The interaction of osteoclasts and osteoblasts regulates bone density and the maintenance of osseointegration of implants. To investigate osteoblastic response to strain, rat osteosarcoma cells were cultured on titanium plates and subjected to one of three treatments: a neutral control (0 microstrain), tension (1000 microstrain), and compression (1000 microstrain). Treatments were applied via 4 point bending for fifteen minutes each day to a strain of 1mm/m at a sinusoidal frequency of 1Hz. Cells were measured for DNA as indicator of proliferation, alkaline phosphatase as indicator of phenotype and total protein and calcium deposition as indicators of matrix formation. Results indicated that DNA and total protein differed significantly between treatments. The alkaline phosphatase levels and calcification of matrix did not. The differences in the levels of DNA indicate different growth patterns between treatments. The total protein levels imply distinctions in matrix deposition. The alkaline phosphatase and calcium levels did not vary significantly, implying no difference in bone-specificity or calcification.

Typical accounting studies attempting to explain accounting method choice employ positive theoretical hypotheses and test for association between adoption method or adoption timing and economic measures that focus upon specific firm stakeholders. Such studies addressing the adoption and impact of SFAS 87, "Employer's Accounting for Pensions," yield mixed and contradicting results. Various researchers have suggested that traditional economic analysis often fails to capture important explanatory variables and is far too simplistic. The purpose of this study is to expand analysis by evaluating a particular accounting choice by means of three different characterizations. SFAS 106, "Employers' Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions," allows management to choose between two very different methods of adopting the standard. The principal question explored in this study is: why did managers of firms that employ defined benefit postretirement plans for benefits other than pensions choose to adopt SFAS 106 using a particular method? The research question is explored by means of three different characterizations: 1) a traditional economic characterization; 2) a sociopolitical characterization); and 3) a joint decision characterization. Logit methodology is used with method of SFAS 106 adoption as the binary dependent variable of interest. Results indicate that all three characterizations are important in understanding the SFAS 106 adoption method choice. Further, each characterization adds separate information toward comprehension of the choice, supporting the notion of the complexity of accounting choice issues.

Es wird zunehmend deutlich, dass weder eine einzelne wissenschaftliche Disziplin noch ein einzelnes Forschungsinstitut Lösungen für globale Probleme zu finden vermag; das Ergebnis ist ein Wandel hin zu vernetzten, globalen Forschungsansätzen, der mit einem Anstieg von Verbundprojekten mit inter- und transdisziplinärem Ansatz einhergeht. Obschon ein Bewusstsein für die schwierige Aufgabe besteht, institutionelle Strukturen so zu gestalten, dass sie sich förderlich auf die Zusammenarbeit auswirken, wird der praktischen Umsetzung kaum Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Doch diese ist insbesondere bei Forschungsverbünden zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung von entscheidender Bedeutung, da sie mit ihrer komplexen organisatorischen Struktur – mit Beteiligten unterschiedlicher Nationalität und aus verschiedenen Institutionen und Disziplinen – ausgesprochen anfällig für Konflikte sind. Um destruktiven und das Projekt gefährdenden Konflikten vorzubeugen, werden neben Studien zur effektiven Teamarbeit auch Instrumente benötigt, die die Zusammenarbeit und den Erfolg des Projektes fördern. Nur wenn Projekte effektiv funktionieren, können sie Lösungen für große gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen finden. Die vorliegende Dissertation verfolgt das Ziel, zur praktischen Funktionsfähigkeit transdisziplinärer Forschungsprojekte beizutragen, indem sie die Konzeption und die Wirksamkeit von Konfliktmanagement-Systemen in derartigen Forschungsprojekten untersucht. Als Fallbeispiel dient ein transdisziplinäres Forschungsprojekt zur Ernährungssicherheit, das exemplarisch für die Komplexität von Verbundprojekten steht. Die vorliegende Dissertation soll nicht nur dazu beitragen, die Wissenslücke über die Funktionsweise transdisziplinärer Forschungsprojekte zu schließen, sondern zudem einen Beitrag zur Forschung zu Konfliktmanagement-Systemen leisten, indem solch ein System in eine weitere Organisationsstruktur übertragen wird. / Recognizing that no single discipline or institute alone can find solutions to global challenges, a shift toward interconnected and global research approaches is occurring, thus increasing the number of collaborative research initiatives applying inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches. This is mirrored not just in the global development agenda (Agenda 2030) but also in the funding policies of national and international public funding bodies. While there is awareness for the grand challenges and institutional structures facilitating joint action, little attention is given to the operational details. However, this is essential, as research collaborations in sustainable development are complex organizational settings prone to conflict, made up of diverse members from multiple countries, institutions, and disciplines. To prevent destructive conflict, including complete project failure, research on collaborative team work, as well as tools to facilitate collaboration and project success, is needed. Effectively functioning projects can find solutions to grand societal challenges. Thus, the objective of this dissertation is to facilitate the operational functioning of transdisciplinary research projects by analyzing the design and effects of a conflict management system in such a research environment. Because it exemplifies the complexity of collaborative research projects, a transdisciplinary research project on food security serves as the case study. This dissertation not only helps close the knowledge gap on how transdisciplinary research projects operate, but it also advances research on conflict management systems by transferring the approach to a new type of organization.

ITC/USA 2006 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Second Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 23-26, 2006 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California / The IRIG 106 Chapter 10 Standard has evolved significantly since its inception. This paper covers the background, technology, status, users, supporting vendors and future considerations such as ground-based recording and archiving. Also covered are samples of toolsets available for troubleshooting, validation, data processing and display of Chapter 10 data

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 21, 2002 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / As stated in IRIG 106-93/96/99/00, the purpose of the Telemetry Attributes Transfer Standard (TMATS) is; “... provides a common format for the transfer of information between the user and a test range or between ranges. This format will minimize the 'station unique' activities that are necessary to support any test item. In addition, it is intended to relieve the labor intensive process currently required to reformat the information by providing the information on computer compatible media, thus reducing errors and requiring less preparation time for test support.” However, it is well known that TMATS does not support “Instrumentation” data. Also, TMATS does not include many current data conversion formats, or have a way to easily include new formats as they are adopted. We believe that such changes will help TMATS reach its full potential and become more closely aligned with its stated objectives. It is the hope of the authors that this paper will generate support for IRIG to revise TMATS to include these important amendments.

ITC/USA 2007 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Third Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2007 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / High speed digital recorders have revolutionized the way Major Range and Test Facility Bases collect instrumentation data. One challenge facing these organizations is the need for a validated process for the separation of specific data channels and/or data from multiplexed recordings. Several organizations within Eglin Air Force Base have joined forces to establish the requirements and validate a software process compliant with the IRIG-106 Chapter 10 Digital Recording Standard (which defines allowable media access, data packetization, and error controls mechanics). This paper describes a roadmap to standardizing the process to produce this software process, Data Overwriting and Filtering Application (DOFA).

ITC/USA 2007 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Third Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2007 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / The Joint Strike Fighter program is the largest DOD contract ever awarded. There are three F-35 Lightning II variations, each intended to meet the specific needs of the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and U.S. Allies. The Data System required for this flight test program challenged the conventional ways used in instrumenting test aircraft. Typical data systems available today don’t provide the level of hardware and software integration required for today’s complex applications. For example, cockpit control panels, recording systems, TM transmitters, data acquisition systems and avionic bus interface units are all independent systems. Additionally, avionic bus catalogs, ground-based systems, and flight setup software have historically been independent components. This paper will describe the hardware and software components used by the F-35 flight test program to provide an integrated system. A special emphasis will be given to the methods used to accommodate rapid changes to the IEEE-1394B avionic bus catalog including the acquisition of that data, and the use of an IRIG-106 Chapter 10 distributed multiplexer / recorder system, which is being used simultaneously as a data acquisition system.

ITC/USA 2007 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Third Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2007 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / An rfNET solution based on IEEE 802.11 wireless network is presented to perform one-way remote transmission of airborne instrumentation data and multi-channel video images in flight test by modifying the wireless network bridge and UDP protocol. Its architecture and structure is introduced briefly and the results of ground transmission test and flight demonstration transmission are provided. It also points out the major problems of this solution for engineering application and their solutions.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1999 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / To meet specific test and evaluation requirements, the Hardened Subminiature Telemetry and Sensor Systems (HSTSS) program is addressing the miniaturization and ‘G’ hardening of telemetry components. Two custom Integrated Circuits (ICs) are in development to support the design of miniature Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) systems with up to 128 analog input channels. This paper describes the design and development of the custom IC chips of the HSTSS Data Acquisition Chipset (DAC). The original requirements, the roll of the Integrated Product Team (IPT), design decisions, a discussion of the additional features, and practical limitations of the Data Acquisition Chipset will be covered.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 30-November 02, 1995 / Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada / The Inter-Range Instrumentation Group (IRIG) introduced the Telemetry Attributes Transfer Standard (TMATS) in IRIG 106-93. This long needed standardization was designed to provide a common thread through which test programs could move from one test range to another without significant re-work in the setup environment. TMATS provides the definition of telemetry attributes and specifies the media and data format necessary to permit the ready transfer of the information required to setup telemetry receiving/processing functions at a test range. These attributes are defined as those parameters required by the receiving/processing system to acquire, process and display telemetry data received from a test item or source. As the telemetry vendor community develops more and more board level products designed to be integrated into various platforms such as Personal Computer (PC), VME, and VXI, the necessity of providing a setup environment, which is independent of a specific vendor product, becomes essential. An significant advantage of TMATS lies in its ability to provide a mechanism for setup of "multiple vendor systems" without the necessity of restructuring telemetry attribute information for each unique vendor's product. This paper describes the use of TMATS for the setup of a VXI based telemetry acquisition system containing board level products (including Antenna Control Units, RF Receivers, Combiners, Bit Synchronizers, PCM Decommutators, and PCM Simulators) from multiple vendors.