What do hip-huggers, HEMI engines, and behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids have in common? Not a whole lot except that all three were trendy in the 1960s and 1970s, then fell into decline, and now, in the new millennium, are selling like those proverbial hotcakes! They have also all come back in somewhat different forms. Chrysler's new HEMI engine, introduced in 2002, is a little smaller than that of yesteryear. The old hip-huggers have been reincarnated as “low-rise jeans.” And the BTE's return to dominance of the hearing aid market has been fueled by the appearance of smaller instruments with open-canal (OC) fittings, beginning in 2003 with the GN ReSound Air®. Today, every manufacturer offers smaller BTEs, mostly fitted with an open canal, and often categorized under new names, such as post-auricular-canal, over-the-ear, and mini- and micro-BTEs. This new breed of products is also showing up in an amazing range of shapes and colors, as that old industry dream of stylish hearing aids is finally coming true. The Hearing Industries Association (HIA), the main source of U.S. market sales data, recently reported that 51.45% of all hearing aids sold in 2007 were of some BTE style. However, it remains uncertain how much of the boom in BTE sales has resulted from smaller open-fit BTE hearing aids, herein referred to as OC mini-BTEs. To find out the extent of the OC mini-BTE boom—and also what dispensers and their patients think of this product type—the 2008 Hearing Journal/AudiologyOnline (HJ/AO) survey included a special section of 10 questions for audiologists, hearing instrument specialists, and other hearing professionals about their experiences with and opinions on these devices. The survey also included questions on many other topics, which will be reported on next month. But this Cover Story focuses on what our survey learned about OC mini-BTEs—their popularity and their perceived benefits and drawbacks. First though, here's a quick look at how the survey was conducted and who took part.

市地重劃是目前落實都市計畫的重要工具之一透過市地重劃可取得十公共設施用地及部分設施之建設經費。在地方政府財源短絀的情況下，市地重劃不啻是為優良之地方建設工具之一。 市地重劃運用使用者付費之觀念，將開發利益以公共設施用地及建設經費的內容，轉換成抵費地之方式回饋社會，目前依法令規定此回饋比例不得超過市地重劃總面積之百分之四十五。然而如何適當地評估開發利益（即市地重劃效益），並依此獲利負擔回饋（即市地重劃負擔）是本研究所欲了解的。本研究藉由地價理論，確定市地重劃效益主要是因為公共設施投資建設所產生之寧適性與可建性，資本化為每宗土地之土地價值一部分而得；其次依分配價值理論與使用者付費方法，確定市地重劃負擔具有類似稅捐性質，其意為每宗土地支付重劃負擔所繳納之土地比例。由此觀點，本研究藉由市地重劃地價函數之建立，依特徵價格法（ Hedonic Price Method）建構實證模型，並且選定臺中市第七期及第八期重劃區為實證地區，以討論公共設施投資建設對市地重劃後土地價值的景響程度，２重劃負擔法定比例的經濟意義及土地所有權人對重劃負擔的真實負擔能力，以及3以個體經濟之觀點，衡量土地所有權人對重劃之利益與負擔，願意支付之價格。最後再進一步檢討1現行市地重劃分配計算方式之缺失，2以抵費地支付重負擔之問題，以及3重劃估價方式之間題，並提出改進方向。 本研究經以理論及實證分析，獲得之主要結論為：參與市地重劃之住宅地，透過地方性公共建設投資資本化作用，可獲得相當利益，此時以抵費地方式回饋部分利益是極可行的方式，且依實證結果可知，目前地主支付重劃負擔之實力仍大於法規要求之百分之四十五。因此，若再考慮土地使用變更所獲之超額利益，則回饋利益之比例應遠大於百分之四＋五。