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This work presents a summary of environmental data from 3600 h of data collected during operations of a U.S. Coast Guard HC-130H aircraft performing its routine missions over a five-year period. The aircraft operated from multiple U.S. and deployed locations during the data collection period in the tropical and mid-latitudes at altitudes up to 8.5 km (28 kft). The aircraft collected pressure, temperature and humidity data during the period. No aerosol components were sampled (chlorides, sulfur dioxide, etc.). While there was no Time of Wetness sensor, the ISO 9223 definition is used for the present work as an estimator. These data are presented in the context of research into corrosion and environmental severity, or the potential conditions for it. About 40% of the data were collected while the aircraft was parked on the ground at various based and deployed locations. The purpose of this work is to present and summarize the flight data as an aid in providing some context for future research into environmental effects as they relate to both corrosion and environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) of aircraft structure, and perhaps for comparisons with existing or future datasets from aircraft having other missions. Prediction models need realistic, real-world inputs, such as those presented here. An example for the use of these data in corrosion prediction based on the ISO 9223 international standard is presented. Perhaps not surprisingly, these data show that, for this aircraft, conditions most favorable to corrosion occurred while the aircraft was on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1990, The Literary Review has been publishing an occasional series of editors' comments on the state of the contemporary American short story. What follows is our third, and most [...]

The article presents an interview of William David Greer, an Industrial Arts Teacher at Adjunct Professor University of North Texas. Topics include that began his career as a teacher in the public schools and as teaching experience; and that he became an industrial arts administrator for a school system, the Fort Worth (TX) Independent School District.

It the securities market is truly efficient, it reacts to events without waiting for the accounting process. Does this mean that the thrust of the studies of the efficient market is to destroy financial reporting as an aid to investor decisions? This article discusses that question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a twelve-year old white girl who was suffering from pemphigus vulgaris. She complained about a painful mouth and sores on her gingiva but there were no skin lesions. On oral examination it was found that she had a severe desquamative gingivitis. It is stated that the presence of oral signs of pemphigus at this age without evidence of lesions was unusual. The disease management consisted of steroid therapy with resolution of the lesions in eighteen months.

Using the mandibular inferior border of four fox hounds from an extraoral approach, six high-profile Brånemark implants were placed in each animal and bone grafted. Graft materials studied included demineralized freeze-dried allograft with and without irradiation sterilization (3.8 x 104 Gy), corticocancellous iliac autograft, blood clot, and a control. Corticocancellous grafts were studied with and without expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) barriers. The barrier function improved both graft volume incorporated and bone-implant interface contact. The autograft performed better than the allograft. Irradiation of the allograft did not appear to affect graft performance. The barrier functioned to improve graft incorporation for augmentation and interface contact and gives credence to the use of barriers in conjunction with vertical augmentation grafting of jawbone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple spring-mass numerical model (MSHELL), is developed as a tool to find appropriate integration time steps for nonlinear finite-element analysis. MSHELL possesses many features of nonlinearly deforming deep shells and, by matching some physical parameters of the MSHELL system and a nonlinear finite-element model (DSHELL), their dynamic behavior is both qualitatively and quantitatively similar. MSHELL is used to develop time-step criteria for both pre- and postsnapping behavior of a transversely point-loaded cylindrical shell. The criteria are then applied in a multiple-time-step method to DSHELL. The results indicate the simple model's correlation with the finite-element model and potential for saving computer time by changing the integration time step during a finite-element analysis based on MSHELL's behavior. Chaotic motion, characterized by one or more positive Lyapunov exponents, is seen in the simple model and likely explains unpredictable postcollapse results in the DSHELL finite-element code. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the static contact between a tire and a nondeformable surface using a two-dimensional shell finite elements. Utilization of the polar decomposition method to facilitate the use of a local displacement field; Description of an aircraft tire; Two types of mechanical loads on the tire.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is an infectious agent which is increasingly associated with mucosal cancers, in particular, cancer of the cervix. The present investigation was undertaken in an attempt to determine whether the Virapap human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA detection kit, originally designed for identification of HPV in exfoliated cervical cells could be employed in detection of HPV in biopsies of oral and laryngeal tissue samples, specifically oral squamous cell carcinomas, epithelial dysplasias, smokeless tobacco keratoses, and laryngeal papillomatosis. The ViraPap HPV DNA detection assay was found to be useful for HPV DNA identification in tissue samples from oral and laryngeal specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A small, carefully selected group of circumcised, predominately homosexual males, expressing severe dissatisfaction with their circumcised condition, have responded favorably to operative reconstruction of the foreskin. The surgical technique for reconstructing the foreskin and the results are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which establishes a theoretical and empirically observable link between interim inventory estimation errors and volatility of stock prices. It points to a specific problem that accounting policymakers could address to enhance the reliability of interim reporting. To the extent that interim inventory estimates are used in management decision-making, improving their reliability also permits more effective internal decisions. Management's decision-making capability should probably be at its best during periods of economic instability.

This article presents response of the author on the comments made by scholar C.G. Hoskins on the paper "Theory Versus Practice in Risk Analysis: An Empirical Study," that was published in the July 1974 of the periodical "The Accounting Review." The comment by Hoskins represents a significant advance in modeling actual decision processes. However, one must add that Hoskins' findings support rather than dispute the conclusion of the original study that there appears to be substantial conflict between the decision processes used by actual decision makers and existing utility theory. The author's intentions in writing this response are to demonstrate why this is so and to expand further on the Hoskins model. It was restated that the model in the original study was not designed to produce decisions, which closely paralleled actual decisions. Rather, the model was built in the shape of classical utility theory with parameters, which were computed from an explicit statement by the firms as to their attitude toward risk-taking. The principal conclusion of the original research was that actual decisions are inconsistent with such a model.

This article presents a study on the theory versus practice in risk analysis in decision making in the U.S. There appears to be substantial conflict between the decision processes used by actual decision makers and existing utility theory. The conflict seems to center around the inability of classical utility theory to deal effectively with situations where one or more contingent outcomes for a project are lower than some critical amount. Existing theory, therefore, incorrectly models practice. Contributing factors in the apparent conflict may be internal inconsistency and a tendency decision makers have to be more averse to risk at the time of actual choice than their pre-decision statements would indicate.

This paper describes the development of an information system architecture for a large medical group practice. The analysis focuses on critical success factors and is based on a review of the current system and on the use of questionnaires and interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With growing austerity pressures from the Administration, Congress, and the general public, the Government's procurement policy has called for increased use of dual-source competition as a means of reducing acquisition costs. In practice, however, this policy has produced mixed results. The cause seems to be an inadequate understanding of the peculiarities of competition in the Government's market. This paper examines the risk and return available in the defense market, and relates it to the industry's propensity to compete. The results show that intelligent observation of the industry's capacity utilization rate would contribute to the development of a more efficient acquisition policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forecasting of capacity and its utilization is particularly relevant in the aerospace industry because of long product delivery lead-times and the forward-pricing system. The objective of this paper is to develop a method for forecasting both the industry's capacity and its capacity utilization so that decision makers who must rely on this information may have policy guidance. The result shows that the aerospace industry's capacity expansion rate is closely tied to its present and recent past state of capacity utilization, and to anticipated changes in output. Output, in turn, can be predicted by using Five Year Defense Plans data and information on the cyclical nature of commercial business. Based on these findings, we were able to build an accurate model for forecasting aerospace industry capacity utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]