Low carbon manufacturing has become a strategic objective for many developed and developing economies. This study examines the role of co-opetition in achieving this objective. We investigate the pricing and emissions reduction policies for two rival manufacturers with different emission reduction efficiencies under the cap-and-trade policy.We assume that the product demand is price and emission sensitive. Based on non-cooperative and cooperative games, the optimal solutions for the two manufacturers are derived in the purely competitive and co-opetitive market environments respectively. Through the discussion and numerical analysis, we uncovered that in both pure competition and co-opetition models, the two manufacturers' optimal prices depend on the unit price of carbon emission trading. In addition, higher emission reduction efficiency leads to lower optimal unit carbon emissions and higher profit in both the pure competition and co-petition models.Interestingly, compared to pure competition, co-opetition will lead to more profit and less total carbon emissions. However, the improvement in economic and environmental performance is based on higher product prices and unit carbon emissions.

We investigate a supply chain in which a retailer is supplied by two manufacturers with differentiated brands, a good brand and an average brand. The customers in the market are segmented based on value and brand preference, namely the customer acceptance of the average brand and the customer surplus for each brand. Both horizontal competition (between the two competing manufacturers) and vertical competition (between the manufacturers and the retailer) are considered through an exploration of different power structure combinations. Multiple-stage game models are developed to examine the impact of different power structures on the pricing decisions and the profits of the manufacturers and the retailer. We find that intensified competition between the two manufacturers hurts the manufacturers and benefits the retailer. No dominance among supply chain members (the two manufacturers and the retailer) leads to the highest profit for the entire supply chain. We also find that for the two competing manufacturers, being first to announce the pricing decision results in lower profitthe second to announce benefits from knowing the rival's price. This explains why rivals prefer not to reveal decisions on prices, bid rates, and contracts, as this information represents bargaining power. The impact of customer acceptance of the average brand is also analyzed.

A novel interpenetrating network (IPN) based on poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(acrylic acid) was developed and its use as an artificial cornea was evaluated in vivo. The in vivo results of a first set of corneal inlays based on PEG-diacrylate precursor showed inflammation of the treated eyes and haze in the corneas. The insufficient biocompatibility could be correlated to poor long-term stability of the implant caused by hydrolytic degradation over time. Adapting the hydrogel chemistry by replacing hydrolysable acrylate functionalities with stable acrylamide functionalities was shown to increase the long-term stability of the resulting IPNs under hydrolytic conditions. This new set of hydrogel implants now shows increased biocompatibility in vivo. Rabbits with corneal inlay implants are healthy and have clear cornea and non-inflamed eyes for up to 6 months after implantation.

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Low carbon economy has become a top agenda for many countries following the agreement in the Paris meeting on climate change. In this article, we take price and emission sensitive demand into account and incorporate competition between the two rival manufacturers in the demand function. This research takes more proactive actions incorporating carbon emissions in the strategic and operational decisions, which complements the existing literature on low carbon manufacturing, in which the carbon emissions attribute is often used as a constraint, or only the single manufacturer's demand is considered. Based on game theory, the pricing and carbon emissions reduction decisions are investigated. Our study contributes to the existing literature on low carbon manufacturing by specifically examining the impact of production efficiency, carbon emissions reduction efficiency, and market power structure on achieving low carbon manufacturing. Through the systematic analysis of optimal pricing and green technology investment decisions to improve the economic and environmental performance under different market power structures, our findings provide valuable managerial implications, which will help many manufacturing firms to make important strategic and operational decisions regarding low carbon manufacturing.

The SUNDROP initiative demonstrated a high degree of diagnostic reliability and was able to capture all infants with TW-ROP. Telemedicine offers a cost-effective, reliable and accurate screening methodology for identifying infants with TW-ROP without sacrificing quality of care.

Telemedicine demonstrates high diagnostic accuracy for detection of TW-ROP and can complement ROP screening.

We describe the development and characterization of collagen-coupled poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(acrylic acid) (PEG/PAA) interpenetrating polymer network hydrogels. Quantitative amino acid analysis and FITC-labeling of collagen were used to determine the amount and distribution of collagen on the surface of the hydrogels. The bioactivity of the coupled collagen was detected by a conformation-specific antibody and was found to vary with the concentration of collagen reacted to the photochemically functionalized hydrogel surfaces. A wound healing assay based on an organ culture model demonstrated that this bioactive surface supports epithelial wound closure over the hydrogel but at a decreased rate relative to sham wounds. Implantation of the hydrogel into the corneas of live rabbits demonstrated that epithelial cell migration is supported by the material, although the rate of migration and morphology of the epithelium were not normal. The results from the study will be used as a guide toward the optimization of bioactive hydrogels with promise in corneal implant applications such as a corneal onlay and an artificial cornea.