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We consider a vertical supply chain in which a monopoly retailer produces a good by assembling a number of essential components each of which is owned by a monopoly. Rather than making the common assumption that the component price is set in the same way for each owner, we investigate the possibility that the retailer may profit by bargaining with some owners in a group, whilst others set their component price to maximize own profit. Furthermore, component owners can self-select into one of these groups, and the retailer can affect group formation by adjusting the order of negotiations. We present conditions under which the retailer can encourage the formation of a bargaining group, and thereby improve its own and industry profit.

Unfortunately, for various reasons, in-situ rain gauge networks are diminishing, especially in southern Africa, resulting in sparse networks whose records give a poor representation of rainfall occurrence, patterns and magnitudes. Hydrological models are used to inform decision making; however, model performance is directly linked to the quality of input data, such as rainfall. Therefore, the use of satellite-derived rainfall is being increasingly advocated as a viable alternative or supplement. The aim of this study was to evaluate the representativeness of satellite-derived rainfall and its utility in the ACRU agro-hydrological model to simulate streamflow magnitudes, distributions and patterns. The satellite-derived rainfall products selected for use in this study were TRMM3B42, FEWSARC2.0, FEWSRFE2.0, TAMSAT 3.0 and GPM-IMERG4. The satellite rainfall products were validated against available historical observed records and then were used to drive simulations using the ACRU agro-hydrological model in the upper uMngeni, upper uThukela and upper and central Breede catchments in South Africa. At the daily timescale, satellite-derived and observed rainfall were poorly correlated and variable among locations. However, monthly, seasonal and yearly rainfall totals and simulated streamflow volumes were in closer agreement with historical observations than the daily correlations; more so in the upper uMngeni and uThukela than in the upper and central Breede (e.g. FEWSARC2.0 and FEWSRFE2.0, producing relative volume errors of 3.18%, 4.63%, −5.07% and 2.54%, 9.54%, −1.67%, respectively, at Gauges V2E002, 0268883 and 02396985). Therefore, the satellite-derived rainfall shows promise for use in applications operating at coarser temporal scales than at finer daily ones. Complex topographical rainfall generation and varying weather systems, e.g. frontal rainfall, afected the accuracy of satellite-derived product estimates. This study focused on utilising the wealth of available raw satellite data; however, it is clear that the raw satellite data need to be corrected for bias and/or downscaled to provide more accurate results.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) continues to evolve with shifting patient demographics, treatments, and outcomes. We sought to document the specific changes observed over a 9-year period in a contemporary Australian PCI cohort. The Melbourne Interventional Group is an established multicenter PCI registry in Melbourne, Australia. Data were collected prospectively with 30-day and 12-month follow-ups. Demographic, procedural, and outcome data for all consecutive patients were analyzed with a year-to-year comparison from 2005 to 2013. National Death Index linkage was performed for long-term mortality analysis; 19,858 procedures were captured over 9 years. Patient complexity and acuity increased with a higher proportion of traditional risk factors and more elderly patients who underwent PCI. Angiographic lesion complexity increased with more multivessel coronary artery disease and more American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association type B2/C lesions proceeding to PCI. The 30-day rate of death, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization has not changed nor has 12-month mortality, myocardial infarction, or major adverse cardiovascular event rates. The strongest independent predictor of long-term mortality was cardiogenic shock at presentation (hazard ratio [HR] 2.95, p <0.01). Drug-eluting stent use (HR 0.83, p <0.01) and a history of dyslipidemia (HR 0.81, p <0.01) were associated with long-term survival. In conclusion, from 2005 to 2013, we observed a cohort of higher risk clinical and angiographic characteristics, with stable long-term mortality.

Ground-based observations of 11.072 GHz atmospheric ozone (O3) emission have been made using the Ny-Ålesund Ozone in the Mesosphere Instrument (NAOMI) at the UK Arctic Research Station (latitude 78∘55′0′′ N, longitude 11∘55′59′′ E), Spitsbergen. Seasonally averaged O3 vertical profiles in the Arctic polar mesosphere–lower thermosphere region for night-time and twilight conditions in the period 15 August 2017 to 15 March 2020 have been retrieved over the altitude range 62–98 km. NAOMI measurements are compared with corresponding, overlapping observations by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) satellite instrument. The NAOMI and SABER version 2.0 data are binned according to the SABER instrument 60 d yaw cycles into nominal 3-month “winter” (15 December–15 March), “autumn” (15 August–15 November), and “summer” (15 April–15 July) periods. The NAOMI observations show the same year-to-year and seasonal variabilities as the SABER 9.6 µm O3 data. The winter night-time (solar zenith angle, SZA ≥ 110∘) and twilight (75∘ ≤ SZA ≤ 110∘) NAOMI and SABER 9.6 µm O3 volume mixing ratio (VMR) profiles agree to within the measurement uncertainties. However, for autumn twilight conditions the SABER 9.6 µm O3 secondary maximum VMR values are higher than NAOMI over altitudes 88–97 km by 47 % and 59 %, respectively in 2017 and 2018. Comparing the two SABER channels which measure O3 at different wavelengths and use different processing schemes, the 9.6 µm O3 autumn twilight VMR data for the three years 2017–2019 are higher than the corresponding 1.27 µm measurements with the largest difference (58 %) in the 65–95 km altitude range similar to the NAOMI observation. The SABER 9.6 µm O3 summer daytime (SZA < 75∘) mesospheric O3 VMR is also consistently higher than the 1.27 µm measurement, confirming previously reported differences between the SABER 9.6 µm channel and measurements of mesospheric O3 by other satellite instruments.

The UCNA experiment was designed to measure the neutron β-asymmetry parameter A 0 using polarized ultracold neutrons (UCN). UCN produced via downscattering in solid deuterium were polarized via transport through a 7 T magnetic field, and then directed to a 1 T solenoidal electron spectrometer, where the decay electrons were detected in electron detector packages located on the two ends of the spectrometer. A value for A 0 was then extracted from the asymmetry in the numbers of counts in the two detector packages. We summarize all of the results from the UCNA experiment, obtained during run periods in 2007, 2008–2009, 2010, and 2011–2013, which ultimately culminated in a 0.67% precision result for A 0 .

In South Africa, the demand for water exceeds available supplies in many catchments. In order to justify existing water requirements and to budget and plan in the context of growing uncertainty regarding water availability, a model to assist in the assessment and management of catchment water supply and demand interactions, and the associated impacts on the profitability of irrigated sugarcane, has been developed. The model, ACRUCane, operates as a submodel within the ACRU agrohydrological model and simulates the water budget of a field of irrigated sugarcane. The water budget is based on the integration of several widely accepted algorithms and concepts, accounts for different irrigation system types performing at different levels of uniformity and different water management strategies. Furthermore, it can simulate a wide variety of water availability scenarios and constraints through its link with ACRU simulated hydrology. The crop yield algorithms used in the model were verified using data from three different irrigation trials with widely varying irrigation treatments, where the model was shown to adequately distinguish the impacts of different watering strategies on crop yields. A description of the model algorithms and results from verification studies are presented in this paper. Application of the model is presented in a companion paper.

The aim of our study was to compare basal unstimulated levels of plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) with stimulated levels produced by the corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) test in asthmatics taking high-dose inhaled steroid therapy. In theory, the CRF test would appear to be a suitable replacement for tetracosactrin (cosyntropin) (synthetic ACTH) as a test of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis suppression. Ten patients with stable asthma and a mean age of 28.8 years, FEV1 of 88.9%; predicted, and forced expiratory flow between 25%; and 75%; of FVC of 57.0%; predicted, were studied in a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover design comparing 4 days with budesonide, 1,000 pg bid, and placebo. Each dose was given at 8 AM and 10 PM for 4 days by metered-dose inhaler. Measurements were made at steady-state of basal 8 AM plasma cortisol and ACTH 10 h after the eighth dose, and CRF test (100-μg IV bolus) was then performed. The results for 8 AM plasma cortisol (nmol/L, means and 95%; confidence interval [CI] for difference) showed that budesonide produced significant suppression compared with placebo: budesonide (284.1) vs placebo (360.9) (95%; CI, 9.3 to 144.3). Suppression also occurred for peak plasma cortisol in response to CRF: budesonide (375.9) vs placebo (470.2) (95%; CI, 27.0 to 161.6). ACTH (ng/L, means and 95%; CI for difference) demonstrated a similar nonsignificant trend to cortisol, with suppression in both basal and stimulated forms: 8 AM ACTH, budesonide (36.6) vs placebo (42.2) (95%; CI, —2.6 to 13.8); CRF peak response, budesonide (49.9) vs placebo (62.8) (95%; CI, −3.6 to 29.5). In asthmatic patients receiving inhaled budesonide, 1,000 μg bid, the suppression of basal unstimulated 8 AM plasma cortisol was mirrored by the suppression of the CRF stimulation response. These results highlight the point that when basal 8 AM plasma cortisol levels are suppressed, a comparable degree of dynamic impairment of HPA axis response is also likely to be found with physiologic testing.

Long-read single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) enables the quantification of RNA isoforms in individual cells. However, long-read scRNA-seq using the Oxford Nanopore platform has largely relied upon matched short-read data to identify cell barcodes. We introduce BLAZE, which accurately and efficiently identifies 10x cell barcodes using only nanopore long-read scRNA-seq data. BLAZE outperforms the existing tools and provides an accurate representation of the cells present in long-read scRNA-seq when compared to matched short reads. BLAZE simplifies long-read scRNA-seq while improving the results, is compatible with downstream tools accepting a cell barcode file, and is available at https://github.com/shimlab/BLAZE .

The public perception of fisheries is that they are in crisis and have been for some time. Numerous scientific and popular articles have pointed to the failures of fisheries management that have caused this crisis. These are widely accepted to be overcapacity in fishing fleets, a failure to take the ecosystem effects of fishing into account, and a failure to enforce unpalatable but necessary reductions in fishing effort on fishing fleets and communities. However, the claims of some analysts that there is an inevitable decline in the status of fisheries is, we believe, incorrect. There have been successes in fisheries management, and we argue that the tools for appropriate management exist. Unfortunately, they have not been implemented widely. Our analysis suggests that management authorities need to develop legally enforceable and tested harvest strategies, coupled with appropriate rights-based incentives to the fishing community, for the future of fisheries to be better than their past.

To date, projections of human migration induced by sea-level change (SLC) largely suggest large-scale displacement away from vulnerable coastlines. However, results from our model of Bangladesh suggest counterintuitively that people will continue to migrate toward the vulnerable coastline irrespective of the flooding amplified by future SLC under all emissions scenarios until the end of this century. We developed an empirically calibrated agent-based model of household migration decision-making that captures the multi-faceted push, pull and mooring influences on migration at a household scale. We then exposed ∼4800 000 simulated migrants to 871 scenarios of projected 21st-century coastal flooding under future emissions pathways. Our model does not predict flooding impacts great enough to drive populations away from coastlines in any of the scenarios. One reason is that while flooding does accelerate a transition from agricultural to non-agricultural income opportunities, livelihood alternatives are most abundant in coastal cities. At the same time, some coastal populations are unable to migrate, as flood losses accumulate and reduce the set of livelihood alternatives (so-called 'trapped' populations). However, even when we increased access to credit, a commonly-proposed policy lever for incentivizing migration in the face of climate risk, we found that the number of immobile agents actually rose. These findings imply that instead of a straightforward relationship between displacement and migration, projections need to consider the multiple constraints on, and preferences for, mobility. Our model demonstrates that decision-makers seeking to affect migration outcomes around SLC would do well to consider individual-level adaptive behaviors and motivations that evolve through time, as well as the potential for unintended behavioral responses.