Capacity and entry issues in online exchanges

With the advent of open standards and Internet technologies, the number of sellers who can participate in online exchanges is greatly increased. We model the competition between identical sellers vying for the same business, and find that there exists a mixed-strategy equilibrium in prices. The results help us understand the dynamics between a seller’s capacity and his motivation to participate in an auction.     

Canine Parvovirus Type 2a (CPV-2a)-Induced Apoptosis in MDCK Involves Both Extrinsic and Intrinsic Pathways

The canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) causes an acute disease in dogs. It has been found to induce cell cycle arrest and DNA damage leading to cellular lysis. In this paper, we evaluated the apoptotic potential of the “new CPV-2a” in MDCK cells and elucidated the mechanism of the induction of apoptosis. The exposure of MDCK cells to the virus was found to trigger apoptotic response. Apoptosis was confirmed by phosphatidylserine translocation, DNA fragmentation assays, and cell cycle analysis. Activation of caspases-3, -8, -9, and -12 and decrease in mitochondrial potential in CPV-2a-infected MDCK cells suggested that the CPV-2a-induced apoptosis is caspase dependent involving extrinsic, intrinsic, and endoplasmic reticulum pathways. Increase in p53 and Bax/Bcl2 ratio was also observed in CPV-2a-infected cells.     

Sub-diffraction-limited far-field imaging in infrared

We investigated a far-field superlens operating at mid-infrared wavelength that allows resolving subwavelength features in the far-field. By utilizing evanescent enhancement provided by surface plasmon excitation of silver nanorods and Moiré effect, we numerically demonstrated that subwavelength information of an object can be converted to propagating information. This information can then be captured by conventional optical components. A simple image reconstruction algorithm can restore the subwavelength object. A sub-diffraction-limited resolution of 2.5 μm at 6-μm wavelength is demonstrated.     

Magnetoelectric effect in cobalt ferrite-barium titanate composites and their electrical properties

CoFe₂O₄-BaTiO₃ composites were prepared using conventional ceramic double sintering process with various compositions. Presence of two phases in the composites was confirmed using X-ray diffraction. The dc resistivity and thermoemf as a function of temperature in the temperature range 300 K to 600 K were measured. Variation of dielectric constant (ɛ′) with frequency in the range 100 Hz to 1 MHz and also with temperature at a fixed frequency of 1 kHz was studied. The ac conductivity was derived from dielectric constant (ɛ′) and loss tangent (tan δ). The nature of conduction is discussed on the basis of small polaron hopping model. The static value of magnetoelectric conversion factor has been studied as a function of magnetic field.