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Climate maps depict averages of climatic variables in a certain geographic area that has been observed over a long period. This allows for climate modelling and projections of future climate developments, which are powerful tools for predicting deviations of the analyzed variable (e.g....
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Integrated Modelling Platform for Mixed Animal Crop systems Lite Tool (IMPACT)Sitio web
The IMPACTLite Tool was designed and implemented for field work. It helps capture the diversity of farming activities and characterize the main agricultural production systems. It is useful to better understand farmers' production systems and their dynamics.
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Breed distribution modelSitio web
A tool which makes it possible to predict areas suitable for breeds under current and expected future conditions, taking several temperatures and humidity parameters into account.
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Food and Agriculture Policy Decision Analysis (FAPDA) toolSitio web
The Food and Agriculture Policy Decision Analysis (FAPDA) initiative promotes evidence-based decision-making by collecting and disseminating information on policy decisions and frameworks through a freely accessible web-based tool. The FAPDA tool is a database with policies from 2007 from over 80...
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Modelling System for Agricultural Impacts of Climate Change (MOSAICC)Sitio web
An overview of the modelling system for the assessment of agricultural impacts of climate change (MOSAICC) platform and the ongoing work to develop it. The platform assesses crop production systems, water and forest resources and the national economy under changing climatic conditions. Case...
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InVest: Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Trade-offsSitio web
The tools in this suite can be used to map and analyse the relative importance of different areas for ecosystem services. It enables decision-makers to assess quantified tradeoffs associated with alternative management choices and to identify areas where investment in natural capital can enhance...
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Designing climate change adaptation initiatives: A UNDP toolkit for practitionersPDF
This toolkit provides step-by-step guidance in the design of measurable, verifiable, and reportable adaptation initiatives. It features advice on key information required, relevant sources, critical issues to consider, and examples that are relevant to designing a climate change adaptation...
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The UKCIP Adaptation WizardSitio web
The tool provides a framework and resources to help users generate information to inform their adaptation strategy. It is a 5-step process to help assess organizations' vulnerability to current climate and future climate change, identify options to address key climate risks, and help develop and...
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GCF Project Toolkit 2017. Guide to develop a project proposal for the Green Climate Fund (GCF)PDF
"This toolkit clarifies the key considerations to take into account and fulfil the requirements of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) when developing funding proposals. It focuses on the essential elements; illustrates the GCF project cycle, the GCF proposal template and key requirements. It also...
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LocClim (LOCal Climate) website and server: Local monthly climate estimatorSitio web
LocClim was developed to provide an estimate of climatic conditions at locations for which no observations are available. It also provides estimates of growing season characteristics based on a comparison of rainfall and potential evapotranspiration.
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Strengthening monitoring and evaluation for adaptation in the agriculture sectorsSitio web
This webinar provided an overview of key steps for the development of a national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems for tracking adaptation in the agriculture sectors. During the webinar, the FAO and UNDP Guidance Note was presented and partner countries shared their experiences in...
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Modelling European agriculture with climate change for food security (MACSUR)Sitio web
MACSUR is a knowledge hub which brings together excellence in research on modelling of climate change impacts on European agriculture. | http://clh-ckan.apps.fao.org/es/dataset/tools-and-databases-for-analyzing-and-modelling-climate-change-adaptation |
It is a condition where there is constriction of the bronchi and bronchioles.
Causes and pathophysiology of bronchospasm
There are 3 common causes for this condition:
- Inflammation of the respiratory tract.
- Spasm of the smooth muscles present in the bronchioles and bronchi.
- Increased mucus (sputum) production due to an allergic reaction or irritation from mechanical air friction, supercooling, or dry airways, as seen during exercise- induced asthma .
Patients suffering from bronchospasm have low levels of CO2 in their lungs, this leads to low levels of alveolar CO2 and low levels of oxygen in the body due to alveolar hypocapnia.
It can destroy the lungs resulting in arterial hypoxemia and arterial hypercapnia or hypocapnia.
Likewise, oxygen transport decreases, which acts as an additional factor during bronchospasm, due to this there is also a decrease in oxygen levels in the tissues that increases the susceptibility to chronic inflammation.
For this reason, people suffering from lung diseases like bronchitis, asthma, bronchiolitis, tuberculosis, etc., experience chronic bronchospasm in the smooth muscles of the airways that occurs as a result of chronic alveolar hypocapnia.
There are many chemicals that can induce bronchospasm, these chemicals can cause bronchodilation or bronchospasm.
However, CO2 plays a major role in this condition due to two factors which are the vasodilator potency it has and the additional negative effects due to alveolar hypocapnia.
Chronic hyperventilation, which is a condition in which a person breathes more air than is required, leads to cellular hypoxia and immunosuppression .
This results in alveolar hyperventilation with other effects such as increased sputum / mucus production, frequent respiratory infections along with chronic inflammation.
Allergic triggers, such as pollen, dust, etc., can also cause additional problems.
All these factors lead to the narrowing of the airways with a worsening of their conductivity that produces bronchospasm.
Risk factor’s
- Having a family or personal history of asthma or irritants, such as mold, pollen, dust, animal dander, latex, food additives, etc., increases the risk of bronchospasm.
- Upper respiratory infections, such as a cold chest, increase the risk of bronchospasm.
- The sudden increase in activity or exercise also increases the risk of bronchospasm.
- Air irritants such as strong odors, smoke, air pollution, cold or dry air, or excessive air from a fan also increase the risk of bronchospasm.
- Certain medications increase the risk of bronchospasm, such as antihypertensives, antibiotics, aspirin, or NSAIDs.
Symptoms of bronchospasm
- The patient suffering from bronchospasm has symptoms of shortness of breath.
- The patient also experiences symptoms of wheezing.
- There is a cough with shortness of breath.
- The feeling of pressure and tightness in the chest can also be a symptom of bronchospasm.
- There is an increase in respiratory ventilation that greatly increases the effects of bronchospasm.
Serious symptoms of bronchospasm that require immediate medical attention
- Persistent and relentless cough.
- There is a worsening of wheezing.
- There is fever present.
- There is blood when coughing.
- Bluish discoloration ( cyanosis ) of the fingernails or toenails.
- Severe shortness of breath
- Persistent chest pain
- Fast or uneven heartbeat.
Diagnosis
The medical history and physical examination are performed when the physician examines the patient and asks if he or she has a history of asthma, allergies, and other illnesses.
The doctor will also listen to the patient’s breathing before reaching a diagnosis.
A chest X-ray, which takes pictures of the lungs, helps detect signs of infection, such as pneumonia or any upper respiratory infection.
CT scan uses an x-ray machine with a computer to take pictures of the lungs to look for problems such as blood clots. A dye may be administered prior to performing this test to better visualize the images.
If the patient has had an allergic reaction to the contrast medium, then he should inform the doctor about this.
Pulmonary function tests help to evaluate the function of the lungs, they also help to measure the force of the breath when exhaling.
Treatment of bronchospasm
Bronchospasm can be successfully treated with medication and by adopting some lifestyle changes. Treatment for bronchospasm consists of:
Medicines
Bronchodilators: Beta-2 agonists and theophylline may be given, which help expand the airways to make breathing easier. Bronchodilators also help prevent future episodes of bronchospasm.
Theophylline is commonly taken in capsule or tablet form, there is a different version known as aminophylline, which can be given directly intravenously if symptoms are severe.
The exact mechanism of theophylline is unclear. However, it is understood to help reduce swelling and inflammation in the airways along with relaxing the muscles that line the airways.
The effect of theophylline is somewhat weak compared to corticosteroids and other bronchodilators, it also has more side effects because it is commonly used in conjunction with medications that are not as effective.
Anticholinergics: They are a group of bronchodilators, which are different from beta-2 agonists and help to relax and open the airways.
Anticholinergics include medications, such as tiotropium, ipratropium, glycopyrronium, and aclidinium.
These medications are taken with the help of an inhaler, they can also be administered using a nebulizer for more severe and abrupt symptoms.
Anticholinergics work by blocking cholinergic nerves, which lead to dilation of the airways.
Chemicals released from these nerves cause the muscles that line the airways to tighten.
Inhaled steroids: can be administered to help reduce swelling in the airways and facilitate the breathing process for the patient. Inhaled steroids are commonly used for long-term control.
In addition to medications, the treatment of bronchospasm also consists of physical exercises with nasal breathing that help to retrain breathing.
Exercising slowly increases oxygen stores in the body, and nose breathing during exercise helps prevent bronchospasm and asthma-induced asthma.
Symptoms of bronchospasm can also be alleviated by breathing exercises that involve breathing devices, which trap the exhaled CO2 (Frolov breathing device, DIY amazing breathing device, Samozdrav).
These devices help increase oxygen levels in the body, thus reducing bronchospasm in a few minutes.
Treatment of bronchospasm also includes lifestyle changes, such as avoiding supine sleeping, avoiding mouth breathing, etc.
The Buteyko technique is one of the best lifestyle programs around.
Prevention of bronchospasm
- Triggers like dust, pollen, and other mechanical factors should be avoided as much as possible to prevent bronchopasm.
- Warming up before any exercise helps prevent exercise-induced bronchospasm.
- Contact should be avoided with people who are sick.
- The patient should always be up-to-date on vaccination against pneumonia or flu.
- Nose breathing should always be practiced, especially during cold, dry weather. Breathing through the nose helps reduce lung irritation by heating the air before it reaches the lungs. | https://scopeheal.com/bronchospasm-2/ |
Consolidation of New Jersey municipalities -- especially as it relates to school districts - can result in significant long-term savings and at the same time it can lead to better planning and responsiveness in local government.
As the former and last mayor of Princeton Township and the lead architect of Princeton's successful consolidation, I'd like to draw attention to some important considerations concerning consolidation and shared services that are often left out of the conversation.
For instance, one community of 1,500 residents could have an average cost-per-capita of $1,500 and a large community of 10,000 residents could have the same per capita cost. With no thorough analysis of actual services provided to residents, it does not prove that a town is equally efficient. If one community offers superior services, a police department and/or a library for the same cost, which one is more efficient?
The fact is that consolidation has worked and we need to stop being afraid of it. It is no longer a mythical unicorn in dealing with inefficient home rule.
Princeton blazed the trail with millions in annual budgetary savings and the lowest municipal tax growth rate post-consolidation than any neighboring municipality. Others have begun to realize some clear benefits of considering its application. The successful school merger in Hunterdon County is a prime example and others are in the works, including Mount Arlington and Roxbury which have great savings potential as the consolidation would include both school districts and municipal governments.
The more effective approach, however, would be to provide state incentives and pro-active support to identify specific towns that could benefit from consolidation - rather than state mandated consolidation. A top-down consolidation mandate will have difficulty moving through state channels, while an approach like the one used in New York state that offers towns incentives and milestone payments based on realized savings will be more effective.
A mandate will also shock the system and potentially create fear against consolidation -- an outcome that would be unfortunate as its benefits have already been proven.
While one can applaud the authors of the analysis in their attempt to make sense of New Jersey's municipal madness, the unfortunate result of the white paper was misguided headlines about consolidation at a time when New Jersey municipalities and school districts should be considering all options to garner efficiencies in service delivery and control costs.
The Pfeiffer/Caprio paper states "making broad generalities on municipal finance in the state is an exercise of dubious reliability" and yet, there are many generalizations. While it broadly determined per capita town costs, it left the other side of the equation, service levels, largely unexplored. Thus, making assumptions from the study is largely misleading.
As it stands today, the study supports the New Jersey League of Municipalities position, which tends to ignore consolidation and only talk about the potential for shared services because it is less threatening to "home rule."
Even Gov. Phil Murphy's administration has followed along by appointing two powerless "czars" to focus only on shared services leaving greater opportunities with consolidation to languish.
The reality is that without consolidation added to the "municipal toolkit", large savings in shared services will continue to remain elusive. Shared services for small departments often have negligible savings while large departments with savings potential: police and public works - often are not considered by 'home rule' mayors for fear of losing control.
Consolidation brings some unique benefits above and beyond cost savings that cannot be achieved just by sharing services. A single, consolidated Princeton has a much improved level of responsiveness in times of crisis as it can better marshal its resources without the intervening power struggles of two separate governments.
In addition, it has avoided significant capital costs as it now shares real estate and avoided having to build or renovate a new facility for a non-profit that it houses.
New Jersey needs to stop the debate of whether or not consolidation or shared services works -- they both do.
They work when municipal governments and school districts approach these solutions with an open mind and find creative solutions to benefit both communities considering it.
We need less white papers and pundits arguing for one solution or another and instead a proactive state government offering incentives to towns and school districts combined with courageous, open-minded elected officials who are willing to challenge the status quo.
Both consolidation and shared services are important tools to put New Jersey on a more sustainable fiscal path. Murphy and the Legislature need to take it more seriously. | |
One of their most recent publications is Chapter 2 - Evolutionary Theory and Human Evolution. Which was published in journal . More information about Russil Durrant research including statistics on their citations can be found on their Copernicus Academic profile page.
AbstractIn this chapter, we introduce some key theoretical concepts that evolutionary biologists employ to understand the biological world, and offer a sketch of the unique trajectory of hominin evolution over the past seven million years. An important evolutionary feature of all living organisms is adaptation. We begin this chapter with a discussion of plant adaptation in the presence of (now extinct) predators, and then proceed to the more specific instance of human evolution. Although it is largely understood that all forms of life on our planet have evolved in some way from their ancestral lineage, Homo sapiens is unique among Earth’s creatures for its astounding (and continuing) evolutionary success. Much of this success can be attributed not only to an amazing ability to adapt to, and in fact change, the external environment, but also to an ability to construct social norms, expectations, and penalties, through a positive feedback mechanism, that ensure the best possible evolutionary outcome for the species as a whole.
AbstractIn this chapter we provide an analysis of three conceptual frameworks for organizing the different theoretical approaches that we find in criminology. The first framework addresses ontological concerns about the fundamental structure of humans and human social relations. Here the issue concerns levels of organization. The second framework addresses epistemological concerns and focuses on the kinds of questions that we can ask of any given behavior. We adopt here a modified version of Tinbergen's (1963) well known and widely employed four types of explanation (evolution, function, ontogeny, and causation) and argue that this framework can serve the useful purpose of organizing explanation types in criminology. Finally, our third framework is also an epistemological one but focuses on the kinds of theory-development strategies—rather than the types of causes—that are reasonable in the light of the fundamental structure of the world and human beings. We argue that criminology, as with the social and behavioral sciences more generally, is best served by a version of integrative pluralism that emphasizes the importance of achieving consistency among theories while pursuing typically small scale local integrations.
AbstractIn this chapter, we concentrate on Tinbergen’s fourth type of causal explanation: proximate mechanisms operating at the time the offence occurs. In selecting the proximate mechanisms to discuss in this chapter, our intention is to focus on those that have been linked to the onset and reoccurrence of offending, and can be plausibly conceptualized as adaptations or by-products of adaptations. We first outline the concepts of dynamic risk factors, criminogenic needs, protective factors, and desistance processes. The ability of these concepts to function as explanations of crime is critically evaluated and their relationships to adaptations are explored. Second, the agency model of risk is systematically outlined and its grounding in biological and cultural processes is discussed. Third, we demonstrate how dynamic risk factors and protective factors once distributed across the components of human agency contribute to the occurrence of crime. Finally, we conclude the chapter with a discussion of some research implications of our model.
AbstractDespite a growing acceptance of the value of evolutionary approaches to understanding the natural world there has been relatively little attention paid to evolutionary ideas in sociology, socio-cultural anthropology, and — of particular relevance for this special issue — criminology and forensic/correctional psychology. The aim of this paper is to provide an introductory overview of evolutionary approaches to human behavior with a focus on illuminating the role they can play in enriching our understanding of criminal and antisocial behavior. We begin with an overview of the main approaches to applying evolutionary theory to human behavior and we suggest that a pluralistic perspective is most likely to advance conceptual and empirical work in the field. We then turn to a brief discussion of some common, but misguided criticisms of this approach. Some of the more substantive conceptual and methodological issues that evolutionary approaches need to address are then explored. Finally, we engage with the broader issues that relate to the role of evolutionary explanations in the social and behavioral sciences. | https://academic.copernicus.ltd/researcher-profile?user_id=275668176227 |
Rural Mental Health Initiative: To provide local access to a full-spectrum of community-based services to individuals with mental health illness residing in NW CT and Eastern Dutchess.
Past Grants
2010
Leadership Development & Community Engagement: To achieve health reform tailored to CT that ensures quality, affordable care that is sustainable for individuals and the state economy.
Cyberbullying: Understanding & addressing online cruelty in CT Region # 1 School District for Grades 4-8: To develop, conduct and evaluate prevention education strategies promoting healthy relationships among students.
2009
Personalized Medicine: Hype or Help?: An educational event presented for the medical, science and academic community.
Provide Dutchess County Immigrants Access to Services: Ongoing support of establishing legal immigration and case management services for residents in northeast Dutchess County.
Children & Adults Medical Transportation Service (CARTS): Ongoing support to increase medical transportation services in Copake and Ancram, New York.
To fund the FCH Pharmaceutical Assistance Fund
Expanded Dental Services-Taconic Hills School District: Support of an expansion of the in-school dental program to include Head Start, Kindergarten and grades 1-4 including screenings, cleanings, sealants
To fund the FCH Pharmaceutical Assistance Fund
Dental Services: To support final construction costs at the Health and Wellness Center.
Pages
Towns We Serve
Our interactive map highlights the areas we serve with links to town, county and state sites and Census Bureau information. | http://www.fchealth.org/grants/past-grants?page=27 |
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We entered the 2022 financial year with high hopes of bouncing back from an immensely challenging 2020 and 2021 and in the first half of the year we were certainly on track to returning to full operations. Unfortunately, we now know the year would prove disruptive and uncertain. We have had to adapt and change over the last two years and change has been a common theme for our industry and the broader economy over the past year. Markets have been challenged by inflationary pressures and rising geopolitical tensions intensifying the real prospects of a slowing global economy; leadership changes have occurred in several world economies including a change of government in Australia; and the Council has seen a change in leadership both on the Board and executive team.
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The Council’s 2022 Annual Report is being published in my second week as CEO of your peak body. I am energised by the opportunities to be your advocate and to lead a team that is committed to contributing to an active, sophisticated private capital industry in Australia.
Those who were at the Annual Investment Conference in September, would have heard my perspectives on the importance of private capital to Australia’s future prosperity and in meeting areas of unmet community need, as well as the country’s opportunity to be the destination of choice for diverse forms of global capital.
The Council’s advocacy work seeks to make the case for private capital by bringing together sensible, constructive – and collective – perspectives on matters that are relevant to our members. We are uniquely placed to provide an industry view, giving policy makers confidence as they set the policies that enable private capital to invest in the Australian economy, businesses and talent.
Our work with policy makers includes public submissions, industry consultations, parliamentary hearings, and other forms of engagement. Using research, case studies and insights, we highlight the importance of private capital in achieving positive economic and community outcomes that also deliver returns. Over the past year, we have focused on issues, such as maintaining a steady flow of investment capital, addressing critical skills shortages, and driving innovation to support the national interest.
The Council has an important role in bringing the industry together at various stages throughout the year. Our aim is to bring together our diverse membership to facilitate knowledge, generate cross-industry engagement and have robust discussions that lead to opportunities for our members.
While pandemic restrictions were in place for some of FY22, we were pleased to return to in-person networking events in line with government guidance.We were delighted to see so many of our members attend our Annual Conference, the first since 2019, and the strong engagement with the program.
Ensuring members have access to insights and professional development opportunities is an area of core focus.
We harness the collective wisdom of our members and work with strategic partners to deliver research insights for a consolidated view of our industry that highlights the contribution it makes to the Australian economy and community. This research underpins our advocacy efforts, providing evidence of the value delivered by our industry and identifying where further policy work is required to ensure Australia’s status as the destination of choice for global capital.
Generating opportunities to invest in the extraordinary talent in our industry is the Council’s way of supporting members. We seek to augment the programs individual members provide for their teams with sessions and courses focused on relevant topics or investing in emerging talent. This has been supported with a return to in-person knowledge events and professional development courses, along with the flexibility offered through online events.
For many of our members, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) are increasing in importance across their operations, including fundraising, investment due diligence, risk management, and constructing investment teams.
The Council’s role is to assist members through activities such as developing tools and resources, providing insights on global trends and collating data that can be used in setting in-house policies and frameworks.
New funding, access to networks, and comprehensive industry experience are just some of the ways the private capital sector supports the sustained growth of Australian businesses. Our Investing for Growth campaign features a number of business success stories that have resulted from private capital’s involvement, which we share here.
We thank our Annual Partners for their ongoing support for the Australian Investment Council and value their contribution to the private capital ecosystem.
Supporting communities is an important focus of the Council's work and we continue to work with our philanthropic partners to improve social outcomes across the Australian economy. | https://aic.co/AIC/AIC/Our-Industry/AR2022/Annual-Report.aspx |
This article is part of our series "Employee Spotlight," where we speak to and highlight some of the wonderful people who make up the exceptional teams at Wayfair.
3 Min Read
Sculpting the Future of Home: How Wayfair Co-Founder Steve Conine’s Hands-on Approach Inspires Innovation
You can’t find couches made of frozen solid lake-harvested ice blocks on Wayfair.com, but on a cold winter day, look no further than co-founder Steve Conine’s backyard to find that kind of glacial decor. While the comfort and longevity of ice-based furniture might be up for debate, the lessons that creating it can teach are undeniable: “When you’re getting ready to hack off a chunk of slippery ice, the consequences of rushing to action without thinking ahead are obvious. It’s a strong reminder of the importance of managing risk and taking the right steps toward achieving your desired outcome,” said Steve. “With a chainsaw running, it’s a good idea to ask yourself, what am I OK with losing and what can I never get back if I make a mistake?”
3 Min Read
“What interests me the most is problem solving — and I love the process of finding optimal solutions.”
3 Min Read
During the Presidential campaign season in America, it can be almost impossible to escape the near constant coverage and conversations surrounding the premiere candidates and their positions on the issues. However, as voters look further down the ballot, they’ll find lesser-known candidates in local races who don’t receive the same kind of national attention that Presidential candidates do. As a result, voters may find themselves uninformed on those candidates' views and unsure of who they’d prefer to vote for. | https://www.aboutwayfair.com/category/tech-innovation |
Traditionals. STANDARD FORMULA ORIGINALLY NAMED. Ban Xia Huo Po Tang.
Only the finest hand-selected Chinese herbs are used. Rigorous manufacturing standards are applied at each stage of production.
From the Label
INGREDIENTS. Licoriccured pinellia rhizome, Magnolia bark, Poria, Dried ginger rhizome, Perilla leaf, Bupleurum root, Cyperus rhizome, Tangerine dried rind of green fruit, Turmeric root tuber, Polygala root. Fa ban xia,. Huo po, Fu ling, Gan jiang, Zi su ye, Chai hu, Xiang fu, Qing pi, Yu jin, Yuan zhi (da). 50 mg excipients & binders: silicon dioxide (glidant/dehydrant), stearic acid (lubricant/binder), microcellulose (coating).
Recommended Dosage (adult)
Recommended Adult Dosage. 1-2 tablets, 2-3 times daily. Use only as directed by your health care professional and seek their advice if pregnant or nursing.
Warnings: | https://www.premierformulas.com/kan-herbs-traditionals/augmented-plum-pit-qi-120-tabs/ |
The Department of Geo-information Processing (GIP) deals with the technological and methodological aspects of geo-information processing and infrastructure to solve complex application problems and to develop technology-oriented concepts for the new geo-information society.
GIP holds part of the expertise and competence in:
- Institutional (large volume) geo-information systems (i.e., the design and implementation of large geo-applications with long lifetimes). This part comprises the usual phases of information system design:
- Requirements analysis;
- Conceptual design;
- System development;
- System implementation;
- System maintenance.
- Software engineering for geo-functions entails computer programming methods and techniques in the small, as well as specific, advanced computational techniques of operating on spatial data sets.
- GDI-operations: Interoperability, OpenGIS, data standards & metadata: The use of geo-spatial data in networked environments provides various challenges, some of which can be addressed by a proper use of available technology. Geodata networks are multi-source, with the source set expected to grow rapidly. This causes problems of data formats, data duplication, redundancy, versioning and data identity
- GDI-use: Web-based access, dissemination (Interfaces & search mechanism) and usability The Internet, and more particular the world-wide web, is currently the medium to disseminate geo-spatial data and maps, and as such the vehicle of the GDI.
- Advanced GDI technology - Component GIS & Mobile GIS: This heading deals with the technology (hardware, software) required for putting networked spatial data provision into place. Implementation of
- GDI - as we currently know it - is one such important issue.
- Core dataset and multi-scale problems: The type of data that is likely be most transferred over the network will be core or framework data for a particular application. Since the core data will probably be collected at different resolutions, the client will need tools to generalize the data to resolution levels fit for use.
- Visual representation of geo-spatial data for exploration, analysis and presentation: Maps and graphics are not only used to present known facts about the geodata, but also to explore unknown datasets and extract knowledge from these data.
- Geo-spatial temporal representations: These days the geoscientist has many data sets available. Many of that data set has a temporal character (think of the satellite imagery collecting every cycle of the satellites).
- Virtual environments and collaborative visualization: The networked society also allows to communicate and work on a distance. Groups of people can work for instance one the same dataset and discuss solution. Virtual environments play a key role in the collaboration.
- Visualization of data quality: Today's GIS allow the combination of data sets from sources at different scales in all kind of spatial operations. It is not only important that the result of such analysis is communicated via well designed maps, it is maybe even more important that the user will be able to judge the quality of the result as well. | https://www.itc.nl/about-itc/organization/scientific-departments/geo-information-processing/profile/ |
RATIO: Vol. 32, No. 4, December 2019.
Evolutionary debunking arguments aim to undercut the epistemological status of our evaluative beliefs on the basis of the genesis of our belief-forming tendencies. This paper addresses the issue of whether responses to these arguments must be question-begging. It argues for a pragmatic understanding of question-beggingness, according to which whether an argument is questionbegging depends on the argumentative context. After laying out the debunking argument, the paper considers a variety of responses. It asks whether metaethical responses, such as Sharon Street's response that relies on a version of antirealism, can avoid begging the question. It argues that so-called thirdfactor responses, which rely on substantive evaluative views, are not questionbegging in all contexts. Similarly, it argues, the author's own quasi-tracking response is not question-begging in all contexts. Finally, the paper asks whether responses to the debunking argument can avoid begging the question against someone who is convinced at the outset that the argument is sound.
Objectivist Conditions for Defeat and Evolutionary Debunking Arguments, MICHAEL KLENK
The author makes a case for distinguishing clearly between subjective and objective accounts of undercutting defeat and for rejecting a hybrid view that takes both subjective and objective elements to be relevant for whether or not a belief is defeated. Moderate subjectivists claim that taking a belief to be defeated is sufficient for the belief to be defeated; subjectivist idealists add that if an idealized agent takes a belief to be defeated then the belief is defeated. Subjectivist idealism evades some of the objections leveled against moderate subjectivism but can be shown to yield inconsistent results in some cases. Both subjectivisms should be rejected. We should be objectivists regarding undercutting defeat. This requirement, however, is likely to be problematic for a popular interpretation of evolutionary debunking arguments in metaethics as it can be shown that existing objectivist accounts of defeat do not support such arguments. The author ends by discussing the constraints of developing such an account.
Striking Coincidences: How Realists Should Reason about Them, JEROEN HOPSTER
Many metaethicists assume that our normative judgments are both by and large true and the product of causal forces. In other words, many metaethicists assume that the set of normative judgments that causal forces have led us to make largely coincides with the set of true normative judgments. How should we explain this coincidence? This is what Sharon Street calls the practical/theoretical puzzle. Some metaethicists can easily solve this puzzle, but not all of them can, Street argues; she takes the puzzle to constitute a specific challenge for normative realism. This article elucidates Street's puzzle and outline possible solutions to it, framed in terms of a general strategy for reasoning about coincidences. The author argues that the success of Street's challenge crucially depends on how we set the reference class of normative judgments that we could have endorsed, assuming realism. The author concludes that while the practical/theoretical puzzle falls short of posing a general challenge for normative realism, it can be successful as a selective challenge for specific realist views.
Darwinizing Debunking Arguments, PAUL SHELDON DAVIES
To Darwinize a debunking argument is to broaden and thereby strengthen it in ways inspired by Charles Darwin. It is to employ Darwinian strategies that converge on the conclusion that certain putative phenomena--the reality of stance-independent moral properties, for instance--are illusory or epistemically problematic for animals like us. The aim of this essay is to defend one such strategy and illustrate its power relative to most evolutionary debunking arguments currently on offer.
What Can Debunking do for Us (Sceptics and Nihilists)? JONAS OLSON
Debunking arguments in metaethics are often presented as particularly challenging for nonnaturalistic versions of moral realism. The first aim of this paper is to explore and defend a response on behalf of nonnaturalism. The second aim of the paper is to argue that although nonnaturalism's response is satisfactory, this does not mean that debunking arguments are metaethically uninteresting. They have a limited and indirect role to play in the exchange between nonnaturalists and moral error theorists. In the end, debunking arguments do less for skeptics and nihilists than what is commonly thought, but not nothing.
The Dynamics of Moral Progress, JULIA HERMANN
Assuming that there is moral progress, and assuming that the abolition of slavery is an example of it, how does moral progress occur? Is it mainly driven by specific individuals who have gained new moral insights, or by changes in the socioeconomic and epistemic conditions in which agents morally judge the norms and practices of their society, and act upon these judgements? This paper argues that moral progress is a complex process in which changes at the level of belief and changes at the level of institutions and social practices are deeply intertwined, and that changes in the socioeconomic and epistemic conditions of moral agency constitute the main motor of moral progress. The author argues a view of moral progress by way of grappling with Michelle Moody-Adams's prominent philosophical account of it. This view is less intellectualistic and individualistic than hers, does not presuppose metaethical moral realism, and blurs her distinction between moral progress in beliefs and moral progress in social practices. The author points out the limits of humans to progress morally, which are partly grounded in our evolutionary history, and argues that moral progress is always of a local nature.
Debunking Leftward Progress, MICHAEL HUEMER
In earlier work, the author argued that observed changes in moral values over human history are best explained as cognitive progress: societies tend over the long term to move closer to the objective moral truth. It is also true that, in recent decades, liberal democracies have moved strongly in the direction of greater government regulation and wealth redistribution. Does this mean that extensive regulation and redistribution are objectively good? The author argues that the answer is no; these recent trends are importantly different from earlier examples of moral progress in ways that enable them to be satisfyingly explained without adverting to objective moral correctness.
Ethical Objectivity: The Test of Time, CARLA BAGNOLI
According to many, evolutionary accounts of ethics undermine the prospects of its objective foundation. By contrast, this paper argues that such evolutionary accounts discredit only the absolutist construal of moral truths as timeless but support other conceptions of objectivity as tested by time. Insofar as Kantian constructivism addresses the problem of ethical objectivity from the standpoint of temporal rational agents, it is not vulnerable to debunking arguments based on evolutionary explanations. In fact, recent work on evolutionary accounts of reasoning and inferences not only coheres with but it also reinforces the constructivist conception of practical reason as a problemsolving cooperative device apt to temporal and interdependent rational agents.
The Argument from Agreement: How Universal Values Undermine Moral Realism, HANNO SAUER
The most popular argument against moral realism is the argument from disagreement: if there are mind-independent moral facts, then we would not expect to find as much moral disagreement as we do; therefore, moral realism is false. This article develops the flipside of this argument. According to this argument from agreement, we would expect to find lots of moral disagreement if there were mind-independent moral facts. But we do not, in fact, find much moral disagreement; therefore, moral realism is false. The author defends the argument, explains the empirical evidence that supports it, and shows what makes this challenge novel and powerful. | https://www.thefreelibrary.com/RATIO%3A+Vol.+32%2C+No.+4%2C+December+2019.-a0609735536 |
Abstract. This paper solves a static and transportation facility location allocation problem defined as follows: given a set of locations Loc and a set of demand objects D located in Loc, the goal is to allocate a set of static facilities S and a set of transportation facilities T to the locations in Loc, which minimizes both the average travelling distance from D to S and the maximum transportation travelling distance between D and S through T. The problem is challenging because two types of facilities are involved and cooperate with each other. In this paper, we propose a static and transportation facility location allocation algorithm, called STFLS, to solve the problem. The method uses two steps of searching for static facility and transportation facility locations Experiments demonstrate the efficiency and practicality of the algorithm.
Wei Gu, Xin Wang, Liqiang Geng
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Waste management is constantly changing – product packaging, end markets for recyclable materials, issues of food waste, environmental regulations and policies at both provincial and federal levels, and the development of new technologies are all evolving with time. In order to adapt to these changes and to improve environmental outcomes, the City is undertaking a review of the Solid Waste Management Master Plan (SWMMP).
The review will start in the fall of 2019 and is expected to be complete in late 2020. The updated SWMMP will provide strategic direction for the next 25 years and will include recommendations that build on Guelph’s leadership in waste minimization and diversion for a sustainable, service-focused and economically viable future.
Your input matters!
Public and stakeholder consultation will be an important and integral part of the SWMMP review. The project will be informed by community and stakeholder input throughout the process. In addition, a Public Advisory Committee will be formed, made up of community members, who will provide input throughout all key stages of the review. If you’re interested in participating as a member of the Public Advisory Committee, the City will be soliciting interest in September. Stay tuned!
Anticipated engagement activities include:
- Workshops with various stakeholders;
- Public surveys;
- The formation of a Downtown Stakeholder Group;
- Engagement labs;
- Pop-up events; and
- Project feedback, information and updates on the Have Your Say Guelph engagement platform, available when the project kicks off in September 2019.
Overall, the intention will be that all recommendations arising from the SWMMP will be reviewed and carefully evaluated prior to submission to City Council in the fall of 2020.
A number of important operational, strategic and service-level questions will be explored during the review process:
- Where are we now in terms of program performance and waste diversion and where do we want to be in the future?
- How should the City adapt to ongoing legislative changes to waste management, including the transition of full financial and operating responsibility for the Blue Box program to the producers of consumer paper and packaging, starting in 2023.
- What approach, if any, should the City adopt to eliminate single-use plastics in Guelph?
- What can the City do to improve and enhance waste reduction and diversion programs?
- Does our current waste diversion target of 70% by 2021 still make sense?
- Is it reasonable for the City to deliver waste collection to industrial, institutional and commercial (IC&I) properties?
- Can we recover costs associated with delivering waste management services in a more equitable manner while still promoting waste diversion? Should the City consider user pay options?
- Can we improve how waste management services are delivered to downtown businesses in a more effective and efficient way?
An exciting and new feature of the upcoming SWMMP is an opportunity to engage the University of Guelph’s Ideas Congress (ICON) program as an added research support team. The ICON program involves students undertaking directed research and reporting to supplement in-depth investigation of various issues, such as those listed above.
Want to stay informed?
Email [email protected], subject line SWMMP, to be added to our email distribution list where you’ll get the latest on the SWMMP review progress. | http://guelph.ca/plans-and-strategies/solid-waste-management-master-plan/ |
Not your average test anxiety: How universities are using AI at the expense of student mental health and privacy
This past semester held new learning challenges and opportunities for University of Calgary students and educators alike. Some students embraced the new attire and classroom setting — pajamas and sweatpants in bed, while professors and teaching assistants (TAs) had no choice but to befriend the new technologies, in all of their glory and awkwardness, that made classes possible this year.
Professors and TAs learned the true meaning of “teaching into the void.” Yet there were surprising moments of connection brought about by the shared experience of 2020’s unprecedented events and the strange circumstances in which we all found ourselves: the unexpected intimacy of inviting people into our homes virtually, and of course, the joy of pet cameos that united animal lovers globally. But despite these shared experiences, the online environment is still a poor substitute for physical classrooms that facilitate the development of trust and connection between students and teachers. This crisis in relationships is a major factor contributing to the appeal of surveillance software in the virtual classroom.
Since the start of the pandemic, universities have scrambled to find ways to maintain academic integrity in the online classroom, with special consideration for how to accurately test student learning in an unpredictable environment like private living spaces. Companies have emerged to fill this need by contracting out e-proctoring software, but the technology is still new to the classroom and it is already raising ethical and educational concerns.
Dr. Ceceilia Parnther is an assistant professor of administrative and instructional leadership at the School of Education at St. John’s University in New York City and is studying the use of e-proctoring services in the classroom. Her research specifically involves e-proctoring software that requires users to authenticate their identity in order to participate in the online learning environment. There are numerous ways, according to Parnther, that these technologies approach authentication: through the use of facial recognition, having students scan their physical space to ensure that no one else is in the room or that there are no ambient sounds, monitoring eye and mouth movements to determine if students are looking away from their exams or speaking to someone during the exam process and even technology that will lock down the browser and internet so that students can’t open up other windows to search for answers when writing exams.
After the exam is completed, a percentage of trustworthiness is calculated by the software’s algorithm which accompanies the student’s exam to be graded by the professor or the TA. Trustworthiness is based on the software’s evaluation of how easily the student was able to authenticate themselves or remain consistent during the exam. It is up to the person grading the exam to decide whether to either evaluate the report themselves or to rely solely on the software’s evaluation in order to determine whether or not the student was committing academic misconduct. Parnther says that often graders don’t review the trustworthiness of the report and instead just assign zeros for academic misconduct.
There have been many anecdotal reports worldwide about how these new methods of testing are negatively impacting student anxiety and increasing the stress of exams. Students are no longer just worrying about the content of their exams, but also their testing environments, bodily movements, the reliability of their technology as well as their internet connection. Furthermore, these anxieties may be more pronounced for students belonging to a racial minority group or a lower socio-economic status, as they are stigmatized and disadvantaged by the new testing methods.
This is a topic of interest for Parnther, who says that when speaking about equity in this context, she is talking about how “certain students are suppressed further because we’re automatically jumping to surveillance.” Most e-proctoring software relies on artificially intelligent (AI) software to authenticate and monitor students.
In regard to AI’s influence on minorities, Parnther says that “the science is there. AI is still catching up on being able to discern the facial characteristics of minority groups.” Some examples she gives are of how soap dispensers and the Apple ID often struggle to detect darker skin or to distinguish between the features of Asian women, respectively. In the case of student examinations, there have been instances where students of colour are told to find better lighting because the software does not recognize their faces. Parnther also questions the potential impacts this could have on students who identify as non-binary. Algorithms operate in a binary way, she says, forcing students to identify themselves in normative terms that make sense to the technology.
In addition to the ethical implications of identification, there is the question of data collection. Parnther explains how “part of the participation of using this software is signing off on someone being allowed to capture and store this information.” Companies are not always transparent about who has access to this information and in the case of minoritized populations, this issue comes with historical baggage. Parnther says that in the United States, there have been issues with marginalized populations who have had their data used for ill gains and been lied to about the circumstances surrounding data collection. For some students, the idea of being surveilled could trigger deep and complex anxieties.
Parnther is careful not to assign malicious intent behind the development of e-proctoring technologies. She says that these oversights aren’t because “some engineer decided that they didn’t want everyone to be able to wash their hands, but when you have that many oversights and it extends into student learning and assessment then it’s something that we really have to pause and ask ourselves about.” She says that she doesn’t believe that these companies set out to be racist or biased, but “when normative assumptions are being placed to determine trustworthiness, we have a problem. Because my skin tone doesn’t match what the algorithm can easily pick up, so I have to adjust, or my eye movements don’t match what the algorithm says is appropriate so now I have to adjust […] how many adjustments am I making before I even get to the business of demonstrating learning?”
Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton is an associate professor at the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary and is also concerned with the impact this technology could have on the diverse student body at the University of Calgary. She describes a recent case where a student living with family was writing an exam using e-proctoring software, when an older member of the family entered the room and started questioning the student about what they were doing in their family’s native language. Despite the student’s desperate attempts to get the family member out of the room so that they could complete their exam, the test was flagged as a case of misconduct.
Eaton uses this as an example to highlight how e-proctoring software could “discriminate against students who might be living in multi-generational homes with other people of the house who might not be familiar with our educational system or possess English language abilities.”
She points out that the agreements between e-proctoring companies and universities are often multi-year contracts, so there is no trial run for these services. They are also very expensive technologies, causing Eaton to question whether that money might be better spent on staff and professors to help support students through this period, rather than on technology with an effectiveness that is still being contested. Even now, companies are developing technologies to undermine e-proctoring software. One way they are doing this is through manufacturing video loops to combat the software’s monitoring capabilities. There has also been no data on how much it would cost the university in increased labour charges if these softwares were implemented.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the technology added significantly to academic workload for professors and TAs who will be spending a lot more time reviewing videos for cases of academic misconduct,” said Eaton.
For now, the University of Calgary stands out against its Calgary post-secondary counterparts, SAIT and Mount Royal University, which have been using e-proctoring software since the fall. The university has announced that at least for the winter semester it will not be using e-proctoring software for exams, but Students’ Union president Frank Finley cautions that “the university could change its mind at any point.” He encourages students who may be concerned about the implementation of this technology to make their voices heard. Students can reach out to the Students’ Union, the head of their departments or the dean’s office of their faculties to make their feelings known. Their feedback can then be saved “to continue the fight in the future” if need be, says Finley.
Finley was involved in the crisis management team at the University of Calgary over the summer months and had been advocating against the implementation of these technologies from the beginning. He observed that a lot of the support for e-proctoring technologies came from seeing how other universities in Calgary and across Canada had chosen to sign on with these companies, but Finley believes that it is “a poor excuse to do something simply because other universities are doing it themselves.”
Eaton echoes this skepticism, saying that up until now, universities have only been hearing about the success of these softwares through company sales pitches, but “sales pitches aren’t data.” She says that as a research institution, the University of Calgary should be basing its decisions off of research.
It is important that students remember that they have a say in their education and have a right to stand up for themselves, especially if they feel that their learning experience is being compromised or is at risk. Parnther says that she believes “change only really comes when students stand up and say ‘this is uncomfortable… I have anxiety over this. I can’t participate in the learning experience because I have to do all of these things just to be able to take an exam to show what I’ve learned.’ That’s not why you come to college. I think change comes when students realise that they have rights and recognize that we should be assessing learning in ways that don’t devalue them as people.” | |
Crossing the geographic boundaries of a nation virtually to learn something new is what transnational learning is all about. Throughout the globe, across the countries there is a huge diversity not only in culture but also in education and learning. A course available in one country may not necessarily be available in another country, and it is not always feasible to hop around different countries and places to study it. If the same quality of education can be provided without leaving one’s comfort zone, then what is the purpose of settling for a regular, domestic course? From here starts the journey of transnational learning.
With the journey of Distance Learning, learner environments can change dramatically. In transnational settings, with different cultures, languages, and even ideas about what constitutes education, this change can be amplified to great degrees. Seven transnational students from around the world were asked to explain their stories and synthesize them in this chapter. These case studies paint a picture of the variety and similarities of studying across countries and cultures, showing how vastly different learner experiences can be, yet how education can exist in many contexts and under many different conditions. These seven case studies bring the focus of transnational study to the learner's perspective. This chapter itself also illustrates the mechanics of how students from across the globe can work together in creating and learning from each other, regardless of distance. The chapter was constructed as a global team, to highlight for the reader the individual transnational learner environments.
As shown in Figure 1, the student authors were selected from all over the world. Each author has their own respective learning background and field of study, making the chapter diverse and valuable. The chapter consists of the student sections. The authors composed their section showing their own experience through transnational learning and, thanks to file sharing, were able to initiate working together without much concern for distance. As our individual stories formed, we were able to discuss with each other how to enhance the chapter and complete the introduction and conclusion via Skype and email. Even real world considerations like personal vacations did not limit the completion of this chapter. The method used to create the chapter shows how to work with distance learning, and it can be useful for transnational educators too.
The student authors in this chapter used DropBox, Skype, and email to coordinate their writing
This chapter explores several prominent and recurring themes in distance learning as experienced by the seven co-authors through their learning experiences. Some of the prominent themes that will be explored are the flexibility that online learning provides to learners; its convenience over traditional classrooms; the sense of connectedness and the use of social networks to create a sense of connectedness. It also explores pivotal notions such as the cost effectiveness of online learning, quality when compared to traditional learning methods, and the opportunities that distance learning provides for learners who do not have access to mainstream education or for those who are not limited by commitments to their family and work. The chapter will explore in particular how these themes vary and how they are similar, given the transnational background of the writers.
In the following sections, each of the co-authors describes his/her experiences and views about transnational distance learning. The unique feature of this section is that the authors are from very different countries with widely varying Internet access and educational needs. | https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/transnational-distance-learning/63321 |
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Taxon:
Silene dioica
(L.) Clairv.
Genus:
Silene
Family:
Caryophyllaceae
Subfamily:
Caryophylloideae
Tribe:
Sileneae
Nomen number:
316832
Place of publication:
Man. herbor. Suisse 146. 1811
Link to protologue:
Name Verified on:
22-Apr-2012 by ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
0 (0 active, 0 available)
in National Plant Germplasm System
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations:
(≡ homotypic synonym, = heterotypic synonym, - autonym, I invalid designation)
Basionym:
Lychnis dioica
L.
(=)
Melandrium rubrum
(Weigel) Garcke
Common names:
red campion
(Source:
Dict Gard
) - English
silène dioïque
(Source:
F NAmer
) - French
rote Lichtnelke
(Source:
Zander Ency
) - German
rödblära
(Source:
Kulturvaxtdatabas
) - Swedish
Economic Importance:
Environmental:
ornamental; ornamental; ornamental; ornamental
Distributional Range:
Native
Africa
NORTHERN AFRICA:
Morocco
Europe
NORTHERN EUROPE:
Denmark,
Finland,
Ireland,
Norway,
Sweden,
United Kingdom
MIDDLE EUROPE:
Austria,
Belgium,
Czech Republic,
Germany,
Hungary,
Netherlands,
Poland,
Slovakia,
Switzerland
EASTERN EUROPE:
Belarus,
Estonia,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Russian Federation-European part,
[European part (w.)]
Ukraine
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE:
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Bulgaria
(w.)
,
Croatia,
Italy,
Macedonia,
Montenegro,
Romania,
Serbia,
Slovenia
SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE:
France,
Spain
(n.)
Cultivated
(also cult.)
Naturalized
Australasia
AUSTRALIA:
Australia
[New South Wales, Victoria]
NEW ZEALAND:
New Zealand
Northern America
EASTERN CANADA:
Canada
[New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec]
WESTERN CANADA:
Canada
[British Columbia, Manitoba]
NORTHEASTERN U.S.A.:
United States
[Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont]
NORTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.:
United States
[Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Wisconsin]
NORTHWESTERN U.S.A.:
United States
[Montana, Oregon, Washington]
SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.:
United States
[Maryland]
Southern America
BRAZIL:
Brazil
[Rio Grande do Sul]
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA:
Argentina
[Buenos Aires, Tierra del Fuego]
References:
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson.
2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
URL:
www.skud.info
Allan, H. H. B. et al.
1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
Czerepanov, S. K.
1995. Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR) Cambridge University Press.
Note:
=
Melandrium dioicum
Erhardt, W. et al.
2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen
Euro+Med Editorial Committee.
Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
FNA Editorial Committee.
1993-. Flora of North America.
Forzza, R. C. et al., coord.
Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
Greuter, W. et al., eds.
1984-. Med-Checklist.
Huxley, A., ed.
1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion.
2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
Jalas, J. & J. Suominen.
1972-. Atlas florae europaeae.
Lazarides, M. & B. Hince.
1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium.
1976. Hortus third.
Porcher, M. H. et al.
Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds.
1993. Flora europaea, ed. 2.
Walters, S. M. et al., eds.
1986-2000. European garden flora.
Check other web resources for
Silene dioica
(L.) Clairv. :
Flora Europaea
:
Database of European Plants (ESFEDS)
Flora of North America
:
Collaborative Floristic Effort of North American Botanists
PLANTS
:
USDA-NRCS Database of Plants of the United States and its Territories
BONAP
North American Plant Atlas
of the
Biota of North America Program
:
Flora del Conosur
:
Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares del Conosur
AVH
:
Australia's Virtual Herbarium
TROPICOS
:
Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
ePIC
:
Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
AGRICOLA:
Article Citation Database
or
NAL Catalog
of USDA's National Agricultural Library
Entrez
:
NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.
PubAg
:
USDA's National Agricultural Library database of full-text journal articles and citations on the agricultural sciences.
Images:
Seed
:
U.S. National Seed Herbarium image
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2020. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN-Taxonomy).
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=316832. Accessed 6 June 2020. | https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=316832 |
Survey: In IoT, Networking Team Leadership Drives Project Success
Leadership by network teams on IoT initiatives is a key driver of project success, according to networking professionals who responded to a recent survey by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA).
Network teams that were successful with their IoT initiatives were 2.5 more times likely to play a leading role in implementation of all their organization’s IoT initiatives, according to the report by the Boulder, Colo.-based industry analyst and consulting firm, which surveyed 100 North American IT professionals who are involved in planning, operating or implementing their organization’s networks and who are directly involved in IoT projects at their companies.
With a significant group of the organizations surveyed reporting six or more ongoing IoT initiatives, and wireless LAN as the most essential IoT networking technology in their portfolio, the mix of tactical and strategic expertise possessed by the network team is crucial to ensuring everything from network availability and performance to security. Successful individuals were more likely to be involved in every aspect of how networks support IoT, especially analyzing and reporting how the network supports IoT initiatives to other functional groups in IT and the business.
“Network teams that lead all IoT initiatives reported higher levels of success, and those exclusively playing a supporting role were the least successful,” EMA senior analyst Shamus McGillicuddy wrote in “The Internet of Things and Enterprise Networks: Planning, Engineering and Operational Strategies. “The network infrastructure team should establish itself as an owner of IoT initiatives as soon as possible.”
The report aimed to offer some early guidance and suggestions on best practices that network infrastructure professionals can adopt when tasked with supporting IoT initiatives.
Network teams reported playing multiple roles in IoT projects, including monitoring IoT network availability and performance, helping to research and evaluate IoT networking solutions, and planning and deploying IoT-related networks. They play leading roles in deploying IoT devices and implementing IoT device security policy and access controls. They’re also working to identify new opportunities for the network infrastructure team to support IoT, according to the report.
Two key challenges—monitoring network performance and availability and ensuring network security as connectivity increases—are evident for network professionals surveyed. It’s not surprising, then, that their most essential partners are IT service management and security teams. Some 52 percent of respondents reported that IoT has created or worsened blind spots in their network monitoring architecture, and of those, 40 percent have experienced a security breach.
Some 68 percent of network teams have extended their monitoring tools to monitor and manage IoT devices. To improve visibility into IoT networking, network teams are upgrading the network data processing capacity of their monitoring tools, upgrading their monitoring tool licenses to account for device growth, and installing network visibility controllers.
In turn, organizations recognize the need for faster, real-time analysis of network data in overcoming these challenges, with the majority indicating its value in helping to detect IoT security incidents and threats and helping to monitor IoT services—and as a result, distributed edge analytics is a common feature of IoT architecture.
Overall, the space is an enormous opportunity for network professionals to forge strong partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure that the multitude of IoT initiatives within an organization not only stay on track and provide ROI, but create the new products and business models that drive digital transformation. | https://www.iotworldtoday.com/2017/06/03/survey-iot-networking-team-leadership-drives-project-success/ |
The mobile Website refers to the use of browser-based Internet services from handheld mobile devices, such as smartphones or feature phones, through a mobile or other wireless network.
Traditionally, access to the World Wide Web has been via fixed-line services on laptops and desktop computers. However, the Web is becoming more accessible by portable and wireless devices. An early 2010 ITU (International Telecommunication Union) report said that with the current growth rates, web access by people on the laptops and smart mobile devices is likely to exceed web access from desktop computers within the next five years. In January 2014 the time of mobile access to the internet exceeded desktop use in the USA. The shift to mobile Web access has been accelerating with the rise since 2007 of larger multitouch smartphones, and of multitouch tablet computers since 2010. Both platforms provide better Internet access, screens, and mobile browsers- or application-based user Web experiences than previous generations of mobile devices have done. Web designers may work separately on such pages, or pages may be automatically converted as in Mobile Wikipedia.
The distinction between mobile Web applications and native applications is anticipated to become increasingly blurred, as mobile browsers gain direct access to the hardware of mobile devices (including accelerometers and GPS chips), and the speed and abilities of browser-based applications improve. Persistent storage and access to sophisticated user interface graphics functions may further reduce the need for the development of platform-specific native applications.
The Mobile Web has also been called Web 3.0, drawing parallels to the changes users were experiencing as Web 2.0 websites proliferated.
Mobile Web access today still suffers from interoperability and usability problems. Interoperability issues stem from the platform fragmentation of mobile devices, mobile operating systems, and browsers. Usability problems are centered on the small physical size of the mobile phone form factors (limits on display resolution and user input/operating). Despite these shortcomings, many mobile developers choose to create apps using mobile Web. A June 2011 research on mobile development found mobile Web the third most used platform, trailing Android and iOS.
In an article in Communications of the ACM in April 2013, Web technologist Nicholas C. Zakas, noted that mobile phones in use in 2013 were more powerful than Apollo 11's 70 lb (32 kg) Apollo Guidance Computer used in the July 1969 lunar landing. However, in spite of their power, in 2013, mobile devices still suffer from Web performance with slow connections similar to the 1996 stage of Web development. Mobile devices with slower download request/response times, the latency of over-the-air data transmission,with "high-latency connections, slower CPUs, and less memory" force developers to rethink Web applications created for desktops with "wired connections, fast CPUs, and almost endless memory. | https://squareit.in/mobile-website |
One of the pioneers of plate tectonics, W. Jason Morgan, recognised in the 1970s that chains of volcanic islands and seamounts that rise from the ocean floor may have formed as the movement of lithospheric plates passed over sources of magma that lay in the mantle beneath the plates. He suggested that such hotspots were fixed relative to plate movements at the surface and likened the formation of chains such as that to the west of the volcanically active of the Hawaiian ‘Big Island’ to linear scorching of a sheet of paper moved over a candle flame. If true, it should be possible to use hotspots as a framework for the absolute motion of lithospheric plates rather than the velocities of individual plates relative to the others. But Morgan’s hypothesis has been debated ever since he formulated it. A test would be to see whether or not plumes of rising hot material in the deep part of the mantle can be detected. This became one of the first objectives of seismic tomography when it was devised in the last decade of the 20th century: a method that uses global earthquakes records to detect parts of the mantle where seismic waves traveled faster or slower than the norm: effectively patches of hot (probably rising) and cold rock. The first such evidence was equally hotly debated, one view being that the magma sources beneath oceanic islands such as Hawaii and Iceland were actually related to plate tectonics and that the hotspot hypothesis had become a kind of belief system.
The problem was that mantle plumes supposedly linked to magmatic hotspots in the upper mantle would be so thin that they would be difficult to detect even with seismic tomography. Geophysicists have been trying to sharpen up seismic resolution partly by using supercomputers to analyse more and more seismic records and also by improving the theory about how seismic waves interact with 3-D mantle structure. This has culminated in more believable visualisation of mantle structure (French, S.W. & Romanowicz, B. 2015. Broad plumes rooted at the base of the Earth’s mantle beneath major hotspots). The two researchers from the University of California at Berkeley in fact showed something different, but still robust support for Morgan’s 40-year old ideas. Instead of thin plumes, they have been able to show much broader conduits beneath at least 5 and maybe more active ends of hotspot chains. The zones extend upwards from the core-mantle boundary to about 1000 km below the Earth’s surface, where some bend sideways towards hotspots, perhaps as a result of another kind of upper mantle circulation.
The sources of these hot columns at the core-mantle boundary appear to be zones of very low shear-wave velocities; i.e. almost, but not quite molten blobs. French and Romanowicz suggest that the columns are extremely long-lived and may even have a chemical dimension – as in the hypothesis of mantle heterogeneity. Another interesting feature of their results is that the striking vertical linearity of the columns could indicate that the overall motion of the lower mantle is extremely sluggish and punctured by discrete convection. | https://earthlogs.org/tag/core-mantle-boundary/ |
Tobias (Toby) Siegal is a breaking news editor and contributor to The Times of Israel.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have successfully altered the blood type of three donor kidneys, potentially increasing the supply of kidneys available for transplants.
According to the study, published Monday, the groundbreaking discovery could have significant implications for kidney patients and particularly for patients from ethnic minorities, who are less likely to find a match for the majority of donated kidneys.
Patients may only receive kidney donations from donors with the same blood type as theirs, and people within the same ethnic group are more likely to have the same blood type.
“One of the biggest restrictions to who a donated kidney can be transplanted to is the fact that you have to be blood group compatible,” said Mike Nicholson, professor of transplant surgery at Cambridge.
“The reason for this is that you have antigens and markers on your cells that can be either A or B. Your body naturally produces antibodies against the ones you don’t have,” he added.
But this may soon become irrelevant.
Using a normothermic perfusion machine, usually used for pumping oxygenated blood through an organ for preservation, scientists flushed blood infused with a certain enzyme through a deceased kidney.
The enzyme, described in the study as “molecular scissors,” effectively removed specific markers from blood vessels that determined its type, resulting in the blood being converted to the most common O type.
Changing the blood type to the universal O will allow more transplants overall because O can be used for people with any blood group.
“By taking B type human kidneys and pumping the enzyme through the organ using our normothermic perfusion machine, we saw in a matter of just a few hours that we had converted a B type kidney into an O type,” Ph.D. student Serena MacMillan said. B blood type is more common among minority communities, the study said.
Between 2020 and 2021, about nine percent of all organ donations came from black and minority ethnic donors, the study said. At the same time, black and minority ethnic patients make up 33% of the kidney transplant waiting list. Patients from ethnic minority groups can sometimes wait a year longer for a transplant than white patients.
While the study marks a potential breakthrough, scientists will still need to test how the modified O type kidney reacts in patients’ bodies. | https://www.timesofisrael.com/scientists-alter-kidney-blood-type-potentially-increasing-transplant-availability/ |
It seems like everywhere you look, you see Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles being discussed and transforming the way business is done. If I could describe it in a very succinct way, it is that ESG is a cluster of non-financial factors that have a real financial impact.
[insights]
- ESG allows you to evaluate the sustainability, ethics, and responsibilities of your organization through three central pillars.
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- Since the 1990s, stakeholders have become increasingly focused on how different organizations stack up from an ESG perspective.
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- Organizations that ignore ESG could face consequences like limited access to funding, negative feedback from customers, and a decline in employee recruitment and retention.
What is ESG?
Environmental, Social, and Governance is a framework to assess the three central factors in measuring and assessing the sustainable, responsible, and ethical structure of an organization. In considering ESG you need to look at where you operate, what you sell (the goods and services), and the stakeholders that are impacted within that sphere of influence including both up and down the actual supply chain itself. The three framework pillars are:
Environmental
The first pillar of ESG is environmental. This encompasses how an organization is exposed to and manages risks and opportunities related to climate and natural resource scarcity, pollution waste, and other environmental factors.
Social
The second pillar, social, focuses on an organization's values and business relationships. For example, social topics include labour and supply chain standards, employee health and safety product quality and safety, diversity equity and inclusion policies, and efforts on privacy and data security.
Governance
The last pillar is governance. This is where we incorporate information on the structure and diversity of the board of directors, executive compensation, critical event responsiveness, and corporate resiliency. This area includes policies on lobbying, political contributions, bribery and corruption.
A Brief History of ESG
To get to where ESG is at today, you need to look at where it has evolve from. Prior to the 1970s, shareholder primacy was the foremost thought at the time. It was the fundamental reason for a company's existence, but the '70s introduced this idea of social contract and the concept that there is more than just the shareholder that a company needed to keep in mind.
In the '90s, we moved forward and defined the triple bottom line. Three distinct topics that were identified that were a way to evolve the idea of idea of social contract as financial, social, and environmental. This is where things took an interesting twist. These were meant to be three equal parts, but the approaches really remained more of a marketing tool that allowed businesses to make these grand gestures and yet also allowed corporate inaction to take root.
The ESG movement started its current rise to dominance back in 2005. It came on stream for businesses that needed to measure the real sustainable and societal impacts of their outputs. The critical difference was now that ESG was measured. It is quantifiable and criteria-led, allowing businesses to fully integrate better those environmental, social and governance strategies into their core DNA.
Over the next decade, with the confusion around all the standards and frameworks that are globally being accepted there was a need to come back to this idea of some grounding forces, or a baseline from what to work from. All of these came back to the idea of what the United Nations put together in 2015 with the sustainable development goals.
These 17 goals really do underlie the foundational principles for all global sustainability approaches and it was a universal call to action. It was a way to end poverty, to protect the planet, and strive for all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
Evolution of Sustainability
1970s - Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Began when the Committee for Economic Development announced the concept of social contract between business and society in 1971.
1994 - Triple Bottom Line
Companies should prepare three bottom lines:
- The bottom line
- The people account
- The planet account
2005 - ESG
First coined in 2015 "Who Cares Wins" study by the UN Global Compact, which concluded that better investment leads to sustainable societies.
2015 - UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
The UN set 17 sustainable goals that encourage "companies to adopt sustainable practices and reporting".
Drivers of ESG Change
The drivers of ESG change and real and consequential. For example, if you rely on capital, the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative created the Principles for Responsible Banking in 2019. It has been adopted by more than 206 banks, representing more than 1.6 billion customers worldwide and 40 percent of the global financial assets and growing. The focus is to drive change via the banking community through a positive contribution to people on the planet that society expects.
Similarly, investors, whether individually championed or through asset managers like BlackRock, are increasingly disposed to vote against management and board of directors when they see those companies are not making sufficient progress on sustainability-related disclosures. It's more than just words, they actually have voted against or withheld votes from 800 directors at over 2,700 different companies now.
These are just a few of the many emerging drivers businesses are required to consider:
- BANKING & INVESTORS: Access to and deployment of capital, including cost of capital.
- GOVERNMENT: Public policy to influence action by organizations to reduce carbon footprint, including conditions associated with pandemic relief funding.
- REGULATORS: Embedding sustainability measures in regulatory decisions and approvals for new projects/capital deployment.
- CUSTOMERS: Greater activism by customers impacting with whom they do business, including whom they influence through social media.
- SUPPLY CHAIN: Influencing participants within the full business cycle – upstream and downstream.
- ACCOUNTING STANDARD SETTING BODIES: Evolving from guidance for enhanced adoption of sustainability criteria to mandatory reporting.
- SECURITIES COMMISSIONS: Driving expectations for standard disclosures across all publicly listed entities with a focus towards integrated reporting.
- EMPLOYEES: Attraction and retention of skilled workers linked to corporate positioning on sustainability issues across the ESG spectrum.
Supporting your journey to sustainability
ESG is not a destination, but an iterative and ongoing process that your business must embrace over its entire lifecycle. To realize the advantages requires a commitment to continuously invest in, manage, and monitor ESG efforts. No matter where you are on your ESG journey, our team can assess your initiatives and help you move toward maturity. To get started, contact Edward Olson, Leader, Environmental, Social, and Governance. | https://www.mpact.ca/mpact-09-2021/esg-primer/ |
A common query people ask when in a long marriage is: the length of time does a romance last? This depends on a couple’s time, marital position, and other factors. If a few has been online dating for five years and then divide, that might mean that they’ve been in a romance for seven years. In case the couple has been dating for more than 3 years, they are really more likely to divorce right away.
As the number of couples in a long-distance romance increases, lovers should try to travel to each other more usually. For example , lovers who live a few hours a part should try to find out each other every single weekend. If they live a split day separate, it is best to connect with up every month. Also couples who are inside the same region need to visit the other person every several months. When a couple lives country wide, it’s http://kram.afr.pl/2018/12/page/24/ a better idea to try to watch each other at least once a month.
It’s important to note a long distance relationship could be a complicated situation. When others couples make it through and even flourish during a extended distance period, others separate shortly after the reunion. If you want your relationship to remain healthy and balanced and previous, you must know how to overcome distance and just how long it is going to last. It is important to build plans pertaining to when you can fulfill in person, since ignoring virtually any problems will surely make details worse.
A long distance romance is troublesome and requires a whole lot of work. In case the relationship turns into toxic, it could be better to separation temporarily. A romantic relationship can become not bearable because of the lack of emotional interconnection and closeness. Sometimes, long-distance relationships may even result in a divorce in case the partners aren’t reconcile. When you have issues with your lover, it’s best to address these people face-to-face. Disregarding them could only exacerbate the down sides.
In so that it will make your romantic relationship last, you will need to consider the place of your spouse. For example , a couple just who lives several hours a part should make an effort to meet in person at least once per month. In a few many months, a couple that may be living 50 % https://weddingbells.ca/2021-wedding-trends/ an hour or so apart should be able to meet once per year. Several who lives in the same region should try to fulfill at least once every two weeks.
It is important to get sensible about how long a long distance romantic relationship will last. A long-distance marriage should last for at least 6 months. However , we recommend that you and your partner continue to keep speak to every single other as often as possible. In fact , you must have more than an individual face-to-face get together to stay close. If you will discover any problems, make sure you address them as soon as you may.
The more physically close you are to each other, the for a longer time your relationship will last. A couple of that is a few hours aside should try to meet each other every 2 weeks. A couple that lives more than two hours a part should try to meet up with each other every other week or perhaps month. If they stay in the same nation, they should meet at least once every 3 months. If a couple is only a few hours apart, they should try to meet the other person https://bestasianbrides.com/how-we-review as frequently as possible.
If the couple lives very good apart, it is advisable to spend more hours together. When you live only a couple of hours apart, it would be far better to check out each other every weekend. Should you are half an hour or less aside, you should try in order to meet once on a monthly basis. If you reside in similar country, it’d be better to meet up every several months. Keeping in touch with your partner is a good approach to keep the relationship good and avoid breakups.
If the partner lives a few hours aside, you should try in order to meet him or her as frequently as possible. If the distance between you is no more than two hours, you should try to go to each other every other weekend. In case your partner lives more than half one hour away, you must make plans to meet at least once a month. If you have a home in the same region, it’s important to talk regularly. If your spouse contains an occupation, it’s important that they can know about work and school routine. | https://yourcedesign.com/how-long-does-a-longer-distance-romantic-relationship-last/ |
Creamy Lemon Chicken Recipe: A Fabulous Lemon Chicken Recipe From the Slow Cooker by Ann Marie G.H. Patitucci
Chicken and the flavor of lemon are two of my favorite things, so this lemon chicken recipe is right up my alley! The fact that it’s made for the slow cooker makes it perfect for busy night cooking.
I love a slow cooker recipe with the option of cooking it on high or low, depending on how much time you have. Serve this easy chicken recipe with rice and your favorite vegetable.
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours (on high) or 3 hours (on low)
Total Time: 5 hours and 10 minutes (high) or 3 hours and 10 minutes (low)
Servings: 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 lemons, juiced and zested
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (divided)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon chicken base, optional (I use Better Than Bouillon brand)
Here's how to make it:
- Add butter to a large skillet (cast iron, ideally) and melt on medium-high heat. Sprinkle salt, pepper and Italian seasoning on the chicken and add it to the pan. Cook on each side for 4 to 6 minutes.
- Add chicken to the slow cooker and cover it with lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic and the rest of the butter, cut into square pieces. (Don't cook the lemons in the slow cooker.) Cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours.
- In a bowl, whisk together the half and half, cornstarch and chicken base, if using. Add the liquid to the slow cooker, mix all ingredients and cook an additional hour on high. Serve over rice.
Need help converting cooking and baking measurements? Here are some handy kitchen conversion charts.
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Washington, DC, October 28, 2022 — A recent NPR/Ipsos poll among Americans who use streaming services to watch TV or movies finds that nine in ten say the cost of a streaming subscription is important in their decision to subscribe, including nearly two in three who feel it is very important. This is closely followed by access to specific content.
At the same time, most streaming service users feel that there are too many choices, and nearly three in five agree that they are overwhelmed with amount of content available. Lastly, while crackdowns on login sharing are not a big concern among most streaming service users, they are of bigger concern to younger streaming users.
Detailed Findings
1. While streaming service users view cost as a very important factor when choosing to keep or drop a streaming service, it is not the only factor, as content also plays a key role.
- Ninety-two percent of respondents who use streaming services say the monthly or annual cost of a streaming platform is important in their decision to subscribe. Nearly two in three (65%) feel that it is very important.
- Parents with children under the age of 18 (74%) are more likely than those without children under 18 (62%) to say cost is very important.
- While cost is an important factor, so too is the content provided on the platform. Eighty-seven percent report that whether a streaming service has specific shows or movies available is important in their decision to subscribe. Forty-six percent say that it is very important.
- When asked about the motivating factors to drop a service, the numbers closely mirror that of the question around keeping a service. Again, cost and available content are at the top of the list.
- Our poll shows streaming service users do have a tipping point in regard to how much more they would pay for their favorite service each month. Fifty-eight percent agree that they would continue to pay for their most used streaming service if the cost increased by $5 per month. However, just one in three would continue to use that service if the cost increased by $10 per month.
2. While most streaming service users currently subscribe to more than one streaming service, they are also signaling the amount of choice available in the market is starting to become overwhelming.
- Sixty-nine percent of streaming service users agree that there are too many streaming services and platforms available, and 58% agree that they feel overwhelmed by the amount of content available through streaming services.
- Along these lines, 55% of streaming service users say that it has gotten harder to navigate what content is on which streaming platform they use.
- On average, these users subscribe to at least three platforms (3.55). Half say they have changed the number of streaming services they use, either by adding or dropping, in the past year.
3. As some platforms look to crack down on login sharing, most streaming users do not rank the ability to share high on their list of deciding factors to keep or drop a service. It is, however, more important to younger streaming users.
- Among those who report using someone else’s login information to access at least one streaming platform (28% of respondents), the vast majority say they are sharing with an immediate family member outside of their household (77%).
- Streaming users under age 35 are more likely to report sharing login information than older users, but they still report doing so with someone in their family.
- The ability to share login information is not a key driver in streaming users’ decisions to subscribe to platforms. Less than half (43%) say that the ability to share login information is important in their decision to subscribe, including just 18% say that is very important. However, among 18-34 year old users, 57% say that being able to share login information is important, including 27% that say this is very important.
- When forced to choose which behavior by platforms concerns them more, increasing prices or cracking down on login sharing, the vast majority say increasing prices is more concerning (83% vs. 15%). Once again, 18–34-year-old streaming users are the most concerned age group about streaming services cracking down on login sharing (23%).
About the Study
This NPR/Ipsos poll was conducted September 9 – 11, 2022, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,031 general population adults age 18 or older. The sample includes 765 people who use streaming services. To qualify for the survey, respondents needed to subscribe to streaming services (either paid/subscription based streaming service or live TV streaming service).
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.10. For those who use streaming services, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. This margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.10 for those who use streaming services.The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on other sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.
The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2021 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
About Ipsos
Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.
Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.
Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).
ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP www.ipsos.com
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Ipsos is delighted to be taking part in this year’s Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care conference – an event dedicated to sharing the latest science and best practices, understanding innovations in the safety of health care providers and patients, and sharpening the focus of HF/E initiatives. | https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/cost-and-content-are-key-for-those-deciding-to-keep-or-drop-streaming-services |
The "Global Transmission Electron Microscope Market 2017-2021" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.
The global transmission electron microscope market to grow at a CAGR of 8.56% during the period 2017-2021.
Electron microscopes are broadly categorized as TEM and SEM. This report covers the market size, growth opportunities, challenges, and trend of the global TEM market. TEMs use a beam of electrons that are transmitted through an ultra-thin specimen, which then interact with the specimen as they pass through it. From the interaction, an image is formed, which is then magnified and focused on a fluorescent screen upon a layer of photographic film, for getting detected by a sensor; for example, a charge-coupled device.
The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is Development of newer forms of TEMs. As TEMs can present 2D images of the specimen, there is a limit to the size of the specimen that has to be viewed. Newer models of TEMs combine the features of both TEM as well as SEM. Nion, a prominent vendor in the TEM market, used to manufacture the second generation spherical aberration corrector for TEM, which has shifted to exclusively manufacturing STEMs due to its high advantages over TEM.
According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is Increasing focus on nanotechnology. Nanotechnology involves working with materials having a size ranging from 1 to 100 nanometers. Advancement and improvement in the field of nanotechnology require working at atomic and molecular levels, for which TEMs or other electron microscopes are required, which have the capacity to see materials at a nanolevel.
Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is complicated and time-consuming sample preparation process. For preparing the sample to be observed, many complicated steps are involved. The first stage in preparing is the fixation, where the sample needs to be fixed in a manner that the ultrastructure of the cells or tissues remains close to the living material. Then, the sample is dehydrated through an acetone or ethanol series, passed through a transition solvent like propylene oxide and then infiltrated and embedded in a liquid resin such as epoxy and LR white resin.
Key vendors
- JEOL
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Hitachi High-Technologies
- Delong America
Key Topics Covered:
Part 01: Executive summary
Part 02: Scope of the report
Part 03: Research Methodology
Part 04: Introduction
Part 05: Market landscape
Part 06: Market segmentation by application
Part 07: Market segmentation by end-user
Part 08: Geographical segmentation
Part 09: Decision framework
Part 10: Drivers and challenges
Part 11: Market trends
Part 12: Vendor landscape
Part 13: Key vendor analysis
Part 14: Appendix
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/nt5j6d/global
Media Contact: | https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/global-transmission-electron-microscope-market-2017-2021---key-vendors-are-jeol-thermo-fisher-636477173.html |
As TV’s adapted properties regularly prove, deviating from a narrative’s original chronology and character development can be a contentious move. Conversely, it can signal new and exciting storytelling possibilities. In the case of Shadowhunters, Freeform’s adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments book series, that means delivering a series in which even avid readers remain surprised and the progressive elements of Clare’s narrative have room to expand. The latter especially holds true for Magnus Bane (Harry Shum, Jr.) and Alec Lightwood (Matthew Daddario), the series’ bisexual and gay characters whose wildly popular romance, known as “Malec,” not only stretches across Clare’s vast book universe but also took center stage for an entire episode during the TV series’ first season. For two characters whose journey is so beloved—despite much of its initial development occurring off-page—an adaptation that honors their essence may be just what fans are looking for.
But is it possible to remain true to the spirit of the source material while simultaneously diverging from it? And how will this Freeform hit, which returns for its second season tonight, use its young adult urban fantasy origins to carve out a compelling arc for its LGBT characters? Shadowhunters executive producer Michael Reisz took a break from writing Season 2B’s premiere to speak with Paste about how the writers room is honoring Clare’s novels, and the ways in which the art of adaptation will move two of the series’ characters onto new terrain.
Paste: The last time we spoke, you described the show’s characters as “multifaceted human beings,” whose stories the writers work to tell authentically. So what does authenticity look like, specifically for Magnus and Alec, who have so many facets to their character makeup?
Michael Reisz: Authentic stories are essential for the entire series—with all of our characters, but particularly with respect to Magnus and Alec. And what I mean by “authentic stories” is, “to tell the truth”: What people are really going through, as opposed to what people may assume or expect people should be going through. Magnus has lived for hundreds of years. He is a bisexual man. He is multiracial. [Being] the High Warlock of Brooklyn has had a huge influence on his life. Over the hundreds of years that he’s been alive, there have been people that—and I can’t quite say who—he has taken under his wing. People, separate and apart from a romantic relationship, that he has mentored and guided. All of those elements are important to acknowledge, honor and respect. That’s sewn into the story because that is a unique person, a unique character that Cassie Clare created and we want to honor it.
Paste: What are the writers doing to develop these characters in an authentic way?
Reisz: So Alec, as a gay man who comes out later in life—for want of a better phrase—his story is unique. Alec was evolving over the course of Season One, moving from a closeted, by-the-book, do-everything-that-I’m-supposed-to-do-for-my-parents-and-my-culture character to who he became up to the wedding. In what ways does the culture in which he grew up impact him? How does his family’s acceptance—or lack thereof—of what he’s going through and who he is becoming affect him? Those are questions that we ask and that we talked about in detail in the writer’s room. We also reach out to resources. We have been working hand in hand with GLAAD. They came in and spoke with us for a couple of hours and everybody in the writer’s room asked every question that they wanted to. We have many people come into the writer’s room and tell their stories. I told my coming out story, I’ve told terrible dating stories. I’ve even talked about relationships I’ve had with people from my personal life before I came out. It’s super important for us to not just tell a quick story about your typical person or relationship. This is about two unique individuals coming together to make their lives work.
Paste: The flip side to this is creating characters whose experiences are universally relatable to everyone in your young, diverse audience. Is that something you and the other writers are thinking about as consciously for a couple whose distinctive identities are so entwined with their personal and relationship development?
Reisz: I think the emotions behind their relationship are universal. Taking the risk and making yourself vulnerable to someone that you’re falling in love with is a universal emotion. Feeling that rush of excitement when you get into that first relationship that makes you go “Wow!” is a universal emotion. Dealing with cultural impact and family impact as it relates to your personal life, that’s a universal emotion. In Season Two, Alec has his career that he’s focused on, his parabatai relationship with Jace, and what his role is at the institute. Similarly, Magnus is the High Warlock of Brooklyn. So we’re going to focus on them and then the relationship aspect of that couple just as we do with the various other couplings we’ll see in Seasons 2A and 2B. They’re fully rounded human beings—human beings? Can we say that about characters in a mythical world? [Laughs] They are full -rounded characters, and while their stories are told through unique perspectives, the true emotions behind their evolution and the evolution of the relationship—I think everyone across the board will be able to identify with what these characters are going through this season.
Paste: The books and show feature LGBT characters in an urban fantasy targeted at a young adult audience. That’s a Russian doll of storytelling opportunities. Are there themes or issues that this demographic and genre allow you to explore with Malec that more adult-oriented or realism-based dramas don’t?
Reisz: I think it’s been important to Cassie [Clare] and all the writers that the urban fantasy element of this show allow us to be incredibly real. It’s an opportunity to ground the characters’ development in human emotions while interweaving it with a fantasy construct. As far as the YA aspect, I think many young adult readers and young adult viewers are really grown up, quite frankly. They’re incredibly savvy and incredibly wise for their years. I treat them not as young, but as adults who are making their own decisions and figuring out what they want for the rest of their lives. When you treat traditional YA audiences with respect like that, I don’t think you have to play anything particularly young. This story is about people discovering who they are. Though this all comes from a series of YA novels, I think that idea isn’t YA. It’s perfect for what we want to explore.
The full interview was first published at Paste Magazine on January 2, 2017. | https://abbeywhitewrites.com/2017/01/02/shadowhunters-executive-producer-michael-reisz-on-the-art-of-adapting-malec-and-what-to-expect-in-season-two/ |
Antarctic Exploration Ahead for the Women of Her Planet Earth
These days it’s hard to escape the mad rush. There are ‘traffic jams’ to reach the summit of Everest, direct flights to the most remote tropical islands in the world, luxury hotels in hidden Himalayan kingdoms and an indoor ski resort in the desert. Humans have conquered and explored most of the world, but one vast expanse of the planet remains beyond our reach: Antarctica.
It has always been a dream of mine to climb a mountain that has never been climbed before. And doing so in remote Antarctica would be an even greater privilege. In the words of best-selling author Jon Krakauer, “Antarctica has this mythic weight. It resides in the collective unconscious of so many people, and it makes this huge impact, just like outer space or going the moon.”
Indeed, man has never permanently inhabited this frozen continent at the very edge of the earth. Accessible only during its warmest months, from November to March, it has no metropolis or village to speak of, no habitat except perhaps the odd expedition shed or research station; just massive, desolate, glacial emptiness and bone chilling temperatures that can range anywhere from -10°C to -80°C during the colder months. Even if you’re journeying to Antarctica on a cruise ship, as most people do, or by chartered plane, they say the isolation and the barrenness will envelop you and inevitably make you ponder your own insignificance.
In the last three decades, a growing numbers of climbers have come to explore Antarctica in search of spectacular summits, many not yet named. First ascents of mountains generally fall into two categories: the easy way, summiting by helicopter, and the old-fashioned way, one gruelling step after another till you reach the top. Clearly, our all-female team wants to achieve this the hard way, not because we like to struggle, but because we want to push our limits far beyond our comfort zone, for something greater and more important than ourselves: the plight of underprivileged women affected by climate change.
In January 2018, our self-funded team of women from Singapore, Australia and the UAE, under the banner of HER Planet Earth, a women's advocacy group that promotes gender equality and the integrity of the environment, will embark on a pioneering expedition to Antarctica’s heartland, in search of unclimbed routes and peaks in the Heritage Mountain Range.
In the world of alpine climbing, there is no destination quite so stimulating as Antarctica. This wild, frozen continent is subject to extreme conditions that only the most robust of explorers can endure, while having a natural beauty that surpasses all expectations. Ultimately, our team wants to stand on top of a mountain that has never felt the poke of a crampon before! And although there are lots of smaller peaks close to the sea, the real gems are further inland, and that’s exactly where we are heading.
Through our journey of exploration, we hope to highlight the importance of climate change and the urgency of preserving Antarctica for generations to come. We also plan to raise funds for the United Nations' Women Lead Climate Action programmes that empower and educate underprivileged women in the Asia region. This UN initiative is focused on rural women in developing countries that are already feeling the brunt of climate change, and plans to engage them in conservation activities, ultimately helping them build longer-term climate change resilience. The first country on the agenda for this programme is Cambodia, but the plan is to extend it to other developing nations in the region.
“The destructive forces of nature, warped by rising global temperatures can act as negative force multipliers in societies already riven by inequality. The onset of droughts, accompanied by heightened food and water insecurity, also have a disproportionate effect on those least able to deal with the resulting increased social strains. While climate change is a global phenomenon, its impact is not spread across a level playing field. Its effects are felt locally, and poor people suffer the most. Among the world’s 1.3 billion poor people, the majority are women.” Stated Isabella Lövin, Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate in a recent article on Thomson Reuters Foundation News.
Antarctica is a powerful symbol of this struggle because it is also fighting for its own survival. In fact, Antarctica, the world’s largest desert, which is 98% covered in ice, suffered a major set back this past July 2017, as satellite data confirmed that a trillion-tonne, 5,800 sq km iceberg the size of Luxembourg had broken off from the Larsen C ice shelf and was now adrift in the Weddell Sea. Furthermore, since 2014, researchers at the University of California at Irvine and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have shown that the melt-rate of glaciers in the fastest-melting part of Antarctica has tripled over the past decade. Today, scientists project that the long-term result could be to raise global sea levels by 10 centimetres, or almost four inches. Undeniably, this would be devastating for our planet.
Our team is keenly aware that in many countries, women tend to be marginalised from economic and political power, and have limited access to financial and material resources. Through this expedition to Antarctica, we hope to encourage society to sit-up and pay attention to grave issues such as climate change and gender inequality around the world. We feel very passionately that women have the right to - and need to be - at the forefront of efforts to deal with climate change. Indeed, it is our duty, and our responsibility to future generations, to support concrete and sustainable solutions for the planet. The cold truth staring us in the face is that we have no time to waste. In the end, we simply must continue to fight for a world where human rights and environmental integrity can blossom and prosper.
About HER Planet Earth: HER Planet Earth is a global women’s advocacy movement that promotes a deeper connection between women empowerment and the integrity of the environment. The group's strategy is to organise activities to increase awareness and raise funds for programmes that empower and educate underprivileged women and engage them in environmental issues and conservation activities. This Antarctic expedition is organised in partnership with #Up2degrees, a movement aimed at saving the Antarctic aircon and encouraging people in warm countries to increase their air conditioning by 2°C, to fight global warming. | |
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a disorder of the hand and wrist. The carpal tunnel, a narrow tunnel formed by the bones and tissues of the wrist, protects the median nerve, which controls the movement of the thumb and first three fingers. When the ligaments and tendons in the carpal tunnel become swollen or inflamed, they can press against the nerve, resulting in pain or numbness in the hand, wrist or forearm. Although carpal tunnel syndrome is commonly associated with repetitive motion, it can also be brought on by injury or certain health conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Video of the Day
Wrist Circles
The University of Maryland Medical Center includes wrist circles among its suggested exercises to reduce the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome. Extend your index and middle fingers while closing the other fingers. Rotate your wrists as if you were drawing a circle in the air with the two fingertips. Make five clockwise and five counterclockwise circles; repeat with the other hand.
Finger Exercises
The Arthritis Foundation recommends that you exercise the hand after every 15 minutes of computer mouse use to improve the blood flow in your hand. Make a fist, then slide your fingers to a straightened position. You can also make a fist, then spread your fingers apart as far as you can. Repeat both exercises five to 10 times. Yoga instructor Ellen Serber suggests this thumb stretch exercise: place your right hand palm down on a flat surface. Using your left hand, slowly stretch your right thumb away from the index finger, keeping your other fingers relaxed. Hold for a few seconds before stretching the opposite thumb.
Forearm Exercise
Keeping your forearms relaxed helps decrease the tension in your wrists. Stretch these muscles by bringing your hands together in front of your chest, fingers pointing upward in a prayer position. While keeping your palms together, draw your elbows up to forearm level. Hold the stretch for 10 seconds, then gently shake your arms and wrists to loosen them.
Shoulder Exercise
Your shoulders can carry a great deal of tension, which affects your arms, wrists and fingers. Relax this part of the body by standing in a relaxed position with arms at your side. Shrug your shoulders up, then squeeze them back, stretch them down and finally press them forward. The entire rotation should be done slowly, lasting about 7 seconds.
Neck Exercise
Performing a gentle neck stretch periodically encourages relaxation throughout the body. In an erect sitting position, place your right hand on your left shoulder. Holding your shoulder down, slowly tip your head down and turn it slightly to the right. Hold the stretch for 5 seconds. If desired, the stretch can be increased by turning your head to face the right. Repeat on the other side.
Limitations
MayoClinic.com warns that although carpal tunnel exercises may be helpful post-surgery or as an adjunct to other therapies, they are unlikely to reduce the pain or numbness caused by this condition. Exercises should not be considered a substitute for medical treatments like surgery or a wrist splint. | https://www.livestrong.com/article/314576-exercises-for-carpal-tunnel-relief/ |
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) is a political foundation associated with the basic principles of freedom, justice and solidarity. In its European and international cooperation efforts, KAS works for people to be able to live self-determined lives in freedom and dignity.
We encourage people to lend a hand in shaping the future along these lines. With more than 70 offices abroad and projects in over 120 countries, we make a unique contribution to the promotion of democracy, the rule of law and a social market economy. To foster peace and freedom we encourage a continuous dialog at the national and international levels as well as the exchange between cultures and religions.
The country programme Lebanon supports projects independently as well as in cooperation with the Rule of Law Programme Middle East / North Africa, and also focuses on the current situation in Syria as well as on its repercussions in Lebanon. The work emphasis is on democracy and the rule of law, civil society, social market economy, intercultural dialogue, prevention of conflict and Euro-Mediterranean relations, as well as the interreligious and cultural dialogue in Lebanon.
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation works together with a multitude of local partner organizations. Amongst these are Universities and scientific institutions, Think Tanks, civil society associations, and organizations of the private sector as well as governmental institutions and parties.
The country programme Lebanon engages in several activities for its mission and aims. These activities take the form of conferences, seminars, workshops, and forums for dialogue to debates or round tables. Further, it issues publications and studies and engages with policy makers.
The main objectives of the Lebanon programme are:
- Objective 1: Senior party officials within the moderate political parties acknowledge the principles of democracy and pluralism as pillars of a stable party system.
- Objective 2: Civil society organizations develop, in collaboration with religious communities and academic institutions, concepts for conflict prevention and peaceful coexistence.
- Objective 3: The regulatory concept of Social Market Economy is discussed among economic and political actors and decision-makers, and is part of the public debate.
How to Apply:
The proposed measure should fit within the general requirements and objectives of the respective programme. To apply, the applicant organization should fill in the following templates (found on the right sidebar) and send it to KAS email:
- Project Proposal Form
* Organizational Profile Form
Complete applications must include the application form (Project Proposal Form) with the supported document (Organizational Profile Form) and should be sent the latest by September 15, 2017. Incomplete files will unfortunately not be considered. Late applications may be reviewed for 2019 projects. | https://www.kas.de/web/rspno/publikationen/einzeltitel/-/content/call-for-proposals |
Tea and caffeine part III: Decaf and low-caf alternatives
This article is the second of a three-part series.
Part I: What is caffeine?
Part II: Exploding the myths
Part III: Decaf and low-caf alternatives
So you’ve decided you like tea, but you really don’t want (or can’t have) the caffeine. What are your alternatives?
Well, first there’s decaf tea. As Part I of this series explained, decaffeination processes don’t remove 100% of the caffeine, so this is a reasonable alternative if you want less caffeine, but not if you want none at all. There’s another problem with switching to decaf: the selection of high-quality decaffeinated tea is — let’s just say, limited.
It’s easy to find a decaf Earl Grey or a decaf version of your basic Lipton-in-a-bag. But if your tastes run more to sheng pu-erh, sencha, dragonwell, lapsang souchong, silver needle, Iron Goddess of Mercy, or organic first-flush Darjeeling, you have a problem.
You can try the “wash” home-decaffeination method, but I explained a couple of days ago why that process is overrated. You’re likely to be able to remove 20% or so of the caffeine that way, but that’s about it.
Another alternative is simply to brew weaker tea and/or use more infusions. Let’s do the math for an example. Assume you’re a big fan of an oolong that contains 80 mg of caffeine in a tablespoon of leaves, and you drink four cups of tea per day.
If you use a fresh tablespoon of leaves for each cup, and you steep it for three minutes, you will be extracting about 42% of the caffeine in each cup, which equals 34 mg per cup, or a total of 136 mg of caffeine for the day. If you shorten your steep time to two minutes, the extraction level drops to about 33% (total of 106 mg). Alternatively, you could use the leaves twice each time, so you’re extracting about 63% of the caffeine, but using a total of half as many leaves (total of 101 mg). Or, if you don’t mind significantly weaker tea, just use 1-1/2 teaspoons of leaves instead of a full tablespoon. Half the leaves means half the caffeine (total of 68 mg).
No caffeine at all
If you look through the selection of teas in a health-food store, you’ll notice that most of them have no tea at all, and the vast majority of those non-tea drinks have no caffeine. The problem is that chamomile for a tea drinker is like Scotch to a wine drinker; it’s just not the same.
There are a couple of beverages, however, that are somewhat similar to tea. Both come from South Africa and both are naturally caffeine-free.
Rooibos is often called “red bush” in the United States because the way it’s usually prepared leaves a deep red infusion. Typically, rooibos is oxidized (not fermented) like a black tea. It can also be prepared more like a green tea. I blogged about green rooibos last August if you’d like to know more about it.
North American news shows, along with people like Oprah and Dr. Oz, have been singing the praises of rooibos lately, bringing it more into the mainstream awareness. It is very high in antioxidants and much lower in tannins than a black tea. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of independent research published about it yet, so many of the claims can’t really be backed up. The one that can be backed is that it has no caffeine and it tastes kind of like black tea (green rooibos is a bit grassy with malty undertones, more like a Japanese steamed green tea with a touch of black Assam).
Honeybush, like rooibos, grows only in South Africa. Also like rooibos, it is naturally caffeine-free and can be prepared either as a red or a green “tea.” When blooming, the flowers smell like honey, and honeybush tends to be somewhat sweeter than rooibos. Honeybush isn’t nearly as well-known as rooibos in the U.S., and the green version is very hard to find. I’ve found that if you want a flavored honeybush, citrus complements it very well. My “Hammer & Cremesickle Red” is the most popular honeybush blend in our tea bar (here is a blog post about it, and you can find it on the store website here).
A blended approach
If you like the idea of reducing your caffeine intake, but you don’t like the idea of a weaker tea (as I described above) or switching to rooibos or honeybush, you might want to consider blending. If you mix your tea half-and-half with something containing no caffeine, then you can still brew a strong drink, but get only half the caffeine from it. Combine that with the other tricks, like taking two infusions, and you can cut it even farther.
Posted on 5 July 2012, in Styles & Blends, Tea Thoughts and tagged antioxidants, Aspalathus linearis, caffeine, chamomile, Cyclopia meyeriana, decaffeination wash, honeybush, rooibos, tea. Bookmark the permalink. 7 Comments.
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Thanks for writing this, I very much appreciate it. I was a big coffee drinker, but I recently realized that the caffeine is ruining me. I have been trying to learn as much about teas, and especially low to no caffeine ones, as possible.
Thanks again!
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I discovered your tea blog and I am hooked! I’m a new convert to tea, having been a lifelong worshiper of coffee flavor and culture–but after spending way too much of my work morning reading your fascinating posts about the world of tea, I am not looking back! Thank you for writing and sharing about your experience in the tea world. | https://teawithgary.com/2012/07/05/tea-and-caffeine-part-iii/ |
If you’re preparing for the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) Step 1 exam, you might want to know which questions are most often missed by test-prep takers. Check out this example from Kaplan Medical, and read an expert explanation of the answer. Also check out all posts in this series.
This month’s stumper
A 5-year old boy (III-1) of Turkish descent is brought to his physician because of yellowness in his eyes. The patient's mother explains that this appeared after taking a long-term antibiotic that the physician prescribed for his severe chest infection. The physician performs a detailed analysis of his family (shown in the pedigree) that includes relatives who the mother knows have become ill when given the same antibiotic.
Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?
A. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.
B. Leber hereditary optic neuropathy.
C. Neurofibromatosis.
D. Sickle cell anemia.
E. Tay Sachs disease.
The correct answer is A.
Kaplan Medical explains why
The pedigree is most consistent with X-linked recessive inheritance. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the only X-linked recessive disorder listed and is consistent with the clinical aspects described in the patient. The yellowness of the eyes is the jaundice resulting from administration of a long-term antibiotic that can cause hemolytic episodes.
The hallmark of X-linked recessive inheritance is an abundance of affected males and an absence of affected females. Males are hemizygous for the X chromosome, so the phenotype is expressed with only one copy of the defective gene. Females have two copies of the X chromosome, so they appear phenotypically normal although they may be a carrier for the recessive allele. Since males inherit their X chromosome from their mother, she must carry the trait (or be affected by the disease). Affected males cannot pass the disease to male offspring. Other X-linked recessive diseases include Lesch-Nyhan disease, hemophilia A, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Why the other answers are wrong
Choice B: Leber hereditary optic neuropathy is a relatively common cause of acute or subacute vision loss, especially in young men. It exhibits a mitochondrial inheritance pattern. The hallmark of this pattern is matrilineal inheritance - inheritance of affected genes from the mother. All of the children of an affected woman will be affected since they receive mitochondrial DNA from the female parent almost exclusively. Affected males do not contribute mitochondria to progeny, so their children will not receive the trait. The pedigree for a mitochondrial disorder would show an affected mother with affected children. The affected female children will have affected progeny while the affected male children will have normal progeny (assuming their mate is unaffected).
Choice C: Neurofibromatosis shows an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern, so the phenotype will be expressed if one mutant allele is present. Deleterious autosomal dominants occur at very low frequencies, so affected individuals are almost always heterozygous for the trait. Since the gene is located on an autosome, both male and female progeny can be affected and affected persons are expected in every generation. Other autosomal dominant diseases include Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Huntington disease, and osteogenesis imperfecta.
Choice D and E: Sickle cell anemia and Tay Sachs disease are both show inherited in autosomal recessive manners. For the phenotype of the autosomal recessive to be expressed, the recessive allele must be present in both alleles. Both male and female children can be affected. The pedigree would be expected to show both males and females equally affected and the tendency to skip generations. Consanguinity is commonly see in families with autosomal recessive disease.
Tips to remember
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency:
- X-linked recessive disorders predominantly affect males because males are hemizygous for the X chromosome.
- Affected males inherit the mutant allele from their mothers.
- Affected males pass the mutant allele to all daughters, who are carriers, but to none of their sons.
- G6PD deficiency, hemophilia A, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy are examples of X-linked recessive diseases that are commonly tested.
For more prep questions on USMLE Steps 1, 2 and 3, view other posts in this series.
The AMA selected Kaplan as a preferred provider to support you in reaching your goal of passing the USMLE® or COMLEX-USA®. AMA members can save 30 percent on access to additional study resources, such as Kaplan’s Qbank and High-yield courses. Learn more. | https://www.ama-assn.org/residents-students/usmle/usmle-step-1-prep-boy-turkish-descent-has-yellowness-eyes |
In Stephen Pinker's Language Learnability and Language Development, he uses learnability both as a challenge to theories of language acquisition, and as a heuristic for evaluating them....
English Essays: Motivation and ..
It is possible to even classify our motivation, mainly according to the nature of this phenomena and personal traits of its owner. So, some experts define power motivation, affiliation motivation, competence motivation, achievement motivation, and so on. Also, it is necessary to mention that motivation plays a huge role in professional life of any of us. If a person does not have a crave and high motivation for achievement, he or she will hardly achieve professional advancement and success. As you can see, there is actually plenty to write about on this exciting and interesting topic. Good luck with your academic essay on motivation.
· Demonstration of application of at least three examples of theory-based motivation (e.g., expectancy-value, self-worth, social comparison, and so forth) for how serial killers may have been motivated to learn such violent behavior. (Make sure to define the concepts.)
Reflective Essay on Learning and Motivation Essay
His findings reveal that Pakistani learners of English are motivated by both types of motivation, but interestingly integrative motivation is not for the target language society, but for the English speaking elite of the country.
Reflective Essay on Learning and Motivation ..
It incorporates cognitive theory and self-efficacy theory in the sense that it emphasizes that learners' current self-perceptions will strongly influence the ways in which they will interpret the success or failure of their current efforts and hence their future tendency to perform this same behaviours.-(copy by Weiner, 1980-1992) Here got a nine graduate attribut... | http://themonstro.com/essay-on-motivation-on-english-learning.html |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the formation of blood clots and specifically to the inhibition of blood clot formation and tissue damage following reperfusion.
2. Description of Related Art
The clotting of blood involves a cascade of enzymes, cofactors, and a group of cellular and plasma proteins known as coagulation factors. Initiation of this cascade occurs when the cellular receptor, known as tissue factor (TF), binds coagulation factor VII or its derivative, factor VIIa, to form a catalytically active complex. Factors X and IX. are activated by the TF-VIIa complex, thereby catalyzing thrombin generation and fibrin formation. TF is a membrane-bound glycoprotein that is not normally found soluble in the circulation or accessible to plasma proteins including factor VII/VIIa and the other coagulation factors.
TF is the principal procoagulant in the human brain. TF has been localized to the parenchyma of the adult human cerebral cortex, where it has a diffuse distribution (Drake, et al., Am.J.Pathol., 134:1087, 1989). The appearance of TF on stimulated endothelial cells and cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage in vitro suggests a vascular association of the procoagulant, which is supported by the perivascular localization of TF antigen in non-neural tissues. Electron microscopy has demonstrated fibrin in microvessels associated with degranulated platelets/polymorphonuclear leukocytes, but not in capillaries following middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion/reperfusion (del Zoppo, et al., Stroke, 22:1276, 1991). The exposure of TF to plasma during vascular ischemia may contribute to intravascular coagulation defects.
TF, which is found predominantly in cerebral tissues and on perivascular cells, may be a contributor to the development of microvascular occlusions. In the brain, TF has a prominent perivascular distribution around non-capillary cerebral microvessels, especially in gray matter. Tissue factor is constitutively expressed on the surface of some extravascular cells in vitro including fibroblasts and certain epithelial cells that are separated from the circulating plasma proteins by basement membrane barriers. The presence of TF on these cells results in clot formation upon contact with blood and tissue damage thereby occurs.
Incomplete perfusion of the microvasculature following transient focal or global cerebral ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) constitutes the "no-reflow" phenomenon. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes and platelets, in addition to other endothelium and subendothelium-related mechanisms, have been implicated in the formation of these perfusion defects. Little is known concerning the role of fibrin formation, or other consequences of local thrombin generation, in causing microvascular obstruction following focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion. In addition to cellular contributions to the microvascular perfusion defect following focal cerebral I/R, coagulation system activation may play a role. A role for the coagulation system in tissue damage has been suggested by studies showing the ability of the combination of heparin/ticlopidine to significantly reduce post-I/R microvascular occlusion formation and platelet deposition in a non-human primate model (del Zoppo, et al. Stroke 17(6):1254, 1986). Thus, methods which can inhibit reperfusion tissue damage would be of significant clinical value. The present invention provides such a method.
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A study of family planning practices among qualified nurses at the university teaching hospital.
Date2013-09-25
Author
Chirambo, Margaret.
TypeOther
Languageen
MetadataShow full item record
Abstract
The aim of the study was to determine family planning practices among qualified nurses. Literature on family planning practices was obtained from literature presented in other countries especially developing countries. Problems of family planning practice are similar in most developing countries for example inadequate knowledge on the service, lack of personnel to teach the community about family planning, fear to use modern family planning methods because of the associated side effects and traditional and moral values attached to family planning practice. The sample was randomly selected from Obstetrics, Medical and Surgical Departments. The sample consisted of fifty (50) registered and enrolled nurses. Data were collected with the use of a questionnaire. The findings of the study revealed that most nurses practice family planning and modern family planning methods were the most popular. Nurses' professional qualifications or their religious affiliations had minimal influence on the nurses' decisions to practice or not practice family planning. However side effects associated with methods of family planning did influence the nurses’ decisions to practice family planning. Although most nurses in the sample practice family planning, the findings revealed that they do not appreciate the need for having a periodic family planning check-up which is necessary for assessing their health. Hence, these nurses may not teach their clients effectively on all aspects of family planning. It is therefore necessary for nurses to be re-educated on the importance of family planning so they can be affective teachers of family planning to the community they serve as they are expected to be role models. | http://dspace.unza.zm/handle/123456789/2648 |
I recently wrote a paper for work about the need for video to help communicate our messages and campaigns. I learned some interesting things along the way, and so I thought I would share some of those with a wider audience.
In this post, I’m going to outline why video can be a critical way to deliver key content and share some stats I found along the way. In another post, I’ll share some criteria I worked up for an on demand video delivery system which I think will be a good basis for many organisations considering implementation of video.
A stats-led approach
In any approach to video, I’d start by looking at the stats for your website. When I analysed these for my organisation, I found a 7 per cent drop in average time on site and an increase in bounce rate to over 50 per cent in the last two months. More importantly though, these were not short-term trends that were not just month-on-month, they were year-on-year (on my organisation’s site).
This is not good news. Despite spending time and effort restructuring content, providing more readable content and improving our SEO, there still seems to be a degree of ongoing disengagement with our (primarily text-led) website content.
Therefore, we need to look at how we actually deliver that content. Using on demand video to supplement and replace ‘traditional’ web copy is a natural solution.
Popularity of and access to video in the UK
In the UK, online video is a massively important medium. The use of video sharing sites like YouTube and video-on-demand services like the BBC iPlayer has exploded over the last few years, becoming embedded in the vocabulary of the nation. In the 12 months to March 2009, UK Internet traffic to video sites rose by almost 41 per cent (Hitwise UK Online Video Update, March 2009).
The iPlayer in particular has brought the ease of online video to the consciousness of even new Internet users, but has also raised expectations about the quality of video that can be delivered. This week’s Hitwise dashboard
shows just how much online video dominates the top lists of popular overall websites, entertainment websites and social networking websites.
The current popularity of video on the web is not surprising, considering the level of broadband penetration in the UK:
- over 95 per cent of Internet connections are broadband connections;
- over 60 per cent of those are at speeds faster than 2 Mbit/second (Internet connectivity report, December 2008, Office for National Statistics).
Video is mainstream
These stats show that is the right time to consider creation of online video content as a mainstream method for delivering information, and treat it that way within an organisation of any size, large or small.
Video can be used to produce:
- supporting clips for press releases (relevant staff quotes, Q&As/interviews);
- short case studies that could support your work;
- explanations of complicated processes or procedures;
- key information in British Sign Language, released at the same time as subtitled/English/Welsh versions; and
- small to medium-sized event coverage.
Of course, this video doesn’t just have to be destined for online, external-facing channels. There’s a compelling case to use it for internal distribution, through an intranet for example or at staff briefings.
Although not everyone can access video, either due to technological restrains or through ability to access that type of information, it is still potentially a far more widely engaging medium than just web copy. This may be particularly true for users who may be new to your work or those who have a single-issue interest.
Benefits of live video
Producing your own video content gives you the ability to deliver your message to your audience direct and unfiltered – not subject to interpretation through the media. ‘Live’ video is a natural extension of this – enabling important announcements to be communicated to any sized audience as they happen, again, without filtering through traditional media outlets. The ability for video to be re-shared and embedded in other websites, including in social media news releases, for example, is key to spreading those messages beyond your own channels.
As an example, I recently produced a webcast at short notice for a press conference. With simply a tweet on the morning of the conference, we got 21 viewers. Subsequent views raised that to over 600. For the first time, people interested in my organisation’s work have been able to watch complete announcements in our own words. Overall, these are small numbers perhaps, but it shows what you can do even with short notice events and provides a solid platform for growth.
I have already written a lengthy blog post about webcasting and doing it cheaply. Which brings me to…
Falling costs
The falling cost of producing high-quality video brings in-house production within anyone’s grasp. At my organisation, we have already produced a number of video clips in-house, but given the right equipment, staff resource and training, any organisation can expand their video production capabilities to service wider organisational needs. And the bottom line is that if you can reach and engage more people directly with your messages and campaigns, that has a high value of its own.
Conclusions
Producing video to support your messages and campaigns is a mainstream method for delivering online content. The widespread access to broadband connections, familiarity with services like YouTube and the iPlayer, all mean that users are switched on more than ever to watching video online. Now is the time to take advantage of that and switch on your organisation to the importance of video – it will be a worthy investment. | https://technicalfault.net/2009/09/17/the-need-for-video-deliver-your-online-content/ |
Stock price performance can shed light on how consumer goods companies are faring in the new normal and which industries are proving more resilient. Overall, the stock market has recovered positively since the low of 23 March. The SP500 index, for example, was up 3.0% on 21 October compared to the pre-COVID peak in February, and stock prices for 23 out of 42 consumer goods companies in our sample were above pre-COVID levels, despite lingering uncertainty. Food, beauty and home care companies appear to weather the current environment better, while the alcoholic drinks market remains subdued.
Note: 0 line at y-axis indicates pre-COVID level which is set to 21 Feb 2020. The Y-axis shows stock price performance at two periods – 23 Mar 2020, which was the lowest level for stock prices (indicated by a lighter circle on the chart), and 21 October (darker circle on the chart). Both are relative to 21 Feb 2020. The X-axis shows the company’s portfolio income elasticity – how volume sales change relative to GDP change.
Source: Stock prices from Yahoo Finance! and company elasticities from Euromonitor International.
In April 2020 Euromonitor published an article looking at key FMCG companies and their portfolio risk in the COVID-19 environment, on the basis of a company’s portfolio income elasticity. Income elasticity measures how category volume sales would decline in response to 1% drop in real GDP; for example, a category with an income elasticity of 0.2 would drop by 0.2 percentage points in response to a 1% drop in GDP, while a category with an income elasticity of 1.5 would drop by 1.5 percentage points in response to a 1% drop in GDP. The idea is that companies tailored towards more discretionary spending categories (higher income elasticity) would decline more, as consumers cut back on spending on non-necessary goods, while companies tailored for necessity products such as food (lower income elasticity) would weather the current environment better, as demand is more predictable.
Income elasticity showed strong correlation in March, in the initial stock market sell-off, when the decline in the stock market could be linked to how risky a company’s portfolio looked on the income elasticity spectrum. Now with more than half a year in the new normal environment, we see a more complex story reflecting various degrees of social distancing adopted by countries, which have impacted on-trade, as well as different fiscal stimulus measures.
The following charts put consumer goods companies in six clusters – beauty and health, food and drinks, alcoholic drinks, tissue and home, apparel and luxury/eyewear – and compare their performance in spring (23 March) and autumn (21 October) of 2020, from a stock market standpoint along the predicted company elasticity.
Source: Stock prices from Yahoo Finance! and company elasticities from Euromonitor International.
Overall, the beauty industry has weathered the current COVID-19 environment quite well. By October, most companies appear to have recovered from declines in spring, with many above pre-COVID peaks by as much as 10-20%. For example, Procter & Gamble was up 15% in October, compared to a 23% drop in March.
In March, Colgate-Palmolive was among the best performers in the sample, along with Reckitt Benckiser as indicated by their lower income elasticity. By October, however, many companies with more elastic portfolios had recovered and overtaken them.
Outlet based specialists, selling through branded stores, such as Estée Lauder and Herbalife, initially struggled in spring, but have posted some of the biggest gains since March. The only company that has seen a worse performance in October compared to March is Coty, which continues to struggle with its turnaround plan and has yet to benefit as much from the recovery.
Source: Stock prices from Yahoo Finance! and company elasticities from Euromonitor International.
In packaged food, the story is more mixed, owing to disruption in the on-trade channel especially. The income elasticity of most food companies is typically low. Food is a necessity product and consumers continued to shop through lockdown measures – even stockpiling some products early on – thus avoiding initial declines.
Coca-Cola was one of the most affected companies in spring, hurt by its dependence on the on-trade, leaving the company 37% below the pre-COVID peak, but has since recovered, although still remains 15% below pre-COVID levels. PepsiCo has fared better, due to greater balance of snacks vs on-trade drinks in its portfolio.
Necessity food companies like Kraft Heinz, ConAgra Brands and General Mills have performed the best in this group, posting 10-20% gains by 21 October. Danone, in contrast, remains lower than where it was in spring, but that’s more to do with company re-organization in response to declining dairy consumption trend rather than pandemic environment.
Source: Stock prices from Yahoo Finance! and company elasticities from Euromonitor International.
Alcoholic drinks continues to struggle, with all companies in the sample remaining in the negative, yet to return to pre-COVID levels. The world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev has recovered from a 42% drop in spring but is still 22% below the pre-COVID peak. The spirits focused Diageo and Pernod Ricard companies appear in better shape, along with Carlsberg, which was helped by its exposure to the Chinese market, where restrictions were lifted sooner.
Although categories like beer do not have high-income elasticity, social distancing measures have put the brakes on on-trade recovery, and consumers remain more cautious visiting bars, while many bars continue to have seating restrictions or limited opening hours. Thus income elasticity for this industry shows less direct correlation, being more responsive and susceptible to the impact of social distancing measures.
Source: Stock prices from Yahoo Finance! and company elasticities from Euromonitor International.
Tissue and home was one of the best performers in spring. Clorox is a notable example of a counter-cyclical company, rising 3% in March when pretty much everything across the board dropped, as demand for home care products surged. Demand has not abated, and Clorox was 30% up 0n October 21.
Kimberly-Clark, the world’s largest tissue company, dropped 20% in spring, despite the high share in categories such as toilet paper, which had a stockpiling boost. By October, the company was up, however, as demand for other company products like diapers also recovered. Unicharm, a Japanese tissue company had the best turnaround since spring and was up 32% owing to recovery in Japan, China and Southeast Asian markets. On the other hand, Essity, a Swedish company focused on tissues remained -3% lower than pre-COVID peaks in October.
Source: Stock prices from Yahoo Finance! and company elasticities from Euromonitor International.
Apparel and footwear has the highest income elasticity among consumer goods. As a result, all companies dropped significantly in spring – both because of high elasticity and also because the majority of companies continue to rely on stores which were closed. For example, GAP was down 63% in spring, while Nike and Adidas dropped 37% and 36% respectively.
There have been remarkable turnarounds in the industry since spring, as stores have reopened. Nike is one of the most impressive performers, coming back from -37% to a 30% gain. GAP is another impressive recovery, which looked like it was bordering on survival in spring, but has now risen back to a 13% gain over pre-COVID levels (21 February). Marks & Spencer remains subdued due in part to Brexit uncertainty.
Source: Stock prices from Yahoo Finance! and company elasticities from Euromonitor International.
Luxury is the smallest industry in our sample but the most elastic, which is reflected in its drop and recovery, although not as remarkable as in apparel. LVMH and Kering, two of the world’s largest luxury companies, have recovered from declines in spring. This compares to the performance of the beauty industry, as both are focused on specialist stores.
Essilor Luxottica remains 20% down in October as demand for sunglasses remains low, due to the impact of the pandemic on travel.
Overall, stock market performance has shown a clear recovery over summer, but the stark difference in company positions in March vs October shows the obvious importance of store closures and event cancellations in addition to economics. While the majority of store-based companies have reversed declines over the summer, store closures remain the biggest risk in a second pandemic wave.
The negative economic impact appears to have lessened over the summer, as even industries with high income elasticity like apparel and luxury appear to have recovered, as pent up demand was unleashed in summer. From the consumer standpoint, generous government stimulus packages, as well as monetary support measures by the Fed and others have clearly contributed to confidence.
In the event of a second pandemic wave, the reversal from spring could be hard to maintain, and those companies showing the highest reversals could be at risk of potential decline. Even companies which would typically do well in an economic headwind environment like McDonald’s have not done well early on, as the stores had to close, and remain at risk in event of further closures. One trend that has emerged is the importance of the online channel which is likely to remain prominent in winter. | https://blog.euromonitor.com/beauty-and-apparel-perform-well-in-the-new-normal-while-alcoholic-drinks-struggles/ |
Extinction events like nuclear war or nanotechnological catastrophe could undoubtedly shorten the communicating phase of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, but these kind of global mass extinctions can't always be the end of the story, as the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction has already shown here on earth.
Our own mas-extinction event, which occurred roughly 65 million years ago, wiped out most of the life on earth, but crucially, not all of it. It is marked by a thin geological boundary separating dinosaur fossils from all other fossils, and is widely theorized to have been caused either by an asteroid impact or by increased volcanic activity which disrupted earth's ecology so massively that most living things were wiped out forever.
Some species survived the catastrophe, however, allowing life on earth to continue evolving, finally producing human civilization. That some of these species were reptiles as large as crocodiles suggests that the KT extinction event was not perhaps as all-powerful as a man-made (or alien-made) mass-extinction would be, but it nevertheless raises an important point. This is that life is hugely adaptable, and that even if the most 'highly-evolved' species on the planet is driven to extinction, there is more than likely always another to take its place.
Indeed, in the case of nuclear holocaust, mankind or an alien race could quite easily obliterate itself entirely, and yet leave a thriving new ecosystem of lesser lifeforms behind. In this instance, lifeforms adapted to resist heat and radiation would continue to live on long after the extinction event, able to continue evolving over many generations to produce higher forms of life once more. Insects are good candidates as survivors of a man-made extinction event that we could rely on to perpetuate life on a ravaged earth, perhaps one day evolving once more into a society capable of dropping atomic bombs again.
If not insects, then there are extremophilic bacteria which thrive in conditions that would be hazardous to all other life. In fact, some bacteria are well-suited to a whole range of hazardous environments, and could survive and flourish even in the harshest of post-apocalyptic worlds. The bacterium D. radiodurans is one such polyextremophile, and can live through huge doses of radiation (it has the unique ability to repair its own damaged DNA), and can survive in vacuums, acid, extreme cold and dehydration. T. gammatolerans is even more radiation resistant still.
So, even if every intelligent civilization always destroys itself, there will almost always be organisms left after the extinction event to continue evolution. And if intelligence is a logical development of evolution, then after a few hundred million years (which is not very long at all on the galactic timescale) a new civilization will emerge capable of broadcasting its existence to the universe, and, incedentally, capable of destroying itself once more. And yet despite the possibility for cyclical extinctions and rebirths of extraterrestrial civilizations, we still have not detected even the faintest hint of another intelligence in our universe. If self-extinction cannot provide a universal answer to the Fermi Paradox, then where is everybody?
Recognition of our new-found ability to annihilate our planet through our own technology has lead to counter-technology protests, mass demonstrations and international movements to limit our ability to destroy ourselves, manifest principally through voluntary nuclear disarmament. The threat of accidental mass extinction posed by nuclear, biological and chemical technologies has motivated terrorist attacks targeting groups perceived to perpetuate development of these areas. Terrorists like the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, have called for revolution against industrialized civilization and modern technology, advocating a return to a non-civilized state, partly in an attempt to defuse the potential timebomb of technological global threats. Most recently, a terrorist group in Mexico attacked two robotics researchers with specialities in nanotechnology with mail bombs. The group, whose name can be translated as the 'Individuals Tending to Savagery', has published a manifesto expressing fears that nanotechnology will result in nano-bacteriological war or an explosion of nano-pollution that will destroy life as we know it.
If the threat of mass-extinction can come from so many technologies in so many diverse ways, whether by accident or by design, then it follows that the more developed a civilization becomes the greater its risk of wiping itself grows. This trend has been suggested as a possible solution to the Fermi Paradox, which describes the contradiction between the current predictions for vast numbers of potentially suitable environments for life in the Universe and the lack of any evidence we have for their existence. Given the age of the Universe (more than thirteen billion years by current measurements), and given the millions of stars in our galaxy – not to mention the millions of galaxies in the universe – it seems statistically highly probable that there are vast numbers of life-bearing planets beyond our own. Of these planets, it also seems highly probable that a fraction will develop into intelligent civilizations, and that of these a further fraction will prosper and develop technologies that will leave some kind of detectable signature, be it through alterations to star systems through space colonization or merely through the development of technologies with effects which are observable from a distance, like radio emissions. But to date, no such artifacts of alien life have been identified, and hence the Fermi Paradox.
For some, part of the reason we have been unable to find any signs of extraterrestrial life is that their 'window' of communication, of signalling their technologically developed state to the universe at large, would inevitably be closed prematurely due to some kind of unavoidable technological holocaust, like the nuclear annihilation humanity has teetered on in the past, or like the nanotech apocalypse that some fear today.
Alongside the catalogue of beneficial uses of nanotechnology, there are very clear dangers associated with its unregulated proliferation. Like the powerful technologies which have realized weapons of mass destruction, nanotechnology has the potential for unimaginable destructive abuse and catastrophic accidents, but with a crucial difference. To successfully weaponize nuclear, biological and chemical technologies access to highly protected information, rare raw materials and expensive equipment is typically required, effectively limiting their use to states and large groups. When nanotechnology proliferates, which it will do with exponential rapidity if it ever does, its immense destructive power will be well within the reach of individuals and small groups. With nanofactories, appropriate design specifications and the commonest of raw materials, individuals in their homes would be empowered to make mistakes so dangerous and weapons so potent that the extinction of all life on earth would become a real possibility.
Like nuclear technology, nanotechnology has very clear utility for militaries and terrorists, and it seems likely that in its longterm, its destructive uses may well be far easier to realize on an irreversible scale than its constructive uses. Nano-scale self-replicating machines have been a widespread concern in this respect, as they could conceivably rapidly and exponentially reproduce, being too tough and numerous to stop. This has been popularized as the nanotech 'grey goo' doomsday scenario, whereby the out-of-control nanorobots – whether accidentally evolved or purposefully designed – replicate to consume all resources on earth. However, nanoscale fabrication has no explicit need for self-replicators, as they would be needlessly complex and inefficient for molecular manufacturing when compared with highly optimized nanofactories, which are essentially self-contained and present no threat in themselves.
Despite this market pressure against the creation of self-replicators, given a long enough timescale, a large enough population and an easy access to nanofabrication, the threat of a weaponized or mutant variant cannot be discounted; all it takes is one to be made or evolved, and without effective and well-prepared safeguards the entire planet could be consumed within days. The only barrier to this potential destruction will be the distribution of knowledge of how to build such a thing. With the model of open-source software as a perverse example, it seems that such a barrier will always eventually be porous, as motivated individuals will always find a way to emulate those things which are otherwise in restricted domains. Again, given a concerted collaborative effort (consider a covert nanoweapon wiki) over a long enough period of time the potential for disaster is grave.
There are immense consequences to molecular nanotechnology advancing to the level of functional programmable molecular assemblers and productive nanofactories, the implications of which have been studied, debated and systematized since Eric Drexler published his seminal book on nanotechnology, Engines of Creation, in 1986. Indeed, the Foresight Institute, which Drexler co-founded in the same year as its publication, has been working steadily to promote awareness of transformative technologies like nanotech, and to enhance knowledge and promote the critical discussion which will ensure that these technologies are put to safe and beneficial use.
And the beneficial uses of nanotechnology are manifold. In its mature form, molecular assembly will slash the cost of manufacturing every type of product, reducing the cost of producing even today's most expensive commodities, like computer chips, aeroplanes, missiles, surgical tools etc., towards a bottom limit which will be set by the cost of the raw materials and energy, amounting to only a few pennies per kilogram. The only significant cost will be an initial expenditure in the design of the products, because as soon as a blueprint exists molecular assemblers will be able to churn out enough copies to satisfy any demand very, very quickly. This development has the potential to utterly upset our current market structure, rewrite all intellectual property laws and regulations, and disrupt the world economy like nothing before.
Not only will nanotechnology greatly reduce the cost of manufacturing today's products, it will allow us to improve and upgrade them with new nano-materials, many times stronger and lighter than anything we have in existence today. These new materials will open up possibilities for further new technologies that we cannot possibly predict, and enhance those that already exist beyond recognition. Inexpensive, and radically strong and lightweight materials will very literally expand the frontiers of human endeavour, enabling widespread space exploration as cost- and energy-efficient spacecraft become a commonplace.
Nanotechnology promises to fuel such spacecraft cleanly. It will make renewable energy viable, allowing molecular solar cells to be manufactured on such a widespread scale that they could be used to coat roads and roofs everywhere, providing enough clean energy to satisfy the entire world's demands. Indeed, the nanofactory manufacturing revolution promises the greenest of futures, not only solving the global energy crisis but also removing the root cause of much of the world's pollution itself, eradicating all traditional industrial processes and their hazardous by-products and chemical pollution. Nanofactories will work with a molecular efficiency designed to produce no pollutants at all.
On top of these industrial and environmental potentials, nanotechnology also carries the promise of a completely new type of medicine – one that could potentially cure all diseases and stop and reverse ageing entirely. Medical nanorobots could repair and defend bodies on the cellular level, performing molecular surgery to repair our own biological nano-machines and destroy cancer cells.
The same principles which apply to everyday mechanical engineering can be implemented on the nanometer scale, allowing hypothetical systems to combine atoms and molecules to create atomically precise components that can in turn be joined together to make macroscopic wholes, just as factory production lines today assemble (much less precise) pieces into large, complex objects.
Unlike factories today, machine movements at the nanometer scale are millions of times faster than our current 'human-scale' processes, and will allow hugely complex products – like billion-core laptops – to be assembled in hours or days. These molecular machines will be able to bond virtually any combination of molecules together in any stable pattern, adding a few atoms at a time in a structured three-dimensional layering approach to produce machines and products that are stronger, lighter, more efficient and smaller than anything our traditional manufacturing processes could ever achieve.
The basic components of the nanofactories which will be capable of this universal engineering are molecular assemblers, or fabricators. They will be able to tolerate freezing or boiling, acid or vacuum, and will let us build anything that the physical laws of the universe allow to exist, limited only by our own ability to design. Nanofactories would contain trillions of these molecular assemblers, arranged into an orderly array, each working on a minute fraction of the finished workpiece, a nanoblock, passing the finished pieces along a nanoscale assembly line – made from molecular conveyor belts, molecular pulleys and grabbers – to be joined together by increasingly large assembly stations.
The nanofactories will be built from a highly modular, repetitive and scalable architecture, and will be able to fit onto a tabletop. Once the first nanofactory has been built, it could be programmed to build another nanofactory in a matter of days, and then nanofactories could proliferate exponentially until the world's demand was satisfied. With the correct designs, enough power, and with enough chemical feedstock (the raw materials that the nanofactory uses to synthesize its products), these factories will be able to build anything we can imagine.
The kind of protein engineering used by Angela Belcher to coerce biological machinery into building useful structures from inorganic materials highlights our growing ability to build things from the bottom-up, in a movement which breaks away from the ancient technological trend of bulk technology – which created everything from flint axes to silicon chips from processes involving the manipulation of many millions, billions and trillions of molecules at once – to technology working with ever finer precision down to the molecular level. As our molecular engineering capabilities have enhanced, we have made significant steps in manipulating matter on the atomic level, building structures atom by atom.
This is the emerging field of molecular nanotechnology, which promises complex machines on the molecular level. Unlike the mechanical and chemical technologies which power manufacturing today, reliant on crude processes like chopping and cutting, pounding and heating, advanced molecular manufacturing will work entirely from the bottom up, handling individual atoms and molecules with incredible control and precision, able to fabricate almost anything imaginable.
Today, most materials, even those modified by chemists and material scientists, are manipulated indirectly, perhaps by commandeering the existing nano-structuring properties of biological nanomachines like viruses and bacteria, and using imprecise process like mixing and heating. Nanotechnology promises a programmable molecular assembler which will be able to make almost any desired pattern of atoms, and therefore almost any structure or material, with utmost precision, revolutionizing the world more fundamentally than anything before; ultimately replacing all traditional manufacturing processes entirely, and upgrading and replacing all of today's crudely hewn products.
There is a huge precedent for the success of creating programmable nano-scale machinery provided by nature: all living things are composed in part from naturally evolved nano-machines. Enzymes, for instance, are molecular machines which build, break and rearrange the bonds in other molecules in a structured and highly specialized fashion. DNA serves as a nano-scale data-storage system, like a computer hard drive, encoding digital instructions at the molecular level which are then passed on to ribosomes, molecular machines which translate these instructions into the manufacture of protein molecules. Plants gather the energy they need using molecular-level solar collectors, made from nano-scale electronic reaction centres housed in their chloroplasts. In fact, in this light, trees are more sophisticated and more complex than the most finely engineered electronic devices that we can produce today. And they can make wood and leaves, gather solar energy, and replicate their molecular machines without generating toxic waste, noise or excess heat.
Angela Belcher is a materials scientist at MIT. As a graduate student at the University of California, she elucidated the molecular assembly system by which certain molluscs create their protective shells. Shells like those of the abalone sea snail which she studied are biocomposite materials made from both organic protein (2% of the shell's mass) and inorganic calcium carbonate (98% by mass), and are created by the action of proteins encoded by genes. These particular proteins are negatively charged, and pull positively charged calcium ions from the snail's environment into layers which accrete between the proteins, forming a structure thousands of times stronger than the individual materials that compose it – abalone shells are much tougher and stronger than chalk, for instance, which is also made from calcium carbonate.
Fascinated by the interaction between living protein and its control of calcium to create a nano-engineered shell – all specified by a certain DNA sequence – Belcher recognized that any element from the periodic table could theoretically be manipulated by a corresponding DNA sequence into forming any kind of structure. By finding the appropriate DNA code, these structures could hypothetically be created from materials natural evolution had never before worked with, and coaxed into shapes never naturally occurring.
With the goal of creating DNA sequences that could code for the synthesis of any useful material, Belcher and her team started by genetically engineering a long, tubular virus through a process of selective evolution to coat itself with inorganic materials including gold and cobalt oxide. The long viruses now formed tiny lengths of nanowire, which the group was able to engineer together in 2009 to form the basic components of a powerful and compact battery. These new batteries, specified by genes that produce proteins that manipulate inorganic materials, have the same energy capacity as the latest batteries specified for powering hybrid cars.
Whilst conventional batteries generate a lot of waste during production and contain harmful materials that make clean and safe disposal a problem, the genetically engineered viral batteries produce practically no waste, growing themselves through an environmentally friendly process at room temperature, using only water as a solvent. As they are grown on an organic substrate, they are also at least partially biodegradable.
This kind of work synthesizes expertise from several disciplines, using the power of genetic engineering to produce nanotechnology applicable to the electronic world. Belcher's work shows the viability of repurposing biological processes for the construction and control of (largely) inorganic structures like virally-grown and evolutionary optimized batteries and solar cells, grown through energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly processes.
Colour blindness, or the inability to distinguish between certain colour combinations, can either be acquired or inherited, and affects about 8% of males and 0.5% of females in some way. It is one of the most common and best understood genetic anomalies, having first been self-diagnosed over two-hundred years ago by chemist John Dalton.
Non-colour blind people are trichromats; they possess three different photopigments sensitive to three different wavelengths of the visible spectrum in the photoreceptive cells of their eyes. Individuals with inherited colour blindness cannot express all three of these photopigments in their eyes and therefore are sensitive to only a limited range of the spectrum. In the most common form of colour-blindness the lack of a single pigment leads to a difficulty in distinguishing between red and green. Less common forms of colour blindess include monochromats, those lacking the genes for two pigments, and anchromatopsic people, those lacking all three pigments, and who can only see in black and white.
Experiments with mammals – from mice to primates – have demonstrated that colour vision can be conferred through gene-therapy. Genes encoding for the production of the previously missing photopigment have been delivered to colour-blind animals through a specially modified virus vector, injected directly into the back of the eye. Once expressed, the treated animals gain the full complement of pigments, and gain full colour vision, as tested by various behavioural tests. This therapy has brought full colour vision to animals that have never had it before; male squirrel monkeys are naturally dichromatic, and therefore have difficulty in distinguishing between certain shades of red and green. Following the gene therapy to confer the human photopigment gene, the monkeys exhibited behaviour consistent with trichromatic vision: their vision and perception of the world had been upgraded.
Whilst there has been success in curing colour blindness in animals, there are currently no clinical trials planned for humans. This is largely because colour blindness is considered a mild disability, and the procedure to cure it carries risks of eye infection potentially much greater than the benefits it brings. However, the success of the treatment in introducing new colour ranges to primates suggests that our own brains will also be able to adapt to new colour ranges. This has the rather profound consequence that one day it may just be possible to add an additional receptor to our eyes using gene therapy which will upgrade our vision so that we could see ultraviolet light, like bees do. With one more pigment, we could add yet another colour to our perceptual palette and would be able to share the pentachromatic world of Papilio butterflies.
Drugs originally designed to treat medical conditions are frequently becoming repurposed for non medical uses (and vice-versa as recreational drugs like marajuana are repurposed for therapeutic purposes). Examples include the drugs that were originally designed to combat attention deficit disorder, such as Modafinil and Ritalin, finding new off-label use as sleep depressants and as enhancers of alertness and concentration. Vascular endothelial growth factors, used clinically to promote the growth of new blood vessels after injury, have found utility with athletes wanting to pump more blood to gain competitive advantage. People are willing to go to great lengths to succeed, and many voluntarily alter their bodies with drugs and therapies to achieve their goals; sometimes even using growth factors to reclaim the hormone levels of their youth, resisting the decline of ageing to restore their 'natural' level of performance.
Drugs are now beginning to target our genes themselves, using retroviruses as delivery mechanisms to infect cells with new genetic code. Whilst most gene therapy trials to date have either failed or suffered from debilitating side-effects, some success are beginning to show the potential of this treatment. As we refine gene therapy techniques and begin to understand more about its processes, the trend of therapeutic repurposing is likely to extend to this new technology, and some people will undoubtedly want to alter their genes for non-medical purposes.
Eero Mäntyranta, former Finnish Olympic skier, initially suspected of doping, was found to have a naturally occurring genetic mutation which increased his red blood cell mass, and therefore oxygen carrying capacity and thus physical fitness, in much the same way that drugs used to treat anaemia, like Erythropoietin, have been used by world-class cyclists in the Tour de France to drive performance boosts of up to fifteen percent above normal. This means that there is a very thin line between genetic performance enhancers and 'artificial' performance enhancers, which is becoming increasingly blurred the more we come to understand the roles of our hereditary genes. Indeed, a study of twins recently argued that two-thirds of genetic ability is determined by the inheritance of genes related to athlete status. It is now feasible to analyze genes for endurance and fitness before a child is even born, and we already have a library of over two-hundred gene variants which correspond to improved athletic performance, including those that increase the prevalence of fast twitch muscles, increase aerobic capacity and increase cardio-respiratory fitness.
As we decode our genes, it is becoming increasingly clear that some athletes have an 'unfair' natural advantage simply through the virtue of being born with a certain sequence of proteins in their genome. Is it fair that these people, through no fault or effort of their own, are being rewarded for having a gene that results in a 25% extra increase in their oxygen carrying capacity?
Induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, are artificially induced stem cells which resemble embryonic stem cells, and they may just hold the key to the much-needed revolution in regenerative medicine, promising patient-specific cell-types which can be used to grow tailor-made replacement organs and tissues.
In 2009, two independent Chinese teams made the announcement that they had taken skin cells from mice (which are already specialized, and not stem cells) and successfully chemically treated them into de-differentiating into pluripotent stells cells, tricking them, in effect, into thinking they had just been born and reprogramming them into a pluripotent state.
As each cell in a body contains that body's entire genome, each cell contains the genetic code necessary to create every single body part, and thus has the ability to create a complete copy of the entire body. Not only did the researchers de-differentiate the mice skin cells, but they also used new techniques to allow these stem cells to re-grow, differentiate once again and create a whole new living mouse. Xiao Xiao, the first of twenty-seven such mice to be created using the process, has since been seen as a landmark step in the future of stem-cell therapy, not least because she and her siblings were able to mate and give birth to healthy offspring, who in turn produced new generations of mice themselves. The success of this procedure suggests that one day humans could, in theory, take a cell from anywhere in their bodies and create full, fertile clones of themselves. In a genetic sense, this procedure could allow each one of our cells to make an immortal line of clones of ourselves.
The desirability of human cloning leads to some obvious questions, which Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans have summed up, starting with the most basic, 'do we really want to clone ourselves?'. The first consideration in answering this question is how safe and reproducible the technology for doing so is, which, if satisfied, leads on to more philosophical questions, such as 'have I mated to produce children whose genome improves the species more than my own?'. As Enriquez and Gullans put it, “are your kids better than you?” – if they are, then you don't have a strong case for cloning yourself. When the cloning question gets really interesting, though, is when we consider the possibility of mind-uploading and downloading. If we could save our mind and experiences, and continuously copy it into new bodies over the centuries, the idea of cloning suddenly becomes mythically attractive. | https://samhaskell.co.uk/category/100-days-blog?page=1 |
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has provided a clear guidance on the legal basis for processing personal data when conducting clinical trials. Although the opinion refers specifically to the interaction between the GDPR and the Clinical Trial Regulation (CTR), in this article we summarize the premises applicable for the processing of personal data in the context of clinical trials under the GDPR.
On the 23rd of January 2019, in exercise of their tasks under article 70 of the GDPR, the EDPB published Opinion 3/2019 concerning the Questions and Answers on the interplay between the Clinical Trials Regulation (CTR) and the General Data Protection regulation (GDPR) (art. 70.1.b)), in response to the Q&A submitted by the European Commission (DG SANTE). The request for consultation was submitted to the EDBP in October 2018, and it provides guidance on the interplay between the two regulations whenever clinical trials are conducted.
The CTR is a regulation that seeks to achieve a greater level of harmonisation when conducting clinical trials in the EU. This regulation has been in force since the 16th of June 2014, however, its application has been suspended until the development of the EU clinical trials portal and database. The entry into application of the CTR is estimated for 2020, thus the requirement for clarification between the two regulations.
Recitals 156 and 161 of the GDPR make explicit reference to the specific regulation applicable for clinical trials. The EDPB has emphasised that from a data protection point of view, the CTR is a sectoral law that is applicable simultaneously with the provisions of the GDPR. On this matter, the EDBP has clarified that in the context of clinical trials, there is a primary and secondary use of personal data, and that different legal basis are applicable depending on the purposes.
The EDBP mentions in the opinion that the primary use of clinical trial data is to be assumed as the complete data processing operation within the lifecycle of the clinical trial protocol. This is to be understood as from the beginning of the trial, until the deletion once the archiving period has concluded. Within this primary use, not all processing operations have the same purpose or legal basis. When processing personal data while conducting a clinical trial, there are 2 categories to be considered:
1. Reliability and safety purposes.
The first category refers to the processing operations that involve the reliability and safety purpose related to the protection of health, while setting standards of quality and safety for medicinal products by the generation of reliable and robust data. The legal basis applicable to this category is comprised under article 6 (1) (c) of the GDPR, when the “processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject to”; at the same time, Art. 9(2) (i) GDPR will apply since special categories of personal data within the meaning of that norm are concerned. This legal obligation is subject to certain conditions, primarily that the obligation must comply with data protection regulation. The legal obligation must be clear as to the personal data required for its compliance, and the controller should not have an undue degree of discretion over how to comply with such obligation. The obligations the sponsor and/or investigator are subject to within the CTR are: the performance of safety reporting, the archiving of clinical trials master files, medical files of subjects, and inspection by national authorities in compliance with national law.
2. Research activities:
Concerning the concept of scientific research, the article 29 WP has stated that scientific research should not be interpreted in a broad spectrum. This concept should be interpreted as a research project set up in accordance with relevant sector related methodological and ethical standards, in conformity with good practice. Taking this into consideration, within a clinical trial, the purpose of research may be based on the consent of the data subject, or on the public or legitimate interest of the controller. For these legal bases to be applicable, the activity should contain the following characteristics.
a) Consent:
Concerning the GDPR, the consent of the data subject must be explicit in compliance with the provisions of article 6 (1)(a) alongside the specific requirements of article 9 (2)(a). The obligation of informed consent contained within the CTR, refer to the core ethical requirements of research projects involving humans as established within the Helsinki Declaration. The EDBP has clarified that the informed consent under the CTR refers to the protection of the right to human dignity and integrity of individuals, and should not be conceived as an instrument for compliance with data protection standards.
Explicit consent as required under the GDPR must meet the requirements under Article 4 (11), and 7 of the GDPR, along with the conditions as established by the Article 29 WP. The EDBP specifies that the concept of a “freely given consent” is fundamental for this condition to be met. In the case of clinical trials, the imbalance of power between the data subject and the controller from an economic or hierarchical perspective may be problematic. It is important for the controller to consider, within the special circumstances of the trial, whether there might be an imbalance of power between the sponsor/investigator and participants. However, the EDBP has made it clear that even if the participants are informed of the existence of an imbalance of power between them and the sponsor/investigator, this would lead to the consent not being “freely given” under the GDPR. Due to this conflict consent may not be considered as appropriate legal basis in most cases.
Another aspect that need to be considered when relying on consent as a legal basis for processing is the data subject’s right to withdraw consent. The withdrawal of informed consent under the CTR must not be confused with the withdrawal of consent under the GDPR. When a data subject withdraws his/her consent under data protection regulation, all processing operations related to the research activities that are based upon that consent, should cease so long as it is personal data, as required under article 7 of the GDPR. The processing of anonymized data sets for research purposes may continue as it is not considered personal data. Processing operations that are carried out based on other legal grounds, however, may continue.
The EDBP has expressly mentioned that the following two legal bases are to be considered primarily when processing personal data within a clinical trial for research purposes.
b) Tasks carried out in the Public Interest:
The conditions for considering that the personal data is being processed as a task carried out in the public interest, require that the processing is a task vested in a public or private body by national law. Under this legal basis, the personal data must be processed necessarily to comply with this obligation under public interest when the clinical trials are mandated under the authority of a public or private body.
c) Legitimate Interest of the Controller:
Whenever the processing of personal data for research purposes is not comprised as a task carried out in the public interest, this legal basis may be applicable. The related articles are Article 6 (1) (f) in conjunction with either a task carried out for public interest under article 9 (2) (i), or scientific purposes under article 9 (2) (j) of the GDPR. The relevant exception for the processing of special categories of personal data will depend upon the research activity itself.
Secondary use of Clinical Trial Data outside the Clinical Trial protocol for Scientific Purposes.
As mentioned above, the consent as defined by the CTR is not to be considered as the same consent required for the processing of personal data. For this reason, the EDBP has stressed that if the sponsor wishes to process the personal data for other scientific purposes, not initially within the clinical trial protocol, this would require another specific legal ground. The second legal ground may or may not be the same as the one for the primary use.
The EDPB has pointed out that the presumption of compatibility under article 5 (1)(b) of the GDPR is to be interpreted as where data is further processed for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific, historical research or statistical purposes, in accordance with the provisions of article 89 of the GDPR. The processor could further process personal data, as long as certain conditions are applicable, without the need for a new legal basis for processing. Due to the complexity of these conditions, the EDBP will be providing further guidance on this matter. In the meantime, the conditions within article 89 of the GDPR should not be excluded from the secondary use of clinical trial data outside the clinical trial protocol, for other specific purposes. Whenever personal data is to be further processed and the presumption of compatibility is applicable, the requirements of the GDPR and local data protection law must also apply to the processing operation as established under article 28(2) of the CTR.
With this opinion, the EDBP analysed the synergy between the Clinical Trial Regulation and the GDPR when conducting clinical trials. Furthermore, it clarifies the fact that the consent of the data subject for processing personal data differs from the consent required to conduct the clinical trial. The opinion narrows down the legal basis for processing for research purposes and enhances the need to rely on the public or legitimate interest of the controller rather than consent within the context of clinical trials. Although some matters remain open to the further guidance of the EDPB, these opinions should already be taken into consideration within the development of clinical trial protocols. For further clarification of the opinion herein please refer to Figure 1.
Figure 1
Article 41 to 43 of the CTR.
Article 58 of the CTR.
As determined by national law.
Article 77 to 79 of the CTR.
Article 29 Working Party Guidelines on consent under Regulation 2016/679 of 10 April 2018, p.27.
REGULATION (EU) No 536/2014 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 April 2014 on clinical trials on medicinal products for human use, and repealing Directive 2001/20/EC, Article 29.
WMA Declaration of Helsinki- Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects, Articles 25-32 on informed consent.
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2012/C 326/02, articles 1 and 3.
Article 29 Working Party Guidelines on consent under Regulation 2016/679 of 10 April 2018, as endorsed by the EDPB on 25 May 2018.
Recital 31 of the CTR:
“In order to certify that informed consent is given freely, the investigator should take into account all relevant circumstances which might influence the decision of a potential subject to participate in a clinical trial, in particular whether the potential subject belongs to an economically or socially disadvantaged group or is in a situation of institutional or hierarchical dependency that could inappropriately influence her or his decision to participate.”
Article 28(3) of the GDPR.
Article 6 (1)(e) of the GDPR complemented by article 6(3).
Recital 45 of the GDPR, See also Opinion 06/2014 on the notion of legitimate interests of the data controller under Article 7 of Directive 95/46/EC adopted on 9 April 2014, WP 217, p. 21-22.
Recital 50 of the GDPR. | https://www.datenschutz-notizen.de/processing-personal-data-in-the-context-of-the-clinical-trial-regulation-ctr-and-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr-2922390/ |
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Honor individuals, businesses and organizations at the Annual Awards of Excellence
Preserve and promote protection of our Wondrous Starlit Skies
Sponsor and hold Environmental Workshops
Participate in the Land Preservation Task Force
Encourage Landscape Design
Host a citizen volunteer corps of Litter Lifters dedicated to keeping our streets and byways litter-free
Annually local students of all ages particpate in the Litter Prevention campaign
Support the establishment of a National Scenic Area Designation for surrounding forest service land
Sponsor the Annual Native Plant Workshop
Engage citizens and authorities in issues of Noise Abatement
Sponsor the "Sedona Capture the Wonder" Photo Contest
Provide annual Scholarships to a graduating high school senior
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Volunteer Historian Needed
DescriptionHistorian Archivist Needed
KSB is fast approaching it’s 50th year of service to the greater Sedona area. In 2021 we will celebrate our golden anniversary. In order to organize and eventually share our incredible story through the decades, we are looking for a volunteer to review our history books and recommend significant events that are best to publicize. The plan is to submit short articles to the media each month of 2021, arranged in chronological order. You would have guidance and assistance from the KSB office staff and from various Trustees, including the President.
The approximate starting time for this effort will be mid-2019. Work could be accomplished principally at home. If you’re interested in this opportunity, please contact Jan Wind at 928-284-4938 or email us at [email protected] to arrange for an in-depth discussion of this initiative.
Date Submitted: 04-22-2019
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KSB Litter Lifters Needed
DescriptionLitter Lifter Volunteers Needed
We all realize trash and litter on our roadways doesn’t just disappear. Dedicated volunteers have removed litter since 1971 to the benefit of residents and visitors alike. Keep Sedona Beautiful (KSB) has played a key role in making sure litter is removed, adopting some 70 miles of our roads and highways.
Our community need is immediate and urgent, to cover litter lifter vacancies. You can help by calling KSB at 928-282-4938 or emailing [email protected] to learn more, and discuss this rewarding work.
Keep Sedona Beautiful seeks volunteer litter lifters to cover the following routes:
SR 89A - Airport Road to Mountain Shadows
Upper Red Road Loop Road from the Yellow Flood Sign to the High School
Lower Red Rock Loop Road from Red Rock State Park to Cup O’ Gold
SR 179 – MP 307W to 308W
SR179 – MP 308W to 309W
SR 179 – MP 309E to 310E – Summer Only
SR 179 – MP 313 to 314
Safety equipment will be provided … all you need is the will to help keep our beautiful Sedona clean!
All equipment is provided. Temporary positions and route sharing or partnering options are also available. | https://www.sedonawishlist.org/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&view=userprofile&user=138&Itemid=111 |
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BEHAVIOURIST APPROACHES TO LEARNING AND TEACHING Education Foundations, Sec., Week 5, Semester 1, 2012
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Overview What is learning? Behaviourist view of learning Key premises and concepts Knowledge, learning, and motivation Applications in classroom instructions – Explicit and direct instructions Behaviourist approach to classroom management Advantages and limitations Stimulus and response mechanism External and observable behaviour Contiguity Classical conditioning Operant conditioning Reinforcement and punishment Learning as a- b-c Learning objectives Task breakdown Modelling and thinking aloud Practice and drilling Kinaesthetic activities Constant formative feedback Group consequences Token economy Contracts
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What is learning? The parrot’s learning to count/ greet Learning to smoke Learning the lyrics of the Sesame Street song Learning to ride a bike Learning English, maths, history, … Learning the times tables / a formula / an algorithm Learning about thinking, learning, and self Learnt helplessness …
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Permanent change rather than temporary Assimilation or adaptation Due to experience rather than natural maturation Definitions of learning and underlying epistemologies Behavioural, psychological, or psychical? Conscious and rational, subconscious, or holistic?
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Behaviourist view of learning Change in behaviour Subject to active control and shaping by external factors Outcome-orientation
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Key premises and concepts Psychology as the science of stimulus and response “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select— doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors” (Watson,1930, p.82). John B. Watson (1878-1958)
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Focuses on objectively observable and measurable actions and behaviour “The mentalistic problem can be avoided by going directly to the prior physical causes while bypassing intermediate feelings or states of mind. The quickest way to do this is to confine oneself to … only those facts which can be objectively observed in the behavior of one person in its relation to his prior environmental history. If all linkages are lawful, nothing is lost by neglecting a supposed nonphysical link” (Skinner, 1976, p.23). Burrhus F. Skinner (1904-1990)
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Contiguity principle Learning by association Formation of S-R relation
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Pavlov’s dog experiment Involuntary (emotional or physiological) association / responses Unconditioned association: Neutral stimulus Unconditioned stimulus Unconditioned response Conditioned association: Conditioned stimulus Conditioned response Classical conditioning Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
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What are the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR in this ad?
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Operant conditioning Behaviour as operants rather than respondents Thorndike’s cats Skinner’s pigeons
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Reinforcement Positive Negative Schedule Continuous Intermittent – fixed or unpredictable a) Interval b) ratio Punishment
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Learning as a-b-c (antecedent-behaviour-consequence)
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Knowledge, Learning, and Motivation Knowledge: a repertoire of behaviours or behavioural capacities Learning: formation of appropriate S-R association Motivation: schedules of positive and negative reinforcement
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Behaviourist principles of classroom instruction Explicit and direct instructions Clear communication of learning objectives (Kizlik, 2012; Linder-Crow, 2000) 1) Focus on student rather than the teacher Bad objective statementsGood objective statements To acquaint students with behaviourist learning theories Students will be able to identify 3 behaviourist learning principles To familiarise students with neo-behavourist learning theories Students will be able to describe neo-behaviourist learning theories
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Learning objectives as behavioural antecedents 2) Contain action words (verbs) of behavioural goal Students will understand the rhythm of the poem by Edgar Allen Poe. Students will be able to describe and demonstrate with a percussion instrument the rhythm of the poem. Students will appreciate the composition of English words. Students will be able to apply the rules of word composition. When asked, ‘Is cttn an English word?’, students will reply, ‘No, because it has no vowels. All English words must have at least one vowel.’
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Task breakdown Task analysis
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Behaviour modelling Skinner’s pigeons video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erhmslcHvaw&feature=re lated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erhmslcHvaw&feature=re lated Thinking aloud and justify thinking rationale Explicit teaching video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h4q-bok644 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h4q-bok644
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Practice and drilling (first 1.5 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cwODCQ9BnU&feature =related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cwODCQ9BnU&feature =related Using kinaesthetic movements to help retention http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yStzJjLXdxM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yStzJjLXdxM Using paper folding to do multiplication by fractions
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Monitoring and constant formative feedback Formative feedback video (2 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY0U7axgdHY&feature =related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY0U7axgdHY&feature =related
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Behaviourist approach to classroom management Group consequences Rewards or punishments given to a class /group as a whole for adhering to or violating rules of conduct Good behaviour game Token economy programs Tokens earned for academic work and positive classroom behaviour can be exchanged for desired reward. Contracts Agreement between teacher and student specifying behaviour and its reward or punishment
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Advantages of behaviourist instructions Effective strategies for teaching action sequences that need to be automated Widely applied in teaching young students and students with LD Effects in eliminating SES-related differences of school achievement
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Limitations Dependence on extrinsic forms of reinforcement Neglect of complex thinking processes leading to behavioural performance
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References Kizlik, B. (2012) How to write learning objectives that meet demanding behavioural criteria, www.adprima.com/objectives.htm Linder-Crow, J. (2000) Writing behavioural leaning objectives and assessment, http://www.apa.org/ed/sponsor/about/faq/objectives.pdf http://www.apa.org/ed/sponsor/about/faq/objectives.pdf Skinner, B. F. (1976) About Behaviorism, Vintage Books, New York. Watson, J. B. (1930) Behaviorism, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
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Perennials are not demanding plants, but trimming them after flowering finishes in autumn helps improve their appearance and flowering. However, you can leave some stems over winter to provide homes and food for wildlife, and then trim back in spring.
All herbaceous perennials and ornamental grasses that die back to soil level.
Cutting back herbaceous perennials during autumn restores order and tidiness to the garden. However, this removes potential winter interest, in the form of height and structure, plus food and habitat sources for wildlife so many gardeners delay the cut back until spring.
Selective cutting back in autumn can retain the dried, bleached flowerheads of plants, while removing material showing signs of decay or fungal growth. Examples include: such as Eryngium (sea holly), Phormium (New Zealand flax) and the foliage and flowers of ornamental grasses.
More tender plants with woody stems, such as penstemons, are left so that the old stems protect the crown from frost. Leave pruning of these and other borderline-hardy perennials until the risk of frost has passed – usually April or May.
Evergreen perennials such as certain Kniphofia and ornamental sedges are not cut back, but are tidied during spring and summer by removing dead foliage.
After cutting back, mulch and fertilise to promote growth and flowering.
Although the general principles are the same, there are a few differences depending on what season the work is carried out. This is explained below.
Many gardeners choose to leave dead herbaceous plants and grasses over winter to provide structure to the garden, as well as food and shelter for wildlife. However, more care is needed when cutting back in spring to avoid damaging new shoot growth. Most gardeners start cutting back from March onwards:
Early-flowering perennials such as geraniums and delphiniums are cut to near ground level after flowering to encourage fresh foliage and late summer flowering. These are then cut back again in autumn or spring.
Sometimes gardeners are caught out by earlier-than-expected growth of perennials in spring. In these cases, rather than cutting out new growth, merely tidy up the plants by pulling out dead stems.
In very wet winters, the soil can be too wet to access plants without compacting soggy soil. Rather than damaging the soil, it is best to wait until it is drier in spring; and then tidy up the plants by pulling out dead stems. Where soils are prone to waterlogging and damage, carry out cutting back in autumn.
Join the RHS today and get 12 months for the price of 9
Find out what to do this month with our gardeners' calendar
RHS members can get exclusive individual advice from the RHS Gardening Advice team.
The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place. | https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=362 |
Today, June 26th, 2017 is the 24th Annual Heart of Illinois All Positions Football Camp – This camp is for 7th/8th graders from 9:00 am to 11:00 am and for high school students from 9:00 am on and off until 7:00 pm. Campers can choose 1 Offense Position (Quarterbacks, Receivers, Running Backs, Offensive Line) and 1 Defense Position (Linebackers, Defensive Backs, Defensive Line) for instruction. Specific techniques and skills for positions will be taught by Metamora High School coaches, players, and guest coaches.
Also today, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am the Lady Redbird Basketball Camp — This camp will focus on the basic fundamentals of passing, dribbling, shooting, rebounding and defense. Each player will receive hands-on instruction. It takes hard work, discipline, and dedication to become a great player, so campers will also learn drills to practice at home so they can continue to improve. This is a camp for Champions by Champions! | https://www.metamoraherald.com/2017/06/football-basketball-camps.html |
In Bogotá, Colombia, a group of community members and activists have taken charge of enhancing pedestrian safety. Their DIY initiative, called Cebras por la Vida or Crosswalks for Life, works to paint brightly-colored, patterned crosswalks at sites where pedestrians have been injured or killed by motorists. The campaign responds to the devastating problem of pedestrian safety in Bogotá, where around 300 people are killed in accidents each year. This issue is the result of the car-prioritized culture in the city, in which drivers commonly ignore speed limits and stop-signs and park on sidewalks. At the same time, there is a lack of adequate pedestrian-friendly infrastructure such as crosswalks and pedestrian lights. The need for a safer walking and cycling environment has long been a problem in the city.
Because of these statistics and a lack of coordinated action to combat them, groups like Combo 2600 and La Ciudad Verde have begun to address these issues by painting these crossings and creating DIY walking infrastructure. Their efforts have gained considerable media attention, forcing the government to acknowledge their efforts and to better confront these issues. For example, in an early project, organizers painted around a massive pothole, labeling it “His Majesty the Crater.” Soon after, most of the potholes in the area were fixed. The project has been replicated in other Colombian and Mexican cities and it won the 2014 Urban Sustainability Award at World Urban Forum in Medellin, Colombia. | https://www.pps.org/places/crosswalks-for-life |
Tayal, N., Murden, R., Janaus, S. (2012) Make Your Problem List Wiki Wiki. SGIM Forum 35(11): 1, 13, 15.
A core goal of SGIM is to foster professional interaction among leading academic researchers and general internists. Whether in-person or online, SGIM has the mechanism for you to connect with other professionals within your field including national meetings, regional meetings, and other CME opportunities. | https://www.sgim.org/resource-library/forum/2012/make-your-problem-list-wiki-wiki |
Introduction
============
Most blueberry fields throughout the world are irrigated by sprinklers or drip (Strik and Yarborough, [@B28]). While both irrigation methods are effective for commercial production of blueberry, a major advantage of drip is the capability of applying water-soluble fertilizers during irrigation. This procedure, otherwise known as fertigation, can apply fertilizer very uniformly throughout a field and directly to the roots in small and frequent amounts as needed, and it therefore has the potential to reduce total fertilizer applications, leaching, and runoff (Kafkafi and Tarchitzky, [@B14]).
Numerous fertilizers are available for fertigation, but currently the most common products applied to blueberry include liquid urea \[(NH~2~)~2~CO\] and urea containing liquid fertilizers such as urea ammonium nitrate, urea phosphate, and urea sulfuric acid. These products are considered well suited to blueberry because 1) the urea breaks down quickly to ammonium--N (NH~4~--N) and 2) the fertilizers help acidify the soil; blueberry prefers NH~4~--N over nitrate--N (NO~3~--N) and grows best when soil pH is between 4.2 and 5.5 (Eck, [@B5]; Korcak, [@B15]; Poonnachit and Darnell, [@B21]). The liquid fertilizers are usually injected throughout the growing season until 1--2 months prior to dormancy.
Granular urea or ammonium-based granular fertilizers, such as ammonium sulfate \[(NH~4~)~2~SO~4~\] or ammonium phosphate are often used with sprinklers (or in rain-fed fields without irrigation). These products are typically applied in two or three split applications in the spring when N uptake by the plant is considered most active (Hanson and Retamales, [@B10]; Throop and Hanson, [@B29]; Bañados et al., [@B1]). Ammonium sulfate is the most acidifying of the group and is recommended when soil pH is above 5.0; urea or a blend of urea with (NH~4~)~2~SO~4~ is recommended when pH is below 5.0 (Pritts and Hancock, [@B22]; Strik et al., [@B27]; Hart et al., [@B11]).
Nitrogen recommendations for blueberry generally range from 20--140 kg·ha^−1^ per year, varying with plant age and vigor, soil type and fertility, and regional location (Hanson, [@B9]). Hart et al. ([@B11]) updated the blueberry fertilizer guidelines for the northwestern United States and recommend applying 17--26 g of N per plant per year during first 4 years after planting, 110--160 kg·ha^−1^ per year the following 3 years, and 160--180 kg·ha^−1^ per year once the plants reach maturity (typically in 7--8 years). These rates assume that sawdust and ≈100 kg·ha^−1^ of N are incorporated in the soil prior to planting, and that sawdust mulch is applied to soil surface after planting and is replenished every few years there afterward. The rates were developed for granular product applied as a broadcast band in the row (or under the drip line of young plants) but do not necessarily apply to fertigation with liquid fertilizers.
The objective of the present study was to compare the relative effectiveness of fertigation with the standard application of granular fertilizer on plant growth and N uptake in a new planting of highbush blueberry. Nitrogen rates were also evaluated to determine the optimum amount of fertilizer needed to maximize growth and production with each method. Nitrogen fertigation was applied by either split fertilizer injections or by weekly injection. With split injections, fertilizer can be applied when most needed (e.g., during flowering, fruit set, and early shoot growth), but it may lead to root injury if the fertilizer becomes too concentrated beneath the drip emitters. We hypothesized that weekly applications reduce the risk of root injury and encourage active uptake of nutrients throughout the growing season.
Materials and Methods
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A 0.24-ha field of "Bluecrop" highbush blueberry was planted at the Oregon State University Lewis-Brown Horticultural Research Farm in Corvallis, OR, USA in April 2006. Plants were obtained from a commercial nursery (as 2-year-old container stock) and spaced 0.76 m × 3.05 m apart on raised beds (0.4-m high and 0.9-m wide). Soil at the site was a Malabon silty clay loam (fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Pachic Ultic Argixerolls) adjusted to pH 5.5 with two applications of 670 kg·ha^−1^ of elemental S incorporated 6 and 10 mos. prior to planting. A depth of 7.5 cm of Douglas-fir (*Pseudotsuga menziesii* Franco) sawdust was also incorporated within the plant row prior to planting, and 5 cm was applied on top of the beds immediately after planting. Grass alleyways (1.1-m wide) were planted and maintained between the beds.
An irrigation system was installed and designed with a manifold to accommodate 16 different fertilizer treatments. The treatments were arranged in a split-plot design and included four methods of fertilizer application (weekly fertigation, split fertigation, and two non-fertigated controls) as main plots and four fertilizer rates (0, 50, 100, and 150 kg·ha^−1^ N) as subplots. Each treatment plot consisted of one row of eight plants and was replicated six times. The two fertigation methods and one of the non-fertigated controls were irrigated by drip tubing (GeoFlow, Charlotte, NC, USA) placed along the top of the planting bed near the base of the plants. The tubing had 1.9 L h^−1^ pressure-compensating, in-line emitters spaced 0.30-m apart and was covered with the sawdust applied after planting. The second non-fertigated control was irrigated with 22.7 L h^−1^ fan-jet microsprinklers (DC Series, Bowsmith, Exeter, CA, USA) located between each plant. The fan-jet emitters had a 2.7- to 3.0-m diameter, circular wetting pattern at operating pressures of 100--140 kPa. Irrigation was controlled in each treatment by electric solenoid valves and an automatic timer set weekly.
Liquid urea (20N--0P--0K) was injected during weekly and split fertigations using Venturi-type injectors (Mazzei Model 584 Injector, Mazzei Injector Corp., Bakersfield, CA, USA) installed at the inflow of each drip system. Weekly fertigation was applied once a week in 18 equal fertilizer applications from leaf emergence (mid April) to about 60 days prior to the end of the growing season (mid August), while split fertigation was applied once a month from April to June in three equal applications. Non-fertigated controls were fertilized with granular ammonium sulfate (21N-0P-0K-24S) and irrigated by drip or microsprinklers (simulates conventional overhead sprinkler irrigation). Granular fertilizer was also applied in three equal applications from April to June and was evenly spread around the base of the plants in 2006 (year 1) and banded on each side of the plants in 2007 (year 2). Since soil P and K levels were sufficient, no pre- or post-plant applications of P and K were added.
Irrigations were scheduled based on precipitation and estimates of crop evapotranspiration (ET~c~) obtained at least weekly from a Pacific Northwest Cooperative Agricultural Weather Network AgriMet weather station (<http://usbr.gov/pn/agrimet/>) located \<0.25 km from the field site. Evapotranspiration estimates were adjusted for plant size and irrigation system efficiency in each treatment following procedures outlined in Holzapfel et al. ([@B12]). Water applications were measured using turbine water meters (Sensus Metering Systems, Uniontown, PA, USA) installed at the inflow of each irrigation system.
Canopy cover was estimated on August 30, 2006 and August 28, 2007 from digital images captured using an ADC multispectral camera (TetraCam Inc., Chatsworth, CA, USA). The camera was suspended from a marked trellis wire located ≈2.5 m above the planting bed. Images were collected on each date from every other plant of the center six plants in each plot, for a total of 288 images per date. Percent live cover in each image was determined using software (Pixelwrench and Briv32) provided by the camera manufacturer. Care was taken to ensure that image area always exceeded canopy width of each image. Any cover by weeds or the grass alleyway was cleaned from the images using Adobe Photoshop v. 5.0 (Adobe Systems Inc., San Jose, CA, USA) prior to analysis. Live cover was converted to total percent canopy cover based on the proportion of the field covered by each image.
Soil solution was extracted from the soil using hydrophilic porous polymer soil moisture samplers (Eijkelkamp Agrisearch Equipment, Giesbeek, The Netherlands), according to procedures described by Spangenberg et al. ([@B24]). Nine 10-cm long samplers were installed near one of the two center plants of each plot on April 2007; one sampler was located near the base of the plant and two each were located at 10-cm increments from the plant in both directions along the drip lateral and in both directions perpendicular to the row. Ten ml of soil solution was collected periodically from each sampler, pooled in each replicate, and analyzed for NH~4~--N and NO~3~--N using a rapid flow analyzer (Alpkem Flow Solution III, OI Analytical, College Station, TX, USA) and for electrical conductivity using a calibrated conductivity meter (Omega Engineering, Inc., Stamford, CT, USA). Leaf samples (six leaves from the center six plants in each plot) were also collected July 28, 2006 and July 29, 2007, oven-dried at 70°C, ground, and analyzed for total N using a combustion analyzer (model CNS-2000, LECO Corporation, St. Joseph, MI, USA), and soil samples (2 cm × 10 cm cores) were collected from the center of each plot on May 23, July 27, and September 27, 2007 and analyzed for soil pH \[1 soil: 1 water (by volume)\].
Data were analyzed by split-plot analysis of variance using SAS v. 9.1 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA) with application method treated as the main plot effect and fertilizer level treated as the subplot effect. Comparisons among application methods were performed at the 0.05 level using Fisher's protected least significance difference (LSD~0.05~) test and response to fertilizer levels was determined using orthogonal polynomials.
Results and Discussion
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Year 1
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Canopy cover (which indicates the relative size of young plants) was significantly affected by the rate of N fertilizer application (*P* \< 0.0001) during the first year after planting (2006). However, the interaction between N application method and level was also significant (*P* \< 0.01), which indicates that the response of canopy cover to N application differed among the fertilizer application methods (Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). In general, weekly fertigation produced the lowest canopy cover at 50 kg·ha^−1^ N and the highest canopy cover at 150 kg·ha^−1^ N in year 1. Apparently, plants fertilized by the other methods required less N to produce their canopy but were less responsive than those fertigated weekly to additional N fertilizer applications. In fact, as many as half the plants died when they were fertilized at 150 kg·ha^−1^ N with granular fertilizer (Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). This occurred whether plants were irrigated by microsprinklers or drip. Alternatively, none of the plants died when they were fertigated weekly.
{#F1}
{#F2}
Leaf N concentration was highest in year 1 when plants were fertilized with granular fertilizer and irrigated by microsprinklers and lower when plants were fertigated, especially when split fertigated (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}). However, despite the difference, leaf N was sufficient (\>15 g·kg^−1^) when plants were weekly fertigated at 100--150 kg·ha^−1^ N. Leaf N concentrations \<15 g·kg^−1^ are often considered deficient in blueberry (mature plants) while those \>20 g·kg^−1^ are usually considered above normal (Hart et al., [@B11]).
{#F3}
The first year results indicated that fertigation was actually less efficient (i.e., less plant growth per unit of N applied) than granular fertilizer application but is also safer (i.e., less plant death) when high amounts of fertilizer is applied. This may have occurred because granular fertilizer was applied around the base of the plants directly to the roots while fertigation was applied along the entire length of the plant row. Results may have been more comparable among treatments if the granular fertilizer was banded along the row beginning the first year after planting rather than the second year.
Year 2
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By year 2, weekly fertigation no longer produced the lowest canopy cover at 50 kg·ha^−1^ N and produced the highest canopy cover at both 100 and 150 kg·ha^−1^ N (Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). In fact, canopy cover continued to increase with higher N application when plants were fertigated weekly (and may have even continued to do so at higher rates of N application) but reached a maximum at 50--100 kg·ha^−1^ when N fertilizer was applied by the other application methods. Bañados et al. ([@B1]) also found that granular ammonium sulfate fertilizer was optimum for blueberry growth at 50--100 kg·ha^−1^ N and reduced growth at 200 kg·ha^−1^ N.
Leaf N also increased with N application in year 2 but was similar between the weekly fertigation and the granular fertilizer treatment with microsprinklers (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}). Plants fertilized by split fertigation or with granular fertilizer and drip tended to be N deficient, with leaf N concentrations \<15 g·kg^−1^ (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}).
Soil pH declined in the root zone the second year as more N fertilizer was applied (Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). Ammonium-N application often reduces soil pH (Marschner, [@B16]). In sand culture, Merhaut and Darnell ([@B17]) found that pH decreased from about 4.5 to 3.0 when blueberries were fed only NH~4~--N for 140 days but increased to 6.0 when the plants were fed only NO~3~--N. Bacterial nitrification of NH~4~ to NO~3~ may further reduce soil pH, although this process is somewhat limited under the acidic conditions of most blueberry fields (Schmidt, [@B23]; Paul and Clark, [@B20]).
{#F4}
Soil pH was also generally lower with microsprinklers than with drip -- even when no fertilizer was applied (Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). Without N, pH averaged 5.6 with microsprinklers and 6.1--6.3 with drip. Wetting more soil with microsprinklers probably increased the activity of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria such as *Thiobacillus* spp. These bacteria readily reduce soil pH by oxidizing elemental S (applied before planting) to H~2~SO~4~ (sulfuric acid) (Germida and Janzen, [@B7]; Tisdale et al., [@B30]). Microsprinklers may also leach higher amounts of cations, such as Ca^2+^ and Mg^2+^, driving soil pH even lower (Stevenson and Cole, [@B25]).
As mentioned earlier, ammonium sulfate is often recommended when soil pH is above 5.0 while urea is recommended below 5.0 (Pritts and Hancock, [@B22]; Strik et al., [@B27]; Hart et al., [@B11]). However, soil pH did not appear affected by fertilizer type in the present study. Plots fertilized with ammonium sulfate and irrigated by microsprinklers had almost the same pH as those fertigated each week with liquid urea at 150 kg·ha^−1^ N, while plots fertilized with ammonium sulfate and irrigated by drip at 100--150 kg·ha^−1^ N actually had higher pH than those fertigated with liquid urea either weekly or in a triple-split application (Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). Ammonium-containing fertilizers lower soil pH gradually, and therefore, fertilizer effects on pH may not have been detectable during the short duration of the study. Horneck ([@B13]) found that pH decreased by only 0.1 unit per year for every 110 kg·ha^−1^ of NH~4~--N applied to four grass seed (*Lolium perenne* L. and *Festuca arundinacea* Schreb.) fields in Oregon.
Whether irrigated by microsprinklers or drip, granular N application maintained much higher concentrations of NH~4~--N in the soil than either of the two fertigation methods (Figure [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}). With granular ammonium sulfate, NH~4~--N averaged 5--31 mg·L^−1^ with drip and 55--318 mg·L^−1^ with microsprinklers; peak concentrations occurred immediately after application, reaching levels as high as 121--138 mg·L^−1^ with drip and 223--662 mg·L^−1^ with microsprinklers when 100--150 kg·ha^−1^ N was applied. Fertigation treatments, by comparison, averaged \<3 mg·L^−1^ over the season and never exceeded 9 mg·L^−1^ at any time during the season, even when plants were split fertigated.
{#F5}
Electrical conductivity in the soil solution (EC~w~) was much higher with granular fertilizer applications, especially when plants were irrigated by microsprinklers (Figure [6](#F6){ref-type="fig"}). Electrical conductivity is a good indicator of soil salinity and salt stress. It tends to increase rapidly with high concentrations of ammonium sulfate (Bunt, [@B3]), potentially leading plants to salinity problems when too much of the fertilizer is applied (Caruso and Ramsdell, [@B4]). In a preliminary study, we found that EC~w~ increased linearly at a rate of 2 dS·m^−1^ for each gram of ammonium sulfate fertilizer dissolved per liter of distilled water (Machado and Bryla, unpublished results). Blueberry is considered sensitive to soil EC levels \>1.5--2.0 dS·m^−1^ (Patten et al., [@B19]; Muralitharan et al., [@B18]). Electrical conductivity was often \>2 dS·m^−1^ when granular fertilizer was applied but always \<1.5 dS·m^−1^ with fertigation. Plants fertilized with the highest rates of ammonium sulfate suffered from apparent salt stress (leaf necrosis and, in severe cases, plant death) during the first summer after planting. As mentioned above, 44--50% died and had to be replaced when granular ammonium sulfate was applied at a rate of 150 kg·ha^−1^ N (Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). By comparison, \<6% of the plants died at that same N level when urea was applied by split fertigation, and no plants showed any sign of salt stress with weekly fertigation. Ammonium toxicity has also been suggested as a problem when too much NH~4~ fertilizer is applied (Britto and Kronzucker, [@B2]); however, a typical symptom is leaf chlorosis, which was not observed in any of the fertilized plants in the present study.
{#F6}
Granular fertilizer and microsprinklers also resulted in the highest concentrations of NO~3~--N in soil solution (Figure [7](#F7){ref-type="fig"}). On average over the season, NO~3~--N generally increased with the rate of N application and ranged from 125--180 mg·L^−1^ in the granular (microsprinkler) treatment, compared to only 22--67 mg·L^−1^ with granular (drip) or weekly fertigation and only 15--39 mg·L^−1^ with split fertigation. By September, NO~3~--N in the granular (microsprinkler) treatment reached as high as 323--417 mg·L^−1^ when 100--150 kg·ha^−1^ N was applied. The highest levels reached in the other treatments were 157 mg·L^−1^ (13 July) with weekly fertigation and 102--114 mg·L^−1^ (May--June) with granular (drip) and split fertigation. Since the ability of blueberry to acquire NO~3~--N is uncertain, high concentrations of NO~3~--N may lead to N leaching, especially when levels are high late in the year and plants become dormant.
{#F7}
Conclusion
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Overall, during establishment, applying adequate N through the drip irrigation system enhanced early growth of blueberry when compared to N applied as granular fertilizer. Finn and Warmund ([@B6]) found a similar result and reasoned that N placed above the sawdust mulch may have been partially immobilized by the organic mulch as soil microorganisms used some of the available N to break down the mulch. In fact, Gough ([@B8]) recommended that the normal amount of N fertilizer be doubled when applied on the mulch surface. Still et al. ([@B26]) found that N was the most important factor limiting plant growth when sawdust was used as a soil amendment. However, the present results showed that plant N levels were actually higher with granular fertilizer application than with fertigation. Fertigation more likely increased plant growth over granular fertilizer by reducing salt stress and maintaining safe and optimum levels of NH~4~--N within the root zone throughout the season. Later work will examine the effects of each treatment on fruit production.
Conflict of Interest Statement
==============================
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
We thank Will Fummerton, Hannah Rempel, and Rick Moes for technical assistance. Research was funded in part by the Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research and the Oregon Blueberry Commission. Mention of trademark, proprietary product, or vendor does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and does not imply its approval to the exclusion of other products or vendors that also may be suitable.
[^1]: Edited by: Sun Hee Woo, Chungbuk National University, South Korea
[^2]: Reviewed by: Md. Abdullahil Baque, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Bangladesh; Mohammad Shameem Al Mamun, Bangladesh Tea Research Institute, Bangladesh
[^3]: This article was submitted to Frontiers in Crop Science and Horticulture, a specialty of Frontiers in Plant Science.
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Identifying Concerning Behavior
There are many behaviors that may cause concern for the safety and well-being of an individual or the campus as a whole. The following is not an exhaustive list but provides examples of concerning behaviors or situations:
- Unusual or abrupt changes in behaviors or patterns;
- Extreme reaction to a loss or traumatic event;
- Preoccupation with weapons, violent events, or persons who have engaged in violent acts;
- Uncharacteristically poor performance;
- References to harming others or planning a violent or destructive event;
- Evidence of depression, hopelessness, or suicidal thoughts/plans;
- Inappropriate responses such as prolonged irritability, angry outbursts, or intense reactions;
- Strained interpersonal relations, isolating behaviors, or low self-esteem;
- Significant change in life circumstances such as loss of job or relationship.
Again, these are just examples of behaviors that may cause concern. If you observe or become aware of situations that cause concern for safety, consult with College officials, colleagues, supervisors and report your concerns. Also, if you have concerns about a person or situation, even if you think it may be nothing, you are encouraged to share the information. The information you provide, no matter how trivial it may seem by itself, may be critical to understanding a broader range of threatening behavior.
Source:Implementing Behavioral Threat Assessment on Campus, Marisa R. Randazzo, Ph.D., Ellen Plummer, Ph.D., November, 2009
Reporting Your Concerns
Anyone who believes that an individual has committed or may commit an act of violence, is engaging in behavior or making statements that generate concern about the potential for violence, or otherwise may pose a threat to the health or safety of any member of the College community should call the Department of Public Safety immediately at 802.443.5911 (Vermont campus) or Campus Security at 831.647.4153 (MIIS campus). In case of an emergency, please dial 911. Reports may also be made to any member of the TAM Team. In situations where an individual has concerns about someone’s behavior but is unsure whether such behavior constitutes a “threat” to self or others, the individual should report the information to the Department of Public Safety (Vermont campus) or Campus Security (MIIS campus) or other Middlebury official, as appropriate, to allow Middlebury the opportunity to assess the situation and respond as necessary. | http://www.middlebury.edu/offices/health/publicsafety/threat/identify |
It is my pleasure to welcome you to Space Explorers Program – the first of its kind in Ontario! Thanks to the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX), Western University has become the epicentre for Space research and university-level teaching in Canada. With faculty and students doing everything from studying distant galaxies to the geology of the Moon, designing rovers and instruments for future missions, as well as ensuring our astronauts remain healthy in space, CPSX does it all!
Our motto here at CPSX is research and training for 21st century explorers and it is our children that are the future scientists, engineers and leaders of tomorrow! As somebody who has been involved in training Canada’s two astronauts – Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques – and as a father of two young children, I am particularly delighted to be able to announce our new and totally revamped Space Explorers Program, where the next generation of 21st century explorers will share our knowledge and passion for space!
-Dr. Gordon Osinski, PhD, | https://spaceexplorers.uwo.ca/team/directors-message/ |
Milica Denic, Shane Steinert-Threlkeld & Jakub Szymanik (2020). "Complexity/informativeness trade-off in the domain of indefinite pronouns". To appear in Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory 2020.
|Main information:|
|Full paper in pdf|
|GitHub folder with scripts and data|
Abstract: The vocabulary of human languages has been argued to support efficient communication by optimizing the trade-off between complexity and informativeness (Kemp and Regier 2012). The argument has been based on cross-linguistic analyses of vocabulary in semantic domains of content words such as kinship, color, and number terms. The present work extends this analysis to a category of function words: indefinite pronouns (e.g. someone, anyone, no-one, cf. Haspelmath 2001). We build on previous work to establish the meaning space and featural make-up for indefinite pronouns, and show that indefinite pronoun systems across languages optimize the complexity/informativeness trade-off. This demonstrates that pressures for efficient communication shape both content and function word categories, thus tying in with the conclusions of recent work on quantifiers by Steinert-Threlkeld (2019). Furthermore, we argue that the trade-off may explain some of the universal properties of indefinite pronouns, thus reducing the explanatory load for linguistic theories.
Keywords: indefinites; complexity; informativeness; trade-off; efficiency; linguistic universals; function words. | https://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/DNmNDAxN/Denic-et-al-Indefinites-SALT.html |
Cerebral vascular effects of aortovenous cannulations for pediatric cardiopulmonary bypass.
The effects of aortovenous cannulations for pediatric cardiopulmonary bypass on cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) and electroencephalography (EEG) were evaluated. CBFV and EEG were continuously recorded before (baseline), during, and after cannulations until initiation of cooling (mean +/- 95% confidence interval). Vasopressors and/or volume replacement were administered if mean arterial pressure (MAP) decreased below 35 mm Hg. Cannulation-related EEG slowing was used as a criterion for electrocortical alteration. We studied 124 children (3 days to 17 years of age). Aortic and venous cannulations decreased mean CBFV by 10+/-3% and 13+/-4%, respectively, from baseline (p < 0.001). MAP diminished (p < 0.01) by 8+/-3% and 12+/-4%, respectively, from precannulation values (53+/-2 mm Hg). Right atrial cannulation, which was often chosen because the patient was hemodynamically unstable, was more frequently associated with pharmacologic intervention when compared with superior vena cava (SVC) cannulation (p < 0.01). Transient EEG alterations (n = 20) were associated with persistently low MAP (< 30 mm Hg), low CBFV (< 69%), and aortic (n = 4) or SVC (n = 7) cannula malposition. Infants with right atrial cannulation and intervention had more frequent EEG alterations (p = 0.04). Patients requiring intervention were younger (p < 0.01) and had longer hospital stay (p < 0.01) than those without intervention. Cerebral effects of cannulations are greater in young infants. This was found to be associated with low MAP during heart manipulation or consequence of cannula malpositions.
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Are we still baking banana bread? Is that still a thing? Of course it is. I developed this gluten-free banana bread recipe in response to one of the most common questions on my healthy banana bread recipe: “Can I make this with almond flour?”
While my go-to banana bread recipe offers other gluten-free options within the post (including a delicious oat flour option), the almond flour answer is not as straightforward. I think it took me seven tries to get this recipe just right!
This version required several modifications, so I’m sharing it as its own recipe today. I’ll also walk you through how I modified the recipe to work with almond flour, which might be helpful if it’s your preferred flour, or you happen to have a surplus in your pantry.
This banana bread is very tender, moist and decadent. These qualities are natural by-products of using almond flour and additional eggs to hold the bread together. This “bread” almost reminds me of pound cake in texture, and it could definitely pass as banana cake—perhaps you’d like to top it with cream cheese frosting.
While it’s different in texture from my favorite banana bread, this gluten-free banana bread is awesome in its own right. Like the other recipe, it’s easy to mix together—by hand, in one bowl, no less! It’s also naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup. And, I believe it qualifies as paleo as well. Ready to make some?
How to Make Almond Flour-Based Banana Bread
I basically crossed my healthy banana bread recipe with the lemony-almond blueberry cake in my cookbook, Love Real Food (page 197). Here are the changes I made, and why:
Substituted the flour by measuring equal weight (in grams), not by volume (in cups).
Almond flour is actually lighter than “regular” flour (all purpose or whole wheat) when you’re measuring them in the same fashion (stirred, spooned into cups, and leveled with a knife). One cup of regular flour weighs about 125 grams, whereas one cup of almond flour weighs about 92 grams. I’ve found that flour substitutions work out better when you keep the weight constant. For example, 1 3/4 cups (220 grams) regular flour is the equivalent of 2 1/2 cups (230 grams, close enough) almond flour.
This is also true for oat flour. Interestingly, with almond flour, I’ve found that another way to keep the weight constant is to simply pack the almond flour into the measuring cups. When fully packed, you can use the original measurement of 1 3/4 cups.
Slightly decreased the oil.
Almonds, like all nuts, naturally contain some oil. They contain more oil than the very small amount you’ll find in whole wheat flour. Fun fact: all-purpose flour has been stripped of all oils, which is why it keeps longer.
I was able to reduce the amount of oil in this recipe slightly, by dropping the oil from 1/3 cup to 1/4 cup. In fact, I was able to get by with as little as 2 tablespoons oil in this recipe, but I love the rich texture produced by 1/4 cup.
Omitted the milk.
Regular flour absorbs far more moisture than almond flour, which is hardly absorptive at all. I found that I didn’t need the small amount of milk (1/4 cup) called for in the original recipe.
Added two extra eggs.
Eggs are absolutely key to achieving a proper rise for baked goods made with almond flour. Most of my baked goods made with regular flour call for two eggs, while this one requires four, or the middle will be deeply sunken in and wet. (In fact, these pictures show the bread slightly sinking in the middle, but my other batches were perfectly mounded—perhaps the eggs used for the photos were smaller than the eggs I had used in previous tests).
Why do you need more eggs? Regular flours contain gluten, which is a protein that provides structure. It essentially creates a framework that fills with air pockets and stays lofty after baking. Almond flour is gluten free, which means that we’re going to have to find structure elsewhere. Real eggs are the only solution that I know of that can provide sufficient structure. Do not try to make this bread with flax eggs instead—you’ll end up with an unappetizing pudding-like situation.
Added baking powder, and decreased the baking soda.
While my banana bread recipe rises beautifully with baking soda, this nut flour-based version needs help from both baking soda and baking powder. Baking powder is double-acting, which means that it starts producing bubbles when mixed with liquid, and produces more bubbles when it’s heated.
Since we added baking powder (which actually contains some baking soda), we’ll decrease the amount of baking soda. Another reason is that baking soda is much stronger than baking powder, and we simply need less when they’re used together.
In summary: The answer to the question, “Can I substitute almond flour?” is not so simple! The good news is that I use a similar formula for many of my quick bread recipes (like my pumpkin bread and zucchini bread) and muffins, so you can likely use this recipe as a template to adjust the others.
Watch How to Make Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe Notes
Almond Flour vs. Almond Meal
I’ve used almond meal interchangeably with almond flour in the past, but I strongly recommend using almond flour (made with blanched almonds) in this recipe for the best texture and flavor. I used Bob’s Red Mill’s super-fine almond flour (affiliate link).
How to Measure Almond Flour
Some of my other recipes specify packing the almond flour into the measuring cups, whereas for this one, you’ll measure the flour as you would any other (stir, spoon into cups, and level with a knife). You can read the reasoning behind this at the beginning of the previous section.
Oil & Flour Your Loaf Pan
This is really important! Generously oil and flour your loaf pan as shown in the photo above. If it looks excessive, you’re doing it right. If you don’t sufficiently oil/flour the pan, you might have trouble removing the loaf from the pan after baking.
Let the Bread Cool at Least 30 Minutes
Almond flour baked goods, since they’re gluten free, are especially delicate when they’re warm. You’ll need to let this bread cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before you try to remove it from the pan or slice it. Trust me!
Craving more?
Here are more gluten-free, almond flour-based treats:
- Almond Cake with Berries on Top
- Apple & Carrot “Superhero” Muffins
- Blueberry Almond Crisp
- Peach Crisp
And more banana-flavored treats:
- Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Banana Coconut Muffins or Healthy Banana Muffins
- Banana Nut Scones (vegan)
- Banana Oat Pancakes (gluten free) or Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes
- Banana Oat Waffles (gluten free)
Gluten-Free Banana Bread (Made with Almond Flour)
- Author:
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Baked good
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Make this almond flour-based banana bread for a gluten-free treat (it’s paleo, too). Enjoy it for breakfast or a sweet snack. It’s decadent enough to pass as banana cake, especially if you top it with cream cheese frosting. Recipe yields 1 loaf, which is about 10 slices.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil or high-quality vegetable oil
- ½ cup honey or maple syrup
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 ½ medium or 2 large bananas)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Generously grease your loaf pan’s base and sides with cooking oil spray or butter, and generously flour it with almond flour. (Don’t skip this step, or your bread might stick! See photos.)
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil and honey. Whisk until blended together. Add the eggs, and whisk until the mixture is thoroughly combined.
- Add the mashed bananas, baking powder, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, and whisk to combine.
- Finally, add the almond flour. Switch to a large spoon or spatula, and stir until the flour is fully incorporated into the batter. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until the center of the loaf is fairly springy to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean. Place the pan on a cooling rack to cool for at least 30 minutes (this bread is delicate while warm). Use a butter knife to loosen the edges of the bread from the pan, then carefully tip it over to release. Slice and serve!
Notes
Recipe adapted from my healthy banana bread (which also offers gluten-free options for oat flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour), and the lemony-almond blueberry cake in my cookbook, Love Real Food (page 197).
Change it up: If you want to make this bread extra fruity, you could add up to 1 cup blueberries (lightly floured in almond flour so they don’t sink). Your bread may need up to 1 hour 10 minutes in the oven with this addition. Or, I suspect you could add ½ cup mix-ins like chopped walnuts, pecans or chocolate chips without needing to adjust the baking time.
Storage suggestions: This bread is quite moist and will keep at room temperature for a couple of days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze it for up to several months (slice it first if you’d like to be able to grab a single serving).
Egg free/vegan note: I always try to offer substitution options when possible, but this recipe is highly dependent upon real eggs for structure and lift. I do not know of a workable alternative. | https://cookieandkate.com/gluten-free-banana-bread-recipe/ |
Your family will love this delicious macaroni and cheese recipe. And you will love how simple and easy it is to make.
Using just seven ingredients, you can serve up some wholesome comfort food in less than an hour. This recipe is vegetarian, but you can always add your favourite meat, like chicken strips or tuna.
The recipe works well with a side like a salad or garlic bread.
Ingredients
- 2 cups traditional macaroni (cooked)
- 3 Tsp Sunshine D Original Margarine
- ¼ cup onion, chopped finely
- 1 Tsp flour
- Pinch of salt & pepper
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
Method
Preheat the oven to 175℃. Melt the margarine over a low heat in a saucepan on the stove. Saute the chopped onion in the margarine for about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper. Add the milk, stirring until thickened. Remove mixture from the heat and add 1 ½ cups of cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted.
Add the cheesy sauce to the cooked macaroni. Pour into an ovenproof casserole dish and top off with the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.
Serve with a garlic loaf or a side salad.
Try changing out the Sunshine D Original Margarine for Sunshine D Lite Fat Spread if you feel like something a little lighter. | https://www.nowwecooking.co.za/recipes/classic-macaroni-cheese/ |
In this activity, students explore three indicators of drought are: soil moisture, lack of precipitation, and decreased streamflows. Students investigate each of these parameters develop a sense for the effects of drought on land.
Educational Resources - Search Tool
Students will observe monthly satellite data of the North Atlantic to identify relationships among key science variables that include sea surface salinity (SS), air temperature at the ocean surface (AT), sea surface temperature (ST), evaporation (EV), precipitation (PT), and evaporation minus pre
This unit, created through the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI), helps students learn about each component of the energy budget formula and how the contribution of each component changes based on the location and the time of the year.
Students analyze historic plant growth data (i.e., Peak Bloom dates) of Washington, D.C.’s famous cherry blossom trees, as well as atmospheric near surface temperatures as evidence for explaining the phenomena of earlier Peak Blooms in our nation’s capital.
Students will use NASA Satellite data of aerosol optical depth and sulfur dioxide as a tool to find evidence of volcanic activity at Kilauea, HI. | https://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/search?f%5B0%5D=%3A2&f%5B1%5D=%3A6&f%5B2%5D=%3A15&f%5B3%5D=%3A16&f%5B4%5D=%3A18&f%5B5%5D=%3A42&f%5B6%5D=%3A43&f%5B7%5D=%3A52&f%5B8%5D=%3A61&f%5B9%5D=%3A67&f%5B10%5D=%3Apage&f%5B11%5D=%3Astemcareerconnections&f%5B12%5D=content_type%3Alesson_plans&f%5B13%5D=lesson_duration%3A4&f%5B14%5D=lesson_duration%3A5&f%5B15%5D=ngss_science_and_engineering_practices%3A1&f%5B16%5D=technology_requirements%3A3&%3Bf%5B1%5D=filter_phenomenon%3A12&%3Bamp%3Bf%5B1%5D=filter_phenomenon%3A15&%3Bamp%3Bnode=89&keys= |
April 13, 2022: A planetary dance line is forming in the eastern morning sky with Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. In the evening sky, the moon is near the Tail of Leo.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:14 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:30 p.m. CDT. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times for your location.
Spica rises at sunset. Two hours later, the star is about 20° up in the southeast. The moon is over 30° to the upper right of the star.
When a Full moon appears near Spica, this is a celestial marker that the spring season has arrived in the northern hemisphere.
A Full moon is opposite the sun. When a star is in opposition to the sun, it rises at sunset. A full moon appearing near a bright star or planet indicates that all of these objects are in the opposite part of the sky from the sun.
Watch this with the bright outer planets (BOPs) – Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – as Mercury and Venus do not appear opposite the sun. Currently, when the moon passes the morning planets, its phase is a waning crescent. Each month when the moon passes the distant worlds, its phase is thicker. Earth is slowly catching up to these planets. Soon the Last Quarter moon appears near them. Then the waning gibbous appears near the BOPs. When the Full moon near appears the planet, it is near its opposition with the sun, meaning Earth is between the planet and the sun.
Saturn’s opposition occurs on August 14, followed by Jupiter’s on September 26. Mars’ opposition is December 7.
The corresponding full moons are August 11, September 10, and December 7. The moon covers Mars on opposition evening for observers across Europe, Greenland, and most of North America.
Morning Sky
SUMMARY OF PLANETS IN 2022 MORNING SKY
Four bright planets are forming a celestial dance line in the eastern morning sky. At forty-five minutes before sunup, brilliant Venus is over 9° above the east-southeast horizon. Jupiter, emerging from bright twilight, is nearly 3° above the east horizon and 15.6° to the lower left of Venus.
Venus is quickly stepping toward Jupiter for a proximate conjunction, 0.5° or closer, on April 30.
Meanwhile, Mars is 9.8° to the upper right of Venus. Saturn is 5.6° to the upper right of the Red Planet.
Jupiter, Venus, and Mars are in front of the dim stars of Aquarius. The constellation has no bright stars, and with the growing twilight, the dimmer stars are difficult to see without the optical assist of a binocular.
Saturn is slowly moving eastward in front of the stars of Capricornus. The constellation’s brighter stars can be seen with Saturn and Mars through a binocular. Saturn can be seen near Deneb Algedi and Nashira, while Mars is passing Iota Capricorni.
Mars and Saturn can be seen in the same binocular field for two more mornings before the gap between them is too large to fit into the same field.
Evening Sky
Mercury is climbing into the western evening sky after sunset. The planet is near the horizon, but bright enough to look for it from a hillside or elevated structure with a clear view toward the west-northwest.
Speedy Mercury sets 62 minutes after sunset. Begin looking for the planet with a binocular about 30 minutes after sunset when the planet is over 5° above the horizon. Fifteen minutes later, the planet is nearly 3° up in the sky.
Farther eastward, the bright gibbous moon, 91% illuminated, is nearly halfway up in the southeast. During the past few evenings, the waxing moon appeared with Leo. Two evenings ago, it was to the right of the Sickle. Last evening, it was in the middle of the constellation.
This evening the lunar orb is 8.2° to the right of Denebola, the Lion’s tail.
The regal Leo is a westward-facing Lion. The stars make a backwards question mark with Regulus at the bottom. This figure is also known as the Sickle of Leo, an agricultural cutting tool. The lion’s tail and haunches are outlined by a triangle of stars. | https://whenthecurveslineup.com/2022/03/06/2022-april-13-morning-planetary-dance-line-lion-moon/?amp=1 |
March 25, 2018 - Boston - In the natural world, intelligence takes many forms. It could be a bat using echolocation to expertly navigate in the dark, or an octopus quickly adapting its behavior to survive in the deep ocean. Likewise, in the computer science world, multiple forms of artificial intelligence are emerging - different networks each trained to excel in a different task. And as will be presented today at the 25th annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS), cognitive neuroscientists increasingly are using those emerging artificial networks to enhance their understanding of one of the most elusive intelligence systems, the human brain.
"The fundamental questions cognitive neuroscientists and computer scientists seek to answer are similar," says Aude Oliva of MIT. "They have a complex system made of components - for one, it's called neurons and for the other, it's called units - and we are doing experiments to try to determine what those components calculate."
In Oliva's work, which she is presenting at the CNS symposium, neuroscientists are learning much about the role of contextual clues in human image recognition. By using "artificial neurons" - essentially lines of code, software - with neural network models, they can parse out the various elements that go into recognizing a specific place or object.
"The brain is a deep and complex neural network," says Nikolaus Kriegeskorte of Columbia University, who is chairing the symposium. "Neural network models are brain-inspired models that are now state-of-the-art in many artificial intelligence applications, such as computer vision."
In one recent study of more than 10 million images, Oliva and colleagues taught an artificial network to recognize 350 different places, such as a kitchen, bedroom, park, living room, etc. They expected the network to learn objects such as a bed associated with a bedroom. What they didn't expect was that the network would learn to recognize people and animals, for example dogs at parks and cats in living rooms.
The machine intelligence programs learn very quickly when given lots of data, which is what enables them to parse contextual learning at such a fine level, Oliva says. While it is not possible to dissect human neurons at such a level, the computer model performing a similar task is entirely transparent. The artificial neural networks serve as "mini-brains that can be studied, changed, evaluated, compared against responses given by human neural networks, so the cognitive neuroscientists have some sort of sketch of how a real brain may function."
Indeed, Kriegeskorte says that these models have helped neuroscientists understand how people can recognize the objects around them in the blink of an eye. "This involves millions of signals emanating from the retina, that sweep through a sequence of layers of neurons, extracting semantic information, for example that we're looking at a street scene with several people and a dog," he says. "Current neural network models can perform this kind of task using only computations that biological neurons can perform. Moreover, these neural network models can predict to some extent how a neuron deep in the brain will respond to any image."
Using computer science to understand the human brain is a relatively new field that is expanding rapidly thanks to advancements in computing speed and power, along with neuroscience imaging tools. The artificial networks cannot yet replicate human visual abilities, Kriegeskorte says, but by modeling the human brain, they are furthering understanding of both cognition and artificial intelligence. "It's a uniquely exciting time to be working at the intersection of neuroscience, cognitive science, and AI," he says.
Indeed, Oliva says; "Human cognitive and computational neuroscience is a fast-growing area of research, and knowledge about how the human brain is able to see, hear, feel, think, remember, and predict is mandatory to develop better diagnostic tools, to repair the brain, and to make sure it develops well."
CNS is committed to the development of mind and brain research aimed at investigating the psychological, computational, and neuroscientific bases of cognition. Since its founding in 1994, the Society has been dedicated to bringing its 2,000 members worldwide the latest research to facilitate public, professional, and scientific discourse.
###
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system. | |
Over the past month we’ve all had to focus on our personal and professional well-being in new ways. While the long-term impact of COVID-19 on colleges’ financial stability and potential enrollment reflects growing angst and demands entrepreneurial response, foremost in discussions with clients and among our team is a concern around the mental health of students.
Our teammates have family members who are students ranging from preschool to graduate school. What we are struck by – regardless of their age or grade level – is how unique concerns and responses are proving to be. With that said, there are common denominators and echoes of learning and compassion everywhere. This series explores our stories, as well as those of our families, as they relate to the “new” education experience.
From Charles Smith, Co-Director of CannonDesign’s Education Market
My daughter Devin is a Ph.D. candidate and serves as both a student and teaching assistant (TA). Like most higher education institutions, online delivery of content is not the norm, but is now mandatory to at least to finish the semester. Many professors at her school were assigned a TA (like Devin) to assist in setting up technology and moving content to workable platforms. Her experience with this “upward mentoring” was real-life playing itself out – where younger generations drive progress alongside more knowledgeable, but less technology-savvy faculty. Devin, like many other students, is creating opportunities for herself through acquiring these skills while making a positive impact for her peers, colleagues and school.
For my daughter Mimi, who is a first-year doctoral student in Physical Therapy, the disruption of remote learning is a true hurdle and realizing the potential of online medicine a challenge. Her academic track is all about science, medicine and the body, something that is traditionally taught from a hands-on learning and team-based curriculum. Separation from that as well as her class cohort and the move to online classes has set significantly new social norms. These are potentially scary and unknown paths. But students like Mimi, who possess a clear and audacious image of what the future could bring, can also take this milestone world event to teach and mold them as leaders. In learning how to adjust to her new norm, Mimi can find new paths that lead to greater connections or discoveries. She and Devin are both trying to make the best of the new hand of cards they were dealt.
In speaking with my work colleagues, our home lives have unexpectedly meshed with work duties, which has added pressure on us all. But with that said, I am oddly jealous of those whose loved ones are with them. One morning I walked through our house and spotted one of my favorite books, “Goodnight Moon.” My biggest wish was to lie beside one of my daughters and read it to her, instead of virtually hugging her from 807 miles away. On the plus side, my wife of English descent and citizenship has finally convinced me to start watching “The Crown,” something we may not have done with four people in the house. So, we’re trying to find a balance in enjoying what we have vs. what we’re missing.
As you go about your week, be mindful of creating space for yourself and those around you. Be intentional in organizing your day, and while we are ever more virtual, make the point to stay connected with your children, colleagues and friends. And definitely (and as always), be sure to thank those around you that are leading and helping us all through this strange time.
Please stay tuned for more perspectives from members of our Education Practice. | https://www.cannondesign.com/news-insights/covid-19/personal-perspectives-on-education-during-covid-19/ |
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Posts From October, 2019
RIAA launches refreshed Certification Program
Wednesday October 2 2019 02:15 p.m.
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Posted By Rachel Alembakis on September 20, 2019 in Fund Management
The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has refreshed its Certification Program, to reflect the maturing market for responsible investment and a focus on best practice.
The changes to Certification Program 2.0 is the result of a 10-month review process, and based on international best practices, detailed consumer research and industry engagement, RIAA said. The enhancements include new rigorous standards, strengthened minimum requirements and additional information disclosure.
Read More
KEY TAKE AWAYS FROM PRI IN PERSON
Wednesday October 2 2019 02:21 p.m.
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by Simon O’Connor, CEO, Responsible Investment Association Australasia 16 Sep 2019
I was fortunate to spend last week in Paris, with 1700 others at the annual PRI in Person, the largest ever global conference of responsible investors. It was a week full of rich content, which allowed a global sharing of latest practices, regulatory developments and a strong focus on what kind of role the finance sector will play in confronting the great challenges of our time, not least, climate change.
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Older people deserve more credit for the rise of ethical investing
Friday October 11 2019 06:42 p.m.
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Stuff, Rob Stock Sep 19 2019
OPINION: The sparky-eyed Millennial out to save the world is overshadowing the other great investment eco-warrior: The baby boomer.
Humans love a simple story, and the trope about the socially-aware young changing the world makes for good reading.
But when it comes to ethical investing, the revolution is being driven by those with white hair as much as it is the young.
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Firms ignoring climate crisis will go bankrupt, says Mark Carney
Friday November 1 2019 12:34 p.m.
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The Guardian, 13 Oct 2019 Damian Carrington
Companies and industries that are not moving towards zero-carbon emissions will be punished by investors and go bankrupt, the governor of the Bank of England has warned.
Read More
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A copy of Jonathan Neal's Primary Disclosure Statement is available
here
. | https://www.responsibleinvestment.co.nz/news/archive/12/2019/10 |
CBS’ Good Sam marks Sophia Bush’s return to network television. And Bush mentioned several times how excited she is to bring the story of Sam Griffith and her father, Rob Griffith, to the small screen. The show cast Jason Isaacs as Dr. Rob Griffith, a lead cardiothoracic surgeon who fell into a coma for six months following a gunshot wound. When he wakes up, his surgeon daughter (Bush) is in charge. And Isaacs talked about what it was like for Rob to have “all the power” stripped from him.
Jason Isaacs plays Dr. Rob Griffith in the ‘Good Sam’ cast
The Good Sam cast prominently features Sophia Bush as the lead. Sam Griffith is a hardworking, compassionate surgeon who wants her father to be proud of her accomplishments. But she has a troubled relationship with her dad. In the pilot episode of the show, Sam takes over for Rob Griffith for six months. When he awakens and wants his position back, their relationship becomes more troubled than ever, as Sam wants her father to respect her as his new superior. The power struggle between them makes for a humorous and touching first episode.
Jason Isaacs plays Dr. Rob Griffith — the perfect companion for Bush to go toe-to-toe with. “I go into a coma,” Isaacs explains during a CBS preview. “Six months have gone by, and she’s about to accept the position of permanent chief of hospital. And I come out of the coma, and I’m extremely unhappy.”
Isaacs then notes his character believes Sam Griffith is “too sensitive, I think her skin is too thin,” to get the job done right.
Jason Isaacs talked about how the show took ‘all the power’ away from his character
Jason Isaacs and Sophia Bush make the perfect pair to lead the Good Sam cast. And Isaacs spoke about what it’s like for his character, Rob Griffith, to lose his authority as the lead cardiothoracic surgeon.
“To take all the power away from someone that is strutting that large and feels like they have the power of life and death, and then to completely, in some ways, emasculate them is an incredibly interesting dynamic,” he explained, according to Laughing Place. “It’s what launches us off into this void, sort of explores issues that are very specific. And we try and make them real, of course. But they also have great metaphorical value, if it’s not too pretentious.”
Bush also added that Good Sam makes Rob and Sam’s relationship feel “real” and “grounded,” which certainly adds to their characters and the show in general.
Sophia Bush adores working with the ‘Good Sam’ cast and playing Jason Isaac’s daughter
Sophia Bush didn’t want to join the Good Sam cast at first. But after meeting with the showrunners and reading the script, she knew the show was a perfect fit for her. And when it comes to the cast, she adores everyone she works with.
“What’s amazing about it is that everyone feels seen,” she said in the CBS preview.
Additionally, during an interview with TVLine, Bush shared that she feels “incredibly proud to set the kind of tone on a set that does lead with empathy” and that “leads with deep respect for every single person on it.”
“… [E]very single person on our set knows that they’re valued, loved and appreciated and knows that we do not take the effort that they make to create a show with us for granted ever,” she added. “We want to build a set that is a joy to come to and that is filled with laughter and that meets one of the highest standards of professionalism that I have ever seen anywhere.”
Good Sam airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on CBS.
Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! | https://moviesmylife.com/tv/good-sam-dr-rob-griffith-actor-jason-isaacs-talks-taking-all-the-power-away-from-his-character/ |
The Secret North
In January 2014, 6 musicians met for the first time in a remote studio in the highlands of Scotland. Having never played together before, for five days they immersed themselves in the creation of new music together, combining their different backgrounds and musical traditions to create something completely unique. Six days later they emerged and performed 5 concerts in Scotland, culminating in a show at Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow. Thus, The Secret North was born.
The Secret North brings together 6 world-class musicians from Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia in a cross-cultural celebration of new music that bridges the divide between folk and classical, the traditional and the avant-garde by combining ancient instruments with new composition.
Featuring
Donald Grant – Fiddle
Ailie Robertson – Harp
Sondre Meisfjord – Double Bass
Karen Tweed – Accordion
Brian Finnegan – Whistle, Flute
Marit Fält – Mandola
As musical collaborations go, this is an extraordinary musical interchange. Individually, each member has carved out a reputation for not just mastering their chosen fields, but rising above, redefining and renewing the musical world they come from. In The Secret North, they come together to premiere 6 new compositions, written by each musician specifically for the ensemble, resulting in a concert of ear-opening new music, grounded in tradition, but shot through with the adrenaline of contemporary influences. This is music that is both ancient and utterly new. | https://www.karentweed.com/event/the-secret-north-wick/ |
I want to know if ants can smell?
This is an amusing question as well as interesting so I hope you like the answers. Can ants smell? Definitely yes.
Step 1
Ants have a keen sense of smell.. Ants actually have four to five times more odor receptors (located on their antennae) than most other insects. Its this exceptional sense of smell that helps ants find food.
Step 2
Ants use special nerve cells associated with tiny hairs on their antennae to smell odors. The kind of ants found in kitchens probably have a few thousand of these "smell cells," and the cells are tuned to different classes of odors.
Ants leave "trails" when out foraging for food and when they find it they leave a similar trail back to their home/colony and other ants then pick up that trail and pretty soon you have a zillion ants heading to and from any food source no matter how small.
Yes, they are super sniffers that can smell things we can't.
Ants may be experts at sniffing out body odor, according to a new study that reveals these insects have a "high-definition ability" to detect tiny chemical changes in the pheromones other ants give off. | https://www.thriftyfun.com/Can-Ants-Smell-1.html |
What does research show about switching classes and teachers in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade?
John Hattie has a book called visible learning. In it, he researched thousands of kids. If something has an effect size of .4 it is good and you can expect a year’s growth. Well ability grouping has an effect size of .12 grade wide and .16 class wide. This is why the sisters pull students based on their skill needs not reading levels (.49 effect size).
Also, one thing that has a HUGE effect is building relationships. When you switch classes so much (especially with younger kids) it is VERY difficult to build relationships. I do not remember the effect size, ,but we discussed it in depth at my school because we do not build relationships like we need to because of how much we switch classes in 1, 2, and 3 grade (but really all grade levels have the same effect).
|Title||Category||Replies||Views||Activity|
|Resources for At-Home Learning||Miscellaneous||3||396||1 week 4 days|
|What is your word of intention for week 2?||Miscellaneous||8||162||3 weeks 3 days|
|Spring Forward Teacher Challenge—April 27 to May 31||Miscellaneous||5||100||1 month 2 days|
|April 2020 Coaching [April 21 Zoom Conversation Continued]||Miscellaneous||3||117||1 month 6 days|
|Daily 5 Zoom Meeting I-Chart?||Miscellaneous||1||171||1 month 2 weeks|
|Primary Grade Template for At Home Covid-19 Learning||Miscellaneous||0||252||1 month 4 weeks|
|Share how you spread love in the classroom.||Miscellaneous||4||525||3 months 2 weeks|
|Grant options||Miscellaneous||0||266||7 months 1 week|
|1st grade!!!!||Miscellaneous||3||407||9 months 1 week|
|Tip of the week||Miscellaneous||1||272||9 months 2 weeks|
This content is reserved for All-Access members. Consider upgrading your membership to access this resource. | https://www.thedailycafe.com/discussion-board/switching-classrooms-and-teachers-in1st-2nd-and-3rd-grades |
This tool will calculate daily nutrient recommendations based on the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) established by the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The data represents the most current scientific knowledge on nutrient needs however individual requirements may be higher or lower than DRI recommendations.
By entering height, weight, age, and activity level, you will generate a report of; Body Mass Index, estimated daily calorie needs in addition to the recommended intakes of macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals based on DRI data.
Age Enter the number of months for infants under the age of 1 year.
Height is not required for children under the age of three years.
Activity level is not required for children under the age of three years. | https://fnic.nal.usda.gov/fnic/dri-calculator/ |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
TECHNICAL FIELD
BACKGROUND
SUMMARY
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Flush or Scare Indoor Birds Out (Visual and Sound Devices)
Mist Nets
Exemplary Procedures to Hang Mist Nets
EXAMPLES
This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/552,942, filed Aug. 31, 2017, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BIRD CONTROL”, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure pertains to methods and apparatus for bird control in enclosures and other structures.
Birds can create serious problems for commercial and residential property inhabitants and owners. Uncontrolled, birds will roost or nest in or around man-made structures, such as in food retail and warehouse facilities. They can deface structures causing property and structural damage; create an unsanitary environment with droppings and nesting material; cause food contamination and loss of product; transmit diseases to humans and animals; carry ectoparasites which may bite humans or contaminate food; and cause economic loss due to the need to clean up after them and to repair damage; be a nuisance to employees, retail customers and production. Bird issues can result in damage to business reputation and the loss of business when merchandise and food items become littered with nesting debris and bird droppings, and can cause operations to shut down for pest bird removal, negatively impacting sales. Birds may remain and reproduce in the facility indefinitely if not properly eliminated.
Environmental concerns and local laws can sometimes require that birds be released unharmed, which is complicated by the fact that many times the birds must be captured at high or inconvenient or inaccessible locations to be removed.
There is a need in the art for bird control apparatus and methods which can solve at least some of the foregoing problems associated with unwanted birds.
A system for control of birds in an enclosure, comprising one or more mist nets positioned in the enclosure; and a multi-projection laser system configured to produce a plurality of laser beams proximal to the net, wherein the one or more mist nets and laser system are configured to cause the birds to fly into the one or more mist nets for safe and humane removal of the birds from the enclosure. Variations of nets, lighting, and additional equipment to control birds is provided in various embodiments.
The system for bird control may include a mist net positioned under one or more rafters of the enclosure. It may further provide positioning the laser system under the mist net and pointing up toward the one or more rafters. In yet another embodiment, the laser system may point from the side of the one or more rafters and angle with respect to the rafters, such angling may occur at 45 degrees with respect to the rafter(s) and it may point along a ridge line of the rafter(s).
Configuration of a plurality of mist nets in the system may be configured in a 90 degree block pattern, in a back-to-back wall pattern, at staggered heights, and with varying lengths. A different configuration of a plurality of mist nets may be in a U-shape corral configuration or in a U-shape funnel configuration.
The system for bird control may also include sound devices to make sounds that initiate movement of a bird including sound devices imitate the call of a bird. The system may further employ traps, including bait. In a further embodiment, the system may include lights that are strobed or the multi-projection laser system may be strobed. In yet another embodiment, the system may include lights that are patterned and the multi-projection laser system may include patterned laser beams.
A method of corralling birds, comprising employing a multi-projection laser system configured to produce a plurality of laser beams proximal to the net employing mist nets in a configuration; and employing one or more mist nets configured to be positioned in the enclosure so as to catch the birds in the enclosure; wherein the one or more mist nets and laser system are configured to cause the birds to fly into the one or more mist nets for safe and humane removal of the birds from the enclosure. Variations of nets, lighting, and additional equipment to control birds is provided in various embodiments.
The method for bird control may include a mist net positioned under one or more rafters of the enclosure. It may further provide positioning the laser system under the mist net and pointing up toward the one or more rafters. In yet another embodiment, the laser system may point from the side of the one or more rafters and angle with respect to the rafters, such angling may occur at 45 degrees with respect to the rafter(s) and it may point along a ridge line of the rafter(s).
Configuration of a plurality of mist nets in the method of the invention may be configured in a 90 degree block pattern, in a back-to-back wall pattern, at staggered heights, and with varying lengths. A different configuration of a plurality of mist nets may be in a U-shape corral configuration or in a U-shape funnel configuration.
The method for bird control may also include sound devices to make sounds that initiate movement of a bird including sound devices imitate the call of a bird. The method may further employ traps, including bait. In a further embodiment, the method may include lights that are strobed or the multi-projection laser system may be strobed. In yet another embodiment, the method may include lights that are patterned and the multi-projection laser system may include patterned laser beams.
This Summary is an overview of some of the teachings of the present application and not intended to be an exclusive or exhaustive treatment of the present subject matter. Further details about the present subject matter are found in the detailed description and appended claims. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
The following detailed description of the present subject matter refers to subject matter in the accompanying drawings which show, by way of illustration, specific aspects and embodiments in which the present subject matter may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present subject matter. References to “an”, “one”, or “various” embodiments in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references contemplate more than one embodiment. The following detailed description is demonstrative and not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present subject matter is defined by the appended claims, along with the full scope of legal equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
The present subject matter provides devices, systems and methods for unique techniques for bird control. In various embodiments, pest birds, such as sparrows, are corralled into nets for removal and relocation. Lasers can be utilized to change bird flight patterns, flush birds into mist nets for safe removal and to discourage their movement to refuge locations such as ceiling rafters.
Some embodiments include customized mist-net equipment that can allow service providers to perform services to remove indoor birds without having to use lifts or ladders; while keeping their feet on the ground for safety purposes.
FIG. 1
Columbia livia
Sturmis vulgaris
Passer domesticus
106
104
100
102
It is valuable to understand local laws and regulations concerning birds in your area before implementing bird control. It can be beneficial to check local, state, or federal laws that might prohibit bird control or require special licensing/certification. In the event a protected species enters a building, it may be necessary to contact the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services or Department of Natural Resources. The birds generally not protected by federal or state laws are depicted in : Feral Pigeons () , European Starlings () , and House Sparrows (), such as female house sparrow and male house sparrow .
The quantity of birds within the facility may affect service time; in general, more birds take more time, especially when they learn that they are being pursued.
Service during hours of operation, customer levels and product restocking may restrict the success of bird removal.
Open beam opportunities which provide for hiding and perching.
Palletized merchandise within the store construction may provide additional hiding places.
Loading dock and automatic doors may allow birds to freely enter and exit the facility.
Threatening sights and sounds may cause birds to quickly vanish within the facility.
Failed capture attempts may lead to future avoidance of control strategies.
Birds may not show interest in baited traps if established food and water sites are still available.
The length of time that the birds have been in the facility and become acclimated.
Removal of pest birds from large facilities may be a time-consuming endeavor. The conditions of the facility generally favor the birds and this can dramatically affect bird removal success. Such conditions include one or more of:
Bird activity inside a facility includes three general categories: Birds feeding inside a building, birds accidentally trapped inside a building, or birds roosting inside a building. Each of these categories presents challenges and will be considered separately.
Category 1—Birds Feeding Inside a Building:
In this category, one or more birds enter to feed and/or loaf during the day. These birds do not stay overnight, but leave and roost outside the building. Likely places where this behavior occurs is in tire centers, garden centers, and loading docks that may either be open or have open doors for some period of the day. This situation can lead to harassed customers and damaged merchandise.
Category 2—Birds Accidentally Trapped Inside a Building:
In this category, one or more birds have found their way into a building but have not established a roost or a food source. This situation can be characterized by a bird flying in an un-patterned fashion and/or frequently visiting sky lights in an attempt to find a way out of the building. An example of this situation would be a bird that has entered a store on a grocery-type cart that has never been in the facility in the past. Birds that find their way into buildings and can't leave can be a special situation. These birds are generally looking to leave the building. If handled early, the bird may be able to be flushed out and/or removed quickly and easily.
Category 3—Birds Roosting (Established) Inside a Building:
In this category, birds roost in a building and typically do not leave. The birds may have a nest and a source of food and water. This situation can result in a long-term interior bird infestation. This situation is any bird that lives in a building and does not leave the building. Nests will be made of materials found inside the store. The bird may not be flushed out and/or removed easily and traps and/or mist nets should be considered.
The present subject matter offers a combination of bird control measures which can be used together to control bird populations in buildings and structures.
Bird Trapping—
One option for bird control is to remove indoor birds using traps, such as box traps. Box traps are a form of live trap for birds and other animals which employ a trap door that is triggered by the animal to be trapped within an enclosure. In the case of birds, the box traps can be baited with food and/or nesting material. When attempting to get the food or nesting material, the bird sets off a trap door which encloses the bird in the enclosure. Box traps often use a spring-loaded door that is set in an open state to allow a bird access to the box and its contents. The trap door is triggered by the bird, and encloses the bird in an enclosure. The enclosure can be made of wire screen or solid material, such as wood or plastic. A trapped bird can be removed from the area in which it was trapped, and the door can be opened to release the bird to the wild. Box traps may use an audible module to provide bird calls which attract a particular species of bird and no other pest bird species. For example, an audible module can be used to call out to sparrows and thereby attract them and not other species. Examples of audible modules and box traps include those sold by various manufacturers, such as the Sparrow Call Module for the Sparrow Trap Door from Bird Barrier (www.birdbarrier.com).
Box traps can be baited with a piece of bread, donut, or other bait, and can be placed on a solid surface or hung near where birds are known to congregate and within their line of sight. The box trap should be placed out of reach of pets and children. After a bird is captured if the lid is not lifted the bird will remain calm inside trap and will not escape. The trap can be taken outdoors, and in some cases a minimum of 10 miles from the property, and the bird can be released by opening the lid or bottom cleanout panel.
Another option for bird control is the use of cage wire traps. A cage wire trap is a wire enclosure fitted with a spring door that is triggered shut by an animal. The resulting enclosure allows the animal to be live-trapped for removal. In the case of trapping birds, the cage wire trap can be baited with food or nesting material or other objects of interest to a bird. Upon inspection of the bait, the trap door is triggered and closes on the animal. Other baits can be used, such as other birds. For example, a sparrow trap door can be turned into a repeating trap. A first sparrow is caught and falls inside the cage trap. Once inside it sings and attracts other birds. The trap door secures to the top of the cage trap with spring clips. It can be hung from the ceiling with provided cable bridle. Two “draw bridge” style patios provide safe entrance for birds and can be hinged up for transport. The inner chamber can be stocked with food and water. A sanitary metal slide-out pan keeps all food and droppings inside the trap. The trap can be easily removed by unlatching the spring clips from the slots and sliding the trap forward while closing the top of the cage to eliminate the possibility of any birds escaping.
Identify possible entry points. Also determine if there are any simple exit points.
If possible, turn interior lights off or down except near exit points.
FIG. 2
200
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204
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210
illustrates a flushing technique in accordance with some embodiments. Scare tactics may be used to force or herd a bird to an open window, door or open skylight. Good options for directing birds are strobe flashlights , laser pointers or flash tape on a chase pole . Care should be taken not to scare the bird into hiding. To initiate movement of the bird, sound harassment (e.g. tapping metal racking) near bird can be effective.
In some embodiments, flushing is a team activity and found to be more efficient and effective as a team activity, possibly also utilizing store employees to herd or direct birds to exit points.
In some embodiments, a person will position themselves to herd the birds to the targeted exit area (e.g. a “funnel model”).
Normally, flushing is most effectively done shortly after birds have come inside and before they become acclimated and have established roost sites or food sources. This is typically within 36 to 72 hours of entering an enclosure, such as a warehouse. Steps can include one or more of the following:
Any of the above tactics can also be used in combination with mist nets, such as is described herein.
Mist nets are extremely fine nets that can be placed across the flight paths of birds. Birds generally do not see the nets in flight, hit them, and become entangled in the loose netting. Mist netting is most effective when multiple nets are placed to reduce the population down quickly.
100
102
104
In some embodiments, mist nets are rectangular in shape and available in various sizes and colors, and may be deployed using different methods. A typical rectangular size net can be 8 feet by 40 feet. Other shapes may be used without departing from the present subject matter. In various embodiments, nets employ a single color. For example, nets may be black, white, or any desired color. In various embodiments, nets can be multicolored. Examples of multicolored nets include nets that are camouflaged and or nets designed to substantially match or fit in a background. In some embodiments, the colors and length are varied to achieve an effect. For example, net colors and lengths can be varied to simulate a tunnel or other corralling or herding structure. In various embodiments, the nets have a fine nylon mesh and a plurality of strings to be tied to objects, including but not limited to rafters, girders, or beams. In various embodiments, the net is tethered, and has a very fine nylon mesh and a plurality of shelf strings. Shelf strings include cords, strings, twine, or any kind of relatively sturdy string capable of supporting the weight of the net. Such strings are often run the length of the net to support the net. In various embodiments, the plurality of shelf strings are nylon strings; however, it is understood that other types of strings may be used. In some embodiments, three or four shelf strings are used; however, it is understood that other numbers of strings may be used. In some embodiments, mesh sizes vary and % inch mesh is recommended for capturing sparrows , and starlings ; however, it is understood that other meshes may be used. In various embodiments, the net may include tethers on the corners and four shelf strings that run horizontal through the net. These thicker strands can be looped at each end and can be used to tie nets to poles or other objects. In some embodiments, the mist nets are reusable. Store nets can be folded in baskets or resealable bags, or rolled in sheeting (e.g., plastic sheeting or butcher paper), rolled onto the poles, stored in a case or inside a four inch PVC pipe, or combinations of these things. If using PVC secure an end cap on one side and use a threaded cap on the other. Such approaches allow the net to be stored to avoid tangles and to enhance the ease and speed of deploying the net without tangles or complicated deployments. For example, such designs may provide for deployment of the net by separating the poles, thereby pulling the net from the bag, plastic sheeting, butcher paper, basket or other means for storing the net between uses. It is understood that other storage techniques may be applied and may be combined with the ones stated herein.
FIG. 3
FIG. 3
300
300
302
304
306
308
309
310
312
304
302
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304
illustrates a mist net system , in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, a mist net system includes mist nets , an extension pole set , removable pole top extensions , magnet , hook attachments , a chase pole , a laser pointer , and a discrete carrying case and instructions. As shown in , the extension pole set can be long enough to hang the mist net to a ceiling or rafter and allow a user to remain standing on the ground. The magnet , or the hook attachment can provide the top of the extension pole set with varied attachment devices to variable structures and surfaces.
In some embodiments, mist nets are handled using a two person team. The team can remove plastic wrapper from net and remove the cord that is bundling the net together. A person may unfold the net. When the loops at the end of the net are exposed, each person can hold one set of loops and unfold the net. In some embodiments, the loops create pockets that are called “shelves.” The shelves are what capture the bird on contact. In various embodiments, the top loops are white. Each loop may be attached to the mist net hanging system without tangling the net.
In some embodiments, a building or structure or are is surveyed to identify the most likely flight paths of the bird(s). In some cases birds fly between perches and food sources several times per day. If nets are placed in the way of likely flight paths, then the probability of capture is increased. Once flight paths have been identified, place nets along the routes. In some embodiments, the net or nets should be placed such that the bird will fly straight into the net (not at an angle).
In some embodiments, the net is positioned so it hangs horizontally and perpendicular to the bird's preferred flight path. It can be beneficial to choose an area where heat and A/C units will not blow on the net. When there are several birds, it may be best to use multiple nets. Leading birds will generally get caught but the lagging birds may see those caught and veer away. Thus, in some embodiments, it can be beneficial to mount side nets to catch those trying to avoid the primary capture net. A Sparrow Caller Audio Module may be positioned near the net to draw birds to the mist nets.
FIGS. 4-6
FIGS. 4A-4B
FIG. 4A
FIG. 4B
400
401
402
404
In some embodiments, the nets can be mounted in one or more of the shaped patterns demonstrated by . illustrate a 90 degree block pattern in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter. Mist nets can be located in a building positioned in a right block pattern shown in or a left block pattern as shown in . Two nets positioned at right angles to block and capture birds that have a defined flight pattern to a specific point. In some embodiments, this could be a location where their flight pattern is near to a food or water source in the immediate area. Note that the right angles of the nets can be closely positioned to restrict the bird's flight and escape points.
FIG. 5A
502
506
504
504
504
illustrates a back to back pattern in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, a back net is positioned parallel behind another front net at staggered heights to trap birds flying above or below the front net . It can be beneficial to consider where birds are observed flying under or over the mist nets. In some embodiments, different lengths are used with the longer net at the 2nd level behind the front net .
FIG. 5B
508
510
512
508
illustrates a wall pattern in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter. In various embodiments, two nets are positioned to create a higher vertical wall with bottom edge of upper net on top of an upper edge of a lower net . This approach can improve bird catch over using a single net. In some embodiments, the wall pattern reduces opportunities for birds to fly over or under especially where net positioned over obstacles below (e.g. racking, boxes, etc.).
FIG. 6A
602
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illustrates a corral pattern in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter. In some embodiments, three nets , , and are positioned in U-shape to confine the bird to a specific area such as a Lawn and Garden section of a retail establishment. The nets , , and should be placed (staged) on the floor prior to harassing the bird to the netting zone. This blocks the bird from moving back to the retail floor. Birds that attempted to veer to left or right become trapped in corral net pattern.
FIG. 6B
610
612
614
616
610
illustrates a funnel pattern in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter. In some embodiments, three nets , , and are positioned in a “U-shape” to channel or funnel birds to a central net. It can be beneficial to use different lengths with the two longer nets used on the sides to limit the escape route of the birds. Birds that attempted to veer to left or right become trapped in net. In some embodiments, the funnel pattern is used for wide areas or where birds are observed flying inconsistently to the left or right of net.
FIGS. 4-6
In some embodiments, lasers are used to affect bird flight patterns. The use of lasers, particularly multi-laser projectors (e.g., models micro Star and Micro Glaxian II by ADJ Products, LLC®, model EZ Laser RGFX by Chauvet® DJ), which can produce between one to thousands of laser beams of one or more colors to corral birds into mist nets and deter movement to unwanted locations such as ceiling rafters. In some embodiments, multi-laser projectors or any type of laser system can be used in combination with any of the mist net positioning patterns described in above.
FIGS. 7-9
FIG. 7
700
702
704
705
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706
702
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702
Rafters can present difficult bird trapping situations. illustrate various examples of laser positioning and directing in relation to bird flight patterns and rafter locations. illustrates a vertical laser placement example , in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter wherein a laser unit is placed directly under a mist net and under rafters of an enclosure. Laser beams are directed up towards the net . The bird flight is shown at . The laser unit can be a multi-laser projector system and can produce a plurality of colored laser beams. In an example, the laser unit can produce both red and green laser beams. In an example, the laser unit can produce more than 200 laser beams. Upon reading and understanding the present disclosure, a person of skill in the art would understand that other colors and number of beams may be employed in such applications.
FIG. 8
800
802
805
808
804
806
805
802
illustrates a bird laser placement example where the laser system is angled from the side of the rafters, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter. A laser unit is placed such that the laser beams are directed at an angle towards rafters (e.g. or other ceiling structures). The net may be located to catch birds flying under the rafters as shown. The bird flight direction is shown at and in some cases can be towards the laser beams . In various embodiments, the laser unit directs the beams at a 45 degree angle in relation to horizontal. Other angles can be used as well.
FIG. 9
900
902
905
908
904
906
905
902
illustrates a laser system pointing towards rafters (along a ridge line) and along a path of flight of birds , in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter. A laser unit can be placed such that the laser beams are directed at an angle towards rafters (e.g. or other ceiling structures). The net can be located as shown. The bird flight direction is shown at and in some embodiments can be away from the laser beams . In various embodiments, the laser unit directs the beams at a 45 degree angle in relation to horizontal. Other angles can be used as well.
A survey of the enclosure or facility and surroundings can be conducted. A form can be used to record a diagram of the enclosure or facility and to document findings during the survey. Care should be taken to identify the species to be controlled in order to be certain that you will not harm a protected bird. In various embodiments and combinations, the survey can start from the outside of the facility and work into the enclosure. Exterior evidence of bird activity can be recorded. For example, entries can describe bird nests and nesting areas, roosting areas, loafing areas, available water sources (e.g., sprinklers, air conditioning, puddles, etc.), available food, accumulations of bird droppings, flight paths and movements around the general area, and evidence of birds using adjacent facilities for food/harborage, access points, bird activity, and combinations of them. An excluded zone of a facility can be investigated for potential bird access points, looking high and low. Likely entrance points may be recorded on the diagram.
Inspections can be conducted on the interior of the enclosure or facility and the following can be recorded: bird nests, bird roosting areas, bird loafing areas, available water, available food, accumulated bird droppings, flight patterns, bird population/count, and combinations of them.
In various embodiments, the method includes one or more of meeting with personnel or other persons of the enclosure or facility to review findings and generate recommendations. The findings may include one or more of, bird pressure on the outside of the facility, a review of how birds are likely entering a facility, activity of birds in the building, locations of likely bird loafing areas. A risk reward or cost analysis can be provided which takes into consideration one or more of reducing exterior pressure, excluding birds from getting into the facility, removing resident birds from the facility. A level of service may be selected, and or varied, for the task at hand.
Bird control may include complex and integrated programs using an escalating treatment strategy and resident input and partnership to resolve the issue. The bird service strategy utilizes products and equipment to relocate pest birds as quickly and discreetly as possible. A successful indoor bird control program consists of an outside-multi-level integrated approach.
For example, a first level may involve removal of indoor birds. Box traps and cage wire traps can be employed and emptied outside to rid the facility of birds. It can be applied to birds of category 1, 2 or 3.
A second level approach may be to flush or scare birds out of the enclosure or facility. Visual and sound devices can be employed. In various embodiments, lights, lasers, sounds, poles and other devices can be employed to scare indoor birds outside. In various embodiments, strobed light sources may be employed. Combinations of strobed light sources include indoor lighting, lasers, multiple beam laser systems, multiple color light devices, and multiple pattern light devices. This level two approach can be effective at flushing or scaring newly introduced birds out of the facility.
In a third level, mist nets can be installed which trap flying birds as birds fly about the internal building or facility. Mist net kits can be obtained and deployed. The mist nets can have varying lengths, shapes, colors, and be hung differently or in a pattern to improve chances of capture of the pest birds.
In a fourth level, for example, situation assessment can be assigned in used to harvest.
In a fifth level, for example, the structure or its neighboring environment is modified to limit birds' attraction to the structure. This can be done by removing or limiting food sources and water sources from the area. It may also involve removing nests and nesting materials from the area, removing or limiting roosting and nesting sites from the area, and/or reducing exterior pressure by utilizing anti-perching systems and bird exclusion tools. Tools that may be used include but are not limited to gels, spikes, electric shock track, rotating wires, coil, post and wire, bird slide and netting. It may also involve repelling birds from the structure, e.g., using visual and sound devices as repellants. It may be advantageous to install devices to repel birds, including optical, audible and chemical deterrents. It may also be beneficial to restrict bird entry into the structure (“bird proofing/exclusion”). The best tools and methods of exclusion can be utilized for the situation and to address entry points e.g. open doors, damaged dock plates and pads. It may be beneficial to reduce sensitivity of sensors on exterior speed doors so birds cannot activate openers. This can be done using, but not limited to, plastic strip, curtains, foam, exclusion netting, and combinations of them.
The foregoing levels are intended to demonstrate a multi-level approach to control of birds; however, it is understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that other levels having different activities may be performed without departing from the scope of the present subject matter.
The present subject matter provides examples of a system for control of birds in an enclosure, comprising one or more mist nets positioned in the enclosure; and a multi-projection laser system configured to produce a plurality of laser beams proximal to the net, wherein the one or more mist nets and laser system are configured to cause the birds to fly into the one or more mist nets for safe and humane removal of the birds from the enclosure. The present subject matter includes examples of a system for control of birds in an enclosure, comprising capture means for capturing birds in flight, including attachment means for attaching and positioning the capture means in the enclosure; and light projection means for producing a plurality of laser beams, wherein the light projection means is configured with the capture means to produce light that cause the birds to fly into the capture means for safe and humane removal of the birds from the enclosure. In some examples the attachment means includes shelf strings. In some examples the capture means includes one or more nets. In some examples, the light projection means includes a multi-projection laser system.
Variations of nets, lighting, and additional equipment to control birds is provided in various embodiments. For example, the preceding system can be used wherein a mist net of the one or more mist nets is positioned under one or more rafters of the enclosure. In another example, the laser system is positioned under the mist net and pointing up toward the one or more rafters. In yet another example, the laser system is pointed from the side of the one or more rafters and is angled with respect to the one or more rafters. In another example, the laser system is angled at 45 degrees with respect to one or more rafters. In yet another example, the laser system is pointed along a ridge line of the one or more rafters. For example, the laser system is angled with respect to the ridge line of the one or more rafters. In yet another example, the laser system is angled at 45 degrees with respect to the ridge line of one or more rafters.
In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include a plurality of mist nets configured in a 90 degree block pattern. In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include a plurality of mist nets configured in a back-to-back wall pattern. In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include a plurality of mist nets in a U-shape corral configuration. In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include a plurality of mist nets in a U-shape funnel configuration.
In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include the mist nets configured with staggered heights. In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include the mist nets configured with varying lengths. In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include mist nets that are configured with staggered heights and varying lengths.
In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include sound devices to make sounds that initiate movement of a bird. In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include sound devices to make sounds that imitate the call of a bird.
In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include traps or baited traps, or traps with nesting material in them.
In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include lights that are strobed. In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include wherein the multi-projection laser system is strobed. In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include wherein lights that are patterned. In any of the various foregoing examples the system may include wherein the multi-projection laser system provides patterned laser beams.
The present subject matter provides examples of methods of corralling birds, comprising employing a multi-projection laser system configured to produce a plurality of laser beams proximal to the net employing mist nets in a configuration; and employing one or more mist nets configured to be positioned in the enclosure so as to catch the birds in the enclosure; wherein the one or more mist nets and laser system are configured to cause the birds to fly into the one or more mist nets for safe and humane removal of the birds from the enclosure. Variations of nets, lighting, and additional equipment to control birds are provided in various examples. In any of the various foregoing examples the method may include using sound devices to make sounds that initiate movement of a bird. In any of the various foregoing examples the method may include using sound devices to make sounds that imitate the call of a bird. In any of the various foregoing examples the method may include using traps to trap birds in an enclosure. In any of the various foregoing examples the method may include using traps that are baited traps.
The foregoing examples are not limiting or exclusive, and the scope of the present subject matter is to be determined by the specification as a whole, including the claims and drawings.
The above description includes references to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the detailed description. The drawings show, by way of illustration, varying embodiments in which the invention can be practiced. The application also refers to “examples.” Such examples can include elements in addition to those shown or described. The foregoing examples are not intended to be an exhaustive or exclusive list of examples and variations of the present subject matter.
Method examples described herein can be machine or computer-implemented at least in part. Some examples can include a computer-readable medium or machine-readable medium encoded with instructions operable to configure an electronic device to perform methods as described in the above examples. An implementation of such methods can include code, such as microcode, assembly language code, a higher-level language code, or the like. Such code can include computer readable instructions for performing various methods. The code may form portions of computer program products. Further, in an example, the code can be tangibly stored on one or more volatile, non-transitory, or non-volatile tangible computer-readable media, such as during execution or at other times. Examples of these tangible computer-readable media can include, but are not limited to, hard disks, removable magnetic disks, removable optical disks (e.g., compact disks and digital video disks), magnetic cassettes, memory cards or sticks, random access memories (RAMs), read only memories (ROMs), and the like.
The above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or more aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Other embodiments can be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.
The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:
FIG. 1
illustrates representations of a female house sparrow, a male house sparrow, a starling, and a pigeon;
FIG. 2
illustrates a flushing technique, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter;
FIG. 3
illustrates a mist net system, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter;
FIGS. 4A-B
illustrate a 90 degree block pattern, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter;
FIG. 5A
illustrates a back to back pattern, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter;
FIG. 5B
illustrates a wall pattern, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter;
FIG. 6A
illustrates a corral pattern, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter;
FIG. 6B
illustrates a funnel pattern, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter;
FIG. 7
illustrates a vertical laser system pointing up towards rafters, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter;
FIG. 8
illustrates a laser system pointing at a side angle towards rafters, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter; and
FIG. 9
illustrates a laser system pointing in the direction of a ridge line of a building and towards rafters, in accordance with some embodiments of the present subject matter. | |
Crit Care. 2020; 24: 691.
Language
Inglés
Abstract
Background: COVID-19 can course with respiratory and extrapulmonary disease. SARS-CoV-2 RNA is detected in respiratory samples but also in blood, stool and urine. Severe COVID-19 is characterized by a dysregulated host response to this virus. We studied whether viral RNAemia or viral RNA load in plasma is associated with severe COVID-19 and also to this dysregulated response. Methods: A total of 250 patients with COVID-19 were recruited (50 outpatients, 100 hospitalized ward patients and 100 critically ill). Viral RNA detection and quantification in plasma was performed using droplet digital PCR, targeting the N1 and N2 regions of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein gene. The association between SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia and viral RNA load in plasma with severity was evaluated by multivariate logistic regression. Correlations between viral RNA load and biomarkers evidencing dysregulation of host response were evaluated by calculating the Spearman correlation coefficients. Results: The frequency of viral RNAemia was higher in the critically ill patients (78%) compared to ward patients (27%) and outpatients (2%) (p < 0.001). Critical patients had higher viral RNA loads in plasma than non-critically ill patients, with non-survivors showing the highest values. When outpatients and ward patients were compared, viral RNAemia did not show significant associations in the multivariate analysis. In contrast, when ward patients were compared with ICU patients, both viral RNAemia and viral RNA load in plasma were associated with critical illness (OR [CI 95%], p): RNAemia (3.92 [1.183-12.968], 0.025), viral RNA load (N1) (1.962 [1.244-3.096], 0.004); viral RNA load (N2) (2.229 [1.382-3.595], 0.001). Viral RNA load in plasma correlated with higher levels of chemokines (CXCL10, CCL2), biomarkers indicative of a systemic inflammatory response (IL-6, CRP, ferritin), activation of NK cells (IL-15), endothelial dysfunction (VCAM-1, angiopoietin-2, ICAM-1), coagulation activation (D-Dimer and INR), tissue damage (LDH, GPT), neutrophil response (neutrophils counts, myeloperoxidase, GM-CSF) and immunodepression (PD-L1, IL-10, lymphopenia and monocytopenia). Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia and viral RNA load in plasma are associated with critical illness in COVID-19. Viral RNA load in plasma correlates with key signatures of dysregulated host responses, suggesting a major role of uncontrolled viral replication in the pathogenesis of this disease.
Subject
SARS-CoV-2 | Cytokine | Sepsis | COVID-19 | Plasma | Rnaemia | Viral RNA load | ICU
MESH
Adult | Aged | Biomarkers | Chi-Square Distribution | Critical Illness | Female | Humans | Male | Middle Aged | Multivariate Analysis | Polymerase Chain Reaction | RNA, Viral | Statistics, Nonparametric | Viral Load | COVID-19
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Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject. | https://repisalud.isciii.es/handle/20.500.12105/12031 |
Global Business Rules Management System Market report highlights the economy, historic and emerging trend of industry, and availability of several basic resources. The Business Rules Management System Market report describes growth trend, analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and recent market dynamics. In addition, the report makes some significant proposals for a new project of Business Rules Management System market before assessing its possibility.
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Request Download Sample Ask for a Discount Company Profile New Jersey, United States,- The Electronically Controlled Limited-Slip Differential Market is growing rapidly and making a significant contribution to the global economy in terms of sales, growth rate, market share, and size. The Electronically Controlled Limited-Slip Differential Market Report is a comprehensive research document that provides readers with […]
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Body Control Module Market is witnessing market growth at a rate of 3.35% in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027. Data Bridge Market Research report on body control module market provides analysis and insights regarding the various factors expected to be prevalent throughout the forecasted period while providing their impacts on the market’s growth. […] | |
5G white paper --minimally technical
Understand the Evolution of 5G and Opportunities for Product Innovation.
Learn the benefits and challenges of 5G mmWave including compliance testing, and promising use cases.
Driven by trends such as high-quality communication and the Internet of Things (IoT), the number of connected devices is expected to grow by more than 10 times what existed in 2019. In order to keep up with the need for more connected devices, as well as demands for increased data speeds and reliability, technology standards for cellular networks are expanding into their fifth generation, called 5G. This new generation will enhance the capabilities of mobile broadband, massive machine type communication and ultra-reliable, low-latency communications. It will enable the development and adoption of new applications that have been pursued for a long time, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), self-driving cars, smart medical services, and smart buildings. However, these opportunities come with challenges. 5G requires large infrastructure investments to realize its full benefits. Also, the technology requirements for hardware, software, raw materials, communication architectures and applications are radically different than what was required for previous cellular generations. The expanded connectivity and high-risk applications of 5G, such as autonomous vehicles, also increase security challenges. This white paper outlines the evolution of 5G, its technological requirements, industrial opportunities and security challenges. | https://www.ul.com/insights/evolution-5g-and-opportunities-product-innovation |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
PRIOR ART
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
DESCRIPTION AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
DRAWINGS
DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT
The present invention relates to a washing tunnel for vehicles, comprising a wetting entrance and a pre-wash arch, cleaning, rinsing and drying means.
There are various forms of washing tunnel of the type defined above.
FIG. 1
gives an example of a washing installation formed by two washing tunnels having different functions. The two washing tunnels are optionally joined at their exits to a polishing portal structure.
In greater detail, the vehicle washing tunnel having two tunnels is composed of a wetting and preparation entrance E in which the vehicle is prepared (aerials and windscreen wipers are fixed, where appropriate the aerial is removed, the wing mirrors are folded in).
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After that preparatory step, the vehicle can pass into the high-pressure washing tunnel or into the roller washing tunnel .
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The high-pressure washing tunnel is composed of a transportation means for carrying the vehicle through the various wash stations. The high-pressure washing tunnel is equipped with a pre-wash arch A, which is followed by a high-pressure washing portal structure P. The high-pressure washing portal structure P is a portal structure that is equipped with nozzles distributed over its sides and its top in order to direct onto the vehicle water in the form of broad high-pressure jets. The nozzles are mounted on movable equipment so that they are able to come close to the vehicle body, both at the sides and the top. The portal structure moves relative to the vehicle and passes over it from front to back and vice versa. It cleans the lower part of the bodywork including the wheels, the sides and the underside.
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After the high-pressure portal structure P, the vehicle passes through a rinse arch A, which sprays rinsing liquid, optionally with wax, and finally it passes into the drying portal structure P, which is formed by nozzles that direct fierce jets of air onto the vehicle body in order to drive off the liquid and dry the vehicle body.
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The roller washing tunnel , like the high-pressure washing tunnel, is composed of a vehicle transportation track equipped with means such as a carriage that push or pull the vehicle through the tunnel between the entrance and the exit. At its entrance, the tunnel comprises a pre-wash arch A, which is followed by one or two roller portal structures P, P. The roller portal structures each comprise two vertical rollers for cleaning the sides of the vehicle body and an upper, horizontal roller, which cleans the top of the vehicle body.
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After the roller portal structure(s), the tunnel comprises a rinse arch A, which is followed by a drying portal structure P.
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Vehicles that have passed through the high-pressure washing tunnel HP or the roller washing tunnel can leave the installation directly. Dry vehicles can likewise pass through a polishing installation , which is composed of a polishing portal structure P formed by polishing rollers and a polishing agent dispenser. The polishing rollers are rollers having textile ribbons, which polish the vehicle body at the same time as a polishing agent is directed onto it.
Although that known installation functions in a satisfactory manner, it nevertheless has the disadvantage of being complicated and, accordingly, expensive, because it is composed of two washing tunnels each having its own function. The high-pressure washing tunnel comprises stations that cannot be separated. The roller tunnel comprises stations whose functions can be separated. Accordingly, washing is not necessarily associated with drying at the exit. Cleaning can be more or less intensive with the use of one roller portal structure or the two roller portal structures.
Finally, the polishing installation is a possibility that is offered at the exit of the two installations provided that the vehicle is dry, because polishing can be carried out in that installation only if the vehicle has been dried.
This possibility likewise has the disadvantage that there is a risk of malfunctioning if the vehicle is dry but has not been adequately cleaned, it being possible for the particles of sand attached to the vehicle body to be carried along by the rollers of the polishing portal structure and scratch the vehicle body.
In addition to the complexity of the actual installation, it is also inconvenient for the user first to have to pass through one of the tunnels in order to reach the polishing installation.
The object of the present invention is to develop a vehicle washing installation in which polishing is possible and the space requirement of the installation is reduced so as to be limited to a single vehicle track, which installation offers all wash possibilities among high-pressure washing, washing by means of rollers, and polishing.
a high-pressure portal structure,
one or more roller portal structures each preceded by a foam-dispensing arch,
a polishing portal structure preceded by a foam-dispensing arch,
a rinse arch,
a drying portal structure,
the line along which the vehicle passes comprises, in order, downstream of the pre-wash arch,
the central control unit receiving the user's selection (wash program) and controlling operation of the arches and portal structures,
the central control unit including an operating combination of the high-pressure portal structure and of the portal structures that authorises operation of the polishing portal structures as polishing portal structures only if the high-pressure portal structure has previously been operated by the wash program selected by the user.
To that end, the invention relates to a vehicle washing installation composed of a single washing tunnel, characterised in that
FIG. 3
The washing tunnel according to the invention not only simplifies the installation of the equipment, because there is a single track that is followed by the vehicles whatever the selected wash program and option. According to the invention it is possible to selected various wash programs, and there are options within each program. The programs and options are not described in detail here. Some are shown by way of example in . These multiple possibilities integrated into the integration constituted by a single washing tunnel avoid the duplication of means as in the installation of the prior art and permit more efficient use of the means common to the various wash programs and operations. The invention also makes it possible to avoid any poor operation, in particular at the level of the polishing portal structure, and the consequences that such poor operation can have on the condition of the vehicle body.
The washing tunnel also operates more quickly than the juxtaposition of two washing tunnels followed by a polishing installation, because the operations follow one another directly without interruption, the vehicle being carried through the various stations including the polishing installation.
Dissociation of the functions, that is to say those of the arches and of the portal structures, permits great diversity in terms of programs and options without affecting the fluidity of passage of the vehicles through the tunnel. Several vehicles with different programs and options can pass through the tunnel one after the other.
Advantageously, the roller portal structures, which are located downstream of the high-pressure portal structure and are preceded by a foam-dispensing arch, are equipped with rollers having strips of plastics material, and those portal structures can be controlled to operate as cleaning portal structures, in which case they are wet, with the projection of water and cleaning fluid, and the arches are non-operational, or alternatively as polishing rollers, in which case they are dry but the foam-dispensing arches are operational.
In an interesting manner, the pre-wash arch is equipped with two banks of nozzles, of which one dispenses the washing liquid and the other the polishing foam, the first bank operating on its own or in conjunction with the second bank.
According to another advantageous feature, the logic function ET is integrated into the operating programs and options of the central control unit, which facilitates production of the installation and the taking into consideration of any modifications thereto, the replacement of a piece of equipment, etc.
According to another advantageous feature, control of the operating cycles of the stations of the tunnel is effected by the central control unit.
The present invention will be described in greater detail hereinbelow by means of an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
is a diagram of a system of washing tunnels according to the prior art,
FIG. 2
is a diagram of a washing tunnel according to the invention,
FIG. 3
is a table of possible combinations for wash programs.
FIG. 2
According to , the invention relates to a washing tunnel for vehicles that is equipped with a succession of arches and portal structures having different functions. Those separate arches and portal structures are connected to a control station that receives the users' selections (programs and options) and controls the operating cycle of the pieces of equipment in the washing tunnel.
In order not to clutter up the drawings and complicate the description, known means, such as the vehicle transport track with the means for carrying the vehicle, the arches and portal structures and the equipment thereof, such as the nozzles and rollers, are not shown and a detailed description thereof will not be given.
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The tunnel comprises a vehicle passage line . The line is equipped with rails and a carriage or conveyor which moves the vehicle from the entrance to the exit between the various stations formed by the arches and portal structures, in order to carry out the operations requested by the customer. In reality, there is a plurality of carriages or drive wheels carried by an endless chain for carrying several vehicles through the tunnel one after another, whether or not the vehicles have selected the same wash program or different programs, as well as different options within the programs.
The stations are constituted by an entrance E for introducing the vehicle onto the transportation track, with manual preparation of the vehicle and wetting. In that wetting zone, the vehicle is cleaned manually by application of a cleaning or washing product and removal of dirt by means of a high-pressure jet. This first cleaning operation allows the vehicle to be practically cleaned in order to remove therefrom “roughnesses” such as grains of sand so as to prevent such grains or “roughnesses” from subsequently scratching the vehicle body when they are carried along by the rollers.
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The entrance station E is equipped with a pre-wash arch A, which is equipped with a bank of nozzles R for directing pre-wash foam onto the vehicle. A second bank of nozzles R allows polishing foam to be directed onto the vehicle. The pre-wash arch A dispenses pre-wash foam whatever the selected program or option. However, in the case of programs with only high-pressure washing (portal structure P), a polishing foam is added to the pre-wash foam, the two types of foam being dispensed by each bank of nozzles R, R. In the case of the dispensing of polishing foam, the high-pressure portal structure P spreads the polishing foam and creates a shine because there is no rubbing.
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the portal structures can operate as cleaning rollers, with the projection of water with added washing agents,
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the portal structures can operate as polishing rollers if the foam-dispensing arches A, A are activated.
The pre-wash arch A is followed by the high-pressure portal structure P equipped with high-pressure water nozzles which clean the vehicle body and the chassis. The nozzles are distributed over the sides and the top. The lateral nozzles are located opposite the vehicle, and the top nozzles are carried by a transverse member, which is equipped with tracking cells for controlling the downward or upward movement of the nozzles by following the outline of the vehicle body. The tunnel then comprises one or two roller portal structures P, P each preceded by an arch A, A equipped with banks of nozzles for dispensing polishing foam. Each portal structure has two vertical rollers and a horizontal roller for treating the sides and the top of the vehicle. The rollers are formed by strands or strips of plastics material. The strips are in fact cut into disks of plastics material stacked one on top of the other on the shaft of the roller. The assembly of portal structures P, P has a dual function:
2
That polishing function is possible if the vehicle has previously undergone cleaning in the high-pressure portal structure P.
Otherwise, that option is not possible.
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The rollers having strips of plastics material of the two portal structures P, P permit that dual function because they do not become impregnated with washing foam or polishing foam. Owing to the plastics material, the rollers of the portal structures P, P carry out pre-polishing. The roller(s) of the portal structures execute(s) a relative movement in relation to the vehicle. The portal structures P, P operating for cleaning with washing liquid allow any residues of traffic film that may remain on the vehicle to be removed. This is in fact the deposition of the very fine layer of dirt and dust that adheres to the vehicle body.
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Downstream of the roller portal structure P there is an arch A which also sprays polishing foam onto the vehicle. Spraying is effected by means of nozzles, the vehicle being moved relative to the fixed arch A.
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The polishing-foam arch A is followed by a polishing portal structure P, which is composed of a frame equipped with three polishing rollers of textile material (felt), two lateral rollers and an upper, horizontal roller. The portal structure is completely fixed. The conveyed vehicle passes beneath the portal structure, and the rollers follow the contour of the vehicle. The rollers move longitudinally relative to the vehicle, following the contours thereof.
The rollers that compose this portal structure, which is likewise fixed, are formed by narrow bands of material which carry out the polishing. As in the other polishing portal structures, the operation is carried out dry, the rollers spreading the foam and polishing the vehicle body. The rollers do not themselves dispense products.
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Downstream of the polishing portal structure P, a rinse arch A sprays the vehicle with hot or cold wax and rinses it with osmosed water. Rinsing is necessary in order to remove residues of polishing foam that may remain on the vehicle body and would interfere with drying.
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The rinse arch A is followed by a drying portal structure P comprising nozzles that blow air onto the vehicle body.
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The installation also comprises a central control unit connected to a data input . The input is composed of a keyboard and one or more card readers , , allowing the user to introduce his command, that is to say the choice of wash program, using a special card corresponding to the chosen wash program or a credit card, the wash program then being selected using the keyboard or, alternatively, by an operator at the tunnel entrance. The information is transmitted to the central control unit, which is equipped with a microprocessor or a programmable automatic device that controls start-up of the stations in the tunnel. It also comprises a memory containing the various wash programs and options. The lines for transmitting the instructions from the control station to the stations E, A . . . P, and any return signals, bear the reference numerals L to L. The control signals sent to the stations E to P are signals for initiating an operating cycle. By way of variation, they can also be the succession of signals of an operating cycle, according to whether management of the operation of the tunnel is decentralised to the different stations or is combined in the central control unit. The latter solution is the most valuable in terms of effective management, because it allows operating signals sent in return by the various stations E to P to the central control unit to be taken into account directly. The central control unit includes a logic combination ET, which authorises operation of the polishing portal structures P, P, P only if the high-pressure portal structure P has been used previously and in the same program or option. This combination is shown diagrammatically in the control station by the logic function ET connecting the lines of the portal structures P and P, P, P. The logic function ET so demonstrated can be produced by means of the cabling of the circuit, but it is preferably recorded in the programs contained within the memory of the microprocessor .
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Operation of the separate stations A to P of the actual tunnel is requested by the control station .
FIG. 3
2
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shows various possibilities for the use of the stations of the tunnel. Accordingly, the high-pressure portal structure P can be bypassed (path CH). The same is true of the roller portal structures P, P and of the polishing portal structure P with the foam-dispensing arch A preceding it (paths CH, CH).
FIG. 3
shows diagrammatically a table of different use possibilities of the washing tunnel.
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The first column shows the stations of the washing tunnel: the arch A, the portal structure P, the arch A, the portal structure P, the arch A, the portal structure P followed by the arch A, the portal structure P, the arch A and the portal structure P. Subsequent columns indicate which boxes are occupied and the number of the stations used in the various wash programs and options bearing the reference numerals F, F, F, F, F. The combinations are recorded in the memory of the processor of the central control unit .
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The table shows in particular that the foam-dispensing arches A, A, A and the polishing portal structures P, P, P can be used only if the vehicle has previously passed through the high-pressure washing portal structure P.
FIG. 3
103
As is shown diagrammatically in , the data input allows the programs and options to be selected.
In practice, the selection of programs and options can be made from two different stations by means of two desks connected to one another.
Depending on the frequency of use of the installation, the selection of programs and options is made either at the station, for example at the main cash desk, or at a station located at the entrance to the washing tunnel. Those stations are used by different people. The main station, which is located at the cash desk, is used by a cashier, and the station located at the entrance to the washing installation is used by the operator who positions the vehicle on the conveyor and prepares it.
When the installation is used with high frequency, the two stations are occupied, the main station dealing with the selection of programs and options and the station at the entrance to the chain is then vacant.
When the installation is used with low frequency, only the station at the entrance to the washing tunnel is used by the operator, who both collects payment and prepares each vehicle. | |
Farms and fresh produce companies are facing serious staffing shortages due to to Covid and Brexit, which, combined, have restricted the number of migrant workers they usually depend on to travel to the UK for work.
The family owned firm, which also supplies Brussels sprouts and cauliflowers to major food suppliers and supermarkets, has been on a major recruitment drive as a result.
TH Clements has year long harvesting at its farmland in Lincolnshire (Image: TH Clements)
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In a post on social media, TH Clements said: “We are looking for Field Operatives to harvest our broccoli. Excellent piecework rates with potential to earn up to £30 per hour and all year round work available.”
Other pictures from the farm showed workers being treated to ice creams as they took a break from the fields. A comment said: “Another fun day in the sunshine at T H Clements. Ice Creams all round – just one of the ways TH Clements makes sure every employee knows they are appreciated! Many thanks to Skinners Ice Cream.”
And there continue to be shortages of some foods and products on supermarket shelves with concerns over Christmas dinners.
Ranjit Singh Boporan, the owner of Bernard Matthews and 2 Sisters Food Group, which has a major factory in Scunthorpe, has warned of serious fallout.
He said: “There are less than 100 days left until Christmas and Bernard Matthews and my other poultry businesses are working harder than ever before to try and recruit people to maintain food supplies.”
“Nothing has fundamentally changed since I spoke about the issue last July. In fact, I take no pleasure in pointing out that the gaps on the shelves I warned about then are getting bigger by the day,” he told Sky News.
Supermarkets and suppliers in the UK are struggling to meet demand following an exodus of HGV drivers from EU countries, who returned to the continent during the pandemic and remained there (Image: Steve Parsons/PA Wire)
Meanwhile, he Government is considering temporary measures to tackle the shortage of HGV drivers which is wreaking havoc on a number of UK industries.
No 10 insisted on Friday night that any measures introduced would be “very strictly time-limited” amid reports that Boris Johnson had allowed ministers to relax UK immigration rules to allow more foreign drivers into the country.
And although Downing Street would not confirm whether any decisions had been made, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps earlier promised to “move heaven and earth” to get the situation solved.
The Financial Times and the Telegraph reported that the Prime Minister had given ministers the go-ahead to temporarily lift visa restrictions for foreign drivers.
The newspapers said up to 5,000 temporary visas could be granted for HGV drivers, while the Financial Times said a similar number would be approved for food processing workers, especially in the poultry industry. | |
According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), 45 million of the 60 million eligible Medicare beneficiaries have 2 or more chronic conditions. These conditions affect a patient’s quality of life. They are often complex, costly, time-consuming to manage and frequently require after hours care. Independent studies indicate that primary care physicians are not equipped to manage chronic care, which leaves these patients abandoned until an acute episode of illness causes them to return to the doctor’s office or hospital.
CMS launched the Chronic Care Management program in 2015 to address this growing Medicare problem. New CPT codes were created and reimbursement rates, that are based on the amount of time spent during patient encounters, were meant to serve as an incentive for doctors to provide these needed services. The amount of work required to meet CMS regulations, and the level of reimbursement for the few new services covered, has not proven to be a sufficient incentive for doctors to provide CCM services. However, when managed correctly, shifting to a value-based chronic care solution creates a model that works better for everyone, and we explain why. Here are our top 10 reasons why you should consider CCM for your practice:
1. CCM Delivers Optimal Care for Chronic Patients
The first, and probably most important reason why you should consider a value-based CCM program is it allows practices to have the capacity to improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for patients with two or more chronic diseases. One of Medicare’s CCM requirements is requiring the use of telehealth technology to provide care for patients in between their doctor visits. Supplemental access to a care provider during gaps in care provides consistency to treatment, which is key to managing chronic diseases. Depending on a patients’ risk evaluation, a care provider could work with patients for 20 minutes, 40 minutes, or even 60 minutes, as needed.
2. The Number of Patients with Chronic Diseases is Growing
There are currently 140 million people living with chronic diseases in the United States. For the elderly, the situation is even more dire. 3 out of 4 people aged 65+ are afflicted with two or more chronic illnesses who require care. This is already a serious situation and will only get worse as chronic cases will increase in the coming years, putting a terrible strain on our healthcare system. By 2025, a staggering 49% of the population will have at least one chronic illness. This number is projected to increase by more than one percent each year through 2030.
3. Decreased Workload and Non-billable Time
Implementing a CCM program in your practice, especially if you consider partnering with a company that can handle the CCM care delivery for you, means no longer having to follow-up potentially up to 60 minutes a month per chronic patient. Not only does that free up a lot of time for you and your staff to focus on other things, but it also translates into a reduction in non-billable time for your practice.
4. Generate New Revenue for Your Practice
Implementation of an efficient CCM program will mean achieving quality measures in-patient experience of care, care coordination, patient safety, and preventative health. Achieving these measures will yield significant population health revenue for your practice. The amounts reimbursed by Medicare will depend on the number of patients enrolled in the CCM program and your ability to reach specific thresholds. Reimbursement amounts by Medicare can become quite lucrative, with providers earning upwards of $100,000 in additional revenue. One caveat for consideration: a lot of administrative time needs to go into preparing the Medicare documentation which is why partnering with a company providing CCM services is highly recommended.
5. Increased Patient Engagement in their Own Care
The essence of value-based care is patients assert greater control over their health and health care. Open and transparent communication between the patient and the CCM provider, consistent patient engagement and proactive monitoring are key drivers of patient empowerment
6. Continuity of Care for Your Patients
CCM provides a baseline for continuing and maintaining quality care for your patients since patients are being cared for in between their office visits with you. Care consistency and patient empowerment are at the core of value-based care and are key in producing optimal health outcomes that are better for the patients, better for the provider, and better for the industry overall. Reliable CCM provided by established companies assures your patients of continuous attention and better outcomes
7. CCM Care is Proactive Care
Value-based care means taking a proactive approach to care management to avoid complications and eliminate problems that may exacerbate a patient’s conditions before they have a chance to appear or cause harm. Addressing gaps in care is the core goal of a CCM program and a preventative measure to keep your chronic care patients healthy and away from the hospital.
8. Actionable Real-time Clinical Intelligence
CCM increases visibility and insight into your patient’s overall health during gaps in care. Some CCM companies offer 24/7 bi-directional telehealth as a tool to capture patient-specific clinical intelligence, enabling physicians to provide better and more timely care.
9. Improved Patient Satisfaction and Loyalty
A patient’s holistic care experience has a direct bearing on loyalty to your practice. When it comes to CCM, patients seeing improvements in their conditions will develop a sense of trust, stability and satisfaction in a service like CCM. This will reflect favorably on your organization. Also, the personalized attention that a CCM program provides will not only result in a better patient-practice relationship, and it will also help improve patient loyalty and happiness
10. Availability of Companies Providing CCM Services
There are a number of companies like PharmD Live who you can partner with to establish an effective and efficient CCM program. Each of them has a different business model on how they administer chronic care, so you may want to research your options before selecting the ideal partner for you. For example, PharmD Live is the only company providing CCM solutions through its network of board-certified clinical pharmacists because they are among the best suited for this role thanks to their clinical preparedness in disease management and their unique expertise as medication experts. Medications are the first line of therapy for most chronic care patients, and when not used as prescribed, adverse drug events are common. Having a clinical pharmacist to help manage and monitor a patient’s medications makes the patient feel safer and it will make you feel more at ease knowing your patient is in the care of a clinical professional.
PharmD Live is a company offering premium chronic care management services to all types of healthcare organizations. Our focus is on delivering an optimal chronic care experience for your patients and providing a greater level of efficiency, cost savings, and additional revenue for your organization.
References
(Source: Hidden Hazards, A Survey of Primary Care Physicians and Medicare Patients, 2018)
(Source: Wu, Shin-Yi and Green, Anthony. Projection of Chronic Illness Prevalence and Cost Inflation. RAND Corporation, October 2000). | https://www.pharmdlive.com/blog/top-10-reasons-why-your-practice-should-consider-chronic-care-management-ccm-2/ |
Back in 2016, Buckles Solicitors launched BUCKLESconnect, a referral network providing specialist advice to other law firms and their clients. Working with a base of 30 members, the firm hoped...
Commercial contract disputes
Contracts are an integral part of any business relationship. Whether verbal, written or implied, they set out the legal rights and responsibilities of the parties involved. We can help to ensure that your contracts fit your needs and objectives and are legally sound.
Inevitably, however, disputes involving contracts can arise from time to time and it’s vital to seek expert advice in these circumstances. Our experienced dispute resolution team regularly helps businesses to deal with any contractual issues and advise on strategies and solutions.
We can deal with all aspects of contractual disputes, including arguments about the terms of the contract, and breaches of conditions or warranties. Our team can also advise on the remedies available if a breach has occurred.
Issues that we commonly assist with include failure to deliver goods or services to a standard that is contractually expected, non-payment of goods and services, or the validity of exclusion clauses. | https://www.buckles-law.co.uk/services-for-business/dispute-resolution-for-businesses/commercial-contract-disputes/ |
The Ombudsman provides an independent, impartial and completely free service to consumers to help resolve disputes between HIES members and consumers who are interacting with them.
What is an Ombudsman?
Someone to whom you can address a complaint about an organisation or body if you feel you have been dealt with unfairly or have suffered some financial or other loss you would like investigating.
There are a number of Ombudsman Schemes in the United Kingdom. Some Ombudsmen are Government appointed, such as The Local Government Ombudsman and Financial Ombudsman Services. In some cases industry has come together to form an Ombudsman to give consumers somewhere to raise complaints. Examples of these include the Motor Ombudsman and the Property Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman can save industry and consumers money. In addition to freeing up the court system, there are also opportunities to explore the potential for mediation and conciliation and come to a negotiated settlement which provides both parties with a means for proposed compromise. If this process proves fruitless, they can investigate further and, if necessary, provide a legally binding decision.
The Ombudsman:
- Provide an independent, impartial and completely free service to consumers to help resolve disputes between HIES members and consumers who are interacting with them.
- Are independent of members and consumers and will make a decision believed to be just and fair in the circumstances.
- Can make financial awards for loss, distress, inconvenience or breach of contract which HIES will enforce.
- Resolve disputes without the need to go to court and the service is entirely free of charge to consumers.
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What sort of things can the Ombudsman investigate?
They can investigate a complaint only if:
- The complaint is against one of the Member Organisations.
- The complaint is about something which happened during the period of membership (provided your contract was signed during the installers period of membership).
- They will consider a complaint if the Complainant believes they have been treated unfairly, the service received is unacceptable or a situation has led to distress, inconvenience or financial disadvantage.
What is there that the Ombudsman cannot or may not do?
They have no power to investigate something which is being, or has been, decided by some other Tribunal or Court. In some situations, the powers to investigate are limited. An example of this is:
- When another Ombudsman has statutory control and regulation of the subject matter of the complaint.
- When the complaint involves an allegation of fraud which must be investigated by police as a criminal activity.
How to complain
Please find below information on how to complain and the complaints process.
1. Complaints to be made to the Member before the Ombudsman
It is a requirement of the Ombudsman Scheme that, normally, the complainant should first address any complaint directly to the member business concerned (if it is a member). Your complaint should be dated, clear and in writing summarising:
- What the member did, with names (if possible) and dates;
- What you think they did wrong;
- What the effect was;
- What loss (if any) you have suffered;
- What you would like the member to do to put things right;
- By when you expect a response (be realistic).
You should retain a copy of your complaint for your records – it may be needed in the future.
It is essential that the member is given every reasonable opportunity to address the complaint before complaining to the Ombudsman.
2. How long do I have to complain?
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your original complaint you should normally refer the complaint to the Ombudsman within twelve months of the issue of the Deadlock Letter or, if no Deadlock Letter has been issued, within eight months of the Complainant first giving notice of the complaint to the HIES Member. The Ombudsman has discretion, however, to accept a complaint made out of time if satisfied that there are exceptional reasons to justify delay.
3. How will individual cases be dealt with?
Where it considers practical and appropriate, the Ombudsman will seek to achieve a mutually acceptable settlement (“Settlement “) of a complaint. If both parties accept the proposed Settlement this becomes the Binding Decision of the complaint.
Where it does not consider the Settlement route appropriate or the complaint is not resolved by a Settlement, the Ombudsman will conduct a formal investigation of the complaint.
When conducting a formal investigation, the Ombudsman will consider the evidence submitted by the parties involved in the complaint. The procedure for the conduct of an investigation will be such as the Ombudsman considers appropriate, acting reasonably, in the particular circumstances of the case and may require, from time to time, such assistance of the parties to the complaint (including in relation to access, information and submissions) as the Ombudsman may consider reasonable and appropriate.
Where a formal investigation has been conducted, and within 42 days of receiving the complaint, the Ombudsman will issue to all parties to the complaint a proposed resolution of the complaint (a “Proposed Resolution”), together with the reasons for such Proposed Resolution and an invitation to accept it or to request a review, because of error(s) or new evidence has become available. Where the Proposed Resolution is not challenged by either party and is accepted by the Complainant it shall become a Binding Decision.
Where either (or both) party requests a review within fourteen (14) days of a Proposed Resolution, the Ombudsman shall take into account all of the material (existing or new) provided for the investigation and, after due consideration of the evidence, issue an Ombudsman Decision.
If, after investigation, the Ombudsman considers that the HIES Member is already offering (and continues to offer) a fair and reasonable settlement (even if it is not acceptable to the Complainant), or if the Ombudsman considers that no Settlement, Proposed Resolution or Ombudsman Decision is required, the Ombudsman may exercise discretion to terminate consideration of the complaint and shall notify the Complainant accordingly.
4. How much does it cost?
Services are provided free of charge to complainants.
5. How long will it take to come to a conclusion?
Some cases are complex and the investigation may be lengthy, whilst others are simple and are dealt with quickly. As a guide, the average complaint takes about 8 weeks to be resolved, from the time your completed complaint form is received at the Ombudsman’s office.
6. Can someone else complain on my behalf?
Someone else can complain as long as written authorisation from the complainant is received at the Ombudsman’s office. Anyone may act for the complainant, such as a member of the complainant’s family, a friend, a solicitor or a volunteer from a body like the Citizens Advice Bureau.
7. What happens when a decision is made?
The Ombudsman will make a decision he believes to be just and fair, taking all the circumstances into consideration. He will then write to all parties concerned with his decision and any award of compensation, etc. He will explain his reasons for making the decision and set out timescales within which there must be compliance with any award.
8. What powers does the Ombudsman have?
The Ombudsman has full autonomy and authority to provide a complaint/dispute resolution facility and in so doing he/she may amongst other things:
- Dismiss a complaint;
- Award compensation or issue a specific performance award;
- Make recommendations to HIES about its membership criteria and its Scheme Rules & Code of Practice;
- Make recommendations to the Trade Member about changing its policies or procedures, including in relation to the provision of its services. Such recommendation shall be copied to HIES;
- Report to HIES on any non-compliance with a binding decision of the Ombudsman by the Trade Member.
9. How much compensation could be awarded?
The Ombudsman can order payment of compensation for loss, distress, inconvenience, breach of contract or other related quality matters. There is a maximum limit of £10,000 to the amount of compensation that can be claimed or awarded. If compensation is sought this needs to be claimed on the ‘Complaint Form’ with an explanation as to how this figure was calculated. It is important to be realistic – remember that the Ombudsman will only consider what he feels are bona fide claims.
10. Can an appeal be made against the decision?
The Ombudsman’s Decision shall, if accepted by the Complainant, become a Binding Decision on the Trade Member. If the Complainant does not reply to the Decision within 10 days (or such longer period as the Ombudsman may, acting reasonably, consider appropriate) or chooses not to accept the Ombudsman’s Decision then the Decision will not be binding on the Trade Member. The Ombudsman will notify the Trade Member and HIES that the Decision is no longer binding. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Scheme Rules & Code of Practice shall limit the right of the Complainant to take proceedings against the Trade Member in the courts of England and Wales, should the Ombudsman’s Decision not be binding on the Trade Member.
Membership Enquiry
Are you ready to take your business to the next level? See how HIES membership can help you grow and prosper.
Products Covered
HIES can cover a wide variety of both renewable energy and home energy efficiency products and installations.
Help & Advice Line
Our expert customer service team can offer free help and advice to both installers and consumers. | https://www.hiesscheme.org.uk/what-we-do/access-to-ombudsman/ |
Like anything worthwhile, Odyssey is many things. The team’s goal in crafting Odyssey was to create an experience that was at once cohesive and diverse, across all its elements. Generally, games settle on one, perhaps two genres. Odyssey intentionally violates this principle, sampling from multiple schools of design to suit a higher purpose.
The game combines several genres – it is an action game in that it allows Players to do battle with massive creatures called Guardians using magical abilities. It is a platformer in that it features jumping, and gliding, and precision challenges where the Player can fall to their death. It is also a Puzzle game, where the Player must use wit and magic together to move forward.
All of this diversity stands in service of a core narrative idea. Our goal with Odyssey was to tell a ‘thematic’ narrative – a story with little conversation between characters, no lore or information given, delivered primarily in Zen-like riddles found in the world. However, it is still a story with a hero, and a beginning, middle and end.
Odyssey’s protagonist, Jade, is a child, and the game represents her journey to adulthood. The dissonance between the freedom experienced in platforming sequences and the claustrophobic danger of action sequences parallels a dissonance in the narrative. The reality of the world clashes with what Jade had expected. Like any child, becoming an adult means deciding for herself what is real – and this is an experience the Player can share with her. | https://www.smu.edu/Guildhall/Academics/Student-Work/Team-Game-Projects/Odyssey |
We are committed to making our website accessible to all audiences, including individuals with disabilities. Please review the different types of attachments that are submitted to us through work requests, and our recommendations on how to move forward in addressing already existing attachments or future attachments so that we could have the most accessible site possible.
Should You Remediate or Create an Accessible Attachment?
Making attachments accessible takes time and commitment on everyone’s part, but it can be done. Before going through each attachment to make it accessible and submitting a work request to add or update it, it is extremely important to think through the purpose of that content, ask if it is worth keeping, and then decide if it could be better represented in another way on your site instead of an attachment.
- If it already exists on the website, check the file's last modification date to see if it is even accessed or if it could be removed altogether.
- Is the attachment up-to-date? If not, it is best to get rid of what is not current and create from scratch.
- Can the attachment serve the audience better in another format or be represented in another way?
- Does the information already exist somewhere else? You should be linking directly to the source document. Files get updated frequently, and you should always link to the department responsible for keeping the document up-to-date to avoid outdated and duplicate content.
- You could always remove specific attachments from your site, and provide a form for people to fill out should they want to request that info, which would then keep you in compliance.
Spreadsheets, PowerPoints, Word Docs, and Exported PDFs
All productivity software such as spreadsheets, powerpoints, and word documents must be exported for the web in an accessible PDF format. All PDFs should be checked via Adobe’s Accessibility tool to ensure it passes reading order, tagging, and proper accessibility compliance. Consider avoiding links in your PDFs as much as possible. Links may add additional quality assurance issues such as broken links and can cause compliance problems if not properly identified. To avoid accessibility errors, all PDF links must be identified and tagged properly using the Find tool within Adobe's accessibility checker. Get more information on making your PDF document accessible.
Third-party Links
UNLV is not responsible for the accuracy, authenticity, or accessibility of third-party websites. We encourage departments to research the most reliable and accessible resources wherever possible. However, these resources are outside of the UNLV domain/network and cannot be reviewed or remediated on behalf of the original authors. If the content is managed by a UNLV entity, then accessibility guidelines need to be followed.
Recommendations for Different Attachments
Below are different attachments that can be found throughout the website. Read our recommendations to determine the best path forward when/if representing this info on your webpage. If it is decided that it absolutely has to be on your site as an attachment, then make sure that you provide an accessible attachment.
Forms
- Does your form need to be an attachment (downloadable and submitted physically?) or can it be created as a fillable and electronic form via Qualtrics.
Charts, Informational Displays and Brochures
- These are very difficult to represent on the site, so check with the Office of Accessibility Resources to help you make these accessible.
Maps
- We recommend writing detailed directions on your page.
- Link to the maps page with Google integration.
- If you use MyMaps within Google maps to create a custom map for your purpose, we could embed it within your site.
- Screenshots of the generated maps will not be accepted.
Procedural/Screen Shots
- Is it necessary to use a screen shot to convey your message?
- We recommend not using screen shots and outlining step-by-step instructions.
- If using screenshots, they need to be very simple.
- Alt text (120-140 characters) would need to convey everything on that screenshot.
- Alt text will need to be simple and clear.
- Consider creating a video accompanied with accurate transcription to make captioning available.
Flyers
We no longer accept flyers to post anywhere on the website. Information should be integrated within the webpage.
What We Do Not Build as Web Pages
The best way to ensure accessibility is to build out information within your website on html/static web pages. However, that may not always be ideal depending on the information and our policies of what we can and cannot build out as html pages. Documents we cannot convert to HTML include:
- Catalogs
- Manuals
- Strategic plans
- Reports
- Faculty, staff or student publication lists
- Handbooks
- Memos/signed letters
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Resources
Accessibility Checker Tools
Most of the frequently used software to create documents and content have built in accessibility tools. | https://www.unlv.edu/web/accessibility-tips |
The topic of the proposed panel is the Qing-Chosŏn ruling elites’ perceptions of each other regarding their political entities and mutual relations during the late nineteenth century, particularly in the context of the interaction and eventual clash between an imperial construct based on putatively two-millennia-old transregional order and with various toolkits dealing with power relations including suzerain-vassal relations and a new structure based on Western international law involving equal-status sovereign states and symbolized by ‘Public Law of All Nations’[萬國公法].
Panel description
‘Uncivilized East Asian polities forced to open and embark on the road to nation-states upon external shock from superior Western civilization’ seems to have been a prominent lingering view on ‘premodern’ East Asia. This Eurocentric perspective, however, cannot duly grasp the historical subjectivity of nineteenth-century East Asia. Existing primary sources indicate that the Qing and its vassal (屬邦) Chosŏn can be seen as having attempted to absorb or appropriate the European legality of interstate relations and treaty-port system into Qing- Chosŏn’s own adaptation, not the other way around. Our understanding of East Asian ruling elites’ political subjectivity at the time could well be enhanced by looking at it as layered selective adjustments in historically institutionalized continuity, rather than botched inferior ‘response’ to successful superior ‘imposition’ in a kind of discontinuity. The relevance of the proposed topic would lie therein.
A guiding research question will be 1) how the Qing-Chosŏn policy decisionmakers’ perceptions were represented in official communications bilateral and those involving foreign powers as well as their bilateral political discourses and performative practices. As case studies, the following more specific questions may be addressed: 2) how the Qing government represented its status over Chosŏn in its dealings with the British, American, Russian, and the Japanese imperialists; and 3) how Chosŏn government represented its own legal status externally amid the power struggles of involved state actors through the 1880s until 1895. Thereupon 4) the implications of such perceptions and representations for the East Asian interpolity order at the time for a richer and more nuanced understanding may then be examined.
In consideration of these questions, panel’s core ideas may well include the following. A central idea shall be 1) paying due attention to transnationality of the topic and themes to be discussed and applying transnational research methodology accordingly. Fresh eyes in a bid to overcome, wherever deemed necessary, Western-centrism and methodological nationalism obliging nation-state-centered approaches in linear teleological historiography as well as in most of International Relations discourses would facilitate anew our understanding of historical subjectivity of major political agents of nineteenth-century East Asia.
A second, hypothetical, idea is that 2) the critical bulk of historical developments of East Asian interpolity relations during the period can be framed and understood such that Qing- Chosŏn might possibly have constituted a (unofficial) (con-)federal overarching polity, where the Qing would set up a de-facto protectorate over Chosŏn mainly for “mutual security guarantee” and “combined diplomatic representation.” The historical polities, not of ‘nation-states’, within the Confucian imperial formations may have shared their “single negotiated sovereignty”, not in its Western or ‘modern’ sense, among them under a grand political authority.
If we see that the East Asian interpolity order was not organized among equal-status sovereigns on a division of territories and if we conceive ‘sovereignty’ in East Asia as having been mutually constructivist and not been necessarily discrete or exclusive, even well after W. A. P. Martin’s translation of 《萬國公法》 came, then, building on those central and hypothetical ideas above, 3) the concepts of negotiated sovereignty and protectorate may well be considered for alternative theoretical approaches to figure out the then East Asian interpolity order and its transformation coming up over the end of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the next.
Additional information: Professor Dr. Marc Matten (Sinology, University Erlangen-Nuernberg) agreed to chair this panel. Professor Dr. Nianshen Song (History Department, Asian Studies Program, University of Maryland, Baltimore County) & Professor Dr. YOO bada (Department of Korean History, Korea University) will take the role as discussants. | http://dga-conference.de/call-for-papers/005k/ |
Picross, Nonograms, puzzles
I might have mentioned it in the past, but Mario’s Picross was one of my favorite games on the Game Boy Classic (although I got my own copy only in early 2003 and played it on a GBA) and I’ve solved these nonograms on paper in puzzle magazines, and played through quite a few games. It never seems to get old.
Currently I’m playing “Picross Fairytale – nonogram: Red Riding Hood secret” and it’s one of the hardest ones I’ve ever played. (The music is nice, too, but the “story” is a bit thin and gladly skippable”. It seems to be free to play still, so go get it.
There’s also InfiniPicross (played for 27h, got 22/22 achievements) and Picross Touch (played for 99 hours, 17/18 achievements, including one for 1000 puzzles done, yikes). Also both very good.
On Android I played Picross Luna and am playing Picross Luna II right now (but I don’t like their near-endless engame with like 100 puzzles that form a complete picture) and Two Eyes. All of them are pretty cool. | https://battlestance.org/category/completed/ |
Forestry employees are the most valuable asset to forest operations. An analysis was completed to determine employee training status, how safe employees feel within their roles and identify major reasons of dissatisfaction. Through the development of job descriptions and person specifications, it was possible to identify the job requirements along with the personal attributes and qualifications required by employers, to ensure employees were capable of undertaking their role. There is an identifiable gap within the level of formal education among employees. Over half (55%) of the employees have lower qualifications than those required to have undertaken further forestry on-job training. A majority of employees’, particularly those in machine operator roles feel safe in their forestry operational roles. A small proportion of employees in breaker out, thin to waste and pruning roles feel unsafe. All employees surveyed except loader operators, felt only moderately safe in their role. The difficult environment associated with forestry was determined to be the major reason for dissatisfaction (52%) among employees, along pay and length of day. Paradoxically, the environment was also a major reason for satisfaction among those surveyed. By identifying the major reasons of dissatisfaction among forestry employees it is possible to improve job satisfaction and employee retention. Training forestry employees needs to be from a more practical aspect. This will lead to increase the number of employees that are trained for the roles they are undertaking, by ensuring they are equipped with adequate knowledge, and have the skill to work safely and to a high quality standard. | https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/10461 |
Square root scaling for differential pressure flowmeters
The square root for differential pressure-(DP-) based flow can be taken either in the transmitter or in the controller and its easier to configure the transmitter to take the square root because, on the low end, a very small change in DP results in a large change in flow.
Instruments should be ranged to measure not only expected values but all values the system can produce. During upsets, actual values often exceed 20mA values for instruments tightly ranged for normal process conditions. For instruments with linear scale and additional capacity, the fix is simple: increase the 20 mA scale on both the instrument and analog input (AI) in the controller. But nonlinear relationships complicate scale adjustments.
Nonlinear flow measurement
Most methods of flow measurement are nonlinear. Some calculations are always handled inside the transmitter (mag-meters, coriolis, vortex, etc) so that the mA signal is linear to flow for those types of meters. But the most common method of flow measurement is differential pressure (DP) across an obstruction. Regardless of the type of obstruction (orifice plate, Venturi or Pitot tube, etc), the DP is proportional to the square of the flow. Therefore the system must scale flow from the square root of the DP.
The square root for DP-based flow can be taken either in the transmitter or in the controller (but not both). It's easier to configure the transmitter to take the square root because, on the low end, a very small change in DP results in a large change in flow. This makes low flows extra sensitive to electrical noise on the mA signal if the square root is taken in the controller.
Logic for taking the square root in the controller
If it is not feasible to take the square root in the transmitter, and you are writing your own square root scaling logic in a controller instead of checking a square root option in a standard function block, then follow these steps.
First, normalize the signal to 0-1, where 0 is 4 mA, 1 is 20 mA, and 0.5 is 12 mA. The square root then makes sense, as the root of a number >1 is smaller than the number. But the root of a number from 0-1 is larger: √0.5 = 0.707. So if there is a 12 mA signal from the DP cell, that's 50% DP, but 71% flow rate. Multiply the resulting square rooted signal (still 0-1) by the flow scale span to get flow rate in engineering units.
The square root of a negative number is imaginary, and will cause most processors to throw a minor fault and declare the result "Not A Number." To avoid these problems, either clamp negative normalized inputs to zero or square root the absolute value and make it negative again if the original was negative (below 4mA).
Scaling flow to DP from a flow data sheet
Typically, a flow element such an orifice plate or Venturi tube will come with a flow data sheet with expected process conditions and a table of flow rates for various DPs. The only number important for scaling is the highest flow/DP pair on the sheet. For basic scaling, set the range of the DP transmitter from zero at 4mA to the highest DP on the sheet at 20mA. Then in the controller, scale the input from zero at 4mA to that maximum flow at 20mA. If the square root is taken in either the transmitter or controller (but not both), the system will correctly calculate flow through the range of the meter.
Checking scaling and square root configuration
Checking the zero and full span DP, calibrating 4mA and 20mA, and verifying that the controller displays the correct flow at 4mA and 20mA is necessary but insufficient to verify square root configuration. You must also apply one or more of the mid-range DPs from the flow data sheet to the meter and verify that the controller displays the correct flow rate.
Generally, if any mid-range value is correct (along with the zero and maximum), they will all be correct, following the green curve. If a mid-range flow displays significantly lower than it should have (see the magenta line in the chart), the square root may not be implemented anywhere. If it is significantly higher (see the red curve), you may be taking the square root on both ends.
Correcting for process conditions that affect density
A DP meter measures fluid velocity, yielding volumetric flow (GPM, CFM, etc) when multiplied by the cross sectional area of the duct or pipe. Fluid density is irrelevant to that measurement and calculation. Mass flow (#/H, SCFM, etc) is calculated by multiplying volumetric flow by density. For the most accurate mass flow, if any of the nominal process conditions on the flow data sheet differs from actual conditions in a way that significantly affects density, the flow should be compensated.
- Ideal gases (such as air, natural gas, etc) increase in density linearly with rising pressure and falling temperature.
- Non-ideal gases (steam) also increase in density with rising pressure and falling temperature, but not linearly, so density values must be determined from tables or curves approximating tables.
- Liquid density is not significantly affected by changes in pressure but, usually, drops with rising temperature. There are exceptions (water from 32°F to 39°F). There is only a 2% difference in density between water at 39°F and water at 150°F, so differences in that range are probably not worth compensation. However, water at 212°F is 4% less dense than at room temperature, and water at 400°F is 14% less. Therefore, at higher temperatures, a deviation between nominal and actual temperature may be significant enough to compensate. Liquid density versus temperature is almost always nonlinear - look it up from a table or curves approximating a table.
To compensate mass flow for density, use the following logic:
- Use a density function block with inputs for all significant parameters (pressure and temperature for gases, or just temperature for liquids). The inside of that block will depend on the type of fluid.
- Attach nominal conditions from the flow data sheet as constants to an instance of the density block. The result will be "nominal density."
- Attach actual conditions to another instance of the density block. The result will be "actual density." Conditions ideally are measured with pressure and temperature instruments, but either or both can be entered as constants if that information is not available to the controller.
- Compensated mass flow = [Raw uncorrected mass flow] x [actual density] ÷ [nominal density].
Increasing the scale
If the actual flow exceeds the maximum scale—even during an upset—you should increase the scale so that these values can also be measured. For a square rooted flow, some math is involved, as DP increases with the square of the flow.
This re-scaling will result in some loss of measurement precision, but, typically, that loss is still far lower than measurement noise and so is not relevant. The hard limit on increasing scale is the limit of the transmitter. Many DP cells for flow measurement are nominally scaled 0-100"WC (inches water column), and the transmitter may be able to measure up to 200" or 300", but no higher.
The simplest way to re-scale is to determine how much more flow is needed, represent that as a multiplier, then square it for the change in DP.
Example:
- If 100"WC is 1000 GPM, and you need to measure 1190 GPM, you need 20% more scale, so the multiplier is 1.2.
- 1.2 x 1000 GPM is 1200 GPM.
- 1.2² = 1.44, x 100"WC is 144 "WC.
- You can increase the transmitter range from 100"WC to 144"WC, the controller AI scale from 1000 GPM to 1200 GPM, and the system will still read flow properly.
You can also increase DP by a multiple, then increase the flow scale by the square root of that multiple. This is how to calculate the highest possible flow measurement for a given transmitter limit.
Example:
- If the transmitter can measure up to 225"WC, while nominal maximum DP is 100"WC, the DP multiplier is 2.25.
- √2.25 = 1.5, x 1000 GPM = 1500 GPM.
- That is the highest flow the DP cell can measure.
Log in or create an account to submit your comment for this article. | https://www.controleng.com/single-article/square-root-scaling-for-differential-pressure-flowmeters/a8f17f2e8d53677b25025b89a4b77099.html |
- These famous pink birds can be found in warm, watery regions on many continents. They favor environments like estuaries and saline or alkaline lakes. Considering their appearance, flamingos are surprisingly fluid swimmers, but really thrive on the extensive mud flats where they breed and feed.
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Flamingo video.
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What does a Flamingo look like?Flamingos often stand on one leg, the other tucked beneath the body. As well as standing in the water, flamingos may stamp their webbed feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom. Young flamingos hatch with grey plumage, but adults range from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly coloured and thus a more desirable mate. A white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or malnourished. Captive flamingos are a notable exception; many turn a pale pink as they are not fed carotene at levels comparable to the wild. This is changing as more zoos begin to add prawns and other supplements to the diets of their flamingos.
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Where do Flamingo's live?This distinctive, long-legged bird can be found in mangrove swamps, lagoons, lakes or other brackish water of Central and South America, the West Indies and the Galapagos Islands, where seeds, blue-green algae, crustaceans, and mollusks, algae, mollusks, and larvae chrysalides of brine-flies and brine-shrimps can be easily sifted from the water and mud.
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What does a Flamingo eat?Their bent bills allow them to feed on small organisms—plankton, tiny fish, fly larvae, and the like. In muddy flats or shallow water, they use their long legs and webbed feet to stir up the bottom. They then bury their bills, or even their entire heads, and suck up both mud and water to access the tasty morsels within. A flamingo's beak has a filterlike structure to remove food from the water before the liquid is expelled.
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How many types of Flamingo's are there?There are five species of flamingo, ranging in height from under 32 inches to over 50 inches. Feather color also varies according to species, ranging from pale pink to crimson or vermilion. Feather color is a reflection of the food the flamingo eats, which is high in alpha- and beta-carotene.
Why do flamingos stand on one leg?In a large, shallow body of water, hundreds of flamingos congregate like an avian water ballet team: all preening their pink feathers, resting in the sun and standing on one leg for hours at a time. Flamingos even sleep that way.
Why are flamingos pink?Feather color varies with species, ranging from pale pink to crimson or vermilion. Caribbean flamingos have the brightest coloration: crimson or vermilion. The Chilean flamingo is pale pink. A flamingo's pink or reddish feather color comes from its diet, which is high in alpha and beta-carotene. People eat beta-carotene when they eat carrots. Shrimplike crustaceans are responsible for the flamingo's pink color. The birds pale in captivity unless their diet is supplemented.
Flamingo images
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Flamingo WallpapersDownload free Flamingo wallpapers, click on the image to open the large version.
Flamingo wallpaper 1
Flamingo wallpaper 2
Flamingo wallpaper 3
Flamingo wallpaper 4
Flamingo wallpaper 5
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Flamingo Coloring pagesPrint free Flamingo coloring pages, click on the image to open the large version. | https://www.animalstown.com/animals/f/flamingo/flamingo.php |
Birds of a feather may flock together, but their appearances can be deceiving. Birds that look similar may not be as closely related as field guides might suggest. That’s the conclusion of a new study. When researchers grouped birds by DNA, rather than looks, they turned up some surprising family members.
Falcons, for example, hunt small animals. But the new study finds these birds are more closely related to parrots than to hawks, eagles and other birds of prey. Another surprise: flamingos. The closest cousin of these brightly colored waterbirds is the grebe, a diving bird that looks like a duck. In fact, flamingos and grebes occupy a lonely branch on the family tree. And both of these birds are more closely related to pigeons than to any other waterbird, the study concludes.
It’s not uncommon for birds that look or behave differently to in fact be closely related, says Erich Jarvis. This neuroscientist at Duke University in Durham, N.C., helped lead the new research. And, he points out, bird species with different ancestors may develop similar looks and behaviors. This can happen when animals, over many generations, adapt to similar lifestyles.
He says some bird-lovers may be surprised by the findings, which were published December 12 in Science. Others might read it and nod in agreement.
“Because there were so many different views out there, some people said, ‘Ah, you confirmed what I said a long time ago,’” Jarvis told Science News. “Others were just torn apart.”
A tree of life uses a branched, treelike diagram to depict how organisms relate to one another. Species change slowly over time, through a process known as evolution. On a tree of life, the outer, twiglike, branches represent species alive today. Follow those smaller twigs to where they branch off from thicker limbs and you find the ancestors of today’s species.
Early trees of life grouped birds together by similarities — or differences — in their bones and body parts. More recently, scientists have begun focusing on the animals’ DNA. Jarvis and the scientists he worked with looked at this DNA in a big way.
Inside almost every cell of an organism is information that is passed from parents to their offspring. This information is “written” using a molecule called DNA. It instructs cells on how to grow and function. When a species evolves, its DNA changes.
In earlier efforts to use DNA to build a tree of life, scientists studied certain fragments of DNA. But Jarvis and his coworkers studied changes in all of the DNA they could get out of a bird to identify connections among 48 separate bird species.
Figuring out who is truly related to whom in modern bird families has been an ongoing problem, says Shannon Hackett. A biologist at the Field Museum in Chicago, she did not work on the new study. Part of the problem, she explains, is that at some point in the distant past, there was an explosion in the number of bird species. This rapid increase has made it difficult for scientists to decode the history of birds from fossils.
In 2008, Hackett’s team studied 19 different segments of DNA from 169 bird species. Their tree of life suggested that falcons and hawks, and grebes and ducks, were only distantly related. Those surprises were confirmed by the new study. Jarvis and his team used cutting-edge technology and much more genetic data to get an even clearer picture of bird DNA.
This new tree of life may help scientists gain confidence in controversial ideas about bird evolution, says biologist Sushma Reddy of Loyola University Chicago. She worked on a 2008 study with Hackett, but not on the new tree.
The next step is to fill in the missing branches and twigs, Hackett told Science News. “There are more than 10,000 species of birds,” she says, “and the tree has [only] 48 of them.”
Power Words
behavior The way a person or other organism acts towards others, or conducts itself.
cell The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the naked eye, it consists of watery fluid surrounded by a membrane or wall. Animals are made of anywhere from thousands to trillions of cells, depending on their size.
DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) A long, double-stranded and spiral-shaped molecule inside most living cells that carries genetic instructions. In all living things, from plants and animals to microbes, these instructions tell cells which molecules to make.
evolution A process by which species undergo changes over time, usually through genetic variation and natural selection. These changes usually result in a new type of organism better suited for its environment than the earlier type. The newer type is not necessarily more “advanced,” just better adapted to the conditions in which it developed.
evolutionary biologist Someone who studies the adaptive processes that have led to the diversity of life on Earth. These scientists can study many different subjects, including the microbiology and genetics of living organisms, how species change to adapt, and the fossil record (to assess how various ancient species are related to each other and to modern-day relatives).
evolve To change gradually over generations, or a long period of time. In living organisms, the evolution usually involves random changes to genes that will then be passed along to an individual’s offspring. These can lead to new traits, such as altered coloration, new susceptibility to disease or protection from it, or different shaped features (such as legs, antennae, toes or internal organs). Nonliving things may also be described as evolving if they change over time. For instance, the miniaturization of computers is sometimes described as these devices evolving to smaller, more complex devices.
fossil Any preserved remains or traces of ancient life. There are many different types of fossils: The bones and other body parts of dinosaurs are called “body fossils.” Things like footprints are called “trace fossils.” Even specimens of dinosaur poop are fossils. The process of forming fossils is called fossilization.
gene (adj. genetic) A segment of DNA that codes, or holds instructions, for producing a protein. Offspring inherit genes from their parents. Genes influence how an organism looks and behaves.
generation A group of individuals born about the same time or that are regarded as a single group. Your parents belong to one generation of your family, for example, and your grandparents to another. Similarly, you and everyone within a few years of your age across the planet -are referred to as belonging to a particular generation of humans.
genetic Having to do with chromosomes, DNA and the genes contained within DNA. The field of science dealing with these biological instructions is known as genetics. People who work in this field are geneticists.
neuroscience Science that deals with the structure or function of the brain and other parts of the nervous system. Researchers in this field are known as neuroscientists.
prey Animal species eaten by others.
species A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring that can survive and reproduce.
tree of life A diagram that uses a branched, treelike structure to show how organisms relate to one another. Outer, twiglike, branches represent species alive today. Ancestors of today’s species will lie on thicker limbs, ones closer to the trunk.
NGSS:
- MS-LS4-1
- MS-LS4-2
- HS-LS4-1
Further Reading
S. Milius. “New tree of life confirms strange history of birds.” Science News. Dec. 11, 2014.
S. Ornes. “Early dino-era start for modern mammals.” Science News for Students. Oct. 1, 2014.
S. Ornes. “Feathers: What every dino wore?” Science News for Students. Aug. 22, 2014.
S. Ornes. “Dinos quickly shrunk into birds.” Science News for Students. Aug. 11, 2014.
S. Ornes. “Scary ‘chicken’ roamed Earth with T. rex.” Science News for Students. March 28, 2014.
Visit the Tree of Life, a collaboration of scientists from around the world that provides information about evolution and biology.
Original Journal Source: G. Zhang et al. Comparative genomics reveals insights into avian genome evolution and adaptation. Science. Vol. 346, Dec. 12, 2014, p. 1311. doi: 10.1126/science.1251385. | https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/bird-dna-leads-strange-family-tree |
Submission Deadline : Monday,
September 29, 2014 October 6, 2014
IMPORTANT DATES FOR ALL WORKSHOPS
Submission Deadline:
September 29, 2014 October 6, 2014
Acceptance Notification: October 27, 2014
Camera-ready papers due: November 3, 2014
RTSS Workshop Day: December 2, 2014
AVICPS: The 5th Analytic Virtual Integration of Cyber-Physical Systems Workshop
The Analytic Virtual Integration Cyber-Physical Systems (AVICPS) workshop focuses on analytic techniques that enable the early discovery of faults in CPS before the system is integrated or its parts are built. Such an approach is known as analytic virtual integration. The objective is to discover and
resolve problems early during the design and implementation phases where cost impact is low.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- A quantitative and early analysis of end-to-end system architecture performance that incorporates realistic hardware details (e.g. multi-core, memory architectures, I/O, network-on-chip, etc.) and workloads (e.g., video streams, weather data, GPS, critical messages, etc.)
- Fault tolerance technologies for handling the combination of faults in computing and communication hardware and software and physical system disturbances.
- Safety analysis such as model checking for mixed criticality CPS applications (e.g., flight management systems and safe interoperability of medical devices).
- System level optimization technologies that support the combinatorial
- optimization of task scheduling and allocation, I/O, and network traffic routing.
- Security protocol development and verification techniques for CPS applications.
- Modeling, simulation, and verification techniques for virtual integration.
- Models for describing or quantifying the environment that systems must operate in.
- Quantitative measurements of the advantages of virtual integration.
- Formal methods for defining and reasoning about internal and external interfaces of the system and its parts.
- Cross-domain compositional theories and technologies for CPS.
- Mitigation of heterogeneous timing and quantitative constraints using constraints.
- Abstraction, refinement, conformance of heterogeneous interfaces (e.g., discrete/continuous interfaces).
- Abstraction and acceleration techniques in simulation and verification.
SUBMISSION
The AVICPS workshop welcomes original contributions on theoretical foundation, tools, and evaluations. Of particular interest are case studies on challenges of expressing properties of systems in terms of their components and the architecture that governs their interactions. Both solutions and open problems are welcome.
Researchers and practitioners are encouraged to submit two types of papers:
- Research papers that present novel ideas, mature tools, results, and advancement of the state-of-the-art.
- Position papers that describe ongoing work, less mature work, or new research directions.
Submissions should be no more than 8 pages (for research papers) and 4 pages (for position papers) in two-column format. All figures and references must fit within the specified page limits.
For further information, see the AVICPS website:
http://www.analyticintegration.org/
CRTS: The 7th Workshop on Compositional Theory and Technology for Real-Time Embedded Systems
The increasing complexity of real-time embedded systems requires advanced platforms and methodologies that can reduce the cost of their design and
analysis, while ensuring that requirements on functional correctness, real-time behavior, and performance are met. Compositional theories and
technologies facilitate the decomposition of a complex system into components, as well as their integration via interfaces. Component interfaces hide the internal details of the components, thereby reducing integration complexity. A system is said to be composable if the properties established and validated for components in isolation hold once the components are integrated to form the system.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Composition of single processor, multiprocessor, and distributed systems.
- Composition of multi-criticality and multi-mode systems.
- Composition of policies, services, and system layers.
- Composition of validation and verification techniques.
- Component-based design and analysis.
- Interface models, interface theories, and integration techniques for real-time components.
- Compositional schedulability analysis, execution time analysis, and performance analysis.
- Compositional formal methods.
- Hardware/software architectures for composable systems.
- Trade-offs between optimality, associativity, and complexity in compositional theory.
- Practical issues in composition including performance penalties and overheads.
- Experimental and implementation frameworks for compositional theory.
- Decomposition of requirements for component-based development.
- Policing of non-CPU resources (e.g. resources in the memory system).
SUBMISSION
CRTS 2014 invites papers that describe state-of-the-art research, present work-in-progress, or suggest open problems covering one or more of the topics of interest to the workshop. The page limit of each submission will be announced soon.
By submitting a paper, the authors agree and confirm that: neither this paper nor a version close to it is under submission or will be submitted elsewhere before notification by CRTS 2014, and if accepted, at least one author will register for the CRTS 2014 workshop by the special registration deadline set in the notification of acceptance, and present the paper at the workshop in person. Please note that papers that do not fall within the scope of the workshop will not be accepted. Submissions will be refereed for quality and relevance. Submissions exceeding the page limit may be rejected without review.
For further information, see the CRTS website:
http://rtcl.skku.edu/crts2014/
REACTION: The 3rd International Workshop on Real-Time and Distributed Computing in Emerging Applications
The vision of Cyber Physical Systems goes far beyond the traditional world of real-time embedded systems by integrating a number of characteristics such as autonomy, distribution, large-scale, real-time, dynamic behavior, etc., that pose enormous challenges to their design and development. More complex hardware and software architectures are required by the current and future generation applications where computing is distributed across a network of interconnected and possibly heterogeneous processing units where the functional software and hardware pieces are not necessarily static. Soft real-time co-exists with hard real-time, and high level software infrastructures and communication middleware play an increasingly important role in the overall picture. At the same time, the world of high-end parallel and distributed computing systems and applications, in its continuously evolving declinations in the form of High-Performance Computing, GRID Computing, Service-Oriented and recently Cloud Computing, is generally paying more and more attention to issues related to Quality of Service, predictability of the timing behavior, interactivity, and real-time performance.
Providing real-time guarantees in the cyber-physical distributed computing arena raises a number of challenging scientific and engineering problems that span across a variety of research areas, such as: real-time computing, parallel and distributed systems, software engineering and architectures, dependability, and virtualization.
From different though related research communities, researchers are heading towards the same point possibly walking parallel paths with the goal of effectively and efficiently providing the level of temporal guarantees required by the new complex systems, spanning from temporal predictability to
QoS guarantees. Solutions from different communities present interesting approaches that can benefit from meeting at a common forum with the goal of drawing a complete picture of the problem and of the possibility of identifying novel research areas as resulting from this crossbreading.
From its original conception, REACTION workshop aims at providing a forum for presentation and discussion of the contributions and ideas of researchers working on real-time systems and distributed systems for the next-generation applications. The goal is to bring together contributions on both practical and theoretical aspects applied to the integration of real-time support in these new computation paradigms.
Relevant research areas for the proposed workshop include, but are not limited to, the challenging issues in the integration of real-time support in emerging applications and in the new computing paradigms (e.g., CLOUD and GRID):
- Scheduling and resource management for Quality of Service support and Real-Time operation in distributed systems.
- Real-time communication middleware.
- Optimization of the network operation and performance.
- Design of distributed real-time systems.
- Service-oriented composition mechanisms for supporting flexible real-time systems.
- Reconfiguration in distributed computing systems.
- Scalable computing models and algorithms and massively parallel real-time distributed computing.
- Operating system support and resource management for dynamic distributed real-time systems and cloud computing applications.
- Real-time assurance in virtualized distributed applications.
- QoS guarantees for distributed systems.
- Self-healing and survivability of distributed real-time systems.
SUBMISSION
Submitted papers should not be published or under submission elsewhere. Each paper is limited to 6 pages in IEEE Computer Society Proceedings Manuscripts style (two columns, single-spaced, 10 fonts).
For further information, see the REACTION website:
http://reactionws.uc3m.es/
WMC: The 2nd International Workshop on Mixed Criticality Systems
The purpose of WMC is to share new ideas, experiences and information about research and development of Mixed Criticality real-time systems.
The workshop aims to bring together researchers working in fields relating to real-time systems with a focus on the challenges brought about by the
integration of mixed criticality applications onto singlecore, multicore and manycore architectures. These challenges are cross-cutting. To advance
rapidly, closer interaction is needed between the sub-communities involved in real-time scheduling, real-time operating systems / runtime environments, and timing analysis.
The workshop aims to promote understanding of the fundamental problems that affect Mixed Criticality Systems (MCS) at all levels in the software /
hardware stack and crucially the interfaces between them. The workshop will promote lively interaction, cross fertilization of ideas, synergies, and
closer collaboration across the breadth of the real-time community, as well as attracting industrialists from the aerospace, automotive and other
industries with a specific interest in MCS.
Original unpublished papers on all aspects of mixed criticality real-time systems are welcome. Themes include, but are not limited to:
- Task and system models for MCS on singlecore, multicore, and manycore platforms.
- Scheduling schemes and analyses for MCS, including the integration of appropriate models of overheads and delays.
- Run-time environments and support for MCS, including data exchange and synchronization across criticality levels, and issues relating to criticality mode.
- Analysis of worst-case execution times (WCET) relating to MCS.
- Mixed criticality communications mechanisms and analysis, including Network-on-Chip support.
- Probabilistic analysis techniques for MCS.
The workshop does not aim to cover security aspects that relate to some MCS.
SUBMISSION
Papers must be submitted electronically in a pdf format. The material must be unpublished and not under submission elsewhere. Submissions must be in the same format as in the final proceedings (6 pages maximum, 2 columns, 10 pt) compliant with the IEEE formatting guidelines. Papers exceeding the page limit will not be reviewed.
For further information, see the WMC website: | http://2014.rtss.org/workshops/ |
NEWS APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM
The Pavlovic Today News Apprenticeship is a 3-month mentoring program providing aspiring young journalists with a real-world learning experience at the independent news organization in Washington D.C. Each cohort will undergo a rigorous training program where they will learn how to work on The Pavlovic Today news desk.
Each member of the cohort will be evaluated on the industry based criteria:
- Work ethic
- Demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit
- Ability to listen, take and respond to feedback
- Attention to detail
- Team-work
- Eagerness to learn
- Writing and communication skills
- Analytical skills
- Journalistic integrity and accuracy of reporting
- News judgment
If you are an aspiring young journalist with a passion for the real-world learning experience, reporting, and editing on a breaking news desk in Washington D.C., send your resume and cover letter to [email protected]. Tell us why you want to join our program and explain why is independent journalism important in this age and time. | https://thepavlovictoday.com/current-openings/ |
Text description provided by the architects. From the county road, Ell House’s dark silhouette brings its natural surroundings into sharp contrast. Its simple lines are inspired by Prince Edward County’s rural vernacular. While the gable roof is reminiscent of the region’s barns, the L shape references the extensions built on farmhouses over generations. The building’s form is also a technical response to the area’s prevailing winds. One wing shields the other, providing a peaceful indoor and outdoor living area.
A secondary residence and rental property, Ell House was designed to be a vacation home. The clients wanted to separate the private areas from the common ones. Therefore, each of the two wings has its own purpose—the sleeping area with its four bedrooms and two baths, and the common area where the kitchen, dining room, and living room flow seamlessly into one another. The simplicity of this layout fosters an intuitive understanding of the space.
The glass vestibule is the first point of contact with the house. Connecting the two structures, it also serves as a decompression chamber of sorts. Spacious and generous in both natural light and expansive views, the room provides a moment of relaxation upon arrival. You can set your luggage down, take in the waterfront, and then access the common area to the left or the bedrooms to the right. The building’s monochrome aesthetic, emphasized by its charred cedar cladding, reflects the contrasts at play with the immediate environment—the inside is calm but outside the winds can reach up to 75 km/h.
In both wings, a pale7e of natural materials and understated colours creates an interior that’s minimalistic yet inviting. To add to the common area’s warmth, the kitchen, dining room and living room share the same bright, airy space where the cathedral ceiling accentuates the openness and serves as a reminder of the house’s shape. The natural surroundings are showcased by the openings, where wooden frames create the impression of moving works of art.
The vast lake and rural landscape can be admired from the master bedroom or from the dining room table. In the common area, the large sliding doors open onto the courtyard and the blue water beyond. Special attention was given to each opening. The kitchen window allows you to see when guests arrive, and the small square window in the living room is a nod to the owner’s youngest son, as well as a way of inviting all generations to gather in the same space. | https://www.archdaily.com/951221/ell-house-ravi-handa-architect-plus-aamp-studio |
A theory of social control structures is developed which (1) postulates that control agents' ideologies of deviance shape modes of treating deviants, (2) locates sources of strain in the social control network, (3) identifies points of role strain in the deviant career. The theory complements...
- SOSIOLOGINEN ELÄINTUTKIMUS -- ELÄINTEN YHTEISKUNNALLINEN MERKITYS SOSIOLOGIAN TUTKIMUS-KOHTEENA. Kupsala, Saara; Tuomivaara, Salla // Sosiologia;2004, Issue 4, p310
Sociological research on animal issues has increased rapidly in recent years. In this article, we map out this new research field in sociology - the sociology of human-animal relations: what are its key questions and theoretical approaches, and what kinds of opportunities and challenges does it...
- The rise and fall of "labelling theory": the construction and destruction of a sociological strawman. Petrunik, Michael // Canadian Journal of Sociology;Summer80, Vol. 5 Issue 3, p213
Gove (1975) provides a review symposium on research in several substantive areas of deviance and social control which concludes that what is variously called "labelling theory" or the "labelling perspective" is not supported by the empirical evidence. This paper uses the notion of sociological...
- The Genesis of Adolescent Risk-Taking: Pathways through Family, School, and Peers. Wade, Terrance J.; Brannigan, Augustine // Canadian Journal of Sociology;Winter98, Vol. 23 Issue 1, p1
This paper presents an empirical examination of Sampson and Laub's social control theory. It tests the effects of family structure, family attachment, school attachment and peer attachment on a generalized form of risk-taking behaviour which includes delinquency and drug use. The data come from...
- THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL CONTROL. Hollingshead, A. B. // American Sociological Review;Apr41, Vol. 6 Issue 2, p217
The article focuses on the concept of social control. This term was introduced in sociological literature in 1894. Although the term has been accepted into sociological argot, sociologists have shown only sporadic interest in the concept. As society evolved, impersonal, contractual relations...
- SOCIAL CONTROL AND SELF-REGULATION. Nadel, S. K. // Social Forces;Mar53, Vol. 31 Issue 3, p265
No one will quarrel with the assertion that social existence is controlled existence, for all accept a certain basic assumption about human nature namely, that without some constraint of individual leanings the coordination of action and regularity of conduct which turn a human aggregation into...
- THE ORGANIZATION OF ROLE-RELATIONSHIPS: A SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION. Marwell, Gerald; Hage, Jerald // American Sociological Review;Oct70, Vol. 35 Issue 5, p884
Two sets of raters independently scored 200 role-relationships on 16 general variables. Factor analyses of these two sets of ratings reduced similar factor structures defined by three major factors. These factors were interpreted as reflecting the "intimacy," "visibility," and "regulation" of...
- DETERRENCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL. Grasmick, Harold G.; McLaughlin, Steven D. // American Sociological Review;Apr78, Vol. 43 Issue 2, p272
In the article, the author comments on the article "Towards a Theory of Criminal Deterrence," by M. Silberman, published in the June 1976 issue of the journal "American Sociological Review." A number of sociologists, under the rubric of "deterrence theory," have been developing an empirically...
- COHESION IN A SMALL GROUP: A CASE STUDY. Deutscher, Verda; Deutscher, Irwin // Social Forces;May55, Vol. 33 Issue 4, p336
This article focuses on problems of cohesion in small groups and the organization and activity of interest groups on the community level, based on a case study. The study is also concerned with particular methods which may be applied in dealing with problems of racial discrimination. The problem... | http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/11674499/humanizing-social-control |
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History
The Night-Night Pistol is a non-lethal weapon developed by S.H.I.E.L.D. technicians Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz. The handgun holds eight dendrotoxin tranquilizer rounds.
The Pistol was first used in a field operation by Phil Coulson to neutralize Akela Amador. Coulson later used the Pistol again in a failed attempt to subdue Chan Ho Yin.
Ward later insisted that Fitz redesign the Pistol to make it a single ounce lighter. When the team visited the Hub, Jemma used the Pistol to incapacitate Agent Jasper Sitwell in order to allow Skye to break into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mainframe. They have later been upgraded into I.C.E.R.s since Lady Sif's arrival.
See Also
Links and References
Footnotes
Like this? Let us know! | https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Night-Night_Pistol |
Antigendetails
In both prokaryotic and eukarytic cells, the misfolding and aggregation of proteins during biogenesis and under conditions of cellular stress are prevented by molecular chaperones. Members of the HSP60 family of heat shock proteins are some of the best characterized chaperones. Hsp60, also known as Cpn60 or GroEl, is an abundant protein synthesized constitutively in the cell that is induced to a higher concentration after brief cell shock. It is present in many species and exhibits a remarkable sequence homology among various counterparts in bacteria, plants, and mammals with more than half of the residues identical between bacterial and mammalian Hsp60 (1-3). Whereas mammalian Hsp60 is localized within the mitochondria, plant Hsp60, or otherwise known as Rubisco-binding protein, is located in plant chloroplasts. It has been indicated that these proteins carry out a very important biological function due to the fact that Hsp60 is present in so many different species. The common characteristics of the Hsp60s from the divergent species are i) high abundance, ii) induction with environmental stress such as heat shock, iii) homo-oligomeric structures of either 7 or 14 subunits which reversibly dissociate in the presence of Mg2+ and ATP, iv) ATPase activity and v) a role in folding and assembly of oligomeric protein structures (4). These similarities are supported by recent studies where the single-ring human mitochondrial homolog, Hsp60 with its co-chaperonin, Hsp10 were expressed in a E. coli strain, engineered so that the groE operon is under strict regulatory control. This study has demonstrated that expression of Hsp60-Hsp10 was able to carry out all essential in vivo functions of GroEL and its co-chaperonin, GroES (5). Another important function of Hsp60 and Hsp10 is their protective functions against infection and cellular stress. Hsp60 has however been linked to a number of autoimmune diseases, as well as Alzheimer's, coronary artery diseases, MS, and diabetes (6-9).Synonyms: 60 kDa chaperonin, 60 kDa heat shock protein mitochondrial, CPN60, Chaperonin 60, GROEL, GroEL Homolog, HSP-60, HSPD1, Heat shock protein 60, HuCHA60, Mitochondrial matrix protein P1, P60 lymphocyte protein
Anwendungsinformationen
Western blot (10): 0.25 μg/mL. Immunohistochemistry on Frozen Sections. This Clone is reported to work on Paraffin Sections. Flow Cytometry (12). Other applications not tested. Optimal dilutions are dependent on conditions and should be determined by the user.
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you could make a life is a Web Original Verse written by Taylor Fitzpatrick that's set in a "slightly askew and (even) gayer" version of the NHL and follows the careers and love lives of a variety of closeted and not-so-closeted hockey players.
Originally intended to be just a short story about an eager, hardworking Toronto-born teenager and a sarcastic, gifted Quebecois teenager becoming NHL players and lovers, that one little story has since then spawned a 11-chapter series that was eventually published, numerous spin-off series focused on different character casts and plotlines that occasionally overlap with one another, and a Tumblr account containing extensive character info and backstory not revealed in the main series.
The series in this verse so far, in roughly the order they were written in, are:
- you could make a life: Dan Riley and Marc Lapointe, two rookies on the same team, fall in love and experience the ups and downs that come with their evolving careers and unique status as the NHL's first outed gay couple together.
- in taking it apart: Mike Brouwer, the epitome of world-hating 35-year-oldnote lonerness, is convinced that being in a relationship with an inexperienced 18-year-old Liam Fitzgerald can only end in disaster. Liam, the epitome of bull-headed optimism, begs to differ.
- we are the lucky ones: Julien Perreault, an aging retired player, hears about Dan and Marc's ouster and it causes him to reminisce about the man he loved and lost over twenty years ago to cowardice.
- throw up your fists, throw up your wits: Luke Morris keeps on falling in and out of a Destructive Romance with Nikita Sidorchuk, even as Nikita keeps on leaving him even more jaded and bitter than before.
- giving in to the influence: A drunken night between close friends Andy Bowman and Derek Carruthers causes a great deal of I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship and That Didn't Happen denials.
- no expectation of returns: When Gabe Markson's best friend Stephen Petersen suffers a Career-Ending Injury, he does his best to help Stephen pick up the pieces.
- between the teeth: David Chapman hates his rival Jake Lourdes for being better than him in every way. Then he winds up unexpectedly kissing Jake one day and things get complicated from there on.
- imparfait du subjonctif: Sven and Yvette Olsen are a Happily Married couple raising a baby boy with help from Sven's best friend, Gérard Leon. What they don't realise is that Gérard is in love with Yvette. And with Sven.
- if all is enough: Ulf Larsson knows it's a bad idea to get involved with Adam Rousseau, the quiet former star forward turned assistant coach. He wants him anyway.
- Vinny gets a life: Habs back-up goalie Thomas Vincent is helplessly in love with his best friend/Habs defenceman Anton Petrov but doesn't want to have sex with him, to his confusion.
- but always in tandem: Robbie Lombardi (unsuccessfully) attempts to put his feelings aside when Georgie Dineen, his former best friend and lover, is traded to his team.
- Impaired Judgment (and other excuses): When Jared Matheson meets Bryce Marcus, a player with a notorious reputation that includes DUI arrests, it's Hate at First Sight... or is it?
- it's a setup: Joey Munroe, known to be gay after being publicly outed by his Jerkass ex-boyfriend, is set up during a Bachelor Auction with a cute guy named Owen who he develops a crush on. Unfortunately, Owen doesn't seem to like Joey that way and Joey's best friend and teammate Nick Angelopoulos seems to dislike Owen for some inexplicable reason...
- you could make a life outtakes: Snippets here and there, some AU and some short stories in-universe about our favorite hockey players (and more).
The first two series and between the teeth are no longer available on Archive of Our Own after Fitzpatrick got them revised and published, but they can be purchased here.
This verse contains the following tropes:
- The Ace:
- Ulf Larsson (Swedish sex god who Dan initially hates on principle when he becomes Marc's BFF) and Jake Lourdes (universally beloved all-American talent who David initially hates for overshadowing him in the NHL).
- Marc becomes this for a few characters, particularly his eventual Olympic linemates David and Adam because they, unlike Marc, struggle to reconcile their sexual orientation with being a star NHL player.
- Joey sees his captain/friend Willy this way: great at hockey, handsome, charismatic, popular.
- all lowercase letters: The story and chapter titles are all formatted like this. Vinny's series is an exception, since his name is in every title.
- All There in the Manual: The author answers a lot of readers' questions about her universe on her Tumblr, especially ones about her characters' future lives, so you'll need to read through her Tumblr to learn about a plethora of interesting stuff like how Dan and Marc end up raising two children or how Gabe and Jake used to fool around together some time before their stories.
- Anchored Ship: When David kisses Georgie, Georgie stops him and explains it's a bad idea considering they are friends with each other's exes.
- Armoured Closet Gay:
- This trope doesn't come up as often as you might expect, as even the most macho and reluctantly gay characters prefer to simply keep quiet about it rather than go on homophobic tirades, but the ones who fit the "closet case aggressively pretending to be straight" character type the best are Alexei and Nikita who both cruelly dump their male partners and become married/engaged to women.
- Played with in the case of David. While he does not act homophobic on purpose, his extreme overreaction and avoidance of any topics related to homosexuality, culminating in him running away after Robbie tells him that he used to be in a relationship with Georgie, leads Robbie to assume he is a homophobe.
- Bryce pretends to be a womanizer to hide his homosexuality even after he starts dating Jared. He eventually stops doing this after Jared expresses his unhappiness about it, but is still extremely reluctant to let anyone else know about their relationship.
- Babies Ever After: Dan and Marc eventually have two children who make appearances in the outtakes story and author's tumblr.
- Bachelor Auction: Joey first meets Owen after Owen's grandmother Maggie bids on a charity date with Joey on behalf of Owen.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Jared and Bryce, at first. Once they begin dating, though, their relationship becomes much more amicable.
- Berserk Button: Do not harm Vinny in any way if Anton is around, unless you're willing to take on a tall angry hockey player.
- Big Brother Mentor:
- One of the first solid relationships David forms in his story is with his captain, Oleg Kurmazov. He genuinely cares about David's well-being, and at one point offers to beat Jake up for hurting David.
- Michel Fournier takes Vinny under his wing and treats him like his little brother/third child, even after he is traded to another team.
- Bittersweet Ending: In but always in tandem. Robbie and Georgie don't get back together, but Robbie has finally begun moving past his self-destructive bitterness towards Georgie and they've made tentative steps towards being on at least non-hostile terms.
- Bookends: David and Jake's relationship is kicked off when David kisses Jake in a deserted hallway. 50 chapters later, they get back together after David kisses Jake in a deserted hallway.
- Breather Episode: The author's notes for chapter 5 of Dan and Marc's story state that it was mainly written to serve as a light-hearted interlude between the drama of their coming out and the upcoming drama of the disintegration of their team.
- Canada, Eh?: Smashed into little pieces; the majority of characters may hail from Canada, but they're just as trash-talking and hard-hitting on the ice rink as the average athlete. Also completely inverted with David and Jake, who are hyped by the media as a sweet, gentlemanly Canadian player in a rivalry with a brash, rough-edged American player when their actual personalities are the almost exact opposite.
- Cannot Spit It Out:
- Mike would sooner get all his teeth pulled out than admit that he's in love with Liam.
- David also has a very, very hard time admitting that he actually wants a relationship with Jake, or that he is into guys at all.
- Career-Ending Injury: no expectation of returns is all about one. Mike also gets a concussion that permanently ends his career with the migraines it inflicts on him.
- Career Versus Man: Comes up in multiple stories. Interestingly, two of these stories have the main characters making (or at least trying to make) the choice for their partners instead of themselves because they believe that their more talented partners shouldn't have their careers be ruined/dragged down by their relationship. (And yes, their partners were majorly pissed off when they found out about said "choice" being made for them.)
- Cast Full of Gay: Although the sexuality of major characters range from 'straight with a single exception' to 'absolutely and undeniably gay' with a lot of characters falling somewhere in the middle, there are significantly more queer players and relationships in a limited social circle than is strictly plausible.
- Characterisation Marches On:
- Andy, the sweet Gentle Giant from Saskatchewan, was far closer to Derek in personality when he first appeared in Dan's storyline. He swears and makes sarcastic remarks without reservation, and at one point, Dan notes how he is acting "uncharacteristically shy".
- The Marc-Adam-David Olympics snippets were written before much of David's character growth was written. Hence, David is very much his pre-Kiro, pre- move to the Capitals self rather than the more mellowed out version seen in the last chapter of between the teeth set just before the Olympics.
- The first few Jared/Bryce snippets that were written on Tumblr before they got their own series depicted Jared as still being in denial about Bryce being his boyfriend years after they hooked up. In Impaired Judgment, Jared becomes so besotted with Bryce after he gets over his initial misconceptions of him that it's implausible that he would ever deny the nature of their relationship to anyone in the know about him and Bryce. In general, Jared and Bryce's relationship ended up being a lot less antagonistic and more lovey-dovey than the author initially planned.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Many characters initially appear as peripheral ones in other characters' series before they get a series of their own.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Gabe and Stephen met practically before they were born, but it took them two decades to finally get together.
- Clueless Chick Magnet: According to the author, David "is flirted with more often than his narrative shows".
- The Comically Serious: David. When Jake laughs at his question of if he should call him "Jacob", he thinks to himself that he wasn't trying to be funny.
- Coming-of-Age Story: between the teeth focuses just as much, if not more, on David maturing into "a real boy" — learning to be more accepting of himself and of others and forging good platonic relationships — as on his romance with Jake.
- Coming-Out Story:
- A big part of Dan and Marc's storyline. Julien also finds the courage to finally come out in his story after hearing about Dan and Marc's feat.
- Also eventually becomes an important part of Vinny's story.
- Compliment Backfire: David bristles whenever someone refers to him as "pretty". When he freely calls himself "pretty" in the last part of between the teeth, it's a major sign of how much he's grown since the start of the series.
- Cultured Badass:
- Marc loves watching and reading "pretentious" French films and books. He's also one of the best hockey players Canada has ever seen.
- Mike is an enforcer, which means his role in a team is to bash, fight and physically intimidate the opposition. His hobbies include reading and beating everyone at Scrabble. David even states that he learnt not to judge people's intelligence by their playing style from having Mike as a teammate.
- Deadpan Snarker:
- Marc and Mike, although Mike's snarkiness is a lot more caustic than Marc's more light-hearted snarkiness.
- Jared, whose instinctive response to being in the proximity of a surly loner who has a known history of anger management issues is to creatively insult and mock him as much as possible.
- Destructive Romance:
- Nikita broke up with Luke while they were teenagers in such a callous manner that Luke never emotionally recovered from it. Their ensuing on-and-off relationship of hatesex and brutal beatdowns for the next seven years only serve to drag the embittered Luke down even further.
- Robbie and Georgie used to be a loving couple, but Georgie cheating on Robbie permanently soured their relationship and left Robbie with emotional scars and trust issues that took years to heal. While they still have lingering feelings for each other, the massive emotional baggage between them causes any attempts to act on these feelings to just add to their self-loathing and bitterness.
- Did Not Get the Guy: Some stories end with the main character not getting together with the guy he wants for varied reasons.
- In we are the lucky ones, we know from the start that the main character did not get the guy — the story is his account of how and why that happened.
- In both throw up your fists, throw up your wits and always in tandem, the main character does not get the guy because he realizes that their relationship has become too toxic and the best thing to do is to move on from it to healthier things.
- Downer Ending:
- if all is enough, to an extent, because Ulf and Adam never take the next step necessary to cement their relationship. According to the tumblr, this causes Ulf to give up entirely on the prospect of settling down.
- always in tandem can be viewed as one for Georgie, judging from the tumblr notes on him. While Robbie ends up successfully moving on from Georgie and getting a new boyfriend, Georgie never really gets over his feelings for Robbie and that, coupled with his inability to learn from his past relationship mistakes, causes him to be unable to maintain any long-term relationships.
- Embarrassing First Name: Marc's actual first name is Pierre.
- Embarrassing Nickname:
- Thomas hates Tommy. Don't call him Tommy unless you want him to throw objects at you.
- In a similar vein, David hates being called "Dave" - or any other nickname, for that matter. The only nickname is is okay with is Kiro's "Davidson".
- Everyone Can See It:
- The entire Sens team towards Andy/Derek.
- The entire Habs team, especially Carmen, for Anton/Thomas. Both sets of their parents seem aware of it, too.
- David is probably about the only person who doesn't realise that Jake absolutely did not get over him.
- Everybody on Joey's team is painfully aware of Nick's feelings for Joey. The sole exception to that being Joey himself.
- Family Versus Career: Dan and Marc decided that unless one of them retires, it's nigh impossible for them to raise kids and still have time for hockey. Dan decides the sacrifice is worth it while Monsieur Lapointe still plays for a few years before retiring.
- The First Cut Is the Deepest: Joey's abusive first boyfriend Zach left him with significant emotional scars and self esteem issues that continue to affect him and make it difficult for him to look for a new relationship.
- Friendless Background: David had so little experience with friendship that he thought Jake was just being 'buddies' by having sex with him.
- Foregone Conclusion: The author posts snippets out of chronological order from time to time, showing characters years ahead of their story line. For example, we knew David and Jake gets back together after and then, because in the story about Marc, David and Adam playing at the Olympics together, David is still in contact with him.
- Gay Panic: Averted for the most part with public opinion being generally supportive of Dan and Marc's relationship, but internalized homophobia does play an important role in Julien's story and many other main characters clearly prefer to remain in Secret Relationships than deal with the repercussions of coming out in public even if they're fairly comfortable with their sexuality in private.
- Green-Eyed Epiphany: Scratch doesn't realise he is in love with Joey until Joey meets Owen and is romantically interested in someone for the first time since Joey and Scratch became friends.
- Green-Eyed Monster:
- Jake is cold to Kiro even after he becomes Kiro's captain, because he is jealous of Kiro's affectionate friendship with David.
- Similar to the above example, Bryce initially doesn't like Jared's close friend Raf because he thinks that Jared likes Raf as more than just a friend.
- Nick/Scratch doesn't like Joey's new friend and crush Owen. It takes Joey a ridiculously long time to figure out just why.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Joey has terrible self esteem as a result of a previous abusive relationship and thinks he is "undateable", which is part of the reason why he has such a difficult time realising that Scratch is in love with him.
- I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship: When Joey realizes that Nick is in love with him, he's hesitant to act on any possible mutual attraction he may feel for him out of fear that it may destroy their friendship if things end up not working out between them.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: Luke and Nikita's relationship (if it can be called that) involves getting into fistfights every time their teams play each other and then having angry sex after the game.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mike is an ass, but he's an ass who genuinely cares for Liam and virtually all of his assholish behavior towards him is based on his sincere belief that Liam would be better off without him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Nikita is basically Mike sans the Hidden Heart of Gold and sincere love for his besotted partner.
- Just Friends:
- Andy and Derek try to be this after their night together. It doesn't stick, naturally.
- Gabe and Stephen also start out as this.
- Tony and Vinny, although Vinny wants more than friendship.
- Kiro and David are genuinely this, despite what Jake might think.
- Loners Are Freaks: Mike and David, who both have major issues with emotional intimacy. Marc is also viewed as weird by many people for his preference to watch the latest French art film over hanging out with the rest of the team, although he at least has Dan and Larsson who understand him better.
- Love Martyr:
- Luke to Nikita, although it's morphed over the years into something more akin to Hate-Love Martyr and he finally breaks out of it at the end.
- Liam may also be this, depending on your interpretation of his relationship with Mike; his friends definitely see him as this or at least wonder why on earth he chose to be with Mike.
- Jake apparently has a bad habit of falling for people who end up breaking his heart.
- Manly Gay: Almost all of the main characters by default. Liam and David are the only partial exceptions, and even then they can hardly be called weaklings considering that they regularly fling themselves around hockey ice rinks for a living.
- Maybe Ever After: Mike and Liam's story ends on an ambiguous (but cautiously hopeful) note about the future of their relationship. The author's tumblr does reveal that they do more or less stay together for the rest of their lives, although they never marry and Mike never fully admits out loud that they're in a relationship for life.
- Mistaken for Romance: When Joey finally musters the courage to ask Owen out, Owen is surprised and tells him he never saw him that way because he thought Joey was in a long term relationship with Scratch.
- Neat Freak: The one habit of Marc that Dan likes the least? Leaving his towel on the floor.
- Not Staying for Breakfast: Andy does this to Derek, and Stephen to Gabe too.
- Oblivious to Love:
- Andy thinks that it was just the alcohol that caused Derek to have sex with him. Even after Derek gets visibly upset at seeing him try to hook up with other people.
- David has no feelings for Jake whatsoever. Really. And he honestly doesn't seem to realize just how smitten Jake is with him.
- Jared doesn't realize at first just why Bryce offered to give him a ride in his convertible or why he agreed to his offer despite his proclaimed undying hatred of him, even when a knowing Raf tells him that they were blushing while talking to each other.
- Joey gives even David a run for his money in this category; he's totally unaware of his best friend Nick's feelings for him for nineteen installments even though, according to Willy, "it's obvious from fucking space that he's in love with you. You know how obvious it is? Trigger knows he's in love with you, and Trigger doesn't even understand human emotions". And when an exasperated Willy outright tells him that Nick is in love with him, Joey thinks he must be joking because there's no way that could possibly be true. It takes his sister Casey figuratively slapping him upside the head as hard as she can for him to finally get it.
- One Degree of Separation: All the stories in the universe is loosely connected through this. For example, throw up your fists, throw out your wits is about Luke Morris, who is the older brother of Ben Morris, who is friends with Liam Fitzgerald of in taking it apart, who is in love with Mike Brouwer, who is the former teammate of David Chapman, narrator of between the teeth, who is dating Jake Lourdes, who is a good friend of Gabe Markson from no expectation of returns... Justified, since all the stories are set in the NHL and it's only natural that all the characters are friends with or know other players in the league.
- One Steve Limit: Frequently averted, although many characters are referred to only by their surnames or nicknames.
- Opposites Attract:
- Mike/Liam, David/Jake and Anton/Vinny all have the same basic "jaded, emotionally closed-off loner meets relentlessly cheerful puppy-like lover" dynamic.
- Dan is also the amiable, mediocrely-talented-but-extremely-hardworking foil to Marc's snarky, talented-enough-that-he-doesn't-really-need-to-work-hard self.
- Parental Abandonment:
- A large part of Mike's closed-off personality comes from his father abandoning his family when Mike was twelve.
- David's family situation is also less than warm and cuddly.
- Poor Communication Kills: Dan has the occasional problem with this (though Marc is mostly quick to set him straight), Mike has a highly regular problem with this, and most egregiously the entire plot of giving in to the influence would have been only two chapters long had Andy actually bothered to ask Derek how he felt or even stayed with him instead of running away from him at the first opportunity.
- Pretty Boy: Everyone who meets David - from his teammates to Jake's sisters - notes how pretty he is. In fact, "pretty boy" was Team America's moniker for him at World Juniors.
- Romantic False Lead: Owen fills this role for Joey, inspiring Scratch's Green-Eyed Epiphany and acting as a catalyst for a change in their relationship, before settling in to a role as Joey's second best friend/confidant/"gay mentor" after he turns Joey down.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Mike, the gruff hockey player, is also an excellent cook.
- Revised Ending: The author originally planned to end Mike and Liam's story after eight chapters, but she eventually decided to write four more chapters to give them a more conclusive ending.
- Right Through the Wall: A Running Gag in you could make a life is Larsson being scarred for life by constantly overhearing Dan and Marc's dirty talking and sex sessions.
- Secret Relationship: Every main relationship in this universe is more or less this with the big exception of Dan and Marc's — and even then, Dan initially tries to keep it a secret until word eventually gets out.
- Single-Target Sexuality:
- Marc had exactly one unsatisfying sexual encounter before meeting Dan and he hasn't looked at anyone not named Dan Riley ever since; Dan even describes him at one point as "THE one guy kind of guy".
- Liam could also qualify as having this for Mike, as Word of God stated that he went through three relationships to try to prove that he was over Mike after their break-up and failed utterly.
- Jake is the only person David has ever been in love or had sex with.
- Shipper on Deck: The teams are generally supportive of the known couples, even if some of their lovey-dovey acts are so cute it's gross.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: Joey and Scratch's First Kiss involves Scratch pulling this on Joey, who lampshades it and makes fun of Scratch for being cliche (before giving Scratch one in return). Subverted sooner of later however:Turns out its hard to kiss someone whos just startled you.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Each individual story falls on a different part of the idealism-cynicism spectrum: Dan and Andy's stories fall firmly on the idealistic side, Luke's on the cynical side, and the others generally maintain a balance between either a cynical narrator who thinks their relationship is doomed to fail and an idealistic partner who thinks the opposite or a grim subject matter and an Earn Your Happy Ending mentality.
- Super Couple: Dan and Marc, both in-universe where Sarah calls them "the Brangelina of hockey" and for the verse as a whole with their high-profile status as a happy gay couple in the NHL having visible ripple effects on many other characters' lives.
- They Do:
- Dan and Marc get together in the first chapter, stay together for the rest of the series, and even get Happily Married.
- Andy and Derek also have an unambiguous "getting their heads out of their asses and admitting their feelings to each other" conclusion to their story.
- Jared and Bryce, after getting past their initial hostility towards each other, become the most stable and loving couple of the verse that isn't Dan and Marc. They're also the only gay couple other than Dan and Marc to get married.
- True Love Is Exceptional:
- Mike prefers to sleep with people who are as physically strong and built as him, which the waifish Liam is most definitely not. Mike's younger brother Tom is the same, settling down with a sweet, bubbly woman who's nothing like the women he has dated previously.
- Derek claims he is 100% straight, just that Andy is an exception.
- Tsundere:
- David. Acts prickly towards Jake (tsuntsun), then responds to Jake asking him why he hates him so much by passionately kissing him (tsun-dere), and then blushes and becomes adorably shy when Jake makes it clear that he wants to spend time with him (deredere). Yep, we've got the whole tsundere package here.
- Jared, who initially can't go more than five seconds in Bryce's presence without insulting him and yet cannot stay away from him for some reason. Once they start dating, his switch gets flipped to deredere mode pretty much all the time around Bryce.
- Unreliable Narrator: The author has stated that most of their POV characters can't be taken at face value, with most of the events being filtered through that character's particular set of assumptions and biases.
- Uptown Girl: Bryce is already a multimillionaire at just 20 years old while Jared is still living off his parents' allowance. Jared doesn't care that much about Bryce's wealth for the most part, but it does occasionally cause anxiety for him like when he tries to figure out what he can get Bryce for his birthday that he doesn't already have.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Luke was a lot more cheerful and idealistic as a teenager, before Nikita broke his heart.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Joey decides to propose to Scratch with their Stanley Cup rings. too bad Scratch has the same idea...
- "Well Done, Son!" Guy: David's workaholic tendencies started when he was a kid, when he thought his absentee parents might pay attention to him if he was really good at hockey.
- Wham Episode: After writing an upbeat love story about an extremely stable couple and a somewhat gritter and more turbulent romance that nonetheless worked out for the most part with both parties, the next multichaptered story Fitzpatrick wrote featured an immensely dysfunctional and emotionally abusive relationship that was not played solely for hatesex kinks and ended with both characters breaking up for good. Many readers who had expected Luke and Nikita's relationship to somehow work out in the end like Marc and Dan's and Mike and Liam's had were thrown off-guard by this development and have since then learned to not take a happy ending for any couple in the verse for granted, to the point where more than one reader thought that David would end up heartlessly abusing Jake like Nikita did with Luke and the author had to clarify that David is much more Tsundere than Bastard Boyfriend.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: David's eyes are one of the first things Jake notices about him when they play each other at World Juniors. David, in turn, is a little obsessed with how Jake's hazel eyes don't stay the same colour.
- What Does He See in Him?:
- Jake's friends have this reaction upon learning that good guy Jake is dating David Chapman, of all people.
- Jared's family and friends all think it's a terrible idea for him to date Bryce as, while he and readers know that Bryce is a genuinely sweet and supportive boyfriend who has no intentions of repeating his past mistakes, the other characters only know Bryce as the guy who made headlines for punching a hockey fan and getting arrested for drunk driving.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Jake outed David, who is, according to Gabe, "as far back in the closet as you can get while still fucking a guy", to his team mates because he believed they wouldn't tell. They didn't, but that doesn't make things right, and Gabe and his sisters called him out on it.
- Where Everybody Knows Your Flame:
- Dan and Marc's team take them out to a gay bar once, where pink cocktails and glitter-faced twinks do exist but the decidedly not-gay Tremblay acts more Camp Gay than Dan and Marc combined who mainly just sit back and watch in amusement.
- Andy goes to one in an attempt to get over his unrequited (or so he thinks) crush on Derek. It doesn't work, in no small part because Derek decides to tag along.
- Working with the Ex: The entire premise of but always in tandem is around the tension between Robbie and Georgie, linemates who used to be in a relationship with each other.
- You Need to Get Laid: Poor Thomas hears some variant of this pretty often. An example: Hey Vinny, still doing that whole virgin shit to turn into a super goalie? Bergen asks. Cause man, gotta break it to you, youre never going to be a starter, so maybe you should give up and get your dick wet already.
- You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You: Vinny's reason for refusing to talk to anyone about his sexuality/feelings for Anton. | https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebOriginal/YouCouldMakeALife |
Like I stated on the top of the page here, some compromises are sound, and others actually aren’t. If a compromise feels like we’re stretching ourselves a bit in a way we expect we’ll profit from stretching, that’s one thing. If a compromise asks little or no of us, relatively-speaking, and in addition still allows us to be who we are, compromising could be okay, and some compromise is always important in ongoing relationships. But if and when a compromise looks like we’re not being true to ourselves or others, or like we’re compromising who we’re in very core ways, that’s the kind we will know isn’t a good idea. That type of compromise is the kind that doesn’t foster wholesome, joyful relationships in the long run, feeling good about and with ourselves.
- Discussion of asexuality in tutorial circles is nearly non-existent, save for its incidence in crops, worms and different lowly critters.
- It’s also important to notice that asexuality and celibacy are not the identical factor .
- You also can try and connect them with some sources, like the ones on the backside of this web page, so they can do somewhat analysis on their own.
- Misty Day from American Horror Story was confirmed by way of Word of God to be asexual.
There’s nothing you have to change about yourself and nothing you can change that may end in your associate feeling sexually interested in you. Is used to outline relationships corresponding to friendships, life-partners, couples, or any form of chosen family that is simply as legitimate and supportive as romantic or sexual partnerships. Called QPRs for brief, queerplatonic relationships are available to folks regardless of their orientation or gender.
Individuals Are Either Sexual Or Asexual
Much of the sense of neighborhood that emerges when Brian and others talk about their collective standing as asexuals comes from the reality that they have found a virtual neighbourhood the place they continually work together. “It’s made it an entire lot simpler for us to find one another,” Brian says. But now, folks outside the asexual community are beginning to query these assumptions. Elizabeth Abbott, Dean of Women at Trinity College, University of Toronto, Canada, is doubtless considered one of the few lecturers who are aware of the issue and believes it is a real phenomenon.
Speaking To Companions About Triggers Throughout Sex
It is normal for an asexual person to be romantic, they usually may define themselves as heteroromantic or homoromantic, depending on who they find themselves attracted to. Of course, some individuals discover themselves to be aromantic, meaning they don’t have romantic wishes in any respect. That also implies that asexual people should still masturbate.
«I Used To Be Already With My Boyfriend Of Five Years When I Noticed I Used To Be Ace «
Finally, romantic love involves a need for physical and emotional intimacy, and the will to share one’s life ultimately with one’s beloved. Keep in thoughts this isn’t a one-size-fits-all definition for everyone in the ace community though. The individual you’re courting may expertise sexual attraction after an emotional connection is formed, which is identified as demisexual. The particular person you’re courting could also never expertise sexual attraction, like, ever—hi, it me!
Completely Different Spectrums
I’m asexual, and I even have no interest or desire to have intercourse. I actually don’t suppose there’s something anybody could say or do to alter my mind—I don’t even masturbate. “It was about the identical time I started identifying as non-binary. I had just gotten out of a really unhealthy relationship during which the individual had continuously tried to make me participate in sex with him, and I was type of confused. I had been with a feminine friend before him, and I didn’t enjoy intercourse then either. At this point I was like, ‘Something’s weird right here,’” says Grimes.
Some of them could have sex with their partners every now and then, and others could have intercourse with their partners more incessantly. It would help if you stored an open mind about various kinds ashley madison reviews of relationships. When you’re having a little bother finding frequent ground between your partner’s boundaries and your sexual needs, it will assist to be somewhat more inventive. | https://cddi.ru/can-asexual-people-fall-in-love-sure-and-these-ace-people-tell-us-about-their-relationships/ |
There is a base fee of $5, plus $2 for every event you compete in. NOTE: If you do not register (and pay!) online, you will be subject to a $20 flat fee the day of the competition.
|Event||Name||Best||Average||Citizen of||Solves|
|3x3x3 Cube||Riley Woo||8.83||9.08||United States||9.49||8.88||8.83||8.88||9.66|
|3x3x3 Blindfolded||Noah Arthurs||31.93||DNF||United States||31.93||DNF||DNF|
|3x3x3 One-Handed||Weston Mizumoto||13.31||14.20||United States||15.03||13.50||17.13||14.06||13.31|
|Pyraminx||Sirish Nutakki||4.43||5.14||United States||4.93||5.58||4.43||9.18||4.92|
If you reach the time limit during your solve, the judge will stop you and your result will be DNF (see Regulation A1a4).
The format describes how to determine the ranking of competitors based on their results. The list of allowed formats per event is described in Regulation 9b. See Regulation 9f for a description of each format. | https://m.cubecomps.worldcubeassociation.org/competitions/HaywardRubiksRumble2015 |
Picture Jasper semi-precious gemstone beads in 10x10mm 2-Hole are a work of art within each bead with their sandstone like painted features. These make very distinctive bracelet designs. Each bead is hand selected for best quality.
- Size: 10mm x 10mm
- Thickness: approximately 5-6 millimeters
- Hole spacing: approximately 5 millimeters from center of hole to center of hole
- 12 beads per package
- Hole size: approximately 1 millimeter
- Please note: Most Gemstone beads vary in color and pattern depending on the gemstone. | https://www.statesidebeadsupply.com/product/GEMSTONE-2-HOLE-10X10-PICTURE-JASPER.html?Category_Code=GEMSTONE-BEADS-2-HOLE-DOUBLE-DRILLED-10X10-DOZENS |
Peshawar: As per the latest news, to promote the mineral sector, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa approved the establishment of a gemstone laboratory as well as technical training and certification center on Monday.
Read more: Covid-19 cases drop in Mardan, increase in Peshawar
According to a statement released here, the decision was made at a meeting of the Mineral Investment Facilitation Authority, which was chaired by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan.
The meeting was told that private sector companies would be hired to set up a laboratory to develop technological and professional expertise for processing raw gemstones and turning them into processed branded products for international distribution.
The planned centre-cum-laboratory will be established at Hayatabad’s current mineral testing laboratory site.
Read more: High Court orders early uplifting of 5 Peshawar canals
The center will provide international-level training in gemstone processing and certification.
The forum addressed mining activities in areas designated as guzara forests and agreed to form a committee chaired by the additional chief secretary to investigate the situation and make recommendations for supervised mining activities in these areas.
Members of the committee will be administrative secretaries from the mineral, forest, law, and tourism departments.
On the occasion, Mahmood Khan said that protecting forests and increasing forest cover to the highest level was one of his government’s top priorities. He also emphasized the importance of using mineral resources without endangering forests.
For further details, visit our official website Tajarat Properties. | https://tajarat.com.pk/news/gemstone-laboratory-to-be-built-in-peshawar/ |
Area50,000 sq. ft.
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Discipline(s)Interior Design
Inspirational signature exudes comfort and vitality
This award-winning project for Connect First Credit Union brings a workspace to life for the financial institution’s Calgary-based administration teams. The design strategy adds a new floor and brings together a fragmented workforce in a contemporary, connected and collaborative environment. The existing main floor gains a new staff lounge, kitchen and casual meeting area.
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Most plant viruses are transmitted by insect vectors and thus depend on the behaviour and dispersal of their vectors to spread from plant to plant[@b1][@b2][@b3]. Plant viruses may thus evolve mechanisms to alter the behaviour of their vectors in favour of their own transmission and spread. Recent case studies with plant viruses show that virus infection of the vectors can directly alter their feeding behaviour and preference in ways favourable to the spread of viruses[@b4][@b5]. Moreover, plant viruses can modify the feeding behaviour of their vectors indirectly, via the alternations of biochemical, physiological and morphological features of host plants, with consequential changes in plant attractiveness, resistance and/or nutrition that may facilitate population increase of the vectors and in turn the epidemiology of the viruses[@b6][@b7][@b8][@b9][@b10].
The whitefly *Bemisia tabaci* (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a species complex consisting of over 30 morphologically indistinguishable species[@b11][@b12][@b13]. Whiteflies of this species complex damage crops directly through phloem feeding and indirectly through transmission of numerous begomoviruses (family *Geminiviridae*, genus *Begomovirus*)[@b3][@b14][@b15][@b16]. Some cryptic species of this complex, in particular the Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) and the Mediterranean (MED), formally referred to as the "B biotype" and "Q biotype" respectively, have risen to global prominence in the past 30 years due to their rapid invasion into many new regions of the world[@b12][@b17][@b18]. In many cases, invasion and spread of MEAM1 and/or MED were soon followed by disease pandemics of begomoviruses[@b14][@b19][@b20]. As the tripartite interactions between viruses, vectors and plants are known to have important influences on the population dynamics of the organisms involved[@b8][@b21], the implications of the interactions between begomoviruses, whiteflies and plants in whitefly invasion and begomovirus pandemics have attracted much attention in recent years[@b22][@b23].
Begomoviruses are exclusively transmitted by *B. tabaci* in a persistent, circulative manner, which requires sustained saliva secretion as well as sap ingestion by the whiteflies[@b24][@b25]. As persistently-transmitted plant pathogens, begomoviruses interact with the whitefly vectors at the cellular level during movement among tissues and organs[@b3][@b26], with the potential to alter directly the physiology and behaviour of the vector[@b27][@b28][@b29]. In addition, a few studies have provided indications that some begomoviruses have evolved high levels of adaptation to whitefly cells and tissues, and may exhibit some characteristics of insect pathogens[@b30][@b31][@b32]. Like many other persistently-transmitted viruses, begomoviruses may also modify the physiology and behaviour of their whitefly vectors indirectly via alternation of plant characteristics[@b10][@b23][@b33][@b34]. In our laboratory, an earlier study with the whitefly MEAM1, *Tomato yellow leaf curl China virus* (TYLCCNV), and tobacco \[*Nicotiana tabacum* L. (Solanaceae)\] showed that the whitefly population increased at a substantially higher rate on virus-infected plants than on uninfected plants, and further demonstrated that the enhanced rate of population increase in the whitefly was due to a marked increase in fecundity and longevity via feeding on virus-infected plants, even though virus infection of the whitefly *per se* reduced its fecundity and longevity[@b9]. By integrating genomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics with insect performance measures, we then found that the alternation of plant characteristics was related to repression of jasmonic acid-mediated plant defence, particularly suppression of terpenoid synthesis[@b35][@b36]. Evidence of alternation of plant nutrition to the whitefly, as measured in terms of amino acid profiles, percentage of essential amino acids, and suger:amino acid ratio in the phloem sap, was not detected[@b37]. However, the whiteflies feeding on virus-infected plants were able to achieve a more balanced nutritional assimilation with proportionally more amino acids, particularly essential amino acids, even though virus-infection of the whiteflies *per se* caused them to assimilate a more imbalanced nutrition with proportionally more sugar[@b37]. Further genomic and molecular analyses indicated that whiteflies feeding on virus-infected plants exhibited reduction of detoxification activity, which was likely to attenuate energy cost and help to improve their primary metabolic activities[@b38]. However, the behavioural mechanisms of the whitefly underlying the improvement of nutritional assimilation and performance are yet to be investigated.
In the present work, we first studied the feeding behaviour of TYLCCNV-infected (viruliferous) and uninfected (non-viruliferous) MEAM1 on cotton, a non-host of TYLCCNV, to investigate the direct effects of the virus on feeding activities of whitefly. We then studied the feeding behaviour of viruliferous whiteflies on virus-infected and uninfected tobacco plants, plus non-viruliferous whiteflies on uninfected tobacco, to disentangle the direct and indirect effects of the virus on whitefly feeding activities. We used the electrical penetration graph (EPG) to observe and record the behavioural elements of whiteflies feeding on various plants[@b39]. Our findings help to unravel the behavioural mechanisms underlying a mutualistic relationship between an insect vector and a plant virus that also has features reminiscent of an insect pathogen.
Results
=======
EPG waveform patterns observed
------------------------------
In this study, we identified seven distinct waveforms from the EPG recordings we made. Waveform patterns were categorized as previously described[@b27][@b40]: NP, nonprobing behaviour; C, intercellular stylet pathway; pd (potential drops), brief intracellular stylet punctures during the pathway phase (C); E1, salivation into phloem sieve elements; E2, ingestion of phloem sap from sieve elements; F, presumed penetration difficulties; and G, xylem sap ingestion.
Direct effects of TYLCCNV on feeding behaviour of whitefly
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We conducted EPG recording of non-viruliferous whiteflies and viruliferous whiteflies feeding on cotton plants, with 25 and 29 replicates respectively.
### Non-phloem phase EPG measurements (Table 1)
[](#t1){ref-type="table"}Viruliferous whiteflies made significantly more probes than non-viruliferous whiteflies (Parameter 2), while time prior to 1^st^ probe and total probing time did not differ between the two treatments (Parameters 1 and 3). Viruliferous whiteflies had a higher number of pathway waveforms (Waveform C; Parameter 4) than non-viruliferous whiteflies. Although the total duration of waveform C (Parameter 5) did not differ between the two treatments, the average duration of waveform C (with pd but without El, F, and G) of non-viruliferous whiteflies was significantly longer than that of viruliferous whiteflies (Parameter 6). While number of probes prior to 1^st^ E1 (Parameter 7), number of probes prior to 1^st^ E2 (Parameter 8), time from start to 1^st^ E1 (Parameter 9), total duration of waveform G (Parameter 11), and total duration of waveform F (Parameter 12) did not differ between the two treatments, non-viruliferous whiteflies took less than half the time to proceed from 1^st^ probe to 1^st^ E1, i.e. salivation, compared to that of viruliferous whiteflies (Parameter 10).
### Phloem phase EPG measurements (Table 2)
[](#t2){ref-type="table"}In the phloem phase, while no significant differences were detected between the two treatments in the number of E1 periods (Parameter 1), average E1 duration (Parameter 2), total duration of E1 (Parameter 3), time from 1^st^ E1 to 1^st^ sustained E2 (Parameter 5), number of E2 periods (Parameter 6), total duration of E2 periods (Parameter 8), number of E phases (Parameter 9), and total duration of E phases (Parameter 10), viruliferous whiteflies took more than twice longer to proceed from 1^st^ E1 to 1^st^ E2 (Parameter 4) compared to non-viruliferous whiteflies, and the average duration of E2 (Parameter 7) of non-viruliferous whiteflies was three times that of viruliferous whiteflies.
Direct and Indirect effects of TYLCCNV on feeding behaviour of whitefly via host plant
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We conducted EPG recoding of the following three treatments: (1) non-viruliferous whiteflies feeding on uninfected tobacco, (2) viruliferous whiteflies feeding on uninfected tobacco, and (3) viruliferous whiteflies feeding on TYLCCNV-infected tobacco, with 30, 28, and 24 replicates for treatments (1), (2) and (3) respectively.
### Non-phloem phase EPG measurements (Fig. 1)
[](#f1){ref-type="fig"}The two-way ANOVA statistics presented in [Table 3](#t3){ref-type="table"} show that whitefly virus-infection status exerted significant effect on the number of waveform C periods (Parameter c; [Fig. 1c](#f1){ref-type="fig"}); the plant virus-infection status exerted significant effects on six of the eight parameters examined, including time to 1^st^ probe (Parameter a; [Fig. 1a](#f1){ref-type="fig"}), number of probes (Parameter b; [Fig. 1b](#f1){ref-type="fig"}), number of C periods (Parameter c; [Fig. 1c](#f1){ref-type="fig"}), average C duration (Parameter e; [Fig. 1e](#f1){ref-type="fig"}), number of probes prior to 1^st^ E1 (Parameter g; [Fig. 1g](#f1){ref-type="fig"}), and number of probes prior to 1^st^ E2 (Parameter h; [Fig. 1h](#f1){ref-type="fig"}); and the interaction between the two variables exerted significant effects on the number of probes (Parameter b; [Fig. 1b](#f1){ref-type="fig"}) and number of C periods (Parameter c; [Fig. 1c](#f1){ref-type="fig"}). The statistical analysis indicates clearly that virus-infection of the plant exerted remarkably stronger effects on whitefly feeding behaviour than the virus infection of the whitefly *per se*.
When viruliferous whiteflies were placed on virus-infected plant, their time prior to 1^st^ probe was 3--4 times that of non-viruliferous or viruliferous whiteflies placed on uninfected plants ([Fig. 1a](#f1){ref-type="fig"}). On uninfected plants, the number of probes of viruliferous whiteflies was significantly higher than that of non-viruliferous whiteflies; in contrast, the number of probes of viruliferous whiteflies feeding on virus-infected plants was significantly reduced compared to that of non-viruliferous whiteflies feeding on uninfected plants and was reduced to less than half that of viruliferous whiteflies feeding on uninfected plants ([Fig. 1b](#f1){ref-type="fig"}). Likewise, on uninfected plants the number of C periods of viruliferous whiteflies was significantly increased compared to that of non-viruliferous whiteflies, but the number of C periods of viruliferous whiteflies was significantly reduced when feeding on virus-infected plants ([Fig. 1c](#f1){ref-type="fig"}). Viruliferous whiteflies feeding on virus-infected plants significantly increased the average duration of waveform C compared to the other two treatments ([Fig. 1e](#f1){ref-type="fig"}). The data of [Fig. 1g and 1h](#f1){ref-type="fig"} also indicate that virus infection of plants reduced the number of probes prior to 1^st^ E1 and the number of probes prior to 1^st^ E2, although mean values of the three treatments did not differ significantly, possibly due to the effects of interaction between the two variables.
### Phloem phase EPG measurements (Fig. 2)
[](#f2){ref-type="fig"}[Table 4](#t4){ref-type="table"} presents the two-way ANOVA statistics on the data of phloem phase EPG measurements of the three treatments. While the virus-infection status of the whitefly appeared to exert no significant influence, its effects on the total duration of E2 periods (Parameter n) and time from 1^st^ E1 to 1^st^ E2 (Parameter o) were approaching to significant levels (*P* = 0.074 and *P* = 0.067 respectively). The plant virus-infection status exerted significant effects on three of the eight parameters examined, including average duration of E2 (Parameter l), total duration of E2 periods (Parameter n), and total time from 1^st^ E1 to 1^st^ E2 (Parameter o). Interaction of the two variables exerted a significant effect on the time from 1^st^ E1 to 1^st^ E2 (Parameter o), and its effects on the total duration of E2 periods (Parameter n) and the relative proportion of E1 on E2 (Parameter p) were close to significant levels (*P* = 0.064 and *P* = 0.077 respectively). Similar to the pattern observed for the non-phloem phase EPG measurements above, virus-infection of the plant exerted remarkably stronger effects on the phloem phase EPG measurements of the whitefly than the virus infection of the whitefly *per se*.
The stronger effects of virus-infection of the plant than those of the virus infection of the whitefly are shown by the comparison of mean values of each of the various parameters between treatments ([Fig. 2](#f2){ref-type="fig"}). The data in [Fig. 2l](#f2){ref-type="fig"} indicate that when the whiteflies were feeding on tobacco, virus infection of the whitefly *per se* did not significantly increase the average duration of E2, but the infection of both the whitefly and the plant did. Likewise, the data in [Fig. 2n](#f2){ref-type="fig"} indicate that virus infection of the whitefly *per se* did not significantly increase the total duration of E2, but the infection of both the whitefly and the plant did. In addition, the data in [Fig. 2o](#f2){ref-type="fig"} indicate that virus infection of the whitefly *per se* did not significantly reduce the time from 1^st^ E1 to 1^st^ E2, but the infection of both the whitefly and the plant did.
Discussion
==========
In this study, two sets of experiments were conducted. In the first set of experiments, we observed the feeding behaviour of TYLCCNV-viruliferous and non-viruliferous whiteflies on cotton, a non-host of the virus. This set-up enabled us to exclude effects of the virus-infection of the plant[@b41] and thereby discern the effects of virus-infection of the whitefly *per se* on the vector feeding behaviour. However, because the plant is a non-host of the virus, the elements of feeding behavior of the whiteflies observed on this plant may deviate from those on a host plant of the virus.
In the second set of experiments, we observed the feeding behaviour of TYLCCNV-viruliferous whiteflies on TYLCCNV-infected and uninfected tobacco, a host of TYLCCNV, plus a treatment of non-viruliferous whiteflies feeding on uninfected tobacco. We did not include a treatment of non-viruliferous whiteflies feeding on TYLCCNV-infected tobacco, because we knew that the non-viruliferous whiteflies would soon and mostly become TYLCCNV-infected during the course of the 8 h observation, as indicated by the virus-acquisition data with the same species by Jiu et al.[@b19], and the treatment therefore would not be valid to serve the purpose as intended. Other studies with *Tomato yellow leaf curl virus* (TYLCV) have shown that, once taken up by the whitefly via sap ingestion, the virions can complete their travel loop along the circulative transmission pathway in the vector and reach the salivary glands in a few hours, and the whitefly becomes infective in as short a period as 8 h[@b42][@b43]. We also expected some complication from the treatment of TYLCCNV-infected whiteflies on uninfected plants, because the uninfected plants might become infected with TYLCCNV during the course of the 8 h observation. To help design the treatments, we conducted a preliminary virus transmission trial with one viruliferous adult per plant and an inoculation access period of 8 h, only 6.6% of the plants eventually became infected (n = 15). Studies on begomovirus-plant interactions have shown that, after the virions are secreted into the phloem tissue by the vector, they have to synthesize a sufficient amount of movement-associated proteins in the primary infected cells before they start the systemic, long-distance spread, within the plant; and the time taken from first virus-inoculation to systemic spread and multiplication usually would take several days, the duration of which depends on a number of variables, e.g. the species/strains of the whitefly, virus and plant involved, the virus load of inoculation (i.e., vector density, and virus quantity with each vector insect), and the plant growth stage[@b44]. With the same species of whitefly, begomovirus and plant as those used in this study, Jiu et al. (2006) showed that with one viruliferous adult per plant, 30% of the plants still remained uninfected following an inoculation access period of 48 h. Thus, the plants in this treatment would be largely uninfected by the virus during the 8 h period of observation, especially in regards to their effects on the feeding behaviour of the test vectors. Therefore, comparison between the three treatments in the second set of experiments ([Figs. 1](#f1){ref-type="fig"} and [2](#f2){ref-type="fig"}) would provide valid evidence to disentangle the direct and indirect effects of TYLCCNV on the feeding behaviour of MEAM1, and an integrated comprehension of the data from the two sets of experiments would help further to discern the direct from the indirect effects of the virus on the feeding behaviour of the vector despite the complication that may arise from the use of a non-host of the virus in the first set of experiments.
While the feeding of MEAM1, either TYLCCNV-viruliferous or non-viruliferous, and on either virus-infected or uninfected plants, involves complex behaviour and process as shown by the EPG recordings, the analyses of the treatments in each of the two sets of experiments show clearly that virus-infection of the whiteflies *per se* mostly exerts adverse effects on their feeding, and in contrast, virus-infection of the host plants mostly offers benefits to their feeding and the indirect beneficial effects from the virus-infected plants largely surpass the direct adverse effects ([Tables 1](#t1){ref-type="table"} and [2](#t2){ref-type="table"}; [Figs. 1](#f1){ref-type="fig"} and [2](#f2){ref-type="fig"}). For example, in the first set of experiments, the number of waveform C periods in the viruliferous whiteflies was twice that of non-viruliferous whiteflies ([Table 1](#t1){ref-type="table"}), indicating that the whiteflies, once infected by TYLCCNV, experienced more difficulties in intercellular stylet pathway in order to reach the phloem. This type of obstacles in intercellular stylet pathway was also experienced by the viruliferous whiteflies feeding on uninfected tobacco in the second set of experiments; however, this obstacle was no longer experienced by viruliferous whiteflies once they fed on virus-infected tobacco, and in fact these viruliferous whiteflies reached the phloem tissue significantly sooner than the viruliferous adults feeding on uninfected plants, as indicated by their significantly lower number of waveform C periods ([Fig. 1c](#f1){ref-type="fig"}). Similarly but not identically, in the first set of experiments, viruliferous whiteflies exhibited a significantly shorter average E2 duration than that of non-viruliferous whiteflies ([Table 2](#t2){ref-type="table"}, Parameter 7), indicating that the whiteflies, once infected by TYLCCNV, became less efficient in sustained sap ingestion. And in the second set of experiments, the average E2 duration was not significantly affected by the virus-infection of the whiteflies *per se* but became significantly enhanced once the viruliferous whiteflies fed on virus-infected plants ([Fig. 2l](#f2){ref-type="fig"}).
The reminiscent pathogenic effects of TYLCCN on the feeding behaviour of MEAM1 observed here agree with those recorded from an earlier population study where TYLCCNV-infection of the MEAM1 whitefly *per se* reduced the vector\'s longevity and fecundity[@b9]; as well as a nutritional assimilation-related study where the virus-infection of the whitefly *per se* rendered the vector to assimilate a more imbalanced nutrition[@b37]. Moreover, transcriptome analysis of TYLCCNV-viruliferous and non-viruliferous MEAM1 revealed that genes involved in the immune response, including all of the autophagy genes and most genes associated with lysosome function, in the whitefly are activated in viruliferous individuals, indicating that the whiteflies are mounting a defence against begomovirus invasion[@b31].
The indirect, higher beneficial effects of TYLCCNV on the feeding behaviour of MEAM1 revealed from this study also agree with those reported from earlier population, physiological and behavioural studies, in which whiteflies that fed on virus-infected plants had higher survival and fecundity as well as higher rate of population increase, compared to non-viruliferous whiteflies feeding on uninfected plants[@b9][@b37][@b45][@b46], and whiteflies were more attracted to virus-infected than uninfected plants[@b47]; as well as a nutritional assimilation-related study where whiteflies that fed on TYLCCNV-infected plants assimilated a more balanced nutrition[@b37]. These indirect benefits from the plants were shown to be related to repression of plant defence by the virus[@b35][@b36]. Indeed, MEAM1 whiteflies feeding on TYLCCNV-infected tobacco exhibited a reduced detoxification activity as indicated by the transcriptional profiles of the whiteflies feeding on TYLCCNV-infected and uninfected plants[@b38].
Direct and indirect modifications of vector feeding behaviour are now known as a conserved trait among plant- as well as animal-infecting viruses, that evolved as a mechanism to facilitate virus transmission[@b4][@b7][@b27][@b48][@b49]. Only a few studies have been conducted in this area for the interactions between begomoviruses and whiteflies in the *B. tabaci* species complex[@b23]. Liu et al. (2013) observed the feeding behaviour of MEAM1 as affected by the infection of TYLCV, and found that adults on virus-infected plants exhibited more active probing behaviour and had a higher number of feeding bouts than those on uninfected plants, and viruliferous adults fed more readily and spent more time salivating into sieve tube elements than non-viruliferous adults. Our current observations and records on MEAM1 feeding behaviour as affected by TYLCCNV essentially agree with those reported by Liu et al. (2013), and thus the two studies suggest that the two begomoviruses may exert similar influences on the feeding activities of MEAM1 in many situations. Several other studies have been conducted to observe the feeding behaviour of MED using various techniques including EPG and video recording[@b27][@b28][@b29][@b34]. These studies demonstrate direct as well as indirect modifications of MED feeding behaviour by TYLCV, and generally they agree with each other to show that behavioural modifications, such as more sustained salivation and sap ingestion, confer benefits to virus transmission. Apparent disagreements, however, did occur between studies. For example, Moreno-Delafuente et al. (2013) reported that TYLCV-infection of MED induced arresting behaviour, as viruliferous adults remained motionless longer and moved more slowly than non-viruliferous adults[@b27]. In contrast, Hemayet Jahan et al. (2014) reported that TYLCV-infection of MED caused the adults to be more restless[@b28]. This kind of disagreements is not unexpected, because the interactions between a virus and its vectors may vary with the vector and plant species, even with different strains of the same species[@b23][@b33][@b50]. In addition, the differences in techniques used between studies may result in apparent variation of behaviour[@b27][@b28][@b29]. Although some general patterns may exist, it is now also realized that the tripartite interactions in a given combination of species is dynamic and may vary with a number of internal and external factors such as disease progressing, the age of the vector, and the growth stage of the plant[@b5]. In addition, there may well be hidden players, such as endosymbionts of the organisms, whose roles in the tripartite interactions are barely understood so far[@b51][@b52].
In conclusion, our current study, which employs EPG recordings to observe the whitefly feeding behaviour in detail, reveals differential profiles of direct and indirect modification of vector feeding behaviour by a begomovirus. While the direct modification exerts adverse effects on the vector, the indirect modification via the infection of host plant offers beneficial effects to the vector, and the indirect beneficial effects surpass the direct adverse effects and eventually improve vector fitness. Our results render better understanding of the pathogenic characters of a begomovirus on whiteflies and the indirect mutualism between the vector and virus via host plant. In addition, the new knowledge has the potential to help improve whitefly and begomovirus management.
Methods
=======
Plants, virus and whitefly
--------------------------
Tobacco *Nicotiana tabacum* L. cv. NC89, a host plant of TYLCCNV, and cotton (*Gossypium hirsutum* cv. Zhe-Mian 1793), a non-host of TYLCCNV, were used. Clones of TYLCCNV with its satellite DNA molecules, also known as DNAβ, were used as inocula for tobacco plants[@b53]. To obtain TYLCCNV-infected tobacco plants, plants at 3--4 true-leaf stage were inoculated with TYLCCNV and its associated DNAβ through agroinoculation as previously described[@b53]. Plants were then left to grow for 15 days, and infection status was determined by signs of leaf curling and subsequently confirmed by PCR[@b53]. All plants were maintained in separate insect-proof cages under natural lighting at 26 ± 1°C and 65 ± 10% relative humidity.
The culture of Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1) species (mtCOI GenBank accession no. GQ332577.1) of whitefly was maintained on cotton as previously described[@b9]. Viruliferous and non-viruliferous whiteflies were obtained by rearing the whitefly for two generations on virus-infected and uninfected tobacco plants respectively. In all treatments, we used only female adults, which were 3--5 days post-emergence and mated, in the EPG observation and recording, as previous studies have shown that females and males may differ in behaviour and efficiency of virus transmission[@b43]. Virus-infection was examined using the primers and PCR procedures as described by Cui et al. (2004).
Electrical penetration graph recording of whitefly feeding activities
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An 8-channel DC-EPG device (EPG systems, Wageningen University, The Netherlands) was used to monitor the probing and feeding activities of viruliferous and non-viruliferous whitefly adults on plants. Before wiring the whitefly, plants were prepared and placed in an electrically grounded Faraday cage. The second or third youngest leaf of a plant was fixed on a stick vertically inserted into the pot and supported by a cardboard which is attached to the stick. To facilitate wiring, whitefly adults were maintained for 30 seconds in a finger-tube on an ice-bath. After the adults were immobilized, they were transferred to the cover of a glass dish filled with a layer of minced ice. Then, a gold wire (2 cm in length, 12.5 μm in diameter) was attached to the pronotum of each adult with a small drop of water-based silver glue under the microscope. The opposite end of the gold wire was attached to a thin copper wire with silver glue. The wired adult was subsequently connected to the Giga-8 probe input and placed on the abaxial side of a plant leaf. The adults were left to adapt to the wiring for around 2 h before the start of EPGs recording. EPGs were continuously recorded for 8 h with a fresh adults and a new plant for each replicate of a treatment. Data acquisition was recorded by Stylet+ for Windows software (EPG Systems, Wageningen University, The Netherlands) and data were analyzed with this software after data conversion.
Direct effects of virus infection on whitefly feeding
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To reveal the direct effects of TYLCCNV on whitefly feeding, we observed and compared the EPGs of (1) viruliferous whitefly adults feeding on cotton plants, and (2) non-viruliferous whitefly adults feeding on cotton plants.
Direct and Indirect effects of virus on whitefly feeding via host plant
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We observed the EPGs of (1) non-viruliferous adults feeding on uninfected tobacco, (2) viruliferous adults feeding on uninfected tobacco, and (3) viruliferous adults feeding on virus-infected tobacco. Comparison of the EPGs between the three treatments helps to reveal the indirect effects of virus on whitefly feeding via virus-infected host plants. We did not record EPGs of non-viruliferous adults on virus-infected tobacco, since whiteflies can acquire virus from plant in as short a period as a few minutes[@b25].
Data analysis
-------------
Waveform patterns were categorized as previously described[@b27][@b40]. Seven distinct waveforms were identified in this study: NP; C; pd (potential drops); E1; E2; F and G (See Results section for explanation of terms).
The duration of each waveform was recorded and exported using software PROBE 3.4 (Wageningen University, The Netherlands). In total, 12 non-phloem phase parameters and 10 phloem phase parameters were calculated and compared between treatments. Parameters were calculated for each of the replicates in a treatment and then averaged to derive treatment-level means and standard errors. Prior to analysis, normality and homogeneity of variance were checked. Data were log10 transformed when it did not fit a normal distribution. All statistical analyses were done with IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) and significant differences were tested at the 0.05 level.
For the two treatments with cotton plants designed to reveal the direct effects of virus infection on whitefly feeding, a Student\'s t-test was performed to analyze the data that followed a normal distribution, and the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test was used for comparison when normality was not achieved by log10 transformation.
For the three treatments with tobacco plants designed to reveal the direct as well as the indirect effects of virus on whitefly feeding, a two-way analysis of variance was performed to discern the effects of whitefly infection status (viruliferous versus non-viruliferous whitefly), plant infection status (virus-infected versus uninfected), and their interactions on whitefly feeding behaviour, including non-phloem phase and phloem phase parameters.
Author Contributions
====================
S.S.L. and W.B.H. conceived and designed the research. W.B.H. and J.L. conducted the experiments and analyzed the data under supervision by S.S.L. W.B.H., J.L. and S.S.L. interpreted the results and wrote the paper.
This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No.: 31390421, 31321063), and Agricultural Research Programme of Guangdong Province China (Project No.: 2012A020200015).
{ref-type="table"}; bars represent means ± SEM; different letters above the bars indicate significant difference between treatments (*P* \< 0.05, LSD test).](srep07682-f1){#f1}
{ref-type="table"}; bars represent means ± SEM; different letters above the bars indicate significant difference between treatments (*P* \< 0.05, LSD test).](srep07682-f2){#f2}
###### Non-phloem EPG parameters of non-viruliferous and viruliferous whiteflies probing cotton plants; time is presented in minutes
Parameters Non-viruliferous (n = 25) Viruliferous (n = 29) *P*[a](#t1-fn1){ref-type="fn"}
--------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ ----------------------- --------------------------------
1\. Time prior to 1^st^ probe 34.64 ± 13.32[b](#t1-fn2){ref-type="fn"} 25.21 ± 6.32 0.476
2\. Number of probes 30.95 ± 5.69 68.03 ± 12.29 **0.005**
3\. Total probing time 107.40 ± 10.95 99.53 ± 8.81 0.507
4\. Number of C periods 32.94 ± 5.83 69.06 ± 6.17 **0.012**
5\. Total duration of C 72.49 ± 9.48 52.46 ± 4.84 0.132
6\. Average C duration, with pd but without E1, F and G 2.64 ± 0.41 0.98 ± 0.08 **\<0.001**
7\. Number of probes prior to 1^st^ E1 (1^st^ phloem contact) 22.36 ± 8.94 25.38 ± 8.33 0.507
8\. Number of probes prior to 1^st^ E2 23.45 ± 8.92 26.38 ± 8.34 0.590
9\. Time prior to 1^st^ E1 (total time from start to phloem) 249.50 ± 41.66 310.8 ± 28.84 0.386
10\. Time from first probe to 1^st^ E1 98.84 ± 27.98 231.5 ± 37.29 **0.018**
11\. Total duration of G 23.36 ± 8.86 38.91 ± 8.42 0.257
12\. Total duration of F 27.90 ± 10.75 45.06 ± 7.90 0.139
^a^*P* values calculated using Mann-Whitney U-test; *P* values in boldface are significant at α = 0.05.
^b^Data are expressed as means ± SEM.
###### Phloem EPG parameters of non-viruliferous and viruliferous whiteflies probing cotton plants; time is presented in minutes
Parameters Non-viruliferous Viruliferous *P*[a](#t2-fn1){ref-type="fn"}
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- --------------- --------------------------------
1\. Number of E1 periods 1.64 ± 0.31[b](#t2-fn2){ref-type="fn"} 3.25 ± 0.96 0.178
2\. Average E1 duration 2.49 ± 1.08 1.95 ± 0.51 0.528
3\. Total duration of E1 4.09 ± 1.92 7.74 ± 2.55 0.145
4\. Time from 1^st^ E1 to 1^st^ E2 1.71 ± 0.46 3.92 ± 0.64 **0.026**
5\. Time from1^st^ E1 to 1^st^ sustained E2 4.40 ± 1.47 6.39 ± 2.02 0.230
6\. Number of E2 periods 1.18 ± 0.12 2.75 ± 0.80 0.098
7\. Average E2 duration 88.31 ± 15.70 27.60 ± 8.54 **0.005**
8\. Total duration of E2 periods 100.30 ± 14.59 75.88 ± 17.63 0.529
9\. Number of E phases 2.82 ± 0.35 6.00 ± 1.74 0.193
10\. Total duration of E phases 88.24 ± 16.15 74.08 ± 15.75 0.650
^a^*P* values calculated using Mann-Whitney U-test; *P* values in boldface are significant at α = 0.05.
^b^Data are expressed as means ± SEM.
###### Statistical analysis of non-phloem EPG parameters of non-viruliferous and viruliferous whiteflies probing virus-infected and uninfected tobacco plants
Parameters[a](#t3-fn1){ref-type="fn"} *P* value[a](#t3-fn1){ref-type="fn"}
---------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- ------------- -----------
a\. Time prior to 1^st^ probe 0.746 **\<0.001** 0.573
b\. Number of probes 0.100 **\<0.001** **0.044**
c\. Number of C periods **0.002** **\<0.001** **0.007**
d\. Total probing time 0.419 0.305 0.484
e\. Average C duration 0.604 **0.031** 0.750
f\. Total time from start to 1^st^ E1 0.096 0.761 0.084
g\. Number of probes prior to 1^st^ E1 0.601 **0.010** 0.732
h\. Number of probes prior to 1^st^ E2 0.433 **0.004** 0.437
^a^Parameter codes correspond to panel labels in [Figure 1](#f1){ref-type="fig"}; *P* values were calculated using two-way ANOVA with main effects of whitefly (viruliferous versus non-viruliferous), tobacco (virus-infected and uninfected), and their interaction. *P* values in boldface are significant at α = 0.05.
###### Statistical analysis of phloem EPG parameters of non-viruliferous and viruliferous whiteflies probing virus-infected and uninfected tobacco plants
Parameter[a](#t4-fn1){ref-type="fn"} *P* value[a](#t4-fn1){ref-type="fn"}
-------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- ----------- -----------
i\. Number of E1 periods 0.702 0.358 0.593
j\. Number of E2 periods 0.468 0.339 0.354
k\. Average E1 duration 0.427 0.993 0.355
l\. Average E2 duration 0.446 **0.004** 0.465
m\. Total duration of E1 0.753 0.776 0.693
n\. Total duration of E2 periods 0.074 **0.010** 0.064
o\. Time from 1^st^ E1 to 1^st^ E2 0.067 **0.009** **0.040**
p\. Relative proportion of E1 on E2 0.157 0.394 0.077
^a^Parameter codes correspond to panel labels in [Figure 2](#f2){ref-type="fig"}; *P* values were calculated using two-way ANOVA with main effects of whitefly (non-viruliferous versus viruliferous), tobacco (virus-infected and uninfected), and their interaction. *P* values in boldface are significant at α = 0.05.
[^1]: These authors contributed equally to this work.
| |
Named after alumnus Doug Morton ’62 for his distinguished volunteer leadership at the university, these awards are given annually to recognize individuals for their exceptional service to the Alumni Association and the university through their efforts to connect and engage alumni.
In this issue, we profile four of the seven 2018 award winners. Three additional profiles will appear in the spring 2019 issue.
As a student, Focarino was already making an impact at William & Mary. As chair of the 2011 Senior Class Gift Committee and then the law school’s 3L Class Gift Committee, he led both classes to contribute record-breaking gifts. Since graduation, he has returned to share his expertise as the invited alumni speaker at the university’s winter 2015 graduation ceremony, an invited speaker at the law school, and as a member of the board of directors of William & Mary Libraries. He helps recruit the best and brightest to the law school as an Alumni Admission Ambassador and advocates for the university as an unofficial ambassador on social media, as well as at regional events in New England and California.
Focarino has been instrumental in a number of initiatives to foster a greater sense of inclusion on campus, most notably his work on Charter Day. He is an active fundraiser for many William & Mary causes and encourages others to give through his role as a class ambassador. As a member of the Fourth Century and Bell Cobblestone societies, he is making an impact through not only his engagement but also his generosity.
Ashworth deeply understands the importance of bringing alumni together. She co-chaired her 20th and 25th reunions, was a class reporter for the W&M Alumni Magazine for many years, serves as a class ambassador and is a Bell-Ringing member of the Bell Society. Ashworth was the youngest member ever appointed or elected to the Alumni Association board and served for seven years. She makes new connections and renews relationships through her annual Christmas tea, her wide and varied travels and her willingness to help others.
After leading the Metro D.C. Alumni Chapter to Outstanding Chapter of the Year in 1987, Ashworth moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where she became Charlotte’s alumni admission chair. Her commitment to recruiting the best and brightest to William & Mary has never wavered in her 33 years as part of the Alumni Admission Volunteer Network.
Brockwell constantly expands the William & Mary community by bringing alumni, family and friends into closer relationships with each other and alma mater.
He has a keen understanding of William & Mary’s history and has used his talents to keep improving his alma mater for the future. In 2014, Brockwell wrote the feature story “Pride and Prejudice” for the W&M Alumni Magazine, a moving and expansive look at the experience of LGBTQ students, staff and faculty at William & Mary. He currently serves on the university’s Leadership Advisory Council and previously served as secretary, vice chair and chair of the Young Guarde Council. Brockwell co-chaired his five-year reunion gift committee and serves as a class ambassador. Through it all, he brings creativity, fun, pride in alma mater and a dedication to inclusion.
William & Mary is a family affair for Ridjaneck, whose parents, husband, brother and sister-in-law are also alumni. She continues her family’s commitment to alma mater in her own right.
Ridjaneck loves bringing people together, especially connecting young alumni back to their alma mater. She is a charter member of the Society of 1918 and is an essential collaborator at the School of Education as a member and former chairperson of their development board. She also provided support and guidance to Tri Delta sorority members as Alpha Mu Chapter alumna advisor from 2008 to 2014.
She shows her Tribe Pride proudly in her support of William & Mary Athletics through the Tribe Club, for which she served as peninsula regional president for six years. She helped with the Tribe Club’s local Williamsburg events in the planning stages and also acquired volunteers to ensure the events’ success. Though she now lives in California, Emily is a fixture of the Williamsburg and William & Mary communities alike and is known for her passion and energy.
“William & Mary is my home and William & Mary is my family. As a double legacy, I’ve been getting gifts from William & Mary since I was a little girl, and it truly feels second nature for me to serve this institution,” she says. | https://magazine.wm.edu/issue/2019-winter/leading-through-service.php |
Why vaccines work: an interview with Tracy Yuen
World Immunisation Week aims to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease. This year’s theme is #VaccinesWork, so we sat down with ChildFund Health Advisor Tracy Yuen, to talk about her work to ensure children around the globe have access to what is widely recognised as one of the world’s most successful and cost-effective health interventions.
1. The hopes of the world are now resting on the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. Can you tell us why vaccines are so important in saving lives?
Vaccines are one of the greatest inventions of medicine and public health. They have saved millions of lives of children around the world, in rich countries and poor, while also preventing illness, and lifelong, disease-associated disability.
Unlike medicines that are used to treat disease, vaccines strengthen our immune systems and prevent individuals from falling ill in the first place. This saves money in medical systems and treatment programs and reduces the financial burden on parents who would otherwise need to seek proper healthcare if their child were to contract a disease.
In the communities where ChildFund works, this is really important. Parents are often unable to afford the costs of education or nutritious food, let alone use their savings and take time from work to care for a sick child.
For children, being safe from the myriad of childhood diseases present in the world means their lives are protected, they aren’t missing school due to illness, and they can focus their energies on breaking the cycle of disadvantage and building a better future.
2. ChildFund works with many remote and rural communities in the Asia-Pacific region. What challenges do children and families face in accessing vaccination programs? How do you overcome these obstacles?
In many of the countries where ChildFund works, parents will walk for a whole day to get to a health facility to vaccinate their child. They know how precious this gift of immunity is.
Unfortunately, they can face many barriers in order to protect their children from preventable disease.
In Papua New Guinea (PNG), the health system is so under resourced that mothers will often walk all the way to the nearest health post, only to find a facility struggling with a shortage of both staff and treatment options.
Drug shortages are common in remote and rural areas. As many vaccines come in vials with 10 doses, a healthcare worker in a small, under-resourced facility can be forced to make some difficult decisions. For example, if there are fewer than 10 children in attendance, the health worker may ask parents to return at another time to maximise the doses available and ensure none go to waste.
In theory, there should be sufficient stock in all clinics but, in reality, these workers live with constant drug shortages and must make a call on how to best use their very limited resources for their population in need.
Unfortunately, these shortages can erode trust in the health system and prevent mothers from returning if they feel their time will be wasted. If parents need to pay for transport to and from the clinic, the chances of a repeat visit are even less likely.
In villages located remotely in the mountains, parents often rely on government-led outreach vaccination campaigns. But these too can be unreliable – due to funding shortfalls, a broken vehicle at the health centre, or when vaccine stocks haven’t been replenished.
ChildFund plays an important role in helping parents in rural communities to access healthcare. Our teams work in partnership with district health departments to fill the gaps. This could involve providing portable vaccine coolers and cold chain equipment, or transporting health workers in our cars.
We have also established strong and effective health volunteer networks, which means we can advise communities that an outreach day is coming. With poor mobile coverage in many communities, volunteers usually walk from one household to another. In Laos and Vietnam, this is not always an easy feat as in some villages, houses are situated hills apart; you may not hear from your neighbour for days.
But this communication is incredibly effective and means as many parents as possible know to bring their children to a central village for the day.
3. Are there any traditional or cultural beliefs that make families reluctant to get their children immunised? How do you reassure communities?
I don’t think I’ve come across any traditional beliefs which discourage parents from vaccinating their children, although there are plenty surrounding childbirth. Instead, there are localised rumours that can pop up in response to certain events.
I recall one case where mothers became worried after some children came down with diarrhoea following a vaccination campaign. This had not occurred in any surrounding villages where the vaccine had been administered, so it was more likely that there was a stomach bug going around at the same time.
However, word of mouth can be very powerful, and this became a common concern for that community. The only way we can combat such rumours is by acknowledging the concern and talking to parents and community leaders on why it doesn’t make sense, and instead promoting the benefits of vaccines.
I also recently read about a tragic story during the Samoa measles outbreak. Some parents were reluctant to vaccinate their children because of an earlier event where two babies had died. This wasn’t a reaction against the vaccine; instead the nurses had acted in negligence and mixed the doses with an anaesthetic instead of the correct solution.
But it created a widespread fear that lowered vaccination rates in the country dramatically and led to the outbreak of more than 5,700 cases and over 80 deaths. For a country with a population of around 200,000, these numbers were significant.
4. In recent years, we have seen the re-emergence of polio in PNG, and a measles outbreak in Samoa. What were the causes of these outbreaks?
The reappearance of polio in PNG was a real wake-up call. Vaccination rates and other health indicators had been falling for some time and it really was a ticking bomb waiting to happen.
The lack of investment in PNG’s health system has left large areas of people under-vaccinated, and unfortunately this resulted in what is known as “vaccine derived poliovirus”.
Essentially, there are two forms of the polio vaccine: a ‘live’, orally administered version that is cheap and easy to deliver, and an inactivated “dead” vaccine, delivered through an injection.
The ‘live’ vaccine used in PNG uses a weakened version of the poliovirus that can’t make you sick but provides enough exposure for you to develop immunity. This vaccine gets delivered as a couple of drops in the mouth, makes its way through the body and is then passed out in your stool. Use of this vaccine in the past had led to PNG being declared polio free in 2000.
Unfortunately – and only rarely and in situations where a population is severely under-immunised – the virus can be picked up, spread, and over several generations of passing through unvaccinated individuals, has the potential to mutate back into a virulent form that can paralyse. This is what happened in PNG.
In Australia, we use the inactivated vaccine. It is more expensive and requires a health worker to give you an injection, but doesn’t have this issue.
But because low income countries have poor health systems and can’t afford to mass vaccinate their populations with the inactivated polio vaccine, they are still using the oral one. It is generally very safe and has helped eliminate polio from countless countries, but it still contains a very rare risk that resulted in the emergence of polio in PNG.
5. We are seeing reduced vaccination rates in developed countries, including Australia. How can we encourage more families to vaccinate their children?
The rates of vaccination in Australia are actually really good, at around 95%. It is only in small, specific communities that we are seeing low rates of immunisation. Unfortunately, those pockets create areas of vulnerability and are where you will see sporadic outbreaks of diseases such as whooping cough, which can be life-threatening particularly among newborns.
It can be very hard to change the minds of people who don’t agree with vaccines, so the best thing we can do is to promote overall science literacy and critical thinking among all Australians, both at school and as adults.
We need to encourage people to ask questions and think about what goes into their bodies, but we also need science and health educators to explain how vaccines work, how incredibly effective they are at preventing dangerous diseases, and what little risk they pose in comparison to some of the everyday products and medicines that people routinely take.
Thanks to our high rates of vaccination in Australia, our kids are doubly protected, once through the individual immunity of receiving a shot, as well as protection offered by ‘herd immunity’. This means that because the majority of people around you are immune, you are less likely to encounter a disease. Herd immunity also ensures that individuals who cannot be immunised for medical reasons are kept safe from infection by those who have.
In many of the communities where ChildFund works, there is no herd immunity. Sadly, parents continue to lose their children to preventable disease, and outbreaks can grow rapidly.
But we know that improvements in child health outcomes are possible in all regions of the world. Australia is a great example of how the combination of widespread vaccination campaigns, accessible health information for parents, and a strong health system can relegate many feared childhood diseases – such as polio – to history.
Donate now, and help protect vulnerable communities from COVID-19
ChildFund has adapted our development programs to face the threat of COVID-19 in communities across Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Cambodia, but we need your help.
Donate to our COVID-19 crisis appeal today and help stop the spread among vulnerable communities.
About Tracy Yuen
Tracy is the Health Advisor at ChildFund Australia. Having worked previously in biomedical research, Tracy was involved in the design of vaccines for infectious diseases. She transitioned to public health in 2012, and in her role at ChildFund now provides technical and strategic support to programs covering maternal and child health, nutrition, and water and sanitation across the Asia-Pacific region. | https://www.childfund.org.au/stories/why-vaccines-work-an-interview-with-tracy-yuen/ |
Muscular fitness may be best described as a steadiness of power and endurance. Muscular endurance refers to the potential of the body to repeat actions and resist muscular fatigue. Since the advent of modifying sports for youngsters, there has been numerous sports activities which have been reduced in intensity stage to make them an ideal selection for junior athletes.
One of the major benefits of riding a mountain bike regularly is that with a view to experience your bike you employ a few of largest muscle tissues within the body which in flip will burn off fats shortly. Body composition train tackles obese, obesity and related considerations.
Alongside comparable strains, think about an newbie bodybuilder who spends a large amount of time lifting weights and rising muscle mass, however who neglects his cardiovascular well being and adaptability. It’s found that inactive teenagers have greater ranges of physique fat, decrease levels of health and usually tend to undergo depression. | https://www.bodybuildingandfitnessphotography.com/health-for-life.html |
DAILY PRAYER & YAJNA
Every school day begins with the assembly. This helps in instilling a sense of discipline – of the body and the mind – right at the beginning of the day. Assembly for students is held every morning, which includes daily prayer, pranayama, yajna and meditation as according to schedule. Students from Class NURSERY to Class VIII, congregate on the school ground in an orderly manner.
OUTDOOR EDUCATION
The beautiful natural environments of the school experience the great outdoors. Treks into the surrounding hills, camping, camel safari, jungle safari, educational visits, field-trips-all features are in our calendar.
A portion of the school has a farm area, in which different crops are sown according to season by the appointed farmers through farm machinery. By this the student will practically gain the knowledge of “role of agriculture in our life” in deeper sense.
YOGA & EXCERCISE
Yoga is the integral part of our curriculum as an extremely essential feature to help a child of the 21st Century cope with the pressures of expectations-physically, mentally and spiritually and to develop good sanskars.
MUSIC, ART & DRAMA
Art & Craft Classes: Dayanand Paradise has scheduled art and craft classes, which is designed to cater to all sorts of art and craft activities such as drawing, painting, clay modeling, sculpting, woodwork, pottery and many more activities for the students.
Music Room: We also have Indian and western music studio is fully equipped with all the Indian musical instruments such as the Harmonium, Tabla, Sitar and an excellent audio system, modern musical instruments such as the keyboard, congo, guitar and many more.
SPORTS
At Dayanand Paradise, students learn to free their mind and appreciate the uniqueness of individuals through a host of team games- cricket, football, volleyball and skating to name a few. To nurture individuality other sporting activities such as martial arts, table tennis, lawn tennis, badminton, horse riding(on demand) are also available. Inter-House and Inter-School games fixtures strengthen the mind, body and spirit of young students.
S.U.P.W.
Boys and Girls of Grade 3 up are, on Saturday, involved in different projects ascribed under Socially Useful Productive Work. These include weather reporting, audio visual squad, compost pits, first aid and rural development – services that help our scholars organize and execute co-operative projects and acquire skills to mobilize resources for community development. | https://dayanandparadise.com/activities/ |
One of the best times on the beach is early morning. You may spot a runner or two, a few shell collectors, some slow moving coffee drinkers……but mostly the beach is clear. All you’ll hear is the sound of the waves crashing onto the sand….. and the sea birds close to shore.
The lifeguard tower is empty. No need for a rescuer in the early mornings on this beach.
But when the crowds come, the lifeguard stares out at the water. He watches the ocean, looking for the swimmers and the floaters and the heads bobbing up and down with the waves.
When the riptides are dangerous, the lifeguard stands tall in the tower to make sure no one is caught in them. The whistle shrills loudly when he spots a swimmer too far out. He waves the red flag motioning the swimmer to come toward shore. If the swimmer ignores the warning, the lifeguard waves the flag passionately and blows the whistle over and over. Sometimes the lifeguard climbs down the tower and runs to the edge of the water. He waves his flag forcefully while blowing the whistle until the ocean dweller obeys.
He is guarding lives after all. | https://mariegriffith.me/2017/05/03/riptides/ |
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Job reference:
RMS0161692
Fabrication Engineer
Sector:
Oil & Gas
Location:
Dubai
Job type:
Permanent
Date posted:
14/10/2015
Time left:
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The Company:
Our Client currently has an urgent requirement for a Fabrication Engineer to join them on a permanent basis in Dubai.
Reporting directly to Manager - Fabrication, Responsible for the coordination of Production for a project(s). Follow structural build strategy, plan and develop outfitting sequences and procedures for effective execution of project. Organize and maintain effective information flow in the departments. Report progress to the Manager
The Role:
Responsible for: (The main job activities)
• Planning and maintaining manpower and other resources required for smooth operation of assigned disciplines.
• Complete coordination with all department sub contractors.
• Maintaining and updating Five Week Manpower Plan.
• Identification and planning of training requirements for assigned disciplines employees.
• Ensure that the productivity targets are achieved.
• Ensuring that all activities are in line with OHS& E requirements.
• Co-ordination with Project Manager and other departments as per the requirements of the job.
• Liaison with Client in order to ensure that all technical/engineering requirements are met;
• Liaison with Classification Societies regarding the quality requirements of the job.
• Conducting risk assessment and training as required.
• Ensure that the Safety, Quality & Environment requirements of the yard are strictly followed.
• Perform other job related duties as assigned by the section head.
Essential Skills / Qualifications:
Preferred Competencies:
• Degree in Naval Architecture or Mechanical Engineering.
• 5 year experience in shipyard is preferred.
• Experience in similar management position.
• Developed intrapersonal skills.
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Cosmic Rays, Dark Matter, and the Mysteries of the Universe
About this courseSkip About this course
In the Universe, high-energy cosmic rays are violently propagating in space. While we know these cosmic rays come from outside of the solar system, exactly how and where they originate is a mystery.
Professor Shoji Torii from Waseda University and many researchers from around the world, believe that understanding about their origin will help resolve the mysteries of the Universe, such as, supernova remnants, dark matter, and even the Universe’s evolution.
The most widely accepted theory is that high-energy cosmic rays are created by supernova explosions, but there are many other possibilities. Professor Torii hypothesis that these mysterious cosmic rays originate by the annihilation or decay of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPS). That is, they are candidates of dark matter.
To examine this theory and to truly understand where high-energy cosmic rays originate and propagate, Professor Torii, along with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and in collaboration with NASA and the Italian space Agency (ASI) have developed the Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET), now onboard the international space station.
Join us on this course on high-energy cosmic rays and get the latest research findings from the International Space Station to help unravel some of our greatest mysteries. | https://www.edx.org/course/cosmic-rays-dark-matter-and-the-mysteries-of-the-2 |
After much debate about what should be done about sharing of scientific data and source code, practical solutions are still hard to come by. How should the physics community move forward?
9 Citations
A FAIRer future
- Computer ScienceNature Physics
- 2019
Availability of the source code should soon become the minimum standard for academic software. In addition, culture should shift to embrace code review and appropriate credit for the developers of…
Strategic Aspects of Cyber Risk Information Sharing
- Computer ScienceACM Comput. Surv.
- 2017
It is revealed that many theoretical works assume cyber risk information sharing to be beneficial, while empirical validations are often missing, and this provides a consolidated understanding of defenders’ strategies to privately or publicly share information.
MISP: The Design and Implementation of a Collaborative Threat Intelligence Sharing Platform
- Computer ScienceWISCS@CCS
- 2016
The aim of MISP is to help in setting up preventive actions and counter-measures used against targeted attacks, and to Enable detection via collaborative-knowledge-sharing about existing malware and other threats.
Briefing paper on dementia diagnosis
- Medicine
- 2013
The paper explores the diagnosis of dementia, what the current practice is in Ireland and an overview of practices in other parts of the world and based on the evidence, some actions for consideration.
A survey on technical threat intelligence in the age of sophisticated cyber attacks
- Computer ScienceComput. Secur.
- 2018
Data Needs for Modeling Low-Temperature Non-Equilibrium Plasmas: The LXCat Project, History, Perspectives and a Tutorial
- PhysicsAtoms
- 2021
In this review, the historical evolution of the project and some perspectives on its future are discussed together with a tutorial review for using data from LXCat.
Identity, selfhood and dementia: messages for social work
- Psychology
- 2013
Dementia has been identified as a policy priority area for the European Union (EU). Given projected figures on the global increase in dementia over the next few decades, working with people with…
Dementia: challenges for social work education in Europe
- Education, Sociology
- 2017
ABSTRACT Dementia has been identified as a global challenge across the spectrum of health and social care (World Health Organisation. (2012) Dementia: A public health priority. Geneva: WHO). This…
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Incentives for sharing in peer-to-peer networks
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This work considers the free-rider problem that arises in peer-to-peer file sharing networks such as Napster: the problem that individual users are provided with no incentive for adding value to the network, by constructing a formal game theoretic model of the system and analyzing equilibria of user strategies under several novel payment mechanisms.
Towards improved cyber security information sharing
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CDXI provides a knowledge management tool for the cyber security domain whose objectives are to facilitate information sharing, enable automation, and facilitate the generation, refinement and vetting of data through burden-sharing collaboration or outsourcing.
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The authors developed a minimum set of high-level terms, along with a structure indicating their relationship (a taxonomy), which can be used to classify and understand computer security incident information.
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Four aspects of cyber defense collaboration are explored to identify approaches for improving cyber defense information sharing and risk management approaches that have built-in mechanisms for sharing and receiving information, increasing transparency, and improving entity peering relationships.
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An incentive model, which encourages information security stakeholders to share incident information is discussed, and an architectural blueprint is highlighted which is able to support the establishment of the proposed social cyber defense alliances in a real world context, and its applicability is evaluated using agent-based simulations.
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The necessity of information sharing is discussed and guidance is provided on the types of information needing to be shared and a collaborative information sharing framework is proposed that aims to improve community cyber security. | https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A-problem-shared-is-a-problem-halved-Godson/ed22855a1819292cdeb7673ceefc550d72272d3e |
One Fifth of a Second
If we had a bird’s-eye view of the whole day, what would we see the Creator do, starting our 24-hour clock at zero and imagining that midnight is the present moment in time?
Simple forms of life would already be appearing by 2.40 a.m. with single-celled organisms (prokaryotes) flourishing by around 5.20 a.m. The great oceans of the world start to change colour as cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) spread cross the planet. At the same time the genetic code becomes established that will dominate the generation of biological diversity for the remainder of the day.
After this early-morning start, there would then be quite a long wait until single-celled organisms containing nuclei (eukaryotes) become visible around lunchtime. A further seven hours pass before multicellular organisms (living things with more than one cell) start appearing in the sea by 8.15 p.m. About half an hour later the planet changes colour as cyanobacteria and green algae invade the land.
From then on the biological pace picks up and there is a busy evening of observation ahead. The Cambrian explosion starts at 9.10 p.m. and in an amazing three minutes an immense diversity of phyla appear, each with a distinctive body plan, with many of the anatomical features introduced continuing in many of the phyla right up to midnight. Twenty minutes later plants start appearing on land for the first time, followed very soon afterwards by the earliest land animals. At 9.58 p.m. this is followed by the mass extinctions of the Devonian period.
At 10.11 p.m. reptiles start roaming the land, followed half an hour later by the mass extinctions that mark the end of the Palaeozoic period.
By 10.50 p.m. the earliest mammals and dinosaurs are appearing, but five minutes later there is further mass extinction at the start of the Jurassic period.
By 11.15 p.m. archaeopteryx are flapping around and within minutes the sky begins to fill with birds. Another mass extinction occurs at 11.39 p.m. in which the dinosaurs are wiped out.
Just two minutes before midnight hominids start to appear, and a mere three seconds before midnight anatomically modern humans make their entry onto the scene, the whole of recorded human history until now being compressed into less than one-fifth of the second before midnight, the mere blink of a human eyelid.
- Denis Alexander, Creation or Evolution: Do We Have To Choose? | https://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/one_fifth_of_a_second |
Chemistry is part of the curriculum at Wellington College and is offered to students for GCSE and A-Level. It is taught as either an individual subject or as part of a general science course (such as Double Award Science).
Chemistry is taught by subject specialists and the department consists of well-equipped laboratories.
We encourage students to develop their thinking, communication, problem solving and practical skills. This is done using a variety of teaching strategies, class discussions and practical activities.
This year we enjoyed a variety of events in the Chemistry department. Students from year 11 and 12 with a keen interest in Chemistry attended ‘Chemistry at Work Exhibition’ at Queen’s University Belfast. On the 23rd of October we celebrated Mole day by baking cakes – Mole Day commemorates Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 10^23).
GCSE
Chemistry – CCEA
http://www.ccea.org.uk/chemistry/
This is a course leading to the GCSE Chemistry examination. The emphasis is not only on developing both the pupils’ practical skills and techniques but also their understanding of concepts in Chemistry
The areas of Chemistry studied are:
Unit 1: Structures, Trends, Chemical Reactions and Analysis
Written Paper
1 hour 30 mins
35%
Unit 2: Further Chemical Reactions, Organic Chemistry and Materials
Written Paper
1 hour 45 mins
40%
Unit 3: Practical Skills assessed by controlled assessment
25%
A Level
CCEA (1110)
AS Level
Three units are covered in the first year of the course
Unit 1 Basic concepts in physical and inorganic chemistry- including atomic structure, bonding, Periodic Table, redox and titrations.
Unit 2 Organic chemistry and further physical and inorganic chemistry- including hydrocarbons, kinetics, alcohols and IR spectroscopy.
Unit 3 Internal assessment under exam conditions- including planning and practical exercises.
At A2 Level
Three further units are covered in the second year of the course
Unit 4 Periodic trends and further organic, physical and inorganic chemistry- including thermochemistry, equilibria, isomerism and environmental chemistry.
Unit 5 Analytical, transition metals, electrochemistry and further organic chemistry- including nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, catalytic behaviour, chromatography and polymer chemistry.
Unit 6 Internal assessment under exam conditions- including planning and practical exercises.
Careers
Studying chemistry allows you to develop subject-specific and transferable skills which are valued by all employers, meaning your future career doesn’t have to be in a lab…
Job options
Jobs directly related to your degree include:
- Analytical chemist
- Chemical engineer
- Healthcare scientist, clinical biochemistry
- Forensic scientist
- Pharmacologist
- Research scientist (physical sciences)
- Toxicologist
Jobs where your degree would be useful include:
- Chartered certified accountant
- Environmental consultant
- Higher education lecturer
- Patent attorney
- Science writer
- Secondary school teacher
Chemists are considered to have the skills that make them highly employable and can, therefore, almost always find a job, even in tough economic times. Chemists also work in banking, law, publishing and accounting. | https://wellingtoncollegebelfast.org/academic-life/chemistry/ |
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