Complementary Products Research Articles

Rinse aid with bischofite: prevention of caries and gingivitis in adolescents

The frequency of using liquid complementary hygiene products has been increasing significantly in recent years. This trend is typical not only for adults, but also for children. The ease of use of rinses, foams, suspensions largely contributes to the growth of their popularity. As substances having a complex effect, researchers have long been interested in mineral complexes, among which calciumand magnesium-containing compounds are of particular importance [2, 3]. Such natural minerals as carnalite, kieserite, and bischofite are of particular interest. The effectiveness of the anti-carious, anti-plaque and anti-inflammatory effects of preventive drugs was evaluated: irrigator liquid + mouthwash WATERDENT Anti-caries and baby foam for the oral cavity WATERDENT Happy Smile during the rehabilitation period in children with permanent bite. Materials and methods. An open comparative study of the effectiveness of the use of liquid for the irrigator + mouthwash WATERDENT «Anticaries» and baby foam for the oral cavity WATERDENT Happy Smile was conducted. To assess the effectiveness of the hygiene products used, the following clinical indicators were selected: the caries intensity index (KPI), the Green – Vermillion simplified index (IG-U), the PMA index and the Mulleman – Cowell index. Clinical parameters were determined before and after the use of the compared hygiene products in groups after 1 month. During the study, laboratory saliva parameters were monitored: saliva pH, total protein, determination of saliva Ca and Md. 3 groups of participants were recruited from among those who applied for help at the UMMU dental clinic. All volunteers were somatically healthy children aged 12–18 years with different caries activity and catarrhal gingivitis, randomly distributed by gender and age. Statistical data processing was carried out in Microsoft Excel and Statist programs. Results. The evaluation of clinical tests in the groups showed a significant change in the indices of PMA and Grinn – Vermilion (р ≤0,05) in patients of the main group and a statistically significant improvement in the index of Grinn – Vermilion (р ≤ 0,05) in patients using foam (comparison group), while in the control group there were no dynamics of statistically significant changes in clinical indicators. An increase in the level of calcium in saliva in patients who used Irrigator Liquid + mouthwash WATERDENT Anti-caries from 2.30 to 2.95 characterizes the high mineralizing potential of bischofite, which is part of its composition, and its karyoprophylactic property. An assessment of laboratory data in the main and comparison groups at the beginning of the experiment and after 1 month showed a significant change in total protein values from 2.94 to 2.26 and 2.72 to 2.09 g/l, respectively, for these groups (p <0.05), which shows the positive effect of these products on hygiene, on changes in saliva properties and karyoprophylactic potential. Conclusions. Clinical and laboratory studies of the use of Liquid for irrigator + rinse WATERDENT Anti-caries and baby Foam for the oral cavity Waterdent Happy Smile confirm the claimed consumer properties of these products: anti-carious, anti-plaque and anti-inflammatory effects and can be recommended in comprehensive individual hygienic oral care for children.

The adoption non-adoption dichotomy: Why do smallholder producers dis-adopt improved chicken breeds?

Adopting agricultural technologies is crucial to improve productivity and livelihoods in developing countries. While much research has focused on adoption decisions, understanding dis-adoption, when farmers stop using technology, is equally important. Studies on agricultural technology adoption often treat dis-adopters (those who initially adopted but later discontinued to use) and never-adopters (those who never adopted) as the same, using binary models to analyze farmers' decisions. We argue that a better understanding of these decisions can be achieved by separately analyzing 'never-adoption', 'dis-adoption', and 'adoption.' Using nationally representative data from three African countries, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania, we developed a multinomial logit model to analyze the adoption of improved chicken breeds. Our findings show that dis-adopters of improved chicken are different from never-adopters. Factors associated with dis-adoption include gender and education of household heads, access to training and extension services, breeding and culling practices, access to markets, use of complementary inputs, production objectives, landholding size, income diversity, and access to finance. Policies and strategies that aim to enhance sustained adoption and use of improved chicken breeds should promote a bundle of technologies, including tailored training, women empowerment, locally adapted and farmer-preferred chicken breeds, complementary inputs and services, innovative marketing strategies, and delivery models for bundles of technologies.

Digital agriculture’s impact on carbon dioxide emissions varies with the economic development of Chinese provinces

Digital empowerment is a dynamic process of complementary digital technology and production factors and plays a critical role in achieving the dual carbon objectives of the carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Here, we use the input-output method, employing panel data on environmental and social factors from 30 provincial-level regions in China from 2012 to 2021. We explore the impact of digital empowerment development on agricultural carbon dioxide emissions and underlying mechanisms. We found that the relationship between digital empowerment and carbon dioxide emissions is nonlinear and follows an inverted U-curve. The carbon dioxide emissions increase as digital empowerment increases and decrease when digital empowerment crosses the inflection point of 0.0862. Digital empowerment reduces agricultural carbon emissions by optimizing carbon-intensive factor inputs such as fertilizers and improving factor allocation efficiency. Our research provides evidence for policymakers to enable the promotion of digital empowerment of farmers across Chinese provinces.

Efficacy of an oral chew containing fibre and Bacillus velezensis C-3012 in the management of anal sac impaction in dogs.

Anal sac impaction is common in dogs. Manual expression may be effective, yet recurrence can be problematic. To facilitate physiological emptying of the sacs, it is important to maintain bulky stool consistency. The study evaluated if supplementation with a complementary feed product formulated as a chew containing Bacillus velezensis C-3102 and fibre sources, reduced anal sac impaction recurrence. Thirty-five client-owned dogs with anal sac impaction were enrolled. Prospective, randomised, negative controlled field clinical trial with 22 dogs receiving the chew orally for 90 consecutive days and 13 dogs with no treatment. Dogs were evaluated on Day (D) 30, 60, 90 and 120 for the presence of clinical signs of anal sac impaction and the need to empty the sacs. Any animal that required manual expression of the sacs was classified as a failure and was withdrawn from the study. The cumulative percentage of failures in the untreated group increased steadily from the first follow-up visit on D30 (15%) to the last visit on D120 (61.5%). However, in the group receiving the chew the cumulative percentage of failures increased at a much slower rate and stabilised at 19% from the D90 visit (last administration day) until the end of the study on D120, with statistically significant differences (p = 0.025). Animals receiving the chew also showed reduction in clinical signs. The probiotic and fibre chew was a safe and effective management option for recurrent anal sac impaction in dogs.

Pricing and bundling decisions for complementary products in an agency selling platform with risk‐averse suppliers and stochastic demand

AbstractThe exponential rise of e‐commerce has prompted many companies to utilize online platforms (e‐tailers) to sell their products. Agency selling is a prevalent policy among e‐tailers where suppliers determine retail prices of their products, and the e‐tailer charges an agency rate. This paper investigates the selling format and pricing problem of two risk‐averse suppliers who sell complementary products on the e‐tailer's platform. The e‐tailer can offer products separately and as a bundle. A game‐theoretic analysis reveals that the equilibrium prices of individual products and the bundle uniquely exist. The study explores that the e‐tailer does not always benefit from a higher agency rate. Furthermore, the agency rate can influence the superiority of mixed bundling over separate selling. Moreover, a mixed‐bundling strategy may hurt the supplier's profitability which is sensitive to marginal costs and the degree of risk aversion. Finally, when demand correlation increases, the supplier sets a lower price to mitigate the risk cost.

The “Kill Zone”: When a Platform Copies to Eliminate a Potential Threat

ABSTRACTA monopoly platform may prevent a startup which sells a complementary product from developing a competing platform by copying it. Imitation reduces the potential rival's profits from the new platform and thus its incentives to invest. The anticipation of the incumbent's aggressive behavior may also create an “ex ante” effect, by inducing the rival not to challenge the incumbent with a new platform (i.e., not to enter the “kill zone”) and to develop another (noncompeting) product instead. This finding is robust to several extensions.

Liquid metal based flowable regenerative catalyst for electrochemical nitrate reduction

Electrocatalytic reduction nitrate to ammonia as a complementary production method has attracted much attention. However, in the most situation, the catalyst are fixed at certain location. The immobile active sites may suffer from mass transfer limitation and deactivation. In this study, based on the fluidity and alloying ability of liquid metal gallium, we fabricated a flowable and regenerative CuGa2-liquid metal electrode for the electrochemical nitrate reduction. The flowing surface accelerate the reactants reaching catalyst, leading a higher mass transfer coefficient than the solid surface. During the catalytic process, a performance decay was found and the deactivation mechanism was revealed as catalyst detachment resulting from interface evolution. A regeneration strategy has been proposed for rapid repairment in seconds. The strategy results in an extended lifespan approximately ∼1500 % longer than control group.

Licensing of a cost-reducing innovation in a Stackelberg-differentiated duopoly

This study investigates the licensing of a cost-reducing innovation by a firm to its direct competitor in a Stackelberg-differentiated duopoly. We find that the licensor's market position coupled with the product's nature and innovation size play an important role in framing the licensing agreement and its welfare impact. When acting as the market leader in determining output, the licensor offers its competitor a pure ad valorem royalty contract if the products are close substitutes for each other or if the innovation is sufficiently large in the case of distant substitutes; otherwise, a per-unit royalty combined with a fixed fee is preferred. However, if the licensor acts as a follower in the product market, the licence comprises a per-unit royalty, sometimes combined with a fixed payment. Compared with the pre-licensing context, licensing by a market follower is never welfare-reducing, whereas licensing by a market leader is only welfare-reducing when products are extremely close substitutes. Optimal licensing with complementary products is also studied, which could result in a per-unit subsidy.

Complementary deteriorating products within a flexible production system: a sustainable approach

The nature of complementary products is the dependency of one product on the other for utility. Further, the complementary products with deteriorated nature create a challenging environment for a suitable strategy. How does an industry deal with complementary deteriorated products at the retailer’s house? The present study deals with two complementary deteriorating products in a two-echelon supply chain management. The deterioration of complementary products increases with time, and the deterioration rate is taken as the function of time. Complementary deteriorating products are manufactured by two manufacturers and sold to a common retailer. Manufacturers use a flexible production system to produce products and a single-setup-multiple-delivery policy to deliver those products. Under the flexible production system, emissions from setup, holding products, disposal, and transportation of products are considered. A carbon tax policy is used to reduce emissions. This study aims to optimize the total profit of the supply chain by finding a suitable sales strategy. The total profit is maximized by acquiring the optimal values of the retail price, cycle time of the retailer, production rate, and number of shipments. The numerical result shows that the profit becomes maximum when complementary products are less dependent on each other. The result indicates that adapting the flexible production system increases the total profit by 1.86% and decreases total emissions by 5.36% than a traditional production system.

Existence of equilibrium in a dynamic supply chain game with vertical coordination, horizontal competition, and complementary goods

We consider supply chain competition and vertical coordination in a linear–quadratic differential game setting. In this setting, supply chains produce complementary goods and each of them includes a single manufacturer and a single retailer who coordinate their decisions through a revenue-sharing contract with a wholesale price and a fixed sales revenue share. We study a multiple leader-follower Stackelberg game where the manufacturers are the leaders and the retailers are the followers. Competition occurs at both levels of the supply chains. Retailers play Nash and compete in price; manufacturers also play Nash but they compete in choosing their production capacities by exploiting the equilibrium price decisions made by the retailers. We show that open-loop Nash equilibria exist when the manufacturers only receive a wholesale price (there are no longer exploiting the equilibrium price decision made by the retailers, however). When the manufacturers receive both a wholesale-price and a share of the retailers’ sales revenues, equilibria generally no longer exist. The non-existence of an equilibrium stems from the fact that the manufacturers’ instant profits are discontinuous functions of their production capacities. This discontinuity leads to a major technical difficulty in that one cannot apply standard optimal control approaches to study the equilibria of the dynamic game. Our results illustrate the possibility that competition between supply chains might not be sustainable when they sell complementary products and rely on a revenue-sharing agreement.

Cooperative investment of service efforts and bundled pricing of complementary products in a tourism omnichannel

Cooperative investment of service efforts and bundled pricing of complementary products in a tourism omnichannel

A Catering Business Model Based on the Combination of Online and Offline Infant and Toddler Meals

The changes of the times have led to serious conflicts in parenting concepts within many Chinese families, and what is truly "scientific parenting" has become an urgent problem to be solved. Through questionnaire surveys, offline interviews, and other forms, the user groups of infant and toddler complementary food products are divided, and the consumption scale of different user groups for infant and toddler complementary food products is given. At the same time, in-depth research is conducted to analyze the factors of concern and unmet needs of various user groups for infant and toddler complementary food products, in order to grasp the current situation and demand trends of various user groups for infant and toddler complementary food products.

Beyond bundles: Choosing product bundles increases shopping basket size

Grocery stores are increasingly grouping complementary products into meal bundles, a tactic that warrants further investigation. This research explores the impact of presenting bundles on overall purchases. Three experiments, supplemented with two studies and a meta-analysis in a Web Appendix, show that incorporating bundles into the assortment and having consumers select these bundles increases overall purchases. This effect is driven by consumers perceiving the bundled items as a unified whole, which alters their perception of product complementarity and leads them to underestimate their total purchases, prompting them to buy more. These findings underscore the efficacy of product bundling to enhance shopping basket size, a critical determinant of retail success.

An optimal dispatch strategy of off-grid park integrated energy system considering source volatility

An off-grid integrated energy system (IES) with hydrogen storage at park-level is proposed, utilizing wind, solar and natural gas as the main energy supply to replace fossil fuels, in order to overcome the insufficient consideration of energy source conversion and information exchange in the traditional energy system. Firstly, an IES schematic consisted with typical devices is proposed, and all the components are modelled in detail. Then, based on the renewable energy (RE) input requirements and the facility parameters, an optimal dispatch model for multi-energy conversion based on hydrogen storage has been demonstrated. In addition, an improved particle swarm optimization algorithm is also introduced to improve the strategy. Combined with the environmental characteristics, the multi-objective solution with the lowest economic cost and environmental cost, the highest energy supply reliability and energy efficiency as the optimization objectives is determined. Finally, a case study is conducted using the practical data of the Chongli Large-Scale Wind-Solar Complementary Coupled Hydrogen Production System Application Demonstration Project to validate the feasibility of the study under real conditions. The result shows that the RE consumption rate is greater than 99 % under the premise of considering the environmental cost and ensuring the operation reliability, which can effectively improve the operation economy and user economy of the power grid

Double marginalization in the pricing of complements: The case of US freight railroads

AbstractMonopolists selling complementary products charge a higher price in a static equilibrium than a single (multiproduct) monopolist would, reducing both the industry profits and consumer surplus. Firms could instead reach a Pareto improvement by lowering prices to the single‐monopolist level. We analyze pricing data of railroad coal shipping in the United States. We compare a coal producer that needs to ship from A to C, with the route passing through B, in two cases: (1) the same railroad owning AB and BC and (2) different railroads owning AB and BC. We do not find that the price in case (2) is higher than the price in case (1), suggesting that the complementary monopolist pricing inefficiency is absent in this market. Our findings are robust to propensity score blocking, causal machine learning algorithms, and difference‐in‐differences analysis. Our results have implications for vertical mergers, tragedy of the anticommons, mergers of firms selling complements, elimination of double marginalization, and royalty stacking and patent thickets.

Competition and cooperation in a platform-based business ecosystem within complementary partners

In today’s competitive business landscape, adopting business ecosystems has emerged as a pivotal strategy to enhance supply chain efficiency. This study employs a game-theoretic framework to investigate the dynamics of a manufacturer establishing a business ecosystem by collaborating with a partner on a supply chain platform. The partner, in turn, offers complementary products to consumers, thereby fostering a symbiotic relationship within the ecosystem. Motivated by the need to understand the implications of such business ecosystems, this study explores their effects on firms operating in the competitive market. Additionally, we examine the impacts of two distinct advertising strategies: product-focused and platform-oriented advertising strategies. Our analytical results reveal several interesting findings. First, forming a business ecosystem based on a supply chain platform increases profits for both the manufacturer and the partner. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that the manufacturer should selectively adopt a platform-oriented advertising strategy based on the magnitude of the platform advertising effect. Moreover, we uncover that the partner’s product-focused advertising strategy fosters a win-win outcome for all firms in the market, ensuring economic sustainability, particularly in the face of intermediate-level market competition. This research provides insightful recommendations for understanding the dynamics of the supply chain, shedding light on the strategic decisions and advertising strategies that drive efficiency within such ecosystems.

Balancing Variety and Quality: Examining the Impact of Benefit‐Linked Cross‐Subsidization on Multisided Platforms

AbstractMultisided platforms face a fundamental trade‐off: should they ease entry for a larger number of providers of complementary products or services (complementors) to join the platform and benefit from cross‐side network externalities, or should they limit entry to maintain complementors’ incentives to provide high‐quality offerings? We contend that a specific cross‐subsidizing pricing strategy – where the amount of subsidy to complementors is explicitly linked to the overall revenue they generate on the other side of the platform – may mitigate this trade‐off. Using data from the airport industry, we demonstrate that following a reduction of airlines’ entry barriers, airports that subsidize airlines, based on the aforementioned scheme, can boost their financial performance and maintain traffic composition in favour of legacy airlines, which bring passengers who spend more in airport shops. Our findings shed light on how cross‐subsidization may balance the variety and quality of complementors and their offerings on multisided platforms.

Food price inflation nowcasting and monitoring

Rising food prices may rapidly push vulnerable populations into food insecurity, especially in developing economies and in low-income countries, where a substantial share of the financial resources available to the poorest households is spent on food. To capture soaring food prices and help in designing mitigating measures, we developed two complementary products: a nowcasting model that estimates official food consumer price inflation up to the current month and a daily food price monitor that checks whether the growth rate of a few basic food commodities exceeds a statistical threshold. Both products were designed with the consideration that the rapid acquisition of data and the automated extraction of insights are indispensable tools for policymakers, particularly in times of crisis. Our framework is characterized by three key aspects. Firstly, we leverage two non-traditional data sources to emphasize the importance of real-time information: a crowdsourced repository of daily food prices and textual insights obtained from newspapers articles. Secondly, our framework offers a global perspective, encompassing 225 countries and territories, which enables the monitoring of food prices dynamics on a global scale. Thirdly, results are made accessible daily via an intuitive and user-friendly interactive dashboard.

Ligand-Controlled, Nickel-Catalyzed Stereodivergent Construction of 1,3-Nonadjacent Stereocenters.

In contrast to the asymmetric synthesis of molecules with a single stereocenter or 1,2-adjacent stereocenters, the simultaneous construction of acyclic 1,3-nonadjacent stereocenters via a single catalyst in an enantioselective and diastereoselective manner remains a formidable challenge. Here, we demonstrate the enantioselective and diastereodivergent construction of 1,3-nonadjacent stereocenters through Ni-catalyzed reductive cyclization/cross-coupling of alkene-tethered aryl bromides and α-bromoamides, which represents the major remaining stereochemical challenge of cyclization/difunctionalization of alkenes. Using Ming-Phos as ligand, a diverse set of oxindoles containing 1,3-nonadjacent stereocenters were obtained with high levels of enantio- and diastereoselectivity. Mechanistic experiments and density functional theory calculations indicate that magnesium salt plays a key role in controlling the diastereoselectivity. Furthermore, another set of complementary stereoisomeric products were constructed from the same set of starting materials using Ph-Phox as ligand.

Increasing the efficiency of gene editing with CRISPR-Cas9 via concurrent expression of the Beta protein

Escherichia coli has emerged as an important host for the production of biopharmaceuticals or other industrially relevant molecules. An efficient gene editing tool is indispensable for ensuring high production levels and optimal release of target products. However, in Escherichia coli, the CRISPR-Cas9 system has been shown to achieve gene modifications with relatively low frequency. Large-scale PCR screening is required, hindering the identification of positive clones. The beta protein, which weakly binds to single-stranded DNA but tightly associates with complementary strand annealing products, offers a promising solution to this issue. In the present study, we describe a targeted and continuous gene editing strategy for the Escherichia coli genome. This strategy involves the coexpression of the beta protein alongside the CRISPR-Cas9 system, enabling a variety of genome modifications such as gene deletion and insertion with an efficiency exceeding 80 %. The integrity of beta proteins is essential for the CRISPR-Cas9/Beta-based gene editing system. In this work, the deletion of either the N- or C-terminal domain significantly impaired system efficiency. Overall, our findings established the CRISPR-Cas9/Beta system as a suitable gene editing tool for various applications in Escherichia coli.