972 resultados para Lamy, Bernard, 1640-1715.


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High quality of platelet analytics requires specialized knowledge and skills. It was applied to analyze platelet activation and aggregation responses in a prospective controlled study of patients with Finnish type of amyloidosis. The 20 patients with AGel amyloidosis displayed a delayed and more profound platelet shape change than healthy siblings and healthy volunteers, which may be related to altered fragmentation of mutated gelsolin during platelet activation. Alterations in platelet shape change have not been reported in association with platelet disorders. In the rare Bernard-Soulier syndrome with Asn45Ser mutation of glycoprotein (GP) IX, the diagnostic defect in the expression of GPIb-IX-V complex was characterized in seven Finnish patients, also an internationally exceptionally large patient series. When measuring thrombopoietin in serial samples of amniotic fluid and cord blood of 15 pregnant women with confirmed or suspected fetal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, the lower limit of detection could be extended. The results approved that thrombopoietin is present already in amniotic fluid. The application of various non-invasive means for diagnosing thrombocytopenia (TP) revealed that techniques for estimating the proportion of young, i.e. large platelets, such as direct measurement of reticulated platelets and the mean platelet size, would be useful for evaluating platelet kinetics in a given patient. Due to different kinetics between thrombopoietin and increase of young platelets in circulation, these measurements may have most predictive value when measured from simultaneous samples. Platelet autoantibodies were present not only in isolated autoimmune TP but also in patients without TP where disappearance of platelets might be compensated by increased production. The autoantibodies may also persist after TP has been cured. Simultaneous demonstration of increased young platelets (or increased mean platelet volume) in peripheral blood and the presence of platelet associated IgG specificities to major glycoproteins (GPIb-IX and GPIIb-IIIa) may be considered diagnostic for autoimmune TP. Measurement of a soluble marker as a sign of thrombin activation and proceeding deterioration of platelet components was applied to analyze the alterations under several stress factors (storage, transportation and lack of continuous shaking under controlled conditions) of platelet products. The GPV measured as a soluble factor in platelet storage medium showed good correlation with an array of other measurements commonly applied in characterization of stored platelets. The benefits of measuring soluble analyte in a quantitative assay were evident.

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The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of trade durations in price discovery. The motivation to use trade durations in the study of price discovery is that durations are robust to many microstructure effects that introduce a bias in the measurement of returns volatility. Another motivation to use trade durations in the study of price discovery is that it is difficult to think of economic variables, which really are useful in the determination of the source of volatility at arbitrarily high frequencies. The dissertation contains three essays. In the first essay, the role of trade durations in price discovery is examined with respect to the volatility pattern of stock returns. The theory on volatility is associated with the theory on the information content of trade, dear to the market microstructure theory. The first essay documents that the volatility per transaction is related to the intensity of trade, and a strong relationship between the stochastic process of trade durations and trading variables. In the second essay, the role of trade durations in price discovery is examined with respect to the quantification of risk due to a trading volume of a certain size. The theory on volume is intrinsically associated with the stock volatility pattern. The essay documents that volatility increases, in general, when traders choose to trade with large transactions. In the third essay, the role of trade durations in price discovery is examined with respect to the information content of a trade. The theory on the information content of a trade is associated with the theory on the rate of price revisions in the market. The essay documents that short durations are associated with information. Thus, traders are compensated for responding quickly to information

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This paper investigates the clustering pattern in the Finnish stock market. Using trading volume and time as factors capturing the clustering pattern in the market, the Keim and Madhavan (1996) and the Engle and Russell (1998) model provide the framework for the analysis. The descriptive and the parametric analysis provide evidences that an important determinant of the famous U-shape pattern in the market is the rate of information arrivals as measured by large trading volumes and durations at the market open and close. Precisely, 1) the larger the trading volume, the greater the impact on prices both in the short and the long run, thus prices will differ across quantities. 2) Large trading volume is a non-linear function of price changes in the long run. 3) Arrival times are positively autocorrelated, indicating a clustering pattern and 4) Information arrivals as approximated by durations are negatively related to trading flow.

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This paper investigates the persistent pattern in the Helsinki Exchanges. The persistent pattern is analyzed using a time and a price approach. It is hypothesized that arrival times are related to movements in prices. Thus, the arrival times are defined as durations and formulated as an Autoregressive Conditional Duration (ACD) model as in Engle and Russell (1998). The prices are defined as price changes and formulated as a GARCH process including duration measures. The research question follows from market microstructure predictions about price intensities defined as time between price changes. The microstructure theory states that long transaction durations might be associated with both no news and bad news. Accordingly, short durations would be related to high volatility and long durations to low volatility. As a result, the spread will tend to be larger under intensive moments. The main findings of this study are 1) arrival times are positively autocorrelated and 2) long durations are associated with low volatility in the market.

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Extraction of formant information from linear-prediction phase spectra is proposed. It is shown that the derivative of phase spectrum gives reliable formant information. Since the phase spectra for several resonators in cascade are additive, the resonance peaks are additive in the derivative of the phase spectrum unlike in the magnitude spectrum and hence the problem of identifying merged peaks is very easily solved by this method. Application of the method is illustrated through examples of linear-prediction spectra obtained for simulated models and for actural speech segments.

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In the first half of the 20th century, most moral philosophers took the concept of virtue to be secondary to moral principles or emotions, though in various and mutually conflicting ways. In the early 1960s interest in the virtues was restored by the analytic philosophers Elizabeth Anscombe and Georg Henrik von Wright, the younger colleagues and friends of the late Wittgenstein. Later, Alasdair MacIntyre became a leading virtue ethicist. In 1981, MacIntyre introduced in After Virtue the concept of practices, which he based on the Aristotelian distinction between praxis and poiesis. This dissertation examines MacIntyre s characterization of the interconnectedness between practices and virtues, especially in relation to skills, education, and certain emotions. The primary position of the virtues is defended against the tendency in modern moral philosophy to overemphasize the role either of principles and rules or of emotions. The view according to which rational action and acting according to the virtues is best conceptualized as following rules or principles is criticized by arguments that are grounded by some Wittgensteinian observations, and that can be characterized as transcendental. Even if the virtues cannot be defined by, and are not based entirely on, emotions, the role of certain emotions on the learning and education of skills and virtues are studied more carefully than by MacIntyre. In the cases of resentment, indignation, and shame, the analysis of Peter Strawson is utilized, and in the case of regret, the analysis of Bernard Williams. Williams analysis of regret and moral conflict concludes in a kind of antirealism, which this study criticizes. Where education of practices and skills and the related reactive emotions are examined as conditions of learning and practicing the virtues, institutions and ideologies are examined as obstacles and threats to the virtues. This theme is studied through Karl Marx s conception of alienation and Karl Polanyi s historical and sociological research concerning the great transformation . The study includes six Finnish-published articles carrying the titles Our negative attitudes towards other persons , Authority and upbringing , Moral conflicts, regret and ethical realism , Practices and institutions , Doing justice as condition to communal action: a transcendental argument for justice as virtue , and Alienation from practices in capitalist society: Alasdair MacIntyre s Marxist Aristotelianism . The introductory essay sums up the themes of the articles and presents some central issues of virtue ethics by relating the classical Socratic questions to Aristotelian practical philosophy, as well as to current controversies in metaethics and moral psychology.

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The influence of the pedogenic and climatic contexts on the formation and preservation of pedogenic carbonates in a climosequence in the Western Ghats (Karnataka Plateau, South West India) has been studied. Along the climosequence, the current mean annual rainfall (MAR) varies within a 80 km transect from 6000 mm at the edge of the Plateau to 500 mm inland. Pedogenic carbonates occur in the MAR range of 500-1200 mm. In the semi-arid zone (MAR: 500-900 mm), carbonates occur (i) as rhick hardpan calcretes on pediment slopes and (ii) as nodular horizons in polygenic black soils (i.e. vertisols). In the sub-humid zone (MAR: 900-1500 mm), pedogenic carbonates are disseminated in the black soil matrices either as loose, irregular and friable nodules of millimetric size or as indurated botryoidal nodules of centimetric to pluricentimetric size. They also occur at the top layers of the saprolite either as disseminated pluricentimetric indurated nodules or carbonate-cemented lumps of centimetric to decimetric size. Chemical and isotopic (Sr-87/Sr-86) compositions of the carbonate fraction were determined after leaching with 0.25 N HCl. The corresponding residual fractions containing both primary minerals and authigenic clays were digested separately and analyzed. The trend defined by the Sr-87/Sr-86 signatures of both labile carbonate fractions and corresponding residual fractions indicates that a part of the labile carbonate fraction is genetically linked to the local soil composition. Considering the residual fraction of each sample as the most likely lithogenic source of Ca in carbonates, it is estimated that from 24% to 82% (55% on average) of Ca is derived from local bedrock weathering, leading to a consumption of an equivalent proportion of atmospheric CO2. These values indicate that climatic conditions were humid enough to allow silicate weathering: MAR at the time of carbonate formation likely ranged from 400 to 700 mm, which is 2- to 3-fold less than the current MAR at these locations. The Sr, U and Mg contents and the (U-234/U-238) activity ratio in the labile carbonate fraction help to understand the conditions of carbonate formation. The relatively high concentrations of Sr, U and Mg in black soil carbonates may indicate fast growth and accumulation compared to carbonates in saprolite, possibly due to a better confinement of the pore waters which is supported by their high (U-234/U-238) signatures, and/or to higher content of dissolved carbonates in the pore waters. The occurrence of Ce, Mn and Fe oxides in the cracks of carbonate reflects the existence of relatively humid periods after carbonate formation. The carbonate ages determined by the U-Th method range from 1.33 +/- 0.84 kyr to 7.5 +/- 2.7 kyr and to a cluster of five ages around 20 kyr, i.e. the Last Glacial Maximum period. The young occurrences are only located in the black soils, which therefore constitute sensitive environments for trapping and retaining atmospheric CO2 even on short time scales. The maximum age of carbonates depends on their location in the climatic gradient: from about 20 kyr for centimetric nodules at Mule Hole (MAR = 1100 mm/yr) to 200 kyr for the calcrete at Gundlupet (MAR = 700 mm/yr, Durand et al., 2007). The intensity of rainfall during wet periods would indeed control the lifetime of pedogenic carbonates and thus the duration of inorganic carbon storage in soils. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Artikkelissa esitellään uusi julkisen keskustelun tutkimiseen kehitetty analyysimenetelmä, julkisen oikeuttamisen analyysi (JOA). JOA perustuu Luc Boltanskin ja Laurent Thévenot'n oikeuttamisteorian seitsemän "maailman" – inspiraation, kodin, maineen, kansalaisuuden, markkinoiden, teollisuuden ja ekologian – muodostamalle analyysikehikolle. Se tutkii keskusteluissa esiintyvien vaateiden moraalisia oikeutuksia, niiden yhdistelmiä ja tapoja kiistää ja tuomita kiistakumppaneiden oikeutuksia. JOA:n avulla voidaan kvalitatiiviseen tekstianalyysiin yhdistää myös kvantitatiivista luokittelua, jolloin menetelmä soveltuu suurtenkin aineistojen analyysiin. JOA:n käyttöä havainnollistetaan artikkelissa kahden tutkimusesimerkin avulla. Ensimmäinen esimerkki käsittelee Helsingin Sanomissa globalisaatiosta vuosina 1999–2005 käydyn keskustelun osapuolten, erityisesti kansalaisyhteiskunnan sekä taloudellisen ja poliittisen eliitin, argumentteja ja niille annettuja oikeutuksia. Tämän esimerkin kautta kuvataan erilaisten oikeuttamisyhdistelmien ilmaisuvoimaa yhteiskunnallisten kiistakysymysten moraalisten ulottuvuuksien analysoimisessa. Toinen esimerkki keskittyy paikallisiin kiistoihin Suomessa ja Ranskassa tarkastelemalla kansalaisten ja kaupungin edustajien esittämiä oikeutuksia paikallislehdistössä. Tämä esimerkki osoittaa JOA:n vahvuudet vertailevan tutkimuksen työkaluna.

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Tutkimus käsittelee keskiajan suurinta harhaoppia katarismia Toulousin hiippakunnassa 1200-luvun ensimmäisellä puoliskolla. Tarkempi tutkimusalue on Lauragaisin maaseutu Toulousin ja Carcassonnen välissä. Alue oli Etelä-Ranskan katarismin sydänaluetta. Tutkimus käy läpi katarismin historian vuosina 1200 1245. Tuolloin se muuttui julkisesti siedetystä uskosta salassa harjoitettavaksi harhaopiksi. Erityisessä tarkkailussa ovat Lauragaisin kylät ja niiden asukkaiden suhde katarismiin. Tutkimus selvittää miten kiellettyihin kataarien tapaamisiin osallistuttiin Lauragaisissa ja kuinka suuri osa alueen väestöstä uskoi katarismiin. Tutkimus pohjautuu pitkälti Bernard de Caux n vuosien 1245 1246 inkvisition kuulustelujen rekisteriin, joka sisältää 5 471 lauragaisilaisen inkvisitiotunnustusen. Tarkempaan tarkasteluun on valittu seitsemän kylää ja niiden 1 069 inkvisitiotunnustusta. Niiden sisältämät tiedot on syötetty tutkimuksen apuna toimivaan relaatiotietokantaan. Kylien asukkaiden kuulusteluja on verrattu keskenään tietokannan avulla. Kuulustelujen perusteella on rekonstruoitu kataarien tapaamisia vuosina 1195 1245. Lisäksi tutkitaan tarkemmin katarismin toiminnan kannalta tärkeitä mekanismeja Saint-Martin-Lalanden kylässä. Tutkimuksen mukaan katarismi vetosi kaikkiin yhteiskuntaluokkiin kuuluneisiin ihmisiin. Sukusiteillä ja Lauragaisin kylien asukkaiden keskinäisellä solidaarisuudella oli suuri merkitys katarismin säilymisessä, kun harhaoppi yritettiin tukahduttaa. Inkvisitiot onnistuivat murtamaan kylien sisäisen solidaarisuuden 1240-luvulla. Tutkimuksen keskeisin tulos on arvion esittäminen katarismiin uskoneiden maallikoiden lukumäärästä. Noin kymmenesosa Lauragaisin aikuisväestöstä oli aktiivisia kataariuskovia. Jopa kaksi viidesosaa alueen asukkaista oli jossain elämänsä vaiheessa osallistunut kataarien kiellettyihin uskonnollisiin tilaisuuksiin. Katarismiin uskoneiden ja siihen kosketuksissa olleiden ihmisten määrä on keskeinen tieto, kun arvioidaan katolisen kirkon harhaopin vastaisia toimia. Katarismin tuhoamiseksi julistettiin 20 vuotta kestänyt ristiretki. Inkvisitiolta kului sen jälkeen vielä 90 vuotta katarismin tuhoamiseen. Katarismi oli merkittävä harhaoppi, koska se vetosi kiellettynäkin huomattavaan osaan Lauragaisin väestöstä.

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Oxidative damage, through increased production of free radicals, is believed to be involved in UV-induced cataractogenesis (eye lens opacification). The possibility of UVB radiation causing damage to important lenticular enzymes was assessed by irradiating 3 months old rat lenses (in RPMI-1640 medium) at 300 nm (100 mu Wcm(-2)) for 24 h, in the absence and presence of ascorbic acid, alpha-tocopherol acetate and beta-carotene. UVB irradiation resulted in decreased activities of hexokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, aldose reductase, and Na, K- ATPase by 42, 40, 44 and 57% respectively. While endopeptidase activity (229%) and lipid peroxidation (156%) were increased, isocitrate dehydrogenase activity was not altered on irradiation. In the presence of externally added ascorbic acid, tocopherol and beta-carotene (separately) to the medium, the changes in enzyme activities (except endopeptidase) and increased lipid peroxidation, due to UVB exposure, were prevented. These results suggest that UVB radiation exerts oxidative damage on lens enzymes and antioxidants were protective against this damage.

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Insulator becomes wet partially or completely, and the pollution layer on it becomes conductive, when collecting pollutants for an extended period during dew, light rain, mist, fog or snow melting. Heavy rain is a complicated factor that it may wash away the pollution layer without initiating other stages of breakdown or it may bridge the gaps between sheds to promote flashover. The insulator with a conducting pollution layer being energized, can cause a surface leakage current to flow (also temperature-rise). As the surface conductivity is non-uniform, the conducting pollution layer becomes broken by dry bands (at spots of high current density), interrupting the flow of leakage current. Voltage across insulator gets concentrated across dry bands, and causes high electric stress and breakdown (dry band arcing). If the resistance of the insulator surface is sufficiently low, the dry band arcs can be propagated to bridge the terminals causing flashover. The present paper concerns the evaluation of the temperature distribution along the surface of an energized artificially polluted insulator string.

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One of the most striking aspects of the 11-year sunspot cycle is that there have been times in the past when some cycles went missing, a most well-known example of this being the Maunder minimum during 1645-1715. Analyses of cosmogenic isotopes (C-14 and Be-10) indicated that there were about 27 grand minima in the last 11 000 yrs, implying that about 2.7% of the solar cycles had conditions appropriate for forcing the Sun into grand minima. We address the question of how grand minima are produced and specifically calculate the frequency of occurrence of grand minima from a theoretical dynamo model. We assume that fluctuations in the poloidal field generation mechanism and in the meridional circulation produce irregularities of sunspot cycles. Taking these fluctuations to be Gaussian and estimating the values of important parameters from the data of the last 28 solar cycles, we show from our flux transport dynamo model that about 1-4% of the sunspot cycles may have conditions suitable for inducing grand minima.