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Agenesis Of Right Lung With Esophageal Atresia And Distal Tracheoesophageal Fistula, N. Surendran

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Robust Multi-Scenario Optimization Of An Air Expeditionary Force Force Structure Applying Genetic Algorithms To The Combat Forces Assessment Model, Barry D. Bennett Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force is increasingly facing more diverse threat situations while existing force structure levels are being reduced and proposed compositions are being severely scrutinized for relevance, affordability, and effectiveness. Military planners are struggling with the question of how to generate a single force structure that can adequately respond to a multitude of threat scenarios in an uncertain future while at the same time being tasked to prove just how effective their choice will be. In the past, modeling has been effective in showing how a force can respond to a single threat scenario but a new modeling …

Feature Selection For Predicting Pilot Mental Workload, Julia A. East

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in technology have the cockpits of the aircraft in the Air Force inventory increasingly complex. Consequently, mental demands on the pilot have risen. In some cases, mental demands were so overwhelming that pilots have forgotten basic flying techniques, such as G-straining maneuvers. The results have been fatal. Recent research in this area has involved collecting psychophysiological features, such as electroencephalography (EEG), heart, eye and respiration measures, in an attempt to identify pilot mental workload. This thesis focuses on feature selection and reduction of the psycophysiological features and subsequent classification of pilot mental workload on multiple subjects over multiple days. …

Chromium Concentration Bias In The Particle Size Distribution Of Primer Overspray, Joseph M. Fox

Theses and Dissertations

Air Force aircraft-painting operations create clouds of paint overspray that contain strontium chromate, a confirmed carcinogen, which poses an exposure hazard to painters. It is often assumed that all particles in paint overspray have the same chemical composition as the original paint mixture, however differences in composition may occur in various particle sizes. Because particle size affects where in the respiratory system a particle deposits, actual exposures to a specific chemical may vary. Paint particles greater than 2.5 µm are deposited in the upper respiratory system and will be eliminated by physiological removal mechanisms. Particles less than 2.5 µm will …

In Situ Treatment Of Chlorinated Ethene-Contaminated Groundwater Using Horizontal Flow Treatment Wells, Derek R. Ferland

Theses and Dissertations

The limitations of conventional containment technologies for groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents have motivated development of innovative technologies to achieve national groundwater remediation objectives. One inn9vative technology that is currently under development involves metal reductants or catalysts to chemically destroy the dissolved chlorinated solvent. Models are important tools that can be used to help transition this technology to the field. Model studies can be used to gain understanding about the technology, help determine when the prospective technology might work for a given site, and design full-scale field applications.

Realtime Color Stereovision Processing, Byron P. Formwalt

Theses and Dissertations

Recent developments in aviation have made micro air vehicles (MAVs) a reality. These featherweight palm-sized radio-controlled flying saucers embody the future of air-to-ground combat. No one has ever successfully implemented an autonomous control system for MAVs. Because MAVs are physically small with limited energy supplies, video signals offer superiority over radar for navigational applications. This research takes a step forward in real time machine vision processing. It investigates techniques for implementing a real time stereovision processing system using two miniature color cameras. The effects of poor-quality optics are overcome by a robust algorithm, which operates in real time and achieves …

Modeling Chlorinated Ethene Removal In Constructed Wetlands: A System Dynamics Approach, Colby D. Hoefar

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to gain understanding of the dynamics of the processes that degrade Perchloroethene (PCE) to ethylene, or carbon dioxide (CO₂), within the confines of a constructed wetland. A system dynamics approach will be used. This model is focused on identifying and optimizing the naturally occurring processes in stratified wetland sediment that reduce mass, toxicity, mobility, volume or concentration of contaminants in groundwater. Contaminant fate and transport within a wetland system is extremely complex and the mechanisms that drive wetland behavior are dynamic. Confidence in the model was built through verification and testing. Reasonable …

An Object-Oriented Approach To The Modeling And Visualization Of Breast Cancer Tumors, Bruce C. Jenkins

Theses and Dissertations

Great strides have been made in controlling the progression of breast cancer, but medical professionals continue to rely primarily upon traditional mammography for early detection. Enhancing breast cancer detection capabilities - and thus reducing tumor detection time - should result in a reduction in mortality rates. The detection capabilities of mammography may be enhanced through improved modeling and visualization techniques. This thesis is an extension of initial research conducted at the Air Force Institute of Technology. Previous efforts focused on developing a mathematical model for simulating the growth of cancer within unconstrained 3-dimensional space. The research also explored the behavior …

Toxicity Of Tolyltriazole To Bacillus Microorganisms, Christopher J. Leonard

Theses and Dissertations

The safety of air travel in cold weather depends upon the use of aircraft deicing fluids (ADAF). The environmental and toxic effects of the ADAF component tolyltriazole are not well understood. Tolyltriazole is a potential human carcinogen and has exhibited microbial toxicity in Microtox test. This research used two methods to investigate the toxicity of tolyltriazole on bacillus shaped microorganisms. The first method compared the dissolved oxygen uptake of microcosms exposed to varying concentrations of tolyltriazole. When exposed to 1000 ppm tolyltriazole, all isolated species showed inhibition in respiration. There was no evidence that tolyltriazole at

Toxicity Of Tolyltriazole To Gram-Positive Coccus Microorganisms, Heather L. Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

Maintaining safe flight operations, military and civilian, in cold weather requires the use of de-icing fluids. Glycols, the primary component of de-icers, have been extensively studied. Water and additives such as corrosion inhibitors and other performance enhancing chemicals make up the remaining portion of de-icing fluids. Little research has been conducted on the additives, but several are suspected toxins to microorganisms, therefore the EPA regulates the disposal of spent de-icing fluids. Tolyltriazole, a corrosion inhibitor found in de-icing fluids, is a suspected human carcinogen. It is also known to be moderately toxic to microorganisms based on Microtox results. The purpose …

Knowledge Base Support For Design And Synthesis Of Multi-Agent Systems, Marc J. Raphael

Theses and Dissertations

AgentTool is an AFIT-produced, AFOSR-sponsored multi-agent system (MAS) development tool intended for production of MASs that meet military requirements. This research focuses on enabling MAS design and synthesis tools like agentTool to store, retrieve, and filter persistent, reusable, and reliable agent domain knowledge. This "enabling" is vital if such tools are expected to produce consistent, maintainable, and verifiable agent applications on short timetables. Enabling requires: 1) modeling the agent knowledge domain, 2) designing and employing a persistent knowledge base, and 3) bridging that domain model to the knowledge base with an extensible domain interchange grammar. The achieved interchange grammar, called …

A Pharmacokinetic Study Of The Effects Of Stress On Chemical Exposure, Sierra H. Suhajda

Theses and Dissertations

Following the Gulf War there were many concerns raised about human exposure to the combination of chemicals and stress. Stress causes several changes in basic functions of a human body, from breathing and blood flow changes to hormonal and enzyme changes, and increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier. Each of these changes can strongly influence chemical uptake, distribution, and accumulation in the body. The purpose of this thesis was to model and predict the changes that will occur when stress is combined with chemical exposure. Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling is one tool that can be used to visualize, predict, and …

The Ultimate Bull’S Eye: Considering The Rational Search For Happiness, Philosophical Discussion Group, Armstrong State University

The Philosopher's Stone

No abstract provided.

The George-Anne, Georgia Southern University

The George-Anne

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Childhood Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: An Immunophenotypic Analysis., Sajid Hussain Shah, Suhail Muzaffar, Shahid Pervez, Sheema H. Hassan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: To observe the frequency of histological subtypes of childhood non-Hodgkin`s lymphoma and its immunohistochemical profile.

Setting: All cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosed in children (<15 years) in the section of histopithology at the Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi during the period of three years.

Methods: These consecutive cases were evaluated on H&E stained sections and then immunohistochemistry analysis of these tumors was performed by employing Peroxidase Anti-Peroxidase (PAP) technique.

Results: The present series included 61 cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. NHL was more common in males as compared to females with male to female ratio of 5.8:1. High grade NHL comprised 87% of childhood lymphoma. The mode of presentation in majority of NHL (57%) was extranodal. Burkitt’s lymphonia (33%) …

Intracellular Traits Of Chimeric Trnalys3-Ribozymes And Their Inhibition Of Hiv, Zongli Chang

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Host tRNALYs3is the primer recruited by HIV-1 for initiating reverse transcription. When ribozymes targeted upstream of the primer binding site of the HIV-1 genome are tethered to the 3' end of the tRNALYs3, it is expected that the tRNA will carry the ribozymes into the virions. We made constructs that express chimeric tRNALYs3- ribozymes from internal tRNA promoters. These chimeras were also adjoined downstream of a U6 promoter, resulting in a hybrid U6/tRNA expression cassette with extragenic U6 and intragenic tRNA promoters. Juxtaposition of the tRNA and U6 promoters significantly enhanced expression levels compared to the tRNA promoter alone. A …

Periradicular Response Of Immunodeficient Rats To Mechanical Pulpal Exposure, James E. Stich

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Periradicular lesions develop as a result of the interaction between root canal irritants and the immune system. The purpose of this study was to investigate the periradicular response of immunodeficient rats to their oral flora. Twenty Sprague-Dawley rats received a total body irradiation dose of 750 cGy one week prior to the investigation. The pulps of the mandibular first molars of these animals and six nonirradiated rats were exposed mechanically with a ½ round bur and left open to the oral cavity. Additional irradiation (350 cGy) was administered bi-weekly to maintain immunosuppression. Periradicular specimens were obtained after two and four …

The Precautionary Principle In Australia: Policy, Law & Potential Precautionary Eias, Warwick Gullett

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Gullet argues that environmental impact assessments are a logical vehicle for factoring the precautionary principle into large-project-approval processes.

Life At Grandfamilies House: The First Six Months, Alison S. Gottlieb, Nina M. Silverstein, Laney Bruner-Canhoto, Susan Montgomery

Gerontology Institute Publications

Recent reports cite estimates of more than two million children in the United States who are currently living in kinship care arrangements; 10% or approximately 200,000 of these relationships are children in foster care. Much kinship care is done by midlife and older persons who are finding themselves assuming new responsibilities associated with parenting their grandchildren, typically for a period of two years or more. This is a social phenomenon that cuts across all socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic groups. There are many challenges facing these nontraditional families including healthcare, income security, education, social support, and housing. Public and private partnerships …

University Reporter - Vol. 04, No. 07 - March 2000, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1996-2009, University Reporter

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Study Of Eleven Static Heuristics For Mapping A Class Of Independent Tasks Onto Ileterogeneous Distributed Computing Systems, Tracy D. Braunt, Howard Jay Siegel, Noah Beck, Ladislau L. Boloni, Muthucumaru Maheswarans, Albert I. Reuthert, James P. Robertson, Mitchell D. Theys, Bin Yao, Debra Hensgeno, Richard F. Freund

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Reports

ABSTRACT Il'lixed-machine heterogeneous computing (HC) environments utilize a distributed suite of different high-performance machines, interconnected with high-speed links to perform different computationally intensive applications that have diverse comput ational requirements. HC environments are well suited to meet thl: computational dell-tands of large, diverse groups of tasks. The problem of mapping (defined as matching and scheduling) these tasks onto the machines of a distributed HC environment has been shown, in general, to be NP-complete, requiring the development of heuristic techniques. Selecting the best heuristic to use in a given enviroi~menth, owever, remains a difficult problem, because comparisons are often clouded by …

Detection Of Rare Events And Rule Extracition By Neural Networks And Decision Trees, Wooyoung Choe, Okan K. Ersoy

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Reports

Sample stratification is a technique for making each class in a sample have equal influence on decision making. For classification with neural netwobrks, it is often preferable to use a stratified sample including an equal number of examples from each class;. However, it is not always possible to have a stratified sarrlple because of unavailability of examples (referred to as rare event cases). For rare event detection, we develop two sample stratification schemes in this research. The first scheme stratifies a sample by adding up the weighted sum of the derivatives during the backward pass of training. The second scheme …

Cyberpunk, Technoculture, And The Post-Biological Self, Ollivier Dyens

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Ollivier Dyens presents in his article, "Cyberpunk, Technoculture, and the Post-Biological Self," the argument that because of technology's intrusion in our perception and understanding of the world and because of its constant production of impossible images of the human body, today's representation of that same body must be fundamentally re-evaluated. As one can see in works of science fiction -- films and literature alike -- such as Terminator 2 or Neuromancer, the body must now be perceived as a quantum-like pattern whose form and essence depend on the human or machine observer. The human body entangled in technology wavers between …

Central Florida Future, March 1, 2000

Central Florida Future

Kweisi Mfume speaks about One Florida; UCF helps improve body image; Parental notification mandated by BOR.

The United States And Latin America: Shaping An Elusive Future, Donald E. Schulz Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The demise of the Cold War has produced not an "End of History" but a "New World Disorder," which may well become more tumultuous in the decades ahead. Thus, it is crucial at this turn of the millennium to reconsider the prospects for regional security, the challenges that both new and old dangers may pose to U.S. interests, and the kind of strategy and policies that might enable the United States to both better cope with current problems and head off those that are just over the horizon.

The author first analyzes U.S. security interests in Latin America, then goes …

Prevailing In A Well-Armed World: Devising Competitive Strategies Against Weapons Proliferation, Henry D. Sokolski Mr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

This book provides insights into the competitive strategies methodology. Andrew Marshall notes that policymakers and analysts can benefit by using an analytical tool that stimulates their thinking about strategy in terms of long-term competition between nations with conflicting values, policies, and objectives. The book also demonstrates the strengths of the competitive strategies approach as an instrument for examining U.S. policy. The method focuses on policies regarding the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In shaping the international environment in the next millennium, no other national security issue seems as complex or important. The imperative here is to look to competitive …

Jembrana Disease Virus Tat Can Regulate Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Hiv) Long Terminal Repeat-Directed Gene Expression And Can Substitute For Hiv Tat In Viral Replication, Hexin Chen, Jun He, Steven Fong, Graham Wilcox, Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Jembrana disease virus (JDV) is a bovine lentivirus genetically similar to bovine immunodeficiency virus; it causes an acute and sometimes fatal disease in infected animals. This virus carries a very potent Tat that can strongly activate not only its own long terminal repeat (LTR) but also the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) LTR. In contrast, HIV Tat cannot reciprocally activate the JDV LTR (H. Chen, G. E. Wilcox, G. Kertayadnya, and C. Wood, J. Virol. 73:658–666, 1999). This indicates that in transactivation JDV Tat may utilize a mechanism similar to but not the same as that of the HIV Tat. To …

Cardiac Markers For Assessing The Acute Coronary Syndromes. A Focus On Cardiac Troponins, Salam M. Saadeddin, Moh’D A. Habbab, Gordon A. Ferns

Saudi Medical Journal

Markers of myocardial injury will continue to play an essential role in the assessment and management of patients presenting within the spectrum of acute coronary syndromes, a term representing the continuum of acute myocardial ischemia ranging from angina through Q-wave myocardial infarction. Coronary artery lesion instability can be detected by markers of plaque inflammation and disruption, platelets reactivity, and thrombosis. When myocardial injury occurs with severe impairment of coronary blood flow, several markers are released from the damaged myocyte. For many years, creatine kinase-MB isoenzyme has been the conventional marker for myocardial infarction. Despite its inadequate sensitivity and specificity for …

Admission Patterns And Outcomes Of Sick Children: Experience From A Pediatric Intensive Care Unit In Oman, Shabih Manzar

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

The Pl(A2) Polymorphism Of Integrin Beta(3) Enhances Outside-In Signaling And Adhesive Functions., K Vinod Vijayan, Pascal J. Goldschmidt-Clermont, Christine Roos, Paul F. Bray

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Genetic factors are believed to influence the development of arterial thromboses. Because integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3) plays a crucial role in thrombus formation, we analyzed receptor adhesive properties using Chinese hamster ovary and human kidney embryonal 293 cells overexpressing the Pl(A1) or Pl(A2) polymorphic forms of alpha(IIb)beta(3). Soluble fibrinogen binding was no different between Pl(A1) and Pl(A2) cells, either in a resting state or when alpha(IIb)beta(3) was activated with anti-LIBS6. Pl(A1) and Pl(A2) cells bound equivalently to immobilized fibronectin. In contrast, significantly more Pl(A2) cells bound to immobilized fibrinogen in an alpha(IIb)beta(3)-dependent manner than did Pl(A1) cells. Disruption of the actin cytoskeleton …