The rise of the Louisville Slugger in the mass market

The following article is a historical case study on the obstacles confronted by Hillerich & Son and the strategies the company employed to survive in a tumultuous industry. Three key marketing strate­gies will be discussed. These key strategies, al­though historical in nature, are still effectively used by manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers in the 1990s. Furthermore, Hillerich & Son\u27s marketing strategies defy the historical production era model. According to the production era model, production was manufacturers\u27 primary concern until 1930. Customer research was inconsequential since demand exceeded supply and competition was scarce within product markets.Hillerich & Son\u27s marketing strategies in the first decade of the 20th century exem­plify that following eras, production (1870-1930), sales (1930-1950), and-marketing (1950s), were not a sequential evolution. Competition in the baseball bat industry was indeed fierce. Consequently, manu­facturers concentrated on the customer to ascertain desired products and product attributes. This case study suggests that marketing has always been an integral part of company strategies. This proposi­tion is exemplified by Hillerich & Son\u27s three key marketing strategies, 1) the 1912 push rule, 2) the 1914 youth market decision, and 3) the 1919 na­tional advertising campaign

Industry segmentation theory and the sport industry: Developing a sport industry segment model

The purpose of this study was to apply industry segmentation theory to the sport industry and to develop a sport industry segment model. Porter\u27s (1985) theory of industry segmentation was applied. Traditional and con­temporary definitions of sport and sport industry as well as lists and descriptions of sport products were used. The results produced three sport industry segments: sport performance, sport production, and sport promotion. In addition, product variety categories and buyer types were identified in each segment

Interpersonal prosodic correlation in frontotemporal dementia.

Communication accommodation describes how individuals adjust their communicative style to that of their conversational partner. We predicted that interpersonal prosodic correlation related to pitch and timing would be decreased in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). We predicted that the interpersonal correlation in a timing measure and a pitch measure would be increased in right temporal FTD (rtFTD) due to sparing of the neural substrate for speech timing and pitch modulation but loss of social semantics. We found no significant effects in bvFTD, but conversations including rtFTD demonstrated higher interpersonal correlations in speech rate than healthy controls

MACE II - A Space Shuttle experiment for investigating adaptive control of flexible spacecraft

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76987/1/AIAA-1998-4319-483.pd

On the Nature of Soft X-ray Weak Quasi-Stellar Objects

Recent studies of QSOs with ROSAT suggest the existence of a significant population of Soft X-ray Weak QSOs (SXW QSOs) where the soft X-ray flux is ~ 10-30 times smaller than in typical QSOs. As a first step in a systematic study of these objects, we establish a well-defined sample of SXW QSOs which includes all alpha_ox<=-2 QSOs from the Boroson & Green (1992) sample of 87 BQS QSOs. SXW QSOs comprise about 11% of this optically selected QSO sample. From an analysis of CIV absorption in the 55 BG92 QSOs with available CIV data, we find a remarkably strong correlation between alpha_ox and the CIV absorption equivalent width. This correlation suggests that absorption is the primary cause of soft X-ray weakness in QSOs, and it reveals a continuum of absorption properties connecting unabsorbed QSOs, X-ray warm absorber QSOs, SXW QSOs and BAL QSOs. From a practical point of view, our correlation demonstrates that selection by soft X-ray weakness is an effective (>=80% successful) and observationally inexpensive way to find low-redshift QSOs with strong and interesting ultraviolet absorption. We have also identified several notable differences between the optical emission-line properties of SXW QSOs and those of the other BG92 QSOs. SXW QSOs show systematically low [O III] luminosities as well as distinctive H-beta profiles. They tend to lie toward the weak-[O III] end of BG92 eigenvector 1, as do many low-ionization BAL QSOs. Unabsorbed Seyferts and QSOs with similar values of eigenvector 1 have been suggested to have extreme values of a primary physical parameter, perhaps mass accretion rate relative to the Eddington rate (M-dot/M-dot_{Edd}). If these suggestions are correct, it is likely that SXW QSOs also tend to have generally high values of (M-dot/M-dot_{Edd}). (Abridged)Comment: 34 pages, ApJ accepted, also available from http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/niel/papers/papers.htm

Variable climatic conditions dominate recent phytoplankton dynamics in Chesapeake Bay

Variable climatic conditions strongly influence phytoplankton dynamics in estuaries globally. Our study area is Chesapeake Bay, a highly productive ecosystem providing natural resources, transportation, and recreation for nearly 16 million people inhabiting a 165,000-km2 watershed. Since World War II, nutrient over-enrichment has led to multiple ecosystem impairments caused by increased phytoplankton biomass as chlorophyll-a (chl-a). Doubled nitrogen (N) loadings from 1945–1980 led to increased chl-a, reduced water clarity, and low dissolved oxygen (DO), while decreased N loadings from 1981–2012 suggest modest improvement. The recent 30+ years are characterized by high inter-annual variability of chl-a, coinciding with irregular dry and wet periods, complicating the detection of long-term trends. Here, we synthesize time-series data for historical and recent N loadings (TN, NO2 + NO3), chl-a, floral composition, and net primary productivity (NPP) to distinguish secular changes caused by nutrient over-enrichment from spatio-temporal variability imposed by climatic conditions. Wet years showed higher chl-a, higher diatom abundance, and increased NPP, while dry years showed lower chl-a, lower diatom abundance, and decreased NPP. Our findings support a conceptual model wherein variable climatic conditions dominate recent phytoplankton dynamics against a backdrop of nutrient over-enrichment, emphasizing the need to separate these effects to gauge progress toward improving water quality in estuaries

Chronic Wasting Disease and Potential Transmission to Humans

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) of deer and elk is endemic in a tri-corner area of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and new foci of CWD have been detected in other parts of the United States. Although detection in some areas may be related to increased surveillance, introduction of CWD due to translocation or natural migration of animals may account for some new foci of infection. Increasing spread of CWD has raised concerns about the potential for increasing human exposure to the CWD agent. The foodborne transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans indicates that the species barrier may not completely protect humans from animal prion diseases. Conversion of human prion protein by CWD-associated prions has been demonstrated in an in vitro cell-free experiment, but limited investigations have not identified strong evidence for CWD transmission to humans. More epidemiologic and laboratory studies are needed to monitor the possibility of such transmissions

Review of Nuclear Physics Experiments for Space Radiation

Human space flight requires protecting astronauts from the harmful effects of space radiation. The availability of measured nuclear cross section data needed for these studies is reviewed in the present paper. The energy range of interest for radiation protection is approximately 100 MeV/n to 10 GeV/n. The majority of data are for projectile fragmentation partial and total cross sections, including both charge changing and isotopic cross sections. The cross section data are organized into categories which include charge changing, elemental, isotopic for total, single and double differential with respect to momentum, energy and angle. Gaps in the data relevant to space radiation protection are discussed and recommendations for future experiments are made