomposition products, N₂ and CO, further photolysis of OCNNCO with the ArF laser yielded NOCN, through a diazomethanone (NNCO) intermediate. To further validate our proposed reaction mechanism, ArF‐laser photolysis of the closely related NNNNCO and cyclo‐N₂CO in solid argon matrices were also studied. The observations of NOCN and in situ CO‐trapped product OCNNCO provided indirect evidence to support the initial generation of NNCO as a common intermediate during the laser photolysis of OCNNCO, NNNNCO, and cyclo‐N₂CO.