Response: Special communication: Letters to the Editor-in-Chief [Vigorous exercise in clinical practice: balancing risks and benefits]

The effects of different exercise intensities on health have been investigated in several studies in recent years, in which some authors showed greater benefits for vigorous exercise (6) while others did not find any differences (8). An important issue regarding these conflicting results could be the fact that only a few of the studies controlled the effects of different exercise intensities for the overall volume of physical activity, making the evaluation of the available data difficult.

A unified approach to the solution of plane problems of Magneto-elasticity with special reference to a hole in a thin infinite conducting plate

Under certain specific assumption it has been observed that the basic equations of magneto-elasticity in the case of plane deformation lead to a biharmonic equation, as in the case of the classical plane theory of elasticity. The method of solving boundary value problems has been properly modified and a unified approach in solving such problems has been suggested with special reference to problems relating thin infinite plates with a hole. Closed form expressions have been obtained for the stresses due to a uniform magnetic field present in the plane of deformation of a thin infinite conducting plate with a circular hole, the plate being deformed by a tension acting parallel to the direction of the magnetic field.

Thermodynamic implication of the special relativistic postulate

Abstract is not available.

Pythium soft rot of ginger: Detection and identification of the causal pathogens, and their control

Ginger is considered by many people to be the outstanding member among 1400 other species in the family Zingiberaceae. Not only it is a valuable spice used by cooks throughout the world to impart unique flavour to their dishes but it also has a long track record in some Chinese and Indian cultures for treating common human ailments such as colds and headaches. Ginger has recently attracted considerable attention for its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal properties. However, ginger as a crop is also susceptible to at least 24 different plant pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, fungi and nematodes. Of these, Pythium spp. (within the kingdom Stramenopila, phyllum Oomycota) are of most concern because various species can cause rotting and yield loss on ginger at any of the growth stages including during postharvest storage. Pythium gracile was the first species in the genus to be reported as a ginger pathogen, causing Pythium soft rot disease in India in 1907. Thereafter, numerous other Pythium spp. have been recorded from ginger growing regions throughout the world. Today, 15 Pythium species have been implicated as pathogens of the soft rot disease. Because accurate identification of a pathogen is the cornerstone of effective disease management programs, this review will focus on how to detect, identify and control Pythium spp. in general, with special emphasis on Pythium spp. associated with soft rot on ginger.

Herbert B. Ehrmann papers, 1913-1970.

Contains correspondence, addresses and speeches, newspaper clippings, and published material relating primarily to Ehrmann's activity in the national and Boston chapter of the American Jewish Committee (1935-1970). Of special interest is material on the relation of the Committee to the American Jewish Conference (1943-1948), the relationship of American Jewry to the State of Israel, and the attitude of the Committee to the establishment of Israel. Also contains genealogical material, in German and in English, between Ehrmann and his relatives in Poland immediately prior World War II, and in Italy immediately after the war. Also contains letters and reports sent by Mrs. Sara Rosenfeld Ehrmann (b. 1895) by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the United Jewish Appeal, dealing primarily with fund-raising matters.

Seixas family papers, undated, 1746-1911, 1926, 1939.

The collection contains items relating to individual members of the family as well as the Seixas family in general. Included are papers of the following persons: Isaac Mendes Seixas (1708/9-1780/1), a copy of A voyage to Hudson's--Bay, by Henry Ellis, inscribed with his name on the title page, along with additional inscriptions on the end papers (1748); and a daily prayer book printed in Amsterdam (title page missing), with an inscription on the first page indicating that the book was owned by Seixas in 1758/9, and subsequently by his grandson, Theodore J. Seixas, in 1816/17.

Synagogue Council of America records 1935-1974

Contains the constitution, by-laws, correspondence, papers, and minutes of the Synagogue Council of America (1935-1958), an incomplete set of the minutes of the Plenum, (1949-1965), the minutes of the Executive Committee (1946-1969), Officers' (Summit) Meetings (1955-1967) and the minutes and reports of the Budget Committee (1946-1966), financial reports and statements for 1942-1965 and fundraising activities (1958-1968).

Bycatch and strandings programs as ecological indicators for data-limited cetaceans

An integrated approach of using strandings and bycatch data may provide an indicator of long-term trends for data-limited cetaceans. Strandings programs can give a faithful representation of the species composition of cetacean assemblages, while standardised bycatch rates can provide a measure of relative abundance. Comparing the two datasets may also facilitate managing impacts by understanding which species, sex or sizes are the most vulnerable to interactions with fisheries gear. Here we apply this approach to two long-term datasets in East Australia, bycatch in the Queensland Shark Control Program QSCP, 1992–2012) and strandings in the Queensland Marine Wildlife Strandings and Mortality Program StrandNet, 1996–2012). Short-beaked common dolphins, Delphinus delphis, were markedly more frequent in bycatch than in the strandings dataset, suggesting that they are more prone to being incidentally caught than other cetacean species in the region. The reverse was true for humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops spp.; and species predominantly found in offshore waters. QSCP bycatch was strongly skewed towards females for short-beaked common dolphins, and towards smaller sizes for Australian humpback dolphins, Sousa sahulensis. Overall, both datasets demonstrated similar seasonality and a similar long-term increase from 1996 until 2008. Analysis on a species-by-species basis was then used to explore potential explanations for long-term trends, which ranged from a recovering stock (humpback whales) to a shift in habitat use (short-beaked common dolphins).

Orders of service for special occasions

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Bycatch and strandings programs as ecological indicators for data-limited cetaceans

An integrated approach of using strandings and bycatch data may provide an indicator of long-term trends for data-limited cetaceans. Strandings programs can give a faithful representation of the species composition of cetacean assemblages, while standardised bycatch rates can provide a measure of relative abundance. Comparing the two datasets may also facilitate managing impacts by understanding which species, sex or sizes are the most vulnerable to interactions with fisheries gear. Here we apply this approach to two long-term datasets in East Australia, bycatch in the Queensland Shark Control Program (QSCP, 1992–2012) and strandings in the Queensland Marine Wildlife Strandings and Mortality Program (StrandNet, 1996–2012). Short-beaked common dolphins, Delphinus delphis, were markedly more frequent in bycatch than in the strandings dataset, suggesting that they are more prone to being incidentally caught than other cetacean species in the region. The reverse was true for humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops spp.; and species predominantly found in offshore waters. QSCP bycatch was strongly skewed towards females for short-beaked common dolphins, and towards smaller sizes for Australian humpback dolphins, Sousa sahulensis. Overall, both datasets demonstrated similar seasonality and a similar long-term increase from 1996 until 2008. Analysis on a species-by-species basis was then used to explore potential explanations for long-term trends, which ranged from a recovering stock (humpback whales) to a shift in habitat use (short-beaked common dolphins).

Näkövammaisten tietokoneavusteinen tiedon hankinta

The study examines various uses of computer technology in acquisition of information for visually impaired people. For this study 29 visually impaired persons took part in a survey about their experiences concerning acquisition of infomation and use of computers, especially with a screen magnification program, a speech synthesizer and a braille display. According to the responses, the evolution of computer technology offers an important possibility for visually impaired people to cope with everyday activities and interacting with the environment. Nevertheless, the functionality of assistive technology needs further development to become more usable and versatile. Since the challenges of independent observation of environment were emphasized in the survey, the study led into developing a portable text vision system called Tekstinäkö. Contrary to typical stand-alone applications, Tekstinäkö system was constructed by combining devices and programs that are readily available on consumer market. As the system operates, pictures are taken by a digital camera and instantly transmitted to a text recognition program in a laptop computer that talks out loud the text using a speech synthesizer. Visually impaired test users described that even unsure interpretations of the texts in the environment given by Tekstinäkö system are at least a welcome addition to complete perception of the environment. It became clear that even with a modest development work it is possible to bring new, useful and valuable methods to everyday life of disabled people. Unconventional production process of the system appeared to be efficient as well. Achieved results and the proposed working model offer one suggestion for giving enough attention to easily overlooked needs of the people with special abilities. ACM Computing Classification System (1998): K.4.2 Social Issues: Assistive technologies for persons with disabilities I.4.9 Image processing and computer vision: Applications Keywords: Visually impaired, computer-assisted, information, acquisition, assistive technology, computer, screen magnification program, speech synthesizer, braille display, survey, testing, text recognition, camera, text, perception, picture, environment, trasportation, guidance, independence, vision, disabled, blind, speech, synthesizer, braille, software engineering, programming, program, system, freeware, shareware, open source, Tekstinäkö, text vision, TopOCR, Autohotkey, computer engineering, computer science

The Road to Hell Is Paved with Good Interventions : A Pragmatic Examination of Humanitarian Intervention with Special Reference to Kosovo

Kansainvälisen oikeuden alaan kuuluvassa tutkielmassa käsitellään humanitaarisen intervention oikeutusta ja laillisuutta. Tutkimuskysymyksenä on, missä määrin humanitaarisilla näkökohdilla perusteltuja sotilaallisia toimia tai niillä uhkaamista voi pitää kansainvälisoikeudellisesti hyväksyttävänä ja millainen painoarvo ennakkotapauksena olisi annettava NATO-maiden Kosovossa toteuttamalle väliintulolle. Tutkielmassa perehdytään ihmisoikeusajattelun tiettyjen taustaoletusten kritiikkiin. Tarkastelun kohteena ovat erityisesti kannanotot, joiden mukaan ihmisoikeuksia ei voi pitää luonteeltaan universaaleina, sekä kyseiseen kritiikkiin liittyvät väitteet siitä, että ns. hegemonisessa asemassa olevat valtiot hyödyntävät ihmisoikeusargumentteja oikeuttaakseen voimankäyttönsä. Universaalisuuskritiikkiä voidaan pitää pitkälti perusteltuna, mutta nykyinen kansainvälinen yhteisö tarvitsee kuitenkin tietynlaisia yleismaailmallisia normeja voidakseen toimia tehokkaasti. Kritiikin ei voikaan katsoa pätevän humanitaarisen intervention kannalta keskeisiin ihmisoikeusnormeihin kuten kansanmurhan kieltoon, sillä kyseiset velvoitteet suojaavat kansainvälisen yhteisön toimivuutta ja uskottavuutta. Humanitaarisiin argumentteihin liittyy kuitenkin muita ongelmia: niillä on esimerkiksi aika ajoin pyritty oikeuttamaan sotilaallisia toimia, joissa ihmisoikeusnäkökohdat eivät välttämättä ole olleet etusijalla. Ihmisoikeuksille ei ole syytä antaa kansainvälisessä oikeudessa asemaa universaaleina "superargumentteina", jotka eivät olisi kyseenalaistettavissa. YK:n peruskirjan ja kansainvälisen tapaoikeuden näkökulmasta humanitaarisen intervention kaltaiseen voimankäyttöön vaaditaan turvallisuusneuvoston hyväksyntä, jota ei Kosovo-operaatioon saatu. Interventiota voi tässä suhteessa pitää yksiselitteisesti laittomana, sillä sen tueksi esitetyt oikeudelliset argumentit eivät ole vakuuttavia. Tapaukseen liittyvät ihmisoikeusnäkökohdat ovat kuitenkin siinä määrin merkittäviä, että ongelmaan ei ole perusteltua suhtautua tiukan legalistisesti. Operaation hyväksyminen moraaliargumenttien nojalla voisi kuitenkin johtaa nykyisten voimankäyttörajoitusten marginalisoitumiseen, mikä olisi yllä käsitellyn kritiikin valossa ongelmallista. Tutkielmassa nostetaan suositeltavaksi ratkaisuksi lähestymistapa, jossa Kosovon tapaus ymmärretään yksittäisenä oikeudenvastaisena mutta samalla oikeudenulkoisena poikkeustapauksena. Tällöin peruskirjan mukainen voimankäytön sääntely säilyy entisellään ilman että humanitaariset näkökohdat jäisivät tyystin huomiotta. Ratkaisu ei sulje pois mahdollisuutta suhtautua positiivisesti Kosovo-operaation mahdollisesti luomaan "poliittiseen normiin": suuren mittakaavan ihmisoikeusloukkaukset eivät jää Euroopassa seurauksitta. Ilman turvallisuusneuvoston suostumusta toteutettaviin humanitaarisiin interventioihin liittyvien käytännöllisten ja kansainvälisoikeudellisten riskien vuoksi niihin on kuitenkin aihetta suhtautua suurella varauksella.

Discontinuities in an arbitrarily moving gas in special relativity

Singular surface theory and ray theory are used to study the propagation of a weak discontinuity in an arbitrarily moving gas within the framework of special relativity. A differential equation is obtained describing the variation of the strength of the discontinuity along rays.