Rebates, inventories, and intertemporal price discrimination

We demonstrate that universally redeemed rebates can increase manufacturer profits by reducing the incentives of downstream retailers to hoard inventories when optimal wholesale prices vary predictably over time. By bypassing retailers and making direct contracts with buyers, the manufacturer can increase the variations in effective prices paid by consumers without concomitantly creating larger incentives for retailers to hold inventories. During profitable, high-demand periods, manufacturer revenues are ordinarily constrained by'competition'from retailer inventories, thus limiting profits. However, by selectively offering rebates to consumers while maintaining high wholesale prices, low-demand periods can be accommodated without inducing retailer hoarding.     

Indiana bat roosting behavior differs between urban and rural landscapes

Urban Ecosystems - Urbanization may negatively affect forest obligate bat species. We compared the roosting behavior of federally endangered Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) in a fragmented site,...     

Age‐Related Changes in Prosodic Features of Maternal Speech to Prelingually Deaf Infants with Cochlear Implants

This study investigated prosodic and structural characteristics of infant‐directed speech to hearing‐impaired infants as they gain hearing experience with a cochlear implant over a 12‐month period of time. Mothers were recorded during a play interaction with their HI infants (N = 27, mean age 18.4 months) at 3, 6, and 12 months postimplantation. Two separate control groups of mothers with age‐matched normal‐hearing infants (NH‐AM) (N = 21, mean age 18.1 months) and hearing experience‐matched normal‐hearing infants (NH‐EM) (N = 24, mean age 3.1 months) were recorded at three testing sessions. Mothers produced less exaggerated pitch characteristics, a larger number of syllables per utterance, and faster speaking rate when interacting with NH‐AM as compared to HI infants. Mothers also produced more syllables and demonstrated a trend suggesting faster speaking rate in speech to NH‐EM relative to HI infants. Age‐related modifications included decreased pitch standard deviation and increased number of syllables in speech to NH‐AM infants and increased number of syllables in speech to HI and NH‐EM infants across the 12‐month period. These results suggest that mothers are sensitive to the hearing status of their infants and modify characteristics of infant‐directed speech over time.     

Reliant behavior in the United States and Japan

Japanese economic success is often attributed to culturally reinforced psychological conditioning that promotes interpersonal reliance, cooperation, and a group interest orientation. This article provides direct experimental evidence on differences in behavior among future business people in the United States and Japan. Utilizing a simple, two person extensive form game of perfect information introduced by Selten (1975), we provide evidence that, contrary to some views, the Japanese can be less reliant on the behavior of others and are more likely to take actions at variance with group welfare in some settings. Thus, popular explanations of Japanese economic achievements may require further exploration.     

Uncomplicated E. coli urinary tract infection in college women: a follow-up study of E. coli sensitivities to commonly prescribed antibiotics

Treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) has changed in the past few years with researchers advocating empiric treatment for shorter periods of time without the use of cultures. Researchers report that antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli (E. coli) to commonly prescribed antibiotics in uncomplicated UTIs has been increasing. Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) is 1 of these antibiotics. Researchers also report that resistance patterns may differ depending on the geographic area of the United States. In this study, the authors present the results of a 7-month retrospective chart analysis of 98 E. coli sensitivities to commonly prescribed antibiotics in the treatment of uncomplicated UTIs at a college health service. They examined the more common antibiotic choices and analyzed their in vitro responses. Of these antibiotics, ciprofloxacin, nitrofurantoin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, and TMP/SMX had the highest sensitivity rates. The authors compared the results with a previous study that they performed at the same institution in 1993. The results of this study show a sensitivity rate of 86% for TMP/SMX. When compared with the previous result of 87%, this represented a 1% change. Because of this slight decrease in sensitivity and the increasing concern over resistance, the authors suggest that they will continue to reevaluate the resistance pattern in their population on a regular basis. This will help determine if there is a need for modifying choices of empiric therapy for UTIs.     

A Longitudinal Study of Audiovisual Speech Perception by Children with Hearing Loss Who have Cochlear Implants

The present study investigated the development of audiovisual speech perception skills in children who are prelingually deaf and received cochlear implants. We analyzed results from the Pediatric Speech Intelligibility (Jerger, Lewis, Hawkins, & Jerger, 1980) test of audiovisual spoken word and sentence recognition skills obtained from a large group of young children with cochlear implants enrolled in a longitudinal study, from pre-implantation to 3 years post-implantation. The results revealed better performance under the audiovisual presentation condition compared with auditory-alone and visual-alone conditions. Performance in all three conditions improved over time following implantation. The results also revealed differential effects of early sensory and linguistic experience. Children from oral communication (OC) education backgrounds performed better overall than children from total communication (TC backgrounds. Finally, children in the early-implanted group performed better than children in the late-implanted group in the auditory-alone presentation condition after 2 years of cochlear implant use, whereas children in the late-implanted group performed better than children in the early-implanted group in the visual-alone condition. The results of the present study suggest that measures of audiovisual speech perception may provide new methods to assess hearing, speech, and language development in young children with cochlear implants.     

Mothers' Speech to Hearing‐Impaired Infants and Children With Cochlear Implants

This study investigated the effects of age, hearing loss, and cochlear implantation on mothers' speech to infants and children. We recorded normal‐hearing (NH) mothers speaking to their children as they typically would do at home and speaking to an adult experimenter. Nine infants (10–37 months) were hearing‐impaired and had used a cochlear implant (CI) for 3 to 18 months. Eighteen NH infants and children were matched either by chronological age (10–37 months) or hearing experience (3–18 months) to the CI children. Prosodic characteristics such as fundamental frequency, utterance duration, and pause duration were measured across utterances in the speech samples. The results revealed that mothers use a typical infant‐directed speech style when speaking to hearing‐impaired children with CIs. The results also suggested that NH mothers speak with more similar vocal styles to NH children and hearing‐impaired children with CIs when matched by hearing experience rather than chronological age. Thus, mothers are sensitive to hearing experience and linguistic abilities of their NH children as well as hearing‐impaired children with CIs.