Unspecified Time Research Articles

Complexity, uncertainty and innovation

In reality, complexity science provides a general mathematical basis not only for evolutionary economics, but also for evolutionary thinking as a whole. It offers an understanding of inherent, irreducible uncertainty and of limits to knowledge and prediction. Although these are usually experienced as being annoying, they are really the ‘very stuff of life’ since they recognise and require learning, innovation, experimentation and adventure without which life would not have come into being nor be worth living. Complex, evolutionary systems work on the basis of on-going, continuous internal processes of exploration and experimentation at the underlying microscopic level. This is acted upon by selection forces coming from the level above whose stability is therefore probed by the micro-level freedom. However, models aimed at predicting system behaviour, therefore, consist of assumptions of constraints on the micro-level – and because of inertia or conformity may be approximately true for some unspecified time. However, systems without strong mechanisms of repression and conformity will evolve and change, and create new emergent structures, capabilities and characteristics. Complex evolutionary systems, therefore, will out-compete other repressed, conformist ones. Systems with no individual freedom will have predictable behaviour in the short term – and will not survive in the long term. Creative, innovative and evolving systems, on the other hand, will more probably survive over longer times, but will not have predictable characteristics or behaviours. These minimal mechanisms are all that are required to explain (though not predict) the co-evolutionary processes occurring in markets, organisations, and indeed in emergent, evolutionary communities of practice. Some examples are presented briefly.

An Experimental Validation of an Evacuation Model using Data Sets Generated from Two Large Passenger Ships

Two evacuation model validation data-sets collected as part of the EU FP7 project SAFEGUARD are presented. The data was collected from a RO-PAX ferry operated by ColorLine (RP1) and a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean (CS). The trials were semi-unannounced assembly trials at sea and involved some 1349 and 2500 passengers respectively. The trials took place at an unspecified time however, passengers were aware that on their voyage an assembly exercise would take place. The validation data-sets consist of passenger; response times, starting locations, end locations and arrival times in the assembly stations. The validation data were collected using a novel data acquisition system consisting of ship-mounted beacons, each emitting unique Infra-Red (IR) signals and IR data logging tags worn by each passenger. The results from blind simulations using maritimeEXODUS for these assembly trials are presented and compared with the measured data. Three objective measures are proposed to assess the goodness of fit between the predicted model data and the measured data.

The Calcutta Chromosome

Set in an unspecified time in the future, this medical thriller takes the readers through a wondrous journey of time. The narrative is suffused with science, myth, nihilism, philosophy and superstition. The book is based on the life of the Nobel Prize winning scientist, Sir Ronald Ross, who did a breakthrough research on malaria in 1989. It is an attempt to rewrite the story of Ronald Ross's discovery of the malarial parasite. Apart from the fact that Ross discovered the malarial parasite on 20th August, 1897; all the other events promulgated in the narrative are fabricated by the author himself. It is his own creation. The book bagged the Arthur C Clarke Award in 1997. doi : 10.5214/ans.0972.7531.200112

Celibate Marriages in Late Antique and Byzantine Hagiography: The Lives of Saints Julian and Basilissa, Andronikos and Athanasia, and Galaktion and Episteme by Anne P. Alwis (review)

Reviewed by: Celibate Marriages in Late Antique and Byzantine Hagiography: The Lives of Saints Julian and Basilissa, Andronikos and Athanasia, and Galaktion and Episteme by Anne P. Alwis Claudia Rapp Celibate Marriages in Late Antique and Byzantine Hagiography: The Lives of Saints Julian and Basilissa, Andronikos and Athanasia, and Galaktion and Episteme. By Anne P. Alwis. (New York: Continuum. 2011. Pp. xii, 340. $120.00. ISBN 978-1-4411-1525-6.) Research of the last decades has greatly advanced our understanding of women and gender issues within the Christian context of the Middle Ages. Major databases now offer entry points for the study of primary sources and scholarly literature relating to the monastic experience of women in the Latin West (http://www.monasticmatrix.org) and to women’s life in general in the Greek East (http://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/resources/bibliography-on-gender-in-byzantium). Still, we are only beginning to understand the complex relations among societal constraints, women’s agency, and their normative representation in male-authored literature. Any publication that speaks to these issues is a welcome addition and should be hailed, if not as a milestone, than at least as a mosaic tessera, as is the case with Anne Alwis’s dissertation-turned-book. Celibate marriages, in which husband and wife come to a mutual agreement to abstain from sexual intercourse and to dedicate themselves to a Christian life of charity and asceticism, were the subject of comprehensive historical and literary study in the Latin West by Dyan Elliott in 1993. Alwis’s aim is more modest—she presents three hagiographical tales composed in the fifth, sixth, and ninth/tenth centuries that offer different views of celibate marriage in late antiquity and Byzantium: Greek text (with some misprints), English translation (mostly accurate), very brief commentary (sometimes uneven, but commendable in its reference to patristic texts and papyrological evidence), preceded by an extensive introductory discussion (pp. 1–153) of the date and manuscript transmission of the texts, their literary features, and their depiction of celibate marriage. The bibliography has significant errors. The Vita of Julian and Basilissa (BHG 970) depicts a couple in Antinoöpolis in Egypt during the Diocletianic Persecution who consent to [End Page 112] marry to please their parents, but agree to maintain chastity on their wedding night. The remaining forty-nine chapters after Basilissa’s early death in chapter 15 deal with Julian’s miracles and bravery when faced with gruesome tortures and tell of his conversion of Kelsios, the son of his persecutor, who in turn brings his own mother to Christianity. It is a tale of shared conjugal purpose as well as filial bonds, embedded in an elaborate martyrdom narrative. The Vita of Andronikos and Athanasia (BHG 123a, this version edited here for the first time) shows a wealthy couple from Antioch who, after the birth of two children, devote themselves to charitable deeds and, after the death of their offspring, decide to pursue the monastic life in Egypt in separate communities, Andronikos joining the circle of the sixth-century ascetic Daniel of Sketis. The two meet again on the way to Jerusalem and continue to live together as monastic “brothers,” Athanasia now appearing as an ascetically emaciated man. Her true identity is revealed only after her death. This tale shows some parallels to stories of the “transvestite nun,” a popular hagiographical motif in the fifth to seventh centuries. The Vita of Galaktion and Episteme (BHG 665) is a tale of spouses who agree to a chaste marriage prior to consummation and go their separate monastic ways, until they are reunited in martyrdom during an unspecified time of persecution. As Alwis notes, this text with its emphasis on the reunification of separated lovers and its latent eroticism bears close resemblance to novels and romances, including the story of Paul and Thekla. This book is a valuable study (including a first edition) of little-known Byzantine hagiographical texts. It is to be hoped that other studies will follow that throw additional light on the social and historical implications of celibate marriage in Byzantium. Claudia Rapp University of Vienna Copyright © 2012 The Catholic University of America Press

Harnessing the Power of Crowds

Crowdsourcing is a novel process of data collection that can provide insight into the effectiveness of acne treatments in real-world settings. Little is known regarding the feasibility of crowdsourcing as a means of collecting dermatology research data, the quality of collected data, and how the data compare to the published literature. The objective of this analysis is to compare acne data collected from a medical crowdsourcing site with high-quality controlled studies from peer-reviewed medical literature. Crowdsourced data was collected from 662 online acne patients. Online patients reported data in a Likert-type format to characterize their symptom severity (740 total responses) and their treatment outcomes (958 total responses). The crowdsourced data were compared with meta-analyses and reviews on acne treatment from August 20, 2010 to August 20, 2011. We compared topical, oral systemic, alternative, phototherapy, and physical acne treatments of crowdsourced data to published literature. We focused on topical tretinoin due to the large number of online patient responses. While approximately 80% of tretinoin users observed clinical improvement after a 12-week treatment period in clinical trials, 46% of online users reported improvement in an unspecified time period. For most topical treatments, medication with high efficacy in clinical trials did not produce high effectiveness ratings based on the crowdsourced online data. While limitations exist with the current methods of crowdsourced data collection, with standardization of data collection and use of validated instruments, crowdsourcing will provide an important and valuable platform for collecting high-volume patient data in real-world settings.

The Genesis of Balaustion’s Adventure

TO THE COUNTESS COWPER If I mention simple truth: that this poem absolutely owes its existence you,--who not only suggested, but imposed on me as task, what has proved most delightful of May-month amusements--I shall seem honest, indeed, but hardly prudent; for, how good and beautiful ought such poem be! Euripides might fear little; but I, also, have an interest in performance: and what wonder if I beg you suffer that it make, in another and far easier sense, its nearest possible approach those Greek qualities of goodness and beauty, by laying itself gratefully at your feet? R.B. LONDON, JULY 23, 1871 (1) What led Robert Browning write Balaustion's Adventure? It appears in is work as kind of bufer between two much darker long poems, The Ring and Book (1868-69) and Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society (1871), respectively his most comprehensive venture into traditional history/ historiography and his largest and most detailed treatment of contemporary events. (2) Beside these, Balaustion's Adventure can seem bit slight, as Browning himself seems have feared, describing it in Preface as the most delightful of May-month amusements, but dismissing it, in letter Isa Blagden, as a trifle indeed. (3) Alfred Domett records hearing from Browning's sister Sarianna that they considered Balaustion's Adventure most popular of his Domett's reaction, A curious notion & fact if true, (4) suggests that he shared Browning's apparently dismissive view of poem. So why did Browning write and publish it? This question may be addressed either externally--Balaustion's origins in immediate circumstance, and participation in historical array of treatments of its central theme, or internally--the position of poem in sequence of Browning's works. It will be my contention that far from slight production it is usually presumed be, Balaustion's Adventure not only responds his contemporaries' readings (and writings) of classical drama on which it is based, but also plays critical role in evolution of Browning's aesthetics, and makes significant contribution nineteenth-century debates over value of Euripides and of classical drama. I. Personal elements i) The contribution of Lady In an important sense, Balaustion's Adventure may be regarded as what its preface in effect claims it be, strictly occasional poem. Unpublished correspondence between Browning and Lady confirms Browning's claim that Balaustion's Adventure was indeed in sense commissioned by her: Wed: 17th [sic, for 16] Aug [1871] Dear Mr Browning. My husband has just finished reading your poem me & I must write at once & tell you how beautiful we both think it & what great pleasure it has been us both reading it--I shall like it more & more oftener I read it, I know; & meanwhile it has left all sorts of beautiful pictures in my mind feast upon. There are such beautiful bits & lines through it all, & what beautiful character you have given Alcestis--She is my perfect idea of what wife shd be--only one has not die for one's husband in these days--Your description of Leighton's picture too, is beautiful; much more beautiful than picture which never half satisfied me. I long be able read original; & yet I do not really care I think, for from what I make out original was not good play; had only making of beautiful poem in it, which you have done as no one else could. Thank you 1000 times for all pleasure I have derived from your great kindness in having taken me at my word when I so impertinently asked you translate play into English for me[.] Believe me Yours very Sincerely (Yale MS) The final paragraph confirms that at some unspecified time Katie Cowper requested Browning to translate play into English, and in one sense that is what he did: Balaustion's Adventure consists mainly of his translation of Euripides' Alcestis into English blank verse. …

The Black Atlantic as Dystopia:

The Black Atlantic as Dystopia:

Pharmacokinetics and Disposition of Various Drug Loaded Liposomes

Due to great efforts in past 45 years, several liposomal products including two liposomal vaccine products have been commercialized and many more potential products are now under clinical trial stage. Although liposome has significantly reduced the toxicity of the drugs with improved or maintained the efficacy, its further development has been limited by its instabilities during preparation and storage, incompatibility with certain drugs, relative high cost of production and quality control as well as unspecified drug release time and sites in vivo. In vivo behaviors of liposomal drugs highly depend on their physiochemical properties including lipid composition, particle size, surface charge, surface modifications and the administrated dose as well as the route of administration. Based on the literature reports from the past two decades, the current review provided an updated summary of the key factors in liposomal preparations for clinical usage and its impact on the alternation of pharmacokinetic and disposition behaviors of drugs encapsulated in the liposome formulations. Clinical applications of liposomal preparation in anti-tumor agents, anti-infective agents as well as the macromolecules have been highlighted.

Estimation of Median Household Income for Small Areas : A Bayesian Semiparametric Approach

Abtsrcat Estimation of median income of small areas is one of the prin- cipal targets of inference of the U.S Bureau of Census. These estimates play an important role in the formulation of various governmental decisions and policies. Since these estimates are collected over time, they often possess an inherent longitudinal pattern. Taking proper account of this time varying pattern may result in better estimates for the current or future median house-hold incomes for a particular state or county. In this study, we put forward a semiparametric modeling procedure for estimating the median household income for all the U.S states. Our models include a nonparametric functional part for accommodating any unspecified time varying income pattern and also a state specific random effect to account for the within-state correlation of the income observations. Model fitting and parameter estimation is carried out in a hierarchical Bayesian framework using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methodology. It is seen that the semiparametric model esti- mates can be superior to both the direct estimates and the Census Bureau estimates. Overall, our study indicates that proper modeling of the underly- ing longitudinal income profiles can improve the performance of model based estimates of household median income of small areas.

Retention Versus Employment Flexibility (Strategic and Culturally Determinants)

This article presents the problems of employment retention and flexibility. Organizations are mainly focused on employees who have high and rare competences. Retention is typical for this group of workers so they get contracts for an unspecified time (typical form of employment). On the contrary flexibility is typical for workers with low and easy available competences. Hence, they usually get limited time contracts. The models of employment can be also matched with the retention and flexibility. Permanent job and retention of workers are typical for traditional model of employment. In flexible model there are three different groups of employees, i.e.: stable workers, peripheries workers and outside collaborators. Peripheries workers and outside collaborators constitute the flexible / inconstant part of employment in the organization. This paper also shows that organizational culture and personnel strategy have an impact on employment retention and flexibility. We can find kinds of organizational culture and personnel strategy which either support or not retention or flexibility.

Quantitative and qualitative assessment of university students' definitions of binge drinking.

This study was designed to assess undergraduates' (N = 424) definitions of binge drinking and to evaluate whether the number of drinks they said comprise a binge varied as a function of beverage type, respondent gender, and respondent binge drinking status. When asked to designate the specific number of drinks that comprise a binge for each of four beverage types, students reported that the number of beers constituting a binge was significantly larger than the number of glasses of wine, shots of hard liquor, and servings of any combination of alcoholic beverage types; men reported that a larger number of drinks constitute a binge than did women; and those who had engaged in 3 or more binges in the past 2 weeks reported that more drinks comprise a binge than those who had binged less often. Responses to an open-ended question asking their definition of a binge revealed that students sometimes characterize a binge in terms of motivations for and unhealthy consequences of drinking, in addition to defining a binge as comprising consumption of a large amount of alcohol in a limited (though often unspecified) time period. Furthermore, students attributed their open-ended definitions of binge drinking to informal sources of information and observation of others' drinking almost as often as they did to school-based or media-based sources. This suggests that educators might look for innovative ways to use both formal and informal social networking, and video illustrations of restrained drinking, as ways to influence young people's views of binge drinking.

Fault Tolerant Control in Z-Source Inverter Fed Induction Motor

This paper discusses about the detection and replacement of the switches in inverter under fault. The detection of switch is done through measuring the phase and line voltages of inverter. The replacement of the open switch is done through the extra arm provided in the circuit. The firing of the extra arm is done by detecting the open switch fault and interrupting the processor to provide the firing to the extra arm switch. This paper gives simple and effective detection and replacement of open switch. The replacement of switch will be done without stopping the whole system and saves the unspecified time. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the detection and replacement. A feasible test is implemented by building a proto type three-phase impedance source inverter, which is designed and controlled on the basis of proposed considerations. It is verified from the practical point of view that this new approach is more effective and acceptable to minimize the distortion. Keywords: SMPS – Switch Mode Power Supply, pulse width modulation (PWM), VSI –Voltage Source Inverter. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijpeds.v1i1.67

Suicidal Risk During Antidepressant Treatment

Article AbstractLetter to the EditorBecause this piece does not have an abstract, we have provided for your benefit the first 3 sentences of the full text.The recent report by Stübner and colleagues of a large clinical survey of over 142,000 European patients treated with various antidepressants from 1993-2008 concluded that antidepressant treatment may, rarely, increase risks of suicidal behavior. The rate of suicide was 3/142,090 in an unspecified exposure time, or 2.1/100,000, and for suicide attempts, 18/142,090, or 12.7/100,000.The risk-ratio of 6.0 attempts/suicide in patients treated with antidepressants (presumably diagnosed with depressive or anxiety disorders) accords with comparable findings among patients with DSM-IV major depression under various conditions of treatment.

FAST Scan: Is it Worth Doing in Hemodynamically Stable Blunt Trauma Patients?

This retrospective chart review of 2105 trauma patients presenting to a level I trauma center sought to evaluate the role of focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) in the diagnostic evaluation of hemodynamically stable blunt trauma patients. FAST was performed on all trauma patients by surgery residents as part of the secondary survey. Patients with positive FAST results underwent confirmatory testing, including computed tomography (CT), diagnostic peritoneal lavage, and exploratory laparotomy. Negative FAST results were either observed (for an unspecified time period) or underwent confirmatory testing. Of the 2105 patients, 93 had a positive FAST (88 confirmed true positive, 5 false positive). The remaining 2012 had a negative FAST (1896 confirmed true negative, 118 false negative). Of note, 16/88 true positive and 22/118 false negative patients were reported as penetrating injuries. Missed injuries found on CT scans were reported in 99/118 patients, including injuries to: spleen, liver, pelvis, bowel, urinary system, retroperitoneal hematoma, diaphragm, adrenal, and vessels. The authors calculated the overall sensitivity of FAST in this study to be 43%, specificity of 99%, and positive and negative predictive value (PPV, NPV) of 95% and 94%, respectively. When narrowing to hemodynamically stable blunt trauma patients, they reported a sensitivity of 41%, specificity of 99%, PPV of 94%, and NPV of 95%. The authors concluded that FAST in hemodynamically stable blunt trauma patients is not worthwhile and should be reserved for hemodynamically unstable patients.

Występek mieszkańców całej ziemi w świetle Księgi Rodzaju (11,1-9)

In Gn 11,1-2 the author presents the characters of the narrative. It is emphasized that at an unspecified time in the past there occurred a change in human lifestyle from a nomadic life to a settled one. People seek a space to live that would enable them to accomplish their plans. The next two verses show the whole humankind's sin of pride that consists in contradicting God. The author depicts it in a symbolic way as the building of a tower that would reach the heavens. The erected structure bears resemblance to Mesopotamian ziggurats - constructions that to the author of the narrative represent idolatrous cult. The tower is a symbol of the crowning achievement of human plans and misguided human ambitions that diverge from God's plans. Such a perspective is suggested in the story by God's reaction to the undertaking (verses 5-9). The moral judgment of the project is contained in the effects of divine punishment, which convey the truth that separation is the aftermath of sin. The phenomenon of organized evil described in the story is not so much a sum of the transgressions of individual humans as a sin of the entire human community.

Achieving Better Than 1 Minute Accuracy in the Heliocentric and Barycentric Julian Dates

ABSTRACTAs the quality and quantity of astrophysical data continue to improve, the precision with which certain astrophysical events can be timed becomes limited not by the data themselves, but by the manner, standard, and uniformity with which time itself is referenced. While some areas of astronomy (most notably pulsar studies) have required absolute time stamps with precisions of considerably better than 1 minute for many decades, recently new areas have crossed into this regime. In particular, in the exoplanet community, we have found that the (typically unspecified) time standards adopted by various groups can differ by as much as a minute. Left uncorrected, this ambiguity may be mistaken for transit timing variations and bias eccentricity measurements. We argue that, since the commonly-used Julian Date, as well as its heliocentric and barycentric counterparts, can be specified in several time standards, it is imperative that their time standards always be reported when accuracies of 1 minute are required. We summarize the rationale behind our recommendation to quote the site arrival time, in addition to using BJDTDB, the Barycentric Julian Date in the Barycentric Dynamical Time standard for any astrophysical event. The BJDTDB is the most practical absolute time stamp for extraterrestrial phenomena, and is ultimately limited by the properties of the target system. We compile a general summary of factors that must be considered in order to achieve timing precisions ranging from 15 minutes to 1 µs. Finally, we provide software tools that, in principal, allow one to calculate BJDTDB to a precision of 1 μs for any target from anywhere on Earth or from any spacecraft.

Analytical solutions for two-point boundary value problems: Optimal low-thrust orbit transfers

A new guidance scheme for the problem of low-thrust transfer between inclined orbits is developed within the framework of optimal control theory. The objective of the guidance scheme is to provide the appropriate thrust steering program that will transfer the vehicle from inclined low earth orbits to high earth orbits. The presented guidance scheme is determined using Pontryagin's principle such that three desired performance measures are minimized and boundary conditions for this unspecified final time problem are satisfied. One of the novelties of this work is changing the independent variable from time to thrust angle and considering properties of autonomous system equations to reduce to one where an exact analytical solution is obtained. Finally, three performance measure results are compared and the best policy is proposed.

Estimation and inference for nonlinear time series model in the presence of unspecified conditional variance: An EF approach

Likelihood based methods are the primary engine which drives the inferences for many nonlinear time series models that applied statisticians postulates utilizing economic and financial data. In this paper we propose an alternative method of estimation and inference for nonlinear time series model utilizing a moment based approach. The structure of our analysis is quite general: it can accommodate both linear and nonlinear set up, unspecified time varying conditional variance and occasionally observed thick tails in financial data.

Epidemiologic critique of literature on post‐transplant neoplasms in solid organ transplantation

As survival of transplant recipients improves, long-term complications become more important. We reviewed epidemiologic literature on real-world risks of de novo neoplasia post-transplant. We searched the Medline/PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases for population-based studies on risk of neoplasia from 1998 to 2005. Selection criteria included: solid organ transplants, neoplastic outcomes, n > 500 subjects, age > or = 18 yr, and study design. Of 187 abstracts, 64 met criteria for study size, age range, topic, and design. We classified the articles by quality of reporting on components of cohort studies. Twelve of 64 studies reported cohort eligibility and exclusion criteria, defined time at risk, and ascertained incident neoplasms. Twenty-one studies reported prevalence of neoplasms for unspecified time periods, and only eight incidence studies reported person yr at risk. Three studies of all types of neoplasms in kidney recipients reported incidence ranging from 11.0 to 17.3 cases per 1000 person yr. Two studies of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders reported incidence of 0.4 to 2.5 cases per 1000 person yr in kidney recipients. More precise estimation of risks and rates, better description of study population, and more attention to confounding in comparisons of rates would make studies more meaningful. Reports should adhere to established guidelines for presenting methods and results in epidemiologic studies.

Thesmophoriazusae's Two Dawns

AbstractIt is commonly assumed that line 2 of Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae, where it appears that the action of our play begins in the early morning after dawn, is inconsistent with lines 277-9, where the Kinsman is told to hurry off to the women's Assembly so as to arrive there before dawn (cf. 376). This article offers a fresh approach to the problem by re-analyzing the temporal co-ordinate offered by the Kinsman's wish for the appearance of χελιδων, 'the swallow', in line 1. It is argued that for an audience of mid-April 411, the play's production date, χελιδων did not primarily evoke the coming of spring as is usually presumed. Rather, the word evoked a specific time of night, the pre-dawn hours of ορρος, during which, in April 411, not only the swallow could be heard but also a star called Χελιδων could be seen ascending before sunrise. The Kinsman's reference to χελιδων therefore situates the beginning of the play at some unspecified time before dawn, implying that Euripides and his Kinsman have been tramping around in circles ever since the dawn of the day before, and that the dawn of line 376 is the dawn of a second day. The twenty-four hour wandering of our play's protagonists in search of a solution to Euripides' predicament therefore provides a comic precedent for Alcibiades' description of Socrates' twenty-four-hour, dawn-to-dawn, stint of philosophizing in Plato's Symposium (220c3-d5).