Pre-entry advertising, entry deterrence and multi-informational signaling

Advertising is commonly regarded as a strategic tool to increase demand and steal business from competitors. The present work studies the competitive effects of advertising in a two-period game with incomplete information about the opponent's cost structure. Bagwell and Ramey (1988) showed that deterring entry is possible by signaling lower costs even if the post-entry game is independent of the pre-entry advertising decision. Assuming that pre-entry advertising by an entrant affects the post-entry game, then the incumbent is forced to do more than in the Bagwell/Ramey case to deter entry; he needs to distort costs downwards more extensively. On the other hand, introductory advertising does not facilitate entry if the entrant learns from the signal that competition with the incumbent is unprofitable. In this case, the entrant abstains from entry after performing introductory advertisng. Furthermore, if the incumbent has private information on cost and advertising effectiveness, then he can deter entry by acting as if he had lower production costs and a better advertising effectiveness. In this scenario, entry deterrence is associated with overinvestment in advertising but not with limit pricing, which is a new prediction. The use of multi-informational signals, i.e. pooled information on more than one type of private information transferred by one signal, is methodologically a new development of the classical signaling game.advertising, entry deterrence, advertising effectiveness, pre-entry advertising, signaling

Chapter Canons, books of canons, and ecclesiastical judgments in Carolingian Italy: the Council of Mantua, 827

The long-running jurisdictional dispute between the patriarchs of Aquileia and Grado entered a period of particular activity in the 820s, culminating in a judicial decision in Aquileia’s favor at the Council of Mantua in 827. This council and its consequences offer fertile ground for exploring the ways that texts figured in ecclesiastical conflicts in ninth-century Italy. Recent work has shed light on the role hagiographical texts played in this dispute. This chapter examines another “textual” dimension: the role of canons and canon-law norms in arguments and decisions, in the “courtroom” and beyond. The chapter concludes with brief discussion of a different case, from Lucca, that shows with particular clarity the close connection that could exist between canon law in the manuscripts and in legal practice

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Michael C. Heil, Flood of emotions: will it ever end?, Kansas State University, December 1993

Udder health concepts that comply with organic principles - how to reduce therapies?

Both the consumers and the legislators expect products from healthy organic livestock. Consequently, keeping farm animals healthy has the highest priority in veterinary work on organic farms. Different Swiss FiBL projects on bovine mastitis in recent years were aimed at health concepts that comply with organic livestock production principles. This paper summarises some of the work carried out

Handling the dry-off problem in organic dairy herds by teat sealing or homeopathy com-pared to therapy omission

Avoiding antibiotics is one of the crucial goals in organic dairy herd health management. Thus, a trial with 102 cows (408 quarters) was conducted to com-pare 2 common medical dry-off practices in organic dairying, internal teat sealant (Orbeseal®, Pfizer) and herd specific homeopathic remedies, with an untreated control. Regarding the sub-clinical mastitis protection rate (IPR), the results show no significant benefit for the two treatment groups in general. The homeopathic group had an advantage in the treatment of cows at drying off showing less than 200k cells/ml. The protection OR of these cows was 5.80 (95%-CI 1.36-29.87) compared to control. Teat sealants showed the best results in protection against environmental infections. Only 13% (n=10/80) of the primarily healthy quarters were infected by environmental Streptococci, Enterococci or Coliforms after calving compared to 21% (15/70; n.s.) after homeopathic treatment and 28% in the control group. This is a 3-fold protection chance (3.04 - 95%-CI 1.2-9.0) compared to control. The results indicate that in herds with good udder health with few environmental infections, a treatment at drying off can be omitted, while sub-clinically in-fected cows could be treated by homeopathics. Only in case of increased environmental infection risk, a strategic teat sealant usage is recommended

Treatment of bovine sub-clinical mastitis with homeopathic remedies

Considering the positive results of homeopathic therapy of bovine mastitis, the presented study should evaluate the effects of two standardized homeopathic methods in sub-clinical mastitis using a prospective randomized double-blind placebo control study design. A number of 124 dairy cows from 17 herds with increased somatic cell count were selected and randomly associated to 5 treatment groups. Two groups received a peroral therapy with (a) a homeopathic combination over 5 days and (b) a single treatment with a homeopathic nosode (Tuberculinum). To each treatment group a placebo control group was established with the same treatment frequency. A fifth group served as an untreated control. The bacteriological cure rate after 4 and 8 weeks was 28% and the total cure rate additionally regarding a normalized somatic cell count was 14% and 18%, respectively. There was no significant effect by the remedies at all. The cow somatic cell count over three months after treatment showed no significant difference in the five groups. Standardized homeopathic combinations and Tuberculinum nosodes are not able to control sub-clinical mastitis during lactation. If other factors like age and microbial agent are responsible for the success of homeopathy or if more individualized protocols provide better results has to be answered in further investigations

Eye protection for use in mountaineering

Approaching the problem of what constitutes an adequate pair of mountaineering glasses a look will be taken at what needs protection, why and how this is best accomplished. Characteristics to be expounded upon range from a physiological consideration, to electromagnetic considerations, to lenses (glass, plastic, contact), to frames, to several miscellaneous parameters. With a knowledge of these characteristics a person could readily identify an excellent pair of mountaineering glasses

Aerosol dynamics simulations of the anatomical variability of e-cigarette particle and vapor deposition in a stochastic lung

Electronic cigarette (EC) aerosols are typically composed of a mixture of nicotine, glycerine (VG), propylene glycol (PG), water, acidic stabilizers and a variety of flavors. Inhalation of e-cigarette aerosols is characterized by a continuous modification of particle diameters, concentrations, composition and phase changes, and smoker-specific inhalation conditions, i.e. puffing, mouthhold and bolus inhalation. The dynamic changes of inhaled e-cigarette droplets in the lungs due to coagulation, conductive heat and diffusive heat/convective vapor transport and particle phase chemistry are described by the Aerosol Dynamics in Containment (ADiC) model. For the simulation of the variability of inhaled particle and vapor deposition, the ADiC model is coupled with the IDEAL Monte Carlo code, which is based on a stochastic, asymmetric airway model of the human lung. We refer to the coupled model as "IDEAL/ADIC_v1.0". In this study, two different ecigarettes were compared, one without any acid ("no acid") and the other one with an acidic regulator (benzoic acid) to establish an initial pH level of about 7 ("lower pH"). Corresponding deposition patterns among human airways comprise total and compound-specific number and mass deposition fractions, distinguishing between inhalation and exhalation phases and condensed and vapor phases. Note that the inhaled EC aerosol is significantly modified in the oral cavity prior to inhalation into the lungs. Computed deposition fractions demonstrate that total particle mass is preferentially deposited in the alveolar region of the lung during inhalation. While nicotine deposits prevalently in the condensed phase for the "lower pH" case, vapor phase deposition is dominating the "no acid" case. The significant statistical fluctuations of the particle and vapor deposition patterns illustrate the inherent anatomical variability of the human lung structure.Peer reviewe