3,372 research outputs found
Letter to Mr. Lee from Samuel D. Woodruff
Letter to Mr. Lee from Samuel D. Woodruff which states that in July the affidavits were sent for
the purpose of getting the patent for Lot no.30, Concession 2 in Enniskillen. Mr. Woodruff
requests a receipt of that information and he would like to know about the progress on the patent.
The left hand of the letter is completely burned away although most of the text is still intact, Feb.
21, 1848
Brief Announcement: The Temporal Firefighter Problem
The Firefighter problem asks how many vertices can be saved from a fire spreading over the vertices of a graph. At timestep 0 a vertex begins burning, then on each subsequent timestep a non-burning vertex is chosen to be defended, and the fire then spreads to all undefended vertices that it neighbours. The problem is NP-Complete on arbitrary graphs, however existing work has found several graph classes for which there are polynomial time solutions. We introduce Temporal Firefighter, an extension of Firefighter to temporal graphs. We show that Temporal Firefighter is also NP-Complete, and remains so on all but one of the underlying classes of graphs on which Firefighter is known to have a polynomial-time solution. This motivates us to explore restrictions on the temporal structure of the graph, and we find that Temporal Firefighter is fixed parameter tractable with respect to the temporal graph parameter vertex-interval-membership-width
Making Life More Confusing for Firefighters
It is well known that fighting a fire is a hard task. The Firefighter problem asks how to optimally deploy firefighters to defend the vertices of a graph from a fire. This problem is NP-Complete on all but a few classes of graphs. Thankfully, firefighters do not have to work alone, and are often aided by the efforts of good natured civillians who slow the spread of a fire by maintaining firebreaks when they are able. We will show that this help, although well-intentioned, unfortunately makes the optimal deployment of firefighters an even harder problem. To model this scenario we introduce the Temporal Firefighter problem, an extension of Firefighter to temporal graphs. We show that Temporal Firefighter is also NP-Complete, and remains so on all but one of the underlying classes of graphs on which Firefighter is known to have polynomial time solutions. This motivates us to explore making use of the temporal structure of the graph in our search for tractability, and we conclude by presenting an FPT algorithm for Temporal Firefighter with respect to the temporal graph parameter vertex-interval-membership-width
Writing and the rights of reality: usurpation and potentiality in Derrida, Plato, Nietzsche, and Beckett
The thesis critically evaluates Jacques Derrida's conferral of the rights of reality on writing, focussing on his theory of an arche-text in light of the speculative nature of this theory. The theory is initially considered in the context of Derrida's elucidation of the usurpatory status of writing within the Platonic and Nietzschean texts. This consideration reveals an admission of writing's usurpatory status by both writers while at the same time demonstrating their awareness of the intrinsically speculative nature of this view, the significance of writing lying in its ability to exteriorise the radically indeterminate status of consciousness m relation to reality rather than its ability to displace consciousness or reality The analyses, therefore, not only bring the Derridean hypothesis of a repressive or phonocentric metaphysical episteme into question but also exhibit the historical and philosophical role of potentiality in relation to writing, writing's ultimate significance lying in its capacity to exteriorise our existence as a mode of potentiality. Accordingly, in the second half of the thesis the Derridean theory of writing is countered with a specifically Aristotelian theory of the text as it is exhibited in the prose of Samuel Beckett, an author whose significance lies in his close alignment with Derridean theory within contemporary criticism. It is demonstrated that this identification has obviated an awareness of the significance of potentiality within the Beckettian text, his work consequently being appraised in the previously neglected context of Aristotelian metaphysics
Inscription in Nova Solyma, the ideal city; or, Jerusalem regained; an anonymous romance written in the time of Charles I
Probable editor's gift inscription, "Jacobo Hiltonio Amico Suo Amicissimo D. D. D Libri hujus Editor et Interpres. W. B. A.D. CMMII".Nova Solyma, the ideal city; or, Jerusalem regained; an anonymous romance written in the time of Charles I. Now first drawn from obscurity, and attributed to the illustrious John Milton. With introduction, translation, literary essays and a bibliography by the Rev. Walter Begley.
Begley, Walter, 1845-1905, ed. and tr.
Gott, Samuel, 1613-1671, supposed author.
Milton, John, 1608-1674, supposed author
Structural Parameters for Dense Temporal Graphs
Temporal graphs provide a useful model for many real-world networks. Unfortunately, the majority of algorithmic problems we might consider on such graphs are intractable. There has been recent progress in defining structural parameters which describe tractable cases by simultaneously restricting the underlying structure and the times at which edges appear in the graph. These all rely on the temporal graph being sparse in some sense. We introduce temporal analogues of three increasingly restrictive static graph parameters - cliquewidth, modular-width and neighbourhood diversity - which take small values for highly structured temporal graphs, even if a large number of edges are active at each timestep. The computational problems solvable efficiently when the temporal cliquewidth of the input graph is bounded form a subset of those solvable efficiently when the temporal modular-width is bounded, which is in turn a subset of problems efficiently solvable when the temporal neighbourhood diversity is bounded. By considering specific temporal graph problems, we demonstrate that (up to standard complexity theoretic assumptions) these inclusions are strict
Knee extensor strength measured using a Biodex dynamometer and an adapted hand held dynamometer
Background: Muscle strength is widely used as an outcome measure in rehabilitation and kneeextensor strength is an important determinant of physical function. Hand held dynamometry (HHD) isportable and easy to use; however, reliability of HHD measurements is significantly influenced by thestrength of the tester. The present study assessed the agreement between an adapted HHD and Biodex dynamometry while measuring knee extensor strength in young adults.Method: Thirty participants aged 22–35 years (mean age 24.4 years; SD ± 2.5) were studied. Peakisometric knee extensor strength of the dominant leg was measured using the Biodex dynamometerand adapted HHD. The agreement between the maximum voluntary contractions (MVC) was analysed using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient, intraclass correlation (ICC) and Bland–Altman analysis.Results: The mean peak knee extensor MVC was 191.7 Nm (± 53.6) for the Biodex dynamometer and167.5 Nm (± 55) for the adapted HHD. The mean difference in peak knee extensor strength measuredusing the adapted HHD was 24.1 Nm (± 30.3) lower when compared to the Biodex. However, therewas good correlation between the two measures (r=0.796, ICC (3, 1): peak torque=0.796; average ofthree trials=0.808) and Bland–Altman plots confirmed good agreement.Conclusions: The knee strength measurements were not influenced by examiner strength and resultsobtained using the adapted HDD were comparable to that using the Biodex; however, the absoluteknee extensor strength obtained using the adapted HHD was generally lower.<br/
Richardson, Barbauld, and the construction of an early modern fan club
MPhilMuch has been written about the life and long works of the eighteenth century epistolary novelist, Samuel Richardson, but the prospect of his position as the first celebrity novelist – responsible for courting his own fame as well as initiating his own fan club – has largely been ignored. The body of manuscripts housed at the National Art Library in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London provides the modern scholar with evidence of the skeletal beginnings of an early fan club. This thesis aims to show how these manuscripts were turned into a saleable commodity by the publisher and entrepreneur Richard Phillips, while under the guiding hand of another, slightly later, literary celebrity, Anna Laetitia Barbauld. In order to restore Richardson’s reputation amongst a new nineteenth century audience, Barbauld was required to construct her own idea of him as an eighteenth century celebrity author, and in doing so the insecurities of a self-professed, apparently diffident man, are revealed. Barbauld’s capacious, but heavily edited selection of letters is analyzed in this thesis, providing ample evidence that Richardson’s correspondents were more than just eager letter writers. By using Barbauld’s biography of Richardson this thesis aims to show how she manipulates the genre of life writing in her construction of him.
This thesis offers an alternative reading of how the Richardson manuscripts are viewed, redefining them as not simply a collection of letters, but as a collective entity, deliberately selected and archived as evidence of an early modern fan club, and its celebrity managing director
Samuel Beckett and the Writers of Port-Royal
It has been observed that ‘the literary influences on Beckett have been far more important than has been acknowledged, and more important indeed, than the philosophical influences’ (Smith 2002: 3). The truth of this statement is evidenced by the description that scholars have given of Samuel Beckett’s relationship to seventeenth century French classicism. To date, critical interest has been limited for the most part to the figure of the philosopher René Descartes on the (fragile) grounds that Beckett was exclusively concerned with the Cartesian imperative of clarity and order, the fundamental dualism between body and mind, and Nominalism.
Together with the assumption that Beckett’s vision was essentially Cartesian, his literary filiation with Pascal was suggested by critics, but only in terms of Beckett’s formal approach to the theatre. In his short article on En attendant Godot in 1953, the playwright Jean Anouilh was among the first reviewers to suggest that Beckett’s drama synthesizes the encounter between ‘classicism’ and a ‘modern’ form of art. It is well known that Beckett retained a lifelong admiration for Pascal – indeed, Pascal was one of his ‘old chestnuts’ (Knowlson 1997: 653). Little attention has been paid, however, to the originality of Pascal’s thought, the specific nature of his prose, and the impact these might have had upon Beckett’s mature work, especially the trilogy and the subsequent short prose. Yet, in the literary and philosophical context of post-war France, Beckett’s filiation with Pascal, their corresponding preoccupations, were evident to his contemporaries, who identified Pascal as an underlying presence in his works
Hand impairment and functional ability: a matched case comparison study between people with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy controls
Introduction: the aim of this study was to compare hand impairment and function in a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and matched healthy participants.
Methods: a matched case comparison research design comparing hand impairment and functional ability between patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy participants (males or females, aged ≥ 50 years). Functional ability was assessed using the Michigan Hand Questionnaire, power and pinch grip strength and the nine-hole peg test.
Results: a total of 100 participants (50 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 50 matched healthy participants) were recruited. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis reported significantly lower overall hand function, activities of daily living, work, aesthetics, satisfaction (p < 0.001) and significantly higher pain scores when compared with healthy controls. The patients with rheumatoid arthritis had significantly lower maximum power and pinch grip strength in both left and right hands (p < 0.001) when compared with healthy controls. The rheumatoid arthritis group took significantly longer to complete the nine-hole peg test using both right and left hands compared with healthy controls (p < 0.001, respectively). Additionally, in rheumatoid arthritis patients, a significant moderate, positive correlation between power grip strength and activities of daily living (r = 0.584, n = 50, p < 0.01) and a weak-to-moderate, significant negative correlation between power grip strength and pain (r = −0.314, n = 50, p < 0.05) were reported.
Conclusion: despite the recent substantial improvement of drug therapy and disease control, the functional impact of rheumatoid arthritis on hand pain and function remains significant
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