A NEW LOOK AT THE OPTIMUM DIMENSIONS OF CONVECTIVE SPINES

The optimum dimensions of spines of various profiles are reexamined by taking into account the profile curvature effects. Simple working formulas for the optimum dimensions are proposed. When the ratio of spine width to length, δ₀/b₀, is set equal to zero, the present results are reduced to the earlier findings which are obtained on the basis of employing the length-of-arc assumption.     

ON AN OPTIMALITY PROPERTY OF WHITTLE'S GAUSSIAN ESTIMATE OF THE PARAMETER OF THE SPECTRUM OF A TIME SERIES

Abstract. Whittle has obtained an optimality property of a method of estimation of the parameter of the spectrum. In this paper we present a proof in the vector parameter case. Gaussian estimation is a natural method to consider, based on finite Fourier transforms and periodograms.     

A recombinant single chain antibody neutralizes coronavirus infectivity but only slightly delays lethal infection of mice

The variable region genes of a murine anti-coronavirus monoclonal antibody (mAb) were joined by assembly polymerase chain reaction and expressed in Escherichia coli in a single chain variable fragment (scFv) configuration. After induction of expression, the expected 32-kDa protein was identified by Western immunoblotting with specific rabbit anti-idiotype antibodies. The scFv fragments were purified from soluble cytoplasmic preparations by affinity chromatography on nickel agarose, which was possible with an N-terminal but not with a C-terminal histidine tag. Purified scFv fragments retained the antigen-binding properties of the parental antibody, could inhibit its binding to viral antigens with apparently higher efficiency than monovalent antigen-binding (Fab) fragments, but neutralized viral infectivity with lower efficiency (about sevenfold at a molar level). To evaluate the usefulness of these smaller and less immunogenic molecules in the treatment of viral diseases, mice were treated with purified recombinant scFv fragments and challenged with a lethal viral dose. A small delay in mortality was observed for the scFv-treated animals. Therefore, even though the scFv could neutralize viral infectivity in vitro, the same quantity of fragments that partially protected mice in the form of Fab only slightly delayed virus-induced lethality when injected as scFv fragments, probably because of a much faster in vivo clearance: the biologic half-life was estimated to be about 6 min. Since a scFv derived from a highly neutralizing and protective mAb is only marginally effective in the passive protection of mice from lethal viral infection, the use of such reagents for viral immunotherapy will require strategies to overcome stability limitations.     

Taking Style On Board (or how to get used to the idea of creative adaptors and uncreative innovators)

The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential impact of Kirton's Adaption-Innovation Theory on our thinking about creativity, and consequently on the practices of researchers and trainers in this field. That people differ in their degree or level of creativity has long been established. Kirton's work asserts that people also differ in the manner in which they express their creativity—their style, and the KAI (the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory) measures a person's preferred style. In the literature, Style and Level of creativity are argued (and mostly shown) to be independent. It follows from this that Adaptors and Innovators are creative (and uncreative) in different ways. It is suggested that much of the work in the creativity field has focused on the Innovative style of creativity. This paper describes research identifying differences in how Adaptors and Innovators view their creative products, looks at some possible implications for training, explores differences in preferred organisational climate between Adaptors and Innovators, and suggests a style-neutral definition of creativity.     

‘Mechanism’ Made Visible: Process and Perception in Henry Peach Robinson’s Composite Photographs

This article analyses Henry Peach Robinson’s method of making composite photographs in the context of widespread belief that the photographer’s ‘mechanism’ was perceptible in the appearance of his prints. By examining Robinson’s preparatory and darkroom procedures, as well as the photographer’s extensive writing about his photographic practice, I suggest that composite photographs invited viewers to pay attention to process, and to take it into account in their evaluation of an image. This attitude challenged key tenets of academic art theory – the paradigm for nascent concepts of art in photography – by refusing to subordinate manual labour to that of the mind. While many nineteenth-century critics rejected Robinson’s approach, the debates engendered by composite techniques reveal a persistent fascination with making that advanced photographic practice as a marker of artistic value.