Concentration in the International Arms Industry¤

The end of the Cold War led to a large drop in world military expenditure, rising fixed costs of developing weapons because of technological changes and a reduction of national preference for domestic weapons. Alongside these developments has been an increase in concentration in the world arms industry, which at the end of the Cold War had been very unconcentrated with concentration ratios close to the Sutton lower bound. This paper provides an empirical and theoretical analysis of this process. It examines the dynamics of the evolution of concentration and then shows that a trade model with optimal procurement decisions can capture the main features of this empirical analysis.market structure, arms industry, procurement

The Effects of Patellofemoral Taping on Patellofemoral Joint Alignment and Contact Area

Purpose/Hypothesis: It is widely accepted that patellofemoral pain (PFP) is the result of excessive stress between the retro-patellar surface and the femoral trochlea. Elevated patellofemoral joint (PFJ) stress may be associated with a reduction in PFJ contact area resulting from patellar malalignment (e.g., lateral displacement, lateral tilt, or patellar alta and/or quadriceps imbalance). McConnell and Kinesio taping techniques are commonly used to address PFP and improve PFJ alignment. It has been theorized that PFJ taping can alter the PFJ alignment which may increase the patella’s contact area within the femoral trochlea, thereby resulting in a reduction in PFP. To date, the effects of these 2 taping approaches on PFJ contact area and PFJ alignment have not yet been studied thoroughly. The primary purpose of this study was to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the effects of patellofemoral taping techniques on PFJ alignment and contact area in persons with PFP at 3 knee joint angles (0°, 20°, and 40°). Number of Subjects: Fourteen female subjects with retropatellar pain and PFJ malalignment participated (age: 27.86 ± 5.95 years; weight: 72.15 ± 19.27 kg; height: 1.67 ± .08 m). Methods: Each subject underwent a pre-taping magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan session and 2 MRI scan sessions after the application of the 2 taping techniques aiming to correct lateral patellar displacement. Subjects were asked to report their pain using an 11- point numeric rating scale (NRS) while stepping down from a 23-cm step, before and after tape was administered. During each scan session, subjects were loaded with 25% of body weight on their involved/more symptomatic leg at 0°, 20°, and 40° of knee flexion. The outcome measures included patellar lateral displacement (bisect-offset (BSO) index), patellar mediolateral tilt (patellar tilt angle (PTA)), patellar position (Insall-Salvati ratio (ISR)), PFJ contact area, and NRS. PFJ alignment/contact area was compared among the 3 conditions (No tape, Kinesio, and McConnell) at 3 knee angles using a two-way ANOVA with repeated measures. Pain NRS was compared among the 3 conditions using Friedman test and post-hoc Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Results: The results of the two-way ANOVAs revealed that neither McConnell nor Kinesio taping had significant effects on BSO index (p = 0.488), PTA (p = 0.558), ISR (p = 0.778), and contact area (p = 0.358) across the 3 knee flexion angles. Knee flexion angle had a significant effect on BSO index (p = 0.001) and contact area (p \u3c 0.001). The Friedman test revealed a significant difference in pain level among the 3 conditions. The post-hoc Wilcoxon signed-rank tests further demonstrated that there was a reduction in NRS during step-down test after the application of the Kinesio Taping technique (p=.007). Conclusions: In a weight-bearing condition, our results did not support the premise that applications of PFJ taping using a medial correction technique can alter the PFJ contact area or alignment of the patella. The reduction in pain, following the application of the Kinesio Taping technique performed in this study supports the previous literature on the use of Kinesio Taping techniques for pain management, although the underlying mechanism for the reduction of pain is unclear

National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development: A Practice Agenda in Support of How Learning Happens

Learning is a social, emotional, and academic endeavor, but the ways we approach learning and development do not always reflect this reality. This document features practice recommendations that seek to provide a framework through which key voices - students, teachers, families, after-school and youth development organizations - can work together to create learning environments that foster the comprehensive development of all young people

Corrosion investigation of multilayered ceramics and experimental nickel alloys in SCWO process environments

A corrosion investigation was done at MODAR, Inc., using a supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) vessel reactor. Several types of multilayered ceramic rings and experimental nickel alloy coupons were exposed to a chlorinated cutting oil TrimSol, in the SCWO process. A corrosion casing was designed and mounted in the vessel reactor with precautions to minimize chances of degrading the integrity of the pressure vessel. Fifteen of the ceramic coated rings were stacked vertically in the casing at one time for each test. There was a total of 36 rings. The rings were in groupings of three rings that formed five sections. Each section saw a different SCWO environment, ranging from 650 to 300{degrees}C. The metal coupons were mounted on horizontal threaded holders welded to a vertical rod attached to the casing cover in order to hang down the middle of the casing. The experimental nickel alloys performed better than the baseline nickel alloys. A titania multilayered ceramic system sprayed onto a titanium ring remained intact after 120-180 hours of exposure. This is the longest time any coating system has withstood such an environment without significant loss

Access to Care and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: A Cross-Sectional Study in 2 Latino Communities.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading killer of Americans. CVD is understudied among Latinos, who have high levels of CVD risk factors. This study aimed to determine whether access to health care (ie, insurance status and having a usual source of care) is associated with 4 CVD prevention factors (ie, health care utilization, CVD screening, information received from health care providers, and lifestyle factors) among Latino adults and to evaluate whether the associations depended on CVD clinical risk/disease.Data were collected as part of a community-engaged food environment intervention study in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, CA. Logistic regressions were fitted with insurance status and usual source of care as predictors of the 4 CVD prevention factors while controlling for demographics. Analyses were repeated with interactions between self-reported CVD clinical risk/disease and access to care measures.Access to health care significantly increased the odds of CVD prevention. Having a usual source of care was associated with all factors of prevention, whereas being insured was only associated with some factors of prevention. CVD clinical risk/disease did not moderate any associations.Although efforts to reduce CVD risk among Latinos through the Affordable Care Act could be impactful, they might have limited impact in curbing CVD among Latinos, via the law's expansion of insurance coverage. CVD prevention efforts must expand beyond the provision of insurance to effectively lower CVD rates

Activation-dependent substrate recruitment by the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 kinase PERK.

Regulated phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2alpha) by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-activated protein kinase PERK modulates protein synthesis and couples the production of ER client proteins with the organelle's capacity to fold and process them. PERK activation by ER stress is known to involve transautophosphorylation, which decorates its unusually long kinase insert loop with multiple phosphoserine and phosphothreonine residues. We report that PERK activation and phosphorylation selectively enhance its affinity for the nonphosphorylated eIF2 complex. This switch correlates with a marked change to the protease sensitivity pattern, which is indicative of a major conformational change in the PERK kinase domain upon activation. Although it is dispensable for catalytic activity, PERK's kinase insert loop is required for substrate binding and for eIF2alpha phosphorylation in vivo. Our findings suggest a novel mechanism for eIF2 recruitment by activated PERK and for unidirectional substrate flow in the phosphorylation reaction

Substantial improvements not seen in health behaviors following corner store conversions in two Latino food swamps.

BackgroundThe effectiveness of food retail interventions is largely undetermined, yet substantial investments have been made to improve access to healthy foods in food deserts and swamps via grocery and corner store interventions. This study evaluated the effects of corner store conversions in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, California on perceived accessibility of healthy foods, perceptions of corner stores, store patronage, food purchasing, and eating behaviors.MethodsHousehold data (n = 1686) were collected at baseline and 12- to 24-months post-intervention among residents surrounding eight stores, three of which implemented a multi-faceted intervention and five of which were comparisons. Bivariate analyses and logistic and linear regressions were employed to assess differences in time, treatment, and the interaction between time and treatment to determine the effectiveness of this intervention.ResultsImprovements were found in perceived healthy food accessibility and perceptions of corner stores. No changes were found, however, in store patronage, purchasing, or consumption of fruits and vegetables.ConclusionsResults suggest limited effectiveness of food retail interventions on improving health behaviors. Future research should focus on other strategies to reduce community-level obesity

How the Assumed Size Distribution of Dust Minerals Affects the Predicted Ice Forming Nuclei

The formation of ice in clouds depends on the availability of ice forming nuclei (IFN). Dust aerosol particles are considered the most important source of IFN at a global scale. Recent laboratory studies have demonstrated that the mineral feldspar provides the most efficient dust IFN for immersion freezing and together with kaolinite for deposition ice nucleation, and that the phyllosilicates illite and montmorillonite (a member of the smectite group) are of secondary importance.A few studies have applied global models that simulate mineral specific dust to predict the number and geographical distribution of IFN. These studies have been based on the simple assumption that the mineral composition of soil as provided in data sets from the literature translates directly into the mineral composition of the dust aerosols. However, these tables are based on measurements of wet-sieved soil where dust aggregates are destroyed to a large degree. In consequence, the size distribution of dust is shifted to smaller sizes, and phyllosilicates like illite, kaolinite, and smectite are only found in the size range 2 m. In contrast, in measurements of the mineral composition of dust aerosols, the largest mass fraction of these phyllosilicates is found in the size range 2 m as part of dust aggregates. Conversely, the mass fraction of feldspar is smaller in this size range, varying with the geographical location. This may have a significant effect on the predicted IFN number and its geographical distribution.An improved mineral specific dust aerosol module has been recently implemented in the NASA GISS Earth System ModelE2. The dust module takes into consideration the disaggregated state of wet-sieved soil, on which the tables of soil mineral fractions are based. To simulate the atmospheric cycle of the minerals, the mass size distribution of each mineral in aggregates that are emitted from undispersed parent soil is reconstructed. In the current study, we test the null-hypothesis that simulating the presence of a large mass fraction of phyllosilicates in dust aerosols in the size range 2 m, in comparison to a simple model assumption where this is neglected, does not yield a significant effect on the magnitude and geographical distribution of the predicted IFN number. Results from sensitivity experiments are presented as well