bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Semi‐active predictive control of non‐linear structures with controlled stiffness devices and friction dampers
Authors: Ribakov Yuri 
Published: July 2004

AbstractA predictive semi‐active control system used to improve the response of non‐linear multistorey structures to earthquakes is presented. A system of controlled stiffness devices (CSD) and friction dampers (FD) is studied. The system combines the forces produced by the semi‐active FD and additional stiffness supplied by the CSD in order to obtain an optimal structural response. A predictive algorithm is used to overcome the time delay problem in the control system. The control forces in the FD are calculated at every time step by applying the instantaneous optimum control law according to the structural behaviour predicted for the next time step at each storey level of the structure. The proposed system can be efficiently used for structural control because the forces developed in it are independent of the structure's displacements or velocities. Its efficiency is demonstrated by a numerical simulation of a seven‐storey building subjected to various seismic excitations. The simulation shows that the behaviour of a structure with the proposed control system is significantly improved compared to an uncontrolled one, or controlled by friction dampers or by semi‐active controlled stiffness devices only. The structural response with a predictive controlled system is similar to that with an instantaneous one. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Using worker personality and demographic information to improve system performance prediction
Authors: Juran David C. , Schruben Lee W. 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThis paper presents an approach to modeling workers where human performance has a significant impact on system productivity. Highly technical industries such as semiconductor manufacturing and service industries like banking are relying on fewer but more skilled workers. In these systems, productivity depends on worker availability and organization; therefore, modeling system performance may require accurate representations of individual worker behavior. This paper examines the tradeoffs in including information about the demographics and personalities of workers in system performance simulation models. A series of actual and simulated experiments in which personality and demographic data are used in different ways to model the performance of a team of workers is reported. Significant differences are found in predicted system performance demonstrating that model validity depends on the methodology used for modeling workers. These results have practical implication for the managerial processes of recruiting and selecting individual workers, as well as organizing teams of workers and assigning them to tasks.
Temporal expression of growth factors and matrix molecules in healing tendon lesions
Authors: Dahlgren Linda A. , Mohammed Hussni O. , Nixon Alan J. 
Published: July 2004

AbstractOveruse tendon injuries are common among elite and recreational athletes. Tendon healing may be enhanced at the cellular level through the use of exogenous growth factors; however, little is known about the endogenous expression of growth factors in healing tendon. This study describes the temporal expression of insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I), transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1), and collagen types I and III in healing tendon lesions. Collagenase‐induced lesions were created in the tensile region of theflexor digitorum superficialistendon of both forelimbs of 14 horses. Tendons were harvested from euthanatized horses 1, 2, 4, 8 or 24 weeks following injury. Gene expression was evaluated using Northern blot analysis (collagen types I and III), real time PCR (IGF‐I and TGF‐β1), and in situ hybridization. Protein content was assayed by dye‐binding assay (collagen types I and III), radioimmunoassay (IGF‐I), ELISA (TGF‐β1), and immunohistochemistry. Samples were also processed for differential collagen typing. DNA and glycosaminoglycan content, and routine H&E staining. Microscopically, lesions progressed from an amorphous, acellular lesion soon after injury to scar tissue filled with collagen fibers and mature fibroblasts organized along lines of tension. Early lesions were characterized by immediate increases in expression of growth factors and collagen. Message levels for TGF‐β1 peaked early in the wound healing process (1 week), while IGF‐I peaked later (4 weeks), as the regenerative phase of healing was progressing. In the first 2 weeks after lesion induction, tissue levels of IGF‐I protein actually decreased approximately 40% compared to normal tendon. By 4 weeks, these levels had exceeded those of normal tendon and remained elevated through 8 weeks. Message expression for collagen types I and III increased by 1 week following injury and remained elevated throughout the course of the study. Collagen type I represented the major type of collagen in healing tendon at all time points of the study. Based on these results, IGF‐I, administered exogenously during the first 2 weeks following injury, may provide a therapeutic advantage by bolstering low endogenous tissue levels and enhancing the metabolic response of individual tendon fibroblasts. © 2004 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Vox Electronica: Nostalgia, Irony and Cyborgian Vocalities in Kraftwerk’s Radioaktivität and Autobahn
Authors: BIDDLE IAN 
Published: July 2004

This paper takes a close look at the music of Kraftwerk, perhaps the best known of the ‘electronic’ groups of former West Germany’s so-called neue Welle, in order to raise some fundamental questions about the politics of elektronische Musik before the dawn of the digital age and, in particular, how constructions and performances of the voice in late analogue technology rehearse new and critical strategies of resistance in the aftermath of 1968.It is a commonplace of recent cultural-theoretical considerations of digital technology to ascribe to it a fundamental re-positioning of imaginations of the subject, of authorship and of agency in the broadest sense. What has never really been fully worked through in this (usually utopian) figuration of digital technology is the extent to which technology can be conceived as ‘autonomous’ (as Rosie Braidotti would have it) or whether new technologies in themselves are a guarantor of new cultural formations. In particular, this paper seeks to test the extent to which Kraftwerk’s pre-digital imagination can be read as an expression of the politics of the so-called Tendenzwende (a ‘turning inwards’ from explicitly activist politics to a more diffuse politics of the personal) of the Schmidt- and early Kohlzeit. The article looks in particular at Kraftwerk’s use of what might be termed the ‘electronic sublime’ as a way of disengaging the music from the ego-centred practices of earlier German rock music and as a way of anticipating new German subject positions and political identities in the light of de-industrialization and globalization.
Plant preference in relation to life history traits in the zoophytophagous predator Dicyphus hesperus
Authors: Sanchez Juan Antonio , Gillespie David R. , McGregor Robert R. 
Published: July 2004

Abstract Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae) is an omnivorous predator used to control pests of greenhouse vegetables. Plant preferences and life history traits were studied using nine plant species: Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. (Solanaceae), Capsicum annuum L. (Solanaceae), Verbascum thapsus L. (Scrophulariaceae), Nepeta cataria L. (Lamiaceae), Stachys albotomentosa (Lamiaceae), Nicotiana tabacum L. (Solanaceae), Vicia sativa L. (Fabaceae), Zea mays L. (Gramineae), and Chrysanthemum coronarium L. (Asteraceae). Plants were selected from among potential target crops, natural hosts, plants used for mass rearing, and plants on which D. hesperus has not been reported. Plant preference was measured by multi‐choice host plant selection and oviposition assays. Development and reproduction were measured on each of the plant species on both a plant diet alone and on a plant diet supplemented with Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) eggs. Dicyphus hesperus females and nymphs expressed a preference for some plants over others. Plant preference ranged from low preference plants, such as Z. mays, V. sativa, C. coronarium, and C. annuum, to high preference plants such as V. thapsus, N. tabacum, and S. albotomentosa. When E. kuehniella eggs were supplied, there were few differences in the development time and fecundity of D. hesperus among plants, with the exception of corn and broad bean, where fecundity was lower. On a plant diet alone, nymphs were able to complete their development on V. thapsus, C. annuum, and N. cataria. However, mortality and development time were much lower on V. thapsus than on C. annuum and N. cataria. On most of the plant species D. hesperus did not lay any eggs when fed on a plant diet alone. On V. thapsus, females laid a few eggs and lived longer than when fed on prey. Dicyphus hesperus females tended to prefer host plants on which nymph survival without prey was greatest.
Significance of shelter traps for spring monitoring of Anthonomus pomorum in apple orchards
Authors: Hausmann Claudia , Samietz Jörg , Dorn Silvia 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThe significance of the apple blossom weevil, Anthonomus pomorum L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), as a potential threat to apple, Malus domestica Borkh., has increased over the past two decades in many regions of Europe. The apple blossom weevil immigrates into orchards and colonises apple trees in early spring. Females deposit single eggs into closed blossom buds, which leads to capped blossoms. This study was designed to test the suitability of transparent shelter traps for the surveillance of colonisation under different population pressures, and to assess the quantitative relationship between number of weevils caught and: (1) absolute injury, expressed as number of infested buds, as well as (2) relative injury, expressed as a percentage of infested buds relative to all buds on the tree. The findings with the new shelter traps were contrasted to results from limb jarring. Numbers of weevils caught with the transparent shelter trap were positively correlated with absolute injury, as well as with relative injury across the five study sites, whereas weevil counts with limb jarring were not correlated with absolute injury, but only with relative injury. Our data validate the transparent shelter trap as a method for accurately monitoring the course of spring colonisation of A. pomorum and demonstrate its potential for predicting injury by the weevils to blossom buds. In contrast, the significance of limb jarring for monitoring both the time course of colonisation and subsequent injury is limited. The significant linear relationship between the number of weevils caught in shelter traps and the relative injury allows for predictions of potential damage before oviposition takes place, i.e., early enough for an insecticide application where necessary.
Effects of post‐application irrigation and substrate moisture on the efficacy of entomopathogenic nematodes against western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis
Authors: Ebssa Lemma , Borgemeister Christian , Poehling Hans‐Michael 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThe efficacy of entomomatogenic nematodes (Steinernema bicornutum Tallosi, Peters and Ehlers and/or Heterorhabditis indica LN2 Poinar, Karunakar and David) against the soil‐dwelling life stages of western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) was assessed under different moisture conditions in a commercial plant‐growing substrate in laboratory experiments. In the first experiment, both nematode species were tested at substrate moisture ranges of 67, 78, 88, or 95% relative moisture content, that were maintained before applying the nematodes at 100 or 400 infective juveniles (IJs) cm−2. In the second experiment, 10, 25, 50, 100, or 120 ml irrigation water, resulting in relative moisture contents of 72, 81, 90, 99%, or more than the saturation level of the substrate, respectively, was applied to the substrate. Heterorhabditis indica LN2 was applied either in 3 ml water and followed by irrigation, or by suspending the infective juveniles in the water amounts indicated above to apply the nematodes in higher volume. Results indicated that at the higher application rate, initial moisture content did not significantly affect the efficacy of H. indica LN2. On the other hand, increasing moisture content resulted in an improved efficacy of H. indica LN2 and S. bicornutum at lower and higher application rates, respectively. Similar thrips control levels of 44 and 60% at the lower and higher application rate of H. indica LN2, respectively, were obtained at 88% relative moisture content. In the second experiment, higher and statistically similar thrips mortality of 40 and 50% at lower and higher application rates of H. indica LN2, respectively, were obtained when the infective juveniles were applied in a high volume suspension of 100 ml, or when followed by irrigation with 25 ml water, resulting in both cases in 81% relative moisture content. Generally, efficacies of the nematodes for thrips control can be improved by using an appropriate moisture content and/or post‐application irrigation. Thus, the high nematode application rates required for successful F. occidentalis control can be partly attributed to substrate moisture content and/or post‐application irrigation.
Quantifying the Effect of the GST on Inflation in Australia's Capital Cities: An Intervention Analysis
Authors: Valadkhani Abbas , Layton Allan P. 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThis article examines the magnitude and duration of the effect of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on inflation in Australia's eight capital cities using the Box and Tiao intervention analysis and quarterly data spanning from 1948:4 to 2003:1. We found that the GST had a significant but transitory impact on inflation only in the September quarter of 2000 when this new tax system was implemented. In this quarter inflation showed an additional increase of 2.6 per cent in Sydney (minimum effect) and 2.8 per cent in Australia as a whole, and the figure for Hobart was 3.3 per cent (maximum effect). Based on Wald test results, we also found some evidence that there is no significant (or substantial) difference in the average price changes among capital cities. We could not reject the null hypothesis that the GST increased the consumer price index by 2.8 per cent across the board in various cities. These results are also consistent with previous studies and surveys.
Glutamate
Authors: Cutrer F. Michael 
Published: July 2004

The NMDA Receptor Antagonist MK‐801 Reduces Fos‐like Immunoreactivity Within the Trigeminocervical Complex Following Superior Sagittal Sinus Stimulation in the CatExpression of Fos protein is an indicator of neuronal perturbation and is readily observed in the caudal medulla and the spinal cord following trigeminovascular nociceptive activation by electrical stimulation of the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) in the cat. It has been shown in the rat that N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor blockade causes a reduction in Fos protein expression after generalized meningeal irritation. We wished to examine if the same relationship was true in the cat, using the same non‐competitive NMDA receptor antagonist MK‐801, and a trigeminovascular‐specific stimulus. A group of experimental animals underwent stimulation following blinded administration of MK‐801 (4 mg/kg i.v.); control animals underwent stimulation minus MK‐801, and a non‐stimulated control animal underwent surgery alone. The regions examined for Fos‐like immunoreactivity were the trigeminal nucleus caudalis (TNC) and its caudal extension into the C(1) and C(2) levels of the upper cervical spinal cord. The Fos‐positive cell counts for the three regions (TNC, C(1) and C(2)) were grouped together for analysis. In the control stimulated group a median of 78 (56‐99, quartile range, n = 4) cells were Fos‐positive. In the group treated with MK‐801 the median number of Fos‐positive cells was reduced to 40 (30‐48; P < 0.03, n = 7). The large reduction that was observed in SSS stimulation‐evoked Fos protein expression following the administration of MK‐801, taken together with electrophysiological data, indicates a role for glutamate in neurotransmission within the trigeminocervical complex. Understanding glutamatergic mechanisms in the trigeminocervical complex offers mechanistic insight and therapeutic possibilities for primary neurovascular headaches, such as migraine.
Longitudinal Profile of Immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM, and IgA Antibodies against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Protein in Patients with Pneumonia Due to the SARS Coronavirus
Authors: Woo Patrick C. Y. , Lau Susanna K. P. , Wong Beatrice H. L. , Chan Kwok-hung , Chu Chung-ming , Tsoi Hoi-wah , Huang Yi , Peiris J. S. Malik , Yuen Kwok-yung 
Published: July 2004

ABSTRACT

By using a recombinant severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) nucleocapsid protein-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and serum specimens serially collected (from day 0 to day 240 after symptom onset) from patients with pneumonia due to SARS-CoV, we analyzed the longitudinal profiles of immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM, and IgA antibodies against the SARS-CoV nucleocapsid protein in patients with pneumonia due to SARS-CoV. For IgG, the median optical density at 450 nm (OD
450
) turned positive at day 17 and a biphasic response was observed. At day 240, all patients were still positive for anti-nucleocapsid protein IgG antibody. For IgM, the median OD
450
turned positive at day 20.5, peaked at about day 80, and fell to below the baseline level at about day 180. At day 240, 36% of the patients were still positive for anti-nucleocapsid protein IgM antibody. For IgA, the median OD
450
turned positive at day 17, peaked at about day 50, and fell to below the baseline level at about day 180. At day 240, 36% of the patients were still positive for anti-nucleocapsid protein IgA antibody. The time of seroconversion detected by the recombinant SARS-CoV nucleocapsid protein-based ELISA and that detected by indirect immunofluorescence assay were similar. The median times of seroconversion for IgG, IgM, and IgA detected by the indirect immunofluorescence assay were 17 days (17 days by ELISA), 16.5 days (20.5 days by ELISA), and 17.5 days (17 days by ELISA), respectively, after disease onset. One, four, and one of the six patients who died did not produce any IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies against the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV, respectively, although these antibodies were detected in all six patients by the indirect immunofluorescence assay. Further studies should be performed to see whether SARS-CoV nucleocapsid protein antibody positivity has any prognostic significance.
Reliability of Immunoglobulin G Antitoxoplasma Avidity Test and Effects of Treatment on Avidity Indexes of Infants and Pregnant Women
Authors: Flori Pierre , Tardy Laetitia , Patural Hugues , Bellete Bahrie , Varlet Marie-Noëlle , Hafid Jamal , Raberin Hélène , Sung Roger Tran Manh 
Published: July 2004

ABSTRACT
The immunoglobulin G antitoxoplasma avidity test (Vidas; BioMérieux) is an immunoenzymatic test useful for excluding acute infection after the onset of pregnancy. The avidity index (AI) is the ratio of the signal in a test sample washed with urea, which disrupts low-avidity complexes, to that washed without urea. An AI of >0.3 is taken to mean that infection had occurred more than 4 months ago. The increase of the AI with time and the influence of the different treatments given to pregnant women and their newborns were evaluated. A total of 59 pregnant women (271 sera) and their 60 neonates (199 sera) were tested from 1998 to 2002. There were five groups of women based on the type and duration of treatment given. Thirteen pregnant women (group 1) did not receive any treatment, 15 (group 2), 11 (group 3), and 17 (group 4) women received treatment with spiramycin (9 MIU/day) for 0.5 to 2, 2.5 to 5, and 5.5 to 8 months, respectively, and the last 3 women (group 5) received tritherapy (pyrimethamine-sulfonamide and spiramycin alternatively) for 1.5 to 2.5 months. All of the maternal sera collected in the first 6 months had an AI of <0.30, with a mean of 0.07 (range, 0.01 to 0.21). The increase was slow (0.02/month), and there was no significant difference when comparisons were made between the treatment groups. Neonates with proven maternofetal transmission had an increasing AI, unlike those without transmission. However, long-term therapy with pyrimethamine-sulfonamide, as opposed to treatment with spiramycin alone, was found to slow down the progression of the AI. An AI of >0.2 is sufficient to exclude acute infection in pregnant women. In neonates, it is not of major use to diagnose congenital infection; however, it could be a good indicator of compliance and efficacy of treatment of infected infants.
Delineation of the Role of Platelet-Activating Factor in the Immunoglobulin G2 Antibody Response
Authors: Al-Darmaki Salma , Knightshead Kandi , Ishihara Yuichi , Best Al , Schenkein Harvey A. , Tew John G. , Barbour Suzanne E. 
Published: July 2004

ABSTRACTLocalized aggressive periodontitis (LAgP) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by severe destruction of periodontal tissues surrounding the first molars and incisors. LAgP subjects produce large amounts of immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2) antibody against oral pathogens, and this response is inversely correlated with the severity of disease. We previously demonstrated that platelet-activating factor (PAF) is required for optimal IgG2 responses. The present investigation was designed to determine the mechanism of IgG2 induction by PAF. Exogenous PAF acetylhydrolase suppressed approximately 80% of pokeweed mitogen-stimulated IgG2 production, confirming that PAF is essential for optimal responses. PAF-activated leukocytes produced gamma interferon (IFN-γ), a Th1 cytokine that has been associated with IgG2 responses in previous studies. The monocyte-derived cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12) and IL-18 are upstream of IFN-γ production, and IgG2 production was suppressed by neutralizing antibodies against these proteins. In addition, PAF induced monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) but not macrophages (MΦ) to secrete IL-12 and IL-18. This observation was interesting because monocyte differentiation in LAgP subjects is skewed to the DC phenotype. Although other investigators have implicated IFN-γ in IgG2 production, its precise role in this response is controversial. Our studies suggest that IFN-γ induces isotype switching to IgG2 but only in concert with the Th2 cytokine IL-4. Thus, it appears that the unique PAF metabolism of LAgP monocytes or DC promotes Th1 responses that are essential for optimal IgG2 antibody production. As IgG2 antibodies opsonize oral bacteria and promote their clearance and destruction, these alterations in PAF metabolism may be essential for limiting disease severity in LAgP patients.