Does Price Matter? Price and Non-price Competition in the Airline Industry

This paper studies passengers' choice behavior in air travel. Products are defined as a unique combination of airline and flight itinerary while markets are defined as a directional round-trip air travel between an origin and a destination city. A structural econometric model is used to investigate the relative importance of price (airfare) and non-price product characteristics in explaining passengers' choice of these differentiated products. The results suggest that, on average, prices may not be as important as we think in explaining passengers' choice behavior among alternative products. Non-price characteristics which may include convenience of flight schedules, frequent flyer programs, the quality of in-flight service, among other things, seem to be much more important in explaining passengers' choice behavior. As such, the results have implications for the focus of antitrust policies in the airline industry when assessing the impact of mergers, alliances, or other business decisions of airlinesDiscrete Choice, Mixed Logit, Airlines, Hub and Spoke Network, Frequent Flyer Programs

Co-Creating Meaningful Structures within Long-Term Psychotherapy Group Culture

Meaningful group structures are co-created within the long-term outpatient psychotherapy group through a hermeneutical interaction between structure and immediate experience of structure by individuals embedded in personal and collective contexts. Co-created meanings expand original group and self understandings and further evolve structures that are stable yet do not exist independently of the narratives and affects of the members who interact with them. Group structures do not reduce, expand, or dissolve but change in connection to the experiences and meaning attributions within the group. This intersubjective process mediates the emphasis within group theory upon leader responsibility for culture building that risks over promoting certain psychotherapeutic cultural intentions over others. Three examples of long-term psychotherapy group intersubjective hermeneutical interaction lend insight into global, cultural, and societal groups

Aggression and School Performance Among Seventh-Grade Students Enrolled in a Midwestern Suburban Middle School: A Social-Cognitive Behavioral Perspective

Aggressive tendencies constitute a consistent behavioral pattern that spans early childhood through preadolescence, adolescence, and adulthood. Researchers have linked high levels of preadolescent aggression with adolescent adjustment problems in school, the home, and community. This study explored the relationship between aggression levels and school performance among a sample of seventh-grade students. Thirty subjects were randomly selected from a seventh-grade class (n=230) located in a midwestern suburban middle school. Behavior and academic performance was associated with aggression levels as measured by the Missouri Children\u27s Behavior Checklist (MCBC) among this sample. Academic performance, as measured by Grade Point Average (GPA) was negatively correlated with higher levels of aggression. Although statistically insignificant, Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) composite percentiles and aggression also trended toward association. Further, higher levels of aggression were significantly related to behavior problems at school as measured by office administered disciplinary counts. Social cognitive-behavior therapy interventions - particularly the Anger Coping Program (ACP) and Aggression Replacement Training (ART) - were examined for effectiveness in addressing the needs of this population

Wind tunnel performance results of an aeroelastically scaled 2/9 model of the PTA flight test prop-fan

High speed wind tunnel aerodynamic performance tests of the SR-7A advanced prop-fan have been completed in support of the Prop-Fan Test Assessment (PTA) flight test program. The test showed that the SR-7A model performed aerodynamically very well. At the cruise design condition, the SR-7A prop fan had a high measured net efficiency of 79.3 percent

An Action Research Project on Preparing Teachers to Meet the Needs of Underserved Student Populations

The focus of this action research study was on the initial stage in reforming our teacher preparation programs. We designed, conducted, evaluated, and revised the components of our teacher preparation programs that were aimed at providing preservice teachers with the confidence and knowledge needed to meet the needs of youth populations underserved in science education. The conceptual framework of this study predicted that providing preservice teachers with experiences in teaching science to at-risk youth in a nonformal educational setting and that exploring these experiences in a seminar setting will increase the teachers’ confidence and knowledge in regard to teaching science to children from underserved populations. The community-based experience allowed for an experience in which 20 preservice teachers taught in a situation in which at-risk youth were the majority, thus spotlighting their needs in a manner traditionally not experienced by these prospective teachers. A two-phase methodological design (J. Creswell, 1994) was utilized to answer the questions: (a) Did the plan lead to the desired outcomes? and (b) What strategies fostered or hindered progress toward the desired outcomes? The findings of this study were utilized to develop our next action step in preparing teachers to foster science literacy for All Americans

Specifying and Estimating a Regional Agricultural Railroad Demand Model

In recent years there have been few railroad demand studies. Also, no study has investigated the possibility of regional differences in railroad demand. The objective of the paper is to estimate railroad demand functions for wheat, corn, sorghum, and soybeans for the United States as well as the east and west regions. A two-region spatial equilibrium model is employed to specify the empirical model in which railroad tons originated is the dependent variable. The explanatory variables include railroad price per ton, crop production, and barge price per ton. The theoretically expected sign is negative for rail price. Alternatively, the expected sign is positive for crop production and barge rate. Results include estimates of railroad own-price elasticities and cross price elasticities relative to barge transport. The estimates also reveal regional differences in railroad grain demand

Descaling Injury Impairs the Osmoregulatory Ability of Atlantic Salmon Smolts Entering Seawater

The effect of descaling injury on the osmoregulatory ability of hatchery Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts in seawater was investigated. Experimental series were initiated during early, middle, and late periods of the spring smolt migration (April 25, May 11, and May 31, respectively). For each time series, descaled smolts (subjected to descaling on 10% of the body surface area) and control smolts (held out of water for 15 s) were transferred to seawater at 0, 1, 3, or 7 d posttreatment. After fish were held in 35% seawater for 24 h, gill and blood samples were collected and analyzed for Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity and plasma osmolyte levels. Based on gill Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity, the three series spanned the period from early smolting (increasing activity) to de-smolting (decreasing activity). In each series, descaled fish transferred to seawater at 0 and 1 d posttreatment had greater plasma osmolality than control fish; descaled fish transferred to seawater at 3 d posttreatment did not differ from controls. The greatest perturbation in osmolality (70 milliosmoles) was observed at the peak of smolting (middle series), whereas lesser increases were seen for early and late-series smolts. The observed osmotic perturbations in descaled fish would probably reduce performance and decrease survival during smolt migration

Modulation of Leukocyte Behavior by an Inflamed Extracellular Matrix

Inflammation is a response of the immune system to foreign insult or physical damage. Various cellular and humoral components of the immune system are recruited from the vascular system and are translocated through endothelium, and into extracellular matrix (ECM) compartments of inflamed tissues. This translocation is orchestrated by various types of accessory signals, in the form of soluble or complexed molecules, which evoke remarkable transitions in leukocyte activities. Recruited inflammatory cells give rise to mechanisms of migration, including the secretion of enzymes and other pro-inflammatory mediators and the alteration of their adhesive contacts with the ECM. Hence, migrating cells secrete enzymes, chemokines, and cytokines which interact with the ECM, and thereby, provide the cells with intrinsic signals for coordinating their responses. Resultant products of enzymatic modifications to the ECM microenvironment, such as cytokine- and ECM-derived molecules, may be also part of a cell-signaling mechanism that provides leukocytes with information about the nature of their inflammatory activity; such a mechanism may give the immune system data that can be cognitively interpreted for consequential activities. This article reviews the findings that support this notion and describe the dynamic interactions between participants of the inflammatory processes

Parent Reports of Wayfinding by Their Children with Down Syndrome

Background: Navigating the environment, or wayfinding, is integral to independent living. Laboratory studies have consistently indicated an impairment in wayfinding in people with Down syndrome (DS). However, very little is known regarding their real-life wayfinding abilities. Method: Eighty-six parents of children with DS completed an online survey on their children’s wayfinding behaviours and their own feelings and expectations about their children’s wayfinding. Results: Parents reported their children had few wayfinding skills, yet much confidence in their own abilities. Many parents had taught/planned to teach their children wayfinding skills. Parents also expressed concerns over their children’s independent wayfinding. Parents teaching wayfinding and parents’ concern predicted their assessment of their children’s wayfinding competence and knowledge. Children’s age and sex, as well as parents’ concerns predicted assessment of children’s confidence in wayfinding. Conclusions: Our results identified key factors related to wayfinding behaviours in people with DS. Parental factors are especially important in predicting their children’s wayfinding behaviour

Developing Global Engineers through Cooperative Education: The University of Cincinnati Japanese Language and Culture Model (2012)

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