Between "uxor", "mater" and "concubina". Profile and identity of the Emperor Constantine in Late Roman legislation

We aspire to shape the Constantine’s personality in particular by analyzing his loving relationship, first with Minervina and then with Fausta, and not forgetting the bond with his mother Helena, hence the reference to uxor, mater and concubina in our title. We will analyze if these women exercised any influence on the composition of his production rules and, if so, to what extent they were able to determine the historical development of the following decades. From this point of view we must consider in general the emperor had to combine their political claims and government with these relationships, showing great skill in handling times and ways, always putting the first to the second.

Standardization in the Pre-Columbian Pottery from El Caño, Panama: Specialization, Productivity and Consumption

The pottery found in the burials of El Cano is uniform in style to these made in the coclesanos valleys between 700 and 1000 AD. The coefficient of variability of the different pottery forms, evidence diverse standardizations values for polychrome and non-polychrome ceramics. Moreover, data of funerary contexts from the Cano recently excavated, suggest that elite has controlled ceramic production. This control over the production of certain goods reveals that these were important in the support or proper operational of the chiefdoms in Panama and mark the phase of splendour of this culture.

Multilingualism and conceptual modelling

One of the leading motivations behind the multilingual semantic web is to make resources accessible digitally in an online global multilingual context. Consequently, it is fundamental for knowledge bases to find a way to manage multilingualism and thus be equipped with those procedures for its conceptual modelling. In this context, the goal of this paper is to discuss how common-sense knowledge and cultural knowledge are modelled in a multilingual framework. More particularly, multilingualism and conceptual modelling are dealt with from the perspective of FunGramKB, a lexico-conceptual knowledge base for natural language understanding. This project argues for a clear division between the lexical and the conceptual dimensions of knowledge. Moreover, the conceptual layer is organized into three modules, which result from a strong commitment towards capturing semantic knowledge (Ontology), procedural knowledge (Cognicon) and episodic knowledge (Onomasticon). Cultural mismatches are discussed and formally represented at the three conceptual levels of FunGramKB.

Of Marx and Makers: an Historical Perspective on Generative Justice

In Marxist frameworks “distributive justice” depends on extracting value through a centralized state. Many new social movements—peer to peer economy, maker activism, community agriculture, queer ecology, etc.—take the opposite approach, keeping value in its unalienated form and allowing it to freely circulate from the bottom up. Unlike Marxism, there is no general theory for bottom-up, unalienated value circulation. This paper examines the concept of “generative justice” through an historical contrast between Marx’s writings and the indigenous cultures that he drew upon. Marx erroneously concluded that while indigenous cultures had unalienated forms of production, only centralized value extraction could allow the productivity needed for a high quality of life. To the contrary, indigenous cultures now provide a robust model for the “gift economy” that underpins open source technological production, agroecology, and restorative approaches to civil rights. Expanding Marx’s concept of unalienated labor value to include unalienated ecological (nonhuman) value, as well as the domain of freedom in speech, sexual orientation, spirituality and other forms of “expressive” value, we arrive at an historically informed perspective for generative justice. 

Resistance is futile: the borg, the hive, and corporate hegemony

The Borg, a collective of humanoid cyborgs linked together in a hive-mind and modeled on the earthly superorganisms of ant colonies and beehives, has been the most feared alien race in the Star Trek universe. The formidable success of the Borg in assimilating their foes corresponds to the astounding success of superorganisms in our own biosphere. Yet the Borg also serves as a metaphor for another collective of biological entities known as the corporation. In the Anthropocene epoch, corporations have become the most powerful force on the planet; their influence on the social world and the environment exceeds any government and may determine the continued sustainability of human life. Corporations have been described as people and as machines, but neither metaphor accurately describes their essence or contributes to an understanding that might resist their power. This paper reframes our understanding of the corporation by examining the metaphors that are used to describe it, and by suggesting an entirely new metaphor viewing the Borg and the corporation through the lens of sociobiology. I will argue that the corporation is a new form of superorganism that has become the dominant species on the planet and that the immense, intractable power of a globalized, corporate hive-mind has become the principal obstacle to addressing the planetary emergency of climate change. Reframing our metaphoric understanding of corporations as biological entities in the planetary biosphere may enable us to imagine ways to resist their increasing dominance and create a sustainable future. 

Health assets and active lifestyles during preadolescence and adolescence: highlights from the HBSC/WHO health survey and implications for health promotion

The present chapter discusses the assets model as a theoretical approach to the study of health behavior and health promotion. The model emphasizes people’s talents, competences, and resources. In this chapter, a health asset is defined as any factor or resource that maximizes the opportunities for individuals, local communities, and populations to attain and maintain health and well-being. This perspective expands and complements the current medical model as it focuses on the development of a sense of empowerment in community members to prevent and manage their own health. Therefore, in this chapter we address the concepts of salutogenesis, social support, resilience, coping, self-regulation, social capital, and personal and social competence, which are central to the development of individuals’ potential to manage and savor their own health, creating the conditions for self-fulfillment. Additionally, we demonstrate how the assets model guides the study of children’s and adolescents’ health in the Portuguese Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (www.hbsc.org), concentrating on areas such as active lifestyles and quality-of-life perception. Finally, we present a roadmap for action that emphasizes the need to identify the factors that make children and adolescents happy and healthy individuals, while minimizing risks and problems they naturally encounter throughout their development. We also argue for the need to involve young people in discussions concerning their health and health promotion practices, focusing on the development of talents, capabilities, and positive expectations for the future.

Quantification of the effects of architectural traits on dry mass production and light interception of tomato canopy under different temperature regimes using a dynamic functional-structural plant model

There is increasing interest in evaluating the environmental effects on crop architectural traits and yield improvement. However, crop models describing the dynamic changes in canopy structure with environmental conditions and the complex interactions between canopy structure, light interception, and dry mass production are only gradually emerging. Using tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) as a model crop, a dynamic functional-structural plant model (FSPM) was constructed, parameterized, and evaluated to analyse the effects of temperature on architectural traits, which strongly influence canopy light interception and shoot dry mass. The FSPM predicted the organ growth, organ size, and shoot dry mass over time with high accuracy (>85%). Analyses of this FSPM showed that, in comparison with the reference canopy, shoot dry mass may be affected by leaf angle by as much as 20%, leaf curvature by up to 7%, the leaf length: width ratio by up to 5%, internode length by up to 9%, and curvature ratios and leaf arrangement by up to 6%. Tomato canopies at low temperature had higher canopy density and were more clumped due to higher leaf area and shorter internodes. Interestingly, dry mass production and light interception of the clumped canopy were more sensitive to changes in architectural traits. The complex interactions between architectural traits, canopy light interception, dry mass production, and environmental conditions can be studied by the dynamic FSPM, which may serve as a tool for designing a canopy structure which is 'ideal' in a given environment.

Estimation of whole body muscle, adipose/fat mass, validation in health and during weight loss. Development of prediction equations using MRI as reference method

Background: Body composition is affected by diseases, and affects responses to medical treatments, dosage of medicines, etc., while an abnormal body composition contributes to the causation of many chronic diseases. While we have reliable biochemical tests for certain nutritional parameters of body composition, such as iron or iodine status, and we have harnessed nuclear physics to estimate the body’s content of trace elements, the very basic quantification of body fat content and muscle mass remains highly problematic. Both body fat and muscle mass are vitally important, as they have opposing influences on chronic disease, but they have seldom been estimated as part of population health surveillance. Instead, most national surveys have merely reported BMI and waist, or sometimes the waist/hip ratio; these indices are convenient but do not have any specific biological meaning. Anthropometry offers a practical and inexpensive method for muscle and fat estimation in clinical and epidemiological settings; however, its use is imperfect due to many limitations, such as a shortage of reference data, misuse of terminology, unclear assumptions, and the absence of properly validated anthropometric equations. To date, anthropometric methods are not sensitive enough to detect muscle and fat loss. Aims: The aim of this thesis is to estimate Adipose/fat and muscle mass in health disease and during weight loss through; 1. evaluating and critiquing the literature, to identify the best-published prediction equations for adipose/fat and muscle mass estimation; 2. to derive and validate adipose tissue and muscle mass prediction equations; and 3.to evaluate the prediction equations along with anthropometric indices and the best equations retrieved from the literature in health, metabolic illness and during weight loss. Methods: a Systematic review using Cochrane Review method was used for reviewing muscle mass estimation papers that used MRI as the reference method. Fat mass estimation papers were critically reviewed. Mixed ethnic, age and body mass data that underwent whole body magnetic resonance imaging to quantify adipose tissue and muscle mass (dependent variable) and anthropometry (independent variable) were used in the derivation/validation analysis. Multiple regression and Bland-Altman plot were applied to evaluate the prediction equations. To determine how well the equations identify metabolic illness, English and Scottish health surveys were studied. Statistical analysis using multiple regression and binary logistic regression were applied to assess model fit and associations. Also, populations were divided into quintiles and relative risk was analysed. Finally, the prediction equations were evaluated by applying them to a pilot study of 10 subjects who underwent whole-body MRI, anthropometric measurements and muscle strength before and after weight loss to determine how well the equations identify adipose/fat mass and muscle mass change. Results: The estimation of fat mass has serious problems. Despite advances in technology and science, prediction equations for the estimation of fat mass depend on limited historical reference data and remain dependent upon assumptions that have not yet been properly validated for different population groups. Muscle mass does not have the same conceptual problems; however, its measurement is still problematic and reference data are scarce. The derivation and validation analysis in this thesis was satisfactory, compared to prediction equations in the literature they were similar or even better. Applying the prediction equations in metabolic illness and during weight loss presented an understanding on how well the equations identify metabolic illness showing significant associations with diabetes, hypertension, HbA1c and blood pressure. And moderate to high correlations with MRI-measured adipose tissue and muscle mass before and after weight loss. Conclusion: Adipose tissue mass and to an extent muscle mass can now be estimated for many purposes as population or groups means. However, these equations must not be used for assessing fatness and categorising individuals. Further exploration in different populations and health surveys would be valuable.

Short-term secular change in height, body mass and Tanner-Whitehouse 3 skeletal maturity of Madeira youth, Portugal

Secular trends in height and weight are reasonably well documented in Europe. Corresponding observations for skeletal maturation are lacking. Aim: To assess secular trends in height, body mass and skeletal maturity of Portuguese children and adolescents and to provide updated reference values for skeletal maturity scores (SMSs). Subjects and methods: Data for 2856 children and adolescents of 4–17 years, 1412 boys and 1444 girls, from The ‘Madeira Growth Study’ (MGS; 1996–1998) and from the‘Healthy Growth of Madeira Children Study’ (CRES; 2006) were used. Height and body mass were measured. Skeletal maturity was assessed with the Tanner-Whitehouse 2 and 3 methods. Results: Children from CRES were taller and heavier than peers from MGS. Differences in height reached 5.8cm in boys and 5.5cm in girls. RUS SMSs did not differ consistently between surveys boys, while higher RUS scores were observed in CRES girls. Adult RUS SMSs for MGS and CRES combined were attained at 15.8 years in boys and 14.8 years in girls. Corresponding ages for adult Carpal SMSs were 14.4 and 14.0, respectively. Conclusion: The short-term trends for height and mass were not entirely consistent with the trends in RUS and Carpal SMSs and SAs.

Short-term secular change in height, body mass and Tanner-Whitehouse 3 skeletal maturity of Madeira youth, Portugal

Secular trends in height and weight are reasonably well documented in Europe. Corresponding observations for skeletal maturation are lacking. Aim: To assess secular trends in height, body mass and skeletal maturity of Portuguese children and adolescents and to provide updated reference values for skeletal maturity scores (SMSs). Subjects and methods: Data for 2856 children and adolescents of 4–17 years, 1412 boys and 1444 girls, from The ‘Madeira Growth Study’ (MGS; 1996–1998) and from the‘Healthy Growth of Madeira Children Study’ (CRES; 2006) were used. Height and body mass were measured. Skeletal maturity was assessed with the Tanner-Whitehouse 2 and 3 methods. Results: Children from CRES were taller and heavier than peers from MGS. Differences in height reached 5.8cm in boys and 5.5cm in girls. RUS SMSs did not differ consistently between surveys boys, while higher RUS scores were observed in CRES girls. Adult RUS SMSs for MGS and CRES combined were attained at 15.8 years in boys and 14.8 years in girls. Corresponding ages for adult Carpal SMSs were 14.4 and 14.0, respectively. Conclusion: The short-term trends for height and mass were not entirely consistent with the trends in RUS and Carpal SMSs and SAs.

Combined Analysis Of νμ Disappearance And νμ→νe Appearance In Minos Using Accelerator And Atmospheric Neutrinos.

We report on a new analysis of neutrino oscillations in MINOS using the complete set of accelerator and atmospheric data. The analysis combines the ν(μ) disappearance and ν(e) appearance data using the three-flavor formalism. We measure |Δm(32)(2)| = [2.28-2.46] × 10(-3) eV(2) (68% C.L.) and sin(2)θ(23) = 0.35-0.65 (90% C.L.) in the normal hierarchy, and |Δm(32)(2)| = [2.32-2.53] × 10(-3) eV(2) (68% C.L.) and sin(2)θ(23) = 0.34-0.67 (90% C.L.) in the inverted hierarchy. The data also constrain δ(CP), the θ(23} octant degeneracy and the mass hierarchy; we disfavor 36% (11%) of this three-parameter space at 68% (90%) C.L.

Growth And Body Composition In Brazilian Female Rhythmic Gymnastics Athletes.

The aim was to analyse the physical growth and body composition of rhythmic gymnastics athletes relative to their level of somatic maturation. This was a cross-sectional study of 136 athletes on 23 teams from Brazil. Mass, standing height and sitting height were measured. Fat-free and fat masses, body fat percentages and ages of the predicted peak height velocity (PHV) were calculated. The z scores for mass were negative during all ages according to both WHO and Brazilian references, and that for standing height were also negative for all ages according to WHO reference but only until 12 years old according to Brazilian reference. The mean age of the predicted PHV was 12.1 years. The mean mass, standing and sitting heights, body fat percentage, fat-free mass and fat mass increased significantly until 4 to 5 years after the age of the PHV. Menarche was reached in only 26% of these athletes and mean age was 13.2 years. The mass was below the national reference standards, and the standing height was below only for the international reference, but they also had late recovery of mass and standing height during puberty. In conclusion, these athletes had a potential to gain mass and standing height several years after PHV, indicating late maturation.

Petroleomics By Electrospray Ionization Ft-icr Mass Spectrometry Coupled To Partial Least Squares With Variable Selection Methods: Prediction Of The Total Acid Number Of Crude Oils.

Negative-ion mode electrospray ionization, ESI(-), with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) was coupled to a Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression and variable selection methods to estimate the total acid number (TAN) of Brazilian crude oil samples. Generally, ESI(-)-FT-ICR mass spectra present a power of resolution of ca. 500,000 and a mass accuracy less than 1 ppm, producing a data matrix containing over 5700 variables per sample. These variables correspond to heteroatom-containing species detected as deprotonated molecules, [M - H](-) ions, which are identified primarily as naphthenic acids, phenols and carbazole analog species. The TAN values for all samples ranged from 0.06 to 3.61 mg of KOH g(-1). To facilitate the spectral interpretation, three methods of variable selection were studied: variable importance in the projection (VIP), interval partial least squares (iPLS) and elimination of uninformative variables (UVE). The UVE method seems to be more appropriate for selecting important variables, reducing the dimension of the variables to 183 and producing a root mean square error of prediction of 0.32 mg of KOH g(-1). By reducing the size of the data, it was possible to relate the selected variables with their corresponding molecular formulas, thus identifying the main chemical species responsible for the TAN values.

Myocardial Extracellular Volume Expansion And The Risk Of Recurrent Atrial Fibrillation After Pulmonary Vein Isolation.

This study tested whether myocardial extracellular volume (ECV) is increased in patients with hypertension and atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing pulmonary vein isolation and whether there is an association between ECV and post-procedural recurrence of AF. Hypertension is associated with myocardial fibrosis, an increase in ECV, and AF. Data linking these findings are limited. T1 measurements pre-contrast and post-contrast in a cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) study provide a method for quantification of ECV. Consecutive patients with hypertension and recurrent AF referred for pulmonary vein isolation underwent a contrast CMR study with measurement of ECV and were followed up prospectively for a median of 18 months. The endpoint of interest was late recurrence of AF. Patients had elevated left ventricular (LV) volumes, LV mass, left atrial volumes, and increased ECV (patients with AF, 0.34 ± 0.03; healthy control patients, 0.29 ± 0.03; p < 0.001). There were positive associations between ECV and left atrial volume (r = 0.46, p < 0.01) and LV mass and a negative association between ECV and diastolic function (early mitral annular relaxation [E'], r = -0.55, p < 0.001). In the best overall multivariable model, ECV was the strongest predictor of the primary outcome of recurrent AF (hazard ratio: 1.29; 95% confidence interval: 1.15 to 1.44; p < 0.0001) and the secondary composite outcome of recurrent AF, heart failure admission, and death (hazard ratio: 1.35; 95% confidence interval: 1.21 to 1.51; p < 0.0001). Each 10% increase in ECV was associated with a 29% increased risk of recurrent AF. In patients with AF and hypertension, expansion of ECV is associated with diastolic function and left atrial remodeling and is a strong independent predictor of recurrent AF post-pulmonary vein isolation.

Reference Values For High-density Lipoprotein Particle Size And Volume By Dynamic Light Scattering In A Brazilian Population Sample And Their Relationships With Metabolic Parameters.

Current data indicate that the size of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) may be considered an important marker for cardiovascular disease risk. We established reference values of mean HDL size and volume in an asymptomatic representative Brazilian population sample (n=590) and their associations with metabolic parameters by gender. Size and volume were determined in HDL isolated from plasma by polyethyleneglycol precipitation of apoB-containing lipoproteins and measured using the dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique. Although the gender and age distributions agreed with other studies, the mean HDL size reference value was slightly lower than in some other populations. Both HDL size and volume were influenced by gender and varied according to age. HDL size was associated with age and HDL-C (total population); non- white ethnicity and CETP inversely (females); HDL-C and PLTP mass (males). On the other hand, HDL volume was determined only by HDL-C (total population and in both genders) and by PLTP mass (males). The reference values for mean HDL size and volume using the DLS technique were established in an asymptomatic and representative Brazilian population sample, as well as their related metabolic factors. HDL-C was a major determinant of HDL size and volume, which were differently modulated in females and in males.