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My co-authored article in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology is one of the most cited references during the period between 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2022. Here are the details:
Lisa Yeomans and Mark Jonathan Beech. 2000. An aid to the identification of fish bones from southeast Arabia: The influence of reference collections on taxonomic diversity. 2020. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 31(1): 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2920
[The Supporting Information can be downloaded here. This includes 60 higher resolution versions of the illustrations of fish bones featured in the paper, as well as lists providing details of the size of the reference fish and the location of the reference specimen, a summary of published data of teleost fish bones from archaeological sites in SE Arabia, as well as a list of resources useful for identifying fish bones from south-east Arabia.]
Abstract:
Identification of fish bones from archaeological sites in southeast Arabia is challenging because of high taxonomic diversity, comparatively few reference collections with a wide range of species, as well as access to these resources. This paper provides illustrations of bones from many common taxonomic groups of fish from the southeast Arabia including several species of fish identified in very few assemblages, probably because of the lack of comparative reference material. This is a guide to aid other analysts in the identification process. We also consider the effect of reference collection size on the taxonomic diversity of analysed fish bone assemblages and conclude that research would benefit by the publication of further identification guides. Ideally these should include differences between closely related species, as this has a significant impact on the taxonomic diversity of archaeo-ichthyological assemblages. Although many papers are devoted to the influence of sample size, recovery method or recording protocols on the taxonomic diversity of faunal assemblages, a similar discussion on the effect of the reference collection used is often overlooked. | https://www.markbeech.com/index.php/top-cited-article-2021-2022/ |
A lack of physical activity among teenagers has been linked to an increased risk of developing some, but not all, mental health disorders in young adulthood, according to a new study.
Increased physical activity will protect teenagers against developing mental disorders including depression, according to a new study.
Published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research – Elsevier, the study examined 3493 youths who took part in the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy, a longitudinal study.
Led by Dr Shuichi Suetani from the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, the study looked at the physical activity of a group of 14-year-olds and their mental health outcomes at 21.
‘We found a link between the group of 14-year-olds who had no engagement in physical activity and an increased likelihood of diagnosis with a mood disorder like depression, but not with anxiety disorders or substance use disorders at the age of 21,’ Dr Suetani said.
‘This is consistent with previous research indicating that a lack of physical activity is linked to a later risk of depression.
‘From a biological perspective, this may be because physical activity reduces inflammation which has been linked to depression in teenagers.’
Dr Suetani said physical activity also creates opportunities for increased social interaction and the development of social skills, while offering a good strategy for coping with stress.
‘Other benefits include improved self-esteem which may help create resilience among those with higher levels of physical activity,’ he said. ‘The findings show that teenagers who do not engage in physical activity during this developmental phase may be at an elevated risk of developing mood disorders later in life.’
However, Dr Suetani told newsGP the study is not conclusive, as there was no data about pre-existing mental illness or family history of mental illness in the 14-year-olds.
The younger group was asked to fill in a questionnaire called ‘Youth Self Report’, while the 21-year-olds did a ‘Young Adult Self Report’ measuring emotional and behavioural problems. However, the older cohort was also asked additional questions that would allow for a mental health diagnosis.
‘We couldn’t really tell if people had diagnosed mental illness at aged 14,’ Dr Suetani said.
‘We used a different measure that kind of estimates, but it is not the same as [having a diagnosis] with mental illness.’
Dr Suetani said there is a need for a more detailed study involving a larger group, as well as more objective measures of physical activity, as people often over-estimated their exercise levels.
Dr Suetani said the study also found that teenagers who engage in a high level of physical activity are at greater risk of increased alcohol use as young adults.
‘Our results suggest that teenage girls who engaged in physical activity were particularly vulnerable to developing substance use disorder, like potential alcohol issues, later on,’ he said. ‘I don’t know why it came up. It could be that alcohol use is prevalent, especially in teen sports culture.’
The study will be presented to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) annual congress from 13–17 May in Auckland. | https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/study-links-lack-of-teen-physical-activity-to-poor?feed=RACGPnewsGPArticles |
Captain Suzann Redeker earned a Bronze Star for valor, one of the highest honors given by the Marine Corps. As leader of a FET—a female engagement team that patrolled in a combat zone—she took out four Taliban insurgents, but not before losing a soldier under her command and sustaining an injury that ended her military career. Now back home in rural Vermont, she’s forced to chart a new life as a civilian. What better way to do that than to fall in love with a woman who worships her for her courage and sacrifice?
From their very first kiss, Marleigh Anderhall knew Zann was the woman she was meant to marry. Valiant, dashing—the shining warrior she’d always dreamed would sweep her off her feet.
They have all they could ever want…a home they’ve built together and a love that grows stronger every day. It’s an idyllic life, until Zann discovers something about that fateful day in Afghanistan that calls into question her very identity. Would Marleigh still love her if she wasn’t the hero everyone thought her to be? | https://kgmacgregor.com/2017/04/27/moment-of-weakness/ |
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Summary
The primary focus of the estimator is to scope, sell and estimate a complete repair estimate.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
Secondary Responsibilities
Supervisory Responsibilities
This job has no supervisory responsibilities.
Competencies
To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:
Continuous Learning – Assesses own strengths and weaknesses; seeks feedback to improve performance; pursues training and development opportunities; strives to continuously build knowledge and skills; shares expertise with others.
Job Knowledge – Competent in required job skills and knowledge; exhibits ability to learn and apply new skills; keeps abreast of current developments; requires minimal supervision; displays understanding of how job relates to others; uses resources effectively.
Use of Technology – Demonstrates required skills; adapts to new technologies; troubleshoots technological problems; uses technology to increase productivity; keeps technical skills up to date.
Customer Service – Manages difficult or emotional customer situations; responds promptly to customer needs; solicits customer feedback to improve service; responds to requests for service and assistance; meets commitments.
Managing Customer Focus – Promotes customer focus; establishes customer service standards; provides training in customer service delivery; monitors customer satisfaction; develops new approaches to meeting customer needs.
Oral Communication – Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; listens and gets clarification; responds well to questions; demonstrates group presentation skills; participates in meetings.
Teamwork – Balances team and individual responsibilities; exhibits objectivity and openness to others’ views; gives and welcomes feedback; contributes to building a positive team spirit; puts success of team above own interests; able to build morale and group commitments to goals and objectives; supports everyone’s efforts to succeed.
Written Communication – Writes clearly and informatively; edits work for spelling and grammar; varies writing style to meet needs; presents numerical data effectively; able to read and interpret written information.
Cost Consciousness – Works within approved budget; develops and implements cost saving measures; contributes to profits and revenue; conserves organizational resources.
Adaptability – Adapts to changes in the work environment; manages competing demands; changes approach or method to best fit the situation; able to deal with frequent change, delays, or unexpected events.
Dependability – Follows instructions, responds to management direction; takes responsibility for own actions; keeps commitments; commits to long hours of work when necessary to reach goals.; completes tasks on time or notifies appropriate person with an alternate plan.
Initiative – Volunteers readily; undertakes self-development activities; seeks increased responsibilities; takes independent actions and calculated risks; looks for and takes advantage of opportunities; asks for and offers help when needed.
Planning/Organizing – Prioritizes and plans work activities; uses time efficiently; plans for additional resources; sets goals and objectives; organizes or schedules other people and their tasks; develops realistic action plans.
Qualifications To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Education and/or Experience
Bachelor’s degree from four-year college or university; or one to two years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Language Skills
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
Mathematical Skills
Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume. Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry.
Reasoning Ability
Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
Computer Skills
To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, Outlook, Internet Explorer) Word Processing software. Microsoft Project. Specialty Software: PSA, Xactimate Estimating Software
Certificates, Licenses, Registrations
N/A
Physical Demands The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to sit. The employee is occasionally required to stand and walk.
Work Environment The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. | https://www.accuratepropertyrestoration.com/job/construction-estimator/ |
1 kilohm, usually written as 1K, is 1,000Ω. 1 megohm, usually written as 1M or 1 meg, is 1,000K. 1 gigaohm is 1,000 megs, although the unit is rarely used. Resistances of less than 1Ω are uncommon and are usually expressed as a decimal number followed by the Ω symbol. The term milliohms (thousandths of an ohm) is used in special applications. Equivalent resistor values are shown in the following figure.
Equivalent values in ohms, kilohms, and megohms.
A resistance value remains unchanged in DC and AC circuits, except where the AC reaches an extremely high frequency.
In common electronics applications, resistances usually range from 100Ω to 10M. Power ratings may vary from 1/16 watt to 1000 watts, but usually range from 1/8 watt to 1/2 watt in most electronic circuits (less in surface-mount applications).
Tolerance Value Of Resistor
The tolerance, or precision, of a resistor may range from plus-or-minus 0.001% up to plus-orminus 20%, but is most commonly plus-or-minus 1%, 2%, 5%, or 10%.
The traditional range of resistor values was established when a tolerance of 20% was the norm. The values were spaced to allow minimum risk of a resistor at one end of its tolerance range having the same value as another resistor at the opposite end of its tolerance range. The values were rounded to 10, 15, 22, 33, 47, 68, and 100, as illustrated in the following figure where each blue diamond represents the possible range of actual values of a 20% resistor with a theoretical value shown by the white horizontal line at the center of the diamond.
Graphical representation of standard resistor values (white lines) established by the International Electrotechnical Commission, showing the acceptable range of actual values (dark blue areas) assuming precision of plus-or-minus 20%. The overlap, if any, between each range and the next is shown in black.
Resistor factors repeat themselves in multiples of 10. Thus, for example, beginning with a resistor of 100Ω, subsequent increasing values will be 150, 220, 330, 470, 680, and 1K, whereas the range of resistors beginning with 1Ω will be 1.5, 2.2, 3.3, 4.7, 6.8, and 10Ω.
Resistance multiplication factors are now expressed as a list of preferred values by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in their 60063 standard. Intermediate factors have been added to the basic sequence to accommodate better tolerances. A table showing resistor values for tolerances of plus-orminus 20%, 10%, and 5% appears in the following figure. Resistors with a tolerance of 5% have become increasingly common.
Standard values for resistors of different precisions. For resistors outside the range shown, values can be found by multiplying or dividing (repeatedly, if necessary) by a factor of 10.
The IEC has established 3-digit preferred values for resistors with values accurate to plus-orminus 0.5%.
Value Coding Of Resistor
Through-hole axial resistors are traditionally printed with a sequence of three colored bands to express the value of the component, each of the first two bands representing a digit from 0 through 9, while the third band indicates the decimal multiplier (the number of zeroes, from 0 to 9, which should be appended to the digits). A fourth band of silver or gold indicates 10% or 5% tolerance respectively. No fourth band would indicate 20% tolerance, although this has become very rare.
Many resistors now have five color bands, to enable the representation of intermediate or fractional values. In this scheme, the first three bands have numeric values (using the same color system as before) while the fourth band is the multiplier. A fifth band, at the opposite end of the resistor, indicates its tolerance.
In the following figure the numeric or multiplier value of each color is shown as a “spectrum” at the top of the figure. The tolerance, or precision of a resistor, expressed as a plus-or-minus percentage, is shown using silver, gold, and various colors, at the bottom of the figure.
Color coding of through-hole resistors
Two sample resistors are shown. The upper one has a value of 1K, indicated by the brown and black bands on the left (representing numeral 1 followed by a numeral 0) and the third red band (indicating two additional zeroes). The gold band at right indicates a precision of 5%. The lower one has a value of 1.05K, indicated by the brown, black, and green bands on the left (representing numeral 1 followed by numeral 0 followed by a numeral 5) and the fourth band brown (indicating one additional zero). The brown band at right indicates a precision of 1%.
In extremely old equipment, resistors may be coded with the body-tip-dot scheme, in which the body color represents the initial digit, the end color represents the second digit, and a dot represents the multiplier. The numeric identities of the colors is the same as in the current color scheme.
In all modern schemes, the three or four bands that show the resistance value are spaced close together, while a larger gap separates them from the band that shows the tolerance. The resistor value should be read while holding the resistor so that the group of closely-spaced numeric bands is on the left.
Confusingly, some resistors may be found where the first three bands define the value, using the old three-band convention; the fourth band indicates tolerance; and a fifth band at the opposite end of the component indicates reliability. However, this color scheme is uncommon. Other color-coding conventions may be found in special applications, such as military equipment.
It is common for through-hole carbon-film resistors to have a beige body color, while throughhole metal-film resistors often have a blue body color. However, in relatively rare instances, a blue body color may also indicate a fusible resistor (designed to burn out harmlessly like a fuse, if it is overloaded) while a white body may indicate a non-flammable resistor. Use caution when replacing these special types.
Some modern resistors may have their values printed on them numerically. Surface-mount resistors also have digits printed on them, but they are a code, not a direct representation of resistance. The last digit indicates the number of zeroes in the resistor value, while the preceding two or three numbers define the value itself. Letter R is used to indicate a decimal point. Thus a 3R3 surface-mount resistor has a value of 3.3Ω, while 330 would indicate 33Ω, and 332 indicates 3,300Ω. A 2152 surface-mount resistor would have a value of 21,500Ω.
A surface-mount resistor with a single zero printed on it is a zero ohm component that has the same function as a jumper wire. It is used for convenience, as it is easily inserted by automated production-line equipment. It functions merely as a bridge between traces on the circuit board.
When resistor values are printed on paper in schematics, poor reproduction may result in omission of decimal points or introduction of specks that look like decimal points. Europeans have addressed this issue by using the letter as a substitute for a decimal point so that a 5.6K resistor will be shown as 5K6, or a 3.3M resistor will be shown as 3M3. | http://electricalnote.com/the-value-of-resistor/ |
Houston, TX (April 12, 2022) – Landscape Architecture firms in the United States are leading an evolving initiative to engage their Ukrainian counterparts displaced by the war. The idea is for US-based companies to hire Ukrainian designers to work remotely, providing them with much-needed income, and also some agency over their lives during this difficult time.
Kinder Baumgardner, Managing Principal of SWA Houston and one of the initiative’s leaders, explained, “My team in Houston has been researching and contacting landscape architects and urban designers either located in Ukraine or displaced by the war… it’s an opportunity for the U.S. Landscape Architecture community to help a few people in a very real and tangible way that will raise their spirits, give them something to focus on other than war, and see firsthand that they are not alone.”
“The commitment feels personal. Many of the candidates that we are speaking with are women with families that have left their spouses, fathers, and brothers behind to fight. While some candidates have relocated to the west, others are still located in difficult situations and have families unable to leave the war zone. Having spoken to many of them, their stories are heart wrenching … they are ready and willing to work with us and see it as part of the resistance to the invasion of their country.”
Shelest, Vyshhorod, Kiev, design by architects YODEZEEN studio:
photo courtesy of architects office
SWA’s Houston studio has engaged seven Ukrainian designers as “contract” employees so far, and would very much like to see other firms do the same. SWA has held information sessions with interested firms and related professional associations to advance the program, including the introduction of a database of potential candidates along with some practical techniques for hiring and working with them.
Anna Kulvanovska, a Ukrainian landscape architect who escaped the country and is now working with SWA, expressed appreciation about the engagement. “It’s been good to focus on this part of life and the connection with others. I am enjoying the project work—the brainstorming, the exchange of ideas, work culture, and design culture. Life in Ukraine will never be the same, and of course we are angry and upset and want to rebuild our cities. It’s affirming for us to be connected to the broader professional community, and it makes a difference for us individually.”
“Some firms are keeping it fairly simple and using Ukrainian designers on a task by task basis … others are remotely embedding them into their office culture. We have found that you just have to take the first step of reaching out to someone on the list, chat with them about their expertise and situation … and then just give it a try. Some have refugee status in neighboring countries, others remain in Ukraine … all are motivated to make this work, extremely resilient in the face of so much uncertainty, and immensely grateful for the opportunity,” says Baumgardner.
In addition to SWA, site design group, ltd. (site), a 40-person landscape architecture and urban design firm based in Chicago, has also reached out to and engaged with Ukrainian designers since the initiative was launched. They are currently working with one individual designer on a full-time basis, and a 24-person firm, contracted on a monthly basis. A goal of the arrangement is to allow the Ukrainian designers to serve as an extension of site’s team, providing design, rendering, and visualization assistance.
“When we heard about the initiative that SWA was leading, we knew immediately that we had to participate. It is a great way to first and foremost, contribute to some semblance of normalcy for these Ukrainian designers who are facing unimaginable circumstances, while simultaneously opening new connections, meeting new collaborators, and alleviating the extra workload our firm – like many others – has been facing,” says Brad McCauley, Managing Principal at site.
“The process has been straightforward and easy to navigate, as we’ve been able to utilize a lot of the infrastructure and communication tools that we, like many other firms, had already mastered through the Pandemic and collaboration with remote team members. The designers we have connected with are very talented, and eager to start collaborating. We are thrilled to be participating in this outstanding initiative and to have come up with a mutually beneficial agreement so quickly.”
Many other firms, such as Olin, Civitas, EDSA, OJB, TBG, Sasaki, and Gensler have expressed interest in participating in the program, and SWA and site are committed to sharing their experiences with anyone who is interested to help progress the initiative. The Landscape Architecture Foundation and ASLA have also been supporting the effort.
This is an important opportunity for the U.S. Landscape Architecture community to come together and provide assistance that is orders of magnitude larger than the associated cost and effort. In the process everyone will have an opportunity to meet and work with some amazing people.
Interested in learning more? Email nqureshi(at)swagroup.com to gain access to the database or to speak with an SWA leader about this initiative.
About SWA Group
SWA is a world-renowned landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm celebrated for its creativity, responsiveness, and design excellence. Our work gives new life to outdoor spaces at multiple scales – from public plazas to waterfronts to entire city districts – harnessing natural systems while enhancing the unique characteristics of each setting. SWA has studios in Dallas, Houston, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Sausalito and Shanghai. For more information, please visit www.swagroup.com.
About site design group, ltd.
site design group, ltd. (site) is a nationally award-winning landscape architecture and urban design firm based in Chicago, Illinois. As landscape architects, urban designers, planners, arborists, architects, and creative thinkers, we are a staff of 41 diverse and innovative professionals. We are enlivened by our surroundings and strive to produce creative spaces that inspire, restore, and bring communities together. Throughout our 32 years in business, we have made our name for our innovation in landscape architecture, commitment to design excellence, and community-based approach. Learn more about site at: www.site-design.com. | https://www.e-architect.com/ukraine/hire-ukrainian-landscape-architects-displaced-by-war |
Lab Report Guidelines
The purpose of the lab report is to convey information about what you have accomplished during your experiment, just as it would if you were in a laboratory after graduation. The lab report is your opportunity to show the lab instructor what you have learned, but it is also practice for composing professional technical reports later on. Because of this, there are some things to keep in mind that will help you out when your report is graded.
Make your lab report easy to follow. Show how you get from one statement to the next. If a value is particularly important, put a box around it. Don't go overboard! We're not looking for reams of paper here; in fact, the shortest reports are often the best reports. Just make sure that someone who hasn't done the lab can understand what you did and how you did it. Including the correct material is required and will gain points, but we do not count off for including extraneous stuff.
Believe in your data. Contrary to popular opinion, grades are not assigned exclusively, or even predominantly, on how close the value obtained agrees with the one in "the back of the book". If you are supposed to verify a law of nature, and you end up disproving it, that's fine, provided that you say that you disprove it. If however, you cannot verify it, but say that you can, we can only assume that you didn't understand the experiment. If your results are completely different than established values, then you have probably measured or calculated something incorrectly.
Many times, questions about the experiment are scattered around the manual. Answering them is appropriate. Please use complete sentences! "The magnetic field of the Earth causes the electrons to bend to the left, i.e. counterclockwise", is a much better answer than just "left" or "no". Remember, the purpose of the lab report is to convey information and your reader does NOT have access to these questions nor would he know which question you are answering. These questions are included to allow you to check your comprehension and are not intended to be a weekly test. The answers often provide ideas to write about in your report.
Follow a well thought-out format for your lab write-up. We don't expect something publishable in the Physics Review Letters, but on the other hand, we don't expect four pages of stream-of-consciousness writing either. A sample format follows:
Title
Tell us what your experiment is.
Author Credits
Tell us your name and your partner(s) name(s).
Purpose
Tell us what your are trying to prove. If the purpose isn't immediately obvious, you might want to wait until you've finished the experiment.
Apparatus and Procedure
Tell us what you are measuring and how you are measuring it. This is not supposed to be a word-for-word copy of the lab manual; instead it should be much shorter (maybe half a page). The procedure is not meant to indicate the mathematical techniques use to obtain the final answer. It should not include phrases like "divide by the square of the mass and the sine of the angle" but a concise reference to analysis software when used is recommended. Generally, you should say such things as "We used a Fluke 87-5 multimeter to measure the voltages and currents in Table 2 and in Figure 3." Such forward references to your Data section are efficient and help tie your reports together. If the reader needs more details, he can consult Fluke for the specifications on their model 87-5. Sometimes a few words and/or an illustration of how the items are connected and interact are essential. Each item in your apparatus should be a noun somewhere in your Procedure.
Data
Data are what you measure! It's vital that your reader be told the difference between directly measured quantities and derived quantities. If your table contains both kinds of numbers, make sure that the caption makes this distinction. Also, most physical observables have units: 75 cm, 45 Joules, 23 degrees, etc. Without units, the number alone is meaningless because the units provide the scale. Put the units in the legend on top of the column, e.g. "length (cm)"; do not follow every number with a symbol. Contrarily, measurement uncertainties might vary from entry to entry and should be placed after the measurements. If a column has a common uncertainty, specify it only once (near the top).
Sample Calculations
One example calculation from each group of calculations is sufficient. These are physics labs and not algebra quizzes. We recommend allowing the computer to do the calculations, but you should always check one example with your calculator to be sure the formula(s) were entered correctly. In 1-2 labs your instructor will ask that you determine the uncertainties in these calculated quantities as instructed in Error Analysis, but most of the time we will skip this step.
Results
Results are the values calculated from the measured data. It may be convenient to combine them in the same data table as the data, but make sure that the distinction between measurements and calculations is apparent. Like data, most of the results have units, so your column legend should have these units clearly specified. Graphs and such should be included in this section. Make sure graphs are large enough to discern all of their important features. A good strategy is to reduce the graph's size in the analysis software before copying it to Word. When you enlarge the graph in Word, the text is enlarged also. Other software allows you to specify the font face and size. Experiment if necessary until you get it right.
Analysis
Analysis and Conclusions are by far the most important parts of the lab, and are graded accordingly. In Analysis we want to figure out what our data have demonstrated. First, do our data fit the model curve(s) on the graph(s)? This would strongly indicate that the equation(s) used to draw the model curve(s) are supported by the data. Second, do the parameters used to draw the model curve conform to the values used to collect your data? To answer this question we will use statistics as described in Section 2.9 of the instruction manual.
Third, what assumptions are required for the model to be valid? Are you sure that all of these are met? How might the apparatus' environment affect your data? Are there forces (or other effects) present that we have neglected? Investigate these to see whether one or more of them might explain your discrepancy. Is it likely that you have underestimated your measurement uncertainties? How might these "other error sources" affect your data relative to the model(s) under test? (Some instructors prefer that this appear in Conclusions.)
Conclusions
First, write down important measured results. For example, "We measured the acceleration due to the Earth's gravity and found it to be 9.9+/-0.3 m/s2." With this you should mention whether or not your value is consistent with theoretical predictions or other measurements. In this example our agreement with the standard g=9.8 m/s2 is better than one sigma.
In the above case, since the accepted value lies within the uncertainty of the measure value, we agree with "the back of the book". Do not express agreement as a relative error! This is fine for high school physics, but is very misleading in professional research. We will keep up with how well we know our data (using uncertainties) and we will use this knowledge to establish how well our data should agree. Doing otherwise assumes that there is an accepted value that we are 100% certain of (seldom the case) and second, it can make results that are perfectly fine appear faulty. In the above example, we have a relative error of 1% even though we confirmed the accepted value to the best of our ability.
Of course, there might be some reasons for some deviation from the accepted value. If so, list them and briefly explain why they throw off the results, and if you can, estimate the magnitude and direction that these effects have on your result. (Does this tip your results up or down? Enough to be measured?) Be careful! If your measurements of energy are higher than the accepted value, losing energy due to friction is not a good source of error. Although it is likely present, it makes your agreement worse and thus is NOT your primary source of error. (Many instructors prefer that this appear in Analysis.)
Review
As you are writing your Conclusions, it might pay to glance at the Purpose of the lab. Did you succeed in what you set out to do? Why or why not? Conversely, you might look in your Conclusions for ideas to write in your Purpose. Also review your Data and Results for measured physical constants that are worth emphasizing in Conclusions. Pick the best one that YOU measured to mention prominently.
Mention anything else that you have learned from the lab, even if it doesn't seem to be directly relevant. For example, noticing that Teledeltos paper might be useful in sending pictures by teletype wire. If someone is paying so much attention to the lab that they notice this sort of thing, this will reflect in their grade as bonus points. On the other hand, this is not at all mandatory. Most labs are very straightforward with no hidden meaning at all, but, if you see a potential application for an item, a strategy, or a result, this indicates that you have been paying attention.
Finally, what might you suggest as improvements to the lab to gather better data or to eliminate some sources or error?
One of the instruction manual appendices also details instructions for reports that mirror those above. There are a few differences in preferred placement of various material, but both formats require the same material. This is to convey that each journal has its specific format, but all formats contain the same information. Your instructor might prefer yet another subtle variation. Pay attention to his requests and warnings because it might eventually cost you points. | http://groups.physics.northwestern.edu/lab/lab-report.html |
Gestational diabetes mellitus: does an effective prevention strategy exist?
The overall incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing worldwide. Preventing pathological hyperglycaemia during pregnancy could have several benefits: a reduction in the immediate adverse outcomes during pregnancy, a reduced risk of long-term sequelae and a decrease in the economic burden to healthcare systems. In this Review we examine the evidence supporting lifestyle modification strategies in women with and without risk factors for GDM, and the efficacy of dietary supplementation and pharmacological approaches to prevent this disease. A high degree of heterogeneity exists between trials so a generalised recommendation is problematic. In population studies of dietary or combined lifestyle measures, risk of developing GDM is not improved and those involving a physical activity intervention have yielded conflicting results. In pregnant women with obesity, dietary modification might reduce fetal macrosomia but in these patients, low compliance and no significant reduction in the incidence of GDM has been observed in trials investigating physical activity. Supplementation with probiotics or myoinositol have reduced the incidence of GDM but confirmatory studies are still needed. In randomized controlled trials, metformin does not prevent GDM in certain at-risk groups. Given the considerable potential for reducing disease burden, further research is needed to identify strategies that can be easily and effectively implemented on a population level.
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Second language (L2) speech is typically less fluent than native speech, and differs from it phonetically. While the speech of some L2 English speakers seems to be easily understood by native listeners despite the presence of a foreign accent, other L2 speech seems to be more demanding, such that listeners must expend considerable effort in order to understand it. One reason for this increased difficulty may simply be the speaker’s pronunciation accuracy or phonetic intelligibility. If a L2 speaker’s pronunciations of English sounds differ sufficiently from the sounds that native listeners expect, these differences may force native listeners to work much harder to understand the divergent speech patterns. However, L2 speakers also tend to differ from native ones in terms of fluency – the degree to which a speaker is able to produce appropriately structured phrases without unnecessary pauses, self-corrections or restarts. Previous studies have shown that measures of fluency are strongly predictive of listeners’ subjective ratings of the acceptability of L2 speech: Less fluent speech is consistently considered less acceptable (Ginther, Dimova, & Yang, 2010). However, since less fluent speakers tend also to have less accurate pronunciations, it is unclear whether or how these factors might interact to influence the amount of effort listeners exert to understand L2 speech, nor is it clear how listening effort might relate to perceived quality or acceptability of speech. In this dissertation, two experiments were designed to investigate these questions.
Recommended Citation
Lin, Mengxi, "THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACOUSTIC FEATURES OF SECOND LANGUAGE SPEECH AND LISTENER EVALUATION OF SPEECH QUALITY" (2015). Open Access Dissertations. 1310. | https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1310/ |
This volume questions the idea that the nation-state is the only available form of community, and challenges its hegemonic control over forms of socio-cultural belonging. The contributions here explore cross-cultural and transnational encounters which highlight narratives that escape the neat boundaries constructed by nationalities. They complicate our understanding of peoples and groups and the varying spaces they inhabit by allowing narratives that have been made invisible, due to hegemonic national control, to emerge. This volume throws light on moments of cultural encounters in the Global South, specifically South Asia, South-east Asia, West Asia, and Latin America, exploring what happens when diverse communities come together to challenge the notion that claiming national identity is the only acceptable mode of being, belonging, and existing in the world. In doing so, the book reveals other radically innovative forms of attaining cohesion and identity.
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 9781527540187
Number of pages: 194
Dimensions: 212 x 148 mm
Edition: Unabridged edition
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In This Section
Under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994, as a private landowner you have a legal responsibility to control weeds on your property. You must take reasonable steps to remove regionally prohibited weeds and to prevent the growth and spread of regionally controlled weeds on any land owned by you. For a list of Victoria's declared noxious weeds, visit declared noxious weeds.
Macedon Ranges, Mount Alexander and Mitchell Shire Councils joined forces to produce a weeds of Central Victoria guide to assist in identifying and controlling weeds.
Visit weed detection on small farms(PDF, 2MB) for a guide on best practice of weed detection and control methods appropriate to small farm owners.
It is illegal to transport noxious weed material without first taking precautions to ensure the vehicle and equipment is free from noxious weed seed. Ensure that you contact the Council’s transfer stations prior to arriving if you are planning to dispose of noxious weeds, as some green waste may not be accepted. Depending on fire and other restrictions, you may be permitted to burn off noxious weeds on your property.
Have a friendly chat with your neighbour about how you can work together to control weeds. If neighbourly negotiation is not possible, the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources has the authority to enforce weed control legislation. Call 136 186 for advice.
Please note, local government has no enforcement powers with respect to noxious weed control on private property.
Council has an annual weed control program which aims to enhance the biodiversity values of the shire's roadsides and manage fire risk, which in turn reduces the spread of noxious weeds.
Residents are advised not to undertake weed control on roadsides unless a permit for environmental works is approved.
To report a weed problem on your roadside, call our Environment team on (03) 5422 0333.
Agriculture Victoria provides a range of online resources on weed management. For enquiries call 13 61 86.
Landcare Australia is a community-based initiative that aims to improve biodiversity and regenerate farmland by undertaking weed removal and control projects on public and private land. Your local Landcare or Friends group may be able to assist you with practical weed control measures and advice.
Invasive weeds can have damaging effects to livestock and crops and it is the responsibility of landowners to manage them. It is important to take a proactive approach to weed control. We have a list of contractors to help support landholders with weed control in the Macedon Ranges. We are not endorsing any contractor or business over another on this list.
Weed contractor list(PDF, 120KB)
There are a number of benefits to using contractors for weed control:
If you would like to avoid the use of chemicals on your land, consider a 'whole farm' or integrated approach to weed management.
This means understanding what, why and how particular weeds tend to grow on your property, and adopting organic techniques to prevent their spread, such as:
If you do choose to introduce some chemical treatments into your weed management plan, consider methods that will have the least negative impacts, and ensure the treatment is timed to prevent further seed development.
Agriculture Victoria provides further information on various weed control methods. Your local Landcare or Friends group may also be able to assist you with practical weed control measures and advice.
If you plan to use herbicides or agricultural chemicals on your property to control weeds, you must take steps to minimise any potential negative effects on human health and the environment. You also have a legal responsibility to obtain relevant qualifications or permits, and to keep records of the chemicals that you use.
A well-managed weed control program should also result in a reduction in herbicide use over time and the progressive introduction of organic weed management methods.
If you are a user of restricted use chemicals, you must hold a valid Agricultural Chemical Users Permit (ACUP) or work under the direct supervision of an ACUP holder. An ACUP is also required to purchase agricultural chemical products classified as restricted supply chemicals by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.
Visit the Agriculture Victoria website or call 136 186 for more information.
By law, a person who uses an agricultural or veterinary chemical product must ensure that their chemical use is recorded.
Agriculture Victoria provides information on chemical use chemical use record keeping requirements, and the templates that you should use.
You should avoid spraying herbicide when plants have fruit or seed, as there is a potential to poison native birds such as finches. | https://www.mrsc.vic.gov.au/Live-Work/Environment/Weeds-Native-Plants/Weed-Control |
Ms. Phillips was recognized as one of the 2021 Women in Real Estate in the New England Real Estate Journal and has received numerous awards throughout her tenure with EBI Consulting.
YORK, SC, July 19, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Susan M. Phillips has been inducted into Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Drawing on over three decades of diverse expertise, Ms. Phillips serves as a National Portfolio Director and specializes in commercial real estate due diligence. Ms. Phillips began her career as a legal secretary, supporting four attorneys in Charlotte, North Carolina, and garnered expertise as an administrative assistant for a real estate appraisal company, a major life insurance company and a Boston-based equity investment firm. Outside of her main vocational path, Ms. Phillips served as the owner of A Clean Getaway, her private residential cleaning company where she worked for six years.
Since 2002, Ms. Phillips has built a prolific career with her current firm; formerly as a Senior Project Coordinator, and subsequently as a National Portfolio Manager, and then for approximately the last three years as the National Portfolio Director at EBI Consulting. EBI Consulting is a national engineering and environmental consulting firm that provides environmental risk and compliance management, due diligence, energy use reduction and management, and engineering services to organizations seeking to improve operations, lower costs, manage risk and exceed stakeholder expectations. Combining broad technical expertise with deep industry knowledge and a business perspective based on more than 30 years of experience serving clients, EBI solves challenging problems with a focus on creating business value. In this capacity, Ms. Phillips leads a team that manages all portfolios for the company (typically having ten or more properties associated within the portfolio). Additionally, she works with clients and lenders, assists with logistics, budgeting/invoicing and potential phases of remediation. To commemorate her accomplishments, Ms. Phillips has recently been recognized as one of the 2021 Women in Real Estate in the New England Real Estate Journal and has received numerous awards throughout her tenure with EBI Consulting for her performance and excellence in client satisfaction and portfolio management.
Long dedicated to civic advocacy, Ms. Phillips serves as a volunteer at her local soup kitchen, contributes to the Feed My Starving Children organization, supports an orphanage in Kenya, and has previously worked with an organization that provides housing and needs for single mothers and children in her community. In a career filled with highlights, she is most proud of her ability to support and inspire others in her industry as a result of her hard work, and to have worked to help grow an incredibly successful portfolio program for EBI Consulting. She attributes much of her success to her desire to learn as much as possible and to EBI Consulting for recognizing and rewarding hard work and for creating opportunities for her to grow, excel and advance within the industry. She also notes that her diligent work ethic was founded on the incredible role model which she witnessed in her father. Looking toward the future, Ms. Phillips aspires to expand the company's portfolio team and program by providing more services and is working to further automate and improve processes to enhance their communication and increase the value of care to their clients.
About Marquis Who's Who®
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com. | https://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/492910/susan-m-phillips-has-been-inducted-into-the-prestigious-marquis-whos-who-biographical-registry |
Q:
Find the value of $k$ so that the two roots of a quadratic equation are between $-2$ and $4$
I need help with this:
In what interval does $k$ need to vary so that the two roots of the equation
$$x^2 - 2kx + k^2-1 = 0$$
are between $-2$ and $4$?
I think the answer is $k = [-1, 3]$, but I found that out by trial and error. How could I solve this problem? Thanks in advance.
A:
$$x^2-2kx+k^2-1=0$$
$$\Leftrightarrow (x-k)^2-1=0$$
$$\Leftrightarrow (x-k-1)(x-k+1)=0$$
$$\Leftrightarrow x_{1}=k-1;x_{2}=k+1$$.
We have $-2 \le x_{1},x_{2} \le 4$ and because $x_{1}<x_{2}$ for all $k$, we will have $-2 \le k-1<k+1 \le 4$ or ${\begin{cases}-2\le k-1\\k+1\le 4\end{cases}}\Rightarrow {\begin{cases}-1\le k\\k\le 3\end{cases}}\Rightarrow -1\le k\le 3$.
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The Real State of U.S. Foreign Policy
Mr. Clemons moderated a half-day forum on the future of U.S. foreign policy. Participants talked about successes and failures in…
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Mr. Clemons moderated a half-day forum on the future of U.S. foreign policy. Participants talked about successes and failures in building post-Cold War strategies, assessing and meeting emerging threats to global security, and current policies in combating terrorism and operations in Iraq.
Mr. O’Sullivan cited the Bush doctrine of pre-emption in the post-9/11 environment and the push for UN reform as pivotal moves on the administration’s part to reshape foreign policy and the international landscape. A self-described neo-conservative realist, he also made mention of the new unfolding possibilities for a U.S. role between Israel and Palestine, not despite but as a result of the democratic election of Hamas to the helm of Palestinian leadership.
In Session 2, “Global Outlooks: American Grand Strategy and Widening Arcs of Instability,” panelists assessed international economic security, the successes and failures of the war on terror, roots and consequences of the strategy of democratization, and the false assumptions underlying current U.S. policy-making.
In Session 3, “Taking Stock of the U.S. National Interest: Comments on Post Cold War Strategies That Address Tomorrow’s Global Stress Points,” panelists talked about democratic values and the War on Terror, but the panel arguing that the current course of action was not sustainable for the future.
General Clark gave the keynote address focusing on the lessons learned in his career as an Army officer, current operations in Iraq, and emerging security threats around the world. close
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Google has discontinued sale/renewal of the Google Site Search since Apr 1 2017. The product will be completely shut down by April 1, 2018. The product will be completely shut down by April 1, 2018.
Google may still be the top search engine, but Bing is starting to stand on its own. Bing has many of the same search operators offered by Google, but it has a few tricks you won’t find elsewhere. Bing has many of the same search operators offered by Google, but it has a few tricks you won’t find elsewhere. | http://topdot.com/quebec/how-to-not-include-a-specific-site-in-google-search.php |
The following article contains a list of important composition tips to help you take the strongest possible photos. It goes without saying that composition is a very personal creative decision, so there are no truly universal do's and don'ts. Nevertheless, there are certain techniques you can use to improve your...
Composition and Art Category Archive - Page 2
How to Use Leading Lines in Photography
Lines are some of the most fundamental elements of photography, and some of the simplest, too. But don't let that fool you. Lines come in many varieties - sometimes leading lines that guide the composition, other times barriers segmenting a photo. They also impact an image's sense of emotion and...
Understanding Contrast in Photography
What is contrast? How can you get high-contrast images? It's a sought-after concept in photography, but also one of the most confusing, as there are a wide number of ways to bring it about. To start, let us get to answer the first question. Instead of putting up grey-scale maps,...
How Color Impacts Photographs
At a technical level, color can be complicated; just see our recent article on sRGB vs Adobe RGB vs ProPhoto RGB. But at an artistic level, it is one of the most important parts of an image, impacting emotions and interest unlike almost any other element of photography. This article...
The 10 Elements of Composition in Photography
Sometimes, it helps to take a step back from broader discussions on creativity to look at the truly fundamental elements of composition. Although there are countless elements of composition in art as a whole, this article covers the ten most important that are specific to photography - critical parts of...
The Three Elements of a Good Photo
Every successful photo has three things in common, and they’re not particularly surprising. The proper aperture, exposure, and focusing distance? The right camera, lens, and tripod? Successful use of hyperfocal distance, ISO invariance, and ETTR? No! The three variables that matter the most in photography are simple: light, subject, and...
Photographing Scale Model Cars
“It’s not photography; you’re just playing with toys. And Photoshop.” Well, it sure does look that way. This will either invite complete ridicule or slightly less than complete ridicule but it has been such a ton of fun to do that I could in fact not care less. And now...
The Refining Process: How Bad Photos Get Better
I suspect that many photographers have realized their best photos frequently come after several “getting there” images - scenes where something interesting stands out, and you gradually improve upon your early attempts, creating a composition that looks more and more refined by the end. The trend has been so clear...
Of Light and Landscapes
In the fourth of a series of follow-up articles to The Quality of Light, I will describe my interpretation of the intersection of light and aesthetics in landscape photography as well as the thought process behind the construction of a singular landscape photo. My goal with this essay is to...
A Study in Light, Shadows, and Landscapes
In the third of a series of follow-up articles to The Quality of Light, I will delve into my revered interests in photography: light and landscapes. In this article, I will extend the discussion of the quality of light by examining how landscape photographers of all levels can use light and... | https://photographylife.com/category/composition-and-art/page/2 |
The construction sector is very diverse and requires a wide variety of specialist skills. A career in construction offers the opportunity to work in a range of environments from large new build developments through to domestic repairs and alterations. There are many progression routes available and construction offers the opportunity to pursue a rewarding and exiting career.
Entry requirements
To take part in this programme you will need:
• full Level 2 Apprenticeship in Trowel Occupations or
• GCSEs at grades A-C in English, Maths and a Science (or equivalent)
• good IT Skills
• strong problem-solving and team-working skills
• an attention to detail and be able to use own initiative.
Assessment
Much of the programme is assessed in the workplace, however you will be required to attend college. The number of days that you will attend will depend upon the needs of your employer and your existing experience and qualifications, but this will typically be one day per week. Your time at college typically will lead to qualifications that are achieved by completing assignments and demonstrating your practical skills. Some elements such as functional skills are assessed by exam, but you will also need to gather evidence to demonstrate your competence, whilst in the workplace. You will be allocated an assessor who will guide and support you throughout your Apprenticeship programme.
Future opportunities
Applicants who complete the programme can look forward to progressing their career within the construction industry. Many senior managers within the industry began their careers as apprentices and opportunities to study at levels 4 and above often become available as your career progresses.
How to apply
If you want to apply for this course, you will need to contact Milton Keynes College directly. | https://www.ucasprogress.com/course/2501301/bricklaying-advanced-apprenticeship-level-3 |
Tasselrue is a unique mix of dainty and bold, semi-precious gemstone jewelry designed by Shannon Mitchell.
She uses her knowledge in color theory to create colorful pieces which look beautiful stacked or worn individually.
Each TasselRue piece is hand cut and hand set by skilled artisans and is made of recycled .925 sterling silver and genuine gemstones from small suppliers across the world. | https://www.tasselrue.com/ |
The Francisco Franco High School was born with the purpose of providing the community with a service of training and education in the area of Arts and Technologies, a tradition that has given unique characteristics that manifest themselves in numerous projects and activities that have taken place at the school and that have marked his students.
Since its foundation, the school has played a crucial importance in the Madeira Island society, having imposed itself by the way it was able to follow the social technological developments, allowing students the acquisition of human and cultural values and skills to enter the labor market. By this institution have passed persons of great prestigious and social importance. | http://www.ijhsci.info/hsci2015/venue.html |
“One must stand still and open one’s eyes, to truly see the spirits that move amongst us!” – J. Wayne Kaubach
Photography is an excellent way to capture the moment and hold memories. It is the contents in the family album, and the essence of human history. Upon completing photography 9, students will learn how to best utilize natural light and how to use the camera as a creative tool to document the world around them through the understanding of concepts such as aperture, depth of field, shutter speed, and movement. They will be introduced to studio strobe lighting and will become proficient in selecting, processing and editing digital images.
Photography Grade 10 Major
“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.” – Diane Arbus
Photography 10 is an exploration of the visual world around us as we collect memories, thoughts, and ideas by capturing light. In class students learn how to use and operate 35 mm film cameras, develop B&W film, and enlarge images. They will learn how to scan and manipulate images in Adobe Photoshop, and learn more advanced photographic concepts and digital processes. Upon completing Photography 10, each student will be able to identify and compose a successful photograph, learn how to use the camera and studio lighting as a creative tool for artistic expression. | https://lfas.sd35.bc.ca/arts-majors/photography/photography-910-major/ |
Heated candidate debate in the Green Party of Canada leadership race
Six leadership candidates have been endorsed by the Green Party. Top, left to right: Sarah Gabrielle Baron, Simon Gnocchini-Messier and Chad Walcott; bottom, left to right: Anna Keenan, Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May.
The candidates in the Green Party of Canada leadership race presented their vision for the the future of the party during a debate on Wednesday evening.
Outside perceptions of internal party strife and difficulties in fundraising during fundraising campaigns weighed heavily on the event, which took place over Zoom and drew an audience of less than 500 people. /p>
The six candidates promised to repair party structures and improve its image. Everyone spoke of an urgent need for a serious environmental policy. However, they disagreed on how to achieve this.
Elizabeth May, the longtime MP is running again, but this time with Jonathan Pedneault, a human rights researcher. She maintained that she left the party in excellent shape when she resigned from the leadership in 2019.
Ms May said she could get to work as soon as they are elected. The more leaders we lose in Parliament, the more relevance we lose, she stressed. If we are elected to lead this party, we will very quickly be leaders in Parliament. Just look at us, Ms. May said.
Candidate Sarah Gabrielle Baron, for her part, stressed the importance of developing community policies. She criticized the idea that a co-management model would radically change the way the party works. Two egos at the top don't magically make a grassroots organization, she said.
During a heated discussion about how the party can fill its coffers again, with national headquarters seemingly under threat and donors abandoning ship after a disappointing 2021 election result, Ms Baron pointed to the ;elephant in the room. The Greens need to work on fundraising, she said. Our morale is really low.
Simon Gnocchini-Messier, another independent candidate who presented the Greens as part of a social democratic coalition in parliament, pushed back against what he called “the mainstream media narrative that we are in constant internal conflict”. He said MPs have collectively turned the page on the mistakes of recent years.
“We are moving forward, and my fellow leadership candidates all want to move forward. forward to build strong party unity and prepare for the upcoming federal election,” Gnocchini-Messier said.
Annamie Paul, who was elected to succeed Elizabeth May in 2020, resigned late last year after the worst election result in decades, citing the racism and misogyny she suffered behind the scenes . Most of the candidates pledged to implement better anti-racism and anti-harassment policies within the party, with Anna Keenan saying there were mistakes on both sides.
Ms May claimed there was a “mismatch” between Annamie Paul's talents and “what a leader of the Green Party should be”. In particular, she wants to see an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing.
More recent clashes have led to the resignation of the party's chairman and several other members of his committee. direction. After they left, the party decided to truncate its leadership election process. Instead of an initial plan to hold two rounds of voting, only one will take place, beginning Saturday and until a new leader is announced on November 19. | https://thesaxon.org/heated-candidate-debate-in-the-green-party-of-canada-leadership-race/ |
A NORCE team of researchers consisting of Frederike Keitel-Gröner, Maj Arnberg, Renée K. Bechmann, Emily Lyng and Thierry Baussant, have a new publication titled “Dispersant application increases adverse long-term effects of oil on shrimp larvae (Pandalus borealis) after six hour exposure” in Marine Pollution Bulletin.
Abstract:
The application of chemical dispersants is one option of oil spill response (OSR). Here, Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) larvae were experimentally exposed for short periods (6 h and 1 h) to a realistic concentration of chemically dispersed oil (CDO) (~10 mg L-1 THC), mechanically dispersed oil (MDO) (~7 mg L-1 THC), and dispersant only (D). A control (C) with seawater served as reference. Short-term effects on survival and feeding were examined right after exposure and longer-term consequences on survival, feeding, growth and development following 30 days of recovery. Both exposure durations provoked long lasting effects on larval fitness, with 1 h exposure leading to minor effects on most of the selected endpoints. The 6 h exposure affected all endpoints with more adverse impacts after exposure to CDO. This study provides important data for assessing the best OSR option relevant to NEBA (Net Environmental Benefit Analysis).
Highlights:
- Short- and long-term effects of oil spill response on shrimp larvae
- Field-realistic concentrations of oil and chemical dispersant
- Long lasting effects of short exposure (6 h and 1 h) on larvae fitness parameters
- Addition of chemical dispersant increases short- and long-term adverse effects of oil.
- Contribution to NEBA decision-frameworks for reaction and mitigation
Reference: | https://arcex.no/marine-pollution-bulletin-dispersant-application-increases-adverse-long-term-effects-of-oil-on-shrimp-larvae-pandalus-borealis-after-six-hour-exposure/ |
Maxillary sinus disease of odontogenic origin.
Odontogenic sinusitis is a well-recognized condition and accounts for approximately 10% to 12% of cases of maxillary sinusitis. An odontogenic source should be considered in patients with symptoms of maxillary sinusitis who give a history positive for odontogenic infection or dentoalveolar surgery or who are resistant to standard sinusitis therapy. Diagnosis usually requires a thorough dental and clinical evaluation with appropriate radiographs. Common causes of odontogenic sinusitis include dental abscesses and periodontal disease perforating the Schneidarian membrane, sinus perforations during tooth extraction, or irritation and secondary infection caused by intra-antral foreign bodies. The typical odontogenic infection is now considered to be a mixed aerobic-anaerobic infection, with the latter outnumbering the aerobic species involved. Most common organisms include anaerobic streptococci, Bacteroides, Proteus, and Coliform bacilli. Typical treatment of atraumatic odontogenic sinusitis is a 3- to 4- week trial of antibiotic therapy with adequate oral and sinus flora coverage. When indicated, surgical removal of the offending odontogenic foreign body (primary or delayed) or treatment of the odontogenic pathologic conditions combined with medical therapy is usually sufficient to cause resolution of symptoms. If an oroantral communication is suspected, prompt surgical management is recommended to reduce the likelihood of causing chronic sinus disease.
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- The Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) has an open Crew Leader – Little Fire Ant Control position in Guam. For full position details and to submit application materials, please visit: http://jobs.colostate.edu/postings/81463 Emailed or mailed applications will not be accepted. CSU is an EO/EA/AA employer and conducts background checks on all final candidates. One Little Fire Ant (LFA) Control Crew Leader position is available with Colorado State University (CSU) Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML). This is a 40-hour week appointment located on Guam, but deployment to other project areas within the Joint Region Marianas Area of Responsibility (JRM AOR) may be occasionally be required. Relocation expenses are not available for this position. The majority of the work will be conducted on US military bases. The LFA Control Crew Leader will be responsible for leading a crew of at least two biological technicians in conducting invasive species control, interdiction, surveys, and other duties. To accomplish these duties, the Crew Leader will maintain close liaisons with the Supervisory Entomologist, Navy project sponsors, and other DoD personnel. The Crew Leader will also be responsible for managing invasive species management and monitoring data, preparing reports and regulatory documents, and managing pesticide safety protocols. A team-oriented approach, flexibility and a positive attitude is a must. This position is a temporary appointment for the period of at least one year, or until project tasks are completed, not to exceed eighteen months.
- Qualifications
- Required: A bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university in biological sciences, natural resource management, forestry, botany, agriculture, horticulture, wildlife biology, zoology, or similar science-related focus. A High School diploma or General Education Development (GED) plus 4 years of equivalent professional experience in natural resources management may be substituted for the education requirement. At least two (2) years’ work experience within any of the above disciplines. At least one year of this work must consist of fieldwork involving the accurate recording, entering, and proofing of field data. Experience needs to be well-documented and acquired under the employment of an academic institution, governmental agency, a private company, or non-profit organization in the appropriate field. Must have at least 8 months of experience supervising field crews. This experience can be acquired concurrently with the two years of work experience described above. Must be capable of walking several consecutive miles while carrying gear and performing manual labor in a hot tropical environment on uneven terrain on most days. Demonstrated proficiency using field data collection applications, compasses, maps, data tablet computers, smartphones, and GPS units. Ability to deploy from Guam to locations in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, sometimes on short notice. Must have a valid driver’s license or the ability to obtain a driver’s license by the employment start date. Must be willing to submit for NACI background check to obtain a DOD Common Access Card. Preferred: Two (2) years of work experience with implementing methods for operational control of invasive species including chemical, biological and/or mechanical control techniques. Experience working in the Pacific region or other island ecosystems in the biological, natural resources, or agricultural fields. Experience implementing control methods for little fire ants or other alien insect species, including chemical, biological and/or mechanical control techniques. Taxonomic knowledge of arthropods and the ability to identify arthropod pest species. Experience working on a military installation, interacting with headquarters-level staff, and familiarity with DOD/Navy environmental and safety regulations. Hold a Guam CORE pest control applicator’s license or commensurate license(s) in other US states or territories. | https://wfscjobs.tamu.edu/jobs/crew-leader-little-fire-ant-control-guam/ |
Teachers are learners too. The best teachers continuously hone their craft, whether it be implementing new classroom instructional techniques, reflecting on what worked or what didn’t work during the summer months, and even seeking and obtaining advanced degrees in their specific field.
For the majority of educators, a desire to achieve a master’s or even a more advanced degree is strong. With advanced degrees comes educational opportunities such as internships, practicums, of field experiences. During these internships, teachers and educators have the ability to learn and grow further in their field. Additionally, many states recognize and reward those with advanced degrees with higher salaries and/or additional supplements to their contracts.
What is a Graduate School Internship?
Once you have been accepted into graduate school, most programs require an internship, practicum hours, or field experience, regardless of the degree area you are working in. These experiences are designed to provide greater understanding at a deeper level than the undergraduate level. Internships are based on the specific area educators concentrate on. For most, an internship program is the last step before obtaining an advanced degree, and can vary differently based on the educator’s field. In the end, internships provide exposure to the field of study you are working in and help solidify if the job is right for you.
What Will You Learn During Your Internship?
Internships, practicums, or field experiences all equate to the same thing. These requirements within graduate school programs provide educators the chance to gain valuable experience, expertise, and opportunities to grow professionally, while satisfying college requirements for an advanced degree. What you learn in an internship varies greatly based on the type of internship or program you are enrolled in.
For classroom teachers seeking a master’s degree in their specific content, an internship program could involve matching you with a seasoned educator to learn mastery concepts or involve researching new and inventive ways of delivering content. For classroom-based teachers seeking to move into school administration, an internship program will look vastly different. In those settings, classroom teachers are exposed to more building and district-level decisions as they are typically assigned a school-level principal or administrator to shadow and learn from. In these internships, graduate students are given tasks to accomplish, and those tasks represent a variety of potential things a future administrator would be responsible for.
For those already in administration and seeking higher degrees such as Educational Specialist or Doctoral degrees, the level of internship typically goes even higher, with tasks and requirements tailored more to the district level, involving examining board policies, state and federal programs, and designed around a more district or systems approach, rather than local school level. Ultimately, any internship based on your personal choice will look different.
Best Practices to Keep in Mind
Regardless of your choice of program, applying for and being accepted into an advanced degree program takes hard work and dedication. Many educators enrolled in graduate school programs are also still teaching full time, which, in addition to general teaching responsibilities, could include coaching duties, club/group advisor responsibilities, and any other duties or time constraints teachers may have.
In my experience, having gone through multiple graduate school internships and field experiences, several key practices helped me get through. First, don’t do it alone. In every school building, there are teachers who have a desire to go back to school and pursue advanced degrees. In all of my graduate school internships, I worked with a cohort of colleagues to push through together. Our cohort allowed for us to bounce ideas off of each other, carpool to classes if necessary, and hold each other accountable during our program. Having someone to share your experiences with can prove beneficial!
Additionally, gathering a group of your colleagues to begin an advanced degree can benefit you financially. Many colleges and universities seek districts willing to sponsor advanced degree cohorts and typically will provide some type of discounted tuition rate for school districts and schools where there is mutual interest.
Secondly, quickly develop great time management skills or your experience will be a disaster. Prepare yourself mentally for the fact that there will be weekends where your time is spent doing graduate school work. Schedule yourself in a program where the time parameters are clearly defined, including your course of study, and what a sample schedule looks like. Many graduate school programs tailor classes for the summer months for working professionals, and many of these classes are labeled as “intensives,” where more hours are spent in class, including weekend classes, but are shorter in length as far as the semester is concerned. Take advantage of summer course offerings, and even work to complete internship requirements during the summer as well!
Finally, regarding internships, make sure your current administrative team is aware of your desire and acceptance into a program. Having a supportive administrative team is crucial to the success of your internship. Most administrative degree internships require you to shadow a school-level leader outside of your own building for at least one full day, and could even involve completing administrative tasks both in your building and outside your building. Talking with your current leadership team will let them know of your needs and provide them with opportunities to help you grow.
Additionally, your best resume is your current job. As you complete your internship requirements, the things you have learned and experienced are great talking points for future positions where you can put your newly acquired skills to the test.
Ultimately, teachers are always learning. We seek to learn new and creative ways to work with our students, and we strive to be better teachers daily. Finding the right graduate school program and subsequent internship opportunities can benefit teachers in a variety of ways, leading to better outcomes for our students and schools. | https://www.graduateprogram.org/2019/10/what-to-expect-during-my-graduate-school-internship/ |
On June 20, 2014, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) released a draft document, Air Toxics Hot Spots Program Guidance Manual for the Preparation of Risk Assessments (Guidance Manual) for a 45-day public comment period, originally scheduled to end on August 4, 2014. CLFP joined with other members of the industrial and business community in asking CalEPA Secretary Matt Rodriquez to extend the comment period beyond the August 4 closing date for comments.
On Tuesday, July 28, 2014, OEHHA announced the extension of the comment period to August 18, 2014.
The draft Guidance Manual has been developed by OEHHA, in conjunction with the Air Resources Board, for use in implementing the Air Toxics Hot Spots Program (Health and Safety Code Section 44360 et. seq.). OEHHA is required to develop guidelines for conducting health risk assessments under Section 44360(b)(2).
The draft OEHHA Guidance Manual makes adjustments based on new research examining childhood exposures and sensitivity to air toxics. According to OEHHA, the research shows that early-life exposures to air toxics may contribute to an increased lifetime risk of developing cancer or other adverse health effects. OEHHA is seeking comments primarily on clarity of the guidance manual as it relates to implementing and integrating the risk assessment guidelines presented in three OEHHA Technical Support Documents (TSDs). They are not seeking comments on the underlying scientific information that originally appeared in the TSDs, those already having undergone public and peer review, and final approval by the Scientific Review Panel, prior to adoption by OEHHA.
However, companies should note that these draft guidelines will significantly impact local and state air toxics program, as well as the way project proponents perform environmental analyses of projects, specifically, the Air Toxic Hot Spots Assessment and Risk Reduction Programs (AB 2588) as well as the Toxics New Source Review Permitting and CEQA Project Review.
Per the California Air Pollution Officers Association (CAPCOA), the changes will result in an increase in Hot Spots health risks of 1.5 to 3 times the current estimates. This means that facilities that historically were exempt from Hot Spots risk assessment requirements could be pulled into state and local programs; either based on existing emissions or as a result of air toxics new source review requirements. As a result, affected facilities may be required to develop risk reduction plans and implement new measures to reduce off-site air toxics risk.
Additionally, the new guidelines will likely compel local air districts to issue warnings to affected facilities and residents, despite there being no change in actual emissions. Such action will definitely trigger negative attention from the surrounding community. Industry should expect the new assessments to have the potential to impact permitting, industrial expansion and possibly force reduction in operations. | https://www.naylornetwork.com/cfp-nwl/articles/index.asp?aid=278065&issueID=30240 |
Some of the world's greatest artists, designers, photographers and architects showcase their work and visions onstage at the TED conference, TEDx events and partner events around the world. You can also download these and many other videos free on TED.com, with an interactive English transcript and subtitles in up to 80 languages. TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.
July 27th, 2012
Episode 9 of 200 episodes
Inspired by cell division, Michael Hansmeyer writes algorithms that design outrageously fascinating shapes and forms with millions of facets. No person could draft them by hand, but they're buildable -- and they could revolutionize the way we think of architectural form.
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The Art of Charm Podcast is where self-motivated guys and gals, just like you, come to learn from a diverse mix of experienced mentors, including the world's best professional and academic minds, scientists, relationship experts, entrepreneurs, bestselling authors, and other badasses. This show will make you a better networker, better connector, and -- most important -- a better thinker. | http://www.podcastchart.com/podcasts/tedtalks-art/episodes/michael-hansmeyer-building-unimaginable-shapes |
Last month saw the coming together of organisations across Greater Manchester who, over a year and a half, coordinated discussions around the future of food in Greater Manchester.
It promotes the efforts of the vibrant community-led sustainable food movement already working to put healthy and sustainable food at the heart of the 10 Greater Manchester Boroughs. The Vision makes it clear that together, they have the willingness to work with strategic partners to amplify their impact and profoundly address the breakdowns in the food system so that everyone can have access to healthy, affordable, sustainable food.
The Vision contains 26 desired outcomes all built around the Sustainable Food Cities core objectives of:
• Promoting Healthy and Sustainable Food
• Tackling food poverty, diet-related ill health and access to affordable healthy food
• Building Sustainable Food Knowledge, Skills, Resources & Projects
• Promoting a Vibrant and Sustainable Food Economy
• Transforming Catering and Food Procurement
• Reducing Waste and the Ecological Footprint of the Food System
The result is 161 possible actions, that are based on the ambitious practical examples of 125 projects that are delivering environmental, health and economic benefits for the City.
Download the Sustainable Food Vision for Greater Manchester
Read the Kindling Trust's press release
Is self-sufficiency the ideal goal for urban food policy? | http://sustainablefoodcities.org/newsevents/news/articleid/856/sustainable-food-vision-for-greater-manchester |
I recently took my professional development as an educator in a new direction by purchasing an Xbox. Yes, in addition to blogging, engaging in Twitter conversations, and reading the latest research on educational best practices, I started playing video games to improve my skills and understanding of educational pedagogy. Both Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner have said that play is important for deep learning, so perhaps they would agree that the 3 billion hours each week that we spend playing video games worldwide might actually have some educational value in the process. While they’re not always having fun, video game players generally enjoy what they do. Can we say the same about the students in our classrooms? Following are five elements of good games that we can transfer to our pedagogy to improve student engagement and academic success.
1. Goals are achievable without being too easy. This principle stems from a golden rule of game design which warns against wasting the player’s time. In the context of the classroom, this means leveraging innovative instructional strategies around content-based learning activities within each student’s Zone of Proximal Development – that Goldilocks area of learning put forth by Lev Vygotsky. Busy work is the banality of any classroom. Tasks that are too easy or too hard, those outside of a student’s ZPD, will have our students “powering off” before learning can ever start.
2. All participants have a similar chance of winning. In the world of games, this refers to every player having equal access to resources and information.This element is present in all good games, at least in the beginning. Naturally, as any game advances, those who have developed the requisite skills to succeed in the early stages of the game will develop higher order thought-processes to approach the latter stages of game play. Nevertheless, a hallmark of a well-designed game is the continual opportunity to learn skills to mastery at all levels. Aside from the context, the same can be said of our experiences in the classroom. Like good game designers, teachers must structure the learning environment and process to offer equal access to the information and resources needed by our students to succeed in learning. And we must ensure that the opportunity to reach mastery is constantly present regardless of what our curriculum pacing calendar says.
3. The risk of failure is present, but not overwhelming. When the possibility of failure looms over us it can stop us in our tracks. This doesn’t always happen, however. When the risk of failure is present yet minimal we instead approach gameplay with a degree of functional anxiety, or eustress – the good kind of stress. Rather than disabling our abilities to think and perform, this risk of failure encourages active and critical learning. In the classroom, this has nothing to do with grades. Instead it has everything to do with ah-ha moments resulting from authentic learning activities. They are those which require a high amount of emotional, physical, and mental energy invested into the learning process, the type that don’t end up on the classroom floor after the bell rings, but with our hands shot into the air in a celebration of victory.
4. Positive feedback occurs during the process. In the classroom, this element of sustained engagement is often taken for granted and overlooked, but none of the best games forget about it. When playing a videogame, positive feedback can take the form of a score total, experience points (XP), narrative feedback, and unlocked items or quests for example. Whatever form this kind of feedback takes, it is constantly there and is never withheld until a final goal is reached. So, what might similar forms of positive feedback look like with our students? At the most basic level, we can recognize students’ ongoing learning with high-fives and encouraging comments in passing. Beyond that, we can offer additional points on an assignment, include specific recognition in school announcements and assemblies, send an email to the student’s parents, or even . . . go out of our way on the way home from work to stop at a student’s house to tell him or her how well they are doing in class. Whatever form of positive feedback we offer, the most important thing to remember is that it happens often and throughout the entire learning process.
5. There exists negative feedback as well. This practice lends itself to ensuring a sense of fairness in gameplay. Important to note is that negative feedback is not destructive or debilitating. It’s honest with the intent of improving our understanding of how to succeed within the context of the game, or the classroom, for that matter. When playing a first-person shooter game, negative feedback might take the form of diminishing health. When playing a competitive sporting game, it might be a losing score. And when playing a strategy game, it might be a slow time or an unsuccessful attempt at solving a puzzle. Whatever it is, in one of our favorite games or in the classroom, it is an essential part of the overall learning process. It’s never designed to exert power or dominance over a player or student. Instead, negative feedback exists to scaffold learning and encourage persistence toward the goal or objective.
Veteran game designer Raph Koster suggested that learning is really what our favorite games are all about. Though video games are certainly not a panacea for education, and while there are plenty of them that are simply consumptive in nature, offering little in return for the time invested in playing them, there are a lot of valuable lessons we can learn from playing good games , whether for fun or professional development.
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The sixth one is enjoy.
My view is that learning takes place best when it is enjoyed and automatically includes the 5 elements.
Good move on the Xbox. In my case I was not as insightful and was merely lucky to have gotten sucked into exactly one game, the racing game Gran Turismo. As I worked on my software I realized it should work like video games. Here are the elements I picked out from GT.
1. An unbending standard. It’s a DVD, my parents cannot intimidate it into giving me the Professional Driver license.
2. Yep, piling up the points and buying exotic virtual cars is a great hook, but I wonder if we need it? The intrinsic reward of doing a little better each time even as we fail is enough to keep us going. The steady, small successes are an opiate. Every time a row (or five) of blocks disappears in Tetris (ok, my other vice) I get an endorphin spray. And I must say I never worried over my score — achievement is its own reward (for even the worst student, and perhaps especially for them).
3. The feedback is immediate and ever-present. That might be the hardest thing to arrange in many academic subjects.
4. There are a variety of activities: low-challenge arcade racing, high challenge missions I can tackle at will, and a licensing scheme I have to work through from beginner to pro.
5. And one key thing about those activities: I decide which activities to undertake, and save for the licensing ladder I can tackle any activity I like, ready or not. This makes the player/learner the master of their experience, unlike so much training in which the educator sets the activities. | https://www.gettingsmart.com/2014/02/5-elements-good-games-can-make-us-better-teachers/ |
(This position has been filled -- thank you for your interest!)
Over the past year, SURJ has grown as more white folks across the country have responded to increasing attacks on communities of color. As we have grown, we have tried to adjust our infrastructure to best support chapter organizing and leadership development in order to run stronger and bolder campaigns. As we head into 2018, we are seeking to hire an Operations and Finance Coordinator who can help respond to this growing need while keeping a rigorous focus on growing support for grassroots organizing.
Job Description: SURJ Operations and Finance Coordinator
The Operations and Finance Coordinator will be responsible for overseeing the operations of SURJ's national network. The Operations and Finance Coordinator will be expected to: 1) oversee internal operations of the organization; 2) in partnership with the co-directors, oversee and manage financial health of the organization; and 3) manage human resources and administration. This position reports to and is supervised by the co-directors. This is a full-time, exempt position. Location is flexible. Starting salary for this position is $50,000 and also includes health insurance coverage.
Job Responsibilities:
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Support SURJ staff, including:
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On-boarding new staff
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Serving as health insurance/benefits point person
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Booking travel and managing other necessary logistics for SURJ convenings for staff, leadership team, and member-leaders
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Coordinating reimbursements and stipends
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Support SURJ chapters across the country, including:
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Maintaining and supporting chapter dues system
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Maintaining system for chapters to receive technical support (database, website/microsites, texting systems, etc.) as needed
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Manage payroll, including:
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Keeping staff on timesheet reminders
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Sending reminders to contractors for invoices
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Working with bookkeepers to ensure timely reimbursements to/from the organization
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Setting up contracts with contractors and ensuring tax forms are mailed to everyone
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Manage security/data needs, including:
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Managing back-end of email and online documents
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Ensuring new staff and volunteers understand our security systems
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Coordinating with tech support
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Track and manage finance and budget needs, including:
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Tracking income and expenses
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Preparing financial reports as needed
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Managing reimbursements
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Tracking staff credit cards and receipts
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A successful candidate will have:
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Experience in managing operations and finances in social justice organizations or progressive businesses
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Experience, expertise, and skills in organizational operations work—including virtual office operations and finance management
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Proficiency with computer operations and programs — including QuickBooks, online databases, Excel, Word, etc. — and an interest in learning new systems
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Ability to share/nurture administrative skills through mentoring and leadership development
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Appreciation for the challenges of distributed grassroots organizing, and interest in supporting organizers to create effective administrative systems that support collaborative organizing work
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Passion for and commitment to collaborating with diverse stakeholders in a way that prioritizes leadership development and builds organizational capacity
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Excellent communication and organizational skills—deep attention to detail and self-organization
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Self-motivation—and a proven ability to work independently
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Experience and competencies in working in a cross-class environment
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A commitment to the mission and values of SURJ
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Appreciation for working with people and the ability to build/maintain relationships
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Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple tasks and responsibilities
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Ability to thrive in a virtual work environment
Interested applicants should send a resume and cover letter as soon as possible to [email protected] with the subject line "Application for operations/finance position." Applications will begin to be reviewed starting December 13, and applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. | http://nb.showingupforracialjustice.org/operations_opening |
While Shahrukh Khan and Dilip Kumar have the most number of Best Actor Awards, there are some other superstars who have not won a single time. Salman Khan tops the list with 10 nominations without winning.
Lately, Filmfare has been criticized for ignoring some specific actors especially Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Aamir Khan. Though they have given Aamir Khan best actor award this year and now he has three awards to his name despite the fact that he does not attend award shows.
Check out the list below. | https://www.bollyarena.net/superstars-who-have-never-won-filmfare-best-actor-award/ |
The Superluminal Team designed and developed the new Resonance.is website for The Resonance Project Foundation.
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Today, on the third Monday of January, we observe Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day not only as a federal holiday, but also as a national day of service where we make the commitment to improve our communities. As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said in his The Drum Major Instinct sermon, “Everyone can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve…You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love” (1968). The MLK Day of Service brings together people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to honor the legacy of Dr. King by working together to build a better future.
Organizers call the MLK Day of Service “a day on, not a day off.” Today, and throughout the year, we challenge you to seek out opportunities to get involved and commit to engaging in volunteer service. Volunteering is one way to address the immediate needs in our community and amplify the voices of those in greatest need.
For the past 25 years, AmeriCorps has spearheaded the efforts of this national day of service. Because of this, today we would like to introduce you to AmeriCorps VISTAs, AmeriCorps members in the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program, who work at Catholic Charities of Oregon and have done a great deal to address poverty-related issues and advocate for community needs.
Meet Margot Flynn, Healthy Housing Coordinator!
In August 2020, Margot started with Catholic Charities of Oregon as a Healthy Housing Coordinator on our Housing Services team. Margot studied Environmental Science at Colorado College, and throughout her college experience she participated in work that centered around housing. After graduating in 2020 and entering a bleak job market heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a friend connected her to the AmeriCorps program.
In the wake of all the volatility we witnessed in our country and around the world in 2020, instead of sitting back and feeling hopeless, Margot felt drawn to work that allowed her to make an impact. She acknowledged that our country needed to heal, so she set out to find a way she could make a difference and help address those injustices. As she explored opportunities with AmeriCorps, she stumbled across the Healthy Housing Coordinator VISTA position at Catholic Charities and immediately felt a connection to the role and the team. As the Healthy Housing Coordinator, a majority of Margot’s role involves coordinating community outreach for new housing developments. She’s conducting community outreach for four projects in the works at Catholic Charities, primarily working with community partners and soliciting their feedback on the designs of these housing projects. In her position, Margot practices being a good neighbor and a positive presence in the diverse communities the housing team works with, an essential skill over the last 12 months
Margot says her work as Healthy Housing Coordinator is rewarding because it feels effective, and she knows she’s making a positive impact on our local community. She has been able to foster her passion for community outreach and discovered her desire to carry that aspect of her role with Catholic Charities with her wherever her career takes her. She is thankful for her team for providing such a positive and gratifying experience that has allowed her to broaden her understanding of housing instability and actively work to address the challenges our community faces.
Thank you, Margot, for your dedication and all the incredible work you do for those in greatest need in our community.
Meet Maria Pfeifer, Healthy Housing Coordinator II!
Maria started with Catholic Charities of Oregon in November 2020 as a Healthy Housing Coordinator II. In her position, Maria acts as an engagement bridge for the Healthy Housing Initiative team focused on the St. Francis Parish and Dining Hall presence in SE Portland. Catholic Charities is leading a neighborhood planning process to develop a master plan for the Buckman neighborhood to serve the unhoused community through a robust public private venture. Our goal here is to have a shared vision to submit for public Bond funding in Spring 2021.
Maria has worked in social services for over 30 years and received her graduate degree in Urban Studies at Portland State University so she could pursue anti-poverty and community development work. Over the last 10 years of her career, Maria worked in health management education and promotion, where she helped individuals and groups strengthen their sense of agency, support networks, and health outcomes. Maria, however, still felt drawn to her roots in community development, focusing more on the social determinants that inhibit access to healthcare and other resources for wellbeing.
Her first step in making the shift to the health field was with the Oregon Food Bank last year as an AmeriCorps volunteer where Maria learned about food systems and hunger relief. The COVID-19 pandemic quickly pivoted her role there to coordinating emergency food box deliveries; she quickly understood that food isn’t helpful if people can’t access, store, and prepare it. In turn, those issues illustrate why providing permanent and safe places to call home is essential to solving Oregon’s hunger and homelessness crises.
After her year at Oregon Food Bank, Maria decided that her community service passion aligned best with housing justice and development work, leading to her current position here with Catholic Charities of Oregon. Returning to community development has been extremely rewarding for Maria. Between the COVID-19 pandemic, Oregon wildfires, political unrest, and economic downturn, she sees this as a time for reflection. This VISTA opportunity will help refresh her education and expand upon her service experiences. She is grateful to be here and contributing to the work of Catholic Charities of Oregon.
Thank you, Maria, for all your dedication to anti-poverty work and community development.
Make a commitment to serve your community throughout 2021. Click here to learn more about volunteer opportunities. | https://www.catholiccharitiesoregon.org/blog/mlk-day-of-service-americorps-vista-spotlight/ |
The silting of rivers and streams leads to problems for fish, mussels, and other aquatic organisms because their habitats disappear. However, not only intensive agriculture and erosion are destroying these habitats. Now a study conducted by researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) refutes this wide-spread view. In order to save the species living in the river basin – and protect people from the threat of devastating floods – rivers need more space, diversity, and freedom.
The subject of the study was the Moosach, a tributary of the Isar and located right at the Weihenstephaner “doorstep” of the TUM. The Moosach largely flows between the Munich gravel plain and tertiary hill country in an artificial bed. Every few years the river has to be excavated to remove several thousand cubic meters of mud.
The silting of rivers and streams leads to problems for fish, mussels, and other aquatic organisms.
Photo: TUM/J. Geist
The tertiary hill country, 65 million years old, is among the areas with the highest erosion rates. However, less than one percent of the erosion material remains on the ground and the siltation problem cannot be solved by reducing the erosion. This result was provided by the analysis of riverbed samples over the course of several years by Professor Karl Auerswald from the Chair of Grassland Studies and Professor Jürgen Geist from the Chair of Aquatic Systems Biology.
“The prevention of erosion alone, as water and fisheries management have long demanded, does not then help river beds,” says Professor Auerswald. Fortified and dammed as well as straightened and deepened over many decades, the rivers lack their natural flow behavior. Likewise, the floodplain landscape is lacking buffer function and interplay with the river during flooding. The Moosach diagnosis: “a channel, no longer a river” can be transferred to all rivers in Bavaria and worldwide, says the TUM professor.
The Disappearance of Natural Change
The two TUM scientists just published the results of their study in the international journal “Land Degradation & Development.” The title, “Extent and causes of siltation in a headwater stream bed: catchment soil erosion is less important than internal stream processes,” shows how important the throughflow is for the riverbed. Namely the cavities between the gravel filled with oxygen-containing water gravel constitute the primary refuge of small and micro-organisms as well as the egg-laying site for various river fish. Even a thin sediment layer suffices to seal these interstices.
“The entry of erosion material also occurs under natural conditions,” Auerswald explains. “Under natural conditions, however, the riverbed is constantly being relocated and the cavity system is cleared from the inundated floodplain by the groundwater flow.” Because rivers have been straightened and channeled, these floodplain dynamics disappear just as the natural inflow from below has greatly decreased.
Humankind initially intervened in the course of the rivers with good reason: In order to protect cities from flooding, to drain swamps, and to push back cholera and typhus, at the start of the 19th century, rivers began to be straightened and forced into canals. Thus, land was also won for further settlement. The floodplain landscapes, important for sediment retention and natural flood protection, became dysfunctional more and more. Thus, the rivers lacking in shores and natural water inflow lack the possibility of change. But it is precisely these differences that are decisive for the biodiversity of a body of water and for its wealth of species in the water and below.
Auerswald warns: “River floodplains must be off-limits”
The right measure is lacking for Auerswald: “As is so often the case, humans continue down a path that was initially correct, even if he’s already well past the goal.” In the case of local planning and construction decisions, the floodplain is “always the loser.” Auerswald advises, as he has for many years, to once again give the rivers the freedom to determine their own shape.
This means, consequently, that the river could shape its bed during renaturation measures. “Whatever floodplains are still around must absolutely be off-limits,” he says, warning against the unchecked need of the cities for land to develop – and in view of his model calculations on future flood events: “We would do well to allow the rivers to meander on their own again.”
Publication:
Karl Auerswald und Jürgen Geist: Extent and Causes of Siltation in a Headwater Stream Bed: Catchment Soil Erosion is Less Important than Internal Stream Processes, Land Degradation & Development, 6 September 2017.
DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2779
Link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ldr.2779/full
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Karl Auerswald
Technical University of Munich
Chair of Grassland Studies
Phone: Tel: 0049/8161/71-3965
Mail: [email protected]
https://www.tum.de/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/detail/article/34198/
Dr. Ulrich Marsch | Technische Universität München
Further reports about: > TUM > erosion rates > fisheries management > flood protection > floodplain > grassland > soil erosion
Dry landscapes can increase disease transmission
20.06.2018 | Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.
100 % Organic Farming in Bhutan – a Realistic Target?
15.06.2018 | Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
In a recent publication in the renowned journal Optica, scientists of Leibniz-Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) in Jena showed that they can accurately control the optical properties of liquid-core fiber lasers and therefore their spectral band width by temperature and pressure tuning.
Already last year, the researchers provided experimental proof of a new dynamic of hybrid solitons– temporally and spectrally stationary light waves resulting...
Scientists from the University of Freiburg and the University of Basel identified a master regulator for bone regeneration. Prasad Shastri, Professor of...
Moving into its fourth decade, AchemAsia is setting out for new horizons: The International Expo and Innovation Forum for Sustainable Chemical Production will take place from 21-23 May 2019 in Shanghai, China. With an updated event profile, the eleventh edition focusses on topics that are especially relevant for the Chinese process industry, putting a strong emphasis on sustainability and innovation.
Founded in 1989 as a spin-off of ACHEMA to cater to the needs of China’s then developing industry, AchemAsia has since grown into a platform where the latest...
The BMBF-funded OWICELLS project was successfully completed with a final presentation at the BMW plant in Munich. The presentation demonstrated a Li-Fi communication with a mobile robot, while the robot carried out usual production processes (welding, moving and testing parts) in a 5x5m² production cell. The robust, optical wireless transmission is based on spatial diversity; in other words, data is sent and received simultaneously by several LEDs and several photodiodes. The system can transmit data at more than 100 Mbit/s and five milliseconds latency.
Modern production technologies in the automobile industry must become more flexible in order to fulfil individual customer requirements.
An international team of scientists has discovered a new way to transfer image information through multimodal fibers with almost no distortion - even if the fiber is bent. The results of the study, to which scientist from the Leibniz-Institute of Photonic Technology Jena (Leibniz IPHT) contributed, were published on 6thJune in the highly-cited journal Physical Review Letters.
Endoscopes allow doctors to see into a patient’s body like through a keyhole. Typically, the images are transmitted via a bundle of several hundreds of optical...
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Munich conference on asteroid detection, tracking and defense
13.06.2018 | Event News
2nd International Baltic Earth Conference in Denmark: “The Baltic Sea region in Transition”
08.06.2018 | Event News
ISEKI_Food 2018: Conference with Holistic View of Food Production
05.06.2018 | Event News
Could this material enable autonomous vehicles to come to market sooner? | http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/environment-sciences/preservation-of-floodplains-is-flood-protection.html |
DAY 4.
I am constrained to look at the Book of Ephesians for a while to look at the promises and hidden gems that the letter contains for our profit.
Ephesians is a treasure store waiting to be opened up to the observant Christian with gems to be found in virtually every verse.
We can treat the letter as a Love Letter from the Lord Jesus and we should read it with great anticipation that the Holy Spirit will open up its treasures to us with practical application.
We can look at it as 'a last will and testament' revealing the inheritance that has been given to us by our beloved Saviour with promises that we can employ and enjoy as we pilgrimage on earth.
The first promise that we shall look at is in 1 v 3 the 'spiritual blessings' only to be found in 'heavenly places', these are the benefits and blessings that we receive from our precious Saviour.
He is seated in the 'heavenly places' interceding for us right now, we should note the phrase is used five times in the Letter, 1 v 3, v 20, 2 v 6, 3 v 10 and 6 v 12.
First though we look at the 'spiritual blessings', these refer to the eternal life that we have been brought into and the blessings given to us as a result.
We are no longer a carnal being, living under sins domination, controlled by earthly appetites, fleshly instincts, with carnal desires and conforming to human natures pattern of living.
We have become a new creation in Christ Jesus and we now have a completely different pattern of living and a higher standard to live by.
We have new appetites and goals in life with holiness and righteousness becoming our standard of operations that will bring us into conformity with Christ Jesus.
We have begun a journey on earth that will end in His presence in eternity, as we walk we are brought under the Holy Spirit's control who will manifest the fruits of the Spirit through us.
The Christian life is not a Christmas tree with glittering baubles, decorations and pretty lights strewn across it taken down dusted and put away for another year.
The Christian is like a Cedar tree open to the elements that will make it the sturdy, strong and steadfast a treasure to the beholders.
Like the tree standing on the mountain side the Christian also has a hidden supply to draw from, the water of life given to us to drink from at our spiritual birth.
This divine supply is open for us to drink from all the time, there is a fresh supply for each day and like the introduction drink it is always free of charge.
It is being a diligent drinker of the water of life that beings us into the conformity with Christ
and that should be the aim of every Christian.
The 'spiritual blessings' then are for the Christian disciple who has turned from sin and rebellion to walk in harmony with the Living God.
Four facets of this gem are then brought before us in the next verses and what brilliant
facts these are, 'chosen' v 4, 'adopted' v 5 'accepted' v 6 and 'redeemed' v 7.
First we have been 'chosen' v 4 literally picked out or selected by God to become holy in His sight and made fit for His presence, once a rebel but now living in close relationship with the Creator God.
Secondly we have been 'adopted' v 5 into Gods family, we have become members of Gods eternal family, we are children of God living in the light of this desiring to be holy.
The Lord Jesus has welcomed me a total stranger into His family through His great love, turning a rebel sinner into a real son.
Thirdly we are now 'accepted' v 6 through the freely bestowed grace, mercy and love of God, He has graciously stooped down to lift me up then clean me and is keeping me up from falling now.
Fourthly we are 'redeemed' v 7 through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, He through His sacrifice on Calvary has covered our sin with His blood once and for all.
'Redemption' has at least three points for us to ponder and delight in, the first is the paying
of a ransom for release of a life Revelation 5 v 9 and 1 Corinthians 6 v 20.
Second there is the removal of the curse put on the human race Galatians 3 v 13 and 4 v 5, the thirdly there is the release from bondage that we are in through the fall of Adam and Eve as 1 Peter 1 v 18.
The promise of Gods word is that through the shedding of blood there is forgiveness of sin and we have come into that promise as we repent of the sin that broke the relationship with the Creator God.
We have been brought into the position of being perfect before God through the Lord Jesus Christ and how we should be seeking to praise and adore Him for His great love towards us.
What a transformation has taken place according to these promises that the Lord has showered us with all 'spiritual blessings' lavishly poured out on such folk as us.
Now the truth is that we should be living in the light of these truths holy, without blame v 4 'according to Gods good pleasure' v 5, 'to the praise and glory of God' v 6 now there is food for thought today.
We should be taking time each day to keep our selves pure by spending time in our Fathers presence confessing our faults and failings allowing the Holy Spirit time and room to make the adjustments that are necessary.
Can you not see that one of the reasons that we are kept so busy is to stop us having such times alone with our Father, Satan is actively keeping us from becoming the person that God wants us to become as a result.
'BUSY' can mean 'Being Under Satan's Yoke' something that we should seek never to be but in this age of filling every moment doing something else other than communing with the Lord it becomes a fact.
Oh that we may be moved by these tremendous promises ratified by the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us to seek first Gods Kingdom and His righteousness. | http://westgateevangelicalchapel.org/index.php/the-promises-of-god-daily-studies/174-the-promises-of-god-book-3?start=3 |
BUYER BEWARE!
Personal liability for life threatening illnesses, fines and a hefty bill for remedial works are the potential risks if you purchase a property built on contaminated land.
Because of the ancient rule of “buyer beware”, when buying a property, the onus is on the buyer to raise relevant enquiries with the seller. The seller is not under an obligation to provide any information to the buyer, though once an enquiry is raised the seller has a duty to answer truthfully. This duty applies even where the truthful answer is not visible on inspection and/or may cause a negative impact on the property. It is therefore crucial that the buyer’s solicitor raises all relevant searches and enquiries and that the buyer has a survey and inspection carried out before signing the contract.
What is contaminated land?
Nowhere are searches and a survey more important than in the case of contaminated land.
Under Part 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA), contaminated land is defined as “any land which appears to the Local Authority […] to be in such a condition, by reason of substances in, on or under that land, that:
- significant harm is being caused or there is significant possibility of such harm being caused; or
- significant pollution of controlled waters is being caused or there is significant possibility of such pollution being caused”.
In summary, contaminated land is land that has polluting substances in, on or under the land which is either harmful or potentially harmful to our health or to the environment.
How do you know if a property has been built on contaminated land?
When you purchase a property, your solicitor should request searches (mandatory if you are getting a mortgage but optional if not). The environmental search and local authority search could indicate that the land in question is contaminated. In particular, local authorities have a duty under Part 2 of the EPA to inspect land and to check for contamination.
Even these searches though are not conclusive and it is therefore essential that your solicitor raises appropriate enquiries with the seller to try and obtain any relevant information on things such as the land use, both current and historic. Any indication that the land was once used for industrial purposes will often increase the risk that the land could be contaminated.
The “polluter pays” principle
Once land has been identified as contaminated, it is then up to the “contaminator” to remedy this. But who is the contaminator and who is responsible for the contamination? This is a difficult question to answer and often the person responsible for the contamination cannot be located, usually because the contamination dates back many years. It is at this point that local authorities may look at the buyer (amongst others) to undertake remedial works to decontaminate the land or foot the bill for the clean-up.
For further information please contact Olivia Pisapia on +4420 7288 4754 or one of our other residential real estate experts. | https://www.boltburdon.co.uk/blogs/contaminated-property/ |
Objective: Signal analysis biomarkers, in an intra-operative setting, may be complementary tools to guide and tailor the resection in drug-resistant epilepsy patients. Unbiased assessment of biomarker performances are needed to evaluate their clinical usefulness and translation. We defined a realistic ground-truth scenario and compared the effectiveness of different biomarkers alone and combined to localize epileptogenic tissue. Methods: We investigated the performances of univariate, bivariate and multivariate signal biomarkers applied to 1 minute inter-ictal intra-operative electrocorticography to discriminate between electrodes covering normal or pathologic activity in 47 drug-resistant people with epilepsy (temporal and extra-temporal) who had been seizure-free one year after the operation. Results: The best result using a single biomarker was obtained using the phase-amplitude coupling measure for which the epileptogenic tissue was localized in 16 out of 47 patients. Combining the whole set of biomarkers provided an improvement of the performances: 20 out of 47 patients. Repeating the analysis only on the temporal-lobe resections we reached a sensitivity of 93% (28 out of 30) combining all the biomarkers. Conclusion: We suggest that the assessment of biomarker performances on a ground-truth scenario is required to have a proper estimate on how biomarkers translate into clinical use. Phase-amplitude coupling seems the best performing single biomarker and combining biomarkers improves localization of epileptogenic tissue. However, sensitivity achieved is not adequate for the usage as a tool in the operation theater, but it can improve the understanding of pathophysiological process.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
M. Demuru was supported by the TKI Health Holland grant LSHM16054-SGF. M. Zijlmans was supported by the ERC starting grant 803880
Author Declarations
All relevant ethical guidelines have been followed; any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained and details of the IRB/oversight body are included in the manuscript.
Yes
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. | https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2019.12.26.19015883v1 |
Introduction Climate change has been dubbed one of the biggest threats facing the world since it can increase the vulnerability of human systems and ecosystems, reduce socio-ecological resilience and threaten human security (see, for example, Adger 2010: 279-81; DFID 2006: 12; Scott 2008: 605-8; Trombetta 2008: 594-5). This chapter investigates the non-traditional security impacts of climate change in three cross-border areas in Southeast Asia – the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), the Heart of Borneo (HoB) and the Coral Triangle (CT). The crossborder areas under discussion are home to more than 400 million people.1 They are rich in biodiversity and natural resources. They also have excellent economic potential in the form of goods and services derived from natural resources, such as food, fibre, energy, tourism and others. However, Southeast Asia and its important cross-border areas are being threatened by increasingly severe and potentially irreversible impacts of climate change which is likely to accelerate and worsen disruptions from which socio-ecological systems may not be able to recover. This directly challenges the resource base upon which communities and individuals depend, eroding or entirely diminishing the ability of systems to perform their functions of sustaining human populations, as well as populations of other species (Deutsch et al. 2008: 6668; Joint Science Academies 2008; O’Hare et al. 2005: 355-77; Parry et al. 2009b: 1102). According to a number of official reports and studies, these problems will also have security implications. In some cases, for example, they are perceived to have led to and may further contribute to tensions among countries as well as conflicts and social unrest among players and stakeholders on the ground (Buhaug et al. 2008: 5; Nordås and Gleditsch 2007: 628-9; Raleigh and Urdal 2007: 675). This chapter examines further the ways in which climate change can result in human insecurity and other possible security challenges including social unrest, tension and conflict. It explores regional agreements and actions in each of the three cross-border regions and evaluates them against ideal-type models, with an emphasis on the mainstreaming of climate adaptation as well as mitigation in the development agenda to address these non-traditional security challenges. We also assesses whether stronger climate adaptation strategies havebeen incorporated into the various pledges, programs and plans adopted to address these issues, and if they have led to a variety of appropriate actions which will contribute to healthier ecosystems and strengthening the resilience of peoples and communities to climate change. Our analysis points to the importance of identifying and engaging with other actors such as the business sector, local communities and the public (in addition to working with state and intergovernmental actors). This is crucial since a major challenge facing governments is to devise climate-smart development strategies that mainstream climate change adaptation and mitigation (ASEM 2008: 3-4; Klein 2008: 1-2; Mitchell and Tanner 2006: 10; UNDP 2007b: 12). This challenge cannot be met if the threats are not addressed in an integrated and coordinated way. This should be done, we argue, within a harmonized regional legal framework and supported by a wider range of key actors (ASEM 2008: 5-6; Mitchell and Tanner 2006: 32; UNDP 2007a: 18). | https://researchprofiles.anu.edu.au/en/publications/risk-resilience-and-human-security-in-cross-border-areas-the-grea |
I have fallen victim to the perfectionist trap… many times. We can want so much to be perfect and to never fail that we can become trapped in a world of little to no change.
The truth is that if you never fail it means you’re not doing anything new or difficult. Wildly successful people haven’t succeeded by never making mistakes. On the contrary, they make many mistakes – big and small – but instead of letting their mistakes cripple them, they learn from them, grow and move on to the next mistake on the way to success.
Failure is not always a dead end. It can be a huge opportunity to learn. In fact, it’s often not until you have failed that you can figure out the right course of action to take. Look at Steve Jobs for example… he had some epic fails but they did not paralyse him… they energised him and he went on to be incredibly successful.
We need to become resilient to failure so that we can bounce back, learn and go on to thrive. We need to teach this resilience to children so that they can challenge themselves, grow and innovate.
Do something that scares you, be prepared to fail and then to go on and be awesome. The only people who don’t fail are losers who are happy to stay in the same place for eternity. | https://cectimm.com/learnt-week-2017-week-26/ |
The Streets of Heaven. The Ideology of Wealth in the Apocalypse of JohnWritten by Robert M. Royalty Jr Reviewed By Simon Gathercole
This new reading of the Book of Revelation provides a confident challenge to the current range of options for the interpretation of the Apocalypse. Robert Royalty’s two distinctive positions are as follows: first, that Revelation is critical of the conceptions of wealth in the Graeco-Roman world of John’s day, but that the author merely substitutes them with a different kind of ideology which contains no justice either. Secondly, this is the result not of persecution from Rome or even from the synagogues, but arises principally out of a power struggle within early Christianity in which John is trying to persuade his audience of his own authority and that of his circle of prophets. This book comes with an investigation of early Jewish attitudes to the subject, as well as a wealth of Classical sources, and a good grasp of the secondary literature in the extensive discussion of the text of Revelation itself.
The Streets of Heaven aims very much at reconstructing the thought-world of Revelation’s audience as a key to the rhetorical impact of the Apocalypse: this is the consequence of Royalty’s suspicion about our ability to recover authorial intent. However, problems are caused by Royalty’s confidence in his ability to recover the world-view of the audience. First, he makes the decision that the audience’s understanding is defined almost entirely in terms of the Graeco-Roman context of the congregations. He effectively says that the author is drawing on OT imagery, but the audience would have heard this imagery in terms of their Greek conceptual world. The impression is given that the churches addressed in Revelation were a tabula rasa as far as the OT is concerned. However, even within the Graeco-Roman evidence used, problems arise: for example, Royalty bases a good deal on the negative portrayal of trade in Classical literature. The Apocalypse thus portrays Babylon as a city of dirty traders, and both large-scale shipping and small-scale trade are equally vulgar: Royalty mentions that ‘Cicero is quite clear about the status of petty merchants and small shopkeepers’ (103). The wealth of God by contrast is genuine, aristocratic wealth, which the saints receive by the noble means of inheritance. This is an interesting idea, but it falls down when one considers that this characterisation was an attitude that would have been held almost exclusively by the nobility. Most of the rest of urban society (and not least the majority of the Christians in Asia Minor) would have been involved in some kind of trade, whether small or large-scale.
As for Royalty’s hypothesis about the power struggle within early Christianity, this is a line which is being increasingly taken in reconstructions of NT history (for example, by Elaine Pagels, and Robert Funk). But most of these reconstructions are non-verifiable. ‘John projects onto heaven and Babylon not lower-class resentments, but the moral, theological, and ideological struggles of the Christian communities’. This is constantly assumed and asserted throughout the book, but is nowhere properly argued for. (And does a struggle for power instantiated in a text not presume ‘authorial intention’?) Again, the issue of authority (this time, textual authority) surfaces in Royalty’s statement that ‘the use of the Hebrew Bible in the Apocalypse undercuts the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures because it does not acknowledge that authority’. So, because John does not employ citation formulae such as ‘as it is written’, but merely alludes to Scriptural phrases and concepts, he is trying to create authority for himself at the expense of the OT. This is an extraordinary judgement, and does not do justice either to the way Scripture is used in Early Judaism and Christianity (various works from intertestamental Judaism, as well as Phil., Col., 1–2 Thess, 1 John do not ‘cite’ Scripture), or to the way intertextuality functions. Implicit reference to authoritative texts can reinforce that authority just as effectively as direct quotation.
Royalty raises the interesting question of how wealth can function both as something positive (as in the portrayal of God’s wealth, and Christ’s luxurious garments) and wholly negative, as in the corrupt wealth in which the Babylonians exult. And he does supply a nuanced discussion of the different ways in which wealth is thought of in (particularly) early Judaism, Cynic and Stoic philosophy (for the Cynics, wealth was an impediment to virtue, for Stoics it was a matter of indifference), and the texts of the NT. However, his hermeneutic of suspicion in his approach to the Apocalypse is often grating: by his own admission, Royalty’s understanding of the nature of justice is very different from that of John. While Royalty understands the judgement of God in Revelation as an ideology ‘with no justice’, the Apocalypse insists that this revelation from Christ must be obeyed. | https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/the-streets-of-heaven-the-ideology-of-wealth-in-the-apocalypse-of-john/ |
In August 2018, Gov. Bruce Rauner, R-Ill., signed into law a bill that would allow patients in Illinois to seek out the services of a physical therapist without a referral from a physician or orthopedic surgeon. This expands previous policies on direct access to physical therapy for patients.
“We had the ability to do an evaluation of a patient, but we could not follow up with treatment unless we had the physician OK the plan of care,” Michael Riley, PT, president of the Illinois Physical Therapy Association, told Healio.com/Orthopedics.
Direct access to physical therapy
When establishing direct access to physical therapy in Illinois, Riley noted the Illinois Physical Therapy Association met with other medical practitioners to identify appropriate criteria. These include reporting to the patient’s physician what the treatment plan is within 5 days of the patient being seen.
“If later on [the patient] went back to the orthopedic surgeon or back to that physician, then they would have a record that they had some therapy during that course of time,” Riley said.
For patients who do not have a physician, the policy would allow for physical therapists to refer patients to a physician as needed.
“We feel we are going to be able to be a good referral source for the medical network, be it an orthopedic surgeon, a neurosurgeon or just a general practitioner, depending on the patient’s malady,” he said.
However, criteria for direct access may differ depending on the facility. According to Riley, most hospitals still have bylaws requiring a physician’s order for physical therapy in a hospital-based environment. He added Medicare also “requires a physician’s sign-off on a plan of care within 30 days of being seen.”
Advantages of direct access
Once direct access to physical therapy is fully implemented, Riley believes it will provide greater access to health care for patients and be seen as a cost-effective option.
“I think it is going to take a little bit of time to evolve as to how it is going to work but I do believe that overall, the winner in this particular case is going to be the general population who has greater access to health care,” Riley said.
Similar to a dependence on the accuracy of physicians to determine that physical therapy is needed to resolve a clinical condition, concerns have been raised about whether physical therapists will be able to provide accurate screening for injuries that are not amenable to therapy. Brian J. Cole, MD, MBA, professor and vice chair in the department of orthopedics at Midwest Orthopedics, Rush University Medical Center, noted that a well-trained physical therapist is capable of doing the diagnostic assessments and evaluation needed for proper treatment.
“It is a fine balance between diagnostic capability and filtering the proper patients for treatment solely on the therapist’s assessment without the benefit of objective diagnostic testing vs. an immediate referral to a physician to more accurately hone in on a diagnosis,” Cole told Healio.com/Orthopedics. “I think that is the obvious balance that needs to be struck. Ideally, preventing an unnecessary physician visit will improve access, efficiency and the cost of care. The onus, however, is on the physician and/or therapist to simply get it right early in the process. Patient benefits may limit the total amount of therapy they may have for a specific diagnosis which emphasizes the importance of diagnostic and therapeutic accuracy at the outset.” – by Casey Tingle
Reference:
www.ipta.org/news/414722/governor-signs-new-law-to-facilitate-access-to-physical-therapy-services.htm
Disclosures: Cole and Riley report no relevant financial disclosures. | https://www.healio.com/news/orthopedics/20190307/direct-access-to-physical-therapy-may-provide-advantages-in-health-care |
So, you've got a plot twist in mind - something that will blow your readers' minds if done well, but you don't want it to seem like you just pulled it out of your hindquarters. How do you go about this?
Back in 2000, I authored Diablo: Demonsbane, the first piece of professional fiction in the Blizzard Entertainment fiction line. At the end of the story was a major twist (I'm not going to worry about spoilers here because the e-book is not only 22 years old, it's also been out of print for years, and is unlikely to be coming back into print anytime soon): for the entire narrative, the main character, Siggard, is dead. A literal walking dead person (not a zombie). Based on the reviews, the reveal at the end managed to take everybody by surprise, and stuck the landing just as it needed to.
So, how do you do it? It's a two step process:
Lay the groundwork for the twist. As strange as it sounds when talking about something that should come as a surprise, you need to do some heavy foreshadowing to make it work. The reason is simple - what decides whether the twist will stick the landing is whether the reader can look back and have the twist make sense. The reveal has to be a natural end-point for where the narrative was leading. In the case of Demonsbane, there were a lot of hints dropped that Siggard's body was not actually normal (he never gets hungry, etc.).
Conceal the groundwork you have laid. The problem with having to lay groundwork is that you now have a bunch of easy-to-read signs pointing to your twist. Now you need to reader to either ignore or misread these signs. Every hint now needs to be paired with a misdirect of some sort. The easiest is a red herring - an explanation offered on the spot that explains the clue at least as well, if not better, than the actual twist. Why doesn't Siggard get hungry? Because right after coming back he discovered that his family was killed, and he's buried in grief at their loss. Once your misdirects are in place, the reader will find themselves looking everywhere but in the direction of the twist that is coming.
And that's all there is to it: lots of clues, each paired with a misdirect of some sort. Do this, and your plot twist will not only surprise the reader, but will stick the landing just as it needs to.
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed. | https://forums.tapas.io/t/quick-guide-pulling-off-a-plot-twist/70851 |
A new fluid-structure interaction model that considers high gas compressibility is developed using the Rankine–Hugoniot relations. The impulse conservation between the gas and structure is utilized to determine the reflected pressure profile from the known incident pressure profile. The physical parameters of the gas such as the shock front velocity, gas density, local sound velocity, and gas particle velocity as well as the impulse transmitted onto the structure are also evaluated. A series of one-dimensional shock loading experiments on free standing monolithic aluminum plates were conducted using a shock tube to validate the proposed model. The momentum was evaluated using high speed digital imagery. The experimental peak reflected pressure, the reflected pressure profile, and the momentum transmitted onto the plate were compared with the predicted results. The comparisons show that the gas’s compressibility significantly affects the fluid structure interaction behavior, and the new model can predict more accurate results than existing models. The effect of factors, such as the areal density of a plate and the peak incident pressure on momentum transfer are also discussed using the present model. Moreover, the maximum achievable momentum and the fluid structure interaction time are defined and calculated.
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Wang, E., Wright, J., & Shukla, A. (2011). Analytical and experimental study on the fluid structure interaction during air blast loading. Journal of Applied Physics, 110(11), 114901. doi: 10.1063/1.3662948
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3662948
All rights reserved under copyright. | https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/mcise_facpubs/21/ |
Below are some of the slides that Jim McPhee, Senior VP of Operations at Walt Disney World used at the Orange County Task Force meeting on Wednesday.
Tag: COVID-19
Walt Disney World Sets Opening Dates
Walt Disney World announced minutes ago that they will be opening in phases. Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom will open on July 11th, Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studio will open on July 15th.
The phased reopening will come with limits. Disney indicated that guests will need park reservations each day to enter a theme park. There will be no fireworks or parades. There also will be limited to no character meet and greets.
I will update this later today if I see more detailed information or as soon as Disney provides more details.
Walt Disney World Updates Operating Hours, Universal Orlando Announces Planned Opening
Earlier today Universal Orlando presented it’s plans to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force.
In that plan, Universal Orlando stated that the plan is to open June 1st, with a gradual capacity managed opening for employees only. Passholders would be added on June 3rd, followed by an opening to the general public on June 5th.
Even though Disney opened Disney Springs yesterday, Walt Disney World updated its operating hours calendar to show that the theme parks will be closed through June 13th, it previously stated June 7th.
Walt Disney World Resort hotels and theme parks are currently closed until further notice. Disney recently began accepting hotel reservations for July 1, although as explained by a senior figure at Disney, that does not mean the park will be open at that time.
While Disney has not announced an opening date and as stated above in regards to opening, one would have to think that since Disney have been somewhat working together with the task force, that Walt Disney World will be opening sometime close to when Universal Orlando opens up.
While nothing definite from Disney, Universal’s announcement would seem to be good news.
There appears to to be light at the end of this tunnel.
Walt Disney World Updates Website….Includes COVID-19 Liability Statement and Warning
Ahead of the opening of Disney Springs on May 20th, Walt Disney World has updated its website today with a COVID-19 warnings notice.
The thing to note is the wording that indicates that “By visiting Walt Disney World Resort, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19.”
Below it the entire COVID-19 warning from the Walt Disney World website…
COVID-19 Warning
We have taken enhanced health and safety measures—for you, our other Guests, and Cast Members. You must follow all posted instructions while visiting Disney Springs.
An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. COVID-19 is an extremely contagious disease that can lead to severe illness and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, senior citizens and guests with underlying medical conditions are especially vulnerable.
By visiting Disney Springs you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19.
Let’s keep each other healthy and safe.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Outlines Next Steps In Theme Parks’ Reopening Path
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday outlined what may be the next steps for the state’s theme parks on their paths to reopening, including Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort.
In a press conference, DeSantis asked park operators to submit their reopening plans to the state, saying that they would “need to have an endorsement of the relative official in their locality — Orange County mayor, wherever you’re talking about,” he said.
Extending the previously announced plans for the reopening of Florida, the state will move forward with:
- Restaurants allowing 50% capacity (up from the previous 25% occupancy limit)
- Retail moving to 50% capacity (up from the previous 25% occupancy limit)
- Gyms operating while respecting social distancing and sanitizing measures
Theme parks can now submit plans about reopening to the state and will need endorsement from the Orange County Mayor. Movie theaters will remain closed at this time.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings told local media later in the day that he has not received any reopening plans from the parks, and that he doesn’t expect any reopenings until June at the earliest.
Walt Disney World and Disney Cruise Line COVID-19 Updates
No big stories today, just a few updates….
First with the good news. Walt Disney is one step closer to opening. Yesterday, it was announced that Disney had reached an agreement with the unions that represent workers at Walt Disney World on safeguards to protect employees from coronavirus, removing one of the company’s hurdles to reopening its popular theme parks.
In the agreement Disney ensured that anyone who contracts COVID-19 will have paid time off to quarantine. Also, Cast Members will be trained on how to conduct self-assessments regarding symptoms of COVID-19 at home.. Disney will provide a thermometer to anyone who requests one. Cast Members who have COVID-19 can call in free of attendance discipline.
The safeguards include social distancing practices, increased cleaning and mandatory masks for workers and guests, according to a statement from the Service Trades Council Union, which represents about 43,000 workers at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
And now the bad news….
The Walt Disney World operating hours calendar now shows the parks closed through June 6th (previously it was May 30).
With that, Disney is in the process of cancelling Walt Disney World Resort hotel reservations for early June. According to sources, the latest cancellation notification we have seen so far is for an arrival on June 7, although some guests with earlier stays are yet to be contacted.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Disney Cruise Line won’t sail again until at least July 31 after announcing another round of cruise cancellations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement on its website, the cruise line said it was suspending departures through Monday, July 27. That means the earliest any of its four ships would sail would be Disney Dream from Port Canaveral on July 31 and Disney Fantasy also from the port on August 1.
Disney Magic, which would be sailing in Europe, would not have its first sailing until August 5 and Disney Wonder, which would be sailing Alaska would not sail until August 3.
The line is offering either a full refund or the option to rebook the sailing with a cruise credit incentive for any sailing within 15 months of the canceled departure.
Walt Disney World Now Only Accepting Reservations from July 1st and Beyond
Walt Disney World has pushed back its open reservation window from June 1st to July 1, 2020.
Shortly after the resort shut down from COVID-19, Disney began accepting reservations from June 1 on March 29, but will now not accept new reservations during June.
What isn’t clear yet is if the move of the date is due to capacity being reached for June, or if Disney has no plans to operate during June. People in the know state that the hotels/resorts are not full, but there is speculation that capacity could have been capped to keep attendance reduced. Cancellations of existing reservations are taking place on a rolling basis through late May.
Walt Disney World Announces Guidelines for Phased Reopening of Disney Springs
Walt Disney World President, Josh D’Amaro has sent out an email regarding information on the partial reopening of Disney Springs. The biggest thing that we’re seeing from the information released by the company earlier involves the language used when discussing face coverings.
A portion of the email is below –
Hello everyone,
Following recent state and local guidelines permitting the reopening of some Florida businesses, we’ve seen a strong interest in what our next steps may be. As we plan for the future, we’re keeping the health and well-being of both our cast members and our guests at the forefront of planning efforts.
Today, I’m pleased to share that we’re preparing for a phased reopening of select locations owned by third-party operating participants in the Disney Springs shopping and dining district, starting on May 20. We continue to monitor conditions and look forward to welcoming each of our guests back with enhanced health and safety measures in place including the changes below:
- Limited capacity based on Florida state and local guidelines
- Appropriate physical distancing
- Requiring both our cast members and guests to wear face coverings
- Additional cast safety training with a focus on limited-contact guest services and enhanced cleaning procedures
Disney Parks Blog stated earlier today stated that, “Disney Springs will begin to reopen in a way that incorporates enhanced safety measures, including increased cleaning procedures, the use of appropriate face coverings by both cast members and guests, limited-contact guest services and additional safety training for cast members.”
Josh D’Amaro has now clarified that the face coverings will indeed be required by both Cast Members and guests.
Shanghai Disneyland is implementing similar measures when it comes to face coverings.
Disneyland Resort Updates Opening Information – Taking Reservations July 1 and After
Walt Disney World to Begin Phased Opening of Disney Springs on May 20th
Walt Disney World announced earlier today that they will begin a phased opening of Disney Springs on May 20th.
Below is the full release from Matt Simon, Vice President Disney Springs –
A phased reopening of Disney Springs will begin on May 20. Following the guidance of government and health officials, a limited number of shopping and dining experiences that are owned by third-party operating participants will begin to open during this initial phase. The rest of Walt Disney World Resort will remain closed, including theme parks and resort hotels.
As we continue to monitor conditions, and with the health of guests and Disney cast members at the forefront of our planning, we are making several operational changes. Disney Springs will begin to reopen in a way that incorporates enhanced safety measures, including increased cleaning procedures, the use of appropriate face coverings by both cast members and guests, limited-contact guest services and additional safety training for cast members.
We will apply learnings and ideas from leaders in the health and travel industries, and we’re also talking to our unions as we prepare for some cast members to return to work.
During the initial opening phase, Disney Springs will have limitations on capacity, parking and operating hours. Given this unprecedented situation, we appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we navigate through this process as responsibly as we can. Additional protocols and procedures may be announced closer to the opening date. Please check DisneySprings.com as we get closer to May 20 for the most current information on operating hours, locations and safety procedures.
For those of us anticipating the opening of Walt Disney World, this certainly is good news. | https://disneynewstoday.net/tag/covid-19/ |
What happens when someone asks for asylum at the border
About 200 members of a migrant caravan that traveled north through Mexico, drawing the ire of President Donald Trump, plan to come to a San Diego port of entry today and ask for asylum.
At its largest, the caravan reportedly numbered about 1,200 people, mostly from Central American countries like Honduras, where many have fled violence that activists attribute, at least in part, to U.S. involvement.
After the Mexican government issued temporary travel documents to members of the caravan, some came ahead of the group to the U.S.-Mexico border to ask for asylum. Others planned to resettle in Mexico.
Those that remained in the group — which numbers now about 345 people — arrived by bus this week in Tijuana. Both the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have pledged to send additional staff to the border to process those claiming asylum as quickly as possible.
Generally, when asylum seekers come to the U.S. border, they begin a process that can take months or even years to resolve. Many spend most, if not all, of that time in detention facilities run by private prison companies contracted with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
They are interviewed and screened by multiple federal agencies, and at the end, they have to prove to judges that their stories meet the requirements under asylum law to be granted protection.
“They can expect to be put through a very confusing process,” said Bardis Vakili, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union who conducts legal orientations at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility. “They can expect to have things not explained to them very well in a language they don’t understand for weeks or months. They can expect to find great difficulty in getting legal help to make their case.”
The Trump administration has called on Congress to end “loopholes” in the asylum process, calling out court rulings and laws that dictate how children and families who arrived together move through the system. Trump also tweeted that he’d told DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen not to allow “large caravans” to enter the U.S.
“It is a disgrace. We are the only Country in the World so naive! WALL,” he wrote.
Under both U.S. law and international treaties that came after the Holocaust, border officials must allow people who say they’re afraid to return home to submit their claims in the asylum process.
Processing at the border
Migrants can ask for asylum at any port of entry along the U.S. border. If they come through El Chaparral to the PedWest side of the port at San Ysidro, they are stopped by security guards who make sure travelers have documentation before walking through the gate into the U.S. side of the port.
Customs and Border Protection officers take asylum seekers to a processing area for “inadmissibles,” or people who don’t have permission to enter the U.S., where they’re held in temporary cells.
California ports of entry received 17,610 inadmissibles so far in fiscal 2018, according to data from CBP. At the same point last year, 21,180 inadmissibles had arrived. The agency does not specify how many of them sought asylum.
In the processing area, officers interview the migrants. During the interview, officers are required to ask if they are afraid of going home.
If people express fear of returning to their countries, border officials notify ICE officers, who look for detention bed space to house the arrivals. People who present at the border in San Diego often go to Otay Mesa Detention Center, but if there is no room, they also go to Adelanto Detention Facility, Imperial Regional Detention Facility or farther away.
Sometimes this transfer process can take several days. Nicole Ramos, a Tijuana-based immigration attorney who focuses on asylum cases, said that clients have described to her losing sense of time in the notoriously cold holding cells.
“It’s a very disorienting place,” Ramos said.
Clients complain to her about the slim burritos they’re given for each meal while they want to transfer.
Families are taken to an ICE processing center in the federal building downtown. If processing takes multiple days, ICE sometimes uses the Quality Suites on Otay Mesa Drive to hold people overnight, according to a document obtained and published by the National Immigrant Justice Center.
The largest group held at the hotel so far in fiscal 2018 was 120 people, according to the document, and ICE has kept on average 74 people there daily.
Some asylum seekers, instead of coming to a port, cross the border between ports of entry and are caught by Border Patrol agents. Some purposefully cross where they see an agent stationed to ask for help requesting asylum. Agents call these “self-surrenders.”
Border Patrol agents, like their counterparts at ports of entry, are required to ask if people they encounter are afraid to go home.
Credible fear
Asylum seekers wait in detention for interviews with officers from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services who are specially trained in evaluating cases under asylum law. Those interviews last about two hours and are usually conducted by phone.
Some detention facilities have asylum officers stationed in them, particularly those that house families since children are not allowed to stay detained beyond 20 days.
Unaccompanied children go through a slightly different process. Asylum officers interview them in person and make the first determination of whether they get asylum. If the officer does not grant asylum, then the child tries again in immigration court.
Under asylum law, an individual must have suffered persecution or fear suffering persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
The “because of” is important — even if the person faces legitimate death threats at home, that person might not win an asylum case if he or she cannot show it is for one of these reasons. (There are other types of protections that have different requirements, like the Convention against Torture, that people can ask for as well.)
How this part of the law applies to Central Americans fleeing gang violence, in particular, is still up for legal debate and has evolved over time.
Asylum officers look for whether applicants’ stories are consistent, detailed and plausible based on country conditions, and they run security checks in a variety of government databases.
They check for histories that could bar an applicant from asylum, like war crimes, persecuting others or other particularly violent or serious crimes.
Supervisors review every credible fear decision before it’s sent to the asylum seeker.
For asylum officers, it’s a high pressure situation, said Michael Knowles, president of the officers’ union.
“The outcome of an officers’ decision is very consequential. For the person granted asylum, it is a new lease on life, a chance to recover after having lost everything. For the failed asylum seeker, it’s not just, ‘Oh darn, I didn’t get my visa,’ but, ‘Oh darn, I’m going to have to go back to the place I ran away from,” Knowles said.
“There’s also the high stakes of national security,” he said. “By carefully adjudicating these cases, we ensure the integrity of the program.”
The union would like to see more resources and more officers hired, especially with pressure to clear the backlog while adding more security checks. The union has also been critical of reports that some asylum seekers are turned back at the border.
“If they’re coming to seek asylum, they need to be given due process,” Knowles said. “We shouldn’t be impeded from doing our job, and those applicants should not be impeded from having their cases heard.”
People who are not found to have credible fear can have that decision reviewed by an immigration judge.
Detention and immigration court
After someone gets a positive credible fear finding, he or she receives a “Notice to Appear,” a document that schedules that person for immigration court.
The person at this point can request to be released from detention. Those who are released may be required to pay a bond or wear an ankle monitor. Under the Trump administration, most remain in custody, and even under the Obama administration, many asylum seekers spent the entire process locked up.
At the first hearing with an immigration judge, the asylum seeker receives an asylum application as well as a list of free and low-cost attorneys.
Since it is civil court, not criminal court, asylum seekers must find their own attorneys. Many cannot afford the cost of an immigration attorney, and because there are a limited number who take on cases pro bono, asylum seekers often represent themselves in court.
Studies have shown that would-be immigrants are much more likely to win their cases if they have lawyers.
At the next hearing — or sometimes a couple of hearings later — the asylum seeker turns in the application. The judge reads a warning that frivolous asylum applications can make someone ineligible for immigrating to the U.S. for life. Then the judge schedules a private hearing with the asylum seeker, where the person presents evidence to support his or her story.
Waiting for hearings takes at least months. Immigration court has a backlog nationwide of close to 700,000 cases, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse of Syracuse University. In fiscal 2016, immigration courts nationwide received more than 63,700 defensive asylum cases, a 221 percent increase from about 19,800 in fiscal 2012, according to data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
At or after the individual hearing, the judge makes a decision. Either side can appeal the case, which can extend an asylum seeker’s time in custody.
Nationally, about 31 percent of the defensive cases that were decided were given asylum in fiscal 2016, but that rate varied widely by court location.
A woman from Rwanda who won her asylum case last year said she understands that the U.S. needs to protect itself but that the process is hard on asylum seekers. She didn’t know she was going to be imprisoned when she arrived at the border, she said.
“It’s a mix of fear and you don’t know where you are,” said the woman, who didn’t want to be named because she worried about how people would treat her if they found out she’s an asylee. “You ask yourself what is going to happen to me. I was terrified. It’s something that is hard to explain unless you experience it. It was a horrible experience.”
Despite that struggle, she’s grateful for the opportunity to start a new life in the U.S., she said emphatically.
Recent and proposed changes
The Trump administration has proposed changes to the asylum process, saying that “loopholes” entice people without valid claims to come to the U.S.
“The department enforces and follows the laws as set forth by Congress. However, the secretary and the president have made clear that the current asylum process is rife with fraud and are working with Congress to close loopholes,” a DHS official said. “If families are seeking asylum or other legal protections, DHS encourages them to cross our border at a port of entry. Crossing the border between ports of entry is illegal and puts officers at risk.”
The administration wants to hold children in detention longer and require them to file asylum applications within one year of arriving in the U.S. It also wants Congress to pass a law that sends unaccompanied children’s cases to immigration court like the process for adults instead of going first to asylum officers, a proposal the asylum officers’ union has opposed.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has already made changes in policies at immigration courts.
He recently referred a Board of Immigration Appeals decision to himself and vacated the Board’s finding that required judges to give all asylum seekers a full hearing. That means judges may now make decisions based on asylum applications without listening to any testimony from the asylum seeker.
People who advocate for asylum seekers’ rights to protection criticized how the process worked even before the changes made under Trump.
“The system is not designed as a protection system,” said immigration attorney Ramos. “It’s designed as a mass incarceration and deportation system.”
Sessions also created quotas for immigration judges, which he has said he hopes will reduce the backlog. The immigration judges union has opposed this move, arguing that especially for asylum cases, it will require judges to make decisions too quickly given the amount of evidence involved.
Vakili, the ACLU attorney, emphasized the importance of allowing people access to a fair process.
“Nobody flees their home country and faces the risks of coming here unless things are very dangerous at home,” Vakili said. “There are significant numbers of people who face real danger if they were to be deported. To not give someone a fair shake in their case risks making mistakes when life and death is on the line.”
Immigration Videos
New developments in family separation case
9:53
A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families
2:35
Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue
1:38
When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next
Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff
What is DACA?
Border wall prototype contractors selected
Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S.
30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel
Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence
Alejandro Tamayo contributed reporting.
Follow me on Facebook for live updates about immigration news
[email protected], @bgirledukate on Twitter
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We derive boundary conditions at a rigid wall for a granular material comprising rough, inelastic particles. Our analysis is confined to the rapid flow, or granular gas, regime in which grains interact by impulsive collisions. We use the Chapman–Enskog expansion in the kinetic theory of dense gases, extended for inelastic and rough particles, to determine the relevant fluxes to the wall. As in previous studies, we assume that the particles are spheres, and that the wall is corrugated by hemispheres rigidly attached to it. Collisions between the particles and the wall hemispheres are characterized by coefficients of restitution and roughness. We derive boundary conditions for the two limiting cases of nearly smooth and nearly perfectly rough spheres, as a hydrodynamic description of granular gases comprising rough spheres is appropriate only in these limits. The results are illustrated by applying the equations of motion and boundary conditions to the problem of plane Couette flow.
The slow flow of granular materials is often marked by the existence of narrow shear layers, adjacent to large regions that suffer little or no deformation. This behaviour, in the regime where shear stress is generated primarily by the frictional interactions between grains, has so far eluded theoretical description. In this paper, we present a rigid-plastic frictional Cosserat model that captures thin shear layers by incorporating a microscopic length scale. We treat the granular medium as a Cosserat continuum, which allows the existence of localised couple stresses and, therefore, the possibility of an asymmetric stress tensor. In addition, the local rotation is an independent field variable and is not necessarily equal to the vorticity. The angular momentum balance, which is implicitly satisfied for a classical continuum, must now be solved in conjunction with the linear momentum balances. We extend the critical state model, used in soil plasticity, for a Cosserat continuum and obtain predictions for flow in plane and cylindrical Couette devices. The velocity profile predicted by our model is in qualitative agreement with available experimental data. In addition, our model can predict scaling laws for the shear layer thickness as a function of the Couette gap, which must be verified in future experiments. Most significantly, our model can determine the velocity field in viscometric flows, which classical plasticity-based model cannot.
We have investigated the flow of dry granular materials through vertical channels in the regime of dense slow flow using video imaging of the particles adjacent to a transparent wall. Using an image processing technique based on particle tracking velocimetry, the video movies were analysed to obtain the velocities of individual particles. Experiments were conducted in two- and three-dimensional channels. In the latter, glass beads and mustard seeds were used as model granular materials, and their translational velocities were measured. In the former, aluminium disks with a dark diametral stripe were used and their translational velocities and spin were measured. Experiments in the three-dimensional channels were conducted for a range of the channel width W, and for smooth and rough sidewalls. As in earlier studies, we find that shearing takes place predominantly in thin layers adjacent to the walls, while the rest of the material appears to move as a plug. However, there are large velocity fluctuations even in the plug, where the macroscopic deformation rate is negligibly small. The thickness of the shear layer, scaled by the particle diameter dp, increases weakly with W/dp. The experimental data for the velocity field are in good agreement with the Cosserat plasticity model proposed recently. We also measured the mean spin of the particles in the two-dimensional channel, and its deviation from half the vorticity. There is a clear, measurable deviation, which too is in qualitative agreement with the Cosserat plasticity model. The statistics of particle velocity and spin fluctuations in the two-dimensional channel were analysed by determining their probability distribution function, and their spatial and temporal correlation. They were all found to be broadly similar to previous observations for three-dimensional channels, but some differences are evident. The spatial correlation of the velocity fluctuations are much stronger in the two-dimensional channel, implying a pronounced solid-like motion superimposed over an uncorrelated fluid-like motion. The strong spatial correlation over large distances has led us to propose a mechanism for the production of velocity fluctuations in the absence of a macroscopic deformation rate.
At present there are no constitutive equations that are valid over the entire range of densities and velocities encountered in the storage and handling of granular materials. Most of the available equations fall into one of two regimes: (i) slow flow and (ii) rapid flow. In the slow flow regime, the solids fraction ν is high and forces are exerted across interparticle contacts which last for a long time compared to the contact time in the rapid flow regime. The contacts occur during the sliding and rolling of particles relative to each other. In the rapid flow regime, the solids fraction is low, and momentum is transferred mainly by collisions between particles and by free flight of particles between collisions. Consider the flow of a granular material between two parallel plates. If V is the relative velocity of the plates and H is the gap between them, the stresses are found to be approximately independent of the nominal shear rate γ ≡ V/H in the slow flow regime (small γ and high ν) and to increase strongly with γ in the rapid flow regime (large γ and low ν).
In devices such as hoppers and chutes, both the regimes can occur in different spatial regions, and there can also be transition regions where the nature of the flow changes from one regime to the other. Given a device and a set of operating conditions, it is difficult to determine a priori the type of flow regime that is likely to prevail. However, the following criterion can be used as a very rough guideline (Savage and Hutter, 1989).
As noted in §1.5.1, a reference frame consists of a spatial coordinate system and clock. The principle of material frame indifference requires constitutive equations to be invariant or unaffected by an arbitrary time-dependent translation, rotation, and reflection of the coordinate axes and by an arbitrary translation of the time axis. In contrast, constitutive equations expressed in tensor form are invariant under time-independent transformations of the coordinate axes, but they are not necessarily invariant under time-dependent transformations.
The basis for frame indifference is the intuitive idea that the response of a material should be independent of the motion of the observer (Oldroyd, 1950; Noll, 1955, p. 45; Noll, 1959). The principle cannot be proved, but simple examples have been given (Truesdell and Noll, 1965; Hunter, 1983, p. 123) where its validity appears plausible. An example taken from Hunter (1983, p. 123) is discussed below.
A pilot bails out of an aircraft and opens his parachute. Suppose that the force P exerted by the parachute on the pilot is measured by the extension of a spring attached to the harness of the parachute. Consider two reference frames, one fixed to the pilot and the other to an observer standing on the ground. Suppose that the spring is visible in both the frames. When relativistic effects are ignored, it is usually implicitly assumed that at any time t, the distance between two points in space has the same value regardless of the motion of the reference frame (see, e.g., Resnick, 1968, p. 5). This assumption implies that the pilot and the observer on the ground will record the same extension for the spring.
A bunker is a combination of a bin and a hopper (Fig. 1.5). The abrupt change in geometry at the bin–hopper transition results in a rich variety of flow patterns, and oscillatory wall stresses. These features pose formidable difficulties for modeling bunker flow. At present, there are no satisfactory models which can capture all the observed features.
Some of the experimental observations are summarized below. This is followed by a discussion of models for the bin section, the transition region, and the hopper section.
EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS
Flow Regimes
The patterns observed by Nguyen et al. (1980) for the flow of sand through a bunker are shown in Fig. 4.1. For θw < 40°, mass flow (type A) occurs regardless of the value of H/W (Fig. 4.2). Here W and H are the half-width of the bunker and the height of the free surface of the material relative to the exit slot, respectively. (For small values of H, the free surface is not flat. In this case, H is the elevation of the point of intersection of the free surface with the bunker wall.) For θw > 70°, funnel flow of type B occurs when H/W exceeds a critical value (≍3) and funnel flow of type C occurs for a smaller value of H/W. As indicated by the hatched regions in Fig. 4.2, the boundaries between various regimes are not sharply defined. For θw = 60°, there is an interesting transition from mass flow to funnel flow, and back again to mass flow as H/W decreases from high values.
In Chapter 7, we considered the kinetic theory of a granular gas composed of smooth inelastic spheres. However, the particles in most granular materials one normally encounters are rough, and it is therefore desirable to extend the theory to rough spheres. It is clear that particle roughness will result in the transmission of a tangential impulse during collision. We shall see that the tangential impulse is partly determined by the angular velocities of the colliding pair. As a consequence, the hydrodynamic balance of the angular momentum field, which was implicitly satisfied for smooth particles, must be enforced here.
The dimensional analysis of §7.1 does not depend on whether the particles are smooth or rough. Hence the scaling of the stress with the shear rate, particle size, and density for a granular gas composed of rough particles will be the same as that for smooth particles. However, we shall see that the form and symmetry of the stress tensor is different and that additional hydrodynamic variables are required to describe the flow of a rough granular gas.
Pidduck (1922) was the first to develop a kinetic theory for a gas of rough spherical molecules. He considered “perfectly rough” spheres, which conserve the total kinetic energy of a particle pair during collision. He determined the equilibrium distribution function and applied the Chapman–Enskog analysis to determine the first correction from equilibrium for a dilute gas; his analysis is presented (with a few corrections) in Chapman and Cowling (1964, chap. 11). McCoy et al. (1966) extended the analysis to dense gases, and Lun (1991) further extended it to a dense gas of nearly elastic, nearly perfectly rough spheres.
In this chapter, we apply the hydrodynamic equations derived in Chapter 7 to some simple flow problems, and compare the results with experimental data, where available. In each of the problems, we shall first employ the heuristic description of Haff (1983) (see §7.2), followed by the kinetic theory model that was described in Chapter 7. The simplifications made in the heuristic high-density theory allow relatively easy solution of the equations of motion, and give physical insight into the behavior. The results of the kinetic theory, when compared with those of the heuristic high-density theory, gives us an understanding of the effects of the compressibility of the granular medium. We also see how the results of the high-density theory appear as a certain limit of the kinetic theory.
All the problems that we consider, indeed all problems of practical interest, require the specification of boundary conditions at solid walls. In some cases, such as flow in inclined chutes, we also require boundary conditions at a free surface, i.e., the interface between the granular medium and the atmosphere. For the flow of fluids, the no-slip boundary condition is usually imposed at solidwalls, thereby specifying the velocity of the fluid at thewalls. The temperature of the fluid at the walls is set by specifying the temperature of the walls, or by specifying the flux of energy at the walls. In addition, the pressure at some of the boundaries must be specified. Boundary conditions for granular materials are significantly different: they usually display considerable slip at solid boundaries, and the grain temperature clearly has little to do with the thermodynamic temperature of the walls.
Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this to your organisation's collection. | http://core-cms.prod.aop.cambridge.org/core/search?filters%5BauthorTerms%5D=Prabhu%20R.%20Nott&eventCode=SE-AU |
This is a voluntary invitation the Lord is making to those who are to be numbered among the saints as disciples. It is a statement made to show some of the most important requirement for discipleship, 'emptying yourself' of all pride, and those weights that distract on the way.
The requirement for serving the Lord is not necessarily your qualification or earthly position and achievement...NO! God can use anybody that is available and willing to obey His Word and instructions.
The 'call' of God is a worthy call that leads to eternity in Christ. It is a call to discipleship in Christ, which means that you will in addition to being saved, you the disciple will in-turn be committed to winning others to Christ.
The Call to Discipleship
Disciples are different from followers of Christ. Disciples graduate from the school of followers and that is why the invitation was made to the followers, who want to become disciples...To sell all they have and then join the team e.g the Rich young man in Mark 10:21
Anybody can receive the call at any time, but remember you are already a follower of Christ, so when the higher call of discipleship comes your way, you will need to go back to God for clearance. God will communicate to you in due time. In such circumstance, You may continue in your services to the Lord where you are, in your job or business or even political position, until you receive further directives to leave your job.
How will you know the Lord is leading you to leave your job, He will speak to you directly, especially when you pray and ask for His direction. He will show you the ministry you are to serve Him as a Pastor or give you a message to go into the world and raise a people like this or that for Him.
The secret of fruitful service
The Lord, Jesus Christ was speaking to His disciples and His numerous followers about the secret to effective and fruitful service to God when He made that statement in Luke. God has never hidden things from His children, and so He knew that it is possible for some people to want to serve Him, while at the same time they are busy 'doing their own thing' along side their service.
As God, He does not want us to be without fruit in our service, after all He calls us, ordains us to be fruitful and that our fruit should last, but when ever you see any servant of God with divided attention, Such a person will not be able to produce much fruit.
Take for instance, a Pastor or Evangelist who also wants to be the President of his country, bank manager etc. That desire or ambition will require his full attention and pursuit, which will mean that the work of God will no longer be his priority, but becoming the President.
The statement “ If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” is simply saying you will have to down-play your certificates, money and position, those things that men trust in and boost about and rather put all your trust in God and Jesus Christ.
It was for this same reason that Jesus told the rich young man in Mark 10:21 to go and sell all the things he has, give them away to the poor and then come and join Him. Those things you trust in - Money, connection and position are not necessary conditions for success in the work of God. Sell them, be willing to start afresh with God.
How to Deny yourself
Another way to look at the statement is that, if you are a wealthy man, behave as though you are not wealthy for the sake for the gospel and humble yourself to obey the Word of God and His instructions. In the church, don't look for group of rich men to belong. You are an Engineer does not mean it is in the group of your colleagues that you will serve, you may never learn much. But if you join ushers, Evangelism or Sanctuary keepers, you will learn much. Humble yourself and forget you earthly position when it comes to service of God.
Deny yourself means that your trust for Food, daily bread, healing, protection etc should be in God, when you are a servant of God and not in any other things or person. The servant of God should put all his trust in God, that's what the job requires.
So, if you are a Pilot, a Governor etc and receive the invitation to follow Christ, it does not necessarily mean you should walk away from your good job and become a Pastor - NO. But you can preach the gospel and win souls anywhere you are. With the word of God in your heart and mouth, humble and positive attitude, you can turn your office, home and business place to a mission field for soul winning until you confirm the 'call' is for a full time ministry.
Examples in the bible
We have a good number of such men in the old and new testaments of the bible. In the New Testament, Mathew 27:57-60, we have the story of Joseph of Arimathaea, a rich man working in the government of Pilate, a follower of Jesus Christ. He was a disciple of Christ, though not a visible one, yet Jesus knew him and he continued to work with the government of the day. It was Joseph of Arimathaea that went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus Christ to give Him a befitting burial. In verse 60, the bible recorded that he laid Jesus in his own tomb, which was newly hewn out of the rock, which nobody has never used.
Daniel in the book of Daniel. He was not a pastor. but He served the Lord in a strange land and his love for God led to his many exploits in Babylon. He began to serve the Lord as a youth, identifying with God and giving Him all the glory for all things. He lifted the name of the Lord high among the Eunuchs and before the Kings that ruled Babylon during his days. Dan 1:8
As you would expect, God's promise in 1 Corinthians 15:58 that our labour of love in the Lord will not be in vain, God gave him favour before men in authority continually. Dan 1:9. Daniel remained steadfast in praying for Israel and God's people and was known for his honesty, integrity and truthfulness.
Continuous and faithful service
He served the Lord continually by labouring in the Word and ministering to the Lord in prayers that God began to open his spiritual eyes to see vision and mysteries to the extent that he had to interpret several dreams of the kings of Babylon, which their wise men could not interpret. Daniel ended up becoming a Prophet of God due to his faithful and consistent service unto the Lord.
The call require a heart that will tirelessly stand for God and happily and sacrificially reach out to the unsaved with the gospel, the poor and needy with a helping hands and see that these people coming to Christ are well established in the faith.
Beloved, "Let him deny himself and carry his cross and follow me" also means that disciples and followers of Christ should be prepared to deny themselves some of the cares and luxuries of life they are familiar with for the sake of the kingdom. If you are on a mission field for instance, there will hardly be a swimming pool or five star hotel and restaurant for you to enjoy your stay there. Jesus is saying that comfort should not stop a believer from discharging his responsibilities in the work of the Lord. It could also mean that some of your worldly plans and ambition that stand in the way of you and Jesus will have to give way.
God is able to take care of you
Jesus made this statement to His disciples and followers in order to let them understand that following Jesus and serving God does not means there will be no problems. It does not exempt you from the tribulations of life, the only difference is that God has promised to be with you and make a way for your victory.
He also made the statement to inform them that once their hands was on the plough, they should not withdraw and look back because of troubles and challenges, but they should rather carry the burdens and challenges and follow Him who is able to remove their burden and give then rest - JESUS CHRIST!
Remember that Jesus had earlier made an open invitation to them to come to Him all who had laboured and heavy laden, that He will give them rest. Jesus is the burden bearer. So, if you are following Him and trouble come to you, don't let such trouble separate you from the gospel and from following Him, carry the trouble and continue on the journey - for in due time, he will remove the burden from your shoulders and give you rest.
FIRE... | http://www.fireinthebone.com/2019/04/discipleship-of-jesus-christmoving-from.html |
The Scorpio Races review
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater is an absolutely beautiful book masquerading as young adult literature. I mean that as a compliment. Her arrangement of words is a thing of beauty. As a writer, it can both inspire and irritate as you envy over the simple ways she paints the watercolor scene in black and white (or sepia if you have chosen to set your e-reader that way).
For the purpose of this blog, I’m not going to focus so much on the things like word choice, sentence structure, or syntax. These are style issues that are personal and develop over time and with practice. Instead, I’m going to focus on particulars within the book that I believe every writer can incorporate to improve his/her writing and chances of getting published.
Structure
The book is written in first person present tense (fpp). Common in many YA books, and I really like this as it removes all the barriers. Third person POV places a narrator in the way. Past tense can create distance since the reader feels like someone is telling what already happened. With fpp, you are the character and you are there now. Whatever the character is experiencing the reader does too–as it’s happening.
The all critical first line sets the mood and sucks the reader in:
Right away, the reader wants to know: What happens in November that kills people? As a writer you might be able to get away with that meandering chapter that paints the scenery and builds suspense along the way, but I think the truth of it is:
-
You can only get away with it if you are a proven author who the publisher believes the readers will trust enough to put up with your meandering.
–and–
-
The readers do in fact trust you to get wherever “there” is.
Bottom line for me is: I’m not a published well known author. I should probably stick close to convention. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but there are simply too many agents/publishers who preach this concept to ignore.
Characters
She establishes the character’s voices right away, doing what I think is quite difficult to do—she creates a “loner” character that readers want to know more about in Sean Kendrick.
I am wretchedly attached to creating loner characters—orphaned, isolated, wall flowers. These are hard to pull off as many times they come across as self-pitying, self-loathing, eeyore-types that make it hard for the reader to care about. I had to learn through numerous failures and beta readers pointing it out. A basic rule for me is based on Pixar’s rule number one: #1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes. In my case, a character must care about someone or something OR someone or something must care about him or the readers won’t care about him either. It’s a weird proxy thing I think. In the beginning of a new book, we, as readers, are acclimating ourselves to being the main character—each main character—other characters can help us decide how we feel about ourselves as the mc. Even the “friend” character’s traits help us connect with the mc. For example, if we don’t like the traits exhibited by mc’s friend, we might be less likely to connect with mc. (Why would he be friends with her?) Even though Sean Kendrick is a loner, Ms. Stiefvater accomplishes the reader connection by substituting a physical connection to another character with several equally strong qualities: bravery and determination.
Even though he is a loner, she doesn’t let him be alone, surrounding him with characters who give us insight into who he is. She gives us sympathy (he lost his father.) She gives us admiration (he is the best rider.) She gives us strength (he loves a horse who can kill). And she gives us Pixar’s rule (he cares desperately for that horse). Not by telling but through interaction and dialogue we learn the leathery covering of Sean Kendrick has been earned. But like the horses he cares for, while difficult to tame–he can be won with enough care and attention.
She uses the tried and true method of connection with Kate “Puck” Connolly. Right away, we know Puck loves her brothers. She is the matronly persona–the glue that holds the family together. And by her nickname alone, we know she will fight for them and sacrifice her own wants to do so: selfless, headstrong, determined, proud–all bridge traits able to establish the connection between reader and mc.
Making readers connect with characters is a weakness of mine. But what I do to learn, and what I think other writer’s can do, is study common traits and ask simple questions. Why do I like/dislike this character? Always a good exercise if you can get other readers to participate. Give a reader, the chapter that introduces a respective character and ask him/her what makes a particular character likable Strong characters can be created through the commonalities and their respective connections.
The villain is clear and focused. He/his family are a common thorn for both mc’s–good to have when you have a story from split point of views as this one is (half the book is from Puck’s perspective, the other from Sean’s). He is a controlling, ruthless driven man, and his son is the same only with an inflated sense of self-worth which makes him even more detestable. He owns half the island, so there is the struggle against “the man” that all characters feel.
Minor characters are real. Not cardboard cutouts, but people you might run into real life. Again, this is so much easier said than done. Every character has a voice–so, so, so important. She doesn’t waste words on people that mean nothing and are nothing. My favorite line from the book involves a minor character, Peg Gratton. Upon arriving at Puck’s house, Peg is described as such:
For me, that line was almost too good as it made me stop and re-read it several times just for how awesome it was. In one line of description, the author defined Puck’s position and her struggle with the world around her.
Plot
The story is told effectively through scenes. Experienced writes will know how this works. I, being slow, stumbled onto it. By using scenes, the author can most effectively craft a story according to Hitchcock’s famous premise: “Drama is life with the boring bits cut out.” Maggie has been very selective on what she portrays, and the reader gets the feeling that their is nothing on display that did not need to be displayed. Travel scenes, eating scenes, random talking scenes–none of these are here unless it needs to be–unless it moves the character or the story forward.
Right away the reader is presented with the conflict that will provide fuel to the story’s vehicle.
- The races are dangerous because the water horses are dangerous.
- Sean Kendrick needs to race for both his and his horse’s freedom.
- Puck needs to race for her family.
Boom. How awesome is that. Two characters, coming together, who desperately need the same thing while needing each other. Conflict!
Another vitally important element that I won’t spend too much time on is her continual ratcheting up of stakes. Puck’s brother plans to leave the island, so she plans to race to woo him to stay. A good reason…BUT now the villain shows up and stakes claim to the family home by way of the mortgage he possesses. Now she has to race.
Setting
It’s often said that your setting is just another character. Thisby is that and then some. From the windy hilltops, to the rocky shoreline, the home in need of repair, and the village not lacking in personality–this place has personality. And that’s in addition to the onset of November when comes the capaill uisce from their watery home. Though it’s described as such:
Thisby is an island well populated by sons disappointing their fathers.
It’s a place that has other tales to tell–a place where you feel at home even though a point of the story is how some characters want only to get as far away from it as possible.
Final
I may go back and revisit some of these areas just to provide specifics as I’m afraid I’ve been to general in many areas, but I can only say Ms. Stiefvater’s writing is beautiful and haunting sure to invoke pleasure for the reader and jealousy for fellow writers. | http://aboyandhisdreams.com/?p=31 |
I have published two other articles about the pandemic. The first was The COVID Pandemic: Finishing Unfinished Business in which I described how the pandemic affected every aspect of my life. The second, After Vaccination: Wear the Damn Mask! described the jubilation I felt when I was vaccinated, but cautioned that the pandemic was not over. I never expected that I would write a third article. I believed that everybody would jump at the once in a lifetime chance to be vaccinated, the result of brilliant science and innovation to stop this pandemic. I was wrong. Here is the third installment.
Almost exactly 50 years ago I graduated from medical school. I had learned the usual stuff about vaccination, but never spent a lot of time thinking about it until about 4 years ago. I was visiting a museum in Montalcino in Italy and high up hung a monumental painting (62 by 80 inches, I found out later) of a doctor vaccinating a child. The child being vaccinated looks curiously at what the doctor is doing. The child’s mother and sister are looking intently at the procedure. Several mothers and a grandmother are holding their children, waiting their turn for their children to be vaccinated. On the left side a young girl and on the right side a dog are looking directly at the viewer: “What are you waiting for?”
COVID, the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, reignited my interested in vaccination. I eventually found out the painting’s name (Vaccination in the Sienese countryside), who painted it (Arturo Luciani (Montalcino, 1861 – 1936) but to this day I don’t really know why. But, i can take an educated guess. Here goes.
The child was being vaccinated to prevent smallpox (known scientifically as Variola Major). Smallpox is an ancient disease. Evidence of smallpox was found in Egyptian mummies! A brutal infection, caused by a virus, it killed about 20 to 50 percent of adults and 80 percent of children who got it. The survivors had immunity from reinfection. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have died from smallpox.
A similar disease occurred in cows which sometimes infected people. On May 14, 1796, Edward Jenner (1749-1823), a British doctor performed an experiment in which he extracted pus from a sore of a cowpox-infected milkmaid and applied it to a few small scratches on the arm of an eight-year-old boy, who was then shown to be protected from getting smallpox. So was born the concept of vaccination, the term derived for the Latin vacca, for cow. This discovery led to the saving of more lives than any other event in medicine, because it also led to the introduction of vaccination for many other diseases.
In the 1800s there were improvements in producing smallpox vaccine. In the 1900s mass vaccinations were starting all over the world. Italy at the end of World War I was in the midst of a smallpox epidemic. Italy had 28,000 deaths between 1918 and 1920. Far more than any other country in Europe. I believe that the painting by Luciani was a celebration of vaccination. By 1929, smallpox was virtually eradicated from Italy. There was a recurrence of disease during World War II. By the 1950s Smallpox was eradicated from much of the world. The world is now free from smallpox. Vaccination works!
The COVID pandemic has made me think about my own experience with vaccination. I remember lining up, as a child, to be vaccinated when the Salk vaccine was first introduced to combat polio. I never got polio, a paralyzing, often fatal infection. I received the BCG vaccine to prevent TB. I never got TB even though I was exposed to many infectious patients in my career. I was vaccinated for hepatitis. I never got hepatitis. Before the widespread use of hepatitis vaccination, I recall a medical resident at a hospital I was training in dying of hepatitis that had destroyed his liver. For positions in hospitals, over the years, I had to present evidence of immunity (or immunization) for hepatitis, mumps, measles, chickenpox and influenza.
Symptoms of infections can linger, sometimes for decades. In 1990 I was treating patients who continued to have breathing failure 40 years after they had been infected with polio. I probably will never see another case of acute infection. Vaccination made that possible. Since 2018 new polio infection has virtually been eliminated from our planet!
The successive waves of COVID have killed many, left millions with lingering symptoms, and changed our lives. Some people are hesitant to be vaccinated for several reasons. Many people who are hesitant will change their mind. This has happened before with smallpox.
In Detroit, Michigan, in 1923, at a time when a less severe variety of smallpox (variola minor) was epidemic (710 cases over 6 months), the Health Department conducted a vigorous program to vaccinate the population of the city; this failed only about 6000 people were vaccinated each month. Soon, the dangerous form of smallpox (variola major) appeared; the vaccination rate increased dramatically, with 500,000 persons being vaccinated in one month and 800,000 (about 70% of the Detroit population) within 5 months. When people see danger to their families and communities, they react.
I now understand the painting by Luciani celebrating the fight against a deadly disease. Just as peoples’ actions and vaccines have defeated smallpox, they will defeat the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants. We will celebrate this victory and a return to normality.
References:
THE INCIDENCE AND CONTROL OF SMALLPOX BETWEEN 1900 AND 1958. https://biotech.law.lsu.edu/blaw/bt/smallpox/who/red-book/9241561106_chp8.pdf
HISTORY OF VACCINES: https://www.historyofvaccines.org/timeline#EVT_42Steljes DG, Kryger MH, Kirk BW, Millar TW. Sleep in postpolio syndrome. Chest. 1990;98(1):133-140. doi:10.1378/chest.98.1.133. | https://thriveglobal.com/stories/how-history-can-help-us-understand-the-pandemic/ |
For those who choose a career in IT Management, the options are many. Although earning a computer science degree is a good start, the trick is to first get in the door, prove your value, then work your way up in the direction that best fits your overall career objectives.
Doing your homework early in the information technology job search process is the right approach. As the job market is a bit of a moving target, try to find an area that best matches your skill, experience and interests.
IT Manager Careers
Individuals in IT manager jobs generally work in office environments, where they can supervise the technology support staff that takes care of system maintenance and end-user requests, and interact directly with managers and staff members about technology or support issues. IT manager jobs may also involve traveling around to satellite offices to assess equipment or IT staffing needs, or to oversee projects or repairs.
Software Quality Assurance Careers
People in software QA jobs rigorously test software in order to locate any errors or bugs in the programming. This is done by a number of methods, including use-testing in order to evaluate the software from an end-user perspective, code-auditing in order to catch errors in the programming syntax, and process-debugging in order to make sure that each sub-component of the product generates the correct outputs for any given set of inputs.
People in mainframe jobs usually work in datacenters and other secure, environment-controlled locations where mainframe computer equipment can be safely stored and operated. Systems administrators and mainframe programmers may do a portion of their work remotely, interacting with the mainframe system over secure networks, in which case they may work from a normal office environment, or may in some cases be allowed to telecommute.
People in programmer jobs usually work in office environments, in software development divisions. Since programming, testing, and analysis can often be performed remotely over secure network connections, some of these jobs allow working from home or occasional telecommuting.
Database Administrator Careers
Database administrator jobs require a specialized skill set that is generally acquired through formal training, either from colleges, vocational schools, or online training programs such as those offered by AIU and Phoenix University Online. These classes are frequently connected to certification programs for specific database architectures, such as Oracle, MySQL, and MSSQL, which have different interface languages and administration requirements.
Intelligence Analyst Careers
People in intelligence analyst jobs generally work in office environments, in close proximity to other analytic or managerial staff to facilitate reporting and cooperative analysis of data. Computers play a significant role in intelligence analysis, both for the collection of data using online media and data services, and for the statistical evaluation of data using software-based analysis tools. Some intelligence analyst positions may involve traveling in order to directly interact with potential customers or to gather other data in person.
IT Risk Management Careers
IT risk management jobs usually require several years of experience in the specific industry in which the organization is involved, as well as several years experience with various aspects of IT operations. A bachelor’s degree or higher in statistics or in business with a risk management focus may also be required, in order to demonstrate familiarity with the concepts of risk assessment and the statistical techniques used to evaluate risk.
People in IT change management positions typically work in office environments, where they can interact both with individuals requesting changes to ongoing projects and with personnel working directly on the projects, but they may also be found in manufacturing or construction environments, depending on they types of projects being managed.
Systems Analyst Careers
Senior business analysts typically work in office environments, usually in the headquarters of their companies or organizations, where they can easily meet with both managers and operational staff members, but may also be called upon to travel to remote offices or job sites to review business processes in person. Senior business analysts sometimes supervise other analysts, as well as other staff members responsible for assisting in identifying and enacting needed process changes. Senior business analyst jobs generally require a bachelor’s degree or higher in a business or finance-related field, as well as several years of experience in business analysis in their chosen industry.
SAP Project Manager Careers
People in SAP project manager jobs typically work in office environments, where they can work with management and with operational staff to ensure effective delivery of project goals. SAP project managers may also work directly on job sites or in manufacturing areas, depending on the industry, where they can interact directly with production processes and personnel.
Some IT managers work for technology outsourcing firms, where they may supervise teams of IT professionals on customer sites providing support, completing projects, or fixing system problems.
For detailed IT Project Manager Salary estimates, we recommend PayScale.com
Need help creating a professional resume and cover letter?
If your an executive manager in an IT position, this executive resume writing service provides you with a resume, cover letter and LinkedIn profile to give an advantage in this job market. They will even provide you with a professional resume review for no charge. | https://itprojectmanagementjobs.net/career-advice/ |
PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - PiratesFest 2019 is returning to PNC Park in January. The Pirates announced Wednesday the annual winter fan fest will be Saturday, January 26 and is FREE to the public.
The Pirates also announced that 100 percent of the proceeds from the ticketed autograph sessions with former and current players will be donated to the Pittsburgh Fraternal Order of Police’s “Injured Officers Fund” and the recently formed “Public Safety Support Trust Fund.”
“As we continue to pray for those we lost in this indescribable tragedy, we must also continue to honor their memory by committing to a kinder, more inclusive and more loving future,” said Pirates Chairman Bob Nutting in a statement. “Our community should take great pride in the fact that Pittsburgh is once again leading the country by demonstrating to our nation how we can stand together as one.”
In addition to the funds raised from the autograph sessions, fans will have opportunities to donate throughout PNC Park during the day to help support first responders.
Related: New Pirate Lonnie Chisenhall Tells Us Why He Chose The Pirates
A FREE kid’s autograph session will also take place.
Bucco fans can also participate in Q&A sessions, games, photo opportunities in the Pirates dugout, audition for a change to sing the National Anthem at a Pirates game in 2019 and more!
For more information visit the Pirates website. | https://937thefan.radio.com/articles/piratefest-back-pnc-park-2019 |
Binocular inhibition likely does not play a role in slow binocular reading among children with amblyopia, according to a study published in Optometry and Vision Science. Instead, a fellow eye deficit resulting from binocular vision experience disruptions may be to blame, the report suggests.
Researchers included children with unilateral amblyopia (n=38; mean age, 10.0 years; 55% girls) who were referred to the Retina Foundation of the Southwest between 2017 and 2022 and age-matched control group participants (n=36; mean age, 10.3 years; 39% girls) in the cross-sectional analysis. Participants underwent a vision evaluation that included crowded monocular best-corrected visual acuity, stereoacuity, and binocular and monocular silent reading assessments using eye-tracking goggles. The research team determined reading rates, the number of forward and regressive saccades, and fixation durations among the cohort.
Participants with amblyopia and control group individuals demonstrated similar comprehension, as determined by comprehension scores, during both binocular (94% vs 91%; P =.13) and fellow eye (94% vs 94%; P =.95) reading tests. The pediatric group with amblyopia showed slower reading speeds compared with the control group for both binocular and fellow eye conditions (P =.016 and P =.010, respectively), but individuals with amblyopia exhibited similar reading speed and saccadic behaviors under both conditions. Binocular vs fellow eye assessments among individuals with amblyopia yielded comparable reading speed (176 vs 173 words per minute; P =.69), number of forward saccades (104 saccades/100 words vs 97 saccades/ 100 words; P =.18), number of regressive saccades (21 saccades/100 words vs 22 saccades/100 words; P =.75), and fixation duration (0.31 vs 0.32 seconds; P =.44).
Compared with control group participants, individuals with amblyopia had more forward saccades during binocular (t, 3.1; P =.003) and fellow eye (t, 3.2; P =.002) reading and more regressive saccades during fellow eye reading (t, 2.5; P =.016), but not during binocular reading (t, 1.4; P =.16).
“It is becoming increasingly clear that visual and ocular motor deficits can occur in the fellow eye of amblyopic individuals, and that other daily tasks involving vision, such as motion perception and fine motor ability, are often impaired when viewing with both eyes,” according to the researchers. “Fellow eye deficits compared to controls may be indicative of binocular dysfunction that arises from binocularly discordant visual experience early in life in amblyopic children.”
Study limitations include failure to consider the impact of socioeconomic status and parental education on reading speed or assess intelligence quotient among participants.
References: | https://www.optometryadvisor.com/refraction/binocular-vision-dysfunction/binocular-vs-fellow-eye-reading-is-similar-in-children-with-amblyopia/ |
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has delivered a welcome message of cooperation and engagement to the rare neurological disease community during a recent externally led Patient Focused Drug Development (PFDD) meeting.
Organized by patient advocacy organization Cure SMA, the meeting on April 18 hosted senior FDA officials who highlighted the importance of patient engagement and pointed to the strong collaborative relationship between the FDA’s Division of Neurology Products, patients and the pharmaceutical industry that enables input into the design and analysis of clinical trials.
Some 400 individuals participated in the meeting either in person or online along with 20 panelists, representing SMA patients and caregivers, as well as key FDA officials.
Topics discussed included the diagnostic journey for patients, the impact of SMA complications, the use of technology to help patients and their families, and the community’s views on new treatments.
Wilson Bryan, director of the Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, told the session, “This mutual education process is what makes drug development most efficient and productive… what we hear will help us to think about clinical trial design, what outcome measures to use in clinical trials, what really matters to patients, and how we as regulators should think about the balance of risks and benefits for patients with SMA” [a genetic disease that causes muscle weakness and progressive loss of movement].
One of the centerpieces of the FDA’s move toward strengthened patient engagement has been the three-year Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) initiative, which was required for the fifth authorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA V). This has been put into effect through a series of disease-specific meetings to gather patient perspectives and provide the FDA with the opportunity to hear directly from patients and caregivers about their experiences, the impact of living with their condition, as well as their expectations and priorities for current and future treatments.
To date, 20 PFDD meetings have been held and have been praised for their importance in integrating the patient voice into the pharmaceutical review process; however, the sheer number of different diseases makes it an unrealistic approach going forward.
In response, the FDA has gradually moved to encourage external groups to host their own patient feedback sessions, and this shift will be a critical cornerstone of the next iteration of PDUFA due to be enacted October 1 this year.
To date, externally led meetings have covered a range of different conditions, including amyloidosis, myotonic dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy. A further three – focusing on Friedreich’s ataxia, tuberous sclerosis and the rare kidney disease CG3 – are due to take place June 2, June 21 and August 4 this year respectively. | https://www.changetogether.com/resources/government-updates/paving-way-patient-focused-drug-development |
This healthy peanut butter popcorn treat jazzes up plain popcorn by adding a few simple ingredients.
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe
Prep Time
10
mins
Total Time
10
mins
Course
Snacks
Servings
4
Calories
236
kcal
Ingredients
1x
2x
3x
2
tablespoons
chopped pecans
6
cups
air-popped popcorn
2
tablespoons
chopped pistachios
1/4
cup
dried cherries
1/2
teaspoon
cinnamon
1/4
cup
natural peanut butter
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spread pecans single layer on baking sheet and bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven, stir, and bake 3 minutes, or until lightly browned and aromatic. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
Mix popcorn, pecans, pistachios, dried fruit and cinnamon in large mixing bowl.
Microwave peanut butter in heat-safe measuring cup on MEDIUM 30 seconds, or until thinned.
Pour peanut butter over popcorn and stir.
Nutrition
Calories:
236
kcal
Carbohydrates:
20.76
g
Protein:
7.06
g
Fat:
15.08
g
Sodium:
74
mg
Fiber:
4.2
g
Tried this recipe?
Let us know
how it was! | https://healthyfamilyproject.com/wprm_print/recipe/18298 |
Greetings,
For those of you who receive the email version of Nygaard Notes, apologies are in order. The email version of the last issue went out with the subject: Nygaard Notes #550: Ukraine. So far, so good. But the header in the text of the email said it was Nygaard Notes #551. Well, it was supposed to be #550. The edition you are reading at this moment is the real #551. There. That's settled. Sorry.
I've read a number of comments recently noting that the U.S. political system currently lacks the capacity to take on and solve large and urgent tasks, such as repairing our sagging infrastructure, creating a full-employment economy, and responding to possibly the greatest challenge of all: Human-induced global warming. This issue of Nygaard Notes reports on a recent statement to the world by the planet's largest scientific organization, and considers the nature and meaning of the media's response to their urgent plea.
Their three-part message is simple: Climate change is happening. It could be hugely disruptive. There's a lot we can do. That simple message is repeated several times in the newsletter you are reading right now. I hope the message gets through, and that this report in Nygaard Notes nudges each of you to do something.
Urgently yours,
Nygaard
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"Quote" of the Week: "Two Inescapable Facts"
This week's "Quote" is from page 19 of the report "What We Know: The Reality, Risks, and Response to Climate Change," released on March 18th by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The scientists said:
"What steps society takes to meet the challenge of climate change—the questions of when, how and to what extent we respond—is a matter on which all Americans must decide. We urge that these decisions be guided by two inescapable facts: first, the effects of any additional carbon dioxide emissions will last for centuries; second, there is a risk of abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes in the Earth's climate system with massively disruptive impacts."
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On March 18th the American Association for the Advancement of Science released an unusual report to the public. The report, "What We Know: The Reality, Risks, and Response to Climate Change," is part of "a new initiative to expand the dialogue on the risks of climate change" by the largest general scientific society in the world. The London Guardian called the initiative "a rare intervention into a policy debate," since scientists don't usually get so directly involved in politics. But the current time is not a time for business as usual, as the scientists made clear when releasing their report: "There may be no more pressing issue intersecting science and society than climate change and the What We Know initiative was born in response to that reality."
Here is a direct quote from the press release that accompanied the Report:
"The report provides three key messages for every American about climate change:
"1. Climate scientists agree: climate change is happening here and now.
"2. We are at risk of pushing our climate system toward abrupt, unpredictable, and potentially irreversible changes with highly damaging impacts.
"3. The sooner we act, the lower the risk and cost. And there is much we can do."
The message is simple, stark, and clear. The next article presents excerpts of some of the key points from the Report.
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"What We Know: The Reality, Risks, and Response to Climate Change"
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Affiliates of the American Association for the Advancement of Science include 258 societies and academies of science, serving more than 10 million members, representing the world's largest federation of scientific and engineering societies. Since their report, What We Know," got so little coverage, I'm offering a few excerpts here. (All emphasis is in the original.)
"Surveys show that many Americans think climate change is still a topic of significant scientific disagreement. Thus, it is important and increasingly urgent for the public to know there is now a high degree of agreement among climate scientists that human-caused climate change is real. Moreover, while the public is becoming aware that climate change is increasing the likelihood of certain local disasters, many people do not yet understand that there is a small, but real chance of abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes with highly damaging impacts on people in the United States and around the world."
"Climate scientists agree: climate change is happening here and now. Based on well-established evidence, about 97% of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening. This agreement is documented not just by a single study, but by a converging stream of evidence over the past two decades from surveys of scientists, content analyses of peer-reviewed studies, and public statements issued by virtually every membership organization of experts in this field. Average global temperature has increased by about 1.4 degrees F over the last 100 years. Sea level is rising, and some types of extreme events—such as heat waves and heavy precipitation events—are happening more frequently. Recent scientific findings indicate that climate change is likely responsible for the increase in the intensity of many of these events in recent years."
"We are at risk of pushing our climate system toward abrupt, unpredictable, and potentially irreversible changes with highly damaging impacts. Earth's climate is on a path to warm beyond the range of what has been experienced over the past millions of years. The range of uncertainty for the warming along the current emissions path is wide enough to encompass massively disruptive consequences to societies and ecosystems: as global temperatures rise, there is a real risk, however small, that one or more critical parts of the Earth's climate system will experience abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes. Disturbingly, scientists do not know how much warming is required to trigger such changes to the climate system."
"The sooner we act, the lower the risk and cost. And there is much we can do. Waiting to take action will inevitably increase costs, escalate risk, and foreclose options to address the risk. The CO2 we produce accumulates in Earth's atmosphere for decades, centuries, and longer. It is not like pollution from smog or wastes in our lakes and rivers, where levels respond quickly to the effects of targeted policies. The effects of CO2 emissions cannot be reversed from one generation to the next until there is a large- scale, cost-effective way to scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Moreover, as emissions continue and warming increases, the risk increases.
"As scientists, it is not our role to tell people what they should do or must believe about the rising threat of climate change. But we consider it to be our responsibility as professionals to ensure, to the best of our ability, that people understand what we know: human-caused climate change is happening, we face risks of abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes, and responding now will lower the risk and cost of taking action."
"In addition to greenhouse gases, there are many other forces that can cause changes in the Earth's climate—including the creation and destruction of the Earth's crust, the planet's wobbly path around (and tilt toward) the sun, variation in the sun's energy output, volcanic eruptions, shifting ocean currents, and natural changes in CO2 and other greenhouse gases. These factors have driven the planet through eras of blazing heat and mile-thick ice sheets. But decades of human-generated greenhouse gases are now the major force driving the direction of climate change, currently overwhelming the effects of these other factors. Many studies show that the combined effects of natural drivers of climate cannot explain the temperature increase observed over the past half century. Given the high stakes, it is valuable to understand not just what is most likely to happen, but what might possibly happen to our climate. There is a possibility that temperatures will rise much higher and impacts will be much worse than expected."
"Abrupt Climate Change: Most projections of climate change presume that future changes—greenhouse gas emissions, temperature increases and effects such as sea level rise—will happen incrementally. A given amount of emission will lead to a given amount of temperature increase that will lead to a given amount of smooth incremental sea level rise. However, the geological record for the climate reflects instances where a relatively small change in one element of climate led to abrupt changes in the system as a whole. In other words, pushing global temperatures past certain thresholds could trigger abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes that have massively disruptive and large-scale impacts. At that point, even if we do not add any additional CO2 to the atmosphere, potentially unstoppable processes are set in motion. We can think of this as sudden climate brake and steering failure where the problem and its consequences are no longer something we can control. In climate terms, abrupt change means change occurring over periods as short as decades or even years."
Here's a brief summary of some the impacts of climate change that are already occurring and will increase over the coming years:
• Arctic sea ice has been shrinking dramatically.
• The melting of the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets has also accelerated notably.
• The oceans are rapidly acidifying, with early impacts on shelled organisms such as oysters already documented. The current acidification rate is likely the fastest in 300 million years.
• Sea level rise has accelerated.
• The world's plants and animals are disappearing from some areas and appearing in other areas where they've never seen before. Extinctions are likely to increase.
• Global warming has changed the pattern of precipitation worldwide, bringing increasing heat waves, floods, and drought.
• Climate change has amplified the threat of wildfires.
• Climate disruption is already affecting human health and well-being in many ways, and health threats are expected to intensify.
• Climate change could have significant geopolitical impacts around the world, contributing to poverty, environmental degradation, and the further weakening of fragile governments. Climate change will contribute to food and water scarcity, will increase the spread of disease, and may spur or exacerbate mass migration.
• Climate change can influence resource competition and place new burdens on economies, societies, and governance institutions. The reports call attention to the fact that these burdens can trigger violence. There is a growing recognition that the displacement of large numbers of people due to water scarcity and agricultural failure, as in the recent history of Syria, can exacerbate tensions that can lead to civil unrest. Senior officers and officials in the U.S. Department of Defense are now regularly speaking publically about how an unabated rise in greenhouse gas emissions could add additional burdens to the infrastructure and mission capacity of our military forces.
There's much more, of course, in the full report. Find it HERE.
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A saying I've adopted over the years of working on Nygaard Notes goes like this: "If what we think affects what we do, then we'd better work on what we think." And what we think about climate change is all confused.
The entire public discussion about climate change clearly illustrates a simple point that has long been known to public relations practitioners: In order to prevent people from taking action it is not necessary to get them to believe that the argument in favor of taking action is wrong. All that is needed is to plant a seed of doubt. That is, in order to ward off the serious social change that we need in regard to climate, people don't have to be convinced that climate change is not real; they only have to be made a little unsure that it is real.
The "What We Know" report from the AAAS deals explicitly with this idea of the role of consciousness in making social change. Early on the report notes that "Surveys show that many Americans think climate change is still a topic of significant scientific disagreement." A bit later they explain, quite succinctly, why this is important:
"Research shows that Americans who think the scientific experts disagree about human-caused climate change are less likely to believe that it might have serious consequences. Failure to appreciate the scientific consensus reduces support for a broad societal response to the challenges and risks that climate change presents."
Roughly a third of USAmericans think that climate change is not happening, or they think that it is not caused by human activity, or they haven't thought much about it. And thus—as the Report notes—they won't support any action to address the issue. They certainly won't support the type of serious, institutional, culture-wide change that is needed to deal with the coming crisis.
Adopting Systems Thinking
There's another, deeper level at which we can understand the public's resistance to accepting the reality of climate change. It has to do with the prevailing Thought System in U.S. culture. One striking aspect of the prevailing Thought System is the belief in simple causation. Upon observing an event, it's almost a reflex for USAmericans to look for "the cause." This is a reflection of an analytical way of thinking that relies on a mechanistic "call/response" understanding of the world: "When this happens, then that will follow." I call this Individualistic Thinking, as it leads us to understand the world one event at a time, one cause at a time, one action at a time.
A Systems Orientation, in contrast, doesn't look at causes, but looks instead at probabilities. When certain factors exist, then they can combine to increase, or decrease, the likelihood of certain outcomes. If conditions are right, systemwide, then the introduction of one new factor may be the tipping point, or trigger, for the transformation of the system. That is, any given change may be the catalyst for change, without being the cause.
Consider cigarette smoking. We know that cigarette smoking increases the likelihood of getting lung cancer. But it doesn't cause lung cancer, as most people know someone who has smoked heavily and lived to a ripe old age without getting cancer. And thousands of people who have never smoked get lung cancer each year (about 17,000, in fact). But the fact that there is not a direct, linear cause/effect relationship between smoking and cancer in each individual does not mean that there is no relationship between smoking and cancer. It means that each body is a system, and that each body interacts with other systems—environment, work, home, and many more—that somehow, all together, make cancer more or less likely. Smoking, then, can be a catalyst for the system change that results in cancer, but it's not the cause. That's Systems Thinking.
And so it is with climate change. No one can say that a particular flood, or wildfire, or drought is "caused" by climate change. All we can say is that, in general, climate change will increase the number and severity of floods, wildfires, and droughts. For people who are tightly bound to the prevailing Thought System, this is not good enough.
This lack of certainty, of a direct one-to-one relationship between climate change and daily weather events, is preyed on by propagandists to plant a seed of doubt. And, as mentioned above, that's all a propagandist needs to put the brakes on a popular movement for change. After all—the standard thinking goes—if we can't say for certain that increasing carbon dioxide levels will cause a drought in Minnesota, then why should Minnesotans invest in green energy? Maybe we'll be fine. Maybe the suffering will be centered elsewhere: Bangladesh, perhaps, or Miami. Somewhere far away, in any case. Maybe global warming isn't even happening. After all, where's the proof? The Earth has always had variable weather, there's nothing we can do about it. And so the arguments go.
A sustained, serious commitment on the part of our information systems—the most obvious one being media—could reduce the effectiveness of global warming propaganda. But instead, as the next article illustrates, in large and small ways the media actually aids in the propaganda effort. Let's have a look.
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The "What We Know" report was broadly and loudly announced to the media, yet it was virtually blacked out in the United States. National Public Radio ignored it. There was no mention on any television news program, as far as I could discover. There have been but two articles in U.S. newspapers. The Los Angeles Times had a brief and superficial story on page 2.
Such non-coverage breeds ignorance, which is bad enough. But in the face of a concerted PR effort to cast doubt on the scientific consensus, what is left in the void of reporting on the voices of science is not only ignorance. What remains is the unchallenged and widely-disseminated arguments of one side of a false debate. So people aren't simply ignorant. They're fooled.
The second article on the Report appeared in the New York Times. And the Times—despite having the report made available to them a day early, giving them a "scoop" had they deemed it worthy—relegated their story to the "Science" section, with the headline "Scientists Sound Alarm on Climate."
Note here what I call the PET of the New York Times piece. That is, the Placement, Emphasis, and Tone of the published article. First of all, the Placement: I would hope that a report from the world's largest scientific society telling of an avoidable global catastrophe on the horizon would be on the front page, not relegated to the Science section. By placing this story in a special section, the Times sends the message that this is not a story of general interest and importance, but rather a story that will only be of interest to science buffs, or academics, or whatever demographic reads the Science section.
The Emphasis in this story—see the headline—is on the fact that scientists are sounding the alarm. The real story, of course, is the content of that alarm: That we are well into a climate-change emergency, and we aren't dealing with it. Look at it this way: If an emergency-warning siren goes off, the story is the emergency, not the sounding of the siren. And so it should be for the warning call sounded by the AAAS. How about a headline like, "Planet Warming: Risk of Major Catastrophe Looms." That emphasizes the message, not the messenger.
The Tone of the Times story is a sort of bemused curiosity: People have been "confused" about this issue, and there is "a recognition among scientists that they bear some responsibility for the confusion." The Times ends not with a call to action, but with a question: "Will the American people hear the message this time?" Of course the Times, being the most influential newspaper in the nation, has a lot to say about that.
What they did say about that can be seen in the PET used in regard to this very report: As the Times translates the clarion call of the scientists, their Placement says "Not too important." Their Emphasis tells us "This is about scientists and what they're up to." And their Tone appears casual, as if saying, "Kind of interesting, don't you think?"
In contrast to the PET on the climate warning story, consider the PET of another current story: Ukraine. Placement: Front page. Emphasis: Major threat to Europe and to the U.S. due to Russian imperialism. Tone: Fear, worry, Something must be done!
Both the Ukraine story and the climate alarm story are examples of how propaganda is spread through media. When centers of power prefer less coverage at a lower pitch, the media delivers. When hysteria and high-volume coverage is needed, the media kicks into gear. It's neither a conspiracy nor a coincidence. As the sociologist Herbert Gans notes in his book Deciding What's News, the set of ideas and priorities expressed in the news "comes, of course, from the journalists, although it expresses the values of the workplace and the profession more than it does the journalists' personal values." In other words, the media is simply doing the job assigned to it by its place in the larger systems of power in which it is embedded. More on systems in a future Nygaard Notes. | https://www.nygaardnotes.org/archive/issues/nn0551.html |
It is planned to resume classroom lectures from 7 September and this update will hopefully give you confidence that the risk has been properly assessed and that all reasonable and practicable Covid 19 mitigation measures will be in place when you return to Rosyth. See a photo of the revised classroom layout showing the 2m distancing available on the link below.
As current students will know very well, we have been successfully running the planned August & September CAA and Austro Exams in the classroom and this week and our backlog of exams has been largely cleared. On Covid precautions, we have been briefing the exam candidates daily on the 2m distancing requirements in the exam room and general Covid hygiene in RBC. We have had our risk assessment (RA) approved by the General Manager of RBC and believe it is compliant with current Scottish Government guidelines. Link is:
Risk Assessment - Residential Lectures
The current students who have been taking exams are now well versed in the Covid mitigation procedures in RBC and have been adhering to them pretty well since activities resumed 2 weeks ago.
Because of this 2m distancing (that was also available for the exams), we are not requiring you to wear any face coverings in the classroom for the lectures, although the CAA general rules did mandate this in all our exam room for their exams.
Ample hand sanitiser and wipes are available in the classroom and RBC that you are actively encouraged to use often.
We are all really looking forward to getting back in the classroom and resuming training at the full pace after a very frustrating 4 months of lockdown restrictions, but be aware that things have now changed and we are not "back to normal". So, please be rigorous about maintaining 2m distancing and groupings of no more that 3 while in the RBC building outside the classroom.
As always in aviation : Stay safe! | https://www.path2pilot.com/news/resumption-of-classroom-training203 |
As we approach what is typically the peak for Arctic sea ice extent in March, the impacts from 2020 — the warmest on record for the region in the satellite era — are still leaving their mark.
2020 Arctic region temperatures were not only among the warmest on record, but the highest above average vs. the rest of the planet.
Midway through February, 2021 Arctic sea ice extent is on a 2012 pace, which is the all-time record low for sea ice coverage. Sea ice extent usually reaches its lowest point by early September and last September ranked second only to September 2012 for the lowest sea ice extent since 1980.
On average, based on National Snow & Ice Data Center and NASA data, Arctic sea ice is decreasing at a rate of 13.1% per decade.
A compounding effect, aka "positive feedback loop."
Less sea ice and melting/retreating inland and tidewater glaciers are contributing to the most rapid warming vs. average on the planet. Even with the relatively shallow sun angle at high latitudes, the reduction in sea ice and glaciers means less incoming solar radiation is being reflected away (aka albedo or reflectivity value) and instead these warming areas are exposing more soil, rock and other features that are better absorbers of solar energy for a compounding warming effect on temperatures. | https://sea.indah.link/2021/02/climate-in-crisis-could-arctic-sea-ice.html |
And so, when we look more closely, this turns out to be a perfectly reasonable set of measurements. It stays there until it decays back into 14N. During the spring, a tree adds new, large cells to the outer layer. Since animals are a part of the food chain which includes plants, they also receive a constant ratio of C-12 and C-14, but in the form of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Sometimes, the K-Ar ages is far to old.
And yet, such whole-rock isochrons are commonly published. Once these dates have been established, more tree ring chronology can be added by comparing fallen dead tree rings to the standing dead tree rings See Figure on tree rings. Was determined by carefully controlled stratigraphic excavation, cloth, with a living organism to remove. Thus everything is known which is needed to figure out how long ago the specimen died. Deep layers of sand on the ocean floor are under immense pressure and turn into sandstone. Although this technique looks good at first, carbon-14 dating rests on two simple assumptions. This statement is also interesting because dinosaur bones are generally believed to have experienced greater than 20°C temperatures for tens of millions of years.
The K—Ar method continues to have utility in dating clay mineral. The major rivers Nile, Mississippi, Yangtzee, etc. A 1998 paper published in Genetica suggests a beneficial mutation rate vs. The production rate is a huge issue. Other particles, including neutrons, are produced by subsequent collisions.
Since that time, three times the sediment should have been deposited into the oceans compared to what currently exists in the oceans. Isochron dating was developed some time later. Just another piece to add to the puzzle…. It looks like modern humans but was dated at 2. Fifteen years ago, few scientists would have expected that seven day biological cycles would prove to be so widespread and so long established in the living world. Now, the excess 40Ar gas that got incorporated into these pressurized rocks had to come from somewhere — right? Common Counterarguments: So, again, what happened to the rest of the sediment? We live on a dynamic not static planet; things are changing.
The usefulness of this as a dating technique stems from the tendency of some materials to lose their fission-track records when heated, thus producing samples that contain fission-tracks produced since they last cooled down. Discussion on the tens of radiocarbon dating very old archaeological materials. In this line consider that the Himalayan mountains are thought, by most modern scientists, to have started their uplift or orogeny some 50 million years ago. However, this does not mean that the earth is 30 thousand years old. This is a severe blow to Young-Earth creationist reasoning. Tektites are thought to be produced when a meteor impacts the Earth.
To help resolve these issues, the most common isotope, wood of carbon-14. It becomes obvious that the authors were either very dishonest or simply found only enough facts to use to rebut the studies findings. In carbon-14 method called carbon-14 has a regular rate of a few hundred. What was the original amount of Carbon in the atmosphere? A New Look at an Old Earth Chapter 5, Harvest House Publishers, 1995. After death, but dating process left to the most precise method could supply useful for. But for strict evolutionists lots and lots of time is required. As 4 billion years, the potassium-argon technique that certain elements spontaneously.
Can all these techniques be wrong? Geologists Starting to Question the Reliability of Isochrons: Interestingly, mainstream scientists are also starting to question the validity of isochron dating. What are both carbon-14 and potassium-argon dating techniques based on? Eventually, the small amount of C-14 in a fossil is no longer a good indicator of age because there is so little left. So, the ticking of the clock itself still remains fairly predictable and therefore useful as a clock. In October of 2009 and again in November of 2014, from Southwestern Adventist University, gave some talks at Loma Linda University see video below. Illustrating the most effective for potassium-argon put it is a gate valve between radiocarbon dating cross-dating of the strongest direct relation between homo habilis.
They too, give varied results. Well, Jesus, the Son of God, certainly thinks it is reliable. Variations in initial isotope ratios can result in erroneous or imprecise ages. The cooling history will depend on the volume of magma involved and its starting temperature, which in turn is a function of its composition. Last spring he was re-evaluating Homo erectus skulls found in Java in the 1930s by testing the sediment found with them. How much damage has been done to our ability to witness to the scientifically minded people in this world by Christians dogmatically sticking to the Young-Earth position? In areas with a high concentration of the parent isotope, damage to the crystal lattice is quite extensive, and will often interconnect to form a network of radiation damaged areas.
What many do not realize is that carbon dating is not used to date dinosaurs. Carbon 14 and potassium argon dating. Here are a few potential observations that come to mind: Before the Flood: In order to be able to make a comparison between the pre- and post-Flood worlds, we need to consider what the world was like before the Flood. Not only does our study confirm recent speculation that an understanding of the deformation microstructures within zircon grains is a necessity for subsequent, robust geochronological analyses but it also sheds light on potential pit-falls when utilizing element concentrations and ratios for geological studies. Marine shells in Hawaii show younger dates if preserved in volcanic ash vs. He coined the name of that study when, while working at the Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Ariz.
Might not these trackways be easily confused with those created by fission of U 238? The ratio of the parent to the daughter elements is then used to calculate the age of the rock based on the known half-life decay rate of 40K into 40Ar — which is around 1. Even when there is no visual evidence of crystal disruption within the zircon, research published in 2015 by Piazolo et. With the invention of the telescope, some of the nebulae were revealed to be star clusters. The funny thing is, as rocks cool, different minerals within the rock attract certain atoms more than others. Just this one fact totally upsets data obtained by C-14 dating. | http://www.adventurehut.com/and-dating/carbon-14-and-potassium-argon-dating.php |
Purpose: South Asian region is a focal point owing to its vulnerabilities to climate-sensitive diseases, dependence on climate-sensitive livelihoods, projected levels of crop decline in the region, and high rates of poverty and malnutrition. Women are particularly vulnerable to climate change and this affects women disproportionately during different extreme events. The purpose of this paper is to understand the issue of climate change and its impact, and climate resilience among women in South Asia. Further, it also identifies the gaps and suggests future policy implications. Design/methodology/approach: Climate change is increasingly being recognised as an alarming issue and the present review is important when South Asian countries are facing the brunt of climate change impacts. This paper tries to understand the issue by review of the literature and conceptual framework methodology. To understand women’s vulnerability due to climate change and its aftermath, the authors conducted both offline and online desk reviews for this study. Findings: The findings of this study show a clear linkage between climate change and women’s vulnerabilities in South Asia. Climate change has significant socio-economic impacts on women, and it affects them disproportionately in various domains of agriculture, livelihood, food security, both physical and mental health, water and sanitation in the South Asia region. Practical implications: The paper also highlights that the programmes that aim at combating the effects of climate change require a gender-sensitive approach so that climate change does not obstruct the development and reduction of poverty in the region. Social implications: The findings of this paper will add value in helping families to come out of poverty by undertaking adaptive measures with proactive assistance from the government and grassroots level organisations. Originality/value: The present study also advocates for more gender- and climate-sensitive measures from governments, and implementation of intervention- and evidence-based research in the South Asian countries.
DOI
10.1108/WJSTSD-10-2018-0059
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Patel, Sangram Kishor, Gopal Agrawal, Bincy Mathew, Sunita Patel, Biswajit Mohanty, and Abhishek Singh. 2019. "Climate change and women in South Asia: A review and future policy implications," World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, https://doi.org/10.1108/WJSTSD-10-2018-0059. | https://knowledgecommons.popcouncil.org/departments_sbsr-pgy/753/ |
Proverbs 11:13 NIV, “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.”
It’s a blessing when God places trustworthy people in our lives who can keep a secret. Many individuals have been hurt because of people who betrayed them by gossiping. Gossip ruins reputations and destroys relationships. As children of God, one of our goals should be to love and protect people. Gossip does neither.
Before we “share information”, we should take time to think before we speak, and consider our motives for sharing the information with others. We should also consider how our sharing will affect all of those involved, and even more importantly, we should pray regularly to ask God for strength to stay away from gossip and other ungodly conversations.
May God help us all to be trustworthy people who He can depend on to show His love to others, and help fulfill His purposes here on Earth.
📷 Photography above by Ben White, who says, “I consider myself a servant of Jesus Christ. I love finding beauty in simple things. I want everything I do to bring honor and glory to God...”. | https://drawingclosertochrist.com/2020/10/15/are-you-trustworthy/ |
LMD and CIRED are currently working to represent anthropogenic water management in the ORCHIDEE continental surface model (Zhou et al., 2021). This representation of real flows is essential to study the evolution of the hydrological resource under the joint actions of climate change and its management by humans. A significant decrease in river flows is expected in Mediterranean Europe (Schneider et al., 2013) while increasing water demands are projected for irrigation (soil drying and evaporative demand from the atmosphere) and hydropower (key role in the transition to renewable energy rich electricity mixes foreseen by Directive (EU) 2018/2001). An increase in river temperatures is also expected, threatening the cooling of thermal power plants during the summer. In France, where the electricity mix is highly dependent on hydrological resources, tensions between water uses are likely to increase, threatening the electricity system and its transition. Our interdisciplinary research project aims to study the impacts on the French electrical system of this joint evolution of the hydrological resource and its uses.
We will start by assessing the evolution of the natural hydrological resource in response to climate change by exploiting ongoing simulations of the ORCHIDEE model integrating its river module (Nguyen-Quang, 2018), forced by the EuroCORDEX climate projection ensemble. We will then determine the evolution of irrigation demand from crop water stress data and the anthropogenic water management module that predicts whether resources can meet this demand. The resulting data on reservoir flows and volumes will allow us to define a hydroelectric production potential that can then be used as an input to the EOLES model, the national electricity mix optimization model developed by CIRED (Shirizadeh et al., 2020). This will allow us to improve the hydroelectric modeling (run-of-river plants, dams and WWTPs) of EOLES, which is currently based on simple statistical observations, and to define solar, wind, hydro and electricity demand profiles that are consistent with each other and with the meteorological data. We will then be able to see how the optimal mix evolves with these new parameters.
In a second part we will add to this first study the effects of climate change and human water management on the cooling of nuclear power plants. Thermal power plants must indeed respect a maximum constraint of water temperature downstream and will thus be jointly impacted by the decrease of flows and the increase of temperature. We will place the different power plants in the ORCHIDEE model in order to evaluate the loss of power plant availability due to these two effects. Finally, we will analyze the impact on the electricity mix of all these water use constraints for different development scenarios of variable low-carbon energies (wind and photovoltaic) with the EOLES model.
This thesis, by coupling hydro-climatic and energy modelling, will allow to complete the state of knowledge on the vulnerability of renewable energies to climate change since for the moment only the natural hydrological evolution is taken into account. It will also allow us to identify the possible tensions of use that could arise in certain territories in order to alert the public authorities to the urgency of proposing adaptation solutions. This project will be resolutely innovative by its transdisciplinary character. | https://www.centre-cired.fr/en/laure-baratgin-2/ |
Kisakurek, Basak, Eisenhauer, Anton, Böhm, Florian, Garbe-Schönberg, C.-Dieter and Erez, J. (2008) Controls on shell Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca in cultured planktonic foraminiferan, Globigerinoides ruber (white) Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 273 (3-4). pp. 260-269. DOI 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.06.026.
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Abstract
Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios were determined on a single species of planktonic foraminiferan, Globigerinoides ruber (white), collected from the Gulf of Eilat and cultured in seawater at five different salinities (32 to 44), five temperatures (18 to 30 °C) and four pH values (7.9 to 8.4). The Mg/Ca-temperature calibration of cultured G. ruber (with an exponential slope of 8 ± 3%/°C) agrees well with previously published calibrations from core-tops and sediment traps. However, the dependence of Mg/Ca on salinity (with an exponential slope of 5 ± 3%/psu) is also significant and should be included in the calibration equation. With this purpose, we calculated a calibration equation for G. ruber dependent on both temperature and salinity within the 95% confidence limits:
Mg/Ca(mmol/mol)=exp[0.06(±0.02)*S(psu)+0.08(±0.02)*T(°C)−2.8(±1.0)],R2=0.95 The influence of pH on Mg/Ca ratios is negligible at ambient seawater pH (8.1 to 8.3). However, we observe a dominating pH control on shell Mg/Ca when the pH of seawater is lower than 8.0. Sr/Ca in G. ruber shows a significant positive correlation with average growth rate. Presumably, part of the variability in shell Sr/Ca in the geological record is linked to changes in growth rates of foraminifera as a response to changing environmental conditions. | http://eprints.uni-kiel.de/9055/ |
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Re: [RESOLVED] Help with math algorithm
Originally Posted by nuzzle
Come on, don't be dramatic. There's no dangerous philosophical minefield here. The problem is stated and can be solved under full uncertainity.
I tried explaining why the idea of "full uncertainity" is a very delicate and possibly bad posed one, and why your specific idea of "full uncertainty" is just meaningless. That said, it's clear that you are inert to any form of argumentation so you're free to ignore the complexity of the subject and insist thinking whatever you like ...
Originally Posted by nuzzle
Still I'm a little curious as to whether you can to come up with something that changes the optimal escape direction.
well, I consider my last post a precondition to agree on such a possible example. So, if you still think that your idea of an "100% uncertainty" optimal strategy is meaningful then I'm 100 % sure that I won't succeed in convincing you. So, I won't post what I would consider a complete example.
Anyway, let's pretend you're right, that I'm guilty of having modified the problem, that this won't impress anybody and that "going to arcos(1/8)" is the universal, most elegant and beautiful solution to the OP problem. So, let me try to solve the much less ambitious task of finding a probabilistic modeling that gives a different optimal angle:
suppose the runner, standing in the middle of a river of width W, with a water front approaching him at a distance D, is going to move to an angle P relative to the river bank direction; suppose that he's using a compass to fix his direction and that there are many reference points ( trees, rocks, buildings, etc ... ) on the river bank enabling him to fix, let's pretend exactly, the direction of the river bank. Therefore, his direction of motion will take the form p = P + E where E is the error of the compass; let's pretend it is unbiased, that is that E follows a fixed symmetric unimodal distribution g(E) statistically indipendent on the other model parameters, like a reasonable true compass would be.
Now, we could probably obtain the wanted result by quite general assumptions, but, to keep things simple, let's suppose that W and D follows a joint probability density f(W,D) with support equal to some fixed cube [0,Wmax]x[Dmin,+inf). Again just to simplify the calculations take Dmin >= sqrt(63/4)*Wmax and suppose f() and g() almost everywhere differentiable.
S() and L() are monotonically increasing almost everywhere differentiable functions ( = almost everywhere invertible ) of d/w going from P0 := arccos(1/8) to pi/2 and from 0 to pi, resp. Let S be the corresponding random variable and h(S) its probability density; clearly E is still indipendent of S, and the support of h() is the interval [P0,pi/2].
the inner integral is always >= 0, but again being g unimodal there exist an epsilon > 0 such as g'(E) is strictly negative for 0<E<epsilon, so it suffices that h(S) is non zero whenever -( S + L - P0 ) < epsilon which is always true because the support of h() is [P0,pi/2].
this proves that Q'(P0) > 0, that is P0 is not a local extremum and hence is not a maximum of the escape probability.
In other words, we have proven that a runner applying the arccos(1/8) strategy with a perfectly unbiased compass will have less chances of escape of a runner going to arccos(1/8) + C, where C is a function of the compass precision given a possibly wide class of prior probability distributions of the river geometry.
as I said above, this is not meant as an argument for the "full uncertainty" thing, so spare me your comment about the obviously <<irrefutable>> fact that "under full uncerainty" C would "go" to 0, or the like ...
Originally Posted by nuzzle
Do we have THE optimal solution to the problem or don't we?
do you know the difference between "to any practical use, [this or that] solution is correct" and "[this or that] solution is correct" ?
Originally Posted by nuzzle
What are you trying to prove? All your attempts so far have stumbled on this.
do you know the difference between "I do not understand [this or that]" and "[this or that] is false" ? because it looks like your ego forbids you to accept anything that doesn't come directly from your own mouth ...
| |
1. Natural Fats are largely absent from cell membranes. Neutral fats such as triglycerides are found mainly in the cytoplasm and represent the major form of storage lipids.
2. Glycerphospholipids are the principal constituents of bacterial membranes. sphingolipids and cholesterol are absent. In animal cell membranes glycerophospholipids and sphingophospholipids comprise the polar lipids, while the principal non-polar membrane lipids are neutral sterols.
3. Use of chemical markers has shown that phospholipids are asymmetrically arranged in human erythrocyte membranes. The outer membrane leaflet contains the zwitterionic phospolipids sphingomyelin and phosphatidyl choline, while the inner membrane leaflet contains phosphatidyl ethanolamine, phosphatidyl serine and when present phosphatidyl inositol. The head groups of phospholipids in the inner membrane leaflet are largely anionic.
4. In rat liver membranes phospholipids comprise about 60%of the lipids in plasma membranes and Golgi membranes, about 80%in the rough endoplasmic and nuclear membranes, and about 90%in mitochondiral membranes.
5. Phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl ethanolamine are the most abundant glycerophospholipids in higher plants and animals. Cephalin is the main phospholipid of bacteria. lecithin is rarely present.
6. Phosphaidyl glycerol is present in small amounts in animal mitochondrial membranes. In plant membranes it contitutes 20-30%of phospholipids and in chloroplasts 40-60%. The amount of phosphatidyl glycerol varies in bacterial membranes being as high as 70%of the membrane phospholipids in Gram positive bacterial.
7. choline plasmalogen is abundant in heart muscle. Ethanolamine plasmalogen is present in relatively high concentration in myelin and in lesser amount in heart muscle. In bacteria plasmalogens are confined to anaerobes.
8. The membranes of eukaryote cell organelles contain sterols in varying amounts. The plasma membrane is comparatively very much richer in cholesterol.
9. Cholesterol:phospholipid ratio. In human erythrocyte membranes the outer membrane leaflet is richer in cholesterol than the inner leaflet. In myelin outer membrane leaflet the cholesterol:phospholipid ratio is equimolar, while in the inner leaflet the ratio is 3:7.
10. Liver plasma membranes have a low phosphatidyl choline content and high phosphatidyl serine, sphingomyelin and cholesterol content.
11. Cholesterol controls the fluidity of fatty acid chains of phospholipids. It enhances the stability of phospholipid bilayers and also reduces their permeability. | http://biotech4you.com/biotech-notes/biochemistry/375-distribution-of-membrane-lipids |
How To Choose The Right Pet For Your New Family Member (And Not Yours)
How well your current pet(s) accepts a newcomer depends on their age, health, sex, genetics, and traits of intelligence, size, personality. Some dog breeds are more willing to accept other canines, while others can be really dangerous.
The safety and well-being of your new dog and older dogs must be addressed. Even friendly dogs can be dangerous if there is a big difference between the pets. Feline predatory behavior leads to games of stalk and pounce that can lead to injuries. Once a cat reaches the age of 12-18 months or so, cats may lose their inclination to make new pet friends.
Some people suggest that it may be best to choose a new pet that is younger than, and the opposite sex of, your resident pet.
This is not always the case, and many times, any combination can work with the right personalities. It may be helpful to consider things like your current dog's activity level, size and temperament. . . | https://funny.5252sp.com/details/381/ |
To do so, select the element in question, and choose Click Event/Link.
For text:
For buttons:
And for images:
Afterward, choose On Page Link, and scroll to the block you want your visitors to be redirected to.
Method 2: Getting the URL for a specific place on your page
In order to have a URL of your page that takes you to a specific section you will have to add an HTML element
at the beginning of the section that you want your visitors to be taken to, containing the following snippet:
<div id="here"></div>
Now you will have to add #here to the end of your URL and share that URL with your visitors. It will look something like this - www.mydomain.com/#here. Another option would be to use this link inside a button as a Click event - Outside URL.
You can replace here with any other word that describes your section better, but remember to change it in the snippet above as well. | https://help.instapage.com/hc/en-us/articles/206026837-Linking-to-content-within-the-same-page |
Guidance & Counseling Cell
The college has a guidance & counseling cell. The principal and all the tutors do the counseling of the students and school students and guide them regarding curricular, co- curricular, career and personal matters. Career guidance workshop is organized to guide school students about various career options.
Current Year Activities of Guidance and Counseling Cell
- The guidance and counseling help desk was active since the beginning of the admissions till the orientation programmes to guide the students for making correct choices in terms of subject combinations and for choosing the right option for them. The other queries of the students were also answered.
- Madam Principal being the head of the Guidance & Counseling Cell, guided many students throughout the session and provided multiple counseling sessions to the students in need, along with the tutorial teacher. The whole process is kept confidential in order to maintain the dignity of counseling.
- Madam Principal provided Moral and Value Education to the school students as required by CBSE and helped them in making correct subject choices and counseled the students who had some behavioral problems. A career awareness day was also planned for school students.
Besides all these things the cell is easily approachable for any kind of personal, vocational educational guidance required by the students even when they leave the college. | http://www.shivalikinstitute.co.in/index.php?pg=right_content&rid=23 |
Recycling Lives founder's royal appointment
The founder of Recycling Lives has been appointed as a royal representative in Lancashire.
CEO Steve Jackson is now a Deputy Lieutenant – a ceremonial civic role appointed by command of the Queen – recognised for his commitment to communities and sustainable business practices.
The royal appointment will see Mr Jackson support the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, Charles Shuttleworth – who is patron of the Recycling Lives charity – in his duties, at appointments and activities including visits to the county by the monarchy.
Steve Jackson OBE DL said:
“I’m naturally very proud to have been considered for the role and I hope that I can live up to the Lord Lieutenant’s expectations.
“Lancashire is a wonderful place to live and work, where a real sense of community thrives.
“I hope I’m able to use the role to encourage business owners and entrepreneurs to incorporate a social impact into their businesses and to support those most vulnerable within our communities.”
The entrepreneur has made an indelible impression since launching the Recycling Lives organisation, seeing him presented with an OBE in 2013 for his services to employment and the community in Lancashire.
Recycling Lives has been awarded two Queen’s Awards for its commitment to enterprise in sustainable development. | https://recyclinglives.com/news/appointments/recycling-lives-founders-royal-appointment |
force.
The following textual illustration comes from Martin who
contributed to this article by E-mail on June 26, 2006:
I was just reading your bit on
"cupping" and thought I'd share with you how I
describe what's going on. I usually tell people that
what's happening is that the individual "blocks" or
"islands" of tread are squirming and deforming due
to the forces applied to them during cornering and braking.
When this deforming takes place, the wear is naturally not
evenly distributed across the surface of the tread. (I
define a tread block as an area of the tire surface surrounded
by a groove.) I next tell people they can demonstrate to
themselves what's happening by taking a new pencil with an
unused eraser on the end and while holding the pencil
perfectly vertical, push down and drag the eraser on a rough
surface in one direction. Then I tell them to look at
the eraser and note that all the wear is on the leading edge
and not evenly distributed across the end surface of the
eraser. It seems to make the concept easier for many to
understand. Cheers!
Rake is measured as the angle of the steering knuckle off
perpendicular with the bike upright, at rest and unloaded on a
level surface. Trail is measured from where that angle
intersects the level surface to the point plumb with the front
axle. Factors that can affect trail: the angle of the forks
relative to the knuckle; the distance of the forks from the
knuckle; raising or lengthening front suspension to increase
rake; lowering rear suspension to increase rake; loading the
bike with a passenger; apply brakes (dive). Ever notice that
it's harder to steer your bike when you have a passenger?
It's because the extra weight compresses the rear shocks
increasing rake besides making the bike heavier overall.
Rake hence trail changes are also dynamic so should one change
the balance of the rear suspension with the front (the rear
flexes more than the front or vice verse in turns and causes
the rake/trail to change while in a turn). Causing the front
to dive less in turns with heavier fork oil or heavier springs
will take some weight off the front wheel and lessen side band
wear.
Trail is necessary for your bike to be stable going
straight, but it is also necessary for turns since it causes
your front wheel to steer itself into the turn.
Countersteer and trail's geometry effect resulting in a turn
is discussed at Wikipedia in detail. Click
here to visit. A good video of using countersteer
for turns is found here (VIEW
MPG). Note in that film how countersteer is used to
initiate the turn (the bike momentarily turns in the wrong
direction) then once the bike leans shortly thereafter, trail
causes the front wheel to turn itself into the
turn which is what actually steers the bike in the desired
direction.
STILL NOT CONVINCED?
In the case of right side driving countries like the USA,
one does indeed ride farther on the left side of the tire than
on the right side of the tire. At a simple single lane
intersection that is common in most residential neighborhoods,
negotiating
a left turn will have you traveling TWICE the distance that
you do making a right hand turn. That's at a simple single
lane intersection. A double lane will have you making four
times the distance. But even when you are confronted with
nothing more than a left curving road, the radius of that left
turner will be larger than if you were coming the other way on
the same road making a right around that same curve. If you
don't believe this, check out the How Stuff Works web site
about your car's DIFFERENTIAL
and why it's called a differential (your shaft
driven two wheeled motorcycle does not have a differential, it
has instead a "final drive" which drives only one
wheel). Besides the fact that the left radius is larger which
means you will probably go faster causing more stress on your
tire than you would going the other way, there is more
visibility when making lefts than rights which will add to
your tendency to make the turn faster as well. Failure to
negotiate a left turn will have you going off the the road
onto the shoulder or into a ditch. Failure to negotiate a
right turn will have you crossing into opposing traffic.
Though neither scenario is appealing, there is a subliminal
advantage to left turns (riding shoulders and ditches is
better than crashing into trucks head on) and this will have
you going a bit faster on lefties too.
The increased radius on left turns means more distance is
traveled turning left than turning right on the average riding
day. That is plane geometry and plainly undeniable. Because of
the natural tendency to make left turns faster (admittedly
this is subjective and open to debate, but is plausible for
reasons given) there will be more stress placed on your tires
as they travel that longer left distance. Increased left side
tire wear is evident, though, on both the front and rear tires
but because the front tire shows less evidence of flat band
center wear (which disguises the side wear bands on the rear
tire), side wear is more evident to the eye up front and
leaves you to wonder, "Why does the left side† of my
front tire wear out first?" Now you know.
† Of course, if you live in Singapore,
you'll say, "Why does the RIGHT side of my front tire
wear out first?" And now you know as well! | http://www.steel-horse-news.com/Articals/flstw.htm |
From Currency Unions to a World Currency: A Possibility?
|Year of publication:||
|
2007-02-02
|Authors:||Furceri, Davide|
|Institutions:||Money Macro and Finance Research Group|
|Subject:||Currency Unions | World Currency|
|Extent:|| |
application/pdf
|Series:|
|Type of publication:||Book / Working Paper|
|Language:||English|
|Notes:|| |
The text is part of a series 2006 MMF Conference Papers Number 19
|Classification:||E32 - Business Fluctuations; Cycles ; F33 - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions ; F41 - Open Economy Macroeconomics|
|Source:|
-
Schmitt-Grohé, Stephanie, (2011)
-
Currency Unions, Economic Fluctuations and Adjustment: Some Empirical Evidence
Bayoumi, Tamim, (1995)
-
The Effects of Dollarization on Macroeconomic Stability
Erceg, Christopher J., (2001)
- More ...
-
Is the Middle East an Optimum Currency Area? A Comparison of Costs and Benefits
Furceri, Davide, (2008)
-
Business cycle synchronization and insurance mechanisms in the EU
Afonso, António, (2007)
-
The Consequences of Banking Crises for Public Debt
Furceri, Davide, (2010)
- More ... | https://www.econbiz.de/Record/from-currency-unions-to-a-world-currency-a-possibility-furceri-davide/10004975708 |
The State Government Affairs Project Manager will report to the Sr. Director, State Government Affairs Administration and will be responsible for developing, managing, planning, monitoring and reporting on key government affairs projects from conception through implementation. Performs a variety of tasks. Manages project details, data collection, reporting and communication to successfully drive project efforts.
MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Actively and consistently supports all efforts to simplify and enhance the customer experience
Plans, manages, and monitors projects from concept through implementation for projects
Maintains and manages Government Affairs ARIBA Contracts, SharePoint and Smartsheet projects and metrics sharing sites, including entry of franchise key terms in RDM database; creates electronic records and maintains franchise data with accuracy and urgency; tracks and acts upon key milestones
Supports Vice President and Director of Local Government Affairs and Franchising to develop and manage franchise renewal plans and maintain stores, audit and BDS trackers
Maintains franchise fee checklist certifications
Monitors franchise renewal workflow and makes timeline adjustments as needed for franchise renewal report
Maintains franchise FCC 626 windows; provides 626 renewal window and 626 letter notifications to field team
Responds to franchise compliance requests from legal, risk management and finance
Generate reports, charts and spreadsheets to allow internal and external Charter representatives to easily review local and state franchise information; develops and maintains a nonstandard notice database
Maintains a catalogue of franchise files in compliance with Company record retention policies
Supports Vice President, Legislative Affairs and Ethics to create libraries, folders, and trackers in SharePoint to upload required state lobbying compliance reports and other pertinent documents
Manages day-to-day operational aspects of all assigned projects and gains consensus from stakeholders to ensure successful implementation
Establishes project management processes and methodologies to ensure assigned projects are delivered on time, within budget and meet high quality standards and Leadership expectations using the appropriate tools
Meets with internal customers of an assigned project to provide status updates and reports and gather project-related feedback
Responsible for handling multiple projects simultaneously
Tracks costs and performance, service levels and other metrics required to ensure project goals and objectives are met
Coordinates meetings for franchising team including coordinating bi-annual franchise training meeting; assists in preparation of franchise training modules
Must be self-motivated and able to prioritize multiple projects individually or with a team
Must have a strong work ethic and a high level of confidentiality to ensure proper handling of sensitive information
Serves as a liaison for internal/external customers, state and federal agencies and vendors
Performs other duties as requested
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Skills /Abilities and Knowledge
Ability to read, write and speak the English language to communicate with employees, customers, suppliers, in person , on the phone, and by written communication in a clear, straight-forward, and professional manner
Ability to prioritize and organize effectively and manage multiple projects and assignments
Ability to develop strong working relationships with peers and project members
Excellent critical thinking skills
Proven ability to perform effectively in a fast-paced environment
Make decisions and solve problems while working under pressure
Analyze and interpret data, legislation, regulation, contracts, franchises and legal documents
Use personal computer and software applications (i.e. Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, Publishing, SharePoint, and Smartsheet)
Work independently, but also to collaborate effectively with colleagues, peers and other internal and external constituencies
Exercise independent judgment and discretion in matters of significance and operate with integrity and within company values; maintain high standards for ethical practice
Have knowledge of cable, telecommunications and broadband products, services and regulation preferred
Education
Bachelor’s degree in related field or equivalent work experience
Project Management certification or successful completion of a recognized project management curriculum preferred
Related Work Experience Number of Years
Project management 2-5
WORKING CONDITIONS
Office environment
Some travel required
Regular, consistent and punctual attendance
Able to work nights and weekends, variable schedule(s) as necessary
Vision ability close vision, peripheral vision, and ability to adjust focus
For more information on Spectrum’s benefits, please click here.
Who You Are Matters Here We’re committed to growing a workforce that reflects our communities, and providing equal opportunities for employment and advancement. Learn about our inclusive culture. | https://pac.org/job/project-manager-state-government-affairs/ |
The invention relates to a temperature compensation method for measuring water quality pH25 DEG C accuracy in a thermal power or nuclear power plant, wherein a pH meter is a meter for measuring electromotive force of a pH electrode system and converting the electromotive force into a corresponding pH value. When the pH value is unchanged, the electromotive force of the pH meter is related to the temperature of a tested solution, and thus the instrument, namely the pH meter, has automatic temperature compensation mostly. At present, manufacturers can achieve that the instrument has automatic temperature compensation, however, the manufacturers ignore an extremely important factor: in a water sample with weaker ion strength, a non-neglectable factor, namely, the activity of a hydrogen ion solution in the water sample is also related to the temperature and directly affects the accurate measurement of pH, except for the automatic temperature compensation factor. The real pH25 DEG C measurement cannot be realized if the activity of the hydrogen ion solution cannot be synchronously compensated. The power plant has higher requirements on accurate pH25 DEG C measurement and control requirements. Larger errors can be caused if no complete temperature compensation exists. Through a great amount of experiments, temperature relationships among various water samples of the power plant can be learnt and are input in the pH meter by using software, and thus the pH25 DEG C accurate value relationship of the water samples required to be measured in the power plant is solved. | |
Experimental philosophy is a new movement that uses systematic experimental studies to shed light on philosophical issues. In other words, experimental philosophers apply the methods commonly associated with psychology (experimentation, statistical analysis, developmental research, reaction time studies, patient studies, and so on), but they use those methods to address the kinds of questions that have been traditionally associated with philosophy. The experimental philosophy movement is united more by a shared methodology than by a shared research agenda or metaphilosophical viewpoint. Thus, while work in experimental philosophy makes use of systematic empirical study, this methodology has been applied to a wide array of different philosophical questions, and researchers have offered quite different views about the way in which such experimental work can prove philosophically valuable. So perhaps the best way to become acquainted with the field of experimental philosophy is to look in detail at the actual research findings.
Key work in experimental philosophy has been done in virtually all areas of philosophy including philosophy of language (Turri 2013, Machery et al 2004), mind (Sytsma & Machery 2010), metaphysics (Alicke et al 2011), intentionality (Knobe 2010, Young et al 2006), free will and moral responsibility (Nichols & Knobe 2007, Nichols 2011), metaethics (Sarkissian et al 2011, Sarkissian et al 2010), and epistemology (Weinberg et al 2001, Beebe & Buckwalter 2010, Starmans & Friedman 2012). | https://boblane.com/2015/08/22/experimental-philosophy-2/ |
.
This thesis attempts to analyze the development of IR studies in three major Asian countries, namely Japan, China, and India. The main research question is whether the Asian study of IR is capable of challenging the ontological and epistemological assumptions of the Western study of IR. Regarding this research question; influential philosophers, key concepts, and major think tanks of these three countries are examined. In this thesis, it is observed that the fundamental concepts and esteemed philosophers of these countries are capable of extending the sources and limits of the IR literature. However, as the answer of the research question, contrary to the argument of some scholars who claim that the Asian study of IR presents an indigenous alternative to the Western study of IR, this thesis argues that although studies of IR in Asian countries highlight the contributions of Asian thinkers and specific nature of Asian problems, the Asian study of IR still reflects the Western epistemological and ontological assumptions about IR.
Subject Keywords
Political science.
,
The Asian study of IR
,
theories of IR.
URI
http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12625425/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/45632
Collections
Graduate School of Social Sciences, Theses
METU IIS - Integrated Information Service
IT Support Service
You can transmit your request, problems about services
provided by METU Computer Center, and follow the process. | https://open.metu.edu.tr/handle/11511/45632 |
I am sharing in the spirit of distributing an excellent, uplifting and inspiring article by a fellow author, the sentiments with which I totally agree. This article by Geela (as with all my articles) may be freely published with acknowledgment to the source, thanks.
more at peace with itself. Dream on!
GLOBAL UNITY OR GLOBAL INSANITY?
Author of "The American Dream"
I have submitted the following article, because I fully agree with the points made (and the principles involved) in Geela's well-written and inspiring article...and I could not have expressed my views as well and as powerfully as she has!
If the global economy and the Information Super Highway are any indication of an emerging one world vision, there is no denying that no one can be an island any longer - we’re all simply in this together. We either win together or lose together. However by becoming more interdependent, the global community is equally becoming more vulnerable to potential disasters on a mass scale.
Today we find ourselves riding on a roller coaster of uncertainty and high anxiety, where anarchy is the order of the day and dangerous weapons increasingly find themselves in the wrong hands. The emerging new world order has also created a new type of mafia, also known as Al Queda, using religion as their main weapon of choice in pursuit of control and power.
The chaos and insanity that have plagued the world community is but a reflection of a moral crisis and the level of our collective consciousness. When we fail to see the unity of life, by not respecting the sanctity of life or recognizing the spirit that connects us all beyond the superficial boundaries of race, color and religion, we invariably contribute to the perception that somehow we are separated (when in fact we are all strands of the web of life). When hearts get tainted from lack of acceptance of differences, conflicts and wars are inevitable, particularly when the name of God is used as a license to kill.
It’s so ironic that the very thing (organized religion) that was supposed to unite and bring people together, has turned out to be a divisive force, and the main motivator for wars and senseless violence in the history of human affairs. If there is one valuable lesson that can be learned from history, it’s that wars are self-defeating. No one really ever wins a war. Ultimately, “He who lives by the sword, shall die by the sword,” simply because it’s a key element of the universal law of cause and effect (for every action there is a reaction).
However, while striving for peace is essential for maintaining a free and thriving society, it’s important to keep things in perspective. We cannot afford the luxury of being perceived by the enemy as weak, passive and incapable of defeating evil whenever necessary. In the absence of a cure for eradicating evil, the best option is one of managing the problem. This approach has to be based on having a strong spirit.
Having a strong spirit is paramount to success in dealing with any type of challenges, particularly global terrorism. A strong spirit is like a ship in the vast ocean that won’t sink as long as there is no hole in it. My dad used to say “If you lose your money, you haven’t lost anything (money is replaceable). If you lose your health, you have lost something, but if you lose your spirit, you have lost everything.” That’s because having a strong spirit gives you the winning edge in every situation. The primary goal of evil-doers, who are aware of the awesome power of the spirit, is to target the spirit, weaken it in order to accelerate the process of surrender and defeat.
Picasso believed that, “Every act of creation begins with the act of destruction.” Mother Nature teaches us that everything has a purpose (after all, God doesn’t play dice). Chaos, violence and destruction are merely a natural part of the equation and cycle of life in which destruction gives birth to new life. Chaos plays a vital role in the scheme of all creation by providing the necessary stimulation in order for growth and evolution to take place. Therefore, it’s safe to presume that real peace, defined as an absence of conflicts, is not truly achievable. It would be naive to believe that violence and destruction can be permanently and completely eradicated.
There is no denying that global unity (peace) is a worthwhile pursuit. After all, our very survival is dependent on our ability to co-exist. However, there are certain misconceptions that actually serve as roadblocks and hinder the process of attaining real and lasting peace. Peace has always eluded men. Like life, peace is not a destination, but rather a process by which one is allowed the freedom of self-expression while interacting with the world in a more humane and livable way by making a conscious effort to live according to universal moral values. It’s a process intended to provide a safe haven for like- minded people who are trying to find some measure of joy and happiness while trying to survive on the battlefields of life. Peace is not something that happens overnight, or even in a lifetime either. Rather peace is a worthy goal and a process by which we evolve, allowing inner change to hopefully create the desirable outer change as well (remember the wheels of change always turn slowly but surely).
Genuine and lasting global unity (peace), which is a state of mind and a way of living, can not be attained through an escalating arms race and certainly not by the signing of a piece of paper by politicians who are driven by their own agendas. It is peace consciousness that unites people, creating prosperity and sanity. When we finally recognize the spirit that connects us all, honor the sanctity of life and learn to be at peace with ourselves and universal laws, it becomes virtually impossible to destroy ourselves and others, or the environment. Indeed only when the power of love overcomes the love of power, will the world finally know genuine peace.
Since everything starts with an idea and everything is possible, isn’t it also possible for the concept of global unity (peace) to gain momentum and become a reality too? All we need is to plant the seeds, so that the seeds take root, grow and spread and take a life of their own. Over time the movement can become a revolution, leading to evolution and global change for the benefit of everyone.
Today, civilization finds itself at the crossroads. Changing the world which we live in requires changing our way of thinking and our concepts about ourselves and life itself. Real solutions to problems require daring and innovative individuals who can dream of things that never were. As Albert Einstein once observed, “The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.” However troubling and uncertain the times, it’s just another moment in time. Defining this moment in time is all up to us by the choices that we make. These choices can either lead to global unity (peace and prosperity) where we honor and celebrate the miracle of life, or to the false glory of death where the triumph of violence eventually ends in a festival of pain and misery.
In a constantly changing world, where global insanity seems to be getting the upper hand, it’s easy to lose sight of your true spiritual essence and awesome power to affect change. Since the path to success of any mission is action, why not resolve to be the change you wish to see in the world today. Who knows you might even discover the joy of being somebody’s hero in the most unexpected places. Together we might even restore global "sanity".
What EVERY ONE of us can do to make a difference in working towards global unity and helping build world peace?
I truly believe that we all have far more in common than our differences. No matter where in the world people may live, nearly all citizens want the same things in life: a job, security, a mate, a sense of fulfilment, peace (with ones neighbours and other countries), a sense of accomplishment, prosperity, fun, happiness, to make the most of our time on planet earth...and so on.
Treat all people with tolerance, understanding, acceptance, dignity and respect, as everyone is "a child of God". There is neither east nor west, tribe nor ethnicity, male or female, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist. Christian nor Jew. There is only a God-filled humanity.
In the midst of these uncertain times, I see only one hope for our very troubled world, and that is when all peoples, black, brown and white desiring neither power, money nor especially a sense of self importance, come together to work hard for it with the creative spirit, that is in every one of us. With economic growth and the creation of jobs, people feel secure with a sense of well-being...and are happy.
integrity, desiring only the good of their countries and so the world, the world be a far more prosperous and peaceful place - a world at peace with itself.
A global change in thinking and actions fueled by emotion, passion and especially tinged with a large helping of FAITH, I truly believe, is the only solution to the immense problems of the world: issues like poverty, hunger, disease, Aids, etc, war, ethnic rivalries and so on. All it takes is a personal DECISION. Take some ACTION and elevate your thinking to the highest level of consciousness and be the change you wish to see in the world today. In so doing you will live at the highest level of humanity...for the benefit of all mankind.
Fired with emotion and passion, in our own little ways and in our own little spheres of influence, we can all raise, then ignite the public consciousness. So it's up to each ONE of us to do just what one person can do to make a difference, a better world.
Be happy and have great fun in just doing what you can do.
Enjoy the journey down the "river of life"
"Let us build bridges rather than barriers, openness rather than walls. Rather than borders, let us look at distant horizons together...in the common spirit of the value and dignity of a shared personhood - our common humanity as citizens of planet earth."
Great inspiring words of wisdom.
Our Creator, the Ultimate Source of Life intended and CALLED us to become."
"Together, one mind, one soul at a time, let's encourage, impact, uplift and perhaps even inspire the world."
Together, one mind, one heart, one life at a time, let's plant the seeds, the hope of a better and brighter future.
Craig believes in (and loves) sharing information and insights to try to make a difference in this world: to help and especially encourage people along life's magical journey ... and that brings him the greatest joy. | https://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/global-unity-or-global-insanity-0 |
Families who are not ready or able to return to in-person classes can register for online classes.
MyCatholicFaithDelivered.com allows students access to the complete catechetical program being taught in the classrooms.
Students learn at their own grade level. Lessons consist of guided prayer, reading and catechesis, activities, sacred art, music, and final assessments.
Lessons will be assigned on a weekly schedule to coincide with in-person classes. Thus, when ready, online learners can transition into traditional classes.
A catechist will be assigned to our family to offer assistance if necessary and to ensure accountability.
Families will be asked to meet with parish staff (priest or Religious Education Coordinator) at least once during the semester (can be outdoors or virtual if necessary)
Registration Fees:
One child - $ 85.00
Two children - $150
Three or more children - $175.00
+ Sacramental year 2 (2nd and 8th Grades) $50.00 each child
No family will ever be turned away due to financial reasons. Please do not allow finances to prevent you from registering your children. Especially during these times of financial uncertainty, we have resources available to help. Your family is welcome to participate in our programs, regardless of monetary contributions.
Register for online classes by clicking
HERE
. | https://stannerh.org/onlineccd |
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has been one of the most defining moments in entertainment in recent years. The comic book-style animated film follows the new portrayal of a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in young Miles Morales. This 2018 film opened wide the possibilities of the multiverse and created a whole new group of superheroes led by an utterly relatable and lovable character in Miles. However, the story of this film is not the only thing to be raved about. Indeed, one of the strengths of this film is the music.
Into the Spider-VerseThe beautiful portrayal of Miles Morales, a young black man in a coming-of-age environment, along with the incredible family dynamics, made this film stand out. Not to mention including more representation in the superhero movie genre. With all of this in mind, the film’s outstanding soundtrack contributed greatly to its success. By incorporating hip hop, trap, and pop music styles, the soundtrack not only complements the overall mood of the film, but completely enhances the emotional weight of every moment. With so many great tracks to work on, we’ve ranked the best songs on the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack.
13 “Invincible” (Amine)
No song from this soundtrack is bad. In fact, the whole thing, back and forth, is a euphoric experience in itself. Aminé’s “Invincible” plays in this film near the beginning as Miles is on his way to school. His father takes him to a new school, and they have a very child-to-parent conversation in the car, with intimidating encouragement from Miles’ father and a brave facade from Miles. Although the song is quite brief in this scene, the lyrics themselves are a perfect fit for Miles’ (and many changing young adults’) situation.
12 “Memories” (Thutmosis)
Back to back with our last entry, Thutmose’s song “Memories” plays as Miles gets out of his dad’s car and up the steps of his new school, followed by an awkward moment where his dad makes him say “I likes” to him before he leaves. This moment, accompanied by a song that has both a catchy beat and a solemn feel, makes it a perfect choice for this point in the film.
11 “Save The Day” (Ski Mask the Slump God and Jacquees featuring Coi Leray and LouGotCash)
With “other universe” Peter Parker ready to return home, Miles only persists in offering his help. This exchange in particular shows Miles becoming a hero with his newfound powers, trying to become himself with the eagerness and blind excitement that only a child can have. The song “Save The Day” reflects Miles’ separation to prove himself. “I know where I’m going, yeah I’m going far, yeah I’m going hard, and they’re not going to stop me.”
ten “Familia” (Nicki Minaj and Anuel AA featuring Bantu)
“Familia,” by Nicki Minaj and Anuel AA featuring Bantu, plays as Miles greets and says goodbye to some of his former classmates and neighbors. Besides just being a great song, “Familia” is a great representation of Miles’ upbringing and how his community is part of what he considers his family. That sense of place in itself is a trait that perfectly fuels the identity of a likeable neighborhood Spider-Man.
9 “Way Up” (Jaden Smith)
Jaden Smith’s “Way Up” is a song that plays during the film’s credits. However, it fits incredibly with the themes of the film and Miles’ transformation, from his tone to the lyrics. Right off the bat, the song describes “I went from boy to man, wow,” which is a very fitting line for Miles’ coming-of-age story.
8 “House” (Vince Staples and Richie Kohan)
Vince Staples and Richi Kohan’s “Home” is the final track on the soundtrack, and lyrically it’s so Spider Man song. Spider-Man has always been the kind of hero who makes as many mistakes as triumphs, and the vulnerability of being a child calls for finding an inner strength to protect yourself and your peace while keeping people safe. others, especially people. you like.
seven “Hide” (Juice WRLD featuring Seezyn)
When Miles meets the other “Spider-Heroes”, he becomes truly bold and insinuates that he is ready to fight alongside the seasoned veterans. However, when confronted by the rest of the team, he is overwhelmed and comes to a complete stop. “Hide” by the late Juice WRLD and featuring Seezyn is the perfect backdrop for Miles’ defeat and his desire to run away from his troubles.
6 “Letting Go” (Handsome Young Prince)
Into the Spider-Verse knows exactly how to balance deeply emotional moments with upbeat action sequences. The song “Let Go” plays before the film’s climax, when Miles loses his uncle after learning his identity from Prowler. Here, Miles learns to deal with loss and that even in the midst of emotional difficulties, it’s essential that you hold on despite wanting to “let go”.
5 “Start a Riot” (Duckwrth and Shaboozey)
Although Duckwrth and Shaboozey’s “Start A Riot” made a very brief appearance in the very comedic sequence of the Spider-Heroes hiding from Miles’ roommate, it became one of the soundtrack’s most popular songs. When Miles’ roommate sees the whole band propped up on the roof, his headphones come off and the song rings out in the quiet space.
4 “Elevate” (DJ Khalil featuring Denzel Curry, Cordae, SwaVay and Trevor Rich)
A soundtrack is supposed to enhance a good cinematic experience. In recent years, the credits after the film have become part of the film itself. “Elevate” plays at the beginning of the film’s credits. Many moviegoers remember how a movie makes them feel. Coming out of the theater or just sitting watching the credits, this song acts as the icing on the cake and leaves the audience completely excited.
3 “Scared of the Dark” (Lil Wayne and Ty Dolla $ign with XXXTENTACION)
When the Spider-Man of Miles’ universe dies, the whole town is in mourning. Miles, having finally gathered the elements of his powers, has lost both a mentor and a hero. “Scared of the Dark” is a song that reflects Miles and his desire and need to live up to the legacy of Spider-Man. The lyrics of the song themselves act like the voice in Miles’ head saying “No, I’m not afraid of the fall. I’m not afraid, not at all. Why would a star, a star ever afraid of the dark?
2 “What’s Up Danger” (Blackway and Black Caviar)
“What’s Up Danger” is a song that shoots straight into your veins along with a rush of adrenaline. Throughout the film, we saw Miles at his best, his most hopeful, scared, and utterly lost. However, he is able to pick himself up and take his leap of faith. The incredible comic-book-style visual sequence of Miles getting his own suit to swing, albeit casually, through the streets of New York with that badass song playing in the background has us all trying not to jump out of our seats and to encourage him.
1 “Sunflower” (Post Malone and Swae Lee)
This song, much like Miles throughout this film, grows with him. “Sunflower” by Post Malone and Swae Lee is the song playing when Miles Morales is first introduced to us as he prepares for school. Talk about setting the tone for the whole movie! Through In the Spider Vese, Miles returns to this song as a kind of comfort to help him when he is scared or losing control. Not to mention this song’s success outside of the movie says a lot about how it resonates with audiences and how it’s just a great song. | https://putasgae.info/best-original-soundtrack-songs-ranked/ |
Teens and Adults Kickboxing is a joint group. We have an age range from 13 years old through to Senior Citizen. We have found that this mix of ages works really well for the group and each students takes a lot from it. The syllabus is developed using current best practices from WKA and WAKO as well as having been scrutinised by three time WAKO World Champion Mieke Tate. Each class is developed to help students progress through each belt in about three months. Our Black Belt test is run annually, which give students the extra time they need to prepare for this final grading, The Black Belt grading is conducted at the club by an independent assessor of at least 3rd Dan standard and for the last three years this has been done by Mieke.
Like with the Samurai group, we split the class on a Friday into beginner/intermediate and advanced belt classes. This allows students to receive more focused attention to their techniques as individuals, where on a Tuesday all grades work and support each other as they progress. We have found that this mixture of classes really helps bring students on, as well as keeping a team and friendly atmosphere to the club.
Friday Beginner / Intermediate Class – 18:15
Friday Advanced Class – 19:00
The Teens and Adults classes are very dynamic and great fun, as both groups progress towards their next belt through respect, physical challenges and development of their techniques, speed, co-ordination and stamina. There is a wide variety of abilities and grades within these classes and we welcome all. We encourage all our students to develop at a pace that is right for them. We are conscience that Teens and Adults have study, family and work commitments, therefore, everyone will grade at a different pace. | http://sfear.scot/classes/teens-adults-kickboxing/ |
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Discussion in 'Education' started by satish, Jul 14, 2015.
Feb 16, 2016
Mar 2, 2016
No Allotments for AIIMS in Budget
Sep 15, 2016
Sep 20, 2016
Jul 5, 2017
AIIMS to come up in Tenali
THE HANS INDIA | Apr 04,2017 , 04:14 AM IST
Guntur: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is likely to commence the academic year for 2018-19 in AP Vaidya Vidhana Parishad building near Tenali on an ad hoc basis. Provision of AIIMS branch in the state is a commitment of the Centre expressed in the 2014 bifurcation Act.
The AIIMS authorities are making ad hoc arrangements for commencement of the academic year in a temporary accommodation as construction of buildings for the AIIMs proposed in the capital region will take some more time. The state government is insisting the Centre to launch the AIIMS branch right from the next academic year.
If AIIMS medical college is started near AP Vaidya Vidhana Parishad Hospital, its students will use the hospital. The state government has taken steps to provide hostel buildings for the students and quarters for staff as early as possible. | http://amaravatiforum.com/threads/aiims-andhra-pradesh.72/page-2 |
Amended state law tightens restrictions on contributions to politicians
An amendment to the state’s Political Reform Act that went into effect this month could change how lobbyists and developers donate to elected officials going forward—and it could also force some politicians to recuse themselves from votes, or return money, if they’ve taken too much from a special interest with pending business before their governing body.
Senate Bill 1439 amended the Levine Act, which previously limited only appointed officials—not elected officials—to receiving a maximum of $250 from parties with business, like a pending license, permit or entitlement, before that board.
The old law applied those contribution limits to the time a vote was taking place and for three months after a final decision was reached on a project, but the new amendment will expand both the timeline and apply those restrictions to elected officials.
Some think the law will lead to improvements in public perception of how local government officials interact with developers and other people lobbying them for access, while others think it could merely shift how funds are contributed to City Council members going forward.
What’s changed?
With the newly amended law extending contribution limits to elected officials, that means that City Council members, mayors and county supervisors will not be able to accept a contribution of more than $250 from people with a financial interest in votes before their meeting bodies.
The new timeframe for when contributions are limited is the 12 months before and after a decision is reached. It previously was just three months after a decision was made and only applied to appointed officials like city commissioners.
Labor contracts, competitively bid contracts and personal employment contracts would be exempt under the law.
Developers, people lobbying on their behalf and other people with financial interests in the outcome of votes would be subject to the limitations, and it’s believed that the $250 limit would be a cumulative amount across all interested parties, according to Sean McMorris, a transparency, ethics and accountability program manager with Common Cause, the main proponent behind the amendment.
Campaign contributions in Long Beach are limited to $400 for council races and $900 for the mayoral candidates, but those are scheduled for a routine adjustment this month, according to city documents. Contribution limits are adjusted regularly for inflation.
Contribution limits for City Council officeholder accounts are $750 per year, and the limit is $1,000 per year for citywide positions like the mayor. The limits could also apply to behested payments in certain situations.
Unlike some other cities, Long Beach commissioners don’t have officeholder accounts. So while the state law previously had contribution limits for people in appointed positions, it didn’t apply in Long Beach unless commissioners ran for local office. Recent election cycles have seen two such instances, with former Parks and Recreation Commissioner Mariela Salgado and Planning Commissioner Joni Ricks-Oddie running for council seats.
Ricks-Oddie won the 9th District council race, but because the law is forward-looking, the 12-month window for limits on donations to her would have started Jan. 1, like all the other council members.
Deputy City Attorney Taylor Anderson said that her office is working on fine points of the law and what it affects. The city is trying to identify what licenses, permits and entitlements might trigger the revision to the Levine Act so it can explain those changes to elected officials and those seeking office.
“It’s s a huge undertaking though,” Anderson said. “This law is a very big change.”
Unlike a Brown Act violation, which could nullify a vote and require the City Council or other body to re-vote on an issue, a Levine Act violation would be referred to the Fair Political Practices Commission, which could investigate the complaint. Violations are punishable as a misdemeanor and a fine of up to $10,000 or three times the amount the person unlawfully contributed or received, but the penalties would be levied against the officeholder.
Some legal interpretations say the law would apply to mayors who don’t vote but have veto authority, which is the case in Long Beach.
A key part of the law is that the person would have an opportunity to cure the violation by returning all of the money or the part that exceeds $250 in order to take part in a vote. They’d have 30 days from the time they knew or should have known about the contribution and the upcoming vote to return the money without triggering a violation. For contributions made after the vote, the cure period would be 14 days.
Anderson said the city is trying to help elected officials track this by beginning to include this in training officials receive and also by creating disclosure forms for parties with upcoming projects that require approval to state if they’ve donated over $250 to certain members.
She said the city is also looking at creating a tracking feature, which could notify people if they need to recuse themselves or return money in order to vote on certain items. That tracker could become public-facing once it’s implemented, Anderson said.
“I think we very much had a sense that this would change the landscape,” Anderson said. “It’s a huge shift from what everyone would do before.”
‘A closed tube of toothpaste’
Experts are torn on how big of an effect the amended Levine Act will have.
McMorris, with Common Cause, said that at the very least, this change should lead to increased trust in local politicians and could make it more comfortable for politicians to take certain votes because they won’t feel influenced by big-money donations.
“Yes, those monied interests have a right to lobby and contribute to a local campaign,” he said. “However, when they have business before those elected officials and those officials can affect their bottom line on how they vote, then there is the possibility of pay-for-play.”
McMorris said that he’s hopeful cities across the state will work to create some kind of database of contributions so the public and elected officials can know where people stand before important votes.
“It’s not about ‘gotcha’ fines,” he said. “It’s about compliance and being honest and increasing trust in government.”
Matt Lesenyie, a political science professor at Cal State Long Beach who has studied how voters respond to campaign finance disclosures, said the effect of the bill could be more subtle.
It won’t remove money from the process, mostly because political action committees and independent expenditures are mostly exempt from the amendment, meaning there could be a shift in how candidates and incumbents receive support.
“It’s like squeezing a closed toothpaste tube,” Lesenyie said. “It doesn’t get it out. It just moves it around.”
There could be other consequences of the newly amended law. Like other FPPC violations, it could be weaponized by rival campaigns in the future who might point to an initial vote where a person accepted over $250 but not mention that the person cured the violation by giving the money back, Lesenyie said.
It could also have an unintended boost for incumbents. Lesenyie said this law was aimed in part at rooting out commissioners who used their positions to curry influence and build war chests to run for higher office. If everyone is limited, incumbents who potentially have policy victories and name recognition to rely on could face less competition.
“It matters, but in a world without money, it’s going to be the incumbent that keeps moving up because of the other things,” Lesenyie said.
Support our journalism.
Hyperlocal news is an essential force in our democracy, but it costs money to keep an organization like this one alive, and we can’t rely on advertiser support alone. That’s why we’re asking readers like you to support our independent, fact-based journalism. We know you like it—that’s why you’re here. Help us keep hyperlocal news alive in Long Beach. | https://lbpost.com/news/amended-state-law-tightens-restrictions-on-contributions-to-politicians |
Two problems could arise while working on a story idea. First, feelings may get in the way of a balanced investigation. You may be so angry about the behaviour of public officials that the story is filled with vitriol and instead of facts. Do not betray the basic tenets of journalism — confront your own feelings, speak to trusted advisors or peers, and do your utmost to make sure it is a fact-driven story.
Another potential problem is that an individual experience may not be representative. It’s useful to get an understanding of how many other people are similarly affected. Did you experience certain treatment because you are a journalist, a man, or an educated person? Have others experienced the same? Does the problem happens every day or was yours a one-off case? Broaden the reporting beyond one single case. Writing about personal experiences is material for an opinion column, not an investigative report. To make it a proper report, seek reasons, understand the context and talk to different people to ensure your final story represents something more than your personal grievance.
This applies to anecdotes or ‘tip-offs’ from your colleagues and friends. Their experiences are real but may not be representative and could be biased. Additionally, steer clear of second-hand information conveyed by friends who may not have directly experienced an issue or problem. Unless the anecdote can be traced back to someone with a name, an address, and who can be interviewed, this is but rumour or urban legend. Experiences can be starting points for a good investigation — but only starting points.
Additionally, note the following advice of the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ): | https://www.investigative-manual.org/en/chapters/setting-off-to-find-a-story/2-evaluating-a-story-idea/1-1-the-personal-factor/ |
Lady Lions open season with big win over Mules
The Varsity Lady Lions kicked off the first round of District Play on Feb. 28 on the road, traveling to San Antonio to face Alamo Heights. The Lady Lions came home with a crushing 11-2 victory over the Mules.
The Lady Lions jumped ahead in the first inning scoring two runs. Mackinzee Griebel led the offense off with a single through the middle of the infield. Giselle Maciel
grounded out to the pitcher to move Griebel to second base. On the next pitch, Griebel advanced to third off of a passed ball and scored from a ground ball to short by Chelsea Capello. Mikaela Flores ripped a two-out double off the right field fence. Catcher Alicia Garcia added a back-to-back double to left-center to score Flores from second.
The Lady Lions added two more to the scoreboard in the second inning. Gabby Ybarra led things off with a single to left and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt from Katrina Mills. Griebel once again lined a single up the middle to score Ybarra from second base. Griebel advanced to second on the throw to home and once again swiped third base on a passed ball. Maciel used her speed to beat out an infield hit that Griebel was able to take advantage on and score Lockhart’s fourth run.
In the third, Capello knocked a single to centerfield. The next batter, Flores, quickly added her second double of the game to move Capello to third. Garcia then singled to right to score Capello and moved Flores to third.
Flores was picked off at third by the pitcher on the next play, as Garcia stole second base.
The designated player, Nicole Reyes, singled to right field to score Garcia from second. Reyes was relieved by pinch runner Alex Martinez, who advanced to second on a passed ball and was moved to third from a ground ball-out from Ybarra.
Katrina Mills singled to right field, but was thrown out trying to advance to second on a throwing error from the right fielder. Martinez scored from third thanks to Mills’ single.
Zierra Gonzales led things off in the fourth with a single to center. Maciel drew a walk to advance Gonzales to second. Capello recorded her second hit and second RBI of the game with a single to left to score Gonzales from second.
In the fifth, Lockhart only recorded a lead off hit by Reyes. The next three batters were retired in order.
In the sixth, Griebel once again set the table with a stand up triple to right field. Maciel added another single to score Griebel from third. Flores continued her hot streak with a sky-high fly ball barely missing the outside of centerfield. The long fly ball grazed the top on the fence, allowing Flores to reach third. The long triple score Maciel from first. Garcia added her third hit of the day to score Flores for the eleventh run of the game. Ybarra then ripped a single to left field, but Garcia was thrown out at home while trying to score the Lady Lions 12th run.
Mikaela Flores got the win on the mound, striking out five while allowing six hits.
Griebel went 3-4 with one RBI. Flores also went 3-4, with one RBI and Garcia was 2-3 with three RBIs.
The Lady Lions will travel to San Marcos on Friday and face Hays on Tuesday, then return home to host Canyon on Friday, March 16. | https://post-register.com/lady-lions-open-season-with-big-win-over-mules/ |
A discursive essay is an expositive/argumentative piece of writing which talks about a particular issue, situation or perhaps problem. There are basically three types of discursive essays: a) For and Against; b) Opinion; and c) Solutions to Problems. William Zinsser (Writing to Learn, Collins, 1989) teaches that clear writing is the logical arrangement of thought. One of the most difficult things about writing is how to organize happen to be thoughts. One idea need to lead and link to the next. In other words, we are talking about coherence and consistency. To be frequent, we need to plan our publishing. And the best way to do this is to use a framework. No doubt, composition increases the quality of innovative output. So , plans/frameworks and templates are valuable tools in helping to reduce complex concerns into their component intellectual parts. But it is important to recognize, with Zinsser, that writing teaches writing, that is, writing sets up and clarifies are thoughts.
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Figured it out! put the shadow layer in between 2 duplicates of the logo and set the shadow track matte to the alpha (Logo).
Maybe this will help someone else.
You can apply lights and use blend modes. Shadows will not effect 2D layers and you can turn off their effect on 3D layers by selecting the layer and pressing AA. Please spend some time with the User Guide. There are some basic tutorials that explain the workflow.
Also, an uncropped screenshot that shows the modified properties of the layers that are giving you problems would help us understand any problems that may be in your workflow. | https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects/make-a-top-layer-only-apply-to-the-non-transparent-parts-of-png/td-p/11167299 |
As teachers and parents ourselves, we understand that the next few weeks — and perhaps months — are going to be a challenge. Many children will be learning online for the foreseeable future and, as you’ve probably already experienced, online learning is significantly different from what your child, their teachers, and you, are used to.
While nobody knows what the future holds, we do know that life won’t resemble anything close to normal for a while. And as such, it’s important for all of us to find ways to stay engaged while working, learning, and connecting from a distance.
Before we begin today’s discussion, we also recommend reading through one of our recent posts, How to Keep Your Child Engaged This Summer. We discussed the importance of keeping your child engaged and active over the summer break, so be sure to read through that material if you’re interested in learning even more about how to support your child’s mental and physical well-being as we navigate the COVID-19 crisis.
As you’ll read in more detail below, we recommend getting in touch with The Art Farm NYC to learn more about virtual classes for kids in NYC your child needs a fun-filled break from their schoolwork!
Six Ways to Help Your Child Succeed While Learning Virtually
Understand Expectations
First and foremost, you should try to understand the expectations that have been set for your child. The majority of educators have not had time to learn how to facilitate distance learning flawlessly, and they may need extra help from parents in the first few weeks of class. Ask your child’s teacher how much time they expect your child to spend studying online and offline in order to succeed, and what you can do to help. You should also ask about what the rest of the semester looks like and to what extent you will need to be involved in your child’s education as distance learning becomes more streamlined and efficient.
Stay Active
Children and adults both need regular physical activity in order to feel their best, so make sure that you encourage your child to take breaks to stretch, walk around, and stay active outside of class. Just as many adults find that they are more productive and attentive while standing, your child might actually be more engaged and enthusiastic about their classes if they can stand and watch their instructor. Once school is over, we recommend playing in the backyard, taking your child for a socially distanced walk, riding bikes, or engaging in another form of physical activity. Trust us — everyone will benefit from getting active!
Create an Educational Environment
If you’re working from home, then you’ve probably noticed how easy it is to let yourself get distracted from the task at hand. Maybe it’s getting up from your desk to make another cup of coffee before you actually get started on your work, or perhaps you have other people at home who make it difficult to focus on a task for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Whatever the case may be, understand that your child will experience the same difficulties as they learn online.
As a parent, you can help your child by minimizing the distractions in your environment and making your home feel like school as much as possible. If your home has a guest bedroom, consider making this your child’s classroom and minimizing distractions as much as possible. This means removing toys from the room, keeping noise levels low during the day, and keeping their work area free of clutter.
Maintain Structure
As you’ve probably already experienced if you’re working from home, it can be very difficult to draw a line between work and leisure. In fact, some surveys suggest that Americans working from home are working more than they ever have before.
Similarly, your child might find it equally difficult to separate home and school, especially if your home doesn’t have an extra room that can be repurposed as a classroom. To help your child keep school and home distinct, avoid talking about school when they’re not working on homework or participating in class activities. When they’re done learning for the day, put all of their learning materials away and do everything you can to make home truly feel like home.
Stay Positive
There’s no denying that this is an incredibly difficult time for millions of Americans not just in NYC, but in the country as a whole. It’s all too easy to let yourself slip into a bad mood while watching the news or trying to help your child with their schoolwork every evening, but we can’t overemphasize the importance of staying positive. This doesn’t mean that you have to turn a blind eye to what’s happening around you, but it does mean focusing on the here and now for the sake of you and your family’s well-being. Children pick up on their parents’ mental states, even if those states aren’t explicitly stated.
If you notice that your child is having a difficult time staying positive while distance learning, try providing them with positive feedback and words of encouragement every day. Even something as simple as a small treat or extra free time when school’s over can go a long way toward motivating your child and helping them stay positive.
Enroll In Virtual Classes for Kids In NYC
Up to this point, we’ve talked about the importance of leisure, breaks, structure, activity, and keeping things positive. If you’re already working long hours from home and helping a child distance learn, then you may not have the mental bandwidth to brainstorm even more activities. If this resonates with you and your situation, we recommend learning more about The Art Farm NYC’s virtual classes for kids that are held throughout the week. We’re currently offering a variety of fun-filled classes that include everything from cooking lessons and singalongs to introductions to our exotic animals, and we would love to have your child join us!
Learn more about our classes and view our schedule on this page, or just give us a call.
We look forward to speaking with you! | https://www.theartfarms.com/classes-for-kids-nyc/how-to-keep-your-child-engaged-while-learning-virtually/ |
The Taj Mahal is regarded as the most perfect jewel of Muslim art in India. Shah Jahan, the fifth Muslim Mogul emperor, in memory of his beloved wife, a Persian princess born as Arjuman Bano Begum but known as Mumtaz Mahal, built this huge mausoleum mosque. She was a significant influence in his life and in his policies, but died at age thirty-nine while giving birth to their fourteenth child in 1631.
The ruler went into deep mourning. Her last wish to her husband was "to build a tomb in her memory such as the world had never seen before." So Shah Jahan set about building this fairytale-like marvel of white marble, surrounded by formally laid-out walled gardens, The emperor, later buried in the Taj, was overthrown by his son and imprisoned in the nearby Great Red Fort for eight years, from which, it is said, he could see the Taj Mahal out of his small cell window.
The origin of the name "Taj Mahal" is not clear. Court histories from Shah Jehan’s reign only call it the rauza (tomb) of Mumtaz Mahal. It is generally believed that "Taj Mahal" (usually translated as either "Crown Palace" or "Crown of the Palace") is an abbreviated version of her name.
The Taj Mahal was built between 1631 and 1648, with some 20,000 workmen employed on it daily, who lived in a specially built small town next to it called “Mumtazabad” for the dead empress, now known as Taj Ganj. The material was brought in from all over India and central Asia with the help of 1,000 elephants. The central dome is 57 meters, or 187 feet, high in the middle. A total of 28 beautiful stones were used: red sandstone was brought from Fatehpur Sikri, jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China, turquoise from Tibet, lapis lazuli and sapphire from Sri Lanka, coal and cornelian from Arabia and diamonds from Panna. The luminescent white marble was brought from far-off Makrana, Rajasthan. Nearly every surface of the entire complex has been decorated, and the exterior decorations are among the finest to be found in Mughal architecture of any period.
Unlike other Mughal tombs, the Taj Mahal gardens are all in front of the tomb and do not play any part in the background. Instead, the background is the sky. Since the tomb is set against a plain across a river, this background of eternal sky works its magic of colors that, through their reflection, subtly reflect on the white marble surface of the Taj Mahal, always changing its color and complexion. The composition of the forms and lines of the Taj Mahal is perfectly symmetrical. The colossal height of the tomb, along with its pyramidal appearance, fill it with grace and make it seem to float or soar. | https://www.groundreport.com/symbol-of-love-passion-taj-mahal/ |
Recently, I had a somewhat similar experience. No, it was not a grand drawing room, and it wasn’t filled with well-heeled gentlemen and ladies, nor was their a game of whist taking place. BUT, there was a piano and a most amazing young talent, Talon Smith, who performed for about twenty of us in the living room of a very middle-class patron.
As of this writing, Talon is on his way to Warsaw, Poland, to compete in the preliminary rounds of the International Chopin competition. According to the Chopin 2020 competition website, (https://www.chopin.org/2020-competition) Talon was a finalist last year and earned the right to go to Warsaw in April, but then had it put on hold for a year because of Covid. He is an amazing young talent, among what looks to be a slew of talented young musicians, and I was again reminded of all the beauty, talent, diversity, and individuality that God creates.
The beauty of music and the musicians who play it. The beauty of paintings and the artists who create them. The beauty of words, of furniture, of architecture and those who conceive, build, and envision them.
I am struck by the ability of those who heal the human body, those who can fathom the workings of the internet and its technology, and those who can wire my house and fix my plumbing.
And I am in awe at how very different each and every one of us is in looks, thoughts, and talents. There is a lot of talk . . . an inordinate amount of talk . . . about diversity these days. Yes, in this broken world there are cultural and ethnic inequalities that need, and will always need, to be addressed, but I think we should appreciate diversity the way God intended us to . . . as unique individuals, each with something valuable to offer––ourselves included.
Sometimes I think we forget David’s observations in Psalm 139:13-16:
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. . . .Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
I may not be able to play a Chopin Nocturne or draw a straight line or fix my own heater, but I can appreciate those who can, and I can thank and praise God for the unique talents and opportunities He has created and selected just for me and for others. I think we all can. | https://www.jesolinski.com/blog/category/all |
Multiple theories beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of heavy neutrinos in order to explain the light neutrino masses, such as the Type I seesaw mechanism, which introduces new heavy neutrino states without additional vector bosons, or the Type III seesaw mechanism which introduces additional heavy lepton triplets. Left-right symmetric models, which restore parity symmetry in weak interactions at a higher energy scale, also predict heavy neutrinos, along with right-handed counterparts to the weak gauge bosons. Searches for such heavy Majorana or Dirac neutrinos with the ATLAS and CMS detectors will be presented using proton-proton data from the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. | https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/75/contributions/1198/ |
Colic is the main cause of recurrent crying during the early months. All babies have some normal fussy crying every day. When this occurs over 3 hours per day, it’s called colic.
Is colic crying 3 hours straight?
Colic is defined as when a baby’s crying: Lasts for more than 3 hours a day. Happens more than 3 days a week. Occurs for more than 3 weeks.
How many hours a day do colic babies cry?
In general, colic is defined as crying for three or more hours a day, three or more days a week, for three or more weeks.
Is it normal for a baby to cry for 3 hours?
All newborns cry and get fussy sometimes. It’s normal for a baby to cry for 2–3 hours a day for the first 6 weeks. During the first 3 months of life, they cry more than at any other time. New parents often are low on sleep and getting used to life with their little one.
How much do colic babies cry?
Traditionally, colic is identified using the “Rule of Three” — inconsolable crying that lasts more than three hours a day and occurs more than three days a week for at least three weeks.
Should you let a colic baby cry it out?
Let your baby cry—for a little while. If walking, rocking, singing, massaging, and the like don’t seem to make a difference, put the baby in the crib for 10 to 15 minutes and see if he or she quiets alone.
How long does colic last each night?
How long does colic last? Colic usually presents itself in babies at least 3 weeks old and peaks around 6 weeks old. It does not last forever, typically subsiding around 3 to 4 months.
When is colic at its worst?
Managing colic can add stress to already tired or stressed new parents. Colic can start a few weeks after birth. It’s generally the worst between 4 and 6 weeks of age. Babies usually grow out of colic by the time they are 3 to 4 months old.
Does colic get worse before it gets better?
Colic usually starts when babies are about 3 weeks old. It gets worse when they are between 4 and 6 weeks old. Most of the time, colicky babies get better after they are 6 weeks old, and are completely fine by the time they are 12 weeks old.
How do you comfort a colic baby?
With that in mind, here are some ways to soothe a baby with colic:
- Hold and cuddle your baby.
- Walk with your baby.
- Swaddle your baby in a soft blanket.
- Sing and talk softly to your baby.
- Sway back and forth while you hold your baby, or find other ways to gently rock her. …
- Gently rub your baby’s back.
Can too much crying hurt a baby?
“Assuming there are no medical issues, there is no harm in a baby’s excessive crying,” he says. “They may get a hoarse voice, but they will eventually get tired and stop crying. Your baby may also get a little gassy from swallowing air while crying, but that’s OK.
How long is too long for a baby to cry?
Leaving a baby to cry for long periods of time can be harmful to a baby’s development. But the intervals of up to 10 minutes used in controlled comforting are safe.
What is considered excessive crying?
There is no standard definition for “excessive” crying, although it is normal for infants to cry for up to two hours per day. Infants without colic cry, although generally less frequently and for a shorter time than infants with colic.
Do colicky babies stop crying when held?
Fussy babies tend to calm down with cuddling, being held, or being rocked. Colicky babies, on the other hand, suffer from unprovoked crying spells that don’t stop after soothing.
Is colic painful for babies?
Colic is an attack of crying and what appears to be abdominal pain in young infancy. It is a common condition and is estimated to affect up to 1 in 5 infants during their first few months. All infants cry for various reasons, including hunger, cold, tiredness, heat, or because the diaper needs changing.
Do colic babies fart a lot?
Colicky babies are often quite gassy. Some reasons of excess gassiness include intolerance to lactose, an immature stomach, inflammation, or poor feeding technique. | https://thepracticallygreenmom.com/newborn/do-colic-babies-cry-for-3-hours-straight.html |
Who says there’s no crying in sports?
Why crying is as much a natural part of sports as stoic toughness
I still remember how I started crying after my elementary school basketball team, one of the first sports teams I ever played for, lost a close and hard-fought game. My emotions overcame me—I just started outright bawling.
My coaches, one of whom was my dad, took me aside and essentially told me something that anyone who has ever played a sport has heard: “There’s no crying in sports.” From that day forward, I tried to take this maxim to heart in all my sporting endeavors.
This sort of stoic toughness is celebrated in sports. Gritting one’s teeth, playing through injury, remaining calm in the face of defeat, etc., are generally seen as marks of a true champion.
Over the years, as I’ve gained athletic experience, I’ve wondered, why is this attitude so prevalent? I’ve come to realize that the maxim that “there’s no crying in sports,” while perhaps somewhat logical, drastically oversimplifies the complex emotional relationship between an athlete and his or her sport. Ultimately, crying is as much a natural part of sports as stoic toughness.
Sports are, at their core, real-life theatre. In playing sports, we manufacture dramatic struggles and strive toward glory, like characters in an intense play. However, unlike theatre, sports rest on a bed of genuine chance—no amount of talent or training can ever fully guarantee victory.
The emphasis on stoic toughness in sports is a logical product of this dramatic underpinning. By remaining calm in the face of adversity, athletes give themselves a better shot at scoring, playing good defense, winning a game, etc.
Indeed, winning any sporting event requires some measure of stoic toughness. All-time legends such as Micheal Jordan, Tom Brady and Serena Williams are renowned for their incredible mental and physical toughness, in addition to a strong work ethic. One cannot be a great athlete without this trait.
By the same token, though, crying is also a natural outcome of sports. As a little kid, I played basketball in my driveway almost every day, pretending that I was hitting the game-winning shot. I must have made a million buzzer-beaters in my driveways—and so have millions of other kids across the United States and the world. I wanted to succeed in sports more than anything.
So, why did I cry after my elementary school basketball team lost a close game? It was, ultimately, because I cared so much. The drama of sports reveals them to be a vessel of dreams for us. To say that “there’s no crying in sports” blatantly disregards this fact.
I was inspired to write this article after watching this year’s NCAA Men’s Division I Final Four match between Gonzaga and UCLA. The game was an insanely hard-fought battle throughout. And, the ending, a near-half-court game-winning buzzer-beater by Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs, was one of the most incredible finishes I have ever seen to a basketball game.
After the game, I saw a UCLA player fighting back his tears. Following the logic of “there’s no crying in sports,” this player would be considered weak, not tough at all. But is that, really, the case?
The raw emotions of sports will sometimes overcome athletes. How could we discount this UCLA player for just caring a whole lot? Some measure of stoic toughness is needed to be successful in sports. However, even the best athletes may cry occasionally. And that’s alright. | https://newtriernews.org/opinions/2021/04/14/who-says-theres-no-crying-in-sports/ |
Introduction {#s1}
============
Humans have the ability to recognize objects quickly and efficiently over a large proportion of the visual field without needing to make eye movements. This object recognition ability decreases robustly with increasing eccentricity or viewing angle (Larson and Loschky, [@B12]; Strasburger et al., [@B20]; Yao et al., [@B26]; Yoo and Chong, [@B27]). Object recognition is thought to be mediated by hierarchical processing in the visual cortex (V1), where signals pass from the primary V1 to the ventral and lateral visual cortices (Grill-Spector, [@B8]; Schwarzlose et al., [@B18]). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have characterized multiple regions in the ventral and lateral visual cortices according to their consistent preferential responses to object categories. These regions include the lateral occipital complex (LOC), which preferentially responds to object vs. nonobject images (Grill-Spector et al., [@B9]; Riesenhuber and Poggio, [@B16]; Grill-Spector, [@B8]; Sayres and Grill-Spector, [@B17]), face-selective areas (fusiform face area, FFA; Kanwisher et al., [@B11]), and house-selective areas (parahippocampal place area, PPA; Epstein and Kanwisher, [@B5]). Investigations of the functions of these category-selective areas have contributed to our understanding of the neural mechanisms of object perception (Hasson et al., [@B10]; Grill-Spector, [@B8]; Schwarzlose et al., [@B18]; Wang et al., [@B23]; Wu et al., [@B24]).
The LOC is located along the lateral occipital and temporal cortices, which exhibit retinotopic representations. Using fMRI and a checker board retinotopic mapping stimulus, Larsson and Heeger ([@B13]) identified two hemifield representation areas in the vicinity of the LOC, which they designated LO-1 and LO-2. The two areas lie anterior to dorsal V3 and posterior to the middle complex (MT+). LO-1 and LO-2 show clear polar angle and eccentricity representations. LO-2 exhibits a sudden transition from central to peripheral locations (Larsson and Heeger, [@B13]; Amano et al., [@B1]), and more recently, Sayres and Grill-Spector ([@B17]) demonstrated that the LOC extends beyond the boundaries of the visual field maps of LO-1 and LO-2.
Behavioral analyses have indicated that visual working-memory performance for faces decreases from the central to the peripheral visual field, whereas the corresponding performance for buildings remains unchanged across different eccentricities of up to 40° when the images were presented on a wide-view field (Yoo and Chong, [@B27]). Eccentricity biases were also demonstrated in FFA and PPA: the FFA preferred stimuli located in the central visual field, whereas the PPA preferred stimuli located in the peripheral visual field (Levy et al., [@B14]; Hasson et al., [@B10]). In a previous study in which a wide-view presentation field was utilized, we identified decreased neural activation in both the FFA and PPA as stimulus eccentricity increased. The FFA exhibited a higher ratio relative to the V1 response (RRV1) than the PPA. Furthermore, the difference increased from the central to the peripheral visual field (Wang et al., [@B23]), suggesting that neural activations to stimuli presented in wide-view fields differ from those to central visual stimuli. An fMRI study involving the presentation of stimuli in the central visual field demonstrated a category bias of the neural responses to objects (Sayres and Grill-Spector, [@B17]): animate categories (body parts, animals, and faces) elicited slightly higher neural responses than those evoked by inanimate categories (cars, sculptures, and houses). Moreover, analyses based on the mean response and on the voxel-wise patterns of the response in the LOC identified differences in the responses to different categories (Schwarzlose et al., [@B18]). These studies suggest that neural responses in later V1 exhibit selectivity to object categories. However, category biases in neural activations to objects in the peripheral visual field are not well understood.
In the present study, we used fMRI and a wide-view presentation system (Wang et al., [@B22]; Wu et al., [@B24]) to study neural activations to central and peripheral objects in the lateral V1. During the MRI scanning, the subject was asked to view stimuli from four object categories (faces, houses, animals, and cars) that were arrayed in rings at six eccentricity levels within a visual field with 60° of eccentricity (Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). The subjects were asked to categorize the images while maintaining fixation. We investigated the neural activation maps and neural response magnitudes to object categories at different eccentricity positions.
{#F1}
Materials and Methods {#s2}
=====================
Subjects {#s2-1}
--------
Seven subjects participated in the study (5 males and 2 females), aged 21--29 years. All subjects had normal vision. The fMRI experiments were performed at the Hospital of Okayama University and were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hospital of Okayama University.
Stimulus Presentation {#s2-2}
---------------------
All visual stimuli were generated using Presentation software (Neurobehavioral Systems, Inc.,) and were displayed using a wide-view visual presentation system (Wang et al., [@B22]; Wu et al., [@B24]). In this system, stimuli were presented monocularly (left or right eye) using a hemispheric screen 52 mm in diameter; the curvature radius of this hemisphere was 30 mm. The subjects viewed the stimuli on a hemisphere, with a mean distance of 30 mm between the subjects' eyes and the screen. The subjects wore contact lenses to focus on the stimulus, and the visual field of stimulus presentation was 120° horizontal × 120° vertical, or 60° of eccentricity.
Position Experiment {#s2-3}
-------------------
The object position experiments utilized grayscale images of human faces, houses, animals and cars (Figure [1A](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). As shown in Figure [1B](#F1){ref-type="fig"}, the images were arrayed in rings with six eccentricity levels. Figure [1C](#F1){ref-type="fig"} shows sample images of the face ring at 33° eccentricity. The width of the concentric ring was 10° of visual angle. The gap of each concentric ring was 1° of visual angle. One hundred ninety-two unique images were utilized in this experiment. We chose to use a constant image size because the magnification factors for the peripheral visual field are not known for the LOC. If we scaled the stimulus sizes according to the cortical magnification factor that was calculated for V1 in our previous study (Wu et al., [@B25]) or for LO-1/2 in a previous study (Larsson and Heeger, [@B13]), the magnifications at the center and periphery would be quite different; the outer stimuli would be very large closer to the fovea.
The object experiment consisted of four runs of a block-design experiment. In each 8 s block, different images from a single category (faces, houses, animals or cars) were shown at a single eccentricity position. To exclude an influence of background, these images were presented with uniform background. With this presentation method, the amount of space occupied by the images in each category differed but were consistent at each eccentricity (faces:houses:animals:cars = 1.3:1.7:1:1). Each image was presented for 0.8 s with a 0.2 s interstimulus interval. Image blocks were interleaved with baseline blocks (grayscale screen with the fixation point) that lasted for 8 s. Each run contained one block for each position and category combination; thus, the session contained 24 blocks per run (4 categories × 6 positions). During the scanning, the subjects were asked to categorize the images while maintaining fixation and to respond by pressing buttons. The fixation disk dimmed randomly at 1.8--3.8 s intervals. The subjects were asked to respond when the fixation disk dimmed. Button presses that occurred outside the 1.2 s period following a response prompt were ignored. During scanning, the behavioral responses were collected using a magnet-compatible button box that was connected to the stimulus computer.
Localizer Experiment {#s2-4}
--------------------
The localizer experiment was used to define the object-selective area (LOC). The stimuli consisted of 30 grayscale images (22° × 22°) of faces, houses, animals, and cars as well as phase-scrambled images of these images. The experiment was initiated and ended with 12 s of rest and contained 20 stimulus blocks (10 s in duration) that were separated by 10 s blocks of rest. In each stimulus block, 10 images from a single stimulus category were presented, and two or three images were repeated. The subjects were asked to fixate on a central fixation point in the visual field and to respond by pressing a button when an image was repeated.
Retinotopic Mapping Experiment {#s2-5}
------------------------------
Clockwise rotating wedge and expanding ring stimuli were employed to identify the retinotopic areas of the visual cortex (Sereno et al., [@B19]; Engel et al., [@B4]; Wu et al., [@B25]). A red fixation disk (approximately 1°) was presented at the center of the stimuli. These retinotopic stimulus apertures contained high-contrast, black-and-white checkerboard patterns that phase-reversed at a temporal frequency of 8 Hz, with an eccentricity that ranged from 2.4° to 60°. The wedge checkerboards included boundaries of 22.5° and slowly rotated clockwise around the red fixation disk. The wedge rotated at steps of 22.5° and remained at each position for 8 s. These checkerboard rings expanded from 2.4° to 60° eccentricity. These expanding ring stimuli were moved in discrete steps and remained at each position for 8 s. Six cycles of the rotation and expansion of the checkerboard were completed. All experiments employed passive viewing, and the subjects were required to maintain fixation on a red disk throughout the scan period.
Image Acquisition {#s2-6}
-----------------
Imaging was performed using a 3-Tesla MR scanner (Siemens Allegra, Erlangen, Germany). The functional series included continuously acquired standard T2-weighted echo-planar imaging (EPI) images (TR = 2 s; TE = 35 ms; flip angle = 85°; 64 × 64 matrices; in plane resolution: 2.3 × 2.3 mm; slice thickness: 2 mm, with a gap of 0.3 mm; 30 slices). The slices were manually aligned to be approximately perpendicular to the calcarine sulcus to cover most of the occipital, posterior parietal, and posterior temporal cortices. After the functional scans, one volume of a high-resolution sagittal T1-weighted image (MP-RAGE; TR = 1800 ms; TE = 2.3 ms; matrix 256 × 256 × 224; 1 mm isotropic voxel size) was acquired.
Data Preprocessing {#s2-7}
------------------
The anatomical and functional images were analyzed using BrainVoyager QX 2.07 (Brain Innovation, Maastricht, Netherlands). The anatomical images were segmented to identify white/gray matter boundaries and were then used for cortical surface reconstruction and inflating (Goebel et al., [@B7]). The functional images were preprocessed with scan-time correction, 3D motion correction, and high-pass temporal filtering (0.01 Hz) prior to statistical analysis (Goebel et al., [@B7]). The functional data were subsequently transformed into the conventional Talairach space, yielding a 4D data representation (Talairach and Tournoux, [@B21]).
A general linear model (GLM) was applied to the position experiment and localizer experiment data on a voxel-by-voxel basis. A boxcar function was convolved with a double-gamma hemodynamic response function to account for hemodynamic effects (Friston et al., [@B6]). At the group level, a random effects analysis of variance was performed on the position scans of each subject. A statistical threshold of *p* \< 0.05, corrected with the false discovery rate (FDR), and a cluster threshold of 20 mm^3^ were adopted in the statistical analyses. The neural activation maps were rendered on a cortical surface from a high-resolution structural MRI in Talairach coordinates.
Retinotopic Mapping {#s2-8}
-------------------
The retinotopic maps of polar angle and eccentricity were identified using a linear correlation map analysis. The stimulation blocks were modeled by boxcar functions that were convolved with a double-gamma hemodynamic response function. For each voxel, the stimulus-driven modulation of the BOLD time course was correlated with the response of an ideal response function. This phase was converted into physical units by identifying the stimulus parameter (polar angle or eccentricity) that corresponded to the time. The color-coded cortical regions were classified based on an *r*-value threshold of 0.25. The retinotopic maps were projected onto an inflated cortical surface.
Region of Interest Analysis {#s2-9}
---------------------------
The regions of interest (ROIs) of V1 were individually defined for each participant based on the position experiment data and the V1 mask that was obtained for each individual through retinotopic mapping. This analysis was performed by contrasting the response to the presentation of a stimulus at one position with the responses to the presentation of that stimulus at all of the other positions using a threshold with an FDR-corrected *p* \< 0.05. A strip of segments, each with an area of 150 mm^2^, was drawn at the location of neural activation along the calcarine sulcus (V1). In total, six functional ROIs were defined in each hemisphere (Figure [2A](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). These cortical ROIs were then coveted into 3D volumetric ROIs. The ROIs of the LOC were defined by contrasting all object category images with the scrambled image with a contrast threshold of FDR-corrected *p* \< 0.05 and a spatial extent of at least 20 mm^3^ (Figure [2B](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). LO-1 and LO-2 were identified as reversals in the retinotopic representation, as described by Larsson and Heeger ([@B13]); Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}. The neural activation elicited by each object category at each eccentricity position was quantified as the neural response amplitude in each region.
{#F2}
{#F3}
Relative to the Neural Response in V1 {#s2-10}
-------------------------------------
As mentioned above, we did not scale the stimulus sizes according to the cortical magnification factor in V1 and LO-1/2. In addition, all of the images were presented with a uniform background to exclude an influence of the background. Due to this presentation method, the low-level visual properties were unmatched. In the human visual cortex, V1 is considered to be essential for visual information processing. We further scaled the neural responses by the ratio of the neural response relative to that in V1, thereby providing the same input strength to LOC, LO-1, and LO-2 for all eccentricities. We calculated the RRV1 as the neural response amplitude in the LOC, LO-1, or LO-2/the neural response amplitude in V1. When the neural response amplitude in FFA or PPA was greater than that in V1, the RRV1 was greater than 1, and when the amplitude was smaller, the RRV1 was less than 1. Only positive response amplitudes were used for the final calculations.
Results {#s3}
=======
Behavioral Performance {#s3-1}
----------------------
The response time and accuracy of the participants' recognition of the stimuli as belonging to one of the four categories at each retinal position are listed in Table [1](#T1){ref-type="table"}. The constant (no scaling) image size used in the main experiment made it difficult for the participants to categorize the stimuli when they were presented at the far peripheral positions. At eccentricities of 0--33°, the behavioral performance was good; the subjects could recognize image presented in the peripheral visual field but failed to recognize images at the more extreme peripheral positions (eccentricities of 44° and 55°). Some subjects had no or weak responses to the images of faces and houses when they were presented at the most peripheral positions, which resulted in missed responses. Linear mixed models for repeated measures with factors of eccentricity and category (6 × 4) were applied. Accuracy was significantly affected by stimulus eccentricity \[*F*~(5,34)~ = 61.3, *p* \< 0.001\] and category \[*F*~(3,44)~ = 27.9, *p* \< 0.001\]. In addition, there was a significant interaction between category and eccentricity \[*F*~(15,23)~ = 7.18, *p* \< 0.001\], indicating that the discrimination accuracy for each object category was influenced by eccentricity. For example, the accuracy of face image recognition was substantially higher than that for the other image categories at the far peripheral positions (eccentricity of 33--55°), although at an eccentricity of 33°, the accuracy of discriminating houses was less than that for faces and cars. The response time was significantly affected by stimulus eccentricity \[*F*~(5,15)~ = 2.6, *p* = 0.01\], whereas there was no main effect of category \[*F*~(3,29)~ = 2.5, *p* = 0.08\]. A pairwise comparison showed that for animal images, response times were shorter for stimuli presented at an eccentricity of 22° than for an eccentricity of 0°.
######
**Behavioral results of the position experiment**.
Category Eccentricity of Stimulus Position
-------------------- ---------- ----------------------------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Accuracy(%) Face 0.84 ± 0.05 0.96 ± 0.02 0.95 ± 0.04 0.98 ± 0.02 0.86 ± 0.04 0.77 ± 0.06
House 0.86 ± 0.06 0.93 ± 0.04 0.93 ± 0.04 0.64 ± 0.07 0.63 ± 0.12 0.25 ± 0.08
Animal 0.77 ± 0.07 0.96 ± 0.02 0.84 ± 0.07 0.79 ± 0.1 0.27 ± 0.07 0.14 ± 0.07
Car 0.79 ± 0.08 0.95 ± 0.03 0.96 ± 0.02 0.82 ± 0.04 0.50 ± 0.09 0.16 ± 0.1
Reaction Time (ms) Face 684 ± 21 621 ± 28 586 ± 43 580 ± 43 673 ± 38 669 ± 41
House 725 ± 43 645 ± 39 644 ± 15 715 ± 37 709 ± 48 701 ± 35
Animal 724 ± 44 643 ± 26 622 ± 41 643 ± 35 680 ± 58 785 ± 25
Car 762 ± 29 615 ± 33 595 ± 46 651 ± 45 683 ± 49 777 ± 60
*Note: the values are shown as the mean ± SEM*.
Neural Activation Maps in the Lateral Visual Cortex {#s3-2}
---------------------------------------------------
We created neural activation maps in the lateral visual cortex in response to the presentation of objects at six eccentricity levels (Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). The lateral visual cortex (LOC, LO-1, and LO-2) exhibited intense neural activation for each of the six eccentricities, and the maps for four object categories (faces, houses, animals and cars) were similar. As predicted, intense neural activation was elicited by stimuli in the central visual field, and the magnitude of the response monotonically decreased with increasing eccentricity. The activation maps for the six eccentricities substantially overlapped. Objects presented at the central position evoked the strongest neural activation, and these activation maps covered most of the lateral visual cortex. Peripherally presented objects elicited weak neural activation, and these activation maps covered the anterior portion of the lateral visual cortex, which mainly represents the peripheral visual field (Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}).
{#F4}
Neural Response Magnitudes {#s3-3}
--------------------------
The neural response magnitudes were pooled across both hemispheres, and the averaged response magnitudes are shown in Figure [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}. Generally, the neural response magnitudes in the investigated areas progressively decreased from central positions to peripheral positions. Linear mixed models for repeated measures with factors of eccentricity and category (6 × 4) were used to analyze the neural responses in the investigated regions. In V1, there were significant main effects of eccentricity \[*F*~(5,94)~ = 54.64, *p* \< 0.001\] and category \[*F*~(3,68)~ = 5.82, *p* = 0.002\], and no interaction between eccentricity and category \[*F*~(15,61)~ = 1.08, *p* = 0.4\] (Figure [5A](#F5){ref-type="fig"}). The neural responses to house images were larger than those to images of the other categories, possibly due to larger amount of space occupied by the house images. Pairwise comparisons revealed that significant differences between object categories were mainly found at eccentricities of 0, 22, 33 and 44° (*p* \< 0.05). In particular, the neural responses to house images were larger than that to animal image at 0° eccentricity, and those to images of other categories at 22 and 33°.
{#F5}
The neural responses in the LOC showed a significant main effect of eccentricity \[*F*~(5,83)~ = 158.19, *p* \< 0.001\] and a significant interaction between eccentricity and category \[*F*~(15,53)~ = 4.34, *p* \< 0.001\] (Figure [5B](#F5){ref-type="fig"}). Pairwise comparisons revealed that significant differences between object categories were mainly found at eccentricities of 0, 22, 33, and 55° (*p* \< 0.05). In particular, the neural responses to face images were larger than those to house image at 0° eccentricity. However, the neural responses to house images were larger than those to face, animal and car images at 22° eccentricity. The neural responses to face images were smaller than those to the other object categories at 33° eccentricity (*p* \< 0.05).
The localizer experiment used 22° × 22° images; as a result, the LOC neural responses to localizer stimuli presented at the center of the visual field might be distributed. Therefore, we also measured neural response magnitudes in LO-1 and LO-2, which were defined by their retinotopic representation of the visual field. Responses in LO-1 and LO-2 also differed with respect to eccentricity and category (Figures [5C,D](#F5){ref-type="fig"}). Using the linear mixed models method, we identified a significant main effect of eccentricity in LO-1 \[*F*~(5,70)~ = 51.39, *p* \< 0.001\] and LO-2 \[*F*~(5,82)~ = 31.5, *p* \< 0.001\]. More importantly, there was an interaction between eccentricity and category \[LO-1: *F*~(15,47)~ = 4.36, *p* \< 0.001, LO-2: *F*~(15,57)~ = 1.98, *p* = 0.03\]. LO-1 and LO-2 exhibited similar category biases at eccentricities of 11 and 33°. House images evoked larger neural responses than the other object categories when presented at an eccentricity of 22°. At 33° eccentricity, face images elicited smaller neural responses than the other object categories in LO-2. In LO-1, responses to faces were smaller than those to animals and cars.
Relative to the Neural Response in V1 {#s3-4}
-------------------------------------
The neural responses were scaled by the RRV1, ensuring that the strength of the input to the LOC, LO-1, and LO-2 was the same for all eccentricities and categories. In addition, the subjects failed to recognize objects beyond 33° (at the high eccentricities of 44 and 55°), and the neural responses in V1, the LOC, LO-1, and LO-2 were weak. For this reason, we omitted the results for RRV1s beyond 33°. Figure [6](#F6){ref-type="fig"} shows the mean RRV1 for each eccentricity for each ROI. Linear mixed models for repeated measures with factors of eccentricity and category (4 × 4) revealed a main effect of eccentricity in the lateral visual cortex (LOC: \[*F*~(3,39)~ = 9.4, *p* \< 0.001\], LO-1: \[*F*~(3,56)~ = 17.15, *p* \< 0.001\], and LO-2 \[*F*~(3,69)~ = 13.72, *p* \< 0.001\]). In addition to eccentricity, there was a significant main effect of category in the LOC \[*F*~(3,73)~ = 5.11, *p* = 0.003\]. The RRV1s for house images were significantly smaller than those for the other categories (*p* \< 0.05) at an eccentricity of 0° and marginally significantly smaller at an eccentricity of 33°. We also identified an interaction between eccentricity and category in the LOC \[*F*~(9,45)~ = 2.4, *p* = 0.02\] and LO-1 \[*F*~(9,48)~ = 3.23, *p* = 0.004\]. Pairwise comparisons revealed differences in eccentricity for each category; these differences are indicated with asterisks in Figures [6A,C](#F6){ref-type="fig"} (*p* \< 0.05). In the LOC and LO-2, the RRV1s for face images at an eccentricity of 11° were smaller than those for face images at the other eccentricities (*p* \< 0.05). For the images of animals and cars, the RRV1s at eccentricities of 11 and 22° were significantly smaller than those at an eccentricity of 0° (*p* \< 0.05). In addition, the RRV1s for car images presented at an eccentricity of 11° were smaller than those for car images presented at an eccentricity of 33°. In LO-1 (Figure [6B](#F6){ref-type="fig"}), faces, animals, and cars had larger RRV1s when presented at an eccentricity of 0°, while the RRV1s for these stimuli did not differ when they were presented at the outer eccentricities (11--33°). In contrast, the RRV1s for houses presented at eccentricities of 11 and 33°differed (*p* \< 0.05).
{#F6}
Discussion {#s4}
==========
Object Discrimination in the Central and Peripheral Visual Field {#s4-1}
----------------------------------------------------------------
Evidence from behavior performance and neuroimaging results indicates that the ability of the visual system to discriminate and identify objects decreases as eccentricity increases (Sayres and Grill-Spector, [@B17]; Yao et al., [@B26]; Yoo and Chong, [@B27]). The variance in these abilities is thought to be related to the smaller cortical magnification and larger receptive field size in the peripheral visual cortex; the visual system represents central stimuli with a fair degree of fidelity, but it more crudely encodes stimuli in the peripheral visual field. In the present study, by presenting stimuli in a wide-view field, we also demonstrated that object recognition performance declined when stimuli were presented in the more peripheral visual field. The constant (no scaling) image size used in the peripheral visual field made it difficult for the participants to recognize the category of the presented object. Because the recognition used here was relatively simple, the accuracy rate might be inflated. Subjects were asked to recognize the category of images that were sequentially presented in a single block. For example, if the subject noticed that one image in the block was a car, they would then know that the other images in the block were cars. Thus, we believe the actual ability of subjects to recognize objects in the periphery may be much lower. Our behavior results showed that the subjects could recognize objects that were presented at eccentricities of 33°, but failed to recognize objects at the far peripheral positions (eccentricities of 44 and 55°), similar to several previous reports (Yao et al., [@B26]; Yoo and Chong, [@B27]). These findings demonstrate that the ability to recognize objects greatly decreases beyond an eccentricity of 33°.
Moreover, in the peripheral visual field, the discrimination accuracy for each object category differed considerably; at peripheral positions, the accuracy of face recognition was substantially higher than thot for the other categories. Yoo and Chong ([@B27]) also reported higher accuracy for face memory than for house memory. The subjects may have been better able to recognize peripherally presented faces by detecting the first-order relations that define faces and through holistic processing. Holistic processing might be better than part processing in the periphery.
In the peripheral visual field (eccentricity of 33°), the accuracy of face discrimination was higher than that for the other categories. In contrast, at an eccentricity of 33°, the accuracy of house discrimination was smaller than that for faces and cars. In the regions in the lateral visual cortex, we also found that the RRV1s for houses were slight smaller than those for the other object categories at an eccentricity of 33°. Furthermore, it is well known that the face-selective area FFA and PPA are selective for the processing of faces and houses, respectively. The FFA showed higher RRV1s, with a significant increasing trend, while the PPA showed smaller RRV1s and lacked a significant increasing trend (Wang et al., [@B23]). It is likely that for presentations in the peripheral visual field, the superior recognition performance for faces was related to the higher RRV1s and the lower recognition performance for houses was related to the smaller RRV1s in the higher visual areas.
Eccentricity Effect on Object Activation Maps {#s4-2}
---------------------------------------------
The activation maps for each eccentricity greatly overlapped, which is unlike maps in V1 (Wang et al., [@B23]; Wu et al., [@B24]). The overlapping activation maps in the lateral visual cortex may be caused by the larger receptive field size, which ranges from 2.8° to 26° (Op De Beeck and Vogels, [@B15]; Yoshor et al., [@B28]); similar population receptive field sizes have also been found in human neuroimaging studies (Amano et al., [@B1]). Within the lateral visual cortex, neurons that represent peripheral visual space exhibit large receptive field; therefore, these neurons respond not only to the peripheral visual field but also to the central visual field. In addition, different numbers of neurons may have been activated by the central and peripheral stimuli. We propose that central presentation activates a large number of neurons whose receptive fields extend from the center to the periphery, whereas peripheral presentation activates only neurons whose receptive fields do not extend to the center.
Neural Responses to Objects in the Lateral Visual Cortex {#s4-3}
--------------------------------------------------------
In the lateral visual cortex, the neural responses to object categories were also influenced by eccentricity. Centrally presented objects elicited the strongest neural responses, whereas peripherally presented objects evoked substantially weaker neural activations, especially at eccentricities of 44 and 55°. These results are similar to previous results for the central visual field (Sayres and Grill-Spector, [@B17]) but cover a larger range of the visual field.
LO-1 and LO-2 showed different patterns of eccentricity differences. LO-1 exhibited significantly positive responses only to more central positions (0--22°), whereas LO-2 exhibited significantly positive neural responses to all positions (0--55°). These differences in neural responses appear to be consistent with the differences in eccentricity representations in the visual cortex found in the present study and in previous reports (Larsson and Heeger, [@B13]; Sayres and Grill-Spector, [@B17]; Amano et al., [@B1]). LO-1 represented only the central visual field, whereas LO-2 exhibited a sudden transition from central to peripheral locations.
In the present study, stimulus sizes were not scaled according to the cortical magnification factor in V1; as a result, the stimulus sizes at outer eccentricities were quite large. In addition, the space occupied by houses was larger than that occupied by the images in the other categories; accordingly, the neural responses to house images were larger than those to the images in the other categories. We used RRV1s to provide the same strength of information from V1 for all eccentricities and categories. The RRV1s in the lateral visual cortex showed significant eccentricity effects; this effect differs from the increasing trend found in the FFA and PPA (Wang et al., [@B23]). The LOC, LO-1, and LO-2 had larger RRV1s for stimuli presented at an eccentricity of 0° compared to at the outer eccentricities. We hypothesize that different strategies were adopted to process the central and peripheral information from V1. However, low-level visual properties may provide an alternative explanation. In the present experiment, only one image was presented at an eccentricity of 0°, whereas several images were presented at the outer eccentricities. The obvious difference in the number of images might result in the larger RRV1s at an eccentricity of 0°, compare with the outer eccentricities.
The human retina has much weaker visual information processing capabilities in the peripheral visual field than in the central visual field (Curcio et al., [@B3]; Curcio and Allen, [@B2]). In a previous report, we found that in the FFA, RRV1s were greater for peripheral positions than for central positions. The larger RRV1s might reflect a compensatory mechanism for the peripheral field in the higher visual cortex. In the present study, similar results were found in the LOC and LO-2. For eccentricities from 11° to 33°, faces, animals and cars showed a trend toward an increasing RRV1 in LOC and LO-2. Based on our findings, we hypothesize that in the LOC and LO-2, compensatory strategies were used to process the information from V1 about the presentation of some of the object categories in the peripheral visual field.
Category Biases in Neural Responses to Object Categories {#s4-4}
--------------------------------------------------------
In addition to the eccentricity effect, the neural responses to objects and RRV1s in the lateral visual cortex also exhibited category biases. When the images were presented at the central position (eccentricity of 0°), we found that faces evoked larger responses than houses in the LOC but not in V1. In the LOC, we also found lower RRV1s for house image compared to the other categories for presentations at an eccentricity of 0°. Sayres and Grill-Spector ([@B17]) also demonstrated slightly higher responses to animate categories (faces, body parts, and animals) than to inanimate categories (cars, houses, and sculptures) by presenting stimuli only in the central visual field.
At the outer eccentricities (11 to 33°), we found that the neural responses for house images were larger than those for images in the other categories (Figure [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}); this difference is likely related to the larger space occupied by the houses and the corresponding larger neural response to houses in V1. Moreover, the space occupied by faces was slight larger than that occupied by the cars and animals. However, at 33° of eccentricity, the smaller response to faces than to cars and animals were found in lateral visual cortex, but not in V1. These findings might reflect the basis of neural activation in peripheral visual field. By analyzing the RRV1s, we identified a significant interaction between eccentricity and category in the LOC and LO-1. The RRV1s for house images were marginally significantly smaller than those for images in the other categories when presented in the peripheral field (Figure [6](#F6){ref-type="fig"}). More interestingly, as eccentricity increased, the RRV1s for faces, cars and animals showed an increasing trend, whereas the RRV1s for houses showed a decreasing trend in LO-1 and consistent values in the LOC and LO-2. Moreover, in a previous study, we found that in the FFA, RRV1s differed significantly according to eccentricity; in contrast, this relationship was not found in the PPA, suggesting that compensatory mechanisms for the peripheral field may be in the FFA and not in the PPA (Wang et al., [@B23]). We further hypothesize that in the high visual areas, different strategies were used to process peripheral information for house images compared with images in the other categories.
Our finding of biases in RRV1 related to object categories might be related to the response accuracy results at an eccentricity of 33°, in that the accuracy for house images was much smaller than that for the other categories. Because the recognition task used here was relatively simple, the accuracy rate might not be sufficient to reflect differences in RRV1 at the inner eccentricities. Our findings are consistent with those of Yoo and Chong ([@B27]), who reported that house memory performance was worse than that for face memory in the central and peripheral visual fields. Thus, the new pattern of eccentricity biases exhibited by the lateral visual cortex might relate to the processing of the category of objects presented in the central and peripheral visual fields.
Conclusion {#s5}
==========
In present study, we investigated the neural activation to objects presented in a wide-view field in V1 and the lateral visual cortex, which included the LOC, LO-1, and LO-2. These neural responses in these regions decreased as the distance between the presentation location and the center fixation point increased, but the patterns of neural responses between the regions differed. The LOC and LO-2 exhibited significantly positive neural responses to all eccentricities (0--55°), but LO-1 exhibited significantly positive responses only to central eccentricities (0--22°). Importantly, the magnitude of the neural responses elicited by the different object categories significantly differed. Eccentricity and category, as well as the interaction between them, significantly affected RRV1s in the lateral visual cortex. LOC, LO-1, and LO-2 had larger RRV1s for stimuli presented at an eccentricity of 0° than for those presented at the outer eccentricities. While the house images did not, the images of faces, animals and cars showed a trend toward an increasing RRV1 for eccentricities from 11 to 33°, suggesting that the LOC and LO-2 utilize compensatory strategies for the processing of these images in the peripheral visual field. However, the RRV1s for houses showed a decreasing trend in LO-1 and consistent values in LOC and LO-2. We further hypothesize that the strategies used by the lateral visual cortex to process information from V1 differed with respect to the category of image presented in the peripheral visual field.
Author Contributions {#s6}
====================
Conceived and designed the experiments: BW, JG, TY, JW. Performed the experiments: BW, JG, SO, SK. Analyzed the data: BW, JG. Wrote the article: BW, JG, TY, QH, JW.
Conflict of Interest Statement {#s7}
==============================
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.
This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), KAKENHI (25249026 and 25303013), the Scientific and Technological Innovation Programs of Higher Education Institutions in Shanxi (2014123), the Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi (2015021090), the Foundation for Youths of Taiyuan University of Technology (2014TD057), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61503272, 61305142).
[^1]: Edited by: Joshua Oon Soo Goh, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
[^2]: Reviewed by: Radek Ptak, University Hospital Geneva, Switzerland; Cheryl Olman, University of Minnesota, USA
[^3]: ^†^Co-first authors.
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The students will develop a semester long research project that will be divided into different tasks throughout the semester. Students can work on the project individually or in pairs.
Goal
You will pretend to be the international political consultant for a presidential political campaign in a Latin American country of your choice. The goal of the project is to design a plausible campaign strategy for the political context you have chosen. The last week of class you will present your results to the rest of the class.
Grading Criteria
Your work will be graded according to the following criteria:
- Clarity – Your work will be well written, well explained and well argued.
- Organization – Your work will be organized in a coherent manner. Your reader or listener will be able to follow your thought process.
- Thoroughness – Your work will be well researched; you will find and contrast different sources.
- Presentation – Your work will be visually appealing and neat.
Tasks
Task 1: Written report – Knowing the rules (PDF)
Task 2: Written report – Political histories (PDF)
Task 3: Written report – Media platforms and political attitudes (PDF)
Task 4: Campaign strategy report and presentations (PDF)
Student Examples
Task 4: A eleição presidencial brasileira. "Brazilian Presidential Election" 2014 (PDF)
Task 5: Campaign Strategy for Brazilian 2014 Presidential elections - Campos/Silva ticket (PDF)
The examples above appear courtesy of a MIT student and appear anonymously upon request. | https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/21a-506-the-business-of-politics-a-view-of-latin-america-spring-2014/pages/assignments/ |
Dr. Wayne Coates
Dr. Wayne Coates is Professor Emeritus of The Office of Arid Lands Studies at the University of Arizona and President of "AZChia".
He is well known for being the researcher who rediscovered Chia and its nutritional values.
Dr Coates is the Author of the book "Chia: The Complete Guide to the Ultimate Superfood " | https://www.stylamerican.com/dr-wayne-coates |
Ecosystem service and biodiversity trade-offs in two woody successions
Dickie, Ian and Yeates, Gregor and St John, Mark and Stevenson, Bryan and Scott, John and Rillig, Matthias and Peltzer, Duane and Orwin, Kate and Kirschbaum, Miko and Hunt, John and Burrows, Larry and Barbour, Margaret and Aislabie, Jackie (2011) Ecosystem service and biodiversity trade-offs in two woody successions. Journal of Applied Ecology, 48 (4). pp. 926-934. ISSN 0021-8901
Full text not available from this repository.
Abstract
1. Many grasslands worldwide are undergoing succession to woody vegetation, causing complex effects on carbon (C) sequestration, nutrient cycling and biodiversity. Land managers are frequently tasked with maximizing ecosystem services and biodiversity. Nonetheless, there are few studies quantifying trade-offs between ecosystem services and biodiversity during early woody succession. 2. We assessed the consequences of woody succession for C stocks, above-and below-ground taxa richness (plants, nematodes, mites, microbes, fungi), and soil ecosystem function at one site with a native tree, Kunzea ericoides, and one site with a non-native tree, Pinus nigra, both establishing in conservation grasslands. 3. Woody succession at both sites was associated with large gains in above-ground C stocks and, under P. nigra, losses from the mineral soil-C pool. 4. Taxa richness responses were complex, nonlinear and incongruent. While some taxa showed initial increases in richness with woody succession (e. g. plants), other taxa had rapid declines (e. g. plant-feeding and plant-associated nematodes, oribatid mites). 5. Below-ground ecosystem functioning shifted towards increased bacterial energy channels with woody succession, despite no change in bacterial or fungal biomass or fungal hyphal lengths. Most other soil measures were consistent with literature expectations (increased C: N ratios, release of recalcitrant phosphorus). 6. Synthesis and applications. Our gradient-based measurements of woody succession effects on ecosystems did not follow expectations based on comparing end-points of grasslands to homogeneous mature forest. The discordance of biodiversity responses across taxonomic groups suggests that managers cannot rely on the indicator-species concept to ensure conservation of cryptic biodiversity. Carbon sequestration and biodiversity followed non-congruent patterns, with significant losses of taxa richness from some functional groups during woody succession. Management to maximize individual ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration may therefore result in significant negative effects on biodiversity of some, but not all, taxa.
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La Plata city and surroundings (Argentina) -around 800 000 inhabitants- possesses high industrial activity and intense vehicular traffic but there is no governmental air pollution network and basic meteorological parameters have been scarcely studied. This paper focuses on wind calm structure and wind patterns after the end of calms in order to assess the potential accumulation and fate of released airborne pollutants. A robust correlation method using an M-estimator is employed to compare seasonal observations at three monitoring sites located in key parts of the city covering 1995- 2006. Results show that calms are on average 14.7% in summer, 19.1% in autumn, 12.8% in winter and 11.6% in spring. The three sites under study were highly correlated indicating a generalized calm pattern for the city and surroundings. The robust coefficient allows inferring the lineal character of dependence among observations at the three sites. Calm structure revealed that approximately 50.6 % of the calms lasted 1 hour while calms lasting 5 hours or less constitute around 90% of calm occurrences. Calms lasting two hours or more are more probably to occur during wee and evening hours indicating when the accumulation of released air pollutants is likely to happen. Wind roses named "outgoing of calm wind roses" (time consuming to estimate) showed the wind direction patterns more probable to occur after a calm. Overall correlations between seasonal averaged wind roses and those corresponding to the outgoing of calms showed strong linear correlation for all the seasons. This allows concluding that winds after calms may be well represented by their corresponding seasonal averaged patterns (easy to compute). | http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/136816 |
All of the above questions, as well as others of a similar type, may be answered with confidence. Every action taken by the user increases the probability of progressing to the next step (conversion to a target action, return to a service, etc.). This is exactly what engagement means: the readiness of a user at his current level of development to take actions regarding the product, such as selecting a goods/a service/some content offered in UI, passing the main product funnel, and continuing to engage with the product after completing the target action. Therefore, a unified method for assessing a user in comparison to other users may be implemented by developing an engagement model.
An engagement model analyzes each individual user’s activities regarding a product, indicating the user’s desire to engage with the current product.
The user with id 13 is the most involved here, while the user with id 10 is the least.
As a result of such an analysis, we may categorize users into those who know and understand how to use the product, those who are interested in learning more about the product in its current state, and those who accessed the product and soon departed without discovering anything substantial after performing simple actions.
Eventually, as demonstrated in the second part of the article, segmentation by level of engagement allows connecting product metrics such as CR, CTR, Retention, Stickiness, and business metrics such as ARPU, ARPPU, LTV.
In general Engagement model helps in the following areas: | https://hal149.com/product-analytics-engagement-model/ |
A mummified kestrel’s CT scan shows it choked on its last meal, probably because it had been force-fed. This bird of prey from Egypt, in the collection of Iziko Museums of South Africa in Cape Town, is one of millions of animals mummified as religious offerings, called votive mummies. Kestrels, which are common in Egypt, usually regurgitate the indigestible parts of their meals as pellets. The virtual autopsy of this bird shows that its stomach already contained digested remains from two mice and a sparrow, some of which it would have regurgitated before it consumed yet another mouse. The tail of that last meal got stuck in the gullet and choked the bird. Ancient Egyptians often force-fed their captive animals, which makes this the earliest known evidence of keeping and possibly breeding raptors. | https://www.archaeology.org/issues/202-1601/trenches/3945-trenches-egypt-mummified-kestrel |
A very quick version of the problem of biodiversity loss:
- The earth’s ecosystems consist of the interconnected webs of species (plants, animals, fungi, micro-organisms) living together in different locations around the world.
- Humanity relies on these ecosystems for our very survival – they produce the fresh water, clean air, food, wood and other natural products that are indispensable to our lives.
- The earth’s ecosystems are currently being vastly disrupted by human activity causing species to go extinct, and the health of ecosystems to diminish
- We need to change how humanity acts in the world so that we can preserve and repair ecosystems and stop extinctions, if not for the sake of other forms of life, then for ourselves.
And for a little bit longer version…
There are millions of species on the earth. The exact number is not known, but best estimates are that there are as many as ten million, with over one million having been identified by scientists. Ten million is a huge number, but a finite one. It has taken billions of years to produce these species, all of the animals, plants, fungi, and micro-organisms on the planet. Though there are many species, each is unique, and if they go extinct, they are gone forever.
Ecosystems are groups of species that all live together in a certain area. There can be many thousands of species, and they constantly interact and rely on each other to maintain the integrity of the whole. Plants form the basis of the food chain, taking energy from the sun and turning it into living tissue. Different plants fill different niches, some as tall trees, as grass, as climbing vines, some dropping their leaves for the winter and others keeping them all year. There are animals eating plants, other animals eating those animals, fungi decomposing everything that dies to recycle nutrients and begin the growth anew. Micro-organisms are found by the trillions in every nook and cranny.
While some (myself included) could wax poetic about the grandeur of wild spaces, of the beauty of old growth forests, or the thought of herds of bison roaming the prairies, providing beauty is far from the only thing that ecosystems do for us. Critical to the very survival of humanity are all of the things that ecosystems do for us, often called ecosystem services. Intact ecosystems provide us with soil, food, water, medicine, wood and other plant fiber, they maintain climate and rainfall patterns, and more. To provide all of these functions that we hold so dear, ecosystems need to be maintained in a healthy state. There are innumerable instances where people’s damaging of lands and waters led directly to massive problems in human society. Floods, soil erosion, desertification, wildfires, polluted water, can all be caused by poor management practices, and can threaten the very foundations of societies. In today’s world, climate change is linked tightly with ecosystem damage, as poor forest management and poor agricultural practices are some of the main drivers of a warming planet. Climate change in turn then causes more damage to those same ecosystems, as changes are now occurring more quickly than these systems can adapt. In terms of species extinctions, it is estimated that current human practices are causing the rate of species extinction to be a thousand times higher than what it was before the modern age, and we are currently be losing thousands of species every single year.
People need to act now to preserve ecosystems and species. We know that ecosystems are resilient, but it is unclear how much abuse they can take before problems may spiral out of control. There is something called the precautionary principle that tells us that we shouldn’t take dangerous actions when we are unsure of how risky they are. The cost of doing nothing could be absolutely immense, whereas if we act now to change ‘business as usual’, we know that this is likely to lead to great outcomes for both people and the planet. There will be some costs associated with making these changes, but the long-term benefits to saving ecosystems and species far outweigh the short-term benefits of such practices as massive scale clear-cut logging or agricultural practices that destroy the fertility of the soil. | https://sunshinesaved.com/2018/02/24/loss-of-biodiversity-the-scope-of-the-problem/ |
Together, the people, the place and the passion for providing an extraordinary, engaging life for our residents and the remarkable staff who serve them, are at the heart of what makes Ingleside at King Farm a very special place.
No matter how much time we spend with others, we spend more time with ourselves. That is why awareness and acceptance of our own feelings is such an important part of emotional wellness.
An emotionally well person is able to manage thoughts and feelings, and the behavior that stems from them. Emotional health determines to a large extent how successful we are with interpersonal relationships, how effectively we make personal choices and take responsibility for them, and how willing we are to take on challenges.
Emotional wellness is one of the six components of wellness we have been exploring over the past few months. The six-dimensional wellness model was developed by Dr. Bill Hettler, co-founder of the National Wellness Institute. It holds that total wellness is not confined to physical health but also includes components of social, intellectual, vocational, spiritual and emotional wellness.
Stress—or more accurately, how we respond to stressful events—can damage our emotional and physical wellness. That’s why it’s so important to develop good strategies for coping with emotional stress and times when we’re feeling a little down. For some people who maintain good emotional health during the warmer months, the advent of winter and the holidays can trigger stress. With awareness and attention, though, we can get through stressful times.
Most older adults, researchers have found, actually enjoy higher levels of well-being and emotional stability than younger folks. That’s because older folks have had time to achieve goals, develop a sense of purpose and meaning, and generally have come to terms with their place in the world.
Researchers recently have found that older people with a positive attitude about aging report more positive emotions and enjoy better emotional health than those who are affected by negative stereotypes of aging. That was the conclusion reached by investigators at North Carolina State University after they completed a study recently of adults 60 to 96 years old.
Older adults are bombarded with negative aging stereotypes in the media, but emotionally well people who hold positive attitudes about aging are better able to cope with stress and maintain consistent emotional states. They are happier and healthier as well. The people in the study who reported positive attitudes were less likely to be hospitalized and generally had better cardiovascular functioning.
At Ingleside at King Farm, we create a positive environment that emphasizes respect for every individual throughout the life span, and the active and engaged lifestyle that promotes emotional wellness. The residents of this unique retirement community maintain a positive connection with the world through physical activity, intellectual curiosity and fellowship with their neighbors.
Among the amenities the community offers are a fully equipped Fitness Center, a heated indoor swimming pool, fitness classes from interval training to tai chi, and walking paths that wind through a beautifully landscaped campus. Residents take advantage of many opportunities to explore their creativity, pursue long-loved hobbies and discover new passions. Minds get a workout, too, through brain fitness classes, discussion groups, lectures, movies and spiritual exploration. Many residents take an active part in managing the community by participating in committees that contribute ideas and help develop activities. Nearly everyone gives back by helping others through volunteer activities within and outside the community. The world-class cultural and entertainment offerings of the District of Columbia are frequent and easily reached destinations.
It’s no wonder, then, that Ingleside at King Farm residents are enjoying a good life, a positive outlook and a lifestyle that is conducive to total wellness.
If you’d like to learn more about this extraordinary continuing care retirement community, please call us at 240-205-7085 or request information here. | https://www.ikfmd.org/p1-125-Six-Dimensions-of-Wellness-Emotional-Wellness.aspx |
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