A Nash Bargaining Approach to Retention Enhancing Bid Optimization in Sponsored Search Auctions with Discrete Bids

Bid optimization is now becoming quite popular in sponsored search auctions on the Web. Given a keyword and the maximum willingness to pay of each advertiser interested in the keyword, the bid optimizer generates a profile of bids for the advertisers with the objective of maximizing customer retention without compromising the revenue of the search engine. In this paper, we present a bid optimization algorithm that is based on a Nash bargaining model where the first player is the search engine and the second player is a virtual agent representing all the bidders. We make the realistic assumption that each bidder specifies a maximum willingness to pay values and a discrete, finite set of bid values. We show that the Nash bargaining solution for this problem always lies on a certain edge of the convex hull such that one end point of the edge is the vector of maximum willingness to pay of all the bidders. We show that the other endpoint of this edge can be computed as a solution of a linear programming problem. We also show how the solution can be transformed to a bid profile of the advertisers.

Estimating national contributions of greenhouse gas emissions :The CSE-WRI controversy

Analysts have identified four related questions that need to be asked and answered before agreements to respond to global warming will be possible.1 Which countries bear responsibility for causing the problem? What quantities and mix of greenhouse gases should each country be allowed to emit? Which countries have the resources to do something about the problem? Where are the best opportunities for undertaking projects to respond to the problem? Failure to distinguish among these four questions, or willingness to accept superficial answers, promotes unnecessary controversy.

Factors associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccination acceptance among university students from India during the post-pandemic phase

Background: There was a low adherence to influenza A (H1N1) vaccination program among university students and health care workers during the pandemic influenza in many parts of the world. Vaccination of high risk individuals is one of the recommendations of World Health Organization during the post-pandemic period. It is not documented about the student's knowledge, attitude and willingness to accept H1N1 vaccination during the post-pandemic period. We aimed to analyze the student's knowledge, attitude and willingness to accept H1N1 vaccination during the post-pandemic period in India. Methods: Vaccine against H1N1 was made available to the students of Vellore Institute of Technology, India from September 2010. The data are based on a cross-sectional study conducted during October 2010 to January 2011 using a self-administered questionnaire with a representative sample of the student population (N = 802). Results: Of the 802 respondents, only 102/802 (12.7%) had been vaccinated and 105/802 (13%) planned to do so in the future, while 595/802 (74%) would probably or definitely not get vaccinated in the future. The highest coverage was among the female (65/102, 63.7%) and non-compliance was higher among men in the group (384/595; 64.5%) (p < 0.0001). The representation of students from school of Bio-sciences and Bio-technology among vaccinees is significantly higher than that of other schools. Majority of the study population from the three groups perceived vaccine against H1N1 as the effective preventive measure when compared to other preventive measures. 250/595 (42%) of the responders argued of not being in the risk group. The risk perception was significantly higher among female (p < 0.0001). With in the study group, 453/802 (56.4%) said that they got the information, mostly from media. Conclusions: Our study shows that the vaccination coverage among university students remains very low in the post-pandemic period and doubts about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine are key elements in their rejection. Our results indicate a need to provide accessible information about the vaccine safety by scientific authorities and fill gaps and confusions in this regard.

A Coalitional Game Framework for Cooperative Secondary Spectrum Access

We consider a framework in which several service providers offer downlink wireless data access service in a certain area. Each provider serves its end-users through opportunistic secondary spectrum access of licensed spectrum, and needs to pay primary license holders of the spectrum usage based and membership based charges for such secondary spectrum access. In these circumstances, if providers pool their resources and allow end-users to be served by any of the cooperating providers, the total user satisfaction as well as the aggregate revenue earned by providers may increase. We use coalitional game theory to investigate such cooperation among providers, and show that the optimal cooperation schemes can be obtained as solutions of convex optimizations. We next show that under usage based charging scheme, if all providers cooperate, there always exists an operating point that maximizes the aggregate revenue of providers, while presenting each provider a share of the revenue such that no subset of providers has an incentive to leave the coalition. Furthermore, such an operating point can be computed in polynomial time. Finally, we show that when the charging scheme involves membership based charges, the above result holds in important special cases.

Is The Burden of Medical Education Affecting Ethics of Medical Treatment?

A substantial number of medical students in India have to bear an enormous financial burden for earning a bachelor's degree in medicine referred to as MBBS (bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery). This degree program lasts for four and one-half years followed by one year of internship. A postgraduate degree, such as MD, has to be pursued separately on completion of a MBBS. Every medical college in India is part of a hospital where the medical students get clinical exposure during the course of their study. All or at least a number of medical colleges in a given state are affiliated to a university that mainly plays a role of an overseeing authority. The medical colleges usually have no official interaction with other disciplines of education such as science and engineering, perhaps because of their independent location and absence of emphasis on medical research. However, many of the medical colleges are adept in imparting high-quality and sound training in medical practices including diagnostics and treatment. The medical colleges in India are generally of two types, i.e., government owned and private. Since only a limited number of seats are available across India in the former category of colleges, only a small fraction of aspiring candidates can find admission in these colleges after performing competitively in the relevant entrance tests. A major advantage of studying in these colleges is the nominal tuition fees that have to be paid. On the other hand, a large majority of would-be medical graduates have to seek admission in the privately run medical institutes in which the tuition and other related fees can be mind boggling when compared to their public counterparts. Except for candidates of exceptionally affluent background, the only alternative for fulfilling the dream of becoming a doctor is by financing one's study through hefty bank loans that may take years to pay back. It is often heard from patients that they are asked by doctors to undergo a plethora of diagnostic tests for apparently minor illnesses, which may financially benefit those prescribing the tests. The present paper attempts to throw light on the extent of disparity in cost of a medical education between state-funded and privately managed medical colleges in India; the average salary of a new medical graduate, which is often ridiculously low when compared to what is offered in entry-level engineering and business jobs; and the possible repercussions of this apparently unjust economic situation regarding the exploitation of patients.