Thermoelectric materials can convert waste heat into electricity, potentially improving the effi ciency of energy usage in both industry and everyday life. Unfortunately, known good thermoelectric materials often are comprised of elements that are in low abundance and require careful doping and complex synthesis procedures. Here, we report dimensionless thermoelectric fi gure of merit near unit...

Heterogeneous TiO2/Cu2O nanocomposite was synthesized for photocatalysis through surface impregnation in conjunction with the environmentally friendly soft chemical reduction strategy. The detailed structural, compositional, optical and photoelectrochemical properties of the obtained products are analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Vis diffuse refl ec...

We investigate regulation as the outcome of a bargaining process between a regulator and a regulated firm. The regulator is required to monitor the firm’s costs and reveal its information to a political principal (Congress). In this setting, we explore the scope for collusion between the regulator and the firm, which results in the manipulation of the regulator’s report on the firm’s costs to C...

Recent advances in the synthesis [ 1 ] and assembly [ 2 ] of nanocrystals (NCs) provide unique opportunities to exploit NCs for the development of next generation organic/inorganic hybrid solar cells as one of the most promising alternatives to Si solar cells to deliver effi cient energy conversion with inexpensive fabrication. [ 1 , 2 ] These conjugated polymer-based photovoltaic devices capit...

Background Findings of large randomised trials have shown that lowering LDL cholesterol with statins reduces vascular morbidity and mortality rapidly, but limited evidence exists about the long-term effi cacy and safety of statin treatment. The aim of the extended follow-up of the Heart Protection Study (HPS) is to assess long-term effi cacy and safety of lowering LDL cholesterol with statins, ...

In this paper, we demonstrate the effi ciency of seller entry in a model of competing auctions in which we allow for both buyer and seller heterogeneity. This generalizes existing effi ciency results in the competitive search literature by simultaneously allowing for nonrival (many-on-one) meetings and private information. ∗We thank Andrzej Skrzypacz, our editor, and Jeremy Bulow for their help...

We study a repeated version of the Myerson-Satterthwaite bilateral bargaining problem with serially correlated types. We show that effi cient, unsubsidized, and individually rational trade is possible if and only if the expected dynamic virtual surplus from the effi cient allocation is positive. Using this condition, we study the effects of discounting, frequency of interaction and persistence ...

This paper investigates the circumstances under which negotiating simultaneously over multiple issues or assets helps reduce ineffi ciencies due to the presence of asymmetric information. Consider the case where one agent controls all assets. One would expect that strong substitutabilities among assets, would help trade, as the seller would value the additional units less. We show that this int...

Using three-wave survey data for four villages of Jiangsu Province in China, the present paper examines whether and to what extent off-farm employment affects the technical efficiency of agricultural production. The level of technical efficiency is measured using a stochastic frontier production function approach. Based on estimation results from instrumental variable panel quantile regressions...

It has recently been frequently reported that thoracoscopic lobectomy for primary lung cancer is less invasive compared to thoracotomy, and the safety and effi cacy are comparable.1–3) On the other hand, the development of robot-assisted lobectomy for primary lung cancer is ongoing, and its evaluation has not been performed. However, the introduction of a surgical robot (da Vinci; Intuitive sur...