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Humans are inherently social beings, spending a great deal of their time establishing a diverse range of social connections. Their social nature is not only demonstrated by their social behavior homans1974social, but also possesses a biological basis frith2010social. This social dimension prompts human beings to involuntarily ascribe social qualities even to non-human media, such as technological artifacts, often treating them similarly to how they would treat humans or other living beings nass1994computers. This disposition stems from the general human tendency of ascribing human-like qualities to non-human entities, called anthropomorphism, which has been observed and demonstrated in several contexts epley2007seeing. These phenomena therefore place technologies capable of social interactions with humans as unique technological innovations. In particular, social robots, i.e., robots deliberately designed to interact with humans in a social way, open up a new paradigm for humans to communicate, interact, and relate to robotic technologies.
The integration of a social dimension in the design of robots has generally been following two approaches. First, existing robotic technologies are being enhanced with social capabilities for more fluid interactions with humans. Second, social robots are being developed for new application areas where the social dimension is central, and beyond a mere interface. As a result of these approaches, social robots have been deployed in a wide variety of contexts, such as healthcare broadbent2009acceptance, education belpaeme2018social, companionship dautenhahn2005robot, and others (refer to Section 2.3 for a discussion of application areas). They offer a spectrum of interactions that is being continuously enriched by researchers from a variety of disciplines. The field of human-robot interaction (HRI), as an expanding field of research, reflects this observation.
HRI is a multidisciplinary field bringing together researchers from an eclectic set of disciplines, including robotics, computer science, engineering, artificial intelligence (AI
), machine learning,human-computer interaction (HCI), design, art, animation, cognitive science, psychology, sociology, ethology, and anthropology fong2002survey; murphy2010human; baxter2016characterising; alves2016psychological; eyssel2017experimental. The multidisciplinarity inherent to this field of research provides contributions and advancements nurtured by scholars from different backgrounds in the conception, design, and implementation of social robots. In addition to development, HRI aims to evaluate how well such robots perform or serve the purpose they were designed for, being concerned with proper evaluation, testing, and refinement of these technologies. The result is a rich multidisciplinary effort to create engaging robots that can sustain personalized interactions with humans, adapt to the task at hand and to the interaction flow, but also understand and model aspects pertaining to the humans, such as affect and cognition ho2010modelling; leite2013social.
In this chapter, we provide a framework for characterizing social robots that encompasses major aspects to consider when designing them and their interactions with humans. Our framework is focused on interactive robots that possess a social component in their design. Specifically, we use the term “social robots” to denote “socially interactive robots” as defined by Fong et al. fong2002survey, namely robots that have one or more of the following abilities: (1) communicating using natural language or non-verbal modalities (such as lights, movements, or sound), (2) expressing affective behaviors and/or perceiving human emotions, (3) possessing a distinctive personality or character, (4) modeling social aspects of humans, (5) learning and/or developing social skills, and (6) establishing and maintaining social relationships fong2002survey.
Our framework builds upon existing work within the field of HRI, providing a holistic understanding about the state of the art, while aiming at unifying, clarifying, and extending key concepts to be considered in the design of social robots. Specifically, our framework comprises several dimensions we identified to be of major relevance to the design of social robots. We summarize the dimensions considered in Figure 1. Some of these dimensions relate to the robot itself – namely appearance, social capabilities, and autonomy/intelligence –, others relate to the interaction – namely proximity and temporal profile –, and the remaining ones relate to the context – namely robot relational role and purpose / application area. We envision this framework to be used broadly in order to gain a better understanding of existing social robots, as well as to inform the design and development of future ones.
1.2 Brief summary of frameworks for characterizing social robots
Before outlining the content of our framework, it is useful to first look at existing frameworks for classifying social robots. In particular, existing taxonomies, as such from Fong et al.fong2002survey, Yanco et al. yanco2004classifying, Shibata shibata2004overview, and Dautenhahn dautenhahn2007socially, are useful to get an understanding of different aspects that may be included in the design space of social robots in HRI research. While this list of frameworks is not exhaustive, we chose these particular ones to base our framework on, as they provide a broad range of classifications and definitions that relates to the scope of this chapter.
As such, Fong et al. fong2002survey contributed a taxonomy of design methods and system components used to build socially interactive robots. These components include robot social capabilities, several design characteristics, and application domains.
Additionally, Yanco et al. yanco2004classifying provided a framework that included elements of social robot’s design, such as the role that a robot can have when interacting with humans, the types of tasks that robots can perform, different types of robot morphology, and the level of autonomy at which robots can operate.
Similarly, Shibata shibata2004overview provided a taxonomy for the function and purpose of social robots by considering different ways of using them for psychological enrichment. Therefore, Shibata classified human-robot interactions in terms of the duration of these interactions and in terms of design characteristics (e.g., robot’s appearance, hardware, and software functionalities), accounting for culture-sensitive aspects.
Moreover, Dautenhahn dautenhahn2007socially focused on different evaluation criteria to identify requirements on social skills for robots in different application domains. The author identified four criteria, including contact between the robot and the human (which can vary from no contact or remote contact to repeated long-term contact), the extent of the robot’s functionalities (which can vary from limited to a robot that learns and adapts), the role of the robot (which can vary between machine or tool to assistant, companion, or partner), and the requirement of social skills that a robot needs to have in a given application domain (which can vary from not required/desirable to essential). The author further explains that each evaluation criteria should be considered on a continuous scale.
Taken together, these classifications and taxonomies have gathered essential aspects for the characterization and design of social robots. Despite each of them being unique in its contribution, we can see the existence of some overlapping terms and ideas between them. We now discuss our extended framework in the next section.
1.3 Overview of our extended framework
Our framework leverages the existing ones discussed previously as a starting point and goes beyond the individual frameworks discussed. In particular, it focuses on the following features:
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Unification — The existence of multiple available perspectives in HRI often results in scattered concepts and classifications. In this chapter, we aim at merging aspects of the literature on social robots and related fields in a self-contained and consistent resource.
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Breadth — Existing individual taxonomies often focus on specific aspects relevant to the main line of research of their authors, and may not provide satisfactory coverage. Our framework includes dimensions related to the design of the robot itself, but also of the interaction and context.
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Recency — In recent years, we have observed some important developments in robotic technologies, which have taken robots outside of research laboratory settings and enabled them to be deployed “in the wild”. We incorporate those recent developments in our work.
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Clarity — Concepts associated with HRI are often difficult to define, and as a result clear definitions may not always be available. This lack of clarity may impede communication within the field, or result in inconsistent concepts. In this chapter, we attempt to clarify some important key concepts, such as the distinction between embodiment and purpose, or the concepts of autonomy and intelligence for social robots.
With these points in mind, we list below our focuses within each of the dimensions considered.
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Appearance — We present a broad classification of robot appearances, synthesizing and going beyond existing ones (Section 2.1).
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Social capabilities — We contribute a repositioning of existing classifications aiming to clarify how existing categories related to each other (Section 2.2).
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Purpose and application area — We discuss a cross-section of purposes for social robots, and benefiting application areas, with selected examples that include recent developments in the field (Section 2.3).
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Relational role — We provide a straightforward and broad classification of the robot’s role in relation to the human(s) (Section 2.4).
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Autonomy and intelligence — We clarify the related but distinct concepts of autonomy and intelligence, and discuss their quantification (Section 2.5).
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Proximity — We classify interactions according to their spatial features (Section 2.6).
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Temporal profile — We look at several time-related aspects of the interaction, namely timespan, duration, and frequency (Section 2.7).
It is to be noted that our framework is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather to provide the reader with major aspects that shape social robots and their interactions with humans. While our focus in illustrating the presented concepts will be on single human - single robot interactions, the concepts may also apply for group interactions involving more than one robot and/or more than one human. Additionally, even though this framework was developed with social robots in mind, some dimensions may also be of relevance to robots without a social component in their design, such as for example in the “appearance” dimension. In the following section, we delve into each of the dimensions of our framework. We then end this chapter with a brief discussion on designing social robots within the resulting design space.
2 Framework description
We now provide a description of each of the dimensions of our framework. The dimensions purposefully operate at different levels, according to the aspects that are most relevant to the design of social robots. In some dimensions, we provide a classification into different categories and possibly subcategories (namely Sections 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 2.6, and 2.7). In others, we focus on clarifying or reinterpreting existing distinctions in categories or scales (namely Sections 2.2 and 2.5). Due to different levels of research and relevant content in each, some dimensions are addressed in more depth than others. Also, since the discussions of dimensions are not dependent on each other, we invite the reader to jump to their subsections of interest.
2.1 Appearance
The mere physical presence of robots in a shared time and space with humans sparks crucial aspects of a social interaction. Indeed, embodiment, a term used to refer to the idea that “intelligence cannot merely exist in the form of an abstract algorithm but requires a physical instantiation, a body” pfeifer2001understanding, plays an important role in the perception and experience of interacting with intelligent technology. Indeed, literature supports that physical embodiment influences the interaction between humans and robots lee2006physically; wainer2007embodiment; powers2007comparing; mumm2011designing; fasola2011comparing; fasola2011comparing; li2015benefit; kennedy2015comparing. In particular, the physical appearance of a robot per se, was shown to have a strong influence on people regarding aspects like perception, expectations, trust, engagement, motivation and usability jordan1998human; disalvo2003seduction; breazeal2004designing.
Several taxonomies were developed in order to create representative classifications for a robot’s appearance. To cite a few, Shibata shibata2004overview classified robots as being human type, familiar animal type, unfamiliar animal type, or imaginary animals / new character type. Additionally, Fong et al. fong2002survey considered anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, caricatured, and functional categories. The amount of classifications present in the literature urges for a unified and broad classification for social robot appearances. Building upon the existing classifications, we introduce a broad classification that encompasses main categories described by other authors, as well as new categories and subcategories. Our classification targets only and exclusively a robot’s physical appearance, as distinct from any type of robot behavior, i.e., “robot at rest”.
We contribute to the study of social robot’s appearance in the following ways: (1) we integrate similar terms already present in the robot appearance classification literature, (2) we add new terms to existing classifications as they were not represented in the literature but urged for a classification, and (3) we attempt to clarify concepts related to different categories. Our unified classification is visually represented in Figure 2. We considered the following categories of robot appearances: bio-inspired, including human-inspired and animal-inspired, artifact-shaped, and functional, each with several further subcategories (see Figure 2). We generated this classification with a holistic mindset, meaning it can serve to classify existing robots, but also to inform the design of future ones. Although devised with social robots in mind, it is general enough to be applied to any robot, independent of its social capabilities. We now provide a description of each category in our classification.
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Bio-inspired — Robots in this category are designed after biological organisms or systems. This includes human-inspired and animal-inspired robots (described next), as well as other bio-inspired robots, such as robotic plants (e.g., the robotic flower111http://www.roboticgizmos.com/android-things-robotic-flower/) and fungi (e.g., the Lollipop Mushroom robot222https://www.amazon.com/Lollipop-Cleaner-Mushroom-Portable-Sweeper/dp/B01LXCBM3E).
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Human-inspired — Robots in this category are inspired by features of the human body, including structure, shape, skin, and facial attributes. Human-inspired robots not only include full-body designs, but also robots designed after human body parts. When designed after the full-human body, they are called humanoids. The level of fidelity can vary from a highly mechanical appearance, such as the LOLA robot buschmann2009humanoid, to a highly human-like appearance that includes skins and clothes, such as the ERICA robot glas2016erica, or even include an intermediate between this two, in the case of the NAO robot333https://www.softbankrobotics.com/emea/en/nao. For humanoids, it is worth mentioning the case in which they strongly resemble the human outer appearance and are covered with flesh- or skin- like materials, in which case they are often referred to as androids (if they possess male physical features) or gynoids (if they possess female physical features). An example of a gynoid is the Kodomoroid robot444 http://www.geminoid.jp/en/robots.html. Additionally, a special case of androids/gynoids are geminoids, which are designed after an existing human individual – i.e., it is a “robotic twin” – such as Geminoid HI-4555http://www.geminoid.jp/projects/kibans/resources.html, the tele-operated robotic twin of Hiroshi Ishiguro. On the other hand, some robots are inspired by individual parts of the human body. These include robotic arms, e.g., Elumotion Humanoid Robotic Arm666http://elumotion.com/index.php/portfolio/project-title-1, robotic hands liu2007modular, robotic heads such as the EMYS robot kkedzierski2013emys, robotic torsos, shidujaman2018roboquin, and robotic facial features, such as robotic eyes cannata2006design,. It is worth mentioning that high-fidelity human-inspired robots are often subject to uncanny valley effects mori1970uncanny. Being highly but not totally human-like, they elicit feelings of eeriness, and hence should be designed bearing these possible effects in mind.
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Animal-inspired — Robots in this category are inspired by animals or by creatures possessing animal traits of appearance. On the one hand, they may be inspired by real animals, for which we consider inspiration from familiar animals, like the AIBO777https://us.aibo.com/ dog-inspired robot, and inspiration from unfamiliar animals, such as the PARO888http://www.parorobots.com/ baby seal robot. The distinction between familiar and unfamiliar animals is emphasized by Shibata shibata2004overview. According to the author, familiar animals are those whose behavior can be easily recognized, such as pets; while unfamiliar animals are those that most people know something about but are not totally familiar with, and have rarely interacted with them before, such as savanna animals. The same author mentioned that when robots are designed to resemble an unfamiliar animal they can be more easily accepted due to the lack of exposure to their typical behavior. It is documented in the literature that people hold strong expectations when faced with the possibility of interacting with a social robot spence2014welcoming, wherein robots whose embodiment matches its abilities are perceived more positively goetz2003matching; li2010cross; komatsu2012does. However, it is to be noted that familiarity is a subjective concept depending on culture and individual experiences, making this distinction flexible. On the other hand, animal-inspired robots can also be imaginary, meaning they possess animal-like features but are not designed after a real animal. They can either be familiar, i.e., designed after familiar imaginary animals “existing” in fantasy worlds, like cartoon characters or legendary creatures (e.g., DragonBot short2014train), or unfamiliar, i.e., robots that are purely created from imagination, such as Miro999http://consequentialrobotics.com/miro/ and Keepon101010https://beatbots.net/my-keepon. In addition, this category includes robots designed after animal body parts, such as the GoQBot designed as a caterpillar part lin2011goqbot, the Meshworm designed after the oligochaeta seok2010peristaltic, and robotic soft tentacles jorgensen2018interaction.
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Artifact-shaped — Robots in this category bear the appearance of physical human creations or inventions. They may be inspired by objects, such as furniture and everyday objects, e.g., the AUR robotic desk lamp hoffman2010effects, the Mechanical Ottoman robotic footstool sirkin2015mechanical, and the Travelmate robotic suitcase111111https://travelmaterobotics.com/. They may also be inspired by an existing apparatus, demonstrating how existing apparatuses can become robotic systems while maintaining the same appearance, such as self-driving cars (e.g., the Google self-driving car121212https://waymo.com/), but also everyday apparatuses like toasters, washing machine, etc. Additionally, artifact-shaped robot may be imaginary, i.e., translating the invention of the designer, such as the Greeting Machine robot anderson2018greeting or YOLO alves2017yolo; alves2018yolo.
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Functional — The appearance of robots included in this category is merely the sum of appearances of the technological pieces needed to achieve a given task or function. This means that their appearance leans more towards mechanical aspects. Examples are quadcopters, or mobile robots such as the CoBots veloso2015cobots, the TurtleBot131313https://www.turtlebot.com/, and the Beam141414https://suitabletech.com/.
As a side note, shape-shifting robots, modular robots, or polymorphic robots balch2002robot; yim2002modular; yim2007modular; li2009amoeba are all examples of hybrid robots that can fit into more than one category depending on their configuration. Also, robotic swarms are examples of multi-robot systems that may be perceived as a single entity, i.e., more than the sum of individual robots (homogeneous or heterogeneous) kolling2016human, however they are they are not part of our classification, because they are too dependent on the configuration and behavior of the swarm. Moreover, the actual process of assigning categories to existing robots always carries a certain degree of subjectivity, which relates to different possible perceptions of the same robot appearance, depending or not on the context, the behavior of the robot, and so on. The clearest example in our classification would be the distinction between familiar and unfamiliar, which strongly depends on people’s cultural background and personal experiences. Those differences in perception should be accounted for when designing robot appearances.
Our presented classification is not intended to offer a clear-cut or rigid boundary between categories of robots. Rather, it represents a useful guideline for categorizing robots based on major distinguishing features. It does encourage the view of robot design as a spectrum, providing fluidity to their design and allowing for the combination of different elements of our classification.
A robot’s appearance is the most obvious and unique visual attribute, which contributes highly to the interaction fink2012anthropomorphism. Nonetheless, in addition to appearance, there are several factors related to embodiment, such as size, weight, noise, material texture, among others disalvo2002all that may contribute to the perception of the robot during an interaction. More research is needed in order to develop classifications that account for the other factors mentioned above.
2.2 Social capabilities
Social robots vary greatly in their social capabilities, i.e., how they can engage in and maintain social interactions of varying complexities. As such, researchers have classified and defined them according to those social capabilities. Based on the work of Fong et al. fong2002survey, we list the different components of a social robot’s capabilities as follows:
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Communicating using natural language or non-verbal modalities — Examples of these ways of communication are natural speech williams2018thank, motion knight2011eight; dragan2013legibility – possibly including gaze admoni2017social, gestures or facial expressions –, lights baraka2018mobile; szafir2015communicating, sounds bethel2006auditory, or a combination of them loffler2018multimodal. Mavridis mavridis2015review provided a review on verbal and non-verbal interactive communication between humans and robots, defining different types of existing communications such as interaction grounding, affective communications, speech for purpose and planning, among others.
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Expressing affect and/or perceiving human emotions — Beyond Ekamn’s five basic emotions ekman1992argument – anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise –, this may include more complex affective responses such as empathy. For example, Paiva et al. paiva2017empathy analyzed different ways by which robots and other artificial agents can simulate and trigger empathy in their interactions with humans.
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Exhibiting distinctive personality and character traits — The major components to be considered, according to Robert robert2018personality, are human personality when interacting with a robot, robot personality when interacting with humans, dissimilarities or complementary in human-robot personalities, and aspects that facilitate robot personality. Some companies such as Misty Robotics 151515https://www.mistyrobotics.com/ are prioritizing the user personalization of a robot’s personality as an important feature for future commercial social robots.
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Modeling and recognizing social aspects of humans — Modeling human agents allows for robots to interpret aspects of human behavior or communication and appropriately respond to them. Rossi et al. rossi2017user provide a survey of sample works aimed at profiling users according to different types of features. More advanced models may have to consider theory of mind approaches scassellati2002theory.
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Learning and developing new social skills and competencies — In addition to being programmed to have social skills, social robots may have the ability to refine those skills with time through adaptation, or even developing new skills altogether. An active area of research that looks at such paradigms is the area of developmental robotics lungarella2003beyond.
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Establishing and maintaining social relationships — Relationships operate over a timespan that goes beyond a few interactions. A number of questions arise when one considers long-term interactions of robots with humans and what it means for a robot to proactively establish and maintain a relationship that is two-sided. Leite et al. leite2013social established some initial guidelines for the design of social robots for long-term interaction. These include continuity and incremental robot behaviors (e.g., recalling previous activities and self-disclosure), affective interactions and empathy (e.g., displaying contextualized affective reactions), and memory and adaptation (e.g., identifying new and repeated users).
Complementary to these components, Breazeal breazeal2003toward distinguished categories of robot social capabilities: (1) socially evocative, denoting robots that were designed mainly to evoke social and emotional responses in humans, leveraging the human tendency to anthropomorphize epley2007seeing. Therefore, despite expected social responsiveness, the robot’s behavior does not necessarily reciprocate; (2) social interface, denoting robots that provide a “natural” interface by using human-like social cues and communication modalities. In this sense, the social behavior of humans is only modeled at the interface level, which normally results in shallow models of social cognition in the robot; (3) socially receptive, denoting robots that are socially passive but that can benefit from interaction. This category of robots is more aware of human behavior, allowing humans to shape the behavior of the robot using different modalities, such as learning by demonstration. Also, these robots are socially passive, responding to humans’ efforts without being socially pro-active; and (4) sociable, denoting robots that pro-actively engage with humans, having their own internal goals and needs in order to satisfy internal social aims (drives, emotions, etc.). These robots require deep models of social cognition not only in terms of perception but also of human modelling.
In addition to this list, Fong et al. fong2002survey added the following categories: (5) socially situated, denoting robots that are surrounded by a social environment that they can perceive and react to. These robots must be able to distinguish between other social agents and different objects that exist in the environment; (6) socially embedded, denoting robots that are situated in a social environment and interact with other artificial agents and humans. Additionally, these robots can be structurally coupled with their social environment, and have partial awareness of human interactional structures, such as the ability to perform turn-taking; and (7) socially intelligent, including robots that present aspects of human-style social intelligence, which is based on deep models of human cognition and social competence.
Although robots have been classified according to their different social capabilities, it is yet unclear how these categories relate to each other. Are they part of a spectrum? Are they separate categories altogether? We argue that evaluating social capabilities of robots can be understood according to two main dimensions:
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The depth of the robot’s actual social cognition mechanisms.
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The human perception of the robot’s social aptitude.
Given these dimensions, and in light of the existing categories presented above, we propose a two-dimensional space map, providing a clearer understanding of the social capabilities of robots. This map is presented in Figure 3 for illustrative purposes. As it can be seen in the figure, socially evocative robots have the least depth of social cognition but are perceived as rather socially apt. A social interface typically possesses some additional cognition mechanisms to allow for easy communication with the range of the robot’s functionality; it also possibly results in a slightly higher perceived social aptitude thanks to its more versatile nature. Socially receptive robots, socially situated, and socially embedded robots possess increasing depth in their social cognition, and as a result increasing perceived social aptitude. For socially embedded robots, the perceived aptitude may vary according to the degree of awareness about interactional structure the robot has. On the outskirts of our map we find sociable and socially intelligent robots, with much deeper models of social cognition.
2.3 Purpose and application area
In this section, we discuss social robots according to their purpose, i.e., what types of goals they are designed to achieve, as well as benefiting application areas. Figure 16 summarizes the main purposes and application areas included in this section, with illustrative examples.
A note on purpose as being distinct from embodiment
In traditional engineering practice, the physical characteristics of a technological device (e.g., toaster, microwave, typewriter, manufacturing machine) tend to be strongly coupled with its purpose, i.e., the task it was designed to achieve. With the advent of personal computers and smartphones, we moved away from defining those devices solely by their purpose. For instance, it would be inappropriate to call a modern computer an “electronic typewriter” or even a smartphone an “electronic phone”, because those devices can serve an immense variety of uses, thanks to software applications that constantly create new purposes for them. Similarly, even though some robots may currently be designed for a specific purpose in mind, some robots may possess a set of skills that can prove useful in a variety of scenarios, sometimes across completely different application areas. As a result, (1) many different robots can be programmed to be used for the same purpose, but also (2) a single robot can be used for many different purposes. For example, a robot such as NAO has been used across a large variety of purposes, both in research and industry, from playing soccer graf2009robust to assisting individuals with cognitive impairments shamsuddin2012initial; esteban2017build or teaching children yadollahi2018deictic; alves2019empathic.
There remains, however, a general tendency to define robots by characteristics of their programmed behavior, which can be limiting or inappropriate. As an example, we see locutions of the form “educational robots”, “therapeutic robots”, “pet robots”, and so on. The Baxter robot171717https://www.rethinkrobotics.com/baxter/, for instance, is often referred to as a “collaborative industrial robot” (or co-bot), because it has been used quite often in such a setting. However, it has also been used in very different applications, such as assistance for the blind bonani2018my, or education fernandez2018may, and hence the naming is reductive. Similarly, a “pet robot” such as the AIBO dog-inspired robot has been used in contexts where it is far from being considered a pet, such as playing soccer with other robots stone2007intelligent.
Of course, the embodiment of the robot may restrict its capabilities and hence the type of tasks it may be able to physically achieve. Also, the robot’s hardware may be optimized for a specific interactive application (e.g., Baxter has compliant joints for safer collaboration). Moreover, a robot’s appearance, which goes beyond its hardware specifications, may be optimized for human perceptions such as acceptability, likeability, trust, and so on, for a specific intended purpose. However, given the considerations above, we believe that robots should not be defined solely by their purpose, the same way humans are (hopefully) not defined by their profession. As a result, we personally prefer a slightly different language to characterize robots according to their purpose(s): “robots for education” instead of “educational robots”, “robots for therapy” instead of “therapeutic robots”, and so on. Using this slightly modified language, we now discuss the main purposes and application areas that are benefiting from the use of social robots. In light of our discussion, the presented list is not meant to be selective, as the same robot may be used for more than one purpose.
Robots for healthcare and therapy
Robots are being introduced in the health sector to assist patients and providers in hospitals, at home, or in therapy settings. The type of assistance the robot provides can be generally categorized into physical and/or social. Physically assistive applications include helping patients with reduced mobility or dexterity, such as the elderly forlizzi2004assistive or people with physical impairments burgar2000development. These robots can help to carry out daily tasks, like getting out of bed, manipulating objects, eating, and so on, which can give them a higher sense of autonomy and dignity sharkey2012granny. They may also help in therapy to assist patients in regaining lost physical skills or build new ones burgar2000development. On the other hand, socially assistive robotics (SAR) focus on providing assistance primarily through social interactions. Feil-Seifer et al. feil2005defining identified a number of applications where SAR may have a strong impact, namely in therapy for individuals with cognitive disorders scassellati2012robots; cabibihan2013robots, companionship to the elderly and individuals with neurological disorders or in convalescent care burton2013dolphins, and students in special education. We also believe that robots in the healthcare domain may be used to benefit healthcare providers directly, for example training therapists through robotic simulation of interactions with patients baraka2019interactive.
Robots for education
Robots in education are mainly used with children kanda2007two; tanaka2007socialization; Kozima08aplayful because they can increase engagement in learning while favoring an interactive and playful component, which may be lacking in a traditional classroom setting. When designing such educational robots, it is crucial to design for and evaluate long-term interactions, to avoid successes merely due to strong novelty effects leite2013social.
There is a number of formats that educational scenarios can take, where the robot has a different role. Beyond being a teacher delivering material, the robot can also act as a social mediator between children, encouraging dyadic, triadic, and group interactions kozima2009keepon. Moreover, the robot may play the role of a learner in learning-by-teaching scenarios, in which the child teaches the robot and in this process develops their own skills jacq2016building.
Robots for entertainment and the arts
The entertainment industry has benefited from the use of robots for their engaging and interactive capabilities. Personal entertainment creations emerged with robotic toys, such as Furby181818https://furby.hasbro.com/en-us or Bee-Bot191919https://www.bee-bot.us/, and robotic dolls, such as Hasbro’s My Real Baby202020https://babyalive.hasbro.com/. Public entertainment robots have appeared in theme parks and other public entertainment spaces madhani2009bringing. More complex robots with both verbal and non-verbal communication capabilities have been used for more prolonged interaction scenarios such as storytelling chen2011survey or comedy bruce2000robot. Other entertainment applications include interactive shows alonso2014human, acrobatic robots for movie stunts pope2018stickman, and sex robots levy2009love, among others.
More artistic-oriented applications include robots in the visual arts212121An annual robot art competition is held to encourage the use of robots in the visual arts http://robotart.org/ pagliarini2009development and installation art augugliaro2014flight. Social robots have also been deployed in fields of performative arts such as drama zeglin2014herb or dance sum2017robot; cappo2018online, where their embodied intelligence in real-time contexts and their interactivity remain a challenging and rich research challenge. Generally, the inclusion of intelligent robots in the arts and the broader field of computational creativity colton2012computational are questioning definitions and criteria of art, authorship, and creativity.
Robots for industry
As industrial robots are becoming more intelligent, they are being equipped with interactional capabilities that allow them to collaborate with humans, mainly in tasks involving manipulation skills. Schou et al. schou2018skill identified several tasks that can benefit from a human-robot collaborative setting, possibly including multi-robot/multi-human teams. These are: logistic tasks (namely transportation and part feeding), assistive tasks (namely machine tending, (pre)assembly, inspection, and process execution), and service tasks (namely maintenance and cleaning).
Research has shown that robots exhibiting social communication cues in industrial settings are perceived as social entities sauppe2015social. Moreover, Fong et al. fong2002survey emphasized that, in order to achieve true collaboration between humans and robots, the robot must have sufficient introspection to detect its own limitations, must enable bidirectional communication and information exchange, and must be able to adapt to a variety of humans from the novice to the experienced.
Robots for search and rescue
Search and rescue is one of the applications in which robots are being investigated as replacements to humans in dangerous environments, such as in natural or human disasters. Even though typical robots in this domain have not been designed with social capabilities, research has shown the importance of “social intelligence” in this domain fincannon2004evidence. Bethel et al. bethel2008survey identified the importance of different modalities of social communication in the context of victim approach, across the scale of proxemic zones (i.e., the distancing of the robot to the human), ranging from the public to the personal space. Such modalities include body movement, posture, orientation, color, and sound.
Robots for assistance in home and workplace
With the advent of personal robots gates2007robot, the vision is that anyone will have the ability to own and operate a robot, regardless of their skills or experience, thanks to natural and intuitive interfaces liang2018simultaneous. Such robots can be deployed in home or workplace environments to assist individuals, reduce their mental and physical load, and increase their comfort and productivity. In the home, personal robots are already cleaning floor surfaces autonomously222222https://www.irobot.com/for-the-home/vacuuming/roomba, cooking full meals232323http://www.moley.com/, and doing laundry242424http://www.laundry-robotics.com/, just to name a few. More ambitious research projects have aimed at designing versatile “robotic butlers” srinivasa2010herb, that can operate in a variety of tasks across the home.
In the workplace, robots are being used on a daily basis to transport objects, cataloguing inventory, escorting people, delivering messages, among other tasks, in settings such as offices, hospitals252525https://aethon.com/, supermarkets262626http://www.bossanova.com, and hotels. The majority of these robots are called service robots and have the capability of navigating in structured indoor environments, mainly corridors as opposed to open public spaces. An example of such service robots is the CoBots veloso2015cobots, developed and deployed at Carnegie Mellon University, servicing multiple floors and having navigated more than km autonomously biswas20161. Other types of robots used in the workplace include tele-presence robots for teleconferencing and virtual visits of remote places tsui2011exploring.
Robots for public service
Robots have been deployed in public spaces including malls shiomi2009field, museums faber2009humanoid, exhibition spaces jensen2005robots, and receptions gockley2005designing. Some (but not all) of those robots are mobile, and can navigate in open spaces or in crowds, which makes the design of their behavior challenging and subject to a variety of social constraints luber2012socially. Interactions with such robots have to account for the fact that the robot will interact with a very large number of people, with inevitable differences, and during a short duration. Hence, personalizing the interaction and making it as intuitive as possible (as there is very little adaptation time on the human side) are important design considerations.
Robots for the social sciences
Due to the possibility of programming robots to exhibit mechanisms of cognition similar to those of humans, a less publicized purpose of robots is in fields of the social sciences for the study of social development, social interaction, emotion, attachment, and personality fong2002survey. The idea is to use robots as test subjects in controlled laboratory experiments, leveraging the fact that such robots can reproduce consistent behaviors repeatedly and can be controlled to test predictions of human models of cognition. For example, the Cog robot scassellati2003investigating was used to investigate models of human social cognition. Similarly, a doll-like robot, Robota billard2007building, was used in comparative studies for social development theories dautenhahn1999studying. Additionally, robots (human-inspired or other types) can be used as stimuli to elicit behaviors from humans for the development and refinement of theories about human behavior and cognition. For a more detailed discussion on cognitive robotics and its applications outside of technology-related fields, consult Lungarella et al. lungarella2003developmental.
Other application areas
The list of application areas and purposes listed above is not comprehensive, but reflects major developments and deployments. To this list we can add:
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Robots for companionship — Dautenhahn dautenhahn2004robots presented a perspective on different possible relationships with personalized (possibly life-long) robotic companions, drawing on literature from human-animal relationships. Situated somewhere between animal pets and lifeless stuffed animals, robotic companions may provide support for socially isolated populations. The technical and design challenges associated with robotic companions are numerous due to the time dimension, and the deployment of robotic pets has raised an ethical concern sparrow2002march. Examples of robotic companions include the Huggable robot stiehl2009huggable, the AIBO dog-inspired robot friedman2003hardware, and the Lovot robot272727https://groove-x.com/en/.
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Robots for personal empowerment — The ultimate ethically concerned use of robots is to expand human abilities instead of replacing them, and to empower people at an individual level. Examples of personal empowerment that robots may facilitate are physically assistive robots that help people with impairments gain autonomy and dignity, such as prosthetics, exoskeletons, brain-controlled robotic arms hochberg2012reach, and other assistive robots (see Section 2.3). Other examples include robots that are designed to enhance creativity in individuals, such as the YOLO robot alves2018yolo, or tele-presence robots for workers that cannot physically perform the required tasks, such as in the “Dawn ver. ” cafe in Japan who hired paralyzed people to serve the costumers through a mobile robot controlled by their eye movements282828https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46466531.
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Robots for transportation — The rise of autonomous driving will revolutionize transportation and the urban environment. Autonomous vehicles (cars, trucks, public transportation, etc.) are expected to operate in environments populated by humans (drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, etc.), and research is looking at adding social dimensions to their behavior nass2005improving; wei2013autonomous; mavrogiannis2019effects. Additionally, drones will be used in the near future for package delivery292929https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011 and will have to (socially) interact with costumers.
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Robots for space — Robots for space exploration are historically known for their low level of interactions with humans. However, as humans are getting more involved in space explorations, social robots are being introduced to assist astronauts in their tasks and daily routines, e.g., the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Robonaut and Valkyrie yamokoski2019robonaut.
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Robots for technology research — Robots can also be used to test theories in fields related to technology, such as testing algorithms and architectures on physical platforms. More generally, robots can provide a platform for developing and testing new ideas, theories, solutions, prototypes, etc., for effective embodied technological solutions and their adoption in society.
The application areas mentioned above provide a cross-section of purposes that social robots hold in existing developments and deployments. If we view robots as embodied agents that can carry intelligently complex tasks in the physical and social world, we expect, in the future, to have robots introduced in virtually any application where they can complement, assist, and collaborate with humans in existing roles and expand their capabilities, as well as potentially assume new roles that humans cannot or should not assume.
2.4 Relational role
One of the relevant dimensions that shapes human-robot interaction is the role that the robot is designed to fulfill. The concept of role is an abstract one, for which various different perspectives can be presented. In this section, we specifically look at the relational role of the robot towards the human. This is the role that a robot is designed to fulfill within an interaction, and is not necessarily tied to an application area. The relational role the robot has been designed to have is critical to the perception, or even the relationship, that arises between robot and human.
Towards clarifying the concept of relational role, it is important to immediately distinguish relational role from role in an activity or application. In a specific activity or application, we may expect to find activity-specific roles (as in role-playing), such as teacher, driver, game companion, cook, or therapist. These types of roles are defined by the type of activity performed between the robot and humans, therefore making it an open-ended list that is likely to stay in constant evolution, as robots become applied to new fields and tasks.
Given the fuzziness of this concept, there have not been many attempts at generalizing the concept of role of robots within a relation with humans. For the rest of this section, we will present and analyze some broader definitions from the existing literature, to conclude by contributing a broad classification that attempts to agglomerate the main concepts of the pre-existing ones while containing and extending them.
Scholtz et al. presented a list of interaction models found in HRI scholtz2003theory. They included roles that humans may have towards a robot in any HRI application. The list defines the roles of the Supervisor, who monitors and controls the overall system (single or multiple robots), while acting upon the system’s goals/intentions; the Operator, who controls the task indirectly, by triggering actions (from a set of pre-approved ones), while determining if these actions are being carried out correctly by the robot(s); the Mechanic, who is called upon to control the task, robot and environment directly, by performing changes to the actual hardware of physical set-up; the Peer, who takes part in the task or interaction, while suggesting goals/intentions for the supervisor to perform; and the Bystander, who may take part in the task or interaction through a subset of the available actions, while most likely not previously informed about which those are. These five roles were initially adapted from HCI research, namely from Norman’s HCI Model norman1986cognitive. As such, they refer mostly to the role of the human within a technological system, whereas in this section we look for a classification to support the roles of robots in relation to humans within their interaction with each other.
Later, Goodrich et al. goodrich2008human built upon this list to propose a classification of roles that robots can assume in HRI. In their list, it is not specified whether the role refers to a human or to a robot. Their proposed classification can be vague, as they take Scholtz’s roles (for humans) and directly apply them to both robots and humans with no discussion provided. They also extended the list by adding two more roles, but these are defined only for robot. In the Mentor role, the robot is in a teaching or leadership role for the human; in the Informer role, the robot is not controlled by the human, but the human uses information coming from the robot, for example in a reconnaissance task.
The concept of robot roles was also addressed by Breazeal breazeal2004social, who proposed four interaction paradigms of HRI. In these paradigms, the robot can either take the role of a Tool, directed at performing specific tasks, with various levels of autonomy; a Cyborg extension, in which it is physically merged with the human in a way that the person accepts it as an integral part of their body; an Avatar, through which the person can project themselves in order to communicate with another from far away; or a Sociable partner, as in classic science-fiction fantasy.
Based on the many different proposed classifications, and of all the various interaction scenarios and applications found throughout literature and presented throughout this chapter, we have outlined our own classification for the role of robots within a relation with humans. Our classification attempts to merge the various dimensions of interaction while stepping away from explicit types of scenarios or applications. It does not necessarily add or propose new roles, but instead, redefines them from a relational perspective, placing emphasis on how the robot relates from a human’s perspective, as depicted in Figure 5.
In our classification for relational roles of robots, we view HRI as including both robot and you (the human). As such, we consider the following roles that a robot may have towards you:
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A robot “for you” serves some utility on a given task. This is the most traditional role of a tool or a servant, and is inspired by most previous classifications. Despite closely related with the concept of a tool, as proposed by other authors, we frame this role as a broader type of robotic tool, which can even include robots like autonomous cars.
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A robot “as you” plays the role of a proxy, namely, but not limited to, tele-presence. However it does not necessarily imply interaction from far away as in Breazeal’s classification breazeal2004social. This type of role can exist even when inter-actors are co-located, as long as the robot is acting in place of another person who operates it (e.g. shared autonomy scenarios).
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A robot “with you” is typically collaborative, with various levels of autonomy, including being part of a group with you. It is used in applications in which both the human and the robot act together, as a team, or towards common goals, and also includes robots for companionship. The robot and human are not necessarily co-located, such as for example human-robot teams that have to communicate remotely.
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A robot “as if you” emulates particular social or psychological traits found in humans. These robots are mainly used as social sciences research tools (see Section 2.3.8). To date, robots have been used to examine, validate and refine theories of social and biological development, psychology, neurobiology, emotional and non-verbal communication, and social interaction.
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A robot “around you”, shares a physical space and common resources with the human. It differs from a robot with you by the fact that it is necessarily co-located with the human, but not necessarily collaborating with them. These are typically called co-operating, co-present, or bystanders, as previously proposed in Scholzt’s classification scholtz2003theory.
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A robot “as part of you” extends the human body’s capabilities. These robots typically have nonexistent or very limited autonomy, but provide humans with physical capabilities that they could not otherwise perform using their own biological body. Such robots can be used for pure embodiment extension (e.g. strength-enhancing exoskeletons), or for close-range HRI collaboration, such as the robotic wearable forearm vatsal2018design whose function is to serve as a supernumerary third arm for shared workspace activities.
The list of relational roles that we present defines non-exclusive roles, meaning that for some particular applications, we may design and develop robots that take more than one of these roles, or take a different role when more than one human is involved in the interaction. An example would be of a robot used in an office, which can be used for the users to deliver mail and packages to different locations, while at the same time acting around the users when navigating the office space. Another example would be an autonomous vehicle operating for the passenger(s), but around pedestrians and other human drivers.
2.5 Autonomy and intelligence
Necessary aspects to consider when characterizing the behavior of social robots are those of autonomy and intelligence. Although related, these are two distinct concepts that are often inconsistently and confusingly used in existing literature gunderson2004intelligence; gardner1996intelligence. In particular, it is often assumed that a high level of robot autonomy implies both a high level of intelligence and of complexity. In reality, some fully autonomous systems can possess very low intelligence (e.g., a traditional manufacturing machine) or complexity (e.g., a simple self-operated mechanism). A better clarification of the concepts of autonomy and intelligence, and their relation, is needed, especially in the context of social robotics.
Definitions (or lack thereof)
The concepts of autonomy and intelligence are hard to define, and there does not seem to be unique accepted definitions beer2014toward. In particular, existing definitions in the literature seem to differ depending on the context of application, and the main field of focus of the author(s). Based on existing literature, we propose below extended working definitions of those two concepts in the context of social robotics.
Autonomy
It may seem somewhat paradoxical to talk about autonomy in the context of interactive robots, because traditionally fully autonomous robots are involved in minimal interactions with humans; in other words, reduced interaction with humans is a by-product of increased robot autonomy. For social robots however, this relation between amount of human interaction and robot autonomy is questioned. Highly autonomous social robots are expected to carry out more fluid, natural, and complex interactions, which does not make them any less autonomous. There exists a very large number of definitions of autonomy for general agents, however central to most existing definitions is the amount of control the robot has over performing the task(s) it was designed to fulfill (or that it sets to itself), as emphasized by Beer et al. beer2014toward. For social robots, tasks may include well-defined goal states (e.g., assembling furniture) or more elusive ones (e.g., engaging in conversation).
We claim that in addition to control, the concept of autonomy should also account for learning. Indeed, many learning paradigms include human-in-the-loop approaches, and we believe these should taken into account. These include active learningchao2010transparent, learning by demonstration rybski2007interactive, and corrective human feedback learning mericcli2011task, used within the context of interactions in applications involving human teachers such as learning-by-teaching educational scenarios jacq2016building or general collaborative scenarios breazeal2004teaching. As a result, we extend the definition from Beer et al. beer2014toward to make it applicable to social robots, and define autonomy of a social robot as follows:
Autonomy — “The extent to which a robot can operate in the tasks it was designed for (or that it creates for itself) without external intervention.”
Note the use of the term intervention as opposed to interaction.
Intelligence
The is no real consensus on the definition of general intelligence gardner1996intelligence. In the context of robotics and AI, intelligence is generally emphasized as related to problem solving newell1972human. For social robots, we propose the following extension of the definition of Gunderson et al. gunderson2004intelligence:
Intelligence — “The ability to determine behavior that will maximize the likelihood of goal satisfaction under dynamic and uncertain conditions, linked to the environment and the interaction with other (possibly human) agents.”
Note that intelligence is also dependent on the difficulty of the goals to be achieved. Based on this definition, it can be seen that intelligence and autonomy are distinct concepts, but that, for a given task, intelligence creates a bound on achievable autonomy. In other words, the level of intelligence of a robot may prevent its ability to reach a given level of autonomy for fixed robot capabilities gunderson2004intelligence. A final important note concerning the design of social robots is that a robot’s perceived intelligence bartneck2009measurement can be drastically different from its actual intelligence. As a result, minimizing the gap between the two is crucial for maintaining adequate expectations and appropriate levels of trust on the human side. Now that we have defined the concepts of autonomy and intelligence, we discuss approaches to quantify them.
Quantifying autonomy and intelligence
Unlike scales from the automation endsley1999level or tele-operation sheridan1978human; huang2005autonomy; yanco2004classifying; goodrich2003seven fields, and more recently with autonomous vehicles sae2014automated, all of which are based on the idea that more autonomy requires less HRI, some researchers have developed scales of autonomy that apply to social robots beer2014toward; thrun2004toward; feil2007benchmarks; goodrich2008human. These emphasize on the fact that autonomy has to be understood as a dynamic entity goodrich2008human. On the other hand, measuring robot intelligence has been the subject of some investigation, from both practical adams2016athlon and theoretical perspectives bien2002machine. Both autonomy and intelligence can be seen as belonging to a continuum, taking into account aspects of robot perception, cognition, execution, and learning gunderson2004intelligence; yanco2004classifying. As a result, autonomy is a dimension that one designs for, constrained by possible achievable levels of intelligence. As a general rule, the higher the autonomy and intelligence is, the higher the complexity of the system is.
The importance of dimensional thinking
For a highly heterogeneous technology such as a social robot that involves a combination of hardware, software architecture, cognition mechanisms, intelligent hardware control, just to name a few, it is important to define dimensions about aspects such as autonomy and intelligence. The overall assessment of these aspects would then depend on a combination of assessments over individual dimensions. Researchers at IBM have proposed to define “dimensions of (general artificial) intelligence”, as a way to define an updated version of the Turing test turing2009computing. Their list is more task-oriented, but can serve as a basis to think about general dimensions for both intelligence and autonomy. We propose the following dimensions of intelligence and autonomy, accounting for the socially interactive factor:
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Perception of environment-related and human-related factors —
In order to engage in successful interactions, social robots need to be able to assess the dynamic state of the physical environment and of humans, to inform its decision making. On the human side, this includes estimating the human’s physical parameters (pose, speed, motion, etc.), speech, and non-verbal social cues (gestures, gaze, prosody, facial expressions, etc.).
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Modeling of environment and human(s) — In order to interpret robot perceptions, models of the environment and of humans are needed. For example, models of the humans can allow the robot to infer their intents, personality, emotional or affective states, and predict future human states or behavior. If models are parametrized to capture individual differences, then they can be a powerful tool to inform personalization and adaptation mechanisms in HRI rossi2017user.
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Planning actions to interact with environment and human(s) — Decision-making on a robot can be reduced to creating plans for robot actions that take into account the shape of the task, the goal, and the current state of the world, including the robot, the environment, and the human(s). A social robot needs to plan its motion, speech, and any other modality of social behavior it may be able to exhibit.
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Executing plans under physical and social constraints — The same way the environment poses physical constraints on how the robot interacts with it, culture and society impose social constraints on how interactions with a robot should take place lee2014culturally. Robot decision-making should take human social norms into account while planning and executing generated plans carlucci2015explicit. Note that the execution of the plan may not be successful, hence the robot needs to account for all possible outcomes.
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Learning through interaction with the environment or humans — On top of the basic dimensions mentioned above, some robots may be endowed with learning capabilities, which allow them to improve with time, throughout their interactions with the environment or humans (including human-in-the-loop learning). Note that this dimension does not necessarily encompass machine learning as a general technique, as many offline machine learning methods would fall under the dimensions of perception and modeling.
The dimensions above span most existing building blocks for the intelligence of a social robot. However, depending on their implementation and complexity, some robots may not include one or more of the above dimensions. Those dimensions are generally separated in the design and implementation of most robots, hence as a result, intelligence and autonomy on each dimension may be completely different. For example, some semi-autonomous robots include completely human-controlled perception steinfeld2009oz, or rely on human input for learning chao2010transparent; rybski2007interactive; mericcli2011task or verifying the suitability of robot plans esteban2017build.
As technology advances, higher amounts of robot intelligence will be achievable, unlocking new possible levels of autonomy for more complex tasks; however, the amount of autonomy of a system (within possible technological limits) will remain a design choice. As a design principle for future social robots, we advocate for the notion of symbiotic autonomy veloso2015cobots; coradeschi2006symbiotic, where both humans and robots can overcome their limitations and potentially learn from each other.
2.6 Proximity
Spatial features of the interaction may have a strong influence on the type of possible interactions and their perception by humans. In this section, we focus on the proximity of the interaction, i.e., the physical distance between the robot and the human. In particular, we consider general categories of interactions according to the proximity dimension: remote, co-located, and physical.
Remote Hri
Several applications in HRI require the human and the robot to be in physically remote places. Tele-operation applications generally involve tasks or environments that are dangerous or inaccessible for humans, and historically represents one of the first involvements of humans with robots. In traditional tele-operation contexts, the human is treated as an operator, intervening to shape the behavior of one or more robots. Such types of HRI scenarios have been extensively studied and a number of metrics have been developed for them steinfeld2006common. However, they are often excluded from the literature in social robotics fong2002survey.
More recent developments in the field of tele-operation gave rise to tele-presence applications, which treat the robot as a physical proxy for the human tsui2011exploring; kristoffersson2013review, allowing the latter for example to be virtually present in tele-conferencing settings, or to visit remote places. As a result, as the robot is used to interact with humans in the remote environment, its design may include a strong focus on socially embodied aspects of the interaction beyond mere audio and video, such as distancing and gaze behavior adalgeirsson2010mebot.
In all the previously cited literature, several notes are made regarding issues that are commonly faced, and should be addressed when developing social robots for tele-presence applications, such as concerns regarding privacy, a proper control interface for the pilot (including a map of the environment and the robot’s surroundings), adaptability to people’s height and stance (e.g., sitting, standing, behind a desk), robustness towards communication failures (e.g., loss of WiFi connection), and dynamic volume control.
Finally, an important aspect of remote interaction is the translation of the operator’s input into robot behaviors. Many interfaces have been developed for controlling tele-presence robots, including graphical and tangible interfaces lazewatsky2011panorama, but also virtual reality tools nguyen2001virtual, or brain-machine interfaces tonin2011brain.
Co-located Hri
This category includes all interactions in which the robot and the human are located in a shared space and interact directly without explicit physical contact. This is the case for most existing social robotics scenarios.
Within these case we are most interested in mentioning the ones in which the robot has some form of locomotion ability (e.g., legged robot, aerial robots, wheeled robots), and also the ability to perceive and measure the distance to the human, in order to be able to actively control the distance between them. The social meaning of proximity in this context is referred to as proxemics, and constitutes an important part of non-verbal robot behavior mumm2011human.
Mead et al. mead2016perceptual have explored this topic by taking into account not only the psycho-physical and social aspects of proximity from the human’s perspective, but also regarding the robot’s needs. In terms of needs related to proximity, social robots may require or prefer certain distances to people in order for their sensors to work properly (e.g., vision, speech interaction).
Depending on the actual distance of the co-located robot, different modalities of communication may be more suitable. For example, robots in the private space may interact using speech or sound, and use touch screen for human input. However, robots at a greater distance but within line of sight, such as mobile robots, autonomous cars, or drones may use visual signals instead, such as expressive lights baraka2018mobile; szafir2015communicating.
Physical Hri
Interactions happening in a shared space may involve an additional modality, namely physical contact between the human and the robot. Such interactions pertain to a blossoming subfield of HRI, commonly designated as Physical Human-Robot Interaction, or pHRI for short Haddadin2016; billard2013roboskin; youssefi2015skinware. From a hardware perspective, robots involved in pHRI are being designed with compliant joints (e.g., Baxter robot) for safety. Also, the design of robot outer shells is taking texture and feel into account yohanan2009tool. Moreover, novel paradigms for robot hardware are emerging with soft robotics majidi2014soft.
Examples of pHRI include physically assistive applications, where a robot has to be in physical contact with the person to execute its tasks, such as getting patients out of a chair shomin2015sit, or helping them feed song2012novel or dress themselves kapusta2016data. In industrial settings, physical proximity has also been shown, for some tasks, to improve the interaction and its perception by the workers huber2017developing.
On the other hand, physical contact may be used as a communication modality in itself, using a combination of touch, motion, pressure and/or vibration, known as haptic communication miyashita2007haptic. Such a communication modality is especially useful when others (e.g., visual) are not feasible. In particular, research has looked at how robots can communicate or guide people with visual impairments using physical contact. For example, Bonani et al. bonani2018my investigated the use of movement of a Baxter’s arm that blind people held to complement verbal instructions in a playful assembly task. Additionally, mobile robots have been used to guide people in indoor environments using physical contact kulyukin2004rfid; shomin2016navigation.
Moreover, physical contact may possess a social component. This is the case when a robot behavior utilizing physical contact with a human is meant to induce or influence their behavior. For example, a mobile robot may use physical contact when navigating through a human crowded environment, inducing people to move away shrestha2015using. Also, affective robot behaviors involving contact, such as a hug or a handshake, have been shown to have an influence on the social behavior of the humans in their interaction with the robot (e.g., self-disclosure or general perception of the robot) shiomi2017robot; avelino2018power. Human-robot haptics have also been investigated by studying the role of physical contact in human-animal interactions yohanan2012role.
While the spatial features discussed in this section pertain to different fields of research, one would expect in future robotic technologies a range of interactions that would incorporate a combination of the three, according to the task and situation at hand.
2.7 Temporal profile
In this section, we look at time-related aspects of interactions with a social robot. Knowing the intended temporal profile of these interactions may have a strong impact on the design of such robots. We specifically discuss the timespan, the duration, and the frequency of interactions.
Timespan
Interactions with robots can be classified according to timespan, meaning the period of time in which the human is exposed to the robot. We consider four timespan categories, namely short-term, medium-term, long-term, and life-long. There does not exist, in the HRI literature, a quantitative way to establish the boundaries between these four categories, and as they may be context-dependent. Our aim is hence to provide a useful guideline for thinking about implications of such categories in the design of social robots, as well as their evaluation.
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Short-term interactions typically consist of a single or only a few consecutive interactions, e.g., a robot giving directions in a mall. Of special importance for these types of interactions are design factors that influence the first impression of the human towards the robot (e.g., appearance, size, motion “at rest”, proxemics/approach behavior, initiation of the interaction). Usually very present in short-term interactions is the novelty effect, a fundamental characteristic of any innovation characterized by the newness or freshness of the innovation in the eyes of the adopter wells2010effect. It is a salient effect that plays a role in the adoption and use of novel media, characterized by higher initial achievements not because actual improvements occur, but due to the increased interest in technology clark1983reconsidering. This effect may help or harm the interaction depending on the its content and outcome, but it should be kept in mind in the design of robots for short-term use, also accounting for different expectations based on the users’ demographics.
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Medium-term interactions go beyond a single or a few interaction(s) but do not extend over a timespan long enough to be considered part of the long-term category. They typically span several days or weeks. An example is a robot used to teach children a module in their curriculum over a few weeks. During repeated interactions, the novelty effect may wear off after the first few interactions, resulting in potential loss of interest or changes in attitudes towards robots over time gockley2005designing; kanda2004interactive. When considering repeated interactions with the same robot, it is hence essential to take this dynamic aspect into account by incrementally incorporating novelty or change in the behavior of the robot as well as maintaining a sense of continuity across interactions leite2013social; alves2019empathic. This will help sustain engagement and satisfaction both within and across individual interactions.
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Long-term interactions include prolonged interactions that go beyond the period needed for the novelty effect to fade leite2013social. An example is a personal robot operating in a home. Long-term interactions typically create a sense of predictability in the human to know they will encounter a subsequent interaction. Additionally, humans may start feeling a sense of attachment to the robot, and even develop relationships with it. In addition to the points mentioned for the medium-term category, it is crucial to consider how the robot can both personalize and adapt its interactions with the human. Personalization means that the robot will accommodate for inter-individual differences, usually focusing on static or semi-static features of the human such as personality, preferences, or abilities. Adaptation means that the robot accommodates for intra-individual changes, focusing on dynamic features of the human such as physical, psychological and emotional state, performance, or behavior. For surveys about personalization and adaptation in HRI, please consult Rossi et al. rossi2017user and Ahmad et al. ahmad2017systematic. Personalization can also include a dynamic component; for example, an algorithm has been developed for an office robot to learn not only preferences of robot behaviors but also how to switch between them across interactions, according to personality traits of the human baraka2015adaptive.
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Life-long interactions differ from long-term interactions by the fact that the human may go through large changes, for example, transitioning from childhood to adulthood, or progressively loosing some capabilities during old age. These types of interactions are much rarer with existing robots, but we do have examples that include robotic pets adopted in life-long timespans such as the AIBO or PARO robots. Another example is robots meant to accompany people until the end of their lives, such as robots assisting the elderly while gaining skills over time hence compensating for the decrease in their users’ capabilities georgiadis2016robotic. In the future, the vision of robotic companions dautenhahn2004robots may include richer interactions including mutual learning and evolution, emotional support, and building deeper bidirectional relationships.
Duration and frequency
In addition to timespan, an important temporal aspect of the interaction is the average duration of individual interactions. For example, a human can interact with a robot in short-term but prolonged interactions (e.g., in an educational context), or on the contrary in short interactions over a long timespan (e.g., office robot), or in other combinations and levels of the above. An important question to consider for longer durations is how to maintain engagement, especially with populations with a short attention span, such as children. For short durations, it is important to design for intuitiveness and efficiency of the interaction, in order to reduce the cognitive load or adaptation time of the human.
It is worth mentioning that duration is often imposed by the task itself, but may also be imposed by the human’s willingness to end it. For example, the Roboceptionist gockley2005designing
interacts with people in a building over large timespans. It was designed as a conversational chatbot, hence every person that interacts with it can initiate and end the interaction at any moment. The authors reported short interactions generally underseconds, and aimed at increasing this number by designing for long-term interactions with engagement in mind, using techniques from the field of drama.
In addition to timespan and duration, the frequency of interactions plays a role in their human perception by humans, and in the resulting design considerations. The frequency of interactions with the same robot can vary from very occasional (e.g., robots in stores visited sporadically) to multiple times per day (e.g., workplace robots). For high frequencies, a lack of of incorporation of novelty, or at least variation in the robot’s behavior, may result in fatigue and lack of engagement. Also, achieving continuity through memory is a particularly relevant factor leite2013social. Currently, the effect of frequency on the perception and effectiveness of interactions seems to be largely lacking in the HRI literature.
This concludes our discussion of time-related aspects of the interaction, as well as the discussion of our framework as a whole. Before concluding this chapter, we provide a brief discussion of design approaches for social robots.
3 Working within the social robot design space
The framework presented in this chapter outlined major dimensions of relevance to the understanding of existing social robots and the design of future ones. Moving forward, it effectively defines a design space for social robots, where each of the aspects discussed will involve a set of design decisions. For example: What role should my robot play in relation to humans? What should it look like? What kind of social capabilities should it have? What level of autonomy is best fitted for the task(s) and should it be fixed? etc. Higher-level decisions in the design process also arise such as: Are the requirements feasible with current technology, or will it require developing new technology? What are the practical considerations associated with the “theoretically best” design, as well as the costs, and are they outweighed by the benefits?
The actual design process of social robots and their interactions with humans has benefited from a number of design approaches inspired by design practices from a variety of fields such as engineering, computer science, HCI, and human factors. For example, some researchers in HRI have looked at developing design patterns that can be reused without having to start from scratch every time kahn2008design. There generally exist three broad design approaches, each of which may be valid depending on the intended context and objectives: human-centered design, robot-centered design, and symbiotic design. We briefly discuss these approaches next.
3.1 Robots as technology adapted to humans (human-centered design)
Human-centered design (HCD) is the central paradigms of HCI, and much of HRI design as a result. It aims to involve the intended user population as part of most development stages, including identifying needs and requirements, brainstorming, conceptualizing, creating solutions, testing, and refining prototypes through an iterative design process abras2004user.
In the HRI context, the main assumption is that humans have their own communication mechanisms and unconsciously expect robots to follow human social communication modalities, rules, conventions and protocols. Important aspects of the robot behavior and embodiment design that play a strong role in terms of the human’s perception of the interaction include physical presence bainbridge2008effect, size powers2007comparing, embodiment lee2006physically; wainer2007embodiment, affective behaviors leite2008emotional, role expectations dautenhahn2005robot, just to cite a few. From an evaluation point of view, HCD relies a lot on subjective self-reports of users to measure their perceptions, and complement more objective measures such as task performance.
While many HCD approaches exist for social robots, one of particular interest is treating robots as expressive characters, i.e., robots with the ability of expressing identity, emotion and intention during autonomous interaction with human users ribeiro2017. Designing for expressivity can be achieved for example by bringing professional animators to work side by side with robotic and AI programmers. The idea is to utilize concepts of animation developed over several decades ThomasJohnston1995 and apply them to robotic platforms breemen2004; takayama2011expressing; ribeiro2012; hoffman2012; gielniak2012; ribeiro2013.
3.2 Robots as goal-oriented technology (robot-centered design)
Historically, robots were developed solely by engineers who carried little concern about the human beyond the interface. While the focus in HRI has now shifted to a more human-centered approach as was discussed in the previous section, HCD as a general design paradigm has been criticized by many researchers who consider it to be harmful in some aspects greenberg2008usability; norman2005human. For example, it has been criticized for its focus on usability (how easy it is to use) as opposed to usefulness (what benefits it provides) and its focus on incremental contributions based on human input conditioned by current technologies, which prevents from pushing technological boundaries. Additionally, adapting the technology to the user may sometimes be more costly than having the user adapt to the technology.
As a result, there are cases where a more robot-centered approach may work best. Excessively adapting robots to humans may result in suboptimal performance, high cost of development, or unmatched expectations. It is important to recognize that in some cases, it may be better to ask the human to adapt to the robot (maybe through training) in order to achieve better performance on the long run. Humans have a much better ability to adapt than robots, and it is crucial to identify when robots should not adapt because it would be more efficient to ask or expect humans to do it norman2005human. In many cases, the robot may have needs that may incur an immediate cost on humans, but result in a better future performance. Examples include robots asking for help from humans when they face limitations veloso2015cobots, or teaching the robot to perform a certain task so that it can perform better in subsequent tasks. A robot-centered approach may also include the adaptation of our environments to make them suitable for robots. Examples include avoiding construction materials that are not compatible with the robot’s sensors, interfacing the robot with building facilities (such as elevators), and so on.
3.3 Robots as symbiotic embodied agents (symbiotic design)
Both approaches discussed above, whether human-centered or robot-centered, are valid approaches that one can use when designing social robots and their associated tasks. As a general design process for such robots, we advocate for the careful identification of strengths and weaknesses of each part and design for an increased symbiosis between the human(s) and the robot(s). One way to achieve this symbiosis is to adopt a holistic view that focuses on the overall system behavior, as a function of robot(s), human(s), and the environment steinfeld2009oz. For example, the CoBot robots are autonomous mobile robots veloso2015cobots servicing human users in a building, designed with the ability to utilize the presence of other humans in the environment (i.e., bypassers) to overcome their limitations. For instance, they ask for assistance in pressing the elevator button or putting objects in their basket since they do not have arms. This is an example of symbiotic autonomy where humans and robots service each other mutually in the same shared environment, and where both parties have to adapt to the other party’s needs.
4 Conclusion
In this chapter, we have introduced a framework for characterizing social robots and their interactions with humans along principal dimensions reflecting important design considerations. In particular, we (1) presented a broad classification of robot appearances, (2) repositioned existing classifications of robot social capabilities, (3) discussed a cross-section of purposes and application areas, (4) provided a straightforward and broad classification of the robot’s relational role, (5) clarified the related but distinct concepts of autonomy and intelligence, and discussed their quantification, (6) analyzed interactions according to their spatial features, and (7) looked at time-related aspects of the interactions. While this framework is aimed primarily at characterizing social robots by drawing from a large body of literature to illustrate the concepts discussed, it also serves as a useful guide to inform the design of future social robots. Towards this end, we briefly touched upon different design approaches, namely human-centered, robot-centered, and symbiotic.
Social robotics is a growing multidisciplinary field that brings closer aspects of human nature with aspects of robotic technology. The scope of what a social robot means, does, or serves, will be shaped by future developments in the field. In this journey towards creating interactive intelligent machines, we are hopeful that as they become more socially apt, they contribute to expanding, not reducing, the foundational aspects of our humanity.
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https://deepai.org/publication/an-extended-framework-for-characterizing-social-robots
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Many of us think in Newtonian terms. We think that systems can be broken into individual components, and once these components are understood, so too can the overall behaviour of the system. A system is the sum of its parts.
While this may be true for simple systems, complex systems (such as the economy or the mining industry) are much more than the sum of their parts. In these systems complex behaviour arises not because of individual components, but because of interactions between these components.
These systems exhibit non-linear behaviour (small causes can produce large effects), they are open systems (they interact and respond to their environment), they are adaptive (what is true today may no longer be true tomorrow), and they produce emergent behaviour (behaviour that was not designed into them).
A systems thinking approach overcomes the shortfalls of Newtonian thinking by using a holistic approach to not only understand a system’s components, but to also understand its interactions and boundaries.
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https://dev.bradyheywood.com.au/forensic-engineering/systems-thinking-approach/
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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84521
|Title:||Multi-level probabilistic uniqueness reasoning of autonomous robots based on spatial-semantic fusion||Authors:||Yang, Chule||Keywords:||Engineering::Computer science and engineering::Computing methodologies::Pattern recognition||Issue Date:||2019||Source:||Yang, C. (2019). Multi-level probabilistic uniqueness reasoning of autonomous robots based on spatial-semantic fusion. Doctoral thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.||Abstract:||Advanced robots are desired to improve their reasoning ability in increasingly practical situations to quickly respond to urgent challenges such as search and rescue, public security, and autonomous driving. Advances in sensor technology and intelligent algorithms are accelerating the development of autonomous systems, allowing them to interact with dynamic environments more independently and intelligently, completing relatively complicated tasks. Nevertheless, the safety and security problems are yet to be comprehensively addressed. Currently, many efforts have been made to solve this problem by improving the unimodal perception ability of intelligent systems. Methods using surveillance cameras to collect large amounts of visual data and process them using deep networks. Various types of range scanner can sense and reconstruct the surrounding environment through precise distance measurements. However, in the above cases, there may be a lack of training data, fixed cameras cannot adequately and dynamically model the surroundings, unimodal analysis is hard to capture both appearance and depth information. Therefore, higher levels of perception and reasoning abilities are required to handle unexpected conditions and scenarios efficiently. In such cases, mobile robots should be fully aware of the dynamic environment, prioritize, and continuously analyze critical situations, share information, and collaboration under limited computing power and resources. Furthermore, considering the robots are operating alongside humans, reliable and interpretable robot behavior is highly preferred for more natural interactions. This study aims to develop reasoning strategies for autonomous robots to improve robotic intelligence under different assumptions and conditions. The framework allows one or several robots to address safety or security problems in a targeted manner in partially known environments, where time, dynamics, and interactions play a significant role. The objective is to identify the unique individual whose activity, in space and time, appear different from the other people in the scene. The activities considered not only the motion pattern, but also the object associated with this person. Unlike traditional abnormal detection, the uniqueness reasoning in this work does not require a predefined expected pattern. A modular analysis is also applied to decompose the entire reasoning process into submodules such as perception, analysis, and inference, to achieve algorithmic flexibility and interpretability. Probabilistic modeling is used to associate spatial relationships between semantic labels and their temporal changes. The relationships are described in either instant spatial spaces (semantic-interaction feature) or spatiotemporal spaces (spatiotemporal feature), and it provides essential information for robot navigation, situation awareness, and task planning. Unlike existing research, this is the first time that such a mission is implemented on mobile robot platforms by using the probabilistic fusion of multimodal information. Considering how evidence information is obtained and linked in the process of reasoning, we study the problem of uniqueness reasoning at three levels. The first level is called knowledge-based single robot uniqueness reasoning and runs on a single robot platform. At this level, we focus on a knowledge-based approach, where knowledge is provided in terms of how motion and an object associated with a person can be used to infer his/her uniqueness, as determined by human expertise. Because such a method has advantages in dealing with structured missions and with limited training data. Qualitative rules are applied to extract human activities from observations, and then the uniqueness of each person is judged by associating the prior knowledge with the performed activities. Experiments were conducted in indoor environments with various degrees of occlusion, and the experimental results showed the rationality and accuracy of the reasoning. However, though the knowledge-based method can successfully address specific tasks, it lacks flexibility and generality to adapt to different situations. The assumption of prior knowledge should be replaced by general analytical modeling. Thus, the second level is analytics-based single robot uniqueness reasoning. For one thing, it applies quantitative analysis to model human activities from observations rather than using qualitative rules. For another, instead of leveraging prior knowledge, the distribution of the features characterizing a human activity is constructed and the activity of an individual is analyzed within the distribution to determine if it is unique. Experiments were conducted in both indoor and urban outdoor environments. The experimental results demonstrated the rationality, accuracy, and efficiency of the reasoning. Moreover, since many applications require to work in an unstructured and large-scale environment as well as a long-term operation, the sensing and reasoning capabilities of a single robot are limited by occlusion, sensor failure, and narrow field of view. Robots are desired to share information and perform collaborative reasoning. Therefore, if say the first two levels are mainly using sensory data to implement the algorithm, the third level is more focused on applying the algorithm to the robot platform. The third level is analytics-based multi-robot uniqueness reasoning, in which a multi-robot system is adopted as the platform. By obtaining the relative pose between robots, local observations can be transformed and transmitted among the multi-robot system. Since it is a distributed system, each robot still first performs its local uniqueness reasoning in the case of long-distance and poor communication. Meanwhile, the system performs a re-judgment based on the shared global observation and then shares the judgment results back to each robot. Experiments were carried out in various unstructured environments and contained day and night situations. The experimental results showed the rationality, accuracy, and robustness of the reasoning. This is the first time that reasoning is categorized by considering the way of obtaining and linking evidence information. This study has potential applications in a variety of situations, and it can serve as a guide for further robotic motion planning and human-robot interaction.||URI:||https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84521
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This paper presents a survey on multi-agent system (MAS) capabilities in control engineering applications. It describes essential concepts of multi-agent systems that are related to the control systems and presents an overview on the most important control engineering issues which MAS can be explored. Most important technical aspects in MAS implementation and development in engineering environment are also explained. Design methodologies, standards, tools, and supporting technologies to provide an effective MAS-based control design are addressed and a discussion on important related standards and protocols is given. Finally, some comments and new perspectives for design and implementation of agent-based control systems are presented.
1. Introduction
Nowadays MAS technology is being used for a wide range of control applications including scheduling and planning [1, 2], diagnostics , condition monitoring [4–6], distributed control [5, 7], hybrid control , congestion control [9, 10], system restoration , market simulation [12, 13], network control [13, 14], and automation . Moreover, the technology is growing to the point where the first multi-agent systems are now being immigrated from the laboratory to the utility, allowing industry to gain experience in the use of MAS and also to evaluate their effectiveness . Nevertheless, despite a growing awareness of the technology, some primary questions often arise from other researchers and, in particular, industrial partners when discussing multi-agent systems and their role in control engineering. These are what benefits are offered by multi-agent systems?, what differentiates them from the existing systems and approaches?, to which kind of problems can they be applied?, if and when MAS technology is supposed appropriate for a particular control engineering application, then other questions naturally follow: how should multi-agent systems is designed? how should multi-agent systems be implemented? are there any special considerations for the application of MAS in control engineering?
As MAS are a new technology, a number of technical challenges need to be overcome if they are to be used effectively. Then identifying details of those challenges and providing technical leadership in terms of recommendation and guidance on the appropriate use of the standards, design methodologies, and implementation approaches which are currently available, is necessary too.
This paper begins by describing concepts and approaches related to multi-agent systems and consider the principal problems which can be dealt with MAS. Additionally, it presents a comprehensive review of the control engineering applications for which MAS technology is being investigated. However, it discusses necessary and appropriate standards and guidance to design and implementing MAS in the control engineering applications.
2. Definitions
In order to find benefits of MAS to control engineering, the basic concepts and definitions related to multi-agent systems need to be understood.
2.1. What Is an Agent?
The computer science community has produced various definitions for an agent [16–20]. A comparison between these definitions and their relative merits and weaknesses, from a computer science view, can be found in . However all the definitions referenced above are different, they all share a basic set of concepts: the notion of an agent, its environment, and autonomy. According to Wooldridge definition , an agent is “a software (or hardware) entity that is situated in some environment and is able to autonomously react to changes in that environment.” The environment is everything external to the agent. The environment may be physical (e.g., the control system), or it may be the computing environment (e.g., data sources, computing resources, and other agents). An agent can alter the environment by taking some action. The separation of agents from environment means that agents are inherently distributable. Under Wooldridge’s definition , an entity situated in an environment is an agent if it can act autonomously in response to environmental changes. The definition of autonomy says that an agent “exercises control over its own actions” , meaning that it can initiate or schedule certain actions for execution.
Wooldridge and Jennings identified three different classes of agents:(i)agents that execute straightforward tasks based on pre-specified rules and assumptions,(ii)agents that execute a well-defined task at a user’s request,(iii)agents that volunteer information or services to a user whenever it is deemed appropriate, without being explicitly asked to do so.
From an engineering view, this classification has some problems: it does not clearly separate agents from a number of existing systems. According to above definition, some existing systems could be agents. For example, a thermostat device could be considered as an agent. It is situated in its environment. It reacts to temperature changes of environment. It also exhibits a degree of autonomy. Therefore there is a need to know how agents and multi-agent systems differ from existing systems and system engineering approaches.
2.2. Intelligent Agents
Wooldridge extends the above definitions of an agent to an intelligent agent by extending the definition of autonomy to flexible autonom. An agent which displays flexible autonomy, that is, an intelligent agent, has the following three characteristics.(i)Reactivity: an intelligent agent reacts to changes in its environment in a timely manner.(ii)Proactiveness: intelligent agents have goal-directed behavior. Goal-directed behavior supposes that an agent will dynamically change its behavior in order to achieve its goals. Wooldridge describes this as an agent’s ability to “take the initiative.”(iii)Social ability: intelligent agents are able to interact with other intelligent agents. Social ability connotes more than the simple passing of data between different software and hardware entities. It connotes the ability to negotiate and interact in a cooperative manner. That ability is normally created by an agent communication language (ACL), which allows agents to converse rather than simply pass data.
Not only the characteristics of reactivity, proactiveness, and social ability help us to distinguish agents from traditional hardware and software systems, it is from these characteristics, that many of another benefits (discussed in this paper) are derived.
2.3. Multi-Agent Systems
A multi-agent system is a system comprising two or more agents or intelligent agents . It is important to know that there is no overall system goal; however each separate agent has local goals . Depending on the definition of agency mentioned above, agents in a multi-agent system may or may not have the ability to communicate with each other directly. However, under Wooldridge’s definitions , intelligent agents must have social ability and therefore must be capable of communication with each other. For the sake of this paper, the authors have focused on MAS where this communication is supported. This differentiates the type of MAS discussed in this paper from other types of systems.
3. MAS in Control Engineering Applications
To know how (and why) MAS is applied in control applications requires an understanding of how MAS can be used. Nowadays, MAS is exploited in two ways [24, 25]: as an approach for building flexible and extensible hardware/software systems, and as a modeling approach.
3.1. Using MAS to Construct Robust, Flexible, and Extensible Systems
There are many control engineering applications that flexible and extensible solutions are useful for them. Flexibility is the ability to respond to dynamic situations (environment), correctly. It is very similar to autonomy, and therefore intelligent agents should be flexible, automatically. But if autonomy is the ability of an agent to plan its own actions, flexibility is to select the most proper actions from a set of actions . Some examples of flexible behavior would be like the ability to construct a new plan if a particular control action fails. Extensibility implies the ability to easily add new functionality to a system, or upgrading any existing functionality . For example, in distribution networks, a distributed network control responsible for voltage control may be extended to responsible for frequency control. Across many applications in control engineering, there is also a requirement for fault tolerance and graceful degradation: if any parts of the system fail for whatever reason, the system should still be able to meet its design objective . A MAS can provide a way for building such systems. However, the way in which a MAS provides flexibility, extensibility, and fault tolerance needs to be understood. The properties of agents that produce these qualities are examined below.
3.1.1. Autonomy
An agent encapsulates a set of functionality, (like modular or object-oriented programming ). It means that the benefits of standard interfaces and information-hiding are also available in agent programming through the use of messaging with a standard agent communication language, but there is also the additional capability of autonomous action . In an object programming, external objects can call and execute other object’s functions . However in the agent oriented programming, external agents can only send requesting messages to the action of a special agent: the autonomous agent can decide whether to fulfill the request and its priority . This can be useful in situations when an agent is receiving many requests and cannot accomplish them within a reasonable time. The autonomy of each agent and the messaging interface are useful in most of flexible and extensible systems. Because agents are not directly linked to others, then it is easy to take one out of operation or add a new one while the others are running . If one agent is stopped, any agents interacting with it can use the standard service location (Agent Management System and Directory Facilitator ) facilities to locate another agent that performs the same task, and by this mechanism, new agents can be added within the system too. The agent framework provides the functionality for messaging and service location, it means that new agent integration and communications are handled without effort from the system designer . This create extensible systems: extra functionality can be added by deploying new agents in system, which use service location to find others to communicate with; and some parts of systems can be upgraded by deploying a replacement agent and removing the old one. Flexibility also considers the appropriate mixture of agents that can be deployed to qualify the individual situations or conditions, and flexible handling of messages between agents that allows the system to self-configure.
3.1.2. Open MAS Architectures
An open agent architecture places no restrictions on the programming language of the system, and allows flexible communication between all agents. This is achievable because of messaging standards . The separation of an agent from its environment means that the messaging language that an agent understands is important for interagent communication, rather than the programming language it was implemented with. A set of standards for an open architecture is defined by the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPAs) [30, 31]. The FIPA Agent Management Reference Model includes the “framework in which FIPA agents exist,” defining standards for creating, locating, removing, and communicating with agents. This is generally called the agent platform, and is one part of an agent’s environment. One requirement of an open agent architecture is that the platform places no restrictions on the creation and messaging of agents, while a second is that some mechanism must be available for locating particular agents or agents offering particular services within the platform. Under the FIPA model, this is achieved through a separate agent called the Directory Facilitator. It is an agent that manages a list of services offered by other agents within the platform . A closed architecture removes the possibility of an extensible or flexible system, severely limiting the benefits of using agents.
3.1.3. Platform for Distributed Systems
An agent is separate from its environment, it means that it can be placed in different environments and still has the same goals and abilities (as the agent autonomously schedules action in the response to sensor inputs and messages). For this reason, an agent is distributable and does not have any fixed ties to its environment. In practice, distribution of agents through a network is supported by the agent platform. The platform can be deployed on every computer and the agents are deployed within the platform as usual . On a platform, there is no difference between agents on the same computer and agents on a different computer. This means that the same set of agents can be deployed on one computer, and alternatively on multiple networked computers, without modifying or changing the agent code .
3.1.4. Fault Tolerance
Building redundancy into systems is one of the standard engineering approaches to gaining fault tolerance. Building redundancy in MAS involves providing more than one agent with a given set of abilities. If an agent needs the services of a second agent to accomplish its goals, and the second agent fails, the agent can seek an alternative agent (perhaps using the Directory Facilitator) to provide the services it requires . This redundancy may be provided by simple duplication of each agent, and with distribution of duplicates across different computers. Also, the flexibility offered by an open architecture of agents with social ability will provide a tolerance to physical faults, such as the loss of a network connection, or damage to a computer.
3.2. Multi-Agent Systems as a Modeling Approach
Multi-agent systems are more than a systems integration method; they also provide a modeling approach. An agent system can represent a real-world with entities’ interaction. Natural representation of the world has been given as an advantage of object-oriented (OO) systems design , where entities in a system are modeled as objects. The main benefit of the object programming is data-encapsulation. Agent-based design adds another level of abstraction to this: not only the internal data structures, but also the “methods” (actions) which an agent can do are hidden . However, many control engineering applications can apply this way of viewing the world, such as power systems operation and control. Generators have a degree of autonomy and cannot be directly affected by external system actors ; therefore, they can be represented by agents. Such an application would be using agents for both their modeling properties and also as a way of building a flexible, extensible system.
4. Control Engineering Applications
In this section some control engineering applications which multi-agent systems can show their potential benefits more than another kind of controls are described.
4.1. Manufacturing Control
Recently globalization caused traditional manufacturing systems change to inherently multidisciplinary tasks. Then the manufacturing system of 21 century consists of a new complicated set of people, software systems, processes, and equipments (hardware) . The management and control of such systems are a multidisciplinary task based on knowledge of manufacturing strategies, planning, and operations, and is integrated with communication, information, and control functions, of the whole system [34–36].
The computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) concept has been introduced as a global solution that can deal with all of the mentioned challenges and create more flexibility in product spectrum and processes, agility of the production system, more responsiveness, and integration of hardware and software components [37, 38]. However such a centralized structure is not reliable and leads to system unavailability by single failures at one point in it . For this reason, it changed from a centralized model to a decentralized one.
One structure is to have a group of distributed autonomous, intelligent, fault tolerant, and reusable manufacturing units, which operate as a set of cooperating entities. Each entity is capable to dynamically interact with each other to achieve both local and global manufacturing goals. This new generation of manufacturing systems is named intelligent manufacturing systems (IMSs) [1, 2, 40]. Because of huge amount of interactions between the different components and the variety of performed functions, the control system of IMS is currently built in a distributed manner .
Definitely an IMS system is a kind of multi-agent system which entities are agents that are autonomously distributed and interact with each other to get system global goals. A software agent approach seems very suited with the control and supervision of each component of an IMS.
Agent-based software systems are becoming a control software technology for manufacturing control systems. A multi-agent based platform can offer distributed intelligent control functions with communication, cooperation, and synchronization capabilities that can cover the behavior specifications of components and also the production specifications to be fulfilled by the manufacturing system (see, ).
4.2. Congestion Control
Congestion control concerns controlling of traffic entry into a network (such as telecommunications network, urban and air traffic network , and all networks that consist of links and switches, and the controls that govern their operation, that allows for data transfer among links), to avoid congestive problems by controlling the rate of sending packets, and prevents the sender from crushing the receiver with flow control .
Since most kinds of networks are distributed geographically then a centralized congestion control cannot be scalable and reliable, in this case a distributed control is a good solution to flow control and prevent of congestion problems (like deadlock): each node (switch) can be controlled by one intelligent agent, that autonomously acts and has relation with its environment (network) also each agent can communicate with other agents (that are responsible for other nodes) to transmit its data sending and receiving rate and know about the traffic flow of each other, so the network can be seen as a multi-agent system able to evaluate, at each period, the values of the different parameters depending on the state of the node, Note that in this scheme cooperation between the agents can be used in the sense of “cooperation for resolution” and can also permit the agents to mutually increase their knowledge by exchanging information periodically about their behavior and knowledge. Moreover, the agents can take local decisions immediately when they have enough knowledge. When the network is not too loaded, it is possible to exchange information on the life of the network to update and improve the agents’ knowledge. This implies that the agents are able to cooperate and to make better decisions using historical data.
Also multi-agent systems can make a logical network resource configuration management to comply with changes in user demand. Therefore this kind of controllers improve high bandwidth delay product networks, lossy links, fairness, advantage to short flows, and variable-rate links. Moreover by considering the fairness criterion they use max-min, proportional, and minimum potential delay.
4.3. Distributed Control
A distributed control system (DCS) refers to a control system of a manufacturing system, process or any kind of dynamic system, which the controller elements are not central but are distributed throughout the system that each component controlled by one or more controllers. The entire system is connected by networks for communication and monitoring .
DCS is a broad term used in different industries, to monitor and control distributed equipments :(i)electrical power grids and electrical generation plants, (ii)environmental control systems,(iii)traffic signals, (iv)water management systems, (v)oil refining plants, (vi)chemical plants,(vii)pharmaceutical manufacturing,(viii)sensor networks,(ix)dry cargo and bulk oil carrier ships.
It is a system composed of components which are interconnected by communication network, the subsystems are able to cooperate between themselves as well as recognize system failure states. The behavior of this system has features that are appeared in multi-agent systems. Therefore it is a well-defined area to control with multi-agent structures.
In general a DCS consists of four levels which are as follows :(i)technological level,(ii)supervisory level,(iii)information level,(iv)management level.
Technological level is represented by controllers, sensors, and specific component of system. All of them are connected with several networks. Supervisory level is a separated level of DCS. Its Main function is interaction between operators and technological process with real conditions. Information level contains information of technological process saved in huge database system. Management level includes tools for OLAP (online analyses processing) which provide final data for top management.
The DCS architecture mentioned above shows that it is necessary to extend intelligence into all levels of DCS. Some principles of DCS that can be related to MAS are described as follows (i)First principle in DCS design is called the principle of direct communication of elements and says that technological level should have direct communication with elements on higher levels. This level should be implemented by some local agents in multi-agent systems. They can be information agents or collaborative agents. Each local agent is responsible for stability, robustness and reliability of its local area. They have correlation with each other in a good manner. (ii)Gateway principle in supervisory level of DCS. This principle is an extension of the first principle, where connection between technological and supervisory levels is direct, but if supervisory level is in large-scaled, it is efficient to use gateway communication server (gateway). This level can be implemented using an agent, as a supervisory agent and send supervisory signals to local agents for monitoring them.
In the considered DCS, an agent can be represented by intelligent components used within sensors, controllers, and actuators. Thus, in a DCS, multi-agent behavior can appear as follows (i)Recognize the system states–change of logical structure, agent’s (component’s) failure.(ii)Ability to apply the reconfiguration mechanism when an agent’s failure is occurred.
So this is an area that multi-agent systems can show their potential benefits more than another kind of control engineering applications because of its distributed nature.
4.4. Hybrid Control
Hybrid systems are generally reactive systems that consist of discrete and continuous components . The discrete part of the system makes decision to switch to a set of control rules; however the continuous part works according to that rules. There are a lot of examples such as computers, manufacturing production and power stations which are designed to control and supervise the behavior of the continuous components. Also the applications of hybrid systems are vast, as the most of today’s control systems use computers, and even use software to control physical processes. Therefore, it causes a lot of interest in the academic communities and industry .
Hybrid systems model the interactions between logical elements and continuous systems. This includes a variety of mathematical and engineering disciplines such as differential geometry, differential and difference equations, optimal control, automata theory, discrete event systems, data structures, and computation . This is a new phenomenon for control engineers and computer scientists.
Hybrid systems are not only hard to model but also hard to analyze and simulate. In fact, a unified theory has not been created yet for them. However, nowadays intelligent solutions are in use to solve the modeling problem of this kind of systems, increasingly.
Because of complexity, problems that have similar requirements have been decomposed and modeled as systems of multiple interacting intelligent agents. Multi-agent systems can develop flexible intelligent behavior and coordination schemes, but their solutions are not easily represented or analyzed mathematically. Then to use both MAS capabilities and mathematical representation/analysis of system, a new agent framework that requires a modification to the basic agent paradigm to make its dynamics accessible for control design and has mentioned features is proposed in .
In the modified agent framework, a hybrid control system is embedded in the core of the agent (see, Figure 1). Also, the abstract “agent state” in Figure 1 is replaced with a hybrid automaton and a controller, while the “agent process” retains its intelligence and coordination function. This makes it possible to represent systems with multiple modes and to design suitable control laws that are valid for each of these modes. Moreover, existing mathematical tools (e.g., from the theory of discrete event systems) can be used to describe and analyze systems based on this kind of agent framework. The Hybrid Intelligent Control Agent (HICA) represents this kind of intelligent agent paradigm. HICA is an intelligent agent wrapped around a hybrid control system core. HICA agents are developed to have stable internal dynamics .
4.5. Remote Control
In a transmission network many substations and components are unmanned, and therefore must be controlled remotely. Currently this is normally done from a control center, using dedicated network links to the substation. There is the possibility of using mobile agents as a control mechanism to allow users to remotely control the substation plant over a standard IP network. A modern distributed industrial system, such as a power transmission system, consists of many sites distributed throughout a wide area. Each site contains a number of monitoring and control devices which perform various tasks such as condition monitoring, control, and protection. However, substations are often connected by networks with low bandwidth, which makes remote access to these devices for control or monitoring relatively difficult. Therefore, mobile agents are used for remote access to devices .
A mobile agent is a computer program, consisting of both code and data that is able to transmit between computers . In addition, in many cases mobile agents provide more gains in performance compared to client-server methods. The agent is given the address of a server agent. When the agent starts, it will move to the server agent and carry out the interactions with the device. A sequence of actions represented by FIPA SL is given to the agent. For each of these actions, the agent will either perform it itself by moving to the substation and interacting with the appropriate intelligent electronic device (IED) or IEDs, or will request another agent capable of performing the action to do it .
In recent years, using mobile agents in wide area controls to remote monitoring, remote supervisory, remote control and distributed control have been more common and many control applications improve their abilities using mobile agent capabilities in their systems.
4.6. Industrial Control
Industrial control system (ICS) is a general term that encompasses several types of control systems, including supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, distributed control systems (DCS), and other smaller control system configurations such as skid-mounted Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) often found in the industrial sectors and critical infrastructures. ICSs are typically used in industries such as electrical, water, oil and gas, data. Based on information received from remote stations, automated, or operator-driven supervisory commands can be pushed to remote station control devices, which are often referred to as field devices. Field devices control local operations such as opening and closing valves and breakers, collecting data from sensor systems, and monitoring the local environment for alarm conditions .
Power system stability is one of the main concerning topics in ICS and has been studied widely from many years ago. Many significant contributions have been made, not only in the direction of analyzing and explaining the dynamic concept, but also to improve the stability of transmission systems. Among these techniques, generator control is one of the most widely applied in the power industry. This typically includes load frequency control (LFC) or automatic generation control (AGC) and excitation controls . LFC/AGC is a very important issue in power system operation and control for supplying sufficient and reliable electric power .
In a power system, sometimes an imbalance between the actual and the scheduled generation power is occurred. This imbalance leads to a frequency error that is the difference between the actual and the synchronous frequency. The magnitude of the frequency error is an indication of how well the power system is capable to balance the actual and the scheduled generation . To reduce the frequency error, different controllers are proposed for the AGC problem. In a centralized controller is designed for the two area system, which requires the knowledge of the whole system. In [57, 58] decentralized controllers for a two area system are proposed. These controllers are designed based on modern control theory, and each area requires knowledge of the other area. If the dimensions of the power system increase, then these controllers may become more complex as the number of the state variables increase significantly.
Moreover, most of the centralized and decentralized controllers are designed for a specific disturbance, and if the nature of the disturbance varies, they may not act as expected. Also, due to the fact that these controllers are designed using a linear model, the inherent nonlinearities of the system are not mentioned and controlled there. Therefore, design of an adaptive controller is an interesting approach.
Multi-agent system with distributed and correlated features can be a good solution for AGC problem in multi areas. Furthermore, using intelligent agents in MAS it can manage inherently nonlinearities aspects that are appeared in reality of power systems. Such a control system used in consists of some online local decentralized controllers supervised by a global controller. The controllers are designed independent of system parameters, and hence will learn to control the areas of the system in response to load variations.
4.7. Multi-Robot Systems Control
Multi-Robot Systems (MRSs) can often be used to fulfill the tasks that are difficult to be accomplished by an individual robot, especially in the presence of uncertainties, incomplete information, distributed control, and asynchronous computation, and so forth.
Research activity in MRSs has increased substantially in the last few years. Topics include cooperative manipulation , multi-robot motion planning, collaborative mapping and exploration , software architectures for multi-robotic systems , and formation control . Many practical and potential applications, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), spacecraft, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), ground mobile robots, and other robot-based applications in hazardous and/or unknown environments can benefit from the use of MRSs. Therefore, MRSs have received considerable attention during the last decade [64–67].
Another significant development of MRS stems from the studies on biological systems or complex models arising in cognitive science and economics (see, e.g., ), that most of them deal with a large number of robotic agents and the MRS is thus viewed as a swarm [68, 69], or a colony or, more generally, as a robot collective .
Therefore, there have been many challenging issues in MRSs. These challenges often involve the realization of basic behaviors, such as trajectory tracking, formation-keeping control, and collision avoidance, or allocating tasks, communication, coordinating actions, and team reasoning.
One way to resolve the above challenges is gained through cooperative control, since it allows the development of complex behavior based on several controllers combined to achieve the desired result. Moreover the multi-agent systems approach to distributed control systems is widely spread for important utilities it provides. They offer a decentralized control model based on agents. Then integrating these two lines of research (the multi-agent systems and the cooperative control approaches) results in a multi-agent architecture of cooperative controls.
In this approach several elements, namely, agents, cooperate with each other to reach their own goals, and these goals sum up to the final goal of the whole system. Since the multi-agent system is inherently multi-threaded, each agent has its own thread of control; each agent decides whether or not to perform an action on request from another agent (autonomy); and each agent exhibits a reactive, proactive and social behavior (flexibility). In addition, no centralized arbiter is defined, but the coordination of all the agents achieving a common goal (robot goals) is peer to-peer based.
Therefore, the tasks to be accomplished to achieve a global goal are distributed between agents and each agent is to perform its special task (each agent in the system has its own control block).
Also multi-agent systems can help to robot motion planning, robot navigation and cause to system reliability by controlling a group of mobile robots to complete multiple tasks simultaneously. By cooperative and competitive behavior of the agents the group of mobile robot can automatically arrange the total task and dynamically adjust their motion whenever the environment is changed. Also multi-agent systems can control a group of mobile robots to complete multiple tasks at different locations, such that the desired number of robots will arrive at every target location from arbitrary initial locations. The robot motion planning, such that the robots can start to move before their destinations are finalized and the robot navigation can be dynamically adjusted to guarantee that each target location has the desired number of robots, even under unexpected uncertainties, such as when some robots break down, some robots and/or some tasks are added, or some tasks are changed can manage easily using multi-agent systems too.
4.8. Formation Control
Formation control has become one of the well-known problems in multi-robot systems. Compared with a single mobile robot, many advantages of a network of mobile robots working together have been shown in many tasks, such as object transportation, mobile sensor networks, cooperative classification and surveillance, robotic soccer, and so forth .
Formation control is an important technique to achieve cooperative behavior in multi-robot systems. The task is to control a group of mobile robots to follow a predefined path or trajectory, while maintaining a desired formation pattern. Its outcomes offer a wide range of applications, such as security patrols, search and rescue in hazardous environments, area coverage, and reconnaissance in military missions. Formation control does not restrict itself only to ground mobile robots. It can be applied to aircrafts, especially unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), spacecrafts, surface vessels, or underwater vehicles .
Since using groups of artificial agents could similarly benefit to formation tactics, robotics researchers and those in the artificial life community develop multi-agent systems to formation behaviors for simulated robots .
Using multi-agent systems to formation control require individual agents to satisfy their kinematics while constantly satisfying interagent constraints. In typical leader-follower formations, the leader has the responsibility of guiding the group, while the followers have the- responsibility of maintaining the interagent formation. Distributing the group control tasks to individual agents must be compatible with the control and sensing capabilities of the individual agents. As the interagent dependencies get more complicated, a systematic framework for controlling formations is vital .
One of the applications of formation control using MAS is a framework for formation control of multi-robot systems. In this framework formations can be modeled using formation graphs which are graphs whose nodes capture the individual agent kinematics, and whose edges represent interagent constraints that must be satisfied. Two distinct types of formations are considered: undirected formations and directed formations. In undirected formations each agent is equally responsible for maintaining the formation. For each edge constraining two agents of the formation graph, both agents cooperate in order to satisfy the constraint. Undirected formations, therefore, present a more centralized approach to the formation control problem as communication between agents is, in general, necessary. In directed formations, for each edge constraining two agents, only one of the agents (the follower) is responsible for maintaining the constraint. Directed formations, therefore, represent a more decentralized solution to the formation control problem.
Another formation strategy for coordinated control of groups of mobile robot is as follow: each mobile robot captures the individual agent that relies only on locally available information, namely, the relative locations of a sensed subgroup of agents. Global information and communication are not required. Instead, in this approach local sensors (perhaps vision) can be used to generate effective global group behavior.
5. Technical Challenges and MAS in Control Engineering
While the benefits of agent technology and some control engineering applications that MAS can be used within have been described, it is important to identify the key technical challenges that should be overcome to allow most effective implementation of multi-agent systems within the control engineering. These include what follows:(i)Platforms: a number of multi-agent system platforms exist (e.g., JADE [30, 75], JASON ). The necessity to develop agents that can interact with each other is fundamental to the development of flexible, extensible, open architectures. For this reason, platform choice is extremely important.(ii)Toolkits: according to the increasing amount of agent research within the control engineering systems, there is the opportunity to reuse agent designs and functionality. Therefore, there are some toolkits [77, 78], which allow the reuse of existing agent behaviors and capabilities. (iii)Intelligent agent design: a number of different architectures for intelligent agents can be found in the literature including belief desire and intention agents (BDI) , reactive agents , agents with layered architectures , and agents implemented using model-based programming . Each of these implementation strategies will produce agents with different degrees of reactivity, proactiveness and social abilities. What is not easily understood is how flexible autonomy varies across these implementation strategies and their suitability for different kind of control engineering applications.(iv)Agent communication languages and ontologies: foundation of agents’ social ability is agent communication languages. These define how agents exchange information, communicate, and negotiate. There are some protocols and content languages within them which allow meaningful messages sending. International standards are set by the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPAs) . An important point of using agent-based technology is that all agents within control engineering applications should be able to cooperate and interoperate. Therefore, the community must agree on appropriate agent communication language standards. This includes the area of ontologies which define the terms and concepts which agents are able to exchange, interpret, and understand.(v)Security: due to the peer-to-peer communication between agents, security can be a key problem. There must be measures to determine the level of trust between agents and the security of messaging . Competitive agents may be needs more services. Similarly, communication between two agents is open to attacks such as sender spoofing (the message claims that be from a more trusted agent) and message modification (a message is changed while traveling between agents, particularly in negotiation situations). (vi)Mobility: a number of researchers are interested in mobile agents, which move completely (source code and data) from machine to machine . While this has been suggested within a few control engineering applications, no credible reason for using this approach is clear. In , Pěchouček and Thompson say “People often claim that agent mobility is inevitable and more essential than is actually the case. Often, migration of data or simple communication is sufficient, rather than migration of an agent’s code.”
Moreover, technical and implementation issues described above, the lack of experiences of using multi-agent system technology in industry is an obvious problem of manufacturers considering MAS solutions. According to Wooldridge and Jennings , the migration of an agent system from prototype to a solution that is robust and reliable enough to be used in practice is a nontrivial step. This requires the exhibition of MAS technology in the industrial environment for some applications. Furthermore, there is also a requirement for clear reporting of industrial experiments results of MAS technology, failures and problems as well as successes.
6. Implementation Issues and Further Investigation
6.1. Agents Implementation
None of the design methodologies mentioned above help for selection of a specific pattern of agent implementation as they display the correct levels of reactivity, proactiveness, and social ability. An agent can be conceptualized as a black box which sends and receives messages and interacts with its environment autonomously. However, the functionality of engineering multi-agent systems means that developer need the different agent design options or agent anatomies, and their characteristics so that developers can select the best appropriate agent anatomy related to their applications.
6.1.1. Agent Structures
Various approaches to build autonomous intelligent agents can be found in literature: Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) agents, reactive agents, agents with layered architectures , and agents implemented using model-based programming . The BDI approach to building agents is based on mental models of an agent’s beliefs, desires, and intentions. It considers agents to have beliefs (about itself, other agents and its environments), desires (about future states), and intentions (about its own future actions) and is particularly useful for(i)developing formal models of agents,(ii)developing a deep model of agent communication,(iii)inferring an agent’s internal state from its behavior Wooldridge lists four characteristics of intelligent agents which naturally fit the purpose and design of the BDI model :(iv)situated—they are embedded in their environment, (v)goal directed—they have goals that they try to achieve, (vi)reactive—they react to changes in their environment, (vii)social—they can communicate with other agents (including humans).
Reactive agents are normally associated with the model of intelligence. The fundamental property of reactive agents is that they do not perform reasoning through interaction with environment. Instead they react to inputs from their environment and messages from other agents . They are easy to implement, but the proactiveness of the agents it produces is arguable. Several layered agent anatomies are discussed in . As an example, agents developed for the JADE platform consist of three basic layers : a message handling layer, a behavioral layer, and functional layer (see, Figure 2). The functional layer has the core functional attributes of the agent, that is, the actions the agent can perform. The behavioral layer provides control to when an agent will carry out specific tasks. The behavioral layer will instruct the message handling layer to inform other agents of the new data. Similarly, the action taken by an agent in response to the receipt of a new message is decided in the behavioral layer. The message handling layer is responsible for sending and receiving of messages from other agents, (here the related ACL and ontology parsers are implemented) as well as the functionality for the control of conversations with other agents .
6.1.2. Tools for Agents and MAS Implementation
In recent years, both commercial and open source agent development tools have become available . When implementing a multi-agent system, truly selection of MAS development tools is required. Firstly, the toolset has to agree with the standards that developers want. Secondly, agents implemented using the chosen toolset must display a level of robustness required for the application. JADE has become a favorite by researchers in control engineering in recent years. While JADE supports FIPA standards and agent’s robustness make it attractive, it also has a certain style of agent implementation which may not be optimal for exploiting autonomy. Regardless of the agent anatomies, there is an opportunity to reuse agent designs and functionality for other applications in the whole community. Therefore, there is a role for toolkits that allow the reuse of existing agent functions, behaviors, and capabilities tuned for applications to control engineering problems. The extension of ontologies may also help reduce the development costs of multi-agent systems and promote interaction between them.
6.2. Discussions
MAS is now investigated as a new approach for control systems modeling and implementation. This causes a necessary need to various methods of problem analysis and agent-based programming to construct efficient, distributed problem-solving and well-coordinated interactions agents. We may say that there is a need for using of several simultaneous complementary (and sometimes overlapping) models of agency in control engineering applications . Theories behind these models take into account the agents’ desired behavior and “subjective” motivations internal to the agents based on their explicit intentions and commitments .
Current and future research is (should be) directed towards the using of such models of agency which are responsible for agents (and multi-agent) rationality (logical and economic), sociability, interactivity, and adaptability in real applications. These kinds of models and agencies features have not been considered in many of MAS control engineering applications, yet. Using the capabilities of MAS (as mentioned earlier) can help to provide more effective problem solutions in these areas.
Also some MAS applications in control engineering need some improvement. In another word, delays will affect on transmission and reception of supervisory and coordination signals in all areas. Therefore, an important extension to some MAS usages in control applications would be to undertake some analytical studies of multi-agent stability in the presence of significant communication delays .
7. Conclusion
This paper has defined the fundamental terms and concepts that are related to multi-agent systems, discussed why it is being used for a number of control engineering applications and a survey of recent works has been used to highlight the application areas for which the MAS technology is currently being investigated. It also has discussed how the MAS should be designed and implemented for control engineering applications.
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Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Fatemeh Daneshfar and Hassan Bevrani. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jcse/2009/531080/
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In 2nd July 2018, ADF Secretariat has been accepted to have an audience meeting with Mr. Stephen Quick as Deputy Ambassador of Singapore Permanent Representative to ASEAN in his office in Jakarta. ADF Secretariat has requested to discuss the proposal recommendation of Joint Working Group with Mr. Stephen Quick to assist the implementation for the draft of Enabling Masterplan 2025: Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in ASEAN.
He welcomed and appreciated the proposal recommendation drafted by ADF and extended some advice to engage with SOMSWD and other ASEAN dialogue partner to lobby and realize the recommendation on Joint Working Group.
In 17th October 2018 at the Office of Norwegian Embassy Audiences to H.E. Morten HogLund , the Norway Ambassador for ASEAN, as a follow up ADF Diplomatic briefing, He is very much welcome ADF and the ASEAN Enabling Masterplan 2025 for Persons with Disabilities
In 25st January 2019, ADF has been accepted to have an audience meeting with Amb. Phasporn Sangasubana of CPR Thailand. Support the idea of a regional joint working group.
ADF Secretariat has met Ms. Elaine Tan of the ASEAN Foundation in 21st January 2019, Amb. Ade Padmo of CPR Indonesia in 22nd January 2019, Amb. Stephen Quick of CPR Singapore in 24th January 2019.
Ms. Elaiene Tan, the Director of ASEAN Foundation also suggested ADF focusing to implement one priority of the masterplan’s key action points. That way, it is easier, feasible, and achievable instead of putting the efforts to implement all action points. CPR Singapore gave similar advice to engage with ASEAN Women Circle and CPR in ADF signature activities. But, ADF should start mapping out and reach connection to the philanthropic communities and entrepreneurs.
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https://www.aseandisabilityforum.com/post/asean-disability-forum-adf-audience-meeting
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BY NY Staff
The Studies & Economic Media Center & Economic Reforms Team, in cooperation with the Public Authority for Investment, recently held a consultative meeting between private sector leaders and the General Authority for Investment to discuss future partnership mechanisms to improve Yemen’s investment environment.
SEMC Chairman Mustafa Nasr emphasized the need for substantial legislative amendments at the meeting, which was held at the Businessmen’s Club in Sana’a.
Nasr pointed to efforts by the Economic Reform Team that combined 24 private sector leaders, civil society representatives and experts to discuss development priorities in the next ‘phase’, when the team will work to complete its efforts to create practical mechanisms to implement economic reform and improve the state of investment in the country.
Nasr also explained that it’s the first time that private sector and civil society are working together to enhance their voices as active partners with the government. He spoke about the recent donor conferences, government priorities for the transitional period, and the discussion of a draft law covering the partnership between the government and the private sector.
The head of Economic Reform Team, Ahmed Bazara’a, discussed the stages in which the team will prepare the economic reform visions and economic priorities, based on extensive discussions with private sector leaders in major Yemeni governorates.
Bazara’a stressed that while the government’s interest in partnerships with the private sector is something positive, such efforts must meet the needs that come with building a ‘new Yemen’.
Program manager for the Middle East and North Africa at the Center of International Private Enterprise (CIPE) Abdulwahab AL-Kibsi spoke about the center’s role in democratic reform from an economic point of view and pointed to the role that should be played by the private sector. He confirmed that the center is ready to adopt initiatives that contribute to the promotion of democratic reform in Yemen.
The acting head of the Public Authority for Investment, Mohammed Hussain, reviewed demands for amending the investment law which was issued in 2010, and pointed out many of the flaws which surround the law, and particularly what he perceived to be an unattractive investment environment.
Hussein discussed a wide variety of investment-related issues with those in attendance, such as stalled projects and other problems faced by investors in Yemen. He conveyed the authority’s commitment to working in full partnership with the private sector and with civil society organizations.
At the conclusion of the meeting, participants recommended constructing a committee of private sector individuals and experts to provide feedback on amendments to the investment law, as well as to contribute to the formulation of new policies.
The SEMC has been working together with the CIPE on economic reforms since for almost a year.
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https://nationalyemen.com/2012/11/11/amendments-to-investment-law-discussed/
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Question: Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov will visit London on March 4-5. What are the goals and tasks of this visit?
Answer: Ivanov's meeting with his British counterpart Jack Straw will further the intensive bilateral political dialogue manifesting high trust, mutual commitment to seeking acceptable solutions to the problems concerned, including in international affairs.
The forthcoming exchange of opinions on the key issues of bilateral and international agenda will take place against the current groundwork for the June visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Great Britain.
Question: Apparently, the Iraqi problem is highly likely to be central to the talks?
Answer: It would seem so. The situation around Iraq will receive special attention. The Russian side deems it important to avert any new conflicts in the Middle East and is ready to use its entire diplomatic arsenal with a view to solving the critical situation by peaceful political means. We proceed from the fact that though Moscow and London differ on the Iraqi problem, this should not prevent them from harmonising their positions.
However, the Iraqi issue is not the only priority on the Russian-British agenda. Russia-Nato and Russia-EU relations will also come under discussion. Our relations with the EU should advance towards specific results seeking to form a common pan-European space in the economic, security and law-enforcement spheres, intensify political dialogue, and aimed at gradual transition to visa-free travelling of Russian and EU people.
We intend to discuss the opportunities of further revealing the potential of the Russia-Nato Council. We expect London to continue playing an active role in this process.
The sides will also consider non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in Asia and will in particular spotlight the situation in the South Asian subcontinent and on the Korean peninsula, especially in view of the current arrangements for the review conference on the Treaty on the Nuclear Non-proliferation.
The centrepiece of our dialogue with London remains the anti-terrorist fight. Russia and Great Britain's positions are close or coincide which is a precondition for closer bilateral co-operation. In practice, this is manifest from the effective working group for combating terror and drug trafficking. Ways of further co-ordinating efforts in this area will be also considered.
Question: What are the topical aspects of bilateral relations, especially in the economic area?
Answer: Investments in trade and economic co-operation are becoming particularly important. According to the preliminary estimates, in 2002 Great Britain ranked third among foreign investors in Russian economy. Serious progress is expected in this sphere in view of British Petroleum's recent decision to invest heavily in Russia's fuel and energy sector.
Question: As it has been announced, on March 11-12 Igor Ivanov will visit Iran. What significance is attached to this visit? What will be on the agenda of the forthcoming talks in Teheran?
Answer: Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov will stay in Teheran on the invitation by Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi. The visit will be official and is called upon to make considerable contribution to the expansion of interaction between the Russian and Iranian foreign ministries.
The parties will discuss a wide range of issues of bilateral Russian-Iranian co-operation, international and regional problems. In particular, the agenda of the talks will include the issues of strategic stability and international security, disarmament, non-proliferation and export control, the struggle against international terrorism and drugs smuggling, the problems of Afghanistan, Iraq, the Caspian Sea, Central Asia and Trans-Caucasia, South Asia and consular relations.
The parties will pay special attention to the Iraq situation. Russia and Iran firmly stand against the military scenario in the Persian Gulf and speak for the settlement of the Iraq crisis by political and diplomatic means.
The parties intend to discuss in greater detail the issues related to Afghanistan where, in the common opinion of Moscow and Teheran, the threat to security caused by the attempts of the supporters of the Taliban movement and Al-Qaeda to regroup their forces continues to be serious. In particular, the parties will discuss the possibility for joint actions to support the Afghan provisional administration in its efforts to restore peace in the country and revive the economic infrastructure.
Question: What could you say about the general climate, the nature, the level, the state and the prospects of Russia's relations with Iran on the eve of Igor Ivanov's visit to that country?
Answer: We are satisfied with the current level of relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, our neighbour and an important regional partner in the Middle East and on the Asian continent as a whole. Today the Russian-Iranian relations have a solid contractual and legal base, which has been further strengthened after the Presidents of Russia and Iran signed in 2001 the Treaty on the fundamentals of mutual relations and the principles of bilateral co-operation and after that Treaty came into force last year.
Both countries maintain a constant political dialogue, including at the highest and high levels. In particular, the foreign political departments of both countries constantly exchange their opinions on the most topical issues of international and regional politics. Let me remind you as an example that since the start of this year we have already held consultations with the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Moscow on the struggle against terrorism and regional security, and also negotiations in Teheran on the UN issues.
Trade and economic co-operation is a major component of relations between Russia and Iran. It is characterised by stable positive dynamics. In 2002 bilateral trade amounted to $801.1 million. There is also potential for further growth.
The visit by Igor Ivanov to Teheran will take place on the eve of a regular session of the standing Russian-Iranian commission on trade and economic co-operation to be held there. The forthcoming political and economic contacts with Iran at the high level will give a strong impetus to further development of diverse and mutually advantageous co-operation with that country.
Question: What are the prospects for closer interaction of Russia and Iran on the international scene?
Answer: Russia highly values the current level of friendly and good neighbourly partnership with Iran and considers it as an important factor of strengthening stability and security in the Middle and Near East.
The Russian-Iranian interaction on the international scene on the topical issues of international and regional policy is based on the commitment of both countries to the ideas of a multi-polar world and a dialogue between civilisations, the UN central role in international affairs, the supremacy of international law in the settlement of crisis situations, the strengthening of the regime of non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons and the prevention of the arms race in space.
Russia and Iran are unanimous in their opinion about the importance of uniting the efforts of the international community in the struggle against terrorism as the most important component of the global system of addressing new challenges and threats. Proceeding from this, Russia intends to discuss in Teheran measures to strengthen bilateral and international co-operation on the anti-terrorist and anti-drugs basis and to create a solid international legal base of such interaction.
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https://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/22552-n/
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Japan, China tug-of-war ends in draw at Asem
Japan and China ended up in a diplomatic draw with regard to the wording of the chairman’s statement at the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem), held until Saturday in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.
The meeting was the first summit-level international gathering since a court of arbitration issued a ruling that rejected China’s sovereignty claims over the South China Sea.
During the meeting, Japan led the movement to form international efforts to restrain China, while the Chinese side made a strong attempt to prevent such actions.
Winning majority
In a discussion at the summit on Saturday morning, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged China to accept the court’s ruling on the South China Sea issue, saying, “The rule of law is a universal principle that the international community must firmly maintain.”
READ: Tokyo seeks to pressure Beijing on South China Sea ruling
Several other leaders mentioned the ruling. A senior government official said: “Discussions during the meeting were satisfactory. We were successful in putting restraint [on China].”
Abe also tried bilateral meetings to establish international efforts to restrain China.
On Friday, Abe held meetings with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, who confirmed their stance on respecting the ruling. Abe made clear that he backs those countries who confront China over the South China Sea.
Abe held talks on Saturday with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is well known for his pro-China stance, stressing, “[the ruling] is legally binding.”
Abe held a bilateral talk on Friday with his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang. During the meeting, Abe was straightforward on the South China Sea issue.
According to sources accompanying Abe, Li glared at Abe with a displeased expression and repeated the same territorial claims as before. Meanwhile, as if he were competing against Abe, Li held bilateral meetings with leaders from more than 10 countries in an effort to deter heightening pressure on China.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, who met with Li on Thursday, supported China’s stance rejecting the arbitration ruling.
Russia and Cambodia were also said to have expressed their support or respect for China on the matter.
During its bilateral discussion with Cambodia, China promised a total of 3.6 billion yuan (US$448 million app.) in aid over the next three years. China is believed to continue to use economic assistance as a tool to gain some Southeast Asian countries’ support.
Placing importance on trade and other relations with China, not a few countries stay ambiguous on their stance toward China.
In the end, the Asem chairman’s statement failed to clearly mention the South China Sea, although it included language on the importance of resolving disputes in line with the principles of international law.
To some extent, both Japan and China were unsatisfied with the wording of the statement.
Doors open for dialogue
Abe intends to persistently demand that China comply with international law at venues such as international conferences. At the same time, he keeps a careful eye on preventing confrontation over the South China Sea from harming economic relations. At the meeting of the Japanese and Chinese prime ministers on Friday, they affirmed cooperation in the fields of counterterrorism and the economy.
The Japanese government is attempting to hold a bilateral meeting between Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 summit meeting in Hangzhou, China, in September. A Japan-China-South Korea summit is to be held in Japan by the end of this year as scheduled.
A senior official at the Foreign Ministry said: “On one hand, we draw a clear line on the issues of East and South China Seas to distinguish where we do not compromise. On the other hand, we keep doors open for dialogue and avoid further deterioration of relations.”
Some expect China to keep a restrained manner and show readiness for dialogue at least until September, when they host the G-20 meeting. Yet a diplomatic source in Beijing denied that view, saying: “There is no possibility China will compromise over territorial issues.”/rga
RELATED STORIES
Beijing faces South China Sea rebuke at Europe-Asia summit
China: ‘No reason’ to delve into sea dispute at ASEM Summit
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https://globalnation.inquirer.net/141393/japan-china-tug-of-war-ends-in-draw-at-asem
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The Liberian Cabinet has reviewed the current state of the economy with emphasis on the budget execution and its existing revenue performance.
Cabinet also received updates on commerce-related issues and has mandated appropriate corrective actions.
According to an Executive Mansion release, the Economic Management Team (EMT) and the cabinet, under the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, met separately at the weekend to discuss measures aimed at addressing the current economic situation the country faces, with emphasis on enhancing ongoing efforts to diversify through agriculture and manufacturing.
The EMT has commissioned an immediate review of the recent amendments to the Revenue Code with the aim to correct provisions that are inconsistent with the requirements of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) regime, which allows a three-year accession window to avert an unfair burden being placed on the business community and the consuming public.
Following a review of the amendments, a new bill correcting the identified inconsistencies will be submitted to the National Legislature for passage into law.
The EMT and Cabinet also noted the continuing efforts by the Central Bank of Liberia and the Ministry of Finance in the past weeks to reduce and stabilize the foreign exchange rate which have begun to yield positive results with the steady decline of the rate in favor of the Liberian dollar.
The CBL has also been mandated to review the alarming situation of capital flight and strengthen its regulatory measures so as to curb the illicit repatriation of foreign currency from the country.
On the issue of flaunting of the Liberianization Law, which reserves several businesses for the exclusive participation of Liberians, the EMT has called for a more robust enforcement by relevant Ministries and Agencies with specific emphasis on dealing with the situation wherein many citizens engage in fronting for foreigners.
Cabinet in concert with the EMT has mandated that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to conclude arrangements, which will lead to the elimination of the Import Permit Declaration (IPD) regime on the importation of certain vital commodities such as rice and flour.
The elimination of the IPD will, however, be done with strict regulatory standards to ensure quality.
The Ministry of Commerce will publish the full list of businesses reserved for Liberians, the list of IPD exempt commodities along with the regulations on quality standards that businesses must meet in order to import the listed commodities.
Additionally, President Sirleaf has placed a 60-day moratorium on all foreign travel by officials of government effective February 2017.
Those affected by the moratorium include the heads of all Ministries, Agencies and Commissions along with their deputies and assistants.
Exceptions will only be granted by the President herself following a one-on-one meeting with the official requesting to travel and if it is determined that such travel is of utmost imperative in the national interest.
Meanwhile, a meeting between the President and members of the Chamber of Commerce, the Liberia Business Association, the Liberia Marketing Association and the Yana Boys Association is scheduled for this week in an effort to engage in continuing dialogue over ways of improving the current business climate in the country.
A pending county tour to western Liberia was announced while Cabinet received briefing on the ongoing voter registration process.
In a related development, President Sirleaf briefed Cabinet on her meeting with the Arab Bank for Reconstruction and Development (BARDEA) on the margins of the recent AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
She and the bank officials discussed support for the financing of the ELWA–Red-Light road estimated at US$15 million; the establishment of a Center of Excellence; and a US$15 million facility to be managed by LBDI aimed at supporting Small and Medium Scale businesses.
Cabinet also received updates on this year’s Armed forces Day celebration, including a line-up of events, ongoing infrastructure projects across the country as well as work in progress at the Monrovia Industrial Park.
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https://gnnliberia.com/2017/02/06/cabinet-reviews-state-economy-mandates-actions/
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On the afternoon of January 22, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang Yu held a regular press conference and answered questions on China-US Strategic Dialogue, Six Foreign Ministers' meeting on the Iranian nuclear issue, China-Germany relations, China-India relations and etc.
Jiang Yu: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I have an announcement to make. At the invitation of Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of Norway will pay an official visit to China from January 28 to 31.
Now the floor is open.
Q: Could you summarize the Fifth China-US Strategic Dialogue? The US Government denominates the dialogue as "Senior Dialouge", while the Chinese Government names it as "Strategic Dialouge". Why are there two different names? US Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte gave his explanation for this at a press conference last week. Are you satisfied with his explanation?
A: We have already briefed the press on the Fifth China-US Strategic Dialogue. It was held in China from January 17 to 18. Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and US Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte co-chaired the dialogue. The two had extensive and in-depth discussion on the development and evolvement of international situation, on the means to ensure a long-term, healthy and stable development of China-US relations with a view to strengthening coordination and cooperation of the two countries in international and regional issues.
Five rounds of China-US Strategic Dialogue have been held since August 2005. In retrospect, the dialouge has served as an important platform for strategic communication between the two countries at the political level. The candid and in-depth communication on strategically important issues involving China-US relations between the two sides has undoubtedly played a positive role in enhancing mutual understanding and trust, and advancing China-US relations in all fields. It is agreed that in 2008, the two countries will continue to implement the important consensus reached by leaders, maintain high-level contact, deepen dialogue and cooperation, strengthen consultation and coordination in the international issues, properly handle the sensitive issues in bilateral relations and press ahead with the long-term, healthy and stable development of China-US relations.
I do not see any major difference in the wording. The two courtiers focused their discussions on strengthening bilateral dialogue, consultation and communication from the strategic and political perspective.
Q: The Israeli blockade of Palestine led to the power shortage in most area of Gaza. Do you have any comment? It's reported that China suggested to invite Iran to participate in Six Foreign Ministers' meeting on the Iranian nuclear issue. Can you confirm?
A: I already answered questions about Israeli blockade of the Gaza strip yesterday. China expresses concerns over the worsening of the situation in Gaza, hoping that relevant parties can adopt measures to improve humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip for the alleviation of tensions in the region.
China has all along followed and supported the peace process of the Middle East. We hope Palestine and Israel can seize the opportunity, continue to conduct serious and in-depth discussion on the final status of Palestine and adopt effective measures to achieve substantial result of the talks at an early date, with a view to establishing the independent Palestinian state in the end and realizing the peaceful coexistence of the two countries as well as peace and stability in the Middle East.
On the second question, six foreign ministers held a meeting on the Iranian nuclear issue in Berlin today. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was invited to the meeting to discuss diplomatic strategy on resolving the Iranian nuclear issue. We hope the meeting can make earnest and objective assessment of the current situation of the Iranian nuclear issue, obtain diplomatic result, so as to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue comprehensively and properly. China supports any suggestion conducive to achieving the above-mentioned goals. On the Iranian nuclear issue, various parties raised some proposals. China also played a constructive role in relevant discussions.
Follow-up: But Israel's blockade in Gaza is not a simple humanitarian issue. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that there are some fine-tuning in your position on Palestine-Israel disputes?
A: China upholds that Palestine and Israel should build up mutual trust, and sit down for political negotiations on the basis of UN "land for peace" resolutions, Arab peace initiative and Middle East "road map". They should solve disputes through dialogue for the ultimate realization of peaceful coexistence between the two countries and two nations.
Q: What's China's position on some illegal DPRK immigrants' request for asylum at foreign embassies in China?
A: China's position on this question is clear and consistent. These illegal DPRK immigrants came to China for economic reasons. They are not refugees. We have handled the issue according to domestic and international laws as well as humanitarian principle, which has been understood by relevant parties.
Q: Just now you said that China wants a serious and objective assessment over the present situation during the current six-nation meeting on the Iranian nuclear issue. What in your view is a serious and objective assessment?
A: Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will expound on China's principles and positions on the Iranian nuclear issue at the meeting, please keep an eye on it.
Mr. Jalili, Secretary of the Iran's Supreme National Security Council and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator was in China last week. During his visit, Chinese leaders met with him and expounded on China's position on the Iranian nuclear issue. China maintains that the issue should be solved through diplomatic negotiations, and supports international non-proliferation regime and peace and stability in the Middle East. The Iranian nuclear issue is at a critical moment. We hope the international community including Iran will make joint efforts to resume negotiation for a comprehensive, lasting and proper settlement.
Q: US Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte said that not only himself, but Secretary of State Rice will call for an additional sanction against Iran. What are the differences between China and US on the sanction?
A: We believe the Security Council's actions should be helpful for a comprehensive and proper settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue.Under the current circumstances, the international community should intensify diplomatic efforts, make joint efforts for the early resumption of negotiations so that the issue will be solved properly through negotiations and diplomatic approaches.
Q: Indian Prime Minister Singh paid a visit to China not long ago, reflecting a sound momentum of development of the China-India relations. Meanwhile, China and Pakistan enjoy traditional friendship. Yet there are still some pending disputes between India and Pakistan. Would the development of China-India relations affect China-Pakistan relations?
A: China and India are two major developing countries and also important neighbours to each other. To improve and develop our bilateral relations and strengthen cooperation in a wide range of fields is not only in the interest of the two countries but also conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity.
China and Pakistan are strategic partners of cooperation. China highly values its relations with Pakistan. To promote comprehensive cooperation with Pakistan is China's established policy. We are ready to work with Pakistan to further deepen China-Pakistan strategic partnership of cooperation.
As a neighbour to both India and Pakistan, China supports India and Pakistan to improve their relations.
Q: State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met with Myanmar Vice Foreign Minister U Maung Myint yesterday. What did they discuss? Did they talk about the domestic situation in Myanmar and the construction of gas pipelines between China and Myanmar?
A: On the 21st this month, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met with Myanmar Vice Foreign Minister U Maung Myint, who is also the special envoy of Myanmar Prime Minister. Mr. U Maung Myint briefed China on current situation in Myanmar, saying that Myanmar is dedicated to domestic reconciliation and faster democratization.
China supports Myanmar's efforts in maintaining stability and realizing democracy and development. We believe that the international community should have an objective view over the current situation in Myanmar and the efforts of its government, and provide constructive assistances. Unbridled sanctions and pressure will not help. China supports the mediatory efforts of the UN Secretary General and his special envoy Ganbari. We hope that Mr. Ganbari will have full communication with Myanmar to set a proper timeframe to visit Myanmar at an early date.
As to the specific cooperation project between China and Myanmar you mentioned, I can check it for you.
Q: Which officials from the Chinese Ministry of National Defence attended the Fifth China-US Strategic Dialogue? Also, to which ministry should foreign military ships apply for port call to Hong Kong?
A: The Information Office of Chinese Ministry of National Defence has briefed the media on this. You can ask them directly.
As for your second question on foreign military aircrafts and warships' application for port call to Hong Kong, including that of the US, we have always dealt with their application case by case in light of the principle of sovereignty. This will remain unchanged in the future. China and the US have regular channels to communicate.
Q: On the China-Germany relations, what did Germany do to improve its relations with China?
A: In the past four months, China and Germany both made tremendous efforts to overcome the difficulties in their bilateral ties. The two Foreign Ministers have had communication for many times and the contact between the two countries at other levels has been maintained. Germany has stated explicitly that the German Government attaches great importance to developing relations with China, that it will continue to pursue the One China policy, recognize Taiwan and Tibet as part of China, and resolutely oppose Taiwan's "referendum on the UN membership". It has also made it clear that Germany does not support nor encourage any attempt to seek for Tibet independence. We hope that the German Government and leaders will honor their commitment, fully respects and takes serious China's major concerns over issues of its core interest. We hope that Germany will work with China to promote a long-term, healthy and stable development of the relationship between the two countries, on the basis of mutual respect, equal treatment and non-interference in each other's internal affairs and other basic norms governing international relations.
Q: Is Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi going to meet with his German counterpart today?
A: According to present itinerary of Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, he will meet with German Foreign Minister Steinmeier on January 22. On the morning of January 23, he will meet with US Secretary of State Rice.
Q: It is reported that Chen Shuibian will go to the Nansha Islands. What is China's position?
A: China possesses indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and its ajacent waters. We have the resolve and capability to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity. We will continue to be devoted to peace and stability of the South China Sea.
If there are no more questions, thanks for your attendance. See you next time.
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http://sydney.china-consulate.gov.cn/eng/xwdt/200801/t20080123_89660.htm
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– Prior to the creation of the HRC there was the Commission on HR, which became defunct because of these kinds of initiatives sought there.
– In resolution 60/251 is states that the basis of any review is the Charter of the UN, the UDHR and the human rights instruments to which a state is party as well as the voluntary pledges and commitments, a review shall take into account applicable humanitarian law – the right mechanism is the UPR, so let’s wait for that, the modalities are already set out in there.
– Extra judicial and extra territorial mechanism like this initiative is trying to sneak in issues.
– There is a domestic mechanism, which in your own words has not come to an end, it will be concluding in Nov 15 and then there will be a roadmap ahead for implementation of the recommendations. Interim recommendations have been made and been given life to
– What is the jurisdiction of this HRC over this other than the UPR? Aren’t we acting contrary to the procedures of this very HRC?
– We are willing to hold a side event and we will invite you and we can have an interactive dialogue, we are happy to do that. We have engaged with you time and again over the course of the past few years
– LLRC is a statutory commission, are you seriously wanting to impinge upon our sovereignty by asking a sovereign state to submit to a review by a council that has no jurisdiction over our State? We ask you to desist from this kind of procedure as you are only opening the floodgates to an abuse of this process which has been succinctly laid down in the rules o the GA
Canada
– We certainly do appreciate what we have seen so far by the SL delegation, we are not looking with this initiative to have a review, we are ooking to have a conversation and dialogue
– We turn the question back, given the level of engagement we have seen so far by the SL delegation and the responsibility for this HRC with respect to issues relating to post conflict reconciliation, why would such an interactive dialogue not be possible given the level of engagement we have already seen?
– The HRC is mandated to promote and protect HR and routinely takes decisions to take dialogue on issues of shared concern
– In terms of procedures, we are well within the founding docs of the HRC
SL (Mohan Peiris)
– We are all for a dialogue, no problem with that, but there is a way and place and time in which we dialogue. We can’t dialogue in the way you are seeking to do
– We can have a side event and there is already a review mechanism known as UPR
Cuba
– Issue here is to not to waste time to modify the language of the draft decision but to know if delegations support this or not
– We cannot support convening of this kind of interactive dialogue (ID)
– Our HRC took a decision in 2009 during the Special Session (SS), and at that time it was not possible to establish anything concrete in terms of follow up to the SS
– Since then, SL have set up domestic processes, they need time to conclude the process and then after that we can explore the possibilities for an ID
– This kind of initiative would provoke a vote during this session
– Engagement of the concerned country is important and it is evident that SL does not support at this time
China
– Like Cuba, we do not thank you for presenting this draft decision, this is improper
– We have advocated for dialogue and cooperation, we are opposing confrontation and imposing pressure in the name of HR
– This draft decision asks for a discussion in the HRC on a domestic process of SL, it is a dangerous attempt to intervene in their internal affairs and attempt to politicize issues as it may be harmful to the reconciliation process of the country
– China will oppose
Russia
– As previous speakers, we are against this initiative
– You said you would like to hear the opinions from SL on dialogue – recently there was a good opportunity when high level officials from SL organized a special briefing here, why not use that opportunity?
– If we are speaking of the future, the UPR of SL will present a good opportunity to pose questions and make recommendations, etc
– The situation in SL is not urgent, not critical, we are speaking of past issues and history, no need to selectively approach this subject
– SL itself are doing a lot to deal with this issue like LLRC which shows that the government is very seriously taking up this issue. No need to speed it up
– This initiative is under item 10, which is devoted to technical cooperation. This should be requested by the country concerned. If SL is not requesting this cooperation then we should not impose it to the sovereign state
– In terms of reconciliation and peace, but it is not the business of the HRC as it is not directly linked to international HR obligations, reconciliation is about internal operations and policies
– We all know that SL has shown unprecedented openness to dialogue, it is not fair to misuse this goodwill
EU
– Attaches great importance on accountability which constitutes an essential part of reconciliation
– Interested to hear what accountability process has taken place in the country
– Given SL’s presence in the HRC sessions recently, the proposal of an ID with active dialogue should be acceptable to everyone
– Would have preferred to see a fuller initiative however we support this initiative, hope that SL will engage constructively as main sponsors
Pakistan
– Share position of Russia, China, Cuba
– Cannot support this initiative as it is not necessary, nothing new has happened, situation on the ground not changed drastically
– SL has cooperated, engaged, sending high level delegations, answering questions, providing info and materials
– Don’t see space to discuss on the domestic process of a member State
UK
– This is a helpful initiative, reiterate the EU position
– It is beneficial to have a discussion focused on national efforts in SL and reconciliation as well as other issues in light of LLRC report
– We would respectfully disagree that the IB package doesn’t allow for this sort of discussion, it is entirely foreseen and and gives flexibility to include such initiatives
– In substantive terms, it is a discussion worth having
– Call on all members to look favorably on this initiative and hope it will attract broad support
USA
– USA long held the position that engagement with SL is valuable and LLRC is at the centre of its national reconciliation efforts so it is logical to support an ID on the outcomes of the LLRC process
Switzerland
– We have a long standing position on this issue of asking for a thorough investigation and for all sides to accept accountability in SL, that is also the reason why when our head of mission was invited by SL permanent mission that we expressed our wish that SL supports this initiative for an ID
– We repeat our hope that SL engage more closely with the HRC and will be OK with having such an ID in March next year
Poland
– fully supporting EU statement
– appreciate efforts made to engage with SL, number of briefings on SL proves it is of great interest to the HRC and so we should have dialogue in a more interactive way
– in our view, it falls clearly within mandate of the HRC as enshrined in res 60/251
Lawyers Rights Watch Canada
– Welcome the efforts of the Canadian government
– HRC has an international mandate and responsibility under the UN mechanisms is to discuss all matters of HR in all parts of the world while respecting rights of sovereign States to have internal processes.
– Since the end of the conflict, there has been an extraordinary set of advances wherein the UPR is an insufficient forum to have fruitful discussion, advances which have led to significant violations of international human rights and humanitarian law
– The LLRC has been established but as espoused in a number of statements, the government have no intention of making this an accountability mechanism, it is just to block the possibility of an international independent mechanism
– It is timely to have this discussion, the ID will be held 5 months from the time that the LLRC report is to be released
– Encourage members to support this
Mexico
– So far we have not heard any objection to the promotion or protection of HR which is what we have in common
– During the past few days the delegation of SL has been giving briefings on the achievements and endeavors at the domestic level, which has been appreciated – our dialogue has in fact just begun
– We see the proposal put forward as a corollary, we are already discussing, we would not like to impinge upon such a delicate process
– Bbut on the other hand maybe we can learn from their experiences and share those achievements in the framework of that dialogue. The council can be of some help and assistance
– In a nutshell, that is the perspective with which we are approaching this dialogue
New Zealand
– An ID is a logical and open way of moving forward, hope that SL will engage next March to share lessons learned in constructive spirit intended
Thailand
– From our reading, our interpretation is that the form of the dialogue is still debateable, but at the same time have to recognize SL’s effort and engagement by giving updates of the progress of the domestic process taking place
– Another consideration to take into account is that we wish to see constructive engagement of all sides, particularly the country concerned
– We haven’t heard from you about the offer of a side event by the SL delegation, from our point of view it would serve the same purpose. The side event would be attended by the same ppl who will be at the HRC anyway
Chile
– Don’t wish to pre judge on the domestic process in SL, waiting for the release of the LLRC report
– My country experienced 17 years of dictatorship and assistance of international community fundamental to the end of that dictatorship
– After democracy was established, we established a commission of national reconciliation, the comments and recommendations of international community was fundamental in achieving the requirements of any reconciliation commission
– Reconciliation is absolutely a HR issue, need to fulfill some principles like truth, reparation, justice, guarantees of non repetition which hare HR issues
Amnesty International (Peter)
– As an organisation that has followed SL for 30 years, we come with lots of information and knowledge and don’t always agree with the SL delegation
– I attended the side event on 12 September and asked a few questions, many which weren’t answered, but on a question on LLRC I was verbally assaulted
– That is not what a discussion is about, there must be a neutral president that presides over the discussion and rules of procedures. A side event in a room by a particular government official leads to selection of speakers and it is a poor substitute for a discussion that takes place in the HRC
– We do appreciate the government coming and giving their perspectives, but it would be useful to have a true dialogue rather than stage managed presentation
Malaysia
– We see ourselves in the remarks of several delegations who have covered a wide range of issues here from IB package to sovereignty
– For us, when the HRC was first established, the understanding was that panels would be used for thematic issues, we understand this has been undermined by recent precedence
– This text seeks to impose on a delegation, or ask a delegation, to do what it has been doing since 2009 which has also appeared in the formal meetings of the Council and shared experiences and measures
– The initiative seems to undermine principles of constructive dialogue as set out in IB package
– We are going to be very cautious that the message by HRC is not one that seeks to punish delegations for sharing with us what they are doing at the national level
Algeria
– We have a number of challenges with prejudging an internal process
– Do we mean by such an initiative that from now on the HRC would just intervene without giving time for internal processes that are sometimes sensitive and difficult and need time?
– We follow the different initiatives during the session and ask you how do you reconcile this initiative with for instance sharing best practices and national initiatives on this specific issue of transitional justice. Prejudging even the work of the initiative put forward by colleagues
– SL Is not willing to have this ID, so do you envisage to have this without the government of SL? It raises a more global issue, it is about an approach that we don’t want to be introduced to the HRC
Denmark
– Align with EU
– We don’t see procedural problems, and this topic is within the purview of the HRC, notwithstanding that we are setting up a mandate on transitional justice
– Would like to see inclusion of this in the agenda of HRC-19
– We followed the various side events held by SL and appreciate their engagement, when addressing accountability the starting point should be LLRC and this is what the sponsors have done and so we think it is a balanced approach
HRW (Julie)
– Responding to procedural concerns raised by delegations that oppose this discussion, it is our understanding this is already addressed explicitly by the HRC which during the SS endorsed the joint communiqué which spoke about accountability and accountability processes in SL, it is a matter already under discussion
– No way can a side event replace a formal discussion and have the rules of procedure that an official ID has which is part of the official record. This happened on ID of Somalia and it was constructive in portraying the situation and state affairs in the country
– Support the statement by Amnesty International, concerns over attitude by the SL delegation, so many activists have been vilified and targeted by disinformation campaigns just as a consequence of simply sitting in the room
– If ID is done in the HRC then it would contribute to an environment that is respectful and everyone can participate in good faith
SL
– We are not at cross purpose, we are here for HR but there is a way we have been asked to do that
– Having listened to Gary, I agree with one thing, we must talk of HR of all parts of the world. But do we? Do we talk of Afghanistan, Iraq? But this HRC does not because there is decency and a civilized way to talk of this
– Have we all we purged our sins? Has there been a catharsis of the souls? Do we have an ID on what some of these nations did not say in the UPR?
– It is helpful to have dialogue, no one will object to dialogue, but there are certain things the HRC has laid down for own their own convenient workings of the modalities of that dialogue
– SL is a vibrant democracy, we don’t face the problem as most other countries. There is a change of government every 6 years, that is the vibrancy we practice. We have local and provincial elections, only not had in the north and will be held very shortly
– Let the LLRC publish its findings, let the roadmap for implementation unfold itself
– We take it a step further, we will have another side event where we will invite every member of the HRC. What is so wrong with that? Let’s not have double standards, we will be planting a nail in the coffin of HR
– fter all we have engaged, we have interacted since 2009, NHRAP has been passed by Cabinet, the number of detainees reduced to 871
– The world has come a long way from those days of tyranny, it is important to respect each other in spirit of cooperation, SL has every right to lean on this HRC for its help. Please reject this initiative not simply because it has been brought up but because it has no basis in fact or law
Cuba
– I think the SL delegation is totally right, this initiative has a clear political motivation and double standards
– If you want to engage in this kind of ID why don’t you prepare a decision for a dialogue on detention centre in Guantanamo or bombing of NATO in Iraq, Afghanistan?
Nimalka
– Few responses to this debate as a woman HR activist from SL, I live there and work there
– If sovereignty is to be utilized in order to divert attention to this resolution then you might as well fold up the whole of UN. Is the disappearance taking place in any country to be ignored because it is an internal affair?
– The HRC mandate has to respond to the ppl whose rights have been violated, whose sovereignty has been destroyed by the use of legal and illegall methods
– That is the conversation that we want in relation to any country, it could be SL, Cuba, USA
– This discussion is important is because for 2-3 years we have waited patiently listening to lies agreed upon by governments who take no notice of HR principles and values and employ “sovereignty”. We are talking of sovereignty of the ppl
– Elections were held in north and east, both municipal and local government – what did those ppl say by casting the vote? They asked for their dignity.
– Reconciliation doesn’t mean the reconciliation of the government of SL with the international community but of the ppl of SL, for whom history is important. Without talking of history, we cannot walk to future
– UN is there as a forum for dialogue and conversation
– If you will use technical procedures to discredit this initiative, ppl will lose faith in UN
– You are showing suffering masses all over the world including SL that you do not care about HR
– This conversation is important for the ppl of SL.
– Who is asking for time? The mothers of the disappeared? The fathers of the extra judicially killed? The thousands of internally displaced?
Canada
– I agree with much of what has been said about principles at the HRC
– Agree that this falls within mandate of the HRC and think it is an appropriate time and subject for the HRC and appreciate active engagement of SL to engage and convene side events
– It is important that this takes place within the context of the HRC, necessary to ensure that the programme of work for the next session secures time for the HRC to discuss this important project of reconciliation
– The LLRC, as said by SL delegation, will complete in mid November, thus being respectful of time and space we are convening this ID a full 4 months after the LLRC is to complete its mandate
– Ask SL to consider in spirit of constructive engagement and collaboration with the ID within the context of the HRC
– It will be an item 10 discussion but if there are other options perhaps item 1, we will be flexible in discussing that
– On other initiatives and mechanisms of the HRC, whether it is UPR or the resolution on transitional justice, this initiative is complimentary to those other efforts
– We go back to what this initiative is aiming at which is conversation and dialogue – this is not a review at all, just a dialogue is envisioned, not even a panel but an ID
– If the government of SL is not able to participate in this then the decision asks the OHCHR to organize this session and that leaves time and space to consider that should best be done. We don’t see our role as prescriptive in any way in that regard
– This is an important issue to us, important enough to lead on this issue and have this dialogue at the next session of the HRC, hoping for a collaborative approach
– We would like to think that this could be consensus, will continue our outreach and continue conversations with you over the remainder of the session
SL (Mohan Peiris)
– If you care to read principles and objective of the UPR, one is to compliment and not duplicate other HR mechanisms thus adding value
– You give us every reason to go ahead with this initiative of yours, but interestingly have not considered what Cuba and Russia had to say when you were referred to 5a of 60/251, why do you disagree with this?
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http://srilankabrief.org/2011/09/notes-from-the-informal-meeting-on-the-proposed-draft-decision-by-canada-re-llrc-report/
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WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced a bipartisan amendment to the Department of Defense (DOD) Authorization Act calling on President Bush to initiate a diplomatic surge to complement the efforts of our military in Iraq.
“A diplomatic surge is necessary if we want to change course and redeploy our combat forces from Iraq,” said Casey. “If we are going to have sustainable success in Iraq, we must engage in diplomatic outreach to ensure that Iraq’s neighbors are properly invested in its future. I’m pleased Senator Murkowski has joined me in introducing this important amendment and I hope that the Senate will send a message to the President that now is the time for diplomacy.”
“Military progress alone will not provide for the conditions for a stable and secure Iraq,” said Senator Murkowski. “We need a civilian and diplomatic surge to go with the military surge. I am pleased to join Senator Casey to urge the Administration to place a greater emphasis on these areas to achieve stability within Iraq.”
The amendment proposed by Senators Casey and Murkowski expresses the need for a comprehensive diplomatic offensive to help broker national reconciliation efforts in Iraq and lay the foundation for the eventual redeployment of U.S. combat forces out of Iraq. The amendment is intended to focus attention on a missing element of U.S. strategy in Iraq: a “diplomatic surge” to help ensure that Iraqi national leaders carry through on the process of national reconciliation.
The amendment calls for the following steps, among others:
The United States should take the lead in organizing a comprehensive diplomatic offensive, consisting of bilateral, regional, and international initiatives, to assist the Government of Iraq in achieving national reconciliation and meeting security, political, and economic benchmarks;
The United States should bring together Iraq’s neighbors through a regional conference or other mechanism to develop specific measures to stabilize Iraq and, in particular, end the outside flows of weapons, explosive materials, foreign fighters, and funding that contribute to the current sectarian warfare;
The President and the Secretary of State should invest their personal time and energy in these diplomatic efforts to ensure that they receive the highest priority within the U.S. government and are viewed seriously in the region;
The President should appoint a seasoned, high-level Presidential envoy to the region to supplement the efforts of Ambassador Crocker and focus on the establishment of a regional framework to help stabilize Iraq;
The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations should seek the appointment of an international mediator in Iraq to engage political, religious, ethnic, and tribal leaders in Iraq to foster national reconciliation efforts;
The United States should more directly press Iraq’s neighbors to open fully operating embassies in Baghdad and establish inclusive diplomatic relations with Iraq so that the Iraqi government is viewed as legitimate throughout the region;
The amendment reflects a key recommendation of the Iraq Study Group which called upon the United States to “embark on a robust diplomatic effort to establish an international support structure intended to stabilize Iraq and ease tensions in other countries in the region.”
Finally, the amendment also focuses attention on the need to implement a “civilian surge” to ensure that all components of the U.S. government are contributing to assist the Iraqi government to strengthen its capabilities to provide essential government services.
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https://www.casey.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/casey-and-murkowski-introduce-diplomatic-surge-amendment
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Outgoing Deputy Consul-General of the United States Embassy, Dehab Ghebreab, yesterday advised Niger Delta youths to desist from militancy. Ghebreab told newsmen in Lagos that it was imperative for the militants to channel their grievances to the government, rather than engaging in the destruction of facilities.
“Youths in the Niger Delta should not resort to violence because violence is really destructive.
“They need to know that violence or militancy does not only affect people living in their region, but may also affect other countries.
“They should know that foreign companies are also doing businesses in Nigeria and that some may just want to come to Nigeria, but would only be ready to invest in places where their businesses would be safe,” she said.
Ghebreab, who noted the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts at ensuring peace in the region, enjoined the government to redouble its efforts at making the planned dialogue with the militants a reality. The U.S. official said that through dialogue, the Nigerian government would be able to come to terms with the militants’ grievances, and see to the possibility of addressing their needs and aspirations.
“We strongly believe that it is important that Niger-Delta youths engage in meaningful dialogue with the government, for government to know their grievances.
“During this dialogue, it would become easier for the government to know what the issues really are and be able to solve them,” she said.
She also said that it was imperative for the various levels of governance in the Niger Delta region to be proactive in the management of the militants’ grievances, even as she restated U.S. government’s commitment to supporting Nigeria in coming up with programmes that would constructively engage the youths.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.
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https://shipsandports.com.ng/us-cautions-against-militancy-in-niger-delta/
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biological traits are endowed with social meaning.
• A race is a group of people who have been singled out on the basis of real or alleged physical characteristics
b. There are no biologically pure races
c. Race is a significant concept only because most people consider it to be
Ethnicity
A shared cultural heritage
a. This concept refers to people who have common cultural characteristics and an ethnic identity.
b. Races may also be analyzed as ethnic categories in many cases
c. Because they share a common culture and a common identity, members of an ethnic group are drawn toward one another and feel a sense of "oneness," unity, and shared fate.
minority
a category of people, distinguished by physical or cultural traits, who are socially disadvantaged
a group that has less power than the dominant group, and therefore is usually poorer than the majority, has less prestige, and suffers from discrimination. The sociological meaning of minority does not refer to the numerical size of a group.
a. Minority Group Status involves four major elements:
• A visible ascribed trait by which a person can be clearly
recognized.
• Differential (unequal) treatment on the basis of this trait.
• Organization of one's own self-image around this identity.
• Awareness of a shared identity with similar others.
b. Minorities have two major characteristics:
• They share a distinctive identity
• They occupy a subordinate status
c. Within the next century, a numerical majority of the US population is expected to be made up of people who are currently classified as minorities
Dominant Group
When we speak of minority groups, which we will in just a moment, the concept is always in contrast to the society's dominant group.
a. Those who control the central institutional spheres, including the power to define standards of beauty and social worth.
• Keep in mind that the dominant group does not have to be a numerical majority (e.g. South Africa), but mainly deals with actual power and perception of power in society.
• In the U.S. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) are the dominant group, but they comprise only a fraction of the population.
Prejudice
an attitude, which predisposes an individual to prejudge
entire categories of people unfairly. This attitude is rigid, emotionally loaded, and resistant to change.
• It assumes that a certain group has a single set of favorable or
unfavorable characteristics.
• Prejudice is an attitude involving a rigid and irrational
generalization about an entire category of people
• It may be positive or negative
Discrimination
is a behavior, or and the unfair and harmful treatment of people based on their group membership.
• It is an action that involves treating various categories of people
unequally
• It may be positive of negative
• It focuses on the practice of treating people unequally.
Racism
the belief that race determines human ability and as a result, certain races deserve to be treated as inferior while other races deserve to treated as superior. If people are socialized into a culture, which promotes racism, then in all likelihood they will be prejudiced and freely discriminate.
• Racism refers to the belief that one racial category is innately superior or inferior to another
• Institutionalized Racism: Systematic Discrimination of a racial or ethnic group that is built into social structures.
• Institutional racism. This form of racism exists when racist practices often become an integral part of the social practices and institutions of a society. Institutional racism is so deeply entrenched in everyday life that people often fail to notice it
Institutionalized Racism
Systematic Discrimination of a racial or ethnic group that is built into social structures.
Institutional racism
This form of racism exists when racist practices often become an integral part of the social practices and institutions of a society. Institutional racism is so deeply entrenched in everyday life that people often fail to notice it
Stereotypes
This is a rigid and inaccurate image that summarizes a belief. Because stereotypes reflect beliefs rather than facts, they are illogical and self-serving.
• A stereotype is a set of prejudices concerning some category of people
• Stereotypes persist in the culture because:
• stereotyping elevates the status of the group, which engages in it
• stereotyping reduces the need to think and reduces guilt; and
• ignorance.
Scapegoat theory
argues that prejudice results from frustrations
among the disadvantaged
• A scapegoat is a person or category of people, typically with little
power, whom people unfairly blame for their own troubles
• Occurs when someone else is blamed for one's own misfortune (ex. Jews in Germany, or Immigrants taking jobs away here in the U.S.)
Authoritarian personality theory
views prejudice as a personality- level trait
The cultural theory of prejudice
notes that prejudice may be embedded in popular cultural values
Symbolic Racism
This is a complex type of behavior that
involves the belief in equal rights coupled with the belief that certain racial and ethnic groups have achieved an unfair advantage over whites (ex. affirmative action).
• Thus you believe in core American values like equality of
opportunity, individualism, and hard work, but opposing any means to making it a reality.
• There is a two-tier process:
• Values are endorsed at an abstract level, but opposed at a concrete level.
Conflict theory
views prejudice as a product of social struggles
Assimilation
This refers to the blending of the culture and structure of one racial or ethnic group with the culture and structure of another group.
• It is the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the larger culture
• A related concept is miscegenation: the biological process of interbreeding among racial categories
• Assimilation is not unilinear, instead, several outcomes are possible. a. One outcome is that the majority group remains the same while the
minority changes and becomes like the majority group.
• In the United States, this outcome is called Anglo conformity or Americanization.
b. Both the minority and the majority might change and a new, blended grouping then emerge which combines some features of both groups, or melting pot assimilation.
• Melting Pot model of integration: Assumes that immigrants will lose their ethnic uniqueness through exposure to the dominant American culture.
c. Cultural assimilation refers to the assimilation along the various dimensions of culture, such as language and dress.
d. Structural assimilation refers to assimilation along the various dimensions of social structure, such as marriage, and employment.
Miscegenation
the biological process of
interbreeding among racial categories
Melting Pot model of integration
Assumes that immigrants will lose their ethnic uniqueness through exposure to the dominant American culture.
Cultural assimilation
the assimilation along the various
dimensions of culture, such as language and dress.
Structural assimilation
assimilation along the various
dimensions of social structure, such as marriage, and employment.
Pluralism
This situation prevails when separate racial and ethnic groups maintain their distinctiveness even though they might have approximately equal social standing.
a. This is a state in which racial and ethnic minorities are distinct, but
have social equivalence
b. Pluralism implies that ethnic diversity is a desirable social goal and
that group distinctiveness is voluntary rather than forced upon any
group by another group.
c. Pluralism is common worldwide and the United States, with at least
106 ethnic and racial groups, is especially pluralistic.
Segregation
Isolating a minority from contact with other members of the society.
a. Refers to the physical and social separation of categories of people • It may be voluntary but it is usually imposed
b. Hypersegregation id the formation of socially isolated minority ghettoes
c. De Jure Segregation: Created by laws (ex. Jews in Eastern Europe)
d. De Facto Segregation: Not necessarily supported by laws, but does in
fact occur (ex. White and black segregation in housing, etc. now)
Hypersegregation
the formation of socially isolated minority ghettoes
De Jure Segregation
Created by laws (ex. Jews in Eastern Europe)
De Facto Segregation
Not necessarily supported by laws, but does in
fact occur (ex. White and black segregation in housing, etc. now)
Internal Colonialism
Practice of treating native populations as if they were colonies (separate entities to be subjugated).
Expulsion and annihilation
Racial and ethnic prejudice can proceed along several lines.
a. Expulsion can occur when one group possesses enough political and military power to force the other group to leave.
b. Annihilation occurs when one group exterminates the other group.
Although annihilation is an extreme reaction, it has been fairly common throughout history.
• Genocide is the systematic annihilation of one category of people by another
Multiculturalism
Brings together people representing many traditions, religions, and racial types.
White Americans
In the United States, whites are both a numerical
majority and the dominant group.
White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant (WASP's)
This is the most powerful group in the United States. Strictly speaking, WASP's are whites of English descent, but more loosely the category also includes whites of Canadian, Scottish, Australian, and Northern European descent. Sociologists usually use the term in this broader sense.
• WASPs originally comprised the majority of free immigrants to the United States, and not until the nineteenth century did substantial numbers of non-WASPs begin arriving.
• The arrival of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Asia led to the adoption of an immigration policy based the quotas.
• These quotas were written into the 1924 act law and were a thinly disguised way to exclude African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Eastern Europeans.
• The 1965 immigration law replaced racial-ethnic quotas with a system based on occupation and other qualifications.
The functionalist perspective
Functionalists believe that undesirable
jobs are assigned to racial and ethnic minorities because those groups lack the power to compete for more desirable positions.
a. Functionalists argue that because many racial and ethnic minorities typically possess few job skills and little education, menial jobs are the
best that they can realistically hope to find.
b. As racial and ethnic minorities gain, however, they will secure better jobs and will rise in the social structure.
c. The experiences of many white ethnic groups seems to support the functionalist view, but the history of Native, African, and Hispanic Americans suggest that there is more at work than functionalists recognize.
The conflict perspective
Conflict theorists believe that ethnic and racial inequality result from the endless competition among groups for power, wealth, status, and other valuable social resources.
a. The group that wins the competition installs itself, as the dominant groups while the losers become the subordinate groups.
b. Conflict theorists point out that different racial or ethnic groups clash with each other, a situation that benefits the dominant group.
The symbolic interactionist perspective
Symbolic interactionists point out that in order for an ethnic or racial group to exist, its members must develop a "consciousness of kind," or feelings of being like one another and different from outsiders.
a. Consciousness of kind results from the interaction between racial and ethnic groups and the rest of society.
b. People who are continually placed into a single group tend to develop a consciousness of kind and to identify as a particular group.
Race and Ethnicity: Looking Ahead
1. Relations
a. Gunnar Myrdal suggested the principle of cumulation to ethnic relations:
• discrimination by the majority keeps the minority in an inferior status,
• the minority's inferior status then is cited as "proof" that the minority does not deserve better treatment
• The principle of cumulation can work in the reverse direction: a reduction in discrimination will enable a racial or ethnic minority to gain better jobs, better housing, and better education and, thus will lead to a decrease in discrimination by the majority.
2. Immigration has generated striking cultural diversity
3. Many arrivals experience much the same prejudice and discrimination as those who came before them did
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Food Studies Publications by Project Members
Based on fieldwork in the current project and its predecessor projects, members of the team have published works on the globalization of cuisine, focusing on Asian contexts. Here are some of these publications, with more to follow.
February 14, 2019
James Farrer, Christian Hess, Mônica R. de Carvalho, Chuanfei Wang, David Wank. 2019. “Culinary Mobilities: The Multiple Globalizations of Japanese Cuisine” Cecilia Leong-Salobir ed. Routledge Handbook of Food in Asia. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 39-57.
The story of the globalization of Japanese cuisine did not begin in Los Angeles in the 1980s but in Asia in the 1880s. This essay reviews the history of the multiple globalizations of Japanese from the early colonial-based system to a recent wave lead by non-Japanese migrant entrepreneurs.
Asian Food and Culinary Politics: Food Governance, Constructed Heritage, and Contested Boundaries
Yuk Wah Chan and James Farrer. 2020 (online; 2021 in print). “Asian Food and Culinary Politics: Food Governance, Constructed Heritage, and Contested Boundaries” Asian Anthropology Vol. 20, Issue 1
Culinary politics involves a contest over the social organization and cultural meanings of food by a variety of actors: both civil and state, the powerful and the grassroots. In particular, we consider food governance as a form of culinary politics entailing two-way traffic, in which policies and regulations are set by state actors, while the responses of civil actors often reshape the foodscape and complicate the outcome of food policies.
Who owns a cuisine? The grassroots politics of Japanese food in Europe
May 31, 2020
James Farrer and Chuanfei Wang. 2020 (online; 2021 in print). “Who Owns A Cuisine? The Grassroots Politics of Japanese Food in Europe” Asian Anthropology Vol. 20, Issue 1.
Culinary borrowings are so common as to seem trivial, and yet they are consequential. People’s livelihoods, professional status, and social identity may be tied to their stake in the defining boundaries of culinary cultures. This article discusses how Japanese and other Asian migrant actors participate in grassroots culinary politics in the context of a Japanese food boom in Europe. It shows how the “borrowed power” of one migrant group may threaten the status and even livelihoods of the foundational stakeholders in a culinary field.
Chuanfei Wang. 2020. "Creating a Wine Heritage in Japan" Asian Anthropology Vol. 20 Issue 1.
This paper examines how Japanese grape wine production has been promoted as cultural heritage, through the collaboration of local official and private actors. In 2018, Japan’s winemaking was designated as a national cultural heritage through a governmental program called “Japan Heritage,” highlighting the history associated with wine production in a specific area in Yamanashi Prefecture, a long-standing wine-making region in Japan. In this creation of heritage, historical narratives of wine production have been rediscovered and invented. Essentially, this heritagization strategy is not preserving wine culture but creating one, developing touristic resources and stimulating local economy. The politics of making wine heritage in Japan reveals a national governance of food culture with the goal of making Japan a global tourism destination and promoting rural development.
July 31, 2020
James Farrer. 2020. “A Tokyo Restaurant Community Faces COVID-19” Etnografia e Ricerca Qualitativa (Italian journal of Ethnography and Qualitative Research) No. 2/2020, pp. 245-54.
Around the world, independent restaurants are threatened both by COVID-19 and the social distancing measures necessary to contain the pandemic. In one Tokyo community, restaurant patrons have organized to support local eateries during the “emergency” declared in early April. Based upon an ethnographic study of independent restaurants and drinking spots, this essay discusses the resilience of a local culinary community, comprised of restauranteurs and patrons, as well as the role played by community ethnography.
From Cooks to Chefs: Skilled Migrants in a Globalizing Culinary Field
January 03, 2020
James Farrer. 2020. “From Cooks to Chefs: Skilled Migrants in a Globalizing Culinary Field” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (accepted Jan. 4, 2020).
Migrants do not simply move across physical spaces but within institutionalized social fields, including occupational fields. This ethnographic study takes a globalized culinary field – the social and economic space of fine restaurant dining– as an example of an emergent transnational social field. Focusing on culinary migrants to Shanghai, it shows how the institutionalization, professionalization. and globalization of the culinary field create new opportunities for the mobility of workers. Transnational mobility can be advantageous to the career mobility of culinary workers at all levels, from line cooks, to head chefs, and further to celebrity chefs building global brands.
The Globalization of Asian Cuisines
November 30, 2015
James Farrer (ed.). 2015. Globalization and Asian Cuisines: Transnational Networks and Contact Zones. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
This volume is a collection of historical and ethnographic accounts of Asia's increasingly globalized cuisines. Based on empirical research, the authors describe the increasingly transnational organization of culinary fields, multicultural culinary contact zones, and state-led culinary politics. Chapters include studies of the pathways in which Asian cuisines cross borders and subsequently interact with local culinary systems. Other chapters show how cuisines from abroad enter into Asian cities and are modified in transnational urban settings.
Japanese Culinary Mobilities
July 13, 2017
James Farrer, Chuanfei Wang, David Wank, Mônica R. de Carvalho, Christian Hess, Lenka Vyletalova. 2017. “Japanese Culinary Mobilities Research: The Globalization of the Japanese Restaurant.” Foods & Food Ingredients Journal Japan, Vol. 222, No. 3, 257-66.
Japanese restaurant cuisine is now prevalent in markets around the world, from large cities to small towns. Our research project develops a mobilities perspective to represent the transnational spread of Japanese cuisine. We emphasize that the organization of the Japanese culinary field is centered n global cities which are the hubs of the local networks through which ideas, producers and products flow. Non-Japanese ethnic networks are especially important in spreading Japanese cuisine in low-cost forms away from urban centers. Migrant Japanese entrepreneurs remain significant innovators, especially in global food cities such as New York.
November 24, 2019
James Farrer. 2019. “Grimy Heritage: Organic Bar Streets in Shanghai and Tokyo” Built Heritage Vol. 3, Issue 3, pp. pp. 73-85.
Every city has built environments that are largely regarded as eyesores, for aesthetic, social, or moral reasons. Urban nightlife streets are examples of such ‘grimy heritage’. Not only shabby and disorderly, they harbour forms of commercial sex, drinking cultures, and ephemeral nightlife cultures that many city residents and government officials consider undesirable. Sometimes their built forms are regarded as the enemy of genuine heritage architecture, since they obscure more solid, carefully designed structures around them. However, in many cities, organic nightlife streets—developing in such spaces precisely because they were derelict or poorly regulated—serve important social functions as spaces of creativity and community formation. This paper examines the ways that such ‘grimy heritage’ has developed in Shanghai and Tokyo, using examples from ethnographic research and historical sources, and addressing the question of the contribution of the ‘grimy heritage’ to authentic, urban social life.
November 10, 2019
Chuanfei Wang. "Old Sake in New Glasses: Reframing Japan's National Drink through Global Wine Culture" Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies, Vol. 19 No. 1, Spring 2019; (pp. 79-90) DOI: 10.1525/gfc.2019.19.1.79
Japan is experiencing a sake boom, more precisely, the growing popularity of premium sake. It is the result of a dramatic reform of the Japanese sake industry over the past few decades. In this article, I argue that, from a cultural perspective, wine culture is being adopted as a cultural frame to facilitate the revival and rebranding of Japan's national drink. This adoption is a “culinary translation” of Japanese sake through the globally familiar language of wine. In this process, the Japaneseness of sake is by no means challenged, but made “legible” through the more familiar discourse and practices prevalent in the culture of wine.
November 10, 2019
James Farrer. 2019. “Happy and Unhappy Meals: Culinary Approaches to the Good Life in Shanghai” Becky Yang Hsu and Richard Madsen (ed.) The Chinese Pursuit of Happiness: Anxieties, Hopes, and Moral Tensions in Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 84-109.
Food is both a material need and a medium of social communication. Foodways are thus a unique lens to explore the expression of ideas of well-being in society. This chapter looks at how people talk about food in urban China. Answers to open-ended interview questions about memories of happy meals show that many people describe their happiest meals as special occasions in which they ate outside the home with friends. Eating out is in contemporary China is thus seen as a way in which friendship ties are cultivated and expressed. Asking about unhappy eating, however, reveals both tensions and social exclusions in contemporary ideas of happiness in China. Urban Chinese are concerned about food safety, often associating risks with food vendors and producers operating on the fringes of urban society, indicating how notions of happiness exclude the urban and rural poor. Other concepts of unhappy meals, however, point to the tensions that arise when people pursue material benefits through “face consumption” in expensive banquets meant to cultivate relationships but instead experience a sense of boredom or emptiness that belies the social purposes of eating together. Good eating is thus a window onto both the ideals and anxieties of a rising urban middle class in China.
April 29, 2019
James Farrer. 2019. “Red (Michelin) Stars Over China: Seeking Recognition in a Transnational Culinary Field” in Michelle King edited Culinary Nationalism in Asia. London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 193-213.
The rise of a global set of culinary authorities, including the Michelin Guides and the World's 50 Best Restaurants, creates a new context for the expression of culinary nationalism in places like that China. Chinese chefs must decide if they want to play the global Michelin game or stick with standards that traditionally brought success but not critical acclaim. The reality is that global rankings are changing the culinary field in China's global cities.
Domesticating the Japanese Culinary Field in Shanghai
September 30, 2017
James Farrer. 2017. Domesticating the Japanese Culinary Field in Shanghai. In: Niehaus A., Walravens T. (eds) Feeding Japan. Palgrave Macmillan, 287-312.
Japanese cuisine is now the most popular form of restaurant cuisine in urban China, especially in Shanghai, where more than 3000 Japanese restaurants are listed on the most popular restaurant review website. Based on fieldwork and archival sources this essay describes the history and development of Japanese cuisine in Shanghai, describing how the domestication of the culinary field has insulated Japanese restaurants from the shocks of political conflicts between China and Japan and the food scares associated with the nuclear radiation leaks after the disaster in Fukushima.
September 30, 2017
David L. Wank and James Farrer. 2015. “Chinese Immigrants and Japanese Cuisine in the United States: A Case of Culinary Glocalization” in James Farrer ed. Globalization and Asian Cuisines: Transnational Networks and Contact Zones. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, Pp.79-100.
Japanese restaurants are not only popular in large American cities, they can now be found in some of the even smallest towns. In the United States since about 2000 large numbers of immigrant entrepreneurs from China’s Fujian province, building on earlier waves of Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese purveyors of Japanese cuisine, have moved out of their immigrant enclave in New York to bring the cuisine to lower-market popular and rural market niches. This paper considers the Fujianese as social bearers of the cuisine by describing relevant institutions of the migrant community and experiences of individual restaurateurs and staff.
December 30, 2010
James Farrer (ed.). 2010. Globalization, Food and Social Identities in the Asia Pacific Region. Tokyo: Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture (online collection).
This is an online collection of readable scholarly papers on the globalization of culinary cultures in the Asian Pacific region. Chapters cover Southeast Asia, China, Japan, North America, and Latin America. They are the outcome of the symposium on “Globalization, food and social identities in the Pacific region” held at Sophia University on Feb. 21-22, 2009. The collection was published online by the Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture.
October 31, 2018
James Farrer. 2018. “The Decline of the Neighborhood Chinese Restaurant in Urban Japan” Jahrbuch für Kulinaristik – The German Journal of Food Studies and Hospitality, Vol. 2, pp. 197-222.
The most popular form of everyday restaurant in Japan may not be the sushi shop, but rather the small, casual Chinese restaurant. Chinese restaurants in Japan share some features with those found in countries around the world, but also some differences, including a high rate of ownership by Japanese proprietor-chefs. Sometimes called the “machi chūka” (neighborhood Chinese) these small individually owned restaurants serving simple fare are become a focus of nostalgia and interest of the “B-level gourmets” in Japan. And yet, this type of inconspicuous eatery is in decline.
Joining the Global Wine World: Japan’s Winemaking Industry
September 30, 2017
Chuanfei Wang. 2017. Joining the Global Wine World: Japan’s Winemaking Industry. In: Niehaus A., Walravens T. (eds) Feeding Japan. Palgrave Macmillan, 225-250.
Japan is not only a country of sake and tea but also a country of wine. This chapter traces Japan’s history of wine production as a process of state-led cultural globalization. It argues that national and regional governments have been the key actors in developing and promoting Japan’s winemaking culture. However, governments are not the only important actors. As this chapter will show, Japan’s wine culture is constructed by a collaborative network of actors including governments, private companies, individual winemakers, research institutes and consumers.
Culinary Globalization from Above and Below: Culinary Migrants in Urban Place Making in Shanghai
September 30, 2018
James Farrer. 2019. “Culinary Globalization from Above and Below: Migrant Entrepreneurs in Urban Place Making in Shanghai” in Angela Lehmann and Pauline Leonard eds. Immigration to China in the Post-reform era: Destination PRC. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 175-199.
Research on migrants in Asian cities has emphasized their separation from local society, with privileged migrants insulating themselves in “expatriate bubbles” that often retrace the geographies of colonial white settlements while less privileged migrants find themselves isolated in ethnic enclaves, such as that occupied by African traders in Guangzhou. Fewer studies have focused on how migrants actually transform the larger urban environments of globalizing Asian cities. Based on ethnographic data about the international restaurant sector in Shanghai, this chapter examines how cross-border migrants active in the food service industry – or culinary migrants – have shaped Shanghai’s cityscape through entrepreneurship, management, and their daily artisanal work.
Nishiogiology: Japanese Urban Foodways Research
August 30, 2017
Research webpage: www.nishiogiology.org
Nishiogiology is an ethnographic research project centered in the Tokyo neighborhood of Nishiogikubo (Nishiogi) focusing on urban foodways, the meanings of culinary work, and changing forms of community participation. It is led by James Farrer, with collaborators from the Sophia University in Tokyo. It is also supported by the Institute of Comparative Culture at Sophia University, the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science and the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.
Urban Foodways: A Research Agenda
June 29, 2017
James Farrer. 2017. “Urban Foodways: A Research Agenda” John Rennie Short ed. A Research Agenda for Cities Northhampton MA: Edward Elgar, pp. 98-110.
The term foodways encompasses the economic, cultural, and social organization of food production and consumption. This chapter explores existing research on urban foodways and aims to show how food studies may uniquely contribute to urban studies. It introduces concepts connecting food to the city, including taste and urban nostalgia, the urban metabolism, culinary cosmopolitanism, and culinary place making. Examples come from the author’s research on foodways in East Asian global cities, particularly Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.
Knife-Shaved Noodles Go Global: Provincial Culinary Politics and the Improbable Rise of a Minor Chinese Cuisine
September 30, 2017
Wank, David L. "Knife-Shaved Noodles Go Global: Provincial Culinary Politics and the Improbable Rise of a Minor Chinese Cuisine." The Globalization of Asian Cuisines. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2015. 187-208.
A “China Shanxi Food Festival in New York” took place on May 5–9, 2014. It opened with a food gala at the United Nations headquarters prepared by 16 chefs selected from the sixty thousand restaurants across North China’s Shanxi Province. The UN UnderSecretary-General and former Indian ambassador to China Vijay Nambiar tried his hand at making the province’s iconic knife-shaved noodles. “In many ways, cuisine and food culture are two aspects of a great civilization,” he said. “From that point of view, it’s a great and unique opportunity to be able to come here and taste the flavors of the hallmark of Chinese food culture. Today we are witnessing some of the fundamental items of Chinese cuisine, which have made it justly famous around the world.”
September 30, 2017
James Farrer. 2010. Eating the West and beating the rest: culinary Occidentalism and urban soft power in Asia’s global food cities. In Globalization, Food and Social Identities in the Asia Paci c Region, ed. James Farrer. Tokyo: Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture.
URL: http://icc. a.sophia.ac.jp/global%20food%20papers/html/farrer.html
A new global culinary geography of high cuisine has developed centered on global cities. This essay traces this development by focusing on the interaction between transnational flows of people and resources and local cultural politics in two of Asia’s global cities, Shanghai and Tokyo. Although investments and increased wealth create the conditions for development of international restaurant scenes in cities, the advent of a cosmopolitan and lively urban food culture is not an inevitable outcome of economic globalization.
Shanghai’s Western Restaurants as Culinary Contact Zones in a Transnational Culinary Field
January 01, 2020
James Farrer. 2105. Shanghai’s Western Restaurants as Culinary Contact Zones in a Transnational Culinary Field in J Farrer ed. The Globalization of Asian Cuisines, Palgrave Macmillan, 103-124.
Just as traditional “Asian” cuisines are no longer limited to Asia, the cuisines of Asia are not limited to traditional “Asian” fare. Here I narrate the relatively recent reemergence of a transnational culinary field of fine-dining Western (xican) restaurants in Shanghai, connected to, but still distinct from, contemporary Western fine-dining scenes from Tokyo to Madrid to Dubai. And within this field, I describe how restaurants are culinary contact zones in which geographically mobile migrant culinary workers and socially mobile urban consumers acquire specialized forms of culinary capital (see also my introduction to this volume for more discussion of these terms).
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https://www.global-japanese-cuisine.org/publications
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Could Someone Check My Grammar ?Please Mountainhiker!!
Latino immigrants coming to the United States have to face the issue of whether or not assimilate. Understanding this issue is essential to understanding the challenges every Latino has to experience at some point of his or her life. Wrestling with this idea is what drives the issue of assimilation. According to Earl Shorris, “the patterns of assimilation will not all be the same; culture persists and, because it persists, determinates how people live in new circumstances”(12). It means that some Latino immigrants will assimilate the new culture and some of them will refuse to assimilate. What does assimilation means? The word assimilation means how cultures retain or lose its customs-food, language, and music-while absorbing characteristics of a new culture’s way of life. Latino immigrants have to decide in what degree they will assimilate the dominant culture without losing their relationship with their family, language, and cultural traditions.
One of the most important factors that distinguish Latino immigrants from other minorities groups is their love of family. Coming from countries where family was always central, Latino immigrants seen family as the major essential unit against the world. However, the emphasis on family can be a bit surprising for those children of immigrants growing up in the U.S where the individual, not the family, has central importance in society. In “Real Women Have Curves”, written by Josefina Lopez and George La Voo, Ana, a Mexican- American teenager deals with the situation of going away from home to go to college because their family insists that they cannot be apart from each other.
In addition to assimilating the new culture without losing the relationship with their family, Latinos immigrants have to deal with a new language. Language is significant because it determinates a form of identity. Latinos know they must learn English in order to be successful in the U.S. "In many jobs I qualify as a speaker, but I need to read and write," said Mohammad. "You can't go anywhere in this country without reading and writing. You don't want to be the rest of your life a dishwasher working for $5 an hour. The economy is changing so fast." All Latino immigrants face challenges as they adjust to the new language. Latinos speak Spanish or are bilingual. However, those Latino immigrants who do not speak English well are seen different by others for their accent. On the other hand, Latino new generations speak fluent English, but are familiar with Spanish in order to communicate with their family. “Nonetheless, there is a similar pattern for all groups: each generation speaks less of the original language, which usually disappears in the grandchildren of Latino immigrants” (Zaldivar). Moreover, some Latino immigrants do not want their children to speak Spanish because they think their children will not assimilate the new culture. “It was Puerto Rico waking up inside her shoving the open door she had shut for years and years. Maybe since the first time she was an immigrant, when she refused to speak Spanish in nursery school”(Morales 210).
Along with the struggle of their homeland language, new immigrant generations have to deal their cultural traditions. Although some people believe every Latino who crosses the border is Mexican, Latinos come from all different cultures. There are tons of Latinos out there from Argentina, Peru, Chile and Puerto Rico. However, the mainstream culture put them all together. All Latinos have traditions of music and dance. Within this tradition is the use of masks for certain dances or celebrations on special days such as carnival, Dia de los Muertos,cinco de Mayo or national holidays. However, many of the cultural traditions from their motherland have been changed or abandoned for new generations. It means new generations are much more likely to eat hamburgers instead of their traditional food.” If your mother saw you she would raise and eyebrow-the same one she arched when, at eight, you turned down sopa with fideo for peanut butter and jelly at lunch”(Curiel 87).
Assimilation is the process in which a culture retains or loses its customs-food, language, and music-while absorbing characteristics of a new culture’s way of life. Some Latino immigrants will assimilate the new culture and some of them will refuse to assimilate. However, Latino immigrants have to decide in what degree they will assimilate the dominant culture without losing their relationship with their family, language, and cultural traditions.
Hello there. I hope that this helps - all the changes I have made are in bold, and any comments I have made are in italics. I hope that this helps!
Latino immigrants coming to the United States have to face the issue of whether or not to assimilate. Understanding this issue is essential to the understanding of the challenges that every Latino has to experience at some point in his or her life; wrestling with this idea is what drives the issue of assimilation. According to Earl Shorris, “the patterns of assimilation will not all be the same; culture persists and, because it persists, determinates how people live in new circumstances”(12). It means that some Latino immigrants will assimilate the new culture and some (I don't think you need "of them") will refuse (no need for "to assimilate" - I think it's repetitive). What does assimilation mean ("mean", not "means"!)? The word assimilation means the way in which cultures retain or lose their customs, such as food, language, and music, while absorbing characteristics of a new culture’s way of life. Latino immigrants have to decide how much of the dominant culture they will absorb, without losing their relationship with their family, their language, or their cultural traditions.
One of the most important factors that distinguishes Latino immigrants from other minorities (you don't need "groups" as well) is their love of family. Having come from countries where family is central, Latino immigrants see family as the major, essential unit against the world. However, the emphasis on family can be somewhat surprising for the children of immigrants growing up in the U.S, where the individual, rather than the family, has central importance in society. In “Real Women Have Curves”, written by Josefina Lopez and George La Voo, Ana, a Mexican-American teenager, has to deal with leaving home to go to college, because her family insists that they cannot be apart from each other.
In addition to assimilating the new culture without the loss of their family relationships, Latino immigrants have to learn a new language, which is significant, because it determinates their identity. Latinos know that they must learn English to achieve success in the U.S. "In many jobs I qualify as a speaker, but I need to read and write," said Mohammad (Who is this Mohammed? You need to say who he is and where he suddenly appeared from!). "You can't go anywhere in this country without reading and writing. You don't want to spend the rest of your life as a dishwasher working for $5 an hour. The economy is changing so fast." All Latino immigrants face challenges as they adjust to the new language. Latinos speak Spanish or are bilingual. However, the accents of the Latino immigrants who do not speak English well are seen to be different by others. Nevertheless, new generations of Latinos speak fluent English, but are also familiar with Spanish for communication with their family. “Nonetheless, there is a similar pattern for all groups: each generation speaks less of the original language, which usually disappears in the grandchildren of Latino immigrants” (Zaldivar). Moreover, some Latino immigrants do not want their children to speak Spanish because they think their children will not assimilate the new culture. “It was Puerto Rico waking up inside her shoving the open door she had shut for years and years. Maybe since the first time she was an immigrant, when she refused to speak Spanish in nursery school.”(Morales 210).
Along with the struggle of their native language, new generations of immigrants have to deal with their cultural traditions. Although some people believe every Latino who crosses the border is Mexican, Latinos come from all different cultures; there are many Latinos out there, coming from Argentina, Peru, Chile and Puerto Rico. However, mainstream culture tends to group all of these together. All Latinos have traditions of music and dance; within this tradition is the use of masks for certain dances, or celebrations on special days such as carnivals, Dia de los Muertos, cinco de Mayo, or national holidays. However, many of the cultural traditions from people's motherlands have been changed or abandoned by the new generations, who are now much more likely to eat a hamburger instead of their traditional food. “If your mother saw you, she would raise an eyebrow-the same one she arched when, at eight, you turned down sopa with fideo for peanut butter and jelly at lunch.” (Curiel 87).
Assimilation is the process by which cultures retain or lose their customs, such as food, language, and music, while absorbing characteristics of a new culture’s way of life. Latino immigrants have to decide how much of the dominant culture they will absorb, without losing their relationship with their family, their language, or their cultural traditions.
Thank you so much Perdurable for your suggestions!!!
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https://www.englishforums.com/English/CouldSomeoneCheckGrammar-Mountainhiker/qnhd/post.htm
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Key Words:
Food, wine, heritage, France, China, Turkey, history, places, spaces
Although the idea of linking the concept of terroir to the protections of the nation-state emerged in a certain historical moment, the relevance of this connection between place, people, and taste of food products has taken on a transnational importance. As Elizabeth Barham noted, although the notion of terroir is deeply rooted in French history and culture, the idea of terroir also reflects “a conscious and active social construction of the present… to recover and revalorize elements of the rural past to be used in asserting a new vision of the rural future” (Barham, 2003). This papers seeks of examine this “social construction of the present” in narratives of terroir from outside of France. In particular, I am interested in how aspects of the French history or a French connection are used in storytelling about foor and place in diverse rural landscape, such as vineyards in China and Turkey. This paper approaches this storytelling as both strategic, offering a way to sell goods based on associations with “Old World” quality and tradition, and aspirational, offering a new understanding of what can constitute or express terroir in the global marketplace. I conclude by looking at how this dynamic constructing and manipulating of the notion and meaning of terroir in these food industry stories impacts French approaches to its own food heritage.
Brooklyn Goes Global: When Local Culinary Culture Becomes A Global Phenomenon
Peter Naccarato
Marymount Manhattan College
While the exporting of food around the world has a long history and its economic, political, and cultural impact has been much studied, this paper seeks to broaden this work by considering what happens when an entire culinary “culture” or “ethos” is exported around the world. Over the last few years, Brooklyn, New York has developed a unique food scene through which it has become synonymous with numerous food trends. Specifically, certain Brooklyn neighborhoods are now identified as hipster enclaves, where mustached and vintage-t-shirt-wearing hipsters embrace social practices that are both celebrated for challenging conventional ways of living and vilified as the ridiculous indulgences of those with social and economic privilege. While this debate about the value of hipster culture continues, there is no doubt that it has expanded well beyond Brooklyn to become a global phenomenon. So rather than marking the unique heritage of a particular place and its people, this hipster aesthetic—from fashion to interior design; from recreation to decoration; from restaurants to cocktail bars—has emerged as a cultural export that marks a particular kind of urban space and citizen. In this paper, we focus particularly on the hipster food scene to identify those attributes that make it unique while simultaneously marking it as a global export. What is happening as the hipster culture of Brooklyn, New York pops up in Portland, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Warsaw, Rome, Bangalore, Bangkok, Mumbai, and other urban centers around the world? How do hipster foods and food practices translate across these international boundaries and how can such practices stake a claim to a unique cultural heritage as they emerge across cultures?
“Gefilte Fish Can Be The Next Sushi”:Jewish American 21st Century Inventions And Aspirations
Nora Rubel
University of Rochester
Key Words:
cookbooks; nostalgia; Jewish; kosher; religion; United States; heritage; restaurants
In 2004, a character in Tova Mirvis’s novel The Outside World presciently remarked, “Gefilte fish can be the next sushi…. Because people are hungry for something authentic…. They miss the past. Even if they never had it, they still miss it.” Twelve years later, Liz Alpern and Jeffrey Yoskowitz released their cookbook, The Gefilte Manifesto: New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foods, to both popular and critical acclaim. The trajectory of Jewish food in America has changed dramatically in the last decade, calling into question the ever-fraught relationship between “Jewish” food and “kosher” food—a connection that while not always held in private Jewish practice, was more frequently held in public spaces. The impact of explicitly Israeli food in hip American restaurants, as well as the establishment of high end, unapologetically Ashkenazi (and non-kosher) delis and bakeries, has also challenged earlier American historical narratives that tended to treat ethnically Jewish “heritage” food as casual and inexpensive. Additionally, Alpern and Yoskowitz’s Brooklyn-based Gefilteria (along with their accompanying Manifesto) actively seeks to redefine specifically Ashkenazi Jewish food within the contemporary values of seasonal, local, and sustainable eating. They are not alone, flanked by a new generation of culinary innovators who has embraced what it sees as Old World inspiration, radical fermentation, and a back-to-the-land ideology. To paraphrase Reconstructionist Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, these new arbiters of Jewish food give kashrut and “authenticity” a vote, but not a veto. This presentation will grapple with the questions thus posed to historians about the changing nature of Jewish food studies, as narratives shift from arguments concerning acculturation and orthodoxy, to contemporary arguments regarding sustainability, social justice, and the place of nostalgia on the Jewish American plate.
Taste As Heritage: Perspectives Of First And Second Generation Chinese Immigrants In Toronto
Celia Huang
University of Waterloo, Canada
Key Words:
food, heritage, home, Chinese immigrant, community, Toronto, social network analysis, phenomenology, interpretive methods
Today, Toronto has become Canada’s largest and the world’s most multicultural city. More than half of Toronto’s residents were born outside of the country with over 230 nationalities, and their accompanying food cultures. Food, as an important cultural heritage and everyday practice brought by immigrants from diverse backgrounds, plays an essential role in immigrants’ identity preservation and integration into the new country. Over time, the composition of immigrants has shifted from mostly white European descendants to more visible minorities, with Asia as the largest source of recent immigrants. At present, Chinese languages were the most commonly spoken language at home after English (Statistics Canada, 2018). However, very little recent research has examined the lived experience of Chinese immigrants in Canada. My research presents a unique focus on how Chinese immigrants in multicultural Toronto preserve a taste of “home” and create communities through Chinese food. This research explores why and how Chinese food has not only been well-preserved by Chinese immigrants, both at the private sphere of home and at the public sphere of restaurants, but has also emerged into new and innovative forms in Toronto. I will introduce a novel methodological approach, Chinese-food-net (the personal networks that include a set of people with whom an individual shares Chinese food), to study the tangibility and intangibility of food as heritage. In particular, I will emphasize the intangible cultural meanings and values at the heart of food as a tangible object. The structure and meanings of these Chinese-food-nets are explored using an innovative multi-method approach including social network analysis and hermeneutic phenomenological analysis. I will present new knowledge obtained from 20 interviews conducted in Mandarin and English with first and second generation Chinese immigrants in Toronto.
A Cup Of Hybridity: The Bubble Tea’s Role In Community-Making In The Era Of Globalization
Ya-Chen Lee
Leiden University, The Netherlands
Key Words:
Bubble tea; identity; collective identity; community-making; de-sinicization; overseas Taiwanese, Chinatown, immigrant city
Since 1980’s, the well-known bubble tea, which is the combination of tapioca balls and flavored tea, has gradually turned out to be not only one of the most representative cuisines of Taiwan, but also the key symbol of Taiwanese identity in individual, national and global scale. Besides, the bubble tea has even become “the glory of Taiwan” since there are more and more Taiwanese bubble tea shops around the world, showcasing the successful export of Taiwanese food culture. The existing research has paid attention to the spread of bubble tea shops around the world; meanwhile, the role of bubble tea shop in Chinatown is also frequently seen in the research of Chinese immigrants in North America. However, there is still no complete discussion about how bubble tea has become a symbol and even a tool of community-making among overseas Taiwanese in the era of globalization.
This paper aims to point out that the bubble tea is a suitable lens for exploring the concept of community-making. As a key metaphor in community-making, the bubble tea is a useful tool for Taiwanese people to differentiate themselves from the Chinese, to link the sense of body with the food, to showcase their attitudes towards collective identity, and to recall themselves with nostalgia when they are abroad. In addition to bubble tea’s role in representing Taiwanese culture and forming the collective identity among (overseas) Taiwanese, what is even more interesting is that the bubble tea has transcended the boundaries of Taiwanese communities and has become a great symbol of “Asian community” and a must-try in an immigrant city, such as San Francisco. Thus, this paper further investigates the everchanging and hybrid meaning of the bubble tea, and how different (ethnic) groups of people dynamically negotiating its essence in the practice of community-making.
Eating Heritage: Foodways And Ethnic Identity In Italian Americans’ Writing
Stefano Luconi
University of Genoa – DISFOR, Italy
Key Words:
Italian Americans, foodways, heritage, ethnic identity, self-perception, novels, memoirs, autobiographies
In Festa, second-generation Italian-American writer Helen Barolini remarks that “Mangiando, ricordo. […] Food is the medium of my remembrance – of my memory of Italy.” Specifically, she points to her mother’s experience with food as an instance of how culinary tastes and practices show the ties connecting Italian Americans to their native land and, thereby, help reveal one’s identity. As Barolini recalls, “starting in her kitchen, my mother found her way back to her heritage, and this, I suspect, happened for many Italian-American families.”
Scholarship has repeatedly emphasized the centrality of food to the Italian-American experience in the United States. Cooking, eating, and gathering at mealtime are ways to cherish one’s heritage, to express the sense of self and social status, and to negotiate one’s place both in the immigrant community and within the broader U.S. society. It can be reasonably suggested that, to such members of a national minority as Italian Americans, food is a possible means to reclaim their heritage and identity against the dominant culture and a metaphor to define power relations in their host society.
Novels, short stories, memoirs, and autobiographies offer suitable sources to highlight the inner significance and implications underlying the behavior of Italian Americans while they prepare or consume food. This paper explores the representation of food in a sample of Italian-American works as a lens to analyze the ethnic identity of Americans of Italian ancestry and the re-elaboration of their sense of belonging over time. In particular, it addresses how the depiction of food and its consumption in fictional and autobiographical writings can provide insights into the diverse stages in the transformation of Italian Americans’ self-perception from a localistic allegiance and the elaboration of an identity based on national extraction to the longing for assimilation and the rediscovery of their ancestral roots.
Food Culture And The Navigation Of Borders A History Of Arab Foodways In The Windsor/Detroit Region
Robert Nelson
University of Windsor
Key Words:
Border Studies; Diaspora; Identity; Mobility; Security
The influence of German cooking in the food culture of Prague is unmistakable today, speaking to a blending of foodways in this border region. How ethnic foodways navigate international borders brings together the emerging academic fields of food studies and border studies in fascinating ways. This paper will analyze one such region and its diaspora community along the Canada/US Border.
Newcomers to Windsor, Ontario, Canada today tend to believe that the strip of Arab supermarkets and shawarma shops along Wyandotte street has been a local fixture for a long time. Windsor-based Arab Canadians used to do their specialized shopping across the river in Dearborn, Detroit, where they usually also had family. They thus both ate and shopped in a relatively open international borderland. This changed on September 11th, 2001. With a newly thickened border, a major Arab Foodway has been created in the heart of Windsor overnight.
Second only to Tex-Mex/Cal-Mex foodways on the southwestern border, the busiest and most complex ethnic border foodway in North America involves the substantial population of Arab decent on both sides of the northern border, encompassing Greater Detroit and Windsor. Dearborn is home to the largest population of Arab Americans, and Windsor has one of Canada’s most significant Arab Canadian populations. What is the daily grind like for the participants in a highly integrated international Arab food network, and how is the food-based identity of interlinked families on both sides of the border affected, in post 9/11, “Travel Ban” North America? This paper will explore how the American and Canadian Arab communities have developed historically in both similar and different ways, how this is expressed through food, and how significant a factor the border has been in the daily lives and foodways of these people.
Livelihoods Innovation Through Food Entrepreneurship (LIFE): Fostering Community And Sustainable Solutions To The Refugee Crisis In Turkey
To be presented by: Osman Cakiroglu & Filiz Hosukoglu
Key Words:
gastrodiplomacy, social gastronomy, refugees, Syria, Turkey, livelihood creation
The history of cuisine is the history of immigration. With 68 million refugees and displaced people globally, it is no surprise that food has become central to the lives of those who have lost everything. Food becomes a bridge to homeland. It provides a connection to a place, and a memory of what has been lost.
We propose to discuss how food can be used in the context of refugee crises as a means of sustainable livelihoods and to promote greater social integration. Through the Livelihoods Innovation through Food Entrepreneurship (LIFE) Project we will examine how social gastronomy, the use of food to support social good, and food business incubation help create opportunities for refugees and host communities in Turkey.
With over 3.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, both the government and private sector are struggling to find new means to create livelihoods. The LIFE Project has sparked innovative solutions that transform food as a means of sustainable production and entrepreneurship. It represents ways in which gastrodiplomacy – cross-cultural citizen engagement through food – has a powerful effect in building mutual understanding among those who produce the food and those who consume it.
Our presentation will examine the issues we face in Turkey, with an eye to creating models for similar contexts. By identifying the methodology to establish sustainable food incubators, we identify a potent means of social integration that harnesses the value of food as both a cultural bridge and a means to survive. We will also discuss how other programs working with refugees can understand the power of food as a healing mechanism for those traumatized by conflict.
The session will be led by members of the LIFE Project Consortium and could include the involvement of Entrepreneur Members of the LIFE Project’s Food Enterprise Centers in Turkey via video teleconference.
Meanings and Practices of Eating for Asylum Seekers in France
Estelle Fourat
IRIS – EHESS
Key Words:
Food aid, asylum seekers, food adaptations
I obtained a one-year grant from the Red Cross on the topic « Food aid and migration » and benefits from a postdoctoral position at the EHESS, since September 15th. I propose to develop in the paper a theoretical and methodological approach to understand practices of eating and meanings of food for asylum seekers; and the role and uses of food aid in the spectrum of foods they have access to. The research aims at understanding the impact of a context of uncertainty on daily food activities (collecting, storing, cooking, eating); and conversely, comprehending the role of food, as creating routines and social links, in that very precarious condition. Main literature considers migrants as disadvantaged people with reduced access to food. Not denying that reality, I make the hypothesis that people produce as well forms of adaptations to a material and social environment. For that purpose, I want to focus on food trajectories of newcomers in Paris and produce ethnographies of the uses they make of food aid. The paper will focus on theoretical aspects and reveal first elements of the ethnographic survey.
Children, Food And Friendship – Why Are The Links Largely Unexplored?
Marianne O’Kane Boal
Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland
In a two year MA in Social Research (begun September 2017) I am examining the research question; ‘What is the significance of food practices in the conduct and experience of peer relationships of children aged 4-7 in contemporary Irish society?’ The research is divided into two broad categories of investigation; examination in detail of the triangular relationship between children, friendship and food; qualitative research to document the experience of children in terms of eating, sharing, and friendship through narrative analysis of data of children’s experiences and an examination of children’s books and literature in terms of morality and ‘good’ and ‘bad’ eating practices. Through this paper I would like to explore why the links between children, food and friendship have remained largely unexplored. Current commitments in children’s policy and services emphasize the centrality of children’s voice and their participation in matters that concern them (DCYA 2014, Nic Gabhainn et al (2015). This focus has roots in childhood studies from the 1980s onward (Tisdall & Punch 2012); is closely linked to a deeper appreciation of children’s rights; and manifests in contemporary research that privileges children’s perspectives and children’s culture. In this context, there is a gap in knowledge in relation to the importance of food in children’s own lives, as extant literature focuses on food in family and institutional contexts. Very little work has addressed food as an element of children’s friendships, a key aspect of their lives. Neely et al. (2014) have conducted thematic analysis on young people’s food practices and social relationships. They identify eight analytical themes reflecting qualities of social relationships mediated by food practices: caring, talking, sharing, integrating, trusting, reciprocating, negotiating and belonging. The review provides an excellent analytical framework for the connections between food and social relationships that are being drawn on for this study.
Portrait Of A Japanese Birth Clinic: Making Mothers, Making Citizens Through Clinic Meals
Pamela Runestad
Allegheny College
Key Words:
Japan, birth, clinic, nutrition, meals, pregnant, post-partum, anthropology
Body of proposal: In this paper, I describe how nutritionists and clinic staff manage Japanese nutrition guidelines, desire to consume local foods, ideals of motherhood, practicalities of feeding multiple patients, the health and happiness of individual patients, and cravings and aversions to provide clinic meals for pregnant and postpartum mothers. Through information gained through participant-observation and semi-structured interviews, I describe how feeding mothers is more than about meeting simple health-based needs. Rather, it’s about managing those needs while also promoting Japaneseness and regional identity, entertaining women through food during their 7-day stay, and promoting a generally healthy attitude towards food that will keep new mothers, their babies, and the rest of their family healthy, functioning members of the Japanese state.
HIV/AIDS and Food: Deteriorating Diets in the Context of an Intractable Epidemic
Lesley Doyal
University of Bristol, United Kingdom
This presentation will explore the symbiotic relationship between HIV/AIDS and food with a particular focus on the African region. Optimistic rhetoric from many quarters continues to predict an imminent end to the pandemic. However the evidence does not support this with around 37 million people still living with the infection and funds to provide basic needs declining. In many parts of the world access to sufficient and appropriate food supplies have a significant influence not just on vulnerability to the disease but also on the prognosis for those affected as well as their families.
Both quantitative and qualitative research have shown how initial vulnerability to infection is increased among those whose poverty prevents them from sustaining adequate nutrition. Indeed in some communities the very high rates of infection among girls and young women reflects their frequent involvement in transactional sex in order to pay for food. Once individuals have been infected, other members of the household will also be affected as their collective access to food will be even more constrained. This results from reduced wage-earning capacity as well as the cost of drugs and other special needs of the infected individual (s). These problems are especially acute in households surviving on subsistence farming where sickness will dramatically reduce the amount of labour available to grow crops. Under these circumstances it is often impossible to maintain ‘traditional’ diets (which may already have been meagre) and attempts to feed themselves will involve what are often desperate attempts to cull food from the surrounding physical environment which can itself then become degraded. This applies in particular, to those who are already HIV positive since even if they have access to drugs they must be taken with appropriate nourishment.
Not surprisingly then, HIV and food have increasingly been linked in policy terms with a recognition that providing people with drugs is not enough. A much broader approach is required that places the pandemic within a much broader context of global inequalities where food plays a central role.
A Crip Approach to Eating and Accommodation in 3 Parts
Michael Gill
Syracuse University, School of Education, USA
Key Words:
Food allergies; Accommodations; Eating practices; Community; Schools; Feminist Disability Studies
When an individual’s dietary practices, due to allergy, religious practice (for example, halal or kosher), or personal preference/desire (vegetarianism/veganism) depend on another’s actions, or environments, what (if any) is the responsibility between the two individuals to meet the diverse dietary needs of each other? How can individuals make decisions when another’s actions can result in compromised levels of safety? Or increased risk?
To help answer these questions, I explore a crip approach to eating and accommodation, trying to parse out how interdependence and relationality impact individual food choices and eating habits. Susan Wendell writes that upholding notions of independence, particularly in disability rights movements, ‘tends to diminish the esteem of people who cannot live without a great deal of help from others, and to ignore or undervalue relationships of dependence or interdependence’ (1996: 145). Wendell continues, ‘if everyone with a disability is to be integrated fully into my society, without being ‘the Other’ who symbolizes moral failure, then social ideals must change in the direction of acknowledging the realities of our interdependence and the value of depending on others and being depended upon’ (1996: 151). I am interested in extending Wendell’s feminist disability analysis unto the politics of food and eating, especially as it relates to food allergies. In 3 parts, I explore my own relationship to food allergies as well as discourses of safety, risk, and identity claims, the politics around peanut bans and food allergy disability accommodations, and the potential to enact an ethic of accommodation to explore a crip approach to eating and accommodation. By focusing on how individuals, with and without food allergies, have temporal relationships to environments including toxins (allergens) and other beings, discourses of safety and risk are destabilized, as are claims of identity to focus on how minority groups can disidentify to claim coalition.
Food Heritage As Appropriation Vs. Appreciation In International Heritage Discourse
Marie Louise Stig-Sørensen
University of Cambridge
Cultural appropriation, deemed the use of another’s cultural practices for one’s own cultural means without the authority or right, has become a very popular term used critically in quotidian life and academic discourse. Appreciation, on the other hand, entails the permission to “use” certain cultural practices of others; this, it follows, leads to the open recognition and respect for the culture to which the respective practice belongs in its own right. However, where is the boundary that divides appropriation from appreciation? This session, comprising five papers, will look at this issue through different themes in food heritage, including but not limited to, globalization/glocalisation, migration, indigeneity and claims to cultural authenticity from the prehistoric past to today. Further, it aspires to critically examine how appropriation/appreciation interplays between the tangible and intangible aspects of food practices from the production level of individual ingredients, the transculturation of recipes and the required knowledge for their performance, to the branding and nomination of food as belonging to some, but not others. Food is an invaluable means through which to study the issue of appropriation since its ingredients are transportable, while its use is malleable and universal.
The papers in this session speak to the interdisciplinary nature of studies in heritage, with speakers addressing the theme of appropriation/appreciation from the perspectives of archaeology, development studies and heritage studies, respectively. Thus, we not only plan to approach food as heritage from a contemporary perspective, but also through exploring how studies of the past can help us explore the lessons and implications that the appropriation of food has for the present and future.
El Limón De Pica: Exploring Food Heritage Appropriation In A Chilean Oasis
Rebecca Haboucha
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
This paper will address the theme of appropriation through the results of extensive fieldwork with Indigenous and originary peoples in the community of Pica in northern Chile. It will examine the heritage implications of the appropriation of a single food element, the Pica Lemon (Citrus aurantifolia,) the first product in Chile to be protected by the National Institute for Industrial Property as a geographical indication (GI) in 2010. The lemon, however is not originally indigenous to Pica; according to originary community members, it first came from northern Argentina and was introduced to South America before that.
This paper will explore the following questions: when does appropriation transform into indigeneity, and how does the nomination of a product as having protected food status define this? How does the perception of the appropriation or appreciation of the lemon relate to who cultivates and uses the food, and in what context? This particularly refers to the perception of Bolivian farmers who have recently replaced originary Piqueños (including local Aymara and Quechua peoples) as the most predominant farmers in Pica, in addition to the branding and mass-production of the Pica lemon at the national level by external vendors. Finally, how do geographic and temporal contexts shape the perception of the appropriation of the lemon as either a form of cultural resilience or threat?
Ugali Anyone? An Archaeological Perspective On East African Food Histories And The Hybridisation Of Cuisines
Paul Lane
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
Ugali is the Swahili word for a type of starchy, maize-meal based, polenta-like / stiff porridge staple that forms the basis of the main meal of the day for the vast majority of East Africans. Maize (Zea mays) was domesticated in Mesoamerica and introduced to eastern Africa after the fifteenth century. It only very gradually supplanted indigenous domesticated cereals such as sorghum, finger millet and pearl millet. Yet today, ugali (and its southern African equivalent, known by a variety of names including pap, sadza and nshima) is considered as essentially an African dish. In fact, many of the ingredients that make up ‘traditional’ east African dishes are made from crops that were domesticated outside the continent or from another region in Africa. This paper will explore this history of culinary hybridisation from an archaeological perspective as part of a critical examination of where the boundary may lie between cultural appropriation and appreciation when it comes to food heritage.
The Global Agricultural System And The Orphaning Of Local Crops: The Case Of Millets
Shailaja Fennell
Department of Development Studies, University of Cambridge
As the green revolution focused on well-irrigated agricultural zones, the semi-arid zones, production systems of marginalised communities and, in particular, the role of women as millet producers in the community, were all overlooked over the course of the global application of the Green Revolution. The lack of focus on marginal communities and marginal crops had the disadvantage of distancing the local food needs of these communities from the scientific testing of crops for improving food availability. The focus on rice, wheat and maize and the improvement on plant yields in these crops, also resulted in a lack of recognition of the importance of millet production in these marginal communities. This paper argues that the focus on rice and wheat have led to processes of capital accumulation that have led to increasing mechanisation of production of wheat, and were associated with a falling female labour contribution, and an increasing demand for migrant labour.
The central focus is on the adverse consequences of the orphaning of the group of cereals termed ‘millets’ collected in the late 1990s for addressing the food needs of the most marginalised groups. Furthermore, as there are a wide range of millets that are grown in semi-arid communities, in both Africa and South Asia, it offers an opportunity to bring women back into the labour market through focussing on a greater production of millets in these communities. This paper contributes to the session through demonstrating that sometimes it is the lack of appreciation or appropriation of food practices, rather than their positive uptake, that can be detrimental to affected cultures.
Looking To The Past: Food Appropriation And Appreciation In The Context Of Origin Of Agriculture And Iron Age Feasting
Liliana Janik
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
Key Words:
Cultural appropriation; cultural appreciation; food heritage; plant domestication; globalisation; indigeneity; identity; contested heritage; heritage inclusion/exclusion
This presentation will explore a number of interesting, topical questions relating to the distinction between food appropriation and appreciation from an archaeological perspective. Can we answer questions on this theme at all when our knowledge about past communities is based on material culture remains? Why are such questions interesting or important for interpreting ancient cultures? And can the intangible practices of food and/or drink consumption in the past be significant in contemporary social and cultural contexts of food and drink appropriation and appreciation?
To answer those questions, I suggest looking at the process of plant domestication, often considered to be a revolutionary event. However, the transition from the first detectable evidence of plant domestication over 10,000 years ago to food procurement and, finally, food production took around 1,500 years. It has been appropriated through time, but its appreciation and cultural acceptance was not simple, and one can talk about the multiple introductions and abandonments of cereals consumption. Another example that will be discussed here will focus on the idea of feasting as a practice of sharing, whereby appropriation was of as much importance as the appreciation of the alcoholic beverages in Iron Age around 3,000 years ago.
By bringing the process of the appreciation and appropriation of domesticated cereals, as well as the acts of feasting as cultural acts to express appreciation, into the present, I hope to start a contemporary discussion on the ongoing process of food appropriation and appreciation in agricultural and pastoral societies.
Cookery Lessons: Viewing The Past Through The Lens Of Reconstructing Food And Cookery Techniques From History
Richard Fitch
Historic Royal Palaces
Key Words:
Cookery, Interpretation, Reconstruction, Experimental History, Tudor, Henry VIII, Royal, Palace
For over twenty five years, the long disused kitchens of Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, England, home to King Henry VIII and his Court in the first half of the sixteenth century, have once again been brought to life by the sights, sounds and smells of cookery, re-making the dishes that would have graced them over five hundred years ago. Not simply an exercise in cooking long forgotten recipes for visitors to watch, but an attempt to learn from the past and to see how form and function of the Tudor Kitchens of Henry VIII’s Court affected and were affected by the food that was cooked within them; all whilst demonstrating to and discussing with thousands of visitors a day.
From the deceptively simple roasting of meat in front of the large roasting fires as an example of history where it happened, through to the complex constructions of banqueting stuff made from sugar and almond paste and all culinary points in between, this work has seen the research and reconstruction not just of the dishes themselves but the tools and techniques required to cook them. On top of this work, research into the fundamentals of cookery such as the fuel supply and waste removal, are starting to provide new insights into the archaeology of the building and the lives and needs of the staff that lived and worked within it as well as those who ate the meals that the kitchens produced.
This paper will look at examples of the reconstruction work undertaken at Hampton Court Palace and the lessons that have been, and are still being learned by the use of food and cookery as a method of investigating and interpreting a heritage site.
The Embodied Landscapes Of Gongfu Cha Tea Culture In Contemporary China
Lanlan Kuang
University of Central Florida, Orlanda, Florida, USA
Tea and the highly-cultivated art of tea drinking epitomizes Chinese philosophy. This article examines the aesthetic landscapes of gongfu cha tea culture embodied by elite connoisseurs and modern intellectuals in contemporary China. Translated allegedly as “tea made with time and skill,” gongfu cha is an intangible heritage originated from Chaozhou (Teochew), a city in the southern Guangdong province. Gongfu cha is considered a luxury item and those who enjoy it are experts in their craft. Combining ethnographic fieldwork and historical analysis, the author identifies and studies both tangible and intangible elements of the gongfu cha tea culture from southern China. The author argues that the conscious revival of traditional gongfu cha tea culture among elite connoisseurs and intellectuals in present-day China evoke performatively nostalgia and from which emerged a philosophical landscape of traditional Chinese aesthetics far beyond tea drinking. This article also examines the various landscapes of ancient tea tree cultivation within the backdrop of present-day China’s economic growth, sustainable consumption, production patterns, educational system, environmental sustainability, food security, and social peace and inclusivity.
The History Of Beer In Norwegian Mountain Valleys – A Foundation For Commercial Production Of Unique Beers?
Hans Olav Bråtå
Eastern Norway Research Institute, Norway
Key Words:
Mountain valleys, Norway, beer history, kveik, terroir, brewing, malt, juniper, alder, cultural heritage
Norwegian mountain communities suffer from a decline in population and employment. An endogen development strategy is one option for escaping the spiral of decline. The cultural heritage related to food, drink and the landscape is a foundation for combining the renewed interest for this subject with trends as eco-tourism, the search for uniqueness and a knowledge-based tourism. The history of farmhouse ale brewing in Norway is one focal point for these trends. In general, that brewing ceased during the first decennials of the 20th century, but it continued in some communities.
This paper presents the project “Mountain beer”, which aims to document the beer history in Norwegian mountain valleys, and some major findings. Further on how some breweries, based on similar knowledge, have developed unique beers based on their cultural heritage. The paper describes the major types of grains used in the brewing and additives such as juniper, alder, hops and other herbs. Different methods for drying the grain and for processing it into beer is described. This include the use of the old Norse type of yeast – the kveik.
Beer has been important in the daily life of Norwegians throughout history. Some important examples of this use will be presented. Further on how the combinations of ingredients, the processing of them (the brewing) and the planned use of the beer in society influenced the colour, taste and strength of the beer. The author discusses how this knowledge can be used, and de facto is used, in the successful imitation and commercial production of historical beers. In such cases a broad definition of terroirs, and how they can be reconstructed, in the form of fictive terrors, is important.
Heritage Reclaimed: From Pointy Hats To Pink Boots
Lisa Frank
Slow Beer/Slow Food
The history of women as the first brewers is well documented, from ancient China to Sumaria to the Eqyptians. Seven thousand years ago brewing beer was just another task in a woman’s never-ending to-do list.
Beer was brewed at Godin Tepe in 3500-3100 BCE. Kubaba, perhaps the only female in theSumarian King List was listed as a tavern-keeper in 2100 BCE. The Hymn to Ninkasi (the Sumarian Goddess of brewing) was written in 1800 BCE. Cleopatra instituted a beer tax. Vikings law stated that all brewhouse equipment remained the property of women.
Women were clearly business owners brewing beer and managing taverns. So, what happened?
How did brewing go from a kitchen activity managed by women to a profession that for centuries excluded them?
Improved preservation it could be transported away from “fresh” kitchen brewing;
Monks/guilds made brewing a male profession;
Food purity laws made ingredients more expensive;
As an industrial economy emerged, brewing moved into larger facilities, bypassing women’s ability for financial and legal resources.
How did peaceful beer brewing women run afoul of the Church and become the face for witches the world over?
Fear and ignorance. Post-Plague the Church had a strong influence what women could (not) do. The Inquisitions were not kind to women outside of their imposed roles, especially ones who knew herbs and plants and were healers. The tools of their trade became signs of witchcraft: pointed hats, brooms, cats, cauldrons.
How do women reclaim their place and respect in today’s beer brewing renaissance?
Women never really stopped brewing beer for small audiences. But since the 1980’s women the world over have reentered all facets of the brew house. National organizations such as the Pink Boots Society and Barley’s Angels have mentored women to reclaim their lost heritage as owners, brewers, consumers.
A 150-Year Shift In Cheese Tastes: Social, Economic And Cultural Dimensions Of Danish Cheeses
Jørgen Burchardt
National Museum of Science and Technology
Cheese is one of the world’s most important foods, and products with unique characteristics have been developed over centuries. Every cheese-producing country has its specific varieties of cheeses; their differences are related to the different kinds of milk used, how the animals have been fed, production methods including the cultures used, storage conditions, and packing.
We recognize the names Gouda, Kefalotyri, Manchego, and hundreds more from cheese-producing countries. Each cheese has its own flavor, fragrance, texture, shape and colour. Cheese has become one of the world’s most important gastronomic products, and many kinds are coveted for their uniquely developed flavors and enjoyed in the same way as fine wines.
This paper examines the overall development of cheese since the first industrialized steam-powered dairies began to flourish 150 years ago. To examine the details in the progression of the business structure, the history of Danish cheeses is described.
Based on statistics, the size of the production of different types of cheeses and their distribution channels are shown. This is supplemented with qualitative information about production, selling, preparation and eating. As far as possible, subjective judgments regarding taste are mentioned.
Cheese production has undergone dramatic changes over the years. Since the 1970s, in particular, cheese has been produced at large, specialized diaries. In parallel, the commercial interests of brands have become protected by various strong international agreements.
This give rise to questions such as: Has a big-business style of production resulted in negative consequences for the quality and gastronomic development of cheeses? Does this type of regulation represent a new kind of colonialism or protectionism?
The paper is based on research conducted in cooperation with the Danish Agriculture Museum and the National Museum of Science and Technology at two dairies at the international company Arla.
Putting Jutland On The (Gourmet)-Map Of Europe: The Success-Story Of The ARLA UNIKA-Cheese Store In Aarhus From The Regional To The European Food-Market
Katalin Deme
Culinary Memoirs: Performing Heritage Or Performing Gender?
Ruchira Datta
Christ University, Bangalore
Key Words:
cookbooks, culinary memoirs, culinary heritage, high cuisine, low cuisine, feminist study, ethnographic accounts, Bengali cuisine.
In colonial Bengal (India) nationalist fervour pervaded the domestic sphere through cookbooks. This is because, apart from recipes, the cookbooks published during this time provided instructions to women against the use of domestic help, foreign ingredients, reminding them to take charge of the kitchen the way women did prior to colonisation. In other words, these cookbooks tied the idea of nationalism to ideas of tradition and held the Bengali woman responsible for upholding tradition. Though limited in terms of variety and number, cookbooks published in colonial India have one thing in common with the cookbooks of the twenty-first century – they reinstate gender and culture norms. In contrast to cookbooks which affirm culture and gender norms, culinary memoirs question and resist these norms. In doing so, culinary memoirs serve as a critique of dominant understanding of what forms the culinary heritage of a community. Culinary memoirs, thus, attempt to include both high and low cuisines when recording the culinary heritage of the community. As records of personal history, culinary memoirs also challenge dominant/popular versions of a community’s heritage and history. In fact, feminist scholarship on culinary memoirs suggests women often write culinary memoirs to record personal struggles and challenge popular notions of a community. Finally, as ethnographic accounts of a community culinary memoirs place ethnic, culinary heritage/roots on the global map and in dialogue with larger discourses of food. Through a study of Sandeepa Mukherjee Datta’s Bong Mom’s Cookbook, this paper explores how in the twenty-first century the idea of cooking is still closely associated with idea of performing tradition and gender especially in diasporic communities. The paper also looks at this memoir as a feminist space for recording and contesting culinary as well as the cultural heritage of the Bengali community.
Cooking Up Something: Social Vs Personal Identities In “Cocina” By María Fernández Ache
Nina Namaste
Elon University
Key Words:
identity, gender, reality vs appearances, inner vs projected identities, culinary spaces (kitchen vs dining room), contemporary theatre, Spain.
In recent years the theatre billboards in Barcelona and Madrid have announced the latest trend and de rigueur topic: food. From new representations of “Cocina,” Arnold Wesker’s classic British work “The Kitchen” (1957; 2016) to Joan Ollé’s “Delikatessen” (2016) or Angélica Liddell’s “Mi relación con la comida”/“My Relationship with Food” (2005; 2017) all things gastronomical figure prominently in recent Spanish theatrical works. In particular, “Cocina”/“The Kitchen” by María Fernández Ache (2016) highlights how breakfasts with intimate partners, meals with work colleagues, insomniac snacks in the middle of the night and culinary ambits such as the kitchen and dining room provide physical and metaphorical spaces for characters to “cook up” their lives, and the lives of others.
The drama revolves around Antonio and Emma, and the difference between their public and private personas, with colleagues and with each other. The intimate, private kitchen space contrasts with the “public” or social space of the dining room where appearances are constructed, maintained and manipulated. Various lives are “burned” while others’ are put on a silver platter; careers and marriages are destroyed and moral and legal boundaries navigated. All this happens with only one stage set—the kitchen. Thus, this paper explores the physical and metaphorical culinary spaces where current Spanish social and economic anxieties are sliced, diced, and served.
Of particular interest is an exploration of how culinary settings and matters actively construct social identities while at the same time are impacted and constructed by present cultural realities. The financial crisis in Spain, with its record 35% unemployment rate, the subsequent recovery, and a perceived resulting change in Spaniards’ moral compass are actively explored in this drama. The “private” kitchen and “public” dining room spaces in “Cocina” act as a microcosmic reflection of the larger social identities that are being actively constructed, doubted, and discussed in Spanish society; the food eaten and served, and the conversations had during meals, explore the taste and values of an educated, professional class. In sum, this paper presentation investigates the representational and expressive roles of food in contemporary Spanish theatre.
Old Recipe Notebook
Sperello di Serego Alighieri
Before recipes web sites, before TV cooking classes, and before printed cookbooks the cooking knowledge was trasmitted for thousands of years from grandmothers to mothers, to daughters, and so on, using hand written recipes notebooks. Some of these recipes ended up printed in modern cookbooks, but many did not. So these old notebook constitute an original and unique repository of traditional cuisine.
I shall in particular illustrate two recipes notebooks, written by my mother, one in German when she was attending an housekeeping school in Austria around 1930, and one in Italian written later. My mother knew a lot about cooking, but I never saw her cooking, not even an egg.
Food As Singaporean Cultural Heritage: From Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian Trilogy To Eric Khoo’s Films
Michelle Bloom
University of California, Riverside
Key Words:
Hawkers, Singapore, Film, Crazy Rich Asians, The Recipe, Eric Khoo, Memory
Nick Young, the protagonist of Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, takes his wife Rachel Wu to the best noodle hole-in-the-wall in Singapore, (vol.3, Rich People Problems, p.391) only to find the venue has permanently closed. As he tells his wife, “Everything I love about Singapore is gone. Or it’s disappearing fast. Every time I’m back, more and more of my favorite haunts have closed or been torn down.” (p.391). Kwan’s trilogy and Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the first novel are popular works that portray the attempt to preserve culinary and architectural heritage in the face of the rapidly changing nation-state. Given the primacy of food in Singapore, the culinary not surprisingly plays even more significant roles in the work of the “crazy rich” filmmaker Eric Khoo, who comes from one of the wealthiest families in contemporary Singapore. After considering food scenes in Kwan’s trilogy and Chu’s film, and hawker food’s place even in the lives of the “crazy rich,” I will consider food and cultural heritage in Khoo’s oeuvre.
The culinary embodiment of individual and collective memory traverses Khoo’s work across media and social classes. Khoo’s 2013 telefilm, The Recipe: A Film on Dementia, answered the Singaporean Health Board’s call for a film about Alzheimer’s disease. Khoo invoked food, and the signature dish (Hainanese curry rice), to make this otherwise challenging topic palatable. Chef Qiu Yun opens a venue inspired by the hawker food of her mother, who transmits her culinary wisdom and recipes in order to preserve the past, which is slipping from her individual memory and from the Southeast Asian city-state’s collective memory. This presentation also looks at food heritage in Khoo’s arthouse films Mee Pok Man (1995) and the omnibus trilogy, Be With Me (2005), earlier works featuring marginalized people in the wealthy nation-state by portraying hawker stalls and home cooking in Housing Development Board residential buildings. Khoo utilizes film to represent a Singaporean cultural history which counters the erasure of the marginalized and which, like food, serves as a means of cultural heritage and social critique.
Ruptured Roots: The Role Of Communal Memory And Ancient Texts In The Contemporary Jewish Community Farming Movement
Adrienne Krone
Allegheny College
Key Words:
Judaism, Heritage, Communal Memory, Food, Farming, Values, North America
In the early twenty-first century, a small group of Jews became concerned about how detached North American Jews were from food production systems. They decided to reclaim and reinvent ancient Jewish rituals and practices in order to grow food and educate their communities about Judaism’s agricultural roots. Darren Joffe, then the Director of Agricultural Innovation and Development at the Leichtag Foundation in San Diego, California, was among them. As we sat in his office, he reflected on this: “as Jewish people we’ve been pushed off of land through the diaspora. We’ve lost touch.” Joffe sees Jewish community farming as a path back. He explained that engaging in farming could move Jews towards reclaiming their “cultural identity and connection to the earth and seasons and social justice and stewardship.” Joffe had a solution to reconnect Jews to the land. He elaborated, “The guidebook back, in many ways, is the Jewish Farmer’s Almanac in the Torah, like how we farm and how we care for animals and people.” The Torah, known also as the Hebrew Bible, describes the communal narrative of the Jewish people and it assumes an agricultural setting. The question that he Hebrew Bible answers isn’t whether humans should engage in growing food, but rather how humans, and Jews in particular, should engage in growing food. In this paper, I will use example from ethnographic interviews and participant observation of the contemporary Jewish community farming movement to illuminate the Jewish agricultural laws, rituals, and values that together enable contemporary Jews to rebuild a Jewish agrarian community. The Jewish Community Farming movement is determined to re-‐engage Jews in agriculture. The eighteen diverse farms in North America exemplify the ways that ancient texts, traditions, and practices have been revitalized in the modern context to grow food that nourishes stomachs and souls.
From Poi To Poke: Colonization And Revitalization Of Hawaiian Heritage Foods In Cultural And Culinary Tourism
Brooke Hansen
University of South Florida
Jack Rossen
Heritage Flight, USA
Tourism since the beginning has been about experiencing foods from other locales and cultures. As the era of modern tourism emerged, heritage and cultural foods became essential for destination branding. In Hawaii, the tourist experience was iconically expressed in the produced lū`au with the obligatory taste of the indigenous food made from kalo: poi. Kānaka maoli (Native Hawaiians) were displaced from traditional lands where they tended kalo to make way for the militarization and touristification of their `āina (land). Though some kānaka could no longer grow kalo and consumer poi, tourists were sure to have a taste, usually followed by a grimace and commentary about the slimy texture and pungent taste of the pounded and fermented cultural staple. With the revitalization of kānaka maoli culture, the reclamation of ancient kalo fields has become a symbol of decolonization and food sovereignty. While the kitschy tourist lu`au of the modernist past still lingers, tourists can now have an immersive and authentic experience working with Native Hawaiians to recover the agricultural fields of the past and plant for the future. From voluntourism experiences in the kalo patches of Waipi`o Valley to attending a local kine family lū`au, visitors can now experience a heritage food in an indigenous cultural frame. The recent globalization of another Hawaiian heritage food shows a different path of appropriation almost completely severing ties with the culture from whence it came – the case of poke, the chopped dish usually comprised of raw ahi tuna with seasonings. The historical roots of poke in the plantation culture of the islands will be discussed, along with the cultural and environmental implications of dozens of franchises popping up all over the world promoting “fast casual Hawaiian fare.”
Competition Among Different Global Food Movements: Can We Support All?
Rie Makita
Gakushuin University, Japan
Key Words:
global value chain, Global North-South divide, producer–consumer relations, food sovereignty, fair trade, organics, local food movement
A variety of food-related social movements have emerged in both Global North and South. Some movements intend to protect consumers and some to protect producers. These food movements have interacted with each other and created a complex situation in which both consumers and producers are perplexed with different options they face. Although each of such food movements has acquired its supporters in the real world as well as in academia, preceding studies have not yet disentangled the current complicated situation.
As an attempt to clarify the relative positions of different food movements, this paper explores how the Fair Trade movement—a consumer movement that started in the North for disadvantaged producers in the South—can or cannot coexist with adjacent movements, namely, (a) local food movement (a consumer movement in the North), (b) organic (a consumer movement in the North), (c) food sovereignty (a producer movement in the South), and (d) domestic Fair Trade or local food movement in the South. Based on the literature review, this exploratory study aims to propose a potential theoretical framework for understanding the complex producer–consumer relations over food and agricultural products.
This paper is a preparation for future case studies with which the framework should be tested in real settings. In one setting in the South, development agencies and practitioners have used Fair Trade and/or organic certification—a tangible way of realizing the movements—so that Northern consumers can help Southern producers by purchasing such certified products undoubtedly. However, this global marketing from charity may rather deprive Southern producers of their better opportunities under food sovereignty. In another setting in the North, the sales of local foods may not be promoted in Fair Trade Towns. The theoretical framework is expected to contribute to minimize potential risks from adjacent food movements and to maximize the benefits of interactions with the other movements.
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https://www.progressiveconnexions.net/interdisciplinary-projects/food-and-drink/food-and-drink-in-the-21st-century/project-archives/2nd/abstract-and-papers/
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Acculturation is the adapting social, psychological, cultural change blending into another culture. The acculturation most often occurs in two different categories: group and individual level. For the group level, the culture tends to be changed at a societal level, such as a political or economics regime in which the entirety of the population must adapt. For instance, historically speaking, colonization of another country serves great impact of how the host country change most noticeably in its culture, religious practice, customs etc. Individually, acculturation refers to change that take place as a result of contact with culturally dissimilar people, groups, and social influences (Gibson, 2001). For example, the acculturation process of being an immigrant to a country includes being able to adjust to the values, norms, beliefs, and attitudes towards the new culture. The following readings from the course demonstrated the struggle with the process of acculturation, encompassing minorities moving to a new country where new culture and environment is identified. The difficulties of the characters tides into bigger themes of the course, which includes self identity and gender.
Introduction
Theories of Acculturation
John Berry (2001) model includes four of the following strategies.
Integration
The individual maintains his or her own cultural identity while at the same time becomes a participants in the host culture. Integration is also synonymous with biculturalism in that the individual is able to adapt to both culture.
Assimilation
It's the process in which the individual gives up his or her own cultural identity and becomes absorbed into the host culture. Immigrants not only fully integrate themselves into a new country, but also lose aspects, perhaps all of their heritage too.
Separation
The individual maintains his or her own cultural identity and rejects involvement with the host culture. This often occurs when there is strong biases and racial stereotypes in the host culture.
Marginalization
It occurs when the individual reject both their culture of origin and the dominant host culture. This happens usually in societies where cultural exclusion is promoted, or perhaps divorce of parents living in two separate cultures.
Determinants of Acculturation
Nationality
In the assimilation category, people with Finnish and East European backgrounds have the highest shares while individuals with African backgrounds. The highest share of marginalized individuals is found among non-European (African, Asian and South American) backgrounds. Also, the Non-European group has the highest share of individuals born abroad which affected the numbers.
Education
The education level is separated into four different levels: completion of compulsory school, secondary school, short post-secondary school, or University. Also, there are a number of other characteristics and attributes correlated to acculturation identity such as parental educational level, experiences of discrimination, ethnic capital. Overall, integration have the highest proportion with University graduates and lower proportion with marginalized due to the level of education. Similarly, compulsory school correlates with highest level of marginalized identity.
Immigration Status
Similarly to the education level, the marginalized is associated with lowest level of education and immigration status than all of the three other acculturation identity.
Gender
In general, women are more likely to be integrated and less likely to be marginalized than men. In contrast, in a urban area increases the probability of men to have a marginalized identity and decreases likelihood for an integrated identity.
Out on main street
Out on main street is a novel written by Mootoo which conveys the struggle of a homosexual couple in a heterosexual society. During the 1970's Canada was recognized as a nation taking pride in its multiculturalism, which reflects the various cultural practices and religions existing together and forming one nation. However, there was still community judgement at the time on the idea of homosexuality in a heterogeneous culture. Throughout the book, the narrator is constantly given the readers voices and opinions of how others perceive her relationship with her girlfriend as abnormal. The couple had emigrated to Canada from Trinidad in regard to racial and cultural identity. Even though the Café takes place where members of multi-diverse groups are brought together, the quote:"W]e is watered-down Indians — we ain't good grade A Indians. We skin brown, is true, but we doh even think 'bout India unless something happens over dere and it come on de news." signified the judgements coming from others based on their skin color and sexual orientation. Another example that make matters even more complicated was when the couple encounters real Indians in Canada. She explained the complication of heterogeneous culture:"Up here, I learning 'bout all kind a custom and food and music and clothes dat we never see or hear 'bout in good ole Trinidad" (MS 47). In fact, the women were neglected by their own race in another country due to their way of establishing themselves in a heterogeneous culture. Furthermore, the main character struggles with her multiculturalism because she is East Indian and in fact looks East Indian. However, not being raised in Hindu as well as not wearing traditional clothing left her in a spot between two cultures, trying to fit in the new culture while being neglected by the old one. Overall, In "Out on Main Street," Canadian society is thus not imagined as a cultural mosaic (stability of cultural and racial identity). The author shows the difficulties of an establishment of cultural origin in the first place, and relocating individuals that have specific self-identities, is just as hard to be accepted in Canada as anywhere else.
Kiss of the Fur Queen
The Novel "Kiss of the Fur Queen" written by Tomson Highway is another example of the adversity of minorities face moving into a new culture. The story takes place in a small town in Manitoba where a pair of native brothers trying to adopt to the catholic school and life. The story reflects author Highway's roots and memories based on the events that led to his brother Rene Highway's death of AIDS. Also, being a native minority himself, the context presents the experience of Native Children in residential school stripped of their own culture and language. For instance, the brothers in the story were taken from their parents and tribe to enter a residential school where they are unable to speak their native language, forced to cut their hair, and ultimately renamed by the school as Jeremiah and Gabriel. The quote :"English is so hierarchical. In Cree, we don't have animate-inanimate comparisons between things. Animals have souls that are equal to ours. Rocks have souls, trees have souls. Trees are 'who,' not 'what.” depicts the differences between the native and catholic cultures. While being away from away and unable to adjust to the environment of the Catholic school, the brothers are being physically and sexually by the hands of the priests. As a result, as the story progresses, we found out Gabriel's sexuality as a homosexual, while in a time when this was not accepted, he had to descend into prostitution with flashbacks of the abuse he suffered by the priests. At the end, even though the brothers became world class musician and dancer respectively, their traumatized experiences while at the residential experiences, along with the inability to form meaningful relationships, make themselves hard to find true self identities. “I mean, if Native languages have no gender, then why should we? And why, for that matter, should God?” signifying the brothers forcing to be speaking English and forcing to abandon their original cree culture. Overall, the main theme of the novel is centralized around the devastation of colonization for the natives people. The author, Tomson Highway, being an aboriginal himself, also having to endure the death of his brother due to AIDS, wrote this book coming from his inner voice and experience.
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https://wiki.ubc.ca/Acculturation
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Highlighting one aspect of a room helps center a space and gives the eye something to notice first. This focal point is not meant to dominate a room; rather it provides context to the placement of design elements. Determining what will serve as the focal point and how to highlight it is not a straightforward process. Below, we provide tips on where to start in a room without a natural focal point, and how to manage a space with competing focal points.
How to Create a Focal Point in an Empty Space
You have a room with four bare walls – where do you start? Your design preferences for the space, as well as your budget help identify what your focal point will be. Determining the role of the room (bedroom? family room? dining room?) sets the basis for a functional furniture plan. Once that scheme is designed, the focal point is then based on what is logical. Potential focal points include:
- Large walls: Add a colorful, high quality, well-framed, eye-catching piece of artwork or rich color to draw your eye to the area. Dark walls advance and light walls recede, so adding different colors can play with the perceived dimensions of a room.
- Furniture: A large piece of furniture like a piano, armoire, or decorative bookcase can serve as a focal point for a room. These items can be challenging to fit within a functional design scheme, so make good planning a part of your process.
- Groupings: A vignette of a furniture piece, artwork or mirror, lighting and accessories can serve as a lovely focal point. Make sure to place the collection on a wall that is most visible when you enter the room.
- Architectural Elements: If your budget allows, you can add an architectural element, such as a fireplace, to create the natural focal point missing in an empty space.
How to Design Around Competing Focal Points
These days we tend to find that fireplaces and TVs fight each other for attention. They are both large, and both draw your eye the moment you enter a room. Many homeowners deal with this situation by hanging the TV above the fireplace. However, one must be careful to consider comfortable viewing as well as the affect on the TV by the heat created by the fireplace.
We have found a lovely way to allow these two focal points to coexist: we create two seating areas in one room. In the project pictured above, the side of the room with the fireplace gets its own scaled seating area, and the TV side gets one too. The homeowners choose which area to occupy that day depending upon what they want to do. We also find that multiple seating areas allow for more flexibility in a room. For example, smaller furniture can be moved out to accommodate seating for large dinner parties.
Views also tend to compete with other aspects of a room. For example, in the project pictured above, our clients wanted to be able to enjoy their fireplace and their view at the same time. We solved this issue by creating a furniture plan that allowed for both. The seating area sits perpendicular to the fireplace, with low chairs along the windows. The homeowners can take advantage of their fireplace while enjoying their lovely lake view.
Understanding the functionality you need from a space will help you determine the best use of your manufactured or natural focal points. Furniture layout planning is the key to figuring out how to create that function while giving your space a design that makes sense to the eye. While placing a focal point in the most visible part of a space makes sense, creating a room that works for you and your family is the first priority.
What tips have you found useful in determining the focal point in a space? We’d love to hear about your experiences. Leave a comment, send us an email, or give us a call at 317.253.8986.
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https://hoskinsinteriordesign.com/design-tips-on-creating-or-highlighting-a-focal-point-in-a-room/
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A focal point should be something interesting to look at. So how do you find or create one for your room?
Your room will be more inviting if it has a focal point. Sometimes it could already be created in something architectural. But if it's not built into the room then you need to create it.
Look around your room. If you have a fireplace that could be your focal point. You can use the mantel to draw the eye even more. If you don't have a fireplace or another large feature you can create a focal point. Remember the focal point should be the first thing you see when you walk into the room.
You can use artwork to create a focal point. You can also use creative lighting or paint to create or enhance a focal point. The color of the wall can draw your eye in. Using lighting can enhance that feature and make it stronger. Arrange your furniture to draw attention to your focal point. Keep in mind the flow of the room.
If you are using artwork on a wall the featured photograph in a large size will create a beautiful focal point. The colors will go will in a room with fall colors so it is perfect for the season!
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Author
Hi. I am Cheryl of Cheryl Day Photography. Stay tuned for my regular blog posts to keep you updated on what I am doing.
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https://www.cheryldayphotography.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-focal-point
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Home is intended to be a retreat – safe confines in a world of chaos and danger. Minimalist design attempts to highlight qualities of relaxation and simplicity in the form of toned down decor and the intentional infusion of specific objects. If you want your home to be defined by minimalist interior design, you’ll need a plan.
What is Minimalist Design?
If there’s one phrase that could be used to describe minimalist interior design, it would be visual simplicity. It’s a less-is-more approach in a world where most designs are focused on incorporating as many different elements as possible.
“Think clean, modern lines, a tight edit, a concise color palette, and pared down silhouettes,” Decoraid mentions, “yet don’t shy away from creating a layered, warm, rich, and inviting minimalist home with a gallery-like setting from room to room as this is, after all, a place of comfort and refuge.”
Minimalist design isn’t for everyone, but it certainly has its place if you’re looking for a home that’s:
- Low stress. Stuff equals stress. The more stuff that exists in your physical environment, the more mental energy and focus must go to processing what’s in the space. The less stuff there is, the more your mind is free to relax and be creative.
- Beautiful. When there are fewer things in your home, it’s easier to let beauty shine through. The visual attention within the space goes to very specific items and features. Nothing unnecessary distracts.
- Spacious. Minimalist design is highly effective for making small spaces appear much larger. This makes it an ideal design choice for smaller homes and tighter rooms.
There are certainly different versions of minimalist interior design – and beauty is often in the eye of the beholder – but these are the overarching benefits. When you embrace minimalism, you embrace a low-stress, beautiful, and spacious home.
4 Minimalist Design Tips
As you think about adopting a minimalist design within your own home, here are several helpful principles to consider and emphasize.
1. Use 1 Focal Point Per Room
In traditional design, there are always competing elements. In minimalist design, the goal is to only have one visual focal point per room. Everything else should complement this piece. Examples include:
- Large artwork. We’ll discuss this more in a moment, but just know that artwork is one of the most popular focal points in a minimalist room.
- Fireplace surround. In a living room, bedroom, or porch, a beautiful fireplace mantel with a unique surround can serve as a powerful focal point to draw the eyes in.
- Light fixture. Hanging light fixtures are as much aesthetic as they are functional. They often serve as the focal point in a foyer, dining room, or kitchen.
This just gives you some ideas. The truth is, almost anything can become a focal point. From a headboard to a coffee table to a plant, you can turn any element into a visual centerpiece. Just keep it to one per room and you’ll be fine.
2. Embrace Natural Light
While light fixtures can beautify a space, minimalist interior design is highly reliant on natural light. The space should be flooded with as much natural light as possible. This typically requires large windows and lots of transparency between the indoors and outdoors.
If your home doesn’t have a ton of windows – or if you have interior rooms that get dark – you may consider installing skylights in your house. This is an effective way to bring in some extra light from a unique angle.
3. Emphasize Art Work
As previously mentioned, artwork plays a key role in minimalist design. While you’ll obviously have to select artwork that resonates with you, the best kinds are visually striking. In other words, they stand out (both in color and in subject matter). And rather than using gallery walls (which can look good in other types of interior design), stick with a maximum of one large piece per wall.
4. Allow Space to Move
Breathability and walkability are major factors in minimalist design. Make sure there’s space to move around without having to take winding paths through furniture and hallways. No matter how small or large the space, you want to be able to move freely. This is one of the defining characteristics of a minimalist home.
Bring Your Home to Life
Minimalist home design isn’t for everyone. However, if you’re looking for visual simplicity that leads to less stress and better focus, it’s definitely something to consider. Use the principles highlighted above to get started.
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https://www.thedubrovniktimes.com/lifestyle/feature/item/13338-4-principles-of-effective-minimalist-interior-design
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Arm yourself with design tools to figure out and execute a fantastic focus in any room
The idea of “focal points” comes up often in decor discussions, but how do you define and decide on these seemingly all-important design details? In this guide, I’ll break down what exactly a focal point is, whether you need one and how to incorporate this concept into your real-world room.
There can be multiple ways to define a focal point. In photography or painting, it is literally the point at which the “eye” or lens capturing the image is focused.In interior design, a focal point is similar: It is an area that draws our attention due to being more dramatic than other areas. It can be one bold piece (such as a large-scale artwork) or a grouping of items (such as this painting placed just above the dark fireplace). Whatever it is, and for whatever reason (be it color, pattern or size), a focal point draws the eye more strongly than other areas of the room.
Keep in mind that a focal point does not have to be a wall or part of a wall. Bold carpets or floors, hanging lights and even furniture pieces can also be strong visual features that capture our focus.Here, the beautiful carpet grounding this seating area, along with the dark, chunky coffee table and the chandelier, create a focal point in the center of the space, drawing the eye into the room rather than only to the walls.
Can you identify the focal point in this room? Many people would say it is the fireplace and TV wall, around which the furniture is arranged. Others might say it is the vast, dramatic window wall with a great view to nature that’s “on” all day. Others still might pick the ceiling — epically high with bold accents and a commanding chandelier.Here’s what I would pick: all of the above. The idea that a room must have one singular focal point is a myth. Rooms are complex, with multiple features and functions, so it makes sense that we accept them having more than one focal point.
This idea of embracing multiple focal points can apply to any room, but it is especially true for rooms that are a little larger, with multiple functional areas. This luxurious bedroom has a spectacular headboard, but it also has interest in other places, such as the sofa wall with its dreamy windows, or the inviting fireplace.
Piling all the drama onto one wall can leave a space looking lopsided, but creating multiple focal points keeps the eye moving through the space and leaves it feeling more balanced.
In reality, there is no absolute limit to the number of focal points a room can have. However, if you’re less confident in your designer eye and want a helpful rule, sticking to a maximum of three focal points will help make sure the room stays orderly. In a smaller space, sticking to a maximum of two is the safest. It’s not an unbreakable rule, but it can make things easier.
All of this being said, when you do have multiple focal points, you should still consider making one the dominant focal point. This helps to provide a room with a sense of visual structure.Your eye has a strong spot to begin and end on as it explores the room, finding other focal points, and this conveys a sense of order in our minds. This logical sense of structure can help a space carry lots of interest without feeling so busy, so you achieve a lively look without it feeling unkempt.
Often, this is where using an “accent wall” comes in: using a dark shade, a bold hue or an eye-catching pattern on a wall to really make that focal point dominate over any others. In this case, the dark paint surrounding the fireplace makes it even more dramatic than the beautiful windows.
If the paint had been applied to the window wall instead, the windows probably would feel like the strongest feature, and the room could work that way too.
It’s not the only way to define a dominant focal point, but it is an effective one.
So how do you know where the focal points in your room should be?Luckily, the focal points are often easily determined by the room shape. Many rooms, despite technically having more than four walls, only actually have a few full walls that can become focal points. Once you eliminate the wall(s) with doorways or closets, many rooms only have one or two walls left open.Take this example, where the room is open from two sides. This leaves just the fireplace wall and a second wall to become a TV wall. The TV wall has more room to work with (and the furniture naturally faces it), so by default it becomes the easiest choice for a dominant focal point.
Focal points can also be determined by function in a room. If a small room has one sole function (such as watching TV or sleeping), it can have just one focal point. But when a room has multiple uses, it makes sense to give a focal point to each.
Here, the window is a major focal point when chatting or reading in the daytime, but the piano becomes more of a focus during, say, an evening singalong. Ultimately, the dark, glossy piano is hard to avoid as a dominant focal point, so the designer embraced that with equally vibrant yellow curtains.
If an area or piece cries out to be the star of the room, don’t fight it, support it.
Ultimately, when you’re picking the strongest focal point in a room, you may want to resort to the most straightforward option: the wall or area that you’re first facing when you step into the space.In this example, the TV wall is of course a focal point when you are planted on the sofa (to watch TV, most likely). But as you first approach, the accent wallpaper framing the sliding doors makes that wall the dominant focus and pulls you into the space.
It is often tempting to make windows the sole focal point in a room. After all, who wants to admit that they’d rather look at a TV than a beautiful nature scene?While windows make a great statement during the daylight hours, they often become less captivating during the evening (depending on the view). If your entire decor is oriented solely around a window, then what remains of your focal point when the sun goes down?Balancing a window with one or two other focal points (such as some great art or a room-expanding mirror) makes sure your room stays interesting even as the energy changes from day to night.
Also, keep in mind that defining a dominant focal point is more about structuring your general perception of the entire room than it is about rigidly controlling the eye.
Orienting all the furniture toward the windows won’t make sense if you don’t plan to stare out the window for large stretches of time.
Think about what area of the room gets the most use or the most natural attention all day. If this is the window, great. If not, let something else be the focus, and you can still enjoy that view when the mood strikes you.
In an entryway, the dominant focal point usually should be the door: It’s a major draw for the eye regardless, so it makes sense to embrace that.Here, a burst of color helps make the door dominate over the adjacent focal point (with the console and wall art). Both have a lot of interest, but the standout solid hue speaks a bit louder. In general, a splash of color is a great way to create a dominant focal point in a snap.
In rooms with multiple focal points, it can give the room an even stronger sense of order to align the biggest focal points along one axis. Here, the sofas face toward an imaginary centerline of the room, and the chandelier and fireplace both sit on that same centerline.Look back to the entryway photo with the blue door. The red rug is aligned with the door, even though the door is technically a little off-center in the wall. Keeping these dramatic elements along one axis makes them feel connected instead of competitive.
Living and dining rooms tend to have a lot of seating, so the previous tip about alignment often applies.Here again, the biggest focal point (the dark fireplace) rests on a centerline defined by the sofas, the stools, the coffee tables and even the direction of the rug pattern. Another wall could be made into the dominant focal point, but it likely wouldn’t feel right with this furniture plan.For this reason, you may want to look at functional furniture layouts before determining your dominant focus and then let the best furniture plan guide you. Whatever focal point the furniture aims toward wins.
In an open plan with separate seating areas or functions, give each area one focal point. In this case, that would be the TV wall and the chandelier hanging above the dining tableYou can then also include a dominant focal point between them that ties the whole space together, or simply leave it out for a more subdued look. To me, if you cover up the painting, the space feels a little lacking in energy, but your preference may vary.Either way, the painting acts as a focal point to the space as whole, rather than to one of the functional areas. Placing a focal point on the dividing line between zones helps the room feel less rigidly segmented and more harmonious.
Ultimately, creating a focal point in a room is a way to help direct the eye and give a sense of organization. It doesn’t have to be a matter of strict rules, and it certainly isn’t an exact science.
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https://serendipitysocial.com/capture-eye-identify-work-focal-points/
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If you're starting from scratch or redecorating a room, create a mini brief or lighting plan that tackles the essentials. Think about what activities take place in each room (eating, relaxing, working), key features of a room you want to highlight and what architectural boundaries you may need to take...
Keep theme, colour schemes and material finishes consistent throughout the home, especially when it comes to lighting. Too many different styles in a sordid array throughout the home can be confusing on the eye and will cause uneasiness. Neutral, lighter tones will open up a space and make it appear...
To visually set apart that floated sitting area in the middle of the room from the room's other functions, Amy Stone's design team chose a rug just larger than the couch and matching chairs. The edge of that rug doesn't extend all the way to the walls as you'd expect;...
It acts like an anchor for the room and it leaves plenty of space for people to put down drinks or to display favored accessories. It’s also easier to access from all the seats around it. That said, make sure to leave enough room between seating and the coffee...
Door casings give a finished look to any room, but also protect from drafts. You'll probably want to match the door casings to other accents in the same room, like window casings, baseboards and trim. With many styles available, it's easy to match the dacor of any room. For an...
If you don’t have a natural focal point in your space, such as a fireplace for example, you can create one by highlighting a particular piece of furniture, artwork, or by simply painting a contrasting color in one area. Try to maintain balance, though, so that the focal point doesn’t...
If you've ever tried eating dinner at a coffee table, you know it really isn't possible unless you don't mind being hunched over so far your nose touches your knees. But a single person—or even a pair of people—doesn't need a massive dining room table to suit their needs on...
There are certain issues that always come up when trying to arrange living room furniture. From creating conversation areas to determining a focal point, to figuring out the best size rug, these tips will help you create a functional and visually pleasing living room....
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6 Examples of How to Design a Living Room With 2 Entrances
We’ve covered off on many different types of living room layouts—from awkward living room designs to large open rooms that maximize space by floating furniture. Now we’re tackling living rooms with a uniquely awkward conundrum: The living room with 2 entrances.
A common design feature in homes, a living room with two entrances can be a tricky floor plan to furnish. In addition to figuring out the right living Room furniture, you also have to consider the traffic flow in the space room based on the doorways and where they lead.
To inspire you and provide some guidance, we’ve broken down six rooms with double entrances to show you different ways to make it work.
1. An L-Shaped Living Room With Two Entrances
The Layout: An L-shaped living room with two entrances. One entrance is an opening that leads to a dining room; the other is a door that connects to the outdoor patio off the living room.
Additionally, the room also features a fireplace that’s directly in between the two entry points. The L-shape design of the space also provides a small nook that acts like a separate room.
How To Make It Work:
Arrange conversational seating. A conversational seating area set-up works best in this room. The two chairs face a sofa, and the arrangement is centered in front of the fireplace, which creates a more balanced look and flow throughout the space.
Zone it with a rug. The seating area is also set off as a focal point with a rug. All of the furniture is on the rug, making it clear that is the main seating area. The rug is also pulled up close to the fireplace, which creates a path on the other side with good flow and lots of walking room.
Add other functions. Making the most of small spaces within the room will help make the room feel more spacious. The floor mirror in one corner reflects light and gives the illusion of more space, while the office corner brings added function to the room and makes it feel larger as well.
Designer Tip: Use furniture with lower profiles and open designs, like the leather accent chairs, to keep the line of vision open from the entrance to the outside door. This will play up a more open look and feel in the room.
2. A Narrow, Rectangular Living Room With Two Entrances
The Layout: An 18×11 foot rectangular living room with two entrances on opposite ends. One is an open archway that leads to a hallway; the other consists of double doors connecting to another room.
The double doors can be shut to give the space a more formal room-like look and feel. Additionally, the room also features a large window along one wall that lets in unobstructed light.
How To Make It Work:
Arrange furniture along the walls. Given the long and narrow shape of the room, this set-up is ideal. The sofa along the window wall, the bar cart across from it, and the armchair in the corner keeps the layout feeling open and maximizes the room’s flow from entrance to entrance.
Make the sofa the focal point. With a narrow room, centering a sofa along a wall is the easiest way to bring symmetry and balance to the space. You can then decorate and build the room with the rest of your furnishings from there.
Have moveable pieces. Having pieces that are easy to move is good when you have entrances that require doors to open into the space. The rolling bar cart, ottoman, and low coffee table can all be moved around as needed for entertaining or to make more room.
Designer Tip: In a long and narrow space, captivating art on the walls and a patterned rug on the ground are key. They’ll keep the eye moving and also distract from the room’s compact and narrow shape.
3. A Large Open Living-Dining Room With Two Entrances
The Layout: A large square living room with an open doorway and a narrow entry. The large doorway leads to the dining room and kitchen; the narrow one connects into a small hallway.
The two entrances occupy two of the living room walls. Another wall is taken up by a pair of large windows. And a last wall in the room features two more windows flanking a fireplace, which sits directly opposite the opening to the dining and kitchen area. All of this leaves little to no wall space for furniture to be placed around the room.
How To Make It Work:
Float all your furniture. Given there’s very little wall space to work with in this open living room, this approach is the most functional. By floating a sofa, coffee table, ottomans, and armchairs, you get a seating area that’s comfortable with plenty of walking room.
Partition with a sofa. Make the sofa the focal point in front of the opening to the dining and kitchen area. This centers the sofa across from the fireplace, and it also subtly acts as a wall that sections off the living room as its own space.
Keep your hallway open. By placing accent chairs and ottomans opposite the wall with the hallway entrance, you’ll maximize the flow in the space with a clear path into the living room as well as the dining and kitchen areas.
Designer Tip: With a random opening or an awkward entrance in a room, you want to de-emphasize its odd placement. To draw attention away from the narrow entrance in this room, a series of artwork flanking the doorway offers balance, symmetry, and a bold decor element.
4. A Formal Living Room With Two Entrances
The Layout: A very long rectangular room with openings at each end to other rooms in the home. The living room feels almost like a giant thruway sandwiched between two entrances.
Along one wall, double doors and windows open to the outside. So, technically there are three ways to enter this living room. A fireplace also occupies another wall at one end of the room.
How To Make It Work:
Arrange multiple functional areas. Keeping the seating layout off to one side instead of floating it in the room can help the large space feel more intimate and cozy. This also leaves room for a seating area near the fireplace as well as a console area on the other end.
Create a TV focal point. The TV mounted on the wall is flanked with sconces, which makes the whole display a focus in the room. This also helps to center the room’s seating arrangement and gives a sense of visual balance to the overall space.
Maintain a triangular flow. The overall flow and walking zone in the room is a triangle shape that goes from the entrance to double doors behind the sofa to the opposite entrance. Be sure to keep this path clear to maintain the flow. It will make the room’s layout feel more intentional.
Designer Tip: Low-profile furnishings are a great option for long rooms with low ceilings, like this one. The large sectional here makes for a substantial piece but isn’t super tall so it keeps the line of vision open from each entrance, while also giving the room an airy feel.
5. Small Living Room With Two Entrances
The Layout: A small 12’x12’ living room with two entrances on the same wall. There is also a window on the wall opposite the entrances. This creates two focal points in the space, making the layout of the furniture limited and a challenge.
How To Make It Work:
Make the most of corners. Arrange furnishings in corners and along walls to optimize space. This setup invites you ‘into’ the room, with the sofa lining one wall and the TV and bookcase directly across from it—which creates a relaxing TV and reading zone.
Keep furnishings on one side. In a small room with smaller archway entrances, it’s best to keep the space open and not put anything in the way that blocks or makes the entrances tighter and harder to get to. Here, the entry areas and seating area are directly opposite each other.
Designer Tips: The focal point in this small room is the arched doorway by default. Complement its unique shape by decorating the vertical space around it with art and a standing bookcase, which will make it feel more like a part of the room rather than an entrance.
6. Living Room With 2 Adjoining Entrances
The Layout: A long living room with two side-by-side corner entrances that lead into other rooms. They’re also accompanied by a corner fireplace, which makes one side of the room with all the architectural elements the main focal point in the space. On the other side, built-in shelves and a large picture window offer a second focal point.
How To Make It Work:
Center a floating seating area. By floating and centering the seating area, it gives the room an inviting feeling and opens the space up to all the entrances. The sofa faces the fireplace and the entrances to the room, which visually invites you into the space.
Zoning with a mix of rugs. A mix of different style rugs help delineate the different areas in the room. A large rectangular rug sits under the main seating area, a hide rug marks the fireplace with an accent chair, and a smaller rug defines one of the two entrances to the room.
Designer Tip: In a long space with multiple focal points, the key is to maintain a cohesive look throughout. This keeps the space feeling balanced. For example, the fireplace and area between the entrances is decorated with furnishings to balance out the other side of the room
Browse our gallery for more living room design ideas!
Ready to rethink your living room layout?
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https://blog.modsy.com/tag/best-living-rooms/
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By Florentin Marjolaine. Interior. Published at Sunday, October 01st, 2017 - 21:00:43 PM.
Too many smooth, shiny objects or too much nubby, rustic texture becomes tiresome. Use variety to keep the room interesting. Even a pattern can be used as texture. Many prints look dimensional and therefore add depth to a decorating scheme.
Sometimes rooms have natural focal points (places the eyes travel to immediately upon entering a room) — a fireplace, a bay window with a view, maybe even a built-in bookcase. If the room doesn't have a natural focal point, create one with a dynamic piece of art or a colorful area rug.
If you're starting from scratch or redecorating a room, create a mini brief or lighting plan that tackles the essentials. Think about what activities take place in each room (eating, relaxing, working), key features of a room you want to highlight and what architectural boundaries you may need to take into account. Consider style, scale, output and even colour temperature of lights before you go rushing into design decisions. Early planning makes for less headaches and rushed last minute decisions.
Minimalist style most closely resonates with what is uber modern. That is, it’s a style that embraces the aesthetic of essential simplicity. A minimalist space is well edited and contains only those pieces that will assist in achieving the maximum décor effect.
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In recent years, the living room has taken a backseat to the kitchen as the most important space in the home. However, the living room is still second in entertaining guests and offering comfort for the home, which is why it works together with the kitchen in many modern floor plans.
If you’re concerned with a comfortable but stylish living area then there are some things you need to consider when it comes to design and furniture.
Design Considerations
Before you purchase any furniture, it’s important that you think of the purpose of your room. You probably already have an idea for the key pieces you want to include, but you need to make sure they’re right for your space.
Purpose
The most important consideration is the purpose of your room because it will help you prioritize your furniture accordingly. If it will be for gathering and conversation, you’ll want to focus on building a conversation area. If you plan to use it as a TV room, you want comfort centered around a great entertainment center.
Start with your favorite
Once you decide what your room will be for, start with your favorite piece of furniture and then choose the other pieces to accent it. Many people start with the sofa because it’s the largest purchase, but you don’t have to do it this way if you’ve already fallen in love with a fabulous piece of art or a coffee table.
Remember your needs
The room should function for everyone who lives in the home, including kids and pets. If you have kids or pets, you’ll want to choose performance fabrics that are easy to clean. Kids may require furniture with soft edges and less breakable materials.
Use natural focal points
Timeless architectural elements like arches, gorgeous views, and built-in fireplaces are all really great things to draw the eye to space. You can attempt to arrange your living room around these focal points so that it pops without a lot of added effort.
Lighting
Most people want their living rooms to be soft, warm, and welcoming. Overhead lighting tends to make the room feel cold, so making use of extra lightings like floor and table lamps will make space seem cozier and inviting.
Tips for Arranging Furniture
While your sofa may not have been your favorite piece that you used to design the rest of the room around, it’s still likely your largest piece, so you’ll want to start arranging with it in mind. Always start with the largest piece, whether it’s your sofa, sectional, or armchair.
Turn this piece toward the room’s most prominent feature. This could be a wall, window, entertainment center, or fireplace. Don’t place your sofa directly in front of a window because it can block natural light.
Position your smaller pieces opposite or adjacent to the first piece and sprinkle in your accent pieces last. This includes coffee tables, end tables, ottomans, and lamps. Every seat in the room should be within the arm’s length of at least one tabletop surface.
Small living rooms
It may sound counterintuitive, but to make a small living room feel bigger, push the furniture toward the middle of the room and away from the walls. If you back the furniture into the wall in an attempt to open up space, it actually highlights the tight dimensions.
Pulling furniture into the center creates an open feeling that there is enough space in the room to place the furniture in and still walk around. It expands the walls of the room and makes it look much bigger.
Large or open living rooms
Making a large living room feel more intimate takes some strategy. The best solution may be to create two separate groupings of furniture with a path in between them. A sofa with its back to this pathway can downplay the separation and still make it feel like one cohesive room.
Make it flexible
If you leave yourself room to mix it up a bit, you’ll find that your living room is more functional. Lightweight chairs can be placed in the corner and pulled closer for extra seating when needed. Stools and ottomans allow you to prop up your feet or give you extra tabletop space, but double as extra places to sit.
Use rugs
Rugs are a great way to unify large spaces. As a general rule, all of your key furniture items should fit on top of the rug. If it’s not big enough, at least the front legs of every piece should be on the rug.
Invite conversation
If your goal is to use the living room for chit-chat, pull your seating toward the middle of the room and make sure they’re facing each other. A coffee table in the middle of them will make sure drinks are easy for everyone to reach.
Enjoy lounging
If TV is the main activity in your living room, comfortable seating is a must. Sectionals give you comfortable and flexible seating with multiple arrangements that work for your whole family. They have love seats, recliners, ottomans, cupholders, and even pull-out sofas.
Make use of chairs
If your living room isn’t big enough for a sofa, or you simply don’t want one, you can still achieve the look you want by using only chairs. Four chairs work just as well as a sofa or loveseat and can be tied together by placing a chair at each corner of a rug.
Consider TVs and fireplaces
For rooms with both a TV and a fireplace, you don’t have to place them both on the same wall. However, it can be tricky to figure out which item your seating should face. Consider alternative living room arrangements that allow you to take advantage of both of these features without making the room seem smaller or too busy.
Specific Furniture Arrangements
Carefully consider your furniture arrangement, how traffic will flow, and where your focal point is. How you arrange your furniture will depend on function as well, so be sure you understand your options to make the most of your room.
Symmetrical
Symmetry can keep the order of the room. Choose identical sofas or chairs and place them opposite of one another to achieve balance. Even if they’re not exactly the same, you can still get that symmetrical look by placing pieces of the same proportions at opposite ends.
Zones
You can divide your living room into zones if you’d like it to be multifunctional. Large spaces can be used as conversational living areas, dining rooms, entertainment spaces, and more. Place a sofa away from the dining area to define a separate conversation area, and make the spacious room feel cozy.
L-shaped
The most common way to create an L-shape is by placing a sofa and a loveseat in an L around a coffee table. Fill the corner where the two pieces meet with an end table or a lamp. You can place a single chair on the other side that can easily be moved around for conversation or watching TV.
Diagonal
If you have a boxy living room, place your furniture at an angle to open the room up more and make it functional. You get more character and dimension this way, plus it creates more open pathways to the seating group.
Anchor the diagonal seating group with a rug that aligns with the fireplace, wall, or another focal point in the room.
Furniture Items
Furniture is probably the most important category of living room decor that you need to consider. It takes up the most room and is typically the first thing people notice when they walk into a room.
There are many different configurations, so not everyone will want all of these pieces, but these are the furniture items you should consider when designing your living room. Only you can decide whether these will be necessary for your space.
Sofa
This is likely the single most important piece in any living room. It’s a staple of most living spaces and is the largest and most expensive thing you may buy. Having a comfortable place to sit is important, and the couch fits that bill perfectly almost every time.
If you have a sofa, everything else in the room will revolve around it, so this is a good place to start, even if you’ve already chosen a favorite piece for your living room. The sofa will set a benchmark for your budget, and will often direct your style unless you’re trying to match it with an existing piece.
Consider functionality above all else when picking out a sofa. If you have a large family, a sectional may be the best bet. If you have a small family or a small space, you may only need a sofa for 2-3 people.
You also want to think about wear and tear. Who lives with you, how often you use it, and what you use it for will determine the fabric of your sofa. All upholstery requires maintenance, but the maintenance requirements will differ. Some are easier to clean than others.
If you find a few pieces you like, think about whether their style fits into your home. Think about something classic and timeless rather than trendy. Trends fade, but the true style will always look good.
Always try out the sofa before you buy it. If you don’t like the way it feels, it’s not the sofa for you, no matter how much you like everything else about it. You want superior comfort in your living room, and your sofa is one of the best ways to make that happen.
Coffee tables
Many people choose coffee tables as a way to anchor all other furniture in the room around a single piece, but it also gives you a place to set food and drinks. It may even double as an ottoman if you’re not too concerned about people putting their feet upon it.
It’s also a great place to put magazines, remotes, and anything else you need within arm’s reach in the living room. Keep in mind that if having a coffee table makes your living room feel too closed off, end tables may be a better solution to open it back up and still give people tabletop space.
You can find all different shapes and sizes of coffee tables, so consider your seating when choosing what’s right for you. Large sofas work better with oval or rectangular coffee tables. Modern or small sofas and L-shaped sectionals are better at incorporating square tables into space.
Round coffee tables tend to soften the space and they’re a better choice if you have a room with straight lines or a boxy feel.
A coffee table that’s too tall or too short for the furniture around it will create inconsistent style. Make sure your coffee table is roughly the same height as the seat of your sofa. For a more formal feel, choose a coffee table that’s slightly taller. Having something slightly lower than the seat of your sofa will give you a more laid-back feel.
Consider the material of your coffee table, just as you did your sofa. People with pets or small children should avoid sharp edges or glass inserts. If you want to avoid having to use coasters on your table, choose something that won’t show rings.
Your coffee table should look and feel great with all of the other furniture in your room, but it should also be functional or you can’t use it for your intended purposes.
End tables
You can have any combination of end tables and coffee tables you want. You don’t have to have both. If you choose to use end tables, they’re a great way to give tabletop space to your seating, make your room symmetrical, or incorporate softer lighting like table lamps.
Choose a height that’s easy to reach. If your sofa or chairs have arms, get taller tables that will meet your hand as you reach over the arm of the chair. If you don’t have arms on your furniture, they can be slightly shorter.
Chairs
If you need additional seating besides just a sofa, armchairs, accent chairs, and recliners are great ways to do that. Add these after the sofa so their style will complement the sofa. Some sofas even come with two accent chairs as a matching set, and it can make your life easier to choose something like this.
Consider where you’ll put these chairs before you buy them. Having too many chairs can make the room feel cramped, but at the same time, chairs are a great way to fill negative space and maximize seating flexibility.
Entertainment units
If the primary purpose of your living room is for watching TV, then this piece of furniture will be your focal point. Whether you mount the TV, use a TV stand, have an entertainment fireplace, or choose a full entertainment center, the options for adding an entertainment center are endless.
Choose a media console that provides the functionality you need without standing out like a sore thumb. It should blend into the room rather than be the most elaborate item in it. Choose a unit that fits your TV and allows you to frame it, mount it, or position it exactly how you want.
If you’d like for your TV to be hidden when it’s not in use, you can choose a TV armoire with cabinet doors. Smaller living rooms may benefit from a corner unit to maximize space.
Plants
When it comes to furnishing your living room with accessories, plants are the perfect way to add fresh air and oxygen. Plants also absorb harmful compounds and can keep the air in your house cleaner.
Plants look great with all types of furniture but make sure you get plants that will survive in the amount of natural light you have in your room.
Rugs
Area rugs make your living room feel cozy and tie your furniture pieces together. They can make your living room feel warm and inviting. Depending on the type of floor you have, you may want to invest in a rug to give people’s feet a soft place to land, anchor your furniture, and minimize slipping.
Pictures and wall art
Adding a personal touch to the wall in your living room can offer a conversation starter and make your living room more welcoming. If you have a favorite piece of art or family photos, try incorporating them into the space to make it feel more like home.
Curtains
Curtains are powerful. They often are the final touch to really pulling a room together. They add character, but can also be functional. Not only do curtains look spectacular, but they can be drawn to block out too much natural light or opened to let the warmth in during the cold winter months.
Large living rooms accommodate heavier fabrics and darker colors better than small spaces. To really brighten up any space, choose light, airy fabrics, and neutral colors. You can even choose a bold pattern as long as it doesn’t clash with the rest of the room.
Blankets and pillows
Adding textiles to a living room makes it feel more comfortable and welcoming. Throw blankets draped over the back of sofas and chairs will give people something to cozy up to when they’re cold and it will look stylish when not in use. You can accent your decor with patterned throws, accent colors, or unique materials.
Pillows will also make your space look much more plush and comfortable. Positioned just right, they can help with lower back support. Choosing the right pillows will add flair to any couch or chair and give the entire living room more character.
Shelves and storage
Extra storage is a plus in any room, and the living room is no different. However, there are plenty of ways to add storage so that it doesn’t distract from the current flow of the room. Many coffee tables and ottomans have built-in storage you can’t see unless you know they’re there.
These are great places to store extra pillows and blankets for extra comfort or overnight guests. They’re also convenient for tidying up in a jiffy when your mother shows up for an impromptu visit.
If you would rather have extra storage people can see, you still have plenty of options. Bookcases are a great way to display a library collection or knick-knacks. Staggered shelves on the wall add dimension and character while giving you a great place to show off family pictures and candles.
Lighting
Lighting is a key element in every room. Incorporating soft lighting solutions in addition to natural lighting or overhead lighting is absolutely necessary to create a layered effect in a living room. It gives you options for how you light the room for specific purposes and creates ambiance.
Mix floor and table lamps with sconces and candles to create a warm tone and inviting environment. Bright overhead lighting is great for a variety of uses, but when it comes time to relax, you’ll want a cozy reading chair with a lamp and shades you can draw to make it a bit dimmer.
FAQs
Question: What is the most durable living room furniture?
Answer: Leather is known for its durability. When properly maintained, it can last a long time. It also looks very sophisticated. People with pets and kids love leather because it can withstand more wear and tear than other fabrics can. It’s also easy to clean.
However, with time comes breakdown, and old leather can start drying out and cracking. When it does this, it’s nearly impossible to repair and can begin to look very dated and unattractive very quickly.
Question: What type of couch is easiest to clean?
Answer: There are a lot of other fabrics that are nearly as easy to clean as leather. Microfiber is one of the easiest fabrics to clean, it’s easy to maintain, and it can withstand daily use. It’s another great option for kids and pets.
Some people like vinyl because it has benefits similar to leather but it’s much cheaper. Vinyl is a personal preference, because in some cases, you can tell it’s faux leather and it’s not as attractive.
Question: Is La-Z-Boy furniture good quality?
Answer: La-Z-Boy has always been known for quality. Out of all of the furniture companies in America, La-Z-Boy is the other one that tests their furniture at more than double the industry standard.
Question: What are the top 10 furniture brands?
Answer: The top 10 furniture brands in the world include IKEA, Ashley, Restoration Hardware, Williams-Sonoma, La-Z-Boy, Kartell, Raymour & Flanigan, and American Signature. You can find these brands online and at local retailers.
They’re all made with quality and have a variety of styles and price points from which you can choose.
Question: What is the best month to buy furniture?
Answer: If you want to get some new pieces for your living room, the best thing you can look for is a good sale. Presidents Day and Labor Day weekends are excellent times to buy furniture because stores are discounting old stock to make room for new things.
January, February, August, and September feature some deep discounts on all kinds of furniture in many different places, so check online and in the store.
Final Thoughts
Your living room is one of the most important rooms in the house, so decorating it according to your style and purpose is critical for making it one of your favorite places to hang out. Keep these design tips in mind when choosing the type of furniture pieces you need.
Recommended Reads:
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https://finallyfurnished.com/living-room-furniture/
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Before getting a floor lamp, there are some things to consider. Firstly, what kind of floor lamps do you want? Do you want these lamps for decoration purposes, or do you intend to do some serious reading with it? Your purpose will determine what kind of bulb you should get for it. For proper reading, you would need a higher wattage bulb, but for decorative purposes just get a low wattage bulb and it will serve its purpose.
Accents & Highlighting- Draw attention to a fireplace with overhead recessed lighting or track lighting fixtures. Alternatively, wall sconces on either side of the mantel will both emphasize the fireplace and offer more lighting for the entire room. An up light situated behind the object can highlight pedestals, figurines or floor plants. Add additional layers with multi-tiered hanging lamps or wall/ceiling wash lights. Accent lights placed in alcoves, corners or closed in spaces will accentuate a specific area or piece and give the room a larger appearance.
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http://calmbiz.com/creative-lighting/creative-pendant-lights-lighting-center-lighting-universe-home-lighting-design-malaysia-kitchen-lighting-showroom/
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Renaissance art is characterized by its use of perspective, linear depth, and religious symbolism. This art style was popular in Europe during the 14th to 17th centuries and is now considered a cultural gold standard. This blog article will give you some tips on how to decorate your place with renaissance art photographs.
How Can You Decorate Your Home with Renaissance Art?
One of the most popular periods in art history is the Renaissance, which spanned from the 14th to 16th centuries. This era was a time of great change and growth for art, with artists developing new techniques and exploring new ideas. One of the ways you can celebrate the Renaissance in your home is by decorating with Renaissance art.
Several different types of Renaissance art are perfect for decorating your home. Some examples include paintings, sculptures, and reliefs. Each has its unique look and can add a touch of class to any room.
First, decide what type of you’re interested in. Then consult your local gallery or museum to find examples that match your preferences. Once you’ve chosen some pieces, it’s time to start putting them together.
Here are a few tips for decorating with Renaissance art:
- Choose pieces that fit well together and complement each other.
- Match the style of your home with the type of Renaissance art you’re using.
- Choose pieces that will look good in any weather condition.
The Importance of Art in Your Home:
Art could be the perfect solution if you’re looking for a way to add some extra punch to your home décor. Renaissance art is often associated with glamour and sophistication, making it the perfect choice for a modern home. Here are four tips on how to integrate into your decor:
- Start with a focal point.
Choose one or two key pieces of artwork to anchor your room and focus all of your attention on them. It will help draw attention to the rest of your decor, giving it an elevated look.
- Use colour wisely.
Don’t go overboard with bold hues – instead, use muted tones and light colours to create a more subtle effect. It will help to emphasize the details in the artwork while keeping everything in check.
- Keep it fresh
As your home grows older, its art may start to feel dated and rusty. Rather than leaving it as is, consider replacing old pieces with new ones that reflect your style. It will breathe new life into your home and make it feel even more contemporary.
- Think beyond traditional art forms.
Renaissance art is usually associated with painting and sculpture, but don’t be afraid to experiment with
What Makes a Room Look Good with Renaissance Art?
Renaissance art is often associated with opulence and grandeur, which is why it makes a great addition to any room. Here are five ways to bring this style of art into your home:
- Use Renaissance paintings as the focal point of a large open space. Arrange them on a large wall, a hallway, or an informal living area.
- Display Renaissance sculptures in a high-traffic area near a front door or window.
- Use Renaissance art as the basis for a modern DIY project. Transform an old piece of furniture into a beautiful piece of art by adding a Renaissance painting or sculpture.
- Combine Renaissance art with modern designs to create an eclectic look in your home. For example, place a contemporary print on top of a Renaissance sculpture or use bright colours on a white wall to create a vibrant effect.
- Use Renaissance art to add some intrigue and mystery to your home. Create secret rooms or hidden passageways with hidden pieces of artwork. It will make your home feel more like a secret hideaway!
The Services to Decorate Your Place with Renaissance Art Photographs:
- How to Decorate Your Home with Renaissance Art Photographs
If you want to add a touch of elegance and sophistication to your home décor, you should consider using as your inspiration. This artwork is full of natural light and geometric lines, perfect for creating a modern look in any room.
To get started, look at our gallery of photos that show how to decorate your home with renaissance art. These photos will give you various ideas for creating a stylish space that features this type of art, from bright colours and patterns to intricate details.
If You want to buy Renaissance Art For Your home then visit Our store.
- Renaissance Art Can Enhance Any Room in Your House
If you’re having trouble deciding where to start when decorating your home, think about how renaissance art can enhance any room. Whether you want to add some life to a drab living room or inject some excitement into an austere bedroom, this type of art can help.
Plus, if you’re looking for ideas for adding to your home, don’t forget our photo gallery that shows how to do it! From abstract designs to vibrant colors, these photos will give you plenty of inspiration for putting together a beautiful space that features
Conclusion:
If you’re feeling frustrated with your home’s bland look and feel, it’s time to take a step back and reconsider your decorating style.
Renaissance art is the perfect inspiration for updating your space, as it features dramatic colors and ornate detail that can make a statement. Whether you’re looking to add some flair to a room or bring an entire section of your home up to date, these 15 pieces of renaissance art are sure to inspire you.
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https://enterpenuretips.com/how-to-decorate-your-home-with-renaissance-art/
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Having a plan or a vision for your bedroom is a way to start off on the right foot. Gather inspiration shots (hello, Pinterest!), then make a list of things you like and that are essential to you. Start by establishing a plan for the foundational elements (furniture, color, style, and space considerations) and then build in the other elements.
Foundation: Style Points
When choosing a style, don't feel like you have to pigeonhole yourself into a prescribed traditional/cottage/modern aesthetic. However, it's still important to pick a style direction to guide your decision. And styles can be as varied as contemporary farmhouse, beachy cottage, classic glam, or eclectically vintage. (Need we go on?) A defined style will guide decisions for furniture, colors, accessories, and the other elements that you bring into your bedroom.
Foundation: Space Considerations
Unless you're completely gutting a room or building a new home, working with the space your house gives you is vital to bedroom design success. Look at the architectural features, window placement, room dimensions and layout -- anything you can't change without a sledgehammer or some serious remodeling -- and factor in these characteristics as you're making design decisions.
Foundation: A Strong Furniture Arrangement
Picking the right furniture is key, but planning the optimal arrangement is another vital component in good bedroom design. Your individual space configuration will have the biggest say in how your room is arranged, but these smart principles will point you in the right direction.
Foundation: Furniture
The bed is obviously important (more ways on how to make it sing coming up), as are nightstands and dressers. Consider what types of furniture you want in your room (and what can fit). For example, do you prefer an open nightstand or one packed with drawers? Is space limited and will your dresser need to double as a nightstand? What else can you fit into your space? A roomy armchair or chaise? Or just a slim chair?
A Really Good Paint Color
A paint color can make or break a room. It should generally be one of the last things you choose because it's easier to match a paint color to fabric, bedding, or furniture than the other way around. Watch and get the names of bedroom paint colors that work.
Foundation: Color Scheme
Color plays into many bedroom design decisions, so establishing a palette will help give you a sense of direction. Let your color scheme guide you not only as your choosing paint colors and accessories, but also as you choose other, less obvious decisions. For example, wood finishes read as color, and selecting finishes that coordinate with your color scheme will build a smart design. In this bedroom, a pickled wood finish on the bed picks up the gray tones in the wallpaper and bedding, integrating the piece into the room's scheme.
A Focal Point
Every room needs an anchor and the bed is a natural candidate in the bedroom. Place the bed in the spot that makes the most sense for the room's design, but if you have some flexibility, position it in a way that commands attention, such as across from the door, so it's the first thing you see when you walk into the room. A stunning headboard and beautiful bedding will help solidify the bedroom's focal point status.
Bedding Essentials
If you do anything for your bed, invest in good quality sheets and cozy blankets (your sleeping patterns will thank you). But beyond these nighttime essentials, don't miss your opportunity to take your bedroom to the next level. Gather an assortment of shams and decorative pillows and throws and start dressing up your bed.
Effective Accessories
A lamp isn't just a lamp, nor is art just art. Even the small things you bring into your bedroom have an impact on the overall design. Look to accessories as a small (but important) way to further your color scheme, advance a style, and introduce different textures and finishes to your space.
Quick Fixes
Sometimes, a bedroom just needs an ity-bity quick update to take it to the next level. Watch and see the changes (some done in 10 minutes) that will do the trick.
Notes of Personality
Just because you're the only one who sees your bedroom on a regular basis doesn't mean you need to leave it devoid of personality. Incorporate things you love, sentimental mementos, or quirky finds that just make you smile.
Creature Comforts
Bedrooms are all about being comfortable. Work little creature comforts into your bedroom's design and you'll love the space even more. Assemble a "care package" for your nightstand with lotion, tissues, a water decanter, and any other little comforts you might want bedside. Infuse your bedroom with a soothing scent as a final flourish.
Layered Design
Layering different elements will also convey a sense of comfort in your bedroom. Place a plush accent rug over carpet or a larger foundational rug. Add a duvet over your comforter and fold it at the end of the bed.
The Right Lighting
Overhead lighting on dimmers puts the ability to customize illumination in your hands. You can keep light dim during early waking hours and end-of-the-day unwinding, or turn it up to full-force when folding laundry and hanging out. Layer in task lighting with bedside fixtures and other areas of the bedroom, such as seating areas or desks. Use accent lighting to highlight particular bedroom features (such as architectural elements or art).
Strategic Storage
In an ideal world, you'd be able to keep stuff to a minimum in your bedroom. But when space is tight, a smart storage strategy is a must. Tap into the space around or beneath the bed for extra storage space and invest in concealed storage, such as an ottoman for extra blankets or even shoes.
Dressed-Right Windows
In addition to your electrical lights, take control of your natural light sources, too. Layered window treatments offer different configurations for every situation. Use blinds and curtains in tandem to block out most (if not all) natural light. Sheer or lightweight curtains diffuse natural light, but still offer some privacy.
Opportunities for Evolution
Leave a little room in your bedroom design for new opportunities and subtle shifts when the mood strikes or you find a new throw pillow you can't live without. And don't feel like you need to complete your bedroom in a weekend. Lay a strong foundation, but take your time in gathering items, whether you're replacing the old or starting fresh.
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https://www.bhg.com/rooms/bedroom/makeovers/bedroom-design/?sssdmh=dm17.788357&esrc=nwdc030415t
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When planning their own design scheme, I have noticed that most people tend to concentrate on colour and fabrics first, then consider window treatments, flooring and space planning, but treat lighting as an additional afterthought (if they think about it at all). Lighting really needs to be considered at the outset of a project, so that any wiring (and cutting of holes in the ceiling for spotlights) can be done before the decoration.
- Decide on the function of the room-if it is an open-plan living/dining room you can divide the two functions visually by using different circuits. In my bedroom I have two circuits, one for my bedside lights and another for the general lighting, which is a pendant in the centre of the room.
- Think about what you going to be doing in the space. This will dictate whether you will need to include general, task or accent lighting. A balanced lighting scheme will include a mixture of all types. in a living room you will need to add task lighting for reading, and the easiest way to do this is by using floor or table lamps near your seating areas. Remember to co-ordinate your lampshades! Matching lamps on either side of the sofa is a good, practical look.
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- Drum lampshades are a way to add colour and style to your room and there is a vast choice now on the market. However, when choosing the colour of the shade, remember that when lit, differing amounts of light will be emitted depending on how dark the shade is. Also red shades will give off a warm rosy glow, whereas blues and greens will will give off a cooler glow.
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- When thinking about lighting in a bathroom, you need to think about the safety aspects and research rules relating to lighting in wet conditions. Bathroom lights will have IP ratings, which range from IP44 (area around the basin and bath), to IP68 (used within the bath or shower). Also task lighting is important in a bathroom.
- Draw a furniture layout or a plan of the space before you start so that you know where to place the lights. If you have already decorated, use plug-in fittings e.g. low-voltage uplighters for accent lighting.
- Downlights can be used really effectively in kitchens and dining rooms. These rooms will be well-used at night, and also some kitchens, especially galleys and kitchens in flats, tend not to have much natural light so they need an extra light boost. Be careful not to overdo it though because lines of down-lights in a room just ends up looking boring. in this kitchen, task lighting is provided by low-glare directional down- lights over the island and LED under-cupboard lights over the worktops. To add wow-factor,the artwork is highlighted by downlights, uplights are used to frame the sides of the cabinets and the floor is washed by steplights recessed at the base of the cabinets . (Scheme by John Cullen)
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- Use dimmer switches to alter the atmosphere of a room. You should always use dimmers in dining room schemes to create an intimate, romantic atmosphere. If using a pendant light, add extra sparkle by cross-lighting it with small directional spotlights.
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- Spotlights can be used as accent lighting, to emphasise key objects and architectural details. They can bring out the rough texture of a brick wall or highlight flower arrangements or artwork.
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- Don’t forget the garden! You can create stunning effects outside. The key is to decide which features you want to highlight and then hide the source of the light. Also consider how the garden will be used and the view from the house
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- Finally, keep things simple, especially when planning accent lighting, as overdoing it will produce too many focal points, resulting in a messy effect.
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http://www.dressingroomsinteriors.co.uk/10-top-tips-on-lighting-design/
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The fireplace is the centerpiece of every room. With furniture gathered around a hearth. and usually located somewhere as to provide heat to the room, the fireplace is an area where people gather and relax. It is a space where you will spend lots of time and it is where you will do everything from nap alone to entertain large groups.
What better place for a work of art? The fireplace mantel is prominent and bold. Left empty it will look bare and the room can look unfinished. A painting or a sculptural piece of artwork for above the fireplace will serve as a great focal point for your home. While some paintings can be a great way to add art to the mantel, I believe sculpture is far more unique and interesting to add in many spaces, and sometimes even together.
What Sculpture Can Bring to Your Space
Sculpture on the fireplace mantel can add a certain uniqueness that will only come with three dimensional works of art. Where two dimensional works are great when there is limited space if the mantel is small, there is also the option to bring in wall sculptures hanging above the hearth.
For sculptures that sit on the mantelpiece, there can be both vertical and horizontal branching that serves as an extension of the fire roaring in the fireplace. Emulating the same outgrowing nature of a fire, these pieces serve to open up and reach out in all directions of the room, which in turn pulls the eye in and makes them wonderful focal points for the room.
When I have done some of the wall hanging sculptures for above the fireplace mantel, there is a little more free range to make something specific to the space. Doing most of my work on commission, I will look at the space, measure and develop a design with client input in mind that will serve to meet the needs of the space best. These rustic wall hanging sculptures for the fireplace are wonderful additions to the decor of all types of homes from the classic mountain rustic, to the contemporary urban abode.
9/5/2019 12:43:56 am
If you really want to commit to a rustic feel for your fireplace or aim to create the quintessential country cabin, antler decor is the perfect decorative centerpiece. Antler decor can be useful to many design styles, whether you’re creating a chic Scandinavian space or a Bohemian bungalow.
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Matt Tommey is a sculptural basketry artist working in Asheville, North Carolina's River Arts District.
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Illustration Tips: Tell a Story with Your Illustrations
An illustration, a piece of artwork, is itself created to express the artist’s own inner thoughts and reflections. Sometimes it reflects the reality, sometimes it is mapping the bad phenomenon of the society. In short, a good artwork, one of the most core is to be able to move people’s hearts and resonate with them.
How can you create exciting work? The most important thing is to tell a good story through your illustrations. The next section shows you how to get passionate about character design and construction to create exciting artwork that tells the story of that character.
1. Determine your story
You need to determine what the emotions in your story are. Illustrations are the companion to the story. So while stories usually start with characters, try to think about the story you are telling. What kind of setting will there be, what kind of mood should there be, how expressive the poses will be, etc. Think about the scenarios you want to portray, act them out if you wish, and take some photos for reference to help you understand how people move naturally in various situations. Then sketch them out loosely. This is a great way to warm up your final concept.
2. Create character poses
Know your art subject. If you are going to draw them multiple times throughout the process, such as a picture book, put a few poses on paper for you to use as a reference later when you need to place the character in a specific environment for illustration.
3. Keep sketches loose
A loose sketch is created to capture your design. If you have a specific idea bubbling in your head, it’s easy to go straight to your final sketch, but it’s still a good idea to make some loose sketches first. If the pose and composition are correct, these quick gestures will show up immediately. Therefore, it will be easier to work them out in loose drawings rather than final or detailed sketches. This is also a good time to try out different features for your characters, such as facial features as well as their costume and outfit.
4. Consider illustration motion
Adding motion brings drama and edge to your work. Having a sense of movement in your illustrations helps their eyes move through the composition and explore what is happening. As you plan your work, consider the loose shapes of your characters. How do they interact with the rest of the scene and other characters? How do their poses change? Are their shoulders sloped? Is their back arched? Most importantly, are these themes in harmony with each other?
5. Shape the silhouette
To deal with the form of your subject matter to convey a message to the viewer, consider the subjects of your paintings in silhouette. This helps you understand their shape in the composition, and you can see how you might want to position them in a way that describes the mood and story of the illustration. When drawing your artwork, it is helpful to spend some time practicing the focal points in your work before moving on to the first sketch. This is a good practice even if you are not planning to make a new piece and just want to keep the form.
6. Notice the expression of the character
You should focus on more than just facial features. Your character’s expressions are not limited to their facial features. Expressions can be found in their position and movements as well as in their interactions with the environment and other characters. Exaggerated features such as large eyes and upturned eyebrows can express fear, while slightly drooping eyelids and curved lips can show contentment. Note: Pulling back too far in any direction can cause your character to look cartoonish.
7. Consider gravity
Think about the effect of gravity on your character. Are they placed in their normal environment, or do they float or fall? How do the folds of their clothes or hair change? If there is a strong wind, the character’s hair and clothes will reflect it, and if the air is still, the curtains should hang down. Raggedy characters with flowing hair tend to add drama, so keep the direction of the action in mind if the situation calls for it.
8. Apply colors
You can convey emotion through the expressions of the characters, or through the mood of the piece. A sad illustration might show a character looking down, emphasizing a “low” emotional state, which can be accentuated by using an unsaturated palette. Warmer, more saturated colors present a happier mood, while unsaturated, cooler colors do the opposite. It’s important to understand the basics of color theory, but you can learn which palettes you like best by looking at nature and studying your favorite artists. Rich, vibrant colors such as reds and purples can convey passion and strength, cooler tones can give a sense of calm, even bleakness and sadness, while warmer hues can add a sense of comfort and tranquility.
9. Focus on details
There are not enough characters in the scene to tell their story. This is when details come into play. Small details in costumes or objects in a room or setting will help make the composition more interesting, and it will give the viewer more hints about the story. This article may give you some help: 8 Key Points to Note When Creating Digital Character Illustrations
TIPS
Of course, there are many tips to tell a good story with your illustrations. If you want to design a good story for your illustrations, you can have a composition notebook filled with sketches of different characters and then will write their stories in the margins of the pages. Once you have inspiration, you can collect it, and maybe that day, it will be able to come in handy.
But it’s a pity if you have a good idea, without a good enough technical level to present your work. Wingfox is a great online digital art education platform. There are a variety of great and exciting tutorials for you to learn. We want every student to be able to master the skills needed to create great and impressive work. Come and join the Wingfox family and learn more about the art of drawing.
If you use the promo code: blog10 when you buy, you will get 10% off.
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https://blog.wingfox.com/illustration-tips-tell-a-story-with-your-illustrations/
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Hello and welcome to my show notes for episode 3 of the Great Indoors. A huge thanks to Neptune for sponsoring and supporting the series and of course our lovely listeners, you can catch the full episode here.
On today’s episode, we cover all aspects of creating a focal point within a room (on which I get to educate Kate on the subject!) and we chat with DIY SOS designer, Gordon Whistance, about how to make a stylish home for those with disabilities that require specialist and accessible design solutions.
When I design a room, first I think about the mood, colours and patterns, but I quickly move on to what will be the focal point when it comes to the layout. It can be a whole manner of things but the headline here is to really think about it, consider that you need one, as it brings the whole room together. When you walk into a space it’s nice that the eyes are drawn to something – ideally across the other side of the room. This could be am arresting colour, for example a bold colourful armchair, that draws the eye across to the room helping to create depth.
So while you can use colour to draw the eye, the other trick is to use scale. Kate’s enormous palm tree floor lamp is a great example. Yes, I am a maximalist but I know when to stop – when it comes to focal points you don’t want too many things fighting for attention as they can cancel each other out. Whist you may want to show off a particular piece of artwork or furniture you could also ask yourself what is the room’s best feature and how can you make that the focal point. Here are some pointers:
The Kitchen – there’s a lot going on so what can be the focal point in the hub of the home? If you’re lucky enough to own a stove like an Aga you may want to show it off, and why on earth not! However, consider that the kitchen island may not be something to highlight as this tends to be a more practical piece rather than a decorative one. I for one love my little seating corner and with the colourful cushions against the Rabarber wallpaper by Boråstapeter, it certainly packs a punch. Or how about some artwork? Despite Kate’s reservations of placing art in the bathroom or kitchen, as long as you have some form of ventilation or extractor fan you’re good to go. I based my whole bathroom scheme around a rather special piece of art so keep an eye out for the reveal coming soon!
If you want to show us your focal point triumphs do get in touch on Instagram where I’m @sophierobinsoninteriors and Kate is @mad_about_the_house and of course don’t forget our very resourceful Facebook group.
We’ve been thinking about specialist design and how it can combine beautiful form with practical function. This conversation was inspired partly by Vicki of @wheelchichome and Jo of @wheelieliving who make their homes work for them and look gorgeous too.
Someone who knows all about marrying design, form and function is interior designer Gordon Whistance, who I’ve had the pleasure of working with on BBC’s DIY SOS. Gordon has been the Design producer for the show for the past six years and there is nothing he doesn’t know about this subject. It was a good time to chat with him as the show recently won a special BAFTA in recognition for their outstanding creative contribution to television.
So we rolled out the virtual red carpet for the award-winning Gordon.
How do you pull off an extraordinary big build in just nine days?
“When you get so many people wanting to do the same and pulling together, that’s a massive thing in itself. We get many people saying that ‘you can’t do a good job and you must take short cuts’ but we don’t, it just means that we can get everyone inside at the same time.
For those of you who don’t know what DIY SOS is all about:
“It’s a safety net in many ways for families and charities that have nowhere else to go. We get inundated with stories of those who have tried everything, there’s a disability in the family and this is our last chance to transform our home that we just simply live in. We then sift through the applications that we know we can help. The problem with working with any time of specialist interior is that there are often so boring and look like hospital rooms. So our goal is to give families and charities a space that they flourish in and one that doesn’t feel specialist or different in any way.”
“Within these beautiful designs, there are some clever solutions, for instance, underfloor heating is a simple thing and it just means that if someone has a disability and they fall they won’t burn themselves on a radiator. If someone can’t get into a bath we do a hoist, but we’ll try and disguise it slightly or if someone, including carers, can’t bend over we can put rise and fall baths in.
I know you work with an occupational therapist from the start, and there doesn’t seem to be one blueprint design – each project is specific, is that right?
“They are very specific, otherwise why would we do it! If we’re doing something non-specific it would just become a hospital bedroom because they are generic solutions for generic issues. We have specific solutions, not just for the person with a disability but for the carers too. I ask for two lists: 1. What is it the family critically must have, and this can be to literally keep someone alive. 2. What would be fantastic if they could have it?
“A really key part of what we do is bringing the family together and making sure no-one feels ostracized and to make it work for everybody – as a family.”
Have you got a favourite project you’ve done over the last 6 years?
“It feels like an obvious answer but it’s true, each one is brilliant in their own way. I’ve never regretted a build or thought one should never have happened but the stand-out ones for me are a couple of very big ones. We did the build under the Westway, London for the Grenfell community and it was a huge achievement and we are very proud of it. We did one on Canada Street which was revamped for ex-military personnel which was over a couple of years which was fantastic. The two stand-out homes were the Isle of Sheppy, two wonderful guys with four fantastic kids (Ratcliffe family) all with some special needs which we did with you Sophie and I think we created something extraordinary for them. The other stand-out one was a guy called Ben who had a tragic accident whilst on holiday which left him paralysed from the neck down and he was about to embark on doing to his house and inevitably that would never happen for him. So we stepped in and added two enormous extensions, redesigned and reconfigured the house so that he could be with his family.”
Huge thanks to Gordon and for creating a recording den under his desk to chat with us, our fabulous sponsor Neptune and our producer Kate Taylor for making things happen.
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https://www.sophierobinson.co.uk/focal-points-and-gordon-whistance-interviewpodcast-show-notes-s8-ep3/
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Space Planning is crucial in design. Titus Designs assists our clients by enhancing architectural features of any space and teaches our clients how to arrange furniture, artwork and accessories. Balance is key to every space and we focus on 5 main questions when we begin this process.
1. Are there any features that automatically catch your eye?
2. What are the traffic patterns in the room?
3. How can we arrange furniture so it draws attention to the room’s best characteristic?
4. Is there large window? A fireplace? Is there an architectural interest?
5. Is there a natural flow to the room?
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http://www.titusdesignsomaha.com/spaceplanning/featured-services/
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In addition to shift management responsibilities, the People Department Manager is responsible for ensuring the restaurant hires quality crew with the Hospitality Gene, trains them well, and schedules them to meet restaurant Guest Count, sales, profit and Guest Experience goals.
This manager energizes our crew and makes sure they get off to a good start at the restaurant, that they are trained and developed, know the importance of creating great guest experiences and that they are recognized and motivated throughout their time at McDonald’s.
The People Manager is responsible for making sure the team meets people targets, such as staffed for all day-parts, and effective use of labour. The People Manager will also be responsible for the training of all CYT, Guest and Kitchen oriented positions.
Performance Measurements
Review the department scorecard to determine the relevant performance measurements annually.
Responsibilities - PRIMARY SYSTEMS
SHIFT MANAGEMENT
* Review guest count and sales projections
* Complete pre-shift checklist
* Complete positioning plan (VSPT)
* Agree on shift targets during pre-shift with area managers; follow up on execution of the plan
* Conduct shift huddles daily
* Manage from the observation post
* Identify danger zones, diagnose and provide direction and coaching
* Conduct QSC travel path a minimum of every hour
* Connect with Guests along their travel paths
* Maintain/adjust positioning according to positioning guide
* Follow up on primary and secondary duties of crew and managers
* Conduct post-shift analysis
PRODUCTION
* Monitor and coach to correct production procedures
* Monitor cabinet levels
* Monitor UHC for correct holding times
* Monitor finished food quality
SERVICE
* Monitor and coach to correct service and Guest Experience behaviour procedures
* Seek guest feedback during travel paths
* Document guest complaints and action taken in log book
* Follow guest recovery process when necessary
Responsibilities - SUPPORT & MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
BUSINESS PLANNING
* Monitor and report progress on department goals and objectives using department scorecard
* Prepare for and participate in weekly manager's meeting
* Conduct weekly department walk-thru to assess performance, diagnose opportunities and identify actions
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION (CREW)
* Schedule, plan and conduct crew meetings/events
* Schedule, plan and conduct rap sessions/focus groups
* Plan and execute national/regional and local incentives to recognize the right behaviours and reward business achievements
PEOPLE PRACTICES
* Monthly completion of staffing analysis; ensuring the restaurant is properly staffed for all dayparts
* Complete 60-day "check-in" crew orientations. Check-in on all new hires monthly
* Manage linen inventory, maintain and issue uniforms; ensure adequate uniform supply and manage linen budget within standards
* Write and conduct performance reviews for assigned managers and crew in department / or all crew
* Execute national, regional and restaurant level incentives
* Manage all crew communication using ourLounge
* Ensure all staff are paid for all time worked
* Conduct initial applicant screening and initial interviews utilizing the Hiring to Win tools
* Develop a system for recognizing birthdays and service awards
SCHEDULING (CREW)
* Ensure a system is in place for day off requests and is followed
* Accurately project hourly sales or guest counts as well as fixed hours (e.g., crew training, PM, merchandising)
* Update new crew, crew availability and profiles weekly
* Complete weekly crew schedule
* Post crew schedule by Wednesday at 5pm in advance of the new schedule week
* Complete weekly/monthly pre and post schedule reviews
* Ensure labour controls are completed hourly (by Shift Manager)
* Ensure daily labour is within projections while ensuring the correct number of crew on the floor at the right time to capture demand and deliver great QSC
* Follow-up on daily timecard compliance
TRAINING (CREW)
* Maintain all CDP and CTDP training materials for the restaurant
* Complete a training needs analysis monthly
* Accurately forecast staffing requirements for the upcoming quarter
* Select and train crew trainers
* Conduct crew trainer meetings (at least monthly)
* Communicate each new hires' training plan to appropriate shift manager
* Develop training/SOC schedule for new and existing employees and post weekly
* Follow-up and track SOC completion and update managers on progress
* Conduct assigned follow-up SOCs daily
* Work with guest experience manager on executing behavioural resource training
* Observe and coach crew utilizing the observation and execution tool to ensure staff are displaying the desired guest experience behaviours
TRAINING (MANAGEMENT)
* Write IDP goals for self
* Complete agreed upon training and development
BENEFITS
- Salary: starting at $45,000/year
- Benefit from group insurance (medical, dental, vision (full-time employees) paid at 75%** by the employer
- Benefit from a competitive salary calculated according to experience
- Meals paid for on shifts and get a 50% discount on food at participating McDonald's restaurants in Canada
- Get free uniforms
- Have access to a performance bonus programHave the chance to develop and access excellent career opportunities
- Expenses allocated for Cellular
- Expenses allocated for the Gym
- RRSPs
Application Instructions
Click below to applyApply Online
Posted: 1/23/2023
Req ID: PDX_MC_5F398822-322B-4214-B977-2E14466CAD9B_74782
Categories:
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https://careers.mcdonalds.ca/people-manager/job/19790654
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View All Qdoba JobsQdoba Restaurant Corporation
Job Description:
The Assistant Restaurant Manager is responsible for managing restaurant operations, in conjunction with or in the absence of the Restaurant Manager. Uses discretion in daily management decisions with accountability for living the Brand values and helping the brand thrive. Focuses on developing a people and guest-centric culture that consistently delivers excellent guest service and food quality while ensuring compliance with policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements
Job Responsibilities:
- Interacts with guests and the community; responds to guest questions, concerns and complaints in a timely and professional manner to ensure positive resolution and guest recovery
- Maintains brand image by ensuring restaurant cleanliness, maintenance, and excellent service
- Partners with the restaurant manager in using management information tools to analyze restaurant operational and financial performance
- Identifies trends and implements action plans for improvement
- Focuses efforts on developing long term sales growth initiatives designed to drive profitable sales growth
- Considers cost/benefit impact of financial decisions and works to protect the brand
- Monitors costs and adherence to budget and restaurant goals
- Identifies and develops internal candidates for management and Team Leader positions
- Treats employees with respect and dignity and regularly recognizes and rewards employees
- Complies with all state and federal labor laws and regulations
- Manages daily activities to achieve excellence in restaurant operational performance
- Holds restaurant team accountable for consistently delivering excellent guest service and food quality in adherence with brand systems, procedures, and food safety requirements to provide a raveable guest experience
- Reviews practices and modifies as needed to continuously improve the guest experience
- Monitors staffing levels; recruits and selects employees to talent and job profiles
- Trains, develops, coaches, and evaluates employee performance; ensures systems for training employees are fully implemented and followed
- Assigns activities and tasks
Job Details:
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https://www.vacancyoptions.com/job/qdoba-jobs-12
|
,
AZ 86339
Updated 2 days ago
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Under the general guidance of the Director of Housekeeping, responsible for assigning and supervising the activities of the room attendants, house porters and linen porters to ensure clean, orderly, attractive and well maintained guest rooms, corridors, fire exits, stairways and service areas on assigned floors/areas. Ensure guests of the hotel are treated fairly and consistently in a timely manner, receiving high quality, personalized service.
• Supervise the allocation of work assignments to Room Attendants and Housepersons to ensure maximum coverage
• Assign special duties to Room Attendants and Housepersons on assigned floors
• Check the computer system throughout the day for an update of room status and communicate with the front desk and engineering
• Check and return an allocated number of guest rooms to the standard required by the hotel
• Report and log any maintenance defects found in the rooms and assigned areas. Liaise with front desk and engineering regarding all out of order rooms and other defects
• Ensure soft furnishings and décor of rooms are maintained to standard
• Oversee implementation of deep cleaning and replacement
• Ensure corrective action where necessary and inform the Director of Housekeeping regularly on performance of each staff member
• Check on a daily basis the arrivals, departures and VIP lists
• Check rooms to ensure they are cleaned and maintained to the required standard
• Ensure VIP gifts are replenished
• Conduct team briefings, daily line ups, monthly meetings as required
• Check that adequate linen, cleaning materials and guest supplies are held in each floor linen and supply closets
• Ensure all storage areas are kept clean, safe and are within local fire, safety, and health codes
• Ensure all public area and heart of house areas are clean
• Handle guest requests, inquiries and complaints with immediate action and thorough follow up
• Assist in stock taking of Housekeeping items when necessary
• Assist in monitoring and controlling housekeeping procedures, including lost property, key and pager control, security and emergency procedures
• Report immediately any matters concerning the security of the floors or public spaces to the security department
• Report immediately any valuable lost property to security and to log packages and all other lost property
• Assist fellow team members to perform similar or related jobs as and when necessary
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English
• High School diploma or equivalent required and/or experience in a hotel or a related field preferred.
• At least one year of progressive experience in a hotel or related field preferred.
Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Women/Protected Veterans/Disabled
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We are continuing to monitor and react to the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation as it evolves, and we remain committed to provide every guest, and employee with the highest standard of service and care during this uncertain time.
At all times, and especially now, we want to assure you that your safety and wellbeing, and that of our team, is our highest priority. We have therefore implemented the following, pending further instructions from the relevant authorities:-
- We have placed numerous sanitiser stations throughout the hotel ensuring both staff and guest safety.
- We have also increased cleaning schedules for all public areas, and have included door-handle sanitising as part of this new regime.
- All our mattresses and pillows and sprayed with a suitable sanitiser before the housekeepers make up the bedrooms after guest departure.
- Our credit-card machine is sanitised after each use.
Staff safety is of utmost importance, and we have been communicating and educating our staff regularly on the symptoms of the virus and have requested for them to act responsibly and stay home if they feel unwell in any way. We have also requested that our staff keep to the required safe distance from each other, and our guests at all times.
While our staff’s livelihoods rely on a busy and occupied hotel, we appreciate the uncertainty that guests may be feeling, and will make arrangements to postpone / credit / reschedule existing bookings where necessary.
With only 12 rooms, we do still comply with the current crowd control restrictions, and we are adhering to social distancing practices in our dining areas – however, pending the next address by our president, we will update you on any further changes.
We do ask all guests to also act responsibly during these uncertain times and thank you warmly for your support and patience.
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https://endlesshorizons.co.za/2020/03/23/our-precautions-for-covid-19/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=our-precautions-for-covid-19
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ETEM, is one of the leading producers of aluminium profiles for different applications in Europe.
With the production facility in Bulgaria and Greece, and an annual capacity that exceeds 35,000 tons/year, ETEM guarantees continuous, prompt, effective and uninterrupted delivery to all its customers.
The company has continuously invested in state-of-the-art technological equipment and highly skilled people. As a result, ETEM has become a significant supplier of aluminium profiles, and aluminium semi-finished and finished products, to the automotive industry.
ETEM is certified for the production of CRASH RELEVANT aluminium profiles and is an accredited TIER 2 and TIER 1 Automotive supplier, making products directly for the automotive industry and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
ETEM’s main goal is to design and engineer products that help us improve our everyday living, whether in a residential, commercial or work environment.
The company remains loyal to its customers and keeps its promises for continuous innovation, tailor-made solutions, integrated assistance throughout a project, and strategic business thinking, ensuring the customers' commercial success.
|
https://automotive-expo.bg/en/etem
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For an improved experience, please update your browser to one of the following:
For urgent assistance, please contact us:
[email protected]
Natalia has more than 20 years of experience in the Marketing field at FMCG and Telecommunication companies Passionate about recruitment, for the past 8 years she has been an Associate at Friisberg.
Specialized in the buy-side, Private Equity, M&A and Fund of Funds, she has an exhaustive knowledge of the European markets where she regularly works recruiting the best profiles in the industry. Responsible for the area of Remuneration Studies, a service in continuous growth that provides detailed and personalized key information for our clients.
Graduate in Law from the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid.
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https://friisberg.com/people/natalia-ochoa/?c-select-wrapper=Madrid
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Call for Papers
User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction:
The Journal of Personalization Research
Special Issue on User Modeling for Web and Hypermedia Information Retrieval
(In honor of James Chen)
Deadline: February 25, 2002
Information Retrieval is one of the oldest application areas that
utilized user profiles and user models to serve individual users
better. Yet Information Retrieval is not the same research field now
that it was just 5-6 years ago. The World Wide Web has challenged
classic models and approaches of Information Retrieval and brought
to life a large stream of research on Web Information Retrieval that
differs from traditional document retrieval in several ways. To
encourage researchers to report on the application of user models for
Web and Hypermedia Information Retrieval, we are calling for
contributions to a special issue of UMUAI. In the past, UMUAI has
hosted special issues on adaptive information retrieval and adaptive
hypermedia. The goal of the new special issue is different -- to show
the benefits and challenges of user modeling and personalization for
Information Retrieval in the context of Hypermedia and the Web. This
special issue will serve as an essential reference for researchers
on Web Information Retrieval who are interested in making their
systems adaptive and personalized.
We want to devote this special issue to the memory of James Chen, a
researcher who contributed to several foundational projects at the
crossroads of adaptive hypermedia and information retrieval, reported
in UMUAI (1). James has tragically died in an accident in 2001, but
his work keeps inspiring other researchers.
For this special issue we will consider all works devoted to user
modeling and user-adaptive systems in the field of Web and hypermedia
information retrieval. Relevant topics include, but are not limited
to:
o adaptive information retrieval in a hyperspace of interconnected documents
o building and maintaining user models and profiles for Web
information retrieval
o agent architectures for personalized Web information retrieval
o personalized Web information services
o personalized information services for corporate and knowledge
management portals
o merging search and browsing in adaptive information retrieval
o adaptive hypermedia techniques in information retrieval context
o empirical evaluation of adaptive Web information retrieval systems
o adaptive visualization for Web information retrieval
o group user models, collaborative filtering, and social navigation
for Web information retrieval
o user modeling and personalization for digital libraries
o Web and Hypermedia Information Retrieval through mobile devices
About UMUAI
The journal User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction is an archival
journal that publishes mature and substantiated research results on
the (dynamic) adaptation of computer systems to their human users,
and the role that the system's model of the user plays in this
context. Papers that present untested research ideas are not ready
to be submitted to UMUAI. Instead, these ideas should first be
presented at workshops to get feedback from colleagues. Once you can
demonstrate ideas that are backed up by results, then they are ready
for UMUAI. These results may be generated by building a (partial)
computer implementation and from that, either analyze its behavior,
run empirical experiments, or analyze the idea using formal means.
Many articles in UMUAI are therefore quite comprehensive and describe
the results of several years of work. Consequently, UMUAI gives
"unlimited" space to authors (as long as what they write is
important) and also does not mind if research that is being submitted
to UMUAI has been previously published in bits and pieces at
workshops and conferences (as long as the synthesis provides
significant new insights).
Important Dates
January 30, 2002 (Recommended) Submit a one page abstract to guest editors
February 25, 2002 Deadline for submission of full papers
May 1, 2002 Notice of review results
Abstracts of one page or less should be sent to the guest editors
prior to January 30 2001, especially if authors are concerned about
relevance of the paper to the special issue. Abstracts are highly
encouraged, but not required. These abstracts will be reviewed by
the guest editors only.
Full paper submissions should be in the UMUAI format and will be
reviewed both by the guest editors and by two or more other UMUAI
reviewers. More details of submission formats are available from
UMUAI's web site, http://www.informatik.uni-essen.de/UMUAI.
Guest Editors:
Peter Brusilovsky
School of Information Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
4615 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
USA
[log in to unmask]
Carlo Tasso
Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica
Universit di Udine
Via delle Scienze 206
I-33100 Udine
Italy
[log in to unmask]
(1) Kaplan, C., Fenwick, J., and Chen, J.: Adaptive hypertext
navigation based on user goals and context. User Modeling and
User-Adapted Interaction 3, 3 (1993) 193-220
Math, N. and Chen, J.: User-centered indexing for adaptive
information access. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction 6, 2-3
(1996) 225-261
==^================================================================
This email was sent to: [log in to unmask]
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1dfBp.b1oCTL
Or send an email to: [log in to unmask]
T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
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https://listserv.acm.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ACMLPX.CGI?A2=CHI-ANNOUNCEMENTS;81dff612.0111B&FT=M&P=H&H=N&S=b
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When do I use the Service Login?
The HUB is the iPad at the entrance of your centre, which allows parents and guests to sign-in and out. When you want to enable parent and guest access, you will be required to enter the Service Login details. This is where you can enter the Username and Password that you created through the email sent to your service when you first came across to Xplor - or read the information below to locate. Please give these details to anyone needing access to setting up the HUB at your service.
The Playground App requires all educators to sign-in firstly via the Service Login Details. All educators using the Playground App will need to know the Service Login Details and their own educator details.
Where to find and reset the Service Login?
The Username is found under Profiles > Services > Click Service > View Username.
To update the Username please contact Support or your Childcare Provider.
The email is found under Profiles > Services > Click Service > View Contact Email.
To update the email please enter in the new Contact Email > Press Update at the bottom of the page.
To reset the password go to Profiles > Services > Click "Reset Password" next to the service name and a reset email will be sent to the email as found under Profiles > Services > Click service > View Email under the heading "Contact Email".
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https://support.ourxplor.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017710131-Service-Login-Details-HUB-Playground-App
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ملاحظات:
سيتم الاتصال بالمرشحين المناسبين فقط.
تقبل السير الذاتية المكتوبة بالانكليزية فقط، مع مراعاة ان يكون نوع الملف اما Word أو PDF.
متطلبات العمل:
QUALIFICATIONS:
Required:
o At least 1 year working experience in Information Management / administration of data using computers;
o At least 6 month working experience in INGOs and/or International Institutions;
o Intermediate skills with the Microsoft Office Suite (i.e. particularly MS Excel);
o Proficient in use of ODK/Kobo for mobile data collection;
o Fluency local language and English (i.e. speaking and writing);
o Ability to translate questionnaire from English to local language;
o Excellent time management skills;
o Ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment requiring flexibility;
o Ability to work independently;
o Strong attention to details.
o Does not reside in the site or work for another actor active in the intervention sites.
o .
Desired:
o University degree in a relevant subject (i.e.GIS, data analysis/data collection);
o Managerial experience, including leading/supervising staff, report writing, meeting facilitation.
الوصف الوظيفي:
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Manage and train the database assistant. Ensure quality and accurate work is being produced and standard templates and tools are used for reporting as identified by the MCCCM Team Leader;
- Take minutes of all Site settlement WG/ Camp coordination meetings and other site-level meetings and disseminate the minutes to meeting participants;
- Maintain and continuously update the site(s) 4Ws;
- Provide Factsheets and update factsheet to share it with ACTED, SSWG and partners;
- Collate narrative reports that summarize key findings from the MCCCM team’s service monitoring and community engagement activities. Ensure that all reports, database and templates are updated regularly and sent out to relevant actors as indicated by the MCCCM Team Leader;
- Ensure the camp/site population are informed about services available, upcoming events, volunteer opportunities etc. via the use of information boards and information dissemination campaigns;
- Share relevant information with all sites service providers and the site management sector on a timely basis;
- Ensure any sites population changes (such as internal relocations) are shared with relevant actors;
- Ensure the Working Group/Partners has updated information resources available including camp/Sites settlements maps, population statistics, sites profiles and information about all service providers;
- Perform any other activities requested by MCCCM Team Leader.
الجهة المعلنة: Confidential غير معلن
مقر العمل: Raqqa
كيفية التقدم للمنصب:
يرجى ارسال السيرة الذاتية على البريد الالكتروني / الرابط الإلكتروني التالي:
https://forms.gle/rQHbLooFBb35H1457
You may need to creat Gmail Account
مع ضروة وضع رقم الإعلان أعلاه و المسمى الوظيفي او عنوان الشاغر في عنوان الرسالة (خانة الموضوع).
ملاحظة: معظم الجهات المعلنة لا تقبل التقدم للشواغر إلا بالطريقة الإلكترونية أعلاه.
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https://nsjobs.net/2020/09/30/3000/
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When should an IT professional update his CV?
Today’s reality…
An unprecedented growth in the IT industry brought a high demand for IT professionals. Every day, there are so many jobs offers sent to the mailboxes and LinkedIn accounts of IT professionals, that forces each IT professional to have an updated CV always ready.
When should an IT professional review his CV?
Whether you are ready to apply for a new job or not, reviewing your CV regularly, to reflect the progression of your skills, responsibilities and successes, is a sensible long-term career management policy. We recommend reviewing your professional experience every 6 months (or at least once a year). After all, if you service your car no less than once a year, why wouldn’t you review your CV and online profiles at least as often?
A CV is a constant work in progress. And, just like your car, if you don’t service it regularly, it won’t perform as well as it could.
Even if you’ve been in the same role for years or aren’t ready to apply for new jobs, you gain new skills, experiences and successes regularly, and it should be reflected in your CV and online profiles.
There are other advantages of reviewing your CV and online profiles regularly. These include the ability to quickly apply for your dream job if it becomes available and projecting an accurate representation of your abilities to hiring managers and online colleagues. Regular updates also ensure you have relevant details fresh in your mind at the time of writing.
What questions should you ask yourself when updating your CV?
When the time comes for your CV revision, there are a few things to consider:
- Firstly, what new roles, technological skills or other skills have you achieved/developed since the last update?
- Is there a project you’ve worked on that you’re proud of? If so, add it to your CV.
- Have you completed any courses, certifications or been recognised for a job well done? If so, add these details.
- Can you quantify your accomplishments? Hiring managers and recruiters love to see hard evidence of your success.
- Have your duties and responsibilities increased? If so, summarise these responsibilities and the outcomes you’ve achieved.
Attention: Double check data consistency
Very often, IT professionals rush to update their CV and forget to update the summary information in the CV and/or in their social profiles, causing a problem of inconsistency of information, which is not appreciated by recruiters/hiring managers.
For example, in the IT industry, recruiters/hiring managers search for a recipe of hard skills. Basic principles to build a good CV defend that every CV should have a summary report of experience regarding technology, roles and type of industry which are relevant for the applicant. In such a way, recruiters can easily see that exists a match with what they are searching for, and they move straight for the interview.
If you have a summary report of your skills, don’t ever forget to update it, because inconsistencies cause a bad image. Imagine, for example, you were the Team Leader in your last project, but you don’t mention “Team Leader” in your summary report or LinkedIn profile.
Save time and automate the update of your CV
If done manually, reviewing and updating your CV could be a very time-consuming task. This usually dissuades the IT professional from doing it. We want to help IT professionals save time while increasing their chances of getting selected for an interview. We do that by automating their CV creation process, with Sprint CV a IT professional can update their CV in less than 30 seconds.
Sprint CV proposes a central system, where IT professionals can easily insert and manage their professional experience. From there, they can easily generate a CV in any template, a real CV generator tool.
Check here some examples:
|
https://blog.sprintcv.com/when-should-an-it-professional-update-his-cv/
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We’re excited to share some new programming options for community members coming up over the next few months, as well as other CSCCE behind-the-scenes news, and so we hope you will join us on Wednesday, 22 September 2021 at 4pm UTC / 11am EDT for our quarterly programming update.
Note that this call will not be recorded, in order to facilitate frank discussion.
The September 2021 CSCCE Community Call will give an overview of our upcoming community programming, ways that you can get involved, and a sneak peek behind the scenes. Image credit: CSCCEContinue reading “September’s Community Call – Quarterly Programming Update”
July’s Community Call: CSCCE community profiles round two
This month, we’re showcasing a new collection of community profiles on our community call, and have invited four of the community managers who took part in this project to share their experiences. Join us on Wednesday, 21 July 2021 via Zoom, and read on for more details about the call.
Join us to learn more about research into STEM communities. Image credit: the CSCCE.Continue reading “July’s Community Call: CSCCE community profiles round two”
April’s community call recap – An update on CSCCE community programming
Keeping our members regularly updated so that they can make informed decisions about where and when to engage is a core part of our communications strategy, and for our April 2021 community call we shared a quarterly update to make visible various things that have been happening so far this year. In this post, we give a summary of our community programming and related community projects over the last few months, as well as a sneak peek at what’s coming up over the summer. We will be sharing more information about our paid training offerings and sustainability planning, which we also discussed in the call, in future blog posts.Continue reading “April’s community call recap – An update on CSCCE community programming”
DEI Special Interest Group call recap: Decolonizing STEM
CSCCE Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are member-led groups focused on specific topics of scientific community management within CSCCE’s community of practice (request to join). You can find out more about CSCCE SIGs here. The CSCCE Diversity, Equity and Inclusion SIG is convened by Cassandra van Gould, Arielle Bennett-Lovell and Kate Baker, with significant support from an organising committee and the wider community. Community members can join the Slack channel #diversity_equity_inclusion_sig to get involved.
On the 24th of November the first session of the CSCCE’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Special Interest Group (DEI SIG) took place. In this guest blog post, Esther Plomp and Arielle Bennett-Lovell, who co-convened the session, recap the meeting. You can also watch the three presentations in full.
During the session, we considered the concept of decolonisation and how it can be put into practice by both researchers and scientific community managers. Decolonisation is both a reflection on the academy’s relationship to lands and people occupied by colonial powers, and the process of reconsidering how this relationship is manifested in a way that restores an equitable power balance. It is not a single action, or a programme, but a long term process requiring input and engagement from everyone.
To gain a better perspective about the issue, we invited three speakers to show their perspective on decolonising science, and to offer some solutions to ensuring that the scientific research ecosystem is equitable. Below follows a summary of the talks given by Dr. Kate Baker, Dr. Thomas Mboa and Dr. Felicia Fricke.Continue reading “DEI Special Interest Group call recap: Decolonizing STEM”
First Birthday Series: Behind the scenes of community programming
For our “First Birthday Series” of blog posts, we are taking some time to reflect on CSCCE’s community of practice, which turned one year old on 21 October 2020. Our first post summarised the community “by the numbers,” and is a fun run-down of just how far we’ve come. In this post, we go a little deeper into the strategy and philosophy behind our programming. This post was jointly authored by Communications Director, Katie Pratt and Center Director, Lou Woodley.
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https://www.cscce.org/tag/community-programming/
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If you are using Revinate Surveys to collect feedback from your guests, you will see the results displayed in your Rich Guest Profiles under the "Survey" tab:
Here you will find all the results to each question on the survey. Clicking on "+" will open up the full list of questions and answers that your guest responded to.
This allows you to take note of any issue areas. For example, if a guest rated their "check-in experience" a 1 out of 5, you will be able to tailor your check in experience for this guest to suit their needs the next time they arrive.
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https://help.revinate.com/hc/en-us/articles/360027285072-Rich-Guest-Profiles-Survey-Data-in-the-Marketing-Application
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Averano Guest House
Averano Guest House is a guest house located in Southsea.
Local dining options close to Averano Guest House include Indian Cottage Restaurant, Mojos, The Akash, and Bombay Express Balti House.
Quick navigate Southsea Guest Houses
The information displayed here is displayed 'as is'. Also check the website ( if listed ) for up-to-date information, prices and availability. Stay England is not responsible for the content of external websites. If you are the owner or operator of Averano Guest House and wish to update or modify the content on this page including room details, specials and getaways or availability, please use our submission page.
Southsea
Hampshire
PO4 0RQ
England
Tel: (239) 282-0079
Please note map locations may based on either the address, the town or based on the location of the listed properties zip / postcode.
Any prices displayed for Averano Guest House should be used as a guide only and may vary with room and dates chosen. Lower pricing may be available via the booking system if available. Not all properties are available for online booking. Please note all distances shown are approximate, and may not reflect driving or travel distances.
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https://stayengland.uk/182031-averano-guest-house-southsea.html
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Find attached in my resume.
Procurement Manager at Fondazione Terre des Hommes Italia
EDUCATION
August 2009 Notre Dame University Louaizeh (NDU) .
Bachelor of Communication Arts, Radio TV, emphasis Audio
Attested in Protools level 1 and 2.
July 2006 College des Fréres Maristes – Jbeil, Amchit
French Baccalaureate in Economics and Social Science
EXPERIENCE
December 2013 – Present
Fondazione Terre Des Hommes Italia Onlus
Procurement Manager| Procurement and Logistics Department
Handling all procurement and supply chain activities for the education, transportation and registration projects at TDH-Italy
Some of the projects: (UNHCR: LBN01/2014/Pillar1/0000000121/000 Access to education and registration facilitated for Syrian refugees in Mount Lebanon/Beirut and UNICEF: LEBA/2013/57 Strengthening Protection for refugee Syrian children and their caregivers through activities building up their resilience) and many more
Creating a vendor’s list based on quality services and value for money; Ensuring fair competition that strictly adheres to TDH-Italy’s procurement rules regarding vendor relations
Understanding and experience in UN,UNHCR,UNICEF,ECHO,UTL,TDH-NL, OCHA, Regione Toscana financing modalities and project management/procurement/supply chain procedures
Preparation and submission of all relevant documents for the procurement of goods and services; Participating in the evaluation of proposals and bids and finalizing minutes of meeting, bids reports, technical evaluation and awarding contracts
Planning, coordinating and monitoring of the activities/deliverables of projects; Participating in meetings and discussions related to project implementation, monitoring and follow-up
Responsible for maintenance of On-Going Contracts, Preferred Supplier and Vendor Databases; Coordinating with the Project implementing agencies, other responsible parties and contracting entities, monitor their activities, and gather feedback on progress in implementation
Responsible for highlighting any potential risks and suggest its mitigation measures
June 2012 – December 2012
Fondazione Terre Des Hommes Italia Onlus
Procurement Officer| Procurement and Logistics Department
Negotiating prices and contract terms with suppliers; Monitoring Cars’ Movement schedule on a daily basis
Making sure that the log book is properly filled; Ensuring the Maintenance of all TDH-Italy’s cars
Preparing Order Requests for car fuel and rental fees; Ensuring that all car users follow TDH-Italy’s policies
Assessing Logistics & Procurement needs (stationery, maintenance, supplies,…) for TDH-Italy’s Office & Guest House in Beirut
Making sure that all procedures are followed according to TDH-Italy’s standards; Periodic checks for the loading/unloading of goods for the transportation and UNHCR NFI projects
Updating regularly the inventory list; Archiving and keeping soft and hard copies of all procurement documents
SKILLS
Proven relationship-builder with excellent communication and presentation skills.
Time management skills and very detail oriented.
Energetic, confident and motivated.
Sociable, motivated and eager to learn.
COMPUTER SKILLS
Advanced Level:
Software: MS Office (Word, Excel , PowerPoint, Visio)
Before you fill out our registration form, we feel it necessary to pass on some important information.
After completing our registration process your details are checked over by our Validation Team. Their task is to upload suitable submissions or delete.
Registrations that pass validation automatically produce an online CV Profile. Due to the popularity of our website profiles are widely seen by prospective employers. On a daily basis we receive many Profile enquiries.
By following our guidelines your profile will pass our validation process.
Key points to note
Your aim should be to produce a fantastic online CV Profile.
Our task is to find you meaningful employment.
Good luck.
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https://www.skills-provision.com/cv/cv-procurement-manager-seeking-work-globally
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- Expired: over a month ago. Applications are no longer accepted.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Case Manager provides case management to guests.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Others may be assigned.
- Interview incoming guests and perform needs assessment to determine guests’ barriers and needs. Use this information to develop plan to connect guests to services necessary to change their homeless situation. Provide referrals as needed. Monitor guest progress and adjust plan as needed.
- Facilitate and lead Life Skills Class twice per week.
- Identify self enhancing activities for each guest. Supervise guest activities.
- Arrange for counseling sessions for guests.
- Coordinate services and work with other service providers to ensure access, eligibility and follow through.
- Create guest files including all relevant assessment, plan and evaluation information and update regularly.
- Understand and maintain guest confidentiality and data privacy standards.
- Keep updated resource information on local and regional human services.
- Meet with guests weekly or bi-weekly for up to 12 months. It is expected that for the first two months of a guest’s participation in the program, at least 80% of follow up will be conducted in person vs. by phone.
- Build positive informal relationships with guests, teach functional life skills.
- Work with Director of Shelter Operations or Lead Case Manager on non-standard situations to develop appropriate plan.
- Understand status as mandated reporter of child or vulnerable adult maltreatment.
- Participate in staff meetings, in-service training and other relevant training.
- Read incident reports prepared by monitors to stay updated on relevant guest information.
- Transport guests to and from medical appointments & assist with moving guests into housing. Pick up guest medication as needed.
POSITION EXPECTATIONS:
- Be punctual. No more than one late occurrence per quarter. If you know you are going to be late, you must contact your Supervisor at least one hour in advance.
- Complete paperwork and tasks in a timely and consistent manner, including all reports, etc. You should be able to regularly prioritize your daily tasks independently, but be willing to ask for guidance from your Supervisor if conflicts arise.
- Complete work accurately – proofread all documents you are responsible to create or distribute.
- Become familiar with office systems so that you can locate documents and information at any given time.
- Keep organized (desk, files, etc.)
- Use good judgment and discretion in all aspects of this position. Make ethical, non-biased and well thought-out decisions.
- Communicate regularly with Management and co-workers on all pertinent issues.
- Assist others in a compassionate manner without ethnic or social prejudices. Be tactful and mindful of issues & challenges unique to homelessness, substance abuse and persons with physical and mental disabilities.
- Be able to perform duties independently and also as part of a team.
- Demonstrate computer proficiency for all programs used by the organization.
EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE:
High school diploma or equivalent and B.A. or equivalent experience, including at least one year of experience performing case management activities. Must have knowledge of social service agencies and experience working in a community based setting.
WORKING HOURS:
This is a non-exempt position. Working hours are from 8 am – 5 pm. However, overtime may be required and will be paid in accordance with non-exempt position requirements. Any overtime worked should be approved in advance by the CEO.
The Gathering InnWhy Work Here?
Helping us end homelessness one step at a time.
From our humble beginnings in 2004, as a winter only shelter program serving 40 homeless people per night, The Gathering Inn is now a multifaceted, multi-location agency serving over 185 homeless men, women and children each and every day right here in Placer County through programs at four separate locations. The Gathering Inn is now the largest homeless emergency housing and supportive services provider in Placer County.
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https://www.ziprecruiter.com/c/The-Gathering-Inn/Job/Case-Manager/-in-Roseville,CA?jid=8519bf059dd26b87&lvk=DOmf9L1rmnNZRC6PyfDyXQ.--M41xj2ACF&tsid=152001144
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Description:
To avoid spamming with irrelevant resumes, we suggest genuinely interested candidates to read through the entire job description to understand and verify the suitability of your profile for this role before applying. If the relevant skills/experiences are not highlighted/included to standout from rest of the profiles then please elaborate it so that we can choose the apt candidates easily. Please ensure that your CV is customized for this particular role by highlighting the most relevant expertise required for this role as managers tend to reject generic profiles that may not look like exact match for this role. This is a “Plug and Play” role to get risk-free quick-results for a family business. Due to our limited time/resources, only shortlisted candidates can be contacted but we would always consider your profile for other suitable roles. Salary depends on candidate’s skills, experience and other attributes. Hiring preference depends on candidates’ expertise and other attributes which are suitable for client’s customer demographics to gain better revenue/customer experience.
Job Responsibilities:
- Nurse works closely with the doctor providing assistance throughout a patient’s visit.
- Assisting the doctor with a wide range of procedures from preparing the various materials required and ensuring the proper instruments and equipment are available, to cleaning and sterilizing the used instruments.
Job Requirements:
- DOH/HAAD Registered Nurse Eligibility or License or awaiting DOH Licensing exam.
- If you are a compassionate and knowledgeable Nurse, we would love to hear from you !
- This posting is just an outline of the basic responsibilities and requirements for the position, there is more to being a member of the team, so just keep in mind that this is not a comprehensive list of everything the job will entail. Your duties, responsibilities and activities may change as per business/market requirements.
- Please refrain from applying if your profile is not exact match for this role.
- Whilst we will endeavor to contact you following your application, due to the high volume of applications if you have not had notification from us within 24 hours please take your application as not being successful this time, we will keep your details in the database for future opportunities.
- NB: Please note that, not getting shortlisted for a role is no reflection on your skills or qualifications; it simply means that the hiring manager is giving more priority to many other specific factors other than expertise or experience which are relevant to this position based on their current business/market requirements/customer demographics.*
- We give interview status but not feedback for following reasons:
- We do not give interview feedback for Idiosyncratic Rater Effect and it’s not feasible to fix such systematic errors behind it.
- Feedback is interviewer’s truth, not candidate’s.
- It’s a time consuming procedure to structure a legally apt constructive feedback and to deliver it.
- Accepting critical feedback is a rare skill.
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https://informer.pk/job/registered-nurse-arabic-tagalog-nclex-doh-job-in-dubai-mac-group/
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UPDATE #1 - Blizzard has posted a faq on their official website for more information, read more about it here.
This does not look to be good, I will keep you guys updated as more information is available.
Players and Friends,
Even when you are in the business of fun, not every week ends up being fun. This week, our security team found an unauthorized and illegal access into our internal network here at Blizzard. We quickly took steps to close off this access and began working with law enforcement and security experts to investigate what happened.
At this time, we’ve found no evidence that financial information such as credit cards, billing addresses, or real names were compromised. Our investigation is ongoing, but so far nothing suggests that these pieces of information have been accessed.
Some data was illegally accessed, including a list of email addresses for global Battle.net users, outside of China. For players on North American servers (which generally includes players from North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia) the answer to the personal security question, and information relating to Mobile and Dial-In Authenticators were also accessed. Based on what we currently know, this information alone is NOT enough for anyone to gain access to Battle.net accounts.
We also know that cryptographically scrambled versions of Battle.net passwords (not actual passwords) for players on North American servers were taken. We use Secure Remote Password protocol (SRP) to protect these passwords, which is designed to make it extremely difficult to extract the actual password, and also means that each password would have to be deciphered individually. As a precaution, however, we recommend that players on North American servers change their password. Please click this link to change your password. Moreover, if you have used the same or similar passwords for other purposes, you may want to consider changing those passwords as well.
In the coming days, we'll be prompting players on North American servers to change their secret questions and answers through an automated process. Additionally, we'll prompt mobile authenticator users to update their authenticator software. As a reminder, phishing emails will ask you for password or login information. Blizzard Entertainment emails will never ask for your password. We deeply regret the inconvenience to all of you and understand you may have questions. Please find additional information here.
We take the security of your personal information very seriously, and we are truly sorry that this has happened.
Sincerely, Mike Morhaime
Finally the floodgates on patch 1.0.4 are about to open.
The Diablo III developers have been hard at work on some exciting new features and updates for the game. Many of you have asked for more details, and we're busily preparing several developer blogs filled with information on what's coming in patch 1.0.4. In the meantime, here's an overview of the information we're planning to share here on the Diablo III community site in the not-too-distant future.
Please keep in mind that this list isn't set in stone, but it should provide a useful preview of what we'll be revealing in the days ahead.
We're also planning to run some interviews and developer chats surrounding patch 1.0.4, and we’ll be sharing those on the Diablo III front page. Be on the lookout, as we'd love to get you involved in any live chats we host.
As always, your constructive feedback is very much appreciated. Stay tuned for the updates to follow!
Update 8/6/2012: Game limits have been re-enabled.
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The use of bots not only impacts the stability of the game service, but it also has an impact on the player-driven economy. While we regularly take action against accounts for the use of unauthorized third-party programs and bots, this additional measure will help us further preserve and protect the integrity of the game and economy in between ban waves.
Once this change goes live, we're looking for your feedback to help ensure that the limit is working as intended. If you encounter the "Input limit reached" message and feel you should not have, please let us know how many games you were creating and why. This information will help us ensure the limit minimally impacts legitimate players while still protecting the game against bots.
We'll continue to tweak the game limit as necessary, as well as continue to go after the few cheaters and botters that are out there in other ways. Our goal is to help ensure that Diablo III continues to be a fun gaming environment for all of our players, and we're looking forward to hearing your feedback on this change once it goes live.
We will update this post and unlock the thread once game limits are re-enabled.
After a long wait character profiles are now available on the official website.
Yup, they’re ready.
All you need to do is log in with your Battle.net account (look for the login box in the upper-right hand corner of your screen) to access character profiles from any page on the Diablo III community site. Make sure that you've selected your Diablo III BattleTag in the login box, and, once you've selected your BattleTag, choose 'view profile'.
Profiles give you the power to:
We like that profiles provide for easy sharing, comparing, and refining of your heroes as you pursue monster-slaying mastery. In fact, we like profiles so much that we plan to add even more functionality to them as Diablo III evolves, including detailed statistics and tabs for achievements and artisans.
If there’s something else you’d like to see appear in a character profile, please make sure to let us know in the comments below or on our website forums.
Happy Clicking!
-Blizzard Web Team
D3RMT has many new features on the horizon focusing primarily on the community. Let's take a look at some of the new and upcoming features.
Today we updated profiles to provide a news feed system such as those found on many social networks. This feed currently displays your posts, threads, ratings, comments, sale history, auction house favorites, and auction house subscriptions. In the future, more items will be added to this feed which you will learn about in just a bit.
Profiles will be receiving a tab for screenshots and videos. You will be able to upload your screenshots and link to YouTube videos here, as well as view screenshots and videos on other user profiles. Screenshots and videos added will be featured on your profile feed.
Many actions throughout the website will award an achievement. Some achievements will grant you a reward such as in-game items, gold, or crafting. Achievements earned will be featured on your profile feed as well as an achievement tab on your profile.
The website will be gaining an entirely new section dedicated entirely to the community. Newly added screenshots and videos will be visible here where other users can up- or down-vote submissions, and the screenshot and video with the highest net votes for that day will be featured in a more prominent display. This is just one example of what you will be able to find in the community section.
We have begun working on a website that is optimized for mobile browsers.
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https://www.diablohub.com/?p=102
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BELTRAIDE, VACANCY, Export Business Advisor
The BELTRAIDE is seeking the services of a dynamic and proactive individual to fill the post of Export Business Advisor at its EXPORTBelize Unit. The incumbent will actively participate in export development and trade promotion programs that will assist Belize’s export sector to increase, diversify and consolidate their exports, as well as increase their competiveness and sustainability.
PRIMARY FUNCTION: To actively participate in export development and trade promotion programs that will assist Belize’s export sector to increase, diversify and consolidate their exports, as well as increase their competiveness and sustainability.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Proactively explore the local market for potential Belizean export industries or products (goods and services) with export potential and interest to meet demands of the international market;
- Compile sector and market research in priority sectors to promote to targeted export markets;
- Identify trading opportunities in foreign markets for Belizean exports (including those provided under the trade agreements);
- Assist in the development of an external market strategy through priority market definitions and foreign office export promotion programmes;
- Engage Belize mission abroad to assist in accessing emerging markets by providing market/sector information and intelligence that can guide promotion efforts;
- Facilitate linkages, match-making opportunities and negotiations between Belizean exporters and international buyers;
- Conduct, coordinate and participate in seminars, awareness programs, missions, forums and participate in exhibition / seminars to support and promote Belize’s Export sector;
- Build and maintain extensive business contacts/networks with the regional and international Associations and other entities that can facilitate promotional efforts;
- Prepare and maintain market profiles and other fact sheet to be used as promotional tools;
- Assist in the identification of exporters in priority industries for competitiveness and capacity building;
- Develop and implement training, coaching, and mentoring programs to assist local companies to compete in both domestic and international markets;
- Develop training manuals to complement training programs for all tiers of unit clients (near-export ready, export ready, new exporters and established exporters);
- Organize other events to develop capacities of all tiers of unit clients;
- Direct and implement training programmes for all tiers of unit clients;
- Assist in the collaboration for identifying challenges faced by the exporting sector; develop plans to address these issues; and implement initiatives to strengthen the enabling environment for exporters;
- Assist in the coordination of trade delegations (inbound and outbound) and other buyer-seller meetings to promote Belize’s exports;
- Assist in the coordination of successful participation of BELTRAIDE, Belizean exporters, and other agencies in relevant trade shows/missions, national tours, buyer-seller meets and other promotional events; including conducting presentations on trade opportunities to investors/exporters;
- Liaises with relevant departments and Ministries to facilitate exporters and potential exports in obtaining relevant licenses and permits and to act as the bridge between private and public sectors;
- Provide specialized advising to exporters and develop implementable actions plans to address individual challenges to improve their competiveness and sustainability;
- Develop and implement training programmes to build competences and capacities of exporters and potential exporters. These programmes can include a continuum of services including:
- Provision of general information
- Export preparation guidance
- Market entry support
- Export financing information
- Product development
- Quality Control
- Liaises with financial institutions to act as a bridge between them and private enterprises needing assistance in accessing export finance;
- Assist in the development of export business plan templates and other collateral materials and tools that can be used by exporters and potential exporters, inclusive of industry catalogues, market/industry profiles and other fact sheet to assist businesses with market research;
- Conduct market research of targeted markets to determine market entry and other requirements and promotional strategies;
- Collect, analyze, interpret and maintain records of developments in foreign trade policy, export procedures etc. that will affect Belize’s export sector;
- Develop case studies on successful exporters to document their success and experience throughout the export process to act a guide for new entrants;
- Conduct research to identify relevant technical assistance sources through regional and international development agencies;
- Works with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to monitor and update all customer relationships;
- Use of databases and surveys to continuously keep abreast of export opportunities;
- Update the Export page on BELTRAIDE’s website on a regular basis to ensure that stakeholders have access to the most up-to-date and relevant information;
- Assist in the implementation and coordination effort of the National Export Strategy;
- Liaise with BSO’s (local and international) for project implementation;
- Execute any other relevant duties as assigned.
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty based on acceptable standards. The requirements that follow are representative of the knowledge, skill and / or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Business Management, Project Management, Trade, Marketing, Enterprise Development or related field
- Minimum of two (2) years working experience in business development
- Experience working with the Export sector an asset
Knowledge & Skills
- Keen knowledge of Belizean private and public sectors, financing, marketing, enterprise development, export procedures, project management, and quality control management
- Must be a proactive and critical thinker, with excellent problem-solving skills
- Exceptional knowledge of sales, marketing, business development processes
- Leadership, project management, and training skills
- Demonstrate strong and effective interpersonal and networking skills with ability to develop client and partner relationships
- Ability to listen to intended details attentively
- Possess financial analytical and research skills
- Efficiently work under pressure, meet deadlines, and handle multiple assignments simultaneously
- Excellent (effectual) oral/written communication skills, including presentation skills.
- Experience in national and international travel
- Computer literate in most Microsoft applications, be able to use customer relationship management (CRM) software,
- Second language is an asset, preferably Spanish
- Valid driver’s license
Key Competencies & Attitudes
- Self-starter
- Strong analytical skills
- Team player
- Flexible
- Dependable
- Honest
- Mature
- Sound work ethics
- Detail oriented
- Proactive and strategic thinker
PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the incumbent is regularly required to sit and reach with hands and arms. The incumbent is occasionally required to walk, use hands or finger, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls, stoop, kneel, crouch and talk or hear.
The incumbent must occasionally lift and or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. The incumbent will have his/her own office area and will be equipped with standard office equipment. The office will be at a moderate temperature with a noise level of low to moderate. The incumbent is required to work a standard work week (40 hrs.); however, there may be times when he/she will be required to work evenings, weekends, and overtime to accommodate activities that are directly related to BELTRAIDE.
SALARY: based on experience and qualifications’
APPLICATION DEADLINE:
- Qualified candidates should submit their cover letter, updated Resume/CV, two (2) letters of reference (one must be from current or last employer), copy of ID (SSB) by Friday, October 28, 2022.
Submit application package:
Via email to: [email protected]
In the Subject indicate your name and post
you are applying for (Subject: NAME-POST)
For Additional Information Visit:
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https://belizeinvest.net/2022/10/14/export-business-advisor/
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Your knowledge of the hotel and the technical skill you display when responding to Guest telephone calls will prove you truly are a Fairmont professional. As a Royal Service Agent, effective and engaging communication is the key when speaking to fellow Colleagues and Guests.
Summary of Responsibilities:
Reporting to the Manager, Royal Service, responsibilities and essential job functions include but are not limited to the following:
- Consistently offer professional, friendly and engaging service
- Process all external and internal calls either by redirecting calls or assisting the caller
- Take ownership of the caller’s request and ensure follow up according to the hotel’s standards
- Have a sufficient working knowledge of all departments, in particular Housekeeping, Front Office, Engineering and Food & Beverage
- Maintain, monitor and update the ‘Guest Recovery’ log in the “Royal Service” software system, update and report where necessary to the relevant Leaders
- Serve as a liaison for Guests requiring information relating to all aspects of the hotel
- Handle, track and coordinate shipments relating to ‘Lost & Found’
- Arrange guest amenities to recognize special occasions and VIP guests
- Handle and distribute faxes, voice messages and written messages for internal and external Guests
- Assist Guests with internet trouble-shooting
- To be aware of hotel – internal functions and Outlet Promotions.
Also…
- Awareness of outlet concepts, opening hours and F&B menus contents
- To answer guest questions in regards to all hotel information including menu food items, beverages and wines in an informative and helpful way.
- To be able to send out group dinner proposals and inquiries in a timely and professional manner.
- Follow all standards for reservation policies, group policies, telephone standards, PDR bookings, VIP guests and special requests.
- To handle any guest feedback in an appropriate manner ensuring the guest leaves the hotel completely satisfied.
- Work closely with other Departments in ways to better serve our guests
- Process Dining reservations for all phone inquiries.
- Have full knowledge of the hotel’s emergency procedures
- Follow department policies, procedures and service standards
Qualifications:
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https://www.joblistuae.com/2018/12/29/royal-service-agent-job-fairmont-palm/
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In the context of the dissemination and promotion of the Public Consultation to the Self-Assessment Report of the 1st National Open Administration Action Plan, part of the Open Government Partnership Portugal project, the Webinar "Civic Participation in Open Administration Processes" was held on October 22, 2020. The webinar had the participation of Luís Vidigal, member of the Board of Directors of the Platform of Civil Society Associations – Casa da Cidadania (one of the founding members of the National Open Administration Network), as a guest speaker, and aimed to make known the benefits of public participation in the processes of Open Administration.
The session was divided into two parts: the first with presentations by AMA and the guest speaker, the second with a debate that included questions from the participants.
It was a dynamic and participated session, in which incentives were made to the participation in the ongoing Public Consultation, and where challenges, opportunities and actions were identified in how to promote civic participation, from which we highlight:
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Challenge: Compared to other countries civic participation in Portugal is lower than it could be
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Opportunity: Public consultations under the National Action Plans can be privileged spaces to amplify the voice of the citizen and mobilize civil society for co-creation;
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Actions: Provide more information about public consultations and Open Administration and do so in more channels to increase reach; Update the portals and act on the systems; Translation into clear language.
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Challenge: Placing the citizen at the center of the action of open management initiatives
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Opportunity: e-Government; Open Government;
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Actions: Multiply centralized spaces that have been designed based on the behaviors and needs of citizens; Reuse information between organisms.
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Challenge: The level of digital literacy in Portugal is low
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Opportunity: Digital literacy implies greater digital citizenship
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Actions: Digital literacy webinars
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Challenge: Improving the relationship with Civic Laboratories and other Civil Society organizations
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Opportunity: Citizen engagement
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Actions: Public Administration co-produce with Civic Laboratories
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Challenge:Use and update of Open Data
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Opportunity: Open data leads the citizen to audit the data
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Actions: Promote cross-cutting use of Open Data by ensuring that it is up-to-date and dynamic
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For those who have not had the opportunity to watch the webinar can do so through the links below:
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Know the webinar program.
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Acess to OGP Portugal (AMA) keynote
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Acess à Luís Vidigal keynote on Civic Participation and Open Government
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Watch the complete webinar below:
[Find the portuguese transcription of the webinar here]
If you would like to leave your feedback, please contact us [email protected].
From October,15 to November, 6, the Public Consultation on the Self-Assessment Report is taking place on the I National Open Administration Action Plan. The participation of all is essential.
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https://ogp.eportugal.gov.pt/en/noticia22
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Employer:
ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL - www.royalcaribbean.com
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Deck Supervisor is responsible for the operational management of all Housekeeping functions for their assigned deck. Deck Supervisors demonstrate excellent attention to detail and training abilities, and understand the importance of creating a positive work environment where exceptional service in consistently delivered to ensure complete guest and team satisfaction. He/she is an excellent communicator and maintains a strong floor presence at all times, ensuring team members are constantly coached in a positive manner to maximize individual and team performance.
1. In accordance with Royal Caribbean Intt standards each employee conducts oneself in a professional and courteous manner at all times both with guests or fellow shipboard employees and/or in the presence of guest contact and crew areas.
2. Supports and reports to the Assistant Executive Housekeeper. Oversees all operational aspects of staterooms on assigned deck(s), ensuring cleanliness, maintenance and presentation standards are managed to brand standards at all times and in all areas, including all guest staterooms and balconies, guest corridors, lockers, ice stations and storage areas in both the front and back of house.
3. Maintains constant front-of-house presence and utilizes stateroom/suite inspection processes in accordance with company standard operating procedures. Ensures feedback is delivered in constructive and appropriate manner with emphasis on positive reinforcement.
4. Ensures timely reporting of any maintenance needs and follows up to ensure prompt completion when possible. Gathers preventative maintenance needs to enable maintenance to be planned and executed appropriately.
5. Takes ownership and accountability for reacting to guest feedback and requests from assigned deck (s) effectively and efficiently.
6. Provides training to all Stateroom Attendants, including classroom-style and on-thejob training, ensuring team members consistently strengthen their current performance. Maintains and shares comprehensive knowledge of cleaning practices, procedures, equipment and materials. Communicates to team constantly to keep team informed and aware of relevant information.
7. Monitors individual and team performance and trends for Stateroom Attendants against pre-established targets and through guest feedback. Timely prepares all sorts of Reports.
8. Serves as Housekeeping ambassador to all guests on assigned deck. Maintains close communication with Guest Services team on all guest related matters to ensure guests’ satisfaction levels are maximized.
9. Oversees luggage delivery for all guests on assigned deck(s) as part of each voyage turnaround, ensuring prompt delivery and collection in safe and organized manner.
10. Performs stores inventory on assigned deck for all operational needs and supplies and measures against pre-established par levels. Seeks to minimize consumption and manage costs through waste reduction practices and maintenance of optimal inventory levels.
11. Ensures cleaning equipment and supplies are maintained and that all team members are adequately trained to ensure proper and effective use.
12. Monitors compliance to all USPH (United States Public Health) cleaning and sanitation procedures throughout assigned areas consistently. Addresses issues and findings immediately, and ensures corrective action and re-training take place.
13. Maintains safe, secure, and healthy environment by enforcing organizational standards, procedures, and legal regulations and promoting Workplace Safety.
Effectively monitors, overseas and makes improvements to workplace safety within the division and throughout the ship. Attends mandatory crew and guest safety drills, training activities, courses and all other work-related activities as required.
14. Assigns duties and responsibilities to team members. Observes and evaluates team members through open and honest feedback to ensure high quality standards are met.
15. Performs related duties as required. This position description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the shipboard employee occupying this position. Shipboard employees will be required to perform any other job-related duties assigned by their supervisor or management.
Requirements
You can apply for this job if you are:
- At least 21 years of age
- speak good English
- are hospitable and friendly person
- having relevant experience
Hiring Requirements:
- Minimum one year supervisory experience in housekeeping operation of large 4 or 5
demonstrated experience supervising team of minimum of 10 employees
- Minimum of one to two years of guest room cleaning experience in 4 or 5 star hotel
- Specific knowledge of principles and processes for providing exceptional customer
strong attention to detail and achievement of quality service standards
- Ability to effectively deal with internal and external guests, some of whom will require
- Ability to communicate diplomatically with supervisors and crew members to resolve
- Flexibility to manage, direct and encourage a positive, dynamic, diverse
- Should be able to utilize and administer the progressive disciplinary action process
- Ability to work positively and cooperatively in a diverse team environment to meet
- Should harbor a flexible outlook towards placement throughout the fleet, considering
- Working knowledge of cleaning procedures and equipment, chemical handling, linen
navigate within a variety of software packages (e.g. MS Office) and office equipment
- Completion of high school or equivalent required.
Language Requirements:
Required to speak English clearly and distinctly, has aptitude to read and write English in
order to understand and interpret written procedures, including the ability to give and
receive instructions in written and verbal forms and to effectively present information and
respond to questions from guests, supervisors and co-workers. Ability to speak
additional languages such as Spanish, Mandarin, Italian or Portuguese preferred.
Physical Requirements:
While performing the duties of this job, the shipboard employee is regularly required to
stand, walk, use hands to touch, handle, or feel, reach with hands and arms, talk or
hear, and taste or smell. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision,
distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception & ability to adjust focus.
All shipboard employees must be physically able to participate in emergency life saving
procedures and drills. Full use and range of arms and legs as well as full visual, verbal
and hearing abilities are required to receive and give instructions in the event of an
emergency including the lowering of lifeboats. Ability to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
Company offers
Luxury cruise ships sailing around the World - combine work and travel, but be ready for hard work!
- Work experience in International Company
- Food, accommodation, and medical insurance expenses are covered by the company
- Permanent job with 6 months and 3 weeks contracts followed by 10 weeks vacation
- Tax-free salary is paid every two weeks. Starting rate is 1,900$ per month
- First joining ticket is paid by the crewmember, all others will be paid by the company
Additional information
Apply now forwarding your CV in English to [email protected]
JOB INTERVIEW WILL BE ON 29 MAY 2009 via WEBCAM!!!
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https://www.cvmarket.lv/housekeeping-deck-supervisor-citas-ismira-51314
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Um. So to speak.
It was prof_brotherton's day to lecture again and he picked up this morning more or less where we left off the previous night.
Galaxies are fascinating.The first attempt to decipher one - ours - was Herschel's, done through one of those "Arrrr, matey" telescopes way back in the 1700s. It was done purely by optical observations. Assuming a uniform distribution of stars we would see an "Amoeboid" galaxy, shapeless and formless, containing a given number of stars. It assumes a sun in a center and looking out over a flat plane - the "grindstone model".
But there are better strategies to explore the size and structure of the Milky Way.
1. select bright objects you can see throughout the galaxy and trace directions and distances
2. observe objects at wavelengths other than visible to circumvent problem of optical obscuration) and catalog directions and distances – more useful to utilize wavelength like radio or x ray or IR to get more information
3. trace orbital velocities in different directions relative to our position.
But structure hard to determine when we are INSIDE the object being studied; time and distance measurements can be difficult and on a purely visual level the center of the galaxy is obscured by gas and dust.
One way of measuring distances is by using the Cepheid method using Cepheid variable stars (more about this - and it's fascinating - here and here.
In a nutshell, there is a region called "the instability strip" where stars pulsate because of changing environments within. All massive stars go through a Cepheid phase during their evolution as they age. The more luminous a Cepheid the longer its pulsation period - and observing the period of pulsation yields a measure of luminosity and thus the distance. The Cepheid method allows us to measure distances to star clusters throughout the Milky Way.
Type 1 (classical) Cepheids have simple pulsation frequencies, and are relatively linear; type II Cepheids have pulsation oscillation overtones, like a “beat frequency”- much more complicated, and their presence, before their type was established, served to confuse the Cepheid issue somewhat in the early days.
We can also explore the galaxy using clusters of stars. There are two types - open clusters, which are young clusters of recently formed stars within the disk of the galaxy, not evenly distributed, and globular clusters, old and centrally concentrated clusters of stars mostly in the halo around the galaxy. The distribution of globular clusters is not centered on the sun but on a location which is heavily obscured from direct (visual) observation = center of galaxy.
Structure of Milky Way: 75000 light years across with a nuclear bulge in the middle, an outer disk (arms, halo (around the galaxy in space) and globular clusters on the outskirts - our Sun is about 20 000 LY away from centre out on of the arms about 2/3 away from the center. In the disk we have open clusters - younger stars (O/B associations). In IR images (clearer; free from obstructing dust – interstellar dust (absorbing optical light) emits mostly infra red) shows that most of the dust in the Milky Way is in the centre but there is quite a lot of it also in the halo around the galaxy. Disk stars have nearly circular orbits in the disk(plane) of the galaxy; halo stars have highly elliptical orbits, randomly oriented, passing through the disk plane as they travel.
Total mass in milky way approx 200 billion solar masses. Additional mass in halo, total approx 1 trillion solar masses - most of the mass not emitting any radiation => dark matter!
DARK MATTER
Proposed in 1933 by Fritz Zwicky – checked out Coma Cluster – galaxies flying around too fast (as measured by Doppler effect) for their visible mass to keep them together a those speeds so he proposed dark matter was present.
A few decades later Vera Rubin (“mother of dark matter”) started to notice FLAT rotation curves. In spiral galaxies the flatness tells us that matter is distributed uniformly throughout space but the LIGHT is not, it is obviously concentrated, so there must be something else out there – and it’s the MAJORITY of the something that is out there.
If this was normal matter then mass would mostly come from protons and neutrons = baryons. The density of baryons right after the big bang leaves a unique imprint in the abundances of deuterium and lithium. The density of baryonic matter is only about 4% of critical density, total is 30% - so most dark matter must be non-baryonic in nature.
So what's there? Believe it or not, WIMPs and MaCHOs.
Trying to explain the flat rotation curves by invoking things like black holes, brown dwarfs, etc, we have a couple of whimsical baryonic particles, made from conventional Periodic Table stuff.
A WIMP is a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle They could be either neutrinos (seem to have mass but are too small - they are a component but not the dominant component)or hypothetical elementary particles called axions - as yet, not detected, but predicted to change to and from photons in the presence of strong magnetic fields)
A MaCHO is a Massive Compact Halo Object, normal baryonic matter which emits little or no radiation and is unassociated with any solar system, drifting through space unanchored, as it were. SInce they emit no light of their own they are very hard to detect - but can be detected because of a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, where a distant star is "lensed" by the passage of a MaCHO between the observer and the distant star.
All clear?
Good, because we go on with the startling question, "Are we sure that Dark Matter is real?" Sure, there are effects that we can measure and see - but could it simply be that we got the principle of gravity wrong on a very large scale? This alternative, going under the name of MoND or Modified Newtonian Dynamics) was a viable alternative - right until 2006 when gravitational lensing was dragged into the model. In a nutshell, light from a distant quasar was observed to be bent around a foreground galaxy - can actually see the double image of the lensed quasar in the pictorial evidence, and you can also see the lensing object, i.e. the galaxy. So light from a quasar, or a more distant galaxy, is distorted by lensing, sometimes into just arcs of light at the edge of the "lens" - this can be used to probe the distribution of matter in the cluster.
Space between galaxies is not empty but filled with hot gas (observable in X rays) this gas remains gravitationally bound to the dark matter - provides further evidence for dark matter.
The smoking gun for dark matter did not arrive until the evidence provided by the Bullet Cluster.
Gravitational lensing will trace total mass; hot X ray gass will trace baryonic mass. Lensing of background galaxies seen in the optical images lets the mass distribution be mapped; X rays trace the hot gas, dominant source of baryons in cluster merger. But in the image of the Bullet Cluster collision, these two don't line up in the image! WHy is that? Well, Dark Matter does not seem to interact with itself the way a diffuse gas does during a cluster collision. In the Bullet CLuster post-collision image, we can clearly see that the gas experienced drag during the collision, with the two clusters having a definite effect on one another. The dark matter did not slow down in the least, and is now AHEAD of the gas cloud - it doesn't interact with itself or affect itself. More on the BUllet Cluster, including a link to a animation of the collision illustrating the above point, can be found here and here.
Traditional:
Spherical cloud of turbulent gas = first stars and star clusters = rotating cloud of gas begins to contract to an equatorial plane = stars and clusters left behind in halo as gas cloud flattens = new generations of stars have flatter distributions restricted to disk of the galaxy = the disk of the galaxy is now very thin
But in a revision of the traditional structure, modification to the traditional model appears to be a recently observed large ring at about 120 000 LY diameter - perhaps remnants of some earlier collision? The distribution of stars and neutral hydrogen mostly in spiral; but in IR images the distribution of dust gives a bar across the center of the galaxy.
The spiral arms are usually full of young stars - this is where new star formation goes on (older stars could be anywhere). Stationary shock waves trigger star formation in the spiral arms - shocks initiate this but then it's self-sustaining through O/B ionization fronts and supernova shock waves. The star-forming regions get elongated due to differential rotation.
Grand design spiral galaxies – two dominant spiral arms (e.g. M100); Flocculent (woolly) galaxies also have spiral patterns but no dominant pair of spiral arms (NGC 300)
Whirlpool Galaxy (M 51) self sustaining star forming regions along spiral arm patterns clearly visible (see the picture in previous post!)
The galactic center contains a 3.6 million solar mass supermassive black hole, determined by following orbits of individual stars near the centre of Milky Way as seen in the IR images - more here.
Hubble law: the more distant the galaxy the faster it is moving away from us (red-shift, Doppler effect)
Many galaxies typically millions or billions of years of parsecs from our galaxy – typical units
Mpc = megaparsec= 1 million parsecs
Gps = gigaparsecs= one billion parsecs
Supermassive black holes at the centre of every massive galaxy.
Clusters of galaxies - they generally exist in clusters not in isolation.
Rich clusters contain 1000 or more galaxies, boast a diameter of approx 3 megaparsecs, and are condensed around a large central galaxy. Poor clusters are less than 1000 galaxies in number, maybe just a handful or a few parsecs across. Our own galaxy cluster consists of our "local group" - three spiral galaxies (Andromeda, M33, Milky Way), two irregular galaxies (the Magellanic Clouds) and the rest (Leo, Fornax, Canis Major) are the most common galaxy type, dwarf elliptical galaxies. They may be the most common, but it is by far easier to observe the big bright galaxies.
Particularly in rich clusters, galaxies can collide or interact leaving particular patterns behind – can produce ring galaxies (Cartwheel Galaxy) and tidal tails. Astronomer Bob Berrington has simulations of some of this stuff at his website
Galaxies with extremely violent energy release in nuclei – active galactic nuclei (AGN) up to many thousand times more luminous than the entire Milky Way.
Seyfert galaxies a particular kind of AGN where cores are specially bright light is coming not just from stars but from something else too – AGNs tend to be interacting systems, something about interactions makes them massively bright. They have a supermassive black hole core and a thin accretion disk surrounded by a dense dust torus, gas clouds of ionized high velocity gas - emits particle jets (electrons, protons) from poles, fast hot moving gas at VERY HIGH temperatures. Hot gas radiates very brightly, and can outshine the entire galaxy (torus typically about a light year across)
Radio galaxies (centaurus A closest AGN to us) jet in X ray and radio. Jets powered by accretion of matter onto a supermassive black hole – twisted magnetic fields confine material in jet and produce synclotron radiation.
Supermassive black holes at center of most galaxies – fed and fuelled by stars and gas from near central environment – galaxy interactions may enhance the flow of matter onto central black holes.
Quasars – active nuclei in elliptical galaxies with even more powerful central sources than Seyferts – quasars live in galaxies, and they show extreme red shifts in their spectral lines so they are very far away. We don't see them locally, they are a reminder of galactic history - but the study of quasars allows investigation of
*Large scale structure of universe
*Early history of universe
*Galaxy evolution
*Dark matter
Quasars show red shifts of up to 6, which can shift UV into the visible spectrum…
Pant, pant, pant...
Okay. That is QUITE enough for one night. Past midnight now, local time. I better get to bed. The rest of today I will catch up on tomorrow, which is also the last day of Launchpad.
But before I go - we got a book recommendation today, apparently one of the worst books ever written, with a "read it if you dare" warning. Now, of course, I have to go find that sucker. The title is apparently "Galaxy 666". I will have to hunt for that one - it was recommended by such GUSTO that I want to at least have a taste of it now, especially when I know all this stuff about galaxies now and can gleefully pick holes in the thing...
Bedtime.
See y'all tomorrow.
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https://anghara.livejournal.com/326524.html
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Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is typical: it has hundreds of billions of stars, enough gas and dust to make billions more stars, and at least ten times as much dark matter as all the stars and gas put together. And it’s all held together by gravity.
The many different galaxy shapes
Like more than two-thirds of the known galaxies, the Milky Way, has a spiral shape. At the center of the spiral, a lot of energy and, occasionally, vivid flares. are being generated. Based on the immense gravity that would be required explain the movement of stars and the energy expelled, the astronomers conclude that the center of the Milky Way is a supermassive black hole.
Other galaxies have elliptical shapes, and a few have unusual shapes like toothpicks or rings. The Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) shows this diversity. Hubble observed a tiny patch of sky (one-tenth the diameter of the moon) for one million seconds (11.6 days) and found approximately 10,000 galaxies, of all sizes, shapes, and colors. From the ground, we see very little in this spot, which is in the constellation Fornax.
A gallery of beautiful galaxies
Here are 16 photos taken from space of galaxies near (relatively) and far.
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https://myria.com/a-super-stellar-gallery-of-galaxies
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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Astronomers say they have spotted strange objects near the huge black hole at the center of our galaxy that looks like gas and behave like stars.
They say the strange objects represent a new class of unusual objects.
Four of the “G objects” have been found, orbiting around the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A*.
That mysterious swirling void is at the heart of our galaxy and continues to prove mysterious to the scientists who study it, the Independent reported.
The four new objects join G1 and G2, which were found in 2005 and 2014 respectively, intriguing scientists because they seem to be compact most of the time but stretch out as they get closer to the black hole during their orbit.
These orbits are also a lot longer than the 365 days Earth takes to move around our sun, ranging from about 100 to 1,000 years.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have fittingly named the newcomers G3, G4, G5 and G6.
Writing in the Nature journal, the group explained its belief that all six were once binary stars – a pair of stars which orbit each other – later merging as one due to the supermassive black hole’s powerful gravitational force.
However, this merging process is not done overnight – it takes more than one million years to complete, said co-author Andrea Ghez.
“Mergers of stars may be happening in the universe more often than we thought, and likely are quite common,” she explained.
“Black holes may be driving binary stars to merge. It’s possible that many of the stars we’ve been watching and not understanding may be the end product of mergers that are calm now.
“We are learning how galaxies and black holes evolve. The way binary stars interact with each other and with the black hole is very different from how single stars interact with other single stars and with the black hole.”
The team is already looking into other potential objects that may be part of the same family.
It says the research will help shine a light on what is happening in the majority of galaxies in our universe – though Earth is quite a distance from the action, “in the suburbs compared to the center of the galaxy”, Ghez added.
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https://irannewsdaily.com/2020/01/strange-objects-seen-close-to-black-hole/
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What's Happening: Do Supermassive Black Holes Stunt Stellar Birth in Galaxies?
Do Supermassive Black Holes Stunt Stellar Birth in Galaxies?
New evidence from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows that supermassive black holes at the centers of elliptical galaxies keep the galactic "thermostat" so high gas cannot cool, stunting the birth of new stars.
For the first time ever, astronomers have detected dust grains mingling with blazing hot gas at temperatures of 10 million degrees Kelvin (about 10 million degrees Celsius, or 17 million degrees Fahrenheit), in an area surrounding the elliptical-shaped galaxy called NGC 5044. Scientists hope this new finding will provide insight into how supermassive black holes reduce the stellar fertility in elliptical galaxies by heating gas.
Similar to raindrops forming in Earth's clouds, stars form when dense cosmic clouds of gas and dust condense. Scientists suspect that if the gas surrounding a galaxy never cools enough to condense, then new stars cannot form.
"Generally we see X-ray emission from hot gas surrounding elliptical galaxies, extending far beyond their visible stars, but we do not fully understand the mechanisms that keep the gas from cooling. Our observation of plumes of dusty, hot gas shows that heating by massive black holes in the galactic cores may be a possible mechanism," said Dr. Pasquale Temi, of the NASA Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute in Calif. Temi is the principal investigator of the study slated to appear in the Astrophysical Journal.
"This is a very surprising discovery. Typically you wouldn't expect to see dust grains surviving in this type of heat -- this is like finding a snowflake in hell," says Dr. William Mathews, of the University at California at Santa Cruz. "We think that NGC 5044 is revealing a transient heating process that is common and astronomically important."
Galaxies in the universe come in many shapes and sizes. Spiral galaxies, like our own Milky Way, are usually active in star formation. By contrast, elliptical galaxies are stellar retirement communities because they are made up of older stars, and don't form many new stars. Many elliptical galaxies, like NGC 5044, are found at the centers of galaxy clusters that are filled with enormous amounts of hot gas. Why the gas doesn't cool and form new stars is a subject of intense debate among astronomers.
Both Temi and Mathews believe that many elliptical galaxies are being heated by the supermassive black holes at their centers through a process called "feedback heating." They suspect that this mechanism may also explain why the Spitzer Space Telescope detected so many dust grains in such a harsh cosmic environment.
Observations with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have shown small, massive clouds of dusty gas near the cores of many elliptical galaxies. Astronomers think these clouds may play a crucial role in feedback heating. They suspect this material probably gravitated toward the galaxy's center after being ejected by nearby dying stars, as part of their normal life cycle.
When some of this dusty gas approaches the host galaxy's central supermassive black hole, a large amount of energy is released -- enough to heat nearby gas to extremely high temperatures, making it buoyant. Like smoke carrying ashes away from a fire, scientists believe that this buoyant gas floats away from the galaxy's center carrying some dust with it. As plumes of this dusty smoke fill the galaxy's surrounding area, gas around the galaxy is also heated. Temi's team was the first to see this cosmic smoke with Spitzer's super-sensitive infrared eyes.
"Whenever the central black hole takes another gulp of the dusty gas hovering around the galaxy's center, enough energy will be fed back to heat up more of the surrounding gas, and feedback heating will happen all over again, maintaining the temperature of the surrounding gas," says Mathews. He notes that both the heating and buoyant removal of gas from the galaxy's center reduces the likelihood of star formation.
Team members say that the most remarkable feature of this heating process is the huge disparity -- about a billion -- between the size of the black hole energy source and the surrounding atmosphere of hot gas. They note that if the black hole were the size of a human, the scale of the heated gas would extend to the Moon.
"Astronomers have long hypothesized about feedback heating in the hot cluster gas surrounding elliptical galaxies, but Spitzer has given us the first piece of observational evidence that this might actually be occurring in elliptical galaxies across the universe," says Temi.
In addition to Temi and Mathews, other team members include Dr. Fabrizio Brighenti of the University of Bologna.
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http://legacy.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/happenings/20070816/
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Amateur Astronomers Find Glowing Gas Arc Near Andromeda
An arc that glows green thanks to doubly ionized oxygen appears near the Andromeda Galaxy in a photo obtained by amateur astronomers.
A 3D Magnetic Map of the Local Bubble
Astronomers have mapped the magnetic field along the "bubble" of gas 1,000 light-years wide around the Sun.
Speeding Cloud Might Come from Recent, Nearby Supernova
Hypervelocity clouds, generally thought to be falling fast into the Milky Way, might have an alternative explanation that places them near us.
Astronomers Map the Milky Way's "Underworld"
A simulated map of the Milky Way shows the location of our galaxy's stellar corpses — and they're not where you might think they'd be.
Supernovae Swept Out Barnard's Loop in Orion
Astronomers have mapped Orion in 3D to understand the origin of the large arc of Barnard’s Loop — and you can interact with the 3D image!
Have We Found the First Rogue Black Hole in the Milky Way?
Hubble observations have revealed a stellar-mass compact object — a black hole or possibly a neutron star — wandering our galaxy.
Hundreds of Thousands of Stars Reveal the Milky Way’s “Teenage” Years
A census of hundreds of thousands of subgiant stars in our galaxy provides a window into the Milky Way's early history.
A Star Where It Shouldn't Be
There’s a massive star in our galaxy’s halo, far away from the usual star-forming haunts. How did it get there?
Astonishing Radio View of the Milky Way’s Heart
A new radio survey reveals a complex and chaotic galactic center teeming with supernova remnants, star-forming regions, and mysterious filaments.
1,000-light-year "Bubble" Is the Source of All Nearby Baby Stars
Supernovae that carved out the Local Bubble, a cavity around the Sun, have also triggered star formation at the bubble's edges.
Stellar Streams Are Revealing Their Secrets
A detailed study of 12 streams of stars swirling in and around the Milky Way will ultimately help shed light on our galaxy's dark matter halo.
Astronomers Discover Celestial Ruins on Our Galaxy’s Edge
A stream of stars scattered across 15 degrees of sky was once part of a globular cluster torn apart by our galaxy’s gravity. The stars represent some of the oldest in the Milky Way.
Tiny Galaxy’s Giant Black Hole Throws Astronomers for a Loop
A satellite galaxy dwarfed by the Milky Way has a black hole nearly as massive as the one at the center of our galaxy.
How Our Largest Dwarf Galaxy Keeps the Others In Line
New research may explain why satellite galaxies align themselves around the Milky Way
Astronomy in Pictures: Black Holes, Baby Stars, and Magnetic "Tunnels"
Astronomers witness the unfurling of a black hole-powered mushroom cloud, a baby super-Jupiter, and a magnetic "tunnel" around the solar system.
Take a Deep Look into the Milky Way Halo
New analysis shows the best view of the Milky Way halo to date, providing a window into our galaxy's future star formation.
In Heaven with M7, a Portal Into the Deep
M7 in Scorpius is one of the brightest, most beautiful open clusters in the sky. It's also "home" to a half-dozen other delectable deep-sky sights.
Dark Matter "Wake" in the Milky Way's Outer Reaches
Astronomers have discovered that a satellite of the Milky Way has left a "wake" in the dark matter halo that surrounds our galaxy.
Flares from the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole
The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way released an unusual number of strong flares in 2019. Now, astronomers are trying to figure out why.
Seeking the Origins of Galactic Stellar Streams
A recent study has identified the origins of many of the long streams of stars that encircle the Milky Way. These streams may contain hints about our galaxy's past.
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https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/milky-way/
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A black hole is speeding through space at several million miles per hour.
In 2012, astronomers reported that cosmic forces had jettisoned the massive black hole CID-42 at a speed of several million miles per hour out of the center of its galaxy. It runs contrary to the idea that supermassive black holes live at the core of all big galaxies in the universe.
Ten years later, this team is among the lucky few to gaze through the sensitive eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) as part of Cycle 1, which begins in November 2023 and runs until January 2024.
They hope the space telescope’s hyper-sensitivity will get to the root of what is happening.
“A lot of people are interested in using JWST because it is the most powerful space telescope ever built,” Francisco Muller Sanchez, an astrophysicist at the University of Memphis and leader of the upcoming CID-42 study, tells Inverse.
“The things that we hope to see cannot be seen with any other telescope, and it was not possible to see those things in the past,” he adds.
Here’s the background — CID-42 might be a “recoiling black hole,” a fancy way to say it is moving out, according to astrophysicist and co-investigator Francesca Civano. She tells Inverse that the total number of known candidates for this title is only about 10.
Instances like CID-42 could mean that throughout the universe, many giant black holes roam undetected, made invisible because the highly-heated gas that typically surrounds them and gives away their location is missing.
Existing observations clearly show that CID-42 isn’t right at the center of its galaxy; in fact, this black hole shares space with another large object near the core. But this enigmatic object does not emit X-rays, the standard calling card for black holes.
The team is motivated by this secondary object and the black hole’s puzzling trajectory to learn more using JWST, and expect the space telescope will build upon the theories they have established that explain what they see.
Why it matters — The recoiling black hole might have been tossed by a tempestuous galactic merger. The team thinks at least two — possibly even three — galaxies clashed in the past, recombining the hefty black holes beating at their cores. If CID-42 is the new black hole, it may have received an abnormally-awkward kickback from the asymmetric gravitational waves produced by the crash. These cosmic forces are created when very massive objects, like black holes and neutron stars, collide.
An animation of the possible merger of two ancient galaxies, which crashed and created gravitational waves. This model shows these undulations may have been asymmetric and powerful enough to kick out the supermassive black hole CID-42 from the galactic center.
Typically the kick is slight, “only a few kilometers per second,” says Civano. Astronomical observatories don’t typically perceive it, and the black hole usually wriggles back to the center of the new galaxy.
But CID-42 is an exception.
What’s next — The upcoming observations will confirm a few things.
JWST will analyze the motions of stars in CID-42’s galaxy, and the movement of the disk surrounding the black hole. If the speeds differ, the team will confirm that CID-42 is a real recoiling black hole, elevating it from candidate to confirmed status.
That update allows the team to ask big questions about CID-42’s puzzling behavior.
“Because [CID-42] is offset, the question is, what are the kinematics of this object?” Muller Sanchez tells Inverse. “Is it moving away from the center of the galaxy? Is it moving towards the center of the galaxy? Is it orbiting the center of the galaxy, like a binary? Or, are there two supermassive black holes, and they are orbiting a common center of mass?”
The telescope will also peer at CID-42’s curious neighbor. Astronomers might unexpectedly find that a cluster of stars occupies this galactic center. Or, this oddball might be another supermassive black hole Muller Sanchez is referring to, which is hiding away behind what Civano calls a “brick wall” of dust and gas, thick enough to absorb the behemoth’s X-ray emissions. JWST will be sensitive enough to notice if the material is taking the energy and soaking it up.
Moreover, this possible secondary black hole might prove that the current galaxy was once three galaxies, and that two of their central black holes combined and subsequently kicked out CID-42.
But, if the bright spot turns out not to be an obscured black hole, this galaxy is an exceptional example of how galactic evolution can go haywire and leave a galaxy without its quintessential churning heart.
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https://www.inverse.com/science/migrating-black-hole
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the Virgo supercluster (see Figure 03-06).
It is centered on the Virgo cluster and extends some 150 million ly across.
The Virgo cluster itself contains thousands of galaxies including M87 (right), which is known to surround a gigantic black hole. Virgo's gravity affects the movement of its neighbors, including the Local Group. (below right)
The supercluster is the last outpost before a space traveler would enter a nearly galaxy-free region called a cosmic void. Actually, even the supercluster has a mass equaling some thousand trillion suns, virtually all its volume is empty in such a vast
space.
The Local Group of galaxies extends some 4 million ly (light years) across.
Most galaxies in the group are considered dwarfs, but the two largest - the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy (left) - are giant spirals.
The galaxies of the Local Group are traveling together through
space - indicating a common origin.
from UniverseReview Website
Among this multitude of galaxies, 34% are spirals, 20% are ellipticals, and 54% are irregular. We happen to live in an ordinary spiral galaxy called the Milky Way.
On a clear night and with the aid of
long exposure time, it appears like a silvery bridge across the sky as shown in Figure 05-11.
It is a view looking from inside the galactic disk. An all sky (panoramic) view is shown in Figure 05-12.
If we could fly away from the Milky Way and look back, the view would be similar to the spiral galaxy NGC 3370 as depicted in Figure 05-13.
Similar in size to our own Milky Way, spiral galaxy NGC 3370 lies about 100 million light-years away toward the constellation Leo. It contains a mixture of young stars in the bluer regions and an older population in the yellowish center.
The total mass of NGC 3370 and the Milky Way is estimated to be several 1011 solar mass. The main components of the Milky Way consist of a nucleus at the center, a nuclear bulge, a disk in the form of spiral arms winding around this nucleus, and a halo, which covers both the nucleus, the disk, and contains a spherical distribution of globular clusters (see below
insert) as shown in Figure 05-14.
The radius of the visible disk is about 20 kpc with the Sun located 15
kpc from the center.
Figure 05-15 shows
the location of the various components within the Milky Way up to 100
kpc from the center.
by astronomers many years ago. It is observed that most galaxies formed from the merging of smaller precursors, and in the case of the Milky Way, we can observe the final stages of this process.
As shown in Figure 05-16a, the Milky Way is tearing apart small satellite galaxies (such as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds - click below images) and incorporating their stars. Meanwhile hot intergalactic gas clouds are continually arriving from intergalactic space.
The evidence for the continuing accretion of gas by the Milky Way involves high-velocity clouds (HVCs) - mysterious clumps of hydrogen, up to 10 million solar mass and 10,000 ly across, moving rapidly (from 90 to 400 km/sec) through the outer regions of the galaxy.
These materials form the reservoir from which the Milky Way can draw on to make new stars.
The disk of the Milky Way exhibits a spiral structure, which shows up in the distribution of objects populating the disk component.
These objects include, the HI regions of neutral hydrogen atoms, the population I objects such as young stars, diffuse star-forming nebulae, H II regions of ionized hydrogen atoms and open star clusters (right).
These
population I objects are very young, in contrast to the very old population II objects in the Milky Way's Halo (globular clusters and old stars, including older planetary nebulae).
The arms of the Milky Way, at least near the solar neighborhood in our Galaxy, are typically named for the constellations where more prominent parts of them are situated.
The solar system is trundling around at nearly 200 km/sec in the Local or Orion Arm - a spur in between the more substantial Sagittarius and Perseus arms.
The Milky Way is now known as a barred spiral. The evidence, at first indirect, began to accumulate in 1975: stars and gas tracked in the middle of the Milky Way did not follow the orbits they would if the spiral pattern reached all the way in.
Recent surveys of the sky in near-infrared light have revealed the bar directly and dispelled the remaining doubts (Figure 05-16b)
from UniverseReview Website
It is located some 17,000 light-years from Earth. Omega Centauri is a massive globular star cluster, containing several million stars swirling in locked orbits around a common center of gravity.
The stars in Omega Centauri are all very old, about 12 billion years. They are packed so densely in the cluster's core that it is difficult for ground-based telescopes to make out individual stars.
Those in the core of Omega Centauri are so densely packed that occasionally one of them will actually collide with another one. Even in the dense center of Omega Centauri, stellar collisions will be infrequent. But the cluster is so old that many thousands of collisions must have occurred. When stars collide head-on, they probably just merge together and make one bigger star.
But if the collision is a near miss, they may go into orbit around each other, forming a close binary star system.
Omega Centauri is the most luminous and massive globular star cluster in the Milky Way. It is one of the few globular clusters that can be seen with the unaided eye.
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https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vida_alien/vidaalien_signtimes09a.htm
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Did you notice how many galaxies are in a cluster like Abell 2255? When that many galaxies share relatively small area of space, it should not be surprising that galaxies sometimes collide. In fact, the Milky Way Galaxy is colliding with the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy right now. Although galaxy collisions are common, stars are so far apart that collisions between stars are very rare.
Even if galaxies don't directly collide, though, they can still affect one another. When two galaxies pass close to one another, the gravitational force they exert on one another can cause both galaxies to warp. Both crashes and near misses between galaxies are referred to as "interactions."
At the right you can see two galaxies interacting. You can see they are being distorted by the gravitational interaction between them. Can you imagine what they might have looked like before the interaction?
Interactions frequently lead to a burst of star formation. Inside each galaxy, clouds of gas that were relatively sparse may become compressed. Compressing the clouds can cause them to undergo gravitational collapse, leading to a new generation of stars in a galaxy where normal star formation may have ceased long ago.
The galaxy on the left is believed to be the result of a collision. It is called a Seyfert galaxy. A Seyfert galaxy has an active nucleus - notice how bright its central bulge is. It is believed that gas from one galaxy is being swallowed by a giant black hole at the center of the other galaxy. This matter heats up to extremely high temperatures before it is pulled into the black hole and emits tremendous amounts of energy. A similar process is believed to power quasars.
You can study this process by watching it happen on your computer! Astronomer Chris Mihos and his colleagues from Case Western Reserve University and the University of Oregon have written a free Java applet that simulates interacting galaxies. Go to their web site by clicking here.
Click Applet to launch the applet. A new window will open, and the program will take a moment to load. Click Controls to launch a small window describing the applet's controls. Change the angles of the galaxies with respect to each other by clicking the dials with the left or right mouse buttons. Change their separation distance by changing the "Peri" variable, and change the mass of the red galaxy with respect to the green galaxy by changing "Red Galaxy Mass."
If you don't see both galaxies in the window to the right, click Reset. To start the simulation, click Start. You will see the two galaxies interact in the right side of the window. The window also shows the elapsed time in millions of years and the separation of the galaxies in kiloparsecs (1 kiloparsec = 1000 parsecs = about 3000 light-years). The graph at the bottom shows the separation (red) and the relative velocity of the galaxies (blue) as a function of time.
If you're interested in learning more about what galaxies look like when they interact, use the applet to answer the questions below. Otherwise, click Next.
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http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr1/en/proj/advanced/galaxies/collisions.asp
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Galactic astronomy is the study of our own Galaxy (The Milky Way) while extragalactic astronomy is the study of other galaxies. Our Sun is merely one of hundreds of billions of stars in the Galaxy, and our Galaxy is but one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the observable universe. The study of galaxies aims to understand how these systems of stars, gas, and dark matter form and evolve in time. Our Galaxy is a disk (spiral) galaxy, as can be seen clearly in images of the entire sky.
The solar neighborhood is the name for the immediate vicinity of the Galaxy. Despite the long history of work in this area, there is ample evidence that there are still undiscovered stars and brown dwarfs within 25 parsecs (82 lightyears.) The solar neighborhood is part of the Galactic disk, located about 8 kiloparsecs (26,000 lightyears) from the Galactic Center, but a small fraction of nearby stars are members of the Thick Disk or Galactic Halo whose orbits have temporarily brought them into the disk. Studies of the composition, kinematics, and age of nearby stars can reveal the history of the Galaxy.
One of the most powerful tools to study galaxies is the 21cm emission from neutral hydrogen atoms. Radio telescopes can reveal this other invisible gas between the stars. Hydrogen gas is often found far front the centers of galaxies where no stars are visible. Through the doppler effect, the velocity of the gas can be measured, resulting in strong evidence that most of the mass in galaxies is Dark Matter.
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https://web.physics.udel.edu/research/astronomy/galactic-extragalactic-astronomy
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NGC 55 is called a Magellanic-type irregular galaxy . This class of galaxies is named after the Magellanic clouds, a pair of irregular galaxies that are orbiting the Milky Way so close that they are visible without a telescope, and if they weren't visible only from the Southern Hemisphere, everybody would already know exactly what I am talking about. NGC 55 is like the Magellanic Clouds located further away at a distance of 6.5 million light years (2.0 Mpc) [2,3]. The galaxy lies within a group of galaxies called the Sculptor Group, a nearly gravitationally bound system that also contains the galaxies NGC 247, NGC 253, NGC 300, and NGC 7793 as well as lots of other dwarf galaxies . The Scuptor Group is a close neighbor of the Local Group, which is the gravitationally-bound system that contains our galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, M33, and lots of extra dwarf galaxies.
NGC 55 has the interesting distinction of being the closest galaxy that we see edge-on from Earth. Even though the galaxy is irregularly-shaped and looks asymmetric, with a bright blob of stars on one side on the galaxy, it still appears flat as seen from the side. As a consequence of this, people like to go observe NGC 55 to understand how various things are distributed vertically in galaxies. Galaxies seen edge-on like this are very important for this type of study because we can't do this very easily with other galaxies. When looking at our own galaxy, we have difficulty figuring out what's inside the disk and whats above or below the disk because we are sitting somewhere in the middle of the disk looking through it. We also can't do this with many nearby galaxies where we are looking down onto the disk, like the Magellanic Clouds or M33, or galaxies that are just slightly inclined as seen from Earth, like the Andromeda Galaxy, because when we look at these galaxies, it's tough to figure out whether we are looking at something inside the disk, in front of the disk, or behind the disk. Since we see NGC 55 edge-on, it's easy to tell what stuff is inside the disk or above the disk or below the disk. (The difference between what counts as "above" and what counts as "below" is kind of arbitrary here, but it sounds better than just saying "outside" the disk. I could say "outside the plane of the galaxy", but that somehow that doesn't convey the same mental image as "above and below the plane of the galaxy".) Anyhow, since NGC 55 is seen edge-on, we can see things such as how gas and stars are distributed vertically or how stars slowly end up moving out of the plane of the galaxy over time [2,5,6].
NGC 55 also attracts a lot of attention because it is a nearby dwarf galaxy and because, as compared to larger spiral galaxies like the Milky Way, dwarf galaxies generally contain few heavy elements relative to hydrogen and helium [7,8,9]. These heavier elements are created by a combination of fusion processes in the centers of stars and the outer atmospheres of dying stars, so we know that the reason why dwarf galaxies contain fewer heavy elements is somehow linked to either what the timelines are for the creation of these heavy elements and the stars that produce them or what happens to the gas from the stars when they die. NGC 55 is like other dwarf galaxies in that it contains relatively few heavy elements, but what's a little intriguing is that people are debating whether more heavy elements are found in the center of NGC 55 as compared to the outside or if the heavy elements are evenly distribuetd throughout the galaxy. If they are evenly distributed, it suggests that the heavy elements that are blown out of stars when they die are distributed over a broader area than would be the case for a spiral galaxy . This could happen because NGC 55 is less massive, so the galaxy exerts less gravitation force on the gas expelled by dying stars, and the gas ends up all over the place like a bag of exploding microwave popcorn.
Also, very interestingly, a couple of regions located above or below the disk (I'm not sure which to call it) have recently formed stars, and these regions have very very few heavy elements compared to the disk, which was already low in heavy elements to begin with . This implies that the stars formed out of the gas located above or below the plane of the galaxy rather than forming inside the disk of the galaxy and then getting ejected from the disk. I study star formation in galaxies, and I think it's just weird to find star formation taking place in these locations.
NGC 55 also contains a notable ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX). This object is unimaginatively named NGC 55 ULX. If you think that the part of the sky that is above the North Pole as seen from Earth is the direction up, then NGC 55 ULX is located slightly above the plane of NGC 55 and slightly off to the left from the center of the galaxy.
Ultraluminous X-ray sources are defined as objects that produce more X-rays than 1039 erg/s, and they also need to be located outside the center of the galaxy . An erg per second is a unit of power equivalent to 1 ten millionth of a Watt, which makes it a stupidly small unit of measurement to use in astronomy or even to use when discussing light bulbs. A clearer definition is that ultraluminous X-ray sources produce an amount of X-ray emission that is about 324000 times the total amount of energy emitted by the Sun.
While this definition makes it easy to label these types of objects, astronomers are still trying to figure out what these objects actually are. If you go back to episode 17, I described an X-ray binary star system in our own galaxy that consists of a rather ordinary star and a relatively small black hole about 3 times the mass of the Sun. The black hole is stripping gas from the other star. The gas forms a disk as it slowly falls into the black hole, and it gets extremely hot near the edge of the black hole, which is how it produces X-ray emission. ULXs are thought to be similar except that they are too bright for gas to be falling normally onto a black hole (as normal as that may seem). Instead, ULXs could be binary star systems where gas is being stripped from ordinary stars into neutron stars with extremely strong magnetric fields, or they could be just like normal X-ray binary star systems with small black holes except that huge amounts of gas are falling all at once into the black holes, or they could be much larger black holes (that no longer need to be in binary star systems) that are somewhere between 1000 and 100000 times the mass of the Sun .
NGC 55 ULX happens to be a relatively nearby ULX, so people who want to learn more about these types of objects are going to spend a lot of time looking at it. You would think that astronomers would use X-ray observatories to probe whether NGC 55 ULX contains a neutron star or a black hole, but instead, they used X-ray observatories to answer a completely different science question.
Astronomers noticed that the X-ray emission from NGC 55 ULX varies on timescales of minutes and that the higher-frequency X-ray emission seems to be more strongly affected . The gas is still expected to be falling into either a black hole or neutron star in a disk in this ULX. What astronomers suspect is that we are actually viewing the edge of the disk of the infalling gas just like we are viewing the edge of the disk for NGC 55 itself and that clouds in the outer disk in NGC 55 ULX occasionally block the X-ray emission from the center just like clouds of interstellar dust in the host galaxy block starlight from its center .
This would link NGC 55 ULX to another class of X-ray sources called ultraluminous supersoft sources (or ULSs) . These sound like they should be the cuddly, plush version of ULXs that you can buy in toy stores, but ULSs are actually defined as objects that also produce more than 1039 erg/s of X-ray radiation, but the radiation consists mainly of very low-frequency X-rays . Astronomers have proposed that ULSs and normal ULXs are the same types of objects but that normal ULXs are objects where we are above the disks and are able to see the X-rays coming from where gas is falling into the central neutron star or black hole while ULSs are objects where we are looking at the edges of the disks and where clouds in the disks block the strongest X-ray emission from the central regions. NGC 55 ULX just happens to be oriented in such a way that we sometimes see the central region, in which case it looks like a normal ULX, and sometimes a random cloud passed in front and we don't see the center, in which case it looks more like a ULS .
As a final note, NGC 55 is sufficiently close to Earth that it can be seen rather easily with amateur telescopes, although you have to go to the Southern Hemisphere or at least the tropics to be able to see it. It isn't really located near any distinct stars. If you can find the constellation Phoenix, imagine a line drawn running southeast to northwest through the two brightest stars in that constellation. NGC 55 is located close to the same line at a distance from the northwest star equivalent to about half the distance between the two stars themselves. With a telescope with a diameter of about 15 cm (6 inches), the center of the galaxy itself will be visible, and it will even be possible to see the dust lanes within the plane of the galaxy . With a larger telescope, it's possible to see the full extent of the galaxy, which is about the same width as the Moon .
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https://randomastronomicalobject.com/object0022.html
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A trio of brightly pulsating stars at the outskirts of the Milky Way is racing away from the galaxy and may confirm a method for detecting dwarf galaxies dominated by dark matter and explain ripples in the outer disk of the galaxy.
This new method to characterize dark matter marks the first real application of the field of galactoseismology. Just as seismologists analyze waves to infer properties about the Earth's interior, Sukanya Chakrabarti, assistant professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, uses waves in the galactic disk to map the interior structure and mass of galaxies.
Chakrabarti's team used spectroscopic observations to calculate the speed of the three Cepheid variables–stars used as yardsticks to measure distance in galaxies–in the Norma constellation. Chakrabarti's 2015 study used Cepheid variables to mark the location of a dark-matter dominated dwarf galaxy approximately 300,000 light years away. In contrast, the disk of the Milky Way terminates at 48,000 light years.
The current study tracks a cluster of Cepheids that are racing away at an average speed of 450,000 miles per hour; while the radial velocity of stars in the stellar disk of the Milky Way is about 13,000 miles per hour, Chakrabarti said. The method confirms her 2009 prediction.
"The radial velocity of the Cepheid variables is the last piece of evidence that we've been looking for," Chakrabarti said. "You can immediately conclude that they are not part of our Galaxy."
Invisible particles known as dark matter make up 85 percent of the mass of the universe. The mysterious matter represents a fundamental problem in astronomy because it is not understood, Chakrabarti said. Her method for locating satellite galaxies dominated by dark-matter taps principles used in seismology to explore the interior of the galaxy.
The images of the Milky Way below show the distribution of gas, at left, compared to the distribution of stars, at right, after the dwarf satellite disrupts the galaxy.
"We have made significant progress into this new field of galactoseismology where by you can infer the dark matter content of dwarf galaxies, where they are, as well as properties of the interior of galaxies by looking at observable disturbances in the gas disk," Chakrabarti said.
She added: "The original prediction was based on observed waves in the outer gas disk of our galaxy which led to a specific prediction for how massive this dark matter dominated dwarf galaxy would have to be to produce these waves. It's very similar to seismology in a sense because we're trying to infer things about the interior of galaxies and how much dark matter there is and how much there has to be to produce these disturbances."
The study further questions the standard paradigm that old stars populate the dark matter halo and young stars form in the gas-rich stellar disks.
"Given the evidence, these are very likely young Cepheid variables," Chakrabarti said. "It raises the question, shouldn't we also be exploring and looking for young Cepheid variables in the halo?"
There could be a population of yet undiscovered Cepheid variables that formed from a gas-rich dwarf galaxy falling into the halo, she said.
"We used to have a static picture of galaxy evolution but now we know that galaxies are constantly merging with other smaller galaxies and so within this more dynamical scenario, it's important to ask why wouldn't there be young Cepheid variables that are made in the halo due to fresh gas flowing in, or due to gas-rich dwarf galaxies merging with our own," Chakrabarti said.
Spectroscopic observations used in the study were made at the Gemini Observatory and on the Magellan telescopes, as well as on the WiFeS spectrograph. The international team includes Rodolfo Angeloni, Ken Freeman, Leo Blitz, among others, and RIT research scientist Benjamin Sargent and Andrew Lipnicky, a graduate student in the astrophysical sciences and technology program.
Chakrabarti presented her findings at a press conference hosted by the American Astronomical Society meeting in Kissimmee, Fla., on Jan. 7. Chakrabarti's findings have been submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letters.
This past spring 2015, a ripple in the outskirts of the Milky Way—and a hunch—led Chakrabarti to a previously undetected dwarf galaxy hidden under a veil of dark matter. Chakrabarti is refining her technique to uncover dwarf galaxies and understand dark matter by simulating the evolutionary histories of galactic disks, rich in atomic hydrogen, and their satellite populations.
Chakrabarti’s study on these overlapping regions found in spiral galaxies, like the Milky Way, is funded by a three-year $325,053 grant from the National Science Foundation. Her research seeks to solve an astrophysical conundrum dubbed “the missing satellites problem,” in which theoretical simulations that predict an abundance of satellite galaxies are unsupported by observational data.
Earlier, Chakrabarti validated her prediction of a previously unseen satellite galaxy located close to the plane of the Milky Way.
Chakrabarti’s goal of gaining an understanding of the distribution of dark matter combines her method with gravitational lensing. She will analyze the ripples in the atomic hydrogen map and results from gravitational lensing—a technique that uses the bending of light to weigh distant galaxies and reconstruct the dark-matter background.
“Comparing and contrasting results from both methods might improve the statistics of detecting dark-matter dominated dwarf galaxies,” Chakrabarti said.
The image at the top of the page is an artist's conception of a dwarf galaxy seen from the surface of a hypothetical exoplanet. A recent study found that the dark matter in dwarf galaxies is distributed smoothly rather than being clumped at their centers, which contradicts simulations using the standard cosmological model. A paper by Matt Walker (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) and co-author Jorge Peñarrubia (University of Cambridge, UK) describing the study was published in the The Astrophysical Journal. Lead author Matt Walker said: After completing this study, "We know less about dark matter than we did before."
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https://dailygalaxy.com/2016/01/pulsating-stars-at-milky-ways-outskirts-may-reveal-dwarf-galaxies-dominated-by-dark-matter/
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New and more precise measurements of our galaxy reveal just how massive it actually is.
In a paper published in pre-print journal ArXiv, several researchers from national laboratories, including the Imperial College of London, say the Milky Way Galaxy clocks in at a mass that is 890 billion times larger than our solar system’s sun.
As noted by Live Science, that equates to 6 billion billion billion elephants or about 296 quadrillion Earth masses.
While prior research has taken a stab at calculating the mass of the Milky Way, researchers say their own method has taken into account factors that can often cloud measurements and have, as a result, come closer to pinpointing the exact weight.
Galaxies are usually measured by calculating the movement of the stars inside. This gives them an idea of how its gravity is affecting those stars and therefore a sense of its mass.
In our own galaxy, however, that method is difficult to judge since our stars are obscured by surrounding gasses and other material. On top of that, our solar system constantly moves in its own way around our galaxy, adding another degree of difficulty in calculations of relative objects.
As a workaround, researchers say they developed sophisticated models that can judge how gas and stars move and gives them insight into what it looks like from the outside.
With those they were able to create a rotation curve – a plot of the orbital speed of stars.
As noted by Live Science, the orbital speed of those objects has to be equal to gravitational forces in the galaxy otherwise stars and other contents would be flung into intergalactic space.
In other words, discerning the orbital speed of stars and objects can be used to infer gravitational forces and eventually mass.
‘If you [calculate] for different distances, from the center until very far away, you get an estimate of the mass enclosed at increasing distances. So you can draw not only a total mass, but a mass distribution,’ co-author Fabio Iocco, an astrophysicist at Imperial College London told Live Science.
With their method, researchers say they were even able to calculate the mass of elusive dark matter – a mysterious and hypothetical substance that is theoriezed to permeate the Universe.
Dark matter accounts for a whopping 830 billion times the mass of our sun and makes up 93 percent of the galaxy, they say.
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http://breakingnews.ws/precise-measurement-of-the-milky-way-galaxy-estimates-that-it-has-the-same-mass-as-890-billion-suns.html
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Hubble Finds Young Stars in Cosmic Dance
This composite image, made with two cameras aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows a pair of 12 light-year-long jets of gas blasted into space from a young system of three stars. The jet is seen in visible light, and its dusty disk and stars are seen in infrared light. These stars are located near a huge torus, or donut, of gas and dust from which they formed. This torus is tilted edge-on and can be seen as a dark bar near the bottom of the picture.
Onset of Titanic Collision Lights Up Supernova Ring
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is giving astronomers a ringside seat to a never before seen violent celestial "main attraction" unfolding in a galaxy 169,000 light-years away. The knockout event is the collision of the fastest moving debris from an immense stellar explosion seen in Feb. 1987 with the gas ring that circles that site.
Beta Pictoris Disk Hides Giant Elliptical Ring System
The planetary dust disk around the nearby star Beta Pictoris is dynamically "ringing like a bell," say astronomers investigating Hubble telescope images. The "clapper" is the gravitational wallop of a star that passed near Beta Pictoris some 100,000 years ago. The surprising findings show that a close encounter with a neighboring star can severely disrupt the evolution and appearance of thin disks, which are the nurseries of planetary systems. Similar fly-bys of our solar system long ago may have reshuffled the comets that now populate our Oort cloud and Kuiper belt.
An Expanding Bubble in Space
A star 40 times more massive than the Sun is blowing a giant bubble of material into space. In this colorful picture, the Hubble telescope has captured a glimpse of the expanding bubble, dubbed the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635). The beefy star [lower center] is embedded in the bright blue bubble. The stellar powerhouse is so hot that it is quickly shedding material into space. The dense gas surrounding the star is shaping the castoff material into a bubble. The bubble's surface is not smooth like a soap bubble's. Its rippled appearance is due to encounters with gases of different thickness. The nebula is... Read more
Hubble Telescope Reveals Swarm of Glittering Stars in Nearby Galaxy
Peering at a small area within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the Hubble telescope has provided the deepest color picture ever obtained in this satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. More than 10,000 stars can be seen in this photo, covering a region about 130 light-years wide. The LMC is a small companion galaxy of the Milky Way, visible only from Earth's southern hemisphere. It attracts the attention of modern-day astronomers because, at a distance of only 168,000 light-years, it is one of the nearest galaxies.
Hubble Heritage Project's First Anniversary
To mark the first anniversary of the Hubble Heritage Project, we present four Hubble telescope images of nebulae surrounding stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy.
Two of these visible-light pictures show interstellar gas and dust around young stars at the beginning of their lives, and two more show gas ejected from old stars that are nearing the end of theirs. Remarkably, in spite of the completely different evolutionary stages, the nebulae have more striking features in common, including evidence of diametrically opposed gas ejections from both the young and old stars.
Hubble Captures a Grand View of the Birth of "Hefty" Stars
Pictures taken in infrared and visible light by the Hubble telescope recount a vivid story of the turbulent birthing process of massive stars.
The images show that powerful radiation and high-speed material unleashed by "hefty" adult stars residing in the hub of the 30 Doradus Nebula are triggering a new burst of star birth in the surrounding suburbs. Like their adult relatives, the fledgling stars are creating all sorts of havoc in their environment. Nascent stars embedded in columns of gas and dust, for example, are blowing away the tops of their nurseries, like a volcano blasting material into... Read more
Bloated Stars Swallow Giant Planets
The phrase "big fish eat little fish" may hold true when it comes to planets and stars. Perhaps as many as 100 million of the Sun-like stars in our galaxy harbor close-orbiting gas giant planets like Jupiter, or stillborn stars known as brown dwarfs, which are doomed to be gobbled up by their parent stars.
Astronomers did not directly observe the planets, because their parent stars had already swallowed them. But the researchers did find significant telltale evidence that some giant stars once possessed giant planets that were then swallowed up. The devouring stars release excessive amounts of... Read more
A Butterfly-Shaped "Papillon" Nebula Yields Secrets of Massive Star Birth
Here is a Hubble telescope view of a turbulent cauldron of star birth called N159, which is taking place 170,000 light-years away in our satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. Torrential stellar winds from hot, newborn, massive stars within the nebula sculpt ridges, arcs, and filaments in the vast cloud, which is over 150 light-years across.
A rare type of compact, illuminated "blob" is resolved for the first time to be a butterfly-shaped or "Papillon" (French for "butterfly") Nebula, buried in the center of the maelstrom of glowing gases and dark dust. The unprecedented details of the... Read more
Hubble Picture Adds to Planet-Making Recipe
The Hubble telescope has snapped a nearly face-on view of a swirling disk of dust and gas surrounding a developing star called AB Aurigae. The image, taken in visible light by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, shows unprecedented detail in the disk, including clumps of dust and gas that may be the seeds of planet formation.
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http://hubblesite.org/news/2/page/23
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Our Problem We are inside one of the spiral arms.
The Milky Way galaxy appears in our sky as a faint band of light
Our Parent Galaxy Name from the Greeks (galactos milk) via the Romans Our sun is in the galactic disk which contains most of the luminous stars and interstellar matter. 100-200 billion stars. The density of stars and interstellar matter makes it difficult to study the Galaxy from within. We see only about 10%. Yet except for Andromeda and the Large and Small Magallanic clouds every naked eye object belongs to the Milky Way.
Our Parent Galaxy cont Much of what we think we know of our galaxy comes from the study of other galaxies similar to our own. Ours is a spiral or more likely a barred spiral galaxy. All spiral galaxies have a Galactic bulge and disk embedded in a roughly spherical ball of faint old stars called the Galactic halo.
Andromeda Structure • Andromeda Galaxy , 2.5 million lyr. away, 30,000 pc across • b) more detail • c) Double core, 15 pc
Star Counts Early attempts William Herschel in late 18th century tried to estimate the size and shape of the galaxy (the universe at that time) by counting stars in different directions. ..found Sun at center of “grind stone” , flattened disk estimated later to be about 10 kpc diameter and 2 kpc thick. The error came from not knowing the role or the extent of interstellar gas and dust. Any objects more than a few kpc are hidden in the visible region. Herschel’s shape has more to do with visibility than stellar distribution.
Dusty gas clouds obscure our view because they absorb visible light This is the interstellar medium that makes new star systems
Early Galaxy markers Two classes of objects were the focus of study of the large scale structure of the universe: Globular clusters and Spiral nebulae Both are too far away for parallax measurement and the HR diagrams (1911) were useless since individual stars couldn’t be clearly identified. It was assumed globular clusters were within our galaxy , spiral nebulae were even less understood. Early photographs were thought to be stars forming.
We see our galaxy edge-on Primary features: disk, bulge, halo, globular clusters
From NASA NSN materials
If we could view the Milky Way from above the disk, we would see its spiral arms
NGC 4603 Spiral galaxy, 100 million light years away Blue (young stars) Red giants (older) Only brightest stars are resolved, others merge into haze.
Stars in the disk all orbit in the same direction with a little up-and-down motion
Orbits of stars in the bulge and halo have random orientations
Sun’s orbital motion (radius and velocity) tells us mass within Sun’s orbit: =1.0 x 1011MSun
Lower mass stars return gas to interstellar space through stellar winds and planetary nebulae. About ½ the original mass of the star is recycled into the interstellar medium.
High-mass stars have strong stellar winds that blow bubbles of hot gas
X-rays from hot gas in supernova remnants reveal newly-made heavy elements
Supernova remnant cools and begins to emit visible light as it expands New elements made by supernova mix into interstellar medium. Interaction with the interstellar medium helps further slow and cool the remnant.
Radio emission in supernova remnants is from particles accelerated to near light speed Cosmic rays probably come from supernovae
Multiple supernovae create huge hot “super bubbles” that can blow out of disk in what is called a galactic fountain. Gas clouds cooling in the halo can rain back down on disk
Atomic hydrogen gas forms as hot gas cools, allowing electrons to join with protons Molecular clouds form next, after gas cools enough to allow to atoms to combine into molecules
Molecular clouds in Orion • Composition: • Mostly H2 ~70% • About 28% He • About 1% CO • Many other • molecules
Gravity forms stars out of the gas in molecular clouds, completing the star-gas-star cycle
Radiation from newly formed stars is eroding these star-forming clouds
Summary of Galactic Recycling • Stars make new elements by fusion • Dying stars expel gas and new elements, producing hot bubbles (~106 K) • Hot gas cools, allowing atomic hydrogen clouds to form (~100-10,000 K) • Further cooling permits molecules to form, making molecular clouds (~30 K) • Gravity forms new stars (and planets) in molecular clouds Gas Cools
Thought Question Where will the gas be in 1 trillion years? A. Blown out of galaxy B. Still recycling just like now C. Locked into white dwarfs and low-mass stars
We observe star-gas-star cycle operating in Milky Way’s disk using many different wavelengths of light
Infrared Visible Infrared light reveals stars whose visible light is blocked by gas clouds
X-rays X-rays are observed from hot gas above and below the Milky Way’s disk
Radio (21cm) 21-cm radio waves emitted by atomic hydrogen show where gas has cooled and settled into disk
Radio (CO) Radio waves from carbon monoxide (CO) show locations of molecular clouds
IR (dust) Long-wavelength infrared emission shows where young stars are heating dust grains
Gamma rays show where cosmic rays from supernovae collide with atomic nuclei in gas clouds
Ionization/emission nebulae are found around short-lived high-mass stars, signifying active star formation
Reflection nebulae scatter the light from stars Why do reflection nebulae look bluer than the nearby stars?
Reflection nebulae scatter the light from stars Why do reflection nebulae look bluer than the nearby stars? For the same reason that our sky is blue!
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https://www.slideserve.com/maina/chapter-18-our-galaxy
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An illustration of several plots of the same data with curves fitted to the points, paired with conclusions that you might draw about the person who made them. These data, when plotted on an X/Y graph, appear to have a general upward trend, but the data is far too noisy, with too few data points, to clearly suggest any specific growth pattern. In such a case, many different mathematical and statistical models could be presented as roughly fitting the data, but none of them fits well enough to compellingly represent the data.
When modeling such a problem statistically, much of the work of a data scientist or statistician is knowing which fitting method is most appropriate for the data in question. Here we see various hypothetical scientists or statisticians each applying their own interpretations to the exact same data, and the comic mocks each of them for their various personal biases or other assorted excuses. In general, the researcher will specify the form of an equation for the line to be drawn, and an algorithm will produce the actual line.
Nonetheless scientists work much more seriously on the reliability of their assumptions by giving a value for the standard deviation represented by the Greek letter sigma σ or the Latin letter s as a measure to quantify the amount of variation of the data points against the presented best fit. If the σ-value isn't good enough an interpretation based on a specific fit wouldn't be accepted by the science community.
Since Randall gives no hint about the nature of the used data set - same in each graph - any fitting presented doesn't make any sense. The graphs could represent a star map, the votes for the latest elected presidents, or your recent invoices on power consumption. This comic just exaggerates various methods on interpreting data, but without the knowledge of the matter in the background nothing makes any sense.
Different data sets result in the same regression.
Linear regression is the most basic form of regression; it tries to find the straight line that best approximates the data. As it's the simplest, most widely taught form of regression, and in general derivable function are locally well approximated by a straight line, it's usually the first and most trivial attempt of fit.
The picture to the right shows how totally different data sets can result into the same line. It's obvious that some more basics about the nature of the data must be used to understand if this simple line really does make sense.
The comment below the graph "Hey, I did a regression." refers to the fact that this is just the easiest way of fitting data into a curve.
Quadratic fit (i.e. fitting a parabola through the data) is the lowest grade polynomial that can be used to fit data through a curved line; if the data exhibits clearly "curved" behavior (or if the experimenter feels that its growth should be more than linear), a parabola is often the first, easiest, stab at fitting the data.
The comment below the graph "I wanted a curved line, so I made one with math." suggests that a quadratic regression is used when straight lines no longer satisfy the researcher, but he still wants to use simple math expression. Quadratic correlations like this are mathematically valid and one of the simplest kind of curve in math, but this curve doesn't appear to satisfy the data any better than does simple, linear regression.
A logarithmic curve growths slower on higher values, but still grows without bound to infinity rather than approaching a horizontal asymptote. The small b in the formula represents the base which is in most cases e, 10, or 2. If the data presumably does approach a horizontal asymptote then this fit isn't an effective method to explain the nature of the data.
The comment below the graph "Look, it's tapering off!" builds up the impression that the data diminishes while under this fit it's still growing to infinity, only much slower than a linear regression does.
Exponential growth (green) compared to other functions.
An exponential curve, on the contrary, is typical of a phenomenon whose growth gets rapidly faster and faster - a common case is a process that generates stuff that contributes to the process itself, think bacteria growth or compound interest.
The logarithmic and exponential interpretations could very easily be fudged or engineered by a researcher with an agenda (such as by taking a misleading subset or even outright lying about the regression), which the comic mocks by juxtaposing them side-by-side on the same set of data.
The comment below the graph "Look, it's growing uncontrollably!" gives an other frivolous statement suggesting something like chaos. Also this even faster growth is well defined and has no asymptote at both axes.
A LOESS fit doesn't use a single formula to fit all the data, but approximates data points locally using different polynomials for each "zone" (weighting differently data points as they get further from it) and patching them together. As it has much more degrees of freedom compared to a single polynomial, it generally "fits better" to any data set, although it is generally impossible to derive any strong, "clean" mathematical correlation from it - it is just a nice smooth line that approximates well the data points, with a good degree of rejection from outliers.
The comment below the graph "I'm sophisticated, not like those bumbling polynomial people." emphasis this more complicated interpretation but without a simple mathematical description it's not very helpful to find academic descriptions on the underlying matter.
Also known as a constant function, since the function takes on the same (constant) value c for all values of x. The value of c can be determined simply by taking the average of the y-values in the data.
Apparently, the person making this line figured out pretty early on that their data analysis was turning into a scatter plot, and wanted to escape their personal stigma of scatter plots by drawing an obviously false regression line on top of it. Alternatively, they were hoping the data would be flat, and are trying to pretend that there's no real trend to the data by drawing a horizontal trend line.
The comment below the graph "I'm making a scatter plot but I don't want to." is probably done by a student who isn't happy with their choice of field of study.
A standard logistic function between the values 0 and 1.
The logistic regression is taken when a variable can take binary results such as "0" and "1" or "old" and "young".
The curve provides a smooth, S-shaped transition curve between two flat intervals (like "0" and "1").
The comment below the graph "I need to connect these two lines, but my first idea didn't have enough math." implies the experimenter just wants to find a mathematically-respectable way to link two flat lines.
Not a type of curve fitting, but a method of depicting the predictive power of a curve.
Providing a confidence interval over the graph shows the uncertainty of the acquired data, thus acknowledging the uncertain results of the experiment, and showing the will not to "cheat" with "easy" regression curves.
The comment below the graph "Listen, science is hard. But I'm a serious person doing my best." is just an honest statement about this uncertainty.
Mapping different curves to different segments of the data. This is a legitimate strategy, but the different segments should be meaningful, such as if they were pulled from different populations.
This kind of fit would arise naturally in a study based on a regression discontinuity design. For instance, if students who score below a certain cutoff must take remedial classes, the line for outcomes of those below the cutoff would reasonably be separate from the one for outcomes above the cutoff; the distance between the end of the two lines could be considered the effect of the treatment, under certain assumptions. This kind of study design is used to investigate causal theories, where mere correlation in observational data is not enough to prove anything. Thus, the associated text would be appropriate; there is a theory, and data that might prove the theory is hard to find.
One notable time this is used is when a researcher studying housing economics is trying to identify housing submarkets. The assumption is that if two proposed markets are truly different, they will be better described using two different regression functions than if one were to be used.
The additional curved lines visible in the graph are the kind of confidence intervals you'd get from a simple OLS regression if the standard assumptions were valid. In the case of two separate regressions, it would be surprising if all those assumptions (that is, i.i.d. Normal residuals around an underlying perfectly-linear function) were in fact valid for each part, especially if the slopes are not equal.
A classical example in physics are the different theories to explain the black body radiation at the end of the 19th century. The Wien approximation was good for small wavelengths while the Rayleigh–Jeans law worked for the larger scales (large wavelength means low frequency and thus low energy.) But there was a gap in the middle which was filled by the Planck's law in 1900.
The comment below the graph "I have a theory, and this is the only data I could find." is a bit ambiguous because there are many data points ignored. Without an explanation why only a subset of the data is used this isn't a useful interpretation at all. As a matter of fact, with the extra degrees of freedom offered by the piecewise regression, it could indicate that the researcher is trying to fit the data to confirm their theory, rather than building their theory off of the data.
This is often used to smooth gaps in measurements. A simple example is the weather temperature which is often measured in distinct intervals. When the intervals are high enough it's safe to assume that the temperature didn't change that much between them and connecting the data points by lines doesn't distort the real situation in many cases.
The comment below the graph "I clicked 'Smooth Lines' in Excel." refers to the well known spreadsheet application from Microsoft Office. Like other spreadsheet applications it has the feature to visualize data from a table into a graph by many ways. "Smooth Lines" is a setting meant for use on a line graph, a graph in which one axis represents time; as it simply joins up every point rather than finding a sensible line, it is not suitable for regression.
Drawing a bunch of different lines by hand, keeping in only the data points perceived as "good". Not really useful except for marketing purposes.
The comment below the graph "I had an idea for how to clean up the data. What do you think?" admits that in fact the data is whitewashed and tightly focused to a result the presenter wants to show.
Not a real method, but a common consequence of misapplication of statistical methods: a curve can be generated that fits the data extremely well, but immediately becomes absurd as soon as one glances outside the training data sample range, and your analysis comes crashing down "like a house of cards". This is a type of overfitting. In other words, the model may do quite well for (approximately) interpolating between values in the sample range, but not extend at all well to extrapolating values outside that range.
Note: Exact polynomial fitting, a fit which gives the unique th degree polynomial through points, often display this kind of behaviour.
The comment below the graph "As you can see, this model smoothly fits the- wait no no don't extend it AAAAAA!!" refers to a curve which fits the data points relatively well within the graph's boundaries, but beyond those bounds fails to match at all.
The name is also a reference to the TV show House of Cards. The plot in House of Cards began with a premise of a rise to power in the United States government, but as it continued into more seasons the premise was taken to an extreme, introducing more and more ridiculous plot points ("WAIT NO, NO, DON'T EXTEND IT!").
Cauchy-Lorentz is a continuous probability distribution which does not have an expected value or a defined variance. This means that the law of large numbers does not hold and that estimating e.g. the sample mean will diverge (be all over the place) the more data points you have. Hence very troublesome (mathematically alarming).
Since so many different models can fit this data set at first glance, Randall may be making a point about how if a data set is sufficiently messy, you can read any trend you want into it, and the trend that is chosen may say more about the researcher than about the data. This is a similar sentiment to 1725: Linear Regression, which also pokes fun at dubious trend lines on scatterplots.
A brief Google search reveals that Augustin-Louis Cauchy originally worked as a junior engineer in a managerial position. Upon his acceptance to the Académie des Sciences in March 1816, many of his peers expressed outrage. Despite his early work in "mere" engineering, Cauchy is widely regarded as one of the founding influences in the rigorous study of calculus & accompanying proofs. Notably, his later work included theoretical physics, and Lorentz was also a well-known physicist. Therefore, the title-text may be referring back to 793: Physicists.
Alternately, the title-text could be implying that the person who applied the Cauchy-Lorentz curve-fitting method may not be well qualified to the task assigned.
"Hey, I did a regression."
"I wanted a curved line, so I made one with math."
"I'm sophisticated, not like those bumbling polynomial people."
"I'm making a scatter plot but I don't want to."
"I need to connect these two lines, but my first idea didn't have enough Math."
"Listen, science is hard. But I'm a serious person doing my best."
"I have a theory, and this is the only data I could find."
"I clicked 'Smooth Lines' in Excel."
"I had an idea for how to clean up the data. What do you think?"
"As you can see, this model smoothly fits the- wait no no don't extend it AAAAAA!!"
This is the comic 2048, or 211. In addition to being the name of a popular app referenced in 1344: Digits, this is an extremely round number in binary (100,000,000,0002). 1000: 1000 Comics pointed out that comic 1024 would be a round number, but there were not any comics noting 2048.
This comic is similar to 977: Map Projections which also uses a scientific method not commonly thought about by the general public to determine specific characteristics of one's personality and approach to science.
Regressions have been the subject of several previous comics. 1725: Linear Regression was about linear regressions on uncorrelated or poorly correlated data. 1007: Sustainable, 1204: Detail and 1281: Minifigs depict linear regressions on data that was actually logistic, leading to bizarre extrapolations. 605: Extrapolating shows a line extrapolating from just two data points.
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https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2048:_Curve-Fitting
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These chart types belong to PowerCharts XT.
Spline charts are a specialized form of line charts that display smooth curves through the different data points. It integrates all the characteristics of a conventional line chart except for the fact that unlike line charts, which connect data points with straight lines, spline charts draw a fitted curved line to join the data points.
Spline charts can be used for plotting data that requires the usage of curve-fitting e.g., an impulse-response chart, a product life cycle chart, etc. It is also significantly used in designing Pareto charts.
A single-series spline 2D chart draws a single fitted curve through the data points.
Specify the chart type using the type attribute. To render a spline chart, set spline.
For a detailed list of attributes, refer to the chart attributes page of single-series spline 2D chart.
Click here to edit the single-series spline 2D chart.
Set the type attribute to msspline.
Use the seriesname attribute and the data object, which belong to the dataset object, to specify multiple datasets.
For a detailed list of attributes, refer to the chart attributes page of multi-series spline 2D chart.
Click here to edit the multi-series spline chart.
A multi-series spline area 2D chart is nothing but a conventional area with a smoothed curve drawn through the data points in the series. It allows you to plot data for multiple data sets.
Set the type attribute to mssplinearea.
For a detailed list of attributes, refer to the chart attributes page of multi-series spline area 2D chart.
Click here to edit the multi-series spline area 2D chart.
To render a single-series spline area chart, set the type attribute to splinearea.
For a detailed list of attributes, refer to the chart attributes page of single-series spline area 2D chart.
Click here to edit the single-series spline area 2D chart.
Spline and spline area charts do not support joining of empty data points in the chart. That means, if your chart does not contain data at a particular point, the data points cannot be connected to each other and will appear as a broken dataset.
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https://www.fusioncharts.com/dev/chart-guide/standard-charts/spline-charts
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Title text: Cauchy-Lorentz: "Something alarmingly mathematical is happening, and you should probably pause to Google my name and check what field I originally worked in."
Explanation
An illustration of several plots of the same data with curves fitted to the points, paired with conclusions that you might draw about the person who made them. These data, when plotted on an X/Y graph, appear to have a general upward trend, but the data is far too noisy, with too few data points, to clearly suggest any specific growth pattern. In such a case, many different mathematical and statistical models could be presented as roughly fitting the data, but none of them fits well enough to compellingly represent the data.
When modeling such a problem statistically, much of the work of a data scientist or statistician is knowing which fitting method is most appropriate for the data in question. Here we see various hypothetical scientists or statisticians each applying their own interpretations to the exact same data, and the comic mocks each of them for their various personal biases or other assorted excuses. In general, the researcher will specify the form of an equation for the line to be drawn, and an algorithm will produce the actual line.
Nonetheless scientists work much more seriously on the reliability of their assumptions by giving a value for the standard deviation represented by the Greek letter sigma σ or the Latin letter s as a measure to quantify the amount of variation of the data points against the presented best fit. If the σ-value isn't good enough an interpretation based on a specific fit wouldn't be accepted by the science community.
Since Randall gives no hint about the nature of the used data set - same in each graph - any fitting presented doesn't make any sense. The graphs could represent a star map, the votes for the latest elected presidents, or your recent invoices on power consumption. This comic just exaggerates various methods on interpreting data, but without the knowledge of the matter in the background nothing makes any sense.
Linear
Linear regression is the most basic form of regression; it tries to find the straight line that best approximates the data. As it's the simplest, most widely taught form of regression, and in general derivable functions are locally well approximated by a straight line, it's usually the first and most trivial attempt of fit.
The picture to the right shows how totally different data sets can result into the same line. It's obvious that some more basics about the nature of the data must be used to understand if this simple line really does make sense.
The comment below the graph "Hey, I did a regression." refers to the fact that this is just the easiest way of fitting data into a curve.
Quadratic
Quadratic fit (i.e. fitting a parabola through the data) is the lowest grade polynomial that can be used to fit data through a curved line; if the data exhibits clearly "curved" behavior (or if the experimenter feels that its growth should be more than linear), a parabola is often the first, easiest, stab at fitting the data.
The comment below the graph "I wanted a curved line, so I made one with math." suggests that a quadratic regression is used when straight lines no longer satisfy the researcher, but he still wants to use simple math expression. Quadratic correlations like this are mathematically valid and one of the simplest kind of curve in math, but this curve doesn't appear to satisfy the data any better than does simple, linear regression.
Logarithmic
A logarithmic curve grows slower on higher values, but still grows without bound to infinity rather than approaching a horizontal asymptote. The small b in the formula represents the base which is in most cases e, 10, or 2. If the data presumably does approach a horizontal asymptote then this fit isn't an effective method to explain the nature of the data.
The comment below the graph "Look, it's tapering off!" builds up the impression that the data diminishes while under this fit it's still growing to infinity, only much slower than a linear regression does.
Exponential
An exponential curve, on the contrary, is typical of a phenomenon whose growth gets rapidly faster and faster - a common case is a process that generates stuff that contributes to the process itself, think bacteria growth or compound interest.
The logarithmic and exponential interpretations could very easily be fudged or engineered by a researcher with an agenda (such as by taking a misleading subset or even outright lying about the regression), which the comic mocks by juxtaposing them side-by-side on the same set of data.
The comment below the graph "Look, it's growing uncontrollably!" gives an other frivolous statement suggesting something like chaos. Also this even faster growth is well defined and has no asymptote at both axes.
LOESS
A LOESS fit doesn't use a single formula to fit all the data, but approximates data points locally using different polynomials for each "zone" (weighting differently data points as they get further from it) and patching them together. As it has much more degrees of freedom compared to a single polynomial, it generally "fits better" to any data set, although it is generally impossible to derive any strong, "clean" mathematical correlation from it - it is just a nice smooth line that approximates well the data points, with a good degree of rejection from outliers.
The comment below the graph "I'm sophisticated, not like those bumbling polynomial people." emphasises this more complicated interpretation but without a simple mathematical description it's not very helpful to find academic descriptions on the underlying matter.
Linear, No Slope
Also known as a constant function, since the function takes on the same (constant) value c for all values of x. The value of c can be determined simply by taking the average of the y-values in the data.
Apparently, the person making this line figured out pretty early on that their data analysis was turning into a scatter plot, and wanted to escape their personal stigma of scatter plots by drawing an obviously false regression line on top of it. Alternatively, they were hoping the data would be flat, and are trying to pretend that there's no real trend to the data by drawing a horizontal trend line.
The comment below the graph "I'm making a scatter plot but I don't want to." is probably done by a student who isn't happy with their choice of field of study.
Logistic
The logistic regression is taken when a variable can take binary results such as "0" and "1" or "old" and "young".
The curve provides a smooth, S-shaped transition curve between two flat intervals (like "0" and "1").
The comment below the graph "I need to connect these two lines, but my first idea didn't have enough math." implies the experimenter just wants to find a mathematically-respectable way to link two flat lines.
Confidence Interval
Not a type of curve fitting, but a method of depicting the predictive power of a curve.
Providing a confidence interval over the graph shows the uncertainty of the acquired data, thus acknowledging the uncertain results of the experiment, and showing the will not to "cheat" with "easy" regression curves.
The comment below the graph "Listen, science is hard. But I'm a serious person doing my best." is just an honest statement about this uncertainty.
Piecewise
Mapping different curves to different segments of the data. This is a legitimate strategy, but the different segments should be meaningful, such as if they were pulled from different populations.
This kind of fit would arise naturally in a study based on a regression discontinuity design. For instance, if students who score below a certain cutoff must take remedial classes, the line for outcomes of those below the cutoff would reasonably be separate from the one for outcomes above the cutoff; the distance between the end of the two lines could be considered the effect of the treatment, under certain assumptions. This kind of study design is used to investigate causal theories, where mere correlation in observational data is not enough to prove anything. Thus, the associated text would be appropriate; there is a theory, and data that might prove the theory is hard to find.
One notable time this is used is when a researcher studying housing economics is trying to identify housing submarkets. The assumption is that if two proposed markets are truly different, they will be better described using two different regression functions than if one were to be used.
The additional curved lines visible in the graph are the kind of confidence intervals you'd get from a simple OLS regression if the standard assumptions were valid. In the case of two separate regressions, it would be surprising if all those assumptions (that is, i.i.d. Normal residuals around an underlying perfectly-linear function) were in fact valid for each part, especially if the slopes are not equal.
A classical example in physics are the different theories to explain the black body radiation at the end of the 19th century. The Wien approximation was good for small wavelengths while the Rayleigh–Jeans law worked for the larger scales (large wavelength means low frequency and thus low energy.) But there was a gap in the middle which was filled by the Planck's law in 1900.
The comment below the graph "I have a theory, and this is the only data I could find." is a bit ambiguous because there are many data points ignored. Without an explanation why only a subset of the data is used this isn't a useful interpretation at all. As a matter of fact, with the extra degrees of freedom offered by the piecewise regression, it could indicate that the researcher is trying to fit the data to confirm their theory, rather than building their theory off of the data.
Connecting lines
This is often used to smooth gaps in measurements. A simple example is the weather temperature which is often measured in distinct intervals. When the intervals are high enough it's safe to assume that the temperature didn't change that much between them and connecting the data points by lines doesn't distort the real situation in many cases.
The comment below the graph "I clicked 'Smooth Lines' in Excel." refers to the well known spreadsheet application from Microsoft Office. Like other spreadsheet applications it has the feature to visualize data from a table into a graph by many ways. "Smooth Lines" is a setting meant for use on a line graph, a graph in which one axis represents time; as it simply joins up every point rather than finding a sensible line, it is not suitable for regression.
Ad-Hoc Filter
Drawing a bunch of different lines by hand, keeping in only the data points perceived as "good". Not really useful except for marketing purposes.
The comment below the graph "I had an idea for how to clean up the data. What do you think?" admits that in fact the data is whitewashed and tightly focused to a result the presenter wants to show.
House of Cards
Not a real method, but a common consequence of misapplication of statistical methods: a curve can be generated that fits the data extremely well, but immediately becomes absurd as soon as one glances outside the training data sample range, and your analysis comes crashing down "like a house of cards". This is a type of overfitting. In other words, the model may do quite well for (approximately) interpolating between values in the sample range, but not extend at all well to extrapolating values outside that range.
Note: Exact polynomial fitting, a fit which gives the unique th degree polynomial through points, often display this kind of behaviour.
The comment below the graph "As you can see, this model smoothly fits the- wait no no don't extend it AAAAAA!!" refers to a curve which fits the data points relatively well within the graph's boundaries, but beyond those bounds fails to match at all.
The name is also a potential reference to the TV show House of Cards. The plot in House of Cards began with a premise of a rise to power in the United States government, but as it continued into more seasons the premise was taken to an extreme, introducing more and more ridiculous plot points ("WAIT NO, NO, DON'T EXTEND IT!").
Cauchy-Lorentz (title text)
Cauchy-Lorentz is a continuous probability distribution which does not have an expected value or a defined variance. This means that the law of large numbers does not hold and that estimating e.g. the sample mean will diverge (be all over the place) the more data points you have. Hence very troublesome (mathematically alarming).
Since so many different models can fit this data set at first glance, Randall may be making a point about how if a data set is sufficiently messy, you can read any trend you want into it, and the trend that is chosen may say more about the researcher than about the data. This is a similar sentiment to 1725: Linear Regression, which also pokes fun at dubious trend lines on scatterplots.
A brief Google search reveals that Augustin-Louis Cauchy originally worked as a junior engineer in a managerial position. Upon his acceptance to the Académie des Sciences in March 1816, many of his peers expressed outrage. Despite his early work in "mere" engineering, Cauchy is widely regarded as one of the founding influences in the rigorous study of calculus & accompanying proofs. Notably, his later work included theoretical physics, and Lorentz was also a well-known physicist. Therefore, the title-text may be referring back to 793: Physicists.
Alternately, the title-text could be implying that the person who applied the Cauchy-Lorentz curve-fitting method may not be well qualified to the task assigned.
Transcript
- Curve-Fitting Methods
- and the messages they send
- [In a single frame twelve scatter plots with unlabeled x- and y-axes are shown. Each plot consists of the same data-set of approximately thirty points located all over the plot but slightly more distributed around the diagonal. Every plot shows in red a different fitting method which is labeled on top in gray.]
- [The first plot shows a line starting at the left bottom above the x-axis rising towards the points to the right.]
- Linear
- "Hey, I did a regression."
- [The second plot shows a curve falling slightly down and then rising up to the right.]
- Quadratic
- "I wanted a curved line, so I made one with math."
- [At the third plot the curve starts near the left bottom and increases more and more less to the right.]
- Logarithmic
- "Look, it's tapering off!"
- [The fourth plot shows a curve starting near the left bottom and increases more and more steeper towards the right.]
- Exponential
- "Look, it's growing uncontrollably!"
- [The fifth plot uses a fitting to match many points. It starts at the left bottom, increases, then decreases, then rapidly increasing again, and finally reaching a plateau.]
- LOESS
- "I'm sophisticated, not like those bumbling polynomial people."
- [The sixth plot simply shows a line above but parallel to the x-axis.]
- Linear, no slope
- "I'm making a scatter plot but I don't want to."
- [At plot #7 starts at a plateau above the x-axis, then increases, and finally reaches a higher plateau.]
- Logistic
- "I need to connect these two lines, but my first idea didn't have enough Math."
- [Plot #8 shows two red lines embedding most points and the area between is painted as a red shadow.]
- Confidence interval
- "Listen, science is hard. But I'm a serious person doing my best."
- [Plot #9 shows two not connected lines, one at the lower left half, and one higher at the right. Both have smaller curved lines in light red above and below.]
- Piecewise
- "I have a theory, and this is the only data I could find."
- [The plot at the left bottom shows a line connecting all points from left to right, resulting in a curve going many times up and down.]
- Connecting lines
- "I clicked 'Smooth Lines' in Excel."
- [The next to last plot shows a echelon form, connecting a few real and some imaginary points.]
- Ad-Hoc filter
- "I had an idea for how to clean up the data. What do you think?"
- [The last plot shows a wave with increasing peak values. Finally the plot of the wave is continued beyond the x- and y-axis borders.]
- House of Cards
- "As you can see, this model smoothly fits the- wait no no don't extend it AAAAAA!!"
Trivia
- This is the comic 2048, or 211. In addition to being the name of a popular app referenced in 1344: Digits, this is an extremely round number in binary (100,000,000,0002). 1000: 1000 Comics pointed out that comic 1024 would be a round number, but there were not any comics noting 2048.
- This comic is similar to 977: Map Projections which also uses a scientific method not commonly thought about by the general public to determine specific characteristics of one's personality and approach to science.
- Regressions have been the subject of several previous comics. 1725: Linear Regression was about linear regressions on uncorrelated or poorly correlated data. 1007: Sustainable, 1204: Detail and 1281: Minifigs depict linear regressions on data that was actually logistic, leading to bizarre extrapolations. 605: Extrapolating shows a line extrapolating from just two data points.
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Discussion
House of Cards: Not a real method, but a common consequence of mis-application of statistical methods: a curve can be generated that fits the data extremely well, but immediately becomes absurd as soon as one glances outside the training data sample range, and your analysis comes crashing down "like a house of cards". This is a type of _overfitting_
I'm pretty sure it refers to the TV show house of cards, the dots representing the quality of the series increasing until Netflix renewed it a bit too much 172.68.26.65 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- This was my initial interpretation as well, since you can hypothetically extend a literal house of cards indefinitely.172.68.58.83 14:23, 20 September 2018 (UTC)
Could someone familiar with the show expand on this? Also a potential reference to the TV show, House of Cards ("WAIT NO, NO, DON'T EXTEND IT!"). Some context on what that line meant in House of Cards would be helpful. - CRGreathouse (talk) 14:20, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
I'm a little mystified by the alt-text. Cauchy and Lorentz both seem like mathematically capable people. What am I missing? 172.69.62.226 17:46, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- Google-Fu reveals that it's a continuous probability distribution. This isn't bad per se, but it is quite visually distinctive and also can be quite...concerning if the data set isn't one where probability should be an issue. Werhdnt (talk) 18:00, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- This is not the issue, but the fact that the moments (such as mean and variance) of the distribution don't exist = converge. See edited explanation. So if you wanted to estimate the parameters of the distribution, taking the sample mean for example will not converge with the number of data points, and is therefore bad to attempt. It is more mathematically alarming than alarmingly mathematical. GamesAndMath
- My own Google-Fu brought me to a page with this information: “The distribution is important in physics as it is the solution to the differential equation describing forced resonance, while in spectroscopy it is the description of the line shape of spectral lines.” (from here: https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_53_0/libs/math/doc/sf_and_dist/html/math_toolkit/dist/dist_ref/dists/cauchy_dist.html) Justinjustin7 (talk) 18:09, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- True, but the "check what field I originally worked in" indicates that there might be something else going on with the meaning. 108.162.237.238 12:47, 20 September 2018 (UTC)
- I believe the point of "check what field I originally worked in" is that if somebody wasn't trained in statistics using an exotic distribution is highly suspect and suggest that either they are torturing the data to get desired results or have no idea what they are doing. 108.162.246.11 05:19, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed. I kinda expected a special comic with such a nice round number.. Been counting down since comic #2000... 162.158.92.184 18:14, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
Different anon here, I think this is very special and if Randall makes a poster available I will be buying several to give away. Of course, part of my business is experimental data analysis and modeling...and this is a fantastic summary of common errors. 162.158.75.22 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- Agreed. This is a very special comic, and a highly subtle title text. Direct any of your friends who do data analysis here. Sort of the next stage from the classic "correlation is not causation" comic https://xkcd.com/552/ . -- GamesAndMath (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
Curve-Fitting
How fitting works needs to be explained. f(x)=mx+b works fine for single values, but how do we get that red line from the data set? --Dgbrt (talk) 20:12, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- Generally, you decide for some error function and then search for parameters where the sum of errors for all data points is minimal. -- Hkmaly (talk) 22:07, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- A typical error function is the square of the difference between the fit and the actual data point, hence "sum of squares" method. There are well-known standard formulas for finding m and b in the case of linear regression. In a linear algebra class, I saw a general method that would work for several of these (any where the fit is y = af(x)+bg(x)+...+ch(x), which includes log, exponential, quadratic, cubic, etc). I wish I could remember it. Blaisepascal (talk) 22:39, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
- I wish we could include the graphics at the top of and in the explanation. A lot of people are going to look at this one. 172.68.133.168 17:51, 20 September 2018 (UTC)
The data points do not have error bars, which makes the choice of fit even more ludicrous, in my opinion. If the data are that good, then I don't believe there is a correlation, it's random with some distribution. I might hang this up at work...Arppix (talk) 02:46, 20 September 2018 (UTC)
- And of course in serious science data points have error bars. This makes the fitting even more complicated and should be mentioned at the explanation. Because Randall doesn't use error bars I'm sure he refers to presentations not based on real science. Also this should be mentioned here. --Dgbrt (talk) 21:06, 20 September 2018 (UTC)
I hate to be negative here, as obviously some users have put a lot of effort into explaining the details behind each of the curve-fitting methods, but there's absolutely no explanation for Randall's comments on each method. While someone might learn something about the various methods by reading the explanation, they would not gain any insight on what Randall is saying about each method. In addition, the Connecting Lines explanation totally missed the fact that this isn't really even a curve-fitting method - it's just a feature of graphing software (in this case, Excel) where a smooth line is drawn through each data point from left to right rather than an example of overfitting to the data set. I think we could do better. Ianrbibtitlht (talk) 02:53, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
- You're not negative, Randall's comments are missing which I've just added into the incomplete reason. And sure other explanations still need a review. --Dgbrt (talk) 20:32, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
Everyone is missing the deeper trolling here of the fisheries community at large, which shall become blindingly clear here. First, this is cartoon number 2048 (2^11), a highly interesting number. Notably, this is the year all fisheries were projected to be collapsed by Worm et al. (2006) Science 314:787-790, a prediction which gained huge attention in the media and took on a life of its own. The prediction was based on fitting a power curve to some data on collapses in catch trends. Numerous rebuttals followed, one of which pointed out that a linear fit to the data is a better fit, and predicts all fisheries collapsed in 2114 (Jaenike et al. 2007, Science 316:1285a). A list of rebuttals is found here: https://sites.google.com/a/uw.edu/most-cited-fisheries/controversies/2048-projection. Later work by the same author and critics found a different prediction and showed rebuilding of fisheries is likely (Worm et al. 2009 Science 325:578-585). Second, lest you think this is a conspiracy theory, I note that in xkcd cartoon 887, Munroe specifically notes this prediction "The future according to google search results... 2048: "Salt-water fish extinct from overfishing" https://xkcd.com/887/. Third, this kind of model-fitting exercise has long plagued fisheries researchers attempting to predict recruitment from spawning biomass. 108.162.246.11 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
"Ad hoc filter: Drawing a bunch of different lines by hand, keeping in only the data points perceived as "good". Also not useful. " – I guess it rather refers to data filtering, where for each point you take several points around and try to calculate some kind of mean, e.g. by rejecting most extreme points, or calculating median (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_filter). So it is an algorithm, not actually drawing lines by hand. Still it is tricky to draw conclusions and you can easily fool yourself with this method. 162.158.93.21 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
Anyways, what is the actual regression of the plot? 162.158.154.241 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- This also must be better explained: We don't know what the points represent. The fraction of apples vs. bananas harvested by time, the position of stars in the sky, on a logarithmic scale, linear, or maybe the height of mountains in New Jersey... There are just some dots on paper with no further meaning. Thus everything Randall presents is valid by some means but an actual regression does not exist. --Dgbrt (talk) 20:32, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
Just want to note that the Piecewise models is actually a type of modelling often used in housing economics. It has been used to check if different types of housing are priced according to different rules. 172.68.34.34 22:05, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
Excel's "smooth lines" are actually splines (third-order Bezier splines, apparently) so they're not completely without mathematical merit. Still wildly unsuited for extrapolation, but often very well suited to interpolation. JohnWhoIsNotABot (talk) 21:44, 24 September 2018 (UTC)
Specific functions
In both the logarithmic and exponential functions, I have deleted the term "+ c" that was present in both. Simply put, these functions do not include an additive constant. To include the constant removes a basic property of e.g. exponential functions, which is that the function should grow by the same factor for equal increases in the value of x. (In other words, if the functions doubles when x changes from 1 to 2, then it should double again when x changes from 2 to 3, or from 3 to 4, etc.) If this does not happen, the function is not exponential. Redbelly98 (talk) 19:52, 13 October 2018 (UTC)
Logistic Curve
The explanation for logistic curve currently says it is used for binary values. It's actually a lot more useful than that. For example, population growth is often described as a logistic curve. It appears to be climbing exponentially initially, but then tapers off as resources can no longer support the population. 108.162.246.191 15:31, 8 November 2018 (UTC)
- The explanation mentions the logistic regression ranging between "0" and "1". It uses the more general logistic function you probably refer to. The logistic regression uses in its basic form a logistic function to model a binary dependent variable. Both Wikipedia links explain the difference. Honestly, I'm not an expert on that matter but that binary interpretation wouldn't allow values above "1" or below "0" as shown in the picture. Maybe worth to be mentioned. Nonetheless all other fittings are also similar nonsense. Maybe we could mention the more general Sigmoid function but this only barely fits to the title "Logistic Curve". --Dgbrt (talk) 23:09, 8 November 2018 (UTC)
Personally, I think the exponential fit seems like the most reasonable interpretation of the data.
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https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2048:_Curve-Fitting
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man A plot item (3): that represents a series of points.
A plot item(3) that represents a series of points.
A plot item, that represents a series of points.
A curve is the representation of a series of points in the x-y plane. It supports different display styles, interpolation ( f.e. spline ) and symbols.
When a curve is created, it is configured to draw black solid lines with in Lines style and no symbols. You can change this by calling setPen(), setStyle() and setSymbol().
QwtPlotCurve gets its points using a QwtData object offering a bridge to the real storage of the points ( like QAbstractItemModel ). There are several convenience classes derived from QwtData, that also store the points inside ( like QStandardItemModel ). QwtPlotCurve also offers a couple of variations of setData(), that build QwtData objects from arrays internally.
A QwtCurveFitter tries to interpolate/smooth the curve, before it is painted. Note that curve fitting requires temorary memory for calculating coefficients and additional points. If painting in Fitted mode is slow it might be better to fit the points, before they are passed to QwtPlotCurve.
For Steps only. Draws a step function from the right to the left.
Don't draw a curve. Note: This doesn't affect the symbols.
Connect the points with straight lines. The lines might be interpolated depending on the 'Fitted' attribute. Curve fitting can be configured using setCurveFitter().
Draw vertical(Yfx) or horizontal(Xfy) sticks from a baseline which is defined by setBaseline().
Connect the points with a step function. The step function is drawn from the left to the right or vice versa, depending on the 'Inverted' attribute.
Draw dots at the locations of the data points. Note: This is different from a dotted line (see setPen()), and faster as a curve in NoStyle style and a symbol painting a point.
Styles >= UserCurve are reserved for derived classes of QwtPlotCurve that overload drawCurve() with additional application specific curve types.
Draws y as a function of x (the default). The baseline is interpreted as a horizontal line with y = baseline().
Draws x as a function of y. The baseline is interpreted as a vertical line with x = baseline().
The baseline is used for aligning the sticks, or filling the curve with a brush.
The item is represented on the legend.
The boundingRect() of the item is included in the autoscaling calculation.
enum QwtPlotCurve::PaintAttributeAttributes to modify the drawing algorithm.
Tries to reduce the data that has to be painted, by sorting out duplicates, or paintings outside the visible area. Might have a notable impact on curves with many close points. Only a couple of very basic filtering algos are implemented.
Clip polygons before painting them. In situations, where points are far outside the visible area (f.e when zooming deep) this might be a substantial improvement for the painting performance ( especially on Windows ).
The default is, that no paint attributes are enabled.
Runtime type information. RttiValues is used to cast plot items, without having to enable runtime type information of the compiler.
Attach the item to a plot. This method will attach a QwtPlotItem to the QwtPlot argument. It will first detach the QwtPlotItem from any plot from a previous call to attach (if necessary). If a NULL argument is passed, it will detach from any QwtPlot it was attached to.
QwtDoubleRect QwtPlotCurve::boundingRect () const [virtual]Returns the bounding rectangle of the curve data. If there is no bounding rect, like for empty data the rectangle is invalid.
QwtCurveFitter * QwtPlotCurve::curveFitter () constGet the curve fitter. If curve fitting is disabled NULL is returned.
xMap Maps x-values into pixel coordinates.
yMap Maps y-values into pixel coordinates.
to index of the last point to be painted. If to < 0 the curve will be painted to its last point.
Draw a set of points of a curve. When observing an measurement while it is running, new points have to be added to an existing curve. drawCurve can be used to display them avoiding a complete redraw of the canvas.
Setting plot()->canvas()->setAttribute(Qt::WA_PaintOutsidePaintEvent, true); will result in faster painting, if the paint engine of the canvas widget supports this feature.
Draw lines. If the CurveAttribute Fitted is enabled a QwtCurveFitter tries to interpolate/smooth the curve, before it is painted.
The direction of the steps depends on Inverted attribute.
void QwtPlotItem::itemChanged () [virtual, inherited]Update the legend and call QwtPlot::autoRefresh for the parent plot.
Allocate the widget that represents the item on the legend. The default implementation is made for QwtPlotCurve and returns a QwtLegendItem(), but an item could be represented by any type of widget, by overloading legendItem() and updateLegend().
The item will painted according to the coordinates its Axes.
Set the value of the baseline. The baseline is needed for filling the curve with a brush or the Sticks drawing style. The default value is 0.0. The interpretation of the baseline depends on the CurveType. With QwtPlotCurve::Yfx, the baseline is interpreted as a horizontal line at y = baseline(), with QwtPlotCurve::Yfy, it is interpreted as a vertical line at x = baseline().
Assign a brush. In case of brush.style() != QBrush::NoBrush and style() != QwtPlotCurve::Sticks the area between the curve and the baseline will be filled.
In case !brush.color().isValid() the area will be filled by pen.color(). The fill algorithm simply connects the first and the last curve point to the baseline. So the curve data has to be sorted (ascending or descending).
void QwtPlotCurve::setCurveFitter (QwtCurveFitter *curveFitter)Assign a curve fitter setCurveFitter(NULL) disables curve fitting.
void QwtPlotCurve::setData (const QPolygonF &data)Initialize data with an array of points (explicitly shared).
void QwtPlotCurve::setData (const QwtData &data)Initialize data with a pointer to QwtData.
void QwtPlotCurve::setData (const double *xData, const double *yData, intsize)Set data by copying x- and y-values from specified memory blocks. Contrary to setCurveRawData(), this function makes a 'deep copy' of the data.
The width of non cosmetic pens is scaled according to the resolution of the paint device.
Initialize the data by pointing to memory blocks which are not managed by QwtPlotCurve. setRawData is provided for efficiency. It is important to keep the pointers during the lifetime of the underlying QwtCPointerData class.
Set the z value. Plot items are painted in increasing z-order.
Update the widget that represents the curve on the legend.
Reimplemented in QwtPlotGrid, and QwtPlotScaleItem.
double QwtPlotItem::z () const [inherited]Plot items are painted in increasing z-order.
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http://manpages.org/a-plot-item/3
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The evolution of the US output-inflation tradeoff
This paper proposes quantifying the evolution of the U.S. output-inflation tradeoff using a Time-Varying Parameter Structural VAR. This methodology circumvents issues with existing methods which tend to be either reduced form in nature or rely on more ad hoc assumptions regarding sample split dates and both trend output and trend inflation. Working through U.S. data since the 1970s reveals only a slight change in the tradeoff from around 1.70 to 1.75 percentage points of real output growth per percentage point increase in trend inflation. This contrasts with claims that the U.S. Phillips Curve has flattened dramatically.
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https://cama.crawford.anu.edu.au/publication/cama-working-paper-series/2862/evolution-us-output-inflation-tradeoff
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Lines up the bounding boxes of objects, or object grips (control points, edit points, vertices...).
Link to Align and Distribute toolbar
Draw an arc with options for center, start, angle, and direction.
Link to Arc toolbar
Copy and space objects in columns, rows, and levels.
Define a block object.
Combine the volumes of one or more objects.
Link to Solid Tools toolbar
Draw a solid box.
Link to Solids Creation toolbar
Cancel the current command and deselects objects.
Turns off Points, CurvatureGraph, EMap, Zebra, MoveUVN, CurvatureAnalysis, and deselects objects.
Report errors in an object's data structure.
Link to Diagnostics toolbar
Draw a circle from center and radius, diameter, points on the circumference, and circumference length.
Link to Circle toolbar
Duplicate objects.
Duplicate objects in the same location as the original.
Draw a curve from control point locations.
Link to Curve toolbar
Fit a curve through point objects.
Display and edit an object's normal direction.
Link to Analyze toolbar
Reverse the normal direction of a curve, surface, or mesh.
Displays edit points on curves or SubDs.
Draw a closed elliptical curve from focus points, center and edges, bounding rectangle, and around a curve.
Link to Ellipse toolbar
Break objects down into components.
Separates or duplicates polysurface, Extrusion, or SubD faces.
Add an arc between two curves and trims or extends the curves to the arc.
Link to Curve Tools toolbar
Create a constant-radius round surface between two surfaces.
Link to Surface Tools toolbar
Re-align objects from a source surface to a target surface.
Link to Deformation Tools toolbar
Organize objects into a single component.
Link to Grouping toolbar
Store the connection between a command's input geometry and the result, so that when the input geometry changes, the result updates accordingly.
Link to History toolbar
Connect curves, surface edges, or surfaces to form a single object.
Create a mesh from a NURBS surface or polysurface.
Link to Mesh Tools toolbar
Duplicate each mesh face with a NURBS surface.
Move objects from one location to another.
Link to Transform toolbar
Draw a single point object.
Link to Point toolbar
Draw multiple point objects.
Display curve and surface control points.
Link to Point Editing toolbar
Draw a polygon with a specified number of sides with options for inscribed/circumscribed, by edge, star-shaped, around a curve, and vertical.
Link to Polygon toolbar
Draw a multi-segment polyline with options for line and arc segments, tracking line helpers, and close.
Link to Lines toolbar
Draw multiple adjoining line segments.
Project curves/points toward a construction plane to intersect a surface, polysurface, mesh, or SubD.
Link to Curve From Object toolbar
Draw a rectangular closed polyline from with options for starting at the center, three points, vertical, and rounded with arc or conic corners.
Link to Rectangle toolbar
Rotate objects around an axis perpendicular to the construction plane.
Rotate objects around a 3-D axis.
Change the size of objects uniformly in the x, y, and z directions.
Link to Scale toolbar
Change the size of objects uniformly in two directions.
Divide objects using other objects as cutters.
Divide objects using isocurves as cutters.
Draw a surface from three or four corner points.
Link to Surface Creation toolbar
Draw text-shaped curves, surfaces, or polysurfaces based on TrueType fonts.
Cut and delete selected portions of an object at the intersection with another object.
Remove trim curves from trimmed surfaces.
Remove the group status from objects.
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https://docs.mcneel.com/rhino/7/help/en-us/toolbarmap/main_sidebar_toolbar.htm
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Trend data includes all types of sequential readings that express an evolution of one parameter in function of another. Unlike character data, the measurements are not independent but together form a curve, through which a function can be fitted. The most prevalent trend data experiments are kinetic readings, i.e. the measurement of a parameter, for example a concentration of a product, in function of time. Examples are enzymatic activity measurements, real-time PCR, growth curves, etc. BioNumerics offers a large number of curve fit models, ranging from linear, logarithmic and Gaussian functions to more complex models such as logistic growth and Gompertz. In addition, a number of curve-derived parameters can be calculated to compare curve data in a sensible way. These parameters can be calculated dynamically as character values and used for clustering, identification and statistical data analysis.
Analyze series of readings in function of a changing factor (time, temperature, etc.) that define a trend. Examples include bacterial growth curve data, kinetics of metabolic and enzymatic activity measurements, quantitative PCR (qPCR), or time-course experiments using microarrays.
Curve fitting using any of twelve different models, including logistic growth, Gompertz, Gaussian, Hyperbolic, Power, Exponential, etc. with automatic parameter calculation, useful for analysis and comparison. The user can add custom parameters such as statistic parameters, slopes, and values at fixed X positions.
Comparison and clustering can be done on a selected parameter or a combination of multiple parameters. Comprehensive plotting tools with color and group indications.
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http://www.applied-maths.com/bionumerics/modules/trend-data-module
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Although there are countless books on statistics, few are dedicated to the application of statistical methods to software engineering. Simple Statistical Methods for Software Engineering: Data and Patterns fills that void. Instead of delving into overly complex statistics, the book details simpler solutions that are just as effective and connect with the intuition of problem solvers.
Sharing valuable insights into software engineering problems and solutions, the book not only explains the required statistical methods, but also provides many examples, review questions, and case studies that provide the understanding required to apply those methods to real-world problems.
After reading this book, practitioners will possess the confidence and understanding to solve day-to-day problems in quality, measurement, performance, and benchmarking. By following the examples and case studies, students will be better prepared able to achieve seamless transition from academic study to industry practices.
The book starts off by reviewing the essential facts about data. Next, it supplies a detailed review and summary of metrics, including development, maintenance, test, and agile metrics. The third section covers the fundamental laws of probability and statistics and the final section presents special data patterns in the form of tailed mathematical distributions.
In addition to selecting simpler and more flexible tools, the authors have also simplified several standard techniques to provide you with the set of intellectual tools all software engineers and managers require.
DATA
Data, Data Quality, and Descriptive Statistics
The Challenge That Persists
Bringing Data to the Table Requires Motivation
Data Quality
Visual Summary
Numerical Descriptive Statistics (Numerical Summary of Data)
Case Study: Interpretation of Effort Variance Descriptive Statistics
Application Notes
Concluding Remarks
Definition of Descriptive Statistics
References
Suggested Readings
Truth and Central Tendency
Mean
Median
Mode
Geometric Mean
Harmonic Mean
Interconnected Estimates
Weighted Mean
Robust Means
Two Categories
Truth
Application Notes
Case Study: Shifting the Mean
References
Suggested Reading
Data Dispersion
Range-Based Empirical Representation
Dispersion as Deviation from Center
Skewness and Kurtosis
Coefficient of Dispersion
Application Contexts
In a Nutshell
Case Study: Dispersion Analysis of Data Sample
Reference
Suggested Readings
Tukey’s Box Plot: Exploratory Analysis
The Structure of the Box Plot
Customer Satisfaction Data Analysis Using the Box Plot
Tailoring the Box Plot
Applications of Box Plot
Core Benefits of Box Plot
Twin Box Plot
Case Study 1: Business Perspectives from CSAT Box Plots
Case Study 2: Process Perspectives from CSAT Box Plots
References
Deriving Metrics
Creating Meaning in Data
Deriving Metrics as a Key Performance Indicator
Estimation and Metrics
Paradigms for Metrics
GQM Paradigm
Difficulties with Applying GQM to Designing a Metrics System
Need-Driven Metrics
Meaning of Metrics: Interpreting Metric Data
Our Categories of Metrics
Business Metrics
Project Metrics
Process Metrics
Subprocess Metrics
Product Metrics
Case Study: Power of Definitions
References
Suggested Readings
Achieving Excellence in Software Development Using Metrics
Examples of Project Metrics
Examples of Product Metrics
Examples of Process Metrics
Subprocess Metrics
Converting Metrics into Business Information
Case Study: Early Size Measurements
Project Progress Using Earned Value Metrics
References
Suggested Readings
Maintenance Metrics
Fusion of Frameworks in Software Maintenance
Metric-Based Dashboards
References
Suggested Readings
Software Test Metrics
Project Metrics
Process Metrics
Product Metrics
Testing Size: Test Case Point
Risk Metric
Predicting Quality
Metrics for Test Automation
Case Study: Defect Age Data
References
Suggested Readings
Agile Metrics
Classic Metrics: Unpopular Science
Two Sides of Classic Metrics
Metrics for Agile: Humanization
The Price of Humanization
Common Agile Metrics
Adding More Agile Metrics
Case Study: Earned Value Management in the Agile World
References
Suggested Reading
LAWS OF PROBABILITY
Pattern Extraction Using Histogram
Choosing the Number of Intervals
Process Signature
Uniqueness of Histogram Signature
Histogram Shapes
Mixture
Process Capability Histogram
Histogram as a Judge
From One Point to One Histogram
Case Study: Goal Entitlement
Creating a Histogram
Interpretation
References
The Law of Large Numbers
Life Is a Random Variable
Plots of Probability Distribution
A Comparison of Application of the Four Distributions
Bayes Theorem
References
Suggested Reading
Law of Rare Events
Exponential Distribution
Poisson Distribution
Bathtub Curve of Reliability: A Universal Model of Rare Events
Nonhomogenous Poisson Process
Goel-Okumoto NHPP Model
Different Applications of GO Model
References
Suggested Readings
Grand Social Law: The Bell Curve
First-Order Approximation of Variation
Estimation Error
Viewing Requirement Volatility
Risk Measurement
Combining Normal PDFs: The Law of Quadrature
An Inverse Problem
Process Capability Indices
z Score Calculation
Sigma Level: Safety Margin
Statistical Tests
References
Suggested Readings
Law of Goal Compliance: Uniform Distribution
Bounded Distribution
Random Number Generators
Shuttle Time
Parkinson’s Law
Censored Process
Perfect Departure
Estimating Calibration Uncertainty with Minimal Information
References
Suggested Readings
Law for Estimation: Triangular Distribution
Bell Curve Morphs into a Triangle
Mental Model for Estimation
Mean
Median
Other Statistics
Skew
Three-Point Schedule Estimation
Beta Option
Triangular Risk Estimation
Parameter Extraction
References
Pareto Distribution—The Law of Life: 80/20 Aphorism
Structure of Pareto
An Example
The 80/20 Law: Vital Few and Trivial Many
Generalized Pareto Distribution
Duane's Model
Tailing a Body
References
TAILED DISTRIBUTIONS
Software Size Growth: Log-Normal Distribution
Log-Normal Processes
Building a Log-Normal PDF for Software Design Complexity
Working with a Pictorial Approach
Features Addition in Software Enhancement
A Log-Normal PDF for Change Requests
From Pareto to Log-Normal
Some Properties of Log-Normal Distribution
Case Study—Analysis of Failure Interval
References
Gamma Distribution: Making Use of Minimal Data
Gamma Curves for Clarification Time Data
Shifting the Gamma PDF
Generating Clarification Time Scenarios with Gamma PDF Built from Minimal Data
NIST Formula for Gamma Parameter Extraction
Applying Gamma Distribution to Software Reliability Growth Modeling
References
Weibull Distribution: A Tool for Engineers
Weibull Curves
Parameter Extraction
Standard Weibull Curve
Three-Parameter Weibull
Software Reliability Studies
Putnam's Rayleigh Curve for Software Reliability
Cost Model
Defect Detection by Reviews
New Trend
Rayleigh Model—Success and Failure
References
Gumbel Distribution for Extreme Values
A Science of Outliers
Gumbel Minimum PDF
Gumbel Parameter Extraction—A Simple Approach
Gumbel Minimum: Analyzing Low CSAT Scores
Gumbel Maximum: Complexity Analysis
Minima Maxima Comparisons
Analyzing Extreme Problems
References
Gompertz Software Reliability Growth Model
Gompertzian S Curves
Modeling Reliability Growth with Gompertzian S Curves
Building a Reliability Growth Curve
Gompertz Software Reliability Growth Model Curves
Predicting With the Gompertz Model
More Attempts on Gompertzian Software Growth Reliability Model
How to Implement Gompertz Model in Software Testing
Gompertz Curve versus GO NHPP Model
References
Suggested Readings
We provide complimentary e-inspection copies of primary textbooks to instructors considering our books for course adoption.
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https://www.crcpress.com/Simple-Statistical-Methods-for-Software-Engineering-Data-and-Patterns/Pandian-Kumar/p/book/9781439816615
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For Problems 23-25, graph each of the functions.
To graph:
The function .
Procedure:
A function defined by an equation of the form where and , is called an exponential function with base
Here we set up a table of values, plot them and connect the points with a smooth curve to get the graph.
Calculation:
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https://www.bartleby.com/solution-answer/chapter-11ct-problem-24ct-intermediate-algebra-10th-edition/9781285195728/for-problems-23-25-graph-each-of-the-functions-fx-3-x/1b38dacd-78b3-11e9-8385-02ee952b546e
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Functional data analysis is concerned with observations which are viewed as functions defined over some set T. It can be temperature at a given location, stock prices, exchange rates, components of a magnetic field, growth curves and so on. Clearly, due to finite resolution, the values of the curve are available ata finite grid of points but due to the density of the grid and the physical interpretation of the curve, it is assumed that the observation is defined on T. We describe the basic principles of functional data analysis, including projections, the choice and estimation of the directions of the projections. We provide several examples for the applicability of the functional interpretation of the data, including the comparison of the mean curves of two populations, volatility models and functional regression.
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https://www.association-assq.qc.ca/2011/02/27/452/
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The 3-day class will familiarize students with the design and operation of the AFGROW crack growth life analysis program. This will include a review of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) concepts, example problems, and new capabilities/features in the current release (Version 5.3), including: the ability to use different crack growth rate data for different crack growth directions and as a function of the applied loading spectrum, and our new spectrum management tool.
The class will also provide an introduction to the use of advanced features unique to AFGROW (COM automation, Advanced Multiple Crack Solutions, and Plug-In K-Solutions).
More Information
The simplest manner for differentiating a curve is by using the
secant method, i.e.
(9.3.5)
where (a1, F1)
and (a2, F2) represent two different
points on the crack growth life, crack length (a) versus flights (F)
curve. The derivative is considered to
be the slope of the curve at the mean crack length of the two points, ie.
(9.3.6)
The mean crack length provides the
ability to calculate the stress-intensity factor coefficient (K/s)
for the geometry associated with the crack growth life curve. To describe the crack growth rate as a
function of stress-intensity factor, it is necessary to have either a formula
or graph that relates stress-intensity factor to crack length for a known
external loading condition. For
example, if the stress-intensity factor is related to gross stress conditions (sgross) by the formula
(9.3.7)
Then
the stress-intensity factor coefficient is
(9.3.8)
and Equation 9.3.8 is evaluated for a = amean
(Equation 9.3.6). Note that b is typically a function of crack length.
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https://afgrow.net/applications/DTDHandbook/Sections/page9_3_3_0.aspx
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February was marked by a “risk on” environment, with stocks rallying, corporate spreads tightening, and oil prices rising--despite weak economic growth globally. Although the news was better in the U.S., data were not particularly strong until the last day of the month. Fourth quarter GDP posted a significant gain (2.6%) including an unexpected jump in business investment. On the news, the 10-year Treasury closed the month at a 2.69% yield. Only two weeks earlier, the market was rallying on the back of a weak retail sales number, with the 10-year hitting a monthly low of 2.65%.
Overall, Treasury rates saw limited volatility and closed out the month 4 to 7 basis points (bps) higher than the end of January. The yield curve (2 to 10 years) steepened by 3 bps. Importantly, inflation remains muted. TIPS breakevens rose by a modest amount in February.
The financial markets appeared to spend a good deal of time worrying about poor growth prospects for China, Germany, and the rest of Europe. Some reassurance came in the form of progress on U.S.-China trade talks. The Federal Reserve released minutes from its last meeting which confirmed what many believed: the course of future fed funds movement was uncertain at best. The fed funds futures market is predicting essentially no change for the remainder of 2019.
To receive the full market review, please contact us at [email protected] or subscribe to the monthly market review on our contact page.
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https://longfellowim.com/insights/february-2019-market-review
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The OSHF is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2007, as the official deliverer of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology’s Health & Fitness Program (CSEP H&FP) in Ontario. Over the last 3 years, OSHF membership has grown to over 1300 fitness professionals: CSEP Certifed Personal Trainers® and CSEP Certified Exercise Physiologists®. For more information on CSEP and the Health & Fitness Program, please visit www.csep.ca.
The OSHF administers CSEP fitness practitioner certifications to qualified post-secondary graduates and students in Ontario. The OSHF ensures that all our certified professionals meet the nationally-renowned standards of the CSEP H&FP. Each applicant must fulfill set educational prequisites and successfully complete both written and practical examinations in order to achieve the CSEP Certified Personal Trainer® (CSEP-CPT) or CSEP Certified Exercise Physiologist® (CSEP-CEP) designation.
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http://www.humankinetics.com/partners/partners/ontario-society-for-health-and-fitness
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Spinal Flexion during strength training: Is It dangerous?
Posted in Biomechanics, Injury Prevention, Personal Training, Strength TrainingTagged biomechanics, strength trainingLeave a Comment on Spinal Flexion during strength training: Is It dangerous?
Observing clients movement patterns during exercise is an important strategy for our personal trainers and exercise physiologists to be able to give accurate feedback on exercise correction during a session.
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https://www.inspire-fitness.com.au/blog/category/personal-training-2/
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A weekly round up of scientific research for personal trainers. Join for free to get Science Weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.
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There were a range of different topics discussed in the papers scientists published in the fields of fitness, nutrition and exercise science.
The highlights:
Scientists characterize the imbalanced gut bacteria of patients with myocardial infarction, angina and heart failure
Researchers show how major disturbances occur in the gut microbiome of patients suffering from heart disease. Given this latest evidence from microbiome research, researchers now call for stronger and more focused public health initiatives to prevent or delay these common diseases that are a leading cause of premature death worldwide through encouraging a plant-based and energy-controlled diet, avoidance of smoking and compliance with daily exercise.
Source: University of Copenhagen - The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Obesity: What does immunity have to do with it?
New findings may represent a promising approach for obesity treatment and its complications
As organisms grow, older cells can undergo a phenomenon called senescence. This process defines a cell state where cells permanently stop dividing but do not die. Senescent cells secrete toxic pro-inflammatory factors contributing to the development of many diseases. Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that obesity in experimental models led to senescence of macrophages, an immune cell subtype within fat or adipose tissue.
Source: Boston University School of Medicine
Food for thought: A high-fiber diet may reduce risk of dementia
Researchers found that higher levels of dietary fiber are associated with a reduced risk of developing dementia. In a large-scale study, over 3500 Japanese adults completed a dietary survey and were then followed up for two decades. Adults who consumed more fiber, particularly soluble fiber, were less likely to go on to develop dementia. These findings may relate to interactions between the gut and the brain.
Source: University of Tsukuba
A type of virus present in the gut microbiota is associated with better cognitive ability in humans, mice and flies
Study finds a greater presence of these viruses in people who eat dairy products in their regular diet
New research associates the presence of Caudovirales in gut microbiota to an improvement in cognitive functions and memory in humans, mice and flies. The results show that bacteriophages present in the gut microbiota influence the relationship between the microbiome and the brain.
Source: Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona
Eating disorders linked to diabetic eye issues
People with eating disorders are three times more likely to suffer from diabetic retinopathy
Eating disorders are associated with an increased risk of people with diabetes developing diabetic retinopathy -- a condition that can cause blindness if untreated -- according to new research.
Source: Anglia Ruskin University
Patient-centered approach to treating obesity
In short, health professionals on both sides of the debate should strive to improve access to compassionate, evidence-based and patient-centered care in order to fight weight stigma and end diet culture, the researchers argue, adding that the emphasis should be on health, not weight.
Source: University at Buffalo
Stepping stones along the exercise stress response pathway
Two key factors cooperatively regulate the stress response to exercise
A research team confirmed that interference with the action of arginine vasopressin and corticotrophin-releasing hormone inhibits stress responses in rats during moderate-intensity exercise. Their findings suggest that these factors cooperatively regulate adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion.
Source: University of Tsukuba
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About
The Institute of Personal Trainers is the worlds leading business course specifically created to help fitness industry professional get better at business.
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https://www.instituteofpersonaltrainers.com/science-weekly/science-weekly-2022-feb-25
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Our mission at Team Survivor Northwest is to provide a broad range of fitness and health education programs to enable women cancer survivors, in any stage of treatment or recovery and at any fitness level, to take an active role in their ongoing physical and emotional healing.
Our guiding principles include empathy, teaching, cultivating, encouraging and nurturing.
We serve all women, without regard to race, age, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, physical or mental disability, or religion, with any type of cancer diagnosis, at any fitness and skill level.
All our instructors are experienced trainers with understanding of cancer specific needs. Program delivery is mindful of the physical and emotional sensitivities surrounding cancer.
Our programs are free of charge to TSNW Members. Programs are offered in various locations within the Puget Sound Region.
We continually share with our community, through a variety of methods, important and emerging information related to cancer survivorship.
In 1995, a group of women cancer survivors in Seattle decided to train for a triathlon. They asked Dr. Julie Gralow, a local oncologist, to serve as their team physician. During the training process, Dr. Gralow was both inspired by the tenacity and strength of these women and amazed at the physical and psychological benefits that the women gained through training.
Dr. Gralow continued to meet women cancer survivors looking for fun, interesting ways to improve their overall fitness. To teach women cancer survivors how to use exercise for physical and emotional recovery, she partnered with Lisa Talbott, a fitness and therapeutic exercise specialist, to found Team Survivor Northwest (TSNW). Today, TSNW offers year-round fitness opportunities for all women cancer survivors.
WHY FOCUS ONLY ON WOMEN?
Recovering from cancer is a fragile time in a person’s life. Chemo, radiation and other cancer treatments wreak havoc on the body resulting in altered physical appearance as well as decreased stamina and strength. Combined, these often leave survivors feeling vulnerable. We’ve found that women are much more inclined to show up and participate in fitness programs with other women who have been through similar body changes and experiences. This decision was not designed to be exclusive, but to ensure that women cancer survivors feel welcomed and safe during this fragile time in their life.
Thousands of women cancer survivors have participated in TSNW’s free fitness and health education programs. Team Survivor Northwest programs are open to all women with a past or present diagnosis of cancer. Members range in age from twenty to eighty. Participants are as varied as the activities they enjoy, but they are all bound by the common desire to take an active role in their physical and emotional well-being.
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https://teamsurvivornw.org/about/
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My fitness bug started back in 2000. I had just given up smoking and was putting on weight and decided I need to do something about it….
At the time I was living on my own in North London and working in central London. I often came home late at night and was always very nervous walking the streets at night as mine was not the best (although also not the worst) area in North London.
I had been watching Ally Mcbeal doing kick boxing classes and loved watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer so decide to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, why not do some exercise that would also incorporate some self-defence? I started asking about and ended up in a local martial art class and from there I never looked back.
The class I started in was a traditional martial art class and so everyone was expected to wear the white karate type suites, you know the type, so I never really had to worry or think about what to wear to work out in.
After a couple of years I then started Thai boxing, since this was some 15 years ago the few girls in the class wore Thai boxing shorts like the boys! So again it wasnt really about fashion.
Fast forward to today and I am still training in martial arts when I can (I have recently had some time off due to winter bugs and illness that the kids have kindly brought home to share, but that’s another story for another day). These days its K1 for me and when I can I will be found training in the evening class at Mousid Gym in Las Lagunas. I tend to wear the same thing to train in most evenings but I am getting bored and want to mix it up… More girls are training in kick boxing / k1 / Thai boxing than ever before and I can see the change in what they are training in (at least I can here on the Costa del Sol, I can’t talk for other places)!! I noticed girls seem to be ditching the traditional Thai boxing shorts and are training in leggings and tops, and why not, they are comfortable, still allow for flexibility and in my opinion are more flattering.
I have also been trying to get the odd morning run in with some of the mums from the school and of course leggings and a top was the easy and obvious choice for me. But now i have started thinking about it and looking around I have started noticing all the great designs in leggings that some of the girls and mums are sporting today. They are so much nicer than my boring black ones and I want in on the action! I started looking online and came across the cool sports brand Fabletics headed up by Kate Hudson. I loved the designs and lets be honest I remember seeing Kate Hudsons abs and body in Glee and thinking wow, I would like to look like that! The woman is stylish and in shape so her clothes range was bound to be pretty cool and I was right.
But what did my fellow Costa del Solers think? Are leggings the way to go for training in? Is there something else as comfortable and flexible? What do people think, plain leggings and colourful tops or the other way round? How important is fashion and look to people working out? I love using social media to get some local opinions for my posts so i decide to ask my friends and followers on facebook their opinion, so I posed the question…..
“I am writing and article on Fitness and Fashion and would love your thoughts and feedback….. How important to you is what you are wearing fashion wise when you work out? What do you work out in and why? Comfort vs look or do you want both? Do you shop for your sportswear in store or online? I see lots of people working out in leggings, loving the new colourful ranges now available, what do you think plain leggings and colourful tops or the other way round?”
Below are some of the answers I got;
I work out in sports leggings and a comfy tshirt. Not really over fussed about looking trendy, ’cause that’s not the reason I’m working out. Needs to be materials that breathe well and I don’t like wearing tight fitting little tops either, but that’s just ’cause I’m too self conscious! Lol!!
I workout in sports clothes that is suitable for whatever exercise I am doing! But I also want it to look good so I wear the colorful tights and tops! We get a lot of our clothes sponsored but if not, I buy in stores.
Not a gym buddy per say but as a triathlete; comfort, breath-ability…smooth lines, waterproof are key. Online stores like Wiggle are essential and especially good for high quality products like trainers that need regular replacing.
I try and run!! so it a good support bra plus all garments breathable & smooth lines. Garmin watch is a must to measure distance & pace. Like to match colors !! Now looking at compression tights & replace trainers very year.
I’m also a fan of leggings (normally black) and a nice comfortable, not too fitted, top which flatters my shape and age!! 🙂 More important to me is a good sports bra for easy movement and good quality footwear. I’ve never bought sportswear online.
I like to wear good quality “technical” sportswear including a good sports bra, longer leggings in winter and 3/4 or shorter in summer. I like to wear really bright and colourful leggings and plainer tops which are usually breathable vests. I wear different trainers depending whether I’m inside or outside
I always look for comfort! And best quality on trainers, to prevent injuries! Rest of not really important for me!;)
My personal conclusion is like all fashion, when it comes to sportswear there is no right or wrong in design, it’s all really down to personal taste. Although unlike our day to day clothes, which let’s be honest as women are not always comfortable or practical, everyone who answered me all seemed to agree as long as it was comfortable, supportive and allowed them to train effectively then the great design and looking good was an extra bonus.
Am sure my husband is going to love reading this article as in conclusion I think a small shopping trip is due!!!
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http://www.health-and-fitness.es/fitness-fashion-costa-del-sol/
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Our design and technology studies will aim to teach fundamental skills and knowledge in a themed approach, often with links to other subjects through project-based learning. This will give a real context in which to understand the purpose of their work and the criteria which will make their end product successful. The aim will be for children to understand some of the many real-life applications of design and technology and the key role that this has in the world of work today.
The main areas will cover Mechanical and Electrical Systems, Cooking and Nutrition and Materials and Structures. Each year children will be challenged to become more independent in their planning skills as well as becoming more analytical in their product evaluations.
Cooking and Nutrition
Possibly the most generally-loved strand of any subject, cooking and nutrition will give the children the opportunity to design and make their own 'context-based' food products and then eat them! In groups, the children will follow food from farm to fork, source ingredients then create and cook their meal. Whilst eating their meal as a group, the children will be able to evaluate their work, and offer each other constructive criticism and honest feedback!
Also included will be the importance of food hygiene alongside the usual safety issues that will be considered with the children in all three strands of DT.
Mechanical and Electrical Systems
When researching their project work, children will have the opportunity to deconstruct and then investigate how an increasingly complex set of mechanisms work. By identifying the methods already used to make these 'working products' they will be able to decide whether to try and use the same method, a similar one or their own approach to a variety of mechanism types. This will develop the children’s thinking, encouraging them to work methodically rather than by trial and error.
For children, the challenge will be to use accurately whichever method used and be able to work with others or independently.
Materials and Structures
The combination of materials and structures will challenge the children and ask them to apply their scientific and artistic skills to design and make products that are practical and usable. In each project they will be the ultimate consumer, able to judge for themselves how effective their design has been, and how well constructed their final product is in meeting their brief.
The design technology curriculum will provide a platform for children to develop their own approach to making products and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
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http://wcps.education/design-technology
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Heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes are among the most common, costly, and preventable of all health problems in the U.S. Aerobic fitness can reduce by 50% – 70% one’s risk of death from these diseases. When done properly there is no other treatment, pill, medication or intervention as cost effective and fun as exercise.
The Hawaii Sports Foundation’s goal is to reduce the risk for lifestyle diseases through education programs emphasizing modest endurance training. Our advisory team includes physical education trainers, a public health educator, a sports event organizer, PhD exercise physiologists, research nutritionists (University of Hawaii or Kapiolani Community College) and a sports psychologist.
Our expertise is grounded in four decades of experience with the internationally renown Honolulu Marathon Clinic. Established in 1974 the Clinic has trained tens of thousands of aspiring runners as young as eight years old to ‘mature’ adults in their 90’s to complete a marathon. This successful protocol has been adopted by similar programs in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the Philippines, several western U.S. states and corporate health programs.
Our volunteer Board of Directors receives no compensation. 100% of all donated funds go towards our research or education efforts.
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http://hawaiisportsfoundation.org/
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GUNASEKERA, Roshan C., MOSS, James, CRANK, Helen, MITCHELL, Pauline A., NAWAZ, Shah and TEW, Garry A. (2014). Patient recruitment and experiences in a randomised trial of supervised exercise training for individuals with abdominal aortic aneurysm. Journal of Vascular Nursing, 32 (1), 4-9.
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PDF
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Crank Patient recruitment and experiences in a randomised trial .pdf - Accepted Version
All rights reserved.
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Abstract
We sought to describe patient recruitment and experiences in a randomised controlled trial of a 12-week (thrice weekly) supervised exercise program for patients with small abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Potential patients were identified via AAA surveillance lists and vascular clinics and invited to participate in the study. Upon completion of baseline assessments, patients were randomly allocated 1:1 to exercise or usual care. Patients completing the exercise arm were invited to attend a focus group session to explore experiences of diagnosis, management of condition, trial recruitment, and expectations and experiences of the exercise program. Between January 2010 and September 2011, 545 patients were identified. The response rate to postal invitation was 81.7% (445/545), with 108 patients responding as “interested.” Only 28 of these patients were eligible and recruited (46.7% of recruitment target), yielding an overall recruitment rate of 5.1%. However, the estimated recruitment rate among eligible patients was 23.7%. Twenty-five patients (89.3%) completed the study, and compliance to the exercise program was 94%. Participants attending the focus group session indicated that the exercise program was manageable, beneficial, and enjoyable. The feasibility of supervised exercise training in individuals with small AAA remains unclear. Our study revealed a poorer than expected recruitment rate, but good compliance to, and feedback for, the exercise intervention. We present potential explanations for these findings and suggestions for future trials involving similar populations. Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a frequently lethal age-related disease affecting 5% to 7.5% of men and 1.5% to 3% of women aged >65 years.1 Mechanical intervention (open surgical or endovascular repair) is currently the only treatment shown to be effective in preventing AAA rupture and aneurysm-related death; it is reserved for AAA >5.5 cm in diameter for men and >5.0 cm in women.2 Unfortunately, there are currently few treatment options available for inhibiting AAA expansion in individuals with small AAA (3.0 to 4.9 cm)2 and 3; most patients simply enter a surveillance program to monitor the progression of their aneurysm. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the role of exercise training in reducing AAA progression and increasing fitness for surgery in individuals with small AAA4, 5 and 6; however, no previous studies have provided detailed information about the effectiveness of recruitment strategies. Recruitment is considered a difficult aspect of the study process,7 and it has implications for the statistical power that can be demonstrated by trials and their subsequent value. Beside limited information on recruitment, it is also unclear how individuals with AAA evaluate supervised exercise training. Understanding patient perspectives of primary and adjunctive treatments is necessary to optimize patient care. We recently completed a pilot study of supervised exercise training in patients with small AAA.4 Recruitment to this study was difficult, with uptake of <50% of our original target. The purpose of this paper was to provide a detailed report of our recruitment strategies and results with a view to informing future trials, and to highlight the findings of a focus group session that allowed participants to reflect on and share their experiences.
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http://shura.shu.ac.uk/14758/
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What separates fitness professionals from one another, and makes some individuals more competent and qualified is how often they’re investing in and pursuing their continuing education. The Four Concentric Circles of Personal Trainer’s Continuing Education described in this article illustrates how fitness professionals generally fall into four categories (i.e., circles) based on their interest and efforts in pursuing their continued education.
Each circle is smaller than the one preceding to represent the fact there is a much smaller population of fitness professionals who fit the corresponding criteria. This is important because it helps us to see if our actions as fitness professionals, from a continuing education perspective, match our professional goals. As you go through the quick and generalized overview of each circle below, it’s important to ask yourself questions including:
• What circle am I in based on how much time and resources I invest in improving my knowledge and skillset?
• What circle should I be in if I’m trying to deliver the best training services to my clients?
• What circle do I need to be in if I’m trying to be the best trainer in my area?
• What circle do I need to be in if I have the goal of becoming a top leader/education provider in this field?
Circle #1
The first circle, which includes the largest population of trainers, describes those who get much of their information from predominantly mainstream, commercialized names (e.g., pro athletes, fitness celebrities, etc.) that are notoriously unreliable sources who promote pseudoscience, while remaining uninformed of the more reliable sources are of scientifically-founded information within their field.
Trainers in this circle often find the quickest and easiest method of acquiring CECs/CEUs to keep their certification current. They are also the ones whose primary method and view of getting their continued education is using mainstream media simply to find new, trending exercises and workout ideas they can use to “push” their clients.
Circle #2
Trainers in this circle, although they’re more serious and spend more time on their continued education than those in the previous category, tend to spend most of their educational time and money learning about the training concepts and techniques that they themselves think are aligned with their own training goals instead of learning better and more effective ways to help clients achieve their goals. Their continued education is still somewhat narrow and therefore limited relative to the trainers in the following categories.
Put simply, there are trainers who act as fitness professionals and others who act as fitness hobbyists. Fitness hobbyists try to get other people excited about their hobby, regardless of their individual goals, while the fitness professional fits the workout program to the client’s goal, not based on their bias.
Individuals in this category tend to be fitness hobbyists. Because they tend to pursue the educational ventures in which they’re personally interested in, they usually do something to the client instead of doing something for the client by providing a training direction based mostly on their own chosen training philosophy (i.e. bias) rather than delivering a true “personalized” workout program. In other words, these trainers often end up giving their clients private lessons on what they like to do instead of using the best modalities for the client to achieve their goals.
Circle #3
Trainers in this category not only spend more time, energy and resources on their continuing education than those in the previous categories, they’re also focused on pursuing education ventures that will benefit their clients to achieve their goals in the safest manner possible. Because of this, these individuals tend to have a much better idea of what is relevant in their field and know the reliable sources of scientifically-founded training information.
It is these individuals who are often attending live events and purchase informational products – whenever they can afford them – purely for the education provided, not simply for the CECs. They are often reading a wide variety of training-related books, articles, blogs and research studies.
This category consists of a much smaller portion of the trainer population than those in the previous categories. This explains why many gyms with a staff of 20 or more trainers don’t have a single trainer in this category. If they do, it’s usually just one trainer, maybe two. On the other hand, there are many smaller, more private training facilities whose entire staff of trainers fall in this category. Those places are special!
Circle #4
These are the rare trainers who aren’t just passionate and dedicated to regularly pursing their continued education; they’re obsessed with it. They are the ones who spend all of their free time and most, if not all, of their expendable income (i.e., “fun money”) on their continuing education; constantly reading articles and research, buying books and video courses/products and attending as many live events as they can afford. Although these are work-related, to the trainers in this circle, engaging in their continuing education is enjoyable and exciting to them.
In other words, these are the trainers who can't stop thinking about training; are constantly questioning themselves and evaluating their practices; are always looking to talk shop and can’t help but get excited when they’re discussing their career. It’s because of this, trainers in this category often have a difficult time relating to trainers in the first and second circles, and can sometimes get upset when other trainers don’t hold themselves to the same standards of practice.
Trainers in this category are often happier engaging in continuing education ventures on a Friday or Saturday night than they are with going out to party. Some may want to call this being a training “nerd,” but it’s just being highly interested, invested and focused on one’s craft. This type of prerequisite attitudinal disposition is the common denominator among the best continuing education providers who become the most reliable sources of fitness information and make valuable contributions to the field.
Just about everyone who is training clients shares a passion for helping people, but passion alone doesn't make one a skilled trainer. That skill comes from continued investment in continuing education to improve and refine one’s craft. The same can be said for training experience. Despite having accumulated years of training experience, one could be repeating the same mistakes and holding the same false beliefs.
This isn’t about how much resources (i.e., time and money) you have available to you as a trainer; it’s about how you use the resources you have available. As you can see, the smaller the population circle, the more time and effort is made towards pursuing one’s professional growth and improvement through continued education.
Although every trainer acknowledges that there are good and not-so-good personal trainers based on their level of knowledge and skillset, no one thinks they, themselves, are on the wrong side of that equation. It’s natural to identify which categories your coworkers and colleagues fall into, but make sure you focus on judging where you are and where you think you should be. Certainly, as an industry we want to see the inner layers of these circles expand. Accomplishing that starts with you!
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https://fit-pro.com/article-4304-The-4-circles-of-a-personal-trainer&rsquos-continuing-education.html
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Games co-creation: using local content, unearthing creativity, designing experiences
Since 2017, ITCILO in partnership with the Humanitarian Leadership Academy (Academy) has been using Gamoteca as a co-creation tool during learning hackathons and workshops aimed at designing and developing enhanced learning and capacity-strengthening interventions for humanitarian workers, volunteers and teachers.
Within this context, we define co-creation as a process for the collaborative development of new learning and training concepts, solutions and products.
“Co-creation is a form of collaborative innovation: ideas are shared and improved together, rather than kept to individuals.”
When it is about designing new training products or learning interventions, we often realize (as instructional designers and trainers) that an enormous amount of knowledge and content is already accessible and available.
The challenge is not about creating content that is relevant and meaningful, rather than creating learning experiences that leverage on existing content and ideas.
In this context, co-creation of games through Gamoteca aims at dealing with the changing needs of training providers and institutions and attempts at providing a flexible tool for combining learning objects with real-life learning activities.
There are many ways to go about co-creation, here is how ITCILO and the Academy have implemented co-creation in face-to-face and online events through design thinking techniques:
#EMPATHIZE
Trainers self-organize in small groups, who share similar challenges and deal with common stakeholders. This allows them to map the needs, challenges, opportunities and desires of the selected audiences.
#DEFINE
Based on first analysis results, trainers further define the objective of a new learning intervention by elaborating on the state-of-the-art of training and services, on bad practices and good practices.
#IDEATE
Ideation is about free brainstorming on how to match needs and objectives. What content is already available? In which format? How is it useful? What can be improved? What type of interaction do need to be triggered?
#PROTOTYPE
Build prototypes means making ideas tangible. Trainers are encouraged to define a game script by working on posters and flipcharts. By creating a visual manifestation of their game ideas, they are creating a new training experience. The prototype can then be easily transferred to Gamoteca from which the new training module can be deployed and tested immediately.
“Prototyping a game is about visualizing the journey of players. In other words, it is about crafting a game story. What information does the player need to receive? What type of instructions will be useful? What content can be used? Draw your game screen by screen in a story format where each chapter has an introductory section, a call to action (reflection, comprehension, evaluation, creation) and a feedback.”
#TEST
Testing is equal to playing. Trainers can share their game in a tangible way with other colleagues, simulate a training situation, evaluate the impact of their game, collect feedback from users, identify strengths & weaknesses. The trainers sometimes use this feedback to iterate immediately, by incorporating the feedback and retesting.
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https://gamoteca.com/gamescocreation/
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A manager of a community centre commissions trainers to provide a range of classes and activities for older people using the centre. The manager wants to make sure that the centre offers a community development approach to what they do. To achieve this, the manager draws up a ‘statement of expectation’ which she discusses with the trainers and which becomes a criteria for commissioning. The manager uses the 5 community empowerment dimensions to frame this statement and arranges to have regular review sessions with trainers.
Going back a while now, but this is one of those memories that just stays with you: I was due to deliver some training to AgeUK staff, on the publication I had written about putting community development into practice.
It was in Huddersfield and I had made the journey up from Shropshire the night before and got to the venue bright and early. I waited a while, but only one participant turned up – let’s call him Mick! It transpired that a lorry full of gob-stoppers had overturned on the M62 so the only person who travelled by public transport ended up in a one-to-one session with me! I didn’t even know they still made gob-stoppers, but they were a blessing in some ways as the two of us had the luxury of spending the whole day together – real quality time.We put the next few hours to good use – sharing experiences and stories and trying to find some practical solutions.
Mick worked as a ‘leisure and fitness coordinator’. One day, he was visited by 4 women (aged 70+) who told him that they wanted a Tai Chi exercise class to go to. They had talked to other people in their age group and it was a popular idea.
Mick wanted to make sure that anything he arranged was ‘community-led’ so he talked to these women – and others – about the best day of the week, time and location, to hold the classes and he arranged for a trained instructor to deliver them.
The first week was great – about 50 people turned up and seemed to engage happily with the activity.
The following week wasn’t as popular, but was still good, and attracted about 30 older people to the session.
Week 3 was very disappointing and barely made it to double figures, with a downward spiral from there-on-in.
Was it primarily about exercise and fitness?
Was it about learning something new?
Was it to fill a gap in the timetable?
Was it because someone had recommended Tai Chi as something to try?
Or because there had been a television programme about it?
Or because the neighbouring area had Tai Chi classes?
Mick didn’t know, but we could both see that it mattered. We could see a really clear link between process and outcome.
In Mick’s example – his process of checking with older people was great but he didn’t have a clear outcome i.e. he didn’t know why he was doing it, other than people had asked him to. Crucially, we didn’t know WHY this group of people wanted Tai Chi classes, what they hoped to get from them, and so he had never considered, or checked, if that was likely to happen. Huge learning for us both.
Mick and I back-tracked a bit to think about what might happen if we tackled both process and outcome. It made sense to start by thinking about the outcome – what older people want to happen as a result of the activity. We practised with the outcome that “older people network socially and learn more from each other”.
Once we had this in the bag, we discussed ways that this might be achieved. e.g. doing things which will bring people together, encouraging them to talk to each other, creating an atmosphere where people will share ideas and develop trust in each other. To achieve these things, we thought we needed to stimulate discussion and debate, get people interested in others – thinking about their similarities and differences.
It can be pretty strenuous for older people – so, if they are after gentle exercise, it may not necessarily the best activity.
It can be delivered ina way which is quite individualised, so if people want a social activity to share with others, it may not necessarily the best activity.
Tai Chi instructors are very disciplined, so if they deliver in this way and people want an informal, relaxed atmosphere, it may not necessarily be the best activity.
It was a fine day!
Having avoided the gobstoppers, sadly Mick later suffered on the way home as Leeds Train Station was hit by a tornado – it was quite day!
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http://changesuk.net/tag/older-people/
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How Do You Help Clients if They Need to Travel Extensively and Can’t Train as Often with You?
As someone who travels very often for work, I understand the frustration my clients feel when they have to travel a lot and can’t train with me as regularly as they would like. Most often their travel is for work, but I also have clients who take frequent vacations and others who have secondary residences where they might stay for an extended period of time. To help them continue their training on the road—and without me—I take the same approach as I do when I set up their programs: I consider the individuals and the particular situations they are in. There is no set rule that works for everyone. As I know my clients quite well, I can predict how they might react when confronted with the challenge of staying on track.
If a client will be traveling, I start by gathering the following information: how long she will be away; where she is going; whether the trip is for work or pleasure; whether she will be staying in one place or moving around; and whether she will be staying in a hotel or a personal residence. Then I consider her current training program. From there we discuss the different scenarios that are possible and jointly make some decisions.
If the client would like to work with a trainer, I try to set up appointments or make an initial contact with a colleague or a trainer in the place she will be visiting. I give her a copy of her training program so she can show the other trainer if she likes. I prefer that the client take most of the responsibility for setting up the training sessions, but if she requests it, I am happy to do that for her.
For clients who would like to work out by themselves, I try to find out if there is a gym where they are staying, or relatively close by. If I know that a client has access to some basic training equipment (even a limited amount), I will design a simple program that he can follow almost anywhere, with small modifications or substitutions. If he wants to do outdoor activities (running, etc.) before he leaves, I suggest a program and training schedule.
I advise clients to pack elastic tubing, running shoes and a bathing suit. It is always possible to do some resistance training exercises with the tubing and, in most cases, to go for a run or walk. The bathing suit will come in handy if clients have access to a pool or the ocean, or if they want to go for a sauna or a steam bath.
I let them know that it’s okay to shorten their workouts if they have time constraints. It’s better to do something rather than nothing, and it’s okay to perform several small bouts of exercise during the day if they can’t do one long session.
I suggest that if they have only a limited number of possibilities available, then they should make the best of the situation and maybe try something new. Who knows, they might like the “Salsa for Lovers” aerobics class that the hotel is offering.
Last, if my clients request it, I send reminders or “just checking in” e-mails.
What I don’t do is make them feel guilty for not working out or training when they are away. They shouldn’t beat themselves up if it’s not possible to train as they usually do. The unexpected happens when people travel, and they might not be able to stay completely on schedule. For some, it can actually be good to allow themselves a break from training (for example, when they are on vacation). I often see increased motivation—and hence, better results—when they start back.
Fred Hoffman, MEd
International Fitness Consultant
Global Reebok Master Trainer
Fitness Marketing Consultant for Reebok France
Paris
I work primarily with busy executives from the worlds of business and entertainment. Travel plays a big part in their schedules, and the forward-thinking, client-centered trainer needs to be proactive in anticipating their needs and requirements. However, the world is getting smaller all the time, and with the help of technology it’s much easier to provide a first-rate service for clients who are away from home.
We use three novel approaches.
The first approach is to look for a fellow IDEA member trainer in the client’s destination city. We have many clients traveling to Los Angeles and New York City and have already developed links with trainers in these cities. We can then e-mail (ahead of time) the client’s current program design and special requirements (modifications/contraindications, etc.). The client feels secure in the knowledge that he is not going into a session “cold” with an unfamiliar trainer, and the trainer gets enough information to make the sessions productive and enjoyable. I have used this approach with great success and am always looking for new partners!
The second approach I have recently launched is an interactive online trainer platform. It offers advice and guidance on exercise, nutrition, stress management and more. It also contains logs, questionnaires, a chat room, and a library with over 200 exercises. Ongoing support is provided by my “real-life” trainers using personal digital assistants. The support is delivered through an award-winning interface and search technology company (run by people who also happen to be clients of mine!). Clients get unlimited e-mail support and one phone call per month. It’s free for real-life clients, but other people pay £10–£40 per month ($18.75–$75) for access and extra for other services.
The third approach we use is a travel service. Clients can hire one of our trainers for a week, a month or 3 months. We have developed links with exclusive travel companies to offer this service. It is a relatively expensive service, however, as we have to factor accommodation and meals into our prices.
Although we recognize that there is no substitute for in-person training, we are finding more of our clients opting for our online service while traveling. I think it’s important that our role be seen as a support. Ultimately we need to teach our clients to take ownership of their own health and well-being.
Jon Denoris, MSc, CSCS
Managing Director, Catalyst Health & Fitness Ltd.
London
Many of my clients travel quite frequently for work and pleasure. For them, I design a workout using tubing, a door attachment and a skipping rope. I take digital photos of the clients doing the exercises and then print the images, adding detailed explanations underneath. This way clients can use their photos as a guide to get a full workout, or, if they have been walking all day sightseeing in Paris, they can do just the upper-body exercises.
For my more adventurous clients, I have designed workouts with hostels in mind. These include exercises clients can do with backpacks and/or hiking boots on, using stairs, etc.
Crick Nelson, CFC, CSCS
Lifestyle Synergy Inc.
Calgary, Alberta
Many of our clients travel, some extensively. Here are some ways we help them achieve their fitness goals and keep their workouts uninterrupted:
1. We give them a travel band workout with directions. We can provide several sizes of tubing as well as door straps.
2. We give clients a variety of body weight exercises they can do in their hotel rooms (e.g., chair dips, wall squats and push-ups).
3. We instruct them how to adapt to a hotel gym if there’s one available. We teach them to recognize similar exercise pieces and how to have proper body alignment. For example, we may do chest work on a Bowflex®, the GTS™, with body weight and on a weight bench in our studio, while a hotel gym may have only a pec deck. We caution them against using some specific “dated” and ineffective exercise pieces.
4. We spend their last one or two training sessions before the trip reviewing the travel band workout and coaching them on items 2 and 3. We also give them travel food ideas, if appropriate, at these appointments. Raw nuts, dried fruit and jerked meat all make easy travel snacks and can fill the gap when clients are tempted to skip a meal. Boxed juices, soymilk and granola make an easy, healthy, inexpensive light breakfast. Bottled water is obviously helpful. If they are going to be stuck in a hotel room for several days, we suggest they request a small refrigerator and then stock it their first day, after a trip to the grocery store.
5. We remind them to use the stairs when they can and to get outside if possible for walks and running.
6. We offer e-mail coaching if it’s helpful for them. Folks who travel routinely are usually charged monthly for this. If we just give travel suggestions as a one-time thing, the service is free. Sometimes we simply remind people to keep active, drink water and so on, or we may e-mail exercise assignments and require clients to report back within a certain time frame.
7. If the clients are driving extensively, we recommend frequent breaks to walk and stretch. We also encourage self-massage with a tennis ball if that is helpful. (If clients are sitting for long periods of time, their rhomboids and piriformis muscles become knotted up. They can use a tennis ball while in a chair, on the floor or up against a wall.)
8. We suggest that our regular travelers schedule their sessions with us in advance. While most of our clients and trainers prefer regular time slots, we encourage our clients who travel (making regular slots impossible) to schedule with us as often as they can while they are in town. We do this at the beginning of the month to encourage a commitment to their fitness and an ongoing sense of accountability to their trainers.
Scott and Barbi Jackson
Owners, Scott Jackson’s Real Life Fitness
Nevada City, California
I encourage my traveling clients to pack their fit kit to go. In this kit, I have included a stretch strap and tubing. I have compiled a sheet of eight simple strength-with-tubing exercises called “Active 8 to Feel Great.” I believe it is better to keep the exercises simple and the program short so that clients will be more compliant.
I encourage them to do something different from their regular cardio routine. If traveling to visit friends or family, they can take a fitness class in a specialty they haven’t tried before. If traveling to a warm place, they can take a water fitness class, snorkel or walk on the beach. If off to a colder destination, they can ski or snowshoe. Finally, I suggest they keep up with their flexibility by stretching whenever they can. If they are vacationing, I encourage them to take a vacation from their regular fitness routine as well by trying something new, different and fun.
Andrea Mounce-Halasz
Personal Trainer/Exercise Therapist, Activate & Feel Great
Chester, Nova Scotia
Working in Washington, DC, I find that the vast majority of my clients are frequently traveling on business trips. I have a variety of ways to keep them on track as they endure the rigors of long working hours and meals on the road.
The most important thing is formulating a game plan before clients leave town. I encourage them to take an active role in planning their trip—from finding a hotel with a quality fitness facility to packing healthy snacks and accessories for workouts. I set up clients with personalized workouts they can do in their hotel rooms, using resistance bands and even a stability ball if they wish to pack one. Most business travelers carry laptop computers, so I recommend appropriate yoga and Pilates DVDs that can also be used in the privacy of a hotel room. This provides clients with many options if the workout room in their hotel is sparsely equipped. Most hotels have quality cardio equipment, and I let clients know how to fit in short cardio workouts if time is an issue.
Depending on where they are traveling, I may be able to recommend a quality trainer who can provide a few training sessions to keep them on track. Another possibility is obtaining a weekly guest pass to a local gym. The key lies in providing as many options as possible and determining any obstacles before the trip starts.
Last, I review how to make healthy food choices when meals are being eaten at restaurants or in catered business meetings and seminars. This area is typically the most difficult. Armed with a solid plan of training and nutrition, my clients can maintain their fitness levels and avoid losing the progress they have worked so hard to achieve.
Doug Murphy
Owner, Fitness Training and Consulting
Washington, DC
Developing training programs and providing motivation for clients who travel extensively can be a tricky proposition. I keep in mind time considerations, available equipment, training experience and other special needs.
For clients with very limited time and no access to equipment, I set up “in-room” travel programs that use mostly body weight exercises along with resistance from tubing, bands, luggage and, sometimes, furniture. I provide full program guidelines, complete with drawings or printouts of all the exercises. Creativity is the key in these cases and can occasionally be used to break up the monotony of the clients’ present routines.
For clients with full access to health clubs, the only concerns may be time constraints and differences in equipment. I normally walk through clients’ current programs with them and have them tell me what equipment they might have access to. I may change or modify some exercises, and if I do, I provide guidelines plus drawings or printouts.
Clint Fuqua, PFS, CPT, OPT
IDEA Elite Personal Fitness Trainer
Telos Performance Center
Dallas
Concerned about your place in the new fitness industry? We have 40 years of experience supporting pros just like you! Let’s create a new wellness paradigm together—IDEAfit+ is the extra edge you need. Once you team up with IDEA, be sure to take full advantage of all the benefits of membership.
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https://www.ideafit.com/personal-training/how-do-you-help-clients-if-they-need-travel-extensivel-and-cant-train-often-you/
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LTaking a look around the streets and parks of the UK, or scrolling through #fitspo workout selfies on social media, it can sometimes feel like everyone is working out: running, lifting weights, swimming wildly or competing in Ironman triathlons. Actually, 12.4 million of us are inactive. But why? It’s often a combination of reasons: time, money, health, feeling unsure where to start, mobility issues, being intimidated by gyms, or even scared by physical education lessons at school.
Then came covid. “Our latest Active Lives survey found that activity levels are now beginning to recover after the disruptions of the pandemic,” says Sport England’s Kate Dale. “But the pandemic exacerbated existing lower activity levels for certain groups of people. Women, low-income households, people of black and South Asian origin, and those with a long-term health condition or disability are even less likely to be active. In difficult times, it is essential to improve our health and well-being through movement, whether it is walking, swimming, jogging, dancing or in a gym class.
But taking that first step can be overwhelming. According to Olympic swimming and Paralympic cycling champion Sarah Storey, “People are still struggling to access the activity they trust; We still have to find a way to allow people to have that trust to begin with.” So I asked some experts and recent converts for advice: Lycra is optional.
Find out how you’re talking yourself out of exercise
Guilt for taking time away from family; the belief that it is too late; the mentality of “I can’t train yet because I’m not in shape”: the coaches have heard it all. “Identity is a very important part of it,” says Robbie Thompson, a coach and trainer who has worked with Northumbria Police and Deloitte. “If he’s spent his entire life inactive, how he sees himself and how others see him is based on that identity and it’s a big change to start pulling at those seams.” Men in particular, he says, have the expectation that they should be strong by now. It’s a sentiment shared by my friend Simon, who says, “There’s often a feeling of ‘the other guys are laughing at how little I’m lifting’.” For Thompson, it’s often about persuading men to “start where you are. Focus on what you can do, make small changes — they make a huge impact when you do them consistently.”
Be realistic
“There are trainers who say, ‘We all have the same 24 hours a day,'” says Hannah Verdier, who started working out in her 40s and is now a personal trainer in south London. “We have not made it!”
Thompson agrees. “People have families and jobs and they don’t sleep well,” she says. “Training is a stress: a positive stress, but a stress. It’s a good reason to start sensibly in terms of how you throw intensity.”
do a littleregularly …
“No one is motivated all the time,” says Sarah Scudamore of the Mumology Movement. She tries to do little and often: “It’s easier to make a habit of doing something for five minutes every day than it is to spend 45 minutes three or four times a week.”
“There is no scientific reason why we exercise for an hour,” Verdier recalls. Look for something short online, from 20 minutes of yoga for absolute beginners with Adriene to Couch to Fitness’s five-minute “small” sessions.
… but let yourself go
“A lot of Instagram influencers say, ‘You’ll never regret a workout, there are no excuses.’ I don’t believe it”, says Verdier.. Sometimes life will get in the way, and that’s okay. “I don’t want people to think, ‘I have to do this three times a week,’ because I just don’t,” she adds. “If you’re going to do it for the next 20 or 30 years, what does it matter?”
bridge the ‘enjoyment gap’ …
To really exorcise the specter of school cross-country racing, find something that you find fun. This Girl Can classes are “designed to address the enjoyment gap,” says trainer Lisa Brockwell. “We’re looking at people who haven’t exercised or haven’t exercised for some time; We already know they don’t feel comfortable, but we’re going to try to make it as fun as possible.” The nine-week “small” class format gives participants the opportunity to try many different things (boxing, yoga-based stretching, circuits) in a relaxed, pressure-free, non-judgmental environment. Instructors are trained to be empathetic and adapt to all levels of mobility and fitness, Brockwell says. “That’s really important, that ability to say, ‘Okay, just come in, let’s see how we can make this work for you.’ And if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t matter!”
… but don’t expect to enjoy every session
People who exercise are not a separate breed that really wants to go for a run in the rain. My friend Robbie, an apparent exercise fanatic, surprised me by saying, “A central truth about exercise is that, almost universally, no one wants to do it.” Thompson agrees: “In no way am I motivated to race today. Most days I don’t. Don’t think about how you feel beforehand, think about how you’ll feel afterwards.”
Take advantage of specialized resources
“The challenge for people who have long-term health problems, physical disabilities, or visual impairments is knowing where to start,” Storey says, adding that this is particularly true for older people. “Only in recent times has inclusion been advocated.” She recommends using the Parasport site to find activities in her area. For cycling, Storey says Wheels for All centers are a great place to start. “The support staff will help you get into the right rhythm and will also help you find the right equipment.”
do it from home
One advantage of the pandemic has been the explosion of online exercise options – Joe Wicks was just the muscular tip of the iceberg. The free online Couch to Fitness The site offers a nine-week program of 30-minute sessions that combine elements of cardio, strength, and flexibility. Amanda Oliver is a convert: “You don’t need a lot of space. There are not too many jumps to disturb the neighbors below. It’s on-demand, so there’s no travel time (or cost!) or waiting for a class to start, and you don’t have the barrier of having to be outside in the pouring rain.” The classes also offer three trainers that perform three different levels simultaneously, meaning there’s always a modified option: “You never stare at the screen thinking, ‘That’s impossible.'”
measure your progress
“People convince themselves they’re not making progress, but they don’t have a point of reference,” says Thompson. “Most of my training is pointing out what’s already happening to people who are too hard on themselves: A lifetime of not working makes them think it won’t work.” Observe and record your progress. That doesn’t have to be running longer, building muscle, or losing weight; it could be having more energy, being more patient with your children, or improving sleep.
Recruit a friend (or two)
“If there are two of you, you are more likely to go,” says Brockwell. “And you will laugh.” Verdier agrees: “I teach a group of women, and in the morning of class, the excuses will come out, but someone will say, ‘Oh come on, it’s sunny! We’ll have coffee later!’” Having a partner you don’t want to let down makes you come.
Or find your gang
For beginning riders, “it’s about creating that network of friendly faces and people who understand what you’re going through,” says Storey. She supports the She Can Ride campaign, for women who want to start cycling but don’t know where to start, or are intimidated by gear and busy roads. She Can Ride helps women find local cycling clubs and groups that can provide a supportive environment. Or go to her local bike shop: “a source of all knowledge,” according to Storey. “There may be someone in the store who is out for a walk, or they may point you to a local trail or track.”
use music
Whatever you’re trying, put on some music. “Transform your mood,” says Verdier, who swears by “late ’90s rave” and Kylie to get people moving. Recovering from a bad bout of Covid and weak as a kitten, I tried Couch to Fitness’s Couch to Bhangra and Afrobics mini-courses: at nine or 10 minutes per session, they’re at my level, and the high-energy rhythms and easy choreography it made my hesitant steps back into motion appropriately amusing.
try to dance
Dance is absorbing and joyous – it can feel less like a workout and more like a good time. The Swing Dance Company offers free online or in-person trials for their Absolute Beginners course, which is suitable for people who have never taken a dance class in their life. The Royal Academy of Dance Silver Swans classes, online and in person, welcome older students who “don’t know their plié from their pointe”.
hit the park
Our Parks offers a range of exercise classes in London’s parks, and the famous parkrun attracts people from all over the UK and beyond every Saturday morning – both are free. Or use the Move the Masses map to find fitness trails and outdoor equipment near you.
take a look at the chair
The NHS has a sitting pilates workout on its website and many local authorities offer chair exercises or yoga classes. Joe Wicks also has some chair-based routines on his Body Coach YouTube channel.
Go for a walk
The best and easiest way to get started is to simply open the front door, walk outside and walk. “You don’t need a special kit, you can do it anywhere, and it’s great for your mental health,” says Thompson. “Just get outside,” Storey urges. “A 10-minute walk makes a huge difference to your health outcomes.”
Rest!
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https://your-bookmark.com/2022/06/25/play-some-kylie-keep-it-short-and-recruit-your-friends-the-beginners-guide-to-loving-exercise-physical-aptitude/
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1on 1 Stretching Session
Stretching will promote flexibility which will help you regain range of motion and will assist in creating greater strength benefits. Flexibility will also help to prevent injuries to your tendons, joints and muscles.
Flexibility is just as important to your body as all other aspects of fitness; it will improve your posture, and help you to have more ease with everyday activities. Stretching and mobility exercise involves the use of different types of procedures and modalities to help us to try and improve your function. Our degreed exercise physiologists have the knowledge and skill set to carry out sessions safely.
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https://www.prescriptionexercise.net/flexibility
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Even though you’re on vacation, your exercise habits don’t have to be. In fact, why not use the free time to improve your fitness regime, whether it’s through your routine activities or trying some new ones. Outer Banks gyms and fitness centers are located all over the area. Some provide general gyms with free weights, machines, benches, squat cages, bars and other equipment. Others focus on a certain sport such as Crossfit, martial arts, kickboxing and Boot Camps. Yoga studios are found throughout the Outer Banks, and some of them also offer Barre and Pilates classes. There's a YMCA in Nags Head, too, that allows daily and weekly visitors if you're here for a short time. Most the gyms and fitness centers have certified trainers on staff who can work with you individually and keep a watchful eye out for your form. Several of them have a huge collection of stationary bikes, treadmills, ellipticals and rowing machines. Classes are offered at most these Outer Banks gyms and fitness centers.
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https://obxguides.com/things-to-do/fitness-activities
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The lack of feedback given to candidates by today’s recruitment or sourcing professionals is quite appalling. I understand why a significant portion of the global population has an intense dislike for our profession. You can ask pretty much anyone, and they have a story to share about a cynical, disheartening and inefficient experience they have had with a recruiter. This is incredibly sad for our industry, but it does help me to fathom why we often get associated with unscrupulous estate agents and sleazy second-hand car salespeople.
I think too many recruiters have lost the ability to put themselves in their candidate’s shoes. They have forgotten the agony of waiting for feedback after an interview. Or they may not have ever experienced what it is like to go through a restructuring or a retrenchment process. Regardless of this, Recruiters need to come down from their ivory towers and be more empathetic, and sympathetic, to each candidate’s current situation.
Feedback is of the utmost importance for me, for the following reasons:
Article Continues Below
- Building good relationships with key members of your niche recruiting community is vital in today’s recruitment landscape. If you are specializing in IT application recruitment, for example, you need to ensure that you get involved in this community and attend their events, so people associate you with being the ‘go to’ person for recruitment in this particular area of specialization. Offer your time to speak for free at community events and always be willing to give pro bono career, or even CV presentation advice, to these people.
- If you are honest with your candidates and keep them updated throughout every step of the interview process, even if the end result is not a favourable one, they will have enjoyed their journey with you. These people will be more than willing to let you represent them again. This is very important as top talent is incredibly difficult to find and even if the candidate was not suitable for this particular role, they may be suitable for another role you may work on in the near future.
- Similarly, if the candidates had a good experience with you the first time around, they will more than likely contact you in three years’ time when they are ready to change jobs again. I have been fortunate enough to experience this and it is much easier when top talent comes knocking on your door as opposed to having to go and headhunt these people.
When you give feedback to candidates, I recommend the following:
- Avoid candidate comparisons: Try not to harp on about the fact that a stronger candidate, with better skills, was given the role ahead of this candidate. People only want to know where they fell short and what areas they need to develop to interview better the next time.
- Give constant feedback: Do not wait until the final result to give feedback to candidates about the way they interview. You need to coach your candidates from the time they walk through your door. Was their handshake firm and did they make eye contact when they greeted you? Did they only give you monosyllabic answers? These are all points which must be addressed at the time so our candidates can interview better when they meet with our clients.
- Be respectful: Recruiters need to respect people when they give them negative feedback. You almost need to imagine that you are not the first person to give this candidate negative feedback. Do not be too harsh and ALWAYS give them some tips on how they could potentially do better next time.
- Listen to the candidate: An interview is a two-way street. Take the time to hear your candidate’s feedback on how they thought the interview went too. The interviewer is not always in the right, and I have had a few instances when the interviewer has been rude or was half an hour late for an interview. You cannot just dismiss these factors, and you need to give your candidates time to vent about their side of the interview story.
- Be human: Do not forget that we are all just people at the end of the day. Add a personal touch to your feedback. Maybe share a story of when you or another candidate was unsuccessful in an interview, but this opened up a new door to an even better opportunity. Be confident and encouraging; it does go a long way!
I hope this has helped to emphasize the importance of feedback. Even if the feedback is negative, it can be delivered in such a way that the blow is softened and lessons can be learned for future interviews.
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https://staging.sourcecon.com/the-importance-of-constant-candidate-feedback/
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Various chapters examine the active body's need for energy-yielding carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins.
The book also considers laboratory methods for determining the energy expenditure of athletes as well as unique assessment methods used to measure activity in the field. In addition, the text considers important physiological aspects of energy metabolism such as body weight regulation, and examines variances necessitated by gender and age.Based on rigorous research, this readable work offers sound advice for all those concerned with the proper nourishment of the active body.
Nutritionists, trainers, exercise physiologists, and athletes themselves will find much food for thought on nutrition science, as well as practical guidance in determining the ingredients required to maximize training.
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http://www.nataswim.info/livre/fitness/6540-metabolism-exercise-ebook
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:explode:DISTRIBUTIONS:explode: (Discrete random variable (Probability…
:explode:DISTRIBUTIONS:explode:
Discrete random variable
we are gonna look at the distribution of a particular random variable.
Probability Distribution
used to describe possible vals of a random var X
Distributions can be summarised by mean, variance, moments, spread
Probability Mass Function
a function that gives the probability that a discrete random variable is exactly equal to some value.
Cumulative Distribution Function
is the probability that X will take a value less than or equal to x.
Terminology
Mean, Expected Value
μ=E[X] = SUM ( X *p(x))
Alternatively, if expected value was a function h(x), then E[X} = SUM (h(x)*p(x))
Moment
Tells about shape of a set of points.
Varience
Independent and Identical Bernoulli Trials
a random experiment with exactly two possible outcomes, "success" and "failure", in which the probability of success is the same every time the experiment is conducted.
A random variable corresponding to a binomial is denoted by B ( n , p ), and is said to have a
binomial distribution.
Continuous Random Variable
Distributions
Cumulative Distribution Function
IF f(x) = 1 / (b-a)
THEN it is a
uniform random variable
So MEAN = E(X) = (a+b) / 2
VAR = V(X) = (b-a)^2 / 12
Probability Density Function
IF it has a particular complicated looking PDF, THEN it is a
normal random variable
If MEAN = 0, VAR = 1 then it is a
standard normal variable
called Z
Exponential Distribution
is given by a survival function involving LAMBDA
describes the time between events in a Poisson point process, i.e., a process in which events occur continuously and independently at a constant average rate.
exhibits
lack of memory
property
distribution of a "waiting time" until a certain event, does not depend on how much time has elapsed already.
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https://coggle.it/diagram/Wp0Hhsce54eY6Mhz/t/%F0%9F%92%A5distributions%F0%9F%92%A5
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Is expectation same as mean
Is the expectation the mean?
The expectation is the average value or mean of a random variable not a probability distribution. As such it is for discrete random variables the weighted average of the values the random variable takes on where the weighting is according to the relative frequency of occurrence of those individual values.
Why Is expected value same as mean?
Essentially, the EV is the long-term average value of the variable. Because of the law of large numbers, the average value of the variable converges to the EV as the number of repetitions approaches infinity. The EV is also known as expectation, the mean or the first moment.
Is expected value is same as mean and average?
Expected Value is same as Mean and Average. The Central Limit Theorem states that as the sample size gets larger, the sampling distribution of the sample means approaches a normal distribution.
What is the difference between expectation and probability?
Probability measures how certain we are a particular event will happen in a specific instance. Expected Value represents the average outcome of a series of random events with identical odds being repeated over a long period of time.
How do you take expectations?
The expected value of X is usually written as E(X) or m. So the expected value is the sum of: [(each of the possible outcomes) × (the probability of the outcome occurring)]. In more concrete terms, the expectation is what you would expect the outcome of an experiment to be on average.
What is meant by expectation in statistics?
Mathematical expectation, also known as the expected value, is the summation or integration of a possible values from a random variable. It is also known as the product of the probability of an event occurring, denoted P(x), and the value corresponding with the actual observed occurrence of the event.
What is the meaning of expectation in statistics?
Roughly, the expectation is the average value of the random variable where each value is weighted according to its probability.
What is the difference between the expected value and the mean of a discrete random variable?
We can calculate the mean (or expected value) of a discrete random variable as the weighted average of all the outcomes of that random variable based on their probabilities. We interpret expected value as the predicted average outcome if we looked at that random variable over an infinite number of trials.
Can expectations be negative?
Expected value is the average value of a random variable over a large number of experiments . … Since expected value spans the real numbers, it is typically segmented into negative, neutral, and positive valued numbers.
How do you calculate expected mean?
To find the expected value, E(X), or mean μ of a discrete random variable X, simply multiply each value of the random variable by its probability and add the products. The formula is given as. E ( X ) = μ = ∑ x P ( x ) .
How do you find expectation in math?
The mathematical expectation of a random variable X is also known as the mean value of X. It is generally represented by the symbol μ; that is, μ = E(X). Thus E(X − μ) = 0.
Is expectation value always positive?
Similar observable includes the energy, which is dependent on the zero point we choose. However, the operator of the form , such as ‘number’ operator , is positive semidefinite. So the expectation values are always nonnegative.
What are the two types of expectations?
Two Types of Expectations: Short-Term and Long-Term Expectations!
Why do expectations fail?
Often failed expectations result from mistakes you have made or simply a lack of experience and/or knowledge. During times such as these, it’s easy to feel disappointed in yourself and maybe even fearful that you might never achieve your desired objectives.
Are expectation values always real?
These are necessarily real values, and since the expectation value is some linear combination of possible measurements, it also has to be real. There’s no way you can get a complex number from a linear combination of reals.
What is meant by expectation value of a physical quantity?
In quantum mechanics, the expectation value is the probabilistic expected value of the result (measurement) of an experiment. … It is a fundamental concept in all areas of quantum physics.
Can the expected value be greater than 1?
No. It cannot be more than 1. Observe that if a random variable X is less than or equal to 1 almost surely then certainly E(X) is less than or equal to 1. … The expected value is the mean of the random variable.
Can expectation values be imaginary?
Expectations values in quantum mechanics are never imaginary since they correspond to a measurable quantity.
Can an expected value be complex?
Summing up, complex expectation values exist as soon as you define complex-valued observables. There is no mathematical obstruction in doing it.
Can expected value be 0?
The expected value of any experiment can be zero but it does not mean that its real outcome will be zero. Let us look at an example: Consider a risky…
What are the properties of expectation?
The following properties of expectation apply to discrete, continuous, and mixed random variables:
- Indicator function. The expectation of the indicator function is a probability: (5.56) …
- Linearity. Expectation is a linear operator: (5.58) …
- Nonnegative. …
- Symmetry. …
- Independence.
What is meant by expectation value of an operator?
The expectation value of an operator is the mean (average) value of its corresponding observable [2, p7]. It is an important part of quantum mechanics, as it is one of the main links between quantum mechanics and classical physics.
Why Is expected value important in real life?
If we can make decisions with a positive expected value and the lowest possible risk, we are open to large benefits. Investors use expected value to make decisions. Choices with a positive expected value and minimal risk of losing money are wise. Even if some losses occur, the net gain should be positive over time.
Can expected value be infinite?
It is not surprising that the expected value is infinite when infinity is a possible value. However, the expected value can be infinite, even if the random variable is finite-valued. Let’s look at an example.
What is expectation value observable?
The expectation value is the average value of an observable when measurements of that observable are made on a large number of identically prepared quantum systems, and it is used frequently in quantum mechanics since measurement outcomes are probabilistic rather than deterministic.
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https://howthingsworks.com/tutorials/quiz-is-expectation-same-as-mean-73640/
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