A multivariate morphometric study of Solidago nemoralis (Compositae: Astereae) and comparison with S. californica and S. sparsiflora

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (10) ◽  
pp. 2070-2082 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Semple ◽  
Jerry G. Chmielewski ◽  
Ronald A. Brammall
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Morphometric Study ◽  
Disc Floret ◽  
Disc Corolla ◽  
Vegetative Traits ◽  
History Of ◽  
Floral Characters

Multivariate analysis of 11 quantitative morphological characteristics of 177 individuals of the Solidago nemoralis complex supports recognition of two subspecies. In a cluster analysis, two groups were immediately obvious (corresponding approximately to ssp. decemflora and ssp. nemoralis); within the ssp. nemoralis cluster, diploids and tetraploids tended to cluster separately. Discriminant analyses were performed on two and three a priori groups. The prairie and open savannah race ssp. decemflora could be distinguished from the eastern ssp. nemoralis son the basis of corolla lobe length, ray floret pappus length, numbers of disc florets, involucre height, and the lengths of the disc corolla, disc corolla limb, and disc floret pappus. Capitulescence form was found to be plastic and of limited taxonomic value. Plants with elongated ascending lower capitulescence branches (elm tree shaped) occurred throughout much of the range of ssp. nemoralis; these have been treated previously as var. or ssp. haleana, but are placed in synonymy. A late glacial and postglacial history of S. nemoralis is hypothesized. In a second set of analyses, small samples of S. nemoralis, S. californica, and S. sparsiflora were compared. Based on the floral characters used, the two subspecies of S. nemoralis differed to a greater degree than S. californica and S. sparsiflora differed from each other. The latter two differed from each other on vegetative traits more so than did the two subspecies of S. nemoralis. The need for a larger study of S. californica, S. sparsiflora, S. velutina, and related taxa was indicated.

Method for measuring distortions of a speech signal during its transmission over a communication channel to a biometric identification system

2020 ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
V. V. Savchenko ◽  
A. V. Savchenko
Keyword(s):  
Speech Signal ◽  
Communication Channel ◽  
Speaker Identification ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Identification System ◽  
New Information ◽  
Discrimination Criterion ◽  
A Priori Uncertainty

This paper is devoted to the presence of distortions in a speech signal transmitted over a communication channel to a biometric system during voice-based remote identification. We propose to preliminary correct the frequency spectrum of the received signal based on the pre-distortion principle. Taking into account a priori uncertainty, a new information indicator of speech signal distortions and a method for measuring it in conditions of small samples of observations are proposed. An example of fast practical implementation of the method based on a parametric spectral analysis algorithm is considered. Experimental results of our approach are provided for three different versions of communication channel. It is shown that the usage of the proposed method makes it possible to transform the initially distorted speech signal into compliance on the registered voice template by using acceptable information discrimination criterion. It is demonstrated that our approach may be used in existing biometric systems and technologies of speaker identification.

scholarly journals The crowd and citylife: Materiality, negotiation and inclusivity at Tokyo’s train stations

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110078
Author(s):  
Romit Chowdhury ◽  
Colin McFarlane
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Urban Density ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mode Of Being ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Human Embodiment

In the history of urban thought, density has been closely indexed to the idea of citylife. Drawing on commuters’ experiences and perceptions of crowds in and around Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station, this article offers an ethnographic perspective on the relationship between urban crowds and life in the city. We advance understandings of the relations between the crowd and citylife through three categories of ‘crowd relations’– materiality, negotiation and inclusivity – to argue that the multiplicity of meanings which accrue to people’s encounters with crowds refuses any a priori definitions of optimum levels of urban density. Rather, the crowd relations gathered here are evocations of citylife that take us beyond the tendency to represent the crowd as a particular kind of problem, be it alienation, exhaustion or a threshold for ‘good’ and ‘bad’ densities. The portraits of commuter crowds presented capture the various entanglements between human and non-human, embodiment and mobility, and multiculture and the civic, through which citylife emerges as a mode of being with oneself and others.

Late-glacial and Post-glacial history of the Chalk escarpment near Brook, Kent

1964 ◽  
Vol 248 (745) ◽  
pp. 135-204 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Valley Floor ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Arable Farming ◽  
History Of

This paper describes the morphology of a small piece of the Chalk escarpment near Brook in east Kent, and reconstructs its history since the end of the Last Glaciation. The escarpment contains a number of steep-sided valleys, or coombes, with which are associated deposits of chalk debris, filling their bottoms and extending as fans over the Gault Clay plain beyond. Here the fans overlie radiocarbon-dated marsh deposits of zone II (10 000 to 8800 B.C.) of the Late-glacial Period. The debris fans were formed and the coombes were cut very largely during the succeeding zone III (8800 to 8300 B.C.). The fans are the products of frost-shattering, probably transported by a combination of niveo-fluvial action and the release of spring waters; intercalated seams of loess also occur. The molluscs and plants preserved in the Late-glacial deposits give a fairly detailed picture of local conditions. The later history of one of the coombes, the Devil’s Kneadingtrough, is reconstructed. The springs have effected virtually no erosion and have probably always emerged more or less in their present position. In the floor of the coombe the periglacial chalk rubbles of zone III are covered by Postglacial deposits, mainly hillwashes. They are oxidized and yield no pollen, but contain rich faunas of land Mollusca, which are presented in the form of histograms revealing changing local ecological and climatic conditions. During most of the Post-glacial Period, from the end of zone III until about the beginning of zone VIII, very little accumulation took place on the coombe floor. But below the springs there are marsh deposits which span much of this interval. They yield faunas of considerable zoogeographical interest. The approximate beginning of zone VII a (Atlantic Period) is reflected by a calcareous tufa, which overlies a weathering horizon, and represents an increase in spring flow. Two clearance phases are deduced from the molluscan record. The first may have taken place at least as early as the Beaker Period (Late Neolithic/earliest Bronze Age); the second is probably of Iron Age ‘A’ date. In Iron Age times the subsoil was mobilized and a phase of rapid hillwashing began. As a result the valley floor became buried by humic chalk muds. The prime cause of this process was probably the beginning of intensive arable farming on the slopes above the coombe; a possible subsidiary factor may have been the Sub-Atlantic worsening of climate. The muds yield pottery ranging in date from Iron Age ‘Kentish first A’ ( ca . 500 to ca . 300 B.C.) to Romano-British ware of the first or second centuries A.D. Evidence is put forward for a possible climatic oscillation from dry to wet taking place at about the time of Christ. In the later stages of cultivation, possibly in the Roman Era, the valley floor was ploughed and given its present-day form.

scholarly journals XIX.—The Bone-Cave in the Valley of Allt nan Uamh (Burn of the Caves), near Inchnadamff, Assynt, Sutherlandshire

1918 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 327-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. N. Peach ◽  
J. Horne ◽  
E. T. Newton
Keyword(s):  
Characteristic Feature ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Early History ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Geological History ◽  
Collateral Evidence ◽  
History Of ◽  
Glacial Time

A characteristic feature of the plateau of Cambrian Limestone in the neighbourhood of Inchnadamff is the occurrence in it of swallow-holes, caves, and subterranean channels which are intimately associated with the geological history of the region. The valley of Allt nan Uamh (Burn of the Caves), locally known as the Coldstream Burn, furnishes striking examples of these phenomena. One of the caves in this valley yielded an interesting succession of deposits, from which were collected abundant remains of mammals and birds. The discovery of bones of the Northern Lynx, the Arctic Lemming, and the Northern Vole among these relics, and the collateral evidence of the materials forming some of these layers, seem to link the early history of this bone-cave with late glacial time, or at least with a period before the final disappearance of local glaciers in that region.

Assisted-living for older people in Israel: market control or government regulation?

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 779-795 ◽  
Author(s):  
ISRAEL DORON ◽  
ERNIE LIGHTMAN
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Assisted Living Facilities ◽  
History Of ◽  
Legitimate Interests

In recent decades there has been a rapid expansion of assisted-living facilities for older people in many different countries. Much of this growth has occurred with only limited or no government regulation, but many problems have arisen, typically around the quality of care, which have led to demands that governments act to protect vulnerable residents. This paper examines whether formal legal regulation is the optimal policy to protect the needs and rights of frail residents, while respecting the legitimate interests of others, such as operators and owners. It presents the case for and against direct legal regulation (as in institutions), and suggests that no overall a priori assessment is possible. The analysis is based on the case of Israel, where proposed regulations for assisted-living have been introduced but not implemented. After a brief history of assisted-living in Israel – its recent dramatic growth and why this occurred – the paper concludes that formal direct regulation is not the best route to follow, but that the better course would be to develop totally new ‘combined’ regulatory legislation. This would define the rights of residents and encourage self-regulation alongside minimal and measured mechanisms of deterrence. Such an approach could promote the continued development of the assisted-living industry in Israel and elsewhere, while guaranteeing that the rights, needs and dignity of older residents are protected.

A New Approach to the Modeling of Magnetorheological Dampers and Application to Resonance Control

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis A. Siginer ◽  
Mario Letelier ◽  
Juan Sebastián Stockle Henríquez
Keyword(s):  
Flow Pattern ◽  
Yield Stress ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Time History ◽  
Magnetorheological Damper ◽  
Mr Fluid ◽  
Variable Resistance ◽  
History Of ◽  
Displacement Pattern ◽  
Analytical Tools

Abstract A predetermined flow pattern in a magnetorheological damper providing continuously variable resistance to flow is required for efficient damping of a given load. The required predetermined flow pattern rests on the a priori determination of the constitutive properties of the magnetorheological (MR) fluid determined to generate variable resistance to flow. The inverse problem of constructing the predetermined response of the damper with a specific displacement pattern of the piston in the damper for efficient damping of a given load is solved. The magnetorheological (MR) fluid in the damper is modeled as a Bingham phase change material with time dependent yield stress offering continuously variable resistance to the flow in the piston to achieve the required specific displacement pattern. The governing equations are solved for any time history of the dimensionless yield stress of the fluid which in turn is determined from the imposed response of the damper. Analytical tools developed can be used in optimizing damper performance. The application of the method to resonance mitigation is illustrated.

scholarly journals Mannan-Binding Lectin Levels and Activity Are Not Altered in Atopic Dermatitis Patients with a History of Eczema Herpeticum

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kemp W. Bundy ◽  
Laura Y. McGirt ◽  
Lora G. Bankova ◽  
Andreas Wollenberg ◽  
Lisa A. Beck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atopic Dermatitis ◽  
Functional Activity ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Eczema Herpeticum ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mannan Binding Lectin ◽  
Binding Lectin

Background. Eczema herpeticum (EH) is a potentially serious, systemic complication in subjects with atopic dermatitis (AD) caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV). The innate immune dysregulation that predisposes these subjects to cutaneous viral infections is not well understood. We tested the hypothesis that defects in mannan-binding lectin (MBL) may be associated with an increased risk of EH.Methods. We evaluated serum MBL levels and functional activity in 13 AD subjects with a history of EH (EH+) and 21 AD subjects with no history of EH (EH−). MBL levels were detected by enzyme immunoassay. MBL pathway functional activity was evaluated by determining MBL C4b deposition capacity.Results. We found no statistical difference in MBL serum levels or function between EH+ and EH− groups.Conclusion. Considering the limitations of this study (e.g., small samples size) our findings suggest that MBL defects do not play a role in EH.

scholarly journals An historical framework for psychiatric nosology

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (12) ◽  
pp. 1935-1941 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. S. Kendler
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Theoretical Orientation ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Early History ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Species Definition ◽  
Psychiatric Nosology ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
History Of

This essay, which seeks to provide an historical framework for our efforts to develop a scientific psychiatric nosology, begins by reviewing the classificatory approaches that arose in the early history of biological taxonomy. Initial attempts at species definition used top-down approaches advocated by experts and based on a few essential features of the organism chosena priori. This approach was subsequently rejected on both conceptual and practical grounds and replaced by bottom-up approaches making use of a much wider array of features. Multiple parallels exist between the beginnings of biological taxonomy and psychiatric nosology. Like biological taxonomy, psychiatric nosology largely began with ‘expert’ classifications, typically influenced by a few essential features, articulated by one or more great 19th-century diagnosticians. Like biology, psychiatry is struggling toward more soundly based bottom-up approaches using diverse illness characteristics. The underemphasized historically contingent nature of our current psychiatric classification is illustrated by recounting the history of how ‘Schneiderian’ symptoms of schizophrenia entered into DSM-III. Given these historical contingencies, it is vital that our psychiatric nosologic enterprise be cumulative. This can be best achieved through a process of epistemic iteration. If we can develop a stable consensus in our theoretical orientation toward psychiatric illness, we can apply this approach, which has one crucial virtue. Regardless of the starting point, if each iteration (or revision) improves the performance of the nosology, the eventual success of the nosologic process, to optimally reflect the complex reality of psychiatric illness, is assured.

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