727 research outputs found
Clear and Convincing to Whom the False Claims Act and Its Burden of Proof Standard: Why the Government Needs a Big Stick
Clear and Convincing to Whom the False Claims Act and Its Burden of Proof Standard: Why the Government Needs a Big Stick
Portraits of buildings
Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1981.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Includes bibliographies.The photography of architecture is more than a simple tool to record facts about specific buildings. Photography can be used to communicate insights and perceptions about the role of architecture in society and our personal relationship to the architectural environment. This is a study of certain artists, and photographers who have broadened the concept of documentation of architecture. Photographic documents provide factual information as well as personal attitudes and expressive statements. The personal observations of artist/photographers are vital to a wider understanding of the built environment. A wider understanding is a necessary prerequisite to improving that environment.by Robert H. ALter.M.S.V.S
ADOPTED GLOBALLY BUT UNUSABLE LOCALLY: WHAT WORKAROUNDS REVEAL ABOUT ADOPTION, RESISTANCE, COMPLIANCE AND NON-COMPLIANCE
We undertake an exploratory case study to investigate how warehouse employees work around an Enterprise Resource Planning software that cannot be used as designed due to work practices required by local conditions. Our research illustrates how long-standing approaches to studying IS innovation, adoption and diffusion in relation to fixed IT artefacts say little or nothing about important phenomena and practical issues. We draw on theories of work systems and IT innovation, adoption and adaptation to explain both why workarounds are required and how they are enacted. Our context involves the local Hong Kong operations of a global retailer of home textiles. Our 29 interviews at the site reveal many perspectives about how an inadequate information system failed to support essential work practices and how employees at the site responded by creating shadow IS that helped them pursue their business responsibilities and objectives. We draw on a compliance view of technology use to suggest that unreflective compliance can be counterproductive; paradoxically, reflective non-compliance may bring greater benefit to both the organisation and its customers. We conclude with nine implications of our findings for practitioners and for researchers interested in IS innovation, adoption, and diffusion
IMMUNE RESPONSES IN VITRO : VI. GENETIC CONTROL OF THE IN VIVO-IN VITRO DISCREPANCIES IN 19S ANTIBODY SYNTHESIS
The finding that the relationship of the in vitro and in vivo responses of different strains of mice is under genetic control indicates that at least two mechanisms must operate under in vivo conditions to control 19S antibody synthesis. One is involved in the termination of 19S antibody synthesis; the other has a regulatory role on the magnitude of the response. In light of these findings, various concepts based on other genetically controlled immune responses and on the limiting dilution technique should be reassessed. Furthermore, the suppressive in vivo mechanism may be an important type of control in the resistance or susceptibility to the establishment or maintainance of neoplasms
Genetic Targeting of ERK1 Suggests a Predominant Role for ERK2 in Murine Pain Models
The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) isoforms, ERK1 and ERK2, are believed to be key signaling molecules in nociception and nociceptive sensitization. Studies utilizing inhibitors targeting the shared ERK1/2 upstream activator, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK), and transgenic mice expressing a dominant negative form of MEK have established the importance of ERK1/2 signaling. However, these techniques do not discriminate between ERK1 and ERK2. To dissect the function of each isoform in pain, we utilized mice with a targeted genetic deletion of ERK1 (ERK1 KO) to test the hypothesis that ERK1 is required for behavioral sensitization in rodent pain models. Despite activation (phosphorylation) of ERK1 following acute noxious stimulation and in models of chronic pain, we found that ERK1 was not required for formalin-induced spontaneous behaviors, complete Freund’s adjuvant-induced heat and mechanical hypersensitivity, and spared nerve injury-induced mechanical hypersensitivity. However, ERK1 deletion did delay formalin-induced long-term heat hypersensitivity, without affecting formalin-induced mechanical hypersensitivity, suggesting that ERK1 partially shapes long-term responses to formalin. Interestingly, ERK1 deletion resulted in elevated basal ERK2 phosphorylation. However, this did not appear to influence nociceptive processing, since inflammation-induced ERK2 phosphorylation and pERK1/2 immunoreactivity in spinal cord were not elevated in ERK1 KO mice. Additionally, systemic MEK inhibition with SL327 attenuated formalin-induced spontaneous behaviors similarly in WT and ERK1 KO mice, indicating that unrelated signaling pathways do not functionally compensate for the loss of ERK1. Taken together, these results suggest that ERK1 plays a limited role in nociceptive sensitization and supports a predominant role for ERK2 in these processes
Shuttle Entry Imaging Using Infrared Thermography
During the Columbia Accident Investigation, imaging teams supporting debris shedding analysis were hampered by poor entry image quality and the general lack of information on optical signatures associated with a nominal Shuttle entry. After the accident, recommendations were made to NASA management to develop and maintain a state-of-the-art imagery database for Shuttle engineering performance assessments and to improve entry imaging capability to support anomaly and contingency analysis during a mission. As a result, the Space Shuttle Program sponsored an observation campaign to qualitatively characterize a nominal Shuttle entry over the widest possible Mach number range. The initial objectives focused on an assessment of capability to identify/resolve debris liberated from the Shuttle during entry, characterization of potential anomalous events associated with RCS jet firings and unusual phenomenon associated with the plasma trail. The aeroheating technical community viewed the Space Shuttle Program sponsored activity as an opportunity to influence the observation objectives and incrementally demonstrate key elements of a quantitative spatially resolved temperature measurement capability over a series of flights. One long-term desire of the Shuttle engineering community is to calibrate boundary layer transition prediction methodologies that are presently part of the Shuttle damage assessment process using flight data provided by a controlled Shuttle flight experiment. Quantitative global imaging may offer a complementary method of data collection to more traditional methods such as surface thermocouples. This paper reviews the process used by the engineering community to influence data collection methods and analysis of global infrared images of the Shuttle obtained during hypersonic entry. Emphasis is placed upon airborne imaging assets sponsored by the Shuttle program during Return to Flight. Visual and IR entry imagery were obtained with available airborne imaging platforms used within DoD along with agency assets developed and optimized for use during Shuttle ascent to demonstrate capability (i.e., tracking, acquisition of multispectral data, spatial resolution) and identify system limitations (i.e., radiance modeling, saturation) using state-of-the-art imaging instrumentation and communication systems. Global infrared intensity data have been transformed to temperature by comparison to Shuttle flight thermocouple data. Reasonable agreement is found between the flight thermography images and numerical prediction. A discussion of lessons learned and potential application to a potential Shuttle boundary layer transition flight test is presented
Isolated, full-thickness proximal rectus femoris injury in competitive athletes: A systematic review of injury characteristics and return to play
BACKGROUND: Characteristics regarding mechanism of injury, management, and return-to-play (RTP) rate and timing are important when treating and counseling athletes with rectus femoris tears.
PURPOSE: To systematically review the literature to better understand the prevalence, sporting activity, injury mechanisms, and treatment of patients with rectus femoris injury and to provide prognostic information regarding the rate and timing of RTP.
STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4.
METHODS: Following the 2020 PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, we queried PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane, OVID, EMBASE, and Google Scholar in March 2022 for studies reporting on athletes sustaining isolated, full-thickness tearing, or bony avulsion injuries to the proximal rectus femoris during sporting activity. Excluded were studies without evidence of full-thickness tearing or avulsion, with athletes sustaining concomitant injuries, or with injuries occurring from nonsporting activities. The percentage of athletes sustaining injuries was calculated based on sport, injury mechanism, and management (nonoperative versus operative).
RESULTS: Of 132 studies initially identified, 18 were included, comprising 132 athletes (mean age, 24.0 ± 5.4 years; range, 12-43 years). The most common sporting activities were soccer (70.5%) and rugby (15.2%). The most reported mechanisms of injury were kicking (47.6%) and excessive knee flexion/forced hip extension (42.9%). Avulsion injuries were reported in 86% (n = 114) of athletes. Nonoperative management was reported in 19.7% of athletes, with operative management performed in 80.3%. The mean follow-up time was 21.4 ± 11.4 months (range, 1.5-48 months). The RTP rate was 93.3% (n = 14) in nonoperatively treated and 100% (n = 106) in operatively treated athletes, and the mean RTP time was 11.7 weeks (range, 5.5-15.2 weeks) in nonoperatively treated and 22.1 weeks (range, 14.0-37.6 weeks) in operatively treated athletes. Complications were reported in 7.7% (2/26) of nonoperatively treated and 18% (n = 19/106) of operatively treated athletes.
CONCLUSION: Full-thickness proximal rectus femoris injuries occurred most frequently in athletes participating in soccer and rugby secondary to explosive, eccentric contractions involved in kicking and sprinting. Operative management was performed in the majority of cases. Athletes who underwent operative repair had a 100% RTP rate versus 93.3% in athletes treated nonoperatively
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