Search

We build on recent work that analyzes consumers' ability to save by exploiting price dispersion in grocery stores. We show that store expensiveness varies across consumers depending on the basket they consume, meaning that consumers can save more by shopping at a store that is cheaper for their basket rather than at a store that is cheaper overall. We incorporate this insight into a new price variance decomposition that is a refinement of existing approaches. Our results show that the ability to buy products from the store where they are cheapest is much less important than previous work had found; rather, the ability to choose the cheapest stores for one's basket is a more important source of variation in the prices consumers pay. Our approach also provides an informal test for competing theories modeling consumers as either shopping for products or shopping for categories, and finds support for both. We conclude that the idea of consumers choosing the right store for their basket has substantial traction and is a useful addition to our arsenal of models of consumer search behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We exploit an exogenous introduction of a mobile phone plan among rural-to-urban migrants in Beijing, China, to study the causal impact of communication on immigrant integration and assimilation. More contact via phone calls and social media over a year improves immigrants' language alignment, enhances their perceived similarity with the natives, while attenuates self-identity of and adherence to original cultures. Migrants show stronger settlement intentions in capital cities of native provinces rather than in Beijing, because of more concerns about distant family members and perceived perpetuating discrimination under intervention. Long-term integration, indicated by a sense of belonging, attitudes on inter-group marriage and the importance of their children to learn original languages remains stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional cancer chemotherapy is facing difficulties in improving the bioavailability, overcoming the severe adverse side effects of chemotherapeutics and reversing the multidrug resistance of cancer cells. To address these challenges, we report a feasible strategy to realize a multistage sustained release of dual drugs using injectable short nanofibers as a carrier system. In this work, layered double hydroxide (LDH) was selected as the primary carrier to load the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX), and the DOX-loaded LDH was incorporated within an α-tocopheryl succinate (α-TOS)-doped poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) fibrous mat. After homogenization in the presence of poly(vinyl alcohol), dual drug-loaded injectable short nanofibers (DOX@LDH/α-TOS/PLGA) with an average length of 17.4 μm and a diameter of 830.2 nm were formed to have a pH-responsive drug release profile. In an acidic tumor microenvironment, DOX@LDH/α-TOS/PLGA short nanofibers show a fast release of α-TOS due to its incorporation within the fiber matrix and a slow release of DOX due to the extended diffusion distance (first from the LDH to the fiber matrix and then from the fiber matrix to the external medium). As α-TOS can inhibit the expression of p-glycoprotein on the cell membrane, the dual drug-loaded short nanofibers can exert the therapeutic effect on multidrug-resistant cancer cells in vitro. The developed injectable short nanofiber-based drug delivery system may be extended to the treatment of different tumor types in vivo, in particular for long-term effective chemotherapy of drug-resistant tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology & Engineering Geology / Shuiwendizhi Gongchengdizhi is the property of Hydrogeology & Engineering Geology Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)